Pretty sure people wouldn’t want to know about my life (I will get to the Doctor Who part soon) but today I went to two pretty damn good parties with some friends (btw I hate partying, so go figure how great it was) eating pizza, chatting, making wasabi challenges, laughing our eyes out, playing video games; and occasionally getting bored (the 2nd party involved alcohol - I’m straight edge :S) but overall I had a pretty fucking awesome day. Just came back, checked Twitter…
*the point I want to make is that the news of Matt Smith’s departure from Doctor Who came in as a shock - really strong shock*
Now I’m… well…
Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who
After 4 years of being the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith (or rather the BBC… or both!) have announced he’s leaving.
Well, I wont criticize Matt for leaving. I won’t say, “Hell no Matt, stay!” or “But Doctor Who is my life! and Matt’s too” because I understand the fact that part of DW is about change, and that is something that keeps the show fresh and alive for us fans. Also, he owes us nothing - his performance as the Doctor was brilliant, inventive, passionate and unique. He has worked for such a long time and he always has been so kind with the fans, it would be a disgrace if anybody yelled at him for leaving. He has to make his own path as an actor/director outside of Doctor Who now.
True, it hurts - I know it does. He was my first Doctor EVER. When I began watching DW in September 2011, his Doctor served as my guide to this new “world” that can be discovered watching the show. With his Doctor I’ve laughed so much, cried for so long, yelled with joy or fear, been amazed… basically, out of all of the Doctors I watched so far if I could travel with any of them, I would travel with the 11th Doctor.
Won’t ever forget the countless silly hats he pulled off brilliantly, his tears, “Geronimo!” and “Yowzah!“‘s, the Ponds, his wives ;P, TARDIS (specially his 1st one), his costumes, his jokes, his bravery, his determination, his loneliness… geeze, there is too much to love from the 11th.
And from Matt too! I’ve watched a lot of his other works outside of Doctor Who. He has a lot of talent for a spindly legged drunk giraffe x’D Genuinely speaking, that man is now 30 years old - imagine how brilliant his acting career will be with that much talent in 10 years time. He is such a passionate, talented and visionary man that I’m sure he’ll achieve great things - I look forward to his future endeavours.
As for the future of Doctor Who: I won’t hold a grudge on the next 12th Doctor for “replacing” Matt’s 11th, because that would be plain silly. Neither will I stop watching the show - that would be stupid. Doctor Who is ultimately about embracing change, like Matt has said in so many interviews before. I’m really curious to discover who is the next Doctor (pleaseAndrewLeePottsplease) and see his new personality/attire/ect.
Holding grudges and looking back to Matt’s Eleventh Doctor history with pure sadness and regret that its all over shouldn’t be something Whovians should be endorsing right now.
Go back and watch his episodes not with sadness that its over, but with happiness that it happened (cheesy, yes - but true) Don’t be angry at change, because change happens whether we want it or not and we’ve got to face it. Look back to the past and smile, and embrace the future.
“It’s been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with ‘the ginger, the nose and the impossible one’. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls. Thank you guys.” — Matt Smith (via doctorwho)
I needed that hug. Thanks :’S
(via doctorwho)
Ok, ok, ok… what do you mean exactly by “theme song”?
Day 13: Favourite Theme Song
First off, I’ll thank Murray Gold for all of the work he has done song-wise in Doctor Who
So, to my knowledge theme song could be either for a series as a whole (as if in opening theme for DW), or theme song for a character (ie. Donna, Martha, 9th, Rory, Absorbaloff… JK)
So, as I’m not entirely clear what it really is about (and also having seen other people’s entries for Day 13, which left me more confused about the meaning of the question)… what the hell, I’ll throw in two options.
