And the Eleventh Doctor will bear the face of... Matt Smith!

Matt Smith, who at age 26 will be the youngest person ever to take on the role, will be the next actor to portray the Doctor on Doctor Who, the BBC announced today.

This will be the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor since the series began all the way back in November 1963. Smith will take over from David Tennant, who has been playing the Doctor since the finale of the revived series's first season in 2005. Presumably the changeover will happen during the Christmas special a little less than a year from now.

In case you're wondering how this happens, the Doctor is a Time Lord from Gallifrey and whenever his current body gets too old or injured (or there's a contract dispute with the BBC) he has the ability to "regenerate": giving him a new body and usually a slightly different personality. So it's been the same Doctor ever since the beginning, just different versions of the guy.

And already, even before regeneration takes place, Matt Smith faces potentially more than any other Doctor before him. There's River Song who odds are good he'll finally "meet for the first time" now that Steven Moffat will be running the show. But on a more sinister note it has been rumored that Moffat wants to address the nasty business of the Valeyard now that we're getting Doctor #11.

What do I think of Matt Smith as the Doctor? I really don't know anything about him. But I definitely believe he looks like a potentially good Doctor. We shall see, beginning this coming December! :-)

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A great quote I found tonight...

"Those who dance are thought mad by they who hear not the music."

I liked it enough to post here :-)

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Must-see WATCHMEN featurette

It's funny: tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of this blog getting started. And right from the very beginning I've been writing about attempts to adapt Watchmen to the big screen, mostly about how it could never be made. And now, 64 days from today and after more than twenty years of trying to do it, Watchmen will actually come out (provided that the ridiculous legal fight that Fox is now waging against Warner Bros. gets resolved in time).

But while the lawyers hash it out in the courts, check out this Trailer Park-exclusive Watchmen piece with director Zach Snyder. Look at that shot of Dr. Manhattan shaking hands with President Kennedy at the White House: looks positively eerie! Also in this featurette are the scenes where Rorschach confronts Moloch in the kitchen and the whole exchange between Nite Owl and Comedian about "the American Dream".

This might be the biggest movie of 2009. And I'm already planning on seeing it at least twice on opening day :-)

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My latest letter to the editor: Too many Christians worship political might

2009 is only a few scant hours old and it's already seen my first published work for the new year. In today's News & Record (the big paper serving this region) out of Greensboro there's this letter, "Political power presents a false god for Christians", written by Yours Truly.

Here's the full text of it...

My thoughts regarding the recent election were confirmed when the son of a prominent local minister told me, "Why can I not have both?" when I remarked that the Christians of America can pursue Christ or pursue power, but they cannot pursue them together.

Who is to blame most for the election of Barack Obama? The self-professed "conservative Christians." The ones who have for many years made an idol of political influence. Instead of the God of heaven, they have turned to worshiping a "god of fortresses" bereft of sincere love, mercy and grace.

These are the people who most claim that they are doing "the work of the Lord." But in reality they show the lost of this world anything but why Christ came to us. Their lust for power does not demonstrate anything different than what the people of this world have seen already.

My fellow Christians: You are worried about the outcome of a mere election? Then you are not worried about what truly matters at all. Stop sheepishly following the hucksters like James Dobson and Pat Robertson. God cannot bless our lust for political power. It is time to let it fall away and die.

Christopher Knight
Reidsville

And in case anyone's wondering, here's the post on this blog where the exchange with Jeff Baity of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem took place, where I told him that he and the other Christians of this nation must choose between "saving the lost from a dying world or saving a dying world from the lost" but they cannot have both.

What do y'all think? Feel free to leave comments here or on the letter's own page at the News & Record website.

On another note, it was announced in the News & Record this past week that Elma Sabo and Becky Layton are retiring from the editorial department of the newspaper. I've been reading Elma for many years and had the pleasure of talking to her a few times, and I certainly wish her all the best in her future projects. And as for Becky Layton: hers was the voice that I heard on the phone, back in 1991, regarding the first piece of writing that I ever submitted for publication. Since then we have wound up chatting more times than I can remember, not just about the letters and other pieces that I was turning in but about other stuff too. She has been a fine front lady for the News & Record editorial department, and a very neat person through and through. And it is sad to know that I won't be hearing her voice on the other end anymore but I also wish her only the best in whatever she winds up doing from here on out :-)

Ladies, my hat's off to ya!

