Thursday, March 31, 2011
A Musical Sorbet
Just to cleanse you palette from all the Doctor Who talk, I'm going to write a little bit about band that I love: Vampire Weekend. I listened to their first album a lot when I was living in Ohio, often when I was driving up to see Rachel et al in Ann Arbor. Once I hit the exit for Ypsilanti, I could start the album and be at the house before the album was over. They got a lot a flack for sounding like they ripped off Paul Simon's Graceland (mostly based on the fact that they incorporated the African drum rhythms). Now since I'm a huge Paul Simon fan, one might think that I wouldn't want to listen to the album. But my take was, Graceland was such a great album, even an album that a diluted version of Graceland would still be great, and it is.
Doctor Who - Part 3
4) Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
Episodes 8 and 9, Season 4
Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
Companion: Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and River Song (Alex Kingston)
Plot: Donna and the Doctor arrive at planet in the future that is one giant library due to an anonymous request for help that comes to the Doctor through his psychic paper. There is not one in the library despite the computer noting that there are millions of life-forms in the library. All that is in the library at robots called Nodes that has a donated face of a human being. It warns the Doctor and Donna to count the shadows. Suddenly, the overhead lights go out one by one and the Doctor and Donna are told by a security camera others are coming. It is Dr. River Song with a team of archaeologists to find out what happened in the library. The last communication for the library was "4022 saved, no survivors". Dr. Song has knowledge of the Doctor's future and recognizes Donna's name but doesn't know Donna. The library seems to be tied to the imagination of a little girl. The little girl is under the supervision of a child psychologist, Dr. Moon. Dr. Moon tells her that the library is real and there are people in the library that need to be saved. The Doctor determines that they all are people stalked by the Vashta Nerada with are microscopic creatures that hide the shadows before completely devouring their prey. The Vashta Nerada then take control off the body of one on the team members and begins stalking the remaining group members. The Doctor attempts to send Donna to the TARDIS to be safe however something happens and she doesn't materialize properly. As the Doctor and the rest of group tries to outrun the Vashta Nerada in the space suit, the Doctor discovers a Node with Donna's face on it with the node saying "Donna Noble has been saved." Things get worse for the group when not only the possessed space suit is chasing them, but the shadows of Vashta Nerada is closing in on them.
Why I love this episode: The Vashta Narada is the most awesome name ever. Try saying to yourself, don't you just feel cooler? The fact that they hide in the shadow, to the point where a human has a second shadow, is really effective way to scare the crap out of you. This episode introduces River Song, who is a really great character. She has this whole history/future with the Doctor that is a lot of fun to try to figure out. The endings for both River and Donna are really fantastic, both sad and happy at the same time. The second episode of the story has some really got moments with Donna, that really soften her and show her as a sympathetic person that you didn't really see before this two-part episode. And it was written by Stephen Moffat (are you noticing a trend?)
5) The Lodger
Episode 11, Season 5
Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Companion: Amy Pond (Karen Gilliam)
Plot: The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS is modern day Colchester and the TARDIS immediately takes off with Amy still inside and is unable to land again. Amy and the Doctor suspect that it may have to do with a disturbance on the second floor of the apartment house that that TARDIS landed in front of before taking off. The Doctor then rents the room on the ground floor of the apartment house from a man named Craig (who is in love with his best friend). The Doctor attempts to blend in with modern day England while at the same time try to figure out what sinister happens are taking place upstairs.
Why I love this episode: Firstly, this episode is probably one of the funnier episodes in the history of the reboot. The Doctor and Amy still have really good interactions despite sharing very little screen time (they are separated throughout most of the episode and can only talk to each other). Secondly, this episode does a great job dropping little hint for the two-part season finale without being too heavy-handed as well as do a call back to previous episodes (really that last 4 episodes of season 5 are really good). The resolution of Craig's story line is fulfilling (and I read that Craig is going to be back in Season 6). And I enjoy episodes that feature the Doctor interacting with human beings because I think it really humanizes him (because from time to time, there can be a little too much hero-worship). The writer of this episode, Gareth Roberts, wrote another episode that will appear on tomorrow's entry. And the fact that the writers get such high billing in the credits (the writer usually appears right after any guest star that may be on, before the director) makes it obvious that writing is really prized by the show runner (and the BBC and subsequently the fans).
