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Fifth Element & Other Stuff [Feb. 8th, 2010|07:56 pm]
[Current Mood | busy]

I'm in a very slight lull in procedings at the moment - I've finished the uni-based bit of the PGCE for a while and am about to embark on another teaching bit but this time for 12 weeks (arrggghhhhh !!!).

Anyway, in between those bits was our first Who convention of 2010 - Fifth Element brought to fans by those fabulous Fantom Films boys. As the name suggests, this event was a celebration of the 5th Doctors era but it didn't quite work out that way as the guests mainly came from 'Arc Of Infinity' and 'Warriors of the Deep' - both hardly highlights of the Davison years !!

First guests were Alastair Cumming and Andrew Boxer from 'Arc' - the one played Tegan's cousin and the other played the cousin's annoying friend. Both were very nice and quite bemused to be asked to a Who convention - Andrew Boxer in particular, as he's spent the last 20 years in Java apparently and has only just come back to the UK and started acting. Both had kind things to say about The Ergon !!!

We also had Cy Town (a Dalek's innards) and Roger Limb (incidental music) who were nice and chatty). Then came the 'Warriors' panel with Tara Ward (Preston), Vincent Brimble (a Silurian), James Coombes (erm, somebody) and Ingrid Pitt. Ms Pitt hads apparently had a stroke recently so had to be helped on the stage and just kept rambling on incoherently. However, once she began signing she soon made a slight recovery !! Rather shamelessly, her husband came in and set up photos and books to flog while she was "signing" !!!!!!! Talk about exploiting your cash cow !!!! The other three were lovely, however and we had a good chat to Vincent Brimble - F and I saw him a couple of years ago as The Ghost in the Joseph Milson version of 'Hamlet' that was done outdoors at Stafford Castle - infinately superior to the Tennant version IOHO. In a link to that, Mr Brimble had played Tennant's father when he was in 'Romeo & Juliet' at Stratford.

We then had a quick panel with Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) and Clare Clifford who starred in 'Earthshock'. the final panel was a solo one with Liza Goddard. It should also have been Lynda Baron but was a no-show for no reason - she simply didn't turn up. Liza Goddard was very chatty and lively and had lots of good memories of her time in Who even though the story she was in was so dreary.

Some pics here which you may be able to see :-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199765&id=654288046&l=d728fd87c3

Anyway, I'm now about to embark on the teaching practice bit of the course - I'm quite lucky in that the school I've been allocated is literally 5 mins from my house. In fact, the journey home this afternoon took 4 minutes !!! Some on the course have to travel over an hour but I'm lucky in being the only one who lives to the south of the university so schools they use in Worcestershire get given to me but everyone else lives to the north of university. It's a Catholic school so I'm hoping the kids are a bit more well-behaved than in non-faith schools !!! This week is observations and teaching proper begins after half term.
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End Of The Season [Jan. 18th, 2010|11:11 pm]
[Current Mood | contemplative]

Panto season that is !! We went to our last panto on Thursday - Sleeping Beauty at the Birmingham Hippodrome. The Hip pantos are quite unusual these days in that they run from the week before Christmas until the end of January/early Feb. Most pantos these days just cover beginning of December to just after New Year unlike in years gone by when they used to run until March or even beyond ! The Hip panto dates are governed by the ballet - as the home of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, they are restricted by when they have their seasons which are usually the end of November and first week or so of December.

Anyway, this was a great, fun panto - this years star turns were Joe Pasquale and last years Dacing On Ice winner Ray Quinn. Both were very good and the panto had a brilliant Dame with some fabulous costumes. As a treat, Francis got us a box as I had nagged to sit in one. The view is a bit ropey but, as Francis explained, this was so you could be seen - which worked as when he went shopping in Waitrose, the staff told him how they were also there that night on a works do and spotted us in the box !! We inevitably stage doored afterwards and the pics are on Facebook.

In other news, Attitude magazine had an interview with Gareth Thomas the rugby player (not the Blakes 7 star !) who has come out as gay - he says he wants to be a role model for others who are gay but worried about coming out etc. That's very laudable but the only thing I'm uncomfortable about there is he did the old chestnut of marrying someone to "prove" he wasn't gay but hasn't really said "Don't do what I did" re this in his being a role model. I do take issue with gay men who get married to a woman to try and prove they aren't gay. Coming out and accepting you are gay is bloody hard - it took me about 10 years - but don't drag others into it too. Gareths's now ex-wife has been very forgiving about the whole situation but she's effectively "wasted" a number of years in a sham marriage. However, going public as being gay in a full-on macho sport like rugby takes some doing and the public reaction to the news, which appears to be a collective shrug of shoulders and "so what?", is fantastic for the gay community.

