Sunday, April 27, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 18


I'm been watching all the classic Doctor Who episodes, starting with the first episode that aired in November, 1963. I'm now on Season 18. And it started with something totally unexpected: a new theme. It's an electronic version of the Ron Grainer theme. I'm a little disappointed by it. I had changed my ringtone to the original theme back in February, and now that electronic abomination is on my TV.

The starry background with the flashing lights were a shock to the system, too. You can tell this season aired during the days of disco.

The Doctor's new outfit
The Doctor got a new outfit, too. Still an overcoat and oversized scarf, but this is the burgundy-colored outfit. And, a question mark was introduced to The Doctor's wardrobe, on his collar. And, of course, at the end of Season 18, we get a new Doctor, as Tom Baker leaves the show.

Three new companions are introduced during the season, and Romana and K-9 part company with The Doctor. Behind the scenes, Lalla Ward (Romana) left the show while living with Tom Baker. They married in December 1980, around the time her character was written out of the show. They divorced 16 months later. It wasn't pretty.

The season had seven 4-episode serials for a total of 28 episodes. And it was the lowest-rated season in the history of the franchise. One episode ranked 170th for the week in the UK. Part of the low ratings was due to the rise of ITV in the UK. An American import, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century aired opposite Doctor Who.

The second serial of the season, Meglos (4 episodes), featured the return of Jacqueline Hill, who played Barbara Wright, a companion of of The Doctor (William Hartnell) in the show's first two seasons. She played a different character, with no connection to the 1960s British schoolteacher character. She wasn't the villain in the serial; she saved Romana's life by sacrificing hers. The villain was ... a cactus. Seriously. Which kind of explains the show's low ratings during the season.

Jacqueline Hill returns, but not as Barbara Wright
They did make the catcus capable of taking on other forms, including that of The Doctor. That allowed Tom Baker to play both the hero and the villain, as William Hartnell (in Season Three's The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve) and Patrick Troughton (in Season Five's The Enemy of the World) had done before.

Besides seeing Jaqueline Hill again, the other highlight of the serial was seeing one of the characters kick K-9. Bill Fraser, who played General Grugger, agreed to play the role only if he got to kick K-9. The show runners agreed. It was great.

Full Circle (4 episodes) introduced a new character, Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), to
the show. He's from an alternate universe called E-Space. At the end of the serial, he stows away aboard the TARDIS. The Doctor and Romana don't find out until half-way through the next serial.

State of Decay (4 episodes) was a much-delayed serial. This story, or an early version of it, was set to open Season 15. BBC canceled the story when they decided they didn't want any vampire story taking away from their major production of Dracula they aired that year. Now, three seasons later, the story was reworked into the story of The Doctor's and Romana's travels into E-Space. As, when originally scripted, The Doctor only had a single companion (Leela, at the time), the second companion, Adric, had little to do in the story. It seems like he was an afterthought ... because he wasn't thought of to start with.

Romana and K-9 left at the end of the fifth serial of the season, Warriors' Gate (4 episodes). She had been summoned back to Gallifrey before the TARDIS wound up in E-Space. Since she didn't want to return there, and since The Doctor was going to consent to the the Time Lords' demand that Romana be returned, she elected to stay behind to help free some people or some other hippie thing. K-9 stayed with her because of some damage that prevented him from functioning in normal space. Or something.

The Master made a return in The Keeper of Traken (4 episodes). He had the same, decaying body he had from the Season 14 serial, The Deadly Assassin. Well, different actor under the makeup, but you get the idea. And, at the end of The Keeper of Traken, he assumed the body of one of the characters, Tremas (Anthony Ainley). After The Master assumed the body of Tremas, he bore a strong resemblance to his previous incarnation, which was played by Roger Delgado. The character of Tremas looked nothing like Delgado, due to the makeup making the character appear much older than the actor (Ainley) was. All that to say they did a good job finally recasting The Master after Delgado's death.

The Master returns, and gets a new body
The Keeper of Traken also introduced the character of Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), who was daughter of Tremas. She didn't join The Doctor in that serial, but in the subsequent serial, Logopolis (4 episodes), she joins The Doctor. Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) also joins as a companion to The Doctor, after entering the TARDIS, thinking it was a Police Call Box.

Of course, Logopolis marks the end of Tom Baker as The Doctor. In a death scene stolen straight out of Star Trek: Genesis, The Doctor crawls across a metal scaffolding high above the ground to foil the villain's plans before falling to his death. After his three companions run to where he fell, The Doctor regenerates, with the help of ... The Doctor. Turns out a mysterious figure (The Watcher) following them around during the serial was actually a manifestation of The Doctor. When The Doctor (4.0) died, The Watcher appeared and merged with The Doctor, assisting with regeneration of The Doctor (5.0) (Peter Davison).

