Further Assimilations

Had a chance to sit down and think about my answers to gryphynkit, and so here they are:

(Rules thing first: to be interviewed, reply to my post asking me to interview you. I then reply to your post with five questions. You should post your answers and this meme on your LJ, because thinking up these questions is hard, daggonit.)

1. What is your favorite episode of anything?
I choose to parse that as "Pick something you really like, and talk about your favorite episode of it." My favorite episode of Classic Trek would have to be "The Doomsday Machine"; I loved episodes where we got to see other Starfleet vessels, making it seem less like Earth had only the one ship. There's some (very one-sided) space battle stuff, excellent lines from Kirk and Scotty in places, and that cool pounding 'space-predator' soundtrack. Absolutely grade-A stuff. The digital revision isn't bad at all, either.

2. Given the chance to meet *anyone*, real, unreal, living or not, who would your top 5 be?
1. If there's a Creator(s) of the Universe, with a form that I can perceive and understand, then I have quite a list of questions.
2. If there are friendly, advanced alien civilizations somewhere out there, than I'd like to meet a member: I have a list of questions.
3. I would like to meet a book publisher who thinks my science-fiction novel is awesome, and wants to give me a six-figure advance on the sales. (The fact that the novel doesn't yet exist in any coherent form is immaterial.)
4. I would very much like to have met Douglas Adams. We could talk about music and Mac stuff all day.
5. I want to meet the people on my Friends List that I never have in person. I generally friend people because I find them interesting, and most of the time, people turn out to be more so face-to-face.

3. What is the Question?
Who are you, and how do you plan to evolve into who you want to be?

4. What person/char/entity would you most like to be like?
Fictionally, I think I'd like to be somewhere between Buckaroo Banzai and the Doctor I mention below. Realistically, I'm pretty happy with who I am at base level, though there are a few qualities - mainly, ambition and drive - that I'd like to have more of.

5. Who is your favorite Doctor?
Oh, I've had my brief flings with Nine and Seven, but there's really no contest: the Fourth Doctor will always be tops in my book. Never afraid to take a stand, never at a loss, fiercely loyal to his companions, unafraid to take the most disastrous situations lightly. Some might say that he's less complex and ambiguous than his later incarnations, but that in itself is pretty interesting when one takes in his background and position.

Okay. I have owed my sister a phone call for several days, and perhaps if I post it here, I will be looking at it tonight and go, "oh yeah, I really need to do that".

We actually managed to get out of the house for a bit on Friday night - we've not been good at that for the last couple of weeks. It's so easy, when one of us doesn't get home until 7:30 or 8, to say "screw it" and vegetate for the rest of the evening, but we made ourselves go out with friends, and had a sorely-needed good time.

After a Saturday full of more moving and cleaning, Starr and I got our WoW characters each halfway to level 67, at which point they will have passed my poor gnome mage I've been leveling since long before The Burning Crusade. There was debate over whether we'd stick around Outland once we hit 68, and quest a bit in Shadowmoon or Netherstorm; but the urge to take off to the Great White North is strong. We'll see.

Along those lines, I need to contact my gaming group - our session three weeks ago was cancelled due to host illness, and I never even heard whether or not we scheduled a session last week. I was prepping to start a Shadowrun for the group, and I assume there is still interest. I've also got a box full of giveaway gaming material from the Stuff Reduction Plan, and I'm hoping that they'll want some of it.

Tensions are still cooling slowly on the cat front. Early this morning, Midori and Precious repeatedly chased each other up and down the house stairs, which I think may actually have been play instead of attempted murder. The welcome absence of hissing and yowling is the peg I'm hanging those hopes on.

The 45th anniversary of the Doctor Who TV show passed this weekend. I had to check out a YouTube video of the days when the Doctor was a cranky old man with a hyperintelligent granddaughter, and certain walls of the TARDIS control room were simple photographic blowups. Dig the 1962-era special effects:


Classic stuff.

