Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 3 — Techpedition Website Re-launch

It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated this here blog, but I won’t chalk it up to complete and utter incompetence, or even laziness. I’ve been quite busy over the last several months, including Doctor Who Series 10 coverage on the Discussing Who podcast, several conventions–Wholanta, Southern Geek Fest, and Mississippi Comic Con, new episodes and website re-launch of Techpedition, and even starting a new YouTube series called Discussing Comics on the Discussing Who YouTube channel.

Let’s talk Techpedition!

Techpedition had a major website re-launch this year, and that has been taking most of my free-time—I mean, when I haven’t been podcasting or attending conventions. I started working on this website re-work last year sometime, and have been chipping away with it whenever I get a moment or two. The site is built on ReactJS, Facebook’s up and coming JavaScript library. It took a bit of work to get it to work nicely within he confines of a WordPress template, but I’m fairly happy with the results! A part of the main focus was to build a web application that uses some if not all of the current Progressive Web App features. In addition, a major focus was to make it easy to listen to our shows! Now listening is easy as a simple click on any page in which the play button is present. But that’s just the beginning. Stay tuned there is even more to come here!

Recent Techpedition Podcast Episodes

Also check-out:
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 1 — Discussing Who
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 2 — WHOlanta, Southern Geek Fest, Mississippi Comic Con
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 4 — Discussing Comics

Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 2 — WHOlanta, Southern Geek Fest, Mississippi Comic Con

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It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated this here blog, but I won’t chalk it up to complete and utter incompetence, or even laziness. I’ve been quite busy over the last several months, including Doctor Who Series 10 coverage on the Discussing Who podcast, several conventions–Wholanta, Southern Geek Fest, and Mississippi Comic Con, new episodes and website re-launch of Techpedition, and even starting a new YouTube series called Discussing Comics on the Discussing Who YouTube channel.

Let’s talk conventions!

This year marked not only my first convention ever, but my first panel ever! First up, Kyle Jones and I traveled to meet up with our co-host Lee Shackleford for the Wholanta convention in Atlanta. It was great fun and we got to see how this things works. Having fellowship among-st Whovians and attending panels fueled us to want to do one of our own someday. But the true highlight of the weekend was having all-three of the Discussing Who crew in one room! Meeting Lee and Karen was great fun and definitely something I will always remember–until we do it again next year! Oh, and being in the same room with Colin Baker, Camille Coduri, and Nicola Bryant was a treat unto itself.

Then there was the Southern Geek Fest. It was great to be back in Hattiesburg–my former stomping grounds. The Southern Geek Fest got off the ground not long after I left Hattiesburg for the state capitol. In it’s second year, I can say I was truly surprised by the amount of fandom that is in the region. Not only that, there were some pretty good guests for such a young convention. This event also marked the first time the forces of the GRITS–Geeks recording in the South–crew banded together for group coverage, which made the event extra-special.

Finally, we attended the Mississippi Comic Con in Jackson, MS. It was fun having this convention on our home turf, which made it much less stressful, but it also was another chance for the collective minds of the GRITS crew to work together. Kyle and I got plenty of awesome coverage, and we also did our first panel ever! It was a great first experience, with hopefully many more to come.

Check out our coverage below.

Mississippi Comic Con Panel

Mississippi Comic Con Stand-Up with Reality Breached

Convention Podcast Coverage

Also check-out:
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 1 — Discussing Who
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 3 — Techpedition Website Re-launch
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 4 — Discussing Comics

Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 1 — Discussing Who

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It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated this here blog, but I won’t chalk it up to complete and utter incompetence, or even laziness. I’ve been quite busy over the last several months, including Doctor Who Series 10 coverage on the Discussing Who podcast, several conventions–WHOlanta, Southern Geek Fest, and Mississippi Comic Con, new episodes and website re-launch of Techpedition, and even starting a new YouTube series called Discussing Comics on the Discussing Who YouTube channel.

First up, let’s talk Doctor Who series 10.

This season of Doctor Who has been fantastic. With a new companion in Pearl Mackie, and the news of the upcomging departure of Capaldi and Moffet, this season of Doctor Who received even more hype than a normal season would–if you could believe that. And believe me, it did not disappoint. To get the full lot of Discussing Who coverage, see our comprehensive eposide list below. We cover everything from pre-season speculation to the post-season announcement of the new female Doctor in Jodie Whitiker.

Doctor Who Season 10 Coverage

In addition to our Doctor Who Series 10 coverage, we also had quite a few other awesome episodes that you should also check out.

