Sidders

That Loop Fighter looks so damn good.

The Internet is getting fat. Time to make room. http://www.google.com/intl/en/ipv6/ So basically, our IP addresses are changing in order to make more room for more devices connecting to the Internet. Our IP addresses will no longer by strings of four numbers ranging from 0 to 225 (e.g. 192.95.45.180) and will instead be shown as: 5091:db8::1132:ace:3474:4j Lovely.

As if by magic, it's the middle of the exams period, and the insomnia is starting to kick in. It's nigh-on periodic and I just feel like **** lying in bed hanging over the brink of sleep but never actually getting anywhere. I just get hot and clammy lying in bed. Listening to this though: Feel like this woman understands me better than I do.

I could see the theme working, but as Benin said, it would be far more advisable taking the whole "aerial counter-attack on The Swarm" theme to a ride with a decent throughput.

I must've missed the chorus...

I've just become a supporter of Eugenics...

He'd be shot in my town.

Oh jesus... I hate not having facial hair. Was persuaded to shave it for last day...

Seems very unlikely or Alton would've wanted to promote that as early as possible, and we would've heard about it by now.

I wouldn't mind it either! In fact let's begin: I still don't see the justification of the juxtaposition in the music though. I've grown to 'Love Is Blindness', but still a bit lost by Kanye and Jay-Z being used. However, I do like the internal symbolism of them both being hugely successful black artists, and at this time in America's history blacks had found an avenue by which they could access the previously staunchly racist white society with their musical abilities and the universality of 'black-born' genres like jazz and blues. I didn't originally think about the "shunning" of the lower classes (George, Myrtle) upon which people like Tom dump their ashes (literally), but it's an entirely valid point. I agree with you there, and maybe the woman at 0:30 is actually Myrtle? She would represent the passive and ultimately destructive permeability of the social boundaries and so may logically be allowed to make an appearance in such an advert that shows the socialites she wants to rub shoulders with, right? Completely agree with the Maguire comments. As I said earlier, even in acting he seems... too 'bright' or too 'comfortable', particularly with Jordan at Gatsby party. I always imagined Carraway as more of an internal thinker, rather than much of a speaker; the kind of person not to let his face or tone betray his emotions. Now, y'see, to me, Gatsby was always polite and the fact that even Carraway couldn't see through it was testament to the fact Gatsby has spent so long perfecting his façade that the more astute eye could still be fooled. I think Gatsby is still quite an internal character too. He obviously has more of a weak spot than Nick (or maybe that's just because Nick chose to focus more on Gatsby and Daisy than himself and Jordan - he does speak of a burgeoning relationship with her - but not at length - in the novel) in his idealisation of Daisy, though. But still, all good healthy debating.

If you ask me, I'm most worried about the fact I barely recognise any of the lines and quotes from the novel. There's plenty of indication Luhrmann is walking the walk, but with a text that relies so heavily on the narration of a man with an astute eye for social contradictions and ostentatious veneers I question Luhrmann's loyalty to Fitzgerald's original text. As quite possibly my favourite novel, I'm very disappointed with the first impressions I get. And as for the hedonism... I didn't even pick up on it. Which was a major box left un-ticked. Things I've noticed about the film from the advert: Not sure what musical style Luhrmann's going for. With Maguire's (Nick Carraway) narration at the beginning, I expected to hear the staple jazz orchestra but instead was met with a modernised sort of hybrid R&B-meets-soulless-jazz thing from Jay-Z and Kanye West. Not too keen on it. The music has the right tone, with the nigh-on sexy, bass-driven melody, but the rest of it doesn't quite fit. Also a bit confused by the Jack White's cover of 'Love Is Blindness' played in the ad. Although it's passion certainly matches the intense love affair between Gatsby and Daisy, the musical sound, again, just isn't right nor is compatible with the Jazz Age. The casting is 50/50. I have no worries about Gatsby, Wolfshiem, and as far as I can see, Jordan is cast brilliantly as well. Can't say much of Tom Buchanan as he only has one line in the advert (which in itself is quite shocking as he is such an imposing key character) and there's also a distinct lack of George and Myrtle too, which is baffling as they are absolutely imperative. Tobey Maguire is terrible as Carraway already. His voice hasn't the right tone nor maturity to carry any of Carraway's commentaries convincingly, and this is why I think a lot of his narration appears to have been abandoned or heavily re-written (from what we can see). He seems far too dorky-ish and youthful to play such a complex character. As for Carey Mulligan as Daisy... Sorry, but if I'm being pedantic (I am surely allowed this bit of pedantry since this is Luhrmann piece - a man obsessed with detail), but she simply does not look the part. Some of it could have easily been changed - plucking her eyebrows to far thinner strips would be a start (it was a huge thing to do back in the 20s). Others are harder to correct, such as her nose. Yes this is extremely pedantic, but with all this talk within the upper classes of the time ("fine breeding", etc.) Tom, a huge misogynist, bigot, racist, sexist, alpha-male and white-race-supremacy figure, would not have settled for a woman with a rounded nose. Sorry. Mia Farrow wins. I don't recognise any of the lines. This doesn't seem like a huge worry until you realise it means that maybe a lot more than simply the lines have changed. Fitzgerald is one of my favourite writers and I simply don't see how they could just abandon his elaborately romantic prose or release the first ad for a film interpretation without including some of the more potent ones. The revised lines in the ad seem lifeless and dull. "The tempo of the city had changed" coming closer than any, but is still a way off Fitzgerald's urban romanticism. Which leads me on to my greatest worry that they may have changed plot-lines/characters to make it more sellable. I'd hate to think in a bid to make it more appealing that Luhrmann has changed too much of the original plot (to be honest, there barely is a plot). Not a great deal happens but a great deal is said/narrated by Carraway; the novel is more a social commentary on the hypocrisy and vulgarity of the upper classes and their self-professed 'sophistication' after the War. It's very hard to imagine Carraway shouting "Get the hell out of here" or even Gatsby lunged at someone. Both are charismatically genteel and, particularly Gatsby, irritatingly polite. /snob So yeah. I'll watch it, but I want my first impressions turned around by the time I do.

