I’ve been very bad at posting here recently, for which I appologise. But as I write this primarily for my own benefit rather than to attempt to say anything important, then I’m sure it’s not a problem.
I have been keeping busy though, and have managed to see a fair few comedy gigs over the past few weeks which I’ve neglected to tell you about. Never mind. They were good, and very funny and I enjoyed them lots.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending an afternoon of Buster Keaton shorts at the Barbican in London. Now I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge fan of silent comedy, although the few films I have seen over recent years I have appreciated. So why did I choose to go? Well, it could have something to do with the fact that the afternoon was being introduced by Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor and was also to feature some clips from The Goodies showing how they had been influenced by Keaton. So C and I took seats on the front row, with a few Giddies and other forum folk scattered nearby, to see what the afternoon would bring.
I really enjoyed watching the films and was captivated not only by how funny they were, but also how clever Keaton and his film makers were – pushing the skills and techniques of a still fairly new art form. There were a few particular bits where I forgot to laugh as I was so in awe of the photographic skills, particularly in The Playhouse where Keaton was playing all the roles on screen. Graeme and Tim spoke between each film to explain various things and during one of these Graeme told of how this effect was done – by screening off each part of the film to film one character in the scene before winding the film back, moving the screen and filming the next one. All the more impressive when you think it was being done on hand cranked cameras!
In addition to the Keaton films there was a short selection of clips from The Goodies, to demonstrate some of the influence they took from silent comedy. I’d like to say I know the clips used fairly well, but they took on a whole new dimension with the piano accompaniment of the amazing Neil Brand (who had been providing the live soundtrack for the afternoon – who knew you could recreate the sounds of gunshots and bells and all sorts of other things on a piano??!) I did also find myself watching the Keaton films and spotting bits that had been reused in The Goodies – it seems they weren’t so creative and innovative as I’d thought (only joking!)
After the films there was plenty of time for chatting in the bar, although not really about the films, as I know nothing – apart from what I’d learnt that afternoon. Graeme commented on how much easier it was to get to than Leafield. I’m not convinced – the Barbican is a maze of concrete, and the lanes of Oxfordshire are so much prettier. And I had a chat with Tim while I asked him to sign my The Zygon Who Fell To Earth CD about Zygons in their many forms [hmm .... that sounds slightly surreal, but it seemed perfectly normal at the time] and how he hadn’t heard the adventure yet. Then it was time for hugs all round before heading off home (having taken a slight diversion to Mornington Crescent!).
I’ve recently discovered a new online toy – it’s a site called Wordle. It creates word clouds based on text that you enter, using the frequency of the words to give them greater or lesser size. A few tweaks on the font, shape and colours used and you can come up with some great images.
This is one I made by feeding my blog into the site. I think it shows what I talk about most!
Continuing my week/month/year/lifetime [delete as you think appropriate] of Doctor Who obsession, yesterday I was fortunate enough to find myself in the Royal Albert Hall for the Doctor Who Prom. I was excited when I first heard that there was going to be a Doctor Who themed Prom as part of the BBC’s Prom season, so I applied for tickets and headed down to London early Sunday morning to take my seat in a packed arena.
The programme was a mix of music, mostly pieces from the series composed by the brilliant Murray Gold, but interspersed with some well known classical pieces which all seemed to fit the intergalactic theme; there was Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man to open the proceedings, along with Ride of the Valkyries (complete with the four horn players in horned helmets), Jupiter from Holst’s Planet Suite and Prokofiev’s Montagues and Capulets (those last two both always remind me of steam trains!).
The whole thing was introduced by Freema Agyeman, with help from Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri, an unexpected appearance from Catherine Tate (she wasn’t in the programme), and Julian Bleach complete in full Davros make-up. There were also regular appearances amongst the audience by Cybermen, Ood (who stood with arms raised at several points, in a circular building, echoing the episode), Judoon and Sontarans, which gave the younger ones something to watch while the orchestra was playing non-Who music (All the music from the series was accompanied by clips from the show, which I felt was a shame as it meant we didn’t get the close-ups of the orchestra on the screens at that point). And there was a wonderful moment when a Dalek appeared on stage to announce that they had travelled back in time to kidnap Henry Woodso that “from now on the Proms will only play DALEK MUSIC”, which made me chuckle!
There was also the specially filmed scene, Music of the Spheres. In this the Doctor, with help from a Graske, found a portal in the Tardis which allowed him to speak directly to the Albert Hall. I have to give credit to both Russell T Davies writing and David Tennant’s performance in that they had the timing of the audience’s responses to a T. The scene was brought to life more by the appearance of the Graske on stage (armed with a waterpistol to terrorise the orchestra) and the Doctor’s composition being thrown through the ‘portal’ so sheets of music floated onto the stage to be grabbed and handed round by the orchestra. There was also a wonderful message about music being for everyone (not just orchestras and pop stars) and how you just need to listen to hear the music within you. All good fun, which seemed to be enjoyed by children and adults alike.
But for most of the morning the music was from the series, by composer Murray Gold (conducted by Ben Foster), and it was this that I’d come to see performed. And it was beautifully performed – from the opening ooo’s of Melanie Pappenheim’s vocals to the closing crescendo of the theme tune, it was all superb. I appreciate this music when it is used in the show, but to experience it live was a hairs on the back of the neck moment (and a few teary ones). Highlights for me were the Doomsday music, the Dalek and Davros themes (with added Dalek on stage seemingly conducting the orchestra) and the stunningly beautiful Song of Freedom from this year’s series (the Ood episode and Journey’s End, which I’ve mentioned I loved then) which was made all the more special by the child sitting next to me, who can’t have been more than four, holding his Tardis-shaped programme and turning it round and round, as though in flight. That’s the magic of Doctor Who!
