David Tennant

The Adventure Begins

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Recently, I posted on social media about my desire to watch all the Doctor Who episodes (that still exist) in order from the very beginning. It seemed like a tall order to find a way to stream all the classic episodes that were made from 1963 to 1989.

My quest has begun in earnest, thanks to an app called Britbox.

I’m two episodes in to the William Hartnell era.  He was the first doctor, and he was a far cry to any of the modern doctors. He could be a little cold and arrogant, and not exactly a fan of humans.

I’m not expecting CGI or any kind of award-winning special effects early on. I’m aware that the BBC is notorious for not having the best visual effects. Then again, the viewer exercised more of his own imagination to fill in what the costumes and set designs lacked.

So far, so good. I learned that the TARDIS machine originally could change form from one place to the next, depending on the time period. Apparently, some circuit malfunctioned, so the end result was that it was always in the form of the familiar police boxes from the 60’s.

I believe there are quite a few episodes missing from the early years. The BBC didn’t think they’d be worth saving past the initial run, so many of the tapes used for the first series got erased to be used over.

Anyway, my little inner nerd is very happy. I’m expecting all kinds of wibbily wobbly timey wimey stuff ahead. Be warned.

More Hump Day Weirdness

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Hopefully by now you’ve grown accustomed to the occasional random blog posts from me. I could say that they’re exercises in expanding my creativity and practicing free-thought expression, but really they’re just the things I write when I can’t think of anything organized to say. It happens more frequently than I’d like.

I’m still taking trips in the Tardis, visiting the Doctor and all his companions. For the non-Whovians out there, that means I’ve been watching more episodes of Doctor Who. I’m on the series with Matt Smith, and while he’s quite good, he’s still no David Tennant. And don’t get me started on the lack of Rose Tyler.

As always, there are precious few things better than a sleeping/snoring/purring animal next to you at night to keep you company. Those furry little guardian angels are the best.

I love that it’s fall weather, but us Tennesseans could sure use some rain to get some of the crud out of the air. I can’t remember it ever being so dry around here. If you happen to have a few rain clouds, send ’em my way, please and thank you.

My old-school musical journey continues. I’m currently listening to Ernest Tubb in the car, with Ray Price and Porter Wagoner next in line. I think everyone should experience music recorded before they were born.

If you’re wondering what I want for Christmas, I’d still like one of those red Mini-Coopers. I’m also wanting an Apple Watch and one of those Nintendo Classic gaming systems that are rumored to exist (though I have yet to see a real live one with my own eyes).

My cat Lucy is currently snoring away beside me. I think that’s my cue to wrap this up and call it a night. That and the fact that it’s 11:09 pm. That’s past my bedtime, folks.

 

Randomness Run Amuck on a Thursday

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My cat Lucy got a little exercise. She ran for about 15 seconds straight. While that might not seem like much to most people, consider that she is 16 years old and for her, staying awake is a feat of biblical proportions.

Her three normal modes of existence are 1) getting ready to nap, 2) napping, 3) thinking about waking up from a nap but deciding not to. She really is that old and lazy. I wish I had her life.

In other news, fall has returned. It literally went from summer weather to fall weather in the span of 24 hours. Then again, I still live in Tennessee.

In the world of music, I picked up a couple of CDs by The New Hawaiian Band. It’s Hawaiian music circa 1968 and 1969. Not very exciting or danceable but very good for unwinding at the end of the day and dreaming of the tropics.

My Doctor Who quest has resumed with Series Three. David Tennant is still the Doctor, but Rose is no longer on this plane of existence. Sad. The new girl is good but not quite the same.

I’m still in search of a way to stream the entire history of Doctor Who (or as much as still exists), starting from the very beginning. I even emailed the good folks at BBC America but got a very vague and shadowy response along the lines of “that does not compute. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!” Oh well.

In the best news of all, tomorrow is Friday. That never fails to make me supremely happy. Not as happy as me with a pumpkin spice beverage but way happier than me having to wake up at 5 am.

I think that wraps up everything I know on this October Thursday evening. More randomness to follow whenever I can’t think of anything else to write about.

The end.

 

 

My Prayer at 11:08 PM on a Friday Night

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“I thank God for most this
amazing
day; for the leaping greenly
spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything
which is natural, which is
infinite, which is yes” (e. e. cummings)

On this Friday, I give thanks for the following:

  1. Fridays, which have never gotten old, even when I was unemployed. I can’t remember when Friday didn’t make me extremely happy.
  2. Another overcast Autumn day to remind me of why I love fall.
  3. An oversized mug of hot chocolate from The Well to remind me of why I love hot chocolate. Or anything at all from The Well. Or just hanging out at The Well in general.
  4. Geriatric cats that still curl up in my lap and fall asleep there (well, just the one geriatric cat named Lucy who would probably kill me in my sleep if she ever found out that I referred to her as geriatric).
  5. Doctor Who (particularly the episodes with David Tennant and Billie Piper). I’m late to the party, but I’m now officially a fan. And I still at some point would like to watch all the existing episodes, starting at the very beginning. Put that on my bucket list.
  6. Netflix on my iPad, which is way cooler than the portable TV I used to tote around back in the day when I thought I was the cat’s pajamas (again, don’t tell my cat Lucy I said that).
  7. A comfortable bed at the end of a long day.
  8. Not having to set the alarm for 5 am for tomorrow morning.
  9. God’s grace at the end of the day and God’s new mercies for the beginning of the next new day.

So what did we learn today? Gratitude still pays dividends. That and it’s a really good thing my cat Lucy doesn’t read my blog posts.

 

Trying Something New (to Me)

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doctors

I’m a little late to the party, but I’ve finally watched my first few episodes of Doctor Who. I’m only 50 years late, give or take a few years.

I’ve heard about time-lords and the TARDIS and daleks and so forth. Doctor Who is almost considered royalty when it comes to serious fans of sci-fi.

My goal (at least up until tonight ) was to find a way to watch every single episode from the very beginning up to the present. That lofty goal has apparently been thwarted by the knowledge that many of the early episodes were lost and/or destroyed and no longer exist. That’s according to what I read on the highly-accurate inter webs.

Maybe my newly-modified goal is to watch episodes of Doctor Who with all the different actors playing the title character. That should be doable, I think.

I just need to figure out how to buy/rent/steam/locate these episodes. Any advice is certainly welcome at this point.

So far, I’ve only watched episodes with David Tennant and Billie Piper. I’d say the bar has been set fairly high. The special effects (particularly the CGI) seem a bit dated, but at least they’re better than a lot of the older BBC sci-fi programming that I’ve seen.

My verdict at this point is a hearty two thumbs up. I’ll keep you posted as my latest adventure into the world of classic pop culture continues.