Last Christmas

I think it’s safe to say that my children have now all stopped believing in Santa Claus. The youngest has pretty much worked out what is going on and, even if she can’t quite fathom out how the sleight of hand is done, she does appreciate that the magic is all done by Mum and Dad. It’s inevitable, I suppose, but in a way it’s rather sad that we are now past that point. Having said that, even the eldest (now almost 13) likes to play along with the pretence and have a stocking of goodies to sort through on Christmas morning although this year I forgot to buy the tangerines in.

In fact, it wasn’t just the tangerines. I also forgot to buy in white wine for Christmas dinner as well as milk and margarine. In addition I didn’t get around to doing any of the ironing so I was down to wearing my Doctor Who T-shirt. Never mind, I wasn’t planning on going out anywhere – except to the local convenience store to buy the wine and milk. It’s fortunate that he was open on Christmas Day and he seemed quite pleased to see me – quite bemused, in fact, as I had rather forgotten that I looked like this:

Our other Christmas traditions are all going strong from choosing and decorating the tree, through to eating far too much and collapsing in front of the TV for the Queen’s speech. In true Royle Family style, lying around in front of the telly seems to be a tradition in itself whether this is watching just about the only new Top Of The Pops of the year (which gives me my only excuse to grump about how rubbish modern music is), seeing the animated movie or what has now been a tradition for the last 10 years and watching the festive edition of Doctor Who.

I normally give the Christmas Who a little leeway as, unless they are trying to introduce a new character or write out an old one, the episodes follow the format of a seasonal “romp” and tend to be much better enjoyed when not taken too seriously. Given that Last Christmas was to be The Doctor meeting Santa Claus I wasn’t expecting too much. What we actually got was both far darker than I could have imagined and far more like serious Sci-Fi than I could have hoped for. The basic premise of not being able to determine the difference between dreams and reality was fantastically done with the actual real world not entirely clear until the final scenes . This reminded me a little of the film Inception but I think Doctor Who pulled this off more effectively as the claustrophobic sets allowed for a closer examination of the characters unlike the film which became swamped by its own cinematography.

I’m interested to see where the character of Clara is going to go now. I had expected her to leave as her story arc was seemingly at an end (in fact she has had two arcs already) but I’m pleased that Jenna Coleman is staying as she works well with Capaldi. We’ll have to see where this goes in Series 9. I felt that Matt Smith did one series too few (which rather accounted for last Christmas’s episode feeling like it has a full series worth of plot crammed into 60 minutes) so I’m just hoping that Jenna isn’t making one series too many.

Large Print

Over the last few weeks and months I have come to the conclusion that I am falling to pieces. It seemed to start with my ears and I have since gone through various wax removal therapies but with no long lasting remedy. Then I have had ongoing problems with my back which is getting no better and last week I had an some emergency dental work. The latest was my bi-annual visit to the opticians which will apparently now have to be annual for various reasons.

My prescription hasn’t altered that much but I have now been recommended that as well as single vision lenses for seeing at a distance I would also benefit from varifocals, for working with computers, reading glasses, for books and prescription sunglasses on the basis that I live somewhere sunny. Quite how I am meant to swap between these is a mystery: I can only assume they are to be hung around my neck on a chain like a demented Larry Grayson.

There is an alternative to the reading glasses and that is to make use of our local libraries collection of large print books. They actually have a fair collection but the selection makes me think that large print is aimed at a certain demographic. Over a quarter of the large print books are actually Mills and Boons romantic fiction. Quite a good selection of the mainstream fiction is also largely romantic novels and even the non-fiction section has little that would be regarded as “male interest” (whatever that is). I could really only see Stephen Fry’s America and Ross Kemp talks Blokey Bollocks (or whatever it was) as being well away from the romantic fiction staples.

My new frames (particularly the varifocals) are due to be ready in a week or so. I’ll give them a go and get the reading glasses if they are too much of an effort to use. That’s got to be preferable to delving into Barbara Cartland territory.

When The Wind Blows

Over the last couple of months we have had four wind turbines installed locally. These are visible from the back of our house (at least in Winter – I suspect the trees will hide them in the Summer). I was contacted some years ago, when we lived in the farm steadings, about our opinions on having a wind turbine nearby. I thought this was a very good idea but nothing ever came of the plans. The scheme near Larbert is much larger than the proposed one for the Moss but it has been agreed that the operators will pay £25,000 per year to the local parish council which seems like a good deal for all concerned.

Todhill turbine near Larbert - for an idea of scale see the white van parked at the base.

I took a few photographs of the turbines as they were being constructed. From a distance it is difficult to appreciate the size of wind turbines as they look like they could be a child’s toy. It’s not until you are close to the structures that the sheer scale of them can be appreciated. The tips of the blades reach up to 125m high but a better indication of the size is to see the scale of the white VW Transporter vans at the base. I’ve visited a couple of turbine sites and up close they are quite awe inspiring – very much in the traditional sense of being a little scary. From further back it is possible to appreciate the elegance of them. Like bridges there is a certain beauty in objects that have been engineered to utilise physics to their own end. Compare this to an electric pylon which looks all rather saggy and ungainly as its form arises from having the laws of physics imposed upon it.

Todhill turbine blades being lifted into place.

There have been several news stories recently which has highlighted just how much of our power is being generated from sustainable sources. This is particularly true in Scotland where the sustainable generating sector has now overtaken nuclear energy as the largest single source of electricity. Billy Bragg highlighted changing attitudes to turbines in this Facebook entry. I responded to that which seems to have been popular with some people even if I did receive an abusive message from one person (actually a personal email which seems like pretty determined trolling just to call someone a homosexual).

The reaction of most people I’ve spoken to locally about our new turbines has been largely positive. This ranges from those who are actively enthusiastic about the project, through to those that would rather we didn’t have to have power production but appreciate that the lights have to stay on and that this is far preferable to fracking. I’ve not spoken to anyone who was actively against the development but I have seen a few comments in the local paper criticising it and a few comments on various website forums that either complain that they will affect house prices (which I would personally regard as a bonus) or quoting various “facts” and “research” that proves that alternative energy sources are a futile exercise.

I put “facts” and “research” in quotes because whenever I read anything related to energy or the environment the quoted sources are usually fairly dubious and at best they offer a cherry-picked distortion of genuine peer reviewed papers. To a point, this is always going to happen because peer reviewed journals are by their nature rather dry affairs and assume a level of knowledge that is above even the well-informed layman. I’ve recently discovered a very good beginners guide in the form of David MacKay’s “Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air” (which was recommended to me via a personal email from someone who didn’t call me a homosexual). Interestingly, he has made the work available online and, although some of the content will have altered since it was written in 2008, he does write it in a very clear manner which appeals to me as it frames the whole issue of energy use as an engineering problem rather than an political or economic one (although obviously that comes into it).

