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.
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!
excitedI was tagged by Jack on the grounds that I’ve “not done a meme for a while”.
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.
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.
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.
In reverse chronological order in my life:
I bought this whilst on holiday in Tennessee visiting ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
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.
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.
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.
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.
A childhood treat - a book with me and my family and my friends in it.
gleetpink_weaselThe thing I really love about Doctor Who fandom is that it’s very, very, very good at getting itself worked up into a good froth. And the reactions to the latest piece of casting news (not be confused with the day before’s news) are exceeding all expectations.
mischievousWhen you see this post, quote from Doctor Who on your blog/journal.
Points at the top of the page, I have a quote from Doctor Who there all the time, but here’s another one:
“My theories appal you, my heresies outrage you, I never answer letters and you don’t like my tie.”
Anyway, The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords — A bulging set of homages to SF/Fantasy - Harry Potter/Wizard of Earthsea; Captain Scarlet; Peter Pan; Flash Gordon; Return of the Jedi.
Harold Saxon, PM seems more based on John Culshaw’s Tony Blair in Dead Ringers than the real thing, and the “Britain, Britain, Britain” opening to one of his speeches was highly reminiscent of Tom Baker’s voice overs for Little Britain.
All of which briefly makes it all seem like some sort of attempt to screw with the minds of the media studies/crossover/slash/post modernism/irony obessessed sectors of fandom. Which actually makes me like it slightly more.
( talking about actual plot points that may be spoilers )
A final observation: In many ways the John Nathan Turner years didn’t happen as far as Russell T Davies is concerned. Most of the references to the Master’s and Doctor’s past came from the Third Doctor era. The depiction of the Time Lords picks up in 60s and 70s aspects and avoids the 80s (not such a bad move). The returning villains (Autons, Daleks, Cybermen (sort of), Macra, The Master) all predate 1975. The way the Daleks and Cybermen are portrayed owes more to their early appearances than their later ones. The Doctor’s lost at least a few decades and probably a few hundred years if he’s ‘only’ 900-odd in the new series. Just how much of his history did the Time War wipe clean away?
thoughtfulI don’t do squee. I’m male and an old-school fan and sensible and self conscious. But….
How bloody amazing was that?
About ten minutes in I was wondering whether this was a sly remake of the DWM comic strip End of the Line and was expecting a similarly downbeat ending.
Then Derek Jacobi started dropping hints and any thoughts about this episode’s supposed plot went straight out of my head. Instead I was on the edge of my seat pointing at the screen, and maybe, just a little, going …
squee
Ahem. Sorry.
bouncyI’ve managed to get the washer-drier to dry without beeping at me and flashing error codes. First time in weeks. I gave it a good thump.
Everything I know about engineering I learnt from watching Patrick Troughton.
pleasedFather Sidney, Mother Verity? Priceless.
Best of the season so far. Fingers crossed for part two.
cheerfulUh oh, I haven’t been doing weekly reviews of Doctor Who episodes this season. Spoilers below.
( Season Three so far... )
Meanwhile, I’ve watched “The War Machines” and “Vengeance on Varos” recently.
“The War Machines” is a very odd story, it’s the first story set in the present day (with the possible exception of Planet of the” Giants, but that doesn’t count) and the first to feature the British Army. But unlike all the UNIT stories that follow it feels too short rather than too long. The threat of the War Machines is never really made obvious and the climax is rushed. Also, Dodo gets the worst exit of any companion, and the Doctor is called “Doctor Who” on screen for the only time. It also has a superb performance from William Hartnell and provides agood introduction to Ben and Polly.
“Vengeance on Varos” looks incredibly prescient these days. Reality TV has almost caught up with it, all we need to do is move from mental to physical torture and we’re there. But the plot needed some major tightening - scrap the whole mad scientist / turning Peri into a bird sub plot and there would have been room to come up with a less contrived and rushed solution to Sil’s approaching invasion fleet. Doesn’t Owen Teale (he was the lead cannibal in Torchwood’s “Countrycide”) look young? The sixth Doctor demonstrates his callous streak here and poor old Colin Baker only gets a few bits of decent script with most of the good stuff going to Martin Jarvis and Nabil Shaban, both of whom excel.
chipperSpilling olive oil on the keyboard.
Pros: gives it that nice shiny look.
Cons: too many to mention really.
Sigh. Not a bad weekend really. Lovely weather, which I saw out the window as I was working. Got some nice JavaScript written and identified a few more IE CSS bugs that will need to be worked around. And a cracking episode of Doctor Who yesterday.
morose