Re-visiting Eartham

Well, today was far too nice to stay indoors so dad and I took a drive up to Eartham woods for a little exploring.

The last time I remember going to these woods was way back in the day. As a child we would walk the tracks in the autumn with the eye spy (possible ladybird) books looking for different kinds of bugs, plants and birds. I would patrol the tracks armed with a stick larger than I was, looking for the perfect place to build a hide-a-way and jumping in puddles and banks of leaves in my red wellington boots, perfectly snugglesome inside my retro, red body warmer (circa 1986)Dad would suggest that for my sister and I to see any wildlife, such as deer, we should be as quiet as a mouse...in retrospect I can see that it was possibly a cunning plan by the adults to keep the sprogs from making too much noise.

On one occasion, still a puzzle to me, we returned to the car park to find a row of smarties laid out on a nearby tree stump. Dad assured us children that the 'fairies' of the woods had left us a treat...I wasn't aware of him disappearing to plant the sweeties himself and am still a tad flummoxed as to how he carried out the gesture (theories? make a comment).

But Anyway I digress....we haven't been back to the woods since after the 'Great Storm' of 1987. Much to our disappointment, at the time, many of the well trodden paths had been completely demolished and the area was virtually unrecognizable. Twenty years later and the area is still unrecognizable for the most part, but the trees have had a chance to grow back to a respectable wood and we couldn't have picked a better day. I'm a bit schmaltzy as to what I find interesting on a walk in the country and like nothing more than seeing wildlife in its natural habitat.

In order (ish) we came across a lizard, had lunch with a Robin (who wasn't quite brave enough to take our offering of sausage roll in our presence) a hare (rather the back end of a hare), a couple of mice and, the result of the day, a young male deer. The deer was obliviously to my dad and I since we were downwind of him and he was concentrating on a couple of walkers on a different path who, in turn were, completely oblivious of the deer. I guess dad's tactic of keeping quiet works after all....Quite amazing!

I'm guessing most people had gone down the beach...itself having a unique form of wildlife. Namely white, middle aged men sporting a lily white....soon to be bright red....complexion (the odd fella sporting the half tanned/half 'never seen daylight' look so favoured by the British)...oh and of course there's the protruding...ever-so-slightly hairy (not in a good way) and ever-so-slightly sweating (completely in a 'just lost my lunch' way)....belly wobbling over top the ill fitting swimming trunks or in worse case scenario........speedos.

Roll on the summer.....I'll be in the countryside.

My Travels

http://www.travbuddy.com/widget_map_display.php?id=322181

6% huh.....boy have I got some catching up to do.

The Wanderer Returns

So, I was minding my own business yesterday when during a seminar my phone starts buzzing in my pocket...lucky for me no-one noticed...I thought 'who'd be silly enough to ring me when everybody knows that Tuesday is my lecture day' (in fact the only day I have to attend uni classes...who'd be a student eh?). I received a text from the same, unknown number later and then it dawned on me....the great Natty had returned from her travels and was about to venture back to our own humble Mercury Point.

Her timing however was a little off, as Josh, Ally and Elin have jetted off the NYC for a few days (as you do, apparently it's essential for their studies....chinny rack on I say). Nat still happened to think that me on my lonesome was worth a visit so I allowed an audience with.

If at all possible the girl has gotton taller, her hair has a few more blond streaks and her hamster grin timelessly adorable. We had a brief chat about jumping out of planes, white water rafting and Maori life in New Zealand and the utter gorgeousness which is the Whitsunday's area of Australia via a tall ship.

She was, oh so, successful at her knee boarding escapades in the US of A, so much so that the girl has some random people offering her sponsorship in competitions from now on!!! (Be rubbing noses with the hoity-toity of the surfing world from now on then...now there's an image for consideration).

Alas it was but a fleeting visit....I, obviously, can grant but a few moments with passing visitors in the midst of my cramming of Internet useage before returning to the house of unconnectivity......It had nothing to do with Natty having to catch up with virtually every person in Southampton in one evening.

