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22 July 2026 at 17:38 #78776
@dentarthurdent (I’ve just found out that there was a second woman in Alien, the navigator. I’d forgotten that. They had a row about whether to let the crew back in. Who were male. So it still fails the test.)
A bit off-topic: I rewatched The Birds for the umpteenth time over the weekend. It’s a timeless classic, and I never tire of it (even though, after finding out about Alfred Hitchcock’s treatment of Tippi Hedren and what she was subjected to, some scenes, like the attic scene, are even harder to watch).
I was reminded that Veronica Cartwright (who played the Alien navigator you mentioned) made something of a career of screaming and crying. I came across this fascinating interview, in which she reflects on the highlights of her career:
Veronica Cartwright on “The Field,” “The Birds,” “Alien” and Much More
2 July 2026 at 21:00 #787322 July 2026 at 20:55 #78731@janetteb I definitely agree with you about the Paul McGann movie. I had no idea he was so good because … well, that movie didn’t offer a clue. But when I saw The Night of the Doctor, I was so impressed with him. As you say, what a difference a good script and good direction make!
@winston Yup, Mark Carney’s dance card is full … more than full, actually. I don’t know how he does it, but I’m glad we’ve got him.
28 June 2026 at 15:22 #78710News-ish:
Wanted: a new PM, a new James Bond, a new Doctor – and a UK that can agree on its leading characters
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/26/prime-minister-james-bond-doctor-who-uk
12 June 2026 at 15:15 #78688Much as I love Steven Moffat’s writing, I did feel that the complexity of his story arcs led to a conundrum for Doctor Who: How do you top this? Chris Chibnall tried … with largely disastrous results. His best episodes were the stand-alones that didn’t seem hell-bent on one-upping the story arcs of his predecessor.
I’d hoped that with RTD’s return, we’d see a return to a more compact, disciplined style of storytelling. I’ve only seen Ncuti Gatwa’s first season (I have a library hold on the second season). But, while there were some stellar episodes, the centre doesn’t hold. From what I have read, the same is true for his second season.
So, following as it does news of the break with Disney, this news is not surprising. But it is disappointing.
15 May 2026 at 11:44 #78646@dentarthurdent Yes, I’d agree that patient consent is key.
10 May 2026 at 16:55 #78638@dentarthurdent @ps1l0v3y0u @winston I confess that I’d completely missed out on Peter Capaldi’s earlier work, with the exception of seeing him in Pinochet’s Last Stand (2006 TV film), which I believe we watched on HBO. And, of course, his earlier guest turn on Doctor Who. I’ll have to see if there’s a way for us to watch The Thick of It. Sounds good.
Oh, and I just discovered that he and Lewis Capaldi are distantly related! Makes sense, given where they are from and the fact that they share the same last name.
9 May 2026 at 14:10 #78633@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.
29 April 2026 at 20:22 #78631I 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
22 April 2026 at 18:22 #78625@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
21 April 2026 at 16:33 #78623@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!
20 April 2026 at 12:08 #78620@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.
19 April 2026 at 14:44 #78615@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!
16 April 2026 at 21:44 #78613@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.
16 April 2026 at 13:11 #78610@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
9 April 2026 at 13:22 #78593@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.
5 April 2026 at 14:55 #78589Hello, 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.
20 March 2026 at 16:33 #78571I just spotted this story, from CBC Radio’s As It Happens program, about two recently discovered Doctor Who episodes (“The Nightmare Begins” and “Devil’s Planet” from Hartnell’s third season), which were previously thought to be lost forever:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/doctor-who-lost-episodes-9.7131796
9 March 2026 at 12:33 #78561@winston So happy to read your update on your little fellow. You’re right, those sleepy times will become farther and fewer between, so hopefully his parents are banking their own sleep time now. They’ll need it!
We too have a lot of snow, but we’re getting a nice warmup now, so it will be gone by the end of the week. Fortunately we’re seeing a slow snowmelt over weeks, rather than its usual “now you see it, now you don’t” spring pattern. Fingers crossed that it’s recharging our groundwater supply. That gives me hope for a drought-free summer.