As for me, I’m still pressing ahead trying to get my energy consumption down although if I am honest it has more to do with reasons of miserliness than any determined effort to save the planet. At least it’s nice to know that some of my electricity will be produced locally – at least it will be when the wind blows.

New Music

I’m not sure whether I am content with what I’ve got or whether I am simply uninspired this year but I seem to have bought surprisingly few new albums. Those that I have bought I have liked, and if I was to pick a  favourite it would probably be Robert Plant’s new album. However, I don’t seem to have bought that much in the way of new music and even though Plant (and also Pink Floyd) have put out new releases he has been around for years. Much of everything else I’ve bought fits into the same mould.

Looking back over my recent purchases there are a good smattering of folk-rock and blues-rock albums, a classical symphony, a solitary jazz album and a couple of heavy rock releases. Most of these are donkey’s years old. The one exception to this is The Last Internationale’s We Will Reign album which I bought on the back of seeing them at the Robert Plant gig. The album is pretty good although sounds far more commercial than I imagined: it comes across as a mainstream rock album rather than the blues-rock sound that they belted out in their live performance.

What appeals to me about The Last Internationale is that they are a full-on protest band, in many ways harking back to the days of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger rather than the more commercial Bonoesque approach, yet still retaining the passion of a full-on rock group. When they are good, they are very, very good and the tracks Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Indian Blood; Killing Fields and Wanted Man as well as the album closer 1968 really capture the essence of their live performance. The other tracks are decent enough but I think the album does suffer from over-production, specifically in terms of dynamic range compression which rather robs the albums quieter tracks of their subtlety. It’s a problem with many modern recordings and something I blame MP3s for.

I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for The Last Internationale as I think they could be huge in a couple of years’ time – certainly most people I know who saw them on the Plant tour would love to see them headlining in the UK. As for my other music listening I possibly need to go back over my already vast array of CDs again. I seem to go through fads of music listening and will often come back to things I haven’t listened to for years before branching off on another tangent.

Devilla Forest

One thing I’ve started doing again this year is taking the dogs over to Devilla Forest in Fife. I used to go here quite regularly with our old dog (variously known as Tess, The Sausage or Zoltan, Hound of Dracula). I stopped for a while as some extensive logging work was being carried out and never really got back into the habit of going there which is a pity, as the Forestry Commission do a very good job of making their working forests accessible to the public.

Devilla Forest was planted after the Second World War over the Tulliallan Estate which had provided the headquarters for the Polish army during the war but which had a long and varied history encompassing such figures as King Duncan and Macbeth during their altercations with Vikings and various members of the Blackadder baronetcy. Much of this has been documented by local historians Bob and Meg Smith whose maps are dotted around the forest. These maps are now some 20 years old and given the organic nature of the forest some of the marked antiquities are rather overgrown and some proved impossible to find. However, the map is quite a bit of fun providing a scavenger hunt of treasures around the foliage.


Bob and Meg Smith's map of Devilla Forest

The standard stone marking the battle of 1038 where Duncan and Macbeth defeated the Danish army

The Meith stone is meant to be a St Andrews cross marking a boundary.

This mound of earth marks the supposed location of the Danish Camp. It probably predates that battle by several centuries.

The Ice House was used to provide refrigeration to the Tulliallan estate.

This is the remains of the wash house.

This is the Peppermill dam, the largest of the three dams and the furthest from the car park.

The pump house. This was built under the Blackadders' Stewardship of the estate. 

The sluice - another artefact of the damming system.

One part that is now quite heavily overgrown but really worth finding is the mausoleum. I don’t get easily freaked out but these are seriously spooky remains.

Anniversary Week

This last week has marked a few anniversaries of sorts. This started last Monday when I was attending a blood donation session. One of the nurses noted that I had “obviously done this a few times before”. In fact that occasion was my 50th donation for the Scottish Blood Transfusion service. In total I have probably donated quite a bit more as that wouldn’t cover the times I had donated whilst living in Cardiff or Newcastle.

The second notable anniversary was the 20th anniversary of the UK national lottery. This in itself is not particularly notable but I always remember the date it was held as it was actually the date of my wedding. Obviously my 20th wedding anniversary was of more relevance to me and I took the day off work so we could go out to a restaurant together without worrying about child minders and the like. Someone did buy us a lottery ticket for the day. It didn’t win. Karma doesn’t work like that.

I had mentioned my anniversary in the office and one of my colleagues was quite interested about what we did for the wedding as she is organising her own at the moment. Of particular interest was what wedding car we used. Asking around the office, quite a few people hadn’t bothered with one at all and a couple of others had gone for a large Jaguar (which I quite like the idea of) or a Mercedes (which I think is a bit dull – probably associating them with German taxi ranks). A few had gone for the standard luxury cars – usually an old Rolls Royce although I have seen the new models used as wedding cars which is dreadful as they are hideous. A couple of the more esoteric choices included a 1950s Cadillac and a 1930s Bentley (which was James Bonds original car in the novels).

Princess IV - similar to my wedding car.

The car I chose for my wedding was probably quite an esoteric choice as well. We went to see a wedding car hire firm and they had a reasonable array of lovingly restored old cars including a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that the firm's owner had rescued and restored from an old barn. However, the car I chose was an Austin Princess – not the dreadful wedgy rep-mobile from the 1970s but a rare 1959 Princess IV which has originally been used as the official transport of the Mayor of Sunderland. This really appealed to me as it was an unusual and particularly beautiful piece of craftsmanship and it had some sort of backstory as well. Unfortunately the current trend seems to be for stretch Hummers. I suppose some people have no taste.

Robert Plant: Live at the Bingo Hall

When I first saw Robert Plant perform live during his Now And Zen tour it was still possible to turn up to the theatre’s box-office on the night and buy a ticket. Not that I did back then and these days the more popular tickets have to be bought within seconds of going on sale before the touts hoover them up. As I really wanted to see Plant on this tour I took no chances and bought my ticket seconds after they went on sale back in June. The venue, the somewhat corporately named O2 Academy Glasgow, is in the Gorbals area and appeared to be walking distance from Queens Street station. Of course on a Saturday night this involved walking past a group of drunken rugby fans who were propping themselves up against a police box, bypassing several hen parties consisting of orange-faced, peroxide-blonde alcoholics wobbling around on stilettoes, as well as the usual collection of dishevelled Gorbalites. I eventually arrived at what appeared to be a large queue outside the bingo hall. It turns out that this is now the O2 Academy.

