allow me to have the honour of being the first to break your message board in...

hope it was good for you..... :)

I'm glad that's out of the way! They say the first time is always the most difficult (whoever "they" are).

nobody ever invites ME to prisoner nights.....

is it because of my patrick mcgoohan impersonation???

But Patrick, you've seen them all, surely. (and don't call me Shirley)

It will be a quiet night - I'm cooking spicy fish cakes and Spanish vegetables and then it's Prisoner episode 9 and Mystery Science Theatre.

8-D

PS Patrick Macgoohan impersonation?

I enjoyed running a Prisoner midnight to dawn screening for Simon/David/Grant once at a swancon. It was the "core" eight and was great to watch. A whole night of drinking coke, redbull and eating penguin mints. By the end I KNEW I was in the right headspace for the Village.

...And the Prisoner Font for those that want it

I think I remember that, I made it through the first 3 episodes before fatigue caught up with me. I found the concept of the series interesting but the main character nonsympathetic.

I'm trying to remember if I've met Pamela, but my memory for names and/or faces can get blurred by cons etc.

you havent heard of my macgoohan impersonation????

i thought it was legendary...

you know, cheshire, i think i DO remember that midnight to dawn session you did, but i think i had just done a play extract for vagabond at swancon that night and we had to do something regarding dirk gently the next morning, so i had to jet.
the funny thing is, at that point i had never seen the prisoner, but people i knew were screaming at me about how much id dig it. so about a week later, i de-virginised myself at the altar of macgoohan. the rest is history.


i bet those same people wish theyd kept quiet now.

Re addictions and compulsions - I addicted my parents to Babylon 5. I'm very fortunate in that I have parents who have always dug science fiction. My mother used to let me hide behind the lounge and watch Star Trek:TOS (though in those days we just called it Star Trek. I hid where my father wasn't supposed to see me as it was on way past my bedtime.)

They're huge Arthur C Clarke fans.

Like any pusher I showed my folks one or two tapes of B5, 'That was interesting, any more?", they'd say and that was it. When I went to visit, they'd be at the door asking if I had any more B5.

Re Dirk Gently - saw the opening night performance and laughed like a drain. Still can't hear Tom Jones without giggling.

Talking to myself and checking that this thing is on.

Hello? Hello??

Seems to be.

I occasionally get books borrowed by my father and he watches some sf tv but not a huge overlap between us.

I'm addicted to proofreading, I was going to play galactic civilisations and found myself proofreading copyright renewals 1974 and The grammar of english grammars pt 2. Help!

I got my dad into Goth Music. It didn't last long tho. He listened to it for 6 months whic was funny.

My folks got me into all sorts of bad habits. Lego, RolePlaying, SF&F, Boozy dinner parties. All bad habits I picked up off dear old mum & dad.

Hi Chesh - I suspect my parents are slightly older than yours (late 70's, early 80's) and didn't get up to the same hijinks yours did. 8-)

They certainly got me into Lego but that was in the days of red, yellow and white bricks, a red foundation pad and plastic windows. None of your fancy Mindstorm thingies for us!

(Thinks, must put together my Lego Stormtrooper one day.)

Hmm... My parents introduced me to The Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit, the Penguin Book of Australian SF, and the annotated Alice in Wonderland, all when I was very young.

(Mum apparently read the LOTR while pregnant with me, so I probably have Tolkien inscribed on a molecular level.)

In return, I've been buying dad books by Kim Stanley Robinson, Ursula LeGuin, Nicholas Fisk and magazines like Aurealis, Analog, Borderlands as birthday and Christmas presents for the last few years. Much to my pride, he's now started asking for certain titles - I think Wizard of Earthsea was the latest request.

I bought mum a collection of fairytales edited by Jane Yolen for Mother's day. And mum asked me the other day to recommend books on time travel to her...which for a woman who had to ask me what "teleport" meant a few years ago is quite something (:

"I got my dad into Goth Music. It didn't last long tho. He listened to it for 6 months whic was funny."


six months of 'doctor jeep' WOULD be funny....

Funny you should mention that Patrick, it WAS the Sisters of Mercy that he liked.

I think it was Floodland tho... Man, that album was as close to Hawkwind that Goth would ever get.

