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Been meaning to post some pictures of the kids for ages, but a request from the lovely ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kaths has gotten me off my arse. ( 16 pics below the cut... )
kaths has gotten me off my arse. ( 16 pics below the cut... )
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I'm on page 16 of the novelisation of Evil of the Daleks by John Peel, and it's making me violently angry.
Peel is a continuity obsessed fanboy, and that's fine, but there's a time and place for it. I don't normally mind authors expanding the worlds in which the original stories were set, but this is really pissing me off. The story doesn't need all this retconning, it only needs minimal background, but in the prologue alone Peel manages to tie in with Frontier in Space, Daleks' Master Plan, and Genesis of the Daleks.
The only bit that fits is later when the Doctor is thinking about his past self, who is busy on the other side of London. Given it relates directly to Ben and Polly leaving, it's a fair addition to make.
Then he manages to get the details of the Chameleon's plan from The Faceless Ones arse about, talking about their plan to invade Earth, when their actual plan was to abduct 50,000 humans and leave.
I dunno, maybe I'm just being too harsh. Or maybe I'm right to be angry that I'm being inundated by dodgy continuity by an author who manages, on the second page, to misspell the name of the Dalek home-world as Skarao.
Peel is a continuity obsessed fanboy, and that's fine, but there's a time and place for it. I don't normally mind authors expanding the worlds in which the original stories were set, but this is really pissing me off. The story doesn't need all this retconning, it only needs minimal background, but in the prologue alone Peel manages to tie in with Frontier in Space, Daleks' Master Plan, and Genesis of the Daleks.
The only bit that fits is later when the Doctor is thinking about his past self, who is busy on the other side of London. Given it relates directly to Ben and Polly leaving, it's a fair addition to make.
Then he manages to get the details of the Chameleon's plan from The Faceless Ones arse about, talking about their plan to invade Earth, when their actual plan was to abduct 50,000 humans and leave.
I dunno, maybe I'm just being too harsh. Or maybe I'm right to be angry that I'm being inundated by dodgy continuity by an author who manages, on the second page, to misspell the name of the Dalek home-world as Skarao.
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Last night I was so wrecked I nearly went to bed at 8pm. I ended up staying up later only because I wanted to hang out with Sharon, who was actually too busy to hang, so I went to bed at 10pm. After I went to bed, Sharon had a crook guts, which kept her up until 1am.
At 4am I awoke to the sound of Lex being loudly happy. I knew immediately what the result would be, if not the cause. When I went into the room, MaybeZoe was wide awake as well because Lex had decided to play with her. At 4fuckingAM. Took a while to find out Lex had a headache, and then I had to lie with him to get him settled. Meanwhile, Zozo got progressively more unhappy.
At 6am she showed no signs of settling. In fact she was getting louder and more unsettled. By this point nappy had been checked, she had been fed (I woke Shaz a quarter hour before her alarm would go off to feed bub), and given she's teething I'd tried pain relief. Nothing was working.
Then I remembered something. It was something I'd not used with her because unlike her brother, she'd seldom had a lot of trouble settling.
I tried throat singing. Within 30 seconds she'd quietened down. By the five minute mark she was asleep. Hooray!
Now if only I had someone to help lull me to sleep...
Might be time to break out either the Dead Planet soundtrack, or the Warriors' Gate one.
At 4am I awoke to the sound of Lex being loudly happy. I knew immediately what the result would be, if not the cause. When I went into the room, MaybeZoe was wide awake as well because Lex had decided to play with her. At 4fuckingAM. Took a while to find out Lex had a headache, and then I had to lie with him to get him settled. Meanwhile, Zozo got progressively more unhappy.
At 6am she showed no signs of settling. In fact she was getting louder and more unsettled. By this point nappy had been checked, she had been fed (I woke Shaz a quarter hour before her alarm would go off to feed bub), and given she's teething I'd tried pain relief. Nothing was working.
Then I remembered something. It was something I'd not used with her because unlike her brother, she'd seldom had a lot of trouble settling.
