Why I Want to be River When I Grow Up

So what makes River so special?  After much consideration, I think I’ve figured out what it is.  River Song exists both as a superhuman foil to the Doctor, and someone we can relate to as a person who loves and admires him.   As both, how can we resist her?

How River is More Than Human

The Doctor is an amazing character, I will not start in on how spectacular he is.  He regularly has a companion with him which offers the audience someone to compare him to.  In contrast, he is the ever energetic adventurer and savior.  We see different sides of him as he is paired with various companions, but the Doctor is always the savior, the hero in the relationship.  He opens up worlds for his companions, and expands the universe.

River is so different from anyone else in the series.  As far as we’ve been allowed to see, River doesn’t need the Doctor to expand her universe.  Her universe is already vast, covering a great deal of time and space.  She has her own adventures and is capable of travelling and existing in her own timeline, with and without the Doctor.  In the new series, there are no Time Lords other than The Doctor.  It wasn’t until a ways into viewing that Jana & I discovered that this wasn’t always the case.  Russell T. Davies made a decision that the race would not survive the Time War, and it’s universally been embraced. In Classic Who there were many other Time Lords.  They were capable of time travel, had working Tardises, and had the same vast knowledge base and abilities as the Doctor.  They did not always see the universe in the same way as him, but they offered the viewer a look at a universe were the Doctor was not a single, ultimate being.  It’s what makes the villain of the Master so intriguing in the new series- here’s an antagonist who can hold his own against the Doctor.  They begin on equal footing.  We get a glimpse of the Time Lords at the end of season four, but it's just for a moment.

With the appearance of River Song, we have a character who operates on her own agenda, with her own abilities, and doesn’t need the Doctor to physically survive the universe.  In this sense, she is completely unique in the New Series.  Captain Jack was around for a while, but he (very unfortunately) hasn't been seen in the company of the Doctor in ages.  We need this character, River, to remind us that the Doctor is not the beginning and the end of intelligent, powerful beings.   He is able to ask questions of her and get them answered.  Their relationship is back and forth with knowledge and information in a way he’s never had with his earthly, contemporary companions.  She understands situations that they are in without needing a ton of background, and therefore he is able to bounce ideas off of her.  He’s able to question options and have someone make suggestions about what to do.  The Doctor has less pressure on him with River there, and while he ultimately feels responsible for her, he isn’t really. She takes care of him just as much.  The first episode she meets him, she does the saving (granted, she also tried to kill him...).  The fact that he doesn't have to be the savior gives him the rare chance to be vulnerable around someone.  This makes their relationship special.

How River is Human

What makes River especially amazing is the fact that she can run around the universe as nearly an equal match to the Doctor, but she is still a character that we are able to relate to.   She adores the Doctor, pretty much unconditionally.  What true Whovian doesn’t unconditionally love the Doctor, even when he screws things up?  She is always excited to see him, and she will do anything for him.  The awesome part is that she isn’t afraid to argue with him.  She is knowledgeable enough to do it, so watching her and the Doctor together is more like watching a real couple than anything we’ve seen before. 

River in her first/last episode

Another detail is that she isn’t eternal.  River is human (well, as much as a Child of the Tardis can be), and she knows that her time with the Doctor will someday come to an end.  Granted, with her crazy timeline we may be able to see her for ages, but she still isn’t going to live for thousands of years like the Doctor.   And everyone, including the Doctor, knows it.

River is willing to destroy the
universe to avoid killing
The Doctor

River, unlike the Doctor and very like real people, can regularly be selfish.  With her “trained as a psychopath” childhood, if she wants to kill someone/something, she does.  If the Doctor is going to die, he might as well take all of time and space with him.  She’ll deface ancient or futuristic property alike, and she is unconcerned.  She’s manipulative to the core (see regular habit of lying and her steady supply of hallucinogenic lipstick), and River is not all that concerned with applying her moral compass.   

All these aspects together are what make River a spectacular character.  She’s strong, self-assured, and capable like the Doctor, but she’s mortal and has human flaws.   River, of all the characters I’ve ever seen on Doctor Who, is the character I most want to be. 

Stay Shiny!

Kristin

New to Who

There is no more "New Who" this year- sadness. Before launching into a new review/who topic (so many ideas just came to my brain - profiles on each Doctor, companion rankings, older episode reviews - Ahhh! So much fun), I think we need to discuss the journey that it took for Jana and Kristin to throw in the towel, throw up the white flag, and finally succumb to being full-fledged Whovians. It actually wasn't long into the surrender that we just went along willingly, but still.

The Resistance - How It Proved to be Futile

The first episode of Doctor Who I LOVED and wanted
to watch again!

