Rum Doings Episode 14
by John Walker on Jan.27, 2010, under Rum Doings, The Rest
Persisting in this new weekly habit, Rum Doings Episode 14 certainly doesn’t discuss its chosen topic, What Should We Do About The Wheeliebin? It’s with troubling enthusiasm that we begin this latest episode, despite the blatant lack of rum in our hands. Your rules, we don’t play by them. This week our drink is, instead, honeybush tea.
Things we do talk about include the paradoxical anomaly that is BBC 1’s Outnumbered, why Russell Davies doesn’t deserve his “T”, the plot holes in Press Gang, obviousness in writing, and ask why can’t people enjoy their superpowers? There’s revelations of Michael Moore, and then of course the discussion we’ve all be expecting: who should be the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
Then, at long last, Nick’s brief lecture on Derrida. Which is genuinely our most requested topic.
We’d love it if you passed this link on, told friends, recommended us in forum threads, graffitied the URL on the sides of houses, and so on. (Don’t actually graffiti the sides of houses.) Also, if you would, write us a review on horrible, horrible iTunes. That would be splendid.
To get this episode directly, right click and save here. To subscribe to Rum Doings click here, or you can find it in iTunes here.
January 27th, 2010 on 20:15
Example of someone with some sort of power using it for ‘fun’; Bernards Watch. Every time I flicked it on he always seemed to be taking sweets or making his Dad score 18 hole in ones in a row.
January 27th, 2010 on 21:07
Bernard’s Watch was fantastic, it was my favourite program as a child. He got a magic time-stopping watch and all he did with it was place buckets of paint over doorways without getting caught, or cheat on tests then feel guilty about it afterwards and vow to never do it again.
January 27th, 2010 on 23:30
I haven’t listened yet but I refuse to even countenance for a single nanosecond that there were any plotholes in Press Gang…
January 28th, 2010 on 01:25
Have either of you ever had birch beer? If you like root beers give it a try. I’d recommend Boylan’s.
January 28th, 2010 on 01:36
Re Bernard’s Watch: Not really the best example. There is one episode that shows Bernard cheating at lots of different things (pausing time during a game of “Happy Families” for example. By the end of the episode though he has realise that these are empty victories and that it is unfair on his friends so he stops cheating and enjoys playing “Happy Families” even when he loses.
However something which I thought was rather odd is that he still continues to cheat when he plays as a goalkeeper for his local team. This is purely on the basis that his coach says “that boy will play for England some time every time he makes a save”.
I always thought that this would be rather unfair on the other prospective England goalkeepers but was comforted by the thought that in first televised match he played in Bernard’s (apparent) teleportation would soon be spotted and he would get his comeuppance.
January 28th, 2010 on 13:49
House- no superpowers but he is never punished by the writers, if he is left lonely at the end of an episode having alienated everyone around him, he doesn’t change, it doesn’t seem to affect him in a negative way and he continues in his obnoxious way. The writers never ever seek to redeem him. Impressive.
January 28th, 2010 on 14:10
The television show “out of this world” is a good example of this. The protagonist, Evie, had the power to freeze time by touching her index fingers together. She later acquired the power to teleport, and the power to control pet animals. She used all her powers for fun. The only annoying episode was based on her 16th birthday when she could choose a new power as a gift (e.g. the power to get people to obey her, or detect lies etc). She decided that the new powers were too much, and turned down her gift. The idiot.
January 29th, 2010 on 12:30
Kath: Have you been watching the most recent series of house? The last episode in particular made quite clear the show’s desire to present House as becoming a more likeable person but the whole series had had the same basic aim.
I have not seen “out of this world” so I cannot debunk that suggestion…
January 29th, 2010 on 12:32
I’d disagree, James. While avoiding spoilers, I think House’s actions are increasingly cruel, especially in light of the things that happened at the beginning of the current season. The fight with the cheque in the most recent episode was House at his most pathetic, desperately fighting against needing to be contrite to any who matter. And the things he’s done to Cuddy of late…
January 29th, 2010 on 13:41
“What Should We Do About The Wheeliebin?”
I didn’t realise there was any controversy about wheelie bins (they seem a pretty good system to me, much better than leaving black bags all over the place) and thought it was a cop-out topic, but Google shows the truth.
*Sigh*
January 29th, 2010 on 22:59
Colthor, this is britain, the land of arguments. People hate change. ;)
January 30th, 2010 on 14:32
Great podcast again guys.
The example of laziness in writing that annoys me is the “overhead conversation”. Where a character will jump to wild conclusions based off something they heard or witnessed without speaking to the person about it. That is usually enough for me to stop watching that episode.
January 31st, 2010 on 10:40
Another RE Bernards watch.
It always occured to me that he never truly used the full might of stopping time. Why he never properly robbed people amazes me.
Also I seem to remember Bernard getting his watch taken from him when he moved to America because of… Different time zones(time travel is so complex).
Great podcast. Also, I’ve always liked watching Outnumbered and I’ve found it extremely unnerving how fast the kids have grown up. Or maybe I’m just getting old.
January 31st, 2010 on 14:42
John: Compare current House to “season 3” House and he is clearly less obnoxious. I’d give a list of all the (relatively) nice or redemptive things he’s done recently but you have me worried about spoilers now.
And in regard to Cuddy, who among us can say we haven’t broken into a girl’s office and defaced her property?
February 1st, 2010 on 19:12
As always with film and television-related devices, there is a trope for that, John/Nick: Laser Guided Karma. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LaserGuidedKarma
As for an example of a film where the bad guy DOES get away with it, I immediately thought of Arlington Road. That film was a kicker.
February 2nd, 2010 on 21:08
Regarding someone who gets away with horrible things in films/television. The man Anton Chigurh (played by the brilliant Javier Bardem) from No Country From Old Men gets away with mass murder at the end of the film, with only a broken arm.
February 3rd, 2010 on 03:13
Tony Soprano essentially ‘got away’ with it… though they did that by ending the series on a massive cliffhanger. You can easily read it as ending on his death, too. So sort of a Schrodinger/Derrida cross stitch there.