everything happens for a reason

is this cheating?

2011-12-11T15:33:00.001-07:00

#94 Tyrael's Charger...which looks absolutely awesome in shadow form.

2001...a rewatch

2011-11-20T14:08:00.001-07:00

One of my friends in high school was fond of Dune and 2001...a Space Odyssey. I watched both films and read both books as well. Dune made a bigger impression on me, as i hardly recall the 2001 novel and never got around to reading the third book in the series. The first Dune film, on the other hand, was more memorable, and not as true to its novel as i would have liked. With that series of novels...they were a little too politically and religiously involved, even for me. I might be able to enjoy more of it now.

2001, on the other hand...the film has made absolutely no sense to me any of the times i've watched it. What plot i was able to work out was only through other people telling me about it. It isn't relayed through the film itself. Last January we discussed part of the film in my World's Greatest Films class...and the information that the professor relayed to set up the scene is not in the actual film at all. He claimed that the satellites in Earth's orbit carry nuclear weapons (Earth still being in the midst of the Cold War, apparently). It's apparently alluded to in the commentary and interviews, etc., and was originally part of the story, but if you read the Wikipedia page then it's obvious that this information was abandoned. If all you have to go off of is the film itself then such a context never even enters your mind. This is because when the film went to the cinema it had been expunged of all references to nuclear weapons. The original ending, you see, was for the so-called Star Child to make all the nukes detonate. This, i have only learned because of Wikipedia. I'm not taking the time to watch the film again with commentary. While this is purportedly in the novel (i don't remember), this information is not in the film, and Clark and Kubrick seem clear than the two stories are not meant to be identical.

But i did watch the film again last night. I wanted to see it again post WGF Clockwork Orange viewing and since it was referenced on Stargate Universe (which i finally finished watching a couple of nights ago). The biggest thing i noticed was that Alan Tudyk as Sonny in I Robot sounded a lot like HAL. The other thing that i confirmed is that the film lacks a coherent objective, plot, or message. Some people (a couple of my professors, for instance) think that this is an okay thing for a film--or even a novel--to do. I do not agree. Many people seem to go for this kind of art, and accuse those of us who don't to be afraid or dumb or something or other. Personally, i just don't think that something can be considered art unless it is expressive and communicates something. There are lots of pretty paintings out there that are nothing more than blobs of color, sculptures that are nothing but a cacophony of shapes. But without a certain framework, then the artist is just being lazy. That's my feeling about it anyway, it might not be rational, but there it is. Which isn't to say that if i look at an abstract i'm guaranteed to get nothing out of it.

But with film, in particular, i think that it is important for a screenwriter and director to actually do their jobs and not only provide a story but effectively portray and communicate what it is to the audience. Now, the argument with 2001 is that Kubrick was being vague, surreal, realistic, and even that it is impossible to communicate a plot when there is limited dialogue. This last point is ridiculous. I grew up being familiar with several of the Chaplin films which do communicate a plot with minimal textual and no verbal information. I have also watched foreign films, anime, and other silent films that are perfectly able to communicate a message through music, movement, color, etc. I can understand the plot points, if not the details, even without subtitles. I am forced to conclude that Kubrick was either being lazy or thumbing his nose at us.

If i were watching the film with no outside source information from a novel, reviews, or research...i would be forced to conclude that i had watched a horrific film where the computers that are designed to protect us instead murder us and that the alien beings who created and guided our evolution are just as ill-intentioned. However, the final part of the film, that of the Star Child...makes no sense whatsoever. I have no idea why Bowman found the trip to be so horrific and his becoming a huge baby that appears to still be in the womb...only there is no womb and he has no mother...but can exist in space?!? Pure fantasy, impossible, we might as well be tripping or hallucinating.

Technically, the cinematography is menacing as well as beautiful. The music reinforces this. The models and science seem to be accurate but it is all stilted and the presentation bores one almost to tears. In the real year 2001 and 2011 we all use technology and are excited about it (even some of us in Third World countries). In this film the technology seems tedious on one hand, far beyond what we have been able to yet achieve on the other. I am forced to conclude that Kubrick meant to bore us and scare us at the same time. The three tools do not work with each other, in fact their messages are conflicting and cause yet more confusion.

Now i realize that this film was considered to be a landmark achievement and made tons of money. And i know that some people see Kubrick as god. But i really don't get it. After watching all of the Lord of the Rings special features again, and then watching this again, i really do not have a high opinion of Kubrick at all. He did not successfully communicate with the viewer, he did not do his job. To sum up, he failed on an epic scale and was teaching us what worked and what doesn't. I love science fiction, and he turns me off. There is so much potential here but it's all muddled, it's painful for me to watch or even think about. I find 2010 to be so much more enjoyable and the changes, really, are very slight. In retrospect i think that one of the things that is hardest to overcome in this film is how very flat the characters are. We know next-to-nothing about them and do not care whether they live or die. Which is probably what made me think of LotR, besides those films being epic is how very much that is communicated without words. Most of all, you can understand and enjoy the plot without reading the novel, but then, why would you want to? The LotR films point to Tolkien as their source material. 2001...it's just as much fantasy, but not nearly as believable or enjoyable.

the countdown

2011-11-02T14:14:00.001-06:00

I meant to post as soon as i found out about the newest WoW expansion, Mists of Pandaria (now forever to be known as "mop"...seriously?), but Blogger or the nets or something was just not working right. First off, i was skeptical. I don't particularly care for the pandaren non-combat pet. But i eventually realized that i love the Star Trek and Firefly references (etc.) that they put into the game, so why shouldn't they put in some Kung Fu Panda, too? It is an awesome movie, and i love martial arts in certain action films, so why shouldn't that be incorporated into the game? My biggest concern is the lore/plot being advanced, which they are being very hush hush about, so maybe MoP will be the best xpac yet. Trying to be optimistic...

Secondly, i was super upset the first night about losing melee weapons as a hunter, but i can't say that i'm at all surprised. Taking the dead zone away does nothing to change the fact that i have always wanted my Hunter to be a true dps hybrid capable of defending herself when mobs collapse into melee range. Legolas was awesome with his pair of knives but hunters, sadly, are not allowed the same privilege. However, unless they fix focus then i can't say that i will be playing a hunter anymore at all All i'm really doing on her right now is trying to get my last couple of mounts for the achieve (i'm sitting pretty on 93 mounts right now...more on this later). I prefer playing my shammy even while my shammy continues to feel like an alt. I am a hunter through and through, and being alienated like this has not been a fun journey over the past few years.

Thirdly, i opped into the year long membership. Free Diablo 3 and guaranteed in to the MoP beta?!? Worth it even if i am going to (possibly) be mostly playing SWTOR for a while. So right now i'm finally working (even if it is a crap job) and am looking into upgrading my power source and graphic/video card. Hopefully this will be happening very soon, within the next paycheck or two.

Lastly, i have been leveling two alliance characters on another server with a new friend. I'm up to lvl 66 on my worgen druid and 62 on my human spriest. I have been wanting to lvl as alliance for a while, to see what it was like if nothing else, but it still doesn't sit right with me after 65 levels+. I am horde through and through. It seriously messes with my head. I leveled my belf spriest to 65 and did a little bank maintenance on my 45 belf rogue a couple of days ago and had to keep stopping myself from approaching alliance flight master in Gadgetzan, for instance. Just today i decided to take Lui to OL and my first inclination was to turn left to go to the flight master just inside the gate. I don't know that i want to even raid on these characters, though i have enjoyed leveling them i constantly feel as if i'm a deserter or being unfaithful because of the faction change. I keep wondering if this game will ever do away with factions entirely or even fracture them further (the horde definitely seems to be on the verge of breaking apart). MoP seems to be a step closer to that no matter how much they try to deny it.

No screenshots for most of this, but recent acquisitions that i'm proud of...my last two AQ mounts (including the red one!), the Venomhide Ravasaur, and an Amani Battle Bear on both my mains (shown here on Fyre).

Oh and did i mention? I was able to tame Deth'tilac with the help of a guildee and a couple of his friends. You have to be able to kite perfectly do this alone... alas i am fallible and needed help.

Lastly, my countdown is not to the newest expansion (though i'm sure that will be coming sooner than we had to wait for Cat). I've been wanting to screenshot my last ten mounts as i acquire them. Let me just say that Coren, the Baron (is it still the Baron who's in Strat?), Kael, Skadi, and Greta (curse you!) have not been kind. You may have noticed that there was a name that wasn't on that list that you might have expected. /cackle

90+91 = two Goblin trikes (my Ambassador title is finally complete again...that is, until MoP)

92 = Flameward Hippogryff

93 = Headless Horseman's Mount!!!

I am really hoping that i'm not going to have to start grinding Argent Dawn dailies in order to get 7 more mounts. I foresee a lot of archaelogy and fishing in my immediate future. That and hoping for rare drops and more Call to Arms on Fyre with a mailbox a quick click away. Is that cheating? How many times have i run Occ and UtP only to see nothing drop?!?

you tell me this now?

2011-10-04T05:31:00.001-06:00

I found this on WoW Insider a few days ago about T13 set bonuses (the proc being off Arcane Shot):
"The challenge that MM faces currently is that it can do more damage by hardcasting Aimed Shot than by using Arcane Shot as a focus dump."

Yeah, i've been theorycrafting on my hunter for weeks (if not months) now and you just tell me that now? I mean, i've seen one or two people advocate hardcasting Aimed Shot while Rapid Fire is up, but then my own work at the Training Dummy and other people discredited such theories. The trouble with using Aimed Shot as a focus dump is that it has a reallllly long cast time and a reallllly high focus cost so that means that you are capped the entire time you are trying to cast it (assuming that you don't get interrupted or have to move, mind you!). Aimed Shot is completely impractical, Master Marksman usually procs just as the mob is dying, and until it's added to the Aspect of the Fox list... So how??? I don't even know how to begin to try to master it. How do you force an elephant into a slot left for a mouse?

Notice i used "cast it"? I want to be able to say "shoot it" or "aim it", something that sound like an actual Hunter, but instead Blizz has made us more like casters than ever before.

Arcane Shot...i don't know why i hate it so much, i just do. It's like Serpent Sting before it was buffed, completely worthless, or at least nearly useless, and the "experts" can't seem to decide whether it should be spammed or panned. Hunters aren't casters, we aren't meant to do magic damage (#1 reason to take mana away from us, but now you want to make us more like casters??? Which is exactly what Aimed Shot, Cobra Shot, and Steady Shot do).

#1 reason i am considering quitting WoW...is that i don't like feeling this way about Blizz, as if anything i like about my class is only going to be taken away from me, and anything that i don't like about my class will eventually get worse, too.

Another example of this: Raid Finder will only be for 25 mans and will yield no VP. There's no reason for me to go in. I get instantly DCed in 25 mans, it's hard enough staying connected and viable in 10 mans (actually, it's impossible even with my video settings turned down ALL THE WAY save for Particle Density). And the only way to get VP is to do defunct raids or 3 heroics that i don't know if i will be able to do or if they will be like ZA/ZG and you have to outgear it for it to be fun, fast, viable.

Why do i even play this game anymore?

green/purple, red/red/red...amber?!?

2011-10-04T03:20:00.001-06:00

Yeah, i saw the second episode...it was a little better.

SPOILERS! / theories

The first thing that everyone sees (in the "Previously on Fringe" bit) is Walter telling us that there is an infinite number of universes out there. So it hits me: This season of the show isn't either of the universes that the last three seasons were about. Well, it might be the red universe is still the alternate universe, but "our" universe just doesn't exist anymore. We're stuck in an amber universe now (which is disheartening, to say the least, as we now associate this color with Amber and being frozen alive indefinitely). But this is abundantly obvious through Anna Torv's brilliant acting. Fauxlivia is vastly different from Olivia who is vastly different from who we now have...let's call her Frostlivia.

Where is Charlie?

Proof (re: step-father's fate): child Peter changed child Olivia's life (and therefore future). Is he even capable of reaching Frostlivia? Is anything of Olivia even left?!?

Incidentally, about last week... I like Lincoln, but whose bright idea was it to try to transfer the audience's primary interest onto him and away from Olivia? What, she's not interesting and empathetic-evoking enough without Peter all of a sudden?

NS...down

2011-09-30T14:17:00.000-06:00

There was nothing clean about this kill. I tried it a couple of different ways, finally just got her down.

Re: chess...I found out that with a macro you can leave pieces and enter new ones. Two hours worth of tries later and i still can't solo the dang thing.

the man in the mirror

2011-09-29T22:29:00.000-06:00

I finally had the chance to watch the premiere of Fringe's fourth season... There were several things that i noticed, one of which was that Lee's dead partner believed that "everything happened for a reason." Just one of those weird moments where it connects to me but i know that it's really only because this is an Abrams show and that was something they used to say on Lost. It's not like anyone really reads my blog, my title came from them, not the other way around.

So, observations:

There are many small changes...distressingly, most of these seem to be to the personality of our beloved main characters.

Olivia is wearing color (no more exclusively black and gray and white).
Walter can't leave the Lab so he's never in the field (weird).
Neither Olivia seems to be missing Peter... Is the baby still alive? I would guess no.
Fringe is more secretive than it used to be. It also seems to have a larger budget.
I was hoping to see Nina or Brandon at some point, but they are mysteriously absent.
Is Walter still trying to bring back William?
What did this episode have to do with what happened to Agent Scott in the pilot?

Is there anyone who really thinks that Fringe would have been successful in the past without Peter? I'm not even talking about turning on the machine (which oddly hasn't been addressed, when it's staring them right in the face, i mean, come on, how did they turn it on, let alone control it, if Peter didn't exist?), i mean all the missions where his under the counter connections or brilliance or overprotectiveness of Olivia saved the day and/or saved her life? I'm curious as to how many cases he was such a big part of that there is no way that things could have been solved without him. I'm sure that it was most of them. So that Peter never existed at all requires a little too much suspension of disbelief on my part. Walter was hiding in the tank...well Peter pulled Olivia from that tank, saved her life, pulled her back from the edge, time and again. It's not that i think Olivia has a death wish, but she is certainly reckless. Charlie has been dead (in this universe) how long and she still doesn't have a proper partner? I mean, it's good to see Astrid in the field more, but we know that she's not chasing down the bad guys with a gun and flashlight pointing the way.

