Picard Finale

Yes, I was pleased with the start of the series. It was nice to see Jean Luc Picard again. As things went on, I got more and more underwhelmed.

Okay it suffers from 10 episode syndrome. Tie it up in 6 episodes boys

The swearing is unnecessary and the change in tone is strange. In the Ensigns of Command Star trek the next generation showed a man being tortured, as its viewers sat down to fish fingers and chips on a wet Wednesday evening.

It's also silly. People did not say fuck off, before the 1920's. They used the verb but they did not use it as a phrasal. Why is this important because the foul language of the past. Would not shock us. In my life time, I have heard the word bloody go from a medium strength curse word to a mild curiosity.
I understand why Riker played Jazz, and drank lemonade, Why Picard was full of Dixon Hill and Shakespeare You do not what to date your series. Language and pop culture will do that

 As Major Grin on You Tube shows - In Picard we see Seven kicking the corpses of dead Romulans -to make a grand entrance. Something that Starfleet would not have tolerated. See the Siege of AR-558 When Reese dumps his knife before returning to normality.

So I like Rios. He is good. I like Chileans. (Despite the fall of Arica and their claims to Pisco)

Raffi, I am not so sure about. What happens to her now? She was right-She was vindicated. Will she be she  But she is better then the Dr, who murders Maddox

The Troi and Riker episode was well done. It was nice to see those two again. Though this was fan service.

But beyond that, we have so much going on in this series

Picard deals with:

The fallout from the destruction of the Romulan Homeworld.
A Romulan secret society sworn to oppose Android life.
Prejudice against Androids
Picard dealing with his aging, his legacy and his fatal brain condition
An Ancient A.I


I know that Brent Spiner has wished to kill Data off, for a while. I know a lot of people were unhappy about the death scene in Nemesis. I am saddened I would have liked to have seen Data on the bridge for one last time.
Speaking of dying in the last battle with the Romulans. Picard sounds and feels old, and feeble. Patrick Stewart is 79 years old.

It was alright it could have been better

Is this how trek dies not with a bang but with a whimper

The Romans, Doctor Who

I really enjoyed this one. It would have been perfect for my A-level classical civilization class
When the BBC do History, as Andrew Cartmel observed they do it really well. This even  looks alright, despite the budget and tech limitations  I was impressed by the scope of the episode. Ian ends up on a galley, we visit an Italian villa, and finally in Nero's court
The imperial court even technically has an Arena ( We see Ian fight a gladiatorial contest for Nero)
This was the first Hartnel Story I encountered. I hated the novelization. It was written in epistolary form.... A selection of jottings from Nero's notebook.... A letter which Ian tried to write to a friend. ...The Doctor's personal diaries. Oh and best of all, the memoirs of Locusta. ``A poisoner remembers...''
Locusta is an actual person who served Nero.

Oh Locusta is a Gaul. I did not know that

Compared to recent visits to the Roman world. The Romans shows I think more of the dark side of the empire. We see slavery, something that seems to be absent from both the Eaters of light and the fires of |Pompeii. Indeed Barbara is abducted to be sold into sex slavery. Barbara is sold out for a few coins, to slave traders In part because She and the TARDIS crew are selling vegetables at below market prices in the local forum.

Do we see slavery in Fires? Or in Eaters of the light  I note that in Eaters we are supposed to be amused and delighted by the Roman army having progressive views towards homosexuality. Tell that to Batavi.

As I said I liked this. There is a lot of action. The Doctor relishing fisticuffs He chides Vicki for intervening in a fight between him and a gladius wielding foot-pad

Vicki also makes Barbara feel really old! We learn young  Vicki studied medicine in high school. One passes medicine before one graduates.

Well Barbara despite Vicki's teasing  you have aged like French wine.

Finally we reach the court of Nero. We run into ill starred Poppaea Poppaea does not roll her eyebrows at Barbara like Vicki Poppaea cuts her eyes. Her character  worries that Nero will leave her for her. Nero, is looking for wine and song. The Doctor poses as a Greek musician ..and dodging daggers and diotoxins and directly giving Nero the idea for the great fire of Rome. So presumably starting the persecution of the Christians... The year of the 4 emperors etc

So the Doctor and co, actually make History

This episode is a lot of fun. It's also interesting -Ian helps himself to a souvenir and chases Barbs round the room. We have a long way to go to get to the man who never would.. This is a Doctor and a TARDIS crew, having a romp in the past and breaking the rules as they go...

