The Thing About Today – April 2

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 2, 2020
Day 93 of 366

 

April 2nd is the ninety-third day of the year. It is World Autism Awareness Day, an official health-specific United Nations day designed to bring attention to autism, research about it, and acceptance of those affected by it.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Ferret Day, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, National Reconciliation Day, and National Burrito Day. That last one is typically observed on the first Thursday in April.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sighted land in what is now the United States state of Florida. Somehow, we later got a natural spring and a street named after him in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • In 1792, the Coinage Act was passed, thus establishing the United States Mint.
  • In 1800, Ludwig van Beethoven led the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
  • In 1805, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet Hans Christian Andersen was born.
  • In 1875, Walter Chrysler was born. He was the businessman who founded the Chrysler car company.
  • In 1900, the United States Congress passed the Foraker Act, which granted Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
  • In 1902, the “Electric Theatre” opened in Los Angeles, California. It was the first full-time movie theater in the United States.
  • In 1911, the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the country’s first national census.
  • In 1912, the RMS Titanic began sea trials.
  • In 1914, actor Alec Guinness was born. Among other great roles, he portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first three Star Wars films.
  • In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked the United States Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
  • In 1920, Jack Webb was born. The actor, director, producer, and screenwriter was well-known for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in Dragnet.
  • In 1939, singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye was born.
  • In 1947, singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris was born.
  • In 1956, As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiered on CBS. The two soap operas became the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
  • In 1962, actor Clark Gregg was born.
  • In 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C.
  • In 1972, actor Charlie Chaplin returned to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
  • In 1973, the LexisNexis computerized legal research service was launched.
  • In 1977, actor Michael Fassbender was born.
  • In 1991, Rita Johnston became the first female Premier of a Canadian province. She succeeded William Vander Zalm after his resignation as Premier of British Columbia.

 

Fitting for the day after April Fools’ Day: In 1941, radio host and satirist Dr. Demento was born.

Barry Hansen gained his Demento persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM. He played “Transfusion” by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and station DJ “The Obscene” Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be “demented” to play it.

The name stuck.

His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992, and continued in various markets until June 6, 2010. It has since entered the online market and continues weekly production.

The son of an amateur pianist, he started his vast record collection at age 12, a collection that now exceeds 85,000 units. He worked as Program Director and General Manager of KRRC radio in college, eventually earning a master’s degree in folklore and ethnomusicology.

Known for his love of novelty and parody music, he is credited with introducing new generations of listeners to artists such as Harry McClintock, Spike Jones, Benny Bell, Yogi Yorgesson, Stan Freberg, and Tom Lehrer. He also brought “Weird Al” Yankovic to national attention. In 1976, the good doctor spoke at Yankovic’s school, and Yankovic gave a self-recorded tape of comedy songs and parodies to him. The first song, “Belvedere Cruisin'”, about the family station wagon, was featured on the show. Positive listener response encouraged Yankovic to keep recording, leading Dr. Demento to fund Yankovic’s first EP, Another One Rides the Bus. Events led to a record deal and pop chart success in the 1980s and beyond, and Demento has appeared in a number of Weird Al’s music videos and his movie UHF as a result.

Dr. Demento has been inducted into both the Comedy Music Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

Timestamp #197: Planet of the Ood

Michael Falkner11 Comments

Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood
(1 episode, s04e03, 2008)

 

The revolution is at hand.

Mr. Bartle, the executive of an organization that is selling Ood, reviews a commercial for his operation and is then electrocuted by his personal Ood servant Delta Fifty. The Ood’s eyes glow red as he takes joy in the act.

The TARDIS dances as the Doctor randomizes their destination. When they touch down, Donna goes from excited to chilled as she opens the door into an arctic landscape and blowing snow. The Doctor is pleased to finally see snow (as opposed to the last three snow events), but his joy is interrupted as Donna steps back inside the time capsule and retrieves a parka.

An incoming ship, which Donna compares to a Ferrari against the Doctor’s “box”, contains Klineman Halpen. The arrogant man is set to replace Bartle, and his briefing includes a discussion on “red eye” syndrome from Dr. Ryder and a PR rep named Solana. They also discuss Delta Fifty, who has since gone to the snowy plains and died after being shot. The Doctor and Donna are there when he dies, having followed the Ood’s telepathic song. Delta Fifty’s last words were “The circle must be broken,” which accompanied the red eyes and his last breath.

