[Whisht @replies]

though I haven’t had much time this week, just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed reading people’s thoughts this week.

Can’t remember who was asking/ suggesting that Clara is a claricle, but I agree. She’s a loop without a beginning. This particular Clara (Clara Prime) may have blown in on a leaf, but she is simply one of the Claricles that were created when Clara Prime jumped into the timestream… so that she could be born on a leaf.
[that made more sense in my head]

@Purofilion – good luck to the Boy on the trials. As long as he enjoys playing is main point. My brother played midweek footy for years (ie not at a high level, but he was a decent midfielder). He was still playing with people half his age until his 50’s when finally knees etc meant he had to give it up.

@django – you suggest that music may have some interesting connection with Who this season.
What on earth are you thinking?
Nothing musical has ever sprung to anyone’s mind on these boards….
🙂

[Whisht @replies]

So – how about another occasional series of “Music for Monsters”?

Not a major villain [yep I did that] but here’s one for the Sontarans:

(though if you want an even bigger nostalgia gulp, here’s a weird video for it from the time)

[Whisht @replies]

the whole “what makes a good monster and what makes a good villain” thing is interesting.
I’ve not really thought about the production issues as much as @denvaldron and I’m grateful to you for making me think about practicalities.

To be honest I’ve not thought deeply about anything in a few decades which is a shame on me. I’m actually jealous of many here with their insights built on experience.

For me, the Fisher King failed as a monster or villain as I didn’t feel it to be a threat.
Monster or villain – there is a threat to you or your loved ones.

For me, I didn’t get that threat. Yet I feel I could have – this monster has abused life/death to use that energy for its own needs. This monster wants to wipe out all life on Earth.
But…. in the limited time we had to understand the threat and it being dealt with, I didn’t get to feel worried.

[Whisht @replies]

Apologies for being absent – no excuses (lets face it – we’re all busy).

Great choons to listen to (hadn’t heard “history repeating” in decades!) and had thought of this Doctor as ‘The Thin White Doctor’.

As for Under the lake/ After the flood

Ghosts by Japan is I guess so obvious no one bothered.

There again I came up with nothing better so, although this has absolutely nothing to do with the episode at all – apart from a mention of “ghost” (yep – iTunes search) – its kinda lovely.

and yes, for After the Flood, I struggled to find a tune to sum up “rubbish monster and I’m vaguely dissatisfied”.

[Whisht @replies]

Interesting thoughts @denvaldron
And @rob I’d forgotten about that dogs of war thing. I’m on a train so can’t find it but can kinda remember trying to come up with a monster that even its creators would be ashamed of (riffing on the creation of soldiers who become ‘awkward’ for civilians when they return from war and who realise they’ve brutalised in order to do their ill-thought through dirty work).

In terms of monsters, I think there’s a distinction between monster and villain.

Villains have schemes and plans.
Monsters are simply acting out their own nature.
Not sure if that thought furthers anything(!) or confuses it (as sales would be monsters, Davros a villain along with bg cyber men whereas now cyber men are almost henchmen /monsters.

Better hit send before I lose all this ramble!

[Whisht @replies]

So I wrote a brilliantly eloquent, tender, insightful blah blah blah*… post on Dame Shirley Bassey.

and was actually logged out and lost it all.

So – now will have to be shorter, less fun and a bit pants to be honest.

I don’t know much about Bassey apart from the obvious – belting out Bond themes.
If an actor chews scenery, does a singer chew scores??

Now, she definitely is a belter of songs, and has been from the start even when being attacked by a Dalek.

But actually I hadn’t realised what a chanteuse she was – she really tells a story, alternating between belting and caressing.

I’ll embed this one as its a bit more tender and possibly a closer interpretation to a song rather than (just) Bassey herself enjoying the delivery. Yes, it is that too, but on first listen it did seem she was singing something a little more vulnerable (and what a very final note).

*actually it was none of those things but you’ll never know how far from that it was.

[Whisht @replies]

Well that’s annoying.

I wrote a too long and clever-by-half reply to people and thoughts and stuff.

and it logged out so lost it.

