Donald Trump vs Ebeneezer Scrooge. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 3.

Dr.Who's 50th Anniversary (Saturday, November 23, 2013)

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Timelord...

Doctor Who?

The Dr. Who program is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show in the world and as the "most successful" science fiction series of all time—based on its over-all broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales, and iTunes traffic.

The Google Doodle DW celebration also known as "Whodle" (pronounced hoo-dəl or hoo-dull) has been worked on for 4 months by only 5 people, led by Matthew Cruickshank, a Brit who has been working at the company as a full-time doodler for just over a year. It's the 1st game that Matthew has designed noting that "it's the technicians and programmers that actually make the game..." and that he "just art direct, create the assets, set the visual tone, design the characters, and then do pieces of animation." Sounds like a lot of work to me.

Doodle's aka "Whodle's" Origins

Beginning in the summer, engineers at Google London added the Tardis to Google Street View, but that wasn't enough to satisfy Doctor Who fans. Thousands had signed a petition asking Google to do a doodle for the show's 50th Anniversary.

Google accepted the chance to really celebrate a national institution.and made the doodle. Not only that but an 8-bit platform game in which you can play all 11 versions of the Doctor in the game. It is one of the biggest doodles the company has ever produced or shall it be said that it IS the largest interactive Doodle yet created and just in time for the 50th anniversary special - episode 240 - called "The Day of the Doctor". 

About the Game

Fortunately, Cruickshank managed to get the BBC interested, so the Doodle uses real sound effects from the show — including the TARDIS' famous "whoosh." 

In the game your mission is to grab all of the letters that spell "Google" and return them to your TARDIS, while staying away from the the Dalek. Playing as the other time-travelling humanoid alien Doctors is when you get hit by the Dalek. However, The "War Doctor", is not included. Try avoiding those Daleks, let us know your high score and #SaveTheDay!

Celebrity Reaction

The alleged decision not to feature any original series Doctors in the special was criticised by Colin Baker, who portrayed the Doctor's sixth incarnation from 1984 to 1986. Baker stated, "I'm not in it. I can say that Peter Davison isn't because I've seen him recently. And I can tell you that Sylvester McCoy isn't, and neither is Paul McGann. None of us have been deemed worthy of inclusion in a programme that celebrates 50 years of a British television programme, of which I was in it for three. We are surplus baggage." 

On the contrary to the celebrity response, there have been many unconfirmed rumors of previous Doctors reprising their role all the way down to the 4th Doctor. Will all or any of the surviving Doctors get a cameo appearance? You would have to tune in to find out.

My Way of Celebrating a Milestone in TV History

Epic Rap Battles (ERB aka ERBoh) had done a great music video parody of 2 legendary 'doc' characters back in Oct. 2012 whether it was intentional or not.  The 4th Doctor is portrayed by George Watsky, and at about that time, The 10th Doctor is being played by Nice Peter. Back to the Future's Doc Brown is portrayed by Zach Sherwin aka MC Mr. Napkins. You can check them out on YouTube.

There have been a number of really good indie tributes but here is the official BBC version below and my favorite indie below.

 

Ken Sherman

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Doctor Who Animation - 50 Years in Time and Space

Celebrating 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.
www.hotspurandargyle.co.uk #dw #doctorwho #50years @DrWho247

Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Epic Split" for Volvo ad at age 53 (Video)

Uh, we're going to drive forward? Of course.

A feat in acrobatics:  Veteran action star Jean Claude Van Damme showed off his incredible flexibility in a new commercial for Volvo Trucks. The commercial starts with a close up of the actor talking directly to the camera. The Belgian star impressively performs the split in between 2 moving vehicles, completely poised while standing in a more upright position between the moving vehicles and riding backwards. Then he perfectly holds his pose as the camera then pans out to show the stunning stunt. The commercial then states: 'This test was set up to demonstrate the stability and precision of Volvo Dynamic steering. It was carried out by professionals in a closed-off area.'

"The Epic Split" advertisement video was published on YouTube on Nov 13, 2013 and filmed in Spain on a closed-off landing field at sunrise in 1 take. This live test was set up to demonstrate the precision and directional stability of Volvo Dynamic Steering -- a world 1st technology that makes the new Volvo FM easier to drive. The music is from a soundtrack by Enya called "Only Time." The video is directed by Andreas Nilsson. Watch it below.

'I've had my ups and downs,' he says. 'My fair share of bumpy roads and heavy winds. That's what made me what I am today...Now I stand here before you. What you see is a body crafted to perfection. A pair of legs engineered to defy the laws of physics and a mindset to master the most epic of splits.'

Volvo Trucks - The Epic Split feat. Van Damme (Live Test 6)

D@mn! Van Damme's still got it!

Jean-Claude Van Damme performs the split between 2 moving trucks in a breathtaking stunt. But what is even impressive is that he does this while folding his arms, even better the star balances perfectly with his legs in horizontal position between the trucks and what's even more impressive is that he does all of this while in reverse along a runway. And if that is not enough the guy is 53 and is showing that he is still as physically supple as ever. A remarkable feat: the star has kept in good shape in middle age.

No trickery here

Although some safety equipment may have been digitally removed, no computer trickery was involved on camera and the stunt is genuine, according to Volvo. Volvo released a candid video between the martial arts expert and the Volvo technican discussing the take.

Jean-Claude Van Damme: "Uh, we're going to drive forward? Of course." 

Jan-Inge Svensson (Volvo Trucks Technician): "No." 

Jean-Claude Van Damme: "Oh?!" 

Jan-Inge Svensson: "We will, uh, drive backwards..."

Check out the brief inside look of the candid feature below.

Volvo Trucks - Teaser Live Test 6

Some Responses

Perez Hilton stated that this is "The Most Hilariously Ridic Thing We've Ever Seen."  What is even going on here, and whose idea was this?? Honestly, whoever came up with this concept should be taken care of for life — more money they could ever spend! Why yes, this video IS a commercial for Volvo's new semi-truck suspension or something! It doesn't matter what it's for, because it features Jean Claude Van Damme doing splits in between two moving semi-trucks. You read that correctly! The strength and precision this requires is ridiculous — and don't even get us started with the music! 

While master blogger Perez views it as silly from his 'fit' Perez section of his site, it's hard to argue against 17,000,000 views in 4 days on YouTube. Personally, I thought it was like watching a superbowl ad. 17,000,000+ people can't be wrong can they? What do you think? Do you agree with Perez or do you think the video was awesome? Do you have other thoughts of the video? Sound off in the comments below.


Ken Sherman,

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Twitter: @kensherman902

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While you're at it follow
Jean-Claude Van Damme on Twitter @JCVDonline 
Volvo Trucks on Twitter @VolvoTrucks

Watch it in reverse. It is just as epic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNIyD0lEc1s#t=51