The Home Of Weird And Ignorance

Book Review: The Long Earth

2012-12-06T21:25:00.002+00:00

A merging of one of my favourite authors with a respected science writer? I've got to like this - and I do. This is a fantastic book that really explores the consequences of the world and situation we find ourselves in whilst following loosely a bit of a plot just to keep some point to it. But its this exploring of the concept that really makes it for me. Many times I found myself wondering about what various aspects would mean or what they would result in, and for things that would have no bearing on the main story, and almost immediately the next chapter would diverge from the plot to tell a side story that would explain it and flesh out this universe. There are many ideas that are touched upon but not explored, but it just leaves that as a tantalising cliffhanger for a sequel to explore and get its teeth into. As usual from Pratchett, we have a fantastic collection of interesting characters and ideas.

Score: 6/7

BOOK REVIEW: Quantum Man

2012-10-11T21:50:00.001+01:00

One of the greatest scientists since Newton for me, this book follows Richard Feynman’s rock ‘n’ roll-like life. The story of a man for whom knowledge was his ultimate goal, finding things out for himself, and having such a huge impact on the way we do do physics today. Fame was irrelevant, often willing to attribute his findings to other people. His work on QED and his path over sum approach re-defining the way physics is done. Completing work overnight that other people had already been working on for two years. Lawrence Krauss tells his story through his discoveries and how he came about them in such a way that, like Feynman’s ability to make clear the complicated world of Quantum Mechanics, it is also easy to understand to anyone with interest in the field. In this way, not only is it a fascinating insight into Feynman’s life, but also a great science book too. If this man would have been more interested in contributing to existing fields and complimenting other’s work rather then just wanting to find things out for himself, who knows what he could have achieved.

Score: 6/7

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 5: Breakable

2012-08-02T18:57:00.000+01:00

Chapter 5 - Breakable

Cast
Narration: Angel Robinson
Jesus: Gavin Drury
Masseuse: Gavin Drury

TJC - Chapter 5 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 4: Cracking Good Times

2012-07-29T18:00:00.000+01:00

Chapter 4 - Cracking Good Times

Cast
Narration: Angel Robinson
Jesus: Gavin Drury
Waitress: Terry Drosdak

TJC - Chapter 4 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 3: Massage In A Bottle

2012-07-22T14:28:00.000+01:00

Chapter 3 - Massage In A Bottle

TJC - Chapter 3 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 2: The Conversation

2012-07-17T19:06:00.000+01:00

Chapter 2 - The Conversation

TJC - Chapter 2 (.mp3 download)

The Jesus Chronicles Audiobook - Chapter 1

2012-07-12T20:13:00.000+01:00

Chapter 1 - It Always Rains On Sunday

TJC Episode 1 (.mp3 download)

Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 6.04: The Many Deaths Of Jo Grant

2012-07-04T19:08:00.001+01:00

Jo Grant & Third Doctor

Cast:

Jo Grant - Katy Manning
Rowe - Nicholas Asbury

Writer: Cavan Scott & Mark Wright
Director: Lisa Bowerman
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: October 2011

Synopsis:

""I wasn’t going to let this happen. After all we’d been through, the Doctor wasn’t going to die like this, on his knees, in the mud."

When Jo Grant was very young, her grandmother told her that there was a time for everything. A time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to live and a time to die.

Since meeting the Doctor, Jo has laughed till she thought she might burst. She has also shed a few tears along the way, but has lived more than she ever thought possible.

But now, as a strange spaceship materialises over UNIT HQ and a heavily injured Doctor returns to Earth, it is Jo's time to die. Again, and again, and again…

Review:

I like how this starts, very quickly gets into the action leading to a great scene where Jo Grant dies, and as the title implies, the first of many deaths. This first death however, the musical arrangement and sound effects added to the emotional impact of it. It was beautifully done. The subsequent deaths, whether it's because the impact of her death has lessened but to her repeadedly dying or just not quite as good stories, I'm not too sure, but they were entertaining enough. The revelations and reasons behind the deaths were also handled well, but to bre honest, I was expecting something more from Cavan Scott and Mark Wright. Sure, I enjoyed it and it was entertaining, but I expected more of an emotional impact from them considering the title. Still, worth a listen.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existent
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

English Gav Explains... The Higgs Boson

2012-07-04T18:35:00.000+01:00

A proton-proton collision event in the CMS experiment producing two high-energy photons (red towers). This is what we would expect to see from the decay of a Higgs boson but it is also consistent with background Standard Model physics processes. © CERN 2012

Not quite ignorance this one, but you could put it in the weird category. Earlier today, at a CERN press conference, they announced the discovery of a new particle, which may very well be the Higgs Boson I'm sure you've all heard about. Here, I attempt to explain simply what exactly the Higgs Boson is.

Download mp3 here

If you want to know more about particle physics and the standard model, I can recommend this website which does a very good j-b of explaining things pretty simply. The Particle Adventure.

