Which One Were You Watching?

This past weekend the sixth season finale of (new) Doctor Who aired in the U.K. and America. Don't worry, no spoilers if you haven't seen it yet. I wouldn't want River coming after me!

All season long it has been extremely interesting watching the reactions in the fandom as each episode aired. It often felt to me like the people talking about it had all actually been watching very different shows--at least two, maybe three (at times, even more than that) different versions. To see what I am talking about, check out these three reviews (all spoilerific) of the season finale:

Maryann Johanson at Flick Filosopher

Charlie Jane Anders at io9

Teresa Jusino at Tor

It honestly feels to me like each of those people was watching a totally different show. One loved it, one was almost disgusted by it, and another...wasn't sure. All of these people have, as long as I have been reading them, been self-professed fans of the series and have thoroughly demonstrated their love of the show in their previous writings.

I say it has been interesting, but it has also been a little heartbreaking, because the people who didn't like it really didn't like it, and their disappointment was never just angry kvetching. It felt more like they felt betrayed to be let down so heavily by their once mighty love.

While I can agree that there have been some low points, and some confusing decisions in the storytelling, for the most part I have enjoyed the past season of Doctor Who. I largely think this is because I am just smitten with Matt Smith as the Doctor, and I completely adore Amy and Rory as companions. I have commented before that this season really lives or dies on how much you like River Song. I still think that's true, but there are other factors involved as well.

Quite a few people who liked River Song the first few times she showed up were completely done with her by halfway through this season, and are thoroughly unhappy with the direction in which her character was taken in the main story arc. They feel like she's been weakened or cheapened somehow. Personally, I disagree with this perception. Again, without spoilers, I can accept her story because circumstances revealed throughout the season a) make it reasonable that this is the period of her adventures with the Doctor where she would pop up with more regularity, and b) while we aren't viewing her story backwards, exactly, we are viewing it entirely out of chronological order. Any weakness she has at this point, to me, serves to show how much growth she did go through to become that badass we first meet during Ten's reign. (There's a neat little write-up of the chronology of all of her adventures that we have seen to date here.)

Aside from River Song, however, I think a lot of people never cottoned on to Amy, or to Amy and Rory together. Not because they didn't like Amy Pond (though I can't pretend there weren't those who didn't) but because they expected so much of her, of her relationship with the Doctor, and her relationship with Rory with the Doctor in their lives. Amy was always meant to be a flawed character, I think, and I loved her for it. Those flaws made her lack seem reasonable to me, or at least part of the story. Others didn't see it that way and just felt she was badly written.

Speaking of the writing, well, there's that too. I can't deny that Moffat and the other writers did seem to be a bit all over the place this season, but I never really minded. I'm always a bit more charitable about that stuff when I am enjoying the ride. But for those who weren't? Well, the writing was just unforgivable to them. I get it, I really do, but it makes me sad. I feel like a lot of long time fans (back to the old school days) are starting to give up on the new series. They no longer see anything they recognize in the Doctor and his actions. I don't for one second believe it was Moffat's intention to deviate so far from the series' roots, but it seems like he has. I can't judge this one for myself, since I have only seen the new series, but even I can see how much the Doctor has changed since then. It's not just the regeneration either, his entire outlook seems to have undergone a paradigm shift or three of late. Maybe all of this is just a consequence of being such a long-running show. The longer you go, the more things you try, and the more likely it is that some (or most) of them won't stick to the wall.

It's just...I don't even know. I still love this show, but it seems like the fandom is splintering, and that makes me incredibly sad. Doctor Who fandom has, quite frankly, been one of the coolest ones I've ever experienced. I hate that the fandom no longer seems like a cohesive whole. Don't get me wrong, I haven't seen any cat fights between those who have lost the love and those who haven't--a few spirited debates, sure, but all entirely civil.

I do wonder what else Moffat has in store for us, however, and if he actually has any chance of keeping this show from falling apart. I feel like when he took over he had just realized how universal the love for the Doctor was becoming--that it was no longer just a small campy scifi show for the citizens of the U.K. I think that awareness made him try to cater to a more universal audience, to give the show wider appeal, and in consciously attempting for that, he lost something of what made it so wonderful.

Sigh. Here endeth the rant.

We get a Christmas episode, and then nothing until the fall of 2012, apparently. I find myself hoping that the Christmas episode hearkens back to the show's roots and stays away from all of the big glorious complicated timey-wimey stuff that Moffat has been throwing at us. He does an amazing job with small, simple, contained stories, as he has proved on more than one occasion. Maybe Christmas will restore faith across the fandom.

Then we only have to hope that the wait until next fall doesn't build our expectations up higher than Mr. Moffat can deliver, eh?

Why I Will Never Be A Critic

Writer John Scalzi wrote an interesting post this week about the varying purposes of criticism (of film, television, games, books, etc.) and how to make sure your criticism is taken seriously (or when to know to ignore it if you are the one under review).

Go ahead, take a few minutes to read it, it's very well written and definitely worth a look. I'll wait.

The whole thing got me thinking once more on a topic that crosses my mind from time to time, and that is that I could probably never be a professional critic, or reviewer even. Why? Because it seems to me that anything I feel is worth writing about is something that I love. You tend to be more forgiving of flaws in that which you love, and willing to give the benefit of the doubt more often than not. Heck, I don't even tend to look at reviews of things that I know I don't actually like (or strongly suspect I won't).*

If I love a show, for example, I will not continue to read reviews by a writer who clearly cannot stand that show and is just enjoying tearing it apart. I can acknowledge, on an academic level, that something I love is stupid and terrible and not very well made. But I will still love it nonetheless. I have no need to experience another's hate for that thing. Now, a well thought out, critical assessment pointing out the flaws objectively, that I can deal with, because I understand that what I enjoy is not necessarily what anyone else enjoys. But plain old vitriol? No, thank you.

