11/19/13

I've tried to start this rant a couple times so far but have been in such a shitty mood that it just didn’t happen.  I'm going to fight through it because… well, just because.  So, apparently the British television show “Dr. Why” is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this Saturday.  I've been trying to finger out what the draw is about that show for over thirty years now… I just don’t get it.  [As an aside, I do know that the show is called “Doctor Who” and that it is an affront to abbreviate it… which is precisely why I do it!  The changing of “Who” to “Why” just seems funny to me.]  Anyhoo, this Saturday there is to be a global broadcast premier of the latest “Epic Tale” in the “story line” which John’s family will, no doubt, be watching as they are massive “Who-ters” or whatever fans of the show are called.  Now, I'm not sure if that is the reason, but he’s not going to be able to come to the shop Saturday.  Of course that works out pretty well for me actually, since Dick Brink has announced that there will be a track day at the Motorsport Ranch Saturday morning.  I'm not sure if I'm going to bundle up and take The Seven down there or if I'm going to go in Fiona.  It is supposed to be butt-assed butt-butt cold Saturday with a chance of rain… and I still haven’t replaced/recharged the battery in The Seven.  I don’t know, we’ll see.  But back to “Dr. Meh,” BBC America is showing “Dr. Feh” related stuff all week in preparation for this “Big Event” show.  Last night there was some fey little man talking about general physics stuff for an hour with little vignettes of him talking to the latest actor playing the title role of the Dr.  It was called something ludicrous like “The Science of ‘Doctor Who.’”  At the end I was sitting there going, “Yeah, I already knew all that.”  Ok, I didn’t know that Clerk-Maxwell calculated the speed of light while working out the electromagnetic force theory… but the rest I'd at least been exposed to at some point.  All I'm saying is it was a bit of “weak sauce” couching a physics 101 overview lecture as “The Science of ‘Doctor Who.’”  I was expecting a technobabble “explanation” of how the fictional stuff worked… that’s all.  Tonight they have a “behind the scenes” movie about getting the show started fifty years ago.  The actor playing the actor playing the Doctor is an amazing likeness!  I believe it is the same mumbling old man character actor who was the farmer with the sea-mine in “Hot Fuzz.”  I like him.  I'll probably watch that as well.  See, I really am trying to get what this is all about.  I'm just not seeing it yet.  I think my biggest problem with “Dr. Duh” is how every series’ companion is “The Most Important Person in the Universe!” around whom every bit of space-time orbits… until such time as they get written into a corner and off the show.  Then the next “Most Important Person in the Universe!” is written in.  And don’t even get me started on those retarded-ass Daleks!  Just how many times can they be eradicated from the universe, by the same guy incidentally, and come back.  They aren’t scary.  They aren’t threatening.  They aren’t… well, they just aren’t ANYTHING!  And that stupid voice… ugh!  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Cybermen, ok.  Those bullet-head cloned warrior guys, sure.  Those are good baddies.  Oh, then there are the Weeping Angels!  They were scary as hell in the episode when they were introduced but, now that I think about them, they have gotten almost as ridiculous as those ill-tempered wheelie bins, the Daleks.  Nope, I just don’t see what the fuss is all about with this show.  Apparently there was a spinoff show aimed more at adult audiences… but I never gave it a chance.  It might have been good, but I'll never know.  Well, as it is now 1615 h, I think I'm going to call it a rant and go ride around with Larry for the next half hour.  Have a day.