The Day of the Doctor(s)

Saturday night was Geekfest – a celebration of all things geeky but more specifically a chance to gather with friends and watch the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day Of The Doctor. I think my second Doctor outfit worked quite well, all things considered. I couldn’t get the hair to work quite as well as I’d hoped. It fluffed out slightly and it turns out that I was somewhat greyer than Patrick Troughton was in the 1960s. Nina thought I ended up looking more like Timothy Dalton’s James Bond than the Doctor – still, that’s better than ending up looking like an Ood:

Some of the other outfits were quite impressive – particularly this Weeping Angel which was genuinely quite creepy:

There was also a third Doctor at the party - although we managed to get on better than in the series:

It wasn’t all Doctor Who references as you can see from this Vulcan:

As for the episode itself, I was really taken with it as it managed to somehow fill the long gap when it was off-air and nicely tie up both the original series with it’s modern incarnation and somehow turn the whole thing into a coherent whole. Like many of Stephen Moffat’s scripts it really does need to be seen twice to appreciate all the subtle touches of dialogue. For an episode that delved so deeply into the mythology of the series I think there was enough to keep the casual viewer entertained but for a fan of almost 50 years worth of episodes there were clever references in abundance.

I suppose the problem now is how to top it – and also how to answer the question of limiting the Doctor to 13 bodies. Personally, I would rather that bit of mythology was gently swept aside but it seems to have gained such hard-coded centrality amongst fandom that it really does need properly explaining (like how come the Master keeps regenerating when he was the reason the limit was introduced to begin with?) Anyway, that’s for another day. Christmas Day, in fact.

Fancy Dress

This week we were told that our children would be going to school in their pyjamas as part of Children in Need week. This is a perfectly decent charitable cause but having children go to school in pyjamas, in Scotland and in the middle of November one can only assume that this should have been called Children in Need of a Bleeding Overcoat.

Dressing up is a fun thing for kids but there seems to be an increasing demand for them to have a costume for every occasion. A few weeks ago we were told that my daughter was meant to be going to school dressed as a pirate for “pirate party day”. Now I was tempted to send her with a replica AK-47 and tell them she was Somalian but we actually had a Captain Hook outfit which she looked rather cute in. Then we had the ritual of Halloween for which it is no longer acceptable to stick a sheet over the kids’ heads and tell them they are ghosts. The latest thing is that they have to go dressed as “a number” which can include a replica football shirt if so desired. I’m blown if I’m going to fork out for that and I’m very tempted to send them as π just to confound the school.

Fancy dress is something that can carry on into adulthood with fan conventions and dubious themed parties. I’m not a big fan of it normally but next week is the Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary and I have been invited to an event dubbed by my friend’s wife as Geekfest and I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to dress up for the world. I did mull over the idea as going as Roger Delgado’s Master which I think I could have pulled off quite nicely except that I couldn’t have survived the facial hair growth (Movember or not) which did make me wonder whether going as Christopher Ecclestone’s Doctor No 9 (or was he?) would be a good idea as I usually have a similar cropped haircut.

The key to the 9th Doctor outfit is his leather jacket. I did manage to find a suitable jacket online. It was £125 which is not cheap but I thought I could get some use out of a nice leather jacket. Unfortunately, my wife disagreed because whilst I think it would make me look like this:

My wife thought it would make me look far more like this:

At £125 quid I thought I’d knock it on the head. However, I did rather like the idea of going as Patrick Troughton’s 2nd Doctor. Like me, the 2nd Doctor was a bit of a scruffbag and the key to his outfit is to wear things that are slightly oversized. This worked for Patrick Troughton as he was quite a small man but unfortunately I tend to were the top size of everything (at least length-wise) unless I was going to buy a pile of clothes from High and Mighty.

The saving grace in all this is this rather fetching item which I found at Forbidden Planet:

It’s a T-shirt with the 2nd Doctor’s outfit printed on it. I did wonder whether it would look a bit naff but once I stick my (slightly) oversized black jacket over the top it looks quite fitting. Anyway, as of 19:50 next Saturday I don’t think anyone will be bothered with what I’m wearing.

