RIP Sarah Jane Smith
Right from the very beginning, the companions in Doctor Who were our (the viewers’) representatives on the voyage.
For me growing up, the archetype for this character was Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen. She was there just as I got into the show. The innumerable repeats of 70s episodes in Australia during the 80s and 90s, as well as her repeat visits (right up to David Tennant’s final scenes in 2009) just cemented her position.
As Doctor Who Executive Producer Steven Moffat said:
I once showed my son Joshua an old episode of Doctor Who, in which Lis appeared. “But that’s Sarah Jane,” he said, confused “In old Doctor Who. From years ago. How come she always look exactly the same?”
Overnight it’s been announced that Elisabeth Sladen passed away from cancer.
A couple of months ago we lost Nicholas Courtney, The Brigadier. So this is the second childhood icon of mine to go this year.
Sarah Jane returned in her own TV show, Sarah Jane Adventures. In this clip from last year, just after farewelling Jo Grant, she name-checks other Doctor Who companions who are apparently still fighting the good fight.
RIP Elisabeth Sladen, 1948-2011.
I need a new phone. Should I get iPhone or Android?
I’m genuinely undecided as to which I should get. What do you think?
Google Forms doesn’t stop you voting more than once. Please don’t. I’ll publish the results in a few days. See below.
Disclaimer: Have your say via a vote or a comment, but I won’t necessarily go with the majority view.
Update 6pm: Here’s what I’m thinking so far…
On the pro-Android side (for instance, the Samsung Galaxy S):
Can write my own apps without having to buy a Mac. (But would I ever get time?)
Good integration into Google/Gmail, which I use a lot.
Hardware is a bit cheaper.
Slightly lighter.
All other things being equal, I’d prefer an open platform to a closed one.
On the pro-iPhone side (thinking about the iPhone 4, prob 16Gb):
More apps?
Tram Tracker and Metlink apps.
Fits into iTunes, which I already have, so I can listen to music on the train easily without carrying another device.
Will kill my desire to want to buy a new iPod.
A bit smaller.
Results (as of 4:40pm, Tuesday 26/4/2011):
Tags: Android, iPhone, mobile phones
30 comments
By my calculations, I fill up my car with petrol every 27.5 days
With the usual media coverage of petrol price rises over Easter (yes, that’s how the market economy works… when demand goes up, so do prices…), I was pondering how much money I’ve been spending on petrol.
The car barely goes anywhere on weekdays, and even on the weekends I’m doing perhaps around 50 kilometres.
Given I never pay cash at petrol stations, I had a quick skim through my credit card history to see how often I fill up. And the answer is that the median number of days between fills is 27.5 days. (Usually I don’t bother going in unless the tank is under about 15% full.)
Sometimes it’ll be as short as a week or so between petrol visits — such as over the Christmas period when there’s often a trip or two up to the country. But at other times I’ll go as much as 42 days between refills.
I also worked out that I’ve spent $716.26 on petrol in the past year, and my median petrol cost per day is $1.71… so I suppose about 1.3 litres at current costs.
But I’m lucky enough that most of the time, I simply don’t use much petrol, because most of my trips each week are either on foot or on PT.
Be nice if more people had that option.
- 20/8/2009: The monthly refueling
Tags: driving, petrol, transport
4 comments
Cavaliers in Footscray
Cavaliers in Footscray.
Tags: Cavaliers, Footscray
5 comments
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-04-16
- Happy Days on ch11 right now, and someone just spotted a shark. Wonder if this is the Jump The Shark episode? #
Tags: Twitter digest
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The Fkn line and the state election result
A number of seats in the November state election were won and lost because of public transport — and the Frankston line in particular.
Statistics continue to show that the line is the worst for punctuality in Melbourne, with a 12 month average of just 69.6% of trains on-time within five minutes.
Perhaps it’s fitting that the official abbreviation for it is Fkn.
The impact was acknowledged by both sides of politics.
Bentleigh, Mordialloc, Carrum, Frankston: four seats through which the Frankston Line runs like an artery, four seats that bled Labor to political death.
…[Former Bentleigh MP Rob Hudson]: “But it’s a big commuting suburb. Ten thousand people pass through Bentleigh railway station every day, and the Frankston Line . . . has had reliability issues that have been frustrating commuters.”
– The Australian, 4/12/2010
…it is a terribly performing line. It’s a line that’s enraged and upset people massively.
– David Davis, Liberal Party, election night during ABC TV’s coverage
On the Frankston line, we lost five seats. On the Lilydale line, if you count Mount Waverley to the south, we lost four.
– Nick Reece, ALP State Secretary, address to Melbourne Press Club, 15/12/2010
(Nick Reece appears to have included Prahran, the eastern end of which is served by the Frankston line.)
So new Bentleigh MP Elizabeth Miller must be acutely aware of public transport issues in the area. In fact she raised the topic of Southland Station last week in parliament.
During the election campaign I made a commitment to my electorate of Bentleigh to see a railway station built at Southland shopping centre. This is a piece of infrastructure that is long overdue, which is symbolic of the previous Labor government’s inability to provide for our growing community. I ask the minister to provide an update on this commitment and on when my electorate can expect construction of this railway station to commence.
Good to see.
It’s just a shame it’s been decided that her electorate office will be moving from its current spot, a few doors from Bentleigh Station, down to East Bentleigh — a long way from the station.
One would hope this doesn’t mean she’s running away from the issues, and that she realises how important improvements in public transport (not just trains, but also trams and buses) will be if she is to retain her marginal seat, and indeed if the government is to retain power in the next election.
I for one look forward to progress on Southland Station and other key promises, particularly the Public Transport Development Authority, which if done right will reform the poor transport planning that’s got us into the current mess.
Update Sunday 17/4: A notice in Elizabeth Miller’s office window now says the move is not happening just yet.
When I were a lad
I was noticing the other week that Isaac referred to some past golden age “when I were a lad”.
I asked him if he knew where the expression came from. He didn’t.
Where it comes from (at least in our house) is the Four Yorkshiremen sketch, which has been adopted by Monty Python, but in fact pre-dates it. It was originally performed on At Last The 1948 Show, by Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Marty Feldman.
Here’s the video… I showed it to Isaac, and he laughed his head off. Enjoy.
Kmart – promoting responsible parenting
(Or: Acting on childhood obesity.)
Tags: advertising, Kmart
13 comments
