Monday, March 31, 2014

Little Worlds art, No. 6

A while ago, I received some art from 4of7, regular visitor and commenter on IMAO. He is an artist, and has his own blog, Little Worlds, where you can view some of his art.

Here’s another one of the pieces of art 4of7 shared, and that I’m please to now share with you.

Fun With Cubes #6 – Christmas Cubes. Copyright © 2013 Don Scholand. Used with permission.

Be sure to visit his Website to see more of his art.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 14

The Doctor and Leela
I'm watching the classic Doctor Who episodes from the beginning. That's from 1963. Been doing it for a bit now, because I'm up to the episodes that first aired in 1976-77. That's Season 14, for those counting. Even if you're not counting, it's still Season 14. Math works that way: it doesn't care about you; it still does what it does regardless of whether or not you're paying attention.

Anyway, Season 14 is Tom Baker's third in the role of The Doctor. And it's the start of Elisabeth Sladen's final season as Sarah Jane Smith. I'm gonna miss her.

The season featured something that hadn't happened in some time: an historical episode, although it's not as historical as the traditional ones from the show's early years. The Masque of Mandragora (4 episodes) was set in 15th century Italy, but didn't feature any on-screen appearances by any historical characters. Leonardo da Vinci was mentioned, but didn't appear. The story featured a young man being usurped from his rightful place as ruler by his uncle. Maybe The Doctor will take that story idea forward to the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries and let William Shakespeare write something along that line. Nah. Probably never amount to anything.

One item about the serial I found interesting was that The Masque of Mandragora was filmed at Portmeirion, in Gwynedd, North Wales. That's where the shots of The Village, from the TV show The Prisoner was filmed.

Sarah Jane left The Doctor at the end of the season's second serial, The Hand of Fear. A pretty good, but not great, story that had a troubled history. It was originally supposed to be ready for Season 13, but the scriptwriters had difficulty with it. Along the way, the intent was to kill of The Brigadier and Sarah Jane, but that was eventually scrapped. In the end, the scriptwriters didn't write Sarah Jane out of the series. They left that to Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, who wrote Sarah Jane's exit.

The Doctor had his first solo adventure in The Deadly Assassin (4 episodes), a serial that brought back The Master (though in a heavily decaying state). This serial also introduced the plotline of a 12 regeneration limit for Time Lords. It seems The Master was on his 13th form already and, with no 13th regeneration, would die. Only, there was some plot device using accoutrements of the office of President to restart the cycle. Along the line, there was a presidential assassination and a framing of The Doctor, a faked death, political intrigue. Both The Doctor and The Master live to fight again. One thing, though: I never completely understood why the Time Lord President didn't regenerate.

The Face of Evil
The Doctor picked up a new companion, Leela (Louise Jameson), in the serial The Face of Evil (4 episodes). I didn't remember much about it -- heck, I didn't remember anything about it -- but I'm thinking I had seen it before. I remember the face of The Doctor in the mountain. Unless I'm thinking of an episode of Gilligan's Island.

Anyway, Leela joined up with The Doctor. She's the latest hot chick to join The Doctor in his travels across time and space. The serial was written by, and the character of Leela was created by, Chris Boucher, a talented writer, but a lover of the Labour Party and a hater of Margaret Thatcher. According to one report, he named Leela after a Palestinian hijacker.

Leela ran around in her "savage" costume most of the time, except for the season's final serial, The Talons of Weng-Chiang (6 episodes), in which she and The Doctor dressed in a style more fitting Sherlock Holmes. The Doctor didn't wear the scarf for which Tom Baker's incarnation was known.

As I mentioned when I started this little journey, my first experience with Doctor Who was from the Tom Baker years. So far, I don't remember having watched any of the Tom Baker episodes, with the possible exception of The Face of Evil, and I'm still not sure about that one.

Maybe I'll be coming up on some soon. Or maybe my memory has failed. Much like some of the control of the TARDIS.

Friday, March 28, 2014

German pole dancing robots

Um. Yeah.


[YouTube]

You can go about you business now, firm with the knowledge that you can never unsee that.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Shooting up Obamacare

There's a candidate for Congress over in Alabama that's getting some attention with a campaign video. Will Brooke -- NOT the guy from Montana, although you can bet some stupid liberal will try to make that connection -- is from the Birmingham area and has a business degree and a law degree from the University of Alabama, and is an executive with Harbert Management Corporation.

