I have not read many (well, there’s some “non-fiction” books…but I digress), but one that I have had fun reading is “Shadow and Substance: My Time with Charlie Chaplin (A Novel)” by Gerry Mandel. I have read it 3 or 4 times. Summary is that it takes place in the late 1990s and it’s about a guy named Cooper whose a huge Chaplin fan, who been hired to work on a documentary on Chaplin. And who appears from the mists of time to help him with this quest but Chaplin himself. Is Charlie a ghost? Time traveler? I’ll let you decide.
That does sound like a hokey description. But a fitting one that doesn’t give away too much.
Is it a literary masterpiece? I wouldn’t say that. Is it a lot of fun to read? Yes.
And if the title sounds familiar, it’s taken from one of many film projects that Chaplin had started on but never completed. And when he met his last wife Oona.
And Jason Allin, a filmmaker and a topnotch Chaplin impersonator, is currently recording an audiobook version. Hooray!
There aren’t a lot of male companions. Ones I really love are Adric (another controversial opinion :P), and Captain Jack Harkness.
But again I have a tie:
Ian Chesterton
There aren’t a lot of male companions. Ones I really love are Adric (another controversial opinion :P), and Captain Jack Harkness.
But again I have a tie:
Ian Chesterton
Ian (played by William Russell) was part of the original Tardis team. He and fellow teacher Barbara went to investigate the strange behavior of one of their students, and wind up traveling in time and space with a mysterious person called “the Doctor”.
“Who is he? Doctor who? Perhaps if we knew his name, we would have a clue to all this.”
I loved his friendship with Barbara and how they were in their weird adventure together and bound determined to return home… even if it was 2 years later (London1965!).
And a fun bonus. Earlier this year Russell T. Davies happened to be on the same train as William and shared this on his Instagram –
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
The Brigadier is my other top fav. Also a unique character because he was the only character to have played opposite with every Doctor from 2 to 7 as well having worked along the 8th Doctor in the audio Minuet in Hell. And the actor, Nicholas Courtney, also played Space Security Agent Bret Vyon with the 1st Doctor. His grandfather met the 1st and 12th Doctors, and his daughter Kate continues to work for UNIT and has helped out the 11th and 12th (Kate is awesome!). I love how he continues to hold an important place in the show, even years after Courtney passed away, (Though I do have “ewww” feelings about him being turned into a Cyberman)
I remember watching one episode where the Doctor and Brig were arguing having totally different opinions on how to handle a situation, and my daughter asked me if they were enemies. And I explained that no, they are friends, they just are a bit stubborn, but they are both on the same side.
Recommended episodes:
As I mentioned in my last post, I started my own gaming channel, Calvero Plays. And I chose to start with my favorite series, Assassin’s Creed.
From the very beginning.
I should say that the game is violent, though not in the way that there is horror or a lot of slashing(okay, a good amount of slashing). You only can kill who your target is (along with the target’s henchmen). There’s penalties when you kill innocent people (one of the reasons why I like this series better than Grand Theft Auto).
Below is the first part:
(My microphone level is low, I’m working on adjusting it.)
There also is a good dose of history throughout the series, which is one of the reasons why I love the series so much. This first installment of the series takes place during the Third Crusade in 1191 in such places as Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem. The music is great (improves IMHO in AC II and Brotherhood), graphics are beautiful, and the game play is fairly good (there have been complaints about it being to repetitive, which is is, but it doesn’t bother me as much).
And this is combination “Let’s Play” and “Walkthrough” since I have played this before and show where things like flags are, easter eggs, and how to defeat people. It’s not thorough though. I never have found all the flags, and I’m sure there’s easter eggs that I do not know about, but there’s a bunch that I share.
How I got interested in the series
I do not fit the typical demographic for playing a game like this. I’m female, in my 40s, and a mom. So how did it happen?
First thing is the historical aspect. As I say in the video, I love history. Any era, it doesn’t matter. I may not understand Wall Street or wrap my head around various scientific theories, but I love learning about the history of anything. Always have (I have a BA degree in it). And when I was first reading an article about the game in a gaming magazine back in ’07, I thought “Wow! That’s amazing!” The pictures were great. I loved that is took place in a different era that was rarely tackled by game developers.
But I was put off by the title. *Assassin’s* Creed. That sounded…well…. violent. Too violent.
Then I got drawn into it. Both the historical part, and the mystery of “The Ones Who Came Before”, the First Civilization, which added a scifi element (where is Ubisoft taking that story anyway? Do they even know?) drew me in.
The first AC game I actually got to play (since Ubisoft didn’t make any AC games for the Nintendo Wii and it was before I got a XBox 360) was Altair’s Chronicles. It was a great game, though a side-scroller which is a different set-up than the 3D-ish POV of AC console games. The ending was a bit of a let down….
And so now I have completed the first installment through III (AC, AC II, AC Brotherhood, AC Revellations, and AC III, total of 5 console games. Yeah, Ubisoft numbered them weird), didn;t finish IV Black Flag. Have yet to start Rogue. At some point I’ll be getting a XBox One and play Unity. But for right now I’m replaying the first one again, this time recording it.
Come along, won’t you? See some beautiful cities, meet some historical figures, watch for glitches (for there are bound to be some)!
As I mentioned