Geek Love

I am a squeenado, a tornado full of squee.

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:09:42 GMT

Some pictures from the current filming are making me seriously excited.

Oh hells yes! Can I has them now, please? Especially wishing that this sort of interaction will be common in their relationship.

In other news, life is being a little crazy. Currently in temporary housing. Medical appointments on the horizon. I've also been called for jury duty. I don't mind the running, running, running, but at the same time I'm looking forward to some quiet time at home.

Maybe next month.

Confession Time

Tue, 05 May 2009 20:10:07 GMT

I think I've been silent for too long and if I don't do this now, I don't know when I'm going to do it... so I might as well do it now.

I am completely and utterly smitten by All the Small Things.

I admit that the first episode was very underwhelming on a first viewing. This is what I originally wrote about it:

I just finished watching All the Small Things, a new BBC One drama (yes, the title of the show is taken from a Blink-182 song) and I’m of mixed minds about it.

The music is fun! I like music! I like singing! But it’s about a family torn apart by competition and ambition (note: choir competition) and how the pieces go their separate ways and, I suppose, try to find their own ways. With a cast containing Sarah Alexander (Coupling), Sarah Lancashire (Miss Foster from Doctor Who S4 “Partners in Crime”), Neil Pearson (Bridget Jones’s Diary), and Bryan Dick (Adam from Torchwood S2 “Adam” and Sold), one would think that it would be brilliant, but I’m not so sure about it. It’s sort of… sappy in the wrong ways and at the wrong moments.

It’s a choir drama, commissioned by Jane Tranter. It’s sort of clear which characters the audience is suppose to like and which ones the audience wants to slap and I think that the lack of ambiguity makes it not as interesting as I would like it to be.

One major plus, though: Bryan Dick is totally hot with long hair. He plays the curate at the church where the choirs sing, practice, and compete. I think I’ll probably continue watching just for his story (his pretty hair and his dark, mysterious past).

ETA: Oh, I forgot to mention that it’s also got Annette Badland (Blon in Doctor Who S1 “Aliens in London”, “World War Three”, and “Boom Town”).

ETA2: Also, I’ve never heard of Richard Fleeshman before, but I really like his voice. REALLY like his voice. (will not get obsessed… will not get obsessed)

I downloaded the second episode, not really intending to watch it, but I did think that Bryan Dick was massively pretty and I should check it out just for the pretty, even if I had no expectations for the story. Man, talk about bad first impressions! This is what I wrote following that second episode:

Ok, I went and watched the second episode of All the Small Things.

It was a lot better than the first episode. TREMENDOUSLY better.
I think it’s because we’ve seen the highly predictable story of the family breakup in the first episode and now, it’s sort of waving outwards. We’re getting more details about the characters. Bryan Dick and Sarah Lancashire were excellent (and I’m sort of shipping them, because I just can’t help myself and I am so so so so so hoping the story goes that way because ZOMG THE HOTNESS). It’s still massively obvious who the bad guys are in the story, but it’s opening up to the lives of the good guys and seeing them rejoicing in song is surprisingly entertaining.

Two characters sing the chorus to All-American Reject’s “Swing Swing” and it’s a beautiful, touching scene. (Note: I had never heard this song before and I just LOVED the way it was sung twice in the episode that I looked it up.)

The notes are old,
They bend, they fold,
And so do I to a new love.

Did I mention that Bryan Dick is beautiful?

Also, I love this conversation between his character (Jake) and Sarah Lancashire's character (Esther):
Jake: Is there a pact within the church of england that all the coffee has to taste like camel-shit? How about we raid the collection box and buy ourselves an espresso machine?
Esther: I don’t think they’re ready for a revolution.
Jake: Well, they liked your revolution. The music-fest last week.
Esther: Oh, actually they hated it. Well, the old guard anyway. Only reason we won was your casting vote.
Jake: You were the best, [something I can’t hear to translate].
Esther: Well, it’s odd you should say that because to quote my estranged husband, I was “embarrassing and inappropriate”.
Jake: Well, here’s to inappropriate.

(wobble wobble wobble)

And the music!

After the second episode, I was completely and utterly smitten by the hot young curate falling for the smart, talented, older woman protagonist.

And I just kept falling more and more in love with it after each episode. Last week's episode 5, the penultimate episode (ZOMG, tonight is the finale and I can't stand the waiting!), I get nearly everything that I want and everything that I didn't want from this tiny show that I'm so in love with.

So to occupy my mind and to keep me from going absolutely insane waiting for the finale... I made some icon bases. They are free to take and share and enjoy! (And if you use/embellish them, please drop me a link so I can see your handiwork!)

1	2	3	4	5


6	7	8	9	10


11	12	13	14	15


16	17	18	19	20


21	22	23	24	25


26	27	28	29	30


31	32	33	34	35


36	37	38	39	40


41

A very short Paul McGann picspam

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:03:11 GMT

I got my hands on The Rainbow for a Ravelry's Who Knits? forum and managed to take a few screencaps of Paul McGann. I figured that I should share because, you know, Paul McGann (specifically naked!Paul McGann).

I'm going to see if I can take better caps today or over the weekend. If so, I'll add them.

Enjoy!

He's popping the cork to a wine bottle.

He's... running around on a mountain naked in a fevered dream of the main character.

Day Of Classic (Who): The Curse of Fenric

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:00:12 GMT

For the Day of Classic, I'm doing icon bases from "The Curse of Fenric".

Teaser:

Take. Have. Enjoy!

Writer's Block: Robotic

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:47:49 GMT

Who (or what) is your favorite fictional robot?

When I first read this question, it popped into my head with music from the television programme and all:

"Your plastic pal whose fun to be with!"

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has been part of my cultural vocabulary ever since I was 7. Friday and Saturday nights, the local PBS station would show British television, both science fiction like Doctor Who (Peter Davison, MY Doctor) and Blake's 7 and comedy like Are You Being Served?, Fawlty Towers, and Monty Python's Flying Circus (which, at the time, I didn't care for).

"I think you ought to know, I'm feeling very depressed."

