Tuesday 15 May 2012

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy!

Hi all! I'm back! I arrived back yesterday but it has taken me time to gather my thoughts. ;)

The Show was fantastic. Getting in wasn't too bad as people who booked online had two rows and although we were far behind on one row we quickly hopped to the other when it was empty and got in quick! The entrance hall was fun as a TARDIS, a Davros, a Weeping Angel and a Cyber Controller had been erected in the middle and it was nice to see them. A good way to start! There were stalls in the entrance hall but they were inaccessible as we waited. As time went on, the queue to get in got worse and worse, with people sprawling and trailing all around the hall. In the end we were half way along the queue although we were at the other side of the room from the entrance. Then we were allowed in. And they just opened the doors! Every one just rushed in! All that waiting for nothing. Still, we got in quickly!

Your voice is different, and yet its arrogance is unchanged... 

Don't even Blink!


At first there was no sign of any guests, we waited and looked around to find who we wanted to see and soon headed off to gather tickets ready for the TV Movie talk. The website had told us that we would only be allowed entrance to one show, but we got some for three! Yeah! So, we headed in and the room must have had about 35 rows of chairs and only 10 had people on. The cast came out quickly and good questions were asked. I must admit I squeed here. :D It was fun to see them up there talking and telling stories.

Afterwards we began are walk around to gather autographs and to look at the stalls. My Brother managed to get Frazer Hines and Deborah Watlings autographs so he was pleased. I ventured off to find Nicholas Briggs who I knew was running a Big Finish stall. When I came around the corner and saw him I quickly jumped back around the corner scared out of my pants. :D I got a bit more courage however and wandered over to the stall and began browsing the CDs, then he came up and asked if I was OK, to that I gave a high pitched "I'm fine" and quickly scampered off. Moments later, furious at my own failure, I marched over and got his attention and asked which Dalek audio's he would recommend. We discussed these for a while and I ended up buy three CDs which he signed for free! Nicholas Briggs is great. He is a Writer, Producer, Director and Actor and multi-talented member of the fan community who has managed to cover loads of areas of Doctor Who. A great role model for a fan. ;)

I had pre-booked autographs with both Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann. At this point I began to head over and find Sylvester McCoy. After five minutes building up the courage to head over, I did and got the autograph fine. I did get a bit annoyed afterwards because I had not talked to him. He was Sylvester McCoy and I missed my opportunity! I just stood speechless! What a womble.

This story generally repeated itself across all the guests. Members of my party did have good talks with Paul McGann, Sophie Aldred, Eric Roberts, Sophia Myles and Keeley Hawes however. I did do well with John Barrowman however when he questioned my shirt, an Avengers one, and we discussed the new movie and the chance of a sequel. Excellent! It was a long and difficult wait in the queues for Barrowman so it was good we had a chat as well. :)

 
Guests are on the right of each table. Sophia Myles on the right of the far left table, then Simon Fisher-Becker, then Sylvester Mccoy with the red sleeves, then Paul McGann in the blue jacket, then Eliza Roberts and then Eric Roberts at the far end.

John Barrowman there. Picture quality is bad. That's my photography for you. You might want to get used to seeing blurs! :D


Another excellent part was the unofficial people in costume. There were Predators, Daleks, R2-D2s and Stormtroopers all of which were fantastic at interacting with people. The Stormtroopers especially were fantastic at taking photographs with people as instead of letting people have photos standing with them, they got them to go on there knees with there hands behind there heads like they were being arrested. They were really great!

A common sight where StormTroopers were involved!

Dalek Winston!

Rose and the Tenth Doctor

Leela, the Fourth Doctor, Sarah-Jane and the Tenth Doctor! Don't forget the K-9s!


Another part I liked was a man who was dress as the Eleventh Doctor and a man dressed as the Tenth Doctor acted a scene together with a Dalek for children. It was entertaining to watch and the children really enjoyed it!

This lot were great!

