I'm Back!

So hey guys! I'm back! That probably sounds weird but the posts over the past few days were all scheduled to give myself a break over the Christmas season. I am sorry to have to come back with a short post but I had a busy few days. Over the coming days I will be posting some reflections and observations on some aspects of Christmas. I was going to write a brief review of The Time of the Doctor but I thought that after the last few posts about Doctor Who you would be sick of it so I gave it a break.

Eleven's hour is over and twelve's has just begun. See you tomorrow!

Doctor Who Sunday: Top Moments Part 2

Welcome to another segment of Doctor Who Sunday! I am pre-writing all these top-moment posts over the coming weeks so that I have a few Sundays off over the coming months. However, as more episodes of Doctor Who air, more moments will be added. So far, I have compiled a list of 92 and included 5 in my last post. That means that this series is going to be running for nearly 5 months! Anyway, this list is in chronological order and only includes the modern series of Doctor Who as I have not watched enough of the Classic Doctor Who so I can not make a judgement on the best moments. Anyway, on with the show!

6. Harriet Jones' Introductions in The Christmas Invasion/Stolen Earth

Harriet Jones first appeared in the episodes with the Slitheen (Aliens of London and World War Three) and also made a come back in the Season 2 Christmas Special The Christmas Invasion as well as the Season 4 finale The Stolen Earth. In all of these episodes she always said "Harriet Jones" followed by her current title. Even when she the people already knew who she was she would always say that and show her ID. It really makes for some funny scenes. The above clips are not even all of the times she says that.

7. K-9 in School Reunion

Aside from the joy of the return of Sarah Jane (a previous companion in the Classic Doctor Who series), Whovians also felt joy when they found K-9 with Sarah. I believe many Whovians were upset with his fate in this episode but it was still nice to see him again.

8. Madame de Pompadour Enters the Doctor's Mind in The Girl in the Fireplace

Source: http://www.flickfilosopher.com/2007/12/doctor-who-blogging-girl-in-the-fireplace.html

The Girl in the Fireplace was actually my first Doctor Who episode and it was actually what hooked me into the series. It probably helps that it was such a great episode, as many whovians would agree. In this scene Madame de Pompadour enters the Doctor's mind and sees loneliness and other things inside. It is one of the rare moments we actually get to see the Doctor's emotional side and his inner thoughts. It really deserves it place as one of the best moments of the show.

9. The French Know how to Party in The Girl in the Fireplace

Source: http://hyperbeeb.tumblr.com/post/3981906238/drunk-doctor-ftw-best-insult-ever

In this scene from the same episode, Tennant's Doctor returns from a part in France pretty drunk and having just invented the Banana Daiquiri. He is so drunk he even makes the above insult to the clock-work monsters in this episode after he proclaims how the French really know how to party. It was a little bit of comedy that literally interrupted a very serious and almost deadly moment in The Girl in the Fireplace.

There will be 6 more next week to make up for 4 this week. See you tomorrow!

Holidays and a Scary Doctor

Finally, the school year is over and I can catch up on some sleep and relaxation. I know that I am going into VCE and that I should cherish my years of 'relaxing' work but sometimes you just work so hard through the year that you need the holidays to recuperate and prepare for the year ahead. I know you are all probably wondering why this post is still short even though I have finished school. The thing is, as much as I do inside school I have a lot of things I do outside of school that require my attention. This helps me get to my next point about a scary doctor experience. As you all know (probably), in April of next year I am going to Kokoda and as such there are some medical forms to fill out. One of these requires a full physical examination to ensure I am medically fit to complete the Kokoda Trek. This meant going to my GP, then a pathologist (conveniently located next to my GP), then back to my GP so he can check my results and then sign off on the necessary forms. Anyway, on Monday (straight after school) I went to the pathologist and had blood taken out, urine collected and a 12-lead ECG (I have no idea what that is) completed. Then, on Tuesday night. We get two calls from the GP telling me to come in ASAP (do not think you know where this is going, because you do not). Needless to say I spent the next two days (Wednesday and today) worried sick and I barely spoke Wednesday morning. Anyway, so I go there tonight and we go in and Dad asks how the tests were and the Doctor only tells us to sit down and he will explain in a moment. Now I was really getting worried and I thought it was going to be bad. Then he says my results were perfect and he stamps my form. WHAT THE HELL? What was he thinking? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Still, afterwards I felt so relieved and glad that I was cleared. It felt like a weight had risen from my chest. Seriously though, what Doctor calls you just to tell you your results are in? I know you were all thinking that it was going to be bad. How do you think I felt?

