Deathwing is coming to town...

You've probably (maybe) noticed that i've been absent of late. I don't blog on Blogger much anymore, i've mostly been converted to LiveJournal (gasp!). There was a while that i was taking a break from WoW, too, both to let go of some baggage from my old guild, and because of financial reasons. But i've been playing again for about the past six weeks and several developments have ensued.

• Lui finally got into ICC, one shotting everything in the first wing (not my usual raid style, i'm used to working for everything and wiping repeatedly, then kicking the boss' a$$ against all odds)
• i FINALLY managed to get an Azure Whelpling to drop in Azshara after farming on and off for about a year
• i got a Brewfest Kodo (but alas, not a Ram)
• Lui is 3k gold away from a mechano hog.
• Fyreanjel dinged 80!  She's been healing up a storm in dungeons.  Having three heirlooms really helped her get from 70-80, as only having one was making it take forever and was very discouraging.
• i've tried tanking on Blanche a bit (she's at 67 atm), but i'm really not into DKs, and blood is my least favorite of the trees
• i got on Invy for a while the other day, because if she dings twice she'll be able to open a bunch of lockboxes that are filling her bank. A draenei shammy 8 lvls above her ganked her. I came back and got the shaman to 5% health before missing a kick (couldn't remember the hotkey, it's been at least six months since i was on her) when she was going to heal, and then snuffing it. She left me alone after that. I felt pretty good about nearly killing her (i mean, come on, EIGHT levels!).
  
• Last night i gave Estelril (my fledgling tankadin) some heirloom shoulders and blew through 13-20.  She was one bar from 21 when the servers went down this morning at midnight PDT.
  
• Last night Estelril healed in RFC, gradually losing three of the group members.  And then the rogue and i (the only veteran players in the instance) 2-shot all the content that stood between us and that satchel, with me tanking and healing and her stunlock OTing.

I know, last xpac i had a bunch of screencaps, but once again i was never offered a beta key (the opt in was always glitched for me, after multiple downloads, it would never send the info to Blizz), and when i tried to download the PTR, it was glitched, too.  When it tried to patch it would freeze and never download past the same point repeatedly.  I tried uninstalling and reinstalling and nothing would work.  So i have absolutely no idea what it's going to be like to dps with focus, heal with triage, or tank with holy power (or whatever it's called, i didn't even know about this change until last night when i saw the patch notes).  I think the druid eclipses sound pretty sweet and am planning to roll a Troll Druid and a Warrior Goblin.  I doubt that i'll take the Goblin past the starting zone, much as i've never got my DK to 70, but maybe i'll enjoy druids more this time around.  Unfortunately, i've heard tell that kitties are broken.

And that's about it.  Patch 4.0.1 is installing as i type, and i can hardly wait for class to be over so i can get on to this computer and start to see what changes Deathwing has in store.  Unfortunately, i also need to study for a midterm tonight.

Analyzing the Arguments in Avatar

Reading the first sample paper, I was struck by the writer's observations about Toy Story.  I had never analyzed the film because it's a kids movie; I viewed it as being escapist and nostalgic rather than critical or rhetorical.  I can see that the screenwriters had used exaggerated comparison to be funny, but I'm not sure that they were trying to prove a point about families.  Science fiction, on the other hand, usually contains a message hidden within the story that can apply to the viewer's life.  But movies don't always work on both levels, sometimes the meaning is valid, but the movie isn't entertaining, and sometimes the story is entertaining, but the meaning is lost in the setting or special effects.  The latter is the case for the movie Avatar, a film with incredible animation but lacking a coherent message, mostly because of the Cameron's failure to effectively utilize exaggerated comparison.

There are conflicting messages in Avatar from the beginning.  The music has strong African influences, Pandora's vistas are a rain forest, and the protagonist is a Caucasian veteran.  On face value, one might think that the movie is about racial inequality, because the Na'vi seem to be distinctly third world, and all of the humans seem to think that they need to be educated and westernized.  The trouble with such an argument is that there are people of all races in positions of authority within the ubiquitous and unnamed “Company”, from African American, to Indian, to Hispanic.  Therefore, all of the exaggerated comparisons that could be made between these backwards blue aliens and Native Americans or Amazons or Africans do not seem as valid.  Yes, these individuals who work for the Company have been homogenized, but they do remind us of the failings in our own history that we disapprove of in the present, so surely they have been overcome in the future, as well.  That they haven't seems unrealistic, leaves the viewer wondering how these Humans can be as ignorant as Cameron claims.

As it turns out, in the future, everyone is equally taken advantage of by the Company, and the economy is still down, despite the fact that the Company can afford to make “a significant investment” on spaceships and clones.  Cameron falls back on an old cliché for his bad guys, which has gotten a little old after using it in both Aliens and Titanic.  The viewer can immediately draw several parallels between Avatar and Aliens, whether it be the evil and removed Company with a far reach, the Marines that are eager to kill aliens, the hydraulic robots that sentries are strapped into, or Sigourney Weaver strutting around telling us that The Powers That Be are idiots.  But one starts to wonder just how bad the economy is, if they've got a monopoly on Pandora mining this rare ore, and somehow have the ability to fund a huge military operation, on top of the even more expensive scientific one.  Some viewers probably won't be able to get past the Company and its employees as antagonists, and yet the protagonists work for the Company, as well, while we're left wondering why the Company (or at least their mercenary branch) completely ignores the scientific findings that they've spent so much on.

The military presence is problematic:  Marines are stupid and will follow any orders that the Company might give, we're led to believe.  So being violent is wrong?  Maybe not, because the Na'vi turn out to be warriors, exceptional ones, though they have strong religious ties to Pandora as a nature goddess as well.  Which is an odd direction to take the story in, in a way.  Of course the backwards natives are religious, one might think from a modern perspective, and yet they revere the environment, which is what we are expected to do in real life, as well.  Only, somehow, the Company and military seem to have forgotten that, despite the fact that they have purportedly already destroyed Earth's environment.  So now Cameron is not only insulting the military, but the viewer as well.  We're so stupid, that we're destroying the planet on purpose, even though we know what we're doing, both now and again in the future.  The odd thing about his position is that most people in the military are more conservative and religious.  I suppose that would make them anti-environment in his view, but wouldn't they also be more likely to recognize the Na'Vi as also being religious?  Which could open an entirely different can of worms with conflicts around the world, but he somehow dodges this by making it seem as if all Humans are now religious-neutral, instead of making this just another repeat of westerners trying to convert the natives to Christianity.

