Doctor Who S1E01 "Rose" Semi-Live Blog

Since I have to wait a year for more Doctor Who (minus the Christmas episode), and since I want to learn to appreciate Moffat's takeover, I'm rewatching all six seasons of Doctor Who, and blogging my thoughts as I do so!  For my enjoyment, if not for yours.

Yay old theme song!  I want you for my phone!
Wow, no wonder I didn't get into this episode the first time.  The music is all kinds of awful.
I really love the fast forward through Rose's day.  It establishes her normal/boring life, gives us the first glimpse of the episode's baddies, and makes us relate to and sympathize with Rose--all in like, two minutes.

And in those two minutes, we can already tell that Mickey likes Rose far more than she likes him back...he's always trying to touch her, and she's always pushing him away.

Don't go into deserted basement warehouses by yourself, Rose!  C'mon!
RTD is kind of like Whedon here, subverting the classic "blond in distress" trope.  Yes, Rose gets saved by the Doctor, but she is anything but a victim.  By the end of series two, she is an absolute BAMF.  Actually, that should be the Doctor's callsign:  Turning victims into BAMFs since 2004!
Speaking of...there's the Doctor!  Hello Christopher Eccleston!  I missed you.
And there's the hand hold and the "run!", which basically defines the Doctor/Companion relationship.

The Doctor is a little dumb here.  Shouldn't rule #54 be "don't keep any part of an Auton, no matter how seemingly innocent it is?"  You should be smarter than this, Doctor!
Hehehe, Nine is so sassy.  I MISS YOU.
Is it common for the Doctor to blow up buildings?  I wouldn't think so....
Booo CGI.  This is also why it took me so long to get into the show.  Crappiest display of a building blowing up that wasn't created by a bunch of 10-year-olds.

Don't keep the arm, Rose!  Why would you want to anyway?  Aren't you weirded out by the arm on your comfy chair, Jackie?
BTW, hello Jackie!  I didn't like you much the first time around, but I grew to love you!
And hello Mickey.  I didn't like you much the first time around, and that never changed.

Day 2!
Hello Doctor!  You never do anything normal, do you?

HAHAHA Jackie.  Your inappropriate flirtations never cease to amuse.  Stop hitting on the future love of your daughter's life, Jackie Tyler.

"I'm in my dressing gown.  There's a strange man in my bedroom..."
"Yes, there is."
"Anything could happen."
"No."

So this is the first time Nine has looked at himself?  Only later Clive shows a bunch of pictures of Nine throughout history.  Did he just never come across a mirror?  Oh well, I don't care, because this is the beginning of the ear jokes!
Geez, they are already rolling around on each other, and hahaha Rose hitting him on the arm.  They already have great chemistry.
More sassy Doctor!

"Is that supposed to sound tough?"
"Sort of."
"Doesn't work."

And they walk in tandem!  I will find subtext in every scene!
Regardless of my rampant shipping, I think it's fairly obvious that while they are not yet in love, they are definitely intrigued by each other.
Oh, Doctor.  You can't give an epic speech about clinging to the earth and falling through space, then say, "Now forget me."
YOU DON'T WANT TO BE FORGOTTEN.  I see your manipulation.

And hellooooo TARDIS!
Rose theme music!  Love it.  Especially in the midst of the rest of the soundtrack mess.

Mickey, if you are worried about Rose being murdered, go in the house with her!  Sitting in the car won't help until it's too late.  Ugh, you're so useless.
And your tough face is obnoxious.
"His one constant companion is...death."  Or Sexy, the TARDIS.  But that's for a later season.
Mickey and the waste bin.  If only he had ended there.

Rose is obviously not into Mickey if she can't tell there's something very wrong with him physically and verbally.  She's so caught up in her life, and the mystery of the Doctor, that she doesn't notice that her boyfriend who she supposedly loves is made of plastic.  Good sign that relationship is not going to last.
Hahaha, Doctor.  You can't be discreet by pulling a guy's head off in a crowded restaurant, even if he is made of plastic.
Lookit you being so sly, inviting Rose into the TARDIS, for "saftey".

"The inside's bigger than the outside."  Like Eleven, I really like when people say that.

"You're alien."
"Yeah.  That alright?"
"Yeah."
I LOVE THEM.
Oh Doctor, not remembering that her boyfriend is maybe dead.  And not even caring when you do remember.  Why do I love you for your callousness?
The grin!  "Fantastic"!
And more handholding.  Really guys, it's easier to run without holding hands.  Get a room!
I'd forgotten how much initiative Rose showed in the pilot, figuring out the wheel and the entrance to the Nestene Consciousness.  Makes sense why the Doctor asked her to join him.

"I'm not here to kill it.  I've got to give it a chance."