Transcript:

All we know of how the universe w--ks if underpinned by what we call the Standard Model of particle physics consisting of the fundamental particles and forces that make up everything we know, fundamental being the smallest particle everything else can be divided into. An atom will divide into electrons, neutrons, and protons. Protons and neutrons will divide into quarks, of which there are six varieties. Up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm. There's the four forces too, strong nuclear force, nuclear weak force, electromagnetic, and the weakest of the four - gravity. There are other particles than those I've mentioned too. Unfortunately, this by itself indicates that everything will fly around at the speed of light and not interact with each other. It was theorised that a field exists throughout all the universe, what we call the higgs field, that slows them all down and creates mass. The way it works is like a pool of water, larger objects experience more resistance when moving through, which slows them down. In the same way, different particles experience more resistance than others moving through the higgs field, this resistance determining the particle's mass. In accordance with the conservation of energy, as the particles experience resistance, energy is converted and a higgs boson is released from the higgs field which immediately decays into other particles. The detectors at CERN are looking for these telltale decays, which is what they've found. A new particle that appears to behave as the Higgs particle is expected to. Further experiments are required to verify if it actually is a Higgs boson or something similar

What are you doing this 31st June?

2012-04-25T15:30:00.000+01:00

I've recieved this email twice this week from different family members. Does nobody check Snopes? Or even a calendar? 31 Days in June? Once every 823 years? It happens all the god damn time.... apart from 31 days in June. That never happens.

Jesus Christ people, what are you doing?

I think I'm going to have to start emailing everyone back when I get emails like these in the future instead of ignoring them.

But 31 days in June and blindly clicking reply all? And that's not even getting into the whole 'luck' thing. aarrrgghhh!!!

That is all.

REVIEW: Doctor Who 158: Wirrn Isle

2012-04-23T20:28:00.000+01:00

Originally posted on my Doctor Who Review Site

Sixth Doctor & Flip Jackson

Cast:

The Doctor - Colin Baker
Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
Roger Buchman - Tim Bentinck
Veronica Buchman - Jenny Funnell
Toasty Buchman - Tessa Nicholson
Iron - Rikki Lawton
Sheer Jawn - Dan Starkey
Dare - Helen Goldwyn
Paul Dessay - Glynn Sweet

Synopsis:

"The year is 16127. Four decades have passed since the colonists of Nerva Beacon returned to repopulate the once-devastated Earth – and the chosen few are finding the business of survival tough.

Far beyond the sterile safety of sanitised Nerva City, transmat scientist Roger Buchman has brought his family to an island surrounded by what they once called Loch Lomond, hoping to re-establish the colony he was forced to abandon many years before.

But something else resides in the Loch. A pestilent alien infestation that the Doctor, beaming in from Nerva City, remembers only too well from his time aboard the Beacon…

The Wirrn are back. And they’re hungry."

Review:

I don't really have much to say about this one, it's pretty much standard fare. The plot isn't especially challenging or thought provoking in any way, just entertaining. Seeing as it's a story about transporters.... sorry, Transmats.... it's only customary to have the transporters malfunction. Sorry, that's Star Trek again. It almost confused me.

Whilst it progressed quite slowly without much really happening, the supporting characters were interesting enough to you entertained. Whilst I've never been much of a fan of the Wirrn, I would have preferred them to be more involved in this story rather than it being centered around the other cast members and the Transmat technology.

There were some nicely paced reveals along the way and I think that Flip is proving to be a good companion once again. The closing scene I really enjoyed and I hope we get some more stories with her in the future. There wasn't much here I disliked but it's not going to be a memorable one either.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~

4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it

5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: William Gallagher
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: March 2012

Mass Effect 3 Ending Thoughts (Spoilers)

2012-04-17T15:09:00.000+01:00

I LOVE MY ENDING

"You done well for people that used to live in caves." - Javik

So, I've finally got around to finishing Mass Effect 3 and have witnessed the massive controversy that is its ending that everyone has been complaining about. Well, not everyone, but enough that Bioware are creating an epilogue collection to satisfy the never happy entity that is the Internet. Idiots. Anyway, I've read many points for and against how the game ended so here are my thoughts to add to the already talked about enough subject...

Firstly, over the three games you're treated to an epic story based around the invasion of a alien force called the Reapers that are going to wipe out all life in the Galaxy. Your mission as Commander Shepherd is to stop this from happening. Throughout the story you're given various decisions which can dramatically alter various aspects of the story. Friends, loved ones, and whole races can die. You can start or finish wars with various races. Eventually, towards the end of the trilogy, you have to gather together the various races of the Galaxy into a combined war ef---t against the Reapers. The ending then reveals an entity called The Catalyst that is using the Reapers to wipe out all sentient life in the Galaxy because they create Synthetic life that always eventually rises up against their creators and cause chaos and destruction. Wiping them out in a constantly repeating cycle is the only way to keep the balance of peace in the Galaxy. Being the hero of this story, you've now upset this cycle and a new solution is required so you're given three choices (only two depending on some of your decisions).

Wipe out all Synthetic life and technology with the understanding that it will once again be created by future generations and Sythetic chaos will reign anew with no Reaper force to control it in the future.
Sacrifice yourself to control the Reapers so they no longer attack and wipe out all sentient life leaving both the Synthetic and Organic life to flourish, rebel, and once again cause chaos and destruction across the Galaxy.
Sacrifice yourself to combine your 'self' with a giant weapon that will spread out across the Galaxy and create a new life form that combines both Synthetic and Organic thus ending the chaos and destruction forever.