This does not change the fact that, at the heart of the matter, Cameron is arguing that Nature is aware and should be elevated to a god-like status.  The Na'Vi are able to interface with horses, pterodactyls, hammerhead buffalo, panthers, and even trees.  The trees make one huge brain, with the power to give life.  So how does this compare to our own planet?  Anyone who has seen the Lion King knows that we are connected in a Circle of Life, but everything about Pandora is carefully orchestrated and interconnected in such complex ways that it's rather hard to believe that such a world could exist without being designed to be so.  If there is an Eywa, is he also arguing that God, or at least a god (perhaps Mother Nature), exists?  It's all rather vague, and he never answers the question.  Instead, the outcast soldier rallies the warriors to defeat the technologically superior Marines, which leaves the viewer feeling skeptical that such an ending is even probable.  Still, he poses interesting questions.

Wow

Imagine that, when RTD finally gets off his pansexual bandwagon, the episodes on Torchwood actually become good! First we have the ex-TW member who's sucking the life out of Gwen (simple yet brilliant), and then we get a TW lite episode, with a guy who's rather like Elton, but even more lovable. The random pics on the phone were poorly handled once they paid off (my mobile won't let me take three pics in a row, at least) but was cute in concept. i like how Gwen had to follow the clues and it was like she could hear him. And did you notice? She got a new car. i guess the insurance paid off or she decided she didn't want to keep the car she bled all over? Who knew that Suzie was so malicious? So maybe the show gets better, but it took seven episodes that were pretty lame to happen first. i like the credits, but it needs more Ten (lol, like that's gonna happen).

from boring to disturbing

So, coughing up rose petals, there's an interesting way to die. i felt bad for that girl until she gleefully let her invisible friends start killing off classmates and family (i didn't feel as bad about the pedophile, but what did the stepdad do that was so horrible? i mean, he was a jerk, but he was trying to protect her). The bit with Jack's lost love was so pointless (ETA: not that she was a lost love, but that she ignored Jack's advice and was stupid enough to go outside). i wanted the cat to save her somehow, but it just sat there. Too much to ask for i guess. /sigh Not at all the ending i wanted, though seeing Jack actually be emotional was nice.

And then we get the crazies in the country. It was like a bad horror film where no one actually died, the just were freaking out about people that were already dead. It was funny, how Ianto said he hated camping, because they didn't get to camp. i suppose it featured members of the team, making them care about them a bit more. But Gwen and Owen... can i just slap that girl? i didn't take her for stupid like that, to try to fix one bad situation with another bad one. Plus, it's just sick. Why did she even join Torchwood if what she really wanted was a desk job?

huh?

Okay, so first off they find a machine that can make you see emotional events in the past and future. Somehow, i'm not impressed. Though, at this point, i am more than ready to kick Owen off the team. He's rude and out of control. He's not in the slightest bit attractive, and that has more to do with his attitude than his appearance. Does anyone else find it odd that there's already been two murderous members of the team and the old fart basically forced Gwen to kill him?

And then there was Ianto and the Cyberwoman. i didn't think that Ianto had it in him to betray everyone like that. All i know about him is that he's coupled with Jack later on, so i just assumed that he wasn't into women. What really disappoints me about this is that, while it's an interesting concept, it's been done before on Star Trek Voyager (with Seven of Nine) and they really didn't bring anything new to the table. In fact, they gave up for all intents and purposes. i expected them to shoot her, but i am shocked that they endorsed capital punishment like that. It wasn't her fault the Cybermen had reprogrammed her.

tentatively venturing into Torchwood

So i watched the first two episodes of Torchwood last night (this morning actually) because i was looking to fill insomnia time. Thus far, i don't feel anything for the team: they're all so closed and standoffish. Even Captain Jack doesn't seem his usual happy go lucky self, not any real flirting to speak of. i guess he's lived through a lot, and it's all hidden, and he's not the same person he was when traveling with the Doctor. It's a bit odd that he's obsessive about handy (how did the alien pick up on that?) and standing on top of buildings (i guess he's looking for the Doctor?).

It's all more raw than Doctor Who. So far, we've seen everything through Gwen's eyes, except for brief glimpses of the lives of the Torchwood members. i like her well enough, i suppose, but she seems very innocent, whereas Jack basically knows everything (kind of a Doctor figure in a way, especially with the technobabble). There are bows to Star Trek DS9, with the cog-like door and bringing sex to the forefront. So far, it's not moving me enough to feel anything for it, really, not love or hatred, it's just kind of meh. Time will tell, i suppose.

watching the West Wing

Last night i watched some West Wing from the first season, which is something that i hadn't done in a very long time. i was shocked to discover that i had seen six out of the first eight episodes. i didn't think i started watching the show until the second or third season. i'm wondering if i caught reruns later on and didn't realize that it was the first season because Moira Kelly is only in half of the episodes.

i forgot how much i loved this show. i absolutely love CJ's klutziness and ineptitude with men (which is funny because Danny's throwing himself at her). i love Toby's crankiness and Sam and Josh's sarcasm. i love Leo's authority and quiet fortitude in the face of his divorce. i love that Donna wants to buy a dvd player, but can't because the administration doesn't "trust her to make a smart investment" so she keeps the change from Josh's lunch for the same reason. i love the chemistry between Jed and Abbey, how she didn't come in right away but was instantly the perfect first lady for the president that has the tendency to get pissed off at the wrong time for the right reasons. i love how this president is pro-life and has faith despite the fact that he's a Democrat (actually, his Catholicism is probably why he's a Democrat, i'm merely commenting on the fact that most in that party are not pro-life, though i am glad to say there are exceptions), that he's a complete nerd, that everyone in the office is brilliant, but makes mistakes like the rest of us.

