Goran Visnjic’s performance was inspired. Of course, it’s impossible not to take the side of the brilliant underdog, when he’s presented with such warmth and energy, and easy to see Edison as a stereotypical capitalist villain. But there was a nice moment when Edison made the absolutely valid point that for every idea, there needs to be someone…[Read more]

Oh. My. God. So good. That was the best thing, I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s going to take me a while to come down off my high to think rationally about it. So good. I watched the whole thing with a big smile on my face and wept at the end. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

@peacefrog    I haven’t been able to keep up with your awesome posts. And now Cowboy Junkies! And the Doors. 🙂 Brilliant.

I’ll leave something completely different, as I make ready to go out into the snow, with requisite grumbles about living in Vancouver where we’re not supposed to get this stuff. And yet, there’s about a foot of it outside m…[Read more]

@MissRori     I understand that your special circumstances present particular challenges. But I do relate to the statement “to keep the peace, I just don’t talk to her about much anymore“!

I love my parents dearly, but they live in a part of Canada where the politics are so different from those of mine that I end up avoiding a lot of topics. It’…[Read more]

@MissRori     Responding to you in the pub so as to avoid getting modded!

@juniperfish     I think we’ve gotten used to After Gap DW, in which the Doctor’s connection to his companions has been much deeper than in the past. So far, at least, Thirteen has a warm but less intense relationship with her “fam”. I was never altogether comfortable with the angsty aspect of the Doctor/Companion dynamic that took over the After…[Read more]

Just leaving this here for @thane16  (aka Syzygy the Elder). I love this.

Welcome, @peacefrog! I too lurked a long time before joining in the fun.

@thane16   Not sure if Midnight was a tranquility base, but it was certainly the same kind of place. Definitely a recall there, and that was one of my favourite Tennant episodes!

@vervain   whether you stop being a fan of whichever team you follow if they lose a few ga…[Read more]

Sigh. I hate that the minute any kind of social message is presented I catch myself anticipating the flood of negativity that is about to ensue. As others have said, ad nauseam, there has always been a place for these in DW. There has never been any “golden age” where this wasn’t true. And I so wish that people would remember that nothing — epi…[Read more]

RIP Neil Peart.   🙁

So nice to see all the speculation again! I don’t have any particular views about the Timeless Child, but I’m enjoying the return of the Master more than I would have expected. One of the things the post gap show has done nicely is the shift of the Master from a stereotypical evil nemesis to a villain of more nuance. We’ve been given belie…[Read more]

Well, this was fun. 🙂  I think Dhawan is doing a great job with the Master so far. I guessed nothing (although I did wonder why O seemed to smile so much!). I’d prefer the Master to be post-Missy, because I like forward motion and anything else would be a little too much like overwriting a lot of great character development. But we shall see. I…[Read more]

Echoing @cathannabel‘s New Year wishes for everyone. I hope that more people can find common ground somewhere this year, and that 2020 will be the year that the world finally begins addressing climate change in a way that matters. Meanwhile, there is still beauty in the world, goodness, and the many small things that make life worthwhile. Let’s…[Read more]

@pedant   I love these, especially Gaudete, which is an Arbutus family favourite. Here’s another that comes up at our annual carol sing, carefully timed so that we haven’t had too much wine and cheese to get through it, but just enough to not feel self-conscious when we mess up the verses (we take turns soloing, and we never fail to mess them up,…[Read more]

I love just about any version of A Christmas Carol. I used to read the original aloud to the rest of the Arbutuses every Christmas. This year, we watched The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant and David Niven, one of our family faves. But our absolute must-not-miss is actually audio. The much-lamented Canadian icon Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe Christmas…[Read more]

I hope everyone has had/is having a great Christmas filled with what matters to each of you—family, friends, food, music, stories. @winston, I’m sorry for your difficult time. I hope the grandchildren filled your day with light!

Wow. Logging on to say it’s Christmas and I’ve been thinking about you all, and look, tubas! So great. And scrolling upward, Dixie Chicks. I’ll check in at the Kebab later, but wanted to leave this here. I hope I haven’t shared this before, but I may have. One of the great drops in Christmas music. 🙂

@janetteB    I’m not the most discerning of viewers. If something resonates with me emotionally, or makes me smile, then I’m usually happy. Although some series or episodes I have gone back to over and over, and others I haven’t. I’ll have to do a rewatch of the last series and see how it sits with me on a second go-around.

@mudlark   I also rem…[Read more]

@thane16   Well, I’m trying to be up and about! I seem to have some time-management problems nowadays. Love the librarians! I have a fondness for Les Miz, and thought the film was solid, although for me it can never compare to a stage version. Arbutus Jr. did “Stars” for a singing test in choir a few years ago—they had to sing along with a re…[Read more]

@whisht  @thane16   Awesome Woodstock content! And the B52’s. I have weirdly fond memories of dancing to Rock Lobster in high school. For some reason, we all had to fall to the floor at one point, and then bounce back up again. I lived in Calgary, Alberta, for my last two years of high school and Calgary was pretty much a disco, rock-n-roll, or n…[Read more]