Theme Song Series 5
Brave, bold, full of brassy wind instruments, feels adventurous right off the bat, definitely couldn’t resist the urge do sing along “DOOO WEEEE OOOOOO OOO OOOOOO” every single time I heard it. Oh, the good days of the Ponds :’)
I am the Doctor (11th Theme Song)
Sorry for being preferentially picky towards the Matt/Moffat era, but this theme song (apart from being huge as a bubble universe that does not look like a bubble at all… forget the bubble) depicts Eleven’s (or any other Doctor’s incarnation) thirst for adventure - wonder, fear, excitement… *u*
Other options: 9th’s Theme, 10th’s Theme, The Life and Death of Amy Pond
This is Gallifrey
Hey! Theme song for the Time Lords! ;) Actually this is my favourite out of all… why not? Always brings a tear to my eye :’)
Day 12: Episode that scared you the most
Oooooo, that’s a tough one *no, its not*
Sadly, when I began watching Doctor Who 2 years ago I had already lost that childish ability to be scared easily of most things out there. So when I first saw “scary” creatures such as the Daleks and the Cybermen (specially the slow, slow Cybermen) I wasn’t too impressed/scared (although Neil Gailman’s “Nightmare in Silver” did a brilliant job at bringing sexy- sorry- scary back to the Cybermen. Victory of the Daleks… ehmmm, Power Ranger Daleks, all I’m saying)
However, Series 7 has brought along some of the scary factor back to the show enough to make me jump 1 metre up in the air and shiver into my bed duvet as if I were a little kid once again. Oh, the magic/sci-fi of Doctor Who :’)
Without further ado,
Series 7, Part 2, “Hide”
“I am the Doctor and I am afraid”
More like “We are the fandom, and we’re pissing ourselves” if you asked me. Of course, that was the majority of people I know in Twitter said upon seeing the Doctor say that in a trailer for S7P2 *becaaauuuuse SPOILERS we all though it was Trenzalore… it was not*
Still, that episode had brilliant moments of pure horror/suspense movies such as the brilliant (keep saying that) use of lightning (and lighting) and dark corridors to create a spooky atmosphere and the brilliant (once again) employment of chilling sounds to make us all believe that the phantom was truly up to something sinister.
There were some absolutely brilliant (gonna make this a habit) moments in which the cinematography, camera angles and character placement was ideal to intensify the fear factor of the whole episode, not to mention the fact that we also got to see a desolate and foggy forest in the midst of a collapsing pocket universe containing a disfigured monster looking for… love O.o (ok, I wasn’t expecting that to happen)
In resume, there were a lot of different things happening, but all the same the script maintained its essential aim to scare the living days out of me (which it did so brilliantly in at least 4 or more different ocassions), mostly thanks to the brilliant (HA!) work of the Doctor Who crew (I am so determined to join their Art Department… someday)
Other candidates: The Empty Child (S1), Blink (S3), Midnight (S4), The Waters of Mars (Specials), The Time of Angels (S5), The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon (S6), The Angels Take Manhattan (S7), Nightmare in Silver (S7), The Name of the Doctor (S7)
Apparently I do have quite a few other episodes that I have considered to be quite scary… oh well, I might be legally an adult, but still quite a kid at heart :)
Lets take a moment of silence to appreciate that Doctor Who Series 7 is ending this Saturday and we won’t be seeing any more of it until November 23rd 2013 D:
Lets appreciate the fact that Moffat will hopefully leave his “chucking characters off buildings” fetish
and explain how the f*** Sherlock survived (or not) in “The Reichenbach Fall” (in other words, the eventual return of Sherlock to our screens)
BBC(Moffat) giveth, BBC(Moffat) taketh away.
*and yea, he’s producer in Sherlock - but I can still imagine him plotting his incredibly evil script schemes for his cohorts to carry out while he chills out stroking his cat*
So, seeing that the worst part of the IB Tests is over for me (that being Physics specifically) and seeing that I have some time to procrastinate even more as I have no tests following this week (except Maths Studies x2, but please - its Maths Studies… haha… wait… ahahahahahhaokImdone) I’ll resume my IB experience in gifs (aka how it felt/perceived it/etc.)
English A1 HL
Spanish A2 SL
Maths Studies SL (duh)
Business and Management HL
Visual Arts HL
Physics SL
BONUS:
TOK
CAS
Extended Essay
Couseworks
Oral Commentaries
Yup, the IB Diploma is just downright awesome.
Art exhibition for our IB Art class - time sure flies :D
13 good long years… I spent a good long 4 hours yesterday reminiscing about the good old days in which kids were much less stressed out, when people I knew didn’t care about popularity contests, when we weren’t fussy about tiny things, when we weren’t drama queens and, of course, when we were much younger than we are now.
