The W00t Rant

Another Amazing Remix of the Doctor Who Theme

Yet another amazing remix of the Doctor Who theme song.

Arranged and performed by Orbital for their last live performance ever.

Making of the Doctor Who Theme Song (80s Version)

Awesome video that gives the arranger's insight and secrets to the making of the Doctor Who Theme song (80s version).  Yes, it's the greatest TV theme song ever.

Beyond being geek love material, it's definitely interesting stuff for any music enthusiast.

YouTube Title Says it Best: Best Dr. Who Line Ever

This is why Tom Baker is the best Doctor ever.  Awesomeness.

Snapalicious.

I Bit the Bullet and Joined the HD Revolution

I did it.  I finally did it.  Thanks to the combination of thorough research, luck, and Worst (ahem) Best Buy, I have purchased a HDTV - specifically, a Samsung LN-S4095D (Go South Korea!) LCD HDTV.  Research?  Well, I've been actively researching HDTVs for about 1 1/2 years from articles to reviews (consumer and expert).  After about 6 months of research, I became befuddled and confused: "What the fuck is 720p?  Fuckers."  After 10 months, I was in the anger stage: "Fuck that, there ain't enough content!  Fuckers."  After 12 months, I was still in the anger stage: "Fuck Sony.  Fuck Toshiba.  Fuck Bluray.  Fuck HD-DVD.  Fuckers."  After 14 months, I was in the laughter stage: "Ha!  These fuckers have no clue about marketing.  The market STILL doesn't know what an HDMI port is.  Fuckers."  14 months and 1 day: "Ha!  These guys aren't only marketing fools, but they're also con artists as well!  HD Ready? EDTV?  SCAMS!  Fuckers."  After 16 months, "Fuck.  I need an HDTV to fully enjoy the splendor that is Gears of War.  Fuckers."  After 17 months, "Damn, there STILL isn't enough content.  PBS and Battlestar Galactica can only hold me for so long."  After 18 months, "I bought one!  Woo hoo!  Fuckers."

What I have learned:
1.  Plasma nowadays do not have burn-in issues.
2.  720p = 1280x720 resolution, progressive.  In other words, 1280x720 is a "true" widescreen format (16:9) with 1280 pixels across (horizontally) and 720 pixels down (vertically).  The "p" means "progressive" which means that every horizontal line in the picture is "filled."
3.  1080i = 1920x1080 resolution, interlaced.  This is also is a "true" widescreen format with 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels down.  The "i" means that it is interlaced which means only every *other* line of the picture is "filled."
4.  1080i is not better than 720p (or vice-versa).  Traditionally, 720p performs a better "picture" when objects are moving rapidly, whereas 1080i seemingly has a better "picture" when things are relatively constant.
5.  1080p = 1920x1080 resolution, progressive.  Currently, the highest resolution HD picture.  Not only is it 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels down, but *every* line of picture is "filled."
6.  No HD TV signal - cable, satellite, over the air - offers 1080p.  Too much bandwidth.  1080p on TV is at least 2 to 5 years away, perhaps longer.
7.  Which offers the best picture quality overall?  Plasma?  Nope.  DLP?  Nope.  Rear projection?  Nope.  LCD?  Nope.  Digital Projectors?  Nope.  The good ol CRT *still* is king.  It's just too bad that they are so fucking HUGE.  (And yes, you can get a CRT HDTV).
8.  This whole FCC/Congress/Government/etc. requirement that all TVs must be digital has *NOTHING* to do with HDTV.  Your good old fashion TV right now will still work.  Basically, if you have digital cable, you are all set.  Thanks US Government/Broadcasters for confusing the entire US population.  (Fuckers.)
9.  HD-DVD and Bluray can fucking suck on my hairy balls.  I'll wait until this becomes more affordable.
10.  Fuckers.

Anyway, I found a great deal on Worst (ahem) Best Buy's website and decided to bite the bullet.  40 hard inches baby!  I can't wait to pick it up.

Fuckers.

Best Mythbusters Clip Evah!

I'm addicted to Mythbusters.  TOTALLY addicted.  Hell, even if it's an episode that I've seen, I'll still sit down and watch it!  In any case, here's a clip that I found that has never been aired before, and it's definitely one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.  The Mythbusters take on the myth: "Do Pretty Girls Fart?"  This is CLASSIC!

Entire History of Doctor Who in 4 1/2 Min.

Ok, today I'm a bit YouTube crazy, but I found this AMAZING Doctor Who mashup on YouTube.  Basically, it shows clips from the entire history of Doctor Who in less than 4 1/2 minutes.  Fucking awesome.

Yes, Doctor Who is the best

Oh man, Talk About Flashback

Yes, here it is, the ORIGINAL "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" Pilot Intro.  So bad.  So cheesy.  So fucking AWESOME.  Enjoy.

When the Old is New Again

Ever since getting a DVR (Digital Video Recorder, i.e. Tivo), I can't imagine living without one.  One of the benefits, in my opinion, is a unique feature called TiVo Suggestions.  Basically, based on the shows you record as well as give the "thumbs up" to, Tivo will recommend and automatically record certain shows for you.  I love this feature, because it's enabled me to discover new shows as well as old shows that I normally wouldn't have recorded or bothered with before.  Well, recently my Tivo has been recording episodes of "The X-Files."  To this day, "The X-Files" remains one of my all-time favorite shows, but I haven't watched the show in quite some time.  I've rediscovered "The X-Files."  Ahh yes, the memories: Mulder, Sculley, Cigarette Smoking Man, the fat Italian dude, Sculley, Skinner, luscious Sculley.  Mmmm, delicious.

