It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!

INTERIOR: MOS EISLEY SPACEPORT -- DOCKING BAY 94

Chewbacca leads the group into a giant dirt pit that is Docking Bay 94. Resting in the middle of the huge hole is a large, round, beat-up, pieced-together hunk of junk that could only loosely be called a starship.

LUKE: What a piece of junk.

Script for Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (4th draft)

My job sometimes makes me privy to information that doesn't reach the general population.  As an example, I suspect that most people weren't aware that the Port of Metro Vancouver was playing host to a certain Corellian freighter this week.  Yes, the Millennium Falcon is in town, which to me means that there's bound to be some sort of trouble.

So, a word to the wise:  if you're in any of the local cantinas over the next few days, keep an cautious eye open for bearded old men with lightsabres, eight foot tall first mates covered entirely in hair, or groups of Imperial stormtroopers looking for droids.  And if you see any bounty hunters?  Shoot first.

- Sid

I bet Amy Pond says that all the time.

"Doctor Who has been played by eleven people - kind of like Cher."

Craig Ferguson, The Late Late Show

Today we celebrate the 47th anniversary of Doctor Who, science fiction fandom's answer to Coronation Street - at least in terms of longevity* if not marital infidelity and pints of lager.  Admittedly, we don't celebrate it hugely, I think that Doctor Who's 50th anniversary in 2013 will garner much more attention, but a birthday's a birthday and deserves some recognition.

For a program whose early attempts at propmaking seemed to rely heavily on cardboard and tape, the long term success of Doctor Who is a testament to the strength of the basic concept of the series, and to the excellent work done with that concept by literally generations of writers, and the various actors who have manned the controls of the TARDIS over the years.

As far as I could tell, the November 16th appearance by current TARDIS pilot Matt Smith on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show had no connection with the anniversary, or at least no mention was made of it.  However, given Ferguson's cheerful indifference to any sort of organized interview structure, it's difficult to say for certain.

Astonishingly, Smith seems to dress for real life very much like his TV alter ego, and the dancing horse and harmonica playing were certainly unexpected.  But in my opinion, the high point (for want of a better description) of the show was when Ferguson asked Smith if being the Doctor had led to greater success with the opposite sex. Fellow guest and apparent Whovian Chris Hardwick chipped in with the unexpected falsetto comment:

"Oooh, you're the Doctor - hey, I'm bigger on the inside..."

- Sid

P.S. The Simpsons-themed Doctors are from Springfield Punx, a web site which showcases the work of fellow Canadian Dean Fraser.

* In the interests of accuracy, I have to admit that Coronation Street will commence its 50th year of broadcast on December 9th, giving it a clear lead in the age competition, and it didn't have a six-year hiatus, either.

And now for something completely different...

Okay, sorry, just playing about on a Sunday afternoon instead of vacuuming.

If anyone else feels a desire to make their own little animated movies based on typed-in dialogue, this piece was produced at Xtranormal.com.  More elaborate characters and backgrounds have a fee attached, but as you can see it's possible to create something using the basic default characters, backgrounds, sound effects and transitions.  (Although I did have some difficulty teaching the bloody robot how to pronounce "McLuhan".)

- Sid