The sixth District is the middle of the state. It starts a little north of Montgomery and runs to above Birmingham, encompassing much of Jefferson County (where Birmingham is, but not Birmingham itself), as well as Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Coosa, and Shelby counties. It's conservative. No Democrat has received more than 30% of the vote since 1993, when current Congressman Spencer Bachus (a Republican who's retiring) unseated Democrat Ben Erdreich.

Republicans running include:

I can't find any Democrats running, so whoever wins the Republican primary will likely be the next Representative for that district.

Oh, yeah. Will Brooke's video. Have you seen it?


[The YouTube]

Now, is Will Brooke the man needed in Washington? Maybe. It's not my district -- heck, it's not even my state -- so I don't have a vote in that race (unless I voted Democrat, then I could vote early, often, and everywhere).

I hope my friends in Alabama make a good decision. And, I hope that whoever is elected to Congress this fall will indeed take down Obamacare.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Sex: ur doing it wrong


According to one survey, 20% of Americans 18-34 have used a smartphone during sex.

Now, if that involved using the smartphone to look at porn with one hand while ...

I kinda don't think so. I think the survey was talking about actual two-person sex:
20% of US 18-34 year olds have admitted to having used a smartphone during sex (Harris Interactive) and Twitter users on average have shorter relationships than non users (OK Cupid) - is tech just turning us off?

A recent poll for Durex (OnePoll) on the UK's sex life revealed shocking statistics including 12% of people had answered a phone during sex, one in ten had read a text and over 5% of respondents had even checked Facebook while making love.
Answering the phone? What's that about?
She: "I'm sorry, I need to take this."
He: "Um, isn't that what you were just doing, Sweetheart"
or
He: "This might be for me."
She: "So was this."
Checking Facebook? Going at it all hot and heavy and suddenly you're inspired to see what recipes your mom has posted? I think you need to make an appointment with Dr. Freud, there, Sparky.

Promise me this. If you are one of those people who find other things to do during sex, you'll do your partner a favor and set her (or him) free. Really.

I like tech. I really like tech. But there's a time and a place for everything.

If your phone rings during sex, and you decide to answer it, trust me when I tell you it's not Ed McMahon wanting to give you a million dollars. Ed McMahon is dead. And so, apparently, is your relationship.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Don't drink and warp drive


Now there's Klingon beer.

And, no, I'm not out of my Vulcan mind.

There's a Canadian company -- that's in Canadia, I think -- called Federation of Beer that sells something called Vulcan Ale. It comes in bottles (in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan) and cans (Alberta and Ontario). And, it's officially licensed by CBS Studios, who owns the rights to Star Trek. It's brewed by a Montana company, Harvest Moon, although Vulcan Ale isn't for sale in the U.S.

Now, if you look at their Website, they have a little blurb up about Klingon beer coming soon. It will also be sold by Federation of Beer, but it will be brewed in the U.S. (by Tin Man Brewing in Indiana) according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The beer's flavor draws from blending rye malt with a traditional clove character, creating what CBS calls "a bold beer suited for the harsh Klingon lifestyle."

The beer will be previewed at the Nightclub & Bar Show in Las Vegas on March 25, before being released across the U.S. and Canada later this year.
Though I'm a Star Trek fan -- Kirk>Picard -- I'm not a beer drinker. So, this won't impact me much. Even if I was a beer drinker, I don't know how much it would impact me. I mean, if they made Star Trek cereal, I might, as a kid, want a box of that. It'd taste like veQ, but begin a kid, I'd eat it up anyway. But, as an adult, I wouldn't buy Star Trek cereal. I'd still stick to Raisin Bran, Cheerios, or Mini-Wheats.

But, a beer-drinking Star Trek fan? "Mom! Did you remember to pick up some Klingon Beer? And some Cheetos?"

Okay, maybe that's unfair. Some of us that grew up on the original series actually moved out of the basement years ago. And, who knows. You might actually be able to pick up a green woman with it.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Little Worlds art, No. 5

A little while back, I received some art from 4of7, regular visitor and commenter on IMAO. He is an artist, and has his own blog, Little Worlds, where you can view some of his art.

