11pm. Got to Mt Gambier safe. It was rather a long trip, Angus didn't sleep last night, so an hour into the journey we stopped for a bit at Tailembend. I got a coffee and read a book for an hour or so. What a wonderfully grown up thing to do. In the middle of nowhere reading a book with a coffee. I expected Richard Dawkins to walk in the door. Not sure why.

The rest of the trip went well, Angus was good company. So, now back with my parents for a few days. We ate Fasta Pasta for dinner, and rewatched Children of Earth. Honestly the best television since the BSG final. So very, very well written.

It's 11pm, and I am hitting the sack for a bit. Hannah is over with her parents and no one is looking after Jingles. That makes me feel somewhat depressed.

Right. More tomorrow. I plan to go to the bookstore and go for a walk. My pants are now too tight to wear.

Colonel Barker. "You are not eating raw potato!"

I am going away for about 9 days now, I have had Eve over and not had a chance to be online to let people know. I won't be back until next Sunday again. I am leaving with Angus to Mt Gambier in about two hours from now, and am just cleaning the house.

I was expecting to leave later in the week, however I won't turn down a free lift. Well; quite free. Hannah and Eve have just left to the bus station for Horshum where they will meet Hannah's brother Noah and travel the Hamilton then Colrane before arriving 50km away at the farm. Angus and I have a much simpler journey of here to Mt Gambier. We will leave about 8am or so and arrive at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Probably stopping at Narracourt for lunch. We have snacks and there will be cake.

It's all very exciting. I am going to meet Hannah on Wednesday or Thursday in Hamilton. Hutchy and Angus want me to stay as long as I can to play some Lan Games. Hannah won't be coming back to Mt Gambier, so this time in Mt Gambier is my actual holiday time there before I return, so I want to spend more than two days there if I can. Depends on how much I end up missing Hannah. Friday were are going to Melbourne to see a Star Wars exhibit. I don't understand why, its' honestly not the kind of thing I expected anyone to be interested in at all beyond me, costumes, props and the like. There MUST be some other reason for the trip.

I don't know what it is, and I am sure it's not just to make me happy. That would upset me a lot. So, yes. That's the plan. My only regret is I haven't made time to see Anthony in all this. I know it's going to upset him, and I have to prioritise my family over him, sorry mate.

At the moment I am about to clean the house, and am busy throwing away all the food that will expire while we are away. The visiting-cat won't appreciate it, Hannah has only been gone 12 minutes or so and she is already at the window sill. Miss you kitty!

So, food, bags, cut nails, and go to Mt Gambier.

Colonel Barker. "Time isn't like a bus, you can't get on and off whenever you like!"

Right. I am up at Quarter Past 9. And have slept in somewhat. It's been a mistake, because now my torrent of Children of Earth is going so slowly it's not funny. I managed to miss all the good opening seeders, and am going at 1-30kbs. I know compared to other places in Australia I am going very well.

But the last four days I have been getting between 150-250kps initially downloading, and I am kind of peeved about that, so now I am stuck waiting for three to five hours waiting for the Torchwood final. Very angry Colonel Barker. Anyway. I will cope, Alex and Hutchy are coming over about 11am, to watch it, so we may have to wait an hour or so. Hannah may still be asleep at this point, so I probably wont be able to watch it anyway.

And why is this so? Well, last night we had a "masquerade ball". I think that's a rather grand name. We had a party for Jacqueline. I was told we had 25 people coming, however 16 had confirmed. And so I started cooking rather a lot. I was told on the day we had about 13 people coming. So I cooked for 13. We ended up having a total of 10 people here, and I was prepared for 16, so rather a lot of food was left over. I could have saved a significant amount of money really.

However, the food seemed to go down well. We had quite a few dishes that went unused, including 'little boys', hot chips, garlic bread, cold chips, chocolate biscuits, fruit platters and a few other items.

I made an experimental dish, using a Kranskey, in pastry, with cheese. My little homage to a cheese kranskey. I honestly just had to use them up. However they seemed to be the most popular out of everything. That had made me feel very good about myself. First thing I didn't stick to any kind of internal recipe, and it seemed to work.

