November collector shows and films

In November, I went to two Film/TV collectors shows over two weekends, namely "Memorabilia" (at the NEC Birmingham) and "Collectormania" (at Olympia, London). Both shows were fun to attend, but I think Collectormania had a better 'buzz', and certainly featured a better selection of celebrities signing autographs. I was lucky enough to see old friends at both events and chit-chat about 'movies and stuff'. :) At the Collectormania show I got a few autographs, including one from actor Billy Dee Williams who played Lando Calrissian in "The Empire Strikes Back". I got him to sign my old ESB storybook, which already had a few signatures of cast and crew - that's from years of going to these shows and conventions!


As for film watching, we've seen a few recently but only one at the cinema - "2012", which we saw last Wednesday afternoon as we were both off work. We caught this at the Showcase cinema in Coventry and used the Orange Wednesday 1/2 price tickets offer. We both generally enjoyed the film, although it was a bit too long (by about 15 mins) and the drama goes a little off-kilter in places, and of course logic goes out of the window in a Roland Emmerich disaster flick. Still, John Cusack is always watchable, but I felt that Danny Glover was miscast as the US president. The film does feature great special effects. The sequence that shows the destruction of LA is incredible, and with some other exciting action sequences, make it a big screen definite. Next up, "Avatar" and then "Sherlock Holmes".


With my movie geek hat firmly on, I have to say that I'm so 'psyched' over some of next year's film blockbusters, with "Tron: Legacy" being on the top of that list. That gives me an excuse to put the teaser poster up!

Fireworks and female vampires

I enjoyed (briefly) watching some late 'bonfire night' fireworks on Saturday evening from the warmth of our kitchen, courtesy of the people across the green at the back of our flat. A whole bunch of the neighbours over there get together every year and have a short outdoor party with the usual fireworks and sparklers - weather permitting of course! This brings the expected bangs, whistles and zooms. Fun to see, especially as it was free! I felt that 'Bonfire night' (and the weekend after when a lot of people would have parties) was quieter here this year. This may be due to the recession -- nobody can afford to buy fireworks!

<----some fireworks as seen from the window.

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We are still watching old British made horror flicks, and as we are enjoying them so much I'm hoping to order some more soon, such as 'Amacus' and 'Tigon' studio titles. The 1922 classic "Nosferatu" turned up a few days ago, and the DVD set looks wonderful. Oh, in response to Carla's post the other day (here)....I don't really have any favourite female screen vampires with the exception of Fran, played by Marianne Morris, from "Vampyres" (1974) which is one of my all time favourite sleazy shockers! I love the look and atmosphere of that film. I think she makes a fantastic sexy/posh vamp. Her fellow bi-sexual vampire, Miriam, played by model Anulka is fine, but I'll give the crown to the Marianne this time! :)

I own a top DVD of this, by the way. The US trailer for the film is worth watching for a laugh! I love the term "Very Unnatural......lad-ies!" trailer man uses in it. Classic. Also, the director commentary is brilliant and very funny.

Anulka (left) and Marianne ---->



Oh, we watched "Vampires" on Sunday: an enjoyable John Carpenter action picture originally released in 1998. Special mention should go to the lovely Katrina (Sheryl Lee - Laura Palmer from "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me") who gets bitten early on in the film by the master vampire. Love watching James Woods wisecrack and kill the vamps! Good fun, although I am John Carpenter fan so I'm biased!

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I've finally got a new mouse for the computer! A cheap Logitech one from Tesco's on the way home the other night. Much better than the old one, which was slowly dying after many years of good service!

All Hallows Eve weekend

Last Friday we went to visit Tamworth castle (just up the road from here) which was good fun and a bit spooky - see Carla's blog here. I particularly like the 'Hammer Horror' style shot of the castle she took! How atmospheric.

We've watched a few more horror flicks over the last few days for Halloween. We've been working though some old Hammer Horror 'Dracula' titles which have all been entertaining, but do vary in quality! For instance, "Scars of Dracula" was disappointing in terms of its plot and overal 'scope', and featured some of the worst 'flying bat' effects in the history of film! "Dracula: AD 1972" was much better, one reason being that it featured dear old Peter Cushing, and it seemed a lot more kinetic. Shame about the overlong and downright bizzare music sequence at the start though. We also watched a couple of older horror films - "The House on Haunted Hill" (Vincent Price flick from master entertainer William Castle - I love the skeleton!) and "The Legend of Hell House". We also watched the very classy 1979 version of "Dracula". Seeing that lead to Carla posting her list of fave screen Vampires here.

As for Halloween night, on Saturday evening our pal Teresa came round and we watched "Halloween II" and "An American Werewolf in London" - both excellent flicks. We also had some wonderful non-dairy chocolate cake that Carla made, and some non-dairy ice cream to go with it. Yum! We didn't get any 'trick-or-treaters' call (thank goodness) but I did see a few witches and goblins on the other side of the green going to the houses (we live in a flat, so its difficult for the kids to call at our door. Oh well, more sweets for us!) Nice relaxing evening, and the decorations looked good as well.



