doctorwho:

‘Doctor Who’ Convention Report 2: The Pan(el)dorica Opens

via Anglophenia:

Let’s see, what happened?

• Arthur Darvill revealed that he was the first of the cast to work out the identity of River Song. Alex Kingston had already been told, but was sworn to secrecy by Steven Moffat. When he figured it out, he asked Alex if it was true, and she just looked deep into his eyes and said “hello Dad.”

He also said his first reaction when he found out that his friend Matt had first got the job as the Doctor was “I can’t wait to get a pencil case with Matt’s face on.”

• Community fans! Karen Gillan loves Inspector Spacetime! She had to explain it to Matt and Steven and Arthur though. Then Steven promised, as they were having an affectionate pop at his show, to “take the rip” back. The question is not whether he will do this, but when.

In answer to a question about returning monsters, he also pointed out that the Daleks must be the most easily-thwarted Doctor Who villains ever. Oh sure, they always come back trying, but just at the last minute here comes the Doctor again to wreck their plans, “with a twig.”

• Earlier in the day, at a panel devoted to the writing and production of The Girl Who Waited, writer Tom MacRae admitted his chief inspiration when developing the handbots was that they could be made into a toy. Sadly this has not yet happened.

He also offered this sage advice to anyone who wishes to write for a living: learn to touch-type. Then you can get all your ideas down in one go.

• Fact: Everyone dressed as the Tenth Doctor struts around with his (or her) hands in his (or her) pockets.

• Matt Smith was seen handing out jammy dodgers at the first Meet The Stars panel. He had clearly run out by the time of the second one, which was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a Judoon, and then a Silurian. Clearly they’d heard about the free biscuits.

If Moffat does give back to Community fans, can he please call the parody show University?

thedailywhat:

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: Miss Universe Canada announced yesterday that 23-year-old finalist Jenna Talackova of Vancouver was disqualified from the Donald Trump-owned beauty pageant, but didn’t provide a reason.

“She did not meet the requirements to compete despite having stated otherwise on her entry form,” competition officials said in a statement. Talackova, however, says she knows exactly why she was disqualified: She was born with male genitalia.

The 6’1” bombshell underwent sexual reassignment surgery in 2010 after living most of her life as a woman.

She wouldn’t speak with the press concerning the unceremonious scrubbing of her profile from the Miss Universe Canada website, but did take to Twitter to bemoan being “disqualified for being born.”

Many have noted that Miss Universe Canada’s only expressed requirements are that the contestant be a Canadian citizen and between the ages of 18 and 27. Nary a mention of gender confirmation surgery as being grounds for dismissal.

On Twitter, Talackova implied that she’s down but not through. “I’m disqualified, however I’m not giving up,” she tweeted. “I’m not going to just let them disqualify me over discrimination.”

[theprovince / ctv.]

thedailywhat:

Film Adaptation of the Day: Street artist Shepard Fairey is reportedly teaming up with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment to bring a new film adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four to the big screen.

Julie Yorn’s LBI Entertainment, which has been spearheading its own attempt to make a 1984 movie, will be joining them.

The best known cinematic adaption of the iconic novel to date was Michael Radford’s 1984 film starring John Hurt as Winston Smith and Richard Burton as O’Brien.

Little is known at this point about the Fairey/Imagine/LBI effort, but potential writers are being contacted and Fairey himself is expected to take on a production role.

[thr / photo: flickr.]

thedailywhat:

Forbidden Love of the Day: An outreach initiative started by two Israeli graphic artists aiming to bridge the sociopolitical divide between Israel and Iran by sending out simple messages of love is yielding promising results.

According to Israeli paper of record Ha’aretz, “Israel Loves Iran” began attracting responses from Iranian Facebook users over the weekend, and more are being added every hour.

“My Israeli friends, I do not hate you; I do not want war. love, Peace,” read one such pacific missive from an anonymous Iranian contributor. Many of the Iranians participating in this campaign have chosen not to identify themselves for fear of arrest or other reprisals.

Still, the message is being heard loud and clear — and the campaign’s creators want to ensure it gets louder and clearer.

They’ve turned to the crowd funding site indiegogo for assistance in taking “Israel Loves Iran” to the next level: Print ads, billboards, and an unignorable spot overlooking Times Square.

[haaretz / israel<3iran / thanks mattan!]

shortformblog:

This earless rabbit was supposed to be a German zoo’s main attraction. The problem is, Tiny Til drew press, specifically a photographer who … um, stepped on him and killed him. Let this be a lesson to photojournalists: Don’t kill your subjects, especially if they’re cute. (Photo by Uwe Meinhold/Associated Press)

teameligken:

Hipster Britta

thedailywhat:

Follow Up of the Day: Utah Governor Gary Herbert made his objection to the state’s abstinence-only bill known last night when he vetoed the legislation.

HB363, which would have forced schools that teach sex-ed to make classes entirely about abstinence, was approved by the state Senate on March 6th.

In addition to making sex-ed effectively toothless, the bill would have banned teachers and students from discussing contraception and homosexuality in the classroom.

Prior to the veto, Gov. Herbert told reporters he thought the existing curriculum “works pretty well.” Utah currently requires parents to opt in to sex-ed classes in writing. A survey by the Salt Lake Tribune found that “the vast majority of parents opt in to the instruction.”

“After careful review of existing law and following extensive discussions with stakeholders on both sides of the issue,” Herbert said today. “I am convinced the existing statutory framework respects these two principles, while HB363 simply goes too far by constricting parental options.”

An online petition opposing the bill received over 40,000 signatures; and the governor’s office was flooded with thousands of letters from concerned citizens asking Herbert to veto the bill.

The legislation’s co-sponsor, Sen. Margaret Dayton (R), expressed her disappointment at the governor’s decision, saying she found teaching students about contraception akin to telling them to avoid drugs while showing them how to “mainline” heroin.

[sltrib.] 

courtnog:

Suck it, American Idol.

I know, right?! How did that happen? Well, this will be meaningless if it doesn’t continue through the end of the season, so keep watching, please, Nielsen families.

shortformblog:

“Kony 2012” director Jason Russell arrested after public breakdown

It’s bad, guys. He even showed up on TMZ. Russell, who has faced a ton of praise and criticism in recent weeks over his group’s successful attempt to make Joseph Kony famous, was detained Thursday for public drunkenness, masturbating in public and vandalizing cars on the streets of San Diego, the group’s American home base. Officials realized that he was having a bit of a breakdown and hospitalized him. “Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition,” the CEO of Invisible Children, Ben Keesey, said in a statement. “He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday.” In case anyone’s morbidly curious, we’ll let you head over to TMZ yourselves. No link necessary. source

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yourfandomsucks:

Dan Harmon’s response to last night’s ratings.