I also despair about some prospective teachers - the PE PGCE students on my course have very worrying ideas. We had a lecture the other day about Islam and the subject of gay Muslims came up, to which some of the PE lot said "There aren't any gay Muslims, oh, apart from that one on Eastenders" - cue a collective *rolls eyes* from us on Citizenship and pointing out that the reason "there aren't any gay Muslims" is due to Islam seing homosexuality as a taboo so they are too frightened to come out. The number of suicide attempts by Muslims would make their hair curl !! The worrying thing is that these people could be teachers soon and may have kids confide in them about being gay - worrying !!

Apart from all that it's been quite quiet - been concentrating on college work and that's it !!
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Post Christmas & Who (SPOILERS) [Jan. 3rd, 2010|11:16 pm]
[Tags|]
[Current Mood | busy]

Christmas I spent at home, not doing a huge amount other than a bit of TV and sorting out my school files. Some nice presents and food of course !

Post Christmas started on the 28th when Francis and I went to see Jack & The Beanstalk at the Festival Theatre, Malvern. We went to see this one as it was Colin baker's panto this year and is also our "local". We had a great time although, annoyingly, the usually fabulous Malvern Theatre Restaurant was only doing a reduced menu as "kids don't like a la carte". Right, whatever ! Anyway, we discovered a very nice pub/restuarant over the roads which fulfilled our needs.

The next day we went to Blackpool which was to be our base for the next few days - didn't really do much that day other than relax. On Wednesday we went to Manchester to meet up with my friend Toni and have a meal at the Northern Quarter Restuarant. We won a prize of a meal there way back in january when we went to the Red Cross Ball in Manchester so finally got round to using the voucher. Later that day we went to see White Christmas at The Lowry with Aled Jones and Suzanne Shaw. A brilliant production, worthy of the West End. The only downside was it took an hour to get out of the car park !! We were staying at Toni's house nearby and it was a bit embarrassing getting to her house at nearly midnight but she was fine about it.

Next day was New Years Eve and we made our way back to Blackpool - we had no plans and went to our favourite restaurant, AJs Bistro, in the evening and just saw in the New Year in the flat with a bottle of champagne.

New Years Day we went shopping to get bits and bobs - no huge purchases though ! It was the final Tennant Doctor Who so we got a kindly neighbour to record it for us and were able to play it on F's stand-alone DVD player and monitor. We watched it at about 10 pm so were able to still avoid any chat and newspapers the next day !!

( Thoughts On Who SPOILERS )

Finally yesterday we went to a panto in Preston which was dreadful and I hope to expunge the whole ordeal from my memory !!!
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Various [Dec. 24th, 2009|05:03 pm]
[Current Mood | busy]

A bit of a pre-Christmas update and comments on various recent matters......

Well, I finished my first school placement and passed it, much to my amazement. My main problem has been thinking I've been doing much worse than I actually have - my mentor at the school obviously picks up on things I have been doing wrong and tells me about them in order for them to be corrected but I focus more on those than the positives. She did say she thought I'd done well and "was better than the student we had last year" so that's a compliment of sorts !! I sent Thank You cards and little gifts to those teachers I worked with and the headtaecher - a bit of brown-nosing in case I want a reference from them in the future !! - but most of the other trainees didn't bother.

On Friday 18th, F & I went to see the Pet Shop Boys at the Birmingham NIA - absolutely brilliant, as always. I, despite being a lifelong PSB fan, have only seen them live once before when they toured suppoprting "Release" a few years ago. Then they did a stripped-down show with no costume and set changes but it was still brilliant. This time it was back to more extravagant sets etc - dancers dressed as New York buildings at one point !! - but still an excellent show. It's a shame that Neil and Chris are really a sort of cult act these days - each album comes out and crashes into the top 10 on the strength of sales to the fans but then crashes out again as, once the fans have bought their copy, no-one else bothers. F had never seen them live but has been a fan of them since meeting me and he wasn't disappointed.

Strictly Come Dancing final got the result I wanted - yayy for Team Cola !! For me, TC won it with the Charleston (which the judges marked correctly this time !) and their showdance which would appeal to SCD regular voters. Ricky and Natalie tried too hard and their Latin routine and showdance was too young-focused which is not the SCD audience. Natalie's purple leotard also went down like a lead balloon too !

