New posts at Wyoming in Motion webzine

Ever heard of Buffalo, Wyoming?

If you love the great outdoors, you'll love Buffalo.

Check out our latest article at:
http://wyominginmotion.com/buffalo-wyoming-ticket-to-the-wild-west/

Wyoming in Motion is a travel webzine that covers Wyoming and the states that border it - Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Idaho. Our motto: You...are...there!

John DeLancie set to host a masquerade ball on the Stat Trek cruise

Theme nights on board the cruise: http://www.startrekthecruise.com/theme-nights/

From the site:

Mirror-Mirror
Welcome to Star Trek: The Cruise Mirror Universe… An alternate reality in which good is bad and bad is good. There are no ion storms to monkey with the transporters on the Norwegian Jade, but we may still find ourselves crossing over to the “other side”. Tonight we visit the darkest parallel timeline, where the uniforms look different, as does the facial hair. It's going to get weird, wild and wicked, but hopefully our crew will get us back to our timeline without a visit to the Agony Booth.

Captain Sulu’s Soiree Captain Sulu invites officers and crewmembers from all species to boldly go where no one has gone before. It was a tradition on the USS Excelsior and we're bringing it to the Norwegian Jade: Captain Sulu's Soirée. This celebration will unite civilizations across the galaxy in an incredible festive night. We will proudly wear our Starfleet finest (or more Earth-bound formal attire) and enjoy a gala worthy of our august Captain.

Q’s Costume Party

The pan-galactic prankster is back, and ready for more hijinks and horseplay. Q, who has appeared to us as everything from a Franciscan monk, an interstellar judge, a 16th century sea captain and an Aldebaran serpent, is the only choice to host this year’s costume party! Prepare your most elaborate, outrageous and imaginative outfit, as the competition shall be wilder than a Nausicaan on payday.

Risa’s Festival Of The Moon Party

After visiting our newest Pleasure Planet (and private port of call) Harvest Caye, we continue with the relaxed vibe in our summery apparel for the evening festivities. Under the star-filled sky, we’ll feast on a delicious Targ-B-Q, dance, drink and groove to Risan rhythms in the warm balmy weather. Keep your eyes peeled for a Horga'hn, too.

Holodeck to the Holo-Disco

The Norwegian Jade's Holodeck comes pre-loaded with one of the most outrageous programs imaginable: Sol 3 in the 1970s! Step through those doors and be transported to a world of platform shoes, bellbottom pants, big hair, as well as great quantities of sequins and glitter. But it's still the Star Trek Cruise's 1970s, so a fusion of space, sequins and Spock ears will be all the rage at the Star Trek Disco Inferno!

New posts at Wyoming in Motion Travel Webzine

If you are a "travvie" (that's hashtag travvie!) - you love to travel and see new sights and sounds and have new experiences, and you're interested in the Rocky Mountain region - Wyoming, Montana. South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Idaho, then check out the Wyoming in Motion webzine.

Here are the latest articles published:

Behind the Scenes - the writing of the tourist booklets for the NPS National Historic Trails Auto Tour Routes
http://wyominginmotion.com/behind-the-scenes-national-historic-trails-auto-tour-routes/


Paul Smith Children's Village in Cheyenne, adjacent to the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens:

http://wyominginmotion.com/cheyenne-paul-smith-childrens-village/


and very much needed right now, since Cheyenne Frontier Days starts in just another couple of days:

Parking and driving during Cheyenne Frontier Days

VIdeo trailer: Meet the 13th Doctor

Here's the trailer for the 13th Doctor, as played by Jodi Whittaker.

