The Winchester

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@janetteb @winston @blenkinsopthebrave

Sad indeed.  I always enjoyed ichabod’s posts and insights, and when the forum comes fully to life again, as I trust it will when the show returns in the autumn, her contributions will be greatly missed.

Thanks, janette, for relaying the news; I had missed it in January and have just been reading some of the obituaries.

 

[winston @winston]

@nerys  The fires in your province are horrible and it saddens me to see so many people losing their homes. Being evacuated on short notice and then not knowing whether your house will be there when you get back must be so stressful and upsetting. I hope you are OK and safe and that the fires can be controlled before they cause more destruction.

I saw an evacuation centre that  was fairly empty because so many people opened up their homes to friends and family. It did not surprise me because whenever we have visited Nova Scotia the people are very warm and inviting.

Stay safe

[janetteB @janetteb]

Sorry to hear about the fires. So terrible, heartbreaking and infuriating because this should not be happening, not like this. I hope that you are OK @nerys.

cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@nerys    Can I add my hopes that you are safe.   This year the climate seems to have gone berserk – here, it’s floods.

[nerys @nerys]

Thank you, everyone, for your care and concern! I’m sorry to be so late in posting. We were without Internet for a while, which limited my ability to communicate.

The Barrington Lake fire (whose billowing smoke plumes are visible from across our harbor) is a massive wildfire, the largest ever in Nova Scotia. The Lake Road fire was a smaller wildfire northeast of us that triggered evacuation alerts fairly close to us Wednesday evening. We weren’t in the evacuation zone, but we had our bags packed in the car, just in case we had to leave.

We could see the Lake Road smoke plume from our front porch. We watched as Department of Natural Resources and volunteer firefighters, RCMP, emergency personnel and other crews raced to the scene. And, starting Thursday, we had many more water bombers on the scene. So that fire was brought under control very quickly.

We have heard that the fish gelatin manufacturing plant where my husband works is still standing. The problem is that there is no power out there, and two bridges have collapsed, hindering access to the plant. They were able to get in and transport their inventory of frozen fish skins to a freezer elsewhere in the county.

The sad thing is that human activity (people doing outdoor burning, when we are under an outdoor burn ban) caused these fires. So all this destruction, trauma and stress was completely preventable and unnecessary.

The ground and forests were bone dry. The soil is dust, even deep in the forests. Before yesterday, we hadn’t had significant rainfall since winter. The rains finally came yesterday, and we have had steady rain ever since. I can see puddles forming in our parking lot. It won’t put out this massive, extremely hot wildfire, but it will slow it down. And it will make the conditions far more favorable for our firefighters! But after the fire is finally doused, many people’s lives here will never be the same.

I am sad about ichabod’s passing. I always enjoyed her posts.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@nerys Very glad indeed that the fires appear to have finally been contained. We have been following the news from the other side of the county. And very glad that you have both escaped the prospect of having to flee the house. The reality of having to have the bags packed in the car just in case is not one anybody should have to face.

Take care.

[nerys @nerys]

@blenkinsopthebrave Thank you so much! Some evacuation orders have been lifted, allowing those folks to return home, which is good. Needless to say, we felt relief that we have not had to evacuate (though it’s hard not to feel guilty about that). We were saying the other day how we are living our lives almost as normal, when so many people are not. We are lucky … and it somehow feels wrong to be on the right side of luck, with others going through so much stress, anxiety and fear.

One of our friends, sadly, had allowed her house insurance to lapse because she was planning on selling in the fall. (She doesn’t have much money, so I’m sure she felt it was one less bill to pay. And, I’m sure in hindsight, it’s a decision she regrets.) She thought she had lost both of her houses, but thankfully, it looks like one house was spared (after things were not looking good). So there are little miracles.

Here’s a CBC News story celebrating today’s beautiful rainfall. May all the incredible firefighters who are coming to our aid stay warm and dry in their tents, and safe as they battle this wildfire!

[janetteB @janetteb]

@nerys Hope that you are still safe and well.

It has been quite here of late and so i just wanted to say hi to everyone and hope everyone is ok and enduring the long wait till November.

We put on an old episode “Into the Dalek” tonight for background viewing. I have posters to design and the s/o is busy with 3d printing stuff. We have watched these episodes so many times that they are company now. Every so often we look up and smile at the snappy lines.

cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@nerys    Good to hear the fires missed your house.

@janetteb    Into the Dalek is a good one.   My next one (if I stay in sequence) is In the Forest of the Night, I think the best thing about that episode is the title, sadly, so I haven’t been in any hurry to re-watch it.   As I recall, it had a bit of mysterious New Age-iness in it that wasn’t quite Kill The Moon level, but still sent my woo-ometer into the red.   But I’ll see…

[winston @winston]

@nerys  I am so happy that your area was spared these horrible fires but of course heart broken for my fellow Canadians who have lost everything.