Also check-out:
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 2 — WHOlanta, Southern Geek Fest, Mississippi Comic Con
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 3 — Techpedition Website Re-launch
Great Big Catch-up Post: Part 4 — Discussing Comics

Judas Steer, A Look at Westworld Episode One

The exposition of the Judas steer is the perfect allegory for this episode, and maybe even the series as a whole. How do you manage to control a herd of cattle? If you control the Judas steer, the leader, you control the herd. What happens if this steer has a mind of its own and can think for itself. You would be in some deep manure.

The 2016 television series Westworld, is based on the 1970s films and television series written and directed by the great mind of Michael Criton. The new, modern iteration was brought to the small screen by Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight) and Lisa Joy for the HBO network.

Somehow I was able to avoid spoilers, and go into this show unsullied months after it originally debuted on HBO. The fact that I was able to achieve such a feat was a small miracle unto itself, largely due to the fact that I made a concerted effort to do so. This show has been everywhere online. It debuted as a very popular, top-tier HBO property, being lauded by credits and fans alike.

From the first few minutes into the first episode, I knew that I would be hooked. The first shot we get is of what appears to be a deactivated android. Having just finished the British television show Humans, I smiled a bit and felt right at home. The opening dialog leads me to believe this girl, whom we find is named Dolores Albernathy (Evan Rachel Wood, True Blood), may not fully realize that she is in fact an android, and is also living in the world that resembles something of the old west, hence Westworld.

We quickly see that Westworld seems to be some type of retreat, as a character mentions he spent two weeks there on his last trip, and it was the best two weeks of his life. Then we see a character named Teddy Flood (James Marsden, X-Men), who has just arrived and appears to be a newcomer, quickly find Dolores, whom he met before on a previous visit there.

Sufficient to say, something is afoot in Westworld. After something bad happens to Dolores’ family, Teddy comes to the rescue, only to find there is a bad actor at play. The character who we later find is known as simply “The Man in Black” (Ed Harris, Gravity), has been coming to Westworld for over thirty years, and is seemingly there to cause trouble for Dolores, Teddy and maybe even the world’s very existence.

A voice, whom we’ve heard sporadically since the opening scenes says, “You can’t hurt the newcomers, but they can do anything they want to you.”

Kudos to the writers on initial shock value of making us believe Teddy was a newcomer.

Then the rub. We see the vainer peeled back. The loop continues. The days repeat themselves. This, Westworld, is a well oiled machine. The days are reset, then continue. Things are the same, but can be different, depending on the newcomers. This is what Westworld really is. A theme park of sorts, a vacation for the wealthy. Not too surprising that the mind that created Jurassic Park is the creator of this as well.

The show does a wonderful job on showing us the struggles of what is happening in Westworld, verses that of what is unfolding in the real world, which presents us with a narrative that will seemingly lead to an explosive collision on both fronts.

We find the boss and original programmer, Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs), has been upgrading his creations every since he first created them in the early days, over thirty years ago, making them more and more human. But things seems to be going off course with the latest updates. Seemingly the pursuit to make the androids more human, begin to cause major problems. What happens when a creation becomes sentient? The age old science-fiction problem with creating robots creeps up again, and needless to say, things go awry.

The first episode, as I’m sure the series as a whole will be, is a nose dive into the possibility of sentience, and the struggle that ensues when it is obtained. What happens when something strays from its original programming and is able to think and act independently. This, is the age old struggle. Think Asimov’s three laws, and what they could mean here, in this world. Although this show does in fact take that premise a bit further, and includes “all living things”. The last shot of this episode challenges this pretense and sets up what I have been told is an exciting ride. I can’t wait to see more.

Alas I say, “Never mind me, just trying to look chivalrous.”

Discussing Who — Who is Legion?

Discussing Who Episode 36 – Who is Legion?

Who is David Haller? We attempt to answer both questions as we discuss the new FX series and look into the character’s comic book origins. Does David suffer from mental illness? How is he linked to the Uncanny X-Men? Who is Legion? Plus, we discuss the DC Universe-based comedy, Powerless. Hosted by Kyle Jones and Clarence Brown.

More About Discussing Who

In Discussing Who, the worlds of science fiction, comic books, and Doctor Who collide within the Discussing Who podcast. Hosted by Kyle Jones, Clarence Brown, and Lee Shackleford. Discussing Who features interviews, reviews, new, and more. Who will we discuss next?

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