Tag: Sylvester McCoy

Seas and Ships and Ceiling Wax

Wow, December is half over and I’ve not updated once. And many’s the time I’ve thought “I should post that to LJ” and then never did. My round tuits are around here someplace…

First off: The Hobbit. Ever since I saw Peter Jackson’s take on the Lord of the Rings, I wanted him to tackle The Hobbit. And then when he cast Sylvester McCoy in it, I got even more excited. I’m pleased that judiang got into Richard Armitage, because the Armitage Army have been a great source for Hobbit info. 🙂

Anyhoo, for mom’s birthday last year, I got her tickets to my favorite ballet (The Nutcracker). This year, I got her tickets to a movie with my favorite actor in it. 🙂 So yesterday, mom, dad, and I went doon sooth to the only theatre in the area showing the film at 48 frames per second. We got ideal seats and enjoyed the flick immensely. The picture quality is so crisp, and I never got nauseous once (which I always do in 3D movies). The folks enjoyed the flick too, and neither recognized Sylv in his role (though dad had pretty much narrowed it down to Radagast). Woo!

As for Sylv in the flick – wonderful. But then I would say that. Heh. I was pleased by the amount of the movie that he’s in. Hope he shows up in the other two, too!

In other news: After our trip to Ikea in MN, I decided to go the next weekend to my own Ikea (which is even further doon sooth than the theatre where we saw The Hobbit) and get the stuff I’d decided I liked in MN. I measured my trunk and knew that everything would fit – probably. And it did. I got a dining room table (small & square that expands out to a bigger rectangle when needed), 4 dining room chairs with extra seat covers (I have cats, you know), a coffee table (Lack, with a shelf), and some candles. I even planned ahead with Weight Watchers and knew how many points my meal would be. Heh.

WeightWatchers: I am on it again through work. And believe it or not, am losing despite Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays. I’ll be surprised (though pleasantly so) if I lose over the break.

Holidays: Probably my least decorated yet. Have the tree up, got a real wreath & roping and they’re finally up, and today got out the other things I’ll decorate with. Though not everything is in place yet. Didn’t swap out dishes like usual, though. Amy will be in after Christmas, so before Christmas, I’m doing a short weekend in Chicago to hang with Judi and elsaf. Should be much fun.

Holiday shopping: Mostly done with that. Not yet done with Amy, and there’s a few things to buy locally for mom and another friend. Oh yeah, little cousins… Hmmm.

Last week of school: This week is our last of 2012. If I get all of my grading done, I’ll be very pleased. That’s my goal for the week. One less thing to hang over my holiday. 🙂

Wow, 2012, you’ve gone by so fast. You know, 2013, you can take your time if you want (even though I AM ready to watch the second Hobbit movie. Heh.)

Summer Winds Down

I have had a fabulous summer. Many days of sitting & reading with my kitties (Lucy’s on the chair with me right now, in fact). Time spent riding my new bike. Walking in the woods. Vacations to Chicago and Minneapolis. Plenty of family time with the folks.

Sadly, summer is now winding down. Our first day is next Thursday and the kids’ first day is two weeks from yesterday (on Grandma’s birthday). I’ve been popping into the school getting things ready, though not in earnest yet. And today I went to a meeting to start my training as a Mentor.

This will be the start of my 20th year teaching and this year I shall be a mentor to a new teacher – woo! I hope I will be a good mentor. I’ve met the new teacher and already answered some of her questions. I think she’ll be a good teacher and I hope she has a great year at Newton!

Anyhoo, I’ve got more smartphone bragging to do in a future post, including the nifty accessories I’ve gotten for it. (Going to try out a case when it finally arrives, possibly Saturday.)

Oh, and in a side note (only related because the other item in the package with the case will be the final Sylvester McCoy Doctor Who DVD), I’m quite pleased that from now until The Hobbit premiers in December, I’ll have new Sylv stuff to listen to each month thanks to Big Finish. (With The Hobbit now being split into 3 movies, I hope that Sylv’s stint as Radagast the Brown will be in the first flick still…)

Book Meme 2009

Once again, Procrastination wasn’t enough to defeat me! Woot! I got my paper turned in at 10pm last night. 🙂 No idea if it’s any good (I think my midterm paper was better), but I got to say a lot of what I wanted to say. And lemme just say, the pharmaceutical industry’s got some s’plainin’ to do! (Eventually I’ll have both the midterm and the final paper published on my science blog (tls_scienceblog) once I get that moving again. Likely this summer.)

