December 1999 Ramblings | March 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 February 2000
From: Brigade Leader BillEXILED IN IOWA 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Well, here we are, a few days away from EXILED 2. I'm really looking forward to meeting so many of you again. I was thinking how lucky we were that that last snow storm hit us last week. I hope we get lots of great pictures this time. If anyone has any good pictures from EXILED 1, especially the group pic, please let me know. EXILED IN IOWA 2.5: Yes, that's right, 2.5. We are currently in the process of getting that same room at the Cedar Rapids Public Library for a meeting on Saturday, June 3rd. This would be just a small get together for mid summer. No contests or games or food just a get together to watch some vids and chat. EXILED IN IOWA 3: Klunkerfest Again at the Cedar Rapids Public Library we are aiming for Saturday, September 16th. A different direction for us as we celebrate the WORST in Who! Food, fun, and Doctor Who Jeopardy!!! WARNING!!!!!!! SOAP BOX AHEAD!!!!!! MARCH: March looks like it'll be a big month for Who in Iowa. I think we should officially declare it Who Unification Month. The official birth of UNIT was March 12, 1999 so we have our first anniversary in the near future. Most importantly is IOWA PUBLIC TELEVISION'S FESTIVAL events in March. A lot of us from UNIT, Who Goes There, and USS Surak have volunteered our time to help answer phones in the studio this year. I can only hope that those who can't make it will be there in spirit or on the phone with a pledge. Keep thinking how lucky we are that Iowa still has Who. *get's off soapbox* WHO ON IPTV After the Sontaran Experiment this week we get one of the Myth Maker's Productions. This one features Tom Baker and I believe it is the one where he portrays both himself and the interviewer. If I'm correct it's when he mentions how he always has felt more comfortable around dead people. For as excentric (sp?) the 4th Doctor is it keeps looking like the man was even more so. Does anyone have a list of how many Myth Maker's videos there are. They have been doing them for quite a while but I'm not sure of the total count. They have done some very good ones that I look forward to seeing again soon. I believe there is one where Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred return to where they shot the location footage for Battlefield. It's very exciting because Nicholas Courtney turns up at the end. I also remember Sylvester McCoy explaining how he had been a Courtney fan for many years. He says: "I've only sent two fan letters in my life. One was to you (Courtney) and the other was to the rock on Star Trek. You never wrote me back but the rock did." If you caught last week's intro you heard Mike Frisbee mention that the infamous K9 and Company was scheduled for March. For anyone who doesn't know what that is it was John Nathan Turner's attempt to create a spinoff series, or a series of TV movies, from the show. The Doctor eventually leaves K9 to live with Sarah Jane Smith and he helps her on some of her investigative reporting assignments. It also explains how he ended up with Sarah during the Five Doctor's special. It also has my nominee for the absolute WORST theme song ever! 2000 BEST THINGS ABOUT TELEVISION Nichelodeon's sister network, TVLand, has been running commercials for it's list of 2000 Best Things About Television ever. The complete list is at and 1787 is where the good Doctor lands. I was pretty happy to see it there with some pretty tough competition. If you watch the commercials they make it sound like they are all in order but when you read them you'll see that that doesn't make sense. The TV series Emergency, IMHO the 2nd most influential series, is 1115. But the three tone station alarm used on the series is 918. So don't get worried by the high number. Well, thanks for listening and I hope to see you all this Saturday. Best, Brigade Leader Bill "Squad 51 10-4 KMG 365"