Student of Life

Well, vacation time is nearly ended for me.

Later this afternoon, I go back and dealing with screaming people who are busy preparing for the Super Bowl. Seattle was knocked out of the playoffs by Green Bay so I really don't care who wins or loses this one. After Super Bowl 40, my thoughts began to compare the NFL with the WWE and at that point, I pretty much lost all interest in football. I think the rest of the nation hates to see any Washington State team do well. Every time we start too, I get the impression that the sports reporters would like to call Mulder and Scully in and see if there is anything "special" in the espressos.

Apathy towards American football aside, I just relaxed and didn't do much of value over the last nine days. I watched some more television DVDs, but I'm not as avid a watcher as my girlfriend (or I haven't tripped over that series that makes me go gaga). I did attempt to watch a live stream of the Doctor Who holiday special that was on in Britain at X-mas, but it kept cutting out right where I wanted to see it the most. I had read someplace that there was going to a repairing of the Tardis at the end and I was looking for an improvement. I'm not a big fan of the smoker's yellow Tardis. I much preferred the classic white or maybe the wood paneling Tardis the fourth Doctor had in the 70's.

All of which leads me to another observation about watching videos. Sometimes it's about the company you watch it with. Case in point, NCIS. When I was watching them on television at my grandmother's house, they were tolerable. Now that I'm in my apartment, it's improved even though it is the same episodes. Stargate SG-1 has been great thus far. I am disc four right now (and disc five on NCIS). I think we are also on disc six of House. TV is great without commercials.

I am disappointed in one thing. I really haven't done anything creative. Given my mental state before I went on vacation, however, and I think I just needed rest.

Hope all is well in your world.

Sam

Quick post. After delaying a day, I don't feel quite as verbose.

1) There are a lot of DVDs we (meaning the girlfriend and I) want. I've been listing them on a spreadsheet to see what the final tally would be. It came in around 15 grand to purchase the rest. I'm not that rich so I don't expect to complete the list. Still, there is the fun in hunting the cheapest version of what you want.

and...

2) Take Eric Cartman, you know, the fat kid on South Park. Grow him up, let him lose a lot of weight. Give him an education and a good paying job. Then shoot him in the leg. Wouldn't he end up being like Dr. Gregory House on House?

Now that I have totally warped your view on that medical drama...

Have a good day. :)

Ok, this is the second half to my overdue thoughts. You don't need to read the first half to understand the second.

Over the last four months, I am reminded by something my father said to me. He said that when "anybody moves to a new apartment as part of a major lifestyle change, they will overdo it on one item that they most felt was lacking in the last place." Or words like that. It's been 17 or 18 years since those words were spoken when he was separating from my mother. In my dad's case, it was towels. In the case of my girlfriend and I, it's television DVD boxsets.

Since my last series of postings, we have bought:

• All of Dead Like Me
  
• Seasons One and Two of Veronica Mars
  
• Season One of NCIS
  
• Seasons One and Two of Stargate: SG-1
  

In my defense, they are not gathering dust. They are being watched.

Speaking of which, we have gotten through Dead Like Me, Eureka, and the second season of House since the last time I have bothered to seriously type.

Dead Like Me has become one of Sandy's favorite shows. She can't wait for the straight-to-dvd movie to come out. She has mixed feelings on another season. She would absolutely love it, but that love is tempered by the fact that the Sci-fi channel would censor a lot of what she enjoys about the show. Dead Like Me was originally on Showtime. As for me, I enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as she did. One thing I should note about my girlfriend is that she hates the way the Sci-fi channel does things lately.

Like running the episodes out of order in Eureka. I'm not sure why Sci-Fi did that, but since I haven't seen it on Sci-fi, it doesn't bother me. Eureka is...quirky. It's not horrible and I did enjoy it, but it's not going to become one of my favorites. Eureka was a DVD set that my uncle decided I needed to see even though I didn't put it on the Christmas list. We will pick up season two sometime in the future, but there are other things I'd rather see first. I think Sandy feels similar on this one.

Then there is House. I am current on House until if and when they ever release a Season Four box set. I'm glad I'm current on House. That said, I don't feel the need to watch every episode of House. For me, this is one of those shows that I could watch a disc and be good for a long while. My girlfriend, on the other hand, has gone through season two and is on the first disc of season three. Which is her prerogative and in the the evening there will be House.

