The Random Thread

[xxmeg]

I have uploaded just some of the images I have taken over the past few days, and if you want to look at them, they are at my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35069905@N07

I am loving this photography course soooo much. My teacher said to the class that I'm the dark horse....but I'm not completely sure what he meant!

[TJ4ever]

With all this sh.. I'm dealing with lately I forgot something I'd like to mention!

This is a small tribute to my childhood hero PATRICK SWAYZE who sadly died on September 14th!
I loved you in "North And South" but you were absolutely wonderful in "DIRTY DANCING!" This movie is following me almost my whole life. It was one of the first movies I watched in the cinema. And I re-watched it ever since whenever I was happy or sad or just wanted to watch a wonderful movie. I thank you for that smile that the movie "Dirty Dancing" always gives me after watching it! Rest in peace! I will miss you!

Simone.

[Rain]

I would like to second that Simone. I feel the same way. I was young when I first watch Dirty Dancing. My Grandmother owned it and whenever I was over there I would watch it and then borrow it for weeks. As I got older I appreciated it even more. I've since become a movie freak and own too many to count...but Dirty Dancing will always be one of my top favorites. It's a shame we had to loose him, I was hoping he would be the one to beat it or fight it for a long time. I know the TV stations here have been showing that last scene from Ghost a lot. Patrick himself even mentioned it on his last interview with Barbara Walters. I hope for his sake its true and is at peace now.

Shannon

[Sinkwriter72]

Well said, ladies. I have fond memories of Patrick Swayze and was so sad to hear of his passing.

When I was a kid, I loved the book The Outsiders (read it many, many times, could recite the opening paragraphs by heart), and I loved the film, for Patrick and also because I had a huge crush on Ralph Macchio (hee). I could probably still recite lines from that movie. *GRIN*

As a teenager, I can still remember my sister, my cousin and I begging our parents to let us borrow the car and leave a family gathering early so we could go to the theatre and see that film. I still can't believe our parents let us do that! LOL. I loved the story, the music, all the dancing. It's just one of those movies, you know? Like Footloose which came before it, just so entertaining and memorable.

I also remember reading North and South during high school, and watching the mini-series with some of my friends. Patrick is such a standout in it. [Side note: I won't even tell you the running joke my friend Kathryn and I had in reference to that project. Let's just say it involved the use of a curse word phrase I had never said before in my life, and we would abbreviate it via initials so our teachers wouldn't know what we were saying (as if they bothered to read the notes we passed each other in study hall and class anyway). *chuckles* I know. I'm terrible.]

And Ghost ... parts of it creeped me out, actually, but as an overall film it made me ponder some heavy topics, like what I believe happens after one dies. Fascinating stuff from a film most people think of as a romantic mostly-comedy. Regardless, Patrick did a terrific job with that role, and in fact seemed to throw himself whole-heartedly into everything he did.

Most of all, Patrick seemed like such a kind soul and a loving man, and I really liked him. I hope he is at peace.

[JennyLea]

Congratulations Meg!!! Sorry I am so late, but I have not been on here for awhile.

It is really sad about Patrick Swayze. "Dirty Dancing" was the first "Grown Up" movie I was ever allowed to watch. I also really liked his movie "Black Dog". It might have been the truck, but I liked the movie none the less.

Jenny

[TJ4ever]

Hi Jenny,
Read that you are getting married. That's great! When?
Simone.

[TJ4ever]

Hi Steph,
Maybe you can tell me your opinion about the new DW-special "The Waters of Mars" which will be aired today. If possible with not so many spoilers as I want some surprises left. Don't know when I will be able to watch it. Hope I can catch it somewhere. Well, otherwise I will buy the DVD's with all the specials in January. (I think I will do that anyway! )
Thanks in advance!
Love, Simone.

[ThyneAlone]

Hi Simone. No idea whether you have managed to see 'The Waters of Mars' yet, so I don't know how much to spoil you..

