So Penelope, my cat, has learned to open the cabinets in the house. Because, being a cat, no area within her domain should be closed off to her. And it’s taken about two and a half years, but she’s finally gotten the hang of it. The thing is, the cabinets here are slightly spring-loaded, so it takes some trying for her to get them open enough to stay open. So when I’m home, I can hear this steady “thump, thump, thump” as she paws at the door, only to have it close again. And when I’m not home, I come home to open cabinets. It’s when she manages to open the ones that are not at floor level that I’ll start to worry.

I don’t mind the noise, because it’s not enough to wake me up if she does it at night, and I prefer that she understand that she needs to empower herself. Plus, the alternative is to leave the cabinet doors open, and I don’t want to do that. For one thing, when I leave the house, I like to know where she is, and I don’t need to create a whole new world of nooks and crannies for her to hide in. For another, most of the cabinets have wide doors and are located in major thoroughfares, like under the bathroom sink next to the toilet, or right at the top of the stairs. It’s okay if she can figure out how to manipulate her world to suit her needs, but another thing entirely if I need to change mine for her.

So last night, I was in the bathroom, and she came in and opened the cabinet under the sink to go exploring. And she put her paws onto one of the overhead (for her) crosspieces, I guess to see what was up there. And somehow, she managed to get one of her claws wedged in between two pieces of wood, and couldn’t get it out. At first, I thought she was just messing around with something in there, and didn’t pay too much attention. Then I saw that she was trying to climb up somehow, and it so clearly wasn’t working, I couldn’t figure out what she was doing. And then I heard her crying.

Now, Penelope is an attention-seeker when she wants to be. If she wants something, she’s got quite a set of lungs, and usually, the best thing to do is just ignore her rather than encourage her yowling for attention in the house. But this time it was clearly different. She was obviously hurting and upset, and it was heartbreaking. And I couldn’t see where she was stuck, so I had to feel for it. Which meant pulling on her paw a little, which only hurt her more. But I managed to pull her claw loose, and she didn’t hold it against me.

Obviously, nothing like this is happening while I’m out, because I’ve never come home to find her stuck to anything. I’m so glad I was here to help her when she needed me.

SFX - Star Trekking - with JJ Abrams: "JJ Abrams is directing the next Star Trek film. Just take a moment to digest that. Check the calendar -- no, it's not April 1st. The source? Paramount itself."

Back in California the ratty neighborhood where i used to work has been urban renewed. This sushi place used to be a Der Weinerschnitzel.

As time passes, disappointments and frustrations continue to dominate this year. This past week hasn’t involved either me or any members of my family ending up in the hospital, which is a pleasant change, but now it’s looking like my father is going to need surgery, which makes my own problems feel petty and small by comparison. (But they’re still there, nonetheless.)

However, this past week also saw the return of Doctor Who for its second season, and that’s something to celebrate. In fact, because the first season was such a phenomenal success, last week also saw the return of making-of series Doctor Who Confidential, and the debuts of the for-kids making-of magazine TV show Totally Doctor Who and the for-kids print magazine, Doctor Who Adventures. (And three new Doctor Who novels, for those keeping score at home.) And because Doctor Who isn’t a favorite TV show for me, it’s a way of life, I had to check them all out.

First, of course, I loved the new episode, New Earth. Funny and scary, touching and thrilling, it builds on the success of the first season in a spectacular fashion. It’s not perfect; the actual resolution to the story is a little quick and easy, and as a result, not entirely satisfying. But the rest of it is so solidly entertaining, I don’t really mind.

(I should point out, at this point, I’ve seen the episode three times. Twice just to watch it, and once with the commentary downloaded from the official web site.)

New Doctor David Tennant, in just two episodes, has succeeded in making the part his own. And Billie Piper continues to be a treasure, both as Rose, and as Cassandra, the Last Human, who returns in this episode with a twist. And there’s cat nuns! And their makeup is fantastic, so much so that you never stop to think, “That’s a person in makeup.” You just accept that they’re cat nuns. Lovely.

And next week: Queen Victoria, Kung Fu monks, and a werewolf. Now that’s television.

Doctor Who Confidential continued the high standards set last year, proving that there really is enough mileage to be gotten out of 13 half-hour making-of episodes. This season already feels more focused on the new series, with less clips and interviews from the classic series. And I’m sure there’s Internet whining going on about that, but I just can’t be bothered to check. The past of the show has been mined fairly thoroughly; I’m happy to learn all I can about the current one.

I do know there’s Internet whining about Totally Doctor Who and Doctor Who Adventures. In both cases, these are products that have clearly been created, designed, and marketed for younger readers and viewers. Every bit of pre-publicity made that clear, and it’s equally clear from the products themselves. So why does the fan response (at least on Outpost Gallifrey) seem to be divided between people who thought they were okay to good, and people who are upset that they are aimed at children? This is why I’ve decided to just avoid hearing what other Doctor Who fans think about the show and its stuff any more.