Peter is visiting Walter in the Lab. He is playing havok with Astrid's video blackberry. But how is he trying to connect with Olivia? We haven't seen that he is at all. This seems completely unlikely. Olivia was hallucinating about him even when her memories had been erased, and now she's not even sensing a twinge? Not working for me. I still want to see what happens next week but...this felt disjointed, disconnected, from all that has come before, even while it was building off of it. How much has changed? Everything has.

I'm sorry, Observers, i've trusted you in the past, but "fulfilled his purpose"??? Please. Olivia and Walter still need Peter every day. Don't make me kill you. Death by poisoned hot sauce is so in the back of my mind...

Legendary insult

2011-09-23T13:07:00.000-06:00

So i've known for a while now that the new Legendary is going to be for Rogues. I didn't really pay any attention to it other than seeing some Enh Shammies complain that there aren't many weapons in the game that they can use. But today i was reading on the 4.3 dungeon and raid changes...and saw that this Legendary is going to be a pair of daggers specified Rogue only. And suddenly it just hit me in the gut and i realized...that means that if it weren't specified Rogue only that my Hunter would have been able to use those. So not only can my Enh Shammy probably not find any more upgrades except off like two or three raid bosses that no one wants to run...but my Hunter is still getting the shaft from Blizz because they refuse to let us dual wield anymore because the stats aren't competitive with two-handers. What jerks.

Addendum to my last post. If i didn't mention it before, i'm screaming it now:
JUST LET ME DUAL WIELD AGAIN.
Yes, it's another piece of gear that i have to find an upgrade for. But for crying out loud, i'm running with a huge fugly scythe. You've shoved some fugly weapons at me before and i complained then too but used them. At least i will be able to transmorg this thing right away because it looks horrible. But it just doesn't feel right not having two daggers, a dagger and a sword, or a dagger and a fist hanging off my belt. Or an axe... It's bad enough that my shammy can't use swords and i can't use maces but you just keep pigeonholing us more and more. Pretty soon...what else is going to be left?

Hunter Class Feedback... the full response

2011-09-22T12:11:00.001-06:00

I tried to post this on the official forums but they kept on telling me that (shortened) versions were too long, simply lost one of my drafts, and in the end and it didn't post at all so far as i know.

What type of content do you focus on? [PvE/PvP/Both]
I usually PvE more than anything, but lately I've been trying to do more PvP, too.

If PvE, what type of PvE? [Heroics/Raids/Other]
Back in BC I would do heroics and raids with my guild. In Wrath if I wasn't in a guild who was willing to take me to raids then there was nothing for me to do but Heroics. Any PUG Raid that I managed to get into would have 2-3 other hunters. Now in Cat my GM is telling me that I don't do enough DPS even when I switched to MM and some nights I am getting DCed in raids so all I feel is frustration. They tell me to talk to a great hunter to fix my shot rotation (which is only what they and websites have already told me to use) but I don't know any...all of the ones that I sometimes run with have better gear and less DPS and the ones I see when I am on my healer...most of them have no idea how to play the class properly, and again, do less DPS than I do.

If PvP, what type of PvP? [Arenas, BGs, Rated BGs]
BGs...I haven't run an arena since BC. I used to sometimes do World PvP, and Tarren Mill feels wrong without having to look behind your back or try to run away from Allies. But overall I feel PvP should be more about player skill and less about how much gear you have that makes you invincible.

What are your biggest quality-of-life issues? For instance, no longer requiring ammo could be considered a quality-of-life improvement for hunters.
I miss mana. It worked great in Wrath and was manageable in BC from what I recall. With focus you are constantly oof. When I played Surv, Cobra Shot felt natural to weave in between shots, and for a while I picked up ISS and that worked for me. I wouldn't go oof very often and would use Kill Command for my focus dump, NEVER arcane shot. As MM, there's more focus, but the CDs don't line up. MM is about waiting for the next thing to proc/CD to come up. So what you do is spam Steady Shot until you're 65-80% full, then spam CS, (AiS), AS, AS, (AS), SS, SS, SS, SS...People tell me to keep Serpent up but it doesn't do much damage like when I was in Surv and I actually (finally) liked it.

So to sum up...I originally hated focus. I <3 Surv because you can manage focus in a better way, are rarely required to just stand there and channel to get focus back... and I feel like I am helping the group out in more ways. I hate MM because it is so Steady Shot dependent and requires my attention so sometimes I start to stare at my bars. If I don't AS every GCD then I'm losing DPS, but if I AS I can't CS...so I'm just screwed. And then I'm standing in the wrong place, didn't notice that I needed to get something off the Healer, and that's a wipe.

Re: the Dead Zone...I can understand why this exists and I like that it's smaller, but it's true in PVP that Rogues, Warriors, Paladins, and DKs will all be able to keep you in melee range and usually stunlocked to boot. I'm getting better about getting out of it, but before Master's Call (and if your PvP trink is on CD) then you are just out of luck. You can use it only to have them wait 5s and do it to you again. And there are no self heals so while they're not even taking damage from you, they also have a self heal. But I have never understood why Hunters are not allowed to melee. Two semi-useless abilities...I think it would make a lot more sense to allow us to have a couple of melee abilities that would do less damage but allow us to finish the job when Allies collapse on us or when DPS has to collapse on a boss and would allow us to regenerate Focus (or preferably Mana). All other Ranged DPS can do the same amount of DPS when their target is far away or close, why are hunters singled out like this?

Traps arming too late or mobs walking right around them, the disappearing pet bar (holdover from BC problems, really). I don't have a problem keeping my pet alive, most hunters don't heal theirs at all, but mine stays alive longer and does more dps to boot. Camo being useless: I want to think that it means I can get closer to trap, like rogues' sap, but often time it will only cause a pull (ZA on Bear). Unlike Sap, Ice Trap also causes a pull once it wears off, so broken. Everyone/thing can see through it, sometimes even low level mobs if you're too close, so what's the point? Kill Command: pet is out of range when I've told it repeatedly to follow me to new target, think Nef/Ony.

What makes playing your class more fun?
More instant shots. I have always loved trapping, but usually this only happens when you undergear a place. In fact many of our shots are situation and seldom used such as Tranq, Silence, etc. I like knowing that if all else fails I can still Distracting Shot, Scatter Shot, Freeze Trap at mob's feet...and still have Wyvern Sting for that other mob, too (which I can't do as MM). But even more than benefiting my own personal DPS (which I do wish was higher) I really want to be able to help the raid/party survive.

What makes playing your class less fun?
Being oof, being told that my dps isn't as high as it should be, that I have to play a certain spec or I'm fail/noob/idiot. I would also like to be able to play a Hybrid for soloing if nothing else but you can't even get into third tier.

How do you feel about your “rotation”? (Rotation is the accepted order in which abilities are used to maximum efficiency.)
Surv - Not as good as I would like, but doable. But not high enough dps.
MM - Frustrated, oof, I need to be able to kill that or we wipe! So do I allow myself to cap so I won't be off when I need it most?

What’s on your wish list for your class?
Armor for pets (and coincidentally i think that Druids should have armor in form). Pet talents that actually benefit the raid and aren't overwritten by 2-3 other classes. Better shots, better melee. Bigger focus bar/cheaper shots that actually do a lot of dps or mana back.

What spells do you use the least?
I don't use any "spells" as I'm not a caster. But Immolation Trap, Widow Venom, Arcane as Surv, Cobra or Kill Command as MM

how many pies does Vol'Jin have his fingers in?

2011-09-22T00:07:00.000-06:00

Having recently read this piece of speculation and leveled an undead warrior to lvl 22, i am really interested to see what is going to be happening with the Undead in the near future. But all of a sudden...i'm wondering about Vol'Jin. I think it's clear that Crommush has a crush on/devotion to Sylvanas and is just about the worst person Garrosh could have chosen for the job, but is Vol'Jin in on the/a plan (assuming there is one)?

So i was in ZA with my shammy, trying to heal Dragonhawk boss. For some reason we could not get him down, even though i've done it many times before (Did he get buffed during the rolling restarts this morning? Because my gear has been improving and i did a mount run earlier today without any trouble whatsoever). So eventually i dropped group and took a look around outside. Who has noticed that it's changed since when ZA was a raid? Well it has.

There are Trolls, Blood Elves in t5 with sick bows, and what i thought at first were belfs possibly modeling awesome air-inspired Hunter T13 (that seriously looks part hunter, part pally) turned out to be High Elves. After running around the area for a bit i eventually noticed Vol'jin was having a pow wow with someone unexpected.

Apparently Halduron Brightwing, Ranger General of Silvermoon City, is meeting Vol'Jin and none other than Vereesa Windrunner...Sylvanas' youngest sister. Not only that, but Brightwing has called Vereesa for aid without getting permission! The Regent is sending a messenger to find out what's going on...and Brightwing is all "I'll do what I want, it's my job to protect the city."

My initial reaction was to assume that Vereesa is a Belf (or at least friendly towards them) and that she's going to be the new head of the Belves come 4.3 or 5.1 or something. She is Level ?? Boss, after all. But upon looking her up i discovered that things are a little more complicated than that. I had read about her before on WoWWiki, way back before Wrath went live. She married a human in one of the books and had twins. That human is none other than Rhonin, leader of the Kirin Tor. She is currently in Dalaran (since Wrath in game) with her hubby and doesn't think blood elves should be allowed in the Kirin Tor. As Ranger General of the Silver Covenant...she is friendly to allies, not the horde, despite the fact that her husband is friendly to both. So what is she doing outside ZA conspiring with the guy who's in charge of defending SMC and the leader of the Trolls (who is actively subverting the power of one Garrosh Hellscream)?!

I can understand Vol'Jin being in Booty Bay (with the widespread troll incursions) but all seems to be quiet in the Ghostlands... Except for the amassing High Elves and Blood Elves. So is Vereesa going to have a change of heart about Blood Elves? Or is Dalaran going to try to take SMC back for the High Elves? And if that's the case...what on earth is Vol'Jin doing there? I know that Garrosh doesn't trust Sylvanas, but i thought that Vol'Jin was on good terms with her. I am very confused right now and starting to get very excited to see if Blood Elf lore is going to be pulled into the changing Undead lore.

dailies...

2011-08-31T11:38:00.000-06:00

I can now confirm that being two-boxed (twin-boxed?) is just as deadly as being quad-boxed. Fortunately i will have 150 marks tomorrow.

That is all.

No wait... Lui has been getting mad upgrades and her GS is no longer fail. I guess i'll have to start working on Fyre some more. Raiding and doing heroics yesterday has already gotten me nearly to full of VP for the week. I got some sweet new pants, too.

MC Raider

2011-08-30T15:36:00.000-06:00

Yesterday i was with the guild farming trash in FL not once...but twice. In addition i soloed MC, finally completing every raid in Vanilla.

Incidentally, every time i see FL i still think of Flame Leviathan and mentally shake my fist at him for never giving me any chopper parts.

multiboxing...legal in all 50 states

2011-08-29T09:00:00.020-06:00

So last night in the Regrowth and onward into the Molten Front a quad-boxing team of ele shamans kept camping us hordees who were trying to do dailies. Yes, i use a PVP server, that's where my sister's home was when i started rolling characters, and if we were going to play together that was the place to be. But in these areas it has been an unspoken understood that no pvp was going to be going on. I think this is nice considering how challenging the Isle dailies were at first, when i was constantly getting ganked only to change which quest i was working on, be followed, and ganked some more. In that case it was a stunlocking shadowmelding rogue that could eventually be defeated if we got enough guildees together. In this case? 5/5 Vicious Gladiator x 4.

I opened a ticket after dying about 10 times. (S)he kept stealing my kills or killing me just before completing an objective. They weren't technically camping me so much as slaughtering anything and everything that moved. Even with multiple hordees fighting back, we had no hope. Four Lava Bursts to one character = instant death. And if you weren't the focus of this, your dps wasn't even making a dent. The biggest annoyance about this was not having to watch four draenei moving in unison, casting in unison, or three draenei following a fourth. It is that Blizzard considers this to be legal. Sure, if you want to devote all of your time to gearing yourself up season after season, go for it, but some of us have a life, not to mention budget constraints. My "gaming" computer that was sold to me as "more than enough" for WoW can barely handle running one version of the game, let alone four, because it has a horrible graphic/video card. I have no way of competing. I'm not very good at PVP to begin with, i prefer PVE. I think running on a PVP server is more realistic in many ways, but at the same time...if you were running around in France during WWII as an Allied soldier and saw a random Nazi minding his own business, would you instantly decide that he needed to die? Maybe i'm alone in this when i say no.

I understand that a lot of people love to PVP, and that is why it's in the game. But...when i can't even defend myself, it doesn't feel fair. When i'm fighting something else when i'm killed, i still take the 10% armor reduction, even when that mob stays alive and is then killed by the same quad boxer...and the real reason for my death had nothing to do with the mob at all.

Am i just being a sore loser? I can see quadboxing old content (overkill for some of it), but in a non-Arena, non-BG environment, is this fair? Any time i see Loli running around, does this mean i might as well just log on to another character for half an hour?

The Draenei team:
Löli
Løli
Rayko
Admetias

Kara screenshots

2011-08-25T10:53:00.002-06:00

Image intense 200th post...

Sorry, not taking the time to edit them down to neat little squares...which is what i used to do for our guild webpage back in BC. During trash pulls after the boss had been downed. xD

What surprised me about Attumen was how much easier his trash is now than it was when i was an 82. I couldn't down him at that time. I did two man him with a guildee from my BC days that i saw was online and hadn't raided with since before Wrath went live, but that was a one time thing and was on Fyreanjel. I was healing and off-dpsing a feral druid.

I killed the healer, finished burning Moroes, then dealt with the rest of the adds. Is not difficult. He barely got off his first garrote.

One repentance when she was about to dip below 20%.

Little Red Riding Hood...mostly just frustrating how often i had to kite. My health would dip to maybe 80%, then be back up to 95% by the time i had to repeat. There were 4-5 kiting phases?

I can't remember if there were four or five Rains. Kiting them was easy. NB kept landing farther and farther away from us...you might say that he was kiting me. xD

The flares were too difficult for me to get down between spawns, so i decided to burn him. One or two fell to multi-shot before he was down. Never even got to phase two (Evocation). I remember when 90% of this fight for me was kiting flares.