For my misgivings about the venue I have to say that the staff were all friendly and efficient and after buying a pint of Danish lager (apparently they “only do Guinness in cans”) I managed to find a suitable vantage point which not only afforded a decent view of the stage but also allowed me to support my somewhat dodgy back (the problem with buying tickets so far in advance is that standing seemed like a good idea at the time). The first support act came on after the hall had been filling up for half an hour. Support acts are always a hit and miss affair and when a record company are trying to push a new act the pairings can be rather odd. Fortunately the support acts tonight were very good – whether they were chosen by Plant himself or not I don’t know but the first up was a folky pair called Nugent and Belle (or as I first referred to them “two girls with guitars” as I missed the introduction).
 


They played a short set of six songs and this seemed to go down very well with the Glasgow crowd: at least I thought it would be worth checking them out (once I’d found out who they actually were!) Next up were a New York power trio called The Last Internationale. In fact this started with a solo acoustic song called Workers Of The World – Unite! a sentiment which seemed to chime with a Glasgow audience still up for a fight after the referendum. The rest of the set was more of a power blues set along the lines of Cream or Hendrix although ending with a sing-a-long version of Neil Young’s Hey Hey, My My. The set went down a storm and I suspect that they have sold quite a few CDs on the back of that.



Next up was the main man and I was quite interested to see what sort of set he would go with. I saw his Glastonbury performance on TV in the summer but with the new album now out for a couple of months I had expected this to feature more prominently. In fact it dominated the input from his solo career with a few blues covers (including Spoonful – I’m not sure whether that was intended as an acknowledgement of Jack Bruce) and several re-interpretations of songs from Led Zeppelin’s first 4 albums, starting with Friends from Led Zeppelin III which more than lends itself to the talents of Juldeh Camara’s riti playing. First up of the new songs was Turn It Up which he had recently performed on the Jools Holland show.



I suspect this has replaced Tin Pan Valley in his show as the two songs would clash within the set. Overall I think the new songs have matured in performance and they sound more upbeat compared to the album. However, even Plant admitted that Embrace Another Fall (performed without the section in Welsh) was a bit miserable. He also performed a heart rending rendition of Stolen Kiss in the encore which was a stark change of tone towards the end of the show. A couple of the Zeppelin tunes were fairly close to the originals – a slightly jazzier rendition of What Is And What Should Never Be and an achingly beautiful version of Going To California amongst them. For the most part the songs were a heavy reworking of the originals with a recognisable melody or lyric breaking out of swirling electronica like a familiar friend emerging from a crowded room. Others incorporated elements of the songs that inspired them, segueing into the song they became: not least on Whole Lotta Love which now betrays its origins until THAT riff hits like a punch to the guts.



I think what really struck me about Plant’s performance is that he really still has it. His voice is not the same as the 19 year old that joined Led Zeppelin but he is still performing much of the material he did then but in a manner that fits his 66 year old vocal chords. There was a spurious news story this week that he had turned down an offer of £500 million to play a Led Zeppelin re-union tour. The story was completely fabricated but I think it amused him that here he was, an OAP in an old Glasgow bingo hall: “We’ve got our cards ready – bingo’s good for your mind” he quipped. I think it was at this point that it occurred to me that Robert Plant retired a long time ago. He performs and records now because it is his vocation – it’s what he loves doing and he wants to do it on his own terms. He would have to play thousands of bingo halls to make as much money as a Zeppelin re-union but the money doesn’t matter – it’s the artistic expression and connection with his roots that counts.

For me, I hope he doesn’t re-join Zeppelin although I’d like to see him work on projects with the others. On the one hand it would be fantastic to see them together but to do that would require a time machine to take me back to 1971. If they were to reform now it would be a circus: a corporate hell where the band are seen on video screens from the back of colossal auditoria far removed from their audience. Being able to see a legendary performer in an intimate venue such as the O2 Academy is a real privilege. I left, as did everyone else, enriched and elated by the experience. It’s over 26 years since I first saw Plant perform live and that was a show that stayed with me for a very long time. I suspect the night in the bingo hall will remain for many years more.

Who in Heaven

I can’t believe that this series of Doctor Who has already come to an end. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity from the 50th anniversary and Christmas episodes the series seems to have flown past. The Dark Water / Death In Heaven two-parter has brought a close to what, in my mind, has been an excellent series. In many ways this end of season finale has brought home much of what I felt about this year as a whole in that it feels much more in touch with the classic series but with a thoroughly modern makeover.

Dark Water was a great build up for the episode. Danny’s death in a road accident must be a stark warning of the distraction of mobile phones. I tried to point this out to Raymond but apparently he doesn’t use his phone whilst on the street. I had hoped that this was due to safety concerns but apparently he doesn’t want to pay for data on the move (tight git!) The scenes that followed with Clara seemingly stranding the Doctor in a volcano might have appeared to be a bit of a cop-out but I think we saw more character development between the Doctor and Clara here than at any other point during the series. What followed was new territory for Doctor Who – a trip into the underworld.

It was clear from the outset that the Nethersphere was going to have a Sci-Fi rather than supernatural explanation for the afterlife but it was still rather dark territory for a family drama. In spite of the controversy over the cremation story I thought the script writers stayed within the boundaries of taste but I must admit that the “Don’t cremate me” idea made me wince. Clearly it was integral to the plot but it could have been a bit much for someone who had suffered recent bereavement. However, what happened to the reanimated corpses inside the cybermen is a more disturbing concept to me.

As for the identity of Missy – well, I did have a guess at that right at the beginning. That doesn’t mean it was a poor reveal – in fact it rather adds to the delight of finding out for certain and so far I think Michelle Gomez is perfect for the role. Whilst I like John Simm as an actor I found his portrayal of The Master to be over the top and I felt he was too young to feel right in the part. However, Missy is a delightfully sinister realisation of the role and at times she seemed to be channelling Roger Delgado’s urbane charm into the body of Mary Poppins from Hell. I’m hoping that this isn’t the last we see of her – I suppose anything is possible in Doctor Who.

Death In Heaven was more of a straight forward action piece and whilst I liked it, it didn’t quite live up to the set-up as much as I’d hoped. However, given that I think the series is harking back to the classic stories here was an episode that would have fitted right into the Jon Pertwee era: huge action sequences, UNIT roaring out with all guns blazing and the Master being as dastardly and deceitful as ever. I always thought that the life expectancy of a UNIT soldier was pretty poor (and Sanjeev Bhaskar may as well have shown up wearing a red jersey) but there was never a possibility that anything untoward would happen to the regulars. Now it’s a case of all bets off and I’m still cursing them for zapping fangirl Osgood – partly as I liked the character and possibly because I quite fancy Ingrid Oliver. In fact the body count was pretty gruesome and I did feel that a few of the characters were bumped off for no particularly good reason – I was hoping for some greater revelation about Seb but at least he met his maker with Jazz hands.

