No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on September 20, 2011

I find that after I finish a show, it takes me a little while to reset for the next thing. It is like my brain shuts down the creative side for a bit for a breather.

This week for me is about clean-up from DragonCon and inventory of materials for the next set of projects. The cleaning seems to help my brain reset as well.

Yes, I know I have a funny brain. Been living with it my whole life.

I also have some decisions to make about various things including what to do with the stock I created for DragonCon. Some of it will be on display at New York Comic Con at Peter’s table. Some of it is going to, for the first time, be put up somewhere on the web to sell. I am thinking Etsy but maybe E-bay or I will give a go at both.

I also have some critters that didn’t get finished for DragonCon that I am putting ahead for next DragonCon I think. I am now looking at D’Con as a year to get ready rather than just the summer. Also there are a couple of conventions in between.

Repair is on my mind as well. I need to fix the problems I discovered with the First Class Suit and poor Lockheed took a serious beating at the Ren Fair and needs some First Aid stat. Also a few finishing things on various objects that didn’t get done in time. I also need a good pair of black hiking boots that fit my feet rather than sort of fit my feet before Halloween.

Then there is Halloween itself. I am tempted to make the Scary Godmother display I have been talking about for ages. Jill knows I am going to do it and has given me permission to recreate the characters as puppets. I might start with Bug-a-Boo and go from there. Either way, Halloween is around the corner.

I am keeping swaps and trades to a minimum. I have one I need to do for my group that we always do at Christmas. I have my thoughts on what I want to do but am waiting to see who I have as a swap partner.

So that is what is on my mind right now in the crafty area.

I throw the floor to questions and suggestions on how to sell art work on the web.

I am grateful for materials I forgot I had but they are still good.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 19, 2011

Dear Mr. Moffat,

Done in one bottle shows are fine but three in a row? You can’t tell me that you have run out of ideas halfway through your second season of Doctor Who. Yes, Sherlock is great fun but could we please get back to Dr. Who?

Sincerely,
A Fan

So we are three episodes away from the end of the season and I am not getting my usual “I MUST see the next episode”. I am sort of interested in the next episode but it seems to be a fourth bottle show that was probably shot while they were shooting “The Girl who Waits”.

I do know the name of the last episode for this season but I ask that it not be discussed until after it airs.

Overall the episode seemed to have one purpose which I will discuss in spoilers since it is pretty much a spoiler. Acting was good. The Camera work just drove my crazy. They had an idea for racking up the tension with those quick cuts which only makes me slightly motion sick. My eyeballs don’t do well with that. I had at points to listen rather than watch.

Not my favorite this season but not totally a lost cause.

I am grateful for steady cam.
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Posted By Kathleen David on September 18, 2011

We try to make it out to Tudexo NY once a year to attended the NY Ren Faire which will be celebrating its 35th anniversary next year which is a long time for a Ren Faire.

Yesterday the weather was perfect and we knew that we had friends attending as well that we might see or not see depending on the flow of the faire. So we set off early and got there in time to get decent parking.

Caroline was wearing her ren faire outfit that she inherited from Ariel. This year it was the perfect length for her. Which means, if things continue to go the direction they are, it will be a little short but wearable next year. Peter tossed on his Tim the Enchanter outfit. I pulled out Snape and Lockheed to play with. It wasn’t too hot to wear Snape which was amazing. So we went and played in the Faire.

I was impressed that people recognized the costume. Someone asked me why Snape was at a Ren Faire. I answered with a Snape-like growl “Looking for Truants.” Which got a laugh from a number of folks.

Peter got a lot of calls of “Tim” from people. He amused many.

Caroline had a blast and a half. She joined Robin’s band. She romped with Fairies in the Enchanted Forest and gained a new fairy friend. She became a chess piece in a game of Fairy Chess. She learned about basic sword combat and then defeated her opponent. She takes her swordplay very seriously.

We saw the Ded Bob show. Always hilarious. Ded Bob made his first appearance as a prop in 1986 in the Atlanta Shakespeare Company’s production of Shakespeare’s Shorts and the rest is history. I think I still have my Ded Bob t-shirt somewhere but it was getting pretty raggedy.

We went to the chess match and found it interesting that they are using body mics for some of the players. Made it easier to hear them and they are probably not blowing their voices out during the season but it also lost something I think.

We did get sometime to talk to the Greenbergers who were there. It is always nice spending time with them.

It was a nice visit with lovely weather. Not too sunny but no rain.

I found out from some of the Faire folk that this has not been the best year for the faire since it was raining most weekends and large sections of the grounds are so saturated from the snows and rain that they have become big muddy bogs making it hard for patrons to get round to places. This weekend was one of the best they had seen all season.

I am grateful that we did have such lovely weather for our expedition to the Faire.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 15, 2011

This one is going to be for both “Night Terrors” and “The Girl Who Waited” since they are of a kind. And it looks like the next one falls into what are called bottle shows where you don’t use much sets which saves money over. And for “The Girl Who Waited” you can second direct a bunch of that episode while shooting “Night Terrors” at the same time thus again saving money.

Rules apply. Nothing past this episode. No spoilers please for future episode but there will be spoilers for everything up to this point behind the cut and in the credits.

The scripts for both were interesting ideas but much a like in many ways. For one thing they could be dropped in at any point and rejiggered with the overall story arc where needed. Sort of a holding pattern for the show which is fine.

I thought both were good episodes for different reasons. Acting was solid. I have to say that the casting director has been right on the entire season.

I am grateful for things that make my family feel better.

More thoughts after the cut.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 14, 2011

For new readers: New Who Review or NWR is where I talk about the current episodes of Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Smith, K-9 and any other Whovian related show. I try not to put any spoilers above the cut but once below the cut and in the comments, then all up to and including the episode I am talking about are fair game. I ask the future episodes (even if they have aired) not be discussed until I review them. Also No Future Spoilers Please. I am trying to come at this from just what I have seen.

This was a series of hits and misses for me. When it worked it really worked but more due to the actors than the script. The script felt like a lot had been shoved into it to start the second half off with a bang. Maybe a little too much bang over all. But even with all the shock revelations and big bangs, it felt a little slow over all.

There comes a point that if you have an arc you are going to resolve, you need to start resolving it so that the end doesn’t feel like a mess. I have a feeling that once this season is done, we are going to do our usual marathon to see if it all fits together but right now SOMETHING needs to start fitting together or we are back at the Torchwood problem again.

I am grateful that Doctor Who started up again
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