I remember missing the opening moments of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but I remember the hilarity of the scene in the pub when Ford first tells Arthur that he's not from Guilford after all, but a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. The "computer screens" fascinated me, as I thought they were genuine, similar to the screens on my computers (at that age, I owned both an Atari 400 and a Heathkit) and I wondered if there was something like the Guide that I could get for myself. I was hooked. I thought that Ford Prefect was absolutely handsome, Zaphod Beeblebox was at a level of cool that I could never achieve, Trillian was sexiness that I could never achieve, and I was convinced that I could cheer up Marvin, my favorite Paranoid Android!

"Life. Don't talk to me about life."

A few weeks later, I discovered that it was a book series. I was browsing in a Barnes and Noble and spotted the first three books. I convinced my parents to buy it for me and I quickly devoured every line. Douglas Adams became one of my most treasured loves and I've collected all of his books, audios, and games ever since. I even remember playing the Hitchhiker's Guide game as a kid and being frustrated with the mail/babel fish/robot and the tea/no tea puzzles. I've owned the television show with every new phase of format: VHS tape, laserdisk, and it was one of the first DVDs I owned.

"Here I am, brain the size of a planet and they ask me to take you down to the bridge. Call that job satisfaction? 'Cos I don't."

I suppose my love affair really is with Hitchhiker's, but Marvin is such a big part of it. He's at the top of my list of favorite robots, the first that comes to mind, and I still cling to my childish hope that I could make him happy and hoopy.

"We apologize for the inconvenience."

The US Election and Me

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:50:35 GMT

This is the first time since I've started voting (turned 18 in 1993) that the presidential candidate that I have voted for has actually won.

Wow.

This feels... different.
In a good way.

I have won the Internets, again!

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:59:17 GMT

Wow, it's been a while.

July's been a really intense month and I've been away from LJ for around the past three weeks, just coming in off and on but not being devoted to reading my flist. I acquired a Bell's Palsy and I've been in and out of doctor's offices and stuff. I'm almost 100% back to a full recovery, although my ear still feels like it's under pressure and my left cheek isn't at 100% full feeling or mobility. Hopefully, I will start physical therapy sometime next week or so and things can get back to normal in August.

My birthday has come and gone, so I'm 33 now and Mike's 40 and we've been kidding around that our bodies decided to really show signs of wear and tear. Hee hee! Thank you for the fabulous birthday greetings, y'all are really great.

I wanted to give a shout out, especially, to my good friend PP. She sent me Five for my Jelly Baby swap. Now, she's given me a little friend to go with him!

YAY! (Methinks I've got a new OT3.)

Isn't he adorable? She also got me a lovely skein of this gorgeous Cherry Tree Hill yarn called "Foxy Lady". Mrowr! I really love her so very very much. (She's on LJ as awoods5. She's awesomesauce!)

We've been spending a lot of time together, along with a number of other fans and friends at Plurk. (Thanks to Ceej who got me into Plurk in the first place.) It's fun and I've made a number of new friends, mostly knitters and friends of knitters. A number of us are into Who too. And speaking of Who...

Those of you out there who know what that means, yay! I am proud to be 1 of 100 and I can't wait until the pictures of all 100 get released.

So, yay, I'm back and hopefully will throw myself back into my flist and friends and all the folks I've missed.

Best Thing Ever

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:15:05 GMT

So, everyone on my flist will be voting for the obvious selection in the latest best_thing_ever poll, right?

*wonders if who_knits will pick up on this and gets folks to vote for the TARDIS*

Doctor Who Quote Meme

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:07:28 GMT

Meme popping up everywhere on my flist: When you see this post, quote from Doctor Who on your LJ.

TRICKSY! My first thought was to post my favorite line from New Who, but I think this time I'll go Classic.

"A man is the sum of his memories, you know - a Time Lord even more so."
The Fifth Doctor, The Five Doctors

It's just too difficult to select just one and trying not to repeat what I've already seen. A lot of good quotes in "The Five Doctors" too, especially the one from the Master that everyone knows and loves.

I have won the Internets.

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:00:47 GMT

So, I'm on Ravelry and there's a Doctor Who forum on there called "Who Knits?" One of our members decided that it was a shame that folks on this side of the pond find it hard to access Jelly Babies, so a swap was born from it. Jelly Baby Swap 2008!

I, lucky me, have a UK import store in my little town, so I happen to be able to be in the "Haz Jelly Babies" category. My swap partner, knowing this, decided to splurge on me because my package was coming from across the country and not across the pond.

She gave me the bestest swap package ever.

The yarn was selected because it reminded her of Tegan's uniform. The roving, my swap partner dyed herself in a "Five" colorway, after his coat. Awesome, yes? But the BEST part about the swap?!

She made me a Five of my own! MY DOCTOR! (Yes, this is a picture of me with my little guy yesterday. My fab sister took the photograph.)

I love her so much. So very, very much. I fangirl her. Hard.

Doctor Who, S4E10 - Midnight

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:53:21 GMT

As usual, I'm late to the "here are my thoughts" game. Mostly, this is because I tend to collect my thoughts over a couple of days, write a few thoughts here and there on the 'Net about it, and by that time I think that I might have said everything that I wanted to say about an episode.

Still, I think it could be good to collect my thoughts in one place, so here goes. Folks that know me from here and there would recognize these thoughts already.

For who_daily: <lj user="iko"> <a href="http://iko.livejournal.com/43358.html"> has highly contradictory feelings and poetry</a>

I have mixed feelings about this episode. Not exactly negative feelings, mind you, but highly contradictory feelings.

On one hand, I thought that the episode felt less like a Doctor Who episode and more like a Twilight Zone episode. It's got a similar pacing to typical Twilight Zone episodes, specifically "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street". I'm not sure how familiar folks are with that story. It's about a lazy afternoon on a typical block when the lights and power go out. The people gather to discuss the blackout when the power goes off and on without reason in different houses and people start blaming each other until they start fighting. At the very end, the camera pulls back to reveal two aliens who were responsible for the power outages and they discuss how it is human nature to blame each other and destroy ourselves. It's very powerful social commentary about prejudice and hysteria... which is exactly what "Midnight" was about too. So, that sort of threw me emotionally because it wasn't what I expected from a Who episode. I loved it very much because of it. I think that it's the sort of episode that make people of all ages think. "Midnight" is social commentary, not uncommon in Who, but the delivery of this kind of social commentary is not typical of the series.