• 21:53 @meiran Eccleston rules, as far as I'm concerned. However, Tennant does get 2-3 awesome episodes per season. #

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I recently finished Series 4 of the revived Doctor Who. In many ways, the finale wrapped up and tied together the last four years of programming, as Russell Davies is moving on to other projects. The finale was a slam-bang affair, one comparable to ST:TNG's "The Best of Both Worlds" in breathtaking moments and an edge-of-the-seat cliffhanger. However, the finale underscored certain themes of Davies that I hope to see put to rest.

Originally, the Doctor was a political fugitive from his people, but he eventually evolved into a crusader of Time and Space, saving individuals and entire planets from oncoming disaster. His fourth incarnation sacrificed himself to save the existence of the universe from one man's foolishness. The Doctor was clearly fulfilled by his never-ending quest.

When the Doctor returned to television, he was in some ways a broken man. He had been at least partially responsible for the destruction of his race in an attempt to prevent an apocalypse (a futile attempt, as it turned out). Other characters made much about the Doctor as the bringer of Death. Of course, he repeatedly staves off even greater death and destruction, but apparently one gets minimal points for that.

Rose Tyler's love healed the Doctor, and in fact he began to return the emotion openly for the first time in the 40-year history of the show. But he then regenerated into a new body and personality, and Rose was forced to leave him, and he sank into depression and despair. The crusader of Time and Space was replaced by a sad, lonely immortal who kept on keeping on mainly because he didn't have anything better to do.

When the villain of the finale mocks the Doctor for creating a band of "Children of Time", willing tools who will aid our immortal in the destruction of lives and worlds, it's completely unfair, and yet the Doctor shows hurt and shame. What he's really done, of course, is give a succession of companions a broader perspective, the skills and the confidence to defend themselves and their loved ones, and the ability to make the awful decisions at times when the Doctor isn't around. They are "Grown-ups of Time" now, but the Doctor is too busy wallowing in failure to deal with that.

The new helmsman, Steven Moffat, has written episodes that temporarily bring back the crusader. While Moffat's Doctor in these tales retains a vulnerability that the older series did not give him, he remembers his role as the defender of Life, and revels in the challenge. I absolutely hope that future seasons return to that philosophy, as the worn-out, depressed Doctor is a shadow of the beings he once were, and I become sadder with every episode in which he flails about desperately.

Why have I gone on at length about this? Because the older Doctors, the Fourth especially, represent in many ways the person I've always wanted to be. Assertive, cheerful, full of wonder, and up to the challenges of life. Frankly, the Doctor these days has a far emptier life than I do, and it's hard to see the fictional hero I've felt so connected to suffer so. I guess this is something of a "Get Well" card to my old hero.

( Further points, with spoilers, below )

"Midnight": the most excruciatingly painful 43 minutes of Doctor Who I can remember watching.

I'll be kinder to the science flubs from now on. This episode had no science issues, no overt plot stupidity, no unreasonable characterizations, no bad acting... and yet I can assure you I'll never watch it again if I can help it.

The episode is a cheap "bottle" show, intended to save money (I'm sure) for the Library two-parter and what I suspect will be another three-part finale. One set, and few actors: a futuristic tour bus with a small group of tourists aboard. The episode may have been a bargain for the writing budget as well, because very little happens.

( Spoilers ) Sorry for all the vitriol, but I've had a pretty nice weekend, and I needed to get that out of my system as quickly as possible :)

My old Trek fanfic character, the one in this usericon, started as Chief Navigator on the USS Heimdal, and eventually worked his way up the ranks to Captain of the USS Yeager. "Grin'elle Kriet" was half-human, half-alien, and spent most of his Starfleet career as a Chief Engineer.

Grin's dark secret? He was also an exiled quasi-Time Lord from the Doctor Who universe. (The concept worked better in the fic than it does in this paragraph.) He and I haven't spoken as author and character for many years; I wrapped up all the important bits of his story arc back in the Nineties. Grin helped me begin working out some personal issues, for which I'll always appreciate him.

Without warning, Grin'elle woke up last night, after I'd wrapped up watching "Forest of the Dead". The conversation, expanded into English sentences, went something like this:

Hey... hey, I just heard something I don't know if I believe. Are all the Time Lords dead? Is Gallifrey gone?

"What? Oh... er, yes, apparently so. They were all destroyed in a Time War with the Daleks... The Doctor was the only survivor. Except a few Daleks, and the Master. But he's dead now too, as near as we can tell."