Half way through the day I had a photo session with the cast of the TV Movie. Photo Session is the incorrect word however. My Sister described it perfectly as a "Conveyor belt". The actors stayed in the same place we were all slotted in then chucked out again. I was expecting to be able to say Hello! It would have only been more efficient and time saving if they were actually card board cut outs. After my failure in talking to Sylvester McCoy I had hoped this would give me the opportunity to talk to him again. Oh well! Maybe individual photos are more talkative?

This and my own inadequacy at talking were the only problems in the day. It was my first convention so it was fantastic and now I know how to improve it again by bringing questions to ask or things to show off to the Guests so we have something to discuss. But what?

This is my plan for the show in November. This show was quite expensive so we will have to really cut down next time. You can only have a large good thing by cutting down on lots of small good things.

So I have constructed a list of what to do to improve my chances of success next time :D :


  1. Watch my weight a bit. This could help with self confidence.
  2. Get a part time job in the holiday and save money for the convention
  3. Plan things to say and talk about with the Guests next time.
And some more...

Right, so all and all, it was a fantastic weekend and I will never forget it!

Did you go? Did you enjoy it? Have you been to any other conventions you enjoyed?

Thanks!

Addison

Thursday 26 January 2012

More Stuff about Christmas!

Hello there!

I know it's late, but I've decided to carry on a bit about some of the things I got this Christmas.

So, you knwo about the iPod, but I also got the Doctor who series 6 soundtrack! I listen to this approximately daily and is full of fantastic music. I also put it on my iPod, which is great!

Next up is the Doctor Who series 6 DVD boxset, allowing me to rewatch whenever I want. It also includes the Doctor Who mini episodes collectively called "Night and the Doctor" which details some of the things the Doctor gets up to while his companions are asleep.

What did you get for Christmas?

On the Uni front, I currently have some Databasing work to hand in soon, and I recently got a new Internet Technologies assignment which unfortunately looks no where near as interesting as the last one. But on a positive front, I can start work on a Web Design assignment after the Database work which looks to be exciting.

Not much has changed on the leisure activities front. I have made little progress on  my writing, 3D modelling, 2D animation or game programming Although I have made a decision Game Programming wise, which was to do with which program I should be programming with. I have decided to stick with Game Maker 8 as opposed to Construct 2. Construct 2 is easier to use and is more compatible, but I can't build more advanced games. And I already have started my current project with Game Maker 8 anyway.

Excerpt from Doctor Who Soundtrack

Thanks!

Monday 26 December 2011

Merry Christmas!

Christmas! My favourite time of year!

So, this year I was blessed with my sister coming down from Manchester for the holiday, which I was worried about. It was fantastic to have the family together for the holiday. It isn't Christmas without family.

Another great part of Christmas, which I know I shouldn't love so much, is the gifts. This was the first year I was truly excited about buying presents for others. For years I have bought gifts with my Mums money, so she was always aware of my gifts, and even my one for her, but this year it was a mystery which I think was nice for her after years of knowing most of her presents. It was nice too to be able to get surprises for people. A nice change!

I also did get an excellent set of presents myself. Which is great!

My biggest present, expense wise as opposed to size wise, was an iPod touch! I knew about the present and I even paid to get the memory bumped up to 32gb. My entire family helped pay for it. It is fantastic! I squee every once in a awhile when I remember I am on an iPod touch! And it's mine! The device is fantastic! Elegant, aesthetically pleasing, fast and diverse. And that's just the owner! The capabilities of the device are beyond what I expected. It was easy to set u p and the apps are good and easy to use. And with Internet access, emails, Facebook, twitter, tumblr, blogger (this is how I'm writing this), and countless other things in one place, the iPod touch has quickly become the hub for all my Internet activities. An incredibly useful gadget. I can feel my life and habits changing around it already. I have also attached two images of my Christmassy iPod for you.

I will add more gifts later to this list.

Thank you for reading!

Wednesday 20 April 2011

New post, New banner

That's right. Your first thoughts were correctamundo. That is a new banner.

It contains a TARDIS 3d model I acquired at Renderosity. It's one of the best looking TARDIS models I've seen. And that Dalek... is my own! That's right! My own entire creation. A weird custom Dalek. Cool huh?












Monday 28 March 2011

Doctor Who on YouTube ahoy!