Season arcs in Doctor Who have never worked that well: lots of anticipation with the build-up but with an anti-climax at the end. The classic series didn’t bother with them for the most part and when they did, such as the Key to Time and the Trial of a Timelord the payoff was always rather disappointing. I think this has also been the case with the new series but at least I felt this ended in a largely satisfactory way. The only thing that bothers me is that there seem to be several oddly hanging plot threads, particularly from the episode Listen, which should have been addressed. No doubt these will be resolved in future episodes.

So how do I feel about the 8th series of the revived programme? I had worried that the show would flounder without Matt Smith but I had high hopes when Peter Capaldi was announced. He is both a great character actor and a supreme fan of the series. I don’t think he has disappointed but it’s not just his contribution that has heightened my enjoyment of this series. Something seems to have jelled with the production team, writers, producers, directors and, not least, the supporting actors during this series. I’ve had a couple of niggles: The current arrangement of the theme tune is a bit insipid and I really couldn’t get over that whole Moon as an egg thing but aside from that I really don’t think there has been a duff episode – there has also been a huge variety of them ranging from the comic to the series, the cerebral to the action-packed, the mundane to the profound: something for everyone and every mood.

Now we are at the end of the series I’ve been able to delve a bit deeper into the fan forums to see what everyone else has been thinking about it. The first thing that struck me is what a miserable bunch of sods the hard-core Whovians can be. When the series disappeared in 1989 I really didn’t think I would ever see it on TV again. When the series was re-commissioned in 2005 I was delighted and I have remained delighted ever since. I think the main problem is that the sort of core fandom that spends hours on internet forums (and I would include myself in that) will never be happy – mainly as many of them think they should be writing the series themselves (this is nearly always a bad idea). Personally I would far rather run the risk of an occasional clunker rather than have the same format trotted out week after week or have the whole thing reduced to a glorified soap opera which seems to be the death-knell of so much modern Sci-Fi and fantasy television.

However, it’s interesting to see how much of a lack of perspective some fans have: One claimed that the Kill The Moon episode was the end of the world for him (I’m assuming a “him” and surely it was the end of the Moon?) Many others seemed to take a dislike to the Forest In The Night episode which surprised me. I’ve watched it again and it was refreshingly different – poetic Sci-Fi in the kind of Wyndhamesque cosy catastrophe that we rarely see these days. However, I have also seen many other fans who have been delighted by series 8 – many claiming it to be the best since the series returned. I think I am very much in that camp. In every series there have always been one or two episodes that I haven’t really been bothered with (with the possible exception of Matt Smith’s first series although I would tend to agree with Steven Moffat that The Beast Below was “a bit of a mess”). With this series I have found myself re-watching every episode within a few days of the original airing. They all stand up to repeat watching and I can see myself watching the whole thing again.

So that’s it until Christmas Day. Until them we have Atlantis in the Saturday night “Doctor Who slot”. I quite enjoyed the first series of that one but if I waver, I suppose I could always watch Flatline again…

New Toys

Whilst I’ve been waiting with baited breath for the finale of Doctor Who to air I’ve been playing with a new toy provided by my employer: A Windows Phone. I’m not really a mobile phone sort of person. For personal use I lost interest in my old Android phone and reverted to a feature phone instead. For years I have had a Nokia E71 at work and as a basic phone it has been fine – the battery life has always been exceptional (it can stay on standby for over a week without a sniff of a charger) and the tiny QWERTY keyboard is just about usable for mail and texts but for anything more complex it has proven to be clunky at best. The Windows phone is a Nokia 635 and so far it has proven to be a delight: as a business phone it doesn’t have to have every feature under the sun but it must actually work.

There was a great deal of debate at work about what phones would be purchased. It came down to an evaluation between Android, Apple and Windows phones. The choice of Windows phones was based on a combination of cost, integration and security concerns and it all seemed rather reasoned to me but for many people in the organisation you would think that this was an affront to their manhood. Essentially they wanted the latest iPhone – not for any particular business requirement but because this gave them the biggest willy-waving rights in the corporate jungle. Being a techie, I was more concerned that I could actually use the thing and that it would remain operational for extended periods if I was on call. Unfortunately for the manager who looks after telecommunications, he had to convince the techno-fashionistas that mobile phones are more than big boys toys.

So how have I found it? The first thing that struck me is that the interface actually seemed to work. If I tapped on the screen or used the on-screen keyboard the things I touched actually responded which is a first for me: I’ve used a few touch-screen devices and one of the biggest bugbears with them is that they constantly misbehave – I always put this down to my clumsy sausage fingers. The next thing that struck me is how sleek and responsive the whole thing is. It’s based on Windows 8.1 which I have on my home desktop and which has had a rather bad press but it has always struck me as a very efficient operating system; it’s nice to finally see it on an interface that it was seemingly designed for.

Initially, I tried out the basic phone and text functions and found these to be entirely proficient and nothing like as infuriating to use as the Android ones. When used as a basic phone it shows a virtual version of simple call and text interface which makes it very easy to use and is a relief as many smart phones don’t actually work very well as telephones. After that I set up the integration with the corporate mail and desktop systems and this is where it came into its own as a business phone. In common with many organisations we run a largely Microsoft based desktop and whereas Android and Apple phones will integrate with this kind of office back-end after a fashion, the Windows phone is integrated with it. After typing in the name of the exchange server everything else instantly (and very quickly) fell into place.

There are a few other goodies on the phone – a pretty decent sat-nav system which saves on providing separate units for those that need them; integration to the likes of Facebook and Amazon; also the usual camera and a reasonably extensive app store. It does what it is supposed to do and does it in a seamless and stress free manner. An additional feature is that they can easily be used as a modem for laptops or other mobile devices. Having looked at the feedback from my colleagues, most of them seem to be equally happy – including most of the willy-waving iPhone fanatics. I’ve even bought a leather case for mine; the phone has the standard Nokia air of indestructability about it but I know I am the kind of klutz that could break a Tonka toy so the £2 for the case from Amazon seems like a reasonable investment on my behalf. The other key thing is that the phone seems to last for a reasonable amount of time on standby: whilst it is nothing like as long as the old E71 it still managed several days’ worth without having to worry the charger.

