Quickie

Just a quickie since I appear to have caught a head cold (I blame the dastardly Jonathan Woodward) and am currently sitting here with my nostrils plugged with tissue....attractive, and yet also slightly comical (no picture sorry, you'll have to use your imagination)

Torchwood Episode 3....Awww how sweet for Tosh and Wowzer at about 34 mins and 34 seconds....somebody throw a bucket of water on 'em (second thought make that chocolate sauce and whipped cream..... *whistles innocently*)....and by the way was this episode made at the end of the filming schedule....big end of the world scary time rift thingy = very, very bright light in face of actor...c'mon beeb, who you trying to kid!

For those who missed it earlier (and dad look away)

Wolf Pegasus Three, Part 1

So, now that I am all caught up with my beauty sleep I thought I might share with whoever cares just how my weekend went.....for that matter how did your weekend go...get all those odd jobs done which have been nagging since forever? visit family/in-laws/friends? did sod all and watched Dancing on Ice?....all the while I was meeting and laughing with some of the nicest and entertaining people I have ever met.



Yes people it was convention time again...has it really been a whole year?...and with the ever dependable, yet slightly befuddled, father in tow it was off to London for Wolf Pegasus Three.

This year we both had tickets under the 300 mark so I shall start with the meet and greet which was on the Friday night.....you sit at a table with around 8 or 9 other people and guests are shuffled round the room spending, in theory, 5 minutes with each table. This is when I learnt that it pays to be a bit more outspoken than I usually am, else you'd never get a word in edgewise.

I guess this would be a good time to mention who the guests actually were: Andee Frizzell, an amazingly tall woman who plays the Wraith Queen (s) on SGA and had stepped in at the last moment when Kate Hewlett had to cancel, Dean Marshall (Sgt Bates), Torri Higgison (Weir), Kavan Smith (Major Lorne), Paul Mcgillion, (Carson Beckett) and bonus guest Jonathan Woodward (mostly known for being in Buffy, Angel and Firefly).

I soon realised, during the time which our table spent waiting in between guests, that to have any quality time to talk you need to bring lots of 'party' stuff and 'hog' said guests so that the time spent with other tables is dramatically reduced.....A snippet of conversations I managed to have:

Dean Marshall will be returning as Bates and has woken up from his coma and is now NID, Andee Frizzell loves British comedy especially Little Britain and plans on looking up The Mighty Boosh, Paul Mcgillion hinted that Carson may pop up in season 5 and thanked the men at the table for showing up (95% of people at the con are female), Kavan Smith finds travelling in Europe with a five month old baby more sucky than he thought he would, Torri Higginson had fun making an episode of NCIS and Jonathan Woodward...well Jonathan was a little worse for wear (he had already spilled a full pint of beer over himself and his chaperon as he attempted to drink it from a crutch)....he asked everybody's name round the table and upon hearing my name was Emma stood up, walked all the way round and gave me a hug with a double cheek kiss (leaving me somewhat flustered)....not quite sure why he decided I was so special, but I'll take what I can get.

The whole process went on for around two hours (ish) and then the room emptied to make it ready for the first party of the weekend. Dad and I vacated to the bar where we ran straight into two lovely ladies who I'd met and chatted with much of last year (they helped me out with rules and regs being a con-virgin last year). I hadn't seen them before I'd left last year and hadn't exchanged details...but there they were.....seated with a Bacardi Breezer in hand, much like they had been when I'd last seen them when I come to think of it...Nicky and Ann (absolute legends and a couple of devils when in possession of a pack of balloons in a crowded room).

Much fun was had with these two and Jo at the parties...people watching, learning dances (I apologise to anyone I crippled during the Doctor Who dance and the ultra fast and difficult Swamp Thing dance) and generally behaving like a bunch of kids on Hairbo....and fawning/drooling over the bar staff and security guards...as if there wasn't enough good looking blokes on the guest list.....but I digress.

Which leads me smoothly to; the guests....I would attempt to write a full account of what each guest had said during each of their talks but between the taking pictures, rushing out for photo shoots and all the laughing I can't remember so I will do little write up of each guest.

