Last Friday night, the CW showed a two-hour Smallville “movie” (it was originally going to be two connected episodes but instead was broadcast as one two-hour episode), “Absolute Justice.” The episode featured Clark, Chloe and Oliver discovering a secret group of costumed superheroes, the Justice Society of America. It’s quite possibly my favorite episode of Smallville so far. Geoff Johns wrote the episode and he really groks the JSA. The Justice Society wasn’t just portrayed as a team of superheroes, it was stressed that the team members considered each other friends and family. They didn’t just fight crime together, they socialized and celebrated together. They included their spouses and children. They considered the younger generation their students and heirs.

That’s one of the driving forces behind the Library Society of the World and, I think, the biggest reason why people continue to involve themselves in the LSW. We’re not just professional library associates, we’re friends and family. We don’t just work together, we play together. We learn from each other, we support each other, professionally and personally. We’re not a league, we’re not a professional association, we’re a society.

“Absolute Justice” has stuck with me in a way few TV show episodes do. In part because it hit a lot of my superhero fanboy buttons. But more importantly because it struck a chord regarding the Library Society of the World.

Excelsior!

“The Waters of Mars” is, in many ways, a straight-up Patrick Troughton story of an isolated, futuristic base under siege by monsters. The references to the Ice Warriors just further connects it to the Second Doctor and his general style of stories. Even with some of the wide-open sets, there’s a wonderful sense of claustrophobia and tension. The plots clicks, the characters all quickly become endearing, and the episode balances gloomy fear with optimism and humor really well.

Until the very end, when characters suddenly start behaving less like characters and more like puppets for the writer. (All kinds of people from all eras of the past, present and future have ridden in the TARDIS and been fine, so why are the Bowie Base survivors suddenly horrified by the TARDIS and the Doctor? After desperately not wanting to die and not really believing the Doctor’s stories of the future, why does Adelaide commit suicide to ensure the future of humanity?) The Doctor spends about 5 minutes as the egotistical “Time Lord Victorious,” and then suddenly flips around to abject despair. This appears to lead into the first part of “The End of Time”…

…Except it doesn’t. “The End of Time” begins with the Doctor dressed for a wild Hawaiian holiday, acting flippant, admitting that he’s avoided his destiny by traveling around the universe, having more adventures (including sexing up Queen Elizabeth I!). Really? The Doctor was so concerned he’d gone too far on Mars, was so worried about the appearance of Ood Sigma, that he just goes off around Time and Space, partying and adventuring, before he decides to finally go to the Ood-Sphere and see what’s going on?

The entire first episode of “The End of Time” is similarly off-kilter and bi-polar. The episode goes from random plot point to random plot point, jumping from quiet meditation to over-the-top action, like drug-fueled stream-of-consciousness. Characters are suddenly introduced who seem to be important but turn out not to be. Other characters seem to be unimportant, only to suddenly leap to the center stage. Wild coincidences are made out to be significant, only to never really be explained. The Doctor is steered to being in the right place at the right time by blatant, improbable clues. If it were a role-playing game, I’d accuse the GM of blatant railroading.

The second part of “The End of Time” has a much better pace, but suffers from the same mad coincidences and hamfisted plot turns. Questions that were raised in part one are never answered. Both episodes have some really good bits, especially anything involving Bernard Cribbins, who is spectacular. I loved the scenes on Gallifrey, too. And who couldn’t love Timothy Dalton as the Lord-President of the Time Lords (even if he does spray the scenery while chewing it)? The resolution of the main plot is very satisfying, and the reason for the Doctor’s regeneration is really moving. But before we get to the actual regeneration, we get what Gareth-Michael Skarka calls “Pure WriterWank.” The scenes of the Doctor traveling around to see his former companions, helping them out (by saving their lives, getting them a good chunk of cash, getting them laid), drag on far too long and are there only to bring past characters back into the show, pay tribute to David Tennant as the now iconic Doctor, and to pull tears from the audience. It’s mawkish and self-indulgent.