I went on a road trip with friends yesterday to a tea room about an hour’s drive away. We had an honest-to-goodness afternoon tea. I can’t remember the last time I did that. It’s been decades. Then we visited the town lighthouse, located in a park along the harbour. Because of the rising temperatures, rain and melting snow. there was a lovely mist over the water. Beautiful, but I want to revisit that spot in better weather.
28 February 2026 at 13:55 #78559@winston Congratulations! Oh, this is happy news, and most welcome today. You’re right, it’s the young ones we need to fight for. Hugs to you and your family.
5 February 2026 at 13:22 #78527@janetteb He really pioneered the story arc in U.S. television. It just wasn’t done before the 90s especially in si fi.
My husband has made that observation, and certainly it was not in widespread use at this time. Babylon 5 did a stellar job with its story arcs, and the extent to which they were carried through was groundbreaking. But there were other TV series that pioneered it. One that comes to mind is thirtysomething, which predated Babylon 5, running from 1987 to 1991.
4 February 2026 at 16:33 #78521@janetteb Initially I was like your son’s girlfriend. When my husband pulled out his prized DVDs and started watching them, I rolled my eyes and doom-scrolled on my phone, somehow seeing that as a better alternative. Especially when he saw fit to explain the whole backstory of a character or scene.
But, over time, the series has grown on me, and I am enjoying it. I am quite impressed at what they were able to achieve, both in terms of character arcs and special effects, given the time in which this was made.
3 February 2026 at 18:33 #78517@janetteb A few years ago now, J.M.S. tried to do a re-imagining of Babylon 5. ( B.5 was originally inspired in part by Blake’s 7 incidentally.) It did not get off the ground. He recognised however that any attempt to ‘re do” the series needed new characters for new actors and a fresh take on the story. He wasn’t going far enough with that however, trying to just do a time reset and I don’t think it would have worked.
Interesting, as we’ve been watching Babylon 5 on DVD. We’re into Season 4 now. I had never watched it before. My husband is the original fan … but I’m enjoying it, too. I was surprised to discover how few of the original cast members are still alive.
21 January 2026 at 16:44 #78504@thane16 Sadly, I’m not familiar with any South African music. After university, I drifted away from classical music, for the most part. My only connection with it now is through band, and also through film orchestral scores. But, living where I do, I would have to travel for concerts beyond the local singer/songwriter realm … and I just don’t do that.
(Speaking of South Africa, they are going through severe flooding due to weeks of rainfall. It’s a bad situation for people and for wildlife.)
We did used to listen to world music more, but for some reason we don’t do that anymore. We did enjoy a concert by a a wonderful percussionist, Senegalese born singer-songwriter and performer Elage Diouf, and his band at our local arts centre. But those opportunities are few and far between here.
16 January 2026 at 22:44 #78502@thane16 Aaron Copland owes much to Charles Ives. It’s the whole “standing on the shoulders of giants” foundation and progression that is art. Copland’s music (the more programmatic pieces, anyway … not so much the avant garde ones from later in his career) do give a sweeping sense of Americana. Maybe it’s that sense of nostalgia that appeals to me so.
@whohar I’m glad that you were spared the worst of the weather extremes. I watch twice-daily safaris out of South Africa and the Maasai Mara, and also Africam fixed webcams. A cyclone has delivered successive days of rain. I’ve seen heavy rain there before, but not so many consecutive days of it. The Olifants River camera was washed away in the flooding. I have also read that camps at the Kruger National Park were evacuated. I don’t want to think about what the impact has been on humans and wildlife.
16 January 2026 at 01:55 #78496@thane16 Love Fanfare for the Common Man! I think part of the reason I love Copland’s music is because of his use of open fifths. Such resonant chords. In high school my wind ensemble played El Salon Mexico. Quite a challenge for a small-town Indiana band, but we loved it.
And I love it that as a young’un, you thought ELP composed that music. Excellent taste!
14 January 2026 at 17:11 #78493@ps1l0v3y0u Aaron Copland is my favorite composer. He kept his private life very quiet, while composing gorgeous music across a spectrum that ranged from the programmatic style he’s best known for, to a more avant garde style. Appalachian Spring moved me to tears the first time I heard it, and still does.
@mudlark I’m sorry about the death of your friend. Condolences to you and all who knew her. Rear Window is a classic, and I never tire of watching it. Glad you finally got to see it!
