Happy Christmas!

Etsy and DeviantArt

Lately I've been working on collecting small pieces of nerdmorabilia, and I've found some really great stuff online.  Of course, nearly everything I look for has to do with Doctor Who, but there is some My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Portal, Star Trek, and Anime related items.  Especially if it something cute that can go in the baby's room.  I'm pretty sure I would swoon over a Tenth Doctor Plushie. A couple things I thought were absolutely great from Etsy.com were:

Found Here

Of course, this beautiful handmade chess set it (rightly) nearly $600.  I think the idea is awesome, the execution exceptional, and the adipose incredibly cute! (Don't blink when the Master uses his Rooks though!)

If you aren't willing to drop that kind of money, there are always other things that could bring a smile to the Whovian face.

Found Here

I have always loved the idea of pictures for the numbers, although when I was younger I just wanted to have friends pictures.  Now that I'm just a rabid Whovian, I LOVE the idea of being able to say "It's just past Tennant O'Clock!" or "It's half past Tom Baker."  Granted, I could probably do that without the clock, and there would be those that would understand, but I still LOVE this clock!  Of course, you would have to get a new one when Matt Smith regenerates, but I can't get over how awesome this is.

On Etsy there are a lot more homemade items, such as buttons (TONS of buttons) bookmarks, t-shirts, shoes, jewelry, and crocheted things (TARDISes, Daleks, hats, even a Weeping Angel!), and they are all so great.  You should check it out!

DeviantArt.com is where the artists LIVE!  I can't get over how talented these people are and I love that they are posting this amazingness where I get the chance to see it.  It's hard not to post everything, but here are a few of the wondrous things I've found:

Here is a cute one with the Tenth Doctor and his companions as chibis:

Doctor Who by *AndLatitude on deviantART

For those of you who were sad to see Christopher Eccleston go, and found this to be a touching moment:

Doctor Who - Parting of Ways by ~strawberrygina on deviantART


And like I said, I love Doctor Who, and My Little Pony....


Doctor Whoof by ~ARNie00 on deviantART

/\ about this... Doctor Whoof or Whooves is an actual background character in the new My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.  They've shown him a couple of times, and of course fandom has run with it, in the way that all fandoms do.

Moving on to Star Trek...

Not That Kind of Doctor by ~Epiphany-Gun on deviantART

/\ Did I mention I really LOVE Doctor Who?  And these days it seems like fans from everywhere love it as well, and want to somehow put their loves together.  I mean, how else do you get My Little Pony and The Doctor together?  I could go on and on with DeviantArt.  I mean really, its the greatest melding of the artistic minds.

Did I forget Portal? My bad!

This is just great!

Interesting Development

So, with the eminent return of Doctor Who in just a couple of weeks, BBC has been putting up little snippets for us to see and freak out over. Such as this clip:



So, apparently they are getting attacked by mechanical jellyfish in Amy's mind.  After being miniaturized. WHAT?! lol.

And of course, many questions are raised with this clip:




Does this man have little men in his mind?  Very curious indeed. Also, who on earth is the woman who gets out of the Tardis with our crew?  I want to know whats going on!

Well, they did their job, they got me interested. Although, technically I was interested to begin with, but that doesn't matter.  Can't wait to see what's in store for us in "Let's Kill Hitler."

Many apologies if the clips make the page look odd.  They should work in this region though, although a lot of BBC videos don't.  Let me know if the links break!

Canceling and waiting

Two of my least favorite things.  I waited and waited for Eureka to come back on.... for the second half of its 4th season (reminds me a bit of Doctor Who, except the wait was loooonger, nearly a whole year). And now I find out that they are canceling it after its 5th season.  That is terrible.  It is a good and successful show, and it is making the network money, but apparently not enough.  If they cancel Warehouse 13, I may never watch SyFy again.  (ok, thats a lie, its still hard to find any scifi shows elsewhere, except for BBCAmerica sometimes.)  I just hope they don't replace it with another Ghost Hunter show.  Although that does definitely fit the "Sci-fi" genre, in my opinion.  Still don't know why wrestling is on there.  Fiction? Sure.  Science Fiction? Not really.

Still waiting for Doctor Who, but the wait is so much shorter! Only a couple weeks now!  I think I liked it better when I was behind on the series though, knowing that I still had so many episodes to go and would only have to wait a short time.  I DVR'ed the first 4 seasons before I would let my husband start watching them, and we would watch maybe up to 5 episodes a night (after he got off work).  *sigh* good times.

