Mondays are overrated

[jadesfire]

Good...er...lunchtime all. Gosh, when did that happen? Hope everyone's coping with Monday okay. I'm tired out of my tiny mind, but managing better since the sun came out. I have lists as long as my arm to be getting on with, so clearly what I want to be doing is writing a long LJ post about my dull weekend.

~ I had a very practical weekend, what with one thing and another. On Saturday, I made us a medicine box from a shoebox and diet coke boxes. I can actually find a paracetamol when I need one, which is a great improvement. My SAD light makes an excellent craft lamp, it must be said.

~ Mum brought me up a collection of crochet hooks and some yarn, so I spent a happy evening trying not to tie my fingers together and mostly succeeded \o/ I'm pretty confident with the basic stitches now, as well as the basic amigurumi technique, which I like a lot. My main problem now is turning the end of my first row of proper stitches - all my squares are somewhat wobbly at the edges! Blackwell's knitters, would someone be able to help me with that on Wednesday, please? The books and YouTube vids aren't really doing the trick *looks hopeful*

~ A couple of emails at the weekend have made me look back on 2009 slightly differently than I'd expected. 2008 was a bad, bad year, and I know we'd all hoped this year would be better. It hasn't been, for most of my friends, and I will be glad to get into 2010, hoping for more. On the other hand, my own state of mind has, on the whole, been much better than last year, and I feel like I'm definitely *trying* to recover, even if I'm not there yet. I got up the courage a while back to email some friends that I'd more or less lost touch with, and their replies have been humbling and incredibly welcome. I'm still too flakey for my own liking, and need to get a grip on my organisational skills, which are more than lacking, but just the desire to do that is so much better than last year. Baby steps, but it's good to see progress.

~ Is anyone going to do Christmas wish lists this year? I checked, and they went up about this time last year. I'm very aware that the last posting dates are coming up in a few weeks, and I want to make sure I send stuff in plenty of time. If they don't pop up in the next few days, I might get the ball rolling myself...

~ I discovered a bunch of postcards from Menorca in the bottom of my rucksack. If I have your address, you might be getting a surprise!card in the next few weeks. Also, I must thank naye, rustydog and darththalia who have all sent me cards over the last few weeks, and have brightened my day immeasurably.

~ I did watch Waters of Mars yesterday . For me, it wasn't a great episode, and it wasn't a terrible one. I don't mind the darkness, the slightly crazed aspect of it, but I didn't feel they really exploited the plot elements they could have played with. To me, it felt like they were trying to cram too much into one episode - too much character detail, too much plot, and they ended up not doing justice to either. Also, there were too many 'Doctor looking ominous' moments for my taste - I got it the first time - and the last part, just standing in the snow looking contemptuous, was far more chilling and scary than all the raving or posing against the explosions. Just let David Tennant act - he doesn't need the dramatic backdrop or music or anything like that.

For me, it felt very much like an 'on the way episode' - like they've got to move him from A to B, and this was just the marker along the way. We're only half done with the development, and while the plot sounded good on paper, and Lindsay Duncan was simply superb,* I wanted a little...more...from it.

ETA: I am waiting for the first "typical rubbish accents" post to pop up. Because although Steffi's German accent was put on, the American and Russian ones were genuine. Why yes, I did watch the Confidential. I enjoyed almost more than the episode.

GADGET GADGET!

*OTOH, I thought she was going to shoot him and trigger the regeneration. Which would have been way more interesting...

I did watch the trailer for Christmas...

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I'm more excited about seeing Donna than anyone else. Can't wait to see what they do with her *bounces* Don't screw this up for me, RTD. Please? I'm more than prepared to give the new Doctor a chance, but seriously.

DONNA!!!!!!! *squee*

Is it Christmas yet?

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So, how's everyone else? Good week ahead?

Comments

[aeshna_uk]

I actually really enjoyed it... but I've come to realise that my yardstick for enjoyment is pretty much "did it keep me happily entertained/involved for an hour?" (I really am shit at being a media fan - can't be doing with that whole moral outrage, capslock of frothing doom thing, and if I don't like something, I just don't watch it ;)) This was pretty much typical DW - silly in some places, scary in others (I wonder how many Sunday night kiddie bathtimes got cancelled last night?), with added Doctor On The Edge Of A Nervous Breakdown. I really liked that sequence - he's slipping over the edge into vengeful godhood, and then Adelaide delivers the slap he needs. For a moment there, I thought she might shoot him, as well... but the choice she makes - the choice he wouldn't - is actually far more effective. He's veering between extremes, losing any sense of perspective, and it'll be fascinating to see how it all ends up.

