New Doctor Who companion named

…and once again, I am not disappointed.

Well the news is out and the new Doctor Who companion was announced yesterday.  Karen Gillan, a 21-year-old actress from Inverness in Scotland, will be the new companion to Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor and she’ll appear on our screen in Spring 2010.

This is the best news that I’ve had since we found out in January that Matt Smith is going to be the 11th Doctor.  The initial reason for my excitement is that the new companion is not Michelle Ryan, Lily Allen, Kelly Brook or Georgia Moffet and not all of my reasoning was, well, reasonable. 

I really disliked the character that Michelle Ryan played in the Easter special Planet of the Dead.  In today’s economic climate and atmosphere of MPs claiming expenses because they feel they aren’t being paid enough, I really couldn’t stomach the idea of a poor little rich girl who thieves because she is bored.  Then again, the entire Easter special was so underwhelming that I completely neglected to write a review of it and honestly don’t intend to.

Lily Allen is not really my cup of tea as a performer but I take issue with her drug taking and her publicly stating that taking drugs is okay.  It is not okay Miss Allen and drugs like cocaine ruin lives and communities.  Maybe one day you can sit down and think about why you’re not the right kind of role model for a Doctor Who companion.

Kelly Brook just can’t really act.  I’m sorry, that’s mean, but I’m glad it wasn’t her. 

And, um, my reasoning behind not wanting to see Georgia Moffet as the companion is completely unreasonable.  I’m just jealous that she is David Tennant’s girlfriend.  I’m sorry if that’s pathetic but it is honest.

What do we know about Karen Gillan then?  Not much really.  Having acted in theatre groups and at school, Karen decided to take acting seriously and at the age of 16 she applied to the Italia Conti academy in London (Italia Conti is Britain’s oldest theatre training arts school). 

She appeared in single episodes of Rebus, Harley Street and Coming Up and appeared in several episodes of The Kevin Bishop Show. 

Last year, we saw her in the Doctor Who episode Fires of Pompeii as the Soothsayer.  I had actually heard rumours that the Soothsayer was considered for the role, now that I think about it. 

Not knowing much else about her, my general feeling is that I am glad that she is a virtual unknown.  She’ll be able to mould this role into her own and I think that she and Matt will like a much needed breath of fresh air to the show.  Here’s hoping anyway… I don’t think I could get any much more disenchanted and uninspired than I have been lately.  This is meant to be my lifelong favourite show after all.

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Books: The Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead

I've not had much luck with the libraries in Bexley, which is the area I live in. I used to go to the library next door to where I work but it is closed for a year for refurbishments. Anyway, I wasn't able to find the next Horowitz or Nix books at the library and decided to check out Richelle Mead, author of the Vampire Academy series. All I could find, though, was Succubus Nights which is the second book in Mead’s Georgina Kincaid series.
I decided to give it a try but I didn’t really hold any hopes of it being any good. I have figured out that I’m not really into vampire stories (strange that, given that I have a blood phobia) and it did seem a bit… trashy.
Well, I am happy to say that I was definitely wrong. I had only read twenty pages in when I felt invested enough in the story and the characters to want to read the first book, Succubus Blues and so I ordered it through eBay.

Part of the reason that I enjoyed this series so much is that it is not a simple vampire story. In fact, while there are vampires in the story, their nature plays a very small part in the storylines of both books. The world of the Georgina Kincaid books is one where creatures of darkness, such as vampires, incubi, succubi, imps and other lessor immortals are all managed in a great bureaucracy by demons or greater immortals. Georgina’s particular ‘coven’ is joined by a sardonic, self-righteous angel although thankfully, they are not joined by any of the other creatures of good.
The books are funny and the characters are really well-written and totally likeable. These are not children’s books so keep that in mind; in fact, a succubus is a creature of the night that seduces men in order to steal their souls. There is a lot of sex in these books but I must say, I really enjoyed the scenes and thought they were well done.
Both books have a murder-mystery feel to them. Succubus Blues revolves around the murder of several lesser-immortals and Georgina has to figure out who is doing the killing and Succubus Nights has Georgina trying to figure out where her mortal friends suddenly got their superhuman abilities from.
One of my favourite parts of the books is that Georgina works in a bookstore and much of the story takes place in the store. A major character is Seth Mortensen, a famous writer and it is great to see Mead’s insight into the writing process and the life of a writer as she describes what Seth goes through to get a book finished. I imagine she is describing her own process and it is fascinating to read – in fact, it reminds me of what I was like when I used to write essays at university.
Richelle Mead has a website and a LiveJournal and she seems so down to earth and accessible. It is a huge contrast to how full of crap JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer are, that’s for sure. I’m probably going to finish this series of hers and then I’ll move on to her Vampire Academy and Dark Swan series.