On the other hand, I thought the episode was a brilliant character exploration of the Doctor. It solidifies the need for the Doctor for a companion, someone to be his backup, when dealing with other people (goodness gracious, can you imagine the trip to the Library without Donna and River who both know him?). When he's by himself, he comes off to others as arrogant and his "I'm clever!" line totally fell flat. He can't help himself, since this regeneration is a bit rude - he can't help but correct other people and he has a difficult time empathizing with others or communicating effectively with those that do not empathize with him. (Gosh, in this respect, this is very much like Mike and me. We're both not particularly empathetic and we're both rather clever and I know that we tend to come off like this. So this episode really hit me hard.) Also, he is really private about himself. He doesn't give any indication of what makes him different: he's NOT human, he travels in a TARDIS, he's seen all these brilliant places and the wonders of the universe and in this episode, he is made completely impotent. There is no fancy box that's bigger on the inside. Just him, the stuff in his pockets, and a love to see the universe. The fascination of new life and the willingness to understand and to help everything really comes through. In other words, there's a part of me that thinks the episode is very much a Doctor Who episode!

How much love could I have for Lesley Sharp? NOT ENOUGH. Seriously, I saw her in Bob & Rose (which is a must-see) and Second Coming (another must-see) and she's just brilliant. I still need to get my hands on Clocking Off. I think that her performance was amazing and so difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if this role was written for her or that Team Cardiff would work hard to get her in this role (Russell has worked with enough people to have his favorites and it's interesting to see when he brings out "the big guns" in his arsenal to bring to Who when great, high impact performances are required).

It's great to see Lesley and David working off each other. They are both really amazing and there's this great energy between them that was awesome to see. And David's performance at the end was just so awesome and intense and just... it makes me shudder.

You could tell that this was to be the "low budget" episode, to help save up the finances for the big finale. It's an intimate piece and I thought it was good. I didn't love it, though. It doesn't inspire me to write tons of fanfic about it and I'm largely uninterested in the other characters, excepting perhaps Dee Dee and Jethro. I don't have the awe that I think I should about the planet of "Midnight" (although it does amuse me that Donna and the Doctor are at a self-described "pleasure planet"). I'm most tired of the old "mothers are bad" trope that Russell demonstrates. I know that it's understandable to have a primary instigator, a bad guy, but I really wish it wasn't always a mother character. I find it interesting that the two smartest passengers other than the Doctor were also the two youngest and both were repressed by older, authority figures (who were less competent).

Two big things that I saw were definitely interesting and two minor things that amused me:
1. The very quick Rose flash. I think that it clarifies that Rose was not saying "Donna" in "The Sontaran Stratagem" and was, in fact, saying "Doctor". The time setting of "Midnight" is not clear (in other words, I'm not sure if the people on board the shuttle were humans-in-the-future, like the same time setting as the Library or if the time setting is present time, like the not-humans-but-look-like-humans people from "Voyage of the Damned"). My *guess* is that the story is taking place in present time and Rose is trying to contact him on their "shared present timeline" (notice that when the Doctor travels to a different time period, like in the Library, Rose doesn't reach him).
2. The Christina Georgina Rossetti poem "Goblin Market". I think that the story of the "Goblin Market" (of a bad choice that leads to another making a huge sacrifice for the one that made a bad choice) highly reinforces my thoughts about how the ending of the series is going to play out. See below for more thoughts on this...
3. ROMANA REFERENCE! He's so talking about Romana, not Rose, with Sky.
4. David Troughton! I love it when Who becomes a family affair. I mean, he has appeared in Who in the past, but it is still wonderful to see it in New Who. So awesome to see two offspring from former Doctors in this season.

Going back to "Goblin Market":

The quote from the show is this:

We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?

The lines are spoken by Laura in the poem as a warning to her sister, and yet she is the one that ends up giving into temptation and eating the goblin fruit. Laura is sort of “doomed to die” but then her sister Lizzie ends up making a choice where she’s beaten by the goblins, but is coated with the pulp. She tells Laura to eat the pulp off her (woah sexual imagery) and thus saves her sister.

After an in-length discussion with Mike, specifically about the lines and the plot of the episode, I came to the realization that the lines quoted in the episode make *really* good sense in context.

Essentially, the lines are a warning in the poem. It is saying that goblin fruit need to be feared and be treated as dangerous because it is the unknown. There's an emphasis because it is foreign and strange that it should be feared, avoided, be treated as dangerous, and eventually be destroyed. It fits perfectly in the situation in "Midnight". That's exactly how the other passengers begin to treat Sky and this new presence. It doesn't matter what the Doctor said (that we should be cautious but at the same time, have a degree of excitement because this was something new - a new lifeform, a new conciousness) because it is ALIEN and DANGEROUS.

This ultimately leads to them deciding that it should be destroyed.

And what's really interesting is that this is exactly what the alien learns from humanity. First it was echoing our voices and thoughts. Then it was able to state our thoughts while we were having them. It was learning from us... and what did it learn from us? To fear. To create dissent. To destroy. And it took the one person that could possibly stand in its way, the one that was most clever and most sophisticated and most understanding and convinced the others to throw it that out, that positive force. Very strong social commentary.

I do think the poem fits with my thoughts of the theme of the season as a whole. Ever since April, I've thought that this season will have an overall theme about "choices" and as the season has gone on, it has just confirmed my thoughts more and more that someone will have to make the hardest choice. Now, the poem is about sacrifice. I think this points to the Doctor and Donna, about making hard choices and making sacrifices to do what is right (my brain always inserts "and not what is easy" afterwards; thanks Harry Potter).

