tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47594894759019700212024-03-09T20:45:17.686-06:00Audio Time Team3 friends and the occasional guests get together for fine food, fine drink, and (hopefully) fine audio dramas from the Big Finish Doctor Who RangeRedohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-24423365397196825422010-07-05T18:22:00.001-05:002010-07-05T18:22:37.082-05:00Gallifrey 2010 - Day Three<div xmlns=''><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'>So I posted Day One of my production journal for Innsmouth Public Library and within 10 minutes of that post going up got called out publicly on Twitter for not having finished my Gally Travelogue. (Thanks, Matthew)</p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'>Enjoy!</p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Let the OCD organizing of materials for autographing begin #gally 9:33 AM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal'>John has been a rather horrible influence on me. I used to not really care about autographs. I got them because the people were there and I had the items to sign. Now I'm his mini-me, making lists and checking them twice in terms of stuff I want signed. The night before I left for Gally I was on the floor of my apartment on the phone to him bemoaning the fact that I had nearly twenty items for Paul Cornell to sign and no clue what to cut from the list. (For the record I brought it all and just got as much as I could signed.) Friday morning them found both us finalizing what we would go through the day's autograph lines with. It's a rather sad and painstaking process involving post-it notes, bag placement, and deciding where the actual signature should go.</p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in; font-weight: normal'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Did I not get the memo that Apple is apparently the official laptop of Gallifey One? Not that I really care since I hate Apple. #gally 11:01 AM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>For the first time the Marriot had free wifi in the lobby and boy did we take advantage of it. Just about every socket and scrap of real estate large enough for a laptop was being used in the hours before the convention started properly. And I was clearly the freak as I was one of the few people not sporting an Apple laptop of some kind. Not that I felt left out since as the tweet says I'm not a fan of Apple but admittedly the sea of Apple icons staring back at me in the lobby was quite impressive.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Wish I could've taken better advantage of everything starting at noon but no, body wanted to be up at 6am. Cruk. #gally 11:50 AM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I have a horrible time getting any amount of decent sleep when I go to conventions. Partly I think it's due to the time difference and partly I think it's due to my overall excitement of seeing my friends again. As I've said before these conventions feel like summer camp in a way. An opportunity to play, relax, and spend time with people you only see when you go to camp. Even though I had gone to bed early the night before, earning me the nickname of Snooze Leprechaun from Handsome Timmy D, I was still up bright and too damn early. Normally six hours of sleep would be good, but since it was the first real bit of sleep I'd gotten since leaving Houston for LA on Wednesday I wasn't pleased in slightest. Especially since I knew I'd be getting less sleep as the days went by. I am glutton for punishment like that.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Hey, dude is cosplaying Victorian Jason Kane from short story pitch by @purserhallard for #Bernice anthology that wasn't accepted. #gally 12:01 PM Feb 26th via web</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I am horribly nerdy. (Or a horrible nerd, I can never get it quite right) In this case I'm playing the role of Uber Bernice Summerfield nerd with this tweet. Philip Purser Hallard has written for Bernice in the past and he's really good about putting up all sorts of <a href='http://www.infinitarian.com/bernicesummerfield.html'>related goodies</a> on his website as stories get published. One of the items he has up are some <a href='http://www.infinitarian.com/sc.html'>rejected pitches</a> for the</span> <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/Bernice-Summerfield-Something-Changed'><i><span style='font-weight: normal'>Something Changed</span></i></a> <span style='font-weight: normal'>anthology. One of the pitches involves Bernice, Jason, Peter, and Haas finding themselves transported back to Victorian era England. Couple this little nugget rattling around in my brain with seeing an 8</span> <sup><span style='font-weight: normal'>th</span></sup> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Doctor cosplayer with long flowing Pantene hair, add a bit of imagining what an Adrian Salmon cover for this story might look like and you get the above tweet. Also quite frankly I think it would be awesome if people would actually cosplay Bernice and the other characters from The Collection. I mean, hell, if people are going to cosplay Adric and Evelyn Smyth then surely there's a brave soul out there that wants to cosplay as Benny.</span></p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Have I mentioned I have issues before?</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>God's telling me I shouldn't have Denny's as chick is breastfeeding right in line of sight of good eye. #restaurantfail 1:31 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>We met up with Dan and his roommate, Jessica, after noon and decided to go get some real food that didn't cost almost as much as a night in the hotel. Denny's is just a few blocks down the road and I was craving Moons Over My Hammy. At least I was until some chick whipped her breast out to feed her kid right in my line of sight. I'm all for breastfeeding and while I don't think you should be hidden in a cave to do so in public I'm just asking for a little consideration for your fellow restaurant patrons. How about ask to be placed in a corner so not as many people have unobstructed views to your breast or sit in such a way as the other people if your party hide you. Just remember not everyone wants to watch that.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Outside of the intentional nipple slippage I was subjected to lunch was fun. It was nice to relax from the gathering convention frenzy in the relative peace and quiet of Denny's. Jessica quickly became one of us as we all found a shared love of Starblazers and Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton on Twitter.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Line to not be in a line for autographs forming in a non-line where guy was hiding under baby grand piano to go ninja on me. #gally 2:21 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>This year Gallifrey tried something different for the autograph process. Instead of having us line up for possibly an hour or so before a session thereby causing a person to miss a panel they might've wanted to go to they instituted the “Fly Away” system. It works similar to the ticketing system employed by Southwest where earlier in the day you gain a spot in a particular autograph group. Then you could just show up to the session based on which group you were in. Let's say a particular session started at 3pm. If you were in group 1 then you knew you could show up right at the start and get your autograph. Conversely if you had a slot in group 10 then you could take your time and not rush out of panel, knowing that there were 9 other groups in front of you. No fuss, no muss.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>At least on paper.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>In reality the first day was a fucking nightmare. I didn't have to stand in line to get my autographs but I had to stand in line to get ticket to not stand in line. Add to that that this time around autographs were going to be upstairs in an area off of the lobby. The space itself was larger, but it's relative short distance from the lobby meant that queuing up for the autograph ticket was a bit of a pain in the ass. Also it was also in the same area as doors that lead to the kitchen so we constantly had to be wary of blocking that door and other fire code violation goodies. Mix in to the equation people not completely understanding how the system worked, especially those that don't frequent the forums and it's a recipe for disaster.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>John and I rolled up to the first ticket giveaway to already find people camping out with no real sense of organization. As mentioned we discovered one guy under the piano who was ahead of us in line, but since he was hidden we didn't originally take him into consideration. Overall it was a huge clusterfuck with us not understanding what was going on and those running the sessions barely having any idea that first day as it was a totally new system they hadn't used before. Also Gallifrey might have been the biggest test for this system since it's one of the biggest conventions within fandom. Especially when the next tweet happened.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Back in line so I don't have to be in another line later. No idea how they're going to work it with Georgia signing an hour later. #gally 3:55 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Wednesday night it had been announced the Sarah Sutton wasn't going to be able to make the convention due to a family emergency. Naturally we all felt bad and hoped everything worked itself out for the best, but it left a few holes for convention organizers to fill. They decided to fill her Friday interview slow with Georgia Moffat and Alice Troughton doing commentary on “The Doctor's Daughter”. This was a great idea, except that it put it at the same time they had been scheduled to do the Friday autograph session. We were assured that while they didn't have all the kinks ironed out yet, Georgia and Alice would indeed be making the session, just late. Oh how history would bear out the need for a better plan to have been executed prior to them announcing the change in plans.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Holding pen for autographs feels like AA meeting or airline boarding lounge without TSA ready to search bags. #gally 4:29 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>After being in lines not to be in lines and catching some panels it was time for the first autograph session of the day. I was slotted for the first group and as such got admittance first to the first legit line of the day. In a potentially bad use of space they gathered us in a room and then we'd march through a back hallway to get to the other side of the partition that housed the guests signing. We'd just sit in this room waiting our turn to go through the doors and I found myself doing the requisite AA jokes of introducing myself and admitting I'm a Doctor Who fan.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Led the line for autographs because I rock. Might rescind greedy pig manuever and not go through 2nd time. #gally 5:01 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I am the daddy mack of autograph lines. At least in this case since I was in group one and John ended up group two even though he was right behind me in the first line not to be in a line earlier in the day. When we had gotten our tickets we were told that after passing through the line once we could get another ticket to go through again if there were any left to be had.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>(Proper hashtag) Committed sacrilege at #gally by telling Colin Teague that Being Human is best thing on telly. #beinghuman 5:20 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I did this rather quietly, leaning in as he signed my convention program. I absolutely adore Being Human and at the time I firmly believed that it was the best thing coming out there, even better than Doctor Who. (Series 31 has thoroughly changed my stance on this.) I was afraid I might be beaten to death by all the 10</span> <sup><span style='font-weight: normal'>th</span></sup> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Doctor cosplayers so I made sure not to speak too loudly. He thanked me and admitted that he thought Breaking Bad was the best thing on television at the moment. Sadly he didn't engage at Lobbycon as I fully think he'd have been great fun.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>I'm not your pet monkey. Not doing some bullshit "badge dance" to get into the dealer's room. Just ask to see my badge you douche. #gally 6:20 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Volunteers are employed to make sure only people registered for the convention get in to the dealer's room. In a way I don't get this as I'd think it wouldn't be a bad thing if someone just happened to wander in and buy something. Sure, convention organizers may not make any money off the transaction, but obviously the vendor might make a few extra bucks they wouldn't have without the random stranger walking in. And a vendor making more money can only be a happy vendor, right?</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Anyway, you've got to go through the hassle of showing your badge when you want to go into the dealer's room, even if you've been walking in and out all day. On general principle I hate having to prove my right to be some place. I still bitch when I get carded for booze though people tell me I should be flattered that I look young enough to be questioned. I just see it as a waste of time. I normally affix my badge to pant pockets or some similarly less than conspicuous place so it's bit of a hassle when I am asked to show it.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>This time around the volunteers decided to make a little game and ask people to do a dance of some sort before going inside. As you can imagine my natural hatred of such things go increased by the power of ten. I just turned enough to show the badge, muttered something non complimentary and went my merry way. I could hear them say it wasn't much a dance as I walked away and it was everything I had not to turn back and rip them a new one. Their job is to make sure only convention goers get to go inside and that's it. They're supposed to sit there for an hour or so just looking at badges. Don't give us grief because boredom has set in. Remember, you volunteered for that job.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Second autograph session becomes clusterfuck from hell. #gally 7:37 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Yep, the lack of proper organization and explanation once Georgia and Alice got slotted to do commentary reared its ugly head. All we were told was that they would be arriving late and that we were assured of getting their autographs. At no point in the initial conversation were we told that if we went through earlier we could show back up when they showed up. Missing that nugget of information John and I showed up before they did and got the new piece of information. Our greedy natures along with the staff sort of begging us to go through the line since a lot of people were going to come when Georgia and Alice did caused us to go on through. We thought we'd get through relatively fast and then just queue back up, getting not only them but a second shot at some of the other people we had multiple items for.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>In reality it turned out be a good thing that we got into line at all. It was running slower than we'd have thought and we were still in it when Georgia and Alice showed up. That's when things went to hell in a handbasket. The main line grew as people showed up for the first time and a second line sprang out of nowhere with people who had gone through once and now just needed Georgia and Alice. The problem became that there was no real rhyme or reason to the second line. It was just catch as catch can as staff tried to slot them in every so often between those of us that were still in line going through the first time. Add to this the room being insanely hot and people committing the horrible sin of actually talking to the guests while stuff was being signed and you can imagine how pissed people were getting across the board. No one was having Happy Funtime by the end of the session as people sweated in line and were getting yelled at by staff for any little transgression of the autograph rules.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>See what happens when you don't have a plan in place?</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Tailgating before Tanuke Suit Riot. #gally 10:37 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Tanuka Suit Riot (couldn't spell their name right) is a band that specializes in doing covers of fandom related music themes. John, Dan, Zach, Keefe, Cathy and myself started the evening festivities right by hanging out together for some cocktails in the hallway before the show started.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>More lines at the "no line" convention. #gally 10:50 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>This joke would get a lot mileage at the convention owing to the “Fly Away” system of autographs. In this case I was using it because we had to wait in line to get into the main ballroom for Tanuka Suit Riot.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Why are there chairs for a concert? No room to dance. #gally #concertfail 11:06 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Apparently the room was set up for the Mysterious Theater guys who were to come on after the concert. This meant the room was full of chairs and the only safe place to dance was at the back of the room. It also killed the vibe in the room and most of the people sat, completely unresponsive to the music. Surely something could've been worked out where maybe half of the room was devoid of chairs and an army of volunteers ready to go when the show was over to set them back up. It just felt like a disservice to the band to not have a room conducive to people to properly enjoy themselves.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Weeping Angel Porn! FTW! #gally 11:32 PM Feb 26th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I shall let you interpret this one on your own. Suffice to say Dan's visual interpretation of how this would work was hilarious. Those in the porn industry are more than welcome to call me and I'll explain this goldmine of an idea to you. I'm looking at you Vivid.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Grabbed a red vine thinking it was a twizzler. Sadness. #gally #ginandtitonicparty 1:33 AM Feb 27th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>There's a group of guys that every year host the most awesome room party known to man. This year's theme was the Starship Titanic complete with functioning wall panels simulating graphics seen on the show and it was called Gin and Titonic. As the copious amounts of Bellini's I consumed confirm, it's quite an awesome party. Along with drinks there's a mixture of goodies to be had food-wise and I got fooled by the red vines which are horrid pieces of shit compared to Twizzlers.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>http://twitpic.com/15ltre - @boozeleprechaun in the house! #gally 3:18 AM Feb 27th via TwitPic</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Gin and Titonic was so damn cool along with so many other fun things happen downstairs that I held off going into full Boozeleprechaun mode until after midnight when I mistakenly though Gin and Titonic was winding down. I felt it was kind of stupid to sit upstairs with tons of booze and no one to drink it because they were off having fun other places.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>Once I finally decided to spring into action John had already gone to bed. This created quite the hilarious attempt on my part to get the beer, moon pies, and Girl Scout cookies out of the room involving myself and three others going into commando mode as not to wake John up. I'm talking getting down on one knee and holding my hand up to signal silence whole bit. In what we thought was super secret ninja mode I had one person hold the door open as I silently went into retrieve all the goodies bit by bit, passing them off to the others that were ready to help.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I learned the next morning I was not a ninja and had managed to wake John up.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Sitting next to Girl Scout cookie aficionado. Apparently we choose wisely. #gally 4:10 AM Feb 27th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I brought Girl Scout cookies because I thought it would be something fun and different to go along with the beer. Little did I know that I was fulfilling some unspoken need as we were swamped be people who were more interested in cookies than booze. One of them was quite the learned man on the subject of Girl Scout cookies as he looked at the bottom of the box, saw who manufactured them, and declared my batch to be good. Apparently there's two factories where the cookies come from. This is why cookies can have two different names though they're the same depending on where you are in the country. My cookies from Texas come from the ABC bakery and seem to be the better of the two as my Girl Scout cookie guru explained in between sobs of joy and bites of cookies. Later on in the convention we would see other boxed of Girl Scout cookies as I would seem to have started a trend. At least that's why I tell myself to further stroke my ego.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Fuckwads helped themselves to beer. Stunt double for Danny from "Withnail and I" will wind up in a pool of vomit. #gally 5:13 AM Feb 27th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I freely give my beer but I'm smart about it since I'm in the lobby and therefore can't control who comes and goes. I will card you if you look young and I'll be hesitant to give you any if I don't know you. Especially if you roll up on me already stinking of booze and clearly drunk. If you're a stranger and people can't/won't vouch for you I'm careful. All it takes is for one idiot to get sick or worse for the hotel to stop Lobbycon to protect itself. In this case these jokers had already made a play for my beer and told them they weren't going to get any. They ended up helping themselves to some while I was conversing with others. Trust me when I say these asshats have ruined it for the rest of you at future cons.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <font color='#0000ff'><b>Bed. #gally 6:28 AM Feb 27th via Viigo</b></font> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>I finally crawled in to bed around 3 or so. (My tweet feeds from this time don't take into account the time change) I wanted to stay up for the opening of the Starbucks but I just couldn't hold on.</span> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <br/> </p><p style='margin-bottom: 0in'> <span style='font-weight: normal'>There's always tomorrow.</span> </p><br clear='left'/></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-37679863931170166832010-04-22T12:25:00.001-05:002010-04-28T18:21:42.710-05:00Public Service Announcement - Hurricane Who: Category 2If you frequent the forum at Gallifrey Base then you are hopefully aware of the current situation involving Hurricane Who: Category 2, a convention scheduled to take place in Orlando in October. If not, then please be aware that at this moment things are very tenuous at the moment and if you were thinking of going <b><i><span style="color: red;">PLEASE</span></i></b> <b><i><span style="color: red;">do not</span></i></b> purchase tickets at the moment.<br />
