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– -this particular one, “army” or not, doesn’t write particularly well.  Key misspellings. Considering our discussions on other thread I made certain to check 🙂

But yeah, she also gave me her “private” email which I’m doing nothing with, obviously.

And if Thane was answering he would know enough now to ignore this too -thankfully

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hi there @craig

we have one “Ariana” seeking to be good friends as she works for the US army 🙂

I’m very happy to lend her out.

 

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@mudlark

Yes, Frederica had a spotty existence 🙂  I wasn’t sure if anyone would even know this book.

I remember the way she looked up to Alexander & with almost no money had to speak with a male friend (who wanted to ….get to know her) about how to prepare a meal without grey vegetables & tough mutton.

He suggested peaches for dessert and a good cheese for supper. At 23, when I read this, I felt horribly sorry for Fred. But her sister’s life was worse! Stephanie (was it?) married Daniel for the wrong reasons, as I recall.  Or at least too soon. She was very clever, quick thinking & very compassionate. In a different era she would’ve worked as a teacher, lecturer in English or the fine arts (“would have” 🙂   ) but at that time assisted her husband in parish activities. Daniel’s mother ended up living with them & was whiney & miserable & at that time Frederica’s younger brother was living with his sister, too. He had flopped ‘life’ I think?

Goodness, it’s been years since I’ve thought of those spectacular characters who made a significant mark on my early twenties.

The last novel of the quartet blew my head open. I’ll never forget Alexander’s whispy good-looks & his cavalier attitude to everybody else. He loved to call Fred “foxy, you with your dirty underwear” & that image stayed for way too long.

Puro x

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by  syzygy. Reason: overusing the comma

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@mudlark

bugger! “fewer” -THAT was the “worst” thing about my entire post! Arf. The secret be out: I don’t know any englizh.

Now Racine I know: chiefly because of Antonia Byatt’s quartet of books beginning with The Virgin in The Garden. It’s shocking -or was to me- in the mid-’90s as a “music specialist” I had been steered towards prose from Italian, German, Czech, Polish and Hungarian writers.

Puro-down-hearted….    😉

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by  syzygy. Reason: Racine I love

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@pedant

I do find the wandering apostrophes a residual problem in my brain. Millions of apostrophes lost when the words “DONT WALK” replaced the red figure of a person standing, not walking, when crossing the street. I always preferred the figures in red or green… Actually, if I start writing like the above I just sound like Yoda. Whilst this is sound (LOL), in theory, as Yoda was a great guy, it’s definitely weird…Because, people, facts are important, din’t you know?

And how could you tell? 🙂  🙂

Seriously, no meds on board today at all but yesterday? Yesterday was AWFUL!

Also Spawn at a soccer semi-final all day & just back.

On English, I don’t know if it was ever “semi-standardised” @ichabod? I have some very interesting linguistic funnies from the early to late 1800s and then again from the 1970s until 2000:  interesting data.

Kindest, Puro-off-meds.

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@pedant @mudlark @ichabod @janetteb

I think it was here that I learned  less commas are better. In fact, yes! @jimthefish mentioned on the Buffy pages that as a journalist he was taught only to use commas when absolutely essential (@mudlark is it “learned” or “learnt”?).

I over-use commas: that I know for a fact.  🙂  Because, people, facts are important, din’t you know? 😉

I also learned on this Forum what RP actually was. 

I understood -due to music studies -that Latin was essential in some jobs involving interpretation of the written word, the musical words and notes.  The occasional teeny bit of Latin certainly helped but I don’t think it’s anywhere on the Year 11 or 12 Language choice guide in QLD except, perhaps. in two private schools, close by.

I do find the wandering apostrophes a residual problem in my brain. Millions of apostrophes lost when the words “DONT WALK” replaced the red figure of a person standing, not walking, when crossing the street. I always preferred the figures in red or green.  🙂

Fowler? Him I do not know! Or, know him I do not?

Actually, if I start writing like the above I just sound like Yoda. Whilst this is sound (LOL), in theory, as Yoda was a great guy, it’s definitely weird.

I also learned the meaning of:  if you are getting all oozlumy over this…

Oozlumy is a real word. Not @pedant trying to trip us up….Or should that be: “up with trip I will not put.”

@ichabod

“Many people like to say Moffat can’t write for women. I find this a bleak and frankly stupid idea. I see the females in ALL of Moffat’s stories during Tennant’s time being ‘mouthy’ and quick thinking…” [puro]

Well, see, that’s supposedly the gist of the argument: that all of them are like that… [Ichabod]

Ah, so that is their argument? Perhaps when writing “mouthy” I should have written “the companions had ideas, they were creative, they began to think like the Doctor but most importantly they already did speak like him, think like him 🙂  and as @pedant clearly stated above in that terrific post, they had the “audacity” to speak up and question the Doctor, to “insist they be heard;” to choose the manner of their death; and to fully understand that whilst tomorrow is promised to no-one* they insist on ‘having’ their past – -rather than losing  control of their decisions: Bill’s shock about the ret-con [which was also a comical scene as much as an ironic one] and River’s appearance and death in Silence in the Library where Moffat kicks off the arc involving ‘timey whimey’  and the DEPTH of River’s relationship with the Doctor.

*those words in Moffat’s script [if it was Moffat in Trap Street] choked me up.

Cheers, Puro (now, that comma has to be there. Otherwise “Cheers Puro” is me writing “cheers” to me.

😈

PS: @mudlark is “to totally…” THAT much of a grating alliteration?

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@pedant

*respect*

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@mudlark

Ta for the reference. Someone else defined the term for me  -alas I forgot. – and the Usual Suspects are different from The Usual Suspects (being the Kevin Spacey film of that title)?