Here’s another one of the pieces of art 4of7 shared, and that I’m please to now share with you.

Fun With Cubes #5 – 3 Nature Favors the Hidden Flaw. Copyright © 2013 Don Scholand. Used with permission.

I have more to share in future posts.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 13


The 13th season of the classic Doctor Who series saw the departure of some major characters. The last regular appearances of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), Mister (nee Sergeant) John Benton (John Levene), and Lieutenant (Doctor) Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).

The 6-serial, 26-episode season began with the return of The Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry to the present, following up the distress call The Doctor received from the Brigadier at the end of Season 12. The first serial, Terror of the Zygons (4 episodes), introduced -- you guessed it -- the Zygons. In this serial, the Brigadier receives a call from the Prime Minister, whom he addresses as "Madame." At the times the episode was recorded and aired, Harold Wilson of the Labour Party was Prime Minister. He was succeeded by fellow Labour Party MP James Callaghan a year later. When the episode aired, Margaret Thatcher was leader of the Conservative Party, but wouldn't become Prime Minister until four years later. However, since the series was, at the time, set in the near-future, commonly accepted to be five years from the then-present, the writers got this one right.

The serial was also Nicholas Courtney's last regular appearance as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Though there would be two more serials involving UNIT, the Brigadier wouldn't be in either. Courtney was unavailable, so they wrote his character as visiting Geneva.

Planet of Evil (4 episodes) was similar to Forbidden Planet in that an invisible creature was killing members of an expedition to a planet. And, kinda like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in that a character kept transforming from normal-looking fellow to an ugly, hairy, evil killer.

The third serial had an interesting plot. It was called Pyramids of Mars (4 episodes) and dealt with a connection between Egyptian civilization and extraterrestrial aliens. And, if you're familiar with Richard Hoagland's whole pyramids on Mars thing, keep in mind that's from after the Viking landings in July 1976. This serial aired 8-9 months before that. No one had seen images from Mars that kinda looked like pyramids. So that whole face and pyramids on Mars thing? Nobody came up with all that nonsense until later. Probably a deranged Doctor Who fan.

Oh, and The Doctor got some math wrong. He mentioned that it would take two minutes for radio signals to travel from Mars to Earth. That's wrong. At their closest approach possible, it would take over three minutes. At their greatest possible distance, it would take a little over 22 minutes. So, The Doctor had even more time than he said to defeat Sutekh.

The Android Invasion (4 episodes) featured UNIT, but as I mentioned earlier, the Brigadier didn't appear. Harry appeared, as did Benton, as well as their android duplicates. Benton's fate is left unclear at the end. At least, I wasn't sure what his fate was. Benton wouldn't be in the later serial involving UNIT.

We met yet another renegade Time Lord in The Brain of Morbius (4 episodes). There seem to be a lot of them. Morbius was a Time Lord that was sentenced to death a zillion years ago. Though the sentence was carried out and his atoms scattered across the universe, he survived because his brain was stolen and it wound up in a bowl in some lab. Kinda like Jan In A Pan from MST3K. His brain was eventually put in a fish bowl on top of a hairy critter. Kinda like Ro-Man from Robot Monster.

Morbius and The Doctor eventually had a battle on something that looked like a game console. The battle involved images of their various incarnations. We saw the faces of The Doctor (Tom Baker), The Doctor (Jon Pertwee), The Doctor (Patrick Troughton), and The Doctor (William Hartnell), plus other faces that could have been The Doctor, or Morbius. That wasn't really clear. Anyway, The Doctor won and the fish bowl sparked and smoked and Morbius fell over, ran away, and then fell off a cliff. The Doctor died, but was revived without regenerating by some elixir of life that came from a flame that The Doctor had fixed by dropping a firecracker down the chimney. Or something.

The season ended with The Seeds of Doom (6 episodes), which was sorta like The Thing, in that an intelligent plant life from another world was found in the Antarctic and was going to get loose and take over the world. It wasn't exactly like The Thing (any version) or Who Goes There? (the story on which The Thing was based), but there were those elements. The serial also marked the last of the stories to involve UNIT for some time. None of the UNIT regulars appeared. And, while I was anxious for The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) to get back into time and space in the TARDIS, now that The Doctor (Tom Baker) has done just that, I am gonna miss the Brigadier, Captain Yates, and Sergeant/Mister Benton. At least, we still have Sarah Jane. For now.

