Keeping in Touch

It's been a strange year for me in terms of my fandoms. This 2010 has been the year in which I've finally winnowed my fandoms down to pretty much a bare handful:

> the Takarazuka Kagekidan
> the film Inception
> the modern Doctor Who [to be specific, this would be from Nine till Eleven]
> the 2010 BBC miniseries Sherlock

And it's been so inspiring, particularly the whole Inception thing. I got in on that one on pretty much the ground floor and it's been a wild ride ever since. December will see the release of the DVD, so that will probably mean an explosion of fannishness. And of course there's also the fact that the fic exchanges are all going to start posting around the Christmas and New Year holidays. So you can bet I'm pretty excited about that.

I've had a lot of firsts with this fandom, and so I guess it's only fitting that I do something else for the first time this year. The thing about my fandoms is that the fans are scattered widely, all over the world. It's fun to meet them in cyberspace, but it's just as amazing to try and contact them for real.

So I'm going to try and kick off another first for me this year: send holiday postcards all over the world.

One of the Google April Fools' Day jokes: a Google search, run by postcard.

The nice thing is that when I asked around my fandoms lists for people who'd like to receive a postcard from me, a few of them "demanded" my own address, so that they could also send me something in return.

I'm looking forward to writing out my messages and mailing the postcards out. I really am. Not to mention I can't wait to deploy my beloved pens! THIS is why I collect pens - this is the very occasion I've been saving them up for. *grin*

And now I can really feel the winter creeping in

The final proof of cold weather arrived on my doorstep this morning.

I'm going to pay even LESS for my electricity bill this month than I did last month.

Pretty much the only electrical appliances getting a workout at my flat are the ref and the PC. I don't always use the overhead lights because I'm home during the daytime and I'm out at night. [Same applies for my partner.]

Oh I'm just glad I can save up some money.

BUT.

If the cold months are coming I wish I could spend some money and dress like THESE hot guys.


Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. I cannot wait for the second series and I really cannot wait to see the movie Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The cast will include Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Hardy, and this gentleman.

*starry eyes*


Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, during his special appearance at the Doctor Who 2010 Proms. Here's a sample of the music they played during the concerts, with bonus badass dialogue:



*shivers and squees in equal measure*

Fandoms at Random: The Starry Night

Related posts:

Fandoms at Random: Doctor Who Ramblings
Fandoms at Random: The Eleventh Doctor

Our heroes in the Doctor Who Eleventh Doctor episode "Vincent and the Doctor": Amy Pond, the Doctor, and Vincent van Gogh.

One of my most favorite Doctor Who episodes of all time has to be "Vincent and the Doctor", where everyone's favorite Time Lord crosses paths with one of the greatest artists ever.

Admittedly, this is not an episode for people who are looking for out-and-out happy endings. Time traveling or not, there are certain things that the Doctor cannot change, and the tragedy of van Gogh's early demise is definitely one of those unhappy intersections.

Which means that a frame like THIS is gorgeous and tear-jerking at the same time:

Amy plays the muse to Vincent - with sunflowers.

And there's a very beautiful moment near the end where the Doctor delivers the following line. Note that Dr. Black is an expert on van Gogh, and that through the wonders of time travel is unwittingly standing next to his idol:

The Eleventh Doctor, to Dr. Black: I just wondered, between you and me, in a hundred words: Where do you think van Gogh rates in the history of art?

The answer, of course, is Dr. Black going into fanboy mode.

Sigh. If ONLY.

I know the reception of this particular episode has been pretty mixed, but count me firmly in the supporters' camp. There are just so many reasons why the art of van Gogh has retained its meaning and its beauty through the years, and the people behind this episode manage to describe many of these reasons so beautifully, in such heartbreaking fashion.

Vincent and the TARDIS, done in the painter's distinct post-Impressionist style.

Big props to the writer Richard Curtis [yes, THAT Curtis, the man responsible for the movies Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Love Actually], to the amazing Bill Nighy, and to the wonderful Tony Curran. And, of course, to our intrepid Doctor and to the spitfire companion Amy Pond.

