DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a review! There are opinions involved but this is a highly detailed account of the show (or as much detail as I can recount). I don’t focus too heavily on the music as so many people better qualified have done this but I feel the show itself and the people involved always seem to fall by the wayside. So this blog is for them and fans of the performance as well as the music.
I am writing this blog for two reasons. One: because I have such a terrible memory for detail and want to get everything down while it’s all still pretty fresh in my memory. And two: so other fans can hopefully relive the magic that is LOVE. If there are any parts that I may have missed or you would like to contribute your own story of your LOVE experience then please either leave a comment below or e-mail me at catherine@thereelworlduk.com. I would love to hear other people’s memories!
( Read more... )End of Part 1...- Mood:accomplished
As everyone leaves the stage. Four screens come down, each with a Beatle on them. Once again, recorded footage is put together to create an amusing conversation between the four of them as they tune up and get ready for the next song. There is a brief moment where Paul starts to sing Hey Jude but is interrupted, his guitar is out of tune, Ringo has a mental moment and John makes up a random tune. It ends with John (I think) counting “One, two, three, four.” As the images freeze, the screens go back up and an original recording of Strawberry Fields Forever begins. The stage rises and on the platform appears Dr Robert and the Nowhere Men standing around a grand piano. Robert pours ‘tea’ into the piano and the four Nowhere Men put their hands in together and turn to the audience to blow bubbles out through their fingers. It’s a very cool trick and as the song progresses, the bubbles grow in size as they use rings to make them, sometimes making bubbles with smoke in them which gives a cool effect. They walk round the piano creating these bubbles and as the song builds to it’s instrumental climax, the platform descends as Sgt. Peppers band parade the stage and people on golden orbs come down. One thing I noticed that made me laugh second time round was that the poor guys playing the Nowhere Men were getting drenched in bubble liquid and as the platform went down they were subtly trying to dodge the bursting bubbles, nice candid moment.
Some parts I don’t doubt are incorrect and I welcome any corrections! I hope you garnered something from this obscenely epic post, whether it was to relive the experience or to jog your memory of what happened during a certain song. I hope that one day the show will be available on DVD but the likelihood is low, for now at least. Please go see this show, buy the soundtrack, it’s a truly amazing experience! Thanks for listening. :)
</div></div>- Mood:accomplished
50 years ago today in Iowa, one of the princes of Rock n' Roll was killed in a plane crash at the age of 22. Buddy Holly was one of the greatest musicians and one of the most influential people on the music scene, producing and writing much of his own work. Not to mention the fact that it's damned good too! It still holds up and you can occasionally hear it in films and on TV (one of my favourites, Everyday, is used on the Daily Mail advert at the moment). He proved very influential on future artists such as Hank Marvin of The Shadows and most notably The Beatles. Partially paying homage to The Crickets with their name, Paul McCartney and John Lennon were both big fans, even covering Words of Love.
And yet so few people care anymore. Elvis is lauded as the King of Rock n' Roll when he didn't even write his own stuff. I know I can't really judge, a lot of people say you had to be there but I don't think that should be a solid excuse. I've never understood the appeal of Elvis but media and marketing suggest I'm in a minority. Calendars, mugs, clocks, posters, bags, ironing board covers, towels...all can be found with Elvis on it. Anniversary of his death, TV shows, documentaries, films run for the whole week. BBC4 is having a Buddy Holly night tomorrow (not sure why, I guess it was the 4th to us when he died) which I am pleased about, at least someone is making an effort.
This isn't a dig at Elvis, he was just the most obvious example. And merchandising is a sensitive area as a lot of that has to do with Buddy's widow having a tight grip on it. But this still doesn't change the fact that Buddy seems to have fallen into undeserved obscurity.
I was hoping to be in Lubbock today, the place of his birth, to celebrate his life and music with other fans. Sadly, it fell through but imagine my dismay when I learned that no such festivities were planned. For a city that supposedly hails him as "Lubbock's favorite son", they don't seem too interested in remembering him. I believe there is a panel with a Rock n' Roll historian at the Buddy Holly Center, that's all I can find. If anyone could truly preserve his memory it's them and if they no longer care, then I fear no-one will.
You probably don't know or care either and I don't blame you, the music's over 50 years old, it's different but that doesn't mean it's bad. I implore you, take just 3 minutes out of your life, go over to YouTube and listen to one song. Just one. I'm not asking you to love it, I just want people to give it a chance, I want it to stay alive. If you have BBC4, stop by there tomorrow evening just for an idea, maybe watch The Buddy Holly Story (it's a great film!).