6) The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
Episodes 9 and 10, Season 1
Ninth Doctor (Christopher Ecceleston)
Companion: Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)
Plot: Rose and the Doctor are following a metal ship through a time vortex and end up in Britain during the Blitz. As the Doctor goes to nightclub to ask for information about the metal ship, Rose spot a little boy with a gas mask up on a roof. She climbs a rope to get closer to the little boy and finds the rope is attached to a barrage balloon. At that moment, the air raid sirens go off. The Doctor go outside to look for Rose and finds that the non-functional telephone on the TARDIS is ringing. A young girl, Nancy, warns the Doctor not to answer the phone. He does anyway and hears a young boy asking "Are you my mummy?" The Doctor then follows Nancy and she and several other homeless children enter a house to eat while the family has gone to the air-raid shelter. As the children (and the Doctor) are sitting down to eat, a young boy in a gas mask starts knocking on the door and trying to get in. Nancy warns the Doctor not to touch the boy, or he will become "empty". All the children leave the house and the Doctor tells Nancy that he thinks there is a connection between the fallen metal ship and the "Empty Child". Nancy mentions a bomb that fell from the sky that wasn't a bomb and tell the Doctor to go see Dr. Constantine. The Doctor and Nancy talk about her taking care of the children due to her guilt over losing her brother Jamie in a air-raid. Meanwhile, Rose is rescued from the barrage balloon by Captain Jack who immediately determines that Rose is a time-traveler like him. He claims that he is free-lance Time Agent who has something that might interest her but she says she must first find and consult her companion. The Doctor has found the hospital and Dr. Constantine. The hospital is filled with corpses of people with gas mask on their face and identical physical marks (like a scratch on the hand). Dr. Constantine says that the first victim was discovered shortly after the bomb fell and then anyone who has been in contact with that victim has developed the same external physical symptoms including a gas mask fused to the skin. The first victim was Jamie, Nancy's brother. However, before Dr. Constantine can explain much more, he turning into a gas-masked zombie before the Doctor's eyes and asks "Are you my mummy?". Rose and Captain Jack find the Doctor and Jack explains that the metal ship was a Chula ambulance and there are only two hours before another bomb will fall and destroy the metal ship. The corpses then get up and walk towards the Doctor asking "Are you my mummy?" while the original empty child asks Nancy the same thing at an abandoned house. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack, then have to figure out what happened to the empty child before the plague spreads or a bomb drops and destroys the ship and the hospital.
Why I love this episode: I am sucker for movie/TV shows set during World War II and this episode really show what London was like during the Blitz. There is a great exchange between Rose and Nancy about how difficult it is to live during the Blitz and how Nancy can't imagine the world ever getting better and Rose assuring her that Britain wins. The Doctor and Captain Jack really play off each other well especially since they have different views about using weapons (and there is a long exchange in which Jack disparages the sonic screwdriver). I would also like to note that Stephen Moffat also wrote this set of episodes so there is a great mix of both funny moments and really emotional scenes. And the resolution of the story is surprisingly uplifting. Plus, adding Captain Jack is a really great addition as he adds a bit of much needed light-heartedness.