Andee Frizzell - What an incredibly energetic and naturally funny lady. I didn't know anything about the woman except for that she plays the Wraith Queen, but as soon as she got out on the stage she had the room in the palm of her hand. She seem surprised that so many people had turned out to see her on the Sunday, expecting everyone to still be in bed with a hang over and had planned on teaching some yoga moves...she did display some amazing feats of flexibility which if I had even partially tried out would have ended up in A & E with limbs being prised apart with a crow bar.

She talked about the make up process and that many of the cast a crew have no idea who she is when they have the wrap party, until she growls and does the Wraith hand thing. One particularly funny story involved her bumping into Joe Flanigan (John Sheppard) and his wife one day and saying hello...no recognition from Joe, Joe's wife asking him if he knew her...and Andee saying "we spent the weekend together....I had you on your knees...."

Toward the end of her talk, on the Sunday, there was much hilarity which she let slip a bit of a spoiler for the the season four finale....she realised what she'd said straight away and the look of shock and surprise on her face followed by some mock "while that's me fired" and skulking towards the door had the room roaring with laughter....sorry though the spoiler stays at P3.

Someone asked her who she'd like to suck the life out of and she said she'd have to think about it....later she was asked about her role in Supernatural (Folsom Prison Blues) at which point she said "I'd like to go back to the sucking the life out of question....but in a good way" (referring to Jensen Ackles)....lady after my own heart there.

What else do I remember about Andee...Oh, she loved my Goonies T-shirt (the woman has great taste in films then), she fell asleep in her room Saturday night when she meant to go the party and woke up still clutching her camera, pronounces it "arse" instead of "ass", used to hate being so tall as a kid until she got given a alcoholic drink meant for her cousin at age 11 and refers to the Wraith feeding thingy as a "hand-gina".

Next up Jonathan Woodward - The bonus guest as he was in town for a Buffy/Angel con next weekend.....hmmmm, now what to say about Jonathan....I personally found him highly entertaining mainly because he was completely off the wall and the insanity of it all had me in stitches. It's safe to say he was a little worse for wear during his talk on the Saturday (Jet lag/hung over/still drunk...delete as appropriate) but I have to give him props for appearing in front of a crowd the majority of whom didn't know who he was. He was fascinated by the lady doing sign language at the front of the stage and tried to catch her out by saying difficult words and messing about behind her...until she pointed out that she could see everything he was doing in a very large mirror at the other end of the hall....very funny.

My funniest moment with the bloke has to be when I was getting an autograph....whilst in the queue he was giving everyone a shot a whiskey...the poor guy in front of me is obviously not a whiskey drinker, especially neat, and I did giggle to myself when he coughed and his eyes watered....the next two people didn't take up the offer and when it got round to me I dutifully downed the shot (closer to a double I might add) ever the professional alcholic student.....I pondered for a second before announcing "Mmmmm, Bells" at which point Jonathan looked up agog saying "Wow, that's amazing" shaking my hand impressed that the, innocent looking, lass in front of him had guessed the brand just from the taste (I neglected to mention I had seen the bottle when the glass had been refilled from the guy in front).....bless him....he was also partial to my Goonies tee, actually offering anything I wanted in exchange....was I tempted?......No bloody way...The Goonies T-Shirt is sacred.

What else from the delightfully mad as a hatter world of Jonathan....well he apparently hates the abomination that is Roast Chicken flavour crisps, gave us a sermon as the Rev. Johnny Wallet (Johnny Cash was already taken) and finally......ahem....."Caaaaaaan Yooooooou Diiiig It!!!"

Okey Dokey....moving on and finally for my post today me thinks....Torri Higginson - Obviously there was a huge cheer for Torri when she came on stage, due to the recent decision by TPTB to remove her character from the show....a controversial decision in a year of controversial decisions in SGA...Torri was quite adorable, thanking a group of fans for their 'red shirt' campaign to bring back the character (well it worked for Carson).

