The Kebab & Calculator

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@blenkinsopthebrave

Thanks for that link.    I absolutely love Hell Bent, more than Heaven Sent.  Heaven Sent was a tour de force, but not fun.    Hell Bent was just a visual and narrative delight from start to finish.

I’m a sucker for genuinely clever dialogue. “How many regenerations did we grant you? I’ve got all night.” Ouch!

Or the pilot of the huge gunship: “Attention! Will all non-military personnel step away from the Doctor.”
(Nobody moves.)
“I repeat. All non-military personnel, please, step away from the Doctor.” (Love that ‘please’)
“At least move the children away.”
– When you’re reduced to begging, you’ve lost control of the situation.

By the way, the gun on that gunship – and the soldiers’ guns, all looked suitably sci-fi but also genuinely realistic and dangerous.

I love that the dialogue on the diner works on two levels – first time through, it appears as if Clara is the one who doesn’t remember. And on a re-watch, knowing that Clara remembers and the Doctor doesn’t, it still works. I like that.

I was wondering what to watch (my DVD-with-all-the-extras of Survival hasn’t arrived yet) but that just decided me – I’ll put on Hell Bent. I need cheering up.

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@blenkinsopthebrave

Strange that it should have occurred to you to post this particular clip at this particular time 😉 , although for some reason it does seem apt and has the effect of pouring balm on my troubled soul.

Rassilon  had at least achieved much of benefit to his people – or so we are led to believe, even he had outlived his time and become a psychopathic megalomaniac in the process. The same cannot be said to excuse others who might come to mind in this corner of the spacio-temporal continuum.

I came across a link to twitter which pursues a similar theme, although sadly I cannot remember where I found it and haven’t been able to relocate it to post a link here. I cannot hope to equal the brevity and wit of the originals, but it began with a Goodbye Cruel World tweet (possibly snark, but it is hard to be sure) to the effect: how could an ungrateful nation reject someone who had done so much for the people of the USA?  The writer was therefore leaving in disgust. What followed was a series of tweets suggesting where the Orange One might seek asylum. Perhaps he could go to Russia; no, the people of Russia didn’t want him; maybe Turkey? Turkey didn’t want him either;  which was followed by a succession of suggested countries. each of which in  turn rejected him, until one finally suggested the moon might take him; but even the Seleneans weren’t prepared to harbour him and referred him to Mars, whose inhabitants were equally reluctant. It ended with him being ejected from the solar system and then the galaxy, with the remote possibility that he might find harbour in Andromeda.

[winston @winston]

@blenkinsopthebrave   Trump really doesn’t “want to go”.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@mudlark

The twitter link you describe sounds great. I made a decision to never engage with twitter.  I rely on brave souls like yourself to communicate the occasional gem.

@winston

Absolutely agree. But at least when The Doctor did not want to go he did not want to go in a way where he was determined to destroy everything that united people. In the real world it seems like we are confronted by a version of Davros who does not want to go.

 

 

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

Today, this seems sort of appropriate

 

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@blenkinsopthebrave

In one sense, yes; we can breathe again and experience at least a brief interval of euphoria.

On the other hand, Davros and the Daleks are still out there, lurking, and unless the Orange One resigns in a massive fit of the sulks, there are still 73 days in which he can continue to ignore the ravages of the Covid 19 virus and a lot of people will not, in fact, get to live, in which case all we can do is hope that he will devote what energies he has to golfing and filing vexatious (and futile) law suits rather than pursuing a scorched earth agenda.

As for the future, at least sanity will be restored in the USA, to the relief of much of the globe, although if the two senate seats up for grabs in Georgia don’t go to the Democratic candidates in the run off in January, Mitch the Turtle will remain in a position to obstruct virtually everything the new administration tries to do, so the initial rapture has perforce to be modified, alas. The less said about the political scene on this side of the pond the better, but that is largely our local problem.

But for today, at least, we can celebrate, my digestive system seems to be behaving for the first time in what seems like months, and I am well on the way to becoming more than a little tipsy.

