Archive for April 12, 2009

Dr. Who Planet of the dead: My Review

Posted: April 12, 2009 by datechguy in doctor who
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Planet of the dead was a pleasant combination of comedy, drama and out of space adventure which had all the elements that makes Doctor Who fun. A familiar face, a dashing new character, comic relief and a big moral choice by the last character you would expect to have to make it.

The doctor finds himself on a bus with an assorted group of humans (shades of the God Awful episode Midnight) but lucky for us the similarities end there.

However the action begins with a robbery and the escaping thief getting on the bus before him with the police in pursuit. Luckily or unlucky for the thief the bus ends up through a wormhole and presto we are on a desert planet.

And if the potential of starvation or lack of water isn’t enough lets add a group of alien parasites ready to eat them.

And of course you get a voice menu system when you call unit.

David Tennant is his normal brilliant self, Michelle Ryan goes the excellent job as the Lady Christina. The rest of the cast is brilliant too but the real star of the show doesn’t appear till about half way in. Lee Evans as Dr. Malcolm Taylor who absolutely steals the show.

This show was a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see it on a proper TV set but in the US they tend to cut these shows a bit. So I’d watch it on the BBC site or if you can’t get the proxy server working try here.

Arthur Carter Watch Sans Arthur Pirate edition UPDATE Arthur Returns!

Posted: April 12, 2009 by datechguy in arthur vs carter
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It’s not possible to have a proper Arthur Carter watch when you can actually watch the president be Carter in this pirate episode.

I woke up on the couch (fell asleep during the ten commandments) and actually saw someone saying we can’t stop this until we address root causes. I had to shut the TV off.

UPDATE: That’s more like it!

As you might have noted above I didn’t give the president any Carter points so there are none to remove. Kudos to the USS Bainbridge and it’s crew, they are worthy of their ships namesake who was once imprisoned by pirates himself after being captured.

In fairness if the president was given blame for the dithering then he also gains credit for the successful operation.

Update 2 Apparently the credit goes to the captain who again got overboard and this time the navy didn’t wait and took out the pirates. So it looks like the Captain Phillips acted while Obama dithered, he is still C in C so he still gets credit for the Navy’s successful finishing off of the pirates.

Update 3: 3:24 p.m. Unbelievable MSNBC is complaining that now the pirates will become more violent. They are bringing up Black Hawk Down, does anyone remember that casualty wise we killed and wounded the enemy more than 15 to 1. The anchor woman calls it great news but the reporter on the phone is all doom and gloom, what if we hurt people they will get angry. My God where do they find these idiots!

Update 4 Jim Miklaszewski of NBC news describes the captain as jumping off the boat to “save his own skin” and says it with in my opinion a derogatory tone (this is a bad thing?). I guess my eyes weren’t deceiving me before, the Captain Phillips being a class act gives all the credit to the USN. I’ll stick with it to see if the tone changes.

Update 5: Apparently the navy attached a towline to keep the lifeboat from drifting to the shore. His repeat of the story doesn’t mention the captain jumping in the water this time, as this is all early all reporting should be considered as preliminary. No nasty tone the 2nd time the story is told.

Update 6: Talk left regrets that loss of life was necessary. Jeralyn’s commentators however are sad for the death of the pirates a great example:

An Example had to be made, or so they say, the glee I’m hearing at the news of the retribution is most unsavory.

I’m not gonna judge until I’ve lived in Somalia, watching all that money float past day after day after day.

Apparently the pirates are the victims.

Update 7: 3:55 p.m. MSNBC claims that president Obama gave the order for force to be used. It’s unclear if she means using the navy, allowing the use of the towline or the actual shooting of the pirates.

Update 8 4:03 p.m. MSNBC continues the anchor suggests the navy shot the pirates as a last resort. TalkLeft will be pleased. Don Surber is pleased too, but due to the combination of a free captain and dead pirates. They are again saying the president approved a rescue attempt, I’m wondering if they gave the approval if an opening to save him come up to jump at it. That would make a lot of sense. Tigerhawk and instapundit are happy too. 4:07 pm. The Anchor just described the pirate in custody as being “taken hostage”!

Update 8: At the press conference NPR’s reporter seems to be trying to find out why we thought the captain was in danger, what was different today from yesterday, after all yesterday he was only being held by armed pirates for ransom. That apparently according to NPR doesn’t constitute having your life in danger.

Update 9: Jim Miklaszewski asks my question concerning standing orders they confirm that it was a general ok to go after things rather than a step by step approval however that was ONLY if he was in imminent danger, good move by the president on that. He is asking pretty good questions taking advantage of the spare press available since most are likely enjoying their Easter Holiday. He presses on the imminent danger business, if I am hearing things right the Captain of the Bainbridge got to decide the definition of imminent danger.

Update 10: NPR confirms that the shots that killed the pirate came directly from the Bainbridge, but can’t confirm if the Captain jumped into the water or just distanced himself enough from the pirates to allow the sharpshooters to finish them off. The shot was apparently made from about 25-30 meters a pretty close shot for snipers in my opinion.

Update 11: Updated the title, NPR is now trying to get the difference between negotiating with pirates and negotiating with terrorists. The captain was tied up inside the lifeboat that suggests that he didn’t jump overboard but that isn’t confirmed yet.

Update 12: RedState says that the president was saved by the Captain’s plunge (assuming it took place). If not then I presume he would have in their mind been saved by the Captain of the Bainbridge, I still maintain that he deserves credit for giving them the green light to act.

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