No, not at all! Remember circa Series 8 where we discussed Romanov and Slavic churches and, on a different point, the name given to a cake tin -sometimes found in copper?

Once, a long, long time ago, I used to work on the cryptic crossword -I was never particularly good. John, however, on train every day for 40 minutes, would complete one each day. He didn’t fill them in with pen (plenty of erasures necessary) but he was fairly confident.

My skills lie elsewhere 🙂 Or is it “lay.” That particular word and its usage has always troubled me.

Puro

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@pedant @mudlark

SJW??

Puro

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@tempusfugit

Ah, a Virgil lover!

It escapes, irretrievable time

A perfect Handel (pun-ish intended except the composer’s name was occasionally listed as: ‘Handle’ ) for this site -and the Georgics no less; not as well known, by some, as the oft-quoted Aeneid. 🙂  I suspect @mudlark our resident knowledge brain on things from Latin to Archaeology to baking of German tortes may add their opinion.

Don’t mind me….but welcome to the site. There is a lot of nonsense on many internet sites and youtube (youboob is my favourite name for it) is one of those places where people will write this:

“Oh I REALLY love this except from Doctor Who. But I’m SO glad that Moffat, the idiot, the lazy, the bad writer of women, the thief, the misogynist, the forgetful, the arc-heavy, the confused…..[and so on & so forth] is leaving. I really miss RTD.”

Really, they could have stopped with the very first sentence but the typical whining is the thing that grabs that little like button & some people live by this …

In any case I’m known, on the odd occasion, to have my own temper which I must keep in check  😈

Enjoy the site. Not long to go….

Kindest, Puro and Thane16

PS: where are you from? If  you wish to ignore the question -for privacy, that’s fine.

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@pedant

Ah, I didn’t clicky on your Olney car show & only now realised my error. Loved the MGBs etc…

@blenkinsopthebrave

I was suggesting we had proper cold weather -but it was barely a day of it. And if it’s 25c during the day it’s summer to me and even 16 degrees  maximum is bikini weather to many tourists.

Since you were last paying bills here, rates & water have separated out: we pay for the water we use & despite the 3 person household, we use 15% more than our local average. Now that electricity companies are deregulating, & in spite of the spam from various fledgling companies, I dropped a lot of dosh on 20 solar terminals so that within 12 months I should buy back a few measly dollars. Next stop: water tanks. Or, child of ours will shower with a 10 litre bucket a day  🙂

@mudlark

St Werberga  reminds me a lot of the castle at Wartburg & the German settlers who moved to Aus & settled north  in lovely mosquito ridden places as Gin Gin, Scallywag Creek, Good Night town, Ban Ban & even our own Moffatdale.

Puro

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@blenkinsopthebrave

I can see Puro the Younger on the airwaves near midnight.

Actually, we had ‘cold’ weather -for 16 hours. Not even a full day of proper cold weather in SE QLD.

I might sashay to the Pub for this

<dashing…..>…..>….>

Puro

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@pedant @jimthefish

It reminds me of Moriarty actually -perhaps a very sly reference to Moffat himself (via Chibbers but in a good way).

Moriarty (flash back) final episode of Moff and Gattis’ Sherlock as he hops out of the helicopter and says:

“I’m Big G, down with the kids, I’m relatable that way.”

Thane

Ssh: I’ve promised the High Council I’d be in bed by now.

 

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@jimthefish @mudlark @missrori @pedant

I wish I had the prosaic and elegiac qualities of Mr P.

Donna a working class woman allowed to fly so close to the sun she had to have her wings clipped for her own protection. But sung about every night on a planet billions of light years away….And Clara…Who refused to be “saved” by Eleven, and indeed jumped without a moment of pause into the fire. And then accepted that “tomorrow is promised to no-one”, but insisting upon her past. A woman insisting. The shame of it.

I was listening to 63 year old Dee Snider’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” & thinking about young female actors everywhere standing up, singing those words: in different decades or contexts they mean different things.

Mr P, I’ve read a lot of your prose across the years.  Those above brought the hand to my heart which caught the tears.

Puro.

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@mudlark

who, until she is drawn into the Doctor’s orbit, has achieved little in life and seems to have very limited horizons and ambitions, but who, through her association with the Doctor, realises her potential and achieves full agency. Amy is the same in some respects, except that her life from childhood onwards was shaped – and warped – by that brief first encounter with the Doctor

At 19 I was pretty ‘unformed’ 🙂  And I hadn’t achieved much in life.

I was at university. Though, to be honest, if that were now, with the insane fees for a basic Arts degree, I probably would’ve ended up teaching piano at home & writing a cook book.

I think Rose was pretty unformed & then yes, becomes a well rounded character (out of our focus) as an employee of UNIT. Martha:  quite right -her devotion to the Doctor started with a pheromone attachment 😉

I don’t really have any difficulty with a young woman like Amy being a walking police-telegram. Yep,  I actually wrote that. Her whole life “made no sense” (which I thought was a brilliant breaking- the- 4th- estate comment by Mat’s Doctor) & Pearl’s character was also serving chips like Rose (in 2006-7). I understand that Clara was probably seen as yet another good looking, quick talking, petite, pretty girl -rather than a woman. I know more than a few people saw her as sawdust for telly & I didn’t really agree. What I really enjoyed was her chatter time with Missy -there wasn’t a lot of verbal stoushes but what was there was important, & the lines weren’t repeated. One had to pay attention & work a bit. Her relationship with Danny was a good start though I had difficulties with the actor’s approach to the role. I enjoyed Clara’s ascension to Flying Diner with Ashildr & I don’t think anything like this had been done before. But it wasn’t a gilded cage by any means.