The Doctor tells Donna about his first encounter with the Ood before they crest a hill and spot the facility in the distance. They join a buyers tour, using the psychic paper as their credentials, as another Ood succumbs to red eye and is nearly executed before displaying new symptoms. Halpen orders Commander Kess to take the Ood to Dr. Ryder.

As the Doctor takes stock of where they are – even mentioning the close relationship between the Ood and the Sensorites – Donna muses about being in the year 4126 and how humanity has survived global warming and the disappearance of the bees. Donna interviews one of the Ood and it mentions the circle before being taken away. The Doctor and Donna decide to abandon the tour and venture on their own.

Halpen examines the renegade Ood and orders an autopsy. The troops comply by shooting it.

The Doctor and Donna watch as the Ood are driven like cattle. They note Halpen’s trek across the compound to Warehouse 15. Inside the warehouse are an awful stench and a red glow emanating from an unknown source. Solana reports that the Doctor and Donna do not belong at the compound and Halpen heads back to his office.

The Doctor and Donna enter a different warehouse and find containers packed with Ood. They ask about the circle and the Ood reply in unison that it must be broken so that they can sing. Donna asks about the Ood being treated as slaves and the Doctor muses that they still exist in Donna’s time. After all, who made her clothes?

The guards find Donna and lock her in a container with three Ood. Meanwhile, Commander Kess plays the crane game with the Doctor before Solana intercedes. When Donna is released, the three Ood attack. As the Doctor, Donna, and Solana run, the rest of the Ood join in. The Doctor demands that Solana help them stop the red eye, but she betrays their position instead.

Kess reports to Halpen – who has been going bald and drinking “hair tonic” this entire time – and the boss orders them gassed.

The Doctor and Donna find the Ood conversion facility, the place where the natural-born Ood are converted into servants. They find a cage with a small group of these Ood, and the Doctor’s mind is flooded with the Ood’s Song of Captivity. He uses his telepathy to share it with Donna, opening her eyes to their plight, before opening the cage and joining them. One Ood shows the Doctor and Donna a brain in his hands, and they discover that conversion means cutting out their brains and replacing it with the translation ball.

The Doctor and Donna are apprehended soon after and taken before Halpen. The Doctor is furious to find out that the entire lot has been ordered to die. While the execution countdown begins, every Ood in the facility shares the song and attacks the assembled buyers. The Ood swarm the facility as the humans fight back. Commander Kess is trapped in the gas chamber as the countdown ticks to zero.

Halpen and Ryder try to escape, followed by Halpen’s Ood, Sigma, who hasn’t turned. They leave the Doctor and Donna to the rampaging Ood, but they are saved as the natural-born Ood telepathically tell the revolutionaries that Doctor-Donna-friend. The travelers run through the battlefield and find Ood Sigma as Ryder and Halpen enter Warehouse 15.

Halpen intends to destroy the mysterious red light with explosives, knowing that if it dies, all the Ood die. The Doctor and Donna arrive and discover that the red light is emanating from a giant brain, surrounded by a circular telepathic dampening field. When the Ood hindbrain is removed, the external brain assists with its continuous song.

The reason that the Ood have turned is due to Ryder’s association with a pro-Ood activist group. Ryder turned the circle down as low as possible. Halpen executes Ryder by tossing his over the side. Halpen turns a gun on the Doctor and Donna, but Sigma reveals that he has been poisoning Halpen over time with an Ood graft suspension. In short, it has transformed Halpen into an Ood, and Sigma says that he will now take care of the Halpen-Ood.

The Doctor disables the telepathic dampener and unleashes the song. The Ood end their rampage and join into the song that resonates across the galaxy. All of the Ood are returning to the Ood Sphere to be led by Ood Sigma.

As Sigma sees the travelers off, he remarks that Doctor-Donna will never be forgotten in the songs of the Ood, even though the Doctor’s song is soon to end.

 

This is a solid story about the revolution and the emancipation of slaves. The common thread of the song is a beautiful addition, linking the proliferation of song to the absolute freedom of the Ood. It’s also a nice bit of social commentary about modern-day slavery in sweatshops and poor working conditions.

Besides the nod to The Sensorites, we also get ties to Time and the Rani (use of a giant brain by the antagonists), Torchwood‘s Meat and Reset (exploitation of alien life for human benefit), and the potential mass extermination of a group of alien beings (Doctor Who and the Silurians).

The downside is the plethora of gunplay and violence, but we do get more threads laid for the future in a story that develops Donna, the Doctor, and their evolving relationship as they careen through time and space.