I did miss some of Torri's talks due to the inevitable photo shoots and there appeared to be many people interested in Torri's opinion of the moralistic issues in the story lines of SGA, which did become a little tedious, but a couple of funnier moments were Torri talking about her nervousness when first filming with Richard Dean Anderson (I mean it's Macgyver for crying out loud) and that her education in Britain had caused her to pick up a few choice phrases. When filming a scene in a corridor Torri flubbed a line and exclaimed "Bugger me," at which point RDA dutifully threw her against the wall and attempted to do just that.....I'm sure his actions enabled Torri to then work fluster free for the rest of the day......next time I bump into RDA I may try a similar thing and see what happens, the phrase I utter may be a little different to BUGGER me however.

Another funny moment was when Torri was asked to describe her fellow cast members in just one word...something which proved quite difficult until aided by the trusty hyphen......can't for the life of me remember what the words were for each cast member in the end, but when describing Jason Mamoa (Ronan) she mentioned about how fit the man is exclaiming "I don't know just how that boy keeps it up.".........Queue room full of women with mind in the gutter bursting into raucous laughter...Torri, realising what she'd said, quickly tried to move along the conversation by saying that she meant his energy when he's constantly "jumping over Joe"....Queue more gutter induced hilarity. Torri again tried to rectify the situation by saying "I said jump over him not ON 'im".....Torri my dear the fans will hear what ever they wish to hear if you plant the seed close enough.....or a mile away for that matter.

What else can I say about Torri....Oh, she was incredibly pleasant at the autograph session and we spoke about her dog, she asked me if I had any pets and dedicated the autograph to my cat Henry, who died two years ago aged 20....she can do the splits (see pic) and does a terrific impression of Flipper.

So, that's it for today folks...writers cramp has set in...will write up the rest in a couple of days

Worthing's Wood Invasion

Got my computer back...well sort of...it's running ridiculously slow which is very, very frustrating and the story of my life at the moment.

In case you didn't see it on the news earlier in the week Worthing experienced an invasion by the lesser spotted plank creatures...who nearly made a successful attempt at a complete invasion of the town centre until gallant locals took it upon themselves to defend the coast and defeated the invaders armed with saws and hammers capturing and turning them into sheds, decking and occasional tables.....Worthing lives to fight another day.

The only casualty appeared to be...well, me actually...when a huge rock....and by rock I mean shingle....and by shingle I mena pebble.... was thrust unexpectedly into my path...causing a complete balance malfunction.....I have since been nursing a badly sprained ankle and a jean burned knee....and possibly an ego deflation, though I'm sure the builders nearby were laughing at a particularly funny anecdote and had nothing to do with my spectacularly un-lady like display of gravity theory....just what I need the week of P3.

Viruses and Cons

The job hunting continues and I am currently keeping my fingers crossed on a couple of applications I recently put in, but more pressing matters are interfering with my new life in Worthing....namely a warthog of a virus which has invaded my computer.

I've never had a virus before and it has been an annoyance to say the least. I'm fortunate that my files don't seem to have been corrupted thus far and it's a general 'can't use internet'/ 'make computer run really, really slowly' type of virus. Not entirely sure as to why I am worthy of some 'basement living', star wars action figure collecting, geek-a-zoid's attentions as I have little money to sponge and surf nothing more interesting than TV gossip sites and forums rather than the infinately more interesting 'minute by minute on Britney's breakdown' or 'find your secret government codes here' type websites.....I guess the notion that I am special has leaked to the masses and they feel threatened.

So I'm back in Bognor, at least for the night, and hoping that 'da man' can fix the problems so I can return to my meager existence......on the plus side I have read more pages of my Wilbur Smith book in the last few days than I have in the last two years, so every cloud....etc

In other news Wolf Pegasus Three is a week Friday....how quickly has that come round?.....and I am approaching 'excited' mode...though a little less when surrounded by people who have never heard of the guests whom I'm incessantly wittering on about, but what a class act they are to me and other sci-fi geeks like me....top billing has to go to Paul McGillion - the incredibly sweet natured Dr Carson Beckett (on SGA), but credits also include: Smallville, The X-Files, Stargate SG1 and not forgetting Sliders, Next Tori Higginson (Elizabeth Weir, SGA), Kavan Smith (Major Lorne, SGA) and also The 4400, Battlestar Galactica, The Outer Limits, Dean Marshall (Sgt Bates, SGA) also Smallville, The Dead Zone, Da Vinci's Inquest and Tommy Boy (!), Kate Hewlett (Jeannie McKay, SGA) also A Dog's Breakfast, Kevin Hill and Dark Water and, just announced, is Jonathan Woodward who has appeared in Firefly, Third Watch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer...but probably mostly known as Knox in Angel......quite a line up you must agree.....and if you don't *blows big fat raspberry*

