Holocaust Memorial Day

I'm currently watching the Ken Burns series The U.S. and the Holocaust, which is available on BBC iPlayer. It discusses the action that the United States took when faced with the persecution of Jews by the Nazis. Or rather the lack of it.

The immigration quotas were maintained. Jews seeking visas needed $5,000 bonds to cover them, a huge sum of money back then. And antisemitic views were publicly expressed by many influential people, including Senators and preachers with national radio shows. Only FDR really emerges with much credit out of the top people.

I think it's a reminder that evil generally has a lot easier time of it when good people do nothing - or there are other evil people in charge of organisations with the means to help.

The Holocaust was a German crime, but a global failure - and we must make sure actions like that do not happen again.

The Last of Us

Watched the first episode of this last week and got to say that's an excellent drama even if - like me - you've never played the games. There may well be a full review of the season once it's finished.

2023 Plans

I know this blog has been a bit quiet lately - I assume someone still reads it. Hopefully, I will get this a bit more active in 2023. For one thing, I hope to get round to watching original Star Trek at some point, but I've still got too much modern TV to watch including Strange New Worlds.

There's a number of Marvel movies out - and the new Indiana Jones - so I might well review them.

We shall see though. Make sure you follow me on your RSS feeder of choice.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento aka Pelé 1940-2022

Quite simply put, the greatest football player of all time and an inspiration for many millions. Went from shining shoes and triumphed over racism to win three World Cups and scoring 1,281 professional goals when you count the friendlies, which were often against high-profile European sides.

He is to football what Muhammad Ali is to boxing and Don Bradman is to cricket. His name will never be forgotten.

Rest in Peace.

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my readers, wherever you are, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the love of God be with you and all your loved ones at this festive time.

Looks like it might be a cold winter

Snow is outside my house right now and I may end up having to work from home on a day that I normally go in.

With the current energy price situation - and the government needs to do all it can to get them down - this is going to be a tough winter for many poor people and we'll likely see a lot of "excess deaths".

It will be even worse for those in Ukraine, who are dealing with Russian attacks on the electricity supply designed to demoralise them. But those sort of attacks will likely motivate their soldiers even more. 

In any event, the best way to end this situation is to end that war  - with a Ukrainian victory, because we can't give Putin a chance to rearm for a second go.

59 Years of Doctor Who

Wishing this show a happy 59th anniversary. With a new production team in charge and making some good decisions already, the Diamond Anniversary next year should be a good time. 

In any event, a lot is riding on it, considering how problematic the current ratings are. But I am confident in the skill of Russell T Davies.

Qatar World Cup

Probably won't be watching very much of this at all, except the England games, maybe not even those as the Monday game is at 1pm UK time and I will be in the office. I am in the work sweepstake, but that's supporting charity.

Alas, this isn't the first major sporting event to be held in a dodgy country and it won't be the last. Boycotts have an appeal, but they tend to not actually bring change; that usually comes from within.

So, yeah... let's hope for some good protests.

Remembrance 2022

We are now dealing with another war in Europe, the first for over twenty years, fought over much of the same territory where the World Wars were fought. Millions have become refugees, millions more have suffered.

Please remember them and all those who still suffer from past wars.

London Loop Section 9

Decided to do one last bit of the Loop before the clocks changed and the daylight hours became too short for it to be done safely. It was a warmish day and I worked up a bit of a sweat, losing around half a kilo all in all.

Section 9 is a long one at around nine miles and is pretty much entirely level, although it was a bit muddy especially near the end. It includes Bushy Park with a large wildlife collection, including deer (which are being culled now to control their numbers) and coots.

You also go over what is left of Hounslow Heath, which was a notorious haven for highwaymen, but the route is poorly marked here, and the Inner London Ramblers are discussing with Hounslow council about changing the path to follow the River Crane instead. Most of it has now been built on and the only daylight robbery you'll see now are the car parking charges.

As you go through Donkey Wood and the duck boards, you're under the Heathrow 27L/09R flight path, with aircraft passing over you around every minute and you can read the aircraft numbers.

There are a couple of places to eat in Hampton Hill and other spots on the route; I still got round in just over four and a quarter hours. My walk ended at the 1970s-built Hatton Cross tube, for a long train and bus ride home.

I plan to do Section 10 and 11 together in March next year; when the weather and light is suitable. The aim is to do the other twelve sections of the Loop by the end of 2023, so watch this space.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor

I watched this pretty much live a week ago and I've got to say that I rather enjoyed it. The plot was pretty razor thin - a Chibnall habit - but there was a lot of enjoyable callbacks to the past, as appropriate for a Centenary special.

Jodie Whittaker did a fine job with her swansong and had a good final speech - handing over to a rather different successor than some might have anticipated. But Doctor Who really does need some better security for its production, because it would have even better to be surprised in that case.

Dan wasn't particularly well served, while the ending to Yaz's tenure seemed a bit perfunctory, although perfectly in character for the Doctor, who doesn't seem to like long-term commitments to humans who have a much shorter lifespan.

Ace and Tegan were definitely enjoyable; the former has never really left the show due to her long association with Big Finish.

The Master was crazy as usual and the "Ra Ra Rasputin" dance was highly memorable; I get a feeling Sacha Dhawan's time in the role is probably done though.

Daleks and Cybermen need a rest; they're massively overused now.

Anyway, the Whittaker era is now over - and with Disney now on board, hopefully the show gets a much bigger budget.

8/10

Exit Thirteen

Today marks the end of the Thirteenth Doctor's era, with her regeneration episode, "The Power of the Doctor", airing at 7.30pm tonight in the UK.

