And here is John Oliver, cementing his place in the list of People I Want to Marry Someday (the top five of which seems now to be mostly composed of Englishmen).

Poll #1245744 Annie Ni Omakase?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Is Annie (Uchuu Keiji Shaider) a good role model?

Pulis Pangkalawakan Moira says: "No! Absolutely not! That impractical, brazen hussy! Going into battle in that ridiculous tasseled skirt! What was she trying to do? Oh, I'll tell you what she was trying to do! She was throwing herself all over Alexis!" In the interest of fairness, Moira adds that she grew up on the show and that she is probably in love with Alexis/Shaider.

My sister the Vengeance Bunny counters: "Yes! Panty-shots be damned! Absolutely! Unlike a lot of other female characters in similar shows, she wasn't there to get kidnapped. She assisted Alexis in so many of their missions - even saved him a couple of times! She more than held her own against the colorful Amazonas!" In the interest of fairness, the Vengeance Bunny adds that she, too, grew up on the show and that she is probably in love with Annie.

While Fuuu-ma Mae-Ann wonders, excitedly: "Wasn't Shaider looking for the lost Empire of Mu? Did he ever find it? Oh my god! I remember back in high school for our history class our teachers discussed the possibility of the Philippine islands being parts of the lost continent thought to have resurfaced! Are they still teaching that? Is any of that actually true? Did anybody ever tell Alexis?" 

The following is an account of my two young cousins, the Tough Cookie (age 13) and Munch (age 8), one Saturday afternoon, discussing the perpetual chase of Wile E. Coyote and the dangblasted Road Runner:

Munch: Ate? What do road runners taste like anyway?
Tough Cookie: I don't know. I've never had one. (thinks) Like chicken?
Munch: Then why doesn't he just get a chicken? Or a sandwich. Or a pizza. Anything! He's getting nowhere!
Tough Cookie: He can't give up the chase!
Munch: Why not?
Tough Cookie: Listen, maybe at first it was just about being hungry, but it's now it's more! It's personal! He knows when he catches that road runner it'll be the best thing he's ever eaten in his entire life!
Munch: We've never seen him eat anything else in his entire life! He's never going to catch that road runner!
Tough Cookie: Well, isn't that the point of the whole thing?

And so, my new layout is dedicated to Wile E. Coyote, who is my hero for so many, many reasons; for being the unexpected source of catharsis on early Saturday mornings, for taking a fall like no one else, for being a great symbol of the eternal struggle of being, for his many innovative but less than perfect uses of a catapult, but perhaps, most of all, for teaching us that when all else has failed and it feels like you've got nothing left, you can still try strapping yourself to a giant rocket.

Oh, Mickey. Mickey Smith. Just look at you! How you've grown! How far you've come! And you're right - there's so much out there for you. You've made us so proud.

You almost make me want to watch Torchwood. Almost.

There are, I think, probably, a million things I would like to say about the latest episode of Doctor Who, The Stolen Earth. Unfortunately, despite having seen it three times now, I still can't get my words in order. But while I sit and wait for the rest of my brain to grow back, I can, in the meantime, say this:

Yes, this is an exciting and devastating clip from the up-coming DW episode, The Stolen Earth. No, there are not enough exclamation marks in the world to describe how we feel about it.

My heart, she is my stomach.

Scenes from my childhood: Jessica Drew a.k.a. Spider-woman, my first ever comic book love, in an old episode of the 70's animated series. This one is from episode #11, Spider-woman And The Fly.

Without blinking, I can tell you that the episode I still remember most is the episode #1, Pyramids of Terror. You can watch that here and here. One of my favorite moments is when Spider-woman, trapped and in danger of being closed in by great big brick wall, uses her spider telepathy to command the sand spiders to chew through the wall. Heehee. Another is when she was in the helicopter with her colleague Jeff and her nephew Billy and is looking for a way to "change to Spider-woman unnoticed". What does she do? Why, she jumps out of the chopper, of course. Hahahaha. Way to go unnoticed.

I also get a kick out of how many episodes ended with Jeff and Billy going, "Gosh, you should have been there, Jessica! Spider-woman saved the day!" Man. Different times.

Dear Colin Baker,

I used to go around telling people that the Sixth Doctor was my least favorite incarnation. I was young. I hadn't watched enough of your adventures and from the few I had seen I didn't - couldn't - understand the subtleties and great depth you gave the character. I was scared away by your grandeur. And your multicolor coat.



