7 things meme

[dbskyler]

Here's my belated answer to the following meme:

Comment to this post and tell me if you want to play, and I will list seven things I want you to talk about. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.

persiflage_1 gave me the following things to talk about: Sarah Jane Smith, adventures in fanvidding, Sontarans, movies, books, ears, travel.



1. Sarah Jane Smith

I don't remember how old I was when I found Doctor Who, or which episode I first saw, but I do know two things for certain: my first Doctor was the Fourth Doctor, and my first companion was Sarah Jane Smith. It's possible that Harry was also along for that first episode, whichever it was, but if so, he made little impression on me; it was Sarah who stole my attention right from the beginning. I admired her so much. She was my first major role model, and I remember thinking that I wanted to grow up to be just like her.

I can't quite put my finger on exactly what it was that made Sarah so important to me back then. Certainly she was different from most of the other women I was used to seeing on television at the time. She wasn't the love interest, or the helpless victim, or the evil villainess. She wasn't an Amazon princess, or bionic. She wasn't sexy. (Okay, I know some people will disagree with me on that, but she didn't drip "I'm so sexy" in the way that the Charlie's Angels women did. Imagine getting confronted with that show when you're a tween.) Sarah was smart, and capable, and independent, but also (and importantly), she was normal. Or rather, she was special, but her specialness had a normalcy about it. The things that made her special -- being brave, and competent, and caring -- were things that were within my reach. Watching Sarah on my TV screen, I really felt that someday, I could be someone special too, just like she was.

I was devastated when the Doctor forced Sarah to leave in "Hand of Fear." I was even more devastated when I eventually figured out, about halfway through "Face of Evil," that he wasn't going to go back for her. (I really thought that the Doctor would go running back for her once "Deadly Assassin" was over. I really did.) I still loved Doctor Who, of course, and even warmed to Leela after awhile, but I never forgot Sarah and what she had meant to me. I was so excited when I heard that the character was coming back in a new show, K-9 and Company. Unfortunately it turned out to be a terrible show, but even so, I discovered that my love for Sarah remained as high as ever. When she came back again for "The Five Doctors," I thoroughly enjoyed every minute that she was on screen.

Many, many years later, I was reunited with Sarah once again, just as the Doctor was, in "School Reunion." And it was as if she had never been away. I found that even as an adult, I still loved this character, and still identified with her, and still looked up to her as a role model for my (now middle-aged) self. Why is this? Why is it that out of all the television characters I've watched over the decades, this one made such an impression on me, in a way that has lasted for literally most of my life? I don't know, but I do know that I am not alone in feeling this way. And the best explanation I can come up with is it must be due to Elisabeth Sladen, and her wonderful portrayal of the character. I am so sad that we have lost this amazing actress, but I am also so grateful that we got to see her portray Sarah again in recent years, including in a whole new -- and this time, good -- spinoff, the Sarah Jane Adventures.

2. Adventures in Fanvidding

Fanvidding is a very strange creative endeavor. It's very different from writing, because in a story, you as the writer are in complete control. You can have the characters do anything; you can have a scene last for as long or as short of a time as you wish; you can put people together who never met in canon, or keep even Siamese twins apart. With fanvids, you have to work with the material you're given by the show (or, if you're like me, the material you have). You're limited not only by scene composition and length, but also by a host of technical issues that (again, if you're me), you mostly don't understand. Scenes in your fanvid are fuzzy for no discernible reason, or they have weird sparkling effects going on in background walls. You know that it's theoretically possible to slow action down or speed it up, but you have no idea how to do that, so you are stuck with things taking slightly too long, or not quite long enough, and thus being out of synch with the music. But even with all of that, there is an amazing sense of accomplishment that comes with a completed fanvid that somehow makes it all worthwhile. It's definitely something I'm glad I've done, and something I will probably do again at some point in the future.

3. Sontarans

I don't like Sontarans much. I never really cared for them in Classic Who, and I liked them even less when they came back in New Who. They're boring. I think there was a little bit of promise in Robert Holmes' first story with them, where he set them up to be very bureaucratic, so they couldn't carry out their invasion of the Earth without an advance report, but that was never followed up on, and they became very generic villains. Although I did like the Sontaran nurse in "A Good Man Goes to War." I think as individuals they hold a lot more promise than as a generic group of stomp-y, shout-y clone-villains.

