2012 updates

Right, it's coming up on Christmas, so I thought I would do a blog to update you all on wonderful "old" me. Here it is, so enjoy.

First off, health updates. Since being put on a new medication who's name alludes me, I've had a lot less migraines (save for a couple last week). This makes me happy, since it means that I've spent a lot less time in pain and more time running around the Internet, looking for adventure and amusing sites - also, LOLcats. 

In other health news, I was due to go to the hospital for my annual check-up on the 10th. Unfortunately, Snow prevented this. We got as far as the Eldwick Moors near where I leave before Dad decided to turn around and, after a brief stop at Burger King, we went home instead. Fortunately, I'd not developed any new symptoms, and the appointment was put off until January. Should be interesting, to say the least.

On the Job front, I attended a Recruitment pitch for Call Centre work. I had been told it was an interview, but it wasn't. It also turned out to be commission based work, which is not something I'm looking for. Ultimately, they didn't call me back so it didn't matter, but I would've have taken the job had I been offered. So I've decied to cease continue looking until the New Year.

My birthday came as well. It was a very good birthday. As was traditional, I went up to Scotland the weekend before hand, and enjoyed Scottish banter, food and drinks (even if I was overcharged for the drinks part of that equation). My birthday night out was spent in Bradford, followed by a hasty return to Alex's house. I woke up feeling a little bit rough to say the least. Fortunately, by around 2pm, I had improved enough to enjoy food and Doctor Who dvds. 

That's really about all with this update. Return to your regular lives and I will probably update at some point in the New Year. Enjoy yourselves,.

Live Long and Prosper

My first blog as a 24 year old.

And I know, you're hoping for some words of wisdom or maturity that's associated with that age. Instead, HAVE A FREAKING LOOK AT THE TWEET JERI RYAN SENT ME!!!!!

This made my already brilliant birthday perfect!!

My journey up to Glasgow

It's 01:27, and I can't get to sleep. You know what that means... story time. 

This one, surprisingly, is once again set on a train journey up to Scotland. This is unusual for several reasons. One, that I was travelling by train. Usually I go up to Scotland with my friend Jeremy and his Dad, who drives us up, but this time I went alone, so I went up by train. Two, its unusual because unlike journeys before and afterwards, it was very much a spur of the moment decision to go up.

It was Kerri's birthday, and she asked me up or I invited myself up. I forget which. It's irrelevant to the story which. The fact was that I was going up, and that it was spur of the moment. Well, I say spur of the moment. It was actually made about a week before the day I was due to set off. Dad agreed to loan me the money for the ticket, which we booked online, and we were all set.

Cut to a week later, and the morning arrived. I'd packed the night before, including Kerri's present, and got up early in order to enjoy breakfast with Dad before I set off. I got to the station with plenty of time to spare before the train was due, in order to get the ticket. I put my debt card in and...

and the machine asked for a booking number.

A tiny bit of background. Last time I booked tickets online (chronicled here in fact), it didn't ask for one (which dates it). You just put your card in and the tickets came out, just like at the cinema. I was flabbergasted. Fortunately, I had time so I called Dad... who didn't answer. I tried him twice more before giving up and calling Jeremy. Luckily, he was in and so I asked him to log into my hotmail account, gave him my password and told him to give me my booking number. 

He read it off and I tried to input it.... repeatedly. The damn machine wouldn't react to my touch in the slightest. I'd managed to get it to read two or three digits before it would decide that my time was up and clear my efforts. By this time, the train had come in, so I was a little panicky and between you and me, when I panic, I get angry. I was about to thump the machine when I heard it. my boarding call followed by the beeping of the doors and then...

The train was gone.

Panic transformed into blind panic, so I called Oma. Dad happened to be there, and he appeared by my side a few minutes later, put the code in successfully the first time (bastard) and got my tickets before announcing he would drive me up to Carlisle. That was all there was to it. We were racing my train. I rang Kerri to let her know about the delay before relaxing a little and chatting with Dad.

We made very good time. Dad dropped me off and I asked a guard where the train up to Glasgow was. He pointed to one and I climbed aboard, secure in my knowledge that soon, I would be meeting up with Kerri and beginning my holiday in earnest. 

Of course, it was the wrong bloody train.

