Writing sense

C is often telling me about how good an author Neil Gaiman is, but apart from his TV series Neverwhere and his biography of Douglas Adams I’ve not yet found time to explore his writing.

Until today when someone pointed me towards a post on his blog explaining his frustrations with Vista, and how it doesn’t work. Well, yes [avoids the obvious anti-Microsoft rant]. He suggests two options – get a Macbook Air (a very lovely and much coveted thing), or switch to Linux Ubuntu. In my opinon, either would be miles better than what he already has. And having used both Mac and Linux OSs I would never, ever return to the clunkiness of Windows.

So, obviously he writes sense. Maybe I should seek out a book …

Which Who?

Only a week to go until the new series of Doctor Who begins (Saturday 5th April, 6.20pm BBC1).

I can’t decide whether I’m more excited by that, or by the fact that BBC4 are broadcasting the whole of the original Dalek serial later that evening as part of their tribute to Verity Lambert. Imagine that – real 1963 Daleks being broadcast on Saturday night telly!

Is it wrong that I might be a bit more eager to see the black and white pepperpots than the shiny new stuff?

March Winds Doth Blow

And we shall have snow. But not enough to stick – ever.

I remember when I was a child and it snowed, it snowed properly. A good, deep covering of snow. Everyone would go up to the big field in the village and go sledging down the hill there (hoping the cows weren’t there). And you’d build a snowman that would last for a couple of weeks after the rest of the snow had gone, slowly getting more and more doleful as he slowly melted away.

Now what little snow we have falls, but it disappears as soon as it hits the ground. So there’s no more fun to be had sledging or building snowmen. Is this global warming?

It’s coming

I’ve just seen the trailer for the new series of Doctor Who on BBC1!

If you missed it, watch it here.

[And watch out for spoilers ...]

Clue in the Bay

And so it came to Friday and the reason we chose to be in Cardiff the day before the most important rugby match of the year – another I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue tour date. Now I realise that two shows in a week does seem a little excessive, but we hadn’t intended that. It was just that I suggested Cardiff as easy to get to, not realising it was the same week as Buxton.

So late in the afternoon we found ourselves in the lovely cafe in the Wales Millennium Centre with copious amounts of tea and Welsh Cakes. We’d found a couple of comfy sofas from where we could see the doors leading to the stage door and might possibly see the guys arrive (unless they were already there – we had no idea). C chose to go for a walk just before I spotted, though a gap behind the stairs, Humph walk in. So we assumed that they all must be already backstage and settled down to wait for the show. It was a bit of a shock when we turned to see first Tim and Graeme, followed by Colin, then Barry and Jeremy walk right past where we were sitting (they’d come in via another door)! They all seemed deep in conversation so didn’t seem to see us …

Finally it was time to take our seats for the show. We were on the front row, which was curiously named row GG – we wondered if all the rows were named using the initials of the performers?! We caught up with IRL, who was a couple of rows behind us, while waiting for the show to start. This was our first time in the main theatre space at the WMC and I have to say how fantastic it is. It looked and felt amazing as a member of the audience, so it must be fantastic to perform there.

The show was fairly much the same as always (there was a comment made afterwards that we should know all the words by now. I don’t, mainly because I’m rubbish at remembering things like that, so it’s always a bit of a surprise what comes next). I did spot some slight changes – a couple of Humphs introductions were different and Graeme’s chainsaw chat-up line was back. I have to say I still think Jeremy’s singing is improving (he did much better by not sticking his fingers in his ears like he had at Buxton), although he missed the pause between the verse and chorus on his Pick-up Song, so lost the timing! I was slightly worried that during the audience participation round they would ask us to play Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau as my Welsh isn’t that good.

We wondered whether or not we’d been spotted during the show, but had no chance of escape when the mic and stand for Swanee Kazoo was placed on the edge of the stage right in front of our seats and Graeme and Tim came and stood in front of us. We all grinned!

After the show we waited near the stage door (the area by the door is closed to the public for building work), in an indoor space which made a change to wait in the warm. By the time the guys all appeared there were a whole three of us waiting; IRL, C and myself. Colin appeared first, and we not only managed to stop him, but had a lovely little chat to him. I’d said how much I’d enjoyed the show he and Barry had done the previous Saturday (at my old school!!) and he talked to us about that and about working with Willie Rushton. It was nice of him to spare some of his time to talk to us.

Finally the others appeared, but because there were only three of us it was a bit difficult to know who to talk to. Barry and Graeme didn’t stop very long (Graeme didn’t seem very talkative at Cardiff or Buxton and I’m worried that we’ve said or done something to offend him. I apologise is we have), but the others stayed for autographs and photos. Tim very nearly left without hugs, but we managed to set that right before he went.

So the week of fun seeing some of my favourite things was at an end, but I’d had a great time.

Cybermen, Corridors and Comedy

While we were in Cardiff for a few days we’d decided to explore the giant filming location for Doctor Who and Torchwood that the city has become. I was already far too excited from the previous evening, having seen the Torchwood fountain, the Millennium Centre that was used in New Earth and the Assembly building from the Lazarus Experiment. Topped off was the sight of Executive Producer and Doctor Who genius Russell T Davies walking past me in the Bay – twice!!

So already bouncing with giddy fan-girl enthusiasm we set off to explore. First stop was the other Torchwood entrance down by the water while we waited for the Doctor Who exhibitionto open. The exhibition was great – plenty of costumes and monsters from the series and the chance to be scared by some close encounters with Daleks, Ood and an Angel from Blink.

Then it was off to explore the town. We’d been given some tips as to where to find filming sites by some of the KInDA guys the previous evening, so armed with maps and advice we explored all sorts of parks and paths and streets. We stumbled across playgrounds with graffiti and ghosts, Tardis landing sites, streets, buildings, underground stations and alleyways. All great stuff.