Rave On.
- Mood:
contemplative - Music:Not Fade Away by Buddy Holly and The Crickets
My 10th con! It’s been a LONG time since we have finished a con so early! There were about half the usual guests, it was a lot smaller and not really a single headliner. Not that I’m complaining, the last Collectormania was so fraught it put me off ever doing another one if I could help it.
We got there about 45 minutes before it started and wandered around looking for the guests we wanted to meet. I got virtual tickets for Morena because she was only there for the morning, Jeff Cohen and MC Gainey. Morena turned up first so I decided to meet her almost immediately. I was a bit worried because reading the forums the couple of days before hand, she seemed a bit quiet and like she wasn’t really interested. But she was very pleasant to me, I think it might depend on what you say. She must hear about Firefly all the time but I mentioned how she was in one of my favourite How I Met Your Mother sketches and she seemed really pleased about that. She said how much fun it was to do and the all the guys were great which is nice to hear. It really was an hilarious part!
We went and had a cake and a drink before going to see anyone else. It was just so weird to be able to move around so easily! We went to Jeff next. It was so surreal, obviously he doesn’t really look anything like he did in The Goonies but when he really smiled you could TOTALLY see it! He seemed to be having a really good time and was very good with everyone. My mum went before me and used up everything I could think of saying which was a shame but at least I still got to hear the answers. He was pleased with the amount of love people had for the film (God knows why!)
Next up was MC Gainey. I wasn’t even totally sure whether I was going to meet him or not but people were saying how nice he was. I was hoping they’d have a Club Dread photo but had a feeling they probably wouldn’t so took my poster as a backup. I’ve never been one for getting posters signed but I’m SO glad I did. It seemed like he hadn’t had anything Club Dread related to sign all weekend. He got all excited when he saw it and said how much fun he had filming it and it was one of his favourite movies. He asked if I’d seen Beerfest and told me about Broken Lizard’s new movie as well. He was about to put a quote on the poster but paused to ask if I really LOVED the film. I think he was checking to see if it would be OK for him to put one of the more profane quotes on it. I’m glad I got something so obscure as I suppose most people would have been meeting him for Lost or Con Air.
Finally, I met Dean Andrews again. I don’t know what it is but he is seriously just the nicest guy ever. You just forget he’s an actor and can just have a really good chat about pretty much anything! Debbie was his assistant again and recognised me from last time and he remembered me too. They make a great double act because they just pick on each other profusely. Dean said they were like an old married couple “she’s old and I’m married” as he said :) Season 2 of Ashes to Ashes is going well but I forgot to ask when we’d get to see it. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of meeting him.
So by about 12pm, we’d finished! Totally unheard of. We drove back, bought some cakes for the guys at work and opened my presents at home. I mostly got DVD’s: NewsRadio, How I Met Your Mother, Enterprise... I think I might be a little busy!
This has been the first con we've been to in 4 years where we have had to make it a weekend deal, there were so many people I wanted to meet! We left at 6:30 and got there around 8:15 so had to wait in the freezing cold for 45 minutes. It was fun looking at the cosplayers though, particularly a collared Alien being led by marines and a brilliant Cyberman!
We rushed straight for talk tickets, then virtual tickets for the guests and then decided to get a photo shoot for Christopher Lloyd and Jason Mewes. I always hate meeting people straight away, it takes me awhile to get into the right mindset for talking to the guests. We looked around the stalls and saw some of the guests arrive. I decided to meet Carrie Henn first (Newt from Aliens). She doesn't look a whole lot different really and she seemed like a fish out of water, as did her brother but she was very nice and sweet.
We went to The Goodies talk (I wasn't particularly interested but really wanted to sit down!) It was funny at parts but the sound was a bit crap so we couldn't hear a lot of what anyone was saying.
We then did the photo shoots, one after the other. Christopher was very pleasant and really seemed to want to spend a bit of time with you. Unfortunately, this would prove frustrating as his autograph queue was going SOOOOO slowly! This was his first con though so he was probably trying to soak it all in.
Jason looked excellent! He was in very high spirits and is so down to earth and friendly. I'm so glad I decided to have a photo shoot with him.
We then had to rush to the Aliens talk. It was a bit cringing to start off with because no-one really knew what to say. I mean, for the most part, they don't really act much any more and the parts they had (excluding Carrie) where minimal so they didn't really have much to recount. I do like hearing the James Cameron horror stories though, they're always entertaining. I'm still hoping beyond hope that one day they will manage to get Bill Paxton to do a con over here.
