Veni! Vidi! Disputavi!

R.I.P. Doc Neeson

2014-06-04T09:50:21Z

I just learned that Doc Neeson died today. Some of you may be asking "Who???"

Bernard "Doc" Neeson was lead singer and one of the main songwriters for the Aussie hard rock band The Angels. I was never a huge fan of the band, but they were contemporaries of AC/DC and when SPN sparked a revived interest in "Acca Dacca", I revisited other Aussie bands of the era and ending up using one Angels song for a vid and another for the title of a fic.

So, the death of Doc Neeson has left me a little nostalgic and perhaps aware of the mortality of us all. Not dark, exactly. Just... contemplative. If you know what I mean?

R.I.P. Doc. Buy Bon Scott a drink from all us down here, when ya see him. 'Kay?

Petition to save Almost Human

2014-05-06T08:39:33Z

Apparently the Firefly similarities continued through to their unfortunate but anticipated conclusion and FOX has cancelled this show after messing up the episode order of it's first (apparently only) season.

I loved this show. It wasn't perfect coz no show ever is, people! But there were a lot of clever ideas and the cast had chemistry in spades (and their relationships weren't inconsistent if you actually get to watch the eps in the correct order).

There's already a petition to save the show here. I don't know if it will do any good, but I'm signing it on general principle.

Edit: made a quick & simple icon for Almost Human. Reckon I need a couple more though. What I really want is an animated gif of one of Kennex's looks of disbelief and/or epic facepalm moments. Haven't seen one and my screencapping experiment failed utterly, but the search continues...

Pre-Elementary School? (I don't exactly know how the American school system works)

2014-02-05T06:51:38Z

International film and television career? Stage and TV awards? Whatever. An actor knows that they have truly made it when they get to appear with the Muppets on Sesame Street!

Congrats, Benedict Sherlock!

Er... I mean Benedict Cumberbatch.

Musings on what's series 3's villain might have in store for Sherlock & John

2014-01-05T09:39:28Z

So, maybe from now on my LJ is just going to be short and random theories about the plot directions of shows I'm watching?

Oh well, could be worse.

I really had to get this one sorted out in my head though. I actually woke up last night thinking about it and couldn't get back to sleep - and that's just ridiculous. So, in the interest of a good night's sleep... *snerk*

The Empty Hearse ended with Sherlock saying he didn't know why someone went so far as to drug John and leave him in a bonfire. (And on a technical sidenote, I can't help theorizing that the drug in question was some sort of Hollywood version of a curare derivative, since it appeared to leave him paralysed but not unconscious. And when you think about it, that has to be possibly one of the most terrifying ways to murder someone - real Nightmare Fuel.)

Anyway, that statement by Sherlock really reminded me of the end of A Study in Pink where Sherlock was actually smiling to himself about the mystery of Moriarty - with the similarity reinforced when the scene later cuts to a sinister blue-eyed guy watching a video of Sherlock pulling John from the fire over and over, in a loop.

Moffat & Gatiss have already said in interviews that the main villain of this series will be one Charles Augustus Magnussen who is based on Doyle's character Charles Augustus Milverton in the original stories. This guy was a true expert at blackmail. Indeed, when the Granada series adapted the story The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton they renamed it The Master Blackmailer. And Moffat and/or Gatiss also said that this is the one man that Sherlock hates more than any other, even more than Moriarty.

Well... He's a blackmailer and Sherlock is driven to hate him and he's already taking an obsessive interest in how much Sherlock cares for John Watson. Hmmm.

As a "master" at the art of blackmail, he would have to have realised that there would be absolutely no point in threatening to destroy Sherlock's reputation. As Sherlock said about killing him, "that's so two years ago" and what the resolution to whole Reichenbach Fall incident proved is that a) Sherlock is not afraid to have his reputation totally destroyed for a cause he believes in b) there are very powerful people protecting Sherlock behind the scenes and c) the public are unlikely to believe a smear campaign against Sherlock again after the last one was sensationally debunked (even if there was overwhelming evidence against him, they would remember that they had been taken in by very convincing lies before and tend towards scepticism).

But while a blackmailer couldn’t threaten Sherlock's own reputation, they could still "get to him" by destroying the reputation of someone he cares about.

And yes, of course, that someone would be John Watson.

John Watson, who has a dark side, but is generally a man of great kindness and true integrity. Sherlock would undoubtedly be more concerned for John's reputation as an honourable man than he would care about what anyone thinks of his own morality.

So, the blackmailer thinks he has another target to get to Sherlock through, but Sherlock disappeared for two years and never contacted John and when he returned John publicly rejected Sherlock's overtures of friendship. Presumably Magnussen already had Sherlock and/or John under surveillance and this caused enough doubt that he had to verify for himself how much Sherlock still cared about John's well being. So, the good doctor was kidnapped and threatened with a truly horrifying death so that Magnussen can have a video of Sherlock's reaction to watch over and over again.

And then THAT had me pondering what hidden secret could be used to threaten John's reputation? And again I was taken back to A Study in Pink. If Magnussen somehow found out about a certain amazing feat of marksmanship which killed a certain cabbie and the perpetrator was never found... Oh. My. God...

Wouldn't that be an amazing call back to the beginning of the series?

I think I'd stand up and cheer, if they actually go there.

Supernatural - The One After 909?

2013-12-05T04:02:19Z

Well, these are actually my reactions to 9x09 but a) The One After 909 is a song that I've heard the Beatles sing (might be a cover, think it might be on their Let It Be album) and b) I do have some thoughts about what I'd like to happen next.

But my reactions to 9x09?

Did I not say that the angel claiming to be 'Ezekiel' was another angel instead? Ha! One point to me.

Was that all the "exploring what it is to be human" that Castiel needed? Really? He was only in the picture for 2 and half eps before he got "angelled up" again. I was hoping for a whole season of Human!Cas and maybe for his re-angelification to be made more siginificant somehow. But I suppose I expect too much coz I do remember that I heard that there was supposed to be a "huge rift" between Dean & Sam back in Season 5 and that ended up lasting only 2 or 3 episodes. So, it would make sense that the any important journey for Castiel could not last longer than that in terms of screentime.

But my biggest WTF?!?! OMG, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! is reserved for the end of the ep.

NOT KEVIN!! Not sweet and nerdy, but frequently totally badass little KEVIN!!!

You killed Kevin! Bastards!

Which sort leads me to what I want to happen in The One After 9x09. Like Kenny... and Rory... and God knows how many characters on Supernatural, I'd really like to see Kevin resurrected pretty damn pronto!

Bonus would be if Castiel could sacrifice his newly and fairly cheaply reacquired angelic grace to get Kevin back. Then we could have Kevin back and Cass back to not being superpowered.

Let's face it, we all know that Sam will be back - with yet more fraternal trust issues baggage to deal with. Sam is always going to come back, as will Dean.

But that is far from certain for a character like Kevin and dammit, I was really getting to like him a lot.

So, please, please, PLEASE!!! Is it too early or too late to get "SAVE XYZ CHARACTER" T-shirts printed?

Random SPN related thought

2013-10-23T08:50:07Z

OK, this is what I think about Zeke...

The angel who called himself Ezekiel and convinced Dean to collude with him and get Sam's agreement for Zeke to possess Sam as a vessel... well, I don't think he's the same angel that Castiel knew and vouched for.

He may or may not be a bad angel, but I reckon he's a different angel. That would provide a couple of good reasons why he doesn't want Cas around.

Although Cas hasn't recognised that Sam has a passenger yet, he presumably might and also Zeke might be worried that Dean could confide in Cas. Because Dean obviously feels guilty about the whole shebang and while he's too scared to tell Sam and risk Sam dying because of it, he might (in a moment of weakness) think that Cas would understand his dilemma and be a sympathetic ear.

And if Dean did tell Cas about Zeke's whereabouts, then Cas might question him further and discover that this angel is not the one he remembers fondly as "a good soldier".

It would seem that, Ezekiel or not, this angel doesn't wish harm to Castiel per se, but he also is unwilling to let Castiel's problems put himself at risk.

I think he's an interesting character. I just don't think he's really "Ezekiel".