It seems that Canada is burning from coast to coast. Here in Ontario there are hundreds of fires burning as well as in Quebec and the smoke was dense for a few days. No going outside for long because it burns your eyes and throat and starts you coughing. It was so smoky and the sky was orange and brown. When I looked at the sun (and I could because it was so clouded by smoke) it looked like I was on another planet. There are big fires in Alberta and a fire on Vancouver Island that has cut off the west coast where my daughter lives. Many people have and are suffering and the harm the fires  cause to the wildlife can be irreversible. Days and days of rain is the only thing to help control the fires burning and prevent future fires.

We are very lucky to have the help of brave firefighters from across Canada and the world. Thank you to New Zealand and @dentarthurdent can tell all his neighbors how grateful we are. The same to @janetteb , thank you Australia and all the other countries that have sent us their brave fire fighters. Countries like Portugal,Spain,France,South Africa ,the USA and Costa Rica. We can be all one world and one people when we want too.

stay safe.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@nerys and @winston    I’m pleased the fires have missed you and I hope you continue to be safe from them (and your daughter, winston).   Sorry for my mangled syntax but you know what I mean.

I’m sure we’re pleased to help.    The extent of the fires seems staggering, also surprising, I think we have a mental image of Canada as a cool climate, unlike Southern California or Australia.

It also makes sense for us to send some firefighters, it means they can keep in practice during the slack season.   It’s helpful that ‘Fire Season’ in Australia and NZ is six months apart from fire season in North America and Europe.   And of course during our and more particularly Australia’s fire season, firefighters from North America can come down to assist in return.    It makes for more efficient use of available resources, rather than every country having to maintain an organisation big enough to fight its worst-case events which only happen rarely.

(I say more particularly Australia’s fire season because I’m not sure if we’ve had a fire big enough to need international assistance, but I know it would be there if needed.   After the Christchurch earthquake we had emergency teams from Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, the US and Britain, so it’s not just fires).

International Rescue is a thing and not just Gerry Anderson’s fantasy.   It does give some cause for optimism among the very many political worries at the moment.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

 

Glenda Jackson. When I look back, my entire adult life has been interspersed with watching truly fabulous performances by Glenda Jackson on film and TV. She gave so much, whether it was in acting or in her career in politics. I only wish I had the opportunity to see her on stage.

Vale Glenda Jackson.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@blenkinsopthebrave Indeed. A very inspiring person. i was a teenager when I watched Elizabeth R. It made a big impression on me. The first VHS box set I ever owned was that series. Unfortunately I have not seen any of her film roles or seen her on stage. She was as inspiring a politician as she was an actor. Reading through all the articles about her today I am even more in awe of her achievements.

cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

I was always impressed by Glenda Jackson, though I haven’t seen her in as many  things as blenkinsopthebrave.   As he says, Vale, Glenda.

I have just re-watched In the Forest of the Night, which impels me to move on to Dark Water pretty quickly.

I’ve also just finished watching ‘Allo ‘Allo (all 86 episodes!), I have to say I was unexpectedly slightly emotional when Rene finally eloped with his waitress Yvette right at the very end.    Anyway, that left a gap but I stumbled across a Youtube review of Blakes 7 and a couple of clips of Avon being sarcastic/sardonic in his inimitable fashion decided me on what to watch next (in tandem with Who of course).

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Just watched Dark Water / Death in Heaven.   What a marvellous double-episode series finale.   I didn’t bother writing my impressions because they pretty much reflect what I put down 18 months ago.   It was full of surprises – Danny’s death, Clara’s attempt to blackmail the Doctor (and his neutralisation  of it), Missy the ‘welcome droid’, the Cybermen, UNIT’s ambush of the cybermen, Clara’s impersonation of the Doctor, Cyberdanny’s rescue of Clara, Missy giving control of the cyber-army to the Doctor, the Brigadier shooting Missy – all those things caught me by surprise.   As did Clara and the Doc lying to each other (with the very best of motives but the saddest result) at the end.    Such bitter-sweet irony.

[Rule1 @rule1]

I totally agree this was a brilliant episode of who the intro to Missy was amazing. I think it had all the turn and twists it needed.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

And now I’m on to Last Christmas.   There are five classic Moffat episodes in a row – Dark Water, Death in Heaven, Last Christmas, Magician’s Apprentice, Witch’s Familiar – maybe the best run of Who episodes ever.   I think Season 9 must be my favourite – Last Christmas (it’s in the S9 boxset anyway), Magician’s Apprentice, Witch’s Familiar, the Zygon Invasion / Inversion, Face the Raven, Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, all absolute classics.    And the other eps mostly hold up well – Under the Lake, Before the Flood, The Girl who Died, The Woman who Lived, and The Husbands of River Song.   Sleep no More was the only weak one.   Quite a season!

I have a couple of specific observations of Last Christmas that I stuck in the episode forum.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent It is a good series. Last Christmas is one of the best Christmas Specials, speaking of which I have high hopes that RTD will resurrect the Christmas Special. Dr Who and Christmas just go together like ghost stories and Christmas.

Been busy over the last couple of days but look forward to catching up with the observations also I want to reread your review from previous watches of Dark Water and Death in Heaven which were good episodes.

