NEW ORLEANS FOR ALA

One thing I have to say right off is there is no way I can write about everything we did while in New Orleans. We took 6 days and we packed in 2 weeks worth of stuff, even if half of our days were spent in conference activities we were all over that city.

With that let me find some interesting photos and comment on them. I'll try to stay away from any photos that I posted on Facebook to make this enjoyable for people who followed my adventures on there during the trip.

(when Facebook actually posted my photos and wasn't just a worthless piece of....)

I wanted to use Facebook to post all the best photos from the trip but it seems like all the websites that use to work well with plain SMS text messages now only work well through smart phones.

Anyways.

One thing I know I'm not going to do is rant about the negatives of our hotel or some of the things I disagreed about at ALA with publisher because there was so much good and not enough space here to waste on the bad.

Plus, if you followed my Twitter during the trip you got enough of that anyways.

Another note. While in Florida I started writing a book set there and thus that book will explore more information on my travels while in the great city of New Orleans. But that book will not see light for at least two years so maybe I should lay off saying too much about it.

That book will not come out until the Tin Universe monthly epub short story series that's starting in August ends; which  right now has a plan of ending in two years. So plans are set and I know where I want to get to and have at least first drafts of everything inbetween.

We stayed at the Chateau Hotel in the French Quarter and it wasn't a perfect place to stay but it looked really cool on the outside and was in a great location to walking to a lot of cool places.

Plus I really hate fancy hotels.

It's a very old hotel and the people were nice but we are never the type of people to spend any time outside of sleeping in our hotel room anyways so it was great for us. Good price and like I said before, really good location.

If you are thinking about going and want more information on the hotel send me an email and I'll give you more details.


Another thing I can't do here is post all of my pictures. The city is so great with so many things to see and was so worth taking tons of pictures every step you took. And I took over 700pics in total in 6 days. All on my cheap little non-smart phone, except for a one hour period when my phone died and I hate to recharge it on a ferry trip.

This statue of Joan Of Arc was just down the street from our hotel. Right in the middle of the market area of the French Quarter. Lots of great bars, stores, and restaurants very near by.

This was the first place we ate while in New Orleans. As we were leaving the city they were filming a cooking show there as we walked by. If you spot a guy in a mowhawk, a Iron Man shirt, and checkered shorts on your TV some day. That was me. And yes, my eyes are read for a reason. Was up all night writing.

We visited the Voodoo Museum and it was small but very cool. If you are down there you should check it out. Many voodoo related places to visit but this was my favorite of all of them.

Funny story. I was walking and saw a half naked cross dressing dancer outside this store reading Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma. I was too chicken, plus it would have been rude to take a picture but I told the writer and she got a kick out of that. One of the many usual but very cool things I spotted while there.

This was part of a monument to Hurricane Katrina near a park across the street from the convention center and also where the earlier picture of me writing was taken.

Dead tired. In the car in Orlando on the way back home to our family (the cats)

One of the boxes of books we shipped was at the apartment when we got home. The other arrived today. Below is the list of books I got at ALA. The ones for my personal collection, ones I'm giving away to local libraries, and the ones I will be holding giveaway contests for here on the blog after I review the books.

Books For My Personal Collection:
The Name Of The Star signed by Maureen Johnson
The Future Of Us signed by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

Books I'm going to do giveaways here on the blog for {or give to a local library if I find one who wants to give these away in their own contests}: 
Why We Broke Up {ARC} signed by Daniel Handler
Star Wars Knight Errant {single issue} signed by writer John Jackson Miller.
The Iron Queen signed by Julie Kagawa.
My Rotten Life- Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie by David Lubar.
Cut by Patricia McCormick.
Peter Nimble And His Fantastic Eyes {ARC} signed by Jonathan Auxier.
Lucky For Good {ARC} by Susan Patron.
The 39 Clues Cahills Vs. Vespers The Medusa Plot {ARC} by Gordon Korman.
As I Wake {ARC} by Elizabeth Scott.
Shut Out {ARC} by Kody Keplinger.
Drink Slay Love {ARC} by Sarah Beth Durst.
Daughter Of Smoke & Bone {ARC} by Laini Taylor.
Gossip Girl Psycho Killer {SNEAK PEEK ARC} by Cecily Von Ziegesar
The Potter's Field {ARC} by Andrea Camilleri.
Iva Honeysuckle Discovers The World by Candice Ransom.

