A few months ago, I watched the first 2 seasons of the new Dr. Who straight through. There were definitely rough spots, but the show definitely started getting its legs toward the end of that 2nd season and now into the 3rd season, which is currently airing in the UK. That 3rd season is viewable to those of us in the US only through "creative" means, which I have to admit, I've been doing (I'll be buying each new season on DVD as well). I've also gotten hooked on Torchwood, the spin off of the new Dr. Who.

I never really watched Dr. Who much before this most recent incarnation. I'm not sure how I missed out on catching the bug, but I did. I'm looking to work through some of the back catalog when I get a chance because of how much I'm enjoying it.

That enjoyment has led me to seek out a way of putting something from the series into my home theater. So, when ThinkGeek sent me an email offering a Dr. Who Sonic Screwdriver for $15, I bought it. I'm not sure how I'll display it, because I'd like the sound and lights to be usable while its on display. However, I'm still excited about it more than any adult should be about a toy.

Most of the TV/movie prop replicas are REALLY expensive or really cheesy toys. This one is a nice compromise. From what I've read, they actually re-molded the TV version *from* this toy after it came out, making this a reverse replica.

At any rate, this also has me thinking about the role of "decorative" toys and geeks. It's similar to other forms of room decoration in that it expresses personality and taste, but definitely has a geeky bent. I suspect that being a geek and a movie fan, I'm just fated to be drawn to this stuff. And, while I thought the sonic screwdriver was plenty geeky, I think what I really need for my new office cubicle is The Face of Boe.

Last year, I mentioned some of the fan-created merchandise for the movie Serenity and the TV series, Firefly. Most of that merchandise, put up on sites like Cafepress was created in part because Universal (the people in charge of the movie) hadn't really put out anything. Like all good markets, when demand outstrips supply, there's an incentive to create, and the fans did just that.

Now, a year later, Universal shut pretty much all of those sites down. Many of the people in charge of those shut-down sites were OK with that. After all, the trademark *is* owned by Universal. Not worth fighting. However, one site got a bill from Universal for $9000 in back licensing.

This struck fans odd, and given that the big damn heroes in the series (the Browncoats) were rebels against the central authorities, they acted as you might expect. They've put up a site to gather all of the billable marketing hours that fans put in to promote the movie. Many, many people put in dozens of hours of work to promote the series *without pay* that Universal benefitted directly from.

The logic makes sense to me. After all, if the merchandiser made $9000 that Universal "deserved", then the fans deserve the $1.2 million that the free marketing adds up to as I'm writing this.

I've been tempted to bill service companies for my time spent waiting when service people don't show up and seeing this Browncoat invoice just makes me smile.

I just finished watching the first of the Tivo'ed Nightmares and Dreamscapes from TNT, Battleground, with William Hurt and am seriously impressed. It has that blending of Twighlight Zone surrealism and Stephen King's warped sense of reality. This particular story is what would happen if you read The Indian in the Cupboard and ate a spicy meatball sandwich before bed. The resulting nightmare is presented in disturbingly silent video. While *things* make sounds, no one in the entire bit says a single word, making it something closer to silent film than has been seen in mainstream filmmaking.

I'm looking forward to watching the rest. If the quality holds up, I'll definitely be buying these on DVD as I'm sure they will be coming out failrly quickly.