Cheers

Janette

[Oochillyo @oochillyo]

hey everyone 🙂 how are you all 🙂

Today went out with my family to meet my family ha 🙂

Havn’t seen these extended members of our family since I was baby apart from photos ages ago so walking to them in the street and there’s lots of them and like right there I was like oh wow this is my family cause one of my cousins was soo pretty I was like that’s a pretty person ha but its my cousin I didn’t know ofcourse nearly walked past them all ha , everyone in my extended family seems soo modely ha

They seem really nice though and although for years and years I had this picture of an old black lady as my Aunty the truth is very different and her husband who I didn’t even know existed reminds me of our Spanish friends we’ve know for ages and ages and since I was baby I knew so I wonder if one of my earliest memories is of my Auntie’s husband and not our Spanish friend how interesting but as I say they seem very nice I was nervous and now I am not top model so have to try better ha but yeah nice wanna see them more rather than once every 20 years , if it was up to me my family branches would be close you know hope things can keep improving we are going to beach with them this Sunday and good thing my swimming skills have improved massively these past weeks since I hadn’t swam in years and was thinking have I forgotten how to swim and first few times stayed where I could touch the ground and quick back to shore if I couldn’t but now I am fine way way more confident than ever even though my Brother and me nearly drowned once getting swept out by currents in Australia but now I can swim well, swim longer , fast stay like without touching the ground for hours taking the big waves all fun and learning new techniques so I am looking forward to this plus swimming = I don’t really have to talk to them and that’s fine given the situation so yeah cause I didn’t say much cause shy and nervous and its my family that I haven’t really met and they are super models in a sense but yeah just wanted to talk about this and maybe I will read this to myself one day when we all are around the Christmas table with my own family 🙂

Take care everyone here’s to family love them stay positive hugs 🙂

Regards – Declan Sargent 🙂

[Oochillyo @oochillyo]

hey everyone 🙂 how are you all 🙂

Well talking to that friend I mentioned early 🙂 and a moth nearly flew into my ear (with headphones on) the same thing happened earlier today with a fly now that’s more scary to me.

I don’t know what it is but the winged insects seem to love my ears here ha 🙂

I’ve also noticed flies like house fly’s here are attracted to light and lightbulbs , maybe this happened a little in my room when growing up in England but mainly cause they flew into the opening of lampshades and stayed there but here they seem to love light 🙂 maybe Sunny country makes light loving fly’s 🙂

Any curiosities you notice in nature our maybe in humans ha 🙂

Take care everyone stay positive hugs and love 🙂

Regards – Declan Sargent

 

[Oochillyo @oochillyo]

hey everyone 🙂 how are you all 🙂

Had a nice time with family today all 13 of us and Molly 🙂

Big dinner party and adventure 🙂

I miss them but they will be back next year 🙂

Take care everyone stay positive hugs 🙂

Regards – Declan Sargent

[Oochillyo @oochillyo]

hey everyone 🙂 how are you all 🙂

Been out with my family again yay cause I missed them soo much so we arranged another day out and this time we went to restaurant then we youngsters haha me included went on bus , round the shops and had a lovely day at the pool and sea with a frisbee 🙂

Love my family 🙂

Happy days and memories 🙂

Take care everyone stay positive hugs 🙂

Regards – Declan Sargent

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Well, tonight I watched  Blade Runner.   And it still holds up really well.  Fantastic atmosphere, and morally very ambiguous.

One point that intrigued me – I’ve always called the humans-controlled-by-Daleks (like in Magician’s Apprentice)  ‘skin jobs’.    I got the term from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica with the Cylons.    But I just saw it used (just once) for the Replicants in Blade Runner.    I wonder, was that the first or was it used in the original BSG of 1978?  Or did Philip K Dick use it in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?   Or somewhere else?

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

And tonight I watched another older sci-fi movie, The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich.   This has become one of my favourite scifi movies, it’s just sheer fun.   It manages to invoke suspense without being gloomy or dark.   Milla Jovovich is delightful as the alien Leeloo, and Gary Oldman is excellent as the buttoned-down villain Zorg.   And Luc Besson’s imaginary world is highly entertaining.     It was made in 1997, but the effects are first-rate, as good as anything today.

 

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent. I remember watching Fifth Element back in the day, probably on VHS from our local video hire store. That was the period when we would pick up a fresh batch of videos every Tuesday and take away from the restaurant next door. Now feels like another age, akin to having a milkman deliver the milk every morning with horse and cart. I was not such a big fan of the movie but I was impressed by the imaginary world. My favourite sci-fi movie from around that era is less elevated. It has to be Galaxy Quest. Dune might be another contender for favourite when the second part finally releases. (it is apparently now delayed to next year.)

We are currently watching the Doctor/Martha series, when other tasks permit.

Cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb   I miss video shops too.   There was something exciting about a good-sized store full of VHS or, later and better, DVDs.  Even if I’m not going to rent 99% of them.    (A local branch of Blockbuster franchise near where I work specialised in ‘cult TV’ which meant of course, Doctor Who, but also every other series from Blakes 7 and The Prisoner down to Buffy and The Fugitive… (not that I ever watched the latter) …  sadly the lease expired and they closed.)

Fifth Element was just fun to watch – not an epic, but visually great and with just enough humour to keep it light.

Galaxy Quest was a sci-fi comedy.   Once I’d got my head around the idea that the aliens had fantastic technology but had built their ship to have exactly the capabilities of the fictional ‘Enterprise’ lookalike that they’d seen on TV.   I particularly remember when the villain triggered the self-destruct and they were racing to reach it, just failed to make it in time, but it stopped on 1.   Because OF COURSE it would stop on One, that’s what it always does on TV.   (I love it when producers do that to me!)

Time I resumed my Doctor Who – Under the Flood next.   But I might break into that with The Power of the Doctor which has just arrived in my mailbox.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Okay, so just watched The Power of the Doctor.   It was better than I’ve come to expect.    I’ve posted my comments in the appropriate thread.

[Oochillyo @oochillyo]

hey everyone 🙂 how are you all 🙂

I know of dvd shops ofcourse and what Block Buster was 🙂 still have dvd stands in shops but like as was talked about the classic stores just for films and dvd’s ect lot of us miss them , I guess the closest things to a this is just what are shop this is our style is charity shops, lots of cloths , board games in the corner and interesting things 🙂

I can think of modern shops and where they have the films ect but it was different then and maybe its just a memory of an idea but I have 1 like memory of a classic dvd store and that’s probs from being told about it and getting a film ect like with the Doctor Who trading cards love them 🙂 My Dad used to go out to this DVD shop you know and bring a film or so and my Brother and him talked about it and I don’t think I ever went or maybe once but have a memory from a story that’s the power of stories 🙂

Like night time , classic dvd store kinda purply and just cosy in a way 🙂

Take care everyone stay positive hugs 🙂

Regards – Declan Sargent

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@oochillyo   Yes I get most of my DVD’s from charity shops.   Quite a lot of them still have Blockbuster or United Video or Video Easy labels on – not stolen, just sold off when the stores closed.    Which is sad.   Youtube is great to have but it killed the video stores.

Last night I watched Four Weddings and a Funeral for the first time (which shows how out of touch I am).   Got it from the charity shop several months ago and it just sat on the pile.   Entertaining film, not an earthshaking plot but just go-with-the-flow.   But at eight minutes from the end I was really tense, wondering what the hell Charles (Hugh Grant) was going to do, now that Carrie had reappeared in his life with the Worst Timing Ever just as he was about to marry Henrietta.   All I could think of to get him out of his dilemma was a meteorite striking Henrietta on the way to the service.   Or striking the church.  It genuinely was a cliffhanger moment for me and I had no idea how it would turn out.

The character I liked best was Scarlett with the orange hair.   Delightfully quirky (and I hesitate to use that word.  Most ‘quirky’ characters are intensely annoying and should be taken out and shot immediately.   This is because most scriptwriters can’t write a genuinely odd character, they just take a boring character, open the big jar labelled ‘quirks’, and plaster arbitrary oddities randomly all over them.   Genuine eccentricity requires a properly written character with some integrity).   I was puzzled by her relationship with Charles – didn’t seem to be his sister, definitely not his girlfriend.   According to one of the deleted scenes on the DVD extras, he found her under the dining room table after a party four years earlier and she never left.   Fits her perfectly.

(Whovians please forgive the OT).

Also yesterday, Doctor Who (The Movie) arrived in my mailbox.   I had to get it from Ebay UK.   2-disc set, with 2 commentary tracks and numerous extras, the Beeb certainly tried with this one.   That’s the next few evening’s watching ticked.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

So I just watched Doctor Who (the movie).   There doesn’t seem to be a forum for the Eighth Doctor  ( @craig – how about it? 🙂   so I’ll just post my very brief comments here.

Interesting. This iteration of the Tardis console room is not bad, it has a definite Fu Manchu feel to it. It’s turned into a sort of Edwardian living room. But the console itself looks good and nicely techy to me.

Lots of stuff about the Eye of Harmony that powers the Tardis. The Tardis is definitely linked to the Doctor in this episode (and I thought that wasn’t really established until The Doctor’s Wife).

The Doc says he’s half-human. On his mother’s side. Of course this could just be Rule 1 (the Doctor lies).

Well, it was okay. Sort of Terminator meets Doctor Who meets Frankenstein. Could have been better, could have been worse. Would have liked to have seen him in some full Moffat-written episodes.

Eight (Paul McGann) was okay, though I think the 17-years-older McGann of Night of the Doctor looked the part much more.

I did like Grace. In that respect it was more like nuWho in that it gave the Companion (Grace) a major part to play. I believe that disconcerted some traditional oldWho devotees, as did the suggestion of romance between the Doctor and Grace, but of course after Rose, Martha, and River, that caused me (as a nuWhovian) no qualms whatever.