Jodi Whittaker, according to Wikipedia, was born on 3 June 1982. She first came to prominence for her 2006 feature film debut Venus, for which she received British Independent Film Award and Satellite Award nominations. She was later praised for her roles in the cult science fiction film Attack the Block (2011), the Black Mirror episode "The Entire History of You" (2011), and as grieving mother Beth Latimer in Chris Chibnall's acclaimed TV series Broadchurch (2013–2017). On 16 July 2017, it was announced that Whittaker would become the Thirteenth (and first female) main incarnation of The Doctor in the popular TV series Doctor Who, taking over the role in the 2017 Christmas special episode "The Doctors".[1] Her arrival in the series will coincide with Chibnall's, who will become Doctor Who's new showrunner.

No surprise - a woman has been cast as the 13th Doctor

Jodi Whittaker is a brave woman to take on such an iconic role.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/16/537545144/dr-who-is-a-woman-jodie-whittaker-announced-as-13th-time-lord-in-bbc-series

I personally disagree with the choice - the Doctor is not a woman.

It will be interesting to see how the Doctor's personality changes with a "feminine" persona.

Will she be as rude and as overbearing as the Doctor quite often was?

Or will her character be "softened" and "feminized."

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that it will be interesting to see how the writers deal with the character.

Even today, strong women are treated differently than strong men.

Strong men are mavericks, strong women bitches.

Men have a commanding presence and get things done, women are naggers, etc.

If looking back at 50 years of the Doctor, if a woman had been playing the role at any time, would the men he had been "bullying" if you like have put up with that from a woman?

Well...I guess we'll see.

Star Trek Cruise

Star Trek: The Cruise II is actually happening twice, first on Jan 5-11, 2018, and then on Jan 11-17, 2018.

Each cruise starts at the port of Miami Florida, spends a day at sea, then stops at Roatan, Honduras, Harvest Caye, Belize, Costa Maya, Mexico, then a da at sea and back to Miami.

Scheduled to attend, in alphabetical order, are:

Vaugn Armstrong
Rene Aubergjoinois
Casey Biggs
Levar Burton
Jeffrey Combs
Denise Crosby
John DeLancie
Michael Dorn
Jonathan Frakes
Max Grodenchik
Gates McFadden
Robert O'Reilly
John Paladin
Ethan Phillips
Robert Picardo
Armin Shimerman
Brent Spiner
George Takei
Connor Trinnear
Nana Vistor
Karl Urban

For more info, check out this website: http://www.startrekthecruise.com/

Consider the Doctor blog

Daily Space is a "general" science fiction and fantasy blog.

I've started a new blog, called, "Consider the Doctor," that will deal specifically with Doctor Who.

http://considerthedoctor.blogspot.com/

Other things in the works  - stay tuned!

There's "Nu Who," now ther's "Nu" Daily Space

It's been a while since I've posted here, but I'll be posting here quite a bit from now on as I've also resurrected my science fiction and fantasy webzine The Thunder Child.

Oh, the archives have always been available at thethunderchild.com, but I haven't added new content for a while.

I'm quite proud of what I accomplished with The Thunder Child many years ago, but there's no denying that it is primitive today from a design standpoint, and hopefully within a few months I'll have it all moved to a new platform.

But for now, please enjoy the content!

A couple of months ago I covered StarFest Denver 2017.

And here's an interview with Tom Kiesche. You may not recognize the name but you'll probably recognize the face. In addition to being an actor he's also a playwright, writer, and singer.

I particular like this song of his:


http://thethunderchild.com/Interviews/People/TomKiesche/TomKiesche.html

Rest In Peace Patrick Macnee

I just saw that Patrick Macnee died today.

In his incarnation of John Steed, he was always a hero of mine - he and Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and to a lesser extent Tara King (Linda Thorson).

In our memories, he will live forever.

Terry Pratchett has walked into the Country of the Dawn

Very sad news today....Terry Pratchett has died at aged only 66.

 He had suffered from early onset alzheimers for 8 years... in other words he wasn't even 60 years old when he got Alzheimers... in the same way Pat Summitt, Lady Volunteers basketball coach, also was diagnosed with this awful, awful disease when she was in her late 50s...not even 60 years old.

His obituaries say he died of natural causes, rather than taking his life... I find that difficult to believe as a healthy person (except in mind) could live for 90-years with this awful disease.