11 January 2026 at 15:22 #78481@thane16 Wow, what an experience! Did you continue playing oboe after that?
I had something similar happen last April, when my five-piece local band was still rehearsing together. We were about a third of the way into our first piece when I fainted. I was only out for a few seconds. Fortunately we were seated in chairs on a thick rug in the home of two of our musicians, so I had a soft landing. And one of our players, the trombonist, is a volunteer firefighter trained in First Aid/CPR, so he knew to turn me on my side in the recovery position.
I had donated blood earlier that day. In hindsight, I realized that until that night, I’d never played shortly after donating blood. Because of the blood donation, I had lower blood volume, resulting in less oxygen being delivered throughout my body. And then I overexerted myself by playing. They advise you not to do any strenuous activity for at least 24 hours after a donation. I guess I didn’t consider playing a wind instrument to be a form of exertion, but obviously it is. Lesson learned!
I would imagine that, given the breath support required to play a double-reed instrument, an oboist would have succumbed even more quickly.
@whohar I have tried using Nord VPN to access BBC iPlayer, but as I recall it detected that I was using VPN and blocked me.
10 January 2026 at 12:22 #78477@thane16 Oboe is a gorgeous instrument! Also very difficult to play. IMO, oboe is the most challenging woodwind instrument, and french horn is the most challenging brass instrument. Both make a gorgeous sound … when played well. Mastering the technique to create that beautiful sound is what’s so difficult. I admire the players who do it!
9 January 2026 at 13:44 #78472@thane16 Congratulations on your upcoming conducting job! Brahms is challenging, but mastering those pieces gives us such a thrill of achievement.
My father taught music in public schools until he switched gears to teach counseling and teacher education at the university level. He was primarily a high school band director, but early in his career he was called upon to direct the orchestra and sometimes choir, as well. “When you’re small, you do it all.”
I did not inherit his skill, and I wish I had. I do still play clarinet. I started back up in 2016, after a 33-year pause. After the director of our small local band retired, a couple of friends and I began playing in a large concert band about an hour’s drive away. This is our second year with that group, and I am enjoying it.
People unfamiliar with the role of a conductor don’t realize how vital they are to a music ensemble. They aren’t just standing there, waving their arms … which I think is what a lot of non-musicians think. They are the rock, the glue that holds an ensemble together. They make the difference between a group of musicians playing or singing together, and an ensemble playing or singing as one. So kudos to you for giving this gift to your fellow musicians!
I echo your thoughts about @craig “keeping this site merry & kind” and that “no music can be made without it…” So very true!
4 January 2026 at 13:55 #78467@dentarthurdent Well, who’s to say? If cassette tapes can come back into vogue, then why not VHS tapes? Though it could be that the player mechanism for cassette tapes is much simpler than for VHS, so there’s that. We gave away our VHS tapes back in 2011, so I think there was still demand for them then.
3 January 2026 at 13:22 #78465@devilishrobby I’m so sorry about your health issues. This must be a scary, overwhelming experience. I hope that your wait for a pacemaker/defibrillator is not long, and that once it’s implanted, it restores your heart back to proper function.
@dentarthurdent Wow, you scored in the collectibles department! LPs and turntables are indeed in demand. Who’d have thought? On the other hand, I’m not sure VHS will ever come back into fashion. We got rid of all our LPs, cassette tapes and VHS tapes several moves ago. Most of it went to Goodwill, which has a good network for used LPs and the like. So I feel confident that, rather than going to a landfill, they were routed to people who appreciated them.
2 January 2026 at 22:00 #78461@dentarthurdent Pleased to hear your father’s Leicas were ‘collectable’, it’s nice when that happens.
Yes, it is! That made me so happy, especially since a charitable organization we support benefited from it.
Happy New Year to you and all! @mudlark @winston @janetteb @ps1l0v3y0u @thane16 and of course @craig
31 December 2025 at 15:44 #78454@dentarthurdent Fair point about having the camera with you. The FZ300 is too large to fit into a pocket. So I use the neck strap, but it can be cumbersome. I use my cellphone the way you do your camera. If I don’t have my FZ300 with me, or I just don’t want to be encumbered by it, then I use my cellphone camera. For landscape shots, it often outperforms my FZ300. But for bird or wildlife shots, I have to go with the FZ300.