Jana - For years (years, I say), I had been told to watch Doctor Who. My brother begged me to watch it, my HP friends were obsessed and nagged me to watch it and yet I did not give in. Finally, when it was recommended AGAIN on Netflix, I caved. This was 2008 - I watched Rose. The whole episode - I swear, you could check my Netflix records. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't intrigued. I just didn't need to see the next one. Then (and I know I'm giving away our "Whovian age" here) in February of 2012 - Kristin and I decided that we both needed to give the Doctor another chance. I still resisted - I just didn't see it happening. Kristin decided to take the plunge - she'd watch and report back. Let me know if I was really missing something fabulous. The first few episodes, she stated, were much the same as Rose. I'll be forever grateful that she's an English teacher because if she didn't have so many damn papers to grade, she may never have reached the 9th episode and then Sundays would not be Who days. By the time she called during the Christmas Invasion, trying to let me hear The Doctor quote The Lion King, I knew we were turning a corner - a new obsession was coming. The end of Season One and the beginning of Season Two were both watchable, but  once I'd seen "The Girl in the Fireplace," I fell for both Tennant and the Doctor and knew I'd found my new favorite thing! 

The moment that was too good not to share.

Kristin - I can't remember ever being told by someone to watch Doctor Who.  It came up on my Netflix repeatedly, and I recognized Billie Piper on the front from a few other things that she'd been in.  I have always been a bit more into sci-fi television than Jana, so it isn't surprising that I dived in first.  I decided that if Netflix was so insistent that this be watched, I should try.  I watched both "Rose" and "The End of the World". Sorry, but I wasn't invested enough to keep at it. (At this point I didn't know anything about the history of the show, Jana & I have since developed an appreciation for these early episodes!)  A year or two later, I got on Pinterest.  I adore Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all things Whedon, along with many other geeky things, so I started following boards that posted about Buffy and regularly looking at the "Geek" category on Pinterest.  Doctor Who related images were being pinned constantly by people who cared about the same things as me, and I saw most pins were about different doctors than the one that I'd seen in "Rose".  I became determined to give the show another chance, and see if the show took a turn that I would like with the new actor.  One weekend when I knew I would be working in the living room for a while, I turned on the television and barreled through the first season.  I texted Jana my reviews throughout, since she was interested in the show as well, but it wasn't until "The Empty Child" that I began to appreciate the magic of the Doctor.  Honestly, I found Captain Jack really likable and then realized I was thoroughly enjoying the story.  I texted Jana and told her to skip to episode nine.  I made it to Tennant's Christmas special, and before it was over I had realized that this little British show was something I could totally love.  It was before I made it to "Tooth and Claw" (Tennant's third episode) that I wanted to see everything, know everything, and adore everything touched by Doctor Who. 

If you are still on the fence, give it a chance!  Some people find their entrance right away in "Rose,"  some people need to meet Tennant, and there are people out there who find their entrance through Matt Smith and the entrance of the Moffat era.  There's something about Doctor Who for everyone, you just need to find your way in.  

DFTBA and Stay Shiny,
Jana and Kristin

Doctor 7.5 Review- A Night of Terror and Tears.

A Smiling Angel
(who knew they could get creepier?)

A night of terror and tears, otherwise known as The Angels Take Manhattan.

This episode was intense.  It began intensely suspenseful, had intensely awesome and hilarious moments, and of course intense sadness.  Spoilers abound, just so you know.

The story begins in Manhattan, naturally, with... you guessed it, yet another voice over.  And this voice over is yet again by an inconsequential character.  The scene itself was important for setting up the Angels' hotel, but the voice over could have been dropped.  If it seemed vital, they could have lost earlier voice overs so I wasn't rolling my eyes. Couldn't they have just had someone encounter the creepy collector guy and get sent to the hotel? Or incorporate the guys that capture Rory later?  



All of the Angels are seriously creepy in this episode.  They must have gone out searching for creepy looking statues. The laughing babies were horrifying (except for the fact that they sounded just like the Boos from Mario Bros - J).  The Statue of Liberty as a Weeping Angel is likely a direct result of online commentary. With it used only lightly, it is mostly okay. I do think it highly unlikely that everyone in NYC was not looking at the Statue of Liberty so that it could move... that doesn't quite add up! It is nice that the Angels have taken over, not that they've always been there. 

Rory with creepy Baby Angels

After the credits we jump to modern New York and see the scene that's had pics splattered online for months.  As soon as Rory leaves the group for coffee you know he's going to go missing, and the laughing babies just confirm it.  It was very creepy, and leads into the real start of the story. 

