Meep.

Wibble.

I’m going to have to watch that again before I can write anything coherent, partly because I was so engrossed that I stopped taking notes, but mostly because I need to see it again. And possibly again, too.

A big ending to the series[1], which resolved the story nicely and solved an intriguing question that’s been lingering for a while.

Oh, and a nice teaser for this year’s Christmas special

I’ll get on with my proper episode reports soon. Actually, by leaving them, I’ve saved myself having to rewrite one of them in the light of later events[2]. All part of my cunning plan!

[1] So big, in fact, that it was ten minutes longer than usual
[2] All will become clear eventually

Yes, it’s another silly test thingy. This one asks a series of questions intended to test what is loosely termed “common sense”, a quantity which I’ve always suspected of being not all that common. Some of the questions require a little more knowledge of US geography than my brain retains, which is possibly why I got a couple wrong[1]. Anyway, here’s what I got:

Give it a try and add your results in the comments. If you dare

[1] Department of flimsy excuses

Regular readers[1] might have noticed that I’ve been Flickring more lately. One of the things that I like about Flickr is the groups feature. This is a great way of getting a wider audience for your pictures, and for discovering the work of other photographers with similar interests, or who work in your locality.

Anyway, when I happened to be looking at some pictures in one of the local groups I’ve been in for a while, I found another group – Enjoying Photography. Well, the name sounded good to me, so I had a look, and found that the Flickr group is just a part of a community. There’s a website and a forum that are free and remarkably painless to join.

Members can post one image to the Flickr group pool each day, and everyone is encouraged to offer comments and creative criticism, which is sometimes lacking in some Flickr groups. It’s a nice, friendly place, and I plan to spend more time there.

[1] And those who haven’t had enough fibre in their diets, too

I’m really enjoying that new wide-angle lens. This is the old Cattle Market Office which is now surrounded by the Centre for Life. I love this kind of architectural contrast – somehow John Dobson’s building manages to fit in with its modern companions.

Centre for Life

All over the timetables at Newcastle central station. Shocking!

Apostrophe Abuse

OK, here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll catch up on proper episode reviews, comments and general babbling after next week’s final episode. But for now, can I just say

Wooooooooooo hoooooooo

Lots of fun. The Master is back, and he’s crazier and more brilliant and murderous than ever. Martha’s got family troubles, Jack’s not feeling his best, and Torchwood aren’t available to assist, and the Doctor is really looking rough.

Things can only get more entertaining next Saturday.

Oh, and top marks for the Captain Scarlet reference.[1]

[1] Which I’ll explain later in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet. I’m nice like that.

Yesterday was the longest day of the year, and the sun actually appeared.[1] So I went for another walk with my new wide-angle lens. I took a slightly different route, and came to the St James’s Boulevard side of the City Quadrant complex, where I saw this arrangement of lines and curves. I like it as an almost abstract image, and also as it somehow looks like somewhere other than Newcastle. I’m not sure where, though!

Curves

[1] It did rain heavily in the evening, so things were relatively normal for this year

Hot off the metaphorical press is the latest WordPress release – WordPress 2.2.1. This is a security update for WordPress 2.2, and upgrading is not regarded as optional. Do it now, while your site is your own.

If you’re still using WordPress 2.0.something, you can continue to do so safely. The latest security issue does not affect you, and updates for your version will be released as they are needed.

If you are using WordPress 2.1.something, stop reading this and upgrade your site now.

As usual, I upgraded using Bryan Layman’s remarkably painless latest version of WPEasyUpdate. If you have shell access, this has to be the best way to get your WordPress up to the latest release. It even backs up your files and database before it starts, which is good for the paranoid amongst us.

Just for laughs, I didn’t follow my usual advice of disabling all my plugins this time. So far, things seem to be working.

Hmmm, I’ve finally found enough motivation to make a start on the backlog of photographs[1]. This evening, I’ve been working on some that I took in early April, including the sculpture trail on the Gateshead bank of the Tyne. I’ll be uploading a selection of them later this week[2], but I thought I’d mention this one now.

Art?

I’m sure an argument could be made that this is as much art as the goats, given that both are made of rusty metal and positioned in bushes….

Actual art

[1] This will take a while, there are over 1,000 to sort through
[2] Probably

I’m beginning to think that the recent dull, wet weather is going to be a permanent fixture. Anyway, I decided not to let a wee bit of drizzle stop me, so I had a wander down to the Quayside at lunchtime, with that new Sigma wide-angle lens attached. Here’s a sample that gives an idea of the wide field of view, and indeed today’s delightful weather.

Summer

More pictures to follow. Eventually.