Back in the Red

NOTE: This was also written for a job application!


Red Dwarf makes its way back to our screens on the 10th of April, and although we’ve had to wait nearly a decade for a new show, the crew have made these last few days a little easier for us with an impressive haul of hints and preview material.

Cast interviews reveal that the three-part show, titled Back to Earth, will feature the four core characters landing on earth during the early part of the 21st century. Confronted with the earth of our present day, we can but imagine the full extent of our brave heroes’ reactions, although preview material reveals that Kryten attempts communication with street corner postboxes and Rimmer finds himself captivated by our collection of authentic 21st century telegraph poles.

We’ve heard that Kochanski is dead and Holly is drying out his memory drives after Lister left a bath running for several years, so sadly no Lovett or Hayridge, but new cast member Sophia Winkleman will be there to soften the blow. Cast in the role of Rimmer’s nemesis, she will be playing the gorgeous Katerina Bartikovsky, a hologram who outranks our pitiful 2nd Technician by far. And let us not forget that another fan favourite has been confirmed to return – the Starbug, or is it the Carbug? Chris Barrie can be seen performing a spookily convincing Jeremy Clarkson impression here.

The programme’s official site boasts that production values are higher than the show has ever seen, and showcases sets created by Mark Harris, who has worked as a designer on Bond films Quantum of Solace, Die Another Day and The World is Not Enough. The Red Dwarf studio audience is gone, and some filming has been taking place on the set of Coronation Street. With Craig Charles claiming in an interview that he will be ‘playing quite a few characters [in Back to Earth], some of them I've already played on television,” it is no great leap of logic to wonder whether the smegheads will be meeting Corrie’s Lloyd Mullaney.

TV channel Dave hosts Back to Earth related rewards on its website, but be prepared to go hunting for them! A curry-stained postcard from Lister contains instructions for his lost crewmates on 21st century earth, which, if followed, will direct you through hologram-studying character Bob Giles’s hacked research site and allow you to access Back to Earth preview scenes, games and messages from the characters. Highlights include Rimmer’s opinions on reality TV and Kryten’s curry order. We’d better have that vindaloo hot and waiting.

To quote Lister’s promise in the very first Red Dwarf episode, “Look out, Earth - The slime’s coming home!”

Red Dwarf: Back to Earth will be airing on the Dave channel over the bank holiday weekend:

Friday, April 10th: Part One
Saturday, April 11th: Part Two
Sunday, April 12th: Part Three

Friendly Neighbourhood Cosplayer Saves The Day!

... and restores this blogger's faith in humanity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7961208.stm

A fireman in Thailand dressed up as Spiderman in order to help a young autistic boy down from a window ledge. Hearing that the boy enjoyed superhero comics, Somchai Yoosabai ran all the way back to the fire station in order to retrieve the costume from his locker.

I love that the BBC article feels the need to explain that Yoosabai owns the costume because he uses it for fire safety education. You can imagine the journalist explaining it to his editor: "He wasn't, like, some pervert or anything."

Under the Goggles: The Story Behind The Title

So, every Sunday for a couple of months now, I've worked for a very large comic shop located near Tottenham Court Road. You know the one. Yeah, there are comic shops with more indie street cred, but I'm loyal. I was poor and new to London, and they gave me a job. Plus, I get wicked discount.

There's a uniform, but the managers don't mind if you decide to jazz up the look. Neon eyeliner, Watchmen pin badges - you get the picture. My boyfriend's got a pair of flying goggles that he picked up at a market in Belarus of all places, (most people just use Ebay). Worn on the top of my head they do a great job of keeping my hair out of my face at work.

Now I happen to think that these goggles are pretty cool. You say aged WWII veteran - I say Tank Girl. It turns out the customers think they are pretty cool, too. In fact, I get a bit of attention wearing them. One guy in particular was more persistant than most: telling me he likes my look, chatting about Girl Genius, holding up the queue to ask which steampunk novels I like... He's kind of annoying and almost certainly flirting with me, but hey, that's not a crime. Next time he comes in, he acts the same way.

The time after that, I'm not wearing the goggles. An ignored alarm clock has left me with barely enough time to dress before leaving the house, let alone accessorise. I'm not looking too great, really. Neither is S, my co-worker. She stayed out late last night, I'm coming down with a cold, neither of us enjoy being at work on a Sunday. We struggle on, bravely. The same guy comes in. He buys some Marvel Civil War graphic novels, I sniffle my way through a transaction and notice that he's not as talkative as usual. Maybe he's having a bad day too.

As he walks away, he looks back at S and me. We hear him announce, very loudly to his friend, "Bring back the one with the goggles, that's what I say."

...

And thus, the name of this blog was born. (And thus, a righteous outrage that probably bored poor S to tears all afternoon was born, but I calmed down eventually.)

This is what that customer failed to see. This is me, underneath the goggles.

These are my thoughts on gaming, on politics, on comics and science fiction and a wide variety of other fiction. A collection of articles on the geek lifestyle and culture. I'm blogging the third counter-culture, kids.

What a load of pretentious bollocks.

Let's just see where we end up, shall we?