freakishlemon

Time for another blog spotlight for the Threadbanger Guild. This time, it's for Makaalohilohi.

The first thing I noticed about Makaalohilohi's shop was that she has some very warm looking, and inexpensive, scoodies up for sale (scarves with hoods). They all seem to be made with similar solid looking fleece on the outside and a fun patterned fleece on the inside.

She's also got a very interesting array of collar scarves, knotted string bracelets, and other fun miscellany.

You can find her shop up at http://makaalohilohi.etsy.com



For more information on the Threadbanger Guild, click here.

The Fooligans, no doubt, are familiar with the fact that the BBC has started producing Torchwood radio plays. Last year they released one called Lost Souls around the time of the Large Hadron Collider upstart and I forced a couple of them to listen to it with me, despite the fact that none of them had watched Torchwood at the time.

My dad has always been a big influence on my likes and dislikes, especially my like of old things. Old cars, junky old rotary phones... the kind of stuff that my dad might have salvaged from his parents or grandparents garage as a young kid. This includes the old fashioned radio play.

I've listened to a few of them before, but I'd never reviewed them. Old books and old movies still have a chance of being watched. Old radio plays? Not likely. So it didn't even occur to me to review Lost Souls.

This past week BBC Radio 4 has released three more Torchwood radio plays. As these three are both excellent and likely to be listened to by my meager audience, I thought I'd give all four a review.


Lost Souls

During the preparations for the switch-on of the LHC, people on the crew start disappearing, including a friend of former Doctor's companion Martha Jones. Martha makes a call and Torchwood 3 comes to the rescue.

This radio play is not an example of a great radio play. It's fun if you're a fan of Torchwood, but the dialogue is a bit shaky and the introduction is horrible. The science involved is fanciful at best. Since my last listen, I've done a lot and exploring the Torchwood character development and this particular radio play really does a poor job of continuing the development.

But it's a silly bit of fun, if you're a Torchwood fan.


Asylum

Asylum is the first of the three radio plays presented this week.

Our dear friend PC Andy is called to arrest a young girl for shoplifting. He finds her with a strange gun and, in true PC Andy fashion, he makes a call to Torchwood for an investigation. The girl doesn't remember where she's from or why she's different, but when Jack finds something odd in her blood...

I have to say that the best thing about this play is PC Andy. One of the plot holes in the show is that the team is constantly giving little clues about Torchwood away to PC Andy, but they never retcon him. This play adresses that a little bit, which is great. Also, Andy gets to actually work with Torchwood to help this girl instead of getting brushed off. He's a real character in this play, especially when he gets all up in Jack's face about Torchwood's treatment of peaceful aliens.

There's a lot less Gwen and Jack big personality squabbles, but there's also a lot less Ianto. Trouble with Ianto is he's a very visual character. That doesn't translate to radio, unfortunately, but you do get some of his snappy one-liners.

Overall, there's some great voice work and it's a great Torchwood story.



Golden Age

Mysterious energy nets and disappearances across India? A branch of the British Empire that never really shut down? Torchwood Cardiff's on the scene.

This play is a great look into the British Imperialism that we caught a glimpse of in Torchwood One on Doctor Who. We know One was in London, Two in Scotland, and Three in Cardiff (suspecting Four in Ireland), but unknown to Ianto and Gwen, Torchwood used to have a headquarters in Delhi. In 1924, Agent Jack Harkness was sent to shut it down; the Empire was crumbling and Torchwood India no longer had jurisdiction.

And it's still there. Exactly the same as Jack left it. Exactly.

It's a play about change and why we shouldn't cling so tightly to the past. Good message, good acting, good story. What's not to love?


Dead Line

One man gets a phone call in the middle of the night and he falls into a trance, seemingly brain dead. Twenty more people answer a phone call and fall into the same trance. Doctors don't have a clue what it is, so Torchwood starts up an investigation. Jack answers a phone. With Ianto sitting steadfastly by his bedside, it's up to Gwen and Rhys to figure this puzzle out before the whole world answers their phones to the same result.

I always love it when Rhys gets involved in Torchwood cases. More often than not, he sees something that the others miss because they're so used to the madness of it all and he surprises everyone with his capacity to understand what's going on. Anything Torchwood with Rhys involved is a good time.

But my favourite thing about this play is Ianto's monologue. The doctors tell him to talk to Jack to see if it helps. Ianto rarely says more than a couple of sentences and never talks about himself, so this was a great look into his character. It addresses some of his fears about Jack leaving him, about his worry for their job, and how important their relationship is to him, which is something that the show is incredibly inconsistent about. The music for this segment is absolutely amazing.

