I started blogging really early. I was writing my own content management system before I heard of blogger, and then I was an early adopter on that. I've been at it almost ten years - and some of it's been prolific, but mainly it's been kind of patchy. I've been wondering why.
When I first started blogging, most of my posts were really short. They were pretty much mainly links, and a little bit of commentary as to why I was linking, or which country I was in. I sometimes did interesting things, so I wrote longer pieces. I added sections to my site. I took them away. When commenting was the new thing, I added comments.
For a while, blogging became a social activity. Indeed, I've built some friendships through blogging with real people who I've met in real life. But I think there were a couple of major turning points.
Firstly, the mass proliferation of blogging devalued the blog. Odd thing to say, but at the point in time when there were only a few hundred blogs in the UK, it felt that there was something of a community. The proliferation of blogs led to them becoming little more than noise. Blogger had positioned itself as push-button publishing for the masses, and the masses adopted it. Good for them.
With the masses came spam. I disabled comments on this site a couple of months back, just because I was getting loads of spam and no comments. Tedious to maintain. Apart from anything else, most of the feedback I've been getting for a couple of years has been coming through The Twitter.
I was an early adopter on The Twitter. I gave it up pretty quickly thereafter. It was like Google+ is now - dull and underused. But it changed, and what it changed in to was more entertaining. Bizarrely, the mass appeal which had cheapened blogging had strengthened Twitter. I rejoined Twitter, and now it drives about 80% of the traffic to this site.
It's also more like what I was looking for in the first place. I feel like I was looking for a bicycle, but what was available was a motorbike - I got it, loved it, upgraded and upgraded and I'm left with a Harley Davidson. But I still just need a bike.
There are alternatives to blogging, and they're generally easier. I don't blog much these days, and if I do, it's long rambling pieces like this. Blogging is becoming more specialised as the twitternoise moves to The Twitter. There are some great blogs out there, but they're all about the content rather than the random musings that have characterised this site and its predecessors.
So this is it. This is how it ends. With a whimper. If you're looking for me, I'll be on The Twitter until that gets broken too.
@thequietscot
]]>Let me set the scene - I'm at an art gallery here in Edinburgh, and Mr Twinky is powdering his nose. I'm looking at a handbag on the floor and a man touches me on the shoulder. I turn.
"Excuse me," he says. "I just wanted to tell you that you're beautiful."
That was pretty much it. I said "Thank you", he said "you're welcome" and we parted and never spoke of it again.
He was wandering around the room, clearly not looking at the art, but he had an air about him, an air of belonging. I reckon there's one of two things that have happened.
He fancied me, and thought he had a chance if he told me.
Or, it was a random act of Art. An intangible performance piece - a piece which I'm continuing by writing this. Clearly it had an impact on me, and made me think - which is key to my personal definition of art.
I found myself watching out for him as I looked at the other art - to see if he was doing it to other people. Part of me wanted him to be an artist. I wanted to be certain of that. Part of me wanted him not to be - because I certainly found his comment flattering, if confusing. I don't know. Maybe I wasn't meant to know.
I did find out later, though. I was very happy with what I found out.
Beholder is at the Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh from today.
]]>I stood in the street and queued for a new telephone.
Now, part of me knew there was always a possibility of this. I've got definite nerdy tendencies, and Apple's technology has an undoubted fetishism about it. But I still told myself as I got to the shop just as it was opening "I'll only stay if there's no queue". Two hours later, I had a phone. Just as well, really, as the old one was falling apart.
I've had it about a month now. It's nice. I wouldn't call it revolutionary, but it's undoubtedly nice. So nice, indeed, that I am looking for another one.
I'd foolishly thought that after the initial rush died down, you'd pretty much be able to get an iPhone without any trouble. And I expected that initial rush to last a day. Maybe two. But no. O2 appear not to have a single iPhone in Edinburgh. Indeed, the closest iPhone they can offer me is in Larne. Which is quite a drive away. Google tells me it's four and a half hours, if I take the ferry from Troon.