Well that’ll teach me for not doing it in notepad first (like i usually do).

[sigh]

I can’t do it again, so now in abbreviated form:
Cass – how does she know its dangerous inside? Suspicious. Hired to lip read??

Circles at the ack of the craft – yep, reminiscent of Quatermass and the Pit (though different). Though no character has mentioned “hobs” yet….

there was more but…. I’ve forgotten. Hey ho, can’t have been interesting! 😉

BUt what’s worse is I lost the Bassey marathon… bollocks.
That was more carefully curated from a standing start.

[Whisht @replies]

Hi @craig – I / we’ve said before if you need to pay a rate that makes life easier, then spreading the cost amongst people here can help.
Or I guess advertising (though I have zero knowledge of strings attached with that approach).

Obviously joining in the discussion is key, but helping out either as Mods or through the pocket where its possible for individuals is I’d imagine also what a community does (though I’ve never managed or been involved with a forum before, other than contributing briefly on a BBC forum).

Obviously contributing financially wouldn’t give anyone any extra rights or anything – its just a way to say “thanks, I like it here and I’d like to keep it going. But if I’m ever out of line, I get a ticking-off just like anyone else”.

[Whisht @replies]

ok – not much to add to everyone’s bonkerising.

Is Clara a chameleon-arched Misstra or Doctor? Who nose.
Either way, Missy knows she can abuse herself/ the Doctor; The Doctor has a reason to keep Clara alive (even beyond the ‘duty of care’). Clara’s abilities could be either Timelord ‘spilling out’.
And either way, the Doctor knows he ‘must’ cause her ‘death’ (ending of her personality) whne the arch is removed.

and… Snakes / Dragons / Time = Ouroboros!
(though the recursiveness of Clara is just coincidental…).

The ‘ghosts’ are actually hollow. At least that’s how I saw the SFX. The eyes are empty and show the back of the skull. Which means they could be simply image scans of the outside of the person, recreated as an avatar. But with massive eye ridges and no eyes, because…. erm…. it wouldn’t be as scary.

[ahem]

@happinesspatrol – metal objects and control over/ via electromagnetic means. hmmm……

What else… well…. still only watched it once!

Oh – and really enjoyed it! 🙂

[Whisht @replies]

phew – caught up with all the comments (for now!)

Only managed to see the episode on Monday night, and only had one watch – but my re-watch is soooo gonna be informed by what I’ve read here (thanks!!)

All I can say that hasn’t been mentioned (because… to obvious?):

They keep talking about “electromagnetic” blah blah in relation to ghosts, ‘daylight’ and locks and ‘stuff’. So if the ghosts are electromagnetic holograms, then they could be powered enough (in a hand-wavey way) to pick up metals that respond to magnetism.
Do nuclear reactors have magnetic properties…?

That lost battery…

Who’s in the box? Why, its the madman in a box!
Which is why the cloister bell sounds – the Doctor is on his own timeline, and in grave(!) danger.

But that’s all very literal after one watching. What we need is bonkers (I missed the mention!).

So…. could Clara actually be the chameleon arched Doctor?
This flies in the face of ‘evidence’ so I’ll huff my way through the first one which is Missy saying she “chose” Clara. But what if she ‘chose’ her in the same way Romana and BakerDoc chose her body?

It would make sense as to why the Doctor is so keen to protect Clara/himself.

Only problem is….. its bonkers and not emotionally satisfying.
Apart from that its fine!
😉

[Whisht @replies]

Hi @denvaldron and @Purofilion – In terms of ‘monsters’ (though ‘villains’ is subtly different) I remember having fun with @rob in coming up with new ones.

I think (without thinking deeply) what makes a good villain or monster is a fear that children and adults share – because the fears of the adults were the same ones they had as kids.

So – monsters that resonate may be the ones that kids can relate to. Here’s what I said before on this (though I’m not suggesting that that means I’m right! ;¬) )

For me the Daleks aren’t scary anymore (they fail too often and to be truly scary for me it has to be total and destructive and having thousands of them reduces this). Hence why I fancifull suggested these as horrible enemies.