Poor Cas, though! That last shot of his face when he's told he has to leave was heartbreaking. You know he won't kick up a fuss because he's still guilt-tripping and any suggestion that he might be endangering Dean and Sam would get him going into full on martyr-mode. And that kinda makes it even worse. He didn't hold hand out asking for help, but after suffering all on his ownsome, got rescued by his friends and he seemed so damned happy and grateful. And now to have that rug pulled out from under him... Poor, poor lonely angel boy.

And look at this. First random LJ post for the year. What? It's only October.

Arthur Darvill's Globe performance coming to a cinema near you!

2012-09-23T08:45:22Z

My fellow geeks, there is wonderful news for all of those like me who lamented not being able to travel to the UK to see Arthur Darvill as Mephistopheles in the Globe's production of Dr Faustus last year.

Much as the National Theatre has its NT Live cinema productions, The Globe has announced a season of filmed stage productions to be shown in cinemas around the world. The productions include Dr Faustus and the cinemas include several in Australia, including The Palace in Leichhart (a stone's throw from where one of my sisters lives) as well as several others in Sydney, and Hoyts Belconnen in Canberra (hint hint starrylizard!).

I personally, am planning to see it at The Palace in Leichhart with my sisters on Sunday 4 November. And I also plan to go and see the production of Much Ado About Nothing on either Friday 19 or Sunday 21 October.

I am so SERIOUSLY stoked about this! You don't know (well, some of you do) how much I whinged and whined about not being able to see this stage production!

YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Dinosaurs! On a spaceship!

2012-09-09T04:31:21Z

Hello there! First ever post from iPhone app! Hmm... So let's see if it works ...

No idea how to do lj-cut from this so only the vaguest of spoilers. And once again short and only semi coherent thoughts.

Well after the drama of the last episode, this one was purely for fun. And what fun it was!

Aside from whats in the title (and seriously folks, exactly what it says on the tin!) - Rupert Graves toting a huge weapon! What's not to love?

And I've never been much of a slasher, but what's the bet that kiss hasn't already gone viral? Huh.

And I don't think I've seen the Doctor quite that ruthless since Tennant left!

But overall it was fun, if somewhat gimmicky.

And next ep - Ben Browder! Yay!

Doctor Who 2012 ep 1

2012-09-02T01:20:02Z

Hi. Yes, I'm not dead. Merely... well, run off my feet by Real Life and what not.

I have just watched and utterly loved the new season premiere and my shortish, mildly spoilerish and only vaguely coherent response is...

OSWIN!!! Now? WTF?!? How cool! OMFG!!! WTF?!? Nooooooooooo!!! WTF?!? Damn you Moffat! Your really are the British Whedon! But seriously W! T! F! ?????

And by the way Nina...er, I mean... Rory still utterly rocks!

And that is all for now.

Armageddon once again - Melbourne October 2011

2011-11-06T23:43:45Z

I didn't ever get time to write up any text, but Cuddles and K9 did meet some interesting people who reacted to meeting the spider and the dog in a variety of interesting ways...

I love cover versions!

2011-09-07T03:36:40Z

I really do! I really love hearing and seeing and reading something I'm familiar with re-delivered in a different style. It's a large part of why I love really well done AU and crossover fics.

And via doctorwho I just found this wonderful "cover version". It's basically the 7th Doctor's cover of the 11th's speech at Stonehenge from The Pandorica Opens

And now I really want this to start a trend of people getting the various ex-Doctors to cover each other's speeches. That would be so cool.

Edit: Same video, but longer and better quality. And features some great comments and answers by Sylvester McCoy.

Comments disabled on this entry coz I've got a ridulous amount of spam here recently

Just when I thought Rory Williams couldn't get more awesome than he already was...

2011-08-22T01:14:29Z

They've released new clips from the upcoming episode Let's kill Hitler and both are intriguing and kind of cool.

But it's the second one, which features Rory and Amy facing what seems to be a new monster from the show, that has me wanting to squee out loud like the fangirl I am despite being at work right now (yes, random work avoidance - it is Monday morning after all).

Yes, it is a clip from the episode, but the spoilers are very minor. New "alien menace". The usual husband-and-wife banter from the Ponds. And Rory being just flat out adorable.

Well worth any minor spoilage. Trust me.

Oh, way to build the anticipation! The other clip has the Doctor being his usual adorkable self too. So, everyone seems to be in fine form.

God, it's only Monday! I've got to wait all week for the rest of this.

One Night in Chaweng (and a week in Thailand overall)

2011-07-20T12:18:55Z

Again the travelogue doesn't get posted until I've been back home for a week. Ha! Promptness is never going to be strong point with me.

To be completely honest, this trip was more about spending time with family than seeing sights and I don't post photos of family and friends (other than Cuddles the Spider, of course) here on LJ. So, although Thailand is undeniably beautiful, perhaps not so many pics to see this time.

When we all met up last Christmas, my family hatched the plan to meet up for a holiday overseas at some time during the year. As I'm one of six siblings (most of whom have partners and/or children) and Mum has her own timetable to consider, this is a logistic nightmare. But, despite this 5 of the 6 plus Mum managed to meet up in Thailand for a week. I can take absolutely NO credit for this organisation. Others organised it and just said "yeah, okay" and applied for the leave from work.

Due to work commitments and a couple of other issues, I arrived in Thailand a day later than the rest and met them on the island of Koh Samui which is in the Gulf of Thailand, about halfway from Bangkok to the Malaysian border. For the first few days we stayed at the Shasa Hotel which in the Southern end of the island and we spent the time walking on beaches, visiting street markets and splashing about in the hotel pool with the kids.

(The arm that Cuddles is sitting on is mine. The photo was taken by my niece, Charlotte. She's six.)

There was also the local butterfly sanctuary.

(The photo doesn't really give you an idea of the size of this butterfly. I think it was bigger than my hand.)

Nice view from the top of the sanctuary grounds.

And later we saw some of Koh Samui's waterfalls. (Keep in mind for comparison later.)

The we caught a ferry to Koh Pha-Ngan which is another island just North of Koh Samui which is about the same land mass, but seems more rural and has some awesome beaches where you can swim amongst the coral.

We went snorkeling off one beach, but since I don't have an underwater camera, I can't do it justice.

See, it's pretty enough. And it has a very nice bar/restaurant.

But... yeah.

To be honest, the coral itself isn't very colourful and hence doesn't really compare to the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland (where I went snorkeling at when I was 12), but the fish amongst the coral were truly spectacular and you could swim amongst them really easily. It was very, very cool.

Later we went to see some waterfalls, but the weather had been really good in the few days since we'd left Koh Samui. And no rain seems to have very rapid effect on waterfalls on these islands because this is what one of the premier waterfalls on Koh Pha-Ngan looked like when we saw it.

Yeah, there's a little trickle there, if you look very, very closely. But not exactly spectacular, no. Ah, well.

The hotel we stayed at was called Sunset Cove. And very well named it was.

The cabins we stayed in were rustic, but fairly comfy. And we spent a lot of time around the pool again.

And we took full advantage of the fact that they gave away free bananas!

What?

After the Queensland floods last summer, the price of bananas in Australia has been absolutely ridiculous (okay, I was tempted to say the price was absolutely bananas, but apparently there are puns so lame that even I wouldn't... except I kinda have now... oh, well).

The bananas, and pretty much all the other fruits we had in Thailand, were totally delicious too.

Anyways. To wrap this entry up...

We caught the ferry back to Koh Samui.

Where we stayed in the largest town, Chaweng, for one night only (hence the title of this post).

More pools, beach, shops, restaurants and a free massage thrown in. But no photos. Sorry.

And now back home again and back into the work routine (which wasted no time at all in getting back to insane levels).

Still got things to look forward to on the horizon. Friends visiting from overseas soon. And it looks like I will score another conference in North America in November.

Life ain't too bad, all in all.

Doctor Who: What I THINK will happen, what I DON'T think will happen and what I HOPE will happen

2011-06-25T10:21:34Z

So, last night, I spent about an hour or so chatting to mcalex22 about what's been happening to us lately, the travelling we've both got planned for next month, why the last season of Supernatural rekindled her interest in the show but lost mine and, towards the end, some of the reasons why we are both approaching the second half of this year's Doctor Who with a combination of fierce anticipation and intense worry about one of our favourite characters. And at the end of the conversation (with the connection getting a bit dodgy), I wasn't sure if I had made what I was trying to say clear and I kind of decided that I really wanted to make it clear in my own mind at least. So, here I am about to embark on one of those "talky" analytical fannish posts that I haven't succumbed to for a while.

