The Winchester
This topic contains 679 replies, has 27 voices, and was last updated by winston 2 weeks, 2 days ago.
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31 October 2021 at 17:36 #72254
While I was away the old pub went way over its usable post limit so I’ve started a new one.
Welcome to The Winchester, favourite haunt of Shaun and Ed in ‘Shaun of the Dead.’ The Winchester was filmed in a South London pub, but it happens to be based on a pub, now called The Boogaloo, that I live nearby in North London. It’s a favourite haunt of musicians, actors and other performing artists.
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were regulars at what was then called The Shepherds. For ‘Shaun of the Dead’ they changed the name to The Winchester (which was also a pub nearby – but is now homes) just so they could eventually arm Shaun with a gun to fight the zombies.
This is somewhere for real life, non-Doctor chat including news, politics, sport etc. Basically a place of a more adult nature. Those who don’t want that, please avoid.
The drunken ramblings from the last pub can be found here:
31 October 2021 at 18:26 #72262And, of course, The Winchester Club, Ar’fur Daley’s favourite refuge from ‘er indoors.
1 November 2021 at 01:08 #722661 November 2021 at 01:29 #72267Happy or should I say spooky Halloween to all who celebrate. We had only 7 little trick or treaters so they got lots of goodies. Best of all there are a lot of candy bars left over! We had a fairy, spiderman, Ilsa , Black Panther, someone called the marshmallow DJ? and a really cute little ghostbuster. I dressed up in all my Doctor Who clothes.I was a sad Who fan, sad because I have to wait to watch the new series. Chocolate should help.
Hope nobody runs into any ghosts , unless they want to of course.
Stay safe
1 November 2021 at 01:47 #72268@winston Your Halloween sounds great. The first year we arrived in Canada, on Halloween the very first arrival at our door was a tiny child, perhaps 14-15 months, but who could stand by herself, while here proud parents stood a few steps back. She had on this amazing costume, which was a huge round, white frilly dress, and a cap that was shaped like a candle. Mrs. Blenkinsop said: “You are gorgeous! Who are you dressed as?” And this tiny voice replied: “Cupcake”.
2 November 2021 at 00:54 #72278@blenkinsopthebrave I love the little ones in their costumes! Spiderman was so shy he clutched his goodie bag and hid behind his Mom. Too cute.
15 November 2021 at 13:01 #72408Those who were offended by Capaldi’s guitar playing in Dr Who will not welcome this news but I am sure that most of us will look out for it. 🙂 He always comes across as such a likeable person in articles and interviews and I am hoping to see some samples from this appear in the Music thread.
Cheers
Janette
19 November 2021 at 06:24 #72464Hi Hope none of our Canuk friends have been adversely efffected by the flooding in Canada
We are currently on holiday, a couple of days down at the coast so will be catching up on discussion when I get home tomorrow or Sunday.
Cheers
Janette
19 November 2021 at 16:50 #72469@janetteb The Blenkinsop household is surviving, although the fact that highways have been swept away by the floods has led to supply chain issues (petrol and food are in scarce supply in many places). If the supply of jelly babies and jammy dodgers dries up, however, that’s when we know were are in real trouble.
20 November 2021 at 03:33 #72470@janetteb I am far away but the disaster in parts of British Columbia is devastating for an area that suffered drought and heat all summer. Sadly 3 people are dead with more missing and thousands of farm animals have died with more in danger, no idea how many wild animals have died but I expect thousands also.
The army is there to help rescue stranded and flooded people and many are helping their neighbours but already there are fuel and food shortages. My daughter who lives there escaped the disaster but is worried about more shortages and higher prices and is grieving for her province.
I will state what is obvious to most people- These are weather extremes caused by climate change caused by us. Time to change our ways.
Have fun on your holiday!
stay safe
20 November 2021 at 10:04 #72473@winston Unfortunately it seems that extreme weather events resulting in massive damage to humans and infrastructure, costing businesses and governments is what it is going to take for those with the power and money to actually start to act. Of course by the time governments and businesses accept the need to change massive harm is going to have been done to the natural world, to vulnerable nations like those in the Pacific, and to vulnerable people which is in fact all of us.