 

 

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

 

 

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem and Doctor Who: The Poison Sky

 

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – April 1

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

April 1, 2020
Day 92 of 366

 

April 1st is the ninety-second day of the year. It is traditionally observed as April Fools’ Day, but we don’t do that here.

It is Edible Book Day, an annual international event where “edible books” are created, displayed, photographed, and then consumed.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National One Cent Day, National Sourdough Bread Day, Childhelp National Day of Hope, and National Walking Day. The last two are typically observed on the first Wednesday in April.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 33 AD, according to one historian’s account, Jesus Christ’s Last Supper was held.
  • In 1789, the United States House of Representatives achieved its first quorum at Federal Hall in New York City. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected as the first Speaker.
  • In 1826, Samuel Morey received a patent for a compressionless “Gas or Vapor Engine”.
  • In 1873, the White Star Line steamer RMS Atlantic sank off Nova Scotia. 547 deaths were reported in one of the worst marine disasters of the 19th century.
  • In 1883, actor, director, and screenwriter Lon Chaney was born.
  • In 1891, the Wrigley Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois.
  • In 1893, the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy was established. It is still uncertain how soon after this point that they started carrying coffee cups everywhere and refusing to wash them.
  • In 1917, Sydney Newman was born. He was a Canadian screenwriter and producer, and he was the co-creator of Doctor Who.
  • In 1918, the Royal Air Force was created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
  • In 1920, actor and writer Toshiro Mifune was born.
  • In 1924, the Royal Canadian Air Force was formed.
  • In 1926, writer Anne McCaffrey was born.
  • In 1930, actress and singer Grace Lee Whitney was born. She portrayed Janice Rand on Star Trek.
  • In 1932, actress and singer Debbie Reynolds was born.
  • In 1937, the Royal New Zealand Air Force was formed as an independent service.
  • In 1947, the only mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy began.
  • In 1952, actress Annette O’Toole was born. She was Lana Lang in Superman III and Martha Kent in Smallville.
  • In 1954, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
  • In 1960, the TIROS-1 satellite transmitted the first television picture from space.
  • In 1969, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier entered service with the Royal Air Force. It was the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities.
  • In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General’s warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertising on television and radio in the United States. It went into effect on January 1, 1971.
  • In 1976, Apple Inc. was formed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in Cupertino, California.
  • Also in 1976, actor David Oyelowo was born.
  • In 1979, Iran became an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.
  • In 1983, actor Matt Lanter was born.
  • In 2001, same-sex marriage became legal in the Netherlands, which became the first contemporary country to allow it.
  • In 2004, Google announced Gmail to the world.

 

April 1st is well-known as April Fools’ Day, a day of practical jokes, tomfoolery, and (in general) not believing a thing you read on the internet.

Origins of the holiday are disputed and various. One such origin is in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales from 1392. In the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale”, a vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox on Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two. While some readers apparently interpreted this as the 32nd of March, or rather April 1st, the text of the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” also states that the story takes place on the day when the sun is in the signe of Taurus had y-runne Twenty degrees and one, which does not align with April 1st. Modern scholars attribute this to a copying error in the manuscripts over time, believing that Chaucer actually wrote, Syn March was gon. That would point to a date 32 days after March, which would be May 2nd. That’s also the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in 1381.

In 1508, French poet Eloy d’Amerval referred to a poisson d’avril (an April fool, literally “fish of April”), which is possibly the first reference to the celebration in France. Similarly, in 1561, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on April 1st.

There are also suggestions that April Fools’ originated due to calendar changes. In the Middle Ages, New Year’s Day was celebrated on March 25 in most European towns, with a holiday that in some areas of France ended on April 1. Those who celebrated New Year’s Eve on January 1 made fun of those who celebrated on other dates by the invention of April Fools’ Day. Observance of January 1st as New Year’s Day became common in France only in the mid-16th century, and the date was not adopted officially until 1564 by the Edict of Roussillon.

In the Netherlands, the origin of April Fools’ Day is often attributed to the Dutch victory in 1572 at Brielle, where the Spanish Duke Álvarez de Toledo was defeated. The Dutch proverb Op 1 april verloor Alva zijn bril can be translated as: “On the first of April, Alva lost his glasses.” In this case, “bril” (which is “glasses” in Dutch) serves as a homonym for Brielle. But, this theory provides no explanation for the international celebration of April Fools’ Day.