Books I'm going to find a local library home for: 
Field Of Dishonor, 
In Enemy Hands, 
The Honor Of The Queen, 
Flag In Exile, 
and Echoes Of Honor all by David Weber.

Books already going to people: 
Blood Rights {ARC} by Kristen Painter.
Villain School: Good Curses Evil {ARC} by Stephanie S. Sanders
Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion Of The Potty Snatchers {ARC} by George Beard and Harold. Hutchins.

NEW ORLEANS FOR ALA

CHAOS POETRY VOLUME THREE

-Just finished uploading this. Buy, Share, Pass On, you know the pitch. 

-Only one more volume to go in July for this limited series of poetry albums each containing part of a 4 Part story. 

-In August I start my monthly short story series with Tin Universe #7: A Little Pulpy Goes A Long Way. 

*Really enjoying writing right now. Doing the poetry volumes for four straight months has given me a new writing energy. Can't wait to let others read what I will be trying to do with the monthly short story series. August is Tin Universe #7 and September Tin Universe #8. Then from October on the Tin Universe series will rotate monthly with my second series Chaos Read with the only month without a short story being in November. I have four months of stories finished and three years worth of short stories in 1st draft form.

CHAOS POETRY VOLUME THREE

REVIEW: THE 39 CLUES - THE MAZE OF BONES

Mar had talked about this series the whole time she was reading it when the books first started coming out and since I needed some quick books to listen to while doing house work I decided to give the first book a try after finding a Playaway version at the library.

My thinking going in also was that this first book of the series is written by Rick Riordan and I enjoyed the first book in the Percy Jackson series so why not try it. Saying that, this doesn't speak for Rick Riordan's talent as a writer in my eyes. The Percy Jackson series is high and above better than The 39 Clues.

When Mar first told me about this series I had to hold back my feelings from that point. I've never really seen an American property pull of this sort of media tie in and make it work well but let me try to just think about what I felt about The Maze Of Bones and it alone.

This book just couldn't make up its mind what it wanted to be. At times it felt like they wanted to go a A Series Of Unfortunate Events direction, at others it seemed to slip into R.L. Stine words and setups, but in the end it really just felt like they had hired a writer to start a series based off an idea to sell books, trading cards, and online gaming. And in that they found a success.

The story itself focuses on a family and the different limbs of that family that seemed to be related to every famous person in history. That's a trap a lot of writers have stumbled into. It would have been ok, with a few known names but throwing too many famous people into the families story isn't using history, its lazy writing.

But boy if there is one thing I know about its lazy writing.

The lead characters aren't strong enough to fill this story. You want them to be stronger. You want the opposition to be more filled out. But you just drift through the story looking for something real to happen. Just seems way too cookie cutter to me. You could feel the outline, taste the story map.

Now with that being said I can see why so many young people and adults have enjoyed these books. They are very quick adventure stories with that interactive tie in element that brings many a lot of enjoyment. It just didn't do that for me personally.

And to end before I give my rating. The title of book one is way too big of a giveaway. They should have come up with something else. It was basically like reading the ending of the book before you start Chapter One.

2 out of 5 stars

REVIEW: THE 39 CLUES - THE MAZE OF BONES

REVIEW: Doctor Who A Fairytale Life #1

DOCTOR WHO

A Fairytale Life #1

IDW

WRITTEN BY matthew Sturges
PENCILS BY kelly yates
INKS BY steve bird, brian shearer, and rick ketcham
COLORS BY rachelle rosenberg
LETTERING BY neil uyetake
EDITED BY denton j. tipton
COVER BY mark buckingham; phil elliott

This is the first Matt Smith 11th Doctor comic story I've read since I no longer can afford to buy Doctor Who magazine and there has probably been tons in the magazines already. 