I tried throat singing. Within 30 seconds she'd quietened down. By the five minute mark she was asleep. Hooray!
Now if only I had someone to help lull me to sleep...
Might be time to break out either the Dead Planet soundtrack, or the Warriors' Gate one.
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- doctor who,
- lex,
- tnpsk,
- zoe
Yes, it's happening. Only six, but hopefully they'll be popular enough that there will be more to come.
I'd been disappointed that in recent years all the novels were being turning into audio books. Audio books are good, but I was saddened by the fact that these were readily available, while the paper versions were all out of print.
I'd been disappointed that in recent years all the novels were being turning into audio books. Audio books are good, but I was saddened by the fact that these were readily available, while the paper versions were all out of print.
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So, yesterday (it's actually taken a while to write this, so a day or two ago, in fact) found time/energy to post, and to deal with a couple of emails. Most non-child/household related stuff I've managed in a while.
Last night, MaybeZoe kept me up until 1:30, then kept Sharon up until 4:30, then Lex awoke at 8:30. And the sleep I had was broken.
So, now I'm zombie boy. And Sharon is zombie girl. But both our children are awake and happy!
( Other stuff, some cheery, some not, kind of long, and some pics of the demon offspring... )
Last night, MaybeZoe kept me up until 1:30, then kept Sharon up until 4:30, then Lex awoke at 8:30. And the sleep I had was broken.
So, now I'm zombie boy. And Sharon is zombie girl. But both our children are awake and happy!
( Other stuff, some cheery, some not, kind of long, and some pics of the demon offspring... )
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So, I've recently been doing some research on the old Hartnell TARDIS for a small project, and as I looked around the 'net, I got slightly depressed. I kept finding CGI renderings of the Hartnell console room, and to be frank, most of them were pretty bloody good. Great level of detail, the consoles looked good, the lighting was good.
And it came to mind that I'd been left well behind. ( Read more... )
And it came to mind that I'd been left well behind. ( Read more... )
There's been so much I've been wanting to write about in detail over the last few weeks, but given I started this nearly two weeks back, detail is obviously not going to happen, so it's dot point time!
( Life and assorted bits... kinda long... some Too Much Information at the end, so possibly want to avoid if you're delicate, a relo, or both... )
( Life and assorted bits... kinda long... some Too Much Information at the end, so possibly want to avoid if you're delicate, a relo, or both... )
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Been having a rough time, recently. The trips to Cooma are tiring - the work there, the packing here, doing all the loading and unloading on my own, and so on. But the spending of so much time away from my kids seems to be seriously hitting my depression buttons.
I think the clearest sign of this is the fact that, while rewatching season 4 of the 2005 Doctor Who, almost every episode has made me cry. Hell I rewatched Voyage of the Damned and that made me cry every time someone died!
On top of that, we're seriously talking about the need to have Kal put down. He's healthy enough physically but his mental deterioration is getting worse. He's become so skittish and jumpy about everything, and in the last few years has started to be very angry and bitey every time he's handled. So he doesn't seem to be terribly happy, and there's the constant concern that he'll bite Lex. And in actual fact, I don't mind if he does bite Lex, if Lex is mishandling him or anything, but I don't necessarily trust it to be a single nip, given his current demeanour.
So there's the serious consideration to making one of the first acts of moving into our new house putting my dog down.
And today I had a tooth removed. They didn't have to saw the jaw this time, but they did have to cut my gum a bit. So I'm very sore and headachey.
( So, the request... )
I think the clearest sign of this is the fact that, while rewatching season 4 of the 2005 Doctor Who, almost every episode has made me cry. Hell I rewatched Voyage of the Damned and that made me cry every time someone died!
On top of that, we're seriously talking about the need to have Kal put down. He's healthy enough physically but his mental deterioration is getting worse. He's become so skittish and jumpy about everything, and in the last few years has started to be very angry and bitey every time he's handled. So he doesn't seem to be terribly happy, and there's the constant concern that he'll bite Lex. And in actual fact, I don't mind if he does bite Lex, if Lex is mishandling him or anything, but I don't necessarily trust it to be a single nip, given his current demeanour.