I love being in my fandoms.

Because where else can you find these sorts of wonderful and handsome and beautiful people in amazing suits?!

TV Tropes links might be relevant here.

Dressed To Kill
Sharp Dressed Man
Hot Chick In A Badass Suit

Warning, pictures ahead!

DOCTOR WHO

Fifth Doctor Peter Davison and Tenth Doctor David Tennant, from the Children in Need Special "Time Crash".


Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith with Karen Gillan as Amy Pond.

SHERLOCK (2010 BBC)

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson.

TAKARAZUKA KAGEKIDAN

Former Top Star of Soragumi, Wao Youka.

INCEPTION

Cillian Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Enough said, really!

Fandoms at Random: The Eleventh Doctor

Related post:
Fandoms at Random: Doctor Who Ramblings



So it turns out that after watching the Tenth Doctor's swan song my partner and I immediately started in on the Eleventh's episodes. At this rate we'll be looking for new things to watch long before December gets here.

[Or perhaps I should amend that to, I'll be looking for new things to watch. Imagine my surprise when my partner told me he'd started watching the First Doctor's serials! He's planning to take in the whole thing!]

Anyway, we finished watching episode 06, "The Vampires of Venice", on Sunday. This is actually where the Eleventh Doctor's famous rallying cry of

Anywhere you want, any time you want. One condition: it has to be amazing!

comes from, although I think it's missing a few words - doesn't he say "Every star, every planet" at some point?

I gotta say, so far the monsters have been hit-or-miss. I mean, technicolored Daleks? Vampires who are not vampires because they're insecty-fish people? The real gem and epic scary has been brought, though, by none other than the Weeping Angels. Holy WHOA - the first time you see them actually move on camera is truly a crowning moment of horror. I cannot recommend the three Weeping Angels episodes [Ten: Blink; Eleven: The Time of Angels / Flesh and Blood] enough. This is the monster that the phrase "watching from behind the couch" was made for!

I really, really hope that there is a beastie in Neil Gaiman's Season 6 episode. I have such high expectations. I want to be even more scared of that monster than I have been of the Weeping Angels.

Those things make me relieved I'm now an atheist - I mean, imagine how it would be like if one were piously Roman Catholic, just as an example, and then watched the Weeping Angels - and then went to church! I think all those statues of saints and angels and deities would be paranoia fuel unleaded - and that's on top of the creepy "their eyes are following" vibe one already gets from them....

Wait, where was I?

Oh, yeah, the Eleventh Doctor's episodes. I have to say, I am really enjoying the dynamics between Eleven, Amy, and Rory. The whole "Uh, we are not HER BOYS" / "Yeah we are" / "Yeah we are" exchange had me in giggles, as did the hands-over-mouths "Stop talking, brain thinking, HUSH" sequence.

Looking forward to watching all the rest of the episodes and figuring out where the overall story goes!

This extra pic comes from the next episode, "Amy's Choice".



Aw, come on, they did that on purpose: how come Amy's wearing a proper poncho and the other two look like tablecloths? XD

Fandoms at Random: Doctor Who Ramblings

[It's been over a week since the Doctor Who New Series 5 finale, so I guess it's now safe to post this photo? There doesn't seem to be much context to it anyway....]

I seriously need to catch up on my Doctor Who viewing. So far, my partner and I have already seen all of the Ninth's episodes and most of the Tenth's - all the way up to "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End", anyway. After that we've the 2008 and 2009 specials and "The End of Time", and then we can start watching Eleventh's stuff.

At this rate I'm just hoping we can get caught up before Christmas, which is when New Series 6 kicks off.

Having already been spoiled for parts of "The Pandorica Opens" / "The Big Bang", I really just want to know what happens to the three people rumored to be Eleventh's major companions: Rory, Amy, and River (?).

