@Pharellman in defence of Game Of Thrones- which I know has few if any other fans on here.

I can tell you what I like about it. One thing is the very human moments it shows between characters. They have, in each season, and to with varying success, pairings between two characters whose interests don’t join up, they don’t trust each other, but…[Read more]

@missy – sorry for the attempt to convert you, but have you considered e-cigarettes? If you get a good one (and tolerate a fair amount of waffle about coils) the effect on inhalation is very close to cigarettes. The chances of second-hand inhalation are far far smaller, and as I far as I can tell only carry the dangers of inhaling small amounts of…[Read more]

@puroandson– might just be a taste thing. We’re on episode ten and love it.  There is a series arc which is building nicely through the whole, rather than it just being ‘story of the week’. And part of me, I’ll admit, is just mesmerised by the detective’s lovely shirts and jumpers. Seriously, it’s very well and cheaply made, his wardrobe must…[Read more]

@puroandson – well, purosolo at first – ah, I probably would not have commented if I had thought it was the kind of position you tended to take. Thank you for your gracious response.

As for vaping- it is, if not harmless, considerably less harmful than smoking. Less antisocial (the vapour disperses where smoke lingers). Less addictive, weirdly, I…[Read more]

@pedant– we’ve just started watching izombie! It’s fantastic. I didn’t realise the Veronica Mars connection, but makes sense now. It’s hard to do something fresh with the whole zombie genre.

@puroandson– I’m an ex smoker. (Well, I vape) and while I agree about the effects of second hand smoke, I do have a different perspective over the expense of smoking.  In the UK, tobacco is very expensive. A huge chunk of the cost of it is duty paid, it’s tax. It’s quite a lot of tax. Given that not every smoker require substantial NHS treatment-…[Read more]

@janetteB– that’s horrible, bad enough in that situation without having to worry about keeping the allowance that you need. Unfortunately, she will probably be transferred over to PIP this year (possibly next.) PIP is Personal Independence Allowance, which is replacing DLA. The good (ish) thing is that the needs you discuss on the PIP form include…[Read more]

hi everyone, can you wish me luck- we have a PIP assessment at half past two today, I feel physically sick. I’ve read up on the guidelines, we are comfortably (well, it isn’t really comfortable) within the guidelines for high rate, but…

Just hope this all goes through alright and I can give my attention to proper subjects. Like Doctor Who of…[Read more]

sorry, sorry! as @arbutus said, re contrast.

@janetteb– good point over football. There should be some though. James Cordon?

@missy– oh, don’t use that word! (I don’t know how to make an angry devil face)… but, yup. For all ages, but the biggest bulk of potential new viewers is the young.  Capalidi racing around with a middle aged man- or a middle aged woman for that matter, might lose something there.

as @janetteB says, it is all about the contrast. Agree with all…[Read more]

I wasn’t even sure why I was excited about the companion casting, since I knew it probably wouldn’t be someone I was familiar with. But now I am, moderately, excited. I think there is going to be a change in dynamic. As people as saying, somewhat like Donna (though younger, which will make a difference. I miss Donna.)

It almost had a kind of…[Read more]

@janetteB– I live near Conwy now! Never made it onto the walls though. Scared of hights.

@missy– thank you very much. Anyway, ranting and whining over now, promise 🙂

@JimTheFish, thank you, and well put. The good thing is, with the bloody form sent off, I’ve actually in the past couple of days managed to get a decent amount of work done on the final assignment and am entering into a phase of optimism about it. This will fade. Which is the Doctor Who episode about bad things not making the good things…[Read more]

Which is most of them to be honest, so really, the fault is mine! :).

I’ve got one more module after this one, but it’s nice to see the finish line. Is it? I’m going to miss studying. Ideally i’ll use all that free time for writing but- that never really happened before, except in bursts. Hopefully my newly developed work habits will…[Read more]

So, Sunday morning, a little past three, I was woken by the sound of someone attempting to remove my head with a chainsaw. I was relieved, at first, to realise it was just my boyfriend, snoring merrily away after a little too much rum, until it dawned on me that being decapitated is a pain that does, mercifully, have a fairly swift end. By half…[Read more]

@puroandson– good idea. I want the finest Pan Galactic Gargel Blaster known to Betelgeuce sevenkind, I want it here, and I want it now. And the head of the man who invented the telephone.

@stichintime, @janetteb, @puroandson and rest- re the economy. Another fundamental misunderstanding of the economy is people sharing posts on facebook claiming that if we leave the EU there will be less people coming in, and therefore more jobs. When in fact I believe it has been shown that immigration has no significant effect on employment…[Read more]

@dalektor– in theory he ought to be getting more support but its a hard slog to get to that point, and a lot of the support that was available has been cut. He’s 55, illiterate with severe mental problems as well (but a fantastic memory and the one we trust most to look after our dogs).  We tend to take turns helping him out with court…[Read more]

@Missy– much as I love him- I think I saw him driving down Kings Street in Hammersmith once, but it might just have been a broad, bearded man glaring out through the windscreen and my brain did the rest- a big no. If you were to have an actor of that generation- and I think Capaldi is about at the top of the feasible age range, I’d prefer Timothy West.