I probably took photographs of myself earlier than these, but these are the oldest I have, from June 6, 1999. They are also the first selfies I took with my own camera. It was a high quality film SLR that my parents bought me as a high school graduation present; I used it for almost 10 years before switching to full digital.
After the very bad news, I want to remember that I have many things to be grateful for.
One of them is the DreamWorks Dragons franchise.
I was a bit late to discovering it. I knew the first movie (How to Train Your Dragon) existed from a church children’s event, but I only caught bits and pieces of it there. When I finally watched it for myself, it became one of my favorite movies. The animation, acting, and story are all beautiful. Toothless is a given a remarkable range of expression and emotion for a creature who cannot speak. The human hero is a skinny boy who is an explorer at heart; no prizes for guessing why that resonates with me.
I’m not sure why I didn’t see the sequel (How To Train Your Dragon 2) when it was released in 2014. When I finally watched it last August, I realized I had missed a lot. It might be an even better film than the first, and it has the best marriage of score (especially “Where No One Goes”) and visuals I have seen since Star Wars!
Around the same time, I learned that a TV series, set between the first two movies, existed. I am currently partway through the seventh of 8 seasons. Of course, the animation quality and number of characters is smaller due to the lower budget, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. They put more personality into an animated chicken than I have seen some live-action actors put into their characters!
The best thing about the series (or any such series if it is done well) is the opportunity to take time to get to know the characters well. In a movie, the supporting cast by necessity just doesn’t have that much screen time. In a series, a whole episode can focus on Ruff and Tuff going bonkers for 20 minutes, and it works hilariously.
We also get fine drama, adventure, and a deep sense for how much these people and dragons care about each other. Some of the finest moments and stories actually come from characters that don’t appear in either of the movies. The most emotionally moving moments actually had me tearing up. Quite impressive for a “children’s show.”
Like any work of art, the movies and the series have their imperfections, but the are still great art.
The third movie (How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World), which will conclude the entire franchise, is now in theaters. I plan to see it when it comes to the Elks Theatre, our local second-run theater with a great atmosphere. I know this doesn’t make much sense to say about fictional characters, but I will miss them.
In case anyone reads this blog and not my Facebook feed.
From the president of the University: “I regret to inform you that your request for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor has not been recommended for approval by the University Promotion and Tenure Committee at this time. I intend to support the committee recommendation.”
In practice, this means that I will be able to finish this academic year and be offered a contract for next year. After that, I need to find another job and most likely, another career.
If I keep my hair long, I know who I will cosplay when it turns grey!
As a lifelong science fiction fan, I took a surprisingly long time to start watching Doctor Who. I finally started in August 2017, in part because most of the classic episodes are airing on our local RetroTV affiliate, and I can record them on my home-built PVR. I want to share how I am watching the classic part of the series. This post will just address the First and Second Doctors.
The classic series aired from 1963 to 1989, consisting of multi-episode “serials,” before being revived by a TV move in 1996 and a full-fledged continuation of the series in 2005 that is still running.
I started with the very first episode, “An Unearthly Child,” which is the first episode in a serial sometimes known as 100,000 BC, and am now partway through the Second Doctor’s tenure, currently watching The Wheel in Space. Most of the classic series airs on RetroTV, but several stories do not for one of two reasons. I discuss them below and how I have or will see them anyway.
I am currently partway through the Second Doctor’s tenure; he has suffered the most from the BBC wiping. I am currently watching The Wheel in Space.
The table below lists all the serials featuring the First and Second Doctors. If you are trying to watch all of Classic Doctor Who yourself, you can follow this list. The entries in the “How” column correspond to the codes in square brackets above.
In acse you doing receive Retro TV, I think Britbox has all of the episodes listed below as PVR and NL.
| Number | Title | How |
| 1.01 | An Unearthly Child | PVR |
| 1.02 | The Daleks | PVR |
| 1.03 | The Edge of Destruction / Inside the Spaceship | PVR |
| 1.04 | Marco Polo | LC |
| 1.05 | The Keys of Marinus | PVR |
| 1.06 | The Aztecs | PVR |
| 1.07 | The Sensorites | PVR |
| 1.08 | The Reign of Terror | BBC |
| 2.01 | Planet of Giants | PVR |
| 2.02 | The Dalek Invasion of Earth | BBC (NL) |
| 2.03 | The Rescue | PVR |
| 2.04 | The Romans | PVR |
| 2.05 | The Web Planet | PVR |
| 2.06 | The Crusade | LIT:H + LC |
| 2.07 | The Space Museum | BBC (NL) |
| 2.08 | The Chase | PVR |
| 2.09 | The Time Meddler | PVR |
| 3.01 | Galaxy 4 | LIT:H + LC |
| 3.02 | “Mission to the Unknown” | LC or Animation |
| 3.03 | The Myth Makers | LC |
| 3.04 | The Daleks’ Master Plan | LIT:H + LC |
| 3.05 | The Massacre of St Bartholemew’s Eve | LC |
| 3.06 | The Ark | PVR |
| 3.07 | The Celestial Toymaker | LIT:H + LC |
| 3.08 | The Gunfighters | PVR |
| 3.09 | The Savages | LC |
| 3.10 | The War Machines | PVR |
| 4.01 | The Smugglers | LC |
| 4.02 | The Tenth Planet | BBC |
| 4.03 | The Power of the Daleks | LC |
| 4.04 | The Highlanders | LC |
| 4.05 | The Underwater Menace | BBC |
| 4.06 | The Moonbase | LIT:T1 + LC |
| 4.07 | The Macra Terror | LC |
| 4.08 | The Faceless Ones | LIT:T1 + LC |
| 4.09 | The Evil of the Daleks | LIT:T1 + LC |
| 5.01 | The Tomb of the Cybermen | PVR |
| 5.02 | The Abominable Snowmen | LIT:T2 + LC |
| 5.03 | The Ice Warriors | LIT:T2 + LC |
| 5.04 | The Enemy of the World | BBC (NL) |
| 5.05 | The Web of Fear | BBC |
| 5.06 | Fury from the Deep | LC |
| 5.07 | The Wheel in Space | LIT:T2 + LC |
| 6.01 | The Dominators | PVR |
| 6.02 | The Mind Robber | PVR |
| 6.03 | The Invasion | BBC |
| 6.04 | The Krotons | PVR |
| 6.05 | The Seeds of Death | PVR |
| 6.06 | The Space Pirates | LIT:T2 + LC |
| 6.07 | The War Games | PVR |
This was taken with my Moto e4 camera through 30 mm eyepiece on a Bausch & Lomb Criterion 4000 4″ telescope at a star party hosted by the Black Hills Astronomical Society. I was testing a small telescope donated to the Physics department, and it performed much better than I expected!
Dr. Stephen Sekula Bob on Books Jackie Lea Sommers Altered Faces Politifact