Edited by author 10-01-2003 12:00 AM
ah yes, floodland IS pretty good. i was a SoM FREAK back in my 'goth days' (!)
i sooooo wanted one of those 'f**k me and marry me young' t-shirts they had.
alas, i could never find one here.

still have 'a slight case of overbombing' lying around somewhere.

*lurking friend of Pammie's dragged out in public at the sight of goth discussion*

Strangely enough when I got in the car this morning First & Last & Always CD was playing - my other half had put it on yesterday.

My Dad liked SOM too, but he's always been a bit unusual and very eclectic in his musical taste. Apparently he used to play my records when I stayed out for the weekend.

When I left Perth to live in London in late '87 Floodland had just been released. I remember walking to the tube station soon after arriving and seeing SOM and Mission posters - I thought it was the coolest thing. Shame Eldritch turned out to be such a prick really! hehehe

Arrr Kim Lad, my favourite Goth! 8-)

May I just say that I've never heard of Sisters of Mercy?

Terrible, innit?

May I just say that I've never heard of Sisters of Mercy?

Tut tut tut :P

It's okay really, you've always been very goth friendly and had a fairly accurate goth-dar(1). Either that or you just like weird people :P

K

(1) Like gaydar but for detecting goths.

Never heard of Sisters?

We can fix that. <insert evil laughter>

Drat, Lily doesn't have a quicktopic yet. Shame Lily, Shame :)
Did the Canberra Anime people close down or something, because there were certainly screenings in 97 when I was over there. Alas I can remember no details about what they were called, only that they showed Fushigi Yuugi and lots of Saber Marionnette, they tended to show several episodes of series at once.

Gothdar - I like it! I have very good gaydar too.

Should I be afraid of SoM? Are they as good as Bread? Can you believe that David Gates is still going??? Good lord!

"Are they as good as Bread?"

i can feel reality slipping away more and more everyday...

"i can feel reality slipping away more and more everyday..."

Nothing wrong with that!

Hi Elaine, Hi All

I have a quicktopic now, so you may post at will (:

Hugs

Nobody is as good as Bread!

I would give everything I own,
Baby I'm a want you,
David Gates is hot!!!!

Can't say I recall Bread the band as opposed to Bread the foodstuff.

Um. Er.

"Can't say I recall Bread the band as opposed to Bread the foodstuff.

Um. Er."


We're not that old are we, Leroy? ARE WE??

From memory I am older than BBLB. Just went straight from listening to nothing at all into a full on goth/industrial/alternative phase. Always liked wierdo music as a kid. (Jean Michelle Jarre and the like) What I like about alternative music is it doesn't stop you being able to listen to mainstream music. For instance, I have the Moody Blues playing at the moment in my playlist but it'll probably be something completely different next. I don't think I'd be the person I am today without the exposure to the wierder musics that I have got. Diamanda Galas, Laurie Anderson, Andrew Eldrich, Siouxsie Sioux and Jean Michelle Jarre are the people who helped me get a better idea of what I am and what I could be.

When I was at WAIT (ooh! what a give away!!) I introduced one of my lecturers to Santana, Chick Corea and Return to Forever. I like to think I have weird, not mention eclectic, tastes in music, from Manfred Mann to Genya Raven and Ten Wheel Drive to Pentangle, not mention Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and Robbie Williams.

Bad news on the Blake's 7 front. From another forum -

Info culled from the Roobarb forum...


>>Blake's 7 The Movie - A Message from Paul Darrow

This is something I never thought I would have to write to you.

I am sorry to say that circumstances have arisen, that leave me no alternative but to sever relations with the company formed to revive, "Blake's Seven".

Terry Nation and I talked at some length about his idea for a two-part TV Movie that might capture the imagination of a new generation, as well as pleasing those of you who have so constantly supported his original conception.

Since his untimely death, I have tried to realise the vision which, in a sense, he entrusted to me.

However, I have fallen foul of modern business practice, which seems to prefer exploitation of a, `brand', and therefore, a TV Movie such as Terry and I envisaged seems as far off as when it was first mooted.

Otherwise, I must quote, `artistic differences', with those with whom I was previously in association.

This is not a Damascene revelation; I have been disturbed by the situation for quite a while and have tried to remedy it, but my efforts have been overruled or ignored. My position became untenable.

