Connection Conjecture by Brice Baker

It's been a little while since I've had time to write--working 2 full time jobs will do that. I also wanted to take the time to make this article special. So I finally found the time and sat down with Netflix and a note book to watch "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

First I'd like to point out that I picked this for the connections it made with future episode--some seasons later, truly amazing writing. It occurs in the 51st century, Captain Jack's home time, so immediately we have a link with the past. The introductory scene continues with a discussion about biographies, and the fact that there is always a death at the end...a nice piece of foreshadowing. Surprisingly, the Doctor uses the term "Spoilers" before River does!! I had no idea until this re-watch.

After another reminder of the past, that the sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood, we finally meet River Song for the first time. Her first appearance is in a space suit with a gun in her hip. Jump ahead a few seasons and we again have her in a space suit with a gun emerging from Lake Silencia to kill the Doctor. I will admit to a moment of wow when this hit me.

Interview with Oni Hartstein from (Re)Generation Who

(Re)Generation Who will be held on March 27-29, 2015 at the Hunt Valley Inn in Cockeysville, MD. We will be at (Re)Generation Who walking around and taking everything in, while updating our fans via Twitter on all the happenings. If you see us, please stop by and say "Hello". Who knows maybe we will reward you.

Oni Hartstein and her husband, James Harnell, are owners of Onezumi Events, an event production company. Oni was gracious enough to sit down and answer some questions for us about putting this great event together. 

What can fans attending (Re)Generation Who expect to see?

Lots of stuff! We will have fan discussion panels, panels with the actors, and the opportunity to meet and get autographs and photos with the actors. We will have a video room playing Doctor Who-themed videos. On Friday and Saturday night we will have geeky performances, bands, plus a dance party featuring Doctor Who fan videos.

The TARDIS photo booth will be there offering green screen photos inside a TARDIS with different Doctor Who-themed backgrounds that you can choose from. At least 2 TARDISes, 2 K-9s, and a mechanical Davros will be at the con for photo ops. 

Costumes are encouraged all weekend! We will have prizes at some events for the best costumes. Our Social Media department will be out and about interviewing and photographing the guests but we will also be featuring the fans. It's a big deal with us to spotlight the awesome work of our fellow Whovians.

We will also have a mobile phone based QR code game that we designed in-house specifically for (Re)Generation Who called The War Games. This is optional to play, but a lot of fun. We plan to evolve it every year. Did I mention that fan creativity is a big deal with us and that our most important thing is supporting the community? Yes, I believe I did. :)

We are so incredibly grateful that Tom Baker and his wife Sue Jerrard were kind enough to work with us for our first year. We are creating a (Re)Gen 1 exclusive Tom Baker career retrospective print which he will sign a limited number of. These must be ordered by Feb. 15, 2015 and are available for pick up at the con only. You can see some preliminary images here.

Mr. Baker will be doing his first-ever (and possibly only-ever) Skype Q&A Session for his American fans at our con on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 12 noon. This is available to every regular attendee with no extra change, but the room can only fit about 1100 people so I recommend you pre-register and get there early on that day.

We have more than this that will be released in the next 2 weeks. We aren't looking at any other con's grid. We are designing fresh panel programming and working closely with the guests to bring you things they have never done anywhere else to this con.

If there is one thing that sets us apart, it would have to be the innovation we bring to fandom. We really love what we do and always try to make everything more awesome than it already is.

Review "The Last Christmas"

Dr Who's Christmas tradition is back with a brand new episode, "The Last Christmas". In the past most Christmas episodes are kinda light and uneventful except for last year's special, when we said "Goodbye" to Matt Smith. This year's special, it seems that Steven Moffat went for light, humorous and then scares the daylights out of us.

"The Last Christmas" is Dr who meets Aliens meets Inception. They even make a joke about this when after the Doctor learns that we have a movie called "Alien", he remarks that no wonder everyone tries to invade us. Easily the best line of the whole episode. The alien in this episode is a creature called a "Dream Crab". these things are down right scary. I'm talking about the checking under the bed before you sleep kind of scary. A creature that sucks out your brain. It's a pretty bold choice for a Christmas episode.

Connection Conjecture

You know what really grinds my gears????  It's when plot points, big and small, aren't resolved. I've said before that I love how the writing of Dr. Who tends to wrap around itself. Things in this universe are interconnected (hence the title of my articles). However, this expectation just makes it more aggravating when things are left dangling. I thought I would list some of these questions left unanswered before the Christmas episode (maybe some will be resolved in it)

I will try to do this from most recent to oldest, and it is by no means comprehensive. This is just from the top of my head.

1-Soooo. We are to just brush of that apparently all the graves in the world are now empty??

2-no repercussions from a teen posting pictures from the moon?? While we are on the subject, recently there seems to have been an open door policy to the tardis.
2a-whatever happened to the kids that Clara nannied??

Altoona Con - Review

Today I had the pleasure of attending the first (hopefully) annual con in Altoona Pennsylvania. Unfortunately the advertising for this was lackluster, but I was pleasantly surprised. 


The space was a corner room in the grand Altoona hotel (formerly Ramada). Thinking positively, all of the tables were filled with a decent variety of artists and regional dealers. However, the room was small and cramped. For $2, we got a gift of free comics and an enjoyable introduction to comic cons for my kids (my 7 year old girl went nuts at any Dr Who stuff). They also got to see a few cos-players as well. 


For a first year, it was nice. Vendors were pleasant and prices looked very reasonable. Hopefully the organizers will realize how needed this is in my area and increase the space. Until then, we have "sci fi in the valley" in May.

Review "Dark Water" & "Death in Heaven"

So the Season has come to end with a two part serial, "Dark Water" and then "Death in Heaven". Since this is one serial, I am going to review both episodes together as one.

There's a lot to take in from both of this serial. First the Master is back as a woman named "Missy". One mystery down. The Cybermen are back. Danny Pink is turned into a Cyberman and is potentially lost forever. The Brigadier is back, well kind of. We learn what the after-life is all about and I now know that I don't want to be cremated. That's a lot to take in. Lets look into each of these.

Review "Flatline" & "In the Forest of the Night"

Reviewing this new season of Dr Who has been trying for me, but I'm plugging away. Since I watched both "Flatline" & "In the Forest of the Night" today, I figured that I would review them both.

"Flatline" is first up and it's a bag of good and bad. The good, the special effects. The shrinking of the Tardis and having the Doctor trapped inside looked awesome and having the hand come out of the Tardis was really well done.  It's the not the first time the Tardis has been shrunken. In "Logopolis", the Master shrinks the Tardis down to a miniature size trying to kill the Doctor. You know the Master, he loves to shrink things. The other special effect that I thought was great was the 3-D versions of the monsters. They were creepy. I mean very creepy. I mean so creepy that if I saw one of them in person, I would crap my pants.

The thing I didn't enjoy at all was the overall lack of depth to the story. Yes, the creatures had some great moments, but they lacked depth (in more then one way). We know absolutely nothing about these creatures. This is the type of story that needed a more drawn out story. We need to know why they are here and their history. I just feel like after watching this episode, I could have skipped this episode and it wouldn't have made much of a difference. It was rather boring.