Episodes 8 and 9, Season 4
Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
Companion: Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and River Song (Alex Kingston)
Plot: Donna and the Doctor arrive at planet in the future that is one giant library due to an anonymous request for help that comes to the Doctor through his psychic paper. There is not one in the library despite the computer noting that there are millions of life-forms in the library. All that is in the library at robots called Nodes that has a donated face of a human being. It warns the Doctor and Donna to count the shadows. Suddenly, the overhead lights go out one by one and the Doctor and Donna are told by a security camera others are coming. It is Dr. River Song with a team of archaeologists to find out what happened in the library. The last communication for the library was "4022 saved, no survivors". Dr. Song has knowledge of the Doctor's future and recognizes Donna's name but doesn't know Donna. The library seems to be tied to the imagination of a little girl. The little girl is under the supervision of a child psychologist, Dr. Moon. Dr. Moon tells her that the library is real and there are people in the library that need to be saved. The Doctor determines that they all are people stalked by the Vashta Nerada with are microscopic creatures that hide the shadows before completely devouring their prey. The Vashta Nerada then take control off the body of one on the team members and begins stalking the remaining group members. The Doctor attempts to send Donna to the TARDIS to be safe however something happens and she doesn't materialize properly. As the Doctor and the rest of group tries to outrun the Vashta Nerada in the space suit, the Doctor discovers a Node with Donna's face on it with the node saying "Donna Noble has been saved." Things get worse for the group when not only the possessed space suit is chasing them, but the shadows of Vashta Nerada is closing in on them.
Why I love this episode: The Vashta Narada is the most awesome name ever. Try saying to yourself, don't you just feel cooler? The fact that they hide in the shadow, to the point where a human has a second shadow, is really effective way to scare the crap out of you. This episode introduces River Song, who is a really great character. She has this whole history/future with the Doctor that is a lot of fun to try to figure out. The endings for both River and Donna are really fantastic, both sad and happy at the same time. The second episode of the story has some really got moments with Donna, that really soften her and show her as a sympathetic person that you didn't really see before this two-part episode. And it was written by Stephen Moffat (are you noticing a trend?)
5) The Lodger
Episode 11, Season 5
Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Companion: Amy Pond (Karen Gilliam)
Plot: The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS is modern day Colchester and the TARDIS immediately takes off with Amy still inside and is unable to land again. Amy and the Doctor suspect that it may have to do with a disturbance on the second floor of the apartment house that that TARDIS landed in front of before taking off. The Doctor then rents the room on the ground floor of the apartment house from a man named Craig (who is in love with his best friend). The Doctor attempts to blend in with modern day England while at the same time try to figure out what sinister happens are taking place upstairs.
Why I love this episode: Firstly, this episode is probably one of the funnier episodes in the history of the reboot. The Doctor and Amy still have really good interactions despite sharing very little screen time (they are separated throughout most of the episode and can only talk to each other). Secondly, this episode does a great job dropping little hint for the two-part season finale without being too heavy-handed as well as do a call back to previous episodes (really that last 4 episodes of season 5 are really good). The resolution of Craig's story line is fulfilling (and I read that Craig is going to be back in Season 6). And I enjoy episodes that feature the Doctor interacting with human beings because I think it really humanizes him (because from time to time, there can be a little too much hero-worship). The writer of this episode, Gareth Roberts, wrote another episode that will appear on tomorrow's entry. And the fact that the writers get such high billing in the credits (the writer usually appears right after any guest star that may be on, before the director) makes it obvious that writing is really prized by the show runner (and the BBC and subsequently the fans).
