Mr. Bean Goes Portable

The fun of watching the original Mr. Bean series, was being able to see the Buster Keaton of our time in action. If you know Rowan Atkinson from Four Weddings and Funeral or Blackadder, you've seen his hilariously imbecilic side and his hilariously clever side. But what this guy can do with physical comedy is amazing. Here's just a taste from his one-man (Beanless) show:



Usually the cartoon versions of any show are rubbish -- think of that animated Beatles series. But the animated Mr. Bean was actually pretty good.

A year ago, they came out with a Mr. Bean videogame for PlayStation 2. Much to the consternation of the nine-year old in the Phonybrit household, we do not have PS2. Ah, but it has just been announced that a version of the game has been released for the hand-held Nintendo DS. That's something that the nine-year-old does have.

I guess I'm going to have to hit GameStop when she hears about this.

Hang on a Mo'

SAgent00Soul alerts me to this mind blowing fact: Stephen Fry ... yes, Stephen Fry of Jeeves and Wooster ... is a Mac-head! So now, in addition to being half of the comedy team of Fry and Laurie (as in Hugh Laurie), and in addition to being a major presence one of my favourite TV shows of all time, Blackadder (which really deserves a posting of its own soon), Fry shares my enthusiasm for gadgets. Oh, and I also left him off the list of cool British Jews. Well, I left Peter Sellers off that list too, but I think you need to be alive to qualify.

Fry maintains a blog called Dork Talk. He claims to be the second-ever Mac owner in Europe and that he never met a smartphone he didn't like. Recently, he waxed rhapsodic about the 3rd Gen iPhone. Fry caused a minor kerfuffle when he criticised the BBC technology editors for not doing enough stories on Apple. In his reply, the head of the section started with a classic line: "I feel a little uneasy disagreeing with a national treasure ..."

Enjoy this minor row, and tuck into Fry's blog with abandon.

Second conclusion to this post: Look soon, dear readers, for love letters to Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie. I especially owe Laurie one. Beside doing a great American accent, he has added to marital bliss here in the Phonybrit household: House is one of exactly two shows on telly that my wife and I agree on. The other one's Mad Men.

Hmmm ... Now I have three things in my life with no visible ties to the UK: the Boss, the Amazin's (as previously mentioned) -- and now Mad Men.