You Reading This, Be Ready Starting here, what do you want to remember? How sunlight creeps along a shining floor? What scent of old wood hovers, what softened sound from outside fills the air? Will you ever bring a better gift for the world than the breathing respect that you carry wherever you go right now? Are you waiting for time to show you some better thoughts? When you turn around, starting here, lift this new glimpse that you found; carry into evening all that you want from this day. This interval you spent reading this or...
Continue reading...Arts
Doctor Who, "The Hungry Earth"
Rory: “Can’t you sonic it?” Doctor: “It doesn’t do wood.” Rory: “That is rubbish!” Doctor: “Oi! Don’t dis the sonic!” “The Hungry Earth” felt very much like a setup for next week’s conclusion, “Cold Blood,” but there were some great moments and suspenseful scenes to enjoy. Intending to take Amy and Rory to Rio, the Doctor triumphantly throws open the TARDIS door…and discovers the landscape of Cwmtaff, Wales in the year 2020. Oops. Off in the distance, future Amy and Rory are waving to the trio. Amy, a little surprised that she and Rory are still together...
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
I first discovered this poem freshman year of college in a Comparative Studies class that sometimes met outside (it was spring quarter). I loved that we would go outside, and that otherwise we would all sit around a huge table instead of at desks, but the class itself was only so-so. Still, thank you to the professor whose name I don’t remember for introducing me to Rita Dove. This poem is from Dove’s collection Grace Notes. And it definitely makes me yearn for tree-climbing days of yore. HORSE AND TREE by Rita Dove Everybody who’s anybody longs...
Continue reading...Doctor Who, "Amy's Choice"
Doctor: “This is going to be a tricky one.” Doctor Who returned this weekend after a short break with a strong episode that I’m late reviewing because my laptop was in the laptop hospital for most of the weekend. “Amy’s Choice” was an exploration of one of the major ongoing conflicts this season: will Amy choose a life of adventure with the Doctor or settle down for a quiet country life with Rory? The episode opens five years after Amy and Rory last traveled with the Doctor. She’s hugely pregnant and Rory is sporting an awful ponytail...
Continue reading...Airplane! and Zero Hour!
Surely, you can’t be serious. Honestly, until finding this clip today, I had no idea how much of a connection Zero Hour! (straight outta 1957) has with far more widely known Airplane! (1980). I am serious…and don’t call me Shirley. Apparently, it’s a sort-of remake, and the makers actually bought the rights to Zero Hour. Who knew? Brought to you with hopes of encouraging appreciation for the finer comedies.
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
I can’t believe it’s already the end of May. Or that it’s almost 90 degrees here in DC. Anyway, despite the August-like-heat, it’s peak wedding season: I went to one last weekend and am going another this weekend, and pretty much everyone I know seems to be attending weddings as well. Yay for newlyweds! And hideous bridesmaids’ dresses! And personalized napkins! And sentimental speeches! And, you know, love and all that. So for this week’s dose of poetry, I picked out this sweet one by former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. It appears in his 2008 collection...
Continue reading...Doctor Who, "The Vampires of Venice"
Rory: “You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you’re around.” First off, apologies to any readers (cue the sound of crickets) for the late recap. The alien story this week was mostly forgettable, save for the wonderful performance from Helen McCrory as Rosanna, but the interaction between the Doctor and Rory was a highlight. I was expecting the Doctor-Amy-Rory triangle to be a retread of the Doctor-Rose-Mickey situation, but Rory is much more of a Jackie Tyler than a Mickey Smith. Rory calls the Doctor out on exactly what makes him so...
Continue reading...Doctor Who, "Flesh and Stone"
Doctor: “I’ll be back for you as soon as I can, I promise.” Amy: “You always say that.” Doctor: “I always come back.” We’re five episodes into this season, and I feel like I need some sort of flow chart to keep track of what’s going on. This was a great conclusion to the new chapter of the Weeping Angels story, but many other questions were brought up in this hour that we likely won’t get an answer to until the season finale. I mentioned briefly last week that the climax of “The Time of Angels” involved...
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
Another long week almost over, and for those of us in DC, a forecast of warm sunny weather all weekend long. I’m excited to check out Yoga on the Mall tomorrow for the first time (kicking off DC’s annual Week of Yoga, wherein yoga studios all over the city offer free and $5 classes. Pretty sweet). In honor of the apparent turn to summer, here’s a poem about one of the summeriest things I know of. I hope you all have a great, relaxing weekend. Sunflower by Frank Steele You’re expected to see only the top, where...
Continue reading...Doctor Who, "The Time of Angels"
The Doctor: “The writing. The graffiti. Old High Gallifreyan! The lost language of the Time Lords. There were days—there were many days—these words could burn stars, and raise up empires, and topple gods.” Amy: “What does this say?” The Doctor: “‘Hello, Sweetie.’” Well, that was perhaps the best intro to a Doctor Who episode that I’ve ever seen. From the first moment she’s onscreen, River Song is clearly a brilliant, fearless woman who can hold her own against the Doctor. I’m sure even those who had never seen “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” were intrigued...
Continue reading...
Recent Comments