6) The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
Episodes 9 and 10, Season 1
Ninth Doctor (Christopher Ecceleston)
Companion: Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)
Plot: Rose and the Doctor are following a metal ship through a time vortex and end up in Britain during the Blitz. As the Doctor goes to nightclub to ask for information about the metal ship, Rose spot a little boy with a gas mask up on a roof. She climbs a rope to get closer to the little boy and finds the rope is attached to a barrage balloon. At that moment, the air raid sirens go off. The Doctor go outside to look for Rose and finds that the non-functional telephone on the TARDIS is ringing. A young girl, Nancy, warns the Doctor not to answer the phone. He does anyway and hears a young boy asking "Are you my mummy?" The Doctor then follows Nancy and she and several other homeless children enter a house to eat while the family has gone to the air-raid shelter. As the children (and the Doctor) are sitting down to eat, a young boy in a gas mask starts knocking on the door and trying to get in. Nancy warns the Doctor not to touch the boy, or he will become "empty". All the children leave the house and the Doctor tells Nancy that he thinks there is a connection between the fallen metal ship and the "Empty Child". Nancy mentions a bomb that fell from the sky that wasn't a bomb and tell the Doctor to go see Dr. Constantine. The Doctor and Nancy talk about her taking care of the children due to her guilt over losing her brother Jamie in a air-raid. Meanwhile, Rose is rescued from the barrage balloon by Captain Jack who immediately determines that Rose is a time-traveler like him. He claims that he is free-lance Time Agent who has something that might interest her but she says she must first find and consult her companion. The Doctor has found the hospital and Dr. Constantine. The hospital is filled with corpses of people with gas mask on their face and identical physical marks (like a scratch on the hand). Dr. Constantine says that the first victim was discovered shortly after the bomb fell and then anyone who has been in contact with that victim has developed the same external physical symptoms including a gas mask fused to the skin. The first victim was Jamie, Nancy's brother. However, before Dr. Constantine can explain much more, he turning into a gas-masked zombie before the Doctor's eyes and asks "Are you my mummy?". Rose and Captain Jack find the Doctor and Jack explains that the metal ship was a Chula ambulance and there are only two hours before another bomb will fall and destroy the metal ship. The corpses then get up and walk towards the Doctor asking "Are you my mummy?" while the original empty child asks Nancy the same thing at an abandoned house. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack, then have to figure out what happened to the empty child before the plague spreads or a bomb drops and destroys the ship and the hospital.
Why I love this episode: I am sucker for movie/TV shows set during World War II and this episode really show what London was like during the Blitz. There is a great exchange between Rose and Nancy about how difficult it is to live during the Blitz and how Nancy can't imagine the world ever getting better and Rose assuring her that Britain wins. The Doctor and Captain Jack really play off each other well especially since they have different views about using weapons (and there is a long exchange in which Jack disparages the sonic screwdriver). I would also like to note that Stephen Moffat also wrote this set of episodes so there is a great mix of both funny moments and really emotional scenes. And the resolution of the story is surprisingly uplifting. Plus, adding Captain Jack is a really great addition as he adds a bit of much needed light-heartedness.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Doctor Who - Part 2
7) Time of Angels and Flesh & Stone
Episodes 4 and 5, Season 5
Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Companion: Amy Pond (Karen Gilliam) and River Song (Alex Kingston)
Plot: After traveling to a museum in the future, the Doctor and Amy discover a message from River Song written on a flight recorder for a ship that crashed 12,000 years earlier. Amy and the Doctor travel back to save River before the ship crashes. The cargo of the ship is a Weeping Angel, a being that lives on energy (like electrical or human) that looks like a statue. As long as someone is looking at the statue, they can't move but anytime you look away, that Angel can move. If two Angels look at each other, they are trapped immobile forever; as a result the Angels will cover their eyes when stationary and so look like they are weeping. River Song and a team of clerics (which is more like a military unit) want to recover the weakened Angel before its proximity to the radiation of the ship will make is powerful enough to threaten the population of the planet. The is a four-second recording of the Angel that River, Amy, and the Doctor view while discussing a book written about the Angels (by an insane man) that states "That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself and angel". Amy looks away from the recording and the Angel start emerging from the recording and see is trapped in the viewing room (and she looks the Angel in the eyes). Amy is able to freeze the recording at a certain part of the loop and causes the Angel to disappear. To get to the Angel statue and the ship, the team must travel through a stone labyrinth filled with stone statues called the Maze of Death. Doctor and River discover that the stone statues are slowly turning in Weeping Angel due to massive amount of radiation coming from the crashed ship. As the Doctor, River, Amy, and the clerics race toward the ship followed by the Weeping Angel, the image of the Angel is embedded in Amy's brain so she is slowing becoming a Weeping Angel and so must keep her eyes closed to slow the transformation.