Speaking of whom, on to the 14th season, her last as a regular.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Mystery solved!


Back in 2009, a man in Hampshire -- the old one in the UK, not the New one that lives next to Vermont -- found a Dalek head in a pond.

They don't really know how a villain from Doctor Who ended up losing its head in a pond, and this mystery has been simmering for five years. There were some episodes filmed in Hampshire in Season 22 of Doctor Who, but apparently not at the pond where the Dalek head was found. In a recent follow-up news story from earlier this month, there was still no confirmation of it being from that Doctor Who serial. Or any.

Well, after reading the follow-up, Harvey put me on the task of finding out where it came from. And, in the time since, I've been reviewing episodes involving Daleks, hoping to find evidence of the origin of the Dalek head. But, it remained a mystery.

And then, I looked at IMAO. And I found the answer. Frank had the answer the whole time: the Navy SEALs did it.

Think about it. What did they do with Osama? They shot him in the head and chucked him into the water.

Those Somali pirates? Shot them in the head and chucked them into the water.

It's what they do: shoot the bad guys in the head and chuck them into the water.

According to the documentary I've been watching, the Daleks have invaded Earth several times, and were defeated each time. We saw The Doctor defeating them. But really, could some guy wearing anything from frilly shirts to overlong scarves to celery stalks to funny hats hope to bring down the Daleks by himself? Or by himselves? No. But, with help from the Navy SEALs, the Daleks could be defeated. The Doctor would do some silly thing involving a clever turn of a phrase, while the Navy SEALs would shoot them in the head and chuck them in the water.

The Navy SEALs method is a little more effective. Just ask Osama. Or the fish that ate him.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Little Worlds art, No. 4

A little while back, I received some art from 4of7, a regular visitor and commenter on IMAO. He is an artist, and has his own blog, Little Worlds, where you can view some of his art.

Here’s another one of the pieces of art 4of7 shared, and that I’m please to now share with you.

Fun With Cubes #4 – 3 Point Maze. Copyright © 2013 Don Scholand. Used with permission.

I have more to share in future posts.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Robot musicians


Robots have been doing scary things.

There have been robot snakes, pee-drinking robots, pizza-deliverying robot killer whales, killer surgeon robots, ...

The list goes on and on. Because robots are taking over the world. Not like we humans have done anything good with it, but still. Robot overlords? Not sure I'm crazy about that idea.

But, maybe not all robots are bad. Maybe they can be here to amuse us. Like the robots that make music.

In Japan, there's a thing called Z-Machines that will be releasing a record in April called "Music For Robots." Actually, it's music by robots. Here's a sample:


[The YouTube]

So, robots aren't all bad.

Unless this is a plot to keep us entertained while they take over. If so, at least we'll be entertained while soulless beings with no regard for human decency make the decisions. Kind of like the Democrats in charge. But with entertainment.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Little Worlds art, No. 3

Some time back, I received some art from 4of7, a regular visitor and commenter on IMAO. He is an artist, and has his own blog, Little Worlds, where you can view some of his art.

Here’s another one of the pieces of art 4of7 shared, and that I’m please to now share with you.

Fun With Cubes #3 – Summer 2013. Copyright © 2013 Don Scholand. Used with permission.

I have more I’ll share in future posts.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 12


I'm watching the classic Doctor Who episodes because ... I forget why, but I've started, and doggone it, I'm gonna see it through. I'm up to Season 12 now, and that means Tom Baker as The Doctor. The 12th season was only 20 episodes long, comprising five serials.

The first serial, Robot (4 episodes), indicated just how much the show changed over the first 12 years. The show was very serious when it began, with the occasional bit of levity. Patrick Troughton brought more humor to the show, as did Jon Pertwee. But right off the bat, Tom Baker was a clown. Literally. When The Doctor awoke following his regeneration, and changed clothes several times, including once coming out of the TARDIS as a clown. And, the odd getup that Baker was known for wearing was the least strange of the outfits he was trying on at the time, so the Brigadier told him it was fine and hurried him to investigate the case they had.