On my vacation, though, there will be Stargate: SG-1. As strange as it may sound, I never seen the show for longer than about ten minutes at a time. This was one of those series that I felt that I had to see the earlier ones to enjoy the later ones. Now I have a chance, and I got to say, for the most part, they rock. I've gone through eight episodes and have found only one dud. Good thing they are cheaper now. This hobby could get expensive otherwise.

As I'm typing this, I have thoughts for another post, but I'll save it for tomorrow.


Have a great day.

Three weeks have passed by and nothing serious to report. Well, nothing majorly fun anyway.

Work is work and since I was in dire need of a vacation, it became the feeling of morning crew against everybody else in the department. I'm on vacation now. Better yet, I have managed to take my vacation at the same time as the other "experienced closer" in the department. Morning crew's faith in any other crew is lacking so they nominated one of them to go on a closing shift in our absence (even though there are two perfectly capable closers in the department). Wish I could be a fly on the wall for this stunt. :)

Anyway, the only other thing I'll say is Josh needed an insanity break. He's currently at Further Confusion in San Diego. It's a furry convention. I needed a sanity break. I'm in my apartment, away from the loonies (for the most part). I am looking forward to some stories from Josh, however. This is his first convention.

But for me, it's catching up on DVD time. I'm going to conclude my thoughts in another post. This feels like another long winded essay coming from me so it's best to split it in two.

It's five days into 2008 and thus far, I'm not impressed.

Work, from my vantage point seems to have taken a rather surreal sort of existence. Yes, I know I'm being vague on that. I don't like to discuss work, but it has been the major point of the last five. Probably didn't help matters that yesterday and today were the first two days off in a row I've had since the week before X-mas.

In my off time, when I have actually felt energy, I've been catching up on the DVDs the girlfriend and I got over the holidays.

Bones Season Two was good, although I find myself liking the first boss of the Jeffersonian more than I like Cam. I understand the need for love triangles, but Dr. Goodman (the first boss) seemed more like what I'd expect a Smithsonian executive to be like.

Criminal Minds Season One was also good. Only problem with that boxset is that I saw most of the episodes already. My girlfriend, Sandy, hadn't though so that gift was more for her.

I've commented on Doctor Who already. I think I'll stick with the classic series for a while. I may end up getting Torchwood Season One and Doctor Who Series One to be current with the new stuff. Depends on how the next paycheck looks before I act.

Over Christmas, I ended up watching Firefly and Serenity. Firefly was a good series that was just on the wrong network (Fox). I think we'd be looking at Season Three or Four if it was on Sci-Fi or Showtime.

I have similar feelings on Invader Zim. Zim would still be on the air if it was on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Of course, the only reason to watch Invader Zim is for Gir...

Going alphabetically, it's Eureka and lots and lots of House next. I can use an unearthly amount of cynicism right now. It matches my mood five days a week. Hopefully, I don't suffer an overdose.

Hope all is well in your universe,

Sam.

Not much to report this time around. I know that I am heading into New Year's and the tradition is to make resolutions, but I'm not the type who makes resolutions. At least not in January. I find my promises to improve myself have much more impact if I make them at any other time of the year.

Still, I'd like to get a little focus. Especially when it comes to the creative and the writing. Creating a fiction gives me endorphins and I miss those. In the meantime, I have asked (and received) television DVD sets for the holidays.

Some of the boxsets I got were Doctor Who. Specifically, Season Three and the New Beginnings Boxset. I love the New Beginnings. It featured the Master when he returned in the early 80's. The actor who played the Master in the 70's had died so they put the Master on hiatus for a while. It goes well with Season Three which reintroduces the Master for the new millennium. I like the Classic DVDs and the features that they put into them.

I wish I could be as jazzed about Season Three. Thus far, out of seven episodes, two have been good, two have been bad, and three have been forgettable. Oh, and the Christmas special wasn't very good either. They really need to put a stop to those. Doctor Who is just not a Christmas thing. It's not grounded in Earth.