If I go for the model that I actually want, then the position changes slightly. There's one in Downpatrick, an extra hour's drive from the ferry.
I don't know whether to be happy that I've got one already, impressed by the technology that allows me to find my nearest phone, impressed by the popularity of the phone or just annoyed that I can't pick one up in my lunch break.
Twitter again, folks. Sometimes it's a wonderful thing. Sometimes it's depressing.
And the thing that's depressing me today about twitter is a little panel on the left that tells me that some made up phrase with a boy band in it is trending. This is not news: it is noise.
In this particular case it's a fan campaign that serves no purpose whatsoever other than to be a self-perpetuating feast of self-love. Aren't we the best fans, because we get our boyband's name trending more often than anyone else? And tomorrow it will be Lady Gaga and the day after, it will be Justin Bieber, and then it will be someone else ad nauseam.
It turns what could be a useful, informative feature in to a game - the trending topics is something that people play, and in many cases do so to generate free advertising, either for the brand or band that they are a fan of, or for themselves.
Indeed, if you are stupid enough to click on a trending topic, hoping to find out why it is trending, then you are more than likely to find that most of the tweets are along the lines of "OMG I can't believe Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga and #LookAtMeNow are trending. I hate them!" - which is nothing but grandstanding.
It worries me that this says that large parts of our culture are basically very, very shallow.
]]>I saw one of her series of documentaries last year, and I've listened to her on the Radio 4 show, "Museum of Curiosity" this week. And she's brilliant. A theologian, a lecturer, a member of the European Association of Biblical Studies, a television presenter and an atheist.
In the space of a half hour radio comedy panel show, she manages to mention
Although a lot of people disagree with her on some of these points.
What I love is her historical approach to the study of religion which manages to be quite respectful as well as light-hearted. I'm sure academically she can be argued with, but she comes across as confident and funny. I knew most of her points above already; she manages to communicate them in a way which is accessible.
I'm sure some will find what she says sacreligious, but I find it tremendously respectful. She clearly loves and respects religion, but I think she's got its context pretty much right. I wish I could say what she says half as clearly as she does.
]]>It's now called Siri. In unrelated thoughts, I've got a song in my head today that we heard on holiday a few years back - Si Tu Non Sei Con Me by Syria.
Part of the charm of the song was the gentlemen in the video, Pietro Taricone - who died in a parachute accident last year at the age of 35.
A great loss.
]]>This week, the Scottish Government (formerly Executive) introduced laws preventing offers such as "three for two" on alcohol in supermarkets. The intention is good - Supermarkets shouldn't be seen to promote binge drinking, after all. The impact is different.
Some supermarkets are offering online discounts - you buy your alcohol from England at the three for two price and you get it delivered to your door. Brilliant.
Others are reducing the price of alcohol to levels comparable with England - so it a bottle of wine at £6 is in a 3-for-2 promotion in England, a single bottle will be available at £4 in Scotland.
To the supermarkets, this makes perfect sense. Indeed, you could argue that it's a necessary consequence to avoid complaints of supermarkets making excessive profits from customers in Scotland vs England. Indeed, the Scottish Government (formerly Executive) would probably frown on that.
There are similar issues with minimum pricing for alcohol - particularly if applied in part of the UK rather than the whole. It's a simple enough principle - follow the money. If you introduce a law, who benefits?
The most woefully naive quote I have seen on the topic is from a representative of the Scottish Government (formerly Executive) who I won't name here. She expressed disappointment that some retailers would not be respecting the spirit of the law, but emphaised future plans for a minimum price. In the meantime, she believed the measures would still have some effect, stating: "...if somebody is going to buy one bottle of wine, as they intended to do when they went into the supermarket, instead of three bottles, that they are tempted to buy because it is on offer, then that is helping us reduce alcohol over-consumption."
Now I'm quite happy. I'll be able to get reduced prices on the single bottle of wine I'm likely to buy. And as I drink it, I'll discuss the incredible idea that anyone should respect the spirit of the law.
