Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Desktop of the Week - Rise of SkywalkerLast night during halftime of a dreadful Monday Night Football game, the final trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released. It premiered there on ESPN, but was quickly available on YouTube. The trailer does make me excited to see the film. I have no idea how deceptive the trailer. Shortly thereafter the new theatrical poster was released and today I chose that for my wallpaper.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Desktop for a while - Star Trek: DiscoveryOn Amazon Prime day in July, I bought the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. We then started watching it, taking in the first part of the season, taking a break and then the second part of the season. I enjoyed it a lot. There were quite a few surprises, though many of them were foreshadowed during the season. I've heard that the second season is even better. That comes out on Blu-ray in November. The image I selected for my wallpaper is on the Blu-Ray box and can be found many places, including here.
I have not yet signed up for CBS: All Access. When it was first offered I didn't have a way to see it on my TV. I think I may be able to do so now through our Amazon Firestick, but the current situation is that we still have way more material on our DVR to watch before even going to streaming sources.
Monday, August 05, 2019
Desktop for a while - Stranger ThingsI've had this image on my desktop for a number of weeks, since I finished watched the third season of Stranger Things in early July.
First off, back on June 15 it was Stranger Things night with the Bowie Baysox. The player images were in the "upside down" and Cara Buono, who plays Mrs. Wheeler was at the park getting photos with fans and signing items. Below is the game program she signed for me. My photo album is here. It was a nice event and the Baysox won the game 9-4.
The season premiered July 4 and I started watching it that night with the first episode. I watched the second episode on July 6, the third episode on July 7, the 4th episode July 8. On July 9 I watched episode 5 in the morning, episode 6 after dinner and then in between watching some of the All-Star Game, watched episode 7. Things were really picking up. I watched most of the finale the morning of July 10 up to the logical stopping point. Then I watched the rest, which was a coda on the series that evening.It was another good season with lots of excitement, twists and turns. All 3 seasons have been very entertaining and I am looking forward to seeing where they go from here.
Monday, April 29, 2019
Desktop of quite some time - Avengers: Endgame
For the past few weeks I've been using this Avengers: Endgame poster as my desktop wallpaper. This is the original version of the poster. It left out Danai Gurira's name from the top of the poster even though her character is featured on the poster. Some people were upset about this and Marvel changed the poster.
I saw the movie on Friday as part of opening weekend. I had made a joke that an article about the poster controversy which stated that she was a major character was a spoiler revealing that she was a "major character" in Endgame. It turns out that her character plays a minuscule part in the movie. Smaller than any of the other characters in the poster. So, it wasn't a spoiler, it was deceptive. She wasn't a major character in the movie. (And no, I don't consider this a spoiler.)
The movie was great and it did great business. The domestic weekend estimate was some $350M while the global estimate was $1.2M. The movie is a culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. Here is page with some of the box office statistics from Marvel.
I've enjoyed discussing the movie in the spoilers thread over at the Home Theater Forum.
For the past few weeks I've been using this Avengers: Endgame poster as my desktop wallpaper. This is the original version of the poster. It left out Danai Gurira's name from the top of the poster even though her character is featured on the poster. Some people were upset about this and Marvel changed the poster.
I saw the movie on Friday as part of opening weekend. I had made a joke that an article about the poster controversy which stated that she was a major character was a spoiler revealing that she was a "major character" in Endgame. It turns out that her character plays a minuscule part in the movie. Smaller than any of the other characters in the poster. So, it wasn't a spoiler, it was deceptive. She wasn't a major character in the movie. (And no, I don't consider this a spoiler.)
The movie was great and it did great business. The domestic weekend estimate was some $350M while the global estimate was $1.2M. The movie is a culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. Here is page with some of the box office statistics from Marvel.
I've enjoyed discussing the movie in the spoilers thread over at the Home Theater Forum.
