Curious search engine terms

Yesterday I had an unexpected visitor. That is not to say that I was displeased to “see” them, but it did wet my curiosity. More so when I realised how they found me out. Unknown X typed “moffat briggs” in the search engine and were delivered to Shards of Silence.

For a moment or two I continued under the delusion that I was the “briggs” they were looking for. There are several writers I would love to work with, and Moffat is certainly one of them, so being paired up with the creator of two of my favourite British shows put a smile on my face. But the chances of that are so infinitely small that I decided to go out on a limb and do some research on this.

To discover “the other” Briggs, I had to delve a little deeper in Doctor Who history. I came across an interview with Steven Moffat, where he claimed that The Big Bang was the best Doctor Who story he has ever written:

“The Doctor is trapped inside a prison from which even he can’t escape. Amy Pond is dead. Rory is plastic. River Song has been blown up in the Tardis, which has been blown up and destroyed every sun in the universe. I think any other hero would be in a pickle but I think The Doctor can take it. I really do think episode 13, the episode we’ll see on Saturday, is a story only Doctor Who can do – no other show could have come close to a story like this. That’s what is exciting about it.” Skyfilove

The other interviewee however was the one I was searching for: the mysterious Briggs who unintentionally prompted the visit in the first place.

It didn’t take me long to track them down. He is none other than Nicholas Briggs, the terrifying voice that seeps into Whovian dreams everywhere in the guise of Cybermen and Daleks. The Doctor’s deadliest foes and my namesake are one.

And here he is infiltrating Tardis territory. Mystery solved.

I hope that the accidental guest found at least something on Shards of Silence to make up for their troubles. Perhaps I ought to have a word with the editorial team and see when the next issue of The Gallifrey Express will make an appearance.

Meanwhile…

[Loud bangs somewhere in the background.]

Wait a moment. There’s someone at the door.

“Hey! Stop that racket. I’m busy!”

[A massive explosion and the entrance hall now has a view of the street curtesy of…]

Cybermen: “You will be upgraded. You will become like us.”

“Nooooo!”

There is a time for bravery and then there is a time to leg it. Umm. Second solution to be implemented at once! Just as I thought I reached safety via the back exit…

Daleks: “Exterminate-Exterminate”

Well… now I’m in a bit of a…

Gridlock

New Earth. I craved your wonders and instead

All that I found were endless fumigated queues,

Street traders selling moods:

Over the counter feelings for the living dead.

 

Kidnapped. At gunpoint. For a six year drive.

Mincemeat. Chased down by feral beasts.

Call this a fast lane?  Three will be four

When our destination reached! If still alive…

 

Cut out the light! In darkness our safety lies

Until he comes. Can’s breathe. Grip onto life…

I do not know, but feel his presence near.

He’ll make it. Yes… Today nobody dies.

 

*

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/prompt-clarity/

A Master of Boredom

The Doctor. Doctor Who?

For many a year I lived under the delusion that  everyone shared my experience of the world. I feel too much, I am told. I feel too intensely. The world is a cornucopia to me. Wherever I turn I see beauty. I gasp in wonder at this marvel that is our universe.

So alive. So deliciously human. Exhilarating, is it not?

How devastating to discover that for the majority of people the Earth is a dull planet. How can that be?!

Stevenson said “I never remember being bored” — and yet even his truthfulness is doubted. Not so, they say. We – none of us – escape boredom. More worryingly so: apparently we are bored for the greater part of our lives.

Aghast!

I have said myself in the past… I recall it quite clearly: “Darling, I’m dreadfully bored!” But it was said somewhat in irony or as a small tongue-in-cheek dedication to the roaring twenties – the age of parties and exuberance – the age of unboredom itself.

Yet, here it is: boredom is a fact of life. You are either bored or lying – so I am told.

Our existence? Ordinary. Our pastimes? Commonplace. Our friends? Prosaic. Our passions? Insipid. Even our sorrows do not escape the cutting critique of the world. Sordid. Apparently.

Am I to sit still and silent when such disservice is done us? Not I. For I object, your honour. I object!

We are not colour blind to the tint and nuance of life. No shades of grey for us. Let it be sunshine and rainbows! I reject the premise that nothing of interest ever happens to us, that our lives are insignificant, our experiences worthy of the unwritten dust of history.

There is nothing more exceptional that to lead an ordinary life and live it well. This is art. The art of living life to its full, but not as others dictate it, but as we choose to weave it. Our stories do matter. This world breathes with words – spoken – written – lived.

Bored? No. Thank you very much. I do not need to be a Time Lord to travel through time. I do not need to have a TARDIS to reach the ends of the universe and come back again. I am content to be human, because to be human is to be extraordinary. Why?

Because if it is there – we will find a way to discover it. If it is a challenge – we will seek a way to succeed. If it is a dream – we will turn it into reality. Just because…

No one can persuade me that the world is dull. To you and your cynicism, dear critic, I say this: your glasses have fallen into the gutter and you’ve forgotten to wipe them clean before putting them back on your nose. Dulled vision will make the world seem dull – and yes – boring too.

The rest of us are less afflicted that you may want us to believe. I will let you into a secret about life: it is bigger on the inside!

We are masters of boredom. All of us.

*

PS: To my grandfather, who led an extraordinarily ordinary life and was exceptionally good at it. My Doctor.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/daily-prompt-my-precious/

Who-Whoooo!

Welcome to The Gallifrey Express: Your Online Whovian TARDIS Tracker!  