I think Clara was subject to ageism & sexism from a few quarters & I get that many viewers preferred her partnership with Peter Capaldi, not Mat Smith & yet, the trio of stories, in which she starred from before the 50th anniversary into  Mat’s last episode were so engaging and complex; and Clara herself, when you compare her with characters back in the ’70s was sufficiently involved within the story as a well defined character who questioned the Doctors, demanded answers & provided potential pathways. Would the series have benefited from an older woman like Donna? Possibly. But if we admit this, what are we really asking, I wonder? I’m not sure the answer is particularly hopeful. Are we saying “yes! Let’s have more older women at the expense of pretty, younger, mouthy women” because in SO many programmes women in their 50s are just no-where? It’s true & they are but should we discount the young female leads we have because of their age or is it that they’re not “fully rounded” for a 13 episode 45 min show on the telly every 2nd year?

Trying to do everything seems very difficult. The Doctor must be convincing straight-away; the show needs to have an arc; with non-feeble monsters; it must look like a $40 million film; the companion (& we have to call him/her something else & not that) has to be young, AND properly rounded but not too young or too mouthy. We have to have stories set on improbable galaxies but not filmed in obvious quarries. There has to be significant marketability so that even the sonic can be discussed, at great lengths by fans, & not look stupid.

The Doctor’s costume must be easy for cosplay (a term I came to understand, unfortunately, on some fan-site) & the whole thing has to be lighter & funny so that we can escape from our morose, cold weather and our bills and our sausages and chips without getting too wacked out on our cheap wine.  😈

Thank heavens I can have a glass of plonk & leave all this damn thinking about the show to other, better qualified people because, in the end, to use a phrase of Thane’s, I CBA.    🙂

It turns out I’ve completely missed knowledge about an orchestral conductor which has no real relevance here except maybe it does…..

Puro

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@whisht

I missed The Art of Noise THEN I missed The Fall – – Scanlon -Craig or Mark?? With Brix Smith.

Good grief.

This household has been listening to various national songs = Oh Canada and the old  Soviet Hymn sung with Paul Robeson. Such an ancient, beautiful voice.

Puro

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@missrori

Peter Capaldi… notes that he feels the eternal appeal of Who is how it examines death — grief, inevitability, moving on

Ah, I didn’t notice this before. And it explains, how, as a seven year old, who lost her mum, I found something in Who which examined the varying reactions to death and rebirth.  I never laughed when I watched it. Others recall me frowning and nodding for about four or five years. It acted as a promo for “how to behave and think when someone you love has vanished.”

So, after those mutable years, eventually my feelings about the Doctor were set. Like jelly (or jello if you’re American).

Puro.

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@missy

Happy birthday! And also, you remembered mine. What an excellent memory you have.

The Tardis cake sounds wonderful. Was it a fruit cake (like one would have in a wedding, sometimes) or a cream torte?

And thank you, about the above (typically Puro-style very lengthy post). I know that younger people will claim that more advertising, marketing, leaking more ‘news’ about Nu Who & having lite, less -complicated episodes – that are standalone -form a majority opinion.

I also recall, that whilst I liked the trilogy involving the Pyramid Peoples, editing and sorting was problematic due to a death in the Moffat-extended household. When everyone watches you and everything you do, having a death in the close family is just horrible. I would have no idea what that’s like. Everything becomes a tremendous burden and perhaps it did. But the episodes we had from River Song (& also the episodes with Chris and Rose: “Are you my Mummy?”) onto the last episode Once Upon a Time were, for me, pretty great. I didn’t come across any negativity  @missrori about that last Christmas episode?

It’s a question of looking in the right or wrong place, perhaps.

Puro.

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And watch that excerpt till the very end because it refers to “Friday” …..

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I believe this is the one to do with Why People Need Differences. Hey ho!

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@missrori

“I think those theories carry some weight. From what I’ve gleaned in other, sometimes more disreputable parts of the ‘net, a lot of fans were let down by the latter….”

Exactly. Disreputable. So you may’ve your answer right there. And exactly how is the weight carried?

It’s a question of who or what type of people attend panels, engage with ‘sources’ and simply forget things -selectively.

The trilogy of Time, Name and Day was astonishingly good. The sources AT THAT time stated their thrill. A very good mate o’ mine watched all three back to back earlier in the year and remarked on how clever and nostalgic they were. I believe, unlike the Eccelston and Tennant eras, that all the Moffat stories and his era will be positively viewed by many critics in the future. Sometimes it takes that long. Look at Mozart, Vivaldi and Debussy.

Many people like to say Moffat can’t write for women. I find this a bleak and frankly stupid idea. I see the females in ALL of Moffat’s stories during Tennant’s time being ‘mouthy’ and quick thinking. See Clara who jumps in a timestream with no concern about her welfare or any “oh my Gard. I have to really DO this?” Think of  “the very stupid” lady [recall that she calls herself this and one is directly asked “why?”), Miss Evangelista, who, upon going thu the Library’s computer, suddenly becomes very smart. I think of how beautifully Donna was written by Moffat in those Silence in the Library episodes & the introduction of River. That two-episode set was considered by many critics as THE finest next to Blink- with the cliff-hanger (concerning Donna) – amongst the 10th greatest of the show. And hang on….there was the female lead in Blink who went onto multi-million dollar Hollywood.

Then, there’s Amelia and Amy, Clara and Missy (not a Master, but a Master-ess), Rose as ‘the machine;’ Ashildr; Kate, Chief of Scientific Research; Osgood times 2 and the very strongly written Vastra and Jenny Flint.