Finally, in 1686, John Aubrey referred to the celebration as “Fooles holy day”, which marks the first British reference. On April 1, 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to “see the Lions washed”.

Following with these potential origin stories across Europe, it’s understandable why the tradition is held so strongly in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, the Nordic regions, Ukraine, Lebanon, most of the Spanish-speaking world, and Canada.

In the internet age, practical jokes have taken on a whole new dimension. The Nordic countries traditionally publish one false news story, typically on the front page but not above the fold, as an annual gag, but the internet expands the reach to the entire world. While some pranks are harmless – ThinkGeek, for example, generates advertisements for absurd collectibles that can actually become real if enough customers vote for them – others carry the joke too far by generating false news stories that gullible people defend as real. Which can be dangerous in an era of fraudulent news stories, identity theft, and cyberwarfare.

The internet age has taken April Fools’ Day to a new level, challenging us all to define the difference between innovative creativity and manipulative deception.

I have made it a point in my creative channels to either not participate or to make the joke blatantly obvious to the most casual observer. I like a good laugh as much as the next person, but not at the expense of deceiving people in the long run. There’s enough of that in the world as it is.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – March 31

Michael Falkner1 Comment

March 31, 2020
Day 91 of 366

 

March 31st is the ninety-first day of the year. It is the International Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual event celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination against them worldwide.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Bunsen Burner Day, National Clams on the Half Shell Day, National Crayon Day, National Prom Day, National Tater Day, and National Equal Pay Day. The last one is observed on a Tuesday in March or April and changes annually.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1492, Queen Isabella of Castile issued the Alhambra Decree. Also known as the Edict of Expulsion, it ordered her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to either convert to Christianity or face expulsion from her lands.
  • In 1596, René Descartes was born. A French mathematician and philosopher, he was the one who thought and therefore was.
  • In 1685, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
  • In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was officially opened.
  • In 1917, the United States took possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark. They renamed the territory as the United States Virgin Islands.
  • In 1918, Daylight saving time went into effect in the United States for the first time.
  • In 1927, actor William Daniels was born. He was Mr. Sweeny in Boy Meets World and the voice of KITT in Knight Rider and its spinoff TV movie.
  • In 1930, the Motion Picture Production Code was instituted in the United States. It imposed strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion, and violence in film for the next thirty-eight years.
  • In 1939, The Hound of the Baskervilles was released. It was the first of fourteen films starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson.
  • In… 19… 43… Christopher Walken… was… born.
  • In 1945, a defecting German pilot delivered a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world’s first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans. It was the first to fall into Allied hands.
  • In 1948, actress Rhea Perlman was born.
  • In 1966, the Soviet Union launched Luna 10. It later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
  • In 1971, actor Ewan McGregor was born. He portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel films.
  • In 1985, the first WrestleMania takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then called the WWF).

 

In 1992, USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, was decommissioned in Long Beach, California.

USS Missouri (BB-63) was an Iowa-class battleship. Nicknamed the “Mighty Mo” or the “Big Mo”, she was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the State of Missouri and was the last battleship commissioned by the United States.

Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II, she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands. She fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 and was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets. She was reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, eventually providing fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January and February 1991.

Missouri received a total of eleven battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, and was finally decommissioned on March 31, 1992, after serving a total of seventeen years of active service. She was finally struck from the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995.

In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. She is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, which ended World War II.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – March 30

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

March 30, 2020
Day 90 of 366

 

March 30th is the ninetieth day of the year. It is National Doctors’ Day in the United States, and given current events, I think it’s appropriate to celebrate doctors and medical professionals worldwide. Reach out to the medical professionals in your life today and thank them for their tireless service on the front lines of this pandemic.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Take a Walk in the Park Day, National I Am in Control Day, National Pencil Day, National Turkey Neck Soup Day, and National Virtual Vacation Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1811, German chemist Robert Bunsen was born. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, discovered caesium in 1860 and rubidium in 1861, and developed an improvement on laboratory burners (later called the Bunsen burner).
  • In 1818, physicist Augustin Fresnel read a memoir on optical rotation to the French Academy of Sciences. It seems that, when polarized light is “depolarized” by a Fresnel rhomb, its properties are preserved in any subsequent passage through an optically-rotating crystal or liquid.
  • In 1822, the Florida Territory was created in the United States.
  • In 1841, the National Bank of Greece was founded in Athens.
  • In 1842, ether anesthesia was used for the first time. This occurred in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.
  • In 1853, Vincent van Gogh was born.
  • In 1861, Sir William Crookes announced his discovery of thallium.
  • In 1867, Alaska was purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, roughly two cents per acre, by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The Alaska Purchase was derided by critics as Seward’s Folly and Seward’s Icebox. It seems to have worked out well.
  • In 1937, actor Warren Beatty was born.
  • In 1939, actor John Astin was born. I remember him best as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family and The Riddler in the second season of Batman.
  • Also in 1939, the Heinkel He 100 fighter set a world airspeed record of 463 miles per hour.
  • In 1950, actor Robbie Coltrane was born.
  • In 1958, voice actor Maurice LaMarche was born.
  • In 2017, SpaceX conducted the world’s first re-flight of an orbital class rocket.

