Nuts to your white mice.

So I'm home. And by 'home', I mean 'Melbourne'. Which is too scary to think about, so I won't.

Hobart is small. Really small. There are only about 7 or 8 places in the CBD where you can buy dinner, which made the lack of cooking facilities in our hotel room problematic. The weather was surprisingly nice, and as a special treat on our last night we had about 30 minutes of pouring rain, followed by 3 or 4 hours of lightning and thunder out over the bay, which we could view from our bed. 'Twas sweet.

One thing I did to occupy myself during work was listen to my swanky new iPod, and in particular the original Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series. Given that every incarnation of HHGTTG varies wildly in terms of content, it's always fun to find new jokes in familiar situations. But upon our arrival home I decided to pop in the HHGTTG movie DVD, to see if it was as average as I remembered.

Sadly, it's worse. I accept the need to change things in order to fit the basic idea into a 2-hour film, but when almost every change is not for the better, then it becomes frustrating. The only two areas where they improved on the original were the graphics (the Magrathean factory floor is stunning) and Trillian (Zooey Deschanel is ohsocute). Some of the actors do a decent job, but none better the original. And when they add in jokes which are unfunny at the expense of removing jokes that are funny (even on the umpteenth listen), then things are seriously wrong. I could go on all day, but I shan't. The original TV series is playing at the moment, so I'll let that wipe any bad taste from my mouth.

Now, I'm going to reply to George's recent post, though so I don't offend any delicate sensibilities, I shan't actually use the word. Happy people?

Where the problem with swear words lie is in the fact that the listener (or reader) are the ones who give the word any power or effect. What matters most is the intent behind the word - that is where the offensiveness really does lie. You can hear a young child using swear words, but to them there's nothing rude or wrong with them, they're just funny sounding words. Conversely, people can be immensely offensive without using a single swear word or slur.

My point? Just 'cause someone's using a swear word, it doesn't mean they're being offensive.

Though I must add that George is always offensive.

And Andrew, I feel I must rebut your Heroes review:

My experience of Heroes is *completely* different to yours, with the possible exception of the product placement (though the only bit I've found annoying is the Nissan Versa, and, oddly enough, I don't feel like buying one this week).
After 15 episodes, I've yet to feel manipulated by Heroes, not regarding the basic manipulation that all fictional work does, and in fact needs to, contain. The show has some of the best comic book and TV writers of this generation (including Jeph Loeb), who pool their talents to achieve the best episodes they can; the show is the brainchild of one guy (Tim Kring (who also created Crossing Jordan), not a group of TV executives). What makes Heroes different from so many shows is the fact that it takes many of its cues, both narrative and visual, from comic books - multi-stranded, multi-episode arcs which belong to a larger overall arc and its own universe. The characters are partially archetypal, but all veer significantly from the stereotypes to make them full, interesting characters. How can you not love Hiro?? Or Claire? Or Ando? Or Matt? Or Peter?

The other thing I love about Heroes is the fact that is it so wonderfully planned out - unlike Lost, where the writers admit they don't know what was going on, everything on Heroes has a point, and an effect the to the overall story. And what excites me most is the fact that not only is the first season exquisitely mapped out, Tim Kring has gone on record saying he has plotted out as far as a potential fifth season, which gives the opportunity for rich, immensely detailed storytelling. I have, on occasion, gone back and watched earlier episodes of the series and been amazed at how it all threads back into stuff that happens later on. You may not like it yourself, but that's your loss. :o)

And lastly: yesterday Immy bought us some tickets to see Dylan Moran at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Now we just have to get Ardal O'Hanlon tix. Can I get a hell yeah?

P.S. - anyone who can pick where this entry's title comes from gets a feeling of superiority to those who don't.