I’m wondering whether Windows phones could become more popular. At the moment they are very much a minority interest (I think market share is still below 10%) but on the basis of what I’ve seen I’d be happy with one as a personal phone and the fact that they integrate so well with Microsoft desktops and even the likes of the Xbox must give them some sort of unique selling point. I suppose the big problem is that Microsoft isn’t very fashionable and they do seem to have suffered from quite a few questionable business decisions over the last few years. I constantly complain about them even though I regularly work with them and find them by far the easiest tech firm to deal with (probably followed by the equally unfashionable HP). Microsoft do seem to be sorting their products out and I was quite impressed by their Windows 10 demo. I suppose they just need a few new toys for people to lust after.

I think the key for Microsoft is to remember their core business user base and why they still tend to be preferred in the corporate world. They recently retired the old Windows XP operating system and suffered howls of anguish from their still sizable user base. XP had been supported for 12 years which is an eternity in the technology world. This long term support suits business users down to the ground as replacing operating systems is a major logistical headache and a huge financial pain. Integrating the desktop and mobile environments and supporting them for extended periods could find them lots of friends in the business world and although I can’t imagine Microsoft being fashionable I can see them being respected and trusted.

In The Forest Of The Night

Doctor Who is a very flexible format. From the outset it was intended that successive stories could take on the form of a science fiction story, a historical adventure or contain elements of fantasy or social comment. Despite the flexibility of the format it has on occasion become dogged down into a particular fixed format whereby there is a threat provided by the “monster-of-the-week”, lots of running about corridors or quarries and a resolution that relies upon some non-specific, pseudo-scientific, mumbo-jumbo and a wave of the magic sonic screwdriver. On occasion it drifts away from this format and on those occasions it can really split the audience. I rather suspect that In The Forest Of The Night will be one of those episodes.

Frank Cottrell Boyce chose to tell this particular story as science-fiction fairy-tale: in this case taking a rather literal interpretation of James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis (whereby the Earth is seen as a self-regulating organism) and marrying this to a Brothers Grimm tale of children lost in the forest. The realisation of this on screen was glorious and the pre-title sequence in which the fate of London was revealed was one of the best of the series so far – effectively condensing an “Episode 1” from the classic series into a 90 second scene. From there we see the Doctor not so much as the battling hero but more as an investigator and detective, very much in the mould of William Hartnell: narrating much of what was happening without being actively involved in it. Overall the look and feel of the episode worked well, making it a tale told for adults from a child’s perspective.

The children of Coal Hill school have appeared in several of the episodes this year and they were a major feature of this episode. There is an old theatrical saying that one should never work with children or animals and Doctor Who has a chequered history on this . Matt Smith worked wonderfully in his first episode with the young Amelia Pond and it remains amongst his most fondly remembered scenes. However, he also appeared alongside Angie and Artie in Nightmare in Silver where the children were cringe-worthy brats. The children in Forest ranged from the tolerable to the rather good – particularly the otherworldly Maebh who worked well with Capaldi and gave a good Red Riding Hood feel to the episode. Of the other children there were a few nice one-liners but their performances were generally naturalistic rather than the smart-alecky, self-aware parodies they could have been.

As for the bugbear of the “monster-of-the-week”, there wasn’t one. Aside from a couple of escaped zoo animals there were no aliens, monsters or other external threat to deal with. Seemingly the main threat was nature itself which rather derives from Blake’s The Tyger which gave the episode’s title and indicates that Nature, red in tooth and claw is as much a part of the ecosystem as the All Things Bright and Beautiful description of creation. Of course the resolution was that the seemingly threatening nature of the forest protects us as much as it frightens us. I’m not sure whether that particularly comes over that well but the idea is an interesting one.

So, overall an enjoyable episode and whilst it was possibly not quite up to the standards of the preceding two Jamie Mathieson stories it still provided a satisfying conclusion to the mini-arc of stories that began with Kill The Moon. I suppose if I have any criticism it is that I could see where the story was heading from the outset so any enjoyment was from the journey itself rather than seeing where the destination was. Next week is the first part of the series finale. As ever its worth waiting until the end before drawing conclusions but I’m hoping that it can maintain the standards of the rest of the series. Of course, with Steven Moffat, not everything is as it first appears.

Flatline

The “D” in TARDIS stands for “Dimension” so it is surprising that Doctor Who has not used this as the basis for adventures more often: other than the bigger-on-the-inside running gag, of course. In fact, in all of the 250 stories that have been produced since 1963, it was only really used as a main plot device in the 1964 3-parter, Planet Of Giants, where the TARDIS goes wrong and causes both the police box and crew to be shrunk down to matchbox size. Whilst it wasn’t the best of stories it’s worth digging out just to see how effective the primitive production of 50 years ago could be. Other than that it has popped up occasionally but never as the overarching concept.

The concept of Flatline initially reminded me of Edwin Abbott’s Victorian satirical novel Flatland which satirised the 19th Century class system through a world of geometric shapes. It’s one of those books that, whilst known, is hardly a household name and mainly appears to Sci-Fi and mathematics geeks (like me, I suppose). However, where Flatland was very much in the style of satirists like Jonathan Swift, Flatline is far more concerned with horror – even if it is often comic horror. Initially I thought that the way the outside of the TARDIS shank was partly a cheap gag and partly an excuse to use a TARDIS money-box as a prop but as I thought about it, that is actually how the TARDIS operates: the portal can be any size and shape it wants to be but the innards remain constant. The effect was used in reverse in another 1960’s episode, The Time Meddler, in which the Doctor sabotages a fellow Time Lords TARDIS by making it much smaller on the inside.

For what was meant to be a Doctor-lite episode it was surprising at how much screen time Peter Capaldi had in this episode – even if it was nearly all on the set of the TARDIS. In fact much of this was down to clever direction as many of his appearances were either audio only or merely showing disembodied images of his hand – the scene in which his hand “walked” the TARDIS out of harm’s way had me in fits of laughter: very much like the “Thing” in The Addams Family. Aside from the regulars, the supporting cast were largely extras in this episode with the exception of Rigsy who acted as a surrogate assistant to Clara’s “Doctor”. We were also treated to a snippet from “Missy” again who is now indicating that she was responsible for bringing Clara and the Doctor together – presumably harking back to the middle of last year’s series.

If I was to have one criticism of the episode, it would be that the realisation of the 3D characters being made 2D could have been done better. I suppose what I would have imagined is something similar to an MRI scan whereby the victim is seen slice by slice disappearing into the wall. What we did see was more of a straight flattening of the images which is probably not what the 2D beings would have perceived. In fairness, it is such a mind-bending concept to imagine what higher or lower dimensional images would be perceived like that anything would have worked. I wonder if the whole concept for this episode could be altered so we see a being in 4-spacial dimensions trying to make sense of our 3D world?