As a summary:
I liked the episode as a whole. There is quite a bit to love in it. Will it be on my favorites list of New Who episodes? Probably not. Will I watch in the future? Probably not. Is it the type of episode that, upon watching, would increase my squee? Probably not. It doesn't inspire me, I'm not convinced it will give me more with multiple viewings (if you think otherwise, let me know what I bits you think deserve a rewatch). It scares me in a really negative way that makes me uncomfortable and I don't like it because of that. I respect it for being able to feel but I don't like it. I've read criticisms of the episode and while I understand what folks didn't like about it (the pacing seems to be the Big One, although close behind it is the strange set-up and the Donne-liteness), I still look at the positive bits I do like and think that the negative bits are worth the positive ones.

Three more to go. Aa! It kills me.

Religion and American Politics

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:15:42 GMT

A speech by Obama on religion.

Now I really want to get my hands on the entire speech and information about when he gave it. Notes in the Ravelry thread don't agree and it ranges from 2006 to March of this year. What I've heard so far points to a good and interesting speech and I'd love to see if there is more interesting substance in it.

I am optimistic for this upcoming election.

(ETA Note: I know that there are a number of people on my flist who aren't a fan of Obama and highly preferred Clinton. Fair enough! But please bear in mind who I am: a conservative-leaning moderate who typically votes Republican. Discussions about how Clinton is better for the Democratic party would pretty much fall on deaf ears for me because I am not a Democrat.)

Zombie Meme

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:54:38 GMT

Everyone is doin' it:
You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have: one weapon, onesong blasting on the speakers, one famous person to fight alongsideyou. (Weapon can be real or fictional; you may assume endless ammo ifapplicable. Person can be real or fictional.)

My weapon: Abigail Whistler's awesome bow/lightsaber combination (from Blade Trinity). So they don't get too close and when they do, I get to go all Obi-Wan on them.

My song: Weapon of Choice, by Fatboy Slim. Or Map of the Problematique by Muse. Both songs have a pace and intensity that I can get down with slaying zombies. YEAH.

Famous person to fight along side me: Shaun. Because he's tackled zombies before (to great effect). And then later he could fall madly in love with me and we'd live happily ever after. Hee!

I think this is evidence of me being mostly a 10 in the fannish personality disorder list.

I asked Mike what famous person (real or fictional) he would like to fight along side him. His response: God. <3

ETA: Still writing bits and pieces at the anonymous porn kink meme. REALLY fun!

Miscellany, mostly fandom stuff

Fri, 30 May 2008 04:19:47 GMT

You know, I never thought I'd ever get this excited about no news. But reading Neil's two paragraphs about the rumors flying about that he'll be writing for Doctor Who fills me with an insane amount of joy. It's seriously no news, but there's these vibes of potential that I'm getting from it. I have to keep telling myself to not get too over-excited, because I don't want to be disappointed.

But yay, Neil and Who would rock my socks.

I haven't been feeling so well recently. Not sure if it is the weather or female problems or just the recent trip, but I've been sort of blah. I might go to Philly this weekend for an Art Craft fair, which would be fun because Philly means good food, but that's still highly dependent on how I'm feeling. I don't like feeling blah and I wish whatever is misaligned will fix itself. On the good side, the shoulder ache I had the entire time I was in Illinois now is gone. I bet I just strained a muscle and it's finally healed. Yay.

I found out today that the local theater only played The Fall for a week. BAH. I'm going to need to trek to NYC to see it, I suppose. Or central Jersey. Poo.

Over the trip, I decided to bring along a copy of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. It was very light reading and it's not OMG MY FAVORITE THING EVAR (this is not high art or great literature nor is it life-changing/life-affirming or anything deep), but it was entertaining and I enjoyed thinking about Robert Pattinson in the male lead (because I am shallow like that, heh). The book definitely captured the voice of a 16/17 year old teenager, at least one that my inner 16/17 year old would relate to. There's a part of me that wishes it was in third person and not first person, since Bella isn't my favorite character, but I think that's one of its appeals for its targetted young adult audience. I find the books extremely predictable so far (I'm about halfway through New Moon), but entertaining enough for me to take the time to read it. Which isn't a lot since it is really light reading. As in the first book took me probably about 3 hours.

I dipped my toe into the Ravelry fandom for it and they seem like a enthusiastic and sweet bunch. I'm hoping to find someone to go see the film with me, because I'm willing to bet that it will be one of the freakishly accurate adaptations/translations I've ever seen. ~~Unfortunately no one that I know would be interested in reading the books nor going with me to see a teenage vampire flick~~. It's cheesy, drippy sappy and angsty teenage vampire/werewolf fun. I am curious about The Host, just to see if Meyer is an author I'd like to continue to read or if I'm just in it for the vampire teenage melodrama-fest. Because at this point, I'm not sure. I'm more inclined to think that it's because I love stuff about vampires (and yay for neck fetish) and the idea of Robert Pattinson in the lead that I'm having fun with the books. I'm trying to feel not too guilty about enjoying them.

And I've been doing some test knitting for Mazz. Whee! I love knitting lace.

Doctor Who and Uniqueness

Wed, 28 May 2008 01:36:10 GMT

So, the rumors of two Tens have been flying around and that reminded me of a conversation that I had with someone a while back regarding the "uniqueness" of the Doctor. It seems that there are alt-universe!Jackie and alt-universe!Pete, and I remember wondering outloud whether or not there would be an alt-universe!Doctor. Someone else (augh, I don't remember and I can't seem to find it in any of my old emails) responded that the Doctor and the other Time Lords are unique across all the universes and dimensions. In essence, that there is only one Doctor, one Master, one Romana, etc.

Is this true? Where can I find this little nugget of information? (Although I worry that it's a piece of canon that I have forgotten or completely missed.)

I feel like such a bad fan.

ETA: Oh I found this discussion which poses the whole alt!Doctor question. It's a recent discussion, so it's not the one that I had sometime last year (or maybe even the year before, my memory is hazy (time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so)).

FINALLY!

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:58:09 GMT

Moffat named lead writer and executive producer for Doctor Who.