Those who berate the show as the “Clara Who Show” can’t then mumble “gee, the women aint too good after all and one of ’em is in it too often”  -when the latter point has been actually rebutted, using facts, like time.

These people can’t have it both ways. As for Pearl Mackie, I really don’t know what to say beyond my personal feeling that it could’ve been the weakest of the Moffat seasons possibly because it was written, much like a Committee Camel, to satiate those who weren’t happy with a poorly defined ‘lack of brightness’ in the show.

I thought the character herself was brilliant and certainly showed not just quick thinking; but comfort or the beginning of a sense of ease regarding her sexuality, her body and quite obviously her rapidly gaining scientific (primarily in physics) knowledge. Clara also demonstrated an ability to move through the world with great confidence. River piloted the TARDIS; Jenny and Vastra were so strong they’d probably shit marble and they were the bosses of Strax. Then we’ve the men -Amy’s husband, Mr Pond, who waits two thousand years. AND he’s a nurse -20 years ago that would’ve been a laugh. Strax is also a nurse and must play out that ‘punishment’ and in BLINK the male character didn’t fully solve the story so I’m back to River whose story is backwards and yes, she finishes her life so the Doctor can continue to “run with the stars. Don’t take that away from me. It’s my decision.” How rare: for 2008.

I always believed, though, that the Doctor, with a whole new revolution of regenerations was going to struggle with life -with the questions we ALL ask of ourselves, every day, in some way or another. To me, the Doctor was humanised during Seasons 9 and 10.

If people want jingle bells and comedy there are plenty of shows which offer this but my attraction to the programme at age 6-7 was the same as it still is: mystery; whispering characters hiding from an unnamed fear; corridors and corners, doom, dirt and disorder; shambling monsters and a very, very serious (occasionally grinning) Doctor.  🙂

The ‘sources’ are THE key. I purchase, at considerable cost, 9 periodicals, arriving each month, which delve into science, epistemology; history; literature and also, film and television. These articles are well over 5000 words, they’re properly sourced and it takes many months for the finished product to be edited. I was lucky to read, back in 2009 and again in 2017 different authors persuading viewers to give Doctor Who -in its new formulation – a decent try. One author was Evan Williams and a second, I think was actually Robert Manne and his wife, also a writer.

Panellists and so-called hosts don’t really mean much to me (though I understand the marketing imperative -but don’t buy into Who The Market God). Just recently I read a biography of Joss Whedon and found that until the third Buffy season the attitude towards the show was basically, “this is a joke.” By the end of Season 3, once it was up and running,  many red-faced people apologised for their initial sarcasm.

So, sometimes I think, if people are THAT annoyed; feel the show is somehow ‘theirs’ [when it’s not] and they start aiming or shooting at you, then you know you’re doing the right thing. I think the small applause for Moffat -if that’s all it is – will eventually become a deafening roar, like that of the water drowning spiders in The Runaway Bride.

It’s sad, in the end, that much of the stupidity was aimed at a Doctor who wasn’t considered young and fandom (oops: handsome). By placing an actor of great note, who, I believe, understood the Doctor as well as Tom Baker all those years ago, into such a role was IN ITSELF an act of feminism; a way of ensuring that older women matter; that we don’t all want pretty lads because what woman in her 30s 40s, 50s and onwards wouldn’t applaud Capaldi as handsome?

There’s a line about this in The West Wing by Donna Moss towards Joe Quincy. I might search it out.

Puro.

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@pedant must also check out the light weight nature of cars -when they’re not!  Didn’t realise that. Also, traversing the narrow path that is nuance.

Puro-goodness-it’s-late.

PS:   @cathannabel I shall find more Aretha choons (the latest from @whisht I think) but no J. Strauss 🙂

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@pedant

Yes it is like that. I think the fast beat, rhythmic repetition, manic singing style -a touch of righteous rage    – alongside similar chords & there’s an eerie resemblance   🙂

On the other thread you mentioned the fucker that is PTSD?

Puro

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@cathannabel This lovely rendition is for you! Colourful and heart warming.

@whisht

I had NO idea I missed that comment about The Buggles and The Art of Noise! Thank you for that.  I had Dudley right but somehow it was ‘Margaret’ not Anne, weirdly.

Puro

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and to @pedant!

Mr P has had a day or so of illness so a fun & totally nutty song (with some coarse language I’m afraid) will get your head happily noddin’ up ‘n’ down. My I present: Screeching Weasel…     🙂

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@mudlark regarding The Flanders and Elephant Swann I’ve responded on the muddy music thread.

I have the entire Flanders and Swann collection. Great fun.

Ooh, even I -in heat like this, muddy, musical or elephantine (there’s a reference to elephants in the room in the live Flanders & Swann version and as there’s the “actual elephant in the room” in Sherlock Season 2 I felt it appropriate…) wouldn’t attend to the garden over 32 degrees.

I sure hope those frogs are thankful!

Puro

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@mudlark

Yes indeed Thane enjoyed Ashes to Ashes after an initial belief it was slow and tedious. He was roundly walloped!

Now, to mud:

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@mudlark -cheers to see you back, our dear Mudlark.  And also @bluesqueakpip

@blenkinsopthebrave  You must be driven in order to drink? Nooo!

Having almost given up the good stuff due to medication, I decided to treat myself to a half glass (a real half glass not the enormous bulbous things into which one’s nose can fit -or be stuck- depending on its size) of a particularly woody but citrusy red from the Cuttaway Hill Estate.

