Coin Flip Poems

Everyone holds in them the possibility of being light or dark, hope and 

joy.  Here are two poems that show both sides of the coin, so to speak.

JARS OF CLAY

Jars of clay can’t capture of hearts                  

Hands can’t hold our spirits                            

Break us down to our component parts            

We still retain our specialness                        

In the break of dawn we will rise                      

Our hearts will soar to new heights                  

Every new day we sing new praise                   

Tomorrow brings new challenges                      

                                                                                                               JUST OUT OF REACH     

                                                                                        Reaching for the stars just out of grasp     

                                                                                                    Falling further and further away     

                                                                                                                               I don’t know     

                                                                                                             I keep reaching overhead     

                                                                                                        Knowing they just get away      

                                                                           The stars will align for their own desperate need      

                                                                                                 Needing no help for anyone here      

                                                                                                                    Why should I think       

                                                                                                         That I’m someone special?      

                                                                                                                 I shed one single tear      

Coin Flip Poems

Everyone holds in them the possibility of being light or dark, hope and joy.  Here are two poems that show both sides of the coin, so to speak.

JARS OF CLAY

Jars of clay can’t capture of hearts

Hands can’t hold our spirits

Break us down to our component parts

We still retain our specialness

In the break of dawn we will rise

Our hearts will soar to new heights

Every new day we sing new praise

Tomorrow brings new challenges

JUST OUT OF REACH

Reaching for the stars just out of grasp

Falling further and further away

I don’t know

I keep reaching overhead

Knowing they just get away

The stars will align for their own desperate need

Needing no help for anyone here

Why should I think

That I’m someone special?

I shed one single tear

Domino Effect

So I saw a box of dominoes the other day and it started me thinking.  When I was in fourth grade, dominoes were THE thing.  My whole class was obsessed.  We spent a long time setting up a chain that went all the way around the classroom.  Now, I am a bit older then I let on.  At this time there was no YouTube, no iPhones, heck there were barely cell phone and computers.  We didn't built this domino domination for any specific purpose.(Although, there was talk of Ripley’s)  We did it for the sheer joy of building something, of having fun.  Do kids do this anymore?  Do they have fun?  Everything is done with a purpose or an eye towards getting ahead.  If you do something fabulous, you can get famous.  You can have a singing career, if someone notices you on YouTube.  Heck, even I've fallen prey to it at times.  I’m writing this aren't I?  We, as a society, have lost our joy.  Then, we wonder why we haven’t figured out solution to our problems.  Joy leads to creativity.  Without joy we have no imagination.  We need to shut out the constant pressure to achieve and simply build for the joy of building.  Our houses look like cardboard cutouts of one another, just like some of our pictures.  We take pictures for the purpose of sharing them but not for the purpose of taking pictures.  I believe we took better pictures when we had to pay to get them developed.  It all comes down to the same thing.  Our technology is making an impact on our society and I’m not sure that it is having the most desired effect.  But like the dominoes, once started the ripples can’t be stopped unless you try.

50th Sneak peeks Doctor Who

I told you so
So this came up on my Twitter.  I dutifully watched through all the video.  In the last, and I mean last minute or two of video, there is a clip on set with David Tennant and Matt Smith.  There is no action just them standing there.  But the clip is in a forest.  Not on a plain in Edinburgh.  Not in the Castle.  Not in any of the photos that we were allowed to see.  I told you that they were filming in secret.  Now all bets are off.

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12:Part 12 The New Guy

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part 12 The New Guy

So we have a new Doctor in the house.  I haven’t seen any of Peter Capadli‘s work except Doctor Who and Torchwood:COE.  I’m not sure how he will be as The Doctor.  He strikes me as a cross between Chris Ecceslston and Peter Davisdon.  He seems like he will be serious but with a wry sense of humour.  There is one important thing to note though.  Moffat said story ARC.  That implies a set period of time.  I give him one, two years tops.  Then we will be going through this all over again.  It seems we will always be getting our hearts broken with the Doctor.  I think I know why.  He can never belong to us.  Like Martha Jones discovered, he not for us, he’s for the universe.  Rose couldn’t have him either, she only got half, the human half in fact.  The Doctor is more important than we know.  We should be grateful that we have had such wonderful men to play him and be hopeful that we get as much time as possible with him.  After all he’s already in his 13^th incarnation if you count John Hurt’s character as cannon.   And Time Lords only get 12 regenerations!