The doors closed and the train set off... back the way I'd just come. A second or so later, the driver announced we were on our way to London just as the Conductor appeared. I sheepishly admitted that I was on the wrong train and he gave me one of the most withering looks I've ever received, and I've gotten looks off some of the best. This guy was simply not impressed, and to show it, he took my ticket off me (bastard).

Fortunately for me, the train wasn't an express, and I headed off to Lancashire. The driver said we'd be there in about 20 minutes, but did not take into account the fact a train ahead of us broke down. Once again, I rang Kerri to let her know I'd be even later. By this point, she had to go to work, and practically begged her mother to pick me up when I finally arrived.

About an hour after boarding the train to London (and telling Jeremy I'd given up on Scotland and was headed to the Capital for the weekend instead), I arrived in Lancashire. Of course, I did the smart thing and called Dad to let him know. He promised to put some more money into my account, so I'd actually have something to spend in Scotland, before telling me to just buy a ticket and go have fun.

Thus calmed, I followed his advice and finally arrived in Scotland without further incident, until Kerri rang and told me to get a train to Cumbernauld. I was in Glasgow Central, and the trip involved going to another station in Glasgow. Initially I had no clue where this 'Queen Street' was, until she said 'Do you know where Forbidden Planet is?'

I have a Forbidden Planet sense. Once I've been to one, I will NEVER forget where it is and always be able to find my way back to it. Fortunately, we'd gone on a previous visit, so I knew exactly where it was and how to get there. I told her so, and she pointed me in the right direction. To cut the rest of the story short, I arrived at the station, Kerri's mum was there to meet me and after a quick stop off at Kerri's work place to let her know I was alive, I finally began my holiday in Scotland.

To put a little perspective into this tale, my original estimated time of arrival was about 1-ish in the afternoon. I got there at about 18:10pm. But the most important thing - I had fun. Her birthday was fun, we made and I painted the Solar System. Good times were had and that's the important thing.

Well, that and having a laugh at my expense.

Live long and prosper

My favourite Sci Fi Series

Continuing the theme of favourites (my last blog was about my favourite Doctor), I decided to write this entry instead of doing something sensible, like sleeping.

I am a massive Science Fiction fan. I watch Science Fiction on TV. I read Science Fiction novels. I write Science Fiction stories. Science Fiction is very much a big part of my life. I am a Trekker, Gater, Whovian, Browncoat and because I can't think of any more fan names, I also love Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Fringe, Warehouse 13 and countless other Science Fiction series. I blame my parents. Had I been exposed to something "normal" at a young age, instead of Star Trek: The Next Generation, my life might have turned out very differently (in a bad way, I mean).

And yes, people also ask me what my favourite Science Fiction series is. Most assume its Doctor Who, because of the sheer amount I talk and write about it. Others assume that its any of the Star Treks, again because of how much I talk and write about it. I have MASSIVE figure collections from both franchises, as well as almost the entire line of Babylon 5 figures, a few dozen Star Wars figures, and merchandise from half a dozen franchise. To judge me based solely on my collections, though, is wrong. A lot of Series don't get much in the way of merchandise, and what they do get is WAY out of my price range. 

The truth will disappoint you all, save those who actually know.

I don't have a favourite series. 

Don't get me wrong, I watch Doctor Who and Star Trek a LOT, probably more so than any other series. I'm a walking encyclopedia about both series, as well as a couple of others I listed above, but that doesn't mean I'll always watch them though. What I watch is all dependant on one very important thing:

My Mood.

If I am in the mood, I will watch hours and hours of Star Trek: Voyager. Likewise, Peter Davison's adventures as the Fifth Doctor might take up a significant amount of my TV viewings. However, you're just as likely to catch me watching Babylon 5, Firefly, Stargate or anything else on that list. Or something, maybe even something that ISN'T science fiction, like Gilmore Girls (on really low so no one else can hear me watching it - it'll be our secret, internet blog) or something animated like Family Guy or South. 

And don't point out that I usually end my blog posts with a Star Trek quote, because if you look back, I used to end it with one from Battlestar Galactica. Like I said, it all comes down to whatever I am in the mood to watch. The examples I named aren't the only ones I watch. They're just the first ones that came to mind when I thought "what do I watch?"

Anyways, its time for me to sleep now, so please leave, kay. 

