As I was busy taking my Christmas-New Year break, the Tenth Doctor said goodbye to audiences with his final episodes. Farewell, Tenth Doctor. It was a great run, in spite of the scattershot quality of the stories. I think David Tennant’s run will probably be remembered as the one that almost miraculously catapulted the Ninth’s successful revival attempt into a real force to be reckoned with, which is great for all the long-time fans of the show, of course.

But if there’s one thing the show has taught us, it’s change. Time to move on, and here’s a trailer of the new series coming this year, with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan looking quite good in their roles:

I must complain about seeing the Daleks again for the sixth time (I think?) in five years, although I’ll reserve judgement until it becomes clear what all that’s about. It’s nice to see vampires that are not sparkly Twilight things in this day and age. And I’ve never been big on River Song, but I’ll wait and see what she brings to the new show. Apart from that, everything is looking good to me. Including the very fleeting glimpse at what I suppose is the new TARDIS interior.

I think it’s going to be a rocking 2010.

One Week

Oh no! One week to school! I think! Wait, I better get that date checked out.

But yes, not too much longer. It hasn’t been too bad, really, and I’ve got quite a few things done. I think I’ll spend the week just trying to sort out the little administrative stuff and do a little stockchecking. I’ve got some books I want to finish up with, some videos (including the marvellous Planet Earth), and some other chores to settle. I also want to plan a bit for the coming semester. To make it a bit more exciting, I hope.

Well, phew, 2010 already. Here goes nothing.

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I’ve been editing. It’s not been fun. Everywhere I look it looks bad, though it’s fair to say that that happens to me every time I get here. I’m still trying to get a grasp of the whole thing, so that when I do a once-through I’ll be able to tell if it’s not uniform enough. It’s not really been going well. I might step away from it if I have to. I’m in no hurry, though I have to keep reminding myself about that.

Shopping

I wanted to shop for a few presents (far ahead of time) and I went on Amazon and browsed around quite a bit. In the process, I learnt about the variety of Amazon deals (okay, so I’m a bit slow to the party). I also identified a few things that I thought I could pick up, which made me quite happy. I’m just a little undecided on the presents and stuff, so I’ve yet to make an order.

On the other hand, I tried to find this set of collectible The Sandman postcards on Amazon. You see, a few years ago, they printed sets of 40 postcards and put them each in pretty boxes. I bought one of the boxes. Pretty postcards are one of those things that I like collecting, but for some reason, I thought of using them. So I used slightly over half of them over the years, and now I’m left with a diminished set. I thought I ought to get another one, but it wasn’t to be because it’s out of print and not available on Amazon anymore. If you have a heads-up on where I can get a new set for a reasonable price, do drop me a note here. Thanks.

Eleventh’s Costume

[via BBC News]

Here’s Matt Smith in-costume as the Doctor. I quite like the look of it. It kind of has a bit of the quirky charm you’d expect of an old Doctor and also the fashion restraint of a new Doctor. Very neat and clean, and he seems to wear it well. Can’t wait for the new series!

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I reckon you already know but just in case, Matt Smith has joined Doctor Who as the Eleventh Doctor. [via Doctor Who] Here’s the interview with him (which I first saw here):

The youngest ever Doctor is of course very young, but he kind of reminds me of Tom Baker in some ways I can’t describe. I don’t know why exactly. And I think Peter Davison was quite young when he was first cast as the Fifth as well, so I’m sure all the internet hullabaloo is really just hot air. I think he’ll be quirky enough, and the only thing I wonder about is if he’ll be able to carry the weight of being the all-knowing and all-conquering last of the Time Lords.

In any case, I think I’m going to trust Steve Moffatt to produce a sparkling Series 5.

All the best, Matt.

Comics

Comic Book Resources lists their 100 best comics of 2008. [via Comic Book Resources] While I don’t really pay too much attention to these lists, it was useful because it introduced me to a few that I’d never heard of before and would definitely like to try. It also reminded me that I need to get my hands on Casanova.

Oh, and I was amazed to see that Jill Thompson paints her Christmas cards. [via The Seahorse] Not only are they very, very pretty, she says she used to do 50 or so of them each year, which is rather astonishing. Very lovely, these cards.

Last Of The Hols

It’s the last week of the holidays. On the menu: First, I’ll finish up on The Absolute Sandman (which completes my reading for the holidays); I’ll have another crack at that query letter; have to sort out some school administrative things; play some games; maybe watch the new Ghibli; and that’s about it.

Odd how it seems as if I’ve completed quite a significant amount of work during the month but still lack in any sense of accomplishment.

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