Doctor Who: Squelchy?

Hi there!


It's Doctor Who time!!!!


You might be wondering if we have an....

Sorry, no. Not yet. Well, there was this thing:

We have no official confirmation from the BBC and I think the writer of this was making a guess.


1) We do know that Doctor Who Series 11 is coming Fall 2018.
2) The first day of Fall is September 22nd on Saturday.   
3) There have been rumors that Doctor Who will move to Sundays this year.
4) The first Sunday of Fall 20185 is September 23rd.  


Ipso facto, you can arrive at an air date of September 23rd for the debut of Doctor Who Series 11.


This not the first time I've seen someone pull something like this.


I read an online piece a few months back that still had Doctor Who on Saturdays and definitively said Doctor Who Series 11 will debut September 22nd and run through December 15th.


Which is the first Saturday of Fall and the last Saturday of Fall. 


So sorry, despite what the Sunday Times may have written....







No, no air date yet. 


OK, what about the show itself? What are we in for? Well, some of the writers have a few words. 
 


Malorie Blackman her respective episode as ‘heartfelt, thought-provoking and timely’.


Vinay Patel stated his would be ‘educational, epic and emotional’.



Pete Tigh, Joy Wilkinson and Ed Hime saying their episodes are ‘creepy, fun, rollercoaster’.


Also ‘dark, funny, squelchy’.


Dark. Funny. Squelchy. 



Squelchy?


Like the sucking sound made by movement in a thick, sticky substance. 


Probably just a reference to all the mud the TARDIS team had to deal with while filming episodes in the rain. 

Doctor Who will be... squelchy.


Well, we have that to look forward to.

The Trump Religion: The Easiest Lies

"If you demand expressions of religious faith from politicians, you are just begging to be lied to. They won't all lie to you but a lot of them will. And it will be the easiest lie they ever had to tell to get your votes."


-Alan Alda as California Republican Senator Arnold Vinick on The West Wing

----------------------------------------------------------

In our previous post, we discussed how so called faith leaders are turning on Jeff Sessions, a man who has consistently and for decades fought in the political trenches for conservative Christian causes. These alleged Christian leaders have decided that protecting Donald Trump from Robert Mueller is more important than standing by a fellow conservative Christian who has supported and defended their causes for many, many years. 

The devotion of evangelical Christians to Donald Trump is a hypocritical shitstorm that defies understanding. 

Except maybe it does when these so called Christians hear what they want to hear. And Donald Trump is more than willing to tell them what they want to hear

Trump held a closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders Monday night. 

Trump said, "Now one of the things I'm most proud of is getting rid of the Johnson Amendment. That was a disaster for you."

That is, of course, a lie. The law remains on the books, after efforts to kill it in Congress last year failed.

Some background: what pray tell is the Johnson Amendment?   

Johnson Amendment is a provision inserted into law in 1954 by then-senator and future President Lyndon Johnson of Texas, who was miffed that a conservative nonprofit group was helping his opponent.

The law says churches and charities "are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office."

The law forbids religious organizations and other charities from formally endorsing candidates if they want to retain their federal tax exemption.

Trump said to the religious leaders at the White House: "Now you're not silenced anymore. It's gone and there's no penalty anymore."

Trump is still lying. The president doesn't have the power to repeal a law; only Congress can do that but they have not repealed this law. 

The Supreme Court can also rule a law unconstitutional, but that has not happened in this case either.  

Trump goes on: "If you like somebody or if you don't like somebody you can go out and say, 'This man is going to be great for evangelicals, or for Christianity or for another religion. This person is somebody that I like and I'm going to talk about it on Sunday."

In practice, there has been nothing stopping anyone from doing that. The Johnson Amendment doesn't prohibit individual speech, and it has rarely been enforced. More than 2,000 mainly evangelical Christian clergy have deliberately violated the law since 2008 as a form of protest against it, but only one has been audited by the IRS, and none punished.  

In May 2017, Trump signed an executive order that purported to ease enforcement of the Johnson Amendment. But nothing came of it as enforcement of the Johnson Amendment was never a priority of the Treasury Department in the first place. Basically, Trump's executive order just basically directed the Treasury Department  to keep doing what they were doing which was nothing.  

