In need of a doctor

In its greatest episode yet, "Blink" had very little of the doctor in Doctor Who. Mostly it was about Sally Sparrow (great names in this show) and how the lonely assasins, the weeping angels, stole the doctor's time travel box and how Sally had to get it back to him, losing several friends in the process. The story was nothing truly novel but I find it is the characters, themselves, in this series that capture my attention. Most of them are never one dimensional and their humor is usually spot on. The doctor always finds himself in the greatest of situations and the fact that he time travels is aways appealing. I have not seen the previous versions of Doctor Who but, in my opinion, David Tennant is the best. Catch up on this show by watching the first season online at Netflix.

A king of an album

It is official. The release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King the complete recordings is Tuesday November 6. 5 discs: 4 CDs and one DVD; 3 hours and 50 minutes of music total. I can not wait.

http://www.howardshore.com/news/pressreleases/lotr-rotk.html

DCI 2007

If you have never seen a drum and bugle corps competition, you are missing out. If you have never seen the Drum Corps International World Championships, then tune to ESPN2 on September 25 and 26 for the rebroadcast. Forget that these kids, ages 13-22, march and play at the same time. Forget that they train and practice hours, days, weeks at a time in mid summer, sleeping on gym floors and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Forget the anxiety of competition, the lasting friendships, and the pleasure of performing in front of thousands, six judges, and friends and family. Forget all that and sit back and enjoy something so unique and very fun. The visuals, the music, and the technique all combine to create amazing performances and ESPN2 has the top 11 corps to vie for the world champion. My favorites were Carolina Crown's horse show and The Cavalier's Billy Joel Show. They only show about 5 or 6 minutes from each show but it is probably the best part. I would not have minded seeing the whole show of the top three though.

Season One

Target had this set for under $40 which is pretty good for a six disc set. The packaging is nice, with comic rendering and not a lot of flash. I like the understated logo of this series, a world surrounded by light signifying the eclipse and the impending doom.

I immediately watched my favorite episode, the future one where all the twists and turns occur. I watched with audio commentary which, I have to say, was a bit much because the actors were talking too much to distinguish anything. I watched un-aired pilot with creator/director commentary as well and was happy to hear they cut the terrorist story all together. It was too much and would not have captured me as easily. Then, I moved on to the score extra. I have not been a big fan of this series' music. It is too ethereal for me. But after hearing them talk about the mixture of instruments to try and pull together all the story lines, I had more respect. Then, to prepare for the upcoming season finale, I watched the last episode. Without having the rest of the season to feel the building anticipation and fear of Skylar, it was hard to get into it. However, the one character who never fails to capture admiration is Peter Petrelli. Milo just oozes compassion. But without the antics of Hiro and Ando, Claire and Noah Bennet's underlying suspicion, or Skylar's evil looks (though there are plenty in the finale), it was hard to feel like it was something great. If you have not seen the trailer, search YouTube and be disappointed that Peter has no mention. September 24 can not come fast enough.

Fly Away Home

In 1996, Fly Away Home hit theaters. A quirky movie about a girl, her dad, and the geese they taught to fly. I love this movie. It hits all the emotional high points of the father daughter relationship. Also, the geese are characters unto themselves and they are utilized so well in the movie. Some of the images of Anna Paquin in the fields with those geese are breathtaking and the quiet loneliness she plays after her mother's death, to me, is very poignant.

Most of all, of course, is the score. Well before Mark Isham's rise to fame for his work on Crash, Fly Away Home is a splendid use of acoustic instruments, solo violin, cello, marimba, and accordion. He develops just beautiful themes for flying, the geese, and Amy's mother. In particular, the flying theme is one of my all time favorites. The album for this is impossible to find as there was only a promotional album created. I am lucky to have a bootleg but it contains other songs from some of Isham's other works. Still it is worth it for the track, "First Flight". But if you are interested, the Special Edition DVD has isolated score with some small breaks for Isham's commentary.