#Tim Pollard

[insidecroydon]

Council yet to start legal action on Negrini's £437,000 pay-off

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor Perry is taking his time over his public claim to be pursuing the former council CEO for a refund of her golden handshake. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES A handful: former Croydon CEO Jo Negrini still has her mitts on that £437,000 pay-off Almost two months after Jason Perry, Croydon’s elected Mayor, announced that the council could potentially be going to court to recover…

[guardianreadersofthegalaxy]

Charlie: Can't you sort this out? You are a 'doctor' after all. Eight: Can you not do air quotes when you say "doctor"? Charlie: Why not? It's audio, no one can tell. [from 'Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme']

[downthetubes]

In Review: Comic Creatives UK Anthology Spring 2023

The latest Comic Creatives UK Anthology offers an entertaining assortment of strips from industry newcomers, and some established comic creators

[mariacallous]

Standing next to her hastily packed suitcase in Michigan’s Macomb County Wednesday night, Tyra Muldrow had a bad feeling in her gut.

“I have this eerie feeling that I need to get the hell up out of there,” says Muldrow, a 20-year-old Black woman from Florida. She was in Michigan as a door knocker, hired by a subcontractor for Elon Musk’s America PAC operation to turn out the vote for Donald Trump in the heavily contested working-class suburbs of Detroit.

Muldrow and the rest of her canvassing group of roughly a dozen people had just been fired en masse, after WIRED reported that they had been tricked and threatened as part of Musk’s get-out-the-vote effort. Speaking publicly for the first time about her ordeal, Muldrow says that the canvassers in her group were fired with little explanation beyond a complaint that someone had spoken with the press. Many, including her, were still owed money. Muldrow had to find her own way home; others are still stranded in Michigan.

A representative for Musk and America PAC did not return a request for comment.

On October 15, Muldrow’s cousin Ebony Jones recruited her for the job, offering upwards of $2,000 per week and a return flight, per emails reviewed by WIRED. Muldrow signed a nondisclosure agreement the same day, and was then flown to Michigan on October 18 as part of a campaign for Blitz Canvassing, a subcontractor which had received more than $9 million from America PAC for presidential campaign canvassing as of October 29. Only upon her arrival in Michigan did Muldrow realize what this job would really entail: canvassing for Trump.

No one in her group of contractors—referred to internally as a “cell”—had a driver’s license. They were initially transported via Ubers, and were then driven back and forth for nearly two weeks in a pair of seatless U-Haul vans between their targeted neighborhoods, staying in a series of motels and AirBnBs in the Detroit suburbs of Warren, Livonia, and Mount Clemens. The three suburbs are in Wayne and Macomb County, the latter of which was the only Detroit-area county Trump won in 2020. In Macomb, where Muldrow primarily spent her time canvassing, he got 53 percent of the vote—almost exactly the same level of support he earned in 2016, when he secured a margin of tens of thousands of votes in a state decided by a little more than 10,000 votes.

The cell was composed entirely of Black people, strangers from out of state who did not know each other but were usually forced to share rooms, according to Muldrow. According to a text message from Jones, Muldrow was promised $1.50 per door, and $2 per door if she knocked 1000 or more doors per week—an all but impossible number. Muldrow further says they were told they would have to pay for their lodging unless they met the unrealistic quotas. The contract the door knockers signed stated they were “expected to maintain a 17-22% engagement rate during the campaign,” a high target relative to the number of people who typically open their door for a stranger. Videos recorded by Muldrow show cramped living quarters and frequent bickering between members of the cell.

“Our subcontractors never should have driven their canvassers in a U-Haul van and those involved were immediately reprimanded,” Tim Pollard of Blitz Canvassing tells WIRED.

On Wednesday, October 30, Muldrow and her fellow door knockers were fired hours after the publication of the WIRED story.

At first, some people had trouble logging into Campaign Sidekick, the glitchy app used by America PAC for canvassing. There was confusion before they were finally told it was over: “Everyone is fired,” said Jones, who served as the door knockers’ manager, in a GroupMe chat, according to screenshots obtained by WIRED.

Jones did not reply to a request for comment.

Muldrow thought Jones might be joking about everyone getting fired, but some of the door knockers noticed they had been locked out of Campaign Sidekick, according to the group chat.

“I called my mom immediately,” Muldrow says. “My mom told me I was overreacting because, it's [my] cousin, so she was like, ‘Oh, maybe she's playing a joke on you guys. Don't take it literal.’ And my mom was like, ‘She sent you up there in the first place. You went with her. If anything, you would have your flight home through her. She's not going to let you be stranded.’”

Then, Muldrow says, Jones began asking the door knockers which one of them spoke to the press.

As arguments ensued, Muldrow started to fear for her safety. Muldrow packed up her belongings and called Connor Berdy, a 29-year-old political consultant based in Warren, Michigan and the founder of Vote For Change LLC, a consulting group in Southeast Michigan for his community organizing work.

Muldrow had met Berdy—who runs canvassing operations for school board, county commission, and judicial candidates—when, by chance, one of his employees struck up a chat with her while she was canvassing near their home on October 23. Berdy and Muldrow got lunch soon after, and Muldrow told him about how the door knockers in her group had been tricked, threatened, and driven around in U-Hauls to their door knocking locations.

