I’m sure this is just another random variation thingy, but it’s still nice 
. This morning’s weight was down quite to 199.6 pounds (14 stone 3.6 pounds, 90.5kg). Lowest since October 10 last year, which is a distinct improvement…
Did the usual 10km on the bike, with a peak heart rate of 137.
Oh, hold on, it is going to stop at the end of this series. I never thought I’d find myself saying this about a Star Trek series, but I really think it’s for the best. Some TV shows like Futurama, and for that matter the original Star Trek series, were killed off prematurely by TV executives. Enterprise, on the other hand is the show that committed suicide.
Part of the problem is the way the producers tried to appeal to a “wider” audience than the core Star Trek fans. Hmmmm. So they used that nasty theme song and left “Star Trek” off the title of the show. They corrected the second error after a couple of years, but sadly the song remains.
The episode shown tonight on Sky One is a particularly icky example. At one point, it’s got a slightly large contradiction of the original series, while the main storyline is an attempt to account for previous continuity differences. What’s that? Well, in the original series, it was established that women could not be starship captains. It was a bit odd, but it was a product of its times. So what do we see this week? Yes, a female captain!
The main story, which is probably going to spread over three episodes like most of them in this series, involves genetic manipulation and viral wossnames which make Klingons lose the head bumps they’ve had since the first Star Trek movie and look more like the Klingons we saw in the original series…
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…
Such a shame. The third season, with its single story running throughout, was so much better. The plot has been lost. The show has been cancelled.
This morning’s weight was down again to 201.6 pounds (14 stone 5.6 pounds, 91.4kg), which is the same as this time last week, but it’ll do for now. 
Had some additional exercise this morning - I had a walk down to the Team Valley to pick up a parcel. That wasn’t anything much - about 25 minutes to the parcel depot, five minutes waiting while they found my parcel 
. The fun bit was coming back home with the parcel. I knew what it was, but I’d underestimated the size and weight a wee bit. The box was just big enough to be awkward to carry - both hands were required, and it was just heavy enough to be moderately hard work to carry home - uphill almost all the way. But there’s nothing wrong with a bit of exercise, is there? I decided to take the bus to work after that, though.
By the end of the day, I was very tired 
. Might have something to do with waking up at 4am and not being able to get back to sleep 
, I suppose. Anyway, I only walked half way home…
Not attempting to get on the bike tonight, I might fall asleep on the thing.
You’ve seen (and possibly worn) the wristbands, now read the book. It’s short and to the point, explaining the aims of the Make Poverty History movement. It covers the causes of poverty, the action that a lot of people believe must be taken, and suggestions for what people in general can do to help.
It also gives some answers to the questions some people might have. I’m not going into the details here - you’ll find it all in the book, or on the website. Read it, and make up your own minds.
And just to clarify one thing - yes, that is an Amazon affiliate link. If anyone happens to buy the book, I will pass on the small amount of money I’ll get from Amazon to one of the charities involved in the campaign.
An interesting report in the Sunday Sun suggests that the UK is going to invest in Maglev trains. Not only would this cut journey times in half, but it would be incredibly cool. It’s only about 30 years late, but that’s pretty good going for public transport in this country.
But being a cynical old Les, I’m taking the “I’ll believe it when I see it” approach.
Hmmm, the usual after the weekend thingy. This morning’s weight was ever so slightly down at 203.4 pounds (14 stone 7.4 pounds, 92.3kg).
And once again, I got on the exercise bike for the usual 10km. Peak heart rate was 138, and I got the time down to 19 minutes. Puff, pant, sweat, gasp, etc 
And another rise. This morning’s weight was up to 203.6 pounds (14 stone 7.6 pounds, 92.4kg), which is above that critical 14½ stone mark, so it’s not so good, mutter, mutter.
After a generally relaxed day, I did get on the exercise bike for the usual 10km, peak heart rate 129.