Merlin "Sweet Dreams"

i hope that i don't offend anyone when i confess that i found this show to be well bad, and it did little to improve my opinion of Georgia Moffett as an actress. It was a little funny, but considering the fact that John Hurt is in it: travesty. Even the evil jester (formerly from Big Train) couldn't redeem it. Georgia's voice is sooooooooo annoying (ETA2: i guess she got her voice from her mother), and nothing about the show is at all realistic. Epic fail.

i'm really trying to give her a chance here, guys, i am.

ETA: Okay, i will admit that the fact that she decided to keep her son definitely earns her props. Videos like this are just too cute! ("I don't have a third favorite")

Fringe is still fantastic

Well i finally caught up on the last four episodes of Fringe, and i'm still loving it. i don't even know where to begin, because Olivia, Water, and Peter are all just lovely to watch as they try to figure out whatever weird mystery TPTB throw at them each week. We finally got a couple of questions answered (or out in the open at least) as to Olivia's childhood experiences (as Olive) and the fact that Peter is from the other side. As a tentative Olivia/Peter shipper, this bothers me, though, as they have already said that it would be disastrous for people from separate dimensions to procreate together (do they seem like they want to have kids? still...). i think that eventually Peter is going to find out, and that he might not be too happy about it.

finally, someone is on the same wavelength as me

My sister stumbled upon this quite by accident, but i had searched to see if anyone shared my theory of "Amy Pond" actually being a young Donna.  She finally found someone who came up with this theory last May:  Could Karen Gillan Be the Young Donna Noble?. Their theory is slightly different than mine (they believe that Donna is going to grow younger?) as i think that the Tardis will take the Doctor back to a point in time where he happens to run into her. Only a couple more weeks to find out!

dw new earth

Aside from the super hot kiss with hair pulling... this episode is rather ridiculous.  The Face of Boe makes his yearly--in person--appearance, Billie and David and some other guy get to try to act like Madam Hooch/Lady Trampoline, and all anyone needs is a good hug in order to get better... and a little disinfectant apparently.  Which is funny, because without fail using disinfectant makes me ill.

What's rather odd is that, later on, the Doctor is all gung ho about no one dying, while here he's like "it's your time."  What exactly is the moral of the story?  Make sure to tell yourself you're beautiful and die in your own arms, cuz no one else cares?

DW the Christmas Invasion

So... Rose is such a whiner in this.  One third of the world's population is about to kill itself, and she's whining about the Doctor being unconscious (ETA: when, ironically enough, it's her fault).  "Oh, he's abandoned me, boo hoo" get a grip.  The universe does not revolve around Rose Tyler.  She acts like the Doctor is a god or something.  Nearly invincible, he may be, but everyone gets sick from time to time, at least us mere mortals do.  i'm also not sure what she was hoping to accomplish lying through her teeth to the Sycorax:  she could have died, two men already had for less lip.

i love the new Doctor.  He talks a mile a minute, is clever, sarcastic, champion of the planet, i could go on.  Simply put, he's brilliant.

dw Bad Wolf and Parting of the Ways

i love Lynda, she's sweet.  (:  The Doctor says all he's looking for is a "quiet life."

The Doctor and Jack are both affected by Rose's "death" equally, they just react in completely different ways.  It was very weird for me to see him do his "shut down and think" thing for the first time.  In fact, he doesn't do it often.  He usually plows ahead and makes things up as he goes along.  Jack, on the other hand, charges in, guns blazing, but doesn't even shoot anyone other than the Anne-droid.  He'll fight if he has to, but not needlessly.  They were actually smart to wait until they were no longer outnumbered and could make an easier escape without needless casualties.

i love the Doctor when he's goofy, but i love him even more when he's indignant.  The most brilliant lines in all of series one on his part are from "No...it means no" to "And doesn't that just scare ya to death."  The Doctor is like a sleeping dragon, he's all cuddly until you tickle him, and you only get so many chances before you run out of his mercy.

Rose is slightly jealous of Lynda it seems.  Lynda and the Doctor have an awkward good-bye, and cannot tell whether they should hug, or kiss, or what.  Jack, on the other hand, is soooo young.  He trusts the Doctor implicitly.  But the Doctor... the choice that he is planning to make, the destruction of Earth and the majority of the human race, is horrible.  This is the same sort of choice that Ten was against in Journey's End, the choice that Martha was going to make.  It's odd how things change.

i cannot believe that Rose was cruel enough to tell Mickey that there was nothing left for her back on earth.  This includes him and her mother!  And when she said something so utterly cruel, i cannot believe that he helped her.

But i do love the Bad Wolf.  She is brilliant, but she is also deadly.  All that light pouring out of her, the ability to see what was and is and is to come... it's like she became a goddess.  And though she saved Jack's life, no one is meant to have that power.  But at the same time it was good, because she was being selfless, and she enabled the Doctor to be selfless.  Instead of a Doctor born of the Time War, we received one born of love and mercy.  That's the most powerful thing in the universe all creation.

DW Boom Town

i had only seen this episode once before, and i must confess that it was a lot better than i remember. Actually, all i really remembered from it was the date with the assassination attempts and the egg. There's a lot in the middle, like Mickey and Captain Jack and the Doctor verbally sparring (too much testosterone in the Tardis, methinks). What's really funny is how Rose and Mickey go off on their date, and then the Doctor and Margaret, and Captain Jack is gleefully tinkering away in the Tardis with a cheesy grin. It's absolutely hilarious.



But Rose is horrible. Her entire date, all she does is talk about the Doctor. Then she puts down the fat shop girl, when all she used to be was the skinny shop girl. Mickey has a valid point when he says that all she does is cut him down and leave him waiting.  By the end of the episode, you can see that she wants to turn back time and be with Mickey, but you can also tell that the Doctor's feelings towards her changed in the Empty Child (he certainly doesn't want Captain Jack to have her).  My sister points out that all she does is use people, and it's a very valid observation.  She used the Doctor to go back and see her father.  She used Adam to show off.  She uses Mickey all the time without a second thought (i've never really understood why she was with him, but because of the events in Age of Steel, i am totally on his side).  The more i rewatch this series one, the more i wonder why i liked Rose so much:  she certainly had issues.

Spooks Code 9 Stunk

i just watched the last part of it, and i cannot believe the way it ended. From the beginning, i felt the show was trying to do a Dark Angel meets Alias type thing, but it never really delivered. None of the characters were fully developed, and the ending was just epic fail. What was the point of watching any of it if it was all going to be for nothing???

