Is There A Doctor In The House?

So, Matt Smith, huh? If you're not a Whovian you probably don't know who he is. In fact, if you're not a Whovian you probably don't know what a Whovian is.

Matt Smith replaced David Tennant as the Doctor on the longest running, and best, science fiction show in the world, Doctor Who.

Tennant, who is ranked by most as the greatest Doctor of them all, grew on me but slowly. Smith, a virtual unknown, I loved from the get-go. The very first episode was incredible. From fish fingers and custard to the most terrifying threat ever--"Basically... run"--it was all gold. And the sheer genius of an actor who is the youngest ever to play the part--28--who manages, more than most, to project those nine centuries of life out of the screen is just breathtaking.

And now I've seen the entirety of Smith's first season I have to say it just got better. Karen Gillan as Amy Pond is equal parts gorgeous, heroic and sympathetic. The stories are as deep and convoluted and satisfying as ever. Even the new TARDIS interior is pretty good. Okay, now I need to go buy another prop replica sonic screwdriver, but that's a small price to pay, I feel.

Two thumbs up.

Spinal Beeb

I'm keeping up with Election coverage by watching BBC.com (because BBC America is showing Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares instead) and I just noticed something with dear old Auntie Beeb's media player...

It goes up to eleven. That's one louder, isn't it? You see, most news outlets, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten there, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your news. Where can you go from there? Nowhere. Exactly.

Arise, Sir Terry

We at Legal Alien were absolutely overjoyed to hear that This World's Greatest Author, Terry Pratchett, has been honoured by Her Majesty in the New Year's Honours list with a knighthood.

I can think of nobody more deserving, and no honour longer overdue. In the words of the man (knight) himself:

"Marry, nuncle, if'n I had a Knighthood (Night Hood), why, it would keep my ears Warm in Bedde; i'faith, if many a Knight is a Fool, why, should a-"

Congratulations, Sir Terry, and long may you continue bringing light into our lives. And now I have to find a way to send him an empty envelope with "Sir Terry Pratchett, Knight" written on the front.

In joke. If you don't get it, you need to read a better class of books.

British Police To Get Tasers

Interesting news from Blighty comes our way in the form of British bobbies being armed with Tasers. Apparently, after more and more police forces have been using the handy little stunners, the country as a whole is going that way.

We await the screams of outrage.

Actually, a Taser, used properly, is less dangerous than the extending batons they have been using for a while now. Extending batons can crush skulls and break bones, especially in inexperienced hands. Sure, if you have a dickey heart a shot from a Taser can kill you, but so can someone sneaking up behind you and yelling "boo!".

The fact is that policing has changed since the days Dixon of Dock Green could fell a criminal with nothing more than a practised knee-bend and a cheerful "What's all this, then?", and the bad guys don't give up with an equally cheery "It's a fair cop, guv" any more. The Taser is, in this writer's opinion, a fair middle-ground between those who want bobbies armed to the teeth and those who want them to go back to the little truncheon.

Peter Boatman, operations director for Pro-Tect Systems, has had the weapon used on him over 200 times, and he's upright and breathing. Wonder how he'd look after a couple of hundred bops on the head from those batons?

Remember

Today is remembrance day, the Eleventh of the Eleventh, and the ninetieth anniversary of the end of the First World War. I was asleep at 11am GMT, but I will be observing a minute of silence at 11am EST here in Kentucky.

In England, 3 of the 4 surviving British WWI veterans attended the traditional ceremony at the Cenotaph, and Prince Charles attended a similar ceremony in Verdun, France.

And in Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said "We have all endured a most bloody century. Let us resolve afresh at the dawn of this new century.. that this might be a truly pacific peaceful century."

Pilot Lands After Going Blind

Via AMERICAblog comes the amazing story of a British pilot who went blind at 15,000 ft and was then talked down to a safe landing by the RAF:

When the instruments on Jim O'Neill's four-seater Cessna aircraft became difficult to read, he assumed it was the glare of the sunlight as he flew over north England at 15,000ft. It was only when the dials blurred completely that he realised the full horror of his predicament: he was a solo pilot who had suddenly gone blind.

Struggling with the aftermath of a mid-flight stroke – which had put pressure on his optical nerve and robbed him of his sight in one eye and left him with very limited sight in the other – Mr O'Neill found himself unable to follow instructions from civilian air trafficcontrollers attempting to guide him to the nearest airstrip. Instead, an extraordinary rescue was launched when RAF staff, overhearing the emergency, offered to send a military plane to fly alongside Mr O'Neill and shepherd him in to land, issuing instructions to him over the radio.

Brilliant.

Science Defeats Crap - AGAIN

For years, the "we refuse to believe that pumping millions of tonnes of waste crap into the atmosphere of our planet is in any way harmful" crowd have been relying on a work of fiction to bolster their claims - the notion that the climate changes we see around us on a daily bases are caused by cosmic rays.

Yeah.

So, scientists in the UK, being scientists and therefore guided by scientific principles, did scientific experiments, and scientifically produced huge amounts of scientific evidence that shows that the aforementioned notion is - well - complete twaddle.

Thank science for that.

Vic Henley on football

Via Comedy Central:

An extreme blast from the past

Thanks to Bing, who sent me this video via my facebook page.



The show is real. I grew up watching Rainbow, and all characters and puppets are real and acting in character, however, this episode never aired.

Rumour has it that this was filmed as a joke for a Christmas party, and the tape was released much later. This hasn't stopped many people who tout this as a genuine, aired episode.