Management had “clearly not prioritized the safety of the workers or the integrity of the operation,” says Berdy.

Berdy then arrived, and pretended to be an Uber driver to get Muldrow out of the situation. He had already bought Muldrow a flight back home to Florida, paying out of his own pocket.

“First I see Tyra on the side of the road with her suitcase and everything,” Berdy tells WIRED. “So I pull up, turn my hazards on, act like an Uber, and then right as she starts walking around, I hear someone say, ‘Where's Tyra?’ And, ‘Oh, that sneaky little bitch.’”

Muldrow made it to the airport and on to her flight home. At that point, she says, she had only been paid $69 for the canvassing job, for which she had been promised she could earn upwards of $2,000 a week. A Cash App payment she showed WIRED for that dollar amount was listed as “for Gotv”—the acronym for get out the vote. Muldrow says she texted Jones asking when she would get the rest of the money she was owed. All she got was a read receipt.

As of Saturday evening, at least three others from the canvassing group hadn’t received full payment for the work they’d done before being fired, according to screenshots from the GroupMe chat.

“Following the incident, some of the canvassers and contractors involved left the program, some decided to stay, all have been paid,” Pollard says. WIRED could not confirm that canvassers in Muldrow’s group had decided to stay, nor that they have all been paid.

The Trump campaign has largely outsourced its field operation in Michigan, a crucial swing state, to Musk—a move that has come under heavy criticism. Outside of Michigan, America PAC is a codefendant in a class action lawsuit in California over unpaid wages to canvassers and other alleged labor violations, a development first reported by WIRED. Blitz Canvassing has also reportedly had issues with the Campaign Sidekick app flagging door knocks as fake. In Nevada and Arizona, up to a quarter of the door interactions were flagged as potential fakes within the app, according to The Guardian. (“Sidekick was never expected to handle the auditing of America PAC’s door operation. The reason the PAC is confident in its numbers is because of the auditing procedures each canvassing firm puts in place and the auditing procedures of the PAC writ large,” a person familiar with the America PAC operation told The Guardian at the time.)

After she returned home, Muldrow didn’t think she was going to get paid what was owed to her any time soon.

However, on Saturday night, right after WIRED reached out to Jones for comment, Muldrow heard from her cousin for the first time since she’d been fired. “You did not get 1000 doors but to make this right and move forward we will pay you the $2000,” she wrote, according to text messages reviewed by WIRED. “The quickest solution I can think of is to send someone to pay you in cash.”

Later that night, shortly after WIRED reached out to America PAC for comment, Muldrow was pleasantly surprised. She’d just been paid $2,000 on Cash App. The caption?

“For Michigan Gotv 742 doors paid in full.”

A few minutes later, Muldrow got a follow up text from Jones. “Please let wired know that you’ve been paid asap.”

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Please note that a character currently needs at least 3 submissions to make it into the poll

That said:

Has 3 Submissions or more:

Achilles - The Iliad

Adrien Agreste - Miraculous Ladybug

Alexander Hamilton - Hamilton

Batman - DC

Blitzo - Helluva Boss

Charlie Morningstar - Hazbin Hotel

Claire Fraser - Outlander

Clary Fray/Fairchild - Shadowhunters

Daphne Bridgerton - Bridgerton

Dean Winchester - Supernatural

Dr. Heinrich Faust - Goethes Faust

Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way - My Immortal

Edward Elric - Fullmetal Alchemist

Elena Gilbert - Vampire Diaries

Feyre Archeron - A Court Of Thorns And Roses

Frasier Crane - Frasier

Gray Wing - Warrior Cats

Holden Caulfield - The Catcher in the Rye

Jimmy - Mouthwashing

Joker - Persona 5

Kirito - Sword Art Online

Kohaku - Dr. Stone

Makoto Itou - School Days

Marinette Dupain-Cheng - Miraculous Ladybug

Navier - Remarried Princess

Nesta Archeron - A Court of Thorns and Roses

Quentin Coldwater - The Magicians (books)

Scott Pilgrim - Scott Pilgrim

Tim Jackson Drake - DC

Tom Paris - Star Trek: Voyager

Victor Frankenstein - Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Yukitero "Yukki" Amano - Future Diary

Has 2 Submissions:

Animal Crossing New Horizons' Player Character - Animal Crossing New Horizons

Arthur Pendragon - BBC Merlin

Bakugou Katsuki - My Hero Academia

BEOWULF - BEOWULF

Bloom Peters - Winx Club

Claire - Ship It

Dawson Leery - Dawson’s Creek

Duck Dodgers - Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 century

Eikichi Onizuka - Great Teacher Onizuka

Elizabeth - Bioshock Burial at Sea

Elric of Melniborne - The Elric Saga

Emiya Shirou - Fate Stay Night

Eren Jaegar - Shingeki no Kyojin

Ezra Bridger - Star Wars Rebels

Hazel Lancester - The Fault In Our Stars

Jack Torrance - The Shining

James Bond - James Bond

Jaune Arc - RWBY

John Proctor - The Crucible

Odysseus - The Odyssey

Oliver Armstrong - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Peppa Pig - Peppa Pig