The serial, and the season, ended with two credits for "Doctor Who:" Tom Baker and Peter Davison. That's not the first time there were two actors credited for the role -- remember The Three Doctors from Season Ten? -- but it is the first time an incoming Doctor was credited in an episode with a regeneration. Patrick Troughton wasn't credited at the end of Season Four's The Tenth Planet, and Tom Baker wasn't credited at the end of Season 11's Planet of the Spiders, despite each appearing on-screen as the newly regenerated Doctor. And, if you remember, Jon Pertwee wasn't credited because he didn't appear in Patrick Troughton's last episode, Season Six's The War Games.

So, Season 18 ends the Tom Baker years, and the Dish of the Day from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy begins his tenure. Funny thing. Even though I remember seeing some Doctor Who episodes starring Tom Baker on PBS many years ago, none of the stories that I've watched over these last few weeks ring a bell. It was like I had never seen them. I do think I'll remember them now.

Maybe.

Season 19 is next.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Nerd Heaven and Hell

Where are all the nerds?

Well, not near the Atlantic or Gulf waters. Utah and Alaska are the states where you'll find most of the nerds, if a study by house-shopping Website Estately has any validity.

According to Estately, "rural western states are prime habitat for nerds." And, of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, my home state of Georgia ranks 48. For comparison, Frank J. lives in Idaho, the number four state on the Nerd List, and Harvey lives in Wisconsin, the number 14 state.

How do they rank the states? Here's what they say they did:
To do this, we analyzed Facebook data for every U.S. state and the District of Columbia to determine the percentage of users who listed these 12 criteria as interests:
  1. Star Trek: The Next Generation
  2. Cosplay
  3. Harry Potter
  4. Star Wars
  5. Anime Movies
  6. Dungeons & Dragons
  7. LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing)
  8. Doctor Who
  9. Fantasy Lit
  10. Lord of the Rings
  11. Magic: The Gathering
  12. Comic Books
Now, looking at that criteria, I'm wondering if I know what a nerd really is. I've always thought of myself as a nerd, and, maybe for Georgia, I am. But if this is the criteria, I'm not so sure.

Star Trek Next Generation? Well, I like the original Star Trek better. Star Wars? Well, the first three movies (Episode IV, V, VI) were good. And, the sixth one (Episode III) was almost good. Almost. And, of course, I like Doctor Who, but I'm still a little new to the whole Who thing, and I've not seen any of the new shows (2005 and later). The rest of that stuff on the list? That's not me. That's not even close.

So, maybe I'm not as nerdy as I thought. Or, maybe the study if flawed.

But, let me take a couple of issues with some of the conclusions the study reached.
The South is a virtual nerd desert...
Look at the map.



It's not exactly "the South" that is Nerd Hell. It's all the states that touch the Gulf and Atlantic, excepting Maine (I blame Canada, which surrounds half of Maine), New Hampshire (only 13 miles of coastline, and bordering Maine), and Rhode Island (why is that even a state?). It's the Atlantic/Gulf waters that drive Nerds away. I didn't even get in to Doctor Who until I moved 200 miles across the state away from the Atlantic.

I was a little surprised that Georgia ranked so low (48) yet West Virginia (10) and Kentucky (7) ranked higher. Never figured Boyd Crowder was that much into Cosplay.

Looking at the map, what do you think? Is it accurate? Or is the study flawed?

Where are the nerdiest places? And what makes them that way?

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Let's all order Happy Meals


You heard about McDonald's and the Happy Meal thing, right? That they're no longer differentiating between boy and girl toys?

Some girl, it seems, got her panties in a wad over the differentiation, according to Slate. Maybe she was getting her boxers in a wad over it, which might actually explain things.

I wonder how she deals with Mens and Ladies rooms.

Anyway, McDonald's is going to stop calling the toys "boys" and "girls" but by the actual name of the toy. Like "My Little Pony" or "Skylanders" or whatever.

The pantywaists who came up with this and gave in to this all seem to claim that you really can't have "boy toys" or "girl toys" just like you can't have "man jobs" or "woman jobs." Only, I've still not been hired as a wet nurse, despite my constant pleas for such a job. And I don't know of any women professional sperm donors. Or football players. Or presidents.

Here's what I'm gonna do, and I want you to do it too. Go into a McDonald's and order a Happy Meal. And when they ask you which toy, and name some toy you've never heard of -- just what the heck is "Skylanders?" -- do like I'm going to do and say, "I don't know, I want the one for boys." Or girls, if you have a girl that wants a girl toy. I'm going to ask for boy toys, because I have two young grandsons. I might ask for a girl toy, just to screw with them.

