JAKE'S JUNK

So I'm hanging out today at my buddy Michael's apartment, watching an episode of 'Jake 2.0' on Syfy. I explained the premise to Mikey and his first question was about the extent of the nanobot infestation of Jake's body. As the scene on TV was of a romantic nature, I'm assuming that he was referring to Jake's "boys" swimming around down in their holding cell.....

It reminded me of a very funny essay by Larry Niven, "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex". I have to say that it's the height of comic book geekiness.
With Jake Foley, I think the same problem would apply. Any woman whom Jake wanted to have sex with would have to get NSA clearance.

JAKE: Diane, I have millions of microscopic robots running around inside of me. Please tell me what the next step in this relationship is, because I have no clue. I mean, the best I can hope for is that I don't lie to her, because she can never know the real me. Nobody can ever know the real me. Nobody ... except you.

And it would have to be performed under clinical conditions, to make sure she never got pregnant. Would an individual born with superhuman abilities lose their right to be their own person? Would the government confiscate such a baby?

It seems like the kind of topic 'The Prisoner' might have tackled.....
I'm surprised the government never insisted on Jake getting a vasectomy. Chances are though that the nanites would only repair the damage.......

BCnU!

PS:
Sorry, folks. I run a fairly clean ship here. That's all of the 'Smallville' slash-fic picture you're going to see here....

AS SEEN ON TV: HUGH DORSEY

HUGH DORSEY

AS SEEN IN:
"The Murder Of Mary Phagan"

AS PLAYED BY:
Richard Jordan

From Wikipedia:
Hugh Manson Dorsey (July 10, 1871 – June 11, 1948) was an American lawyer, jurist, and the 62nd Governor of Georgia associated with the Democratic Party.

He was born in Fayetteville, Georgia, Georgia in 1871 and moved with his family to Atlanta, Georgia in 1879. Dorsey graduated from the University of Georgia in 1893. Dorsey is noted as the prosecuting attorney (serving as the solicitor-general of the Fulton County Superior Court) in the Leo Frank murder trial. His fame from that trial led to two consecutive two-year terms as the Governor of Georgia from 1917 to 1921. Dorsey also served as a superior court judge in Atlanta from 1935 until his death in 1948. He is buried in Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.

BCnU!

LONELY GOLLUM (PART TWO)

With regards to that piece I posted earlier today about Russell Hunter being the inspiration for Gollum in Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lord Of The Rings", it could be that Jackson had also seen him in the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, "The Five Red Herrings".

Here's how Hunter looked as Matthew Gowan by the end of the story: BCnU!

REFLECTIONS ON "CALLAN"

While watching the 'Callan' episode "Suddenly - At Home", I was struck by the use of mirrors and reflections throughout the episode. It was an artistic choice that reminded me of episodes from 'Lost' and 'Mad Men'. Maybe because I noticed it at all means that it was a bad directing choice; I don't know. Alls I know was that I liked it....

BCnU!

THE MAN IN BLACK'S WAR

I can't write anything definitively on this until after 'Lost' is over; I might even have to wait until 'Supernatural' has finished its run as well. But still I wanted to put this out there, submit it foryour approval:

Although he may be stuck in the bodily form of John Locke right now in this final season of 'Lost', the "Man In Black" used to look like the actor Titus Welliver.
Someone else who looked like Welliver was War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as seen on 'Supernatural'.
Since both beings are of supernatural origin, could it be that there is some sort of connection?

I'm not saying they have to be the same being - their timelines could be overlapping. Then again the Man In Black was stuck on the Island - at least as of 2007. War, AKA Roger, was introduced in 2009. Who knows? Maybe the Man In Black does escape the Island and gets to go home - and resume his career as War. If War had been free to join his fellow Horsemen (Famine, Pestilence, and Death), don't you think the Apocalypse in Earth Prime-Time would have occurred with the new Millennium?
We'll have to wait and view what happens in both shows. At least with 'Lost' we'll have the answers (about the Man In Black at least) after the finale on May 23. 'Supernatural' looks to have a solid run ahead of it still; they can afford to hold off with the answer platter.

BCnU!

LONELY GOLLUM

Toying with the concept of Television as an alternate reality isn't my only interest in Life. I have other hobbies: Elfquest comics, for instance, and urban fantasy stories. And abusing people as my personal playthings.

I'm also a big fan of "The Lord Of The Rings" - the books especially, but also the movies. And while watching/researching the Edward Woodward series 'Callan', I discovered that there was a connection to the Tolkien trilogy.