But Trump cited this alleged accomplishment as one in a series of gains he has made for his conservative Christian supporters. 

The religious leaders nodded in agreement, applauded and uttered a few amens. They were hearing what they wanted to hear. 

Even though they were being lied to.  

And Trump lied to them some more as he warned, "You're one election away from losing everything that you've got," and said their opponents were "violent people" who would overturn these gains "violently."

If the GOP loses, he said, "they will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently, and violently. There's violence. When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people."

The religious leaders nodded in agreement, applauded and uttered a few amens. They were hearing what they wanted to hear. Evangelical Christians in America love to believe they are under assault.  

Then Trump brought this shit up again.  

"Little thing — Merry Christmas. You couldn't say Merry Christmas. I'm telling you — when I started running I used to talk about it and I hate to mention it in August, but I used to talk about it. They don't say Merry Christmas anymore. They say Merry Christmas a lot right now. It's all changed. It's all changed."

Which is, of course, a lie. There has never been any prohibition on saying Merry Christmas. We've always been able to say Merry Christmas. 

In response to Trump's proclamation that he saved "Merry Christmas", the religious leaders nodded in agreement, applauded and uttered a few amens, accepting the easiest lies Trump tells.   


_______________________________


As I said in today's earlier post, I am so sorry for all the Trump centric shit on this blog. It is my intent that the next hand full of posts on this blog will not have anything to do with this fucking moron. 

But there is so much going on that cries out for commentary.

Sen. John McCain dies but Trump refuses to act respectfully because McCain was mean to him or something once and only finally lowers the White House flag to half mast because veterans got pissed but Trump didn't wanna! This is the behavior of a spoiled, petulant child in the seat of ultimate political power and I have to say something, don't I?   

Trump says China has Hillary Clinton's hacked emails. The FBI has to issue a statement: "No, they don't."  This demands a comment! An urbane observation! A witty riposte! At least a basic level fuck you! Right?  

Trump discovers that when he Googles "Donald Trump", he finds a bunch of stories that say he's a lying fucking moron and his assumption is that Google is rigged. Oh my God! How can I let that idiocy go by? How can I?  

By I feel I must. For my sanity. Or whatever is left of it.







So the next few days, there will be posts about comic books, Star Wars, Doctor Who (of course), Chik Fil A and anything else I can talk about other than Donald Trump, the lying fucking moron.  Look, if you want to read something about Donald Trump and what a lying fucking moron he is, just Google him.

Apparently, there is a lot of it out there!




But for the next few days, not here.


On the topic of Trump and religion, let's close out on some shit I stole from the internet on that subject. 

The Loyal Foot Soldier Who Wasn't Loyal Enough

Nothing pisses off Li’l Donnie Trump more than the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election led by special counsel Robert Mueller.

 

Except maybe Attorney General Jeff Sessions who has been the frequent target of Trump’s ire and insults.  Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election due to Sessions’ own potential conflicts. This really ticked Trump off who has reportedly considered firing Sessions as Attorney General.

 

 

 

The thing is, Jeff Sessions as Attorney General has been pretty much in lock step with Trump.

 

The Religious Freedom Task Force which was a direct sop to Trump’s evangelical supporters, Sessions brought it into being.

 

Trump’s campaign rants about crime have been answered by Jeff Sessions who has directed the Department of Justice towards more forceful prosecution of federal drug crimes, even in states where marijuana is legal. 

 

On immigration with that whole zero tolerance thing at the Mexican border? Trump’s dream come true when it came to border security and it was Sessions who helped make that happen.

 

All in all, Jeff Sessions as Attorney General has been a loyal and dedicated foot soldier for Trump. He should be checking off all the boxes on Li’l Donnie’s loyalty bingo card.

 

 

 

Instead, Trump berates, insults and undermines Sessions at every opportunity and all because of one thing: Sessions recusing himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Because Sessions can’t make the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election go away. 

 

 

 

Until recently, Trump has been alone in his condemnation of his Attorney General. But that has changed. 

