Science fiction/fantasy
oracknows | December 13, 2008The Hitler Zombie definitely approves of this movie:
Too bad I don't speak German or Norwegian, because here's the movie website, and here's another trailer sans subtitles:
I wonder if I can take some stills from this trailer to use the next time I feel "inspired" (at least I like to call it that) to pen yet another Hitler Zombie epic.
oracknows | December 6, 2008Ever wonder who'd win in a war of Trek vs. the Empire?
Well now you know!
oracknows | November 20, 2008
PROLOGUE
LOCATION: The Liberator, cruising through space.
GAN: Are you sure it's fully switched on?
ORAC: Of course I'm properly switched on. Having depressed the activator button what else would you expect?
CALLY: It's his voice.
BLAKE: It's exactly as though Ensor were speaking.
ORAC: Surely it is obvious even to the meanest intelligence that during my development I would naturally become endowed with aspects of my creator's personality.
AVON: The more endearing aspects by the sound of it.
ORAC: Possibly. However similarities between myself and Ensor are entirely superficial. My mental…
oracknows | October 26, 2008I don't recall where I saw this, but I've been meaning to post it. What better time than a not-so-lazy Sunday, when I have to work on a talk, paper, and other things? (It's either this, or no blog for you on Monday; I think you know which you'd prefer.)
For those of you not familiar with Captain Jack, the reason he keeps getting up after being shot is that he can't be killed (the reasons would take too long to explain). I particularly like the Davros costume, I must admit.
oracknows | August 24, 2008Those who are Battlestar Galactica fans, as I am, know that the disparaging slang humans in the Colonial fleet use for their dreaded enemies the Cylons is to call them "toasters."
The question then naturally follows: Sure, Cylons are toasters, but can they actually make toast?
It turns out that they can.
oracknows | August 17, 2008After seeing some Doctor Who silliness yesterday, I also came across this great tribute to 45 years of Doctor Who. Since it's a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and I'm again too lazy to post anything substantive until Monday, here we go again. It's every Who story compressed into less than 8 minutes. Truly, a tour de force for surveying the evolution of the show.
oracknows | August 16, 2008Why? Because I love Doctor Who and Benny Hill (although I was never much of an Eminem fan) and because it's funny, that's why. Besides, it's a beautiful Saturday, and I'm feeling too lazy to post anything substantive this morning. That's all the reason I need.
oracknows | June 30, 2008I realize my post earlier today was a bit of a downer, but what can I say? Lately, there doesn't seem to be much good news on the ever-growing front in the war against quackery. However, in researching that piece I did come across something that made me smile. I found the campaign website for what to me appears to be the perfect embodiment of politics these days, for a leader who represents an exact fit with the mood of the times:
Locutus for President
You will be assimilated!
oracknows | June 27, 2008...or maybe Sunday morning, as I don't know how long it will take to get this by BitTorrent, the penultimate episode of series 4 of Doctor Who (if you're a Doctor Who fan and haven't seen the last couple of episodes before this Saturday's episode The Stolen Earth, beware the spoilers--don't start the videos if you want to remain pure):
This looks like a Who fanboy's dream. Of course, even though new Doctor Who episodes make it to the U.S. to air on the SciFi Channel only around three or four weeks after they air in the U.K., this fanboy can't wait that long, especially after seeing this…
oracknows | June 3, 2008Tired of hearing me rant about antivaccinationists? Actually, I'm a bit tired of ranting about antivaccinationists myself, but a blogger's got to do what a blogger's got to do when an event like Jenny McCarthy's "Green Our Vaccines" rally pops up. Still, that doesn't mean I can't take a break and indulge myself for a moment. Apparently I missed it last week when it appeared, but a mid-season trailer for Doctor Who has been posted, and it looks really promising for a rip-roaring send-off to this season. I haven't yet managed to watch last Saturday's episode yet because of my sojourn to ASCO,…
oracknows | May 31, 2008Ever since it appeared as an "adult" spinoff of Doctor Who, I've had a love-hate relationship with Torchwood. The first season was about as uneven as anything I've ever seen, ranging from a truly execrable (and, even worse, unforgivably stupidly and badly written) "homage" to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Countrycide) that ranks among the worst hours of television to which I've ever subjected myself to a handful of pretty darned good episodes (Out of Time, Captain Jack Harkness), with a whole lot of mediocre episodes in between. This season was generally more consistent, but a lot of problems…
oracknows | May 13, 2008...which Presidential candidate would make the best companion for which Doctor.