Why I love these episodes: The Weeping Angels are probably the most terrifying creature/beings that has ever been on Doctor Who. The addition of River Song is great, because she knows the Doctor in various points of her/his life and they have some sort of relationship. Being able to piece their relationship together is really fun. And this episode was written by my favorite Doctor Who writer (and current show runner) Steven Moffat. I like the special effects for the Weeping Angels because instead of using CGI (which would probably be less scary), the Weeping Angels are played by women in costumes and painted to look like stone.
8) Partners in Crime
Episode 1, Season 4
Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
Companion: Donna Noble (Catherine Tate)
Plot: Donna and the Doctor costarred together in a previous Christmas special (after season 2, before season 3), and she declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him, a decision she later regrets. As a result, Donna becomes a little bit of a conspiracy theorist in an attempt/hope to met the Doctor again. Donna and the Doctor are separately investigating Adipose Industries that markets a diet pill with the slogan "The Fat Just Walks Away". Turns out the slogan is correct, the pills use body fat to create an alien named Adipose. The pill can be altered to use the entire body to create Adipose. Donna and the Doctor work together to make sure that doesn't happen.
Why I love this episode: Donna Noble is my favorite companion (and Amy Pond is a really close second). Unlike the two previous companions, Donna has no romantic interest in the Doctor. So this episode is just hilarious and really light-hearted which is a nice change from the dark tone of the last two episodes of season 3. And the Adipose aliens are actually really cute. Plus, the guest star was the actress who was Mrs. Hurst in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
Episodes 4 and 5, Season 5
Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Companion: Amy Pond (Karen Gilliam) and River Song (Alex Kingston)
Plot: After traveling to a museum in the future, the Doctor and Amy discover a message from River Song written on a flight recorder for a ship that crashed 12,000 years earlier. Amy and the Doctor travel back to save River before the ship crashes. The cargo of the ship is a Weeping Angel, a being that lives on energy (like electrical or human) that looks like a statue. As long as someone is looking at the statue, they can't move but anytime you look away, that Angel can move. If two Angels look at each other, they are trapped immobile forever; as a result the Angels will cover their eyes when stationary and so look like they are weeping. River Song and a team of clerics (which is more like a military unit) want to recover the weakened Angel before its proximity to the radiation of the ship will make is powerful enough to threaten the population of the planet. The is a four-second recording of the Angel that River, Amy, and the Doctor view while discussing a book written about the Angels (by an insane man) that states "That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself and angel". Amy looks away from the recording and the Angel start emerging from the recording and see is trapped in the viewing room (and she looks the Angel in the eyes). Amy is able to freeze the recording at a certain part of the loop and causes the Angel to disappear. To get to the Angel statue and the ship, the team must travel through a stone labyrinth filled with stone statues called the Maze of Death. Doctor and River discover that the stone statues are slowly turning in Weeping Angel due to massive amount of radiation coming from the crashed ship. As the Doctor, River, Amy, and the clerics race toward the ship followed by the Weeping Angel, the image of the Angel is embedded in Amy's brain so she is slowing becoming a Weeping Angel and so must keep her eyes closed to slow the transformation.
Why I love these episodes: The Weeping Angels are probably the most terrifying creature/beings that has ever been on Doctor Who. The addition of River Song is great, because she knows the Doctor in various points of her/his life and they have some sort of relationship. Being able to piece their relationship together is really fun. And this episode was written by my favorite Doctor Who writer (and current show runner) Steven Moffat. I like the special effects for the Weeping Angels because instead of using CGI (which would probably be less scary), the Weeping Angels are played by women in costumes and painted to look like stone.
