I appear to be behind in my celeb spotting haikus. Here are a few from the past year.

From a couple of Sundays ago:

Audience member / Sophie Okonedo was / treading NT stairs.

(She was Liz Ten in "modern" Doctor Who ep The Beast Below. http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Elizabeth_X )

May 27, 2011: Boris Johnson rides / (Not a Boris-Bike, his own) / along Wakley Street.

June 1, 2011: Boris after work / Blond tussled, untucked, rumpled / riding his own bike.

Can't remember when, but around the same time:
Boris nearly wrecks / Bike is wobbling through traffic / Talking on his phone.

11 Jan 2006 - Ken Campbell improved / At Poetry Shack. Laughter. / I bought him coffee.

Steven Moffat at
Forbidden Planet and I'm
Too shy to say hi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Moffat

One day, I'll meet him properly and say hello. One day I'll get it right. I'm an appalling fangirl.

Things I hate about living in London in the winter:

1. Burning my knee on the radiator in the bathroom, because invariably they are RIGHT next to the toilet.

2. Lack of sunlight.

==========


Reasons not to live in the USA during any season:

1. They don't have rocket.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruca_sativa

2. They call it arugula, which sounds like a type of carpeting or perhaps sofa upholstery.

You: Robert Rankin
Me: tiny top hat and steampunk pendant

Imagine my disappointment upon realising that the lovely man with cool steampunk jewelry is a popular humorous fiction writer that I have no way of ever contacting with steampunk jewelry ideas.




(Do I need to explain this? Or would it ruin the mystery? I was wandering the London Film & Comic Con today and one Robert Rankin (unbeknownst to me at the time) pulled me in to look at his steampunk jewelry. He was lovely and charming and a bit flirty, and I removed my steampunk pendant for him to get a closer look. We chatted about accessorising his jewelry for the ladies (cog wheel earrings!), and he said I should come to the steampunk convention in the autumn. Alas, I already have tix for Bestival that weekend. Needless to say, he made me smile and totally made my afternoon. Then I realised who he was as he flogged his latest book. D'oh! Yes, I bought the book as well as a groovy clock-faced brooch that he'd made.)

Most of you are American and therefore have no idea what I'm talking about, nor indeed could give a rat's, but I have to share my frustration anyway...

I keep forgetting to use my Nectar card (multi-store loyalty card which earns me points) when I shop online, specifically on Amazon. Arg. I could have earned/collected nearly 200 points!

Just to give you an idea: I saved £72 by using/spending the plethora of collected points from my loyalty card. This meant my £97 filing cabinet* only cost me £25 (far closer to what it was worth in my opinion).

You'd think I would remember to use the card to earn points after that windfall, but no. I am daft and forgetful.

* I never got around to a 'completed' photo, but you get the idea.

For a tub o' humus:

Thing o'Chickpeas (it was a tetrapak rather than a can!)
A tablespoon of tahini (to taste)
1-2 tb olive oil
A lemon's worth of juice
1-2 cloves of garlic (after chopping/crushing, leave garlic sit for a minute or 3)

Drain chickpeas and save the juice to one side.
Blend all together, except the chickpea juice, until creamy gooey but not too smooth.
If it's too dry, use the saved chickpea juice and the second tb of olive oil to add moisture to the blended stuff. It should be gooey for pita-dipping, but not runny or dry.

My first whirl in the processor (with only half a lemon and tb of olive oil) was too dry. So I added another tb of olive oil and the rest of the lemon. Then a splash of vinegar for more moisture. Next time I'll save the chickpea juice (I had drained and rinsed them) and use that to re-moisturise instead of white wine vinegar and extra oil. Fyi, I tried the vinegar because I didn't have any more lemon juice. The vinegar wasn't great. :P

But still, not bad for a first timer.

I was looking up recipes for humus and found out some interesting info*.

You should wait after crushing/chopping garlic before cooking/blending it.

Garlic is packed with good molecules, but they are not active inside the garlic clove. The cells contain precursors of protective agents (called alliin), and the cells also contain the enzymes (alliinase) that can free the the active molecules (allicin, which gives diallyl sulfide and other compounds). When you crunch or cut garlic, precursors and enzymes are mixed, and the "good reaction" takes place while you wait.