I have to agree with Phil, though, in that McCain is probably too old. In the show, the Doctor's companions are nearly always younger-appearing than the Doctor. McCain looks way older than the Doctor--and I'm talking about the Doctor's real age.
oracknows | April 27, 2008You didn't think I wouldn't take notice of this bit of news, did you? Even if I had, I would have had little choice, as readers deluged me with various news reports about this.
Yes, it would appear that there might very well be a new Blakes 7 series. Of course, I'll believe it when I see it. Only two scripts have been ordered, and there isn't even a cast and crew assembled yet. There have been attempts to resurrect this series before, and they have all fallen through. We'll see.
I suspect that most of my non-U.K. readers have no clue where the inspiration for the name of this blog or the…
oracknows | March 7, 2008Sometimes my readers save my butt.
There I was earlier this week, looking through my Folder of Woo, as is my wont, and oddly enough nothing much was floating my boat. I know, I know, I've started this little weekly exercise before lamenting a lack of enthusiasm for the woo of which I am aware. Then as before then, I briefly wondered whether perhaps I had exhausted all the interesting woo. That seemed highly unlikely, given that I've only been at this about 20 months or so. After all, the woo supply is seemingly inexhaustible, and if I ever got tired of medical woo, there are so many other…
oracknows | January 13, 2008...at Elijah Wood's elaborating on plans to adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit to the big screen in not one but two movies. I don't know if he knows what he's talking about or not, even if he is buddies with Peter Jackson, but the plans sound at the same time intriguing and worrisome.
I do have to say that I'm rather skeptical of doing two films. If reports are correct, then there will be one film that covers the entire plot of The Hobbit released in 2010, and then there will be a second film that will take place sometime during the 60 years between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the…
oracknows | January 6, 2008Charlie Anders seeks to answer that very question:
(Click on the graph above to go to the full size original graph, which graphs the frequency of stories per season in which the Doctor is portrayed as overthrowing the government or the status quo or foments a rebellion.)
Although the arch-conservatism of the John Pertwee-era Doctor (which continued into the early part of the Tom Baker-era Doctor) is not that surprising (at the time the Doctor did work for the quasi-military U.N.I.T. as its science advisor, after all), who'd have thought that the Sylvester McCoy would be the Che Guevara of…
oracknows | December 31, 2007Given the way that he's so successfully resurrected Doctor Who, I had come to believe that Russell T. Davies could do no wrong. I guess I was wrong:
The Daily Post is reporting that comments made by Executive Producer Russell T. Davies at the preview screening of Voyage of the Damned have caused quite a stir.
When asked who from history he would like to see play the Doctor, Davies reportedly jokingly answered "Hitler. He was stern and strong. He would be great."
According to the story, some guests laughed, but others were shocked by the remark.
One fan later remarked: "Hitler carried out some…
oracknows | December 30, 2007If you think spending the holidays with your family is stressful, imagine what it might be like for the Doctor:
By the way, I've managed to check out the Doctor Who Christmas Special. By and large it's pretty good; maybe I'll post a review sometime in the next few days, while I'm taking it fairly easy for the holidays and not posting as much scientific and medical content as usual...
(Hat tip: Stupid Evil Bastard.)
oracknows | October 31, 2007...we need a little something as night approaches.
I know just the thing: Brain-eating zombies.
Given that this is the blog that conceived of the misbegotten literary (if you can call it that) device known as the Hitler Zombie, how could I not post a clip involving an actual cinematic brain-eating zombie on Halloween? (Warning: In the interest of full disclosure, this clip contains a brief and pretty well obscured topless shot and a couple of uses of the F-word.)
Intelligent talking zombies who understand how to use pulleys. Now that's scary! Yes, this was a clip from one of my favorite…
oracknows | October 20, 2007I can't say I saw this one coming, but it turns out that Albus Dumbledore is gay:
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has revealed that one of her characters, Hogwarts school headmaster Albus Dumbledore, is gay.
She made her revelation to a packed house in New York's Carnegie Hall on Friday, as part of her US book tour.
She took audience questions and was asked if Dumbledore found "true love".
"Dumbledore is gay," she said, adding he was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, who he beat in a battle between good and bad wizards long ago.
The audience gasped, then applauded. "I would have told you…