tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-329820362024-03-13T23:14:34.774-07:00On a personal noteWhat I have to say about whatever I have to say.Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-5568136226441085792016-11-09T09:29:00.000-08:002016-11-09T09:29:04.391-08:00About last night…Obviously, a number of things came to mind when I heard. This has remained at the top of my mind:<br />
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<span id="goog_365904685"></span><span id="goog_365904686"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBwi7EzfEYkEOMMMvB4ljxWPOMDmgV05DiwhJSY3iFvNEcof5heK8ArQIYhrt0i5mhLuh_ZXnFBLU902_oA2kxdL1omDXGdfUnI80plWhemsAXTvZD1UlJGVTWCb4ZcqH07t3/s1600/GougeAway03.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBwi7EzfEYkEOMMMvB4ljxWPOMDmgV05DiwhJSY3iFvNEcof5heK8ArQIYhrt0i5mhLuh_ZXnFBLU902_oA2kxdL1omDXGdfUnI80plWhemsAXTvZD1UlJGVTWCb4ZcqH07t3/s320/GougeAway03.jpg" width="208" /></a><br />
(Wait, there's more…)<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJk-v9blMYTGBjpbc5HzjbVEEvfXO6KWfdohOfdSpPar0YRO7OQKEzJ1y4fcEZm-8640yH9ppN1uzYEITXG_fW7jGP5WwVzaBlg2j2kUbHXZfyJ7BlijeKujrFJBaJoDbmGxqV/s1600/GougeAway04.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJk-v9blMYTGBjpbc5HzjbVEEvfXO6KWfdohOfdSpPar0YRO7OQKEzJ1y4fcEZm-8640yH9ppN1uzYEITXG_fW7jGP5WwVzaBlg2j2kUbHXZfyJ7BlijeKujrFJBaJoDbmGxqV/s320/GougeAway04.jpg" width="208" /></a><br />
<br />
"That is not what you elected this time."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
From "Transmetropolitan" by Warren Ellis and Darick Robinson, an entertaining and horrific look at our society if we manage to avoid an extinction-level event first. Worth reading the whole thing, to see the world these two manage to imagine; these pages are from the first chapter of "Gouge Away", wherein our protagonist, journalist Spider Jerusalem, begins to take on a corrupt politician he's helped get into office.</div>
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Here, Spider begins to investigate and approach sources:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AbnnV7rwYqKhJx9Kki9JWEWhmI2CaCEBgbTdewf0aZ6bDaeDgrfx1v3nH8WwGnJidu9ZPvl5gUjuinVnrNdR_0XC9w_GnXuBJxYidRNaXVVXE_99gnWd42C41S4xMKrnQN7E/s1600/GougeAway13.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AbnnV7rwYqKhJx9Kki9JWEWhmI2CaCEBgbTdewf0aZ6bDaeDgrfx1v3nH8WwGnJidu9ZPvl5gUjuinVnrNdR_0XC9w_GnXuBJxYidRNaXVVXE_99gnWd42C41S4xMKrnQN7E/s320/GougeAway13.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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Think Hunter S. Thompson crossed with Jack Anderson and John McClain. Things tend to get very weird, even goofy at times, but there's a real humanity and empathy to Spider that I find missing in a lot of modern entertainment. That isn't to say he's above, oh, pistol-whipping the bodyguard of one of his long-time acquaintances in pursuit of The Truth. To say the very least. (And that pistol? A Bowel Disruptor. It's not the most "Shut up and take my money" bit of tech in the story… but it's definitely up there.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJNt5pan1hEP7joekxJhnXWTXr8TCJ690IrXwBFJ13_6JcCiIFrgYSO08w4imSukMjveH1XguWBEeSFl71d6hl8YLyXGkDP0_HoaY6L-6lttDzKB-8QQlZ-SURsrgSYwqQBGT/s1600/GougeAway23.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJNt5pan1hEP7joekxJhnXWTXr8TCJ690IrXwBFJ13_6JcCiIFrgYSO08w4imSukMjveH1XguWBEeSFl71d6hl8YLyXGkDP0_HoaY6L-6lttDzKB-8QQlZ-SURsrgSYwqQBGT/s320/GougeAway23.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Transmetropolitan is available in paper (from Amazon.com, Powells.com, or most shops that carry graphic novels) and digital (again, Amazon.com, iTunes.com, or the Comixology.com site and app). Like I said, worth the read.</div>
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Nobody fucks with The Truth.</div>
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Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-62835313258251158682016-06-10T00:01:00.000-07:002016-06-11T22:16:38.490-07:00LossesI'd been saying, lately, that there have been too damn many Rolling Stone special issues this year. Bowie. Prince. It was a relief that the Pink Floyd issue had been a salute rather than a memorial.<br />
<br />
Now, I've lost someone who won't get a Rolling Stone cover, and won't have a thousand blog posts telling the world what we've lost and why we should be glad they were here. Just me (and a few Facebook pages), to tell anyone passing by why we'll miss my brother-in-law, Joe.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Joe (or Joey, as he was usually called then) was the youngest brother of the girl I fell in love with in high school. He was young enough that his sister still thought he was pretty cute, and that his older brother (younger than said sister, though) beat on him and teased him mercilessly. It was a noisy house, and I could tell they loved each other even through all the screaming at each other.<br />
<br />
As I grew up, Joe grew behind us all, at one point telling his sister it was cool now that we were the same age, which we pretty much were despite any difference in calendar passage.<br />
<br />
After I married his sister, late in all our lives, we had a habit of giving each other the coolest presents we could find, since there was a lot of overlap in our tastes and habits. I think the last one I gave him, a few weeks late for his birthday, was a micro-drone with a built-in camera, something that would have been only science fiction when we were all much younger.<br />
<br />
On New Year's Day of 2015, their father fell and broke his pelvis, which meant that much of the next year was focused on helping him recover and remodeling the old family house to accomodate his needs. The three kids, now with their own families and careers, juggled helping their mother take care of him with taking care of their own situations, which predictably led to occasional friction among them all. Still, they managed, by and large.<br />
<br />
He'd had some heart troubles, and his family has a history of such, so he was working on getting in better shape and taking care of himself and his family. His wife had a major gastrointestinal surgery, and she was finally showing signs of recovering from that. They spent much of their time at a cabin in the woods with their kids and family and friends, and Joe went to as many concerts with friends as he could find time for, seeming to make up for some lost time.<br />