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 : Part 11- Matt and the Master???

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part 11- Matt and the Master???

So Matt Smith the 11^th doctor has yet to have his swan song, or has he?  In The Impossible Astronaut the Doctor dies.  It turns out to be the Tessalector, of course, but we were left wondering for most of a season.  This could be a preview of how the doctor dies.  He goes willing with no regret.  He walks into it with his head held high.  I would love to see Matt tangle with the Master but I don’t see that in the cards.  I could see a surprise appearance by River.  I think the Daleks or Cybermen will do the Deed.  Then Peter will come in hands blazing with regeneration power and zap them to death.

Up Next Part 12

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12: Part 10 Bye- Bye Cutie Pie

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part 10- Bye- Bye Cutie Pie

        The Doctor has been warned several times by the Ood that the end of time was coming, the end was coming.  He still goes to Earth to find out why the visions point to this time and this place.  He runs into Wilf.(Donna Noble’s Grandfather)  The Doctor tells Wilf that he’s not finished yet.  Wilf tells him to leave.  The Doctor refuses to abandon Earth.  

         Then we see the Master's plan take shape.  He is regenerated but badly. (Is the Regeneration system broken down,LOL?) The Master wants to gift the Earth and all its people to the Time Lords.  Then he realizes they planned this since he was a child and were probably at fault for him being bat S^*! crazy.  In a twist, the Master saves the Doctor and is sucked back into the Time War with the Gallifrian High Council hopefully never to be seen again.  

         Then Doctor begins to travel back and forth to his companions without crossing his own time line.(don’t cross the streams!)  I think one of the most likely to cause tears moments is him meeting Rose again, for the last time, before she ever meets him and she has no idea who he is.(you’re gonna have a great year)  Also heart wrenching is the last line, “I don’t want to go”.  It’s not said begging or whining (whinging for you Brits) but like a baby bird about to fledge. The nest is nice and comfy, there’s mom and dad, free food, why leave?  But now harder times are coming because not all their prophecies are fulfilled. 

         There’s more to come.  Then the Doctor wakes up to a crashing ship and the first thing he checks is his hair length and color.  He seems more concerned about his appearance then the fact that his ship, his beloved TARDIS is literally burning itself apart.  When he lands he seems more concerned about playing with his food then fixing his ship.  Also it tunrs out this little girl needs his help.

Up Next Part 11

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12:Part 8 UnCancelled

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part 8 UnCancelled

In 2005 BBC decided it was time to un-cancel Doctor Who.  There was no introduction of the Doctor’s character or regeneration. They gave no background in the first story but they did choice a familiar “monster” for the first story, the Autons.  This Doctor was no longer child-like and innocence.  He was a quick witted action star along the lines of James Bond and Ethan Hunt from M:I.  He dressed in black leathers and spoke with a Northern Accent (everywhere has a north).   He had serious romantic interests in his “companion” now a true leading lady.  He even had romantic interest in men.  There are rumors that this is why Christopher Eccelston left after one year.  He supposedly didn't like the direction the story line was headed.  These were never confirmed.  He just opted not to renew his contract.  The new series gives a second new permanent character in the “person” of the TARDIS.  It seems to have a life of it’s own. It opens to show all of space and time to Rose.  She cannot handle this information or it will burn out her human brain.  The Doctor kisses her and absorbs it and causes himself to regenerate.  This also sets up the Doctor to have all the information in the universe.

UP NEXT Part 9 Bye- BYe Cutie Pie

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12:Part 7 A Tv Movie and a break

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

 Part 7 A Tv Movie and a break

This brings us to the TV Movie.  This is one of the most elaborate regeneration sequences.  There have been many who call it messianic.  The Doctor has landed in America, San Francisco specially.  He mentions that he is only half Time Lord.  This is the first time the Doctor kisses someone, which caused major controversy.  There is a very American stamp to the movie.  There are explosions and big budge SFX.  It was intended to be the start of a new series in America but it never got off the ground.  Scheduling conflicts and politics got in the way.  Also Americans tend to like our British TV, BRITISH, not Americanized.  It was an iconic failure.  Everyone thought that the Doctor was finished.

