I’m a massive Dr. Who fan, and this really took me back. There were more than a few late nights spent watching Tom Baker’s magical scarf trip the light fantastic across my local PBS station’s airwaves. Baker will always be “my” Doctor, and I can’t wait to introduce Scout to hers (probably David Tennant or Matt Smith).

But, in spite of the changes in actors, sets, TARDISes, companions, and showrunners, one thing that has always remained constant is the awesomeness of the theme song. Variations abound across the 50 year span of the show, but that heavy, driving pre-electronica synth bass riff has always been the anchor for me. This youtube video has all the themes used on the show since the 60s, and watching/hearing them all back to back made me appreciate its constancy over the course of the show even more. Check it out!

The Doctor Who Themes (Every Doctor Who Theme 1963 – 2010)

Bonus: All the Doctor’s regenerations! Doctor Who Regenerations

So, in the midst of continuing work on the next issue of Venger, I have stumbled on an interesting little new release. Put together by Ignition Entertainment and Access Games, Deadly Premonition is an incredibly odd duck (gameduck?). Admittedly I am only through Chapter 1 so far, but I am hooked.  Here’s why.

As a kid, I clearly remember the slathering hoopla around a little show called Twin Peaks. The brainchild of David Lynch and Mark Frost, the series built a deep mythos of intriguing, odd characters all affected by the sudden death of a local high-school girl named Laura Palmer. Her murder was a shock to the small town of Twin Peaks that caused most of the community’s demons to bubble to the surface. Witnessing this cauldron of hidden issues was the eccentric FBI agent sent to work with local law enforcement to sort out the girl’s grisly end (she was found wrapped in plastic inside an abandoned train car). The show got weirder as time went on, introducing opposing forces of good and evil (represented by white and black “lodges”) and the now-infamous backwards-talking little person, portrayed by highly underrated character actor Michael J. Anderson (last seen in the also highly underrated Carnivale on HBO). It was a show that required your attention and demanded faithful viewership a good 15 years before someone went and invented Lost and changed serialized drama for good. Even as a kid I loved it. Dale Cooper (the FBI agent) was my hero and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

I clearly remember watching the first season finale. It ended with a horrendous cliffhanger and I was royally peeved. I didn’t know how I, as a satisfaction-seeking twelve year old, was going to make it 6 months before I found out what happened next. I then recall watching the news right after the finale aired and seeing the footage from all the Twin Peaks parties that had been held in the area and their wordless gasps as the final scene played out, at least knowing that others were in the same boat as me. It’s an indelible part of my pop culture upbringing.

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You can purchase it here:

IndyPlanet

I gotta admit…it’s pretty awesome to see my name on the cover! I’ll be grabbing a few copies to keep on hand, so hit me up if you want to go that route. Let me know what you think if you pick up a copy!

Tim

E3 is upon us again, and I am really enjoying all the coverage from the show. One of the highlights is watching all of the press conferences and jonesing for the new games heading out in the next year.

Bright spots so far: Left 4 Dead 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Assassin’s Creed 2.

For great coverage of the show, check out joystiq.com.

Well, time for another site refresh. I’ts still a work in progress, and most of my subpages aren’t styled yet. But, this is the new look– at least for now. It has a bit more art, and some more flair than my previous design. I loved the simplicity of it, but it wasn’t very appealing visually. I will be adding a gallery at the top of the page on the right as well, so be looking for that.

Cheers!

As a designer/artist, this new branding and logo work for Dave Eggers‘ 826 Valencia is staggeringly awesome. For those who don’t know, 826 is Eggers’ free writing and tutoring program in San Francisco that runs out of the McSweeney’s offices. The catch is that the office and tutoring center is also a Pirate Supply Store. The uber-awesome group responsible for this branding is simply called Office. Check out the new logos and the branding for the items at UnderConsideration.

Also take a moment to watch the embedded video on the page of Eggers talking about the development of the project and how it organically grew into a wonderful place for students to develop their writing skills and, more importantly, develop a passion for creativity.

In addition, Eggers has continued this process in other places and they are equally brilliant. Check out the Echo Park Time Travel Mart and The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. at the links that appeared previously in this sentence.

Of course, that is simply the method de rigueur around these parts. Christmas break is upon me, and I have many, many things to accomplish over the next few days and weeks. One of those things is completing what I have so far of Venger #3. I’m close, but haven’t found the time to put the final few nails in the coffin of the first half. I’ll post some previews when I get a chance.

Laterz.

This is being written on my couch, with our iPod touch. Awesome. WordPress is the best.

A well-edited montage of Star Trek scenes set to the “camelot” song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Well done.

I’ll admit it. I am a huge Suzanne Vega fan. I think she has produced some of the most inventive music in my collection, and her waif-like, breathy voice is one that I can listen to over and over again. In this article on the New York Times website she discusses her current branding as a “two-hit wonder.” The two hits are both from Solitude Standing, namely “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner.” I actually came to love Vega’s work from her 99.9 F album that came out several years later. I still listen to it regularly and often play bass with it, since the lines are so clean. In any case, I retroactively got into her previous work and eventually made the connection between the Natalie Merchant-esque Vega from 99.9 and the one presented on Solitude Standing. A great read overall. It’s awesome to hear an artist actually comment on these labels that the media applies to them.