So, yesterday I cooked. Pasta dishes, dozens of muffins, risotto, Kranskeys, many sandwiches. Many sandwiches. So many bits of bread. I got so worried about them, I was going to make curried eggs sandwiches. However, ran out of curry. And egg. So ended up making Salami / Lettuce / cheese / mayonnaise ones. And then repeated with Ham. I made them as "filler" to make sure we didn't run out of food. As expected at the end of the night, there were about half left. However; what did surprise me, was at the end of the night people took them away with them. I was expecting to have to find a home with them. So, there must be something good about them that I can't see. Perhaps it's the bread?

So, people over. Wearing masks. Good. More people over. Lots of laughs. Everyone getting along. Surprise turn up from Angus (he lives 500km away, we didn't expect it!) people talking and getting along. I believe Matt, someone quite new to us all didn't get along with everyone else as much. I like him, I really do. However as the jokes moved more towards and around internet memes, computer, film trivia, I think he felt out of his depth and left. I must make some time for him, he's a really good man. (bloke?)

So yes, Angus came. I has awoken up in a sweat the previous night thinking ANGUS IS COMING and will FILL MY HOUSE WITH EVIL. And I was reassured by Hannah and Jac who told me there was no way Angus would come, he is looking after his Mum and is 500km away. Because I only have about 8 things to say about the world at a time, I was telling Alex (just before Children of Earth: Day Four) the same story. Cue: My phone.

Ring. Ring. Unknown number. "Hello" I ask the phone. "Seven Days" it replies. Actually, it's Angus, he is coming over. Cue: Hysterical laughter from Alex and I.

6pm. We stop laughing.

Slightly over the top, but it gave me a good old laugh while I wasn't cooking. So, Torchwood: Children of Earth. I have now seen, Parts 1-4, with only the final to go. It's a wonderful piece of classic science fiction drama. I mean drama in the proper sense, with characters, and a plot, and a story and twists, turns, love, death, babies and aliens.

It's what Quatermass should be, it feels like it's a superior retelling of a fantastically old story. Everything feels "right" about it, and is what the Dr Who Episode "Aliens of London / World War Three" should have been. Russell T. Davies thought "Aliens of London / World War Three", would be so dull the children would turn off. Just be hours of men in suits talking about implications.

So, he put in farting aliens. Not the best move really, only he and four other children found it funny. COE proved you could have an hour round a table and it be witty, and funny, and dark and scary all at the same time. And hold you for the whole time. I have previously said modern audiences won't stand for radio drama style 5-10 minute scenes. This breaks the rule, and makes me look like an idiot.

Because this is better than any film, or Star Trek or Batman. It's well written drama. I keep wanting to use Angus as an example here. However, to the outside world his arguments look a bit like the demented scribbles of a frustrated artist. If drama is really about carrots, a series of revelations and entertainment. Then COE really does win. The whole story is a giant revelation, a five hour long revelation, showing us aspects of all the characters one blow at a time. And through their revelations, the story is revealed to us. Not in an artsy way. But in a proper dramatic way.

For example, Mr Frobisher (a character from the story) doesn't want the his superiors to know X, and doesn't want to let another lot of people know Y, and needs to hide Z from his family. Now, that's all good and fine, characters lying to protect themselves. It's a perfect carrot, then you put two of the parties together and force the character to reveal X Y or Z. That creates drama, dramatic action, where his words have consequences, and his actions reveal things about his character. Alex commented several times saying "he's going to turn good / bad/ into a moose"

The scripts really get to the heart of what proper science fiction and proper drama is. People often think proper drama needs to have crying. It doesn't. Soap needs to have crying. Seeing people NOT cry, and knowing that they are NOT crying is far more powerful. Just like sexual tension is always much more interesting to watch (and arguably partake in) than it is to see that desire fulfilled. There aren't films about people kissing, it's about people WANTING to kiss, and not being able due to Alex's social rules.

Yes, Alex's social rules. This is what I call them. Because I like to have a specific character to blame for all the worlds problems. It's just the way I am made.