I adore the Doctor's aversion to violence unless absolutely necessary.
First mention of the Shadow Proclamation!
More Mickey, booo.
More bad CGI, booo.
Ooo, and the first glimpse of the Doctor's grief.  "It wasn't my fault!  I couldn't save your world; I couldn't save any of them!"
:(

Aww, goodbye Clive.

I really like how Rose, Jackie, and Mickey look like normal people.  Shopping in their sweats.  Cheap dye jobs.  Reacting to chaos with panic.

Mickey:  "Just leave him!  There's nothing you can do!"
Rose:  saves the world

Yeah, girl.  Don't listen to Mickey Babypants.
lol at the random gymnastics and swinging.
Apparently anti-plastic makes the autons break dance and do the Robot.
C'mon Rose, don't be rude, hanging up on your mother's trauma.
Oh, Doctor, trying not to show how lonely you are, or how desperately you want Rose to join you.
The Doctor and I agree on Mickey, at least.

"You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go...anywhere."
 "Is it always this dangerous?"
 "Yeah."

And that quote is why I love this show.  I see you pushing my wanderlust button!
OMG Mickey hanging on her waist like a child.  At least TRY to be awesome, okay?  You're making it so easy to dislike you.
Rose only agrees to go with the Doctor after he tells her it's a time machine too.  That way she's not abandoning Jackie or Mickey.  She can go off and have adventures, then return as if only five minutes had passed.  Best of all worlds!
Of course, later she won't care about that at all.  L'amore.

Worth noting the Doctor wanted Rose so bad, he 1) asked her to join him, and 2)  Came back to reconvince her to join him.  Must keep track of those things for future companions, because I'm pretty sure Rose is special.
HER FACE as she runs! 

Things I Love: Dd

Doctor Who

From Craig Ferguson's song he made up describing why Doctor Who is awesome.

Doctor Who is not the most consistently awesome show.  Some of the episodes are truly horrible, or worse, boring.  But when it's good, it is fantastic.  It makes me laugh, it makes me cry.  Sometimes in the space of ten minutes (I'm looking at you, season 4 finale)!

One of the best things about the show is the fandom.  It's so easy to get caught up in the Doctor Who universe.  There's a corner of fandom for the humor in Doctor Who, and another for those interested in the drama, or the ships, or the philosophy, or the history, or the science fiction.  And merchandise!  You can basically buy anything in the shape of a TARDIS on etsy.  There are daleks and sonic screwdrivers and bow ties to be had.  It is shockingly easy to let your life become consumed by the Doctor.  Says the girl who knows from experience.

Also included in my love of things starting with D and related to Doctor Who is...David Tennant.

Dancing

When I was little, I would find some old CDs of my mom's (especially the Beach Boys or The King and I), then dance around the living room like a boss.  Then I got a bit older, and super self-conscious, and I stopped dancing.  I never went to any high school dances.  I never busted a move at parties or even for like, five seconds as a joke.



Luckily, college changed all that!  I used to dance around Craig 3, and while my roommates made fun of me, I knew it was mostly out of love.  Stephanie and I had the odd dance party or two.  And then I moved to Senegal and lived with Liz, who is probably the danciest person in existance.  We made dance videos, and by watching her, I slowly learned to stop spazzing and start moving with deliberation.  Sometimes.  My default is still to spazz.



I now live for weddings and the hours of dancing they sometimes offer.  I love the freedom of dancing, and I love watching other people dance.  It is, I think, the very definition of fun.  When done right, which means not caring what other people think.

Darren Criss



I first  fell in love with Darren Criss when he said Cho Chang was "supermegafoxyawesome hot" in A Very Potter Musical.  Then I found out that not only had he starred as Harry Potter, he had also written the music and helped write the play!  WHAT.  A couple years later his theatrical company (aka his friends from college) came out with A Very Potter Sequel, and I fell in love with him again. 

He has exactly my sense of off-kilter humor.  I admit to stalking his interviews on youtube, and he is a genuinely adorable person.  He's funny, confident, crazy smart (I love a man who naturally includes big words in ordinary conversations), and incredibly nice.  I, um, have a huge crush on him.

Now he's on Glee, which is unfortunate because I am so over Glee, but I can't stop watching now that he's a main character!  Ugh.  But it's worth it, because his voice and his face (and his sense of style, see below) are my favorite.



Drawing

I go through stages of artisticness. And one of my favorite stages to return to is drawing!  I love shading and the lines of clothing.  I love drawing hair.  I love finding that line between realistic and cartoonish.  Okay, I don't really find that.  I look for artists who do and then copy them.  But it's not like I want to sell my drawings.  I just love seeing a blank page turn into something beautiful.