<br />
This evening he had a heart attack, and didn't survive this one. My wife, her kids, Joe's wife and kids, and his parents and aunts and uncles, are all in heavy shock. They can barely move, barely think, and I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to help them. I feel... numb, at the moment. It's still too abstract for me to grasp how I feel.<br />
<br />
I lost my grandmother a few years ago, but that was after a long, slow decline in her health, and was not unexpected; in truth, it was a sad relief after the last few weeks became unbearable for her, and there wasn't much we could do to relieve her.<br />
<br />
This? This came like a bolt out of the blue. Everyone is stunned, trying to find meaning, asking why he had to die when his wife and children need him, when he was still so young. I'm not asking "Why?", myself; but I am trying to think of "How?"; how can I help the rest of them keep going, keep finding a way to get through an unimaginable loss, to find a new day worth facing with so much missing from it.<br />
<br />
And I don't have any answers.<br />
<br />
I don't even have any good ideas.<br />
<br />
All I have is time, time he doesn't have any more. And even though I know it can't be enough, I've got to hope I can make it be enough.<br />
<br />
That's all.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51WUQJmnw17UnksKeshMOyeeRGr_hwT51cH-UBTz5vWKiMagWmKoK8rwOlmnlUrK-ho8YqMC6J7B3M_90N05_aLnclzRgwKhNhgNPLB4uUSzirPoj5jRxa1rQ2MhQygFUtxJk/s1600/IMG_0981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51WUQJmnw17UnksKeshMOyeeRGr_hwT51cH-UBTz5vWKiMagWmKoK8rwOlmnlUrK-ho8YqMC6J7B3M_90N05_aLnclzRgwKhNhgNPLB4uUSzirPoj5jRxa1rQ2MhQygFUtxJk/s320/IMG_0981.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
(Thanksgiving, 2009. That's my wife in the back, her son in the front, Chad (middle brother) on the left, and Joe on the right.)<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
A few days later: I was driving along, and my AC/DC playlist came on… and I lost it. Driving way too fast, ugly crying, and wailing with metal blasting out my ears.<br />
<br />
So I thought I ought to share. Playlist with songs that make me think of Joe:<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5VB2UH329JYOJNeHJz3wGJ2qn0hAVdPl">YouTube: Joe</a><br />
<br />
The song that set me off in particular?<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v2AC41dglnM?list=PL5VB2UH329JYOJNeHJz3wGJ2qn0hAVdPl" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
Music was one of the areas where our tastes had a lot of overlap. I damn near convinced him to name his youngest "Angus Malcolm", which I persist in calling him. (He's six, at the time I write this. He doesn't get it, but he doesn't mind too much.)<br />
<br />
He liked it loud. So do I.<br />
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Miss you, man.Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-61119184279408702262015-05-10T18:55:00.000-07:002015-05-10T18:55:37.031-07:00In which I become a cranky old guyI was conversing with someone on Twitter, and the back-and-forth conversation got me involved enough that I thought about making a blog post, mostly because I didn't have enough time to continue the discussion, but also due to the fact that it's hard to get too complex with a discussion on Twitter. (I love Twitter. It suits my style, about 99.9 percent of the time. But it does have its limitations.)<br />
<br />
Specifically, we were talking about the choices in entertainment these days. While it's true that there are more thoughtful and nuanced choices than ever before, it seems that there are also more (so, so many more) movies, shows and other forms of media that cater not only to the lowest common denominator, but apparently to the lowest level possible.<br />
<br />
That got me into one of my "Get offa my lawn" moods, where I begin to grouse about all the things that just plain rub me the wrong way about much of modern entertainment, including some things that I used to enjoy. It's hard to say exactly what it is that bugs me, but a few things have begun to make themselves apparent:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>There are an awful lot of things based around unlikeable characters. Not just a few annoying sidekicks or antagonists, but in a lot of cases the main character, if not the entire ensemble. I can understand that these are interesting characters, but only on a purely conceptual level; some of these characters are so repulsive to me that, if I had to spend more than five minutes in the company of such a person in the real world, one of us might not survive.</li>
<li>I have a lot less tolerance for drama than I used to. One of my current favorite movies is "84 Charing Cross Road", with an almost complete lack of conflict, and very little in the way of dramatic tension. I've seen an awful lot of drama among the various persons I come into contact with on a regular basis, and I may have passed the saturation point for fictional drama.</li>
<li>I've come to feel that "The journey is the reward". I don't look for a story that will bring me a surprising or thrilling ending (or even developments along the way), I look for stories that I can enjoy over and over, taking my enjoyment from the overall structure, both in the tale and in the characters involved in it. </li>
<li>My time is more precious to me. If I find myself feeling assaulted by someone else's idea of an entertaining evening, I'm likely to just get up and leave. If I can't easily do that, I may retreat into a form of solitude afforded by earbuds, iPod, and/or iPad. There's not much I can control, but what I can, I will.</li>
</ol>
<div>
Those are things that come easily to mind; there's probably a lot more to this shift, but I'm pretty secure in my awareness of these things I put down so far.</div>
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And yeah; this is all about me. You can do what you want, and like what you like; you do you. What I'm saying here is: I don't have to put up with it. And, so far as possible, I won't.</div>
Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-24160608199703118132013-06-05T00:03:00.000-07:002013-06-05T00:03:23.272-07:00My Favorite Obsession...No, not that one. Maybe I should say, <i>one of</i> my favorites, especially as I close in on finishing a project I started researching over a year ago:<br />