Having chosen option three myself, the Reaper invasion is then stopped, means of travel around the Galaxy is destroyed, your teammates crash land on a planet and (all presumably) survive.

Then we have an epilogue set many many years later of a Father and Son talking whilst looking out into space (which I infer to be on the same planet but isn't really necessary if you want an EA No-Prize). The Father is telling his Son of the legend of The Shepherd (which again I infer to be due to your teammates having spread the tales of how Shepherd saved the Galaxy and you have now become a legend). That is the legacy of Shepherd - save the Galaxy and become a legend.

Now, as an ending, I have no problem at all with this. It's quite cool. Shepherd is given a good send off, single-handedly saving the Galaxy and becoming a Legend. The only part I don't particularly care for, is the other endings. All the other endings yield exactly the same result with the only difference really being your choice. There's some slight variations where Earth gets destroyed before the invasion is stopped, Shepherd is implied to be alive, or some other minor difference to a few seconds worth of cut scene. But essentially, they're all the same.

Now this is sort of what I expected anyway. No matter how you played the game, I expected every ending to be that the Galaxy was saved (or destroyed) - with the only differences being who dies, what races lived, the level of destruction, and other personal things that your decisions over the last three games affected. Everyone gets the same ending but with a slight personal touch. But we got none of that - EVERYONE got the same.

For a game presented with so much choice and decisions that have major effects, for them to ultimately have no effect feels like you got cheated and it was nothing but a gimmick. Why'd they even bother with it?

So that's the problem - a lack of a personal touch to the epilogue, something to reward your decisions, or punish your poor choices.

In the epilogues released later this year, I'd like to see what sort of impact on the Galaxy the choices had:-

1. Technology was wiped out. You and your team help rebuild their home planets and mourn their lost ones.The Galaxy flourishes for another 10,000 years. Sentient life is one again created. They once again rebel. With no Reapers to stop this, all Organic life is wiped out.
The Reapers leave. You and your team help rebuild their home planets and mourn their lost ones. Sentient life soon starts to rebel despite the recent alliance, as they always have done and always will. All Organic life is wiped out.
A new life form is created. All your friends and species are wiped out. But the Galaxy survives. Syth-Organic life lives on happily forever.

All three sad endings in their own way, which I like, but are the endings I chose to infer from the choices and explanations I were given. These are the endings I have taken away with me regardless of them not being told to me. All three reflect the many choices you've made throughout the series. It would be nice to see them played out in the upcoming epilogues.

They'll probably not match the ending I already have imagined so I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not. I'll certainly check it out. But I blame the laziness* of the programmers not wanting to make all the different endings for everyone's choices and making most of it inferred. They should have left it alone.

They'll probably ruin my ending. I love my ending. My ending satisfies me. It's everyone else's ending I hate. And they'll probably ruin those too and everyone will hate Bioware forever.

*This entry was brought to you by the number three and the word 'inferred'.

EDIT: I have now seen the new endings and thankfully they haven't really changed anything. All three endings still possess the same vagueness for the future of the galaxy which I like, but at the same time they also marginally expand on what each option actually means for the future of the Galaxy. Which as with the original endings, how it all turns out is still down to your own imagination. What the new endings do though, which the only complaint I had about the original endings were them all being the same, is that they show the immediate effects of the choices you make making each ending unique in its own minor way.

Then there's the new ending, the refusal ending, where you don't make a choice and the catalyst continues the cycle which results in you losing the war. I've seen people complaining that whilst it's good they included the ending that everyone wanted, they then went and made it a bad ending. For me, that was a good ending as Liara left her message to the next cycle recounting the war the reapers. This lead to the next cycle eventually winning the war and presumably (from what I inferred) bringing peace to the galaxy. Of the four endings, two brought peace to the galaxy (Synthesis and Refusal) and the other two left the Galaxy in conflict (Control and Destroy).

Since the ending shifted the focus of the game onto the survival of the Galaxy, I can't see how you consider the refusal to be a 'bad' ending. All in all, this took everything I loved about the original endings and kept it, adding some nice bits of exposition, and then taking everything I disliked about it and tweaking it ever so slightly so as not to fundamentally change anything, but make it all good. There is nothing here now that I can complain about.

I feared they would include too much about your teammates and what happens to everyone and the different races, which for would have spoiled the ending, but they didn't. They kept it simple, and for that I thank them.

Fantastic game, great ending. Thank you Bioware.

REVIEW: 4th Doctor Adventures 1.02: The Renaissance Man

2012-03-22T10:07:00.002+00:00

Taken from my Doctor Who Mini Review Site - Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

Fourth Doctor & Leela

Cast:

* Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
* Leela - Louise Jameson
* Reginald Harcourt - Ian McNeice
* Jephson - Gareth Armstrong
* Christopher Manners - Anthony Howell
* Lizzie Harcourt - Daisy Ashford
* Beryl / Professor Hilda Lutterthwaite - Laura Molyneux
* Dr. Henry Carnforth - John Dorney

Synopsis:

"To continue Leela's education, the Doctor promises to take her to the famous Morovanian Museum. But the TARDIS lands instead in a quiet English village, where they meet the enigmatic collector Harcourt and his family.