I had forgotten about this fight until i reached the secret passageway. The hardest thing was targeting the demon chains the first time. After that i started thinning out the imps between phases. I adore the aoe that Multi Shot does now.

I stood by the door and went pew pew. I thought about using MD for old time's sake. xD Really simple, totally ignored mechanics such as the elementals.

Most fights i didn't even need to mend pet, CS was sufficient to keep us topped off. I wish i would have noticed which fights that had needed it...but i was busy dpsing. xD Camo enabled me to simply run through most of the trash, though i did clear behind the opera to the side door and then cleared a room for fun... See, there was one time that our part time tree, part time shammy (enh? i don't even remember, it's been so long) logged on in the middle of the raid, was warlock summoned, and was then so drunk that he tried to pull on his shammy. It was hilarious. I can still remember, "Why didn't you heal me?" We had good times in Kara.

Incidentally, remember what i was saying, that i didn't remember floors in BC? The floors are (mostly) the same from the Menagerie up to Netherspite. They're an okay design, but get old fast. So you try to ignore them. Observe:

Pretty from up high, garish up close. xD

Oh, how did that get in there? Technically not a kill shot. And i just realized that i didn't screenshot any of my kills in there. That's not my function within the guild. And solo kills are more memorable in a way. How many levels higher do i need to be to solo the rest of BC content? And then how many levels to solo the Lich King? I have a feeling that the game won't last that long.

i < 3 Kara

2011-08-25T09:49:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon some guildees started putting together a ICC run that ended up falling through. I was still in a raid with two offline members, so i decided to make the most of it and attempt to solo some BC raids. I had been debating with myself of a couple of days on whether i wanted to go BM and tame a Spirit Beast.

Why? Well a couple of days ago i was trying to solo UtP again (my choices of where to go next for mounts are getting thinner now that i'm exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard) and i still cannot solo the first boss. I always die, usually with Kill Shot up and with her at about 5% health. The braziers and phase 2 are what do it to me. Maybe if i feigned death at the right time...but i don't know what that time would be. Bandages and pots are insufficient, i need to have heals, just one or two would be enough. So the question become survivability. Iorek doesn't do enough damage to get me out, with Sneux it's a close thing that doesn't always happen. So the only thing i could figure was Spirit Mend. Then i discovered that Chimera Shot heals. I haven't been MM since BC, but i ran as that for a long time, a lot longer than i did as BM (even when that was "the" raid spec, i opted to be the SV hunter, even though i didn't really have "enough" agility for Expose Weakness to be a viable raid buff).

So yesterday i went duel spec finally (last time i had checked it cost 1k g to train! When did it become 10g?) and built a soloing/pvp build. Which is crazy because i always thought that SV was the pvp build with its trap bonuses that i never spec into, but apparently MM and BM enthusiasts are insistent that their way is best.

I no longer have any t5 and i'm still getting raid geared for Cata. I couldn't survive Mag and couldn't get past the High King in Gruul's. Kara, however, was a completely different story. I one-shot everything up to Netherspite. I couldn't solo NS because Sneaux can't take the beams so NS would heal to full while i had fatigue. I don't have the burn to take her down before the second phase 2. The only thing i can think of at this point is to try tanking in melee range. This seems ludicrous, but if i'm taking all three beams at once...i don't know. I tried to solo chess, but the first cheat (fire on the floor) occurs while i'm still stuck behind pawns that have yet to be slaughtered. So i can't solo that, either. Basically it looks like i can clear Kara up to NS.

Later in the evening the ICC raid was rebooted and i now have a LK kill under my belt and some achievements to boot. My dps is lame compared to everyone else in the raid, but we beat the rocket ship with only two jet packs (yeah i accidentally started it when i went to the wrong npc and didn't read the text fast enough...it had been a while since i was in ICC once before /facepalm).

Screenshots are forthcoming. I really gotta feed the pets and myself.

wait, what?

2011-08-24T12:54:00.005-06:00

Silverpine Forest quest spoilers...

How does the uppity Lord Godfrey (lvl 20 elite in the Cities in Dust quest chain) one-shot Sylvanas (a ?? PVP boss) and make a tough-guy orc go all weepy? (Cromush has a crush, i guess, lol.) My beloved precogs (Minority Report reference) had to sacrifice themselves to bring her back?!? What the Frak?

nostalgia

2011-08-22T10:27:00.000-06:00

The irony of WoW announced transmorgification is that i have always been nostalgic about the tier gear and other raid drops that i earned. If there were any way possible, i would still have all of those old pieces. I had four pieces of (new Naxx) Crypstalker and tier 4 and 5 that it seems so wrong that i was forced to delete. But even more than that...i have always felt a strong pull towards Vanilla content. I've seen a lot of t1 and t2 pieces that went the same way. But nothing gets to me more than the fact that as soon as i hit 60 i started looking at tier gear and fell in love with the original Crypstalker set. I would have loved to get that set, attuned for Naxx, was chomping at the bit to get into there, but i only did once and we couldn't down any of the bosses because we couldn't find a large enough group. There's gear that isn't in the game anymore that i would kill to have. I can't even get into a group that can full clear MC (went once, fell apart with two bosses left), have never been to the Sunwell...but those pieces are still in the game. For an instance that i came to know intimately at the beginning of Wrath, i regret that i no longer have those pieces of Crypstalker, but i still want the original deal.

ch ch ch changes

2011-07-29T18:30:00.001-06:00

So after extensive testing yesterday...it seems that my fans are a good enough solution for leveling, dailies (with phasing), and heroics, even with the graphics turned up halfway. I was leveling a pally near SMC, decided to turn up the graphics, and the change was extremely noticeable. Observe:

In a way, you wouldn't think that graphics quality would affect gameplay so much as mechanics such as quests, player interaction, and the skills/spells/etc., but let me tell you that it does make your experience miles different. After leaving my settings on Good i kept noticing the movement of the water, shadows, and just the scenery in general. I had known it was there from playing in the past, but with the settings on Low...you just don't get to take it all in. I've always noticed WoW for it's artistic merit. I have a whole collection of floor screenshots collected from dungeons and cities. My favorite location in WoW is the throne room above the Undercity. It was the first floor that i noticed in the game, and they really outdid themselves in Wrath. While most of BC probably had plain floors--i don't really remember them being special--the floors in Wrath were intricate. The most noticeable example of this effecting lore, if nothing else, is the quest chain where you help Aggra save Thrall. The Desire chapter is especially grim with the graphics turned down.

The first screenshot was taken on Fyreanjel (and granted it was not during a vision), the second i was on Luinel. With all these screenshots i only decreased the size and added the caption, i did nothing to the contrast or brightness. It's obvious what the graphics do for you. It's not that you can't play with them on Low, but with them on Good you are able to immerse yourself more completely into the game. The first time around i could not even see the kids. If i was fighting then i could not see Thrall, i had to swim out into the center to even make him out. On Lui it was easier to see what was going on, and my graphic card didn't crash during the cinematics or just short of me being able to finish filling a bar (i kid you not, it crashed repeatedly in the 80-95% range while i was on Fyre, which was very frustrating. It took me forever to get past Doubt).

In other news, i met someone new while in ZG on Fyre last night, someone who actually took the time to explain fights to me (/gasp!). I am so sick of the newer players who make stupid mistakes, blame it on the healer or tank, and are impatient and unhelpful. This was a nice change. I don't know if it means that i'll be finding some new friends to play with, but it made a pleasant afternoon, even when i got kicked on the last boss after they called a wipe on purpose and then voted to kick me. The new guy was our tank and he told them to have fun waiting 30 mins. to find a tank and dropped group. It will be interesting to see if i can do some heroics with him today... The best wrist upgrade for Fyre is in ZA. I have a feeling that i'm not going to be enjoying the troll dungeons very much, but if it means that i can get to raid, and can run them with people who become friends... even better.

nothing to report

2011-07-28T13:40:00.000-06:00

I think i played for about an hour last night after i finished the Hunger Games and couldn't sleep. Fyreanjel finished helping Aggra save Thrall: i meant to only finish the water/desire quest but ended up seeing the wedding. My graphics card didn't crash once. So hopefully the fans will be a good enough fix for the time being!

As for the novel, i enjoyed it a great deal and am already reading Catching Fire.

delayed upgrades

2011-07-28T00:16:00.000-06:00

For the first time in days i was able to get onto LJ because i was logged out. So i read some posts made by my "friends" and try to log in to comment and nothing will work. I don't understand why there's so many problems with LJ but it is particularly frustrating right now as someone is going ballistic.

Meanwhile, i ordered a hammock, and it arrived in a timely fashion, but i keep running to town to get, return/exchange, obtain more parts for it and my PC. I feel like i should just stay in town at this point. I finally got everything i needed for both projects except for the fact that my father left our drill at work and will be out of town for a couple of days. I am so sick of sleeping in my old, broken down bed. My body has been screaming more and more about it over the past couple of months. I can't remember the last time i woke up and didn't have a backache. I wanted to buy a hammock back in 2003, before i even got my GED or went to college, so now i finally have one. I just want to put it up already!

The fans...well i looked up info on my computer's graphic card. The consensus seemed to be that it crashes because it gets overheated. This only happens to me when i'm playing WoW, really, so i don't know, but i figured buying some fans was cheaper than upgrading my power and graphics. No job right now, i'm really not too smart to even try to be gaming right now, but of course once i get a job i won't have time, right? So i trusted Mr. Anonymous when he said which size fans fit in my tower--80mm or 120mm--and since 80mm was $5 cheaper (each) i decided to go with those. Turns out my tower can take 100mm or 120mm, and 80mm is too small. I feel embarrassed that i didn't just measure for myself, but i exchanged for the larger size and restrained myself from paying $30 for a coolant system. Open the boxes, the bolts are not going to work at all, why are they even included? So i went to the hardware store and get some screw nuts and bolts. When i got homei put both fans in facing the same way: towards the back of the tower. In other words, the one in front is meant to be sucking air in, the one in back is meant to be pushing air out. Well i get everything screwed in and figure i better make sure that it's all working before i close up. Which is good because as it turned out both fans were blowing air out. They somehow rotate in opposite directions even though they are the very same fan.

I haven't logged into WoW yet. Last night was a bit cooler and i decided to level my troll druid rather than work on my shammy. It was rainy out and cooler than it has been, and my computer obviously crashed less often, but it was still doing it periodically. I'm kind of scared that now i've actually got the fans in that the problem is going to persist.

Right now i'm in the middle of the Hunger Games. We got part of the kitchen tiled today, then went to the pool, where it was a pretty bad experience. The water slide is closed. I got told off for wearing goggles in the deep end of the pool, which is ludicrous as half the lap lanes are in the deep end, 5' deep or more (the diving drop off is in the middle of one of the lanes! I was staring at it while doing the front crawl). Oh, and we were told that even though it was kids free swim that the adults have to pay with cash, that your paid pass isn't valid unless you pay for the kids. Which is stupid, we paid for the pass, right? And we complained that my teenage sister and her teenage friends weren't allowed to come in free the week before and were all charged the adult rate...which of course they won't do anything about unless you prove with a receipt when they don't give you a receipt. But they only let kids in free if there's a paying adult, but having one teen pay the adult rate and the other teens come in free isn't allowed either. So that's the last time i ever go to the Lincoln Park Pool. I will allow that no goggles on the diving board is an okay restriction to have (not that it's dangerous to dive in goggles by any means, but they might break and be lost), but no goggles in the deep end for surface diving, full body bobbing, or lap swimming? B.S. Oh, and it's $4 to get in, four times as much as we paid in Arizona, and the pool is rarely clean. I don't want to swim underwater or with my face in the water without goggles at Lincoln Park or Orchard Mesa (which gets even dirtier, which is completely incomprehensible because it's an indoor pool).

So...i think i'll get back to my novel and leave the WoW for in the AM. Oh, and hope that my new old school stud finder works better than the useless Stanley electronic stud finder that i still need to take back to Wal-Mart. I seriously doubt that live wires and only a couple of studs compose 95% of the walls in my room.

Aggra?

2011-07-25T15:08:00.001-06:00

I have to admit, i was kind of a Thrall/Jaina shipper. Not hugely, so it's not like i'm angry about the fact that he's married to someone else so much as wondering where she even came from. Even after leveling a Goblin warrior, i don't have the slightest idea who Aggra is, i guess that i didn't find her to be particularly memorable. At first i thought she was the chick from the Twilight Highlands--Garona? apparently she has her own vivid background and is half Draenei--and was wondering how that even happened. I guess you have to read the book to know the entire story, which i'm not against, since i'm already a Christie Golden fan from back in the Voyager days, but i have no access to said novel without buying it off Amazon.

I am looking forward to seeing more of Thrall, but i'm not sure that i understand. Why can't he be a leader and a shaman at the same time?

hot summer

2011-07-25T14:50:00.001-06:00

It has been a very long time since i posted. I haven't been as immersed in Cataclysm as i was expecting. I've played on and off, have two 85s. My shaman is ready for the first raid(s? i don't even know for sure, but she's nearly fully decked out from heroics and vendor gear), my hunter...i'm not going to bother raiding with. This xpac seems to be all about shamans and druids. It also appears to be good for trolls. So i'm enjoying my shaman and kind of working on a Troll druid and a Worgen druid. I feel bad, but i can't stand Taurens. The whole vegetarian zen thing is not me at all.

So i've mostly been focusing on Fyreanjel. I'm actually surprised how much i have even gotten on Lui this expansion. She's at a point where i'm probably going to be mostly leaving her alone. Sadly, i do not enjoy playing a Hunter anymore. She's got her hog, she's leveled, i've been working on BC rep more than anything (she finally has her Netherwing Drakes!). Maybe i'll farm some more rep and mounts with her but she's on the backburner for the time being.

So there are a couple of reasons why i haven't managed to go farther. For one, i seem to be in a lazy excuse for a guild. It's easy to be invited to a guild because of the guild leveling, it's quite another thing to find a guild where people aren't jerks. I have run heroics with guildees a handful of times, normals even less. I geared Fyre completely independently, they haven't helped me at all. PUGs have been friendlier and more helpful. Any time i run old content, i'm the one helping the noobs out, but any time i try to run endgame, no one is willing to give me any help at all. This doesn't bode well. I really really want to find a better guild.