Anyhoo, as a break for my brain before I start researching my final paper for the History & Philosophy of Science class (the development of atomic theory & the scientific method), I have a meme about books that I’ve gakked from ravenskyewalker.

1. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

I read when I eat out on my own. But if I’m not doing that, then I don’t snack while reading most of the time.

2. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

Gah! Write in books? Next you’ll be asking if I bend the ears of a book?! (Do you know how hard it was for me to write in my college books? Damned difficult. I rarely did it.)

3. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

Old duplicate Doctor Who trading cards – Sylvester McCoy ones most usually. I also use bookmarks from the local bookstore (they put one in every batch they sell), receipts, bits of tissue. Whatever I have to hand. And then I get around to replacing the temporary one with a trading card. 🙂

4. Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?

Both. Usually fiction, but I enjoy reading science books and travelogues (stand up Michael Palin & Bill Bryson).

5. Hardcopy or audiobooks?

I’ll read/listen to anything. Hardcopy, eBook, audiobook. I have very few audiobooks (everything that Sylvester McCoy ever read, the freebies I recently tried from Audible & eMusic), but they are nice to listen to while cleaning, etc.

6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?

Although I prefer to reach a breaking point (section or chapter or end of entire book), I’ll stop if I need to.

7. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Write it down to look it up later? Just try to infer what it means from the rest of the sentence, and keep going?

I just context clue it and may eventually think to look it up. However, I’m loving that I can instant look-up words in eBooks on my phone. Now I know that kites are more than just those big paper/plastic things kids love to fly in the sky.

8. What are you currently reading?

I’ve got Our Daily Meds & Side Effects partially read (was reading them for my ethics final paper, will probably finish ’em before I have to return ’em to the library). Am currently reading The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold in the bedroom. Am listening to Fool by Christopher Moore. Have an eBook started (early stages) on my phone, but I don’t recall the title. (It’s a Mercedes Lackey/someone else book from the Baen Library.) There’s also the science philosophy books from my History & Philosophy of Science class which I’ve read some of, but may not finish.

9. What is the last book you bought?

Academic Stimulus Package (the 4th book from Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD), a webcomic by Jorge Cham). Actually, I purchased a book this morning before work. Volume Two of Girls with Slingshots (a webcomic by Danielle Corsetto). Obviously it hasn’t arrived yet. Heh.

10. Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can read more than one at a time?

Look at #8 and then ask again. 🙂

11. Do you like re-reading books?

I do enjoy rereading books, which is (one reason) why I prefer to buy rather than borrow from libraries. Although I keep a record of when I finish a book, I never include reread books. So that still forces me to read books I haven’t read if I want to reach 50+ books in a year.

Obsession

I’m a collector. When I get interested in something, I have a tendency to collect stuff regarding that thing, usually to obsession. I got to thinking about it recently when I was talking in SMAS about my Sylvester McCoy photo collection. I was ruminating that I now had so many photos, it was hard to find one for sale that I didn’t already own. I thought “I’ll bet they’d be surprised to see the size of the binders I’ve got all my photos in.” Then I decided I’d do a LJ post about it – and some of my other obsessions.

My photograph collection originated as a “scrapbook” collection (long before “scrapbooking” was a verb). And it’s all Helen Hayes’ fault. See, I was reading one of Grandma A’s Reader’s Digress when I saw some article (or maybe ad) with a lovely photo of Helen Hayes. I asked Grandma if I could cut out the photo and she said I could. I still have that picture from the mag – it’s part of a collage I made several years ago (late 80s) that hangs in my den. Although some of my tastes have changed and are not reflected in this collage (which actually had a couple of different permutations until it settled on its current one), I like it just as much when I finished it. And there’s enough stuff on it that I still like (like Helen Hayes).


Click the image for a larger version of the collage. How many people/shows/etc can you recognize?

Moving from scrapbooks to photos happened because of two important things: Jerry Ohlinger’s Movie Memorabilia store and Whomobilia. Both were mail order companies (Whomobilia in the UK) that I’d receive catalogs from. Jerry was first – I bought several black & white and color 8x10s from him. Movie stars and TV stars and occasional movie posters. (My giant, and I MEAN giant, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory poster came from there. Three times the size of a standard marquis poster, IIRC.) I was actually a movie poster & photo collector then. (Mom & dad started the fire with movie posters with a Willy Wonka marquis as a Christmas present when I was young & impressionable.) In 1995, I went to my first Doctor Who convention (Visions ’95) and managed to start properly on my Sylvester McCoy photo collection. And then came eBay. Gah, eBay, you are EVIL!