Christmas Number 1 - I'm glad all those Rage Against The Machine sheep are pleased with themselves but, personally, I thought that campaign to unseat The X-Factor as Christmas Number 1 was rather pathetic. I'm no fan of The X-Factor or it's Number 1s but I couldn't see the point of the whole exercise. Since when has the Christmas Number 1 been a bastion of quality music ?? It's always the time of year for novelty songs and people buying records who wouldn't usually. The X-Factor will die a natural death over the years anyway so what's the big deal ? And who was the whole RATM nmachine campaign aimed at anyway ? If it was Simon Cowell he's laughing all the way to the bank as, due to the record label Rage Against The Machine are on, he gets a slice from The X-Factor song AND RATM. It all seems rather pointless especially when The X-Factor song is currently on course to be number 1 this week and outselling RATM by 3 to 1.

We went to London this weekend and survived "travel chaos" only just ! Saw Sister Act The Musical - excellent, a real feel-good show. Travel chaos inpacted on some though, as a coach party only made it during the interval. Then back home and ready for Christmas - vaguely !
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TV Meme Thing [Dec. 15th, 2009|11:01 pm]
[Current Mood | contemplative]

Well it's nearly the end of term so I've got a bit of time to do stuff like this (nicked from [info]ghyste ) :-


1. Name TV a series in which you have seen every episode at least twice:

Oohh, plenty - *takes deep breath* Doctor Who (existing episodes although I've heard the others on audio), The Sarah Jane Adventures, Sapphire & Steel, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Friends, Seinfeld, As Time Goes By, Are You Being Served, Grace & Favour, The Tomorrow People, Inspector Morse, Poirot, The Avengers, Ab Fab, The New Avengers, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (original), Dinnerladies, Victoria Wood - As Seen On TV, Jane Eyre (1973 Version), Fawlty Towers, Little Britain, The Sweeney, Not Going Out, Planet Of the Apes (TV series)

2. Name a show you can't miss.

At the moment anything Who related, anything with Victoria Wood.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show.

Geoffrey Palmer, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, John Thaw (when he was alive), Miranda Hart, Lee Mack, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia-Louis Dreyfus and numerous ex or current Who actors such as Louise Jameson, Colin Baker etc etc

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show.

Probably those ex-soap stars like Ross Kemp, Tamsin Outhwaite and the like

5. Name a show you can, and do, quote from.

Victoria Wood - As Seen On TV, Friends

6. Name a show you like that no one else enjoys.

Sleepwalkers - which no-one seems to have heard of. For others it's more "No-one else is bothered about" rather than "no-one else enjoys". Current and relatively recent ones would include Miranda, Not Going Out, The Kevin Bishop Show and The New Adventures Of Old Christine which is on it's 5th season in the US but we've only had the 1st two over here.

7. Name a TV show that you've been known to sing the theme song.

Wonder Woman, Friends

8. Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch.

Victoria Wood - As Seen On TV, Dinnerladies and the first 5 seasons of Are You Being Served.

9. Name a TV series you own.

Aside from the ones in Q1 - The X-Files, Sledge Hammer, Torchwood, Will & Grace, Tenko, Cold Feet, Outside Edge, Butterflies, A Fine Romance, The Lone Gunmen, This Life, Midsomer Murders, Survivors, Blakes Seven

10. Name an actor who has launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting chops in television.

Billie Piper maybe ?

11. What is your favourite episode of your favourite series?

Doctor Who - The Androids Of Tara
Others include "Kill Oscar" - The Bionic Woman, "Secret Weapon" - The Tomorrow People "4D" - The X-Files, "Masonic Mysteries" - Inspector Morse

12. Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven't gotten around to yet.

None - if I'm not watching it or recording it and know I will have no more than 3 eps to catch up with then I don't bother even starting.

13. Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad?

Buffy after Season 5 & Angel after Season 3 - I just got fed up with them and didn't feel inspired to tune in. I still have no idea how Buffy ended !! I drifted in and out of The X-Files for a couple of seasons towards the end but I loved Season 9 and the dragged me back in again.

14. Name a show that’s made you cry multiple times.

New Doctor Who and also a few Morse episodes particularly "Dead On Time".

15. What do you eat while you watch TV?

Nothing really - I generally don't watch TV while eating a meal but will have a cup of tea, glass of wine and a biscuit etc while watching.

16. How often do you watch TV?

Not very often anymore - there's very little I watch due to time contraints. I can't follow a series as I don't have time so I tend to watch throwaway TV or short-run sit-coms hence my love of Miranda which is nice and compact with just 6 episodes !!

17. What’s the last TV show you watched?

Strictly Come Dancing, Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two, Miranda and Harry Hill's TV Burp are my current viewing of choice. I'm also watching Art Of Russia on BBC4 as I have a bizarre crush on art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon !!

18. What’s your favourite/preferred genre of TV?

SF/Fantasy, Drama and comedy - there's not a huge amount out there at the moment but some real gems have come along recently such as Miranda with the fabulous Miranda Hart. However, with SF and Fantasy the only things I watch are Doctor Who and associated spin-offs - nothing else.

