The Doctor Triumphs

For me it's been an exhausting, stressful month, with no time for blogging.
But what a wonderful way to end it - with the new Dr Who series.

And an excellent start too - the doctor himself in fine form, a great plot, great villain, some nasty neutrals, a sparkling new companion and a hint of long-term theme (Mr Saxon).

Things are looking up....

The Medieval Help Desk

As I've been struggling with new software for the last month, this seems appropriate....

The Question Of White Supremacy

Hat-Tip: Ramblin' with Roger.

A Councillor Who Needs A Holiday (and I don't mean me)

Lord Hanningfield is the most important councillor in Essex - he's the leader of the Conservative Group that runs the County Council. He's now had a an idea. According to the BBC:

Lord Hanningfield, Conservative leader of Essex County Council, has called on the government to allow local bank holidays to celebrate local heroes.
"Helen Mirren is a great ambassador for Essex", he said.
"Ditch the old stereotypes, Dame Helen is the perfect example of the hot bed of talent that we have in Essex."
The 61-year-old actress was born in Leigh-on-Sea and attended school in Southend.
Lord Hanningfield added: "We want to celebrate her tremendous achievement in winning an Oscar.
"To celebrate this achievement I will therefore be asking the government whether they will allow us the power to designate a bank holiday in her honour throughout Essex."

There's a few problems with this idea:

Dame Helen really doesn't like Essex. She was quoted as saying that Southend is the "Armpit of England"

Having a local bank holiday might be popular with local government workers, but do we really help the prosperity of Essex by closing the banks, schools , factories etc and running the trains, buses, ports etc on a Sunday service- when the rest of the country is working?

If you really, really want to celebrate an actress born in Essex who isn't ashamed of the place - what about Amanda Tapping- born in Rochford and star of Stargate?