So immediately cooking chopped/crushed garlic kills the mixing enzymes, and immediately blending the garlic (with chickpeas or etc) dilutes them so they don't mix/react/provide full healthy benefits.

* It was found online. Take with a pinch of salt (and a dash of lemon for flavor).

The Hunt for Gollum premiered at the London SciFi film festival thingumie yesterday. As I had friends heavily involved with the making of it, I got to see it twice this weekend on the big screen. And of course I had to pimp it out to you fine folk - because I know you'll probably like it too.

They made all of this for about £3,000, and because it's a 'fan film', they're not making any money out of it. It's amazing what you can do if enough people love a project enough to get it made. Oh, I lost you at 'fan film', didn't I. No no, ya see, the production values on this little 39 minute film? Very very high. If I had waited to tell you it had a budget of 3k til after you watched it, you'd never have believed me. The music, the costumes and makeup, the direction - all amazing. The CG alone will blow you away, seriously. And most everything was volunteered and donated.

http://www.thehuntforgollum.com/trailers.htm
for all of the bits and bobs and trailers

http://www.thehuntforgollum.com
which is the film itself - it downloads automatically from this link

Set before the Lord of the Rings trilogy but after the Hobbit, Strider and Gandolf must track down Gollum before he alerts that big glowing eye thing to the existence of the Shire and Hobbitses.

The story is taken from the appendixes, and almost didn't get made. Why? Because Guillermo del Torro was still deciding what bits post-Hobbit he would be adding to his own project. Gotta hate it when that happens. ;-)

So go watch it, tell your friends, and share the love. Made of awesome, it is. (And the "making of" documentary is brilliant as well!)

EDIT: AH! Here we are - a web-viewable rather than downloadable!

http://www.dailymotion.com/user/huntforgollum/video/x93zji_the-hunt-for-gollum-hd-version_shortfilms

Return to Doctor Who for Piper as Tennant Exits

( Cut&Paste article behind the cut. It DOES contain possible spoilers for David Tennant's imminent demise... )

=========

For the record, there's nothing on the beeb site about this, or the Doctor Who site, so I can't confirm it for sure. I wouldn't say that the Metro isn't credible, but it IS a freebie newspaper that one reads on the tube in the mornings when half asleep. Take with a pinch o' salt.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/1/20090317/ten-family-guy-copyright-case-thrown-out-c60bd6d.html

A Manhattan judge has thrown out a lawsuit against the creators of Family Guy after they were accused of copyright infringement for allegedly parodying classic composition When You Wish Upon A Star... ...rest of the article

Go go Judge Batts!

-----

But it's not the first time that they've been sued:

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/family-guy/carol-burnett-loses-family-guy-7103.aspx

Carol Burnett sued because she might have been made to look bad. Because, ya know, we're all just stoopid ignoranamuses and really believe that she's a janitor in a sex shop. In a cartoon. Really.

----

And magician/entertainer Art Metrano sued because Jesus Christ ripped off his act:

http://www.tmz.com/2007/12/06/metrano-vs-family-guy/

And the videos, just in case you want some comparison:

http://www.tmz.com/2007/12/06/metrano-vs-family-guy/

Well, actually, Art's got a fair point. That's his schtick on stage. But the fact that Jesus is doing the act? Doesn't that push it over the top into parody-stylings? And along a different perspective entirely - HELLO? Who the heck are you, and haven't you just gotten thrust blinking into the spotlight again from your dusty backstage shelf? STFU old timer. Say "thank you" and be grateful that someone still cares enough to parody you.

----

It's a wonder that Family Guy hasn't been sued more. Oh, wait. Most people realise that it's COMEDY and PARODY. You'd think the comedians would know that, ya know, being COMEDIANS and all, but no, they're quite tetchy and protective of their jokes*. Clearly they have no sense of humor.

* Eric Idle was annoyed that "Shrek 3" thieved his lovely bunch of coconuts.