Quiet Sunday

"Every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty." Mahatma Gandhi

"An inch of time is an inch of gold: treasure it. Appreciate its fleeting nature - misplaced gold is easily found, misspent time is lost forever." Loy Ching-Yuen

"When you are part of a group, living for others: you broaden yourself. This really is family life." Swami Prajnanpad

"I believe that no one is born free from the need for love." Dalai Lama

It has been a rough couple of weeks. My Aunt Bird was in the hospital with bi-lateral pneumonia and my Mom has been frantic. Of course in worrying about her sister she got down sick herself. And then my brother came down sick with an upper respiratory infection and his coughing is keeping me awake at night. I'm glad to have an extra day off this week due to Labor Day.

I went ahead and bought the First Season of Doctor Who and yes this ramble will be going into geek time. I have made no secret of the fact that I am a long time fan of the show and have seen every Doctor except Sylvester McCoy. I was tied up big time in real life when his episodes were shown although I may try and go back and watch some. I love the new series and the current Doctor, David Tennant has edged out my former favorite Tom Baker.

I've been watching the first series with Christopher Eccelstone and while the shows are really great I had put off buying them because I really didn't like that Doctor. I'm sure if I worked with the actor I would find him to be a lovely man however I was put off by the harshness of his Doctor. I didn't get a sense of "humanity" in him. It was the same reaction I had to Colin Baker's Doctor. I love the actor to pieces. I mean how can you not love someone who leads your staff in "meowing" happy birthday to your cat? I wasn't all that fond of Colin's Doctor however because I found him to be harsh and egotistical. It was hard going from the vulnerability of Peter Davison's Doctor to Colin's.

In watching the ten Doctor's I would put my top three as David Tennant, Tom Baker and Peter Davison. All of them had a vulnerability about them and you got a sense that they really loved these creatures that make up planet Earth and that they care about us. It is that sense that they care that make their versions of the Doctor so appealing.

One of the deciding factors in finally getting the Series One is that the character of Captain Jack Harkness is in five of the episodes. Other then the fact that John Barrowman is one of the biggest dolls in history I must say that his character is so appealing, even when he is being a con man, that you still like him. So why would you prefer the con man to the Doctor? Again it comes down to a feeling that Captain Jack has a vulnerability and soft spot where he does care for others.

In the best of science fiction and fantasy there is a humanity in the characters who stay with you. Aragon in The Lord of the Rings may be a non-human but he still has the doubts and fears that humans are prone to. He cares about others and he does in the end overcome his own doubts to become a noble and caring person.

The Doctors that I like the most are the ones who have doubts and fears and care for others. I don't like the Doctors who have the big egos. I can't relate to them. I liked Captain Jack from the start because you sense from the start that there is that "humanity" inside of him. There is certainly the love of life and enthusiasm in him that makes you want to chuck it all and joining him in spite of the rational being inside of you screaming "are you nuts!" ;-)

I like my heroes human even if they are Time Lords, Time agents from the 51st Century, or Rangers raised by Elves. That spark of humanity is what makes them special. Besides let me see you try to resist those dimples and that devilish glint in his eyes. Me I'm not even going to try.

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