Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Oooh, which one should I watch tonight? Star Wars is NEVER bad. Maybe I'll watch that one. Star Wars has NEVER let me down before....

No crock pot, no problem.

My laptop in the living room, VNCing into the main computer in thr office, running a virtual machine to run Windows 11.

Russian Nesting Doll Computing.

Music Before Bed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbT_ZWcgLb4

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/11/infocoms-ingenious-code-porting-tools-for-zork-and-other-games-have-been-found/

So, I want to split this into two pieces. The episode, and the production.

Episode wise, I liked this episode. They went with an interpretation of the Toymaker I took away when I finally saw the original Celestial Toymaker. Less "Another Time Lord" which was implied back in the 60s, and more of a Demigod. And they took that and ran with it. And I LOVED it. That said, he was a pretty weak part of the story, and there wasn't much more to him than a game player to the Nth degree.

Donna and Tennant's Doctor remain a fantastic team, right up there with Ace and McCoy for me. Maybe even better. Donna has a confidence and self-assuredness you don't see from other companions and her fight with the Stooky Family really shows that off. Same with "ALREADY RUNNING!"

Melanie was a bit of a wasted opportunity. It was nice to see her again, and figure out how she got back to Earth after her travels with Sabalom Glitz, but otherwise that could have been anyone. It was nice to see her computer skills in action, which was in her her character bible, but absolutely never used in the old series. AND SHE DIDN'T SCREAM!

Ncuti Gatwa is going to be a great Doctor, and he's won me over already.

Production Wise....

I was never happy with them bringing back David Tennant after Jodie Whitaker. Dont' get me wrong, David and Donna are FANTASTIC, and they lived up to the hype of bringing them back. But at the same time, it definately felt that this was a "wash the aftertaste of the Jodie era from the angry fanboys, and give them what they want before the black man takes over."

The Bi-Generation? Where we now have a concurrent David Tennant, complete with TARDIS and ALSO Ncuti Gatwa running around the universe definitely feels like "We have David on reserve, if they start complaining about Ncuti." It definately undercuts the idea of Ncuti's Doctor when there's another one waiting in the wings....just in case.

JFC I LOVE DONNA

Had to do some serious data gymnastics to get to Dr Who this time around, but I got it working. The Beeb are getting really sneaky about figuring out if you're in the UK or not.

Also, as a fan of early TV, I'm liking how this is opening.

::Wakes up::

Brain: Go directly to Doctor Who. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and for heaven's sake stay of the internet.

".......Jackie Chan!"

Thoughts Before Bed:

So, I tend to wear sneakers all the time. I don't really wear flats: I mentioned the issue I have with flats where my right shoe wants to fall off cause it's smaller than my left to the point that the shoe tends to be a bit big on it, despite fitting my left foot.

I also don't wear heels. I'm already five seven, I don't need to be taller and the other thing you're going to hear the moment I put on heels are my ankles going SNAP. I've sprained my ankle getting out of bed, and the air-splints I use to keep those ankles straight in rough terrain don't go with many outfits where you'd wear heels.

But I do wear boots cause they fit both my feet, and you can get them in low heels and they tend to have good ankle support.

Outside of the sneakers, there's something about wearing women's shoes/boots, though, for me that really changes how I walk. Not sure if it's ME, or the shoe.

When I wear either of them, I have to walk with a much shorter stride. If I don't, I began scuffing and eventually wearing down the very back of the heel cause I "land" on that, instead of the backish part of the ball of my heel.

I've always wondered if that's the shoe or me. When I first transitioned, and Steph was coaching me on being more feminine, one thing she noticed was I walked with a really long stride. She'd constantly tell me to shorten it up to pass better.

I don't think that ever really took. I walk how I walk, you know? I don't think about it, I just do it. But it does make me wonder - do women walk with smaller strides because of physiology? Or cause the shoes are designed to make you stride..."smallerly?" Brain won't give me a better word than that, so "smallerly" it is.

I've read physiological stuff that says women do take shorter strides because of hip width, but also seen women saying it's the shoes that do it. As someone who (1) has almost NEGATIVE hips, and (2) walks fine in women's sneakers, I never figured out which it would be.

Not that I need to find out. Just an observation I've made that's probably going to bother me as I fall asleep tonight. :)