When people start to die, reality doesn't appear quite what it was. There's something sinister going on within the walls of Harcourt's manor, and the stakes are higher than they can imagine.

The Doctor is about to discover that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing."

Review:

Leela was always one of my favourite companions and she really excells in this one for me. Tom Baker also does a fantastic job, he seems more settled than he did in the first one - though I've no idea in what order they were recorded. He has plenty of good lines and it's a complete pleasure listening to them both work together throughout this story. The other cast of characters also do good job and it's a shame that Scruffy didn't make it into the credits. The story is also quite interesting even though the ending was telegraphed right at the start and there wasn't much to it. The gradual reveals to The Doctor, and the audience, were told at a good pace that never slowed or got boring. It was just never epically climatic or tense or thought provoking. Really enjoyed this one.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Justin Richards
Director: Ken Bentley
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: February 2012

YouTube Trailer
Website Link

REVIEW: Doctor Who 157: The Fourth Wall

2012-03-18T16:28:00.004+00:00

Taken from my Doctor Who only review site Wandering In The Forth Dimension

Sixth Doctor & Flip Jackson
Cast:

The Doctor - Colin Baker
Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
Augustus Scullop - Julian Wadham
Dr Helen Shepherd - Yasmin Bannerman
Nick Kenton/Jack Laser - Hywel Morgan
Matthew Howland/Lord Krarn - Martin Hutson
Olivia Sayle/Jancey - Tilly Gaunt
Chimbly/Head Warmonger - Kim Wall
Junior/Warmonger - Henry Devas

Synopsis:

"Business is bad for intergalactic media mogul Augustus Scullop, whose Trans-Gal empire is on the rocks. But, having retreated to his own private planet, Transmission, Scullop is about to gamble his fortune on a new show, made with an entirely new technology. And the name of that show… is Laser.

Back in the real world, far from the realms of small screen sci-fi fantasies about monsters and aliens, the Doctor is interested only in watching Test Match cricket… but finds himself drawn into Scullop’s world when his new travelling companion, Flip, is snatched from inside the TARDIS.

So, while the Doctor uncovers the terrible secret of Trans-Gal’s new tech, Flip battles to survive in a barren wilderness ruled over by the indestructible Lord Krarn and his pig-like servants, the Warmongers. And the name of that wilderness… is ‘Stevenage’. "

Review:

When this started, I thought it was going to be another one of those stories that I hate where the main characters are put in a fictional world and they don't know who they were. As it progressed I quickly realised this wasn't exactly the case and the heroes find themselves in a fictional world but fully aware. That relief out of the way, I could start to enjoy it. Essentially, The Doctor and Flip are dumped in the middle of an ITV Drama brought to life, except this seems like one that might be worth watching. The story and characters they find themselves interracting with are pretty amusing in an over the top parody kind of way which makes for a very enjoyable listen.

Unfortuntely, Flip doesn't seem to have much to do in this one but she does seem to have settled down to life with The Doctor. She reminds me a lot of Lucie Miller in this, with a different accent. An accent I don't like mind you, but otherwise, I think she's proving to be a good addition to the series. The cliffhangers in this story are also pretty good. It's not quite good enough to get the magic 6, but a good solid entertaining story.
Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: John Dorney
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: February 2012

REVIEW: Doctor Who 156: The Curse Of Davros

2012-03-06T18:51:00.000+00:00

Also posted over at my Doctor Who only review page - Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

Sixth Doctor & Flip Jackson

Cast:

The Doctor / Davros - Colin Baker
Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
Davros / The Doctor - Terry Molloy
Jared - Ashley Kumar
Napoléon Bonaparte - Jonathan Owen
Captain Pascal - Rhys Jennings
The Duke of Wellington - Granville Saxton
Marshal Ney - Robert Portal
Captain Dickson - Christian Patterson
The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs

Synopsis:

"It's been a year since Philippa 'Flip' Jackson found herself transported by Tube train to battle robot mosquitoes on a bizarre alien planet in the company of a Time Lord known only as 'the Doctor'.

Lightning never strikes twice, they say. Only now there's a flying saucer whooshing over the top of the night bus taking her home. Inside: the Doctor, with another extraterrestrial menace on his tail – the Daleks, and their twisted creator Davros!

But while Flip and the fugitive Doctor struggle to beat back the Daleks' incursion into 21st century London, Davros's real plan is taking shape nearly 200 years in the past, on the other side of the English Channel. At the battle of Waterloo..."