I thought there was too much hype. As with some of the other specials. It didn't disappoint, it was an excellent episode; but the zombie-like people afflicted by the parasite-infected Martian waters were not, as had been promised, the most scary monsters ever. Though they looked truly spectacular and were wonderfully inexorable, the trapped, claustrophobic sensation and inevitability of defeat are all things we have met before in episodes such as 'Midnight' and in the Library.

The really interesting part of it, and I think this is the lead-up to DT's Doctor's exit, was the fatalism and despair experienced by a Doctor who knows he can do nothing to alter a fixed point in time. Eventually he becomes as we have never seen him before - arrogant and defiant. He is the only Time Lord left and he can and will alter history, he decides. Tennant was so like the Master that he actually made me dislike him quite a lot at this point, which is an astonishing acting achievement. Needless to say, he fails and is devastated. An Ood appears to him as a kind of summoning, and honestly, it's like the Christmas moment of Scrooge terrified at his 3rd spectral visitor, the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The Children In Need excerpt carried this on by taking him to the Ood planet and giving him a vision of the future. He was odd in that - obviously trying to be blasé and nonchalant following his shock. Superficial somehow. Yes, the energy is leaving him and the 'song is coming to an end'. I'm going to miss him. But he will leave in a blaze of glory. I believe the Master and Donna, among others, are gracing his finale.

Hope that's not too much info!

[TJ4ever]

Hi Steph! Thanks for your reply. So much happend till I watched "The Waters of Mars". Can't remember clearly. But I will buy the "Specials-Box Set" next year and watch it again. I remember that I liked it. David was great! Looking forward to the Christmas-Special. But also a bit scared to watch it. Guess it will be very sad! And I know I will cry!
Simone.

[ThyneAlone]

Simone! Hello. Hope things are going a little bit better for you and that you will have a clearer idea of what is going on jobwise in the New Year. Thank you for keeping us up to date.

I thought I'd just tell you what a major DT Christmas the UK has had. David has been everywhere. He has taken part in several quiz shows, told stories on children's TV, been interviewed (and has interviewed) on the radio. We have had his penultimate DW and his Hamlet on TV. Three hours of Hamlet! Amazing.

So have you seen any of the first part of 'The End of Time' and do you want some hints? It's all very emotional and he and John Simm have done an astonishing job imho.

[ThyneAlone]

So Jude....
what did you reckon to 'Avatar'? Worth seeing?
Great to see you and meet Alex btw today!

[Jude40]

Hi Steph

Cool to meet you all yesterday. Avatar was really good 3D does freak me out a bit though with the whole feels like you can touch it thing. We went on the wheel as well and it was a bit rocky with the wind I'm not sure Alex was keen at first. It was freezing as well 'cos the pods aren't fully enclosed Graham reckoned he had frost bite! It was a good day though, although I'm shattered now but need tgo go and get myself sorted for work.

Catch you later

Jude x

[TJ4ever]

Hi Steph,

Yes I managed to see the first part of "The End of Time". It was pretty amazing. Just the end was a bit strange. Why does someone want that all people are one person? And at the moment I don't understand the Time Lord reference when Timothy told us "The Time Lords will return", or so. But I guess it will be revealed in the second part. I hope I will catch the second part somewhere tomorrow. I know I'm gonna cry. It will be hard for me to let David go as "The Doctor" . So sad!

I read that the BBC is gonna show "Hamlet". I ordered the DVD and I am really looking forward to watch it again. David was so amazing on stage. Hope to feel this energy on the DVD, too.

I hope jobwise 2010 will be a better year for me. The last 5 months were really turbulent, stressful and really sad. I still don't like it in my new/old job, but I will make the best of it. No other choice at the moment. Maybe in this new year 2010 I'm gonna find the job of my dreams!?! We'll see! I'm still thinking about living and working in the UK. Don't know if I will ever realise it.

Looking forward to the second part of "The End of Time". I wish I could have seen all this shows and interviews with David. I always catch a bit on youtube. In Germany you don't see so much of him on TV.

Happy new year and good night!

