Doctor Who Project - 'Human Nature/The Family of Blood'

So here it is the first of three excellent new Who episodes in a row and what a start. The Doctor's rewritten his DNA, hiding his Time Lord self in a pocket watch we're reliably told is a chameleon arch (RTD sowing the seeds for later episodes). He's also (unknown to himself) disguised himself as an early 20th century boys boarding school teacher, falling in love with the school's matron (aka Fat Cheryl from The Royale Family). Of course there's a reason why The Doctor's gone to such lengths, the family of Blood.

What makes this story so compelling is the Doctor/John Smith conflict. As the human John Smith, The Doctor has fallen in love with the school's Matron Joan and has a happy life. There's no reason why he should believe the things that Martha tells him, despite his dreams that he's logging in a scarily accurate journal. I mean it all just sounds too fantastical but then the baddies show up and what baddies. The young lad with the creepy stare is brilliant. the scarecrows look fantastic (such a simple idea, realised so brilliantly). On top of that The Doctor is ruthless on how he deals with the family. He doesn't kill them, that's not The Doctor's way. Instead he gives them what they desire, a long (immortal?) life. There's a lesson in there, be careful what you wish for.

I don't think I can even begin to explain just how brilliant these two stories are. As well as the above, there's a nod to the First World War (the story is set the year before war breaks out) and there is definitely a sense of foreboding. There's also the sense that this war isn't the only war on the horizon. There's a storm coming. The best thing I could say is to just go and watch these two episodes. It's the only way to experience just awesome it is.

2013

I started writing the previous post with the intention of telling you all about how much I am looking forward to this year (and what I have enjoyed so far as we are now a third into it!) but my review of last year kinda took over and it got a little long so I decided to split it into 2 parts (as most film franchises seem to do these days!).

OK 2013 so far:

• I signed up with a local gym. I'd been missing going to the gym since I quit my last one at the end of September (it was too far to travel to either of the chain's closest gyms to me).
• I'm writing new songs. :)
• I'm in a far better frame of mind. I feel that this is mostly due to a change of seating at work. I was in a bit of a bad way there the other month and really hated  it. After a bit of bother I was moved to another part of the office and I just seem to be in a pretty good mood all the time. Seriously I must've been feeding on the negative energy of those sat around me. I'm sure there must be some Eastern belief that ties into it. Anyway I feel much better at work which makes me feel better overall as that's where I spend most of the week.
• I saw Deftones again! Ever since I saw them at Download in 2010 I've been wanting to see them again. That happened again in February this year this time around at the Academy in Manchester.
• And now for the biggie: I met JK Rowling!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, I got to speak to the author of the Harry Potter series and got my book signed (albeit her new novel, 'The Casual Vacancy').

I'm just going to spend a few more minutes talking about the JK Rowling meeting because it has been a major highlight of this year so far. Firstly it was something one of my Harry Potter friends had mentioned to me in December. I almost didn't go through with it due to money. I needed to pay £25 there and then for the ticket etc and with it being December I ummed and ahhed a little before finally agreeing. There was also the little matter of travel (it was held in Bath which is around 200 miles from me!) and accommodation. I'm so glad that I went ahead with it now as it wasn't just the experience of meeting a living legend but it was like taking a holiday and to be honest I didn't mind the 400 mile round trip as most of it was motorway. I really liked travelling to a completely different part of the country, chilling in the hotel, discovering a new city and meeting up with some friends I haven't seen for years and getting all geeky, talking about all things Potter to some stupid time in the morning. Enjoyed it so much that I've signed up to do it all again!

Yes that's right in around 10 weeks time I'll be driving down to Bath yet again. This time around though it's a completely different author. In fact I'm probably looking forward to this more as it's my favourite author Neil Gaiman!!

Ok, the experience is going to be completely different to the JK Rowling road trip. I'm going to be driving down again but this time I've found a hostel that charges just £22 a night and is very close to the venue. I'm not going to be meeting up with others (I have hinted but I guess Neil Gaiman isn't as big a draw to some people, weirdos! lol) but this time around I think I'm going to go earlier in the day and explore Bath (especially as I will probably be leaving the next morning rather than afternoon). Saying that if parking isn't too bad there I may stay later and spend some of the Saturday there as well. So far I'm thinking of visiting the spas there or the Jane Austen museum. I may just wander around the city. It doesn't seem so big and I seem to have the measure of the city centre from my last trip. To be honest though I couldn't care less if I just got there and crashed on my hostel bed until the event itself as I'll be meeting Neil Gaiman!! Oh and on top of that I get a chance to not only pick up a copy of his new novel 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' before it's officially released but to get it signed by the man too! Can't express how much of a big deal this is. I was looking into ordering pre-signed copies via his website but this is a million times better. Not just that but there's the format of the evening also. The JK Rowling night involved a one on one interview with the artistic director of the festival who appeared to know Jo quite intimately which resulted in a relaxed intimate informal conversation followed by a Q&A from the crowd. If the Neil Gaiman event follows suit I will be a very happy chappy. Just need to think of questions I could ask now!