[winston @winston]

@dentarthudent  I have the movie and I didn’t mind it even if I didn’t love it. I know it caused a lot of anger among some Whovians but I had just joined the club and didn’t get how controversial it was for some fans. First of course was his claim that he is half human which outraged some fans while others liked the idea and thought that was why he liked Earth so much. That made the first bunch even angrier. Then the romance which didn’t bother me because I had only seen NuWho at the time and it was pretty normal but many didn’t like it. I think the 8th Doctor was really interesting and I am glad we saw him again. I loved his costume, it was very romantic.  What I didn’t like was Eric Roberts and to be fair I never like him in anything.

The small glimpse we get of the 7th Doctor was enough to spark my interest in the BG Doctors and that lead me to many other adventures.

It was filmed in Canada and I think the kid who played his other companion was also Canadian but I will have to look it up to be sure. I do love a home town connection.He was a good companion.

Maybe I will watch it again.

stay safe

[winston @winston]

To all my fellow Whovians , I am happy to announce the arrival of the newest member of my family. She is Emilia , my great granddaughter and she was born on the 27th weighing 7lbs, with dark hair and the face of an angel. Mom and baby are already snuggled up at home,happy and healthy.I am happy enough to burst and I can’t wait to babysit but  with 2 other sets of grandparents I will have to wait in line. My father- in- law who is 93 is a great great grandpa, wow!

I am a great grandma ,how good is that? I have to go I have some wind in my eyes.

stay happy.

[janetteB @janetteb]

@winston Congratulations That is wonderful news and having a great great grandfather, wow That is impressive. A lucky child too, to have so many generations of family.

and @dentarthurdent I was not a fan of the movie at the time it was a bitter disappointment, It just didn’t have the feel of Dr Who. It has been years since I watched it but at the time it felt like watching something else entirely. Paul McGann was great in the role and I was thrilled that he got to do the regeneration short for the anniversary. He has endeared himself to fans through Big Finish and his convention appearances and that swansong was well deserved. It also showed just how good he would have been as the Doctor.

When we get to Doctor no 8, (if we get to that) in Cult TV Club  I will probably just show a snippet of the movie and the minisode. We are up to Davison this year but scheduling recordings is getting increasingly difficult.

Cheers

Janette

 

 

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb    I agree the movie didn’t really feel like Doctor Who.   I can’t point out exactly why, I think all the elements in it have cropped up in mainstream Who at one time or another, but there’s just something about it that – well, doesn’t really feel like Who (to repeat myself).   It was watchable enough, at no time did I feel affronted like Kill the Moon.   In some ways it was just predictable.   And in some ways too ‘realistic’ – the hospital scenes and the motorbike chase, we’ve seen it all 100 times on American dramas.  The Doctor holding up the cop by pointing the gun at himself – now that was a nice Doctorish twist, almost Moff standard.

I did like the Tardis interior.

I was shocked that the Doctor got shot.    Almost as shocked when Grace got killed, I thought it was going to have a tragic ending, I was greatly pleased when the Doc revived her.

I would have loved to see Paul McGann as the Doctor in a whole series.   Preferably the more mature McGann of Night of the Doctor, the extra lines on his face make him look more distinguished.   And he has this fabulous voice.   I think he could have been as good and much-loved as Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi.

@winston    The half-human thing would be fine by me.  There’s a back-story there to be told.   I assume it’s canon.   (Unless the Doc was lying but why would he?)   Unless Chibnall wrecked the canon, I prefer to have a mental blank about that.

As for the romance, that too was fine by me.   For the same reason as yours, nuWho is full of that sort of thing.

I don’t care for Eric Roberts as the Master.   My favourite Master is Missy, followed I think by Sacha Dhawan.

So, like you, I find it a middling sort of story.

Oh, and congratulations on becoming a great-grandma, I’m sure you’re a great great-grandma.   🙂

[winston @winston]

@janetteb and @dentarthurdent Thank you both! I am a fun grandma, it is so much fun to have your lovely granddaughter for a visit. To play games, bake,watch Harry Potter and then send them home to their parents to do their homework is the best.

When I started watching Who I knew absolutely nothing about the Master even if I had seen Daleks and a few Doctors now and then I had never seen the Master. When Sims showed up as the Master I thought “Oh he’s insane” and I excepted him that way. I liked him best when he was way over the top! He would rather die rather than regenerate just to be contrary to the 10th Doctor. What kind of revenge is that?

Missy was wonderfully wicked and she enjoyed being that way. Her ability to be cruel and evil with a smile on her face is my favourite thing about her along with her Mary Poppins meets steampunk dress sense.Missy also had a wicked sense of humour and I mean truly wicked. She even slightly redeemed herself at her end.

The new Master is maniacal and cruel and cowardly and the last makes him really frightening.This Master is so full of rage he is a rage monster and he loves to hate the Doctor.  He blames the Doctor for every failure in his life and never blames himself. This is the first Master that I find menacing. Great acting.