Do this every time you go to McDonald's. I know I'm going to. It should be fun! And McDonald's is all about the fun.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

How to celebrate Earth Day


It was 24 years ago, on the 100th birthday of Vladimir Lenin, that the U.S. first celebrated "Earth Day."

We approached Gaia for comment, but she ignored our requests. So, we don't really know how The Great Mother Earth feels about it.

Quite honestly, Earth don't give a rat's ass about Earth Day. It's actually for us. Well, not me and you, but the hippies that do things like come up with Earth Day.

So, let's do something for the hippies in honor of Earth Day. But what? Here's what I've come up with, but if you have other ideas, I'm up for that:
  • Give a hippie a bath. A fire hose would be good for this. That way you don't have to actually touch the hippie.
  • Burn a forest. It's Earth Day. That's like its birthday or something, right? And what are the Earth's equivalent of candles? That's right. Trees. So light one up for Dear Old Mother Earth.
  • If you want a less public spectacle, particularly one that doesn't involve making Bambi and Woodsy Owl homeless, you could offer a private sacrifice to Mother Earth. Return to her that which came from her. Like a pile of old tires. Plus, that'd make a pretty sweet fire.
  • Punch a hippie. I haven't figured a way to tie that specifically to Earth Day, but isn't punching a hippie a great way to celebrate anything?
That's all I got. What about you? What are some better ways to celebrate Earth Day?

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 17


I'm watching all the classic Doctor Who episodes. I began with the first season, from 1963. I'm not up to Season 17, which aired in late 1979 into 1980. The season is a milestone of sorts. With this season, Tom Baker began his sixth season as The Doctor, exceeding the number of seasons Jon Pertwee played the character.

The season also saw a new Romana. She's a Time Lord (Time Lady?), remember. And, she began the season by regenerating. They never explained why. The previous incarnation (Mary Tamm) looked perfectly good to me. But, Miss Tamm wasn't happy with the direction of her character. She was initially reluctant to assume the role in Season 16, expressing concerns that she'd be the typical damsel in distress. She was told that her character was also a Time Lord (Time Lady?), and would be an equal to The Doctor. Of course, she ended up being a damsel in distress. And, she left the show.


Mary Tamm later said that she'd have gladly filmed a regeneration scene, if they liked. They didn't, and in a departure from The Doctor's regenerations, Romana actually tried on various appearances. Initially, she took the appearance of Princess Astra, from Season 16's The Armageddon Factor, but The Doctor insisted she couldn't just go around copying people. She then took the appearance of a short purple woman, then a mature belly dancer, then a very tall woman. The Doctor finally agreed on the Astra appearance, and Lella Ward joined the cast as Romana.

The season had production problems late in the year. The final serial planned, Shada (6 episodes) was never finished due to a strike. The strike actually delayed the completion of the serial, but, by the time it was resolved, BBC decided to not complete the serial so that resources could be directed toward completing Christmas programming for the network.

Douglas Adams's influence as Script Editor was evident in the first serial of the season, Destiny of the Daleks (4 episodes). Early on, The Doctor is trapped beneath some rubble, and Romana goes for help. To pass the time, he pulls out a paperback copy of Oolon Caluphid's Origins of the Universe. In case you forgot, or never knew, Oolon Caluphid is a character from Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In the Hitchhiker's Guide, though, that particular book isn't mentioned.


This does bring three fictional universes together. Doctor Who brought in references to the Nigel Kneale's Quatermass series of films, radio plays, and books as far back as Season Seven. That was never official, mostly because Kneale disliked Doctor Who, but still evident in conversation. The integration with the Hitchhiker's Guide universe is with that franchise creator's blessing, of course.

There is a continuity problem with the second serial, City of Death (4 episoded). At the end of Season 16, it was established that The Doctor had installed a randomizer in the TARDIS, so he didn't know where he'd end up, and so the Black Guardian couldn't know. Only, in City of Death, he sets the coordinates for Florence in 1505, to meet Leonardo da Vinci.

Another is Romana's age. She gave one age (140) to The Doctor at the start of Season 16, and another age (125) to a character in the show. Just goes to show you how women always lie about their age. I hope The Doctor doesn't get arrested by Gallifrey police on morals charges and have to tell them "But, she told me she was 140."

Then there's the origins of life on Earth. The Doctor visits Earth 400 million years ago, and mentions that life is about to form. He was off by a factor of nearly 10, since there is evidence of life on Earth as long as 3.8 billion years ago.