Not a problem in theory. Of course you should - laws are generally made for good reasons. But if there are loopholes in the law, then you (particularly if you are a trained lawyer should)
The law is, admittedly, a weaker form of law than the Scottish Government (formerly Executive) wanted, but it's so weak as to be virtually counterproductive. The impact could be predicted by someone with only a basic grasp of law or economics. Or shopping. Or public opinion and human nature. Or the internet.
Alcohol is a serious issue, and the complexities around it are immense. This move, while well intentioned, is largely pointless.
]]>It just happens that my relative ranking of episodes finished at much the same time as series 6... just in time for me to start the whole exercise all over again! Which I am - mercifully - going to spare from the internet.
But... the last season of Doctor Who, had I ranked it using my episode-by-episode system would have come first. There are some absolutely corking episodes in there - some better than others, true, but quite respectable. Which is interesting.
Because it wasn't my favourite series.
If you were to sit me down and say "Doctor Oddverse, which series of Doctor Who would you like to watch again?" I'd probably say either three or four.
Three's much derided - many fans were anti-Martha before she even began, and the contrast with Rose was - at times - handled clumsily. But it had some sumptuous moments that were set up nicely well in advance. The fob watch scene in Utopia, for instance, is a personal favourite, and the climax when Martha laughs at the Master is sublime.
Four had Donna. Brilliant for half her episodes, moaning about being useless for the rest of time. Her turning in to a Time Lord and her joy was exhilarating - her loss at the end gut-wrenching in a way that The War Games never was.
I think I liked them because the stories were largely self-contained, and there were character elements and devices that came back - but the closing story brought a new threat and upped the stakes.
Now, The Wedding of River Song is different. Different is good. Indeed, in the ranking I've not done, it would come first, purely for the madness of it, the audacity. But it's far from being an easy story to show to a new viewer. It's drowned in continuity - indeed it actually feels more like part 5 of a 5 part story (possibly more). Now, I kind of like that, but what it does mean is that the series has felt uneven - like Story-Filler-Story-Holiday-Story-Filler-Story in a way that Seasons 1 to 4 didn't.
So I loved it... and at the same time I didn't.
]]>Upgrade nags.
The features available in web pages are evolving all the time, and new browsers are required in order to interpret the code that people are putting in to their pages. Web design is big business, and companies are always pushing for their web sites to be the best and the snazziest. So I'm not blaming web designers for upgrade nags, but I am blaming their clients and the design process.
What do I mean by an upgrade nag anyway?
Well, there's a certain site that I visit occasionally that has a big banner along the top telling me, over four lines of text, that I am using an unsupported browser and that I need to update. It's got some pretty icons on it that link to download pages for browsers. It's on every page of the web site. I have no idea what in the site I can't see, but I see this big red message. A lot.
Now, yes - there will be some features on the site that the people behind the site want me to see, and that I won't be able to. Probably advertising, but possibly content, or interaction, or a tedious facebook login. But the main reason I now don't want to use the site is the annoying banner. On every page. Telling me that my browser isn't supported by the web site I'm looking at.
Now, there is a good reason why my browser isn't supported by the web site. It's an old browser. Internet Explorer 7. And all the computers in my workspace have it. I'm not allowed to upgrade. So I don't.
As an aside - surely the browser doesn't support the web page, rather than the other way around?
There are established techniques for allowing a web page to display properly in older browsers. They're messy, yes, and time consuming. But around 6% of internet users are using IE7 or earlier. All of them will get this banner. Instead of a discreet message telling the user that "as you are using such and such a browser, some features of this site are disabled" and disabling them, this site - and it is not unique - chooses to make itself considerably more annoying.
I do sympathise. With the site owners, who want to drive everytone to the most bandwidth-rich experience, with the coders who want to write standard code rather than bespoking everything for individual browsers. All I ask is that, in return, they have some sympathy for me, stuck on a browser that their web site doesn't support.