I wonder if the media didn't want people to know that Mr. Pratchett took his fate into his own hands and welcomed Death on his own terms, as he'd said he would - and I admire him for it.

If your quality of life is absolutely zero - if you can't read, can't remember how to put on your clothes, etc., why go on living?

He had a fantastic life - touched millions of people.

His work has long been very important to me...

I am sad that he is gone, but glad that he left on his own terms and did not suffer unnecessarily from the indignities of Alzheimer's.

I hope people will continue to contribute to the fight against Alzheimer's so we can find a cure for this awful disease.

Leonard Nimoy has died

Leonard Nimoy, who will always be Mr. Spock to millions of fans, has died at the age of 83, from the effects of COPD, caused by years of smoking (though he had quit 30 years ago, in his fifties)..

I am saddened by this, as the original Star Trek was a big part of my life, guiding my life for over 40 years.

There are many excellent writeups about him in the newspapers.

Here is just one:
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/star-trek-star-leonard-nimoy-dies-83/story?id=29274628


Some of the writeups are snarky about his singing, but I rather enjoyed it. His Bilbo Baggins song remains with me to this day, as does his Desiderata.

In fact, I think I first heard Desiderata on that album, as Spock's Thoughts:

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
 If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

“

”

Max Ehrmann, "Desiderata".

Netflix producing four Marvel comics TV series

Daredevil stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock. Although he's blind (in the comic books he was hit by a radioactive cylinder in the face, which gave him his powers - super senses. The "incredible gymnastics and martial arts abilities" were things he earned on his own.) which he uses to protect Hell’s Kitchen, one of the roughest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods of New York.

The cast includes Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk (The Kingpin (and if this is from the comic books, Wilson Fisk, what a prosaic name!), Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, Bob Gunton as Leland Owlsely (The Owl), Vondie Curtis Hall as Ben Urich, Toby Leonard Moore as Wesley (Kingpin's minion) and Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Fisk (Kingpin's wife - and that's wrong, in the comic books her name was Vanessa).

Daredevil is the first of four new Marvel/Netflix shows.

Also coming are:

‘AKA Jessica Jones’
Luke Cage’
‘Iron Fist’.

All four will tie together and the heroes will join forces in a follow-up miniseries The Defenders.

Nothing new under the sun

A couple of days ago, AMC showed a movie called It Happened Tomorrow, filmed in 1944 with Dick Powell.

It's the exact same plot of the TV series from a few years ago, Early Edition (1996 - 2000) that starred Kyle Chandler as Gary Hobson, a newspaper guy who always receives a newspaper first thing in the morning, with news of a tragedy in it that he needs to change...

I only watched a few episodes of Early Edition when it was in reruns, and I liked it, but it's funny to realize it was based on a 60 year old movie...I just thought it was a revamp of Quantum Leap with a newspaper replacing Al...and of course sticking to one time period rather than "leaping" all around...

An example of a Doctor Who drabble

I blogged about this a couple of days ago. The URL is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118270389/1-drabble-for-1-dollar

The project is already fully funded. (I only asked for $25 and someone bought 25 Avengers drabbles right out of the gate...) So if you would like to order a drabble or drabbles, you'll receive them immediately!

Here's an example of a Doctor Who drabble:

Engage: Educational resources for photographers, videographers, and other creative arts

Engage is a web-based business that has seminars for art, business, cinematography, crafts, design, music, photography and videography.

If you're based in the UK I think you'll find this Kickstarter campaign of interest

The url for their Kickstarter is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/engagelive/engage-free-live-education-for-creative-entreprene

Their campaign ends on March 20, 2015 and they've already had over 8,000 pounds pledged of their 15,000 pound goal. (Check out the Engage website at www.engagelive.co)

Donal Doherty is the founder of Engage.