I did enjoy a couple of cameos in that serial. John Cleese played a man who thinks the TARDIS is a work of art in a museum. His companion is played by Eleanor Bron, who, despite her long resume, will, to me, always be Princess Ahme from Help!

Stars Wars fans would recognize Julian Glover, who played the serial's main villain, Scaroth, as General Veers from The Empire Strikes Back. Of course, he's had a long, successful career and you really should know him as Julian Glover, not as General Veers or the bad guy from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, or the dude from Game of Thrones, or the bad guy from that James Bond movie with the Sheena Easton song, or any other particular role. He's a good villain, but that's because he's a good actor.

Oh, yeah, Catherine Schell was in that serial, too. She's hot in anything. Well, not as that hairy woman from Space 1999, but anything else.

The strike-shortened season ended with a serial based on the Greek story of Theseus, who slew the Minotaur. The Horns of Nimon (4 episodes) features a critter that looked like a space minotaur. It also had youths to be sacrificed, and a maze.

The serial that was supposed to be the season finale was Shada (6 episodes), but, as mentioned, it never aired. In 1992, the BBC filmed a narrative around the story, with Tom Baker. This was 11 years after he left the role of The Doctor, and nearly three years after the BBC stopped broadcasting the show.


The episodes, with Baker's narration was released on VHS, and later on DVD (it is still available on DVD), but that's it. The DVD is still available for purchase.

The story, written by Douglas Adams, is so-so. A little convoluted -- but what by Douglas Adams wasn't -- with typical non-realistic "Doctor Who science," such as a carbon dating of a book determining an age of 20,000 years. Since carbon dating is based on the decay of carbon-14 and its relationship to carbon-12, you can't have an increase in carbon-14 by taking an item back in time. It would measure the length of the items's relative time in existence, not its age from any known point. Now, I'm not opposed to there being a way to determine that an item is from the future, but carbon dating isn't it. Douglas Adams knew better. And, as both script author and series story editor, this never should have happened.

Oh, well. Maybe I was just expecting more, based on how much I enjoyed Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Then, I didn't care a whole lot for Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Or disappointed.

Although I did see some Doctor Who episodes with Tom Baker on PBS many years ago, so far, I can't say with certainty that I remember any of them. And, I've now completed the sixth of Tom Baker's seven seasons as The Doctor. I do recall knowing about Daleks, and since the Daleks only made two appearances during the Tom Baker years, I had to have seen at least part of one of the serials. But, I just don't remember it.

Strange, that the years for which the classic show is known, the Tom Baker years, are years where I don't remember them well, and aren't particularly enjoying now. William Hartnell's years were great. Patrick Troughton's were enjoyable. Jon Pertwee's were, too, although I didn't like the idea that he was Earth-bound most of the time.

Well, there's one more Tom Baker season to perhaps bring him up from his current standing of my 4th favorite Doctor. On to Season 18.

Easter Sunday 2014


Luke 24: 1-9
  1. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
  2. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
  3. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
  4. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
  5. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
  6. He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
  7. Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
  8. And they remembered his words,
  9. And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The Day After

You made it under the deadline, right? Got your tax return off? Included payment, if required?

I did. Included the check for $1,230. And included a little message with my stamp.




I wonder if that stamp will earn my an audit. Probably.

Oh, and I meant to post this yesterday, but didn't. Still fresh in my mind, so I'll post it today.


[The YouTube]

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Maybe this'll stop the Euro-gasms. Maybe.


You ever notice how the left just loves Europe? They want to be just like Europe.

I've been listening to crap for years where otherwise seemingly nice and smart people talk with such glowing terms about who wonderful Europe is and how we could learn from them and how ... Well, a phrase to describe what overcomes would be "Euro-gasm."

Yeah, that may sound all ... ewwwww ... but it really fits. And I bet you know people like that, too.

Well, maybe this'll put a stop to that.

Turns out that in the Netherlands that is hiring -- are you paying attention here, left-wingers? -- Whites only:
Wesley de Laat, owner of Budget Cleaning Brabant, has been lambasted for his "whites only" stance and his later defense. “White workers are better than non-white workers,” he told the media this week. “I don’t discriminate,” he went on. “I just don’t invite them for interview. Poles, Moroccans, any non-whites are not going to be hired to work for this company. Ahmed and Ali are probably very good people, but I don’t want them working for me.”
Now, this isn't the first recent incident of this kind of discrimination. Just one of the most recent.

And, if I understand my history any, I think that others in Europe have had issues with different races from time to time. To time. To time. All the time.

Well, perhaps this will open the left's eyes that the way things happen in Europe isn't the way to emulate. This country, when we act like Americans, can do pretty good coming up with things on our own.