I tend to seek out those things that I think I will enjoy, and very rarely am I disappointed that way. (When I am disappointed, the blows always seem to hit pretty hard, however.) If a new show or a film or a book doesn't appeal to me, I usually just don't give it any thought, other than, perhaps, to be annoyed when I have to hear all about it on Facebook the next day. Occasionally I will step out of my comfort zone and give something a try even if I think it looks stupid or just doesn't appeal to me (usually because either someone I trust thinks that I will enjoy it or because there is an actor/writer involved that I generally enjoy). Often, when I do this, I am pleasantly surprised by what I find. I discovered two of my favorite television shows this way--Human Target and Leverage. I had no intention of watching either until I learned of particular bits of casting, and I gave them a try. From this, I know that there is probably a lot out there that I think is stupid but might actually enjoy if I gave it a try.**

But there is just so much out there to read, or to see, or to watch, or to play, or what have you. I can't partake of it all. So I stick with what I am pretty sure I know I will like, and I am content in this way. I trust the universe to play out in a manner such that if there is something I need to experience, I will, eventually. I have learned to walk away when something I love becomes unrecognizable and I no longer enjoy it. That doesn't mean that others who once loved it have stopped as well, though. I may not understand why they would choose continue loving that thing, but I don't need to. They simply do.

We are not all the same. These days, there is something out there for everyone. You might not like what I like, and vice versa. I try to remind myself of this, and not to judge those who like something I consider unworthy.*** To bring it back to Scalzi's post, the bit where he talks about the difference between "I don't like that/I don't understand why you like that" and "Only idiots like that/What's wrong with you, if you like that" really struck a nerve with me. Like I said, I try not to judge others who don't see these things in the same way that I do, but I am not sure I would be able to convey that correctly in writing a review or critique. Because I have found that when I do write about these shows or books or movies, all I want to do is sing their praises. I don't want to talk about the things I didn't like, because for me they are not worth mentioning, unless they ruined the whole thing, and then I just want to talk about that thing at all. There's not much point to that, in my mind. If you've been reading my Stargate rewatch posts, or any of the other reviews on this site (which I try to call "recommendations" rather than reviews, because really, that's what they are), then you've probably noticed they are all mostly lovefests. Sure, there might be things I gripe about here and there, but that is because I enjoy griping about it, and it comes from a place of love.

For me, being a critic would mean setting aside that part of my personality that likes to look at the bright side. I am not a blind fool. I know there is unpleasantness in life, and even in myself at times, but when it comes along I deal with it as best as I can, and try not to burden others with it if at all possible.

Then I find something happy to dwell on instead.

*The exception to this are Flick Filosopher's reviews. I can admit that I sometimes look forward to her reviews of things I suspect I will not like or are stupid, because generally she sees them the same way, and manages to convey as such in a witty and amusing manner.
**Except for reality shows. I maintain that they are inherently stupid and I cannot get behind them.
***This is really hard when it comes to reality shows. I cannot understand how anyone actually enjoys them and I am not sure I want to, because I fear it would make me weep for humanity. Or myself. It disturbs me that I am that much different from, apparently, the rest of the world.

New TV Scorecard: Falling Skies

I would pick the week all of the summer shows premiere to go out of town, wouldn't I? Then I came back into town and actually started doing stuff, rather than just sit around and watch television all day. What is this world coming to? Anyway, the DVR backlog that has resulted as of this sudden burst of strange behavior means that I just got around to watching the pilot (and also second episode) of Falling Skies last night.

Wow.

First The Closer, then Leverage, not to mention a few other incredible shows...TNT is really raising the bar for quality television. NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC take note guys, this is how you do television. TNT has got the formula down. They hire incredibly talented actors, one or two who are fairly well known or just familiar faces (in the case of Falling Skies we've got Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, and Colin Cunningham) leading a pack of other incredibly talented actors who are maybe less known but who all work together seamlessly. They keep the seasons short, allowing for tighter storytelling, and they hire competent writers capable of telling a damn good story.

Falling Skies is the kind of show that I think will have broad appeal despite its science fiction trappings, because it is just amazing storytelling. The scifi angle isn't the story, it is just one aspect of it. This is how good scifi is in its natural environment, of course, it's just that most non-fans don't know or believe this because there is such a glut of pure crap out there dressed up in a thin scifi shell.

The show is set in Massachusetts about six months after an alien force arrived on Earth and wiped out 90% of the human population. The intentions of the aliens are not yet known, at least not to the viewer. What is known is that they kill any adults they find and capture any kids. The kids are turned into some sort of slave labor using a parasitic "harness" attached to the spine. The aliens don't seem particularly interested in hunting humans down. They've parked themselves in all of the major cities and built strange ginormous structures that loom over the skyline. They do send out patrol ships over the countryside, but again, they don't seem to be hunting, just taking out what they see and keeping the pesky indigenous species in check.

