The Winchester

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb   As with the possums, so also with rabbits.   And deer in South Island I believe, and goats.  (There are deer in North Island but they live on farms surrounded by high fences).   Fortunately for us, nobody thought of cane toads   🙂   And, I noticed that everything had gone quiet too.

Currently Summer is still hanging on – late summer seems to have the most stable weather.  Eventually, some time after Easter, it falls off a cliff.   But today was beautiful, warm, sunny, and calm, the water in the bay was – just warm enough to venture in.   I’ll see how long it lasts.

I do agree that UNIT was far more intriguing when it lived in secret headquarters under the Tower of London, (actually, a bit reminiscent of early  Torchwood) than its high-tech tower which reminds me a bit of Big Brother or some other fascist regime.

@ps1l0v3y0u   I’m not a big fan of John Barrowman, he’s fine in small doses.   However, Torchwood was much more of an ensemble series I think.   Darker than Doctor Who in the first three series, and it went depressingly dark in the last two.   I usually like ‘dark’ (to quote Xena), but it has to be leavened with a good dose of humour – black humour will do fine.   Moff knows this.   Not sure RTD does, and Chibs is officially a humour black hole.   Similarly, I’m not a fan of shallow everything-is-fine wisecracking comedies.   I guess a nice mix of the two is optimum for me.

I’m not sorry I skipped Legend of Ruby Sunday this time round, I seem to remember it as a bit of a shambles.   On to the last season.    Which, incidentally, still doesn’t seem to be out on DVD.   At least, nothing on Ebay.   Only on Blu-Ray.    I bought a Chinese copy (probably a legitimate copy for the Chinese market?), but then my laptop couldn’t play it – it has trouble with the really nasty encryption built into Blu-rays, I think.   I eventually managed to rip the episodes and burn them to a DVD.   This was a lot of hassle but I just want to watch the episodes that I paid for on my laptop.

 

[janetteB @janetteb]

@ps1l0v3y0u and @dentarthurdent Oh damn. Torchwood is now twenty years old. I am part of a podcast that reviews cult tv from 20 years ago and before. I have been bringing an episode of Dr Who to the table every year, one from each Doctor and this year we are doing the film, (yuck) and to make up for it I am going to introduce “Curse of Fatal Death” in November. Which means next year I am going to have to do Torchwood. I never liked Torchwood. I liked the concept, liked the characters, though I agree, Barrowman is best in small doses, but the rest of the team had potential. it did not work out. Maybe in part due to RTD trying to be too “adult” and not getting what that means, and Chibnell.

On the plus side Sarah Jane Adventures hits the 20 year anniversary next year so we can do that the following year.

dentarthurdent I think the idea that people can own their own media is fast disappearing. We are supposed to just consume but not to have any kind of agency over how and what we consume. I am always buying DVDs from opp shops, even if I have a version of the tv series/film because I like to own them, just as I like to own books. I don’t borrow books so guess streaming to me is the same. I appreciate that it exists just as I actively support our local library but I prefer to own my own library.

cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb   I like to have control of media I have paid for.  If I buy a book, it’s mine.  The publisher can’t break down my door and take it back.   I can sell it again.   Same with DVD’s.   In fact there’s something physically satisfying about a DVD.   (Of course I can’t (legally) copy the DVD and sell it, same with a book, I can’t copy the entire book and sell it, that’s simple copyright).   Most of my DVD’s came from op shops.    (Sometimes I buy one then find I’ve already got it.   For a couple of dollars, that doesn’t hurt, I just consider it a donation).

Same with computers (all my laptops are Thinkpads, because Lenovo publish complete repair manuals as free downloads from their website; and they all run Linux because I control when (or if) it updates).   And all my files are on hard drives on my server, not ‘the cloud’ whatever that is.

I don’t have a Kindle, I’ve read that Amazon can ‘withdraw’ a book from circulation.   It’s paper copies for me, or a PDF that I can keep on my hard drive.   (‘Kindle’ – doesn’t that sound reminiscent of Fahrenheit 451?)