If can only listen to one radio play, listen to this one. It's absolutely lovely.

I do not know what is up with my crazy cat, but I guess he's decided that he's sleeping in here tonight.


To be honest, I'm not sure what I should blog about today. I could blog some more about Jamie and how much of a fanboy for him I am, but I'm hoping to break that cycle of constantly talking about the same thing for weeks on end. Just a mention or two (like this) would be fine, but I need to stop the long gushy blog posts.

I could talk about some of the stuff that's coming up. Like Harry Potter or Connecticon or tearing the cabinets and floors out of my kitchen, but I'm going to end up talking about them after they've happened. That'd be a bit redundant.

I could talk about spending almost the entire day in the car running errands and driving Stovetop and a prospective girlfriend of his to the mall on the day when Waterbury decides to turn itself inside out, but long rants about traffic lights and navigating barely familiar streets is almost as bad as gushing about young Mr. Macrimmon

Although, while I'm thinking about it, I keep entertaining the idea of Jamie regaining his memory of the Doctor and then falling through the Rift and joining Torchwood post-season 2. Mostly because I think Jamie would be both bemused and amused by Jack's flirting and because Gwen would be a much better character if she spent her time gossiping about how adorable Jamie is than the character she is now.

Also, Jamie flouncing around in that short kilt around the Hub being chased by Myfanwy for a game of fetch? That could keep me amused for days. Especially if he only ever calls her "ye great beastie" like I think he would.

And Ianto would stand around looking all proud all the time because Jamie is always being pushed to the side by the bigger personalities because he doesn't always know what's going on, and he'd concede power over to Gwen and Jack anyway because they're the leader figures (and the woman), and Ianto would have to take him under his wing. Showing him how to feed the critters, teaching him how to use the computers, taking him grocery shopping and flat hunting so he can survive outside of the base...

OVER ACTIVE IMAGINATION.

That's what I've got.

And this has turned into a gushing about Jamie post. Once I finish these reconstructed episodes, I'll stop for realz. I'll have to adapt to new companions and use my brains for them.

OKAY.

Blog post done.

I meant to write an post yesterday. I really did. But then I made the icon I'm using and couldn't stop laughing for HOURS.


I have to say that when the iPod Touches, iPhones, and electronic book readers came out, I was a bit leery of the idea. Part of what makes a book so enjoyable (for me, anyway)is the tangibility of the thing-- the shape of the book in my hands, the scent of the pages, the general impression of bookishness that comes with books. I thought, 'How can I enjoy it without turning the pages? How can I sit down and scroll through pages and pages of prose?'

Never mind the fact that I've read novel-length fanfiction because it's a completely different entity. I don't have the same associations with fanfiction as I do with books. Curling up in an armchair with a good book is different to curling up in an armchair with a good fanfic.

As with most things in my life, here I embrace the two ends of the spectrum. It's not unlike me to become fixated on the anachronistic- pocket watches, cars from the 1920's, oil lamps... Books belong to that side of me. Even newly published novels get pushed into the part of me that loves pieces of history. Fanfiction is the the spectrum's other end; fanfiction belongs to the part of me that spends hours constructing a new website or playing video games. In my brain, fanfiction belongs on a screen, but books don't.

I own an iPod Touch. Have for a few months now. I dabbled in the App Store for a bit when I first got it, but otherwise left that aspect of the iPod alone. Recently, my favourite podcaster Scott Johnson started AppSlappy and that podcast has been bringing all the different functions of the iPod Touch to my attention.

Now, I won't buy any apps just yet, but I'm completely willing to download any free applications that I'm interested in. In my search for new stuff to try, I can across several free downloadable books. Nothing new -- Grimm's Faery Tales, Alice in Wonderland, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, etc. -- but stuff that I wouldn't necessarily remember to buy at any point. So I downloaded them.

In the past week, there have been times when I was working on a drawing time lapse video and I had nothing to do for ten to twenty minutes. I turned on the iPod, saw my little icon for the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on there, and thought 'What the hell? Why not?'

And it was fine. I had vague recollections of the particular adventure I was reading, so the familiarity might have helped, but I enjoyed what I read the same as I would have if I had read it in print. Possibly even more, as authors of that time tended to be quite verbose and the iPod screen can only hold a couple of sentences at a time. Also, this particular book app allows you to swipe the screen to turn virtual pages and bookmarks where you left off (with dark red bookmark with gold designs and tassel, in fact).

