- Well, 2025 is the year I turn 50. That feels like a big number.
- I got myself a Steamdeck for Christmas. I mean, a combination of Ellen and my parents getting it for me, in what has become creating Christmas gift-giving accounting. But it’s mine now. I like it.
- I got the LCD version because I couldn’t really justify an additional $200 for the OLED screen. If I’m missing out, I don’t know it. It’s great.
- The house isn’t done yet. We got hung up on bureaucracy, mostly. But we waded through it and we’re out the other side, so things are happening again. That’s nice. I’m fairly confident we’ll actually be able to move in this year. Maybe I’ll post photos. Would you like to see photos?
- I started the work to migrate this blog off WordPress and onto (unless I get even more frustrated) 11ty. It’s not as plug-and-play as I would like. But I do think the flexibility it gives me will pay dividends. I guess. I’m not convinced anyone is reading this.
- I did turn off comments a long time ago. So it’s not like anyone can tell me otherwise. Hit me up on Mastodon!
- Hot on the heals of the Steamdeck, I picked up Dragon Age: Veilguard. I may need a whole post for my thoughts on that. It does feel nice to be rummaging around seedy, blood-stained basements in Thedas again, tho.
- I’m not really looking forward to 2025 for reasons you might be able to guess on your own, and probably aren’t looking to me to get into too deeply.
- As of May, Ellen and I are living together. Unfortunately, we’re living together in the house her parents are renting that she’s allergic to. That’s not great. But I’m glad we’re together.
- The little guy is delightful as ever. Although I did just have to deal with a half-hour tantrum about wanting to keep wearing a very wet diaper. (Yeah, he should be toilet trained by now, but we’ve been holding out till we’re in the new house which will have no carpets).
- Doctor Who was mildly disappointing but generally in line with my expectations of Russel’s showrunning. So it’s fine. I like Ncuti as the Doctor. I wish other people wrote for him more. But that’s been true of all Russel’s Doctors.
- Star Trek: Lower Decks was pretty much the best.
- I had high expectation for The Acolyte and was mildly disappointed (not that I thought it was bad and I’m sad it was cancelled, but I was hoping for a bit more).
- The Skeleton Crew is exceeding my expectations, tho. That thing is great.
- I guess I mostly watch very old franchise television.
- I’d like to find ways to spend more time with friends this year. I’m not going to call that a resolution because calling it that pretty much guarantees I won’t do it out of spite.
Tag: tv
Sarah Jane Adventures
I remember when I was a kid, just starting to get into Doctor Who and just starting to read Doctor Who Magazine regularly, that I was a bit surprised at how incredibly popular [Sarah Jane Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Jane_Smith) was among fans. People would write in about how she was so much better than any current companion. I remember a cartoon that didn’t seem to have a punchline at all, nor did it make any sense to me. It was just a picture of a boy sitting at the end of his bed, hugging his knees, staring up at the poster of Sarah Jane he had hanging over his headboard.
It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. To me, she was maybe a little silly and annoying, but otherwise totally average as far as companions go. If I was going to choose a companion to obsess over, it would be someone like Nyssa or Zoe. They were *smart*. And cute and demure, of course. Certainly not confrontational. And not *empowered*, either, although 13-year-old me didn’t have any particular concept of what that meant.
Sarah Jane makes are more sense to me now. Because of any of the companions, if there was any of them who you could imagine going off and having adventures of her (or his, for the rare case) own, it would be Sarah. [Nyssa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyssa_of_Traken), while I still think she’s wonderful, ended up an interstellar chronic care nurse. [Zoe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Heriot), while we’re not entirely sure, is probably back living her life as a space librarian. (♥)
And that’s exactly what happened with Sarah Jane Smith. She’s not just having exciting adventures as an investigative reporter, she’s fighting monsters and saving the world, just like the Doctor.
And that’s pretty much what [The Sarah Jane Adventures](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sarah_Jane_Adventures) are about.
It’s a kids’ show, but it actually works fairly well. Doctor Who is nominally a kids’ show, although it’s traditionally aimed above the mark. SJA is on the kids’ channel of the BBC and is aimed squarely at kids. Besides Sarah, the principal cast is kids and it’s much lighter.
For a kids’ show, though, it’s surprisingly well written. While not quite to the same level as Doctor Who, the stories have definite emotional impact. It’s a bit silly and light and fun, but it still feels like it *matters*.
Compare and contrast with Torchwood.
One thing I noticed about the show while we were watching it: the writers seem a bit less reluctant to drop in references to the original series or lift wholesale obscure monsters from the new series. I have a theory about this, too. It’s the kids.
When you present adults with things they don’t understand, they get all flustered and frustrated and annoyed. Obscure references to things that they haven’t heard of are a turn off. Kids, on the other hand, take it all in stride.
What’s more than that, it’s the kids that are likely to pour over Doctor Who Magazine, the Annuals, and the new monster reference books they’ve been releasing. They know this stuff now. And putting sly little references into their show rewards their efforts.
I think it’s nerdily cool too, but they’ve shown considerably more restraint in the past for this sort of thing. I think they’re doing it for the kids.
Anyway, I hope they bring the show over here. I don’t think CBC is co-producing. Maybe it’ll show up on BBC Kids or something. Regardless, if you get a chance and you have any interest in Doctor Who at all, give it a try. I promise it’s better than Torchwood.
Even *with* the sonic lipstick.