4. Movies

As I've gotten older, I've fallen out of touch with the latest big movie releases. And even when I'm not completely out of touch, I find myself not really interested. I remember seeing "Star Wars" over and over again when it first came out (back in those days, movies actually stayed in the movie theaters for a long time). Now I hear about a movie and before I get around to deciding if I want to see it, it's gone. I'm currently trying to decide if I want to see "The Hunger Games." At first it sounded like it didn't interest me at all, but a lot of my younger friends have seen it and think it's good, so I'm considering it. In the meantime, I can't even remember the last movie I saw in a theater. I see the list of current new releases and they all sound too violent, or scary, or stupid, or they're something I've never even heard of. I use Netflix to watch television, and almost never get movies from it. I don't know if this is just me, or part of the normal aging process, but I miss the days when I would know what all the big movie releases were going to be, and get excited waiting for them.

5. Books

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, as I have a lot of avid readers (not to mention librarians) on my flist, but my reading has also slackened off as I've aged. Nowadays, I often re-read old favorites instead of seeking out new books. It's terrible, and I keep meaning to change it, but somehow I don't quite get around to it. Okay, I do occasionally read some new things, but they get sandwiched in between the old things. Right now I'm re-reading "The Naked Sun" by Isaac Asimov, and "Let Your Mind Alone" by James Thurber, and "Plains of Passage" by Jean M. Auel (the nice thing about re-reading is it's not at all confusing to re-read multiple books at once, and you can even skip around to all your favorite parts, or go straight to the parts that you're currently in the mood for). I do have one never-before-read book on my bedstand at the moment, and that's the nonfiction book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes, which is very interesting, actually. But what I really need to do is go get myself a library card (I don't have one for my current local library, yes, I know, bad citizen) and start reading all the great stuff I've heard about but haven't gotten around to yet. I especially want to start checking out the works of Diana Wynne Jones.

6. Ears

I have two cats, and they absolutely love it when I pet their ears. They like their ears scratched, and scritched, and rubbed, and squished, and fooled with, and all sorts of things that you think must feel uncomfortable, or at least a little strange, but the more I squish and flatten and rub their ears, the more they tilt their heads up and close their eyes and purr. It's weird, but also incredibly cute.

7. Travel

I love to travel. I think that in the end, all that we truly own are our experiences, and travel is one of the best experiences out there. I would much rather spend money on travel than on acquiring stuff, because the stuff gets broken, or lost, or worn out, but the fact that I went somewhere and experienced something stays with me forever. Travel is adventure. You don't know what you're doing half the time, or how to get to where you want to go, but that's part of the point of it. I once stayed in a hostel and met two sisters who were traveling together, and they must have been in their seventies, but they were having a great time and didn't care at all that they were much older than anyone else staying there. I want to be them when I grow up. I want to stay in hostels, and ride in crowded trains, and meet people who are forty years younger than me (or more), and enjoy every single minute of it. I especially like international travel because it's interesting and exciting to meet people from other countries and see where they live and how they live, and discover that all the little things that you take for granted as "the way things are done" don't actually have to be done that way at all. Travel gives you perspective, or as Sarah said in "Hand of Fear," it broadens the mind. I don't think that's trite at all; I think it's absolutely true, and I hope to keep being able to travel for as long as I live.

Comments

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

* Yay Sarah Jane!

* I go through phases of only-rereading, and reading-ALL-the-things, and not reading at all because I'm watching too much telly...

Also, if/when you read Diana Wynne Jones I'm sure lost_spook and I want to discuss them with you. :D

* Eee, kitties. I have no kitties. Give yours skritchings for me? :-)

* YAY TRAVEL. One thing about geology as a field, it usually involves travel to places with interesting rocks, and quite often (I am told) somebody else pays for it. I am rather looking forward to that. ;-)

ETA: Blistering barnacles. And after all that I forgot to say "I would like seven things please". ;P I would, please?

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does a lot of re-reading. I find it very relaxing, actually; a good way to wind down from the day. I like to read before I go to bed, but if I'm reading something new, it tends to keep me awake. But I still feel terrible about not reading new things.