The first Earthling issue of The Gallifrey Express celebrating The Day of the Doctor | 50 Years with Doctor Who went down a storm. Whovians everywhere were quick to sign up for TARDIS Tracker News. Thank you for the warm welcome Whovians!  We’re mighty gladifrey to have made it here at last. The timey-wimey team will do their best to keep you abreast of all things Doctor and all things Whovian too.

BREAKING NEWS

#WhovianFollowTrain

The Thanksgiving* phenomenon that has taken over the Tweetosphere! @WhovianDW brings the Doctor’s companions closer with three TARDIS steps.

1. RT if you are Whovian.
2. Follow Everyone Who RTs
3. Gain new awesome Whovians

*No turkeys were harmed in the making of this WhovianTrain 😉

***

Time Lords in the House of Lords!

The House of Lords, the upper house of the UK Parliament paid tribute to Doctor Who in a debate moved by Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury, a Liberal Democrat peer who has worked for both the BBC and Channel 4.

***

The 12th Doctor

After a surprise cameo appearance in The Day of the Doctor, the 12th Doctor is a mere timey-wimey–number-of-days away from our screens.

With a pang of guilt, the Gallifrey Express team has to admit that however much we’ll be missing our bow-tied Doctor, we can’t wait to see what he will have in store for us after regeneration.

***

Doctor Who Monsters

What would Doctor Who be without a monsterish extravaganza! We’re sure you all have your favourites, but which monsters would you love to have back, and which would you much rather not?

• Daleks 
• Cybermen
• The Great Intelligence
• Silurians
• Sontarans
• Ood
• Weeping Angels
• The Silence

~ From Gallifrey to Tranzalore ~

Say WHO?

The Day of the Doctor | 50 Years with Doctor Who

Welcome to The Gallifrey Express: Your Online Whovian TARDIS Tracker!  

The Gallifrey Express has been around for as long as… well, for as long as Gallifrey itself, but getting it transported and translated for your Earthling delectation took a little longer than it takes to say TARDIS. Why so long you ask? It is all a matter of time, you know… TIME.

“People don’t understand Time. It’s not what you think it is. …Complicated… Very complicated. People assume that time is a strict progression from cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey… stuff.”

So now that we’ve made it through – from Gallifrey to Tranzalore – we’ll be keeping track of The Doctor’s roundabout journey through the wibbly-wobbly stuff and it goes without saying that we couldn’t just let the Doctor’s 50th anniversary pass without mention. In all the excitement of The Day of the Doctor our time capsule got a little side-tracked – hehe – but now we’re here and we’re here to stay.

Who was you first Doctor? Come on. Don’t be coy. One never forgets their first Doctor. For this Whovian it was the one and only, the irreplaceable fighter of a Time Lord, The Doctor Who didn’t want to go. Guessed it yet?

Yes. It was David Tennant. This Doctor-comeScot-Who counts the highest number of snogs in the history of the timey-wimey. We were with him on that. Didn’t want to see him go either.

That’s not to say that the next Doctor is not a Gallifreyan to be reckoned with. After Christopher Eccleston’s action man and the sand-shoed lip-snogger-happy David Tennant, we love Matt Smith’s bow tied chinny repertoire and can’t wait to see what Peter Capaldi will bring on next. Wasn’t it just wonderful to see him make a special cameo debut in The Day of the Doctor?! I can tell you that The Gallifey Express team squealed ecstatically the moment those doom-set eyes flashed on screen.

Imagine this: a ten million strong Whovian shout out. I wonder that the Earth wasn’t sent rolling off its axis. I bet you the Doctor was there to keep it nice and steady. Or I should rather say: the Doctors.

Nine other faces of the space adventurer came together with Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt so that an army of TARDISes could save Gallifrey from Dalek attack. Fourth Doctor Tom Baker made a sonic screwdriver-less appearance to reveal that the Doctors did save Gallifrey from destruction. Good news all around. However…

There is a Big Wolf question darkening the Whovian horizon.

Are we living through the last days of The Doctor?

We delve into the realm of Whovian folklore laid down in 1976 episode The Deadly Assassin: a Doctor can only regenerate twelve times in a cycle therefore allowing thirteen incarnations. Since John Hurt’s redeemed War Doctor interrupted the Time Lord’s chronology of incarnations, does that make this journey to Tranzalore a final one on the Doctor’s path towards mortality?

NOOOOOO!

We can deal with the Doctor’s ever changing face. We’re even rather partial to the TARDISes face-lifts every now and then. Companions come and go. The monsters can’t be relied on to make repeat appearances either, but the end of the Doctor?

It would mark the end of an era. The end of life as we know it. How will we Whovians cope in a Doctor-free universe? Who will make sure that our Christmas dinner is safe from Dalek tyranny?

Let’s leave these gloomy thoughts aside and hope that the rumour will remain just that.

Meanwhile… Christmas can’t come too soon!

Say WHO?

Weeping Angel

What sorrows hide you from the world?

Angel, why weep you so?

I heard the clockwork as it whirled

In discontinued flow…

Such beauty now by pain inured

Hidden in palms of stone

Your gaze concealed, from all obscured  

Tell me, for what atone

These vows of silence, unseen tears?

I heard from tales of old

Subdued by time, in whispered fears

Past lives reach from the cold…

Don’t blink. Don’t even blink.

Don’t dare break the link.

The angels don’t exist

When they are not observed.

If seen, they turn to stone.

But do not turn your back

For they don’t hunt alone.

They lie in wait: one touch

And you’re in time imprisoned.

Their kill will not be reasoned:

They feed on stolen moments,

On your life’s pilfered breath,

On fates undone, on paths untread.

Blink once and you are dead.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/daily-prompt-frightening-2/