The fun isn't just restricted to day trips to Bath to meet world renowned authors though. The other week I was at my best friend's house and after a few pints of Guinness, a Chinese takeaway, some of the nastiest cider known to man and half a bottle of red wine (which was a stark improvement on the cider) we got talking about how we need to go to a convention. We'd previously talked about this and had decided to go to a Jack the Ripper convention (he's into all that) and a Doctor Who convention (he had to make some compromise after all I was going to a Ripper fest.) but that had all fallen through before we'd bought tickets as he couldn't get the time off work. Alcohol or divine inspiration took over though on this fateful night and I mentioned Comic Con Manchester. I knew they'd held it at GMEX (or Manchester Central as it's known these days) the other year but that was the extent of my knowledge. I didn't know if it was a regular event, how much it costs, what events they had on or anything. As is customary these days with a smartphone and wifi at my fingertips I set about Googling. The event was on this year, it's a day he can definitely attend and best of all early bird tickets (meaning we can enter at 9am rather than queuing at 11am) are only £9 each!! Needless to say tickets have been booked and we now await the 20th July. This date also falls slap bang in the middle of our birthdays so we'll probably get very drunk. I have no doubt we'll end up at our old haunt Fab Cafe before a pizza and a tram journey back to Eccles.

But wait there's more. After completing the Mega Hike last year, the girl from work who I finished it with wanted to do it again but wanted to beat the sun, starting and finishing during sunlight hours. This is a massive task as it would mean finishing hours before we did last year. Fortunately she can't make it this year due to other commitments. I however managed to find a new challenge; a 10k run throughout the streets of Wigan! This ties in nicely with me joining back up at the gym and wanting to lose more weight this year. Plus I've always wanted to do a 10k. Been eyeing up the Manchester 10k for years now. Best of all this is closer to me, I know Wigan quite well having spent 10 years living there and I know at least one other person who is definitely running it (in fact I found out about it via her). I've already started training for it and have ran 10k on the treadmill (was tweaking the speed and incline to make it more of a challenge), it's harder than I thought but I can definitely do it. On a treadmill at least! My aim is to finish it without having to walk at any stage. Would love to do it in around 40 minutes but think that might be asking a bit too much considering it's my 1st long distance run since school!

Finally (so far) LeakyCon is happening in London this August. I knew absolutely nothing of it until my Potter/United friend from Colombia said she was in London in August over Facebook. Whilst I won't be going to the convention I'm hoping to meet up with her at some point. Probably show her Old Trafford. This all depends on me booking time off work mind. It falls within the same fortnight I booked off last summer and I was thinking of booking the same 2 weeks off this year but hadn't as I was waiting on confirmation re when she'll be in the country. Going to ask in work tomorrow, fingers crossed.

So there you go, plenty to look forward to this year and that's on top of doing things like gigging with the band/choir (I joined a community choir last week! It's popular songs none of that hymn nonsense.), the Doctor Who 50th anniversary specials and whatever else this year may hold.

2013 is going to be legen - wait for it - dary.

2012 Overview

I seem to be continuously blogging about Doctor Who (seriously the last time I didn't was January 2012!) and I really wanted to review Saturday night's episode. Decided to refrain though, firstly because I need a break from Who and secondly I think I'm going to keep up my reviews throughout Tennant's era right up into Matt Smith's latest episodes. To be fair I'm probably going to be looking at the 50th anniversary or Christmas 2013 special(s) at the very earliest  but I think it will be worth it. Anyway, I digress.

Like I said I need a break from Doctor Who after all I'm probably boring anyone who actually reads this blog and doesn't necessarily like the show. One thing I have wanted to talk about but haven't gotten round to yet is how much I'm looking forward to this year (Okay I know we're 4 months into it now but that still lives two thirds of the year to go). Before that though I think I'll have a quick look back on last year.

I didn't particularly enjoy 2012 but there were some highlights and I managed to achieve a few of my targets for the year.

Firstly I lost a stone and a half! Would've been more if it wasn't for Christmas (I've since struggled and have hit a slump since with my weight fluctuating week to week but never really going down like it was last year). I put most of my success down to downloading an app called My Fitness Pal which allowed me to track the calories I was consuming and burning off.

Secondly I started a band! Although it's still early days it sounds amazing so far. Think 90s alternative scene, bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam with some Deftones and Jimmy Eat World, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith thrown in for good measure. Had a bit of a hiatus over autumn and winter but we're back on it big time. Fingers crossed we have a permanent bassist in place too as had a few problems in that department. Hopefully 2013 will see us play our 1st gig together.

I passed 2 music exams! First was my theory exam in November. I couldn't take it in the summer as it clashed with the day I was hiking across the Pennines (I completed the 50 mile Mega Hike in 2012 by the way!) and to be honest I don't think I would have been ready at the time anyway. The extra couple of months though allowed me to prepare enough so that I came out with a pass. Narrowly missed out on a Merit by just 1 mark! Incidentally I passed Grade 5 Singing in December, scraping through on a Merit (this time by a mark or two on the other side). I'm now looking to work towards a Grade 7 Singing qualification.