Will this Master stay on or will we get a new one? Maybe we won’t see the Master for awhile.Who knows?

Stay safe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[janetteB @janetteb]

@winston I would love to have grandchildren one  day but no prospect of that at the moment. I do have a “grandkitty” as compensation. You are very fortunate and so are your grandchildren and great grandchild. (our boys lost their grandmother when they were very young. we were talking about that today. family gathering.)

I liked all three actors playing the master in AG Who. John Simm was good at the beginning but I thought the writing for his character became too “over the top” in later episodes. He was excellent when he returned in the last Cap Doc episodes. Missy was fun, and great dress sense. I would love to wear suits like that. Sacha Dhawan is a great actor and I hope that he returns in the next series. (Though I am still sad because he would have been a great Doctor.)

Meanwhile we are currently watching series 2 of Good Omens and enjoying all the Doctor Who references. I wonder if Neil Gaiman will write another Who Script. I feel as though he is hinting at that in this series. Show his credentials as a committed fan.

Cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb   I’m watching Good Omens series 1, and I just noticed that the licence plate of the Morris Minor that features in it is  SID RAT.    Neil Gaiman seems to have considerable affection for Who.

I’ve just started reading Neil Gaiman’s ‘Neverwhere’ (having viewed the TV series a couple of weeks ago).   I expect I’ll order Good Omens 2 sometime in the near future.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Just continuing with Good Omens 1.   My geek streak is captivated by one thing – at 46 minutes into episode 4, Witchhunter pinpoints ‘Jasmine Cottage’ on the 1:50,000 OS map on his wall. This is indeed the exact location of the cottage where they shot the exteriors of Anathema Device’s cottage. It’s Colstrope farm, almost exactly 1 mile due north of Hambleden village (which is just north-east of Henley on Thames). The word ‘Colstrope’ has been most expertly replaced (in the movie) with ‘Jasmine Cottage’ but in all other respects it’s the original OS map, unaltered. (Streetmap.co.uk has online OS maps, for anyone who wishes to check).

[janetteB @janetteb]

@dentarthurdent That is a cool detail. Colstrope is an interesting name. I do like these old Anglo-Saxon names. Or derived from old anglo-saxon.

We finally finished series 2 the other night. Not as good as series 1 but still very good. It lacks the Pratchett whimsy element and I feel as though it is really setting the stage for series 3.

I will have to look out for Neverwhere.

In other matters, I hope that everyone is ok. It has been very quiet here of late.

cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@janetteb     Yes, it is eerily quiet.

Neverwhere (the DVD) was okay, quite a bit darker than Good Omens, but with a good streak of Gaiman fantasy running through it.    I found Door (the heroine) quite charming, the two villains Croup and Vandemar suitably repulsive, the Marquis de Carabas engaging.    And the angel Islington suitably menacing (played by a much younger Peter Capaldi).

Just started reading the book, which is 370 pages, slow going not because there’s anything wrong with it but because I only emerge from the Youtube rabbit hole a few reading minutes before I go to bed.

I was just musing about DVDs and the unique enriching effect they have/had on the viewing experience.   Which is to say, that a good DVD set would have many extras, like ‘making of’ mini-documentaries, interviews with cast and crew, and commentaries by actors, writers or producers.   All this was technically impossible with VHS, and probably not worth doing for the streaming services.    It will be a sad day if DVD or Blu-ray ever dies out.

[Oochillyo @oochillyo]

hey everyone 🙂 how are you all 🙂

I need some help

Like I was looking for wiki info on a film and there was a site and eventually I went back to try to get to the info and say I’m not a robot had to press the allow button.

Now I get constant notification on my laptop ranging from your one drive is hacked , to malware ect ect half in Portuguese and I dont know if I should press these or belief these are fake and leave them alone.

Nothing has changed yet on my laptop but I am worried

It said to re fresh what it called like Mcfee anti virus protection which means I have to pay for a fresh service I guess and already had debit card trouble in the past when wanting to cancel a subscription and doing that on my own here is putting me off , and I googled is this anti virus thing good service cause I had it before I guess naturally on the laptop but it ran out , no problems till today and there was a recent search saying even they have been hacked like 2 years ago

I’m very worried what to do , constant notification this is corrupted this is hacked ect , need some help and proper trustful guidance.

Do I ignore , is there a solution and is this anti virus thing trustful also cause I dont wanna click on something else or enter to a paying subscription that wont cancel and I cant afford especially being in a new country now.

Thank you.

Regards – Declan Sargent

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@oochillyo     First, DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS in any email   (unless you are quite certain they are legit).    I’m posting this now so you get it promptly.    I’ll follow with some more thoughts in a few minutes.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@oochillyo      Okay.   The ‘confirm I’m not a robot’ button is quite common on websites and harmless, it’s just there to do what it says, confirm you’re a human and not a bot wasting their bandwidth in some way or another.   I doubt it had anything to do with those notifications.