I may just meet Chibber’s Doctor that way first   🙂

I shall, however, remain optimistic. I like Whitakker in what I’ve seen her in and possibly the giggling mentioned was just my aversion to giggling! When really, the actors look thrilled with what they’ve achieved and I suspect, being a tad younger than Capaldi, they’re in the honeymoon period filming a show that even Tennant acknowledged aged him considerably due to long hours of re-takes etc. Then there’s all the promotion which is exhausting. Possibly, they’re over-tired (Thane, even at 16, resorts to weird behaviour when he’s had little sleep or long flights).

Under Chris Eccleston there was a period of good bonkers theorising with Bad Wolf and it returned with Tennant in the Weeping Angels spell which, yes, was a Moffat driven story but I feel there was a sense of impending….something ….in that era and we know Who-fans (Whofans?) are clever and want something chewy which gently teases and projects a thoughtful layering… I think Chibber will deliver on this, actually.

And also I am -these days -and for many reasons -an optimistic soul. More so than Thane who is a little pessimistic, which considering his school and teaching, doesn’t surprise me whatsoever. He’s of the mind that all students should leave school at 14 and be “bus-stop kids” where they teach themselves, saving billions in tax payer’s money; preventing the coddling which even state schools seem accustomed to; where they learn how to get off  “their bums and do something including lots of reading and writing instead of flipping about with their damn phones” as well as working together, at times, to produce quality work…

There endeth the sermon. Go in peace to love and serve!

Kindest,

Puro-optima.

PS: @pedant He watched Ashes to Ashes (at long last).

• This reply was modified 8 years ago by  syzygy. Reason: misspelled Mr B's name AGAIN! Note: add to dictionary

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@missy

that sounds awful! I’m so sorry that happened. At least the injuries were minimal but certainly, dealing with new vehicles, insurance, titles is all very depressing.

Some modern cars are pretty ‘light weight’ but more and more have 5 * safety ratings. After years with a 1989 Ford I finally purchased a new car 7 years ago with a terrific safety rating -and also comfortable. I think in Australia it’s almost impossible to be without a car of some kind.

Stay safe and looking forward to new discussions.

Puro and Thane

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@ichabod

Sorry Miss Ichi I forgto to tag you in the conversation.

I read what you wrote on the other thread about where people get their sources from which then shapes their opinion in a world of echo chambers where egregious errors have been made in the information processing part of our brains, perhaps.

And I don’t see the Capaldi period as a bold but failed experiment @bluesqueakpip. The thunderous approval I read and heard was often by those who say the least and listen the most.

It’s a conundrum 🙂

Thano

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@bluesqueakpip @pedant

But was it that they didn’t like Capaldi or was it because they didn’t like (what some saw as) “depressing” stories without escapism in Series 8, 9 or even 10?  Was it a left-over annoyance at Clara -the actress? Could it be there was an issue in this 30% to do with Pearl Mackie?

To keep this Who-oriented, there’s a big bang of idiocy going on mixed with a complete lack of perfectionism in the area of statistics when perfectionism and obsessive perfectionism, would, at times, be helpful.

Viewing figures may’ve dropped but the why is illusory, I guess. It’s political and social arithmetic or slack hacks lack facts when flacks stack the stats   😉

The results of which purport to support the Dumbing Down of Television.  And there’s how people think about what they’re watching: a little quirk, at first, unleashes a cascade of consequences that make a particular future not only desirable but inevitable and so you get a possible 30% which might actually be 20% or 15%.

We need to probe -mum would say!

Thank you.

Thane.

 

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@hiker  @oswald  @ichabod and many others including @kharis (waving hello).

Absolutely: Loved PC in this role; loved all the stories -even The Moon As an Egg which, despite the general hilarity, I found rather endearing. And it had Hermoine….? wonderful actress who isn’t seen often enough (on telly at least).

Still, looking forward to the next series.

🙂

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I am watching the interview with CC, the other dude, the Doctor and 2 of the 3 companions and I’m not sure about it all. I love the Doctor -whether female, male.  But their responses regarding their favourite Doctor -David Tennant?

Possibly because the Doctor has worked with Tennant on Broadchurch?

Even watching the interviews and the endless laughter, I miss Peter Capaldi. He was never odious….Now, I’m not suggesting any of these people are but the constant giggling, the new TARDIS interior, the sonic, makes me miss PC’s brilliantly inspired Doctor. 🙁

Perhaps fans will eventually say, “you know, Capaldi, as a Doctor, has aged well….his stories were brilliant. The spectacular layering and metaphors unrivalled” except perhaps with Mat Smith’s first series  – -and the young lady did say her favourite was Smith.  🙂

Perhaps CC is brokering a deal to move away from any ‘moribund’ ideas which allegedly concerned fans who never warmed to Capaldi’s manner?  And Whittaker sure laughs a lot. I suspect the entire series will be adventure after adventure which is the ‘thing’ that drives the show.

Even as a seven-year old, those dirty corridors, the mystique behind the terrifying monsters, the whole darned alien nature of it all is what grabbed me. I lived for that alien quality and I’m still hooked into that. But it’s early days and the energy they all have is certainly catchy and a necessary marketing tool….

Puro.

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@pedant

Young Amy has grown up!

I like the painting very much. The plating not so much.

Puro

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@blenkinsopthebrave Oh yes we agree -that is Puro (me) and Thane . I like Dreyfus’ performance a lot -and Francois Truffaut (no doubt I spelled that wrong)  It is optimistic and at points very funny too.

@janetteb I understand totally! It was an awful time in one way, wasn’t it?

Puro

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@blenkinsopthebrave

Oh no! About Close Encounters…. Mum loves it and we’re watching it again (I don’t remember watching it when I was four except I remembered the scary bits) . Mum likes it because of the musical elements and she says that’s one reason why she was fascinated by music. In Adelaide Kodaly systems of music weren’t taught and so in Brisbane where they moved for about a year before going to New South Wales she encountered 🙂 tonal music in her aural testing. Anyway I’m actually liking Dreyfuss’ performance.

