A Brief Rumination on Certain Traits of Steven Moffat and a Scene from “The Day of the Doctor”

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Disclaimer: this article is entirely based around spoilers, sweetie.

 

I wasn’t kidding!

There’ve been a lot of big television events in the past month: heart-stopping college football, including the Auburn-Alabama game destined for mythological status, as well as the call in which the local radio announcer went from 0 to orgasm in seconds, and The Sound of Music – Live!, a stunningly not terrible blockbuster which revealed how Carrie Underwood has three facial expressions when not singing—REALLY happy, REALLY surprised, and REALLY confused. But the one which meant the most to my friends and I was “The Day of the Doctor,” which may have been the first time I watched 75 minutes of programming with a goofy smile never leaving my face. Except for one part which will be the focus of this piece, but really, for the duration, it was goofy smile time, from the high-speed opening with Clara teaching at Ian and Barbara’s school and motoring into a very happy Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS, to the Daleks’ cameo to the Tennant-Smith interplay to the glorious final scene between Matt Smith and Tom Baker, a man who only seems to have changed by letting his hair get white. It was everything a devoted Whovian could have wanted. And more importantly, it may have, at least in part, redeemed Steven Moffat.

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Magical Educations, Imperial Afflictions, and…um…the Spice Must Flow

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One phenomenon which has swept pop culture media as of late is a replacement for the classic “Let’s count down the 10/20/50/100 best examples of something or other of all time!” article as a way of ranking the greatest somethings or other. Instead, websites from Grantland to Vulture have swiped the NCAA Bracket model, picking the 64 greatest songs of the Millennium or television dramas and having readers vote to knock them out one by one until only a single example remains. If the seeding process is even less scientific than the NCAA model (How did they decide to pit The Wire against My So-Called Life in round one?) it’s still no more random than sticking “Tower of Song” one spot ahead of “Waiting for the Miracle” when Flavorwire picked the 79 best Leonard Cohen songs of all time. And allowing the audience to have their say makes it a bit more fun, giving one a reason to care about something arbitrary. The reason for bringing up the subject is that Entertainment Weekly recently did a bracket which I found out about a little too late…okay, just after the Final Four had been cut to the ultimate Two…but I was attracted to right away because it touched a subject dear to my heart, and I think the hearts of my colleagues and our own readers as well.

The 64 Greatest Young Adult Novels of All Time

Naturally, this could not escape some commentary on the level of Alex and I’s dissection of the Sight and Sound poll last year, for even more than cinema, there were books on this list which will forever be associated with key moments of my childhood, my personal growth as a writer, and inspiring thoughts on love, life, the universe, and everything. Douglas Adams does not appear on this list, by the way, though you could argue if any of his work could be defined as young adult, and even then he is NOT the most glaring omission. That being said, quibbling over the reduction of the shelves upon shelves of literature I used to keep in order at Barnes & Noble to a scant 64 titles is not the game I wish to play, especially because the field got one very important thing correct right away, and which made this bracket a worthwhile endeavor.

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MLB Awards 2013: Meet the (New) Boss; Plus a Brief Look at the Veteran’s Hall of Fame Ballot

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miguel cabrera

Honestly, after seeing 12 Years A Slave last night, everything else seems trivial. This was something we talked about last night, about how everything else seemed less. But here’s the thing: an hour later, we were all laughing about Air Bud: 7th Inning Fetch. Because humor is important, too. It makes us human, makes life enjoyable. Baseball isn’t quite humor, but it accentuates life rather than detracts from it. (Unless you’re an Indians fan. Whee!)

With that in mind, a brief mailbag, followed by my picks for the major MLB awards, and an (oh-so) brief discussion of this year’s Modern Era Ballot from the Veteran’s Committee on the Hall of Fame.

Let’s begin.

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12 Years a Slave is Mandatory

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Travis beat me to the punch a bit here, but I also have some brief thoughts about 12 Years a Slave. We will both expand upon this in the immediate future, I’m sure.

This is mandatory. Essential doesn’t come close to being right for this film, which is an instant classic to me. It is mandatory. As in, every person with even a passing interest in film as an art form has to see it.

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12 Years A Slave: A Letter to the World

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Dear America,

Tonight, I attended a showing of 12 Years A Slave with fellow writers Andrew and Alex, as well as Alex’s wife.

