Hello again children.
Saturday Afternoon
Returning from the borough of Peter, Mick mustering every ounce of speed he could from the 2CV (so a full 40mph then). We turned into the hotel car park flying past an American lady dressed in full Japanese kimono. Top-down on the 2CV, rocking out like muthas with the stereo blasting out - No Use For a Name’s punk cover of ‘Turning Japanese’!
Proving a point about the hotels location, despite our best efforts we didn’t quite manage to catch the start of Norm’s Q+A. A shame since it turned out to be the most entertaining of the weekend.
As Norm gets older he becomes increasingly straight talking, scathing and dismissive. Julian Clary, Ronnie Corbett and the state of TV, all victims of Norm’s criticism. Conversely Gwen Stefani and Shakira got the Norman Lovett seal of approval. Asked if he would appear on a reality show, Norm revealed he was considered for “I’m a celebrity…” only to miss out to Mike “Charisma” Read.
G&T’s Tanya then asked Norman about “I Lovett” – For those unaware of the show – it was a sit-com (of sorts) which revolved around the principle character a struggling inventor-played by Norm. As a reference point, think the Young Ones for the middle-aged man. As Norm potters around his flat having conversations with his dog, a spider and a picture of a horse hanging in his bedroom. It’s a little surreal and not the funniest thing you will ever see but I was lucky enough to be shown the pilot once at a friends and it’s certainly watchable. In answering Tanya, Norm revealed he has the whole series, including the pilot episode, at home. So hopefully the petition for an Independent DVD release can start here.
Saturday Afternoon (A bit later)
Late afternoon and it was time for a DJ regular, The Red Dwarf Olympics. ‘Olympics’ seems a bit of a grandiose title for what in reality is a bunch of Dwarf references made ‘solid’ and given a basic scoring system. Think of a Dwarfed-up version of the games you would play at a Village Fate and you won’t be fair off. Attendees play each of the games, complete a scorecard and then hand this into the fan club team. The winner receiving a life-size replica of Cyndi Lauper (Ok I’m not actually sure what the prize was but I’m sure it was nice)
Not really one for the uber-geekery set, the G&T crowd headed off to record another ‘Dwarfcast’ whilst Mick and I pottered to the bar to practice the unrecognised event of Pint-lifting.
On reflection I’m a little disappointed I didn’t throw myself into events, such as the ‘Olympics’ or attending the various signing sessions. Neither are quintessential to the DJ experience but not giving everything a go is a little akin to going to Alton Towers and then just looking at the plants.
The next few hours were very relaxed, as attention turned to the Saturday night entertainment and Disco. For those attending alone I guess late afternoon/evening Saturday must be the most boring part of DJ but if you’re lucky enough to engage in conversation during this time it can lead to some memorable if surreal discussions – buying plutonium in supermarkets and Mick’s planned transportation method being noteworthy.
I also remember myself and BTLi regular Nicky being sat outside with the drunken scouser who had heckled Chris Barrie on the Friday. He recounted the full story of the fight he had been involved in on the Friday night and that he was only here to see Craig Charles. A shame for him then as ten minutes after our conversation he was picked up by the police on an assault charge.
Saturday Night (Dance I like the way you move….pretty baby)
At my first DJ, back in 2002, alone and a shrinking violet - I looked on the much rejoiced DJ disco with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for dog poo or Russell Brand. Well, I was young, wrong and misguided. Truthfully I was just wrong and misguided but smeg off this is my journal and I’ll call it as I see it.
Saturday’s entertainment & disco is without question the keystone of the entire DJ event. 200 dwarfers, all wearing their least smeggy clothes, a great atmosphere, all the bars open and a plethora of the cheesiest pop, dance and rock music in all six known universes. To enjoy it you simply have to make an effort.
The afternoon had ran a little behind with the Visual FX Boys presentation and short Q+A bumped backwards into the evening line-up (rumours this was to allow time to force feed Pete Tyler another 2 bowls of coffee are completely unfounded)
The Hawaiian shirts may have been missing this year but we were treated to some great, never before seen footage of the guys at work on various Dwarf episodes, in particular the model shot of Starbug crashing onto the rocks from ‘Dimension Jump’. Additionally we were treated to designs and pictures of the new Blue Midget, built for Series 8. The model itself never figures in its “real” format. Only appearing in its CGI incarnation (and managing to lose much of it’s charm). The debate between model shots and CGI was a recurring one during the Q+A, with Pete & Co recalling tales of clueless TV execs. They are though a vastly talented team, defending there livelihood In the face of the CGI boom so who can blame them.
The evening’s entertainment proper started with Norm returning to the stage, for his unique slide-show based comedy routine. Hand on heart, for me this was biggest disappointment of this years DJ. Last year’s slides had been top class with Norm milking a wonderful line in observational humour from a slide collection of his pets and his local streets. This year’s routine seemed to lack spark and novelty. Those slides which did draw a reaction looked to be ones re-used from last year. To be fair, Norm did mention before starting that he was trying out new material and the laughs did start to pick up, only for the routine to finish abruptly just as it seemed to be finding it’s stride.
