On Having Nothing Much to Say

"People when they change their minds, it's a tell-tale sign
That they don't know what to talk about" (The Bluetones, 1996)

I'm writing this as I've been prompted by a fan (yes, we do have one) to write an update. However, the problem is I've really got very little to report about. You can interpret that in two ways: either I've got into tunnel vision in respect to writing about public service broadcasting and so can't think about anything, or, my life is that dull that the only thing I can think about is public service broadcasting. Focused or dull? The choice is yours, dear reader. Obviously I'd prefer if you sided with the former, as no-one likes having their worst fears confirmed.

I should, however, have lots to comment on. Firstly, there was the special Who for CiN, which was pretty good. Now some fans have reservations over extended TARDIS scenes - personally speaking I don't know why - but that's fandom for you. Anyways, despite being a bit underwhelmed after first viewing (there were a couple of really bad cuts within the editing), further viewings changed my opinion: I thought Billie was ace (as per usual) and Tennant was equally as good. It was good to see that he's still got the same intensity that Eccleston brought to the role (i.e. the scene when he was explaining to Rose about the first time they met) but I think he'll do the quirky humour a bit differently, perhaps more in the style of Tom. That, however, is in no way a slur against Chris though. I've been a fan ever since Shallow Grave of the man's talents and will miss him not occupying the role.

Secondly, I went to the switching on of the Christmas lights in Cardiff last week, with Tennant and Billie. It was a pretty good time really. Cold, and there were loads of screaming kids running around the place, but aside from that it was good. Learnt some interesting things about the forthcoming series (sinister Christmas Trees, werewolves) and the company was good, as were the fireworks actually.

Hmm, this seems wierd writing when there's nothing to write about. Instead it just turns into an extended version of those diaries you always had to write on a Monday morning at primary school. I've not even got anything profound to talk about, nor are there any tracks I feel the need to promote. I was in a shop the other day that was dreadful, but I stayed in there for a while as they were playing Maximo Park. Not really that exciting is it?

"Time moves on, but all along, we've always known
It's never going nowhere" (The Bluetones, 2003)

Square One

What a strange day. I awoke this morning feeling quite melancholic, and that feeling hung around for most of the morning and some of the afternoon. The afternoon was plagued with disappointment: my mission Dalek-hunting was pitiful, and I left the city centre with my reasons for not visiting the place on a Saturday reaffirmed. Why do people stand still in shops, blocking any public right-of-way, for the sake of a chat? That's the point of the phrase 'Do you want to go for a coffee'. Moreover, why can't people walk according to set co-ordinates? That is, why can't they walk in a straight line, or a line that takes in to account that there's someone either walking behind/in front of them? And then there's kids, who have the directional sense of Dizzy, Dizzy Dinosaur.

Sorry, dear reader, I'm having a moan. I just sometimes get a little fed-up with the way that humanity has little attention to the fact that there are more people on the planet than just themselves. It doesn't take much to consider the feelings of another person, and that just the odd choice of word here, or delivery of that word there, might change the whole course of the recipient's day for one reason or another. Having said that, and speaking subjectively, if you spend too much time thinking about the possible repercussion of your actions you often end up doing nothing, as you don't want to offend. That's what makes things even worse when you decide to act and get nothing in return: it reaffirms a belief that you should probably just keep such things to yourself because, in the grand scheme of things, you don't really matter that much.

Gah, self-pity! It's not the most attractive character traits. Perhaps I'll just take Coldplay's X&Y and listen to that for a little while. After all, I'm stuck in square one. The strange thing is all this subsided once Exeter had returned back to the top of the Conference, and after a suprisingly engaging England friendly. Seems that temporary fixes can account for nothing against a general feeling of confusion and being a little bit lost.

DWM reports (proudly for some reason) that the Best of Billie has gone Gold already. There's a reason for this dear reader: its been on sale in HMV for a fiver, and I bet somewhere people are buying it for Who fans nationwide as a 'joke' Christmas present, much in the way you always get a pair of Darth Vader socks or the equivalent. Ah, consumerism: "I am defined by the media I consume, and consumed by the media of which I am defined."

You can quote me on that one if you like.