Doctor Who the Long Game and Father's Day

LG
This episode is odd. Adam is saying that he can't compete with the Doctor and the Doctor is annoyed with both him and Mickey. When Simon Pegg said: "There's something wrong here" i was like "yeah, you're blond." The Face of Boe is announcing that he's pregnant... i thought that Captain Jack was the one who said he'd been pregnant before???

FD
"An ordinary man, that's the most important thing in creation." That seems to be a very odd thing for the Doctor to say. Is that was Rose is thinking of while talking to Donna in Turn Left? And since when does everyone think that she and the Doctor are a couple? He's so much older than her, and they have absolutely no chemistry. The Doctor already thinks an "ordinary" life is the ideal, the getting married and having kids stuff. Why can't the Doctor ever have that? Is it because he hasn't met the right person yet? That he won't let himself? What.

Little Mickey is so cute. Rose is not so bright, and a terrible liar. Course, Jackie isn't so bright, either. How did Rose get brown eyes when both of her parents have blue? Lol, Companion Brown, Doctor Blue --> Companion Brown, Doctor Brown --> Companion Blue, Doctor Brown

p.s. Something that's odd is the posters saying that Margaret Thatcher won't serve a third term, when i'm pretty sure she did. Wishful thinking on the parts of TPTB?

Dalek

First off, stop flirting with that idiot, Rose. Secondly, they keep throwing around this love word, and i don't see any chemistry between the Doctor and Rose (not to mention that she's still with Mickey, for crying out loud). Third off, the Doctor eagerly holding a gun is SOOOOO wrong (this i cannot emphasize enough, and it's one of the things i'm worried about possibly being problematic with Eleven. Fourthly... what did he just do with his spheres?

This is a great bit of science fiction, making you feel sorry for the bad guys, but what message were they trying to send?

Lastly, stop putting down the Tardis, it's so much more than a box!


ETA: i'm not meaning to insinuate that the Doctor couldn't love Rose in other ways, of course, however, Nine isn't exactly fuzzy. In fact, it's very hard for me to come to grips with the fact that all Doctors are the same man atm. i'm in for another period of readjustment. Don't worry, as soon as i get used to Matt Smith, they'll kill him off.

Aliens of London/WWIII

Rose is still getting on well with Mickey, and the Doctor is lying and sneaking off. He doesn't exactly have the best relationship with Rose, does he? However, you must admit that she is very practical, and brave, willing to die so the rest of the world can live. i must admit that's important in a Companion.

i didn't realize quite how quickly they brought in Harriet Jones ("i'd vote for her"). i quite like Harriet, and still hold that we haven't seen the last of her (they didn't exactly show her die, did they?).

i don't quite agree with the Doctor about humans being thick. /sigh i know people are going to hate me for this, but why did i love Chris' Doctor so much? Mind you, there are problematic episodes and issues throughout, i suppose.

ROFL the Doctor thinks Rose is bringing a lot of stuff when Rose has one bag... just wait til he meets Donna.

Why So Serious?

Yep, i finally saw the Dark Knight, and yes, Heath Ledger was brilliant in it, but he wasn't the only one. i always hated the original Batman because, like everything else Tim Burton does, it's just so over the top. As a kid, Jack Nicholson scared me to death. i still don't like to watch his movies, he's just so oily and /shudder. But Heath brought a certain rationality to the character. Yes, he did things that were insane, but because he was smart, because he was brilliantly orchestrating things behind the scenes, and putting on a crazy face so no one took him seriously. It's funny, they could have turned this into another "why is the Joker what he is?" film, but fortunately they didn't; we didn't need that, it had been done before (badly). Instead, we got a brilliant look at what made Two-Face what he was.

Another thing that's interesting about this version of the franchise is that Batman is so much more dark and twisty even while he's being more noble and moral. He's harder on himself than he needs to be, in my opinion. i'm really enjoying these films much more than the old ones, and am really starting to hope that David Tennant will be the next Riddler, because i really cannot imagine anyone else bringing the same level of brilliance to the game.

Oh, and i'm enjoying the Scarecrow, too. And the mayor (Richard!). And more than anything, it just's wonderful to see Gary Oldman playing someone who isn't a bad guy. FINALLY.

Doctor Who the Unquiet Dead

Ugh, i still hate this episode. This kind of shenanigans seems to happen every season, though, what with werewolves, three witches, and Sybiline sisters. What i did find interesting was the fact that Rose stood up to the Doctor, telling him that he couldn't let the aliens through the Rift, and he ignored her, to disastrous results. i didn't remember the Doctor being so hotheaded and stubborn, as i dearly love his more comical moments, such as reading books with sad endings, spilling cards everywhere, breathing on aliens, and gushing about Dickens (whose works i can't stand, but hey it takes all kinds). They've met Dickens, Shakespeare, Christie... next thing you know and they'll be meeting Austen, Melville, Dickenson, Poe, or Shelley. Actually, Austen's life was too boring for Doctor Who, and she's who i'd like to see most of all.

Ruby in the Smoke

Well, i finally watched something with Matt Smith in it for more than 30 seconds (though it still wasn't a very large part), and i must say that i'm feeling slightly better about him being Eleven, though he wasn't acting very much like the Doctor most of the time. He was nice enough, but i still feel like i have no idea who he is. Incidentally, Lance was also in the film, and got his due, and Mrs. Weasley was very murderous! Still, makes me long to see her dueling Bellatrix in Deathly Hallows. i had a hard time figuring out what was going on in this film, but it was probably the best i've ever seen Billie do at anything.