But, it probably won't. The left can't learn anything. That would involve paying attention and learning from history and experience. The left simply has an ideology and then is shocked and stunned when reality intervenes. And the results are often catastrophic.

There is a cycle to things. But, it's not inevitable. At least, not if you do something about it. But if you repeat the same mistakes, you'll get the same results. Racial discrimination is nothing new. It's just the result of what the left is doing, and those of no moral fiber have done, for years.

Here's the other thing. The left has been having a Euro-gasm for years. And they're looking to keep that feeling going. Only, I have the bad feeling that someone's gonna end up getting screwed.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Now whatever will I do with my time?

Here's a little peek behind the scenes at both the Website and at me.

You may not realize this, but most of the posts here are written ahead of time and scheduled to appear at a certain time. I don't log in, write up a little gem of wisdom (or whatever) and sit, watching the second hand on the clock approach the 12, waiting to press Publish. And, there's no limit to how far ahead I can write and schedule a post. That can sometimes cause little oddities or necessitate edits. Such as...

Well, here's where we get to the peek at me on a personal level. I binge-watch TV. Or, to sound like I'm not addicted, I hold TV marathons, sometimes lasting days. Or weeks.

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. Maybe. You see, I've been posting my watching of the classic Doctor Who episodes on Sundays. One week per season. And, here's the thing: I'm done. Finished. Watched 'em all. All 26 seasons. That means the last season's wrap up is written and scheduled for 22 June. It also means I had to edit an entry after one of the recurring characters died recently, since she was also known outside the Doctor Who universe. Kate O'Mara played The Rani, as well as many other roles over the years.

Now, with that behind us, that brings me up to my question.

Whatever will I do with my time?

I sat down last night, turned on the TV, and had nothing to watch. An empty Hulu queue. Nothing unwatched in iTunes. Nothing in my Amazon library. No unwatched DVDs.

I'm not saying I need to watch TV. I'd read a book, but Amazon says Frank's new book (which I've pre-ordered) won't deliver until November. I don't know what to do. For the first time in months, there's not a bunch of Doctor Who episodes awaiting me watching them

What should I do with all this free time?

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 16


The 16th season of the classic Doctor Who show was a bit harder to watch than the previous seasons. One of the hardest in a while. And that kind of surprised me.

I first saw Doctor Who episodes on PBS back in the late 1970s and 1980s. In late 1982 or early 1983, I first saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on PBS. I discovered it because I occasionally watched some of the shows the network carried, on GPTV (in Georgia, now GPB) and FPB (in Florida). And, though I can't be sure, I think I saw some Doctor Who episodes before I saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Certainly, though, around the time Hitchhiker's Guide aired, I was watching more on PBS, particularly GPTV.

What's Hitchhiker's Guide got to do with Doctor Who you ask. Really, go ahead and ask.

I'll wait.

Oh, well, since you asked, it turns out that the new Script Editor for Doctor Who beginning with Season 16 was Douglas Adams, creator of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy franchise. When I discovered that, I just knew I'd love Season 16 of Doctor Who. I didn't.

Oh, I didn't hate it. But I didn't love it. It was, at best, Mostly Harmless.

Maybe the problem I had with the season was K-9. I never did like that character. Or, maybe it's Tom Baker's habit of occasionally looking at the camera and laughing. I don't care for that kind of stuff.

The season introduced a new character, Romana (Mary Tamm), as well as the new version of K-9, which looks to me like the same character. Romana was a Time Lord (Time Lady) from Gallifrey who was sent on a quest with The Doctor by the White Guardian. The White Guardian is ... heck, I don't know. I never could figure it out. Maybe it's supposed to be the Gallifrey version of God.

Anyway, the White Guardian sends The Doctor and Romana on a quest to secure the parts of the Key To Time, which is ... a MacGuffin, as far as I can tell. The Doctor and Romana spent the entire Season 16 searching for the thing because it was so important, and then, in order to keep it out of the hands of the Black Guardian, The Doctor scattered it back across space and time. Which is where it was to begin with.

Tom Taker sported an injury for much of the season. He was bitten on the lip by a dog belonging to one of the guest actors in the first serial, The Ribos Operation (4 episodes). They covered it with makeup for the remaining day's shots, and wrote a rough landing into the next serial, The Pirate Planet (4 episodes), so that The Doctor would injure his mouth, creating a reason in the storyline for the wound.

The series' 100th serial aired during the season. The Stones of Blood (4 episodes) was the milestone serial, and it aired during the show's 15th anniversary.