Beautiful moment of
The Doctor & River

My favorite thing in this episode is River. We're supposed to love her- lots of sad things are happening in this hour and the interaction of River and the Doctor is supposed to be our reward for making it through the episode.  From the first moment we see River and realize that the Doctor has been reading about her (yowzah!), it puts a smile on your face. River is my favorite thing in Doctor Who right now, so I was just THRILLED to see her, and she lived up to all of my expectations.  I can't wait to rewatch every scene she's in. When she flat out says, "Just wait till my husband gets home," I love it. And the Doctor primping! Ahhh!! I could fill a blog with quotes by her and the Doctor, but I am going to stay on task and move on.  It is important to note that she isn't in jail anymore- she was pardoned since the man that she killed doesn't seem to have existed. It made me want to review River's history again - was she pardoned during Silence in the Library? 

The Doctor is devastated by reading the final chapter titles of River's book, and his reaction is so honest.  You see how connected he really is to Amy; we've always known that Amy is important and precious to him, but here we see - he almost doesn't know how to control that emotion. He refuses to accept the reality of the situation and moves on.  He refuses to break River's wrist just because the book says so. Which bugs me a little - didn't he break a couple things while landing the TARDIS - that counts as breaking, right? Have we heard before about reading it making it fact?  Is that new?  I mean, we hear all the time that time can be rewritten.  So you can see it, but you can't read it?  It just seems like there's something wrong with this rule. I feel like if I reflect on this, or even the paradox created by Rory & Amy's jump, I'll become frustrated by the wibbly-wobblyness of it all.  For now, I choose to move on.


When the family reunites in the the Angels' hotel, it's to see a moving death of Rory Williams.  Amy is touching here as well.  Their love is so powerful and so obvious in every second of this episode. At times it has been hard to see the depth of their love for each other; they get so into the Doctor's issues, but recently you've seen how much they are in love with one another. Real life gave them that - they had these shared experiences that no one else could relate to and they realized that they needed each other.  It's impossible to imagine them without one another.  I spent the episode trying to decide if they were going to kill one of them, and they were showing them so in love just to rip out our hearts.  When they make it to the roof and Rory is ready to jump, I am just amazed at the talent of these actors.  They make the characters so real to me, and I am so appreciative of how much of themselves they must put into their parts.  Both Rory and Amy are beautiful in these moments on the roof, before jumping off.  Of course, a highlight moment is when Amy asked Rory if he thought after jumping he would just come back to life. His answer, "When do I not?" was brilliant.

The Doctor on his own

The whole group survives (I held my breath until River appeared on the other side of the Tardis) the jump and the death of the Angels.  As a viewer, we know there are only moments left and something bad is going to happen. We're right.  Rory's last moment is both sudden and heart breaking.  Amy's simple choice is of course her only option.  She says good-bye to River and the Doctor, and it's just inevitable.  She turns away and is gone.  


River and The Doctor return to the Tardis, and River seems eerily calm.  The Doctor acknowledges she's just said good-bye to her parents, and she seems somewhat unconcerned. What's up with that?  She then walks off to write her book, that Amy is going to publish. Does Amy publish her book in the past then? Does River go back and see them? Has she already gone back and seen them? Does she already know that they were back in time at the beginning of the episode? Being so calm, has she always known? So many River related questions!! I'm shocked. 

Amelia Pond, the Girl Who Waited

I loved the ending. Amy sends the Doctor back to the night she waited, and it was great.  It was comforting to remember that somewhere in time Amy is just beginning her adventures with the Doctor. I think every companion should have gotten such an awesome tribute - it was pretty freakin' awesome. It made me totally respect and love Amy more than I have over the past two and half seasons. 

Happy moments with The Doctor, Amy, & Rory

As far as the future (in the viewer's timeline), it's been stressed throughout the season that the Doctor doesn't need to be travelling alone. I'm looking forward to seeing Oswin at Christmas, hopefully joining the Doctor for a while.  I can't wait to see what happens with that.  If he saves Oswin, does he start to exist again?  It should be interesting.  As far as River, I imagine it will be ages, if ever, before we see such fun interaction again. I doubt there will be many times that we see them when they are both aware of the fact that they're married and should be flirting.   I'm pretty sure that we only got those happy moments to make up for the extreme sadness we endured.  It may take a while, but hopefully we'll eventually get all our questions answered!

DFTBA and Stay Shiny!
Jana and Kristin

How I Love Entertainment Weekly... let me count the ways

So, for Today in Fandom, I wanted to discuss my love for Entertainment Weekly. Technically I didn't get my copy of EW today, but since I saw this amazing video from their site today, I figured it was a great topic.