<br />
I'm building a 3D printer.<br />
<br />
There are advantages to living in the future.<br />
<br />
I first heard about such things over a decade ago, when only a very large business (or more likely, a fairly large and technically-centered college) could afford the several thousand dollars it took to buy one, much less buy the supplies to keep it running. They sounded interesting, but far from being anything I could ever get my hands on, much less own.<br />
<br />
In the past few years, though, something happened, something that would change everything.<br />
<br />
The patents on all those printers started running out, and anyone with a mind to could (legally) make their own. More importantly, they could share what they knew with anyone who was interested.<br />
<br />
By 2006, the RepRap project was underway, with the goal of developing a self-<b>replicating</b>, <b>rapid</b> prototyping machine, one that could make (at least) most of the parts needed to build a copy of itself. The project has a page at <a href="http://reprap.org/">RepRap.org</a>, with instructions for building a growing number of printer designs, the 3D model files needed to print out more parts, and a history of how the project grew and changed over the years.<br />
<br />
I first became intrigued at the idea of the 3D printing movement when I saw an issue of "<a href="http://makezine.com/">Make</a>" magazine with the <a href="http://www.makerbot.com/">Makerbot Thing-o-Matic</a> printer on the cover. At the time, I was discouraged to discover that the printer was still out of the impulse-buy range, going for around $500, but it was still something I could plan on getting when I had enough saved up.<br />
<br />
I was crestfallen when, after some time, I found myself in a position to be able to consider making a purchase, but the Thing-o-Matic was no longer available, and its replacement was up in the thousand-dollar range, too much for me to consider a practical price.<br />
<br />
So, I relegated the idea of owning a 3D printer to the realm of pipe-dreams, and went on about my business as usual. Then, one day, I discovered that there were other 3D printer designs, and though the cost for an entire printer might still be in the hundreds of dollars, I could buy the necessary parts a few at a time, and only the printed parts might be hard to come by.<br />
<br />
Now, I was intrigued. I began comparing printer designs, pricing the parts for the different models, and slowly worked my way through all the options I could find until I had a few I was watching carefully, waiting until I could find a source for those precious printed parts.<br />
<br />
Finally, I found someone with a set of printed parts for the <a href="http://reprap.org/wiki/Huxley">RepRap Huxley</a> for sale through one of the sites that sold kits and parts to eager would-be hobbyists like me, made by established hobbyists around the world. (Not an exaggeration; those first parts I bought were made and sold by someone in Germany.) There were several variations for that one model, as well as the particular components, and this set of parts had most of the parts I had found in my research to be the most practical and reliable variations to be had.<br />
<br />
For days after I ordered the parts, I waited eagerly for them to arrive, hardly able to imagine what they were like for all the time I'd spent looking at them on the various pages dedicated to the hobby, and the picture of the particular set of parts I'd ordered. Finally, they arrived, and I immediately began carrying them around wherever I went, trying to explain to everyone I showed them to what they were for, how they'd go together, and how they'd been made by the same thing I was planning on building.<br />
<br />
I tried not to be a crashing bore about it, but I'm fairly sure I failed miserably. I was very excited, and tried to communicate my excitement without coming across as a fanatic. Again, I most likely failed.<br />
<br />
In the following weeks and months, I began to buy the other parts I was going to need. The parts I bought were made for using 6 millimeter smooth and threaded rods, but I had seen some indications that they could be adapted to use 1/4 inch rods instead, which was a relief after I found that metric rods were going to be hard to come by, or expensive to order.<br />
<br />
One stumbling block was the lack of a detailed bill of materials for the model I was trying to build. I had some measurements, but no list of the number of nuts, washers, or particular length of rods I was going to need. Still, I managed to put together the parts a few at a time, trying to buy more than I'd need without having too much left over at the end.<br />
<br />
Then, I reached the point where I was going to need more expensive parts than I was able to buy at the time, and my enthusiasm slowly began to wane. I stopped working on the printer frame, and the parts I'd assembled began to collect dust in a corner. I only rarely looked in on the world of 3D printing, and hardly thought of what parts I still needed, since I was still a way from needing them.<br />
<br />
Finally, with my birthday approaching, I started to think about my printer project again, looking over my options for the electronic parts I'd need to control the whole contraption, the nozzle to melt the plastic, the plastic itself, and a power supply for everything.<br />
<br />
So, now I'm at a point where I just need a few more parts I can pick up as I come to their place in the project, and I'm getting excited at the prospect of being able to do some of the things I imagined when I first started thinking of what I'd do if I could get my hands on one of these amazing machines.<br />
<br />
A couple of other sites of interest:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/">Thingiverse</a><br />
<br />
A good starting place if you're curious about what people make with these 3D printers. People can post their designs, and pictures of their prints of other designs. One popular category: improvements on parts for printers.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinkercad.com/">TinkerCAD</a><br />
<br />
