No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on June 30, 2017

We are at the point in the repairs to the bathroom that we can see the finish line but can’t cross it until a few things are in place and some materials arrive to complete the job. And that is a bit frustrating.

Once the workmen are done, I have things that need to be done before diving into getting ready for our trip(s) over most of July. Packing is going to be interesting as I have to have us ready for more than one scenario.

But there are other things I want/need to get done as well and they have been on hold for over a month as this went from a week and done to almost a month and done. However there is a good reason for that because the previous contractor cut corners which caused damage to the house that needs to be repaired before they could put the bathroom back in.

So we are waiting to see if this is all happening today or Monday. Personally I am hoping for today.

I have the first pass on my 12th Doctor costume done and will be wearing it at Shoreleave and the Raleigh SuperCon. Then revisions before I wear it elsewhere.

For those of you watching Dr. Who on BBC America, know that it starts at 8:30 rather than 9:00 since the episode is longer than the usual slot. I am sad that this is Capaldi’s swan song for the character. I think he is the best so far and I will miss him. Also I am really hoping that Pearl Mackie does another season as Bill since she is doing such a terrific job but I am not holding my breath either.

Mets are starting to win again. Wonder if that will keep up after the All Star Break.

Today is a sort out day as in I need to sort out what can and cannot be done within the next week. I also need to back up my computer which is going to take a while since I haven’t done so for a bit.

I also need to back up all the phones and iPads in my possession so I can see that this is going to go back up phones, iPads, then computer.

I am grateful for information that will inform my day.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 27, 2017

Mr. McEnroe was asked if Serena Williams was one of the greatest of all time. He responded that she was one of the greatest female players but if she had to play the men’s circuit then it would be a different story. He said that maybe at some point a female tennis player could be better than anybody.

He went onto to say, “I just haven’t seen it (a woman going up against the men) in any other sport, and I haven’t seen it in tennis. I suppose anything’s possible at some stage.”

It already has Mr. McEnroe.

The sport was bowling and the woman is Kelly Kulick who has a PBA title and a major title at that. She won the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions defeating two of the top male players in the sport on TV after having gone through the field of players who had all won titles that year and won a two year exemption on the PBA tour.

So that’s a woman at the top of her game against a group of men who are at the top of their game and winning.

The sad thing is that this sort of assumption is made all the time.

Women can’t write comic books as the same level as the guys and then go and sweep the Eisner for writing.

Wonder Woman is another example. Girl Superhero films don’t sell is the attitude in Hollywood, but a woman directed the current Wonder Woman and it is doing very well in the box office in both the domestic and foreign markets. It is a film that everyone can enjoy.

Years ago a friend of mine, who is still a friend even though occasionally they will say something asinine, said that men can play women but women can’t play men. He was well known for his cross-dressing of female superheroes in the South-east and he could pull it off to the point that he had to inform people of his gender when they were next to him and hitting on him.

Challenge accepted, said I and I recruited my buddies Jeff and Angelo for the scheme.

That year there was a new television show on the air called “Beauty and the Beast” with Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman. We decided that I would be Vincent at a convention that George R R Martin was attending since he was working on the show.

In those days you didn’t have the Internet to find out what the costume really looked like. You had a couple of out of focus photos in magazines and the video tapes you made of the TV show. From that you had to extrapolate what the costume was.

Which we did and we put it together and I wore it and no one knew it was me as I entered the contest as Calvin Hobbs. Jeff and Angelo made sure that I looked the part as a male between the make-up and the costume. And we succeeded. I got hit on so many times by both genders who assumed that I was male.

The icing on the cake was the next day where we were part of a panel about the winning costumes. I had a box under my arm that contained my life mask and the Vincent face. Sheila had played Catherine at the last minute so she was standing next to me while we watched the Mighty Rassilon Art Players do a series of Doctor Who and fannish related sketches including a couple I had directed.

“That was fun last night,” said Sheila as they were setting up for the next sketch, “And no one knew that you were Vincent.”

The gentleman standing next to us looked at me and said, “What?”

“I was the Vincent in the costume contest,” I said.

He looked at me and I opened the box showing him the face and then the life cast.

“You? But he…He…it was…I could swear….”

I smiled and introduced myself to Richard Pini. Point, set, and match to us.

I am grateful for all the women who prove that they can do whatever they put their minds to.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 26, 2017

OK here’s the deal. I am going to allow for speculation about “the Doctor Falls” but no spoilers please. We can talk about any and all Doctor Who episodes up to this one but not beyond. I am putting my spoilers and speculation behind a cut. But I am warning those who have not seen the episode and want to keep spoiler free, stay out of the comments and above the cut.

Oh Moffat, what have you done? I know you are leaving the show. But did you have to do it by stomping hard on all our hearts?

This season has been one of the best in New Who. It has been sharp and witty. Pearl Mackie as Bill is rapidly becoming one of my favorite companions. Capaldi has become my favorite Doctor. The missteps, for me, have been few and even those contained gems.

I really feel that Capaldi has finally come into his own as the Doctor and it is at his exit, which stinks.

I think some people forget that even in Classic Who, there are times that the Doctor’s hubris gets people hurt especially when he thinks he is in total control and then he has to figure a way out of the mess that he practically manufactured.

This time his trying to do ‘good’ leads to a lot of bad and I am hoping by the end of the next episode, the bad has been sorted out because if not, it is going to be a bad note to a splendid season.

The acting was solid all the way around. Michelle Gomez is my vote for the next Doctor because she would be splendid in the role.

I am sad that this is the penultimate episode to this season.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 20, 2017

The story of the Roman Ninth legion is much more popular in the UK than the US. I knew about it but I studied that part of history when I was in college with some really good teachers. The basics are that the 9th is the lost legion. No one is really sure what happened but they are pretty sure whatever it was, it happened in Scotland. There has been some other evidence that says that they went from Scotland to the Netherlands but that is sketchy and has nothing to do with the episode.

The Doctor brings Bill to where the ninth vanished because she claims that she knows more than he does about the ninth and they are testing their theories by coming to the time and place were it happened.

This episode was written by Rona Muro who wrote the last episode of classic Who (Survival) and she has gotten better over time. Not a perfect episode but really solid with some clever call backs to the classic series.

I enjoyed it and again it felt like a drop any Doctor in here slot. Nothing that really makes it a Twelve episode until you get to the end.

Solid acting and the monster was pretty much a monster wanting nothing more than most monsters want.

Bill continues to impress me both as a companion and Pearl Mackie’s performance is splendid. Nardol was more commentary than companion until the end but I think you can give Matt Lucas just about anything and he will find a way to make it work.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 19, 2017

This is Mark Gatiss’ latest foray into the Doctor Who universe and he got to play with the characters he wanted with the Ice Warriors.

I enjoyed this one. It was one and done with a little tag at the end which has fandom holding its collective breath.

So Bill gets to have an adventure with the Doctor reminiscent to me of those that Jo had with Three and Sarah Jane with Four. There is an absurd historical element, an alien species element, and a Doctor saves the Day element.

A bit by the numbers but fun all the same.

That the Empress wanted Bill’s opinion on the situation since she was the only female in the room, was both funny and made sense considering what is being set up for the Ice Warriors.

Over all it was a good solid Doctor Who episode that you could have put just about any Doctor into and it would have worked.

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