Episode 561: Revisiting Prague

Stayed up last night to watch the Series 5 premiere of Doctor Who and catch up on Gossip Girl. I actually enjoyed the new Doctor's performance far more than I thought I would, and I'm really appreciating the Doctor-companion dynamic that's been set up. Ending scene of the episode? Brilliant. Incidentally, to my ears, Matt Smith's vocal intonations sometimes resemble David Tennant's. Not identical, but I'm pretty sure the resemblance isn't just my imagination. Whether it's deliberate or not is the question, I suppose. So overall, I think this is going to be a smashing series for the Doctor. Feel free to disagree, but hey, no one's forcing you to tune in, right? Gossip Girl, on the other hand, continues to disappoint. The plotlines are getting out of control, and hasty resolutions seem to have turned into a bad habit. That and as Vaish has pointed out, the dialogue has completely gone downhill. It feels like the writers can't figure out how to develop stories that work with an ensemble cast, so all the couples have their little intrigues going on at the same time but with no interaction among them. At this rate, I give it the one more season it's already been renewed for, tops. (Although if Blair transfers to Columbia, perhaps the snark will return? Am not amused by the prospect of revisiting the Nate-Jenny pairing, which the writers apparently think is a great idea to just throw in. Ah, all the couples on this show are borderline incestuous anyway!) We're in Prague today, and I had a moment of déjà vu when standing in front of the Prague Orloj because I recognised my surroundings from years ago when Raffles Voices toured Prague and Germany. We did a walking tour, led by Petr Berka, one of the guys who co-wrote Xenophobe's Guide To The Czech. He's also a guy with a sense of humour, big enough to laugh at his own country and people. If more people were able to do that, the world would definitely be a more peaceful place!