]]>The Parting of the Ways
The Doctor faces down an army of Daleks, rescuing Rose in the process. Then he dumps her on Earth. This is possibly my favourite part of the episode, mainly because it shows the viewer that traveling with the Doctor has changed Rose, changed her outlook on life. And then she ends up going all deus ex machina and shiny and it all falls apart.
Doomsday
An army of Daleks and an army of Cybermen pretty much appear on Earth, don't fight each other much, and get sucked off in to a void between worlds thanks to reversing the polarity of the Deus Ex Machina. Fortunately, this gives us the separation of the Doctor and Rose, which leads to some fine face acting from both of them.
Unfortunately, the bond between the Doctor and Rose, and the pain of their separation, which is so effective in this story, then casts a shadow over the next two series. So it kind of backfires.
Last of the Time Lords
Begins with a complete change of pace and a fast forward to an Earth under the thumb of the Toclafane, meaning that there will have to be a big reset button at the end. Martha shines in this episode, wearily walking the Earth, spreading a message - picking up on the themes of the Shakespeare Code without mentioning the fact once.
Unfortunately, the impact of this is to turn the Doctor in to a shiny Deus Ex Machina that can defeat the Master just by - well, it's never quite explained how he does it. Never mind.
There's some great performances in this one, though.
Journey's End
They love these apocalyptic titles, don't they?
After clearing up the regeneration due to a wee bit of Deus Ex Machina, this episode basically comes down to Catherine Tate getting shot and pressing a button. Fortunately, she is more than capable of doing this in an interesting way.
And then she leaves. Not through choice, but in a tear-jerking "you must never remember me or your brain will explode" kind of way. Except that when she does remember him, her brain doesn't explode, but that's another story. Gut-wrenching snatching of pain from the jaws of victory. And as a result, one of my favourite scenes of all of the episodes I'm considering.
The Big Bang
Another one that begins with a complete change of pace, and a return to the world of Amelia Pond and the 11th Doctor's first scenes.
After the monster-fest that was the previous episode, this one is really a fight against circumstance. if the universe has been destroyed, how do you get it back? And yes, it's a reset button, but it's one that they spend an entire episode acknowledging that they are pressing. Time can be rewritten. And shhh... there may be spoilers.
Yes, there's a Dalek, but it's a stone dalek. And it's just one, and it doesn't have a plan or a scheme. It's just there for a bit of jeapordy, which it delivers. As season finales go, it's a small scale story in a small scale universe, but it's wibbly wobbly timey-wimey, the stakes are high and it's funny.
It's also the first season finale that doesn't end with a companion leaving or the Doctor regenerating. Interesting.
Ranking for Episode 13
Rankings Series 4 > Series 3 > Series 5 > Series 2 > Series 1
Next: What can I say about this? I don't doubt I can say something.
]]>George Monbiot, The Guardian.
I've had a number of arguments, some heated, some reasoned, based around this proposition over the years. It's inherent in democracy, it seems, and hence in western society. It is almost independent of government - indeed you could argue that the election of one government or another is an indication of where a society is in this cycle of death and rebirth rather than a driver of it.
We're now fifteen months in to a Tory/Liberal coalition government in the UK. We're a few months in to an SNP majority administration in Holyrood. I don't think it would be fair to say that I'm happy with either proposition. But more than that, I don't think the British electorate are happy with the Westminster coalition government. However, it's a consequence of the British public and their demands for change.
It's easy to turn around, point fingers at politicians and bankers and blame them for all of the woes of the country, but it's missing about 90% of the facts. I don't have all the facts, I'm not going to go in to the ones I have here, mainly because they're statistical and historical, but also because I know I'd get bogged down in it. It's complicated. Way more complicated than you could expect to find in the Daily Mail or on a web page.
There will be economics treatises written about this period of time though, addressing the economic cycle that Monbiot sums up so succinctly. He's writing about planning law, but the same could be said for civil rights, education, financial regulation, urban riots. Groups within society fight against constraint, break that constraint and collapse. The wider society then imposes those constraints. It's entirely natural and understandable.