I don't tend to mix with mainstream fandom for any show much these days, but I'm aware of quite a few of the theories and rumours that are flitting about in Doctor Who fandom. I do read reviews and articles. I'm not interested in genuine spoilers, but like many others, I take information from what's depicted on screen and what I know the actors and writers to be doing in Real Life and use that information to deduce future twists and turns. Therefore what follows is NOT genuinely spoilerly (since I don't actually know any hard concrete "facts" about what's to come), unless you haven't seen the latest episodes of the show, up to and including A Good Man Goes To War. It's just my theories combined with my fervent wishes for a happy (or at least bittersweet) future for one of my all time favourite TARDIS travellers.

(And BTW, I have spent far too much time hanging around TV Tropes & Idioms recently. So, if I lapse into jargon that you aren't familiar with, it probably comes from there.)

I don't think that Steven Moffat is an infallible God of Television [TM]. I never have. But he is undoubtedly my favourite writer of the new series, and possibly even supplants both the late, great Robert Holmes and Douglas Adams who wrote some of the most fondly remembered DW scripts from my childhood, as my favourite Doctor Who writer of all time.

And I think that a large part of that is because what is important to me about storytelling, in general, and Doctor Who, in particular, seems to be fairly important to him. I don't care if the paradoxes that his plots hinge on are flat out impossible (hello??? Do we all know what a paradox is???), but it's very important to me that the series continuity makes sense within the series own internal logic. So, if pink elephants can fly in the Moffat's DW-verse, then they can always fly - except when they can't and then an explanation must be provided, even a tokenistic one. And Moffat screws up with this occasionally since he's only human, but for the most part, he seems to at least CARE about continuity and the internal logic of the series and that gets him points from me.

I also think that Moffat has got a sense of what I call "narrative karma", by which I mean that if a character continually suffers, they either are atoning for something or are going to eventually be rewarded for their stoicism. He seems to be big on what TV Tropes calls Earn Your Happy Ending.

But in a way that I totally respect, he loves to taunt and play with his audience. For instance, I knew and never for a second doubted that Amy Pond's baby was fathered by her husband, Rory, because I just knew that was how Moffat would play it, but I also enjoyed the way he threw around ambiguities that maybe the Doctor might have been the father. I also calmly breezed through the ambiguous "It's you I love, not him" stuff in Day of the Moon because I am completely certain that Moffat doesn't ship Amy with the Doctor, but he'll mercilessly tease and taunt with it. Magnificent Bastard.

So, yeah. Amy/Rory is Moffat's endgame. No question. But will it be a happy ending? I think it will be - or at least a bittersweet ending. Some think we (and by that I mean those of us who love a certain nurse-turned-iconic-centurion) are heading for a Great Tragedy, but I remain cautiously optimistic. And I do have my reasons.

Okay, lets get down to the nitty-gritty. Steven Moffat loves to foreshadow and leave little clues lying in plain sight - little tidbits that seem to be trifles, but are later revealed to be of huge significance (let us never forget that the man is also a Sherlock Holmes fanboy par excellence). And hence many of us cling fast to certain scenes and small bits of dialogue and analyse them ad nauseum. Some theories are so pervasive that fandom (and the media) state them as fact - until Moffat and his writing crew pull the rug out from under them and they go back and analyse things to realise that it wasn't categorically stated in the first place. So, let's start with some of these "facts" that I don't think are going to turn out to be true (although, I could be wrong, of course).

Three things that I think really WON'T turn out to be true:

1) River (aka the little girl) is the one in the spacesuit who shot the Doctor in the season opener: Not going to happen like that. Nuh-uh. No way. C'mon, there's a reason that the spacesuit visor hid the identity of who the shooter was and we've been shown the little girl in a spacesuit, so there's no way it can be her. It's Moffat at the helm, so you've got to think a little outside the box. The Doctor greets whomever it is with familiarity and understanding. It's someone he knows and seems to have some affection for. My money is on Amy, Rory or the Doctor himself. Outside bet? Miranda Cleaves. But I'll get to that in a moment. Oh, what the heck, let's deal with it now.

2) We've seen the last of the Flesh Ganger of the Doctor (and possibly Foreman Cleaves): Both the original Doctor and the Ganger version made a point of saying "This might not be the end" when the latter was preparing to sacrifice himself and Ganger Cleaves at the end of The Almost People. That has got to mean something. The most obvious thing that it could mean is that the Ganger Doctor will "turn up to nick all your biscuits" and because I like Miranda Cleaves, I hope she comes back too. And that leads me on to the next "not gonna happen".

3) The one who was shot dead and subsequently cremated on the beach was a future version of the Doctor: The Doctor categorically dies at the end of his Eleventh incarnation? Goodbye, Farewell and Amen? Does anyone seriously believe that's going to stand? Of course not. Now some might suspect that Moffat will once again pull something wibbley-wobbley and timey-wimey out of his ~~arse~~ hat because he does seem to love doing that, but I think not this time. I do suspect that there will be Gangers involved. They've already shown that it's a potentially recurring plot device and, as stated above, I don't think the Ganger Doctor is gone for good. Some may think it too obvious or that the idea was nullified in The Almost People, but no, I'm pretty sure they left that loophole wide gapingly open. So maybe the Doctor left instructions for the body to be burned not because he feared Time Lord DNA being used for nefarious purposes (which is apparently a valid concern), but because he knew the body of the Ganger had achieved enough stability not to dissolve when it was killed, but wouldn't stand up to further scrutiny and he wants the universe to think him dead for a while. And if that's the case, then the other/real/original Doctor actually becomes the most likely candidate to be the one in the spacesuit.

Alright. Now let's get to all that foreshadowing that has left those of us who flat out ADORE Rory Williams more than a little bit antsy.

"A Good Man"

Moffat has been toying with us using this phrase for over a year now, but hey, what's that to a man who apparently waited over 15 years to put an idea he publicly posted when he was "just a fanboy" into an official Doctor Who script?

Let's go back to the end of Flesh and Stone. Octavian has told the Doctor that River was imprisoned in the Storm Cage prison because she killed "a good man, a hero to many". When the Doctor presses to know who that is, Octavian tells him that he really doesn't want to know. When the Doctor asks River if it's true, she acknowledges that it is and even says that the man she killed was "the best man I've ever known". And given the way River's relationship with the Doctor had been portrayed up until that point, the natural assumption was that man was the Doctor.

Then came the revelations of A Good Man Goes to War. Rory Williams is River's father and all that has been said and done before has to be put in that context.

In retrospect, there is more than a little evidence that River might have a little hero worship for her dad - when she could remember him, anyway. The most recent, was their earlier meeting in that episode itself. River jokes that she's been sending memos to the Storm Cage prison guards that they should dress up in Roman uniforms. (And why should she have that predilection? Hmmm.) And when she sees it's Rory and when he asks if she knows him - well, her eyes are full of fondness and regret. Is that just because she knows that she will have to refuse his request for her to go to Demon's Run? I think not.

Back in The Impossible Astronaut, River says that she has a far worse day coming than that of her death or the Doctor's. Rory quizzes her on it and she speaks of the day when the Doctor will meet her and won't know who she is. In retrospect, that more than likely is NOT full disclosure from River Song. I know I'm not the only one who suspects that the far worse day that she has coming (although it may have already come and gone from her own personal point of view) is the day that she kills the best man she has ever known. And the man that she is then talking to is her father.

And Octavian had already told the Doctor that he didn't want to know who the good man that River killed was. The Doctor is definitely the kind of guy who would regret the death of one of his best friends more than his own death.

And quite frankly, Moffat has been beating us over the head with the similarities between the Doctor and Rory for ages. There was, of course, Rory not being able to tell which of them Amy was talking about in Day of the Moon and Amy's speech to her daughter at the beginning of A Good Man Goes to War was some of the most blatant lampshade hanging ever. The Doctor and Rory are Amy's boys. They are both her Good Men.

