Ah, the stink of calamine lotion. Never forgotten from my own early childhood bout of chicken pox and now I'm subjecting my daughter to it. 90 minutes to get her to go to sleep for a nap just now. We're entering the itchy phase, I think.

Baby woke up this morning covered in what looks suspiciously like chicken pox. That's going to liven up the 30+ degree heat. And she was due to have the vaccine in about a week!

Baby woke up this morning covered in what looks suspiciously like chicken pox. That's going to liven up the 30+ degree heat. And she was due to have the vaccine in about a week!

Just went downstairs, where the 1 year old was sitting by her push-button musical book of Swan Lake, playing tunes with a tear glistening in her eye. For a moment I thought she was just moved by the music, but I regret to report she was just squeezing out a poo.

I'm going to this! I never go to Doctor Who events but I'm going to go to this!

Facebook tells me it's 10 years since I produced this graphic for Cambridge University's open access Twitter account and just confused everybody. In retrospect, I think it was for the best for all concerned that I was able to get back into academia a few months later.

This was just advertised on my Facebook. 'Victorian car'?! That is blatantly Bessie the sprightly yellow Edwardian roadster.

I have not had nearly enough sleep over the last month for passages like this. And yes, obviously, it's just making me think of Arc of Infinity.

Not sure if it's teething-related but the baby had a big tantrum this morning during breakfast and would only eat while I held her and stood up. My wife spoon-fed her while the baby drew patterns on my T-shirt in porridge.

All these videos and photos from Trump's party remind me of when I went to a Cambridge May Ball c. 2005 which had booked the Kaiser Chiefs. I had no interest in them so went to the comedy tent, where the poor comedians were trying to work a crowd of me and 2 other people.

Marg'rine Onbread

Oh, that's so sad! I only knew him from his books but always thought of him as the Terrance Dicks of the Wilderness Years novel lines. Utterly dependable and easy to take for granted. You always knew you were getting something well-crafted and thoroughly readable.

It is pretty cool being able to watch the antibiotics sort it out in more or less real time, though. Don't think I've had them for anything visible before and they really are Good Stuff.

So, in Season 15 Leela kisses Colby in Fendahl and K9 in Underworld. Which gets me thinking: which classic series companion does the most kissing? I bet someone knows off the top of their heads. I think Jo must be on 2-3 at least?

Yay, just what I needed - a probably infected insect bite. Because a massive red itchy blotch on your knee makes 30+ degree heat even more fun. Made myself really popular at the pharmacy turning up just before closing and asking for someone to look at it. I hate being 'that guy'.

Been surviving this week by having a fan blasting at me all day while I work. Today the baby's not at nursery so has one of our fans cooling the room (not pointing directly at her). My wife's got the other one as she's working in the hottest room in the house. So no fan for lucky me today.

Just remembered when I worked in the UL and one summer the air-con in the office was set so cold I was having to take in winter jumpers and fingerless gloves even though it was like 28 degrees outside. And it was all controlled off-site and they wouldn't believe us that it was freezing in there.

As someone who's spent years playing round with #Blender, the round but slightly faceted rubber on my daughter's cup is messing with some deeply ingrained part of my brain that can't help screaming 'You need to turn on auto-smooth and sort out the normals! Or add more geometry - it's too low-poly!'

I've always disliked TV episodes that are just 'this myth or classic piece of literature adapted for our characters'. As a kid I felt they were barely above a clip show in cheating me out of a proper new story. As far as I'm concerned, the only way it has any creative legitimacy is if Muppets.

Just generally, though, I think what really hamstrings Underworld even more than the CSO is everyone involved's conviction that just ripping off Jason and the Argonauts with the names barely changed is terribly clever, as opposed to, say, a lazy way to churn out a story quickly.

Had Dr Who - Underworld on in the background while I drew some illustrations for the book. It suffers from being pretty much a rehash of Sun Makers but without the wit and with even less money. It could have been more fun if they'd done more w the idea of the Time Lords as ancient aliens.

I don't mean to be crude, but why does this look like Gowron has made Worf turn his back while he does a wee in the corner of the turbolift?

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

Back on the other site, years ago, there was a thread about the most pretentious thing people had ever overheard. Someone said they witnessed a guy at an ice cream van asking for 'two Magna'.

Good grief, I think I might have finished a full first draft of my monograph! Not a good draft, obviously, but one that starts, has a middle and continues to some sort of end.

Coffee to be treated in the same way as cigarettes.

Who wants to hear a Star Trek joke I came up with in a dream? I mean, I'll say up-front it's not funny, but it's at least functional considering I was fully asleep. - Where did Gene Roddenberry buy the Enterprise computer? - HMV (His Mistress's Voice) Yeah, I told you it wasn't funny.

British PM: Vacant James Bond: Vacant Doctor Who: Vacant If the King disappears in the next couple of weeks I think we may sink into the ocean.

Let's not forget it's not just the temperature. It's not just that houses in Britain aren't built for it. It's the hundred damned *flies* that come streaming in every time you crack open a window.

"Andy Burnham is on his way to No. 10 Downing Street to fulfill his Midsummer destiny..."

This is what the Blue Suit tenth Doctor left with Rose looks like now.

Potentially for the last time, please enjoy the best picture of Keir Starmer

Lovely card the baby made for me at nursery. Not sure whether this is a depiction of Daddy burning in hell or an image of me spontaneously combusting after stepping outside with my pale pale skin this week.

It's looking like I passed on my hayfever to the baby. Sorry, kid.

"Tell Jabba I'll get him his money..."

I went back to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth last night after a long break. It's such an odd thing. A very nice game in there buried under systems upon systems upon systems and massive open-world bloat.

Quite like this TARDIS console room. Roundels on the ceiling is a nice touch.

How fast is this woman driving in Department S?!

Same energy.

We've had a fun week of the baby having a stomach bug, giving it to us, possibly teething as well and a 12-month sleep regression that's by far the worst she's ever been at going to sleep. Two and a half hours it took us to get her down this evening. Last night she settled properly at 2am.

The other one is one of the Galaxy of Fear books has a clone of Darth Vader, which means someone cloned him and then cut off his limbs and burned him.

After Rowan Williams became Master of Magdalene at Cambridge, I heard he was behind someone in the queue at Sainsbury's and noticed the replica One Ring they were wearing round their neck. He complimented them on it, but noted, 'I'm more of a Game of Thrones man myself'.

Gastric viruses: fun for all the family.

Just thinking about how RTD, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter and Phil Collinson aren't involved with Dr Who any more, and Billie Piper is the Doctor. Somewhere, Christopher Eccleston is considering what to use his last wish on

It doesn't have to be a cultural juggernaut pumping out a mini-movie every week that's all things to all people. Just make it small and good.

Well, that closes the door on the most thoroughly misconceived period of Doctor Who's long history.

Accurate

I've slipped to about 4 episodes behind on Man From UNCLE. This one has another completely unidentifiable accent which Google tells me was 'Australian'. That wouldn't even have been on my list of guesses. May we all have the confidence of an actor on American TV who believes they can do an accent.

The Onion didn't fuck around with this one, wow