Piper - Orange is the new Black

Rhaenyra Targaryen - House of the Dragon

Riley Matthews - Girl Meets World

Roy Musang - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Sasuke - Naruto

Sheldon Cooper - Big Bang Theory

Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan) - Scum Villain’s Self Saving System

Snow Villiers - Final Fantasy 13

Wade Watts - Ready Player One

William Afton - FNaF Ultimate Custom Night

Zack Morris - Saved by the Bell

Has 1 Submission

Ahsoka - Ahsoka Disney+

Ahsoka Tano - Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Akiyama Shun - Ryu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza

Aragorn - Lord of the Rings

Arek - So This Is Ever After

Ataru Moroboshi - Urusei Yatsura

August Landry - One Last Stop

Ayin - Lobotomy Corporation

Beatrice "Tris" Prior - Divergent

Betty Cooper - Riverdale

Bill Dickey - The Eltingville Club/Welcome to Eltingville

Billy Buddy/Dr. Horrible - Dr. Horrible's Sing Along

Billy Hatcher - Billy Hatcher and the giant egg

Black Star - Soul Eater

Blake - Pokemon Adventures Black 2 and White 2

Bubsy - Bubsy 3D

Caleb Widogast - Critical Role

character Tommy - Dream SMP

Charley Pollard - Doctor Who

Charlie - Charlie's Inferno - That Handsome Devil

Choromatsu Matsuno - Osomatsu-san

Claire Danvers - Morganville Vampires

Clear Sky/Skystar - Warrior Cats

Colin Bridgerton - Bridgerton

Corrin - Fire Emblem Fates

Cory Matthews - Boy Meets World

Dal - Star Trek Prodigy

Damian Wayne - DC

Damon Salvatore - The Vampire Diaries

Daniel X - The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

Data - Star Trek The Next Generation

Dorrigo Evans - The Narrow Road to the Deep North book

Doug Eiffel - Wolf 359

Drizzt Do'Urden - Legend of Drizzt

Dr. Hanna Heath - People of the Book

Ellison Oswalt - Sinister

Emma Nelson - Degrassi: The Next Generation

Equality 7-2521 - Anthem

Frankie Landau Banks - The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks

Galadriel Higgins - The Scholomance Trilogy

Geralt of Rivia - The Last Wish, The Witcher books

Go Siwon - A Guy Like You

Hamlet - Hamlet

Haruto Kirishima - A Town Where You Live

Haruyuki Arita - Accel World

Heathcliff - Wuthering Heights

Hermione Granger - Harry Potter

Homer Simpson - The Simpson

Howard Roark - The Fountainhead

Humbert Humbert - Lolita

James Bond - The Sean Connery James Bond Movies

James Holden - The Expanse book series

Jaypaw - Warrior Cats

Jean-Luc Picard - Star Trek The Next Generation

Jeff Winger - Community

Jim Hopper - Stranger Things

JJ - Cocomelon

Joaquin Monegro - Abel Sánchez

Jon Snow - ASoIaF

Jotaro Kujo - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Joy - Inside Out

Jughead Jones - Riverdale

Kade - Down to Earth Webtoon

Kazuya Tsukasa - Kamen Rider Decade

Kai - The Witch King

Kang Jinha - A Guy Like You

Katara - Avatar the Last Airbender

Katnis - Hunger Games

Kaz Kaan - Neo Yokio

Keiichi Maebara - Higurashi when they cry

Kelsier - Mistborn

Khai - Theory of Love - Thai BL Show

King Arthur - King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Korra - Avatar: Legend of Korra

Koyomi Araragi - The Monogatari series

Kun-chan - Mirai

Lelouch Lamperouge - Code Geass

Leroy Jethro Gibbs - NCIS

Lily Blossom Bloom - It Ends With Us

Lionblaze - Warriors (Power of Three and Omen of the Stars)

Luna - Retro

Luffy - One Piece

Lyn - Fire Emblem

Makoto Naegi - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Mal - Firefly

Manaow - Love Senior

Mark Watney - The Martian

Mary Poppins - Walt Disney's Mary Poppins

Merlin - BBC Merlin

Meursault - The Stranger

Mia - La La Land

Michael Burnham - Star Trek: Discovery

Mike Wheeler - Stranger Things

Miyo Sasaki - A Whisker Away

Mordecai - Regular Show

Nancy Botwin - Weeds

Natsuki Subaru - Re:Zero

Nick Carraway - The Great Gatsby

Nicole - Class of 09

Nightheart - Warrior Cats

North Italy - Hetalia

Okajima ""Rock"" Rokuro - Black Lagoon (Anime)

Okazaki Tomoya - Clannad

Okonkwo - Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)

Otis Milburn - Sex Education

Patrick Bateman - American Psycho

Piper McLean - Heroes of Olympus

Pippa Fitz-Amobi - A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

Ramona Flowers - Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Ramsey Snow - Game of Thrones

Rebecca Bunch - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV show)

Remy the Rat - Ratatouille

Richard Cypher - Sword of Truth

Robert Langdon - The Da Vinci Code

Rodion Raskolnikov - Crime and Punishment

Rorschach - Watchmen

Rory Gilmore - Gilmore Girls

Ruby - Max & Ruby

Ryo Saeba - City Hunter

Sabrina Grimm - The Sisters Grimm

Sabrina Spellman - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Sami Reese - Little White Lie

