The Journal of the Browncoat Cat

Last night I finally saw someone from the Epilepsy Unit at the University of Wales Hospital. Not the consultant I was expecting to see, but the specialist nurse again. The unit has been understaffed since January, and that is why I had a 7pm appointment with the nurse. So what was achieved, well apart from a promise that I really would get to see a consultant before Christmas, it was a bit of a wild goose chase. I was told to keep on taking the same medication a before, 400mg of Epilim Chrono (sodium valporate). The nurse seemed to think that I was being taken off the Epilim, and not being prescribed any other medication at all, as I do not display any of the classic symptoms of Epilepsy, and the EEG test earlier this year was inconclusive. However, this is not why I am changing the medication, the reason I am changing is because the current medication is not 100% effective, and they are hoping to find something better. This is why I need to see a consultant as soon as possible.

I have to say that the University Hospital of Wales at Heath Park is not one of my favourite places. Far too many bad memories, as my father died of cancer in the Renal Care ward in January 2001. He spent Christmas 2000 in this hospital, so going down there over the festive period is going to be a bit of a drag, but it cannot be helped, I really do need to see the consultant.

Well, well, well, they didn’t last very long, did they? Apparently, the Village Tavern (aka anything with the word Bute in for 150 years) has been on the market since 28^th July, 2004, and has now been sold. Apparently it has been bought be a chef from Western-Super-Mare, who wants to make it a pub with an excellent reputation for food. Of course, the good news won’t be perfect until the new owner can be persuaded to give it a proper name (ie one including the word Bute). After all, the people of Treherbert still call it The Bute, as it is the big public house on Bute Square, Bute Street. The previous owners tried to say that after two years everyone would have forgotten that it was ever called anything else. Hopefully if the new owner is sensible, he wont irritate his potential customers, and the previous owners monumental arrogance will be forgotten after a couple of years.

Back in September, I published a list of movies that I would really like to see, but knew had no chance of ever getting made. Well, it looks as if I was wrong about Doom as it is now slated to be one of next summer’s big blockbusters. Unfortunately, it won’t be starting Will Smith, and having never seen Bitch Black or The Chronicle of Riddick, I cannot really comment on the lead actor. And the WWE wrestler, the Rock is also involved in the project, oh dear, it just gets worse and worse. (more…)

It looks as if the BBC is really pushing the new series of Doctor Who. For  the Brand Licensing Expo in Earl’s Court this week BBC Worldwide have produced a promotional postcard. The people who run the SF merchandise and bookshop 10^th Planet were there, and have published one of the postcards on their web site. Now it is everywhere on the net. On the left you can see it for yourself. I think it is stupendous, and if it does not silence all the critics of the new logo, I don’t know what will. As you can see, there is a lot of orange swirling going on in the background. I am fairly certain that this is from the new title sequence for the series.  Don’t the two lead characters look like a good team, standing together outside the TARDIS.  As well as silencing the critics of the logo, it should also finally end the sniping at Christopher Eccleston’s ordinary bloke ensemble that he wears as the Doctor. On the current edition of the internet radio show American Who, the presenter Joey Reynolds questions what Doctor Who Fandom could achieve if the “energy in creating 50+ pages on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum about how much ten of you hated that damn logo” was actually used in promoting the show. He has more or less hit the nail on the head, it is after all only a logo, just one tiny facet of the finished show.

Someone came into the library this morning, and said that they had seen people filming on top of the Rhigos Mountain. Naturally, I was intrigued, and so I when my Mother offered to drive me up to have a look this lunchtime, I could not refuse. There was one hell of a wind blowing up there, and the top of the Rhigos Mountain, which separates the upper Rhondda Fawr from Hirwaun Common and Aberdare is one of the most inhospitable places in Britain. However, if they are filming in the cover of the conifer plantations up on the mountaintop, that should not be much of a problem. There are about a dozen vehicles up there, mostly trucks with Bristol Film and Television Services plastered on the side, about five large winebego type trailers and white double-decker bus. Nothing to indicate that it is filming for Doctor Who, but then again nothing to indicate that it is not.

Update:
It appears the filming on the Rhigos is for a new adaptaion of Johanna Spyri’s novel Heidi

I admired John Peel. I admired the fact that he was always open to new things, that he would not reject something out of hand without listening to it first. His programme on BBC Radio 1 was on the cutting edge because he was out there on the look out for the next big thing. It has saddened me that he has passed away, that a man with an eternally youthful attitude should die of a heart attack.

John Peel was his professional name, his full name was John Robert Parker Ravenscroft. If John Peel’s life had been a work of fiction, it would be scarcely believable. He was working in Dallas in 1963, and was present when presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was himself shot dead. He made his name as a disc jockey on one of the Pirate Radio stations of the 1960’s, broadcasting what young people wanted to listen to, not what the authorities thought they should be listening to. He was only surviving DJ from the original line up of Radio 1, and it was his famous late night sessions that introduced Punk Rock to Great Britain.