The Doctor Who binder is half photos and half scrapbook with magazine cut-outs. The two Sylv folders (Color and B&W) are just photos of varying size.


A binder next to a roll of duct tape, just to illustrate how thick it is.


I also have a binder of non-Sylvester McCoy photos which includes most of the Jerry Ohlinger photos as well as other convention guests from conventions.

So, now I have a substantial photo collection which rivals my earlier scrapbook collection of TV guide & other magazine cut-outs.

I used to have a substantial video tape collection, but I have upgraded to DVD. According to DVD Profiler, I have 434 DVD titles currently. The number of actual discs is considerably more. And I’m doing a good job at getting ’em all watched (and rewatched – which is why DVDs are brilliant). Just about any time DeepDiscount.com has one of their 20% off sales, I spent at least $100 on DVDs in my wishlist. I go to theatrical movies now with the mindset “should I buy this on DVD or not?” (My summer theatricals are all “yes.” Now I just have to wait for the DVDs to come out.)

(For photos of the DVD, CD, book, and toy collections, check out the gallery I put up on my website.)

I used to be an album collector, but only of a few groups/musicians (Neil Innes-related things most likely). However, when CDs came around, I switched to ’em with little effort. I now have a goodly CD collection which I have converted (mostly) to MP3s. I have nearly 10,000 MP3s (over 40GB) in my collection, and only a few are download purchases (and I have no illegal MP3s in my collection – anymore.) CDs which I don’t have MP3’d are Doctor Who audio adventures which don’t include Sylvester McCoy (with a few non-Sylv ones I’ve ripped).

I don’t remember if I posted photos of my finished library (if I did, I didn’t tag it properly). But as you can guess from other posts about books, I’m obsessed with them too. (Current obsession, Lois McMaster Bujold books.) Back when the New Adventures of Doctor Who first came out, I was thrilled when 1-800-Trekker started their Pen of the Month Club. For a substantial fee, you’d get a 1-800-Trekker pen and 1 (and later 2) free books! I think the last of the 1-800-Trekker pens (which was living in the bathroom at mom & dad’s cottage) dribbled out its last bit of ink and they are no more. However, I still have all of the New Adventures and Missing Adventures that I got from ’em! I made an important break-through in obsession control when I was collecting the BBC 8th Doctor Adventures. I found I wasn’t enjoying them AT ALL. So I (and this is profound, folks) STOPPED BUYING THEM. Wow. That was an epiphany for me. There are still a few sitting there which I’ve not read, but I probably will someday. (I stopped right before Lawrence Miles’ Interference two-parter. I’d hated everything else he’d written (yes, hated) and I refused to give him any more of my money, cheap bastard that I am.)

But it’s not just Doctor Who books in my collection. I have thousands of books. Well, OK, only 1300+ books according to LibraryThing. (I do own more than that, but some of ’em don’t auto-detect in LT or in Book Collector and I didn’t want to bother adding them manually.) Thanks to the lovely shelves that dad & I put up, I have nice homes for my books. And a wonderful place to sit & read ’em.

Other obsessions of mine include toys and stuffed animals. I still buy toys and stuffed animals (though usually the animals are souvenirs to places, like zoos or similar). I love physics toys most of all and have quite a few of mine over at the school for use as demos in physics class (with duplicates here in case they get broken there). I’d’ve taken a photo of the animals sitting behind my sofa, but the kitties have messed ’em up and I didn’t feel like putting ’em back yet.

In a previous post, I wrote about my webcomics obsession and showed photographic evidence of that. (Indeed, my collection of webcomics-related swag has increased since that post.)

So, yeah, obsession. Got that. In spades. And hearts and diamonds and even clubs. (Oh, did I mention all of the packs of playing cards I’ve got? Jennie Breeden of Devil’s Panties now has Men in Kilts playing cards which I should get…)

Doctor Who Meme

We were informed last night that we had a 2-hour delay today – no surprise there.  What did surprise me was the phone call at 8am this morning (just after I finished breakfast and while I was reading e-mail) which let us know that, due to the country roads being crappy (not his words), school was closed today.  Woohoo!  So, now that I have another day off, I thought I’d start out with the Doctor Who meme that’s been doing the rounds. (I like how one flist member described it as an “interrogation” rather than a meme.)

