You want to know how awesome my wife is? Today, while I was doing two performances of the show I am in, she went to a local convention and got Pearl Mackie's autograph on my motivation poster. Check it out:

I gather that Ms Mackie was very nice, and supportive of my project. I do wish I had gotten to meet her myself, but then again it's just a tiny bit satisfying to have to say, "so sorry, I too am a working actor, and just couldn't clear the time to meet with you..."  ;-) So anyway, if you happen to be looking at my blog: Thank you so much, Ms Mackie, for being so kind and generous to my wife. She had nothing but glowing things to say about you. Also, I'll be seeing you again on the treadmill in about five months, I think.

Speaking of which, I started a new story today and reached the end of the 70's. Let's talk about that.

The Horns of Nimon - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

After a couple of kinda weak stories, I am so happy to have arrived at this one. This is a rock-solid story, even if the costumes and effects are a bit wobbly. The story opens with a sequence that sets up its world, on board a military spaceship that has been in service for so long that it is literally falling to pieces. The pilot and co-pilot are bickering about setting their speed back to their homeworld, with the pilot being sensible and the co-pilot being a pig-ignorant impatient fool. They are transporting a group of young people kidnapped from another planet, taken as tribute to a god-like creature named the titular NImon, and in fact this is apparently the last shipment needed to complete an agreement they have with Nimon in which they will be provided with new ships and technology to rise up and rule the universe. The co-pilot, being aggressively stupid, screws it all up and causes the ship's hardware to fail completely. Meanwhile on the TARDIS, the Doctor has taken the console to pieces in order to make some modifications. They wind up being sucked into the gravitational pull of the passing spaceship, with the TARDIS completely non-functional for transport.

So basically we have a faded empire on its very last legs, a cowed and credulous world that said empire had once conquered, a scheming scientist back on the homeworld, and a mysterious and powerful being pulling the strings at the center of all things. It is a rich and complex story, with interesting and varied characters. Ultimately Nimon is revealed to be a bull-headed Minotaur kind of creature, and a chunk of the second episode takes place in the Labyrinth within which Nimon lives.

I am quite enjoying this story so far, and very much looking forward to tomorrow's conclusion. One interesting thing to note: these two episodes originally aired on December 22nd and December 29th of 1979, thus being the last two episodes of the decade. Tomorrow I will officially enter the 80's. Very shortly after that I will enter the John Nathan-Turner era, complete with a new arrangement of the theme song and a new logo. Heady times are coming!

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Romana, K9
Episode(s): The Horns of Nimon - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 7,524 today, 1,815,444 total
Distance Walked: 4.21 miles today, 917.25 miles total
Weight: 250.16 lbs (five day moving average), net change -57.14 lbs