There are other shows I got to and I will need them to get the taste of Season Three out of my mouth. One of those is Sci-Fi (Eureka), the rest are mysteries. Right now, I'm catching up on Season Two of Bones and I'm enjoying it a lot. I still prefer the first boss over the new boss, however. It seemed more believable to me. In the end, however, it is only a minor nitpick on an excellent show.

It will take some time for me to comment on all I have gotten. Right now, I have some outside things to deal with. It is a sunny morning and videos are best for rainy/snowy days. Time for me to play outside.

In the meantime, if I don't write before then, happy new year.

Well, two things have occurred lately.

1) I have a sinus infection which is preventing me from working, but I'm on antibiotics for that.

2) Some Christmas cash came early.

When I am sick, I like watching classic Doctor Who. Not to knock the new series, but I was a young kid in the 80's so that period has more goosebump nostalgic feelings for me. That and nobody else in my family buys those unless I write VERY detailed lists. Mostly because I'm the only one in the family who loves the old stuff. At least my girlfriend enjoys the new stuff.

This time I had cash, so I bought the "New Beginnings" boxset and "Survival".

Survival was a two disc DVD. Considering that it was only three episodes long, the only reason is for all of the extras. If it was for the story alone, this would be overkill. Survival is noted for being the very last episode of the classic series. It was interesting to hear what they would have done with The Doctor and Ace had the show gone on another season. I have mixed feelings on that. On the one hand, what they were going to do with Ace (train her to be a timelord) would have been "wicked" to see. On the other, the BBC Controller was right in saying that the show did need a hiatus (although the length of the hiatus was ridiculous). The BBC wasn't treating the show very good, especially when you see how it is being handled now.

On a happier note, there is the "New Beginnings" boxset. Actually, it's three stories: The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis, and Castrovalva. There are two reasons it is called "New Beginnings". First, the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) steps down and the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) begins his run. Second, it is the return of the Master and the first appearance of the Master played by Antony Ainley. Ainley would end up playing that role for the rest of the classic series.

Again, I find myself looking at these with mixed feelings. I like Ainley as the Master (even more so than Delgado, sorry purists), but these episodes also feature my least favorite companion, Adric. I know I'm not alone in that, and I won't go Adric bashing here. It's just when I was looking at the pdf of the 1982 Doctor Who Annual (included with the DVD) and saw it featuring stories of Adric (and no other companion), it bought the cringe factor home. Otherwise, I found them to be very enjoyable DVDs and the features on them were informative.

What can I say? Some weeks, the dragon wins....

Got sick on Saturday. Stayed sick on Sunday. Felt better enough to go to work on Monday (barely). Lost Cell phone on Monday. Lost Internet connection on Tuesday. Got the phone back on Wednesday, but discovered it is severely damaged and I will need to get a new one.

In the meantime, I'm not seeing any bills that should be in the mail at the beginning of the month. Because I was sick, I only listened to one and a part Doctor Who CDs. The part I didn't finish up from last week was laughable. Decent, but laughable. The one I completely listened to (Phantasmagoria) was twenty minutes shorter than any Doctor Who CD I listened to yet. I was unimpressed to say the least.

Oh well. Right now, all I have to deal with is two days off. Two well deserved days off. Yea! Thank goodness this week is over.

Wow. This took a lot longer than I thought it would. Three days longer, actually.

Anyway, with all of the talk about New Who Season Four and who or who may not be on it going on, I'd thought I'd take a small look back at the very first Big Finish Doctor Who, The Sirens of Time. Especially since the "new fan favorite" Doctor #5 is on it.



The Sirens of Time
Doctors: 5th, 6th, 7th
Companions: None
Written By: Nicholas Briggs
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs
Episodes: 4 (Approx 125 minutes total)

Story: Gallifrey, the Doctor's homeworld, is under attack by an enemy who is using three different incarnations of the Doctor as a pawn. If the Doctors don't repel this invasion, not only Gallifrey but all of time will be wrecked beyond repair.

Comments on Story: The story is okay. I've listened to it twice (with each listen more than a year apart). There are some things I did remember and some I forgot. While I did enjoy the fact that each individual Doctor did get his own "episode" (first 7th, then 5th, then 6th), it *did* seemed rushed and force-fed in the last part. Nicholas Briggs even admitted that this was not his best story, going on to say that "Multi-Doctor are like a poisoned chalice. Everybody wants them, but they really aren't the classic Doctor Who stories". There may be some paraphrasing there as I haven't listened to the extras on 100 in a while. Still, for an introduction to the audio line, they could have done a lot worse.