A site that lets you combine basic shapes to make more complex shapes, then download them to print, and/or send to Thingiverse to share with the world. A fairly jaw-dropping example of what's possible is the <a href="https://tinkercad.com/tags/pocket-tactics">Pocket Tactics</a> series of gaming figures and pieces.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.emakershop.com/">EMaker Shop</a><br />
<br />
The site I got my first printed parts from, and where I'll likely sell some sets of parts once I get my printer going. Like I said earlier, literally all over the world.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://portabee3dprinter.com/">Portabee</a><br />
<br />
The 3D printer that really sparked my imagination and started me thinking that maybe I could get one of these machines after all. Small, reasonably priced, and designed to be more easily portable; it's capable of being folded and put into a laptop bag. The company is now working on designing a new generation that will be even more portable (preliminary designs are at their old site, <a href="http://romscraj.com/">romscraj.com</a>).<br />
<br />
I love living in the Future!Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-37041052922849413032013-06-04T18:29:00.001-07:002013-06-04T18:30:30.229-07:00Catching Up With The DoctorWell, another series/season of Doctor Who is done, we're still waiting for the 50th anniversary special, and Matt Smith is officially leaving the role of The Doctor at Christmas. Here are some highlights of the most recent season, in my own opinion.<br />
<br />
"The Asylum of the Daleks"<br />
<br />
Amy and Rory are having... difficulties, the Doctor is having trouble with getting the TARDIS to get him where he wants to go (and stay away from where he doesn't want to go), and things are about to get much, much worse before anything could get better. If it could.<br />
<br />
"The Power of Three"<br />
<br />
A somewhat quiet episode, with more of a focus on the Ponds and their relationship with the Doctor. Not that all those little cubes have appeared for no reason at all...<br />
<br />
"The Angels Take Manhattan"<br />
<br />
The Doctor and the Ponds are relaxing in Central Park, the Doctor reading a book, but when Rory goes for coffee, the Doctor suddenly finds him in the middle of his reading material. The fact that River Song is also in the story can't be a good sign, but it's just the start of the trouble they're in, and there may not be a way out.<br />
<br />
"The Snowmen"<br />
<br />
Christmas, Victorian London, and the Doctor is very much out of sorts. Doesn't want any part of adventures, doesn't want to meet anyone, and definitely doesn't want to be saving the world. Just one word could make him change his mind. And there's something familiar about that barmaid...<br />
<br />
"The Bells of Saint John"<br />
<br />
Now the Doctor has a real mystery to sink his teeth into, so he's retreated to a monastery. In the 13th century. A support call about the Wi-Fi is the last thing he expected, and just the beginning of the last piece of his puzzle.<br />
<br />
"The Rings of Akhaten"<br />
<br />
Clara wants to see something awesome, so the Doctor takes her to the first place he can think of. There are, however, some complications once they get there, and Clara's past may be the key to solving their predicament.<br />
<br />
"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS"<br />
<br />
The Doctor wants the TARDIS and Clara to get along, but when he shuts down the shields in deep space for some driving lessons, a salvage rig gets the wrong idea, and all of space and time may be in jeopardy if they can't all work together and find each other deep in the TARDIS corridors.<br />
<br />
"The Name of the Doctor"<br />
<br />
Something is abducting the Doctor's friends across space and time, leading the Doctor to the one place he should never go, and Clara to the one thing she has to do. And the mysteries and secrets don't stop there...<br />
<br />
In between some of these episodes are some prequels and side stories which add a bit of background to the main stories, but aren't vital to understanding what's going on. As ever, every episode of the series has some sterling moments, but these episodes, for me, are overflowing with 'em. If you haven't already seen all of them, these are my picks for the ones you really ought to give a try.Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-28854010698990392402012-01-16T23:30:00.000-08:002013-06-04T18:30:09.846-07:00Essence of DoctorA list of some of the episodes I consider exemplary, in the best sense of the word, of the Doctor Who experience, in order of their release:<br />
<br />
"Rose"<br />
<br />
A shopgirl encounters something scary after hours at work, is saved by a very strange fellow who proceeds to blow up her place of work, and has her life changed forever. Our first introduction to the new Doctor, as well as hers. Sets the tone for the series in fine fashion.<br />
<br />
"Father's Day"<br />
<br />
Rose wants to see her father, who died in a car crash when she was too small to know, and can't resist the chance to save him. The complications that ensue are anything but predictable, and the emotional consequences are dealt with compassionately.<br />
<br />
"The Parting of the Ways"<br />
<br />
Part 2 of the series (season) ending tale, with Rose and the Doctor facing the Daleks and the end of humanity... and the end of the Doctor, or at least this Doctor.<br />
<br />
"The Christmas Invasion"<br />
<br />
First episode of a new series, with David Tennant taking up the mantle with admirable panache. Earth encounters an aggressive alien species, and the Doctor is having trouble completing his new incarnation, leaving Rose to try to fill his shoes.<br />
<br />
"The Girl in the Fireplace"<br />
<br />
The Doctor comes to the aid of a frightened French girl in the 18th century while investigating a space station in the far future. Sweet and heartbreaking.<br />
<br />
"Love and Monsters"<br />
<br />
An episode from the point of view of someone who's been trying to find out about the Doctor since he was a child and found the Doctor standing in his kitchen one night. A fan's ultimate dream with sobering consequences, and lots of Electric Light Orchestra.<br />
<br />
"Doomsday"<br />
<br />
The end of the second series, with Rose and the Doctor taking on the Cybermen, Rose's dad alive in an alternate timeline, and another parting of ways.<br />
<br />
"The Runaway Bride"<br />
<br />