Holy... are you kidding? I lived there for decades... I had roots there.

"You hated them. They were embarrassed by you."

Not all of them.

"You left their universe, left it for good. Heck, you've set up shop in a third one for the time being."

I know. They show Who here. Just like Trek, I make sure never to catch an episode.

"So, what do you care?"

... I'm not really sure. I'll have to get back to you on that.

... and then he was gone, and I was left wondering where the hell all that had come from.

Hmph. The Microsoft Office 2008 icons are kinda ugly.

Listening to some Vangelis music at work this morning. "Alpha" is one of those tunes that sends tingles up my spine when I listen to it, and awakes wonder and potential in my mind. If only I could stay in that headspace for days at a time... it probably wouldn't be good for me, but I feel that I'd get a lot done while I could stand it.

I wonder where the 'tingles' come from? It's absolutely a physical sensation to me, but I have no idea what produces it.

Far more importantly, my mom is walking now without human assistance. She's still using a walker or crutch, but given that she couldn't even move the leg two weeks ago, this is an absolutely awesome development, and I joked that she's making far better progress than I did. If any of my friends have ever wondered where my buried stubborn streak came from, this may provide a clue. I am thrilled for her - and while she's there, they think they may be able to correct a nerve issue that's pained her for about 20 years, so, silver lining!

And speaking of doctors, it took me a visit to Wikipedia to learn that the awfully-familiar looking archaeologist on Doctor Who this week was Dr. Corday on ER for seven seasons. Cool.

This weekend was good. I got to chill a little bit, which I'd long needed. Had caviar for the first time ever; it tasted mostly of salt, and slightly fishy. I've heard it's served on buttered toast, and I think that would improve it quite a bit.

I also tried the Lord of the Rings online role-playing game. The first thing I noticed is that it's certainly prettier than WoW (and therefore needs more video processing power than, say, my desktop can handle). I enjoyed the Minstrel class I tried - there's something entertaining about whipping out a lute in the middle of a melee and dealing damage with a few bars of a song.

But, when all's said and done, I enjoy the slightly surrealistic graphics of WoW - they seem to fit with a world which has so many fantastic shorthands for everyday actions - and the LotR game takes itself fairly seriously, which also isn't really what I'm here for. I might play it if there were a Mac version and no other competitors, but my subscription will stay with Blizzard for now.

This week's Doctor Who episode brings the Series 4 average down to .667. Even discounting the goofy, thoughtless science - which is hard, since one element is a major plot point - there wasn't much special about it. Donna was great; her emotional arc about the future of humanity and our ethics, and the conditions of the Ood provided a welcome touch of development.

But overall, the episode was fairly formulaic, including at least one completely gratuitous CGI death, and someone trying viciously to kill the Doctor for no reason at all. One touch I did like: ( minor spoiler )

Fun fact: the episode was filmed in sweltering heat - yay for fake snow. And I'm looking forward to seeing some old foes of the Doctor next week!

Back on the fandom front, I finished watching the Series 4 premiere of Doctor Who last night. I have to say I was enormously pleased. I have learned to stop worrying about the comic-book science of the new show, and was able to focus on the acting and writing, which satisfied me fine.

David Tennant's mentioned that his favorite Doctor was the Fifth, and his version shares a certain tendency to be swept along helplessly by events. It's no coincidence that his catch phrase is "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." as he observes another loss he could not prevent. The Tenth Doctor rose above that in this story, and I hope he'll continue to do so in this year's plots.

The Doctor's at his best when he's facing down a villain and stating, sociably, "I'd advise you not to be fooled by your first impressions of me. You're hurting innocent sentients here, and I'm going to ask you nicely, once, to stop." Tennant nailed that note this episode. ( spoilers approaching )

So, good start. I hope this series goes well, since I'm told that Series 5 won't be released until 2010.

Got some cool stuff from Starr for my birthday... a refractor telescope, a black tee with a handcuff graphic ("I can't believe I'm buying you another black t-shirt") and... this!

Can you guess what it is (besides an afghan, of course)?



( The answer's behind the cut )