Was that the most expensive piece of fanwank ever?

Very True Mood: surprised

Moffat to replace RTD in 2010.

Steven Moffat should be scared, very scared. If his Who is too much like RTD’s he’ll be damned, if it’s too different he’ll be damend, if every episiode isn’t up to the standard of ‘The Empty Child’ he’ll be damned. Some fans have built him as the solution to everything they dislike about the show that he can’t possibly meet their expectations.

I’m looking forward to the remaining stories that RTD has to tell and hope he continues to write scripts for Moffat; and I’m also looking forward to seeing what Moffat brings to the show when the time comes.

Oh, and the news story above mentions “four specials to be shown in 2009″. I think that’s just sloppiness and counting the 2008 Christmas special as well, unless anyone knows differently.

1 pack of Doctor Who micro-universe figures from Woolies, @ £9.99.

1 pack of Doctor Who micro-universe figures and 1 starship pack from the Doctor Who Exhibition, £18.98 total.

1 pack of Copplestone Castings Cavemen and 1 Walrus, @ £10.00

2 issues of Miniature Wargames, 1 @ £3.50 and 1 @ £3.70

Total: £46.17

Total for the quarter: £31.02 + £22.25 + £46.17 = £99.44 (Bang on budget - £100)

Went to see 10,000 BC this afternoon. Oh boy, history, biology, geography, astronomy - they all get a hammering in this film. I can’t be bothered to even start listing everything that was goofy here.

It was one of the most by-the-numbers renditions of (the easy to understand bits of) Joseph Campbell’s monomyth that I’d seen in a while. I smiled at the bemusement when hunter-gatherers first came across the evidence of agriculture, but of course in Campbell’s scheme there has to be a ‘boon’ to take back home at the end (sorry, that was a spoiler). There were also bits lifted from the Bible, Stargate, Conan and 300, just in case the mention of Campbell misled you into thinking there were highbrow sources being used.

The action and CGI were very good, the actors managed to keep straight face. It’s not a bad movie in the sense that it’s exciting and visual, but it’s certainly one to watch with the brain switched off.

Oh, by the way, the Doctor Who and Star Trek trailers look amazing on the big screen.

Very True Mood: sleepy

Today pink_weasel has been visiting her brother in his new flat. As said flat is in Bracknell, I declined.

Though mostly I was just too knackered from a frustrating week at work and a lack of sleep. So I stayed at home and cleared out a cupboard, played some computer games (the final cut scene in Unreal Tournament 3 reminds me of the end of Blake’s 7) and chilled out.

The farmers’ market in West Norwood seems to be struggling. Only six stalls this week - two meat, one veg, one bread, two pointless.

My computer runs a lot better with the case open. This probably isn’t a good sign. Still, soon I’ll have a Wii to play with so the damn PC will be relegated to email checking only.

A puzzle: I got a £50 cheque from YouGov. I thought I only had half that amount on my account there and as I haven’t been able to log in for a few months (I’ve requested password resets but the email never arrives) I really don’t know what’s going on.

Hmph.

Very True Mood: melancholy

Just watched the first episode of Ashes to Ashes. Fun, in a slightly different way to Life on Mars and not sure whether it’s quite as good.

The fact that it doesn’t just replicate the previous serious but is taking the climax of that as a starting point is refreshing; it means that this time around the historical inaccuracies can be more openly incorporated into the storyline and played with. This may nominally be 1981 but it’s really an amalgam of all of Alex’s memories, accurate or otherwise, of the 1980s in general. For example, whilst I wouldn’t rule out the yuppie banker drug dealer he does seem to belong to a slightly later part of the decade, and more concretely - all those posters for Prince Charming? It was released six months after this episode was set.

And Gene Hunt is back.

Very True Mood: contemplative

2 packs of Doctor Who micro-universe figures from Woolies, @ £4.99 each.

1 rare Star Wars collectible miniature from eBay, @ £4.51.

1 Dinosaur Planet RPG supplement from eBay, @ £6.24.

4 OOP Grenadier dinosaur miniatures from eBay, @ £10.29.

Total: £31.02. Just about on budget.

Number One reason why I don’t think David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who -

David Tennant is, to the best of my knowledge, the only man to have snogged both Billie Piper and Kylie Minogue. You don’t walk away from a job with that kind of benefits.

Very True Mood: silly

I’ve just updated the Dinosaurs in Miniature pages with the latest releases and re-releases.

Wargames Illustrated have finished re-releasing the DZ Miniatures prehistoric mammals. They’re also selling a set of rules called Tooth and Claw to tie in with this range. Written by Chris “every other set of rules out there” Peers who has pedigree on this area with Saurian Safari. My copy is in the post, so with luck I’ll be able to post a review soon.

There are also new rules out from Magister Militum called DinoMight and MM continue to expand their range of 10mm figures, now including some non-dinosaurs.

Finally on the pre-historic front Reaper have released a “Jungle Girl with Sabre Tooth Tiger” which is okay-ish except for the huge mold line in the photo and the fact that it’s an idea that’s been done several times before. Very nice cat though.

Meanwhile… It was only a matter of time… Pre-painted, collectible (i.e. random sealed boxes) miniatures for Doctor Who (via Forbidden Planet). They’re by Character Options which is a good sign (they make the very nice DW action figures) and the price is the same as for the Star Wars minis. On the downside (apart from the collectible nature) is the scale, 35mm, and the lack of anything from the classic series. Will I be buying them? They’re Doctor Who miniatures!

Very True Mood: excited

I was tagged by Jack on the grounds that I’ve “not done a meme for a while”.

Total Number of Books Owned

According to my LibrayThing profile, 858. I know I have at least one more to add to that list and I’d also need to subtract the 27 tagged as !borrowed or !sold. So 832. Minimum, as there may be more hiding somewhere that I haven’t added yet.

Last Book Bought

A couple of out of print role playing games from eBay. Last ‘real’ book would appear to be Clarissa Oakes by Patrick O’Brian which I found in a bookshop in Amsterdam and made Lettice buy because I’d only just bought something else there and the shop assistant was a bit on the scary side.

Last Book Read

I finished re-reading Human Nature this morning. I’ve been wanting to refresh my memory since the TV version came out. The book is bloodier and does a better job of creating the historical context. However it does have a number of elements that are really superfluous and which the TV version correctly ignored.

Five books that mean a lot to me

In reverse chronological order in my life:

1. Life by Richard Fortey

   I bought this whilst on holiday in Tennessee visiting gleet and littlebun so it reminds me of a great time as well as being a great book. Fortey takes a look at the history of life on Earth from the moment if started to the dawn of human history. Richard Dawkins did the same trip backwards in The Ancestor’s Tale but for me Fortey’s book is more engaging.

2. Ships of the Star Fleet, Volume One

   Very, very geeky. But as well as being one of the best Treknical fandom works ever it’s also the first book I bought online.

3. Thieves’ World

   I could have listed several works of fantasy or science fiction that I read during my adolesence - The Lord of the Rings, Dune, the Pern novels and The Colour of Magic prime amongst them, but this collection of low fantasy stories set in a seedy city at the arse end of an empire is the one that stuck in my mind the most.

4. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

   I was the pefect age for this when it was first published. And from this book sprung my interest in RPGs and wargames. It has a lot to answer for.

5. 

   Read About Me and the Yellow-Eyed Monster

   A childhood treat - a book with me and my family and my friends in it.

Four People You’re Tagging With This Meme

• Chris at The Virtual Stoa
• gleet
• pink_weasel
• Tony and his Random Thoughts