If I write an economic treatise (I won't), I will call it "no more boom and bust".
Bad Wolf
Why is it called Bad Wolf? It's not actually clear.
On a television station that we've seen before, the bored citizens of the future play lethal gameshows. It's a chance to show a comic twist on the television of the day, leading up to the big revelation of... Daleks.
And then the Doctor threatens them. And they look afraid.
Army of Ghosts
Torchwood. If it's alien, it's theirs. And the Doctor most certainly is alien. Alongside that we've got ghostly figures from another dimension appearing and cybermen lurking in the shadows of Canary Wharf. Tracey-Ann Oberman is a classy Doctor Who villain, blind to the dangers she faces as she enables the invasion of the Cybermen. And then there is a big revelation. Of Daleks.
The Sound of Drums
After the cliff-hanger ending of Utopia, we're suddenly back to contemporary Earth, and it's at its most gritty with every person, every security camera at the beck and call of the Master. It's a hopeless situation, and we get a Gallifrey flashback, for the first time.
And then, at the end, there is a big revelation when the Earth is invaded, and it's not the Daleks.
The Stolen Earth
Here we learn fairly early on that it's been stolen by the Daleks. But this is a big plan, the stakes are higher than ever before as the Daleks basically threaten to wipe out everything ever. Presumably including themselves. So we bring back every companion that's appeared in the new series. It feels like a big "event" episode. It feels apocalyptic. And the Doctor is about to be reunited with Rose when he's shot by a Dalek and regenerates...
The Pandorica Opens
The Doctor is, essentially manipulated all the way through this one by a gang of monsters, and ends up getting himself in to an impossible prison. And Rory is back from the dead (hurrah!) but he's an Auton (boo! because he's bad but Hurrah! because the Autons are back). And then he kills Amy. Boo, indeed. And River's in the TARDIS, which is exploding, causing the crack that's been following Amy for 11 weeks. It's all in all not a good situation, for any of them really.
And then the universe is destroyed.
Ranking for Episode 12
It's the big cliff hanger of the season. I'm going to try to judge on the episode as a whole though. Tricky. I love Army of Ghosts, for instance, but I'm having to rank it fourth here.
Rankings So Far: Series 4 > Series 3 > Series 5 > Series 2 > Series 1
No overall impact.
]]>Boom Town
An Earth-bound sequel to an earlier story, with one alien and a high-point that is essentially two characters having dinner while one tries to kill the other. It's got good moments, and cracks all over Cardiff, but the end feels like a cop-out. Some interesting moral questions are raised... and then ignored.
Fear Her
Season 2 has Fear Her and Love and Monsters, so it's on pretty shaky ground. It's a different take on the Monster-of-the-week from some of the previous episodes, but it feels more like 1989's version of Suburban London than 2006's version. And it's got some cheesy moments. And the villain of the piece is basically a cupboard. It would be done better later.
Utopia
And so to Season 3. This story has a real sense of urgency to it, as the last remnants of humanity flee from the end of the world and from the Futurekind. Add in the return of Captain Jack and the Doctor's reaction to that and you've got an episode that could be really strong on its own. And that's before the twist. The delicious twist that brings together plot elements from earlier in the series in a way that rewards regular viewers. And Derek Jacobi's brief appearance in his second role of the episode just makes me want more...
Turn Left
And this story picks up on the idea of using episode 11 as a prequel to the main two parter. In this case, it's the "Doctor-Light" episode as Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins face the answers to the question "What if Donna never met the Doctor? What if she turned left?"
Critically, it highlights just why a companion is important to the Doctor - why a companion is there to act as the voice of humanity. She is there to stop him, saving his life, saving the Earth a dozen times over.
In this story, a companion selflessly sacrifices her life so an alternative version can live. It's a powerful story, and it won't be the last time it's told.
The Lodger
Season Five's Companion-Light episode plays it pretty much for laughs, setting Matt Smith against the comic actors James Corden and Daisy Haggard in a story about an upstairs flat that eats people, and that was once due to contain a talking cactus. It's a bit of fun, really.
