Welcome to our next InterWho (Whovian Interview)..
I had the pleasure of interviewing Rebekah Yates, so grab a cup of tea (maybe 2!) and enjoy the read ...
Allons-y!
RY: Hey-yo, I'm Becka. I find this question really hard to answer
-lol- I actually did all the other questions first, this is the last one. I
always feel like I'm filling out some sort of random online dating
profile! Um, well. Basic stuff I guess,
born in '77 in Detroit, immigrated to Canada in 2001, dual citizen. Married,
have one kid, one cat, we live in a house.
I love being in water but I'm not a very good swimmer. Bridges and boats
terrify me. Spiders too, don't like
them. I love cupcakes but I'd say I
enjoy more salty/savory foods. I also am not super keen on chocolate and I find
most chocolate cake to be gross! You REALLY
have to have amazing flavour
combinations for me to love it. If I say
I enjoy your chocolate cake, trust me, that's a HUGE compliment! I love being around my family and friends but
an ideal weekend for me is legit to go camping solo with a couple of good
books, a bottle or two of wine and a campfire.
I really like cats, it always used to surprise people up till recently
that I didn't actually HAVE a cat - people assumed I had like 20 or something.
More random facts... I love to scrapbook with paper and stickers, none of that
digital stuff! I love the feeling of working with paper. I love trashy romance
novels. I like painting but it makes me
anxious - want to be amused? Take me to a paint night, give me a few drinks and
watch me unravel.. it's ok, I'll laugh about me being a total dingus with
you! I like road races but I'm not sure
I actually like running. I'm all about the bling. My favourite medal is
probably my half marathon medal from Miami, it's shiny gold with palm trees and
diamonds. I guess I can wrap this up,
I'm sure those who find me on social media will get a feel of me more there.
Don't be shy! xo
BBB: When did you first become a Whovian?
RY: I had seen some Classic who as a youngster
- Tom Baker's 4th Doctor. I would watch it with my dad sometimes. It wasn't
something he would seek out, but if it was on TV when he was channel surfing,
he'd leave it playing. As for NuWho, we
fell down that rabbit hole pretty quickly in December of 2013 after attending
Ottawa's PopExpo. On our adventures that
day, my son Loosh (at the time 7) discovered the newly built Ottawa Tardis,
Daleks and of course K-9 with the Doctor Who Society of Canada-Ottawa
Chapter. After a good amount of time
interacting with Dalek Souffle, we discovered that she was being piloted by
none other than Neve McIntosh. On our way home, Loosh asked if we could watch
the show "all those awesome things were from" and I said, SURE why
not. It was just after the 50th
anniversary had aired, Series 1-7a were on Netflix so we fired it up that night
and watched Rose & The End of the World before bedtime. In any other moment, I would have binge
watched the entire show, but Netflix told on me because The Unquiet Dead was
marked watched, and my son was very mad that I watched without him *L*
BBB: What is your favorite Classic Who and/or New Who episode and why?
RY: I haven't had a chance to go back and watch
much Classic Who to know exactly what episodes are what, it's on my list of
things to watch more of. I tend to gravitate towards more 3rd & 4th Doctor
when I do. My favourite NuWho episode?
Man it's hard to pick JUST one. Can I pick one from each Doctor? *L* I would
say my favourite 9th Doctor episode is The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. 10th
Doctor I would have to say the Fires of Pompeii. For 11, I have a harder time
nailing down just one. The stories were so much more complex and intertwined. I
would say for series 5-7, that I would choose, Vincent & The Doctor, The
Girl Who Waited or Journey to the Centre of the Tardis. For 12, again very hard to choose just one.
Listen, Mummy on the Orient Express, Hell Bent/Heaven Sent were my faves. I'm
sure that will change as I rewatch series 8 & 9 over the next bit though
while waiting for series 10 to arrive.
BBB: If you could meet just one Doctor Who cast or crew member, who would it be?
RY: Catherine Tate hands down. She's a
brilliantly funny lady whom I admired well before Doctor Who. That said, I
wouldn't say no to meeting any of the cast!
BBB: Who is your favorite Doctor and why?
RY: I have a soft spot for all the NuWho
Doctors, I love them for different reasons, but to choose just one, I'm going
to have to say Matt Smith's 11. When 11
showed up on the scene, I just didn't "get" him. He was this noodley
arm flailing goofball, it just felt all wrong. I got all the way to the end of
his run and was ready to move on. I was more in love with the Ponds than the
Doctor (and I totally hated Clara which is another story!). I spent a lot of time listening to the
soundtracks to the series while I worked (I need something without words when I
edit photos) and really connected to the music of series 5-7. On a second watch of 11's run, I really fell
in love with him and had a better appreciation for how "old" this
young Doctor was. How fierce he was and how dangerous he was. When 11 got mad, it was more than a little
bit scary.
BBB: Who is your favorite companion and why?
RY: I originally started this with just Donna,
but I feel I need to get my newly appreciative feelings for Clara in here as
well. I really did not like Clara when she started her regular run as a
Companion in 7B. However, like most
Companions she grew on me a little bit. I started to give her a chance. With
all her character development with 12, I really grew to love her, especially
after re-watching from start to finish.
Face the Raven is up there with Angels Take Manhattan. I haven't
re-watched it, it hurts too much. As
series 9 was wrapping up, I realized that I was really going to miss having
Clara in the Tardis and she's honestly the first Companion that I can't see any
kind of replacement for.