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IDW's <i>Doctor Who</i> writer Tony Lee has posted on his <a href="http://www.tonylee.co.uk/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=hurricane-who-2010-please-read.html&Itemid=1">site</a> this morning an explanation of things as he understands them as someone that was scheduled to appear at the event this year and his decision to change his mind. Please take a moment to read his post and if possible pass it along.<br />
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Obviously as things change and if the fortunes of the convention change I'll definitely pass that along.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: yellow;">UPDATE - April 28th</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">Things have changed in that the site is no longer taking money for the convention itself though you can still book rooms. Word has also emerged that a group is looking at the possibility of restructuring things enough to allow the convention to happen. </span>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-37137903987926150972010-03-04T18:25:00.012-06:002010-03-04T20:18:55.827-06:00Gallifrey 2010 - Days One and TwoThis year I'm going to do something a tad different in regards to the travelogue of my adventures to the annual Doctor Who convention in Los Angeles. I'm going to use the less offensive tweets from the affair and fill in the gaps along with lovely photos taken on Jocelyn, my new Blackberry. In advance I'd like to say with much pride that for once I didn't manage to injure myself in a fantastic manner. Which is a good sign since it would've been hard to top the eye paper cutting bit in Chicago and mysterious gashes on my leg from past adventures.<br /><br />Once again I did the roadtrip thing to Gally. It's not that I don't like flying, but there's no way I could bring these babies on board the plane with me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrPyG0m-D0tGH3u5BU06slOR3f9JS4LiNnKMkH0BcM28ul_VBEaLWDo16YBivV8TyhkhrAKmQLJ_btZXk9hN08iR5wHcQCJBUTh-DCdyr370Jmhc51OGRH8jrs0C7TQgMH7x92voa31Y5/s1600-h/TrunkBeer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrPyG0m-D0tGH3u5BU06slOR3f9JS4LiNnKMkH0BcM28ul_VBEaLWDo16YBivV8TyhkhrAKmQLJ_btZXk9hN08iR5wHcQCJBUTh-DCdyr370Jmhc51OGRH8jrs0C7TQgMH7x92voa31Y5/s320/TrunkBeer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444944960822874114" border="0" /></a><br />Mmm....Shiner.... I do have a reputation to maintain you know.<br /><br />Anyway, we headed out around 10am Wednesday morning with me at the wheel. We hit my favorite gas station in the world a little before noon and posted the following tweet:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Buc-ee's! Been on the road for 2 hours now.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRGrkntyoQLtCn3rAZZ6F1glk30g80wpQPRmJqIqmlYkYUQkqodPUulCjJaGYySSgJTfxM7ixLPqPAa-1LQ1espTgsVjG3__4tgIeSLO2Ai8nfP7bVrPBxyvKF8Dn99Q42EndVI31XUyD/s1600-h/IMG00016-20100224-1153.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRGrkntyoQLtCn3rAZZ6F1glk30g80wpQPRmJqIqmlYkYUQkqodPUulCjJaGYySSgJTfxM7ixLPqPAa-1LQ1espTgsVjG3__4tgIeSLO2Ai8nfP7bVrPBxyvKF8Dn99Q42EndVI31XUyD/s320/IMG00016-20100224-1153.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444948632608671554" border="0" /></a><br />As I tweeted shortly after, Buc-ee's is apparently the center of Tweetverse as it took me no time at all to upload either photos or regular tweets from Jocelyn to the web. For those of you that don't have the pleasure of Buc-ee's it's a gas station chain in Texas with a beaver as its mascot. The restrooms are insanely clean, the coffee cheap yet tasty, and they've got Beaver Nuggets!<br /><br />We stayed long enough to stretch and get some grub before heading back on the road.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Barely made it to Sonora. Coasted in on fumes. Oddly enough same place we stopped last year. Have swit</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">ched drivers.</span></span><br /><br />I misjudged how much gas I had as my now recalled Chevy Cobalt stops telling you how many miles you have left around the 48 mile countdown. Next thing you know the needle drops like a hammer and you're touching red. And that part of Texas between San Antonio and El Paso is pretty, but desolate in terms of civilization. Those were the hardest 20 miles of my life as I reduced speed to just over 55 miles per hours to nurse the gas to get me to the station. At the same time I was eyeing my On-Star system wondering if I was finally going to have make use of it if we ran out of gas. Luckily we didn't and then realized we stopped at the same station that we did in that area last year. As my reward I got to stop driving and just relax for a tad.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Have officially crossed into the mountain time zone. On course to be </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">out of Texas by 9pm right now.</span></span><br /><br />Thanks to the speed limit for this portion of the drive being 80 miles an hour we were making insane time. To give you an indication of just how big Texas is you cross timezones in the state going westward. We ended up stopping outside of El Pase to gas up the car and switch back to me driving. I blew through El Paso with the latest album from La Roux blasting in the car. Nothing finer than speeding to those tunes. A quick stop at an immigration checkpoint in New Mexico and we just kept making insane time. At one point I was projecting us getting in to Los Angeles sometime between 8 and 9 in the morning. Then those plans went off the rails.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">At near stand still outside of Deming, NM. Apparently massive accident</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content"> on highway.</span></span><br /><br />*sigh* And we'd been making such good time. We got nestled between semi-trucks on all sides and once we saw them power down we did the same. It was pitch black so I didn't get a good look at what was going on until we started moving an hour later but it appears a semi turned over and lost its load of what looked like AC units. Either way we were hanging out in a parking lot and slowly moving as other cars and trucks drove through the grass to go back in the opposite direction. Took the break to check email and whatnot until we started moving again.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Stopped for gas outside of Phoenix at 4:30 local time. Should hit California in a </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">couple of hour.<br /></span></span><br />At some point between Deming and Phoenix we had switched drivers. This meant I did not lose my shit in Tuscon as I had last year because I was in nappy land. Changed back to me when we got this bit of gas in Phoenix and I had intended to push on to Los Angeles myself but my body had other ideas.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Right leg trying to go to sleep. Had to swit</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">ch of again 40 miles outside of California. Should be in LA in 4 hours.</span></span><br /><br />I was miserable to put it mildly. For some reason my right leg just wanted to go to sleep so it started to go in to that pins and needles state. I couldn't get comfortable and I was scared I'd lose feel for the car if I continued on much longer. We made our way into California and survived another immigration checkpoint.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Stopped for a bit and discovered a General Patton museum. Sadl</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">y not open this early in the morning. Bastards.</span></span><br /><br />It's an out of the way place, just tucked near a gas station and trailer park. Tried to take photos but the rising sun made it kind of hard to tell much, but here's a shot of Patton and his dog.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVMnLOO1rQkEH-s-sZDhMpF7svI-JFlU3rNybjAShOu9jET8ek9hF0VLYyYuLiO_kc0GFdbpB8wGDq2-LH_7C9kpzK3DsaDUF_9zphwd8Uxj4Twzo-ot3uP3YyAjBKrRPYhy9TGU7kZum/s1600-h/IMG00021-20100225-0848.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVMnLOO1rQkEH-s-sZDhMpF7svI-JFlU3rNybjAShOu9jET8ek9hF0VLYyYuLiO_kc0GFdbpB8wGDq2-LH_7C9kpzK3DsaDUF_9zphwd8Uxj4Twzo-ot3uP3YyAjBKrRPYhy9TGU7kZum/s320/IMG00021-20100225-0848.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444955934656274882" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Where's my welcome committee for I am here!</span></span><br /><br />We rolled in to the hotel right around 10am and I felt like the last person to show up to the Real World house with my back over my shoulder and my rockin' new Booze Leprechaun chapeau on my head. Sadly though people did not fall to the ground and weep at the sight of me walking in to the hotel. John though was hanging out in the lobby so I didn't have to track him down to get a key to the room. And this year we lucked out with the hotel room. Check out this view.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPF24LgTfmWveImjQ0XEcrdh_0dTBRSby4ALdLQ0IdHImk0hSqSI6CCY1K_pphyywkTaRJ_8OwM7zT6i6dnp2CvQ1Ae7I__QNXnL1iImxt2PN2DbIbbIHnYWCgeMa85_iW4LaHu0O387z/s1600-h/IMG00027-20100225-1029.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPF24LgTfmWveImjQ0XEcrdh_0dTBRSby4ALdLQ0IdHImk0hSqSI6CCY1K_pphyywkTaRJ_8OwM7zT6i6dnp2CvQ1Ae7I__QNXnL1iImxt2PN2DbIbbIHnYWCgeMa85_iW4LaHu0O387z/s320/IMG00027-20100225-1029.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444957393152458674" border="0" /></a><br />The balcony was awesome and when we weren't doing nerdy things we'd chill like villians. Must find way to get same room again.<br /><br />Grabbed a shower so I could be a respectable member of society. Speaking of which, let's do an afterschool special moment here. We need to have a little chat about hygiene as clearly some of my fellow convention goers have issues. Let me point you to this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtSo0GBX_0g&feature=related">film</a> regarding keeping yourself clean and therefore someone we want to get near. Not that you have to go that far, but please, let water and soap touch your body at least once a day if not more if you're a sweaty bastard. Gally had over 1500 people this year and you can imagine the mass of humanity in some of the rooms. I work in a funeral home and I'd rather spend all day smelling the contents of a broken cooler than some of you nasty bastards.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNNS9HaauA1YqVRIhpwxJs6DKYUiw_fwBvp1aOw1iTtpazWhWbv-kYkWVBuNa-OqQ-vOvsj7Rz-BBxpgPOor7DWl_Uo1qcM8jYkuo5ZEVYnsdpNoUZRHfkieCzADtAKp20G7qBQQtF79p/s1600-h/IMG00073-20100301-0848.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNNS9HaauA1YqVRIhpwxJs6DKYUiw_fwBvp1aOw1iTtpazWhWbv-kYkWVBuNa-OqQ-vOvsj7Rz-BBxpgPOor7DWl_Uo1qcM8jYkuo5ZEVYnsdpNoUZRHfkieCzADtAKp20G7qBQQtF79p/s320/IMG00073-20100301-0848.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444960211895560914" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />The hotel even helps you out for god's sake! They will give you supplies daily if you ask along with clean towels and sheets! I know I'm being mean, but clearly some tough love is needed in this area as there were moments I nearly threw up because the smell was so vile. Just think of your fellow nerd, that's all I'm saying.<br /><br />Now with that public service announcement out of the way...<br /><br />All clean and presentable John and I went to Ralph's, a local grocery store, to load up on some basic supplies foodwise to keep from spending any more money than we had to in the hotel restaurant. We were grabbing so much that we needed a cart. There's way only one cart I could lay my hands on though.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRzpoolCXz-xBzB4aT7OLYS3PN2wEskrcFjTrRoXZtSwKL7LDcV0OyKL0E6dloLgLUAhRqUk-dAGJV6S7S5XRx7C0KwHAYE9mTyMO6Blcx2vZ-5gTc18edLkShdLxyyZXUN1amiAzl6nz/s1600-h/IMG00030-20100225-1311.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRzpoolCXz-xBzB4aT7OLYS3PN2wEskrcFjTrRoXZtSwKL7LDcV0OyKL0E6dloLgLUAhRqUk-dAGJV6S7S5XRx7C0KwHAYE9mTyMO6Blcx2vZ-5gTc18edLkShdLxyyZXUN1amiAzl6nz/s320/IMG00030-20100225-1311.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444961640367647026" border="0" /></a><br />Isn't it so cute? John definitely thought so.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujwx3O8cp6rbt-_76d9KhTcyBhdpwYTGBAeDLLrSu-plmFMCE6i36wx7EGAY-daQjjTX2_lSTBvhIvBbEIqs_P9pwjxhKCWpAcSbkW1JUmy2qTPtiMvhP-Hz9o0nDtzRMgIhuqDBWFkyV/s1600-h/IMG00028-20100225-1309.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujwx3O8cp6rbt-_76d9KhTcyBhdpwYTGBAeDLLrSu-plmFMCE6i36wx7EGAY-daQjjTX2_lSTBvhIvBbEIqs_P9pwjxhKCWpAcSbkW1JUmy2qTPtiMvhP-Hz9o0nDtzRMgIhuqDBWFkyV/s320/IMG00028-20100225-1309.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444962870131957138" border="0" /></a><br />We goofed around with the cart, contemplated stealing it, and after picking up some pizzas from Pizza Hut went back to the hotel. Then the real fun started.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Gally has officially begun!<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtnCLmSUu1TWWdAHoQ4_RoKFm1fxWImGiJxkJ4i6hu_dOGqqsS6MFaQcTt6sTwNai5rF7tzEyxju3YrT9g_gE8INdPKpi_MwFdVMJB69fw-5CXp6baHlkE3vZ5SIqQyTigg4o40Ca9s2-/s1600-h/IMG00031-20100225-1429.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtnCLmSUu1TWWdAHoQ4_RoKFm1fxWImGiJxkJ4i6hu_dOGqqsS6MFaQcTt6sTwNai5rF7tzEyxju3YrT9g_gE8INdPKpi_MwFdVMJB69fw-5CXp6baHlkE3vZ5SIqQyTigg4o40Ca9s2-/s320/IMG00031-20100225-1429.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444964188102302194" border="0" /></a><br />Started getting the beer on ice in the Magical Bucket of Booze and then made our way back to the lobby as more of our friends started showing up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Handsome Timmy D is in the house! NOW Gally has officially started! </span></span><br /><br />Because it's not a Gally until the Mayor of Gally shows up to welcome all new people. Handsome Timmy D makes all newbies feel welcomed and loved. As we were chillin' in the lobby Paul Cornell showed up and after exchanging pleasantries having not seen him in over six months we started chatting and catching up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">Geeks run as if they're in a marathon when the bar opens.</span></span><br /><br />We were still talking with Paul when we noticed the lobby was emptying because the hotel restaurant was open and everyone needed their booze fix. You'd have thought David Tennant was in there the way some of us ran for our first drop of beer for the day. We continued chatting with Paul until dinner time rolled around when we had to part company since we couldn't dine where he was dining. (Which I make sound way more ominous than it really is for the record.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">For a Thursday night Lobbycon is insane.</span></span><br /><br />It was. Normally Thursday is the slower of the nights as people are still showing up. That was not the case this year as the place was packed. It was cool though as we made new friends and did our best Handsome Timmy D impersonations welcoming the newbies to the con. Also had a moment of fail where I was afraid I'd have to turn my Booze Leprechaun status back in as I had forgotten Sam Adams beer bottles do not have twist caps and I lacked a bottle opener. Handsome Timmy D to the rescue as he bought me one in the hotel gift shop. All became right with the world as later in the evening when Tony Lee switched in to his waistcoat. I went to bed early, sometime shortly after midnight as I hadn't had much sleep during the roadtrip portion and non since getting to the hotel.Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-45979019929867799762010-02-21T18:59:00.001-06:002010-02-22T08:48:17.772-06:00The Shadow of the Scourge and The Holy Terror<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Hey kids! Did you miss us? We missed you. Today we're at TBH with our new member, Raul, as we give you this pre-Gallifrey 2010 edition of the Time Team. Say "hello, Raul.<br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: Hello</font><br/><br/>Isn't he great, ladies? Naturally he enjoys Doctor Who along with roller derby and rockabilly. And he runs a theater<br/><br/>After a primer on Benny, New Adventures, and Post 1988 Ace we start us <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/13-Doctor-Who-The-Shadow-of-the-Scourge' target='_blank'><i>The Shadow of the Scourge</i></a> by <a href='http://www.paulcornell.com/' target='_blank'>Paul Cornell</a>. It opens with the beginning of a seance and Annie asking the aliens to come as she and the others bring peace. <br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: And moist towelettes.</font><br/><br/>We all get a good laugh as Annie bitches to Brian Hughes about copyright infringement of quack psychic characters.<br/><br/>The Doctor arrives with Ace and Professor Bernice Summerfield in tow and as usual there's a body count whenever he shows up. And "wise old biddies" based on Summerfield's lip reading skils. We get a side trip with Hughes showing up at another convention happening in the hotel before returning back to Doctor Who: CSI. The triple booking at the hotel of cross stitchers, extra terrestrial channelers, and time experimenters is apparently bad for the universe and our gang splits up.<br/><br/>It doesn't take long for Bernice to make herself known to main range Who fans as she infiltrates the extra terrestial channelers and gets them to speak to her dead turtles. Meanwhile Ace is getting herself kicked out of the time experiment room and then getting close with the cross stitchers talking about the dead dude on the elevator. Back to Bernice talking to Mary and then Annie. Annie's in the back trying to keep her guts from spilling.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: <a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFvENQBc-F8' target='_blank'>Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?</a></font><br/><br/>Hughes is locking the joint up and setting the time experiment machine while Annie is legitimately making contact with the other world. We get title as the Scourge start showing up. Our first cliffhanger of the day leaves us with the Doctor seemingly handing over Earth to the Scourge.<br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: For some reason this reminds me <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Death' target='_blank'><i>City of Death</i></a> and <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invasion_of_Time' target='_blank'><i>The Invasion of Time</i></a> where it's funny and the Doctor is handing stuff over and you've no clue what's really going on.</font><br/><br/>"That is really...icky!" might be the best line in the any of the audios Big Finish has done up to this point in the timeline of the main range.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: Paul, if you're reading this you are a brilliant, brilliant man.</font><br/><br/>Which is then followed by the worse line as Bernice does a pun based on Pembroke saying "what" three times. Cross stitchers try to be all heroic and fail miserably. Bernice says "goddess" as the Scourge Demi-Leader makes one strangle himself.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/>Me: Drink.</font><br/><br/>The Doctor blames his connecting up with the Scourge on to much cheese before bed time.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Dude, I eat a bunch of cheese before bed but I've never met the Scourge in my dreams.</font><br/><br/>Ace proves that her acting skills are not the best as the Doctor proves that he didn't fall for her charade of thinking he really gave the Earth to the Scourge. Ace and Bernice go off to make tea for Pembroke and Greg, Cross Stitch Boy and discover that there's only darkness outside the hotel.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: So that's where the band went.</font><br/><br/>Ace rags on <a href='http://radiohead.com/deadairspace/' target='_blank'>Radiohead</a> as the Doctor says the Scourge prey on the depression and sadness of the masses.<br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: Wow.</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: I like Radiohead, but yeah, she's right.</font><br/><br/>The Doctor describes people falling for the Scourge as a rabbit stops in the headlights of an oncoming car.