UK citizenship, Star Wars Celebration Europe and general catch-up

Wow, I hadn't realised how long it had been since I updated this bloggy! You know, it gets left a day, then another, and the next thing you know it's been nearly a month!!

A few things have happened so let's report shall we…

Carla's UK citizenship ceremony went a-ok on Friday 22nd June at the local register office. My sister Josie and our pal Mark turned up for it. It was quite good actually, if short: a concise ceremony consisting of a speech by the registrar, an oath for Carla to take, us standing for the national anthem, and then the registrar handing over of a certificate and well, that was that….done! Photo time. Oh, the register gave her a "welcome" present…..a pen! Wow!

Afterwards we went over to her workplace and she showed her excitable work colleagues her certificate. We were supposed to hang around for somebody's leaving do, but we made our excuses and went home to schlub around, eat and watch DVDs!

Here is a picture of us two (with our cuddly monkey - he gets everywhere!)

Oh, following on from this, she got her UK passport yesterday, so that's all done with now, thank goodness.

Carla's family fly in from America tomorrow for a week's holiday over here with us. It will be fun to see them but I feel a bit unhappy for them that the weather has been so awful, and it seems unlikely to change for the better. I guess Britain's summer will be a complete was out this year. Apart from our cultural visits next week, I can't wait to see the new "Transformers" film, and perhaps the new "Harry Potter" one in 3D with them!

I attended "Star Wars
Celebration Europe" last Sunday. This was the first official convention for "Star Wars" fans over this side of the Atlantic, following on from the successful "Celebration" conventions in the USA held over the last few years. It was at the huge ExCel Centre in London's Docklands. I had quite a fun time for those few hours on Sunday afternoon: getting a few autographs, looking around the stands, chatting to friends etc. There were lots of things I failed to do or missed but on the whole and from what I saw, I thought it was an impressive show. I loved the huge Death Star at the entrance for instance! That looked amazing. The "History of Palitoy" room was fabulous - definitely one of the best things there. It was great to see some old "Star Wars" video game arcade machines blinking away. The art alley was interesting. Most people seemed to be having a fun time so that was good. My pal Kerry-Anne went to the show on Friday and had the pleasure of getting Mark Hamill's autograph. She also managed to get on GMTV with a question for him. He even gave her a kiss! I think it made her decade! I believe other highlights included the LSO concert, Ian "The Emperor" McDiarmid's talk at the opening ceremony, some of the talks by the "Star Wars" cast and crew, and the general buzz of the place. There were lots of fans in costumes everywhere. Shame it was a bit expensive as of course, the emphasis on these events are to *make money*. Lots of money. It seems the event was a success, so I suppose there will be another show in a year or two, even if the current licence holder has now, well, lost that Lucasfilm licence!

Anyway, today I posted a huge pack of paperwork gathered at this event to my long time "Star Wars" fan pal in America. Hope she gets that lot soon!

Oh, speaking of sci-fi shows, I went to "Memorabilia" at Birmingham NEC the weekend before "Celebration", and it was, well, rubbish. The curse of the summer show! There were no guests that interested me, and only a handful of stalls to look around. So no real 'buzz'. The only thing I picked up were some film poster coasters, which are really nice. I think I will collect my favourite films on these. In fact, I asked the dealer if he could create some 1950's sci-fi ones, including "Forbidden Planet" and "Earth vs the Flying Saucers". Hopefully these will be ready by the November show.

Just to finish, work sent me on some ArcGIS training in Nottingham last week, which was very good and extremely useful! Everything went well with that. I look forward to using the software again on my next project.

That's it for now. I will write soon and tell you all about out little break with the family!

Takeshi's Castle

Not much to report over the last week, except that my wife's application for UK citizenship has been approved, and we have a date for her citizenship ceremony in late June. Thank goodness that's all organised! I'll have to take some piccies on the day.