Doctor Who series one - Rose and EotW

This afternoon i don't have any homework (the professors aren't laying it on because spring break is next week), so i watched Rose and The End of the World. First off, let me just say that, looking back, as a pilot, Rose was pretty lame. The plasticine thingies were funny, but not really that menacing (though they certainly caused a lot of destruction quickly). Rose didn't exactly save the day, because the Doctor shook one off, and flipped the other into the molten blob consciousness before she kicked the first farther out of the way. It's a shame that they didn't bring more of her supposed gymnastics skills to the character, not that this was exactly a good example of gymnastics! i do like that he gave them a chance to leave, and wasn't keen on killing them, but then in EotW he turns right around and kills Cassandra without any regret. i think i have whiplash. It's all very well that the Doctor is saying that everything ends, but quite another to coldly cause a human to die.

i suppose this is because we have a damaged Doctor, but so far, Rose isn't pulling her weight. She's a damsel in distress, huddling in the observation room because she was moping about, whereas by this point Donna had already stopped the Doctor from killing himself and figured out that he needed to be kept in line (this after he had been ostensibly healed by running around for two years with Rose). i'm sorely tempted to start writing a series where Donna is traveling with the Doctor in series one onward... course i don't like to do that rewriting tom foolery when i can avoid it.

Chris, however, is hilarious as Nine. i especially enjoy his gift of the breath of his lungs and interaction with Jackie in her room. i want to keep a running tally of mentions of Bad Wolf, so far the Face of Boe has mentioned it, but i think i might have seen posters in an ally... need screencaps or a website that already has figured all that stuff out!

where's my Doctor Who?

i've been talking about Doctor 10 and Donna a lot lately on LiveJournal (my picspam and some fics were a great hit), so i'm a little antsy for the new series to start. i keep meaning to update my header with 10/Donna (instead of 9/Rose), and now 11/Amy is upon us! i'm not very good at waiting. /sigh

Bright Young Things

i say, i've become rather fond of Fenella Woolgar, who is quite funny, but hasn't been in much actually. She's playing an Agatha in this film again--girl can drive fast!--and has more screen time than Tennant as it turns out.

Which is actually a relief, oddly enough: i've never seen him look less attractive. i can live with the beard and neck hair and depressed look, weird blondness and lame jokes, but limp greasy hair and a bushy mustache??? /shudders Though i will admit that he was really good at the coin trick: just because the other fellow could do the same thing didn't mean that he could do it with flair. And the bit about the birthmark was just funny.

Gah! Didn't even realize that the gay guy was Aro until the credits rolled. i knew he looked familiar, but wow, i never realized that he's Lucian from Underworld!!!

L.A. Without a Map

This movie makes me really happy that i never moved to LA and tried to break into acting. Does one really have to party it up and give sexual favors for parts? It's simply ridiculous. This movie was actually made right about the time i really wanted to move to LA, too.

This movie came out nearly 11 years ago, which means David Tennant was about my age, but he looks so young. i have learned to never trust him with electrical appliances, that he's prone to start fires, and that i love how goofy he is when he dances. i've seen some clips from this before, i don't know why Barbara looks down at him while he's jamming, though i must admit the music wasn't all that great. Ah, well, another happy ending i suppose; back to homework.

more historical DT

He Knew He Was Right
This miniseries was written by the screenwriter of Pride and Prejudice, was long, and had quite a few actors in it. It took me two nights to get through this along with homework and knitting. There's Henriette from Casanova, Charlotte Lucas and aunt Gardiner from the new and old Pride and Prejudice respectively, Viktor/Phillip/Davy being a cad, and Agatha Christie marries the Doctor! (There's actually several other actors that i'm familliar with such as Magpie/Cook). The main character was certifiable, but many of these characters were stupid, yet somehow everyone managed to get a happy ending. It was very, very odd to see DT as in inept, stammering, speechless minister with absolutely no backbone. He wasn't very good with the ladies, though i didn't like the fake hair, either.

Who Do You Think You Are?
It was truly interesting to see a bit about DT's ancestry. The island off Scotland was beautiful and Londonderry has a tumultuous history. i wonder if Gran Blair was the one who knit the Tom Baker scarf for wee David and what exactly his objections are to her being on the right politically. Is this mainly because she wasn't for Irish independence? There was the great grandfather ostensibly participating in gerrymandering, but that occurs on both sides of the aisle (would it be in bad taste to be punny and say isle?). i just find it confusing for him to be apparently espousing socialism in one interview and then mad at his grandfather for not being democratic enough in another. It must be very different to grow up in the UK than in the US though, no doubt.

the most faithful companion

My sister and i were talking about Doctor/Rose versus Doctor/Donna again Sunday night, and i cannot believe how much i've done a 360 on this.  i became a Doctor/Rose shipper with Doctor 9 (though i must admit i was a bit hesitant because of the age difference of all things... i mean, what does it matter that there's nearly a nine century difference in age when you look 50 rather than 30?), which only continued to gain strength throughout series two.  The crazy thing is that the Doctor and Rose never actually got "together" as it were.  They would flirt, but they were really just friends, and Rose made it clear that she would stay with him even if there was nothing more to their relationship.  At the time i strongly identified with Rose but wasn't really sure why as i really have little in common with her.

Then came Heartbreak Bay.  Rose chose to stay with the Doctor, but then gets sucked into the Void, only to be saved by her dad.  At least she's alive, right?  It wasn't ideal, but i could live with it.  At this point, it became very clear, though, that the Doctor did love Rose but had just never taken the time/had the chance to tell her.  This was slightly tainted by the whole Girl in the Fireplace thing, because the Doctor presumably would have chosen Madame Pompadour over Rose.  At any rate, at the beginning of series three, it was abundantly clear that the Doctor's heart was unavailable.

It would have been a hard thing for any new companion coming into series three because of the open wounds left by Rose being torn away.  i remember seeing the Runaway Bride for the first time... i wanted to hate Donna, but i couldn't quite manage it, annoying as she was.  Then Martha showed up, and i didn't even have to try to hate her!  Series three has some of the very best episodes but has, hands down, the very worst companion.  There will always be one line that sums up Martha:  "Oh, she was blonde!"  She was living in Rose's shadow, and she was completely selfish.  A companion is meant to support the Doctor, help him make hard choices, stop him when he goes too far.  Donna did this from day one (once she got over the kidnapping bit) when she stopped him from drowning after killing the Racnoss (Turn Left confirms this).  Martha is whiney whiney "Why doesn't he love me?", "Why do I have to work in a shop?", "Oh look, a fob watch!"  She never stops to think of the repercussions of her actions, which is really odd because she's meant to be smart.  My impression of Martha is still that she mostly got in the way and made the Doctor miserable because she was constantly mooning over him.

