Television

Waiting in a Doctor Who Fan Line, or: Real Men Don’t Squeeeee

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I received late word that the cast, executive producers, director, and head writer/showrunner of Doctor Who would be in New York City to promote the new series premiering soon with an event sponsored by television station BBC America — like the BBC, but with commercials interrupting shows designed not to be interrupted. This special event Monday night featured the world premiere of the first story (two episodes) of the new series, before the official airing on April 23, 2011 in the United States and the United Kingdom. The screening was followed by a question and answer session with a panel composed of the individual listed above.

Thinking the event would be only slightly more popular than last year’s, I planned to line up in front of the theater hosting the event in the early afternoon. After checking updates on Facebook in the morning, I realized that I needed to get into Manhattan early or else miss my chance to get in. I also planned to hold a spot for M-D as well, which was unfortunately a fruitless effort. I arrived in line around 9:30 am, and I was already number 450 in line for an event that supposedly had a capacity for 500. Many people in line in front of me camped out the night before; others were waiting since midnight. Despite being a fan of Doctor Who in some form since at least 1981, I was clearly not the biggest fan there. I wasn’t even dressed in costume like about 50% of the other enthusiasts.

I’m quite fine with that. The relationship between “fan” and “object of fan’s affection” is weird. I don’t like relating to people at significantly disparate levels. It’s awkward and strange. People seem to be fanatic about science fiction actors — more so than athletes. Fanaticism is so strong that these individuals say ridiculous things and ask pointless questions at Q&A sessions. To British and Scottish individuals in the television industry, these vocal representatives of my country can be embarrassing.

In a perfect world, I would be able to relate to individuals I admire on a professional level. I’m not in the television industry, however, so that is unlikely. Unless you’re a teenage girl, it’s just not OK to gush over popular individuals.

The first two episodes of the new Doctor Who series are not without their flaws, but they will be a fantastic way to start off what will be an exciting series with interesting stories, wrenching drama, and new monsters. In the theater during the screening, there was almost as many, “Huh?!” reactions as enthusiastic cheers. Afterwards, writer Steven Moffat begged us not to reveal too much about the show (spoilers!), so I’ll just say that I’m not quite sure how viewers will be able to stand waiting one week between episodes one and two.

After the break is one of the many trailers for the new series.

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Where is Today’s Counterculture in Music?

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Sir Bob Geldof was Craig Ferguson’s guest on The Late Late Show last night. I watched the interview earlier today. Craig had seen Bob perform with the Boomtown Rats in 1977, at a time and in a location featuring social unrest. Young people, particularly young musicians, had an opportunity to react to popular culture and its musical interpretation (disco, pop) with punk music. Throughout the twentieth century, after the technology for performing and recording music became accessible, the younger generation used it to rebel against the status quo. Punk rock, and particularly the thoughtful punk rockers like Bob Geldof and John Lydon, shaped this counterculture.

In the interview, Bob and Craig agree that we are experiencing a formative period in history, one that will be viewed by historians centuries in the future. Thanks to social unrest throughout the world, money flowing into emerging markets, and dominant global power shifting away from the United States, society may be at a tipping point. I don’t think anyone can properly identify what history will choose to focus on until well after the fact, but assuming it’s true, where is today’s counterculture? Specifically, where is the music that can be identified as representative of today’s social change? Why does no one have anything to say about this?

Commercialism is quick to latch onto anything new these days, and that may be why none of today’s music seems revolutionary. A counterculture is commercialized so quickly — take hip-hop, for example — that it doesn’t have time to stand for something and no longer means anything. With artists concerned about making a living in this country, there isn’t a lot of opportunity to do something untested. Maybe we need to start looking elsewhere to find the next social movement to become representative of a generation, perhaps the Middle East, north Africa, or China.

Bob mentions how terrible the popular music was at that time, and there had to be a change. Today’s pop music should generate the same sort of reaction, but where are today’s music rebels? Watch the interview with Bob Geldof after the break.

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Intellect and Romance Over Brute Force and Cynicism

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A few days ago, I gave my notice to resign from my position at Prudential. I’ve been working at the company for almost nine years. While I never felt completely at home in a corporate environment, I enjoyed my time at Prudential. Many co-workers have now become my friends, and I am grateful for the opportunity to earn a master’s degree.

Outside of Prudential, I’ve been building a business for the past few years. I can only describe the business as one that is involved with internet publishing, and for several of the most recent years, the business has thrived.

I decided it was time to dedicate myself fully to my business.

The next chapter of my life is about to begin, and I’m looking forward to making the most of my short time on this planet, spending more time building my business as well as increasing my involvement with music and photography, while improving my overall health.

In celebration of change, I’m sharing the “lost” cold open from The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, which would have aired on November 16, the episode featuring Matt Smith during the week focusing on Doctor Who. Unfortunately, the producers were unable to obtain the rights to broadcast the Doctor Who theme music which would have been aired in this scene, so the segment featuring a dance to lead off the show was scrapped.