Donna Noble however, is my spirit animal. I find that of all the NuWho Companions,
Donna has the saddest beginning and the saddest ending with the most amazing
journey between them. The amount of
personal growth as a human being that takes place is astounding, plus don't we
all wish that others around us would see us for something more, believe in us
more and encourage us to be better. Donna went from being the person who needed
that, to being the person who was DOING that. Helping those around her to be
more, to be better, to be believed in.
BBB: If you could travel with The Doctor in his TARDIS to any time and/or place, where would you like to go?
RY: Like Rose, the need to go back and spend time with her passed on parent is great. Being able to go back in time to spend even just one more day with my mom would be the greatest gift. I wouldn't try to change the outcome, but I would definitely take her on vacations and do silly things that I missed out on with living so far away the last 13 years of her life.
BBB: Are you in any other fandoms besides Doctor Who? Such as Torchwood or Sherlock?
RY: I do enjoy me some Torchwood and Sherlock
(of various makes). I am a big fan of
the most recent Sherlock series with Benedict and Martin, however I am a huge
fan of Jeremy Brett's Sherlock as well. Our kitty cat's name is Watson, I'd
love to get "Sherlock" but my husband is good with one cat, and the
kid is determined whatever second cat we get is named Sushi *L*
Another fandom that I love, is the
Wizarding World. I partake in lots of
things HP, including the Hogwart's Running Club
(http://www.hogwartsrunningclub.org/) which is a virtual run club that holds
various events over the course of a calendar year benefiting different
charities each time. We use an app
called Charity Miles that not only gives sponsored donations to a charity of our choice for every run,
walk or bike ride that we do, it gives us "House Points". Yes, we very much do a House Cup *L* In 2015,
HRC runners raised nearly $500,000 via the Charity Miles app, and $406,171 from
the event registrations. Earlier this year when we lost Alan Rickman, we raised
nearly $30k for one of his favourite charities in less than a week. It's amazing to be part of something so huge
that does #SoMuchGood
BBB: Tell us about your business or hobbies even if they are not related to Doctor Who..
RY: I am a photographer, owning my own
business. I focus mainly on family
portraiture, but love to throw in the mix some glamour, wedding or even some
saucy boudoir sessions. I've been taking
photographs pretty much my entire life, my first camera was this tiny little
110 film camera from Kodak. My parents gave it to me, before the tender age of
5, because I kept taking my mom's camera and using up all her film! That thing
went EVERYWHERE with me and I had it well into my teens. I wish I still had it
to be honest, if anything for nostalgia.
But yeah, if you're ever in the Ottawa Valley and want pretty pictures,
hit me up :) https://www.facebook.com/miaouphotography
Hobby-wise, phew yeah. Photography for fun,
playing piano, scrapbooking, hiking. I love to play video games with my son
(LEGO Dimensions currently), watching movies/TV and spend a lot of time nerding
out with my best friend Chrissy. We get into some seriously wacky adventures
together. I also do Doctor Who cosplay,
with Donna & Amy being my two go-tos for inspiration. I'm all about the cosplay that I can pull
from my closet. Yes I've had to go out and buy clothing/accessories for it all,
but there is nothing from them I can't wear every day if I felt like it. I also do a gender bent Captain America (with
a vintage flair), but most people don't get it. That's ok though, I love it and
it's a fun one to do. One day I'll choose a character with a more involved
presence, but who it is, I just don't know. My son also gets into the cosplay
game with me when we go out; his current offerings are Rory Williams, 11th
Doctor, Owen Grady and Dipper Pines.
BBB: Tell us your favorite product from Blue Box Balm..
RY: Oh gosh, this is almost as hard as
introducing myself. I have to say my favourite balms are Doctor Donna &
EarthShock. My favourite scent product
is the Wicked moisturizing stick. I wear it almost every day, not just to
soften up all my rough spots but just as a general "perfume". I
recently just got some of the new Sonic Spritz products and they are DIVINE. Just a wee bit goes a long way without being
overpowering! I have applied it early in
the morning and at bedtime over 12 hours later, it's still there. I've got a matching Spritz for my
moisturizing sticks. The perfect combination!
BBB: Can our readers follow you on social sites?
RY: Sure! If you're a Balmer in our group, feel
free to add me to your FB. I'm probably sitting there wishing I could work up the nerve to add you -lol- Fair warning though, there's a lot of my cat,
I try to keep it mostly to his own social media
to save my personal Facebook from overwhelming my friends with all the
cat pics. https://www.facebook.com/comewatson
https://www.instagram.com/miaouphoto/
BBB: Is there anything you would like to add before we wrap up this interview (such as conventions you gone to, cast you have met, a collection you have, etc)?
RY: I attend the Ottawa ComicCon, Pop Expo, Geek Market as well as the Montreal ComicCon. One day I'd love to hit some of the bigger ones like NYC, Wizard World. I'd like to say San Diego, but that one I think is TOO big for me -lol- I've only done 3 DW cast member photo ops: John Barrowman on his own and then again with Eve Myles and one with Billie Piper. The rest of my photo ops have been different fandoms (Sir Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Nathan Fillion, Jewel Staite, Billy Boyd, Ernie Hudson, Tom Felton). I'm hoping to get a photo op this Spring at OCC with Karen Gillan. My most perfect and ideal photo op would be Alex Kingston, Karen Gillan, Arthur Davrill and Matt Smith. My most ideal but probably never will happen photo op would be with Tom Hiddleston. Collection wise - I have a soft spot for PopVinyls. I have to be really careful and choose with great consideration to which I get because I would buy them all *L* I also collect Doctor Who comics which I over organize into binders sorted by Doctor *L*
Big THANK YOU to Becka for participating in our whovian interviews!If you have any questions for Becka please comment below..