The Androids of Tara (4 episodes) appears to have been based on The Prisoner of Zenda. There's a scene where, after he is told of the plan to have a look-alike, an android in this story, act as a decoy, The Doctor says, "It's been done before."

The final serial of the season, The Armageddon Factor (6 episodes) introduced yet another renegade Time Lord. Drax knew The Doctor at the Academy, and knew his as Theta Sigma. The Doctor insisted on Drax not calling him by that name, but by "Doctor" instead.

The serial concluded the season-long arc of The Doctor and Romana searching for the Key To Time, finding it, then dispersing the parts. Except for the last part, which was actually a person, the Princess Astra. Actress Lalla Ward, who later married Tom Baker, played Astra. She'd play another character in later seasons. With the dispersal, Princess Astra was restored. The Doctor installed a randomizing unit in the TARDIS, meaning he'd never know where he was heading, in order to avoid the Black Guardian, who was now after The Doctor, after the dispersal of the Key.

And that pretty much wrapped up the first season with Douglas Adams as Script Editor. I expected more. Silly me.

Maybe things will improve in Season 17.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Life Without Archie


Remember Archie? From the comic books?

Yeah, he's gonna die.

Really.

They're killing off Archie Andrews in issue 36 of "Life With Archie," a comic book about Archie and the gang after they graduated Riverdale High.

Now, I gotta admit that I was never a fan of the comic books. Superman. Batman. Spiderman. Archie. Richie Rich. None of 'em.

I don't know why. Sure, if I saw one on the wood slat benches at the redneck barber shop I got took to as a kid, I'd pick it up and read one. It was either read that or the Thunderbolt. I made the right decision.

But still, I never read a lot of comic books. Don't know if I ever bought any. Might have got someone to buy some for me, but I'm not sure. Comic books weren't that big a deal to me. And, neither were the characters in the comic books.

But, they sure were -- and are -- to many people. And, now they're killing off Archie.

Is that a good thing? Should they be killing off comic book characters? Archie always kinda struck me as a non-serious comic character. Sure, they've tried to make social commentary over the years, particularly recently. But, should comics -- non-serious comics, that is -- try to be serious? It's like one of those A Very Special Blossom shows.

And, perhaps a better question would be, who would be a better comic book character to kill off? And don't say Caspar the Friendly Ghost. That's cheating.

Let's go with that question instead. What comic book character would you like to see killed off?

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Super Meow-io Kat

Here's one for you video game players. Or those that used to play video games.


[The YouTube]

You're welcome.

Monday, April 7, 2014

More spider attacks


Remember when we told you about spiders causing air bags in Toyotas to deploy?

Well, those eight-legged beasties are at it again. Now, they're targeting Mazda cars, according to a Reuters report.

Here's the deal.

There's something called a Yellow Sac spider. I'm assuming it's yellow. And that it is from Omaha. Not sure about that part. But, it is a spider. And that tells you that it's evil.

Spiders are sneaky little buggers. They'll crawl up in your ears when you're asleep. They'll hide on the back side of the toilet paper roll. And, while I can't prove this, I think they hide your car keys. And take socks from the dryer. They have way too many legs to be trustworthy. I mean, why do they need all those legs. Well, it's not for anything good, I'm here to tell you.

Anyway, those Yellow Sac spiders like the smell of gasoline. Now, unlike that fellow from the eighth grade that walked kinda funny, they don't sit on the porch and huff gasoline. No, those little spiders crawl up inside a gas tank and spin their little webs in the tubing. That causes the tanks to not vent properly and that messes up the pressure, which can then cause the tanks to crack and leak. Then, when you least expect it ... BOOM! ... you have the end to a Mel Gibson movie.

Anyway, they're recalling a bunch of Mazda cars on account of this.

I wonder if they search the pages of the Obamacare law, if they'll find spiders spinning webs in all that. If they do, you think they'll be able to recall it, too?

Might be worth a look.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 15


I've been watching the classic Doctor Who series, beginning with the start of the show in 1963. I'm up to Season 15, which aired from late 1977 to Spring 1978. That's half-way through the adventures of the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker).

Behind the scenes, the show was experiencing some major problems. A change in the leadership of the staff running the show, as well as late delivery of scripts, plus the BBC canceling a vampire-related script because it would have aired close to major Dracula production of the the network. Add to this, Tom Baker hated the character of Leela, and the actress, Louise Jameson, took the brunt of his dislike. They finally had it out in the second serial taped (but the first serial aired), and the actors' relationship improved somewhat. Still, Jameson left the show at the end of the season.