<--- Some of our Halloween decorations.












<--- with my creations!












<--- Teresa, Carla, and Pingu....as a Witch!

weekend, films etc

We've had a nice relaxing weekend so far, but Carla and I have done our exercise workouts steadily over the last week or two, and continued over the weekend, completing a rotation of the "Slow and Heavy" programme by Cathe Friedrich. The workout targets the main areas of the body that need attention, such as the chest, back, arms etc. I'm very sore now, but it's worth doing to keep fit! We've also done some cardio workouts in between.

After popping into town to do a bit of shopping, today we watched another one of those Hammer 'Dracula' movies I bought last weekend, this time it was "Taste the Blood of Dracula" (1968) which was very entertaining, and far better than the one we watched last time (it was a direct sequel to that film.) We are enjoying this 'horrorthon' of ours, so I've ordered some more classic flicks: "Scars of Dracula", "The Legend of Hell House" and "The House on Haunted Hill", all of which we hope to watch on Halloween next Saturday! I also bought my pumpkins yesterday morning, and while in the shops had a look at the stuff on sale and picked up some other little halloweeny trinkets. Can't wait to trim up! Oh, late last night one of the channels was showing "Fright Night"- a classic from the 80's - which I must buy for the collection!

"Buffy The Vampire Slayer" continues to be a complete joy to watch. We are following it on the sci-fi channel and are up to episode 3 of series 2 at the mo. Spike (played by James Masters) has just turned up. Great character, but has a slightly dodgy English accent. I've been told by a friend that it gets better over the coming seasons!

Oh, it was also very nice to get an extra hour to our Sunday as the clocks went back last night! Also, glad to see that the terrible weather forcast never became a reality!

Lastly, I have discovered dark chocolate Mars bars!! Yay!

Some recent films and TV watching

On Sunday we started our Halloween 'horrorthon' a bit early, with the DVD of "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave", the third Hammer 'Dracula' film starring Christopher Lee, made in 1968. Have a look at Carla's blog here for the posters. I look forward to seeing the other old Hammer flicks I bought at the weekend over Halloween. Not sure why I love the Halloween thing, but it's my favourite festival of the year, and Autumn is my favourite season - I've always liked seeing the leaves fall from the trees, and the slight chill in the air. I've always had a soft spot for Halloween related trinkets, and I carve a pumpkin or two every year - and they are usually given silly names! Anyway, as far as other entertainment goes, I'm sure I'll dig out some other classic films from the DVD shelves for us to watch. Postal strike permitting, I should be able to get some more flicks from the good old internet.

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We are following "FlashForward" on Channel 5, which is really entertaining! ('Your new TV obsession' said one very positive review.) The premise is intriguing: what if everyone on the planet blacked out for a short period of time, and then woke up with a clear vision of their future in six months time. Apart from the dealing with the choas, injury and death the event brought about, what about how society deals with the reasons for the event, and how it occurred? How would people live with knowing their future, and what about those that had no vision?

"FlashForward" features the usual excellent production values of US television, a strong cast, and after four excellent episodes, some interesting character dynamics have developed. The show reminds me of why I enjoyed "Heroes" in its first series.



<------ Joseph Finnes surveys the devastation caused by the black-outs in Episode 1 of "FlashForward".



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The sci-fi channel have started to repeat every episode of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", so having missed it first time around back in the late 1990's, we've started to watch them. Thoroughly entertaining it is too! We completed series 1 last night, when Buffy defeated the Master. A very well written show that balances humour, scares, action and teen drama. The cast are a joy to watch, particularly Sarah Michelle Gellar. Series 2 starts tonight - woohoo!

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There have been some cracking programmes on BBC 4 recently in their Electric Revolution season, the highlight for me being "Micro Men", a drama about two wizards of the early days of home computing: Clive Sinclair (Alastair Armstrong) and his once employee, Chris Curry (Tim Freeman.) The show follows the battle of their rival companies to get their computer product to be chosen by the BBC for a government run programme, to encourage computing in schools. Also, the winning machine would be featured on BBC computer television programmes. The drama focuses on what is essentially a personal rivalry between two very intelligent and driven people. Acorn Computers (run by Curry) ends up winning the BBC contract, although Sinclair hits gold with his high selling Spectrum machine. Over time however, both entrepreneurs became unhappy with the direction their products were taking: Sinclair's Spectrum became the highest selling games machine of the time (to quote Sinclair in the show: "Jet Set F*ucking Willy!") while Curry's Acorn Electron was thought of as a business/serious machine. Both wanted a bit of each of their rival's market. Hence Sinclair's attempt with the QL machine. However, the good times soon come to an end for both companies when the computer sales bubble burst at the end of 1984.

With hindsight, it seems clear that if both had put aside personal rivalry and ego and joined forces, they would have had the ability to take on the American and Japanese computer giants. The final scene in the credit sequence is both clever and brilliant.