Satou Kazuma - Konosuba

Senku Ishigami - Doctor Stone

Serena - Pokemon

Sherlock Holmes - BBC Sherlock

Shiori - Six Crimson Cranes

Shrek - Shrek

Souji Tendou - Kamen Rider Kabuto

Spike Witwicky - Transformers IDW comics

Star Butterfly - Star vs The Forces of Evil

Stiles Stilinski - Teen Wolf

Sydney Atherton - The Beetle

Tai Kamiya - Digimon Adventure

Takao - Garden of Words

Tara Webster - Dance Academy

Tarl Cabot - The Gor Chronicles

Teriella Rufeon - My Husband Changes Every Night

The Beheaded - Dead Cells

Tom Wachowski - The Sonic Movies

Traveller - Genshin Impact

Ukiyo Ace - Kamen Rider Geats

Vanellope von Schweetz - Ralph Breaks the internet

Velvet Crowe - Tales of Bersia

Violetta - Disney's Violetta

Winston Smith - 1984

Wolverine - X-Men

Wreck it Ralph - Ralph Breaks the Internet

Yu/Ai - Final Fantasy Unlimited

Yuri Zhivago - Doctor Zhivago

Yuusaku Godai - Maison Ikkoku

Available for Resubmission (needs at least 1 resubmission to participate)

Aang - Avatar: The Last Airbender

Alex Eagleston - YIIK

Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars

Aquamarin Hoshino - Oshi No Ko

Ash Ketchum - Pokemon

Atsuko Kagiri/Akko - Little Witch Academia

Beca Mitchell - Pitch Perfect

Brambleclaw - Warrior Cats

Coriolanus Snow - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Eragon - Eragon/Inheritance Cycle

Erika Shinohara - Ookami shoujo to kuro ouji

Frank Reagan - Blue Bloods

Gregory - FNaF Security Breach

Harry Dresden - The Dresden Files

Harry DuBois - Disco Elysium

Katarina Claes - My Next Life as a Villainess

Kiris - On the Emperor's Lap

Kvothe - The Kingkiller Chronicles

Kyouya Sata - Ookami shoujo to kuro ouji

Mal - Descendants

Naofumi Iwatani - The Rising of the Shield Hero

Peter Pan - Peter Pan

Pucca - Pucca

Rand al'Thor - Wheel of Time

Rey - Star Wars

Rintaro Okabe - Steins;Gate

Scott McCall - Teen Wolf

Skullduggery Pleasant - Skullduggery Pleasant

Sophie Foster - Keeper of the Lost Cities

Stolas - Helluva Boss

Stuart Little - Stuart Little

The Tenth Doctor - Doctor Who

Tori Vega - Victorious

Wanda Maximoff - MCU

Wei (Ying) Wuxian - Mo Dao Zu Shi

Xander Harris - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Y/N - Fanfiction

Currently unavailable for a new Round:

Aelin Ashryver Galathynius/Celaena Sardothien - Throne of Glass

Artemis Fowl - Artemis Fowl

Bella Swan - Twilight

Bloom Peters - Fate: The Winx Saga

Bojack Horseman - Bojack Horseman

Caillou - Caillou

Dr Gregory House - House MD

Elsa - Frozen

Evan Hansen - Dear Evan Hansen

Ferris Bueller - Ferris Bueller's Day off

Harry Potter - Harry Potter

Heywood Floyd - Space Odyssey

Izuku (Deku) Midoriya - Boku no Hero Academia

Kazuya Kinoshita - Rent-a-Girlfriend

Light Yagami - Death Note

Meliodas - Seven Deadly Sins

Oscar - Shark Tale

Owen Grady - Jurassic World

Peter Griffin - Family Guy

Rachel Berry - Glee

Richard Rahl - Seeker of Truth/Legend of the Seeker

Robin - Teen Titans Go

Ross Geller - Friends

Ted Mosby - How I Met Your Mother

Tony Stark - MCU

Velma - Velma

Walter White - Breaking Bad

Zoey Redbird - The House of Night

[marleneoftheopera]

Holiday Audio/Video Gifts!

For the holiday season, here are some audio gifts from various shows and one Phantom video! The link to them is here and the info is below the cut:

Happy holidays and I hope you are all having time for some rest!

Audios

POTO

Jon Robyns, Paige Blankson, Joe Griffiths-Brown, Kelly Glyptis, Matt Harrop, Adam Linstead, Francesca Ellis, David Kristopher Brown, Maiya Hikasa August 22, 2023; London

Tim Howar, Harriet Jones, Nadim Naaman, Lara Martins, Nicholas Garrett, Arvid Larsen, John Ellis, Valerie Cutko, Kelsi Boyden March 19, 2023; Greece

Josh Piterman, Corinne Cowling (u/s), Danny Whitehead, Katy Hanna (u/s), Ross Dawes, Kris Manuel (u/s), Sophie Caton (u/s), Paul Ettore Tabone, Georgia Ware October 17, 2019; London ​Matinee.

Jeremy Stolle (u/s), Samantha Hill, Greg Mills (u/s), Michele McConnell, Richard Poole (u/s), Tim Jerome, Ellen Harvey, Christian Sebek, Kara Klein, Scott Mikita (u/s) March 9, 2013; Broadway Matinee performance.