I doubt I'll be looking to make a switch from print to digital books full time any time soon. As long as I have the money and the space, I'll be buying print books.

But, I have to say, this digital book thing ain't so bad.

We all know I'm crazy. For the past half year, I've been going back and watching the earliest episodes of Doctor Who in all their rubber mask and black and white glory. While there are obvious differences between the mentality of the show and of the Doctor himself between the original series and Russel T. Davies' revival of the show, there are some things that never change.

Namely, the Doctor's need to have people travel with him. Anyone who's studied Who-lore knows that the Doctor first started traveling with his granddaughter and his first human companions come aboard because of Susan's influence. After the Doctor leaves Susan behind after she falls in love, he continues to bring people aboard because he no longer has any family. He has to make new families with the stragglers he finds on his adventures.

Everyone has their favourite Doctor's companion. Most of the people I know have favourites from the latest series-- Martha or Donna or Jack. It helps that a lot of people's favourite Doctors are either Number Nine or Number Ten.

But I think I've found my favourite Doctor's companion from all the way back in 1966.

Well, actually, from a bit further back from that. 1746.

James Robert Macrimmon was a young piper from the Clan McLaren in 18th Century Scotland. The Doctor, Polly, and Ben first encountered him in a series of episodes called The Highlanders and, by the end of the episodes, Polly convinces the Doctor to take young Jamie along with them to travel through time and space.

Although Jamie is the most disadvantaged of the three (having grown up without space ships, or any modern technology at all), he's got a big heart and is probably the most courageous of the companions. He often doesn't understand what's going on, but forces the smarter people around him to explain so that he can help, and he always finds a way to help, even when no one believes in him. When Ben and Polly decide to leave, he stays on because he recognizes that the Doctor needs someone to look after him.

Probably one of the most charming aspects of Jamie's character is that he comes from an age where chivalry is still prevalent. He is constantly looking after the women who travel with them (Polly, then the Victorian Victoria, and then the future-genius Zoe)and who they encounter on their travels, even though they are often more capable in the situation than himself.

Now, because of how many lost episodes of Doctor Who there are in the early days of the Second Doctor, I haven't really gotten to know Jamie when he first shows up, but along the way he encounters both the Cybermen and the Daleks (rarer in those days), as well as the Ice Warriors, Yeti, the Destructors, and the Quarks. He appears in more episodes than any other Doctor's companion to date and it's easy to see why.

Even though I've only seen the latest episodes of his stay aboard the TARDIS, he's beating out Sarah Jane (who I haven't watched yet, but I love her dearly) and Jack Harkness for favourite companions right now.

In fact, here's some of my favourite Jamie moments from the last story he was in (The War Games).









Oh Jamie, I shall miss you on this show.


FUN FACT: In the Doctor Who episode "Tooth and Claw" when David Tennant's portrayal of the Doctor meets Queen Victoria's traveling party, he introduces himself as Doctor James Macrimmon.

So, my blogger is back up and running, my Flickr is now fully tagged, and faenikins and I are going for fitness walks in the morning.

I feel pretty good. Tired because I'm not used to being up that early these days, but good.

Which means that I'm feeling confident and I'll probably do something stupid soon. I'll let you know.

Unfortunatly, this means that I don't really have anything substantial to blog about right now. When I feel like this, I often start a bunch of things and don't finish them for a while, or talk about them a lot but never actually do them.

So here are somethings that I want to get done before the end of July:

-Finish two or more paintings
-Finish two or more detailed drawings
-Write a new fanfiction

I mean, there's other stuff I want to do, but that's the gist of what I'm thinking about right now.

I've been trying to stick to the internet schedule that I proposed a couple of months ago, but it just isn't sticking. Part of it is my own inability to keep track of the days of the week, but some of it has to do with the fact that I no longer have the college class schedule to work around.

So, in order to keep the same amount of updates and increase my chances of keeping track of time, the internet schedule now goes like this:

Monday - Blog
Tuesday - Video
Wednesday - Blog
Thursday - Video
Friday - Blog
Saturday - Drawing/Artwork

Although, the drawing part isn't really necessary on Saturday. It'll probably actually be posted whenever I finish it, but I want to average one drawing a week. I've gotten so far from that part of my artistic endeavors that I feel pretty useless. However, I am working on a drawing that will take me a long time to complete and I'm feeling pretty good about it so far.

I've also decided to revive my Blogger blog. Blogger is the blog service that people actually use, and it's one that people will click links to. LiveJournal has an unfortunate connotation with whining emo kids, so it's hard to get promotion for my serious blog posts from outside of LJ. The Blogger won't have all the personal blog posts that this blog has, but it will have the reviews and the craft posts.