Snippet

Decided to pound the pavement for jobs in the town centre today....ended up buying a new bag and a top in the sales instead.....then again I did see a Chav spit into the wind and get a face full of flob so the day wasn't a total loss.

Another Year Over

Happy New Year.....thought I'd get that out of the way nice and early....It's not really a big deal for me these days....paying extortionate amounts of money to sit in a pub, eat lots of carbs, listen to dodgy DJs play crap music and pay over the odds for a rum and coke lost its appeal many years ago....so i stayed in. As per usual mum was in bed and settled before the 'big event' and I watched the last ten minutes of a completely shambolic live BBC 1 show....It was very cringeworthy television with missed links, randoms blundering into shot, vox pops with people who didn't speak English and others who obviously couldn't give a monkeys and a couple of live performances from people who A) I'd never heard of, B) looked about 12 and C) couldn't hold a note if their life depended on it.......Should've tuned into the Hootnanny on BBC 2 but I only wanted to see the fireworks....which were actually pretty damn good.

So here's to another year.....in which I have already discovered that I appear to be allergic to the special anti-viral tissues mum bought for dad's (man) flu....yep, only I could be allergic to something which is supposed to improve you condition....figures.

Ding-Dong-Merrily

It's been a while since I enlightened the world on my daily happenings so I thought an update was in order. Firstly, and in case you hadn't noticed, it was Christmas last week. A family affair for me.....back to the homestead in Bognor with the rents and added sibling.....no skiing, log cabins/fires or building snowmen for me....nope, and the extra chilly weather which we had been experiencing at least could have provided something in resemblance to 'Winter Wonderlandish' for extra Christmassiness (it can be a word), but this was replaced with the usual dark, cloudy and soggy on the day itself....yep traditional British Christmas weather right there.

As with most people Christmas traditions are upheld each year in our house (decorations, lights, listening to Christmas songs, arguments, ingestion of way too much chocolate and the need for Gaviscon) , the main one is to turn off the TV (not the whole time I hasten to add) and observe some quality family time in the guise of participation in 'fun' card and board games (non-optional.....unless you're mum, well she is in charge of the food provisions so if she wants to be the festive Grinch there's no argument from me). Cribbage, Uno, Trivial Pursuit and, the newly purchased, Underground: The London board game were the top choices this year. Fun and frolics were had by all, even though some, so called, family members lowered the wholesome tone by cheating, none too discreetly either *coughs* Sarah *coughs*....tables were turned however when father and I ganged up and gave her an arse whooping in a later game.....yep, like I said honest, wholesome family fun.

So, further to my Christmas round up another observed tradition is, or at least should be, watching the top Christmas TV line up, which this year equated to BBC's Oliver Twist (which was actually pre-Christmas), ITV's The Old Curiosity Shop, Eastenders (because absolute misery is a must for Christmas viewing) and Doctor Who (of course).....the latter was excellent even if it bore more than a passing resemblance to The Poseidon Adventure, but in space and with less Gene Hackman and a little more Kylie Minogue. Apart from that I was very thankful for the 11 DVDs I received from Santa, as the traditional Christmas TV fare was beyond pants....I mean seriously as pants go this was a choice of either grannies frilly pantaloons or discarded 1960's woollies, ripped and with skid marks.

So, the New Year is on the way....I'll soon be returning to the new postcode and hopefully may even find employment, if i can convince some silly bugger I'm worth it....for now though there's just enough time for me to whoop dad at Cribbage one last time.

Club Mercury's Final Christmas Do

Crikey, I've been busier in the last couple of days than I have been in the last six months. Visited the old haunting ground of Southampton yesterday, meeting up with Alison (times 2) Elin and Dan (the bat) for lunch and mass gossip session.