Simone.

[ThyneAlone]

Hi Simone! Well don't forget the Master is insane. He's always had this thing about destroying humanity just cos the Doctor champions it. There's a strong vengeance drive there. And if I were a megalomaniac I think I would quite enjoy being everywhere. However, you're right - villains do incomprehensible things. Never understood why the baddies in 'Buffy' were always attempting to destroy a world/dimension in which they themselves lived comfortably. Same with the Daleks. Duh, if you reduce the universe to dust, where is your victory? Who do you rule over once you've done the thorough ethnic cleansing??!

Of course he is only one Time Lord, and throughout DW history the Doctor, the rebel, has had a lot of trouble with them. They are arrogant and far from benign, and many of them abuse their power when in theory they should be keeping out of things and overseeing the proper management of time. I wouldn't be surprised if a group of them had escaped the Time War in which they were all supposed to have been wiped out and were mustering their forces to take over the universe and time itself now that Gallifrey is gone. Hey, maybe they are all on another Gallifrey in a parallel world. We'll have to wait and see.

It's inspiring to hear you talking so positively about the future. Don't forget we are always here for you if you need multiple shoulders. Love you lots!

Jude - fantastic to see you too, if briefly. Alex is lovely - I can see we are going to get on. I wasn't planning on seeing Avatar - I don't like excessive hype - but you are converting me. It could be fun! Hope you have had a great New Year celebration. See you again soon, I hope!

[ThyneAlone]

..and here I am, Simone, back after the Tenth Doctor's final showing. That was brilliantly plotted and superbly acted. I didn't end up in floods of tears because all the little farewells RTD had put in for former friends and companions did finally give a sense of closure and triumph despite the Doctor's very human fear of and frustration with death. A tour de force by the brilliant and agonised David Tennant; and Bernard Cribbins producing a fine level of pathos without ever descending into parody and schmaltz.

Interesting that it didn't occur to the Master to formulate any kind of Big Plan until after he had turned himself into everyone. Only then did his mind direct itself to an attempt to find out what lay behind that drumbeat he has always heard. More enlightening was his fury on discovering that the Timelords themselves had inflicted it on him retroactively so that they would be able to use him as a way of freeing themselves from the time lock. He had been tortured and maddened throughout his whole life for that one moment of someone else's triumph. No wonder he went for Rassilon. And that was quite a moment when the ravaged Gallifrey appeared in the sky, so near that it should really have thrown Earth out of orbit or at least done something to our weather with its gravity. There was such a sense of grandeur about scenes like that; and about those magnificent Star Wars moments too, as Wilf gunned down missiles and DT plunged from a spacecraft through a glass skylight.

But in the end, and cleverly, and appropriately, it wasn't the big picture stuff that caused the Doctor's demise, but a small personal, individual relationship. Not 4 doomladen mighty knocks but a rhythmic tap on a window from a friend who needed rescuing. David Tennant's Doctor has always been about personal relationships; it was bound to happen.

From what I have glimpsed so far, Matt Smith looks like picking up the mantle worthily, with just the right level of quirkiness. Fingers crossed for another bumpy TARDIS ride.

[skftex]

I have no idea what you are talking about as far as Dr. Who but have to say I like this:
if you reduce the universe to dust, where is your victory? Who do you rule over once you've done the thorough ethnic cleansing??! Wish everyone thought that way!

[ThyneAlone]

LOL Had some strange compliments in my time, but...! Thanks Sharon!

As ever, have to get back to work now. Occasional glimpses at the site are keeping me sane because some of this marking is downright depressing. Also I need cheering up as son no.1 is back to France early tomorrow - going to the airport sometime round 4 am!!!

So it's really good to see you, even if briefly...may drop in again before bedtime. <<hug>>

[skftex]

LOL Well...you are welcome. There is an episode of Babylon 5, about a "machine" built by a race that was meant to protect them from other worlds because they were often being invaded. They programmed it where it would destroy anyone that was not "pure". So they were a "dead race" because none of them were pure and it destroyed the whole race. So what you said reminded me of this episode even though it isn't one of the best episodes of Babylon 5, in fact probably one of the bottom 5, but the idea behind it was interesting.