Tim Freeman as Chris Curry (left) and Alastair Armstrong as Clive Sinclair. ------>

Various summer stuff (a catch-up!)

Just thought I would do a round-up of a few bits we've done over the summer.....

We did a couple of visits to places in East Anglia to tie in with staying with my mum and dad, the first being a few days break in July. On the way to their place we went to the impressive Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, then onto Saxmundham. The next day we went to the stunning North Norfolk coast, a definite favourite of ours. We drove up through the county in rather windy weather, first to Cromer to sort out a walking map and to have a look around (we adore Cromer!), then onto Wells-Next-the-Sea to have a look around the old harbour area. We then went back along the coast through the pretty village of Stiffkey and stopped off to do a circular walk from and to Blakeney Harbour, through the saltmarshes and via Cley, where there is a famous windmill. Shame about the rain that came on at Cley, but never mind -it was a showery day. Lastly, we stopped of on the shingle beach at Salthouse and then onto Sheringham before heading home.

The next day we did a coastal walk from Gorleston-on-Sea to Lowestoft which was wonderful. We started the walk from Gorleston-On-Sea cliffs and then down to the beach, and headed south along the coast. Between Hopton and Corton we had to leave the beach due to coastal erosion, and then head along inland, via Corton's partly ruined church. On the other side of Corton we found a nice area of protected woodland right next to the Pleasurewood Hills theme park (you could hear the screams from the rides!) It was really fun exploring that, especially when we found the lovely pond with the ducks. We found ourselves back on the beach and walked along this for a while before making our way into Lowestoft town centre, first to do a bit of shopping and then catch the bus back to Gorleston. Great walk of about 7 miles on a lovely day!

On the following Sunday, having driven back home the day before, we went over to Shropshire to climb the Wrekin Hill (near Telford.) It was a lovely walk through the trees to the summit, where there are good views over the countryside. We hope to go back there one day, as there are many more paths to explore. Then, as a 'spur of the moment' choice, we drove over to Ironbridge. Having eventually found a parking space, we got out and had a look around the town, and (of course) photographed the famous bridge in the hot afternoon sun. The town was packed with day trippers - not surprising really, as it is a world heritage site and definitely on the tourist trail.

On our second trip to my parent's, we were able to visit Burgh Castle - the site of the Roman town - near Gorleston. Looks like we could do some good country walking around there on another trip.

We also did another fun country walk locally one weekend in the summer, in the countryside outside of Nuneaton, to Caldecote Hall and back along the Coventry canal. We were also lucky enough to visit the Battle of Bosworth re-enactment day again this year.

In August, we went for a little summer break on the Yorkshire coast. We stayed in a fantastic apartment in a converted barn on a farm near to Bridlington. It was so quiet out there! We did a lot of country walking on the trip, the first being around Flamborough Head, a very scenic area of coast that juts out into the North Sea near Bridlington. This was wonderful: a quiet coastal path, lots of sea birds, stunning views along the cliffs, fresh sea air, and bright skies. We also visited Whitby (what an amazing and interesting town that is - doing the Dracula walk was brilliant!) and then walked back along the clifftops to Robin Hood's Bay along the Cleveland Way. It was a gorgeous day, very hot and sunny and the North sea was a clear deep blue. The cliff views were stunning - shame about the bugs though! Robin Hood's Bay is quirky place, an old fishing village that marches down the steep cliffs to the sea. We also went to Filey Bay (good to walk along the Filey Brigg, and the town was great,) Bempton Cliffs (alas, no puffins on view!) and to Scarborough town and castle - bought some seaside rock for my work pals. Another walk we did was in the countryside on the edge of the North York Moors just outside Scarborough, which was fun even though the weather was very up and down. A pretty wooded river valley, open countryside and sheep!

We also visited Castle Howard (on the way up there) and Bolsover Castle (on the way back) I liked both, but I think Bolsover had far more character, maybe because it was partly ruined and older. Also, on the way back we stopped on in the market town of Beverley (very pretty and surpisingly olde worlde) and then had lunch by the river in the village of North Cave. What a wonderful trip!

A couple of weeks after that we went back up to Derbyshire to visit Hardwick Hall and gardens, which were very interesting, but disappointing, as the hall's very famous windows (rare at the time of construction in the 1500's) were partially covered up to protect the tapestries! Oh well. The walk down to the fish ponds was good, and we got some lovely photos.
Oh, the Mrs. passed her driving test first time, and drove us up to Hardwick! :) Well done, Carla!
There are some photos of this on Carla's blog entry here.

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I went to the London Film and Comic Con at the end of July, which was great as I got to catch up with some old friends amongst the film and TV celebrities and stalls selling merchandise. I managed to get some autographs for a friend. Then, the weekend after there was the annual "Star Wars" fan 'park meet', in London's Hyde Park. Not a big turn out this year, but a fun and relaxing time had by all. It was good that Carla was able to come with me this year.

