No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on October 9, 2018

Since this is the first episode of a new season of Doctor Who, I thought I would explain my rules for the New Who Review. Anything I think is a spoiler goes behind the cut in this entry. I do allow spoilers in the comments however we are only discussing through the currently aired show so no timey whimey future show spoilers in the comments. I want people to be able to approach the episode on their terms. This means a this point the discussion can cover from “An Unearthly Child” to “The Woman who fell to Earth” and Big Finish along with the canonical books are allowed in the discussion.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much Caroline was looking forward to this episode. At the conclusion she turned to me and said, “That’s MY Doctor.” It isn’t that she hasn’t enjoyed watching Dr. Who both the episodes I grew up with and the episodes she grew up with because she was a Dr. Who fan who wore her fandom proudly to school and in public. But this episode gave her the Doctor that speaks to her on a level that no other incarnation has.

For me it was a lot of fun. Not a perfect episode but one that I will watch again with glee.

Regeneration episodes can really be a mixed bag of the good, the bad, and the ugly. This one wasn’t bad or ugly to me. I think it was one that you could drop just about any of the other doctor’s into it at the same point, post regeneration, it would have worked as an episode. However this one was probably more of a reboot than any other has been due to the circumstances set up in the previous episode. More on that behind the cut.

I thought the cast did very well and I look forward to see how the companions are going to fit into the Doctor’s life. It is a solid ensemble of actors who I can already tell work very well together.

Chris Chibnall has strong ideas of what he wants to do with the show and is hitting the ground running with this episode.

I think one of the things that I liked the most was that I can tell people who are interested in Doctor Who but daunted by the number of years that they can just start with this episode and see if it is their cuppa. It’s a good ‘start here’ episode with all the explanations you need to understand what the series is about with in.

In short happy with the episode and would recommend it to people who want to see what Doctor Who is about.

(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 8, 2018

That was a whirlwind.

It comes down to I am glad I went. I saw friends and had fun. However this morning I feel like I was hit by a truck and then run over a few times. Really hoping this is just because I am still tired rather than con crud which I may or may not have avoided this year.

I would like to thank Mike Nagin and Reed Pop for a well run artist alley. They moved us to Hall 1-B which was the Que line last year for the show. It had much more room than 1-E and we didn’t have the problems with the heat that we had last year. Also the design behind the tables was as good as the design of the aisles. They had room between the tables so you didn’t have to fight your way to your spot in the middle of row of tables. There was also enough room behind the tables for people’s banners, boxes, bags, and other things. We had leg room and it was lovely.

I would like to thank Michael D’Alessio and the gang at Six Foot Promo for all their help this weekend. The Marvel booth is a well oiled machine that works very hard to try to give as many fans as possible a good experience that they will never forget. They also look after the talent that comes through that booth very well making sure that everyone has what they need.

The convention has been moving a few things out from the Javitt’s center like the larger events at the Hammersmith Ballroom. There were more things that had moved just off site. It is the beginning of the same morphing I have seen at SDCC where there is a lot of things to do without even stepping into the convention center. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing but it is something.

It was nice to see so many friends I have made over the years. We caught up on things and talked about things. I also made some new friends along the way. I think if I told my teenager comic reading self the people I could call friend now, my head would have exploded with disbelief.

The biggest problem the entire weekend had to do with the number of people in the building and the number of bathrooms. I guess it shows how many women now attend this event that you had to plan to go to the bathroom at least 15 minutes before you really needed to go to the bathroom. Early in the morning was not too bad but after 11:00 am, you really had to plan. Shortest time was 16 min and the longest was 40 min. There were no really ‘hidden’ bathrooms this year. The clever tricks that had worked other years either were not available due to construction and security issues or they have been found by everyone.

I didn’t see any panels but I did get to see a number of the exhibits that various TV shows had set up. The giant fork for the Good Place was fun and you got a pin you can put as either Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down.

We went to Hëll for Good Omens which was fun. Caroline got to ‘drive’ the car and I put myself on the hood for a exciting photo op. We also got a blank book and a pin. The pin, I found out, was one of the coveted ones from the convention.

We went on the Heathers TV series school bus. That experience was made by the actresses on the bus who had catty down to a fine art. “Don’t talk to Monica she shops at Target” was whispered to me. “Oh you can tell,” I said. She cocked an eyebrow at me in a challenge. I whispered to her “Polyester.” She had a hard time not cracking up at that but managed it and gave me a knowing nod. We got buttons and stickers for that.

American Gods had the dinner and the actual jukebox set up for photo ops. Got a cool t-shirt from them.

We scored a ticket to the Gifted signing and got to talk to the cast and creator. I liked that the actors engaged with the fans. I have been through those where it is just signatures and a few words and they never look up. This group made eye contact and talked to each person who was getting the autograph but they also keep the line going.