You will know, I hope, how deeply unhappy I am and I'm sure you will share in my disappointment.

As somebody once said; "Every silver lining has a cloud."

Your affection and support over so many years meant a lot to Terry, and still does to me.

Thank you.

PAUL DARROW <<

Bugger.

Bugger! I was kind of looking forward to the Movie. I lil\ked the idea of PD playing an aged and cynical Avon for one more time.

I am fairly confident that John is older than I am, I will check this out and report back.

I also listened to Jean Michel Jarre and Sioxie and the Banshees when I was growing up, but a lot more of Banararama, Kylie, Aha and the Nolans. I'll admit it I have every album my Bananrama, Duran Duran and Aha. Even the ones released last year. They would be Exotica, Pop Trash and Lifelines.

It's probably a good thing that there will be no Blakes 7 movie, it would just have been sad.

I saw the final episode of B7 while I was living in Sydney in the early 80's. The voice over chappie came on at the end and said, "Well! That was unexpected, wasn't it??".

Yes, it was.

Um Pamela, some of your pictures don't appear to be there.

Thanks Elaine - it was doing odd things yesterday - one moment they were there, then they weren't and then they were but only in Netscape.

I'm wondering if it's iiNet playing up!

Will check tonight at home.

Viking kittens!! I love it, I've had it playing for about 10 minutes now and I can't bring myself to turn it off!

I seem to have lucked out...Although very close to being a heretic I seem to have ended up in limbo.
:)

Put me down in the heretic grouping down there in the 6th level of hell.

I'm a heretic as well....

Repenting Believers Very Low
Virtuous Non-Believers Moderate
Lustful Moderate
Prodigal and Avaricious Very Low
Wrathful and Gloomy Low
Heretics Very High
Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers Low

Loved the 10 newbie thou shalt nots :)

You forgot "thou shalt always describe actors as 'talent'. This is an ironic term, but they shall blindly receive it as most high praise."

/m43

Tee hee.

You are invited to my HOLY SHIT I’M NOT DEAD 30TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Starting @ Francine’s, cnr William and James St Northbridge 7.00 Saturday 25th October


Hope to see you there!

Please feel free to circulate to people I might have forgotten (knock on the head!)

Edited by author 10-22-2003 09:24 PM
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I respect your choice to praise a movie that I thought was an abomination. If they HADN'T named it after the comic it so obviously WASN'T based on, maybe I would have merely found it cheesy.

Thanks Chesh. 8-) I haven't read the graphic novel so had no prior expectations, other than the knowledge that Sean Connery will chew the scenery.

We did have a few "apart froms"...apart from the fact that the Nautilus was a tad bigger than in the book, and apart from the fact the Capt Nemo was Indian (I thought he was French but could be mistake), and apart from the fact that Mr Hyde looked like a cgi incarnation that The Incredible Hulk people rejected.

Just had a quiz squiz through Twenty Thousand Leagues and it seems that the Nautilus was 232 feet long and 26 feet across.

Looks like we'll actually get to meet then if you're at the quiz night on thursday. Will try to give you some challenge but can't guarantee :)

The episode of 'The Young Ones' was possibly missing Ben Elton 'coz he wrote it.

That hasn't stopped Mr Elton from appearing before.

"By young pee-pull, for young pee-pull!"

8-)

That's true, coz at it turns out, he's not in episode 4 of the season, because he's in episode one as one of students from Footlights College (Along with Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson. Also in the episode was Robbie Coltrane and Tony Robinson. Is anyone not in the show?)

You can probably guess what I got today...

You missed Norman Lovett in Summer Holiday, among others.
   If you're buying up Shakespeare, Pamela, I hope you've either already seen or are planning to check out Kenneth Branagh's Loves Labours Lost. It's incredibly good, and mystifyingly has only ever come out in the UK.

Hi Grant - I bought KenBran's LLL last year in London for 10 quid. Some people hate it, I think it's fab. Timothy Spall and Richard Clifford are a delight.

Branagh's used the song "Lovely" (I think that's what it's called) to great effect a couple of times - once in LLL and also in Peter's Friends.

I found one of those bright green caterpillars on my dead mint twigs the other day. It has since disappeared, but I can't see it anywhere on the Oregano.