The awesome video that led to today's topic: 

Cookie Monster and Grover take on the fandoms

Isn't it pretty? I think I just gazed
at it's beautifulness for about
5 minutes before reading anything.

I love Entertainment Weekly; I've subscribed to the magazine since 2004 and have never missed an issue. As the years have gone by, I’ve realized that the people who work at EW have amazing taste – pretty much because it’s the same as my taste. We will occasionally disagree, EW and I, but I usually chock that up to me not having a direct influence over their decisions. (Just saying, Thor got an A. I’ll leave it at that.)

Now, I know Kristin actually checks the site more than I do (I’m usually good with just the magazine), but on occasion I do head over to EW.com and take advantage of the amazing recaps , reviews, etc available. It is how I “watch” American Idol at this point if I feel like catching up. The website is usually good for a decent hour or so of procrastinating – BEWARE, it is addictive. As is the magazine actually; there was a time when I was not to be interrupted when EW showed up in the house. And I’ve gotten better about throwing the magazine away after a week or two. They used to make me look like I should be on an episode of Hoarders.

Anyway, I wanted to list some of my favorites from EW over the years, so here we go…

My Top 5 Favorite Issues/Articles from Entertainment Weekly:

#1: The Doctor Who issue – I call it that because Matt Smith was on the cover, but it was beautiful. The Tardis picture and the cover are currently laminated in my classroom. (Next to the Katniss picture from EW of course.) And the article on The Doctor... 10 glorious pages (pretty lengthy) with great stuff for classic and new whovians written by a whovian. Pretty much the perfect article. And following it was an article about other cult shows - so that's pretty awesome too.

Love it.
Almost too much. 

#2: Stephen King in a funny mood. He used to do guest articles; no more I’m afraid. He always had wonderful things to say about Harry Potter and his article about Junior Mints was hilarious!

#3: Any Twilight interview – oh my gosh, hilarious. I hate that they grace the cover of the magazine, but the interviews are so stinkin’ funny.

#4: Harry Potter covers – I keep them in my den; the others get thrown away, but never Harry. I do have to admit they may have done a few too many Harry covers for some people, but not this person. Their all Harry issue was divine.

#5: Soundbites – even now I want to cut them out and make a collage. Although when I personally heard each one on TV, it does make me think I need to reevaluate my priorities.

Oh, Entertainment Weekly, I love you and the joy you bring me when you magically appear in my mailbox Friday afternoon!

DFTBA!

Jana

An Anticlimactic Invasion- Doctor 7.4 Review

I know my Pacey picture is dreamy and should just replace all other pictures in the blog (or at least stay at the top longer than 24 hours)... but we've got to get a new Doctor review up and running!

So... The Power of Three. Can I just start with that? I thought that Power of Three crap was incredibly annoying - didn't like it. The beginning and the end, with Amy narrating, ugh. It's also the third (so 3 out of 4) episodes beginning with narration.  On the upside, at least it was Amy.  The other two have been from characters irrelevant to the story line. It seems like it's supposed to make you feel like something epic is happening, but I'm not sure that it followed through.   

The setup of this episode was interesting. The year of the slow invasion; when the doctor came to stay.  I liked that it went through the whole year (year and a half?), but was left wondering - when did this happen in reference to what we've seen this season? Are these events occuring in the order we've viewed them?  Is it possible that this is before a Pond Life? It seems like it's after Dinosaurs on a Spaceship because Mr. Weasley (sorry, but that's who he is) knew the Doctor. I read an interesting theory stating that the Doctor is working backwards through his time with Amy and Rory... the Henry the 8th comment from "The Town Called Mercy" and then seeing the Henry the 8th situation in "The Power of Three" made me think we were definitely on wibbly wobbly time now.

A rather confusing villian

I hated the stupid cubes; ick. I'd rather have a freakin' Dalek or Cyberman. Even an adipose was better than those stupid things. And that villain? Who was that? I hope that there is some history there that I'm unaware of, or that they're coming back.  We had tons of time spent on setting up this world-wide problem, and then it just ended.  Why did the humans need to be wiped out?  Who set that in motion? And whatever started it,  surely we did not actually solve this damn cube crisis with the pressing of like three buttons. Come ON!!  Waving a sonic screwdriver at something may help find a solution, but it is not an "Easy Button" that simply solved the entire crisis.  It brought people back to life, defeated the villain, and saved the Earth?  Seriously?  It was anticlimactic and confusing.

