On Friday evening, I had the privilege of attending a concert by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra string musicians, led by Zach de Pue. It was wonderful. My favorite pieces of the evening were an excerpt from the score for the film Solaris, and the piece in the video above, Orawa by Wojciech Kilar. Read more
Although there are some things that have not all been tied up (why didn't the Silence try to do something about this?), some loose ends and unanswered questions seem to have been wrapped up nicely. And one of them is the question of whom the Doctor saw in his room in the “hotel” in the episode “The God Complex.” Unless you think he saw Steven Moffatt… UPDATE: Saw this one on Facebook, which I think looks better than mine: Read more
If you’re expecting the episode “The Name of the Doctor” to make perfect logical sense, you must be new to Doctor Who. As it has from the beginning, Doctor Who skirts the boundary between science fiction and fantasy, and so some of the “science” is always little different from “magic.” But on a storytelling and an emotional level, I think it worked, and makes a nice set up for the 50th anniversary special coming in November. Spoilers ahead! So in... Read more
I want to let blog readers know that Patheos will be upgrading its website – including blogs – tomorrow, Saturday, May 17th. I won’t be able to post new content between 8am and 8pm. I really hope they have everything working again in time for me to blog about the Doctor Who season finale, “The Name of the Doctor”! But either way, you should still be able to comment. And so I thought I would post something that did not merely... Read more
Today I had my attention drawn to the fact that the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention or Worldcon, known this year as Loncon 3 because it will be in London, will have an academic component, Academic Loncon 3. The theme will be “Diversity in Speculative Fiction.” Visit the Academic Loncon 3 website for more details about the event and submitting proposals. Read more
First, I give thanks to my God, through Jesus the appointed king, for all of you, because your faithfulness to God is being reported all over the world. God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the good news concerning his son, as I constantly make mention of you, always asking in my prayers if now, somehow, perhaps, at long last, by God’s will, I will have a clear passage to come to you. I am longing... Read more
Since David Moloney of Darton, Longman, and Todd tweeted this photo, presumably I can share it here. It is the cover for the book Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith: Religion and Doctor Who, of which I am co-editor along with Andy Crome. It is due out later this year. Of related interest, today's “Academic Minute” from Inside Higher Ed is by Paul Booth of DePaul University, and is about the cultural meaning of Doctor Who. Read more
The Doctor Who episode “The Claws of Axos” from the Jon Pertwee era features aliens who remind me of golden gods, perhaps from Greek mythology. And the story actually echoes, in a sense, a famous mythic story from that tradition, but on this occasion it is godlike beings who bring the treacherous gift. The Axons offer axonite, which allegedly can help solve the world’s food problems, but in fact is part of the same living substance that the Axonites themselves... Read more
I learned today that there is a WordPress site for James D. G. Dunn. Jimmy Dunn supervised my PhD research, and is indisputably one of the top New Testament scholars of recent decades. I have not asked Jimmy whether the site was created by him and is thus official, but even if it isn't, it looks like it could be interesting and useful! Read more
How had I missed these Doctor Who minisodes until now? Read more
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