(A brief note to Ally, Elin and Josh upon your return...Natty was immensely annoyed at your lack of being during her visit and will now only tolerate my presence...because I'm her favourite, nah, nah, nanah, nah....she may be back to snarl at you for a bit however)

Life on Southampdiff

Apologies for the massive gaps in entries recently (to be fair the only people which read my blog are family and friends who I see virtually everyday and our internet connection at home has been cut off, so I say meh to my tardiness)

Well then, what have I been up to since my last post....making some important decisions about life, essays and the universe (the answers to which currently stand at huh, meh and doh)

Took a visit to Welsh Wales with the rents over the Easter....by some universal conspiracy and an untimely freak weather paradox, we managed to pick the only sun-less day over the entire holiday. In true Brit style we sat munching ice cream under an overcast sky, ignoring the cold sea breeze over the bay and finally retiring indoors when the spits and spots of rain in the air threatened to increase to light rain.

Anyhoo, Cardiff is a lovely place, seems like much development is going on and it could be a great place to settle down....still, plenty of time to worry about relocating, getting a job, responsibility, bills etc

Ooh, did you see the finale of Life on Mars? now there's a show I'm going to miss, truly awesome television. Excellent writing, excellent acting, excellent 'keep you guessing' narrative, Gene Hunt's one liners particularly: "He's got fingers in more pies than a leper on a cookery course", "As opposed to one of those "I really really like you" kind of murders?", "I'm Gene Hunt your DCI and it's 1973. Nearly dinner time ... I'm 'avin hoops", " You're surrounded by armed bastards" and, my all time favourite "You great soft, sissy, girly, nancy, French bender, Man Utd supporting POOF!"....complete and utter genius!....seriously 1973 has never looked so good. Roll on Ashes to Ashes!

As an after thought I'd better say a happy 30th birthday to my sister, so Happy Birthday and where's my cream cake! (by the by Sarah you're priviledged in sharing your birthday with David Hewlett, that's THE David Hewlett!)

Save Carson Event

How funny is this!!

For those unfamiliar check an earlier post.

Martin Gero is the guy interviewing attendees and he is also the bloke responsible for the death of Carson Beckett on Stargate Atlantis. (Booo! Hiss!) Though Gero has also been responsible for some of the best Atlantis scripts also, so...meh.

There were a few familiar faces in the crowd who I met at Peg 2 in Feb....one is carrying a large blue brolly...;-)

19th April....10,000 words....la,la,la I'm Not Listening

April already! whoa the year's flying by....more importantly the weeks until my major dissertation is due is flying by....which is a little over two weeks. *Bites nails nervously*

So, at present I'm ignoring all the work which I have to do, maybe if I shut my eyes tightly enough the essay writing fairies will visit and produce an award winning piece of work overnight...hmmm, perhaps not.

Anyway, enjoyed the glorious weather yesterday with a walk around Binstead Woods (unfortunately no pics again as I have a feeling I left my camera back at the flat in S'ton....rats). We wandered across open fields, seeing a deer pottering around, and ate sausage rolls on the trunk of a fallen tree while listening to the dozens of birds flitting around the trees.

It was all perfectly pleasant and in keeping with my Enid Blyton tinted view on good old fashion fun. The forecast for the Easter weekend seems to be good, at the moment, so here's to more walks in the sunshine.

In other news it's the penultimate part of Life on Mars this evening. If you haven't been glued to the new series....why the hell not? Gene puts in an appearance dressed as Tufty! (if you have no idea who Tufty is then watch the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY8MR0ssk7c )

It has been another corker of an example of what the BBC can produce if they put their minds to it....unfortunately it seems that they have burnt out for the time being, since this will be the last season of the series...16 episodes of pure greatness IMO. There is however some hope with the possible spin off Ashes to Ashes (rumour has it that this will have an 80's flavour, my childhood era is officially 'nostalgic'...I think that means I'm getting old...neh)

Winter? Spring? Summer? I'm Confused

The British weather tradition of confusing flora and wildlife continued yesterday by switching the recent arctic winter conditions to a gloriously sunny and warm spring/summer type day.

As animals and flowers pondered on whether they should been hibernating or reproducing, I decided that the 10,000 words which I need to write by mid-April could wait another day.

The 'rents were amusing themselves by decorating my sibling's flat over in Porchester and my bicycle probably needs a bit of TLC (not to mention a de-spidering) so an outing involving either was out of the question. Instead I wandered along the length of Bognor seafront...much as I did a couple of weeks ago (this time the storm blown debris had been cleaned away by the seafront cleaning fairies).