Kate & the Doctor

I adored the references to the past though - the fact that UNIT was back, that the head of UNIT was Brigadier's daughter - LOVE! Making me applaud our efforts in learning about Doctors 1-8 even more. (We will so have to go into that when we're done analyzing next week!) The comment about the companions - obviously not just about Rose and Martha and Donna (which haven't been mentioned in 2 seasons anyway), made me want to cry and cheer at the same time. Finally, some history of the Doctor being brought in! About time Steve Moffatt!! Thank you!!

I know we're in for a set up next week.  Obviously the Ponds are not going to choose to go gently in to that good night, so it's going to be special and I'm certain, even as ready as I am, that tears will be involved. I didn't realize how sad I would be until I read that the last scene the trio actually filmed was from this episode.  The final moment from the hour, the three waving good-bye as they stepped into the Tardis, was the final shot filmed with Amy, Rory, & the Doctor together.  It made me sad to think of that, and I know next week is coming on strong.

Rory, The Doctor, & Amy in their final shot

I actually peeked at next week (some people on this blog work hard not to watch "next time on..."); not going to say a thing, but I think we're in for a monumental episode. I think this is on Silence in the Library, Blink proportions people. Everything's been building to this episode and I think some of the confusion (because Lord knows it can't ever all be sorted out) will be put to rest.

DFTBA & Stay Shiny!
Jana & Kristin

K's Doctor 7.3 Review

Some of this may be repetitive if you check out Jana's earlier post, but I wanted to share a specific review of last night's Doctor Who episode, "A Town Called Mercy."  Heavy on the SPOILERS!

The opening was interesting, but I'm a little tired of voiceovers by random people.  Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the Amy intro, but I'd rather just jump into the action.  Also, it was obviously space meets cowboys, so it made me miss Firefly.    I found the setting distracting to the story. So much emphasis was made on it being a "western" that it had to fight itself before it could become serious.  Matt Smith was adorable dancing through the Western cliches, but accents were distractingly bad, and I found that it was just trying too hard.  Maybe this is just the result of having a British television show portray the American West.  The sheriff was all right, but most of the other characters seemed more like caricatures than real people.



The Doctor or The Sheriff?

 I've repeatedly complained about missing River, but when Amy acknowledged she was a mom, that was actually enough for me.  This was not an episode that seemed like it should include River; it wasn't about collecting a group like last week, and River wasn't any business of this guy's.  Amy didn't need to provide him with details.   This simple acknowledgement that River existed (the VERY first this season) was satisfying and seemed appropriate.  I still miss her, but I didn't feel a gaping hole where she should have been, like I did last week.



Solomon (David Bradley) from 7.2

 This episode did manage to overcome it's cheesiness after a bit.  When the Doctor grabbed the gun and was ready to let the cyborg man kill "the alien doctor," I was horrified and thrilled.  Matt Smith is really coming into his own in my opinion.  It created a complex situation that brought back the feel of some darker Tennant episodes.    It also proved that his merciless action last week (letting the bad guy just die) was not careless, out of character writing, but establishing a pattern. 




Amy

 
This was a story that made you ask questions and I loved it. It is true that sometimes the questions were pushed in our face just a little more than neccesary.  I want to come to questions of right and wrong on my own, and it was very spelled out this time, but it still was a great episode.  It was my favorite this season so far. 

Other things of note- The Doctor is 1200 now, so he's aged a bit and hasn't spent all that time with Rory and Amy.  This is obviously something that Moffat made some effort to point out, and it's the reason the Doctor has gone through some changes.  Amy and Rory specifically said that they need to spend some time at home because they're aging faster than their friends.  This is yet another mention this season (in addition to families and jobs) of life outside of the Doctor.  You can feel Moffat setting something up.

I can't wait to see what other people thing about Season 7 so far!

Doctor Who - always leaving me with more questions than answers

After the Doctor Who episode Saturday night, I've decided to reflect on some of my meandering thoughts about Series 7 (and the series as a whole) for Whovian Sunday. 

The Doctor Alone

The "unmerciful" Doctor in 7.3.

The episode "A Town called Mercy," brought up a point about the Doctor travelling alone compared to travelling with companions. The Doctor, without human companions, becomes a slightly different Time Lord. He becomes less merciful; part of me wonders if he wanders off with River and they have adventures. Is she rubbing off on him? I don't know - it's not like she's evil, but she's certainly less merciful. Amy had to tell him that "this is not how we roll... we can't be like him, we have to be better than him." The Doctor usually reminds others to show mercy, but he's not been that way so far this season. He keeps presenting the option of killing - he's done it in all three episodes now. This isn't new, in fact, we've seen this angry, almost manic Doctor before: with Donna in her Christmas episode and in "The Waters of Mars." Sometimes that powerful, scary Doctor is pretty amazing, but I'm glad when we've seen him that way, he manages to be with people that will bring him back down to earth. I think that angry Doctor was the one that ended the Time War. That I truly can believe would be terrifying.  