Other things that we might have wanted to look at were out of reach due to the very long lines.

Caroline sold art so she was happy. She did a number of commission pieces including a Harley Quinn cover that went over very well. It was her first blank cover but I don’t think it is going to be her last.

Peter signed autographs for fans, told stories, and listen to stories. It was a good weekend for him but a long one. Four-day conventions are a marathon and a half.

So this week is regroup and get ready for the next weekend where we are going to go see a number of interesting things.

I am grateful for my experiences at New York Comic Con 2018.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 4, 2018

Yesterday Peter and I went into the city and delivered his books, scripts, and other things for NYCC to his table in Artist Alley in the Javitt’s Center. Struck out on getting my badge but now know when I can get it. We turned around and drove home having achieved our goals for that day.

This morning I got Peter to the train and he is on his way into the city to spend the next four days talking to fans and signing autographs along with the other adventures that tend to crop up at any convention we go to.

Caroline and I will be joining him on Saturday and Sunday as she has school and three AP classes that she is taking this year so each day of instruction is important.

Next weekend is loaded with a number of activities from seeing the taping of the TV show to MST3K to Caroline taking the PSAT this year to an important Doctor’s appointment on Monday that I have been waiting three months to get.

I think we are clear the weekend after that but not sure.

We have a few more conventions before the end of the year including LI Geek which should be fun.

Then we are racing to the end of the year. Hard to believe that we are in the latter half of 2018.

I find it amusing that Doctor Who has now hit such a global awareness that Jodie Whittaker is doing the main talk show circuit to promote the show. I thought she did a good job of the question everyone is asking her about being the first actress cast as the Doctor.

The cats are taking turns with the laundry basket. Fig just hopped out and Inky hopped in. Earlier I came down and Mewlan was there. At least they are distributing their fur evenly. Now Mewlan and Fig are completing the cat triangle with Inky. Not stepping in the middle of that.

Today I have a list of errands that I need to do. There are a couple of things I need to do for tomorrow as well.

Need to find a couple of things for the weekend. But first I have a cat that is insisting that she never gets pets who needs to be petted.

Then make a list.

Also need to post two days worth of art for Drawlloween 2018.

And…and…and…

I can never say that my life is boring. Some time it feels a little too exciting.

I am grateful for things that makes it easy to get in and out of a convention.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 2, 2018

October is Inktober and Drawlloween. I am participating in Drawlloween, which is a series of art prompts that I am playing around with. I may try to push the envelope a bit with some of my ideas and materials. I have an idea for today that I really want to try.

Flow is a concept that I have been interested in since I read “Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi when it was originally published back in 1990. I did not agree with all that was being said but it gave me a vocabulary to describe how I felt like when I was ‘in the zone’ and just working without any outside interference.

When my brain gets going, I can work through ideas and figure out a plan A through Z. Then I discard that which doesn’t work and sort through what is left to see how things will work. Not that I will not find problems once I am out of my head and bringing things into this world rather than my brain.

It is the same with writing. Once I can get the flow going, I am good until I hit a point in the story that I need to think on to figure out how we get to the next point in my outline. Occasionally I find my characters adding to the story and I have to yank it back.

Creative flow is a wonderful thing. It is like my brain is singing in tune.

The hardest is when there is no flow. It feels like there is a blockage or dam that is keeping things from moving forward. Trying to get back to the point where it was flowing can be very difficult. I have found myself stuck there more than once.

I tend to go do something else to get my brain off of the problem and see if something shakes free.

But when I am focus and there is a flow, I find my ability to create comforting and exciting. Knowing that my brain works well and I can do this fills me with joy. I feel calm in those moments and the world slows down and speeds up at the same time.

After I post this I plan to get drawing on the next prompt then get the rest of my day in order.

I am grateful for when the flow comes easily.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 1, 2018

Or partially motivated.

Or NYCC is this weekend and we got stuff to do. Peter is E11 in Artist Alley. Caroline will be with him. I am still a bit of a wildcard due to some badge issues. If I have a badge I will be there. If not then I will be home. It is also depended on my health that has also been a bit of a wildcard this week.

Tomorrow is about packing for the convention and getting ready for load in on Wednesday.

We are looking forward to Doctor Who on Sunday. Caroline is over the moon with this Doctor and really wants to see what they do with her.

There is a lot of new TV out there. Rolling the dice on some of the shows that they will last longer than 6 weeks. Really liked “God Friended Me” and look forward to see where it is going.

Coffee was long ago. No caffeine after noon for me if I want to sleep at all.

So more coffee tomorrow and maybe the motivation to get done what I need to get done.

I am grateful that I got at least this written today.

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