19. What was the first TV show you were obsessed with?

The Six Million Dollar Man - I wished for bionics at age 6, oblivious to the reality that I would have to have most of my limbs amputated for that dream to come true.

20. What TV show do you wish you had never watched?

Can't think of any - sometimes you stumble over some crap but I've obviously flushed it from my brain.

21. What’s the weirdest show you enjoyed?

No idea - Art Of Russia maybe ??!!

22. What TV show scared you the most?

How - well just the opening title music actually. Also Space:1999 particularly "The Bringers Of Wonder" episodes.

23. What’s the funniest TV show you’ve ever watched?

Victoria Wood - As Seen On TV
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PS...... [Nov. 29th, 2009|09:01 pm]
[Current Mood | embarrassed]

.......my thoughts on 'The Waters Of Mars'.......

No idea as I haven't seen it yet !!!!! It was on the Sunday of Dimensions but due to school schedule, we had to leave as soon as the convention was over at about 5.30 pm. Even leaving then, we didn't get home until near on 10 pm. Since then I haven't had a spare hour to sit and watch it properly. I may get the chance next weekend or the weekend after at best !
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Updates Of Stuff [Nov. 29th, 2009|08:58 pm]
[Current Mood | tired]

Apologies for 7 weeks of silence but I have been ridiculously busy. I'm in my 4th week of actual teaching in school and it is very busy ! I have to plan and take 11 lessons a week which may not sound much but trainees have to completely create everything for the lessons. When you're a qualified teacher, you can grab anything off the internet or old resources you have used before but we have to show we can plan everything from scratch !

I been able to do a few things outside of school but not much and when I do I'm wishing I wasn't there as I know how much work I have to do - we went to the Dimensions Convention in Newcastle a couple of weeks ago and I could totally have done without going !! It was an enjoyable convention and a laugh-a-minute as always, but I was constantly thinking about the work I should have been doing. Some great hugs from Jacks King and Kai Owen made up for my work-hype, and Francis and Carrie John had a blub-fest together over the glory days of the National Theatre. Anyway, here's a few pics :-

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That's the inevitable Colin Baker pic - I have a Silver ticket which means I get all the photo shoots thrown in so I had a laugh with Colin that I now have enough photos with him to wallpaper my house.

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Other things we've done include seeing the fabulous Pam Ann - we stage doored as always and there were more people this time round at the SD but Pam came out, saw F & I waiting and swished past the others and came over to us giving us a big kiss. She rememebred us from last time and, much to F's embarrasment, said to him "And you're even wearing the same coat !!!" which he was (we last saw in May 2008). Anyway, here she is :-

Photobucket

We've been to a few concerts such as Alesha Dixon (fab), Alison Moyet (amazing !!) and Bucks Fizz (old !).

Last weekend we did Memorabilia - usually this is a bit of a poor man's Collectormania but there were some good guests this time which cost me a few pounds. Fantom Films always come up with the goods with some great guests such as Jeam Marsh, Linda Thorson & Catherine Schell to name but a few. Here's a few pics of the highlights - the fabulous Camille Coduri and the kids from The Sarah Jane Adventures (great laugh) :-

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Those of you on Facebook will have seen these but, due to having to up my privavcy levels due to being at school I can't put private links on LJ anymore.
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Update [Oct. 11th, 2009|05:35 pm]
[Current Mood | chipper]

Just a quick flying visit with an update on activities - not much time to do anything while doing the PGCE but I still squeeze a few things in ! Last weekend we were in Blackpool for a mainly relaxing weekend but also to see 'Evita' at The Grand Theatre - very good production indeed.

On Wednesday we went to see 'Round The Horne' at The Festival Theatre, Malvern - again, excellent. We saw the London version twice back in 2003 and this version has two of the same cast. It wasn't very full - about 20 people - but those who were there seemed to appreciate it.

This weekend we've been at the Cheltenham Literature Festival - yesterday we went to a talk by Dame Judi Dench and Sir Richard Eyre. Very interesting indeed but DJD had had an accident the day before and gashed her hand which was bandaged up. Also she looked very unsteday on her feet, as if she had a problem with her hips or similar. So, at the book signing, it was very much in and out - no personalisations and she didn't seem keen on any chat. Francis tried to start up a conversation but she just nodded politely and smiled as if to say "Get lost so i can get this over and done with" !!

Today we went to see Harry Hill - he was very funny and did a cut-down stand-up act rather than a traditional interview. He made some hilarious comments about TV shows including his "favourites" such as 'How Clean Is A Mental Person's House' and 'I'm Mental & Think I've Got The X-Factor' !!