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Which is a song by <a href='http://www.unkle.com/' target='_blank'>Unkle</a> sung by Thom Yorke from Radiohead.</font><br/><br/>The Doctor gets out tricked by the Scourge as they figure out his games and trump him. He starts transforming as the Scourge Demi-Leader talks about how cool he is for outwitting the Doctor. Part Two ends with the Doctor begging for Benny and Ace to help him as he starts to change.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: Bummer.</font><br/><font color='#666666'><br/>Me: So, Raul, now that you're halfway through your first audio what do you think?</font><br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: I want to listen to more. I'm really enjoying myself. You can tell they're having fun and doing it for the love of the show. Like any new medium it takes a little getting used to but I'm having fun.</font><br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: You missed some really bad ones.</font><br/><font color='#666666'><br/></font><font color='#666666'>Me: Oh don't worry. There are more bad ones to come.</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: I thought I was going to slit my wrists after I think <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/02-Doctor-Who-Phantasmagoria' target='_blank'><i>Phantasmagoria</i></a>.</font><br/><font color='#666666'><br/></font><font color='#666666'>Me: Actually I think it was <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/01-Doctor-Who-The-Sirens-of-Time' target='_blank'><i>The Sirens of Time</i></a>.</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: Oh yeah. I wanted to stop after that one.</font><br/><br/>But we didn't and after refreshing ourselves with Shiner Bock and Oreo's we continue. The inevitable chess reference comes from Ace as she talks about how the Scourge have outmaneuvered the Doctor. Bernice says "goddess" again.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Drink!</font><br/><br/>Ace talks Gary in to fucking up her ear drums. The last thing she hears is Bernice uttering another "goddess".<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Drink!</font><br/><br/>Bernice has a plan that's slightly more involved than Ace's of deafening herself and madcap hilarity ensue as they try to communicate with Ace. We go back to the Scourge.<br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: Are they in the lobby with the music?</font><br/><br/>The Doctor proves he still has a trick or two up his sleeve as we learn he's shut himself down to keep the Scourge in him from popping out. As he quotes Shakespeare in his mind Bernice and the gang are dragging him across the hotel floor. We get another "goddess" as they run in to a Scourge.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/>Me: Drink. Jesus, was Paul trying to hit a "goddess" quota?</font><br/><br/>They find the Scourge Formerly Known as Annie and bring the Annie portion back to the front.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Are they attacking a cappuccino machine?</font><br/><br/>Annie allows the Doctor to speak long enough for to tell Ace to find the TARDIS and Bernice to come inside the Doctor's head. Bernice uses Annie to get inside his noggin and apparently he's gotten a bit of an interior decorator to provide seating for situations like this. They see his Jungian archetypes who only show up when bad shit is about to happen.<br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: Or during an anniversary special.</font><br/><br/>Like other fan girls Bernice drools over the 8th Doctor which she sees waiting over the bridge to come over. The Doctor points out he'll transform into a Scourge if they don't win. Bernice has a go at him, bitching him out for possibly destroying her future. The Doctor reminds her that she's not helping him fight a species that feeds on doubt and fear. Bernice backtracks in between another "goddess".<br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: One hell of a guilt trip.</font><br/><font color='#333333'><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Drink.</font><br/></font><br/>Annie can't sense the Doctor's heartbeat.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: (Don Johnson) <a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULI5kolBpAk' target='_blank'>Heartbeat! I can hear your heartbeat!</a></font><br/><br/>Annie Scourge comes back and she makes Gary strangle himself as I reach for another Oreo. Ace and Pembroke finally reach the TARDIS where they encounter another Scourge who asks them to kneel.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/>Me: Before Zod!</font><br/><br/>Bernice's attempt to make the Doctor all warm and fuzzy fails as the third part ends with him seemingly succumbing to the Scourge in his mind. Tim and I do our best Bill Paxton impersonations as the Doctor proclaims over and over that the game is over. Ace and Pembroke fight two other Scourge and Ace bitches that Pembroke doesn't need to pull her head to see the second Scourge.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/></font><font color='#666666'>Me: Maybe he's did it because he's tired of your yelling and your shit acting.</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: Ouch.</font><br/><br/>Then my point is proven as Ace doesn't another bit of shit acting to get close enough to stab a Scourge. Benny wakes up in a hotel room, alone, and runs off to help the Doctor uttering another "goddess".<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Drink.</font><br/><br/>Ace tries to keep Pembroke from killing her by telling him she's seen loads of people die who didn't deserve it.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Yet you're still here.</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: That describes fifty percent of the people who show up on the show. More if you take series finales into consideration. how many continents get shifted at the end of <i>The Parting of the Ways</i>?</font><br/><br/>The Doctor takes over Pembroke's mind and tells Ace where the key to the TARDIS is. He apparently set the nanites to focus on the control room and Ace realizes the Doctor thought they wouldn't make it through without harm.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Um...that's pretty much how things went during your time in The New Adventures. Especially ones written by Kate Orman.</font><br/><br/>The Doctor makes everyone feel the Scourge and they kinda feel emo. <br/><br/>Bernice: Goddess<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Drink.</font><br/><br/>Ace and Bernice share a tender moment as Bernice stays to look after the Doctor.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: (as Ace) I love you.</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Can I say that acting against Lisa Bowerman only accentuates that Sophie's not the best of actresses?</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: You could, but I've really enjoyed some of the comedy bits.</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Yeah, those have been good, but look at this past moment when Ace says it should be her looking after the Doctor.</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: I admit that could've been more powerful.</font><br/><br/>Bernice tells the Scourge who's playing Doctor Phil to stuff it as she takes another stab at bolstering the Doctor's self esteem. They try to think up a way to counteract the despair the Scourge are stirring up.<br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: Let's have an orgasm!</font><br/><br/>She sorts out that it's happiness with people you love, hanging with loved ones and eating tea and scones because they are the best!<br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: Yes! I'm having a teagasm!</font><br/><br/>Ace rallies the troops of cross stitchers, new agers, and technogeeks to attack the Scourge as The Doctor and Bernice show up. The Doctor turns fear back on the Scourge as he makes everyone else feel love, peace, and moist towelettes in a bit of reverse psychobabble. Cornell is able to work owls in as he convinces Brian that none of the killing was his fault.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Drink for owls! And I guess that makes Brian like <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates' target='_blank'>Andrea Yates</a>.</font><br/><br/>Cue stock Big Finish Huzzah music as the day is saved and everyone returns to normal. The Doctor chastises Bernice for lusting after his 8th version.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: (as Bernice) I just saw Paul McGann and thought he was hot.</font><br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: Very Cool.</font><br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: Certainly one of the better audios. Funny, couldn't see what it was going.</font><br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: A lot of fun.</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: It was fun to see Bernice in a supporting role as opposed to the lead one she normally plays. Bowerman slots right in to the notoriously close team of McCoy and Aldred and feels as if she's been there the entire time. Further proof that Paul should write for Bernice more often as it's always fun when he creator gets his hands back into the process.</font><br/><br/>We jump right in to <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/14-Doctor-Who-The-Holy-Terror' target='_blank'><i>The Holy Terror</i></a> by <a href='http://robshearman.livejournal.com/' target='_blank'>Rob Shearman</a> after laughing at the retard who thinks The Wolfman ripped off Twilight.<br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: I hear that music and still expect Tom Baker to show up.</font><br/><br/>We learn how easy it is to keep yourself from being burned at the stake as Tacitus easily recants his heresy in following the wrong living god.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: That's so Monty Python! I think I'm going to like this more than <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/40-Doctor-Who-Jubilee' target='_blank'><i>Jubilee</i></a> which is saying a lot.</font><br/><br/>Macap hilarity continues as the old Queen is taken off to be killed in a manner determined by the new Queen who had been polishing the old Queen's toenails. Meanwhile Frobisher is trying to eat some gumblejack when the Sixth Doctor barges into his bath.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: Don't get between Colin Baker and his gumblejack.</font><br/><br/>Frobisher has been messing with the TARDIS controls to make fake gumblejack.<br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: What happens when I touch this button?</font><br/><br/>Apparently hunchbacks are meant to be evil as the Old Queen bitches at her hunchback son, Childeric, who she thinks isn't evil enough as he sucks up to her saying she's his evil idol.<br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: With that music behind him it's like he's about to break into song.</font><br/><br/>The new living god is a bit of wuss as he's not producing any thoughts worthy of chronicling. Childeric shows back up and talks to High Priest Clovis.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: Is that Paul Darrow?</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Nope.</font><br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: He has that effeminate "oh I'm so evil" voice like Darrow.</font><br/><br/>Pepin gets coronated and fails miserably as a living god much to the consternation of his wife and his subjects. Just as Pepin is about to be put to death the TARDIS shows up on the scene providing the miracle in the form of Frobisher, ruining the plans of Childeric. Frobisher denies being a god.<br/><font color='#33ffff'><br/>All: When they ask you if you're a god you say yes!</font><br/><br/>Despite his best efforts to get killed Pepin survives as his subjects rejoice while his wife, Livilla, continues to bitch at him. Childric continues to plot against Pepin as Tacitus writes the Bible. Part one ends with an attempt on Pepin's life that oddly enough doesn't come from his wife. I take a picture of my super sweet new Booze Leprechaun chapeau made by Alison as Pepin survives the ritual assassination attempt and forgives his would be ritual assassin much to the consternation of Frobisher. Pepin still doesn't feel like a god.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Maybe he feels like a woman.</font><br/><br/>Frobisher drools over Pepin's wife as she comes to bitch at him some more. Pepin and Frobisher go to the Blue Temple as The Doctor messes up Tacitus' room looking for an earlier bible. The passage from Pepin the Third's bath reads a bit like the beginning of a Penthouse story while the locals have transformed the TARDIS into the temple. Pepin tries to convince Frobisher that the TARDIS is indeed a temple and the console was an altar. Clovis shows up to Tacitus' house as Livilla tries to get mother-in-law to say that Childeric is the real heir. The locals are pissed that Pepin the Sixth died. Livilla shows she's a suckass Empress by failing to kick Berangaria's ass until she starts to beat her with a lead pipe.<br/><br/>Frobisher tries to convince Pepin to stop being such a pussy as Pepin wants to again tell his subjects he's not a god. Childeric tells the Doctor why he's doing what he's doing. Clovis admits no one in the church has believed in god in centuries.<br/><br/><font color='#cc33cc'>Alison: Wow.</font><br/><br/>Pepin abdicates his throne to Frobsisher as the second part ends.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/>Me: You know what I just realized? We're halfway through a Colin Baker audio and we've only made one fat joke.</font><br/><br/>Childeric shows he's gone completely bonkers as he's tried to make a god from birth.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: As opposed to being the Freshmaker.</font><br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: Mentos: The Reaper of Souls!</font><br/><br/>The subjects continue to worship Frobisher. He starts to mess with the social framework of the planet as he pardons Pepin and tries to make him the new High Priest.<br/><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: It's good to be the king penguin.</font><br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: Emperor penguin.</font><br/><br/>Frobisher manages to rework society within thirty minutes by implementing parliamentary elections and dodging live bullets during ritual assassinations. Childeric gets all pissed off and unleashes his hand made god to retrieve the throne. Apparently he's done a better job than even he expected as the child speaks. The child is super creepy as he transforms Livilla into an infant.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: I think we have title!</font><br/><br/>The Doctor and Tacitus escape the oncoming temper tantrum. Tacitus freaks out as he thinks he's killed the kid numerous times in the past. The Doctor goes back to stop the child and then we get a little intermission of Frobisher fixing his nose to save a sculptor from death. Meanwhile the Child God continues his killing spree before entering Childeric's mind. He tears Childeric apart.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/><font color='#006600'>Tim: What horror movie is this music from?</font></font><br/><font color='#ffcc00'><br/>Raul: Sounds like Halloween.</font><br/><br/>God was apparently created by Tacitus. Or at least he sounds like Tacitus. Part four starts up and Tim has to leave us.<br/><font color='#006600'><br/>Tim: I guess I'll find out who created God later.</font><br/><br/>The Doctor pisses on the Child God's delusions of granduer telling him he's not a god but a source of torture. He hopes he's lived up to his father's expectations of killing and wondering if he's pleased his father so far.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Only if your father is Saddam Hussien.</font><br/><br/>We shift back to the Ultimate Dysfunctional Family as Pepin and Bergania have a heart to heart over how much she hates him. Clovis begs the Doctor to explain why he wants to destroy the Emperor. The Doctor explains Clovis is just a stereotype and a sidekick to the real villian. Child God keeps killing people as he searches for his father and Tacitus is hiding in Frobisher's throne room. Child God shows up just as Pepin and Bergania become a real family and makes it go all pear shaped as he kills Pepin. Bergania finally comes round to the notion of free will before finally getting her wish for the sweet, sweet release of death. Tacitus goes bat shit as he finally breaks from being in prison and believes himself to be the emperor. The Doctor stops history from repeating itself as Tacitus wants to kill his son again. Instead Tacitus gets the child to kill him.<br/><br/><font color='#ffcc00'>Raul: That was cool.</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Definitely not a warm and fuzzy ending. Probably the most depressing in the Big Finish line up to the point. It stands out more when put back to back with The Shadow of the Scourge and it's almost candy cane sweet ending.</font><br/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=6c2054de-8717-834c-ba39-986bfc4481ce' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-8185663341111660922010-02-13T12:22:00.002-06:002010-02-13T12:32:46.477-06:00Don't Give Up On Us<span style="font-family: times new roman;">Yes. I know. As of late we've only popped our heads out of the ground to discuss my drinking (mis)adventures at conventions and the occassional Companion Chronicle offering. But that's about to change. (But don't worry, I'll be at Gally this year engaging in more drunken mischief if you want to say 'hi'.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">The Audio Time Team shall return in full form next Sunday as we'll lavish our unique form of love, snark, and booze on </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/13-Doctor-Who-The-Shadow-of-the-Scourge"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Shadow of the Scourge</span></a><span style="font-family: times new roman;"> and </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/14-Doctor-Who-The-Holy-Terror"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Holy Terror</span></a><span style="font-family: times new roman;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Join Tim and I next Sunday as we welcome new member Raul to the club. </span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">----------------</span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">Listening to: </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/fall+out+boy/track/sugar%2c+were+goin+down" title="'Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down' - open on FoxyTunes Planet">Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down</a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: italic; font-size: 10px;">via <a style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" href="http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/" title="FoxyTunes - Web of music at your fingertips">FoxyTunes</a></span>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-54978940570461500832009-08-30T13:56:00.002-05:002009-08-30T14:25:04.673-05:00Companion Chronicles - The Drowned World<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">The end of the world is seriously nigh, and available for <a href="http://www.bigfinish.com/84-Bernice-Summerfield-The-End-of-the-World">purchase</a>, as I give you not one but two Audio Time Team sessions this weekend.<br /><br />And watch as there be spoilers ahead.<br /><br />It would only seem natural that if I did <a href="http://www.bigfinish.com/35-Doctor-Who-The-Companion-Chronicles-Home-Truths"><i>Home Truths</i></a> yesterday I should do <a href="http://www.bigfinish.com/401-Doctor-Who-The-Companion-Chronicles-The-Drowned-World"><i>The Drowned World</i></a> today. A direct sequel to <i>Home Truths</i>, <i>The Drowned World</i> brings the entire creative team responsible for one of Big Finish's most popular titles from last year back together for another go around. We pick up a time after the ending of <i>Home Truths</i> where Robert returns to the house and Sara Kingdom, giving us an info dump of the previous audio. Robert has returned to hear another story from Sara that will help him convince his superiors not to destroy her. Once again we're teased with stories involving a boy dying in Sara's arms and a man stuck in a clock but this time around we get a story involving her adventures on an asteroid in the Red-O Belt.<br /><br />The TARDIS materializes in an odd angle in a lab area and it takes no time at all for Sara, Steven, and the First Doctor to be separated from the TARDIS as it falls into water. Having no where to go up they continue to climb, opening one hatch after another. The second set of doors open up, freeing a bunch of miners and the stock Big Finish "much rejoicing noise" who weren't expecting Red-O Base to send a rescue party in time.<br /><br />Sara remembers that some of the miners were convinced they'd been attacked as opposed to being struck by an act of nature. The Doctor opts to work on the life support system with a warning about the water while Sara, Steven, and Miners Hutchinson, Cowell and Keefe go to retrieve the TARDIS. It doesn't take long for the body count to start as Miner Keefe ends up playing the role of red shirt ensign in manly screaming fashion, making the mistake of not heeding the Doctor's advice to not touch the water. Think of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Abyss"><i>The Abyss</i></a> gone horribly wrong.<br /><br />At the risk of sounding blasphemous, the real star this time is Niall MacGregor as Robert. The first time around MacGregor's Robert was a placeholder character, serving to give the listener something else to listen to than just Jean Marsh along with serving as the device that gets Sara to tell her story. This go around he's a much more integral part of the story. Simon Guerrier fleshes out his character and turns Robert into someone we actually can care about just as much as we care about what happens to Sara. Robert also serves as another narrator, at times helping to tell Sara's story. This is not to say Jean Marsh was horribly, far from it. Just as before Jean took what she was given and ran with it, providing another stellar performance.