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The only thing I know to be said about 2008...

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

-- Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities

No "end of year" review this time. I wouldn't know where to begin... or where to end it for that matter.

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Doctor apparently used liposuctioned fat to fuel his car

Tyler Durden should have thought BIGGER...

Doesn't seem to be any dearth of weird news this past month. In the latest bizarro story, a Beverly Hills doctor is accused of running his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator with fat that he liposuctioned from patients. The doctor in question, Craig Alan Bittner, supposedly even bragged on his website that he had pioneered the creation of "lipodiesel". He's now in trouble with several former patients who allege that he disfigured them.

Maybe there's a silver lining to this strange situation. With a vast segment of the population dangerously obese, and there being such a demand for both environmentally and economically-sound energy, maybe "lipodiesel" is the silver bullet that can wipe out a whole slew of problems plaguing this country! We've all heard the old phrase "You are what you eat"? Maybe it's time for "You are what you drive"!

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Oregon governor wants to use satellites to impose mileage tax

To quote that bard of our age Will Smith: "AWWW HELL NAWWWW!!!"

The state of Oregon has a problem, according to its governor Ted Kulongoski. In his words, "As Oregonians drive less and demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is increasingly important that the state find a new way, other than the gas tax, to finance our transportation system."

So Governor Kulongoski wants to use Global Positioning System technology to impose a "mileage tax" that will "replace" the gas tax.

If his mad plan proceeds and you are an Oregon citizen, every time you take off in your car its movements will be monitored by your state government, and a tax will be imposed for each mile that you drive.

I'm gonna say it, my Worst Possible Epithet for Anything: This sucks donkey's balls to no end.

If Kulongoski gets away with this, it'll only be persisting the pattern that has gone on far too long in this country: government at every level thirsting for money and power, and abusing it when it gets it. Does anyone seriously believe this is going to supplant the gas tax in Oregon? Within a year of it being imposed, the state will decree that "not enough taxes" are being collected and the gas tax will be reinforced on top of the mileage tax.

Not to mention that this is an extreme violation of the Constitution, and the people's right to free movement.

Folks, and I'm not just talking about y'all in Oregon, please listen to me here: too much of the government of this country is out of control. The past few months alone should have indicated that much regardless of how obtuse an observer might be. The "bailouts" should never have happened, and we're getting taxed to the breaking point. At the rate this is happening, can it really be said that our children and their children will know of a free America as we once appreciated?

So the question becomes: what are we going to do about it?

If you are in Oregon, I hope and pray that you will pull out all the stops and resist this insane scheme by your governor.

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United 93 families want Bush to steal land for memorial

Many of the families of passengers who died aboard United Airlines Flight 93 want George W. Bush to approve a seizure by the federal government of the field where the ill-fated flight crashed on the morning of the 9/11 attacks. The families want to turn the field into a memorial.

In other words, these people want to implement socialism to commemorate freedom.

I have never liked "eminent domain" uses like this, which is what the United 93 families are trying to call the seizure. But this isn't for something needed like a highway or whatever. In this case it boils down to taking privately-held property (owned by Svonavec Inc.) by force of government, for benefit of a very few people.

Look, I think that what the passengers on United 93 did was courage personified. And their example is certainly something that all people can look to as an act of selfless abandon. But it is wrong to attempt to "memorialize" those who fought back on United 93 by violating the virtues of the country that they wound up doing everything in their power to protect.

You want to know what would be a much more appropriate memorial to United 93? Let the owners of Svonavec do with the field as they see fit. If "they" indeed "hate us for our freedoms" then what better way to give "the terris" a giant middle finger than to show 'em 2,200 acres of pure undefeated capitalism?

(Incidentally, 2,200 acres is how big the United 93 families want the memorial to be. Isn't the Vietnam War Memorial at Arlington something like one or two acres?)

Wouldn't surprise me if Bush approved the seizure in his final days as President. The man has shown so little regard for conservative values anyway: why should he feel obligated to demonstrate 'em now?

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Coming in 2009 from KWerky Productions...

This afternoon I finished writing the first draft of the script for the first "episode" of a project that, Lord willing, we're going to start filming in the next few months. We've already found most of the cast too.

But before that, "Weird" Ed and I may be doing something that, I like to believe it'll have some significant social relevance. At the moment I can't help but think that it'll be along the lines of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas without all the drugs.

