Let me just start by saying, I love Doctor Who. As a little girl my earliest memory is watching it on PBS late at night with my Dad . When I heard about the reimagined edition, with Christopher Eccleston (see 24 Hour Party People) I became giddy as a schoolgirl. Season 1 I watched in one whole night. It was awesome. 

Let me continue by saying that until David Tennant appeared in Harry Potter, I had no idea who he was.  But I am game in the world of Science Fiction. I watch the Second Season as it aired on the SciFi channel. It was good, the first time. Then the reruns began. And kept going. And didn't stop. Finally, I had had enough. So I discontinued my Doctor Who watching, until recently.

I picked up season Three and watched about 7 of the episodes. God it was terrible. If I had to hear damn Martha Jones whinge on about Rose, or see the Doctor get all teary eyed at the mention of Rose, or see Martha role her eyes at the mention of Rose, or anything involving damn Rose Tyler, I might go bananas. I have dubbed Season Three as the Evocation of Rose Tyler. She isn't there physically, but damned if she is still part of the show. I hope Billie Piper was paid for all those damn mentionings.  As of yet I have seen most of season four, with the British version of Mush-Mouth (minus the beanie) and it was as terrible as season three. All I have to say is England is awash with MUCH BETTER ACTORS THAN AMERICA. Please hire one of them. 

Now on to the meat of the story....Torchwood.

The first season of this show blew my mind. I was instantly reminded of classic pre-Dawnie Buffy. Random girl gets selected for amazing career tracking and hunting aliens. What's better is said girl has serious flaws, like every other human. Captain Jack, the bisexual hotness from Dr. Who, leads the gang of kiddies (scoobies) who, rather than rely on one member, are an actual team. Some are sleeping together, some wish they were sleeping together, but throughout  they gain and keep the audience's respect. Until...about episode 5. Then the writers evidently fell asleep at the wheel and lived, but only in a coma. The Torchwood fires burned out. They tried to ignite with the introduction of Spike from Buffy, (HA!) but farted out by the season finale. Which included, a large horned Demon coming to kill the world with his shadow.

Torchwood is almost a high budgeted fanvid of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More on this later.

This morning I read that SciFi cancelled Stargate Atlantis. Well, in truth I tried to become a fan of this show, to no avail. I watched season 1 in toto, then purchased subsequent seasons on DVD. Nonetheless, SGA is a terrible spin-off of SG1. I have a few, albeit moot, suggestions for SGA.

1. Dr. Weir is terrible. Please get eaten by a Wraith.
   As all scifi fans know, poor writing with a good delivery is the hallmark of science fiction television. However, poor writing with poor delivery is the problem for SGA. Torri Higginson's dry delivery of cardboard dialogue should have tipped off TPTB early on. The role of Dr. Weir was uninspiring and unmotivating in the leadership position. SGA should have killed her off early in the first or second season. Remember, Dr. Weir competes with Bill Adama in this new age of science fiction television. Leaders on these shows need to up the ante, so to speak, if you want to keep our attention.

2. They never get back to Earth, ever.
 Much of my problem with SGA was the never ending relationship with Earth based bureaucracy mingled in the storylines. As a viewer, I care very little about who was pissed about what back on Earth. The show would have benefited from a loss of contact with the home planet. Complete isolation and extreme distances creates a story arc that is more to the scary side of science fiction. Desolation and loss always make for good drama. Closing down that part of the teams past opens the SGA team up to totally new and uncharted territory. This also creates a difference from SG1, whose Earth based mission afforded the team all the luxuries of home. Cutting the SGA team off completely reminds us that it is THEY who are the aliens.

3. Darken up the story, dirty up the scenes.
  SG1, with its happy shiny US military set, is well within the comfort zone of science fiction. In fact, it is almost the disneyworld of scifi. Why not set SGA apart by dropping a few of the cleanliness. After all, Atlantis was underwater for God knows how long. But it is not even the aesthetic which creates a wholesome sense on SGA. The script, the actors, and lack of anything improper, and the sterility between the actors prevents any suspension of disbelief. The possiblity of truly terrifying storylines was completely passed over by TPTB. Case in point, the Wraith. Much better as a villian than the Goa'uld. Not as campy, much more suited to a dark, gothic, aesthetic on SGA. Just look at the Wraith for heaven's sake. If that isn't a walking Hot-Topic advert, then I don't know what is. The Wraith are a cross between Gothic victorian Vampyres and the Elves from LOTR. Adding their uniforms of Shiny PVC and Latex, SGA and Sci Fi dropped the ball with this one.