We went to the signing afterwards and Harry personalised and was happy for photos but was subject to the Cheltenham Festival Gestapo so, although he posed for mine he just turned back to signing my book as the flash went off !!

Photos can be seen here :-

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3888402&l=9d70eaea79&id=654288046
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RIP..... [Oct. 9th, 2009|08:31 pm]
[Current Mood | sad]

......Barry Letts, producer of Who between 1970-1974 :(
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PGCE Week 1 [Sep. 27th, 2009|04:09 pm]
[Current Mood | busy]

Well my first week back at university is over and it went without a hitch. The workload for the course doesn't seem too bad - I think some people exaggerated about how much there is. The timetable isn't as onerous as I thought, we even get one day off a week !! As I expected, there is a lot of private study to do and the tutors whizz through a lecture and expect you to go through it on your own from the internet - no notes are given out, the presentations are all online.

The differences from 15 years ago are huge - as above re internet notes and also my ID and library card was made, complete with photo, in about 2 minutes on a piece of plastic. In the "old days" we used to have to get loads of passport photos done and stick them on bits of card that would be laminated !!

Everyone on the course is very nice although we have had one drop out already. He was the only one of us living in halls - the rest of us commute in - and it was probably quite isolating as for the rest of us we all went home once lectures were over ! I think he should have given it a bit longer than 3 days but then I can understand how lonley it must have been when no-one else on the course is living on campus.

So we now have another 4 weeks on campus and then we go on our teaching placements until Christmas - eek !!!

In other news, I went out with my "old" work colleagues from CSV Action Earth last night as a "Au Revoir" meal. I owe them so much there for how they have contributed to lifting me up this year. We had a lovely meal and a few drinks, just catching up on the last few weeks. No other big news as it'll be work, work, work all the way but my weekends will still be sacrosanct (for now !!). Next weekend is off to Blackpool to se 'Evita' at The Grand and the Classic Doctor Who highlight of the year - the release of the 'Dalek War' box set complete with 'Planet Of The Daleks' Episode 3 IN COLOUR for the first time since 1973 !!!! Beyond exciting !!!
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Regenerations 2009 [Sep. 24th, 2009|10:20 pm]
[Current Mood | contemplative]

Just a quick round-up from last weekends Regenerations convention held in Swansea. Regenerations has been a convention highlight for the past few years as it has been truly a "by fans, for fans" concern. Who conventions - certainly the larger ones - have begun to get a bad name due to the popular 10th Planet events being pretty much taken over by the dreaded Showmasters who have turned them into more cynical money-making operations. Bad Wolf in July caused a lot of damage with the sudden "work commitments" cancellations of david Morrisey and Bernard Cribbins - again, since they apparently had to pull out of events prior to this also run by Showmasters/10th Planet - the mutterings being that, due to poor ticket sales, Messers Morrisey and Cribbins were asked not to come as a money-saving exercise.

Cary Woodward, the organiser of Regenerations, pulled out the stops by bagging Sir Derek Jacobi as his headlining guest and Sir Derek showed up and was a wonderful convention guest. He did two panels - one with Philip Madoc and one solo - and both had practically no mention of Doctor Who at all. His solo panel was amazing - the audience were hanging on his every word and you could hear a pin drop for most of the session. The room was also jam-packed - first time I've seen a convention where pretty much EVERY attendee is in for a panel. Also, the questions asked were very intelligent and not "What was it like working with David Tennant"-style. Best ever convention panel IMO.

The rest of the guests comprised the usual suspects - Anneke Wills, Mary Tamm, Sylvester & Sophie (who is now the voice of Dennis The Menace in a BBC cartoon, would you believe!), Nick Courtney and various guest stars.

The running of the convention was very smooth with tiny autograph queues and very friendly stewards. The hotel was also in a convenient location. It's also a chance to have a good old piss-up with chums :)

Photos here :-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154646&id=654288046&l=384e163554
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Holidays Part 2 - Isle Of Man [Sep. 17th, 2009|10:02 pm]
[Current Mood | contemplative]

To give us the feeling of having "been abroad", Francis booked for us to spend a few days on the Isle Of Man, which is very convenient from Blackpool as you can fly there from Blackpool Airport.

Our flight was 12 pm so we went down to the airport which is hardly a hub of activity ! The airport is charging passengers an "Airport Development Fee" of £10 - not much IMO especially when you can park for free, but there have been complaints. Our airline, Manx2.com, gave us access to the airport Executive Lounge to make up for paying the fee - fine by us !! One controversy was, when going through security, Francis had his hand gel confiscated as it had alcohol in it (!!) despite the same brand being freely available in the Duty Free shop after security ! We went to the lounge and, when the flight was announced, popped to the loo much to the consternation of a woman at the gate. When we emerged about 2 minutes later she explained that as the plane had landed early, the pilot wanted to leave early too and we had held it up !!! The plane only held 20 people but there was just 7 of us on board. The flight to IoM took all of 25 minutes.