Doctor Who Season 1

Thanks to Britbox, I have been able to watch the entirety of season 1
I also watched the Battle of the River Plate

I had seen ``An Unearthly Child'' before and the first episode is a stone cold classic. The confrontation between Chesterton and the Doctor in the junkyard is unsettling. Even knowing there is 50 years of canon

The Daleks

I was a bit disappointed really. It is interesting that the Dr here simply manipulates his crew to get his own way. The Doctor  lies about a piece of TARDIS equipment being faulty and needing topping up with mercury. Oh and that the specter of atomic war hangs over everything The Dals, and the Thals

The Daleks are trapped in their city eating vegetables grown with artificial sunlight. Do we hear or see the Daleks eat later?

One amusing exchange is that Chesterton tries to shame the pacifistic Thals into action by pretending he is going to sell one of the Thal women into white slavery

Another interesting exchange is a Thal describing Susan as not yet a woman.

The Thal ladies are all in swimsuits and the Thal men all bare chested despite the fact that they are eking out an existence in a post atomic horror


Keys of Marinus 

Oh this is where the Voords make their first appearance. Ditto the Sense sphere will be mentioned in New Who as close to the Ood home world

A very beautiful guest star. Katharine Schofield She also seems to have a higher social standing then her male counterpart. At one point she tells the Voords that her servant is only a servant and not to waste time hurting him 

It was interesting to see the trial on the authoritarian planet. I am surprised it was also a woman who set the murder in place. I liked the trial scenes. I liked seeing the Dr itting on a bench his head in his hands after the verdict.



The Aztecs

Aside from the obvious brown face. This was the highlight of the series. I wondered why the series simply does not do Historical's anymore Human beings can be more alien than any bug eyed monster or Kaled traveling machine.

I do like Barbara. It is interesting that while the Doctor is cynical about Barbara's capacity to redeem the Aztecs

I did like Susan meeting Perfect Victim. I kept thinking of Dead Meat from Hot Shots ...


The Sensorites.

It got better as it went on, but I thought this episode was too long. I did like how the Sensorites were able to use ``They all look alike '' aspect of their alien faces  Barbara disappears
The ending of the story, the discovery of the Earthmen seems rushed though.

Small Men on the Wrong side of History

My reaction and response to this latest work by Edward West



In this book, the author describes Mr. P J Brennan an aged Irish history master A man who remembered the V1's falling on Stamford Bridge. He had done his national service with the RAF, and worked on a history of the high school he had taught at. He had been researching the school's trip to Berlin in the 1930s and meeting the HJ  It was Mr. Brennan's custom to tell his A-level history class whom in history each student reminded him of Which qualities  with great men and women they shared

Ed is compared to Edward Burke-
 and is upset

Reader, I was St Loyola, founder of the Jesuit's

Yeah, I actually was. Because I went to High school with Ed. The same Mr. Brennan whose A-level history classes I studied in  Said the teenage me, was like Ignatius Loyola the founder of the Jesuits.

(I was quite a strident youth)

The school Ed and I attended was a successful RC high school in Holland Park. I am from a very different background to Ed. I was raised in Acton, in the great Irish lake, that stretched from Notting Hill to the GAA ground in  Ruislip. I had attended a local Catholic school.
I lived a very strict life. I was not allowed to watch various TV programs. Eastenders, The Young ones, Home and Away, Grange Hill. No TV on Sundays.
I went to church every week. I was an altar boy, I am old enough to remember the Church supporting Amnesty International. I remember reading about the murder of a nun by SL in Peru,

 So I remember several of these incidents in this book. While one of my hapless peers wandered off into the Northumbrian night. I was caught short.
 I did not really enjoy high school. I was short and weird. An actual memory I have of Ed West is we were playing Badminton for some reason that was the course selected for PE for that Term, We had rowing, Football, Fencing, Rugby and Swiming as staples and for this term, we were playing Badminton. (I have no hand to eye coordination and weak muscle tone). Ed won the match with crushing ease. I remember Ed being asked about the match and him saying Ruairi's skills are more mental

 I was a good student I rose from the ranks. I got promoted from V to C. The school streamed its sets with CVMS. With C being the top and V the  middle. Honestly, my clearest recollection of the time is always being tired. I suffered terrible insomnia as a teen. This meant I was often late, or I often forgot to put my homework into my bag. I just remember being tired and miserable
One reason why I miserable was because I was scared. As Edward recounts one of our peers was murdered. There was a rise in street crime in London corresponding to my teenage years. This is something I had always suspected. Indeed I asked my Dad once why I went to CVMS rather than a  more local HS, my parents had to spend a large sum of money on travel and uniforms A uniform which went as far as the school bag and diary.  This was a real sacrifice for my parents

Dad answered because you'd have been beaten like a dog every day. Anywhere else.

Dad was right. I bet he wishes he was not ... Because in My brother in 1999, was sitting at the bus stop around the corner of our school. The Bus stop outside the Kensignton Hilton  He was struck in the face by an older teen with a hammer because he did not have any money to give the attacker.
London was to me a violent place. A place where no one cared about you. This has colored my view of politics. I have no time for reforming the criminal classes. I do not want to hug a hoodie.