Incidentally, I don’t generally engage with twitter and don’t tweet – I can think of plenty of other, more enjoyable ways of wasting my time – but I do sometimes follow up links to particular tweets or twitter threads.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@mudlark

All too true. But today is a day to savour. And I would not be surprised (or hope, anyway) that the feeling generated by today might invigorate the the campaign to win those two Senate seats in January. Somehow, things seem more hopeful than they did yesterday.

 

 

[syzygy @thane16]

@blenkinsopthebrave doesn’t it? How are the Blenkinsops? Well? The wine cellar depleting at all??? 🙂

@mudlark GOOD to see you! I wonder about the futile & litigious nonsense Trump will follow could help so that the Reps will eventually melt away? On another note, glad your digestive system is working! A happy bowel is a happy Mudlark….

So, news. Mum died of C-19 in a nursing home in Melbourne. It took a week from diagnosis to death so, boy, does this hit hard. But she was 82 & not entirely well so asked for no special measures to keep her hanging on so we’re all good. There was grief. But it was checked. Almost.

House has been renovated…the yellow door became a RED door & when I can successfully work my new phone I might put up a picture of this. It isn’t a toffee apple, more steel red.

Puro.

I think we all need some Doctor (Who) now, don’t we?

[winston @winston]

@blenkinsopthebrave   I was doing dishes with the TV on in the next room when they finally called the election in Biden’s favour.  Joe Biden is President and Kamala Harris is the first women in the White House! I feel like I let out a breath that I have been holding for 4 years. Yay for Americans and for Canadians and for the rest of the world, sanity may be restored.

@mudlark Hello!  All those people in the streets protesting and shouting and even voting without masks will surely add thousands of new cases of Covid in the States.   Many Canadian provinces are seeing record outbreaks in this second wave but people keep partying and no- maskers ( give me a break) keep spreading misinformation and Covid across the country. I am both frustrated and sad.

@thane16   It is so nice to see you here. I am so sorry about your Mom, it is terrible and sad to lose a parent no matter how old we are. I cannot imagine how much harder to lose someone during this pandemic must be. It seems you are healing a little and that is good. It all takes time. I hope your family is good and stays that way.

A big red door is what we need.Post a pic if you can so we can see it. Mine is grey but I need a change and some colour in my life so maybe ,blue , no green, or white or yellow………….

Stay safe everyone.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Finally!   For what seemed like weeks (but was actually days) typing ‘US election’ into Google gave ‘Biden 264   Trump 214’.   Now it says  290 – 214 which looks decisive.     Anyone sane would concede at this point.

But I’m reminded of a comment made by a competitor in the America’s Cup, that notoriously litigious boat race:   “We sail around for a bit, then we go to court to find out who won”.

I don’t think any US President in living memory has done one-tenth as much as Trump to destroy any goodwill, trust or respect for the USA internationally.   Hopefully American foreign policy will now start to resemble something rational and coherent and not just the outcome of last nights tantrum.

Well, I suppose we can at least extract a bit of schadenfreude in the next few weeks watching the orange buffoon thrashing around desperately trying to avoid being labelled a LOSER.

 

[Missy @missy]

@thane16/Puro

I have only just seen this and can hardly believe it! All my best wishes and sympathy.

After my husband died last December, I can understand the grief, but am so glad that this is abating,

it takes time.

Sorry this is clumsy, but it was such a shock to read your news and i had to respond.

My door is white – incidentally.

Missy XX

[lisa @lisa]

Hope everyone on the forum is staying safe and happy. Now whether the USA will remain

a safe and happy place seems to have been voted on for now.  Of course the orange covidiot is

threatening to take several states to court. I’m very proud we eked it out but we still have to

take the Georgia Senate seats otherwise there’s still  gridlock.

I’ve been still watching  Brexit.  Biden doesn’t want the disruption.  He’s all about building

bridges and wants  to promote that image.  Biden sees Russia and China as the top threats. Plus

the UK will be easier to build a coalition with than confused Brussels. So Biden will interpret

Brexit as an important  transition that matters ( assuming that  strong security is probably a lot

more important than the trade aspects.)  So its a safe assumption that Biden will try to extinguish

the Brexit fight.

