How Mark Kermode Will Save Humanity

With A Nod To Simon Mayo, Too
I should explicate this a little, especially for those who remember Mayo as a cheesy Radio One DJ back in the day.  He is one half of "Wittertainment", alongside Mark Kermode, whom I may have mentioned already has a "Get out of Organ Bank/Mind Controlled Slavery Free" card due to his espousement of The Comsat Angels as the best band ever to grace recorded music media.  When my starship invasion fleet arrives it'll be too late to praise the harmonic mastery of Steve Fellows, so you'd better start now.
     Which actually - and rarely! - has a bearing on the rest of the Intro.  This is so unusual you might want to sit down after making a pot of tea.

A rather witty spoof of the Wittering two

     This all springs from a review that Mark posted on their podcast of the film "Inferno".  Art?

Please note the "Intergalactically stupid"

     This, gentle reader, is actually very, very useful to know, because some rather clever people out there consider that the Universe is not composed of equal parts sweetness, light and Hershey's Chocolate Buttons.  Professor Simon Morris and Steve-Oh (that's Steven Hawking to you) both recommend extreme caution  in responding to or answering any alien phone calls.  As Mister Morris says - "If the phone rings - don't answer it!"
     No, not because they're trying too sell PPI compensation! Because these aliens may be Permanent Bad Hair Day sufferers, and, seeing Hom. Sap. as a potential threat - or merely hideously deficient in squicky green tentacles - they might target Planet Earth with a relatavistic missile.  This type of weapon is a subject for another day, just rest assured that they are almost impossible to stop and are not dubbed "Planet Killers" for nothing.

The good news is, they got <fill in pet celebrity hate>!

     However, all this unpleasantnes could be avoided if we follow Bar - sorry, Mark and Simon's recommendation and stream "Inferno" into outer space.  Less "Take me to your leader" than "This film is a bleeder -"

Anyone Out There Speak Vietnamese And English?
I believe I threw down the gauntlet and challenged you out there to come up with an answer to the "Empire" crosswords anagram - er, although I missed out the letter "C" * - and lo!  and also behold!  Someone has commented.  I think.  Art?

Er - quite.  I think.

     The only Vietnamese I can know is "Mam Nuoc", which is a variety of sauce made by fermenting fish heads, so whilst I appreciate Rong's commentary, and the time it took him to type this up, I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what he's on about.
     Once again, if you have any answers, please add in the Comments.  Except in English, please.

"Z Nation" Is Back!
Colour me happy.  I know it's full of ghoulish humour, but then your humble scribe is quite the ghoul himself, so we're all good here.
     The first and second episodes are actually a flashback, where Pisay's character is still - er - alive, and before they encounter Vasquez, or the Zeros.  It's supposed to set up characters for the remainder of the season.  Here's an example of that humour -

     If you squint hard you can see the finger being shot off here.  I can't tell you what else happens as I'm only 37 minutes and 26 seconds into an 85 minute film, but I will let you know.  

A Youngster At Large
It is rare that your humble scribe is the youngest person present at a social event, although it can happen, last Thursday being such an occasion.
     "I'm off to The Pleasant Inn," I told the assembled household, to utter indifference and a stifled yawn.  "To see if they have a quiz on tonight."
     "O right," replied Wonder Wifey, busy searching e-bay for damask drapes.  "The raucous young person's pub."
     "No," I replied, with a touch of asperity.  "It's an old man's pub.  You're thinking of The Summit."

The Summit

     I didn't notice until Phil pointed it out, but, as a Sam Smith's pub, the Pleasant lacks any kind of electronic entertainment, no televisions, jukebox, piped music or any such 20th Century nonsense.
     It was also definitely an old man's pub.  Rosie and two other ladies were outnumbered about seven to one, and as mentioned before, Conrad was the most youthful person present.
     We didn't do very well in the quiz either.  Allow me to adduce a reason:

Quiz at top

    You need a row of 4 circles to claim a win, and the sheets handed out all vary in the arrangement of the circles.  Naively, as novices, we only took one sheet between the three of us - next time we'll take three and increase our chances.  And perhaps there will be fewer questions about football!

Oh my.  Over count and nary a mention of poisons.  Later!



*  The answer is "Mike Colter", star of "Luke Cage" apparently.