Labels: desktop
Monday, February 04, 2019
Desktop of the Week - Ed ReedThis week's desktop is the Ravens' congratulations of Ed Reed being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year (his first year of eligibility). This was posted on their Facebook page. Ed Reed is one of the Ravens' great past defensemen. I received his jersey from Alan for my birthday last year.
Monday, January 28, 2019
This week I selected the Orioles' congratulations to Mike Mussina of being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mike Mussina was one of the Orioles' best pictures and pitched for the Orioles from 1991-2000. He could always be counted on for a good game. He was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2012.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Desktop of the Week - HHGTG Montage
This week I am using an image from the archived BBC4 radio page for HHGTG from 2005 of a montage of some of the people from the TV and radio series - in some cases multiple versions of them. You can find it on the BBC4 HHGTG wallpaper page here.
I am currently watching the bonus features of the new Blu-Ray edition of the TV show. Some of the bonus features include behind scenes videos and promos for the additional radio series, which were based on the later books. I have all of the radio series in one form or another and plan to listen to them again later this year.
This week I am using an image from the archived BBC4 radio page for HHGTG from 2005 of a montage of some of the people from the TV and radio series - in some cases multiple versions of them. You can find it on the BBC4 HHGTG wallpaper page here.
I am currently watching the bonus features of the new Blu-Ray edition of the TV show. Some of the bonus features include behind scenes videos and promos for the additional radio series, which were based on the later books. I have all of the radio series in one form or another and plan to listen to them again later this year.
Monday, January 14, 2019
Desktop of the Week - Babel FishThis week I used the Babel Fish image from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy TV show.
Last year there was a remastered version of the TV show on Blu-Ray with new bonus features which my brother got me for Christmas. It is a very nice set.
There are a few archived BBC HHGTG web pages that are of interest.
Here is the BBC TV show page.
Here is the Radio 4 page which has lots of information about the subsequent radio series.
Monday, January 07, 2019
Desktop of the Week - ResolutionThis week's desktop is this image from the New Year's Day 2019 special for Doctor Who - Resolution. We have a "new" type of Dalek facing off with some military. The BBC image gallery for the episode is here. In previous years since Doctor Who came back we had Christmas specials, but this year they decided to forego a Christmas special and have a New Year's Day special. There were references to New Year's Day in the episode itself. There was some definite outcry about this from some quarters, but it was a nice change of pace.
I thought that this was the best Jodie Whittaker episode yet. I was totally surprised by it being a Dalek controlling her, though I knew it did leave the sewers through her power before they revealed that. (I had totally ignored all of the publicity about the episode and so had the surprise of a classic villain returning.) When it was revealed to be a Dalek I did yell something in my excitement and my wife wondered whether I was talking to the TV. Just about non-stop excitement throughout the episode. It totally built on what went on this season - all of what our characters went through.
It will be a long wait until more new episodes - not scheduled until next year. I enjoyed watching this whole season and the special and am looking forward to see more.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink podcast discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, December 17, 2018
Desktop of the Week - The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos
This week's desktop is this image from Series 11, Episode 10 of Doctor Who - The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. This was the series finale with a special scheduled for New Year's Day. This shows them with a mysterious commander of a ship that had sent a distress signal. The BBC image gallery for the episode is here.
It was a good episode that brought back Tim Shaw from the season opener. There was sort of an arc between "The Woman Who Fell to Earth," "The Ghost Monument," "Demons of the Punjab," "It Takes You Away," and "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos." The Stenza carry through 3 of them. Family, loss, and acceptance carry through them as well. This episode unified most of the season together. It was a nice culmination of the journey The Doctor and her friends were going on this season.
The Doctor's talking to Graham about not taking revenge and killing Tim Shaw points again to how bad the ending of Kerblam! was. I still find that completely inconsistent to how the Doctor was portrayed the whole season.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Don't Blink podcast discusses the episode here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
This week's desktop is this image from Series 11, Episode 10 of Doctor Who - The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. This was the series finale with a special scheduled for New Year's Day. This shows them with a mysterious commander of a ship that had sent a distress signal. The BBC image gallery for the episode is here.