So there's the serious consideration to making one of the first acts of moving into our new house putting my dog down.
And today I had a tooth removed. They didn't have to saw the jaw this time, but they did have to cut my gum a bit. So I'm very sore and headachey.
( So, the request... )
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I'm going to mention two, and I make no apologies for this.
Pretty easy for me, this one. Time and the Rani is a stand-out stinker from the original series of Doctor Who. Bad in so many ways, from dreadful writing, poor acting, lacklustre direction... there is little this story does well. Pip and Jane Baker are writers who have only written one story I liked, Mark of the Rani, and even that was pretty ropey in places.
From the new series of DW, End of Time stands out. So poorly executed by people who have shown they are capable of so much better that it's insulting to its audience. I liked David Tennant, but this story basically highlights every wrong decision they made with his character through the series and hyper-sensitises you to them, so when you see those minor elements appear while rewatching earlier stories, they piss you off where previously you weren't fussed.
The Bakers were always ordinary writers, but RTD is one of the best of his generation, and as such I hold him to a higher standard. EoT was poo.
Pretty easy for me, this one. Time and the Rani is a stand-out stinker from the original series of Doctor Who. Bad in so many ways, from dreadful writing, poor acting, lacklustre direction... there is little this story does well. Pip and Jane Baker are writers who have only written one story I liked, Mark of the Rani, and even that was pretty ropey in places.
From the new series of DW, End of Time stands out. So poorly executed by people who have shown they are capable of so much better that it's insulting to its audience. I liked David Tennant, but this story basically highlights every wrong decision they made with his character through the series and hyper-sensitises you to them, so when you see those minor elements appear while rewatching earlier stories, they piss you off where previously you weren't fussed.
The Bakers were always ordinary writers, but RTD is one of the best of his generation, and as such I hold him to a higher standard. EoT was poo.
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I'm going to be a bit anal and loose (gosh that sounds dreadful in so many ways) with this one. I'm only going to choose from the original series of Doctor Who since I made a point of specifically mentioning that the original was my favourite show, and I'm going to pick a favourite story rather than a single episode. I could probably pick a favourite episode, but to be frank the idea of picking one part of a story seems like a pain in the arse.
Of course 'favourite' is dependant on my mood, what I'm feeling like I need at that time. For instance, Warriors' Gate and Frontios are my 'chicken soup' Doctor Who stories, ones I tend to enjoy watching when I want some comfort. I love both The Invasion and Daleks' Master Plan for all sorts of reasons, though I think Kevin Stoney's performance in each is awesome fun to watch. Happiness Patrol and Web Planet are both the sorts of stories that only Doctor Who would attempt, and I love the insanity of both.
This is the problem, whatever I pick as my favourite will be completely different this time tomorrow, and different again next week. But, if I have to pick one...
Revelation of the Daleks is a comedy, one that features Daleks, funerals, cannibalism, Davros, direction by Graeme Harper, and acting from William Gaunt, Clive Swift, Eleanor Bron, and Alexie Sayle. Needless to say, it's a bizarre black comedy, with moments of weird horror. Its flaws are many but they don't really matter because when it works, it's wonderful.
There's the disgraced Knight of Oberon and his foul-smelling servant, Davros stating that telling people his new food supplement was made of their dead might lead to 'consumer resistance,' Mr. Jobel's vanity, and of course, Daleks being killed by highly-directional ultrasonic beams of rock 'n roll.
I think my favourite moment of all the silliness is a small one right near the end. Davros has had his hand blown off. He's about to be taken away by the Daleks to stand trial. As he's about to leave, the Doctor moves as if he's about to shake Davros' hand, and Davros raises his bandaged stump for a moment and then brings it back down in annoyance as if he's just remembered he no longer has a hand.