Whatever, it's hilarious.

Cheers Bing.

When I were a lad...

A financial advisor in Hertfordshire has been ordered to pay £75 to three kids who "teased" him over his mustache.

The world has changed. Had I gone to my parents to tell them that a man had threatened me because we were yelling insults at him, my dad would have given me a thick ear and dragged me to the guy to apologise.

Now you get spending money for it.

I'm 33. There's no way I should be using, in all seriousness, phrases like "in my day" and "when I was young".

It's not just that the world is changing. It's that it's changing so bloody fast..

Oh bugger..

The new BBC catalogue arrived today, which means I'm going to spend a while looking through it at all of the things I miss.. Only Fools And Horses.. Are You Being Served?.. The Young Ones.. Dad's Army.. Last of the Summer Wine.. Carry On.. The Avengers.. The New Statesman.. Monty Python.. The Day Of The Triffids.. Dangermouse.. Cadfael.. The Sweeney.. both Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes..

They just don't make telly like that anymore.

At least there's still Dr Who.

And I'll have to reminisce quietly because Mrs Doombreed is sick.

Must go.

The Anglo-Saxon Project

Here's a modest update:

I've gone about as far as I can do with this until my supply of green stuff arrives.

I started with this figure:


This is basically a standard Praetorian Lieutenant model, but I had already reshaped the sword, making it a powersword rather than a chainsword. I needed to strip the paint from the model and do some more work:


I removed the sword's handguard and reshaped the blade into a short sword. I am considering reshaping the blade further in order to give it the distinctive Anglo-Saxon tapered look. I then ground the helmet and face down to give me a nice base to work on.

And that, pending kneadatite, is all folks.

Apart from the name. The British Museum site plays it coy about the identity of the helm's owner, but the Sutton Hoo site declares him to be Rædwald, King of East Anglia and later, one of the most powerful figures in Anglo-Saxon history.

Accordingly, this character shall be called Major Rædwald, 22nd regiment, Praetorian Guard.

This Week's Impossible Dream

Here's a nice picture:

If you're from England, I probably don't have to tell you what that is. But for those not from The Centre Of The Universe, or for those to whom history is merely something that happens to other people, that is the Anglo-Saxon helmet discovered at Sutton Hoo, now on display at the British Museum. The Sutton Hoo burial mound was first excavated in 1939 and a wealth of treasures were unearthed from an unidentified Anglo-Saxon king's burial ship.

This helmet has fascinated me ever since I saw the original as a schoolkid. I love the look of the piece.

The British Museum also has this replica, made by the Tower Of London Armouries, which shows the helmet in all of its original glory:




The trip down memory lane that led to the British Museum's website also sowed the seed of a mad idea now germinating inside the fizzing fireworks display that I sometimes, but not often, call my mind.

I have a spare Praetorian Lieutenant model. And that helmet would look just awesome on him.

Yes..

And I have the week off work..

I'll get back to you if there is any progress.

All images © Trustees of the British Museum.

Our Lord, Who Art In London..

From our You Cannot Make This Shit Up desk comes the story that HRH Prince Phillip is God.

So HRH Prince Charles is Jesus, right?

Hat tip to Simon.

Judge says "I hate everybody"

And the draconian society marches on. Now Lord Justice Sedley says that everyone who lives - or even just visits - the UK should have their DNA taken and stored on the national DNA database, which is already the largest in the world.

You may want to think on that. The UK has a population of 60m people. The USA has 300m. That's five times more. Yet the UK has more DNA profiles on record than the USA.

And Sedley isn't the first to suggest this horrific breach of privacy. In 2006, Tony Blair made a similar proposal.

We can only be grateful that, at least, those north of the border still have their testicles and, what's even more encouraging, they still have hair on them. Not only did the Scottish government reject Sedley's idea, but DNA from those arrested must be destroyed if they are not prosecuted.

Real men wear kilts it seems, and give up their DNA for no man.

This makes me glad I don't live in the UK. They can have my DNA when they drain it from my cold, dead veins.

Ricky Gervais On Creationism

Hi-larious:

Mike Reid 1940-2007

We at Legal Alien wish to pay our respects to a great man, Mike Reid who died at the age of 67.

Whilst Mr Reid will probably be most remembered for his work on the BBC soap East Enders, my fondest memories of him will always be his unbelievably hilarious stand-up shows. Reid had an impeccable sense of timing, a tremendous stage presence, and an uncanny ability to tell an old joke like it was the funniest thing on Earth. Whilst his shows were invariably adult-oriented, he never descended into the realms of crude obscenity that marked so many of his contemporaries.

He will be sadly missed, and those who were and are fans of his comedy will always wonder just what exactly a "dry slap" is.

'Ave some of tha-at.

Rest in peace, old friend. You've earned it.

And Again...

Once again, my homeland informs the god squad that they have to obey the law just like everyone else.

I'm trying not to gloat, here, but it is nice to see England keeping up with the ancient tradition of "believing in the invisible man in the sky does not entitle one to any special privileges, no matter how much one might wish it".

You Know You're Getting Old When...

...Auntie Beeb lists the twelve finalists for the 2007 Mercury Music Prize, and you haven't heard of a single one.

Dr Who

Sci-Fi has just started showing the new season of the ancient and beloved BBC gemstone, Dr Who. David Tennant is just, again, brilliant as the Doctor.

So far Sci-Fi has shown three episodes (Runaway Bride, Smith And Jones, and The Shakespeare Code), of which my DVR managed to record the first two. So, I'm already an episode behind.