Misattributed

If you look back at some of the early posts of this blog, you'll realize that I like reading webcomics. I love them. Every day, I open up that day's webcomics, and get to explore a little bit more of a world that someone else is building, or see someone relate something funny or witty or insightful.

Some comics are amazingly beautiful works of art, while others are just words on a chalkboard. Some update very rarely, some don't update at all anymore, and many of them update with a regularity that I could only wish on bus drivers.

A number of them make a living off their webcomics, through ad revenue on their website, through donations, or through merchandise. So, on those rare occasions when I decide that something is worth sharing from a webcomic, I always try and post a link to the page on their website. After all, its only right that the artists get recognition, isn't it?

So imagine my dismay when I browse reddit, or scroll through my facebook feed, and see a link, to a comic that I recognize, with their names stripped out, with anything that could let people see more of their work torn out. Obviously, this is often done by some of the less reputable pop sites that have sprung up, so that they don't have to give up any of their precious clicks to another site. Most of the time, I try and do the right thing. I post a link in the comments with the artists website, smile and move on. I like to think that, if nothing else, I allow one or two people to discover something new and exciting.

I still wonder though...why do people do it? Why do people have an obsession with claiming something as their own? Is it pride and greed, wanting to be able to claim to have made something yourself, but too lazy to put the work in? Is it laziness, not wanting to put in the effort to properly attribute your work to someone else? Hopefully, at least part of the time, it's ignorance, people just passing on images found on the internet, their origins forgotten.

Maybe it will eventually be accepted practice, artists making images and then releasing them into the wilds of the internet, creativity for the sake of creativity, each image judged on its own merit. It has a certain appeal, I must admit, but I'll never stop attributing where I can. For if people can't find the stirring work of Gavin Aung Than, or the hilarious musings of Dante Shepherd, or discover the weird and fantastic world of Evan Dahm, or any of the other numerous wonderful artists out there on this wide world web, then something is very wrong.

Classic Doctor Who: The Crusade

Part 1: The Lion

This episode opens with  a very fourth wall breaking speech by an older looking Ian Chesterton. He's talking directly to the audience, explaining that he and Barbara don't often tell people what happened, because they'd think them mad, but he thinks you could handle it. He opens up with talking about the Doctor, and very neatly, I think, sums up what Doctor Who is all about.

"The Doctor... He was old, when I was young. Somehow I still feel he's up there in his lunatic ship, righting wrongs, still specializing in trouble. He dives in, and usually finds a way out. He showed me so many things, so many...caught up in history, as the old boy tried to find our way home...it sounds ridiculous, fantastic. Well, it was a fantastic adventure."

Wait for it....

Due to me having a massive midterm on Tuesday, I'm laying off the Doctor Who until after its done. However, to make up for all the time lost, on Wednesday I'm going to do a review of the rest of The Web Planet serial. It'll be long, rambling, and hopefully include a few more screenshots. See you on Wednesday!

Classic Doctor Who: The Web Planet Part 1

The Web Planet

Oh boy. This is a bad one. Doctor Who often gets mocked for the Daleks, with their plunger and whisk arms, but this episode takes it to a new level. The gang gets stuck on a planet, with no life as far as they can see. Us viewers however, are treated to the wonderful sight of the aliens of this piece.

Giant bugsuits. Very obvious, paper mache bugsuits. 

While they're standing around talking, Vicki suddenly grabs her head as the monsters suddenly appear (for us, not the crew), and begin making sounds that sound like a cross between dial-up and a siren. Kudos to the sound crew for making such a unique language, but it gets a little bit annoying. The Doctor realizes that Vicki must be hearing an 'extra-sonic sound, that thing that young people and young animals hear' (yes, that is the actual quote). Vicki and Barbara stay in the TARDIS, which Ian and the Doctor get to go out to investigate and explore the planet.

Meanwhile, back in the TARDIS, Barbara decides to give Vicki a sedative to get her to sleep. Instead of nicely complying, she starts arguing with Barbara, and reveals that in the Earth she is from (the future), taking a pill is just as barbaric as leeches are to us, and that she studied medicine, chemistry and physics when she was 10. Of course, she did it all in 1 hour a week, on a 'machine'. Man, I wish our computers were that useful. When she finally gets to take the pills, it turns out they're aspirin.

The Doctor, outside exploring, asks Ian for his pen. However, when Ian takes out his gold pen, it vanishes into the air! Then they discover that the planet very easily makes strange echoes. Ian feels like hes being watched, but the Doctor dismisses his fears, saying that if he had heard Ian, he'd probably come investigate as well. The scene cuts away as they run off, back to Barbara, who is sitting, idly cleaning up the TARDIS. Suddenly, her arm starts acting on its own, trying to get outside! Her arm, with a gold bracelet on it. Managing to resist the urge to follow her arm and go outside, she goes and sits with Vicki, who lies there and talks until she notices Barbara's arm doing it again! Barbara tries and explains it, but gives up and storms away, obviously slightly terrified.

The Doctor and Ian, out exploring still, stumble across a pyramid, something that was clearly built. Ian finds a pool of what he thinks is water, and in a surprisingly stupid move for a science teacher, goes to drink some without testing it at all. Luckily, the Doctor stops him at the last moment, and they quickly realize that what they thought was water was actually acid. The Doctor begins walking off, listing all the strange things they've found about this planet, "echoes, interference, gold, and now acid!" He doesn't explain what it means of course, he just says that its very strange. Ian turning back to look at the pool, notices a splash in it, but somehow utterly fails to notice the large insectoid creature on top of a rock creeping away from the pool. He calls the Doctor back over and swears that he saw lights! Lights in the pool! Rather then get distracted by this, the Doctor reminds Ian that they are there to find out the cause of the interference, and to stay focused. Just then, the annoying sound starts up again, but this time, they all can hear it. In the TARDIS, things begin spinning, the doors open, and Barbara is dragged outside by her own arm. The Doctor realizes that the noises must be messages, and that if they can find the source of the noise, they can find the source of the interference.

Vicki wakes up in the TARDIS to find Barbara gone, and the Doctor and Ian still not back. She begins shouting for her out the still open doors, and the Doctor and Ian, hearing her echoes, start running back to the ship. Ian, running ahead, runs right into a net, which I think is supposed to be a web, and gets caught, imploring the Doctor to go back to ship. Barbara meanwhile, is being pulled right towards the acid pool, which is now bubbling and foaming. As the Doctor begins running back to the ship, the TARDIS begins to lurch and roll around, causing Vicki to stumble into the control console, and make the TARDIS take off! The Doctor arrives back at the site, and with a truly heartbroken look, simply says "My ship...my TARDIS".

Edit: Just a heads up, there will be no new post today, I'll start posting again on Saturday.