Caught In The Net: Raw 6 Appeal

Not content with being the setting for the finest British TV show of all time, ie. The Prisoner, the fairytale Welsh village of Portmeirion is playing host from September 14 to 16 to Festival No. 6, a boutique bash that’s being headlined by New Order, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Andrew Weatherall, Jerry Dammers, Don Letts and loads more of the people Caught In The Net likes to shake its tush to.

If you’re not au fait with cult ‘60s telly, festivalnumber6.com explains how Portmeirion Castle was constructed between 1925 and 1975 by maverick British architect Clough William-Ellis, who wanted to create his own take on the traditional Victorian folly.
CIN was there a few years ago for a wedding – we know, how very middle-class of us – and can report that Sir Clough’s obsession was a marvellous one.
It’s but a mere mouse-click to
on.io9.com/zBaAqi where there’s gushing praise for the new Swedish sci-fi series Äkta Människor, aka Real Humans.
A cross between The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Doctor Who, it’s already been the subject of covetous Hollywood glances.
“What happens when robots become so human that they can barely be distinguished from real people?” proffers the English sales pitch. “When they can even be our lovers? Real Humans takes place in a parallel world to our own, in which people’s lives have been completely transformed by the new generation of robots, the Hubots.
“They’re used as servants, heavy laborers, company for the lonely and even sex partners. But Hubots also create conflicts – within families, in places of work and among those concerned about public safety. Their intelligence exceeds our own. Are there any jobs left that are not best carried out by a robot? Can they develop feelings of their own? Can a Hubot harm a human being?”
These questions will be answered later in the year when Real Humans pitches up in the UK. The makers won’t say yet who’s bought it, but the smart money’s on BBC4 who’ll also soon be debuting Steve Van Zandt’s Lilyhammer and Sebastian Bergman which trail at bit.ly/v8CsZQ and bit.ly/JLOH3z respectively. The latter stars Rolf Lassgård who played the original Wallander.
Which just leaves time for quick visits to bit.ly/JLhm8P (Lisa Hannigan and the boys pay tribute to Levon); metropolis.co.jp (“Japan’s number one English language magazine” makes for highly addictive reading); and theblizzard.co.uk (another quality “part book, part magazine” documents football’s role in the Arab Spring).