This looks to be a limited series released alongside the start of the ongoing series which has been really confusing to some of my friends who asked me about the start of the 11th Doctor at IDW. I hope IDW continues doing the one shots they were also doing towards the end of the 10th Doctor's time in the comics. I enjoyed a lot of those.

I've always had a problem with tie in books, comics, and the like from television series and movies that fall flat, end up bland, or seem rushed or lacking a huge amount of effect. I've talked about this many times and I'm not saying the art or writing in A Fairtale Life is bad but with a high profile property like Doctor Who it makes me wonder sometimes why they don't go after big name writing or art teams? Is it budget reasons? Do they just know they will sale so many copies just based on it being a Doctor Who product and thus don't really go out of their way to try and do the same that a publisher would do with something they own? 

No matter the thinking, most tie in projects lay down and do nothings as I have said before in a bland boring nature. Doctor Who has had a better track record than a lot of other properties as the Classic comics{now being reprinted by IDW also}the New Adventure novels, the original BBC novels, and the Big Finish audios are a lot of great stories that stretch the characters, push the writers abilities, reach for great talents, and they might not all be great but I wouldn't call any of them bland. But then again, the current state of Doctor Who novels and comics.....well, I need to get on with the review of this issue and hope cash for sales of a good amount of copies isn't "That's good enough" in the future.

A number of scifi stories have explored the idea of vacation planets. If I remember correctly Doctor Who has done it a few times itself but the key on this topic is not that the idea has been done before but how well this story does it and if it also adds something new to those ideas for those who have read these types of stories before.

A Fairytale Life has some nice little setup elements so I'm not going to rack it because it does everything it needs to do to set up a good story so we will have to see with Part 2 whether this story goes anywhere.

3 out of 5 stars

*for more on references to old school Doctor Who stuff I mentioned:
-none, I didn't geek all over this review.

REVIEW: Doctor Who A Fairytale Life #1

REVIEW: Doctor Who - issue #16

DOCTOR WHO

IDW

FINAL SACRIFICE PART 4 OF 4

Written by Tony Lee

Art by Matthew Dow Smith

Colors by Charlie Kirchoff

Letters by Neil Uyetake

Edits by Denton J. Tipton

Cover by Paul Grist; Phil Elliott

This review was going to go up yesterday but we didn't have power all day due to a normal Florida summer storm and then Mar's car died in the middle of the highway as she was taking her younger sister home; so there went anything getting done on Wednesday.

Wednesdays?

I will try to get a couple reviews of Torchwood issues up today also.

And here we find ourselves at the end game of the Final Sacrifice story and the 10th Doctor ongoing series. The one thing I got the most out of this series was how much I enjoyed the character of traveling companion Emily. I really loved this character and her visual design. I really wished we had more time and more stories with her but this is what we have. She's probably my favorite new companion outside Doctor Who television since Evelyn in the 6th Doctor Big Finish Audios and Fitz in the BBC 8th Doctor novels.


Matthew was the Doctor's other original traveling companion at the end of this series but he became more a story tool than an actual character. He probably could and would have been much more if he would have had more stories to have his characters explored but I found him a waste here and merely a tool and a main character should never just be a story tool. When that happens you end up with Steph....nay, I'm rushing to get a lot done this week but I'm going to try and keep from being mean or ass hat like.


But onto the story itself and if you don't like messy timey wimey stuff you will more than likely not like elements of how this story ended. I don't mind that stuff so much because I've been reading time travel stories for years so none of that stuff gets to me even when not written well but the thing that did bother me here was how things ended for Emily. As I said I really liked her as a companion but the ending sort of puts her away for good in a fashion. 


Final Sacrifice was a bland story that had some really cool moments in the last two parts and ends the IDW adventures of the 10th Doctor on a so so note. Even the recall to the First Doctor at the very end with a quote was so cut and paste you would think the writer probably did so by visiting a Doctor Who quotes website.