Review:

Flip gets a promotion to fully-fledged companion in the first of the Sixth Doctor's latest trilogy. I think she makes a pleasant enough impression here but has a bit too much of being new to the time travel game to settle. There's a couple of moments where I can't make out whether it's the acting or the scripting that's at fault but I can't quite make out what she was actually doing in that scene. The delivery sounded like intentional whining to get her own way but wasn't made clear enough. Story wise though, is where this one shines. Flip and her boyfriend, discover The Doctor in a crashed escape pod fleeing from the Daleks, who under the leadership of Davros are looking to capture him for a re-union. There's plenty of story and action here with The Daleks taking them back to the Battle Of Waterloo. There's some good scenes with Napoleon and The Duke though I'd have liked to have heard more from them. There's also some good scenes with The Doctor and Davros and the cliffhanger to part 2 is fantastic. Overall, not only do we have a good storyline, but it's also a fast paced, exciting one with plenty happening. I want to give this a six but it just didn't quite reach the standard for that magical score.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Johnathan Morris
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: January 2012

REVIEW: Doctor Who 155: Army Of Ghosts

2012-02-23T16:59:00.000+00:00

Original review over at my Doctor Who Review Site Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

Eighth Doctor & Mary Shelley

Cast:

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
President Vallan - David Harewood
Lady Meera - Carolyn Pickles
Nia Brusk - Eva Pope
Commander Raynar/Karnex - Mitch Benn
Sherla/Baden/Tox - Joanna Christie
Captain Maddox/Stennan/Sentries - Trevor Cooper

Review:

The last one of the Eighth Doctor's trilogy. Can it improve on the previous two? Well story wise at least, it was enjoyable. But that's about as excited as I can get. It was another one where The Doctor didn't really seem to be a part of the story and was just along for the ride offering the occasional observation. Mary Shelley was useless or absent for most of it. Apart from the last part, where they had a couple of decent scenes together, they didn't seem to offer much to this story. But the story was still enjoyable despite this with a relatively simple plot line to follow and some mildly interesting characters. There's nothing here that I disliked but also nothing I can really rave about either.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Jason Arnopp
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: December 2011

Synopsis:

"The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Mary Shelley to the continent of Zelonia, on the frontier world Draxine – where, many moons ago, the twin citystates of Garrak and Stronghaven bore testament to mankind’s colonial spirit.

That was before the sinister death cult of Garrak’s President Harmon took hold – and Garrak annihilated itself, utterly, in an apocalyptic explosion. Before the bones of Garrak’s dead came back to life, and its skeletal citizens began marching, marching, marching on Stronghaven itself.

But what do they want, this army of death? And can anything stop them? In search of answers, the Doctor and Mary must journey into the dead heart of a dead city to face a terrifying adversary, whose ambitions transcend the stuff of life itself."

Recipe: 6 Chilli Curry

2012-02-11T23:02:00.000+00:00

This made a very spicy curry with a tangy sweet flavour.

Ingredients (serves 2 large portions)

1 chicken breast
1 large onion or 2 small
4 cloves of garlic
1.5 inch ginger
1 red bell pepper
3 tsp mustard seeds
4 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
5 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tin (400g) chopped tomato
150ml water
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp tomato paste

(Spice Mix)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp asefotida

(Chilli Mix)
12 slices of hot and sweet red Jalapenos
1 Fresno Chilli
2 Finger Chillies
2 Birds Eye Chillies
1 Scotch Bonnet
1 Dried Naga Jolokia
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp Fennell seeds
1 1/2 tsp fenugreek leaves
3 tbsp Curry leaves

Preperation

Spice Mix
Dry fry the fenugreek seeds on a low heat till they start to turn colour then grind to a powder.

Chilli Mix
Coarsely grind the coriander seeds
Chop then dry fry the Naga Chilli for a couple of minutes then grind to a powder and try nit to inhale any of it.
Finely slice the Birds Eye Chilies and the Scotch Bonnet.
Half the Finger Chillies down the length and then chop in half.
Thickly slice the Fresno.

Finely chop and dice half (or one) of the onion. Thickly slice the other half.
Finely slice the garlic cloves.
Finely chop and dice the ginger.
Slice the bell pepper.
Dice the chicken.

Cooking

Heat the vegetable oil up and fry the ginger and garlic for a couple of minutes then add the onion and the chicken.
When the onions start getting soft, throw in the mustard seeds and fry for a further minute.
Add in the tomato paste and tomato sauce and fry it out for a about four minutes before adding the spice mix.
Fry out for a further two minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes, white wine vinegar, and water.
Throw in the chilli mix and leave to simmer.
Towards the end when almost at the desired consistancy (20-30 minutes or so depending on heat), chop in some corriander and leaving some to sprinkle on later as a garnish and continue to simmer till done.

I rarely use the exact same ingredients twice and always play around with quantities but most look something like this. Fenugreek is a must though and I like the texture you get from mustard seeds. Hold back on the chillies if you don't quite like them spicy.

Review: Doctor Who 154: The Witch From The Well

2012-02-09T12:59:00.000+00:00

Review also up at my Doctor Who only page - Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

Eighth Doctor & Mary Shelley

Cast:

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
Master John Kincaid - Simon Rouse
Aleister Portillon/Squire Claude Portillon - Andrew Havill
Agnes Bates - Serena Evans
Beatrix - Lisa Kay
Finicia - Alix Wilton Regan
Lucern/Cornet Swallow - Kevin Trainor

Synopsis:

"A shrieking, killing nightmare erupts from an overgrown well, hidden in the grounds of an old house, Tranchard’s Fell – and Mary Shelley, the Doctor’s latest travelling companion, rescues teenage twins Finicia and Lucern from the clutches of the monster.

