Today's new story, The Mutants, has the unique distinction of being the Doctor Who story that gets called out in Salman Rushdie's controversial novel The Satanic Verses. How's that for a weird bit of trivia? Where the previous story was about The Folly of the Military Mind, this new story is all about one of the show's most favorite tropes: The Brutality of Colonialism.

Let's talk about that.

If there is one thing that the Third Doctor is most associated with, it is the phrase "I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow." It is an unfair association, he only ever actually says that twice in five years (plus a handful of other, shorter, "I reversed the polarity" statements), but today's viewing had the first actual speaking of that phrase. I kid you not, I squealed like a little kid when I heard it. Such is the life of a Doctor Who geek, especially when on the edge of exhaustion on a hotel treadmill in Las Vegas.

Let's talk about that.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, I love my job. And on of my favorite things about it is that I spend all year writing software, and then every August I get to come to Las Vegas and see my software in action. For the next twelve days I am living at Aria and spending all of my time cycling between Aria, Vdara, and Bellagio playing my small part in helping to produce the single greatest luxury travel conference in the world, Virtuoso Travel Week. I flew out early this morning, and today for the very first time the Time Treadmill operated in an exotic location away from home. I spent an hour at the fitness center here watching the next two episodes of The Sea Devils, and had a great time.

Let's talk about that.

This is going to be mightily brief, because I have a very early flight to catch in the morning. The good news today is that, after nearly a month of wobbling around I have finally come back within two-tenths of a pound of my record low weight. Especially knowing what my next two weeks are going to be like (essentially walking non-stop all day circulating between three different hotel properties in Las Vegas for a major travel event), I feel like I am back on track. My sincere hope is that two weeks from now when I write my six month checkin, I will have finally broken through the 260 barrier. Time will tell. 

(That's not a typo in the title, by the way. Look it up.)

What a satisfying day. I started out by finishing The Curse of Peladon while putting in three and a half miles on the treadmill. I spent a good chunk of the day hanging out at the Magic Kingdom with my son, which is always awesome. I got the final confirmation on the date and time of my first cabaret performance, coming up on October 1st -- the title of the show is The Gospel According to My Old Man, and it features a dozen songs plus lots of stories about my dad and my son. And now, as I wrap up the day, I have begun packing for my annual two-week working trip to Las Vegas where I help to put on Virtuoso Travel Week -- easily the finest luxury travel event in the world. But I can't finish my day without talking a little bit about Doctor Who.

So let's talk about that.

I went shoe shopping yesterday, and discovered something that I hadn't really noticed until I was trying on different pairs: I no longer have to hold my breath when I tie my shoes. It used to be that my gut was so large that the only way I could lean forward to tie my shoes was to take a deep breath, exhale completely, and then lean down and not breathe in until I had completed the knot. Sometimes it would take two attempts per foot, and I would be gasping for air by the time I was done. More often than not, rather than go through that I would just hoist my foot up over my other knee and tie it there, which would result in a weird off-center knot that tended not to be tight enough and so it would unravel at some later point. That was such a normal part of my life, and something that crept up slowly over time, so that I didn't really actively notice it. But yesterday as I was trying on different shoes I suddenly realized that I was bent forward tying them like a normal human being, and breathing normally at the same time. Like, I could continue it inhale and exhale regularly while doubled over with no effort at all. Amazing! So, even if I were to achieve nothing else from this project, that's a huge win.

And yes, of course I watched some Doctor Who this morning, specifically the first half of The Curse of Peladon. It was awesome. Let's talk about that.

So I watched the second half of Day of the Daleks today. There comes a moment when the tension is supposed to be ratcheted up to the max, as the Daleks and their ape-like servants the Ogrons launch a full-on attack against the World Peace Conference, with squadrons of UNIT soldiers defending the property. It should have been a hugely climactic battle with lots of action and skirmishes, and with soldiers nobly sacrificing their lives and such. Instead, the climax features three Daleks and five Ogrons just kind of casually strolling across a field towards the Estate, while the UNIT soldiers fire a few thousand rounds at them. Nobody dodges or flinches, but it is also not menacing in any way. They just kind of meander across the field until UNIT wanders away. It was.... sub-optimal.

Let's talk some more about that.

Over the past few weeks, something has become readily apparent to me: I am not a young man anymore, and perhaps going from zero to five hundred miles on a treadmill over the course of just a few months might potentially be a problem. Case in point, both of my knees have started having weird pains in which if a particular spot gets bumped then another spot feels like it is on fire. I went to the doctor this morning, on the presumption that if I might be crippling myself then I should probably find that out before I put myself in a wheelchair. The doctor  gave me a topical analgesic, and also sent me out for x-rays (as seen above). Of course it will take a few days to get any results back, which is complicated by the fact I am going to be out of state for work for the next two weeks, but I presume that if the news is bad my doctor will let me know right away. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid, or at worst I need to take some particular precautions or procedures while working out. For the time being, though, the Time Treadmill marches on. Speaking of which, I watched the first two episodes of Day of the Daleks this morning.

Let's talk about that.

Today was a light workout day for me, with only one episode to watch and an early appointment. I took it easy and only spent half the usual time on the treadmill. That's ok, though, in the next few weeks I will be getting in more than enough walking on top of the normal treadmill time, so it's all good. As for today's viewing, I finished up The Dæmons, including the single most iconic line from the Brigadier ever.

Let's talk about that.

How maddeningly variable is a person's weight throughout the day? Well due to the drive home from Fort Lauderdale yesterday I had to put in my treadmill time in the late afternoon instead of my usual morning routine, and so my weigh-in yesterday happened after that. This morning I returned to my regular routine of a morning workout and then weighing myself before starting work for the day. The upshot is that, on paper at least, I lost nearly five pounds between yesterday and today. The truth is that it is an apples-to-oranges comparison due to time of day. But hey, I'll take the win anyway. This is why I (try to) pay more attention to a moving average than the daily numbers. As for today's viewing, I watched the next two episodes of The Dæmons.

Let's talk about that.