Purely for the originality of the concept I think this has been my favourite episode of what has already been a very strong series. In fact this was Jamie Mathieson’s second story after last week’s equally enjoyable Mummy episode. Hopefully we will be seeing his name again (is the speed dial set up Mr Moffat?) Next week’s episode looks intriguing – partly as it is scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce who has written everything from children’s stories, through the gritty war film of Welcome to Sarajevo, and even the Olympics opening ceremony. From the trailer,  In the Forest of the Night appears to be what happens when I leave the garden alone for a week…

Smart Heating

I posted back in July about the idiocy of the governments Green Deal scheme. I vowed to have nothing to do with it (at least in its current form) but I have been making a few changes in the last few weeks to try and reduce my energy bills.

The first of these was a replacement tumble dryer. Tumble dryers are notorious electricity hogs and the best way of reducing their cost is to dry clothes outside. This is not always possible and, given the climate we live in, the tumble dryer is still the least worse solution to a house full of damp clothing for 8 or 9 months of the year. Our existing tumble dryer was actually an emergency purchase (it was a Christmas Eve dash to a branch of Comet on the other side of Edinburgh several years ago) but it had become increasingly noisy over the last few years and I suspected that it wouldn’t stand up to our heavy use for too much longer. I measured it’s energy consumption on a full cotton load at 2.49kWh. Given that I wasn’t going to waste any money on a Green Deal assessment I spent the difference of an AA rated “heat-pump” dryer which uses a refrigeration style closed loop to heat the clothes rather than a separate electric element. I measured a similar load on this and the full cycle took 0.97kWh – a massive 61% saving over the old dryer although still 0.97kWh higher than drying it on the line.

The second item I went for was a replacement duvet. I bought our last Winter duvet 12 years ago when I first bought the larger size of bed. I had the feeling that this wasn’t as warm as it could be and I read on a website that a synthetic duvet has a life of 3-4 years. This may have been exaggerated as the website was selling new duvets but I decided to invest in a down duvet. The difference is remarkable and it really makes having a heating free bedroom at night a possibility – no more cold feet for me. This also got me to research one other area: Is it possible to heat a home in a more controlled manner?

Manual TRV

Our central heating system has three main control systems: a timer on the boiler which determines whether the whole system switches on or not, a thermostat located in the hallway which (theoretically) allows the temperature for the whole house to be set and individual thermostatic radiator valves (TRV pictured) which switch off the hot water supply to their attached radiator when the temperature reaches a particular point. This is a fairly typical set-up and it should help to limit the amount of heat that is wasted by heating excessively or at inappropriate times. However, I have found that this works better in a more modern house or, at least, one which is built in a consistent manner with similar use of the rooms. Our house just isn’t like that.

I had a look around to see what was available and one system (and there are other similar ones) was British Gas’s Hive system. On the face of it this sounded like a great idea: a central heating system that could be programmed and controlled remotely. The system costs £200 to install and is one that comes under the banner of the internet of things: essentially domestic appliances that are connected to the internet and can be controlled remotely and integrated with other devices. In the case of Hive it is connected to  a mobile phone and could, in theory, allow for heating to be switched on or off depending on the location of the phone. The problem with this is that it rather assumes single person occupancy and it only really takes control of the central timer and thermostat: one of which I am quite capable of switching on and off myself (if no-one is in, the heating goes off) and the other is about as effective as a chocolate teapot.



Programmable TRV

What I have actually chosen is a bit less connected (at least at the moment) but should be a lot more effective. I’ve bought several programmable radiator valves – in my case the Pegler Terrier i30. These devices replace the existing TRVs (this should be a simple DIY job as the old on is unscrewed and the new one replaces it) and they take over the role of the timer, thermostat and TRV for each individual room. This allows different temperatures to be set for each room depending on usage and time of day. If the room needs to be warmer (or cooler) at a particular point the temperature can be changed up or down using a slide wheel or remote control and the valve will return to the pre-determined temperature at the next programmed timer event.

So far, I have fitted these to two of the bedrooms, the living room and the dining room. I had intended to fit them to all of the bedrooms but as the design of the valves vary some of the older ones do not have an appropriate fitting – which is annoying. As it is, I intend to replace the other valve bodies with a standard ones although I think I will get our local neighbourhood plumber to do that as it will become wet and messy if I fit them. The other slight annoyance I’ve found with them is that he motors in the valves are slightly noisy, so in the bedrooms it is advisable to set them to come on roughly at the time one would be waking up anyway: given that my new duvet is like sleeping in a furnace, that shouldn’t be such a problem.

In terms of cost savings, Pegler have done a case study in which they estimate that a house will save 30% of their heating costs by using these valves. I suspect that is rather high but I would estimate that I would only need a 10% saving to cover the cost of the valves. However, much like loft insulation, the real benefit of energy saving devises like these is not so much in the cost saving as in the improvement in comfort. I’ll probably get a much better idea of how effective they are in the Winter.

Mummy on the Orient Express

After last week’s episode of Doctor Who I thought we would be seeing the aftermath of Clara’s stooshie on the TARDIS as well as a group of now homeless Clanger asylum seekers. As it was, several weeks had passed and Clara had agreed to go with the Doctor for a final “date” on an extra-terrestrial Orient Express. Needless to say this did not go to plan and a Mummy was running amok killing the passengers with the Doctor acting as Hercule Poirot whilst seemingly channelling the ghost of the Forth Doctor: jelly beans and all. (I was about to write “channelling the ghost of Tom Baker” but thankfully Tom is still with us.) This week was meant to be more Doctor orientated with Clara taking a back-seat role (it was double banked with next week’s episode Flatline) so it gave us more chance to see how the Twelfth Doctor performs without his “carer”.

I had expected this episode to be a standard “Doctor fights monster of the week” type adventure but I found that I enjoyed it far more and for a variety of reasons. First of all was the script – wonderfully written and not a word wasted from first time Who writer Jamie Mathieson. This was combined with Paul Wilmshurst’s direction – picking up from last week and giving the show a feel of the classic series again. The guest cast were also top notch. The singer Foxes had been widely promoted beforehand. I’m not that familiar with her work (probably as she hasn’t been on Top Of The Pops) but I gather that she is normally an electro-pop singer. As it was, she did a rendition of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now – a song I have cared little for from band I love. Who would have thought it would work so well in a lounge Jazz style?