Anyway, the episode that I watched today was one I totally forgot about called "X-Cops."  Basically, it's the X-Files episode shot entirely as if it were an episode of the trash reality series "Cops."  I can't believe I forgot about this brilliant episode and how funny it was.  Everything about the episode screamed "Cops," but the underlying creepiness and writing was unmistakably X-Files.  Damn, I missed this show.  I just hope someday Chris Carter and co. bring this show back on film.  There has been talk about making a sequel to the original X-Files movie, but so far all that has been said was that Chris Carter wants to do it; David Duchovny wants in (hell, he hasn't done anything in YEARS.  He probably needs the money); and Gillian Anderson wants to do it.  Fuck, just fucking do the fucking movie.  Would it work?  Who knows.  People (myself included) have forgotten about the show, and how much of an impact the show had on television.  Hell, Fox television wouldn't be anywhere without the X-Files (along with the Simpsons), but in this day and age who knows if a new movie would succeed.  Hell, fuck it.  I'd still see it.  Even if it were me alone in the theater.

What were your favorite moments in the X-Files?  Mine has got to be from the episode "Jose Chung from Outer Space," when after all of the disbelieving by one of the interrogators (sorry, I barely remember the details), he finally sees evidence of aliens and abductions.  All he says at that moment is: "Bleep."  End of scene.  People who remember this classic episode will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Avoiding the Obvious and Talkin' About Da Who

So, my favorite TV show of all time has finally returned to the US.  No, not the Smurfs, but Doctor Who, the longest running sci-fi television show of all time.  I just love saying that.  It keeps all of the Trekkies all red in the face.  Hold on a sec, did my geek side come out again?  Ah well, I'm already talking about Doctor Who so might as well let the geekness flow completely through.

I've been watching and keeping up with the Doctor since 1985.  A friend of mine in junior high "introduced" me to the show during my Blake's 7 years.  Just for those who don't know, Blake's 7 is another British science fiction show that ran for 4 or 5 years.  It didn't gain quite the traction or the fanbase that Doctor Who ever did, but it did have a bit of cult following both here in the US as well as elsewhere around the world.  However, Blake's 7 is a topic best suited for another day.  ANYWAY, I had heard of Doctor Who, but never really thought much of the show, and I actually dismissed the idea of seeing the show.  Fortunately, my friend was insistent that I see it, because he knew how much of a fan of Blake's 7 I was.  He basically said, "if you can deal with the shitty special effects in a 1984 meets Star Trek British sci-fi show, then you can certain appreciate and enjoy Doctor Who."  I'm glad I took him up on his offer.

I have to say that I was "lucky."  My friend's father was a Doctor Who (and British sci-fi) fanatic.  He had literally videotaped every single Doctor Who episode that was known to exist.  I say "known to exist" because during the late '60s - early  '70s, the BBC in their brilliant wisdom destroyed many of the early episodes of Doctor Who.  Why?  Primarily because, this was before the era of syndication.  The BBC didn't realize the financial benefits of keeping these episodes and thought that it was taking up valuable space.  It's an incredible shame and tragedy, not only for the fans of the show or even the BBC - Doctor Who is a significant piece of television history and cultural icon.  Many episodes are probably lost forever.  My friend's father though had all of the known "existing" episodes, and through my time in junior high and later high school, I had gone through every single one of his videos to the point I had "caught up."  Yeah, I was obsessed.  By the time I had "caught up," I had seen every single Doctor in action and watched the new episodes as they aired on PBS.  It all came to a sad tragic end in 1989 when the BBC had finally withdrew funding of the classic series.  The final words of the Doctor in 1989  perfectly summed up the series:

"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on Ace, we've got work to do."

I was sad, but always felt that the Doctor would come back some day in one form another.  For the most part Doctor Who did continue on in one way or another, the book series continued on as well as a very well done radio series.  However, Doctor Who remained primarily in my memories.  He returned briefly in the late nineties in a joint Fox/BBC production, but with extremely poor results.  The effects were "lavish" and (in my opinion) the choice of the Doctor was pretty good, but the story was horrid.  I've actually erased that movie from my brain.

Which brings me to the new Doctor Who series now airing on the Sci-Fi channel, it had originally aired in the summer of 2005 to much fanfare in Britain.  The new series is helmed by Russell T. Davis who created the original "Queer as Folk" series (yes, that's another British transplant series).  Apprehensive, excited, nervous, worried, giddy, I watched the first episode (mainly through really geeky means).  With much relief, I was throughly satisfied.  Finally, someone who lived up to the Doctor.  Finally, someone who didn't fuck up the series unlike some Fox/BBC team.  Through much geekiddy geek means, I followed the rest of the season and now eagerly awaiting season 2.  I'm happy that US audiences can now enjoy the series, but will an American audience enjoy it?  I'm skeptical.  The show is very British which can be a good thing sometimes (i.e. Monty Python, the Office, Benny Hill), but often doesn't work.  We'll see.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw out some of my all-time favorite Doctor Who quotes.  They're in no particular order.  Ahhh, the memories:

1.  "Dreams are important, never underestimate them"

2.  "Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority."

3.  "Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."

4.  "You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering."

5.  "The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots."

6.  "Would you like a jellybaby?"

7.  "Sometimes, my brilliance astonishes even me."

NBC returning TV shows to regular start/end times

All I can say is that it's about DAMN TIME!

After a couple years of NBC tweaking start and end show times to push their advertising dollars (and tweak PVR owners in the process), it seems they're abandoning the practice of starting early and ending late.

This fall line-up preview of NBC's shows shows a clear return to shows ending on the hour and half-hour, exactly. This is good news for those missing network shows due to 1-minute conflicts.

Those crazy network executives.  Then again, I haven't really watched anything on NBC since the demise of "must see TV."  Hopefully, this is a sign that in the end the consumer wins.  Yeah, right.