 

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@thane16 (puro)

Good to see you too, but I’m so sorry to read the news about your mother. As you say, it hits hard whenever it comes, and if, as I suspect,  you were not able to be with her at the end, as has been the case in so many C-14 deaths,  it must compound the sense of loss. You are in my thoughts or, as the Quakers say, I hold you in the light.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

A poem for Sunday

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/11/four-seasons-total-landscaping-poem/617042/

 

[Missy @missy]

Puro.

I got hold of the wrong end of the stick. It’s your Mum, not your good self.

My apologies, but my sentiments still apply.

Missy

[nerys @nerys]

@thane16, I’m so sorry to read this news of your mother’s passing. Hugs as you work your way through this grief.

@missy, I had the same initial confusion and emotional reaction to Puro’s post, so you’re not alone. Then I breathed a sigh of relief that it was not our dear Puro (though saddened by the news about her mother).

Speaking of breathing a sigh of relief: When I learned of the election news Saturday afternoon, I finally felt I could exhale. I didn’t realize what a toll this past four years had taken. And then to hear first Kamala Harris, and then Joe Biden, speak like true leaders … wow! I’d almost forgotten what that sounded like.

I still fear that Trump will attempt a scorched earth policy in his graceless exit. And I also fear what some of his followers may attempt. But for now, I feel hope. It’s all the more bracing for having been missing for so long.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@thane16 so sorry to hear that you lost a close family member due to covid 19 and difficult not being able to see her before she passed away.

@mudlark good to hear from you. Glad that you are keeping well.

@nerys I don’t think the “Orange Menace” will conceed willingly or gracefully and like you fear that there is trouble ahead but his power base is fast evaporating. (good to hear from you too.)

Cheers

Janette

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@blenkinsopthebrave

That’s brilliant.   You couldn’t make this stuff up.   (Well, you could, but no-one would believe it).    Four Seasons Total Landscaping is indeed a few yards from a porn shop called Fantasy Island  and just across the road from a crematorium.   The symbolism is irresistible.

(It really is.   I looked on Streetview, I’m suspicious that way).

 

[Missy @missy]

@blenkinsopthebrave
Today, this seems sort of appropriate

Oh how I love this scene!

@nerys

Thank you, I don’t feel quite so daft now. X

As for Trump, I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, he still has time and power to cause havoc.

Missy

</div>

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@dentarthurdent

It gets even better. Apparently, the first person called to the podium at this Republican press conference was a convicted sex offender.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/09/four-seasons-total-landscaping-trump-gardening-merchandise?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

[winston @winston]

@blenkinsopthebrave   Trump has friends in low places. I am sure he will pardon some of his “very fine ” friends before he leaves but who will pardon him I wonder?

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@winston

Unfortunately, I fear he will pardon himself (which the strange American system allows him to do).

So, as a way of distracting ourselves, Mrs Blenkinsop and I watched “A Good Man goes  to War” last night. A wonderful episode which makes abundantly clear what “good” means.

 

[nerys @nerys]

Well, now I can add myself to the list of those whose loved ones have tested positive for Covid-19. My 93-year-old father, who has low kidney function, tested positive last night. He is hospitalized, in isolation, with mild symptoms. But I know how quickly things can change with this virus, so it’s scary.

I feel especially helpless, since I’m in Canada, he’s in the States. I don’t know if I would feel any better, living in close proximity. I suppose I would feel equally powerless to help in any meaningful way … as we all do.

[Missy @missy]

@nerys

I am so sorry to hear about you father. Chin up, he might make a complete recovery.

Fingers crossed.

Missy XX

 

[winston @winston]

@nerys  That is sad news and you must be very worried. We will all hope that his case stays mild and that he makes a good recovery. Still, you must be so worried about him even though we all know that worrying helps nothing. I know because I am a world class worrier that could “worry” for Canada if it was an Olympic event.