I give both books four out of five stars. They are not high literature and definitely have a chick-lit, trashy feel to them but I really enjoyed them. These are also the first ‘urban fantasy’ books I have read and I might expand on the genre.

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Music Monday #3 – The Faint

 

The Faint are one of my favourite bands ever (second only to Cranes on my last.fm page).   This is the fifth song from their 2004 album Wet From Birth and I absolute love this song!  I can listen to it over and over again.

This is a fan video that someone has made on YouTube but I think they’ve done a great job.  I couldn’t find an official video (except for this short 44 second one which is supposed to be the official one) so it was nice to find an animated video as that is always more interesting than just an album cover.

More Music Monday posts at Lady Java’s Lounge.

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TV: Robin Hood season 3

For those of us lucky enough to have TiVo or a PVR, I'm sure we've all encountered the following scenario in our homes: you set up a couple of shows on series link, safe and secure in the knowledge that come rain or shine, your trusty PVR will record the show for you to watch at a later, more convenient time (am I the only one that hardly ever watches live TV?). Anyway, you later go onto the hard drive of your trusty machine to discover that some random sports event (like the FA cup final) has conflicted with your programme and it hasn't recorded! Panic stations and loud arguments ensue and it is a definite grounds for divorce.

So you can imagine my reaction when Stephen told me that season 3 of the BBC’s Robin Hood had not recorded while we were on holiday and that we had missed four episodes. "Oh, that's nice", I said whilst stifling a yawn and continuing to read my trashy chick-lit novel. [Insert sound of brakes screeching and squealing tyres here]. Yup, you read right. I simply couldn't care less and given my initial reaction to this show a mere 15 months ago, no one is more surprised than me, believe me! So what is behind the decline from a five-star review to my current feelings of not even being bothered to find a one-star gif to post on my blog?

*** Warning: spoilers below – do not read if you’ve not at least completed season 2.  Contains season 3 spoilers too.

• Harry Lloyd leaving: I won't try to hide it. I was devastated when Harry Lloyd left the cast at the end of season 2. Seeing him in Doctor Who and Robin Hood is what made me such a huge fan of his to begin with and my inner fan-girl is in mourning.  He really made Robin Hood worth watching.
• Actor loyalty: But it is not just that. There seems to be little actor loyalty in this production and it is ruining the show. Come on, Will Scarlet and Maid Marian have left the show and it was even announced at the end of production last year that Robin Hood himself is leaving. How exactly do you have a Robin Hood show without Robin Hood or the other characters that make up the legend? I do not dispute that actors have a right to leave and move on but I do think the producers are handling it incorrectly.
• Bad PR: it is bad enough that the actors are walking out and they are not replacing the major characters with other actors perhaps but surely they should get a grip on leaking this news to the press. Knowing that Robin Hood is going to be killed or leave the show at the end of episode 13 doesn't exactly make me want to bother watching the show at all. I am very particular about what I watch and how my time is spent and I tend to give up easily on dying shows. In fact, we also knew long before the end of season 2 that Will Scarlet was going to remain in the holy land with Djaq, so I guess I have been feeling this way for some time.