<br /><br />Guerrier once again writes a gripping outer story that helps frame the inner story that Sara's telling. Ultimately, just as you find yourself caring about Robert you find youself just as engrossed in what one would think is the inconsequential outer story of what's happening to Robert's world. As before Lisa Bowerman does not disappoint. I know I sound lke a broken record, but it bears repeating that she may be the one of the best directors Big Finish has on the payroll at the moment. Maybe, it's her acting background, but she's able to bring out performances that aren't one note, something that might be easy to fall in when you're working with only two actors. There's definite shifts between the inner story and the outer story that you'd be able to tell without the aid of the sound design and music.<br /><br />Even before listening to the behind the scenes chat with the creative team it's very clear that the foundation is being laid for the story of Sara and Robert to be a trilogy. And while I could eventually see that coming, it does not disappoint me. After two audios I care enough about them to want to hear a third story. One can only hope that Big Finish will bring this group together for a third time.</span><br /><br /><p class="scribefire-powered">Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-30522481663054190482009-08-29T16:46:00.001-05:002009-08-29T16:50:27.814-05:00Companion Chronicles - Home Truths<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>Looky looky, it's not an Archway cookie but another Audio Time Team installment.<br/><br/>Hell has turned quite frosty. Our schedules have not meshed and as you'll notice quite quickly still haven't meshed. But I felt like getting something out so I've opted for some Companion Chronicles. If the concept of one person narrating a whole story is good enough for Big Finish, then little ole' me going solo is good enough for me.<br/><br/>For my return to the world of solo ATT goodness I've opted for <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/35-Doctor-Who-The-Companion-Chronicles-Home-Truths'><i>Home Truths</i></a> by Simon Guerrier and starring <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Marsh'>Jean Marsh</a> as <a href='http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sara_Kingdom'>Sara Kingdom</a>. For you New Who kids Sara Kingdom traveled with the First Doctor for one story before she met her untimely demise. Naturally one might ask how the hell do you do a Companion Chronicle with a character that was only around for one story and ended up as dead as Michael Jackson. At least that's what I was thinking, without the Michael Jackson bit, when it was first announced that they were doing a story with Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom.<br/><br/>To answer this question the audio opens up on a dark stormy night with a man begging to be let in to escape the weather. Quickly we learn the house is inhabited by an old woman who used to run a guesthouse. The man, asks her to tell a story about a house. <br/><br/>The woman turns out to be Sara Kingdom.<br/><br/>For those not familiar with Sara we get a quick info dump of the background of how Sara ends up with the Doctor and Steven. This works well, not only for new fans but old ones as it helps to flesh out Sara's character. It helps give reason as to why we'd get a Companion Chronicle with a companion who people debate as to whether or not she's a true companion. After this info dump and a taste of other adventures she'd had with the Doctor and Steven we get to the story that not only the man, but we want. The story about the house. (Between this and <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/11-Doctor-Who-Short-Trips--A-Christmas-Treasury'>"Every Day"</a> by Stephen Fewell it seems the First Doctor is attracted to fucked up houses.)<br/><br/>The audio flips back and forth from the main story of Sara meeting with the Magistrate, Robert, and the one she's telling. It's a nice way to break up the action, without feeling forced. It's easy to imagine the main scene of them talking and then the flashbacks associated with Sara's story. These switches along with creating the general atmosphere are capably handled by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason handling sound design and the music. It can tricky doing a mystery/horror piece on audio since you're lacking the visual component to foster fear and terror. This is one of those audios that benefits greatly from listening to it with a good pair of headphones. You're able to catch the little bits thrown in to help craft the overall audio along with the script and acting.<br/><br/>I've never been a fan of the First Doctor. The stories were normally too long and at times he was too crabby for my liking. I won't even get into my issue with his later stories where he'd just be absent for multiple episodes leaving us with just some crap companions. His stories during a monthly Nitro-9 meeting normally servies as nap and/or food time. Much as he worked his magic in the Bernice Summerfield range to get fans to re-examine the character of Jason Kane, Guerrier does an equally admirable job of rehabbing the First Doctor, for me at least. The story is tight and crisp and the characterisation of Hartnell's Doctor is detailed enough to allow Marsh impersonate him to a "t".<br/><br/>Hinging the success or failure of any story on one person is always a gamble. In the wrong hands, these Chronicles can be painful to work your way through. Obviously, in the hands of Jean Marsh this is not the case. Though it's been over forty years since Jean played Sara she picks up where she left off. Jean takes the script and runs with it, making the part and story her own.<br/><br/>Rounding out the perfect creative group to bring this story to life is Lisa Bowerman as the director. She has yet to fail as a director and this continues the trend for her. Lisa may be one of the best directors Big Finish has employed as of late and it's a pleasure to see them using her as much as they can.</font><br/><br/><font face='Times New Roman'>Overall, <i>Home Truths</i> is a quite a clever concept allowing the fans to re-experience a character from beyond the grave. There's something to be said for classic storytelling over the usual reliance on explosions and non-stop action to propel a story, especially in the audio format. And doubly so when you relying mainly on one person to keep the story moving and your audience engaged.<br/><br/>Keep your eyes posted here as I want to get things moving around these parts again. Possibly check back tomorrow even...</font><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=74ac11a7-af47-8ed3-bce7-fa783cee391d' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-59142570262624487772009-07-12T16:34:00.001-05:002009-07-12T16:34:18.547-05:00A Momentary Interruption<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>We break into this regularly scheduled blog about Big Finish audios to point out the massive levels of fail being experienced by the writers on Torchwood: Children of Earth at the hands of some seriously sad fans.<br/><br/>http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/07/stepping-back.html<br/><br/>To quote the great William Shatner from Saturday Night Live "Get a life!"<br/><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-72373123118860217222009-06-29T19:29:00.002-05:002009-06-29T20:01:01.068-05:00Hell Has Frozen Over...<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">...or I ended up in an alternate universe. Either way, the long awaited Bernice Summerfield: The Inside Story is being released.<br /><br />http://www.bigfinish.com/news/Bernice-Summerfield--The-Inside-Story<br /><br />Run, don't walk to your computers and your wallets to pre-order this tome the likes of which we'll probably never see again. And lookey at the bottom of the press release, you lucky people who pre-order will get your copies signed.<br /><br />Check this space later this week for a possible update on the next Time Team installment.</span><br /><br />Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-56871107614420345922009-05-25T17:38:00.001-05:002009-05-25T17:38:47.970-05:00Much Belated Pimping<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>I know, I know. I've been a bad bad girl. (Not <a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stuyVj8IOPg&feature=channel_page'>that kind</a> you freaks)<br/><br/>Not sure when we'll get together for another Time Team. I don't think we'll get one in for May but you'll definitely see us in June. But until then, enjoy this pimping I've been slacking on.<br/><br/>First up: New <a href='http://www.denofgeek.com/television/256664/doctor_who_animated_series_on_the_way.html'>Animated Who</a> on it's way sometime in the fall ala' The Infinite Quest. The reason for Time Team pimpage you ask? Besides starring Tennant this new Who will star Time Team favorite Lisa Bowerman. It's not Benny but we'll take what we can get.<br/><br/>Next: <a href='http://www.hurricanewho.com/'>Hurricane Who</a> is developing quite the nice guest list for a first time con with latest additions of Gareth David Lloyd, Tony Lee, and India Fisher.<br/><br/>Later on in the convention Winter season is <a href='http://www.chicagotardis.com/'>Chicago TARDIS</a> which is finally making it look like their 10th anniversary will be one to remember. McGann will be joined by his first companion, Daphne Ashbrook, along with possible his most beloved by fans, India Fisher. Can we hope for all his women with additions of Lisa Bowerman and Sheridan Smith? (I got the backs of the fanboys and their dreams. Someone should have theirs come true.)<br/><br/>And as always, early next year is the uber party known as <a href='http://convention.gallifreyone.com/'>Gallifrey</a>. Peter Davison is the only guest announced so far, but we all know it'll be a party to remember.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-25670253711353039142009-04-19T19:51:00.002-05:002009-04-24T21:10:20.042-05:00The Apocalpyse Element and The Fires of Vulcan<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Happy belated velociraptor awareness day!<br /><br />No new beer today. Just some Shiner Bock because I didn't make it to the store in time to buy Mighty Arrow from the folks that make Fat Tire. After a meal of homemade turkey wraps we start up <i><a href="http://www.bigfinish.com/11-Doctor-Who-The-Apocalypse-Element">The Apocalpyse Element</a></i>.<br /><br />It opens with two glorified air traffic controllers talking. Monitor wants to be called Trinkett when it's just her and some other bloke.<br /><span style="color:#999999;"><br />Me: They call me MR. Tibbs!</span><br /><br />We learn that there's a conference about to begin and then we hear the dulcet tones of the Doctor's TARDIS.<br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><br />Tim: Well, everyone's going to die. The Doctor has arrived.</span><br /><br />The Doctor has apparently stumbled in the wrong place at the wrong time for the Timelords liking as they come across a member of the Celestial Intervention Agency. It doesn't take long for the Doctor and Evelyn to separate. The Doctor advises that something is up and that they need to be subtle.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Like that's going to happen with a coat like that.</span><br /><br />We get backstory as the Timelord President explains that Romana's been missing for twenty years when a planet she was visiting, Etra Prime, (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGlMTMV_CJo">oh clever, clever prime...</a>) disappeared. The Timelords are attending the conference in hopes of discovering which race had the ability to make a whole planet disappaer.<br /><br />Evelyn is having way too much fun with a bracelet and then all the sensors start going crazy. It seems that the planet that disappeared with Romana on it has reappeared.<br /><span style="color:#999999;"><br />Me: Is that like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicron">Unicron</a>?</span><br /><br />Ensac gets hypnotized.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: You mean nutsack?</span><br /><br />Insert short sequence of Dalek's screaming at one another.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: We have Daleks!</span><br /><br />Monitor Trinkett thinks the planet, Etra Prime, might have reappeared.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Angelie: Optimus Prime?</span><br /><br />Evelyn is skulking about and trying to make sure no one notices her.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: I'm not liking Evelyn in this compared to her previous appearances. She's almost too snarky and glib.</span><br /><br />Ensac tries to complete his mission but is stopped by Trinkett and the Doctor.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: You mean Ex-lax?</span><br /><br />Daleks show up and start blowing shit up, including Evelyn. Chancellery guards start blowing up Daleks and rescue Evelyn.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: I can deal with Evelyn being a little more terrified by the Daleks since this is the first time she's met them. I don't really buy her being crushed by debris or in real danger. It's easy to go over the top in both cases but she almost underplays it.</span><br /><br />The Daleks steal some technology that the Gallifreyans wanted to steal themselves. Meanwhile Trinkett and the Doctor are visiting the gravity wells until things go all Alien and they get attacked by Dalek mutant things.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: Was it just me or was that the longest first episode ever? It's horrifying but funny trying to imagine those things just floating around and attacking people.</span><br /><br />Insert soliloquay by Romana II about being a prisoner of the Daleks for twenty years.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Just like your marriage to Tom.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: Ouch!</span><br /><br />Romana continues on about remembering when her body was young and full.<br /><span style="color:#999999;"><br />Me: Just like your marriage to Tom.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: Ouch!</span><br /><br />The slave robot finally names himself, Vrint<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: It's better than Nutsack</span>.<br /><br />We hear that the leader Dalek is black and thus begins the slew of Shaft jokes. It begins to gloat about how they're responsible for making Etra Prime disappear and has replaced the leadership with Dalek clones.<br /><br />The Doctor and Evelyn get reunited and Evelyn wonders what that slime is on the Doctor.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Angelie: It's pizza grease.</span><br /><br />The Black Dalek has to announce his color and explain to the slaves on Etra Prime what's going on.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Angelie: Evil knows no color. I hear Black Dalek and I just think "Yo, Yo!" and record scratching. They're the lost rappers.</span><br /><br />The Doctor decides to go back through the Dalek mutants alone to shut down some shields. He asks for a new suit.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: (as The Doctor) I got jizz on this one.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Angelie: It's pizza grease.</span><br /><br />Tim just chokes.<br /><br />Evelyn declares something is huge.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: That's what Romana said.</span><br /><br />More shit blows up somewhere. The Doctor gets a clean suit and the Daleks talk about activating the apocalpyse element.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: We have title!</span><br /><br />Evelyn complains about being too big for whatever tube they're traversing to get to the Birthing Bay.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Should've thought about that before you stuffed your frame into the tube.</span><br /><br />The Doctor talks about Mexican standoffs and asks the Daleks if they've killed any Mexicans.<br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><br />Tim: What the hell? Where is that coming from? (as the Dalek) No, but that's a great idea. We'll go down, sit on the beach, and kill some Mexicans. He's right. Why didn't we think of this before.</span><br /><span style="color:#999999;"><br />Me: On a very racist Doctor Who....</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Angelie: Are they going to say anything about the Filipinos next?</span><br /><br />The Black Dalek does a drive by and attacks Gallifrey via a Trojan horse. Yet more shit gets blown up. Romana gets the TARDIS through the barrier with some mental jiggery pokery. Eveyln and Romana vow not to let the Doctor face the Daleks alone.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: It's like Eveyln is trying to be like Ace in "Battlefield" in terms of asserting her place as the Doctor's new companion to an old one. And it doesn't work so well in this case. Evelyn really serves no purpose in this audio except for the odd one liner and means for the Doctor to explain what's going on.<br /></span><br />More shit blows up. More people die. More exposition spouted. More moments of Evelyn annoying the hell out of us.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: (as Maggie Stables) Bland. I think I'll be bland in this entire audio. Especially compared to Colin's bit of Shatnerian acting towards the end.</span><br /><br />The President says that if the other daleks self destruct he'll let the Black Dalek send an unarmed scientific bunch of daleks to help figure out why shit could blow up that people don't want blown up.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Unarmed daleks?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Angelie: Is there such a thing?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Um...no. (more stuff with Evelyn) Why don't they just kill her and pluck her eye out? </span><br /><br />Evelyn does a shitty Dalek impersonation.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Kill her!</span><br /><br />The Black Dalek orders a hit on the President and he dies.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: (dripping sarcasm) Didn't see that one coming at all.</span><br /><br />More stuff happens but to be honest none of us could be cared to follow in rapt attention. The end comes mercifully.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Well, that was crap. This audio sorely needed a drinking game.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: It was a great idea in theory but not executed really well.</span><br /><br />One trip for ice cream later we turn to the first time the Doctor goes to Pompeii, this time with Mel, in <a href="http://www.bigfinish.com/12-Doctor-Who-The-Fires-of-Vulcan"><i>The Fires of Vulcan</i></a>. We open with a crap Italian accented professor talking about a discovery at Pompeii that's put his dig on hold. The discovery is apparently a British police telephone box that's being possessed by UNIT.<br /><br />The Doctor and Mel show up in Pompeii the day before the volcano is to explode. They manage to evade the questions of a slave who sees the TARDIS materialize and make their way to downtown Pompeii. Mel asks the Doctor if he notices a young man standing off in the distance.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: It's David Tennant!</span><br /><br />After wandering around a tad the Doctor begins to offer Mel up for wagers with Stephen Wickham channeling a cross between Brian Blessed and Colin Baker. Mel doesn't care that her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard as she runs from a bloke eyeing her and ends up in a whore house.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: That would never happen to Evelyn.</span> <br /><br />Volcano day lives up to its name as Vesuvius starts rumbling, allowing the Doctor to escape an ass whupping.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: I was expecting that to happen in Episode Four.</span><br /><br />Things go all pear shaped as the Doctor and Mel discover the TARDIS has been buried under a pile of rubble. The Doctor begins to natter on about Time being against them in his usual New Adventures style. Mel gets him to admit that the TARDIS is found in 1980, meaning he and Mel won't see it again. Mel can't quite grasp what's happening.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: He's saying you're fucked.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: It couldn't have happened to a better companion.</span><br /><br />The locals talk about the messengers from Isis. The Doctor goes back to the bar and gets some wine. Mel asks if it's a good idea to be drinking.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: You're gonna die at Pompeii. I can't think of a better day to drink.</span><br /><br />Mel has issues with accepting the defeatist attitude of the Doctor.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: You're kind of screwed. You pretty much have to lay down and take it without any lube. Mel's got balls man. I've always liked this version of her compared to the TV version.</span><br /><br />The bloke that's been stalking Mel makes himself known as the local councilman. He offers to give her a tour inside the temple.<br /><span style="color:#999999;"><br />Me: And show you some etchings...</span><br /><br />The Doctor finally decides to try and change history in terms of retrieving the TARDIS. The music swells as he tries to get Mel to leave.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Sail away, sail away, sail away.</span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><br />Tim: I was thinking Orinoko Flow as well. (Mel gets carted away at the end of Episode Two) Wow, she had more lines in that one episode than during her entire run on the show. It's nice to hear her talk about things not centered around carrot juice or exercise.