For those unaware, the Isle Of Man is an island in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. It is not officially part of the UK but they have The Queen as Head Of State - it is a self-governing island but generally follows UK laws eg they had the smoking ban at around the same time as England. They have the same currency as the UK but print their own notes similar to Scotland. The population is about 80,000. An appeal for people to live there is it has very low taxation and a number of banks locate their offshore arms there. With this in mind, I always thought the island would be very glitzy and glamorous but that wasn't the case at all. The promenade at Douglas (the island capital where we were staying) is a bit down-at-heel - there are a number of closed and derelict hotels and many older hotels have been knocked down and turned into apartments. I also expected very up-market restuarants - the tourist board have created an "commended" booklet of restaurants but there were only 6 in Douglas !! We went and tried them all while we were there though :) We also visited the other "big" towns on the island - Ramsey and Peel - and they were practically comatose.

Anyway, we went and did a lot of the tourist stuff such as travel on the steam railway and the electric trams. The island also has horse-drawn trams which were fun. We were very lucky that the weather we had was fabulous every day - very sunny and warm for the time of year.

I think the problem with the tourist industry there is that it is expensive to actually get over there - there is a ferry service but apparently that's quite pricey and, although flights are cheap if you book in advance, they can be expensive if you just wanted to leave tomorrow. Also, there's really not much going on - there's a theatre, The Gaiety, but it doesn't have much on really and the shopping on the island isn't great - the most upmarket store there is Marks & Spencer ! I enjoyed my time there as it was a relaxing break but I couldn't begin to imagine ever living there - I think I'd go mental with boredom !!!! We'd pretty much done the island in 5 days :) Also, it would have been awful if the weather was bad - at least Blackpool has a lot of indoor activities but the Isle Of man really has nothing if you're faced with poor weather.

We came back on Tuesday night and stayed at the flat then came back home Wednesday morning. We're off tomorrow to a Doctor Who convention in Swnasea and then it's off to uni on Monday !!

IoM photos can be seen here :-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153403&id=654288046&l=daf4aedb91
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Holidays Part 1 - Blackpool [Sep. 17th, 2009|09:39 pm]
[Current Mood | contemplative]

I'm just nearing the end of a nice couple of weeks inbetween finishing work and starting my PGCE course. My last day at work was really nice - despite only being there 4 months, I had a lovely card and HMV vouchers as a leaving present which was so touching. My boss kept saying I was "the best Campaigns Assistant she'd ever had" which was a bit embarrasing when it's said in front of other CAs !!

Having only worked 4 months and needing to conserve cash for my course, any abroad holiday was out of the question. It was around this time of the year that we were supposed to be jetting off to see [info]pootlus and [info]bamboowan *sigh*. So, the obvious choice was Blackpool, although Francis had another trick up his sleeve....

I decided to have a 2 week gap between work and uni and that fitted in very well as it coincided with Illumination Switch-On weekend. We invited two of our Scottish friends, Harry and Paul, to come and stay for the weekend and they arrived on Friday. We had a late lunch and tootled into town for a look round and joined the Switch-On concert crowd about 8 pm ish - half an hourt before the Radio 2 free concert began. Obviously we were'nt right at the front as we were 2 years previously for David Tennant but we had a pretty good view. Some good acts played including Pixie Lott, Paloma Faith, JLS, Madness and Tony Christie - all great except Tony Christie was reading his song off a sheet of paper !!! The weather held up except when JLS sang "Umbrella" and it rained, only stopping when they finished ! Switch On star this year was Alan Carr who was great fun. We then made our way back to the flat for a late evening meal (about 10.30 before we ate !!) and after that drove along the length of the Illuminations.

Next day (Saturday) we played crazy golf in the mid-morning and, after a rest at the flat, embarked out again in search of Alan Carr and Emma Forbes who were presenting their Radio 2 show from the top of an open tram. We found them at North Pier and, as we went over to join the bit of a crowd that had gathered, who should come off the tram and just hang around but singing sensation Mika, having just appeared on Alan and Emma's radio show !! Obviously this was too good an opportunity to miss so Harry, Paul and I storm up to him and ask for photos. I also whip out my autograph book and get Mika to give me a quick scribble - he was absolutely lovely and very obliging. Barely anyone seemed to notice Mika was there which was fine for us !