 

[winston @winston]

@janetteb  @dentarthurdent     Hello! Nice to see you.  I am so panicky about my favourite shows and movies that I have them on my computer and on DVDs and then I can watch whenever I want.

I do have a tablet so I can download books from my library and I really like it. If a storm is coming I get extra books and some audio books to entertain me during blackouts. Mind you the last was 8 days long and I ran out of books before it was over.Luckily I also have a big library at home that only requires lantern light to work. Mainly I use the tablet because I need large print and the library has a limited amount of large print books. I think I have read most of them.

Your summer is coming to an end and my spring is just beginning.There were dozens of crocus open in the garden and we have a lot of migrating ducks and swans stopping in our creek for some food and rest before going even further north to nest. I love spring! After such a long,long winter it so nice to go outside without 3 layers of clothing on. Hope you like you fall as much.

stay sane in an insane world

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent, I agree with you, the cloud is giving someone else your stuff to mind or otherwise. I also like to manage my own back ups. I have several, one on a desktop hard-drive, one on a portable that I carry everywhere with me, and a few old back ups in the sideboard.

I also have doubled up on my op shop dvd purchases. I keep thinking I should go through my collection and donate the duplicates back but they are on the top shelf of the bookcase and I require a chair to reach them.

cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @janetteb]

@winston I loved spring when we were in Sweden. Crocuses were the first sign of life to emerge from the frozen soil. I have photos of them peeking through snow. We were renting and the garden was deeply buried in snow when we moved in and so it was a daily discovery of new flowers and plants all through the spring. Maria, the owner, who had just moved out, clearly had similar taste in plants and colours to me. I felt a little guilty, enjoying the garden that she had clearly put so much work and love into.

Spring here is nice because everything is still green and the weather is kind but it is not magical like Spring in colder climates.

cheers

Janette

[nerys @nerys]

Hello, all! Good to see the updates from everyone. We just got back from a trip to Ontario to visit family. We thought we were sick of winter here in Nova Scotia. Well, there the snowbanks are still heaped so high that the street signs barely peek out over them. And this is the slowly melting version. I can’t imagine what they were at their peak height. Here we finally had a proper winter and got a lot more snow than has been the norm in recent decades, so fingers crossed that the snowmelt will prevent the drought we experienced last summer.

Crazily enough, when we landed in Toronto Friday afternoon, it was sunny and 23 degrees Celsius (73 Fahrenheit)! According to the forecast, their previous day’s high was 23, as well. We were tempted to stay and enjoy the warmth … except it didn’t last. Saturday and today are much more seasonal for this time of year. But what a shock to go from that, to finding our car coated in ice when we got back to our airport hotel. And then there was the fun drive home in freezing rain, then rain and fog. Very tiring for my husband, who did all the driving. My night vision is not good, so I avoid long nighttime drives, if I can help it. Which means I’m not much help to my husband in those situations. But we got home safe and sound, which is the important thing.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb   I actually have all my DVD’s indexed and numbered, so I can find them.   But of course if I see a DVD in an opp shop, and it’s a movie I might like, I can’t remember if I’ve got it already.   So two bucks is a reasonable price to secure it, even if (as often happens) I find I have it already and just end up donating the DVD back.   Though this does lead to the disconcerting conclusion that I may have bought the exact same DVD several times over the years…   🙂    I have about 200 movie DVD’s, not including series like Doctor Who or Sherlock.

In other news, I’ve just booked for us to fly down to Christchurch and see our daughter who we haven’t seen in several years.  She assures me it’s still fairly warm down there, so I can go for walks in Bottle Lake Forest  (pine plantations).  Here in Auckland the tattered remains of summer are still hanging on, went for a swim yesterday and the water seemed to have warmed up very slightly.   Air temp is 20 to 23 C most afternoons.

@nerys   I’m quite unused to snow.   When I lived in the South of England I would be all excited if we got a few days’ snow at Christmas, but that only rarely happened.  Here in North Island NZ, the only place to reliably encounter snow on the road is up Mt Ruapehu in winter.   It does often snow down to lower levels in one place or another, but not predictably.   Anyway, fascinating though snow is, I think one could very quickly get tired of it.    I used to like driving at night, but now my night vision is just adequate, so (like you) I try to avoid long night drives.

