- Shocked by the price of books in Australia – UK-published paperbacks with gbp8.99 printed on the back go here for $25, over 2x as much #
- …possibly this explains certain highly unfair local stereotypes about learning / culture…? #
- Reading UK blogs for the first time in several weeks, people seem to be seriously considering the prospect of a Labour win – wow, also WTF? #
- Separately – there is nothing I find more bizarre than the attitude of *anyone* who believes Argentina has a claim to the Falklands #
- They've been British as long as Argentina has existed – and (unlike Argentina) the settlement didn't involve whites slaughtering natives #
- Having had an annoying call with my bank, I'm in need of some #ebz therapy http://fallenlondon.com/c/27151 #
- OBVIOUS -> http://bit.ly/b7BnsU (via @adambienkov) – although I really need to start fretting about my new hometown's transport policy #
- More than I would -> RT @pressgazette Lebedev will pay £1 for the Independent, claims report http://bit.ly/cT0L0G #
- GEEKQUESTION: anyone know a good way to access iPlayer from Oz? I'm guessing a UK-based proxy server, but any other subterfuge would suffice #
- It's pleasant to be job-hunting in a country where the main economic qn is "are we being foolish to think everything's peachy"? (real quote) #
- Banks still annoying. "No, we can't give you a receipt for the large foreign money transfer you've just done, just trust us" – hmm. #
- RT @nauiokaspark: Inside the Excruciatingly Slow Death of Internet Explorer 6 | Popular Science http://bit.ly/d4K7OD (via @felixsalmon) #
- When I left PwC (not the world's ropiest shop) in October 2008 my laptop was still running on IE6, and IE7 broke some internal software… #
- No -> RT @DaveHill Has stop-and-search really reduced knife crime in London? http://bit.ly/aL6s4A #shortanswerstosimplequestions #
- Did touristy things yesterday morning. Internetted this morning. #ebz http://fallenlondon.com/c/28081 #
- Ryanair often gets into trouble w/the ASA for lying. Now Easyjet is in trouble w/the ASA for saying truth about Ryanair http://bit.ly/96Aet0 #
- If Easyjet ran an ad saying "Ryanair are scum and everyone who works for them should be boiled alive", that would still be too moderate #
- Meanwhile, it may be time to boycott Apple for being evil fair-competition-hating, court-abusing bastards: http://bit.ly/9uPEfO #
- Off to (allegedly) collect keys to new flat. Will be either delighted or very pissed off in 90 minutes' time #
- Am very delighted. Hurrah! I've never had a swimming pool before, or a balcony… #
- Shame, I was hoping he'd outlast Mrs T: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8547228.stm #
- #ebz I'm sure it's not been 24 hours, but OK… http://fallenlondon.com/c/28932 #
- A gentleman named Ben is bringing furniture tomorrow. Then we'll have furniture. This will RULE. #
- Glad I'm not in the UK for Jon Venables circus. "Kid does bad thing, is punished, is released; 9 years later does unspecified thing" – and? #
- Off to #ikea – if I don't return, I've probably been arrested for Ikea Rage. #
- Survived IKEA, $800, one slightly scratched car and two slightly traumatised us later. FULLY FURNISHED HOUSE WOO! #
- Damn, it's nice to have my own room. I can stay on the Internet until 0100 and listen to Canadian indie without anyone complaining #
- #ebz Yes, I'll get up shortly and do something useful with my Saturday… http://fallenlondon.com/c/29875 #
- Icelanders opt for arrogant stupidity and failing to face up to their own guilt. Unsurprising; most people generally opt for the same #
- Iceland's a democracy; the people voted for deregulation and supported the boom. They are to blame (unlike 3rd-world debtors) #icesave #
- For background, the Iceland saga up to January 2010 as morality play – time to write the next act… http://bit.ly/5Zv53I #icesave #
- CROWDSOURCING: which of these cables do I need to use to plug in an 18-month-old MacBook Air to a TV: Mini DVI or Mini DisplayPort? #
- Airport/customs docs remarkably addictive. Dunno know why "jobsworths try to ruin people's holidays/lives and usually succeed" so gripping #
- Specific msg from Aus docusoap Air Ways is that Tiger combine operational skills of Aeroflot with customer service of Ryanair. WILL AVOID #
- #ebz Sunday night, 1AM, no job yet, of course I'm on t'Internet http://fallenlondon.com/c/30876 #
- As usual, David Mitchell is right: BBC *is* one of the things the UK does best, and Tories *do* plan to cripple it http://bit.ly/dm6t6V #
- Don't see a problem with VAT on food tho'. This isn't the 1930s; anyone, no matter how poor, can afford to eat, and most eat too much anyway #
- Reading the comments on the Mitchell piece. Some ppl suggesting HBO matches up to BBC. Rubbish: the Wire excellent; everything else shit #
- Oz TV has some half-decent docs & talk shows, but *absolutely all* good drama is either BBC or Scandinavian state TV #
- …although probably as a result, a much better range of movies shown on free-to-air TV. #
- In "utterly terrifying" news – a wholly sensible and excellent Jeremy Clarkson column: http://bit.ly/cLvueA #
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To be fair, the comparison should be HBO, PBS and NPR (and the various HBO clones). Or are we just talking drama? Fox, of all places, produced a truly great sitcom, besting BBC efforts. Another great sitcom (courtesy of HBO) was The Larry Sanders Show. I'd also vouch for Oz, Six Feet Under and the Sopranos(!). I also have a soft spot for Entourage. Leaving aside Murdoch's self-interested plutocratic agenda, the BBC is uneccessarily bloated and many of its functions could be provided on the market through a mix of subscription, donation and advertising models if they weren't crowded out.
Well, except that the HBO-citers normally use it as an example of how The Free Market Will Provide – as PBS and NPR take subsidies, they're not really part of the equation.
I'm assuming you mean the Simpsons, in which case agreed – but I'd rather watch a randomly selected BBC sitcom than a randomly selected Fox sitcom. Larry Sanders was overrated, I thought. Six Feet Under was rather good (and so was The Corner, and so was the Sopranos).