Friday, 15 February 2013

Books and Bugs and Big Finish

Well, the family has been hit by something viral. It's nothing life-threatening, but it was enough to prevent us doing normal activities. On Wednesday nobody was fit enough to take the dog for a walk at all; other days I've really had to force myself to do so, even for a short one. The two hours he really needs is right out! It has also affected my concentration (which is already limited by pain and/or the medication I take to reduce it). As a result I have written nothing for a week, other than a few short comments on message threads. And I haven't even watched the episode I was intending today's post to be about!

So, instead, this. Chiefly it's an announcement that this blog is going to be erratic for a while, but I thought I'd add a few other thoughts (because it's easier to ramble on than be usefully critical).

One is that I'm going through audios at a far greater rate then I change my Gallifrey Base sig, which rather defeats the point of having that info there. I recently managed to get a copy of The Last, the final Charley story missing from my collection, and I have embarked on a (non-critical) Charley marathon. It has two parts, going along in parallel: the eighth Doctor stories, most of which I've heard before (only The Last, Scaredy Cat, Something Inside and Memory Lane are first-time listenings); and the sixth Doctor ones (all of which are new). I swap between them depending on mood and money (I still need to save up for some!) and slot in the occasional story with other companions, most recently some of the audio short trips; The Darkening Eye; and The Forbidden Time. Oh, and some non-Who audios, too, such as The Hound of the Baskervilles (bought in the Christmas sale for my wife Alison).

I'm not sure if I've said this before, but audio is my main way of experiencing the show. I've now heard and rated more audios than I have TV stories, if you count the soundtracks of serials with no surviving episodes as audio. The tipping point was sometime last week, when I finished The Doomwood Curse. I also relisten more than I rewatch. From a purely entertainment perspective I would rather be blind than deaf - though that is reversed for most things, and I'm very glad to be neither!

Novels come a distant third (or fourth, if you count short stories individually). I've been reading more of them recently, prompted by the TARDIS Eruditorum, which is currently covering the wilderness years. In the past month I've read The Blue Angel and Father Time, and am partway through Love and War; Lance Parkin (a friend of a friend, actually) wins the 'easiest prose to read' award, but the New Adventure is easiest to read overall because of the print size. In general I read a lot less than I used to, mostly because of the concentration it takes; but I am enjoying dipping into the Who books outside of my marathon.

And that's all I've got to say for now. Take care of yourselves!

Next Time:
Really The Search. But no promises when...

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