4.  Only one taciturn alien per team, please.
  Ahh, my favorite part of SG1 was Teal'c. The tacit, dashing, Jaffa with a tremendous backstory and the wittiest comments at the precise moment with the greatest delivery. Calling Danieljackson by his first and last name for amost of the show amuses me constantly. Now, knowing that SGA as a spinoff of SG1 would include a similar cast to its mothershow, I expected the tacit alien enemy-turned-friend. The introduction of Tayla fulfilled that requirement, along with smarmy rogue Sheppard as Jack O'Neill, adding the insecure astrophysicist/handyman genius of McKay in the role of Carter/Jackson, I assumed the team was completed. However, out of the blue comes dreadlocked eye candy Ronon. Who said nothing. Who beat up everyone. Who continued to think "either we beat them up of I beat them up alone." Neither he nor Tayla were adequate substitues for Teal'c but, were TPTB that desperate for fulfulment that they needed two wacky alien sidekicks. Ugh. Slice off the fat and get rid of Ronon.

5. Kick the show into Farscape territory and spice it up with a little bit of BSG.
    Pretty much all the sci fi fans I personally know think these two shows are the best that science fiction television has produced in the last 20 years. Farscape recognized that life on other planets probably look like slugs or wacked out lions rather than human. Thus leading credence to my argument that SGA needs to recognize they are alien in the Pegasus galaxy. Farscape was a survival story, to say the least. Included in that is BSG. SGA needed to recognize this about themselves and tell these stories. SGA explored the same territory as SG1 and failed. You cannot tell the same stories with different people and hope for the same result. Just ask SG1 itself. No matter how many actors you reqruit from defunk science fiction shows, you will never have the same magic.

I am sad to see the Stargate franchise end. I remember seeing Stargate the movie when I was in high school. It has since become one of my family's favorite movies. It is an amazing concept and hopefully we will see it manifest in different ways. Sadly, I probably will not watch.

p.s. Continuum was terrible.

After a week of trying, I finally found a new apartment in Chicago. But, the rent is so high that I do not have enough money for furniture until the financial aid comes in.

yoga mats and clean clothes until the man pays up. All this for higher education.

Virginia Woolf claims all a woman needs to write fiction is a fixed income and a room of one's own.

Virginia Woolf never tried to move to Chicago.

I got into grad school. Chicago, here I come!!!

To Depeche Mode for their Concert for the Masses, Rose Bowl, Pasadena.

Last night I rewatched the 101 documentary. I realized that yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the concert held June 18, 1988.

It is strange because I remember the release, barely, of Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion. What I remember, mainly, is those TV commercials that music companies made for their artists. 

Anywhoo, Here are some Depeche Mode visuals.

Happy hump day, world!

This Sunday, Rancid plays live in Atlanta at the Masquerade.

If anyone else is going, let me know and maybe we can meet up.

Check back for updates!

This morning at four AM, I returned from Gwinett GA where I saw the Cure! 

Yep, it was really awesome. The total experience was pleasing: the crowd, the music, the performance, the pre-concert resturant. Too bad I cannot attend tonights concert in CHarlotte.

...for I have sinned, a lot.
It has been multiple years since my last LJ entry.

It has been so long, actually, that I had to sign up for this new account. Here is the story behind the weird name.

My little bro. moved recently to Incirlik AFB. Prior to his departure, he mentioned "army proof" instructions. When I inquired as to what he meant, he developed the definition of "army proof" into a discussion about instructions for explosives. It was mainly a reminder to me to keep the "front towards enemy."

The subtitle makes sense considering I try to avoid death, daily.

I find the elephant and the cloud to be a nice juxtaposition to the title. I imagine that just around the tree sits a pissed off rabbit with a sledghammer or candy. You be the decider.