A trip to the bar, turned out to be the most excellent pick-me-up, with a flash of a smile from the stunningly gorgeous blonde barmaid.
Note: There’s no reason for the above statement save that when I re-read this prior to next years DJ I can get my hopes up she’s still working there.
After a quick fiddle in my pockets (to find change), fan club team member Sharon burst through the doors of the main hall and came bounding over to ask if I’d seen Ian. Unable to help she scurried off muttering “You can never find that female-faced brummie when you want him!” in turned out the annual fancy dress competition was up next and Ian was wanted as a judge.
I suppose it’s human nature but the first thought at this time every DJ is always the same, “I could have entered that”. I didn’t however so immediate kudos to those who made the effort.
This year saw just over a dozen entries, ranging on a dwarf-related scale from magnificent holo-ships to a couple of garbage Pods. One bloke entered as ‘a prisoner’ – wearing an authentic Series 8 prisoner costume, surely missing the whole point of the competition.
Most obscure entry (of all time?) was a youngish lad wearing white shirt and waistcoat, announced as “Jimmy”. Bemused looks shot around the tables whilst others mouthed “Whose Jimmy?” before gradual realisation spread through the room that it was meant to be “Jimmy” from the saloon scenes in Gunmen of the Apocalyps. Bringing to an end my mental free-fall trying to place which episode featured Jimmy White.
Having a couple of fans on the judging panel (Ian and Wendy) paid dividends as for once the top three places went to the best three entrants - The Inquisitor, a large scale Skutter replica and a Ganymede Holiday Inn Service Droid. Pedantry insists that I bemoan the Inquisitor being chosen over the Service Droid entrant who not only looked spot-on but even maintained an in-character walk whilst circling the stage.
The Disco
It’s tough to describe the wonder of the DJ Disco. It’s the sort of mix that if you walked into on a night out would trigger a 180. It’s not quite full blown “wedding reception” nor quite “school disco” but it’s pretty close. Back to back Shakira tracks and Gwen Stefani featured in the first half dozen songs. (Had Mr Lovett been bribing the DJ?) before cliched party hits sandwiched requests for Green Day, Kaiser Chiefs, The Darkness and U2.
Much like last year “I Believe in a thing called Love” saw the G&T posse and assorted stragglers drop their half-smoked roll-ups and dash to the dance floor for air-guitar antics. Another repeat from last year bore witness to Ian and Andrew’s full on funk-attack to Y.M.C.A.
As attrition and alcohol claimed their casualties ahead of the 80’s section. An invasion party of middle-age women from the Peterborough fitness society spewed forth from the hall next door bemoaning our disco being better than theirs.
Back at the bar, the blonde Barmaid seemed less than impressed by my DJ (Disc-jockey) related banter, although her brunette colleague willfully picked up the baton. Nicely pished I predicted the rock section would consist of Sweet Child of Mine, Living on a Prayer and Summer of ’69 (in that order). Almost on queue GNR twanged out of the speakers and it was back to the dancefloor to find Ian for some back to back air guitar. Living on a Prayer dutifully followed and with a spring in my step I bounded back towards the bar only for the DJ to scupper things (or more likely save my embarrassment) by finishing “the rock” with MY OWN REQUEST for Van Halen’s Jump. Doh!
The midnight hour came and went only the most determined remaining to strut their funky stuff. So that’ll be me and Ian included then. Together we smashed our way through “Nightboat to Cairo”, raved like nutters to “No Limits” and invented a sort of sub-rave, cowboy style, slow-motion Baywatch pogo for “Cotton Eye Joe”
The night closed most-triumphantly with “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Everyone sitting on chairs. What was that about?), “You’ll never walk alone” followed as the final few dance-floor divas linked arms and then finally…something else. Buggered if I can remember.
Anyway…TO THE BAR!
Finding a table with Mick, Jon, Joey, Tanya, Cappsy and Danny, Ian and I joined the number. Any hope of Ellard joining the throng for GNP related gossip soon dashed as Andrew was spotted being led off to the bedrooms by a quartet of young fangirls.
A mass pizza order consumed and with the night drawing to a close, Jo and Swarj joined the “midnight club”. A merry band of those who couldn’t afford a room, those whose bookings the hotel had arsed up and students. A long night ahead and with a few of us already drifting towards the hand of nod it was deemed time to take a little walk…
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Conventional Thinking - Part Two
Are we sitting comfortably?
No? Well try IKEA maybe they have a sale on.
Saturday Morning
Waking early with my usual zest… (*lie mode cancel*) – my first thought was curiosity. Ian had somehow left the middle of the four–man love-in and curled himself up near the door. A sudden knock snapped my remaining faculties to attention and Ian’s entire body a foot across the room. Rumbled?? Thankfully it was only housekeeping.
The early hours of Saturday were a bit hazy. There was definitely an episode of Futurama, the distinct possibility of the bar and then it was straight into the first of the day’s Q+A sessions.