Me, I really liked Totally Doctor Who. Clearly, at the age of almost 37, I am not the target audience. But I grew up watching these sorts of magazine shows for kids. My earliest recollection is of one called Big Blue Marble, which featured stories about kids and things from around the world. I also remember faithfully watching one called Spot On! when we lived in New Zealand for a year. And I can’t think of a single example of that sort of thing being made in the US any more. So to see something like this again, one that reminds me very much of the shows from my childhood, only devoted completely to something that I love today? And to find it completely entertaining? It’s a great feeling.

And the new comic is pretty nifty, too. Lots of nice pictures, including a full-page pin-up of Rose. Hubba hubba.

James Bond 'Ultimate Edition' DVDs Officially Announced - James Bond 007 - CommanderBond.net - James Bond At Its Best: "While most Bond fans have known about this for some time, Sony has officially announced that all 20 James Bond films will be released as 'Ultimate Edition' DVDs. A preview for the new collector sets is attached to the Sony/Columbia DVD release of Fun with Dick and Jane."

Having complained oh-so-much about Infinite Crisis and its related comics, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to say something positive about comics. So here’s what new stuff I’m ordering from the current Previews catalog:

CONAN AND THE DEMONS OF KHITAI TP
I’m enjoying Dark Horse’s monthly Conan series so much it’s scary. But the miniseries, I’m waiting until they’re collected, instead of buying the individual issues. (Just don’t need the comics piling up around the house, and I don’t want to wait a quarter of a year for a self-contained story that will take me less than an hour to read...)

CONCRETE VOL 6 STRANGER ARMOR TP
This may be the final (to date) collection of Paul Chadwick’s excellent Concrete series. Definitely one that holds up to rereading, and one I’d rather have on the bookshelf than stuffed away in some comics box somewhere.

BPRD THE BLACK FLAME TP
I had been reading the BPRD series as they came out, just like I do Hellboy (the book that spawned it), but they weren’t really sticking to my brain the way I would have liked. The Black Flame is the first one I decided to hold off on buying until it was collected, and I expect it’ll be a lot more enjoyable for me in one sitting...

ASTRO CITY SAMARITAN SPECIAL
Kurt Busiek does such a fantastic job telling Astro City stories in both multi-issue arcs and single issues. So do I mind an extra-sized special issue while the current ongoing story is on a break? No, I do not.

CLAW THE UNCONQUERED #1
I mentioned above my enjoyment of the Conan comic, which has extended almost equally to the Red Sonja comics. So I bought the Red Sonja/Claw miniseries (or at least the one issue out so far), and liked that just fine. Andy Smith’s art was great, and he’s going to be drawing this revival of Claw’s solo series. And it’s going to be written by Chuck Dixon, whose work I love--on the right character or book--and who wrote the first Conan comic story I can remember buying. So I’m going to give this a try.

CASANOVA #1
It’s a spy book with all the right influences (Steranko’s SHIELD, Diabolik, stuff like that), and it’s only $1.99. And the art looks nice. Worth trying at that price... (There's an interview with writer Matt Fraction about it here.)

GARGOYLES #1
While I drifted away from the cartoons after a while, I really enjoyed this show when it premiered, and am enjoying it all over again on DVD. If it wasn’t being written by the series creator, I probably wouldn’t be buying the comic. But it is, so I am. So there.

FLIGHT VOL 3 GN
The first two Flight books were great. No reason to expect anything less from this third one.

BLACK PLAGUE ONE SHOT
I’m buying this one for Joe Casey, who rarely disappoints with his own creations. We’ll see... (It’s only a one-shot, so not a big risk.)

CHIPS WILDE THE WILD ONE GN
It’s a graphic novel set in a period that interests me (the West in the ‘20s), by a veteran Western comics artist. I think it’s worth checking out.

RED SONJA MONSTER ISLAND ONE SHOT
I’ll admit, they probably had me at Red Sonja. But this one is written by classic Conan writer (and creator of the comics version of Red Sonja) Roy Thomas. Thomas was one of the key comics creators from my childhood, and it’s hard to pass up anything with his name on it these days. (It’s almost as hard to find anything with his name on it, for that matter...)

ADVENTURES OF RED SONJA VOL 2 SHE DEVIL WITH A SWORD TP
Roy Thomas again, this time joined by Frank Thorne as artist, in these reprints of Sonja’s 70s Marvel series. I enjoyed the stories in the first book just fine, although I would have enjoyed them better if they had been reproduced better. I’m taking a chance that this will show some improvement.

