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Favorite Moments in Time and Space: Part 2

I continue on with my undying love of David Tennant and will now show you the first Who episode that made me cry like a baby. I’m talking about an ugly, nose running, sobbing uncontrollably kind of cry. This episode completely did me in. We only had Eccleston for one Series (the Brits don’t call them Seasons – deal with it), so after three Series with Tennant, I had become quite attached. As did Rose. And as did The Doctor to Rose. Clearly. Now, this wasn’t when we were all going to have to say goodbye to The Doctor, but it was the episode where Rose did. She had only spent one series with the new face, but she had become accustomed to it (sorry, not sorry) and accustomed to life with The Doctor. The clip below is from the second of a two-parter and in this two-part Series Finale we got to see Daleks and Cybermen together for the first time ever. We got to see how important the Companion is to The Doctor. And we get to see Rose, in a final act of bravery, save the World, save her Doctor and end up in the parallel universe forever.

And with the bridge closed and the wall between them forever, the sadness in his face killed me.

However, he is a Time Lord and in a grand and romantic gesture, while “burning up a sun just to say goodbye,” he visits Rose one last time.

It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and wonderful.

Now let’s move along to something more lighthearted. Donna Noble. Catherine Tate is a fantastic British comedienne and her dynamic with The Doctor was a nice break from the Romeo & Juliet – ness of the Ten and Rose. These two had some hysterical moments together for sure, as demonstrated in her horrible charade skills:

She also became the most important woman in the universe, when we became the Doctor Donna, half human / half Time Lord, and defeated the Daleks:

But in the end being half human and half Time Lord proved to be too much for her and we have another heartbreaking goodbye to an awesome companion, when The Doctor wipes her mind and returns her home to be the Best Temp in Cheswick.

Thank you Donna Noble … for bringing so much humor and humanity to Doctor Who. One of the best companions ever, for sure.

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That’s it for this time. Next time we say goodbye to Tennant and hello to Smith. My two favorite doctors for sure, for very different reasons.

Thanks again!! Allons-Y!!

Favorite Moments in Time and Space – Part 1

This past week us Whovians celebreated the anniversary of the television show Doctor Who. Doctor Who is one of those 88611b40c6ab3c97dc1f1356dba6db23shows that people seem to either love or be totally indifferent to. This is my Doctor Who journey and some of my favorite quotes and clips, in honor of The Day of the Doctor.

I watched my first episodes back in the 70’s when Tom Baker was the doctor (The Fourth Doctor) so …. technically he is my first Doctor. But I was a kid and only found the show by accident and watching a handful of episodes doesn’t really count as far as I’m concerned. My son re-introduced me to Doctor Who after the “modern era” when it was brought back. At that point the show was well into the Tenth Doctor, but Jamison had me start from the beginning of “New Who” with Doctor Number Nine: Christopher Eccleston, so I consider him my first doctor. He was a very unusual doctor, dark and lonely but in a diferent way than Ten was lonely. Many people didn’t like his Ninth Doctor – but I loved him. We had some great moments with him, he was the Oncoming Storm and reminded us we are all important. He gave me my first Who episode where I cried, when he regenerated into Ten. He was the first to tell us we were all important. He was Fantastic.

As Nine regenerated into Ten we were introduced to David Tennant’s doctor. Possibly the most popuar of the modern doctors. And as much as Nine was my first, Ten was my first love. Goodness I adored this Doctor. One of my favorite episodes of his era actually doesn’t feature him much, but it does introduce one of the most terrifying monsters in the Who universe. The Weeping Angel. From his message to Sally when he tells us that time is Wibbly Wobbly and whatever you do … don’t blink …

… to when we see the Tardis escape the Angels. These monsters are terrifying, one of those things that exists all over our real world and every time I walk past an angel statue, I keep a very close eye.

In the episode “Silence in the Library” we are introduced to another terrifying monster, the Vashta Nerada. Tiny, microscopic creatures that eat human flesh. We are also introduced to the incredible River Song.

We hear the phrases “Hello Sweetie” and “Spoilers” for the first time, but not the last by a long shot. We meet “Other Dave” and “Proper Dave.” We also get the fantastic quote: “I’m a time traveler, I point and laugh at archeologists.” And another of my favorite Who quotes, regarding the importance of books. We also meet another terrifying monster books-as-weaponsand with the final line in the clip above, we are giving a whole new reason to be afraid of what is always in the dark. This clip also shows, very briefly, some of the humor that I love about the era of the Tenth Doctor. There are some seriously funny moments to be found within the interactions of both The Doctor and Donna Noble and The Doctor and River Song. One of the many reasons Ten might be my favorite doctor.

