Cyberclogs

Its been a busy weekend on the TV front this Easter with the return of Red Dwarf and the Doctor Who Easter Special. Having just watched Red Dwarf Back to Earth Part 2 I wasn't much more impressed by the second installment than the first, I would say it was only slightly better than the first one, but that isn't saying much. In the second episode the Red Dwarf crew got back to Earth through some kind of wormhole created by Claudia Winkleman's character only to find they are considered as fictional characters on Earth as they see DVDs and posters of themselves everywhere. So they try to track down their creator see if they will carry on as it sounds like they might be killed off. Judging by the poor quality of this episode it wouldn't really matter if they were. To be entirely kind, there were a couple more laughs in this episodes (so that's 4 laughs in total from me so far!) one where Lister spots the Red Dwarf DVDs and Kryten explains that DVDs used to be used in the 21 Century before they went back to using videos! And Rimmer provided probably the best laugh so far when he was reading about his character being neurotic "I was never neurotic! Even as a child, I was too busy washing my hands!". Other than that it was "a naff effort" it also had some really lazy and pointless references to Blade Runner throughout it too (complete with folded pieces of origami courtesy of the Cat). So the 3rd episode is on tonight, but I won't expect too much from that either.

Which brings me to the Doctor Who Easter special, this thankfully was a fair bit more entertaining than Red Dwarf was. This time the Doctor meets up with Jewel thief Christina or Lady Christina (nicely played by the rather nice Michelle Ryan of Eastenders and Bionic Woman fame) on a bus which takes an interdimensional trip through a wormhole (yes another Easter TV trend wormholes!) onto an alien desert planet which is filled with rather nasty hostile creatures. The hour long specials for Doctor Who can be a bit hit and miss and this one was not too bad but overall nothing special. There are some nice touches in it though and David Tennant and Michelle Ryan both seem to enjoy their onscreen chemistry, but why on Earth does Russell T Davies always have to write in the companion kissing the Doctor! I wonder if Steven Moffat will cure the series of that trend when he takes over. I felt the CGI in this episode was a bit naff the desert was fine but the CGI for the nasty bugs was a bit crap. Lee Evans was ok in his part as the scientist despite his somewhat silly gushing hugging the Doctor and saying "I love you!" over and over near the end. But anyway it stood head and shoulders over Red Dwarf at any rate and the next Dr Who special The Waters of Mars looks fairly promising (and creepy!).

So brings me to the last note of this entry, as I went to see my brother's band Soul-Fi last night once again and they were really good (once again) I haven't really blogged about them much before so thought I'd give them some credit. Soul-Fi do cover versions of soul songs, from quite a wide ranging selection of artists such as Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Jamiriquai, and so on. It was on in the Basura Blanca Club on Brunswick St which is a nice little venue, so it was quite busy and they played for a good 2 and a half hours at least (I wish I could act as long as that! OK maybe not). Its also nice to see a band with a brass section too (Claire in the band plays sax and Sarah plays trumpet), as it offers something different from your average trendy indie bands or guitar driven bands, so seeing that is always a welcome change. They will be playing again the same venue next month so should be good.

And on that note I'll leave it there.