Sorry for the short post. See you tomorrow.

50 Reasons why I love Doctor Who (Part 1)

It is the 23rd of November and we all know what that means? No, I do not mean One Direction Day. I mean the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary! As I live in Australia, the 50th Anniversary special (The Day of the Doctor) does not air until 6:50 am tomorrow on ABC1. Now you know what I will be doing between 6:50 and 8:07. To celebrate this momentous occasion in Doctor Who history I have compiled a list of 50 reasons why I, and so many others around the world, love Doctor Who.

Source: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/doctor-who/images/35308700/title/doctor-who-50th-anniversary-wallpaper

1. The story is timeless and has adapted over time to suit the current era. Throughout its entire run it has managed to give audiences what they want and boy, have they taken it.
2. You never know quite what to expect. Anything can happen where The Doctor is involved.
3. Even though the stories can seem so out-there you are still able to connect with the story which is a very hard thing to achieve with something that is not even human.
4. The stories are believable. For all we know, the silence could exist and we just can not remember them. The vashta nerada could in fact be the reason why people are afraid of the shadows. Everything makes sense.
5. While the show has changed a lot over 50 years, the writers still make references to Classic Doctor Who and even in Season 6 there were references to episodes with the first ever Doctor, William Hartnell.
6. Regenerations keep the show moving. It makes it plausible to have many actors play the same role over 50 years and could even see the show go on for much longer as they are not limited by the age of actors.
7. Companions make up half the show. As much as the show is about Doctor Who it is also about the doctor's companions and their relationships and experiences. They represent us, as humans, and are our 'representatives' if you want to call them that in the story. They give us someone else to connect to, who did not cry when Amy and Rory jumped off the building to stop the Weeping Angels (As River Song would say, Spoilers).
8. The show appeals to people all around the world and it creates a global community that connects so many different people all over the world.
9. It can teach us a lot about history with many episodes featuring historical figures such as Queen Elizabeth the 1st, Madame le Pompadour, William Shakespeare and Vincent Van Gogh, you learn just as much as you enjoy without even realising it.
10. You can jump into the show at almost any episode and still have it make sense. The first episode I watched was The Girl in the Fireplace and that is in the second season (of the modern series) with David Tennant as the Doctor.
11. Comedy. The show has serious times but it also has laughter. It is a great balance such that the show does not become a comedy, but it still has light-hearted moments that always make you laugh such as the Doctor always wishing he was ginger after every regeneration.
12. Heart. Throughout the 50 years this show has been running there is one thing it has never lost, its heart. It may be funny, it may be serious but it is also full of heart and emotion with so many highs and so many lows. It really is an almost all-round show.
13. Continuity. The show always continues stories that it left off in previous seasons, if not decades. Sometimes they are small little references and other times they are huge. However, each time you notice one it does give you a bit of a kick.
14. Whovians. Perhaps one of the best things about Doctor Who is the fans. This big fandom around this show (which I am not going to call little) adds an extra element and makes the show that much bigger. Without the fans, Doctor Who would never have made it this far.
15. Donna Noble. Whilst the majority of the other companions were busy flirting with the doctor, Donna here took no such nonsense and did not let the Doctor take advantage of her. She also added another layer of comedy as well as a lot of emotion (have you seen The Fires of Pompeii?)
16. Exterminate! After all these years, the one creature that can strike fear into the hearts of every Whovian through the use of one word is, of course, the Daleks. They may not seem very scary to an outsider but to a Whovian it does not get much worse.
17. Catchphrases. Each Doctor has had their own thing, or catchphrase, that you would often hear them say. For David Tennant it was "Allonsy" and for Matt Smith it was "Geronimo". It added another layer to the Doctor that you would only uncover if you looked hard enough.
18. The Mystery. After 50 years you would think that you would know every secret of the Doctor but oh, we only know the tiniest portion. This time lord has many secrets and it only takes a good writer to weed them out and make out like they were planned since the very beginning.
19. The TARDIS, Time-And-Relative-Dimensions-In-Space. This infinite time machine of the Doctor's again hides many secrets, as we discovered in Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and as such there is still a lot more to uncover. Oh, and did I mention that it can change?
20. Signature style. The Doctors have many things in common but one easy way to distinguish between them was their signature style. This has been the same since the very beginning and the writers have stayed true to this the whole time. You have Matt Smith's bow-ties, Sylvester McCoy's Umbrella, David Tennant's suit and many more.
21. Torchwood. This government agency looks into and covers up events and issues relating to outer space and, dare I say it, 'Aliens'. This organisation even had its own television series thanks to Doctor Who. Torchwood, you are so awesome.
22. Doctor Explanations. These are when the Doctor tries to make things clear by explaining them but only succeeds in making even less sense. For instance, he explains the time-locked time-war as being trapped inside a giant bubble before saying, oh nothing like that. Matt Smith's Doctor is the worst I have seen as he does this every time. He asks you to think of something and then says it is nothing like that.
23. Monsters. The creative monsters never cease to amaze. At first they seem superficial or just scary but then you find out their background and realise how deep their stories actually are. What whovian has not been creeped out by the Weeping Angels, or being afraid of the shadows thanks to the Vashta Nerada?
24. Stormageddon, the dark lord of all. Who did not immediately fall in love with this baby from the episode Closing Time in Season 6. Craig's reappearance in this story only made fans love the story ever the more.
25. The Doctor's Languages. Is it not very convenient, and hilarious, how the Doctor can speak so many languages, even the ones we never knew actually existed? He can speak baby, animal and many other things. Sometimes I wonder if he just makes half the stuff up. Then I remember he is a fictional character.

