chocclare

Dreamland - is it just me?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:24:02 GMT

Just watched the first episode of Dreamland on i-player.

Liked the story - well, you know what I mean, apart from the "American" accents it was quite a larf really.

But what is up with the animation? It looks like I've done it.

I haven't read anything about Dreamland, so I'm sure it's some wonderful 3-d thing which is new and full of... thing. But the fact remains that the Doctor looks NOTHING like the Doctor, that his suit has some totally weird creases at his waist (not just his but everyone's) and that his arms are about eight feet long. Plus his hair has been struck by lightning.

The last animation they did (which I'm sure someone will tell me the name of eventually), with Martha and the wonderful Anthony Head, everyone looked like they were supposed to and moved normally. Everyone in this moves like Thunderbirds puppets.

I'm not saying it'll stop me from watching it of course! Just ranting...

Bhí mé báite in obair inniu

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:09:28 GMT

The holidays are over. I'm back at work.
The good news is: they've redecorated my office while I was away.
The bad news is: they disconnected my computer to do it and all my settings have vanished.
The good news is: they missed me.
The bad news is: they left a whole pile of cr@p for me to sort out on my return because they thought I'd do it better than they would.
The good news is: when I got home, my lovely old man said, don't cook: let's get a pizza.

I'm too full and too tired to think of anything else. Oíche mhaith.

Tag! I'm it! meme

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:43:08 GMT

I was assigned this by callme_al01 Blame her!!!

Firstly: If you've been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new, original question.

Secondly: Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.

I tag: shinyopals aralias jlrpuck evilsockmonster goldy_dollar earlgreytea68 wildwinterwitch s1_else Sorry, chaps!

1. Who sleeps in bed next to you? My old man, the lovely Zaz. "Sprawls and snores" might describe it better.

2. Have you ever fancied a cartoon? No, but I rather sadly had a bit of a "thang" for Captain Scarlett when I was little (and Virgil Tracy, if I'm honest).

3. What are you reading right now? Bulldog Drummond. Can't believe I've never read it. It really is the most utter gung-ho tosh, mainly to do with crushing the Bolsheviks and putting Johnny Foreigner firmly in his place. I'll need something to take the taste away afterwards.

4. What's your occupation? I am the administrator of a joint residential/nursing home, which is part-time and fits in with kids and picking up from school. My "real job" for many years BC (before children) was Marketing Manager in an international market research company.

5. What do you hate right now? Nothing - except possibly the Daily Mail.

6. Who is your celebrity crush? Well, David Tennant obviously. And Johnny Depp, as if it needs to be said.

7. What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction? DUH! DOCTOR WHO! (I didn't change this comment, it was left from last time!!!!)

8. What are you listening to right now? Vincent, by Don MacLean. Haven't heard that for years.

9. What food could you eat every day for weeks and not get sick of? Steak. Parma ham.

10. What websites do you always visit when you go online? LJ, Ravelry, MoneySaving Old Style, YouTube

11. What are you going to do next year? Finally get my house and garden looking more like something out of Better Homes Than Yours and less like Pikey Tipville, thanks to a proposed extension/kitchen refit. But my son is (I hope) taking his A levels next year so doubtless I'll be agonising about that. Oh, and I'd love to go to New Zealand after Tom's exams if we can.

12. What was the cutest thing you've seen today? The Cat and Kochanski turned into dinky little eight-year-olds in a DVD of Red Dwarf.

13. Does the weather affect your mood? If it's tipping down with rain, yes.

14. What is your favourite type of cheese? Brie; St Paulin; chevre; Le Pied d'Angloys; Caprice des Dieux - most French cheese. Or a really decent bit of cheddar on a digestive biscuit. Yum!

15. Do you want to learn another language? I read French and Italian at university and I also did Spanish, German and Latin at school. I'd like to learn Greek one day but most importantly, I need to improve my Irish. I don't know why that should be important, but it is! OK, no time like the present... Ceacht a hAon....

16. 5 things you can't live without. My family, books, internet, tea, knitting!

17. If you could meet anyone now, who would you meet? Hmm - not sure you should ever meet your heroes. I'd like to meet Shakespeare, but what if he had a Brummy accent? "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun," as read by Mark Williams or Jasper Carrott might be a bit of a shock.

18. What's something you'd like to say to someone right now? Zaz, do you want to make us a cup of coffee?

19. What are you looking forward to? Friday evening. I'm on holiday for two weeks. Yippee! And my daughter's going to Knebworth on Saturday and then both kids are disappearing to their grandparents' and then it's my wedding anniversary. But mainly - I don't have to go to work. Double yippee!! (As long as it doesn't rain too much, that is.)

