Archive for March, 2009

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Radio Free Skaro #131 – The Sweet Serenade of Sarcastor

by Warren

With all three of the Three Who Rule firmly back in their respective command chairs, it was back to good old fashioned sniping, infighting and jocularity as Pedantor made battle with both his old nemesis Rubbishor and a new, more deadly enemy named Sarcastor. Somehow in the midst of this pantheon of perfidious poltroonery some discussion of Doctor Who came into play, but not by any means on purpose.

Direct download: rfs131.mp3

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Dubai’s media gold rush is over

by Warren

Time was that Dubai was a new hope for journalists getting laid off left and right here in North America and Europe. There was money everywhere, new publications founded at a rapid pace and big names like David Frost going to Al Jazeera and Martin Newland of the Telegraph and Canada’s own National Post moving to Abu Dhabi’s The National.

Well, the credit crunch put an end to all that. A lot of the ads running in UAE newspapers were for skyrocketing property, which has plummeted in the last few months, dragging the papers down with them.

So what’s ext for Dubai? Well, I wouldn’t write it off just yet. It’s already established itself as a beacon of development in the Middle East, and just as surely as the current crop of expats is jumping ship, once things pick up a new batch will be back to pursue opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. Though I doubt Dubai will reach the crazy heights of yesteryear…because none of us will.

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Radio Free Skaro interviews VFX genius Dennis Muren

by Warren

Not strictly Doctor Who this week, but a cool interview all the same. The local chapter of SIGGRAPH (a group of computer graphics geniuses) brought Industrial Light and Magic special effects legend Dennis Muren to Vancouver, and Warren was able to interview him. Apologies for the dodgy audio during Warren’s questions….the details are too boring to go into, but at any rate Muren’s thoughts on visual effects, art and the motion picture industry are the good stuff.

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Insanely cool biology with Juan Enriquez

by Warren

I’ve really been getting into the latest developments in biotech, and Juan Enriquez, an eminent smartypants who runs the Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project, gave an amazing talk at the TED conference about the frankly astonishing things developing in the field that promise serious medical breakthoughs in the next 20 years. Check it out below.

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Radio Free Skaro #130 – Invasion of the XX Chromosome

by Warren

With Steven currently roasting production codes out of his head under the fiery sun of Cuba, Chris and Warren decided mutiny was the appropriate response and welcomed Katrina (also known on Twitter as @xanister) to fill his gangly shoes. And not a moment too soon, as the Two Who Rule (and special guest) were inundated with a surfeit of news, both plausible and spoiler-diculous.

Direct download: rfs130.mp3

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

So You Want To Podcast Doctor Who: The Director’s Cut

by Warren

Now with more swearing! And some more keen insights from the fine fellows at Tachyon TV and Podshock, as well as the Three Who Rule, at the “So You Want to Podcast Doctor Who” panel at Gallifrey 2009.

Direct download: SoYouWantToPodcastDrWho-FinalMaster-DirectorsCut.mp4

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

Radio Free Skaro #129 – Digressionary Tactics

by Warren

With only Comic Relief and a mini-SJA episode (story?) starring a flatulent Ronnie Corbett, the Three Who Rule had little in the way of solid material to mold into gorgeous verbal statuary with their mellifluous locution this week. But thanks to the power of digression, they managed to unleash a torrent of nonsense almost unparalleled in the annals of Skarosian myth and legend. And all of it for you, dear listeners.

Direct download: rfs129.mp3

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Egypt 2008 part 2 – Aswan/Luxor

by Warren

Here’s the second video from out trip to Egypt. Camels in trucks, ancient monuments, and a felluca ride. Go here (and head to the lower right for the link) to get the HD version.


Egypt 2008, Part 2 – Aswan/Luxor from Warren Frey on Vimeo.

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

Radio Free Skaro #128 – In the Shadow of the Cyber-King

by Warren

In a surprising turn of events, this week’s episode was chock full of news…an unwelcome development with a “The Next Doctor” commentary bearing down on the Three Who Rule like a Cyber-King hell-bent on justifying its own lack of continuity. Being the brave souls they are, your gallant hosts soldiered on and brought not only the most current of current events in all of Who-dom, but also a sterling commentary on David Morrissey’s debut as the Next Doctor. Oh yes, and David Tennant made some sort of appearance as well.

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

Watchmen triumphs

by Warren

As a preamble, let me just say that I’m a massive fan of the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. I picked up the original 12 comic run when it first arrived in comic book stores in 1986, and it (along with Frank Miller’s the Dark Knight Returns) blew my 15 year old mind.

Of course Hollywood being the avaricious creature it is, plans were soon put in place to make Watchmen into a film, but if ever the source material for a movie could be deemed “unfilmable”, Watchmen was it. The plot jumps back and forth over forty years of history, the supposed superheroes are at best washed-up and at worst psychopaths, the story delves into philosophy, human nature, politics and serves it up with dollops of sex and violence. Oh, and one of the main characters is a detached Superman who sees time differently than mankind and walks around with his (blue) dink hanging out.

Miraculously, Zack Snyder has taken all of those unfilmable elements and made a stunning bit of cinema. Snyder stuck very closely to the source material (even setting the film in 1985, as per the comic), and it’s paid off in spades. Watchmen’s alternate universe (explained brilliantly in an opening-credits montage that tours the audience through decades of could-have-been 20th century events) is a feast for the eyes. Add to that standout performances by Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan and especially Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach, and Watchmen does not disappoint. I have a few minor quibbles, like the presence of Ozymandias’s cat Bubastis (which makes sense in the comic but seems out of place in the film), but my tiny complaints pale in comparison to standout sequences like Dr. Manhattan recalling his life on Mars, or Rorschach revealing just what drove him over the edge from grim vigilante to full-bore lunatic.

Opinion on the film seems to be split; geeks love it, and critics scratch their heads, admire the pretty pictures, and go back to worrying about their increasingly irrelevant jobs and worshipping French art films. I think we know where I land on this debate.

See Watchmen. Revel in its geeky fidelity to the original comic, but enjoy it on its own terms as a bold, visually stunning, thought provoking superhero film of the kind you never thought Hollywood could make. I plan to see it at least once more in the theatre.

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