Thanks to some "jiggery pokery" I am now 10 minutes away from having Torchwood, at 10:05. However, ironically I won't be able to watch it until Angus, Hannah and Eve leave and Alex arrives. How fun. How quickly can I wake up Hannah and convince her to go out into the rain? Or should I watch the episode while everyone sleeps? Would that break any potential social norms?

Just before I go. The one moment from the new Doctor Who that I am actually embarrassed by in anyway is the moment in "End of the World" where the Doctor says to Rose...

The Doctor: [opening Rose's phone] Tell you what. With a bit of jiggery pokery-
Rose: Is that a technical term, "jiggery pokery"?
The Doctor: Yeah, I got a first in jiggery pokery, what about you?
Rose: Nah, I failed Hullabaloo.

I honestly don't think Rose is that witty, and Billie Piper delvers the line wonderfully, trying to get that young, Londoner feel going. However, the line is far too fast and intelligent for her character. That line has kept me up at night. It's a little joke that gets us through the plot very quickly. However, I just wish there was another way.

Colonel Barker. "There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to find his mother. And this little boy can."

#Well I woke up today
And the world was a restless place
It could have been that way for me

And I wandered around
And I thought of your face
That Christmas looking back at me

I wish today was just like every other day
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

And I started to walk
Pretty soon I will run
And I'll come running back to you

'Cause I followed my star
And that's what you are
I've had a merry time with you

I wish today was just like every other day...
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

So have a good life
Do it for me
Make me so proud
Like u want me to be
Where ever you are
I'm thinking of you oceans apart
I want you to know

Well I woke up today and your on the other side
Our time will never come again
But if you can still dream
Close your eyes it will seem
That you can see me now and then

I wish today was just like every other day...
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

I wish today was just like every other day...
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed#


Today is going to be a busy day. Last night I cooked three trays of Sausage Rolls (with Caps), a dozen mini-quiches, a cake, some pasta bake and the sub-sandwiches. I am currently cooking some chocolate muffins, and about to start another batch. Looks like we should have gone with the expensive ones. These ones are what I would describe as "quite cheap", however tonight's festivities have cost me so much money in food (twice our weekly shopping money) so, I hope there will be enough.

I am going to cook some Cheese Kranskies this afternoon, finish the cake, make two-dozen sandwiches, cook some hot chips, little boys with tomato sauce, Cabana and Cheese with biscuits and Hannah is doing some risotto. I pray that will be enough, and that we find space for the people.

The weather is looking terrible at the moment, so looks like our outside party has become an inside party. I am leaving organising the inside house to Hannah.

Right, Alex will be here in a mo for Part Four of Torchwood.

Colonel Barker. "We are here"

Just a scribble before bed.

The last few days I have been trying to plat Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. It's the most frustrating game I have ever played, and include Donnys WIP RTS game he sent me. I have spent hours and hour falling to me death and trying to hit the correct combination of keys to move about. Controlling the camera to look at what I actually want to look at seems to be impossible. The game looks good and sounds good, and everyone tells me it is a good game to play. But I am finding the game-play clunky an unintuitive.

I am currently 5% through the game playing every night for a week, at this rate, I will playing the game until just before Christmas. And I am not really enjoying it. I liked the opening titles, but spending 2 hours trying to climb a wall, redoing it again and again. No thank you.

Next.

I am awake, Eve is over and I have just had a shower. I am currently waiting to watch Torchwood 3. Hannah is getting dressed, is rather angry with me for waking her up this morning. I keep waking up very, very early and not being able to get back to sleep. And of course, after three hours or so of laying down, I just get very bored. I think I am going to have to just get up when I wake up.

I have been having trouble sleeping on the whole for, oh, many years now. However it seems to have gotten much worse since I had a cold a few weeks back. It's not very interesting at all, however is a good explanation of why I have been very irritable. I am sure everything will return to normal when my nose clears up. Without a clear breathing passage, I can't stay asleep, and don't get rest.