• Lack of fan liaison (or treating fans like they are annoying idiots): one day I will dedicate an entire post to how I think celebrities, production companies, authors and bands need to spend a lot more time getting to know their fans and rewarding loyal supporters.  Being a member of both HarryLloyd.net and harrylloydfans on Livejournal, I know of a couple of people who contacted Harry’s agent, Tiger Aspect Productions and even Harry himself for confirmation of the rumours that he was leaving.  More importantly, given how lame TV shows can be (especially this one), they wanted to know if he was definitely gone once the season finale had aired.  Given that Anjali Jay and Harry Lloyd had definitely left the show, would it have been so hard for Tiger Aspect Productions to answer the numerous emails sent to them asking for confirmation of that departure? The characters said they were staying in the holy land and if they weren't going to “change their minds” and be back in action by the second episode of the third season, surely it wouldn't hurt or spoil the story to just give the heartbroken fans [who are taking the time to email you and are your clients after all] the confirmation they were looking for. (No, I didn't email them personally so this is not sour grapes). Instead, people got short, cryptic emails in response regarding how the story could not be spoiled.

  

• Suspension of disbelief: in my own personal experience, drawing viewers’ attention away from the fantasy world of Robin Hood and into the real world of actors walking out really messes with the ability to suspend disbelief.  I went along with the storylines being thinly disguised commentaries on the situation in the Middle East; I even accepted that Will Scarlett built a counter-balanced wooden fortress using technologies that would only become popular eight centuries later.  But having to constantly quieten my thoughts about Jonas Armstrong leaving at the end of the season makes it hard to go along with the shaky plot and improbable scenarios.  
• Telling your audience what to think: I’m getting really irritated with not being allowed to make up my own mind.  Maybe my love affair with Robin Hood is over and it is making me more sensitive, who knows.  All I know is that I hate the new female lead, Kate, despite the directors being oh-so-determined that we fall in love with her.  And instead of developing the personality and character of Tuck, they have a cardboard Ghandi who is obviously being groomed to take over the helm when Jonas Armstrong leaves at the end of the season.  Oh, please… give me a break.  I can make up my own mind and I have decided that I don’t like this show any more.

All images are my own screencaps from season 2, episode 9.

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Music Monday #2 - Songs of protest

This song always brings tears to my eyes and when I heard it on my iPod this morning, I knew it was my song for today. It reminds me of the way South Africa was 20 years ago and how far we have come. This song is about Mandela and his incarceration as well as the countless activists who were detained or disappeared.

More Music Monday posts at Lady Java’s Lounge.

I’ve copied the lyrics from the YouTube site. I do this not to breach copyright but to give you an idea of the incredible meaning of the lyrics.

Asimbonanga (Mandela)

Original from Third World Child 1987

Chorus : (2x)
Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang' uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey
Look across the Island into the Bay
We are all islands till comes the day
We cross the burning water

Chorus :
Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang' uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

A seagull wings across the sea
Broken silence is what I dream
Who has the words to close the distance
Between you and me

Chorus :
Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang' uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Steve Biko

Chorus :
Asimbonanga
Asimbonang 'umfowethu thina (we have not seen our brother)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'wafela khona (In the place where he died)

Victoria Mxenge

Chorus :
Asimbonanga
Asimbonang 'umfowethu thina (we have not seen our brother)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'wafela khona (In the place where he died)

Neil Aggett

Hey wena (Hey you!)
Hey wena nawe (Hey you and you as well)
Siyofika nini la' siyakhona (When will we arrive at our destination)

Chorus :
Asimbonanga
Asimbonang 'umfowethu thina (we have not seen our brother)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'wafela khona (In the place where he died)

http://johnnyclegg.de.vu

http://www.johnnyclegg.com

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Music: Parlotones to be released in UK

The Parlotones, darlings of the South African alternative music scene, are set for a major release in the UK with their latest album “A World Next Door To Yours” due out on 01 June 2009.  While their previous album Radiocontrolledrobot is available on Amazon.co.uk, this is the first time I have seen proper marketing and media releases in the press in this country.  It is very exciting indeed but nothing less than this magnificent band deserves.

Taken at Hillfox Market on 11 March 2007, just before I left South Africa. I got to see them five or six times live in settings varying from a live radio studio to a massive concert venue.