Flick Filosopher compared Falling Skies to the recent remake of V and to The Walking Dead, stating that it is everything she had hoped those two shows would be and that they failed at utterly. To me it evokes more memories of Jericho, which was another fantastic piece of television, even though it went a little bit off of the rails with the conspiracy theories in the end. Falling Skies has no hint of conspiracy theories so far (thankfully). While, like Jericho, it does pit the occasional group of surviving humans against each other, those conflicts are almost incidental.

Falling Skies is about people. These people are trying to recover some of what they have lost, a sense of security, home, and normalcy. There is resistance to the aliens, yes, it is small but growing. The dynamic between the civilians and the military seems to be headed toward a rocky clash, it seems to be doing so in a natural way, and not in one that will spell out disaster for everyone because the writers decide to beat someone over the head with the stupid stick. But I will be interested in seeing how the "civilians are slowing us down" and the "civilians give us something to fight for" mentalities resolve their inevitable conflict.

My history major self isn't too upset that the main character was a history professor either.

In case you couldn't tell, I absolutely loved this show. I am really looking forward to following these characters and watching their story unfold. The pilot and second episode did an excellent job setting up the primary characters and making me actually care about them. Did we get their life stories? No. Did we get enough that we feel for them and hope they will survive and overcome adversity? Heck yeah. My fingers are crossed that the show continues to build momentum as it has done, answering a few questions here and there but leaving enough suspense to keep things interesting.

If things keep going like they are going, this looks to be an amazing series. Thank you TNT, please, keep it up.

First Impression Rating: 11/10 (No, seriously. It was that good. Also, it gets a bonus point for creative use of Colin Cunningham. He will never just be Major Davis again.)

Your Mileage May Vary

Okay, first things first. This post contains spoilers about the most recent Doctor Who episode (to air in America, anyway, the Brits are a week ahead of us), "The Almost People," and anything that has come before. It also contains links to even more spoilerific posts about said episode. Consider yourself warned.

Read on only if you desire to be spoiled...

So, "your mileage may vary." I have seen that phrase used in regards to this episode on two different sites already. What it means, basically, is that both commenters acknowledge that anyone watching this episode is likely to have a very different take on it than anyone else. Boy howdy is that correct. Just reading the discussion on Flick Filosopher's site, which has been going on for a week since the episode aired last weekend in the UK (grr, silly BBC America, now we are behind), is enough to show that there are several different interpretations as to what actually happened..

Here are links to that discussion if you are interested or curious, they are well worth the read, especially if the episode left you as confused as it left me.

Flick Filosopher's review of the episode.

Flick Filosopher's post (and ensuing discussion) pondering the ramifications of the episode.

io9's review of the episode.

I hesitate to call this episode "polarizing," because there seem to be way, way more than two reactions to it. I don't think this is necessarily a hate it or love it episode. There are so many shades of grey in this thing that I am amazed it is only credited with having one writer. Of course, I am sure the input of many many people went into the writing of this episode (as with every episode), but there are so many ideas in there, it just seems insane that one person could have largely been responsible for the whole story.

The big conundrum seems to be this: When the Doctor disintegrates Flesh!Amy at the end of the episode, does he, in fact, negate everything the episode (and the one before it, as this was the second of a two-parter) has been trying to get across about the sacredness of the sentience of the Flesh?

I will be honest with you. When I actually watched the episode, I was so caught up in the shock of the reveal (i.e., that Amy was actually not Amy but Flesh!Amy and that actual Amy was being held captive somewhere about to go into labor) that the greater implications of the Doctor's actions with regards to the Flesh didn't even occur to me. But reading the reviews and then the discussions (on Flick Filosopher, at least, I try to steer clear of the io9 message boards for my sanity's sake) I do think it is a fair question.

The Doctor spent much of the first episode trying to get the humans at the factory to accept that their Gangers, once released from their control, were in fact just as much real people as their template humans. He made more than one point about the fact that the Flesh was sentient even in goo form. He went through the whole charade of switching with his own Ganger to illustrate to Amy that the Flesh versions of people were pretty much identical to their templates in every way. He stabilized the surviving Gangers from the factory so that they could live the lives they felt they deserved as much as the humans. He even encouraged Miranda to speak to the corporation about recognizing the sentience of the Flesh so that the rest of the world could accept this truths learned in the factory. Then he turns around and zaps Flesh!Amy out of existence, just like that.

There has been much back and forth as to whether Flesh!Amy was sentient at all, just how sentient the goo version of the Flesh really was, and whether or not the suffering pile of discarded Flesh!Jens were actually a truth or a clever ruse set up by Flesh!JenPrime to get Rory on her side, yada, yada, yada.

For what it is worth, here is my take on the whole thing.

1. I do think the way in which the factory workers utilized the Flesh and then discarded or "decommissioned" their Flesh Gangers after use was incredibly inhumane if the Flesh was at all sentient and able to feel the pain of the process, which seems to be indicated.
2. It seems the way the Doctor disintegrated the Flesh with his sonic screwdriver was a slightly more humane and less painful process for the Flesh. I do think he was reluctant to do it, however, and only did so when he felt it was the only option available.
3. It seems unclear what happened to the disintegrated Flesh. Did it return to goo state Flesh or was it just gone forever?
4. It also seemed to be indicated that Flesh!Amy was later Flesh technology, so I agree with some of the arguments that it is likely the Flesh that made Flesh!Amy didn't feel the pain of being disintegrated like the earlier models because maybe Miranda's recount of the incident at the factory got the people behind the tech to iron out that wrinkle. I feel like this is likely because the Doctor seemed so surprised that the Flesh was sentient, and at the level of sentience, but he was clearly familiar with later versions of the technology. If the sentience was an issue in later models, he would likely have been aware of it.
5. I suspect that the Doctor knew that, even if sentience was a possibility for Amy's Ganger once she was separated from Amy's control, he didn't have any means at his disposal of allowing the Ganger to remain intact once removed from Amy's control. To do that to the Gangers at the factory required a massive solar storm at the source of the controlling harnesses, which the Doctor doesn't have access to in the case of Flesh!Amy. So severing the link, restoring Amy's consciousness to her actual human body, was going to require decommissioning of the Ganger. So perhaps if the Flesh had to be decommissioned, doing so by sonic screwdriver really was the most humane way to do so.
6. It is clear that the Doctor felt it extremely imperative that Amy's consciousness be returned to her human body as soon as possible (probably because she was in labor, but I suspect there were also a few other reasons).