Elaine, the caterpillar is probably so completely camouflaged you can't see it, and it is sitting there quietly, sniggering. Meanwhile, more and more leaves disappear. That's what happened with my lemon balm.

It was a much brighter shade of green than my oregano, but it's a possiblility. Maybe it's disguising itself as a ball of fertilizer?

Why is the Google ad on my blog about razor blades? How very odd.

A while back I had a google ad/links for slash stuff and I couldn't spot anything on my blog that involved that.

Yeah, the quiz night was fun, which was the main point. Liked the 007 trap :)

Is, is there a Neverwhere DVD now? I've got it on tape courtesy of family in the UK. Is the commentary any good?

Yes, Elaine, there is a Neverwhere DVD! 8-) I think L and R got their's from Empire. The commentary is great - Neil Gaiman has a nice line in self deprecation and it's always interesting hearing how things were put together.

Ah, Jump Point. Yet another casualty of the great AFVSO fan club purge of February '98. It's interesting - I've always felt that if the securities office didn't leap on everyone back then, whether any of those clubs would be running now. Jump Point would have obviously folded, and I suspect my own club The Neutral Zone would certainly not be running with Enterprise (ick ick ick ick ick).
   A Buffy/Angel fan club, with two episodes of each per month, would probably be the biggest fan event in Perth.

re the fan club screenings - it's not like we didn't buy the video when it was finally released, or the books, or the t shirts, etc etc.

Cue memory flashback wavy lines....I attended a con at Murdoch which I think was a precursor to Jump Point. At the door we were asked what our favourite show was and were given name badges accordingly. I was Delenn. Still have the badge. *sniff*

Re Enterprise - I'm a Trekker from the 60's - watched all of TOS, most of Next Gen, very little of DS9 and none at all of Voyager and Enterprise.

Ah, Neutral Zone. I attended a couple of sessions and used to spend a bit at the dealers' tables. I have a Data fridge magnet hanging on to one of the filing cabinets in my office here.

We're after the same rainbows end
waiting round the bend
my huckleberry friend
Moon River

www.magicrhythm.blogspot.com - the music obsessive boy

Moon River is such a lovely song. Any guesses on the others?

Edited by author 11-10-2003 10:59 AM
The con with TV show name badges was Brave New Worlds. Run by the Netural Zone, but mostly Grant, I think.

And the Neverwhere DVD is region 1 (aka USA). What's with that?

Brave New Worlds, that was it! If I'd looked at the badge I would have seen that. It was great - thanks Grant.

I absolutely loved Volcano High.
It took 15 minutes for me to decide whether it was just being waaay to pretentious or whether it was comedy. Then the the resident Babe walks through, and Our Hero gets three shades of snot beaten out of him. It was so cool!

And the villain with the 'anime' hair - different shades of red and purple.

We weren't sure at first if it was serious or no - the DVD had been loaned to L and R by Darren (?) from Empire who hasn't watched it and knew nothing about it. The total lack of English on the cover doesn't help.

The opening credits were very cool but as soon as we saw the hero's hair stand on end when it started raining, we figured that we shouldn't take the movie too seriously.

It was Strange New Worlds, not Brave New Worlds! Kirk never spoke about a five year mission to seek out brave new worlds! :-) And we were a precursor to Jump Point. We gave Martha and her pals a hunka money to set themselves up. (I'm very proud of the Neutral Zone and everything we achieved. I'm just annoyed that the AFVSO and Paramount had to be such tossers.)
   Volcano High looks rather neat. It's coming out on Aust. video in February, along with The Princess Blade (which also looks neat) and at long last a DVD of The Seven Samurai.

I've just found my Strange (and not Brave) New Worlds badge. It's pink and it has a photo of Delenn and is a Friday Pass Only.

The things you hold on to!!

Brave. Strange. So my memory is a bit slippy after 6 years?

Ditto. Was it really six years ago? Aiiieee!!

I will never forget how bloody long it took me to scan in or download all those damned SFTV photographs, just so we could personalize them for people. (Of course, it was funnier at Swancon 23 the following year, when we made Colin hand-draw them all. I think the art from that is still on the web somewhere...
   I was very proud that at the first SNW con, I was the only one with Neelix on my badge. :-) Second time around it was Paul McGann.