Hopefully Doctor Who won't be canceled, although they have set it up so that if it is, they can have a nice little ending.  The Doctor dies. The End.  But I know so many people would raise a fuss, both in Britain and in America, so I don't think they are going to do that.  Doctor Who is such a cash cow right now.  I know I've got a Sonic Screwdriver, and so does my cousin.  I know many people with the seasons on DVD (I SO want them too!).  Plus all the swag they can sell at conventions.  I don't see why they would get rid of it.  So the Doctor can't die at the end of this or next season (although technically, I guess he died at the beginning of this season... I don't know what they can and can't do these days.  but I want my Doctor to stick around.)

Doctor Who Fall Return

So Doctor Who returns at the end of August with "Let's Kill Hitler," a title that I must admit I thought was a joke for quite the longest.  However, according to the new trailer, something may have backfired in that idea.  Very interested in seeing what happens with this.

"I think you have just saved my life!"  oops?

We will also get to see more of the lovely (but scary) Madame Kovarian.

I'll get you my pretty! And your little BABY too!

Watching the trailer, the eyepatch must mean something, for our Madame Kovarian is not the only one to sport it.  We also have this odd man playing chess:

Depth perception is overrated. 

and of course this chilling picture:

Now, as I doubt that River has eye problems for a short time in her life, the eye patch has to mean something.  I mean, it certainly does look sinister, especially as she turns in the clip, revealing that it isn't the River we know and love, but an earlier version.  I fear this might be when we witness her killing the "good man" who I HOPE is not the Doctor.  Very interested to see when this plays out.

During the clip it also shows bits of the Doctor getting shot by the "impossible Astronaut" which I'm sure there is a meaning behind the name, bringing me to believe that it is impossible because there is really no one inside, or it is the Doctor himself (it being impossible because the Doctor is not supposed to cross his own time stream).  However, others could be right about it being River in the suit and she kills the Doctor.  I just hope not.  It shows how the Doctor becomes very aware of the impending doom, and how he is able to invite his friends to the "show."

Hmm, maybe that's why River slapped me...

We are rejoined by some of our past favorite bad guys, such as the Weeping Angels, more Cybermen (you didn't think that Rory and the Doctor blowing up much of a CyberLegion was going to be the last we saw of them, did you?), Gangers (I think), The Silence, and several new ones.  Some scary doll looking things, one of which reminds me of Chucky, and a Ventriloquist Dummy.
We also get to see a few good guys return!  Craig, from "The Lodger," is shown in the trailer, as well as this, um, friendly face?

Of course, we have our favorite married companions, (and also, I have to have a pic of Rory...)

One thing I found interesting, in the hall the Doctor runs down, when he stops at a door we see this:

Matt being the 11th Doctor, this could be significant somehow.
I also thought this looked a little familiar:

Follow the White Rabbit, and where does it get me?

Seemed a little Alice in Wonderland.  Very interested to see where this half of the season takes us.

Doctor Who Obsession

Alright, so my husband says I'm obsessed because I like to talk about it a lot, and can find a Doctor Who reference in just about anything.  I just think its completely fascinating and since it has a lot of references to real world events, it's easy to see a correlation.  Sadly, it's in its summer break currently, something new they are trying, perhaps to get us ready for an even longer break in the series.
It seems that Doctor Who set the tone for all the Sci-Fi series coming out this year.  Start out with a BANG!  Run around like crazy, don't let people know whats going on, and leave them confused and curious.  Well, it may have set the bar a bit high, but there are those out there, like Eureka who tried to do it too.  But imagine, KILLING off the main character in the first episode back.  I don't think there are many Sci-Fi shows out there that CAN pull off something like that.  They also built up this big mystery around River Song, and while maybe they didn't think that many people in Britain would think of it, nearly everyone here in the states guessed that she was Amy's baby.  Although most of them went in the direction of  "...and the Doctor's baby" instead of "...and Rory's baby," but most people here don't realize its more of a children's and family show in the UK, and that would be downright scandalous.  Especially with all the affirming and reaffirming that Amy is in love with Rory, not the Doctor.  It was a huge deal when she snogged the snot out of him, I can't imagine what it would be like if it came out that she had a *gasp* affair with our dear Doctor.  No, I'm glad that Rory is the daddy.  And I LOVE how astoundingly awesome he was in "A Good Man Goes to War."  Which brings up my next topic...
      Who does River kill?  Everyone seems SO sure that it's the Doctor, but IS IT?  She says "A good man, greatest I've ever known," and then the title of the episode had "good man" in it as well, but the Doctor says a very important line: "Good men don't need rules.  Now is not the time to find out why I have so many."  So this, to me, means that he is NOT the "good man" that River killed.  Especially since where she grew up seems to be in the Gamma Forest and there the word "Doctor" seems to mean "Mighty Warrior." No, I think, sadly, that the "good man" in question is Rory.  I hope not, I LOVE Rory, and I don't want him to be killed off, but I really think it is.  Seems to fit.  He IS a good man.  And in the episode, he sure went to war, trying to find his wife.  Loved that scene.  Best episode intro EVER.