Next up was John Landis. I've been wanting to meet him for years and was thrilled to finally get the chance. He's so loud and enthusiastic, he's really easy to talk to. I told him how I liked all the movies of his I'd seen but went on to tell him how I was shown Thriller when I was 4 and it has scarred me for life. True story, I can't actually watch the video from start to finish or listen to the song when I'm on my own or at night. I can't explain it but I wanted him to know! He apologised and then asked who the hell showed it to me. I pointed to my mum who he promptly called a bitch! I was in hysterics as were the people behind us. He then started to call for security and when I said I blamed him he said to blame her instead, it had nothing to do with him. He also said he was definitely on my side. :) Very entertaining.
We had lunch (which was crap, what is it with these places? £3.50 for a baguette?! Jesus!) and had a wander round the stalls. Our numbers had finally gotten high enough to meet Jason Mewes and he was very polite and quite quiet too. I said how much I liked him in Clerks II and that was (possibly) my favourite View Askew movie. He prefers the second of the Clerks films but Mallrats is his favourite overall which I thought was interesting.
We had to hang around till almost the end to get Christopher's autograph because he was going so slow. It was worth it though, Back to the Future is one of my favourite trilogies ever, it was so surreal. Mum also met David Anders (somebody from Heroes) who I went to see with her to take a photo, he seemed quite nice too.
Got to our hotel which was pretty nice and fell asleep at 9pm I was that shattered! We hadn't planned to get there early the next day but still ended up queuing to get in at just before 10. I even saw someone I went to college with which was crazy. Saw Christopher turn up and Jason drove himself in in a flashy convertible. Really, the only thing I was interested in today was Jason Mewes talk but I was umming and ahhing about meeting a couple of others. I had wanted to meet Charles Dance but didn't in the end cos I thought he might be a bit peeved that all I really like him in is Last Action Hero!! I decided to meet Karen Allen after all because she had seemed so pleasant the day before. She's so full of smiles, I don't know how she does it! Annoyingly, it was no posed photo's once I got there even though she had no queue.
I then decided to meet Tom Savini. I was a bit worried about it because I've heard some horror stories about him but he seemed in a good mood this weekend. He was nice enough and listened carefully to what I had to say and also told me that they were working on getting Grindhouse released as the complete film. I don't know if that was on DVD though or at the cinema. I'm still gutted that Greg Nicotero cancelled though, I wanted to talk to him about Evil Dead 2 and Bride of Re-Animator. Oh well, maybe another time!
Patrick Stewart was an absolute farce! I didn't want to meet him anyway but A LOT of people did. As it was he didn't turn up till 12pm and he had a talk later on in the day. The were giving out masses of tickets and he was going through people so quickly. No posed photos, no personalisations, no HANDSHAKES! That's the one that got me! And then after about two hours of rushing through people, his queue was empty and the crew people were shouting out to ANYBODY who wanted to meet him to come forward. It was like they were actually begging people to meet him. Stupid man, maybe he should take more time with his fans.
We went to Jason's talk and I was a bit worried that he would be out of his depth and the questions would be cringing. On Kevin's Q&A's Jason is usually pretty quiet (but who can get a word in edgeways anyway when Kevin's in full flow!?) Turns out he is a natural. He was absolutely hilarious, very open, spoke very clearly and had some great stories. One was quite sad actually about how he went to get Jack Nicholson's autograph and he just turned his back on him and walked away! And since then he hasn't had the guts to ask anyone else for their autograph :( And we also found out, if you want Jason to be in your movie, make sure the character molests a 10-year-old boy and rips someone's face off....apparantly he wants a role like that! I hope he comes over again, he was a great guest.
And that was about it! I've added some other pics of just randomness and some pics for Carole of Excalibur props. Enjoy!
Registration was easy, got my lanyard, glow stick and banana. Hung around for a bit and did some warm ups. We went under the start sign at pretty much dead on midnight. I saw some people from my work, I wonder where they came? I think they were ahead of me to begin with at least. The first part of the walk was cool because it went all along the seafront, past the fair, through the dockyard and we went past HMS Victory and Warrior which was nice. It was pretty much the 6 miles after that that were the killer, not really much to look at. It worse when we walked straight past the end of my road! God, I could have just gone home so bad! Once we got back to the seafront it was OK because it was pretty much the home stretch and there was a nice breeze. The temperature was pretty good over all but it did absolute chuck it down part way round and we got drenched!
