Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts

Sunday, 24 November 2013

50 Reasons why I Love Doctor Who (Part 2)

This morning I was awake, as I said I would be, at 6:50 for The Day of the Doctor which, for those of you who have been living under a rock, is the 50th Anniversary Special Episode of Doctor Who. It was actually a pretty awesome episode with emotion, comedy and a great story. It exemplifies the many reasons why Whovians all around the world have stayed true over 50 years, even when Doctor Who was not running. If you missed out on part 1 of this post yesterday where I mentioned the first twenty-five reasons why I love Doctor Who, then click here. Please note that these reasons are in no particular order.


26. The Soundtrack. What Whovian could not pick out the tunes from a Doctor Who soundtrack. They are so amazing they convey a story without words or images. Sometimes you even have memories of episodes and experiences you had surrounding that episode when you listen to the soundtrack. Music really is magical.
27. The Time Lords. These lords of time have been seen in many ways over the years. They have been seen as wonderful, as scary and as horrible human beings. As the Doctor aptly says "The time-war changed them." They really are the worst creatures in the Universe.
28. The Master. Who could not fall in love with an insane psychopath? The least you can do is love to hate him.
29. Sexy. Those of you who have watched the episode The Doctor's Wife when I say Sexy. I am not using it as an adjective but rather as a name. Sexy: the human form of the TARDIS mainframe which was ripped from its home by House (not the doctor, an asteroid on the fringe of the Universe) and placed inside a human's body only later to die in that human's body and return to the TARDIS. That was one hell of an episode.
30. Gallifrey. This home of the Time Lords which was once thought destroyed in the Great Time War. Those of you who have watched The Day of the Doctor will know at what I am hinting at here.
31. Writers. The wonderful (and ever-changing) team of writers that work on Doctor Who make it as wonderful and as deep as it is today, without them there would be no Doctor Who.
32. Russel T. Davies, the man responsible for bringing Doctor Who back in 2005.
33. The Make-Up Artists who create and change all the actors into monsters or transformed versions of humans. They make magic with some plastic and a lot of skill.
34. Sonic Screwdriver. How many times could the Doctor have died or failed in his tasks if he had not had his trusty Sonic Screwdriver? The answer is too many times to count.
35. Actors. Without the myriad of actors who have worked on Doctor Who, the show would be no where. Part of the success of the show has to be put on the actors who allowed the characters to come to life.
36. No Guns. As much terror and war the Doctor has seen he condemns the use of firearms, especially on people. The one time he was near shooting someone (in The End of Time Part 2) he found the strength not to and instead saved the world, yet again, without the need for fire-arms. America should learn something from that.
37. The Fez. Matt Smith's doctor came with one added attachment, his Fez. Even in The Day of the Doctor, as Clara puts it, "You can never walk past a fez, can you?" No he can not and we love him for that.
38. Steely determination. The Doctor's determination to peacefully settle disputes with as little loss of life as possible is a great strength on his behalf. Even when the opposition does not remotely deserve a second chance the Doctor offers it to them anyway, that is just the kind of time lord he is.
39. K-9. This lovable robot dog who even had his own show for a little while is another of the many reasons why fans love Doctor Who and all his quirks.
40. The Doctor's Darker Side. We see this side of the Doctor on many occasions and each time we see him fight through and realise his wrongs. Doctor Who can be a great moral story at times.
41. Forgiveness. No matter what the enemy has done, the Doctor always feels that they can be forgiven. It is this which separates him from the time lords who changed as a result of the Last Great Time War.
42. Romantic Tension. Who does not love to see the Doctor fight off his companions as many of them (especially in the modern telling of the show) fall in love with this time lord?
43. Story Arcs. Who does not love a good story arc. Some run for just a season (such as the cracks in the universe in Season 5) while others run for much longer (such as the mystery of River Song and Bad Wolf). Most of the time we do not even realise they are story arcs until the big reveal right at the end. It really is masterful writing.
44. Spoilers. River Songs favourite thing to say to the Doctor. Who does not love the story arc of River Song? "The Doctor is her first and her last." There is still so much to be learnt about River Song or, should I say ("Spoilers"), Melody Pond.
45. The Weeping Angels. They are the one new monster that will stand as one of the scariest monsters in Doctor Who history. Who would not be scared of creatures that are statues when you see them but incredibly fast when you can not. One touch will send you back in time while they feed off all the years you could have had if you had not met them. Oh, did I mention they can also turn off lights?
46. Rory Williams, the boy who waited. This couple of the boy who waited and the girl who waited (Amy Pond) sets off a great love story to be remembered by Whovians for decades to come. What love is stronger than waiting 2000 years for the girl you love? Rory Williams is one top bloke. Did I really just say bloke?
47. Putting Hitler in the closet. Who did not laugh at that scene in Let's Kill Hitler. The Doctor did not care (nor apparently did Rory Williams or Amy Pond) that Hitler was, and still is, one of the most infamous people in the world. Instead, he just put him in the closet while he sorted out what had to be done.
48. Human Villains. As much as there are evil monsters, there are also evil humans which the Doctor has to face every now and then. They really do make the story more realistic as who would believe in a world where only aliens are evil and humans play no part?
49. Moral. Doctor Who teaches us a lot about morals in many different ways. You have the Doctor's constant appeals to the monsters to ask forgiveness, then you have his steadfast anti-firearms value. Not to mention all that he stands for.
50. The final reason why I love Doctor Who can only be described using two words. Doctor Who?