 

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest outside Washington Hilton Hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.

President Reagan was seriously wounded by a ricocheting .22 caliber bullet that bounced off the presidential limousine and hit him in the left underarm. It broke a rib and punctured a lung, resulting in serious internal bleeding. Reagan was taken to George Washington University Hospital for surgery, ad he recovered and was released about ten days later.

Besides Reagan, White House Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded. They all survived, but Brady suffered brain damage and was permanently disabled. When Brady died in 2014, it was classified as a homicide since it resulted from this injury.

Hinckley’s motivation for the attack was to impress actress Jodie Foster after he developed an obsession with her after watching one of her films. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of attempting to assassinate the president, and he remained confined to a psychiatric facility until September of 2016. He was not charged with James Brady’s death.

The assassination attempt had long-reaching effects, including a trivial change to The Greatest American Hero, which premiered that same year. The lead character, Ralph Hinkley, underwent a name change to Ralph Hanley for a few months to avoid any confusion with the failed assassin.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – March 29

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

March 29, 2020
Day 89 of 366

 

March 29th is the eighty-ninth day of the year. It is National Vietnam War Veterans Day in the United States.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day, National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day, and National Nevada Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1806, construction was authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road and the National Road, which became the first United States federal highway.  Built between 1811 and 1837, the 620-mile road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers – Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Ilinois – and was a main transport path to the West for thousands of settlers.
  • In 1871, the Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria.
  • In 1886, John Pemberton brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta.
  • In 1943, Greek keyboard player and songwriter Vangelis was born.
  • In 1945, Jimmy Stewart was promoted to full colonel, making him one of the few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years.
  • In 1955, actor Brendan Gleeson was born.
  • Also in 1955, actress Marina Sirtis was born.
  • In 1957, actor Christopher Lambert was born.
  • In 1961, the Twenty-Third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, thus allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.
  • In 1968, actress Lucy Lawless was born.
  • In 1973, the last United States combat soldiers left South Vietnam.
  • In 1974, NASA’s Mariner 10 became the first space probe to fly by Mercury.
  • Also in 1974, the Terracotta Army was discovered in Shaanxi province, China.
  • In 1999, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 10,000 mark at 10,006.78. This was the first time for the DJIA, happening during the height of the dot-com bubble.
  • In 2014, the first same-sex marriages in England and Wales were performed.

 

In 1951, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union.

The couple were accused of providing top-secret information about radar and sonar systems, jet propulsion engines, and valuable nuclear weapon designs. At the time, the United States was the only country in the world with nuclear weapons, making the underlying technology a valuable commodity.

Other convicted co-conspirators were sentenced to prison, including Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass (who had made a plea agreement), Harry Gold, and Morton Sobell. Klaus Fuchs, a German scientist working in Los Alamos, was convicted in the United Kingdom.

The Rosenbergs’ sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol and many other defenders maintained that Julius and Ethel were innocent of their crimes, victims of rampant Cold War paranoia. This idea was shattered after the fall of the Soviet Union when information concerning them was declassified. This included a trove of decoded Soviet cables, codenamed VENONA, which detailed Julius’s role as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets and Ethel’s role as an accessory.

In 2008 the National Archives of the United States published most of the grand jury testimony related to the prosecution. It revealed that Ethel had not been directly involved in activities, contrary to the charges levied by the government.

