August 2009
No more free South Park? YouTube Facing Viacom Lawsuit
March 15, 2007 8:08pm by Such Small Portions
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Days may be numbered for free TV utopia
If media conglomerate Viacom gets its way, the days of watching South Park, The Daily Show and other favourites on YouTube may be numbered. Viacom, owner of US TV channel Comedy Central, is suing the website for making copyrighted material available to viewers illegally.
One and a half billion people across the internet have reportedly watched clips on the site.
In February, Viacom told YouTube to stop hosting more than 100,000 clips from their programmes. Viacom claim they have the interests of the shows' creators at heart, but South Park team Trey Parker and Matt Stone have publicly stated that they have no problems with unauthorised downloading.
YouTube (recently bought by Google) could be facing a legal bill of up to $1 billion.
Vic Reeves to Publish Short Stories
March 29, 2007 8:07pm by Such Small Portions
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Vic Reeves is set to shoot up the book charts this Christmas with a collection of short stories. Virgin Books has just announced that the as yet unnamed collection will be published in December.
"Vic Reeves has a unique brand of comedy - witty, inventive and surreal. We look forward to building his profile as one of the funniest writers at work in Britain today," said a representative of Virgin Books, who also compared his work to the dark humour of Spike Milligan.
This isn't the first adventure in the literary world for the 48-year-old comic, real name Jim Moir. In 1999 he published the surreal Sun Boiled Onions, and his autobiography Me: Moir is due to be re-released in March. The renaissance man, who is set to present the new series of Brainiac, has also been cultivating a reputation as an artist, with two of his paintings shown at the Royal Academy in 2006.
Clearly, this is a man of many talents.
Robin Ince Offends West Sussex Town
March 6, 2007 8:05pm by Such Small Portions
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Geek-chic liberal Robin Ince has upset the West Sussex town of Crawley by comparing it unfavourably to Rome.
In an interview with The Epsom Guardian to promote his Robin Ince Isn't Waving tour, the frilly-shirted bookworm said: "Crawley
was a low point. I'll get a week that goes Paris, Milan, Rome, Crawley."
His tirade didn't stop there. "I mean, when you're walking around Rome, even when you're looking at a statue of Mussolini, you can think 'wow, this guy had big dreams, big thoughts'. When you arrive in Crawley you just think something's gone awry."
Not willing to stand for that, The Crawley Observer ran an article describing Ince as a "'comedy' rent-a-gob" who "rose to fame on the coat-tails of The Office funnyman Ricky Gervais." One all.
Will Ince have to apologise to the humourless New Town? Does a Jade Goody-style goodwill tour beckon? SSP hopes Robin Ince isn't Wavering.
Flogging Fools and Horses: Del Boy's Car Fetches £44k
February 28, 2007 7:58pm by Such Small Portions
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A battered Only Fools and Horses three-wheeler went at auction yesterday for over £40,000. The van was sold by specialist car auctioneer, Coys of Kensington, for more than double its estimated price.
The 1972 Reliant Regal, famed as Del Boy's babe-magnet of choice, was immortalised in an episode when the duo dressed as Batman and Robin and used the car as their 'Batmobile'.
The decrepit yellow car had "Trotters Independent Trading Co, New York, Paris, Peckham" emblazoned on its side, and was used from the sixth series onwards. It was one of three used in the show, and the second model built for the series.
The high price tag comes as no surprise, given the popularity of the cheeky Cockney show. It was voted number one in the 2004 BBC programme Britain's Best Sitcom, beating classics like Dad's Army and Fawlty Towers to claim the top spot.