So, yes. The Big Misdirect, the twist that many will see coming could be that the Good Man that is killed by River Song, the Best Man That She Has Ever Known will be her father Rory ("The Last Centurion" and a hero to many) Williams.

Yes. I do believe that could be the case.

On the Real World side of things, Arthur Darvill is currently getting on with his career beyond Doctor Who, playing one of the lead roles in the Globe's production of Doctor Faustus (I've said it before and I'll say it again - Dear GOD! I wish I could see that!). One newspaper reporter apparently caught him talking about his DW character in the past tense and when he called the actor on it, Darvill clammed up. Significant? Possibly.

Maybe even probably, because to be quite honest, I don't see where Rory's story arc could believably go after the current season.

Or Amy's either.

I do not think that Steven Moffat plans to break up the Pond-Williams duo. I actually think he intends to make it go beyond Till Death Do Us Part (because let's face it, Rory has died almost as often as Kenny from South Park or the Winchester brothers). Moffat does not ship main companions with the Doctor. That's not his signature style. But I'm pretty convinced that he does ship Rory/Amy. I think that this series will end with Amy leaving the TARDIS too.

So...

I'm bracing myself for the moment where River Song kills her father (by accident or mistake or because she's forced to or whatever) in a season climactic tearjerker.

But...

Steven Moffat is also the guy whose responsible for the immortal line "Everybody Lives!" It's another of his recurring themes. Firstly, in The Doctor Dances which is possibly my favourite moment in all of Christopher Eccleston's tenure. Again, with River Song's cyberspace afterlife in The Library (she even quotes it in her voiceover). Even though he didn't write the episode, he is apparently the one who convinced Russell T Davies not to kill off Jenny after all at the end of The Doctor's Daughter. And he's brought back Rory numerous times, including back from being Deader Than Dead and erased from all reality and most people's memory.

So, now we get to...

What I really HOPE will happen

Rory comes back from the dead one FINAL time. Yes, killed again and even though it's becoming a running gag, Rory gets brought back one more time. But this time the circumstances have to be really special.

As I said before, Moffat seems to be big on the heroes earning their happy endings. They get happiness in the end, but they are put through the wringer before they get there.

I think that Rory will die, killed by his daughter who will regret it so much that she willingly stays in the Cardboard Prison of the Storm Cage (she obviously can break out whenever she wants to) because she "made a promise" (said that to the Doctor at the end of Day of the Moon) and wants to atone.

But I HOPE that he will be revived to SOME FORM of life (I do remember River's imprint getting housed in The Library) - and I really hope that the way he does so involves some sort of sacrifice on Amy's part. As I said, I'm a firm believer in "narrative karma" and Rory has so earned a happy ending. He's always been the one who gives up something and/or performs acts of devotion for Amy. 2000 years of guarding a box without even the "luxury" of sleep!

The karma must be balanced (IMHO) and Amy must make a sacrifice for him. And that could be the way she leaves the TARDIS.

Steven Moffat is fond of the "sci-fi fairytale" approach, so I'm sure that he can come up with some sort of plot device (however fantastical) that involves Rory getting some sort of continued existence, but only if Amy gives up her chance at further adventures in Space and Time. Some sharing of Life Force that mean they can't be exposed to the Time Vortex. Possibly even something involving the wiping of memories, although I'd prefer they didn't go that route because it was already done with Donna Noble.

Something that I'd really, really like? Remember back to The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood where Amy and Rory saw future versions of themselves waving from over the hill? What if that's them trying to keep what little contact they can with the Doctor (and it would be awesome if they could also do it for their time-travelling daughter) because they are now bound to Earth in the 21st century, but they didn't leave the Doctor because they wanted to? What if to bring Rory back one last time, Amy has to return to Leadworth (and her family!) never to time-travel again?

I would hope that they would continue with their lives - but still be "nostalgic" about their TARDIS days. Maybe they might have some more kids without the Time Lord gene splicing, but hey that's just my preference for them and Moffat might want to have River kept "special" by being an only child.

So, yeah. That's what I think, hope and want. And if the Moff doesn't give it to me, I just might retcon it in my head.

But I remain cautiously optimistic, at this stage.

Move aside Chuck Norris, Rory Williams is the baddest BAMF in this or any other reality!

2011-06-23T02:05:29Z

I have no idea who made this since I found it on one of those random internet searches that one does when one wants to avoid working.

But it's beyond awesome. Not only is it a hysterically funny variation on that Chuck Norris thingy, but also, in Whoniverse context, many of the statements it makes about Rory are actually true!

So, where was I? Oh yeah, that's right... Barcelona

2011-06-11T11:59:13Z

Bonus points if you identify the quote in the title! Hint: *points at icon*

Okay, not that the points are worth anything anyway. And unlike DWX, I am talking about the city, and not some planet where the dogs may or may not have noses. But yeah, Barcelona. I'd heard that it was a cool city, but never really had the burning desire to go there. But on my last visit to the UK, Jane, an old friend (from my uni days) whom I was visiting said "Next time you're over here, we are going to Barcelona!" and I agreed.

Now, of course, I'm wondering why on Earth I didn't go sooner coz the 5 days we spent there weren't nearly enough.

So, I arrived in Barcelona midmorning on a Saturday, after having almost missed my flight (I can admit it now, so long after the fact) out of London City Airport due to misreading the timetable for the DLR. Still, much quicker than trying to get to Heathrow!

I met up with Jane at Barcelona Airport and we caught a taxi to our hotel which was right by the waterfront, not far from the Diagonal Mar, arriving about lunchtime. And to be honest, we decided to take it easy on the first day. This was a holiday, after all. You're supposed to relax. Just a little walk to go get some lunch maybe...

And we ended up walking all the way to the Arc de Triomf (about an hour away) and had lunch at a street market that was there (actually there was a disarmament protest too, but to my shame, I can't remember exactly what the issue was).

Then on to Placa de Catalunya (another 15 mins or so). Yeah, so we did end up do a bit more walking than we originally intended, but we did wimp out and catch a taxi back.

After indulging in that fine Spanish tradition of taking a siesta which help cope with the jetlag (hey, it wasn't as bad as travelling from Oz, but still a time difference to deal with), we decided to have dinner at the hotel. I was a little apprehensive at the total lack of any other patrons at the restaurant, until I realised that, in Barcelona, if you have dinner before 9pm, you are definitely part of the "early crowd". We took our time over dinner and found that the restaurant started filling up around 10pm.

The next day, we started "touristing" in earnest, and I got my first look at the architecture of Antoni Gaudi. Believe it or not, when I arrived in the city, I'd never heard of the man, but now he's just about my favourite architect ever! Seriously.

The hop-on-hop-off tourist bus is such a good deal (especially if you get the two-day ticket) that we got tickets for all 4 remaining days. It took us to all the places we wanted to go and we got also got a drive-by audio tour of a lot of places. You also get coupons for discounts at various tourist sites.

And our first stop was the Gaudi-designed Casa Mila aka La Pedrera. Cuddles and I stared in wonder.

I love the curves and arches. I love the mosaics. I love the shameless use of colour.

(Actually, I have to admit that it crossed my mind that the similarity between the words "Gaudi" and "gaudy" might not be coincidental and that his work was derided as such by the unappreciative, maybe even where the term "gaudy" was derived - but no, it's apparently just a coincidence.)

Also, my 3-year-old nephew is hugely into Batman and so seeing this in the giftshop totally cracked me up.

But La Pedrera was only the beginning of my introduction to Gaudi that day. We then walked just a short way down the street to Casa Batllo. And while La Pedrera impressed me with it unconventional arches, mosaics, twisted wrought iron and wonderful use of space and light, stepping into Casa Batllo is a bit like stepping into something out of a Jules Verne novel - probably 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Gaudi apparently aimed to mimic the patterns of nature and often, more specifically, forms of water. The results are spectacular.

More wonderful, colourful mosaics. (Really, I couldn't get too much of these.)

And I thought the roof of La Pedrera was cool, but Casa Batllo is probably even more so.

Yes, Senyor Gaudi already had me won over in less than a day, but there was still more to come.