I’m sure you’re right, that Panasonic, at some point, bought Leica. Side-note: I had two Leica cameras, circa 1946-47 and 1951-52 (a hardbound Leica Manual came with the newer one). Both came in brown leather cases and had Summitar lenses. The older of the two cameras (Leica IIIc) belonged to my father, who bought it while he was stationed in Germany as part of the Allied Occupation after the Second World War. My maternal grandfather had the newer camera (Leica IIIf), and later gave it to my father after buying himself another camera. I inherited both cameras after my father died.
I knew it would take serious money to get them working again, so they sat in my closet for several years. Then I decided to donate them to the group who holds auctions to raise money for our local hospital. A camera collector looked at them and bid $500. Apparently that’s the low end of what they are valued it, especially for the lenses. So I feel good that they went to someone who will appreciate them, and they also benefited a valuable local charity.
29 December 2025 at 15:44 #78451@dentarthurdent The FZ300 has a 25-600mm focal range, so yours is quite impressive. The main advantage the FZ300 has over some other bridge cameras is that it maintains a constant f/2.8 aperture across the entire zoom, so it’s good for low-light and distance shots. I really like both the FZ200 and FZ300 image stabilization systems, as well. And the Leica lens is a bonus (as long as I don’t scratch it, as I did with the FZ200).
27 December 2025 at 12:11 #78447@thane16 @syzygy Good to hear from you! And thank you for that bit of trivia on how much a cloud weighs. A hundred elephants, eh? Heavier than I would have guessed. As is often the case with this group, I learned something!
26 December 2025 at 19:08 #78443@winston I’m glad that you are able to celebrate with family! Sadly, we don’t have any family in our immediate vicinity, so we visit with friends. Still, it’s a jolly time, and we are doing our own share of overeating.
@dentarthurdent Interesting that you mentioned your Konica cameras! Our first digital camera was a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z5, purchased in 2005. Then we got an Olympus Stylus 790SW to take with us when we went kayaking (it didn’t take great photos, but it was waterproof). In 2013, we bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ200, and then in 2019 we upgraded to its successor, the FZ300. All of these are basically “point and shoot” cameras with fixed lenses, though the Panasonic FZ200 and FZ300 might be considered “bridge” cameras. I’m not entirely satisfied with the FZ300. Even though it was improved in many ways over the FZ200, it has a number of known flaws: the top zoom button stopped working (though the side slider button works), and there’s vignetting in the lower left-hand corner of images when the camera is fully zoomed out. It used to be considered a super-zoom camera, but I think several others have overtaken it.
We have two different external hard drives that we use as backups for all our files. As you say, the storage space is quite affordable. I prefer having our own backup system to using “cloud” storage. I’m not convinced that I want my stuff on anybody else’s cloud.
25 December 2025 at 13:55 #78439@dentarthurdent I was only teasing about the “bragging”! I’m glad that you have this opportunity to swim daily. You enjoy it, and that’s so important in life. Our daytime hours are similar in the summer. Like you, I love having such long days.
The most time-consuming part for me (and I think it’s the same with you) is weeding out all the photos I don’t want. The blessing and curse of digital photography is that you can take lots of photos, and (unlike film) they cost you nothing. So I do take lots. Weeding out the mediocre shots and trimming the photos to a manageable number can be a slog.
@janetteb My system is similar to yours. I do include a short descriptive filename for each folder, along with the date. Otherwise I’d be hopelessly scrolling through photos, trying to find what I’m looking for.
24 December 2025 at 14:10 #78436@dentarthurdent OK, now you’re just bragging! Oh, to be able to swim in the ocean at this time of year (especially in our hemisphere). Come to think of it, here I’m not sure I’d do it any time of year. Most of the time, the water is too cold for me. Some folks here do polar plunges. I’m not one of them!
Re: your digital photos, I could not do what you’re doing. When I take a group of photos, if they’re something I want to save, I put them in a folder, name the folder and save it on our hard drive and backups. (Looking at all the folders I have named “snowy owl” tells me maybe I took too many snowy owl photos! I currently have 1,066 photo folders. Just doing it that way takes up time, so I can’t imagine how much time this is taking you!