Stay strong, get enough sleep, eat something and drink a hot cuppa  was always my Mom’s advice in bad times and I pass them along to you in the hope that they help.

Thinking of you and your father.

[winston @winston]

@blenkinsopthebrave   I also just watched that on Friday cause I love it so. The whole Captain Run Away scene with an angry Doctor is delicious to watch. When 11 says “Good men don’t need rules,now is not the time to ask why I have so many!” I get chills. It is an absolutely perfect episode of Doctor Who, fun, scary, nostalgic with a few feels and headless monks.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@nerys So sorry to hear that.  We are such a tiny community on this site, and yet both you and Puro have had family touched by this…

Take care.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@nerys So sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope that he is lucky and pulls through this. Do take care of yourself too through this difficult time.

Regards

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@nerys Can I add my best wishes to the others?

I was going to say we’re relatively lucky (here in New Zealand) but just to remind us that nowhere is 100% safe, someone just tested positive today in Auckland City and it hasn’t been traced to a known source so everyone’s hopping. (There was a minor outbreak a couple of months ago that caused a month-long partial shutdown of the whole Auckland area). Mrs Dent has decided not to bother going out on the town tonight, somewhat to my relief.

@blenkinsopthebrave You just reminded me of another excellent episode I should watch (i.e. A Good Man Goes To War). I was going to watch Magician’s Apprentice / Witch’s Familiar tonight but Mrs Dent is watching Youtube videos on the TV. (But I can always resort to watching DVD’s on my laptop with headphones). I’ll add A Good Man to the list. In fact I might make a list of ‘highlight’ episodes to watch roughly in order. There would be about 50 eps in Seasons 1-10 that I’d rate very good to excellent (and I know this because I made a list of all the episodes and prequels and mini-episodes in narrative order and stuck an ‘X’ beside the best ones).

 

[nerys @nerys]

@missy @winston @blenkinsopthebrave @janetteb @dentarthurdent Thank you so much for your kind thoughts. I’m worrying, yes. But my father has been dealing with health issues for four and a half years now. They were serious enough that I was confronted by his mortality in a way that I’d not been beforehand. Up until this point, I thought it would be my father’s failing kidney, not Covid. Assume nothing, right?

Doctors are treating him with Remdesivir, an antiviral drug that has shown to be effective against Covid. So we all hope that he responds well to that treatment.

Living in Nova Scotia as I do, I’ve been in a bit of a bubble when it comes to Covid. We have had 1,134 cases in the entire province, and only one case in our specific sub-region. So, while I have not been casual about Covid, it does seem rather distant from me. My parents live in Indiana, and they have been telling me how serious the situation is, yet it still felt far removed from them, somehow. Maybe that was me projecting my own experience onto them. It’s not at all distant now.

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@nerys

So sorry to hear about your father and I hope the Remdesvir treatment goes well.

Even if you were living close by, the hospital very likely wouldn’t let you visit. That’s the worst of it – quite a few people I know have had COVID and you just have to hope and pray each time that they’re one of the lucky ones. I hope your Dad is too.

@thane16 Sorry to hear about your Mum. Lots of hugs.

Best wishes to you both.

[janetteB @janetteb]

Nice to see so many familiar faces on the forum again. It has been very quite here for the last few months.

@dentarthurdent I hope the “outbreak” in Auckland is under control now.

@nerys Hoping that your Dad is doing ok.

Well we have been feeling like we are living in a Covid safe bubble too but two days ago that bubble burst with our first community transmission cases since April 16 and now we are heading back into lockdown which is unfortunate for us as we have a holiday away booked for this weekend, our first break for the year. We were going to the River for a Writing event. In S.A. there is only one river so people talk about “going to the river”. I suspect the event won’t be happening but hopefully we can still get away, for a socially isolating weekend. So now it is us checking the daily dashboard for updates and let’s see if our Premier can match Dan Andrews, (Victorian Premier) for dedication.