Russell Hunter played Lonely, a low-life thief who worked for Callan as a snitch. And apparently, Peter Jackson remembered this series from his youth and used Hunter's portrayal of Lonely as the model for the look of Gollum, with the bug eyes, the thin wavering lips, and the sniveling personality. If Hunter knew of this before he died in 2004, I'm hoping he considered the recognition as an honor.

Thinking 'pon how both of them look, I can see the resemblance. But I don't know how much faith I should put in this trivial nugget, since the main source for the info comes from the IMDb.com. Like Wikipedia, any damned fool can add to that site, so this could have been made up just to pull a fast one on people like me.

But still, I like the comparison.

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: LEO FRANK

LEO FRANK

AS SEEN IN:
"The Murder of Mary Phagan"

AS PLAYED BY:
Peter Gallagher

From Wikipedia:
Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884 – August 17, 1915) was an American man who became the only known Jew to be lynched on American soil. The manager of his uncle's pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia, Frank was convicted in the rape and murder of one of his factory workers, 13-year-old Mary Phagan. The case is widely regarded as having been a miscarriage of justice. It was the focus of many conflicting cultural pressures, and the jury's conclusion represented in part, class and regional resentment of educated Northern industrialists who were perceived to be wielding too much power in the South, threatening southern culture and morality.

The trial was sensationalized by the media. The Georgia politician and publisher Tom Watson used the case to build personal political power and support for a revival of the Ku Klux Klan.

Shortly after Frank's conviction, new evidence emerged that cast doubt on his guilt. After the governor commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, Frank was kidnapped from prison and lynched by a group of prominent citizens who called themselves the "Knights of Mary Phagan." The mob was reported to have included the son of a senator, a former governor, lawyers, and a prosecutor.

In response to the Frank case, the Bnai Brith founded the Anti-Defamation League in 1913. Ultimately, in 1986, Georgia granted Frank a pardon.

BCnU!

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: "SEAN'S SHOW"

Sean is a friend of mine, the Little Buddy to my Skipper. He and his wife Gosia and their kids live in Taiwan where he teaches English. (I'm the god-father to their daughter Rhiannon.)

And every so often, Sean comes up with interesting Toobworld theories, including one which splains why the technology of 'Enterprise' was so far advanced of that seen in the original 'Star Trek' series. (And hopefully one day he'll write it up for me!)

Here's his theory about a Gallifreyan Time Lord in an alternate TV dimension......

My insomnia has been leading me to write odd Toobworld theories late at night. This one was for the ITV 'Marple' episode "Towards Zero"... It was nice to see [Tom] Baker in it...

Warned of upcoming danger by the TARDIS' Cloister Bell, the Doctor decides to stay out of trouble, and instead spends time fixing his broken chameleon circuit by extracting the measurements of a true police box on Earth in order to give to the mathematicians of the planet Logopolis. He is unaware that the Master is aware of his plan, and materializes his own TARDIS in a recursive loop with the Doctor's. The Doctor and Adric work out the recursion, and attempt to flush the Master out by materializing the TARDIS in the River Thames, but instead land on a boat on the river with no sign of the Master's TARDIS.

Outside, the Doctor sees a glowing white figure, the Watcher, who directs him to hurry to Logopolis. The Doctor does not follow the Watcher’s advice, and instead uses the Chameleon Arch to transform himself into a human, hoping to avert the crisis which is to come. He takes the TARDIS for one more flight, into Earth’s recent past, alerts Adric to his plan and instructs him to pilot the TARDIS to humanity’s primeval era where the Master can do no damage. Adric does so*, thus saving much of the Galaxy, including the Traken Union, from the Master’s plan of Galactic conquest.

The Doctor, unaided by an assistant and forgotten, assimilates himself into Earth’s 1930’s and 40’s era as Mr. Frederick Treves. He lives this life until he is unfortunately murdered, years later, [by someone] who takes advantage of his weak and aged hearts. Though the Doctor dies unknown and unaided on his favorite planet, it may be some small comfort that his killer is found out by one Miss Jane Marple of Saint Mary Mead.

Sean

*Due to an error in Adric’s piloting, he rematerializes into a core system on a Cyberman-controlled freighter, causing it to crash into the Earth and causing the extinction of the dinosaurs.

