Be Excellent To Each Other

That is all.

Cheers Chinny, I'd completely forgotten about this.

I'm going to have to record the late showing, because I'm already recording a couple of things at nine.

Was "Electric Dreams" any good - I don't seem to be able to download it.

What is this? There was Masterchef overload last night and it appears that this means there is no Masterchef tonight
So I need something to watch. Because I stay up late on Thrusdays

I'll Sky+ it. Thanks for the reminder.

If you're bored later on Gill howzaboot some GoW Hordage?

I could be up for that, yes.

Ta for the reminder - jolly looking forward to this.

Will there be an 80's electric car chase? With Sinclaire escaping the evil diesel spewing death machine of Alan Sugar due to a sudden narrowing of the alley?

Alan Sugar to be played by Sid James:

Jeff Bridges as Sir Clive Sinclair

Kalmar don't encorage Chinny

I challenge anyone to find a more 80s electric car than this:

That reminds me. The BBC used a C5 in Doctor Who so the baddies could chase the Doctor down narrow corridors!



33 seconds in, heavily disguised, but we all know!

[Edit] Of all the complaints about violence in that story at the time, Peri being slapped wasn't one of them oddly. Only just noticed that.

I think it's about the development of the speccy versus the amstrad microcomputers, and the men behind it, in the 80s. Hence why Chinny is a bit excited about it.

The battle between Sinclair and Acorn to get the contract for the BBC Micro. Doubt Amstrad will be mentioned, they weren't even developing the CPC at that stage.

If I put on a dark wig & talk in a high pitched voice can I play?

Thanks

Actually there was a big thing in the Guide about it at the weekend but I haven't read it yet.

This isn't it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/ga ... ro-men-bbc

Fucking shoddy journalism that makes me quite angry:


I've responded in the comments:

I found two.

I have owned 2 Amstrads.. the CPC464 and a PC3286...

http://www.amstrad.com/products/archive/index.html

Excellent! Now we just need to get Paul Carr to call you a cunt.

I'll do it.

That's crucial awesome.

Don't know about scotchland but according to my TV there's a double bill on tonight.

We got a triple bill last night for some reason. The last one was the cooking for the critics one, and it was different critics-the women was back. She's my fave critic. I assume it is because we have gaelic programs on for an hour tonight as well as the Scottish symphony orchestra. My ex girlfriend played violin in that-tru fax! Maybe I should watch it actually and see if she still does

This is fantastic.

Jolly great, that was.

I was amazed at how much my tiny eight year old and up mind must have retained, for certain images and sounds struck a chord deep within me, and how many memories of beavering away at a BBC Micro in Holmfirth High in the early 90's came flooding back. But beyond the interesting tale it had a lot of human drama in it as well. Something I deeply loved was the fact that the comedy came out of the characters and the business they engaged in, and it didn't revolve around braying tripe like, "HA HA HA LOOK AT THAT 8 COLOURS OR SUMMAT HA HA HA BRICK SIZE MOBILES HA HA!!!!" or around "Remember the eighties, eh? Eh? Remember? Polo necks. What were they about then?" It understood that it was the future, these were huge strides, there was nothing primative about anything they were creating - it was all white heat. One day our computers will look like a joke, or look like some scary magic shit whose strange power was lost after the great fire from the heavens and the rise of a thousand suns.

Funniest bit was the verbal sparring revolving around the word 'cream'.

Obviously there was bags of detail missed out, but since I have little knowledge of the computer war (but I intend to find out, sounds fascinating) it didn't matter so much. It was a good cliff notes, and I guess we have Chinny here to fill us in, right guys, eh, eh?

Christ, that was fucking marvellous. I enjoyed that far more than I thought possible. An Acorn user in my youth, then at Manchester Uni (where Steve Furber is head of Computer Science, and in whose research group I worked for a year) and now living in Cambridge, my past is intimately entwined with the British computer industry as shown in that programme. Obviously, it was played for laughs and drama at times, but it was so immaculately well researched and presented. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Did you ever go to The Junction? I used to DJ there.

Well that was great fun. Obviously it's been dramatised so it's not quite how things happened, but yeah it was great.

Only a few quibbles. One is how the characters ended up having to almost explain what was happening on order to move the plot along, especially on the Sinclair side.

The other is how the end seemed to be missed off the Sinclair story. No conclusion for the C5, no buyout by Amstrad. No Wafer folly either (which was much lauded at the time but didn't help Sinclairs balance sheets). You saw Acorn collapse under the weight of 250,000 Electrons, but not Sinclair due to folly after folly. I know we saw the QL and the C5 but all we did is see them, not the consequences.

Anyone spot the CPC 464 on display at the computer show set in 1982? Whoops!

One day perhaps we might get an Amstrad version (stop rolling your eyes you lot). Seriously! The few tales of Sir Alan's exploits I've heard have been most entertaining. Except I expect he has far better lawyers than Sir Clive.......

Yes! I did and thought "Hang on.."

I WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED AS CLIVE SINCLAIR, THE MAN WHO BROUGHT YOU JET SET FUCKING WILLY!

That was an entirely fucking brilliant programme, I was giggling like a little girl right through, and laughing properly several times. I want a DVD.

I had a PC2386. Bizarre design, both the case and the PCB layout (3 boards stacked to fit in the weird box).

Not as a club, only as a gig venue. I'm far too old to go clubbing now.

Sure.

You fancy some Gears too?

Dammnit, iplayer-downloader is broken

Glad it's getting good BeeX reviews, have it on Sky+ to watch over the weekend.

The temper suddenly reminded me of a story a press photographer told me a few years ago. He and a journo had gone to Clive's place to interview him about calculators (It was the 20th anniversary of the first Sinclair calculator or somesuch). Everything was fine until the journo dropped one of Sir Clive's prized collection. Apparently within a few seconds the ginger one underwent a transformation that would make Bruce Banner look like a pussycat. Both were marched from the house by a fuming Sir Clive and the article had to be abandoned.

I used to have a ginger maths teacher who also had a temper that could turn on a sixpence. Perhaps its a ginger thing?

Apparently the quote from the fight in the Baron of Beef - "You fucking buggering shit-bucket" - is actually verbatim.

PopNerd trivia: The barmaid in the Baron of Beef during that scene was played by one Sophie Wilson, née Roger Wilson.

Aaahhh. That makes sense.

Apparently Curry and Sinclair were consulted about events although lord knows what they thought of it.

Have we had a thread for this?

Can't stop and go into it now 'cos I'm mega busy (just managed to snatch a minute by the PC) but it was fabbo.

Yes, about seven threads down.

Merged.

Just a fantastic programme, although it makes me sad to think of what might have been, ho hum.

...and Jean Michel Jarre, yay, including stuff from the oft overlooked Zoolook album.

Good Sir Clive interview from back in the day:

http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/053/clive.htm

Eh? well either I was dreaming or in the end credits bit it said



And then it went onto say



Or something.

This was brilliant, brilliant Tele. Even with the sterotypical 'hyperbrain nerd says something incredibly precise and everyone goggles at him whilst he looks confused at their reaction'.

iPlayer it if you can.

Yeah I know I believe the other one is working though, iplayer-grabber or whatever it's called, so I'll give that a try.