@ichabod

I’d read about pubs going under all over the UK, a development that I’ve seen attributed to the influence of inflows of muslim residents into old neighborhoods

Jesus H Christ On A Bike, ichabod. That you even gave such transparent horse shit credence does not reflect well on you.

Read this. It’s about urban and rural change and it’s what…[Read more]

@ichabod

I’d read about pubs going under all over the UK, a development that I’ve seen attributed to the influence of inflows of muslim residents into old neighborhoods

This seems a more appropriate space to continue on this topic 🙂

That explanation sounds like the kind of thing propagated by UKIP or Fox News. Where a relatively large Mus…[Read more]

@ichabod

The village of Akenfield does not exist under that name, but Charsfield in Suffolk, the real village on which Blythe largely based his work is close to where the elder of my two brothers lives, only 50 miles or so from Norwich, Norfolk where am, and within the region which I covered as an archaeologist from 1991 until retirement, so I…[Read more]

@ichabod

a) it’s going to take more than a Doctor and crew to “fix” what’s rapidly shaping up to be humanity’s second biggest 21st c problem — the sucking out of the system of work without considering what could replace it as a lifetime focus … and b) that the social solutions that work best have to come from and be carried by the people affect…

[Read more]

@ichabod  @idiotsavon

Thanks for the good wishes. They are indeed taking it seriously. Out of curiosity I looked up the record of the consultation, which can be accessed on a secure site, to see if there was anything additional to what was discussed during my consultation with the GP, and it was marked ‘cancer, fast track’. Skin cancers can be…[Read more]

@nerys

That is where we are different, I didn’t mind them changing it was exciting, and of course, I didn’t have a favourite.

You know how I feel so I shall not labour the point. When they bring back  a Male lead, I’ll start watching again.

@ichabod

But alien?  No.  More Indiana Jones than Starman, so far.  Clearly, this is just fine for the…

[Read more]

Some random (and probably rambling) thoughts on everyone’s reactions to the “Chibnall approach” to Who. My first thought is that some people seem to be thinking that Chibnall is taking the show off in a new direction, divorced from the past (ie, no arc, and therefore, as @margaretblaine pointed out, little opportunity for bonkerising.) But is it…[Read more]

@ichabod  @thane @janetteB

Your confidence in my omniscience in all things historical is very flattering, but my knowledge of the incidence of plague is not very detailed. There were few if any places in Europe not devastated by the Black Death, least of all urban centres, although Poland is supposed to have remained largely unaffected. This…[Read more]

@ichabod @thane16 @janetteb  I loved what little we saw of Budapest (we had a coach tour and then a short guided walk by which time it was dark) and very much want to go back and explore without the constraints of a guide or an elderly parent!  I also was very taken with Bratislava.  Salzburg was lovely but for some reason it didn’t leave me wi…[Read more]

@ichabod and @thane16

I don’t know the answer but I suspect being inland was not much defence against plague. It spread across Europe, carried by merchants and the like. (I am sure @mudlark will know more.) Though a later outbreak of Plague than the most traumatic, “black Death” the story of the plague outbreak in Eyam in Derbyshire, caused by…[Read more]

@ichabod

I think that would’ve been my relatives hanging out their sheets to dry    🙂

The amount of times we put sheets out -only to bring them in standing up from ice or frost -I don’t like to count. Prague is a truly beautiful city to me. People cite Paris as the most romantic and yet the buildings are all large and white (still beautiful) w…[Read more]

@ichabod I’m really enjoying this season and Thirteen, but you are right that so far we haven’t had a story that really lets her personality and code be the focal point of the action as yet.  We haven’t yet had any development thread this season focusing on her side of the story, but rather on those of her companions in a more-crowded-than-usual…[Read more]

@missy I understand your comments about Capaldi, and I do miss him. But then, I’ve said that about all the Doctors after their regenerations. It’s not enough to keep me from watching, so I do continue on and am finding a lot to enjoy with the current Doctor and her companions. Not without complaints, mind you … but that’s always been the…[Read more]

@tardigrade I’m absolutely certain Graham will break our hearts. I don’t know though, I don’t think he’ll die of cancer, but this is the second time he’s spoken in defence of someone keeping something quite important from their family. I think at the very least he sees the time he has right now as a bonus, he sees the time he had with his wife as…[Read more]

@ichabod @mudlark
I’ve just finished Mieville’s Iron Council (one of his Bas Lag novels).
I’ll admit that for me it dragged a bit, which is something I also thought of his other Bas Lag novels (they just feel like they could do with a bit of editing).
I prefer his other novels (eg Kraken) but really liked The City and The City (though didn’t…[Read more]

@idiotsavon

Stiff in places I didn’t know could go stiff! On the plus side, the lad’s insurers have accepted liability so the admin side of stuff should be less tiresome that it could be.

Went to the doc earlier just be let her check me out. She’s satisfied there is nothing that is not to be expected, but did note that she has had patients come…[Read more]

@ichabod

Yes as you have clearly realised, The Cry – obviously partially inspired by Lindy Chamberlain but also informed I think by the case of Maddie McCann, but very much its own story. And, as I say, Coleman was excellent and props to whoever put a Tardis in the background!

I very much enjoyed The City and The City as well.

@ichabod @idiotsavon @mudlark

Well the other driver’s airbag deployed and probably saved his live – he really didn’t know what day it was for a good few minutes. I can’t see how he was doing less that 40mph when he hit me (the stretch of road is 60mph limit, and my dashcam has a sound like him skidding under breaking). Had he hit me more…[Read more]

@ichabod

There was a six part BBC adaptation of The City and the City early this year, although I only recently got round to watching it. It diverged in some respects from the novel, giving Borlu a back story and an additional motive in the form of a wife who had disappeared, and greater prominence to the archaeological excavations. What made the…[Read more]

@ichabod

I didn’t mind the coda either- I think it was useful to make it clear that Rosa’s actions didn’t make things at all easy for her and there was still a lot more to be done. I did think that JW played the Doctor as a little too enthusiastic during that part though. The Doctor is not the sort to be impressed by Presidents and so on, so sh…[Read more]