I hope you enjoyed this, in further celebration I will soon be posting my top 50 Doctor Who moments. See you tomorrow!

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Adventures

There is just something about an adventure that makes you want to take it. Have you ever just wanted to take a random turn and see where it leads you? Ever walked the Dog and decided to go somewhere you have never been before for the sake of what you might find. It is this mystery that intrigues. It is ironic that it is this mystery that intrigues the majority of us yet it is also this mystery which frightens us. People are not afraid of the dark, they are afraid of the mysteries it holds. Though of course it is contradictions that make up most of our lives. Animals are one of our greatest friends while they can also be used as our greatest enemies. We seek help from strangers yet are forever weary of them. It is this contradiction that forms a strong basis in our lives and our love for adventure.


The other day I took one of these adventures on one of my walks with Sandy. As part of the training for Kokoda one of the activities on our scheduled exercise plans is a pack-walk where we walk with a backpack filled with some form of weight. Anyway, it is best to walk on uneven ground so concrete paths are not the best help. I then remembered an area near the river in an estate not too far from mine. It was a bit of a walk but Sandy and I finally made it (it would have been quicker if Sandy had been a little less curious but anyway). It was a great area full of grass and tress and if you went far enough in you could no longer see the houses and it was like being in your own private oasis. Also, as this place was not near any major roads it is always empty so Sandy and I go down there and explore. It is a lot of fun (for me as well as Sandy) and one day we found a little pier that goes into a little lake (empty but full of plants) which is blocked off with a fence and a chained gate which can be moved for pedestrian access. This was one of the great discoveries that keeps me coming back because I know that each time I will find something different and it is this mystery that intrigues me (for Sandy it is mostly just all the grass he can urinate on). Then you have learner driving. We often go driving around back roads and into more countryside rather than urban living. Here there are farms and paddocks everywhere and sometimes there are even dirt roads. Generally we make the trip up as we go just to get hours up but we rarely go on dirt roads (even though it is a four-wheel drive). Today however we did go down one of these and it was such a nice drive that seemed to stretch off into paddocks with nothing to see but grass and wooden/wire fences. It was just so peaceful and I cannot wait to go back there or explore some of the other dirt roads that take you into the middle of nowhere and back out again. This is again the mystery that intrigues me and makes me come back for more.

It surely is the mystery of the adventure that spurs us on to new and wonderful places. See you tomorrow!