See 25 more reasons why I love Doctor Who in tomorrow's post! See you tomorrow!

So Many New Things

November is shaping up to be a really great month for me. I do not know why but this month has just seemed so great. I have no other way to explain it. The past few days has even strengthened my view of this. As most of you will not know, Lady Gaga's new album new album ARTPOP was released just today and even as I type this Lady Gaga is celebrating the release with an artRAVE. You may remember back in August when I got really excited when Applause was released (a single from the album). Now multiply that by fifteen (the number of songs on the album) and you get an idea of how I am feeling right now. I quickly downloaded all the songs onto my phone and so far I have listened to a number of the songs already. I also created a playlist of all the songs I could find on YouTube that was from ARTPOP. To view this playlist just click here. I have also embedded the playlist in this post. It is right under the album cover for ARTPOP below.

Source: http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/10/this-is-lady-gagas-artpop-album-cover/

I am totally dancing in my seat right now as I write this post. I am in total fanboy meltdown at the moment. It was definitely worth the wait. Those who are not fans of Lady Gaga may not enjoy it as much. So please, if you do not like Lady Gaga know this: I do not care. I can not stop singing "G.U.Y." and "Aura". So you guys have probably worked out by now that Lady Gaga is my all-time favourite artist. I adore her and her songs. Lady Gaga is the best. There, I said it. Aside from Lady Gaga (as reluctant as I am to move on) Doctor Who also released two new trailers for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day of the Doctor. This is just a really awesome trailer that provides some great sneak peeks at what is going to happen in the blockbuster 50th anniversary special. I can not wait until the episode actually airs on the 23rd (or 24th in Australia [I do not know]) of November so that I can actually watch this special episode featuring Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Smith all as the doctor. Obviously though they play different regenerations of the doctor but they still meet at what appears to be Gallifrey. The trailer makes it seem really awesome but I guess that is just the job of the trailer. Anyway, I really want to get back to Lady Gaga so I am just going to finish this post before it becomes more random than my last Random Thought Friday post which I actually posted on Saturday due to time restraints.

I live for the applause (#APPLAUSE), see you tomorrow!

