February 9th isn’t far away at all, especially the way time flies these days. That first half of the season ended on a pretty wild note of highs and lows for the survivors, so it’ll be interesting to see where things go once the last bunch of episodes this season roll out. I’m still NOT a fan at all of shows splitting up into waiting times like this, but it seems to be the new “normal” despite the big breaks in time that drive folks like me batty. Still it’s better than what AMC is doing to the final season of Mad Men, spreading out those final episodes over TWO YEARS, meaning way too much waiting around for a series of resolutions that will already be ancient by the time viewers get to see them. Oh well…
“Let me tell you something… You know Santa Claus? Yeah. well… he’s nothing but a gawd-damn pervert!” Most of the mouthful of coffee I’d just drank ended up coming back through my mouth and nose ending up on the formerly clean table as I now struggled to breathe. It’s a good thing my eggs weren’t ready yet.
The waitress that seated me rushed over with a dishcloth and asked if I was alright as she wiped the table down, seemingly wanting to reach over and start slapping me on the back or testing her Heimlich skills. As she placed her other hand above my back, I managed to nod and signaled up at her with an “OK” sign while letting out a strangled “Oh, it just went down the wrong way…” she breathed a half sigh of half relief. “Oh, I thought the coffee was too hot or burnt or something. Hold on, honey – I’ll get you a fresh cup!” She scooted off to do so and as I patted my shirt down with some napkins, I glanced to the left and behind me to see who almost killed me before breakfast… Continue reading →
I’ve never trusted machines much even though like most of you, I tend to take them all for granted. Heck, we built those stupid machines (and even built the robots that build most machines today), so it’s not like they’re going to NOT do what we want them to like a mistreated pet suddenly turning on its owner, right? RIGHT?Wrong. Granted, plenty of industrial and freak accidents claim some while humans using machines constructed for menial to major tasks to kill other humans has been a thing ever since man started inventing and building stuff. Someone gets mad enough or crazy enough and even the most innocent looking tool gets used to do someone in, usually in a pretty messy manner. If Lizzie Borden had say, an old rolling pin instead of an axe, she might have merely lumped up her parents and not hacked them to bits. Even with an axe, bad aim is still pretty deadly…
Ah ha ha. See what I did there? No? Well, you’ll get it soon enough if you didn’t. Anyway, that final Matt Smith show was a corker, wasn’t it. No spoilers here, but I’ll say that ending sets up the Peter Capaldi run in a fun little way and makes me look forward to seeing this NEW Doctor at work. I have to give Steven Moffat some major credit for all these past years of plot hints coming in bits and pieces and basically ensnaring fans and non fans alike into sticking with even the silliest of shows because it all makes sense when you see those bits fall into place. I bet there’s a notebook somewhere with a chart and long, long list of whats, whys, when, hows and of course, WHO… but then again, the magic of this show comes from NOT knowing and just enjoying the ride.
So long, Mr. Smith – you’ll be missed, but I bet your Doctor will make an appearance at SOME point during the next 50 years. Better sooner than later, of course…
Yeah, I know it won’t be a lengthy Food Network-like how-to scene at all, friends. But I got big a laugh the other day when I read the plot synopsis and found that this final Matt Smith episode spans some 300 years (!), which means that’s more than enough time to cook up the biggest bird you can find and then some. Still… I wonder how HUGE a space turkey would need to be to take 300 years to cook and yeah, you’re not putting that raw stuffing inside, buddy. Unless that’s how you need to kill off a massive army of Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and Silence all intent on doing you in. Of course, that’s NOT how it’s all going to go down (hell, it better not!), but it would be disgustingly awesome to see the episode suddenly turn into that infamous and particularly nasty dining scene from the finale of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life but with a few spaceships full of aliens barfing all over each other instead of one really massive man making an entire restaurant very sick as he loses his lunch (and dinner and a few breakfasts).
OK, that’s pretty much a big, fat “YUK” just thinking about that happening. But it would be pretty darn memorable, no? Well, then… now that we agree, how about a teeny-tiny slice of pumpkin pie for you, sir or madam?
Well, I figured SOMEONE would try and make a life sized TARDIS that actually flew one of these days, but the guys at Flyonix did so and made a trio of really fun and funny professional quality videos documenting their process and the initial (and unfortunately first and only) flight of their blue boxy bird. As you can see, things didn’t exactly turn out as well as some of you would like. Well, at least they weren’t crazy enough to put a person inside, right? Of course, you Who purists might be a bit miffed that this version of the TARDIS wasn’t bigger on the inside and all that, but hey – you can only go SO far with actual reality, you know….
