There is also the radio version where Dick Weir narrates both Master of Paxwax and The Fall of the Families in their entirety with voices. It still gets played at ungodly hours on Radio New Zealand Nights. Still available from Replay Radio. A bit pricey, but so tempting!

In the middle of reading this I had wander off and check my bookcase for a similar short story. Ah, there it is, Mimic by Donald A. Wollheim (not David). It was made into a middling action movie of the same name. The original short story is scarier in the implications that the movie leaves out.

My first? Jon Pertwee falling out of the Tardis as plastic meteorites strike England. I seem to remember there was a bouncy ball product at the same time in plastic packaging that looked exactly like those meteorites. Then the Doctor trying to escape a country hospital in a wheelchair back to the Tardis only to shot by a sentry at the last moment. Incomprehensible as a child but still unforgettable. A friend once told me even earlier Doctor Who played on regional TV in New Zealand but I've never seen that confirmed anywhere.

Haven't seen any more of Matt Smith than the trailer on Prime and on the strength of that want to see more (I missed the regeneration episode.)

And if we can't have theatrical Doctor Who back can we at least have The Sarah Jane Adventures on New Zealand television! There's good kidult entertainment going to waste there!

The earthquake spiced up the end of a dessert evening in Roslyn. First the floor started rattling and then the whole room rolled for a couple of minutes. At least one person at work today was annoyed for not noticing a thing while it happened. Dunedin is known for putting on a little tease like this every couple of years.

When I watched the item on 3News last night two things struck me:

1. Two talking heads from Taekwondo and the Olympic committee going tut tut tut. There was no talking head representing the sex industry to provide an alternative viewpoint.

2. I can't take a businessman with that kind of haircut seriously!

What disturbs me about Mr. Slater's blog posting is that it suggests to me that Minto paid half a million dollars for a rather ordinary green wooden villa with a skylight in the roof. Ouch! That's a reminder why I don't want to live in Auckland.

If Catherine Tate can rescue her character from the annoying reality-TV-watching mundane that she was on the Runaway Bride then I will be happy. Otherwise I will happily cheer as she is slaughtered along with too many other similar characters that infest current Who.

I agree with Craig Ranapaia -- Sarah Jane is the true companion. I'm still hoping that the Sarah Jane Adventures will be the series that I'm anticipating.

On the other hand: Joss Whedon and the Beeb joining forces to make Ripper -- that is cool news!

Apart from the fact that the last time I got on a push-bike I fell off, and I enjoy the endorphin treat going to the gym gives me I'm in sympathy with this blog entry. If anyone finds the conspiracy that is determined to make New Zealand into Adventure Holiday Land I'm willing to shout a round of ammo!

I am surprised by the number of people who are reading JK Rowling and Neil Gaiman. I found Neverwhere the novel added little to my appreciation of the tv series; Stardust I returned to the library after a chapter. His characterization tends to be two dimensional. I think he should stick to more visual media. I might pick up Stardust again before I go see it as a movie.

I read the first Harry Potter book about mid series. On an initial reading I concluded that she relied more on promotion of being a poor struggling writer than producing good writing. I think I will order my copy of the Deathly Hallows from Scribes Second Hand Books in Dunedin. It should come in quickly -- they already have the Children of Hurin.

I don't normally read on buses or cafes. My current lunch-break reading is Iron Council by China Mieville (a second reading); before that I read Wild Wales by George Borrow, an 19th Century Travel Log. Make of that as you will.

I don't know if Maxim spent all that long in the wilderness. They still have a presence as a contributor to DayStar, a Christian niche periodical. I don't know about Challenge Weekly. Perhaps they are choosing the forums in which they are heard.