Amy and Rory Leaving

I have to admit something... I watched the preview for next week. I generally have avoided these, but I let it play. There was (I guess this is a SPOILER) a tiny tidbit between Amy and Rory talking about choosing; I'm assuming they were discussing choosing life with the Doctor or life without the Doctor. I hope they don't just choose an option. That seems like such a cop out. I mean, don't get me wrong, forgetting the Doctor or being put in a parallel universe is not a good thing, but really, after being so involved for so long, you're just saying, "We're done..." Even Martha had more of a reason than that. I don't know... surely there's more to it than that. I think Amy and Rory have been good with (and for) the Doctor; at the very least it has been an interesting dynamic to watch. It was pointed out on another blog that Amy and Rory have been with the Doctor for ten or more years (off and on of course) - that's an unusually long time for them to want to travel with the Doctor. I don't think I'd actually thought about that before and what that means about his relationship with them. It makes me wonder why he needed that relationship... obviously he was meant to be a huge part of their lives - he crashed in Amy's backyard and since then has depended on them to be companions. Unless... there's a huge part to the Doctor's story that we're not seeing. He's aged considerably in the last 2 seasons - how is that? Amy and Rory haven't been with him on every adventure. What has he been doing??? 

Reflections on the 7.3 episode

I thought it was interesting that we see the Doctor, Amy, and Rory come strolling into town at the beginning of the episode. No TARDIS there, no conversation about where they were going, no having to go get them It's been a big thing about the Doctor retrieving Amy and Rory and now they're just there - what's that about - cutting room floor decisions or making Jana ask crazy questions about what's going on purposes?  

And seriously... that mother line. I was about to throw something at the TV - she acknowledged she was a mom, but nothing else. Really? REALLY?

DFTBA!

Jana

Literally wearing myself out with my nerdiness...

So for Fandom Today, I decided to discuss my crazy obsession with the way I express my fandoms... mainly my ever growing, smile inducing horde of nerdy T-shirts. I've always been a fan of the T-shirt -so comfy and easy, but awesome, nerdy T-shirts are beyond just a comfortable level. They make me happy and have on many occasions introduced me to a new friend! Seriously, I walked through the door at K's house last week and several people had to comment on my amazing Magic School Bus (with the HP kids on it) shirt. It was pretty sweet - must say.

Anyway, I realized this needed to be my topic when I went to the mail box and had yet another T-shirt in the box today (super cute Kaylee's Shiny Repairs shirt). This July and August, I will admit, I went a little crazy.

My brother is the one that turned me on to these sites - he and his wife love T-shirts and they have bunches. When I saw his Tardis and Delorian crash T-shirt, I knew I was hooked. So technically speaking, totally David's fault (in my family everything is David's fault anyway, so this makes sense).  And then after I missed the Men of Scarves shirt (Sherlock, Harry, and the Doctor with scarves - adorbs!), I decided heck or high water, I was checking those stinkin' T-shirt sites. And paypal just makes it so easy... result = many, many T-shirts.

Oh, and I don't limit the T-shirt buying just to me, oh no. I love giving presents, so you know I ordered T-shirts for friends and family. Got my brother his "Legen...wait for it... dary" suit and tie shirt - he claimed it was the best present he could have ever gotten (for $15 I vote I'm an awesome sister).

So... if you wanna be awesome like Jana and have way too many T-shirts, check out this amazing site: Day of the Shirt - all the daily tees on one site. I love the daily T-shirts; it makes me so happy to think I "discovered" the shirt and managed to get it. I regularly buy from Woot, TeeFury, and Ript. Qwertee always has amazing stuff, but it's from the UK, so it is more expensive and takes longer to ship; however, it comes with gummy bears. So major points there.

I have decided that I am not allowed to buy every shirt I think I need; I have to set a limit. Suggestions? One a week? It's just so hard, you could think something is amazing and then the next day something even better pops up! Yes, I'm addicted. I think I may need to enter a 12 step program for this. Oh dear. I mean, Lord knows, I'm not missing when this becomes a shirt: 

And now, I'll leave you with my amazing bumper sticker (yes, I know not a T-shirt, but this is what happens, now I have to decorate my car). On the other side I have a Weasley is my King bumper sticker because my nerdy girl status was not confirmed without both. 

DFTBA!