So...I don't think that what the Doctor did in offing Flesh!Amy was quite the same as killing the factory Gangers would have been. I think he regretted it, especially in light of what he learned while at the factory. I also think that he truly believed he had no choice. Why that was the case, we are only left to guess, but I do think it was.

I also don't think that the ending of the episode necessarily undoes the groundwork leading up to it in regards to the independent Gangers. I think perhaps the point of that groundwork was to illustrate that those who are willing to use the Flesh to do their dirty work, knowing its possibility for sentience (and it is hard to argue that future generations could be unaware of this possibility) are the least moral kind of beings there are. I also think they serve to explain to us what the heck was going on with Amy and her quantum pregnancy. Then of course, this also seems to establish, and indeed emphasize, the differences between Flesh!Amy and the Gangers. The Gangers, once zapped, are completely separate entities from their template humans, able to exist, think, act, and feel independently from (though certainly similarly to) those humans. Flesh!Amy is not able to do any of these things. She is an avatar. She is, for all intents and purposes, actually Amy, who is unaware that she is not present with the Doctor and Rory in body as well as in mind and spirit. Without intervention, her Flesh body could not exist separately from her human body once her consciousness had been restored to her human body. Given the problems we saw faced by the independent Gangers, would not that kind of intervention be more cruel than simply allowing the Flesh to return to its natural state?

That is my take on it, at least. Maybe I am rationalizing because I, like many others, want to believe the Doctor acted with the best of intentions. I do not pretend he is incapable of cruel or mercenary acts, even murder. But I do believe that he does not perpetrate such acts unless they are the last resort, and almost always for the greater good. Or what he perceives as the greater good at any rate. It is, after all, entirely subjective.

But hey, your actual mileage may vary.

Next week though, dude! River Song's origin explained?!?! Rory out for blood! (Good lord, I hope they don't kill him again.) I do know one thing though. It is gonna be a hell of a wait after next weekend until the back half of the season starts back up.

What I'm Not Watching

So the second season of V starts airing tonight.  I have a suspicion that many of the viewers from season one will not be coming back for season two, and I have to say that I am going to be included in that number.

It's not that the show did anything wrong exactly (though I may be harboring some resentment that it got renewed while Flash Forward was axed), I just realized over the weekend that I really just did not care at all about the new season.  I vaguely remember what happened in the season finale, but I honestly have no urge to find out where things go from there.  So Sunday I pulled up my recorded series listing in the DVR and went ahead and just deleted it.  I won't lie, it felt kind of good.

I watch so frakking much television, it is ridiculous.  I can admit that, heck, I can even own that.  But I am getting to the point where I have realized that I am watching some of it, at least, for the wrong reasons.  I kept watching Smallville for at least two seasons after I got completely fed up with everything happening on that show, because I kept telling myself, "I've put in the time, I can't stop watching now.  I have to find out how it ends."  But before season eight started up, I was watching the season seven DVDs and got maybe a disc and a half into the season and then just stalled out.  I started finding excuses of anything to watch other than the next episode of Smallville.  When I realized what I was doing, I pulled the disc out of my DVD player, pulled all seven seasons of the series off my DVD shelf, sold them (for a really decent price too), and went on to never watch the show again.  I have not once felt the least bit cheated that I don't know what happened next, or that I won't get to finally see Clark don that iconic cape.  The show entertained me for a while and then it stopped being appealing to me.  Sometimes it takes something like that happening to remind me that it's just television.  I take it so seriously sometimes that I forget that simple fact.  It's nice to be able to prove to myself I can just walk away and not look back.  Every once in a while, at least.

I don't know if I can say I was watching V for the wrong reasons--I only gave it a try because there were so many actors in it that I have enjoyed in other series.  It was amusing enough, I remember actually liking it despite myself (I never watched, nor had/have any interest in watching, the original series of the same name).  But I didn't like it enough to get even remotely excited about its return, and as crowded as my DVR is these days, that's enough to get off the rotation I think.  Especially with so many shows coming back from hiatus and the new shows that I am getting excited about.

It was my wont, once upon a time, to watch every new genre show that I heard about or every new show that featured an actor I really enjoy watching.  I have found some true gems that way (Human Target, anyone?), but I have also, like with V, ended up watching a show I just wasn't that into for far longer than was necessary.  Maybe it is the fact that my daughter is getting more interactive with each passing day, or maybe it is that "new year, new possibilities" feeling I've got, but I just don't have the time or energy anymore for that kind of watching.  Flick Filosopher mentioned in a post yesterday that she is going to stop watching new series until they have at least one season under their belts and have been renewed for a second one as well.  I applaud her decision, though I don't think I'll be able to follow in her footsteps completely.  I am going to try to be a little bit more reserved, going forward, about which new shows I choose to watch though--as well as about which shows I continue to follow after the first season.  After all, there's so much good television out there that I really do get excited about watching, there's no point in me watching the stuff that bores me.