8) Partners in Crime
Episode 1, Season 4
Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
Companion: Donna Noble (Catherine Tate)
Plot: Donna and the Doctor costarred together in a previous Christmas special (after season 2, before season 3), and she declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him, a decision she later regrets. As a result, Donna becomes a little bit of a conspiracy theorist in an attempt/hope to met the Doctor again. Donna and the Doctor are separately investigating Adipose Industries that markets a diet pill with the slogan "The Fat Just Walks Away". Turns out the slogan is correct, the pills use body fat to create an alien named Adipose. The pill can be altered to use the entire body to create Adipose. Donna and the Doctor work together to make sure that doesn't happen.
Why I love this episode: Donna Noble is my favorite companion (and Amy Pond is a really close second). Unlike the two previous companions, Donna has no romantic interest in the Doctor. So this episode is just hilarious and really light-hearted which is a nice change from the dark tone of the last two episodes of season 3. And the Adipose aliens are actually really cute. Plus, the guest star was the actress who was Mrs. Hurst in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Doctor Who - Part 1
9) Amy's Choice
Episode 7, Season 5
Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Companion: Amy Pond (Karen Gilliam) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill)
Plot: The Doctor, Amy, and Rory keeping moving between 2 realities. In one, it is five years into the future with Amy and Rory married and Amy is pregnant. Rory is the village doctor in their hometown of Leavenworth that has a very large elderly population. The elderly people of the village are actually aliens that can vaporize anyone with their poisoned breath. In the other reality, all three are trapped in a powerless TARDIS that is slowly traveling toward a cold star (so they are slowly freezing to death). They must choose between with world is real because if they die in the false world, they will return to the real world but they will die if the chose the wrong world.
What I Love about this Episode: I love unraveling a mystery so I was fun trying to decide which world was the real one. You get to see more interactions between Amy and Rory which is really nice. And how the whole situation gets resolved is interesting and emotional. Seeing Rory using garden tools to fend off the aliens is pretty hilarious. Plus Toby Jones!
10) School Reunion
Episode 3, Season 2
Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
Companion: Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke)
Plot: the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey are investigating strange happening at a local school. And while checking out the school, the Doctor runs into an old companion, Sarah Jane Smith who is played by Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane was a companion of the Third and Fifth Doctors). Turns out the the school administrators are aliens in disguise who are increasing the intelligence of the students and then using them to solve the Skasis Paradigm (the theory of everything).
What I love about this episode: This episodes ties the reboot Doctor Who with the original Doctor Who is a really good way without being too over the top. And it is interesting to see what happens to a Doctor's companion after he or she stops traveling with the Doctor. There are some really funny moments, and Mickey starts becoming less of a complete idiot and more competent.
Honorable Mention: Love & Monsters (a Doctor-lite episode that focuses more on a group of people who come together because of the Doctor but all members of the group blossom in each others company, plus ELO!), Eleventh Hour (a fantastic introduction to the new Doctor as well as Amy and Rory), and all Season finales (the build up during the 2 part episodes are so good, a great mixture of adventure and emotion. And in the finale of season 4, all the of Doctor's companions/allies come back which makes it like a reunion with old friends).
Episode 7, Season 5
Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Companion: Amy Pond (Karen Gilliam) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill)
Plot: The Doctor, Amy, and Rory keeping moving between 2 realities. In one, it is five years into the future with Amy and Rory married and Amy is pregnant. Rory is the village doctor in their hometown of Leavenworth that has a very large elderly population. The elderly people of the village are actually aliens that can vaporize anyone with their poisoned breath. In the other reality, all three are trapped in a powerless TARDIS that is slowly traveling toward a cold star (so they are slowly freezing to death). They must choose between with world is real because if they die in the false world, they will return to the real world but they will die if the chose the wrong world.