I first discovered The Parlotones on 5 November 2005.  They were supporting Violent Femmes at the Dome in Northgate and I ran to the front to buy their CD within about ten minutes of their act starting.  They are that good and their explosive stage acts are matched by their excellent and world class CD releases.

 

This is the first single from the album, Giant Mistake. The single was released in South Africa in 2007 and went to no 1 on the charts.  Here’s hoping it does well here.

The band are perhaps most famous for their cover of the Boom Boom Room classic "Here Comes The Man".  This is still my favourite song of theirs.

 

Parlotones at Amazon.co.uk
Official website
MySpace
Facebook

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Book review: Abhorsen - Garth Nix

Well, it's official. Abhorsen by Garth Nix is The Best Book I Have Ever Read In My Life^©.

Abhorsen is the final book in the Old Kingdom trilogy which is a fantasy series set in the imaginary realms of Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom. The Old Kingdom is full of magic and the lines between life and death are constantly blurred and manipulated. As magic interferes with electricity and modern machines, there is no “modern” technology in the Old Kingdom and this is contrasted with the modernity of Ancelstierre. Ancelstierre is very similar to the England of the World War I era, with its planes, telegraphs, electrical lights and telephones. The two realms are separated by a wall and such is the magic of the Old Kingdom that the two sides of the wall experience different seasons and even different times of day.

It is within this setting that the epic battles against evil and the dead occur and the events in the book date back over about 20 years with references dating back to the dawn of time.

The Old Kingdom series has it all. Believable, likeable characters; excellent writing; page-turning, heart-stopping, breathtaking battles; magic, fantasy and superb imagination and the most amazing cat and dog you will ever read about.

I thoroughly enjoyed Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series and JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series but I felt slightly unfulfilled with the way in which those series ended. In contrast, I was positively in raptures as I raced towards the end of Abhorsen and the experience was as thrilling as a big budget action film.

The best thing about finishing the book is that it doesn’t all end there! Garth Nix released another book containing a novella and short stories about the Old Kingdom called Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories and I am just glad that I don’t have tear myself away from this series just yet. I’ll be sure to review the book in the next couple of weeks.

I have one final thing to say, for now with respect to the Old Kingdom series.

Harry Lloyd for Nicholas Sayre!!!!!

(Garth Nix has famously declined offers to make films of his books, a decision I greatly respect. I absolutely agree with his position that he would rather have no film at all than a bad film. But, if a film were to be made, then I would absolutely love to see Harry Lloyd in the role of Nicholas Sayre).

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Music Monday #1 - Trance

I’ve decided to shuffle things around here at Emm Media. I usually post book reviews on a Monday but I’ve decided to participate in Music Mondays which I discovered over at Lady Java's Lounge. I don’t know if there are any rules so hopefully I don’t break them!!

My theme today is songs that make me happy and they are all banging trance. Nothing like some dance music to get the week started (and it is ages since I reviewed anything other than indie music on this blog anyway).

It's really hard to decide which I love more. On The Move by Barthezz is a relatively new song and only came out in 2001. Still, I woke up this morning with it in my mind and it definitely put a bounce in my step today. It is pretty exciting that these great songs are being released on single and for mp3 download again lately and this single is available at Amazon.

Cactus came out in 1994 and featured on Carl Cox's legendary F.A.C.T. album in 1996. Cactus is an obvious choice for the title of Best Trance Song Ever. (Available from Amazon too).

Raz also featured on Carl Cox's F.A.C.T. and it is testament to how often I played the disc that my copy always jumps in this song (I reckon the bass in the song caused a glitch). I was thrilled to see this available on Amazon and downloaded it yesterday when I placed my massive birthday order through the site.

Click for more Music Monday sites.

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Film: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

On Tuesday it was my birthday and we went off to movies to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Wow. I absolutely LOVED this film! I felt like a child again and sat on the very edge of my seat for the whole 107 minutes, thoroughly captivated and entranced.

The film is directed by Gavin Hood, the ultra-cool South African director who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film Tsotsi. That he directed Wolverine was the only thing I knew about the film (other than that it was part of the X-Men franchise and that it starred Hugh Jackman) but I was pretty confident he would do a good job.

I enjoyed the performances by Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth), Dominic Monaghan (Bolt) and especially Daniel Henney (Agent Zero) but for me, Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool stole the show.

I think Wade Wilson is the best super hero I have ever encountered and I fell madly in love with him the minute he hit the screens with those swords of his.

The most excellent, most fantastic news is that it has been confirmed today that Ryan Reynolds will be starring in the X-Men spinoff “Deadpool”. How fortuitous that I get this news immediately upon developing a brand, new obsession?

I’ve been obsessed with Wes Bentley’s Blackheart and Harry Lloyd’s everything for two years now but I have a sneaky feeling that Ryan Reynolds / Wade Wilson is about to usurp their positions as supreme objects of my affection and obsession. ♥

Despite ridiculously low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and weak ratings on IMDb, the film is top of the box office this week and I give it full marks!

Rating:

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Book review: Breathe – Cliff McNish

For someone who has admitted to still being scared of the dark at my ripe old age, I have a strange love for all things paranormal and supernatural.  I grabbed this book as soon as I saw that it was about ghosts. 

This is a classic tale of a haunted house and a young boy who can see and hear ghosts.  The book is aimed at a younger audience but the characters were quite well developed and it was an enjoyable and quick read.  The book is quite scary but I don’t think it is too frightening for the younger reader (especially if it didn’t scare me!).  Each chapter ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger so it is near impossible to put the book down and I managed to finish the book in a couple of days.

Sadly, though, I think the last couple of pages really let the book down.  It wasn’t  a very long book so I feel the author could possibly have spent a couple of more pages to finish the book off properly.  As it was, the ending was just too neat and convenient and it was quite a contrast to the rest of the book which was actually quite well written.  I give it four out of five stars for this reason.
Rating:

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Film: Batman Begins (2005)

Image Source

Sometimes I honestly wonder about myself. Christian Bale is one of my favourite actors, Batman is one of my favourite comic franchises of all time and Batman Begins scored 84% at both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.  Yet for some completely unknown reason, I never saw this film and being of the slightly obsessive persuasion, I can’t possibly watch The Dark Knight without watching the first film in the series.

While we were on holiday, I finally saw Batman Begins.  The film is absolutely awesome and it benefits from impressive cinematography and brilliant acting.  Even Katie Holmes manages to be slightly less annoying than usual (Katie played one of my favourite characters in Dawson’s Creek and then she suddenly became a whiny, emotional leech rivalled only by Marissa on The O.C.).

I think I will definitely watch this film again because it has the fandom, repeat viewing quality that so few films have these days.  It chronicles Bruce Wayne’s early days, the death of his parents (no, that is no a spoiler.  If you don’t know the basic story behind the Batman franchise then I’m sorry, but have you grown up underground?) and the events which lead up to him becoming a clandestine crime fighter.

Image source

What would one of my posts be without some gratuitous and entirely unnecessary eye candy? Christian Bale was absolutely stunning in this film.  I have been a fan of his since his brilliant performance in Empire of the Sun, a film that topped my all time list of favourite films for many years (and I found the recording of him going batshit on someone to be quite unsettling but a turn on nonetheless).

Strangely, though, that wasn’t the best thing about this film.  The best thing about Batman Begins was Cillian Murphy and his fantastic performance as Dr Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow.  I’ve admired Cillian Murphy once before on this blog when I reviewed 28 Days Later but this performance was inspired and The Scarecrow is possibly the second best performance in an evil bad guy role I’ve ever seen (the best being Wes Bentley as Blackheart in Ghost Rider).  I loved how unhinged and morally bereft he was and I cannot wait to see more of him in The Dark Knight.

Image source

So there you go.  I went from not really being interested in this latest instalment of the Batman story to totally loving it and being a fan.  I hope to watch, love and review The Dark Knight soon.

Rating:

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