It was a good episode that brought back Tim Shaw from the season opener. There was sort of an arc between "The Woman Who Fell to Earth," "The Ghost Monument," "Demons of the Punjab," "It Takes You Away," and "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos." The Stenza carry through 3 of them. Family, loss, and acceptance carry through them as well. This episode unified most of the season together. It was a nice culmination of the journey The Doctor and her friends were going on this season.
The Doctor's talking to Graham about not taking revenge and killing Tim Shaw points again to how bad the ending of Kerblam! was. I still find that completely inconsistent to how the Doctor was portrayed the whole season.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Don't Blink podcast discusses the episode here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, December 10, 2018
Desktop of the Week - It Takes You AwayThis week's desktop is this image from Series 11, Episode 9 of Doctor Who - It Takes You Away. This shows our travelers with Ribbons in the Anti-Zone. The image gallery for this episode is here. It was quite a good episode. I was wondering during the episode whether the previously departed loved ones were an alternate reality/other dimension version of them or just memories taken form or what. In the end they were a construct designed to keep Erik and then Graham there. I thought it quite interesting that Hanne instantly knew that she was not her mother. I am glad that Erik said quite early on the mother could not pass through the mirror. That way we knew there was no returning with Grace.
One thing found out after viewing: they filmed this second in the same filming block (and director) as the season opener, "The Woman Who Fell to Earth." That makes sense as the loss of Grace is keen in the actors' minds and Sharon D. Clarke had a reasonably large role here. She then only needed to come back in for her brief cameo in "Arachnids in the UK." Note, we have the same director next week. That production block for the finale was shared with "Demons of the Punjab". Interesting that some of the same themes of memory of the dead and loss go to that same director. So, anything shared between "It Takes You Away" and "Demons of the Punjab" is not a coincidence.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink podcast discusses the episode here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, December 03, 2018
Desktop of the Week - The Witchfinders
This week's desktop is this image from Series 11 Episode 8 of Doctor Who - The Witchfinders. This mage features the wonderful Alan Cumming as King James and Siobhan Finneran as Becka Savage. The image gallery for the episode is here. It is another historical episode - this time about witch trials in England. There is ultimately an alien reason for some of the strange goings on that have the folk thinking of witches, but the root of evil here is definitely human.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink discusses the episode here.
This week's desktop is this image from Series 11 Episode 8 of Doctor Who - The Witchfinders. This mage features the wonderful Alan Cumming as King James and Siobhan Finneran as Becka Savage. The image gallery for the episode is here. It is another historical episode - this time about witch trials in England. There is ultimately an alien reason for some of the strange goings on that have the folk thinking of witches, but the root of evil here is definitely human.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, November 26, 2018
Desktop of the Week - Kerblam!
This week I used this image from the image gallery of Series 11 Episode 7 of Doctor Who - Kerblam! The Doctor received a Kerblam! package that included a fez and a mysterious "Help Me!" message. So, they go to a Kerblam! shipping facility to investigate. The image is of the Kerblam! delivery bots holding packages.
I thought it was a good episode until the end. I had a problem with The Doctor needlessly executing the "villain" of the episode and making a big mess of the place. I have mentioned this on some forums and some people said she gave him a chance to escape, but due to the timing that she set in motion, she really didn't. It was lazy writing and not great directing there. It represents a low point in Series 11 for me.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, November 19, 2018
Desktop of the Week - Demons of the PunjabThis week I used this image from the image gallery of Doctor Who Series 11 Episode 6 - Demons of the Punjab. This image depicts two of the Thijarians who were known to be the deadliest assassins in the universe. Despite these aliens, the episode was really a historical piece of the partitioning of India into India and Pakistan.
It was a very good good emotional episode where we leaned more about Yaz and her family.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink discusses the episode here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, November 12, 2018
Desktop of the Week - The Tsuranga Conundrum
This week's destop image is of the Pting from the 5th episode of the 11th series of Doctor Who The Tsuranga Conundrum. The image is from the monster gallery for the episode. It is a voracious creature, reminding me of Nibbler from Futurama. It was a fun spacecraft under siege episode.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink discusses the episode here.