The poxy train took much longer than expected/advertised, which meant that the shopping I was going to do in the town had to be scrapped. Still, I had a decent chat with Alison, much laughs with Dan and when the other pair finally showed up (who knew it would be difficult to park in S'ton the week before x-mas) we ate food and made a mess with wrapping paper and envelopes. I'd gone with fluffy venereal diseases for Elin and Ally (Herpes and Syphilis to be exact) the gift which keeps on giving and can be shared with loved ones. (http://www.giantmicrobes.com/) thanks to the attached leaflet we all learnt something useful and tried to remember which monarch had gone doo-lally with the pink worm....I'm going with Nigel Hawthorne.

So, after our meal, and due to our current location being cold enough to freeze off brass monkeys (or however the phrase goes), we descended on a well known coffee house for hot chocolate and cake.....hmmmmmm. Not long after this I realised I was about to miss my train and hi-tailed it to the station....where I arrived just in time to see said train pulling out of the station and, subsequently, the rush-hour (which isn't rushed in any sense of the word, nor does it take an hour) journey took me just shy of 3 hours and 3 changes to get home.....by which time I was officially an Ems-sicle.

Today I wandered round pretty much every side road in the Worthing area shopping, seeing to appointments and generally getting my bearings (which was a little trial and error....with emphasis on the error), hopefully I'll be all over the direction stuff when I venture out tomorrow.

Irn Bru Christmas Ad

New Diggs

Officially got all moved into my room in the shared house in Worthing yesterday.....It was a relatively simple process, even if there was panicky moment when we thought that the TV wasn't going to work ( I hate technology it should be press button, switch on, does everything automatically, done)....but crisis was soon averted and my fabulous Viera switched on in all it's Technicolor glory.

Still need some storage, mainly for my excessive dvd collection, curtains (thankfully it's proper dark in the mornings at the moment) and some lamps to make it cozy. I also need to move some more stuff in, but since I'm back to Bognor next week for Christmas, that can wait.

One of my new housemates, Emma, had invited a couple of her friends round to watch the finale of (Fi)X-Factor and had prepared a bunch of tasty munchies. I decided to forgo the (Fi)X-Factor part of proceedings, retiring instead back to my room with a plate full of food to watch Robin Hood.

Speaking of, quite impressed by last nights episode....plenty of expected action and adventure, complete with a treasure hunt....who'd have thought it'd be the Oxo mum.....a randy Oxo mum apparently too. Marian got herself into to a right load of doo-doo....actually feeling sorry for Guy of Gisbourne, not only is he being led a merry dance by the young maiden but he seems to be the only bloke in Nottingham who can't recognise lady lumps under a tunic.....for heavens sake man, do you not have eyes!

Anyway, the Nightwatchman was revealed to Guy and then he and Alan covered it up to protect Marian in front of the sheriff....is Guy doing this out of the good of his heart or to manipulate Marian in the future.....hmmm it's a puzzler.

???????

The incomprehensible has happened....I just don't know what to do.....how will I possibly cope?......I just keep pinching myself hoping that it is in fact some kind of terrible nightmare, but then I open my eyes and see something which chills me to the core......

"No satellite signal is being received"

I'm not going to panic, nope...panic.....me....not going to happen....I can manage without television, it's not like I'm addicted or anything.....is it me or is it getting hot in here, my palms are getting awfully sweaty.......I'm just going to sit in the corner on my own for a while, hug a pillow and rock gently for a few hours......but not because I'm panicking.

T-Minus

I move house in four days....four days people and there's a whole bunch of stuff that needs to be sorted before then.....TV licence, wrap Christmas presents, arrange DSS appointment in Worthing Branch, get a job, write and post Christmas cards....and , um, well pack everything. Notice my priorities there, hmm maybe I should work through that 'to do' list backwards.

I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff which I've forgotten about which also need to be taken into consideration for the move....like why the heck am I moving house this close to Christmas....but certain parental factions are sure to have the slack and will probably be whipping me with it before long.....personally I'm of the 'chuck everything into a box and sort it out sometime in the future' vain of moving, but I'm not too sure how successful that will turn out...meh.