 

 

 

Sen. Lindsey Graham said recently that “We need an attorney general that can work with the president, that can lead the Department of Justice. This relationship is beyond repair.” 

 

 

 

When asked whether the only problem Trump had with Sessions was his decision to recuse himself from any federal probe into Russian election meddling, Graham replied, “It’s much deeper than that.”

 

 

 

Really? I’m kind of curious as to what that might be.

 

 

 

Of course, in addition to not making  the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election go away, Sessions has not obliged to take up a laundry list of alternative  investigations that Trump has suggested against his political enemies. 

 

He’s still itching to know more about Hillary Clinton’s emails, folks! 

 

So I guess there' not just 1 strike but 2 strikes against Jeff Sessions: not stopping investigations that Trump doesn’t like and not starting investigations against people Trump doesn’t like.    

 

Sen. Graham also said that any new nominee must allow special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, “to do his job.” 

 

“Is there somebody who’s highly qualified that has the confidence of the president, will also understand their job is to protect Mueller? Yes, I think we can find that person after the election if that's what the president wants,” Graham said. 

 

What the holy hell is Lindsey Graham smoking?  

 

Trump wants to replace Sessions so he can stop Mueller.

 

Let’s cut the bullshit: the only Attorney General that will have the confidence of Donald Trump will be the one to understand their job is to fire Mueller.  

 

Other politicians on Capital Hill who have defended and supported Jeff Sessions are now speaking out that maybe Donald Trump should show him the door and be sure the door slaps his ass on the way out.

 

And unlike Graham’s head in the sand, these other pols who are saying this to appease Donald Trump and seek the end of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.  

 

Outside of Washington, DC, others have taken up the call for Jeff Sessions to go. 

 

Jerry Falwell Jr said he’s urged President Donald Trump to fire Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. 

 

You may recall earlier when the zero tolerance border policy took hold and children were separated from their families. It was a cold and heartless action enforced by Jeff Session’s emphasis of absolute law over compassion. He even quoted the Bible to give himself some moral cover. 

 

There were church leaders who spoke up at the time, leaders who werer uncomfortable with Session’s actions and his use of scripture to provide an excuse for taking children away from their families. Jerry Falwell is supposed to be a God loving, upstanding Christian person. Maybe it’s Sessions’ actions that hurt children that has given rise to his objections to Sessions remaining as Attorney General.

 

Well, no. That little problem doesn’t come up.

 

Nope, Falwell cites the investigations into Russian election meddling as the reason the attorney general has lost evangelicals' support.  

 

Jerry Falwell Jr  had this to say: “He really is not on the president’s team, never was. He’s wanted to be attorney general for many, many years. I have a feeling he took a gamble and supported the president because he knew he would reward loyalty.”

 

 

 

Get a load of Falwell’s assessment of his Session’s character, as an opportunist who supported Trump in order to be rewarded for loyalty. Never mind Sessions’ creation of the Religious Freedom Task Force. Or Sessions’ toughness on crime.  No, per Falwell, Sessions is guilty of the crime of not really being on Trump’s team. 

 

 

 

And it’s not just Jerry Falwell Jr.

 

 

 

“There’s growing disillusionment in the conservative faith-based community” with Sessions, said Gary Bauer, president of American Values, a faith based educational group.

 

 

 

So called faith leaders are turning on Jeff Sessions, a man who has consistently and for decades fought in the political trenches for conservative Christian causes.   

 

 

 

But that now apparently counts for shit. 

-----------------------------------------

In the next post: Trump will lie to anybody, even preachers! 

 

__________________________________________________

 

UPDATED  8/30/2018    1:19 PM EDT 

 

Earlier in this post, I postulated 2 things Trump hates about Jeff Sessions.

• Not stopping investigations that Trump doesn’t like
• Not starting investigations against people Trump doesn’t like

I was just now reading an article on Politico and we can add 3 more things Trump hates about Sessions.     

• The attorney general doesn’t have the Ivy League pedigree Li'l Donnie prefers. 
• Trump can’t stand Session's Southern accent
• Sessions isn’t a capable defender of Trump on television, in part because he “talks like he has marbles in his mouth"

OK, I'm pretty sure that Jeff Sessions did not have an Ivy League law degree when Trump nominated him to be Attorney General.


