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SYCORAX ROCK!
By ELB | March 23, 2008
Ok, my mom’s finally gone and I have to get back to being a responsible adult. Special thanks to my mom for giving me the opportunity to dick around with my friends for three days. It was frankly magnificent. I feel fully re-energized and ready for my interview with Lady Professional, Inc. on Wednesday.
Before every job interview I prepare myself to answer the question, “What’s the last book you read?” and it has never, ever been asked of me. I put a lot of thought into that answer, people. I have to because the answer is almost always a lie. No, no, I don’t claim to have read books that I haven’t read. I know that’s a sure shot to sounding like an asshole if you get caught up in that. I lie about the order I read them in. Like, I recently read “Atonement” and I really liked it, but I’m not sure I’d fess up to that being the last book I’ve read. The movie came out and, as much as I like it, the whole thing is quite overwrought and ladying about all over the place. I might keep that to myself.
But then I look at what really was the last book I have read and it’s this, I tend to re-think my decision. My mother brought me that book. She read it to me when I was young, always prefacing it with, “The woman who wrote this book was crazier ‘n’ a coot, and the pictures are unbelievable, but I really like the story.” And she’s right, it’s a delightful story. I highly recommend the Julius Lester version, Sam and the Tigers.
I don’t even remember where I was going with that. Since I wrote those words I’ve eaten an Asian ice cream dumpling and watched an ep of Doctor Who. See, that’s it! I can’t answer the last book I’ve read question because, truth is, I haven’t read a book in forever. All I can think about all day long is Doctor Who and Torchwood.
I’m not even kidding. Morning, noon, and night I am pondering the goings on in the Whoniverse. It’s seriously tense-making. This season of Torchwood is almost over and I’m genuinely worried about what may happen. Owen is already dead, how can it get much worse? It can, though. And it will.
I spend a lot of time here talking about crap TV, but seldom do I talk about TV that I really love, and right now that’s Doctor Who and Torchwood. I guess I’m afraid to bring it up lest some jerk busts in telling me that I’m a douche for freaking on the TARDIS. I get vulnerable sometimes, for real. Ain’t I a woman? Revealing how insanely deep my obsession with these shows is right now is like letting the internet read my diary. Try and wrap your head around that for a second. I can’t. You know who can? The Doctor.
In addition to letting me dick around with my friends for three days, my mom was totally down with watching Doctor Who. In fact, her visit coincided perfectly with where we were in season two of the Who. Let me tell you, these two hours of television were quite possibly the best two hours I’ve ever seen.
Here’s a thumbnail: The Doctor has to disguise himself as a human so he can hide from the Family. He hides himself as a teacher in 1913. The Family shows up and there are scarecrow soldiers, a talking pocketwatch, an eerie little girl with a red balloon, and heartbreaking remembrance of WWI soldiers.
I freaked out, I cried, I fell in love. If that’s not amazing storytelling, I don’t know what is. I’ve read a lot of books, and listened to a lot of stories, but the image of a murderous, alien little girl with a red balloon condemned to spend eternity trapped behind a mirror is fucking beautiful.
Sometimes I’ll stare out the window and think about what might be happening in the TARDIS at this very moment. It’s quite sweet, actually, because I know that I can always go to Brian and talk about how awesome it was when the Doctor regenerated and he got to go to the wardrobe room in the TARDIS and pick out his new Doctor outfit. God, that was amazing.
These days I spend most of my time writing pseudonymous Torchwood slash fiction. Let me tell you, it’s awesome. I’m not even going to lie. Right now I’m on my way to bed so I can stare at the ceiling and remember the time Jack and Ianto were playing naked hide and seek at the Hub.
I thought I had hit the full on dork-out wall when I dragged by husband to Baltimore so I could stand in line to meet Spike, but this is totally different. A whole new level really. It’s at times like these when I know that I really, truly married the right man. Anyone who listen to me rattle on about semi-porny science fiction was definitely the right choice.
Topics: Television, The Doctor, Torchwood | 9 Comments »
March 24th, 2008 at 6:48 am
*adding Doctor Who to Netflix queue*
March 24th, 2008 at 7:43 am
“semi-porny” is my word of the day.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Dude, Eva, ferreal, there’s practically no entertainment product I can’t accidentally forget for months at a time, but the new Who always, *always* leaves me wanting more. I loved season one, and impossibly, season two? EVEN BETTER!
If I had to narrow it down to one thing, I couldn’t. Several things would be the Doctor’s enraged sense of injustice to the plight of others — but combined with a not-occasional contempt for them! — mixed with his brilliantly vengeful methods, particularly re: The Family. I mean, holy fuck.
Also Rose’s chavvy hotness is killing me every single day.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Goddammit, now you’ve gone and made me want to go to Shore Leave this year. Arrrrgh.
Also, I am a little embarrassed that my non-cable-having self was unaware that Torchwood was a Dr Who spinoff. Of course, I haven’t watched any of the new series Dr Whos, but still…
March 24th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Semi-porny is the word every day here at Chez Byrne.
Let me know how Shore Leave is. There’s going to be hot Takei action and that’s good shit right there.
Anyone who has actually been to Shore Leave needs to get thee to Netflix and grab onto Doctor Who. Seriously, it’ll blow your mind.
Brian’s not at all kidding about everything he said. It’s that good.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I love how un-ironically earnest you both are about all this.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Oh, it’s true. Fully earnest.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I had a wet dream about David Tennant last night. Also, I have a tattoo of the seal of Gallifrey. I am a total Who-geek.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:57 am
I finally got Season 1 – the last three episodes of Doctor Who from the library. When we had fancy cable, I caught a lot of season 1 and some of Torchwood. HOLY CRAP, Bad Wolf? With Jack Harkness! I’m now on the season 1 finale. So good. I’m excited and terrified to see what happens to Doctor Who. And I agree: Rose is hot.