Election prolapse

Parliament is hung. Poor rich boy Davo couldn't seal the deal, Clegg suffered from the fear of a Tory majority and Brown managed to keep his head above water just.

Plenty of little stories being missed as 24hr tv news goes into horse trading frenzy and we get to watch people go in and out of meetings.

My favourite titbit has to be the 14 year old socialist who donned a disguise to vote then, after being dobbed in by his teacher, refused to speak to The Sun! Said he was a Grinauda reader hahaha

Nick Griffin's racist party suffered a gubbing as did UKIP even though their leader tried a bit too hard to steal headlines on polling day. Other good news that Stroud - gotta prays those gay demons out - didn't get in and neither did Teeth Rantzen who lost her deposit and only one of the inbred Rees-Mogs got in

Ed Balls - lunatic old skool Labourite managed to keep his seat by a whisker which must really irk Guido and his chums.

This Prof has a nice take on Cameron's failed bid to secure a Tory majority.

Shame HIGNFY is lurching towards it's nadir but the Private Eye has still got some chompers; here's a charmless tale about The Sun - I blame Australians, he's their problem so they should really have "dealt" with him by now.

Looks like chuckler Alex Salmond has offered to help out in a Lib/Lab coalition if things don't work out between Dave and Nick.

No matter how much they fret over a deal over the next few days I still can't see either Cons or the Lib-D parties accepting any deal. I want electoral reform, it's time we mature a bit as country I think and Clegg has a once in a generation opportunity, stakes are high

Trails

Some nice vids of Predators, Splice, Machete & some kids vision of Rendezvous With Rama. There's a whole lot more over at Wired.

More election verbiage

Osbourne hires former oil biz chum to ask oil companies how to make off-shore drilling, in say conservation areas off Shetland, more profitable for them and decides it's a win-win - if it's true it's the most loveliest gift to Alex Smiler Salmond and I suppose it'll be byebye England.

As the election has progressed I've wearied at the Dish's pro-Camo stance so a post titled Tory Nightmare is a definite improvement.

Want to punch/kick politicians ? try Downing Street Fighter

TVersity diversity

Weegie director Paul McGuigan's Gangster No 1. was excellent and surprisingly disturbing. Malcolm McDowell plays an aging, quite mad, crime boss looking back to his climb to the top/descent into madness in 1960's London. Flashing back in time from a black tie boxing match, Paul Bettany puts in an impressive performance as the young hood brought into the gang, who eventually kills friends & foes to achieve his goal in rather chilling, brutal fashion. Stylishly shot, well scripted and with great performances from Thewlis, Bettany and McDowell this is a cut above your usual British gangsterism.

Iron Man 2 is a decent enough sequel, there's plenty of natty fx action sequences and Downey Jr is still the most appealing superhero on screen at the moment but the whole thing was a bit too busy for me; if they peeled away the SHIELD/Scarlett storyline they could've chucked a bit more action in and still had more time to flesh out the Rourke/Rockwell arc too.

Anyone but the Tories please

Pah - Tories are upset that Gordo might try and cling on in power if it's a tight result, aww poor old them. If they want to see "upset" let's wait and see what happens if the Tories try and rule with a minority government. Here's an interesting article on their planned tactics for wrestling power if it's close.

Not a great day for the Bullingdon boys as Ken Clarke acknowledges they've only got a "slim chance" of getting a majority, Dirtbag Coulson is dragged back into the NOTW phone hacking scandal after Mulcaire's book shapes up and Mekon Hague supports that loon that was trying to cure gays by prayer.

Mind you it's not a great day for Gordo either with some barmy Labour MP touting Brown as Worst PM Ever. According to the Guardian his Mum isn't best pleased.

Leftfootforward, run by Jack Iraq Straw's son, has a bit about Scottish polling, apparently the Scottish Mail on Sunday poll indicates the Tories might lose their only seat. That'd be nice and he's only got a 1700 majority so fingers crossed.

Good to see Cory Doctorow is still punching away at the Murdoch press.

Cameron's shiny face looms closer

Nice & simple infographic on Datablog showing the lack of honesty and/or competence in the three parties proposed cuts.

Some Tory Bibleclutcher has, according to the Observer, been praying to God to "cure" the gays and drive out their demons. Mmm feel that stupid - thick and creamy idiocy. Get used to it though 'cause, after reading these two articles, if the Tory party gets in it's going to be a flavour of dumb with a foothold.

Looks like my current gloomy election outlook is shared by Marina Hyde in the Grinduaa

President Obama does a funny Jon Stewart-esque bit at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. ta Wonkette

Wolves, Gumshoes and an Escapee

The Howling, directed by Joe Dante, is a reasonable slice of 80's horror about a pack of werewolves trying and failing to curb their appetites. The acting and fx have dated badly and it's got a really slow first third but it picks up the pace and generates a few decent scary moments along the way. My main problem is the obligatory transformation scenes, how come everyone just stands and watches? if someone's face started bubbling and changing in front of me I'd be off like a shot.


Devil in a Blue Dress, is a nice little neo-noir thriller. Based on a book by Walter Mosley and starring Denzel W. as a reluctant detective hunting for a missing wife who has a penchant for dark meat. Well acted and scripted, with some nice 50's period details this hard boiled mystery was an entertaining 90 mins.

Low budget Brit-horror, Salvage, was a valiant attempt but ultimately wasn't very successful. Playing out much like a cross of Right at Your Door & The Nightmare Man, this little 80min movie followed the residents of a cul-de-sac locked down by the military once a freight container washes up on a nearby beach and it's contents are disgorged. If they had tweaked the plot a little (particularly the ending) and hired better actors this could have been quite good.

Scientific Saturday

Inspiring view of Earth as seen from the surface of Mars - nice work NASA

Goldacre's bit in today's Guardian is worth a read - a political experiment showing that our prejudices are enhanced rather than diminished by factual corrections in newspaper articles. Bad luck Nazi-Nick.

And on Neuroanthropology.net there's a nice article discussing the effects of negativity in the mainstream media. Thanks Mind Hacks

Finally proving science has all the answers here's a bit of worthwhile research into the relative pros/cons of napping at your desk face down versus the traditional napping while lying prone.