I haven't seen many films at the cinema since "Transformers 2", but I did go and see the excellent "District 9" when I was at my parent's place the other weekend. I went with my pal Kevin who (like me) enjoys his sci-fi movies. We saw it at the Hollywood cinema Great Yarmouth. I loved the film and was particularly impressed with what they did with a small budget - the animation on the aliens was brilliant. The week before, Carla and her work pals went to see "Julie and Julia" which she enjoyed. See here, and Joe's review here.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen & Michael Jackson

A couple of weekends ago my pal Gary came up to stay, and we went to see "Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen" at the cinema. I really liked the first film, as it was a fun and dumb romp with some cracking visuals.....typical Michael Bay really. The sequel delivered exactly what I expected (over the top action, military types in slow-motion photography, etc) but with far more robot action this time around, and some slapstick comedy thrown into the mix. I loved Wheelie - what a great character! Bay and his fx wizards move the camera a tad too quickly in the action set pieces for my liking, and the film is over long, but other than that, I really enjoyed it. Most of the humour worked for me, although some of it was unnecessary (did we really need so much screen time devoted to two comedy relief robots acting goofy?) but where the film delivers is in the scope of action set pieces and visuals. The fx's on the robots is stunning - ILM's most complex CGI models. The whole end sequence of the Autobot v Decepticon battle at the Pyramids was very exciting. I like the cast as well. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are now Hollywood's most successful young stars. "Transformers: ROTF" is already the highest grossing film of the year with $315million in the bank.

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Michael Jackson died from a heart attack a couple of weeks ago, just a few weeks before his comeback concerts in London were to start. He was 50 years old. I was surprised at how this got to me. It sunk in about a week later and then for some reason I felt quite sad and muddled for a few days. I guess this was because Michael was (and remains) an entertainment icon from my childhood and teenage years. Maybe his passing reinforced issues of mortality and age to me. Not sure. Anyway, as a little tribute, I played "Thriller" for a few days running in the car on my commute - what a wonderful record! I also bought two special magazine publications about him.


Michael in a promotional shot for the "ET Storybook" album, 1982.


I think my first memory of Michael was in the promo video for "Blame it on the Boogie" from the Jackson's "Destiny" album in 1978. Great video effects in that one! I'm sure "Top of the Pops" showed the video, if not, I saw it on another show like "Swap Shop". I also fondly remember the Jackson's TV show shown as a repeat on Children's TV on summer mornings, shown alongside such fare as "The Littlest Hobo", "The Pink Panther" and "Why Don't you...?" I remember Jackson's singles from the excellent "Off the Wall" album in 1979 and 1980 in the charts, and then of course the hit singles from the "Thriller" album which were played constantly on the radio and on television. I also recall watching the John Landis video for "Thriller" for the first time on late night Channel 4 - Friday December 2nd, 1983, wasn't it? Then there was other stuff like "Bad", "Dangerous" etc, although even before the 1993 allegations, I was distancing myself from his stuff and finding interest in other music. Still, Michael was always in the news for some reason, so you couldn't really get away from the latest hullabaloo surround him, such as the 1995 Brit awards when Michael's Christ-complex-like performance was interrupted by a bemused and annoyed Jarvis Cocker.

For me, the memorial service broadcast from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles last week was a interesting (if very 'Hollywood') thing to see, but I'm sure it provided some form of closure for Michael's family and countless fans. I found it telling that some key people, such as Diana Ross, Quincy Jones and Elizabeth Taylor did not attend. I think the highlight for me was when the Rev. Al Sharpton addressed his children with the line, 'I just want to say to you children. Wasn't nothing strange about yo' daddy. What he had to deal with was strange.'
There was a lot of dross in the show, such as some politician spouting on and on, and Mariah Carey's performance was very poor. I'm glad I watched it though - one of those events that will be talked about in the future. The worldwide audience was thought to be around 1 billion people. Wow.

Anyway, I doubt if the press will let this whole thing go yet, as it sells too many papers. Even today, the Daily Star had a headline suggesting his death was actually murder. I don't know why, as I didn't actually read the article. And tomorrow, Channel 4 has a show on about his last days. MTV and a host of other music channels have shown his music videos on repeat over the last two weeks. Many of his hit singles are in the charts again. Hmmm, I wonder what will happen to his adopted children? No doubt the media will follow their every move from now on. Let's hope they don't become more victims of stardom.

A couple of years ago Carla and I read The Magic and The Madness, which is a fascinating document of Michael's life: the lack of a real childhood, an autocratic and overbearing father, stardom at a young age, the plastic surgery, highest selling album of all time, the chimp, the fanatical fans, the allegations, it's all there. I hope the author goes ahead and completes the story now. What a bizarre life for a very talented (if rather strange) man.

R.I.P. Michael.