The last mile was awful because we had to walk PAST the finish, go in a loop and come back round again so we thought we were almost there when we totally weren't. Finally finished at just before 4am and was ready to collapse. I got my medal and sneakily got my dad one too seeing as he shouldn't have got one as he wasn't a registered walker. I also got the lamest goody bag ever but I am a sucker for free pens! The fact that they laid on free bacon butties was ridiculous because after walking 12 miles you'd then have to queue for probably about 1/2 hour to get the butty. I didn't bother and just went home. Amazingly, I have no blisters or anything, I'm just a bit stiff. I dodn't know how I managed to keep going and I don't think I would do it again in a hurry but I'm very pleased with myself and managed to raise £116 which Zurich should match 100% so that's pretty worthwhile. I'll need to get The News on Tuesday cos my name will be in it and some photos.
OFF TOPIC:
I also saw a food health safety advert on TV the other day which cracked me up. The little critter in the advert reminded me of a certain someone's doodle :)
We're not sure whose gonna go and we won't know for about another month but no-one is very confident at Whiteley, we think we'll be given the chop. Or at least some of us. We're more worried because, now that they're going paper-less, they won't have as much need for clercial staff.
*sigh* I guess it's just a waiting game now. I'll just browse the job ads, see how it goes.
- Mood:
distressed
UPDATE:
WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1-0 in regular play. I'm so pleased for everybody. Harry Redknapp totally deserved to win that trophy as did the team. The noise outside was amazing, it's still going occasionally. They're doing a bus tour round Pompey tomorrow with the FA Cup so we'll probably go see them somewhere enroute. Happy days! :)
I missed the second ep of Enterprise S2 on the TV which is never good. As soon as I forget an episode it justs gets worse until I give up completely. Chuck's still good though it's wavering a bit. Why is TV just so crap lately? Sarah Connor Chronicles ended up being awful. The last episode just made me feel like I'd wasted about 9 hours of my life because absolutely NOTHING was resolved! They must've been pretty confident that they were going to get another series, and talk about a rubbish cliffhanger. Bleugh. Give me Quantum Leap or The A-Team any day, just good fun telly :)
Well, that kept me busy for a few minutes at least...now what?
- Mood:
bored - Music:Life on Mars - David Bowie
What an incredibly fraught day!! I knew it was going to be busy but I haven't EVER seen anything like it before!
We got there just before it started and got our virtual tickets for John Barrowman, they were already in the 800's! I heard that some people had been there since 5am, they must have been crazy. We got a ticket for James Masters too, Connor Trinneer was going to be an open queue and I was going to get a ticket for Lea Thompson but the crew member said that she'd just turned up so I could go up straight away. She was very nice and I said how much I loved the Back to the Future movies and she was very chuffed about that. I also got a nice photo with her too. I usually always hate the photo's of me from cons but I'm quite pleased with them from this con.
I then went over to Connor who was nice. I told him how much I was enjoying it and that Enterprise is my favourite incarnation of Star Trek but that I hadn't finished getting through it yet. He said he wouldn't give anything away. :) This photo makes me laugh, I look kinda terrified like I'm being held there aginst my will!
I wasn't planning on meeting James Masters as there were no personalisations, no videoing and no photos so I didn't see the point. I didchange my mind though cos I thought I'd regret it. I'm glad I did because he was so nice. Good handshake and happy to chat. Funnily enough, he was the one to make a comment about my t-shirt (familiar design? :D) as he had worked with John Billingsley in Seattle apparantly. Although he couldn't actually remember his name which was just so adorable, he had a bit of a senile moment!
And after that, it all fell apart! We found out that James Masters had a new lot of photo shoots added so we got a ticket for that so we'd at least have proper evidence that I actually met him. John Barrowman was getting through his autos REALLY slowly and then had to go and do a photo shoot which over-ran. We were queing outside for the James photo shoot and were told we were in the wrong quue and we had to go back near the end because we had the extra tickets. Not very happy, we hung around fo ages in the absolute chaos. Then we went back and there were just queues everywhere and no-one knowing what was going on. People could easily have pushed into the queue inside because there was no-one keeping an eye on it. The photo shoot itself was really rushed although James was still really nice and had amazing eye contact!
Then we decided to hang around to see if we were actually going to get a chance to meet John. He started to really pick up, probably because it was so regimental and everyone was going through so quickly. We did actually get to meet him and as brief as it was, he was still nice and apologetic.