The cast at DJ often remark that the shows characters are extensions of their own personas. The prime example being Red Dwarf’s resident Mechanoid and most techno-savvy of the main cast, Robert Llewellyn. It was hardly a surprise then when Robert arrived with a video camera and the intention of filming his own Q+A for broadcast on You Tube. A good thing really since I’ve managed to forget virtually the whole thing. I recall, he obliged one young fan with an in-character “Spin my nipple nuts and send me to Alaska” quote and recalled an anecdote from filming IT2I2 were he booked out the use of a cybercafé, turned up to find the place had no record of the booking, blagged his way into filming and then left only to discover the ‘booked’ café was actually on the other side of the road. This apart he was probably asked a question about getting an agent.
By now time was well and truly occurring in random pockets. So I’ll skip straight onto the next Q+A session, Mr Danny John Jules.
Danny may well be the most regular DJ guest of all the cast, certainly he’s been present at all four I’ve attended.
I remember at my first DJ back in 2002, Danny arrived staggeringly over-dressed in a claret coloured smoking jacket. He had apparently flown direct from the US premiere of Blade took a taxi to the hotel and walked straight on stage for his Q+A. Whether this is true, Danny always appears such a good-natured guy I would love it to be correct.
For this DJ – Danny had brought a bonus guest, his 10 year-old nephew Alex - famous in Red Dwarf terms for appearing as the Baby Lister in the episode ‘Ouroboros’. Seeing a baby from the penultimate series, to date, now half way to adulthood it emphasised just how long ago Red Dwarf began, truly one of those TV shows that some of us have grown-up with.
I’d question exactly how much you can ask a child about a brief televised appearance he made in his nappy-wearing days but at least three audience members decided to have a go. Perhaps they didn’t want him to feel left out, however from his dumbstruck guise and catchphrase-in-the-making answer of “Don’t know” after a significantly long pause. It seemed apparent that the kindest thing would have been to let him escape the spotlight.
The rest of the Q+A was the usual stuff, a request for a cat dance and another for the Riviera kid. I’d love to recall a stream of paxmanesque questions and equally insightful answers but in truth there wasn’t. In fact the standard of questioning at this years DJ seemed on the whole seemed very bland. (Note to self – Compose an incisive question for each of the cast members ready for next year)
Danny ended his session with a string of good-natured pops aimed at Craig and his recent misdemeanours, there was a brief objection from a Craig Charles fan-girl but as Danny accurately pointed out had the roles been reversed Craig would have been ripping his cast mates to shreds!
The morning Q+A’s over Mick, Ian and I jumped into Mick’s 2CV and dashed off to Peterborough for food, which leads neatly onto a few words about this year’s hotel.
On first impressions the hotel seemed much improved upon last year. Taking a more considered view however tells a different story. Before DJ had even began stories of the hotel loosing room bookings had been mentioned on the fan club’s internet forum, BTLi. In addition in terms of both variety and cost the hotel is simply awful for food. Specialist menus promised after complaints made last year, were not available – only to appear on Sunday following the culmination of this years DJ. Likewise the inflated food prices meant heading elsewhere. This itself leads onto the problem of the hotel’s location. Situated miles from anywhere, there simply isn’t time to leg it into Peterborough and back in the allotted lunch break.
No? Well try IKEA maybe they have a sale on.
Saturday Morning
Waking early with my usual zest… (*lie mode cancel*) – my first thought was curiosity. Ian had somehow left the middle of the four–man love-in and curled himself up near the door. A sudden knock snapped my remaining faculties to attention and Ian’s entire body a foot across the room. Rumbled?? Thankfully it was only housekeeping.
The early hours of Saturday were a bit hazy. There was definitely an episode of Futurama, the distinct possibility of the bar and then it was straight into the first of the day’s Q+A sessions.
The cast at DJ often remark that the shows characters are extensions of their own personas. The prime example being Red Dwarf’s resident Mechanoid and most techno-savvy of the main cast, Robert Llewellyn. It was hardly a surprise then when Robert arrived with a video camera and the intention of filming his own Q+A for broadcast on You Tube. A good thing really since I’ve managed to forget virtually the whole thing. I recall, he obliged one young fan with an in-character “Spin my nipple nuts and send me to Alaska” quote and recalled an anecdote from filming IT2I2 were he booked out the use of a cybercafé, turned up to find the place had no record of the booking, blagged his way into filming and then left only to discover the ‘booked’ café was actually on the other side of the road. This apart he was probably asked a question about getting an agent.
By now time was well and truly occurring in random pockets. So I’ll skip straight onto the next Q+A session, Mr Danny John Jules.
Danny may well be the most regular DJ guest of all the cast, certainly he’s been present at all four I’ve attended.
I remember at my first DJ back in 2002, Danny arrived staggeringly over-dressed in a claret coloured smoking jacket. He had apparently flown direct from the US premiere of Blade took a taxi to the hotel and walked straight on stage for his Q+A. Whether this is true, Danny always appears such a good-natured guy I would love it to be correct.
For this DJ – Danny had brought a bonus guest, his 10 year-old nephew Alex - famous in Red Dwarf terms for appearing as the Baby Lister in the episode ‘Ouroboros’. Seeing a baby from the penultimate series, to date, now half way to adulthood it emphasised just how long ago Red Dwarf began, truly one of those TV shows that some of us have grown-up with.