It’s quite likely those emails are fake, and ‘phishing’.    Clicking on any links in such emails will either download a virus to your computer or take you to a fake website that asks for account numbers or passwords.   IF YOU ‘PAY’ such an account, they will then be able to take as much as they want out of your credit card.   If you have provided any details to a suspicious source recently, go to your bank’s website and look through your accounts for any withdrawals you didn’t make, if you see any call your bank promptly.

Your browser should show the current address in the top bar, (for example this page shows as  https://www.thedoctorwhoforum.com/forums/topic/the-winchester/page/5/)  and if it’s anything but the exact genuine address, DON’T GO THERE.   In general, NO bank or government department is going to send you an email with a link to click on.   If you want to go to their website, type their address into your browser yourself or Google them and click on the link that Google gives you.

Also, emails – your email program should have an option to show all details, including where the email came from, and if it claims to be from your bank but the ‘from’ address is  info@www.sportsshop.com or sales@daisydoo.co.ni or something, then it’s definitely fake.   But beware, sometimes those ‘from’ addresses can be spoofed to look a bit like the ‘real thing’.

Also, hovering your mouse pointer over a link in an email should pop up a little box showing where the link points to.   But again, sometimes scammers set up websites with addresses that try to look like the ‘real thing’.   For example, our Inland Revenue is ird.govt.nz – if I see a link that points to ‘inlandrevenue.gov.nz’ I *know* it’s a fake.

 

The ‘Your computer has been hacked’ email is quite common.    It’s always fake.   So is the email from ‘Microsoft’ that your Windows has been hacked / needs updating etc – Microsoft will never (so far as I know) send you an email.   NOR will they phone you to tell you so.   Such phone calls are almost certainly fake.   (A while back I got a phone call to tell me ‘my computer was infected and they were scanning my computer right now’.   I strung them along a bit until they realised I was just deliberately wasting their time and hung up.   They can’t ‘get into’ your computer unless you follow *their* instructions to allow them – so don’t!   If they’re already ‘in’ your computer as they claim, they should be able to see what you can see – like ‘how big is my hard drive?’  Or ‘how much free space on my hard drive?’ which you can see in your ‘My Computer’ (or file manager/explorer or whatever) but they can’t unless you let them in.   How do they know your phone number? – they just ring numbers at random until someone answers and confirms they have a computer.)

For example last night I got an email that told me my subscription to Norton Defender had just expired, ‘click on the link’ to renew my subscription – I don’t run Norton, never have.   I just deleted it.   And I keep getting phony messages from ‘Inland Revenue’ to ‘confirm’ my details for a tax refund.   They’re fake.

 

As for antivirus, I assume you’re running Windows 10 or 11?   I believe it comes with antivirus already.   There are also free antivirus programs you can download.   Googling ‘Windows antivirus’ should give you a guide to them.

(I can’t be more specific because I don’t run Windows, I run Debian Linux.)

HTH

cr

 

[Oochillyo @oochillyo]

hey everyone 🙂 how are you all 🙂

hey @dentarthurdent thank you for your messages and advice 🙂

So far nothing has gone wrong even though constant notification saying now this is going bad ect

My laptop still works , last time I checked my files were there and I started the file vault to keep important things extra safe but I dont know how I move files into it so I just left it for now.

I havnt got any email stuff about these hacks ect but on my laptop I constantly get these notfifcations all these dodgy looking things but its kinda scary like if there is true to it if my laptop is damaged or vunerable now.

I am just considering although sounds stupid but to write down all my files like all the info inside and just wait till I get a new laptop and I dont know , if these are kinda fake and harmless it will be gone on that laptop this one I mean and can start fresh.

Like its been a day or 2 and nothing has changed so I dont know what could go wrong like my emails seem alright and my files , I might have to check other areas but I do want this fixed but if I cant I guess I have to hope and wait for the time for a new laptop just to be safe.

Maybe I could message one of you on Facebook/Messenger so you can see what the notifications look like if I screenshot them

Also the website I am used to these not a robot thing , but it was barly working even after saying I am not robot and there was no spot the differences pictures but I thought that was cause the allow buttion , there is a button in like the search bar for allow notifications from the sites your on ect and often I dont have that on but the website said had to click allow notifications for the information to load being like a wiki page for a film and so thats what I clicked and where I messed up.

I dont know, my main worry is A my laptop just breaks some day cause of it and my family tell me off and 2 if its truthally like in my files ect and my school account , One drives ect and worried if that could lead to anything bad or embrazing that is not of my intention.

Everything is connected these days just worried and maybe I was silly to click this allow button.

Positive cause I am worried but I try to ignore now , positive is so far nothing has gone wrong or changed unless I just dont know maybe something in the background, 2 I did ask a friend for advice and they reccomened somthing and I asked them to help me download it and go through with it with me like a free anti virust thing.

Hope nothhing shifts you know , its annoying and kinda scary well I try to feel less worried about it but seriously if nothing goes wrong I dont care as much cause I dont know its just notifications I hope its all fake but obviously I let something in or such just if it doesnt do anything I rather leave it alone now unless sure what to do like with a step by step help from friends or you all.