John Owen-Jones, Deborah Dutcher, Matthew Cammelle, Bruce Montague, Charles Shirvell, Margaret Mary Kane (u/s), Janet Murphy, Jeremy Secomb, Lucy Middleton January 5, 2002; London

Love Never Dies

Tam Mutu, Celia Graham, David Thaxton, Daniel Dowling August 25, 2011; London Tam Mutu's last performance.

Les Miserables

Christopher Jacobsen (u/s Jean Valjean), Stewart Clarke (Javert), Katie Hall (Fantine), Will Callan (Marius), Lulu-Mae Pears (Cosette), Amena El-Kindy (Eponine), Luke Kempner (Thenardier), Claire Machin (Madame Thenardier), Dejan Van der Flyert (Enjolras), Alex Shaw (Gavroche), Clohe Sullivan (Little Cosette), Tom Hext (Grantaire/Majordomo), Adam Pearce (Bishop/Claquesous), Ellie Ann Lowe (Factory Girl), Jordan Simon Pollard (u/s Foreman/Bujon), Matt Dempsey (Bamatabopis/Lesgles), Annabelle Aquino, Hazel Baldwin, Emily Olive Boyd, Ben Culleton, Matt Hayden, Sam Kipling, Anouk Van Lake, Harry Lake, Ben Oatley, Jonathan Stevens, Phoebe Williams, Ollie Wray September 28, 2023; London 15,000th show in London and the 5th show for the new company.

Sunset Boulevard

Nicole Scherzinger (Norma), Tom Francis (Joe Gillis), David Thaxton (Max von Mayerling), Grace Hodgett Young (Betty Shaefer), Ahmed Hamaad (Artie), Tyler Davis (Sheldrake), Charlotte Jaconelli (Johanna), Jon Tsouras (Cecil B. de Mille) September 28, 2023; London

Rebecca

Laureen Jones (I), Richard Carson (Maxim de Winter), Kara Lane (Mrs Danvers), Sara Harlington (Beatrice), Neil Moor (Giles), Piers Bate (Frank Crewley), David Breeds (Ben), Alex James Ward (Jack Favell), Shrley Jameson (Mrs Van Hopper), Nicholas Lumley (Colonel Julian) September 27, 2023; Off-West End

POTO Video

Ian Jon Bourg, Olivia Safe (u/s), Kyle Gonyea 2001; Hamburg, Germany VOB files. One of the most legendary Phantom's opposite one of the youngest Christine's!

[marvelman901]

Deadpool!

Which slide of the Merc With A Mouth do you like the most?

1st slide is by Joe Jusko.

3rd slide is by Gus Vazquez.

4th slide is by Tim and Greg Hildebrant.

5th slide is by Dave DeVries.

6th slide is by Joe Madureira.

7th slide is by Steven Butler and Al Milgrom.

8th slide is by Ed McGuiness.

9th slide is by Keith Pollard and Josef Rubinstein.

10 slide is by Jim Lee.

[pers-books]

Paul McGann stars in the forthcoming full-cast audio drama box set, Deadly Strangers, which includes a story by the writer of his very first adventure, the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie.

The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) and his companions Charley Pollard (India Fisher) and Lady Audacity Montague (Jaye Griffiths) have three brand-new audio adventures in store in The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deadly Strangers, due for release in December 2024. 

The Doctor, Audacity and Charley visit many times and places, always with the best of intentions. But others have a different agenda.

An alien princess takes an interest in Puccini, a visitor to Iceland causes chaos, and a lethal interloper slips into the dreams of a sleeping population. Some strangers have deadly intent...

The first of the three stories, Puccini and the Doctor, is written by Matthew Jacobs, the screenwriter of 1996’s Doctor Who: The Movie. Jacobs was the first person to write for Paul McGann’s Doctor and this audio drama marks his first time penning any Doctor Who media since then.

In Jacobs' story, the TARDIS arrives in Milan at the turn of the twentieth century, where the time travellers encounter legendary opera composer, Giacomo Puccini (voiced by Tim McInnerny, known for Blackadder, Game of Thrones, and Doctor Who: Planet of the Ood). But the Doctor’s not the only alien around with an interest in the music of love. 

Doctor Who – The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Deadly Strangers is now available to pre-order as a collector’s edition 3-disc CD box set (+ download for just £22.99) or as a digital download only (for just £18.99), exclusively here.

The three new adventures for the Eighth Doctor and his companions are:

Puccini and the Doctor by Matthew Jacobs Women’s Day Off by Lisa McMullin The Gloaming by Lauren Mooney & Stewart Pringle

Producer David Richardson said: “How brilliant to have Matthew Jacobs return to the series to write Puccini and the Doctor – a man so dedicated that he woke up at 4am in Los Angeles to listen in to our studio recordings! He’s given us a lovely and imaginative tale, which feels very much in the spirit of the Eighth Doctor TV movie.”

