December 1999 Ramblings |                                                                                                                                               | February 2000 Ramblings |
Bill Albert, founder and Fearless Leader of UNIT, issues a statement each month describing his feelings on the state of Doctor Who fandom in Iowa. He calls these messages his "Ramblings".
Here is his message for January 2000
Good morning everyone! Y2K BUGS? Well, so far it looks like we made it. It's 3:19 a.m. CST on 1/1/2000 and the computer, internet, and cable TV are still working. No big disasters reported yet so it looks like the whole Y2K thing is going to be the biggest non-event of the year. I heard that there were security people at the Unidome in Waterloo to take care of people who would be rendered homeless in the chaos following the change over. I know that where I work there were people going in tonight to be on hand if something went wrong. It is pretty doubtful if something will happen as most of the machines predate the computers that now monitor them. I did see one Y2K bug that, unfortunately, isn't going to get stopped. That's right! Jack Horkheimer will still be on IPTV. SPEAKING OF IPTV... The Red Dwarf episode that is on Saturday night after Red Green show is "Quarantine." I hope you saw the note earlier from IPTV that made sure we knew it will not be repeated as part of the usual SFFN run. So tonight is your only chance to catch it! Also of importance is that next Friday, 1/7/00, Who goes back an hour to midnight and we will, for the time being, get three episodes a week instead of two. The good news is we will get through the stories sooner and be in to teeth and curls in February. The bad news is we'll be back to the change over from one story to another in mid broadcast. I don't know how long this will last but, if you remember, that was the case with Blakes 7 when it was first introduced. SPEAKING OF DOCTOR WHO... I'm of the opinion that ANY mention of the series in main stream entertainment is a good one. It's never bad to get the show mention in ANY forum where a great range of people are listening. I say this because of remark by a comedian during one of the "Best of" segments of the "Bob and Tom" show this week. It was just a few small remarks but is the #1 syndicated morning radio talk show in the US. Not to shabby! My only regret is that I didn't catch the guys name. Did anybody else hear it? MORE OF WHO IN 2000... I seriously think this year is going to be a very big and exciting one for Doctor Who. Certainly the biggest since 1996 and maybe one of the most important since the series ended in 1989. Now that 1/1/00 is here Fox loses all it's claims on the Doctor Who TVM. The rights for any video release, and any further productions, are now in the hands of Universal Studios. They also are free to market the movie to any outlet they choose so USA, Sci-fi channel, or any other network will have an option. It seems very odd that, after all the $$$ Universal put into it, that they would leave it on the shelf for any great length of time. Any kind of change or advancement in Who is a good one. Even a strong showing in the sales of a video release can get the right attention. WHO 2000 IN IOWA... We've started our Iowa Time Team. Mike, Jeff, and myself get together once a week and have started watching the series in order. Last week we watched UnEarthly Child and epsiodes 1-4 of The Daleks. This upcoming week we will view episodes 5-7 of the Daleks, the Edge of Destruction, and 3 episodes of either the recons or audios of Marco Polo. We've been making notes on our discussions as the stories progress and will post them to the UNIT page for discussion. Any comments, agreements, or disagreements will be welcome. Of particular interest from our first viewing session was the scene from episode 3 of UnEarthly Child. For a long time there has been a debate whether the Doctor was picking up the rock to smack Za and kill him or not. IMHO, he wasn't, and if anyone wants to debate it feel free to reply. "Exiled In Iowa 2: Electric Boogaloo" is scheduled for Des Moines in February and looks like it's going to be a good one. We also are well under way in planned episode 3 back in Cedar Rapids. We are taking a much more light hearted approach to the #3 with a lot of fun surprises. In addition to that there is Festival at IPTV in March to look forward to as well as other opportunities for us to get together in along the way. Those of us in the C.R. area will have a get together at Barnes and Noble in Cedar Rapids the second Saturday of every month to get caught up on new releases, gossip, and general chats. Anyone who wants to can joing us between 6:30 and 7:00 in the cafe there this upcoming Saturday, Jan 8. I heartily encourage anyone to attend and everyone to start the same type of gathering in thier area. Well, that's about it for the start of 2000. I certainly hope that, bother personally and as a group, we all have a happy and prosperous year. Take care. Brigade Leader Bill