I forgot my camera but imagine if you will...clear blue skies with a slight sea mist haze on the horizon, a gentle calming breeze coming from a mill pond flat ocean, in which one or two brave/slightly demented (deleted as appropriate) individuals splashed around.

Jolly walkers strolled past categorized in several groups....

The young mums plus toddlers brood, at least three abreast with the sound of 'screaming child' carried on the wind.

The dog walker; mainly middle aged and in pairs, playing second fiddle to the dog's wishes of thundering towards anything of moderate interest (aka a rock) before coming to a complete halt to sniff and then pee on it....and repeat.

The teens bunking off school, due to the sudden emergence of the sun, brazenly ignoring the no cycling/skateboarding/rollerblading motifs on the prom (bah humbug to British establishment) and generally converging in areas of skateboarding interest, usually in close proximity of a ice cream/fish & chips stand.

Lastly the coachloads of cotton tops, down from London, tottering (and in some cases teetering) along the prom, dressed in several layers of insulation due to the biting 'wind chill' and reminiscing about the 'good ole days' when Bognor's beach actually had beach, brass bands played, donkeys and punch and judy provided simple entertainment, kids had manners, dinosaurs roamed freely etc, etc.

Content in my own little observational world, I meandered along taking in the smells of the ocean, fresh air, vinegar on chips and donuts....mmmmm, donuts!

Promising my inner moppet something sweet & sickly on the way back, I gave the fresh donut stand a wide birth and walked the extra mile past the dated and mildly garish chalets which belong to Butlins holiday camp juxtaposed against the outlandishly garish new hotel accommodation which, if you squint, supposedly resembles a cruise liner...hmmm, classy?!

Lunch, a pre-packed half white roll of Turkey, cheese, lettuce and mayo....prepared and arranged by the wonderful staff at Subway, was spent on a wall near the Lobster Pot cafe. I was once again entertained by the friendship rituals of dogs (which mainly involves sniffing each others toosh)and a group of young'uns who found a fascination not in the beach, sea or rockery garden, but the contents of a nearby dustbin....nice.

It was on my return journey that I realised a couple of things...1.) Given a little unexpected sunshine the population of Great Britain firmly believe that seaside resorts become the med, and dress appropriately....2.) the Lobster Pot to my house is much, much further away than my house to the Lobster Pot....and 3.) too much lettuce in a sarnie makes me belch.

We live and learn.

The Mad Fans of SGA

For those with any interest whatsoever in my fascination with the Stargate: Atlantis world, I came across the blog of one of the producers Joseph Mallozzi a while ago. It's always an interesting read, sometimes with spoilers. This recent entry shows the dedication and complete bonkerness (?) that the fanbase has:

http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/index.html

have a read of March 22nd...and there's a picture of David Hewlett who, like many of the actors of the show, has a high regard, time and patience for the fans.

P.S. I probably would have been there too given half the chance.

Thought of the Week?

If talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, then the world of Bloggers must surely be filled with complete loons.

So I've been absent for some time, trying to regain some sanity in my mixed up world, whether this has been successful is anyone's guess but I'm not looking for a one piece white ensemble which ties in the back just yet.....so there's still hope.

So what have I been up to, Uni stuff mainly...searching library for books, reading books, making notes from books, quoting from books....There's generally a whole big 'book' thing at Uni.

This week saw the deadline for my final, ever, presentation/student lead seminar. Alison and I put in three weeks of research and possible areas of exploration to discuss with our classmates on the TV show Cracker and other such crime dramas. We spent nearly an hour finding pictures for our powerpoint which would ease the wordy nature of the presentation and I produced a lighter aspect to encourage discussion which, would hopefully keep the guys in my class awake and interested.

The fateful day arrived last Tuesday. Alison and I were confident and ready....ish....for whatever our fellow 20-odd students could throw at us. As it turns out, we may have well just showed the episode of Cracker and told the three.....yes that's THREE....people who bothered to show up to talk about the episode. Grrr!!! (oh, and did I mention that dad and I drove through a full on blizzard to make it back to Southampton so I could do this seminar....now that's dedication)

The mild weather of recent weeks was gladly received...winter not really being my forte, I enjoyed a nice walk along the few miles of seafront with my father on a particularly sunny day a couple of weeks ago. It was soon after some gale type weather which meant most of the paved frontage was covered with sea shrapnel and some ingenious Krypton Factor style avoidance was needed in finding a path through.

