Away, Away, Away......

Well, we're away for the next few days; off to have a haapy Family Reunion (we hope!), so here's a little poem to be going on with:

Away in our Nissan,
Dr.Who pillow on my Bed,
My lovely little family lay down their sweet heads,
The stars in the bright sky
Look down from on high,
The little Lord Jesus asleep in the hay.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Epiphany!

I had an epiphany, early this morning...I realized I may be spending a little too much dosh on Dr.Who stuff...so, next year, I will spend 50% less on Doctor Who...which will leave me more money to buy clothes, & spend on the kids.....and maybe even save a little! :)

I did the MATCH....

....I did the MONSTER Match! And WOW, did I get addicted! ::) I played dozens of games...until my index finger gave me a clear indication, that enough was enough! ...Still, I have - as far as I know - scored the highest of any Dr.Who Fan in NZ; I managed 4407, which was through a combination of getting a big score in the first 4 seconds (the way the tiles fell), intense concentration, and always going for a four-or-more connect, rather than just 3-in-a-row - means the difference between 3 points, and up to 103! I'll be hearing DELETE, EXTERMINATE, CLOM, WE ARE THE LEGION OF THE BEAST, and farting Slitheens in my dreams! *** Still...on the plus side, this "addiction" didn't cost me any dosh.....

More news tomorrow......

The Christmas tree challenge

Dr.Who Christmas Party Report

Saturday 10th Dec

Well, I set off with my family at around 10:30am from Timaru, and arrived at my in-laws house in Cashmere at 12:36pm, aprox. We had a good nosh-up, and headed off to see more relations in Bishopdale. After a short time there, Margaret & I tootled off towards Shirley...but stopped on the way, so I could try to buy a CARRY ON film, at Northlands. No luck! Got to Matt's place; found I'd just missed out on the crowd watching the animated episodes from THE INVASION...that DVD boasts an excellent & revealing commentary, by the way... ;) I was wearing my authentic-looking Tom Baker scarf (season 13/14). My wife & I brought Dalek Cupcakes; these were popular! Another fan brought Cyber-biscuits; I was lucky to get the last one! Mrs left to visit more rellies, & I stayed, of course...being more than a little into DW...I showed off my DW Interactive Electronic Board Game, I'm still not sure if anyone wanted to play it, as the bunch were rather loud, though cheerful. The miniature TARDIS in the game was a bit of a hit. With me, I brought a number of DVDs & videoes...Matt, being a very modern young chap, doesn't have a VCR, so it was lucky most of my offerings were on disc! :) I began by issuing a challenge: "Who is the WHO actor?" I showed a scene off a BBC disc....no-one had a clue. Gave the decade; then the Doctor, finally, the story...at last, a winner! It was REG LYE, that fabulous character actor, playing a part in Michael Palin's RIPPING YARNS...Reg was Griffin the Chef, from THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD.Next up, I presented Colin Baker playing an artist who was murdered, in JONATHAN CREEK. That ponytail suits you, Colin!A naked Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North/PM) then graced the small screen, doing her turn in CALENDAR GIRLS!The Avengers provided the next item, with a rather familiar voice & face apparent on the screen! Jon Pertwee played "The Brigadier" (before there was any such character in DW), who was re-creating a battle in Italy with the aid of many sound-effects, on gramophones...if only he'd been as funny on Dr.Who!Briefly showed scenes from TENKO, but couldn't find Louise Jameson...next time! Found Burt Kwouk, though (FOUR TO DOOMSDAY).Next on, I put on a disc from the Live Collection of Peter Kay (the Abzorbaloff). You may not all be aware, that Peter Kay made his name doing stand-up comedy; his Live Collection features his one-man shows filmed at Blackpool & Bolton (his home town). I showed Peter doing a few ale adverts. Next time, if time permits, I'd like to show one or two episodes from THAT PETER KAY THING - it's like AIRLINE - you know, a fly-on-the-wall doco (mock, in Peter's case) - in which PK played at least 15 chacters over 6 episodes. It would be apt at a Chch chapter meeting, as it has subtitles... ;) ;) ;)The last (& most popular) DVD that I played selected items from, was BLACKPOOL; which featues David Tennant acting, singing & dancing, and carrying on....this is recommended. Available at Real Groovy, at stores & online.Well, there you have it...the Chch Chapter Christmas Party, 2006. As a fan who's getting to know the Chch guys, I found them to be splendid fellows...all of them! :)

Slow Week so Far

Slow week...went to the "Mainly Music" Christmas Break-up last night; with a BYO Fish 'n' Chip tea, and an evening session of music & dancing for the kids. A number of embarrassed-looking Dads loitered around the edge of the crowd, with the expression "you're-not-getting-ME-doing-that" etched firmly on their faces! ::) Today, I took the Twins to the bank, & a copy shop, to get better pics of Dr.Who characters printed; and this time, in portrait format. It will save space on the wall, so there'll be room for one more in the New Year, or even sooner.

DALEKS in my Kitchen!!!

Tomorrow, I'm off to the Doctor Who Fan Club of NZ (Christchurch chapter) Christmas Party; Mrs.Nev & I have made 16 Dalek cupcakes; I imagine they won't last long at the Party! I only get to Fan Club get-togethers about once a year, so it's rather exciting :D) At the last one I went to, the Hostess told me I was the "keenest one there," which was a real thrill....and a slight disappointment, at the same time (does that make sense?). I'd like to meet someone keener than I. They are out there; I even heard one once at Longleat...when there was still a Dr.Who Exhibition there. Anyway, I'll do a report on the Dr.Who Xmas Party in due course; watch this space!

