I knew today was coming, I was prepared, and it doesn't make me any less bummed. Today was the last episode with Barbara Wright, who is a goddess. Oh, Sir Ian Chesterton, Knight of Jaffa and King of Pratfalls also left, but he is instantly replaced with Ian 2.0 (also known as Steven Taylor). Also -- and this is important -- Ian is not a goddess. But before we get to the parting, we have to struggle through walking fungus, a Life Model Decoy of the Doctor, and an epic battle between the Daleks and the Mechonoids.

When I started this blog, everything in the "Progress" area was completely manual. Each day I would have to do a bunch of math to calculate percentages and degrees of radius and cumulative numbers and such, and then directly edit the HTML on the page to reflect the current status. It was a right pain in the arse, but it was more important to me to get it live and moving. 

I spent a few weeks working on data structures and designs in my free time (ha!), then spent a few more weeks working on coding it all up to render the "Progress" area based on data instead of having to do it all manually. For my second release, I created a Quick Date Entry screen for myself that let me enter my workout info through friendly screen, and to also enter new stories and episodes. But I still had to do some direct database updates each day regarding which episodes I had watched and which story was current. 

Oh, my, today's episodes. I watched them. I finished 90 minutes ago.  Mercifully, I have already forgotten most of it. This is the third bite at the apple for the Daleks, and we have now entered the territory of "How can I miss you if you won't go away?" Fun fact: I hit that wall in the modern series a few years ago with The Daleks Take Manhattan. You want to take a guess where the setting is for the first half of today's snooze-fest?

As you may (or may not) know, I also have another blog called Octopodal Motion where I posts pictures and videos and things about all things octopus-related. You can imagine my excitement, then, when Ian and Vicki are attacked by a giant carnivorous land octopus!

"I'm a Mire Beast! Grrr! I'm gonna eat you!!"

Let's talk about that.

Oy, such a day. I barely made the treadmill today. Even the support of you, my imaginary readers, almost wasn't enough. What pushed me there was the fact that I am two days away from a complete month of walks/viewings/posts every single day. So I dragged my sorry butt on down to the YMCA and watched the end of The Space Museum. Turns out William Hartnell pretty much had the same issue, and didn't bother to come to work for the first week. But he showed up for the finale, and so did Boba Fett. For reals.

Let's talk about that.

First of all: Woo Hoo! Today I weighed in at a record low since I started this project. Not in-and-of-itself a remarkable thing, but I was really frustrated during most of last week as I seemed to be steadily losing ground and gaining back weight. With this morning's weigh-in I feel like I have solidified the trend back in the right direction. It has been a bit of a challenge getting used to the treadmills at the YMCA. I mean, they are lovely high-tech machines, but they aren't mine so they feel like driving a rental car. It just takes a bit to figure out how to get all the mirrors and seats positioned correctly, such as it is.

Anyway, today's episode: I am finding The Space Museum surprisingly interesting. The story represents the first time that the writers have really played around with the concept of Time as a separate dimension, and gone a bit wibbly wobbly with it. There are also several moments of humor which, although a little out of place, were still lots of fun.

Let's talk about that.

Wow, what a lot of women's issues came up in today's viewing. I mean, it's not like Doctor Who is any great bastion of pro-feminist cheerleading (especially in the Classic era), but today it was just all over the place. It's not all bad, by any stretch. Certainly it is well-reflective of twelfth century mores and standards. Frankly, it's pretty well-reflective of many twentieth century mores as well. But holy cow it was a lot to take in.

Let's talk about that.

Oh, the ridiculous gyrations I had to go through this morning. I crossed 100 miles, which is awesome, but it took some real juggling to get there. Today I started in on The Crusade, which is the first time in this project I have needed to bounce between a DVD to watch an existing episode and then to my iPad to watch the Loose Canon Recon of a missing episode. And I had to do this, not in the privacy of my own home, but out in public on the YMCA, walking on a treadmill while balancing a cornucopia of electronics on the screen ledge. Oh, the things I do for you, my imaginary readers. But hey, today's story is another pure historical -- this one featuring none other than King Richard I in the midst of the holy war in Palestine. 

Let's talk about that.

I think this is going to be a short one. It's late in the day, I need to get to bed, and this is the first chance I have had to write. Having my own treadmill out of commission is proving to be a right pain in the arse. I am also frustrated by my reversal of progress the past few days. But as for The Web Planet? It finished strong.

Let's talk about that.

I was all down on The Web Planet yesterday, if only for all of the roadblocks it threw in front of me. And the ridiculous ant costumes.

This. I'm talking about this.

But it turns out that beneath the shoddy production values lies a quite imaginative and interesting story.

Let's talk about that.