Sutton Hoo and Blythburgh

We drove over to Sutton Hoo the other Saturday, which is near Ipswich in Suffolk. This is a world famous archeological site where in 1939 a number of 'Dark Ages' relics were discovered in burial mounds. The most amazing find was a preserved Anglo-Saxon longship in which weapons, armour and gold had been buried with its owner, thought to King Raedwald, who died in 625 AD. There were a number of other finds around the same area, some of the burials possibly the victims of execution. It must have been an amazing time for those archeologists to find such a hoard - the richest burial site in England! A detailed description is here.

The site is contained in a large and attractive estate: nice countryside on three sides, and lots of trees on the slopes down to the river Debden on the other, with the town of Woodbridge in the distance. The burial mounds (or barrows) are all located in one large field (one mound has been restored to its original size, and it is very big) and there are pleasant woodland walks to the west. The visitor centre comprises of a large museum that elaborates on the burial grounds and the era they were created, and it contains some wonderful displays and artefacts. What a shame the famous original mask of Raedwald wasn't there on show. This is in the British Museum in London. The visitors centre at Sutton Hoo has a replica, which is still wonderful to behold. In another building there is the usual gift shop/restaurant combo - excellent facilities. We bought a few bits and pieces from the shop, including some stunning postcards of the site in winter. (And some yummy cakes and flapjacks).

<----Carla sitting in a boat-throne!








After this, we headed up the A12 to Blythburgh to visit the famous church, that is rumoured to hold the "pawprints" of the devil's dog on the North door. You can certainly see burn marks on the door that could look vaguely like animal scratches, but that is debatable! Anyway, the village is quite pretty in an English countryside way, and the church, known as the "cathedral of the marshes" is a very impressive building and in a nice location looking over the river Blyth (which nearby meets the North Sea at Southwold.)

The day was beautiful - sunny with a blue sky, with a light breeze that kept us cool. It was nice to have our little packed lunch by the church in the pretty and quiet spot. We noticed a BBC Radio van packed by the church, and inside the building there were lights and recording equipment around a piano, so I guess a recital was on that evening.

It was just a short trip up the road to my parents' where we stayed for the weekend. It was fun to have a couple of walks at the seafront, and finally Carla saw Gorleston-on-Sea beach busy with tourists!

A trip to Arkansas

Over the last two weeks of May, we went on a little break to Arkansas, USA. It was a family trip to see Carla's relatives, specifically timed to tie-in with her son Ethan's graduation from high school. Apart from that, we had a lot of chores to sort out as well as enjoying ourselves. In between running around doing paperwork, visiting the necessary places and such, we managed to fit in a few fun things. This included a day in Memphis to visit the famous STAX Records museum ("Mr big-stuff, tell me, just who do you think you are?") and the zoo (cute meerkats!) We also took a little trip up to Mammoth Spring near the Missouri border, which is the 10th biggest natural spring in the world. Lovely spot that (see picture of me in front of the falls) with an impressive gift shop. Interesting to see the old railroad station there as well.

On the way up there (about 1 1/2 hours drive from where we were staying in Trumann) we stopped off at the Hardy water wheel, situated on a small creek that flows into the Spring River. There is a long established flea market there, as well being within the site of the "Martin Creek and Morgan's Mill" American civil war battle. On the way back, we visited the tourist town of Hardy, a small town comprising of antique and nick-nack shops. Another day we had a wondeful walk around Craighead Forest Park (see picture) on the outskirts of Jonesboro, which was lovely - the woods around the huge lake were quite beautiful. We spotted a snake swimming in the water, as well as the biggest geese we have ever seen! Generally great weather throughout the two weeks: hot and sunny for the most part, and humid at times so thank goodness for air conditioning! Saw some cracking thunderstorms and very heavy rain after coming out of a supermarket one afternoon - Jonesboro looked like it was sinking under the sea! We spent a lot of time in Jonesboro, the biggest town near to where we were staying, and the town where Carla grew up. There is an impressive new shopping centre there called The Mall at Turtle Creek. Also, for some reason, we ended up spending a lot of time in Wal*Mart! You can't get away from that in the US!

As far as cinema visits went, we ended up seeing "Star Trek" (for the 2nd time for me), "Terminator Salvation", "Angels and Demons", and "Night at the Museum 2". All very entertaining and great to watch, especially as the cinema we went to see all of these in, the Hollywood Malco 16 in Jonesboro, had digital projection equipment in most screens and wonderful seating. I love that cinema! Also I managed to catch up on all the "Harry Potter" films (to date) on the plane journeys. Caught a few flicks on US TV, including "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" and "Wild Hogs", both very funny!

Carla and I continued to do our exercises while staying at her mother's house: we managed to find the "Fit TV" channel on the satellite, and on there worked out to Gilad in the morning, an Israli who now lives and works out in Hawaii! He was good, I enjoyed those workouts even if they looked a bit 1990s 'dated'.

Also while there, I managed to complete my US State Quarters collection! Very happy about that! :)

I think the highlight of the trip for me was spotting Isacc Hayes' 1972 cadillac on show at the STAX Records museum. It was amazing, so 70's cool. :)








Anyhoo, some assorted images of Jonesboro and rural Arkansas....


Fast food and scripture...yep,we're in the Bible Belt!