Collecting the photo shoot pics were also a disaster. No-one knew what was going on, it was just a free for all of them laying out all the photo's and you trying to get close enough to the table to actually find your photo!
Overall, I'm pleased with who I met but Milton Keynes is really not the place to have such popular guests. It is way too crowded, no-one knows what's going on, nothing is well sign-posted and it is becoming very elitist! I'm getting worried that Showmasters are becoming too greedy. MK isn't the place to do photo shoots, they just didn't think any of it through. I'm seriously considering not going to another Collectormania in that damned shopping centre but I know I'll probably succumb. I suppose it didn't help that the last con was so good, nothing could really compare to it.
Oh, and the Daleks were there too. Always very entertaining, especially when they sneak up on unsuspecting shoppers and start talking to them! I can't seem to import a video without it going to the top so I just have the link. Hope it works!
http://s53.photobucket.com/albums/g43/de
- Mood: exhausted
LMAO!!!
Ever wondered what REALLY happened to Herbert West? Well, today I found out! He's actually living over here, in Lemington Spa and is retired. Unfortuately, he's had a bit of an accident because we received a claim from him on his Mercedes (where did he get the money for that, I wonder?) I was absolutely cracking up at this piece of post from Mr West (not Dr unfortunately) and nobody else got it. What a waste. It's just a shame it wasn't actually one of our claims, maybe someone in motor will get a laugh out of it too.
And horray for the weekend! I thought it would never arrive!
- Location:home
- Mood:
amused
I watched Jeff's Babylon 5 episode today and as the opening credits started, I suddenly remembered something. YEARS ago, someone gave me a bunch of trading cards at a flea market even though I didn't have a clue what they were for. Most of them were Tomb Raider but the other lot was Babylon 5! I don't really remember when this was, probably '99 or '00 as that was about the last time I went to a flea market and I don't know when the cards first started coming out but how crazy would it be if, all this time, I've had a Jeff trading card!? But the annoying thing? I can't bloody find them!!! They were in the same place for years, then I looked at them and thought 'Should I really keep these?' So, now I don't remember if I got rid of them or not or if they are in storage somewhere! I seem to remember thinking that I'd better keep hold of them in case I became a Babylon 5 fan in the future, but who knows!?
So I have just searched high and low in my room with no luck and am racking my brain trying to remember what I might have done with them. *sigh* What a mess.
- Mood:
frustrated
I hate it.
And they always seem to do it when I'm there and I just don't know what to do. It's usually about something petty so I can't agree with either of them and I don't like taking sides either way. It just makes me feel so awkward and if I don't leave, they won't talk at all until I come up here where I 'can't hear them'. They obviously don't realise how loud they are! And to top it all off I've been invited to a wedding reception that I really don't want to go to but feel like I don't have much choice.
What is going on!?! Thank god it's the weekend, that's all I can say. I think I need a good dose of Morecambe and Wise :)
- Mood: annoyed
OK, so it's April. It's now OFFICIALLY Spring. So would someone mind explaining this to me?
Absolutely crazy! I haven't seen snow like this for ages, it's probably over an inch think by now (which is a lot for here). I think it's beginning to ease off by now but it's been a great start to the day. I love snow! :D
UPDATE:
More pics, went for a bit of a drive to see how it looked elsewhere in the city. I don't think I have seen so many snowmen in my entire life!! It seems to me that people get more excited and genreally happy when it snows than in the glorious summer weather. It was great to see so many people out and having a good time. :)
The beach covered in snow!!!
Bransbury Park and just one of the many snowmen lying around.
- Mood:
giddy
We'd been planning all week for her to come over as she is down from University for Easter and I don't really get to see her that often. She was planning on coming over between 1-2 and I've been rushing round trying to make the house look reasonably presentable and genuinely looking forward to seeing her again. Then at 11, I get a text from her asking if she can come between 12-1 instead which was fine. 12 o'clock I get a text saying that she's sorry but she doesn't feel well and is going straight home instead. WTF? To me that sounds like she decided she can't be bothered and has totally blown me off. Am I being too dramatic? I'm on my own for most of the day today and it would have been nice to have some company, now I'm gonna be doing nothing.
Some of my other friends are down too and said they'd get in touch but most of them haven't. Is this really what happens? Friends really do drift apart once you go to uni? Sucks if you ask me. I'm fed up with being the one trying to keep the connections and sorting things out, if they can't be bothered, why should I? Did I do something? Have they all actually been trying to get away from me for years?
I'm actually really hurt and depressed by this, maybe I will go and see Grindhouse after all.