1. When did you start watching?
In 1982, I believe.

1a. Why?
I missed the Tomorrow People.  TP had been off the air for awhile and I wanted my cheesy British sci-fi.  I’d avoided Doctor Who up to that point cuz dad had warned me about smelly boys living in their parents’ basement.  Or some such.

2. What was your first episode?
“Four to Doomsday.”  However, I had seen bits of “Genesis of the Daleks” and “The Android Invasion” before then.  When I realized they were Doctor Who, I’d turned them off.  “Four to Doomsday” however surprised me – the toothy guy with the scarf wasn’t there, it was some young (cute) blond dude.  And I loved the mouthy Australian.  So I kept on watching.

3. Which episodes have you seen?
All of the existing ones, I believe. 

3a. Favorite?
Original series: “Ghost Light.”  Current series: “Blink” with “Empty Child/Doctor Dances” closely following behind.

4. Are your friends/family interested in the show?
Considering most of my friends I found though Doctor Who in the first place… lots of friends like the show.  My sister used to enjoy the series (the Tegan years).  I showed mom and dad “Blink” and they really liked it. I even have a coworker who knows the original series.

5. Which Doctor is your favorite?
Doc7 as played by Sylvester McCoy.  (See icon.)

6. Which Doctor is your least favorite?
I like ’em all. (See icon.)

7. Which TV companion is your favorite?
Turlough and Martha.  (I usually say Benny, but then I remember “Oh, she wasn’t a TV companion.”)

8. Which TV companion is your least favorite?
Adrip.

9. Do you listen to the Big Finish audios?
Yes.

9a. If so, which is your favorite?
The Fearmonger. (Go Jon!)  The Harvest is also very good.  And my favorite non7th Doc story is The One Doctor.

9b. Also: which Big Finish companion is your favorite?
Hex, though Eveline and Erimem are good too.  Doc8 OTOH – don’t like any of his companions.  Or his stories, actually.

10. Have you listened to any non-Big Finish audios?
Yup.

10a. If so, which is your favorite?
Punchline (BBV) and Death Comes to Time (BBC).

11. Have you read any of the novels or short stories?
Yup.

11a. Have you written any of the novels or short stories?
Nope.

11b. Which is your favorite?
The Left-Handed Hummingbird (Virgin) and Heritage (BBC).

12. Have you read any of the comics?
Not regularly.  I have the 7thDoc compilation (of course).

12a. You guessed it – which is your favorite?
Don’t really have one.

13. Do you watch any of the spin-offs (e.g. Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures)?
Watch ’em both.

13a. Which is your favorite?
SJA thus far.  However, I’ve been enjoying season 2 of Torchwood.

14. Is there any particular episode/book/audio/comic you desperately want to watch/listen to/read?
I never give up the chance to watch “Ghost Light.”

Fandom
1. Do you write fanfic for Doctor Who?
Not anymore.

1a. If so, post a snippet of a work-in-progress (or several)!
N/A

2. Do you create Doctor Who icons?
Yes – Doc7 ones, usually.

2a. Let’s see a sample!
   

3. Recommend a fanfic/icon/fanvid/fancomic/fancreation!
I did rather enjoy Time Rift when I saw it. 

4. Have you been to any Doctor Who conventions?
Visions 95-98, Gallifrey ’98, ’00, ’02, ChicagoTARDIS once.

5. Have you ever dressed up as a Doctor Who character?
Nope.

6. Do you own any Doctor Who merchandise?
Yup. Books, DVDs, toys, collectible cards, playing cards (heh heh – can’t wait to show them to judiang), etc.

7. Are you a fan of Russell T Davies?
Yup.

7a. Steven Moffat?
I’ve been a fan of his since his short story in Decalog 2.  My favorite episode of Murder Most Horrid was written by him.  My favorite eps of the new series are written by him.

7b. Paul Cornell?
I’ve always liked his stuff, but I always liked Kate Orman’s better. 🙂

8. What say you to Season 6b?
If people want to have it cannon, let ’em.  I’m neither for nor against it myself.

9. The UNIT dating controversy?
Heck, all the goobering up that the Doctor’s done with time, it’s no surprise they can’t get the dates right.

10. The Blinovitch Limitation effect?
Fun gobbledygook.

11. Multi-Doctor episodes?
Also fun gobbledygook.

12. What’s your favorite Doctor Who technobabble?
“Wibbly wobbly timey wimey.”

13. Have you watched other TV shows exclusively because of the presence of Doctor Who actors?
Hell yeah.  That’s how I watch TV & movies in general – who’s in ’em, not what it’s about.  Someone says “I’m watching such & such” and my first question is always “Who’s in it?”  I’ve seen mucho stuff with Sylvester McCoy, but I’ve sought out stuff from all the Docs and many companions. 

