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Will Self has established himself as one of the most brilliant, daring, and inventive writers of his generation. My Idea of Fun is Will Self’s highly acclaimed first novel. The story of a devilishly clever international financier/marketing wizard and his young apprentice, My Idea of Fun is both a frighteningly dark subterranean exploration of capitalism run rampant and a wickedly sharp, technically acute display of linguistic pyrotechnics that glows with pure white-hot brilliance. Ian Wharton is a very ordinary young man until he is taken under the wing of a gentleman known variously as Mr. Broadhurst, Samuel Northcliff, and finally and simply the Fat Controller. Loudmouthed, impeccably tailored, and a fount of bombastic erudition, the Fat Controller initiates Ian into the dark secrets of his arts -- of marketing, money, and the human psyche -- and takes Ian, and the reader, on a wild voyage around the edges of reality. As we careen into the twenty-first century, Self perfectly captures the zeitgeist of our times: money is the only common language; consumerism, violence, and psychosis (drug-induced and otherwise) prevail; and the human soul has become the ultimate product.

Spike Milligan is one of my intellectual heroes. He throughly entertained about two generations of people in the U.K. while having to deal with severe manic depression. Overall Carpenter's biography is solid. Carpenter only gets off track, in my opinion, when he tries to imply that Spike was more in control of his mood swings than he wanted us to believe. Carpenter also tries to say at one point that Spike might have been Schizophrenic because of his occasional bouts with auditory hallucinations and his sensitivity to certain noises. Maybe is was a touch of bad research as both are common symptoms reported by those suffering a severe depressive mood. In my depression I've had auditory hallucinations myself, but they are aren't to be confused with schizophrenic "voices" as they usually take the form of crashes, bells, or other random noises; in other words they are just brain cells mis-firing. Carpenter seems to have the bias of someone who has never been personally touched by depression personally or in his family. Good for him, however he doesn't always have enough sympathy for a problem that often debilitated Spike. The attitude the book takes is very nebulous.Other than that, this book is very solid.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle(ねじまき鳥クロニクル,Nejimakitori Kuronikuru)is a novel published in 1994–1995 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" (English) are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997. For this novel, Murakami received the Yomiuri Literary Award, which was awarded to him by one of his harshest former critics, Kenzaburō Ōe.The original Japanese edition was released in three parts, which make up the three "books" of the single volume English language version.In English translation, two chapters were originally published inThe New Yorkerunder the titles "The Zoo Attack" on July 31, 1995, and "Another Way to Die" on January 20, 1997. A slightly different version of the first chapter translated by Alfred Birnbaum was published in the collectionThe Elephant Vanishesunder the title "The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women". In addition, the character name Noboru Wataya appears in the short story "Family Affair" inThe Elephant Vanishes. While having a similar personality and background, the character is not related to the one inThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicleof the same name. Noboru Wataya is also used in Jay Rubin's translation of the title short story inThe Elephant Vanishes.

Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.

A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.

1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes

A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which began when five criminals met at a seemingly random police lineup.

1995 German-American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Bryan Singer

Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless C.I.A. official and his Agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.

2007 action film directed by Paul Greengrass

A tale of greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two best friends: a mafia enforcer and a casino executive compete against each other over a gambling empire, and over a fast-living and fast-loving socialite.

A test pilot is miniaturized in a secret experiment, and accidentally injected into a hapless store clerk.

1987 science fiction comedy movie directed by Joe Dante

Three former parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.

In 1935, Indiana Jones arrives in India, still part of the British Empire, and is asked to find a mystical stone. He then stumbles upon a secret cult committing enslavement and human sacrifices in the catacombs of an ancient palace.

Jack Sparrow races to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid enslaving his soul to Jones' service, as other friends and foes seek the heart for their own agenda as well.

2006 fantasy-adventure movie directed by Gore Verbinski

Popular Broadway actor Gary Johnston is recruited by the elite counter-terrorism organization Team America: World Police. As the world begins to crumble around him, he must battle with terrorists, celebrities and falling in love.

An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.

Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.

Barely 21 yet, Frank is a skilled forger who has passed as a doctor, lawyer and pilot. FBI agent Carl becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.

Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.

1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg

Obsessed with vengeance, a man sets out to find out why he was kidnapped and locked into solitary confinement for twenty years without reason.

Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.

2002 documentary film directed by Michael Moore

After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.

An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.

2006 American crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding the unborn child.

2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman

The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino

An NYPD officer tries to save his wife and several others taken hostage by German terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

1988 American action film by John McTiernan

The B-52's is an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson (guitar), and Keith Strickland. Wilson died of AIDS-related illness in 1985, and Strickland switched from drums to lead guitar. The band also added various members for albums and live performances.

Toots and the Maytals, originally calledThe Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group and one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. Frontman Toots Hibbert's soulful vocal style has been compared to Otis Redding, and led him to be named one of the 100 Greatest Singers byRolling Stone. Their 1968 single "Do the Reggay", was the first song to use the word "reggae", naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. As Island Records founder Chris Blackwell says, "The Maytals were unlike anything else ... sensational, raw and dynamic."Frederick "Toots" Hibbert, the frontman of the group, was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica, in 1942, the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir and moved to Kingston in the late 1950s.

American musician, recording artist, singer-songwriter (1942-2013)

Bret and Jemaine are Flight of the Conchords, a folk-rock band from New Zealand living in New York City in search of stardom.

The series features comic fights between an iconic pair of adversaries, a house cat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry). The plots of each short usually center on Tom and Jerry's numerous attempts to...

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme created and presented by Charlie Brooker and broadcast on BBC Four. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.Screenwipe is presented by comedian Charlie Brooker, who reviews other British television programmes with a caustic and humorous tone. Brooker analyses specific programmes and genres, regularly making jokes about how programmes are created. Brooker often pays particular attention to more obscure channels on satellite, Freeview and cable, such as those dedicated to gambling, shopping, horoscopes and pornography. He explores the probable effects of television on society and the feelings programmes can create in the viewer. One segment of each show is usually dedicated to positive reviews, with analysis on why the style and content are so absorbing.

The Gadget show aims to focus on the latest upcoming gadgets, games and more.

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy troupe formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1989 to 1995 on CBC in Canada, and CBS, HBO, and Comedy Central in the United States. The theme song for the show is the instrumental "Having an Average Weekend" by the Canadian band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet.
The Kids made one film, Brain Candy, which was released in 1996. They reformed for various tours and comedy festivals in 2000. They later reunited for an eight-part miniseries, Death Comes to Town, in January 2010.
Their name came from Sid Caesar, who, if a joke did not go over, or played worse than expected, would attribute it to "the kids in the hall", referring to a group of young writers hanging around the studio.

A surreal, ambient mix of bleak comedy sketches.

A comedy panel game in which being Quite Interesting is more important than being right. Sandi Toksvig is joined each week by four comedians to share anecdotes and trivia, and maybe answer some questions as well.

British comedy panel game television quiz show

Three misfit priests and their housekeeper live on Craggy Island, not the peaceful and quiet part of Ireland that it seems to be.

Mark and Jez are a couple of twenty-something roommates who have nothing in common - except for the fact that their lives are anything but normal. Mayhem ensues as the pair strive to cope with day-to-day life.

Adam Buxton + Joe Cornish write, film, act in, edit and host their own home-made TV show which parodies contemporary popular culture.

While telling her husband he's dying, Jill sets her sights on the next door neighbour, Don. And torments his wife, who suffers from MS.

Comedy panel game show hosted by anarchic surrealist comic duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.

A British sketch comedy show where people in ordinary situations suddenly find themselves in absurd situations.

A comedy sketch show featuring David Mitchell and Robert Webb.

Controversal spoof of current affairs television, and the role of celebrity in the UK.

A spoof of the British style of news broadcasting - including ridiculous stories, patronising vox pops, offensively hard-hitting research and a sports presenter clearly struggling for metaphors.

surreal British parody of television current affairs programmes

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