Of course 'favourite' is dependant on my mood, what I'm feeling like I need at that time. For instance, Warriors' Gate and Frontios are my 'chicken soup' Doctor Who stories, ones I tend to enjoy watching when I want some comfort. I love both The Invasion and Daleks' Master Plan for all sorts of reasons, though I think Kevin Stoney's performance in each is awesome fun to watch. Happiness Patrol and Web Planet are both the sorts of stories that only Doctor Who would attempt, and I love the insanity of both.
This is the problem, whatever I pick as my favourite will be completely different this time tomorrow, and different again next week. But, if I have to pick one...
Revelation of the Daleks is a comedy, one that features Daleks, funerals, cannibalism, Davros, direction by Graeme Harper, and acting from William Gaunt, Clive Swift, Eleanor Bron, and Alexie Sayle. Needless to say, it's a bizarre black comedy, with moments of weird horror. Its flaws are many but they don't really matter because when it works, it's wonderful.
There's the disgraced Knight of Oberon and his foul-smelling servant, Davros stating that telling people his new food supplement was made of their dead might lead to 'consumer resistance,' Mr. Jobel's vanity, and of course, Daleks being killed by highly-directional ultrasonic beams of rock 'n roll.
I think my favourite moment of all the silliness is a small one right near the end. Davros has had his hand blown off. He's about to be taken away by the Daleks to stand trial. As he's about to leave, the Doctor moves as if he's about to shake Davros' hand, and Davros raises his bandaged stump for a moment and then brings it back down in annoyance as if he's just remembered he no longer has a hand.
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Need to jump in early with this because I go bush tomorrow morning, and will be away for a couple of nights.
So, do I really need to tell you the answer to this question? Really?
Okay, for the new person who doesn't know me and only discovered my LJ through twitter, or the odd friend who is criminally thick, my favourite show ever is Doctor Who.
To expand on this a little, it has been my favourite show since age seven. To expand on it further, and to be anal about it, the original run of the series is my favourite show ever, the new series is not quite there yet, but it's pretty good.
I don't think there is another TV show that, when at its best, can be so inventive and different. It runs the gamut from comedy to drama to action to thriller, sometimes all in the one story. Plus it features a hero who, when at his best, doesn't use weapons but instead his brains to win the day.
And the show changes organically with the world we live in, the ways of telling the stories change, the lead actor changes, everything changes so that the show you're watching now is not the same show you were watching two years ago, and it's not the show you will be watching in another two years. And if you don't like what it becomes, just hang around, it'll change again.
Nothing else has had the positive impact on my life that Doctor Who has had. And while I may be able to judge the show more critically than when I was seven, I still love it just as much.
You will see Doctor Who mentioned a few more times in this meme.
So, do I really need to tell you the answer to this question? Really?
Okay, for the new person who doesn't know me and only discovered my LJ through twitter, or the odd friend who is criminally thick, my favourite show ever is Doctor Who.
To expand on this a little, it has been my favourite show since age seven. To expand on it further, and to be anal about it, the original run of the series is my favourite show ever, the new series is not quite there yet, but it's pretty good.
I don't think there is another TV show that, when at its best, can be so inventive and different. It runs the gamut from comedy to drama to action to thriller, sometimes all in the one story. Plus it features a hero who, when at his best, doesn't use weapons but instead his brains to win the day.
And the show changes organically with the world we live in, the ways of telling the stories change, the lead actor changes, everything changes so that the show you're watching now is not the same show you were watching two years ago, and it's not the show you will be watching in another two years. And if you don't like what it becomes, just hang around, it'll change again.
Nothing else has had the positive impact on my life that Doctor Who has had. And while I may be able to judge the show more critically than when I was seven, I still love it just as much.
You will see Doctor Who mentioned a few more times in this meme.
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I'm not talking about any particular dalek story here. The latest one has mainly been a catalyst for making me want to put these thoughts out there again. Naturally Steven reads my LJ, and values my opinion, so I'll be expecting a reply from him any day now.