@winston  I’m like you in that I like to have my own DVD’s and hard drive files.   I’m not sure I could survive eight days with no power, though I do have about 1500 books so I’d never run out of reading matter.   One huge change from a few decades ago – LED lights are so efficient these days that a carton of AA batteries would get me through 8 days of blackout quite easily.   Also, it makes it worthwhile to carry a little pocket torch when out walking in the bush with the knowledge that it will last for hours in an emergency.   (I haven’t ever needed it for that, but I once drove five miles on a pitch-black night on a winding gravel hill road with a ‘flat’ car battery that could only just power the ignition – no lights – by the light of a little 3-cell LED torch held out of the drivers’ window.   I just followed the edge of the road.  Far enough to reach a main road and cellphone coverage.   The sort of thing which is far more satisfying in retrospect than it was at the time…   in fact most of my fondest memories are of disasters narrowly averted.)

 

[winston @winston]

@nerys  Hello to you!  So you visited my neck of the woods eh?  We did have a lot of snow but last winter was even worse. We actually ran out of room to put it when shoveling the driveway out. We were down to the grass but then it snowed again the other day. Ah winter,we love it.

@janetteb  It snowed on my lovely crocus but they are very hardy, just like us Northerners. Today they opened up and we had an explosion of colours to warm us up.Magical indeed, especially after a long winter. Small miracles bringing great joy. Next will be the snowdrops, scilla , daffodils and then the tulips and  lilacs. I could go on forever about flowers but I won’t.Never feel guilty about enjoying someone else’s gardens, we gardeners love nothing better.

@dentarthurdent   I am glad you are going to visit you daughter and the pine forest. We are going to see ours this summer on Vancouver Island  and I love to walk in the rain forest with trees so big and old and beautiful that they make me cry. I have been known to hug them.

We are in a rural area and we lose our power a few times a year although the last one was the longest outage we have had in many years.Mind you the ice storm was the worst I have ever seen. We try to always be prepared with lighting , food and water because our pump doesn’t work without power. We used to plan for 4 days without power but now I plan for 10 days. The biggest problem was boredom but we did catch up on the current music from our little battery powered radio as well as keeping in touch with the news. This time the old timey phone quit and of course the misters phone needed charging so that was a pain. I only bother with the old timey phone and may soon become the last person in Canada that doesn’t have a cell phone. But that topic is for another day.

stay calm and carry on

[nerys @nerys]

@winston That’s a lot of snow! I would have preferred to visit at a more springlike time, but it reminded me how much I enjoy spring. Yesterday morning, we awoke to a thin layer of snow. As the sun rose, the dripping snow glittered like gems. Eventually the snow melted, turning into a spectacular spring day by mid-afternoon.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent talking of weather, I just saw that a cyclone is heading your way. Hope you are all ok.

We have been getting a lot of rain here, unusual for April. Our river, which cuts through the centre of town, has started flowing which is always lovely to see.

cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb  Thanks.   Apparently it’s a very dramatic one.   The last few that came this way caused devastation to the north of us and the south-east of us and managed to miss Auckland.   Hopefully this one will too (miss us, I mean, not cause devastation elsewhere  🙂    We’ll know if we’re OK tomorrow morning.

The last few days have been lovely fine weather, even while the weather man was pointing to dramatic multicoloured patches on his map and forecasting doom.   I had a couple of nice swims in very calm weather down the beach.   Nice to hear about your river, if we didn’t live near the beach I would at least want to live near running water.

@winston   I’m pleased to hear you survived your ice storm.

I just saw in the news that our supermarkets are completely out of bottled water.   We never buy bottled water (we have things known as ‘taps’) but we do buy industrial quantities of cola.   So a quick search and a raid on the recycle bin produced a dozen empty bottles and we now have 20 litres of water.   Should be more than enough.