So the countdown continues and I'm sure there's something constructive I could be doing right now......Ooo, is that a split end...better sort that.

Robin of Muttley

Still finding Robin Hood relatively entertaining, it seems to have found a decent enough balance of swashbuckling, comedy and postmodern referencing. Though the other week Allan-a-Dale, after wrestling a nun into bushes (could have turned into a whole other show right there) was guilty of delivering the, ever-so-slightly, dodgy line of 'say a little prayer for me' before pegging it.

This evening I must admit I nearly laughed up a lung due to the gratuitous Hanna/Barbera ref.....I guess it was only a matter of time during an episode where the principle plot device was a pigeon...could have been worse, Little John could have sparked up a long distance relationship with Clara or perhaps Djaq could have had a Tet-a-tet with Dr Glossop while Much took his pet squirrel to see the wondrous and knowledgeable Macadoo.

In case you missed it the ref I am referring to is the sheriff's dialogue of 'Catch that pigeon.....Now!'

While I'm on dialogue there was some corking stuff in an episode a few weeks back delivered by the fantastically funny Josie Lawrence (whatever has she been doing since Who's Line....It's a puzzler), highlights included; 'Hello baldy' (to the sheriff), 'Slimey little snothead' (descriptive of Guy) and my personal favourite....'Hairy pig witted fox turd I’ll pluck your eyeballs from your bony skull and squelch them into cesspits'....a phrase which surely deserves to be integrated into modern societal dialect....for example when dealing with cold callers, mad drivers, chavs......and carol singers

My So Called Dad

My dad made me laugh today....we have the same puerile and sarcastic sense of humour and more often than not these days its the frequency of senile moments which has me in stitches, his joke telling is usually about as successful as a Tommy Cooper magic trick and not usually for the ears of the young and innocent like my good self.

While watching Are You Smarter Than a Ten Year Old? (I know but he’s retired and I’m unemployed) a contestant was asked a question which involved knowing numbers in French. Dad, who took some classes several years ago, dutifully rattled off 1-20 in French ( I think I was supposed to be impressed) and I said ‘but what about in German?’ dad paused a moment before retorting with Vun, Too, Sree, Vour etc….ala Allo Allo...poor old dad, growing up in the 50's what chance did he really have…Larry Grayson, Benny Hill and Tommy Cooper….I rest my case.

Buffy Fest '07

Visited Alison yesterday for a complete fest of all things Buffyverse...with a smidgen of Barrowman thrown in for good measure.

With junk food in abundance we got through a carefully selected 5 episodes of the hilarious fantasy series, one from each season: Nightmares, Go Fish, Band Candy, Superstar and finally Once More With Feeling. (time constraints meant skipping season 5 and 7 episodes for the delicious musical edition)

Revelling in the top notch action/drama, inventive/addictive dialogue, out dated SFX and a surprising amount of flashes of buff (the male kind not the character and mainly from Nic Brendon, but with added Marc Blucas, Wentworth Miller and David Borenanz) I gorged on Peanut M & M's and delved into an intellectual debate on the progression of 'meh' as a descriptive in modern language, as well as the obvious academic 'Buffyverse' debates....well reminiscing really...well I supposed it could be considered a flitting of trivia between two fangirls...at a squint....yes, I am that sad.

In all a good time was had by us both...and I was only slightly bothered that on my return journey my train was delayed by 20 mins putting me smack bang in the middle of rush hour on a train consisting of two carriages and nowhere near enough seats, sandwiched between a loved up couple incapable of orifice separation, a gaggle of chavs involved in the life changing conversation of Westlife or Boyzone and a middle aged woman who seemed unaware that mobile phones have a microphone, for 1hr 1/2....like i say, 'slightly' bothered.

You know what Doctor....You were MY Doctor

In the depths of the cheesiest excuse for entertainment which is Children in Need this evening I was treated to 8 minutes of pure genius from the pen of Steven Moffat. I am of course talking about the one off special Doctor Who: Time Crash which aired this evening.

