Let it snow (or not)

First off, apologies for the long absence of fresh material on this blog - no it's not dead, just sleeping! Secondly, thanks to everyone still browsing through... glad you are still finding stuff to interest you here. Don't expect a wave of new postings anytime soon - I'm still in a dark and distant corner of this planet where a good internet connection is about as rare as a Loch Ness Monster sighting (yes, there are still places where one can escape from the curse of technology, and boy do I like it).

I've just waded through about two months of Who blog postings to catch up on Who news... and whilst I don't usually pay much attention to pre-season spoilers and speculation (there's a reason why they're called 'spoilers'!), there was one little titbit that caught my eyes (yes, very blue aren't they?). Rumour has it that the War Chief (that's me that is) may be making a reappearance in Season 6.... whilst I can't confirm or deny this (not much point in me doing either, as perhaps it happens in my future and I don't yet know about it either), those of you who have been wondering if I've been busy trying to get Karen Gillan to hop into my SIDRAT will be dissapointed to know that I've just been faffing around in a tropical paradise... (and no, I don't feel sorry for you snow bound folk stuck in the UK - we all have choices in life, and staying on a crowded, muddy, and sometimes snowy, island is just a no brainer as far as I'm concerned).


Anyway, just though I should pop in and explain my absence, and show off a nice pic of my rather magnificently evil tash and sidies. Ah, those were the days. [Pic coloured by, and stolen from, TheSkaroRevenger, here]

Colourised Who

And here it is, the site where I grabbed the pics of Zoe in my last post. I really like these images, so here's a few more to make doubly sure you click the link and visit their site!

The images are all colourised by Michael Blumenthal.

The Daleks, from their first story.


An amazingly coloured image from Marco Polo


A funky cyberman from Moonbase.


From one of my favourite stories, the Ice Warriors.


And here's a couple of Ice Warriors creeping up on the Doctor (from Seeds of Death)...


And a couple of cybermen creeping up on Zoe from the Wheel in Space...


And look... there's me!

Escapist Control Freak

Meglos, a classic megalomanic (or is it the Doctor? Or a cactus? Pure genius that - in how many shows do you get a cactus trying to take over the universe?!)

I´ve chosen my online blog moniker as it reflects my personality. Just as Magnus, the War Chief, is a megalomanic control freak, so am I. Just as he´s a delusional escapist, so am I. Well, just a bit anyway - despite the apparent contradiction.

I guess this is why Who holds appeal for me. It is pure and simple escapism from everyday life, from the reality we are all constrained by. It´s a chance to fantasize, to daydream of other worlds and civilizations, to hope for something better and give meaning to the meaningless.

I also guess that this desire to escape comes from, or hand-in-hand with, the desire to control. Now I´m not saying that I´d like to control everything and everyone, but it certainly drives me up the wall when I see things being done wrong, or badly, and I want to make it better, just like the Doctor. So perhaps, given the chance, I´d have a go.

For me it´s a search for "Quality", that metaphysical concept core to Robert M. Pirsig's ´Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : An Inquiry into Values´. The classic megalomanic´s desire to control the world, or conquor the universe, is not led by a desire to be evil, to dominate or to opress in itself (although I admit it can be easily percieved as such), but instead to make things better, to manage the unmanagable mass of independent actions and beings which seam to be so random and haphazard in their direction, and to unify them towards a percieved value or greater goal. It is when societies have their backs against the wall that individuals like these are at their most potent and powerful - in the fight to unify and survive. But it can also come out of a desire to improve and evolve.


The Master, here played by Roger Delgado, and the ultimate control freak - although not necessarily very successful at it given the number of chances he´s had and the fact he has a time machine...

For me, it is an essential part of human nature. Without these driving forces I doubt we would have progressed to the lofty levels of civilization which we so value today. Nor would we be in the mess we are in. It is what makes us fight for values that we uphold, to draw lines and say no, this is not the way to go. Turn left, not right...

However total control is totally impossible, and that´s where the desire to escape begins to manifest itself. If you can´t control, then hell, escape - it´s the only option, especially if you´re a control freak. Run away into your delusional world of fantasy and embrace your megalomanic side. It´s healthy. Well, more healthy than drinking yourself drunk or taking drugs. They don´t help at all, and I talk from personal experience.

So praise to Who and its multiplicity of megalomanics... we love them all, and secretly, deep down, despite our love for the Doctor and the values he upholds, we´re all as mad and crazed as any of the megalo´s portrayed in Who. Well, I know I am anyway.

All this is, I think, especially relevant to the current story arch in Who. The 10th Doctor, in his omnipotent rise in power and control, is slowly becoming as mad and bad as the forces which he fights. Bring it on, for we all know a good baddie never dies, but always escapes to fight another day. And lets be honset, the Doctor is the biggest megalomanic of them all. Well, at the moment anyway.

To blog or not to blog...

Not sure why I am doing this, I waste enough hours of my life on the net as it is! And if you are reading this then you probably do as well.

But having set up a Blogger account in order to follow a couple of other blogs, I find I have the power to create my own. What it will be about, if anything, remains to be seen. It may take me some time to organise a cool layout, and even longer to develop some content, but hell, why not hey. Everybody else does.

So, who am I? Well, I like a bit of mystery so might not say too much about that. Lets just see what comes out in the wash. But there are a few clues...

For those who know, my profile pic is not of my handsome self, although it does bear some similarities. No, its the War Chief from the classic BBC TV series Doctor Who. He appeared in Patrick Troughton´s last story, The War Games, and suppossedly died, but we all know baddies never die.

Add that together with the few blogs I already follow, and yes, you´ve guessed it, I´m a fan, or as we are called by some, a Whovian.



I can´t explain why I have developed such a relationship with a TV program which for much of my youth was a laughable and often embarrassing mess, but early memories of Tom Baker, maggots made of bubble-wrap and broken toilets (yep, in our house hinding behind the sofa was just not safe enough, so I used to hide in the downstairs toilet... until one day I broke it in such a rush to lock the door) made their impression on me before I could make a choice to save myself (and my pocket money). Followed by the rare and occassional BBC2 repeats - the Five Faces of Doctor Who is when I think I officially became a fan rather than just a viewer - and a mission to read all the Target books, and I´ve slowly become addicted. In those days before video if you missed an episode you thought you´d never see it... ever. I even used to record the soundtracks on cassette so I could listen to them again and again...

So, confession over, and now that I´ve come out of my TARDIS (or SIDRAT in my case), perhaps I´ll admit to a few more things... but all in good time...