We are back from our holiday now. It was so nice to get away even though the weather was not favourable and it was “schoolies” weekend. Actually the kids were all so quiet and well behaved that was not a problem. The drive was lovely. The countryside is so green at the moment, not usual for this time of year. The colours were so vibrant with the freshly cut golden hay contrasted with the verdant spring grass. I saw some ‘roos grazing in a paddock on the way home which made me very happy. I think even a mini break is good for restoring one’s sense of perspective.
Cheers
Janette
20 November 2021 at 10:09 #72474@janetteb I loved Capaldi’s entrance in Magician’s Apprentice – could *anything* be more anachronistic than the Doctor riding in on a tank, blasting out chords on an electric guitar? (Somehow, Tennant or Smith doing the same just wouldn’t have had the same impact). I’ll be interested to hear some of his music.
20 November 2021 at 16:44 #72477@winston I have been alarmed as I watch this disaster unfolding out west. I’m glad that you are safe. British Columbia is experiencing many of the extreme weather events happening in California, and that is disturbing. It shows the massive reach of climate change and how really, no area is left untouched.
But it seems the farther north we go, the more massive the impact. As Earth’s polar ice caps melt, climate change escalates … and that’s not a good thing.
14 December 2021 at 19:04 #72673Went to a pub quiz last night – a Christmas pub quiz. A bit early but because of the current situation they’re probably not gonna do one again until January.
My team came equal second. But I had on an amazing Christmas jumper.
15 December 2021 at 02:16 #72676@craig That is a very nice Christmas sweater! I always pull out my Who stuff at Christmas. I wear all my Who clothes on Christmas day and enjoy making dinner in my scarf, hat, slippers and Tardis shirt while drinking tea out of one of my Who mugs. I put my Xmas cookies in my Tardis cookie jar but I can never fill it up.
Congrats on placing 2nd at your pub quiz, next year first eh.
Stay safe.
15 December 2021 at 09:52 #72680@winston Quite coincidentally, I have just watched ‘Dark Water’ and ‘Death in Heaven’, so the next episode on my list is ‘Last Christmas’. How’s that for timing? (And it was completely accidental)
16 December 2021 at 02:47 #72684@dentarthurdent That was great timing to be sure. I watch all the Xmas episodes every year leading up to the day and I am about to watch the Christmas Carol which is one of my favourites. I will watch Last Christmas but I find it is a sad episode. Anyone who has suffered loss finds it harder during the holidays I suppose. When Danny tells Clara that she can be sad for a little while every day but then she must live her life, I cry.But it is advice that I have actually tried to follow so I guess it is a very good episode. I miss the Christmas episodes, they were becoming a tradition for me and I hope they come back.
stay safe
16 December 2021 at 07:31 #72685Well, Last Christmas is one of my favourites. It would have been a lot sadder if Clara – Jenna – hadn’t decided to do another year. But the episodes that intermingle comedy and tragedy are often the best.
The end of ‘Death in Heaven’ where both Clara and the Doctor are lying, totally unselfishly, because they think the other has a better life life to go to without them – that I found inexpressibly sad (and also, frustrating, I kept growling at the screen “Tell him!!”)
But anyway, Last Christmas – sarcastic elves pointing out how improbable they are, sarcastic Santa (Doc: “Go make a list” Santa: “I have mate, and you’re on it!”) – what’s not to love? But yes, sad too, but so was Christmas Carol. Sad is not always bad.
22 December 2021 at 00:59 #72695Something to rekindle memories of Australia in the 1980s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT120JBL4yo
Ah, the days of yore, back when the left-wing Prime Minister was a champion beer drinker. These days, the Prime Minister is a right-wing evangelical.
So much for progress.
22 December 2021 at 03:36 #72696@blenkinsopthebrave Yep, Bob wasn’t as left wing as I would have liked, being a student when HECS was introduced but compared to what we have now..
I wonder if the makers of the add knew that Australia had experimented with a alcohol based economy before. (the rum trade in the early days of New South Wales)
Cheers
Janette
22 December 2021 at 03:47 #72698Yes, HECS was a bummer (I only managed to go to university because of Gough). But at least Bob came from a union background, and represented a world that is long since gone.
Have a great Christmas. (And that goes for everyone at the pub.)