Not only following on directly from the end of the previous series but incorporating a double helping of Doctor madness. The incorrigibly delightful David Tennant was joined by Peter Davison complete with Cricket jacket and accessorized vegetable on his lapel for 8 minutes of screen gold.....so good in fact that I hopped straight over to the website to watch again to make sure I hadn't missed anything.....and basically bathe in every utterly brilliant second.

Fast paced and utterly ridiculous dialogue, with some special self aware moments from Mr. Tennant, since like myself Peter Davison was my Doctor, the pair avert the end of the universe via a paradoxical impossibility only manageable in the realm of the Who.

Best quotes include:

'Fair play to you, not many people can carry off a decorative vegetable'

'Hey I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe with a kettle and some string....and look at me I'm wearing a vegetable'

'End of the universe butter-fingers'

If you did miss it, and it's understandable since you would have had to sit through a couple of hours of mind numbing pseudo entertainment disguised as a fund raiser, I bring you the direct link.....all hail me:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/onthenight/article_doctorwho.shtml

Graduation

Okay, I'll get it over with because it's all very embarrassing....Graduation day was last Friday which involved dressing up in pompus, ill fitting, outfits and sitting through boring speeches and monotonous waiting for you name to be called to then experience a minute of utter terror in front of friends, family , lecturers and a couple of hundred complete strangers whilst trying to keep a mortar board balanced on your nogging and not be the person who trips on their gown to fall flat on their face.

It all went accordingly and was followed by a few minutes of posing for a gazillion photos, see above, before enjoying a meager buffet and chatting to friends and their families as well as catching up with lecturers Claire and Darren.....who called me a geek, ah how little he knows me after three years....as I am a total TV nut and nerd and proud of it.

Later I met up with the Club Mercury crowd for a reunion, of sorts, at the cheapest pub in Southampton. Lot of fun and merriment was had by all and I'm sure there are plenty of pics, due to me being nearly blind from the flash, and even a video out there somewhere in YouTube land....not giving you the link though.

Dad's Little Carrot

Not quite sure what to say about this root vegetable which my father has grown at his allotment....mum thought it was hilarious, but then again she always had a filthy mind....naturally I had to have the logistics of the 'funny' explained, because as you know I am as pure as the driven snow.

Movie Night

Had a fabulous time at my very good friend Clogs' place watching a mass of movies over the weekend. First up, in keeping with the forthcoming Halloween thingy coming up, we trolled through Final Destination 1, 2 and 3. Lots of gore, hilariously ludicrous deaths reminiscent of the utterly wonderful TV series Dead Like Me...what happened to Dead Like Me, were Americans worried it's individuality would cause them to engage some brain activity I wonder....after the back-to-back death, blood and 'ick factor which is the Final Destination films poor Chloe squeaked that fluffy bunnies and Disney should be the way to go next so we borrowed.....House of Wax (2005) from her housemate.

I've not seen the original but I fear it is better than this remake...blood, squeamish moments of both gore and the casts acting ability (Paris Hilton? WTF), stupid teenagers doing stupid things...copping off one moment and being impaled the next....blah...blah....blah....house of wax has mass meltdown....last surviving teens rescued and the complete unsurprse 'there is another murderer' conclusion.

From there we watched Disney's Aladdin and.....Annie, proper cheese, but magnificent production, when compared to what is classed as a musical production these days...don't even get me started on High School Musical....grrr arg!

Robin Hood this week continued to please..Robin actually showing a little menace and being all 'Douglas Fairbanks' down a flag on the outside of the castle (OK so it was mainly CGI but meh)....Was nice to see Will Scarlet have a bit of gumption for a change, reminiscent of Ray Winstone's portrayal of the character in RoS way back when (although not quite as utterly crazy). The only bit which was a tad annoying was the time it took for deathbed girl to be back to full of beans...bloody miracle cure that...still I suppose there was much to fit into the 45 mins this week. And next week it looks like the mole...aka Alan-a-Dale....has been rumbled, potentially a good angsty/action episode...I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Hey, Matthew

Bloody hell, this song is a blast from the past...some when around 1987...and yes I remember every single one of the shows mentioned.