Cheers

Janette

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb

The ‘outbreak’ in Auckland seems to be under control – it’s limited to about three people. It originated as a ‘leak’ from a quarantine facility – which just shows how sneaky this virus can be. Typically NZ has up to 30 cases at any one time, being overseas arrivals in quarantine – it’s when it leaks out that everyone worries since one case can become a hundred in a matter of days.

We’re hoping no more significant outbreaks since we’re planning to go to Christchurch in South Island to stay with our daughter over Christmas, which means taking the Cook Strait Ferry. Obviously a serious lockdown could disrupt that. I’ve spent the last few days replacing the clutch on Mrs D’s Mazda Tribute 4WD (same as a Ford Escape), because it wasn’t going to get us to Christchurch otherwise. But what a performance! The workshop manual has more plot twists, red herrings and plot holes than a vintage Doctor Who ep. Seriously – “disconnect gearchange cables (see section 5.4)” So Section 5.4 Gearchange Cables starts by removing the gear lever and taking apart the centre console and gearchange mechanism inside the car, and it was only after doing all this that it occurred to me, what has this got to do with the clutch? – and I realised that the ONLY part of Section 5.4 that applied was Paragraph 5.4.7 ‘remove clips and lift cables off gearbox change levers’. It did this sort of thing to me, or tried to, several times. So it’s been a bit of a saga, I hope when I fire it up tomorrow everything works and I haven’t forgotten something vital.

I hope you’re able to have your weekend away, even if you have to take precautions. I take it ‘the River’ is the Murray (you’re in South Australia, right? – forgive me if I’ve misremembered). (My grasp of Aussie geography is a bit sketchy, it was only when I just Googled that I realised the Murray comes out east of Adelaide and not in Melbourne or the other ‘obvious’ place at the head of Spencer Gulf (Port Augusta). I’m embarrassed, I thought my geographical knowledge was better than that). But anyway, even a ‘socially distancing’ weekend can be quite pleasant, so best wishes for that.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent Your mechanics incident sounds like one of my plumbing disasters. I went about replacing a washer the wrong way and still have to fix up the resulting mess.

Yes The River is the Murray.Water is a very scarce commodity in South Australia so the river is a vital source of fresh water, much fought over with the eastern states.

My knowledge of N.Z is pretty sketchy though improved after watching LOTR. My partner has visited a couple of times for work but that was when the boys were young and we stayed home.

cheers

Janette

 

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb

Reminds me of ‘the only water in the forest is the river’   🙂

I actually lived in Perth (with my parents) from the age of 3 till 6.   (I know West Australia doesn’t really count as ‘Australia’, or so I’ve heard   🙂     But it was too hot and my parents fled back to England for a while (where schoolkids thought I was Australian, I’d picked up a bit of an accent, but it wore off) before trying New Zealand a decade later.   My wife has seen more of Oz than me, she has rellies in Sydney and Melbourne and probably the Gold Coast too.

Not entirely sure LOTR gives an accurate picture of New Zealand geography  (grin).

Cheers

 

 

[nerys @nerys]

Hello, @bluesqueakpip @janetteb and all! So far, so good for my dad. He’s still in hospital, but feeling reasonably well. His oxygen level is still low-ish, so that’s why they’re keeping him there. Meanwhile, Dad is reading a book I sent him, filling out crossword puzzles and Sudoku. Plus he watched an Indiana University football game on TV. They won … which made him happy!

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@nerys
That’s good news! Hoping and praying that your Dad continues along the needs-hospital-but-not-intensive-care pathway to recovery.

@dentarthurdent Sorry, do you mean there isn’t a giant glowing eye in the middle of New Zealand?

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@bluesqueakpip

Sadly, there’s no great glowing eye any more, though there was 25,000 years ago – known as the Taupo supervolcano, it was a humongous eruption in the middle of North Island where Lake Taupo is now. I think the lake is in the crater.