It's reasonable to say that this hasn't been the most successful era in the show's history - ratings have declined, popular interest has gone and the quality of stories has been uneven at best. Chris Chibnall, despite previous good work, was not ultimately suited to the Doctor Who gig.

None of this is Jodie Whittaker's fault - she did the best she could with the material - and hopefully she'll find some better stuff with Big Finish.

So, onto Ncuti Gatwa and RTD2; they've got a big challenge ahead of them.

Exit Liz Truss

The fastest failure of any Prime Minister that actually managed to form a government in the first place; Truss was utterly unsuited for a Cabinet role, let alone the top job. She now ends her career as a joke - I wouldn't be surprised if she steps down at the next election.

Hopefully they don't re-elect Boris Johnson. Sunak seems the most competent of that sorry lot.

A general election would be best to clear the air, but why would the Tories vote for Christmas? We'll just have to cope with this shambles as best we can.

Robbie Coltrane 1950-2022

Best known for Cracker, Valentin Zukovsky and Hagrid, he was a brilliant actor who added a lot to anything that he was in.

Rest in Peace.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

I plan to continue the TOS reviews at some point, but I've got modern Trek to catch up on first.

Got to say that I'm highly enjoying Lower Decks, the animated adult-orientated part of the franchise at the moment. A lot of (reverential) humour, some good stories and great characters all round. They're due to make a live-action appearance in the second season of Strange New Worlds and I look forward to that.

London Loop Section 8

After a recent trip to Strasbourg and the Oberammergau Passion Play - post on that will follow at some point - I decided to do Section 8 of the London Loop on Wednesday 21 September.

This is a long section - 8 miles including the station links - but a pretty easy one to do as you're following the Hogsmill River for most of it, a tributary of the Thames best known as the backdrop for some famous Victorian paintings (like Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais, the location shown below) and the route is largely flat, although I am informed it can get pretty muddy. In my case, it stayed dry and was even slightly warm.

Berrylands forms a decent half-way point to stop for lunch, with the pub serving good but rather expensive food. The station building itself looks rather like it was a standard British Rail Southern Region design:

Near the end of the route in Kingston-upon-Thames is a coronation stone supposedly used by seven Saxon Kings, with tributes having been put there for the late Elizabeth II:

The route ends by the Thames. From there, it's a walk through the town centre to the station, with regular trains back to London. Still the old 455s at the moment - the 701s have yet to enter service.

Plan is to do the 10-mile Section 9 in October at some point and Section 10 on November before the weather, along with the light, is truly against me.

HM Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022

Her Majesty the Queen has died aged 96. We knew it was going to happen at some point, but it is still a deeply sad moment.

For many, she was the symbol of Britain and the Commonwealth. The most travelled, the most photographed, the most chronicled. Seventy years of devoted service to her people, a reign of record length for this country. A woman of deep faith as well.

She was by many, many millions, even hardened republicans.

She will be deeply missed and we will never see her like again.

Rest in Peace, Your Majesty.

Mikhail Gorbachev 1931-2022

The former Soviet leader, who died earlier this week, has a decidedly mixed legacy. His actions in ending the Cold War and allowing the Soviet bloc to peacefully break away made the world a safer place. A different leader would have fought a lot harder, and things might have been even worse.

However, he wasn't a perfect man and some of his actions are more questionable - the Soviet action in Afghanistan, even if he did eventually withdraw, played a large part in creating the conditions that allow that country to be a hotbed of extremism. He did also use force on a few occasions against independence movement.

Unfortunately for him and the world, much of the positive work he did has been completely undone by Putin and we are dealing with the consequences.

Liz Truss

This woman is likely to be the next PM, something that should be confirmed tomorrow. She's got a very tough inbox to deal with and I'm not exactly sure she's going to be up to the job based on her past record, which hasn't filled me with confidence.

We shall see.

London Loop Sections 6 & 7

After a long break due to a) Covid, b) family events and c) the heatwave, I have resumed this walk. However, I am doing another long walk for charity in September and going on holiday, so no Loop post then.

Both Section 6 & Section 7 are short - under five miles a piece. My guidebook in fact recommends combining the two in one walk, so this is what I did. The route takes you from Coulsdon via Banstead to Ewell, crossing into Surrey on more than one occasion and indeed ending there.

I made my last visit to London Bridge for the Loop walks, getting a Thameslink train to Coulsdon South. They run every half an hour on a Saturday and the journey doesn't take that long either as it's a semi-fast service. These trips can even easier on a weekday due to higher frequencies, but you do have rush hour to contend with.

Two pictures from my walk are here:

I completed both stages in under four hours, including a 40-minute break for lunch. They're pretty unchallenging provided you dress appropriately (I have walking boots) - there's no steep hills, the route is mostly well signposted, and you also have quite a lot of residential street bits that you can complete quickly. The stage also lacks some of the great views of London from previous sections - the best I got was the sight of the TV transmitters at Crystal Palace and Croydon.

The drought also meant that the Mayfield Lavender Farm's fields were looking distinctly wilted and, in any event, they want you to get permission for photography there. You can walk through on the right of way for free, but you have to pay if you go off it.

The lunch bit is difficult if you're doing both stages together. After Oaks Park, there's nothing easily off route until you get to Ewell itself. I had some chicken curry at Oaks Park and left dessert until later as I didn't fancy taking ice-cream around on a fairly warm day.

Once you get to Bourne End Park, there is a free local history museum in the local library. From there, it's a short walk to Ewell West station for the train to Waterloo but bear in mind the older non-air-conditioned Class 455s are still in use until they can get the new 701s into service. Had a 14-minute delay in any event, due to signalling issues.

Curious dog count was four if you're interested. And a half as one was recalled by their owner before reaching me.