PHANTOM LAW OF THE JUNGLE GN
I’m not sure what this will turn out looking like (it’s made up of panels spread out across two pages, with the dialogue and captions printed in the margins, I think). But I like the Phantom, and with art by Paul Guinan in a style similar to his recent Heartbreakers book, it’ll be really pretty.

LOVE THE WAY YOU LOVE #1
I finally read Jamie Rich’s first novel, Cut My Hair, and enjoyed it much more than I expected. This new series deals with some of the peripheral characters from that novel, so I’m looking forward to seeing them again. Plus, it’s in my new favorite format, Oni’s little digest format. You get the thrill of a serialized story, but in pieces bigger and more substantial than the average comic book.

STRUGGLERS GN
A last minute addition. I’m getting it because I’ve heard great things about creator Tim Fish, it sounds like the sort of slice-of-life story I really enjoy, and the price isn’t too bad for what you get.

JUDGE DREDD COMPLETE CASE FILES VOL 4 TP
And these, I’ll just keep getting until they stop making them. Because I Judge Dredd.

Oh, and almost making the cut would have been Paul Jenkins and Chris Moreno's Sidekick from Image Comics, a humorous superhero book. Only when push came to shove, I I decided it wasn't really lighting my fire the way I want a Paul Jenkins comic to excite me. He says it's going to deconstruct the superhero genre by throwing pies at it. And, at this point, what's clever about a comic book pointing out how silly superhero stories can be?

I'm a fan of the CD revivals of childhood favorite TV shows from Big Finish. I'm not a huge Dark Shadows fan, but I like the idea. I really liked the short-lived prime time revival series in the 90s, but find the original series a bit too slow and dull to actually sit and watch. But the idea of supernatural soap opera really appeals. (This is why I enjoyed NBC's Passions so much until I became too busy to watch it every day.) So this news is certainly of interest...

Dark Shadows audios? - Outpost Gallifrey: "Big Finish will indeed be releasing a series of Dark Shadows audio dramas on CD. These are officialy licensed from Dan Curtis Productions and will star members of the original series cast. An official announcement from Big Finish will be released shortly.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dark Shadows, it is a gothic drama TV series that was broadcast in the US from the mid-Sixties to early Seventies. It is the closest equivalent to an American Doctor Who in the sense that it attracted a dedicated pre-teen following on its original broadcast that has grown in to a massive, and very enthusiastic, cult following. The series has spawned many fanzines, newsletters, websites and conventions and it seems only natural that Big Finish should step in and continue the rich legacy on audio as it has with the likes of Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People and Sapphire and Steel. We feel certain that Dark Shadows fans and newcomers alike will enjoy this latest addition to the range of audio dramas available from Big Finish. "

BBC America seems to currently be in the midst of trying to appeal to viewers with pulses. In addition to the shows in the article I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, they have some new stuff coming next week that I’m interested in.

First, in their “Mystery Monday” slot, they’re showing the third series of Sea of Souls, just a few weeks after its conclusion in the UK. Having seen the first two series on DVD, this has become a favorite of mine--doesn’t hurt that, starting with the second series, the cast featured Dawn Steele--and it’s nice to know I’ll get to see the third series right away. This series departs from the earlier format of three two-part stories over the six-episode series, instead telling six single-episode stories. I’ve read reviews that say the quality almost as good as the second series, so I’m excited.

It’s followed by something called Murder Prevention Unit, about which I know nothing, but I’ll check it out.

And on Tuesday, there’s the premiere of Rocket Man, a drama starring Robson Green. Again, read about this on the BBC UK site and it sounded like something I wanted to check out (been a fan of Green’s since Touching Evil). Now I can, without having to buy the DVDs.

BBC America - Sea Of Souls: "Driving on a curvy road, you suddenly know what is around the bend -- and there it is, exactly as predicted. The phone rings and you know who is calling. Coincidence? A fluke? Or are these glimpses of powers beyond our knowledge? One man's truth is another man's hocus-pocus, and that is where Dr. Douglas Monaghan (Bill Paterson, Lie With Me) and his two researchers Justine McManus (Dawn Steele) and Craig Stevenson (Iain Robertson) come in. They make up the fictional Parapsychology Unit at Clyde University that is at the heart of the gripping drama Sea of Souls.

Over six individual one-hour stories, the Edgar-nominated Sea of Souls confronts dark, unanswered questions of the supernatural. What others find terrifying -- deathly seances, powerful premonitions, vivid night terrors, sinister hauntings, demonic forces, and macabre black magic-- the Sea of Souls team finds mesmerizing."

And because Heist has been canceled, I've stopped watching it immediately. I liked the first two episodes I saw just fine, but I don't need to watch it until the bitter end, particularly if it's not going to tell its complete story.

