Serenity

For all the hype Lucasfilm is generating for Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith, I'm still much more looking forward to the modestly-budgeted Serenity... Browncoats rule!

The Key To (Wasting) Time

Well, my daughter and I completed our long-desired goal of the Doctor Who 500, meaning we watched all 26 episodes of the Key to Time DVD boxed set in one weekend. Our reflections?

1. While it is possible to watch that much television in one weekend, it is not recommended!
2. Tom Baker made that series. No matter how pathetic the special effects, no matter how wobbly the sets, no matter how bargain-basement the monsters looked, Baker elevated the show into something special. Good luck, Christopher Eccleston -- you've got your work cut out for you!
3. Fan favorites like The Ribos Operation and The Pirate Planet left us kind of cold.
4. Serials that were considered turkeys like The Androids of Tara rocked. The much-maligned Power of Kroll had us all quite engrossed -- I don't know where they shot it, but it was one of the few locations the series used that was actually believable as an alien planet rather than a quarry in England.
5. The only thing that got us through the plodding six-part Armageddon Factor was our desire to complete the marathon.
6. This is the season that the show began its slide into farce, and it's all the poorer for it. Let's see the Hinchcliffe/Holmes Era in season-by-season boxed sets!

The Doctor Who 500 is not an experiment that we plan on repeating anytime soon -- but then again, I just got a Mystery Science Theater 3000 boxed set yesterday for my birthday, so is anyone up for another marathon?

Quote of the Week

"There's a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out." -- musician Lou Reed

One Two Three Day Weekend

As I get older I find that I am having a harder time shaking the winter blues. I just want to feel the sunshine on my skin, the grass under my feet. I want to open the window for some fresh air. Some day I'm going to have to move out to the southwest.

With Lamont heading out of town for a retreat, the kids and I decided to spend our long weekend visiting my mom. No bringing work home, no comparing grad schools online, no agendas... Just a little time devoted to family, rest, and re-creation...

My daughter, H--, and I decided that this weekend was perfect for a pet project of ours we wanted to do for a long time: THE DOCTOR WHO 500. I can't remember how we coined the name, but the gist of it is that we're going to watch the whole 26 episode Key to Time DVD boxed set in one weekend. We've made it up to episode thirteen so far! Hey, it's important for a family to set and attain goals. Even if they're, well, kind of pointless...

I realize that we can't just watch TV all weekend. We discussed the need for alternate activities and chose eating. This isn't a hard activity to engage in at my mom's house. Although my mom is fit, trim and healthy and only shares her house with a cat and my niece who is hardly ever there, her kitchen is stocked as if she's waiting for Y2K and still wants to be able to throw a Superbowl party as the world slips back into the dark ages. We've already had chili, cornbread, peanut butter pie, french toast, sausage, hot wings, pepperoni balls, and cheeseburgers and we've only been here for twenty-four hours.

If this doesn't sound like a very productive use of time, well, it's not meant to be... My new job is going great, but the long commute on icy roads is killing me... I just decided to stop for a few days and chill out.

P.S. Does anyone say "chill out" any more? Or did that go out with Arsenio and no one told me?

Magnetic Personality

Now I've seen everything... On the way drive home from work this evening I passed an injury lawyer who had a magnetic sign stuck to his car. I wonder if F. Lee Bailey ever did that?

It's Sunday

Praise God...

...for the gift of life
...for community
...for revelation!

Treasure of the Broken Land

I was listening to some old music this afternoon that I hadn't heard in ages. I came across Chagall Guevara's cover of Treasure of the Broken Land from the Mark Heard tribute CD. This recording is arguably Chagall's finest moment as a band, but even more than that the words really connected with me:

Treasure Of The Broken Land by Mark Heard

I see you now and then in dreams
Your voice sounds just like it used to
I know you better than I knew you then
All I can say is I love you

I thought our days were commonplace
Thought they would number in millions
Now there's only the aftertaste
Of circumstance that can't pass this way again

Treasure of the broken land
Parched earth, give up your captive ones
Waiting wind of Gabriel
Blow soon upon the hollow bones

I saw the city at its tortured worst
And you were outside the walls there
You were relieved of a lifelong thirst
I was dry at the fountain

I knew that you could see my shame
But you were eyeless and sparing
I awoke when you called my name
I felt the curtain tearing

I can melt the clock hands down
But only in my memory
Nobody gets the second chance
To be the friend they meant to be

I see you now and then in dreams
Your voice sounds just like it used to
I believe I will hear it again
God how I love you

Mission Accomplished!

Well, it took me twenty years, but my collection of Doctor Who is finally complete. Marvel Comics published a comic based on the BBC program when it was at the height of its stateside popularity in the mid-eighties. The comic didn't sell terribly well -- especially after Peter Davison replaced Tom Baker in the strips -- and it folded after a short two-year run. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I had the entire twenty-two issue run in mint condition.

I was browsing a comic price guide a few years later and discovered, much to my dismay, that Marvel had actually produced twenty-three issues. Rats. Over the years I would occasionally check comic shops for the elusive issue twenty-three, but nobody ever carries back issues of Doctor Who.

With the new series reviving my interest in all things Doctor Who, I decided to make an attempt at locating the issue via the internet. You know, before the new series appears and Doctor Who becomes the most popular thing ever, making the price of its collectibles go sky high... (Yeah, right...)

I found the issue on sale at Mile High Comics in Denver. Now, seven dollars poorer and a week later, the collection I began at aged 16 is complete just shy of my 37th birthday. Mission accomplished!

Nerd is the Word

Here's living proof that I am a 37 year-old nerd, based on my Friday evening:

1. Walked around all day with a 256 MB Flash Drive dangling from a lanyard around my neck.
2. Bought polybags at Books Galore in Erie.
3. Ate dinner alone...
4. ...at Bob Evans!
5. Watched my favorite 3 hours of television on BBC America: The Avengers, The Saint, and The Persuaders!
6. Read a Doctor Who graphic novel
7. Arranged my six-year collection of The Wittenburg Door in numerical order.

Looking back, it was a pretty good night!

P.S. I would have posted to the blog, too, but Lamont had the iBook with her.

The Parade of Life

The parade of life
Includes some strife
But isn’t limited to it.

The steps we take
May quiver and shake
But some we strongly make.

Our arms can fly
In our face
Or carry us to a
Better place.

Our feet can stall
And stall and stall
Or move with precision and determination.


The parade of life
Includes some strife
But isn’t limited to it.

(Note: I need to look for the possibilities, unstead of the limitations. Don't listen to the dream stealers!)

The Fourth Estate Continues To Get More Impressive By The Day...

I watched 60 Minutes tonight because comic creator Stan Lee was on. Stan was whining about only making a million dollars a year off of his comic creations. But enough about that. The thing that really struck me was the wording of a question asked by the journalist:

"Do you feel like you got screwed?"

Is it just me or does that seem like a real casual way of speaking by a CBS newsman? Would that question have been worded the same way a few years ago? I doubt it. Here's my timeline of news speak with some speculation of where this increasing casualness will end up:

1985: "Do you feel that Marvel Comics has treated you fairly in regard to royalties owed you?"

2005: "Do you feel like you got screwed?"

2025: "F@ck#n' A! You dere b*tch or sumpin'?"

And I also predict that news anchors in the future will end all newscasts not with a "good night" but by flipping off the camera...