Oh, yes 
. Here we have the fourth CD from the very talented and still very young Merseyside band, who’ve been releasing very catchy songs for three years now. Nice tunes, nicely played, and with a lovely degree of utter looniness[1].
Recommended track: In The Morning, which was a recent single. I need to give this a few more listens to get into some of the other tracks, but it’s all good stuff, and well worth a try. I’d also recommend their first two albums. On The Coral, you really should know Dreaming of You, and on Magic and Medicine, you’ll want to hear Don’t Think You’re the First.
[1] I don’t care if that is a proper word, I just think it’s appropriate in the context 
Yes, Minister and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister were classic BBC sitcoms of the 1980s.
Backbench MP Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) is promoted to the cabinet as Minister for Administrative Affairs, a key (fictional) role in the new government. He has to work with the delightfully devious Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne), a senior civil servant who is determined that ministers should be kept firmly in their place, and the altogether more pleasant Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds[1]).
Hacker has many grandiose ideas, a nice line in Churchillian pomposity and little idea how things really work. At almost every turn, his plans are thwarted by Sir Humphrey. The three seasons of the original series are classic British comedy, with some lovely lines. I’m particularly fond of this exchange between Hacker and Bernard. Hacker has just asked Bernard how Sir Humphrey found out that Hacker had been having a meeting with a member of the department (something Sir Humphrey does not approve of at all)
“God moves in a mysterious way”
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear - Humphrey is not God, OK?”
“Will you tell him, or shall I?”
The show was popular with politicians and public - even Margaret Thatcher, not generally known for her sense of humour, enjoyed it. It became generally known that the relations between the Civil Service and ministers were not wholly inaccurate, which would account for a lot…
After a couple of years, the show returned with a Christmas special, in which Hacker (unlikely enough as a Cabinet Minister) managed to rise to the position of Prime Minister, while Sir Humphrey moved up to the top as Cabinet Secretary. Two seasons of Yes, Prime Minister followed. Perhaps not as good as the earlier programmes, but still very watchable all these years later.
On watching the DVDs, I spotted a sight gag in one episode that I’d missed before. There’s a shot of some newspapers on a table, all with headlines relating to Hacker’s latest exploit. In a tribute to its reputation for typos, The Guardian appears with The Gaurdian on its masthead. Nice
[1] Readers of a certain age might recall him as “Mr Derek”, when he worked with Basil Brush
Just when you think Doctor Who can’t get any better, it does. Here we are with the penultimate episode of the new series, and things are building up to a seriously big climax.
The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack have been transported to a bizarre TV studio, where they find themselves having to take part in deadly versions of reality TV shows. The Doctor has to force himself out of a Big Brother house, where eviction is a little more final than in current versions. Meanwhile, Rose is faced with the rather aggressive Anne Droid[1] on The Weakest Link and Captain Jack narrowly avoids an extreme makeover from a pair of fashion guru robots[2].
After only a little mayhem, the Tardis crew stop the TV shows, and discover some disturbing information:
The Daleks tell the Doctor to surrender, or they will kill Rose. He refuses, and tells them that he’s coming to rescue Rose, save the Earth from their invasion, and finally destroy them all.
Next week’s series closer looks like being a lot of fun indeed. Thousands of Daleks, loads of mayhem, and we’ll find out just how the Daleks survived the Time War. The trailer gave a bit of a hint, and we’ve been warned that an old adversary would be returning. So who is the Bad Wolf? As far as I can see, it’s one of two possibilities: Davros[3] or The Master[4]. As the Master was supposedly killed off in the TV movie, I’m betting on Davros…
[1] Voiced by the actual Anne Robinson
[2] Voiced by some people known as Trinny and Susannah, who I’ve managed to avoid so far
[3] Creator of the Daleks, barking mad, really doesn’t like the Doctor very much
[4] Renegade Time Lord, barking mad, really doesn’t like the Doctor very much