YES!

PS - Here is the official BC press office release.

Doctor Who and Knitting - a very happy ending, indeed

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:13:18 GMT

YAY!

We've just heard from Mazz that she's in talks with the BBC for a whole lot of stuff, including to get her pattern licensed for use on the website and in a BBC magazine. She's also got a whole lot of opportunities ahead of her (including knitting for and meeting Team Cardiff).

WOW.

I am so happy and pleased and I think that it's a huge win for Who fandom knitters.

Knitting and Doctor Who: The BBC Speaks!

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:34:40 GMT

The news has finally made the BBC.

So far, it's the article that has had the most statements from the BBC that I've seen, but there are a number of things that bug me about what they've written.

"BBC Worldwide said it acted because finished figures were being sold by others on auction website eBay." (Emphasis mine.) They also repeat this later in the article "This lady, with the best will in the world, wanted to share with friends, family and fans. But there were some unscrupulous people taking these patterns and using them on eBay to make profit for themselves. Unfortunately, we had to get to the source of the patterns - and that was her website." That's something that I don't understand. Why penalize the person who is distributing the pattern (and by extension the rest of the knitting community) and not just the people who were selling the pattern or finished knitted objects? And why just HER and not other people who have distributed other patterns and have sold finished knitted objects?

When Mazz informed the BBC that she took down the patterns, she wrote a really great email that attempted to inform and appeal to their sense of fairness, and hoped that she wasn't being singled out. Their response implied that she was the one that was preventing profit from genuine merchandise and read like a canned response: it was two sentences long.

Also from the article: "It [BBC Worldwide] also denied threatening legal action and said it had offered to consider marketing the designs itself." I am working to confirm this, but reading all correspondence that Mazz has shared so far, BBC Worldwide has NOT indicated to Mazz that they considered marketing the design.

The BBC spokesman has said, "It's not that we don't admire creativity from fans - most of the time,we take the view that if it's small-scale and not for profit, then weturn a blind eye." I wish they made that policy all of the time, because Mazz was small-scale and not for profit. She was even working hard to STOP the ebayers by reporting them! (And enlisted a whole bunch of us to report them as well. I know that I have reported three listings by the same ebay seller who still has an active ebay account last I checked.) When he said "Mazzmatazz was still welcome to get in touch with BBC Worldwide to discuss the issue.", she HAS. She has sent them two additional letters, the first arguing the case that she is small-scale and not-for-profit and the second with a number of different ideas on how to resolve this issue. Like I said, I'm working to confirm if they have continued correspondence with her... and I'll keep folks updated on what I know.

Thanks to everyone out there who has taken some form of action, by either writing to the BBC or spreading the word. Here's hoping that in the semi-near future, there will be knitted adipose (and others) for all!

One meta-thought about Doctor Who S4E6, The Doctor's Daughter

Mon, 12 May 2008 04:07:22 GMT

Full disclosure: I haven't actually listened to the commentary yet.

Folks have mentioned that it was the Moff that was responsible for resurrecting Jenny.
To me, this is just another example of why he is a writer that I admire.

I don't see it as a sign that he prefers the young, perky blondes (although having seen his work, I have no doubt that he does like them).
I see it as a sign that he sees so much potential in the character. Having her alive in the universe is a Good Thing. There are stories that could be explored that touch her or are touched by her. Another writer may want to take that hook and run with it in the future, and you have to have her live in order to have that potential. It speaks of a wider universe than just the Doctor's story. I love that; it's practically inspirational (and feels like an invitation to go on and write myself).

Doctor Who, S4E6 - The Doctor's Daughter

Sun, 11 May 2008 02:39:46 GMT

I'm at Powder Hill, which is where my parents live. I cannot say that it is their house, as it isn't; it belongs to the estate of my late father's friend. The house is beautiful and it's great being able to stay here to look after my mum as she recuperates from minor surgery.

The plus side: no problems with torrents from here! Sharing seems to fine, while at my apartment, sharing doesn't seem to work very well (I can download fine and I can share while downloading, but once the download is done, upload seems to poof).

There's a part of me that wishes this episode was a two-parter, because there seemed to be so much information involved and so much more potential for character development in the quiet moments between the fighting, especially to see more of Martha's interactions with the Hath and more revealing to Jenny of the Doctor's history and Time Lord history.

"A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge. A code. A shared history. A shared suffering. Only it's gone now, all of it. Gone forever." I thought that was good, but I wish there was just more of it.

I really adore Jenny and I can't wait to see more of her (from my mouth to Team Cardiff's ears, y?). Georgia Moffett is really beautiful (both in the episode and in Confidential where she's sort of ginger and gothy) and quite charismatic. I like the idea that she's essentially Gallifreyan DNA but implanted with the memories and the shared (false) history of the machine. I think the contrast between her and the Doctor makes for interesting exploration. Jenny asks an interesting question, "...how are we different?" And with the examples and the context, it's true: the Doctor does fight, an awful lot, for the things that he believes in and will resort to violence when necessary. However, I think there are times when I get the impression that he wouldn't do it and I'm having a hard time reconciling when he would say it was Good and when it would be Bad.

Anyone else think that they said "sauce" and not "source"? He who controls the sauce, controls the universe!

I want the Donna/Martha show. Anyone else? The two of them were really awesome together. What did Donna when they first come out of the TARDIS and Martha says "Is that a feeling you get?" or something like that? ARGH. Need to get subtitles. But they are very cute together and I think there's genuine affection between them.

The Doctor/Donna UST factor is high with this episode! Lookie:
When Jenny distracts the guard by kissing him, look at the look he has when he turns away from Donna after she says "I'd like to see you try that".

I think that look says "Yes, I am thinking of post-episode snogging." (I love the UST.) And then the "Let's save the wiles for later? Case of emergency." *wink wink*

And then when Donna figures out the dates, you can tell he wants her:

Oh yes, really wants her:

And Donna notices too!

And Jenny is shocked!

UST MAKES THE WORLD GO 'ROUND!