Matthew Jacobs said: “This is the first time I've written a Doctor Who adventure since 1996. The Doctor is such an integral part of my life, so it's been fascinating over the years to see it grow and grow. Paul has kept the Doctor alive at Big Finish in a marvellous way and he has become so much more sophisticated as a character than when we were starting.   “I was over the moon when script editor Matt Fitton asked me to put together a story. We discussed that this version of Paul's Doctor is a bit closer to the TV movie Doctor – inquisitive, not as embittered as he gets through the Time War.   “The idea that stuck out was one where I got to deal with some unfinished business from the TV movie. In the movie, the Doctor says how sad it was that Puccini never got to finish Turandot, and it was the bane of his life towards the end. I wanted to tell a story to do with the nature of how we use music and how we search for love.”

Big Finish listeners can save money by pre-ordering Deadly Strangers in a multi-buy bundle with the previous Eighth Doctor Adventures box set, Echoes, for just £44 (collector’s edition CD + download) or £36 (download only) exclusively here.

All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release.

[weyounpussyindulgence]

AAAAAAAAH YOU LUCKY SONUVABITCH!!!! IM SO JEALOUS YOU GOT TO GO TO STAR TREK LAS VEGAS!!!! YOU LOOK SO CUTE WITH EVERYONE!!!! I know you said you got a few autographs, but what’d they sign for you????

Sjfjfjsjsjsj thank you!!! Okay so, I brought a banner sized Federation flag for the guests to sign and I’m very happy with all the autographs I got (half of them I got for free because it was a part of my gold pass perks). However I don’t want to post a picture of it since said autographs include my legal name, which I don’t feel comfortable sharing (and I’m too lazy to take a picture and them blur out my name). So instead I’ll just post a transcript of what everyone wrote (in no specific order)

- “To Wren, Happy Birthday!” ~ Garrett Wang ‘Ensign Kim’

- “To Wren” ~ Michael Dorn ‘Worf’

- “To Wren, all my best!” ~ Marina Sirtis

- “To Wren, Happy Birthday!” ~ Casey Biggs ‘Damar’

- “To Wren, w/ X’s and O’s from Dr Phil Phlox” ~ John Billingsley

- “For Wren ❤️, you are marvelous!” ~ Bonita Friedericy

- “To Wren, love always” ~ Cirroc Lofton

- “To Wren, Happy Birthday!” ~ Brent Spiner

- “To Wren, Happy Birthday” ~ Tim Russ

- “To Wren, qoslij Datlvjaj! Q’apla!” Mary Chieffo ‘Chancellor L’Rell’

- “To Wren, LLAP” ~ Tawny Newsome ‘Mariner’

- “To Wren, wishing you a happy birthday!” ~ Ronnie Rowe

- “To Wren” ~ Connor Trineer ‘Trip’

- “To Wren, happy birthday” ~ Jeffrey Combs

- “To Wren, too kind!” ~ Armin Shimerman ‘Quark’

- “To Wren” ~ Jess Bush ‘Christine Chapel’ ❤️

- “To Wren” ~ Raven Dauda ‘Dr Pollard

- “Happy Birthday, Wren!” ~ Nana Visitor

- “To Wren, Happiest of birthdays you lovely soul! Love” ~ Sara Mitich ‘Lt. Nilsson’

[companion-showdown]

Looks like we are doing Teenage Takedown

Contestants - characters who can be read as or are 'canonically' teenagers, characters who are 18/19 and thus might be excluded depending on what I decide are highlighted in red

Susan Foreman (definitely meant to be a teenager when the character created)

Vicki Pallister

Dodo Chaplet

Victoria Waterfield

Zoe Heriot

Adric

Ace McShane

Rose Tyler

Charley Pollard

Izzy Sinclair

Gillian and John Who

Sam Jones

Mary Shelley

Peri Brown (according to TARDIS wiki she should be 17 or 18 in Planet of Fire, I'm not sure I buy it but she's on here for now)

Ryan Sinclair (says he's 19 in the woman who fell to earth)

Yasmin Khan (went to school with Ryan so 20 in TWWFTE at the most)

Nyssa

Me (Ashildr)

Sharon Davies

Destrii

Chang Lee

Tim Latimer

Ria

Lucie Miller

Heather McCrimmon

Wolfgang Ryter

Flip Jackson

Miranda Dawkins

You can suggest characters to add to this, or characters you think shoud be removed (but there is no guarantee I will) until 18:00 tomorrow (07/06 BST (UTC+1)) at the earliest (if the new round isn't up assume I'm still taking suggestions).

[verloonati]

doctor who is fucking weird at times so here's a non-exhaustive post of a few canon dr who things i think about a lot

The Real Jar-Jar Binks from the Binks clan beamed the idea for star wars into georges lucas' Mind from space. (Forever Autumn)

That one time a bunch of communist (but mc carthy's understanding of communism) Thals tried to reverse mk ultra daleks into being thals but the daleks where in fact mk ultraing them into being daleks. the experiment failed in producing thaleks but did produce communist daleks because they forgot the word exterminate. (brotherhood of the daleks)

Joan and Gillian Who where retconned twice, as either the doctor's dream (The land of happy endings) or as a manifestation of the land of fiction (conundrum)

Charlotte Pollard and the doctor have three children, none of them are people (chimes of midnight, scherzo, the next life)

tim from human nature died and got brought back to life by the doctor's biodata. there also originally was a fake tenth doctor in a leather jacket hanging out with a goth girl (human nature)