I have been waffling on whether or not to watch two new genre shows that are about to start, and I think I have finally decided not to bother with them.  The first is Syfy's adaptation of the British show Being Human.  Look, I'll level with you, I probably should be watching this show.  Not out of any obligation or sense of duty, but because everything about the premise just screams that it is something I would absolutely love.  But you know what, I already gave it a shot, back when BBC America started airing the original incarnation.  I watched a few episodes and then just gave up on it because I really didn't care.  It just didn't appeal to me.  I honestly don't know why, either, but there you go.  Nothing I have seen about the American version tells me I will enjoy it any more than the British version, either.  I know that it is (probably) its own show, but I am just not interested.  Despite my firm conviction that any actual scripted genre show that Syfy comes out with needs to have my eyeballs in front of it so that they keep actually making scripted genre shows...I just can't do it.  (I will, however, be watching Alphas when it debuts, because that sounds pretty much awesome-sauce.)  The other show I have been waffling over is The Cape.  I totally adore Summer Glau, and I really want to give this show a try, but I am likewise completely unengaged by anything about it except for the fact that Summer Glau is in it.  So maybe once the first season is on DVD I'll give it a go on Netflix.  But for now, I'll just look forward to the new shows I actually am excited about--Falling Skies (on TNT), Fairly Legal (on USA), and The Outcasts (on BBC America).  There are certainly plenty of them.

So instead of watching V tonight, I'll be over on Syfy watching as many of the final five episodes of Caprica as I can squeeze in before bedtime, basking in the brilliance and regretting that this is all I am going to get of such a wonderful series.

Now that the holiday doldrums are ending, what are you watching?

Just Keep Swimming

Don't forget to watch the new episode of Stargate Universe, tonight on Syfy at 8 pm Central Standard Time!!!

~*~*~*~*~*~

I think I am finally starting to get the hang of the time change, thank goodness.  I don't know why it hit me so hard this year.  Once I actually got moving yesterday, I actually started feeling much better.  Maybe all of the extra rest was a shock to my system or something.  I dunno.  My Monday did get considerably brighter when both of my British DVD orders (Doctor Who season five and Sherlock season one) showed up a whole day early.  That was pretty spifftastic.

I also, in addition to rocking the laundry (despite a few recalcitrant socks that refused to use the buddy system during the process), managed to get a complete crochet project done, huzzah!

Filosophy Tam by Cori 2010.

Pattern:  Angora Tam (available for free at Lion Brand)

Yarn:  Red Heart Super Saver in Aruba Sea (1/3 to 1/2 a skein)

Hook Size:  I-9

This is part one of a two part gift I am making for Flick Filosopher just because she's awesome and I want to show my appreciation of her.  Her site is one of my absolute favorites and I am on it many times a day, but from the sound of things she is going through a rough time of it lately.  She recently gave away a bunch of goodies to her subscribers, and I got a stuffed golden snitch.  I saved the return address so I could send her a little bit of good cheer (assuming I can decipher it).  Today I'll start on part two of the gift, which is a matching scarf.  I'm going to mirror the pattern in the hat to make it a nice matched set.  I don't know if I'll get that finished today, but it should still be a pretty quick project. 

I somehow managed to get as much writing done yesterday as I had hoped to do.  It didn't look like I would, but last minute inspiration struck, I suppose.  I was tackling my first big "action" scene of the story, so getting it written was a bit of a challenge.  I have a little bit of a cushion built in, because I am still a bit ahead, even with having two days over the past week when I did no writing at all.  But I am trying very hard to keep that cushion in place and not let it be an excuse to get lazy.  Ideally I can hit 50,000 words and be almost done or be able to start wrapping up the story by November 21.  That's my personal goal.  But if I have a few off days, then I am still okay, as long as I keep at it.

That's my motto for this month, to be sure...just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming....

Sing it, Dory.

Word Count Watch:  17,266/50,000

I'm Trying to Keep Up With My Brain Today

But really, it's been a bit difficult.  It's just been racing all over the place since yesterday.  This is largely because I got struck with the huge Mallet of Inspiration regarding my Halloween costume (which I need to have ready one week from today).  Until yesterday, I had been thinking that if I ended up dressing up for anything Halloweeny, I would just reuse my peasant/wench costume from a few years ago, because I hadn't felt like getting anything together.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I have been slowly figuring out how to put together a super cute Kaylee Frye (from Firefly) costume.  Here is the look I am wanting to achieve:

The second picture is her "basic" outfit, though I definitely want to complete it with accessories/hairstyle for the scene from the pilot, which you can see in the fist picture.  See, my husband and I have decided we would like to start going to genre/comic conventions every once in a while, and I thought it would be fun to have a costume put together that I would wear to these.  The main requirements of course would be that it be a costume of a character I love, be something that would be comfortable to wear (especially wandering around a convention hall for hours), and be something that I could put together with my limited sewing skills (i.e., that I could find all of the pieces and would need to make limited alterations to).  Kaylee fits the bill perfectly for all of this.  I had thought I might try to get the basics assembled for Halloween as a kind of test run, but quickly realized that I will need to do some serious searching to get this as close to accurate as I would like it to be.

