Did anyone see the Christmas Day special of Doctor Who?

It was… good?

I’ve got mixed feelings about it. Don’t get me wrong though, I thought that David Tennant was very good and didn’t ham it too badly as the post regeneration Doctor.

But the story was below par and it seemed a bit too contrived, even for Doctor Who.

That’s the problem with post regeneration stories. It’s heavy on the post-regen trauma (which is traditional Doctor Who fare) and has plenty of “who am I going to be this time?” and the stories tend to suffer as a result.

Still, it was more than watchable and after the credits there as a teaser for the new series.

Overall, it was a success. But next Christmas I hope they try harder.

So, I hope everyone had a pleasant Chrimbo day and that the gift monkeys were good to you all.

Me? I spent from Friday night to Tuesday midday up at the in-laws who live in Newburgh, north of Aberdeen.

It was good to be away from the noise and hassle of Glasgow for a while and much relaxation (and surprisingly little booze) was had. And what did the festive hominids get me? Well, it was all good but special mentions go to the Darth Tater from my sister and the radio controlled Dalek from Ruthy.

Oh, and I got some inspiration for the novel (finally). I’m going to get some more done over the next couple of days. It helps that I’m both off work and full of the flu. The novel will probably be the only thing I’m capable of until I’m feeling better.

Unfortunatly having the flu means that I’ll be off the bevvy for New Year’s Eve but what the hell, there are always other excuses to get drunk.

As far as card games are concerned, I used to be pretty good at them. And, until recently, this was still the case.

Alas, no more it seems.

I’m just back from Callum’s place in the backwaters of Lenzie and I’ve just suffered two more pathetic losses.

It didn’t help that during the second game, one in which I was doing reasonably well for a while, he pulls out the following card combination: Cthulhu and Sniper Rifle. Cthulhu is bad enough (a skill of 10 and invulnerability) but adding a sniper rifle (choose and wound a character with lower skill) was just mean.

And for those who don’t know, almost all characters in the game have a lower skill than Cthulhu…

Anyway, who ever heard of Cthulhu with a rifle? It’d need to be a hell of a big rifle for a creature of over 100 ft in height to use.

Or maybe I’m just being bitter. It’s off to the card folders to come up with something new…

Today.

On the third Saturday to go before Christmas, I braved the streets of Glasgow to get some (or any) of the necessary shopping done. Fortunatly Ruthy was there to make the experience a bit more bareable.

With all the comsumer madness going on, it was refreshing to shop in Dixons (a rare occurance at best) and NOT get hassled regarding their not-worth-the-paper-it’s-written-on extended warranty.

But then there were loads of suckers (sorry, customers) who would have taken it, so I probably wouldn’t have shown up on their radar anyway.

After everything I’ve heard about this film, I’ve been dreading seeing any part of it.

I was wrong.

The trailer is currently on the Apple site here. I particularly like the Beast. I had heard that he was going to be totally computer generated but I’m happy to see him in the flesh, so to speak.

It looks very likely that this will be the final X-Men movie which may be a good thing. It will give another franchise a chance to shine. Wolverine anyone?

And this year it will be….. (drum roll please)…. 13,000 words.

And the target was?…… 50,000 words

Which leaves just HOW MANY remaining?…… 37,000.

So, it seems, both a failure (not completing the 50,000) and a success (writing 13,000, which is a personal best for me). I’m not discouraged though, as the story has only really just begun.

I’m currently re-reading my Rifts RPG Collectors Edition book (what can I say? I like reading role-playing game source material) and a few sections at the beginning always cheers me up.

On the first page it says:

The fictional world of Rifts is quite violent and deadly. It is an exotic realm where magic is as real as technology, and demonic creatures plague mankind.
Some parents may find the violence and supernatural elements of the game inappropriate for young readers/players. We suggest parental discretion.
Note that none of us at Palladium Books condone nor encourage the occult, the practice of magic, the use of drugs or violence.

That’s nice.There’s also a couple of lines a few pages later in the Glossary of Role-Playing Game Terms. The particular term is Death:

Players should take a character’s death calmly. Remember, it’s ONLY a game.

Aww, that’s nice of them to be looking out for my wellbeing like that. Bless.

Nominated for a personal “Honourable Mention” just because it’s a cool song.

Aye, it’s a bit cheesy, but it’s still cool.

For those who don’t know Magician, by Raymond E. Feist, it’s very possibly one of the very best examples of fantasy writing. Ever.

The book is the first in the Riftwar Saga, which continues in Silverthorn and A Darkness At Sethanon, and is easily one of my favourite novels.

And now, if they do it right, it might be one of my favourite comic books.

“They” are the Dabel Brothers and the information on their site can be found here and some preview pages and artwork can be found here.

On Monday I was around at Fruity’s (an old uni mate, not anything dubious…) in the afternoon and we had a couple of games of the Call Of Cthulhu Collectable Card Game (CCG).

< Shameless Plug> It’s a great game which everyone should play. Go here to find out about it.

How did I do? I was horsed. Twice.

It was pretty embarrasing.

If you ever play it, a word of advice. Fear Behind The Pallid Mask.