Episode 1469: A Pond Farewell

Even though it's been no secret that the Ponds are exiting Doctor Who, it was still bittersweet to see how their characters' arc as companions came to an end this week. I did think the storyline was a little rushed, but this didn't necessarily detract from the emotional punch the episode delivered. Was interesting to see the Weeping Angels return, and they're definitely among the creepiest creatures that the show has featured. I'll miss Amy and Rory, but I like how final their exit was, and I really hope the show lets it stick, rather than inserting a plot device to bring them back for a cameo at some later date, which is what has happened with other companions in the past. Have also finally started reading another book that I need to review, although I've yet to write the review of Joy. Planning to do that tomorrow. Have been reading somoe comics as well, using the Madefire app for the iPad. These comics have been designed expressly for the iPad, and it's quite an interestingly immersive reading experience, especially with the sound effects and atmospheric music. The currently available titles are all free, but I have no idea if that's just because they're mostly first issues, intended as tasters. I really hope not, though I suppose I wouldn't be averse to paying for subsequent issues if the prices were within reason.

Episode 1468: Huffington Is A Beautiful But Still Somewhat Vapid Magazine

Am finally completely caught up with my TV shows! Love the direction that Season 2 of Person Of Interest seems to be headed in, and how the show's continuing to humanise Jim Caviezel's character. I hope the dog he adopted sticks around. The final season of Fringe is also off to a great start. The best science fiction shows have heart, and this one has it in, uh, spades. Anyway, to talk about something other than the ridiculous amount of TV that I've been watching, recently I've started reading Huffington, which is the magazine released for the iPad by The Huffington Post as part of a bid to get readers to join the 'slow news movement'. It's a fairly new magazine, having only launched in the middle of this year. I was briefly a fan of The Huffington Post, until I noticed that more and more of its 'content' was just aggregated stuff from somewhere else. Huffington, on the other hand, seems to be curated in a manner reminiscent of The Economist. There's no denying that it looks beautiful on the iPad (although that's arguably as much a function of the iPad as the magazine itself), but there are a surprising and disappointing number of typographical mistakes in the articles themselves. Still, it's available for free and worth checking out if you want to make yourself feel a little smarter for a couple of minutes. Once you're done, go and read an actual book, preferably something that isn't on this week's bestseller lists.

Episode 1467: A 'Senior Moment'

Had a 'senior moment' on my way home from cell, when I boarded the MRT in the 'wrong' direction. Had intended to make use of the Circle Line to shave a quarter of an hour of my travel time, but instead, I got on the train going in the opposite direction from Buona Vista Interchange. Can't even use the excuse that this was my first time taking the MRT home from church since the Circle Line fully opened, since I just did that less than a week ago. Sigh. Anyway, I watched another three pilots today, Vegas, Elementary and Last Resort. Is it heretical to say that I actually really liked Elementary and think that comparing it with BBC's Sherlock is rather comparing apples with oranges? Every episode of Steven Moffat's show is a hyperkinetic mini-movie, updating a canonical Sherlock Holmes story for the age of Facebook and Twitter, whereas what the CBS show looks to be aiming for is a weekly crime procedural with a twist, i.e. what a lot of the dramas on that network are. I did enjoy the chemistry between Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu's Joan Watson, which I think stayed squarely on the side of bromance, rather than romance. I'm hoping it stays that way. As for Vegas, I hadn't realised it was going to be a procedural as well, but I liked it because it was kind of like CSI: Retro. Think I'll be keeping it on my weekly viewing schedule after all. Last Resort was interesting, but I don't see how its initial premise can sustain a season's worth of storytelling, not in the way that something like NBC's Revolution could, which I only bring up because both shows have been touted as the next Lost. Why people even bother doing that is lost on me though, given that so far, everything that's been labelled that has disappointed. (FlashForward? The Event?)

Episode 1466: Catching Up...