My cats say thank you for the skritchings, and can they have a cat treat?

Here are your seven things: Illya Kuryakin, Odo, Gilbert & Sullivan, geology, books, barnacles, and knitting. (Blame Pers for the inclusion of one completely random prompt. She did it to me, but I thought it was a great idea.)

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

*feeds kittehs treat* ;-)

[lolmac]

Would you be willing to give me seven things, even though my past history of actually delivering on memes really sucks?

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Sure! How about: MacGyver (the character or the show, your choice), Richard Dean Anderson, beta reading, penguins, Florida, music, and LOLcats.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Kitties!

:D

Sorry...

Thanks for taking my rather random list and making something interesting of it! (Esp ears!)

Can't wait to talk to you about Diana Wynne Jones!

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Aw, what a cute picture!

And thank you for the interesting list of things to write about!

I guess I'd better hurry up and get some Diana Wynne Jones books. Any suggestions on where I should start?

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

It IS cute, isn't it?! Can't remember who made it but I luffs it!

Personally I'd start with some of the stand-alone novels, rather than, say, the series of Chrestomanci novels.

I love The Ogre Downstairs, Hexwood, The Homeward Bounders, Howl's Moving Castle (though that's the start of a - I think 4 book - series, now I think about it!), Eight Days of Luke, The Time of the Ghost, A Tale of Time City, Archer's Goon.

But beware of Fire and Hemlock - it's brilliant (and highly recommended!) but will possibly turn your brain inside out.

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

I've not read all of Pers's recs yet, but I specially liked Eight Days of Luke and Archer's Goon, of the stand-alones. Tale of Time City was... a wee bit self-consciously futuristic, imo, but admittedly I was sleepy when I read it (never a good thing), and it has at least one laugh-out-loud hilarious scene, to do with botched translations. Also some fabulous timey-wimey twists; DWJ is very good at twists.

OTOH, I started with the Chrestomanci series and I think that was exactly right for me (because Christopher Chant reminds me forcibly of me, not always in a good way; you'll see when/if you get there) - but I didn't pick it myself, lost_spook did with her scary awesome librarian skillz :-) so I have no idea if you'd like it too.

The thing with DWJ is that she deals very honestly / realistically with a lot of messed-up-family issues and the rather annoying people that have them *g* so it is a matter of, some books are going to click with a person more than others. (And Lost_spook is quite right about us liking different ones pretty consistently, but I couldn't think how to say it. XD)

[thisbluespirit]

(And Lost_spook is quite right about us liking different ones pretty consistently, but I couldn't think how to say it. XD

I have no taste? ;-) Anyway, excuse me using someone else's post, but I keep meaning to say - some of those are ones I badly need to re-read and that could change my mind entirely - Eight Days of Luke, pretty much all those published in the last decade (I read in between other YA lit, with a can-I-nominate-this-for-the-Carnegie mentality, which leads to nitpicking; it's not the best way to read for pleasure), Castle in the Air, Black Maria, A Tale of Time City, Power of Three & all the adult books. The ones I actually know I don't like so much are Wilkin's Tooth - not that I hate it, but it's her first book, and it's like DWJ meets the Secret Seven! The Game, because it was so slight, and there was a lot of stuff in it; it could have been a really cool one of her standalones. And I have never liked her adults books as much as the children's/YA - although I do need to reread those, too.

(I am looking forward v much to your opinions on The Homeward Bounders, Dogsbody and The Merlin Conspiracy. And others, but those particularly. :-D)

(Sorry, dbskyler. *offers up virtual flowers*)

[pitry.livejournal.com]

Oi. I'm slightly heartbroken with your Sarah Jane comment. But in a good way!

And heh, as someone who ran into here well in advance, she really does stand out among the old Who companions in my mind too, even years and years later. And I think it has a lot to do with the stuff you mentioned.

(I'd be happy to get 7 things too!)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I sometimes worry that I come across as a crazy person when I get all sentimental about Sarah, so I'm glad that I'm not alone in my feelings. And, well, this time I was asked!

As for seven things, how about: the Doctor, the TARDIS, languages, living abroad, movies, giraffes, and cats.