We then went for some drinks and to go to the opening of a new sqaure by The Winter Gardens. There was to be a cabaret headed by the fabulous female sword swallower Miss Behave. Anyway, the star spotting continued as we then bumped into celebrity home designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen - he was also happy to pose for photos and sign autographs. His wife was with him too and she was lovely, even offering to take photos !!

Sunday was a quieter day - I went with Harry and Paul to play some bingo and go on the piers. They were then leaving in the afternoon and Francis and I had a busy afternoon cleaning and tidying, then we went to see the first heat of the World Firework Championships on the promenade. Monday was a more leisurely day as we went shopping in Cleveleys and had a lazy evening and an early night as we had been up very late the last few nights.

Tuesday was also a lazy day but in the evening we had a meal in one of our favourite haunts, AJs Bistro, and went to see Billy Pearce on North Pier. It was very encouraging to see the show was practically sold out - excellent, considering people had been moaning that summer shows on the pier were dead etc.

Then, Wednesday morning was quite an early start for the next part of the holiday......

Blackpool photos can be seen here :-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153356&id=654288046&l=6ce7c0f843
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Happy Birthday...... [Sep. 1st, 2009|02:56 pm]
[Current Mood | chipper]

......to the very [info]rev_org ! Hope you're having a great day !!
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Another Blackpool Bank Holiday [Aug. 31st, 2009|07:22 pm]
[Current Mood | cheerful]

Another Bank Holiday rolls round and so does another trip to Blackpool !

This Bank Holiday is always a relatively low-key affair in the town as people save themselves for the hurly-burly of NEXT weekend - the Illuminations Switch-On !! For us, it was no exception, especially as we are having visitors down next weekend so conserved our energies for then :)

We went up very late on Friday and traffic was not too bad and on Saturday walked into Blackpool town centre - about a mile and a half - to get some bits and bobs. We had a drink in Matcham's Bar at The Grand Theatre and went off to one of our lunch haunts, Vincents, near the Winter Gardens. Unfortunately, it's been taken over by new management and they've totally changed the menu. They used to do proper meals but now it's just A N Other snack place, doing jacket potatoes, panini's etc. It's a shame the previous owners sold up as there has been some extensive work going on in the area to make it into an open piazza-style square. While work was being done, they were a bit cut off, but now it's done it's a stunning part of tonw that should have led to sales picking up.

No shows that attracted our attention were on so we had a nice meal in the evening at one of our favourite restaurants, AJ's.

Sunday we walked in the opposite direction - perhaps 2 miles - to Cleveleys and had lunch there and then came back, walking along the beach. In the evening we went to a dance tribute to Michael Jckson show at The Opera House. This was part of a Street Dance Championship that was being held at The Winter Gardens. It was a big success as it was totally sold out and an afternoon show was slotted in - also pretty much sold out. The show wasn't bad - some good dance acts but a few danced to anything but Michael Jackson, weird for a so-called tribute. The highlights for Britain's Got Talent stars Aidan Davis and George Sampson but the absolute highlight was a routine from this years BGT winners Diversity. They were absolutely incredible and worth the ticket price alone. The stunned the audience and had a well-deserved standing ovation. The work that went into their routine was breathtaking - if ever you get the chance to see them live, rather than on TV, then go as it was amazing.

Today was a clean and tidy up in preparation for our guests next weekend and going back home - the weather wasn't great this weekend, overcast and a bit muggy but not much rain thank god.

One slight annoyance about the weekend was someone I used to work with at the company that gave me the shove emailed to say she was in Blackpool this weekend and, if I was, did we want to meet up. I said fine and told her our itinery to which she said "Great, I'll text you" - anyway, we didn't hear a dicky bird !! Luckly we just carried on regardless but I don't understand why people start to arrange thinks and then not bother. Is it so hard to send a text to say "Sorry, but we're too busy to meet" ?? 9Before anyone says it, i didn't have her number to ask if things were happening).

Anyway, overall a nice relaxing weekend, ready for a busy time next week !!
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Study !! [Aug. 24th, 2009|11:02 pm]
[Current Mood | blah]

Well, I'm back on the studying path again ! We've already been set an assignment to write based on our pre-course observation time spent in a school - I did mine during May, June and July. It has to be in by October 1st but knowing I have a busy few weeks from next weekend onwards, I set to to get it to be finished for the weekend just gone.

The starting off was a pain but once I cracked that it seemed to flow pretty well. It's such a difference from when I was writing assignments 15 years ago at university. Then, hardly anyone had a computer so we had to write them by hand and count the words individually as you got penalised for being too much over or under. Now it's fab writing it on a PC and it even counts the words for you !!

It was a bit of a sacrifice this weekend as I didn't see Francis at all as I was determined to get it done so I didn't have it hanging over my head while we're on holiday. Luckily there's nothing on TV !!