That serial also introduced the character Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter), who would travel with The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) for the remainder of the season.

A season-long arc (or remaining season arc) began in The Ark in Space (4 episodes). Arc. Ark. Get it? The Doctor and his companions travel to space station Nerva (the aforementioned "ark") in the far future and save the day. The ending leads directly to The Sontaran Experiment (2 episodes), which featured the Sontarans, the second but nowhere near the last of appearances by that group of bad guys.

Tom Baker broke his collarbone during the taping of The Sontaran Experiment, but that big, stupid scarf hid the brace he had to wear. So, +1 for the big stupid scarf.

At the conclusion, they try to get back to Nerva and the TARDIS, but the Time Lords intervene and send them on an impossible mission against the Daleks. They'd spend the rest of the season trying to get back to Nerva.

The serial Genesis of the Daleks (6 episodes), tells of, well, the genesis of the Daleks. We meet Davros for the first time. He's the dude that created them. He's stuck in a Captain Pike-mobile, but can talk. He does have a flashing light, though. In a mission doomed to failure, The Doctor (Tom Baker) goes back to the time of the creation of the Daleks, in order to change history. Apparently, The Doctor (Tom Baker) forgot that The Doctor (William Hartnell) told Barbara in Season One's The Aztecs that history can't be changed ("Believe me, I know!").

That ends with a return to Nerva, but at too early a time. They battle the Cybermen in Revenge of the Cybermen (4 episodes). The Cyberman hadn't appeared since Season Six's The Invasion, excepting a brief cameo in Season 10's Carnival of Monsters in which they played no role. There is a plot hole big enough to drive a TARDIS through in that serial. Gold is poisonous to Cybermen. Yet, some Cybermen land on a planet that's made of gold (or has it lying around all over the place).

Remember that after first meeting then battling the Cybermen in Season Four's The Tenth Planet, The Doctor (William Hartnell) died and renewed? Well, during this serial that reintroduced the Cybermen, between the broadcast of episodes one (19 April 1975) and two (26 April 1973), William Hartnell actually died (23 April 1975).

On that sad note, Season 12 ended, and The Doctor and his companions entered the TARDIS to head to Season 13. As shall we.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Little Worlds art, No. 2

A while back, I received some art from 4of7, a regular visitor and commenter on IMAO. He is an artist, and has his own blog, Little Worlds, where you can view some of his art.

Here’s another one of the pieces of art 4of7 shared, and that I’m please to now share with you.

Fun With Cubes #2 – City Block. Copyright © 2013 Don Scholand. Used with permission.

I have more I’ll share in a future post.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A great-grandma phone


My mother is thinking of getting a smart phone. She has one of those indestructible flip phones that makes and receives calls. Does it very well. But, she wants more.

She likes to text. Yes, there's a 78-year-old woman in southeast Georgia that stays in touch with her daughters and grand-daughters (and grand-sons, too, I suppose) by texting. Of course, on one of those little flip phones, If she wants to say "Thank you," she has to type 88,444,22,666,555,###,9999,6966,888. And, if she accidentally goes too far, she has to keep pressing until it goes back around. You remember those days, right? Well, that's called "Wednesday" where she's from. It's also called "Thursday through Tuesday."

Well, she thinks she wants a smart phone. Everybody else has one, and she don't want to be left out. And she's not sure what she wants to do.

She's thinking about an iPhone, but they're just so expensive. So she's wondered about one of those Samsung Galaxy S4 phones. But they're expensive, too. Her oldest daughter has one of those DROID MAXX RAZR things. One of those phones where words are spelled all capitalized and wrong. She doesn't want one of them, because she sees where my sister is always on the Facebook complaining about it, and she doesn't want to spend a lot of money on something to complain about. There are lot cheaper ways to find something to complain about.

Now, last summer, I sought out some advice for myself and many of y'all suggested the Samsung Galaxy S3 or S4. Of course, some other phones were suggested, too, and they sounded good. I ended up getting an iPhone 5, but not because I ignored the suggestions. It was because I went with a smaller carrier that had a limited selection. I actually got a Samsung phone from the carrier, but they didn't have the really good ones (no Galaxy S3 or S4) like y'all suggested. And, boy did I find out there's a difference between the Samsung Galaxy and the Samsung SomethingElse. Ended up replacing it with an iPhone 5, and been happy.