Yesterday I went to my first convention in a very long time. My last convention experience hadn’t been great, so it took something very special to entice me back into the world of cons. And what was promised at the London Film and Comic Con was indeed very special – all three Goodies together! That (together with a couple of other people I would like to see) persuaded me to buy a ticket and so on Saturday morning I arrived, with C, at Earls Court a bundle of excitement and anticipation.
First stop was the talks venue. I knew The Goodies were doing a talk first thing and so queued up to get in, spotting some Giddies on the way. It was rather confusing trying to find the seats, but soon we were all ready and waiting. But it started with a rather disappointing message – Graeme Garden wasn’t able to be there, which was sad. But the other two were there and were welcomed on stage. Most of the half hour was taken up by Robert Ross asking the guys questions about various aspects of The Goodies, which left only a few minutes at the end for questions from the audience.
After the talk ended we were milling around a bit, trying to decide what to do, when we noticed Tim was still at the front of the auditorium talking to Jenny (from GROK). We waved and wandered over to say hello. We all chatted for a little while before people for the next talk started to appear, so we all walked back across the hall with Tim, commenting on his escort of six young (ish!) females!
Most of the signing tables were across the back of the hall, and I was very pleased to spot that right next to the Goodies was Peter Davison (one of my favourite Doctors), so I was quite happy to spend time standing around that end of the hall. Although there was a moment of sadness when they took Graeme’s picture down from behind the desk where he would have been.
Most of the rest of the day was spent wandering round spotting people like John Hurt and Christopher Lloydwalking past, seeing who else was at the other signing tables (and telling C which episodes of Doctor Who some of them had been in!), and looking at the stalls. I was very impressed with myself for not buying anything, although I already have far more Doctor Who stuff than I could ever really need! And it was with fangirlish glee that I spotted the Tardis on display, with a new series Cyberman posing for photos and stomping around scaring small children. I was also quite impressed with the DeLorean from Back to the Future.
During the afternoon we spent ages waiting for the queue for Bill and Tim to go so that we could talk to them (there’s strict rules on not talking to guests if you’re not buying an autograph and there are other people who want to, and I didn’t want to break the rules!) As it had been Tim’s birthday a couple of days before I had made cakes (just an excuse really – I enjoy baking cakes!), which we shared. And Jenny had made a card, so it was a proper mini celebration.
The highlight of my day has to be meeting Peter Davison. I’d been keeping an eye on the queue to see him, debating whether or not I had the courage to meet him. I noticed the queue dropped to just a couple of people and took a deep breath and joined it, before I changed my mind. To quote Steven Moffat, “he was my Doctor” and to be able to meet him took me right back to being six again. Only he wasn’t on the telly, he was there, right in front of me, signing my DVD cover! The Doctor!! I didn’t really get to talk to him as I couldn’t actually speak, let alone string a coherent sentence together. Afterwards I struggled to put the cover back in the DVD case as my hands were still trembling so much! (Actually the real highlight might have been in the queue waiting to see him, oblivious to what was going on, when C pointed out that Tim was standing behind Peter’s desk, hands on hips, looking quite put out that I had gone to see someone else!)
A final wander round the hall to see if my photo was ready (it wasn’t) brought us back to the signing desks to find Bill and Tim had gone! But as we were walking past some of the stalls we noticed Tim walking towards us, so there was just time to ask for a quick hug (can’t not have a hug!). After which a random girl rushed up and asked Tim is she could have a hug too, then another asked the same thing – like moths to a flame! Then it was time for goodbyes before I went to collect my photo and head home, very tired.
Friday evening I took a lovely drive round the lanes of Oxfordshire. Pretty though my journey was, it did have a purpose. A little while ago I’d spotted that there was to be an arts festival in the village of Leafield and one of the events was “An Evening with Graeme Garden”. Well, how could I not accept an invitation like that, which was practically on my doorstep? So with C for company, and to help with navigation (not that I don’t trust my satnav, but it does take interesting routes to places), I set off on a lovely drive on a beautiful summer’s evening.
Arriving at the church where the event was being held, we had intended on sneaking in and sitting at the back. However, this was very badly scuppered by the sight of a very familiar face as we walked through the door! But we took a pew at the back anyway and settled, waiting for the evening to begin.
After a slightly muddled introduction, the show got underway. It took the form of questions from the audience, which Graeme answered with some wonderful stories and anecdotes. There was a good mix of questions about comedy influences, writing, performing and the origins and rules of Mornington Crescent. C even asked about Pocket Orchestra (finally!). I didn’t ask a question (although I thought of quite a few after the event – typical!), but Graeme did mention the lovely Goodies fans in Australia and the few in the UK, mentioning that there were two sitting at the back! (We did find another one after the show who’d come all the way from Sheffield!)
There was, of course, the inevitable question about the future of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, which made me cringe a little when it was asked. But Graeme answered in beautifully by not actually saying anything specific, other than they’d like to carry on at some point.
Afterwards we went to say a proper hello to Graeme and as we were talking the ‘official’ photographer was taking pictures which he promised to send to us (and of course I wouldn’t post them all over the internet! Honestly!!). There was just time for a quick hug before it was time to find my car and head home.
I’m struggling to get my Who fix, as the Doctor Who Forum is broken at the moment!
But I thought I’d share a video with you which one of my lovely KInDA friends posted earlier today.
It’s amazing to see how things have changed since the days of Delia Derbyshire …
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 …
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?
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?
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