I particularly like mature pine forests for walking in, the clear space under the pines is always calm, sheltered on windy days, shaded on hot days, with a carpet of pine needles but open views under the high ‘roof’.   Almost no undergrowth.   Ecofanatics grump about lack of ‘biodiversity’ but as a walker, I’d much rather the bio diversifies somewhere else and not wrapped round my ankles.

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb    Update on our cyclone:   No wind yesterday, rain started falling gently about 6pm, steady rain by midnight, had stopped by 9a.m. this morning, no wind, now we’ve got steady (but not heavy) rain and light gusts of wind.   According to the forecast we should be having a severe southwesterly gale right about now, maybe we live in a sheltered spot.  Fingers crossed.

[winston @winston]

@dentarthurdent     I have my water stored in empty soda, juice and camping jugs. Our water is from a well with a filter system so if the power is off for awhile we have to boil it for a few days so its easier to store it.

My fingers are crossed for you!

stay dry

[winston @winston]

@nerys The snow is lovely ,white and clean.It sparkles like glitter in the sun and hides all. When it melts there are a couple of weeks of brown. Muddy boring brown, yuck! It makes it so much nicer to see the greens and colours that are finally showing up.

We have been making maple syrup for a couple weeks and are finally done. We got a couple quarts of the sticky sweet stuff, enough for us and the kids. We already had pancakes and it is good. Got to have some useful skills.

stay safe

[janetteB @janetteb]

@winston the maple syrup sounds lovely. I always think of you when I buy it in a little bottle from the supermarket. so much nicer to make one’s own. I miss snow. I think that is why I like to watch tv series set in the Arctic or Antarctic.

@dentarthurdent fingers crossed for you here too.

cheers

Janette

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@winston   @janetteb   Thanks.   Unless the storm has an unexpected sting in the tail, it looks as if it’s missed us, all we got was a lot of rain (though not in torrential amounts).   Storms seem to keep causing chaos to the north of us, to the east and south-east, but the last one that hit us here was three years ago.   So we’re either well overdue for another, or we’re somehow less susceptible to getting hit.   Not sure which is true, but I favour the latter.   (Optimist!)

It’s just occurred to me that we have 35 gallons in our hot water cylinder.  Now when the mains pressure is off, we can’t get anything out of the hot taps (since it relies on fresh cold water going in the bottom to displace hot water out of the top) but last time the pressure reducing valve failed, I installed a tap on the cylinder drain, which would make it very easy to ‘tap’ it (no pun intended) for water.

Fresh snow looks great.   Such a pity it doesn’t stay that way, at least not in urban areas.   It turns to slush, which is never nice.

[winston @winston]

@dentarthurdent    We call that “snirt”  ,  dirty snow.  Happy you didn’t get a bad storm and I hope the rest of your country does as well. We have had rain for days and our creek is high but not flooding yet. We have trumpeter swans, mallard and golden eye ducks and of course Canada geese swimming around the creek and birds are gathering nesting material so spring is sprung!

stay safe

[winston @winston]

@janetteb  Well nothing could be nicer than to have maple syrup remind you of me. It is yummy and even here it is expensive so making our own saves a bit but is mostly fun and a way to celebrate trees and spring.

stay safe

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@winston   Thank you.   The rest of the country  (well, parts of it) didn’t do as well, major flooding and storm damage in Northland and North Auckland (just to the north of us, duh) and the Coromandel to the southeast.   This has happened several times now.   In fact these things tend to be very ‘regional’ and often quite localised.   Notoriously so around Cook Strait between the North and South Islands, for example in 1968 the 9000-ton ferry Wahine was driven aground at the entrance to Wellington Harbour with much loss of life.   On the same day, people in Paraparaumu, just 30 miles north, were enjoying a sunny day on the beach.

On our local beach at the moment, we get flocks of oystercatchers, which I think look slightly absurd with their long red beaks.   And a couple of pukekos (aka swamp hens, big birds with long legs) have taken to stalking across our garden.  They can fly well enough to get over fences and into low trees but that seems to be their limit.  They have adapted well to ‘civilisation’ and can often be found  in the bushy/swampy strips beside motorways and the like.