The next day we debated on whether or not to see his "unfinished masterpiece" the Sagrada Familia (or to give it its full name the Basilica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia) and sitting on the bus and seeing the line stretched around the corner we figured that "tomorrow was another day" and we carried on to Parc Guell. The irony would come back to bite us about 24 hours later.

Not that the decision to see Parc Guell in the sunshine wasn't a good one. Yet another place that wears the wonderful influence of Senyor Gaudi extremely well. And yes, more colourful mosaics, but the dragon in this park is perhaps my absolute favourite.

The park was apparently considered to be a "failure" in Gaudi's own lifetime. It was supposed to be divided into classy allotments and only a few were bought - or something like that. But failure back then has meant that the city of Barcelona today has a magnificent garden open to the public. Staircases and statues and concourses and a small museum.

We also took the rest of the journey on the tour bus, past the Olympic sites and Port and University.

And on the Tuesday, we decided to brave the crowds at the Sagrada Familia. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men...

So, we're in the queue that virtually encircles the block where the church is. I kid you not, from where we joined the queue, you could turn around and see the entrance behind you. But the queue did move amazingly quickly and we were more than half, but less than three quarters of the way there when we realised there really were quite a few more police around than you would expect. And was that more fire trucks arriving? And an ambulance? And could that be smoke? And suddenly the queue is moving unbelievably fast - because it's actually being dispersed. The news filters around that church is being closed for the day because someone tried to set fire to it. I kid you not!

Well, at least we got a few photos of the exterior while we were queuing outside.

But it was pretty obvious that we weren't going to get to see inside on that day, so we walked back into town. Wandered past some markets and we did briefly consider going in to see the Cathedral but the crowd outside was a bit discouraging (this was the week before Easter and now with the other major tourist attracting church in town closed for the day...) So we went shopping instead. I've now got a very nice Spanish leather jacket.

So, we were fiercely determined to see the Sagrada Familia the next day (our final chance as we were flying back to the UK that evening). And yes, there were no further arson attempts. And yes, even though we went early there were crowds (we weren't the only ones disappointed the day before). But we made it and it was so, so worth it. That place is gorgeous, inside and out. It's still being built, despite having been started at the turn of the previous century, and won't be finished for another 15 years or so. Hugely ornate with a mixture of older styles and more modern. Fantastic uses of colour and light. Amazing views from the tower and cool stuff in the crypt museum.

This church has been and is being built over the course of more than a century and is Antoni Gaudi's last, great, unfinished work, so obviously he's not the only architect that I'm gushing over here. Gaudi designs mixed with those of more modern architects and the whole thing fits together wonderfully well IMHO.

I don't pretend to be an architecture aficionado, you know what many people say about art - I know what I like. And in addition the Gaudi buildings, there was one particular piece of modern architecture that caught my eye.

This is Torre Agbar. Remind anyone of any buildings in London?

Very much a Spanish very of the "Gherkin", if you ask me (and yes, I'm not the only one whose noticed). I just couldn't resist taking a photo or two.

So, both Jane and flew back to the UK on the Wednesday. She had a flight to Manchester (since she lives and works in Lancashire) and I flew back to London for the second conference. Thus ending my first, but hopefully not my last visit to Barcelona.

Been back home in Oz for a month now and to any Catalan speakers who may stumble across this, I apologise for any butchery of the language on my part. I actually love the words and phrases that I encountered in Barcelona, but I don't pretend for a second that I'm any good at speaking and/or writing the language.

And tomorrow I'm helping to host a 6-year-old's birthday party. So, I'm going to grab an early night's sleep.

See ya!

Roranicus Pondicus - BAMF and Jedi Knight!

2011-05-29T06:12:00Z

Was very disappointed that there wasn't a "next week" trailer at the end of this week's episode (The Almost People).

But it looks like the BBC have put one up at YouTube and OMFG!!!!!

A Good Man Goes to War indeed!

I am simultaneously excited, scared, impressed, impatient and just a bit amused.

And if this is the cliffhanger for the ep BEFORE the mid-season finale, how much more "edge of your seat" is NEXT WEEK'S cliffhanger going to be?

Steven Moffat you are an evil, EVIL genius!

*wibble*

London - Old Friends, Old Haunts and the 3 Faces of Victor

2011-05-25T14:11:51Z

Oh, and apparently some people called Will and Kate got married.

It was actually a day or two after that wedding that I headed home, after having been in London (and Barcelona) for about 3 weeks. So yeah, now I've been back home for a while (not as long as I was gone, but getting close). Real Life swings back into gear and it's so hard to get the travel pics up and posted...

Officially, I was in London for two work conferences which were separated by just over a week which included Easter. So no point in heading all the way back to Australia in between, of course, but I did make a sidetrip to Barcelona for a few days just before Easter with an old friend from my uni days. Barcelona is a city that I've never been to before and quite amazing. 5 days is far too short a time to spend there and I'm going to post those pics in a separate entry (hopefully soon).

But I met up with friends in London too and the city of London itself has become sort of like an old friend to me: comfortable and familiar, making me feel welcome and at home. These days, when I visit, there's less rush and impatience to see everything and anything that I can. Instead, I can take the opportunity to revisit some old favourites, as well as finding a few new ones. And the theatre... There's always the theatre.

And THE theatre production to see in London this year (so far) was the National Theatre's production of Frankenstein, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller, and I eventually got to see it three times - and each time a different version. Yes, that's right THREE different versions.

One of the old friends that I met up with in London was Jan from Ottawa, a real theatre buff who scored us both tickets to a Sunday matinee with Cumberbatch as the creature and a Wednesday night with him as Victor. It was a bit pricey, but well worth it.

Cuddles outside Olivier theatre after the Sunday matinee

But on the Wednesday, we turned up to find an announcement that Benedict Cumberbatch was "indisposed" (turns out that he'd lost his voice) and therefore the role of Victor would be played by understudy Daniel Ings. I tried not to be too disappointed. Daniel Ings did a fine job stepping into the role (to tell truth, I liked his version slightly better than Johnny Lee Miller's). And I was on some level pleased to see Mr Cumberbatch looking after his health (this is the man who ignored a "cold" that turned out to be pneumonia while filming Sherlock). And hey, we'd already GOT two sets of tickets. The play (including additional performances added after Easter) was sold out incredibly quickly and I knew that people were queuing up outside the NT box office for day tickets from midnight or earlier each night before.

But... turns out that I really REALLY did want to see him play Victor too. So, even though I wasn't prepared to camp out overnight, I got up at 4.30am on a day there was both a matinee and evening performance and made it to the queue outside the box office at around 5.30 (literally within 8 hours after I got off a plane from Barcelona, but hey, did I mention that I really wanted to see this). I had to wait for the Tube station to open, even!

Cuddles and I made some friends in the queue outside, which was really quite impressive by the time the doors eventually opened.

Even Jan, the theatre buff, laughed and shook her head at my mad plan. She laughed in a completely different way when I scored us both front row tickets for the matinee.

So, so, SO worth it! Okay, a couple of times our view was obscured a bit, but at others we literally with arms reach of the actors. We both semi-ducked when Johnny Lee Miller came barrelling across the stage at one point. Of course we knew that he had enough control over the action and wasn't going to land in Jan's lap. But she latter admitted that she was half-hoping... ;-)

I really was trying to be not too much of a Cumberbatch fangirl about the whole thing, but I did prefer his performances in both roles. His child-like movements when the Creature was learning to walk reminded me so much of my niece who was at exactly that stage when I left for the UK. I got the humorous nuances that he put on the Creature's dialogue more readily. And I do think his Victor was evidently superior to the other two. He managed to make Victor's arrogance and selfish blindness to his creation's perspective seem like a very human failing. It wasn't really a case of me excusing his version of Victor more readily, but he did make is possible for me to understand where Victor was coming from. Did I mention, queuing up a 5.30 in the morning was so worth it?

I hope so very much that the NT realise what a goldmine they have here and release the filmed versions on DVD. I didn't manage to see any of the cinematic versions because they were screening in the UK when I was in Oz and vice versa, but I've heard nothing but great things about them - interesting camera angles and editing, and it goes without saying that the performances would be terrific. I so want a copy to be able to rewatch umpteen times at my leisure.

