Weekly Update
General News
I've probably mentioned to you guys a few times about the used bookstore in Wooster that had nearly a whole shelf of New Adventures novels and how I was planning on actually buying some next time I was there. Well...
:D
To clarify, I hold in my hands a capsule that contains such power copies of The Left-Handed Hummingbird (Kate Orman's first novel!), The Highest Science (Gareth Roberts' first novel!), Transit (BEN AARONOVITCH! AND KADIATU LETHBRIDGE-STEWART!), and the Target novelization of The Curse of Fenric. When I'll actually get to reading these is a complete mystery @__@
Well, after all these months of not doing so, I FINALLY finished David Tennant's episodes as the Doctor. Yes, I know you're probably thinking "wait, he's Her Doctor and she hadn't even finished his tenure yet?" I think I can attribute that to the fact that my friends and I (for some reason) decided to forgo the 2009 Specials when we were marathoning New Who last semester, and I was watching them on my own based on what was available Instant on Netflix. Waters of Mars finally became available about a month or so ago and I gave in and nabbed End of Time on DVD before I came back here. I watched Waters of Mars earlier this week and End of Time just last night. Waters of Mars was as excellent as everyone said it was and reminded me of something I will always love in New Who: the music. I was glad to hear it won a Hugo the other day (although, I'm still baffled as to how Planet of the Dead got nominated. Come on, guys, they've done better than that. On the other hand, FLYING BUS!).
End of Time was a bit different. I was expecting it to be more character-driven than plot-driven and...yeah, bit too much plot. After Part 1 aired last year, pretty much ALL of my Who-friends were raging about "how bad it was" and how much they hated it and were in full-on "WTF RTD?" mode. After watching it, I can kinda understand where they were coming from, in the sense that I really don't think Part 1 was meant to stand on its own. It's a build-up episode and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. Seeing New Who's Gallifrey and the Time Lords was a lot of fun, now that I've seen what they were like in Classic Who, although I was surprised to see the Seal of Rassilon completely absent (unless it was there and I just didn't see it). My joy at seeing Simm!Master again was quickly diminished by two things:
- WHAT was up with his resurrection scene? That was just...really really weird.
- I've realized that I don't really like John Simm's Evil Laugh, which is especially unfortunately here because it got played A LOT.
As you guys know from my 30 Days of Who entry, Ten's regeneration scene is the only thing in Doctor Who to ever make me cry. Did it do the impossible and make me cry the second time? Sadly no, for the reasons I list in the entry about why other sad scenes in New Who didn't make me cry. Also, and I'd figured this a while ago, but it was a LOT easier to take having seen Matt Smith's first season and knowing that the series was in excellent hands. I did tear up a bit at Donna's wedding and the lines "I think you're going to have a great year" and, of course, "I don't want to go."
But once that music swelled up and Tennant started glowing, I think I started smiling. Because I thought back to The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens, and The Big Bang that I'd rewatched with my group the night before, and I remembered what fun, clever, brilliant, and touching adventures they were, and I thought to myself "Matt's coming next." This time around, I knew that everything was going to be alright. Better, even.
Guys, this show.
Audio Dramas
Still wading through Zagreus, but I'm getting close to the end. Seven IS Walt Disney. He just...is. Also, glad to finally have Five, Six, and Seven together with Eight (although I'm still waiting for all of them to go back to normal). And LEELA! I forgot you were going to be in this! And EVIL TARDIS GETS TO MAKE A SPEECH. All I can say is..."Hell hath no fury like a TARDIS scorned." That line was frigging glorious.
Upcoming Commentaries
It's Mara Week! Coming up soon I've got Kinda and Snakedance for you. After that, I'll be returning to my Watch From the Beginning with The Space Museum, although I expect that probably won't be happening until next week.
I've probably mentioned to you guys a few times about the used bookstore in Wooster that had nearly a whole shelf of New Adventures novels and how I was planning on actually buying some next time I was there. Well...
:D
To clarify, I hold in my hands a capsule that contains such power copies of The Left-Handed Hummingbird (Kate Orman's first novel!), The Highest Science (Gareth Roberts' first novel!), Transit (BEN AARONOVITCH! AND KADIATU LETHBRIDGE-STEWART!), and the Target novelization of The Curse of Fenric. When I'll actually get to reading these is a complete mystery @__@
Well, after all these months of not doing so, I FINALLY finished David Tennant's episodes as the Doctor. Yes, I know you're probably thinking "wait, he's Her Doctor and she hadn't even finished his tenure yet?" I think I can attribute that to the fact that my friends and I (for some reason) decided to forgo the 2009 Specials when we were marathoning New Who last semester, and I was watching them on my own based on what was available Instant on Netflix. Waters of Mars finally became available about a month or so ago and I gave in and nabbed End of Time on DVD before I came back here. I watched Waters of Mars earlier this week and End of Time just last night. Waters of Mars was as excellent as everyone said it was and reminded me of something I will always love in New Who: the music. I was glad to hear it won a Hugo the other day (although, I'm still baffled as to how Planet of the Dead got nominated. Come on, guys, they've done better than that. On the other hand, FLYING BUS!).
End of Time was a bit different. I was expecting it to be more character-driven than plot-driven and...yeah, bit too much plot. After Part 1 aired last year, pretty much ALL of my Who-friends were raging about "how bad it was" and how much they hated it and were in full-on "WTF RTD?" mode. After watching it, I can kinda understand where they were coming from, in the sense that I really don't think Part 1 was meant to stand on its own. It's a build-up episode and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. Seeing New Who's Gallifrey and the Time Lords was a lot of fun, now that I've seen what they were like in Classic Who, although I was surprised to see the Seal of Rassilon completely absent (unless it was there and I just didn't see it). My joy at seeing Simm!Master again was quickly diminished by two things:
- WHAT was up with his resurrection scene? That was just...really really weird.
- I've realized that I don't really like John Simm's Evil Laugh, which is especially unfortunately here because it got played A LOT.
As you guys know from my 30 Days of Who entry, Ten's regeneration scene is the only thing in Doctor Who to ever make me cry. Did it do the impossible and make me cry the second time? Sadly no, for the reasons I list in the entry about why other sad scenes in New Who didn't make me cry. Also, and I'd figured this a while ago, but it was a LOT easier to take having seen Matt Smith's first season and knowing that the series was in excellent hands. I did tear up a bit at Donna's wedding and the lines "I think you're going to have a great year" and, of course, "I don't want to go."
But once that music swelled up and Tennant started glowing, I think I started smiling. Because I thought back to The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens, and The Big Bang that I'd rewatched with my group the night before, and I remembered what fun, clever, brilliant, and touching adventures they were, and I thought to myself "Matt's coming next." This time around, I knew that everything was going to be alright. Better, even.
Guys, this show.
Audio Dramas
Still wading through Zagreus, but I'm getting close to the end. Seven IS Walt Disney. He just...is. Also, glad to finally have Five, Six, and Seven together with Eight (although I'm still waiting for all of them to go back to normal). And LEELA! I forgot you were going to be in this! And EVIL TARDIS GETS TO MAKE A SPEECH. All I can say is..."Hell hath no fury like a TARDIS scorned." That line was frigging glorious.
Upcoming Commentaries
It's Mara Week! Coming up soon I've got Kinda and Snakedance for you. After that, I'll be returning to my Watch From the Beginning with The Space Museum, although I expect that probably won't be happening until next week.