Do I need to repeat the question?

     AAAH! It just makes me that much more in love with Arthur Darvil.  He does a fantastic job, I would hate to lose him.  I'm just glad they put a bit more emphasis on him after him being such a background character to Amy's crazy confusedness, and having killed him off more times than anyone should ever be.  He has overcome death a lot, lived 2000 years, and is basically cooler than the Doctor at this point (if that is possible... not sure that it is).  For someone who only has one life, he sure dies a lot.

     And just gotta put this one in there, River on her birthday.  LOVE the dress. And she seems so happy.  Then overwhelmed at the sight of Rory.  Another reason why I think that she kills him.  Probably before she really realizes that he is her dad.  Then, in her future, she gets to know him and love him.

It's my birthday.

      I don't know what the Future Who has in store for us, but I am SO ready to find out.


EDIT: had to add this after I found it.

Alphas

After rewatching Alphas this morning I have a few things to say about it.

I like that the characters don't necessarily get along with each other.  Makes more sense, since they are randomly thrown together.  I also like that they aren't some perfect superhuman with all the abilities and the beauty and the people skills.  They have faults.

     Gary seems autistic, or at least has Asperger's, by his behavior.  In fact, before they show you the strings of energy that he can see, his actions seem very much like it.

     Bill has superhuman strength, it says as a fight or flight response.  He also seems to have a bit of a bad attitude, which Rachel addresses early in the episode, saying that he takes things without asking.  He also teases Gary, and they seem to not like each other very much.

   
     Speaking of Rachel, she has the ability to enhance one of her senses, but this makes the rest of her senses dull, which can get her into trouble and, of course, does.

     Nina has the ability to make people do what she tells them to by looking into their eyes.  Apparently they can't be wearing sunglasses, as we find out when the character is introduced.  It does seem to have limits though, as she couldn't quickly get a guard to do what she needed later in the episode.  Now, they all seem to take care of one another, but they don't seem to always get along perfect.

     Cameron Hicks, the guy they are trying to find/help in the episode has hyperkinesis, where all his motor skills are heightened.  They show that he can toss a quarter into a soda machine from several yards away.  He has a military sniper background, but also seems to have had a bad home experience.  He has a family that he can't see, including a son.

     Dr. Lee Rosen, the "Professor Xavier" of the group, isn't an Alpha.  He is a neurologist and physcologist and is basically the glue that holds these very different characters together.

I like that these characters seem more real than a lot of other "superpowered" characters we see a lot these days.


all photos ©2011, Syfy. All rights reserved.

Warehouse 13

Season 3 of Warehouse 13 opened with a bang... or a riff, anyway.  Loved that Claudia was out on assignment with Artie and Pete.  Loved the new guy, Steve Jenks, but it really feels that they had Mika quit in the last episode of last season just because they wanted to bring in a new character.  I found it interesting that since Steve could tell if people were lying, when Artie actually told him the truth he actually let them do what they needed to.  I'm not sure if a real professional would do that, but it did make for a kind of funny element to the story.  Was excited to see Mika again, even though technically she hadn't been gone for even an episode, in the story she had been gone for awhile.  Pete going to her for advice and then kinda running out made it so obvious that she would be back; she wouldn't be able to resist it.  Especially since they were working on something in her area of expertise.  Glad that she rejoined the crew and that they are keeping Jenksy, but we will see how he is put to use from now on.  Since he is new, will he be put to work with Claudia, or will Pete and Mika have a third member to their team?  Having a human lie detector would be more use in the field, so he is probably sticking with them.  We will see!

For those of you who haven't seen the webisodes, Of Monsters and Men, you really should, although it seems like a Prius commercial forever.

Eureka

While I love Eureka, trust me, I do, I just wasn't as thrilled with this episode.  It was good, and seemed to really be in the same vein as a lot of their episodes, but it seemed so rushed.  Something would go wrong and there was a miracle fix.  Something else would go wrong and someone just happened to have what would work.  And Jo really came out of nowhere with those horses.  Also, as much as she was mentioned, I don't think she had the screen time I like for her.