- Mood: melancholy
And Ontario must be bloody empty! For every 5 Floridian cars there is probably one Ontarian. I dread to think how long it would take to drive all the way done here.
- Location:The couch
- Mood: cheerful
(DISCLAIMER! This is a ridiculously detailed blog and is not here to bore anyone to death. It is merely so that I have a full account of this because no doubt I will forget most of it!)
5am start on a Saturday morning, not much fun and I felt pretty sick and anxious. I get like that before most cons but I was especially nervous about this one because I knew I would never forgive myself if I didn't say something to Bruce. Two weeks I'd been trying to think of something and I still had zip.
We left about 6 which would get us to Coventry about 20 mins before it opened. We already had our tickets so we wouldn't have to queue to get them when we arrived. The roads were pretty quiet so we stopped off for a quick drink before the last stretch. The arena was HUGE! I'm not sure what it is usually used for seeing as it's a football stadium but there was plenty of room. We only had to wait for about 5 minutes before we started going in. We got a free goody bag with some random stuff in it and made our way into the main area. Even though it was early, I still couldn't believe how quiet it was! Usually it's packed and fairly over-crowded although it had been a while since I went to a Showmasters event with its own venue.
We got the virtual queue tickets for anyone we thought we might want. I got Bruce first, then Robert Englund and then Dean Andrews. Seeing as the guests don't usually arrive until about 10-ish we had a quick look around the stalls to see what there was. Mostly the usual: DVD's, trading cards, books, posters etc. We found an interesting stall with clocks that you could put your own pics in. I'm quite tempted to get one actually, you can change the pictures too when you get bored with them.
We went back to the tables to wait for people to turn up. I'm pretty sure I saw Robert Englund first, this has to be about his 4th SM event but my first time seeing him. Dean was next looking pretty smart and ready to go. We were still lingering but figured we should probably start queuing for somebody so we went with Dean first.
I'd made a Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes T-Shirt and when I got to him, he looked at it carefully and read it out loud. He thought it was great and was a little offended that I hadn't brought him one :) I told him what a pain it was to make and that I had made another one too of them undercover. He asked me if I thought he looked like James Bond (while undercover in the episode, not just generally!) and I just tried to avoid answering. We came to the conclusion that he was more suave and he said that him and Daniel Craig were separated at birth, ha! He started to sign the photo and said 'So you're a Gene fanatic, are you?' I don't know what gave him that impression but I said 'No, more of a Ray and Chris fanatic.' He seemed really chuffed with that and praised me for going with the glamour. He carried on signing the photo and asked whether he should put 'Best Wishes' or 'Lots of Love'. I didn't want to just flat out say 'Lots of Love' for fear of sounding a bit creepy so I told him to decide. Exasperated, he said 'Never make an actor make a decision. I just read from a script!' My mum chimed in and said 'Lots of Love' which he did. He then went on to ask me a question I really hoped he wouldn't. Life on Mars or Ashes to Ashes? I couldn't lie to him but I didn't need to because he could tell from my pause and answered 'Life on Mars' for me anyway. He said to give A2A a chance and by the end, Mars will still be my favourite but A2A will have proved itself. I did say that it had picked up the last couple of weeks and I was still enjoying it. I do think Ray is better in A2A. I asked if there was a possibility of another series which I didn't think he'd answer but he said they are all 95% hopeful that there will be. I asked if it was fairly open ended then and he said they could easily carry it on. I'm assuming then that my theory on how the series ends is wrong! We talked about how the characters have changed and he said that Ray and Chris are really coming out in this series. After a bit of a pause, he corrected himself saying 'Not coming out as in...I mean actually doing there jobs!' I laughed and said I wasn't so sure after seeing the preview for the next episode in the gay bar and he said that was a good episode. Finally the conversation drew to a close and I said thank you and then my mum talked to him for a bit.
By this time, Bruce had turned up and it was all a little surreal. I couldn't actually believe it looked like him, I expected him to look older and a bit tired but he just totally looked like Bruce Campbell! They hadn't reached our ticket number yet so we went to Robert Englund next. He always looks like he's having a good time and loves to play on the whole Freddy character. I didn't really say anything to him but he was very genial and fun.
