10:29 PM: Hello, internet! Some of you may be celebrating Obama’s victory, but not all of us are feeling very happy. Specifically, some of us are terribly unimpressed with California’s proposition 8, which if passed will overturn the right of gay people to marry. I’m queerer than a three-dollar bill so even though I live in Canada this makes me pretty sad. Tonight I’ve been following the results on CNN, which haven’t been good so far (currently 53% in favor with 31% of stations reporting), and quite honestly it makes me want to either drink or cry. And since only one of those things is amusing to other people, I’m asking you to follow me as I drink and report on the status of ballot measure 8.
10:41 PM: Starting up with a rum and coke! I’m a slow typer so it’s only going down the hatch now. No change in the percentage.
I know you’re angry, but please don’t shoot the messenger. Or, in this case… the messenger’s messenger, I suppose. Plenty of other people are posting this story, go shoot one of them! Anyway. From the BBC:
David Tennant is to stand down as Doctor Who, after becoming one of the most popular Time Lords in the history of the BBC science fiction show.
Tennant stepped into the Tardis in 2005, and will leave the role after four special episodes are broadcast next year.
“When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won’t be with me,” he said.
Sorry kids, but we all knew this was going to happen eventually. When William Hartnell became too elderly to continue the role back in the 60s and the concept of regeneration was conceived to explain the transition to Patrick Troughton, I’m sure everyone knew that subsequent actors would all become targets of a “death pool” of sorts. That’s the nature of the beast. Personally, I had Tennant pegged for at least one more year as The Doctor. Oh well.
I’ll miss him. He’s definitely somewhere in my top five of the ten actors who have (officially) played the role over the years… probably somewhere between Tom Baker and Sylvester McCoy. I wonder where the next guy will place? Whenever this happens, the first thing people usually talk after the “who’s next?” speculation is whether or not the newcomer will be able to follow in the wake of their immediate predecessor.
Memo to Auntie Beeb: if you’re going to tap Patrick Stewart for his long-rumoured guest appearance, do it now, as his recent theatrical work alongside Tennant should translate to instant chemistry.
West: “How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?”
Biden: “Are you joking? Is this a joke?”
West: “No.”
Biden: “Is that a real question?”
West: “That’s a real question.”
Biden: *laughs*
So who exactly is this Barbara West character? Well kids, when she’s not recycling the Hannity/O’Reilly/Limbaugh arsenal of neocon smears on WFTV-9 in Orlando (that storied bastion of political commentary), she’s busy playing wife to Mr. Wade West, a GOP Media Consultant. Shocking!
First we had Matt Damon (MATT DAMON!) compare Sarah Palin’s presence on the Republican ticket to a really bad Disney movie. I can see that (oh, and so can all you, too). Well played, sir! Top drawer.
However, now John Cleese has thrown down the gauntlet by referring to Palin as a well-trained parrot followed up by the rather keen observation that her rapid ascension is exactly the kind of skit material Monty Python could’ve dreamed up back in the day. And boom goes the dynamite.
Only 11 days left! Do we have time for another challenger? Take your shot now, this could be your last chance. I wouldn’t expect to see SNL’s favourite punching bag stick around in public after the GOP ticket has finished its long downward spiral.
If you ever have the chance to read it, pick up Sue Townsend’s The Queen and I. It’s a short, snappy, humorous book about what would happen if the British monarchy were disposed and forced to live in a low-class housing estate and live ordinary lives.
Alternatively, you could just follow the latest news in Nepal about the country’s ex-monarchy, which was abolished just this May when the country became a republic.
According to good old Auntie Beeb, the Nepal Electricity Authority is demanding over one million dollars in owed unpaid bills within the next 15 days, or else their power will be shut off. There has been no comment from ex-King Gyanendra or his family, sparing us from having to read about how the cheque had already been sent (but you know how the post office is, eh?).
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. The former royals still own many palaces and bungalows in the capital, Kathmandu, and elsewhere in Nepal. So, even if the power is turned off in all their homes, they can still live the good life in a magnificent palace. They just have to do it under candlelight.