Convicted of espionage in 1951, the couple was executed by the federal government of the United States in 1953 at the Sing Sing correctional facility in Ossining, New York.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – March 28

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

March 28, 2020
Day 88 of 366

 

March 28th is the eighty-eighth day of the year. It is Serfs Emancipation Day in Tibet.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Black Forest Cake Day, National Something on a Stick Day, National Triglycerides Day, and National Weed Appreciation Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza found the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
  • In 1802, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovered 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever to be found.
  • In 1910, Henri Fabre became the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
  • In 1948, actress Dianne Wiest was born.
  • In 1955, singer-songwriter and producer Reba McEntire was born.
  • In 1960, actor Chris Barrie was born.
  • In 1979, a coolant leak at Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania led to the core overheating and a partial meltdown.
  • In 1981, actress Julia Stiles was born.
  • Also in 1981, actor Gareth-David Lloyd was born.

 

In 1842, Otto Nicolai conducted the first concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Until the 1830s, orchestral performances in Vienna was on an ad hoc basis. In 1833, Franz Lachner formed the forerunner of the Vienna Philharmonic, an orchestra called the Künstlerverein. That orchestra consisted of professional musicians from the Vienna Court Opera, which is now the Vienna State Opera. They performed four concerts, each including a Beethoven symphony.

The Vienna Philharmonic itself came to be nine years later, developed by a group that regularly met at a local inn, including the poet Nikolaus Lenau, newspaper editor August Schmidt, critic Alfred Becker, violinist Karlz Holz, Count Laurecin, and composer Otto Nicolai.

The Vienna Philharmonic is now considered to be one of the finest in the world, selecting its members from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. The selection process is lengthy, with each musician demonstrating his or her capability for a minimum of three years’ performance for the opera and ballet. After the probationary period, the candidate musician may request an application for a position in the orchestra from the Vienna Philharmonic’s board.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – March 27

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

March 27, 2020
Day 87 of 366

 

March 27th is the eighty-seventh day of the year.

First, it is International Whisk(e)y Day, a day to recognize Scottish, Canadian, and Japanese whiskies (no e) as well as Irish and American whiskeys (with an e), as well as supporting Parkinson’s Disease research. This celebration is not to be confused with World Whisky Day (in May) or National Bourbon Day (in June).

Second, it is World Theatre Day, an observance that was started in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute to recognize the international theatre community.

Third, it is International Medical Science Liaison Day, a day to honor the scientific experts who help to ensure that drugs and/or products they support are utilized effectively by physicians, and serve as scientific peers and resources within the medical community.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Joe Day, National Scribble Day, and National Spanish Paella Day.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1863, Henry Royce was born. An English engineer and businessman, he founded Rolls-Royce Limited.
  • In 1886, Apache warrior Geronimo surrendered to the United States Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars.
  • In 1915, Mary Mallon was put into quarantine for the second time. Known as Typhoid Mary, she was the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States. Since she was asymptomatic, she continued to work as a cook, exposed others to the disease, and caused multiple large outbreaks. She would remain forcibly quarantined for the rest of her life.
  • In 1935, actor Julian Glover was born.
  • In 1942, actor Michael York was born.
  • In 1952, Singin’ in the Rain premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
  • In 1967, actress Talisa Soto was born.
  • In 1970, actress Elizabeth Mitchell was born.
  • In 1971, actor Nathan Fillion was born.
  • In 1998, the Food and Drug Administration approved Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence. It was the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
  • In 2004, HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander-class frigate, was sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall. This was the first event of its kind in Europe.

 

In 1794, the United States Government established a permanent navy and authorized the building of six frigates: Chesapeake, Constitution, President, United States, Congress, and Constellation.

Before this point, the naval forces were under the Continental Navy, which was established on October 13, 1775. Of the original six frigates, only the USS Constitution – “Old Ironsides”, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world – remains, berthed in Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts as a free-to-tour educational museum.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

The Thing About Today – March 26

Michael FalknerLeave a comment

March 26, 2020
Day 86 of 366

 

March 26th is the eighty-sixth day of the year. It is Purple Day, a day of awareness regarding epilepsy.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Nougat Day and National Spinach Day. I have never tried mixing the two, so it could be a total peanut butter and chocolate situation.

Or not.