Secondly, there's something wrong with my graphic card. When i was finishing getting gear for Fyre it would randomly crash, requiring me to restart my computer. Not good for anyone, but even worse when you're the healer. My graphics are turned down all the way except for those that i need in order to stay out of the gunk on the floor. I could use a better mouse, but i'm a decent healer, i think i could even become a great one. Now that i'm playing again, the card crashes about every 15-20 minutes. After doing some research, i'm wondering if it's overheating. I know its not a great card, but i don't really have the funds to replace it right now. So later today i plan to buy two fans and stick them in my tower and see if that helps. I already took the cosmetic front off of the tower this morning. It was metal and plastic, blocking one of the vents, and had a lit logo that was needlessly drawing more power. So basically i've lost my nightlight, guess i'll have to dig out one of my old ones and use it again. xD But if it's not overheating...i'm going to have to figure out a new card that won't cost me an arm and a leg.

Eviengeline--my spriest--is level 60. I'm looking forward to getting her into Nagrand, which is of course my favorite zone in BC. However, i'm thinking that i should delete most of my lowbies on Hakkar and focus on leveling on other servers. I don't mind being on a lowpop, i mind being on a server where everyone seems to be rude and pretentious. There are no great guilds on this server, not anymore. All of my sister's old guildees jumped ship ages ago. So i don't know if i'm even going to be able to find a great guild for Fyre, and if i can't fix the crashing issue then there's not much point in trying. I have really been craving leveling, am really curious to see what it's like to take the Alliance route all the way, actually, seeing how i never get past lvl 15...no wait, i dinged 16 on my Worgen last night, she's my new frontrunner. I think that i'm more likely to be able to find a Christian guild if i play Alliance. Which stinks in a way, i love playing Horde, but something has to change. I love this game too much to give up on it for good. I tried, i really did.

In other news, i've been watching a lot of films this Summer (but that's a completely different post). Oh, and the biggest reason i quit WoW: i was making the big push to graduation. I am now a college graduate with a BA in English. No luck finding a job yet except for the fact that i'll be teaching knitting to homeschoolers this Fall. Other than that...no idea.

Deathwing is coming to town...

2010-10-12T10:43:00.001-06:00

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

2010-09-12T23:21:00.000-06:00

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

2010-03-29T17:07:00.001-06:00

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

2010-03-27T14:00:00.002-06:00

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?

2010-03-26T16:15:00.001-06:00

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

2010-03-25T13:10:00.000-06:00

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

2010-03-18T11:07:00.004-06:00

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"

2010-03-15T23:05:00.003-06:00

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

2010-03-15T16:54:00.001-06:00

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

2010-03-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-11T09:51:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-11T01:16:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-08T01:09:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-07T22:44:00.005-07:00

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

2010-03-06T23:03:00.002-07:00

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

2010-03-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-05T19:21:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-03-05T15:55:00.003-07:00

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

2010-03-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-02T18:32:00.002-07:00

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?

2010-03-01T17:14:00.001-07:00

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

2010-01-22T20:48:00.002-07:00

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

2010-01-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-01-21T07:09:00.001-07:00

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

2010-01-19T00:49:00.003-07:00

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

2010-01-18T23:21:00.002-07:00

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

2010-01-18T03:19:00.001-07:00

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

2010-01-17T00:58:00.002-07:00

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

2010-01-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-01-11T18:30:00.001-07:00

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...

2010-01-11T10:20:00.001-07:00

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

2010-01-10T16:09:00.003-07:00

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

2010-01-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

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

2010-01-06T03:16:00.011-07:00

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

2010-01-02T21:51:00.002-07:00

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.

feeling pessimistic

2009-12-29T14:27:00.001-07:00

i saw The End of Time (part 1) last night and Sarah Jane's Wedding this morning. What a horrible send off for David Tennant, more of the season 3 finale tripe that didn't work then but it's been amped up even worse. i'm afraid that there's no fixing it, not like they can use the reset button yet again. i am extremely upset with all the quarry running around filler, lack of Wilf, and of course Donna. She hasn't recovered at all??? i thought better of her, i am even going to try to write a fanfic just so i can get over it. i am really really confused: they make it look like Wilf is a sleeper agent for someone from Gallifrey, but he almost got changed into the Master, and Donna doesn't get affected at all? Watch, they'll try to explain it away with something that makes absolutely no sense. As invested as i am in my Donna-is-a-Time-Lady theory, i don't think RTD will use it. i rather have lost hope in the series and feel like Moffat is getting a raw deal. Why is series five going to be called series one now?

ETA: i watched the first part of Blackpool last night, too. It's absolutely hilarious, completely irreverent and inappropriate. The skinny git is never going to fill out if he keeps throwing perfectly good food (well, i must admit it was junk food) on the curb. i also watched the Human Footprint this morning, which was okay i guess, totally does not take into account those of us who use cloth diapers, local grown food, organics, etc. And since when are carbon dioxide and carbon horrible? i actually was surprised how small a person's footprint is, i rather thought it would be worse with how much they go on about it, and personally i feel that i am below average for most of what they detailed, the meat possibly being the only exception. i have yet to ever have lamb and probably eat far too many cows.

finally back home

2009-12-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

We drove overnight, which was heinous per usual. i am sore and stink and am sick again, either due to using sanitizer at the hospital when we went to see Grandad or allergies in LA or Yuma. Last night after finally falling asleep i was starting to dream that i had read a fanfiction in which, in Donna's missing year, she had been pregnant and was having her baby in the first part of the End of Time. i'll probably get to watch that sometime tonight (one can only hope). In the meantime i'm mighty tempted to write a fanfiction of my own, but am not sure that i should do so while so sleep deprived. i think the only person to get less sleep than me last night was my Dad because he was driving. i was afraid to fall asleep because i didn't want to wake up to realize we were about to crash because he had fallen asleep. i hate driving overnight.

the DOCTOR has a ring!

2009-12-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

i just happened to be in the mood to progress in my classic Doctor Who viewing, started up "the Dead Planet," and just happened to notice:

The Doctor has a ring that looks an awful lot like Donna's!!! He even wears it on the same finger and hand that Donna usually wears it on. So this begs the question, is Donna's ring a coincidence? Did she just happen to find it in the Wardrobe Room long after the first Doctor stopped wearing it? Or does the ring have a deeper meaning, whether it could have been used with a Chameleon Arch or not? It is, of course, very hard to tell, but the two rings seem to be two similar in my opinion for it to be purely coincidence.

Donna's Ring(s)

2009-12-21T01:05:00.005-07:00

Runaway Bride - plain biodamp (not the same as in Journey's End)
Partners in Crime - no
Fires of Pomepeii - no
Planet of the Ood - she's wearing a band on the usual finger (right hand middle)... the biodamp ring again?
The Sontaran Stratagem - on left hand while she's flying the Tardis (the hand towards the camera), but it's not the same ring as in Journey's End
The Poison Sky - black ring again during "Back of the neck" on left hand finger
The Doctor's Daughter - First appearance! It's on her right hand while using stethoscope.
The Unicorn and the Wasp - nope
Silence in the Library - yes
Forest of the Dead - flashes of it in some scenes i think, but no clear shot
Midnight - can only see one hand: no
Turn Left - no
The Stolen Earth - while at the Shadow Proclamation
Journey's End - still wearing it in the Tardis (particularly when the door is slammed on her)

So Donna is wearing the no ring whatsoever in 5-6 episodes, a simple band in "Runaway Bride" and "Planet of the Ood", a black plastic ring in "the Sontaran Strategem" and "the Poison Sky", and the Ring itself in 5-6 episodes, most notably while inadvertently creating the Doctor's clone.

ETA: Donna is not wearing an engagement ring in "the Runaway Bride"! She isn't wearing a ring until the Doctor gives her the biodamp ring. She is wearing a ring in the previews for "The End of Time" which is very different than the grey/black one from "Journey's End."

The Runaway Bride "With this ring I do thee biodamp."	The Planet of the Ood The biodamp ring again?
The Sontaran Strategem The ring Donna wore when she piloted the Tardis.	Journey's End The ring Donna wore during the metacrisis.
The End of Time preview Not the same ring!

At this point, i'm exhausted and grasping at straws. Some people seem to think that Donna becoming a Time Lord would cheapen her experience and growth; i know that erasing her memory cheapens her experience and negates her growth. i'm just trying to find a silver lining in all of this!

in show Doctor Who predictions

2009-12-20T20:04:00.003-07:00

Runaway Bride
"Such a sweet couple." (Empress of the Racnoss)

Fires of Pompeii
"Son of Gallifrey" clearly, and yet Lucius stumbles over "daughter of...London." I believe that he is speaking of Rose when he says "She is returning."

ETA: Midnight
Donna tells the Doctor (on the phone) "It's a date... well it's not, but you know what I mean." Her least emphatic denial that they are a couple to date.

Turn Left
The fortune teller acts like the Doctor and Donna are a couple... Donna doesn't deny it.
ETA: i just found out that the woman who plays the Fortune Teller was Chantho in Utopia!

Doctor Who, Donna, "End of Time," and series five theories

2009-12-20T18:48:00.004-07:00

Last night my sister and i were asked to watch some kids during the choir's Christmas performance. One of the father's thanked us for watching them, and i admitted to having none of my own, which led to him joking that i must watch kids so i won't want any of my own. The opposite is actually the case, i do not like to babysit (despite the fact that i have a lot of experience doing so, as i'm the oldest of seven children) because it makes me want to have children even more acutely. Well, because my sister Katie and i are totally obsessed about the fate of both Doctors, Rose, and Donna at the moment, this got our creative juices flowing.

One of the things that I hate the most about the fact that Donna got the mind wipe ending that she did is that we got to know so very little about her. Martha hogged about a third of the season from her, which really irritates me (as you well know). So what do we know about Donna?

She works as a temp (Super!Temp) and cannot (or will not) keep a steady job.
She likes to travel.
When we first met Donna, she was ignorant of all the alien activity that had been going on (attacks of the Slitheen, Daleks, Cybermen, etc.)... almost as if there was a part of her brain that was purposefully shutting out knowledge about aliens... which is, of course, where she ends up again at the end of series four.
In the beginning, Donna seems rather obtuse and slow, but meeting the Doctor seemed to unlock her brain. After turning the Doctor down on his offer to make her his Companion, she spent a lot of time searching for him, having regret her choice. She felt as if something was missing in her life and he was the answer.
Though outwardly very vocal and indignant, Donna is not very confident about her own worth despite the fact that the more Donna traveled with the Doctor, the smarter and more exceptional she became.
Donna has an almost illogical repulsion for the Doctor and all things alien at times ("You're not mating with me, sunshine!", "Martian", "Space man", etc.). Because of this she does not even want to consider him as anything more than a friend ("We're not married", "So, so, not married." "No, never").
Donna really wants to get married (She was throwing herself at Lance in "The Runaway Bride" and in "Turn Left" Sylvia claims that she only wants to work at H.C. Clements in order to find a husband).
Donna really wants to have kids (When she is "saved" in the library she and her husband immediately have twins: when Miss Evangelista tells her that her children aren't real, she becomes very upset and terrified that her children are going to disappear).
Donna's mother is blonde and her father looked like he was as well. I guess it's possible that she could still have red hair with blond parents, but it isn't very likely.
Donna always wears a certain black ring on her right hand (i have yet to rewatch all of the episodes from series four to confirm this, but i remember noticing the ring right away as it's fairly large and doesn't really seem to match Donna's style imo: in fact, it rather reminds me of a beetle).
The Tardis is what pulls Donna to the Doctor upon their first meeting. The Tardis also locks Donna in during "Journey's End." During said episode Donna was inexplicably hearing heartbeats inside the Tardis.

i'm sure there are even more things we know about Donna, but these are the most important to my current point. "Journey's End" bothered me on several levels, for the first thing the Doctor left Rose behind. I did not feel that the Doctor Clone was very probable, in fact i thought that it was more likely that the regeneration energy would leave Donna pregnant or cause her to regenerate. Both those things being said, Davies decided to make a Doctor Clone, who is, theoretically speaking, more like Doctor 9 than Doctor 10 (even though he looks like Doctor 10), so the Clone should be happy with Rose and she should be happy with him. On the other hand, now that Doctor 10 has chosen to leave Rose behind for good, there is never another chance for him to go back to Rose: that door is closed, and she has a Clone for a consolation prize (which i suppose is a nice prize, seeing how she will now be able to marry and grow old with the man she loves). This is incredibly sad for the Doctor, but leaves him open to finally pursue other relationships should he so choose (i cannot believe that i'm saying this, but two years was a very long time to still be hanging on to Rose, after all, and i'm sorry if i sound a little bit jaded about it, but the Doctor hasn't exactly been trying to get back to Rose, has he?).

So, back to Donna. I am 90% sure that TPTB are not going to leave her knocked up with the Doctor's baby (incidentally, i find it rather odd that he seems to have no interest in trying to propagate the Gallifreyan species, which is odd since he is so sure that he is the last Time Lord: i feel like he should be trying to [re]build a better Time Lord society, but this also has to do with my obsession about babies lol). Where does this leave us? We have several factors here that seem to have conveniently come together in order to indicate that Donna is a Time Lady. For instance, she turns out to be even smarter than the Doctor and seems to know how to fix the Chameleon Circuit on the Tardis (like anyone wants that to be done at this point!), an object that as far as we know she's never even seen before... but this, of course, surreptitiously points us towards the Chameleon Arch idea. Just why does Donna seem to be more than we originally thought? There are numerous people that are prophesying about her and declaring that she is the most important woman in the universe. Donna came back to Doctor Who immediately after the Master left. In "Journey's End," she was hearing heartbeats, just as Yana was hearing the drums in "Utopia." So could Donna be a Time Lady? Could it be that the reason we know so little about Amy Pond and there were rumors that she is an alien is because she is a regenerated Donna? The new Companion is even ginger! So i am hope hope hoping that Donna isn't gone, that she's just going to be continuing in a new form in series five, and that Doctor 11 and she will be guarding Earth and righting the Last Great Time War as equals (assuming that the theory that Matt Smith is actually going to be Doctor 9, and his adventures will be set during the Time War, is not true: this would make Chris Doctor 10 and David Doctor 11! which means David could come back later if he so chooses. Yeah, my hopes aren't too high, but i also don't think anyone will be forgetting the incredible Mr. Tennant any time soon... he is far too popular for that, and one must realize that he hasn't had the opportunity to do any conventions yet and get exposed to his screaming fans in that way; after all, it knocked the socks off of everyone who was on Star Trek).