Also, I do believe that Jeff Sessions did indeed have a Southern accent when Trump nominated him to be Attorney General.


And as near as I can recollect, Jeff Sessions was talking "like he has marbles in his mouth" when Trump nominated him to be Attorney General.


Given how many high school drop-out, inbred, Southern accented morons voted for Donald Trump, you might think Trump would be a bit more circumspect about criticizing Southern accents. 


But no. So we know how little Donald Trump respects Jeff Sessions and I think we can assume there is an equal or even lesser amount of respect for the many high school drop-out, inbred, Southern accented morons voted for him. 


---------------------------------------------


OK, guys! There is another Trump themed post coming up later today. I am so sorry about that. Starting tomorrow, I'll endeavor for blog posts to be Trump free.  

 

 

John McCain: A Man of Honor Is Still a Man

John McCain died on Saturday, August 25, 2018. 

 McCain served as a United States Senator from Arizona since 1987 after previously serving two terms in the United States House of Representatives. He won the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election. 

Before his career in politics, John McCain served in the United States Navy as a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers.

October 1967, during the Vietnam War, McCain was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was repeatedly tortured by his captors while held as a prisoner of war until 1973.  McCain dealt with lifelong physical disabilities as a result of the war and his ordeal. 

A lot of glowing accolades have been given voice by many people in the wake of his passing and even before.  McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and it was on Friday his family announced that McCain was would no longer go through chemotherapy. 

“Honor” is a word that comes up a lot in describing John McCain in his service to his country as a soldier and as a Senator. He served with honor. He behaved honorably.

It may be understandable that in this day and age, we might be skeptical of such descriptions. "Men of honor" under scrutiny are not always deserving of the title.

So John McCain: What was the deal with him anyway?

While mostly following conservative political ideas, McCain was not afraid to disagree with his own party. This led to his reputation as a "maverick".  

John McCain championed campaign finance reform, not exactly a favorite subject of the Republican party. His efforts resulted in the McCain–Feingold Act in 2002 which put limits on big money contributions and added transparency to the process.

In defiance of conservative hardliners, McCain worked in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

But he was also of the mindset that the first Iraq War was not fought to a successful conclusion, that we cut our efforts too short and should've gone on at that time to take down Saddam Hussein's regime. It was a view that I think was misguided in the sense that war accomplished the goal set forth by Pres. George H. W. Bush, to expel Iraq from Kuwait and that was that. Still, from McCain's experience with Vietnam where the war dragged on and cost too many lives as a result, I can see where he might have thought, better to act now while the US had the upper hand than have to come back later and do this all over again.

Unfortunately, it was a mindset shared by others when George W. Bush became President that led us into the misadventure of overthrowing Hussein. McCain maintained strong support for the 2nd Iraq War even as the worst scenarios played themselves out. 

John McCain entered the race for the Republican nomination for President in 2000. He got a lot of heat and attention for his blunt appeal; he called his campaign bus "the Straight Talk Express". But being himself didn't help as he lost ground during a heated primary season  to Governor George W. Bush of Texas. McCain was slammed with a smear campaign claiming  McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock (the McCains' dark-skinned daughter was adopted from Bangladesh), his wife Cindy was a drug addict and he was a homosexual. These scurrilous attacks even included accusations that McCain was a traitor or mentally unstable from his North Vietnam POW days.   

McCain made another go at running for President 8 years later, securing the Republican nomination in 2008. It was then that McCain began adopting more conservative stances and attitudes to get through the primary season; it was a change that would persist after Barack Obama won the general election, losing by a 365–173 electoral college margin.

One time in the lead up to the 2008 election, McCain was at a campaign event where a woman spoke up to voice her fears about Obama becoming President since he was "an Arab". McCain addressed the woman, saying that Obama was a good man and an American with whom he just happened to have disagreements with over policy. McCain's efforts to speak up for his opponent were met with boos. 

In the Senate, McCain largely opposed actions of the Obama administration regarding foreign policy matters. Usually McCain's issues with Obama resolved around the president's reluctance or recalcitrance in engaging in political hot spots where a stronger, more forceful American response was needed to reduce violence and save lives.