(And Donna just generally kicks butt. She's so freaking smart. I hope that "I'm good with numbers" comes back 'round in another episode because that's just cool. Although... do we do Year Month Day in the US? Because I know I do it but not many people seem to date things that way. I'd say most folks in America would say today is 05102008, which I find particularly confusing. I do it 20080510 which makes the progression from larger to smaller more intuitive. 10052008 makes so much more sense to me than 05102008 when writing out dates with just numbers.)

"I love the running." There's the Doctor's DNA talking!

I wish we could understand the Hath. It's disconcerting for everything to be translated into something that we could understand except for Hath dialogue and words. It did seem that Martha understood them, though. Also, is it mean for me to say that the first part of the Martha and the Hath in the bog seemed just slightly more perilous than when Three rescued Sarah Jane from the gentle slope in "The Five Doctors"? It definitely lessened the impact for me: only on a second watch did I really feel the loss of the Hath that helped Martha on her journey. And her dialogue was removed! "What are you doing?" from the Confidential is completely gone. I don't care for that decision.

The message in this one is really fascinating: two factions, both with their own false mythologies, passed on from generation to generation and at the center of it all, the truth, is based in science. No creator. Nothing mystical. Just so much misunderstanding and confusion. Is this a hint for later on? Hmm.

The Doctor with Jenny dying is highly reminiscent of the Doctor and the Master from "Last of the Time Lords". I'm surprised that regeneration wasn't mentioned as an option *to Jenny* while she's dying by the Doctor or by Martha until after she's died. Just another example of the episode feeling really rushed. Someone on Ravelry thought that it wasn't regeneration but more like the rapid healing from residual energy-trick that the Doctor does in "The Christmas Invasion" to deal with his chopped off hand, and that feels more right to me. Still, it seemed like her Gallifreyan bits took a long time to figure that out. (And speaking of a rushed ending, what about a rushed beginning and explanation at the end. I don't understand how it was that Jenny was the reason why the TARDIS went there and that they created some sort of paradox. I need to find a transcript of the episode. What does the Doctor say about his hand? Does he say "My old hand right excited at the moment?" That's going to be capped, I'm sure, and iconed for the LOLs.)

"All those things you've been ready to die for. I thought for a moment, that you've finally found something worth living for."

OH NOES! "I'm going to travel with that man, forever." There you go. That's it. Donna has now entered Rose territory, which means that she must leave it in tragic circumstances.

*sigh* Damnit.

(Watching over Confidential and seeing David again in "The Christmas Invasion" makes me think he looks SO young. It's only two years but he seems so much more youthful as new!Ten.)

Things I wished would happen:
MOAR Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references! "Not impossible, just very very improbable." would've made me cheer! And there were two opportunities for that line, darnit! I did love the theme music at the beginning. THAT WAS AWESOME!
"Everyone gets a tissue sample" but none from Donna or Martha? FAIL! I wanted a full compliment.

I'm sure I can think of more. On the whole, the episode was great for Jenny, great for Donna, great for Doctor/Donna, great for Donna/Martha, interesting Total Recall theme, but despite all that, there are bits that I didn't care for and it just felt rushed.

Doctor Who Knitting: The Word is Spreading!

Fri, 09 May 2008 14:48:54 GMT

Both the Open Rights Group and Boing Boing has picked up the story.

YAY!

Spread the word, folks. (That means you too, who_daily. *poke poke* That includes yesterday's entry.)

For fans of Bioshock

Fri, 09 May 2008 05:13:58 GMT

Holy cow.

Gore Verbinski to direct Bioshock.

He'll direct and produce with The Aviator's writer John Logan to maybe do the screenplay. Oo.

And there will be a Bioshock sequel released in 2009.

*drool*

Doctor Who and Knitting

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:33:58 GMT

Well, it seems like the word is spreading about Mazzmatazz's order from the BBC to pull all of her Doctor Who-related patterns.

I know that I've written to both the Brand Protection Team (at BBC Worldwide Ltd.) and the Doctor Who Branding group (which was an address that was given to me when I submitted email feedback to the BBC). I keep thinking that either folks should be able to distribute inspired patterns so long as no one is profiting from them (and it is those that try profiting from them that should be shut down) or the BBC should get their act together and allow someone to publish inspired patterns in the same way that Alison Hansel was able to get Charmed Knits published.

It makes me even madder to see that people are still using, up until 4 days ago, Mazz's pattern to sell knitted objects from it. And that one of the most flagrant offenders hasn't been banned from eBay (this person also tried to sell Mazz's pattern to people. GRRRR).

I don't know what else to do, and the fuss has driven a lot of other fabulous patterns "underground". It makes me sad that others that are a little late to the game won't be able to easily find and create their own treasured items from fan-created patterns. Who fandom is a little lesser because of a few bad apples that forced BBC to act.

*sigh*

ETA: Just to let you know, this is what I've done so far. This doesn't count the half-dozen times I've reported to eBay some idiot for attempting to sell either a knitted object from Mazz's pattern or attempting to sell the pattern itself.

1. I went to the BBC website and provided feedback. Go to BBC’s Doctor Who website and go to the bottom of the page, on the right. There is a link that says “Contact Us”. If you click the link and scroll to the very bottom, you should see a contact form there. I have sent my own complaint via that form. I also sent an email to the anti-piracy group (their email is on that Contact Us page if you scroll and read).

This is the substance of my message:

"Hello! I would like to write a letter to the BBC Brand Protection Team, in order to appeal to the BBC to allow fans to distribute knitted patterns inspired by Doctor Who. Over the past few weeks, many of the fans have stopped creating and distributing patterns based on the recent Doctor Who creature, the Adipose, along with many other Who-inspired items. This has lead to a great deal of disappointment to the community and a disillusionment for many fans, as there are no merchandise currently available. Fans feel that their creativity is being suppressed by preventing the NONCOMMERCIAL distribution of a pattern for a creature that we saw and loved.

The patterns were created by fans for their personal enjoyment and their NONCOMMERCIAL distribution was so that others could make their own, for their own personal enjoyment. It is in the same league as using instructions from the Blue Peter website to make a model of the TARDIS interior.