Well, my mother is on Verizon. And they have a good selection of phones. I just want to make sure she's happy with whatever smart phone she gets. I'm going to suggest an iPhone (based on my personal experience), or a Samsung Galaxy S4 (based on the rave reviews y'all and others I know have given). I'm also going to show her the rest of the suggestions y'all made last summer. But, since that was nearly a year ago, and lots of things happen in a short time in the technocracy world, I'm going to ask y'all again if there's currently another phone she needs to consider.

What, if anything, should I add to the list:
  • iPhone
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
What else goes on this list?

Thanks.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Little Worlds art, No. 1

A while back, I received some art from 4of7. If you weren't aware, in addition to being a regular visitor and commenter on IMAO, he is an artist, and has his own blog, Little Worlds, where you can view some of his art:
I call them "little worlds" because each one is unique and separate, constructed according to the internal rules I set for it, with just a touch of randomness allowed into the design, to bring it to life and make it just unpredictable enough to be interesting. I never know for sure how each design will turn out until the last line is drawn and the last block of color is applied.
I've been wanting to share some of the art I received, but, well, for a while, I didn't have a scanner. Yes, I could have run up to Walgreens and scanned it, but I planned on getting a printer with a scanner, so I waited. Well, it's now months later, but I'm no longer a slacker without a scanner. I'm a slacker with a scanner.

Here's one of the pieces of art 4of7 shared, and that I'm please to now share with you.

Fun With Cubes #1 - Braided Cubes. Copyright © 2013 Don Scholand. Used with permission.

I have more I'll share in a future post.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Vive la différence


So, you think men and women are different?

Well, there's a neuroscientist in Birmingham (the one on England, not the one in Alabama) that says there are no difference between the brains of men and women.
"The bottom line is that saying there are differences in male and female brains is just not true. There is pretty compelling evidence that any differences are tiny and are the result of environment not biology," said Prof Rippon.
Oh, that's Professor Gina Rippon.

Sounds just like a woman, doesn't it. She says that it's environment, not biology that makes the sexes different.

That's right. She says sex doesn't make a difference.

I'm thinking she's not doing it right. Or nearly enough.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 11


I've been watching classic Doctor Who episodes. I began with the first season from 1963, and am now in the eleventh season from 1974 (mostly).

Season Eleven was 26 episodes comprising 5 serials. It featured a new opening sequence, highlighted by the classic Doctor Who diamond-shaped logo. It also introduced Sarah Jane Smith, who was with The Doctor for four seasons, the longest of any companion so far.

The first serial of the season, The Time Warrior (4 episodes), introduced the Sontarans, and featured another appearance by Boba Fett. Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett in the original Star Wars movies, made his second Doctor Who appearance. He had previously appeared in The Space Museum from Season Two. The serial also gives The Doctor's home planet a name: Gallifrey.

The second serial, Invasion of the Dinosaurs (6 episodes), had an interesting idea in that dinosaurs were brought forward in time to the present day (1970s) and then returned, wreaking havoc in between. I think they stole this idea from Primeval by taking the TARDIS into the future and bringing the idea back to 1973. The Doctor should be ashamed of himself.

A little shame should also be heaped upon the special effects department for that serial. The dinosaur effects made Godzilla (1954) look like Jurassic Park. Barney is a more convincing dinosaur than what was done for that serial. And, in a change of recent storyline pattern, the eco-warriors were the bad guys, intent on destroying life on Earth. They did excuse them as misguided, with their hearts in the right place, though. Those wacky Brits.

A couple of old villains appeared in Season 11. The Daleks made an appearance in Death to the Daleks (4 episodes). That serial was unusual in that, for some of the time, there was an uneasy truce between The Doctor and the Daleks as they combined forces to restore power to their respective ships. At the end, of course, the Daleks are the bad guys, and as usual, are defeated. The other return villains, the Ice Warriors appear in The Monster of Peladon (6 episodes).

The season ended with the 6-episode Planet of the Spiders. I don't like spiders. The second episode of the serial could have been called "Who. Doctor Who." because of the extended chase scene involving a car, a hover craft, a flying car, a helicopter, and a speed boat. I could almost hear Paul McCartney playing Live and Let Die during it.