[thisbluespirit]

I love your answers; some of them are so beautiful. Your comments on travelling are lovely, but also your thoughts on Sarah, and, you even brought the post full circle. :-)

You're limited not only by scene composition and length, but also by a host of technical issues that (again, if you're me), you mostly don't understand.

Oh, yes. :-D *throws up hands in complete bafflement at the technical stuff* (Also re. slowing down/speeding up, I have no idea how it works on iMovie, and knowing vidding, probably in no way whatsoever like on mine, but if I right-click on a clip in the timeline, one of the options I get is 'playback speed', and altering it from there is v simple. A thing I wish I had worked out much earlier during making Summer Fly!)

And, awww, at your cats. They do sound v cute.

Also, I reread a lot, more than I read new things. There is, of course, a reason for that at the moment, but I think it depends on what else is going on - and there's a lot to be said for rereading the books you know you like & getting new things out of them. Of course, I think you should have a library ticket as well, though!

Also justice_turtle and I have almost opposite views on which DWJs we like, so you will probably agree with one of us on each one... :lol: (Although, to be fair, there are many I read only once or twice a v long time ago - I need a proper re-read myself & I might change my mind. I finally found Hexwood again, which I hadn't liked at all as a teenager, and really enjoyed it this time around.) She's very light and humorous & easy to read, but deals quite pragmatically with some dark themes and more complicated stuff in amongst the fantasy when you look again, which is why she's somebody you can come back to as an adult - even though at first she just seems like a whimsical children's writer. You may wonder what we were talking about.

Anyway, even though I actually haven't quite got around to finishing my seven things from Pers, I wouldn't mind some more from you, please. :-)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I've certainly never come across any obvious "playback speed" control in iMovie, but it might be there somewhere. I have to use an older version of iMovie that will run with my old operating system, so it's hard to find out what it will and won't do (all the online sources keep pointing me to more recent versions). I'd also like to find the "get rid of weird sparkling effect in background wall" button (and if there isn't one, there should be!)

Do you have any suggestions for where I should start with DWJ books?

And sure, here are seven things to write about (I checked what Pers gave you so I wouldn't repeat): Leela, Press Gang, YA authors, the Seventh Doctor, penguins, Wales, and music.

[thisbluespirit]

:lol: I thought it wouldn't translate. Still, I only found it recently, so I thought I'd say. (I just found yesterday that I can lengthen clips I cut too short back to how they were, really simply, and I didn't know I could do that. And that was one of my big problems with all my vids. Now that I'm a little better, it's quite fun to actually do some playing around with the features I have. Before it was just sort of a matter of getting it out before it killed me.)

I really don't know! I was thinking about that when I saw your answers to the others yesterday, and I don't know at all. (I'm trying to think if you've mentioned many books and things and I'm not so sure what your likes are - also if she'll chime with you, or not really, I am unsure.) Anyway, with that rider, I have thought & decided maybe Archer's Goon, which is v funny & twisty, with a lot of underlying stuff about families. The Ogre Downstairs has a similar sort of theme, but a little younger and simpler, but still enjoyable (I'm v fond of the toffee bar bit even now). If you have read any fantasy at all, ever (and own a sense of humour, which I think you do ;-D), then the Tough Guide is a must, though it's not fiction. Howl's Moving Castle is also a good starting place, as it plays with the rules of fairy tales (not unlike the Tough Guide & Dark Lord do with fantasy). I think, of the older, slightly darker things, maybe The Time of the Ghost? It's more autobiographical than her others (although with a supernatural plot). But she's pretty good; if you do find your way to the library and they have a few, I'd just take whatever catches your eye - it's usually the best way to go! (As justice_turtle says, each of her books/series is different, and there is a thing where almost everyone will find one of them they dislike. So take at least two, maybe? Heh.) Or something like Dogsbody, The Homeward Bounders or Hexwood, for the unusual ideas in each - those three have a more sf-feel to them. And Charmed Life is never a bad place to start, anyway. (And it is the book to begin with the Chrestomanci stories, if you can - even though in chronological order, it's no longer first. They work best that way, though. After that, you can almost read the rest in any order at all!)

I'm sorry. That was epic. 'Never ask me about books' should be a rule of LJ.

And, thank you. I'll have to see about answering all my things from you both, some time soon, now!