I’d question exactly how much you can ask a child about a brief televised appearance he made in his nappy-wearing days but at least three audience members decided to have a go. Perhaps they didn’t want him to feel left out, however from his dumbstruck guise and catchphrase-in-the-making answer of “Don’t know” after a significantly long pause. It seemed apparent that the kindest thing would have been to let him escape the spotlight.
The rest of the Q+A was the usual stuff, a request for a cat dance and another for the Riviera kid. I’d love to recall a stream of paxmanesque questions and equally insightful answers but in truth there wasn’t. In fact the standard of questioning at this years DJ seemed on the whole seemed very bland. (Note to self – Compose an incisive question for each of the cast members ready for next year)
Danny ended his session with a string of good-natured pops aimed at Craig and his recent misdemeanours, there was a brief objection from a Craig Charles fan-girl but as Danny accurately pointed out had the roles been reversed Craig would have been ripping his cast mates to shreds!
The morning Q+A’s over Mick, Ian and I jumped into Mick’s 2CV and dashed off to Peterborough for food, which leads neatly onto a few words about this year’s hotel.
On first impressions the hotel seemed much improved upon last year. Taking a more considered view however tells a different story. Before DJ had even began stories of the hotel loosing room bookings had been mentioned on the fan club’s internet forum, BTLi. In addition in terms of both variety and cost the hotel is simply awful for food. Specialist menus promised after complaints made last year, were not available – only to appear on Sunday following the culmination of this years DJ. Likewise the inflated food prices meant heading elsewhere. This itself leads onto the problem of the hotel’s location. Situated miles from anywhere, there simply isn’t time to leg it into Peterborough and back in the allotted lunch break.
"Future Echoes" - Episode 2
It's sweetly ironic that the best future echo is in fact the episode itself. Just as a future echo shows the crew a glimpse of their future, so too do we bear witness to an episode which demonstrates many of the strengths Red Dwarf would ultimately win awards for.
The two main pillars of Red Dwarf's later success; superbly-written character comedy, and a unique inventive approach to handling traditional sci-fi principles, are both present here. A tribute to the ambition that would drive the show to greater heights in the following years. In fact like many episodes, it's surprising just how much story is crammed in.
Sure, Future Echoes is not without its flaws: the ending is arguably weak, and the pixellated Holly we witness in the introductory pieces to camera and throughout the first series looks simply atrocious, and dreadfully dated. Also it really hits home just how grey and dull the ships interior and props are in this episode (Painted grey boxes why? Damn designers) - but seeing as at this early stage creative control over such matters almost certainly lay beyond the great gestalt entity Grant Naylor you can accept such errors, particularly when the scales are tipped so heavily by sucesses.
Whilst the sets may not be colourful, the language is - invented profanity like Goit, Gimboid, Modo, even Smeg ring true and give the dialogue edge and yet non-offensive texture. The masterstroke of giving personalities to such appliances as toasters and dispensing machines is not just inventive but allowed a greater variety of characters into a seemingly enclosed world without ever devaluing the sense of isolation and loneliness in which Lister now finds himself.
Elsewhere other aspects previously established in The End are also built upon. Cats humongous wardrobe backs up his previously shown vanity, Rimmer continues to come across as conniving and yet at times (such as in his 300m speech), shows hints of vulnerability - the direction the character would eventually take. Interestingly, other early series one traits fall quickly by the wayside - Lister's singing and the amount of mimickry by Rimmer both disappear swiftly.
Most important though, Future Echoes has some genuinely great dialogue. The drive room scene is nothing short of superb and illustrates Red Dwarf using an established sci-fi element, in this case time, not only in a humorous way but in an original one too. Should anyone ever be dumb enough to tell you Craig and Chris are bad actors politely point them to this scene. The timing and delivery is simply impeccable - even more so when you consider both "actors" were at the time under two screen hours into their sit-com careers. It could be argued this scene is perhaps the stand-out moment of Series 1 and certainly a lot of Red Dwarf's future can be seen in it - but it's further testament to the strength of Future Echoes that it's not alone...
Following not long after is a short scene where Holly with the help of Talkie Toaster explains the concept of Future Echoes to Lister, Rimmer and the at this stage more childlike Cat. The short knockaround banter spliced with exposition bears a strong resemblence in style to the cockpit scenes which would become the hub of almost every show by Series Six. The must-see episode of Series One.
The two main pillars of Red Dwarf's later success; superbly-written character comedy, and a unique inventive approach to handling traditional sci-fi principles, are both present here. A tribute to the ambition that would drive the show to greater heights in the following years. In fact like many episodes, it's surprising just how much story is crammed in.
Sure, Future Echoes is not without its flaws: the ending is arguably weak, and the pixellated Holly we witness in the introductory pieces to camera and throughout the first series looks simply atrocious, and dreadfully dated. Also it really hits home just how grey and dull the ships interior and props are in this episode (Painted grey boxes why? Damn designers) - but seeing as at this early stage creative control over such matters almost certainly lay beyond the great gestalt entity Grant Naylor you can accept such errors, particularly when the scales are tipped so heavily by sucesses.