As an advocate for the simple things dad an I spent a good few minutes watching the incoming tide crash over the sea defences near the Lobster Pot cafe. I was hoping to see some innocent soul get an unexpected soaking, alas I was disappointed...there's always next time.

Ally's birthday was last Monday.....HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY!.....and, as the girl was working til 10pm, a surprise cake was organised. At ten past ten Elin lit the 22 candles on the hedgehog inspired chocolate cake and we positioned ourselves in the dark to await the birthday girl who was imminent. At ten twenty five the decorative iced leaves were catching fire, the chocolate icing was turning into a mixture of melted wax and blackened icing and a Caterpillar made from icing had lost it's rump. Hurried and innovative redesign of the cake rescued the hedgehog which now had a 'roadkill' theme and a single candle was put onto the cake....shortly, and a second single candle later, the birthday girl put in an appearance. The cake, I can happily report, tasted none worse the wear for its trauma.

That Friday Feelin'

I have a cold, my nose is both blocked and runny?! my throat is swollen, my brain is swimming in snot and I'm sure the chesty cough will kick in any day now. Not sure if I can take pills to stop the congestion as I'm already rattling with various other concoctions, which no doubt would leave me in a perpetual state of stupor if mixed. (not that anyone would actually be able to tell the difference)

The verdict on my laptop, which also seems a little under the weather, (winter blues all round then) is that my DVD drive has gone 'kaput' - that's the official and correct technical term - and I will need a new one. Great, now if I could only find that money tree which everyone keeps on about!

Once again I should be doing something constructive in regards to my degree, but I'm yet to receive feedback from two out of four of my last assignments - the two most important; script treatment and dissertation chapter - and to be quite honest I couldn't give a flying duck about either right now......right, I'm off to drink a quart of OJ and have a nap.

Freaking Duck.....Indeed

Spotted this cute little hiccup in nature in the papers recently. Born on a farm in the New Forest, Hampshire, the duckling was born with 'stablisers' aka an extra set of legs. The harbingers of doom, global warming, genetic modification and other such delights of modern life will obviously suggest it is another example of our world going to pot....The duckling I think would disagree as, normally, the male ducklings aren't kept alive due to them not being worth anything. So things worked out well for the new family pet 'Stumpy.' (well, seriously, what else)

Wolf Pegasus 2 Day 1 - Extra Guest 1

Okay...this is now officially a long time ago, but I'm determined to get the whole weekend up here.....since everyone round here is either a.) bored with my stories, b.) won't let me tell my stories or c.) doesn't know who or what the heck I'm talking about anyway!

Anyhoo, there was a couple of extra guests at the con and I can't really remember when they put in an appearance at the talks so I'm putting one here. Aaron Douglas, isn't actually on SGA, though he's been in a couple of SG1's, and stars in the new version of Battlestar Galactica. (personally I'm still a little bah humbug about the new imagining of BSG - mainly because the Cylons don't look anywhere near as cool - I also don't get to watch it because I don't have sky for most of the year)

He was called up by either Bryan - the organiser- or Dan who asked what Aaron was up to for the weekend and did he fancy doing a convention. He agreed and a flight was organised for him, he told us that it had been a choice between an early morning or a red eye and he'd gone for the early morning. Aaron claimed to be a very punctual fella, but for some reason only woke up after the taxi had been honking his horn outside his place for quite sometime. He missed his original flight, but being a trooper organised another and came along to the con....kudos to Aaron.

He is a very funny and entertaining guy and spent a lot of time with the fans and having fun with the other guest, invading the stage on more than one occasion to join in the ad-libbing, prank playing and frat style stories. Plus he was wearing a very cool Batman T-shirt (McKay's favourite superhero fact fans) which was later auctioned off.

One story which I particularly remember was one about his young son. He has ,apparently, been very unimpressed at his fathers' career choice as he was growing up, his friends father earning more cool points by driving a coca-cola truck....go figure. Recently, however, he'd been watching BSG and was impressed enough to ask his dad if he could visit the set.