</span><br /><br />The Doctor uses the Jedi mind trick to get the keys to Mel's cell. As Mel's would be stalker falls asleep the Doctor tells him he'll take good care of the prisoner.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Of love.</span><br /><br />Mel escapes and then gets recaptured. Meanwhile the Doctor gets drugged by the Brian Blessed/Colin Baker hybrid.<br /><br />Towards the end of Episode Three Vesuvius starts to erupt. Mel tries to get her stalker to admit there's something brewing.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: See, over there a dark haired man in a suit with a woman are loading people into the TARDIS. What the hell?</span><br /><br />The Doctor is begging for his life in his best "Survival" voice.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: If we fight like animals we die like animals!</span><br /><br />Mel goes off in search of the TARDIS only to realize she doesn't have a key.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: She wasn't cool enough. She's not Sarah Jane. Or Rose after three episodes.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: And Martha. Didn't he give Donna one too?</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: Yeah, I think all the new companions get one.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff6666;">Angelie: He's a whore now.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: A Player.</span><br /><br />The Doctor explains to the inn keeper that if they can get into safety and survive the next 12 hours they've got a chance to escape Pompeii. Mel continues to be all badass and makes a run for the TARDIS. They reunite as they work their way to the tombs where the TARDIS was hidden. Then we get an awesome resolution to the original problem of why/how the TARDIS was discovered in 1980.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;">Tim: Nice. The pretty much redeem Bonnie's character in this one audio.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Me: Sweet. Well, as much as the last one sucked, this one didn't. Following up on their work in rehabbing Colin's Doctor they do similar work for Bonnie Langford's Mel. This story manages to be a nice mix of action and drama with a twist in terms of the Doctor being the one that for a time is willing to succumb to Time and Fate.</span></span><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=11ceec5e-39cd-8098-b3fd-d17b5b7dff73" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div>Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-32701910588479220822009-03-08T22:01:00.003-05:002009-03-08T22:05:01.674-05:00Another Benny Double Feature: The Poison Seas and Death and the Daleks<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">For the first time since before Thanksgiving we're all able to get together. Due to time constraints today's session turns into another Benny double feature. I promise, next month we'll get back to main Who line.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Beer is courtesy of the Shiner Family Reunion pack. One beer each from their main releases then one Kosmo's Reserve which Shiner hasn't brewed in nearly ten years. Named for their founder, Kosmo's Reserve is a hoppy affair that provides different tastes as it finishes. I'm enjoying it way more than the Commerator.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">After a meal of sweet and sour pork with wonton soup for me we start up </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/43-Bernice-Summerfield-The-Poison-Seas" target="_blank"><i>The Poison Seas</i></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: I'm picturing Sea Devils. The music seems to indicate Sea devils.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-family:times new roman;" >Angelie: Too much reverb. I can't understand what they're saying. I've had two cups of coffee. My goal is not to fall asleep.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Insert the first of many The Little Mermaid jokes as we listen to a Sea Devil soliluquay. Then we get to hear Benny trying to evade Carvers' questions and getting yelled at for not staying in her quarters.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: Yeah, Benny is really good at staying put and listening to orders.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny calls and bitches out Brax couched around a tender moment of asking him how Jason is doing. Then we go back to talking Sea Devils. The sound design is great, but of course you have to strain to really understand what they are saying due in part to the reverb. This ultimately is one that's probably best served listening by yourself with a pair of really good head phones. I find myself alternating between Little Mermaid songs and PJ Harvey.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny gets dropped off and we listen to Carver and her assistant wonder if Benny's going to be trouble. Carver notes that Benny will just be an innocent victim.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Me: Um yeah...Benny is not innocent and "trouble" really should be her middle name.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny starts talking with a Sea Devil.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: Ok. I really can't hear anything at this point. There's too much going on in the background.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-family:times new roman;" >Angelie: I heard a corridor.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: I don't know what this chamber is or where it's supposed to be, but whenever they're in it I can't hear a damn thing. (Sea Devil dialogue)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Carver kills a sea devil and then we go back to more hard to hear sea devil dialogue. Other stuff happens and Benny hooks up with her friend to investigate the killing of the sea devil. She explains to the lead sea devil that she's been sent to really determine who within the group is helping a terrorist group that Carver is leading. In another batch of hard to follow sea devil dialogue there's something in the water, and it's not just the sharks.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">They go back to see the Principal and Benny utters a 'goddess'.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: Drink.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny gets found out by Carver and we end up back with Principal talking to Nedda. Nedda at one point says "how can this be?"</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Me and Tim: (ala' Dune) For he is the Qwissatz Hadderach!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Principal reveals that he is the poison sea and he starts to strangle sea devils ala' Darth Vader. Carver reaveals the reason for all her barely post teen angst before she leaves Benny to die. She eventually gets rescued by Nedda who catches her up to speed on how Principal's gone all crazy. Meanwhile Principal is giving Carver some of his strangling treatment. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny gets all maudlin and starts talking about home and it's significance. She also mentions how some times she's tempted to take the time rings and just run away from it all. I point out that unless she's got mad skills she needs someone to work the other ring.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">After a bad set of puns with Principal Benny runs into a not quite dead Carver. The bomb Carver set can be controlled by remote so Benny ups the time of destruction. Principal is getting all orgasmic about getting the planet back before he gets blown up by Carver's bomb.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny radios The Collection and something's going on as Brax replies in vague answers and keeps talking about her coming home soon.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I bring out my copy of </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/Bernice-Summerfield-Life-During-Wartime" target="_blank"><i>Life During Wartime</i></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> to show Tim and Angelie was Benny is coming home to and explain briefly what's going on. Then </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/44-Bernice-Summerfield-Death-And-The-Daleks" target="_blank"><i>Death and the Daleks</i></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> gets put into the player.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">We get through the recap and Benny finds her dad is commanding the armies of the Fifth Axis. Benny says "cruk".</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: Drink.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">After evading the Fifth Axis and then evading Jason's enquiries as to the nature of their relationship Benny goes to see Brax. He talks about how his life has been distilled down to torture and interior decorating.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: Maybe that could be next year's edition of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. One way to get Ty to shut up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny gets approval to visit Heaven and says goodbye to both Adrian and Peter. Peter cries as Benny talks about leaving.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: (as Benny) It's not like I'm ever here anyway.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">She talks about getting Isaac back.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Tim: (as Benny) We're bringing him back from the dark side.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Bev gets rescued and Benny and Jason make it to Heaven. The planet. Last seen in </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_na09.htm" target="_blank"><i>Love and War</i></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> Benny starts going down memory lane. Angelie is able to guess Jason's dialogue when he tells Benny that he still loves her. Benny and Jason sneak out in the evening to go to the Heavenite arch.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-family:times new roman;" >Angelie: I'm sorry, but if I didn't know they were in a tent and I heard that zipper sound...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">They get to the arch and Jason notes that it's huge.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-family:times new roman;" >Angelie: That's what she (Benny) said.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">They stumble upon the Daleks and we get a history of the word "cruk" before Jason goes on a "cruk" tirade.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: That's like a chug right since someone other than Benny is saying it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">I tell Tim when this was released and then he tries to figure out which version of the Daleks he should be envisioning.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Bev starts the food riot and then we go back to Benny and Jason being revived by the Daleks.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: That looked cool in my head. That was a really nice sound effect.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: You know, they could just grab some kid that plays World of Warcraft all day and probably get a better level of tactical knowledge.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny wonders if the Daleks have other military minds hidden behind the doors.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: Cause the Rani already did that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">As usual Benny turns the interrogation around and antagonizes the Daleks. Jason mentions that no one would normally think to do that to the Daleks and they can never go to the zoo together.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Me: I *so* want that line on a t-shirt. Really. If someone put that on a t-shirt I'd be a happy girl.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny tells Jason to take his fat suit off.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Tim: (as Benny) I don't want to die without having another go with you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Benny and Jason make another stab at rescuing Isaac. Jason kills a bunch of Daleks and then remarks at how strange it is for Isaac to have been placed in the storage room.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: Not as strange as you blasting Daleks while being naked? Speaking of which, I don't see Captain Jack killing Daleks naked.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Tim: No, thankfully he put his clothes back on before he took out those two What Not To Wear robots.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: See, another reason why he's just a poor man's Jason Kane.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Isaac offers to comfort Benny as she feels bad for getting a bunch of Axis officers killed.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: No, that didn't sound creepy at all. This just makes me all the more sad that Ian Collier is dead.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Disc one ends with Brax unveiling his TARDIS and Benny, Jason, and Isaac preparing to defend themselves to the death if need be against the Daleks.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: I was able to follow that better than the one with the Sea Devils. I like them and I think it's cool they were in a story, but it was hard to understand some of them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Isaac would rather fight in a battle than watch Peter.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: God, no one wants to spend anytime with the kid.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-family:times new roman;" >Angelie: Poor kid</span><span style="font-family:times new roman;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The Killoran Liberation Army arrives and Jason leads the revolutionary army through the door to the armory.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Tim: Is that a music cue lifted straight from <i>Aliens</i>?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Jason assumes that Adrian means him when Adrian says the best man won in the battle for Benny's heart.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: (laughing) What a dumb ass.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The battle continues and eventually the Collection gang get all together inside Brax's TARDIS. Insert awkward moment number 378 as Isaac tries to get Benny and Jason to return home with him. Isaac is still really under control of the Daleks so things go all pear shaped as the Daleks try to capture Brax's TARDIS. They're able to turn things around and eventually get the Axis officers to kill off most of the Daleks. Jason and Benny go after the last one while Brax comes up with a plan to take care of the Dalek fleet.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In typical Benny/Jason fashion they decide the perfect time to rekindle their relationship is in the middle of looking for the last Dalek. Their makeout session is interrupted by the Dalek who Jason eventually gets around to killing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Using Isaac to give out new orders Brax and Benny do what The Doctor couldn't do in </span><i style="font-family: times new roman;">Genesis of the Daleks</i><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> and destroy the Fifth Axis.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: I didn't fall asleep once.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-family:times new roman;" ><br />Angelie: I didn't either. It was just hard to understand what they were saying in the first one we listened to.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-family:times new roman;" >Tim: It was good to hear the Daleks. And I liked hearing Brax finally acting like a Time Lord.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >Me: This has always been one of my favorites and is in frequent rotation along with </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/65-Bernice-Summerfield-The-Crystal-Of-Cantus" target="_blank"><i>The Crystal of Cantus</i></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" > and </span><a style="font-family: times new roman; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/15-Bernice-Summerfield-Just-War" target="_blank"><i>Just War</i></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:times new roman;" >. On the whole the series is finally finding its footing and properly incorporating all the various characters. I understand from an economic side why they probably don't do more double disc Benny's, but it's fun to get an expansive story that features everyone on the Collection. It's an excellent core group of actors who should be allowed to interact with each other more often.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Check back next month when we'll do </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/11-Doctor-Who-The-Apocalypse-Element" target="_blank"><i>The Apocalypse Element</i></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"> and </span><a style="font-family: times new roman;" href="http://www.bigfinish.com/12-Doctor-Who-The-Fires-of-Vulcan" target="_blank"><i>The Fires of Vulcan</i></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">. Also keep an eye out as I might start doing the Companion Chronicles as a solo effort.</span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: times new roman;" class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=2b65acd2-685f-4d60-83b3-e25d3750d933" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div>Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-47807593409593092862009-02-26T20:22:00.004-06:002009-03-01T13:15:22.407-06:00Gallifrey 2009 - Day Four<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">The clock on the bed reads 8am when I awake. This means I've had less than three hours of sleep from when I stumbled back to the room. This means I'm going on my fourth day on something around nine to ten hours of sleep. This means I of course feel like death on a triscuit.<br /><br />Or maybe more appropriately in some truncated version of <i>Withnail and I</i> with any number of Squeeze songs about drinking for the soundtrack. I feel like a pig shat in my head even though I have not gone on holiday by mistake. I decide that I might as well ride the drunk/comfortably mellow state of affairs until Monday so I start the day by finishing off the apricot ale I had earlier in the morning. All I can do is sit in the chair and just kind of stare into the distance and try to comprehend my current state.<br /><br />Since I can't go back to sleep and I've got nothing I want to see until Colin and Nicola go on stage at noon I wander back to the dealer's room. I figure I can go back and speak with Cindy Pickett. She's not there, but Greg Berger is. He notes that I'm now wearing my Houston Aeros hoodie, finally indicating where I'm from. In talking I mention I'm not a native Texan and he immediately states that he could tell from my accent and mannerisms. I probably spent about twenty minutes talking to him. Very nice conversation and a great guy.<br /><br />Noon rolls around and I haul myself down to the ballroom for Colin and Nicola. My friend Bob sees me and asks if I've got a hangover on top of the hangover. I state that I'm still in the boozed up portion and that he better be ready to drive tomorrow morning because I already know I won't be able to. Colin and Nicola were a joy to watch together. It's always fun to see past Doctors with their companions. It was easy to see the great affection they have for one another. Colin explained his reasoning for biting Nicola on the ass during the first day of rehearsal. In my opinion, the same douchebag who asked Colin about his weight being a reason his Doctor was eating on screen all the time asked the same question. But this time he lacked the tact and just outright called Colin fat. This lead to Colin teeing off on him asking if anyone had ever told the dude he has no tact. Colin explained that he'd rather be healthy and enjoy life instead of some emaciated stick figure. We all applauded and then Colin would use any opportunity to just take another whack at the douchebag.<br /><br />I don't know how and maybe it was something as simple as someone checking Facebook, but it was apparently getting around that it was my birthday. Which it was. Guests and friends alike were coming up to me going "I hear it's your birthday" or "Is it your birthday?" or just plain old "Happy Birthday". Dan did offer to get a group together to go to the strip club down the block as part of a birthday celebration. While I'm down with the strip club scene this one looked like the type of club that would have a pregnant one armed stripper as the main attraction. And as appealing as that sounds I realized photos would be taken and I'd hate to have to explain to work why there's a shot of me getting a lap dance from a pregnant one armed stripper while my friends pay to make it rain on us.<br /><br />It had come to my attention the previous night that among the items donated to the charity auction where five Bernice Summerfield CD's donated by David Darlington. All were signed, I just didn't know by whom. If I had criticism about the auction it would be that I wished a complete and up to date list had been available to see beforehand. The only thing that I could find was one sheet posted by the door to the room that housed all the items and it was clearly not up to date. As such I had missed the first part of the auction watching Colin and Nicola which lead me to miss three out of the five cd's. Vanessa had me scared for awhile as she mentioned one of them was a copy of "The End of The World". Later I found out it was only signed by Simon and I already had his signature of the copy I owned. If David Darlington had signed it I would have had to find the person who got it and beat them down for it. The two cd's left were copies of "The Final Amendment" signed by Simon, David, and Joe Lidster and "The Diet of Worms" signed by David. I already had a copy of "The Final Amendment" signed by a whole host of people, but not David so I resolved to get that along with "The Diet of Worms".