 It has always colored my views on living in London. I never liked it. I still do not, and that has always colored my politics.  I remember actually getting into an argument with my GCSE English teacher who had come from a local girls school about crime. She accused me of being a fascist

I left my high school behind me. I did not look up school friends on fb. I avoided friends reunited.
I moved on like Garak, I burned the bridges behind me. In case I was being followed.

In the meantime. I attended University in Scotland and the US, and after working as a librarian I met a woman on holiday in Santiago. One aside as with Ed I am from the generation that had to sit through hours of foreign cinema to see a naked lady. Well the BBC showed a series of South American films in the early 1990s. On BBC 2 on Friday nights I since have had a series of Latin American GFs

As I said I moved to Lima Peru. This is one of the world's megacities. I have seen a woman's corpse in the street in Lima. I have seen a murder in the streets of Lima. But my wife's nephews lads of 12 and up did not have the sense of danger that I felt.
The lads I am talking about are several hundred meters away from the suburb of Independencia. Which is one of the most violent places on the planet. 16 murders for 100 0000 people. Independencia recently was the scene of brutal child murder. I have never felt as wary in Lima as I did in London.

Ed makes a great point here. That conservatism is based not on strength but on fear.
I can give you another example from thousands of miles away. My ex-wife is about a decade or younger than me. Her politics is simple. She supports Fujimori. She might be standing for the Peruvian senate when the current crisis (Covid 19 ) is over. Anyway, my wife remembers the internal conflict in Peru. When I say she remembers. One of her neighbors was Rubenesque young lady. The neighbor was known as a local beauty, until one day her family home was invaded and she was ganged raped by SL, and after a botched back street abortion, The poor woman's mind was lost. She wanders the streets often holding a doll.
My ex-wife remembers having to play monopoly in candlelight during the blackouts. Blackouts which are non-uncommon in Peru terrify people to this day.  My wife also remembers queuing for bread and rice. Because of Garcia the former president of Peru had decided to take Peru into the first world by printing money. To her, Fujimori was the man who made the madness stop.

So I have enjoyed Ed's book. There are wonderful history lessons. No one said the first world war would be over by Christmas. The dying words of Julian the Apostate. Jokes about Jean Calvin owning the Papists with a single utterance...

 But for those who were not in Mr Brennan's A-Level class in the 1990s Small Men offers a first-class exploration of the Right as a mindset, as an identity and a choice. What makes right and left different. Why could people not bring themselves to not vote for Corbyn as the Labour party went down to it's worst defeat since before the second world war?
Do our genes and the big five personality traits affect our politics?

One point I must comment on ''is that Ed mentions that libertarians are more likely to be on the Autistic spectrum. Actually, I think there is some truth to that. But it is not the whole truth. I used to know a group of American thinkers, gamers and such. Firstly I think for historic reasons Americans are more literal. Its everything from German blood to Biblical scholarship and a written constitution. Americans actually read dictionary definitions into court. So by British and Irish standards Americans are more precise and legalistic in their words. That said there is a type of Autism called aloof Autism. I think this is a particular trait most likely seen in Libertarianism

But there is also a large spike in ASD in US military families. My wife is from a military/police background. I could make an argument that I am too. Why do I think this is important. Militaries and police, attract strong young men but are in a regimented environment. Uniform on/off duty rules.

I think people with ASD or rather the genes /traits and such would lead to both Libertarianism and or authoritarianism but not the mushy middle I think the US military data points to that

Also, young Greta, who is clearly not a libertarian

The reason I mention this is that I think at the moment We may be selecting for ASD as a culture. The ``Great Sort''  So Greta probably was also going to be telling someone off about something. But because Environmentalism is a high-status faith that is what she chose.

Ed goes on to ask  Why did BBC's tame comedians not make jokes about Obama?   He goes on to describe delight at meeting ``The Prince of Darkness'' - Norman Tebbitt over a fine dinner at a gentleman's club and his desire to make a Simpsons reference. His anger at the Twitter posts of Glinner Oh his unease at speaking with Steve Bannon. He was afraid that Bannon was too much. Ed reinforces the point about fear being an important part of conservatism. Bannon having been replaced by Tucker Carson

I  enjoyed Small Men as a history of my time. Because it is a time I have spent in exile. When Ed was trapped by Diana mourners, I was in a college in North Carolina. Though I note even thousands of miles away our paths were following the same course to a sea.  Interestingly in my first anthropology class, a bearded young man raised his hand and described a tribe of hunter-gatherers as having a rape culture. Said fellow used to drive women to and from dorms and libraries in a golf cart one night, he was got into an argument with a lad from Northern Ireland who turned over the cart with him inside. But yeah, Papal Visit I was in Virginia sir, (PS loved the Ride with Devil reference)  Brexit? I was in Lima. I was actually working in the Ministry of Finance at the time.

