Eric’s repaired Xbox 360 has been returned and it’s once again working. Summer is saved! Recently, The Onion had a special segment examining the importance of video games in preparing today’s youth for their inevitable future…
Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?
Thanks to the Roku Digital Player, my guilty pleasure has been watching the revived BBC series Dr. Who. I’m almost through the second season with David Tennant, who took over from Christopher Eccleston. The Doctor always has a young lady along for his adventures, and Billie Piper as Rose appears in both seasons.
Dr. Who retains the preposterous stories and hokey monsters of past incarnations, but I’m impressed by the human interest elements of the new series. The love triangle between Rose, her boyfriend, and The Doctor had a curious end. One episode in particular, “Love and Monsters”, uses the ludicrous sci-fi trappings of the last Time Lord as an excuse for memorably quirky character portrayals. The scenes with Rose’s hopeful mum and a younger man are both a funny and poignant. The episode features the delightfully mouse-voiced Shirley Henderson, who is Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies.
England in the early 60’s was the source of some of the all-time best theme music. The James Bond theme was composed by Monty Norman, but arranger John Barry disputes that claim. A man named Laurie Johnson wrote the theme for The Avengers, and the Dr. Who theme was composed by Ron Grainer at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The Boston Globe still exists… but for how long, Mr. Spock? For. HowLong??
Long enough for Ty Burr to give, to my surprise, a 4-star rave review for the new Star Trek movie. I’ll still wait for Bismo’s blessing — or curse.
NPR had an item that piqued my curiosity, about a fan film called The Hunt for Gollum.
This reminds me of the praiseworthy Star Trek fan project, New Voyages. I don’t know how much of an influence New Voyages had on getting the new Trek movie produced, but so far I haven’t seen anything in the trailers that has me dying to see it. For starters, the set for the bridge is a gaudy mess, reminiscent of the way that Batman looked as handled by Joel Schumacher.
Bismo says the buzz about the new ‘classic’ Star Trek movie is that it’s better than the trailers make it seem. It’s been seen in Australia, and also in Austin, TX, where fans who thought they would be seeing a screening of the 27-year-old Wrath of Khan were in for a surprise.
I was going to post this anyway, but now, with Natasha Richardson clinging to life, perhaps for not too much longer, adding her will make it extra depressing. In this song, sung (OK, it’s spoken) by William Shatner, is a sad reminder for us all — you’re gonna die. (Sorry, Paul — I’m not intending to be insensitive.)
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/MAR/YoullHaveTime.mp3]Want to get an idea of how long you’ve got left to live? Try the Life Span Calculator from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Natasha Richardson has one of those captivating faces that British women have, even better than that of her mother, Vanessa Redgrave. Natasha’s features and acting remind me of Kathleen Byron, who I have been planning for some time to feature again.
One of Natasha’s movies is the chilling The Handmaid’s Tale, which takes place in — you guessed it — a futuristic, post-apocalyptic society. When I heard about Richardson’s accident in the snow, I thought of the flashbacks in these scenes …
[MEDIA=26]
(Did I really feature Natasha’s grandfather and aunt only two days ago? Sheesh… not a very happy coincidence, is it…)
[The news was announced a few minutes ago that Natasha Richardson has died — Mar 18, 8:45 pm]