Look, I love the Tenth Doctor. A LOT. David Tennant is my favorite actor to portray the Doctor, and his character is in many ways my ideal for the character. But he chose to leave the show and it’s time for him to go. Why drag out his leaving except to further push him as “the Best Doctor of All Time”? By the time he regenerated into Matt Smith, I was thrilled to see someone else in the roll. And I’m still frustrated by the major questions that remain unanswered.

“The End of Time” is barely a coherent Doctor Who story and more of Russell T. Davies doing his typical upping the ante to create an even bigger, messier, sloppier, more sentimental mishmash of a show. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Steven Moffat and Matt Smith do with the show.

In keeping with this tradition, I have to say, 2009 was a really difficult year. If you regularly follow this blog, you have an inkling why. If you know me personally, you have an even better idea as to why this year has been…well, sucky as all get out. The good news is, it’s ending on an extremely good note. I know it’s tempting fate/karma/Eris/whathaveyou to say this, but I really do think 2010 will be a better year for me and the people I close to me.

So, with all due respect 2009, fuck off and die in a fire. And 2010? You’re on notice. If this isn’t a good year, we’re going to have words? Got it?

Happy New Year, everyone!

In a lot of ways, I don’t feel 40. I haven’t found any grey hairs. I still get pimples. I get back pain, but that’s been true for at least the past 10 years. I still read comics, I still watch cartoons, I still play with Legos, I still daydream about being a superhero or a mad scientist.

But I also feel like I’ve been going through a mental and emotional growth spurt lately. I feel like I’m seeing myself and other people with clearer vision. Dammit, I feel like I’m growing up–in a very good way.

Change is inevitable and unstoppable. You can run alongside it and dance with it or you can let it drag you along, kicking and screaming. Me? I’d much rather dance.

I was really, really excited about Google Wave when I first learned about it. I snagged an invite to start playing with it as soon as I could. And after two months of experimenting with Google Wave, I have to say…meh.

I’ve tried using it for conversation, but it doesn’t facilitate conversation any better than email, IM, Twitter or FriendFeed. I’ve tried using it for collaboration, but it doesn’t do that better than Google Docs. I appreciate that it’s in beta, and I’m prepared to believe that in a year or two or three, Google Wave will be where it’s at. But right now, it’s a lot like Second Life to me: flashy and interesting, but ultimately kind of boring and of little real use to me.

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? gets more somber as the century moves on, but it ends on a terrific high note of optimism for both the future and the present. It makes you appreciate what we have and where we can be going. It’s a lovely piece of work.

I’m thankful for my daughter, Morgan. She’s the light of my life, always in my thoughts and my heart. I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I get to be her dad.

I’m thankful that Julie and I have been so patient and supportive of each other in this crazy time. We’re both doing our honest best to reevaluate our relationship without blaming ourselves and each other for things that aren’t anyone’s fault, while also taking a good, hard look at ourselves. It isn’t easy, but we’re doing it, and I’m honestly glad we have each other in our lives.

I’m thankful for all of my amazing friends and family, both near and far. You all enrich my life in so many ways.

And I’m so incredibly thankful that I get to live in this crazy, colorful, cool, wonderful, mysterious universe. It’s a strange and beautiful world. Let’s keep it that way.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As different as it is from the book (which I’ve always loved), it really does capture the spirit and essence of the book. But more than that, it captured the essence of my childhood. I wasn’t like Max all that much, behavior-wise–I was about as far from a “wild thing” as you can get. But I was a lot like Max in terms of sadness, loneliness, hope and imagination. In many ways, I felt like I was watching a movie about me. Not that my childhood was bad, just that there’s a lot more sadness and loneliness and wishing for better worlds than most TV shows and movies choose to really explore.

Like childhood, Where the Wild Things Are is both really simply and really complex, with lots of simple problems and very few simple solutions. It’s gorgeous and gritty and cluttered and goofy and sad. I think it’s a brilliant film. Also, anyone who says it’s not for kids is not giving children the credit they deserve.

On second thought, that’s not really all that surprising or strange.