<br /><br />When I show up at an auction I come to play. I know what I want and I have a set price in my head. None of this flim flam bullshit of upping the bid by a dollar. I had to wait a bit for them to get to the Benny cd and the first of the two was "The Final Amendment". They barely got the description out when I opened with five dollars for my bid. Someone bid six and I immediately went to ten. She countered with fifteen and I went straight for twenty. Twenty going once. Twenty going twice. Sold twenty dollars.<br /><br />I had to wait longer for the other cd to go up and then I felt like I was in Groundhog Day. The bidding literally went the same way, note for note. I opened with five, the same person countered with six. I went straight for ten, she went fifteen and I bid twenty. Twenty going once. Twenty going twice. Sold twenty dollars. The only difference is that you could hear in her voice that she was pissed. If you read this blog and you're the person I beat down for those two cd's, what can I say? Mama was going home with those, that's what I'm saying. And I'd have gone after the other three if they had still been around. But really, you know I paid twenty on the first one. You might as well have cut to the chase and bid twenty.<br /><br />With my new cd's in hand I went back to the dealer's room where I ran into the Big Finish crew. Simon reminded me that Gary had directed "The Final Amendment" and Gary was nice enough to sign the cd for me.<br /><br />Speaking of Big Finish it was back into the ballroom at 4pm to see their final panel. Again, nothing new for the most part. The only two new items would be that the Bernice Summerfield Inside Story book is closer to getting released. There's only one person to get permission from and then Simon can go ahead and write a chapter about season number nine. It was explained that since Big Finish has the rights to Doctor Who and a chunk of the Benny book is what's happening to the show in the years that it's off the air they couldn't have their cake and eat it too by releasing something that hadn't gone through the proper clearance channels. The other news was that <a href="http://www.bigfinish.com/Sapphire-and-Steel"><i>Sapphire and Steel</i></a> is in a bit of trouble. Jason has to put pen to paper in regards to renegotiating the license and whether they can make it work financially. <i>Sapphire and Steel</i> may be the first audio line to become a casualty of illegal downloading. They want to make more though so it might be revamped into a <i>Companion Chronicles</i> style line of audios for future seasons. So you kids out there who want <span style="font-style: italic;">Sapphire and Steel</span> and want it in full audio cast style might want to either buy copies of the existing catalog or buy more if you've already done so.<br /><br />After the Big Finish panel the convention proper portion was pretty much done for me. Just as Opening Ceremonies do nothing for me neither do Closing Ceremonies. Instead I went back to Carl's Jr with John for dinner. This turned into unintended comedy as John was so out of it he didn't realize he ordered two combo meals and I got the shock of my life when I realized their idea of a western bacon cheeseburger is a cheeseburger with bacon, bbq sauce and two nasty onion rings. Seriously, onion rings. I had to go back and look at the picture on the menu to make sure it was my fuck up for ordering and not theirs in making it. It was also by this time that I learned that when I'm going on four days of drinking nothing but booze I start to stutter. Badly. As in from time to time I was sounding like a definitely tipsy Porky Pig.<br /><br />The last night in the lobby started after dinner. People joined us as the Closing Ceremonies finished and I asked Bob to get my lasat tasty treat to share with all my British friends. Beaver Nuggets. Beaver nuggets are a tasty confectionary treat made by the good people at Buc-ee's, a gas station chain in Texas with a beaver for its mascot. I wish I had a camera to get the reactions of every time I said "would you like to try some beaver nuggets?" My beaver nuggets were a hit overall and I need to fulfill a promise to send a care package of those and some Booze Leprechaun t-shirts overseas.<br /><br />Since it was my birthday people bought me beer instead of it being the other way around. Which was nice because it was my birthday and to be honest I was all out of beer and really didn't want to try and buy more so one way or the other the Booze Leprechaun was taking a night off. As it was many birthday rounds were procured and I ended up having a very nice and lengthy conversation with ElyssaDC who knew of me from the Audio Time Team's Liverjournal mirror blog.<br /><br />Elyssa is another major lover of all things Benny having come by Benny in a roundabout fashion via the New Series. Luckily she was able to explain it to me without the use of graphs and charts because let's face it, I was too damn drunk to have comprehended anything that complicated. It was fun to talk to her and it's clear that her passion for Benny puts mine to shame. I also learned from her that apparently I'm not the only person who likes the character of Jason Kane so this made me feel like I had emerged from the wilderness to find Xanadu. The one that Kublai Khan did decree, not the one inhabited my Olivia Newton-John on roller skates. We talked for awhile and tried to call Lizbee, another LJ'er, because in my drunken state my ego increased to think that while the lobby lacked any guests I'd be good enough for her to talk overseas with.<br /><br />While talking to Elyssa some of my friends asked if I'd like a piece of chocolate cake from the restaurant. I am not one to turn down free chocolate cake. Eventually I looked up to see Keefe with the cake in hand but not coming anywhere near me. This lead me to suspect that something was afoot and to move my beer glass. Next thing I know my friends are coming en masse, singing Happy Birthday and managed to rope Kai Owen into the festivities. Later on Elyssa saw Frazier and got him to come over and wish me happy birthday as well. Vanessa has us on tape posing as if she was going to take a photo.<br /><br />Later on it was time for the annual Scrabble game. This year it was myself, Jarrod, Rob Shearman, and Vanessa. I was convinced Rob would totally destroy us since Jarrod and I were admittedly drunk. We managed to hold our own though and not get completely trounced by Rob even though he did win. It became a spectator event again, which I'm down with. I did find though in my state of inebriation I wasn't down with the spectators putting their two cents on what word should be played. But I did learn a new word for drunk from Rob and got a very nice compliment later on in regards to my overall play so I can't complain too much.<br /><br />The evening then further descended into more drinking and talking. I had had every intention of going to bed after Scrabble but the siren's cry of gin and tonics called to me. That and I just didn't want the night to end. I knew that the next day would mean the end of summer camp and we'd all be going home.<br /><br />Besides, it had turned into the BEST...BIRTHDAY...EVER! How could I got to sleep? This had topped the one where my dad sent me a stripper who ended up being from Australia and did his routine to Will Smith's "Men in Black" among other tunes. And may I mention that all my other friends chickened out and I got to enjoy the stripper all by myself? I believe I shall.<br /><br />All good things must come to an end though and I finally dragged my ass to bed sometime after four.</span><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=4e5380cb-a3f1-4b92-8457-6bdbe1130966" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div><br /><br /><p class="scribefire-powered">Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-15974073797410408252009-02-24T21:21:00.001-06:002009-02-24T21:34:15.025-06:00Gallifrey 2009 - Day Three<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>I awake to find myself drowning in a pool of my own drool, still laying sideways on the bed fully clothed and the clock reads 7:30am. This of course means I've only had about three hours of sleep and I'm definitely displeased by that state of affairs. What displeases me further is that I can't manage to fall back to asleep so I'm stuck still slightly drunk on three hours of sleep. Joy.<br/><br/>I can't remember what I had for breakfast. I want to say maybe some leftover beer and some chips from the con suite. I could be wrong about the chips.<br/><br/>The convention day proper for me starts with the Big Finish panel. Still much talk about the Key 2 Time series and very limited discussion of the "Lost Season" of Colin Baker's they're doing. As usual with a Big Finish panel the highlight is just watching them all interact with each other. You never know what's going to be said. Fun bit at the end as they played previews of some of the audios coming out this year including McGann's "Company of Friends" and his reunion with Susan.<br/><br/>Then it was time to start using our Golden Tickets as the first autograph session of the day was forming. I wanted to get a couple of other items signed by Paul Cornell, including a couple issues of Captain Britain and the Short Trip Christmas anthology he edited. The Golden Tickets let us roll up on the line after it was starting the form only to get to head of it. John, Cathy, Keefe, and I had fun posing for photos with our Golden Tickets. The chick who's place at the head of the line we usurped didn't look as thrilled as us oddly enough. But we didn't care as we sang the Golden Ticket song from Willy Wonka and queued up according to the number on the ticket. When we got to go in the fun increased as it took a few minutes for the non Golden Ticket holders to be allowed into the room. Much jokes about peasants were made. Yes, we are evil like that. We have the Golden Tickets to prove it.<br/><br/>I think I got lunch. I don't remember.<br/><br/>Next up for me was the Wendy Padbury interview. Wendy was awesome and pure delight to watch. The best part of this was her explaining how she discovered Matt Smith when she was a talent agent a few years ago. She sang his praises and did her best to dispel any fears we have of him being the next Doctor. In the middle I slipped out in hopes of using my second Golden Ticket to get Pia Guerra to sign my copies of "The Forgotten". It took a little longer than I thought it should've, but I finally got confirmation that in fact Pia wasn't going to be able to make it out to the convention. I grumbled a bit and then went back to see the end of Wendy's session.<br/><br/>I was so still drunk that I had trouble telling time. I thought it was 4pm and next up was Colin Baker talking about Big Finish. I was so pleased to see so many people coming in to hear him speak as Big Finish has done a wonderful job rehabbing his Doctor. Imagine my shock/surprise when instead it was Gareth David Lloyd coming on stage. I rechecked my watch, cursed, and then probably pissed a bunch of people off as I stood up to leave. <br/><br/>I think this is when I decided to kill time in the dealer's room. Hidden in the back were Greg Berger and Cindy Pickett. They were having a conversation with someone so I didn't want to interrupt but the guy noticed me and asked who I was. I just mentioned I was an attendee to both which Greg and Cindy said I wasn't "just" an attendee. I took that as a chance to mention to Cindy that I was from Houston, had gone to the University of Houston, and one of my best friend's had gone to Bellaire High in the nineties. A quick lesson: Cindy is a native of Houston whose dad for a long time taught acting at both Bellaire and U of H. Among his students besides Cindy are Brent Spiner, the Quaid brothers, Robert Wuhl and the late Trey Wilson to name a few. Once I assured her I wasn't full of shit she smiled and shook my hand. I backed off and let them continue their conversation with the guy. A few minutes later I hear Cindy yell "Houston". I turn back around and pointed at myself in confusion. She said she wanted to talk and I explained that I didn't want to interrupt the current conversation. She and Greg appreciated that and she implored me to come back later to talk. While I appreciated the gesture I also think it might have partly been because she and Greg were lonely.<br/><br/>With the little hand on the four I made my way back to the main ballroom to see Jason Haigh-Ellery interview Colin about his Big Finish stuff. Awesome interview that was only marred by two things. One, some douchebag who has a weight fetish not so tactfully inquired if jokes about the Doctor eating were put in the scripts because of Colin's weight. Before anyone cries 'hypocrite', I may make the odd Colin Baker fat joke when we do one of his audios but I would never dare to bring it up to his face. Cute little jokes that I live in fear of him mentioning one autograph session is one thing. Making a weight comment right to his face in such a manner that can be construed in no other manner than nasty is another. The second was that I forget how the conversation led to it but Colin had to drop his two cents on waterboarding. If you know me it shouldn't take you long to figure out which way I lean on the subject. The lack of applause tells me that either the majority of the audience feels the same way I do or they just thought it wasn't the appropriate place to make such a comment. Either way I know I could've gone without politics creeping into my Who.<br/><br/>After Colin there really wasn't much going on until the Masquerade later in the evening. My friend Vanessa entered as the Haute Couture Dalek. I wanted to see her, but I also knew I needed to eat and not another meal at Carl's Jr. The Magical Bucket of Booze also needed to be replenished. So I headed back to Ralph's to buy Reese's Peanut Butter cups, another 12 pack of Sam's and a 12 pack of Coors Light per request by Keefe while he, John, and Dan trekked to Carl's Jr. Apparently there was something involving a homeless guy in a diaper possibly obsconding with a cheeseburger they bought for some random guy at the convention who asked them when he heard they were going to forage for food. I managed to run into the same cashier who once again noted I had to be planning for another party. <br/><br/>There was nothing that tickled my fancy in the way of dinner so once I got the latest additions to the bucket chilling I made my way to Denny's. Nothing finer than placing a layer of grease thanks to a Moons Over My Hammy on top of still full belly of beer. Note for future reference: the Denny's by the Marriott has a bar.<br/><br/>By the time I felt slightly human I decided just not to go to the Masquerade. I knew I'd get to see Vanessa's costume later and overall cosplay just ain't my bottle of beer. Instead I settled down on one of the couches in the lobby to start reading "Tiny Deaths". Part of me wanted to try and get a nap but the other knew once I slept I probably wouldn't wake for days. As it was I ended up not getting much reading done as hotel staff was dealing an unruly guest/visitor. I don't know what started it but next thing I know I see a guy sitting among the other set of couches talking to one member of hotel security. I can't hear what the hotel security guy is saying but I can clearly hear the guest/visitor and it's not good. Soon one hotel security member multiplies to about four which then escalates to one cop and then to three with sirens in the distance. They got the guy to leave the hotel without incident but I cannot report what happened once they got him outside.<br/><br/>While I didn't sleep, I did retire to my room for a bit to fiddle about on the computer. I had also decided against going to see the American premiere of Moths. It's not that I don't want to see it, but I knew the place would be jam packed and that I would have had to line up long before the masquerade even started to get a decent seat. Knowing that he'll be back in October at Hurricane Who to perform didn't hurt in the decision making process.<br/><br/>Apparently Moths got started late due to the masquerade running over so I was a bit surprised when I wandered out into the lobby around when I thought Moths was ending to see the place relatively empty. I did spot Tim and Llamastrangler so I hung out with them until the play let out and people started making their way up to the lobby. Then it was time to bring out the Magical Bucket of Booze and its cousin along with my pub sign with 'Park Your TARDIS Here' written on it. I started the evening with 24+ bottles of Sam Adams, 3 Shiner Blacks, 8 Shiner Blondes, and a few Sam Adams Light. By 2am I was completely out of beer. The party was still rocking though and thankfully Handsome Timmy D produced another 12 pack of Apricot Ale. We descended on it like starving dogs to meat and that bad boy was gone in about an hour.<br/><br/>5am rolled around and the party was still in full swing, much to the consternation of the hotel staff who had to keep cleaning up our debris. The Starbucks opened along with Lattitude getting the overpriced breakfast buffett ready. Though things were still going on I made the decision to stumble to bed. At that point in the evening/morning the rest of the hotel occupants would slowly make their way downstairs along with airline pilots checking in. It was kind of hitting that point where things were gonna have to end soon or something ugly would happen and I wanted to hear the story being told, not be part of it. After creating a little bed on the floor using the huge non-fluffy pillows I finally went to sleep/passed out.</font><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=cbc0b3a9-e3ee-4ddc-abd1-dd7bcb51ae9c' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-50512344455464114502009-02-22T13:34:00.002-06:002009-02-22T20:04:32.128-06:00Gallifrey 2009 - Day Two<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">My apologies in taking so long to get these out. To be honest I stopped drinking early Monday morning but my hangover didn't hit until Wednesday. You can imagine how much fun that made work.<br /><br />Also, as you'll note in these convention travelogues one of the guys I stay with, John, is a bit of an autograph whore. (His words, not mine) Anyway, it has come to his attention that in the course of things he lost a <i>Tomorrow People</i> cover signed by Jason Haigh-Ellery. We think it happened during Saturday's autograph session. You might remember him as the guy with tons of covers in ziplock bags trying to figure out which ones to get signed. Obviously, if you go through your stuff and find you're now the owner of a <i>Tomorrow People</i> cover signed by Jason made out to John and you're not named John it's a safe bet it's not yours. If you happen to be in possession of this please drop me a line privately and arrangements can be made to get it back to him.<br /><br />We now return you to your regular convention travelogue.<br /><br />Breakfast is again the culinary mecca that is Carl's Jr. There was discussion of partaking of the hotel's breakfasat buffett but at $19.50 a pop that thought was quickly nixed. The general consensus was that at those prices the food should be cut up and pre chewed for you. I also thought everything should be made from scratch at the table per your specifications.<br /><br />After food the task of organizing items for signature began. Friday was deemed autograph day as in theory I could spend all day getting the majority of what I needed signed taken care of. The announcement that Alien Entertainment was going to charge $20 for Colin Baker's autograph helped lighten my autograph load. The initial announcement that Pia hadn't made it for Friday's activities did screw the plan of attack I had worked out the week before for the entire convention.<br /><br />The first session included Phil Collinson and as such the line started forming well over an hour before it was supposed to start. John and I ended up taking turns holding our spot in line while the other went to check out the dealer's room. By the time we made it though it was clear that the line was not getting much longer. After another quick run through the dealer's room we went back to the autograph session to find the line was still holding steady in size. We asked and were allowed to go back in, greedy bastards that we are. Along with Phil this session included Frazier Hines, Wendy Padbury, and Nicola Bryant and if we had made it through a second time at least I would've gotten everything I wanted signed without messing with Saturday's session. As it was the line had started out rather long and try as they could there was no way they'd get everyone through without running terribly late. As such the line had to be cut but as a special parting gift everyone on the wrong side of the cut got fast track passes for all three sessions on Saturday. Some days it pays to be a greedy bastard.<br /><br />Once we got our golden tickets we basically queued back up for the second session involving Paul Cornell and Tony Lee among others. I got Paul to sign my copy of "A Life Worth Living" as to date it's the last Benny thing he's written. I gave Tony the first two issues of "The Forgotten" to sign and gushed about it and Pia's artwork to him.<br /><br />Session number three had the boys from Torchwood and the Big Finish gang. John, Dan, and I had a lovely surprise for Laura Doddington from our time in Chicago but I got separated from Dan and John. This didn't prove to be such a problem since I had no plan to pay for Kai Owen's autograph and I only got Gareth David-Lloyd to sign items for other people. As I was the complete opposite of most people in that line this allowed me plenty of time to talk to Laura and Ciara Jansen as most people completely ignored the Big Finish bunch once they got their Torchwood autographs. Once Dan and John joined up with me we gave Laura the lovely photo we had made for her as a memento of the final night of Chicago TARDIS. Much laughter ensued with Jason and Simon Guerrier leaving their table to see what all the fuss was about. The photo proved to be a big hit with each of us having a copy for Laura to sign and one for her to keep.