From the end of "Doomsday", as the Doctor leaves Rose behind, Donna Noble appears in the Tardis in her wedding dress, having vanished during her walk down the aisle. Catherine Tate brings a comic energy to her time with the Doctor, turning down the chance to fly off with him at the end.<br />
<br />
"Smith and Jones"<br />
<br />
Doctor-in-training Martha Jones meets patient John Smith at her hospital, which gets transported to the surface of the Moon by rhino-like aliens searching for a dangerous fugitive. Mr. Smith is a Doctor unlike any Martha's ever met before...<br />
<br />
"Human Nature" and "Family of Blood"<br />
<br />
A two-part adventure revolving around the Doctor going to ground in 1918 as a professor at an English boarding school, submerging his very being to escape detection by a body-snatching family of aliens bent on obtaining the secrets of a Timelord. Martha, taking on a position as a maid at the school, is the guardian of the Doctor's very self, having to make difficult adjustments and deal with the Doctor falling in love with the headmistress, as well as 1918 attitudes toward class and race.<br />
<br />
"Blink"<br />
<br />
Another episode that revolves around the Doctor in his absence. A young woman investigating an old house with a friend discovers a message to her from the Doctor... behind the peeling wallpaper... from 1969, warning her about Weeping Angels, and a hidden message on DVDs warning her not to look away or even blink. Then her friend goes missing...<br />
<br />
"Utopia", "The Sound of Drums", "The Last of the Timelords"<br />
<br />
At the far end of history, near the end of the line for mankind, the Doctor finds, or rather is found by, someone he thought was dead and gone. The consequences back in the 21st century are, to say the least, far-reaching, and Martha Jones comes to a conclusion regarding her time with the Doctor.<br />
<br />
"Partners in Crime"<br />
<br />
Donna Noble and the Doctor are both investigating a company making claims that seem to be too good to be true... for a very good, and very bizarre, reason. Equal parts suspense and slapstick as Donna and the Doctor take to the timestream...<br />
<br />
"The Doctor's Daughter"<br />
<br />
Martha, Donna and the Doctor try to sort out a war on a barren planet, and the Doctor finds himself with an instant daughter, courtesy of a tissue sample and a quick-cloning machine...<br />
<br />
"Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead"<br />
<br />
The Doctor takes Donna to a library covering an entire planet, which is strangely deserted, and somehow linked to the dreams of a little girl. Then, to the Doctor's dismay, they meet an expedition led by archaeologist River Song, who seems to know quite a bit more than she's telling about the Doctor. And she has a sonic screwdriver. That she says he gave her...<br />
<br />
"Turn Left"<br />
<br />
What would have happened if Donna had never met the Doctor? And how can she get back?<br />
<br />
"The Stolen Earth", "Journey's End"<br />
<br />
Davros and his Daleks, bent on destroying all of space, time, and reality, are met by a determined lot: The Doctor and a group of past and present companions. Hardly a fair fight to begin with, but add a couple of Doctors to the mix, in an unusual way...<br />
<br />
"The End of Time"<br />
<br />
A two-part special, with the Doctor trying to overcome a prophecy of his own end, an adversary who won't stay dead, and an entire planet that shouldn't be...<br />
<br />
"The Eleventh Hour"<br />
<br />
The Doctor has just regenerated, blowing up some important bits of the Tardis in the progress, and crashes in the backyard of a girl who has a very scary crack in her wall. Matt Smith begins a new chapter in the life of the Doctor, with Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, a girl who has a lot to deal with in the first place...<br />
<br />
"The Time of Angels", "Flesh and Stone"<br />
<br />
River Song catches a ride on the TARDIS in the middle of space, leading the Doctor and Amy to a crashed ship and far too many Weeping Angels. Then the crack from Amy's wall shows up...<br />
<br />
"Vampires of Venice"<br />
<br />
The Doctor is determined to put Amy and Rory's wedding back on track, so he takes them to Venice for a romantic getaway. Vampires are definitely not part of the plan...<br />
<br />
"Amy's Choice"<br />
<br />
Visiting Amy and Rory in their little village while they wait for their first child, the Doctor and companions nod off... and wake up aboard the TARDIS, with an unpleasant visitor who poses the question: Which deadly situation is the real one?<br />
<br />
"The Hungry Earth", "Cold Blood"<br />
<br />
An excavation is losing people, and Amy becomes one, swallowed up by a hole in the ground. Then the trouble starts...<br />
<br />
"The Pandorica Opens", "The Big Bang"<br />
<br />
The Doctor gets a message from River Song that the mythical Pandorica, the perfect prison, is about to open. When it does, there are a stunning number of surprises, beginning with the end of the universe. And River is aboard the TARDIS as it's about to explode...<br />
<br />
"The Impossible Astronaut", "Day of the Moon"<br />
<br />
The Doctor gathers Amy, Rory and River Song in Utah, to plan a trip to 1969 and space. Then something really big happens. And there are aliens nobody can see...<br />
<br />
"The Doctor's Wife"<br />
<br />
Finding a distress message from a Timelord, the Doctor finds himself face-to-face with a woman claiming to be the TARDIS. And Amy and Rory are aboard...<br />
<br />
"A Good Man Goes to War"<br />
<br />
Amy's been kidnapped, her baby's being taken from her, and the one man in the universe you do not want to get in the way of is on his way: Rory. And River Song knows what's happening... and won't come to help. Or maybe she can't...<br />
<br />
"Let's Kill Hitler"<br />
<br />
The Doctor's still looking for Amy's daughter, her childhood friend Mels is on the lam, and they all end up in 1938 with a killer robot and Berlin full of Nazis. And suddenly, a lot of things come together...<br />
<br />
"The Girl Who Waited"<br />
<br />
When the Doctor takes Rory and Amy to a planet with a wide array of scenery and a deadly plague, opening the wrong door puts Amy on a different timestream from Rory and the Doctor... and means Rory has a choice to make.<br />
<br />
"Closing Time"<br />
<br />
