The Daily Hilario: Never trust a hug

IT'S JUST A WAY TO HIDE YOUR FACE:

I can't quite figure out if Season 8 of Doctor Who was/is a rousing success, or an incredible mess.  On the one hand, you've got Peter Capaldi who's amazing.  And season-long themes about power and control and soldiers and wars and etc.  And a few of the episodes were very good.  On the other hand, you've got Jenna Coleman (still mostly annoying and still have no idea what her purpose is and the explanation given is so ham-fisted that I just rolled my eyes).  And so there are many episodes, like the season finale, where you just go "Huh? But why?"

It's a bit funny that a day after we spent much time nitpicking Interstellar, we get this giant mess of plot holes, inconsistencies, and things that don't make sense (dead bodies have living organic matter what? wait, so are soldiers and wars evil or good now?).  Off the charts nonsense in parts.  But Capaldi was great, "Missy" was great (channeling a bit of BBC Sherlock's Moriarty there at times), and the coda was great with the hug and all.  Plus Santa.  So that's something to look forward to, while I try to figure out if I actually liked this season.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Parity? What Parity? | SB Nation
The NFL prides itself on parity.  Sunday night's Packers-Bears game made a giant mockery of that.  Green Bay was up 42-0 at the half and then blocked a punt by kicking the ball.  The dude could've jumped into the punter's arms, that's how close he was!

52 Of The World's Most Widespread Myths And Misconceptions, Debunked | io9
Fun stuff.  Daresay I knew most, if not all of these already.

2015 ACN might actually end up being cancelled | SB Nation
Apparently Morocco doesn't want it -- thanks to Ebola fears -- and no other country has publicly come forward yet to host instead.  While here in the US, news coverage has moved on to spout alarmist narratives about other things, the outbreak is still going strong in West Africa unfortunately, with over 5000 deaths confirmed.

The 45-yard own goal | SB Nation
You might remember Christoph Kramer as the dude who suffered a concussion in the World Cup final.  There's an obvious joke in here.  But lovely chip, really.

SKI BOOTS:

I need to buy new ski boots, since the ones I had for the past 15 or so years finally gave up last winter and literally broke in half.  Any suggestions?

FOOTBALL (all times GMT):
20.00:  FA Cup, 1st Round:  Havant & Waterlooville vs. Preston North End (former Chelsea youth prospect Warren Cummings, now 34, plays for Conference side H&W, so that's something)
01.30 (next day):  MLS Playoffs:  Seattle Sounders vs. FC Dallas (1-1 agg.)