24 December 2021 at 02:55 #72700Well, we are half out of the dark and it is time to wish you all a happy holiday! Congratulations to us all for getting through another year of covid, lockdowns and shortages with grace ,luck and a sense of humour.
Now many of us are back on lockdown with Xmas parties cancelled and even dinner with outside family discouraged but we can do this too because we are Whovians and Whovians are never cowardly when it comes to a challenge. So have a great Christmas and if you don’t celebrate it then just have a lovely day. Eat food you like and sing songs and play games or watch sappy movies, whatever makes you happy. I am going to make a snowman and eat pumpkin pie and cookies while dressed in all my Who clothes and Tardis slippers. We will call the grandkids and my kids and anyone else we can think of just to tell them we love them and miss them. That will be a good day for us and I really hope everyone has as nice a day.
Stay safe and jolly.
Ho Ho Ho
24 December 2021 at 02:57 #72701Oops, we are half WAY out of the dark is what I meant to write. ( too much Xmas cheer).
Merry Christmas!
24 December 2021 at 03:05 #72702I WISH ALL WHOVIANS A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A MUCH HAPPIER, HEALTHIER, NEW YEAR.
MISSY XX
24 December 2021 at 09:33 #72704Merry Christmas all.
This story on The Guardian brought as smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Just the kind of story one needs at Christmas especially this year when most of hte news is so grim. (here anyway where out idiot politicians have decided that it is time to “open up” for no conceivable reason and after being essentially covid free for two years we are now deep in the Covid playground.)
Also have not put up the Dr Who, The Daemons podcast on our local website. You can find it here.
Merry Christmas, Yuletide, Winter Solstice, Summer Solstice, seasonal celebration all.
Cheers
Janette
25 December 2021 at 00:03 #72705@janetteb I loved that story about taking out the bin! (Particularly the photo of it in the phone booth: “It was just talking trash.”) I was showing it to Mrs Blenkinsop the morning, and at the same time an email from an Australian friend who has recently retired to New Zealand came in with the header “We should be proud to be Australian” containing the same link.
And yes, a very happy festive season to everyone!
25 December 2021 at 02:16 #72706@janetteb Bloody brilliant! I have a huge grin on my face, thank you. I will think about that every time I take out the garbage bin.
Sorry to see you have the same covid nightmare we have and for the same reason. Hang in there and have a good Christmas.
Stay safe.
Ho Ho Ho!
25 December 2021 at 02:21 #7270725 December 2021 at 02:30 #72708@blenkinsopthebrave If surviving like an elf on Christmas cookies, fudge, pie, hot chocolate and eggnog is festive then I am as festive as a person can be! I will regret it when I wake up from this sugar coma. Merry Christmas to you and the Mrs.
stay safe
Ho Ho Ho!
28 December 2021 at 15:22 #72711@janetteb Thank you so much for posting that story! It’s just what I needed. As you say, with so much of the news being bleak these days, it’s nice to have a break from that with this lighthearted piece.
2 January 2022 at 03:56 #72744@winston Sorry to hear about your grand daughter. From what I understand it has milder effects, and the youngsters are more resilient than we are, but it is still something we would all rather was not there.
take care and be safe.
4 January 2022 at 02:09 #72760To everyone who wished my grand daughter well , thank you it means a lot! I am happy to say that she and her family have all tested negative as of today. We were going to see her after Xmas but she was quarantined so we have not been with her for over a month. If we catch it it won’t be from them and they are all healthy now so I am happy.
Ontario is going deeper into lockdown and we are hiding out at home again waiting until the 10th for our booster. The kids are not going back to school for at least 2 more weeks, no gyms or indoor dining and half capacity for shops and grocers etc. It is a bloody mess! But so far we are healthy and nothing else matters so mustn’t grumble( except about weather). It is -22C tonight. Brrrrrrrrr…
Stay safe.
4 January 2022 at 12:08 #72770@winston Good news regarding your granddaughter and her family! Given the lockdown, her boredom level won’t improve much, but at least she can freely interact with her household again. And she’s healthy. That’s the most important thing.
4 January 2022 at 12:24 #72772@winston Glad to hear your Granddaughter is cleared. We currently have two people in the house who are semi self quarentinging, one because he went away for New Year’s and the other because his mother is ill and yet to be tested. They are sitting at their computers with face masks on.