Stopping for a quick visit on his way to a date with Destiny, the Doctor can't resist investigating a store that keeps losing staff, so the Doctor gets himself a new job. And River finds something unexpected waiting for her...<br />
<br />
"The Wedding of River Song"<br />
<br />
The season comes full circle, as does all of history. Time is out of joint, the Doctor has to put it right, and River will do whatever she can to keep that from happening... because of how it all started...Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-68824475442901726342012-01-16T21:30:00.000-08:002012-01-16T21:33:17.021-08:00The Doctor is inside my head.Well, it finally happened, as it inevitably would.<br />
<br />
I've found my Doctor.<br />
<br />
After forty-odd (some very odd) years of nerdhood, with Doctor Who as a pleasant faraway hum in the background radiation of SF pop culture during my lifetime, I finally started watching the most recent series. (Thank you, Netflix!) (Thank you, too, iTunes Store, for carrying the newest episodes within weeks of airing!)<br />
<br />
I started, naturally enough, with the first episode of the first series, "Rose", introducing both the new Doctor and his new companion, Rose Tyler. A romp, it was, with living plastic people, some fun special effect work, and banter between the characters to keep things fun. Enjoyable, but not life-changing by any stretch of the imagination.<br />
<br />
Then, a few days later, having a rare evening to myself, I started looking through the episodes, trying to find and finish one I'd actually caught the first few minutes of back when we still had cable (between the kids viewing various Law & Orders and godawful "reality" shows) (No, I don't miss cable, why do you ask?) and stumbled onto the first David Tennant episode, "The Christmas Invasion".<br />
<br />
Life-changing experience, anyone?<br />
<br />
It wasn't the story, the monsters, or the effects that got me. It was the characters. Especially the Doctor, this Doctor in particular. Playful, intense, adventurous, dashing, clever, and witty. All the things I wish I was.<br />
<br />
Hooked, is what I was.<br />
<br />
So, every few days, I'd treat myself to another jaunt with the Doctor and company, and then I got daring and put it on when the rest of the household was in but not watching anything. We watched several, or rather I watched several, interspersing with "Sherlock" episodes, and the rest would get sucked in for the big dramatic scenes every now and then.<br />
<br />
Aaand then... I started the series with the newest Doctor.<br />
<br />
I'd heard of the change, and some small bit of the inevitable controversy, not long after the first episode aired, with an interview with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan about their taking up the roles of the new Doctor and his new companion, respectively, well before I'd fallen down the rabbit-hole (or the Tardis' Vortex, if you will), and was slightly hesitant to see what had changed in the world I'd only just discovered myself, though I'd known about it for most of my adult life.<br />
<br />
My first reaction was an entirely irrational "Why wasn't I told about this?". The stories were even more carefully knitted around time and the characters and how they affect each other, the characters were even more delightful to watch, and there were so many more levels to the whole experience.<br />
<br />
"Hooked" doesn't even begin to describe it. I now have most of the latest series with me at all times, I listen to it on while I'm driving to work and while I'm working, and when I have any chance at all, I'm watching one of two episodes that have captured my imagination like nothing before: "The Big Bang" and "The Wedding of River Song".<br />
<br />
If you know these two episodes, you probably know some of what makes these two resonate so strongly with me; there's a deeply romantic undercurrent to both of them, a strength and a vulnerability to the Doctor that I can't resist, and a few more personal connections: The Doctor's companion, Amy Pond, reminds me quite a bit of my stepdaughters, one of whom got married recently as well; and the connection between River Song and the Doctor makes a great big bell sound in the romantic part of my brain, particularly since I married my wife some twenty-five-plus years after we first met.<br />
<br />
How could I possibly resist?<br />
<br />
And why would I possibly want to?<br />
<br />
And so, to the real point of this post: If you don't already follow the Doctor, where would be a good place to start?<br />
<br />
That, I think, depends on what you want out of the relationship. (And make no mistake about it, a relationship it is. Much of Great Britain has grown up, literally, with the Doctor in their minds as much as Superman and The Lone Ranger is over here in cowboy country.) If you're just curious and want to see what all the fuss is about, "The Christmas Invasion" might be a good place to start; if you like to skip ahead to the good bits, "The Eleventh Hour", the first with the current Doctor, Matt Smith, makes an excellent jumping-on point, with "Amy's Choice" and "The Big Bang" hitting all the essential character arc points, at least in flashbacks.<br />
<br />
And, of course, if you're ready, really ready for someone to whisk you away from everything you know and show you something amazing?<br />
<br />
You know what to do.<br />
<br />
<i>Allons-y!</i>Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-18595796867511801302010-11-14T23:38:00.000-08:002010-11-14T23:38:36.658-08:00Hey Kids! It's Comics!I was twittering away this evening, and sent someone the names of some of my favorite Webcomics, but without the links due to the 140-character limit. This bothered me enough that I'm dusting off this old thing to post some of those links. We'll see how this goes.<br />
<br />
First up: Girl Genius. (<a href="http://girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php">http://girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php</a>)<br />
<br />
Phil Foglio wrote and/or drew some of my favorite comics from the 80s, and the mad genius behind this series, or more appropriately serial, belongs to him and his wife Kaja. It's the story of a girl discovering that she is Heir to Power, set in a Steampunk Europe ruled by mad-genius "Sparks" who create and, to a degree, control the steam-powered technology that makes things run. Madcap adventures, daring heroes and heroines, sidekick hijinks, giant (and tiny) robots, and SCIENCE!<br />