In totally different news (and if I may be forgiven for being political for a moment)  I’m raising a glass to the defeat of Viktor Orban, in spite of (or maybe because of) endorsements by those shining beacons of enlightened democracy Donald Trump, J D Vance, Vladimir Putin, Bibi Netenyahu and Elon Musk.   [End politics].   I hope that isn’t too controversial in this forum.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent

The Orban news IS good. But… Magyar used to be a supporter of his, and we don’t really KNOW what he’ll do with his huge majority and popular vote. At least any voices claiming a fix seem to be muted.

I’m afraid that’s NOT the end of European Popularism.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@ps1l0v3y0u   Let’s say it’s the less bad alternative.

Things would have been very gloomy if Orban had stayed in power.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent

I’m VERY happy Orban’s gone.

I’m afraid… and or realistic… that Magyar got in on the basis of delivering affordability. But there’s war in The Gulf now…

Perhaps some of europe’s would be populists are sniffing the caffeine and thinking errr… I dunno tho. But Putin is 82% democratic. There will be another Russian election in a few years and the odds are he’ll still be 82% democratic. The chaotic west (Xi’s phrase not mine) will have how many elections in that time?

Just got to be lucky/unlucky a few times.

[janetteB @janetteb]

I read somewhere a week or so ago that  there is going to be an anniversary special screening tomorrow night, on BBC 4 I think. It is to mark the 20th Anniversary of the first screening of New Earth which seems rather odd to me. I wonder if that is just a cover for an announcement?

@ps1l0v3y0u We got lucky with our last state election. there was an alarming surge of votes for the far right party which is essentially the Gina Rinehart party but fortunately they only actually got four seats, still four too many but it does not bode well for the future or do much for one’s faith in humanity.

cheers

Janette

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@janetteb

Gina Rinehart sounds ‘interesting’. Nice family.

Just lost a court case hasn’t she? I saw the headline this am, strange synchronicity… unless you also saw the headline.

Yes, you would think the New Earth thing might be kick-starting something about David and Billie, the Christmas special, or the shape of Who to come. I must brace myself for the torrent of Billie and RTD online hate which must surely follow.

[WhoHar @whohar]

New Earth is the first ep of Season 2. Surely that’s all it is? But maybe it’s a precursor to a Christmas announcement.

The only rumour I’ve heard is that another 2 lost episodes have been discovered. No more details as of yet…fingers crossed.

 

[nerys @nerys]

@whohar Are you referring to these (“The Nightmare Begins” and “Devil’s Planet”), or to two additional lost episodes that have been found?

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/doctor-who-lost-episodes-9.7131796

[janetteB @janetteb]

@whohar I thought also that the anniversary of the screening of New Earth is hardly celebration worthy so here must be something more going on. I would be very happy if it is an announcement regarding more lost episodes.

I don’t recall New Earth being a particularly good episode but then I was not a fan of most of that series.

cheers

Janette

[WhoHar @whohar]

@nerys

Two other ones, ie not the two Dalek eps that were recently found. I have no details but Film is Fabulous (who uncovered the two Dalek Masterplan eps) seems very confident.

@janetteb @ps1l0v3y0u

I guess it’s the first Tenant ep proper, but it does seem odd to make such a song and dance about it. Tieing it into an announcement about the upcoming Christmas Special and a potential Tenant-Piper reunion would explain it. Or it could just be a big old tease…

[nerys @nerys]

@whohar Thanks for that clarification!

So, refresh my memory: Was “New Earth” the first episode in David Tennant’s first season as Doctor Who? As I recall, after Christopher Eccleston’s regeneration, Tennant made his first full-length appearance in the Christmas special, and then onward and upward.

@janetteb, I’m with you. I was not overly impressed with most of Tennant’s first season, especially after being so impressed with Eccleston. But after that, Tennant grew on me.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nerys @whohar @janetteb

the anniversary is there to keep the show in the eye-line.

it is about Billie/David which was always on the cards, surely?