Ace's time bike.

john hart from torchwood became a tardis and had tardis sex with a tardis (dark gallifrey: the war master 3)

Chris Cwej has a big dick (The also people)

The fact that the Time lord's imperialism office is called the CIA.

there are fake abslom daaks and Abslom daaks in canon is hinted to be more propaganda than fact (deceit)

[pika-nachua]

2023 NFL Season Predictions

Full Season Schedule,Final Standings, and Playoff Bracket available at

Adjusted 2024 First Round Draft Order (Includes trades to date)

1.Cardinals

2.Colts

3.Bears (via Panthers from Bryce Young/ DJ Moore trade)

4.Buccaneers

5.Raiders

6.Cardinals (via Texans from Will Anderson trade)

7.Rams

8.Bears

9.Giants

10.Commanders

11.Seahawks

12.Patriots

13.Falcons

14.Jaguars

15.Broncos

16.Jets

17.Steelers

18.Ravens

19.Saints

20.Titans

21.Vikings

22.Cowboys

23.Chargers

24.Chiefs

25.Dolphins

26.Packers

27.Lions

28.Bills

29.49ers

30.Texans (via Browns from Deshaun Watson trade)

31.Eagles

32.Bengals

Awards Picks (also receiving votes in parentheses)

Most Valuable Player: Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals (Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen)

Offensive Player of the Year: Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns (Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Brandon Aiyuk, Tony Pollard, Tyreek Hill, Christian Watson, Chris Olave)

Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns (T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa, Gregory Rousseau)

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons (Jahmyr Gibbs, Will Levis, De'Von Achane, Bryce Young, Quentin Johnson, Zay Flowers, Sam LaPorta)

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Christian Gonzalez, CB, New England Patriots (Will Anderson, Jack Campbell, Brian Branch, Emmanuel Forbes)

Comeback Player of the Year: Damar Hamlin, S, Buffalo Bills

Most Improved Player: Christian Watson, WR, Green Bay Packers (Skyy Moore, David Njoku, Brandon Aiyuk)

Head Coach of The Year: Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins (Dan Campbell, Zac Taylor, Kevin Stefanski, Mike Vrabel)

Offensive Assistant Coach of The Year: Ben Johnson, Offensive Coordinator, Detroit Lions (Eric Bieniemy, Pete Carmichael, Tim Kelly, Ken Dorsey, Kellen Moore)

Defensive Assistant Coach of the Year: Jim Schwartz, Defensive Coordinator, Cleveland Browns (Lou Anarumo, Aaron Glenn, Patrick Graham, Brian Flores, Vic Fangio)

Additional Speculation On Season Storylines (Listed by team) List does not include all NFL teams

Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders fire Josh McDaniels after starting 2-10 and losing to the Chiefs Week 12 in Las Vegas, and promote defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to be their interim head coach.

Patrick Graham will finish the season with a record of 2-3, leaving the Raiders with a final record of 4-13.

The Raiders will fire general Manager Dave Ziegler, interim coach Patrick Graham, and a majority of the rest of McDaniels' staff after the regular season is completed.

Tennessee Titans

Starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill gets injured early in the season, and the Titans allow scond-year QB Malik Willis and rookie Will Levis to struggle for the starting spot before Levis wins it outright after during Tennessee's bye week in Week 7.

Levis then manages to lead the Titans to an 8-3 record from the bye week on, putting up Rookie of the Year-worthy numbers... if he had started the full season.

The Titans still manage to fall in the Wildcard Round to a tough Browns team, but this year still cements Levis as the starting quarterback going into 2024, with Tannehill likely to be moved by the front office in the offseason.

Washington Commanders

Ron Rivera is fired after a Week 16 loss to the Jets, finishing his season in Washington with a record of 4-11. Assistant head coach and Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is promoted to be the interim head coach.

Bieniemy then coaches the Commanders to a 2-0 record in the final games, and after the season, his interim tag is dropped in order to make Eric Bieniemy the full-time head coach of the Washington Commanders in 2024.

Aside

Originally, I had afew wonkier predictions, namely the Cardinals and Colts trading their respective picks to quarterback-needy teams so those unnamed teams could select one of USC QB Caleb Williams or UNC QB Drake Maye.

My only reservation was that by the time October comes around, we're gonna have seen a much better sample size of football in 2023, so I'm certain I'll have opinions on it. I'd just like to save some for the wilder stuff for when there's a clearer picture to expand upon.

Ideally, I'd like to do one of these at the end of every month of the season, so we'll see how that goes.

End of the way, I wanted to put something out to reign in the new year, and I hope you're along for the ride.

Now who's ready for some mothafuckin football?

[pattern-recognition]

ive been thinking about clothes again recently as evidenced by my rant a few days ago about neolib ethical consumerism but this morning while i was waiting for my vyvanse to kick in i rewatched that segment of the Tim Roger’s cyberpunk 2077 review where he talks about the buzz rickson’s william gibson collection L2-B bomber jacket. It reminded me that the single most pattern recognition-esque piece of stylized nonfiction ive read was the articles published by K-Hole, a “trend forecasting” group that was active from 2011-2015 or so, and would be common knowledge for anyone in the know about that sort of hyper-premeditated bourgeois fashion culture. if i do write an article about clothes i’ll by necessity have to mention it in some capacity, but thinking about it this morning made me realize that as much as i want to be the Cayce Pollard of William Gibson’s design, as much as i’ve already incorporated so much of her into myself, i’ll be content when I die if i never so much as have to breath the same air as the Cayce Pollards of real life. Though if they offered me free drugs you know I would accept, just so long as I could bounce before anyone so much as mentions the word ‘venmo.’