Jana

I have a Christmas list, too! (Doctor Who 7.1&2)

I know we’re growing in distance from our first Dragon Con experience, but I’m still overwhelmed and I just can’t narrow it to a readable amount.  So here's my thoughts so far about Doctor Who- Season 7.  (Other than one TINY thing, the first part of this review is actually spoiler free.)

What I was thinking when I heard this quote...

Right after watching the second episode of the season, I realized I MISSED RIVER!!! (That's the tiny thing.) I then turned right around and watched The Time of Angels (S5.4), just to see River, but it made me notice a few other things.  Matt Smith has a come a long way as the Doctor.  You don’t notice the change from mere quippyness right away.  He still carries himself in a similar manner and says the same clever lines, but he somehow seems less superficial.  It’s almost like at the beginning he was saying lines and acting like the Doctor, but now he really IS the Doctor. 

I know most Whovians who adored Tennant will never be satisfied with Smith, and I get it.  Tennant was able to convey deep emotion with an eyebrow while Smith fills episodes with jokes and quips.  It's easy to fall for someone when he wears his hearts on his sleeve. The thing is, Smith has created a Doctor who is believable. You can’t let everything rip your heart out for 900 years without building some walls, and you can believe that Smith’s Doctor is laughing to keep from crying.  He’s living with some barriers.  I came to adore River, and she adores the Doctor.  I thought that I just fell for him with her, but in retrospect I realize now that I also came to believe in him through the later episodes.

As for particulars about the new episodes, I’ll keep it short. 

SPOILERS!!

I loved meeting Oswin. She’s fantastic.  I miss River, but I understand she’s not always around.  What’s weird is them not mentioning her at all. Is something up with that; are we supposed to be questioning why no one even talks about her?  I mean, the “gang” was gathered up for episode 2, and the Doctor’s gang has no River?  Is it possible this is to distance her storyline from the Ponds?   I also felt like meeting the extra characters in the second episode was kind of random.  They seemed like such full characters, but it also doesn’t look like we’ll see them again.  I hope we do, because it just felt strange and disconnected.   I loved the Doctor and his Christmas list, and I appreciated meeting Rory’s dad.  He was fun, and he made me feel like I knew Rory a little better. 

So Jana, do you want to share some thoughts on Doctor Who, or do you want to dive into Dragon Con?  Take your pick!

Stay Shiny!

Kristin

J's possible new fandoms

Finding new things to watch doesn't usually last very long with me - I either find something and watch it as quickly as possible or I try something and decide I don't care enough to watch it anymore. I don't let it sit there tempting me - I have to know what happens!

Anyway, I have discovered some shows at the moment that I think will last for a little bit:

My new favorite characters?
We'll see...

Like Kristin stated, we recently watched the premiere miniseries of Battlestar Galactica. I wasn't sure it would be my thing, but seeing as sci-fi has become a bigger part of my viewing list, I decided it was worth a try. I have to say, I really enjoyed it - it actually reminded me a little bit of Star Wars. It was very intense and if the battle scenes had lasted any longer I don't think I would want to continue watching; I loved finding out the relationships between all the characters, they were very realistic and complicated and left me wanting to know more. I think this will be a show I continue to watch, but I am hoping that it will be a little lighter as I continue. 

At Dragon*Con I was able to attend a panel on web series and have used many of their suggestions to discover some awesome content. Web series are very different - they don't censure themselves (so the language and sexual commentary are usually not very subtle), they are much shorter (fulfilling my need to watch all of something quickly), and have a very different budget than TV shows. I think I have a different level of acceptance when I watch web shows - I might watch things that I wouldn't usually watch on TV. I tend to lean towards funny when I want something quick, so I watched Awkward Black Girl, so very amusing and unique and about exactly what the title implies, The Legend of Neil about a guy who accidentally ends up in the game The Legend of Zelda and must complete his quest, and Husbands, two gay men get drunk married in Vegas (keep watching through Season 2 - I liked it more than Season 1). I also discovered The Booth at the End, but have not continued watching it because it is apparently difficult for me to get into a longer web series. The Booth at the End is pretty awesome though; it was a very interesting concept, but it looks like it could take a while to reach a satisfying conclusion to any story line. Of course, I'm not going to mention any post on web series without linking to one of my personal favorites (really, the web series that made me want to watch web series (es? how do I make that plural- seri?)): The Guild - hilarious show about gamers that decide to become friends in real life (while you're there, check out Geek and Sundry - love them!) that I am now currently rewatching. 

I'll end by stating I'm excited about getting into some of the new shows that will be on TV this season - particularly Revolution. I'm hoping that I'll get hooked (like I did with Lost), but last time I thought that might happen (with Once Upon a Time), I seriously lost interest. I think I do much better with once a week light TV. Except if it's Doctor Who - I will always watch Doctor Who no matter what format it happens to be in! 