What I Love about this Episode: I love unraveling a mystery so I was fun trying to decide which world was the real one. You get to see more interactions between Amy and Rory which is really nice. And how the whole situation gets resolved is interesting and emotional. Seeing Rory using garden tools to fend off the aliens is pretty hilarious. Plus Toby Jones!
10) School Reunion
Episode 3, Season 2
Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
Companion: Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke)
Plot: the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey are investigating strange happening at a local school. And while checking out the school, the Doctor runs into an old companion, Sarah Jane Smith who is played by Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane was a companion of the Third and Fifth Doctors). Turns out the the school administrators are aliens in disguise who are increasing the intelligence of the students and then using them to solve the Skasis Paradigm (the theory of everything).
What I love about this episode: This episodes ties the reboot Doctor Who with the original Doctor Who is a really good way without being too over the top. And it is interesting to see what happens to a Doctor's companion after he or she stops traveling with the Doctor. There are some really funny moments, and Mickey starts becoming less of a complete idiot and more competent.
Honorable Mention: Love & Monsters (a Doctor-lite episode that focuses more on a group of people who come together because of the Doctor but all members of the group blossom in each others company, plus ELO!), Eleventh Hour (a fantastic introduction to the new Doctor as well as Amy and Rory), and all Season finales (the build up during the 2 part episodes are so good, a great mixture of adventure and emotion. And in the finale of season 4, all the of Doctor's companions/allies come back which makes it like a reunion with old friends).
Friday, March 25, 2011
Delving into my nerdiness
This time last year, I was a month into my six month stay in Vermont. One by-product of my time in Vermont, is that Rachel re-introduced me to the BBC show Doctor Who. Now, I had seen all of the first season right when it came out (back in 2005, I watched it while I was quilting Rachel's giant king size quilt) and I really like it. And then I forgot about it, mostly because I think there was quite a gap between the release of the first series and the second series. But by the time I got to Vermont, Rachel had watched all the four seasons and kept encouraging me to watch the show again. So over the course of about 2 months (maybe less), I watched all the four seasons, plus all the related Christmas specials and the send-offs for David Tenant. And then Rachel and I watched the fantastic 5th season starting in April. And now, the new season (season 6) will be starting in less than a month. So I thought in honor of the new season, over the new few days, I am going to write about my 10 favorite episodes of the first 5 seasons of Doctor Who.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday morning/afternoon adventure
As I am getting more confident in using the Metro system, I am trying to make trips into DC during the weekend. Last weekend I went to Pentagon City, where there is huge mall but more importantly, there is a World Market nearby (I was craving some Curly Wurlys). Based on a good suggestion from a co-worker, I decided to go to visit the National Gallery this morning (she said Sunday mornings are less crowded). And the Gallery is amazing. The Gallery has such a vast and varied collection from 15th century Dutch artists to Jasper Johns. I went through the Main floor of the West Gallery first and then stopped for lunch at the cafe that is in the concourse between the East and West Galleries and then went to the East Gallery to the see the 2 special exhibits (Gaugin and paintings of Venice) and the Modern Art (the west Gallery has most of the older paintings, through the Impressionist and immediate Post-impressionists, I think that most recent piece I saw was painted in 1939). The Gaugin exhibit was interesting but really crowded so I didn't get to be that close to the paintings. It was not very crowded in the main floor of the West Gallery, mostly because I was there right when it opened. After going through the East Gallery, my last stop was the Chester Dale Collection on the ground floor of the West Gallery. And the Chester Dale collection is great, it has lots of works/sculptures by Impressionists including Degas, Renior, Rodin, Monet, and probably my favorite Van Gogh. It's hard to pick which part was my favorite, I really liked the British/Irish/American rooms (lots of lovely landscapes, before that lots of religious paintings), the really beautiful still-life paintings ( spread out throughout a lot of the rooms), or the Chester Dale Collection. I took lots of pictures of the paintings and you can check them out here (some might be a little fuzzy, sorry about the quality).
