Random video rec: Mongrels

Though it's not without it's problems, I'm becoming a bit really into this show called Mongrels.

It seems to be some kind of joint venture between the BBC and Hulu, where it plays exclusively. In other words, it's an original show with an actual budget developed for online-only distribution. That in its self is pretty nifty IMO, but when you add to this the fact the main characters are all British animal puppets, resulting in a weird sort of Fraggle Rock meets Family Guy thing (I haven't seen Meet the Feebles, but I suspect there's a valid comparison in there too), I really have no choice but to watch it.

Unfortunately the Family Guy comparison cuts both ways. The show is clever and self-aware, and even has original musical numbers, but it also crosses the line for me at least once an episode with something I find distasteful (oddly, so far it seems to have a penchant for ableism more than anything else). That said, I've enjoyed the imagination of the show, as well as the excellent puppetry and voice acting, enough to keep watching and have a net-positive impression with that caveat.

First episode is here. I've only watched the first three so far, and I feel like the show hits its stride a bit more with each one.

A new game

preraphaelite and I were on the T (returning from the fantastic Arabian Nights at the Central Square Theater, about which I'll hopefully post more soon) when she mentioned a murder mystery novel she'd once seen. It was set at Harvard and called "A Darker Shade of Crimson".

This got us thinking about cheesy titles for college-themed thrillers. It is a game we wish to share with friends.

Favorites so far:

• Go Directly to Yale


• Drug Lords of Columbia


• Death Cornell (that one usually takes a sec to sink in...)


• ...or For Whom Cornell Tolls (can't quite decide which we like better)


• A Banana Slug... to the Head


• Massachusetts Institute of TERROR (almost too easy, but just over the line if you imagine the last word dripping blood on the cover)


• Dartmouth... of Hell


• Cambridge (Over Troubled Waters)


• A Price You Can't Oxford (I rather preferred "river" to "price", but preraph got this one first)


...your turn.