Finally, they got to our numbers so we started queuing. When we were fairly near the front, Ernie Hudson strolled over to him to say 'hi' as they are good friends and have done a couple of movies together. They hugged and had a brief chat before Ernie walked away again. Bruce sat down and said 'Ah, that Ernie Hudson. What and asshole' which cracked up the front few people in the queue. I have heard people have had quite a few bad experiences with Bruce which was also why I was a bit nervous. I don't know if it's because they don't get his sarcastic humour, if he's having a bad day or what but I haven't heard anybody say a bad thing about meeting him at this event. He would talk to everyone and if he thought they looked a bit nervous, would engage them in conversation. We had our names on post-it notes so it was easier for him to personalise stuff. He asked 'Are you Catherine?' and I said yes. ' Y'know, I was gonna be called Catherine if I had been a girl. Classy name.' Who knew!? That's the second time now my name has spurred a conversation, and with the two people I was most nervous about talking to as well! I said that I hate it when people shorten it and he said 'Oh, like Cathy? That's so American.' He seemed to find that quite amusing. He signed my book and a photo and I quickly threw in a question about the release of My Name is Bruce. He said it's pretty much going to have the same release as Bubba Ho-Tep, a limited release in the States and then released on DVD overseas. 'But this is definitely the year, no more crapping around.' I thanked him, shook his hand and left in a bit of a fluster. It was all so strange because his voice is so familiar that you just don't really absorb that you've never met him before. I still can't really get my head round it.
Now that we'd sorted out the guests we needed to kill an hour before the photo shoot with Bruce. We looked at the stalls in a bit more detail but nothing leaped out at me. I was hoping to find some View Askew inaction figures but no such luck. We decided to start queuing early which turned out to be a good idea because there were a lot of people! You could see people having their photos taken while you were queuing and it was an absolute riot! I know Bruce is well known for his amusing photo shoots but to actually see them was something else. There was a lot of pointing, stupid faces, bunny ears and even some jazz hands. Mine was normal but I think I'll take a prop next time to encourage him. Can you imagine if I had taken my chainsaw!? It was also quite amusing because he kept reading everybody's shirt and when I went up, he manhandled me so he could read mine. ' "The times are changing"...OK then!' I think he was a bit surprised that the shirt had absolutely nothing to do with him! It was good too because a lot of people had a silly photo and a normal one and they got to keep both for no extra cost.
We ate inside the arena which wasn't great. I had a Wimpy burger 'The greatest British burger!' That has to be because they are the ONLY British burgers, it was horrible. Now we had the problem of finding something to do for about 3 hours while the photos were developed. My dad was beginning to feel really rough so he went to go sleep in the car while my mum and I walked round again...as if we'd find something new. Well, I did. While walking past a print stall for what musty have been about the 4th time, I noticed a huge Herbert West print. I fell in love with it and bought it on impulse even though I have nowhere to put it. He found the lowest number for me (3/50). They had little copies to which I kinda wish I'd got, they had a great Clockwork Orange one.
After dragging it out for as long as possible, we headed back to the car too for about an hour. We decided to go back a bit earlier to see if they had pulled their fingers out and developed the pics...but they hadn't.
I was having a bit of a dilemma because I really wanted to talk to Dean again but was too embarrassed. After my mum gave me the usual 'you'll only regret it' speech, I decided to go for it. I asked if this was his first convention and he said yes, then I said 'Well, this is my 7th and I have to say that you are the nicest and friendliest guest I have ever met.' He was really flattered and undoubtedly a little embarrassed. His PA for the event (Debbie) then said jokingly that I must be kidding, she couldn't wait for the day to be over and that they hadn't been getting on at all. 'We're like Moses,' he said, 'can't wait to part.' :) He then said 'So, did you expect me to be nice or bolshy?' I laughed and said I expected him to go round punching people or something seeing as that's what Ray has a habit of doing. 'I could do if you want, get into character.' He mentioned my shirt again saying how fantastic it was and that he was still gutted I hadn't made him one. Debbie suggested bring one to the Manchester con the following week but I was going away. He went on to say that I could easily sell them at The Railway Arms (the LoM/A2A forums) for about £15 each. 'You could make 5 grand easy.' Clearly he didn't think about copyright! My mum then asked if he'd enjoyed the day and he said that it had been good to hear unbiased opinions on the show. 'Clearly you're a fan of both.' he commented, seeing as I had both on my shirt which was good because I was just going to do a Mars one originally. Next weeks episode came up again and he gave it the thumbs up saying it was a fun episode and we get to see Ray go gay for a few minutes. I said that was going to be something to behold seeing as the character is so homophobic. He said that he remembered touching someones knee but has blanked the rest out. Having now seen the episode, it was actually hilarious! I thanked him again for being such a great guest and he shook my hand. Target achieved! I have never talked to a guest for so long and I can actually remember it all pretty vividly!