[dustedmagazine]

Eyelids — A Colossal Waste of Light (Jealous Butcher)

A Colossal Waste Of Light by Eyelids

The first thing you should know about the Eyelids is that they have, collectively, been in a lot of bands. To recap the high points, Chris Slusarenko has done time in Guided by Voices and the affiliated Boston Spaceships. John Moen played drums in the Decemberists, Heatmiser and the Jicks. Bassist Victor Krummenacher is a veteran of Camper van Beethoven and Cracker. Jonathan Drews played with Dolorean, Jim Talstra with Dharma Bums and Paul Pulvirenti with Atomic 61 and Nervous Christians. It’s not quite a supergroup on the Travelling Wilburys level, but there’s a lot of talent packed into its power-pop-into-psychedelic arsenal.

The second thing you might want to understand is that they wear their experience lightly. A Colossal Waste of Light has all the hallmarks of an album made for the pure love of the game, for kicks, if you want to put it bluntly. It’s loose and enthusiastic and full of joy. The radiant jangle, the bloopy bassline, the dreaming, coasting vocal line of the title track all speak to substantial talent and skill — but at play. There are hints of Pollard’s surreal tunefulness, of the Sadies’ psychedelic swirl, of Fountains of Wayne’s graceful way with a line, but very little stress or striving.

The Eyelids wrote these songs remotely during the pandemic, but there’s no trace of jerry-rigging in these pristine tunes. “Everything That I See You See Better” melds spirals of power pop guitar with roughhousing drums and bass without a seam, the vocal harmonies drift over with frictionless ease. Yet, as for many artists, COVID’s restrictions on in-person interaction opened up opportunities for wider online collaboration. They tapped Tim Buckley collaborator Larry Beckett to write lyrics, and got Peter Buck (who also produced) to play 12-string on two tracks. You can hear Buck in the expansive twang of surf-psychedelic “Lyin’ In Your Tomb” and in the more urgent and angsty “I Can’t Be Told.”

Colossal Waste of Light is garage-y power pop from a bunch of guys experienced enough to get the details right without sweating them. Good stuff.

Jennifer Kelly

[quailfence]

Recipe transcript by @breaks-hetheon

[Image description: Three images. The first is light blue text on a dark blue background. It reads:

Tim Cain's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins ---------------------------------------------------- They're the Shadowking's favorites! 1 2/3 cup flour 1 cup sugar 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. cloves 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 2 eggs 1 cup pumpkin (half of a 16 oz. can) 1 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tins (one dozen regular sized) or use baking cups. Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Break eggs into another bowl. Add pumpkin and butter, and whisk until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour over dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Do NOT over-stir! Scoop batter into tins and bake 20-25 minutes. After cooling, keep muffins wrapped in plastic to avoid drying.

Image 2: The Beyonce!? meme, consisting of an image of Tiffany Pollard looking extremely shocked.

Image 3: A blue scroll with "Tim Caine" written on it. Below is a picture of him, a man with pale skin, short black hair, and a short black and white beard. Text next to him reads "Tim is best known as the producer, lead programmer, and designer of the award winning Fallout. He was also senior programmer for Pillars of Eternity and in IGN's list of top 100 game creators of all time. End description.]

@a-captions-blog @potato-head-kids

Show up at work like hi boss sorry I'm late my I was helping my mother track down one specific 90s dungeon crawler for the purposes of obtaining a muffin recipe the developer hid in the files

[truck451]

Why Modern NASCAR Drivers Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Regan Smith, Matt Kenseth And His Son Ross, And Johnny Sauter; Modern Formula One Drivers Nick Heidfeld And Jenson Button; NBA Players And Coaches Greg Foster, Jason Kidd, Josh Oppenheimer, And Scot Pollard; NHL Player Derek Morris; NFL Player Tom Brady; And MLB Players Billy Koch, Tim Hudson, Justin Masterson, Dustan Mohr, Kevin Youkilis, Brett Gardner, Kyle Mcclellan, Steve Pearce, Chad Gaudin, Tyler Collins, And Reed Johnson Should Exhibit Masochistic Tendencies, As Depicted In The Narrative Of Wilbur Hay's Novel "The Day-To-Day Lives Of A Well-Off Couple And Their Autistic Son," A Prospective Film Adaptation Of This Novel, And In Any Pixar Film Where These Aforementioned Modern NASCAR Drivers, NBA, NHL, NFL, And MLB Players And Coaches Might Be Cast As One Or More Of The Antagonists

Why modern NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, Brian Vickers, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Regan Smith, Matt Kenseth and his son Ross, and Johnny Sauter; modern Formula One drivers Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button; NBA players and coaches Greg Foster, Jason Kidd, Josh Oppenheimer, and Scot Pollard; NHL player Derek Morris; NFL player Tom Brady; and MLB players Billy Koch, Tim…