Which now begs the question: if Donna is a Time Lady, has she (her real persona) been on the show before? Well, we already know that the Rani will be returning (her name means She is singing / Queen, incidentally) and that Donna hates Christmas ("The Runaway Bride"). Donna's hatred for the "alien" could be seen as an interesting twist to Rani's hatred of humans. Could Rani be the person who picked up the Master's ring? Of course, it has been reported that Gillian Anderson is going to play her, so that kind of rules the Donna is Rani theory out (even if it did kind of fit and would be totally be mind blowing for her to suddenly be an enemy, not that i want that to happen).

Of course, what do i know, i haven't gotten that far in the original Doctor Who episodes yet. However, i think that the most likely candidate for Donna's identity is probably Romana, who was purportedly just as smart as the Doctor, driven, and a sometimes Companion to him. This is totally random, but the letters for "Donna" can be found in her full name, and her second incarnation was ginger as well. i am much more likely to think that Donna is Romana than Christina (from "Planet of the Dead"). Another thing that's out there... where did Donna want to go first? Rome! (LOL yeah, way out of field and grasping at straws, i am) which is ironically how Karen Gillan came to be cast as the newest Companion.

So, this theory doesn't fit perfectly, and they probably didn't come up with the idea when originally casting Catherine Tate, but i definitely think that all signs point to this, even if she isn't Rani or Romana. Incidentally, if Amy Pond is not Donna/Romana... (there are some letters for Donna in her name, too!), then my other guess is that she's a young River Song. At any rate, i'm not willing to give up on Donna yet, and i am looking forward to watching the final specials more now that i have this new theory under my belt. It's funny how i've suddenly become a Doctor/Donna shipper when i never would have considered it in the past, but if Donna is a Time Lady... then what's stopping the relationship? Methinks they doth protest too much! i might have to write a fanfic or two if The End of Time turns out to be a let down.

internalizing Silence in the Library through Water of Mars

2009-12-19T15:16:00.006-07:00

i've watched the end of season four again since last time i posted, as well as watching all of the Doctor Who specials up to this point. i was rather surprised that the last time i watched Turn Left was more emotionally upsetting than the first time: i cried throughout the entire episode. i am very upset with the fact that Catherine Tate and David Tennant will no longer be on Doctor Who, so much so that, while i am incredibly excited to see where series five will go, in a way i do not want to keep watching the show at all. It's all so emotionally draining: i am a lot more emotionally invested in Doctor 10 than i ever thought i would be; i mean, the entire time i was watching Doctor 9, i knew Christopher Eccleston was leaving the show at the end of the series, and i loved him as the Doctor, and hated David as creepy Barty Crouch, Jr. i'm actually rather surprised how much David grew on me, in fact i'm very infatuated with him at the moment (who's Zach Quinto? David Anders? Shia LeBeouf? Never heard of them...), which is mostly just because i feel so bad for the Doctor, i'm sure. He's so infuriating and heart wrenching, all at the same time. So i'm wanting to watch more of the Doctor (have started watching the original series one, which i'm not enjoying too much yet, but Daleks are coming up soon) yet simultaneously dreading any Doctor that isn't Tennant. It's all so confusing. How do i get so emotional over someone who gives me papercuts every time i look at him (wish i could hug him, oh i'm so lame).

So... i'm feeling a little bit better about Doctor Clone being left behind with Rose (some fanfiction helped), though i think it's absolutely ridiculous but makes sense from a storytelling point of view (Rose and the Doctor together would probably kill the show, which begs the questions: what are they going to do about River Song? And when she says "new haircut", does she mean that he had regenerated? Because her Doctor seemed to be #10... how is that going to work???). i am furious about the way Donna/Tate were treated while they were on the show. i love Donna, maybe even more than Rose, but i don't know her very well because Martha was continuing to hog all her screen time. Katie and i were talking about this, how Martha was all "me, me, me" all the time, and didn't really change much (other than the fact that she became so militant), while Rose and Donna in comparison were very selfless and wanted to make sure they fulfilled the Doctor's needs (as well as have fun with him). The one line that i always come back to with Martha demonstrates her bitter jealousy perfectly: "Oh, she was blonde." There was absolutely none of that angst with Donna, who ironically gets to be the one woman (possibly in the universe) who doesn't want to see the Doctor naked... but got to.

Who has he become?

2009-12-16T13:20:00.003-07:00

The last few nights, i have had insomnia. As a result, i have read a book, played some WoW (got a new bow in Pit of Saron), read some fanfiction (most of it very ill, as the stories that are good aren't really being updated lately), watched the first two episodes of Doctor Who ever, and finished season four of Doctor Who and watched three of the specials with David Tennant, the latest being "Waters of Mars."

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

Read at your own risk!

Last night, i think, was the scariest thing i have ever seen, and not because of the infected humans, but because the Doctor breaks. This special is one of the few episodes in which the Doctor has no companion whatsoever: there are only the people that he meets for the first time within the time he is visiting. And the sad part is that he realizes that he has read about these people before and they are all going to die that very day. But they've taken him prisoner, as it were, and he is forced to watch the first of them succumb, and when they finally let him go it's all falling apart, and he's walking away, back to the TARDIS, back to safety... and he just breaks. He does the thing that has kept him separate from the Master, from all the bad guys, and decides that consequences be damned, but he's the last Time Lord and he is going to be the one to decide who lives, who dies, and where time changes.

As i said, it was the scariest thing i've ever seen, because he was going mad with the pain. So was i, in a way: TV, movies, books, always affect me hugely, i'm always crying, etc. i was sobbing and heartbroken as he walked away. In that moment i wanted to run and hide nearly as much as i wanted to be able to reach through the screen and touch him, hold him. i discovered something about the show that bothered me, that has struck me about Doctor Who as a whole: of all the lessons that he has learned, pain that he has felt, all the people he has lost and saved, he's never learned two things. 1 ~ He keeps coming back for more pain... which is incredibly sad, but not necessarily a bad characteristic.

2 ~ Death is not always a negative. In "Blink", the cop is ready to die, he's had a long full life with a woman that he loved, and the same seems to be true of Sally's friend Kathy. Ironically, the life that the Weeping Angels condemn them to turns out to be happier than the ones they lost. What really bothers me is that, in "Forest of the Dead", the Doctor condemns the woman he will eventually love to a nightmare... and then they portray River as being happy. He then does the same thing to the Captain in "Waters of Mars": because he saves her, she's forced to commit suicide to regain the nobility of her death. It might have been all right if he had taken her somewhere safe, somewhere across the universe, but no, he drops her on her doorstep.

i do not understand why the Doctor cannot understand that death is sometimes longed for, preferable to the pain, to the horrors one's selfishness could cause. i guess that it is because he has never had to experience death himself, because he is always watching people slip away while he is forced to regenerate, live forever. But why would River be happy with three fake children and no Doctor? Why would Rose be happy with a broken half-Doctor that has committed mass murder without a second thought? (Of course he's a git and still won't even tell Rose that he loves her, so good riddance in a way, of course it has to be said, you idiot!) Why would Donna be happy with her brain wiped and the switch reset to mundane? The entire point is that these women were utterly unhappy without the Doctor and were willing to sacrifice everything to be with him, even die.

This is why i dislike Matron Joan... no matter how much the Doctor has hurt you, how can she just turn her back on him? All because he was man enough to return to who he really was instead of being selfish enough to remain who a part of him desperately longs to be??? She did not love him enough. She did not understand that the reason everyone loves him is because he runs towards trouble and puts it back in its place. The reason everyone loves him is because he freely sacrifices of himself for the entire universe, despite the fact that the job is utterly thankless most of the time. People blame him for the trouble he puts down.

But of course, now the Doctor is broken, and slipping away from me forever. i am, of course, hugely curious as to what #11 will be like, but i rather got it in my head that he was going to turn out to be a past incarnation, that it would be the Doctor during the time war... between 8 & 9. i wanted to hold on to the possibility that we could someday get #10 back, after the Last Great Time War is explained. Now that the Doctor has snapped and has decided that he is the Lord of all Time alone... it would be very easy for TPTB to therefore make him try to fix the Last Great Time War, despite the fact that it was timelocked. That, of course, could be considered to be a noble endeavor, but if he refuses to travel with a companion because they only get hurt, because it therefore hurts him too much... who is there to hold him back??? i know 11 has a companion, but there are two more "hours" for 10 (it really comes to about an hour and a half of viewing time with the commercials omitted), and i'm wondering how the heck he's going to be fixed in that amount of time. Wilf has his work cut out.

When did it happen that i became infatuated with a lanky boy ten years my senior? Chris was my first Doctor, i'm supposed to love him more, right? It feels like a betrayal to be so wrapped up in #10. The first Doctor is utterly foreign to me. On the other hand, i'm not sure i want to meet River's Doctor. i think i caught a glimpse of him last night, and it was utterly and completely wrong. i feel stupid to be so utterly bereft. Why do i keep getting sucked in? i'm tired of being so wrapped up in fictional characters' pain, i want to heal and i want to find my own companion... just one. i'm so tired of being single.

dang it

2009-12-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

i've already gone through the Frozen Halls attunement process, finally updating my boots to the Muddied Boots of Brill (upgrade from Dawnwalkers, which were from Naxx), which makes me happy. However... i got an upgrade stolen from me by the new loot system, which will not let me roll on leather (Shaggy Wyrmleather Leggings are a definite upgrade from Valorous Cryptstalker Legguards), so they were automatically disenchanted. i guess that's more fair if no one actually needs them, however... i did need them. /sigh

WoW.com is hiring

2009-12-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

i think i'm going to apply for the hunter columnist position. i'm nervous about it, though: i've never been paid for my writing, and even though i feel like i'm an aweseom hunter that doesn't mean other people necessarily agree with me.

Possibility as sung by Lykke Li in New Moon

2009-12-07T12:39:00.005-07:00

i woke up with this song stuck in my head. i looked it up on the net, but none of the pages i found seemed to have the lyrics quite right. So i modified them to what i think they actually are. This song is awesome, they use it when Bella is sitting in her room, staring off into nothing, for the months without description that occur directly after Edward leaves and Sam finds Bella in the woods.

It's a possibility
It's a possibility
All that I had was all I'm gonn' get
mmMmmMmmMmMmmm

There's a possibility
There's a possibility
All I wanted is gone with your stare
All I wanted is gone with your stare

So tell me when you hear my heart stop
You're the only one who'd know
Tell me when you hear my silence
There's a possibility I wouldn't know

mmMmmMmmMmMmmm
mmMmmMmmMmMmmm
mmMmmMmmMmMmmm

Know that when you leave
Know that when you leave
By blood about me you'll walk like a thief
By blood about me I fall when you leave

So tell me when you hear my heart stop
You're the only one who'd know
Tell me when you hear my silence
There's a possibility I wouldn't know

So tell me when my sigh is over
You're the reason why I'm closed
Tell me when you hear me fallin'
There's a possibility it would show

mmMmmMmmMmMmmm
mmMmmMmmMmMmmm

By blood and by me I fall when you'll leave
By blood and by me i follow your lead

mmMmmMmmMmMmmm
mmMmmMmmMmMmmm
mmMmmMmmMmMmmm
mmMmmMmmMmMmmm

Luna Nueva

2009-12-01T15:24:00.002-07:00

There were posters all over Barcelona, particularly on the metro. i finally saw it on Saturday. Let me just say that it was a huge relief because it was sooo much better than the Twilight movie was. i can hardly wait for Eclipse to come out now! We'll have to see how much longer i can wait to see it again, but right now i'm in the midst of finals (of course).

ETA: Yeah, the Remember Me preview was pretty awesome, and i'm not even a Pattinson fan. Gotta love having Claire from Lost, who's got the same dad as in October Sky.

the angels have the golden box!

2009-12-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

Very recently i went on a cruise to Europe and Egypt. Inside the museum at Cairo was a King Tut exhibit. i was not allowed to take my camera inside the museum, regrettably, but thanks to the internet i was able to find images of Tut's Canopic Shrine, which greatly surprised us as Dr. Who fans.

yay! hulu is even more my friend!

2009-10-31T23:18:00.001-06:00

Remember how i said that the end of Inu-Yasha was lame because it had no closure? Well the manga was apparently still going strong even after the anime was canceled and has continued to gain support. A new show, Inu-Yasha: the Final Act, has just started airing with 26 new episodes to finish out the story, and according to this article--Inu Yasha Final Act Simultaneous Release Planned--they're dubbing the English version at the same time and releasing it on Hulu. So i need to start watching it before it's replaced with later eps!

What's funny about my experience with anime is that i prefer Inu-Yasha in English (it was my first anime, and the Japanese voices just don't sound right to me), while Vandread and Full Metal Alchemist i would usually try to watch in Japanese and subtitled, but would watch both ways. i'm thinking about taking Japanese next fall.

astonishing, i know

2009-10-30T00:11:00.000-06:00

i'm thinking about quitting WoW. Which is odd, because i am so in love with the game that one might even go with the label addicted. However, i am now guildless, have half rate gear because i was never deemed worthy of progression runs or running full clears long enough for me to get the drop off the final boss. i am so tired of being out dpsed by jerks and idiots who happen to have a better gun. If we had the same weapon, i would out dps them, and i often am very close to their level of dps with a far inferior weapon. Then i have to pug to get into dungeons for emblems and end up having to work incredibly hard not to pull agro off the tank. Last time i was in H ToC i kept my jousting javelin equipped for a long time and was still pulling agro. When i put my sword back on my belt i literally had to FD and MD every time the cd was up.

Other reasons: i want to get A's and am taking upper level courses for the rest of my school career, and... i cannot really afford the $15 a month fee. But i don't want to give up on gaming entirely. i miss Diablo II. i could play alone or with my sister (another reason WoW has lost it's charm, i've been utterly abandoned yet again). When playing with others, Diablo's minions get stronger accordingly, but you could totally solo everything (well, Diablo was nearly impossible to defeat as an assassin, but you get the idea). i finally looked up Aion, after purposefully ignoring it because there was no way i could take it up and play WoW, and wouldn't you know, it looks awesome but costs more to buy and still has the $15 a month fee. i've thought about Guild Wars, but when i looked it up online it looks like they want you to pay for additional items, like characters and bank slots (from what i can make out). Similarly, LotRO was horrible when i did the free trial, and i couldn't even try another class without deleting the first.