Some cheap dirt for sale!












Liberty Bank in Jonesboro.....that played stirring military style music in the car park.

Various things over the last few weeks

Here I am, trying to catch up on my blogging. Presenting some "Twitter" style short paragraphs to catch up....

Our pal Sarah came up for a weekend visit and we went through some of her old video tapes, converting some of those recordings to DVD. One of them was the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" musical episode! Thanks for the gift of the old video recorder, BTW!

Mark came to see us on his way home from a railway group meeting in Crewe - easy, as we live on his train line home. Apart from watching the first five episodes of "Star Wars: Clone Wars" cartoon, on the Sunday we drove out to the 'Battlefield Line' private railway in Leicestershire. That was a nice little hour or two out, and it was great to visit the museum in the old Shakerstone station, and see the train come in. Lovely easy drive out there, and it was fun to see the village called "Barton in the Beans" on the drive back! Also, I gave Mark some old railway books and other stuff I had acquired as a bit of a late birthday pressie!

I attended the "Memorabilia" show at Birmingham's NEC a couple of weeks ago. It was ok, and nice to see some friends there and meet a couple of celebrities. I only bought one item, a book of photos from "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

As she says on her blog, Carla had to go back to the US to attend her father's funeral a couple of weekends ago. :( We are going for a trip there soon to see the relatives again.

While Carla was away, I popped home for a quick visit to see mum and dad in the Great Yarmouth area. I drove pop down to the sea front to see the construction of the new outer harbour, as he is interested in the project. On my way back here later that day, I was caught in a two-hour traffic jam on the A14 near Newmarket! This was due to a fatal accident which had closed the road all afternoon. Of course, this was on Holiday (Easter) Monday and so the roads were busy with returning day trippers from the coast....lots of traffic! The traffic crawled through Newmarket, and I got back late around midnight - a frustrating tiring journey!

I've started to type up my father's Second World War diaries into a little document, including some photos that I got scanned a while back. Must try and get that completed next week!

Last Sunday I got together with my friend Toria who lives locally, and we went to the cinema to see "Monsters v Aliens" after a pleasant walk along the canal as it was a nice sunny day! The film was very entertaining as I spotted a lot of the references to 1950's sci-fi b-movies, such as "The Blob", "Attack of the 50ft Woman" and a load of others. Great CGI animation as well. As for DVDs, we have a few backed up to watch, including a load of Marilyn Monroe flicks, "The Notorious Betty Page", and "Robin of Sherwood" series 2 from the 1980's!

A visit to West Stow Saxon village.

On the way to my parent's place for a weekend visit in late February, we visited the Saxon village re-construction and museum at West Stow in Suffolk. It was a bright and sunny day, so it was nice to see something in the countryside, and in this case an attraction that was easy to get to as it was just a little way off our main route.

The site is made up of a museum (split into two parts - the smaller one highlighting archeological finds presented in order of 'era', and the larger one featuring fascinating examples of everyday items, clothing and weapons,) a restaurant which we didn't bother with, and the (obligatory) shop selling the usual tourist trinkets. The buildings these are in look relatively new. A short walk into a large field at the back of the museum complex are the re-creations of a village from saxon times, constructed near to the site of many important finds. This comprises of several huts constructed over a few years from the early 1970's, and they are very well done. The wooden huts show how the common people lived in post Roman Britain - it must have been tough, cold and dirty! A female saxon re-enactor was in one of the huts, showing traditional cooking techniques. Wow, that smoke got us in the throat! Ugh. One hut was constucted half buried in the ground, based on a theory from archeologists of the early 1970's - something I believe has now been discarded.

Also when we visited, they were doing a "Lord of the Rings" day to entertain the kids for half-term, hence the few Middle Earth re-enactors wandering around in costume. Up the hill near to the huts, there was archery being demonstrated, and here and there a few children and tired-looking parents could be found participating in a Middle Earth style quiz. I guess they had to find clues around the estate or something.

We found some chickens and cockrels wandering around behind the back of the museum, and they were fantastic! Thankfully they posed long enough for me to get a photo or two.

The site is located in the middle of an attractive country park, which is open to the public free of charge. It will be pleasant to go back when the weather is a little walmer, so we can do some easy walking around the attractive woodland paths and see the lake. Also, there are plenty of places to have a picninc lunch!

A nice diversion on a little weekend break by the sea!

"Star Fleet", "The Clone Wars", and some melted snow....

Last Monday, "Star Fleet" was released on DVD here. This is a wonderful sci-fi puppet series originally broadcast on ITV in the winter of 1982/83. Basically, it's a "Star Wars" rip off, but with a slightly more adult tone than "Thunderbirds" had. It's very popular amongst sci-fi fans who are now in their 30's, who remember the show with wistful nostalgia. I haven't bought it yet, as Carla said she would buy it for me. Once we've got it in the house, I'll do a mini-review of the DVD. There is a fan site and group on 'Facebook' (yes, I'm a member of both) and there is a brilliant fan website here.