I spend the majority of the day with Alex yesterday, and Anthony wants to come stay over. This is all feeling too sociable for my liking today. Especially when today we are planning on going out to see some animals, have people over, and having a party tomorrow! I haven't organised anything for the party yet, however I do need to do rather a lot of cooking tonight in preparation for it. Between going to the Zoo and watching films tonight.

I am determined not to eat out today, I ate out twice yesterday, and thanks to all the trips to Mt Gambier and back this term, my bank account has exploded somewhat, and shows no signs of recovery. I need to find some full time work ASAP. Anyone need a rotoscope artist.

Last night I had a dream my Dad and Essie went to watch 'The Resident Magician', a film I worked on a while ago. And of course, they were much more vocal about their views on the film. I think the film has some slight structural issues. But I say that about most things.

It's fun having the news about some of the Dr Who Special Edition DVD's coming out leak. It's been fun joking about on Gallifrey Base, hinting at various things. I think it might be crossing the line somewhat, but what's the worst they can do?!

Today, despite all that is happening with friends, family and all that hullabaloo, I just want my DVD of "The War Games" to arrive. There is something very relaxing about a new Who DVD coming out. And knowing that my DVD is now due exactly a month away. I am quite excited about it really.

My "Dapol Doctor Who" video for youtube "The Secret Warrior" was apparently finished yesterday, and now I just need to wait until Brendan feels the need to upload it. It's great seeing my words up there on the screen. I think I have learnt a lot from the experience, about what too include and what not to include. For example, everything seems to be about 180 degrees around from what I imagined I had written. Just about every character I imagined on the left hand side is on the right hand side. I have this horrible feeling it's not my text that has gone astray, but my imagination. I am imagining the story through some kind of mirror. I need to keep that in mind.

Alex should be over in 20 minutes or so, Torchwood is still about 40 minutes away. So I will need to keep him chatting. I will ask him how he feels, that should use about 12 minutes.

Colonel Barker. "Hello- I am the Doctor. Or I will be if this regeneration works out."

Been watching Torchwood. Exciting stuff.

Eve, Hannah's sister is over. Exciting stuff. I don't have much to write at the moment. I am quite cold.

CB

Looks like Victoria has been taken captive by the Ice Warriors again!

Finally. Torchwood is upon us. And I managed to sleep through it. How exciting. I am now sitting at my computer trying to get the episode as quickly as I possibly can!

Alex is coming over in about an hour or so, and I should have the episode in about 90 minutes. Seeding seems somewhat slow today, and in about 3 minutes I have caught up to even the Americans in terms of % downloaded. However, am now stuck waiting for the original guy to get it out there. Actually. Knowing my luck, he has finished, however all the parts are stuck in the system somewhere.

As you may have noticed I have been doing some drawing yesterday. I also coloured the first page of Anthony's comic, it looks quite good. I really want him to finish the Artwork, so all the pages can be finished and coloured. We (he and I) are planning on sending a finished copy of the comic off to Terrance Dicks himself. So, I had better get my finger out and find his contact details.

So, today I am going to do some more drawing, perhaps start on my own webcomic and watch the new Torchwood. I have written the script of my webcomic (under tight wraps obviously), and it's tentatively called "Dr Who: Beneath the Ice." Oh very original they think. If I make up my own characters, I will get about four hits. I put that man in a frock coat and big blue box in it, I will get hundreds overnight. It's a matter of numbers.

I am (I hope) basing my artwork around Ade Salmons style (http://adriansalmonart.blogspot.com/) who did a number of the DWM comics back in the 90's, and has done a lot of fantastic work on the Benny Summerfield covers. Although getting expressions in the faces and getting the likenesses will be rather hard, it's a nice bold style that stops me having to design in much detail! haha!

Things are looking much better here, and now I should have Torchwood by 10am, just under 30 minutes. Good old ADSL2. Although looking at the rest of the people in the download list, it looks like it's going to hit the 62% mark and explode. Or rather. Stop. But we will see!

Need to redesign my website desperately. I have an old WIP version here that looks better than the one up there (that's not hard you idiot) so, I am tempted to go with that just to get *something* there, before too many people see it next month.