Weeping Angels is (I think) also similar to a kid’s game – a game of ‘tag’ where if you blink I can move.

The other monsters that resonate are those that (perhaps) adults fear more – those who have no emotion, and those who have too much.
Sociopaths(?) and bigots.

I’m entirely ignoring the ‘gloopy’ monster/villains as its just “ewwwwww urghh”.

[Whisht @replies]

ok – its now too late to post stuff and must listen to some tracks posted (ffs – “witch” is far too sumptuous a temptation!) but may be days before I can post again.

So just a very quick personal thank you to @meisiluosi for some gorgeous tunes.
I know nohing about Chinese music but loved what I heard. As you rightly guessed, I love blends of music as they are 1) easier to initially listen to and 2) somehow make me listen to the unblended musics afresh.

cheers!

[Whisht @replies]

phew!

Ok, had to watch this on Monday and taken me this long to get through all the posts – fantastic stuff!

Different people have touched upon different bits that I liked or was less certain about (and both expressed it better than I) so I won’t tread over old ground.

I will echo @bluesqueakpip that acronyms for episodes can be a pain (and I’m not even dyslexic). Simply as reading “seeteffll? what the hell is that one?” happens often, whereas “Library” or “Vashta” or whatever may spark memories (and recognition via the word itself) might be more useful for people that are popping their head in for the first time/ don’t know all the series that well etc.
But, hey ho (maybe there’s a bot or ‘thing’ that in wordpress that can recognise acronyms and write them out as titles…. coder anyone??)

Absolutely loving the Tarot stuff and excellent spotting (how the hell did I miss the Hanged Man!!??!). I have a book on the tarot somewhere by Juliet Sharman-Burke (I dug it out to get her name), but no idea if its any good!
Same as the Fool – for my degree I wrote a dissertation on the Fool. When I came to re-read it 15 years later it was so execrable that after 2 paragraphs I tossed it into a bin! Honestly I read the words “The Fool” so often I wondered if I thought through repetition I’d get to hit the word count!

Honestly it was awful. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to write about and was interested in lots of various things (tarot archetype; holy fool; literary journey fool; jester with ‘license’ to speak Truth fool; historical reality of courts and disability fool; Native American ‘fool’ using humour and shaming to enact social justice; blah blah blah….. it was all over the place!).
Thank goodness when I subject others to my twattering it isn’t in some wildly over-ambitious lack-of-focus musings on a subject.

[ahem]

But I do at least have something to add to the proceedings.

One is silly (qu’elle suprise):

The other is… well quite simply the secret of Clara.

I’ve now read through these posts and I may be wrong but so far we’ve theorised that:

Clara is CAL (bloody hell I’ll have nightmares about those anagrams again);
a previous regeneration of the Master (I like this – Clara regenerates into Missy, exits stage left as Missy and Missy enters stage right);
she is Susan (hm);
Susan’s mum (hmm);
she is Susan’s dad (maybe);
Susan’s daughter (oh ffs);
The Doctor’s mother (err);
The woman who held her face in her hands in that episode who’s name I forget;
That she is just Clara, and that’s enough…

but no, Clara is actually…..

The Doctor’s…….

Aunt.

Yes, Clara is the Doctor’s giddy aunt and her profound effect on him has been foreshadowed about…. well, decades ago.

She blew in on a leaf; was dispersed into Claricles:

Of course she’s bloody giddy!!

[Whisht @replies]

btw as no one posted a link to the CD of Rassilon, I thought I’d at least show a screencap

[Whisht @replies]

@phaseshift – I completely agree with you. With Sonic Youth I always feel like I *should* like them (more than I usually do) though for every album there’s usually one or two fantastic tracks.
Same with Beastie Boys – at first I thought how dumb/crude (VW signs on neck chains etc etc). Then….. well the more I heard the more I liked. And they seem to have been always evolving (and such a shame about their own tragedy).
I had (have?!? hmmm, yep probably still….) a huge snobbishnes with music that does me no good at all. Luckily the older I get the less its a problem but still – so much silliness for denying my listening pleasure in the past (and listening to stuff I thought I ‘should’ like instead).