You are fortunate to be in lockdown. Our idiot goverment has opened up, said “let it rip” and ripping it is, right through the country and bringing the health system to its knees, not difficult as it has been starved of funding for years. Our patethic excuse for a PM is essentailly shrugging and saying “not my problem”. Right now I think most Australians are longing for the relative security of lockdown.
cheers
Janette
5 January 2022 at 02:21 #72775@nerys Thank you ,I agree that having her healthy is the best Xmas present I could get! She is returning to online school for now but at this point she wants to go back to school. It was fun at first ,not so much now. Children everywhere are suffering through no fault of their own, they must feel so powerless. It makes me sad.
@janetteb Thank you and I hope your family all stay healthy. Our idiot provincial government “let er rip” all summer and fall and now we pay for it with hospitals overflowing and planes and trains cancelled due to sick employees and now small restaurants closing down. It is a mess! A big,stupid man made mess! The only good news is that most people who have had at least 2 jabs are not getting as sick or are even asymptomatic like my grand daughter. 3 shots are even better so I can’t wait.
Stay safe and keep your fingers crossed.
5 January 2022 at 03:09 #72776Where I am it is 7pm. Mrs Blenkinsop and I just got back from getting our booster shots. Hurrah! On the way home, we stopped off at the local shops–I got a bottle of shiraz while Mrs Blenkinsop decided that we deserved a pizza (which we haven’t had in the house for ages). We also realized that this was the first time we had been out driving at night for about 18 months! Anyway, after we got back, it suddenly occurred to me that the conditions were perfect to say:
“Tonight…pizza, booze, telly?”
And, of course, she replied: “Yeah, pizza, booze, telly.”
I think I have a good idea of which episode we are going to watch.
5 January 2022 at 06:16 #72777@winson – so glad for the good news about your granddaughter
I really feel for children and teenagers at this time, this is becoming such a chunk of their developing years. I also have two friends with even with two shots and a booster have little to no protection. One had cancer the year before Covid and was still having treatment earlier this year, one has an autoimmune condition. Their lockdowns have never ended, and they live in small flats in cities, and my heart aches for them. My partner and I have been quite lucky re covid, though my partner is vulnerable, but not on the shielding list, we live in a seaside town and have a pretty decent size garden, pretty good sized house, my mother was retired, I’m at home looking after my partner anyway so neither of us go out to work and I was studying online anyway, so lockdown was nothing like the chore for us it was for many people. I also got all jabbed and boostered up at the same time as him, there ain’t many perks to being a carer, but there are some. (Well, to be fair, I also don’t pay to go to places and the cinema when I’m with him, which is kind of nice). And my mother didn’t want a funeral in the first place, so that’s not been a factor for us.
Our problem in the UK is that the government insists on relaxing things as much as possible, more than advisable, for mainstream christian/post Christian times (Christmas, Easter, Western Calendar New Year) and only these, and while the Welsh government limited pubs and gatherings and closed nightclubs for New Year, England didn’t and a lot of people went over the boarder, so that if Omicron wasn’t where we are now, it might well be now. Meanwhile people of other cultures and religions get no leeway whatsoever, last year the government violated its own rules. Unfortunately the devolved governments, at least in Scotland and Wales have to balance being as cautious as possible with the fear of provoking a backlash that could lose them the next election, and this should not be a factor but I can see how it is. At the same time, I’m a little jaded, family style traditional Christmases make me deeply uncomfortable, going out for New Year is my idea of a nightmare, so it’s very easy for me to say ‘we should all just sit tight and give it up for another year, it’s silly to relax and go out and meet en mass when this new variant is spreading like mad and could easily mutate’ because I don’t like the things I’m talking about giving up. But I know these things mean a lot to people. Also I’m a hypocrite, we had a couple of friends over for New Years which we both felt was a little risky. Actually one friend got in touch and said ‘are you still having a party?’ then informed us this other friend was setting off for ours in an hour, other friend when he arrived also had no recollection of said party, think the first friend pulled a fast one on us. But I also think he decided the two of them ought to come over for New Year because they knew it was also a difficult time for me anyway, and would be worse this year. (Yes, I am so unsociable having two friends over fully counts in my head as a ‘party’. Sometimes it’s as many as four, and I feel positively dizzy).