Whilst the sets may not be colourful, the language is - invented profanity like Goit, Gimboid, Modo, even Smeg ring true and give the dialogue edge and yet non-offensive texture. The masterstroke of giving personalities to such appliances as toasters and dispensing machines is not just inventive but allowed a greater variety of characters into a seemingly enclosed world without ever devaluing the sense of isolation and loneliness in which Lister now finds himself.
Elsewhere other aspects previously established in The End are also built upon. Cats humongous wardrobe backs up his previously shown vanity, Rimmer continues to come across as conniving and yet at times (such as in his 300m speech), shows hints of vulnerability - the direction the character would eventually take. Interestingly, other early series one traits fall quickly by the wayside - Lister's singing and the amount of mimickry by Rimmer both disappear swiftly.
Most important though, Future Echoes has some genuinely great dialogue. The drive room scene is nothing short of superb and illustrates Red Dwarf using an established sci-fi element, in this case time, not only in a humorous way but in an original one too. Should anyone ever be dumb enough to tell you Craig and Chris are bad actors politely point them to this scene. The timing and delivery is simply impeccable - even more so when you consider both "actors" were at the time under two screen hours into their sit-com careers. It could be argued this scene is perhaps the stand-out moment of Series 1 and certainly a lot of Red Dwarf's future can be seen in it - but it's further testament to the strength of Future Echoes that it's not alone...
Following not long after is a short scene where Holly with the help of Talkie Toaster explains the concept of Future Echoes to Lister, Rimmer and the at this stage more childlike Cat. The short knockaround banter spliced with exposition bears a strong resemblence in style to the cockpit scenes which would become the hub of almost every show by Series Six. The must-see episode of Series One.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
The Smart Party
A quick bit of news/trivia...
It appears the recent Labour Party Conference was held at the Midland Hotel, Manchester. The same hotel which doubled as the 'Ganymede Holiday Inn' for various scenes in the episode 'Stasis Leak'.
It appears the recent Labour Party Conference was held at the Midland Hotel, Manchester. The same hotel which doubled as the 'Ganymede Holiday Inn' for various scenes in the episode 'Stasis Leak'.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Conventional Thinking - Part One
DAMAGE CONTROL REPORT
Dehydration Level: 45%.
Recall Of Previous Evening: 2%.
Embarrassment Factor: 91%
Advised Repair Schedule: Reboot Start-up disk, offline for 36 hours, and replace head. Boy, what an evening.
It can mean only one thing: Another year, another DJ. For the uninitiated DJ is what the cool kids in the red dwarf fan community call Dimension Jump, details can be found here. For those unaware what Red Dwarf itself is, well there really is no helping some people.
Let’s get one thing clear. This update is ‘not’ a review of DJ:XIII. I hope to produce one of these for submission to the fan club magazine within the next few weeks, based on a combination of my own notes and the hopefully less hazy memories of others.
For those, however, who cannot wait I have channelled my creative energies into the following short review – Awesome.
Right with that out of the way what follows is a personal blow-by-blow account of the weekend edited down from ridiculously lengthy notes made following this year convention.
The Story Continuums...
It all started to get exciting the weekend prior to DJ. Having attended a house party at fellow Dwarfers and G&T stalwarts Jonathan Capps and Seb Patrick new home, being able to bid farewell with “See you on Friday” triggered a happy glowing feeling and set the ball rolling on a very dwarf-centric week. Signing up to G&T followed, succeeded with the creation of this blog. Mid-week saw news of Craig Charles caution. So it looked almost nailed on he’d be making his first DJ appearance for 8 years.
FRIDAY
Sheer bad luck meant that the lease on the bedsit I’ve been renting was up the same weekend as DJ. So Friday morning was spent largely packing up bits’n’pieces before the serious frivolity of DJ could begin, soon enough though it was time to meet up with my good buddy, and new BTL logo designer, Michael Hayes to make final preparations for the weekend. A quick phone call from the belle of BTLi Joey Cannon to check our progress heightened anticipations and with that we were on our way.
Repeating last years very-nearly-legendary 2am arrival was briefly considered but it just didn’t seem worth paying the full admission only to miss the whole of the Friday night. This turned out to be a wise decision as this years Friday played out to be the most memorable of all those I’ve attended. So our plan was simple. Do something totally unexpected, arrive early.
Of course, being the unreliable slackers we are this ended going a bit tits up. After a few hours of traffic jams and the midland monsoon season we found ourselves arriving at the Holiday Inn Hotel for just after 7pm, yet again missing the opening ceremony and the start of this years quiz.
Along the way we hatched a wind-up for the boy Symes - texting him various confusing messages and then having myself creep sheepishly into the main hall and insinuating that Mick and I had a bit of a tiff, all while Mick hid in the bar. Sure for comedy it’s hardly up there with Fork Handles or the Dead Parrot sketch but never the less it worked a treat culminating with a worried Ian catching up with us at the bar with a cry of “You Bastards!”
From that point on the masses started to pour through to reception signalling the end of the quiz and the full social extravaganza of DJ kicked in as hugs, handshakes and hellos came in from all quarters.
The few snippets of the quiz I did catch looked very well put together, questions for everyone from your avid viewer through to the realms of uber-geekery. The audio/visual side of things was particularly swish so major kudos to Wend & the “lovely” Liam.