Aaron, pleased that his son was taking an interest, obliged and took great pleasure showing him the set which contained the Viper Hanger. The kid was amazed but didn't quite understand the pretence of television. He asked his father if they could go up and fly in one. Aaron tried to persuade the kid that what he sees on TV isn't real (it isn't?) and his son wouldn't believe him (because let's face it parent's track record with the truth is questionable....exhibit a.) Father Christmas!) His son was getting quite angry shouting, as another member of the cast walked by, 'I know they fly, she flies them' Poor Katee Sackoff (who plays Starbuck) reacted as if to say 'what'd I do'.

Aaron's son, on closer inspection, discovered the reality of the Vipers is plastic dials, stuck on digital displays and an apparent dumping ground for coffee cups....He once again decided that the coca-cola guy was cooler....as did Aaron.

Another story he told was about the day that he was walking down the street in LA and walked past, non other than, Robin Williams. Not wanting to disturb his own acting hero he carried on walking in the opposite direction. Soon after he felt a tap on his shoulder to discover that Robin had chased after him and was a big fan of BSG. He spent a while chatting and Robin was commenting on how good he was in the show...all Aaron could think was that the people walking by were probably thinking 'Oh cool, it's Robin Williams, but who the heck is the guy he's patting on the back!'.

How not to Decorate Your Car in Alabama

Those wonderful and yet ever-so-slightly mad fellas from Top Gear ventured into Hick Town USA with some greatly ironic slogans painted on their cars.....They forgot, however, that humour based around irony is completely lost on our counterparts across the pond and this video is the result:

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/top-gear-alabama-p1.php

More Interesting than a Box of Chocolates!

http://coolflashgames.free.fr/jouer.php?jeu=318&titre=Flight-Of-The-Hamsters

Play, have fun, try to beat my score of 350ft (combined)

Bah Humbug!

Hmmm, Valantines day again huh? At least I'm safe in the knowledge that no-one has wasted their hard earned cash on a bit of card with a sick bucket sloppy message or savaged a rose bush in the name of sentiment on my behalf. Here's to yet another year as a singleton....woo-bloody-hoo!

My Wolf Pegasus 2 Experience: Day 1, Part 1

People who know me realise that I am indeed a geek of all things of the fantasy/sci-fi persuasion, personally I blame the parents...a combination of being read Roald Dahl and other such outlandish themed novels and a father who insisted that smarties left in the woods were done so by a clan of hidden faeries one autumn has lead to an overactive imagination on my part, therefore I tend to embrace the weird and wonderful world which sci-fi has to offer.

I haven't, in the past, however completely been involved with the fandom involved in such shows....keeping the geek side of my, otherwise intellectual and professional, persona firmly in the closet. That was until a certain show based in a galaxy far far away and the online community which is dgeek. And so on February 2-4 this year I tested the waters of the sci-fi convention, dragging my father...aka, the taxi driver....along for the ride.

How to explain a sci-fi convention to those outside the realms of fandom is a tough thing to do, since the majority of stars which I am about to mention will be about as useful as a fart in a sleeping bag for those not in the know....I, however don't care. I met people who I have much respect for and have followed their journey for the last three years...and it's not often a person gets the chance to meet and chat with such people in their lifetime.

So day 1....

I had heard on the grapevine that to gain good seats in the main hall for the talks it is essential that you get into a queue for virtual tickets (they let you in, in batches of 50) at stupid o'clock in the morning. now I am not, repeat NOT, a morning person and so kind, dear father (aka schmuck) made the walk in the freezing temps to the hotel to get in the queue for the virtual tickets. The plan nearly went the way of the pear however when, as the holders of the virtual tickets turned up they told dad that both parties had to be present. While I was blissfully in the land of nod, dad worked his silver tongue and blagged the extra ticket for me since it was our first con and we didn't know any better.

The first talk was from Dan Payne, a huge hunk of a man who plays mainly monsters on the show (both in SG1 and Atlantis) and is referred to as the 'do it' guy by the rest of the cast and crew because there's basically nothing he won't try out.

He told very funny stories of his time on the set of SG1 and a scene which meant he was buried under a pile of 'stage' dirt. He had a mask which was meant to enable him to breath which didn't do it's job properly and the poor guy ended up holding his breath for a stupid amount of time before someone yelled cut.

