As is often the case, KevinMLD and I got into a discussion earlier in the week about comics. This time around it was the Heroic Age rebranding of Marvel‘s Thunderbolts, a book I wouldn’t have expected us to talk about under any circumstances…

KevinMLD: Did you read Thunderbolts?

PTB: No, you?

KevinMLD: Yeah, I thought it was kind of great for starring a bunch of characters I don’t know. It had a pretty great ending that I think you might have liked. The book might not be what it was billed as at all.

PTB: That sounds interesting…

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Lester "The Silver Fox" Patrick

The Flyers were huge in Philadelphia when I was growing up, and they’ve done a lot this year to put themselves back in the spotlight. Now that hockey has been on the brain for a while, I got to thinking about the last time in my life that I really payed attention to the sport.

The thing that came immediately to mind are the crazy set of divisions and conferences that the NHL was organized into throughout the 1980s. The Flyers have been part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference since 1993, but my memories of them are as part of the Patrick Division in the the Prince of Wales Conference. I’ll never forget having a certain fascination with where these names came from and what they meant. While the Adams, Norris, and Smythe Divisions and the Campbell Conference weren’t things I could immediately recall from memory, they have so much more charm than East, West and all points in between.

The other thing I recall trying to wrap my mind around were the teams from oddball cities, particularly ones without other sports teams like the Hartford Whalers, Winnipeg Jets, and Quebec Nordiques. Technically those teams still exist as the Carolina Hurricanes, Phoenix Coyotes, and Colorado Avalanche respectively, but those teams just seem so boring to me. Of course, there are still some weird franchises out there like the Columbus Bluejackets, San Jose Sharks, and Ottawa Senators, but they’re just not the same.

With expansion, relocation, and realignment to geographic divisions, I feel like some of the magic has been lost. The organization shouldn’t really affect the sport, but looking back, the archaic and inaccessible setup really created a mystique for the NHL. At least this year, the Stanley Cup Finals feature representatives of the James Norris Division in the Chicago Blackhawks along with the former Lester Patrick Division Philadelphia Flyers. A Flyers win might just be enough to keep me around even if the league is so easy to figure out these days.

This was a truly weird episode. The preview had me thinking I might not like it so much, but my doubts were quickly erased as the episode got underway. Spoilers ahead.

The central conflict of the story pitted The Doctor, Amy and Rory against a mysterious entity calling himself the “Dreamlord,” who challenged them to determine whether they were in a dream or reality. How exactly were they to do this? Well, they would be presented with two threats one real, one a dream. All they had to do was die in the correct one and they’d be free. Of course, if they died in the wrong one they’d simply die.

The title of the episode is really used nicely as it’s a simple reference to letting the next destination be “Amy’s choice” and it’s also the center point of the episode. It’s put on her to choose which reality is the true one and she reaffirms her choice in Rory as the man she loves. There are some great twists as the story progresses, particularly with regard to the “Dreamlord’s” true identity.

The story works really well as a stand alone episode with the new cast. While it doesn’t necessarily advance the major plot of this season, it makes great strides in telling us more about who these characters really are both in terms of how they view themselves and each other. Also, the threat of the TARDIS falling into a star that burns cold and everything around them freezing really struck a chord with me. I just love frozen stuff.

More on Doctor Who 2010:
The Vampires of Venice / The Hungry Earth

I’m sure there is plenty that happens in Philadelphia every single weekend.  So after you read this, please don’t feel the need to tell me about all those other busy, busy Philly weekends.  I don’t really care about those.  I am generally a homebody.  I don’t need to go out to every event.  As I rode the train down to the city today, I thought about how hot it was outside.  And how this first weekend in June has seemed to be impossibly hot every year since we moved into the city.  I was wondering why there were at least 30 other people getting on the 1:15 train with me on a Friday afternoon.  Does no one work anymore? Read more of this article »

Two years ago my friend Kim and I took our kids to Chapala, Mexico for a month long trip. She wanted a real Mexican experience and I wanted to do lots of shopping and sitting on the beach. We both got a little bit of what we wanted and had a mostly fabulous time. But, we also had our four kids: Tyler (4), DJ (3.5), Katelyn (1), and Leena (9 months), so there were inevitable moments of pain and suffering as well. Flash forward to the present day – we’re back for Mexico, Take Two and I’m writing this post from the second floor deck of a beachfront house in the Riviera Maya. Not too shabby. Read more of this article »