On that front, though, I'm still in the mind-set of when I was working for the company that gave me the push. As I worked a lot of evenings I would never start watching a series that you had to follow or was new as I knew I'd never get round to watching episodes I recorded. When I was unemployed I wasn't in the mood to get into TV and would just watch stuff that would wash over me. Now, even though I'm in from work at about 4.30 pm every day, I still don't have any inclination to watch anything other than throwaway TV like The Weakest Link, Kim & Agggie, makeover shows etc.

I've still not bothered to watch Torchwood despite being in 4 nights out of the 5 it was on, recording it every night AND buying the DVD. Francis has seen it and enjoyed it but I just can't be bothered and am even less bothered now I know what happened through magazines etc.

The only thing that will break (well just dent it slightly I imagine !) this trend will be New Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures but once they're over it'll be back to Gok Wan, Anne Robinson and Kim & Aggie.
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Busy Autumn [Aug. 22nd, 2009|10:39 pm]
[Current Mood | busy]

August has been a bit of a quiet month - last weeks Colin Baker convention aside. This weekend, for example, I'm at home toiling through my first assignment for my PGCE - only 250 words to go though !

However, we've got lots of fun things to do from September to December. Firstly, I finish work at the end of next week so have a 2 week break before starting at uni - F and I are off to Blackpool for Illumination Switch-On (Alan Carr this year) and we pop over to the Isle Of Man while we're there for a few days.

We're seeing concerts by Bucks Fizz (!!), Little Boots, Alesha Dixon, Alison Moyet, Will Young and the Pet Shop Boys, then Pam Ann, Colin B in panto and White Christmas in Manchester plus Kyran Bracken's ice show in Blackpool.

October is Cheltenham Literary Festival time again so we're going to talks by Judi Dench, Harry Hill and Chris Evans this year and there's also three Who conventions !!

Added to this I have to squeeze in starting my PGCE on 21st September - phew !!
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Happy Birthday....... [Aug. 22nd, 2009|10:04 am]
[Current Mood | chipper]

......to [info]wendylady1 !!

Hope you have a fab day !!
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Sixth Sense Convention - 16th August 2009 [Aug. 17th, 2009|12:48 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood | nostalgic]

After a very lazy Saturday, when we watched the woeful Peter Cushing Dalek movies so Francis could be up to speed with pretty much all things Who (lucky him !!), we were up early on Sunday to get down to Chiswick for the latest Fantom Films-organised Who convention. This one was a celebration of 25 years of Colin Baker as The Doctor. The Colin Baker years always hold a special place for me as that was the time that I became a fan of the series, rather than an interested viewer.

As is typical of a Fantom Films convention, some unusual and rare guests were there such as a number of guest actors from The Trial Of A Time Lord - some of them looking VERY different from their characters !! - and there was also a Timelash panel with director Pennant Roberts, writer Glen McCoy and actors Robert Ashby and Jeananne Crowley, although Jeananne was adamant that she was an actress and NOT an actor.

Writers Pip & Jane Baker were due to attend but sadly they had to pull out, which was a shame as I met them at my very first convention way back in 1995 and it would have been good to have seen them at an event again. Filling their gap was composer Dominic Glynn, who spoke very quietly but had lots of interesting things to say - we discovered his middle name was Francis at the autograph session :)

Sixth Doctor audio companions Maggie Stables and India Fisher were also in attendance, and they were both very enthusiastic about Big Finish audios and their roles in them - two lovely ladies.

Colin himself was obviously there and we had some good banter with him at the autograph session - "Hello there, you two" we always get greeted with. I took along a flyer for his forthcoming panto at The Festival Theatre in Malvern - Francis and I are all booked up for December 28th !! - and we posed with it as I said I'd put in on Facebook as free advertising, for which he was all for :) Photo is below :-

Photobucket

Later on we noticed Colin pointing over to us while talking to a fan, and this fan came over asking about the panto !! We told Colin we would take commission for any bookings made as a result of the convention :)

Sadly, due to his current driving ban - see Colin's blog on his website for more info - he's not doing much touring work at the moment but, instead, has been doing a fair few conventions and events which has been good for his fans.

Apart from a slight overrun in the middle autograph session, this was another well-run Fantom Films event. Sadly, we can't make the next one - which centres around the Graham Williams years - but hope to make the next one after that.

Rest of my photos can be seen here :-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=142154&id=654288046&l=5348bb30c0
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Happy Birthday...... [Aug. 17th, 2009|10:32 am]
[Current Mood | chipper]

............ to the fabulous [info]pennquelle !!!!

Hope you have a great day and we see you very soon :)
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