stunt_muppet

For some reason, I thought I'd seen The Robots of Death already, but apparently I hadn't. And I just finished watching it today.

And I think I adore D84. I love him lots. I love his manner of speech. I love that he was a somewhat intelligent robot who wasn't drowning in existential woe. I love all his questions. I just...I don't know what it is, but I'm so fond of that little robot. I think he might be one of my favorite secondary Who characters ever, right up there with Team Nerva. I have the same impulse to go out and write lots of fic for him as I did after watching The Ark in Space. I even kind of wanted him to become a companion, just like I did with Vira.

Say what you will about the Hinchcliffe-Holmes era, but they knew how to put together a secondary cast.

Also, Leela is amazing. She's strong and has a backbone and knows how to fight, but she's not as severe as I thought she'd be when I first saw her. There's still something about her that's curious and interested. And - for some reason no one talks about this - she's inquisitive, and observant, and reasonable, and smart. I love how intelligent she is, even though the writers emphasize her intuition.

I actually rather liked the secondary cast, too, aside from D84. By the end of the story, I genuinely liked Poul, rather than just liking him because he was David Collings in mesh and eyeliner. And I really liked Toos until she suddenly became useless around Episode 3. I enjoyed the costumes, too, ridiculously baroque though they were - it made the stylized robots look more organic to the rest of the setting. Talking of the robots, I loved their design as well. The unblinking masks were just human enough and yet just stylized enough to be unsettling. The model work for the Sandminer itself was rather good too; apparently there was a budget for this story, which is nice.

Anyway. Loved it, loved it, if anyone needs me, I'll be over here writing D84 fic. Possibly Poul/D84 fic. Ta.



Also, the interview meme is going around again. In case you've forgotten the rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you 5 questions.
3. You should then update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You should include this and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed you should ask them 5 questions.

kindkitasked me these:



1) What's the story behind your username?

My username and my default icon are two of a kind (one of the reasons I never change my default icon). In the Sesame Street special Elmopalooza, a sort of concert/variety show hosted by Jon Stewart, there’s a sketch where Stewart and Elmo get stuck in Prarie Dawn’s dressing room with a jammed door. Richard Belzer (who plays Detective Munch on SVU, one of the consistently good things about the show) passes by and tries to break the door down; when he can’t, he calls in Sparky, his “stunt Muppet” (the fellow in my default icon) to do it for him. Sparky, predictably, flails at the door for a while but accomplishes nothing.

I’d been thinking about getting an LJ for a while when I saw that sketch, but I’d been stuck on a name, and the very concept of a stunt Muppet struck me as so absurd and perfect that I could adopt it as a username. Besides, “ineffectual flailing” describes much of what I do on this journal, anyway.

2) If you could go back in time and prevent ONE classic Who serial from being burninated, which one would you save?

Oh, man, I don’t know if I could choose. I know what my four final choices would be – Power of the Daleks, Evil of the Daleks, Fury from the Deep, or The Massacre of St. Bartholemew’s Eve – but I’m not sure what I’d pick between them.

Objectively speaking, Power of the Daleks would probably be the best choice, since I’d love a chance to see Troughton playing the first ever regeneration scene. He’s amazing even on the audio, but it’s not really a substitute for watching him play it physically, especially since some of the scenes I most want to see are the ones where he “adjusts” to the new body by leaping over puddles and rocks. That said, I don’t know if I could pass up Evil of the Daleks, which had what looks from the surviving clips like some really excellent model work, not to mention the Doctor and Jamie’s first lover’s spat real conflict as a Doctor-companion team and a glimpse at a side of the Doctor’s nature that we don’t see quite as often with the Second Doctor.

Fury from the Deep is, I have to admit, a sentimental choice, since a) it’s supposedly one of the scariest episodes of Doctor Who (according the Confidential for “Blink”, it put Moffat off the show for years when he was a kid) and b) I’d really like to see the scene between Jamie and Victoria at the end. As is The Massacre; it just seemed like such an intense, unforgiving episode, raising questions about what can and cannot be changed, and what the obligation of the Doctor and his companions really is. Also, it has Steven more or less on his own for an entire serial, and I’d like to see how he handles it.

So...um...I suppose my final choice would have to be Power of the Daleks. It would pain me deeply to let Evil go, but I really want that regeneration scene back.

3) You have "British geezers" listed as an interest. Tell me about your favorite(s).

I’ll have to be a bit unoriginal and admit that some of the fellows that first piqued my interest, and who are still my favorites, were the ones everyone knows: Rickman, McKellan, Nighy, Rush, Holm, Cleese, the like. (“Geezer” is an affectionate and very flexible term, here; it denotes not a specific age but anyone who, if I express an attraction to them around others, earns me a weird look and an “isn’t he kind of old?” comment. As such, it covers men from fifty-five (even though I know that’s not old at all) to mid-seventies.) I’ve got a particular soft spot for Michael Caine, since I don’t think I’ve seen a film he’s been in where I haven’t liked his character at least (then again, I haven’t seen that Jaws movie he was in, so my stance may not be an entirely accurate one). Ben Kingsley’s probably up there too, because while I will not sit through BloodRayne for him I loved his work in You Kill Me (and in Ghandi, too, of course, but he wasn’t even remotely in geezer territory then). I’m tempted to add Robert Lindsay to the list, but I’ve only ever seen him in Horatio Hornblower, so I don’t know if that’s an informed decision. Although I suppose fancying him inordinately is the only real criterion, yes? :)

4) I sort of get the impression that you don't like chemistry. *grins* Why are you taking it? Is it required for your major?

Chemistry is a required class for one of my majors; I’m currently a Biology and English double major, since while I’ve wanted to write since I knew how to, I came to love biology in 10th grade, and I didn’t want to give either subject up when it came time to choose my major. The Bio major requires Chem 115, or Intro to Chemistry, at minimum. Organic Chemistry is “strongly recommended”, but since I’m planning on going into science writing/technically writing upon graduation I can probably put that off.

5) What's a currently airing TV show that everybody should watch?

Honestly, I think the only show I can rec by this point that’s currently airing is Chuck, which while it has its flaws is at least an earnest and, often, very funny show with a cast of characters that I almost universally like. Yes, it does lapse into comedic clichés at times, but it’s just...so much fun, and so adamant about not taking itself seriously, that it doesn’t bother me. Even the sexual tension between the title character and Sarah the Impossibly Hot Spy doesn’t bother me as much as it normally would, and can be overlooked in favor of the more entertaining relationships among the cast, especially the secondary cast.

I’m tempted to rec Pushing Daisies, but I still haven’t seen more than an episode or two of it (I know, I know, fixing that soon, really, I promise) and thus am not in a position to do any recommending; most of the other shows I’d rec (Monk, Psych, Middleman) are in the off-season and not currently airing, and while there are certainly still shows I’m following, I’m mostly unhappy with them for one reason or another (seriously, Bones? Seriously? You were doing so well there). So, yeah. Everyone go watch Chuck.



Off to do some writing, since there's one specific thing I want to finish and writing won't be an option tomorrow (too much to do, too many tests to study for, etc). Good evening to you all.