Plus all the homework, teachers, sleepless nights, essays, artwork, presentations, school plays, tremendous accidental face-to-floor dives, silly arguments, 3 years without any friends, shyness, motivation, successes, secrets, messing around, art (lots of it), loneliness, awkwardness (generally social awkwardness), shouting, laughter, FRIENDS…
… :S…
Next week, my classmates, myself and the whole international IB student community will be visited by the devil, otherwise known as IB Test (or “IBullshit… I’ll die with these tests!”)
This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for…
Its robbed us from our sleep.
Stole our youth.
Famished our brains.
Raped our… ok, this is going too far…
Basically, its been a living nightmare. My Pre-IB thoughts were: “Its can’t be THAT bad right? Its just 6 subjects and a few tidbits of other stuff here and there”
To my 2 year-younger self:
You idiot…
Nonetheless, what’s done is done. Lets not lie to ourselves - with any luck our IB diplomas will serve as minor university credits, if not as fancy deco for our basements. IB Certificates?
Still, personally, I won’t waste $899 (ish) in this tests for nothing (My parents didn’t pay to see me slack off after 2 years of non-ending all nighter work and exhaustion) - as long as I don’t get a 3 in Physics (oh dreaded Physics) I’m cool…
… and a 6/7 in Art (or else I die - DIE!)
… and a 6/7 in English (same as above - SHAME on me)
… and a 6 in Business (teacher-trust-in-me pressure)
… and a 6/7 in Maths Studies (ha! Maths Studies xD EASY!… really, if I get less, there’s something seriously wrong with my brain)
… and a 6 in Spanish (though I can easily get a 7 without studying… meh…)
… and pass CAS (no one really cares about CAS, amiright?)
… and pass the Extended Essay (I trust my teacher’s guidance to get me a 7 - she’s THAT amazing)
… and the Group 4 project thingy (which, in complete honesty, none of us give true data for it)
… and pass TOK (with my largely questionable presentation in which I argued the pros and cons of nuclear weapon development… weeks before the North/South Korean conflict began sparking… completely unfortunate coincidence… the examinator will think I’m a crazy sociopath/war loving Kim Jong-Un fan… whoops!)
… and the whole mass of courseworks I had to print and re-print with corrections for my teachers (ironic that the IB encourages us to be environmentally friendly… by printing an entire forest in essays that won’t get examined anyway. Way to go, IB.)
You know what! after all of that , the IB examinations sound like a breeze! I’ll just nip back into a corner of my room and study my eyes off until they expire and cry, ok?
Good luck, fellow IBers…
(not a big fan of the Hunger Games, but ironically it fits the situation - it’ll be a bloodshed!)
P.S. On a non-pessimistic, quite uplifting (I hope) tone, we’ll be great, Class of ‘13 :D
Apologies for my unjustified frustration. Its just the IBs - y’know? S:
So this once I’ll deviate from my usual Doctor Who jolly attitude and talk laptops (because that’s what I usually do around the few people I call friends… it freaks them out D: )
When I was 13ish, I remember real well peeking at PCMag and wishing that one day I could literally chuck my dad’s old and clunky Compaq desktop out the window and replace it with a laptop in which I could work fast and efficiently. I started becoming a laptop/pc tech of sorts amongst my peers: I knew all the Windows software basics like the back of my right hand, I could photo/video edit like a boss and no boasting I literally got A+ on every single year for my ICT courses. I was (am, and will keep on being) a computer geek :’)
I remember very well that the first laptop I wanted with a burning passion (see? freaky) was an HP Pavilion dv3. I kept the magazine ad for it and harassed my dad with the subject for years.
And I mean YEARS. Only 2 years ago, on the brink of the IB diploma (otherwise known as the “why the hell did you even think this was going to be easy” diploma) I finally convinced my dad to get me a laptop. I was ecstatic. Like the little PC geek I am, I filled my little brain with specs, brands, prices, sizes and everything you could possibly imagine to seek a laptop that could fill in these needs:
It was funny that after so much cutting down options (especially due to costs - I’m not rich) it all came down to the HP Pavilion dv6 (3150us, to be specific) Coincidence.
Specs?
Basically.
And it was an HP for crying out loud! One of the best brands in the world with brilliant customer service and trustworthy. Right?
Nope.