Anyways, talking about all three Frankenstein performances means that I've skipped ahead a bit.

Jan and I both arrived in London early in the morning of Saturday 9th April, although I probably have some justification in claiming a more severe case of jetlag, since she came from Canada while I came from Australia. We both went to see a concert by jazz guitarist Peter White in Soho that evening. Although, Jan is a bigger jazz fan, I also enjoyed it a lot and I didn't actually fall asleep (no matter what Jan says), but the combination of jet lag and very mellow music is kind of deadly.

And the next day was the day we saw Frankenstein for the first time. Even before that matinee performance, we took a London walking tour, beachcombing along the Thames riverbank. The tour took us over Southwark Bridge and along the South bank, before we played at being archeologists on the shoreline. Animal bones, 20th century pottery, pieces of clay pipes and the occasional pieces of Tudor roof tiles - probably totally insignificant to true archeologists, but fascinating to the likes of me.

Had to rush a bit to change and catch the matinee, but well worth it.

Then, for me, it was a week of actually working. No, really, I do work during these trips. Did see Frankenstein again on the Wednesday night, as I said, and did a little shopping on other evenings, but spent most of the week working.

And then in the early hours of the Saturday morning, I caught a plane to Barcelona. My first trip to that fascinating city. Five days was not nearly long enough, but I'll post another picspam for that later (soon, I hope).

After I got back, I did the aforementioned early morning camp out in the queue for Frankenstein, but it's also worth mentioning that when Jan and went to see it, the South Bank in that area had been set up as a mock "seaside resort" - complete with sand (which is something that often ISN'T found on English beaches, in my experience).

Also, we couldn't ignore the nearby "Sherlockian" graffiti.

But more about Sherlock in a moment...

That evening (Thursday) starrylizard arrived, and the next day (after she had forgiven us for seeing an extra performance of Frankenstein without her) we all took a quick tour of some of the Holmesian sites in London as well as other things...

I believe it was starrylizard's first trip to London, so we really had to kick things off with something iconic...

Did I mention that it was Good Friday? Some people felt that the occasion should be commemorated...

...although they didn't nail him up afterwards (at least, I hope they didn't).

But then, yes, we decided to visit "the world's most famous address", even if its famous occupants were fictional.

Dr Watson was even there to greet us.

Also Prof Moriarty

And Cuddles came face to face with the famous Hound

After that we just couldn't not swing by North Gower Street which could be considered the "Great Pretender" to the aforementioned famous address.

Jan is quite the information mine for TV filming venues in London. So, we also took a peak at:
The campus used in Silent Witness

And the double for MI5 HQ in Spooks

At RADA, Cuddles indulged his delusions that he was Gielgud or something

But there were still others yet to join our party. Next to arrive was lizmc1212

That Saturday we all went to see/do the London version of Accomplice (the LA version of which Jan and I had done previously).

It kicked off at the Tate Modern, so beforehand, I FINALLY (after 2 years!) got to see the Tate's collection of Rothko paintings.

(Not a big deal to most people, I know, but 2 years ago I saw an art doco about them just before a trip to London and had been keen to see them. And not only were they on loan to a gallery in Japan at that time, but last year when I revisited, they had been returned to the Tate but were still in storage!)

Anyways, don't want to say too much about Accomplice because it would spoil it for others who might want to participate in it later - and that would be a shame. Suffice it to say that the people performing it are cool!

And its HQ is the Chocolate Factory Theatre.

We walked home via Tower Bridge, so here's a pic of the Tower of London and the "Gherkin"

Make a mental note of what the Gherkin looks like coz it will be pertinent to a later post about Barcelona ;-)

Even on quiet, lazy (Easter) Sundays, there are still pubs to visit (certainly when lizmc1212 is around) and we managed to sample two in Chiswick

And on the way, we found a phone box "disguised" as..., well, as another kind of phone box ;-)

On Easter Monday, we went to Greenwich which is always a nifty and picturesque place to visit IMHO, although when we went to the Naval Museum this time, the famous Nelson coat was away being cleaned.

And I still get a kick out of visiting the Prime Meridian line

That evening, Jan, starrylizard and I went to see Flare Path at the Haymarket Theatre. I liked it. James Purefoy and Joe Armstrong were in it and I particularly liked Joe Armstrong's character.

I'd been to the Tate Modern several times on previous trips, but I'd never been to the Tate Britain before. Rectified that on the Tuesday.

I've long a had a fondness for JMW Turner (much to tipper_green's amusement) and the Tate Britain has a fantastic collection. Also quite a few by William Blake which I also found interesting.

Then I had another conference to go on the Wednesday and Thursday, although I did skip out a little bit early on the Thursday afternoon to meet up with lizmc1212 and starrylizard for more pubs and more Holmesian connections. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was apparently Arthur Conan Doyle's favourite watering hole. It's also just a really nifty old pub.

After which, starrylizard and I toddled off the see All's Well that Ends Well at the Globe. I always enjoy seeing plays at the Globe. Even if it's not my favourite play, just the setting and atmosphere is a cool experience. And I have to admit that I'm just a bit disappointed that I can't con my work into sending me to another London conference later in June, July or August when apparently Arthur Darvill will be playing Mephistopheles in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (I probably wouldn't trade it for seeing Cumberbatch in Frankenstein, but still...)

Oh yes, and then there was THAT wedding... I must admit that I'm not the most ardent Royalist around. I mean, I wish them well and all, and it's always nice to have an excuse to break out the champagne. So... yeah.

hhhatholder and Michelle came down from Liverpool for the long weekend and helped us get into the proper spirit of the thing. And, of course hhhatholder brought Susie Spider. So along with Robbie Raccoon who came with lizmc1212 and Rattus who was adopted by starrylizard when she visited the Globe, Frankie the Muppet who stowed away in my luggage but didn't manage to get out and about much, and two daleks who apparently gatecrashed, we had a little "champagne brunch" while watching the ceremony on TV.

Somehow, we didn't really feel like trying to fight the INSANE crowds gathered around Westminster Abbey and Buck House, but after seeing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) at a pub theatre, we decided to wander down the Mall late that night.

There were still quite a few revelers gathered around Buck House.

And I've got to say that I adore the way they lit up the London Eye that night.

That left just one more day before I had to fly back home to Oz. Still enough time to visit the Forbidden Planet once more with starrylizard, Cuddles and Rattus. One can never get enough TARDISes and other Who memorabilia when visiting the UK.

Then we met up with the others for high tea on Piccadilly.

And Cuddles and Susie apparently "rekindled the spark" (I really don't want to know the details).

The Circle Line was not running that day which was actually quite inconvenient, but hey, it did mean catching the occasional Red Double Decker bus along the Strand.

But yeah, after that, had to head back to Oz, but I did get upgraded to business class for the flight home. And not only that, but because I let them change my seat to accommodate a couple with a small child (and I really didn't mind coz I was still in business class!), the aircrew gave a free bottle of champagne. So, pretty cool, all in all.

And now I've actually been back almost as long as I was away for, before I manage to get any of the travel pics posted. Still some more from Barcelona to come. Hopefully soon coz I really adored Barcelona.

But for now, Adéu.

Oh, Rory, I fear for you!

2011-05-22T11:15:18Z

I just can't shake the feeling that Rory Williams is going to break my heart soon.

Again.

This week's episode The Rebel Flesh was a gorgeous one for Rory. The sympathy he rapidly developed with the "ganger" Jennifer made enormous sense to me. Learning that you are not actually the person that your head is filled with memories of, but instead you are considered a "thing" manufactured to look like and believe you are that person - who would understand that better than Rory who apparently still (sometimes?) remembers spending 2000 years as an Auton? Add to that the fact that he's probably one of the most genuinely kind-hearted people to travel in the TARDIS and he has a protective streak a mile wide - well, I would have been disappointed if he hadn't been the one who developed pro-ganger sympathies.

I don't think his protectiveness and sympathy for Jennifer is being unfaithful to Amy in any way because I really don't think it's sexually motivated on his part (so far, at least, and I'll be disappointed if that changes). And I actually welcome this depiction of his protective nature being just part of who he is and not purely motivated by his love for Amy because I've been worrying for a while now that Rory's unshakeable love for Amy might be his downfall in some way. I've worried that he will fall prey to that old cliché of being willing to sacrifice the lives and welfare of many others just to save to one woman that he loves.