Daisy Beaumont as the distraught Maisie and David Bamber as the war traumatised Captain Quell were excellent in their respective roles but I loved Frank Skinner as chief engineer Perkins in what was a very nuanced and restrained performance. There have been a few guest performances over the years that haven’t lived up to their hype but as well as being known as a  stand-up comedian and chat show presenter, Frank Skinner can also act. He is also a massive Doctor Who fan so the temptation to ham it up must have been huge. As it was he delivered a perfectly balanced restraint to the Doctor’s ruthless detective work. However, the final scene when he turns down the chance to join the TARDIS crew must have been a tough one for him – I’d love to see the outtakes!

Where this episode rose above the simple monster-of-the-week formula and where this series has been excelling itself so far is its philosophical pondering: particularly its dealing of ethical issues. Throughout Doctor Who’s history, the Doctor has always been a utilitarian character – essentially a good man but one that acts in the greater good. Whilst he would ideally like everyone to live, on occasion he has to allow sacrifices to ensure the survival of the many. The Tenth Doctor used to show some sort of (possibly false) remorse with his “I’m so sorry” line but Capaldi’s Doctor has a certain alien removal from such human concerns. The way he acts is in line with the more profound versions of the “trolley problem” thought experiment: in essence he has no qualms about throwing the fat man in the way of the speeding train if it will save the majority. This is quite unsettling for most people and I thought his speech to Clara at the end when he explains that sometimes there are no good choices was a moment of clarity.

The other dark theme this week was the subject of addiction and it is clear that Clara is becoming as addicted to the adrenaline lifestyle as the Doctor himself. Next week is meant to more Clara orientated so I expect we will see what effect this is having on her.

Kill The Moon

Another week and another Who and another superb piece of everyone’s favourite family Science Fiction show – or at least the fiction bit. As much as I loved Kill The Moon I have to say it just stepped over the edge as far as the science/fantasy bridge was concerned. I may as well get that out of the way: I have no problem at all with a human looking alien flying around time and space in a Police box. I’m fine with bigger-on-the-inside and sonic screwdriver magic wands. I even don’t particularly have a problem with the soup dragon hatching out of a rather large planetoid. It’s just when things like the theory of evolution, laws of thermodynamics and general relativity are brushed aside I do have a great difficulty in suspending disbelief. However, I can forgive most of this simply because the strong moral and philosophical tone of Kill The Moon pays off so well it’s almost worth the Bad Science award.

I was musing last week as to what the next few episodes would look like as neither writer Peter Harness or director Paul Wilmshurst had worked on Doctor Who before. The result is quite unexpected as it reminded me strongly of mid-1970s Who, particularly the early Tom Baker story Ark In Space (which was the only episode of the original Who to have really scared me – and anyone else that watched it on a back and white TV). I think this was partly down to the shadowy, claustrophobic framing of the first half of the show. Filming in the Canary Islands was absolute genius as well. I went on holiday there around 20 years ago and ended picking that grey dust out of my clothes for weeks afterwards: as a lunar surface it added tremendously to the effect.

The two leads in this episode were tremendous. The Doctor’s behaviour has been increasingly weighing on Clara throughout this series and this week it reached breaking point. At times I felt Capaldi was drawing heavily on Tom Baker’s Doctor (particularly his early series) and at others he seemed to be channelling the First Doctor’s disinterest and manipulation of those around him. Whilst he is still ultimately the hero of the piece his alien offhandishness has actually started to become plain cruel. I think this is paying off massively on the dramatic stakes because whilst a typical Doctor Who story will always carry some kind of threat we always know that the Doctor will come up with a solution at the end of the episode and save the day. With this incarnation we are just not entirely sure that is going to happen and even though this story did have the happy ending it is not entirely clear that the Doctor could be trusted to make sure that happened.

The absolute star of the piece for me was Jenna Coleman’s Clara.  “Tell me what you knew, Doctor, or I'll smack you so hard you'll regenerate.” I think she would have done as well but that whole end of episode explosion was like a cork flying out of a bottle of Champaign that had been shaken for far, far too long. The character of Clara showed promise in the last series but never really took off but this series has been a revelation. Brave, frightened, intuitive, angry but ultimately articulate – I think that her all-too-human performance has acted as the perfect foil for the Doctor’s increasing other-worldliness. It actually reminded me of the Fourth Doctor’s relationship with Sarah-Jane Smith: in fact I could really imagine Liz Sladen being perfect in that scene.

No mention of Missy or the series arc this week. I re-watched the Nightmare in Silver episode last week and the Missy character was a completely different actress. The last we see of her is being grabbed by a disembodied cyberman’s hand. I think she is presumed dead but we don’t exactly see what happened to her – possibly some diabolical cyber-plot? It’s mummies next week – I wonder if the new guys have ever seen Pyramids Of Mars?

Meikle Bin

Meikle Bin - approaching from the East

I had planned to climb up Meikle Bin in the Carron Valley in the summer. I’d set off with Sam with the intention of climbing the 1300 ft peak but I could see that the dog was flaking out before we got to the steep final climb. I had wondered whether it was a case of whippets not being exactly mountain dogs but I think the real problem was that the gravel forestry commission track leading up to the peak was causing gravel to get into his pads. I still wanted to get up to the top so I went on my own last Friday. The one thing with walking with dogs is that you do enjoy the company. For the whole time I was out I didn’t have a sole to talk to apart from one chap from Southern England making his way down from the peak.

Carron Valley Dam

I actually based this walk on an article I saw in the Scotsman last year. The Scotsman suggest starting the walk at Todholes car park on the B818 but I actually started at the main Forestry commission car park near the dam. This makes for a longer walk but made slightly more sense to me as I was driving from the East. Either way the route is well signposted although I did have to take something of a detour due to forestry works on the day. The car park has a small fee and as it took me 3.5 hours even at my fast walking rate I’d recommend paying the £3 for all day parking.


Carron Valley Dam from the other side.



The paths are well signposted

It wouldn’t be a successful trip out for me unless I’d managed to find some artefacts. Meikle Bin is known as a hazard to aircraft and the remains of a Fairey Firefly can be found on the hillside. This dates back to an accident on 8th January 1950 (and not a WWII crash as I had been previously told). In fact when I was approaching Meikle Bin I could see an airliner circling the hills so I was rather hoping he was aware of the hazard. As it was this plane was genuinely in trouble or, at least, the pilots instruments were indicating as such. There are various bits of the Firefly lying around - these are shots of what appears to be a wing section:

The view from the top can be quite spectacular – at least on a clear day. It was all rather hazy when I reach the summit and the wind was phenomenal – a full on Atlantic blast. I did try to take a selfie at the top but the result didn’t look pretty – in fact I’ve seen boxer dogs with their heads out of a car window on the motorway looking more elegant. Still the views from the trig point made it worthwhile.