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Dear Mr. Moffat, I'm not going to beat around the bush here - I love the Daleks. They are my favourite villains. So I would like to request fewer Dalek stories in Doctor Who, please. ( Read more... )
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Dear Mr. Moffat, I'm not going to beat around the bush here - I love the Daleks. They are my favourite villains. So I would like to request fewer Dalek stories in Doctor Who, please. ( Read more... )
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Sharon has been having a terrible time settling Lex (he's teething - big, painful rear teeth), whereas I'm having some trouble, but nowhere near as much. I was trying to come up with anything I did differently, couldn't think of anything, but mentioned that I now always finish with the Venusian lullaby from Doctor Who. It's the one Pertwee uses to hypnotise Aggedor, the royal beast of Peladon.
No, really. I couldn't make that up.
Anyway Sharon tried to settle Lex tonight, and he would not settle. She headed off to resettle him again, and this time it worked! When she came down, I told her I was surprised, and didn't think he was going to settle.
She mimed patting Lex's back and then starting singing a rough version of... you guessed it! It's the easiest he's settled for her in a while.
Here's the only copy I could find on Youtube.
No, really. I couldn't make that up.
Anyway Sharon tried to settle Lex tonight, and he would not settle. She headed off to resettle him again, and this time it worked! When she came down, I told her I was surprised, and didn't think he was going to settle.
She mimed patting Lex's back and then starting singing a rough version of... you guessed it! It's the easiest he's settled for her in a while.
Here's the only copy I could find on Youtube.
I've been testing it out this week, and Venusian lullabies actually work a treat!
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Before anyone asks, I'll be putting all the specials together at the end, hence no Christmas Invasion. Why? Because I can. And even though they fit in with the show's continuity, they are meant to be specials, not part of the regular run.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
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Here's the teaser for the upcoming Matt Smith series of Doctor Who.
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Given that once it was downloaded I wasn't desperate to watch it immediately, you should have some idea of just how low I had set the bar. So I had seriously low expectations...
And I was still disappointed.
It really is a mess. It has moments and elements that I liked, but they are all too brief and mostly come at the end. I really hoped RTD would return to form and give us something approaching the levels of Rose, The End of the World, Parting of the Ways or Doomsday. Either a simple, well realised story, or a proper, amazing finale.
Not even close. If I had seen any of those episodes and then you'd shown me this one, and I didn't know it was written by the same man, I would never have believed it.
He's got a hell of a lot of ground to make up with part 2. I don't think he's going to, but I'd genuinely like to be posting this time next week saying that it was not only a fabulous send off to the Tenth Doctor, but an amazing and brilliant send off to Russell and his team.
2/10
Any comments to this post are likely to contain massive spoilers, so please be warned.
And I was still disappointed.
It really is a mess. It has moments and elements that I liked, but they are all too brief and mostly come at the end. I really hoped RTD would return to form and give us something approaching the levels of Rose, The End of the World, Parting of the Ways or Doomsday. Either a simple, well realised story, or a proper, amazing finale.
Not even close. If I had seen any of those episodes and then you'd shown me this one, and I didn't know it was written by the same man, I would never have believed it.
He's got a hell of a lot of ground to make up with part 2. I don't think he's going to, but I'd genuinely like to be posting this time next week saying that it was not only a fabulous send off to the Tenth Doctor, but an amazing and brilliant send off to Russell and his team.
2/10
Any comments to this post are likely to contain massive spoilers, so please be warned.
In the last week or so I've been watching back some of the Ninth Doctor stories, and it hit me - I was enjoying the show a lot more than I have been over the last year or so. ( Major spoilers for Waters of Mars )
I could go for the ones everyone remembers Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Star Wars but instead I present a rare appearance by Deep Roy in Blake's 7. Why is it rare? Because virtually every time he appeared in the show, he was covered in half a tonne of latex!
I present, from the B7 episode Gambit, Deep Roy as The Klute!
I present, from the B7 episode Gambit, Deep Roy as The Klute!
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