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Sam Neill RIP

We are sorry to learn that the great actor Sam Neill has died. He had great roles in so many movies - an unforgettable villain in some, for example his role as the captain who turns out to be an android in the first "Alien" film, a brilliant and very real hero in others such as his role in the Jurassic Park franchise, where his reaction to the dinosaurs made them seem so much more real. It has been suggested that for naval audiences, Neill will be remembered for his role as Captain Second Rank Vasily Borodin, the steadfast executive officer aboard the Soviet submarine Red October in The Hunt for Red October (1990). His portrayal of Borodin's professionalism, loyalty to his captain Marco Ramius (played by Sean Connery) and quiet courage helped make the film one of the most respected naval thrillers ever brought to the screen and his fate and final words were particularly poignant. Unlike the book " Memoirs of an Invisible Man, " by H. F. Saint, the film version w...
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Farage versus Count Binface parody election broadcast

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This youtube clip is a spoof, put out by James Cunliffe and not issued or endorsed by the Count Binface campaign for the Clacton by-election. It was issued as a joke and is linked to here on the same basis.
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Joke of the week

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Ahead of the World Cup men's football match between England and Norway, this report on the publicity for an exhibition about the Vikings was shared today:
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Britain gripped by contest between political leader and a man with a bin on his head

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The Grand Admiral writes ... In the corner of the Galaxy Far Far Away which I came from, politics was a complete mess, run by a family-based oligarchy. Time and again, after pulling off victories which nobody else thought was possible to defend my people, the Chiss, I faced backbiting from treacherous politicians, including one or two in my own Mitth family, about how my military victories were political liabilities.  Any remaining respect I had for Chiss politicians was destroyed by their response after the Sunrise confrontation (which some people call "Senior Captain Thrawn's last stand.")  In that battle a hastily thrown-together alliance of Chiss and Allied forces saved the entire area which my people call " near space " and the rest of our galazy calls the " Unknown Regions " from being conquered by the Grysk, a group of evil and insidious mind-controlling aliens who make Sheev Palpatine, Lord Vader and Orson Krennic look like saints. What was the...
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Bonnie Tyler RIP

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The song "I need a hero" has been posted many times, including here, with video of a hero from the galaxy far, far away such as Obi-wan Kenobi or, most often, Luke Skywalker carving his way through a platoon of almost invincible (to anyone else) killer robots to rescue the main characters in the season II finale of " The Mandalorian. " But today we am posting it as a tribute to, and with video of, the singer, Bonnie Tyler, who has sadly died at the age of 75. In a statement, Tyler's family and team confirmed she died "unexpectedly" on Wednesday evening in a hospital in Portugal due to the "illness that she was being treated for". In May, Tyler had been rushed to hospital in Faro, Portugal, for emergency intestinal surgery and placed in an induced coma to aid her recovery. After growing up in a council house in Skewen, south Wales, Tyler went on to sell millions of records, and top charts around the world - including in the US and UK - a...
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Sci-Fi music parody spot: Ghost riders in Orion's sky

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Classic book review: "Startide RIsing" by David Brin

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" Startide Rising " by David Brin, which was first published in 1983, is the second in the "Uplift" series of science fiction novels and that very rare thing, a sequel to a great book which is even better. It deservedly won both Hugo and Nebula awards. Brin attempts and achieves something really challenging: the Earth starship "Streaker" which is at the centre of the story is commanded and mainly crewed by dolphins, with just seven humans and one uplifted chimpanzee as the other members of the crew. Brin uses dolphins, humans, the chimp and various members of the fleets of fanatical alien races who are trying to capture Streaker as his various viewpoint characters, and manages to make their voices believeable. Like the first book in the series, "Sundiver," this novel thinks big, asking huge questions about man's place in the universe and coming up with answers - true in the context of the novel - which are quite terrifying, yet it remains ent...
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