 

Historical items of note:

  • In 1484, William Caxton printed his translation of Aesop’s Fables.
  • In 1773, Nathaniel Bowditch was born. A mathematician and navigator, he is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation. His book, The New American Practical Navigator, was first published in 1802 and is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel.
  • In 1812, a political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coined the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection. The term was named after Elbridge Gerry, who, as Governor of Massachusetts, signed a bill that created a partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a mythological salamander.
  • In 1830, the Book of Mormon was published for the first time in Palmyra, New York.
  • In 1904, author and mythologist Joseph Campbell was born.
  • In 1911, playwright and poet Tennessee Williams was born.
  • In 1930, Sandra Day O’Connor was born. She was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • In 1931, the legendary Leonard Nimoy was born.
  • In 1944, Diana Ross was born. A singer-songwriter, producer, and actress, she was the lead singer for The Supremes.
  • In 1948, Steven Tyler was born. He is the lead singer for Aerosmith.
  • In 1950, composer Alan Silvestri was born.
  • In 1958, the United States Army successfully launched the Explorer 3 satellite.
  • In 1960, actress Jennifer Grey was born.
  • In 1972, actress Leslie Mann was born.
  • In 1985, actress Keira Knightley was born.
  • In 2005, Doctor Who returned to television after a 16-year hiatus with the episode “Rose“. Christopher Eccleston starred as the Ninth Doctor alongside Billie Piper as Rose Tyler.
  • In 2018, Black Panther became the highest-grossing superhero film in the United States with earnings of $630.9 million.

 

In 1871, Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, prince of the House of Kalākaua, and later a territorial delegate to the United States Congress, was born.

He was a prince of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi until Queen Liliʻuokalani was overthrown in a coup d’état by a coalition of American and European businessmen in 1893. He later went on to become a representative in the Territory of Hawaii as a delegate to the United States Congress, and as such is the only person ever elected to that body who had been born into royalty. As a delegate, he authored the first Hawaii Statehood bill in 1919. He also won passage of the Hawaiian Homes Act, creating the Hawaiian Homes Commission and setting aside 200,000 acres of land for Hawaiian homesteaders.

He died on January 7, 1922, and his life was honored by the legislature of the Territory of Hawaii with the establishment of Prince Kūhiō Day in 1949.

Prince Kūhiō Day is one of only two holidays in the United States dedicated to royalty, the other being Hawaiʻi’s King Kamehameha Day on June 11.

 

In 1874, poet and playwright Robert Frost was born.

Of his works, two of my favorites are Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and The Road Not Taken.

 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

 

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

 

 

Timestamp #196: The Fires of Pompeii

Michael Falkner14 Comments

Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii
(1 episode, s04e02, 2008)

 

Just one act of kindness can make all the difference.

The TARDIS door opens on what the Doctor calls ancient Rome. Donna is enamored, particularly by the translation capabilities of the time capsule. She tries a bit of Latin, but it comes out as Celtic with a Welsh flair. He also mentions that he had nothing to do with a certain great fire in Rome, but we all know that to be a lie.

They round a corner, muse about the missing landmarks, and glance to the horizon as the ground starts to shake. There’s a volcano ahead of them. It is Mount Vesuvius, which means that they are in Pompeii, and it is eruption day.

While the travelers run for the TARDIS, a red-hooded woman reports back to her fellow sisters and the High Priestess of the Sibylline Sisterhood that the “blue box” has arrived as written in prophecy. Speaking of the TARDIS, it has been sold by a local shopkeeper to a marble merchant named Caecilius. The merchant considers the box to be a lovely piece of modern art, and his family is very superstitious. His daughter, for instance, is training to be a seer in the Sisterhood, and spots an irregular being in the vent leading the magma below.

Donna wants to save everyone in Pompeii, but the Doctor tells her that it is an impossibility. The event is a fixed point in time and cannot be altered. The Doctor and Donna find Caecilius and pose as both Spartacus and marble inspectors. Donna tries to tell them about the volcano, but the locals don’t even have a word for it.

Lucius Petrus Dextrus, the chief augur of the town, arrives and gives the Doctor praise during a verbal sparring match. Caecilius has developed a piece of art for the augur, which looks just like a circuit board, and Caecilius’s daughter Evelina arrives to shed light on the travelers. Both Evelina and Lucius see though the travelers, prophesy her return, and speak of Donna’s future.

Later on, Donna visits with Metella as she cares for Evelina. The girl is sickly and her arm is turning to stone. Meanwhile, the Doctor consults with Caecilius about the creature in the vent and how the vapors from the geothermal exhaust have enabled the soothsayers to predict the future with uncanny accuracy.

The Doctor and Quintus make a midnight trek to Lucius’s home where they find a wall of the circuit engravings. Lucius declares that the gods are using them to gift him the future, but the Doctor decrypts them as an energy converter with an unknown purpose. Lucius declares that the Doctor should die, and the Doctor escapes with Quintus after revealing the augur’s stone arm.

Lucius responds by sending the creature underground in pursuit of the time lord.