A new addition for this years DJ was Karaoke, which I remain ambivalent towards. Undoubtedly it helped generate an atmosphere akin to the traditional Saturday night disco alternately it was half eight on the Friday! The seemingly ever present Hattie Hayridge was the only cast member I’d so far caught sight off and here was I was on the verge of watching some tone deaf tart belt out “I will Survive” wondering if I was at a Red Dwarf Convention or an uninvited guest at a Divorce’s night out. I’d give the idea of Karaoke the thumbs up overall and keeping it apart from Saturday night to me made Friday feel like an extra bonus night of partying. The early start time, however, meant that the shy and reluctant types (I’ll include myself here) hadn’t had nearly enough time to down enough Dutch courage to have a go. The DJ too, seemed a little self-occupied as if he was somehow the nights main event. “I’ll be back in an hour” he cried before his interval with the half-time entertainment turning out to be some old impressionist.
I’m no longer really in awe of the cast, save Chris Barrie. To my mind he is one of the most undervalued comedy actors this country has ever produced and it’s a shame his star has never risen as high as his talents deserve. On the upside it means year after year he comes home to ‘Dwarf’ and we get the honour of an autograph and pestering him with questions.
Work commitments meant Chris could only appear on the Friday, as opposed to the relaxed Sunday afternoon session we usual get. Combined with the post-karaoke crowd, the later evening slot made for a thoroughly entertaining hour or so with Chris coming across lucid and the most relaxed I’ve seen him in my 4 DJ’s to date. On request he went through a few old impressions, Ronald Reagan being my personal pick. He is also handled a drunk scouse heckler and a stream of stupid questions about getting an agent (What did they think this was Chris Barrie’s Face Academy?) with particular dignity.
The usual topics made an appearance. Would he sing the Munchkin song? He did, in part – only failing to match the words with the tune. What was it like Kissing Craig? Ever the gent, he was very complimentary, although Craig somewhat debunked this during his own Q+A by claiming he had smoked half a packet of fags in order to make it as unpleasant as possible. It all ended far too soon and it was back to the Karaoke whilst the queue formed for Chris’s autograph session.
My two memorable Karaoke classics were Andrew Ellard’s passionate rendition of American Pie and the Ian Symes remix of Van Halen’s Jump. Ian can be let off the fact he was a bit crap given he was up against Karaoke machine feeding false and at times entirely not-present lyrics.
Still the boy kept his ass against the record machine, rolled with the options and managed to Jump on it, Jump on it, c’mon baby yeah till the end.
Random other memories from Friday night include meeting a slightly camp chap bloke called Bret, a huge Queen and Iron Maiden fan, so of course the majority of our conversation was about Marc Almond. A little later witnessed an unforgettable epic monologue by Scatman John Hoare on the moral aspects of various websites and hobbies, which I won’t even remotely repeat.
Overall the night belongs to just one man, a prince amongst the world of Visual FX and a p*sshead amongst the world of free alcohol – Peter Tyler. Invited outside with the usual suspects (Cappsy, Swarj, Symes, Danny, Mick, Joey, Nicky and myself) First Pete launched a scathing attack on G&T’s excessive language. Pete first launched a scathing attack on G&T’s “excessive language”, complained relentlessly about the strength of someone’s weed and then decided to reveal his all time two favourite tastes.
At some point Wend found, Mick and I – letting us know there was a spare room available in the hotel. It turned out it was only Mr Chris Barrie’s room! Available as Chris had opted out of staying the night. As a result I can now reveal the following exclusives about Chris’s private life. He reads the Daily Telegraph (Wonder!), he drinks Red wine (shock!) and he ate one Jammy Dodger from a packet of three (Take that for an exclusive Daily Mirror journos!) As the night drew to a close Mick, Ian, Swarj and I made our way up to the room to discover the most humongous bed ever seen. Two double beds pushed together under what could very possibly the worlds widest duvet. So that was Friday, save for the fact that for the first and very probably only time in life I went to bed with three men.
And on that bombshell,
Toodle pipski.
Dehydration Level: 45%.
Recall Of Previous Evening: 2%.
Embarrassment Factor: 91%
Advised Repair Schedule: Reboot Start-up disk, offline for 36 hours, and replace head. Boy, what an evening.
It can mean only one thing: Another year, another DJ. For the uninitiated DJ is what the cool kids in the red dwarf fan community call Dimension Jump, details can be found here. For those unaware what Red Dwarf itself is, well there really is no helping some people.
Let’s get one thing clear. This update is ‘not’ a review of DJ:XIII. I hope to produce one of these for submission to the fan club magazine within the next few weeks, based on a combination of my own notes and the hopefully less hazy memories of others.
For those, however, who cannot wait I have channelled my creative energies into the following short review – Awesome.
Right with that out of the way what follows is a personal blow-by-blow account of the weekend edited down from ridiculously lengthy notes made following this year convention.
The Story Continuums...