For most bands during the 80’s and 90’s, I tended to be behind the first wave of appreciation, only getting into them years later. Same is true today.

I hadn’t known Cave was a Who fan and though I knew many here like me must be, when I heard of his tragic loss I just couldn’t link to anything here.
At the time it just felt ‘wrong’ unlike when the performer themselves pass away. Almost certainly weird ‘standards’ on my part but there you go.
Beautiful track I’ve not heard before @scaryb – thanks for that. [hugs back]

Liked the CUSM – where has all the fun dancey CUSM/ Wonderstuff/ (CUD!)/ Supergrass etc gone???!!??

and your mention of testament made me think of this (which I’m also sure I’ve posted before so apologies)

@meisiluosi – ineteresting Chinese rock track – thanks! I really like when other musical cultures take on another culture’s music. Hence me linking to the Ethiopian track earlier. For me its really interesting to hear how their orchestration takes something and translates it through their own instruments and traditions. For some things I actually hear the ‘original’ slightly differently afterwards.

[Whisht @replies]

@ichabod – I just wanted to say I hope your sister is doing ok.
I missed the opportunity when you mentioned what was happening for you, to link some music.
However maybe that was lucky as you’d asked for “I’d like to request any funny/macabre music you’ve got handy”.

Now I can sometimes have a pretty dark humour and…. well, maybe it would be amusing… but maybe not.

;¬)

So, now is a different time and as others have done I’ll simply link to some fun choons.
I’m positive I’ve linked to this jaunty, cheeky, light-hearted tune before, and I’m sure I’ve linked to this (but I’m not sure) but it raises a smile (with me) every time I hear it:

[Whisht @replies]

So – The Magician’s Apprentice!

I was going to try and find some magical music, but instead I’ll simply link to a track heard in the background of the cantina Maldovarium (and far better than trad-space-jazz)

I’m happy to entertain any bonkers theories about why they went for this one, as Cave has many others that are far more ‘menacing’, so maybe its for what happens in this two parter… or arc…

“O father tell me, are you weeping?
Your face seems wet to touch
O then I’m so sorry, father
I never thought I hurt you so much

This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While we rock ourselves to sleep
This is a weeping song”

[Whisht @replies]

well – a bit late to the party and not much to add.

Really enjoyed it and am still hoping for a face-off (well, snide bitch fest) between Misstra and Davros. Loved Bleech’s performance – tired yet far more evil and menacing than any hissing hench-snake-man.

Not much to add to everyone’s thoughts. Loved the ankle-grabbing lhandmines (grabbing ankles again); loved “would you like some shade? I know how you humans burn” (Gomez is just awesome); enjoyed “which one of us is dying?” before the hug; and I just cannot think where I’ve seen the Doctor hop around and then proclaim about the gravity before, but I’m sure I have (trying to even remember which Doctor…).

Only thing no one’s mentioned is the wedge shaped gap in the “confession dial” thing. Why would there be a piece missing? Is it actually not finished? Is it possible the confession is no longer strictly ‘factual’ (in that he changes Time)? Does someone else have the other bit which ‘finishes’ it? Is “it” actually a confession thing? When finished is it something else….? a key, or chameleon arch or Chekhov’s Duck?
Anyone figured out what the Gallifreyan says..?

But none of that is truly bonkers, so…. The planet they are on. Is it the Asylum of the Daleks? Is this why there’s a bunch of them from various eras together? Is that the time that they have travelled to…?

(did I mention I really enjoyed this episode? 🙂 )

[Whisht @replies]

aw – Hi @purofilion {waves to others} – kind of you to ask!

I was actually coming on tonight anyway. Basically couldn’t watch the episode till last night and then had to read everyone’s comments!

Not much to add save a tune and some silly thoughts (I’ll pop over to the right thread for that).

Its ‘interesting’ about the trolls/ Moffat-haters etc. I read a piece about “Putinbots” on the Guardian the other week and instantly thought “I wonder if there are Moffbots…”.