There are absolutely no words to describe this film, other than it is an utter masterpiece, and possibly the hardest piece of cinema I’ve ever encountered.

Every citizen should see this film. It transcends the petty notions of awards season, the previous depictions of slavery, and other such documentations of American history.

We all struggled to encapsulate exactly how we felt after viewing the film. All I can say is to bring a towel, because Kleenex will not cut it.

This should be mandatory viewing for every American citizen. For every human being.

It is because of it’s unflinching nature and brutal depictions of history that every living, breathing human should see this film. Some might be scared by its graphic nature, or its harrowing documentation of what humans are capable of in their darkest moments. It is because of these very truths that you and every one you know should find the nearest screening of this film and see it.

You will not look at things the same after watching this. I guarantee this.

We debated who should write the review/critique of this film after we left the theatre. In the days to come, as we come to grips with what we saw in the film, we might offer commentary upon the powerful imagery of the film, which again, I stress is some of the most powerful images I’ve seen in my years of film study. For the time being, this must suffice.

There are no other words.

Yours truly,

Travis

Alex’s Liveblog of the 2013 Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy

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*** 1:00

Welcome to The Addison Recorder’s Liveblog of the 2013 Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy! The #21 Michigan Wolverines (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) and #22 Michigan State Spartans (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten) will be meeting on the gridiron for the 106th time this afternoon in East Lansing. The winner of this game will put themselves in the driver’s seat to win the Legends (ugh, so glad that name is going away) Division of the Big Ten and play for the Championship next month in Indianapolis.  So, as the Recorder’s resident Michigan(and college football) fanatic I’ll be setting up the game before kickoff and then providing commentary during the action. Except lots of swearing. Possibly a lot of despair as well. Back in a few moments with a rundown of Michigan’s season so far and what to expect from them on offense and defense today.
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Big Papi Eats Planets: World Series Wrap-Up; MLB Postseason Coverage 2013

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david ortiz

Welcome to the final edition of the Addison Recorder’s (sporadically) running series “MLB Postseason Coverage 2013”. I apologize for dropping off the face of the earth over the past few days/four games, in part because of a trip home with unreliable Internet connections, and in part because I became very invested in watching the World Series.

I mean, after all, it was kind of exciting.

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Caroline (and Jane)

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I had to write something about Lou Reed this week. Had to. He not only makes a bit of a cameo in my new book, as I spend an instant musing on how my six year-old self sang along with his father and the radio to “Walk on the Wild Side,” merrily intoning the phrase “giving head” without knowing what that meant. But also, as a wealth of articles and tributes has confirmed, Lou Reed was special. He was someone people cared about perhaps more than society expected.

And this goes beyond the four-piece band who hung out with Warhol and briefly featured a sexy German model with the flattest voice on the planet. If the Velvet Underground no longer seem as strange and daring as they once did, and there are plenty of moments I still find them strange and daring, it’s because everything they recorded was studied and absorbed by rock, pop, even, I would argue, metal and rap. They took the traditional forms of rock music and injected avant-garde experiments which still sounded accessible, mixed in unflinching, coldly real lyrics that read with all the poetry of Dylan, and refused to do anything normal. Even their most conventional songs had tricks in the tails: “Femme Fatale” has a melody worthy of a 70s California soft-rock song, but Nico’s intonation makes it terrifying. “Rock and Roll” mixes its heart-on-sleeve pop feel with guitar sounds I’ve never heard before or since and that piano which comes out of nowhere. And then we have “European Son,” “Sister Ray,” “The Murder Mystery,” “I’m Sticking With You…”

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The Unhittable Michael Wacha: World Series Game 2 Wrap-Up – MLB Postseason Coverage 2013

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Michael-Wacha

See, I told you this was exciting.

Last night, the Cardinals rallied past the Red Sox in the top of the 7th inning, thanks to a series of defensive miscues by Boston and timely clutch hitting by Carlos Beltran. (Glad to see that he’s capable of playing and helping out, as opposed to skulking in the dugout with a nasty rib injury.) However, the story of the night, or the one that the media would want to frame for you, is that Michael Wacha is the best thing since sliced bread.

Which, to be fair, he may be, but then again, he may not. (By the way, who gives a f^$& about an Oxford comma?)

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