Monday, October 29, 2018

One hundred years from now

I know that in this time of scandal, outrage and terrorism, a lot of us are beaten down just trying to make it through the day.  But I want you to take a moment and think about the soldiers in World War I.  One hundred years ago that war was almost, finally, coming to an end.  And those soldiers in the trenches would have been absolutely flabbergasted at a movie in color and with sound.  Just imagine what they would think of cell phones, 3D printers, and the moon landings.  Which begs the question, what normal, everyday things for the people a hundred years hence would completely blow our minds?

The point of this is that while it can be a bitch just making it through the day, at times we need to think of the future.  And not just the next year or five.  What are you doing today to make the lives of your kids and grandkids a hundred years from now better?

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Quick thoughts on the new Doctor


So the other day “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” aired marking the first episode of the Thirteenth Doctor as played by Jodie Whittaker.  Afterwards I saw many tweets and Facebooks posts about how she is now some people’s favorite Doctor.  And I found that a little … odd.  By no means am I saying she’s a terrible Doctor, it’s just that I enjoyed Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor, but it took half a season or so for me to realize that I enjoyed David Tennant’s Doctor more.  My current ranking of my favorite, new Doctors goes Tenth, War, Twelfth, Ninth, Eleventh.  I don’t know where Thirteen fits yet.

Trying to fit her in based on her first episode is, as I said, odd.  Especially since the episode itself wasn’t – in my opinion – all that special.  I mean, the Doctor is a little out of it because their regeneration is still cooking.  When have we seen that before, except in “The Christmas Invasion,” “The Eleventh Hour,” and “Deep Breath.” Give me four or five regular episodes to see the fully formed Doctor in new adventures and then I’ll start jostling her into my rankings.

One thing that does give me hope that Thirteen ranks pretty high, is that in “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” there were a few moments where I thought I saw the Twelfth Doctor shining through.  I can’t really put my finger on it, but there were a couple of lines and just the way she said them or moved made me think of Peter Capaldi.  If it wasn’t just my imagination, then we could be looking at some good Doctor Who.  Let’s hope we have the combination of a good Doctor with good writing.