Musings From The Chair

I spent most of my time this week-end in the garden due to the glorious weather. Also because the lawn looked like this:

So now it doesn't! We were out in the graden again with the chimenea going and a couple of burgers on the barbie. And Po decided to join us (probably because of the smell of the food though!). But soon he managed to secure a comfortable sleeping bed - a patch of grass cuttings I'd missed next to the hammock:

Bless him. Yesterday, I mooched out in the hammock for a wee relax which turned nto a full blown three hour nap. Woops! Got lots to do in the garden - things are gong to get chainsawed very soon, weeds killed, knackered old chicken shed removed. This year's the year!

Also last week I have mostly been watching htis:

Which is the excellent Firefly by Joss Whedon of Buffy and Angel fame. The nerds amonst you may notice that the lead, Captain Mal Reynolds, was the very evil Caleb in Season 7 of Buffy and to the right, Zoe was Jasmine in Season 4 of Angel (also evil as I recall). He likes to keep it in the family. But it's an excellent series and such a shame that they cancelled it. What were they thinking? But a quick look through the imdb sees all of them hardly out of work since. The best character by far though is Jayne. Here's some Jayne quotes:

"Ten percent of nuthin' is...let me do the math here...nuthin' into nuthin'...carry the nuthin'..."

"These are stone killers, little man. They ain't cuddly like me."

Quotes from Star Wars which sound better if you substitute the word 'pants' for one word:

1. A tremor in the pants. The last time I felt this was in the presence of
my old master.

2.You are unwise to lower your pants.

3. We've got to be able to get some reading on those pants, up or down.

4.She must have hidden the plans in her pants. Send a detachment down to
retrieve them. See to it personally Commander.

5. These pants may not look like much, kid, but they've got it where it counts.

6. I find your lack of pants disturbing.

7. These pants contain the ultimate power in the Universe. I suggest we
use it.

8.Han will have those pants down. We've got to give him more time!

9. General Veers, prepare your pants for a surface assault.

10. I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants back home.

11.TK-421. . . Why aren't you in your pants?

12.Lock the door. And hope they don't have pants.

13. Governor Tarkin. I recognized your foul pants when I was brought on board.

14.You look strong enough to pull the pants off of a Gundark.

15.Luke. . . Help me take...these pants off.

16. Great, Chewie, great. Always thinking with your pants.

17.That blast came from those pants. That thing's operational!

18. Don't worry. Chewie and I have gotten into a lot of pants more heavily
guarded than this.

19. Maybe you'd like it back in your pants, your highness.

20.Your pants betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially
for your sister!

21.Jaba doesn't have time for smugglers who drop their pants at the
first sign of an Imperial Cruiser.

22.Yeah, well short pants is better than no pants at all, Chewie.

23. Attention. This is Lando Calrissean. The Empire has taken control of
my pants, I advise everyone to leave before more troops arrive.

24. I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.

http://www.schmutzie.blogspot.com/

I did it with my avatar, but I suspect results from a real face would be even more disturbing. But then again, maybe not...

I introduce you to:

Botticelli Gil:

Baby Gil:

And (my personal favourite) Chimp Gil:

I was away all this week in Angus, near Montrose, working on the Little Houses Project for the National Trust on a 19th century clay mud built schoolhouse. Whilst there, had the chance to see the delights of the St Cyrus Wildlife Reserve, Arbroath Abbey (sorry, all Arbroath has to offer if truth be told), had a smokie in Stonehaven, and a few nights out in Montrose (lots of Chinese restaurants bizarrely).

We had amazing weather, so hot, it could've been June or July.

So here's a quick picture rundown:

The Schoolhouse:

And a stroll on the beach, which quickly turned into a 2 hour trek:

And is it me, or does this look like a person lying down?

And the obligatory sunset shot:

The Abbey was shut, but we had a look all the same:

Find more info on the Abbey here.

We also had an Arbroath Smokie in Stonehaven by the quay, which was a beautiful place! Despite having to wait over an hour for the smokie to arrive at the Ship Inn (we got a smokie off the bill and a free round of drinks!) it was worth it. I'll find a recipe for it and get that on the recipe blog (along with cheesecake ice cream Meno!).

Don't know what a smokie is? Neither did I - here you go, from the BBC food website:

You're more than a little gross, but probably no more gross than the average person.
Maybe it's time to drop some of those disgusting habits that could eventually embarrass you!

Basically, plot was OK, imaginative, although the Jadoon were clearly the Vogons from Hitch Hikers. Justice is Swift! Lots of the usual running up and down corridors, etc, a bit of science for the kids. The Slabs were a bit dull though.

The story was good, a few twists, although fairly predictable.  I don't care what anyone says about the effects, they're the best the BBC have ever had, so I'm not complaining! I remember the early series of Red Dwarf (well, the later ones too for that matter). And Blakes Seven.

But as always, a bloodthirsty villian, a murderous alien vampire, played brilliantly by 'Dinnerladies' Anne Reid, who hammed it up good. That's how we like our villians on Doctor Who! One thing that strikes me in this episode though - we are now seeing the Doctor - and indeed David Tennant - getting into his role and he hasn't calmed down with the goofiness at all. Sometimes it's irritating, but every Doctor has to have his quirks, the Tenth Doctor's clothes being relatively normal, no dodgy vegetables strapped to his lapel, long scarves or frilly shirts. Although the pining for Rose thing is getting a bit old. Yes, Billie was great and we'll all miss her, but we have to move on! I suspect it is meant to deepen the Doctor's compassion, though.

What was annoying about this episode? Martha's family was completely pointless and very badly acted (her sister wasn't too bad) and, whilst it served its purpose by explaining that Martha is the sensible, slightly put upon member of the family who solves all the problems, after Rose's family ties, it seemed a bit cliche. I just hope we don't see them again, but with Russel T Davies's enthusuasm for the human compassion storylines in this new 'imagining' you never know.

And so where to now Martha? She's only down for one trip according to the Doctor. Is it going to be a Tegan where the navigation system fails and he can't get her back to her own time? Hope it's something more imaginative than that, but time will tell. Oh, and the kiss? Was that added in just to give the fans something to see on the trailer? Not really necessary as part of the plot - was certainly a bit contrived!

Oh, and that young doctor had way too much of a speaking part not to turn up in later episode(s)...

Next week, the Shakespeare Code...

Time for a relax and prepration of some tea before Doctor Who and the Shakespeare Code then Orangeblossom is giving me a call. I'm off all next week in the wilds of Montrose, so I'll be back next week-end, although may do some posts later on tonight.