DW, NY, NYE
Greetings flistees. Happy New Year!
I'm sat on my couch with a Calliope kitty taking over my lap. She's allowed me the use of my hands to type though. So I thought I'd say hello.
Hello!
NY is frelling COOOOOOOLD! Like, overnight it went from "shall I wear a coat or just a jumper?" to "January wants you to know IT'S WINTER HARDCORE-style!"
But it's all right. I just popped out the 'ol sleeping-bag coat, dusted off the slytherin winter hat, and off I go.
I had three things to look forward to over the New Year's Eve times. The first was doctorpancakes coming to visit. The second was our NYE party. We hosted about 15 of my friends and it was a lovely time. Good conversation. Loads of food. A bit of drink. My "Roaring Fireplace" DVD was a surprising hit (though we did switch near midnight to watch the Ball drop), and we had Christmas cracker styled decorate-your-own crowns that most people seemed to get into. So overall, not terribly raucous, but convivial and easy company. There are a few pictures! Clickable thumbnails!
The third was watching the DW Xmas episode with the DWNY folks. And while I did enjoy seeing the people, I didn't really enjoy the episode. In truth, I haven't much enjoyed much of the past two series. I realized not long ago after listening to an episode of the Two Minute Timelord that had I not already been a fan, I wouldn't have become one. And this kind of saddens me.
What I didn't like about the Christmas episode was the whole "woman as vessel for life" thing. Which is a pity, because until that moment when the trees decided they needed a woman to deliver them to safety, I rather liked the Narnia theme. Plus, Bill Bailey was a treat.
I've come to realize that I like Matt Smith, his portrayal of Eleven (particularly his ability to do physical comedy but also to portray chaos and mischief) has grown on me. But I don't like Eleven. And I especially don't like Eleven when he's with Amy Pond. I feel like I should like Amy on some level, but I just . . . don't. And it's only the eps where she is barely there or not at all that I find myself thinking "Oh, there's the Doctor I like!" And I can't completely put my finger on it. Yes, Moffat has brought a degree of sexism and heterosexism to the show. But it's not even about that. I think it's about THINKING versus FEELING. I just don't feel engaged in the ways I tend to enjoy television. And aside from a couple of episodes in series 6 where I felt connected on an emotional level, by and large I have not. I enjoyed the crackiness and fan service that was The Doctor's Wife. And I enjoyed the horror film feel of "The Impossible Planet;" and I also enjoyed the goofiness, tenderness, and even the "experiencing events in time out of order" theme as it played out in "Closing Time." And I adore Arthur Darvill as an actor and Rory Williams as a character over both series 5 and 6.
But I hated the degrees of detail-heavy plot hints and sleights of hand that required me to a)notice, b) remember (and c) care about) minutiae over an entire series, when the series was broken up by several months between halves.
There was discussion at the last DWNY meet-up over how Moffat has stated they won't have two-parters or rely on long story arcs in the next series. I haven't been reading the entertainment news, so this was all second-hand information for me. But I hope it's true.
And now 2012 is upon us. I've got a very busy work-month ahead hopefully filled with some good things - important meetings, hiring staff, setting plans into motion. And then Gallifrey in February (who's going to Gally?!?!). But right now, it feels good to simply sit on my couch (Calliope has moved on to another spot and Dora is curled up next to me) and relax.
Happy New Year.
I'm sat on my couch with a Calliope kitty taking over my lap. She's allowed me the use of my hands to type though. So I thought I'd say hello.
Hello!
NY is frelling COOOOOOOLD! Like, overnight it went from "shall I wear a coat or just a jumper?" to "January wants you to know IT'S WINTER HARDCORE-style!"
But it's all right. I just popped out the 'ol sleeping-bag coat, dusted off the slytherin winter hat, and off I go.
I had three things to look forward to over the New Year's Eve times. The first was doctorpancakes coming to visit. The second was our NYE party. We hosted about 15 of my friends and it was a lovely time. Good conversation. Loads of food. A bit of drink. My "Roaring Fireplace" DVD was a surprising hit (though we did switch near midnight to watch the Ball drop), and we had Christmas cracker styled decorate-your-own crowns that most people seemed to get into. So overall, not terribly raucous, but convivial and easy company. There are a few pictures! Clickable thumbnails!
The third was watching the DW Xmas episode with the DWNY folks. And while I did enjoy seeing the people, I didn't really enjoy the episode. In truth, I haven't much enjoyed much of the past two series. I realized not long ago after listening to an episode of the Two Minute Timelord that had I not already been a fan, I wouldn't have become one. And this kind of saddens me.
What I didn't like about the Christmas episode was the whole "woman as vessel for life" thing. Which is a pity, because until that moment when the trees decided they needed a woman to deliver them to safety, I rather liked the Narnia theme. Plus, Bill Bailey was a treat.
I've come to realize that I like Matt Smith, his portrayal of Eleven (particularly his ability to do physical comedy but also to portray chaos and mischief) has grown on me. But I don't like Eleven. And I especially don't like Eleven when he's with Amy Pond. I feel like I should like Amy on some level, but I just . . . don't. And it's only the eps where she is barely there or not at all that I find myself thinking "Oh, there's the Doctor I like!" And I can't completely put my finger on it. Yes, Moffat has brought a degree of sexism and heterosexism to the show. But it's not even about that. I think it's about THINKING versus FEELING. I just don't feel engaged in the ways I tend to enjoy television. And aside from a couple of episodes in series 6 where I felt connected on an emotional level, by and large I have not. I enjoyed the crackiness and fan service that was The Doctor's Wife. And I enjoyed the horror film feel of "The Impossible Planet;" and I also enjoyed the goofiness, tenderness, and even the "experiencing events in time out of order" theme as it played out in "Closing Time." And I adore Arthur Darvill as an actor and Rory Williams as a character over both series 5 and 6.
But I hated the degrees of detail-heavy plot hints and sleights of hand that required me to a)notice, b) remember (and c) care about) minutiae over an entire series, when the series was broken up by several months between halves.
There was discussion at the last DWNY meet-up over how Moffat has stated they won't have two-parters or rely on long story arcs in the next series. I haven't been reading the entertainment news, so this was all second-hand information for me. But I hope it's true.
And now 2012 is upon us. I've got a very busy work-month ahead hopefully filled with some good things - important meetings, hiring staff, setting plans into motion. And then Gallifrey in February (who's going to Gally?!?!). But right now, it feels good to simply sit on my couch (Calliope has moved on to another spot and Dora is curled up next to me) and relax.
Happy New Year.