The Sound Of Silence

Over the last few weeks I have been increasingly been bothered by tinnitus – mostly manifesting itself as a high pitched whistle, not entirely unlike the noise of a faulty CRT monitor. In fact it has been getting to the point whereby I have been actively distracted by it. Like anything else medical I have been loathe to make an appointment with my local GP. Hearing loss is one of those things that comes with age so I suppose I have rather been in denial about it for a while. My older dog, Eddie, seems to suffer from the same thing – at least he doesn’t seem to respond easily to his own name. This may be related to his wanton stupidity but I think he is genuinely suffering hearing loss, along with his blancmange for brains and failing eyesight. Still, he’s a wiz at the old pinball.

I eventually made the decision to see a doctor after taking the kids to the cinema a couple of weeks ago to see Monsters University. This was at the university cinema so it was more of an arthouse ambience rather than a blaring multiplex but I had quite a bit of discomfort in my ears from the sub-woofers. I thought it would settle down in a quiet room afterwards but was left with a persistent hiss and whistle reminiscent of the after-effects of a Motörhead concert. I had my doctors appointment on Tuesday and after a brief examination she diagnosed me with Otitis Externa – essentially an infection of the ear which leads to a thickening of the skin and a resultant itchiness, pain and hearing loss. The prescription for this was a simple antibiotic ear spray which I have been taking for the last five days.

So have I found an improvement? Overall I would say I have but it’s very difficult to determine quite how much. My ears still feel a bit itchy and the tinnitus is still there. In fact it is probably always there it’s just that it is not normally noticed – tinnitus is essentially the sound of silence. In the past I’ve even been able to make out segments of music in pure silence as a kind of auditory pareidolia. However, I do feel as if I am hearing speech more clearly. The real test would be to have a full hearing test but I have found a few online tests which at least offers a glimpse of whether my hearing is feeling the effects of middle age decrepitude.

One such test is http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk which can be done online and measures one’s ability to make out some spoken numbers over a background of white noise. It’s a fairly basic test but one which does give some sort of indication of hearing problems. After a week of medication I’ve taken the test and passed – which is a relief. In fact, I’ve noticed that my hearing does seem better overall. Music sounds clearer and I can listen to the TV without turning the amplifier up to 11. It does still sound much clearer through the Dolby surround, though. However, I think that is more a case of superior fidelity rather than a hearing aid – sending all the spoken words to a separate speaker helps no end.

I just wonder whether my choices in music may change a bit. I’ve been listening to a lot of heavy rock recently and not much classical or Jazz. If I can actually hear the music I suspect that might change.

The Mighty Torque Wrench

I noticed back in March that DIY is much easier with the appropriate tools but I had another example this week when I came to change my wheels around. I’ve swapped wheels before and I am quite capable of doing it with the basic tool kit that motor manufacturers (until recently) supply for the purposes of changing burst tyres but they are very primitive and removing wheels can be torturous. Putting them back on can be even more problematic as if the bolts are not tightened up correctly the wheel can fall off – on the other hand, apply too much pressure and the bolt can sheer off. It’s a stupid thing to do but I’ve managed it in the past.

Changing the wheels this week was much easier – largely because I’m a sucker for the “specials” that they sell at discount supermarkets such as Lidl and Aldi. It’s a cunning ploy – save a few quid on cheap fruit and veg and come out with £100 worth of power tools. Well I didn’t spend that much on this tool (just under £20, in fact) but I am now a convert to the mighty torque wrench.

The torque wrench is a fundamentally simple idea. It can be adjusted to limit the amount of pressure that is applied to a bolt – it also has a longer handle which means it is a lot less effort to turn the thing. However, it is simply the limit to torque that makes it so much easier because I can just twist it around like gorilla without worrying about shredding the bolts. Overall it took me just 30 minutes to change all 4 wheels: hardly formula one but every second counts when it’s cold and wet.

I just wonder what else might make the job easier. A proper jack maybe? I’ll have to see what Lidl stock next.