New Earth has Billie/David possessed by Cassandra. Hmmm. Camp.

it’s one or two fingers yer face for the average online Who presence who doesn’t like women Doctors/RTD/or indeed the entire show. Ever. Though they ensure us they do. Especially the daleks.

I think it’s a good sign!

How’s Piers Wenger doing?

 

 

[nerys @nerys]

@dentarthurdent On our local beach at the moment, we get flocks of oystercatchers, which I think look slightly absurd with their long red beaks.

I envy you your close proximity to oystercatchers. Would these be Eurasian oystercatchers? I saw them when we visited Denmark in 2007 … though I didn’t know it at the time. Not living near the ocean back then, I was eager to see seals. We did see seals, but also lots of birds, most of which I couldn’t identify. It’s only with the help of Merlin’s photo ID that I have since been able to go through my Denmark photos and identify some of the birds I photographed.

The photos I have of the oystercatchers are not good enough to identify that way; we were too far away. But I have since been lucky enough to see American oystercatchers on Cape Sable Island, This is one of the few places in Canada where they breed, and it’s only about a 40-minute drive from here. It took me over a dozen tries, but I finally spotted them last summer. They’d moved from their breeding area (visible to me only with binoculars) to feed on the nearby sandflats. When I saw them, and then reviewed my Denmark photos, I realized that I’d seen Eurasian oystercatchers in Denmark. It’s because of that distinctive red beak you mentioned. I think they’re quite striking!

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@nerys    Hi.   I was down on the beach (Blockhouse Bay) on Saturday, thought I’d check out if it was still swimmable.  Lovely high tide, 4.3  (which is among the highest that we get), lovely and sheltered in the bay,  but the water was a little bit too cool for me.  I went in (and I’m glad I did rather than dithering then wondering ‘what if’), but after a minute my fingers and toes were tingling so I came out again.   Water had dropped a couple of degrees since last week, so that’s it for the year.

Anyway, there was good flock of oystercatchers on the little beach, maybe 100 or so.   This ‘beach’ is a patch of sand 70 metres across that arrived on a Council truck some decades ago, and I think they top it up occasionally.   You can get within maybe six feet of them before they walk or run or fly away.   Periodically some young kid will chase them and they all take off in a flock and fly in circles for a bit before landing on the other end of the beach.   There is  patch of rocks, exposed at anything less than high water, that they also favour, or the roof of the Boat Club hut.    Google says they’re  Variable Oystercatchers  (what a delightful name!), a New Zealand species.   I think ‘variable’ refers to them being anything from all black to big white patches on their chests and underbellies.    But still with the absurdly long red beaks.

@ps1l0v3y0u   I did like Billie as  Cassandra-possessing-Rose.   Maybe it was camp (I dunno, what exactly is ‘camp?), but I cracked a grin.  I think Billie was having fun with it, what actor doesn’t relish the chance to play the evil alter ego?

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent

Camp: a heightened level of artifice, affectation and exaggeration. So Cassandra plays on the audience’s assumed (and evidenced) attraction to David/Billie. Whilst very much dressing as lamb.

Who has always flirted with humour and camp… possibly something the show runners had to accept from Hartnell’s mangling of some of his lines, and the ridiculousness of many of the monsters.

I was making more of a general point about possible plot lines: two docs with a connection; maybe good doc/bad doc; what’s in the history? You know my predilections. And predictions.

If that puts the bed the frankly misogynistic ‘phsoar! They can’t make Billie the Doctor, she’s Rose!’ tendency, I’m happy.

But. If.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@ps1l0v3y0u    If I may split a hair for the sake of discussion, “They can’t make Billie the Doctor, she’s Rose” is not necessarily misogynistic.   (Though I accept it could be (mis)used as a cover for misogynism).

But it runs into the same logical continuity problem (not sure if there’s a word for it) as the fact that Sean Connery ‘was’ James Bond, so all the Bonds since then are logically impossible.   (Which is not say that I didn’t enjoy watching them).