<br />
Next: Gunnerkrigg Court. <a href="http://gunnerkrigg.com">(http://gunnerkrigg.com)</a><br />
<br />
A comic that started (so far as I can tell) on the Web, the story begins with the heroine (and sometime narrator) entering school at Gunnerkrigg Court, and encountering an increasingly complex and sometimes disturbing mix of technology, mythology, magic, and interpersonal relationships. I've bought the first two published volumes of this in book form already, which should be enough to get you to take a look.<br />
<br />
Questionable Content. <a href="http://questionablecontent.net/">(http://questionablecontent.net/)</a><br />
<br />
More of a cross between a comic strip and a sitcom, QC is mainly about a bunch of twentysomethings (give or take a few years) centered around a coffeeshop near a college, somewhere not unlike Massachusetts where the artist/writer/musician resides. (He has also recorded several tracks as Deathmøle, the band several characters are in.) Added bonus: He has Twitter accounts for most of the characters and occasionally posts exchanges among them in addition to the story in the strip. Not always "family-friendly", but none of them have quite grown up that much anyway.<br />
<br />
El Goonish Shive <a href="http://egscomics.com/">(http://egscomics.com/)</a><br />
<br />
EGS, named after its creator, Dan Shive, is a combination of themes from manga and anime, superhero comics, magic, alien technology, high-school dramedy, and squirrels. It's better experienced than described, and it gets better all the time. Bookmark it, peruse it, then when you start to wonder why this character does that, go to the beginning of the series and read the whole thing. Early strips are not polished, but the characters soon take their own shape.<br />
<br />
The Phoenix Requiem <a href="http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/">(http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/)</a><br />
<br />
One of the most visually striking things on the Web, the tale centers around a young woman in a somewhat-alternate Europe, studying to be a doctor, and a handsome stranger, who apparently can't be killed. Spirits, ghosts, and threats from both paranormal and natural sources abound. Well-written, beautifully painted, with a haunting quality to both.<br />
<br />
Family Man <a href="http://www.lutherlevy.com/">(http://www.lutherlevy.com/)</a><br />
<br />
Historic fiction, set in Germany during the Enlightenment, around a young scholar denied a degree for heretic leanings, hired as a lecturer at a more forward-thinking university through a friend with a mysterious past, and the handsome, strong-willed daughter of his new employer. More subtle and thoughtful than most modern works, it almost feels like an adaptation of something Thomas Jefferson might have read, but it's the work of a young artist from Portland, Oregon, Dylan Meconis. If this description interests you, you won't be disappointed.<br />
<br />
Dicebox (<a href="http://www.dicebox.net/">http://www.dicebox.net/)</a><br />
<br />
A story that might have been a space opera, but is instead a character-driven story concerned less with the things that happen to the characters than with how they deal with them. Less "Doc" Smith, more James Tiptree, Jr. (alias Alice Sheldon). Intriguing, in multiple senses.<br />
<br />
Templar, Arizona <a href="http://templaraz.com/">(http://templaraz.com/)</a><br />
<br />
Set in present-day Arizona, just not the one you could actually go to. A young man, half-Korean, leaves his home and attempts to make his way in Templar, leaving behind clues pointing toward Seattle. He meets some odd people, works at his writing, and things become just a little more off-kilter all the time. Displaced Nile worshippers, clay-themed diners, guerrilla urban renewal, prostitutes' unions, movements around extreme sincerity or personal Eugenics... if you've ever taken one step too many when climbing stairs, the experience is not unlike what you think you know coming into contact with Templar's occupants.<br />
<br />
That ought to keep you busy for a while. Oh, yes... I can't let you go without telling you about<br />
<br />
FreakAngels <a href="http://www.freakangels.com/">(http://www.freakangels.com/)</a><br />
<br />
but the less I tell you about that, the better. If the name Warren Ellis means anything to you, at least when it comes to comics or movies, then you really ought to be reading this comic already. Updates most Fridays, unless one or the the of the lads are not quite feeling up to the task, but well worth then wait when it does come. Tell you what: Go to the site, start at the beginning, and read. The longer it goes, the weirder it gets, and the more wonderful as well.Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-60244361231157115212009-03-17T22:05:00.000-07:002009-03-17T22:38:18.295-07:00Twittering awayWell, although I've not been particularly diligent about adding to this page, I have been posting the occasional bit on Twitter. It finally occurred to me that the "widget" option might have something to do with me, so I added my twitter feed to the sidebar over there. Go ahead, take a look. It's mostly things I post in response to other people's tweets, but occasionally I do just have a thought that I want to keep around somehow. Twitter seems, for the moment, to be a way to do that. Who knows how long it'll be around, but I like its way of doing things.<br /><br />If you're not sure whether you want to be part of the Twitter crowd, do what I did: when someone you already read has their Twitter feed on their page, go to their Twitter page, then bookmark that page. Eventually I had a couple dozen people I was "following" without following them, and the day came that I just had to post a reply to one of their posts, so I joined up. The way I look at twitter: it's like being at a big party that never really ends, you get to overhear part of a lot of conversations, and if you want to add your voice, you can. This doesn't mean that anybody else has to listen, but that's life.Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-49659175302644664652008-12-18T22:33:00.000-08:002008-12-18T22:46:56.807-08:00Catching up (short version)Well, since I've been getting some requests to catch up from old friends, I thought I might try to sum up where my life's gone since... oh, the 20th century.