Sweaty Thoughts about The Caves of Androzani - Parts 3 & 4 Jan 15 2021 5th Doctor 6th Doctor Peri Brown Read more ...
Fifty Years in Four Hundred and Ninety Four Days Jun 28 2018 10th Doctor 11th Doctor 12th Doctor 1st Doctor 2nd Doctor 3rd Doctor 4th Doctor 5th Doctor 6th Doctor 7th Doctor 8th Doctor 9th Doctor Clara Oswald Kate Stewart Petronella Osgood Rose Tyler War Doctor When I started this ridiculous project on February 20th of last year, I deliberately didn't calculate how long it would take. I guessed a little over a year, and it turns out to be more like a year and a half. Today, though, I hit a huge milestone. Today I watched the 50th Anniversary special, meaning that as of this morning I have watched a full fifty years of Doctor Who in four hundred and ninety four days. Wow. With only one Eleventh Doctor story left, I only have the Twelfth Doctor era left to go through. I just double-checked my count, and I must have missed something the last time I worked it out. I need to finish by Monday, August 6th because I have a work trip that begins on the 7th and I want to have a clean break. But I just counted it out,and if I miss no days and watch one episode per day I won't finish until August 8th. That means I have to double up on at least two days. It looks like Under the Lake / Before the Flood would be a good double fallin ... Read more ...
One Year Checkin Feb 20 2018 6th Doctor Mel Today marks the one year anniversary of the day I started this ridiculous project. In that time I have walked 1,224.96 miles on the treadmill while taking 2,369,202, watching 654 episodes and 143 stories of Doctor Who, and losing 60.54 pounds in weight. To say it has been a remarkable year would be a bit of an understatement. I have reached a bit of a plateau, and my personal trainer has instructed me to start doing pushups every day immediately after I finish the treadmill, so today I started with a pitiful 3 pushups. I'll be curious to see how that progresses. Aside from being my long-distance personal trainer, Chuck Rogers is also the author of the very excellent novel Heroes' Road and he wants me to be in fighting shape for when HBO options it as a new series and casts me in the role of.. myself (Lord Miles, Landgrave of Thunisia). I would hate to disappoint him. In other news, this dropped today and I love it to bits: Also, I finished The Trial of a Time Lord (and, by extension, the Sixth Doctor) this morning. So let's talk about that. Read more ...
Genocidal Maniac Feb 19 2018 6th Doctor Mel Brutal honesty, the trend line on that historical weight chart on the right has been driving me nuts. I've been stagnant in the 240's since before Christmas. In the last week the trend line moved upwards significantly for the first time since I started this ridiculous project. And yet, this morning I weighed in at my lowest weight since beginning the project. Which is both awesome and frustrating. I am going to finish up the Sixth Doctor tomorrow morning, and he will be the first Doctor in the project with whom I have gained weight. As if Colin Baker hadn't suffered enough indignity already. When I started I said very clearly that I didn't care about weight, that it was just a good gross number to track progress against, and that I had no particular destination in mind. I really need to get better at convincing myself that this is true. Anyway, I finished the latest sub-story in this stupid Space Trial this morning, so let's talk about that. Read more ...
Ten LIttle Triffids Feb 18 2018 6th Doctor Mel Here's the weird thing about losing weight: it's a psychological bear trap. Case in point, I was really pretty upset with myself at the apparent weight gain I had experienced in the last two weeks. Bear in mind that also during those two weeks I pinched a nerve in my neck rendering my right arm anywhere from annoying to either numb or painful, and I also traveled out of state for a work conference where I had either limited or no access to a workout facility or treadmill. For six days I did not even have a scale to weigh myself. The natural and expected outcome was a slight weight gain, but it still bothered me (particularly because I nosed back up above 250, and getting below that number was a huge milestone for me). Today, with my pinched nerve slowly but progressively getting better, with my arm only being an occasional mild annoyance, and with drinking more fluids and getting back on my regular workout routine, my wieght has dropped back down to within 1.2 pounds of my all- ... Read more ...
Oh My God, They Killed Peri! Feb 17 2018 6th Doctor Peri Brown I'll get to today's viewing shortly, but first I have to take note that on this day exactly fifty years ago, this happened: On a Saturday night, not unlike tonight, in the third episode of The Web of Fear, the Second Doctor made his first on-screen appearance with Then-Colonel Lethbridge-Steward, played magnificently by the late great Nicholas Courtney. He was meant to be just another secondary character there to propel a story, but Courtney's performance was so strong that he was brought back again in the following year's Cyberman classic The Invasion. Of course he would go on to become a mainstay of the series, and one of the most beloved characters and actors in the history of the program. It has now been nearly seven years since he passed away. He was truly one of the greats. Anyway, I also watched two more episodes on the treadmill today, so let's talk about that. Read more ...
Then where will you be, eh? Dead. No, worse than that. Poor. Feb 16 2018 6th Doctor Peri Brown The good news: second consecutive day back under 250. The bad news: the five day trend is still moving upwards. Even if tomorrow is a good day, the five day will probably still push upwards unless tomorrow is extraordinarily good (it won't be). I don't have a prayer of actually losing weight collectively with the Sixth Doctor. By my last day with him on Tuesday I will likely be back where I was when I finished the Fourth Doctor, effectively negating both Five and Six. The thing is, this was never exactly about weight. I mean, I'd be lying if I didn't say I would still like to get all the way down to 220 at least, but at the end of the day this ridiculous project has been about me feeling better overall and I most certainly have achieved that. Or am I just trying to convince myself? Hard to say. In other news, I watched two more episodes on the treadmill this morning and was pleasantly surprised. Let's talk about that. Read more ...
UK Habitats of the Canadian Goose by H.M. Stationery Office Feb 15 2018 6th Doctor Peri Brown Two bits of good news today: First, after two consecutive days of being back above 250 lbs, I finally dropped back down below today. Of course, moving averages being what they are, that number went up even though my weight went down. At this point I fear that poor Colin Baker is going to suffer the ignominy of being the first Doctor in this ridiculous project for whom I actually gain weight. Oops. Second, I got the results of my recent colonoscopy, and it was very good. I was a little bit paranoid because of my dad. You see, he was a very heavy guy. After he retired he decided to make some changes; eat right, get more exercise (with particular focus on walking), etc. Over the course of a year he lost a bunch of weight. Sound familiar? Well, at the end of that year he went to get an annual exam to show off to his long-time physician, and that's when they found the colon cancer. He passed away nine months later. So, as awesome as I feel right now I still had that bit of family history nagging me in the back of my head. Turns out I am all clear, and barring any other symptoms I don't need to go back for another five years. Yay! I also watched the rest of the current sub-story, so let's talk about that. Read more ...