Equally as hazardous was a scene in a recent SGA episode which was to have his Wraith character pulled through the air and crash into a wall. (fun job, huh) It was the first time which Dan was to do such a stunt and he watch the stunt team attempt it with a weighted bag three or four times before he was called away (the bag hit a bridge and exploded when it hit a bunch of barrels before he left) He was attached to the harness without seeing a successful attempt and was no doubt s**ting bricks when they called action. He said that the flying through the air part of the stunt was kinda cool, the crashing through barrels and smashing into a wall....not so much.

Next up was Ryan Robbins, aka Ladon Radeem in SGA. What a very cool individual...he came with presents, always a good idea, T-Shirts for a new and online sci-fi series starring many of the recurring cast of the Stargates' called Sanctuary. He asked a few trivia questions about Stargate, lobbing the t-shirts into the crowd which was great fun. He talked about some of his other acting roles in some lower budget films, one of which involved him getting punched in the nose. The fake punch accidentally made contact and actually broke the poor guys nose, ever the professional he carried on knowing that the team had no money to re-shoot and thus the whole thing is in the movie....sheesh who knew that acting was so hazardous!

It was Ryan's first experience at a convention also and he seemed to be at ease very quickly....maybe too quickly. He shared a lot with us fans....maybe too much...lol, but he was certainly fun.

If I'm running through the guest talks quickly it's because all this happened over a week ago and my memories are fading fast. Next time....and there will be a next time.....I'm writing everything down!

The adorable Erin Chambers was on stage next. Looking gorgeous and completely different from Sora, one of the Genii in SGA. She was excited to be going to see Avenue Q later that evening with her hubby Carson McKay (!!!) who was sitting in the sidelines. I believe Avenue Q is much like the muppets, but they act like they're on acid and have potty mouth....it's supposed to be very funny. Erin answered many questions surrounding working with Robert Davi and going shopping with someone from costume to buy a knife for 'Sora'.

My favourite part was the discussion surrounding a fight scene she had with Rachel Lutrell....aka Teyla.....The scene in question involves her character to punch out Carson Beckett and have a brilliantly choreographed knife fight. Someone asked whether Erin preferred punching Teyla or Carson, the poor girl seemed a little perplexed mulling over the questions and stating that she only hits Carson when he deserved it. At which point her husband commented 'er I think she meant Carson on the show honey'. Poor Erin was very embarrassed at her 'blonde moment' while the crowd roared with laughter.

Carson joined her on the stage for a while as they discussed how the couple first met. I can't remember all the details but they had been friends with each others friends for some time thoughout college until finally at a party Carson walked up to Erin with his name written on the palm of his hand, shoved his hand into her face and walked away....how romantic!? Guess it worked though.

There was also some discussion on where her character, Sora, had ended up on the show, since she was taken into custody in the episode 'the eye'. Erin recited a theory about her character becoming feral and twitchy in a cell on Atlantis somewhere and a mad conversation she has with Weir when she finally comes to let her out.

This takes us up to lunch time on day one, and since I've waffled on far to long and Josh has invariably lost the will to live right now I'll continue the update another day.

My A Dog's Breakfast Experience

Now that Josh has his surprise.....and it only took him three days to notice....I can finally start making posts about my most amazing weekend.

Well, where do I start....I guess with the special screening of A Dog's Breakfast, a phrase which regulars to my blog should be well familiar with by now. My father and I made it to the cinema with plenty of time to spare, going from Bognor to London via Southampton to hand in my final essay from last semester. I wasn't to sure where to go and spotted a small crowd at the front doors with teddies, ID tags and ADB t-shirts and hazard a guess that the line started with them.

While I got chatting with some of the folk which I had conversed with on cyberspace for the last few months, it was nice to put some faces with the names, although I have since forgotten who was who. Father, finding the whole experience slightly 'odd', did what all good British men do when surrounded by hyperactive women and went for a cup of coffee.

Good job he did as he soon returned to inform me that David Hewlett, the man which I have been babbling on about incessantly since mid-summer, was in fact sitting in the coffee shop. Doing the 'fan' thing I wandered in, and under the guise of 'innocent patrons' we sat ourselves at the table opposite.

I was a little worried about losing my place at the front of the queue and so delegated the job of 'queue line holder' to my father, who obediently went outside to stand in the cold. (note to self....give dad a big hug). I decided that sitting at the table staring at the poor bloke for the next hour was going to be little too 'fangirl' weird even for me, so in a moment of pure genius I decided to pull out the daily paper and engross myself in the sudku on the puzzle page.

