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The subtly witty program announcer from the free podcasts. And as I mentioned last week, the changing gallery of ridiculous photos and descriptions that appeared on iTunes (or one's video iPod; I have a Shuffle and it's sweet, so I'm not ready to upgrade).
Other than that, I actually think they're trying harder now that the show isn't free and is getting an even bigger audience. In the newest show, Stephen describes the worst Carnivale vacation ever and actually gets to talk for more than five seconds. He even gets angry! I like that. I had a very happy fantasy recently in which Stephen and I were wed. I could try to reproduce the festive speeches by my friends and the Office types alike, the grudgingly/cheerfully granted slow dance to "Only You" by Lucy Davis and Martin Freeman, and the terrific London real estate preferable even to that represented in Match Point, as well as of course the general good times, but you probably had to be there.
Note: I consume quite a lot of other media besides these podcasts, but since they've created a tidal wave of traffic for my wee blog, I feel a special connectedness to them. Stephen's Carnivale reminiscence made me think once again about Black Orpheus, a favorite film of my mother's that I saw for the first time at Film Forum last week. It is magnificent.
Speaking of Gervais one more time (not likely), one of the now-famous Knob at Night DJs has just revamped his compulsively listenable—total cliché, but in this case it's true—mashup of David Brent's earnestly soulful "Free Love Freeway." Download it here and you'll see what I mean.
Comments
wow. i think i’m going to let you write my fantasies from now on. you’re really good at it. i WAS there and green with envy, stephen is my favorite.
ps. where does this quote come from? “Unfashionably reverent rather than ironic,” mainly.
Aren’t you observant! I’m pleased you noticed it. It comes from somewhere in last week’s Goings on About Town; see if you can spot it. I thought it made a nice new motto.
em, did you know about the many hours of Gervais/Merchant/Pilkington broadcasts archived here?http://www.xfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=3673-Paul
Yes! There’s a link in the now-notorious “Knob at Night” remix post. But I still haven’t listened to them, and I can’t wait. There’s one about Stephen being voted Most Eligible Bachelor, so clearly I’m not the only one with amorous notions about the tall, modest mastermind.
I give up. I cannot find the origins of that quote in the feb 27th issue - that was “last week” wasn’t it?
Here you go; it’s by Anon.ANGELO FILOMENOThe peacock’s influence on art has waned considerably since the Middle Ages. Filomeno resurrects it with full, exquisitely gaudy grandeur. Wall hangings made of embroidered silk and gold lamé and tableaux fashioned from cascading crystals, mirrors, and stuffed birds look like School of Liberace interior-design projects; a carefully lit display of three silk knight’s helmets, festooned with feathers and hung from the ceiling, offers an object lesson in resurrected pageantry. The oddest thing is that Filomeno’s love of silk and baubles registers as surprisingly—and unfashionably—reverent rather than ironic. Through March 11. (Boesky, 535 W. 22nd St. 212-680-9889.)