Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Tournament – Lambert Conference – Round One, Part Two

We are ranking Tenth Doctor Doctor Who stories starring David Tennant, pitting them against each other in an elimination tournament, with whichever story gets at least two out of three votes from our judges will move on to the next round. The judges will be myself and two of my daughters–Johanna (recently turned 15) and Laurelle (13).  The stories have been seeded according ratings on IMDb, and randomly broken up into two conferences–the Newman Conference and the Lambert Conference.

The Daily Spoon #18 – #MonthoftheSpoon

In celebration of the Spoons of our life–ubiquitous but often unrecognized–Blue Towel Productions is proud to present the Daily Spoon, which we were are celebrating this September, the Month of the Spoon. #MonthoftheSpoon

Today’s spoon showed up at dinner.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Tournament – Lambert Conference – Round One, Part One

We are ranking Tenth Doctor Doctor Who stories starring David Tennant, pitting them against each other in an elimination tournament, with whichever story gets at least two out of three votes from our judges will move on to the next round. The judges will be myself and two of my daughters–Johanna (recently turned 15) and Laurelle (13).  The stories have been seeded according ratings on IMDb, and randomly broken up into two conferences–the Newman Conference and the Lambert Conference.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Tournament – Newman Conference – Round One, Part One

We are voting on  Tenth Doctor Doctor Who stories starring David Tennant, pitting them against each other in an elimination tournament, with whichever story gets at least two out of three votes from our judges will move on to the next round. The judges will be myself and two of my daughters–Johanna (14, at the time we took these votes) and Laurelle (13).  The stories have been seeded according ratings on IMDb, and randomly broken up into two conferences–the Newman Conference and the Lambert Conference.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Tournament (Preparation)

I was really enjoying the Tournament-style competitions we did earlier this year for the biggest blockbuster movies from the last 32 years (see here and here), and so I was casting about for other ideas, and came up with this:  a 10th Doctor Doctor Who story tournament!

Legion of Super-Heroes (the TV Series): Season One

Season One of The Legion of Super-Heroes…the TV Series.

And not the animated series from the mid-2000’s, I’m talking about the current, on-going, live-action TV series….

Of course (sadly?), I’m also talking about something that doesn’t exist….

49 Forty-Ninth Birthday Blessings

It was recently my birthday!  On the day, I posted some short musings about how it’s okay that I haven’t done everything that I wanted to this year.  Then I did a review of my last year’s “bucket list” and identified what I’ve done and what I didn’t do, and tried to point out how even though there are things I didn’t do, there were other things that I did do that weren’t on the list in the first place.

Now it’s time to look with gratitude at all the cool stuff that I got.  Because really, I have a lot to be grateful for.  And not just the long term stuff, like great kids, a wonderful wife, relatively good health, and a sense of meaning and purpose to life.  I’m talking short-term, often shallow, good ‘ol fashioned stuff!

49th Year Bucket List

So, point of clarification:  I’m 48 years old currently, having just celebrated my birthday yesterday.  I’m not 49, but that this year is actually my 49th year of living.  When I celebrate my 49th birthday, that means I’m completing my 49th year, not starting it.

And I know, it’s not really a “bucket list” if the deadline isn’t the end of your life…when you “kick the bucket”.  Indeed, maybe it’d be better to call this a “49th Year To-Do List”.  But that’s catchy sounding, don’t you think?

So this is a list of things I’m hoping to have achieved by the time that me being able to say “I’m 48 years old” is cold and buried in the ground.  What do I want to have achieved / completed / accomplished by then?  That’s what we’re looking at here.

Looking Back at Being 47

Today is the end of me being 47 years old.  I’ve been writing all year in one way or the other about how 47 is my favorite number, and now we’re here at the end of the year and all I can wonder is, did I actually do justice to this iconic moment in my life?  After all, I don’t get to go back and do it again.

Can I, indeed, think of 47 things I did or experienced this year that made the year notable or cool?

Let’s try!

Geeking Out With My Daughters: Preparing for the Future [Doctor Who–The Empty Child]

I’ve been watching Doctor Who with my children recently, going back to the beginning of the revival series (aka, what’s easily available on Netflix).  Just today we got up to The Empty Child by Steven Moffat, and part way through the second episode of the two-parter, The Doctor Dances before real life got in the way.

If you are familiar with it, you know that it’s pretty creepy stuff, and I’d say the first great story that the series produced.

Anyway, shortly afterwards as we were getting ready to go, my middle child (13 years old now) starts chattering to me about what’s she’s taking away from the show, and says this:

So, rules if you are in a little-child-in-a-gasmask-pocalypse:  don’t open the door, don’t answer the phone, tell the child to go to his room but then don’t go to his room yourself.

It warms my heart as a parent to see my kids offspring pulling these important life lessons out of their popular entertainment!