Anyway, happy new year everyone and thank God for t’internet eh? For the forums like this (and thank Craig for this), and zoom and other video chat methods are available, and for the possibility for online study and working from home for many, and cheaper calling options so that people who are alone don’t have to be quite so alone, and streaming, and video games, and all the things that are helping people get through the day, and friends we’ve never met in person and friends who live all over the globe, and thank the human capacity and desire for connection that is able to use wires, and chips, and programs to connect over distance.
5 January 2022 at 06:17 #72778(sorry again about the ramble I seem to be able to write on for ages about absolutely anything under the sun, anything, other than the conclusion for my dissertation).
5 January 2022 at 13:09 #72779@janetteb I hope you can stay safe and avoid the covid there in Oz. It sort of causes ripples here in NZ, in that we were set to ease our borders and now that’s on hold. Delta got out about four months ago and the Government has given up trying to isolate it, but is trying to control it, apparently fairly successfully since case numbers are hovering around the 50’s. Omicron hasn’t got out yet, amazingly enough. They just changed the wait period for a third booster shot from six months to four, Mrs D and I become eligible in two days and we’re booked in next Monday (though a lot of places are just drive-in, no booking required).
Interesting to see how the control strategies have mutated along with covid.
I’m careful about separation and masking up in supermarkets etc. I have to say, Mrs D’s family had a Christmas family gathering that probably breached a few guidelines. (Probably like most people). I went along with it because, who wants to be the PITA who spoils everybody’s day? Hopefully the virus was taking the day off (and yes I know how fundamentally idiotic that statement is 🙂
Anyway, here’s wishing all good health and a successful avoidance of covid.
@miapatrick Ouch! I know what writer’s block feels like. And it’s because it *matters*, it’s important. Not sure if this helps but I found, sometimes, I could just scribble** a couple of lines of outline, then later on fill them in. Or alternatively, just write any old nonsense (which I knew to be quite inadequate) off the top of my head, then set about rewording it to say better what I was trying to get at. Just to get something started. I’ve always found it easier to modify an existing thing than to create an all-new thing from scratch. (And of course word processors make this supremely easy. The writer’s job when everything was written down by hand must have been monumentally painful, as it was for the first few decades of my life).
** When I say ‘scribble’, I mean of course bang them out on a keyboard.
Please forgive me for my presumption, if it doesn’t help please ignore it.
5 January 2022 at 13:40 #72780@dentarthurdent not at all, it is helpful. The main thing to remember is not to worry about writing anything ‘good’, just write something, and then you can make it good. Theoretically.
One problem is I have three printed out drafts (as a rule I re-word better when I’m typing the whole thing out again) but I still haven’t landed on exactly what I want the conclusion to say. I’ve got a week, I’ve done the bloody footnotes (you’ve just made me realise how very grateful I am for word processors, especially regarding footnotes), I’ve re-written a chunk of my third chapter today and I do have about three hundred words of conclusion-ish that I’m more or less happy with. about 1,200 more to go, or, 6,000 words of drafts to condense into 12,oo words.
It’ll be fine…
16 January 2022 at 03:25 #72817@janetteb Even though it is very cold here I still find it easier to get warm than to cool off in the heat of the summer. Like you I tend to hide out inside ,venturing out to water the gardens and pick veggies. Those vegetables canned and frozen are coming in handy since like your area our shops have empty shelves and what is there is overpriced. Your country is in the same shape as mine with Omicron washing over us and all the trouble that follows. Over run hospitals ,cancelled public transit and other things closed due to sickness. Covid testing has such backlogs that a true count is impossible.
It has hit my family again with my oldest son being very ill for the last week although he is now recovering. He had 2 shots or it could have been a lot worse. He was very anxious about his health and hoped he didn’t give it to anyone else but so far it hasn’t happened. The anxiety and fear is almost another symptom.My other son no sooner got moved into a new and more expensive flat when his restaurant closed down due to lock downs. He has a couple of interviews and is trying to keep his hopes up but it is a stressful time. I know they are men now but I wish I could do more to help them. It has been a long week.
I hope you and yours stay safe.
