So I'm at work today. Work Eric and I are having a bit of a chit-chat while we let the video conference we just got working sit for a minute. It had shown itself to be a little unstable and Work Eric's logic was that, if we went off and did other things, it would fail again and cause us trouble. However, if we stuck around for a while, it would be fine. His logic worked.
I was finishing up my lukewarm coffee when the urge to cough became sudden and strong. This wasn't a slight tickle at the back of my throat that I could resist until I swallowed, this was a sudden, urgent, unexpected need to cough. My attempt to reach my wastebasket failed. I coughed coffee all over my cubicle.
Work Eric did the most reasonable thing he could under the circumstances: he broke up laughing.
Once he wiped the tears from his eyes and I'd mocked myself a bit, he found me a bunch of napkins and helped me clean up. It must have been hilarious to see. I wish I'd have seen it.
I still smell like coffee.
23 August 2006
22 August 2006
Vworp Vworp
Over the past few years I've been filling the gaps in my Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly/Magazine collection. The big rush started after I bought about thirty of the Weekly and early Monthly mags for about a quarter apiece (this included the first issue, in a very nice condition with the original transfers included, such a deal!). After that wave subsided, I slowly filled in more of the gaps and now there are only a handful left for me to find. As a collector, gaps are bad.
A couple weeks ago I was suddenly drawn to the shelf where a good forty or fifty of these collected magazines sat. They hadn't been read yet and, therefore, couldn't be filed away with the others just yet. Afterall, what's the point in buying them if I'm not going to read them? It takes all the fun out of having a twenty-five year old magazine if you're not going to look at it at all.
So I started reading them. Few of these were consecutive as I was just filling gaps. The earliest of these issues still had Tom Baker as the Doctor (to put this in perspective for the unfamiliar, he left that job in 1981).
I rather expected to find these to be rather boring. Afterall, the news would be dated, I'd seen most of the comic strips before, the research would get better with time, what would there be to see?
It got very interesting. I time travelled.
Peter Davison became the Doctor and we loved him although he wasn't the same as Tom. Sometimes he was very good though. Colin Baker came along and we loved him and hated him and occasionally loved to hate him. The cancellation scare was suddenly upon us in the mid-80s and then was gone. The show was back with Sylvester McCoy and was rubbish and brilliant at the same time. Some argued that the show was being killed by the BBC, that ever since the scare that they'd wanted it gone. That couldn't be true though; this was Doctor Who! Didn't everyone know about it and love it in some way? Tradition, right? And the audience grew smaller and smaller.
And then in 1990, it was gone. There were promises that it was 'resting', just like the last time, in the 80's, but in the 80's there had been a definite restart date. There was no date this time. The show was 'resting' just as John Cleese's parrot had been.
And then my collection jumped ten years worth of issues. I time travelled into the future, despite still being in the past. Videos! DVDs! Audio Adventures! Books! Everything you could want out of Who!... except the return of the show. In early 2001 there was no reason to believe the show would ever return so we loved what we HAD or, if we didn't love what we had, we made what we loved. Fan videos and fan fiction magazines were peaking around this time. I was in there, muddling about a bit, writing things.
I'm just finishing up issue Doctor Who Magazine #299, cover dated 10-Jan-2001. That's over five years ago already. Five years. Two formerly missing episodes from the 60's were yet to come home. More DVDs. Better ways to restore the old episodes, to make them shiner, easier to watch. Might as well take the time and do it right. We had to watch something, right? It's not like that tv movie in 1996 did anything. Heck, it was five years ago already. Five years. If the BBC wanted Doctor Who back, they'd have done something about it by now, right?
I guess I'll find out in issue #336 (12-Nov-2003). It says something about a New Series on the front. Or I suppose, if I can't wait, I can set the TARDIS controls and just read it now...
A couple weeks ago I was suddenly drawn to the shelf where a good forty or fifty of these collected magazines sat. They hadn't been read yet and, therefore, couldn't be filed away with the others just yet. Afterall, what's the point in buying them if I'm not going to read them? It takes all the fun out of having a twenty-five year old magazine if you're not going to look at it at all.
So I started reading them. Few of these were consecutive as I was just filling gaps. The earliest of these issues still had Tom Baker as the Doctor (to put this in perspective for the unfamiliar, he left that job in 1981).