So, I kind of fizzled out on getting Kaylee put together by this Halloween, though she is still very much on the back burner. 

Then, yesterday, I found out that the Halloween party tomorrow night that I couldn't go to has been moved back to next Friday, when I can go.  And I found myself suddenly in need of a costume.  I considered just recycling the peasant costume, but it's just a cheap store-bought ensemble.  It's got some potential, mind you, but I get the impression that the people throwing this party are a lot more serious about their Halloween costumes than I normally am.  So I was sitting on the couch thinking maybe I'd just check out the costume aisle when I go to the store next week and see if there was anything there that I could combine with my existing costume for something more interesting, when a little thought flickered through my brain.  I blinked, went "huh," and tried to go on about my life, but the thought turned around and came back for another, slower, pass. 

Amy Pond. 

For those not in the know, Amy Pond is the newest companion on the wonderful series Doctor Who.  The most recent season of Doctor Who has gotten a lot of scrutiny because there's been a new companion AND a new Doctor.  And both of them are portrayed by exceptionally young actors.  But I am in the group of fans that have absolutely loved Matt Smith's performance as the good Doctor so far, and that is at least in part to his companion, played by the amazing Karen Gillan.  Together they are just extremely adorable. 

But, back to costumes.  Amy wore a few different outfits throughout the season, naturally, but here's the one that stood out for me:

And I realized this would probably be super easy to put together in a week.  So since that thought occurred to me, I've been doing research online, tracking down items, making lists, and all of that.  It has paid off so far.  I have found the sweatshirt she wears (forum consensus is that it is this one), and there is a store in Dallas that carries it.  My husband has a gig in Dallas tomorrow and offered to head out early and pick up the shirt for me, so they already have one on hold for me!  I love my husband, he is truly awesome.  I've found a few good candidates for the miniskirt online (one of which is from Old Navy, so I can go to the store and actually try it on first), but I am first going to hit up some thrift stores today to see if I can find one there.  Given that it is Halloween time, I have high hopes that I can track down a decent and not too expensive red wig.  Other than that, it is just picking up the pantyhose, socks, and a headband, and hoping that I can track down some blue hi-top Chucks in an actual store so I don't have to pay the ridiculous price of express shipping.  Huzzah! 

I am not going to worry too much about accessories (i.e., jewelry) right now, but once the I get the season on DVD next month, I can keep an eye out for any other pieces I'll need to pick up down the road to perfect my costume.  That way I'll already have one con costume in the bag, and I won't have to feel any kind of pressure on taking my time assembling my Kaylee costume.  I am really quite pleased with myself, I have to say.  Part of me wants to use this as an excuse to justify getting that sonic screwdriver I've had my eye on, but technically that wouldn't be part of Amy's costume, so I will have to make myself wait on that. 

And yes, I do know that it is unlikely anyone at that party next week will recognize my costume.  But I'm okay with that, because I will know. 

Let's see, I have a few more tidbits for you before I let you go for the weekend.  Flick Filosopher linked to this amazing "intro" for Star Wars using the Macgyver theme music.  It is beautiful.  Check it out. 

Also, here's some more behind the scenes dirt from the making of the original trilogy for you. 

And in a slightly Star Wars related item, Joel Watson has a new shirt up in his Hijinks Ensue store, based on this comic strip.  Ewok Stare, I love it. 

Here's a sneak peak at the upcoming Syfy original movie Red:  Werewolf Hunter.  It's a re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood starring Felecia Day and Kavan Smith.  I don't care if it's a cheesy made for TV Syfy flick, I am super stoked about this.  Felicia Day.  And Kavan Smith.  'Nuff said. 

Oh, and the web series Riese, that I wanted to start watching forever ago, but couldn't because they pulled it off the web for retooling, is coming back via Syfy.  That's pretty spiffy.  Plus, it now has added Amanda Tapping.  Never a bad thing, IMO.  

And lastly, it's Friday, so you should go check out the new Gronk strip. 

Now, go forth and enjoy your weekend. 

I Reject Your 3D, Sir

If you follow the entertainment world at all, you've probably heard by now that the upcoming Harry Potter film, The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is not going to be released in 3D as originally planned.  

HUZZAH!!!

Oh, thank God.  Not that I was going to see it in 3D anyway.  My husband and I would have hunted down a 2D showing.  But the thing is, Warner Brothers had already been working for some time on trying to convert the film to 3D.  I mean, the release is just over a month away, you would think they would have gotten that taken care of by now, right?  But it was taking too long, and no one was happy with what the converted film looked like.  So, instead of pushing back the release date, which would have just been evil, someone somewhere made the executive decision that it was okay to say, "Look, we screwed up.  This film isn't going to work in 3D and we really don't want to delay the release, so let's just go ahead and launch it in 2D only, okay."  This is a level of common sense heretofore unseen in Hollywood, at least in this century so far.  

Okay, yeah, economically, it maybe seems like a bad idea, because Warner Brothers already spent a lot of money on trying to convert the film that they are now just going to have to eat.  But, this is a Harry Potter movie we're talking about.  As Flick Filosopher said in her reaction to this news, "Deathly Hallows could have been performed by sock puppets and it still would have made a fortune. But now it’ll make a slightly smaller fortune."  This movie is going to make a ton of money no matter what.  On this one, they can afford the loss of the wasted conversion attempt.  