Staying with 'space stuff' (as my mother calls it)....at last, I'm watching the new "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated series. Starting from yesterday, 'Cartoon Network' has started to show them every Saturday morning, repeated on Saturday evening. The channel broadcast episodes 1 and 2 yesterday. The series picks up after the film released last summer. Episode 1 features a lot of Yoda doing awesome lightsabre battling (bad luck, battle droids), and the second episode featured the return of General Grievous and his new weapon, a super ion cannon. Great fun stuff, and the animation is superb. I'm looking forward to seeing some characters like Jar Jar Binks return in episode 8. What's also funny are the little 'Lego Star Wars' adverts in between the episodes. Hopefully they should be turning up on 'You Tube' soon.

A proper guide to the series can be found here on the official "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" website. Also, my pal in the USA does regular mini reviews of the episodes, and you can find them tucked away on her Livejournal.

The widespread snowfall across the UK over the last two weeks or so seems to be on the wane now, thank goodness. I can't stand it really, it just gets in the way commuting. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad in this area, as I was only affected for one day, and I was able to work at home anyway. This country doesn't really do extreme weather that well, I guess we aren't used to it.
Have a look at what my pal Joe said about it here.

I've joined Carla when she does the 'Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home' workout. It's really good, as I've found since I've been driving (9 months) I walk a lot less, so this is great for basic cardio fitness. Carla sometimes writes about her fitness regime, and you can follow it here.

Yay! She just said she's going to make koshari today! Lovely! :)

A winter trip to Kent and St. Albans.

For Carla's birthday in late January, we decided to have some time off work to visit a place we hadn't been to before, so we went to Kent (in the South East of England). We stayed for three nights in the city of Canterbury, so we could see some historical things that would interest us. We had a great time!

The drive down to Canterbury was ok, especially as Carla read excepts from "The Canterbury Tales" to keep us entertained on the M1 and M25, and get us in the mood for our visit. We stayed in a pleasant self-catering apartment, in an Edwardian house called Oriel Lodge, which was about a ten minute walk from the city centre. Once settled in our rooms, we decided to explore the city for a little while in the late afternoon. Between our lodgings and the city centre was a very pretty public garden area on either side of the River Stour, near to the old West Gate. Due to recent heavy rain, the river was flooding into the gardens - it was a fast flowing torrent! The main road from there leads into the centre and follows an old Roman road. We had a look around the extensive shopping area, which was bustling with Friday afternoon shoppers and a large amount of French schoolchildren who must have been over on a day trip (Canterbury is very close to the Channel Tunnel rail link and English Channel port of Dover, so its very easy to get to from the continent). We found the health food shop that Carla wanted to visit, called Canterbury Wholefoods. Quite a well stocked shop, we were very impressed.

The weather was clear but cold on Saturday morning, so Carla kindly bought me a hat before we started our day exploring! We then visited the Canterbury Roman Museum, a centrally located attraction that is actually built below modern street level, and shows some of the extensive archeological digs of the early 20th Century, as well as interesting pieces and recreations. Basically, they have built a museum around some Roman ruins, including a now very wobbly mosiac floor! We then had a look around the town centre, and after photographing the old Odeon cinema (a geeky hobby of mine) we walked along the Roman (and medieval) walls, which still exist on the West side of the town. After climbing 'The Mound' in Dane John Gardens to get some impressive views of the city, we found ourselves at the old castle which unfortunately is a ruin now. Still, very interesting to investigate. After lunch at our lodgings, we popped back into town and Carla bought some 'Winnie the Pooh' slippers from the Winnie the Pooh shop. Canterbury isn't a million miles from the location of the bridge where pooh sticks were first played! Anyway, only a stone's throw away from the shop is the famous Canterbury Cathedral, which we went to next. I have to say I was very impressed with the interior, and at how big the building and site is generally (there are a lot of associated buildings next to it, as well as pleasant areas of open grass and trees - nicer in the summer though!) The highlight for me was seeing the point of pilgrimage for Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered on the orders of Henry II in 1170. Also, underneath the cathedral, there are some incredible catacombs which just ooze atmosphere. Shame my photo didn't come out that well, but it was dark in there. Also, the nave was stupendous. It was especially thrilling to be there as a local choir was rehearsing for an upcoming concert. As we looked a the amazing ceiling, Mozart's Requiem was echoing throughout the building. Wonderful! After leaving the cathedral, we did a bit of shopping and went home.

We visited Leeds Castle on Sunday, even though the day was *very* wet - the rain didn't really stop all day. It was very easy to get to from Canterbury, just a simple drive down three main roads. We had to be careful with areas of the road that had standing pools of water though! The castle and grounds proved to be very impressive, although it was slightly uncomfortable walking through the extensive grounds in waterproofs. We really liked an area called 'The Duckery', which is made up of little ponds and small streams and patches of managed woodland. It is a haven for ducks, geese, and other birds such as peacocks! At the back of the castle, there is an aviary which contains many exotic birds from around the world, including some very pretty parakeets. We particularly liked a parrot called Oscar, who we watched eat endless peanuts and say "hello!" The castle itself is well worth a visit, particularly to see the older rooms done out in their medieval style. I was a little disappointed because only part of the castle is open to tourists, and some of this was rebuilt in the 1800's in a style that doesn't really interest me. Still, it is a working building which is used for other things than tourism. The main thing I liked about the building was the view of the castle from outside, as it is built on two small islands in a lake. Very atmospheric!