We bought some bargain DVD's yesterday at HMV in town. "Interview with the Vampire" and "Frankenstein" & "Bride of Frankenstein" (1930's versions) set. "Interview" wasn't bad, a bit slow and talky, but the production looked beautiful. The real standout performance for me is from a very young Kirsten Dunst, playing the young vampire, Claudia. We will watch the Frankenstein films this evening. Classic B/W Boris Karloff.

It is the weekend so I have managed to have my Saturday and Sunday dose of "Takeshi's Castle" on Challenge TV. What a wonderful no-brainer this is! I love it and laugh all the way through every episode! :)

"Takeshi's Castle" is a 1980s Japanese game show, edited into half hour shows and humorously voiced over by Craig Charles (Lister from BBC's "Red Dwarf"). 100 contestants have to make their way through highly physical (and very silly) games. If they fail a challenge, they are out. If they pass the challenge, they get to go onto the next game, and eventually if their agility and skill hold out, a crack at the showdown where they try to storm the castle and win a prize (although I've never seen anyone win!) Some of the games along the way are quite evil, like "Skipping Stones" or "High Rollers" - contestants have a good chance of coming home battered and bruised! It's all a bit silly. Great stuff though. :)

..sort of like the Japanese version of Jeux Sans Frontières ("Games Without Borders") or "It’s a Knockout" for British viewers.

Update @ 4pm - got "Rocky" 1-6 box set in ASDA!

Saturday cleaning and citizenship paperwork

It's been an easy going Saturday - didn't do anything special today. Carla was at work so I managed to do a few bits in the flat before going over to meet her, and do some food shopping on the way home. Cleaned the computer's internal fan out as the whole machine was *rattling* due to being clogged with black dust bunnies! Ugh. Then I cleaned the shower out and did a whole load of laundry, while watching "The Pink Panther" on DVD. I also managed to fit in a Tom Holland workout (I have two of his DVDs.) I like doing these but admit I don't work out enough for it to count (over the last three weeks, only 1 workout per week.) I seem to have lost my way with fitting them in! :(

As I type here, I'm looking at the DVD and bookshelves to my left, and they are a bit of a mess! Hmmm....need to have a re-think and a sort out. Also, Partners (the Stationary shop) in town have a really nice glass computer desk for sale, which if it fits nicely in this alcove, I may well go for it. Trouble is, I'll have to upgrade to flat screen monitor as well. I don't have one yet as this iiyama one has worked perfectly for years and provides a lovely crisp image.

Yesterday, I took half a day's annual leave to come home early and go with Carla to a local solicitor to get her citizenship documents all in order, so we could send them off for her UK citizenship application. I guess we have to wait now for a few months while the Home Office do their stuff. Let's hope for a speedy and positive decision. (see Carla's blog here.)

Good luck to our pal Tess who may well soon start a spot of world travelling and work experience. Her blog is in my list of friends. I have also added Mary Jo's blog in that list. Go there for loads of fun Star Wars chit chat!

Life on Kazakhstan

Here is the latest. Not much since the last entry but, hey, typing keeps me off the streets.

~ Carla passed her "Life in the UK test" today in Birmingham. Woohoo! This means she can hand in the forms and apply for citizenship. Well done the Mrs!

~ I'm reading a fantastic book called "The Prestige". It's about the rivalry between two stage magicians in the late 19th Century. Spooky and odd, but riveting. Christopher "Batman Begins" Nolan made the film version of this, which is out on DVD next week. Looking forward to seeing it, but I will finish the novel first. Looks like a great cast and I like Nolan's style.

~ We watched the latest episodes of "Life on Mars" and "Heroes" this week. Both shows are very entertaining, if a little bizarre...but that's what makes 'em fun.

~ We have the "Borat" DVD waiting to be watched. Probably will fit that in tomorrow evening. Looks like a great laff! :)

~ Still drawing Scottish woodland maps at work. This project will go on for a looooooooong time!

~ I still have to sort out that huge pile of papers/junk in the spare room. A weekend job, me thinks. Hello paper recycler.