Also and I know I’m really behind on this but @janetteb and @ichabod mum used to love wearing culottes. If they were tight at the waist and in black with a different coloured tucked in top ( I think blouse is the term girls use for ‘tops’ ) they are comfortable?

Fashion is different now. They have a ‘everything thrown together’ look with skirts, tights or boots.

Mum said if you didn’t wear Levis in the ’70s and even wore a singlet in the 10 age group, you were bullied. Mum was forced to wear a petticoat under her skirt, hiding behind the bus-stop taking it off. A neighbour rang grandma one day to say what she was seeing! The kids wore jeans but grandma insisted mum wear skirts. And out came the bullies….I think when it comes to clothing or weight (mum thought she was fat when she was petite and I’ve seen the photos!) she’d have it better now than 40 years ago.

@winston I loved those concepts in Star Trek. I’ve only seen a few episodes but I like Shatner. I saw him in Boston Legal where he’s older so I didn’t recognise him -except for his voice which is SO good.

Thank you for reading.

Thane16. and Puro

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@blenkinsopthebrave

Ah, yes:  Hordern, Wymark, Eastwood, Burton -and Ronnie Goodwin. And didn’t it get a lot of flak?

Years and years ago we’d teach young teachers how to use drumsticks and a drum pad to this score. This being the early to mid ’90s they had no idea about a movie from 1968 where most of the credits rolled at the beginning of the film with a picture of an aircraft negotiating wind, foreign airspace and snow capped peaks.

Olympia indeed.

Now, that’s a good handle…. (-_-)

On the clues, being a scrabble fan, the word beano can make ‘eon’ and ‘bane’ and ‘base’ from the word beans.

And from basil we get “bails” as in “get out, monsters are coming” and ‘sial’ [rocks forming outer layer of Earth’s crust].  There’s a lot of basil on their pizzas. Or endive. In which case the French are coming (again).

Puro.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by  syzygy. Reason: Haven't spelled Mr Blenkinsop's in a long while!

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@whisht

Good to see you bonkerising with the best! And apologies, you tagged me after I tagged you regarding your birthday & I failed to do so back. I think your QUEST is spot on. I need an acronym for that. And possibly an anagram & an algorithm too.  ((*\*))

@blenkinsopthebrave Greetings from Brisbane where we’ve had (shock, horror & also awe) …..cold weather.

Could, for example, Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor have no memory of the previous cycle of Doctors, for instance?

Oooh that’s great bonkerising too.

@gamergirlavatar That’s a good point. New Who since 2005 (AG) has been resplendent with new music under Murray. Not disputing the new composer’s ideas or what he’s brought to music thus far but I’d add that compared with any other telly Who presented a full score with leitmotifs for all characters. Murray didn’t deviate from this  during his contract & used Romantic era motifs & a Romantic approach unique to the show between 2004-10. Certain scores after that didn’t necessarily re-hash choons from the previous decade with striking contrasts between motifs & their characters despite the musical agenda of AG Who, imo? A new composer is definitely welcome & exciting. All the pieces are in place….

@geoffers. Absolutely. Yes, I’d agree that a less jangly theme & a full throated one would be terrific. If there’s a minimalist ‘realisation’ of the new series (Quarries & Corridors) then the score takes that step instead? It’s lovely how music has a capacity to enlarge what we see. I too like the art-work. It’s different to what I’d anticipated.

And it feels classical, to me…so in times where everything dates so quickly it could hold our attention @jimthefish ? The previous era had circles within circles & CC is investigating, with his art crew, lines & more…..horizontal lines  🙂  indicating a human chronology rather than a Time Lord one, perhaps?

@ichabod <waving to you> Yes, it is heavy on the main theme, isn’t it? And I echo your thanks to @wolfweed for the constant (& necessary) updates in these times of Who-drought as @bluesqueakpip said. Now, Pip, I need to go back to that trailer to ‘see’ all the clues….That’s what’s SO great about Who: it really intensifies the “what if?” question which a lot of telly doesn’t pose (‘let’s make a show quickly; our audiences binge on the entire thing & move on’)

<Time is running out….new series approaching>

Puro.

 

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@pedant is that at #63665?   -from @wolfweed

wolfweed -thank you as ever.

@janetteb me too. Corridors and quarries. A thing of mine ever since. Particularly long, yellow-ish, slightly dirty corridors. And narrow. Like its people.

Puro and Thane.

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@pedant -I’m replying to you whilst Thane is cooking dinner.

If we reply you know no-one’s food is poisoned.  No worries with the taggin’.

@winston  thank you -and how are you doin’?

My laptop is being “checked over”and I’m borrowing one but unfortunately it won’t let me access facebook which is how, sometimes, I communicate.  Also, rather foolishly I can’t access my emails which would have let me know a msg came thru from you. Is the weather “gorgeously warm”? Our Brisbane winter has temps of a balmy 24 degrees C and nights at 17 degrees C.  People are still wandering around in thongs (the shoes) and shorts here. The Tardis shelf sounds quite the project. I do love that blue colour. Our house is almost that colour -just 1/3 of it but I quite liked it all those years ago. And I still re-paint it in that hue.

I love lights!! In  your garden that would be something. FAR from tacky!   I can imagine the welcoming glow. Beware of the occasional gent or lady deciding to enter…..I say this as I opened the garage last night and out came a large 4 legged creature! I yelled thinking a) cat b) possum but it was a beautiful and frightened dog. I had to chase down the owner.

