Merry Christmas all

 Not sure if I'll have time to post again before Christmas so I'll take this oppotunity to post a Snow pic and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas.
 (and yes that is me in the pic, my best side in fact)

Flying to Payam? (Iran)

 Thinking of flying to Payam in Iran? Not a problem... unless you happen to be unlucky enough to be on a flight like Tabans Airlines MD 88 on the 16th Nov this year.
 They tried to land at Fat'h airport near bye... twice, by mistake. Fat'h airport only has a 3000 foot runway though, which is about the shortest an MD 88 can land on given idea weight and weather conditions, which this aircraft didn't have.
 Luckly at some point somebody realized they were at the wrong airport and flew to the proper one. You may be unlucky and get a pilot who doesn't realize he's trying to land at the wrong airport which is too small, and one who suffers from "press on itess" as it's called. Determined to land come hell or high water.
 Enjoy your flight....

Doctor Who.

 I've tried to keep out of the debate over the new Doctor Who.  Sadly I just can't stand still and watch it be killed off.
 I've been a fan since the first ever episode aired on the 23rd Nov 1963 the unearthly child, followed by the arrival of the Daleks in the 5th episode on the 21st Dec 1963, after that  I was hooked.
 Theres been good and bad Doctors since. I must admit my favorite was the first, dear old William Hartnell, I wasn't much taken by Peter Davison (the 5th doctor) and Paul McGann (8th) was bloody terrible, not however as bad as the dreaded Peter Crapaldi... errr Capaldi, my bad.
 I found his episodes hard to watch. Not helped by scripts clearly written for a younger actor, Capaldi didn't have the acting range needed to carry it off.
 Then we come to the new Doctor..... Jodie Twittaker   I mean Whittaker.  Well where do I start.
The costume is silly, she's a hopeless actress, indeed the fact she gets less airtime by having 3 assistants shows even the beeb recognize this weakness. The scripts are just plain crazy, talk about PC they just ram the beebs agenda down the viewers throats. One episode even asks if a person is robophobic for gods sake.
 Now I do wonder if the beeb are trying to kill it off, they asked viewers in a survey before making this series how they felt about a woman Doctor, it overwhelming said NO! yet the beeb ignored it's fanbase and did it anyway.
 Now the truth is science fiction isn't popular with TV companies, it's always expensive to make yet looks cheap, the camera crew always end up in a quarry in Wales pretending it's planet Quebble five in the Mogodon cluster, and unless done well it tends to struggle for viewers.
 Doctor whos highest viewing figures are from Matt Smith (not counting Christmas specials) with nearly 12 million average, the first series pulled around 8 million, thats a lot in the 1960s when lots didn't have TV. The lowest are from Capaldi  5.45 million and Whittaker 4.8 million, compare that to a repeat episode of Dads Army 1973 shown in Dec this year pulled over 1.5 million. So only three times as many who watched an old well run repeat.
 Well done BBC.

The band

Some band shots.

Buying a tripod?

 Re a question I was asked the other day. If your buying a tripod here's a few things to think about.

 Weight. Do you go heavy or light?  Well both have advantages, light means your more likely to actually carry it around with you, heavy means it's probably a lot more solid. Light ones can and do blow over, even in surprisingly low winds.
 Carbon fibre?  Apart from price the material it's made from makes little difference, yes it's lighter but see above.
 Tripod head,   Yes the head. Not all tripods come with the bit you screw the camera on as standard. There's a huge range of heads. There's also video heads which are very different (often having a pin by the camera screw) these often don't tilt in the portrait mode (not needed for video) they also usually have a damped turning movement to make panning smoother (turning the camera to follow action) While you can use them for still photography they can be a bit of a faff about, especially if your doesn't do portrait mode, you can work around it by turning the camera sideways usually.
 Before buying one extend it all the way up, centre column as well and tap the top gently, if it wobbles like a belly dancer on acid walk away or find a stronger one.
 Hook. no, not the crap peter pan film, some tripods have a hook on the bottom of the centre column. This is to hang a weight to help stabilize a light tripod, a light nylon or mesh bag with a stone or something will do but dont go mental here, you have a light tripod, dont try hanging a bolder off it, also keep in mind if the wind starts the weight swinging it can make things worse.
 Lastly, if you do manage to hang a 40lb rock off the bottom of your light tripod remember to take the rock home with you in your bag for next time. It'll also help remind you you should have bought a heavier tripod in the first place.....

Bloody packaging!

 Seriously how hard can it be to package food?  Too hard it seems!
 I bought pate the other day, nice on toast, except it must be made of plutonium or Ebola or something. They certainly don't want you getting near the bastard stuff.  Prise off the lid and then.... try to get through the sealing layer underneath. I would say plastic but it cant be, not normal plastic anyway.  It might be the stuff the Star ship Enterprise uses for shields, it would stop a photon torpedo no problems.
 It might be the stuff they put on Challenger tanks to keep RPG's out, again no problem.
 Ok I'm taking the piss but my God this stuff was tough, I honestly ended up with a meat cleaver.
 Then the icing on the cake, the plastic lid doesn't fit once you take the sealing layer, it just falls off. So now you cant reseal it.
 Well done lads.

Flying on an Airbus A320? Some light reading for you..

 Something you wont find in the in flight light reading is the problem with the engine cowling doors.  So far only 38 have had issues or come off, so nothing to worry about there.... Unless your the sort of person who wonders if the bloody engine cowlings keep falling off what else is badly designed....
 Sleep well...