And I'm torn on the speculation of River Song's identity. Is she the Doctor's girlfriend/wife? Daughter? [I hope not!] Some other type of blood relative? Is she the person who will wind up killing him? I'm leaning more toward the girlfriend/wife theory and I'm pretty much waiting for that to be Jossed hard - I mean, hello, people, this is Doctor Who, all theories are true and all theories are false.

On a slightly related note, it's kind of neat to be following Neil Gaiman on Twitter - except for the part where the poor man has been pretty much tearing his hair out over his New Series 6 script. Seven rewrites?! Gah! And as of the latest update the Beeb has accepted the seventh draft, but it still needs to lose ten pages. Holy crap. I really would not want to be in his shoes right now.

Aah, the pleasures and travails of fandom. And just you wait till I get a full head of steam about Inception - I still want to watch it and I'm still part of the fandom for it. My mind is the scene of a crime!

Leaving you all on this way-too-early Saturday morning with the Eleventh Doctor's theme:



This version is supposed to be called something like "Every Star, Every Planet".

Night shift teachers

I think I like this picture as a depiction of the life of the teacher, in particular the life of an English teacher. Dictionary + glasses + apple (okay, maybe the apple is optional, I'd rather have an orange or a chocolate bar.)

I'm back on the night shift in a few hours and am in fact writing this blog entry before I set off for the office. Going to be teaching English over the phone. I suppose I'm a bit stressed precisely because it's the first production shift.... I'll probably update this entry with some impressions later on.

(Oh, for a teaching wardrobe that includes, for choice,

HIS scarf,

HIS overcoat, and

HIS quirky style.)

"Trust me - I'm the Doctor."

Massive fangirling ahead in this post.

First off, I have to say, I never heard about Doctor Who until I was in university. I always thought it was a particularly Anglophile fandom until I found out from my boyfriend that, apparently, they had actually aired a few of the Fourth Doctor's episodes when he was a kid.

[If your mind immediately conjured up the image of a mostly-happy chap with an impossibly long scarf, then yes, that's Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.]

Coming to university I befriended someone who was really a great fan of Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. After that, I started to find out more about the character and the series. I won't go into the details here - the words "information overload" tend to come to mind, as with all people coming new to a fandom they've never encountered before....

Anyway, come Easter Doctor Who fans all over the world will finally be able to start watching Matt Smith in his tenure as the Eleventh Doctor. Coming hard on the heels of the much-fangirled Tenth - mostly because he was David Tennant - the Eleventh has some tough times ahead of him.

I think I like him because, well, he dresses so damn geekily, even more so than his predecessor did. And believe me, the Tenth really dressed in geek chic. But as for the Eleventh: a coat with elbow patches? A maroon-ish bow tie? Square-framed shades AND specs? Oooh, geeky. He's just my kind of guy. Also, wow, can he contort that face or what? I love his manic expressions.

Anyway, in order to get ready for Series 5 of the new TV series here are the videos that the BBC has released as teasers. First, the actual regeneration sequence from Ten to Eleven [if you haven't seen "The End of Time" yet - SPOILER ALERT].



The rest of these videos can't really be called spoiler-y since they ARE the promotional clips being released before the actual series airs. So up next is the first full teaser with Matt Smith and his companion Amy Pond:



This trailer highlights a few of this incarnation's major foes, including the Daleks and the Weeeping Angels:



And now here is the latest one, an actual clip from the first episode of the new series, the upcoming "The Eleventh Hour". That would be a very young Amy Pond speaking with the Doctor, showing that this companion has some "history" of a sort with everyone's favorite Time Lord:



Hmm, apparently the Eleventh Doctor will have to make/obtain his own sonic screwdriver, and make lots of repairs to the TARDIS, as both these iconic objects will receive makeovers for Series 5.

Edited to add: Oooh, here's a new one, from Amy Pond's POV. The Doctor has a great line in it, and you see the refurbishments to the TARDIS and spot the new sonic screwdriver - what's the difference from the old one? The new one lights up green. :D



Anyone else out there a fan of the Eleventh?