Here are the details on each podcast.  Check them out at the links and take a listen!

TWO TRUE FREAKS

Episode 138 Doctor Who Season Five Throwdown

The very fabric of time and space get stretched to their limits in this epic episode! Chris is joined by Scott “Shag Matthews” Gardner, Hope Mullinax, Mike Poteet and Jose Rivera for a fun filled, informative and PARTY SIZED podcast. It’s a new season with a new Doctor, new companions and new villains as well as some old favorites and not-so-favorites. It’s a show by show roundup of season five filled with music, humor, head-butting and Honeywell’s borderline personality disorder! You might want to kick back, grab some food and a few cold sonic screwdrivers, because this one clocks in at nearly four hours!

“The podcast that’s bigger on the inside!”  – Published Star Trek Author Mike Poteet

BETTER IN THE DARK

Episode Eighty-Nine: REVERSING THE NEUTRON FLOW PART THREE: GOODBYE, DAVID, HELLO CRISPI–UH, MATT (Special Guest–Shag)

In Episodes 28 and 31, Tom and Derrick celebrated the anniversary of one of their favorite television series, Doctor Who…since then, enough changes have occurred that The Boys Outta of Brooklyn has enlisted the aid of Views From The Longbox semi-lackey/co-host/Once Upon A Geek typewriter monkey (and perpetual Tom nemesis) Shag to provide an overview of the end of the Tennant era and the inaugural season of the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith! The trio discuss–and sometimes argue over–such subjects as the magnificence of Donna, Rose vs. Amy, the identity of The Dream Lord, the value of Russell T. Davies’ Whedon-ization of the series, the Skittles Daleks and other juicy topics. Plus, what is The Casey Mulligan Road? What is The Caruso Box, and why is Christopher Eccholson stuck in it? What if Brian Cox and Dougray Scott owned a bar together? Podcasts with bowties are cool, so get to clicking!

I had a real blast recording each of these.  I really appreciate them inviting me to appear on their fantastic shows.  After listening, drop either podcaster a line and let them know what you thought of the show.  Tell them The Irredeemable Shag sent you!

CURRENT SERIES

Here are my favorite companions in preference order from the current television series:

1. Donna Noble
2. Rose Tyler – During the first season with Christopher Eccleston. She was mostly forgettable with Tennant, with the exception of “Doomsday”.
3. Amy Pond
4. Wilfred Mott (Donna’s granddad)
5. Lady Christina de Souza (from the “Planet of the Dead” special) – Admittedly she didn’t travel in the TARDIS, but she was super-cool and would have been a fantastic ongoing companion. I’m glad she got the flying bus.
6. Captain Jack Harkness
7. Rory Williams
8. Martha Jones – She had amazing promise in her first episode, but it never played out.
9. Mickey Smith
10. River Song – Counting her as a companion is questionable.  I really don’t care for this actress, so liking the character is difficult.

CLASSIC SERIES

Here are my top ten favorite companions from the classic series. There are nearly 30 classic series companions to choose from.  One character that would probably have been my top choice, but never actually traveled with the Doctor was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.  He was absolutely brilliant, but was never really a companion.

1. Sarah Jane Smith (3rd and 4th Doctor)
2. Ace (7th Doctor)
3. Jamie McCrimmon (2nd Doctor)
4. Romana II (4th Doctor)
5. Zoe Heriot (2nd Doctor)
6. K-9 (4th Doctor)
7. Harry Sullivan (4th Doctor)
8. Ian Chesterton (1st Doctor)
9. Jo Grant (3rd Doctor)
10. Tegan Jovanka (4th and 5th Doctor) – very annoying character, but I liked her anyway.

EXPANDED UNIVERSE

I’m probably one of the few people to care about this category. There have been around 80 companions in the various expanded universe stories (i.e. Big Finish audios and books; Doctor Who Magazine comic strip; original novels by Virgin, BBC, and Telos; other comic strips over the years, and more).  Here are two links to lists of expanded universe companions for reference:

• Wikipedia list of companions in Doctor Who spin-offs, including some biographical info.
• Wikipedia list of companions in Doctor Who spin-offs, less biographies and more of a list layout.