The End of One Quest, the Start of Another...

Someone of great historical importance once remarked that it's a strange world out there; on recent evidence I'd agree with that. Today, I sat for an hour in a lecture that had absolutely no relevance to me whatsoever, but it did inspire me to thinking about the kind of film I would make if I had to make a film for my dissertation. More on that later. After a brief, and pleasent, conversation with a Lady with Immensley Cool Shoes, I proceeded to sit in the library and stare out the window for two hours and think. To make matters worse, I spent the whole two hours humming Owen Paul's 80s classic My Favourite Waste of Time. Eventually, said track mixed with Mylo's Drop the Pressure, to cause some strange 80s dance hybrid, and that was it! Absolutely nothing to do with the future of public service broadcasting, but a new dance song, and some musings concerning The Failures of Man.

Another strange occurance I've noticed recently: I have four versions of R.E.M's Pretty Persuasion on my computer. I'm not complaining, as personally I love the track. It's a great example of one of Michael's offbeat lyrical melody with some classic Buck guitar jangling in the background. I just would've thought that I'd have noticed by the fourth time...

So I finally tracked down some Idlewild bootlegs, and whilst they haven't appeared in the post yet, I'm anticipating their arrival. The next quest, well that may be a bit more difficult. I may actually discuss The Failures of Man with some filmy people to see what they think. Basically speaking, the piece is three short stories about the failures of men who are white, middle-class, rubbish and over-eager to impress in one way or another, which eventually leads to them becoming parodies of actual humans. One is about status anxiety. One is about loneliness. One is about being into 'extreme sports'. The first ends up living in the canteen. The second gets wallpapered to the office walls. The third with some strange, and embarrasing, bodily functions.

Just realised the time. I'm going to get Lost, and then maybe get found, or maybe, just maybe swallowed in the sea...

In the Words of Andy Warhol

"In the future, everyone will be famous for five minutes"

OK, maybe I'm being a bit over-the-top about this, but its not very often I get a brush with celebrity, and when you yourself end up involved its doubly rewarding. 'What the hell am I going on about?', I hear you asking, dear reader! Well, on Saturday, I went to the book signing to meet Russell T Davies, and it was absolutely fantastic! He's a really great bloke, and comes across just the way he does in Doctor Who Confidential or in interviews, really approachable and easy to talk to. I had a bit of a chat with him, asking for some tips surrounding my own writing and complementing him both on the success at the NTAs and for the fantastic scene at the end of Bad Wolf. Also met a couple of other fans, friends of a Man Much Greater Than I, who were really sound and took a lot of photos of what was going on. The wierdest thing though is that the South Wales Echo were doing interviews with fans outside of Waterstones, and ended up running with my interview! Subsequently, yesterday there was a big photo of me in my Tom Baker hat, holding the book, in the newspaper. Plus they didn't make me sound like an idiot, which is always a good thing. As a result, I kind of feel like the local celebrity fan! It'll pass. No one has asked for my autograph, nor hurled abuse at me in the street, so I'm not quite at the level of Charlotte Church yet.

In all honesty, I think the only people who read the Echo are either in their eighties, or not the type of people into Doctor Who, but its cool to be mentioned in the same piece as RTD though! I gotta say, I loved how Waterstones put a Dalek in amongst all of the books in the shop, as I thought it looked really good. Got me thinking about how you could turn that in to a story: perhaps you could have a library somewhere being run by the Daleks, or maybe you could just have a Dalek patrolling the dark corridors of a library, exterminating anyone who got near to some secret store of knowledge that was threatening to their race. Something like that anyways.

Away from the world of Who, there's not really that much going on. I've got an essay to write, and I decided not write it about Who. I thought I'd start on the right foot as I'm gonna write two others about it at present. Had to take a seminar yesterday, which was pretty cool if you discount the fact that only about two people spoke in my group. Nevermind, it was a good experience nonetheless.

Did you know there are two pieces of academic writing based around Phil Collins?

CyberControl's Five from the Past:

Super Furry Animals - Hometown Unicorn
Gene - Where Are They Now?
Genesis - Turn It On Again
Placebo - Scared of Girls
Blameless - Signs...