TPM Skype hack of Embarrassing Bodies? We can finally get Liam the help he needs for his herpes...

Would genuinely love to do that, but it's over 100 miles away from me!

Well it's transitions seem to be far smoother and more graceful than I305's, but then again that could be due to the nigh-on 100mph speed... Bit disappointed with the reverse Stengel Dive though... thought it looked much snappier than that.

Can't wait to ride Shambhala in 2024.

Oh for goodness sake I wish they'd just let it fall apart with dignity. WOuld love to here what PBE have to say about that should it happen.* *They'd probably blame Merlin for unsportsmanlike conduct or some crap like that.

Hi David, welcome to TPM. The price for Thorpe's "Bounce Back" tickets vary; it depends when you want to 'bounce back'. If you want to visit the park the day immediately after your initial visit then the tickets costs £6, but if you wish to 'bounce back' at an open date (meaning no fixed date, so long as it's within the season you bought the original ticket with) then it costs £15. There are extra charges if you wish to bounce back during the park's Fright Nights and Blow It Up! events (October - November), where the tickets then cost £18. Please be aware that you can only buy Bounce Back tickets from the park; they aren't available for purchase from their website. Hope this helps.

Yes but look again at Japan and Germany and you can see a transport system that has been maintained and re-invested upon far better than our own. We can't simply magic up our own elitist prestige by dumping some fancy towers and building utterly unnecessary railways with money we don't have across the country and hoping that it'll blot out the fact that the majority of Britain looks like a skid-mark on the Universe. We can't just build what Japan builds and hope it makes the place look better whilst charging however much it takes to keep the proles at bay and the rich ****s in luxury; it doesn't work like that. Besides - it's not like the born-millionaires have to pay the £32bn HS2 is costing... You can have St. Pancras, but that's been built to be magnificent, just as the majority of Japan and Germany's transport systems have. I'm talking about renovating what we already have - sticking vanity projects like the Orbit Tower on greenfield sites is not going to improve the look and allure of East London unless the government, quite literally, look at ground level and examine what really needs to be improved e.g. housing, roads, local amenities that aren't capitalist hunting grounds, etc., etc.

Most likely I must admit Thorpe's ride reliability is sound this year so far (for the vast majority).

Nice. Thorpe's only "S" rides that remain operational are Samurai and... Storm Surge.

That'll probably never be done though - not even the Labour government knew how to redevelop and rejuvenate brown-field sites. They just dumped spanking new buildings on top of old rubble and expected it to revamp the look of area. Sad thing is these new, modernist projects and buildings stick out like dildos in a library and do nothing to improve the image of even places like the West Pier. I'd love to see it happen but knowing our government I'm not holding my breath...

It's in Brighton. What on earth makes the government think people are going to want to see anything from the top of a tower in Brighton? Why doesn't the government stop wasting money on false prestige and actually do something about the nation's debt. I'm sick of seeing crap like this, the Orbit Tower, HS2 and the Olympic Stadiums wasting billions on dead-end concepts that'll never revamp our country's image; not least in the eyes of other countries. "Raise Brighton's profile". Ermm, no. Do you see people raving about Stratford? It's stupid to think this government use supposed-iconic projects as tools to lift areas out of deprivation rather than doing the grisly work and actually rectifying the quality of housing in said areas. The Orbit Tower, for example, looks like a scrapyard dumped on a runway. Oiu, oiu, Monsieur Johnson, tres prestigieux...

Was the singer male or female? What kind of dance track? Upbeat (e.g. NERO, David Guetta, Calvin Harris) or downbeat (anything moderately slower than the previous examples)?

Has a favourite ride. This ride is called Cherry Fish Smash.