On the Monday, the morning weather was bright and sunny, so we decided to explore a bit on the long drive home. First, we went up to the North Kent coast to explore the town of Whitstable, a fishing community that is famous for its North Sea oysters, and for a place to retire to. That was fun, as we explored the old harbour area and the little town centre. I was happy to see that the town has a whistful charm and a number of indepenent shops. We also explored the beach and the castle, which really is a 19th century manor house in some nice small gardens atop the low cliffs.

After the dreaded M25 was behind us, we found our way to St. Albans in Hertfordshire. What a pleasant place! We found the town centre to be lively shopping area, and contain some interesting old buildings, such as the famous clock tower. Just at the back of the town centre is the large medieval abbey, which was wonderful to visit. Inside the abbey there was an fascinating history of the site. Beautiful building! I bought a postcard showing a picture of King Offa (as in 'Offa's Dyke', the old English/Welsh border) as he appears in the Abbey. He founded the place in 793.

We had lunch outside the abbey in the gardens, next to some old grand buildings that made up the local public school. Whilst eating our sandwiches, we noticed a camerman filming some chap dressed as a monk! I wonder if that was for some upcoming documentary? I really should have asked...

A short drive away on the outskirts of St. Albans are the remains of the old Roman town, known as 'Verulamium'. This was one of the main settlements in Roman time, and famous for being sacked by Boudica. There is a wonderful museum built near the centre of the old town, which has detailed re-creations of Roman life, and a large collection of pieces, such as pottery and coins on show. Also, they have a large mosiac to see there. The musem itself is located on the edge of what is a now a huge park with playing fields. In the centre of these fields is a perfectly preserved Roman mosiac which used to be in a villa. The mosiac is now covered by a modern building for the protection of the floor and also keeping tourists dry and out of the wind. It was fascinating to see the detailed geometrical work on Roman mosiacs: they are really quite beautiful. On the edge of the fields back towards the town are some remains of the old Roman wall, but we didn't go out there. As we didn't have much time, we decided to go into the museum instead of crossing the road to see the remains of the amphitheatre - we'll go there another day. I bought a map of Roman Britain in the museum. It'll help plan future day trips!

The drive home was ok, we got back tired but happy. Fun little trip!

Happy New Year!

I know 2009 is a few days old now, but Happy New Year anyway!

Well, we had a nice relaxing Christmas and New Year break, and got a lot of film and TV watching in, and relaxing by not going to work! I managed to stay awake and watch the impressive fireworks from central London (launched from and around the London Eye) which was broadcast as part of the usual crappy new year show BBC1 puts out around midnight. Amazing feat that, as the cheap wine from earlier had gone to my head and I was really tired! The Mrs. saw some of it, but she missed the end.

I also got a chance to visit my parents for a weekend in the holidays. It was a long drive, but the roads were generally ok to deal with in both directions. Shame I had to drive in the dark on the way back, but at least the weather was ok. When I was there, I got them a digital TV set top box, so at last they can get channel 5 without the speckles, and watch repeats on ITV4. Also, I went around to see my pal Kevin and he showed me his spanking new Panasonic Blu-ray player and TV setup. I have to say, the demo he gave me by playing the end sequence of the "2001: A Space Odyssey" disc was amazing. With the lights off, that stargate did my head in a bit. You don't need illegal drugs to trip when you have this!! :)

Oh, as for Christmas presents, Carla got me a fab gift, the "Starsky and Hutch" series 1-4 DVD box set. So far, we are about a third of the way through series 1. Great stuff, I really love that series, it's definitely one of my favourites. Funny, action packed, and the stars David Soul (Hutch), Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky), and Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear) are really cool to watch, even if it's all a bit camp. I joked that we should get our little Ford KA re-sprayed in that 1975 Gran Torino red and white as seen here!

I got some other cheapish DVDs recently, the first was a box set of Doug McClure family adventure films from the 70's: "The Land that Time Forgot", "At the Earth's Core", and "Warlords of Atlantis". All fun B-movies that have played on television loads of times (in fact, the latter two were on over Christmas!) I love the rubber monsters and bad back projection, the unconvincing fist fights, the minor British TV stars acting in character roles, and the ample cleavage on show from starlets of the time such as Caroline Munro and Lea Brodie. Well, I watched the first one I grabbed out of the box and that happened to be "Atlantis". I'm looking forward to seeing the other two films soon, and picking up "The People That Time Forgot" as well. I'll write about my other recent DVDs in the next posting.