<br /><br />I dropped my bag off in the hotel room and then went back down to watch Paul host Just A Minute. This way if nothing else I could say I went to at least one panel a day. Just A Minute is a long running program on BBC radio, the gist of which is that each contestant has a minute to speak non-stop on a given topic. The kicker is that you can't repeat words except for what are considered little word such as "the" and "as" and there can be no pause or hesitation. If any those things happen another contestant can challenge and then give the topic a go in whatever time is left. This year's contentants were Phil Collinson, Toby Hadoke, Wendy Padbury, and Frazier Hines. It was a tough battle between Frazier and Toby with Toby barely pulling out the win. The highlight may have been Phil begininng to regale the crowd with a story involving a bloke named Sven but was cut short through a foul. This made myself and most of the others in the audience sad as we all wanted to hear the full story.<br /><br />I'm not one for Opening Ceremonies so instead I took my part in the great dinner debate. Since I had no clue on what I wanted to eat, only that I was hungry, Bob #3 and I ended up going to Ralph's. The Magical Bucket of Booze needed to replenished anyway so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. Beer prices were still a bit much, but not as bad as the liquor store around the corner from the hotel. It didn't take the cashier long to figure out there I was planning for a party as I went through the line with two 12 packs of Sam Adams, a six pack of Shiner Bock, and ginormous sandwich for dinner, and a bag of guacamole chips. The cashier was right when she said the chips I picked were probably the best in the guacamole chip genre. We also learned the hard way that Ralph's is part of the Kroger family of grocery stores so I could've used my Kroger card if I hadn't left it at the hotel.<br /><br />Friday night was also the night for the numerous Toga/Volcano parties going on so I was treated to way too many people running around in hotel bed sheets and not much else as I worked my way through my ginormous sandwich. My friend Vanessa was part of the winning team for a scavenger hunt. I didn't hit any of the parties but apparently Phil Collinson tended bar at the Volcano party. There was also karaoke and among the highlights was a singing Dalek and Kai Owen belting out some Welsh hits.<br /><br />Eventually I made my way downstairs to see what was going on and ran into Kathi, Justin, and Etta. Topic of conversation turned from one thing to another and soon we were trying to figure out how one would collect bull semen. A few trips to google later and we learned that it involved a teaser cow and artificial vagina. We also learned that said semen can be frozen, mayonnaise jar not required, though you may want to properly label the jar to ensure no confusion between your frozen bull semen and your frozen alfredo sauce. As always I learn something new and useful at Gallifrey.<br /><br />The Booze Leprechaun made her second appearance in the lobby later on in the evening. I was initially set up close to the doors by the front desk, but had to move when the kids waiting on the wrestlers to come in started crowding around my area. The last thing I need is for some kid to reach into the bucket thinking they're getting soda and pulling out a Shiner Black. The plethora of kids was a bit annoying but fun to watch their excitement as several wrestlers checked in for the night. A number of us are wrestling fans as well and the kids in wheelchairs were an excellent early warning system as they'd start zooming around when they spotted a wrestlet coming in. The Big Show may have to win the award for most gracious one of the night as he spent probably at least ten minutes talking to the kids and posing for photos when it was clear he'd rather settle in for the night.<br /><br />The bucket got relocated to the set of tables in front of the Starbucks and currently occupied by Simon Guerrier, James Moran, and Phil Ford. I hadn't wanted to horn in on their conversations with others, but it was the safest place to set up operations and kept Simon from having to walk too far when he needed a refill. It did eventually give me the pleasure of handing a beer to Frazier Hines and hooking up his American website designer, Van, with one after I carded him. Yes, I card if you look young. Again, I dont' want to have to answer the question of "How did the convention go" with "Great! I spent it in jail after being busted for contributing to the deliquency of a minor. They needed to take up a collection to pay my bail".<br /><br />Moving the bucket also let me meet and make new friends with attendees like Tim and Llamastrangler, which is an awesome name. It quickly came to my attention that Shiner brewery does something right because whether I handed out a Shiner Black, Shiner Blonde, or Shiner Bock the receipient was very pleased, particularly those of the British persuasion. The Shiner Black was especially a hit and the one I was more worried about going over. Yes, next year I will endeavour to bring more than just one 12 pack of each. <br /><br />The eventual highlight may have been watching a guy completely piss drunk trying to figure out the escalators. For a moment we thought he might just take a header down which may have then ranked as the best part of the convention up to that point. Think of it as weebles wobble and that one was dangerously close to falling down.<br /><br />In keeping in with my apparently "straight up G" ways I eventually fell onto bed sideways sometime after 4am.</span><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=814b73b8-4e61-4b9f-8ec2-b2be7c906353" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div>Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-13681595476981198932009-02-17T19:08:00.001-06:002009-02-22T16:36:32.762-06:00Gallifrey 2009 - Day One<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>There was no free wi-fi to be had in the hotel so sadly I couldn't do a running commentary of my adventures at Gallifrey 20. As such I missed a couple of messages pointing out to me at least two fellow Shooty Dog contributors that I could've met.<br/><br/>Thursday found us rolling in to the hotel right around noon. I had once again decided to drive, this time adding a second person so things wouldn't be too crazy. Or at least I had hoped so. We left Wednesday afternoon and here's a couple hightlights from that:<br/><br/>I lost my shit in Tuscon. It was about 3 or 4 in the morning and I had been driving most of the time since around 2 in the afternoon when we switched drivers at the Buc-ee's in Luling. Between the time of night, Monster Energy drink on a relatively empty stomach and construction I was done. It took me another 30 minutes to find a place to pull off. When I did I looked at my companion and told him he'd either have to drive or we'd be hanging out for awhile because I was done. As it was I spent about 5 minutes standing outside the car as I couldn't even stand to be in it. It's probably as close to crying as I've been in a long time.<br/><br/>Memo to a gas station in New Mexice: While I applaud having condoms readily available via vending machine in the women's bathroom you might not be targeting the correct audience with also having a vending option for a rubber studded cock ring. For the record this was not available in the men's room.<br/><br/>Memo to California: I know you guys are pretty much broke but would it kill you to stick a door on the main entrance to the restrooms at the rest stops? There's nothing I like more than at 9 in the morning sitting on a frozen toilet seat. And a sidenote, if I have to sit on a frozen toilet seat can the air blower send out hot air for my hands?<br/><br/>As I said, we got to the Marriott around noon and the reunions began. It's like the first day of school, seeing the friends you haven't seen since the end of the previous school year. Dan and I all but tackled John as he got off the shuttle. Eventually all my junk was loaded out of the car and I got cleaned up. <br/><br/>We had talked about maybe doing the Kings game later that evening but that idea was nixed. I had no desire to sit in a moving vehicle again and we were having too much fun just hanging out. A bunch of us went on what was to become the first of many runs to Carl's Jr for cheap food. <br/> <br/>The Magical Bucket of Booze was eventually unpacked and some of the beers that I brought from Texas was put on ice. But Sam Adams had to be procured so I walked to the nearby liquor store where I was anally raped for 3 six packs. Seriously, nearly 10 bucks for a six pack. I know I'm in California but for god sake that's ridiculous. I definitely did not go back there again.<br/><br/>The reunions continued as a group got back from Disneyland. I nearly tackled Cathy and Keefe to the ground when they walked in. I ended up not only bringing out the original Magical Bucket of Booze but I brought it's little friend to help chill all the beer I had. Apparently I had a reputation to maintain as The Booze Leprechaun as some of the guests that had been at Chicago found me, bringing other friends along and going "This is Nicole. She's the one I told you about at Chicago with all the beer." Much like Cosby's kids who sang his praise for giving them chocolate cake my praise was being sung for bringing the beer. I lost count of all the people Simon Guerrier alone brought to me to partake of the bucket.<br/><br/>Thursday might have been the earliest night for me as I think I was in bed by 3 in the morning.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-79885903468962038592009-02-07T09:01:00.001-06:002009-02-07T09:01:05.095-06:00Going Back to Gally<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>Plans have been made. Plans have been changed. Plans are being revised.<br/><br/>But at the end of the day I'll still be out in LA for Gallifrey 20 this upcoming week.<br/><br/>I have realized I've reached a new level of geekdom as I've already created a working plan of attack for the con based on the schedule as it currently is. Not as many conflicts as with Chicago TARDIS last November, but at least these conflicts are due to the excess of nougatty goodness and not just crap scheduling.<br/><br/>The Magical Bucket of Booze will also be making its first appearance in LA along with some fun surprises.<br/><br/>As always I would love to meet some of the 10 or 15 of you that I know read this blog. I'll be the one sporting the jaunty Pilgrim hat late at night in the lobby.<br/><br/>And for those of you that can't make it check back next week as I'll once again be posting my travelogue.<br/><br/>See y'all in LA.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-13486240928325803392009-01-24T16:09:00.001-06:002009-08-29T16:49:59.803-05:00The Prisoner's Dilemma - Spoilers Included<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>Time constraints got more tighter and no Angelie means we decide to just do a single audio. With Gallifrey coming up we decide to do something special and pop in "The Prisoner's Dilemma" which I just grabbed from the Big Finish website.<br/><br/>The Prisoner's Dilemma stars Laura Doddington and Sophie Aldred, written by Simon Guerrier and directed by Lisa Bowerman. While it's the latest intallment in the Companion Chronicles it's also part of the new Key 2 Time series being produced by Big Finish.<br/><br/>We open with Ace and Zara getting thrown into the same cell. Zara's freaking out because she knows mind wiping is waiting for them while Ace is her usual cocky self in regards to escaping. Zara then begins to narrate how she came into being and how she's a liar and a killer.<br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: Holy shit! It's McCoy's music. And a teaser which you normally don't see in a Doctor Who. Ya for new things!</font><br/><br/>Zara begins to talk about the Key and Tim starts moving his hands around.<br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: I just remember this segment in the original series with the key spinning around. That's probably what the shimmering sound is.</font><br/><br/>Ace finds a way to break out of the cell and she and Zara make a run for the border. Their escape attempt fails as the alarm is sounded and they get zapped.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/>Me: Guess it wasn't such a good idea.</font><br/><br/>We continue to get Zara's backstory as she relays her first few hours of life after being programmed with the mission to find three segments of the key. Zara is a pretty heavy sneezer as she finds herself allergic to the air within a geodesic dome populated by Stepford Wives and Husbands.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: (as Apu) In a geodesic dome.</font><br/><br/>In the nature vs. nuture debate her blank slate is being filled by some cynical bloke named Zinc who we're constantly told takes advantage of her. This story is broken up with what's happening in the here and now with Ace in the prison.<br/><br/>Zara is apparently a bloodhound as her nose tingles as she gets closer to a segment.<br/><font color='#666666'><br/>Me: Well, that's an interesting way to find them.</font><br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: She'll probably sneeze real hard and impale herself on it.</font><br/><br/>She finds a way to get to the segment which is apparently under the water. As she continues her story she relates seeing a man who's the 7th Doctor watching her, looking on disapprovingly. Zara reaches into the water to get the segment and bad things happen.<br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: It sounds like she's a tracer. That's great they kept the sound effect.</font><br/><br/>She's basically boiled the water which leaves a huge mud pit where the lake was and plenty of dead fish and people. Naturally the local authorities aren't down with that and Zara is arrested, bringing us back to how sends up in the cell with Ace. Zinc ditching Zara leads Zara to sell Ace down the river as Ace tries to pull a Doctor to get out of the situation. The episode ends with Ace screaming about how she's trying to save the world and if her memory is wiped everyone will die.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: Could just be me, but I'd actually explain what I'm trying to do if my memory is about to wiped instead of just saying we're all gonna die.</font><br/><br/>Episode two begins and this time Ace is the narrator. She begins recounting a tale where she, the Doctor, and a woman with earrings who knew a lot about dead things were trying to recover a time bracelet stolen by Zinc and his wife, Magda, from the Trib museum. I begin to grin and stamp my foot as Ace talks about the woman and how Ace's mom brought a man to a wedding that Ace had also managed to snog.<br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: I don't get the reference.</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: It's Benny!</font><br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: Oh. Okay. I guess if I had focused on the mention of dead things I'd have gotten it. The earrings threw me. I knew what Florana was.</font><br/><br/>Ace manages to infiltrate Zinc and Magda's partnership and we eventually learn how Zinc gets to Zara and where he goes when he's left her. He and Magda develop a plan that will destroy Aratune and since Ace mentioned her skill at demolitions want her to do the dirty work. Instead Ace makes enough of a scene to get arrested in the hopes of being able to alert the authorities to Zinc and Magda's plans. But as we're reminded from the rehash of episode one that plan doesn't work out so well.<br/><br/>Ace continues to recount how her memories were getting sucked out, every last precious memory.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: They even took the last can of Who hash!</font><br/><br/>Zinc apparently saves the day, rescuing Zara and Ace. Zara returns to narrating the story and explains how she and Zinc retrieve the segment to the Key and leave Ace and Magda to take the fall. Ace escapes and ends up being rescued by the 7th Doctor. Magda gets her mind wiped while Zinc and Zara go off to be Bonnie and Clyde. Or at least Zara goes off to be Bonnie as the rocket gets launched. Ace starts to wonder what Zara has done to her, Zinc, and Magda.<br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: She's fucked you all.</font><br/><br/>Ace gets rescued by the Doctor again while Zara is heading off to go hunting for the segments with Zinc in tow. We get an explanation why all the Stepford Wives and Husbands were doing their tasks as it was part of the safety system the planet has in place. The Doctor takes Ace off to the TARDIS to hopefuly retrieve her memories and explains not to worry about Zara, that he knows how it all ends.<br/><br/>We get a big surprise as we stumble upon the interview Simon does with Laura, Sophie, and Lisa.<br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: Apparently the Doctor takes all his women to the Eye of Orion. It's oddly different. Lisa's right in that it's a big audio book with an extra person so it's taking some getting used to. I was of the understanding that these chronicles were a way to have stories involving Doctors who are dead or in the case of Tom Baker unwilling to play ball. To have a McCoy era story is kind of odd to me, but with his character being so mysterious and manipulative being underplayed, as a silent character in the background sort of works.</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: I'm not sure what I was expecting as this is even strange by Companion Chronicles standards with two narrators. It's almost Rashomon in nature.</font><br/><br/><font color='#009900'>Tim: It's hard to explain. Maybe if I had heard the other Key 2 Time first and got introduced to Zara that way it might've been a bit easier to see this as a multi-doctor story without the Doctor. As it is it just seems like Ace's story with Zara along for the ride, but that's because I'm more used to Ace. I'm Ace biased. It's nothing against the writing.</font><br/><br/><font color='#666666'>Me: I defnitely enjoyed it, especially all the little references like Cheldon Boniface and the unammed Benny bit. A very capable directing job by Lisa Bowerman who having also directed some of the other Key 2 Time stories does a great job in making sure Zara is not the same as we see her in the other audios. As always Sophie is able to seemingly go back in time to be the Ace we all know and love from twenty plus years ago without cojuring the image of an Ace in her forties, if that makes sense. Laura Doddington moves easily from crazy, evil Zara to the innocent newborn that we first see her as.</font></font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-33389388067633586672009-01-19T19:12:00.001-06:002009-01-19T19:12:12.231-06:00We're Still Here<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>We'll be returning from the holiday season this Saturday. Check back later in the afternoon as due to time constraints we'll make our way only through <i><a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/43-Bernice-Summerfield-The-Poison-Seas'>The Poison Seas</a></i> and <i><a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/44-Bernice-Summerfield-Death-And-The-Daleks'>Death and the Daleks</a></i> from season 4 of Bernice Summerfield.<br/><br/>If I can work it out you'll be seeing a <a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/The-Tomorrow-People'>Tomorrow People</a> segment starting in February. Keep your eyes out for that.<br/><br/>I have been horribly remiss, but in issue 7 of Shooty Dog Thing I contributed an essay on the upcoming ten year anniversary of Big Finish. Also starting with issue 9 I'll be part of the review team, naturally doing audios. Think of it as the same booze, but with less words, less snark and no turkey or steak. My first offering will be <i><a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/30-Doctor-Who-Seasons-of-Fear'>Seasons of Fear</a></i> written by Paul Cornell and Caroline Symcox.<br/><br/>Also in the horrible remiss department our friends at <a href='http://forest4thetrees.blogspot.com/'>Forest 4 the Trees</a>, Cathy and Keefe, did a review of Gallifrey 19 for Doctor Who Podshock back in August. It's a great convention report from the eys of first timers and they also give us a little shout out.<br/><br/>Speaking of Gallifrey the countdown is on as we're now less than a month away from Gallifrey 20 in Los Angeles. As last time you'll be able to find us in the lobby with either a pint or an overpriced cup of coffee in our hands. Please stop by and say 'hi' at some point. We enjoy meeting you all.<br/><br/>On the Big Finish front plans are being made to relaunch the Big Finish classics line with <i><a href='http://www.bigfinish.com/Phantom-of-the-Opera'>The Phantom of the Opera</a></i>. New podcasts and music downloads will be made available. Apparently all they need to do is sell another 750 copies/downloads and Barnaby Edwards will be given the greenlight to produce another classic. He's got three ready to go so go help a brother out and get yourself a copy.<br/><br/>See you all Saturday.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-71509103625084037912008-12-27T11:24:00.002-06:002008-12-27T13:38:43.926-06:00Gallifrey 2009 Guest Update<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">I guess the convention gods were reading this blog when I whinged and moaned about how the Chicago TARDIS schedule didn't allow me to see more of Colin Baker. The following is the guest announcement made by the fine people that run Gallifrey a few days ago. I sense a good friend of mine will be staying up late at night trying to figure out what to get autographed. ;) </span><br /><br />Gallifrey Conventions is delighted to make a major announcement about two new guests for our 2009 convention:<br /><br />We are extremely pleased to welcome back the Sixth Doctor, <b>COLIN BAKER</b>. Colin is a special sponsored guest being brought over by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.doctorwhostore.com/"><b>Alien Entertainment</b></a>, a major dealer of Doctor Who memorabilia, as well as the sponsors of our annual sister convention ChicagoTARDIS and the official North American distributor of Big Finish Productions audios. Colin Baker, who played the Doctor from 1984-1986, has been with us several times in the past, and is being sponsored by <b>Alien Entertainment </b>for a trip to Los Angeles to help promote the Big Finish audio series. As such, he'll be signing in the dealers room at the Alien Entertainment table. However, Colin *will* be participating in the rest of the Gallifrey 2009 convention... including a panel that reunites him with his co-star Nicola Bryant (Peri) for the first time at a US convention in many years.