So many wonderful nerdy things have been happening in the last few weeks - we need to play catch up. So... Kris I'll leave it up to you - Dragon*Con review or Doctor Who Season 7 review.

DFTBA!

Jana

K's TV Fandoms in Progress

I am terrible at watching television as it airs because I’m so impatient.  Most things I’m working my way through have been on (or off) the air quite a while, and I have some serious catching up to do. Here’s a look at what’s currently being watched on my television.

Jana and I watched the Battlestar Galactica premiere yesterday.  I watched it once a couple of years ago, so this was my second run at it.  I knew it was brilliant the first time I watched it (I shed tears, and I DON'T willingly shed tears), and it was confirmed for me with this rewatch.  The reason I haven’t made it past the premiere is because it’s so intense.  I get seriously into things, and if I get that stressed out there needs to be some happy pay off.  Watching BSG makes me want to watch Firefly episodes, because then I can cry and follow it immediately with laughing out loud.  I get the feeling I could get that if I stuck with BSG because of it's awesome characters, but I need some encouragement to dive in. 

I’m currently at the beginning of the third season of Supernatural on Netflix.  I work very hard to avoid spoilers for shows I am watching or believe that I’ll watch, but I know people seem to love Castiel, so I’m excited to make it to him.  I love Supernatural because it can be intense,  but I haven't walked away from many episodes traumatized.  Majority of it is episodic and resolved at the end of the day (in the first couple of seasons, at least).  And the boys are pretty. 

Slowly but surely I’m trying to catch up on Fringe.  It recently became streaming on Amazon Prime, and that will help a lot.  I’m towards the end of Season 2.   I know where the current storyline is, and I just want to jump ahead, but I know you don't skip ahead in Fringe if you want to have any idea what's going on.  We’ll see if I make it all the way through.

Of course, I’m also watching Season 7 of Doctor Who on BBC America.  I've enjoyed the episodes, but I’m kind of ready to see the Ponds leave.  Eleven hasn’t regularly had any other companions, while Ten went through three in three years.  It's fun to see the different dynamics.  Granted, Eleven has three different relationships with Amy, Rory, and of course his complicated one with River.  Speaking of, when is her existence going to be acknowledged this season?  I miss River!

That’s my current status in the universe of television fandom.  I'll keep you posted as I get further along.  So Jana, what are you considering starting, or working your way through?

Stay Shiny!

Kristin

J's Fandoms OR How poking with a stick becomes a life long obsession...

Picking your top three fandoms is not the easiest thing to do. Some, of course, seem obvious, but then you start to second guess yourself. Should they be the things you have loved the longest? The shows/movies/books with the most impact on your life? The stuff you will talk about longer than anything else? Besides these stipulations, I get way too excited about things. I truly believe that I'm a fan of fandoms - any book/movie/show/etc that people care enough about to become a "community" has some value and then I must investigate. You could say I want to poke it with a stick like the Doctor. 

But, alas, I will limit my discussion to the top three! 

1. Without a doubt MY fandom is Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a freakin' genius. I first discovered Harry in '99. From then on it was a flurry of going to Walmart at midnight and reading through the new book in one sitting, and then in the long wait for book 5, I discovered the fandom. There were other nerds, like me, that theorized about how everything would happen, people had written fanfic about the couples, and there were big name fans that got interviews with Rowling herself. I started checking mugglenet daily and realized I'd gone off the deep end. Go to Mugglenet - it's amazing! 


2. Kristin and I share our #2 fandom. The one that has convinced me that I am indeed a con goer and that British television truly does hold a special place in my heart, is Doctor Who. For years, my brother, HP friends, and others told me to watch the Doctor. I tried - I did! Season 1 just wasn't doing it for me. Finally, Kristin stuck it out and told me where to really start - and the rest is history. I am a Whovian and I now own more Tardis jewelry than I thought possible. 

3. This was hard - I have many things I love (Musicals, Disney, Ren. Faire etc), but to me a huge part of being part of a fandom is the community of fans that are built around the thing that you love. That's why I decided that my 3rd favorite fandom is Nerdfighteria. I will admit the first Nerdfighter video I watched was Harry Potter related (Accio Deathly Hallows) and I did pass John Green in a pizza shirt at my hotel and had no idea who he was. Oh, how silly I once was. Nerdfighters are amazing. Check out the Vlogbrothers on Youtube. Here's the link to my personal favorite video: Armoursome Video. I love the Green brothers and all that they do to decrease world suck.

So there you go, my favorite fandoms! 

DFTBA!
Jana