Trials & Tribulations

Last night I attempted to watch Channel 4's dramatisation, 'The Trial of Tony Blair', but couldn't stand to bear more than 20 minutes of it. The writer, Alistair Beaton, used to be writer for Spitting Image back in 1984 so perhaps he's ran out of vitriolic steam as a political satirist because there is much more comedy in 5 minutes of a Rory Bremner sketch than this feature-length snore-fest.
It was set in the year 2010 when Gordon Brown is moving into Number 10 and Tony becomes an MP again although he attempts to keep up the façade of being a VIP in the political world. However, the characters are satirised to the point beyond comedy value, each character a shadow mockery of the actual person and thus it is like watching a run of the mill drama of a bitchy housewife and and incompetent leader which is far removed from the real life personas and therefore removes any of the programmes impact.

Another programme that was worth watching is The Lost Room, starring Peter Krause of Six Feet Under fame. It is a mini-series from the Sci-Fi channel which revolves around the titular room and roughly 100 everyday items from that room that possess unusual powers, such as a bus ticket that can instantaneously transport a person to a particular location or a comb that can temporarily freeze time around a person. Peter's character, a detective named Joe Miller, falls into posession of a key which allows him access to the room wherein his daughter becomes trapped inside and he must find other objects to allow him to get her back.

In other news, we recently aquired a fantastic coffee maker [sic] in work which makes 12 cups of Joe and elimates frantic gesturing at break-time for the existing cafetière from the holder before it runs out and has to be washed out, refilled and remade, wasting vital time away from the desk. The bonus is that it can be programmed to brew just in time for 11 o'clock so you just have to turn up and pour a hot refreshing mug full of caffine. Beautiful.