Posts
2010
Ah, yes, hello, is this thing working? I barely recognise a Blogger dashboard, having been away from it so long. Welcome back. I've had a long holiday, and feel thoroughly rested. (Well, fat, really.) The new year has even brought with it some new energy, and a positive excitement about the work ahead of me. Which starts again tomorrow, I've decided. Because even with Caroline having another week off, most people are back at their desks, the media's started up again, and so I should be at it. I have a few last police notes to work into the novel, which shouldn't take more than a couple of days. I have the second draft of my Wild Cards story (which is called 'More') to be completed in the next week or so. I have four exciting comics things to work on. And I'll shortly be back into the television work, also. And, we've sold our house without, as yet, buying another one, so the nightmare scenario my four-year-old God-daughter immediately foresaw ('will you have to go and stay at your friend's house? Will you be getting our house? What'll happen to our cat?') may yet come to pass. Except the cat will be fine. One of the negative consequences of moving (apart from leaving this lovely town and missing our friends) is that I'll have to get my stuff out of storage. I love storage. It's like having a Minder lock-up accessed by a Thunderbirds door. I may pop over from time to time after I've ceased storing things there to watch other people using that door.
We've spent the holiday visiting tiny baby nieces, old Who fan friends ('for a moment I forgot Bruno Taltalian's first name!') with tiny babies, and, as always, having two Christmas dinners on the same day (hence fat). I've discovered I really like holding tiny babies. They chill you right out just by lying there, asleep, and making small noises in their dreams. But what do they have to dream about? Caroline's played a lot of Dragon Age: Origins, which I've been hearing over my shoulder while at the computer. I confess to sighing where I heard that her female warrior had no romance options with Claudia Black's character. That seems excellent, another winner from BioWare. I love how characterised and nuanced it seems (though the option dialogue is, as always, drier than it could be), and look forward to playing it when she's done. Myself, I've been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum (excellent, written by Paul Dini, but perhaps a bit easy so far at normal level); Modern Warfare 2 (awesome) and Ashes Cricket 2009 on the Wii (complete bloody swizz, you don't actually use the Wii controller as you would a cricket bat, which one intuitively expects from such a game, and would characterise any cricket game for the Wii that I'd actually want to buy).
We've watched Red Cliff, La Jetee, Culloden, and the last Harry Potter movie, which we only just got round to, but I must say I loved, way beyond my reaction to the previous entries in the series. I think centring it on the emotional interactions of what are now three capable leads is just a lot more satisfying than the usual plotty plot plot. We ate a lot of stilton. There's still this huge lump of it in the fridge. Even now I've started running again. I may make it into a little house rather than eat it. And then eat it.
I've been enjoying Greg Egan, Christopher Priest, an X-Factor collection, the first Largo Winch (surprisingly excellent, having been underwhelmed by the translation of other volumes of French comics I've read) and a book of collected comic strips concerning umpiring decisions in cricket. Seriously.
Oh, and of course, there was Doctor Who. Speaking as someone who tends to leave no end ended unless it ends fifteen times, I loved it. I especially loved hearing about Joan's fate, and Matt Smith owning the part in seconds. He looks great, doesn't he? That miracle I talked about, where a fandom has to love the last guy, say goodbye to him, and embrace the new guy, so quickly: it happened again.
Anyway, from tomorrow, off we go again. I hope you'll join me. I think this could be rather a good year. I like this decade already. Until next time, Cheerio.
Labels:
Arkham Asylum,
Cricket,
Doctor Who,
Dragon Age: Origins,
Harry Potter,
Largo Winch,
Red Cliff,
Wild Cards
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I thought The End Of Time was quite bad to be honest, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of Matt Smith. Definitely has potential.
Welcome back, Paul!
Christopher Priest as in The (excellent) Prestige or Christopher Priest as in ex-Jim Owsley?
Nice to see you back.
It was a lovely gesture to bring Jessica and Nurse Redfern's story to a close, as I felt she lost the most in "Human Nature". Lovely little scene between Verity and the Doctor. Series 5 looks fab. And I won't ask you if you're writing for the series:).
Christmas always seems to be filled with telly, movies, and food.Sherlock Holmes entertained more than I thought, largely due to RDJ and Jude Law.Avatar was visually stunning but one dimensional plotwise.
I do love the idea you heard about Joan's fate like the rest of us - watching the episode! I have to say, Human Nature/Family of blood is my personal highlight of the Tennant era - so that gracenote was unexpected and beautiful.