Perhaps I worry for no reason. Rory has already sidestepped some of the "love clichés" that are among my pet peeves. I've never really been into idea that possessive jealousy is somehow an admirable or sympathetic trait. While I do understand that people in love do get that possessively jealous, (to me) truly loving someone means putting their needs and wants above yours. And Rory demonstrated very early on (Vampires of Venice) that he was willing to step aside if that was what Amy truly wanted. He's never felt that he's had the right to demand anything of her just because he loves her and even his agreement with Jennifer that "Amy's a lucky girl" for having him seemed slightly ironic and self-deprecating.

That said, I do like the fact that Amy does seem to feel a twinge of jealousy about the situation but can't really say anything about it because she's always derided any jealousy or insecurity on Rory's part. Cute to see the shoe on the other foot for a bit. I suppose it would be too much to hope that she might actually learn from it and be a little kinder to her husband about such things in the future.

I don't know what the second part of this two-parter will bring. As I said, I hope that Rory doesn't betray Amy but still remains protective of Jennifer. And I hope Jennifer doesn't succumb to the "monster" cliché of turning on her protector. Although I could live with the other "monster" cliché of her sacrificing herself to save the one person who showed her kindness.

But I suppose that I will ALWAYS fear for Rory as a character because while I do try to watch Doctor Who (and all my favourite shows) as an unspoiled and hopefully unprejudiced viewer, I can't help seeing future twists that might make for "good drama". And one that keeps popping into my mind is the possibility of Rory turning Evil. It doesn't naturally follow in terms of the character, but it's an acting challenge that I think Arthur Darvill would be totally capable of taking on. Although, I've never seen him play real Evil (only seen him in two roles other than Rory and one of those was playing sidekick to Sooty), I do know that he once earned quite a bit of critical acclaim for a stage role as a murderer. I've also heard that he's going to spend the English summer playing Mephistopheles in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus at the Globe (Jeez, how I wish I could see that!)

So, being aware of this aspect of the actor's repertoire, it seems to me that they would be fools not to take advantage of it. I can only hope that any Evil!Rory comes about by some alien menace taking over his body for a while and that the eventually get the real Rory back.

But in the meantime, only 2 more weeks before Steven Moffat's much publicised mid-season cliffhanger episode. Excitement and dread in equal measure. ARRGHHH!!!

And now I really need to get those recent travel pics up, don't I?

Minor rant about recent Doctor Who (Curse of the Black Spot)

2011-05-09T02:42:47Z

Mostly, I'm loving the new series of Doctor Who. I even liked most of the last episode.

But there is one thing about it that I really need to get off my chest.

WORST CPR SCENE EVAR!!!

No, really! I'm all for a bit of gratuitous H/C invovling Rory and I usually have fairly high-powered ignore-medical-unreality goggles on when I watch most TV dramas, especially sci-fi. But, but, but... THAT was just ridiculous!

Here, let me walk you through my reaction to the gist of it...

Rory: I'm a nurse.

Me: Oh dear. Here it comes

Rory: (yada yada yada) Amy, the kiss of life. You've seen it done on TV enough times. I know you can do it.

Me: Seriously, Rory? Because she's seen done on TV? Not because you've told and/or shown her how or she's done a course? 11 out of 10 for (over)confidence in your wife, but... oh dear, this really doesn't bode well...

(yada yada yada)

Amy: Why do I have to be the one to do it?

Me: You love this man, don't you? Don't you want to save his life or domething?

(yada)

Rory: Because I know you'll never give up.

Me: Okay, they're going with the loyalty between them angle. I can truck with that, but dialling the ignore-medical-unreality googles up to 11.

And then...

A) Amy's CPR technique is the crappiest I have seen on any show for a very long time. If you aren't even going to tilt his head back to maximise his airway, at least pinch his nose closed so that the air you are blowing in doesn't escape out of it. Excuse me while I channel Sherlock for a sec. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

B) Why is the Doctor just sitting idly by? Angsting pretty nicely in the background, I'll admit, but why isn't he HELPING? I totally get that Rory would probably appreciate Amy being the one doing the "kiss of life" bit, but why doesn't the Doctor do the chest compressions while Amy gets on with the mouth-to-mouth? The process is going to be more efficient with 2 operators and even if he isn't a medical doctor, surely he's picked up a few first aid techniques in his 909 years often spent with humans and actively courting danger?

C) And this is the really BIG one for me. Rory's trusting Amy with his life because he knows that she will "never give up"... but she DOES!!! After what, 4 or 5 rounds of CPR, less than a couple of minutes working at it, she collapses in a weeping heap and TOTALLY GIVES UP!!! I apprciate that the show couldn't spend half an hour depicitng her efforts, but couldn't we have had some sort of visual effect to indicate a shift forward in time. Less that 2 mins trying to save the love of your life looks totally WEAK!!!

And this is a family show. I get that it's not really meant to be scientifically educational, but showing kids (and adults) really utterly crap first aid techniques like this...

No. Just... No.

Other than that, I liked it.

Sherlock vid - These Days

2011-05-06T15:20:30Z

I'm actually just recently back from some conferences in London (with a side trip to Barcelona) and so I do have a couple of travelogue entries to write up in the (hopefully) not too distant future.

But on the plane flight back, I got upgraded and had laptop power most of the way. So, I spent quite a bit of time putting the finishing touches on this vid. I'd been working on it for a while before the trip and it was slightly doing my head in, but then I talked to first starrylizard and then ash48 about it and they were fantastic. Really, can't thank them enough.

So, without further ado...

Song: These Days (Two Hands soundtrack version) by Powderfinger
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC/Hartswood Films)
Characters: Sherlock & John (with appearances by Lestrade, Mycroft, Sarah, various criminals and numerous victims of crimes)
Spoilers: All 3 epsiodes of the first series of Sherlock. And how! Seriously, if you are one of the people on my flist who is thinking about eventually watching the show and haven't got around to doing so yet, please do NOT watch this vid first to try and get a feel for the show is like. This vid will totally spoil just about every major plot twist in the first series for you. (And yes, I am particularly thinking of one person who has done some similar before.).
Rating: Essentially the same as the show itself gets which here, in Australia, is M (for mature audiences): violence and adult concepts.
Time/Length: 4:16
Acknowledgements: Much, many and more thanks to ash48 and starrylizard for vidding tech support and beta-fu. They have been truly invaluable.
Summary: "This life, well, it's slipping right through my hands. These days turned out nothing like I had planned."

Download links (megaupload): 65mb divx avi file, 127mb quicktime mov file and 31mb ipod/iphone file.

All forms of feedback are appreciated, including criticism (although preferably the constructive type).

In other news, I think I've still got a bit of residual jetlag. Middle of the night, I'm wide awake. During the day, not so much. Ah, well. The weekend is here. Sleep? Who needs it anyway?

I generally don't like to deride films or TV shows on the basis of so little info...

2011-03-30T06:38:35Z

... but in this case, I might have to make an exception.

According to Variety, there are plans to make a movie (franchise?) about a youthful version of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, starring Jennifer Garner.

I know. It's got to be a joke, right? I mean there's not enough boggle in the world to match what my mind produced upon reading that. Got to be a joke.

I'm not a Christie fan or anything. I read a few of her books before I even hit my teens and I'm not adverse to watching various screen dramatisations, especially if the cast is interesting. But I'm not hugely invested in the characters or outraged by people "taking liberties with Christie's genius" or anything like that.

It's just that the idea seems rather pointless. The whole point of Jane Marple seems to have been that she was an elderly spinster who allowed people to underestimate her by playing a dotty old bat who'd spent her whole life in a quiet English village. If she's more young and energetic (as one would assume if they cast Jennifer Garner), then there's not much of the recognisable character left except the name. And will they make her an American too? They might as well.

Just... weird.

I suspect it's a hoax or an unsubstantiated rumour, but if not, I'm going to need a lot of convincing before I'm sold on this one.

Moments of Melancholy

2011-02-24T08:53:25Z

A rare melancholic post from me. My life really isn't too bad, but some sad stuff is going on around me.