THE TOOBWORLD TAKE:
Why I like this -

First off, it takes place in an alternate TV dimension, so that it has no bearing on the events of Earth Prime-Time. No Zonks!

We know it's an alternate TV dimension because Miss Jane Marple is played in this episode by Geraldine McEwan. The Miss Marple of Earth Prime-Time was played by Dame Joan Hickson.

I'm looking at a previously established alternate TV dimension for this story - from the two-part 'Doctor Who' episode "The Age Of Steel" and "The Rise Of The Cybermen" (or vice versa). There was a feeling about that world that the Doctor was unknown there, that its Earth never was visited by the Time Lord. Even after Rose had been there for awhile, she never mentioned the arrival of the Doctor to once again save Earth in the nick of Time. As she was working for UNIT over there, surely she would have come across mention of him.

But perhaps the Doctor used to visit in the past, and since his death back in the 1930's, (and because of it), the world deviated from a path similar to Earth Prime-Time.

Since we know that there are fixed points in Time, Adric was always pre-destined to die in a somewhat similar fashion to the way he perished in "Earthshock". And not even a Big Finish audio-play - "The Boy That Time Forgot" - can change that.

The presence of those Cybermen in Earth's primitive past isn't negated by the creation of John Lumic's Cybermen in the new future. Despite RTD's "best" efforts, Mondas would still exist in that dimension.

Thanks, Sean!
Do you have some off-beat Toobworld theory of your own? Send it along and I'll give it a showcase here!

BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: GOV. JOHN M. SLATON

"The Odd Couple" shared more than a handful of movies together......

GOVERNOR JOHN M. SLATON

AS SEEN IN:
'Profiles In Courage'

AS PLAYED BY:
Walter Matthau
AS SEEN IN:
"The Murder Of Mary Phagan"

AS PLAYED BY:
Jack Lemmon

From Wikipedia:
John Marshall Slaton, or Jack Slaton, (December 25, 1866 – January 11, 1955) served two non-consecutive terms as the 60th Governor of Georgia.

Slaton was born in Meriwether County, Georgia.

Slaton received a master of arts degree with highest honors from the University of Georgia in 1886 . Slaton married Sally Frances Grant in 1898.

In 1915, Slaton commuted the sentence for Leo Frank from death to life imprisonment. "I can endure misconstruction, abuse and condemnation," Slaton said, "but I cannot stand the constant companionship of an accusing conscience which would remind me that I, as governor of Georgia, failed to do what I thought to be right . . . It means that I must live in obscurity the rest of my days, but I would rather be plowing in a field than to feel that I had that blood on my hands."

The commutation of convicted murderer Leo Frank, because of the sensational nature of the trial, would result in the permanent end of Governor Slaton's career as a politician.

Some viewed the commutation by Slaton as a conflict of interest, as Slaton was a law partner of Frank's lead defense counsel. Slaton's actions led to threats of mob violence against the governor, and the Georgia National Guard and local police were enlisted for protection.

After his public service, Slaton served as the President of the Georgia State Bar Association (1928-29) and as a member of the General Council of the American Bar Association.

The former governor died on January 11, 1955 in Atlanta, and is interred inside Grant Mausoleum in Oakland Cemetery. The mausoleum interment was due to the Leo Frank controversy. [See comment below.]

Two for Tuesday.....

BCnU!

ROSE COLORED FUTURE

Jean Marsh is bringing her character of Rose from 'Upstairs, Downstairs' back to Television, and she'll be brought forward in Time!
Well, not that far forward....

'Upstairs, Downstairs' will be brought back to PBS in a co-production with the BBC. But this time the series will be set in 1936 to account for some of the passage of Time, as evidenced in the age of the characters. (But it's not enough. The series ended in 1975 with the dawn of the Great Depression after the stock market crash. Thirty-five years later? It should then be 1965 at the Bellamy household! I think that would have made for a much more interesting storyline with Rose and the Bellamys....)

Aside from Rose, I have no clue if any of the other original characters will be back - and if so, would they be recast. Several of the actors have passed away, including Gordon Jackson and Angela Baddeley. And especially with those two, they were so identified with their roles (Hudson and Mrs. Bridges, respectively) that it is inconceivable that anybody else could be playing the roles. (Eileen Atkins, who co-created the series, may be playing a role this time.)

It's going to be set in the same house, which is fine. But if I had my druthers, I'd avoid the recasting problem by having 165 Eaton Place occupied by a new family.

Just sayin', is all....

BCnU!