I liked that they started the show off with the wedding.  Totally threw me off.  I remember thinking, Wow, did I miss an episode? because they really make you think that its Carter and Allison.  When they explained more, it was pretty weird, since its Jack's house... Anyway, they also remind you that Fargo really liked (likes?) Jo, and cares about her, trying to help her with the Zane dilemma.  The new Jack and Allison, "I'm in love with you, but I'm still your boss" thing was a little crazy.  They seemed to speed through that as well, with little impact as to how they actually felt.  It didn't help that they were going back and forth from GD to space so much, but that was kinda necessary...  I do like that they have Zane find out more of what happened with the time traveling thing, but I wish we could have heard exactly what Fargo told him.  I know they will delve deeper into all of this, it was just the first episode back, but still, it left me wanting so much more (and yet less at the same time).  The blast into space was all in Fargo fashion, and we got to see a vulnerable side to Zane that we haven't seen since the change in time.  There just seemed to be so much thrown all at once, like they wanted to remind everyone of every single detail all at once, plus add several new dynamics, plus have Fargo and Zane screw something up again and yet save everything as well.... It just was too much for one episode I think.

Can't wait for Felicia Day next week though!

Premieres and Returns

Today is the day! Alphas pilot episode following the return of Warehouse 13 and Eureka.  More to come tonight!

Eureka: They really started out with a bang!  I dont like how many times they beat the impossible odds in this one.  I know they always do, but it seemed like they really went overboard.  Still made for an alright episode, I just wanted more of the typical Eureka humour.  Not gonna put any spoilers yet, will say more tomorrow.  One very big happy (that isnt spoilerific) Next week, Felicia Day will be guest starring!  She is pretty amazing, and did a great job in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which if you haven't seen, you must!

Warehouse 13: Aaron Ashmore as Steve Jenks is a really great addition to the cast.  Every field agent seems to have their own "special ability" and they really put an emphasis on it this episode.  While Mika had photographic memory, Pete with his "bad vibes," they bring in Steve Jenks as a human lie detector.  Glad they kept the humour that I LOVE!  Even with all the deep thoughts they tried to convey they still infused it with humour.  Seemed really short, which was my biggest complaint.  They put a lot into the episode and really made me happy with how things turned out.  Again, no spoilers till tomorrow!

Alphas: I didn't really get to see as much of this as I wanted. Sadly it came on at 9, and a certain cute little girl usually goes to bed about 9:30.  She stayed up through it, but she had a couple of points where she was very cranky, so I missed some key plot elements.  What I DID see, I liked, and although it has a lot of cliched and overused qualities, what doesn't these days?  I did like that these "super" humans are also flawed, which we don't really see much these days (although I guess Heroes had it in spades).  I will have to rewatch it to really make up my mind.

Summer Break/Season

     With the summer break of Doctor Who in full force we have to look to the new summer seasons to get our sci-fi fix.  SyFy channnel and BBC America have a few things for us.
     Eureka and Warehouse 13 are coming back on Monday, July 11th.  After the shock in Season 2 of Mika leaving the Warehouse, who will take her place and will they be accepted? Also, is Mika gone for good?  Season 3 is going to be off to an interesting start.  Eureka returns with season 4.5 and the previews seem to make it more dangerous and militarized.
     BBCAmerica has brought back Battlestar Gallactica for those who either want to rewatch it, or didn't get into it the first time.  I personally never got into it myself, it starts a little slow, but I did like Caprica.  The rest of new BBC America shows are along the comedy vein, such as Come Fly With Us, The Inbetweeners, and a few others that are coming later in the summer.
     One new show that's coming to Sy-Fy this summer is called "Alphas."  Its about a group of very different people who have special abilities.  They are working with the US Department of Defense on cases that are likely done by others with abilities.  To me it sounds like Heroes and X-Men put together.  We'll see how it goes.  The Pilot airs Monday after Eureka and Warehouse 13, so expect a review Monday night or Tuesday Morning!

~ The Nerdy Mum

Every Journey Begins With a Single... Blog?

     As my Dear Daughter learns to take her first steps, I am also making my first steps as a blogger.  I'm new to this, so it might take awhile for the shaky tentative steps to get stronger and for me to really get going.
     Much of this blog will be about the Science Fiction that interests me, with a few kid stories thrown in the mix. I will give reviews of movies, comics, shows, and books along with cool products and ideas that get us closer to that science fiction future we all think about.

~The Nerdy Mum