What the internet is for

The internet is a strange and wonderful beast that has infiltrated so many parts of our lives.  I use it every single day, for finding information, keeping in touch with people, learning things, wasting time, being entertained.  Is my life richer, or better?  Does it increase my quality of life or simply make me more time poor?  Probably a little from Column A and a little from Column B.  But it was highlighted to me recently why the internet is a good thing. 


The cleverness of people in this world never ceases to amaze me. My case in point is the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra.  


To quote from their blog... 


"So what is the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra? Well, for one thing, it’s exactly what it says on the tin – we are all Doctor Who fans, and we have formed an orchestra. But more than that – we are all passionate about Murray Gold’s music and its role in the revived series. One gloomy evening in early 2011, in Surrey, England, I was tinkering away in Sibelius on an arrangement of “I Am The Doctor”, the Eleventh Doctor’s theme, when a particularly crazy idea struck me. I knew that Murray’s music meant an awful lot to an awful lot of people, and I reasoned that, probably, among those fans, a lot would be musicians themselves. And that they’d give anything to be able to play music from Doctor Who. Wouldn’t it be great, I thought, if we could somehow play the music all together?" 

And so they did.  They started with about 35 musicians and it grew from there.  I heard about it earlier this year, had a look and thought 'wow'.  Showed my trumpet playing, Doctor Who fan daughter who said 'Can I sign up for the next one??? Please?'. So she did, and I am proud to present the following: Dalek Suite, featuring 176 musicians from 20 countries around the world, including a trumpet player from right here on this blog.  She appears at 4.26 and then again at 6.03 until the end.

And to me, that is why the internet is a very good thing.

(on a side note, when I showed this to the friend who helped us with the recording, he asked 'What's the collective noun for a group of nerds?'  I think in this instance, it can only be: A galaxy of nerds.)