Adventures in Chocolate

Yesterday (Thursday) I had a few little adventures in Chocolate-making, creating some Christmas gifts for close friends. Margaret gave me some choc bits to fill our moulds, but they weren't enough! I had to search for more.... 'Til then, I got busy & did two-tone chocs for the first time, using dark choc on a woman's face, & creamy white choc t give her blonde hair! I carried on like that, making all of the women have blonde hair - except there wasn't enough dark choc...I went through all the known chocolate locations in our house, finding dairy milk choc, energy choc...but I had to do the last one in Moro (like Mars bars, for my UK readers!). An interesting excercise...I've learned a few tricks, for next time! :)

The Trick Cyclist & the Hospital

Saw the Trick Cyclist yesterday; she said I should have a CAT Scan!! That was surprising....even more surprising was I only had to wait 22 hours!! I had it today, at about midday! I'd never had one before. Had an MRI Scan once on the Isle of Wight, but nobody's ever scanned my cat....LOL! (sorry). Anyway, I should have the results before Christmas.

Our Kittenpuss.....

Kittenpuss did not come home on Monday night; we were worried about him...he didn't appear for his breakfast, either. We were concerned... looked around the local park & cul-de-sac...we found him under a bush, near the front door; we think he'd been in a cat fight. We took him to the Vet last night; she gave him an injection, & after a lot of rest last night & today, he's better. Yay!

Goodbye, Clever-Clogs! ::)

Wouldn't you just know it...our new "clever clogs" Home Theatre System with DVD player, has already gone boobs-up! First, as Margaret was putting the speakers on the wall, she just touched the clip of the Centre Speaker...& then it snapped! :( Next, I realised I really don't like "multi-function buttons"....ie, the next scene & previous scene buttons are the same as the Volume controls! Arrgh! But the straw that broke the Dalek's back, was finding out that it won't play foreign DVDs. Well, as you can imagine, more than half my DVDs are from the UK...so we're taking it back 2moro...we already have a new system lined up - a Philips - which was marked down from $500, so it's guaranteed to be better quality.... more later!

Multiple Birth Club party

Yesterday, we went to the Multiple Birth Club Christmas Party; it was held at Rachel & Clayton's house in Temuka, a small town about 15 mins drive from here. The Club provided a Bouncy Castle from the Caroline Bay Association, including some CBA staff to supervise the kids on it. We chatted for a while, ga-ga & goo-gooing over Paula & Gavin's new (4 weeks old) Twins; the kids tore about on the Bouncy Castle wearing themselves out, it was good for them. I couldn't find my fave sweatshirt before going out, so I ended up wearing my jacket a lot of the time. Tea arrived in the form of three LARGE polystyrene containers of Fish 'n' Chips - aprox. 1 metre long each!! Twenty children munched away, enjoying the fried eats. (I went back for seconds). The dessert was more creative; with everyone bringing something different. I had some Ice Cream & Pavlova, with slices of yummy Kiwifruit on top!

Monday Morning
My Twins continue to amuse me, with their picking-up on my Doctor Who hobby....Zoe keeps running out of our Boudoir with Mad Dogs and Englishmen, a very PINK Dr.Who book! ::) Zoe loves all things pink...& the fact that it's Dr.Who, only adds to the attraction....

More on Saturday

The big event for Saturday, was being on a float in the Santa Parade. Jamie, Zoe & myself were on the Playcentre float. Jamie was an Elf; Zoe was a fairy, & I was Rudolph the....well, you know the rest! ;) We got on the Float at about 2:33pm, and waited more-or-less patiently for the Parade to begin. Finally it started at about 3:02. We did well getting around square corners....but more about that later! Our float was on the trailer of a tautliner. We followed several other floats, onto the main street. It was very different, being IN the parade, rather than watching it!
There was a full work-bench on the float, so kids (mainly the boys) could keep busy.
...my hand got a little stiff, from waving...& I couldn't smile so well, with the Red Nose on! Hundreds of peop. lined the main street. At the end of the parade, we drove down the Loop to get to the Bay....but we held up all the rest of the parade, when we tried to get into the Bay grounds, but the trailer couldn't get past a very old bollard...despite the driver trying many times! I wouldn't be surprised if that's in the Paper tomorrow!!

Clever-Clogs Home Theatre System ;)

Okay, so this evening we're putting in a new Home Theatre System....& we're wondering, "how the heck do we plug in the speakers..? And where's the thumping Amplifier?" ...as it turns out, the Amp is in the back of the Sub-Woofer! ::) VERY Clever. It makes for one rather compact system, well-thought-out, everything labelled - all the speakers were named for room position; and the cables colour-coded - oh, I am looking forward to the new sound!! I LOVE good sound... it's just that I can't often afford it. I bought EXCELLENT speakers in '87...& they're STILL good....they cost me $600 (plus another $90 for top quality cables) - and yet, this whole system only cost $148! Including the DVD player. I guess that says something about where my priorities lie....oh well, one must have one's hobbies :D)

A Day of Discs

Today was marked by many Discs coming in the mail; I received 5 DVD discs in the post this morning, from a very kind man on Sausagenet. They consisted of all of Dr.Who Confidential from the past two seasons, in their entirety; and the first four episodes of Torchwood. Fantastic!

...much later, I received a parcel by courier, from Amazon.uk.... a Tin of Dr.Who stories, as well as three more original Doctor Who stories from Big Finish! They include a guest appearance by Nina Baden-Semper, of Love Thy Neighbour fame - she's a great actress!

Tonight I should have been at Mrs.Nev's work do, but I had to babysit a sick Ben... still, it was a good "bonding" time, I held him while he slept, and fed him a pie later on. He'll be better soon.