And then, at last, I hope to begin shooting Keys, which has been my pet project for going on three years now. Had real life situations not intervened it could have been made already. But in a crazy sort of way the delay has helped make it a much stronger product. I've learned things as a writer and as a film-maker that are going to be poured into it. Yah there's been other projects I've been working on in the meantime, mostly for clients: now it's time to start filming for me. This past week a much better ending presented itself too, that I feel a lot more confident about.

Stay tuned to the official KWerky Productions website as we'll soon be updating it with more about all the good stuff we're working to roll out in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Nine :-)

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About the "Religious Review" blog (Plus: How Johnny Robertson spends Christmas!)

In the past week I've received three e-mails directing my attention to Religious Review, a newly established blog. And it's been asked if I'm the person behind it.

I am not. And I didn't even know about Religious Review until the last several days. But I certainly have to applaud whoever it is who set it up.

As was reported on this blog last month, "Religious Review" is the name of the bogus outfit that local cult leader Johnny Robertson came up with in his continuing bid to harass and intimidate the legitimate churches in this area. He and crony/second cousin James Oldfield have already been known to confront innocent individuals with hidden cameras and such. Now Robertson has recruited his own son to go out in the name of "Religious Review" and do the same.

So what sayeth the real Religious Review?

Folks have been talking about "Religious Review" since it was mentioned on "What Does the Bible Say?" recently. It's been said that for a multi-media company, it is strange that "Religious Review" doesn't have any sort of internet representation.

This blog is not affiliated with Johnny Robertson's fake "Religious Review". We don't go into churches with video cameras under false pretenses and pretend to be something we are not. We don't lie and mislead people so we can get juicy soundbites for church of Christ television broadcasts. That is the fake "Religious Review". We're real.

Whoever this person is, he/she is not alone in going after the "Church of Christ in Name Only" loons. Mash down here for a somewhat more crude response to Robertson's acts of un-Christlike bullying. It certainly does seem that lots of other people are beginning to stand up to the cult leader/convicted felon Johnny Robertson, aye?

And since we're on the subject...

For the most part I've been away from this blog for the past several days, doing "Christmas celebratin'" stuff with family and friends. Still, I've kept a watch on the stats from time to time, partly because it's been interesting to see where the traffic has been coming from regarding the story I posted here on Monday about the "angel" photograph at a Charlotte hospital. Probably been the most visits this blog's ever received during the holiday season...

...And one person in particular couldn't stay away from it for very long. According to the stats, Johnny Robertson (trust me, it's him) visited this blog for the better part of half an hour on Christmas Eve night, and then came to it at least four times on Christmas Day.

How someone uses their time is their own business. But really: to have nothing better to do on Christmas Eve night than to obsess about THIS blog?! And then to keep coming to it on Christmas Day?

That is pathetic beyond measure.

How did my loved ones and myself spend Christmas? Being thankful to God for what He has blessed us with. Seems like at least one other person was spending it harboring spite and resentment. That ain't understanding why Christ came to this world at all.

Johnny, go outside and play. Quit trying to wreck life for others just because your daddy did you and your momma wrong. There's a whole lot of wonderful things that God has made for you to appreciate if you'd only allow yourself that indulgence.

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First poster for LAND OF THE LOST

Props to Cinematical for scoring the first look at the teaser poster for this summer's Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell and based on the television show from thirty years ago...

Friday night I watched Elf for the first time. It's a very funny movie! And it reinforced what I said a year ago when I first reported on this movie: that given a serious treatment of the plot, Ferrell could expand on the perception most folks have of him, 'cuz he would prove that he's capable of being a legitimate action star. Though from what I'm hearing Land of the Lost is still being produced as a comedy... which the original TV show was anything but.

Nice poster. I like the giant carved Sleestak especially. But color me "overly cautious" about this for the time being.

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"Santa's helpers" disable traffic cameras with giftwrap in Arizona!

In August of 2001, I was p***ed-off enough about the "red light cameras" in Greensboro that I decided to do something about it. So I did some designin' in Photoshop, took it to a Kinko's and had it printed up huge and laminated, and for five hours in the hot sun stood next to one robosentinel that had particularly bothered me while holding a sign that read "SMILE: YOU'RE ON KOMRADE KAMERA!" Hee-hee-hee... got lots of supporters who honked in agreement as they drove past on Battleground Avenue.

So I think this next item is bigtime groovy...