Ranking for Episode 11
Rankings So Far Series 4 > Series 3 > Series 5 > Series 2 > Series 1
Honestly, I don't see this changing much. I'm slightly surprised, but I'll explain why once I've rated the last two episodes.
]]>The Doctor Dances
Ah... the sublime Squareness Gun. A sound consistent explanation for the threat and a plausible resolution, in which everybody lives (back before "everybody lives" became a cliche).
The banter in this episode between Jack and the Doctor is excellent, and Steven Moffat is definitely on form. Not the strongest episode 10, but a strong contender.
Love and Monsters
The first Doctor-Light episode, and it shows. Yes, the Doctor and Rose are intermingled through the plot, but it's trying to stand on the basis of a top-class guest cast and a monster designed in a Blue Peter competition, portrayed by Peter Kay. Not the worst story of its season, but not the best.
Blink
Here's an example of how to do Doctor-Light correctly, though. Light touch all the way through, taken out of the action by a credible threat, so the guest cast are essentially trying to rescue him. And the creepy weeping angels are introduced here. Doubtless the forerunners of some very quiet playground games. Clever Steven Moffat.
Midnight
The only story that might challenge Blink on this list. Series 4 had a Doctor-Light story, but this isn't it. This is Companion-Light, with Catherine Tate appearing in one scene at the beginning and one at the end. The bulk of the story is told on one set, with a limited set of charaters and a threat that we never explicitly see, but hear in the voices of the actors and see in their faces. It's a dark tale, although not the darkest Who has ever told. Chilling, and very strong.
Vincent and the Doctor
Vincent Van Gogh vs the Giant Invisible Turkey of Despair. Lots of metaphor in there, but despite some beautiful moments, it's not going to win this round.
Ranking for Episode 10
I'm giving it to Blink. And Midnight. Shared. Different stories, different reasons.
Rankings So Far Series 4 > Series 3 > Series 5 > Series 2 > Series 1
Blink brings Series 3 back in to contention, but it;s very close between series 2, 3 and 5 as we get close to the end of time...
]]>Here's the ninth.
The Empty Child
The dawn of Steven Moffat, gives us a strong period piece, a creepy monster with a playground-friendly catchphrase that is still occasionally heard in gay bars, the introduction of Captain Jack and a brilliant supporting character. The only downside is Rose climbing a rope for no good reason, but that's pretty minor. It's going to be hard to beat.
The Satan Pit
This episode isn't going to do it, though. Not that it's a bad episode, but the Doctor is stuck in a cave for most of it, which is what brings the score down. There's a bit of TARDIS magic, which isn't always great, but the base-under-siege is done well, Ida Scott's worth revisiting sometime, and Toby Zed combines creepy with vulnerable really well.
The Family of Blood
The second half was never going to be quite as good as the book - but the book is brilliant, so that's always tough. The key points are there, though, and Tennant does a great job of face acting when he portrays the Doctor's feelings about his cruelty. But that, in itself, doesn't quite work.
Forest of the Dead
Everybody lives... kind of.
Moffat. Moffat, Moffat, Moffat. Oh how you love playing with layers of reality. Marvellously ripping us out of creepy library story in to Donna's alternate reality - the first of several - and giving Catherine Tate something really meaty and human to get her teeth in to. It's a close run between this and The Empty Child
Cold Blood
It's a game of two halves. There's the first 35 minutes, where people talk a lot and not much else happens, and then there's the last ten minutes, when Rory dies and Amy forgets that he ever existed. Twisty and intriguing, but not quite enough to cover up the cracks in the earlier part of the episode.
Indeed, because of that, I'm going to inch it in to fourth place, but to be fair, all five Episode 9s are pretty strong. Perhaps being part of a two-parter helps...?
Ranking for Episode 9
Rankings So Far Series 4 > Series 2 = Series 5 > Series 3 > Series 1
I'd thought Series 3 might have been higher up the list, to be honest.
]]>