<br /><br />Meanwhile, it is our pleasure to welcome for his first North American convention actor <b>KAI OWEN</b>, in a visit sponsored by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.10thplanetevents.co.uk/"><b>Tenth Planet Events</b></a>. Kai is familiar to current audiences from his role as Rhys Williams, the husband of Gwen Cooper on <i>Torchwood</i>, who is a recurring regular on the series and whose role was expanded<br />during the second season. Kai Owen has also appeared on stage and in such productions as "Casualty" and "Rocket Man" as well as productions for Welsh television. <b>Tenth Planet Events</b>, who are long-time<br />dealers in the Gallifrey One dealers room, will be hosting the actor for autographs at their table; Owen will also appear on stage on several panels, including together with actor Gareth David Lloyd (Ianto).<br /><br />Additionally, some very good news: <b>GARY RUSSELL</b> <u>will</u> be at Gallifrey 2009 after all! The long-time writer/producer and friend of Gallifrey One had to cancel out due to his responsibilities on Doctor Who's 2009 schedule, but has been able to make some time to get to Los Angeles after all. And <b>STEVE ROBERTS</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: times new roman;">of the Doctor Who Restoration Team will be joining us for panels, including a look at</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"> the current and forthcoming slate of BBC Doctor Who DVDs for 2009.</span><br /><p class="scribefire-powered">Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-29862201043211055242008-12-17T21:18:00.001-06:002009-02-22T16:37:58.630-06:00Chicago TARDIS 2008 - Day Six<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>Monday finds me praying for the sweet release of death.<br/><br/>Normally I do not get hangovers when I drink. Apparently my body decided the day I was to start my drive back to Houston would be a good time to have one. Oddly enough my body likes to do that. The last major hangover I had came after a night of drinking in New Orleans at a Squeeze show where I lost count after screwdriver number six in an attempt to keep up with the locals and the British fans. Many early morning hours were spent wrapped around the Porcelain God but I had to a get back on the road to head to Austin to see the band again. Insert a bit of my vision going just as I got off the causeway, not making it to the Waffle House in time and therefore hanging my head out of my car window to throw up along with a two hour nap in an Exxon parking lot and that would sum up my return trip in that instance.<br/><br/>You remember that scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off where Cameron is in his bedroom and Ferris is trying to convince him to skip school? The part where he's laying there in the dark, singing "When Cameron was in Egypt's land"? That was me Monday morning. Except without the singing because that would've hurt too much. As it was I had to beg John and Dan to stop making me laugh because that was putting me perilously close to puking my guts out. Unlike my New Orleans trip solids did not pass through my lips in the wrong direction, but it took me a long time to become functional.<br/><br/>John and Dan left for the airport around ten and I just hung around the lobby trying to regain my faculties. I was almost gifted a bunch of booze but that hand off never happened. I also got invited to dinner which I had to naturally turn down.<br/><br/>I finally headed out around eleven, wishing old and new friends safe flights. It had snowed most of the night so while the roads were relatively clear it was still slow going. Things were not helped by the public works department deciding they didn't need to clean the road signs. This means I went the wrong way on the turnpike and spent a good thirty minutes trying to go the right way. All I'll really say about the trip back is that I'll never drive through Oklahoma again. That nearly broke me and I ended up sleeping a few hours in a gas station parking lot to get my head back on straight. I eventually made it back into Houston around three in the afternoon on Tuesday.<br/><br/>Much love has to be given to my roommates, John and Dan. I don't think the convention would've been half as fun if they hadn't made it out. Fine me on Facebook and see how much fun we all had in visual form.<br/><br/>India Fisher pwned me in ways I hadn't been pwned since I saw a photo of Miles Richardson with a midget. We were in stitches every time she spoke during a panel. Her continual egging/friendly griping at Jason for not using her for the BBC7 McGann audios was priceless. I hope Colin is successful in his pursuit to keep Charley as his companion. I'm so glad I got the chance to see her. Lord knows if she'll ever make it back for another convention, I can only hope so.<br/><br/>Speaking of convention returns would it surprise anyone if I said I really hope Lisa Bowerman shows up at Gallifrey 20? It's fun to be able to talk with someone who's worked both sides of the audio studio for Big Finish. The rest of the gang from the Key 2 Time series will be there so in my sad little world it makes sense for her to be there as well. I'm a sad unofficial Benny pimp that way, but that's why you guys love me.<br/><br/>The Magical Bucket of Booze will return at Gallifrey 20 in LA. You won't be able to miss us so do come by and say "hi" if you happen to be there.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-42387811227319479782008-12-15T22:51:00.001-06:002008-12-15T22:51:26.323-06:00Quick Cross Plug<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>I've decided it's high time that I chronicle my adventures in fandom and booze. If you think you'd be even remotely interested in reading me voice my opinions on things besides Big Finish audios I encourage you to join me.<br/><br/><a href='http://www.drinkplusgeek.blogspot.com'>Drink + Geek</a><br/><br/>Must give props to my friends James who helped nail down that blog title for me.</font><br/><br/><font face='Times New Roman'>No Livejournal mirror site, but I do have the <a href='http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blogpage.php?blogid=97989'>Facebook Blog Network</a> deal.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-48727024565203018242008-12-11T23:12:00.001-06:002008-12-11T23:12:10.306-06:00My Brain Just Exploded With Pleasure<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>If you were at Chicago TARDIS you might remember that in the Big Finish panels there was talk of a special Paul McGann 8th Doctor release. No info, just promise of a release within the regular Doctor Who line with McGann. <br/><br/>If you read Matthew Cochrane's nifty blog (handy dandy link on your right) you'll remember he mentioned he was getting ready to work on this release. Again, no info outside of something nifty keen is happening with McGann.<br/><br/>If you've gotten your hands on DWM issue #403 you'll see that they've released what's involved with the release. If you haven't and you'd like to remain spoiler free turn back now.<br/><br/>Seriously, avert your eyes because blogger doesn't have the spiffy cut option that Livejournal does. Or if it does I'm not smart enough to discover and use it.<br/><br/>Don't say I didn't warn you.<br/><br/>D<br/>o<br/>n<br/>'t<br/><br/>w<br/>a<br/>n<br/>t<br/><br/>t<br/>o <br/><br/>h<br/>e<br/>a<br/>r<br/><br/>i<br/>t.<br/><br/><br/>The McGann release is currently titled The Company of Friends and will have four stories, each with a different companion. My brain has just exploded with pleasure because one of the stories will be a Lance Parkin tale involving Benny! I cannot be the only one all a flutter over the possibilities of Paul McGann and Lisa Bowerman in an audio together. Can I?<br/><br/>All fluttering aside it's great to see Big Finish give Benny another shot in the main range of Who audios. I had thought we'd seen the last of her in that capacity after the atrocity that was The Dark Flame nearly a hundred releases ago.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-79316387084530557242008-12-06T14:15:00.002-06:002008-12-06T14:35:03.253-06:00Chicago TARDIS 2008 - Day Five<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Sunday finds me waking up to find there's a huge bruise on my outside right thigh and a pretty ugly gash on the inside of my right ankle. I have no clue how either of those things happened as the Scrabble game never got physical and Saturday night was probably the most sober I'd been the entire convention. Sidenote to Scrabble game: nothing like finishing a game and then having Rob Shearman critique your board to make you feel inadequate. ;)<br /><br />I continued the usual routine of going downstairs to the lobby to check my email and the weather. Snow was in the forecast as in the early morning the projection was just for 2 -4 inches. By late morning it was starting to snow, but not stick to the ground. Not having seen proper snow in 14 years I had to go outside and catch some on my tongue. At that point though people were saying the forecast was now for close to a foot of snow. This was not cool since I had driven up there and would naturally have to drive back. I had about an hour long freakout as I tried to decide whether to leave right then to beat the weather or take my chances. One drive later to gas up the car and do some other things calmed me down enough to decide to stay.<br /><br />Based on issues with the schedule Sunday quickly became dubbed "Colin Baker Day". I really wish the schedule hadn't had so many conflicts so I could've seen more than one Q&A session. His sessions were slightly different in that he was on stage by himself and you could walk up to a microphone in the center of the aisle to ask your question. When you got up there he'd ask you your name and then get everyone to say "hi" to you. His sunday session was a lot of fun and helped solidify my newfound love for him thanks to Big Finish. Probably the funniest/saddest question was a woman who went "Are you still acting?" He handled it way better than I. My response would've been, "Go to the dealer's room and find the table with a ton of CD's. There will be plenty with my face circa 1984 on it. Go buy some, listen to them, and then come back with a better question." This is why I'll probably never be allowed to speak at a convention.<br /><br />But I still go to the zoo with people so it's all good.<br /><br />After that I quick ran to the dealer's room to get Kate Orman's autograph on some items. I had missed out on her autograph the day before due to the line being so long and her having a panel to be on at 5pm. I had caught her earlier and asked if she'd stick around a bit after Sunday's signing explaining I was going to see Colin. She graciously agreed and then I think I won long time/creepy Kate Orman fan award by producing one of the items I had for her to sign, a Data fanzine from 1994 that had two pages worth of drabbles by her and some really horrible drawings by someone else. The response I got were wide eyes and a very surpries "Fuck off!" said in a good way when I brought out the 'zine.<br /><br />With that I had an hour to kill before it was time to queue for Colin's autograph. That line wasn't too bad and I watched as the woman in front of me thanked Colin for staying well past quitting time years ago at some convention to sign autographs. Apparently the organizers were going to cap the line but when Colin heard about what was about to happen he told them to bugger off and signed for everyone that wanted one. Colin thanked her and said that it wasn't right to make people queue up and then not let them get what they had queued up for. My turn and I gave him a DVD cover to sign to Tim. To this he said that if I had come yesterday I could've gotten something that he mistakenly addressed to a Tim but that they had found someone named Tim to give to. I thanked him but pointed out that my Tim might've been a tad confused when I came back with some random item with his name and not the DVD cover I was given.<br /><br />I had Colin sign my Big Finish book and mentioned how I was of the many converted to his Doctor thanks to his work with Big Finish and how they'd done a great job in rehabbing his Doctor. As I walked off I wished him a safe flight and he did the same to me. I couldn't help myself and pointed out that I had actually driven. He and his handler asked where I drove from and rather matter of factly said, "only Houston". Then we talked for a few minutes about that which ended with him wishing me a safe drive. A very nice moment for me.<br /><br />This pretty much concluded the convention proper portion of the weekend for me. John and I were starving and had no parties to hit so we walked to the mall where I managed to miss the Chicago hot dog stand and get Taco Bell instead. On the way out I spotted a store that sold nothing but bar stuff like pint glasses, beer taps and neon signs. Naturally I had to go inside. I grabbed a Molson Twin Label pint glass with the Molson logo on one side and the label Can I Buy You A Lager on the other. I was eyeing a Phillies glass when I heard a voice similar to Jeri's from Strangers With Candy saying, "That's the thing with boob jobs. They're trying to make everything perfect." The voice went on to say, "Take a look at my breasts." I was afraid she was going to say something about them being fake to which I would've had to interrupt the conversation and tell her to get her money back. To the relief of my imagination which was still working out hilarious scenarios involving That Which Broke My Mind (tm) Friday night she then said "They're not symmetrical." It was on this note that it was decided that it was time to leave the store.<br /><br />I briefly found myself in the lobby by my lonesome with the Magical Bucket of Booze. Jon Blum is writing an article on Who fandom and was interviewing New Who fans all weekend. I caught the tail end of one of the interviews. I won't spoil it, but the young man being interviewed had a very adult and deep reason for what he gets out of the show which made me feel slightly inadequate.<br /><br />Those feelings disappeared though with the final night with the Magical Bucket of Booze. At one point I was holding court with Simon, Lisa, Jason Haigh-Ellery, and Laura Doddington. The Magical Bucket helped Laura not break a New Year's resolution and she was impressed that the Magical Bucket of Booze was also recyclable. Lisa and Simon were singing the praises of myself and the entire Time Team to Jason which left me dead chuffed. I preached to the choir (Laura) regarding Lisa's skills as a director and threw out there that she should come back to Gallifrey since the other Key 2 Time folks will be back there. Then I could do another Gallifreyan Edition of the Time Team for the first Key 2 Time story.<br /><br />The snow had kept falling all day and eventually once the sun had gone down the snow actually started to stick. I tried to get Rob to make snow angels. One Culture Club song later I think I had convincer him I had no evil intentions of just pushing him in the snow. But alas there were no angels to be made at that point. That came later when I convinced Jarrod to make some with me. There are photos somewhere of said angels being made. That was fun but clearly I wasn't drunk enough as I could feel how cold and wet my backside had become.<br /><br />Simon handed out an anniversary edition of his fanzine "Concrete Elephant" that might have the best synopsis of Romeo and Juliet I've ever seen. The back of the 'zine encourages people to make their own and pass them out at Gallifrey.</span><br /><p class="scribefire-powered">Powered by <a href="http://www.scribefire.com/">ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4759489475901970021.post-44881199895296303502008-12-03T21:07:00.001-06:002008-12-03T22:14:40.850-06:00Chicago TARDIS 2008 - Day Four<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><font face='Times New Roman'>As you may remember, Friday night ended with me piss drunk and paper cutting my good eye with the program schedule. I woke up Saturday with my vision a little blurry, naturally. It wasn't so massive that I ended up asking the hotel to take me to the hospital, but the edges of things were blurry enough that I was a little freaked. For those of you that don't know my bad eye is a pretty useless. I could walk around with a patch on it and have just about the same amount of vision at my disposal. At this point I've been told that technology would allow me to get contacts but that I'd probably still want to wear glasses to protect the good eye.<br/><br/>I made my way downstairs and tried to read the Wall Street Journal, hoping that things would clear up as I became a tad more active. Not at the outset so after an hour or so I went back to bed, resolved to trudge over to Target as soon as it opened. Took a nap, bascially, and then woke up right around opening time for Target. Slipping my Docs and a sweater on I trudged over there, got the eye drops, and made my way back to the room. The vision was clearing up a tad so I was a little less freaked, but the next day and a half I was doing the eye drops every four hours.<br/><br/>Once I got past the eye crisis I eventually made my way to the Writing for Different Media panel with Cornell, Guerrier, Shearman, and Russell. I came in the middle of Guerrier, Russell, and Shearman making fun of Cornell for not using owls in the television version of Human Nature. Much talk about the owls picketing the set since Paul had abandoned them. I'm not sure which image burned deeper into my brain: Paul in the shower with an owl on each shoulder or Rob googling himself to read reviews of his porn work. It was clear though that all four genuinely like one another and I wish someone had videotaped the panel. I couldn't stop laughing.<br/><br/>Next up was the Women of Big Finish panel, with Simon and Jason Haigh-Ellery. Again, tons of fun and just like Friday India Fisher stole the panel. I kind of felt bad to Laura Doddington and Ciara Janson. Since the Key 2 Time series hasn't come out yet it was hard to get them involved in the conversation. But they held their own and this only gave them a taste of what it'll be like for Gallifrey in February. We also got to hear trailers for all three Key 2 Time releases once the sound guys figured out how to play the cd. That actually might've been the funniest part of the panel as everyone on stage was doing a running commentary of the three guys trying to get it to work. At one point I offered to get my laptop and just play it from that.<br/><br/>Eventually I staked my claim in the line for Lis Sladen's autograph. The line was huge and I was part of a group that was waiting in a separate ballroom. An hour and a half later I finally got the stuff I wanted autographed. Lis was lovely, spending a few moments talking to everyone to made their way to her. She got a kick out of my Big Finish coffee table book.<br/><br/>With that knocked out of the way I made my way back to the main ballroom to catch the end of the Big Finish panel. Nothing really new from the panel on Friday, but it was fun to have Nick Briggs join the group. After that panel it was off to the races as I got back in the autograph line for the Big Finish bunch along with Kate Orman and Jon Blum. The line was huge and once again it took over an hour for me to make my way to the table. I said this personally to Nick Briggs later on in the hotel elevator and I'll say it again, it was very nice that they stayed until everyone had gotten through the line. It's obviously the right thing to do, but considering how long each day was for them, the fact that jetlag was still a bit of an issue, and that the women were going to immediately have to go to the other side of the room for an hour long photo session, it would've been understandable if they tried to cut the line off. As it was Kate and some of the other guests had to leave at 5pm because they were scheduled to be on panels. Jon finally connected the Time Team with my face when it was his turn to sign my copy of "Life During Wartime" and noticed the inscriptions. He mentioned having read our session regarding "The Fearmonger", vowing to keep an eye on us, and then not getting back to us. I also surprised him when I busted out my VHS sleeve for "Time Rift". Jon promises that the remastered version should be ready to go in January.<br/><br/>Like Friday night we hit a couple of parties that were happening and snagged some grub. I made my way to the lobby and hung out with some folks. Gary Russell came down and somehow I ended up doing my impersonation of an electronic Frosty the Snowman you might find at your local CVS. Apparently I amused him enough to have him ask me to do it again. It obviously loses something in translation so I'll be more than happy to do it at Gallifrey if requested.<br/><br/>The Magical Bucket of Booze (tm) made its way down to the lobby where I found myself talking smack as I played scrabble with Jarrod. A natural outlet for my heckling tendencies. Rob Shearman found his way to our group and we talked for a few hours. The water wall was doing its job as I started nodding off, only to be woken up to everyone in the group telling me to go to bed.<br/><br/>So that's just what I did.</font><br/><br /><br /><p class='scribefire-powered'>Powered by <a href='http://www.scribefire.com/'>ScribeFire</a>.</p></div>Redohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15165959241074252679noreply@blogger.com0