The World is now a sadder, emptier place.

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (John Peel)
1939-2004

I recorded The 1970’s Office on Thursday, and finally got around to watching it last night. It seemed like a good idea on paper. Take a group of highflying advertising executives, and send them to work in an office, as it would have been in 1973. Without the benefit of the technology we take for granted, no computers, fax machines, even a pocket calculator would be an anachronism. Unfortunately, after the initial giggle at the horrendous clothes they are forced to wear, the show became incredibly tedious. They set to work, and the lack of technology didn’t affect them in the slightest. They did what they do well.

On Saturday afternoon I bought the new Paul Weller CD Studio 150. Paul Weller’s has recorded his favourite songs. Twelve of them ranging from a traditional ballad Black is the Colour through to the Jimi Hendrix song All Along the Watchtower. One of the best records I have bought this year. I think my favourite song on the album is Wishing on a Star, the Rose Royce song from the 1970’s, although Weller’s radical interpretation of the Bacharach/David song Close to You is fun. My least favourite song on the collection In the Early Morning Rain, I don’t like the original, as it is far too long, so natuarally, Weller’s version gets the thumbs down.

The BBCs Official Doctor Who web site has a feature which it calls WhoSpy that features a photograph from the production of the new series of Doctor Who. The vast majority of these images have been a waste of bandwidth. However, every so often they come up with a gem. On Monday afternoon, the people making the new series decided to us WhoSpy to release to an unsuspecting World the logo that the new series and as a result the whole franchise will use to identify itself.

At first I did not feel greatly moved by this new logo. I thought it was bit on the week side. This was of course the shock of the new. As with many things connected with the new series of Doctor Who, I have been doubtful at first. I even posted to the rec.arts.doctorwho.moderated newsgroup saying how much I disliked it. Of course, after a while it started to grow on me. I now have it as the pinboard (that+s wallpaper for Windows users) on my computer, and I think it will be great on new series. I think the thing that finally tipped me was a thread on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum that showed the logo on a mock-up of videos and other related merchandise. It showed what a powerfully eye-catching design it was. I cannot wait now to see it on the title sequence for the new series.

CwmNi, the Treherbert and District Regeneration Forum organised a Craft and Food Fair Yesterday. Ever since I heard of the event, I was wondering about the wisdom of holding such an event in the middle of October, when the weather tends to damp and dreary. Fortunately, the majority of the day was dry, and there were even periods of lovely blue sky.

The bottom half of Church Street, the widest side street in Treherbert, where it joins Bute Street, the main thoroughfare in the town , was closed to traffic. on either side of the street, booths were erected, and various exhibitors set up stall.

Immediately after I finished work at 1215, I went and had a look. I was determined to have a nose around each of the stalls before I actually bought anything. Some of the stalls had been taken up by local traders. Wagtails was selling garden ornaments and fancy goods. Mary Strinati had a stall selling sweets and chocolates from her nearby cafe, the local greengrocer has a stall selling fruit and vegetables. There were stalls where local artists selling their wares, and a stall where children could get their faces painted and another were women could get their nails painted. One stall was run by a baker from Pontypridd. There were samples of all the varieties of loaves that were on sale, and I eventually bought a loaf of mildly spiced curried bread with raisins, although it was a choice between that and the pumpkin bread. A few yards further along at the stall of Black Mountain Honey of Abergavenny, I purchased some Hot Chilli Relish, a jar of Seville Orange and Honey Marmalade and some clear honey. One of the organisers told me that if todays event was a success, then more would follow. I hope so, as I thought that todays event was excellent. Happy with my purchases, I made my way home.

Yesterday was far to nice a day to stay indoors, so went with my mother, sister and nephew over to Aberdare. I like Aberdare, a small market town built where the Hirwaun Common rolls down into the head of the Cynon valley. It has a lot of pleasant Regency buildings, the indoor market, an a number of big name shops like Argos, Tesco, Asda and Woolworths; which are sadly lacking from the top of the the Rhondda. If I had my way in any redrawing of the political boundaries, I would once again have Rhondda as a single county, but let it keep Hirwaun and Aberdare.

As soon as we got over the Rhigos Mountain, and down into Hirwaun Common, the had weather changed for the worse, spotting to rain as we drove through Hirwaun. Fortunately, the weather staid dry for the rest of the afternoon.

I really only went for the ride, but once in the Aberdare branch of Wilkinson, I started spotting things I really need for my house, like a new duvet for my bedroom, as I am currently using a three quarter duvet that is too small for my double bed. Next I spotted a new 24 piece cutlery set, with nice greenish grey handles, that hang on a rack, I really need this, as I am currently using the cutlery that was left with the house, and nothing matches. Then I spotted a plastic beaker for my bathroom, a low energy light bulb for my shower room and toothpaste. All that stuff, and I could have gone on, and on.