McCain was not beyond engaging in partisan hyperbole. For example, he  accused President Obama of being "directly responsible" for the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting "because when he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al-Qaeda went to Syria, became ISIS, and ISIS is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama's failures."

OK, I can see the dots connecting  Iraq to al-Qaeda to Syria to ISIS. But connecting it to the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting  and saying President Obama was directly responsible?  That sounds like shit Sean Hannity would crank out.

On the other hand,  during Barack Obama's presidency, McCain was one of the top five Republicans most likely to vote with Obama's position on significant votes; McCain voted with Obama's position on such votes more than half the time in 2013 and was "censured by the Arizona Republican party for a so-called 'liberal' voting record."

July 25, 2017, less than two weeks after brain surgery, John McCain cast a deciding vote allowing the Senate to begin consideration of bills to replace Obamacare. Along with that vote, he delivered a speech criticizing the party-line voting process used by the Republicans, as well as by the Democrats in passing Obamacare to begin with, and McCain also urged a "return to regular order" utilizing the usual committee hearings and deliberations. When the Republican leadership decided not to listen to him and tried to push through an Obamacare repeal/replace measure with out following due process, McCain cast the deciding vote to shut it down.

And that was John McCain. OK, that's not the whole story. But still it gives us something to think about. 

What ultimately defines a "man of honor"? If it's to say that such a man always and without fail acts with honor, we will be hard pressed to find one on this earth. It bears remembering that a man of honor is still a man.

But honor is an increasingly rare commodity it seems. 

Honor means thinking beyond our own needs and wants, in being dedicated to doing what's right. There is no special wisdom inherent that a person with honor is going to always make the right choice. But a person with honor will think with compassion for others before making that choice and will seek to atone for the wrong choices, something that I think defined John McCain.

Ultimately, John McCain for his gifts and his flaws, was just a man. But was he a man of honor? I think it was in his nature to try to be, to live a life of honor, to serve his country with honor. Certainly compared to the fecklessness of most of the Republican party, he endeavored to behave with honor. 

From Sen. John McCain's last interview with CNN's Jake Tapper 

Tapper asked: "How do you want the American people to remember you?"

McCain responded: "He served his country ... I hope, we could add, honorably."

McCain did not presume that to be remembered as an honorable man, he just hoped that maybe, we would.  

In a world where too many people do not even try to live a life of honor, just for trying, I think John McCain was a man of honor.  

Death Has Been Very Busy

Death has been very busy this past weekend. 

David Katz, a 24-year-old white male from Baltimore, MD opened fire with at least one handgun on Sunday at a video game competition in a downtown pizza joint in Jacksonville, FL, killing 2 people and wounding 9 others before he turned his gun on himself.

Another shooting in Jacksonville occurred Friday night after a football game, killing one person with 2 others injured. 

Insert standard  “thoughts and prayers” and move on.

On to deaths of a less violent nature. 

Neil Simon was maybe the most successful playwright of the 20^th century with his work and legacy still having impact into the 21^st.  He died Sunday morning in New York.  

Neil Simon got his start writing in television for Sid Ceasar, Phil Silvers and Garry Moore through the 1950s, working with such acclaimed comedy writers like Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart and Mel Brooks. 

From 1961 and onward, Simon wrote 32 plays. Simon was a powerful and ubiquitous presence on Broadway. In addition to those 32 plays, Neil Simon served as an uncredited script doctor for other plays.

Sadly, I’ve never seen a Neil Simon play performed live on stage but I have seen classic movies that Simon adapted from stage to screen: The Odd Couple, The Sunshine Boys and my favorite, Barefoot in the Park. Why is that one my favorite?

That's why.   

Robin Leach died this weekend at the age of 76. We’re probably a couple of decades beyond the peak of his fame but his show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, is still ripe for parody and pastiche. 

On Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Robin Leach would poke around the opulent mansions and penthouses of various celebrities, his British accented exclamations of awe and wonder at all the amazing gold plated stuff.  "Look at this toilet! Covered in gold!" The opulent richness on display was over the top as was Leach's commentary on it all which is what made the show fun to watch. 