Please reconsider the decisions that have been made to stop the distribution of NONCOMMERCIAL versions of fanmade items inspired by Doctor Who.

Thank you."

2. They wrote back and provided the address below.

Doctor Who Branding
Broadcast House
Llantrisant Road
Cardiff
CF5 2YQ
UK

I also did a bit of a search for the location of the Brand Protection Team. I discovered that they are located at BBC Worldwide:
BBC Worldwide Ltd Woodlands
80 Wood Lane
London
W12 0TT
UK

3. I wrote handwritten letters to both of the addresses, essentially with the substance of the email that I wrote along with suggestions pointing to Charmed Knits as a way to engage the fans positively.

Doctor Who, S4E4 - The Sontaran Stratagem

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:24:25 GMT

Does having the title of the episode in my subject header constitute a spoiler?

Given that they display the title with the author credit within the first 5 minutes of the episode, I think it's ok. Yes?

And man, this was really freaking long. Gold stars and some cookies (pick up in New Jersey) if you read to the end. (And my sincerest apologies to those that saw the content of the entry because I mis-typed the lj-cut tags.)

Within the first three minutes, I had my first squee moment: DONNA DRIVING THE TARDIS. Seriously, that gives me tons of Classic Who vibes and it's awesome to see a companion in New Who finally doing it. And to be honest, Donna is the type of companion that would ask to have a go. The Doctor/Donna relationship is not one where the Doctor is the one to have the keys to the universe and is showing it to his commpanion; it's where Donna is an active participant in the journey. She takes the wheel once in a while (oh, oh, oh... I bet she will drive the TARDIS on her own in the future. Yes? YES?), so to speak.

"This is your final destination" has taken on new meaning, thanks to this episode. I have a GPS system on my cell phone which I use frequently when I'm going to an unfamiliar location. I found having the phrase "final destination" to be literally true rather creepy, although I have to say that I am experiencing a disconnect between what happened to the poor woman in the opening scenes and what happened with the Doctor and his UNIT driver.

It's great to see Freema's name in the opening credits again. Then again, I think that her story is contuing to be told. I firmly believe that she is New Who's Brigadier. A good person who tries to use UNIT to do good. I am looking forward to seeing her on an on again-off again basis in *Who* (unless the rumor mill turns out to be true, which is actually something I don't want, but won't go into flaming protestations if it happens). I love how pleased the Doctor looks just before he hugs her. It's so sweet. It's a wonderful connection that they have. He does care about her, wants her to succeed and do well... and she's sort of "home on Earth" for the Doctor in the same way that the Brig was. The only minor fail was the LACK of the Brig (or overt mention of him) in the episode.

It's nice to see Martha as a proper doctor. Given her life experiences, her YEAR of travelling (and I'm sure tending to the sick along with spreading the word of the Doctor), it is understandable that she is fully qualified. In that environment? It was wartime, some of the most intense and best on-the-job training for those in the medical profession. She's got level one clearance and is highly trusted. Understandably so. It really, really pleased me.

I haven't seen the second part, but I think Helen Raynor just had a really off time or something with "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks" which I didn't like. I do admit to be extremely biased against the New York setting, not because of the New York setting but the accents got to me (although they weren't as bad as I expected to be from the trailers). I liked this! And I liked bits of "Ghost Machine" in Season 1 of Torchwood and parts of "To the Last Man" from Season 2. I need to shove her out of the DO NOT WANT space in my brain, because she really isn't a DO NOT WANT writer.

Donna and Martha -- they have chemistry and it is good, yes? The warmth that Donna shows to Martha? I think it is another notch in how she's just shown to be a Good Person (and any suggestion of future evil!Donna will turn out to be inadvertantly-evil!Donna). I love how observant Donna is. AGAIN! "Who is the lucky man?" Hee! And "She's engaged, you prawn." AWESOME! *loves Donna so much, it hurts* AND IT IS TOM YES YES YES! (Does this mean that, someday, we will see Tom Ellis again? Pwease? Awesome that he's in Africa. A pediatrician in Africa. *love* "I've got a doctor who disappears off into distant places. Tell me about it." *love* It sounds like she's landed herself a really great guy, too. *love*

LOL COMPARING THE DOCTORS!

"Is he skinny?"
"No, he's sort of... strong."
"He is too skinny for words. IF YOU GIVE HIM A HUG, YOU GET A PAPER CUT!" LOLs all around!

And I love his expression. It's so "Oh my goodness, the new girlfriend is meeting the ex" sort of exasperation.

It's nice to see that all the worry about UNIT being the baddies to be false, even though their status was a bit questionable in the beginning. I mean, they are doing it in Not Ten's Style, but they are trying to prevent alien problems, sort of like Torchwood but on a much larger scale. It's interesting to see Donna and the Doctor's general discomfort at the execution of Operation Blue Sky. I get the impression from the Doctor that it reminds him a little too much of Torchwood One. It's sort of... disconcerting to think of this regeneration's discomfort with the military when he used to work happily with it in earlier regenerations. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

The dialogue between Martha and the Doctor when they were talking about her participation in UNIT was really interesting. I like how she demonstrates her desire to make a change, to make things right, a trait that many companions that willingly leave the Doctor have. She's was the the peacemaker for her family and now and she's serving that role in a larger context within UNIT.

Colonel Mace is cool and I like the interactions that he has with the Doctor. It has Classic Who echos. I loved the mention that the Doctor "work for them long time ago *in the 70s*." AHHHH my little fangirl heart beats! "It was a little more... homespun back then." Hee!

I LOVE DONNA TAKIN' THAT SALUTE!

Speaking about Donna, I thought she was pretty awesome this episode. She was quite a fountain of knowledge, which pleases me. And when the Doctor and Donna were left together and she dove right into the problem? AWESOME. I love how she is being the one that bounces ideas out. Again, she's not being the problem SOLVER, she's just being a really darned good assistant, the one that he turns to.