I got caught up in web site you call Fishy with some optical illusions ? they will be fantastic for next year when I am trying to teach people why we can?t trust our senses and have to measure things in science - thanks

I'm trying to work out which actor populates my DVD collection the most, now. If you include TV shows, it's embarrasingly going to wind up being a toss-up between Sarah Michelle Gellar and the cast of Friends...

To save your blushes, Grant, series of movies and tv only count at one entry each. Were it otherwise, I suspect the cast of Babylon 5 would take the prize for me.

I'm agreeing with you on the Junk mail pamela. Apparently even if you get those 'No Junk Mail' signs for your mailbox the real estate stuff still gets put in there as they think that it's not junk.

Sellers was a genius. He also really was good at playing different characters. (See: The Mouse That Roared or: Dr Strangelove)
Ah Inspector Clouseau. You are missed.
Eh Beamb, Did yew erder eh Beamb? Specheel deleevery ef eh beamb.... Eh BEAMB??

"Duz yor durg baht?" and of course, "Katohhhhhhhhhh????"

Re: The water thingy. I drink 2 1/2 Litres per day. I really know all the pit stops in the area, I tell you.

The Blake's 7 DVD releases are really pathetic.
   The BBC and Fabulous Films were all set to go ahead over a year ago with four boxed sets for the 25th anniversary, including many audio commentaries and four original featurettes on the making of each season by acclaimed TV documentarian Kevin Davies. (He did 30 Years In The TARDIS back in 1993, for an example.)
   Enter the current rights-holder to Blake's 7, who held up the release by more than a year and then forced most of the extras - including the Davies docos - off the DVDs because they didn't fit his idea on how Blake's 7 should be celebrated.
   No one knows why he did such a thing. The BBC Restoration Team who digitally re-mastered Blake's 7 for the DVDs, and who do all the Doctor Who DVD extras, said that the documentaries were among the best they'd ever seen.
   Except, of course, no one is going to see them.
   I'm going to find this jumped-up little fan-turned-producer one day, and I'm going to bring a very large bat...

Cheshire - one of the things I learned while travelling is, if you see a loo, use it. Even if you don't feel like going, go anyway.

When I was at Ostia in Italy I had to visit the loo - it helped to know a little Italian as the names on the doors were in Italian, naturally, and didn't have little pictures to tell you which was which!

Grant - re the Blake's 7 DVD - one word, bugger!

PRISONER SPOILERS! JUST IN CASE!!

Not sure what the end of The Prisoner means. Perhaps we are all prisoners in the end (hence the automatic door in his London apartment). Perhaps we imprison ourselves (hence Number 6 as Number 1). Whatever it is, I'm pretty certain McGoohan intended it to be symbolic rather than literal. I just enjoy the show for its magnetic, brooding star and its trippy production design and writing.

Blackstar is currently listing the Blake's 7 dvd's as 'deleted'.

Time to buy a really large bat...

According to Steve Roberts at the BBC, it is coming out next year, just really pared down and with only three commentaries as extras.

Waaant Blaaakes Seveeen!

Mind you I am also interested in the Battlestar Galactica Miniseries that was on the SciFi channel in the US recently. And more reboot. And all the Prisoner. And the Prisoner movie.

Demanding little B@stard aren't I?

There was a Prisoner movie?? Cool!

Nope, not yet. Trapped in development hell. There was a screenplay commissioned from Chris McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), and Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider) was worringly attached as director, but it all came to naught.
   I adore the idea of McGoohan playing Number 2 in a movie version, though.

Ah, PMcG as #2 would be delicious, wouldn't it? But who would we have as Number 6??

Late 30's/early 40's, brooding, sly sense of humour, capable of going from one emotional extreme to the other.....

Hollywood would probably insist on Matt Damon or, god help us, Ben Affleck.

Back in the day, all the rumours were about Daniel Day Lewis, who would still be a reasonable choice.
   McGoohan himself suggested Mel Gibson, but that was just after Gibson gave him a job in Braveheart.

I'd personally go for Johnny Depp. The man can do any role.

Ian Richardson would also make a wonderful Number 2.

"I'm not a number, I'm a free man!"

"You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment."

From what I've read, D Day Lewis has gone slightly....potty, which may not be a bad thing when playing Number 6.