Have cleared all my TV shows, except for the Vegas pilot. Not really sure if I'm going to follow it regularly, so I'm going by the pilot to make my decision. Animal Practice and Guys With Kids have both aired new episodes, and both shows continue to be critically savaged. Of the two, I'm actually enjoying the latter more, which is like a more grown-up version of ABC Family's Baby Daddy. I just don't get what kind of comedy Animal Practice wants to be, since its premise seems fairly unremarkable. It should really just commit to being 'that monkey show', since that's the only bit that really makes sense so far for me, although it's going to be quite tedious to have a whole season of jokes in that vein. In short though, I think NBC's freshman comedies are all going to tank, which hopefully means a stay of execution for critical darling Community, especially given that The Office is finally ending its run. Unless the network executives actually think that The New Normal could become a lasting player in their schedule, in spite of Ryan Murphy's consistent attempts to sabotage it. I've also started catching up on fiction submissions for The Cadaverine, which I've procrastinated over for a week or so now. Needlessly, as it turns out, since all the stories I've read so far have been straightforward rejections. Now I just need to catch up with my reviewing and I'll basically be back on track!

Episode 1465: More TV Ramblings...

Spent a couple of hours yesterday reviewing all the stuff that's been published by Eunoia Review from July 2011 to June 2012, in order to pick pieces to nominate for the annual Best Of The Net anthology by Sundress Publications. Am a bit behind on my TV shows because of the time spent on that, but I've started catching up today. I was initially quite lukewarm towards New Girl in its freshman season, partly because Zooey Deschanel's kookiness was somewhat grating, but by the end, the writers had toned her character down a little and I'd actually begun enjoying the comedy. Glad that the show seems to have settled into itself in its second season, if the premiere is anything to go by. I also enjoyed The Mindy Project, which I wasn't planning to watch, until Vaish recommended it to me last week. This might be the year that my regular TV viewing skews towards half-hour comedies instead of one-hour dramas, as I'm still prepared to follow NBC's Animal Practice, Guys With Kids and The New Normal. Incidentally, the latest episode of The New Normal proves that Ryan Murphy basically has zero subtlety when it comes to making a point, even when it's a valid one. Did he not get the memo that comedies are actually supposed to be consistently funny, instead of the occasional snarky one-liner that interrupts a political diatribe, however topical it might be? Was kind of disappointed, since it actually seemed like this was finally going to be the episode when the show settled into its premise and started to develop beyond one-note caricatures and stereotypes. (Side note: Revolution is definitely watchable for its fight scenes, but the writing for Tracy Spiridakos's character needs to improve immediately, as she just comes across as whiny at the moment.)

Episode 1464: Partners (Or How CBS Simultaneously Tries Too Little And Too Much)

So Tuesdays are back to being my busiest TV day of the week, although the only new show I've added to my viewing schedule is Partners from CBS. I've slagged CBS off in the past for being content to produce middle-of-the-road fare that gets the network solid ratings, without actually being solid television, e.g. Two And A Half Men, or that is just inferior to something else on the air, e.g. The Big Bang Theory (which laughs at geeks) versus Community (which laughs with geeks). Partners sort of suffers from this problem. It's got all of the ingredients for decent comedy, but it's oppressed by a laugh track that shows a complete lack of trust in the audience's sense of humour. This isn't a huge problem on other CBS comedies like 2 Broke Girls, which is so shamelessly crass that the laugh track just seems like part of the package, or How I Met Your Mother, where Neil Patrick Harris's comedic timing and delivery that have made him the breakout star of that series also buy it a lot of my goodwill. The problem is that because the core cast of Partners all arguably still exist somewhat in the shadow of their previous work (David Krumholtz for Numbers, Sophia Bush for One Tree Hill, Michael Urie for Ugly Betty, and Brandon Routh for Superman Returns), the comedy ends up feeling like it's trying too hard to prove these people can play new characters, hence the overbearing laugh track to make sure anyone watching gets just how funny they are. It's unnecessary, and although Partners has been critically savaged, I personally think it could actually develop into something that will plug the gap left when the oldest CBS comedies go off the air.

