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Ashes to Ashes: Season 2, Episode 1

The first episode of season 2 of Ashes to Ashes aired on BBC1 in the UK last night… and boy, does it look like this might be an awesome season for the show! So, enough messing about, let’s get right to the recap!

The episode begins with a shot of a television. On the TV, a newsreader is talking about the disappearance of DI Alex Drake. Because the TV is a widescreen model, we can safely assume that this is taking place in 2008. The camera pulls out, and we see that we are inside a hospital, and two nurses are attending to someone in a bed. Who is it? We don’t know (see the “Other Stuff” section, below).

One of the nurses wonders where Drake is, and we next see Alex walking around in a sewer with Gene Hunt, Ray Carling, and Chris Skelton. Hunt, less than happy to be walking around in a sewer, asks Drake if she’s sure the tunnel they’re in is unused. Drake says that she called the water board and they confirmed that “tunnel 96” hasn’t been used for decades. A nervous Chris looks at the tunnel number on the wall, and sees that it’s tunnel 69. The gang then hear a noise, like a heavy door opening or a large lock turning. They then hear the sound of running water. Chris, in a bit of foreshadowing, screams “Oh shittt!”

We next see Drake in her apartment, cleaning the sewer water off of Gene’s precious cowboy boots. Alex has the TV on, and the news is reporting about the HMS Invincible leaving port to head off to the Falkland Islands. Alex finds a thumbtack in the sole of Gene’s boots, removes it and for some reason zones out on it. When she does, the TV switches over to another program. In it, Alex’s daughter, Molly, is being scolded by the headmistress of her school. Apparently the other kids are harassing her, telling her that her mother has died. Towards the end of the conversation, Molly appears to cheer up slightly, and says that “there’s news” about Alex’s disappearance. Alex, of course, rushes to the TV, begging Molly to tell her what the news is. Before Molly can say anything else, the screen fades to black and the shows’ end credits start to roll. Alex bangs the TV set, hoping to learn more. The TV turns to static, and the opening credits for Ashes to Ashes roll.

Continue reading “Ashes to Ashes: Season 2, Episode 1”

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Bad move…

How’s this for a stupid marketing move? It seems that Pepsi decided to give away tickets to a game at the new Yankee Stadium. For whatever reason, the company decided to give away the tickets at the game. Of course, far more people showed up than Pepsi had tickets for, so the company was treated to the sight of angry Yankees fans chanting “Pepsi sucks!” outside the stadium:

The company is continuing the promotion, but will now give the tickets away, in advance, at a third-party location.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-04-19

  • Watch “Caprica” today! http://ping.fm/apfP2 #
  • Peanut butter and banana shakes from Cook Out always brighten my day! 🙂 #
  • Holy crap! The person who sings “Goodbye Horses” is a CHICK? I had no idea! #
  • There are naked boobies in “Caprica”?? #
  • “Plenty of people had bottles of poisoned rum in the trunks of their cars!” #
  • VICTORY! Time Warner dumps plans for data caps: http://ping.fm/tJJSi #

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Quote of the Day

“I know plenty of people who had poisoned bottles of rum in the trunks of their cars.”

OK, this one requires some explanation. A user on the Straight Dope Message Board created this post, which asks whether leaving out a “poisoned donut” (in hopes that a burglar would eat it and die) is a crime or not. In his opening post, the questioner asked the question, then wrote the quote above.

Several people replied to the original poster, discussing the legality of such booby traps. Eventually, however, curiosity got the better of one of the posters, and about 10 posts in, someone asked the OP to explain the above quote. Here’s his response:

The poisoned bottle in the trunk was a common “anti-theft device” on my youth years (80’s) in Venezuela. The rationale ranging from simple revenge to the hope of the guy dying and the car being abandoned to be found out.

The way it was normally done was to leave half a bottle of rum (rum being the cheap booze in Venezuela) with some poison which ranged from rat poison to medications to only-god-knows. Having half bottles of non-poisoned rum was very common as there were no open container laws. I normally had 5-6 bottles in my trunk at all times (along with a white shirt, a tie and a swimsuit).