This, I summised, would obviously make me look all intelligent and as if I had no idea that the star of the best sci-fi show on television and first time director was sat just feet away with his fiancee, Jane Loughman and friend and producer, John Lenic.

It would have worked much better if I hadn't screwed up the puzzle within the first three numbers and scribbled all over the page. This didn't happen because I was listening to the group talk about costume changes and gossip for season four of Stargate: Atlantis...no, not at all.

Anyhoo, Jane and John ventured into the previous screening to see where the film was at and I decided it was now or never and when David next glanced in my direction I asked my question.

We had a nice little chat about British television comedies and he seem genuinely interested that I wished to write an essay on the film. It was a surreal moment and Jane and John also joined the conversation upon their return. I even had to send the bloke on his way when Jane announce that they were needed for the Q & A and David continued to chat about Basil Fawlty and the Two Ronnies. With my confidence adequately buffed I rejoined the queue and about a half an hour later we entered the cinema for the screening.

Now, I won't go into detail on the content of the film, but the basic story is about a 'Mr. Bean' type eccentric who takes umbrage to the fiancee of his sister and decides that the actor, on a cheesy daytime sci-fi soap, needs to die.

David Hewlett seems to have developed an interesting and unique directorial style, making the most of the budget and location restrictions and the film has some especially funny visual sequences which were both scripted and opportunistic. But enough of the technobabble...It was a funny film, with interesting characters, a good story and a cute dog...what more could you want!

After the film there was time for a Q & A and after my previous tet-a-tet with David I re-asked my question, gaining a PHD comment from the man himself.....from now on I'd like to make it clear that my name is indeed Emma Kidd PHD, because McKay said so!

Other questions included the, obvious, 'what was it like to work with your brother?' for Kate and a gratuitous McKay & Mrs Miller reference by asking the pair to say 'sorry'....in all a highly entertaining evening.

That was Thurs 1st Feb 2007....stay tuned for more of the best weekend I've had for years

Can You Guess What it is Yet?

Where To Begin?

Okay, so I'm home from probably one of the funniest, wildest, weirdest and amazing weekends, like, ever!

I was up at 5.20am this morning, which for anyone who knows me is a tad unusual, to stand in a queue....this I had repeated the day before (not quite as early, but still well within the boundaries of stupid o'clock!) and, in fact, a good proportion of my weekend involved a queue of some sort...there was a queue, a 'virtual' queue, a 'virtual' queue to join a queue for a 'virtual' queue, which would get you a ticket for the actual queue and an area of queueing so that we, apparently, would not have to queue.....confused? (so were the organisers of the queues)

All will be revealed over the next few days...I really don't know where to begin and I have a few pics to sort out.

Back to Uni tomorrow, but before that I have to unpack everything at the flat....and before that I have to pack everything here at home which is to go to the flat.....and before that I have to unpack everything from the weekend, some of which is to be repacked to go to the flat......but before that, I pretty much need to sleep.....

So for now, Goodnight and watch this space!

Unidentified Flying......Er.....Gritters?

So, apparently, snow was not the only thing to appear in the sky above southern England last Wednesday. Several people from Kent to Surrey reported seeing several glowing orange balls of light, seeming flying in some kind of formation. This was also reported by a policeman at Gatwick....therefore it must be true ;-)

Anyway, some all knowing official type bloke suggested that the reported 'invasion' was merely the flashing orange lights from the gritting lorries, which had been out in force due to the forecast of oodles of snow which was imminent.

Hmmmmm, now I'm an open minded person and have seen some stuff which beggars belief, such as a friend wearing chalottes (don't know how to spell it), pixie boots and a reversible jumper (but it was the 80s), but gritters being mistaken for UFOs? I supposes it's possible....the flashing light refracting off ice particles at an angle of 45 degrees would bounce the light stream into the curvature of the atmosphere to generate the effect of a grouping of spherical orange craft in the early morning sky....right?

Who am I kidding, even Mckay doesn't have enough exposition to get round this one. In my official capacity of the reportage of the truth on this, my own humble blog, I can emphatically report that.....the officials are talking out of their arse!