He would sign off each episode with his signature catchphrase, "champagne wishes and caviar dreams."  

And of course, we lost John McCain this weekend. I’ll have a separate post on Sen. McCain later this week.  

Death, take five, OK? Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.  

Misstates Vs. Lies

Checking out what's going on in the news, I came across this headline: 

Trump Misstates Approval Rating in Latest Poll

Trump tweeted this Sunday night: 

"Over 90% approval rating for your all time favorite (I hope) President within the Republican Party and 52% overall. This despite all of the made up stories by the Fake News Media trying endlessly to make me look as bad and evil as possible. Look at the real villains please!"

Truth please? 

A poll released Sunday by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News has Trump with a 44% approval rating while 52% DISAPPROVED of Trump's job performance. 


The same poll did find that Trump has a 90 percent approval rating among Republicans, compared to a 10 percent approval rating from Democrats.

So let me correct that headline:  

Trump Lies About Approval Rating in Latest Poll

There! Fixed it.  

Pet Peeve: Restaurants

I couple of weeks ago, my wife Andrea, daughter Randie and I sat down for lunch at a steak restaurant where the music coming over the speakers was REALLY, REALLY LOUD!!!!!

Because it was a steak place, the songs were country music. I'm OK with country music. I don't listen to it as a matter of course but when exposed to it, I don't shrink and shrivel like a vampire exposed to sunlight.

I do object to any music that is REALLY, REALLY LOUD!!!!!  Especially when I'm trying to eat. 

 

On this particular day in this particular steak place, it seemed that every other song was a plaintive entreaty by a woman singer  PLEADING AND BEGGING to save the UNDYING LOVE for her man who is apparently COMPLETELY DEAF!!!

Or declaring her defiance that she will not be DESTROYED AND SHATTERED by the betrayal of her love by this cheating scoundrel who is also apparently COMPLETELY DEAF!!!

 

Meanwhile, the male singers proclaimed their UNDYING LOVE or their refusal to be DESTROYED AND SHATTERED by the betrayal of their love for women who are apparently standing VERY, VERY FAR AWAY OVER THERE SOMEWHERE  OVER ON THE OTHERSIDE OF A MAJOR  AIRPORT!!!

Or their declarations to DRINK AND BOOGY ALL NIGHT LONG AT THE HONKY TONK located  next to VERY LARGE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT!!!!  

 

OK, I’m not here to complain about the tropes of country music. The music could be in any genre to still prompt my complaint of the day:

WHY DOES MUSIC IN RESTAURANTS HAVE TO  BE SO DAMN LOUD?!?!

 

Last week, Randie and I met for lunch. With her out of school for the summer, it seems like a fun little diversion for us to meet up for lunch once a week or so. It seems like a grown up thing to do. Anyway, last week we has lunch at an Italian place and we were both struck how easy it was to hear each other. Randie didn’t want to talk for fear of being overheard by other diners which is not something we normally have to worry about. Given the loudness of the restaurants we go to, it’s a miracle we can overhear ourselves. In this case, however, it was very disconcerting to  be able to speak without having to shout over a cacophonic din. There was music playing  but it was definitely in the background. It was very relaxing, very conducive to civilized discussion and calm digestion.  Nothing gets my stomach in knots like eating in a loud environment. 

 

The thing is loud music blaring over speakers seems to be the norm in restaurants whether its fast food or sit down table service. I think the goal is to get the customers fed, then get ‘em out quickly to bring in the net herd of cattle to gaze. 

 

Another pet peeve regarding restaurants is the price of drinks. I’m not talking about specialty drinks or alcoholic beverages. No, I'm talking just plain tea, soda or lemonade.  Andrea and I had lunch together recently. The occasion for this lunch date was Andrea’s early extrication from jury duty. So we went out to lunch at this nice little bistro we like but don’t get to go to a lot. She had lemonade and I had iced tea (sweetened of course as mandated in the Bible). When I got the check, I noticed the price for our drinks were $3.29 each. $3.29 for tea and lemonade? Really? 

 

The thing is that I’ve run into this beverage inflation at other restaurants. A glass of tea that used to set me back maybe $1.50 is running a buck or so more than that now. What’s up with that?