This week's destop image is of the Pting from the 5th episode of the 11th series of Doctor Who The Tsuranga Conundrum. The image is from the monster gallery for the episode. It is a voracious creature, reminding me of Nibbler from Futurama. It was a fun spacecraft under siege episode.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, November 05, 2018
Desktop of the Week - Arachnids in the UKThis week I used this image from the 4th episode from the 11th series of Doctor Who - Arachnids in the UK. Our team here are hunting extra large spiders.
This episode took place in the present day. The Doctor had returned them barely a half hour after they left in the first episode, but there is a problem that needed to be taken care of before The Doctor left. The spiders are pretty creepy and things are not left completely wrapped up in a nice bow at the end. This episode features Chris Noth, who I haven't seen on television since The Good Place finished its run.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Don't Blink discuss the episode here.
Radio Free Skaro discuss the episode here.
Verity! discuss the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, October 29, 2018
Desktop of the Week - RosaI used this image from the third episode of Series 11 of Doctor Who, Rosa,
as my desktop this week. Our TARDIS team are looking for the source of artron energy in the past. It was a very well done historical episode about the day (December 1, 1955) that Rosa Parks was taken off the bus which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It so happened that there was someone in the past trying to subtly shift things so that didn't happen.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Verity! discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink discusses the episode here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, October 22, 2018
I used this image from the second episode of Series 11 of Doctor Who - The Ghost Monument as my desktop wallpaper. The Ghost Monument gallery is here. The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discusses the episode here.
Verity discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink discusses the episode here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Desktop of the Week - The Woman Who Fell to Earth
The new series of Doctor Who started October 7 and Stuart Manning has his wonderful posters again for the series (at least the first episode). It was a good regeneration episode with Jodie Whittaker not quite knowing who she is at the beginning. It was a nice introduction to the Doctor's new team of friends and a new villain for The Doctor to face.
The show is now on Sundays. The original broadcast was on Sunday afternoon (1:45 PM EDT) and billed as a worldwide simulcast by BBCA, but it was actually a simulstart as BBCA started it at the same time, but filled the time period with advertisements. They had a second showing that evening which had some of the New York Comic Con Doctor Who panel during the advertising breaks. The full panel is available on BBCA's YouTube channel here.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discuss the episode here.
Verity discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink podcast on the episode is here.
The new series of Doctor Who started October 7 and Stuart Manning has his wonderful posters again for the series (at least the first episode). It was a good regeneration episode with Jodie Whittaker not quite knowing who she is at the beginning. It was a nice introduction to the Doctor's new team of friends and a new villain for The Doctor to face.
The show is now on Sundays. The original broadcast was on Sunday afternoon (1:45 PM EDT) and billed as a worldwide simulcast by BBCA, but it was actually a simulstart as BBCA started it at the same time, but filled the time period with advertisements. They had a second showing that evening which had some of the New York Comic Con Doctor Who panel during the advertising breaks. The full panel is available on BBCA's YouTube channel here.
The BBC page for the episode is here.
Radio Free Skaro discuss the episode here.
Verity discusses the episode here.
Don't Blink podcast on the episode is here.
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
Monday, August 07, 2017
This week I found one of the key publicity images of World Enough and Time, the 11th episode of the 10th series of Doctor Who. For some reason I was unable to grab it from the BBCA site, but I found it by doing an image search.
This sets up the situation for the season finale. The Doctor is trying to see if Missy can be good and they end up in a situation where things spiral out of control.
My show rating for the episode on the Don't Blink FB page was 900 out of 1000 floors on a giant Mondasian spaceship. I even called into the episode with some comments this time around. It was a great episode.
The BBC Fact File for the episode is here.
Podcasts I listened to about the episode:
Radio Free Skaro
Verity!
Don't Blink
Labels: desktop, Doctor Who, TV