But a TARDIS trip in search of the origin of the horror goes terribly wrong when the Doctor, Mary and their two new friends find themselves stuck in the middle of a seventeenth century witch scare.

While the Doctor investigates the strange lights at Vetter’s Tor, and the twins go in search of an artefact from the Hecatrix Dimension, Mary confronts the secrets of her past…and her future. The truth will out: Master Kincaid, the terrible Witch-Pricker himself, commands it!"

Review:

This story started out very average, an Alien lives in a well and the locals think it's a Witch, and I fully expected the rest of the story to play out this simply with the only hope of enjoyment coming from Paul McGann's and Julie Cox's characters and performances. Towards the end of the first episode though, it takes a slight interesting turn and makes it a pretty entertaining story. (Note: I didn't read any synopsis or blurb before listening to this so I didn't know what to expect from the story other than how it was presented as it happened).

Paul McGann as the Doctor is once again great and has some good moments and the growing relationship he has with Mary Shelley is also a great listen. They work well together. There's also a good cast of interesting support characters here.

I think I'll give this one a 4 but it could have been pushing for a 5 with a bit more work.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Rick Briggs
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: November 2011

Review: 4th Doctor Adventures 1.01 - Destination Nerva

2012-01-24T18:47:00.000+00:00

Why Briggs? Why?

Fourth Doctor and Leela

Cast:

Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
Leela - Louise Jameson
Dr. Alison Foster - Raquel Cassidy
McMullan/Pilot - Sam Graham
Laura Craske - Tilly Gaunt
Giles Moreau/Jenkins - Tim Bentinck
Jim Hooley/Drelleran 1/Security Guard - Kim Wall
Lord Jack/Drudgers/Drelleran 2 - Tim Treloar

Synopsis:

"After saying their goodbyes to Professor Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago, the Doctor and Leela respond to an alien distress call beamed direct from Victorian England. It is the beginning of a journey that will take them to the newly built Space Dock Nerva… where a long overdue homecoming is expected.

A homecoming that could bring about the end of the human race."

Review:

Ah, Tom Baker has arrived at Big Finish. Shame that his first story was a bit of a let down. It was a very slow start with not much happening for a while, and when the pace did pick up, everyone was running about not knowing what was happening. Which is a sentiment i shared with the characters. People were doing stuff, there was plenty of action, but there was no story progression of any sort till very near the end then everything got wrapped up in the blink of an eye just as it started getting interesting. By the end of part two I was looking forward to another two parts but obviously, two parts is all we get.

There were parts of the story that i really liked and had that touch of Briggs, especially towards the end, but for the most part was too dragged out and slow. Nicholas Briggs has wrote his first story that I didn't really care for. I don't know what to believe anymore.

Other than my gripes about the storyline, Tom Baker was okay and Louise Jameson was great as usual. Overall it was enjoyable but I expected much more.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Written by: Nicholas Briggs
Directed by: Nicholas Briggs
Produced by: Big Finish
Released: 31 January 2012

Doctor Who Special: The Five Companions

2012-01-13T18:42:00.000+00:00

Ian Chesterton meets The Doctor and Other Companions

Fifth Doctor, Ian, Steven, Polly, Nyssa, & Sara Kingdom

Cast:

Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison
Ian Chesterton - William Russell
Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
Sara Kingdom - Jean Marsh
Polly Wright - Anneke Wills
Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
Sontarans - Dan Starkey

Synopsis:

"Inside a cluster of fused-together derelict spaceships, four of the Doctor's oldest friends - and one of his newest ones - are lost and confused. They don't know how they got there or what they're meant to be doing - but as the place is infested with Daleks, Sontarans and dinosaurs, their first priority is staying alive.
To their collective relief, the Doctor turns up and has a reasonable idea of what's going on. If the six of them work together, they can escape this place and get home. But, unexpectedly, others may be working together to ensure they all die here..."

Review:

I enjoyed this, but not so much because of the story. The story had plenty of action with The Daleks facing off against the Sontarans, a few dinosaurs thrown in too, and The Doctor and his companions trying to escape the situation. It was a good fun story I guess but not exactly going to win awards or make you think or anything. The best part about this audio was having the five companions and The Doctor meet and interact with each other throughout the story. I did like the return of Dwarf Star Alloy and the performances from Nicholas Briggs and Dan Starkey were good as the Daleks and Sontarans respectively. There's a nice moment where The Doctor's talking to Polly about the times they travelled together

So, the story is fun, but the real treat here is The Doctor catching up with the companions and the companions w--king together. The storyline itself wraps up rather poorly but that can forgiven.

And of course, Ian was the star of the show here, and The Doctor practically said it himself. Four regenerations on and he still recogninses Ian as the awesomeness that he is.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Written by: Eddie Robson
Produced by: Big Finish
Directed by: Ken Bentley
Released: December 2011

REVIEW: Doctor Who The Companion Chronicles 6.05 - The First Wave

2011-12-17T15:23:00.000+00:00

Original Post - Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

What does a Vardan need with a spaceship?