Donald Miller

My preoccupation with relational and spiritual honesty is directly correlated to my discovery of Donald Miller's books.  He taught me that knowing Jesus is a winding path of highs, lows, revelations, and apathy, not some list of "do this and this will happen."  He encouraged me to live a life of adventure and meaning rather than succombing to ordinariness. 

And I totally met him when he came to Union.  He was charming even when I questioned his facial hair, and I am happy to have an autographed copy of Blue Like Jazz.  Unless he or I go crazy, I can guarantee I will buy all of his books (I even bought the one he wrote for boys without fathers).

Bartering is My OTP

Librarian conferences are like Istanbul! Not so, you say? How would you know. I've just spent two days at one, so my opinion is law.

So after a bunch of seminars and yummy food, ILA put together a vendor extravaganza. And it was just like shopping in the Grand Bazaar! I basically went from stall to stall, saying, "Is this free? Can I have that if I listen to you? Sure, I'll take your business card. Now give me my swag!"

My favorite book distribution guy was also there. I saw he was reading Beauty Queens, and we bonded over how awesome it is. He demonstrated how it made him laugh out loud obnoxiously during a seminar by laughing out loud obnoxiously at the vendors. I want this man to be my father-in-law. People who willingly embarrass themselves in public, but aren't actually embarrassed by it = best.

Also we went to IKEA last night and I want everything there. Incuding the Swedish meatballs. Mmm.

Weddings and Reunions

Ashley at a wedding is the funniest thing in the world.  She hates getting fancy, she hates being the center of attention, and she's not big on overt displays of emotion or romance.  So....basically everything that a wedding is, she is not. 

Favorite moments:  1)  After being complimented on her rehersal dress, she sighed and said, "I was going to wear pants, but social convention means I had to wear this.  Thanks."  2)  At her bachelorette party, before opening her sexy box, she said, "I'm not going to squeal.  I don't do that."  To which we all rolled our eyes, because duh.  She's Attitude Ashley.

Despite it not being her thing, Ashley's wedding to Stephen was really gorgeous!  I loved being in it, and getting to know her other bridesmaids.  The free food was delicious.  The groomsmen were mostly okay (Kyle was one, so we were reuinted, and another gave me his number, which...I've ignored).  And best of all, we had a Craig 3 reunion (minus Jo)!

It's been awhile since Whitney, Ashley, and I have all hung out together, but it was wonderful.  We looked through my Craig 3 scrapbook, cuddled on the couch.  Whitney sniffed me and asked what deoderant I use.  So, you know.  Normal times.  I loved every second.

Depression Defined

Yay! I've always felt weird discussing my bouts of depression. They aren't deep enough or serious enough to be clinical, but they happen. And when they do, I...kind of enjoy it? It's a thing I haven't been able to describe, until I read this paragraph in "Lola and the Boy Next Door."

"...that's the thing about depression. When I feel it deeply, I don't want to let it go. It becomes a comfort. I want to cloak myself under it's heavy weight and breathe it into my lungs. I want to nurture it, grow it, cultivate it. It's mine."

Thank you, Stephanie Perkins!

The Writer's Tale by RTD

I am now in love with Russel T. Davies.  Well, no.  He's far too gay for me to think of us having a future together.  And apparently he smokes 80 cigarettes an evening while writing scripts.  So not love.  But he is so fascinating!  He writes so elegantly and honestly about the despair and rapture that comes from creating.  I never want his job; I was getting stressed just reading about the things he had to do.  But boy, am I glad he does it.  Did it.  :(  I love his era of Doctor Who best, but his respect for Moffat shone through in his correspondence, so I'm determined to rewatch seasons 5 and 6 with a more open mind.

How did I just read a 500 page book of emails and scripts in three days??

Like Parents, Not Like Children

A few days ago, in the midst of a conversation with Roy, he said, "I like unique things simply because they're unique." My mind exploded a little bit, and I thought, "But that's my line!"

I've always idolized Roy, and hearing that we are so intrinsically the same was very weird. Partly it is awesome, because I am like my idol! Partly it is disappointing, because my idol is like me.

Then my psychology brain took over, and I've been wondering why we would both be so caught up in the pursuit of the odd. Tonight I found my answer.

Our parents are normal. They are content with the standard. I'm not talking politics or worldviews or anything. It's just when a decision has to be made, their response is likely to be, "What is everyone else doing?"

And that makes me want to vomit, unless the followup is, "so we can do the exact opposite." I'm a hipster at heart, and I love it, though I am fully aware of the hypocrisy in conforming with a group's desire to be non-conforming.

So apparently in embracing the status quo, my parents have caused their children to desperately attempt to be outliers. At least I know why I am this way, and that I have someone with me.