Live Long and Prosper

My Favourite Doctor

As what some would call a "die hard" Whovian (Doctor Who Fan), I get asked one question more than any other. "Who is your favourite Doctor?" Well, loyal readers, I will now answer that question.

It is an impossible question to answer. The Doctor in every single of his regenerations have brought something new to the character, but they've also built on what their predecessors left behind. I for one do not think the Ninth Doctor would've been as angry had it not been for the Sixth Doctor, just like the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors wouldn't play the clown without the Second Doctor. 

And to be honest, it's not the story of eleven different people. The Doctor is one man. Eleven personalities, each with their own habits and quirks, but ultimately they are one and the same. So when someone askes me "Who is your favourite Doctor?", I just smile and answer "The Doctor." Occasionally I will explain, as I have here, but most of the time, I just walk off and start talking to someone else.

Eleven faces, but one legend

And yes, before someone tries to be clever and asks the obvious question, I give a virtually identical answer for "Who is your favourite Master?". 

Live Long and Prosper!

Movitation

Movitation is a very tricky business, because what movitates one person will put off another. I know for a fact that the promise of reading a new Star Trek after doing a little more work on a script would be enough to get me writing, but at the same time, it would be enough to make some of my friends throw the table up in despair.

Like Frank (picture)

However, I realise that I need movitation in my life. I need it in order to actually make my Doctor Who Figure Adventure Series. I've got some reasonable scripts, a couple of good mock-ups of what potentially it could look like on film, but I lack the movitation (and the Printer Ink but that's another issue) to take it to the next level and actually, you know, make a proper video. What can I do about this?

That's right! Provide my own movitation. But what? I can't drink, due to the fact it makes me vomit when the alcohol mixes with my various tablets. I can't smoke, primarily because I only really smoke when I've had a bit to drink, and that involves stopping my tablets for three days and that's complicated and also because I don't like the taste of cigarettes. I could award myself by watching a DVD, but I do that while I work because I find it easier to work with noise in the background. I could work that rush of satisifaction I feel when I finish something, but that takes ages to kick in and is rarely worth it at the best of times.

So I need to come up with something really good.

And if someone suggests not buying figures until I do work, then I will simply laugh in your face before I call you an idiot and walk away, still laughing. In fact, I'm laughing right now imagining if I actually did that. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Anyways, I'm done laughing and I need to figure it out because I now plan to have at the very least the first Special (IE my pilot that reintroduces David Tennant thanks to the old "Alternate Timeline" excuse JJ Abrams pulled for Star Trek excuse) up on Youtube by Christmas, as well as a trailer for my first series made, which I intend to come around May time, as well as three episodes (note: episodes, not stories) made by my Birthday, which is steadily approaching.

So help me with an idea for motivation, otherwise I will just steal someone else's idea and smoke a cigar for every completed story (that's two ten minute episodes) I successfully finish to my satisifaction. 

Long Long and Propser. 

Michael O'Hare (1952 - 2012)

It is with a heavy heart that I must report that Babylon 5 actor Michael O'Hare has passed away, aged 60. On the series, he played the role of the Station's first CO, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair. O'Hare left the series after its first series after he and the writers felt that his character had been written into a corner. He continued to guest star until the middle of the third series, where his character reached the end of the arc originally intended for Jeffrey Sinclair.

Not a lot of people out there view Babylon 5 as a good piece of Science Fiction, but I am not one of them. I feel that, in many ways, it paved the way for a lot of things to come. For example, it is one of the first series to employ CGI instead of miniatures for its space scenes which, while they look dated now, were revolutionary in the day. It was also one of the first serial series. Events that happened in the very first episode were referenced and had repercussions even to the final episode. Everything was planned out well in advance. Characters were written in such a way that if the actors or actresses chose to leave, it would have a minimal impact on the overall story. 

I'm afraid that, as usual, I don't know a great deal about Michael O'Hare's career outside of Babylon 5. It was my one and only exposure to him as an actor, but if it was any indication, he was a damn good one. Jeffrey Sinclair could be a firm and hard when he needed to be, but there was still a gentleness about him. There was a great mystery about the character, one which would remain unresolved until his final appearance.

Michael O'Hare suffered a heart attacked on the 23rd of September 2012 and lapsed into a coma. He died yesterday. Once again, I feel that another Babylon 5 star has left us too soon. My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. 

Rest in Peace, Michael O'Hare