Donna continues her visit with Evelina, revealing the future of Vesuvius, which is transmitted to the Sisterhood as a new prophecy. The High Priestess declares that Donna must die for her foresight.

As the Doctor and Quintus return to Caecilius’s home, the creature erupts from the vent. The family treats the being like a god, but turn on it when it kills a man by dousing it with water. In the commotion, the Sisterhood kidnaps Donna.

He tracks Donna to the Temple of Sibyl and rescues her just before she’s murdered. He tells the Sisterhood about Sibyl, noting that she would be ashamed of them. The High Priestess demands to speak to the Doctor and reveals herself as nearly changed to stone. The Doctor recognizes that the people are being seeded by an alien species and demands that they reveal themselves. The being declares itself as a Pyrovile, a species that arrived a millennia ago and were awakened by the 62 earthquakes. The Pyroviles are a psychic race that can see through time. The Doctor holds the High Priestess back with a water gun as Donna opens the hypocaust and they escape into the volcano.

As they walk on, Donna asks about the fixed points. The Doctor replies that he can see them because that’s how he views the universe as a Time Lord. She’s still aghast that he will not save the people of Pompeii, but he cannot break a fixed point.

They reach the heart of Vesuvius, which is inhabited by the Pyrovile in their adult form. They spot the circuitry of an escape pod and recognize it as the same pattern that the augur has been coveting. Speaking of, Lucius reveals their presence. During the standoff, Lucius reveals that the Pyrovile homeworld is missing, and the creatures want to take Earth for their own. Donna and the Doctor dive into the pod and figure out that the Pyrovile are using the energy of Vesuvius to advance their plan. To save the world, the Doctor must allow Pompeii to be destroyed. It’s a question of 20,000 people versus the entirety of Earth, and Donna helps the Doctor choose.

They choose to save Earth.

Pompeii erupts around the pod, destroying the Pyrovile and ejecting the pod into Pompeii. The travelers rush to the TARDIS as the villagers panic and the Sisterhood is lost. Donna tries to help the people, but it is no use. With a heavy heart, she begs the Doctor to save Caecilius and his family, but he starts the TARDIS dematerialization sequence.

As they take off, she levels her fury at the Time Lord. Her frustration gives way to sorrow, and the Doctor tells her that he cannot save the people of Pompeii anymore than he can save his own people. Donna reasons that he can save just one family.

So he does.

In a burst of light, the TARDIS rematerializes and the Doctor extends a hand of salvation.

They all watch from a nearby hilltop as the town is destroyed. Caecilius takes solace in the thought that Pompeii will be remembered, giving the name “volcano” to the carnage. Evelina has lost her power of sight, but the family is united in strength through sorrow.

Donna and the Doctor sneak away. She thanks him and he tells her that she was right: Sometimes he needs someone, and she’s welcome to be that companion.

Six months later in Rome, Caecilius’s family is happy and healthy. Quintus is studying to be a doctor, and before he leaves for the day, he gives thanks to the household gods. The relief reveals them to be the Doctor, Donna, and the TARDIS.

 

This story hits the mark on every level. The dialogue is quick and witty, but also serves to propel the plot forward instead of simply being clever. The setting is well crafted and makes Pompeii feel large even though it’s obviously the same street set redressed a few times over. Donna’s pleas and the Doctor’s internal battle tug at my emotions every time I see it.

The franchise mythology is on full display here, from the past (mentions of Gallifrey, identifying the Doctor as a Lord of Time, citing the Shadow Proclamation, nodding to the classic era while exploring the mysteries of the revival era’s Last Great Time War) to the future (the Doctor Who debuts of Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillan, laying some groundwork for the rest of this series as well as the future of the franchise, and beginning the lore of fixed points in time).

That “fixed point” business? It’s always been there, all the way back to The Aztecs when the First Doctor told Barbara that she could not change a single thing (“not one line”) in history without suffering dire consequences. The trick is making a difference in history without changing history. Thus, the blessing and curse of the Time Lord.

Some of the more obscure trivia about the episode includes the TARDIS as modern art, which is a nod to City of Death – one of writer James Moran’s favorite classic stories – when the Fourth Doctor parked the time machine in an art museum. The humor Mary Poppins gets a bit of screentime here with the “positions!” scramble to save breakables from the rumbling. We also get a nod back to Barcelona, which is where the Ninth and Tenth Doctors wanted to take Rose.

The Fires of Pompeii is a masterful episode of television.

 

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

 

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood

 

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.