I’ve always been a saint with my laptop: maintained it up to date with software, erased useless crap, cleaned it internally and externally, carried it around carefully (though I must admit that it did once tumble into the floor - I fell asleep s:) and kept it absolutely away from any harm.
Yet literally 2 weeks before the laptop 1 year guarantee expired, my trustworthy laptop turned to a living nightmare.
1 year back: Me, being lead graphic designer/marketing director for the school play, having all of the poster development and t-shirt designs and with literally 1 week remaining for all of the promo material to be printed for the incoming play… my laptop’s Hard Drive went splat! Well, splat-ish. It didn’t immediately fail, but the dreaded “replace fucking expensive hard drive” sign came up.
I called HP *cue ambient music and 20 minute waits* explained the whole issue in English and Spanish, emailed (from my dad’s slow Compaq ._.) them over and over again to ask, plead, beg for some sort of help. All I’ve got to say to HP now is:
HP, get out of the laptop industry. Do us a favour.
I had to scavenge hunt my country (with minimum tech availability, btw) for a compatible and affordable hard drive. Not only was my whole 1st year IB data at stake, but the play promo material, the incoming extended essay/courseworks and my sanity. Finally my ma, being the kind soul she is, bought the damn thing, I went with my school’s tech so he could install it and done!
And that wasn’t the end of it D:
I had to install every single HP software my patience could muster back into the laptop. I had to install every single program I ever used back then. I was left webcam-less for 6 months. The ventilation got lousier and lousier. The fingerprint scan serves as decoration. My wi-fi chip stopped working entirely and I had to by a USB adapter that is currently shitty and I have to balance my laptop to get signal. The school tech only had Windows 32-bit, which (I found out today) reduced the capacity of my RAM to 2 GB (aka I can barely even play the Sims 3 on low graphics without it crashing/lagging - go figure what that does to DCUO. Imagine what that would do if I took up on playing WOW Dx Oww) And to top the cake with a nice red cherry, the back plastic grid and casing is crumbling (literally - a bit of it chipped off, my laptop looks like the Terminator in PC form)
I genuinely am considering of working my ass off (If I ever get work) after I graduate and hopefully got to university (if I’m lucky enough to get a loan) to sell this @#$@# and get a better laptop that doesn’t fall apart in less than 2 years. Strangely enough, don’t get me wrong, I may hate HP for all this pain in the neck this has caused, but I love my laptop nonetheless (plot shift!)
If it weren’t for this laptop, I would be currently cringing on the floor at my impending demise at the IB diploma (or possibly due to my non-existing rest, as working in my dad’s PC makes a 15-minute task turn to 45 minutes) At least with this laptop I get some rest (I’m living proof that you can live with 1-5 hours of sleep over 2 years without getting sick and dying) and it has literally pulled through many tasks shouting and crying.
Maybe, in some distant future when pigs fly and art becomes rentable, I’ll be able to get a better laptop - I need it if I want to get into more technical/complicated digital art in Illustration.
*and I do want to play Blade and Soul when it comes out on the US server… eventually xD*
The moral: HP, they are HdP (spanish speakers will understand the cussing behind this acronym irony)
And to think that all those IB Physics classes were all lies…
[video]
I was tempted to skip today (because, lets face it: I’m human yet I don’t understand how I can barely live with 3 hours of sleep daily) but alas, here’s another not so exciting issue of Doctor Who Challenge!
Day 11: Funniest episode
So, like last time I’ll break it down to 1 episode per series (Series 2-7) to make life easier for me:
Series 2: School Reunion
Series 3: The Shakespeare Code
Series 4/Specials: Partners in Crime
Series 5: The Lodger
Series 6: Closing Time
Series 7 (so far): Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
So this once, I’ll do The Lodger (sorry Tennant era… again… D: )
To keep it simple, I love the way in which James Corden and Matt Smith work together, as they both have brilliant comedic timings and to make things worse we have a clash between Mr Craig “Sofa Man” Owens and a Timelord who travels through space and time. There is bound to be differences in their lifestyles.
Its ridiculously funny to see Matt’s Doctor show up at Craig’s doorstep at such an inconvenient time, getting an accidental declaration of love from Craig (originally intended at Sophie) and handing out a whole paper bag full of three-months rent worth in cash to a flabbergasted Craig.