20. What did you dream last night? I can't remember, which is unusual because I generally have very vivid dreams where I discover the answer to life, the universe and everything (and yes, it does usually turn out to be something like 42).

Question Meme

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:37:08 GMT

Comment in this post, and I'll give you five questions. Answer them in your own post. People will ask for questions, and you'll give THEM five questions.

Questions from callme_al01

1. Did you like watching the original Doctor Who when you were a kid?

Yes: it was required viewing in our house. I am so ancient that I first started watching it in Patrick Troughton's day. I actually don't remember him terribly well, but I was madly in love with Jamie McCrimmon. Ah, Jamie!! All I remember of Jon Pertwee was that I hated his costume, and that he ran round quarries a lot and had a little car. And there was generally a Brigadier about the place. I loved Tom Baker (still do - he has such a wonderful voice and is so utterly mad) but I'd stopped watching it by the time Peter Davison came along. Nothing against him - he was out of All Creatures Great and Small and always funny - but just that by that time I'd gone to college...

2. What makes you shake your head and mutter to yourself?

My immediate reaction is the Daily Mail, more correctly known as the Daily Fascist, which is the most reactionary and least truthful of the British papers, is far more deadly than swine flu and should be banned immediately. However, that's less of a muttering and more of a screaming, so, for things which annoy me a bit - well, I live by the seaside. Men of Britain, by all means, take your shirts off on our beautiful beaches. Builders on building sites, ditto. Just don't walk round our town centre topless. We're not talking Diet Coke Man here. We're talking Middle Aged, Beer-Bellied, Do-you-honestly-think-anyone-wants-to-see-you-half-naked-even-your-wife Man. Time and a place, people! *Shudders*

3. What do you do for a living other than be a mom (As if that is not a full-time job enough!)?

I *used* to be the marketing manager of an international market research company. Very high-flying and power-suited. Well, the other people there were. Then I retired to the seaside to bring up my kids; eventually I decided to get a little part-time job, to stop myself going too insane, and went to a temp agency to see what they could get me. How do you feel about working in a retirement home? they said. So I ended up here:

I've been the Administrator here for the last *gulp* almost seven years. So much for a part-time job while the kids were at school. But it is a lovely place to work.

4. If you could live anywhere you wanted, where would that be?

The west coast of France - somewhere round the Bordeaux area - Andernos les Bains or somewhere like that. I lived in Paris years ago and am married to a Frog, so we have talked about going there. But my house is pretty nice (though if I could transport it half a mile into the sleepy hamlet next door, it might be better)!

5. What hobbies do you have?

Knitting, sewing, embroidery, mixed media, crafty stuff. Oh, and I am greener than Barbara Good (though sadly, I don't have her figure) - hens, bees, fruit and veg, canning, breadmaking, solar panels, car running on waste vegetable oil - you name it. Our kids think we're sad hippies. We're not. And I can't stand the smell of patchouli (though Zaz does burn joss sticks if I don't get in there and stop him).

Rud éigin eile

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:37:24 GMT

And another thing! Yesterday was St Swithin's Day. St Swithin was a Bishop of Winchester who asked to be buried in the graveyard with the common people. But because he was important, they moved his body into a special shrine in the church. It rained for 40 days. They moved him back to the graveyard. It stopped raining.

Now, it's well known that if it rains on St Swithin's Day, you're probably going to drown before the end of the summer:

St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.

However, I would draw your attention to the end of the rhyme: no rain on St Swithin's Day means clear weather for the next 40 days. It was sunny yesterday. It was sweltering just now. I go out to plant my tomatoes and collect eggs and IT IS TIPPING IT DOWN.

Who do I need to write to about this? It is clearly Not On.

Is duine aisteach í. Ní labhaireann sí le h-éinne...

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:50:14 GMT

I had great plans to post to this journal and what happened? I got involved reading other people's fiction and never got round to posting any myself.

I will, one day. Today is not that day.

Off to see how many eggs the hens have laid and to plant up tomatoes. Writing comes later. Probably after more reading

Writer's Block: Le Quatorze Juillet

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:37:40 GMT

Happy Bastille Day! Today the French celebrate the event that sparked the French revolution. In honor of our Francophone friends, what is your favorite French thing? Bonus points for answers en français.

View 503 Answers

Mon mari. Quelquefois.