Let's give this thing a 6/10, if you want a hard number.

Other thoughts: What strikes me most about the Sirens of Time isn't the story, but the statements that Big Finish was making when it released it.

First, they have the original actors playing the roles they played on television.

Second, Big Finish was on a mission of sorts. They were going to make you like the 6th Doctor. If you have ever watched the 6th Doctor television, it can be painful. Colin Baker's (the actor who played the 6th Doctor)tenure on the show wasn't the shows best, to be charitable.

What impresses me is even at the first audio story, they pulled that off. The 6th Doctor actually does some likable things. I can't help but notice that the Sirens of Time CD cover has Colin prominently in the center. While it could be argued as happenstance (the Doctors are in order of incarnation - 5,6,7), I wonder if it wasn't a sign of things to come.

I have a newer version of the CD. This means at the end of it, they give previews for each Doctor's next adventure with Big Finish. Phantasmagoria (5), Whispers of Terror (6), and The Fearmonger (7) are covered. What is also significant is the preview to Storm Warning which was the first Big Finish adventure for the 8th Doctor. The 8th Doctor was maligned in television, but for a different set of reasons.

Looking back on things, it seems that Big Finish's true strength was to rectify things in Doctor Who fandom that were less liked. Both the 6th and 8th Doctors tend to be their "main doctors". The 8th Doctor even has a radio series on BBC7. This isn't to say that the "odd doctor's" are not taken care of here. Just that the "even doctors" needed more TLC when it came to fandom.

All in all, a decent beginning, but only a beginning.

My apologies for the long rant. If there is anything that I'm missing, please let me know.

I promise that I will get to my take on the Big Finish Doctor Who Audios. It's taking me a bit longer than I thought to get the formatting the way I like it.

I think I have the right format ideas now and will get to it tonight.

In the meantime, I did get two more CDs, bringing my grand total up to eight.

Big Finish Doctor Who Count:
(not including the Eight Doctor BBC7 stuff or specials)

• Available: 102
  
• Listened To: 5
  
• Own: 8
  
• Left to Get: 94
  

The Ones I have
BF 01: The Sirens of Time
BF 02: Phantasmagoria (need to listen to)
BF 03: Whispers of Terror (need to listen to)
BF 11: The Apocalypse Element
BF 16: Storm Warning (need to listen to)
BF 100: 100
BF 101: Absolution
BF 102: The Mind's Eye

If there are any fans of the Big Finish Doctor Who audios out there who catch this, please feel free to give me recommendations on ones to get next.

If there is one thing that I'm not quite satisfied in my life, it's my job. Specifically, the fact that I work for a big box chain with two stores that are within a ten minute commute and yet I the store I work at is about 25-30 minutes away, depending on traffic.

That's about an hour where I have to think of boring things like traffic instead of day dreaming. Fortunately, I have something to take the edge off. Audio CDs. Technically, they are radio plays based off my favorite television show of all time. Doctor Who.

For those who want information on the series, check out the Wikipedia page here. It does a much more through job that I can do at the moment. Anyway, the radio plays(produced by a company called Big Finish) feature the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth incarnation of the Doctor and their companions. They currently have 102 plays which they released monthly.

Out of which, I have six. By the end of the week, that should raise up to eight. I've discovered that my weekly commute can be dealt with by two of these radio plays, more or less. Over the next few posts, I will cover the ones I have and let you know what I think about them. In the meantime, it's time I get some sleep.

Nor am I going to apologize for the lapse in time.

Anyway, moving is done for the moment. There are things still in Marysville and they can stay there for the time being. There are major household things I should get someday, but that someday is after the holidays. I'm now in Everett, and for the most part, happier.

I work in retail, but have the day off. Yes, I am keenly aware that today is Black Friday. I work, though, in the grocery side of Wal-Mart where Black Friday really isn't that big a deal. Leading up to Thanksgiving, though, that's more of a happy jaunt through the tenth gate of hell. At least for me.