All the while, the British economy, under the leadership of the Labour Party, was in shambles. The show had its budget cut because of other expenses the network experienced due to the economy. In the winter following the airing of this season, the country was hit by several strikes, the "Winter of Discontent," leading to the Conservative Party's victory early the next year. And, in case you forgot, that's when Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. Remember the Brigadier speaking with "Madame" Prime Minister in Season 13? Now you know who he was talking to.

The season began with a story at a creepy old lighthouse, and people dropping like flies. No, it wasn't Tom Stewart but an alien knocking folks off. We finally met the Rutans, who have been in a war against the Sontarans, in Horror of Fang Rock (4 episodes). At the end of the episode, Leela's eyes changed color from the effects of an explosion. That allowed Louise Jameson to not have to wear the brown contacts she had been wearing ever since her character was introduced. And, it's the episode where Jameson and Tom Baker finally had their confrontation.

The second serial (though the first one produced in Season 15) also introduced K-9. I know a lot of people liked K-9, but I wasn't one of those. I remember the character from when I saw Doctor Who episodes 30-something years ago. I thought it was silly then. They did a good job of explaining why it looked like a dog: the scientist who built it always wanted a dog, so he made his robot look like one.

Fans of Sherlock, or of Benedict Cumberbatch, might find it interesting that his mom appeared in the serial Image of the Fendahl (4 episodes) as a major character. Wanda Ventham had appeared in Season Four's The Faceless Ones. Yeah, she was hot. Oh, and she's still acting. She and her husband recently appeared in Sherlock as the title character's parents.

By the way, the serial Image of the Fendahl was airing during the week of Hallowe'en 1977. As such, it had a theme appropriate to that time of year. The story involved a skull with a pentagram, a seer, a coven of aliens, and a big slimy worm that looked like it was dressed for Mardi Gras.

I found The Sun Makers (4 episodes) very interesting. The script writer was having a row with Inland Revenue (the British agency that functions as the IRS does in the U.S.) and wrote the serial. In the story, those running the show and imposing the heavy taxes were overthrown. Of course, being British, they had a race of aliens running a "Company" that was responsible for high taxes. Unlike reality where it's a government that imposes taxes. So, even though it was the British government that was imposing the taxes that inspired the script writer, the left-leaning of those involved with the show turned the villain into a capitalist venture.

The Doctor battled the Sontarans (and won) in the final serial of the season, The Invasion of Time (6 episodes). The Doctor lost two companions in the process. No, Leela and K-9 didn't die. They stayed behind when The Doctor left, after saving Gallifrey. He also took office as President of Gallifrey. It seems that nobody thought to hold the election that was to pit The Doctor against Chancellor Goth in Season 14's The Deadly Assassin. Since Goth died at the end of that serial, and The Doctor hopped in his TARDIS and went on other adventures, nobody assumed office. Well, The Doctor came back to Gallifrey to claim the office, since he was still officially a candidate, and, with Goth's demise, the only candidate, he took office.

After defeating the Sontarans and saving the known universe, he left again. They kinda left it up in the air about his being president. I suppose we'll see what happens with that -- or not -- as well as meet the new K-9 that was still in the box at the end of the series, when the next season starts.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Amazon Fire TV

Got a new toy. Yay!

This week, Amazon introduced a streaming box. They call it the Amazon Fire TV.

Now, I already have a Roku. And an Apple TV. And a Chromecast. Oh, and a TiVo. So, why do I need another streaming device? Well, I don't. But I got one anyway. And, I spent a good deal of last night looking it over, trying it out.

Unboxing the Amazon Fire TV

I opened the box, hooked up an HDMI cable (not included), plugged it in, and was ready to play.

Of course, there's the updates that it has to download. Seems even a brand new item -- released on Wednesday, connected on Thursday -- has to have updates. So, there's that irritant.

But, the device itself? Yeah, it's a good little streaming box.

Couple of things I noticed. The remote has no dedicated 10-second rewind button, like you get on Roku. Rather, the standard rewind mode is in 10-second leaps. To rewind 10 seconds, you have to hit rewind and then very quickly hit Play. At least, on Hulu Plus and Netflix, you do. On Amazon content, pressing Rewind a single time (a single click) achieves a 10-second rewind. Not a major deal, just something to get used to.

The selection of apps is kinda sparse, compared to Roku, but it has more available than Apple TV, although there is not a complete overlap. It does have Netflix, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, Vevo, Vimeo, YouTube, Crackle, Bloomberg, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Showtime Anytime, TuneIn Radio, Plex, plus a decent selection of games.

Some major missing channels include Sky News (Roku, Apple TV), The Weather Channel (Apple TV), PBS (Roku, Apple TV), WWE (Roku, Apple TV), Yahoo! Screen (Roku, Apple TV), HBO GO (Roku, Apple TV), Watch ABC (Apple TV), MLB.TV (Roku, Apple TV), VUDU (Roku), Dailymotion (Roku), and some others.