23 December 2025 at 13:55 #78433@janetteb Thank you! Merry Yuletide/winter solstice/summer solstice/Christmas/holiday season to you and all!
6 December 2025 at 17:33 #78416This isn’t exactly a Doctor Who memory, but it’s related to Doctor Who. My husband found this hilarious Rowan Atkinson sketch that was remarkably prescient:
The comments are pretty funny, too.
2 December 2025 at 14:10 #78413@ps1l0v3y0u The “rage bait” is so true. I engage far less with social media than I used to, but I still see a lot of it. And there’s been a big increase in AI-generated content to attract clicks. It’s sad to me that people of all political stripes fall for it … and share it.
1 December 2025 at 13:22 #78410@dentarthurdent Yup. The whole “individual rights over the public good” mantra took an ugly turn during the pandemic, and it doesn’t seem to be losing steam.
What’s strange to me is the speed with which many people forgot how bad it was. Governments, along with health care and public health personnel, were feeling their way through terrifying terrain, made all the more frightening because so much was unknown. Were mistakes made? Absolutely. But they were made with the intent of protecting public health, and I think/hope we learned from those mistakes and have a better pandemic template going forward.
30 November 2025 at 14:10 #78408@dentarthurdent Ah, thanks for clarifying that. Now I know the particular “why” you were questioning. Why do it that way? Dunno. Maybe there’s an underlying social media reference I didn’t pick up on, though I can’t think of anything done alphabetically. Even my “Friends” list is ordered, not alphabetically, but some other way.
@ps1l0v3y0u I agree with you that this episode was the high water mark of Gatwa’s first season. I enjoyed it the way I’ve enjoyed so much of Doctor Who, and had all but forgotten in recent years. It felt good to feel this way again!
30 November 2025 at 14:10 #78407@dentarthurdent Has Donald Trump sued the CBC for a billion dollars yet?
No, but probably only because annexation is more top of mind.
Unfortunately, in Canada the “defund the CBC” rhetoric came to a head during the pandemic, in lockstep with similar protests and blockades opposing Covid public health measures and demanding to overthrow the federal government. All of this is thanks to the growing polarization that exists in Canada, just as it exists in other parts of the world, creating a fertile environment for fascism and foment.
29 November 2025 at 13:44 #78401@ps1l0v3y0u @janetteb Sadly, Canada has its own “Defund the CBC” initiative, led by those who, quite predictably, feel their own political causes are not sufficiently championed. But, given how reliant Canada has become on American broadcasters, the CBC is really the only broadcaster in Canada promoting Canadian culture (especially music). If we lose that, we’ll lose a valuable part of our identity.
29 November 2025 at 13:33 #78400@dentarthurdent The only reason the slugs ignored Lindy is because they were killing in alphabetical order, and they hadn’t yet reached P for Pepper-Bean. That’s why she betrayed Ricky September in the conduit. She knew her turn was next because P was coming up in the alphabet. But then Lindy remembered Ricky September’s birth name, Richard Coombes. She blurted that out to her Dot and left Ricky to be killed while she escaped.
@janetteb I agree that this episode was RTD at his best. Very satisfying on every level.
27 November 2025 at 19:55 #78394@devilishrobby OK, I’m sure your explanation about the fairy circle, perception filter and so on is correct … and it’s too timey-wimey for my brain to comprehend. Which explains why I was confused about much of what happened. Yet, I loved the episode, so my confusion wasn’t enough to put me off.
26 November 2025 at 21:55 #78388@dentarthurdent I’m sorry you had to go through the experience of a panic attack. It sounds awful.
But I like your theory of how Ruby’s “old” self (yes, I think that’s who her follower was) could induce that state in those she came in direct contact with. Their reactions seemed to be ones of abject terror.
24 November 2025 at 16:12 #78381@dentarthurdent Overall, I didn’t hate the ep, didn’t love it, there was enough to keep me watching.
Same here. I just felt they were trying to cram too much into one episode. Getting to know this Doctor a bit better, introducing Ruby and her family situation, plus explaining the goblins and the King Goblin … who did look an awful lot like Jabba the Hutt. (Disney owns the Star Wars franchise, so I guess they can get away with that.) And then, the song-and-dance numbers. Like, what am I watching?
Happily, things fell into place with “Boom”!
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