So i am not really sure what to do. i don't really like feeling like there is always a couple of people in any guild i join that have it out for me. i get overly defensive and emotional. i've been thinking about that a lot the past couple of days and feel that i probably get that from my father, who is very adamant about always being in command and having his wishes followed exactly, yada, yada, yada, as if he has an irrational fear of being disrespected or looked down upon that i have somehow inadvertently inherited. What really disturbs me is that i'm nice, i help people out, and i usually get mistreated. For example, Levi accused me of behaving the way that he allowed Daymann to, and because they know each other in RL, Daymann was often inexplicably rewarded after bad behavior. Trying to find help about what to take up instead of WoW i only stumbled upon people who were addicted to WoW and quit the game and described themselves as being right jerks while playing, on 24/7, and so rich that it was ridiculous (yeah, i'm not really addicted compared to some, though i did play too much in an attempt to curry favor from Levi, and we all know how that turned out). That (rude behavior) is so not who i am. i'm so tired of constantly being let down and being alone. idk, maybe i should just join a knitting circle or something. i really do not know what to do, i'm so tired of feeling so alone. i wish the Doctor would come rescue me... of course, a Mediterranean cruise would seem rather tame after traveling around in the TARDIS for a while.

/sigh... david and zach

2009-10-29T23:43:00.001-06:00

i found this post quite a while ago, after i had started watching Doctor Who, but before getting to series two, and while i was still basking in the Star Trek induced haze of Zach Quinto drool. Yeah, i know that sounded wrong. Anyways, now that i totally love Mr. Tennant as the Doctor, i felt that it might be worthwhile to look it up again. IMO Mr. Quinto wins, but to be perfectly fair the author of the post totally used the same hairstyle from David repeatedly, merely from different angles, so Zach wins simply on versatility. Anyways, The Hair Off.

Alas and alack that i keep getting infatuated with these actors that are pleasantly geeky, are devoid of significant others, and vote for the other party (as it were: Zach strongly supported Obama, and David votes Labour... which is also true of J.K. Rowling, which is neither here nor there, save that David was in the fourth Potter film and both Brits profess to be Christians).

oh yeah...

2009-10-16T17:44:00.000-06:00

i meant to say this a couple of weeks ago, but forgot.

i would really like to see, just for once, anything where John Savage does not play a drunk and/or mentally deranged individual.

And now, back to this week's Fringe.

watching Heroes

2009-10-15T19:21:00.001-06:00

Well, i'm waiting for it to load. i've been putting it off because i have absolutely no desire to see any more lesbian kisses. Does anyone else have a bad feeling about Claire's roommate, Gretchen???

New Moon... dang it

2009-10-11T11:31:00.002-06:00

So yesterday i forced my sister to finally watch Twilight, and inexplicably i was noticing new things, probably because i was knitting and that just increases my awareness. Afterwards we watched the New Moon trailers; i am so excited, but we'll be in the Mediterranean when it premieres, so i'm going to have to wait a while to see it. One of the things that has bothered me about Twilight (in the parking lot accident) and New Moon (in the birthday party and Volturi scenes of the trailers) is the haphazard physicality that is going on. Edward wasn't meant to just stop the van with his hand, it was more involved than that in the book: he lifted the van, shifted Bella's legs out of the way so they wouldn't get pinned, etc. They so dropped the ball in the movie, even cutting out Bella's head injury (many of the things they changed in the movie made absolutely no sense whatsoever). Well it seems to be continuing in New Moon, unfortunately. First off, it's been a while since i read it, but i don't remember things coming to blows in the Volturi's inner sanctum. The more obviously glaring mistake is in the birthday scene, where Edward seems to be forcibly shoving Bella backwards (which is something he would never do, just as he would have never taken Bella to play baseball when there was a random vampire killing people in the area) and tackling Jasper. In the book, it's true that Edward knocks Bella over, but he's using himself as a shield, not destroying pianos with his brother. i guess TPTB felt they had to play the scene up, when in reality it's dramatic enough on its own, and the entire point of the scene is that the incident was not really a big deal in Bella's mind, so much as it was in Edward's.

i don't know who is making these choices on the film, but they need to get with it. Vampires are hyper aware and super strong and can make decisions faster than a normal human, and they don't go around haphazardly shoving people about because they've already come to blows several times in the blink of an eye. Taylor Lautner's physicality while jumping in Bella's window is the level they needed all of the movie's stunts to be at, and i don't know if that means stunt doubles, or cgi, or what, but what they are currently doing is not cutting it. The consumers of movies are now used to bullet time, you can't get buy with shoddy film making like this and just expect the consumer to ignore it. What are they going to do in Eclipse when the Cullens are teaching the wolf pack how vampires fight? i imagine they'll probably skip the scene entirely, because it's too expensive or impractical, but these movies are turning into the Harry Potter films, where they seem to randomly cut things out and rearrange plot lines and later realize... "what the heck are we supposed to do now, we royally botched this." Have these people read the books? Cuz it looks like they haven't, and most of their audience has.

Then there's the indecency of this screenshot (featured on Twilighter's Anonymous), where Mr. Pattinson's pants are practically falling off: his six pack looks air brushed on, and... did someone bite his left nipple? Every time i see the preview, i cannot help but think "wow, i did not want to just see his pubes" (was that from Wayne's World? i think it was).

i don't know, maybe i am assuming too much, maybe the average consumer isn't as aware of film making as i am, but i just expect better. i'm looking forward to seeing New Moon, but i already expect to be just as disappointed by it as i was by Twilight. The book is always better.

ETA: Is it just me, or is the Volvo black now??? Why?

an interesting contrast

2009-10-09T21:11:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else think that the orange scrubs that the residents from Mercy West wear makes them look like convicts???

Mmm, Muse

2009-10-08T20:33:00.002-06:00

i was watching FlashForward tonight, and V had several previews (can hardly wait until November 3rd!!!), a couple of them featuring Muse's new song Uprising. i love Muse.

Jane Austen quote

2009-10-08T13:42:00.002-06:00

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us."

yeah, i'm not very vain, but i can only give so much.

geeky pleasures and let downs

2009-10-08T13:33:00.001-06:00

i have been watching Fringe, Heroes, and Grey's online mostly, with some Doctor Who thrown in (and disc one of season one of Ugly Betty yesterday, ty Netflix). i have been too mentally consumed with school to really overanalyze much (midterms last week and this week, such a relief to get them finished). Fringe is going slowly, Sylar returns, Grey's is merely meh (not horrible... but not great either).

The latest emotional upheaval (such as what i would usually discuss on Spontaneous Overflow, rather than here) has been WoW. After weeks of every 25 Ulduar raid being a wipe 20 times to maybe down one boss fest, i lost it in /g, to put things mildly. i have gently advised that it is ridiculous to expect the guild to be able to down anything in 25 Uld when there are guildees that never got fully geared in 25 Naxx and 10 Uld (i am one of them, this despite the fact that i have faithfully attended raids for months). As if that weren't bad enough, TPTB keep recruiting people who are incredibly undergeared, so they cannot even begin to pull their weight. i'm not exactly sure what happened, but Levi (the guild master) apparently got mad at me for being "negative" all the time (this was my first emotional outburst of any sort since Daymann and Fearhavok ganged up on me). He /g kicked me, without warning, without explanation, and put me on ignore. i have heard from a couple of people that this decision was frowned upon and it was requested but last time i was on i had yet to receive a reinvite or explanation and most of the time i'm rather disinclined to want one.

i really liked Levi when he became guild master, but since then he's been rather two faced, and seems to have the tendency to play favorites. He'll say that i'm his "go-to" hunter, but neglect to invite me to raids. My gear speaks for itself, i have one piece of 25 Uld gear (a one hand sword, ironically enough: all of our rogues use daggers, warriors and dks two-handers, so i lucked out). i have gotten a couple of pieces of 10 Uld gear, despite the fact that i have only been inside three times, and only once as part of a guild progression run, and that was because someone had to leave early and was after the newly-promoted to Co-GM Daymann had gotten Avalanche (a bow for a rogue, i kid you not). Similarly, i have only been inside 10 TOC (ToCr to some of you) three times, and never gotten any drops, just badges (which i will admit enabled me to get my one piece of T9 sooner, my shoulders). The one time we went to 25 TOC no bosses were downed.

So, just to be clear, my gear is comprised of:
T8 head (vendor)
vendor neck
T9 shoulders (vendor)
vendor cloak
T8 chest (vendor)
Naxx 25 wrists
T8.5 hands (VOA meh replacement to Hands of Taut Grip from 10 Uld)
vendor belt
T7.5 pants (VOA)
Naxx 25 leather boots
Gundrak ring
vendor ring
vendor trink
Brewfest trink (that replaced a blue heroic trink)
Malice (that 25 Uld sword)
Kinetic Ripper (10 Uld fists)
Arrowsong (Naxx 25 bow off PATCHWERK)

Okay, so, my gear could be a lot worse. i have really good vendor gear, the best available, the only available, and got the majority of those emblems doing heroics in pugs, because for some odd reason everyone in my guild doesn't want to do heroics with me. Now, the core seems to get on around noon (1 p.m server) and get saved to everything while i'm still in school. The rest just ignore me. Eggy says that people say i'm mean, i don't know what that is supposed to mean because i'm always going out of my way to be nice to people and get messed over as a result. This is truly just indicative of the fact that there is too much dps on Hakkar so it is incredibly hard to get any group, let alone one at my level (my last few pugged heroics i was doing twice as much dps as anyone else). Needless to say, i am absolutely thrilled that in the next patch Triumphs will be the new emblem because i rarely get to do the heroic of the day and everything else i don't need. All my upgrades are in Triumphs (please can i have some new pants???).

Now, i am thrilled about my two new one-handers, because i was previously swinging the staff off 25 KT (consolation prize that i got after the then-GM passed me over on the gun, which i still need): this was the first time i had ever not dual wielded. But as you can see, i'm a hunter, when i get one handers, they're cast offs: no one else wants them, no one rolled against me. The bow i have was an upgrade from the UtP bow, and i almost didn't get it because a warrior out rolled me, and he g-quit when they gave it to me. i never aimed for this bow, i wanted the gun off KT since Wrath went live, and i'm never going to get it (it's my bow off Prince, the only time it will ever drop for me again is once i get another char to 80 lol), once we started downing KT we moved on to Uld 10 runs that i was never invited to. The night before my emotional vomit, the guild ran Ony 25 (on the night i have my night class): a hunter that rarely shows up for raids and always leaves early got the gun. So i got very upset learning that. Ranged weapons have an extremely low drop rate, you can't buy them off vendors anymore, i was feeling just royally screwed.

So, i know i was qqing that night, and i'm not proud of it, but it took me over six months of simmering for it to happen. What is the point in being in a guild that doesn't down bosses for two months (except the nights i can't get on, and thus no emblems), won't do heroics with me (no emblems), won't let me into progression runs (except 25 man, we don't have enough as it is, and again big whoop we don't down anything, so just repair bills), i'm not invited to 10 man progression runs (well, 3 times in over 3 months), and the one guild puggish 10 man i only got into once, which was fun. i even go to Naxx to help others, even though i don't need emblems anymore. So, the only thing i can figure that Levi would have to go on for my "complaining" was the advice i gave when he asked for it 95% of the time. i bit my tongue on the rest. Is it really complaining to say "good job everyone" for pulling more than once every half hour (got to understand, the co-GM usually takes about 2 hours to explain fights that we all know or should know already)? Because he would do it, but yell at me when i did it. Is it complaining to say "we need to get people geared so we wipe less in 25 Uld" when i haven't gotten geared, let alone the new recruits? There is nothing else that i can do myself without Triumphs, i have everything enchanted, i have to raid to get gear to drop to get upgrades.

i loved hanging out with everyone, and generally felt more appreciated than ever before, i am completely grateful to the people who would do groups with me as much as they did, and joked around with me in raids (note: my sarcastic/ironic jokes are also not complaining, and if Elfogods can do it, so can i). i have discovered that 10 mans are the most fun, and in 25 mans everyone feels like a stranger. Some nights i just get disconnected constantly in 25 mans, and that also stinks because i'm dying, i feel like i'm letting everyone down, and there's nothing i can do about it! i already upgraded my computer, i can't afford new internet. What is most ironic about this is that the GM and co-GMs complain all the time, no exaggeration, and if they are allowed to bring down morale every single day, why is it such a big deal for me to lose it once every six months? i was online five nights a week, putting in all the effort that i could, and to get kicked was heartbreaking. i was depressed for three days, perplexed, and i still don't understand why he would kick me. Now, i feel relieved because i was constantly under so much pressure. Between work and school and WoW i was at my breaking point (thus the reason i broke). i love Who Pulled, but i don't want to be in a guild that doesn't support me, that isn't fun, that isn't going anywhere.

You have to look out for your guildees. i don't expect new gear to drop every week, but once in over six months? That's a really dry spell. If you are going to recruit undergeared people, you must gear them. Similarly, faithful members of the guild should not be ignored, put down, berated, or disrespected, period. If one puts in the work, he or she should get rewarded, and respected, not be left wondering why the GM is lying to one's face. i have to put up with that enough at work and school, i don't want to do it during my fun time, too.

So, i didn't want to leave the guild, i wasn't looking for a new one, or to return to Predestined even, but now i have to wonder... do i even want back in to Who Pulled? Forget the fact that all my "friends" are in the guild now, do they even respect me or appreciate how much i am sacrificing? i have been raiding for three years now, for a GM to just ignore my experience is short sighted. i don't have to be an officer, not everyone has to salute by any stretch, but how about a little common decency? What is the point in rewarding people who are habitually rude and/or obnoxious (well, that was a given, as they are Levi's best friends, of course he isn't going to kick them)? i don't hold up the raid, i come with my A game, doing the best that i can to perform. i have invested real money, precious time... i don't ask for much in return. Maybe i should find a new guild, but i don't even know where to start. Truth be told, i don't know what to do.