I missed all this

But our paths did run in parallel. I do not normally mention this I am an observant catholic. Next to the ministry of finance was Lima cathedral and a few smaller chapels. I used to have a class at 7am and then another at 11 am. There was not enough time to go home. So to escape the damp. I used to go into the churches. My daughter, who was not quite a year old. Was and is my life. So I thought what harm would it do if I say a few prayers for her. My mother and father were having to deal with the fallout of my imploding marriage. As my daughter advanced in days and weeks. She managed to walk but My daughter stayed silent. She has still never spoken. She has been diagnosed with autism.

So I started going to church. It was something I could understand the Spanish were similar to the church Latin I knew. I could stand up and sit down at the right time. I could not eat cebiche and not retch. I  found Peruvians opaque. You would ask them their favorite film and they would tell you Thor 2. (Which was the most recent Marvel movie in the cinemas) I did like the freeness and openness which one could describe family life, in Peru. Being one of 6 I always felt I was being judged describing this in London. Or mentioning a trip to a cousins' wedding In Peru I could simply talk about this. Ed makes a point about how even questions of fertility is now a political question. The larger a family a man has the more likely he is to vote Tory or Republican. This saddens me, as I will not likely have more children. I should have liked to. I feel sorriest for my friends who now north of 40 and trying to start or enlarge their families. It is difficult enough without the plague of politics.

I have digressed I  liked attending Mass on Saturday's in Lima. There would be a religious wedding for a couple which offered some color. It was quite chaotic dogs and birds would wander in. One evening I remember a slightly older lady who I think was quite devout. The ladies of the church knew her well. Anyway, she had finally had met her prince charming. The young priest regaled the congregation with a sermon inspired by a horror of the Mexican revolution. Ed not everyone in the RC church is a red

Like Ed, I sort the community I could never find. I sort the safety and order. If not Bedford falls, I wanted a Mayberry. NC I do not know if I will ever find it. My Bedford falls, is probably a suburb of Arequipa or Oxamapa But I hope to get there one day

But I will leave the reader with one final thought someone once defined conservatism as being on a boat in the middle of the ocean. We do not know where the shore is First we must keep the boat afloat
If we can keep the boat afloat. I think we can rely on the current to take us to Bedford falls,

The Timeless Children

The Timeless Children,

There are spoilers here.

In short, I would have preferred Chibnal left things alone.

Okay is the Master going to pay a price for the destruction of Gallifrey? 

All of the  Timelord's are dead. The Shobogans too. If we accept the Day of the Doctor- There were millions of children of Galifrey. The Master gets away with this.

I am actually fond of the Jo Marten/Ruth Doctor. I want to see more of her. I like her assertiveness which is refreshing

I was not so keen on the fact that the Doctor as the Timeless child, has had nearly infinite lives and thousands of regeneration's. I would have preferred an earlier cycle of regeneration. Something that we know the Timelords can do.

 Why is not there at the end of the Universe with Me/Ashilda?
 The Doctor could have saved everyone in Mawdryn Undead so it seems?
Why did the Eternals, or Sutekh not notice that the Doctor was not different to other Timelords?
Why did Rassilon not bait the Doctor with this information at the End of Time?
Why did Omega not ask for regenerations ?
Why did the Daleks not realize the Doctor was different

 I was watching the confrontation between the Doctor and the Master-ala Cyber lords. I asked, can the Doctor die now? I was not sure anymore

As I said  would have preferred there had been a set of regeneration before Hartnell.  

There is a precedent for this . We do see the Master being offered a new set of regenerations in the Five Doctors by the High Council. We know the Master is revived in the Last Great Time  war. As is Rassilon. This would not have been such a departure from canon The 12 regenerations being an arbitrary line, seems fine

So, I go back to the Name of the Doctor.  If being the Doctor is a promise.
 The Timeless child did not make that promise. Through hundreds of regenerations. Until something happened with the Ruth Doctor.

The Ruth Dr, regenerates, into a young Hartnell. The cycle does not quite begin again she passed on something to Hartnell. Hartnell broke the cycle. Maybe he rescued Susan Then he meets Ian and Barbara and the rest is history....

Terrified

I am very frightened about Coronavirus. I am not frightened for myself. I am worried about my daughter. My daughter has Autism, and does not speak. She has constant pica. She has eaten stone surfaces. She is getting more destructive and violent as she gets older.

She possibly has asthma. She lives in Peru, which has obvious problems. I am worried that if I go to visit her next week. I will bring sickness with me.