I didn't save enough to go on holiday. :(

There is a pretty good reason for this though. I paid off my car insurance in one payment using the money I saved. I have been meaning to replace this money but so far haven't mostly because since last August I have been living on my own. Yep I finally moved out. Am now planning to budget so I can afford to save for holidays etc. I have got one or two little adventures planned this year which are as good as a holiday.

On top of all this I also walked across fire, finished the 50 mile Mega Hike across the Pennines and got my 2nd tattoo this summer. :P

And how good were the Olympics? I had the good fortune to book the two weeks off on which they happened. I booked the time off work not because of the Olympics but because I wanted time off around my birthday and had the idea of going away somewhere or at least driving down to the beach a few times during that fortnight. As it turns out I ended up staying in or going out house hunting. The good news was that I got to see most of the defining moments of the games whilst most of my work colleagues had to catch up on highlights later on.

Honestly 2012 wasn't all that awesome, there were a few low, low moments but I'm not going to dwell on that just now.

So onto this year's targets:

• Lose more weight. I still want to get down to at least 14 stone and even though I have moved a Hell of a lot closer to that goal in the past 12 months I've hit a bit of a snag since Christmas and it seems just as far away as ever before.
• Pass Grade 7 and maybe take on another instrument after all I haven't taken on anything to replace my theory lessons.
• Save money. Seeing as I epically failed at this last year. I need to save for something like a holiday. Definitely need a break.
• Find another job. Over 2 years in the same role is enough, think I need to progress and move on.
• Finish a 10k run. I'm signed up to do one in September is a great incentive to shift some lbs too and is this year's big challenge as I'm not doing Mega Hike this time.
• Play a gig with the band.

My Grade 5 Music Theory certificate.

Doctor Who Project - 42

Like the last review, I've put off reviewing this episode. I saw it weeks ago and to be honest it was so forgettable I've just had to look it up online. I honestly confused it with the story that has The Hoth and The Doctor's daughter in it (isn't that called 'The Doctor's Daughter'?!). Made a commitment to this project though and I really want to watch some of the next episodes especially as we're getting towards the end of this series and have series 4 to look forward to which was easily Tennant's finest point.

Like the last episode we see another soap actress cast in one of the major support roles (last time round it was Mavis from Corrie now it's Cindy Beale from Eastenders). RTD stunt casting aside this episode is most memorable for the "burn with me" line muttered by the baddie. I would imagine this bad guy would be scary to younger viewers especially when The Doctor becomes 'infected' and turns on Martha muttering the baddie mantra of "burn with me".

There's the obvious pun on '24' in the title, especially as they only have 42 min to save the ship from falling into the sun but having never seen '24' that's where my comparison to that ends.

42 isn't that bad of an episode, it's still filler but at least it's not 'The Lazarus Experiment' or others I care not to mention. It has the benefit of not being set on Earth (although most of it is on the ship) and you get the sacrifice at the end, the ship's Captain putting right to her wrongs whilst dying in her partner's (who is infected with the Sun's energy) arms which gives a far more satisfying conclusion than ringing a bell and hoping a giant primordial genetic throwback falls to his death.

Yet again at the end of the story we see the obligatory Saxon mention, this time around it's more heavy handed with Saxon's people doing an FBI listening in on Martha's call to her Mum. The story also parallels the previous story as The Doctor gives Martha a key to the TARDIS (previously had told her she's ok to carry on travelling with her).

Oh well onward and upwards the 'Human Nature/Family of Blood' double followed by 'Blink' next!

Alons-y

Doctor Who Project - The Lazarus Experiment

Ok, I'll admit I'm slacking. I haven't watched any New Who (apart from The Bells of Saint John the other night) for ages and it's been even longer since I wrote a review. I actually watched this episode and "42" weeks ago and have been wanting to watch the next DVD (mostly because they are probably the 3 finest episodes produced the RTD era if not since the 2005 comeback) but have had to restrain myself otherwise I'd end up having to review way too many episodes at once! Doesn't help that I have never really liked this episode.

The idea is interesting enough ie old guy tries to reverse the effects of time and in turn becomes a monster (quite literally) however the monster he becomes looks crap. Not a fan of Mark Gattis either, whether it's as an appearance as an actor or as writer. Hopefully he'll be a better showrunner (as well as deliver the goods with the early days drama he's producing for the 50th in November). This episode features Martha's family more than previous and there's a few mentions of Saxon. It almost feels like a filler episode, dropping in hints for future stories as well as taking up space in the series. Honestly I'm starting to warm to the split series format seen over the last 2 series (6 and 7) as we seem to be getting all killer and no filler therefore there's no need for episodes like this one, 42, Love and Monsters or Fear Her.

The ending to the episode is crap ie Lazarus is defeated by falling from the top of the bell tower as The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to amplify the bell rings. I get the impression that a fall like this wouldn't kill off a monster like the one Lazarus has become, although it did the trick for the 4th Doctor!

The best part of the story though is when Tennant's Doctor stops being a dick and finally accepts Martha. He finally tells her she was never really just a passenger along for one ride.

FINALLY!