It seems these aren’t “bots” at all but old-fashioned PR (or older fashioned propaganda), where people are paid to write lots and lots of posts BTL and drown out opposing viewpoints. In the end there’s a sense for normal people of “no smoke without fire” – which is ludicrous as otherwise how would we have the opening scene in the episode we just saw!

;¬)

[Whisht @replies]

“The planet” – a lovely subtitle.

When would it not be the planet, when visiting the Sisterhood…?

“He” (who is looking for the Doctor) and “that monster” I had thought was referring to the same person (Missy/ Master or “Misstra” as I’ll annoyingly call her).

However I’m now wondering if “He” is the President. And though not the “Portable CD Player of Rassilon” I think the disc the Doctor handed over is something important that could unlock the Timelords from wherever they are.

This – bringing them back – is the Doctor’s “destruction”. But this is what he wants to do.

Either that or……

He wants to rehabilitate the Misstra, the disc is central to this, but this (obviously) would lead to his destruction as …. leopards and enemies-in-fiction do not change their spots.

or……

I get to have a month of birthdays and whoever it was upstream who mentioned Davros is right and I get to see Gomez and Bloom in scenes together.

{sigh}

Either way I expect no less than Misstra coming to collect that disc and have some fun with the Sisterhood:

“oooooh…. can I join now?”

😈

[Whisht @replies]

btw I love your image of a speech bubble @ichabod although I have a slightly different way to use it.

Imagine the ‘point’ of the bubble (the beginning of it, the source) pointed at the collapsed sun [whateverthehellitwasthatOmegadid] and the bubble being the Tardis (and any Tardis).

Any Tardis uses that point in SpaceTime that Omega created as its energy point/ moment of warping SpaceTime enough to Time Travel (and create matter and mass in the form of rooms etc).

In fact did we ‘see’ this moment of the collapsing sun in Journey To the Centre of the Tardis?

Maybe not but I agree with you – loads of scope for bonkerising!

;¬)

[Whisht @replies]

@ichabod @purofilion – the Tardis is like the show, its bigger on the inside.

(I am sure others have said that before!)

I agree, loads of room for play with the Tardis – probably why its endured as such an iconic ‘spacecraft’, obviously along with its idiosyncratic (and then anachronistic) exterior.

I’d imagine the Tardis works to its own rules so shifts things or has them on an idiosyncratically ‘logical’ path (eg “always two lefts after you’ve truly given up” or “the door before you would have started to open every door”).

To conserve ‘memory’ (data and energy), rooms can be deleted (I seem to remember and makes sense).

But very very easy to imagine colonies of ‘things’ living in areas below the knowledge of the Tardis or hidden in some ways.

;¬)

[Whisht @replies]

Hi @phaseshift – Afraid I haven’t seen any ‘new’ TV and have been trudging through a “the complete first 3 seasons” of Fringe.

And after far far too many exposition-filled episodes that left me cringing (otherwise fine episodes clanged with moments like “you mean St Claire’s – the asylum you were in for 17 years?” said by the son who got him out of said asylum 10 episodes ago!!) it ‘suddenly’ became a good show when it basically trusted the viewer to have kept a basic grasp of characters and rough plot arc and have realised “oh, its not the X Files. Its close enough to fill that need, yet different enough to be interesting”.
As soon as it did that, it focussed on the emotional levers in the stories rather than just the icky-gory stuff.

Well at least for me. 🙂

Now (to my surprise and joy) I still have a set of discs/season to go!

[Whisht @replies]

@craig – ah, a new home (this thread is 3! awww its so cute!)

Now, I’ll be honest and thought “oh, not Morricone again. Maybe I’ll get around to listening…”

and then I did listen.

And its effing awesome!

;¬D

Honestly its impossible to hear that and not have a racing heart and a hoooooge smile!
btw the titles at the end are Deborah’s Theme from Once Upon A Time in America – absolutely gorgeous (both film and music – kinda shmaltzy in the right way as its about childhood love and memory).

{sigh}

and that jarre Who track is….. bloody great!!

