Gratuitous Time Wasting: Doctor Who

I found this little meme online a while back and I never started it. Now that we are SIX days away from the new season I feel I should have posted it in a more timely fashion. So, rather than actually doing "30 Days of Doctor Who" I'm going to post my favorite questions and answers.

Day 1 - Favorite Incarnation of the Doctor

Tenth: David Tennant

I love the devil-may-care qualities of Ten, as well as the intense passion for what he believes is right. The tenth Doctor has a sense of fun and silliness, but the character’s gravity and sense of loss are never truly absent. Tennant makes words like an artist sculpts. He chews them, savoring every last bit of flavor, like truly excellent gum. Plus he is pretty.

Day 2 - Favorite Companion

Donna Noble

She ranges from downtrodden and terrified to ballsy and brassy, and I love every second. When I first watched “The Runaway Bride” I did not like the character, and I was glad she didn’t stick around. By the time we got her back in Series 4 I loved her. She had grown so much already, and she had only begun to learn her own potential.

Day 4 - Favorite Character

River Song

There is so much yet to learn about River and I am pleasantly anxious for it all. The Time-Traveler’s-Wife vibe on the whole thing is delectable without feeling unoriginal. Plus, who doesn’t love Alex Kingston? As time goes on (and spoilers erupt) I’m even more excited to discover River’s identity, because I no longer think it is the obvious… My current makes-no-sense theory: (I) (A)m (T)he (D)octor’s, (R )iver (S)ong. (TARDIS)

Day 5 - Favorite Guest Star

James Corden

He is so lovable and fun! I love “The Lodger” so much. I started following him on Twitter and then looked into his IMDb resume, and now I’ve started “Gavin and Stacey”. Corden seems like an absolute blast to be around.

Day 6 - Least Favorite Character

Amy Pond

Yes, I know, I KNOW! But I find her so flip-floppy and self-interested. Is it supposed to be funny that she tries to seduce the Doctor the night before her wedding, or that she wants to “snog in the bushes” on her wedding day? Because it isn’t. It is pathetic. And I love Rory so much that I dislike Amy even more for his sake. No offense to Gillan – Lord knows I love me a hot ginger – but I find the character truly obnoxious.

Day 7 - Favorite Episode

“Smith and Jones”

This one is tough. I absolutely love “The Lodger” and “Partners in Crime”, but if I could only watch one ep (repeatedly) I would choose “Smith and Jones”. I just love the Doctor’s quirks and Martha’s reactions. He could practically do the whole episode mute using only his eyebrows to communicate. “Barefoot on the moon!”

Day 8 - Favorite Series/Season

Series Four

I have favorite episodes from every series so far, but I love the interactions between Donna and the Doctor. Adipose, Pompeii, Ood, The Library, “Midnight” (shudder) and the big reunion (and hybrid) of the finale? Yes, yes, a thousand times YES!

Day 9 - Least Favorite Episode

“Daleks in Manhattan” / “Evolution of the Daleks”

Other than the presence of Andrew Garfield, I find nothing appealing about these episodes. Too many irrelevant characters, weird self-doubt issues from the Daleks (whah) and creepy hybrids? Yawn.

Day 11 - Scene/Moment that makes you cry

Death of alien in “Vincent and the Doctor”

I can never remember the name of that alien, but I call it Chickensauraus because… well, it looks like a chicken and a dinosaur had a creepy alien baby. Anyway, that scene is gut-wrenching. I am actually tearing up just thinking about it. Blind, alone and scared? All three of them just feel such remorse when they realize it, and that poor creature… I have to stop talking about it.

Day 12 - Scene/Moment that makes you giggle

Cassandra takes over The Doctor in “New Earth”

Every time I watch this ep (read: many) I giggle when David Tennant starts slinking around discussing his own sex appeal. “And a little bit foxy” always makes me giggle like a teenager. You know he had fun doing that (ever seen his turn as Davina? YouTube it) “Oh baby, I’m beating out a samba!”

Day 16 - Fave Martha Moment

Death of the Hath, “The Doctor’s Daughter”

In a moment that ought to make me snicker at overacting, I feel Freema shines. I really believe her despair as her new friend sinks in the radioactive-mud-stuff. That moment is caked with plot-cheese, from having to fear drowning in a pit that probably comes up to her chest to the friend-of-five-minutes alien braving the trap himself and then drowning EVEN THOUGH HE IS HALF FISH! Writing about it makes me want to laugh, but watching it always gets me.

Day 18 - Fave Amy Moment

Fake Labor, “Amy’s Choice”

I’m not a big Amy Pond fan (as you know), but I love the moment in “Amy’s Choice” when she starts having contractions and screaming in the street in order to scare The Doctor. “This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet, so don't you call it dull again, ever.”