Thanks for listening I dont know why I talked soo much ha, often feel like I ruin things and when your hacked you feel like people are gonna think bad of you even family and cause I am young and technolically smart I feel like it seems even more stupid for me to have this , first my Instagram was hacked cause what I thought was a step I could reverse apprently isnt or just was taken away from me like the ability to do that since bieng locked out and your not taught this stuff like I know the clear but the uncertain where it seems simple a simple step but you havnt been taught that step goes off the cliff the hidden stuff where you dont give away information like banks ect but just change a setting here or there or press a common site button just soo annoying sometimes this modern technogly world but being young nobody would think I am like gonna fall into these traps and when I do I think more stupid of myself cause I know better.

Take care everyone stay positive and safe hugs 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Regards – Declan Sargent

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Hi @oochillyo

Most of what I said applies to emails.    From your post it looks as if most of the fake warnings you’re getting are coming through your browser.

One simple thing you can do that might help is to drop the line (turn off your computer) when not using it.   If anyone’s targeting you they’re doing it in one of two ways – either using your email address (which doesn’t change) or using your IP address.   It’s likely that your ISP (Internet service provider) allocates you a different random IP each time you log in, so if any site is ‘tracking’ you through your IP adddress, they’ll lose you as soon as you switch off.   I’m not an expert in this stuff, and I’m not sure whether having other devices connected like smart TV’s etc will defeat that, but it can’t hurt.

Specifically, if the ‘I’m not a robot’ button caused a site to begin targeting you, your IP address is the only link they have to you  (there’s no way they can know your email unless you told them).   So switching off then on again later should lose them (I think).

There are certainly browser settings that will allow or deny pop-ups (which many of these ‘warnings’ may be).   On the other hand a few legitimate sites may depend on pop-ups to work properly.   Certainly in Firefox (mostly what I use) there are so many settings it’s confusing or hard to find, what I mostly do is Google ‘block pop-ups in Firefox’ or similar and there’s usually a step-by-step ‘howto’ article somewhere.

There’s a good page on fake antivirus warnings here   https://www.avg.com/en/signal/spot-fake-virus-warning

and a review of free antivirus software here   https://www.avg.com/en/signal/best-free-antivirus-software

(I know they’re both by AVG but they seem to be valid information to me.    AVG is a legitimate company but you don’t have to use their product.   I’ve used it once and it worked OK, but the second page lists several others).

If your friend has a particular free antivirus in mind, see if you can get them to help you download it and set it working.   If it’s one of those listed on the second page I linked above, so much the better.  It’s much easier for someone who’s familiar with how it works to explain it.

 

(I’m a bit limited in advice I can offer since I haven’t used Windows much since Windows XP, so I’m not familiar with the look of the screen.   The Internet stuff and the email stuff and the browser stuff is pretty much the same whether it’s Windows Mac or Linux, but the ‘look and feel’ and the names are often quite different).

cr

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@winston What excellent news! (I have been missing action for a while; hence my belated reply.)

I trust you have appropriate plans in place to spoil the newest arrival rotten, with endless treats!

[janetteB @janetteb]

@blenkinsopthebrave. Hi. Good to hear from you. I hope all is ok in your neck of the woods and you are not troubled by fires.

Cheers

Janette

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

Hi all      Well I just resumed my re-watch with Under the Lake / Before the Flood.   Actually quite a good double episode, though it suffers a little from following the exuberantly weird Magician’s Apprentice / Witch’s Familiar.   Also, it’s a little hard to follow, with the time travel factor.   This time I think was the first time I’ve really understood the sequence of events, more or less.     What is apparent is that the Doctor will bend the rules to protect Clara (which becomes very clear at the end of the season).    Of course he owes his existence to her (if I interpret The Name of the Doctor correctly).

The other thing I noticed was that the Tardis is capable of extreme accuracy on occasion, as when the Doctor sent it back from the ‘Russian’ village to a precise location in the underwater base.   Yet on other occasions it has been a year off (as when returning Rose home at the start of Season 1) or hundreds of miles off (as referenced in one of Clara’s ‘cheat cards’ –  “It was my fault, I should have known you didn’t live in Aberdeen.”    As a device for making the Doctor socially acceptable they are a sad failure,  “I’m very sorry for your loss. I’ll do all I can to solve the death of your friend slash family member slash pet.”)

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

Thanks @janetteb

We live on the southern part of the island, which fortunately has been spared the fires. The island is large, with a population of more than three quarters of a million people. Some areas, like the west coast, have been hard hit by the fires, but nothing like the apocalyptic images you might have seen on the news elsewhere in Canada. Grim times for a lot of people, unfortunately.

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@blenkinsopthebrave    Would that be Vancouver Island?   I do hope the fires stay well away from your location.   Much of the northern hemisphere seems to be getting extreme heat and fires – Hawaii and Greece for instance.   Down our end, we’ve had it record wet and cold, the opposite extreme.   I don’t think 2023 will be remembered fondly by many people, so far as weather goes.   I’d like to think it can only improve, but who knows.

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