Stay
16 January 2022 at 05:40 #72819@winston So sorry to hear about the family. Out here, there are only myself and Mrs Blenkinsop. Back in Ontario there is a large extended family coping with every thing from the medical issues that come with age (at our age cohort) to the economic issues that come with Covid for the next age cohort (and their children). Of course, everybody copes but, let’s face it, we (especially our age cohort) have seen better times.
16 January 2022 at 06:20 #72822@winston I hope that things work out for both your sons. The future seems so bleak for the young generation. At times it feels as though they are being attacked from all sides, covid, global warming, right wing goverments cutting services. We compare our situation at their age, renting a very nice flat on student allowance which has not changed in the intervening 30 or so years while the cost of living has escalated.
@dentarthurdent hope your beaches are not being affected by the sea surges resulting from the eruption.
cheers
Janette
Janette
17 January 2022 at 03:34 #72826@blenkinsopthebrave and @janetteb Things always look better in the morning! Number 1 son says he feels 100% today and youngest son has a few job interviews lined up so we hope for the best. Thank you for the good wishes although so many of us are struggling through this pandemic and many have it way worse. At least we have our home so they will never be homeless and we have our health, so far.
I see the way things are now and I wonder how the young people manage. So many things are beyond their reach like buying a home or staying home with their kids, both things we were able to do with a little sacrifice. And how do low income people eat healthy? Times have definitely been better.
stay safe
17 January 2022 at 07:39 #72830@janetteb Well, the beach I usually go to is Piha, on the west coast, so unaffected. On the east coast, I don’t think there was much damage generally. One place, Tutukaka, had a lot of damage in a marina (several boats sank), I think probably the shape of the coastline caused the tsunami waves to concentrate.
@winston All I can say is, best of luck for both your sons.
20 January 2022 at 04:51 #72835Many of you will have seen this. But it is so brilliant it deserves another look.
27 February 2022 at 04:12 #72911This week has been a truly sad and frightening week for the people of Ukraine and every fair minded and humane person in the whole world is outraged. It is easy to feel utterly helpless being just one old lady living in Canada because my outrage helps nobody. Mr Winston and I have given some money to the Red Cross and urged our government to help more. We watch the news getting more distressed and angrier every minute. Our thoughts are with Ukraine and that does nothing to help. I wish it did.
This site is no place for politics but the perfect place for hope. I hope for peace.
I stand with Ukraine.
27 February 2022 at 04:36 #72912@winston Well said. We too stand with Ukraine. I was reading an article the other day about Putin and his support of the far right around the world. It has echoes of the 1930s and just as in the 1930s the rest of hte world will turn a blind eye because either it is too hard, they don’t care or they are in support of the bully; the Crabbes and Goyles to Putin/Malfoy.
(some one has come who needs my laptop to fix a website so I will add more later)
REgards
Janette
27 February 2022 at 06:10 #72914I can understand Putin (or any Russian leadership) getting antsy about NATO overtures to Ukraine – just look at the map to see that much of western Russia (which is the most important bit where everyone lives) would be bordered by NATO. (And if anyone thinks that’s over-sensitive, just contemplate US attitudes to Cuba for the last 60 years). It also explains his propping-up of that thug in Belarus.
I’d half-expected Putin to launch a limited ‘peacekeeping’ invasion of the Dombas region (in the far east of Ukraine, where the separatists are) to set up a ‘neutral’ government (and apparently this is what most of the Russian leadership expected also). But he’s definitely gone over the top this time. If he gets deposed, and the sooner the better, the better it will be for Russia and the rest of the world.
Just to make it clear, I’m on Ukraine’s side in this. And also on the side of the many Russians who are shocked by this war. I believe a lot of Russians tolerated him because they didn’t want more instability. I think maybe he just lost that.
1 March 2022 at 03:29 #72915@dentarthurdent I also support the Russians who are protesting in their own country when they know better than any what could happen to them. As usual they are being arrested and dragged away even though they were peaceful. Putin will have his way. What a horrible time it is.
Canada has the 2nd largest population of Ukrainians next to Ukraine and they are shocked and frightened for relatives in the country. They march for peace beside Russians and Canadians of all ages. Many weep with worry and sadness when they try to tell their stories. It is like being punched in the gut over and over. I wish I knew the way to stop this war, I hope someone does.
Stay hopeful
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