@phaseshift –
That’s a lovely cover version of the Pixies!
Really proves they weren’t as limited as Frank Black once said they were (I guess he was being tongue in cheek when he said “we weren’t very good – so we just went very quiet then very loud; slow then fast” [my recollection of an interview rather than direct quote])

Reminded me that I was going to see if people wanted to post their favourite covers (or most unusual) or even the versions they didn’t realise were covers.

“The most bizarre and interesting US band of the 80s”
ohhh…. well yes! 🙂
Y’know my initial reaction was “oh but what about… {so-and-so}?” and I studiously went through my collection (regressing ever-deeper into muso soup with every click).
Sure, we’ve got other stuff, but y’know they aren’t actually as bizarrely popular or interesting as the Pixies.

In terms of 80’s, I don’t want to link to another Pixies track so (after you’ve prompted me to go through my collection) here’s something from Sonic Youth (from what I think is their best album) and something from the Beastie Boys (who’s evolution from punk to hip hop to …. rock-rap or whatever the genre is was quite interesting)

[Whisht @replies]

Hi @ichabod and @mudlark – I’ve not read Embassytown but I have read Mieville’s ‘Perdido Street Station’ and ‘The City and the City’.

In terms of a “baroque style” I think I know what you mean, but it may apply to the earlier rather than later works.
I’ve only read the two books but Perdido Street Station (2000) is a sprawling mess of a novel that had me turning pages throughout (even if it dragged somewhat and maybe needed editing to something tighter). I say “mess” and “page turning” deliberately. Some parts were beautiful (two of the characters’ relationship was beautifully written I thought) and other parts…. went on between the good bits!

The City and The City (2009) however felt a lot tighter and less ‘baroque’ (if I’m understanding your reference properly).

Its been a long while since I read either, so hope I’m not wildly mis-remembering(!) and hope I haven’t muddied any waters!

(if I have I’ll stick to painful humour and musical asides! 🙂 )

[Whisht @replies]

Waaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

I can’t believe it!
No new signings for this Season!

How can we possibly make progress with the same team we had last season????

We’re stuck with the same Doctor and Companion, when Moffat knew we needed a Doctor who could score!

And trusting in the same short midfield maestro, when everyone knew we needed an enforcer Companion!

Moffat OUT!

oh, hold on……

…. I’ve confused my fanbase

ARSE!

(grrrrr – now what the hell have I posted on that Arsenal blog??)

[Whisht @replies]

ah @indigomoose – defending shipping with head can(n)ons is another thing entirely methinks…

;¬)

[Whisht @replies]

btw would love to say hi and welcome to @indigomoose for introducing some rather nice bonkers.

fantastic!

I like the “ship’s log” idea for the Tardis.

I also like the idea of a head cannon, though sadly feel its only likely after Dalekisation……

[Whisht @replies]

@arbutus – ha ha, not heard that Kinks song before.

And soooo Doctor Who.

I mean, it is the St John Ambulance hymn isn’t it?

[Whisht @replies]

so, there’s obviously a wonderful conversation over in the Cloven Hoof about grub (perhaps the offerings of pub grub aren’t up to much) and you may say I’m being obvious, but as I say to my team “you can’t be too effing* obvious”

*though obviously I actually swear.

[Whisht @replies]

ah @bluesqueakpip – my spoons aren’t hard enough to dissolve.

They’re too scared of my tea.

[Whisht @replies]

And now, to stretch the plausibility of why I’m actually linking songs…

{cough}

…here’s a (ninja)choon that links food and crows (which we weren’t discussing when we were discussing Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, though we could have been).

Its damn near seamless my DJing*.

*no, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that I don’t DJ and the only time I ever looked after the decks while a friend was incapacitated (by his own doing {cough} ) I hadn’t a clue. Why all the white labels? How the hell could I find anything I even remotely recognised??
I dropped tunes like someone dropping spanners onto a draining board.

or people’s heads.

ooohhhh the tune after Crow is a live set…. uh oh, there goes bedtime….

[Whisht @replies]

so in The Cloven Hoof there’s been much chat of non-alcoholic beverages.

I know – in a pub.

However, tea was mentioned so here’s two choons that feature tea.

