Dr Who 2011

The new Dr Who series for 2011 starts tomorrow. I will have to watch it later in the week as I am taking my wife out to dinner.


The Tardis has come a long way, baby.


Elisabeth Sladen has died from cancer at the age of 1963. She starred with Tom Baker in the Glory Days of the old Dr Who in the seventies and starred in a spin-off children's series in the 21st C.

Nicholas Courtney, who played Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, British Commander of Unit, died in February. He also appeared in The Avengers and Randall & Hopkirk deceased.

An entire generation of actors from my childhood are passing.

England in Summer

Summer has come early this year in Southern England. We are baking at temperatures up to 26.5C. The usual smog is forming over the Thames Valley and spilling out over Kent. But it's still nice while it lasts.

This is a pic of the oyster fishery at Whistable on the North Kent coast. The old shells are dropped back into the water to provide a substrate for the attachment of larvae for the next generation of shellfish. The oyster beds here have been fished since at least the iron age.



The summer shops are opening selling all those useful things that you can't get from the Megacorps, like a 1950s TV.

Slaanesh's Pocket Guide to Flowering Plants

Slaanesh's Pocket Guide to Flowering Plants - Number 7, the sunflower.

Clone Three and Fräulein Ferronicker

More loot from Salute - sorry, I could not resist the alliteration.

Let me introduce you to some loyal residents of Argentina, Clone Three and Fräulein Ferronicker. Clone Three is holding the magical Spear of Longinus, or at least one of them. Five are known and that does not include the one buried under the hill at Glastonbury or the one in the possession of the Pentagon.

Beauty and the Bot - Studio McVey

One reason that Iwill never be a great painter (apart from my lack of any artistic skill) is because I lack patience. I bought this Limited Edition model from Studio McVey at Salute on Saturday. I just had to paint it immediately Sunday.

"I want it and I want it now - or I'll scream and I'll scream until I'm sick." Violet Elizabeth Bott.

For some reason that I did not immediately recognise, it sang to me. More about that later. Mike McVey, a nice guy by the way, told me that it has not sold well.

Astonishing!

It is limited to 750 casts and I got No. 175 so there are quite a few left.


The girl is wonderfully sculpted. I wish I could do her justice.

The model was sculpted by Yannick Hennebo, from a concept by Christophe Madura.


Or should that be conceived by MGM from an original idea by William Shakespeare?

Now I know why I just had to have this model.

Forbidden Planet, one of the greatest Space Opera movies of all time, was released in 1956. Was it really that long ago, sigh?

The beautiful long-legged Anne Francis died this year of cancer in Santa Barbara, California. She was eighty. She was a successful actress, too good looking to be valued in Hollywood for her thespian abilities, appearing in many movies and TV shows, notably Honey West.

But for me, she will always be Altaira 'Alta' Mobius, the archetype mad scientist's beautiful daughter.

As long as men and women value high adventure and beautiful girls, the United Planet Starship C57D will take the long flight to Altair, to Alta and Robbie.


Forbidden planet lives on in theatre in England in Return to the Forbidden Planet - a rock Space Opera. I have the CD and saw the production in Bromley some years ago.

I wonder what The Bard would have thought of it.

Model available from Studio McVey for about twenty quid.

Highly Recommended!

The Penguin Gets It - Salute 2011

Salute this year was fabulous. Well done, South London Warlords. I only exceeded my budget by a hundred quid or so.

Below some pics of the demo games.

More tomorrow.

Sissinghurst

Sissinghurst was open on the 26th of last month so we dropped in to look at the gardens in the spring. They were gorgeous as always despite the mist (low cloud?).

The one thing you won't find there are oranges, so I included some orange glass :).

Enjoy!