Fundraising

So the trouble with going to a school with so many fundraisers (besides the constant loss of money) is that when it comes time to have one you have no idea what to do because most of them have already being done. As those of you who have been reading this blog for some time may know that I am part of a leadership program run by Wyndham Police called 'Leaders of the Future'. Part of this program (the culmination in fact) is walking 96 kilometres of the Kokoda Track. Some of what we are doing involves raising money for a local Health Centre in the village of Menari which is along the track. So now that it comes time to think of brainstorming ideas with the other person from my school who is also doing the program we are at a bit of a loss. Damn you charitable school.

Source: http://desktopmag.com.au/project-wall/fundraising-downunder-logo/

Do not ask me why I chose that picture. I used Google to image search "Fundraising" and that was the only one that caught my eye. Do not judge me. Anyway, so I spoke to one of the assistant principals at my school and managed to secure the casual clothes day at the end of term for our cause. The thing with our school is most end-of-terms (except the end of year since we all finish different days) are casual clothes days to raise money for whatever organisation in the school puts their hand up for it (or organises) it first. If no one organises it then there is no casual clothes day. That was the easy part. The hard part is thinking of other things we can do on the day to raise even more money. We can not do a talent show as so many other groups have already done that this year. A guess-the-lollies in the jar competition is also out of the question as they only just did that a few weeks ago for the 40 Hour Famine. I was thinking of maybe doing a raffle with jars of lollies as prizes or something. That way there could be more than one prize and we could get away with charging more than 50 cents a ticket. Anyway, I better leave it at this as it is getting late.

Why does our school have to be so damn charitable? See you tomorrow!

Emotional Movie and Television Moments

Throughout time there have always been things that make the strongest of us a little emotional. In modern times such things are often related to technology and for us this means television and movies. We all have those scenes that make us cry. For some of us that is the scene in Titanic (though personally it was emotional but no cry-worthy) and for others it is for the deaths of some our favourite anime characters. Here I have compiled a list of some of the stuff that made me emotional over the years. Of course, this is not a complete list but rather only the ones in the forefront of my mind.

Doctor Who: Amy and Rory's Final Chase

For many whovians (people belonging to the fandom of Doctor Who) it was hard not to shed a tear during this heartfelt scene in "The Angels Take Manhattan". I only started watching Doctor Who towards the end of Term 1 but I already felt connected enough to some of the characters to get a little emotional. Of course, the backing track to this scene adds to the emotion of the moment (Song: "Together or not at all"). Even Rory just saying "To save you, I could do anything" began my tears and then Amy's reply to the Doctor: "Changing the Future. It's called marriage" was just the tipping point for me. Seeing Amy crying and hugging Rory as the fell just made it worse. See the video below for the clip.

Marley and Me

The scene when Marley dies was one of the first times I actually cried when watching a movie. It was highly emotional as throughout the course of the movie you grow a connection to the dog and then he dies and you see his family's reactions which just add to the emotion. It is just something about seeing others cry that makes me sad as well. I believe you might call it empathy.

Doctor Who: Turn Left

Not many whovians actually appreciate this episode for how good it is. The final episode before the two-part finale occurs during Season 4 with David Tennant as The Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. It shows a bug who makes you go back in time and change a major decision in your life and it feeds off of what might have been but no longer is. It was very raw and emotional as Donna never meets the Doctor and subsequently he dies. Other people notice there is something weird about Donna's back (where the bug is) but no one can really put their finger on it. We also see Billie Piper return to reprise her role of Rose Tyler who tells Donna of what might have been and what is still to happen. Donna has to face the fact that she had a very important life that now she will never experience unless she goes back and forces her past self to go with her original decision. Donna does not realise until the final moments that this means jumping in front of a truck and killing herself which makes the scene more emotional. The following scene takes place just after Donna jumps in front of a truck and Rose whispers something in her ear.

Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks Clara Oswin Oswald

I know there are a few Doctor Who scenes in here but there are just a lot of emotional scenes and they are all fresh in my mind. Let's face it though, Doctor Who is a show with many highs and just as many lows. Anyway, so this episode is about the Doctor, Rory and Amy beamed down to the Asylum of the Daleks where the worst of all Daleks are put by Daleks as they were too radical. The trio have to disarm the shield around the planet in order for it to be destroyed but while down there they find themselves in trouble with a few of the bad Daleks. The character of Clara Oswin Oswald helps them get away but when the Doctor goes to retrieve Clara he discovers that she has been turned into a Dalek but has created a scene in her mind to avoid the horrible truth. This is the scene where the Doctor has to explain it to her. It is very emotional.

The Twelfth Doctor

That's right, BBC has announced the actor to be portraying the Twelfth Doctor. Peter Capaldi was announced as the lucky actor during a special live-broadcast (on ABC at 4am in Australia). If you have been living under a rock or, like the majority of people, do not watch (or follow closely) Doctor Who then you probably had no idea that the eleventh doctor, played by Matt Smith, was finishing (I guess you could sort of call it retiring from the role). This left many fans disappointed earlier this year when it was revealed Smith was leaving but also left others hopeful for the future with talks of possibly a female doctor going around. However, after a long interview process Peter Capaldi was the one selected and we all hope he can fill the big shoes left by many of his predecessors. I just can not wait to see the regeneration which I think is either happening in the 50th Anniversary Special (Premiering late November) or in the proceeding episodes. However, it is time to say goodbye to Matt Smith and looks towards the future and towards Peter Capaldi (I keep wanting to call him Nick, I do not know why).

Image Source: https://www.facebook.com/DoctorWho

The 55 year-old actor was born in Scotland is also a film director. He has had many roles throughout his career and is best known (perhaps) for his roles as Malcolm Tucker in the BBC comedy series The Thick of It and its follow-up film In the Loop. It would appear that yet another comedian (or at least actor adept at portraying comedy) is to fill the shoes of the Doctor. However, each Doctor is known for different things and it will be interesting to see how this incarnation of the Doctor acts and reacts to the things around him. At high school he was also the lead singer of the punk-rock band called Dreamboys. Just a bit of a fun fact to lighten the paragraph. For more information on Peter Capaldi you can click this link which will take you to the Wikipedia page because if you can not trust Wikipedia, who can you trust? Just so you know, I am joking here. I know that Wikipedia is not one-hundred-percent reliable. I can not wait to see how this Doctor works and look forward to his appearance.

The Doctor is watching you, see you tomorrow!

Hospitals

Hospitals, there is something about them. Many other buildings you feel no emotion towards but as soon as you come to a hospital you are bombarded with memories and emotions that can often leave you feeling as though you should be a patient. Just the thought of hospitals can scare some people and some even suffer from Nosocomephobia which is the fear of hospitals (see, I do my research). I don't know what it is but Hospitals just seem ... well, sick.

Images: http://www.shreejihospital.com/

I had to visit someone in hospital today and as soon as I went inside I felt sick, or dirty. I felt as though I had carried in every single germ known to man kind. Why did I feel this? Perhaps it was the perfectly clean floors and walls. Maybe it was the hand wash dispenser on the wall every two metres. It may have been the nurses walking around in scrubs or the blanched look of the walls. I hate to say it but it really was depressing. There seemed to be no happiness in the place and all the places that were aimed towards happiness just seemed like a fake facade hiding so much more underneath its surface. Hospitals are sullen places and it is just something about them that makes me feel depressed or dirty.

Image Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jan/20/hospitals-face-fines-mixed-sex-wards

Whenever I walk into a hospital I always get a sick feeling in my stomach as though something bad is going to happen to me. Maybe it's all the sick people, even though there are some very healthy patients in there as well. Maybe its the stigma around hospitals and how so many people go there and never come home. Then there's all the visitors, half of which look the way I feel. They just are not happy and so a hospital is certainly not somewhere to go for someone recovering from depression. Even the hospital beds when they are empty seem too perfect with their hospital corners all tucked in straight. It really is very unnerving. So you see I am not a big fan of hospitals and try to stay away from them as much as I can.

Image Source: 

http://bizmology.hoovers.com/2010/12/02/as-metlife-exits-long-term-care-boomers-get-nervous-about-old-age/hospital-bed-2/

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow.