The Watch – Part 79:

After dinner, we headed back to her place. By now, the lampposts were turned off and the night sky was allowed to show off its brilliant stars. It had gotten a lot chillier than before. To adjust to the cold, we picked up the pace slightly so that we could get home within good time. I noticed that Amy was shivering slightly, so I let her take my hoodie, which she gratefully wrapped around herself.

‘But you’re going to get cold,’ Amy said.

‘I’ll be fine,’ I said, waving away the cold air that bit my arms and hands. ‘Besides, I don’t get cold,’ I said toughly, emphasising my defences by popping out my chest and lifting up my chin.

‘Oh yeah,’ Amy said smiling at my antics. ‘Well, there won’t be any need for me to warm you up when we get back then,’ she said as I immediately switched to shivering a lot. This made Amy laugh.

We arrived back at her house where Amy unlocked the door and we both practically jumped through the doorway. The air inside her house was hot to our cold skin, making us both feel much better.

My hands started to warm up gradually, but that didn’t stop them from stinging a bit as the warm blood rushed into my cold hands. However, my constantly moving them prevented them from stinging too much. It doesn’t help that I have bad circulation in my hands anyway. Amy’s hands had much better circulation so they were able to get nice and comfortable after only a couple of minutes. She had taken off my hoodie and giving it back. I wrapped it around my arms once more.

‘Here,’ Amy grabbed my hands with hers and squeezed them gently, allowing some of her heat to spread to mine and warm up my hands much faster.

‘Thanks,’ I said as the effect was immediate and soon my hands were the same temperature as hers.

‘I assume you don’t particularly want to go outside any time soon,’ Amy said, ‘so I ask you what you would like to do?’ I looked at the time and saw that it was getting close to ten O’clock at night, and I’m too tired to concentrate on anything too strenuous on the mind, such as more research.

‘How about we just watch a couple of episodes of a comedy series?’ I suggested not knowing what she has.

‘You know what,’ she smiled, ‘I was actually going to suggest that, too.’

‘Great minds think alike,’ I said.

‘I know, right,’ she said, reaching for the cupboard beside her bookcase. Upon opening up, an array of neatly stacked DVDs filled up every inch of all four shelves. On the first two shelves were films organised in single disks to double disks to boxsets, and the last two selves were filled with many box sets of TV shows. They weren’t organised in any particular order from what I could see and before I could figure out if there was one, Amy had already picked a TV show and closed the cupboard.

‘How about this?’ Amy said, presenting me with the TV show of Friends.

‘That’s one of my all-time favourite TV Shows,’ I said.

‘How can it not be,’ Amy agreed, switching on the TV and DVD player and placing a random disk onto the disk tray.

‘Are you comfortable?’ Amy asked with the remote controller in her hands and her thumb resting on the play button.

‘Couldn’t be more relaxed,’ I said.

‘Then prepare to laugh your socks off,’ she said as she pressed the play button to start the episodes running.

***

The sun’s rays penetrated the living room, waking me up naturally. I opened my eyes and blinked the sleep out from under my eyelids, allowing me to focus properly. When my vision had eventually woken up, I realised that I wasn’t in my own bed. In fact, I wasn’t even in my own house. Giving the previous circumstances, I did have to figure out whether I was in my home Universe, but instincts told me that I was. Where I was in fact, was in Amy’s home, on Amy’s sofa, with my head resting on one of its arms. My neck was stiff, which was the second strangest thing about this situation. The first was when I noticed that Amy was lying on the sofa as well, with her head resting on my chest, still asleep. The last thing I remember from last night was that we were laughing our heads off from watching episode after episode of Friends. I looked over to the TV and saw that it and the DVD player were still on. It had gone to its screensaver where the logo was bouncing around the screen.

I didn’t want to move since I knew that would wake up Amy. However, as luck would have it, she began to stir as well. I waited for the realisation to kick in before saying anything. She looked around and noticed my chest. She then looked up and saw me smiling back.

‘Morning,’ I said. Amy sat up and stretched. I righted myself and stretched my arms and legs as far as they would go to wake them up even further.

‘Erm,’ Amy said. ‘We fell asleep.’

‘It looks that way,’ I said.

‘Um…’ I knew that she wanted to talk about her laying on my chest, but she couldn’t form the right words. I didn’t either, so we sat in an awkward silence before Amy decided to turn off the TV and DVD player and put away the boxset of Friends back into the cupboard.

‘I had better get going,’ I said standing up.

‘No, wait,’ Amy said. I turned around in the doorway that connecting the living room and the hallway, waiting for Amy to finish what she wanted to say. ‘I just wanted to say that I hope you didn’t think that we’re moving too fast,’ she said.

‘How do you mean?’ I asked.

‘Well, I mean we kissed on the first day of meeting each other for the first time, properly I mean, and a few other times after that. And then this happened. I just wanted to know whether you think that we’re not moving too fast, for most couples tend to kiss after at least a couple of weeks or more, you know,’ Amy explained.

I understood where Amy was coming from but I didn’t think we were moving too fast at all. ‘I don’t,’ I said my thoughts aloud. Amy waited for me to carry on with my explanation.

‘For I believe that we are moving at the natural speed for us. I mean, we met each other after the surprise of knowing that we had the same feelings building up in each other for four years and we are now finally allowed to release them.’

‘For someone who doesn’t know what to say half the time, that was a pretty insightful thing you’ve said right there,’ Amy said smiling at how she feels reassured.

‘I can hardly believe it myself,’ I said.

‘I know, right,’ Amy said ending that particular conversation. We stood in silence, waiting for one of us to do something. Amy broke the silence by saying.

‘Well,’ Amy said. ‘I guess I’ll let you get back home then,’ she said before she took a step forward and kissed me on the lips.

‘What’s that for?’ I asked, ‘not that I’m against that or anything.’

‘My good night’s kiss that I promised last night.’

‘Well,’ I said not knowing how to end this and head off home.

‘I’m cute when I don’t know what to say, you say,’ I said.

‘Of all the things you could have said, you said that,’ Amy laughed, which only made me realise what I had said and make me blush with embarrassment. ‘Yes. Yes, you are cute when you don’t know what to say. Now go before I push you out.’

‘OK, OK, I’m going, I’m going,’ I said, spinning on the spot and heading towards the front door.

‘I do want to say, though,’ Amy said, stopping me just before I stepped outside. The day was so much warmer than the night.

‘I did like that sleep.’ I turned around once more and smiled back.

‘I did, too,’ I said.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for Reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: An Example of How First Impressions Can Change

I have an interest in the Titanic story. It started when I was recommended to read Danielle Steels, ‘No Greater Love’, which was about a mum and dad who perished on the Titanic, leaving the eldest daughter to look after her siblings in the years that followed the tragedy. From then, my interest in the titanic grew. The fact that it is still there and you can still see it on the ocean floor intrigued me further.

Which brings me to sitting down and watching Raise the Titanic which was made before the ship was found and was still believed to be in one piece. However, at the time I watched the film, we knew that it was in two pieces at the bottom of the ocean, and had watched James Cameron’s Titanic which was a detailed representation of the Titanic story, but my interest in the film was still there. I thought the film was slightly irrelevant and not a good film at all the story seemed farfetched and didn’t make any sense at the time.

Then I was on holiday in Ibiza and bought a book Clive Cussler Inca Gold, which also included the character, Dirk Pitt and others. They find a Spanish Galleon in South America. Dirk Pitt is a retired Navy Personal. I read the book and thought it was a great story, and Dirk Pitt was a great main character.

Inca Gold was the first Clive Cussler I read. I was intrigued at what other books he wrote and surprisingly found that he also wrote Raise the Titanic, of which the film of the same name is based on. I also discovered that the book included the same main character, Dirk Pitt. In 1911, an American minor found a mineral, which has the potential of being used as a weapon deterrent, or as a weapon. The Americans wanted to use it for a deterrent; they didn’t want it to fall into the Russian’s hands, who may make a weapon out of it. The Americans carry it through Scotland and England, and was believed to be loaded onto the Titanic, in 1912, which would make its way to America. The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, along with what was thought to be the rare mineral, byzanium. Years later, the Russians wanted it back, but the Americans wanted to get it first, and so the search for byzanium began once more, and that search lead to them to believe it was on the Titanic. An operation to raise the ship began, and was successful, but retrieving the rare mineral was not. It was later discovered that it had actually been buried at Southby near Southampton. Due to unpredictable politics, they came to the decision to leave byzanium buried.

The film was an adaptation of the book, and with all adaptations, certain pieces of information may be left out, and the book is normally the best way to know the whole story. Upon reading this book, I was able to understand the film, and why the felt they needed to raise the Titanic more than I had before, which I had mainly watched due to my liking of Titanic.

It does go to show, although the initial first impression counts, new information can change your second or third impression of something.

Layers - Part 48

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 78:

I waited for Amy to return from answering the person who was at the door. I didn’t hear much of the conversation, but it didn’t last long before the door was shut and Amy ascended the stairs once more. She came into her room, holding a package in both her hands, looking rather curiously.

‘Anything wrong?’ I asked. The box was neatly wrapped with brown tape with handwriting that was far neater than anything that I could ever muster.

‘Nothing’s wrong as such,’ Amy said, sitting back down onto her chair. ‘It’s just that I don’t remember ordering anything. Normally, whenever I make an order to some place, I make a note of it somewhere either on a piece of paper or on my computer, sometimes both just in case the other one is lost somehow.’ Amy spun around and scrolled through her documents before searching through her stuff on her desk. ‘I don’t have any note.’

‘Maybe someone sent it to you?’ I suggested.

‘I thought that at first,’ Amy said, ‘but I don’t recognise the handwriting.’

‘Well, the only thing you can do is open it and find out what it is. Maybe whatever is in it will jog your memory. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?’

‘Well, here goes, then,’ Amy said before grabbing her scissors from a pot beside her monitor and started to cut the tape. After undoing the sides, she pulled apart the two flaps at the top of the box and looked inside.

‘Anything interesting?’ I asked.

‘I’d say,’ Amy said.

‘What is it?’

‘There’s something wrapped in bubble wrap and a note from someone.’ Amy opened the note and began to read.

‘Amy, I understand that this unexpected package from us may leave you with questions, but there is a simple explanation. You see, your dad and I are going to be gone for a while longer than we first anticipated. As you know from our phone call this morning, we were stuck in a traffic jam for five hours and felt too tired to continue home for the rest of the journey, so we checked into a motel for the night. We then intended to be back this evening, as luck would have it, a major problem at work forced us to go in and help out in any way that we could. We may not be able to come home for a good couple of days until we are given the all clear. I do apologise for our sudden change of plans as we were originally going to go out together for the day tomorrow, but I’m afraid to say that may not happen.

‘To say that we are sorry for our unfortunate circumstance, we have sent you a present that we think will enlighten your mood enough until we get back. Also, along with that, we have enclosed some money that we think is enough for you to go out and have a good day with Sebastian, who we are pleased that you are finally together.’ Amy went a little red from reading that. I couldn’t help but smile and blush as well. I’m really glad that her parents approve of our relationship.

‘Again, we’re sorry about this and we hope that you will understand. Yours sincerely, mum and dad.’

Amy put the note to one side and pulled out the object that was neatly wrapped in bubble wrap. She cut the tape off and unrolled the wrap revealing what was inside.

‘Now that’s pretty cool,’ I said. In the palm of her hand sat a very nicely decorated bust of a woman who looked like she was from the Victorian times, but had a lot of jewellery that caught the room’s light and reflected nicely, making it stand out amazingly. Amy looked at it in awe and wonderment. Who the woman was, we had no idea. Amy turned it over to see if there were any more details, but it was just a plain bust covered in brilliant jewels.

‘That really is something, isn’t it,’ Amy said, turning it around in her hands to get a view from each side. She then had another look inside the box and practically jumped out of her seat with excitement.

‘Hang, on, there’s another note,’ Amy said enthusiastically, reaching into the box and pulling out a smaller piece of paper. Unfolding it, Amy read. ‘The bust of Elizabeth Moore, born seventeen-sixty-five; died eighteen-sixty-five.’

‘Exactly one-hundred years old,’ I said. ‘That’s one heck of an achievement. Is there any more information.’

‘Strangely enough,’ Amy said, looking in the box, ‘there isn’t.’

‘Huh,’ I said.

‘Huh, indeed,’ Amy agreed, ‘but that doesn’t matter. Look at how beautiful it is. This can sit right there,’ and she put it on her desk to the left of her monitor so that it was in the right place for Amy to see it without anything getting in the way.

‘I don’t want to bring the mood down, or anything,’ I said.

‘What’s on your mind,’ Amy said, putting the box down and pulling out white envelope that has the money in.

‘I’ve never known mail to arrive so quickly after being posted,’ I said. ‘Usually it takes at least a couple of days to get from one place to another, even if it’s just over the road. It has to be sorted and processed, you know,’ I explained.

‘Now that you mention that,’ Amy said coming to a sudden realisation, ‘it does seem strange that my mum and dad sent something this morning and it arrived,’ she looked at the time, ‘just gone past seven at night. Blimey, we’ve been up here all day

‘Have we?’ I asked in surprise. Amy nodded.

‘My mum and dad had been late before due to an unexpected emergency, and they never sent me anything before, so why this time. That doesn’t make any sense,’ she tilted her head as she combed through many ideas insider her head. She then noticed me staring at her and she turned towards me and asked what I was doing.

‘Sorry,’ I said, ‘but…’ Oh, this is going to be embarrassing. My hesitation increased Amy’s interest in what I had to say. ‘Um…’ But before I had a chance to explain myself, she told me that she had figured it out by smiling.

‘You like it when I think,’ she said, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly. I answered by blushing. We should really stop with the cheesiness, but that may not stop any time soon, and I'm OK with that.

That particular topic was suddenly cut short when Amy changed her expression into one that told me she had an idea: Wide eyed and drenched in enthusiasm.

‘How about we go out for dinner instead of cooking something. My treat.’

I was slightly caught off guard with the sudden change of topic, but I quickly agreed to the offer, except for her pain, though.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, ‘you got my pizza the other day and so this can be my way of repaying you.’

‘But dinner out is a lot more expensive that pizza,’ I countered.

‘And,’ she shrugged. I was about to say something else but she cut me short. ‘Why are you not allowing me to buy you dinner?’ she asked. That was a clever question. She knew that the answer to that question was what I already said, but at the same time, it was the wrong answer.

‘But I get to repay you back with something later on,’ I said, ‘like a movie or something.’

‘Awesome,’ Amy jumps up. ‘Now, I’m going to freshen up,’ Amy said. ‘Would you mind turning off the computer for me.’

‘No problem,’ I said.

‘And make sure that you bookmark all the new sites that we’ve found,’ she said before exiting the room and walking to the bathroom.

‘It’s as good as done,’ I called through before I heard the bathroom door shut.  After I had finished bookmarking each tab and closing down all the webpages, I shut down the computer, turned off the monitor and waited for Amy to come out of the bathroom. I heard the door reopen and footsteps cross the hall. Amy poked her head around the doorframe.

‘BOO,’ she said suddenly. I jumped out of my chair, nearly crashing to the floor. My heart was racing and I was out of breath. As I was recovering, Amy was bent double with laughter.

‘Don’t do that,’ I said.

‘Sorry,’ she said through laughter, ‘I couldn’t help myself.’

I stood up after I had calmed down and combed my hands through my hair. I was as good as ready.

‘Let’s go,’ Amy said, turning towards the door once more.

Due to it being only 7 in the evening, the lampposts were still lit, preventing us from seeing the beautiful lights that are the stars in the night sky, complete with the colourful band that is the Milky Way extend across the sky. The night was a not that cold, but there was a small chill in the air, that meant we couldn’t stand still for too long otherwise we would get cold quickly. It’s best to keep moving.

‘So, were are we going?’ I asked Amy as we exited her road and headed in the direction of the shopping centre.

‘I know of a nice place near the town centre,’ she said, ‘it has everything you could possibly want on the menu and the waiters and waitresses are extremely nice. After they have served you, you would think it was an insult to them not to give them a hefty sized tip at the end of it.’

‘I think I know that place,’ I said. ‘I mean, I’ve been to a restaurant that did serve really nice food and had friendly staff, but I might have gone to a different one, I’m not sure.’

‘Well, you’re going to find out soon,’ she said. The walk was a pleasant one. We didn’t talk about that man or that secret organisation that could be hiding in the shadows. We talked about how I prefer to stay at home with a good book or a good game or even a good film instead of going out to some very high atmospheric, intense scene that are night clubs. Amy, on the other hand, doesn’t mind going to night clubs, but also doesn’t mind sitting at home and relaxing.

‘I’m not like a couple of people I know who goes clubbing each night,’ Amy said. ‘I don’t mind going every once and a while, but not every night.’

‘I have tried clubbing once before with Tom back when I was in high school, but the loud music and shouting people made me feel like I was completely out of my comfort zone. Tom would do anything. He would go out every night, but at the same time would sit down and read if he wanted to. I just don’t know how he can balance those two very different things out as well as he does,’ I said.

‘He sounds like he has had a lot of practice,’ Amy said.

‘You got that right,’ I said.

We arrived at the restaurant. We stood to one side as we waited for the waitress to come and take us to our table. This particular atmosphere was nice and calming. The soft, orchestral music playing over the speakers helped you to relax.

‘Table for two,’ a waitress who went by the name of Natalie, with dark hair tied up in a bun and a smile that didn’t look like she didn’t want to be here during the graveyard shift.

‘Please,’ Amy said.

‘Right this way.’ We followed Natalie through the restaurant, allowing me to see just how nice this place really looked. The tables that didn’t have anybody sitting at were neatly organised with napkins that had been complicatedly folded into a swan with its wings sticking out as if it was getting ready to fly. And the tables that did have people sitting at wasn’t too far from being the same. The blue coloured table cloth helped the mood be that much more calming. Everyone seemed to be nice and relaxed.

‘How’s this table?’ the waitress asked, stopping at the back of the restaurant near a photograph of someone holding what appeared to be a certificate of some kind detailing the dates when this restaurant opened. It was in black and white, which indicated that it was some time ago, but the picture was a little bit too far away for me to make out the actual dates.

We sat down at the table and settled ourselves in.

‘Would you like me to take your order for some drinks or would you like me to come back in a little while?’ Natalie asked.

‘Um…’ Amy said, thinking. ‘I’ll just have a coffee,’ she said.

‘And I’ll have an apple juice,’ I said.

‘Would that be with or without ice, sir?’

‘With, please,’ I said.

‘They’ll be along shortly,’ Natalie said before leaving us to decide what we would like to eat.

‘You’re right,’ I said to Amy, ‘this place really is nice.’

‘Is this the one you remember?’

‘Actually it isn’t,’ I said, ‘unless they have had a complete redesign, but otherwise I must have gone to a different one.

‘Well, I hope this experience will make you want to come back here more often,’ Amy said, picking up the menu that was sitting in its own little holder on the edge of the table.

‘They’ve made an awesome impression already, I’m really surprised that I haven’t gone here before,’ I said picking up my own menu and opening it. ‘Woah,’ I said.

‘What?’ Amy asked.

‘I don’t care what you say, I’m going to help you pay for the bill,’ I said. The prices were through the roof. £14.79 for prawn cocktail, and that’s just for starters. The menu has been organised numerically, which means the most expensive priced food is at the back, and I reckon that I may have to take out a loan from the bank to pay for them.

‘How about,’ Amy said thoughtfully over the top of her menu, ‘You’re not going to get a good night’s kiss at the end of tonight,’ she said.

‘Oh, I see how it is,’ I said. ‘Now you’re playing dirty.’

‘Hey, it’s your choice,’ Amy said, resuming to look at the menu.

‘Fine,’ I said, giving in, ‘I’ll let you pay for the bill yourself. But at least let me pay for the tip,’ I suggested.

‘OK, I think I can let you do that,’ she said with acceptance.

Natalie came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order.

‘I am,’ Amy said, ‘what about you?’

‘I think I am,’ I said with my attention drawn to multiple things at once, trying to decide what I should go for. I’ve made sure to go for something at the beginning of the menu since that’s where the cheaper prices are.

‘I’ll have the quiche of the day,’ Amy said.’

‘Would you like that with chips?’ Natalie asked.

‘I think I’m going to skip the chips this time. I could barely eat all of them last time,’ Amy said. Natalie turned to face me, pen at the ready.

‘I’m going to go for the fish and chips,’ I said. They’re £5.99.

‘So that’s how it is,’ Amy said.

‘What?’ I asked, knowing full well that Amy had figured out my strategy.

‘Going for the cheapest thing on the list so that I don’t have to pay that much,’ Amy said.

‘Oh, um…’ what do I say now?

‘He’ll go for the prawn cocktail,’ Amy said, knowing that I’m probably going to go for the second cheapest thing on the menu or that I’m rather bad at decision.

‘Coming right up,’ Natalie said. ‘Everything is cooked from fresh so it’ll be along shortly,’ she said.

‘Can’t wait,’ Amy said. Natalie turned and headed into the kitchen where she will hand the order to the chef.

‘How did you know that I liked prawn cocktail?’ I asked Amy curiously.

‘Everyone likes prawn cocktail,’ Amy said causally.

‘Fair enough,’ I said. I have to admit that I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like prawn cocktail. Even a couple of vegetarians that I’ve met a while back liked prawn cocktail. After a couple of seconds of silence, Amy voiced a thought that she must have had going around in her head for some time.

‘Can I ask you a question?’ she said.

‘What is it?’

‘What would you say if you met him?’ Amy said. I knew that him meant that man who is going around saving people. Me. I thought about it for a good couple of seconds before coming up with an answer that I thought was appropriate.

‘I’m not sure,’ I said. ‘I guess I would ask him how he obtained his powers, but I have a feeling that he wouldn’t tell me. What about you?’ Why did I ask that?

‘I would ask him what made him decide to save people,’ she asked. That was a good question.

‘That’s a good question,’ I repeated my thoughts.

‘Do you think he’ll answer that?’ Amy asked.

‘That depends,’ I said.

‘On what?’

‘Who’s asking.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well, I don’t think he would give that answer to anyone,’ I explained. ‘If you don’t mind my saying so, but that’s a rather personal question and so I think it would have to be a rather important person before he gives that answer away.’ I hope that’s a good enough answer.

‘I guess it is a rather personal question,’ Amy said. ‘I never thought about it being such until you said so. What made you so knowledgeable on this subject all of a sudden?’ Amy asked curiously.

‘Hey,’ I said, putting my hands up to show innocence, ‘I’m just going by what I’ve seen in movies and what I’ve read in books and comics and the like,’ I said. ‘I have no idea what’s really going to happen.’ I think that’s a rather nice save, if I do say so myself.

‘You need to get out more,’ Amy joked.

‘I’m here with you,’ I said.

‘Nice try, but it’s going to take more than that before you can say that you’ve gotten out more,’ she waved a finger at me to indicate that she meant it.

‘Well, it was worth a shot,’ I said.

‘You’re cute, you know that,’ Amy said.

‘I know,’ I said teasingly. We both smiled at each other. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than sitting here with Amy, the person who I have been in love with for years and her having the same feelings towards me. I mean, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Video of the Week: Is White Washing Really Still a Thing? (by Nostalgia Critic)

This is a touchy subject. It’s controversial. Talking about it can make the atmosphere a little awkward. With a subject as fragile as white washing, the wrong words can shatter anyone’s concentration, and then becomes impossible to regain it back. In the video, Nostalgia Critic does ask some valid questions, and he answers them by giving a detailed overview of what white washing is and how it is perceived in today’s Hollywood and society as a whole. Some questions he does ask are hard to answer. He understands this complication by comically showing that people may be mad with him talking about it, but he is confident enough that he will be able to express his views and the views of today well enough to get people talking with fairness without anger.

That is why I am not going to elaborate on any of his points. You can’t really do so without either outright agreeing or disagreeing with them, and that’s not really what the video is about. It’s just an overview, a detailed look at what has become of films and TV. It is a subject that a lot of people have been talking about, so it doesn’t hurt to see someone else’s perspective on the matter among the general opinion. Right? I can’t answer that. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, it’s up to those that are willing to listen to them to decide whether they agree or disagree, or in this case, just understand what’s going on.

Nostalgia Critic explained a lot of other forms of washing, which did open my eyes on just how much can be considered as such, and although he did cover this particular one, gender washing, I think that one is safe to elaborate on more.

Doctor Who, a British science fiction television programme – a very popular one at that – has been running for a staggering 53 years, and ever since it aired on 23^rd November 1963, only male actors have played the role of The Doctor. 13 actors in total has made their contribution to the show, and made the Doctor’s character their own. I started watching Doctor Who during series 3 run when David Tennant was The Doctor. The episode in question was Blink, and episode where he actually wasn’t in it as much. But that didn’t matter because when he did show up, he was The Doctor. And the subsequent episodes, blew me away. David’s Doctor was incredible. Eventually, David said that he was leaving the show, and the hunt for a new actor to fill the role of the Doctor began anew. Matt Smith was selected. All that needed to happen now was for David Tennant to say his goodbyes and regenerate, and because he made such a good impression on me, it was an emotional time. How could Matt Smith live up to David Tennant’s reputation? But he did. He made the role his own just like his predecessor. It didn’t take long at all before Matt Smith’s Doctor was creating as much of an impact as David Tennant’s Doctor was, and over the years, he only got better and better, which was exactly the same before. And the cycle continues: Matt Smith says he’s leaving, the hunt begins, Matt says his goodbyes and regenerates. Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor. I won’t go into the personality of the Doctor, or any of the lore, but it did take a little while before Peter settled in for me. But was that because of how great Matt was, or simply because it was Peter Capaldi’s performance? Well, after season 9, I can safely say that he is most definitely the Doctor. And when I went back and watched the first season, with Christopher Eccleson as the Doctor, even though it was for only one season, you could see that he put a lot of effort into every episode he was in. He made the Doctor his own, and I could see that, even though I wasn’t there when he regenerated into David Tennant, the cycle of wondering if David would live up to Christopher’s performance began in Season 1. For that time being, Christopher Eccleson was The Doctor.

And upon looking back over the years, and looking at other people’s performance as the Doctor, the same can be said then as well. Every single one of them was the Doctor. They made the character their own. Tom Baker is known to be the greatest Doctor of them all, with David Tennant being a close second. I didn’t grow up with Tom Baker, I started watching the show when David was there, but even I could see just how great Tom was in the role. He was phenomenal to say the least.

Everyone that has been cast to play the Doctor has shown that they are the actor to play The Doctor.

In recent years, it has been suggested to cast a female in the leading role. This has caused some controversy. One side is saying that The Doctor is a male, and casting a woman wouldn’t make much sense to the character, whereas the other side is stating that what would be the difference. I have to agree, what would be the difference? When Matt Smith left, the suggestion to cast a female was stronger than ever, even to the point when people were saying that the BBC was actually strongly considering it. When Peter Capaldi was cast, there was a debate on why he was chosen and not a female. I believe that may be a bit too vague as Peter was soon accepted. The question that needed answering however, was whether or not a Time Lord could actually change gender when regenerating, and this was answered when the Master regenerated into the Mistress, and again during the finale of Season 9, Hell-Bent, when a Time Lord regenerated from a male to a female, and even stating that her previous incarnation was actually the only time she was ever a man. So that question was eventually answered, but it didn’t explain everything. Why wasn’t the Doctor changing genders when regenerating? Peter Capaldi was cast to play the Doctor, not because he was a male, but because he was the best person to play the role, and he proved that almost instantly, and now almost everyone loves his performance and it will be another emotional event when he eventually regenerates into someone else.

There is every possibility that a woman will be cast to play the Doctor when Peter leaves, but they won’t be casting a woman, they will be casting the right person to play the role, to make the Doctor’s character their own.

The same could be said about everything else. They don’t cast white people, they cast those that they believe will be good at the role. However, sometimes, that isn’t always the case. Many people could be good at the role, but studious pick those that will make the film a financial success. That makes sense from a business side of things… sort of… Surely it would be better to cast someone who fits that specific character, that way people will connect with what they have read in the books or the comics, and make the film even more financially successful compared to what it would have done? That question is being explored, and is slowly being answered. Game of Thrones being a massive and trustworthy example, but it will be a while before we see it being definitively answered.

When Matt Smith was leaving Doctor Who, and I was asked who I would cast, I said, without hesitation, Haley Atwell. And when they asked why, I just told them to watch Captain America: The First Avenger.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Layers - Part 47

Thanks for Reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: Bad Neighbours

With the sequel “Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising” now in cinemas, I thought I would give my opinion on the first one, and to put it simply, I like it. It’s an R-rated film, so it’s going to have those moments that may not sit comfortably in the family-friendly category, but nevertheless it’s a fun, entertaining comedy.

Seth Rogen stars as Mac and Rose Byrne as Kelly Radner, a young couple with a newborn daughter, Stella. They’re not breaking from the stress of parenthood, but they are coming to terms with what needs to be done, and what cannot be done, such as spending as much time as they were with friends. They live in a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood, which is perfect for raising a family, but that all changes when a fraternity moves into the house next door, and the two leaders, Teddy Sanders, played by Zac Efron, and Pete Ragazolli, played by Dave Franco, aim to put their names into the hall of fame for fraternities.

During the first night of partying, Stella cannot sleep, so Mac goes over to ask Teddy if he could keep the noise down, which he agrees but only if they make the promise of always calling him first before the Police. It’s a pretty reasonable request, so the couple makes the promise and all is well. But come the second night, when the party is even louder than last nights, Mac is unable to contact Teddy. Kelly convinces Mac to make an anonymous call to the Police, which he does but the Police officers who come to control the situation immediately outs Mac and Kelly.

This is when the two sides are formed. Teddy is furious that Mac and Kelly went against their promise. In response to this, the fraternity dumps nearly all their trash on Mac and Kelly’s front garden. This is when it gets personal from the couple, and they begin scheming plans in order to break up the fraternity. An all-out war between the two houses begins.

I saw the first sample clip when I was watching The Graham Norton Show one Friday night on BBC 1, and even though it’s supposed to set up some questions, and show as much of the film as possible without actually giving too much away, but upon seeing it, I didn’t really know what to make of it. It certainly intrigued me, but it did look like something I may not be that interested in.

When I had the chance, I sat down and watched it, and I have to be honest, I was surprised. As I said before, it was a fun and entertaining comedy. Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne’s character’s chemistry was a delight to see, which meant they were able to portray good parents respectfully. Throughout the film, they remained good parents, and I think that was a nice element to see in amongst the war between the two houses. All they want to do is create a nice atmosphere so that their daughter, Stella, can sleep. Is that really too much to ask?

On to the fraternity itself. Now, I live in England, we don’t have fraternities, and when we do, they’re just a simple get together and nothing more, they are never anything like actual fraternities. I have no idea just how big fraternities get over in America, but I can’t shake off the obviousness that the film’s version was just a tad over the top to really cement the fact that they are annoying the neighbours next door.

Teddy and Pete wants to go out with a bang, and they will stop at nothing to make sure they are remembered for many years to come.

Zac Efron’s breakthrough role that made a name for himself was when he stared in the series of hit films, Highschool Musical. After that, he was staring in plenty of family-friendly/kid-friendly films, which only continued to cement his image as being a “Disney kid”. It can be hard to break away from that, but in this film Zac proves to us that he is perfectly capable of doing just that. This is an R-rated film, so it does have moments that are definitely not for kids. Zac’s performance throughout the film as someone who just wants to be remembered when he leaves university is unbroken throughout, which makes you feel as if his actions are sort of justified, but you know that they aren’t, because of the commotion the fraternity is causing.

Overall I recommend this film. It’s consistent, funny, and surprises us; Zac’s and Seth’s performance, when they are on screen together, makes for a delightful moment.

I can’t really end this review without giving some words to its sequel. I haven’t seen the sequel so I won’t be giving a review on it, but I will say this. It is understandable to say that, with a sorority moving next door – a female fraternity – it is going to be the exact same film all over again, but I have to disagree. It won’t be exactly the same film, but it will have elements that can be compared to the first, almost exactly, but does that really matter? If the first film has taught me anything, it has taught me that the formula works, and I would like to see more of it. Everybody’s performance throughout the film is practically faultless, and to revisit that I know I would be in for another fun and joyous ride. Plus, at the end of the first film, Mac and Kelly have accepted parenthood after experiencing what their life used to be like, so with that development already in place, I would like to see what lessons they’ve learnt this time round. Plus, Teddy is back but acting on the good side, so you’ve got an experienced person helping with the scheming, so seeing what plans they come up with this time round, is going to be just as entertaining as before.

Thanks for Reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)