PhotoComms #1: Trials in Messaging

One of the things I like best about my cellphone is the ability to take photos anywhere I am of anything I see that happens to interest or amuse me. Here I post three photos of things that caught my eye because, well, the messaging is… off. Click the thumbnails to maximize the photos in a new tab.

1. 2015-01-12 12.46.03The UCR campus is frequently visited by blood donation vans, either LifeStream or the American Red Cross. This van belongs to the latter, and because I have a keen eye for the grammatical mistakes of other people, this jumped out at me. What happened here? Is it the word “giveth” as a throwback to King James Bible language, and somebody put a space there accidentally? Is it supposed to say “give the gift of life” and they lost everything after the first five letters and decided it would be too much work to undo their efforts? Continue reading “PhotoComms #1: Trials in Messaging”

Things of Interest: 01/02/15

I read and watch a lot of stuff on the Internet that I find interesting. In these posts, I share a few of the highlights I’ve come across.

  1. The Virtual Politician posted about a political-alignment quiz you can take to see where you fall. I think I fall in the Social Democracy area, if I’m reading the coordinates right.

  2. David Guaghran has a post about muckracking reporter Jessica Mitford and her work in exposing the financial scam of The Famous Writers School back in the early 1970s.

  3. I wrote on Christmas about the Humble Doctor Who Audiobook Bundle. This week they’ve added three more titles to the bundle, all of which are based on Doctor Who stage-plays performed for brief periods during the classic era. I didn’t know those were even a thing until now. Colin Baker is featured as the 6th Doctor. You still have four more days left to get this set!

  4. I know Christmas is over, and this video is a year old, but if you want one of your iconic childhood Christmas movies to be ruined for you, check out Screen Junkies’ analysis of Home Alone, answering the question: How many lives would it take for the Wet Bandits to make it through the first two movies? The brick scene makes me cringe.

Geeking Out: Doctor Who audio dramas deal!

Humble Bundle announced yesterday that they have a new bundle pack ready for you to purchase at any price with the proceeds going to charity, and instead of games, today it’s Doctor Who audio dramas, produced by Big Finish (plus the mobile game Doctor Who: Legacy for good measure). If you’re looking for some Doctor Who media to tide you over after tonight’s Christmas special while waiting for series nine next year, this is a great deal, and it’s available for two more weeks!

Continue reading “Geeking Out: Doctor Who audio dramas deal!”

Take a Deep Breath: Doctor Who is Back in Fine Form

I’ve written this post a couple of times now, and each time I’ve started over, because it’s hard to explain how much I liked the premiere of Doctor Who‘s eighth season without also explaining how I disliked a number of things about its seventh season. The result has repeatedly been a post that’s supposed to be positive but ends up sounding negative. So here goes attempt number three as I try to get this posted before the next episode is aired tonight.

Alonzy! Continue reading “Take a Deep Breath: Doctor Who is Back in Fine Form”