Also brings to mind the same problem with Peter Capaldi who was previously the Roman guy in the Pompeii episode, or Amy who was a priestess in that same ep.   I seem to recall Moff was sufficiently concerned to suggest that Capdoc consciously or unconsciously chose that appearance out of some sort of guilt at not saving him.

Rose’s appearance as the interface of The Moment was explained away by The Moment having picked Rose out of the Doctor’s future memories.   That worked.

I guess Doctor-Rose could be satisfactorily explained by some similar mechanism, and I rather hope it would be.

Another possible (non-mysogynistic) reason for being unhappy about the prospect would be if one felt Rose was the best companion ever and bringing her back as Doc was somehow ‘milking’ it.   A bit like all those old companions who suddenly reappeared us UNIT operatives in a recent episode – much though I like to see them, it just felt too corny to me.

But I’ll say right now, that’s not a misgiving I have, I’d love to see Rose-Doctor.   Partly because, as the Doctor, nobody could complain that she was just being used as set-dressing.   And I think and hope she’d make a much better one than Whittaker did.   She has the advantage of being thoroughly familiar with the Doctor’s persona, after all, which Whittaker notoriously wasn’t.

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@ps1l0v3y0u   As an afterthought, I’ve just thought of a reason for Rose-Doctor – remember when, at the end of Season 1, she looked directly into the Time Vortex and acquired super-energy – which the 9th Doctor absorbed from her and promptly regenerated?   Well, if he didn’t absorb them completely, that would leave Rose with stored energy which, in time, could somehow lead her to turn into the Doctor.  Or maybe better, the energy which Nine absorbed from Rose was ‘flavoured’ with her personality and appearance, which manifested itself decades later as a regeneration into Rose-doc.

 

[nerys @nerys]

@dentarthurdent Thanks for clarifying the species. Wow, 100 of them! The most I’ve seen here is three at a time. Do yours migrate or stay put for the winter? The ones we see here migrate to this area in the spring to breed, then they leave for the winter.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent

I daresay I reached for the M word too soon. But then you look at Meta and think uh-uh. It’s rage bait I know but surely, if you want to understand the ridiculous reaction to post Chib Who, it’s there.

Have we really moved on from the “Liz Shaw is a scientist/give us a screamer” dichotomy? (Ooh long word)

The Moment is something else and also, through Badwolf, a resolution of the Time War. That only makes the case for Billiedoc stronger.

Maxil/6 IS difficult. Like urghhh??

But 12’s face is specifically there to save Ashildr. Why? Well, fortunately, the Doctor also still speaks baby… and then you wonder why he suddenly started talking about mothers.

Is there ‘A Plan’ and will The Corp permit it? Or did Moff write all those jokey ‘did that look familar?/that’s a bit weird’ sections to wind The Corpmen up? And why did Chris then deliberately and specifically trash Gallifrey/regeneration/doc 1?

And why is it about RTD (apart from the ratings) that scares the people on Meta so much? They DO seem to be quite M.

 

Oystercatchers are like clowns of the avian world. Often see a few at Barnes Wetland Centre. At Arundel and Amberley I have seen Sea Eagles… released a few years ago on the Isle of Wight and they now roam the south coast. They are enormous, not quite light aircraft but unmistakable. When I went to Arundel in March, it was only Buzzards being mobbed by Rooks.

Now, if you want to see Turnstones in April, try the end of Southend Pier.

[winston @winston]

@nerys  @dentarthurdent    We spent hours watching black oystercatchers on the shore on Vancouver Island. They were fun to watch as they ran along the rocks looking for food, They are lovely and silly at the same time.

I would love to see a Billie Doc or any Doctor for that matter. Anything to distract me from the stuff that goes on. My old Mom used to say that the world was going to hell in a handbag . I am still not sure exactly what she meant but I think it means …..now. Bring us the Doctor because we really need one.

stay sane

[nerys @nerys]

@ps1l0v3y0u Now, if you want to see Turnstones in April, try the end of Southend Pier.

First time I ever saw ruddy turnstones was along beaches in our neck of the woods (southwestern Nova Scotia) in summer and fall. They are the calico cats of the bird world. Very distinctive!

