…no words. Just watch.
Et tu, David?
David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who. After the upcoming four specials, Mr. Tennant will leave the Tardis.
Yes, I’m heartbroken. As one of the fans who did not have much memory of the olden days, this one smarts more than the departure of Mr. Big-ear after Series 1. To paraphrase from the 2007 Children in Need special, Tennant is…was… “my Doctor”.
I’ll be honest though — if anyone can save the franchise from losing momentum, it’s upcoming show-runner Steven Moffat, who’s coming on board after the specials. Moffat’s known for stuff like The Girl in the Fireplace and the epic Blink, as well as British sitcom hit Coupling (”Jedaim, jedaim, jedaim!”).
It’ll be very interesting to see possible leaks about which actor the Doctor will regenerate into. A lot of media outlets will
try to put out their votes, and what kind of blogger-pseudo-wannabe-journalist-with-20-readers would I be if I didn’t try?
Thinking within-the-box, Stephen Fry would be my first choice. While not the skinny stick that the last few Doctors have been, Fry has shown such a range within his career that he’d be perfect for the part. Outside the box, my suggestion is a bit…odd.
Grant Morrison.
Grant Morrison, writer of comics, wearer of fine suits, shedder of hair. The man looks good, has the right vibe and could make his mark on the writing of the show as well. Also, in a total Morrisonesque move, the Tardis could land near the writing offices of the Doctor Who camp and Grant could meet himself. Meta explosion.
Lastly, this one just hit me as I was wrapping up this post: Eddie Izzard. For obvious reasons I will not even try to explain that one. Eddie. Fucking. Izzard. Done. Next subject.
GM: OK, the bugbear attacks you. What do you do?
GM: OK, the bugbear attacks you. What do you do?
OBAMA: I send one of my 672 henchmen after it.
MCCAIN: OK, seriously. Why does he have so many henchmen? I’m a level 72 ranger and he’s only a level 8 paladin.
OBAMA: Well, if you’d bought the Grassroots Organizing and Oratory/Colgate Smile proficiencies you could min max it so that you…
MCCAIN: Why is he even IN this campaign? I thought this was supposed to be a high level party.
OBAMA: Well, maybe some people got tired of the grim and squinty “Matterhorn, son of Marathon” shtick you keep doing. Dude, could you be any less original?
MCCAIN: Oh my god, I did not leave my left nut in a tiger cage in the Tomb of Horrors to spend my Friday nights mopping up after the new kid.
OBAMA: “My friends, I am a totally unoriginal grizzled character class stereotype. I should lead the party because I have more testicular damage than that one.”
MCCAIN: Yeah, well, you pal around with dark elves.
Godzilla anatomy
The anatomies of Godzilla and friends, shown in vintage Japanese illustrations. I wish they’d taught this kind of stuff in my Biology classes. Ignore the fact that they’re imaginary. I mean, really, pffft. Details.
Shiny! Spoooooon!…Supernatural?
Sometimes it takes you a while to figure what you like about something. With TV shows, it’s incredibly complicated. There’s writers, directors and actors, all leaving their mark on the final product; hell, you might even just be infatuated with the photography shot by the assistant director of the second unit! Still, sometimes you start noticing certain names enough to start figuring out who’s the main contributor to your love of something.
With that said, let me just put it out there: I want to have Ben Edlund’s children.
Ben Edlund is a name you might know for one of many reasons. His first mark on the media that I myself enjoy was big, blue and nigh invulnerable: The Tick. The Tick, an almost absurd parody of superheroes (with a brain the size of a pea) was created by Edlund and started his career as the mascot of the store Edlund frequented, New England Comics. After jumping from the masthead into 2-3 page stories, New England Comics financed and published the very succesful black-and-white Tick comics. In the mid 90s, Fox, with the help of Ben as a writer/producer, turned the book into a successful animated series.
Featuring a cast of lovable oddballs like Moth-costume-wearing Arthur, Der Fledermaus (a Batman-esque stalker of the night) and Sewer Urchin (think sewer-dwelling Aquaman with Rainman-style dialogue), the show lasted three seasons on Fox and was later turned into a live-action show that…didn’t exactly do well.
If you’re not a comic nerd but a fan of TV shows that might not be all that grounded in reality, you would’ve noticed Ben’s name pop up on the Firefly credits as he signed up with Joss Whedon’s Mutant Enemy production company. After Firefly first got handicapped and then shot down by Fox, Edlund moved on to the Angel team for Season 5 of that show, ending up contributing (among other things) Smile Time (a.k.a. the “Puppet Angel” episode) that he both wrote and directed.
Recently, El Edlundo contributed several episodes to cult hit The Venture Bros on Cartoon Network and currently, Benny-boy is entertaining all of us on Supernatural. You might have noticed that that unlike most current TV shows, Supernaturals sophomore season was better than it’s initial run. In fact, I personally think that Supernatural has gotten increasingly better as the show continued, with Season 3 and 4 (so far) as high points.