I rather expected to find these to be rather boring. Afterall, the news would be dated, I'd seen most of the comic strips before, the research would get better with time, what would there be to see?
It got very interesting. I time travelled.
Peter Davison became the Doctor and we loved him although he wasn't the same as Tom. Sometimes he was very good though. Colin Baker came along and we loved him and hated him and occasionally loved to hate him. The cancellation scare was suddenly upon us in the mid-80s and then was gone. The show was back with Sylvester McCoy and was rubbish and brilliant at the same time. Some argued that the show was being killed by the BBC, that ever since the scare that they'd wanted it gone. That couldn't be true though; this was Doctor Who! Didn't everyone know about it and love it in some way? Tradition, right? And the audience grew smaller and smaller.
And then in 1990, it was gone. There were promises that it was 'resting', just like the last time, in the 80's, but in the 80's there had been a definite restart date. There was no date this time. The show was 'resting' just as John Cleese's parrot had been.
And then my collection jumped ten years worth of issues. I time travelled into the future, despite still being in the past. Videos! DVDs! Audio Adventures! Books! Everything you could want out of Who!... except the return of the show. In early 2001 there was no reason to believe the show would ever return so we loved what we HAD or, if we didn't love what we had, we made what we loved. Fan videos and fan fiction magazines were peaking around this time. I was in there, muddling about a bit, writing things.
I'm just finishing up issue Doctor Who Magazine #299, cover dated 10-Jan-2001. That's over five years ago already. Five years. Two formerly missing episodes from the 60's were yet to come home. More DVDs. Better ways to restore the old episodes, to make them shiner, easier to watch. Might as well take the time and do it right. We had to watch something, right? It's not like that tv movie in 1996 did anything. Heck, it was five years ago already. Five years. If the BBC wanted Doctor Who back, they'd have done something about it by now, right?
I guess I'll find out in issue #336 (12-Nov-2003). It says something about a New Series on the front. Or I suppose, if I can't wait, I can set the TARDIS controls and just read it now...
21 August 2006
One last day of Festing
- Three days at the Fest! A new personal record!
- 'Breakfast' for Eric and myself (Katy having had to leave town for work) was a Guinness cheesecake at the tea room. Brilliant! (and then I remember the adverts and leave my reaction in anyway)
- There was a lot of wandering around for us. As much as I love Irish Fest, by day three (it opened on Thursday so it was day four of the Fest) I was a bit tired. I did not seem to be the only one having that problem. As much as I liked some of the bands we visited, by Sunday, standing for a hour and a half set was no longer a viable option.
- I feel like I've been on the Crusher diet: beer, sausage, walking, more beer. I feel very fit from all the activity, despite the rich food I ate and all the beer I drank.
- The only music I know that involves more clapping than Irish music is the music of the planet Alflakaka which requires not only yourself clapping in order to hear the music properly but that of your clone and at least one version of yourself from an alternate dimension. For some reason it HAD to be an alternate dimension as opposed to an older or younger version of yourself from the same timeline. I've yet to get it to work. A weekend's of Irish music has left my hands quite sore from clapping.
- Ended the music appreciation with a performance by Richard Thompson. His name was familiar to me but I couldn't recall why. One man, one voice, one guitar, one brilliant show. Seriously, a great storyteller and I wasn't for a second disappointed that I'd been talked into sitting there for him, not even when Eric's mum spilled beer on me. It turned out that the beer was for me and that she hadn't really spilt all that much of it so no harm was done at all. Except, perhaps, for the damage to my liver but I'd been punishing that all weekend already.
- Shirt I wanted to get for my youngest brother Joe: Caution - Irish temper and German stubborness.
- 'When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth' I wore my 'Dawn of the Dead' shirt on Sunday because, in my mind, zombies and Irish Fest go together like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, Guinness and... more Guinness. You know, natural combinations.
- It feels weird to not have Irish Fest to go to today. At least I don't have to go back to work straight away like Eric did. Of course, he and his family are headed to Ireland on Thursday so my sympathy is somewhat reduced. Till next year!
- 'Breakfast' for Eric and myself (Katy having had to leave town for work) was a Guinness cheesecake at the tea room. Brilliant! (and then I remember the adverts and leave my reaction in anyway)
- There was a lot of wandering around for us. As much as I love Irish Fest, by day three (it opened on Thursday so it was day four of the Fest) I was a bit tired. I did not seem to be the only one having that problem. As much as I liked some of the bands we visited, by Sunday, standing for a hour and a half set was no longer a viable option.