Martha exits, Donna steps back in, and it's like a breath of fresh air.  Donna has no interest in the Doctor as a love interest when they resume their relationship (which is a ready relief, as we are all still Doctor/Rose shipping, right?).  Once she's gotten over the entire "I'm totally oblivious to aliens" thing, and "Marry me, marry me, marry me Lance!" it turns out the Donna is smart, funny, and exactly what the Doctor needs in terms of being challenged and cheered up whenever the need calls for it.  A third of Donna's season effectively gets sucked up by Martha still hanging around and then the whole finale reunion, but she never complains or is bitter about it.  She's willing to share the Doctor (she's a better woman than i am, i'll tell you that).

Truth be told, Donna turns out to be a better companion than Rose was even.  Rose was always getting into trouble (Donna does this a bit, but not nearly as much), lost about what was going on (Donna figured things out more quickly than the Doctor on several occasions), and most of the time didn't even challenge the Doctor to be a better person (this is from what i remember, the obvious exception being in the episode when she touched the Dalek).  When Caan mentioned the "most faithful companion", i don't even consider Rose to be an option.  Sure, Rose fixed the Doctor, but you have to admit that she's far from a pacifist.  Donna spent a year searching for the Doctor before they started traveling together, and she didn't have a string of boyfriends hanging on (Rose had Mickey, Adam, and Captain Jack at various times), merely the one encounter with Lee in the Library that was really beyond her control.  Over the course of series four, you have reminders of Rose in the background, and of course you still want her to get her happy ending, but at the same time the Doctor and Donna get on so well together, and as the series progresses they no longer even protest at the suggestion that they are a couple.  Then we return to Heartbreak Bay.

So, my sister Megan thinks that even now the Doctor is pining after Rose (during the interim year of specials all the way up to the End of Time).  My sister Katie and i disagree.  First off, the Doctor could have decided to keep Rose with him, or Rose could have decided to stay with him (impractical on the part of the actors and certain logistics, but from the vantage point of logical options in the story, totally true).  The Doctor chose to leave Rose behind with his clone:  he didn't say that he loved Rose, he decided to leave.  i'm sure that there was a part of him that wanted to stay with Rose, but for some reason he rejected that, and from that point forward any option of him ending up with Rose is completely over.  The Doctor is a free man.

So Donna is the one to fly off with the Doctor, leaving him free to travel with her forever (or so we are possibly thinking the first time we watch Journey's End).  Unfortunately, the Doctor already knows that Donna's mind is going to burn up.  He already knows that he's going to leave Donna at home with her mind wiped.  Which really just stinks on multiple levels because Caan and Rose both predicted Donna's death, and instead she gets her mind wiped, personality removed, progression undone.  It is dark days for Donna, and unfortunately they have yet to be fixed.  She doesn't belong with a guy she can push around, who is stupid and never going to amount to anything, she deserves the Doctor (whether you're a shipper or not, her life was meant to be spent with him as friends and equals at the very least).

For the Doctor's part, spending a year without a Companion actually brought about some very good character progression.  His loneliness is more poignant in the Next Doctor as a result, and Lady Christina could not be a worse companion.  The ending of the Waters of Mars would not have unfolded in the same way had Donna been there!  Rose probably would have watched him save the day, cheering him on, but Donna would have seen the danger in what he was doing and stopped him before he went too far (or slapped some sense into him if need be).  Rose is everygirl while Donna is exceptional.  In my opinion it was okay to save those three people, he just shouldn't have taken them back to earth to affect the timeline (after all, the grandaughter was traveling through space as if searching for her lost grandmother).  He should have left them on another planet, somewhere across the galaxy, to rebuild their lives, or kept them on as companions.

And so we arrive at the End of Time with a very wounded Doctor.  The last time i watched this, i really did try to see it from a Doctor/Rose perspective, but it simply didn't work.  When the Doctor sees Donna, he cannot help stare at her with longing, he cannot help but cry.  Rose is not what his life is missing, it's very clearly Donna.  It's true that there is no overt overture there that indicates that his love has shifted from platonic to romantic, but it is very much obvious that he has moved on from Rose and realized too late who the better woman was.

i still feel like the coincidences with the ring looking just like the first Doctor's and Romana = Roman woman, Donna = woman, first stop = Rome are too great to ignore.  And it's very Lost fan of me, but come on, you have to admit that Amy Pond does rearrange to my Don(n)a... sure the p doesn't fit anywhere, except in standing for past possibly.  River obviously knew something about Donna but didn't recognize her.  So i'm still hoping that Amy = young Donna, but at the same time, realistically, Russell T. Davies burnt me too many times, so i'm not holding my breath.  But it just makes so much sense!  /sigh

finally starting to get tired of David Tennant

Posh Nosh
Two Doctors together... is DT trying to tell us something?  Both episodes are absolutely hilarious, though Mr. Tennant is hardly in them.

Old Street
Very small part:  another short film that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  DT plays the night manager, and is very funny when the main character hugs him.

The Deputy
i just love nerdy, sarcastic DT!  This show was pretty interesting, slightly West Wing (only slightly though).  i guess this was a pilot that wasn't picked up, which is interesting because in a recent interview DT compared pilots in the UK to the US, and he says in the UK if your pilot isn't picked up it can be career suicide.  i certainly hope that isn't the case if this Rex pilot turns out to be a bomb.

The Traffic Warden
This short film is really good:  no one has any dialogue, really, but there are a lot of ads and newspaper headlines that communicate a running commentary about what's happening in the film.  To be perfectly honest, DT is still a little physically awkward in this, but maybe that was part of the poor guy's charm.  It's actually kind of funny that he's saving goldfish because he's never had a pet before.  i wouldn't mind him breaking a fishbowl that i was holding and kissing me. (;

Desert Island Discs
Interesting, how i know absolutely none of his favorite music.  It sounds as if he is more socialist than i was hoping, based on his first job at a certain theater company (7:84, which has now ceased to be).  He says he's solitary, too, which is funny.  i'm not exactly a party animal myself, i'm only really looking for a couple of good friends and one person to spend the rest of my life with, you know?  It's interesting to hear him actually talking about himself for a change instead of constantly hamming it up.

i am so confused

9 1/2 Minutes
Short film, about 10 minutes long, jumps around a lot and makes no sense whatsoever.  Apparently DT is on a blind date with a VP of something or other, and they're acting as if it's not their first date, then later in the relationship, then over.  i have no idea what the film is trying to say or what the point is or if they're going to see each other ever again or what.  There's no plot here, really.  Oddly enough, David looks rather blond, which is strange.