The evening was back to the Wales Millennium Centre for a show celebrating the life of Linda Smith. It was a lovely couple of hours spent recalling some of Linda’s best comedy with stories, stand-up and songs in front of a small, but appreciative audience. The show finished with a clip of Linda from I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue singing Psycho Killer to the tune of Save Your Love. It seemed somehow highly appropriate.

Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf

While in Cardiff, C and I decided to add to the whole Doctor Who experience by seeing Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf. It’s a show both of us had wanted to see, but so far had never managed to catch. But it was worth the wait.

We joined the crowds in the Weston Studio, managing to grab some front row seats and waited excitedly for the show to begin. Well, I was excited – on the stage was a sofa with various books including a 500 year diary and the very first Target novelisation I owned, Arc of Infinity. I could see that I was in for a treat. And the fact that there were more blokes wandering round with long scarfs (there was even a season 18 one) than I have ever seen I felt in good company.

The show began with Toby Hadoke appearing from behind the sofa, where he had been hiding for the past half hour! He proceeded to take us through some of his life with the Doctor, how it had influenced and educated him in the ways of the world. It was incredibly funny. It was also quite strange to hear someone else talk about what they’d thought and felt about things like the 1980s hiatus and eventual ending of the show, the wilderness years of the 1990s when fandom was something you didn’t speak of, to the excitement and build-up to the series returning in 2005. Many time I was chuckling along because I remembered that, and I remembered thinking or feeling the same things.

Although very heavily infused with Doctor Who, the show was supposed to be aimed as much at non-fans as it was at fans. I’m unsure about this, but I’ve been absorbing Doctor Who for so long that it’s impossible for me to see things from a non-fan point of view. There’s no explanation needed for the jokes about the Myrka!

The show ended with the very poignant story of Toby watching an episode of the new series with his son. A hush had descended over the whole audience as we listened to his tale. And I think that almost everyone had a tear in their eye by the end, whether through the beauty of the father/son moment or the recollections of the episode in question – School Reunion.

Overall it was a fantastic show which I would recommend everyone goes to see. Although if you can’t get to see it there is a very reasonably priced CD of the recording which was done for BBC7.

After the show I hung around trying to spot some of the KInDA lot from the Doctor Who Forum. After much debate as to whether some of the faces were familiar from my memory of their avatar, I went over to ask. Soon we were all chatting and much discussion of the show and the Doctor in general pursued in the very pleasant surroundings of a nearby pub.

Blowing in the Wind

After seeing Clue, C and I had decided to stay in Buxton for another day with the intention of seeing a bit more of the place than we had the previous year. The day started quite well and the sun was shining. After our very filling breakfast (which included the new experience of Derbyshire Oatcakes – I can only describe them as inferior Staffordshire Oatcakes!) we said goodbye to K and G and set off to explore.

As it was nice we thought we’d walk around outside and admire the scenery and architecture. We ended up in a building which now belongs to the University of Derby, and has largest unsupported dome in Britain. It was pretty amazing and the sound distortion created by it was very strange. The centre of the dome also houses a Foucault Pendulum, which shows the rotation of the earth. All very edifying stuff.

By now it was clouding over, so we took a short walk to our favourite coffee shop from last year, Project X, for a break (and we were pleased to see squirrel pie was still on the menu). After lots of talking and coffee we set off into the, now rain soaked, town again. We walked up to the town museum where we spent a fascinating afternoon finding all about the local history and art.

The storm built up during the evening and overnight and I wasn’t looking forward to driving down to Cardiff on the Wednesday (my little car had had enough problems coping with the hills on the way in to Buxton, without adding the wind and rain to my troubles). But by the time we set off the rain had eased and we had a fairly uneventful journey, apart from the moment on the road to Leek where a gust of wind swept my car across the road and into the path of an oncoming lorry! Some instinct took over and made me swerve out of its way, but I think it shook both of us up. Of course we quickly made a joke of it and blamed Tim!!

Clue in Buxton

You may remember my trip up to Buxton last year. Well I was back there again last week to see another date in the I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue tour with C, K and G. We’d found a nice little hotel in town and after settling in there, we took a stroll down to the Opera House to pick up the tickets and then across the road to the pub for something to eat before the show.

The show is still essentially the same as before (Jon Naismith is still introducing it as the first ever tour), but with slight differences each time I’ve seen it. Things like the letter writing are always different and always hilariously funny, but I also spotted some different nursery rhymes, Uxbridge definitions and chat-up lines – we did comment during the interval how we’d all missed Graeme’s chainsaw one!

After the show it was round to the stage door as usual, although this time we knew to wrap up warm as it does get a bit chilly in Buxton! We were first there, but a little crowd gathered while we were waiting and by the time Tim appeared at the door there were eight or ten of us, all young and female, so very typical of the Clue audience! While we’d been waiting I’d had the rather strange experience of someone coming up to me and saying hello, as they’d recognised me from the Saucy Gibbon (it was IRL) – I’ve never been ’spotted’ at the stage door before!

All the guys came out – I had nothing to get signed (not that I’ve run out of things, more I couldn’t be bothered to bring them all that way) but was happy to just be there. Humph asked if I was there for autographs or if I wanted a dance, which threw me a little. It’s good to see that he was in such a cheerful mood. All too soon they were all heading off, but I managed to stop Tim and ask for a hug. He said it had been such a long time since the last one. Then IRL stepped in for a hug too, at which Jeremy looked slightly exasperated as he’d been trying to leave. He did manage to drag Tim away from us with some comment about needing to untie a prostitute … !!