I think I've worked out the most common actor in my video collection: it's Frank Oz!
   He's in Sesame St, The Muppet Musicians Of Bremen, The Muppet Show, Christmas Eve On Sesame St, The Muppet Movie, The Empire Strikes Back, The Great Muppet Caper, The Dark Crystal, Return Of The Jedi, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Follow That Bird, Labyrinth, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Elmo Saves Christmas, Muppets From Space, The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones!
   I'm actually very proud. I was worried the most common actor in my collection was going to be Arnold Schwarzenegger or something. :-)

Well done Grant! Do you have either of the Blues Bros movies? He was in those too.

Leiji Matsumoto I believe, although I may be wrong with the spelling. BTW, if anyone knows where the DVD (Interstella 5555) is still on sale, can they let me know? I'm after a copy for a friend.

that's what we saw! Interstella 5555!! Leece and Rob got their copy from Empire in Perth.

It's all right, said friend has a copy, and it's back in stock in JB Hifi. Great movie, and a wonderful experiment for the band. I like it when bands make movies, like Pinky Floyd's The Wall and the Pet Shops Boys' It Couldn't Happen Here. Interstella 5555 makes an excellent addition to those films.

Martin Freeman is the name of the actor playing Arthur. Bill Nighy is confirmed as Slartibardfast, and Warwick Davis (Willow) is at least the body of Marvin. There's a link to the Marvin's design on my blog - it's very, very far removed from the TV design, but looks utterly fabulous, and I can see how it would work with Davis in it.
   For the book, they could either cast someone plummy like McKellen or Jacobi, or simply keep the same dialogue and use Peter Jones from either the radio or TV recordings (I'd do the latter, but that's just me).

Or Patrick Stewart as the Book perhaps?

'Heaven, I'm in heaven....'

And of course also sung by that naughty Angel Islington in Neverwhere.

Hope you survived the fireworks okay!

K

Hellboy looks very cool. It's nice to see Ron Perlman get a lead role in a movie at last! Plus, the visuals and makeup is scarily accurate to the Mignola comics.

I surprised myself by hearing Mos Def had signed as Ford Prefect and immediately thinking "yeah, that'd work".
   I'm quietly optimistic. English director, the perfect Arthur, funky design for Marvin and a cool, unexpected choice for Ford. Sounds good to me.

So maybe I am being prematurely pessimistic. I discovered HH in the early 80's and the radio cast has set the standard against which all other versions are measured.

In case you haven't read, Sam Rockwell (Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Matchstick Men, Charlie's Angels) has been cast as Zaphod, which is about as perfect casting as you can get.
   They start filming in about 8 weeks!!

Theatre injuries: I once blew hot candlewax into my eye. I've also been punched through walls, landed on stages on my head, speared a ladder in that fleshy bit between two of my fingers and had my hand slashed so badly I bled over half the stage in mid-performance.
   Actors have it *hard*, man. :-)

Edited by author 03-01-2004 11:57 PM
One night during Tempest, Craig "Caliban" Edwards gave me an inventory of the wounds he'd given himself that night - lots of nicks and cuts and unexplained bruises.

I've just got bruises down my legs and scratches of my stomach from hauling a huuuuuuuuuuuuge log in and out of my Bag Lady prop trolley.

Still at least there were no curtains to haul on this time and my shoulders are still in pretty good shape.

Hmmmm that grammar test must be broken ... it thinks am a grammar god too.

BTW the sidebar doesn't want to play nicely on Galeon. You probably need to add somthing like width:26% to your div#sideBar definition.

Alan Moore looks like Micheal Moorcock. Wow.

Edited by author 04-23-2004 07:13 PM
I don't recognise most of the songs on the blender list. 8-) I think that the editors of Blender are missing the point for some of the songs. Stuff has to be considered in the context of its time to understand why it was considered good at that point. *shrug* I think they need to get a life and make sure each one of them gets a share.

Hi Steveg. Maybe Alan Moore IS Michael Moorcock. Has anyone ever seen them in the same room together. Ok, they probably have.

Obviously your grammar is better than you think it is - I know people who scored quite low on the test, and given that they're teachers.... This does not bode well.

Hey Grant,

Didn't you also once burn a rather nice jacket on a light while you were wearing it.