Doctor Who:  Scream of the Shalka
What on earth is going on?!?  What help are show tunes?  And why is the Doctor so inept?  Said Doctor is one of the incarnations from The Curse of the Fatal Death (the mirror licker, to be exact), the Master is Derek Jacobi (no idea why, but he's a robot in the Tardis, actually), and DT is a humble caretaker that's nowhere to be found until episode five, where he promptly gets trampled by a mob.  Apparently not considered to be canon anymore, this cartoon is rather horrific (and i don't mean that in a good way at all).  i have no idea how there is a black hole under Lancashire and the planet hasn't been destroyed yet, nor how the Doctor got out of said black hole, nor how i survived this horrible cartoon.

rewatched SweetNightGoodHeart
i don't know why, i didn't realize that it was Kate Ashfield.  This time around, i recognized her name and her voice immediately.  She looks different with her hair a darker blonde (DT also starred with her in Secret Smile, and of course i originally know her from Shaun of the Dead "Bye, bye, bye").  David is really pale in this, no freckles at all, and his hair looks to be a very dark ginger, shorter than we're now used to.

In other news, series 5 of Doctor Who (or the third series 1, depending how you look at it) seems to be premiering March 13 according to imdb, and i really need to get some sleep.

more DT

On Friday i managed to not watch any David Tennant until 9 p.m. or later; this is partially because i went snowboarding and to a baby shower, but still!  Thursday night i watched Einstein and Eddington:  it was weird to think of a Quaker as gay, let alone DT.  Both title roles were superbly acted (probably the most normal role i've ever seen Serkis--best known as Gollum--play, to be honest).  As it turns out, Eddington was actually gay from what i have been able to discover.  Sexuality aside, i was very happy with their depiction of Eddington as a man that combined his faith with science (Newton was also similar in his beliefs).  i did not like that Einstein was having an affair (i wouldn't have taken her back, either), but of course that's a matter of history.  Overall, this movie was excellent.

Other viewing over the past few days:

Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Absolutely horrible:  DT plays a crazy artist (and i don't mean that in a good way).  The entire show wasn't really working for me, poor plot, poor humor, and more than a little disturbing.

People Like Us
Absolutely hilarious!  The narrator, of course, was the funniest part, but DT is in this a great deal as he's the main person the mockumentary was being made about.

two Friday Night Project appearances
So, uh, i guess DT is not afraid to kiss other men.  i'm so envious of the girl that got to run her hands through his hair!  i'm not really impressed with this show because it's very lewd.

Foyle's War
He's hardly in this, and i was actually a bit bored at first (which is disappointing, as i've heard this show is good), but that's not to say that he isn't good in the role.  See, Theo is another pacifist during the war (sound familliar?) but he's really mad because his fellow pacifist friend committed suicide after being denied the right to not fight in the war and being abused by the police.  This is the earliest example i have seen to date of his bitter anger (that can be seen in Doctor Who), but this anger doesn't seem as righteous, he's struggling with a murderous rage that goes against what he believes in, and it's kind of scary but not in the way that he has been in other films.  idk, he didn't have a lot to work with, but of course he nails it, in fact i feel he's more convincing at this than he was in Secret Smile, which somehow wasn't quite working for me.  i think he was holding back too much in that, actually.  Anyways, by the end of the show, he decides to go into the military because he realizes that he wanted to murder in revenge, but that isn't who he wants to be, but he knows now that he is capable of killing.  He doesn't believe that war is the best option, but that at least fighting in war would be fighting for the right things.  The good news is, he didn't commit the crime!  Sophia Myles is also in this, she's excellent.

Labour Party ad
DT is hardly in it (there's a flash of Patrick Stewart near the end as well).  i was surprised by some of the things said in the ad, and looked up some more info on Wikipedia, only to discover that Tony Blair is a member of the Labour Party.  Margaret Thatcher was part of the Conservative party, but both parties seem to be fairly centrist and some of the issues that would be considered to be conservative here in the U.S. are supported by Labour and some of the things considered to be liberal here are supported by the Tories (as the Conservative party members are sometimes called apparently).  So just because i was raised conservative does not guarantee that i would choose to vote Conservative were i a citizen of the UK.  i also discovered that Labour is not all that socialist anymore, that there's a third party for that, but even they seem more centrist than the U.S.'s Democratic party seems to be at the moment.  Of course i'm no expert, but it was eye opening.

Personally, my policy is to vote for the person who runs a fair campaign and believes most similarly to the way i do (from what i can determine), regardless of their party affiliation.  For example, about eight years ago a Republican candidate was running a dirty campaign here in CO, which she freely admitted, but she was willing to do anything to win and pay the fines later on.  i would have voted for her opponent had i been in her district, and he was a catholic that sounded slightly more conservative than most Democrats.  As it was, i live in another district and voted for Josh Penry, but him and his opponent had both agreed to run a clean race, and did so.  Buscher (the Democrat that won over the dirty Republican) didn't turn out to be as centrist as he sounded, either.  Anyways, enough with the politics, and let's just suffice to say that if i ever have to vote in the UK i'll have a lot of research to do just to figure out who believes in what!

analyze me, please, Doctor

Just watched the episode of Spine Chillers that had DT in it, "Bradford in My Dreams."  It was really funny and there is a twist at the end.  So far, i think the worst thing that DT has been in that i've seen is Jude.  i'm also listening to a radio program called Double Income No Kids at the moment and was watching Duck Patrol earlier but am waiting for my sister to get back from 4-H to watch the last three episodes.  That's pretty funny, too, Hero takes his shirt off at least once every episode ("It's like Baywatch around here") and DT is not too skilled with the lady he wants to woo.  Funny stuff all around!

justice for gingers and Mrs. Bradley

For the past few days i've been noticing a headline stating that people are mad about the newest Doctor saying "Still not ginger."  They seem to think that it was an anti-ginger (red hair) sentiment.  i really don't understand when people get needlessly offended about stuff like this:  the Doctor was expressing regret that he isn't ginger!  Donna is ginger and Catherine Tate had two episodes of her show focusing on a fictional Russet Lodge where gingers could go to be safe from discrimination.  There were lots of indicators in series four that Davies is a fan of Tate's show and thought that the anti-ginger stuff was a great laugh.  The new Companion is ginger, too.  Pay attention, idiots!