From their press release: “We will offer thousands of people around the world a chance to learn from leading educators for free and to interact and shape the learning experience live. People can also apply to be in the in-person studio audience and we’ll have both delegates and trainers flying in from around the world for the courses. To an extent this all rests on the success of our Kickstarter campaign which we hope will fund 16 courses in 2015, with the plan to offer a course each week in 2016. Not only will this help us to create employment in the local economy, but we’re hoping to be part of the sea change of native digital companies accessing global markets.”

If you're interested in the arts, I think these guys are a great resource for you.

One drabble for one dollar

I've decided to launch my first Kickstarter campaign - "one drabble for one dollar."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118270389/1-drabble-for-1-dollar

Since I only need $25 before the project is fully funded, people who want their drabbles are going to get them!

A drabble is a fan-fiction story that is EXACTLY 100 words in length, not including the title.

For fans of science fiction, or any TV show or movie, a drabble is a fun way to expand on a scene, or evoke an emotion.

I specialize in drabbles for The Avengers, Star Trek: TOS and The Octonauts, but I can and will write a drabble for anyone. However, I've also got some other features I offer.

For example, I offer Scrabble drabbles. For anyone who is attempting to enlarge their knowledge of words (it's hard to say, enlarge your "vocabulary" when, IMHO, about a fifth of the Scrabble dictionary features words that no one will ever, ever use - sort of like all the words that little kids are expected to learn for a spelling bee!)

Nevertheless, my unique idea is to put all these words into drabbles as told by a central character (public domain character Sherlock Holmes, to be precise) and tell a connected story over the course of a year, sending two drabbles a day to my subscribers.

Please check it all out at my kickstarter campaign.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/118270389/1-drabble-for-1-dollar

Crowdfunding: Smart Back Brace

Occasionally I'll share crowdfunding projects that I think are interesting.

The Smart Back Brace could be a pretty good tool - I know I have pretty poor posture and I think this could help me should it be manufactured.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/smart-back-brace-ssb-posture-correcting-device/x/9376492   
 is the URL for the Smart Back Brace. There are 20 more days left to make pledges.


The campaign video is below:

I won't share the text from the campaign page here - why should I when you can just visit the page and learn all about it? ; )

Then, make a pledge if you'd like to.

1 January 2015: Doctor Who Sticky Notes

I picked up a set of Doctor Who sticky notes at Barnes and Noble a few omonths ago - they're in a hard-backed cover  and have the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) on the cover, pointing his sonic screwdriver out into the viewer.

The sticky notes consist of 4 colors of Daleks (I can see no use for them since they are filled with the dark color, no place to write. They be useful as bookmarks if only the stick-em for all 4 sets were on the base, but 2 are on the head(the sets are arranged with two upside down between two right side up, to fit in the space.

My favorite sticky note is of the Tarfis, then there's a set with "To Do":, Time" and "Dimension", again with the 11th Doctor looking out at you with his sonic screw driver.

I have to admit I haven't watched Doctor Who regularly since Colin Baker was the Doctor... one of my New Year's Resolutions is to watch the entire series - all extant episodes.

Into The Woods advertising

Has it really been over 7 months since I've written in this blog?  Wow, time goes by fast.

Anyway, the ads for the movie *musical* Into the Woods are really annoying me.  Are they trying to make people *go* to this movie, or drive them away?

It's a MUSICAL, for God's sake.  Why not show a musical number, instead of editing things so that there is no singing at all?

I'm also puzzled by the inclusion of Johnny Depp as the Wolf. One of the key parts of the play is that the Wolf and Prince Charming are played by the same actor - because Charming *is* a wolf - going after and seducing every woman he sees.

So it seems like Depp was just cast for "star value" - as if Meryl Streep and Chis Pine weren't good enough for that?

Can we get some non post-apocalyptic TV shows, please?

I'm so tired of the current trend in TV shows  - tweeners who come down from a space station to repopulate the Earth, blah.  Vampire diaries, blah. Under the Dome and The Last ship, blah.

Let's have some cheerfulness, for god's sake!