UP Next Part 8

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12: Part 6 We've got magic to do

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part 6-

After a brief break, Sylvester McCoy was brought in as the next doctor.  From his first moments, he made his mark.  He moved and acted differently from the other Doctors.  He was a complete departure from Colin Baker’s crazy, mad Doctor.  The sixth Doctor was more intellectual but still personal.  He was a jaunting, jocular Doctor easy with a magic trick or two to pull out.  We go back to the regular order of events and episodes.  Although the series never regained the rating and love it had in the 70’s with Tom Baker, Sylvester did a wonderful job creating a new twist on an old character.  He never got a regeneration of the TV series but later was called in to regenerate into Paul McGann for the TV movie.

Up next part seven

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12: Part 5- Trials and Tribulations

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

 Part 5- Trials and Tribulations 

An epic production of length, Trial of a Time Lord, finds the Doctor having to defend his life, his lifestyle and personal choices.  The punishment for being found guilty would be permanent death.  Several things are mentioned often about this episode that do not seem to fit in to traditional Doctor Who lore.  Many people objected to the death of Peri so they made it not happen.  There is a lot of jumping about, mental, in this episode and it doesn't seem to flow properly.  The internal issues at BBC had plagued Colin Baker’s tenure as the Doctor and would flavor even his death.  He didn't even get a proper regeneration.

UP NEXT Part 6

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12:Part 4- Strifes, Strikes and a Trial

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part 4- Strifes, Strikes and a Trial

Caves of Androzoni was not an overwhelming episode.  It played off the ideas of Phantom of the Opera with the ultimate goal of eternal life.  Why do evil masterminds never get creative?  They are always searching for ultimate power or eternal life.  For a regeneration story, this lacks pizzazz.  The Doctor sacrifices himself to save Tegan.  The budget restraints of the BBC again show their ugly head.  The regeneration sequences seem unfinished.  In later interviews the Director and producers et all, indicated that there HAD been more planned with the SFX and filming more dialogue to be shot.  There was a strike or two to work around.  Not a good beginning for Colin Baker’s Doctor.  His first story was Twin Dilemma.  A sub par plot of a would be tyrant trying to take over the universe.  This Who episode has some of the worst Doctor Who cliches, including rubber masks, running down endless corridors over and over again, and 1980’s SFX.  There is a second Time Lord present and we don’t get much information about him of the Time Lords.  Also he dies without regenerating!  Colin Baker went on to have the worst time in the TARDIS.  The threat of cancellation was constantly over head, and several strikes ending up closing down BBC for significant periods of time.  This causes The Doctor to be put on Trial.  In the show it was the Time Lord high counsel but in reality it was BBC.

Coming Next Part 5

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 Part 3-For whom the Bell Tolls

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part three- For whom the Bell Tolls

When Tom Baker decided to leave I’m sure the BBC was in a lurch.  Would the show survive?  But this is what regenerations are made for!  In a three part series, The Keeper of Trakken/ Logopolis/ Castrovalia, Tom Baker left the show and Peter Davison took over the role of The Doctor.  Logopolis is a kind of messy episode, jumping all over the place.  This is the first time the Cloister Bell is heard, sounding alarm.  The Doctor decides to fix the chameleon circuit after who knows how many years it’s been broken.  Then the Master shows up.  Then we are on an alien planet to fix the TARDIS and the Master follows.  It seems like a script writer was given certain elements and told to make it work.  But it doesn't.  Then we have the Doctor crossing his own time stream.  Don’t cross the streams.  Then the Doctor has trouble with his regeneration.  What do his companions decide to do?  They play “Which Way” with the TARDIS, immediately falling into a trap set by the Master.  It is not till the end of Castrovalia that we get a idea of what the new Doctor is about.  This may have been done on purpose to place more time between Tom Baker and Peter Davidson.  When we do get the Doctor new clothes, it is an outfit of cricket clothes(that aren't really cricket clothes) and celery.  I’m sure at the time no one knew what to think.  Later producer said that this costuming was because of a newly growing American audience.  We also have a superfluity of companions.  No Doctor until David Tennant has ever had more “companion” in the TARDIS at once.  This overload of characters caused issues with plot development.  They were eventually written out to help concentrate on character development.