Here are my top ten favorite expanded universe companions:

1. Professor Bernice Summerfield (Virgin novels, DWM comic strips, her own novels and audios from Big Finish – 7th Doctor) – possibly the most fleshed out companion of all time.  She started off as a companion to the 7th Doctor, but ended up with her own line of books and audio dramas.
2. Charlotte “Charley” Pollard (Big Finish Audio – 8th Doctor & 6th Doctor)
3. Fitz Kreiner (BBC 8th Doctor novels)
4. Dr. Evelyn Smythe (Big Finish Audio – 6th Doctor)
5. Anji Kapoor (BBC 8th Doctor novels)
6. Erimem (Big Finish Audio – 5th Doctor)
7. Thomas Hector “Hex” Schofield (Big Finish Audio – 7th Doctor)
8. Lucie Miller (Big Finish Audio – 8th Doctor)
9. Samantha Jones (BBC 8th Doctor novels)
10. Izzy Sinclair (Doctor Who Magazine comic strip – 8th Doctor)

Honorable Mention: Wolsey the cat (Virgin novels – 7th Doctor)

Great topic! I really enjoyed the exercise of compiling these lists.  Who are your favorite Doctor Who companions?  Post your thoughts over on THE UNIQUE GEEK or comment here!  Let us know!

About a year and a half ago I posted a Doctor Who fan-made anime trailer that was a work-in-progress.  Well, they finished it and it’s gorgeous!  I’m not much of a fan of anime, but this video is full of awesome.  You should watch it.

If you can’t view the embedded video above, please click here.

My thanks to Ed who pointed me to this.

Over on THE UNIQUE GEEK, they’re doing their own version of a countdown called 40 Days Of DragonCon 2010.  They’ve got podcasts, interviews with track directors, tips for the con, editorials, and pictures from previous years.  Be sure to check it out and subscribe to their RSS feed.

Here are just a small handful of my pictures from previous Dragon*Cons.  Each year I typically take about 400 pictures of celebrities, friends, costumes, and generally interesting stuff.  To see all my uploaded pictures, check out the ONCE UPON A GEEK Flickr gallery.

Patrick Stewart

The cast of Stargate Atlantis

Brent Spiner – Data of Star Trek: The Next Generation

James Marsters of Buffy, Angel, and Torchwood

Peter David – writer of comics and Star Trek novels

Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, Chuck, Victoria Secret and more!  Oh yeah, I’m in the picture too.

Adam Baldwin from Firefly and Chuck!  Also in the picture is our good friend Ed!

Erik Estrada from everything awesome, with Shag and Serv!

Alan Ruck from Spin City, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Star Trek: Generations, and more!

Dirk Benedict from Battlestar Galactica and the A-Team!

George Perez, artist extraordinaire of Crisis on Infinite Earths, New Teen Titans, Infinity Gauntlet, Avengers, and much much more!

And of course there are the zillions of fan costumes!  Here just a handful from 2009…

And finally, Serv, Terry, and myself pimping ONCE UPON A GEEK at 4am!  Promotion much never stop!

If you are going to Dragon*Con, drop me a comment or e-mail.  We know somewhere around two dozen people going.  The more the merrier!  The con is always better with friends!

Also, check out this freakin’ amazing light painting video below.  Nothing to do with Daleks, but still really cool!

If you can’t view the embedded video above, please click here.  Thanks to my buddy Adam for sending me both of these!

I was watching the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action with my ten-year-old step-son when this scene blew both our minds.

Crazy!!!  We totally weren’t expecting that!  This movie was made in 2003, during the Doctor Who “wilderness years”.  Meaning this film was released between 1989 and 2005, when the Doctor Who series wasn’t being produced.

