that's not in the least bit suspicious

Our internet connection at home travels along the same piece of wet string as does our phone line.  (I’m assuming it’s wet string, based on the bandwidth it achieves.)  Recently it’s been a bit glitchy, dropping out at random moments.  Then the other day I spotted a correlation: it drops out when the phone is in use.  This hasn’t always been the case: I’ve been on the phone to support while using my machine, so this is something new.

We spent a while trying to narrow the problem down. Was it answering, being connected, or hanging up the phone that triggered the event?  No, it was simply calling the number.  Was it one of the filters separating the phone and internet signals?  We tried swapping in and out these gadgets.  Eventually we had pared the system down to a single filter, with no handsets even connected.  Same problem.  Either all 7 filters are broken (not totally implausible, they are cheapo dinguses, all over 10 years old), or the problem lies elsewhere.

What will probably look weird, if not downright suspicious, to anyone monitoring us (not that anyone would do such a thing, obviously...) is what was visible from outside.  To see when the network went down, we watched the blinkenlights on the router.  To load the network during tests, we downloaded a YouTube video, let it play about halfway through to check the network was stable, then called the landline from a mobile, which stopped the network.

The result of this is that we downloaded the same YouTube video, and interrupted its download halfway with a call from a mobile, about 20 times. Moreover, because the network connection dropped out, it would re-establish with a different IP address each time, as provided by our ISP.

Oh, and what was this ultra-suspicious video?  Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, obviously.

November leaves

November has been so mild that many of the trees still have their leaves.

apple tree

maple

That's not to say there aren't many leaves on the ground, and in the water.

leaves in the rill

leaves surrounded

It's not all leaves.

this tiny mushroom in the path has caught a thread

Venus

Venus is very bright tonight.

16:52 GMT, looking south west; unretouched phone photo

Once I had checked it wasn’t an aeroplane, I was sure it was Venus.  But I thought I’d check with Google Sky map; it’s always nice to have an excuse to play with that app.  I fired it up, and pointed my phone at the bright light.

No, I don’t think so.  And not just because I knew I wasn’t looking south…

I waited a few seconds, until the orientation sensor kicked in properly, and the image slewed round to show:

That’s better!

with just a hint mackerel

16:10 GMT, looking west

Spoilers!

Wow!

I had been carefully managing my expectations, because The Day of the Doctor couldn’t possibly live up to the hype, excitement, and full weight of the 50 year history, could it?

Yes it could.

the 11 Doctors – but actually it should be 12!

We now have a continuous timeline of regenerations, filling in the gap between McGann and Ecclestone.  Which leads to the question: what is the official numbering now?  (That certainly promises oodles of fun for pedants in future pub quizzes!)  And the problem to do with the 13th regeneration has been acknowledged, so we have that to look forward to.

But most important of all, it is a great story, playing on the existence of time travel and time paradoxes, examining the great Time War and the Doctor’s dreadful role in it.  It is a marvelous episode, full of fun, pathos, wit, momentous moral decisions, and gorgeous nods to the 50 year history, from the cheeky opening shot in Totter’s Lane to the epic final battle around Gallifrey.  Tennant and Smith work excellently together, playing off each other.  In a clever twist it is these somewhat childish later Doctors who are the living with the memory of the terrible deed they have done, while the older, more adult Doctor (Hurt) has not yet committed the act that will scar the Doctor throughout his future regenerations.

Three Doctors – the Daleks don’t stand a chance!

Who would have thought, 50 years ago today, that the future would hold something like this?

So, I wonder: what the diamond anniversary will hold?

found it!

After trawling through more newsagents than I would like to admit, we now have the full set of Radio Times covers:

Matt Smith found at last

with apologies to The Four Seasons

November, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)

Oh, what a night
Late November, back in ’63
Was a very special time for me
As I remember, what a fright

Oh, what a night
You know, we never got know his name
But life was never gonna be the same
What a Doctor, what a sight

Oh, I
I got a funny feeling when he walked through the door
Oh, my
That TARDIS, inside was so much more

Oh, what a sight
Materialising: mesmerizing me
Who was everything I dreamed it’d be
So SFnal, what a night

And I felt a rush when the TARDIS sounded thunder
Spinning its light around and sparking my sensawunda
Oh, what a night

Oh, I
I got a funny feeling when he walked through the door
Oh, my
That TARDIS, inside was so much more

Oh, what a night
Why’d it take so long to do what’s right?
Beeb was wrong, but now it’s seen the light
What a Doctor, what a night

And I felt a rush when the TARDIS sounded thunder
Spinning its light around and sparking my sensawunda
Oh, what a night (doo de-do, doo de-do, doo de-do, dee di-di)