Monday, December 31, 2012

The end of 2012 and beyond

There is so much I want to say to round out 2012.  This year had been a mixed bucket.  On one hand it has been amazing with projects I have been involved in such as new monster, The Oncoming Storm Podcast and even this blog.  I have made some of the best friends I have ever known and I have tried vending at toy shows, which is something I have always wanted to do.  It has been a very fulfilling year.

On the other hand it has been filled with odd little tragedies.  My parents house got hit by a Tornado, my  grandfather had a pretty bad heart attack (he survived).  But in the end every one was ok and every thing worked out.  So all of those personal tragedies worked out in the end.

Almost a year ago I posted on this blog that I wanted to do stuff in the new year.  I wanted to finish things and be proud of them.  I have done that.  I am extremely proud of the accomplishments I made this year.  I was tired of having tons of ideas and not following through.  I began to follow through and I feel great about it.  Could I improve?  Yes.  I already have a box full of projects to be worked on next year.  In the mean time I have been taking a step back enjoying everything that happend in 2012.

But as I did last year I want to set some goals for myself.  The goal I set for myelf last year was open ended and a bit vague (I tend to do that so I can't categorize my failure to comply :) ) This year I am willing to state a few more specific goals.  I want to add an addendum here though:  These are not resolutions - I don't believe in resolutions, instead they are goals.  That worked last year and It will work again. . . I hope.

1) and this has been a secret priority for some time.  I have been developing a fictional world for about 12 years, it has just been sitting in my head and on paper and in notebooks all of this time.  Earlier this year I decided to try to do something with it.  I have been developing a comic to get some of it out.  I have been fighting weather or not to draw it myself OR to find an artist.  At the moment I am drawing it myself. . . that might change tomorrow. . . but regardless I am putting at least one issue out this year!

2)  More new monster!  Last year I said that it was the year of the new monster and for us it was.  We had a blast.  in the new year you can expect to see more Collecting Nostalgia, more convention coverage and maybe even more vlogs!

3)  One things that viewers of this blog will see is more stuff for sale online.  I hope to be doing a kind of online "purge"  of some of my stuff.  so keep an eye out for that and you may find some incredible deals on things.

4) Starting a local show.  I have been in talks with some other locals in this area and we are on target to get some local toy/comic shows going hopefully they will be goos.

5) LAst but not least This blog!  I have neglected this blog for the second half of the year, but I hope to get back to it.  I did such a good job updating at the beginning of the year and then I let it go,  I hope to be back to normal soon.


Those are the things right on top, of course there are more, but a few of those are taking a lot of my time and thought at the moment.  SO be on the lookout for some of these things coming soon.

Als, Thanks to every one who has read this blog and have been supportive of me.  I kind of stumbled into this collecting/ popculture/ blogging community and you guys all really let me be part of it.  I have tried other communities before and it felt so hard to break in.  I am extremely happy to be part of this community!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Doctor Who The Snowmen . . . Thoughts

Christmas means many things for so many different people.  For Doctor Who fans for the past 8 or so years it has meant a new Christmas special, a slightly longer episode that holds us over un til the next season (or season half) begins.  This year is no different and the good doctor returns to us in a christmas special that, in my opinion, stands apart from the rest.

I have made no secret that I have not been a huge fan of the first two seasons of the Moffat produced, but I have also said the last half season has been my favorite of the Moffat produced offerings.  He is taking the character of the Doctor and the show in direction that I fully approve of, and in a direction that is fitting for the upcoming fiftieth anniversary.  I have to say this special continues that trend for my viewing pleasure.  

Lets start with the intro.  I could make this whole post about the intro.  I have actually kind of kept radio silence with this episode and had heard no rumors or anything of the sort, but as the transmission began and the intro began rolling I felt an energy in the air that I hadn't felt in a long time.  The colors swirled and if I'm not mistaken I saw throwbacks to just about every past intro in the shows history.  And then there it was!  Matt Smith's face subtly in the stars.  I had been waiting for this since the show came back.  It is one of those things that in the early days of nu-who us old timers thought that once we got that we would have arrived.  Well, we have arrived.  Watch the new intro below.


As the new intro finished the story began to unfold and we are introduced to snowmen and villains, and more interestingly the new companion. . . or should we say that we were introduced to her again. Yes Jenna Louise Coleman first played Oswin Oswald way back in Asylum of the Daleks and she met a strange demise.  There has been tons of speculation as to what her role may be, but now we begin to get some clarification.

I have to say I love the character of Clara, She is intriguing, and fun, and cheeky, and I am inclined to say Not the Ponds.  Now, I'm honestly not meaning that as a criticism of Amy and Rory, as I feel I made amends with my feelings toward them in the last half season, but the character that was presented tonight is the character I have been wanting to see in doctor who for a long time.  While she actually does share some traits with Amy, she is a go getter, and very adventurous.  I find her more believable  I can't say why, I just do.  I really feel like it is a case of Moffat having the ideal companion in his head for most of his life, and finally getting the chance to put it on paper.  for me that character came out as juvenile, now we are getting a more well developed character that has been developed by a 40 something professional writer and not the 12 year old mind of the same writer.  It will be interesting how he develops Clara.  I will try and keep this spoiler fee so I will not comment on any more than that!. . . for now.

I will say this.  We are once again introduced to the TARDIS again through the eyes of a companion.  and Oh what a sight it is.  While Clara goes in and back out and does the traditional run around the box and lets us all know that it is indeed "Smaller on the outside" (see what Moffat did there?)  We are introduced to a shiny new TARDIS console that is very reminiscent of the gleaming space age console so many of us grew up with.  Gone is the steam punk cobbled together TARDIS and once again are we introduced to the SPACE AGE.  I love it.  I love the controls behind the console.  I love the white and blues.  I love the rotating pieces above the rotor.  This is the TARDIS, for me, more than any other new who design.  As I am introduced to this room all I can think is "Welcome to Doctor Who"

The story brings in Madam vastra and company and they play, in my opinion, a fantastic role in this story.  Her story is expanded a bit and her role for the doctor himself is very interesting.  I have a feeling that we will see her quite a bit more.  These characters do tend to be more comic relief than they could have been, but, in my opinion there is not a word misused when they are on the screen.  I also like the fact that I feel like they are creating a new home base time for the doctor, He is carving out a home for himself in victorian Londen instead of a more modern London.  Madam vastra and crew have become a small family unit for the Doctor.  I'm intrigued by where they could go with this.

The story itself acts as a prequel to a story from 1967, the Web of fear indicating that the events of this story leads to the events of that story.  i love it when they do that and do it reasonably well.  I feel they did that.

Now I realize I am glowing about this story.  There were problems with it, but I don't feel the need to pick it apart, in the end I liked it and I choose to overlook the faults.  IT is the first time I have wanted to do that in a while so I will just honestly say that and let that be the end of it.

The Doctor is becoming more shrouded in mystery every time he steps on screen, all for a build up to the 50th anniversary, but this time we are given a companion that may be even more mysterious than him. 

I am excited to see the second half season for season 7.  The direction they are going is somewhere I feel is very good  I am excited to see where it leads us to november 23 of 2013.  I have feeling we have a great year to look forward to in terms of Doctor Who!  Check out the Snowmen, because I feel like it is the episode we will look back on and say that is when Doctor Who went into a new era.  I have a feeling it is a good era to be in!    

Of course I was disappointed to not see anything I recognized as an Ice Warrior in the trailer.