Episode 1463: TV Premiere Season Is Officially Upon Us!

So premiere season is upon all of us who follow American television. There've already been a couple of early entries, mostly NBC desperately trying to get a leg up on the competition, and Fox's The Mob Doctor, whose ratings were ironically dead on arrival. The season premiere that's surprised me most so far though has been the Season 3 premiere of Syfy's Haven. Now among all of the Syfy shows that I follow, Haven has always been a ho-hum affair for me. I like the show mythology, I like the characters, but it's not something I would describe to other TV addicts as must-watch. On Syfy alone, I would put Sanctuary and Warehouse 13 above it, possibly Alphas and the American remake of Being Human too. With this newest episode though, Haven might just have leapfrogged a few places in my ranking order. It's like the show has been subtly refreshed in the year it's been away, and the character dynamics are finally starting to advance. Even the opening credits look better. We'll see if the show sustains its momentum next week, but I have a good feeling about it.

Episode 1462: BTPC Visit

Visited Shirley's church today to listen to Christopher Ash preach. I really enjoyed his sermon, which was concise, direct and structured, proving that Biblical exposition is a skill that can be developed like any other. Originally intended to go to BooksActually after lunch, but the weather was just too hot to do anything, so I went home instead and bought myself a Starbucks frappucino in an attempt to cool off. Hasn't really worked though, as this is shaping up to be one of those unbearably muggy days that you can only get in a tropical climate. Would like nothing better right now than to just switch on the air-conditioning and go right to bed, that's how awful the weather is. It genuinely is the one thing about Singapore that I could absolutely do without, if I'm being totally frank. Of course, this also means it's too hot to concentrate on reading a book, as I've been sapped of all my energy, which is frustrating because of how close I am to finishing Joy. It's also going to be a dreary slog writing reviews if the weather stays like this, so here's hoping we get a good tropical thunderstorm tomorrow.

Episode 1461: Wedding Bells

On my way home from Nick and Hui Juan's wedding dinner at Da Paolo Bistro Bar, and feeling very grateful for the Circle Line because it means my journey is just that little bit shorter and I'm very sleepy right now. Most chilled out wedding dinner I've ever been to, which was one of the great things about it. Usually these sorts of dinners feel like quite starchy affairs, so this was a really refreshing change, and the whole Rochester Park area has a relaxed vibe anyway, whilst still being really accessible by public transport (unlike Dempsey). I thought doing the dinner buffet-style was a great idea too, and I did like that having it at Da Paolo meant we weren't going to be eating your usual Chinese wedding dinner type of food. The personalised cards for all the dinner guests were a nice touch as well. Also liked how before anything else got under way, they did worship right at the start of the church ceremony in the morning. (Reminded me of how Matt and Emma did their wedding in Westwood.) All in all, I'm glad I made it back from the UK in time for their wedding. So all the best to the happy couple and God bless!

Episode 1460: Mapocalypse?

So I've updated my iPhone 3GS to iOS 6, and yes, it is true. The new Maps app is awful. The Apple apologists are saying that it's just teething pains, and Apple itself has pretty much said that it's relying on user feedback and corrections to improve the app's accuracy. Trouble is, when you already have an app that works, replacing it with something substandard just so that you don't have to rely on a competitor's know-how makes for terrible PR. Much as I want Google to release their own standalone Maps app for the Apple ecosystem (much like they've done with YouTube, another app that's been sacrificed by Apple's latest update), I also want them to let Apple stew in the bad press for a while longer. I'm not going to go all this-would-never-have-happened-under-Steve-Jobs, but it's hard to see this as anything other than a massive gaffe, borne out of spiteful competition on Apple's part. By all means, make your own Maps app, but don't rush out something half-baked and expect people to love it just because, oh, it lets you render stuff in 3D. (Especially not when it generates an approximation of a Dalí painting! Melting bridges, anyone?) That said, I'm still updating my iPad to iOS 6, mostly because I want to see how hilarious Siri can be.