Goodbye Heist - TV Squad: "Heist, the stylish NBC robbery drama, has already been axed by the network, Michael
Ausiello is reporting at his site ..."

A little bit of home on my parents mantle.

Hospitals do indeed suck. But @ least this one has a nice view.

See the plane @ the end of the jetway? That means ill b flying 2day after all!

It’s midseason, and the networks are springing new shows on us like there’s no tomorrow. These, of course, would be the shows that weren’t considered strong enough to handle fall competition, but enough money was spent that they get an airing anyway.

There’s two shows about thieves, Heist and Thief. Heist is pretty much the TV series version of Michael Mann’s Heat. If it was better, it would be Hustle, but it’s watchable. Thief, starring Andre Braugher on FX, is serious as a heart attack. But it’s only six episodes, so I’ll try to stick it out.

Also decided to sample a couple of new comedies. NBC has Teachers, which looked pretty atrocious in the commercials, but stars Sarah Alexander from Coupling, Green Wing, and Worst Week of My Life. And, indeed, it was atrocious, and did star Sarah Alexander, acting comedic circles around her costars. But between here and one scene that did make me laugh, it gets a second chance from me this Tuesday.

And last night, I recorded VH1’s So NoTORIous, Tori Spelling’s new sitcom about herself. And it’s not fantastic, but it was funny, particularly the second episode. So I’ll probably keep watching it.

(Really, all I ask from a sitcom is it makes me laugh. That’s all it takes, and so few still manage to do it.)

So I’m trying to hire someone to trim my two trees (pine tree in front; palm in back) and clean up my very neglected back yard. So far, I’ve had two companies out to give me estimates. One estimated higher for the trees, the other would charge less for the trees, and more for the cleanup and weeding of the back. So, six of one, half a dozen of the other. The third company is supposed to come out tomorrow. It may come down to who has complaints filed against them with the license board, if any, or it may come down to me just picking a name out of the hat.

We’ll see.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Robin Hood returns to British TV: "Legendary folk hero Robin Hood and his Merrie Men will return this autumn in an BBC One series, with newcomer Jonas Armstrong in the title role."

Really looking forward to this. It's already been announced that it'll be coming to BBC America, and if that channel is indeed contributing financing to the show, hopefully it won't be too long a wait.

I watched last week’s episode of Smallville last night. It’s felt like a while since we’ve gotten new episodes, but frankly, I hadn’t really minded not having to watch it. Part of it is the fact that, after five years, nothing seems to have really changed or evolved on the show. (How many other shows could kill off a supposedly major character without a single ripple?) But part of it is just an increasing dissatisfaction with another aspect of the show.

A few episodes ago, we got a story dealing with Lois and Chloe being menaced by the spirit of a murdered girl out for revenge. It was a truly pedestrian episode, and could have come from almost any supernatural TV series: Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer... Take your pick. But in talking to a friend about it, I realized that it really brought to the front a problem that, sadly, I had only been registering subconsciously.

So here’s the problem I currently have with Smallville, and I don’t know if it’s a problem that’s always exisited and I--shamefully--didn’t notice before, or if it’s been something that’s been growing over the past few seasons. But every woman on the show is either a victim or evil. And I recognize that, it being a show about Superman, almost every story is going to involve characters needing to be rescued by Clark Kent. I get that. But it’s not constantly ending up tied next to explosives that makes Lana a weak victiim character--although it certainly helps--it’s the fact that her character isn’t strong enough to tell Clark that she isn’t putting up with his crap any more and walking away. Chloe exists to pass on information to Clark and get tied up. Lois exists to tease about the future, and to get tied up and beaten.

And then I read in last month’s issue of SFX that Erica Durrance, who plays Lois, has a phobia of water. And last season, she was put in a death trap that involved a slowly flooding room gradually covering her with water and threatening to drown her. And this season, she fell in love with Aquaman, a storyline that required the actress to spend lots of time in the water.

And I read this, and I’m thinking the producers had to know of her phobia. And there was no particular reason for her to be the one Aquaman falls for and not, say, Chloe, since the characters are completely interchangeable. And this is complete conjecture on my part, but it almost sounds like the producers made he decision to put the actress in an uncomfortable position. And if that’s the case, and you combine it with what appears to be a mysogynist streak running through the storytelling, and it just leaves an increasingly bad taste in my mouth.

And I’m not quite to the point where I don’t want to watch the show, but it’s bothering me more now than it should.

Woke up this morning, got out of bed, and discovered that it apparently took me an hour to get from the bedroom to the computer.

I hate Daylight Savings Time.

BBC - Doctor Who (David Tennant and Billie Piper) - News

New trailer for the second series of Doctor Who!