In short, keep an eye on Ben Edlund. Where he’s just contributing to shows right now, he might end up being household name like Whedon and Abrams. Oh, and the reason for this blog post? Probably Edlund’s best effort to date, Supernatural episode 4×05, “Monster Movie”. Shot in slightly grainy black-and-white, Edlund combines various elements that sound like unlikely mixers (movie monsters and Oktoberfest) into my personal favorite episode. In fact, It might give the Wee Little Puppet Man from Smile Time a run for his money. It’s clear that Ben Edlund is a rising star, as that statement would have been sacrilege to the my inner fanboy a year ago.
I am eating a croissant.
subliminal messages these fonts are feeding you by Lars Willem Veldkampf, via Lonelysandwich.
Little soldier
“experiments with hand lettering…a series based on spam subject lines in my mailbox” by Linzie Hunter. Well, now that you put it like that, maybe I should get some help for my little soldier.
US shifts Visa Waiver Program authorization to Internet
Man, I’m gonna miss the little green piece of cardboard every visitor to the US has to fill out on the plane. Why? because, since fingerprinting every visitor like a common criminal isn’t annoying enough, the DHS is now shifting this procedure to online. Great for those who like computers, incredibly annoying for the luddites and/or elderly. How about offering both, INS BCIS USCIS? [Yahoo! pulled the article I referred to. Thanks, Yahoo!]
Aliens Vote
I’m really curious what this would show if it really covered all aliens in the US. For now, I voted.
Hostile take-over of Boing Boing Gadgets
Boing Boing Gadget is having a three-day (M/W/F) run of fictional blog posts, ‘written as the mouthpiece of the ministry of comms of a “massive super-conglomerate”‘. Entertaining and creepy.
Ninja’s can’t catch you…
A public service announcement, for your safety:
Ninjas can’t catch you…if you’re on fire.
Why didn’t I think of this?
My friends,
we have left the beta stage of our project, my friends. Myself and Nerduo’s other number 1, Mike Essl, have launched My Friends, an in-depth look at the man who seems to think he has more friends than Tom from Myspace.
Go submit and rate your favorite McCainisms now. We don’t really care too much about if they’re really his words or not, my friends.
And if you’re worried that this is getting repetitive — Do not worry, my friends. Next time we do this… you will be in the drivers seat.
Stephen Fry in America
How can you not adore Stephen Fry? Comedian, actor, gadget nerd. And now, hey gets to drive around the US as a British Borat. Fry’s American travelogue is directed by Michael Palin’s usual collaborator; Fry’s plan is to visit every state in the Union, driving his own London taxi and scattering bons mots along the way.
I’ve considered it something of a crime that Fry’s US career is fairly limited (a few episodes of shrinking on Bones) while Hugh Laurie kicks ass on a goddamn weekly basis with his uncanny faux-midwestern accent on House M.D.
The Brits are lucky, since this sounds like an great show. Let’s hope it makes it to BBC America. The book Stephen Fry in America, though, sounds even more interesting. The excerpt I found on his blog had me chuckling through the first few paragraphs. Too bad it’s not out in America until 2009 (oh, delicious Morrissete-irony).
I was so nearly an American. It was that close. In the mid-1950s my father was offered a job at Princeton University – something to do with the emerging science of semiconductors. One of the reasons he turned it down was that he didn’t think he liked the idea of his children growing up as Americans. I was born, therefore, not in NJ but in NW3.
I was ten when my mother made me a present of this momentous information. The very second she did so, Steve was born.
Steve looked exactly like me, same height, weight and hair colour. In fact, until we opened our mouths, it was almost impossible to distinguish one from the other. Steve’s voice had the clear, penetrating, high-up-in-the-head twang of American. He called Mummy ‘Mom’, he used words like ’swell’, ‘cute’ and ‘darn’.
Can you guess what’s in this mysterious mailing tube?
Can you guess what’s in this mysterious mailing tube? Readers of Marvel comics cover-dated December 1965 were challenged with this impossible puzzle, and even in this era of massive social change and cultural controversy, this guessing game became all the rage among heads of state, celebrities, and the hoi pallois. What do you think it is?
Bully revisits a proto-viral campaign from the 60s aimed at hawking Spider-man posters. How would they work with some other characters? How would the Goddamn Batman sell them?
AntiSpore
AntiSpore.com: “Resisting EA’s War on Creationism”. Uh-huh…Yeah.
Apparently a lot of people were getting really riled up about this site. However, this blog post by the author, explaining his beliefs, should shed some light on the situation. The last paragraph, specifically: read up on a very interesting excerpt from Genesis 8:21-27.
Obey’d.
Sheperd Fairey isn’t the only one milking his own (pretty cool) concept. Nope. Dope. Pope. Bob Hope.
Arrrrrr.
Dave Egger’s pirate-themed 826 Valencia-funding storefront has some amazing new posters by Office. Yarrr!
Mad Men, Mad Props
Mark Simonson reviews typeface usage (anachronistic and proper) in AMC’s Mad Men.
I am confused.
Japanese iPhone commercial. Like you, I have no clue why the father of the house is a dog.