<br /><br />So.<br /><br />There was high school, then college (with art and theatre and a case of Yukon Jack), then the Science Fiction section at Powell's Books, then the nursery in Burns, then working for the Burns schools (including the OYA facility), then the Crane Elementary library, then getting married to Rosemary, and that pretty much brings us up to date.<br /><br />For every one of those "then"s, you can figure on a variable amount of time spent at the ranch. That's where I'm working now, driving back and forth between Hines and Drewsey every day like an idiot, and trying to get a grasp of how a ranch is actually run. I don't know if I'll ever really get it, but I'm trying.<br /><br />Whenever I'm not working at being a rancher, I'm either working on making our house a better place to live, fixing somebody's tech problems, or reading blogs and webcomics in bed.<br /><br />So... how about you?Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-6847218265407967742008-11-20T18:41:00.000-08:002008-11-20T18:55:17.500-08:00The lives of the cowboys...Well, today started out as a fairly ordinary day. Out of bed, kids to school, off to work at the ranch. We were sorting calves out (some to ship out tomorrow, some to keep around for a while, some to sell now) and had gotten not quite halfway through when one of them jumped, kicked out a hind leg, and hit Mom in the jaw, knocking her out, splitting her lip, and loosening some teeth. She came around quickly, but with no memory of what had happened, and spitting blood.<br /><br />Dad and I got her up on the four-wheeler, and took her in and loaded her in the car, and Dad took her to town to the hospital. Turned out her nose was also broken, and the doctor recommended sending her to an oral surgeon right away. This meant a two-hour ambulance ride, since the car was acting up on the way in. Now I'm waiting to hear that the surgery's done and that they'll be ready to head back tomorrow.<br /><br />So, in the morning, I'll be heading out to do everything that they normally do in the morning: feed the horses, make sure everything has water, feed the calves, then check for any sick critters in the fields. Ah, the glamorous life of a cowboy...Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-1175061953122541782007-03-27T23:51:00.000-07:002007-03-28T00:05:53.133-07:00As the hard drive rotates...Well, I've resuscitated my older iBook (Blueberry flavor, cute but slow, and much lower resolution these days) and one of these months I'll dissect the late, lamented iceBook and transplant its hard drive (and hopefully its Combo drive) into this one. If I'm feeling really brave, I'll try to reflow the solder on the power connector so it won't randomly go dead on me. If I was also feeling rich, I'd invest in a new battery, but brave is much more likely.<br /><br />In other computer news, the monitor and keyboard for our family PC (ugh) both went belly-up, so we bought a new LCD monitor (which we use at a lower resolution than its optimum, but nobody but me seems to care), and borrowed a keyboard. The DVD burner we got last year also finally gave up the ghost, so we got another, and we all have some sort of MP3 player and cell phone and yada yada yada. I just bought a LCD screen for the oldest kid's laptop, so now I'll have to figure out how to get that apart. Ugh again. At least we got most of the rassafrassin "service contract" back, which will help pay for the screen it didn't cover. Grr.<br /><br />It's spring and most of the cows have had their calves, so now we're beginning to brand and move 'em out. Yee ha.<br /><br />I've been mulling over some thoughts of creating some sort of comic story. More on that if and when.<br /><br />Two birthdays and an anniversary behind us, four birthdays to go, and a maddeningly wide array of special occasions that call for massive expenditures on nothing of any importance. Family life is existing...Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-1161231202027162582006-10-18T21:07:00.000-07:002006-10-18T21:13:22.043-07:00Computer guy without a computerMy laptop, after having four motherboards replaced, finally lost the ability to start up at all. Right after the last motherboard's ninety-day (!) warranty ran out. Sigh. So, now I'm contemplating salvaging what I can from the corpse and selling the rest for parts, probably to a site that sells parts for computers that develop problems like mine. Needless to say, I am not at all happy about this.Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-1155965956010326452006-08-18T22:26:00.000-07:002006-08-18T22:39:16.016-07:00Life on the fringes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3778/3615/1600/Fence%20Phones.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3778/3615/320/Fence%20Phones.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>No, this is not exactly a typical day, but it's typically the way things end up happening. I'm on the cordless phone, with tech support for the phone I'm holding in front of me, trying to make it work the way it's supposed to, while my own phone there on my belt just sits there patiently waiting for the trip home. I'm up on the fence because there's next to no cell phone signal there, so I kept having to enter codes, then wait for the phone to get enough of a signal to tell me that, yes, it still thinks it's roaming, no matter which home area the support line tries to put it into. As of this writing, it still insists that it's roaming, and additionally will neither send nor receive calls to either its current or former numbers. There is the way things <span style="font-style: italic;">should</span> work, and there are all the myriad mysterious ways things do (and/or don't) work. The former, of course, is all the support staff has instructions to cover. The latter is what my life, by and large, is made of.Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32982036.post-1155961564901950582006-08-18T21:24:00.000-07:002006-08-18T21:26:04.913-07:00And so it begins...Well, it's finally happened: I've started a blog. Or journal. Or some such. Now, we'll see how long I can go between entries. I'm expecting something along the lines of the Harper Lee catalog, myself...Tadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07403616464226417147noreply@blogger.com0