The spider effects were actually pretty good. Well, not bad. Certainly better than the dinosaurs. But some of the other effects in the serial were pretty bad. 1980 Flash Gordon bad.

The main event in the serial, apart from saving the universe again, is the death of The Doctor. He was regenerated -- the first time it was called that; the transition from the First Doctor to the Second Doctor was called "renewal" -- into the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker.

The Tom Baker episodes were the first Doctor Who episodes I ever saw, on PBS back in the 1970s. And, now I'm caught up to then. Well, nearly.

Season 12 looms large. To the TARDIS, to land on Earth in 1974!

Friday, March 7, 2014

Wake up to bacon

Did ya hear about the new app and iPhone dongle from Oscar Mayer?

It's an alarm clark app that runs on your iPhone. And when the alarm sounds, it sounds like bacon. And, looks like bacon.



And ... and here's the best part ... it smells like bacon. If, and that's a big if, you have the dongle. It plugs into your iPhone and, when the alarm sounds, emits the aroma of bacon. So you can wake to the sight, sound, and smell of bacon.

Here's the problem: you can't buy one. You have to register to win one at an Oscar Mayer Website. I entered. Didn't win. Entered again. Still didn't win. Maybe they've given them all away. Or maybe I'm just not lucky enough to win one.

But, if you have one, I'd love to hear about it. Does it really work? I assume it does, but since I don't know anyone who has one, I've not heard first-hand about it.

Wait a minute. Suppose they don't have any, and never had any? What if every entry gets the same response: Sorry, you didn't win. I mean, what if it's a scam? They're getting news coverage about it, stupid bloggers are going to their Website and registering and then writing up about it so that others can go to the Website...

Um.

I think I'll just go eat some bacon. Which is really what they wanted all along. But that's okay. It's what I want too.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Ellen


Then world has turned upside down. I'm having to take sides with Ellen Degeneres.

I remember when she was an up and coming comedian (comedienne?), and thought she was okay. She was no Jeff Dunham, but she was alright. But I never thought she was more than alright.

When she got her own TV show back in the '90s, I checked it out, but didn't stay with it. It was a sitcom called "These Friends of Mine" and her character worked at a book store. I think she later bought it and they re-titled the show "Ellen" but I had stopped watching it by then; it wasn't that good of a show.

And, that's the show where she came out. Apparently, viewers of the show were the last people on Earth to know she was a homosexual. I mean, it really was kinda obvious, right? So, why it was a big deal at the time, I still don't understand.

Anyway, she's now the poster boy (so to speak) for lesbians or gays or something. And, she's the 2010s version of Billy Crystal or Johnny Carson, in that she's the go-to guy (so to speak) for the Academy Awards.

From what I can tell, it seems the Academy Awards had a TV special recently where they gave out this year's Oscars. It wasn't on Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime, so I didn't see it. But, I read about it. And, I read that a bunch of people were getting their panties in a wad over some joke Ellen told.

Now, as I said, she's a comedian of moderate talent, and some jokes work, and some jokes don't. Here's the one that people didn't like the most.
“Hello to the best Liza Minnelli impersonator I’ve ever seen,” she said — to Minnelli herself. “Good job, sir.”
Now, that's funny. There are a lot of Liza Minnelli impersonators out there. More than there are Judy Garland impersonators (go figure). Or Elvis. And, most of them are men.

But some people are getting all hot and bothered by it, calling Ellen transphobic (whatever the heck that is) and mean (what?). (Tip: Chicks on the Right)

For Pete's sake, it was a joke. Not a great joke, but a good one. But I am angry about it.

I'm having to defend Ellen Degeneres. That's how nuts the Politically Correct crowd is. In case you didn't already know.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Voting for Obama proved that


Some Website called VoucherCloud did a study recently, and it showed Americans don't know stuff.

Now, I didn't need some coupon-aggregator Website to do a study to tell me that. I've met a lot of Americans. Related to several. Am one. I know Americans, and I know a lot of them are stupid. There's no other reason than stupid that explains how Obama got elected. And that the stupid is a long-term condition is proven by Obama getting elected twice.