In other David Tennant related news, i watched the Mrs. Bradley Mystery DT was in, and he's suspected for a bit, but turns out not to be the one who did it.  Ironically enough, Peter Davison also had a small role, but was in the episode less than David!  DT was also golfing at one point, which i suppose was good practice for his new pilot... unless, of course, he actually golfs!  It is a sport that originated in Scotland, after all.

hey jude...

i watched Jude last night, which was a little boring, then very depressing.  It was really strange to have to skip Christopher Eccleston in sex scenes (they were a lot more graphic than anything that David has done, from what i could tell).  David Tennant's role was very small, only one scene, and more flamboyant than what he had done previously, small hints of the Doctor that we now know and love.  Pleasantly surprised to see how nice Eccleston's hair is, lol.

David Tennant: the early roles

Dramarama
Rather high pitched (voice).

Rab C. Nesbitt
Rather breasty... and balls-y (he looks surprisingly feminine, but his chest is way too high and shelved.  He's so tall that he must have been wearing heels!)

Takin' Over the Asylum
Rather loony (and proud of it!):  this show makes you genuinely feel that your life could be so much worse; definitely has some sad bits.

The Tales of Para Handy
Rather ginger, hairless (in the bare chested department), high pitched, and unlucky in love (not that she was any great loss, she was so spoiled)

The Bill
Rather psycho (good practice for Secret Smile)

A Mug's Game
Rather nerdy (hair is darker and too long, horrible glasses). musical (playing the flute, of all things), high pitched (his voice still hadn't changed, the poor guy was 24-25), sick (too much to drink), and not at all sure of himself.

Holding the Baby
Rather sarcastic (:

Love in the 21st Century
So sexy (except for the fact that he was smoking) and the earliest sex scene to date (not that i'm searching for them)

SweetnNightGoodHeart
Rather taken out of context... and indecisive.  (He's trying to break up with his girlfriend, she thinks he's proposing, he ultimately decides to propose... very good stuff)

observations on three more David Tennant films

Recovery
This movie is heartbreaking and real to the point of ugliness.  Definitely worth watching, but it's also not for kids (there's sex and nekkidness involved), and you're going to need a tissue box.  He has a speech at the end about how, in his old life, he thought that everything was about him and that he was what's most important, but how now everything is about his kids.  Absolutely brilliant stuff, that, especially in light of this article speculating about his dating habits.

Secret Smile
So the moral of the story is, don't let the cops do their job, frame the bastard that was a bad influence on your brother and liked to control his girlfriends?  Not that i'm saying that David played a great guy or anything, but this is hardly justice, and they've committed a crime by framing him.

Love in the 21st Century - Reproduction
i'm beginning to think that Doctor Who was a huge fluke and David Tennant doesn't make any movies that don't have sex in them.  This one is hilarious, but of course there's the casual sex thing... not exactly a shining example of how one should live their life.  It's actually a little funny, she was working at a fast food place right near the professional part of town, which is how it was for me working at Quiznos.  There were so many really cute guys that came in there looking for lunch:  i was never tempted to lie to any of them and steal their sperm!  Incidentally, why is it that he always looks so much younger than all the women he plays next to that are his own age?  i feel like he looks 5-10 years younger than he actually is.

my affair with David Tennant

Dang it, David Tennant is too adorable.  i tried to get over the Doctor's regeneration and Donna's wedding by watching Blackpool, Casanova, Nan's Christmas Carol, but nothing worked:  i'm more addicted to him than ever before.

The End of Time part 2 reactions

You might not want to read this rant if you haven't seen the second part of the End of Time yet.

Yep:

spoilers

galore!

Well even though we rewatched part 1 tonight and i noticed even more material that was in line with the Donna is a Time Lady theory... Russell T. Davies went ahead and did what i expected him to do, which was screw over Donna.  Absolutely nothing was explained:  for instance, we still don't know why Donna didn't become a Master.  Not only that, when she remembered the Doctor a defense mechanism kicked on its own... which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  If that were the case then it wouldn't matter when she does remember the Doctor, she would simply keel over and pass out every single time.  There is also absolutely no reason for energy from the Time Vortex or regeneration energy to be leaking out of her head and knocking out the Masters.  i mean, come on, he can regenerate too, why would that hurt him?  Why would she have that in her anymore?  And who in their right mind thinks that Donna settling for a bloke that is all wrong for her is any sort of way to end her character?  As soon as i heard the church bells i got mad.  It wasn't enough to cut her out of the entire two parter for all intents and purposes, she had to get strapped with a miserable life that she didn't choose because the real Donna is still dead.

Putting aside the Donna fiasco, the story was fairly satisfying as far as tying up the ends of the joke of a first part.  Did it make any sense at all?  No, seeing how nothing is supposed to be able to leave a time lock, it certainly does not.  i'm also not entirely sure how the Gallifreyans suddenly became the bad guys... or was it always that way?  But even in the end the Doctor doesn't have to kill anyone, i even figured out that he head to destroy the diamond/machine.  But then, what happened to the Master?  Did he get sucked to Gallifrey?  Die in the Immortality Gate?  What was the final catalyst that made him turn good?  And lastly, it wasn't very realistic for the Doctor to get to say goodbye to everyone after his regeneration had already started.  Bringing in beloved characters for cursory nods is insulting.  How the heck did Martha end up with Mickey?  Is the only thing we're supposed to remember about Capt. Jack is that he's gay? (ETA: i know that he's meant to be "pansexual", but he seems to favor the men, particularly considering how he dissed Donna in Journey's End.)

i think i could go on for hours, but i really do not want to dwell on all of this.  i tried to look for a bright spot in all the darkness that RTD created, and then he went and let us down even more than ever before.  Boo.