Steven and Oliver

Cast:

Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
Oliver Harper - Tom Allen
The Vardans - Lisa Bowerman

Synopsis:

"Caught in the inevitable path of its own history, the TARDIS arrives on the planetoid Grace Alone, where the Doctor, Steven and Oliver expect to face their fate. What they don’t expect to find is a massacred crew – and a race of alien invaders known as the Vardans."

Review:

This episode plays off the fact that the radio signals we've been creating for years are getting sent out into space and still travelling. An alien species picks up the signals and comes to our solar system. We pick up the story with Steven and (new companion created for the audio series) Oliver trying to survive this alien attack, stranded on an mining colony, and with The Doctor dead.

The first part is good and concentrates most on Steven reflecting on the past whilst trying to survive the alien attack with Oliver with occsional flashbacks that set up the story to the point we're at now. The story itself is pretty simple, but also an interesting one and slightly unexpected in places, and leaves enough of the plot to focus on Steven's reflections which is really well done.

A bit more happens in the second part with some nice twists and a good conclusion to the story and triology. In all, it's a really good sentimental story with a great musical arrangement to compliment it.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Written by: Simon Guerrier
Directed by: Lisa Bowerman
Produced by: Big Finish
Released: 8th November 2011

National Novel Writing Month

2011-11-30T17:50:00.000+00:00

Before NaNoWrMo finishes, I'll take the opportunity to finish all my outstanding scripts. So here we go:-

Bubbles Great Adventure: Bubbles Gets Lost In Space 2.8

BUBBLES:...

Obi Wan and Yoda are not paying attention to Bubbles and continue what they were doing.

OBI WAN: I’m thinking Lima.

YODA: Incorrect you are.

OBI WAN: What about….. Leg?

YODA: Wrong that is. More focus you must have.

Obi Wan puts his hands on his head and concentrates.

OBI WAN: I…. I see…. I see a Locust.

YODA: Negative my friend. Almost here it is. Of time you are running out.

Just then lightning strikes in the distance.

OBI WAN: Damn, Lightning. Okay my turn. I spy with my future eye, something beginning with….. ooohh, this is a good one…. something begging with N.

Yoda closes his eyes for a moment and it starts getting a little windy.

YODA: Newspaper.

OBI WAN: Damn it. You’re just too good at this.

BUBBLES: What? What is this you’re doing?

YODA: Game of future eye spy we are playing.

OBI WAN: You have to name something that you can’t see now but will in the very near future, and the other has to try and guess what it is before they see it.

BUBBLES: But how do you know what you’ll see in the future….

YODA: Your laces untied they are, Bubbles.

Bubbles bends down to tie up his laces just as a newspaper in the wind flies over Bubbles and smacks Obi Wan in the face. Bubbles arises again and sees Obi Wan with a newspaper wrapped around his head.

BUBBLES: …. if it hasn’t…. happened yet?.... okaaayyyy.

Obi Wan removes the newspaper from his face and throws it on the ground while Yoda laughs.

OBI WAN: Yes, very funny. Now Bubbles, have we learnt anything more from your journey yet?

BUBBLES: Nothing that I didn’t already know, that Nikelface is annoying. Why won’t you just tell me what it is?

YODA: Learn the lessons yourself you must, lest with meaning they be without.

OBI WAN: Let us show you another event from your past. Hopefully things will start to become more clear to you.

Then Bubbles wakes up.
Then he dies.

_________________________________________

Previously in Journeyman

Dan can travel into the past. He can't control when he does or where and when he travels to. All he knows he travels to key moments in peoples lives in order to lead them in a different direction and right wrongs. The reason behind this is unknown. Only his wife Katie and his brother Jack know about this. During his trips to the past, he occasionally bumps into his ex who also travels through time.

Previously In Dead Like Me

George was killed by a falling toilet and now finds herself living in another body as a reaper for Rube procuring souls from people before they die so they can pass on to the afterlife. Rube has a few reapers which he by directs to the souls with little yellow post it notes that have the time, location, and surname of the soon to be deceased.

JOURNEY LIKE ME - EPISODE 6

PREVIOUSLY: Back in the past, Dan has twice encountered the Thompsons - a very anti social couple - and their child but only seemed to make them withdraw further. Livia was too late to help Dan. Back in the present, his friend is socially raped - a term Dan isn't familiar with.

Dan is at work at his computer. His boss approaches and looks at his screen.

BOSS: History of social raping huh? Another up to the minute piece you're working on there Dan?

DAN: ...huh, oh yeah. A friend was, what they say, Nicked? Yesterday.

BOSS: I can't believe this still happens. People like that should be locked up. Thinking they can impose themselves on other people having a good time just because they don't have any friends. There's a reason they don't have friends. No one wants you around, you socially inept idiot.

Then Dan wakes up.

Then he dies.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Social Defiance And Its Implications

SCENE: Dave is in the toilet having a piss in a cubicle. There is the feint buzz of chatter coming from the bar. Two blokes eventually walk in and go to the urinals. Dave evesdrops.

BLOKE 1: Man, I'm so going to buy you the drinks for the rest of the night for that speech.

BLOKE 2: Thanks John, It was a good one wasn't it?

JOHN: Truly inspired. Completey deserved the best toast of the night prize. "Here's to spending the rest of me life, between the legs of me wife!" You crack me up sometimes Reilly.