I'll say it here again. I really think the Doctor Who comics need new and fresh writers and this would have been a good point for Tony Lee to move aside for other writers. He has done a nice job with these stories for the most part but some of the better IDW Doctor Who comics have been the one shot issues. Now I know he is writing the 11th Doctor series{working my way to them}so I hope he steps up his game.


After rereading that last bit I have to say that when I review Doctor Who stuff the true fanboygeek in me really comes out with gushing, complaining, and bitching. 


*for more on references to old school Doctor Who stuff:
Fitz Kreiner
Evelyn Smythe

2 OUT OF 5 STARS

REVIEW: Doctor Who - issue #16

REVIEW: Doctor Who - issue #15

DOCTOR WHO

IDW

FINAL SACRIFICE PART 3 OF 4

Written by Tony Lee

Art by Matthew Dow Smith

Colors by Charlie Kirchoff

Letters by Neil Uyetake

Edits by Denton J. Tipton

Cover by Paul Grist; Phil Elliott

It's been a while reviewed any single issues of the Doctor Who comics but since I was reminded tonight about this and the fact that writers will do anything to keep from doing the work they are suppose to be doing, in my case tonight editing a short story, I'm writing this review. Maybe I can catch up on the books before the next issue comes out and then start doing them as they come out? Hey, I finally started reviewing series episodes this year so you never know.

I haven't even read any of the Matt Smith Doctor Who or Torchwood comics so I'm a bit behind. But lets get on with this issue's review. I'll try to do a couple a day, one in the AM and one in the PM until I catch up.

I haven't been the biggest fan of the Final Sacrifice story up to this point but this issue is when the story kicks into high gear and levels up to a cliffhanger worthy of the TV series. This issue in a way has a old school classic Doctor Who series feel to it with the two warring groups, an Earth colony, and a tie that unites them at the last second but were that would be the point in the old series when the story ends here it just cliffhangs into a death, a planet wide crisis, and a dark decision for both the Doctor and one of his traveling companions.

Coming next issue. The last IDW issue for the 10th Doctor.

4 OUT OF 5 STARS

REVIEW: Doctor Who - issue #15

REVIEW: NARUTO 51

NARUTO 51

Story & Art by Masashi Kishimoto

I've enraged some people, the way geekdoms can get enraged, in the past when I have said the successor to Harry Potter in creativity, adventure, and fun was not Twilight or Percy Jackson or even A Series Of Unfortunate Events {which I love} but the true successor to Harry Potter was and is Naruto.

Every since the Shippuden growth happen within the series I'll admit there have been a few volumes that fell flat for me but with the end of Volume 50 and here with 51 I think the series is starting a good run again.

Mandara is my least favorite Naruto character. I know in a way he is suppose to be a vapor but in this universe where almost all of the characters have such presence he stands out too much as a vapor but here he was just in the background as Sasuke does battle with Danzo.

People always want to compare the battles in Naruto with Dragon Ball battles but I don't see them as similar. The battles in Naruto are chess matches, not just power up to another and another and another level of strength as it is with Dragon Ball. A battle in Naruto reminds me of someone trying to set a mathematics trap. These fights are personal, unique, and character driven.

One of the things I've always enjoyed about this series is how much of a flake the lead character can be. A flake, a spaz, but always always heroic in the end. But just when you think he may have cracked he shows how strong he can be. Shippuden is about Naruto growing up and now we are coming to the point when he will have no choice but to truly do so. 

And the same can be said of Sakura.

Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi, Team 7 are about to face a confrontation that has been brewing for so long. All four have had their lives lead by the back street politics and actions of others. This seems like the moment that happens in a lot of people lives in that even though you may have not always had control of where your life is leading, there always comes a time when you must take control and lead your own footsteps.

4 out of 5 stars

Naruto 51

REVIEW: NARUTO 51

REVIEW: A GOOD MAN GOES TO WAR

If River is...? And the baby is...? And the little girl who regenerated is...? Then how did she...? Is it because she's only...? But I wish...

Yes, here we are at the end episode for the first part of the season. I'm split on this split season thing. Maybe I'll comment on that later.