Of course, this probably won’t stop them from making a new attempt and yep, I want them to at LEAST get one up, flying and landing safely just so I can like to see an actual TARDIS ride pop up in an amusement park somewhere in the world. Heck, you’d think it would have happened already, but I guess since Disney or Universal hasn’t bought Doctor Who yet (and we certainly don’t want to see THAT happening, correct?) and slapped a themed section into one of their parks, it won’t be a “thing” to experience outside of some fan fiction (eek) or inventors with too much time on their hands and plenty of moxie. Wait… did I just use “moxie” in an sentence in the 21st century? Yes, I did. Time travel DOES exist!
Yes, it’s been a nice long run for Matt Smith as the Doctor, but that’s all coming to an end soon and of course, he’ll be missed by many. That said, the beauty of Doctor Who is seeing who regenerates into the character and how they portray the time lord once he’s back on his two feet. Given the ending of that 50th anniversary show a few weeks back, things are coming to quite a finale that’s bound to get new and old viewers assorted cases of the chills, shakes, whines and other afflictions the way only this series can. Peter Capaldi has some big and interesting shoes to fill, but I’m not worried one bit. Fifty years and still going strong means I’d say this show has no plans of slumping or sleeping on its many laurels. Granted, not every Doctor or episode has been everyone’s cup of tea. But you have to admire anything that’s around for so long and still getting people to stop, drop and roll in front of their televisions on a regular basis (and bring a few friends along in the process)…
I live in an area that’s not too hard to figure out if you live here and spend time walking around on a semi-regular basis. However, on occasions where people who drive here to visit friends or relatives, they often run into trouble with one particular spot where an oval splits into four different directions and streets that need to be followed to their destinations or else you end up driving in some rather oddball directions only to find yourself maybe back where you started or worse. This evening as I’m walking home, a car pulls up beside me and as the passenger side window rolls down, I know exactly what’s coming. Sure enough, a woman pops her head out the window and asks which way a certain street is because she and her husband had been driving around for a good fifteen minutes looking for the building.
Nice guy that I am, I point them in the correct direction and of course, the missus is all “See, I told you it was THAT way” while the hubby is getting a case of the “Yeah, yeahs”. As they both turn to thank me, the husband asks “I suppose people get lost around here a lot?”, to which I respond “Well, it’s not so bad here – you could be in the Pine Barrens”. I do believe the husband happened to get what I was referencing, because he burst out laughing so loudly that his wife jumped in her seat and did a double take before asking what the heck was so funny. As she closed the window back up (I’m assuming no one “rolls” a window up any longer) I waved goodbye, turned and left them alone and walked away with a smile knowing the mister would have to do some fast talking to stay out of the perceived doghouse he just cracked himself up into. Thankfully, that episode of The Sopranos is a pretty darn funny one and I’m glad someone actually got a joke I’d made without having to explain it. Victory!
So, I’m walking about the other day and I pass some kids coming from school and overhear one of them saying to his friends that his mom is punishing him for some offense or another by taking away his gaming and online time at home. As I’m grinning while just ahead of them, I hear the kid say he doesn’t know why he’s being treated “like a prisoner” and IMMEDIATELY this intro came to mind. Oh, you kid… you don’t even KNOW what it’s like at all. AT ALL. Although, I’d laugh like a loon if he walked in the door to his home and a Rover was waiting to chase him right to his room away from the TV and computer. Those damn things always scared the heck out of me as a kid when I was watching the show every week and not knowing what in the world was going on, but not being able to look away.
And be glad I didn’t think of the opening theme and titles to HBO’s super NSFW show, OZ. Although, that might be more fitting under the most incorrect of circumstances. Stay in school, boys and girls… stay in school…
Yeah, I’d be canning whomever thought up this poster like a bunch of cranberries, as my cartoon nostalgia sense tells me that this one will be dead on arrival after the first weekend at best. This turkey is planning to gobble up box office dollars while neglecting the fact that the original shorts worked perfectly because they clocked in at about five minutes and weren’t padded out with needless stuff that’s only going to appeal to folks who’ve never seen an episode of the Bullwinkle cartoons they came from. Ah well… I guess I should just shut the heck up and surrender, huh?
When I saw the trailer for the new CG flick the first time, I didn’t laugh at all, and seeing it again recently made me more annoyed than ever. But whatever, right? It’ll be “fun” for the kids that don’t care at all about history and nostalgia, that’s for sure. On the other hand… when the adults in the theater are groaning at the end like the ones behind me who hadn’t seen the trailer until then, I’m gathering Dreamworks will be wishing for their very own time machine so they can go back and erase this project from their books. Yuk.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 