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nerys

we are unfamiliar with the black turnstone here, and so neglect to name the Eurasian/atlantic species ‘Ruddy.’ The former slipways from pier… a mile off the town… are sheltered from the breeze and people so that’s a favoured roost. They are very cute and partial to crumbs.

[nerys @nerys]

@ps1l0v3y0u I’ve never seen black turnstones; I looked up photos of them, and they are quite striking.

Ruddy turnstones, in their breeding plumage, have a feather colouration much like a calico cat (which is why I called them the calico cats of the bird world):

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Turnstone/species-compare/64811941

[syzygy @thane16]

Just reporting in, everybody!
@winston -2 months late to wish your family all the best with the wonderful new addition!
Much love to you.

@blenkinsopthebrave good to see you about these pages, also.

[syzygy @thane16]

I have also been reminded by a friend to watch the ospreys at the Dyfi Centre. Fabulous to reflect on

Much love to all, Puro and Son</p>

[winston @winston]

@thane16    Thanks for the kind words. Our little man is now 8lbs and growing. He is a very contented baby.

I have visited the ospreys , they are very wonderful and so are the people who work hard to protect them and provide them with nesting sites. Thanks and hello to your friend.

We have them nesting on the river but they also needed platforms built because even here we have reduced their habitats and their nesting sites (trees).

We built some bird houses and put them up along the creek and have seen some tree swallows checking them out.Every little bit helps.

stay happy!

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nerys

I looked up black turnstones because I’d never heard the ‘ruddy’ prefix. They’re eastern Pacific I think: so never seen one.
London has a large population of Raptors now: Peregrines, kestrels, and a sparrowhawk made a kill in the garden last year. You now often see Buzzards and Red Kites out of town.
Best spot this year was a Ring Ouzel making its way from the med to the north.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@winston @nerys  @ps1l0v3y0u    I really started something with oystercatchers, didn’t I?

I’ve been lurking/incommunicado the last few days because we flew down to Christchurch last Tuesday and, among the things I forgot, was my laptop charger.   Since then I’ve been running on battery, just enough to check emails.  I ordered a charger online (which, ironically, came from New Lynn five miles from our house, and has arrived), ordered its mains (power) lead from another supplier and it ain’t here yet.   But today we discovered the plug on the niece’s charger lead fits my charger.   Panic over.

Also, I couldn’t get the Season 2 (new season i.e. with Ncuti)  DVD that I hacked from Bluray to work with my laptop.   But I eventually managed to order Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, they arrived just before we left Auckland, so (with a portable USB  DVD drive) I should be able to watch them here.    Can’t help wondering if they’re pirated though, the discs and their packaging look absolutely authentic, but I can’r get S1 disk 1 to read  (not a biggie, I’ve got S1 already); and Season 2 Disc 2 has the titles of S1 eps 3-5 (Boom to Dot & Bubble) but when I click them I get the correct S2 eps  (The Well to The Story and the Engine).   But I’m not sending them back for a refund!

 

[nerys @nerys]

I was listening to CBC Radio’s Q program this morning and enjoyed this interview with Peter Capaldi, who talked about his time with Doctor Who:

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-50-q/clip/16211467-peter-capaldi-ora-cogan

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nerys

It seemed to be very much about Peter being a fan, his devotion to the classic show… and adjusting to overwhelming public recognition.

What he had to say about The Thick of It and Armando Iannucci using improv was interesting, because it seems to me a lot of that spilled over into 12. But then, to judge from what we saw of the read-throughs during Moff’s tenure, and his general relaxed treatment of his thespians, this was surely no accident.
And, let us not forget, the Mondasian Cybermen were Capaldi’s rec.

[nerys @nerys]

@ps1l0v3y0u It seemed to be very much about Peter being a fan, his devotion to the classic show… and adjusting to overwhelming public recognition.

Yes, I would think going from relative obscurity to international stardom would be a challenge for anyone. But Peter handled it with aplomb during his run with Doctor Who.

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