I know a lot of people I talk to haven't spoken that positive about this episode but I think some people just don't like the over the top aspects of the Christmas Specials and season enders and that's basically how this episode was laid out. I really don't mind them. Oh, and that opening, even Mar thought it was intense and liked it and she is way from being a big time Doctor Who fan. (she likes Torchwood better than Who. But that's mainly for the boy kissing.)


As a old school fan one thing about the new series that bugs me is how the alternate reality Cybermen are now the main reality Cybermen. Did they invade other planets besides Earth when they came to the main Doctor Who reality? They should have made little changes then you could do a alternate Cybermen Vs. Regular Cybermen story. Ok, good, my geeking ramble is out of the way at the beginning so I can get on with this write up.


Once again I'm writing this review as I rewatch the episode so it will be all over the place. Just warning you. Also tonight I'm writing it while talking to several people online.


The Headless Monks are creepy in the way most writers go but then edit themselves. Also they remind me of Earthworm Jim, remember him?


BBC America commercial comment: Chris Hardwick hosting Ministry Of Laughs. I'm in. Nerdist is one of my favorite podcasts.


Ok, this needs to happen. Spin off series set in London 1888 A.D. Enough said. Get to it BBC.


I love the idea of how and why a Sontaran would become a nurse.


This episode has a certain Farscape feel to it. Did anyone else feel that? Maybe it was just the pineapple pizza I just ate?


Not a fan of the Headless Monks swords though. Maybe just have them doing the Force lightening thing as their weapon of choice? Not like they were actually doing much anyways. Looked to mainly be there for that Doctor reveal.


I know making the soldiers look human in their uniforms and dress is suppose to ground things with the audience but I still would have rather seen them in some sort of futuristic uniforms. That would have twisted the bit of them teaming with the Monks even more.


Mar, "Pirates!"


Matt Smith once again did such a great job in this episode. He looked like he was about to snap at times. I kept wondering if he was about to start to hear the Master's drumming at any moment. I was hearing it watching his eyes.


"Melody Pond is a superhero." Williams sucks as a last name. Nothing but drunks and horse thieves...and hack writers.


This episode and the past two seasons I think have been a lot about how much the Doctor changed during and after the Time War. I don't think the shows talents are trying to take him back to some sort of "better time" but I do think they know how much darker the show is perceived to be now but using that within a storyline to show the ripples you put out into life even when doing good is so creative.


Babies, births, marriages, classically ruin very good TV shows. It's just a fact. Very few shows have survived this razors edge.


One of the only big problems I have with this episode is its basically the same sort of setup as the end of last season with the Doctor looking like he has found victory to have it be a trap. I hope that doesn't become the same trip for each seasons ender.


A friend just told me, "When the baby disappeared from Amy's arms I paused breathing thinking about my baby in the other room."


The end scenes with the Doctor and River big time and then Amy and River also were so full of intensity that it makes me want to scream to people How Can You Not Love That? Those moments? You might not like the whole idea of River and or Amy having a baby but those scenes. Damn.


Another friend asked me if I think its time they rebooted the Doctor Who universe? That what's happening now with the Doctor's legend and effect on the universe maybe they need to clean the slate a little?
As a long time fan my knee jerk reaction is to say no but here is the thing. I think a reboot wouldn't be that bad as long as the Doctor himself wasn't rebooted. If it happen that way everything still would happen in the canon in a sort of way but also a complete fresh start. 
That or you would use the idea of the lost classic episodes to tell a story about the Doctor's history being erased and then you could have him at least with some parts of history have a new start. You could also reshoot those episodes. Some great stories there.
Would I reboot in any of these fashions? No, because I think people saying canon strangles creativity are lazy. It can if you go fan nuts and fan wank all over the place with it but saying canon kills all the time is the same to me as saying there aren't any new ways to tell a story. It's like people saying laws crush life. Be creative, work within, do your work with a little sweat on your forehead.


So with all that rambling I have to say I can't wait to see what the creative team of Who for us in late summer.