Moore ain't Moorcock! Moore can *write*!
   I did not burn a hole in a jacket while I was wearing it. Someone in the cast moved my jacket off a chair it was hanging over the back of and hung it over a make-up light instead (I kid you not.) The saddest thing was that it was a really, really old tuxedo jacket, and would've cost several hundred bucks to replace had we bothered.

BTW, I don't buy the De Vere crap. Sounds like rotten eggs to me.
   As Ian Nichols pointed out in his Pocket Shakespeare, no one in the world could possibly write all those great plays like Shakespeare apparently did - unless, of course, they were as amazing a writer as William Shakespeare.

Okay, I'll bite. What's a salwar thingamybob when it's at home?

Evil smug tiger petting Poss!

RE salwar kameez - in the language of the 70's it's a Punjabi pantsuit. The top is very long and comes down to almost the ankles, the pants are cotton and there is a matching long shawl.

It's the closest you'll ever see me wearing a frock. 8-)

Edited by author 05-01-2004 07:44 PM
Hey Poss, Neil Gaiman ia another fountain pen Junkie.

See the May 1st entry in his journal:

Never thought I'd agree with John Bell (between me and everyone reading this, his Shakespeare plays are crap), but his criticism of Hamlet and Jacobi was spot on. I can't stand Hamlet when he's played by an actor over 25.

Re: Maureen and the Muffin. She should have let us assist in the consumption. Her blood sugar was over 10.

*sigh* There's just no helping some people, eh Steveg?

We tried.

"Never thought I'd agree with John Bell (between me and everyone reading this, his Shakespeare plays are crap), but his criticism of Hamlet and Jacobi was spot on. I can't stand Hamlet when he's played by an actor over 25."

Poss staggers back, sputtering...nay..speechless! with indignation that anyone could criticise Himself (well, ok there was his Macbeth that wasn't terribly good....).

I liked Bell's recent Julius Caesar a lot, I haven't seen any of his other works.

MST3K will do that to you. *nods sagely*
Are you going to your doctor to have it checked out before it gets serious this time?

Edited by author 05-11-2004 08:59 PM
If you are wondering about the Blogger makover then follow the link.
Fixed the link. D'oh. The new template looks good and works properly when I view it with Galeon. 8-)

Saw the Ovation screening of Kenneth Branagh's ITV Twelfth Night. Have never been so bored rigid watching Branagh's Shakespeare before. I usually like his adaptations a lot. This one was tediously slow.

I caught the last 10 minutes of it and was surprised to see it was directed by Branagh. It very static, bland and uninteresting.

Good cast let down by the direction, I think.

You are in fact correct, in my opinion. Olivier is a terrible, terribly hammy actor whose Shakesperean performances have no place for a contemporary audience bar a perfect instruction manual on exactly how *not* to perform Elizabeth/Jacobean drama.

Edited by author 05-25-2004 10:14 PM
We noticed that the blog was not there and we spent some time in idle speculation. Eventually we decided that it did not signify anything except that microprocessors hate humans.
Any metal object held in the hand is good for discharging static. I generally use an all-metal key. Of course you could go to a wrist strap or something similar if you want to be really geeky.

Apparently the microprocessors had decided to hate the letter 'w'.

"Hi there,
BlogSpot is currently returning 404 errors when blogs are accessed with addresses beginning with 'www'. We are working on getting this fixed, but in the meantime, if you remove the 'www' everything should work normally.
We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Blogger Support"

So there you go. Or rather, there you don't go.

I read Maureen your SGIC complaint and her only comment was "Seconded".

Maybe in light of their expensive flops the West End should work out that their role in Uk socioculture is... to make theatrical productions people actually want to see. :-)

I guess the definitive Holmes adaption for me was (IIRC) 221b Baker Street. It was showing on chanel 7 in the late 80s or early 90s. I remember a Hansom Cab moving through cobbled streets in sepia tone for the opening credits. I liked it because it followed the stories with the minimal possible amount of rewriting.

Steveg - was the series you are thinking about the one starring Jeremy Brett? He made a few over the mid 80's and into the 90's.

They made *every* story and novel in the Jeremy Brett series. When Brett fell ill (and, sadly, when he died) they rewrote the scripts amazingly well so that Mycroft Holmes could help Watson solve them. Best Holmes adaptations. Ever.

Thanks Grant - sounds like something I'll have to try to find. I don't think I've seen any of them, though I've certainly heard of them.

