Oh YEAH! BUFFY ROCKS!!!

Ok, don't ask me how but the last ever episode dropped onto our computer at 10pm last night - not a great copy and I will be re-watching it in higher resolution - but hot damn it was fun.

( NO SPOILERS just thoughts... )

F&FS Book List

( More than I thought... )

Gyms

I went to the Gym last night. We've been trying to decide what to do, as the membership at the Gym/Country Club we had been going to lapsed at the end of April and what with work and other stuff, I'd not been going anyway.

Most people in the office go to the local YMCA, so I went along for a look and paid "casual" entrance and had a little play. Not bad - good equipment - crap everything else, but its 15% the cost per month of the other place and if I want a nice Jucuzzi then the Thermae Bath Spa will be open soon(ish).

The shocking thing is I stopped going to the gym on a regular basis back in Feb before my round the world trip. A few more business trips and lack of exercise mean that I can't do what I could in Feb *and* I'm back up to what I was after Christmas in weight.

Ghod damn, this sucks. Why does liking food and drink have to come with a price tag????

Dr Who and the Ratings Game (A RANT)

Over lunch I have been reading an article on Buffy and the last ever episode. I came across this factoid; The show’s ratings had fallen — from more than 7 million viewers at its high point to fewer than 4 million near the end — and the actors’ salaries had gone up. (from MSNBC)

Now, this is a show shown in the USA (population 260 million-ish) and has been a pretty popular one both in the US and around the world. It has lavish production values, a very very well paid cast and obviously made a fair bit of cash for UPN and WB.

Let us consider Dr Who. When the good Doctor was cast from our screens the first time, the BBC had seen fit to place the show against the then top rated Coronation Street - yet it still managed a 4 million audience (or so), down from a high in the low tens of millions.

When the Paul McGann TV movie was shown, albeit a flawed production, the show got more than 9 million viewers. AND YET THEY DIDN'T MAKE ANYMORE???

Am I the only person who finds this annoying?

Dr Who is and was one of the Beebs best exports - it needed a re-vamp, it needed higher production values, but the sheer scope of the franchise and the huge flexibility made it unbeatable. Even today, with tight story arcs and hour long shows, I could see it working in a modern "buffy" style format.

That is if the BBC could get of their high horse. Sadly, it won't.

Screw the Tony Head spin off - get Head and Whedon onto Who, that's what I say!

On BSE

A little remarked upon piece of research was published last week, and commented on in the Torygraph on BSE and links to nCJD, raw data can be found here.

A relatively right wing commentator and blogger Iain Murry has written a piece in the really right wing, generally, National Review

Its an interesting exercise in the way people read scientific data and information. I'm an engineer by training and, obviously, an SF Fan. I've also never been particularly convinced by the link between eating infected product and nCJD. However, that's not to say I agree with the idea that too much was done to deal with BSE.

When reading data you need to keep your mind open to the whole picture. The key phrase is; The primary vCJD epidemic in the known susceptible genotype in the UK appears to be in decline. - indeed. However, assuming that the nCJD infection follows the same pattern as the infections in people treated with CJD infected human growth hormone, that it far from saying we are out of the woods. There have been at least 4 sets of genetic markers identified for subseptability to CJD infection, and with the case of HGH infection, the first relatively small wave was followed by a larger one, then a larger still and then a final one we're just seeing. I doubt this will happen with BSE.

However, given the potential cost for being wrong, the crime is not that too much was done, but that it was done at the wrong time. When a pathogen is observed to make the species jump and is know to have an unknown transmission vector and a long incubation period. Its not sensible to stand around to see what happens next.

I find it ludicrous that a person can write the National Review argument who supported a war to remove a potential threat when they complain that a campaign to make food safe cost billions. A double standard. What price do we put on people again? Are they worth more than cattle?

It would seem that in some quarters, the answer is no.