Four people dressed as Santa Claus went around Tempe, Arizona a few days ago and put gift-wrapped boxes over three speed and red light cameras around the city. And for good measure they posted the video of their rebellion on YouTube...

It cannot be said enough: America is not her government. America is her people. When America's people lash out at government abuse, then that is the definition of a virtuous citizenry.

Bravo to you, "Santa's Helpers"! May others be inspired by your example! :-)

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Garage-based amateurs now playing with genetic engineering

It's not likely that anyone will clone-up a velociraptor, but the Associated Press reports about the growing trend of "do it yourself genetic engineering" that a lot of people are experimenting with in the spare rooms and garages of their homes. Using equipment found on Craigslist and eBay, these burgeoning biotechnologists are involved with everything from working on melamine-sensitive bacteria, to implementing squid genes for phosphorescence to create glow-in-the-dark tattoos. Some say that these folks could eventually hit on a cure for cancer. Others are afraid that they'll cook up something like "Captain Trips" a'la The Stand.

Hey, this blog has already reported on folks experimenting with their own nuclear reactors. Gene splicing was the obvious next step, yah? :-)

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VHS finally dies as last major distributor gives up business

It's the end of an era as VHS finally heads into the West along with Frodo, Ronald Reagan and Roy Rogers. The final shipment of the once ever-present tapes has left the warehouse of the format's last major supplier. The business's owner claims that the same will happen to DVD within a few years and that it'll yield completely to Blu-ray... but I kinda doubt it. The same was said of VHS more than twenty years ago when laserdisc enjoyed a brief rise in popularity as premium home entertainment. But Blu-ray's attraction is only going to really take off once the capability of recording discs becomes more common, and that ain't happening yet. And there's always gonna be a need for cheap data storage, and just about every Blu-ray player is backward compatible with DVD anyway.

But for the VHS, it is indeed "Farewell, my lovely". It cannot be said that it did not have a good run though. And between you and me Faithful Reader: nothing will ever tear me apart from my beloved - albeit outdated in more ways than one - VHS set of the original Star Wars Trilogy :-)

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Chris declares "The Next Doctor" the best DOCTOR WHO Christmas special yet!

This past season of Doctor Who has seen some of the best storytelling in the entire forty-five year history of the franchise. More than six months later and I am still as much in awe at "Forest of the Dead" as I am enthralled about what it hinted about the Doctor's future. And of course there was "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" two-parter that hailed the return of Davros: possibly the greatest villain in all of fiction.

So is it possible that the now-traditional Christmas special of Doctor Who could be just as up to par with what has already transpired in 2008? More to the point: could this year's special "The Next Doctor" please be much better than the glorious mess that was last year's "Voyage of the Damned"?!

In so many words: "Yes yes YES!!!"

"I'm the Doctor! Simply the Doctor! The one, the only, and the BEST!"

"You're mad! Both of you!"

"The Cyberking will rise."

"This is hardly work for a woman."

"But that's a screwdriver. How is it... sonic?"

"I was holding this device. The night I lost my mind. The night I regenerated."

"Okay. I think we should run!"

"It's Mercy."

"There she is: my transport through time and space. The TARDIS!"

The Doctor (David Tennant as the character's tenth incarnation), still without a companion following the events of "Journey's End", has arrived in a festive London square circa Christmas 1851. But as much as he is delighted by the sights and sounds of the holiday season, a woman crying out "Doctor!" snaps him back into full-tilt adventure mode. The Doctor runs down an alley and finds that it is a young lady named Rosita (Velile Tshabalala) who has been calling for him. But alas! Rosita does not take him seriously: she's been screaming for the Doctor and the Tenth Doctor is apparently not good enough. And then another man calling himself "the Doctor", played by David Morrissey, arrives at the scene. Could this possibly be a future generation of the Doctor? Just as it goes to the title sequence we witness both Doctors prepare to face down a Cybermen-manufactured monstrosity.