And the rest of the episode was fun and funny and crazy and heartbreaking. Bring on Matt Smith!
I thought the latter did excellent work on Black Panther during his tenure on that series.
As for Largo Winch...I did not know there was an authorized translation for that series available! I remember seeing the Canada-France co-pro TV adaptation on Showcase Canada not too many years ago...
I've been waiting for your thoughts on The End of Time! I enjoyed it, too. I loved that The Doctor didn't die calmly and with a stiff upper lip. He didn't want to go. I love that they captured that.
I also think Matt Smith did a great job in those brief moments, and am looking forward to him, even though he's younger than me and I'd probably roll my eyes at him a lot if I were his companion. :) But "Geronimo?" Really? *sighs* It seems like they're trying to foist a catchphrase on him. Reminds me of Ricky Gervais on Extras..."Are you havin' a laugh? Is he havin' a laugh?!"
Teresa, I don't think "Geronimo" is going to be any more of a catchphrase than "Allonsy" was for Tennant's Doctor. I guess the juxtaposition of the regeneration scene and the trailer with that word in both might suggest otherwise... but it's not exactly "Are you havin' a laugh?" :D
They're both excellent, but it was the prose Christopher Priest, A Dream of Wessex to be exact. Heather: you can ask, I'm not. I really enjoyed Holmes, thought it was authentic as well as fun. Dwight: Cinebooks have put out at least one volume, with more to come. I had no idea there was a TV show! I doubt that 'geronimo' is a catchphrase, you two. Glad to see you all back!
I recall reading a heck of a lot of 8th Dr novels that over-used "Yes! Yes! Yes!" so fingers crossed Mr Smith doesn't get too bogged down with catchphrases. Anyway, can't wait for the new series, looks to me like it will be a winner.
Season's greetings one and all!
'Culloden' is one of those TV landmarks that still seems shocking and fresh every time you see it.
Heh. OK, maybe "catchphrase" was too strong a word. I just worry because "Fantastic!" and "Allons-y" were so organic in their use...I'm hoping that they're not trying to force "Geronimo" into it just to have something new for him to say.
BTW - I just became a contributing blogger at Tor.com. Very proud of myself! :) And my first post was about The End of Time! Would love to hear what any of you think, either here, or in the comments section on the post itself. I've already had two comments from people who hated the episode, and that really surprises me!
http://tinyurl.com/ydllam2
Which X-Factor collections are you currently enjoying? I've never read most of the first run, but I loved the most recent series, as written entirely by Peter David. Layla Miller is such a fun character.
Happy New Year All.
Paul Arkham Asylum rocks, but like you say. A little easy. Especially when you do the stealth challenge in 40 seconds.
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II. Loved it, prefer the online multi player options though than the actual single player. I always get through the single player game in matter of hours.
Saw new Sherlock Holmes the other day. Loved it. Not Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, which I remember watching in the late 70s early 80s on BBC2 on Friday Nights. But a really fun movie with fun characters. Storyline was stuck together with duct tape though. I.E. it was a bit well you know run of the mill.
Matt Smith, the boy did good, but I need to see a bit more. Loved the tie in to your Family Of Blood storyline.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Single player game. It was ok. Online play hehehe. Am totally useless but love it anyhow. But for Christmas I was playing Uncharted 2 Among Thieves quite a bit.
I must add a picture to the blogger profile on here. I use wordpress for the website so only really use my blogger thing to post here and on other blogger sites.
BTW anyone know if there's an app for Twitter that I can use on my iTouch?
Anyway, all the best for 2010.
Mark: yes, I found it excellent, hadn't seen it before. It'd be good to see something new in the same vein. Teresa: excellent stuff, do let us know when you post. Hoot: it's the third Essential, Louise Simonson, whose work I always enjoy. I've already read most of Peter's run. Ian: I really enjoyed Holmes too, should have reviewed it on the blog, too late now.
But but but but 'Allons-y' was a catchphrase!
Where does the idea that a Doctor needs a catchphrase come from? Is it some folk memory of 'reverse the polarity of the neutron flow' that has it being said every other episode instead of once?
I kind of had my heart set on the Big Finish kind of Time Lords coming back. But who's to say the ones in "End of Time" were from the dominant time line? That's the beauty of the Doctor Who universe. :) That isn't to say I didn't enjoy the last two episodes, though.
I need to watch EoT again when I don't have a headache and a cat clawing my leg.