 

In case you’re wondering, the music at the bistro was kind of loud but it had competition.  

 

Another restaurant pet peeve: other people who think they’re at home. You’re not at home; you’re in a public place with other people. Really, whatever the hell you’re laughing at can’t possibly be that funny. 

 

Between loud music, overpriced tea and obnoxious people, why do I even eat out?

 

I really don’t like to cook. 

Doctor Who: The Write Direction

Hi there! Time for a Doctor Who post! And we have some news about Series 11.

Sorry, no. No air date. 

You know, this is getting a bit silly. Every day, there are several posts on Twitter reminding me Doctor Who is coming Fall 2018!

Please stop telling us that! WHEN in Fall 2018? That's what we want to know!  

I've never seen so many Whovians anxious about not getting a date since high school. 

Anyway, news from Doctor Who when....

No! No air date!

News from Doctor Who when Chris Chiball revealed the writers and directors contributing to the upcoming season.

Here's what the Chibster said about that: 

"We have a team of writers who’ve been working quietly and secretly for a long time now, crafting characters, worlds and stories to excite and move you. A set of directors who stood those scripts up on their feet, bringing those ideas, visuals and emotions into existence with bravura and fun.

“Hailing from a range of backgrounds, tastes and styles, here’s what unites them: they are awesome people as well as brilliant at their job. (It matters!) They love Doctor Who. And they’ve all worked above and beyond the call of duty in an effort to bring audiences something special, later this year.”

OK, I think that's the most Chris Chibnall has said about anything since taking over Doctor Who.  

Here are your Doctor Who writers for Series 11!  

• Ed Hime (Skins)
• Vinay Patel (Murdered By My Father)
• Pete McTighe (Wentworth)
• Joy Wilkinson (The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby).
• Malorie Blackman, children’s author 

And here are your Doctor Who directors for Series 11!  

• Jamie Childs, who directed the Jodie Whittaker’s reveal as the Thirteenth Doctor
• Sallie Aprahamian
• Jennifer Perrott
• Mark Tonderai whose directing credits include episodes of Lucifer, Gotham and Black Lightning as well as the film The House at the End of the Street starring Jennifer Lawrence.

An impressive list reflecting considerable diversity with more women and people of color who have varied experience beyond just creating sci-fi genre television. It looks like Doctor Who will have a uniquely different sound and look when the show airs....

Sigh. 

In Fall 2018. 

_______________________________ 

But what exactly will be the nature of that difference. This comment from a BBC person kind of worries me. 

Now I don't know if this a comment on the difference from ALL of Jodie Whitaker's predecessors or just the immediate ones. 

I have been an enthusiastic supporter of Steven Moffat's tenure as producer and head writer of Doctor Who. But Moffat did sometimes lean a bit away from science fiction and more into science fantasy.  And Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi, as beloved Doctors as they were, could veer off into more manic personas  more often than say David Tennant and those that came before him. 

If Doctor Who under Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker is going to be more grounded as it was under Russell T Davies, I think that would be a good sort of change. 

But the Doctor has to retain some sense of "daffiness and idiosyncrasy". The Doctor is thinking faster than you and differently than you and that means that the Doctor can't help being at least a little weird.   

Jodie's Doctor deserves a chance to be weird. We need to hold on to a little bit of daffiness and idiosyncrasy. Otherwise, the Doctor is just generic adventure person.  

_______________________________

Pet peeve time: Looking around for news on Doctor Who< i check a variety of sources to see what's new. 

No. No air date.  

Anyway, I came across a story on a website written by a person who I presume was paid money who wrote this little nugget of info: 

Doctor Who... began broadcasting on BBC America in 2005

When Doctor Who was revived on the BBC in 2005, the show was broadcast in America on the SyFy Channel.  American broadcasts moved to BBC America in 2009 with "Planet of the Dead".  

I hate to sound like a nerdy fan boy but Doctor Who began broadcasting on BBC America in 2009.   

Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. 

Anyway, until next time, remember to be good to one another. And maybe soon, we can get some more Doctor Who news like....

Yes. An air date.