There are many others, but these seemed to go together.
The first talks about how even a spoonful of tea can be enough (though maybe he’s singing about a spoonful of something else far less healthy…), while the other admits that… well, not everything’s everyone’s cup of tea.

and…

[Whisht @replies]

ah – the subject of “tea”.

I grew up on tea. 5-6 mugs a day (which must have all been in the evening so god knows what it did to my sleeping patterns – I now never drink it after 5pm).

When I was growing up it was mainly drank with cake (though also handfuls of biscuits).
My mum made one type of cake and it was the kind that was heavy, full of raisins, sultanas and currants and went stale quickly. Hence the tea to soften it (especially if it had had a bit too much heat).

I swear the roads of England were built on Tea and cake.

As nothing got wasted when I was growing up (“eat that or tomorrow it’ll either get custard or gravy put on it”) and me being the youngest, I ate the most cake – and hence drank most tea.

Tea (and I believe myself to be a connoisseur) is ‘Builder’s tea’ made the way my Dad described –

“make it so you can rest a spoon on it”.

[Whisht @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave

damn you man, you made me watch this

(btw I love hearing fellow professionals’ insights on things, but I just have a soft spot for Jonathan Miller’s insights as they seem so far deeper)

its long(ish) but don’t worry about the time, as its writted on a piece of paper.

[Whisht @replies]

RIP George Cole

As one YT commenter (Dondonesque Strikes) says:

“I defy anyone to listen to this without mentally raising their lapels, settling an imaginary trilby on their head and walking away keeping their back to a wall!”

(honestly I’m not on ‘death watch’ or anything but maybe its just my (middle)age.

[Whisht @replies]

now….. @arbutus.

I. Love. You.

But purely in a platonic/musiphonic way
(its Doctor Who so musiphonic’s a madey-uppy word obviously).

Still – you’ve also made me love Dave Grohl even more and I’m afraid I now don’t know if I can’t stalk him until we marry.

I thought the video/music event had been instigated by him and I’d thought “cool”.

Instead it was instigated by fans who thought he might like it enough that he might come to play their city.

Which makes them massively amazing, but also what a credit to him that they thought ‘yeah – he’d like this’!

{sigh}

btw – I think whoever was engineering the sound (or whatever their job titles) how this wasn’t presented as a muddy mess of people playing deserves a ton of credit.

and btw – am I the only one to think that as the guy is thanking everyone at the end someone should be standing and sayng “I am spartacus” or something similar!? 😉

[Whisht @replies]

I’ve just got to say how shocked I was to hear of Cilla Black’s passing.
She was a staple of TV when I was growing up.
This obviously meant that I didn’t think much of her at the time (because I would have been so exposed to her in light entertainment shows) and took her for granted.

Which proves I know nothing.

She had a particular voice but worked really really hard. And I was really saddened when I heard she’d passed away.

@krynoidman posted a great track of hers that I probably would have done. So here’s one that in a way shows here strengths because it contrasts with some limitations (but bear with me – its to show her strengths).

The intimacy and honesty she could get from her half-spoken singing is incredible (to me). In my mind’s ear she works similarly to Dusty Spingfield and though Dusty’s range may be greater that shouldn’t take away Cilla’s quality. Maybe the reason she was so successful with Surprise Surprise and Blind Date was that they were honest and heartfelt (though admittedly it takes skill to always be like that and bring it across over tv).

So, here’s a track that I think illustrate those intimate singing moments (even if they are between a song’s lung-belting parts)

[Whisht @replies]

so, that was Season 1 of Fringe.

I’m kinda too tired to do a detailed analysis (like anyone expected that of me!) but I found it interesting that the series only picked up around episode 4 or 5 when the exposition calmed down.

But then again, it started again a few episodes later, so maybe they were just conscious (or scared) that people were dropping in all the time and needed to explain relationships, that “there are strange things happening” etc.
To be honest I found that a bit tiring and thought “don’t you know in years to come that people will watch in blocks of episodes??!?”.

That and the fact that the episodes seemed to follow a similar pattern of:
– Person in trouble (when innocent, they always seemed to be women…);
– Lets cut up the cadaver – ooh, Bishop needs a tinkle;
– ah, now for the gobbledegeek;
– which leads to the madey-uppy solution;
– voila (and a small something about the overall mystery is revealed).