I do feel a bit like the way it feels when you come home from dinner with family on Christmas, the next day is a work day, presents are opened, and the tree is dark. Know what I mean?
And Arkham Asylum looks good. (It's gotten positive reviews from the Hoopy Frood.)
I've decided that tiny babies (much like cats and puppies) have a sleep AoE (Area of Effect for you D&D players). Place a tiny baby on almost any average adult and once they fall asleep, they will almost invariably take the adult, and anyone close by, down with them. It's like a baby-superpower or something :D
End of Time was compelling. The anal-retentive plot-picker in me has lots of annoying questions, but I've gone and shut her in the closet for the nonce because, quite simply, I am prepared to forgive just about anything because they ended Tennants' run well (none of this "Oh yes, I regenerated over the season-break and you just didn't see it because my agent got all shouty" crapola).
I am, as of yet, unsure about the "New Guy" though (I *loved* the "I'm a GIRL?" line, opens up lots of possibilities there). He looks a touch "Twilighty" to me, and I'm hoping the action-hero status they are giving him in the teasers doesn't get too far out of hand.
Thus far, however, Team Who has got some excellent actors for this run of the show, I'm willing to trust their choice (until he shows up naked with a housepet in a Tabloid somewhere at any rate).
Have a Most Excellent New Year, Paul :) Keep up the blog worth reading!
-ekim
@ing3nu
Paul,
Having seen the movie Sherlock Holmes recently. Its just got me more curious to see what Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's contemporary take 'Sherlock' is going to be like when it airs later this year.
In fact, I'm a little excited!
SK: I think children in the playground like to have things they can repeat. Bob Baker and Dave Martin always liked to give them something. Kim: I think they put one's brain in a very relaxed place, and then you start breathing like them, and so you fall asleep. And a haircut and a gunshot do not a character make. Ian: I think their take on it is going to be excellent.
Ah, right. I never saw the point of children.
It's funny how different people can view the same thing and see quite different things. For me, Part 1 made me think RTD was auditioning to be the British Uwe Boll for his move to Hollywood while Part 2 was terribly padded and self-indulgent.
What scares me most about Matt Smith is he's already been given a lazy catchphrase (Geronimo!). He still seems awfully young for the part, and TBH, I don't know that he wouldn't be horribly out of place cast as one of the Home & Away kidults. Time will tell though.
Best of luck with the future. Looking at your Wikipedia info, and it's rather cool how many of your stories I've enjoyed over the years :)
Zey: I've deleted your later comment, the one that included 'which idiot-?' The 'idiot' in question being a friend of mine. This comment just barely squeaked past my system for whether or not I let them through (it uses that sarcastic internet tone of voice, but doesn't, quite, specifically say bad stuff about individuals). Didn't it occur to you that I actually *know* these people and might care about what you say about them?
So it turns out Geronimo is a reference to an obscure WW2 movie called "Geronimo" and a song sung by paratroopers, which includes this stanza:
Down from Heaven comes ELEVEN
and there's HELL to pay below
shout "GERONIMO" "GERONIMO".
Given that we first see the 11th Doctor plunging towards Earth shouting "Geronimo", I think we're in great hands.
I think you've probably found an origin point for it, but it's always been in my lexicon for when people jump off something. It's a battle cry, of course, referencing the Native American of that name, and I bet there was either a historical source for that, or a movie where a lot of braves did that, and the parachutists followed suit. Much like 'hurrah!' was originally a Viking battle cry, borrowed by schoolboys.
To put a positive spin on things, eagerly looking forward to the Moffat/Smith era.
The End of Time seemed to contain all the things that people both liked and disliked about the RTD era.
Personally, I found many things in The End of Time that were not for me, but the acting was superb.
Tennant will be missed.
I can only concur, Mark.
Hi Paul,
Apologies for the 'which idiot-?' comment potentially putting you in a position you didn't want to be in.
I do hope that we've seen the last of the Cybusmen and their "Delete!" catchphrase though. That said, in a sad fannish way, a smack-down fight between our Universe's Cybermen and the Cybusmen would be silly and fun to watch ;)
Anyhow, here's hoping next year's telly Who is the best yet!
Best regards.
Thanks very much, Zey. Putting your dislike of the Cybermen's phrase that way makes it entirely suitable for my editorial standards. It wasn't about me being put in a position I didn't want to be in, though, so much as not liking you calling my friend an idiot.