Okay, back to the study. It seems that 11% of Americans think HTML is a sexually transmitted disease. And, the study showed some other things, too:
  • 27% identified "gigabyte" as an insect commonly found in South America. A gigabyte is a measurement unit for the storage capacity of an electronic device.
  • 42% said they believed a "motherboard" was "the deck of a cruise ship." A motherboard is usually a circuit board that holds many of the key components of a computer.
  • 23% thought an "MP3" was a "Star Wars" robot. It is actually an audio file.
  • 18% identified "Blu-ray" as a marine animal. It is a disc format typically used to store high-definition videos.
  • 15% said they believed "software" is comfortable clothing. Software is a general term for computer programs.
Yes, I sit here and laugh. But, is it really a laughing matter? Shouldn't we try to help these poor people?

No. We need to laugh at them. Just like when you see a car with an Obama sticker, you point and laugh.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Guys are guys

Saw this on the Facebook. And, I know the lady in the picture. And her daughter.



Lisa had just completed a 5K, and posted this pic of herself after the run.

But did you notice it? A friend of her daughter did, and sent this text:


<< Hey, look at this.
>> What
<< All those guys checking your mom out

Guys. What can I say. We're guys.

I don't understand why you ladies put up with us like you do, but I'm glad you do. Thanks, ladies. Thanks.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Classic Doctor Who Season 10

The Three Doctors
Season Ten of Doctor Who, the classic series before the recent resurrection of the series, featured something that must have been a delight to fans of the show: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, and Jon Pertwee all appearing together.

Well, "together" isn't exactly right. Let me explain.

Season Ten, consisting of 26 episodes comprising five serials, began with an attack on time itself. And, the plot line called for the Time Lords not being able to spare resources to help The Doctor. So, they sent The Doctor. And when The Doctor and The Doctor didn't get along, they called on The Doctor to help.

I don't think I explained that very well. Except that's exactly what happened. Through some Time Lord mumbo jumbo, they managed to pull the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) into the time stream of the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), so they could combine forces and battle Omega, who's a Time Lord gone mad. Or rogue. There seems to be a lot of them.

Anyway, The Doctor (3.0) and The Doctor (2.0) don't get along, so they bring The Doctor (1.0) to keep them in line. After all, he was the mature one. He wasn't impressed with his third or second incarnations, calling them "a dandy and a clown." Due to William Hartnell's health, he was only able to appear in studio, communicating via video screen with the other Doctors. Regardless, it was great to see William Hartnell in action again.

Hartnell's appearances in the serial were his last role of any kind, not just in Doctor Who. The episodes were filmed in late 1972, and aired beginning just before New Year's, and ran into late January 1973. Hartnell's health continued to decline, and he was hospitalized in December 1974, and died in April of 1975.

At the end of The Three Doctors (4 episodes), the Time Lords removed the sentence of exile from The Doctor, allowing him to use the TARDIS as before. He made some trips with Jo, but returned to Earth, no longer unable to control the TARDIS. He did experience some issues with landing where he expected, but it wasn't the completely lost in time and space situation from the first six seasons.

Being a Time Lord can
sometimes be a drag
The Master returned in Frontier in Space (6 episodes). It was Roger Delgado's last appearance on Doctor Who. He died around three months after the episode aired while filming a movie in Turkey. Pertwee and Delgado were close friends, and Delgado's death was one of the reasons that contributed to Pertwee's decision to leave the role of The Doctor after the next season.

The Daleks returned at the end of that serial, and followed as the primary antagonist in the next serial, Planet of the Daleks (6 episodes). That serial was could be considered a sequel to Season One's The Daleks, the second Doctor Who serial, and the one that introduced those characters. In Planet of the Daleks, The Doctor encounters Thals, who are still battling the Daleks after all these years.

The season ended with the departure of companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning) after she married a hippie environmentalist professor. The serial, The Green Death (6 episodes) was a typical 1970s environmentalist piece. It was typical leftist promotion, with a giant chemical company actively working to poison the planet. The episode also featured a scene of The Doctor in drag. Those wacky Brits.

I've enjoyed Jon Pertwee's time as The Doctor, especially since he's able to cross time and space again. He had one more season in the role before turning it over to Tom Baker. I'm looking forward to seeing Pertwee's last season. Not to say farewell to him, but to see him as The Doctor some more. As long as he's in space and not doing more left-wing hippie stuff.