...I hope it's a clip-on.

And for that cable-actuated claw hand, what safety mechanisms are in place to prevent the user's fingers from being snapped by the cables when a super villain bends the claw back, or the super hero runs into an immovable object because his (or her) vision is impaired by the helmet?

Ahh, but until Marty and Jennifer return, there is a possibility that they could die or get trapped in the future and never return, in which case there would be no M/J(2015) for them to visit. And after M/J(1985) return, their future selves have already been sorted out, so they would exist as different people (not fired, kids not in jail).

It only works if the original theory applies, and the Delorean travels along the current time track as if the people going to the future never left the present.

IMHO, of course.

There are many different ways time travel can be presented in fiction, with many different sets of "rules." In my opinion, BTTF actually sticks pretty close to its own rules, except when a) absolutely necessary for the story, or b) good for a laugh (see a).

The reason future versions of people don't know what's going on right now in their being-rewritten past is because they're in a different line on Doc's chalkboard. So when Doc in 1885 writes the note to Marty, he is from a future where (when?) he didn't know he was going to be killed by Mad Dog Tannen. So he couldn't possibly know that Marty was going to need to come back and rescue him, and would need gasoline to do it.

As for why Marty's parents don't recognize him, I would say they've had years to forget the details of what Calvin Klein looked like, and years of seeing their son every day as he grew up to look like someone they haven't seen in 30 years. Think of someone you know and see often. Now look at a picture of them from a long time ago. In your mind, they may seem like they haven't changed, but they have. It's like how I still picture my dad looking like he did a while back, when I saw him more often, and am now shocked to see that he has turned into Rush Limbaugh (not literally, but eerily similar-looking).

The one good question posed by this article is about whether Marty and Jennifer would exist in 2015, after they have just gone off in the time machine w/ Doc Brown in 1985. At that point, we might think they should be removed from any future time line until they return safely to 1985. I can only surmise that when traveling to the future, the Delorean travels along the future time line it is leaving, without regard for any changes it may introduce by doing so.

Perhaps a better overall question is: what happens to all the versions of people stuck on those time lines that are then cancelled out by Doc and Marty's travels? Do they zap out of existence? Do the time lines continue on, with fake-boob Lorraine married to Biff and all the other unpleasantness? Should we be happy that everything worked out for "our" Marty, because he's the only character who is the same person we met at the beginning of the first movie?

Because there is no control group, it's impossible to say, but the parent raises a valid point. If the U.S. Government wasn't so far in the pocket of corporate interests (a situation that has lead to the DMCA and other anti-curiosity laws), who knows how much farther ahead we would be?

Compare this to the 1960's, as America prepared to land on the moon. (Not all of America landed on the moon, obviously--just a few crazy white guys, but you know what I mean.)

Back then the country had goals. Mostly to beat the USSR, but still they were goals. Now we're all about short-term gains and reality TV.

I was going somewhere with this, but now I can't see my own point through the crushing depression and loss of hope for humanity.

I have never played the Dead or Alive games, but caught part of the movie last weekend on basic cable. The movie-makers' approach to that one was actually pretty good. They at least tried to wrap a coherent plot around the silly video game fights. But I think what most impressed me was that it was clear the people who made the movie were at least casually familiar with the games, and targeted the movie toward the same audience--straight teenage boys. (By which I mean there was plenty of T&A, and even a beach volleyball scene, ripped right out of that spin-off game.)

From watching that movie, I learned a lot about the games. All the usual silly VG character drama was there, along with what I'm guessing was the various fight venues.

Obviously it's not going to win any Canadian Oscars, but that's the point. They didn't take it any more seriously than it deserved. In that way, I think they at least partially succeeded.

IANARCD (I am not a roller coaster designer), but I'll bet if I were I would disagree with you. A good roller coaster will take the rider through anticipation and build-up, followed by some excitement, then a few twists and turns, more build-up, more excitement, leading to a (hopefully) fulfilling conclusion. Amusement parks are all about "story."

And, to come back on topic, we watched The Eleventh Hour last night, and generally liked it, although we weren't blown away. There were some funny bits. Most of what was lacking (IMO) was the direction. The show was scattered. All the important bits were thrown in, but emphasis was off. For example, we spent an extraordinary amount of time on the fish sticks and custard stuff, but the big payoffs (calling the Atraxi back, the Doctor scaring them away) seemed to get short-changed.

I found myself more intrigued by the character of young Amelia than by Amy, almost wishing the young version was going to be the Doctor's companion. I'm sure Amy will grow on me, but Amelia's story was so touching and heartbreaking, and her interaction with the Doctor was marvelous. I loved how he talked to her no differently than he would speak to an adult.

I disagree that Matt Smith was too much like David Tennant--I didn't see that at all. He already seems a bit more like the Doctor of the old (pre-RTD) series, aloof and not as prone to falling in romantic love with his companions.

Overall I will be interested to see coming episodes, to see how the Doctor, Amy and the series shape up. I want to like it.

Oh, and was I the only one who thought the sound was cutting in and out when the new theme arrangement started up?

If you're a Doctor Who fan (and what self-respecting geek isn't?), plan out the locations you want to see while there at doctorwholocations.net. But don't spend your whole time there going from location to location. Hit a few key places, and maybe even do some that are off the beaten path. Sometimes just finding them makes for some of your most memorable trip experiences.

If you're a Neil Gaiman fan, read "Neverwhere" before you go for a helpful guide to the Underground system. Or see if you can arrange a visit to the old Highgate Cemetery West, the inspiration for his "Graveyard Book."

Buy theatre tickets ahead of time (wayyy ahead of time, if possible).

Our netbook's wireless worked just fine. One hotel had free wireless, another's was kind of pricey, but we enjoyed uploading pictures for friends and family back home.

That's an awful lot of work. Consider how many CD's and DVD's there are in the world. If even a small fraction survive, the chances are pretty good that those poor, unfortunate souls 1000 years from now will spend decades unencoding a disk, only to find it contains Britney Spears' greatest hits, or Ernest Escapes from Guantanamo. Meanwhile, the disk containing all the scientific or literary knowledge of the ages languishes untouched.

Which one?

If you read the article, it does not say that. The White House says they will abide by the judge's decision.

Whether they will or not is another question for another time.

I can imagine cases where making information on the warrantless wire taps available could compromise ongoing law enforcement or terrorism efforts. It could clue the bad guys into what the good guys are looking for, or even that they good guys suspect certain bad guys of being bad guys.

At the same time, I also agree that there is no need for warrantless wire taps. So I'm not justifying the new administration, or giving them a pass. Just remarking that things are getting better. Maybe if the Obama-ites have to justify themselves to a judge a few more times, they'll get the idea that they should have just gone to the judge in the first place to get a flippin' warrant. So keep the lawsuits coming!

As for the guy who said he pays for our spies, so he deserves to know exactly what they're doing, I hope he wasn't serious. If that's all it takes, then any Al Qaida operative in the U.S. just needs to pay his/her taxes to have free access to all our military secrets. Easy cheesy!

I know the previous administration had an effect on us, but it appears to me that the current administration is actually handling this the right way. It may not be transparent to *us*, but matters of national security aren't supposed to be.

They provided the judge with the specifics, and let him decide. If the Bush White House had done that, rather than declare themselves above the law, we wouldn't be so jaded about executive privilege today.

This isn't as bad as it seems, and it's actually a huge step in the right direction.