[TJ4ever]

Steph, just watched it, too. WOW, David was so great. I must say I am really sad that he is not The Doctor anymore but as you said I didn't end up in floods of tears, too. I had some tears in my eyes, though. - Happens a lot when I see, or don't see David!
It was great that he was able to say goodbye to his companions. To see Captain Jack was so cool! Ah, well, I just love John Barrowman. Hope to see him live on stage in 2010.
Anyway, when The Doctor said " I don't want to go!" I said to myself "I don't want you to go either!" Guess a lot of people did that! Won't be the same without him - but I guess "The show must go on!"
I thought that Donna would be more involved.
Great episode though and a great finish for DT as The Doctor!!!
Simone.

[Rain]

Okay so this is sort of random but it looks like the place to say it. I've been noticing you all talking about Dr. Who for a while. I didn't know what you were talking about at first but if you read on you'll hear my tale of me and Dr. Who.

Please forgive me, I'm in a writing mood and seemed to have kept rambling on. Nothing I say can ever just be simple. I have to set the scene and give every detail. So my apologies hehe

A couple of months ago my boyfriend was told to start watching Dr. Who so he zipped through all the seasons and told me I HAVE to watch it.
(a little background on us....we've been dating 7 years and our little thing to do is share our TV shows. I've watched many of his over the year and he's watched many of mine. The thing is Jeff (the boyfriends name) is really into Science Fiction and Fantasy.....among other things. I however, haven't always been a fan. I watched his shows anyway and ended up liking a lot of them, so I guess I can consider myself a fan)

So anyway I ended up giving it a chance. So far I just finished Season 3 and loving it.

Here's the background on my Dr. Who watching.

Season one - at first a little skeptical, but ending up loving it. Though because it all had already aired and Jeff had told me all about it, I knew David Tennant was taking over and was apparently amazing.

(background on me: Hi my name is Shannon and I am a TVaholic.... I love tv, I love shows of all kinds and I get very obsessed with them. I also tend to get VERY attached to the characters, I think of them a bit like my friends...(okay that sounds creepy but its not meant to) I just mean I watch endless hours of their fake lives so I feel like I know them. This background is meant to explain my next season debrief )

Season 2 - Although I liked it, it took me till about a little over half of the season to REALLY get into it. Since I get so into characters it was really hard for me to adjust to David. Every time I thought about the Doctor I pictured Christopher. It may have had something to do with the fact Jeff and I were watching it on DVD so I was watching lots back to back and not having the opportunity to slowly adjust by watching an epi once a week.
By the end of Season 2 I was done. I loved David and Rose and I almost boycotted because of the end episode. I cried for an hour almost and was upset for days. I just couldn't get it out of my head.

Season 3 - Jeff allowed me to boycott only for a little while. So on a mini vacation from work of 4 days over the course of New Years, I watched all of Season 3. I loved every single minute of it. I even may have mentioned that I was pretty sure David was my boyfriend haha. I'm so attached to him now its

I have yet to watch season 4. The reasoning is two fold:

1. I know the person who travels with him and I remember her from season 3...and I did not like her. So I'm not racing to watch it.
2. Is that I know season 4 is David's last season (not counting the specials) and I have this theory in life (its not healthy but it works)
if I don't see it, it doesn't happen.

If I don't watch it, I will never hit the specials and therefore it will never end.

I'm sure I'll get to it soon, because I can feel that urge to watch it and see him again. I think I'm going to watch it and the specials on a week that I don't have to work a lot because I know me well enough to know I'm going to cry....a lot.

I've skipped over most of this thread just so I don't spoil anything for myself but when I'm done watching it all, I'll come back and read it I'll also let you know how it goes. Its nice to know there are people here I can come talk to about this show.

Thanks for listening / reading if there is anyone left

Shannon