There's been an earthquake across the Tasman in Christchurch which is a city I'm rather fond of, having visited a friend who lives there a few times. Thankfully, my friend, Nic, and her family are safe and well and staying with family further south for the time being. But it is saddening to see and hear of such devastation in a familiar place. And after the floods and cyclones in Queensland (and thankfully, friends there are also okay), I was sort of hoping that we'd done with lethal natural disasters around here for a while.

On a fannish note, the Brig is dead! Long live the Brigadier! Nicholas Courtney has passed away. He had a good innings, no doubt, but the Brig has always been one of my very favourite Who characters. I'm saddened on two counts: 1) Nicholas Courtney seemed like a lovely guy and 2) I really had hoped that he'd be able to make one more appearance as the Brig in NuWho. He did appear in an episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures, but it would have been nice, if he could have rounded out his already amazing Whovian CV with a role in the rebooted series proper.

Anyways. I'm not really moping. I've not really got cause to, since the bad stuff isn't happening to me.

But, y'know. Just a touch of melancholy.

Sherlock fic: The Game's Afoot

2011-02-16T10:55:31Z

Title: The Game's Afoot
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Author: derry667
Disclaimer: It's all rather petty to talk about who owns what, don't you think? Shakespeare, Doyle, Gatiss, Moffat, the BBC, whoever. They all own various parts of this stuff. Not me. I'm not responsible. Ask anyone.
Characters: Tall, Dark and Scathing & Short, Fair and (Mostly) Deadpan. [Gen]
Rating: PG
Warnings: Lack of character nomenclature. Precious little in the way of plot. Implied off-screen violence of undisclosed severity.
Notes: Much, many and more thanks to starrylizard and rinkle who beta-ed this for me, but any mistakes that it still contains are down to me. All feedback, including criticism, is appreciated.
Edit: And additional thanks to ias for Brit-picking, after the fact. Much appreciated, truly.

The City of London. An alleyway not far from Tower Hill Tube Station, on a cold, dark night.

Cold enough for a person to be able to see their own breath, if there is enough light, and while the alley itself is bathed in dark shadows, pale yellow light streams in from the street around the corner. Enough to illuminate the approach of two people, moving with haste, but making minimal noise as they do so.

The first is a tall, thin man whose dark curls tumble over his ears to almost merge with the upturned collar of his long coat. His features are pale and sharp, his eyes narrowly focussed and his movements quick and abrupt. As he comes to a halt at the alley entrance, he snatches a glimpse around the corner, before pulling back to plaster himself against the alley wall. He breathes rapidly from the exertion, but each breath still seems measured and controlled, visible in the faint light, but quite inaudible.

He spares a brief glance for the shorter man who has also arrived to take position against the wall, alongside him. The tall man returns his gaze towards the light, scrupulously holding himself back in the shadows, but the tension in his stance clearly illustrates his impatience. Even standing perfectly still, he almost seems to vibrate with barely contained energy.

His companion has kept to the shadowed side of the alley, but there is enough light to see that he too is breathing rapidly and inaudibly. His hair is shorter and fairer and his features appear softer and milder, but the ghost of a smile on his lips has a predatory edge to it. His movements are not slower, but more purposeful and economical than those of his companion. He calmly waits in the shadows, rather than trying to peer past the taller man, into the next street, for himself.

"So, how long do you think?" It's not a true whisper, just a quietly efficient tone, only slightly out of breath.

The tall man shrugs very slightly, without looking round. He too speaks softly, but even at low volume, his voice has a slightly theatrical cadence to it. "They would have taken Commercial Road rather than the Whitechapel Road. We've been quicker on foot than they have so far. I'd say probably somewhere between three and six minutes." He can't seem to prevent his entire body leaning ever so slightly towards the light, before he remembers and pulls back again.

His companion observes this with a wry smile and huffs a very soft laugh. "The game's afoot."

The taller man turns abruptly to face him now, irritation emblazoned on his sharp visage. "What?"

The other's more gentle, but equally expressive features show mild surprise, then growing amusement.

"Please tell me there's some room in your hard drive for Shakespeare." He makes a vague hand gesture towards his companion's head, before continuing, "I see you standing like a greyhound in the slips, straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'"

Tall, dark and scathing actually sniffs in disdain. "Why would I want it? So that I could also partake in your ridiculous patriotic fervour?" He turns his gaze away again, but after a half-second, his head tilts in a considering fashion and, without turning back, he adds, "Although, I must admit that I did not anticipate that you would be a such devotee of the Bard."

His disdain has no visible effect on his companion's good humour. "Well, I'm not really, but I do recall one well-meaning English teacher back at school taking our whole class to see Kenneth Branagh's Henry V. After the St Crispin's Day speech, half the lads were ready to grab a sword and start killing Frenchman and some bright spark, I think it might have been the cinema manager, had given us all souvenir movie posters. So, after the film, we rolled them up to use as swords and tried to re-enact Agincourt in the car park." He pauses to consider this before adding, "I suppose you might have a point about the patriotic fervour."

"And thus the genesis of your military career is revealed." Dryly dismissive, as only someone unconditionally certain of their own superiority can be.

"Yes, I ran away to join up that very day. Later, I deserted to attend uni and get my medical qualifications. So, when I re-enlisted it really was very lucky that I've got such a common unremarkable name. And it's not like the British Army ever bothers to check up on that sort of thing."

The smaller man's voice lacks the vindictive undertone of his companion's. Almost as if he feels that the idiocy of the other's previous statement speaks for itself and he doesn't need to overstate the sarcasm. That nuance is apparently not lost on the other man whose head whips back around, wary and surprised, but still trying to look forbidding as he glares downwards, only to be greeted by a smile that is somehow impossibly pitched at the midpoint between disarming and smug.

Their gazes lock for a second, before the shorter, fair-haired man affably changes the subject. "So, Shakespeare's not your kind of thing then?"

The other's movements stutter slightly. He breaks eye contact, then looks back, then away again - all of which takes less than a second. It's as if he's unsure if this is a genuine truce or a precursor for another stealth attack. Then he purposefully turns his gaze back towards the alley entrance and resets his poise to calm vigilance, as if the awareness of any potential incursion has been deleted from his internal record and everything is now quiet on that front. His reply is delivered with the matter-of-factly derisive tone that appears to be his default setting.

"Overreaching melodrama, woefully inaccurate historical propaganda and/or improbable farce, pretentiously declaimed in iambic pentameter? Not really. No."

His companion still wears an amiable smile, although a spark of mischief also dances in his eyes. But as his mouth opens to launch another rejoinder, the sound of approaching footsteps echoes from around the corner. A steady pace and steadily growing louder. The signal they have been waiting for.

As the dark-haired man glances back, confirming that the battle proper is about to commence, the shorter, fairer one deadpans, "Once more unto the breach, dear friend, once more?"

There is a millisecond of silence, because they both know the value of a dramatic pause, before the tall man speaks in an uncharacteristically placid tone.

"There will be no closing up of any walls with our English dead."

The smaller man's head shoots up, eyebrows lifted in surprise. Then, a fond, gently rueful smile plays across his face, even as his right hand goes to the small of his back to retrieve the handgun which is tucked into his belt, under the jacket.

The tall man allows himself a faint smirk, as he turns and steals another furtive glance around the corner. Silently, he lifts one hand with three fingers extended and sequentially folds each one down.

The instant his hand closes into a fist, both men surge forward into the light.

Exeunt. Alarum, and the handgun goes off.

Muppet Sherlock Holmes icons (and one Doctor Who one - kinda, sorta)

2011-01-03T07:01:18Z

Thanks to that kind and generous enabler killerweasel, I have recently read some of the Muppet Sherlock Holmes comics. And in my ecstatic thanks for this munificence, I mentioned that some icons really needed to be made from said comics. Then killerweasel added encouragement to enabling - and so...

It's time to play the music. It's time to light the lights.

Far be it from me to suggest that Miss Piggy hogs all the best female roles in Muppet productions, but in this one she is both Irene Adler and Mrs Hudson!

Oh, and I did sort of divert a couple of the images into one icon for another fandom, but I really do think that Gonzo would agree.

Fezzes are Cool.

Want. Take. Have.