Tag Archives: BBC

London to Cardiff – best way to get there?

Posted on October 6, 2007 | 3 comments

So I’m looking for a practical and cheap and semi-direct way to get from London, England to Cardiff, Wales. I figure my choices are train, bus or rent a car (I have no problem driving on the left). When I go to London in the spring I was thinking of spending a day or two over that way. Also, I’m looking for a place to stay in Cardiff near public transportation, decent but not too expensive (of course) a hotel or bed and breakfast would work. Of course I’ll want to visit this general area so I’ll need some walking tour information too (or book recommendation).

Cardiff Words LightI keep seeing it on TV and movies and other places so I thought I’d check it out. I’ve never been in that direction, I think the farthest west I’ve been is Stonehenge/Sailisbury.

Also, any bloggers who lurk around here and want to meet up drop me a note. I’m also looking for restaurant and other tourist recommendations. And if anyone knows about any Torchwood filming dates in the spring (I’m thinking they’re editing around now, so probably not) I’d be interested in that too, especially if you have any contacts related to seeing some of it.

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Posted in holidays + events, London 2008

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Yes, I’m talking about Doctor Who again…

Posted on June 24, 2007 | Leave a comment

So it’s the weekend so it’s time for me to talk about Doctor Who again. It was part two of the three part season finale. It’s a little long to stretch a story but they’ve been keeping up with the action (in Dr. Who action means lots of running).

But one of the parts I really liked was when they were doing flashbacks to the Time Lord’s home world some of the imagery clearly showed

  • A stone-like circle that was clear supposed to look The Guardian of Forever which was was the time portal from Star Trek’s classic “The City on the Edge of Forever”
  • A being that looked like The Watchers the omni-potent beings from from Marvel comics.
  • A few more images that I didn’t recognize but probably have some sci-fi/time travel significance.

    I enjoy it when shows throw things like that in to make the fans pay attention and have to go back and rewind the show. Did anyone recognize any of the other images?

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    Doctor Who – Blink

    Posted on June 9, 2007 | 1 comment

    As you all know I love time-travel, and while never being a Doctor Who fan this new (started in 2005) series is just brilliant! In case you didn’t know, the new Doctor Who is produced (and sometimes written) by Russell T. Davies (Queer as Folk and Torchwood) so it’s not your grandpa’s sci-fi show (and neither is Torchwood which runs later at night). Steven Moffat wrote this week’s episode as well as several other episodes, some older shows (but I’m not sure if they were specials or radio shows), many episodes of Coupling (US and UK) and more.

    This week’s episode is just full of non-stop action and non-stop paradoxes and is just excellent! It’s kinda scary too(!), I think that’s what makes it seem so non-stop. This episode barely shows the main characters and instead focuses on a woman from London outside the normal time-line of The Doctor and Martha. As she’s piecing things together it’s very entertaining since you know it’s going to all going to tie up neatly by the end. But one of the best parts is when he’s explaining the non-linerarity of time and says “it’s like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey… stuff” and it makes complete sense to the viewer; it’s then you know the writers are doing something right..

    The other good line is when Sally’s talking about talking pictures of old things (which makes her sad) and her friend asks her “What’s good about sad?” and Sally responds with “It’s happy for deep people”…

    And the extra bonus is that starting next week (for 3 episodes) we have the return of Captain Jack Harkness!

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    Doctor Who – The Season Premiere

    Posted on April 4, 2007 | 1 comment

    I wasn’t ever a Doctor Who fan (not even a bit), a friend mentioned it to me more than a few times but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. But then they started running a new series a few years ago and it seemed okay, but then I started watching it from the beginning of the 2005 season and it was really good. I really enjoy the humor, just a little British with a lot of wit; some of with wit is just barely acknowledged and then they move along (so sometimes you miss it).

    This is a perfect episode to start watching the series, it’s the first episode of season three (2007), it’s called ‘Smith and Jones’. She’s Dr. Martha Jones and he checked into the hospital under the name ‘Smith’. The Doctor is a bit out of sorts having lost his last traveling companion (Rose) but the show always has sidekick so we get to be introduced to the new companion. She’s a medical doctor in training who doesn’t get too freaked out about with the strange things that happen and she’ll probably be a great asset to the show. So it kind of re-introduces you to the main characters.

    Since the series was restarted they’ve changed both the doctor and his companion/assistant; it’s the start of year two for the doctor and the first episode with the new assistant. The 2005 Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, has been playing the invisible man on Heroes season one. I haven’t seen Rose on anything else yet. Some people will refer to this (2007) as the third season but some die hards will refer to it as the 29th season. I think the BCC is who restarted the numbering but I’m not sure why (but it’s probably due to a 15 year gap in the series). Continue reading →

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    Posted in reviews

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    Still looking for The Spaghetti Harvest

    Posted on March 24, 2006 | 3 comments

    SpaghettiSo it’s almost April Fools day and once again I’m looking for a copy of The Spaghetti Harvest.

    …a segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed to an unusually mild winter. The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show’s highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched a rural Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets.

    I’ve been trying to find this for ages and someone must have a copy somewhere that I can get.

    The BBC played this on April 1, 1957 on a serious show (which upset some people). I saw it as a child, a local theater ran it instead of cartoons before a movie, and I’ve always remembered it. Most people don’t even believe me when I say that there is a such a documentary so I’d love to get a copy. FYI, there is an small (awful) copy of it at the above linked sites.

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    Posted in general

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    Have you seen “The Spaghetti Harvest”?

    Posted on August 5, 2005 | 6 comments

    SpaghettiSo when I was a kid the local movie theater, in lieu of cartoons, would show short documentary type shows. These 3-7 minute shorts might be on skatboarding, mountian climbing or any old thing (some were new, some were old). The one I’ll always remember is about the annual Swiss Spaghetti Harvest, they show how they harvest the spaghetti trees and lay it out to dry. You can watch a low quality version (in RealPlayer) and you’ll get the idea of it.

    Update: I noticed the direct link (click the image) was broken. So I’m moving this back up towards the top so you can take a gander if you missed it the first time.

    Continue reading →

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    Posted in general, reviews

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    Coupling

    Posted on July 18, 2004 | Leave a comment

    This show is hysterical! Steve, Jane, Susan, Sally, Patrick and Jeffery have some interesting interactions and friendships/relationships. coupling It’s from the BBC and they tried to make a US version but it flopped, which is funny since some of the shows seemed identical except for the accents (although that is one of the great parts).

    Some people think it’s a copy of Friends but that’s never crossed my mind. It’s more of a Sex and the City with both sides of the conversation. Although when Jeff talks to women it’s reminiscent of the pain of watching Ross talk to women. I think they’ve written him out for the most recent season which hasn’t hit the syndicated airwaves here yet. Too bad, he’s one of my favorite characters.

    Jeff is this goofy guy who says goofy things.

    Do you know what would be the best way to wipe out all of human kind if you were a space alien with a special kind of mind ray…? Make all women telepathic. Because if they suddenly found out about the kind of stuff that goes on in our heads they would kill us all on the spot.

    FYI – Jeff does have a slightly stranger mind than most of us (but that doesn’t mean what he said isn’t true).

    More quotes are on-line at the IMDB and the BBC site and the BBC America site.

    Continue reading →

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