As someone who finds this growing compulsion to release every major film in 3D absolutely appalling, I am taking this news as the victory it is.  Look, I get that 3D means more money for everyone because it means higher ticket prices.  I would love to see some sort of comparison about how much extra profit is gleaned from those higher ticket prices after the actual cost of making the film 3D is taken into consideration though.  For some films, 3D can be a great asset.  Coraline utilized 3D extremely well, and while I didn't see Avatar in 3D, I understand it was another film that was accentuated with the enhancement.  But the majority of the films released in 3D are not actually filmed in 3D, and are only later subjected to a (costly and timely) conversion process.  And in those cases, it is completely unnecessary.  It doesn't add anything to the film but a few extra dollars to the ticket price and a greater chance of headaches for the audience.  If you're not going to bother to film your movie in 3D, then it probably doesn't need to be seen in 3D.  I saw Up in 3D, but honestly, afterward, I wished I hadn't bothered.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved Up, it was fantastic, but the 3D didn't add anything to it, and having watched it several times on DVD, it hasn't lost anything at all just being seen 2D.  

The 3D craze annoys the bejeezus out of me because it is not an artistic movement among filmmakers.  It is just a cash grab by greedy studios.  So I am ecstatic that I won't have to hunt for a 2D showing of the next Harry Potter film, and I hope its inevitable success at the box office will maybe give other studios some reason to realize that a film doesn't need to be 3D to be awesome.  And maybe they'll at least think a little bit more carefully about each forthcoming film before slapping some 3D on it.  I don't really believe that will happen, but I can hope at least, right?  

The fact that Warner Brothers seems to be going full-speed ahead on converting part 2 of Deathly Hallows isn't too reassuring, but considering it is essentially just the second half of one very long film, maybe the problems they had with part 1 will keep cropping up and they'll scrap the plans to make that one 3D as well.  Maybe?  Well, fingers crossed anyway.  

You can read the rest of Flick Filosohper's write-up on the news here.  

John Scalzi also had a good write-up on the subject, which you can find here. 

In other fun news, the 25th anniversary DVD set of Back to the Future will include some previously unreleased footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly.  Apparently they filmed 5 whole weeks with him in the role before deciding to switch to Michael J. Fox.  Wow.  It's kind of, bizarre.  Check it out here. 

Discovering the Star Wars Expanded Universe

Alright, I don't know if I've actually mentioned this yet, but I absolutely LOVE Star Wars.  I hear the sizzle of a light saber and my imagination just bolts off to a galaxy far far away.  I can't help it.  It is second only to Stargate in the realm of things Cori is a huge fangirl about.

Yes, Stargate still comes first.  In fact, just so there's no question, let's go ahead and get Cori's space opera hierarchy on the record, shall we?  First to last, it goes:  Stargate, Star Wars, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica (the 21st century version), and Farscape.  Okay, have we got that out of the way?  Good.  Now, back to Star Wars. 

For the sake of clarity, when I say the Expanded Universe (or EU), I mean things that are considered officially Star Wars but not part of the main cannon, which for my purposes includes the original trilogy, the new trilogy, and Clone Wars (the movie and cartoon).  So EU would be the official novels and comic books (of which there are a LOT), and video games.  I think technically Lucas is only counting novels and comics as EU, but there is a ton of story in the video games (and many of them are getting novelization tie-ins anyway), so I consider those part of the Star Wars EU.

Now, I think it would be fair to say that I have always enjoyed Star Wars.  It was always in the background when I was a kid, I was all about Ewoks, and USA used to always show the trilogy during holidays so I caught bits and pieces of it here and there.  It wasn't until the summer before my sophomore year of high school though that I actually actively watched the entire original trilogy (which I actually did at a sleepover at a friends house--back to back--staying up to finish long after she had fallen asleep).  When I was a senior in high school the theatrical re-release of the trilogy happened, and I got to go with my friends to see all of the movies on the big screen.  Yes, they were the special editions, but I didn't know any better, so I'll have to admit that the changes Lucas made have never really annoyed me as much as they have  all of the fans who came before me.  (Though I will admit that once I was older and wiser I was very irritated that he tried to take back Han shooting first.  That is truly just an insult to the character.)

The summer after my freshman year of college, The Phantom Menace came out.  My sister (a year younger than me) had fallen in with a crowd of ultra geeky Star Wars fans (one of whom was the assistant manager at the local theater), and so they had camped out for opening day tickets (ah the days before online movie ticket sales) and they got me one too.  And you know what, I really liked Phantom Menace.  I went to see it at least five times that summer.  (Admittedly, this was partly because I often got into movies for free that summer, and I saw a lot of things multiple times, but still.)  Was it as good as any of the original films?  Hell no.  Does it hold up well under scrutiny eleven years later?  Not really.  Was it a lot of fun for a casual Star Wars fan who just wanted more of the story?  Oh heck yeah.  I also liked Attack of the Clones, which I went to see at opening with my best friend (and now husband) and our ultra-hard core Star Wars fan roommate.  Sadly, I didn't get to see Revenge of the Sith when it opened (I liked Attack of the Clones but it was a bit of a let down and some of the fervor had died), but I did get to see it in theaters and am so glad I did.  It is arguably the best of the new trilogy and damn it if isn't just a good movie.  Still not quite up to par with the original trilogy, but I don't think anything ever can be because we've all placed it on a pedestal that is too high for mere mortal filmmakers to reach anymore.