There are (of course) books and probably websites that tell where all the locations for LOTR are. I never really investigated that. On the other hand, if you ever caught Hercules or Xena on TV, I could tell you exactly where the Land of the Amazon Dead and the Gateway to Eternity are   🙂

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent Have not watched either Hercules or Xena though the later is on our “Too watch” list for the cult TV podcast. Sounds like Hercules is another contender. (we look at Cult TV shows from over 20 years ago. that is so we can fit in Black Books.)

Well we are now in full on lockdown. Apparently there are mad queues at the supermarkets. We have a well stocked pantry and over stocked fridge and freezer so hoping to hold out until sanity resumes. It is only for one week and we are a very small state so really no reason to fear shortages. Our trip to the River is not happening but the money is being refunded and so another time.

Cheers

Janette

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@janetteb, sorry to hear about the recent lockdown. It sounds serious, but the action sounds logical. We are living (nervously) a couple of kilometres from a country that has a totally chaotic response to the virus.

Stay safe.

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb

Sorry to hear your weekend is off. Hopefully the lockdown will be brief and you can reschedule your trip.

I’m not sure what Black Books is?

Xena is notorious for the uneven ‘quality’ of its episodes, even more than Who. One week it’s Hell Bent, next week it’s Love and Monsters (in Who terms). And from my observation any Xena fan would agree with that statement, even though they’d battle to the death over which was which. 😉

(Was there ever a fandom that wasn’t a hotbed of dissent and bickering over the storyline and the characters? I haven’t seen one yet).

[syzygy @thane16]

@janetteb

and all the South Aussies (&, as always, the Sydney siders) we’re feeling your pain in Brisbane. We’ve been insanely fortunate in many cases. “cases” had a different tone to it now.

Thanks to those who got in touch when I mentioned my late mum. I realise it looked as if Puro had passed away but nope, I’m still here & we’re doing OK.

At the clinic, though, I was asked “have you been to Adelaide or been in contact with anyone from SA?” I did a “who? What?” as hadn’t kept up. One day we all ignore Adelaide, 😉 & another day, it’s suddenly all we’re talking about!

Welcome to all new members… And to @nerys Also hope dad improves. Crosswords sound better than day time telly which can be miserable  -except for his football which is certainly OK (not that I can understand American footy, or any football, to be truthful). I thought The State of Origin was Aussie Rules but it’s Rugby – apparently an embarrassing mistake.

& @blenkinsopthebrave …(We are) Living Nervously sounds like a superb newspaper Op Ed title.. Alongside side the Poem For Sunday   😀

@arbutus?!! Where art thou?!

Puro & Thane.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@thane16 gosh the lengths we Adelaidians have to go to  to get noticed…

@blenkinsopthebrave. Yes I am always grateful that my ancestors took the long journey around the planet and not the short hop across the pond, much though I would love to visit Canada one day. I am happy to be on the other side of the planet to the U.S. right now.  I am afraid that there is still plenty of trouble ahead, with a resident in the White House who refuses to leave. I think most people here welcome the decision to lockdown hard and fast. Better by far than delay and then be in lockdown for much longer though we here are “caught short” not having facemasks and as they are already sold out I am looking at making some.

@dentarthurdent when we get to Xena  I will ask your advice as to which episode to watch. IT may be a while though as we only record monthly and we have a very long list. This month we will be doing Tomb of the Cybermen as I have decreed that November is Dr Who month and I want to cover one story from every Doctor. We did An Unearthly Child last year and the New Doctor the year before. (as a special.)

Cheers

Janette

 

 

 

 

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@janetteb

Ah, yes, the mad queues at the supermarket. Currently I’m in Lockdown 2, the sequel and supermarkets here are a lot calmer. Apart from toilet paper. Why there was panic buying of toilet paper at the beginning of both English lockdowns is one of life’s little mysteries, especially since the UK not only manufactures toilet paper, it exports the stuff. But I think most people had at least stocked up on food this time – certainly I’m trying to keep enough tins in the cupboards that having to self isolate isn’t a massive problem.

My self isolation episodes are beginning to look like the Star Wars saga, but so far I’ve been lucky and got a (negative) test each time.

