Absolute Shambles

'Entertainment is just a tool that pacifies the masses and leads to the decay and ultimate collapse of civilisation. Let's clap along!'- Luci, 'The Limits of Immortality, Disenchantment , 2018 Rain now streaks down the window, a sharp turn from the  summer heatwave . This sadly means there is no time to play. Rather than doing something productive like clean the house or develop skills for your professional career, it's the perfect time to watch more TV. Queer Eye  has warmed all our hearts  and the latest series of Archer  sprung up on us unannounced and has now begun to show its age. Therefore, it would be wise to keep the TV train rolling and rumbling into the colder months of the year. Matt Groening, whose mind gave the world The Simpsons and Futurama , now enters the Netflix arena with Disenchantment . A titan of the industry was sure to make his way onto Netflix at some point, but does so in a very mediocre way. Onward, to mediocrity! Seth MacFarlane to...

'Brexit was a fantastic example of a nation shooting itself full in the face.'- Hugh Grant, in an interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen , 11 August 2016 Good question David Cameron steps up to the podium, his shiny forehead glistened with nervous sweat. What he is about to propose is a gamble; one that could tear the United Kingdom asunder. It's 23 January 2013, and Prime Minister David Cameron announces how a victory for the Conservatives in the 2015 General Election would mean that a referendum on the country's membership in the European Union would take place. A daunting prospect for the British electorate, for a Conservative triumph would mean that they would have to pay attention to politics for a while longer in order to keep up to date with all this nonsense over the EU. Dawn breaks on Friday 24 June 2016. The results are in, and 'Leave' has won with 52% of the vote. Prominent Brexiteers such as UKIP leader Nigel Farage and soon to b...

'Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say 'My tooth is aching' than to say 'My heart is broken'.'- C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain , 1940 The human body is one sturdy bastard. Bone is five times stronger than steel if both commodities weigh the exact same, and these bones make sure our organs are protected from any potential injuries whilst also giving us some sort of structure. Our muscles give us the movement we need to move about like a maniac, with muscles like the heart working constantly to keep the body kicking. All of this is wrapped up in the biggest organ of them all, skin, which covers an area of 2 square metres for the average person. Golly, so many fun facts! Problem is, bones can be broken, muscles can be torn and skin can be scarred. The human body may be a marvel of nature, but that doesn't stop i...

'You can't selectively numb feelings. So if you try to numb the vulnerability, you also numb joy, happiness, connection'- Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye , Series 1 Episode 2, 2018 TV limbo is a horrible feeling. The absence of Game of Thrones  is largely to blame for this, made worse by the fact that there are too many shows on too many channels/platforms. It's all very tiring, and while it can be argued that it's glorious that there is plenty of shows to whet your appetite, it's still pretty overwhelming. Once in a while, a random recommendation will be made and curiosity will lead to the action of 'oh, just one episode, just to get a feel of it'. Sometimes they take hold, like Stranger Things , but are usually put on the back-burner for another day. Queer Eye  was the latest recommendation, yet it would not find itself in the depths of 'Ben's Extensive TV List', but at the forefront on a brand new watching adventure. The heroes we all de...

' Conditions may, and are not unlikely to arise, some day, when the exercise of the power to impeach and remove the President may be quite as essential to the preservation of our political system as it threatened to become in this instance destructive of that system. Should that day ever come, it is to be hoped that the remedy of impeachment, as established by the Constitution, may be as patriotically, as fearlessly, and as unselfishly applied as it was on this occasion rejected'- Edmund G. Ross, History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson , 1896 'No, I don't want to eat broccoli' It's 24th August 1814, the War of 1812 still rages on and Washington D.C. has fallen to the British. Defeat at the Battle of Bladensburg had caused President James Madison and the American government to flee the capital as the British advanced towards the heart of the United States of America. In retaliation to an American raid on Port Dover (Ontario, Canada), the occupying Brits...