It all started to get exciting the weekend prior to DJ. Having attended a house party at fellow Dwarfers and G&T stalwarts Jonathan Capps and Seb Patrick new home, being able to bid farewell with “See you on Friday” triggered a happy glowing feeling and set the ball rolling on a very dwarf-centric week. Signing up to G&T followed, succeeded with the creation of this blog. Mid-week saw news of Craig Charles caution. So it looked almost nailed on he’d be making his first DJ appearance for 8 years.
FRIDAY
Sheer bad luck meant that the lease on the bedsit I’ve been renting was up the same weekend as DJ. So Friday morning was spent largely packing up bits’n’pieces before the serious frivolity of DJ could begin, soon enough though it was time to meet up with my good buddy, and new BTL logo designer, Michael Hayes to make final preparations for the weekend. A quick phone call from the belle of BTLi Joey Cannon to check our progress heightened anticipations and with that we were on our way.
Repeating last years very-nearly-legendary 2am arrival was briefly considered but it just didn’t seem worth paying the full admission only to miss the whole of the Friday night. This turned out to be a wise decision as this years Friday played out to be the most memorable of all those I’ve attended. So our plan was simple. Do something totally unexpected, arrive early.
Of course, being the unreliable slackers we are this ended going a bit tits up. After a few hours of traffic jams and the midland monsoon season we found ourselves arriving at the Holiday Inn Hotel for just after 7pm, yet again missing the opening ceremony and the start of this years quiz.
Along the way we hatched a wind-up for the boy Symes - texting him various confusing messages and then having myself creep sheepishly into the main hall and insinuating that Mick and I had a bit of a tiff, all while Mick hid in the bar. Sure for comedy it’s hardly up there with Fork Handles or the Dead Parrot sketch but never the less it worked a treat culminating with a worried Ian catching up with us at the bar with a cry of “You Bastards!”
From that point on the masses started to pour through to reception signalling the end of the quiz and the full social extravaganza of DJ kicked in as hugs, handshakes and hellos came in from all quarters.
The few snippets of the quiz I did catch looked very well put together, questions for everyone from your avid viewer through to the realms of uber-geekery. The audio/visual side of things was particularly swish so major kudos to Wend & the “lovely” Liam.
A new addition for this years DJ was Karaoke, which I remain ambivalent towards. Undoubtedly it helped generate an atmosphere akin to the traditional Saturday night disco alternately it was half eight on the Friday! The seemingly ever present Hattie Hayridge was the only cast member I’d so far caught sight off and here was I was on the verge of watching some tone deaf tart belt out “I will Survive” wondering if I was at a Red Dwarf Convention or an uninvited guest at a Divorce’s night out. I’d give the idea of Karaoke the thumbs up overall and keeping it apart from Saturday night to me made Friday feel like an extra bonus night of partying. The early start time, however, meant that the shy and reluctant types (I’ll include myself here) hadn’t had nearly enough time to down enough Dutch courage to have a go. The DJ too, seemed a little self-occupied as if he was somehow the nights main event. “I’ll be back in an hour” he cried before his interval with the half-time entertainment turning out to be some old impressionist.
I’m no longer really in awe of the cast, save Chris Barrie. To my mind he is one of the most undervalued comedy actors this country has ever produced and it’s a shame his star has never risen as high as his talents deserve. On the upside it means year after year he comes home to ‘Dwarf’ and we get the honour of an autograph and pestering him with questions.
Work commitments meant Chris could only appear on the Friday, as opposed to the relaxed Sunday afternoon session we usual get. Combined with the post-karaoke crowd, the later evening slot made for a thoroughly entertaining hour or so with Chris coming across lucid and the most relaxed I’ve seen him in my 4 DJ’s to date. On request he went through a few old impressions, Ronald Reagan being my personal pick. He is also handled a drunk scouse heckler and a stream of stupid questions about getting an agent (What did they think this was Chris Barrie’s Face Academy?) with particular dignity.
The usual topics made an appearance. Would he sing the Munchkin song? He did, in part – only failing to match the words with the tune. What was it like Kissing Craig? Ever the gent, he was very complimentary, although Craig somewhat debunked this during his own Q+A by claiming he had smoked half a packet of fags in order to make it as unpleasant as possible. It all ended far too soon and it was back to the Karaoke whilst the queue formed for Chris’s autograph session.
My two memorable Karaoke classics were Andrew Ellard’s passionate rendition of American Pie and the Ian Symes remix of Van Halen’s Jump. Ian can be let off the fact he was a bit crap given he was up against Karaoke machine feeding false and at times entirely not-present lyrics.
Still the boy kept his ass against the record machine, rolled with the options and managed to Jump on it, Jump on it, c’mon baby yeah till the end.
Random other memories from Friday night include meeting a slightly camp chap bloke called Bret, a huge Queen and Iron Maiden fan, so of course the majority of our conversation was about Marc Almond. A little later witnessed an unforgettable epic monologue by Scatman John Hoare on the moral aspects of various websites and hobbies, which I won’t even remotely repeat.
Overall the night belongs to just one man, a prince amongst the world of Visual FX and a p*sshead amongst the world of free alcohol – Peter Tyler. Invited outside with the usual suspects (Cappsy, Swarj, Symes, Danny, Mick, Joey, Nicky and myself) First Pete launched a scathing attack on G&T’s excessive language. Pete first launched a scathing attack on G&T’s “excessive language”, complained relentlessly about the strength of someone’s weed and then decided to reveal his all time two favourite tastes.