Another great Ten episode is his first one: “A Christmas Invasion.” The first episode after a regeneration is always interesting. We get to see how the companion has to deal with the new face of the doctor and all of the confusion and loss that goes along with it. And we get to see just what kind of doctor this new guy is gonna be. In Tennant’s first episode … he spends much of it alseep, but when he finally emerges in the dramatic moment, with that eyebrow and that hair, and those simple words, right when the Earth needs saving … totally worth it.

Next time, I’ll continue with my love fest for Ten and talk about the episodes that made me cry like a freaking baby. I could fill a million posts with clips from this show that I love, there are far too many to include all of them, so for now enjoy the few I shared here. If you are a Whovian, what are your favorite moments from the Nine and Ten years? Were you a fan of the Eccleston Doctor, or not? Did you fall for the wit and charm of the Tennant Doctor like I did? I’d love to know if any of my readers are also Whovians!

Stay tuned for more, I intened this to be one big post about my love of all things Who but … there is just too much!

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Whiskey, Golf, Beer and Laughter

1460230_10151789528422747_874297931_nWhen I think of my dad, those are the four things I think of right off the bat. Four of his favorite things. And lucky for him, he could pretty much do all four of them at the same time.

Other things I think of when I think of my dad?

Jigsaw puzzles. Goodness he loved those things. There was ALWAYS one in progress on his coffee table. There in the middle, between the partially full ashtrays, and empty beer cans, always a jigsaw puzzle in some state of IMG_20160618_190615-01togetherness. He’d finish one and start another right away.

Darts. Dad taught me to play darts. We played together in a league in what used to be the best dive bar in town. Every week, drinking Stroh’s and
playing darts. Some of the best times I had were in that crappy and beautiful bar with my dad.

When I did the math this year, I found that in November it will be 16 years 13418683_1018478621566409_4350477012410850950_nsince he passed. 16 fucking years. That seemed like such a giant number to me, because it still seems like just yesterday. When you lose a family member or loved one, you get all that cliched advice. Time heals. It gets better. Blah, blah, blah. But you know what ….

It really doesn’t. It doesn’t heal. It might get easier on some days, but it’s never better. He is gone and never coming back. That is not changing. It will be a shitty I deal with on the regular thing for the rest of my life.

On a daily basis something will happen and I will wish he were here to share it with. I will laugh at something and 13427993_10153640819272747_5962788532013917099_nthink about how hysterical he would have found it. I drink some amazing craft beers and wonder, despite his predilection to Stroh’s, which styles he’d like and which he wouldn’t. I see him in my son. In his amazingly high-level smart-assed-ness and and pro-level sense of humor. I see his giant heart in my daughter. I 13450888_10153643663792747_5045113504424418593_nthink the only person ever to exist with a heart bigger than hers was my dad.

I’m at a point in my life where it would be really great to have him around … and that made this particular Father’s Day a little tougher than the others up to now. I spent the day bar hopping and day drinking and ended up in my current favorite dive bar, drinking a Stroh’s with a Jameson neat to go with it. In honor of Dad.

I miss you Dad! Life is kinda rough right now, so I’m going to power IMG_20160618_190556-01through, like you always did. I’m going to try to laugh more. Play more golf. Find all the best dive bars and play darts in all of them. Drink a Stroh’s every now and then. And laugh. A lot.

 

What I Did Today

  1. Didn’t want to get out of bed
  2. Argued with brain about all the shit you could be doing right now
  3. Lost argument and stayed in bed another hour
  4. Received texts from other humans who were awake and doing things
  5. Gave in to internal guilt and got out of bed
  6. Made coffee
  7. Made eggs while drinking coffee
  8. Made more coffee
  9. Ate eggs while drinking coffee
  10. Made more coffee
  11. Started watching Louie on Netflix
  12. Made more coffee
  13. Opened Pinterest
  14. Lost 9 hours
  15. Went to bed

Super fucking productive day.