From then on The Doctor’s new task is to work as a alien cupid of sorts to try to get Sophie and Craig working in increasing the population.
“Six billion people? Watching you two “work” (Sophie and Craig), I’m starting to wonder where they all come from.” - The Doctor
Ooooooo, burn human kind, BURN! He’s got a point, sadly enough. The Craig-Sophie Paradox = human awkwardness in relationships - then how come there’s so many of us?! .-.
Its also hilarious to see The Doctor out of his habitat (so to speak) The TARDIS is trapped in mid-materialization with Amy trying to pilot it and such while The Doctor has to pretend to be a normal human being while investigating on how to solve the issue. The two things that aren’t right here: The Doctor is neither “normal” nor “human” - double the “lol”s when seeing him use an electric toothbrush as a Sonic Screwdriver, being childish-acting while covering for Craig at work and mistaking football with cricket (and turns out the Doctor is brilliant at football!)
Craig grows increasingly more and more irritated with the Doctor’s sudden interruption in his normal life, but oh should you see him when he discovers the Doctor is an alien through a rather hardcore headsmash (gentle-style telepathy is overrated)
Oh, and finally: “OH NO, NOT NOW CRAIG. THE PLANET’S ABOUT TO BURN - FOR GOD’S SAKE, KISS THE GIRL!!!” xD
(I couldn’t find a decent The Lodger funny moments video, so this recompilation of funny Series 5 and 6 should do)
Day 10: Saddest Episode
To be honest, I’m quite the waterworks when it comes to getting the feels while watching TV series/movies/hearing music/reading etc. So I must admit that I’ve at least teared up a bit for every single DW episode I’ve ever seen (yea – damn my emotions)
I somehow managed to strip it down to six episodes (per Tennant/Smith series) =
Series 2: Doomsday
Series 3: Last of the Timelords
Series 4/ Specials: The End of Time, Part II
Series 5: Vincent and the Doctor
Series 6: The God Complex
Series 7 (so far): The Angels Take Manhattan
So… lets tear up remembering The Angels Take Manhattan
Obviously this was a chronicle of an announced death (or more like “time displacement”) for Amy Pond/Rory Williams fans all over the place. Both of them have been the longest running companions in the New series and many fans have discovered Who during their era (i.e. me) Personally I dreaded the thought of having Arthur and Karen leave, but after a while I did comprehend that the show’s nature is change and that you’ve got to embrace it or be run over by the denial-train. Still, those positive thoughts prepared me little for the tear-fest that The Angels Take Manhattan was.
First we have Amy and Rory enjoying a nice peaceful picnic with the Doctor in Central Park, they laugh, snog, blush and pretty much have a nice time. And theeeennnn the @#$$%! Weeping Baby-angels appeared and everything f*cked up >.<
WHY WHY you @#$$%! Weeping Baby-angels?!?! What did Rory ever do to you? Was he too badass for you to deal with his existence?! Was he too nosey (literally)?! WHY?!?!
And then we have Amy, strong as ever, she is willing to get displaced back in time by the @#$$%! Weeping Angel to join Rory (THAT is love/devotion). Amy, oh Amy you strong willed woman *tears* Also (big pet peeve) Rory didn’t get a chance of even saying goodbye! WTH! Despite that massive mess up, Amy’s afterword was more than enough to make me keep on crying 15 minutes after the episode ended. Melancholy.
River… River cry me a river (because that’s literally what I did for the 45 minutes of the show) At least she can see Amy and Rory with the Vortex Manipulator, but it kills me to think that at least for most of the time she’ll be unable to be with her parents (AGAIN… heck…)
And the Doctor: Previously he’s only teared up a bit at the end of The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe but this time he went full gear crying. I was like a living copy of the Doctor’s crying – throughout the ENTIRE episode (really, opening credits rolled in and I was already red-eyed) To think that he lost his family to the @#$$%! Weeping Baby-angels makes me mad with rage and melancholic as hell.
Excuse me… *goes to sob in a corner*
As of now I still have hope that the Doctor will find a way to see them again, but for the time being I’ll have to deal with the side effects of Manhattan’s melancholic atmosphere during Amy and Rory’s departure.
Who’s ready for the 50th Anniversary?!