At some point Wend found, Mick and I – letting us know there was a spare room available in the hotel. It turned out it was only Mr Chris Barrie’s room! Available as Chris had opted out of staying the night. As a result I can now reveal the following exclusives about Chris’s private life. He reads the Daily Telegraph (Wonder!), he drinks Red wine (shock!) and he ate one Jammy Dodger from a packet of three (Take that for an exclusive Daily Mirror journos!) As the night drew to a close Mick, Ian, Swarj and I made our way up to the room to discover the most humongous bed ever seen. Two double beds pushed together under what could very possibly the worlds widest duvet. So that was Friday, save for the fact that for the first and very probably only time in life I went to bed with three men.
And on that bombshell,
Toodle pipski.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Future Echoes
No NOT another Episode review. That will be up by the end of the week. In the meantime I've been playing about in photoshop to find a suitable 'look' for this blog. Here's what I knocked up last night.
Comments please. Also if any talented web design folk would be prepared to offer advice/assistance on turning this currently sorry looking charade into something roughly like the image above could they please let me know. This would be very much appreciated.
Comments please. Also if any talented web design folk would be prepared to offer advice/assistance on turning this currently sorry looking charade into something roughly like the image above could they please let me know. This would be very much appreciated.
Friday, September 29, 2006
"The End"
As a Dwarfer born and raised on the sonic boom sci-fi sit-com of Series 3 onwards the differences between the show I fell in love with and the one present here at Dwarf's birth are immediate.
The opening theme, bleak, dramatic, menacing - with a passing nod to genre classics and inspirations like Dark Star and Silent Running. The sets and uniforms which look more reminiscent of 70s shows like Battlestar Galatica or Blake's 7 than the vibrant metallic reds, green and blues that become the custom in later seasons.
Although improvements in these areas would no doubt contribute to the shows later success, the most important part of any TV show, and Red Dwarf is no exception, lies in the scripts. Interestingly there are differences here too - The pace, here as in all Series 1 episodes, is noticeably slow. The action, which despite the massive exterior change caused by the cadium leak, manages to focus essentially inwards focusing on the characters relationships.
Whilst such differences exist other broader Red Dwarf staples are established right here. The opening scenes familiarise us with Lister the dreaming slacker, Rimmer - a stiff company man whose ambition dwarves his talents, and most importantly their mutual apathy. Similarly Cat's overriding vanity is immediately clear but presented in such an over the top yet innocent way as to make a usually unlikeable chracacter trait humourous. Lesser, but equally long-standing traditions too are subtly weaved into place - Lister's love of Kochanski, Rimmer's continual failing at exams, and references to Esperanto which have continued throughout the shows are clearly visible on background signs if not at this point directly referred too.
Overall it would be ambitous at best to claim anything on offer here is side-splittingly funny, but that said The End is still an episode worth holding an audience on far more than just nostalgia.
The performances alone from the three leads, which it's worth noting at the time amounted to no more than an impressionist, a poet and a dancer are nothing short of first class. Danny John-Jules initial short introductory solo piece in particular is infinitely re-watchable as is the immediate, and perhaps unlikely given their class backgrounds, chemistry between Chris and Craig. Oh and that opening model shot is just wonderful.
The opening theme, bleak, dramatic, menacing - with a passing nod to genre classics and inspirations like Dark Star and Silent Running. The sets and uniforms which look more reminiscent of 70s shows like Battlestar Galatica or Blake's 7 than the vibrant metallic reds, green and blues that become the custom in later seasons.
Although improvements in these areas would no doubt contribute to the shows later success, the most important part of any TV show, and Red Dwarf is no exception, lies in the scripts. Interestingly there are differences here too - The pace, here as in all Series 1 episodes, is noticeably slow. The action, which despite the massive exterior change caused by the cadium leak, manages to focus essentially inwards focusing on the characters relationships.
Whilst such differences exist other broader Red Dwarf staples are established right here. The opening scenes familiarise us with Lister the dreaming slacker, Rimmer - a stiff company man whose ambition dwarves his talents, and most importantly their mutual apathy. Similarly Cat's overriding vanity is immediately clear but presented in such an over the top yet innocent way as to make a usually unlikeable chracacter trait humourous. Lesser, but equally long-standing traditions too are subtly weaved into place - Lister's love of Kochanski, Rimmer's continual failing at exams, and references to Esperanto which have continued throughout the shows are clearly visible on background signs if not at this point directly referred too.
Overall it would be ambitous at best to claim anything on offer here is side-splittingly funny, but that said The End is still an episode worth holding an audience on far more than just nostalgia.
The performances alone from the three leads, which it's worth noting at the time amounted to no more than an impressionist, a poet and a dancer are nothing short of first class. Danny John-Jules initial short introductory solo piece in particular is infinitely re-watchable as is the immediate, and perhaps unlikely given their class backgrounds, chemistry between Chris and Craig. Oh and that opening model shot is just wonderful.
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