Taking A Who-Liday Nov 17 2017 I can't do it today. I just can't. Tomorrow I have a thirteen hour tech rehearsal, and today was my last day of work before vacation. The whole day got away from me, and I have to be up early tomorrow, so no Daleks for me. But here is a nifty scene from the upcoming 2017 Christmas episode. Read more ...
Searching For the Creator Nov 16 2017 4th Doctor K9 Romana Romana II I groused yesterday about today being another damn Dalek story, but it turns out I should have given Terry Nation and Douglas Adams more credit. I am actually enjoying this one quite a bit so far, which really surprised me. On the other hand, I absolutely remember every other upcoming damn Dalek story and I can unequivocally say this is the last one I enjoy until the Ninth Doctor comes around. I guess I should savor this one while I can. So let's talk about it. Read more ...
Well That Was Pointless Nov 15 2017 4th Doctor K9 K9 Mark II Romana Romana I I gotta tell ya, I am getting worn out. Aside from my daily treadmill time I am working full-time at my day job plus rehearsing five hours a night for a show I am in that opens in ten days. I am right tuckered out. Today is the first time in two weeks I have walked under four miles, and actually my overall pace was the slowest in a month. I got it done, but holy cow I am looking forward to sleeping in next week while I am on vacation. I also wrapped up the Key to Time today, so let's talk about that. Read more ...
Mentalis Strikes Nov 14 2017 4th Doctor K9 K9 Mark II Romana Romana I As usual lately, it's late and I want to get to bed but I need to get this done before I can sleep. So this is gonna be mighty brief. I completed my workout, including another ninety second plank (barely). I don't know how in the world I am going to last for two full minutes before the week is out, but that is the goal. We shall see. I also bumped up my treadmill speed again to 4.9 MPH, but I could only keep the pace for the first half of the run. We'll see how tomorrow goes. As for Doctor Who, I watched the middle third of the current story. So let's talk about that. Read more ...
Five Hundred Episodes! Nov 13 2017 4th Doctor K9 K9 Mark II Romana Romana I This morning I watched the five hundredth episode of Doctor Who to be aired. It was numbers 501 and 502 that I have watched since February, since I began by viewing the original unaired pilot first. That's a heck of a lot of Who. Today also featured the first appearance of Tom Baker's future ex-wife Lalla Ward, although not in the role of Romana (that will happen later this week), but rather as Princess Astra. It's just an all around big day of viewing for me. So let's talk about that. Read more ...
This One's a Stretch Nov 12 2017 4th Doctor Romana Romana I Good news, everybody! My bounce back has bounced back. After setting a record low weight last week following an astounding amount of weight loss in under two weeks, I spent the past four days with my weight inching back up in a the expected bounce-back. Today, however, it dropped back down again. Not quite the record low, but enough to show that the overall loss was not a fluke. So that's nice. Also, I have been doing a planking challenge, and this morning I lasted for ninety full seconds. Two weeks ago I could barely hold for ten seconds. I am very pleased. My intention is to spend the rest of November focused on core strength, and then in December I will begin to work on upper body strength. Trust me, all the time on the treadmill has my lower body doing just peachy. Also, I finished the current story today, so let's talk about that. Read more ...
Progress is a very flexible word. It can mean just about anything you want it to mean. Nov 11 2017 4th Doctor Romana Romana I After so much rapid weight loss in the last two weeks, the inevitable bounce-back has finally happened and I am somehow simultaneously disheartened and relieved. Ideally tomorrow it will drop down again slightly (unless I ate too many of the delicious cookies my wife baked today, oops). Aside from my regular workout I also did the yard work plus spent several hours today walking around the Magic Kingdom with my son, so I have certainly burned calories today. Today was also the third consecutive day I have held a plank position for sixty seconds, tomorrow I am shooting for 90. We'll see how that goes.... Anyway, let's talk about today's new Doctor Who story. Read more ...
Gone Fencin' Nov 10 2017 4th Doctor K9 K9 Mark II Romana Romana I Dang it, I am really getting tired of checking my news feed and finding out another classic Doctor Who contributor has passed. This evening I learned that actor Scott Fredericks died on Monday following a long illness. He appeared prominently in two classic stories, first as one of the soldiers from the future in Day of the Daleks, and much more recently in my viewing as the very awesomely-named Maximillian Stael in Image of the Fendahl. He also appeared in Blake's 7, but of course virtually every Doctor Who writer, director,and actor from the late 70's wound up on that show as well at some point or another. But enough dwelling on mortality, let's talk about the second half of the current story. Read more ...
Gone Fishin' Nov 09 2017 4th Doctor K9 K9 Mark II Romana Romana I I set another personal record on the treadmill today, going 4.4 miles in my 55 minute workout -- a full tenth of a mile farther than my previous record. At this point I am up to 4.8 mph and it has not begun to cross over yet from a walk to a jog. Being 6'2" I have a pretty long stride. I expect that at some point soon I am going to hit the point where I am running instead of walking, which will be an interesting wall to break through. I am starting to ponder what I will do when I finish this project, and while initially I figured I would just move on to Torchwood and/or The Sarah Jane Adventures, perhaps I might take a break from the treadmill and switch to running while listening to Big Finish audio dramas. We'll see. I still have several months before I reach that point. In the meantime, let's talk Doctor Who. Read more ...
Oh, Goody. A Space Trial. My Favorite. Nov 08 2017 4th Doctor K9 K9 Mark II Romana Romana I In pop culture I have two weirdly random pet peeves. The first is any song with lyrics paring high mountains with wide rivers - I can't explain why, but that particular metaphor is like nails on a chalkboard to me. The second is any science fiction story that does a courtroom episode. They are inevitably cringe-worthy, and always turn on a plot point where the hero finds and exploits a previously-unnoticed flaw in the wacky space-laws. Unfortunately, just like every long-running horror franchise apparently has to devolve into a " in space" movie, every long-running science fiction franchise without fail ends up with a damned space trial story. So, you'll never guess what today's viewing did. Yeah. Let's talk about that. Read more ...