For my money, this and the Easter episode have been the strongest of the specials so far... or at least the most enjoyable! :)

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I was with them most of the way, and I would give it a B+ overall, but... I don't really know what was lacking for me - it *didn't* keep me entertained the way that, say, The Runaway Bride, did. That had oodles of mopey!Doctor and scary!Doctor, but it also had a plot that worked better for me, I think. Also, I really did find some of the "I AM GOD" moments too OTT for my taste. Or rather, I felt that even for something that was meant to be over the top, there was a bit much of it.

I do want to see the Easter one, if only so I can understand the damn "knock 4 times" reference!

[aeshna_uk]

Ah, The Runaway Bride is one that I watched once, when it first aired, and have no great desire to ever see again. Catherine Tate was great, but the rest was pretty dreadful! The Christmas specials don't have a particularly great track record, IMO.... ;)

I think that one of the key things to remember with DW, though, is that although lots of adults watch, it is basically pitched at a school-aged audience. Some things are going to be painted in fairly broad strokes, and some of the humour will be a bit daft - it's just the nature of the beast. That said, I thought the breakdown was quite well done. All power corrupts, and he was right on the edge of becoming something terrible there - subtle was never going to be in it!

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

As someone who's growing to love the Sarah Jane Adventures, I definitely watch with the target age-group in mind. The daft humour I tend to love (if I could get a Gadget for Christmas, I totally would), but the number of Significant Looks and Portentous Posing in the episode was just a little bit too far for me. I can absolutely see how it worked for people (seriously the number of "scary Doctor is disturbingly hot" posts on my flist yesterday...), but for me, the part that was most effective was the quiet contempt with Adelaide at the end. Those are the moments that speak more to me, I think.

I really can't wait to see where they're taking the breakdown, though. It was long due - the build up to it has been great - and I really want to see how he struggles on with this to the end. If nothing else, it's ramped up my anticipation for Christmas - maybe this year will be more to your liking!

[aeshna_uk]

I think that a lot of the more OTT stuff was there for the non-fannish viewers, the ones who don't live with these characters in their heads and who don't have very set and established ideas about them and their portrayal. The face-off with Adelaide at the end was definitely the most effective scene on a great many levels, but I think we needed the rest of it in order to build up to that emotional pay-off and twist.

I have hopes for Christmas this year: if nothing else, Ten finally seems to be paying the price for being an unspeakably irritating smug git for the past few years. ;) So long as there's a regeneration in there somewhere, it'll be great....

I think I saw the SJA pilot a few years back, and saw SJ and Luke in TSE/JE, of course, but haven't seen the show otherwise. Must admit that I have a hankering to kill SJ off in fic - have her no-guns policy bite her in a situation where going in shooting would actually be the correct course of action. Probably should try watching it if I want to do that, though!

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I think that a lot of the more OTT stuff was there for the non-fannish viewers, the ones who don't live with these characters in their heads and who don't have very set and established ideas about them and their portrayal.

That's an interesting one. Maybe, but the non-fannish viewer I was watching with raised his eyebrows and went "er...okay..." at that point. I think it's one that can go either way. In some ways, people who only hear about the show through trailers or just watch episodes can have a *more* set idea about who the Doctor is. My other half was kind of put off by all the character stuff and the yelling when he'd just tuned in for the Doctor saving the day.

I've only seen the pilot and a few recent episodes of SJA, but I have to say I'm enjoying it. The characters work well, and while the effects don't seem to have the same budget as Doctor Who, the script is pretty well written, and the acting decent enough to watch. You do have to remember it's a VERY kids' programme (much more so than DW), but if you can tune into that frame of mind, it's really good fun.

[aeshna_uk]

Heh, guess it's just one of those individual taste things, certainly where adults are concerned! The fannish sushi gathering last night all seemed to like it, though. :)

I've head that SJA is fairly close to the Old School DW series in tone, which makes sense. I may well have a look at it at some point, though my tastes definitely run more towards the TW end of the scale!