Colonel Barker. "Ahh... well that's all clear. I only have three questions. Where am I? Who am I? And (turns) who are you!? - THE RANI!" - The Doctor., Time and the Rani

Just to prove I am actually doing something today. Here are some pictures from today.

I think I have almost got Troughton, excuse the fact there are no eyes. I honestly leave them to last.

Just a repeat post of some of the images I have been working on for a 2D Ice Warriors project.

I have a couple of PM's asking about some of my own Ice Warrior drawings, I have done about 70 images all up. Just trying to get the style of the Cosgrove Hall material, and finding my own way. I am not a 2D artist by trade, and it's been fun trying to get the likeness of some of these characters.

I am by no means 'there', but here are some of my favourite little ones. I have found Jamie / Victoria the hardest to capture.

So, we had Alex, Hutchy and Jac over to watch some Bond movies. We ended up buying some pizza for dinner. We watched "From Russia, with Love" and "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." Jac stayed the night, bringing back the familiar Angus feeling we all know so well. Today we had a picnic with Sam (from Law) and a number of other friends.

I gave (again) bad directions to Hutchy, and feel very bad about that. Alex disappeared quite early in the day. We had a BBQ, and had a good time, met some nice people. From there Jac, Hannah and I went back into the city, grabbed the new DWM and went back to our flat.

We were joined by Brendan Whitaker and his girlfriend Courtney. I honestly feel some kind of connection with those guys, like we have known each other for forever. I don't know where that feeling comes from. Brendan is like a more 'Howard Moon' version of Joel. I am sorry if this blog just throws names out there everywhere. I prefer to explain who is who, however not today.

They all left about an hour ago, with plans to meet up again in the future. It's all very exciting, I am supposed to be the social brick, and here I am spending time with people, going out and getting a long with other human beings. I don't know when my life changed so much.

This week, we have Torchwood, Eve is coming down, and I need to see Anthony before his holidays end. Tomorrow I need to listen to the three Torchwood Radio plays before the show comes back and actually get some animation done. I am really keen to get some drawing done tomorrow.

I am considering starting a web-comic of some kind, with some very simply artwork. Although I have the feeling it would just stop me getting some real animation work done. I wonder if I started one it would convince Angus to start his?

Right. Time for bed.

Colonel Barker. "You see he is one of me."

Woke up, been cleaning the house. Head hurting from scrubbing and cleaning materials. I keep having to make up new passwords for all my websites I go to, Angus keeps logging me out of them, and can never recall what my login and passwords are. Grr.

So, not a lot has happened, I was going to do some animation work on a Who3D project today after I finished cleaning, however with less than two hours before our guests arrive, and I still need to put the lounge room back together and find some food for them and have some breakfast before I die, I am not sure if this is going to happen.

Wednesday Hannah's little Sister, Eve is coming to stay for a little while, and Tuesday Torchwood starts, so that gives me two days to work on some animation before my life turns upside down again for a while. When I say "My life turns upside down", that normally equates to me spending lots of money on things I don't really want, like expensive Iced Coffee at roadhouses or spending $50 having a meal at a restaurant, knowing I am going to hate the food.

I think I have upset Hannah, she wants the heater on, and I want to clear some of the fumes from the house for a few minutes, my head is spinning from smelling so much pine-o-clean. I woke up full of energy, that seems to have dissipated already.

One of our next-door neighbours, Dave is moving today. He and Sam, two bachelors living together (although one is gay..) have had some kind of tiff, possibly regarding Dave not having any kind of either job or income. It's making me feel more anxious about finding some kind of regular work. I hope we still get along with Dave and Sam, they are fantastic neighbours to have!

Right. I am going to lay down for five minutes, and go to the shop. Trying to find a food without meat in it is much harder than you would imagine. Honestly what I really want to eat is Sub-sandwiches with Ham and Salami. But without these things, it's simply two kinds of melted cheese on lettuce.

Colonel Barker. "Ground floor; horror tragedy and mysterious death."