Regenerations #1-11 Part Two Leftbridge-Stewart and More

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part Two- UNIT, Leftbridge-Stewart and More

So now we know the Doctor can regenerate, although it was not called that yet.  The term renewal is used.  The Doctor has resumed his traveling ways.  He has new companions and new adventures.  Most of these adventures are missing due to a cleaning at the BBC.  Those who were alive should count themselves lucky to have seen such Classic Doctor Who.  But all good things must end. (Where have I heard that before?)  For Pat Troughton’s last episode we find the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie literally in the middle of a war zone.  It turns out that the Time Lords are having war games with each other.  They are using humans from different historical periods to fight their battles for them. (Could this be a foreshadowing of the Time War to come perhaps?)  When The Doctor finally figures out what is going on he has no choice, he must contact the Time Lords.  The Doctor has been a fugitive from his own people and they intend to punish him for it.  They force him to regenerate.  This is the first time we are shown that Time Lords have powers other than just having the ability to travel through time.  It is also shown that Time Lords can control regeneration.  There is a glimpse of the mental powers that Time Lords have but it is never quiet fulfilled either to the audience’s satisfaction.  End scene, fade to black, Hello new doctor.  A rock fall from space and according to the Time Lords, an Angel has fallen from grace.  The Doctor is now to be confined to Earth under the sentence of the Time Lords.  The TARDIS is barely functional.  How will the new Doctor handle this?  With aplomb, wit, and cool rides apparently.  The Doctor is now an advisor to UNIT(which at this point stands for United Nations Task Force) He’s the superspy granddad kids wish they had.  He also has a new enemy, The Master, a ying to his yang.  He does rather rant occasionally about not be able to leave Earth.  He also spends much time trying to fix his TARDIS.  The third doctor’s first episode establishes this more proactive character, a more theatrical incarnation.  He is also very physical, due to the fact that Jon Pertwee had been in the Navy.  He was the only incarnation of The Doctor to have a tattoo.  It was never mentioned, mostly covered and occasionally seen.  The Doctor is paired up with his old Friend Leftbridge-Stewart.  He has the distinction of having met the most incarnations of the Doctor. The restriction of remaining on Earth was due to the BBC, not the Time Lords.  These budget cuts affected the show if you look, although the series did begin to shoot in color. 

Coming next-

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 Part 3-For whom the Bell Tolls

Regenerations #1-11 and What’s in Store for #12 A twelve part series on the episodes, serials, and one Movie that surround the most iconic piece of Doctor Who Cannon, The Regeneration and what will be coming for Peter Capaldi

Part One- DOCtrine, cannon whatever you choose to call it, Numbero Uno, The First

William Hartnell was the first.  When he decided to leave the show for health reason the BBC had to make a decision cancel the show or continue on.  They didn’t want to cancel the show and they didn’t want to cover it up like the American stations did on Bewitched(look it up)  Footage is rare except that of the actual regeneration, although at the time it was called a renewal.  Unfortunately most of the episode Tenth planet is missing.  I can’t say how Harntnell acted out his last lines, or how Pat Troughton went about establishing his person and quirks.  This regeneration also sets up the tone for how all future regenerations are experienced.  If it had failed, we would not be talking about a man in a blue box today.  This is the only pre/post regeneration sequence I have not PERSONALLY seen, excluding the clips that remain.  The transcripts I believe are available due to zealous fans who recorded the audio for TV shows so they could “watch them again and again.( Go, right now, kiss your DVR! Then kiss wherever  magic device you use to surf the web.  It is thanks to them, and people who imagine bright futures watching shows like Star Trek and Doctor Who, no other TV show will ever have this problem again.)  There have been rumors floating around for years that these tapes actually exist.  If they were mine I would make sure the world could have them.  That being said maybe they are holding them for the 50^th. 

UP NEXT- Two goes into Three how manytimes? War Games and Spearhead from Space

A New Doctor

I really want to write something about the new Doctor, Peter Capadli. I will get to it but my laptop is being fixed so until then...