TO BE CONTINUED


THE DOCTOR RETURNS IN:

LETS KILL HITLER 

Mar, "Didn't Quentin Tarantino already do that?'

I love her so.

Doctor Who

A Good Man Goes To War

4 out of 5 stars

*for more information on old school references I made: 

Cybermen designs/costumes

REVIEW: A GOOD MAN GOES TO WAR

BEFORE AWAY IN SEARCH OF ZOMBIES AND BOOKS

*written at the end of several nights after many hours of working on short stories. So a little warning.

I didn't come to this place in my life as a person or a writer by choice. Hell its blinding to me when someone acts like you choose to be a addicted writer. And that's what most writers are, addicts. Like I would choose this, especially with my limitations in intelligence. Like a crack head joansing(is that how you spell- joansing?}in a corner of a abandoned building blowing people for a little bag of sugar that he thinks is crack is choosing that. And I know if I was a crack head that would happen to me because I'd make even other crack heads look smart. Though most politicians make me look smart. Thanks for something my government.

My non writing state of life came about basically of me making a choice but the action I took was one I thought was something I had no choice to do because no one else was going to do it. I tried to stand up and fight and then found out when you try to do that sometimes you turn around to find everyone you are standing up for has moved very far back behind you. In my case they moved to another state and told the bosses everything was golden.

My non writing state of sanity after so many years living inside my own head was at a good state until someone I tried so hard to help ended up twisting me back to that bad state in my life where I hated everything about me. I wont comment further but to say when those mental illness commericals come on that say something along the lines that you should do everything you can to help a friend. That's ok and all but there is no honor in losing the strength of your own life in the steps of someone else's misery. And also that there is no dishonor in thinking about your own life.

But I'm here to talk about writer boy. The other guy is broke, mostly in pain, and feels helpless.

This is just how the course has laid itself out for me as a writer. I'm a writer who writes ebooks{that includes short stories, novels, and poetry collections} and when I think about it this was the course I was probably always heading down. From writing my own by hand copies of my stories and handing them out to my teachers in school, to printing copies of stuff in high school and doing my own comics with local artists, its all about taking control of my stories and keeping them in my own hands as much as possible.

Things changed a little for me in college when I mixed writing my own stuff, totally under my control, sometimes working with others, with doing a business model. And I mean business model by a company looking to make money and not just make a living doing what I want to write so I can keep writing. That happen with me creating my own company, finding some points of success, but then falling on my face, my life tumbling out of control, and read a move to Florida and breakdowns 1 and 2 into that part of the story.

Why would anyone move to Florida except during a breakdown?

But within all of that previous I found a connection with how the internet works.

I'm writing this as I enter into a week where I need to focus on writing and get away from the internet to get as much stuff done as possible before I head to New Orleans for ALA. I'm not heading to ALA as a book saleing writer. I go everywhere as a writer but this trip is with my love, a great librarian, because I think every writer secretly wants to find  a librarian who will fall in love with them because all writers already love librarians.

A lot of people think the only reason I enjoy doing ebooks is I can't get published by a "real" publisher. I still submit to publishers but if I have the choice, this is my choice. I'd rather do my work, my stories, my thoughts in fantasy, pain, fear, joy, love, fate, sex, madness, insanity. My story not just warts and all but warts, scabs, and mouth out of control and all. But also if I had cash I would hire editors and cover artist. I'm not stupid but I am cash low and still writing.

Another thing I want to say before going any further is how much a few people have inspired me. Now there are a lot of writers writing now that inspire me greatly such as Gail Simone, Neil Gaiman, Paul Cornell, Courtney Summers, Carolyn Mackler, and Nova Ren Suma but there are also those people out there doing their thing in their spaces of work, in their ways such as Kevin Smith and Amanda Palmer and every writer, singer, painter, podcaster- putting their necks out there with a slightly turned head to the world around them. People will ask you why you are doing what you are doing and all you can say in the end is that I'm a writer. This walking meat package is a writer, even if I'm working washing dishes or cleaning up after others, I'm still a writer because this is my addiction.