REILLY: I'l have to come up with something good when I get back to the wife though. I'm going to be hammered tonight.

JOHN: Yeagh, whether it's celebrating the feetball win or drowning sorrows eh?

REILLY: Aye, it's a do or die game this 'un.

JOHN: Hope those Chelsea c-unts get hammered for six.

Dave hears them both zip up but doesn't notice the buzz from the bar has gone. The two gents head out.

REILLY: Not likely but that would be ace.

JOHN: Aye.

The doors open and close as they leave. Dave finishes up and heads out. He opens the door and steps out, bumping into John and Reilly who are stood in the doorway.

DAVE: Whoa, 'scuse me. What're......

Dave then looks out to the rest of the pub. There is nobody in the bar and a few headless bodies on the floor with blood all over the place.

Then Dave dies.

__________________________________________________________________________

THE SOBER CHRONICLES - CHAPTER 22 - EMPYREAN SOLAR FLARE SUMMER ALE

(NOTE: This chapter takes place concurrently with the events in

The Jesus Chronicles - Chapter 22

Five minutes ago in a country on the other side of the planet.

"What's that in the sky?" Asked Robert.

"I think I read something about this in the paper this morning. It's a supersun." Replied Steve.

"What's a supersun?" Enquired Albert.

"Well, like the normal sun, it's glowing. But because it's getting bigger, they're calling it super." Answered Steve.

Robert holds his hands to his eyes and looks up to the supersun.

"Apparently, astronomers are predicting the arrival of this supersun will cause tsunamis or something. Load of superstitious nonsense if you ask me." Continued Steve.

Looking slightly panicked, Robert says "you know what? I don't think it is getting bigger."

"Of course it is, look." Laughs Albert.

"I see it appears that way, but that's because whatever it is, it's getting closer, and it looks big, and if.... when that hits the earth, well...." says Steve.

"...well what?" Asks Albert.

"...well, when I say run. Run." Replies Steve.

"RUN!" adds Steve.

And they all run.

But they all die.

Uncharted 3

2011-11-18T17:24:00.001+00:00

Finished Uncharted 3, loved it. I've seen a few people complain about the aiming and behaviour of guns - I didn't find it any different to the previous games. I had one friend who complained about the changes to combat mechanics meant he constantly died random deaths as he got shot from behind and want quick enough to retaliate. Having played it, yes the combat had changed and enemies now sneak up behind you if they can, but three problem here was more his inability to adapt his playing style. Once I saw early on the changes in behaviour, my tactics were alerted accordingly and I didn't have any problems for the rest of the game. Nate was fully capable of coping other than occasionally bring overwhelmed by volume of enemies. There were some great action sequences as usual, the only downside over 2 in my opinion was that the environments of some scenes weren't as fun to play in due to the layout and it seemed like there were less puzzles to me, or less involved puzzles, not as memorable. The story in this one and support characters were superb though.

Human Centipede 2 - The Full Sequence

2011-11-15T15:59:00.000+00:00

Watched Human Centipede 2. The first one had some merit, it was actually a pretty decent suspense horror to stay with until the end where it turned into lame torture porn, terrible dialogue and performances aside. The second one had nothing redeeming about it. Any and all character development or exploration was out of the window and it is simply a bloke gone mad and tries to emulate the first film with more victims. There is nothing more to it. The first one maybe worth watching, this one not at all.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The Magic Of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

2011-11-09T19:05:00.000+00:00

This science book is a little different to most, in that it's aimed at children primarily and each chapter is set out by starting with a collection of myths from around the world to explain things from the movement of the sun, the creation of the world, and why bad things happen. It then explains the beauty of the scientific explanations of the myths, all accompanied by helpful drawings. Unlike Dawkins' previous books, this is purely a scientific book and not an attack at religion at any point.

Before I start, the version of the book I listened to (there's a clue) was the audiobook as opposed to the illustrated book. Now, for the most part this wasn't a hinderance in any way. The scientific processes were described with enough clarity that the illustrations weren't necessary. However, there were a couple of times where I thought that a child would benefit from the visual representations if not familiar with many scientific principles.

This is billed as a science book for children, and he does a good job of making the science pretty accessible, but it's not too simplified and there's plenty for all ages who are interested in science. People who are particularly adept may not actually learn anything new about science, but there's still other information of interest here besides science, including many myths and superstitions from the past, and the most important bit, common misconceptions about statistics which pervade to most adults even today. Ultimately, this is a great introductory book to science for anyone interested in the subject and a good read if you already are conversant.

Where this book does fall down is on it's main aim - highlighting the beauty of reality as told scientifically, opposed to the vague explantions of myths and religion. There is only one section - about light and rainbows - where he really does seem to get across just how beautiful it is in the eyes of science. The other chapters just read like an explanation of the science and you're to infer how beautiful it is. It doesn't seem to be told with the same enthusiasm which is a shame.

The best thing about this though, is being taught science by the President of Gallifrey.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
~~3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided~~
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Author: Richard Dawkins
Narration: Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward

Publisher: Bantam Press (UK) / Free Press (US)
Released: 15 September 2011 (UK) / 4 October 2011 (US)
Formats: Book, Audio, iPad