I was planning on making my own stream (the house sits geologically on a stream bed so kilos of rocks are to be found each week) but it takes time and I don’t want to waste too much  water.

@janetteb  Yes, he is! Correctamundo. He’s doing well but the endless assignments are tiring as am I listening to his introductions, paragraphs, general thoughts…..;)  You have a recalcitrant son as well? It’s contagious.

Yes the SA Winter is an indecent length from memory.  I’ll never forget the hue (great word) of Moffat’s opening ep with Matt Smith. The warm glow of Amy’s home, the upside down Tardis, the kitchen with its gas stove filled with “fried things” and a fridge with custard. They should market a Dr Who custard.

We saw quite a bit of old Who during Christmas (shown in part on catch up telly). I really enjoyed the old Who @craig showed here too. And Thane, who did find it slow, initially, is growing up and appreciating the dialogue, its articulation and the very ‘before their time’ stories.

And how is your writing progressing?

Puro

 

• This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by  syzygy. Reason: lots of freakish code keeps appearing

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@pedant

hi Puro here -brute force prevented an earlier response.

I will go to the fth  ta.

While at it, I’m at 20 odd mins into ep 1 of 13R and notice Jessica’s comment “I’m already in Hell…”whilst sucking a red lolly pop. Buffy memories. Actually, too close for coincidence.  But prob confirmation bias.

I’ll head to the msg page: if I can get there

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@pedant

Do I get credit for finding the Little Shop?

I got lost. I was in the ceiling for awhile and, later, I became a floor puddle.

Every time I clicked near the two or three people standing near  the Lift area (to the left of where everyone else is grouped watching telly/etc) they disappeared. Completely vanished!

Happily it did my head in 🙂

Puro-a-buzz.

 

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@missy @pedant @janetteb

Well well. This IS new. First time I’ve ever responded on a blog, blog post or topic

It’s Thane’s dad with Thane who is waving hello

Lots of things I know nothing about. Which is why I like experts. But I know this: whether any hemisphere was once ice or not and whether or not the dry and dusty plains were rainforests filled with all manner of flying things, there were never any cars “back then”

The problem with ignoring something like this is that villages along coast lines in Indonesia etc have shrunk. Everything gone into rising sea levels. Denying people’s hardships is ignorance up with which we will not put.

Except we do. I guess some people and cultures matter more than others and that’s plain wrong. 🙁

On the stubble burning issue I remember having an argument with my brother-in-law when back on my other home turf. He couldn’t deny that one transmission after another had been ruined on his Essex property in the 70s to mid-80s costing thousands. Wind measurements saw freakish cinder travel across many miles.

 

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@janetteb you should include some of those posts in your newsletter! Thing is, a lot of what we cook does come from other countries originally. Her Greek dish, the vegetarian curry (which was Grandma’s invention and won a prize 20 years ago in some magazine) and the spicy pumpkin curry.

We’re not really a meat and 3 vege family. But the doctor was saying that when Australians ate that way rather than pasta, risottos, pizzas and other things ALL the time we were actually heathier back then? It was a simpler diet and I find that interesting. It was a less fussy way of eating and it was done to get it ‘over with’ rather than as a leisure thing.

our ‘local ‘ restaurant we used to go to closed last year and it was ‘almost’ a 5 * place but with decent portions? Still I’d have not one but TWO main courses! We had to  stop going!

There’s a really nice chain place called mecca-bah with Persian food -some of it is vegetarian @winston with the BEST dips made with garlic, hummus and fresh Turkish bread – that makes me SUPER hungry thinking about it. We order THREE of those and that’s our main meal.

We were there at Christmas and the furniture and ‘ambience’ was awesome -private curtains in bright colours, cushions, big chairs, and non alcoholic fruit cocktails with  plates of olives and pistachios. I had my first pistachio icecream -not as good as the coffee one but almost! @blenkinsopthebrave there are many new eateries here since you left?

Cheers.

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@missy

Mum said “””yuck” to the whale meat and said that Dad didn’t like turnips until she started cooking them and sprouts I like which is a surprise.

I’m with you on the pumpkin which is everywhere in roasts and soups but Mum does make a simple pumpkin soup with salt, pepper and cream -very thick. She does a Thai one with coconut milk, coriander and chilli.

Her roasted red capsicum soup is really good with a 1/4 cup of lagavulin, a small amount of some aniseed drink in a very tall skinny bottle with brown sugar. Weird but terrific.

We love fish too -baked is easy for me to do and Mum used to say her mum cooked liver once a week with lots of onions and red wine with bacon on top of rice. Mum loved it but I said “no way. Not ever” and she says it’s cheap AND very nutritional with all the iron you need and steak is pretty expensive.

@winston you ‘re a gardner? I had tomatoes and lettuces in the garden last year and also a few carrots but it takes so much time to keep the bugs away, pour water over it and pull away all the leaves  and also I just LOVE my meat! Mum makes some good vege meals like a curry with dates, dries apricots and there’s a Greek meal you have cold containing red capsicum, red onions , dates and almonds and egg-plant. You serve it in Summer with warm bread -I think you’d like it. There’s also black olives and the small amount of dates are optional. There’s a cook book (could be English or Aus) which has this recipe in it.

If you’d like it, I’ll ask mum if I can safely post it. She made a few changes to it. You can have zucchini instead of egg-plant and change the amount of olives. Oh, it also has fresh tomatoes added with the seeds and skin removed. It’s a sweet dish and I don’t know why -must be the dates.

@missy Horse?? Are you SURE? Was he teasing?