So what is the mission plan for my writing? I've really enjoyed this monthly limited series I have been doing in Chaos Poetry. I'm going to continue with monthly releases and in August I will be starting a ongoing series of Tin Universe stories leading off from my ebook novel THE PAST FORWARD. August will see Tin Universe #7{the seventh story in the universe} and will rotate monthly with another series that will be called Chaos Read which will focus all all kind of stories I want to get out. It will be a no limits type of series.

I will list at the end of this what my plans are for the remainder of this year publishing wise but I actually have hard first drafts of enough short stories to go monthly through 2014 but I'm also going to be working on novels, submissions, and other projects during these times and taking November off every year from the monthly schedule to drown myself in something different{hopefully next full size book}.

I'm doing these short story series 1 because most of my book ideas don't hit book size and two I think the future of short stories are in individual ebook releases. Also doing these types of ongoing short story series are probably the nearest I'll ever get to working on a comic book series as a lot of the terminology for my ebook projects are from that world such as limited series, one shots, and the like.

And fully addressing the ongoing monthly ebook short story series and trying my best to get to the point and ending this, One will a ongoing series of stories with links from one to the other. That will be the Tin Universe series. The other while also have linked elements but will be more self contained and move through all of the universes that exist inside my insane mind. That will be Chao Read.

I'll resurface here before ALA to post the link to Chaos Poetry Part Three when I upload it.

MONTHLY PUBLISHING SCHEDULE:
JAN Chaos Poetry: Part Three
JULY Chaos Poetry: Part Four
AUGUST Tin Universe #7: A Little Pulpy Goes A Long Way
SEPT Tin Universe #8: The Hillbilly Jungle
OCT Chaos Read #1: Mexican Coffee
NOV *will be taking part in NANOWRIMO
DEC Tin Universe #9: Mystery From Bunker Hill

BEFORE AWAY IN SEARCH OF ZOMBIES AND BOOKS

REVIEW: Doctor Who - The Almost People

Once again I'm going to review this episode while watching it. Do so creates a sort of stream of thought form to the review. This time though it will be upon a second viewing.


I want to say up front I really liked this two part story and the break of a week between episodes here in the U.S. didn't hurt the story flow. The "Previously" shown before Part Two started did a very good job of catching you up on what has happen already even if you had not seen Part One.


The Doctor copy struggles with  throwback moments of memories from the 3rd and 4th Doctors and if you are a true Doctor Who geek hearing Tom Baker's voice once again on the series make childhood peek its head up for a moment to say hi.


I love Matt Smith in these two Doctor's moments. I love how he's even a little snarky with himself.


Oh, there's Rory still off trying to be "wanted"/"needed" by someone.


One of my favorite things about the Doctor is how he is always paying attention. And specially when no one else is listening like when a man  is talking about the son he loves and wants to see again. And how that is what ends up showing everyone what being alive truly is. To wish to have love in your life.


I wonder if actors get paid twice for playing two different roles? I'll have to ask some friends.


Please writers of Doctor Who, don't let Rory become another Turlough who for a lot of stories just wondered through places and or ended up being chained to walls. I like how Rory is doing more for these episodes but hope its not a nothing masked as something.


Walls of eyes. Such a quick, easy, creepy, and great visual that says a lot.


Rory was played a fool trying to be a hero. Wonder if that will come back to haunt him? I know it has in my life.


"If you're not sick by midmorning you're not doing it right." Love that line.


The fans have had such a great run of actors in the role of the Doctor in the modern era. Matt Smith just owns scenes. Sometimes to the point that he wipes others off the screen and I don't mean in any sort of camera hogging, overacting situation. He's just that damn good as the Doctor.


You can see that Amy is hurt that Rory took orders from the Doctor to stand away from her.


"Push."


A very creepy ending I thought.


TO BE CONTINUED

Doctor Who

The Almost People

4 out of 5 stars

*for more information on old school references I made: Vislor Turlough

3rd Doctor

4th Doctor

Cybermen

Tom Baker

REVIEW: Doctor Who - The Almost People