King Arthur *does* indeed prominently feature Keira Knightley in not-too-many clothes. Now I feel guilty for wanting to see it...

Dunkeld *is* delightful.

http://www.graphicsmash.com/series.php?name=digger&view=current

Maybe this? Although you'll have to subscribe to read the entire story

Hay, Will I see you at the quiz night tomorrow night again? I wont be as busy this year. Elaine will be there too :) Should be heaps of fun.

I guess my memorable moments would delete 9/11 (I din't see it till 24 hours later) and add the Challanger explosion.
Hmmm ... not too much fun stuff there. The BBC Day of the Triffids was pretty memorable once I worked out the date. but hardly memorable in the larger sense.

Hi Steveg. On Sept 11 01, I was channel surfing on Foxtel and came across CNN. The first plane had hit the WTT and there was a lot of confusion as to whether it was an accident. Then the second plane hit the other tower. And then the Pentagon.

I remember where I was when I heard that Elvis died!

That's interesting. I mentioned lawnmowers in my entry today before I saw Poss's most recent entry, also featuring lawnmowers. Must be a conspiracy.

You haven't seen Noir with us. Two young female assasins.
Excell Saga and Full Metal Panic are "humour". That mix of "taboo breaking" and "stupidity" humour reminds me of US sitcoms except racier.

Specially processed cholera untouched by human hand! ROTFL! And I've always been interested in the Art Decay Movement myself! Teeheehee!

Edited by author 08-31-2004 09:28 PM
Grab yourself a postal vote before you depart. They become available a few weeks early. And remember this election is about trust!

Trust? They're politicians mate!

Edit: size that down a bit.

About trust? They're really expecting us to believe that, are they? Sure doesn't enhance my trust in their intellegence, that's for sure.

What escaped? I have to know.

Ok, suspence over. It was one of the female orangs what scarpered. She didn't get very far and her keeper led her by the hand back to the enclosure.

That's spin doctor-ing. (Really the keeper escaped, and the orang led her by the hand back to the enclosure.)

Can't put anything past you, can I Leece?

"Ook!" (Kylie, get down from there, you'll hurt yourself!)
"OOK!" (Don't make me come up there and get you!)
"OOOK!!" (Right, I warned you!)
"Ook, ook, ook, pfffrt, squeak...." (Bloody keepers, more trouble than they're worth, I don't know...mutter .... mutter...)

'sright.

Wow! I've designed a potentially international jet-setting mug! How...humbling...

It's now in my bag!

Well, it should be alright, it is a seasoned traveller.

Did you see that? Poss nearly gets trapped in Sheffield, and there wasn't even a white bouncy ball in sight! And now she's actually going willingly to a place like Portmeirion! We know what's there! Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!

She's been to Portmeirion. And.......she came back. Or has she??

*Dark Look* So...who *is* Number 1? (ooh, what a giveaway!)

Wow. Does anyone use this messageboard any more?

We ran Sky Captain's trailer at that big movie preview thingy at Swancon last year. The American DVD is already out, this movie's so out of date. Bloody good, though.

It has been a while since anyone left a comment. 8-(

So it's nearly 12 months since we saw the preview of SCatWoT? Where has it been hiding??

Two things happened. Firstly, UIP were uncertain of how the film would play and decided to leave the film with a floating release date until it came out in the USA and they could see how it went.

Secondly, it went pretty badly. They waited until their was a quiet week in the schedules (which can take 6-9 months) and then dropped it into cinemas to make what it could. To save money, they appear to have shipped the prints over from the USA rather than strike new ones. I assume this because I saw the film in opening week on an intolerably filthy print at Greater Union.

I just saw Jackass and loved it! I also rented V for Vendetta which I loved, and Sentinel which was okay but a little slow. Inside Man was a little slow and confusing too.


My friends and I are trying to decide who to vote for congress in the 2006 elections. We live in the 10th congressional district of California (Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, and Sacramento Counties). There isn't much offline info available about the candidates. Their names are Darcy Linn http://www.darcylinn.com , Jeff Ketelson http://www.k4a.net , and Ellen Tauscher http://www.ellentauscher.com . Any advice would be helpful. thanks.

Since a large portion of the people who read/post here are Australian we are unlikely to be able to give any advice on this.