Throwback Thursday: A Day in The Life

Back in 2008 I was taking a photography class and as an assignment I followed my son around for two days and took some photos of him. I rediscovered this album the other day and am reminded of two things. 1) time flies. 2) my son is a pretty unusual, interesting, and awesome human. Keep in mind as we move forward, that he was seven years old when these pictures were taken, and right at the peak of his amazing and unlimited imaginative self.

I present to you: A Day In The Life: Jamison Calland (Age 7)

These photos were taken over two days, a Saturday and Sunday, the summer of 2008.

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Like most 7 year old boys, he liked to start his Saturday morning with some breakfast (which was most likely a Pop Tart of some variety) and some cartoons. This was followed by getting dressed, brushing teeth and putting on shoes.

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I hate to say it, but he never ties his shoes any more. He’s learned that thing that guys learn, where they tie them “just enough” so they can slip them off and on. He hates having to wear his boots, because they force him to tie his shoes. It’s the little things.

On this particular Saturday, we took a trip to one of his most favorite places on the planet (even to this day) the zoo. In our case: The Columbus Zoo.

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He has always loved being in control of the map. He gets that from me. Maps are cool. Also, being in control is cool.

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For as long as I can remember, Jamison has said that he wants to be a Marine Biologist when he grows up. Even now he still has that as something he’d like to do for a living. That being said, Jamison doesn’t have a full zoo experience if he doesn’t get down and dirty and touch as many things as he can. Above he can be seen touching a jellyfish, waiting on some Lorikeet to eat out of his cup, and petting a goat.

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I spoke in my last post about Jamison that he was kind. Here he is holding the door at the aquarium for people. I will never forget this moment, because he held the door for just about every person at the zoo. I literally stood there for 5-7 minutes while he held the door for people. He never had a “break” in people and didn’t want to close the door on anyone … so he just stood there … until I physically moved him away. It was simultaneously the sweetest and most ridiculous thing ever.

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Obligitory “Falling Asleep On The Way Home From The Zoo” photo.

 

Day Two

Sunday was a pretty standard summer day for Jamison when he was 7. We kicked around at home for a bit. Went to the park. Got some ice cream. Ya know, normal little boy things. It was a great day.

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I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that Jamison loves Legos. He would spend hours and hours and hours playing with Legos. He currently has an entire 4.5 foot tall dresser full of his Legos. He made some pretty awesome stuff with them as well. He would also start with the actual planned model, but then would tear it apart and put the pieces with his stash and create some fun stuff. For example, right under his hand, that big stack of white things, those are “actually” sacks of sand from some Pirates of the Caribbean set.

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Jamison was the King of Sticks. As you can see, he would gather them from his walks. Walking to/from school or the park, he’d see a stick he liked, he’d bring it home. He could almost always find a stick that somehow looked like a gun. The kid knew his sticks.

 

Nothing better than some time on the playground. This one was a little further from our house, but he liked it better. Also, it was a little bit closer to his favorite ice cream.

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Greater’s Black Raspberry Chip. Oh yeah.

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It wouldn’t be a day in the life if you didn’t lose a tooth, right?

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Nothing like a nice bubble bath after a successful weekend. He’d sit there for hours. Then he turned into one of those boys that I have to bribe to get him in the shower. Why do boys do that? I will never understand.

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Yep. He’s a pretty great kid. I love that underneath it all, he really hasn’t changed much. And that is just fine by me.

 

Herro

Welcome to “fireinabucket” – my crazy corner of the interwebs.

I like to write. And I like nerdy things. And music. And books. And I will talk about all of that here.

I apologize in advance for my inappropriateness.

Talk Proper To Me

I have discovered something about myself.

I have a sort of “type.”

I mean, I already have a type in men who are bald. That is a thing I love. Bald men. But I have discovered another thing I like.

A Proper Gentleman.

Not proper in the way most people would think. I like a guy who says words that most people don’t say in every day conversation.

Things like

“M’lady” and “That is an adorable breast restraint system”

(probably why this is one of my favorite memes:)

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I find people who talk this way completely …well … nerdy and adorable. I was recently binge watching The Mindy Project and discovered the British actor on the show saying things in a similar vein and I realized that a lot of British people talk this way as well. Maybe that is why people (myself included – not gonna lie) find the British accent sexy. Maybe it isn’t the accent itself … maybe the attraction is in those strange, archaic words.  The fact that you are confident enough in your quirky nature to say whatever you want.

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But … a British accent helps.