Still, that is no excuse for my narrow, shallow mindedness and my contemptible simplicity. I can only offer my sincerest apologies. I see the great error of my ways. I love your cat badge. You were fantastic. You were the Doctor. Forgive me.

With all my heart,
Liz

You know what we have a lot of these days? Cooking shows. Can hardly turn on the TV without running into one of those cooking shows/competitions/documentaries/exhibitions - which in turn often lead to those bloody insipid lifestyle programs. Can somebody please tell the TV producers that we've seen one too many "guides" shopping for ginger root or whatever? Or if they insist on sticking with that format, they could at least drop the ridiculous "world music" background and montage mix. Really.

A while ago, I was talking to Phil about missing Stephen Yan. You remember him, I'm sure. Adorable Chinese cook on Wok with Yan. Odds are, you're like me - as a kid, your weekend evenings were not complete without watching an episode. Remember how charismatic he was? The format of the show was so simple - no fancy sketches or segments. It was just him and his ingredients. And a whole lot of custom made aprons with stuff printed on them like, Wok's New, Pussycat? or Danger, Men at Wok or Wokking My Baby Back Home or, and this is one of my personal favorites, Stuck Between a Wok and a Hard Place. Heeheehee. Genius.

When he was done cooking, he would pick a member of the audience he would share the dish with. At that point I would always scream "Me! Pick me!" at my television.

"People talk about how great Emeril was when he first came into the scene. Or Rachel Ray." Phil added. He, too, remembers Stephen Yan fondly. "Stephen Yan was doing it way before any of them. And he was doing it better! The man was a pioneer! A pioneer with a thick Cantonese accent!"

"Yes! And he made his chickens do a little dance!"

So the New York Times has an article about how the Sci Fi Channel is doing well with a broader audience.  But Michael Capobianco isn't happy:

The network’s more expansive definition of science fiction does not sit well with some purists.

“Generally speaking, the feeling within the science fiction community is that a lot of the shows on the Sci Fi Channel are watered-down versions of the real thing,” said Michael Capobianco, the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Mr. Capobianco said the success of science fiction on television and at the movies has not been matched by similar success for writers. “One of the things we’ve discussed is, ‘Should our books resemble the media works that are out there?’ ” he said. “Should they be dumbed down or watered down to appeal to a wider audience?”

Talk about handling things the wrong way. Here's a prime example of How Not to Say Something. I'm not arguing with the fact that there is a tendency for tv shows and movies to water down a lot of things. A lot of what makes it on to the Sci Fi channel isn't good. But strictly speaking, not all sci fi books are all great either.

I don't know how much of Capobianco's statements were taken out of context - but how much misinterpretation could “Should they be dumbed down or watered down to appeal to a wider audience?” have? It sounds to me like instead of appealing to the broader audience's better judgement, he decided to insult and alienate them.

If you're given a chance to reach out and encourage people who aren't familiar with but might be interested in your so called "hard" or "real" sci fi, you could have said something like "Well, if you like these shows, you could check out the work some of our writers do because they deal with the same themes or issues." What you probably shouldn't say is something along the lines of "Yeah, the stuff you like? Not really sci fi. You haven't got a clue. Our stuff might be too sophisticated for you."

Yes, another Doctor Who post, I'm afraid (my last one for a while, I promise). This time just to say that I love Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor, much, much, much more than I ever expected to love a character from TV. There was just something completely endearing about the Second Doctor. Fans of the show often described him as an intergallactic hobo. He was full of nervous energy, just waiting to bubble over at any minute. It felt like he knew about so many great and exciting things and he couldn't wait to show you. He carried around musical instruments from time to time, eager to play a little something for his companions. His face was that of an old man, with deep lines and wrinkles, especially when he smiled, but he possessed the enthusiasm of a curious child. From day one, he warmed up to his companions. In fact, he did that to almost everyone he met.




John Pertwee (the Third) was my first and Peter Davison (the Fifth) has a special place in my heart - all the Doctors do. That's one of the great things about the Doctor, you know - he's all at once strange and familiar. New incarnations offer something new and exciting, but no matter how his appearance changes loyal fans accept him as a dear old friend. So it's excruciatingly difficult to choose one over the others (although, most people seem to always go back to their first Doctor, the one they grew up with) but after catching up on the classic episodes of the Second Doctor, I'm beginning to wonder if I haven't found my Doctor - my favorite Doctor of all time.

