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.
This is the first (or at least the oldest surviving) digital photograph I ever took. My new cell phone had a camera, and I used it to take this picture of my previous phone and the manual for the new one. Thus, on Aug. 2, 2006 at 2:48 pm (Pacific Time), I began my journey of beautiful (and award-winning) digital photography.
This is the last photograph I ever took on film. It shows a statue of Herman B Wells on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. It was part a set I took to finish off a roll of film (remember when we had to do that) in April or early May of 2009.
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 100,000BC, 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.
The serial is a partial or complete victim of BBC wiping.
[LC] Ten serials have no complete episodes and are reconstructed by a group called Loose Cannon, using audio recordings (which exist for all serials) and any existing photographs or clips. I only discovered these reconstructions after I had started watching the series, so I have not yet gone back and watched the first two. You can find the reconstructions at the links below.
[BBC] Five serials are partially missing (some episodes survive) and have an official reconstruction from the BBC, sometimes including animated reconstructions of the missing episodes. I rent these through Netflix DVD. Yes, Netflix still rents DVDs! Note that some of these also have Loose Cannon reconstructions. I only discovered these reconstructions after I had started watching the series, so I have not yet gone back and watched the first one.
11 serials are partially missing and do not have official reconstructions. The the surviving episodes are available on three Lost in Time DVDs; I am watching the surviving episodes on the DVDs and the missing episodes via the Loose Cannon reconstructions.
Lost in Time: The William Hartnell Years (Netflix DVD) [LIT:H]
[NL] Three serials from the first two Doctors are for some reason not licensed for Retro TV. Most of these are also available on Netflix DVD. I think that all of these plus the episodes airing on RetroTV are available online through Britbox or the Britbox Amazon channel.
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.
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!