The point of the bottle being only half full (or half empty) was first to avoid wastage, but also to give the impression of an already drunk bottle which made it look safer.

This was common enough that I have a whole series of first hand stories (not FOAF) of everything from actual “success” stories, to friendly fire casualties, to fights among friends trying to stop each other from drinking both safe and poisoned bottles.

Eventually this became so common that it stopped being effective as thieves just assumed all bottles to be poisoned and would then break them inside your car if they abandoned it (stolen for a robbery or the such).

Crazy times.

Crazy times indeed!

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Partial Victory? TWC dumps caps

Time Warner Cable, stung by a barrage of criticism from everyone from customers to Congress, has (temporarily) abandoned plans for data caps on the company’s residential Internet service plans. Note the key word temporarily, however. TWC CEO Glenn Britt released a statement today that read, in part:

“It is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about our plans to roll out additional tests on consumption based billing. As a result, we will not proceed with implementation of additional tests until further consultation with our customers and other interested parties, ensuring that community needs are being met.”

So apparently, the public is just “stupid” and needs to be “educated” as to why Time Warner increasing their broadband bills by 300% is actually a good thing. I have this awesome mental image of a 30-foot high razor wire fence encircling a “Time Warner Cable Re-Education Center”, with hoi polloi like myself shuffling around an exercise yard in a Seconal stupor, lobotomy scar prominent on my forehead.

As I’ve said to anyone who will listen, this is nothing but a blatant money grab by Time Warner, and just today I mailed letters to North Carolina governor Bev Perdue, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, my state legislator and senator, and the FCC – in addition to sending online letters to the President, Vice President, my two Senators and my Congresswhore (Sue Myrick – where’s the “puke smiley” when you need it?). I’m as serious as a fucking heart attack about opposing these caps, and while I’m happy about today’s victory, I’m sure those bastards at Time Warner will try to come up with some sort of end-around.

For this reason, you need to stay vigilant on this issue. Check out the following websites if you have some spare time:

http://droptwc.com/
http://stoptwc.info/
http://stopthecap.com/

For more information about today’s events, check out this article at Ars Technica, or this article at eWeek.

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John Madden retires

Faster than you can say, “Tough actin’ Tinactin,” NFL Hall of Famer John Madden, the legendary voice of Monday Night Football and the creator of EA Sports video game Madden NFL Football, has decided to take himself out of the game. Madden’s retiring from broadcasting. He’ll be leaving NBC’s Football Game of the Week as the color commentator; Al Michaels is continuing at the play by play voice.

This is a sad day! Even though people loved making fun of John Madden, it was still reassuring to hear his voice (and his bizarre non sequiturs) during football games. Madden was like that crazy uncle you had that spoke gibberish 90% of time, but you just couldn’t help but love. His voice was kind of like a warm, fuzzy blanket: comforting and reassuring. Even though he often pointed out things that even a novice football fan grasped several minutes before, it was always comforting to hear his booming voice. I, for one, will miss him!

via John Madden retires from NFL broadcasting.

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Unbelievable Beauty

This is Monica Bellucci:

Monica Bellucci

Even if you don’t understand French, you can probably figure out the headline of this issue of French Elle magazine: Bellucci, and others like Sophie Marceau and Eva Herzigova, are shown without makeup, and without any Photoshopping or airbrushing whatsoever. That’s Monica Bellucci, 100%, completely au natural. Oh, and by the way, she’s 44.

She’s almost too beautiful for words!

Read more about it (and see pictures of some of the other women) here.

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Dig ‘may reveal’ Cleopatra’s tomb

Cool news from Egypt:

Archaeologists are to search three sites in Egypt that they say may contain the tomb of doomed lovers Anthony and Cleopatra.

Excavation at the sites, which are near a temple west of the coastal city of Alexandria, is due to begin next week.

Teams working in the area said the recent discovery of tombs containing 10 mummies suggested that Anthony and Cleopatra might be buried close by.

I find this absolutely fascinating. The story of Anthony and Cleopatra is a tale of doomed love that puts Romeo and Juliet to shame.

via BBC NEWS | Dig ‘may reveal’ Cleopatra’s tomb.