Oh, in case you wanted to see, there's a wonderful documentary tribute to Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor on youtube. You can start here and just follow the links.

I love Donna Noble. I haven't been this excited to see a character in a long time. She has quickly become one of my all time favorite companions - second, perhaps only to the likes of Romana I. I hope she never, ever, ever goes home.

It's true what they say, you know: you never forget your first. I certainly haven't. A relative from abroad sent me VHS tapes (state of the art, baby) and included a note that read: Watch immediately. You've never seen anything like it. And I hadn't. And still haven't. The silver hair. The yellow roadster. The opera coat. The smoking jacket and tuxedo trousers. An intergalactic man of wisdom and action.



He was, I found out later, a world away from his previous incarnation. Patrick Troughton's second Doctor was childlike, mercurial and completely adorable. They were so different from each other that it was a lot of fun watching them argue in the Multi-Doctor episodes to come later on.

The third Doctor was a little grumpy at times, but that was okay. You would be too if you were facing exile from your own planet by your own people. Anyway, after a while he grew to love us Earthlings, showing great concern for companions like Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith (who is still up there as one of my most favorite companions of all time). He sure did reverse the polarity on a lot of things - and hey, when that didn't work, he didn't hesitate to give an evil alien a good karate chop.

Hey, Whovians! Who was your first?

I'll admit - I was among the people who weren't so crazy over Donna Noble as the Doctor's new companion. But that, I'm very pleasantly surprised to say, is no more. I really feel that this week's episode, Fires of Pompeii, aside from being a great improvement from last week's icky, toothache inducing installment, put us right back on track and managed to really show us what Donna can do. The lady is made of metal much stronger and heart much greater than we thought.

So, thank you, Donna Noble, daughter of London. Looking forward to more adventures with you in the future.

Starman by David Bowie

I'm stuck on David Bowie's Starman, probably because I heard it while I was watching an episode of Life on Mars again. I woke up today with the song playing over and over in my head. It was kind of a funny, yet fitting, feeling to hear it while struggling to shake off the last of my dreams. For a minute or two, I kept my eyes closed, afraid that I would wake up in 1973.



Every now and then you get one of those days when confusion and clarity are one and the same, when everything is misplaced and strange and you feel like a creature, lost and lonely in the wrong world, wrong year, decade or even century, stuck in the whirly gig of time. Here's to those days.

Let's talk about TV again: over at Morning Spoilers we get a glimpse at the new Doctor Who series 4 trailer,  only shown in UK cinemas.


Any thoughts?

So I've decided to stop watching Ashes to Ashes only two episodes in. The first episode wasn't great, but it had some little things going for it. The second episode is a complete train wreck and I can't help but feel that it'll only get worse from here. It will be difficult to think that DCI Gene Hunt is on TV somewhere, and I'm not watching him. But I guess that's the biggest reason why I can no longer go on watching. I love Gene Hunt and want to continue doing so - it only hurts to see him, looking so bored and resentful, a former shadow of his glorious self.

It's ironic, of course, because, as any fan of Life on Mars knows, he is the only reason Ashes to Ashes even got made at all. In this time of completely forgettable TV characters, he was something unique. He was, from the minute he entered to the moment the first series ended, a television icon. Sigh. Even Chris and Ray are not the strong characters they used to be. They're mostly used as a weak comedy double, bringing the easiest and most obvious attempt at comedic relief. In the first episode of Ashes to Ashes, they tell us that Sam Tyler died. Well, his ghost is hovering all over this show.

To help ease my sadness, I've decided to go back to watching Life on Mars again. I'm three episodes in and I still love it. Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt are great, just like I remembered them, but I've just realized that WPC Annie Cartwright was a really, really, (subtly) awesome character, too.


If you're looking around for a new show to watch, you couldn't do much better than Life on Mars. Like most British shows, it's not too long - two seasons, eight episodes each. When you get to the end, just skip Ashes to Ashes and just watch it all over again.

Ashes to Ashes, the BBC series after the compelling Life on Mars, has officially started. They've set up a good mystery. And so far - the soundtrack isn't horrible (I am afraid of the 80's). I've just seen the first episode and I still have my doubts  - but whatever they are, they are momentarily silenced by this man:


DCI Gene Hunt makes me think of naughty things.