Mortal Instruments and TV viewing

2009-09-26T10:44:00.002-06:00

So i just finished reading City of Glass. The ending was a bit strange (her request of the angel was rather selfish, after all), but overall i liked the trilogy (though i must admit that i somewhat expect a sequel, what with Sebastian/Jonathan's disappearance... ETA: this was already confirmed by the author in August). Which leads me to question who is on the third cover of the trilogy: i had seen the thumbnail or it on the back of City of Ashes, so i just "knew" Simon couldn't be dead and assumed it was him with a quiver on his back. But since i have held Glass and discovered that it is a sword... i'm not so certain. It seems to me that they must mean it to be Sebastian, but he had the sword as Jonathan, and then his hair was the same color as his father's... and his hair was curly. So is it Simon then as i originally believed? (ETA: Simon & Schuster seem to think it's Sebastian) Incidentally, i LOVE Clary's hair on the cover of Ashes, and Jace's body on Bones just seems to me to be overbuilt, not to mention too old (he's 17 for crying out loud).

But on to TV land: i saw part of FlashForward this week, but was doing dailies in Storm Peaks trying to get enough gold together to gem my T9 shoulders. i was so not expecting Sulu to be so tough and bad cop, nor was i expecting Penny to be married to Shakespeare. i don't know, the show didn't really capture my interest, but then, i was distracted. i missed Fringe this week, i'll probably watch it today (last week i felt bad about Walter and the released seatbelt situation, and cannot believe where they're going with Charlie). i watched Heroes last night, not exactly what i was expecting. i found Matt's situation to be absolutely hilarious (i wouldn't mind hallucinating Sylar, but of course it's not exactly the same from his perspective!), though i was a bit thrown off by the "20 pounds overweight" bit. Do people still consider him to be overweight? i think his weight is perfect.

woot, it's fall!

2009-09-15T16:20:00.000-06:00

The weather outside is lovely, cool and drizzly. i am so excited for fall to begin! Fringe starts on Thursday, other shows will be close behind, and i have no idea where i'll find the time to watch them. At least Lost will still be on hiatus until January (is that a good thing?). There are also several new shows to try out, V being chief among them. Meh, i'll probably just stick with Fringe, Heroes, and V, but you never know... there's that one with Charlie, Penny, Sulu, and Shakespeare (/gag, he's fine, but i hated that movie).

re: Sylar's possible gayness

2009-08-16T23:02:00.002-06:00

So, i have been contemplating Mr. Quinto's possible gayness, and i am inclined to think that he isn't gay. From what i understand, he's Irish/Italian and went to a Catholic school. All the Catholics i know aren't into gay rights and aren't gay. However the religion and both ethnic groups are most likely members of the Democrat party, just one of those traditional things. Even if Quinto is gay, voting for Obama doesn't help him in that department, because Obama isn't pro-gay marriage, etc. It's just not one of Obama's issues, he's more into socializing the country, taking away rights, raising taxes, etc.

i always said that i would vote for Lieberman before McCain. Unfortunately, i never had a chance to vote for Lieberman (well, i could have voted for him when he was the veep candidate, but i wasn't exactly fond of his running mate). i regret voting for McCain, but tbh i was really voting against Obama and for Palin. Sorry to get political here. Really, every time i have voted, i was choosing the lesser of evils, though i do not at all regret voting for Bush that is not to say that i agreed with all of his decisions by any stretch of the imagination. i am really happy with my choice from a pro-life perspective.

Watched the episode where Geordi finally meets Leah Brahms this week, which seemed very apropos after my breakdown. Man, i cannot believe how much he makes a fool of himself with women. He never tried to find out if she was married... so embarrassing. Anyways, i'm not saying Mr. Quinto would want to marry me or anything, i was just bemoaning the fact that he's unreachable yet smack dab in the middle of my happy place all the time. Incidentally i bought a bike rack this week to put on my car so i could transport my new bike to and from school and the guy that helped me install it was really nice and flirty. It made me feel good about myself because guys don't usually flirt with me. What's funny is that he seemed to think that i'm younger than i am, while despite his two tours in the Army he is probably only a couple of years older than me, five at the most. Anyways, everyone needs to feel special every once in a while, especially when the advances aren't made by someone super creepy. Poor Claire! i just keep wondering in the back of my mind though if Elle somehow survived... Unlikely, i know, but nothing is impossible on Heroes, look at what happened to HRG.

i <3 Sylar

2009-08-09T15:07:00.004-06:00

Well, yesterday in the wee hours of the morning i finished watching Heroes season 3. Right now i just finished watching the episode of Dragnet he was in, "Frame of Mind" (which you can watch on Hulu), a very small roll which was very Sylar-esque (perhaps what got TPTB at Heroes interested in casting him as Sylar? i mean, come on, they must have had some reason for thinking "he can play a feasible psycho" when they cast him). After taking in season 3 and Star Trek this summer i am a bigger Zachary Quinto fan than ever before. This of course brings out mixed feelings in me. i really liked the Sylar at the beginning of the season, that was trying to be a good guy, that had a chance at redemption as a member of the Petrelli family (who in themselves are completely messed up, as founders of the Company and occasional villians, yes even Peter when mixed up with Caitlin's brother). It used to be that Peter and Hiro were my favorite characters on Heroes, but now... it's Sylar.

How did that happen? Peter and Hiro are pretty undeniably good guys. But who are the two characters i would and do most regret the deaths of? Adam and Sylar. When did i become the girl who likes the bad boys? i never would have considered it of me, but it is true that i always drooled over Mr. Sark on Alias and drool even more over Sylar on Heroes. But i suppose there are other parallels, Edward in Twilight, Sawyer in Lost, Wolverine in X-Men, Mike Donovan in V, Alec in Dark Angel, Neo in the Matrix, V in V for Vendetta, nearly anything with Bill Nighy, pirates of the Caribbean variety, the list goes on and on and on. Though Elijah Wood's role in Sin City cured me of my crush on him, i have somehow developed a weakness for bad boys. This is shocking to me. i want to say that it says more for my strength of empathy and compassion than anyone else, but i know that's a load of tripe. i don't feel much compassion for a lot of the people that go through my line at work or walk by me on the street. No, this condition has been hiding in me for a long time, my first big crush was on a boy named J.P (who wouldn't give me the time of day), the next on a Tommy (who liked being chased), there was always Tim (first kiss on the cheek, totally blown out of proportion by his family), and then that anonymous boy at the pool (who was from Texas, that gave me my first peck on the lips, no matter how chaste that kiss was).

i have nearly always chosen my crushes based on looks and the same boyish tendency to pull pranks that my father has. What's so weird is that physically Mr. Quinto isn't really my type (other than the fact that he's the same height as my grandad: i <3 tall men): he's way too hairy, something that i warred with during his love scenes with Elle, and the same is true for Mr. Jackman as Wolverine. Give me the smooth bodies of Mr. Anders (Holt, really) and Mr. Trineer (mmm decontamination scene, anyone?), but then Mr. Sark had the tendency to be a pretty boy, too, so i cannot be going merely upon looks.

i think that it's not really that these men are bad, so much as the fact that they are dangerous. i mean, what about Edward is bad? Sure he killed a couple of psychos in his day, so they would stop hurting innocent people, but he's so traditional and careful that it's enough to drive anyone bonkers. Donavan and Neo and V are all freedom fighters, trying to do the right thing, though sometimes with the wrong methods. i think that what draws me to these men is really shallow but is also what psychiatrists that believe in cavemen would expect of me: i go for the guy who seems most likely to be able to protect me when things go fubar. Peter and Hiro and Matt (mmm gotta love cuddly little Matt / Eric) are definitely capable of doing that against the human element, but Sylar... for all that is strong about the rest, you've got to admit that no one can put down 5-10 members of a SWAT team with the mere flick of the wrist quite like he can. Which of course leads me to Dumbledore... who though always seemed to me to be the epitome of good was also always the most dangerous man of all, for he could bring down governments and Voldemort, had he set his mind to it (oh wait, he did).

This of course leads me to the question of whether i am only attracted to guys that are gay. i mean, there has always been the niggling question in the back of my mind about the guy i worked with in Lynchburg, we all know what Rowling says about Dumbledore, and now i've come to find out that Quinto has kissed a guy in a sauna and is mum about his sexuality in real life. For all i know he voted for Obama because he's gay, but he doesn't want to come out. And then there's T.R. Knight, another good guy that i used to be into, but also decidedly gay. Why the heck is it that i have to worry about guy's sexuality??? What is so wrong with this world that it's not enough that i have to wonder why i'm not attractive enough to a guy, but if it's because he just doesn't like girls??? i have worked with gay guys, and sat next to them in class, i'm not trying to be a hater, but now i maybe possible have to crush on them, too, and never have that emotion returned?

i don't know that Quinto is gay, only that he can act like he is, but i do know that i have this stupid tendency to fixate on men that are totally unavailable. The guy that led worship in Charlotte was the worst, one child with another on the way, and as it turns out this is nothing new. The guys who are most nice to me are inevitably always unavailable, the one flirty customer at the gas station, the soldier that sat next to me in Shakespeare, Kimbo and Robert and Justin at work. The guys who are nice to me, who get me, who care, are already married, already have the things that i want, that i guess most guys don't know that they want until they already have them, that got them kicking and screaming. And then there is my tendency to fixate on actors, to wonder "what if?" i feel like such an idiot for ever believing that i could be an actress, that i would become an actress, that Voyager or Dark Angel were ever a possibility for me (am i insane?), but that is still a small part of me. i grew up crushing on Elijah Wood, then there was Freddie Prinze, Jr. (/gag), then Mr. Sark was always in my happy place, and now Sylar? Why does this always happen to me? Why am i always alone, curled up with pillows and a dilapidated white rabbit in the dark, imagining that someone--who doesn't even know i exist--loves me?

i want to be loved, and protected, and i'm going insane because i'm alone, which so makes me unattractive to the opposite sex, but it's a vicious cycle that i don't know how to prevent. i don't want to love an Obama supporter, i don't want to love a murderer, i don't want to love anyone who doesn't love me for who i am, but i don't know how to stop. Unfortunately, i <3 Sylar.

cold snap

2009-07-25T00:58:00.000-06:00

Tracy walks by an ATM, and money pops out, and suddenly i realize: what if it's Micah? i feel so stupid because i didn't think of him sooner, and it was very obvious. Ten seconds later she gets into a cab, Micah is right there, and his voice has changed! Woot.

more heroes

2009-07-23T19:23:00.003-06:00

So, as it turns out, when i thought that i had seen the entire season 3 of Heroes, i had actually only seen about half (to the end of the "Villians" chapter). i had no idea there was more to see before this fall, but now am slowly catching up. i am confused about several points, however: how is it that Peter flew away (in "Exposed") when the last hero they showed him touch was Matt and at the meeting with Nathan he hugged his brother in order to fly away? My guess for the identity of Rebel is the Man with the Horn Rimmed Glasses, but i'm just throwing that out there. i'm currently in the middle of "Shades of Gray"... Hulu ftw.

ETA: Of course, logically, Rebel is probably the chick they showed one time in the shed in the middle of nowhere, but something about HRG is a bit off with the whole conspiracy with Angela Petrelli.

finally watched the last two episodes of Inu-Yasha

2009-07-02T20:27:00.000-06:00

What in the world!?! That was the end??? They didn't defeat Naraku! They managed to pull in all the main characters except Kagome's family and the wolf-demon jerk, but Inu-Yasha and Kagome still haven't moved forward in their relationship and Naraku is still alive. What a lousy way to end a series. There's still the fourth movie, but my hopes aren't high for it: i saw the first 10-15 minutes of it and it didn't seem to be very good. i guess i'll have to turn to the manga for closure... if i can get my hands on it. i don't think the library has it, but maybe i can find it at Barnes & Noble.

title

2009-07-01T23:52:00.002-06:00

More than anything else in the world of WoW, i think i am most proud of my titles. Why? Titles usually take some effort. Titles let other players know that you've been working your fingers off until you're blurry eyed and sleep deprived. Titles have power, there aren't that many in the game (though the number is growing). Some titles come with mounts, non-combat pets, or tabards. My titles are as follows:

Luinel, Champion of the Naaru
i wish i would have finished the Hand of A'dal quest line before Wrath went live, all i needed was the drops off the final bosses in the Eye and SSC, but i never was in a guild that got that far. Both titles have long, involved quest lines that i spent a lot of time soloing to complete (except for one summoned "boss" that i asked a shaman in my guild to help me with).

Luinel the Explorer
Super easy, seeing this above my head always makes me think of Dora.

Ambassador Luinel
This was completed before becoming a Champion of the Argent Tournament, and i am rather proud of that. i completed all the starting zone quests in Tirisfal Glades, Durotar, and Mulgore, did a little questing in the Barrens, and ultimately got the rest of the way by turning in about fifteen Perfect Yeti Hides and completing two last quests to kill nagas in the sea off Desolace.

Luinel the Argent Champion
i was already exalted with the Argent Crusade through running heroics with my tabard on, so i put on my Seal of the Dawn on and ran Strat three times, finally acquiring the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire on my last run. i even avoided trash as much as possible, only killing what i agrod and what needed to be killed to get to the Baron... the mount never dropped.

Luinel, Guardian of Cenarius
Once again, i was already exalted with the Cenarion Expedition merely from questing in Zangarmarsh and grinding a bit for the Nethercleft Leg Armor pattern back when i was a leatherworker. i was also already on my way with the Cenarion Circle because i ran AQ20 and AQ40 with Vitality shortly after the merge. To finish this i did a little questing in the area, mainly the quests in Hive'Regal for Combat Badges and killing Twilight Cultists for Encrypted Twilight Text and Twilight Trappings (which enable you to summon an elemental, which drops an Abyssal Crest. i got my rep from honored to exalted in just over two days. It was far easier to grind this rep than i expected.

Luinel the Flame Keeper
i finally completed all of a holiday's achievements: i tried so hard for Hallowed and Love Fool, but alas they simply were not meant to be.

i'm sure that i have at least one more title, but i'm too tired to remember what it is at the moment. As soon as i can log in again i'll see it and be like "duh!" and will update this post to reflect this moment of brain dead ditziness.

