Poor Mojo's Newswire

Shane MacGowan is set to appear in a reality TV programme about growing vegetables. The Pogues' frontman and his girlfriend Victoria Mary Clarke both take part in the RTE One programme, which is called 'Victoria and Shane Grow Their Own'. In the show, the pair attempt to emulate the plot of '70s sitcom 'The Good Life', which saw characters Tom and Barbara Good attempt to live a sustainable life by growing their own veg and rearing their own animals for food.

It is 30 years since Monty Python gave us Life of Brian. For those few who are unaware of it (perhaps too young, or recently emerged from a coma), this is the story of an ordinary chap called Brian Cohen who is constantly mistaken for being the long-awaited Messiah. His misfortune is that he is born at the same time as – and in the next stable to – Jesus Christ. Although the Pythons intended the film to be a satire on blind faith and organised religion, they could not have imagined the extent of the furore it would cause on its release. A campaign condemning the film on the grounds of blasphemy – led by Mary Whitehouse and the Christian values organisation, The Festival of Light – resulted in the film being banned in parts of Britain and the whole of Ireland and Norway. In the US, meanwhile, protesters gathered outside cinemas. However, 30 years on, that same film is regularly touted as the funniest British comedy of all time, and is now quoted by everyone from politicians (Tony Blair in his 2004 Labour party conference speech referenced the “What have the Romans ever done for us?” scene) to the bishop who told me he is always reciting lines from the film to his friends. . . .

Liz Lemon appears to be the liberal voice of reason but is neither liberal nor reasonable; likewise, Jack Donaghy appears to be her evil conservative foil but is not. Admittedly, in the first half of the first season, Jack Donaghy did play the role of the amoral, conservative corporate head that Liz needed to defeat in office combat. The show, however, dropped that type of satire very early on. While 30 Rock’s writers do make fun of Jack for his monomaniacal obsession with profits and prestige (as well as his unhealthy love of Ronald Reagan), I would argue that Jack, not Liz, has quickly become the show’s voice of reason and emotional center. In fact, if we look at 30 Rock as a whole, the main storyline has been one about Liz Lemon becoming more like Jack Donaghy than the other way around. Let’s talk about Jack’s politics first. Unlike Liz Lemon, whose progressive credentials don’t hold up to close scrutiny, Jack is clearly a (somewhat exaggerated) neocon, through and through. He believes in profit and the market above all, hates taxes, does not appreciate unions, and believes in forcing his own beliefs on others, often by use of force. He goes to the New York stock exchange when he’s horny. When he screws up, he pretends it never happened and gives himself a huge bonus. He believes that people from the American South are undiscriminating but morally superior to “the north’s elitist, east coast, alternative, intellectual, left wing” Jews.

Gaga started things off with "Bad Romance," wearing a glittering, H.R. Geiger-inspired headpiece and a nude bodysuit, flanked by six pansexual dancers who cavorted and whirled around her. She belted out the high notes, then cast the headpiece aside to get down to some herky-jerky dance moves (no doubt inspired by the "Romance" video), then collapsed to the floor while her dancers crawled behind her. Suddenly, the music stopped, the crowd squealed with delight and Gaga smiled. The she grabbed her mic stand, walked over to her piano (which was encased in glass) and proceeded to smash her way inside. Surrounded by shards of glass, she straddled the piano bench and began playing the opening refrain of the somber "Speechless," all while her piano erupted in flames. Unfazed, she kept playing as a pair of gas-mask wearing violinists (also encased in glass) added accompaniment. As the song reached its crescendo, Gaga grabbed for a slew of bottles and, to add to each stab of the violin, she smashed them on the piano. The crowd whooped with delight.