Revenge of the Sith got my excitement for the franchise back up a bit, actually.  It is what got me to start thinking about the EU.  I thought maybe I might like to give some of the novels a try.  But oh my goodness, where to start?  Seriously, next time you're in a bookstore or goofing around on Amazon, check out the Star Wars books.  There are a very very lot.  My husband suggested the logical place to start would be with the three books by Timothy Zahn that essentially stand in for episodes seven, eight, and nine (The Thrawn Trilogy).  Those would be, in order, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.  So I read those books, and they were okay.  I have to admit some of the writing really took me out of the universe.  Zahn didn't quite have the world in his grasp--some things were just too close to Earth, and it felt a little like laziness on his part, given how rich this universe is, that he couldn't come up with something more Star Warsy than hot chocolate (if you've read them you probably know what I mean, if not, yes, Luke discovers that he loves hot chocolate in this series).  But the story itself was pretty compelling and it was a nice continuation of the original trilogy.  We got some closure and paths to whole new stories and adventures were opened up.  We also got some perspective on the events of the original trilogy from characters that weren't in the spotlight in the movies.  But still, I was sated.  I thought I might like to read more but didn't have enough motivation to find out which series should be my next to pick up.  At this point, I was still just a casual fan. 

And then Clone Wars came out and everything changed. I knew I had to see the movie because it came out just a few days before my birthday, a birthday which my husband and I were celebrating with a trip to my hometown, hanging out with those same friends I saw the original trilogy in theaters with.  So, on my birthday, my husband, my best friend from high school, and his daughter all went to see Clone Wars.  I think I liked it best out of anyone in the group.  It got my imagination going again.  There was a lot of negative feedback for Ahsoka Tano--but even at her whiniest moment (and remember, she's a teenage girl and a padawan being tossed at a new master who isn't really a master himself yet, just a knight) she was nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE, near as whiny as Luke Skywalker in A New Hope.  And she stepped up pretty darn quick.  Plus, I thought the baby hutt was cute.  Sue me. 

But the point is, I was quickly falling more in love with the Star Wars universe than I ever had been before.  I had dithered on getting the new trilogy on DVD but suddenly, I had to.  My husband, who had been trying to get me to see the awesomeness of PC gaming (at this point I was strictly Gamecube, Wii, and PS2 games, and really only casually), was finally able to talk me into playing Knights of The Old Republic (which was totally my gateway drug into PC gaming and I really haven't looked back).  In between KOTOR and the Clone Wars series, I was gone.  Total fangirl.  I wanted, no I needed, more.  The joy I get from dipping my toes into the Star Wars universe takes me to a happy place surpassed only by Atlantis.  And thus, I have begun my foray into the EU.  On the video game front, I have played KOTOR and its slightly less entertaining sequel, as well as, of course the Lego Star Wars games  for each of the trilogies.  My copy of the Clone Wars Lego Star Wars game, coming out next month I think, is already on preorder.  I've got quite a few console games (like The Force Unleashed) sitting in my Amazon wishlist waiting patiently for me to bring them home and give them a whirl.  I just picked up Republic Commando and will be playing it as soon as I finish my current game.  As far as comics go, I have been reading the online tie-ins to the upcoming MMO The Old Republic (set after the events of KOTOR), which I am eagerly awaiting.  For my birthday I picked up the first volume of the Legacy series, set a few generations after The Return of the Jedi.  I enjoyed that quite a bit, and will be picking up the rest of the series as my budget allows.  There's also a new series of comics called Knight Errant about to come out that I've subscribed to.

And what about the insanely massive amount of EU books I mentioned earlier?  Well, I've jumped back into those waters as well, with the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss.  I just finished the first book, Hard Contact, a few days ago and am currently working on book two, Triple Zero.  In all honesty, everything that I've said so far was supposed to be a quick intro into my review of Hard Contact.  But it is clear that I have more than a little to say about Star Wars and the EU.  So we'll save my book review for tomorrow, and I'll wrap this up. 

You may have heard that George Lucas has recently announced his plans to re-release both trilogies (in chronological order, which I think is just a terrible idea) in 3D (which is an even worse idea) over the coming years.  This is getting him a lot of (well-deserved) flak.  But the fallout is landing on Star Wars itself as well, and that makes me more than a little sad.  Flick Filosopher, who I adore, asks in her question of the day why we keep letting Lucas make us his bitch.  And instead of focusing on why we, the fans, time and time again give Lucas money in exchange for disappointment, the comments have mostly been just remarks on how the new trilogy sucked and no one will be seeing them in 3D, and they refuse to give any more money to Lucas.  While I respect their right to these opinions, and the fact that they don't want to pay for what they perceive as crap, they are clearly in the minority--because Lucas doesn't keep messing with the original trilogy (and didn't get to make the new trilogy) because nobody went to see what he came up with.  So I suppose my point in all of this is just to say that yeah, somebody needs to love Lucas enough to tell him "no" once in a while (and actually enforce that no), but just because he's gone off the deep end, we shouldn't forget that without him, we wouldn't have this wonderful sandbox that is the Star Wars Universe to play in at all.  Right now, with the movies and the television show, along with all of the EU, Star Wars has something to offer pretty much any fan.  I, for one, will remember to thank him for that at least, while hoping he eventually realizes he's a bit too big for the sandbox and maybe he should just let the other kids play in it now. 

A few fun quick links for you folks:

Darths & Droids (A webcomic that retells the new trilogy as if it were a RPG campaign, using stills from the movies.  It is hilarious.)

The Old Republic MMO (I seriously cannot wait for this game to come out--at which point my family and friends are probably going to need to just say goodbye to me for a while.)