It was a very pleasant surprise!

She was playing in my home office the other day while I was straightening the house.  I came in to check on her, and these were the toys I found her playing with…

Not exactly the particular combination of characters I was expecting to find!  The heroines on the left are hers and she’d somehow managed to get hold of this 15-year-old Dalek toy I had lying around.  When I walked in the Dalek was in a very animated discussion with the heroines shouting “Exterminate”.  I’m not sure she knows what that means, but she certainly knew the catch phrase.

I guess she’s trying to be like her brother and her daddy.  Makes me proud.  It also demonstrates kid’s natural interest in the Daleks (a phenomenon dating back to 1963).

To hear my four-year-old daughter doing her best Dalek impersonation, play the audio file below.

Download audio file (exterminate.mp3)

If you’re unable to play the file above, you may download it by right-clicking here (17 KB).

Thankfully comic companies were generous with giveaway pins and also sold some nice quality cloisonne pins. Cloisonne pins are small decorative pins worn on the lapel of a coat or shirt collar. Typically these pins are made from metal and enamel.

Below is a collection of my pins that relate to Marvel Comics and other independent comic publishers…

Here are the pins shown above:

• On the left-hand side in the middle are two Spider-Man plastic pins.  I still wear the Santa Spidey during the Christmas season.
• Next to Spidey is a Ghost Rider plastic pin with reflective gold paint.
• Above that is a unusual Hulk cloisonne pin.  It’s labeled “Marvel Mania Hollywood”, but I got it from a bus driver in Orlando.  Not entirely sure what this pin is about.
• Towards the bottom on the left-hand side are cloisonne pins of Doom 2009 and Daredevil.  In the middle is a cloisonne pin of Gambit in standard X-Men blue and gold
• At the top right you’ve got the Evil Ernie “Have a Psychotic Day” button from Chaos! Comics.
• Beneath that are cloisonne pins of the Malibu Comics logo and Diamond Comics logo.  Finally next to those is Valiant’s Shadowman cloisonne pin.

Next up are geeky movie or TV related pins…

Here are the pins shown above:

• In the top left-hand corner you’ve got a Star Wars Episode I pin from Random House to help promote reading.
• In the bottom left-hand corner you’ve got a pin promoting the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition in 1997 that was distributed to movie theater staff to wear.
• In the middle top and bottom are two Star Wars Fan Club items from the late 1970s.  You’ve got the metal C-3PO pendant (which doubled as an earring for me in the 80s) and a Star Wars Fan Club patch.  In case you didn’t know, patches were huge in the 70s.
• In the middle bottom is a Darth Vader cloisonne pin.
• The top right-hand corner features a Superman: The Animated Series pin promoting the show on the WB network.
• In the middle right-hand side is a neat Rocketeer “Thrill Club” pin.  Cool look and shape to this pin.
• Finally in the bottom right-hand corner is another pin that came with the Press Kit for the 1989 Batman movie.

Finally we’ve got a few Doctor Who related pins…

Here are the pins shown above:

• The Doctor Who Fan Club of America pin is temperature sensitive.  When I first got this pin I would try all kinds of crazy temperature experiments (i.e. putting it in the freezer, under a hot light bulb, etc).
• In the top right is the small Ice Warrior cloisonne pin.  I’ve always had a weakness for the Ice Warriors.  I hope they bring them back in the new series soon.
• And finally the red question mark pin.  I wore this pin more than any other.  It wasn’t obviously from Doctor Who, so I felt I could wear it without singling myself out as a Whovian.  I also like the idea of demonstrating my inquisitiveness.  It certainly drew some attention over the years.

That’s it for my geeky pins.  If you’d like to share a geeky pin of your own, please do so in the comments!

… We don’t get fooled again …

My thanks to my friend SGhoul for sending this.

My thanks to Cary from THE UNIQUE GEEK listserv for directing me to the R2-D2 and Cyberman mash-ups!