No. Today is a well earned day of rest for me. For those brave souls who had to endure the trampling of hordes through their stores, take heart, it gets easier from here. Speaking of which, a nap sounds good right now.

I remember enjoying lots of various artists as a kid, but I'd say the first "I love this band. I must collect everything they ever did, etc." would be They Might Be Giants.

As far as whose album did I overplay first, that would be ABBA's Voluez-Vous.

Last time I wrote, I was frantic. Maybe not in my posts, but I was certainly at wit's end.

Essentially, I needed to find my own place or I'd find myself in a mental ward. So two weeks ago, I began to find one in South Everett. It turns out the first place I looked at is the place I'm moving into. Or`will be when I sign the lease in about a week or so. They are cleaning the apartment still. I do have the deposit down so it is mine when the time comes.

In the meantime, I'm on vacation and catching up on some much needed projects and sleep. There's no need to pack on my end yet. My girlfriend, however, will have all of her stuff packed an hour before we sign the lease. She is like a kid at Christmas right now.

I'm just glad I found it in September and so quickly. On the 16th is my birthday so birthday money is going for apartment stuff. It will the ideal time to save.

So right now, I get to be lazy and will be anything but next week. Good times.

Cheers.

Not everything in my life is seriously deep, depressing, and whiny. Sometimes I take a little bit of time and think about some of the items that I stock at work. For the record, I stock in the dairy department so today's thought process deals with food items.

First one deals with Trix Yogurt. I stock them in eight packs which look like this.



Now, the current packages have a cute little contest titled "Who stole the Trix?" Now, I have no idea who stole the trix and nor deep down do I care. What I do have is a suspicion on where the theif hid the Trix yogurt. There are around 100 cases of the damn stuff in the backroom at my store. Will the thief please come forward and take back the crap? ;-)

The other food thought deals with Pillsbury Grand Biscuits. Now I only have a picture of the Frozen version because the picture of the cans I stock was way too small for this blog.




The important part of the package though is still there. It's that little seal. The seal features a picture of B.Smith and says that Pillsbury Grands are what she feeds her family. It also says that she's an award winning chef.

My best guess is that biscuits are not her strong suit. Especially if Pillsbury is paying her NOT to make homemade biscuits for the loved ones. I will also go on a limb and suggest that the award was not given at a county fair for biscuits. :)

I say this in a tongue-in-cheek playful manner. It is just I have never heard of her, or seen her before now and I watch Food Network. Oh well, if you can't have a little fun at work... :)

Maybe I will write something intellegent tommorrow.

I've spent a long time in my life thinking about religion.  I thought I had gone through this phase in the mid 90's, but it has come back in my life.  Because of my grandmother's health, I've begun to notice it again.

Last time it began with a questioning of the Pentecostal church.  They were beginning to get too political for me and their politics were getting to be very different than mine.   That hasn't lessened with time and the Evangencial Christians seem to be trying to put church (theirs) and state together into a lovely theocracy.   This isn't going to be a Christian slamming session.  I'm listing this for history's sake.

In July 1992, my mother committed suicide.  As with the case of any suicide, there is a hell of a lot of soul searching as every survivor tries to rationalize the damn thing.  There really wasn't anything to rationalize.  She was unbalanced and refused to see a shrink. When we all got tired of the unbalancing, she decided to "teach us a lesson."  Her method was by taking a bunch of sleeping pills, starting up two cars in a garage, and then inhale a bunch of carbon monoxide and never wake up.  Pretty pathetic, really, but back then, it was unreal and devastating.  My Grandfather never did understand and it may have helped hasten his death.  I remember getting a religious book from my friend's mom, but not reading it.  By that time, the Pentecostal way and I split ways, never to return.  I don't knock it for others, but it's not my thing.

Around that time, a girl I had a crush on was going through similar issues.  In her case, it was a holier-than-thou would be partner who nearly drove her to the same place my mom went.   Her solution to that was to do a complete 180 and she began to check out Paganism.  Shortly there after, she identified herself as a witch.  In the course of helping her figure out just what that was going to entail, I got a dose of the pagan beliefs.  Some of them were pretty out there.   Spells and prayers were pretty much interchangeable and I thought both of them were equally ineffective at the time.