I'm already a day late with this, but I think I will be more consistent this time around.

And I'll be getting up much earlier to work on all of this, starting tomorrow.

If you look just above this entry, below the LJ cut for my commission information, I mention that I'm a part of the ThreadBanger's Guild of craft sellers.

One of the things that we do in the guild is promote each other's stores in our blogs twice a month. My first promotion (this entry) is for GollyGeeItsBee.

Although, she doesn't have a whole lot in her store, there are some very cute pieces up for sale. This little fastfood necklace for one, and this Breakfast Club tote bag made with a refurbished T-Shirt for another.

If you have the time, go ahead and check her out.

http://gollygeeitsbee.etsy.com

There is nothing more satisfying than creating something that you imagine so clearly in your head and actually having it look like what you imagined.

I've been doing a lot of craft projects lately. With the way this whole internship is going, I'll be lucky to get one at all, and while I'm busy trying to figure that out, I've pretty much passed the deadline for summer jobs. I'm going to try to promote commissions and the Etsy store as much as possible so that I have some kind of income (Whore me out to everyone you know please!), but it's not going to be making me as much money as I'm used to getting over the summer.

I'm not really fine with this. I need an internship in order to graduate with the degree in accounting. Without the internship, I'll have to somehow make that fit into my class schedule and the work schedule of two other jobs at the college. Also, transportation is not provided, which will be fun for no-car me.

But more than that, this is the first summer in years during which I am not working. If I stop moving/cleaning/creating, then I start to feel the rising panic of not having a steady paycheck. I still live at home, so I'm not worried about rent or food or anything, but all I can think is 'What if this is it?' What happens if I actually manage to graduate next spring with my degree and this is still all that I amount to? I have this lingering fear that I will be the kid to end up like my Uncle Floyd -- a drunk with a low paying job forever stuck living at home with his mother -- only it'll be worse because 'his' won't even apply to me if I stay here.

So I've been knitting and sewing and doing anything to keep from dwelling on it. I know that I sabotage myself when it comes to my own self-view and I am determined to spend as little time as possible thinking about it. I've got years worth of shows to watch and a huge cache of yarn and scrap fabric. I will make whatever comes to mind.

But it's still nice to see that I can actually accomplish some things that I doubt I'll be able to complete. If all goes well, you can see my latest creation in a video tomorrow. I made it with absolutely no knowledge of how to go about building it -- just fucking high on the idea that I might be able to cobble it together for myself -- and I'm just so fucking PROUD.

It's not perfect, but it's exactly how I imagined it. And I can't wait to share it.

I feel manly. I love feeling manly.

I don't care that I'm sitting in amongst too many knitting and crocheting projects and that my mother's been trying to get me to dress like a woman again; I still feel manly.

Firstly, I've started doing my mini-workouts in the mornings again. Push ups, sit ups, weird side sit ups that work the obliques, stretching.... It wakes me up and starts the day with that worn muscle feeling that you get when you've accomplished something strenuous, which I love. I'm hoping that I'll be able to convince myself to go to the gym when I get back to college. The Athletic Center opens pretty early during the week, which is when I would be going. Fingers crossed.

Secondly, I've started looking into my diet as a starting point for natural transitioning. Cutting back on dairy, which helps the body produce estrogen, and picking up some more protein, which helps the body produce more testosterone. Fruits, which help produce estrogen, are a bit of an iffy point right now because I really only eat fruit at breakfast.

And a cup of tea, some peanut butter toast, and an apple are an awesome breakfast right now.

Thirdly, I'm feeling manly because I've managed to get my voice to a register I'm comfortable with. Not the best, but not nearly as high as usually. Unless I'm excited, but there's nothing to be done about that. I'm sure some of it has to do with the increase in exercise and starting the day with tea, which helps relaxed the larynx into lower voice pitches, but I've been consciously working on keeping my voice lower when I talk to other people.

And lastly, but not leastly, I pretty much built Shannon a bed.

She had bought a frame for her bed and she called me this afternoon to see if myself and, possibly, one of my bothers could help her and her mom get the box into the house and up the stairs to her room. My brothers weren't around/not cooperating, so I went over and the three of us got it up the stairs.

Because I am never one to turn down being a handy man, I helped Shannon build the thing. It took us three hours, but it was great. I love building furniture. I had not built a bed before, so that was new and manly.

It makes me look forward to eventually living on my own, just so I can't make a bunch of flat pack furniture.