When she comes back after looking at the human resources files, my first thought was "OH DONNA GO ON YOU RESOURCEFUL THING". And then look at this look:

OH YES. BRING ON THE UST! "I can see why he likes you." OH YES INDEED. I loved it. I love team Donna/Martha since they do seem to get on well. There's no jealousy, there's no malice. There's a shared understanding, like Martha and Jack, about how thrilling it is to be with him. I bet Donna and Jack would get along swimmingly too, yes?

The later interaction between Donna and Martha, especially abut her family and being with the Doctor was interesting. The theme comes up again: the CHOICE that is being made and the CONSEQUENCES of the choice. "The Doctor, he's like fire. Stand too close and people get burnt." It does a good job setting up the later Doctor/Donna scene where he thinks she's leaving.

And speaking of that scene... I liked seeing how the Doctor reacts to being rejected by Donna! "It's a bit... soon. There are so many places I wanted to take you." GOD I CAN'T STAND THE UST! I LOVE IT! The seemingly endless ramblings with the sudden dawning that she's NOT leaving. Hilariously funny - Tate and Tennant really being a good game to the table.

I worried about Ross when he became the Doctor's driver. It felt a lot like REDSHIRT. Thank goodness, that didn't come to pass ~~but maybe he'll bite it in the next episode~~.

The creature in the tank, very creepy and gross (and has echos of some anime character that is currently escaping me... I'll come up with it, though). Umbilical cords... Ood cords... is there a link? (Perhaps only in my fevered, fannish brain that looks for links everywhere.)

Why is the Sontaran so short? I don't remember the Sontarans being so short or polite. Was that a disconnect for anyone else? He looks like Rick Moranis' character Dark Helmet in Spaceballs. When he said, "Words are the weapons of womenfolk. I judge you unfit." it didn't feel threatening or whatever. I was giggling and not taking them seriously at all. Perhaps that was the intent? It fell a bit flat for me, so I didn't find the Sontarans a threatening baddie. It's hard to take them seriously when I keep imagining Tom Cruise underneath the potatohead. And how pleased was I when the potato-dialogue came up? Hilarious! "It's like a potato." LOL! "A TALKING BAKED POTATO" *dies* "PINK WEASEL!" *dies again* Really good stuff.

I wonder why the Sontarans were not allowed to be a part of the Time War. Unless they wanted to be on the side of the Time Lords: I can't imagine the Daleks saying no to more bodies to hurl at their enemies. How do they know that if this is the Doctor that he is the last of the Time Lords? (And yay for the silver sphere spaceships!)

I'm not sure what I feel about having Luke Rattigan in league with the baddies (although the actor is sort of cute in a 'he looks sort of like Sweets in Bones' sort of way). He seems like an extraneous middle-man, although I get the impression that him and his school of geniuses (anyone else think that they studied at Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters?) will end up saving the day in the next half. I kept thinking that David Krumholtz would be better in the role. The conditional clause bit and the ATMOS System bits were funny, but then it definitely turned dark. "It's been a long time since anyone's said no to you, isn't it? Not easy, is it? Being clever. You look at the world and you connect things, random things. You think, why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is SO SLOW. You're on your own." OOH. The Doctor's words are hauntingly like he's talking to himself. I think he recognizes that. Ten's growing as a character, we're seeing him change and it's really cool.

Intruder window, indeed. *facepalms* I hate admitting to liking the cheese.

When the genius kid and the Sontaran were looking out at the surface of the earth, the shot totally reminded me of the shot at "The End of the World" with Rose and the Doctor. "It was never big enough for me." Are they trying to draw connections or am I being the typical obsessive fan seeing connections where they aren't there?

When Martha discovers the strangeness of the workers, narrows it down to hypnosis (go Martha go), that was cool but then the big flashly lights went on as she was drawn into the evil plans! And she was so tiny compared to the two soldiers. And then later: creepy, gooey, naked, unblinking evil!Martha! Oo! With a ropey white umbilical cord in her neck! Oo! I can't wait for next week to see how they wrap that up.

I think that there's something about Donna and the way she's presented in Season 4 that makes one connect with her so easily. As she's walking down the street back to her home (which I could definitely see doing myself), encountering one of her neightbors and says that she's "been away", I can see myself in those shoes. I can see having this short walk to my home by myself in a familiar place for the first time in a while and thinking about what I've seen so far and emotionally reacting to it like Donna reacted. I think that over Rose and Martha, we are seeing the story from Donna's perspective. I think she's being written like an equal: we're not just following the Doctor's story, but hers too (and not just in bits like previous seasons, but following her story too as a general rule). It's so touching and real. Her interactions with Wilf are wonderful! "Are you safe with him?" I think what I like is their relationship's contrast to Rose and Martha's relationships with their families. I think Wilf cares, really cares, and understands Donna's participation.

When the Doctor finally shows up and meets her family, it was such a shout out to previous Christmas specials. I LOVE IT when Who does that. It hugs my fangirl's heart. (And Cribbins is so good. SO GOOD.)

So, looking forward to next week where I hope that Raynor doesn't disappoint me. How will they get Wilf out of the car? How will the smoke affect people? How will the potatoes get baked!? What exactly is the Sontaran Stratagem?! Is it saturday yet?

Oh yeah, baby! It's official!

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:04:43 GMT

Guillermo del Toro to direct 'Hobbit'

And not only that: Filmmaker signs on helm feature and sequel

WOO HOO! He will be moving to New Zealand for the next four years.

I am pleased.

Ever so pleased.

1	2	3	4	5


6	7	8	9	10


11	12	13	14	15


16	17	18	19	20


21	22	23	24	25


26	27	28	29	30


31	32	33	34	35


36	37	38	39	40


41

1	2	3	4	5


6	7	8	9	10


11	12	13	14	15


16	17	18	19	20


21	22	23	24	25


26	27	28	29	30


31	32	33	34	35


36	37	38	39	40


41

1	2	3	4	5


6	7	8	9	10


11	12	13	14	15


16	17	18	19	20


21	22	23	24	25


26	27	28	29	30


31	32	33	34	35


36	37	38	39	40


41