Its not a bad pattern, but a tad repetitive.

Hey ho – now on to Season two*!

* well, I bought the boxset in the local Oxfam.

[Whisht @replies]

in fact @phaseshift I hope you’ll be amused to know that I saw the Ozrics at Glastonbury one year and remember dancing very very hard to this one!

Pretty sure no drugs were involved (though memory is hazy, and it was Glastonbury, and it was the Ozrics….).
Think you’ll enjoy this….

;¬)

[Whisht @replies]

@phaseshift – he he, me and Metal can remain a fun thread!

;¬)

Enjoyed Ride On (mainly as its on the ‘hard rock’ end of the spectrum rather than cock rock perhaps…)

;¬0

And really enjoyed Black Sabbath.
Made me go all cosmic, and dig out this little gem playing the background as I type…..

……man…..

[Whisht @replies]

ah yes @phaseshift – another sad passing.

When I saw the news it was in a really obscure place and I don’t know why I felt so sad. Just something about the mania of many of his characters as well as their decency (though almost always with a hint of perhaps not being so nice).

Coincidentally I was going to post this link:

[Whisht @replies]

ah @purofilion – in terms of Scott Walker, like so many artists I probably like the idea of Scott Walker more than the artist themselves.

Something delightfully barmy/ unlikely/ just slightly ‘other’.

I think (I may be wrong) that I linked to this song as a ‘song for a companion’ when discussing Amy and Rory and the Doctor.
But equally could have been for Amy later (choosing between Danny and the Doctor).

[Whisht @replies]

ok – great posts by everyone before me so I’ll just say “yep – I agree”.

Now, there is one reason why the Doctor (especially Tom Baker’s) might return to Gallifrey, and that is to say “I told you so”.

Honestly. To blow a raspberry. To say “I was right”.

That is a key reason for someone who felt compelled to leave due to others, to return.
Especially after spending a long, long, long time away having adventures and doing fine things and proving to himself that they were wrong.

He’d want to go back (in Time if needs be) and prove they were wrong.

The boy done good. Admit it.

[Whisht @replies]

Only just now getting around to watching this (I know – slack!).

I kinda agree with Janette – its amazing how many of the menaces in this Matrix are based around WW1 or Boer War(?) imagery (gas-masked horses, biplanes, rifles etc).

But I guess its a change from an episode running up and down corridors (running around a quarry is harsher on the knees and hands though).

I probably watched this episode at the time and – as Mary Whitehouse so accurately predicted – I was traumatised.

Luckily I must have taken the Doctor’s advice, said “I deny this reality!” and then played with some Lego.

[Whisht @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave – totally with you on the “excellent”.

In my mind, the Cybermen weren’t so camp, but there you go.
How memory deceives (and how this particular 11 year old didn’t get ‘camp’).

I also now want the still of the bit where he says “More power!” emblazoned on….

everything!

[Whisht @replies]

so, this is nothing to do with anything, and yet another episode in my life where I think “really, no one else thought this?”, but I was tickled when I saw a headline the other day:

“Scott Walker announces candidacy for President”

and I thought

“No! Reallly???!??”

Sadly it was not to be, but would’ve been fun.

;¬)

[Whisht @replies]

btw – I should obviously say that alcohol is a drug and has its dangers.

this is one of the best songs that sum up being drunk and should be played to all people thinking about drinking.

If you think ” yeah, i don’t mind the weirdness” then fine.

But you were warned.

On this occasion mainly by Gibby Haynes, but there are plenty of others.

[Whisht @replies]

@miapatrick

well, in light of the fact that I’ve been called out on not liking heavy metal (tsk) I did think I’d go for this little ditty for our Aussie chums (but couldn’t find the album version), so thought I’d play to the gallery and link to the ever verdigreen Waits

[Whisht @replies]

@miapatrick – that is one awesome answer.

I need to find a good musical reply.

However, instead (after an hour) I’ll reply…. on the Music thread

[Author]

Posts