Oh, about the games. I don't care about games. But, if you like playing games, it lets you. There's an optional game controller you can buy, if you want to play games. I don't. But you go ahead.

Again, Roku is king of content. It has almost everything, including a lot of stuff with limited appeal. Apple TV has limited content, but most of it is good content with wide appeal. Amazon Fire TV is closer to Apple TV in the limited content, but most of the good stuff, but it seems it really wants to be Roku.

Hulu Plus and Netflix, two of the biggest subscription services, don't come pre-loaded. But, they're easy enough to find and add. Especially if you already have them installed on a Kindle Fire tablet. Even if not, they're easy to find.

Both work similar to the way they work on Roku. The experience of navigating the menus is consistent. Once difference is that, unlike Roku, you do have the "Play from beginning" option on Netflix content.

The Amazon Fire TV is also very responsive. You press a button, it responds. Quickly.

They do a very good job of integrating the non-Amazon content in the menus. For example, on Roku, if you go to Movies or TV on the Main Menu, you are essentially in the M-GO app. However, on the Fire TV, while the emphasis is on Amazon, you also get access to non-Amazon content.

For instance, I've been watching the old Doctor Who episodes. So, when I go to TV, then scroll to "Your TV Shows" section, I see shows I own or have in my Watchlist, including The Mentalist, Star Trek, Major Crimes, and, of course, Doctor Who. When I select Doctor Who, I see episodes that are on Amazon Prime, and episodes that are on Hulu Plus. I didn't see any Netflix episodes, but I think that's because all the episodes available on Netflix are also available on Amazon Prime.

Again, they did a good job of integrating non-Amazon content into the menus, but only for content that other services offer they Amazon doesn't.

Let's get right to it: is it worth it?

Well, if you already have a Roku or Apple TV, it would be hard to make the case for a Fire TV box. It makes more sense to add it to an Apple TV setup than it does a Roku setup. But replace either? I wouldn't give one up for it.

If you were interested in your first streaming box, I'd still recommend a Roku (particularly the Roku 3), if I had to pick just one. But, if you chose an Apple TV instead, you'd be making a good choice. And, now I'm comfortable saying that if you chose Amazon Fire TV, you'd be making a good choice.

Before this week, online streaming boxes were Roku, Apple TV, and then everybody else. Now, it's Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and then everybody else.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Habit forming shampoo

The other day, I realize I was running low on shampoo. That, of course, meant that I needed to pick up some more at the store some time. Before I was completely out.

Used to be that you'd simply pick up shampoo. There was a brand, and that brand had one shampoo. Maybe two. But today, each brand has more types of shampoo than you can manage. Or more than I can manage.

Some time back, I received a Dove Care Men Plus or something named sorta like that, as a gift. It had soap, body wash, and shampoo. And, I liked it. So, when I needed more soap, body wash, or shampoo, I'd get the Dove Plus Care Men stuff.

So, as I said, I needed shampoo. So, I saw the Dove Plus Men Care stuff on a shelf in the store. Only, I wasn't sure which one. The one with one shade of sorta green. The one with a different shade of sorta green. Or maybe this other shade of sorta green.

Anyway, I grabbed one that was maybe the same as the one I had been using and liked.

Wrong one. Of course, I didn't find this out until days later when my shampoo ran out and I opened the new bottle and used it.

I knew right away it was different. My head felt odd. I stopped, rinsed my face off so I could see without getting shampoo in my eyes, and looked to see what that was I had put on my head.




Sure enough, it was shampoo. But, then I read the label and didn't look at the pretty colors. And the label said, "With Caffeine And Menthol."

Great. I'm now putting the equivalent of Maxwell House and a pack of Kools on my head.

Now I have to decide if I want to finish off the bottle of shampoo, or go back to the store and try to find the right stuff. I do have the original flavor body wash and soap, so I could actually write down what it is I want. Or take a picture. And, I will do that when I pick up another bottle of shampoo.

Only, by then, will my head be addicted to the caffeine and menthol? Will I be up to three shampoos a day?

I may have to go on the patch.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Good one

Okay, but this joke has gone on long enough.




This clown being president? That's a joke, right? Well, it's not funny. April Fools Day would be a good time for everyone to come clean and admit that they've been pulling one over on me.

I bit. I actually believed that this country could elect someone as incompetent as Barack Obama. But, I really should have known better. There's no way Americans are that stupid. But, you got me. I fell for it. Good one.

Now, joke's over. Let's get back to to normal now.