Friday, March 18, 2011
There are about 500 ways this video is great
The excellent Darcy hair, the fact that the conga is involved, the outburst at Caroline Bingley and the freestyle dance at the end. Love it!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Banjo and Violin
I first heard this band while watching the Australian show, Rain Shadow. The music really stuck with me, and it's not really hard to see why.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Rules Governing What May Become An Outdated Object
If you have read more that a few entries of this blog, you may have noticed that I enjoy reading a great deal and hold books in general in high regard. I am one of those people who will tolerate less well written novels, for instance the Twilight books, in the hope that those books will inspire readers to turn to better novels (in the case of the Twilight books, Stephanie Meyers mentions Jane Austen novels and novels by the Brontes so I can hope those tween girls are turned on the better authors who are out there). A by-product of my admiration and love for books, is that I am borderline anal about the books I own or lend out. I hate cracking the spines of my books so I am really careful when I read a book for the first time. I do own several books with cracked spines (like most of the Austen and Bronte books) but those are a result of intense re-reading and searching for references for college papers. There a several books on my bookshelf that I have read that look brand new. And I make sure anyone that I lend books to know that I do not appreciate cracking the spines on my books (and don't even get me started on people that fold the cover all the way around the book, I get hives just thinking about it). Since I own so many books (we are talking multiple bookshelves that are 2 books deep), space is at a premium. So this have lead me to purchase fewer hardcover books and more paperback books and I am part of a online book-rental service that only uses paperback books. As a result, when I hear about a new book (or see it in the bookstore) I usually write down the book title (one reason to always carry something to write on and with) and look it up on Amazon later and add to my wishlist (which means that are hundreds of books in my Amazon wishlist). Then periodically I will see if certain books are in paperback yet. This of course leads to very delayed gratification/reading of a book and then I am excited about a book about 9 months after it is first published. And today was one of those days, because a books I've been dying to read but due to unwillingness to pay for a hardcover and being transient (and therefore library-less) for the better part of last year, I haven't read. This books is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. In a nutshell (a very small nutshell), it is story of one of first cell lines discovered and the effects on this cell line on science as a whole as well as the family of the woman who produced the (cancerous) cells that gave rise to this cell line (HeLa cells). I heard about this book on NPR, a part of the book was presented on my beloved podcast RadioLab (in a episode about famous tumors), and the tri-fecta(for me anyway) was that it inspired an episodes in the last season of Law & Order. I am so excited to finally read this book; I just have to decide if I should buy it (and then lend it out to people who will not wrap the cover around the book) or rent it (and I am open to input).
Thursday, March 03, 2011
The Wonder of Hearing the Written Word
Earlier this month, the author Brian Jacques passed away. You might not know who he was, but I assure you that there is a subset of youngish adults whose parents probably watched a lot of PBS and received a Chinaberry catalog that contained the first three of Jacques series of Redwall books. I, my sisters, and a few cousins are some of those adults. I remember my mother reading Redwall to Bridget, Lucy, and I one chapter a night and having special voices for all the characters (and I seem to recall that on most nights, we begged and pleaded for an additional chapter). And Redwall is a great series, and I encourage parents with kids that are about 8 or 9 (there are some emotional parts of the book) to get the first book and read it to their children.
There is something so comforting and slightly hypnotic about hearing a story. And I think that are a lot of people who enjoy being read to beyond their childhood years. During our last few days in Europe, Lucy and I would read to each other (again a chapter at a time) from the first Artemis Fowl book. I often enjoy listening to books on CD, especially books read by the author (shout out to David Sedaris, whose books are best experienced in an audio format).
There is something so comforting and slightly hypnotic about hearing a story. And I think that are a lot of people who enjoy being read to beyond their childhood years. During our last few days in Europe, Lucy and I would read to each other (again a chapter at a time) from the first Artemis Fowl book. I often enjoy listening to books on CD, especially books read by the author (shout out to David Sedaris, whose books are best experienced in an audio format).
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