14. Have you met any of the actors?
The actors who played Docs5-8, several actors who’ve played companions.

14a. Traveled to any filming locations?
Never on purpose. (Unless a BBC studios tour counts as “on purpose.”)

15. What do you think of The Curse of Fatal Death?
Fun stuff, even the fart jokes.  (I’m easily amused.)  Jonathan Pryce is the best Master evah (even better than Derek Jacobi and DelGOD.)

16. Do you have any fannish opinions that you think are fairly unpopular?
That Sylvester McCoy is the best Doctor.  Heh.  How about that Death Comes to Time is cannon?

17. What’s your favorite pairing?
Eh, that’s the realm of one’s own imagination.  And my imagination is warped, so I shan’t answer. 😉

18. What pairing(s) won’t you touch with a really long pole?
I love Rose, I love Docs 9 & 10, but the “pairing” got a bit heavy-handed by the end of it.

Shangri-La

Back in October, I promised dark_pheonix a photo of Sylv for her birthday. I searched through my collection looking for something unique and just didn’t find “the one.” And as always happens, I eventually forgot about my quest. (Glad I haven’t been picked the find the Holy Grail or anything… Or maybe I have and I’ve forgotten about it…)

Anyhoo, the other day I was looking for a new background for my computer when I sorted through my “raw” scans (huge 600dpi+ files which I haven’t edited yet for wallpaper) and found “the one.” So, I present for dark_pheonix and other folks who enjoy a bit of Sylv, The Shangri-La Doctor!

Happy Birthday, Phlege!

A big Happy Birthday (now probably belated) to phlegethon_vii!

I was looking around my extensive photo collection for something Sylvish, and found this odd little gem. Hope it gives you some joy. It certainly tickles me. Silly man!


Sylvester McCoy and his Amazing Rubber Face! I wish I knew where I found this one. Blame must be apportioned. 🙂

Celebrity Dreaming

It’s official. I’ve been watching too much Bewitched.

Now, the number of celebrities who have appeared in my dreams are few. And mostly Doctor Who or Tomorrow People related. But last night, Elizabeth Montgomery showed up. And in an unusual manner.

See, what happened was that Sylvester McCoy was filming an episode of Doctor Who. (I think it was being filmed in the US – in a big office building). As he’s racing out of the door of the office building during a scene take, he collides with a blonde lady coming into the building while wearing a trechcoat (and little else – I wonder what that says about my thought processes???) Anyhoo, the woman turns out to be Elizabeth Montgomery on the run from evil producers wanting her to film a nude scene she doesn’t want to film. But Sylv is more than happy to help her escape from the evil producers. (I wonder what THAT says about my thought proecesses?)

There was a scene that took place in a boat too – probably during the escape sequence. But I must admit, the dream was pretty bizarre, even for my standards!

Typing some stuff in…

Well, so far, no contributions to Light the Night – the walk for Leukemia & Lymphoma that I’ll be doing on Thursday. Alas! You folks really are all donated out, aren’t you? 🙂

So anyhoo, my poor addiction is sucking at my very marrow, but I don’t care. Gonna play more City of Heroes after I finish this post (and catch up on my FList). Yesterday, work, CoH, supper & Monk, CoH, bed. Today, work, CoH, supper & Monk, CoH, bed. Tomorrow, work, CoH, supper & Monk, CoH, bed. It’s coming to be my schedule. Thank goodness I’ve scheduled myself to walk on Thursday. Might go back into safety mode after that, however. (It’s weird how I get into an antisocial funk for awhile. Not disagreeable to be around or anything. Just prefer to return home to my kitty and bury myself in my computer. Then I’ll get into the “must go OUT AND DO STUFF” mode for awhile.)

The other night, I had another celebrity filled dream. This one starred Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy. Davison was playing the part of a businessman on a space station who’s killed his wife and trying to get away with it. Sylv is playing the guy who runs the space station & is trying to discover who dun it. A key clue is the reflection off of Davison’s bald patch… (Yeah, didn’t make any sense to me either.) Some of the time in the dream, I’m watching the movie, in other parts, I’m watching the making of. And then there was a scene with a guy who looked like a VERY old Davison and I’m telling dad how amazed at how badly he’s aged.

My brain – see, it’s warped! Must go have a replacement. Maybe one that doesn’t get addicted to City of Heroin. 🙂