Day 23 - Something Epic

“The Family of Blood”

"He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing - the fury of the Time Lord - and then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden. He was being kind. He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf star. He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there, forever. He still visits my sister, once a year, every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her, but there she is. Can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror. Every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you just for a second, that’s her. That’s always her. As for me, I was suspended in time and the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England, as their protector. We wanted to live forever, so The Doctor made sure we did." This scene is such an epic end to an incredible story.

Words I Never Thought I'd Hear

This morning I got to church between services for sound check with the praise team. When I got there no one was starting so I sat and started to look at a song our soon-to-be-leaving worship minister had written that week. Before I got one note into it, one of the church elders came and kneeled next to me:

Elder: "Is it awful that for our next music minister, yours is the first name I thought of? Is that just out of place?"
Me: "Out of place, yes, but not awful at all."

We ended up having a fascinating (and flattering) discussion about "the rules" in our church, and which ones we feel could use a good shaping (or tossing). He truly wants to suggest my name when the topic soon arises. He and I both know that it won't work - our church is not near ready for a female worship minister - but just for the mere sake of gauging reactions, I think he really might suggest it.

And I haven't been able to stop thinking of the possibilities.

I had never even thought of something like that, not really. It is something I think I would really love, but growing up in fairly conservative churches of Christ, I knew it "wasn't meant to be". But now that he has planted this seed in my brain I cannot shake it. What if? What if? Could I really stand in front of that church and lead them in worship? Would they follow me? And if I chose to try it, would it be for God's glory or for my own personal social experiment?

We discussed God's gifts, and how we should use what we are given. I told him that I would soon get to use my gift of bluntness for the women's ministry (a sex forum). The idea of getting to use my gift of song in that huge capacity is something that, frankly, I cannot even fathom.

No part of me really expects this to go any further than an idea; not with this church, not right now. But to even hear those words from a leader of our church makes me very curious and optimistic for it's future.

Wish List: Nerd Shirt Edition

For crying out loud, people! I am finding so many sites of awesome nerd shirts for really cheap. So any and all upcoming gifting occassions are taken care of. Behold:

Back to the Island

Count the Shadows

Doctor Lost Constant (my awesome online friend JoRo has this one) Abaeterno

Wandering Thoughts: Hamlet vs Doctor Who

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth... than are dreamt of in our philosophy."

~*~Hamlet, Shakespeare

"It seems to me there's so much more to the world then the average eye is allowed to see."

~*~Vincent and the Doctor, Doctor Who S5E10

~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~*+*~

"Gentlemen let us go in together, and steal your fingers on your lips, I pray."

~*~Hamlet, Shakespeare

"Fingers on lips!"

~*~Fear Her, Doctor Who S2E11

Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt: Bible edition

In studying for the sex forum I want to lead at church (whee!) I found a wonderful verse - 1 Timothy 4:4. Thanks to a tip I once received from Grags I looked up The Message to see it from a different angle. What a difference it makes!

(1-5) The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they've lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They'll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God's Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.

I have read it over and over again now, and all I can think of is politics. "These liars have lied so well and for so long that they've lost their capacity for truth." But the interesting part is that my mind didn't jump to Democrats: it jumped to Republicans. Or at least, I should say, the Conservatives I encounter so often...

There are many smart, caring, truly wonderful Christians that I love and respect whose beliefs make me want to cry. I know I haven't got it all right - these same people might feel the same 'loss' for me - but I cannot stomach any belief that makes God out to be hateful or intolerant.

I am not so naive as to believe that God is always "nice". Being a Christian isn't meant to be easy; God isn't interested in whether or not we are "happy". We should have joy and contentment, both of which can exist without happiness. He tells us things are wrong and evil in his sight, and I believe it. I also believe in his never-ending forgiveness, our unearnable salvation (grace) and his all-consuming love.

"They will tell you not to get married." I cannot read this verse without feeling true remorse for the "congregants" of Westboro. Those poor souls are so poisoned with hatred and false righteousness that they drown in it. They rejoice in people's pain and mock those who suffer, and they think they do so to God's honor. Nothing could be further from The Truth.

This verse in 1 Timothy gives me a breath of fresh hope. God should be honored in all things we do. If I get a tattoo of a Bible verse scrawled across my back, it can be in God's honor: think of the wonderful conversations it could start! Ever seen bikers for Christ? People get a certain image, often negative, when they think of motorcycle gangs, but I've seen them spouting scripture and sharing the Word in places some Christians fear to tread.

Speaking of bikers for Christ, Bammel has a group that tours in the MS150 every year called "Traveling Light". For me personally, riding a bike for 5 minutes, let alone 150 miles, would be a very unChristian experience - I know me, I know this body and this foul mouth... But these people take an ordinary activity and do it to God's honor. This is what we are called to do!

I know I rambled a bit (gasp!), but I really wanted to get these ideas down. Everything we do should praise God, whether or not someone else thinks it can praise God. It can be accepting a neighbor as they are or riding across Texas.

Everything (Can Be) Beautiful and Nothing (Should Have To) Hurt