Finally, the photos were ready and I was dreading what it would turn out like as I don't usually like ANY con pics of me but I was actually quite pleased with it!
One last look at the guests and a fond farewell to the best con I have been to so far, probably the first time I have walked away with no regrets. The drive home was quick and we had the obligatory after-con pizza. All in all, a fantastic day.
But it doesn't end there! Debbie found me on the event forum and said again how much Dean loved my shirt and that he thought it was so sweet that I went back to talk to him. She said that he actually really would love a shirt and, seeing as she was going to Manchester, she would be happy to pass it on for me. I thought about it for a bit and then decided that I might as well, so I made it and sent it to her. Unfortunately, Marshall Lancaster (who plays Chris in LoM and A2A) is also going to be there and he is actually my favourite so I hope it doesn't look like favouritism! A couple of days later, I got this picture from Debbie.
Apparently, he loved it. :D
- Location:Florida, baby!
But I had a good afternoon's sleep and a dose of the Marx Brothers and some Life on Mars. I've really gotten into that programme surprisingly seeing as I wasn't even alive in the 70's. I don't know whether to watch another light hearted flick or just go to bed, I keep having dreams about whatever I watch and they are usually pretty uncomfortable and unsettling dreams.
Bleugh.
- Mood:
sick
Well, I don't really know what to say about it. Overall, I thought it was very well executed. The acting was spot on, the script was excellent (as usual from the Coen's) and it looked stunning. I didn't know anything about it when I saw it so I think I enjoyed it all the more. Tommy Lee Jones was as natural as ever, Josh Brolin (who DID look a bit like Sheriff Jimmy!) made a good hero and it was a nice surprise to see Garret Dillahunt in a small role. I like to see him do comedy, he has a knack for it. It was, however, Javier Bardem definitely stole the movie for me. He's definitely up there with some of the best screen psycho's, just the intensity of the performance and the hollowness of his personality...really freaked me out.
But I have to say I was a bit let down by the ending initially. I'm kinda over it now because I just remember how great the film was but it really didn't go in the direction I expected. I could have sworn Moss wasn't actually dead, at least until his wife died. I couldn't believe we didn't get to see it, it just happened and he was dead. And then Chirgur gets away with it all!! That didn't bother me as much but the main problem I had was the kids behind me would not shut up so I was only half concentrating on Tommy Lee Jones at the end. It wasn't until the credits rolled that I realised I probably missed something really profound and that kinda pissed me off. Other than that I really enjoyed it, it's nice to see the Coen's going back to their darker roots.
One thing that does get on my nerves is why people seem to treat the cinema like a bloody restaurant. Popcorn, okay. Tub of sweets, sure. I can even accept a tub of icecream but when people start bringing in crisps, hot dogs, nachos, sandwiches...I just think, why?! They are so loud and disruptive, it really gets on my nerves. And the guys behind me totally didn't get the movie, talked all the way through it trying to work out what was going on.
As far as trailers go, nothing really screamed out at me. Vantage Point looks fairly good but I think that might just be down to the editing of the trailer. Things We Lost in the Fire definitely doesn't look like my sort of film. Sweeney Todd is a bit of a problem for me, I really want to see it but I have never been good with throats and clearly there is going to be a LOT of throat cutting in this movie!
- Mood: cold
And I'm very excited about it! Kevin's last film, Clerks II, is probably my favourite of his so far but 'Zach and Miri Make a Porno' is shaping up to be a pretty good sounding movie. I was happy to hear that Seth Rogen had been cast as the title lead, even though we'd been led to believe otherwise. I have enjoyed his performance in both Knocked Up and Superbad and think that he is well suited to Kevin's style of comedy. I'm less familiar with Elizabeth Banks but I've never doubted Kevin's casting ability to date. We also know that Jason Mewes has a role in the movie somewhere and that can only be a good thing.
But the news that has got me most excited is that today it has been confirmed that Jeff Anderson will also be playing a role in the movie. This pleases me to no end, I think he is an incredible actor who never really seems to do anything. Randal is my favourite character in all Kevin's films and I also love Now You Know which was his own film. It'll be great to see him do another role, I just hope he has a pretty big role that he can get his teeth into.
They've started filming now I believe and I think it is due out in the States some time in Autumn. From the way Clerks II went, this means we probably won't get it here until early next year but I look forward to it with anticipation. :)
- Mood: excited
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my_moondreams- Catherine
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