Yep Dad makes the  best mash but easts most of it himself when tasting. Mum cooks the salmon fish very very lightly on high heat with capers, lemon juice, coriander or chives and parsley and with good salt and pepper. I know my uncle detests adding salt to anything but I think if you have it not too often it’s necessary to add more ‘depth’ to the meal -that’s mum’s word, not mine.

I do not go for desserts much preferring fruit and boy do I eat masses of fruit during training season -kiwi, strawberries are my favourite together and mum loves her tomato juice or that Australian drink V8 -aw, she could drink half a litre of that but knows shes not allowed.

Funny, but she’s put on weight which I think is great but she HATES it. She reckons she has to start dieting which she’s never done before. Crohns does the dieting for you 🙁

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@cathannabel

How are you?!  I read your post and so did Mum and she did say to me “watch for Cath’s work at the university.”

And I DID forget so I’m really glad for the reminder. Mum and I were really interested in the lectures and how fascinating they were -when you showed us where to find the topics that were around and advertised last year?

As @janetteb said you’re doing excellent work for Cancer survivors both those who are ill and those who are caring for those relatives and family.

@missy @pedant @blenkinsopthebrave

The pasta ad was SO good. Mum was saying that they had pasta when she was about 12 only once a year because grandad said it was “peasant’s food” and same with pizza which she never ate at ALL until she was16 and could buy it for herself and then at uni, every Monday before choir practise some of her and her friends would share different pizzas singing “garlic” at everyone but watered down with vodka and pineapple juice 🙂

Mum also said that her parents were the only ones she knew of who made salads in South Australia  in the early 1970s and cooked quite expensive beef including ‘fillett’ steak? which was really expensive but it was decided that a smll amount which would fit in the palm of your hand was enough nutrition for an adult?

Also Mum learnt to make proper creamy meat balls , meatloaf with herbs and goulash which I must say is one of my favourite meals with the oysterblade steak very very tender and mixed with wine and cream too; served with…….pasta, eventually, instead of just white rice.

Or something called bread dumplings which were shaped like a meat loaf, sliced and then put into boiling water served with the best type of vegetable gravy. I love good home cooking, when I was three apparently and my mates came around for lunch they didn’t want to sit. For them a vegemite sandwich was lunch but on weekends mum would insist on having a sit down with goulash or another fav which is creamed dauphin potatoes with nutmeg,  and cream or butter.

@janetteb because of your knowledge of cooking history do you know why the potatoes were called ‘dauphin?

@blenkinsopthebrave  !

Yes mum said the chops were always overdone too but it was her mum *my grandma who stopped doing that and realised they didn’t need to cook the chops for 2 hours or even 1 hour but barely 30 mins with steamed potatoes. I think steamed and boiled is often similar maybe?

We have lamb chops about once a month. Dad finds that they’re mostly fat and so he stays clear of them but I love nawing on the bone! Also the peas should be bright green? Just like asparagus. My friends are fussy with food and will complain at their homes about what they will not eat. I was allowed only ONE  thing I couldn’t like which was uncooked tomato but everything else I do like. At least I think I do!

Funny thing is that I don’t like pizzas/ burgers unless they are home-made and are healthy. I am striving to learn how to cook 3 new meals by the end of each year..

This is a long post! I hope people had a relaxing Easter and that @janetteb and @missy the heat of the Summer has gone by now.

All the people in the north of America and our Canadian and UK friends will be hanging out for Summer now!! Yee-hah.

Cheers everyone,

Thane

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by  syzygy. Reason: problems with lots of code appearing so I've broken the internet like Mum does all the time!

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This is waaaay late Mr @whisht . But happy birthday (belated by about 3 months nearly?).

From Thane16.

 

PS: mum loves this song and this particular video.

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@xad4  @pedant

That’s awesome! Mum loves those ospreys and I really liked just sitting there, last winter (here) and holding a hot chocolate listening to the wind and the birds and watching them fly about.

Thanks @pedant and @bluesqueakpip for your advice and ideas about identity. The teacher said I could use John Searle to support my thesis about whether Jack is ‘still’ Jack and I think Searle is great! He may not share my views (or I should say me sharing his?) but he’s really dynamic and energetic. Sometimes its hard to follow exactly what he’s saying so I have to go to Mum or Wikipedia. 🙂

I’ll let mum know about Osprey.

Than0.

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@bluesqueakpip Hey The Gang!

Thank you SO much. That is SUCH a help. I’m already motivated to think Jack is the same Jack  -and by that I don’t mean my facts are changed to suit the theory -but that other philosophers have already indicated jack is jack.

I don’t think we’re supposed to mention Kant or Freud/Jung yet which I’d like to do. Kant is definitely helpful here.

Also there are some terrific modern philosophers on the TED Talks which talk about consciousness and my teacher suggested consciousness was my ‘thing’ but I think that also it’s memory theory -which is Locke’s issue. Descartes has some issues and Kant basically solves them.  Still one other thing is that if he remembers success he can only remember success because he’s experienced success before? Also, the basic elements of science is ‘known’ to him, I think. So, if he stands up and puts a foot forward he will know he’s walking forward and not backward which is the part of the laws of Science which being those we have created ourselves: our knowledge of science and its laws is known because we know them 🙂 Because, using words and digits and arithmetic we know scientific fact – – – > paradox.

Head explodes.

Again, thank you so much and hope everything is going really well with you Miss Squeak. Been hiding and watching the Aztecs which was  FANTASTIC.  As Mr @blenkinsopthebrave said the history and the decisions Team Tardis had to make were hard. But spoilers!!

Thank you, Thane.

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@alpackahacka sorry, there, missed your name! Also welcome to the site. Good place, this.

🙂 Thane.

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