Definitely make your own face masks – you need a double or triple layer of cloth, but they’re pretty easy.

@blenkinsopthebrave We Are Living Nervously sounds like a great title for a history of this pandemic.

[nerys @nerys]

Hello, all! I spoke with my dad on the phone today. Not much change from when I spoke with him on Friday, except that he complained of hearing strange sounds all the time. Apparently this comes and goes. He mentioned this to his doctors, and says they are not concerned, that this is “just part of it.” He is bored, unsettled by the constant hospital interruptions, and frustrated by the isolation … understandably so. But physically, he feels all right. Minor discomforts, but nothing major. I think that’s as good as it gets, at this point.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@bluesqueakpip Odd about the toilet paper. We had the same thing here in New Zealand. I must admit to being moderately guilty, I didn’t go crazy buying it but we were in Christchurch when it all kicked off and we came back up to Auckland with three packs of TP in the back of the wife’s Mazda. Cleaning products all flew off the shelves too, luckily I had seen a litre of isopropyl alcohol in the hardware a few months earlier – first time I’d seen it in ‘bulk’, it usually comes in tiny expensive bottles as ‘keyboard cleaner’ or the like – so I’d bought it.

@nerys – good to hear about your father. I hope this progresses to a recovery. Does he have anything to keep him occupied – books or Internet? At least Covid is one virus you can’t catch down a phone line (though I’m sure the conspiracy theorists are working on it).

@janetteb One good thing about masks is, you can make your own. Or even a scarf wrapped around – you could go full Tom Baker 🙂
I’d be happy to suggest an episode of Xena when the time comes. In case I’m not in contact at that moment, I’ll mention one now – the one most people seem to suggest is ‘The Debt’ 1 and 2, a two-parter in the middle of Season 3. Or anything with the villainess Callisto in it, they’re usually fun.
It sounds like you have a good long-term project. Mine is – finish re-watching through Xena (I interrupted it to watch right through New Who – and that was a while ago!), then I’ve got The Prisoner, Red Dwarf, Blakes 7, Battlestar Galactica (the new series, not the old one), Farscape, not necessarily in that order. One day I might take a look at Game of Thrones, since everybody else in the universe apparently has.

Cheers

[Missy @missy]

@dentarthurdent

What about Babylon 5? I found Blakes 7 somewhat dated.

Also I haven’t seen Game of thrones either. My daughter watched two episodes, told me it was full of violence and sex.

She didn’t bother with the rest, and neither shall I. *winks*

I am re -watching Sherlock.

You should have seen the panic buying of loo paper here in Australia – outrageous.

@nerys

Good news  about your father. *thumbs up*

Missy

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@missy

Well of course Blakes 7 is dated, it dates from about the same vintage as early Doctor Who.   And it was notorious for its cardboard sets that would wobble if someone bumped them.    It still had some cool dialogue though (I’m a sucker for clever dialogue and black humour).   In particular the hero (who I take to be Avon) is decidedly NOT a ‘good man’.   And I’m attracted to the irony that, most of the time, there weren’t exactly Seven of them and it didn’t include Blake.   So I think I’ll try a re-watch of some episodes at some point and see how well it’s held up.

I’ll certainly look into Sherlock a bit more – I’ve just seen the first three episodes and they were quite intriguing.

Babylon 5 I know very little of.   For some reason the concept of the show doesn’t really appeal to me, I can’t really say why.

I’m quite baffled by the importance of loo paper.   I keep a stack of it because it’s useful for all sorts of general-purpose uses like cleaning car parts and as a substitute for Kleenex tissues, but if I ran out I’ve got a stack of old newspapers.   In fact weren’t old newspapers hung on a nail the traditional furnishing of an outback ‘dunny’?

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@nerys
Glad to hear your Dad seems to be staying stable. Yeah, COVID is very weird and can present with all sorts of symptoms (or none at all). I think Strange Noises hit about 10% or so.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

In case you haven’t seen it…

 

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