At least, she was a green witch.  I discovered the differences between green and black (and I'm not talking card game here), and if I think there's any black magic associated with a place or item, I will not enter there or have anything to do with the item.  That's about the only quirky superstition I carry from the 90's.  For some reason, Paganism was popular back then (or at least I was thinking so at the time).

I will say this though.  There were some "oddness" I found enjoyable and enlightening.  From time to time, I play with the I Ching, and when I felt the need to leave thoughts of religion, I promised that I would continue researching Oriental Philosophy when I was ready.  To this day, I refer to religion, or the lack of it as a path.

Lack of religion, otherwise known as Atheism, has become the new Paganism.  The two have some differences, obviously.  I only compare them this way because it seems to be the new "anti-Christianity"  to me.  It seems to be the main "non-Christian religion" at work, and in StumbleUpon, I have come across more atheism sites than pagan ones.  Keep in mind that I wasn't really actively searching for either.  I'm sure if I googled "wicca", it wouldn't be long before I located them.  There is something else that links the two in my mind.  Both of them would love to see Christianity wiped off the face of the Earth even if the followers won't say that to your face.  The tone is there, though. 

This isn't to say that both are advocating holy war.  Just that neither would miss Christians should they accidentally disappear one day.  Yes, I am familiar with Revelations.

All of which brings me to the one religious truth that Pagans, Christians, Muslims (I watch the news too), and Atheists all share.  They all sound  f**king alike!!!  The tone is EXACTLY the same.  Saying that, unless you are near a tolerant soul, will get you into a fight. So that's the number one thing.

All off them though, speak as if they are wrongly accused of some horrible deed that they obviously didn't do.  They are the oppressed in a world that has it in for them.  They don't know why this is, except that it may be evil, but it is unacceptable.  And now, it is time to rise up against this evil.  This is what I hear when I hear the above speak.  It's the voice of disenfranchisement.  It says my way or no way.  Either you are with me or against me, etc.

Frankly, I'm tired of war, whether it be physical or spiritual.  We should find a more peaceful way to live our lives, really.  Maybe this is why Buddhism is beginning to appeal to me.  All they say is "this is our path, come or stay, your choice."  I can live with that.  Although ultimately, I think I will just try to take the lessons without any of the religiony (or lack thereof) nonsense.

It's time to begin again, at least where blogging is concerned. There are other beginnings I would love to take, but right now those are much more difficult for me to undergo at the moment.

I guess I should start by letting you know who exactly you are dealing with. At least as well as I can. Right now, it amazes me how I can be philosophical and near zen-like at some moments, then be ready to explode mere moments later. Personally, I prefer the former and will try to keep that tone in writing on a blog.

Some basics about me:

• I'm 33 years old and in less than a month that will turn to 34. As a result, I have this tendency to refer to myself as a 35 year old.
• I'm a white guy and no amount of UV rays are going to change that (unless I like becoming red and the pain attached to sunburns)


• I live in Marysville, Washington, USA. Marysville is a town that is beginning to grow (on the Tulalip side) and will continue to do so, whether I like the added traffic or not. For those not familiar with the area, Marysville is around 40 miles north of Seattle.
• Being from a "blue state", I view myself as a classic liberal, although on some topics I can be conservative. However, not everyone in Washington State are liberals. The Eastern side of the state tends to be more conservative.


• I work at Wal-Mart and at one of the busiest ones in the company. When it comes to the bigger political picture of Wal-Mart, I will neither praise nor criticize. This is just a job for me.


• Then there is the home task. Right now, I'm taking care of a very sick grandmother. Over the ten months, she's had a heart attack, been diagnosed with a tumor on the ovaries (benign), gone through hip surgery, heart surgery, two auto accidents, a close call with an accidental overdose (she was following doctor's orders precisely), and now she is getting ready for the tumor surgery. I'm beginning to doubt whether she's going to make it or not.


• All of the above makes dealing with my grandmother like dealing with a cat. Sometimes everything is proper enough, but then there are these moments where if you aren't doing exactly what she thinks you should be doing...very frustrating.

Between the home-life and work, this is why I'm bouncing around up and down emotionally. I know that this is a phase (for me, for her, I think it is permanent) and that things will improve. I am looking forward to Saturday, where hopefully, I can catch up on some Flash Gordon and Doctor Who.