My head is hurting, and I am feeling very tired. I have been getting enough sleep, but it seems not enough rest. I am not sure why. I can't sleep during the day. I seem to be having more and more short-term memory issues with my brain. Being constantly overtired is destroying my work-ethic and making me very irritable.

Honestly, I would prefer to be by myself when I know I am going to be very grouchy with people. It saves a lot of social problems that can arise in the future. Today I have done some painting and finished Dawn of War 2, the ending was seriously, seriously weak. The final boss died in about 8 seconds, with almost my entire armoury intact, and plenty of reserve troops. However the game lasted me 67 odd missions, so was very enjoyable in that respect. I wish I could go back and play some more missions with my squad, however they seem to be time-locked away.

So, I didn't do a huge amount today. I want to do some animation or reading, however my headache is preventing me thinking clearly. And is making drawing / reading or otherwise concentrating on any kind of solid work a pain.

Today Angus moved back down to Mt Gambier, I wish him all the luck in the world. He is doing the right thing, and know he is going to hate a huge amount of the time he spends down there. But really, doing things like giving up going to University to go and look after one of your family members in a time of need is one of the kindest and bravest things someone can do. Angus won't get any personal gain out of it. I think that is worth more than a degree.

In my madcap world, tomorrow we are having some friends over to watch some exciting James Bond films, although who is invited, and who is coming is still yet to be seen. I am hoping to get an early night tonight, to be prepared for the exciting event.

I am not sure what else to say at this point. Most of the 'interesting stuff' that I want to write about I can't. When you do there is inevitably yelling and crying. So, the blog gets to be filled with a lot of fluff.

I finished painting and basing my 4th Squad of Marines, so now I only have my Dread left to paint and my 2000pt army is ready to play. However, my main opponent, Angus is now gone. So I have the feeling all the work I put into the figures is now going to be gone, as there is simply no one to play against.

Hannah is currently at work. I am looking forward to her coming back here, although she wants to watch a film tonight, and I want to go to bed, I hope we manage to come up with something that suits us both.

Colonel Barker. "We ride through destiny."

IF YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I want to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never really clicked, or if we already know everything about each other. I really don't. You are obviously on my flist, so let me know with whom I'm friends! [Answer in a comment, then repost if you're willing to do that.]

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favourite Movie:
5. Favourite Song or Album:
6. Favourite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favourite memory of us?
14. What is your favourite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarkey) - what are they?
17. Can we get together and make a cake?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best/favourite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent:
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Trousers or skirts?
26. Cigarettes or alcohol?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? (If you have no idea, just say something crazy, it'll entertain me!)
28. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?

I am awake. Time to go.

Colonel Barker. "We are the Ministry of Science, we don't need to prove anything!"

Right. Got to Mt Gambier. Went to Angus's parents houe. Watched some films (Chronicles of Riddock, urgh. And Round the World in 80 Days [2005] (hurrah!)) Spent time with family, watched "Night of the Museum" (meh), Hannahs parents came over, we went out with them, Joel picked us up, we saw him for 10 minutes, Angus picked us up. We saw Tranformers 2 (awesome!)

Back, bed. 9 am tomorrow we are leaving. Alex keeps messaging every few hours. I have no credit.

To answer his questions.

1. Not sure, I will see how it goes.

2. If the Doctor can hold on to a peice of steel stopping himself, then the TARDIS, a dimensionally transendental ship should have no problem.

3. Perhaps.

4. Of course.

I think that's the right answer. I know it's not popular to like the new Tranformers film, but it had fighting robots, babes, exploding robots and exploding babes. It had a well written script, great music and fantastic effects, payed homage to the origional without shitting on the new or old film. YES, it had problems. But it only promised to be a film about exploding Robots. And it did that

Right. Shower Time.

Colonel Barker. "Burn the Birds!"

Well, I have to be quick. I am up, leaving in about two hours and am currently cooking some sausage-rolls and mini-quiche for the trip. I still need to actually pack, but before I do that I need to fold all the damned washing. This morning will be a whirr of activity, followed by 7 hours of being completely stationary.

CB "No Johnny; you are the Demons."