HBP

2009-06-07T01:36:00.003-06:00

So we went to see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, which was meh compared to Alias, and i saw a featurette on the new Harry Potter and a preview of it which actually contained some snippets of Harry fighting Malfoy and Snape and some inferi... which look surprisingly like Gollum instead of zombies. i believe that it was Gambon who said that this is the best Potter film yet, and after seeing the preview, i do believe it. Have to laugh about Hermione beating Ron with the book and Ron bemoaning the fact that the girls are going to kill him. i am soooo looking forward to the moments with Ginny, they never feature her enough for my liking, and i am still annoyed that they changed her patronus to a horse (the original phoenix was so much more her, and meaningful because of the events in the Chamber). i simply cannot wait to see it, i will most likely attend the midnight viewing again. It makes me want to work on my Fair Ginny sweater and knit some more house scarves. Yeah, the preview gave me chills, and ironically enough... i don't think that Dumbledore looks ostentatious enough when he's going to see Tom for the first time. Wonder if it's actually different in the film? i hate how they wash all the colors out. ): Argh, i feel like reading the books, too, i don't know that i have the time, and it will only make me more aware of the differences between the book and the movie, but HBP is probably my favorite book of the series now, and OotP was disappointing enough. Only the Dumbledore's Army scenes really made the movie bearable.

Vulcan grieving

2009-06-04T12:19:00.000-06:00

"...Vulcan philosophy acknowledged grief as a valid response to loss. 'I grieve with thee' was an ancient formula which Surak himself had refused to renounce. While Surak had cautioned against succumbing to the debilitating emotional effects of grief, and most especially against the tendency to transform grief into a desire for vengeance and violence, he had nonetheless taught that even the most logical, dispassionate civilization must cherish life and the ties of family and community and must acknowledge and reflect upon the great cost incurred when a life, particularly that of a kinsman, was lost. Otherwise, he had written, that dispassion would become callous self-absorption, nullifying the bonds that enabled individuals to function as part of a greater whole."
~ Star Trek Titan - Over a Torrent Sea, pg. 8-9

Yeah, this is kind of bothered me in the new Star Trek, how Spock was encouraged to take revenge and didn't want to offer the Romulans any help. That's not the Spock that i know and love, the kissing on the transporter pad bothers me far less because i'm used to emotional exchanges happening their on TOS, TNG and Voyager. In many ways, i just feel that Abrams and the rest of TPTB just didn't really... get what Star Trek is about. There were far too many moments where it felt like they were trying to copy Star Wars. Star Trek is so much better than that.

gimme some candy!

2009-05-25T12:23:00.003-06:00

After hearing about this sketch from my aunt and uncle for around a decade, i finally decided to look it up. i must admit: it is funny... though cut off at the end. ):

via videosift.com

As far as the newspaper unicorn... that would totally work these days, all one would need to do is say: "I'm Charlie the Unicorn, and i'm crazy cuz i didn't get any of that candy! Gimme some candy!" Yeah, kinda lame, but come on, it's kinda funny. Shun the non-believer!

bleeping Grey's finale

2009-05-21T00:51:00.001-06:00

i hate that i like this show so much, people call it a stupid soap opera... but i know that's not true. These characters, maybe this season more than ever, have been moving forward. They have extramarital sex, their lives are their careers, but they love each other, they are family. Watching the finale tonight... i just got so irritated with everyone for bad mouthing George during an anonymous guy's surgery, and then... as it turned out... John Doe was George. i was crying and so not ready for that, nothing in the episode prepared me for that twist at the end, even while a part of my mind knew that there was something wrong.

i am so sick of being inundated with the war of the sexes, with homosexuality (but who knew Arizona would be pro-military?), with people being firm and knowing that they're right when all they're doing is hurting themselves and others. i don't know what to do, my life is a mess, all my fighting is getting me nowhere, but i am trying, i am trying not to complain, to have faith, when all i want to do is scream that soul mates and love and happily ever after is a bunch of b.s. because it's never going to happen for me. i thought i had it, and now he's changed, now he just wants to use me for a shoulder to cry on when he's drunk, and i can't help but still love him and i can't not answer the phone and i can't stop praying for him and it just makes me miserable. Not everything in life is about "me," one cannot always put him or herself first.

George O'Malley is my hero.

Lost theories

2009-05-20T22:10:00.002-06:00

First off, spoilers abound; if you haven't seen the finale, read at your own risk.

My mother and sisters (2 and 3) were incredibly upset by Juliet's death. Personally, i saw it coming, and don't actually believe she's dead. Katie and i have been discussing the parallels between her and Desmond when he turned the key. Megan doesn't necessarily believe (as Katie and i do) that Desmond was setting off an atomic bomb when he turned said key, but in both cases the protagonist was forced to go underground and manually cause a flash of light. We already know that Desmond was jumping around in time and needed a constant when he left the Island because he had recently come into contact with radiation. The question is whether Juliet, Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Hurley, Miles, Jin, and Sayid will have their timelines reset or stay where they currently are, in the past. Megan is of the opinion that Miles was right, that their actions were causing the incident, but Katie and i disagree. While the Losties were debating (and having fistfights) about the issue of whether or not the bomb should be deployed, Radzinsky was already causing the Incident. Everything metal was getting sucked into the chasm before the bomb was dropped.

i believe that the Losties will jump forward in time, but their arrival in LA is not necessarily guaranteed (i have always hypothesized that Ben wanted the plane to crash merely because Jack was aboard, however the season finale has revealed that people can only come to the Island if Jacob wishes them to). In any case, Desmond's past will change significantly, the rest of the Losties' lives have the chance to, and it is unclear if Juliet will need to come to the Island at all.

Re: the statue... i was originally under the impression that it looked like a cat from the back (i.e. Bast) but was always rather in love with the theory that it was Tawaret, the Egyptian goddess of fertility. This seemed important when coupled with the fact that women are having trouble bearing children on the Island. There are several things problematic with this, however, as Tawaret is normally only depicted with one ankh, the statue appears to be wearing male garb, and we do not actually know when the statue was destroyed (only that it is sometime after 1845). Apparently the statue has been confirmed by ABC to be said goddess, but this does not explain why in the beginning of the season finale, when the shot of the statue was shown, there were neither breasts nor a pregnant belly/hippo shape visible and the face of the statue appears to be more of the crocodile variety. What now bothers me about Tawaret is that she is sometimes married to Apep, the deification of darkness and chaos (Jacob's nemesis, anyone?).

All of this leads me to believe that the statue is actually Sobek, who is possibly Ra and possibly the embodiment of four gods at once (the ears do appear to be more hippo in nature but also match some depictions of Sobek). What is most interesting (imo) about Sobek is that some see him as evil, some good, and some say that he can repair evils that have been done. In some accounts Sobek created the universe.

Mom, for her part, sees Jacob as an embodiment of Christ, Katie sees the nemesis as Esau, some on Lostpedia seem to think that Jacob is Ra and nemesis is Moses... i would go with Jacob = Christ because of his apparent abilities to make people live forever and raise people from the dead, but i am not sure TPTB are willing to make such a strong statement. i am more likely to think that Nemesis/Esau is Ra than Jacob is. Whatever Jacob's identity is, i believe he is not evil and that he has the power to give life: case in point, when Locke fell, Jacob touched him, seemingly bringing him back to life (it had been said in previous episodes that there was no way Locke could survive that fall, apparently he didn't). Katie also notices that Juliet is the only individual not touched by Jacob in the finale flashbacks; she believes that Jacob was in the chasm with Juliet and brought her back to life (but remained unseen) so that she could set off the bomb.

Lastly, many people on Lostpedia keep referring to the cabin as Jacob's when in the finale (and earlier episodes) this is clearly confirmed not to be the case. In my opinion, the only person that we can say the cabin belongs to is Horace (whose name also has Egyptian connections, because Horus was friends with Sobek) because he built it. Of course the question still remains, who did Locke see in the cabin? All that is clear is that the man had brown eyes and long curly hair. Jacob has blue eyes, as does his nemesis (though the most obvious answer would be that it was the nemesis who was trapped there). At this point, the most likely candidate seems to be Horace himself, as he was trapped in a time loop building the cabin. My guess is that the nemesis was possessing Horace before he inhabited Locke, but this only begs yet more questions (such as was he using Horace's body or a clone as with Locke's).

As ever, i'm sure that i'm forgetting something, and by the time i remember to write it down it will have already been disproven (my statue theories have been stewing for weeks).

observations on finales

2009-05-20T21:03:00.001-06:00

Re: Fringe
~ Somehow, i knew as soon as we saw Walter at the cemetery. Interestingly enough, this means that if Peter gets anyone pregnant, the results could be catastrophic. This is rather like Lyra and Will in His Dark Materials, and frustrating because i'm kind of a Olivia/Peter shipper.

Re: Lost
~ Is Ilana related to Ana Lucia? Didn't she have a sister that was mentioned, but never shown?
~ What plans does pseudo-John have for the Others exactly (as referenced when he told them to rest at the Beach Camp)?
~ Richard said: "...only our leader can request an audience with Jacob and there can only be one leader on the Island at a time..." Katie asks, "Does that mean that Ben is the leader?" This is kind of a blatant giveaway that Locke isn't the leader, which i did not see coming at all. For some reason i was blindfolded regarding "Locke" the entire season, despite the fact that in the past i was fully aware of the menacing music sometimes focused on him during the earlier seasons (causing the viewer to question whether Locke has good intentions).
ETA: Of course this also begs the question: who was the leader of the Hostiles? Richard said it was Ellie, but Ben acted like it was Widmore. Was Ellie the leader first and if so, does she get kicked off the Island, making Widmore the leader?

another excellent review

2009-05-10T23:58:00.001-06:00

This one looks at the science behind Star Trek.

i went to the 7:30 show

2009-05-10T23:24:00.002-06:00

Still haven't gotten to see Wolverine (though i hear it's great), no i went to the movie that is destined to be the #1 show of the weekend: Star Trek. i went to WoW Insider last night and it was hilarious, just about all of the people over there had cleared their weekend for it. Well my sister Katie and i went tonight, after i had babysat while my mom and her sister went to a matinee. She's watched most of Voyager and all of TNG, but she's yet to see any of TOS or the old movies (i must remedy this soon). i was surprised how much she actually knew about TOS and dredged a lot of old memories out of the depths of my mind (i haven't been actively watching any Star Trek in so long, except for occasionally sitting in on my mom's recent Netflix rentals of TNG... i still haven't managed to buy a single movie or season of Star Trek on DVD, though i do have a bunch of overpriced Voyager videos somewhere on the other side of the attic...).

First off, let me just say WOW. i am totally crushing on Zach Quinto, i wouldn't call him my type at all, but his love scenes just get under my skin a little bit. The only thing i can figure is that he's got a young Julian McMahon/Leonard Nimoy thing going on, cuz WOW. This year he has slowly become one of my favorite actors.

Second off, i was trying to avoid spoilers, so the movie totally threw me for a loop. i expected the bad guys to be Klingons, not Romulans from the future sans hair and foreheads (you know the Romulan foreheads had a thing going on in TNG). My biggest issue with this... well i have many. Don't get me wrong, i loved the movie except for the Star Wars animal chase thing that was going on and the fact that it took so long to bring in the theme music, but at this point in Federation history it is my understanding that Starfleet really does not know much of anything about the Romulans (as i recall they had heard of them but never met one face to face--in person or via viewscreen--and no one knew of their cousin genetic relationship with the Vulcans). And there's the big thing about where said Romulans came from because: (spoiler warning)

not only is Kirk's father dead, changing his history, but Vulcan is dead as well, completely changing the historical course of the Alpha Quadrant. This means that characters like Saavik, Tuvok, and other lesser--but no less beloved--Vulcan characters are very likely never to be born. Simply put it changes the entire face of TNG, DS9, and Voyager because all of its characters are likely to be affected like Kirk was in unknown ways (Kirk's father wasn't the only person to die in that conflict, remember the anonymous woman that got sucked into space?). So basically all the TV shows have been erased. It would have been really easy to fix things when the red matter and Romulan ship caused the white nova (what the heck is red matter anyway? i had never heard of it), for it to have caused a reset, or it would have been nice for Kirk and Spock to go forward in time and fix things, but we didn't get that. We get a new universe with the old one most likely so largely changed that it has basically been erased, which is the problem with the new Terminator TV show: they are rewriting history and rendering beloved characters and storylines completely defunct). For instance, this totally erases bringing back Spock in Star Trek III because they can't take him back to Vulcan for that ceremony.

Also, does anyone else find it weird that Vulcan has no colonies already for their people to settle in? They had ALL of their eggs in one basket when they've had warp capability far longer than Humans did? How long is Spock supposed to stay alive and rebuild the Vulcan culture? Is Spock going to find a Vulcan female and do his part or stay with Uhura? Is his intended (T'Pring) dead?

So i guess that's all i have to say about that, i'm still trying to process this, and the movie raised a lot of questions. Winona Ryder as Spock's mom was just wrong. Of course, as soon as i saw the engineer in a red spacesuit... well we all know how that's going to turn out. They took way too long to bring in Scotty, and that little alien: i just kept expecting him to break into dance like an Oompa Loompa. There were a lot of unidentifiable alien races sprinkled throughout this movie, i think there were lots of things in here that were too close to Star Wars for my liking, such as warp looking like hyperspeed and working like jumps in Battlestar Gallactica and Wing Commander. i also don't think that Orion slave women are so liberated this early in the timeline (read Imzadi: the chick in the beginning of that book is strange for her species, and that's like two hundred years later or more).

Incidentally, saw the new Transformers preview, it looks awesome, and the G.I. Joe preview. Once again, Starship Troopers came to mind and how much they royally botched that movie by neglecting to give the grunts the suits they had in the book. It also occurred to me: what movie are they going to make next from an 80's cartoon, Rainbow Brite? Of course, as soon as i said that to Katie, and explained to her what Rainbow Brite was, it occurred to me that the next movie will probably be He-Man, and it's probably already in the works (which is rumored to be the case.

i knew i recognized that voice!!!!

2009-05-09T21:53:00.000-06:00

Still thinking about the Fringe preview, i decided to look up who is playing William Bell: slight spoiler rofl. So yes, i am very familiar with that voice.

Fringe finale next week!

2009-05-09T21:38:00.000-06:00

i finally got to watch this week's Fringe last night and i was really surprised on what the Watcher did. i expected to see him in the opening scene when the camera was turning around chaotically, just as she was about to combust. i also didn't expect the firey death at the end! i think next week we finally bet to meet Belly (or is that Bellie?) if the preview is any indication. The deja vu insights were amazing. It's going to be hard to wait all summer for season 2; i wonder when the dvds are gonna come out.