Meikle Bin trig point

 

Carron Valley from Meikle Bin trig point

The Caretaker

Of the re-occurring Doctor Who writers, Gareth Roberts is one that is a horse for a particular course. His first two attempts where quasi-historical adventures, The Shakespeare Code and The Unicorn and the Wasp, which both struck me as rather so-so episodes and his next, Planet of the Dead written with Russell T Davies, was basically pants. His next two episodes, The Lodger and Closing Time, were delightful in which Matt Smith is landed in a domestic environment with the long suffering James Cordon. So after writing for Tennant’s mockney cheeky chappie and Smith’s slightly dyspraxic and socially awkward adventurer, what would Gareth Roberts make of the rudest man in the universe?

The Caretaker brings us back to the very beginning: Cole Hill school where the Doctor’s grand-daughter was attending back in the very first episode, 1963’s An Unearthly Child. This time he is undercover as the temporary school caretaker (which seems to have confused many American fans who know the role as “janitor”). In this respect it has a great deal in common with The Lodger and it is also very much a character piece, exploring the lives of Clara and Danny and exposing more of the quirks of the twelfth Doctor. In fact the monster of the week, the Skovox Blitzer, is very much a McGuffin to get the characters in the same place at the same time. Aside from being a plot device it appears to resemble the Terminator on a mobility scooter.

Almost the whole of the episode is played purely for comedic effect. The twelfth Doctor may feel that he can fit into a normal environment but he clearly can’t and much of the humour relates to his bull in a china shop effect on all that surrounds him. However, there were a few nice touches, not least in his relationship with Clara which is clearly closer to the father-daughter relationship of the third Doctor and Jo Grant than any of the pseudo-romances that we have seen in recent series. I’m also wondering if the appeal of schoolgirl Courtney is harking back to the 60s series and the Doctor’s need for a substitute grand-daughter? By co-incidence, I saw this photo on Twitter of Katy Manning visiting the Doctor Who set. It’s nice to see that Capaldi is the same fan-boy he was back in the early 70s: something that also came across on his appearance on the Graham Norton show.

Ultimately, this episode was required to push the series along and fill in work missed by the earlier episodes both in terms of characterisation and the whole series plotting. It does a very effective job in this: it comes slap bang in the middle of the series and aside from filling out further the main characters it also puts us back in touch with the series story arc – Missy and the mysterious Netherworld. As an oddity, someone pointed out this week that there was a character called “Missy” in the 2013 episode Nightmare in Silver. Could this be related? I can’t recall that character or why they would have been significant so it is always possible that this is pure coincidence.

So I would say it was a success for Gareth Roberts – not quite as good as his scripts for Matt Smith but certainly maintaining the high standards of this series, the rest of which is looking intriguing. Aside from Steven Moffat we are looking at writers that are all new to Who and whilst The Caretaker had little to justify its later timeslot next week’s episode does look more like 12-certificate territory. I think I’ll have to preview it before letting the younger kids watch it in case the sofa isn’t big enough.

Time Heist

So that’s all the excitement of the Independence Referendum over. I actually felt rather dejected on Friday morning – not so much from the result but by the fact that it all seemed like something of an anti-climax. With the population being asked to decide something very important for a change it looked like it was back to business as usual with the politicians bickering amongst themselves about what exactly it is that they will be delivering. However, the engagement of ordinary people into the political arena has been fantastic and if the momentum of this can be maintained there is a chance for real change in local communities.

One of the more peculiar claims made during the independence debates was that an independent Scotland wouldn’t be able show Doctor Who. I think this actually comes under the “laughably clutching at straws” school of political debating but I’m actually rather glad that the BBC will be left intact. It’s not without its faults and some of the reporting during the referendum was askew (and on both sides as well) but I’ve seen what national broadcasting is like in other countries and the BBC is one of those institutions that we can be proud of as a nation. Aside from anything else, the Doctor is now a no-nonsense Glaswegian so he would probably tell the programme controllers to “Shut up! Shutity up up up!”

The week’s episode, Time Heist, has kept up the strong run that the series has been on lately. The difference this week is that the format was harking back to something that was more like a mid-1970s Who: taking another genre / story and shoehorning it into the Doctor Who format (e.g. Brain Of Morbius being an adaptation of Frankenstein). In fact this was the idea behind Doctor Who right from the start in 1963 but what Time Heist gave us was a Sci-Fi bank robbery caper with a certain nod to the work of Philip K Dick. Particularly, this reminded me of both Minority Report and Paycheck – where the central character has agreed to have his mind wiped by a client but his payment is a set items left to aid his survival. In Time Heist this is all told in a typical Doctor Who style with a simple middle-end-beginning type of storytelling.

One thing I would question in this week’s story is just how family friendly it was. I saw this with our oldest boy but the younger two were in bed by the time we watched this (I really don’t watch live TV outside of news and football these days). I’d say it was still pre-watershed material but the Teller monster was a really terrifying creation and the soup-brain man, with his head caved in, even made me feel rather queasy. I suppose it’s always a fine line between family entertainment and infantilism but I do think they slightly overdid it this week. In fact next week’s episode starts at 8:30 which will actually put it past the watershed when it finishes. Whether that is due to content or scheduling remains to be seen.

Referendum Day

So, after all this time it's actually here. The big decision day. Regardless of what the result is, the Scottish Independence Referendum is a truly historic moment. I thought it would be worth posting a few photos of the day that I snapped on my phone. I hope these are reasonably representative - as it is I have seen far more "Yes" banners than "No" around the Falkirk area but I expect that is merely the nature of the campaign - it is easier to motivate people to campaign for change than the status quo but in a secret ballot people will show their true feelings whether or not they openly advertise them.

This was the phone box outside our house which some "Yes" campaigners decorated - as a friend of mine noted: "I've never seen a phone box achieve orgasm before"

This was a large "No" banner on the A9 near Torwood.

I saw many houses displaying "Yes" banners as well as a good few St Andrews saltires around.

One of their neighbours disagreed politely - this was the only "No" banner I saw locally other than the paid for billboards.

I think that gets the message across in no uncertain terms.

This was my favourite picture of the day and I wish it had come out better. It is the canvassers at the Dobbie Hall polling station in Stenhousemuir posing for me. The left two are "Yes" campaigners and the right two "No". All very civil, very polite and all smiles. Obviously many people will be disappointed whatever the result tomorrow but I feel this bodes well for the future. 

I took the dogs for a walk down to the Kelpies afterwards. I think the one on the left is saying "Naw" and the one on the right "FREEDOM!". Well, maybe not. I have a vivid imagination.