Right. Doctor Who on YouTube ahoy here. Firstly, I mentioned before about my 8-bit sprites for Doctor Who  and me making game for them so this is what I've got so far...


And here is...




The Doctor Who trailer for series 1 with Chrissy Ecc! How cool is that?

Another thing, here is a trailer for Doctor Who series 1 - 5 that some fans have made. I think its ace!
So that's all for today I think. If I think of anything new I will be sure to edit!

EDIT: One clip, this time from Adventure Time! The dog is Jake and the kid is Finn. You can guess Rainicorn.

Lady Rainicorns Translator.
(Yes, that is the voice of Bender from Futurama)

Tuesday 11 January 2011

The "Code of the Krillitanes" - Review


Another review, this time of the book, Code of the Krillitanes. This book, by Justin Richards, is a quick read so I managed to finish is in one day. I read quite a bit. The story has the same creatures from the series two episode  "School Reunion". The plot, at first, followed the same basis of School Reunion for some time. I.E. Krillitane using there oils (Blek!) to make kids smart to get something. Apart from that, the story is different. There is no Sarah Jane or school. There is one interesting aspect which should have been focused upon more. In this, the Doctor joins the corporation behind the "Brainy Crisps", I.E. the fried food which makes people smart, and gets his own office. Basically, he lives office life which no doubt could have been interesting if this were an episode or a full length book. The ending is interesting and there plan is different from School Reunion. I enjoyed the ending, especially the modified Krillitane. All in all, its and OK book. Not the best, but its only a quick read so...

2.5 out of 5!

Next up, Autonomy!

In other news, I am watching Doctor Who from the beginning of new series. I've finished Chris and have begun Dave. I am watching The Satan Pit at the moment. I decided to watch these after getting loads of box-sets for Christmas. Unfortunately, I don't have Series 5 so I may have to skip that. 

Sunday 9 January 2011

The Writers Tale: The Final Chapter - Review

Well I say! Look at this! In my search through the dusty old archives of the Blog I've discovered this review of the Writers Tale: the Final Chapter unpublished! Oh dear! Still, problem solved now!


It's a review. I review now. Reviewing is cool...

Right. Firstly, what's the book about? Well, it's the detailed accounts of emails between Doctor Who head writer Russell T Davies and Journalist Benjamin Cook. Or Benjamino as Russell occasionally calls him. The book starts off after the series three has been written, I.E the series with Martha and the Master (He's on the cover you know). It covers Russell's views on various aspects of his position as Executive Producer. It covers writing episodes to award ceremonies and every bit in between. I found the book incredibly interesting due to my dream of being head writer of Doctor Who. Luckily for me, this book contained every detail about the job. Writing episodes, meeting cast, dealing with press etc. All of which, is useful! Also, it contains script extracts from original drafts of episodes that couldn't be made. Including the original Shadow Proclamation from The Stolen Earth, and the original Masters in The End of Time Part Two. This is definitely what I read for. They also go into detail about Russell favourite failed companion, Penny Carter. Who would have accompanied the Doctor during series 4. Interesting!

So, the book is great for all Doctor Who fans and wannabe writers.

Flaws of the book can be simply how big it is and some times how it just seems to drag on. The occasional script extracts and Behind-the-Scenes photos are the things I ended up thinking of the most because they were the most interesting aspects. Others were good, they were just repeated to often. Sorry Russ!

Another flaw, the mentioning of sexual themes in the book. The book should be about Writing, Doctor Who and Russells dealing with these. Having him constantly referring to these is a bit.....uncalled for. I didn't pick up the book to read Russell saying "If I was invisible in Cornwall with Maria's (Jackson from Sarah Jane Adventures) dad I know what I would be doing" or "Russell Tovey's boyfriend is here, there goes my hopes for a dream evening". All subtle, yet still....Distracting. Sorry again! :)

So yes! Bar those Hiccups, it is an excellent read especially for any Doctor Who fan. 

3.5 out of 5!

I'll be review The New Series Quick Read, "The Code of the Krillitanes" next!

You see? This one covered the first review and then there would be the Code of the Krillitanes. Oh well!

Reposted on 15/05/2012.