Perhaps they secured rights to publish the music online, because the clip is now available on Youtube. Craig Ferguson used Orbital‘s cover of the Doctor Who theme music, the same version you can hear on my defunct Not The Mind Probe Doctor Who Podcast. See the video, featuring a crazy dance as well as lyrics describing the history of this particular science fiction television program, after the jump.

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Ben Folds and William Shatner

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Musician Ben Folds, one third of the former trio Ben Folds Five (and medium format photographer), must be BFFs with William Shatner. The former captain of the Enterprise teamed up with Ben for the musician’s side project, Fear of Pop. Shatner has a distinctive style of singing that most people would not call “singing.”

Some time after this first collaboration, William became the spokesperson for Priceline. In one commercial, he played against an evil William Shatner, with the requisite goatee, reminiscent of the archetypal evil twin Spock in the classic Star Trek episode, “Mirror, Mirror.” But more importantly, one commercial featured Shatner “singing” with piano accompaniment. The piano was manned by Ben, practically unidentifiable in comparison with the legendary Shatner. The first time I saw the commercial, I was unaware of the actor’s relationship with Ben Folds and the combination struck me by surprise.

William Shatner is now continuing his domination of television with a show I expected to be horrible: “Shit My Dad Says,” the show spelled, “$#*! My Dad Says,” and pronounced, “Bleep My Dad Says.” How good could a television show based on a Twitter feed really be? Well, it’s not so bad. In fact, a recent episode featured a good criticism of self-help gurus — people for which I, like the writers of this episode, have little respect.

The best part of the show is that the theme music and all of the interstitial music is performed by Ben Folds. Check out the short opening credit sequence after the jump. The full song, “Your Dogs,” is on Ben’s latest album and collaboration with author Nick Hornby, Lonely Avenue.

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Beck in AT&T Blackberry Torch Commercial

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This is the latest in a series about good music in commercials, if two posts does, in fact, constitute a series. This is Beck, known worldwide for his memorable guest star stint in an episode of Futurama ten years ago. Also, his albums with groovy beats are quite good. Even Sea Change had a number of excellent tracks.

The music in this ad is from the song “Black Tambourine” on Guero. Listen to the music after the jump.

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The Doctor and a Dalek on Craig Ferguson

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Matt Smith is the latest actor to portray the Doctor in the long-running British television show, Doctor Who. He was on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson the other night, during which the British actor highlighted his insight on American society.

If you know me, you know I’ve been a long-time Doctor Who fan. I didn’t have high expectations for the latest series, but I was pleasantly surprised. Most of the stories were well done.

In an interesting move, speaking to the globalization of television (and to the fact that most American fans simply download the episodes from file sharing services, distributed by kind British folk, so they don’t have to wait too long before seeing the episodes air on SyFy or BBC America or whatever network airs the show on delay), this year’s Christmas special, “A Christmas Carol,” will air on Christmas Day both on the BBC and in the United States.

With the time difference, the five to eight hours between the airing may not be enough time for British viewers to record the show, encode it, and host it on bittorrent, and for American viewers to download it. Speaking of the latest Doctor Who news, the Children in Need special is airing Friday on the BBC, so check your local bittorrent server this weekend (if that sort of illicit activity appeals to you).

Back to the Craig Ferguson interview, which is available here in its entirety after the jump. Here were some of the highlights:

  • Matt Smith places Las Vegas on “the coast.”
  • He expected to meet more bears in the American suburbs.
  • Bow ties are cool.

Apparently, the cast and crew have been in Utah, filming the two-part Season Six premiere, set in the late 1960s. They should have chosen Zabriskie Point.

Here’s the video of the interview with Craig Ferguson. For those who aren’t familiar with either Matt Smith or Craig Ferguson, they are both a bit wacky. The interview is followed by a trailer for the next episode to be aired.

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Massive Attack in Lincoln Car Commercial

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I enjoy about half the tracks on Massive Attack’s latest album, Heligoland, but after the first listen a few months ago I immediately identified Paradise Circus as the stand-out cut. I wasn’t the only one; a unique remix was recently used in a television commercial for the 2011 Lincoln MKX.

I didn’t expect Massive Attack to pop up in such a commercial commercial, but the group has donated all income from the production of music for the commercial to the clean-up effort in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a responsible way to offset money earned from the auto industry.

The commercial use of Paradise Circus is in stark contrast with the official video (NSFW), featuring a former small-time porn star reminiscing on her video work during the 1970s, against the song as a backdrop.

Watch the commercial — and more importantly, listen to the music — after the jump.

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DDx

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I’ve been watching the first season of House on DVD over the past week or more, and I’m pretty sure I’d be able to intubate someone if I need to. It seems like every patient needs to be intubated at some point during their treatment, and they do make the procedure look pretty easy.

The Other Advertising Extreme

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I love seeing this commercial on CNN while eating my lunch in the cafeteria. It’s so straightforward. All advertising should be like this. Of course, the commercial informs not what the product does, only where the users should stick it.