- I feel like I've been on the Crusher diet: beer, sausage, walking, more beer. I feel very fit from all the activity, despite the rich food I ate and all the beer I drank.
- The only music I know that involves more clapping than Irish music is the music of the planet Alflakaka which requires not only yourself clapping in order to hear the music properly but that of your clone and at least one version of yourself from an alternate dimension. For some reason it HAD to be an alternate dimension as opposed to an older or younger version of yourself from the same timeline. I've yet to get it to work. A weekend's of Irish music has left my hands quite sore from clapping.
- Ended the music appreciation with a performance by Richard Thompson. His name was familiar to me but I couldn't recall why. One man, one voice, one guitar, one brilliant show. Seriously, a great storyteller and I wasn't for a second disappointed that I'd been talked into sitting there for him, not even when Eric's mum spilled beer on me. It turned out that the beer was for me and that she hadn't really spilt all that much of it so no harm was done at all. Except, perhaps, for the damage to my liver but I'd been punishing that all weekend already.
- Shirt I wanted to get for my youngest brother Joe: Caution - Irish temper and German stubborness.
- 'When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth' I wore my 'Dawn of the Dead' shirt on Sunday because, in my mind, zombies and Irish Fest go together like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, Guinness and... more Guinness. You know, natural combinations.
- It feels weird to not have Irish Fest to go to today. At least I don't have to go back to work straight away like Eric did. Of course, he and his family are headed to Ireland on Thursday so my sympathy is somewhat reduced. Till next year!
20 August 2006
More Fest
- Went and saw the Kinsella Irish Dancers to start off yesterday. This was the group that I'd been requested to see as both Eric's younger sisters are part of said group. All in all it was great. I've come to the conclusion that Irish dance is one part tap dancing and one part Ministry of Silly Walks which may well explain it's hypnotic affect upon me. The fancier outfits that some of the dancers wear are earned after winning a championship tournament. Some of these dresses shimmer and glow, brilliant works of art on silk, no two the same in the world. It was also neat to see young kids, kids that may not have seen the other side of the millennium, that can dance better than I ever will.
- Wandered over to the cultural area a lot yesterday as its an area I don't often frequent. I think in an effort to get more traffic they've put more beer over there. I peeked my head into a lecture regarding the potato famine and got hooked for 45 minutes. Interesting stuff. I'm learning!
- Saw Gaelic Storm again yesterday. Brilliant energetic band. Not too folky but not too rock and roll either. They're just a lot of fun to listen to and be part of the crowd. Saw a bit of Quagmyre again and continued to like them. They're more folk music played at a rock n' roll speed and then occasionally taking a breath at a slower pace. The Young Dubliners are a rock n' roll band playing some fiddle and such. Caught a glimpse of Enter the Haggis which was almost punk folk at times. I didn't know the bagpipes could be played at such a speed!
- Drank more beer. Plan to drink even more beer.
- Zombie alert levels were briefly increased from mauve to deep purple yesterday. The first siting turned out to be a bird and the second 'zombie' was a log after closer inspection. Still, I'm keeping a close eye on the lake...
- Wandered over to the cultural area a lot yesterday as its an area I don't often frequent. I think in an effort to get more traffic they've put more beer over there. I peeked my head into a lecture regarding the potato famine and got hooked for 45 minutes. Interesting stuff. I'm learning!
- Saw Gaelic Storm again yesterday. Brilliant energetic band. Not too folky but not too rock and roll either. They're just a lot of fun to listen to and be part of the crowd. Saw a bit of Quagmyre again and continued to like them. They're more folk music played at a rock n' roll speed and then occasionally taking a breath at a slower pace. The Young Dubliners are a rock n' roll band playing some fiddle and such. Caught a glimpse of Enter the Haggis which was almost punk folk at times. I didn't know the bagpipes could be played at such a speed!
- Drank more beer. Plan to drink even more beer.
- Zombie alert levels were briefly increased from mauve to deep purple yesterday. The first siting turned out to be a bird and the second 'zombie' was a log after closer inspection. Still, I'm keeping a close eye on the lake...
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