David Tennant announced in October that he would be leaving the role of the Doctor following this last batch of specials (which are being produced in lieu of a proper 2009 season). So the question early on becomes: is David Morrissey being primed to play the eleventh or even some other future version of the Doctor? Aye, 'twould be telling. But suffice it to say I loved his portrayal of the Next Doctor: it reminded me a bit of the Captain Hammer character from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog in terms of pure bravura, albeit touched with a hint of tragedy. From the getgo I found it easy to believe that this might be the Doctor that we know will eventually come (from how River Song described him in "Forest of the Dead"). That there is such great rapport between Next Doctor and Tennant's Tenth Doctor only helps to build the supporting case for this being a glimpse of a forthcoming regeneration (something which has never been done before in the history of Doctor Who). Velile Tshabalala is a lot of fun to watch as Rosita, and Dervla Kirwan (known for her previous work on Ballykissangel and Goodnight Sweetheart) turns in a positively menacing performance as Miss Hartigan. She's the proprietress of an orphanage and is betraying humanity to the Cybermen by helping them bring about the rise of the Cyberking: a Master Mold-ish "super Cyberman" with a factory in its chest that is ready to convert millions of people into Cybermen.

Last year's special, "Voyage of the Damned", was the perfect example of something that George Lucas noted years ago: that special effects without story backing them up are a dreary bore. Outgoing Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has learned his lesson well, because while "The Next Doctor" easily rivals "Voyage of the Damned" in terms of effects effort, it squarely remains a story focused on in-depth characters and engaging plot. Indeed, I will readily declare "The Next Doctor" to be the best Christmas special yet of the revived series! It's action-packed and replete with the drama, mystery and humor that Doctor Who at its best is renowned for. If I have one complaint though, it's that I think it's well past time for the Doctor on the new series to face down the "old school" Mondas-spawned Cybermen. The ones that menace the Earth in "The Next Doctor" are still the models from the parallel world that was first introduced in "Rise of the Cybermen". But I'm willing to let that slide this time, if only because of the Cyberking: one of the hands-down most brutally awesome spectacles that has ever been seen in a Doctor Who story.

"The Next Doctor" gets the full Five Sonic Screwdrivers on my Doctor Who rating scale. Well worth the time to download via Bittorrent from our Brittish brethren (of whom much thanks is owed for their work to put it on the Intertubes on Christmas Day!).

Next up for the Doctor: "Planet of the Dead", coming this Easter.

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The indomitable Eartha Kitt has passed away

There is some irony that she died on Christmas Day, when her sultry Yuletide ballad "Santa Baby" always enjoys tremendous airplay...

Singer, dancer, actress, writer... and the greatest Catwoman ever. Orson Welles once called her "the most exciting woman in the world". Not a bad way to have spent 81 years of life. And a mighty far road to have come from the cotton fields of North, South Carolina.

This was the woman who, in my mind, defined what it truly meant to be sexy. And it had nothing to do with her ravishing good looks. It was Kitt's unrelenting spirit that enchanted her many admirers. All her life, she was her own person and she never backed down. Eartha Kitt told it like she saw it. It cost her years of a career in the United States following a now-legendary argument at the White House with a wrathful Ladybird Johnson. But Kitt came back. As she said in 1992, "I'm still here!", while everyone who had tried to stop her had already gone.

I think my favorite memory of Eartha Kitt was when she appeared on Politically Incorrect at the height of President Clinton's scandal with Monica Lewinski. Kitt said something that the sorry lot of elected officials in this land would do well to remember: "He's in our house!", talking about the White House... and how it did not belong to Bill Clinton at all, but to "the people". If that didn't scream out that she was smart sharp and sexy, I don't know what would.

The sensual, seductive, vivacious Eartha Kitt passed away today after a battle with colon cancer. She was 81.

And I must grieve that there does not seem to be any performer of my own generation who can even come close to the class and style that this fine lady had.

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Is this a photograph of an angel?

I said in my last post that I was taking off until Christmas unless something demanded reporting about. Well, I think this might qualify, 'cuz I can't make heads or tails of this photo. Is it the real deal?

WFMY News 2 is reporting about this strange image caught by a security camera at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte. Many people are saying that it depicts an angel outside the room of 14-year old Chelsea Banton, who had just been removed from life support after extraordinary measures had been taken by doctors to keep her alive. The physicians had said that there was nothing more that could be done. Soon after, Chelsea's aunt spotted the unusual "signature" on the monitor screen and alerted Chelsea's mother Colleen. The image was observed by numerous other people including hospital staff.

And immediately afterward, Chelsea Banton began to make a remarkable recovery. She will now celebrate her 15th birthday at home on Christmas Day.

I've gotten pretty good at analyzing pics from years of working with Photoshop. And dog-gone if I know what exactly this photo depicts. WBTV News 3 has the original story about the apparent angel sighting.

What do y'all think?

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