Long time no post

I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I posted here. To tell you the truth things have been exceptionally hectic, and i've barely had two minutes to do anything more than just sleep once work has finished.

After a health scare... or three, i've decided that I have to start making some changes to my life, which means having fun a lot more, and leaving as much stress behind me as I can. I miss the good old care free days when the only thing I had to worry about was if I should get up at 11am or 12!

With work as stressful as it is, and mom begging me to come home i'm finding myself more and more out of sorts. So to try and gain that bit of life that should be fun i've decided to get out a bit more and enjoy life. Even if it's little snatches here and there. With that in mind I got myself a new camera (well, Ebay new) and some zoom lenses and went down the road to test out my new camera. Some pics i've been surprised with, and thought they'd turned out really well, particular the close up shots. Others i've thought 'meh' I definately need more practice, but practice makes perfect. The other part of my buying a new camera was for the trip to Bedford in February to see that cast of Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. It was definately interesting for Joe I think when he realised Linzi and I were there for the cocktail party. I didn't think he'd remember me, but he did, and it was funny seeing him do a double take when he first saw Linzi.

So that was the first reason I bought the Nikon D50, the second reason was my love for cherry blossoms. I don't know why i'm drawn to them, but absolutely love the spring when they all come out and will finally get that tattoo on my ankle of the Japanese variety as opposed to the chinese version; primarily because they have two differing meanings. With mom still very poorly and deterioriating each day, she's not got much to look forward to, or to see given her bed ridden status and her being paralysed. So as she has little to no movement from the neck down, instead of simply being turned onto her back and seeing the ceiling, I want her to have a little piece of home. So once i've mown the lawn and the blossoms in the garden are out in full. I've arranged for my photo's of the garden (from start to finish) to be blown up to poster size and then arrange them on her ceiling. So the times when the nurses turn her on her back, she doesn't have to look at a blank ceiling. It's something at least. If anyone has any other ideas, i'm open to them.

I know I never posted my write up when I visited the set, but you can find all the details and some photos here. It's been so long since we went to the set, but I can still recall it with absolute clarity and fondness. I'll post some pics here of our trip to Canada and some shots I took today with my new camera if anyone is interested. Now that SGA has ended, I feel quite lost and empty and sad... good job I can look back at shirtless Shep and smile, grateful to Mr M for finally relenting and giving all us fangirls a long lasting squee moment. Let's hope we get some more when the movie comes out!

If anything this post was quite cathartic. Hope you enjoy the pics.

SQUEEE!

It's been so long since I updated, work, home, being poorly and squeeing has taken up my all too little time to play. That, and i've become incredibly boring. :P The job is busy and i'm still getting used to it, and is causing havoc at the moment with my asthma. So unfortunatley not a lot of time to play.

BUT, I do have some good news, some very good news. :) Linz and I are finally going to get a chance to visit the set of Stargate Atlantis. I still can't quite believe it, it's all a bit surreal at the moment. Hopefully i'll have some more details over the next week or so, but at the moment i'm in 'bouncy and don't quite believe it's going to happen' mode. And to top it off, I and a good friend Linz get to have lunch with Joe Flanigan. Yep, still not sinking in. I have so many questions, i'm like that annoying child who questions everything, I just hope that when we finally get to Vancouver, I can keep a reign on my enthusiasm.

What's always fascinated me is how the show is put together, and to see the set up close and personal just makes me speechless. Me, speechless, that's got to be a first. :)

But to see the set and hopefully see behind the scenes and how things are put together to make the episode just is such an exciting prospect. I've wanted this for so long, so it seems like a dream at the moment, and someone is going to pinch me and i'll wake up.

*doing my happy dance*

Oh poor neglected blog, how i've missed you!

After nearly a year of waiting, the Pegasus 3 convention finally arrived! Here was the chance to meet my whumping buddies and meet some of the actors from Stargate Atlantis. The guests; Andee Frizell, Kavan Smith, Dean Marshall, Tori Higginson and Paul McGillion arrived at the meet and greet in high spirits, we also had a bonus guest of Johnathon Woodward (no comment there). The SGA actors were pleasent, charming and very funny. Each of them had their own sense of humour and anecdotes to share along with some lovely juicy spoilers. One guest (no names mentioned to protect the guilty) accidently gave away a big part of a plot for The Last Man (bless their little cotton socks, they were mortified, and proceeded to bash their heads against the wall when they realised what had been said). Suffice to say the fans loved it and the display of panic and shock that followed. I won't reveal it, as it could potentially spoil you too much, so my lips are firmly sealed, but I will say this, I think we're in for a great treat!

Now you lot know i've got a memory of a goldfish and to be honest I have enough trouble remembering what day it is, let alone what people had to say in a three day convention. Sorry. Alipeeps did a fantastic write up of the convention, so if you literally want to know the ins and outs of what happened, you might want to head on over there. The one thing I did notice, and let's face it, those that attended can attest to it, was that Paul M, was alas not a true Scot! Shame on you Paul! Oh yes, he gave us a quick flash as he hopped up onto a bed, but a girl can tell a true Scot! ;) What was the bed doing there? Well it certainly felt like a whumping crew convention, so maybe they wanted us to feel at home! Bless.

So, finally meeting up with Linz, Sheppy D, Listy, Bebop, Ali, Squonk, Red Phoenix and puddle jumper it was so nice to put faces to names, particularly as we'd been talking on line for so long. Let's just say they're exactly the same in real life as they are online, well maybe we squee more in real life. Hehehe. The other good thing about the convention is that I was chosen to play 'Dial or no dial' by way of raffle. I never expected to get picked and certainly never expected to have my face plastered on the big screen. *Note to self: no steroid injections for the forseeable future* :P

So, there I was on the big stage, playing with the ducks (that could potentially be mine if I didn't win), and to be honest after losing a tonne of money early on, it was looking very likely. I was however convinced that I would win tickets to the Pegasus 4 convetion, so much so, that I kept telling the compare that my spideysense was tingling. I don't think he believed me! Especially after I had a run of bad luck and lost pretty much all the top prizes except for the tickets to the next convention! After a whole 15 minutes on tenderhooks, the last box was finally revealed and I won the ticets! Woohooooo! For me that meant more than all the other prizes put together, however I did lose the Joe Flanigan photo! *insert a primordial scream of despair* :P

So, what's happening on the work front? You know this whole big boss thing is not exactly how I imagined it to be. Lots of stuff going on, and not all of it is pleasant. So with all that going on, my squee is fading fast. There's a hearing to start today regarding a member of staff, that isn't any longer my staff because of circumstances, needless to say yours truly has been accussed of some nasty stuff, and i've not even met them! Doesn't it boggle the mind that you can be accused of something that you've never done? I've been accused of discrimination, harrassment and bullying and i've managed to achieve this without even meeting or talking to the individual involved. What can I say, it's a knack! I've been told through the hearing that the person who instigated the complaint doesn't like women bosses and despises the fact that i'm not only a woman, but i'm young to boot! To be honest the whole thing is laughable especially considering i'm being accused of something that he's actually doing. Ahhh the irony of it all! Unfortunately though, because it's classed as a formal complaint, we have to go through the motions. I told my new boss that this must be some kind of record, i've not even been in the job two months, have never met them and yet......... i've been reliably informed that this is why I get paid the big bucks, to put up with this sort of stuff.

So while i'm on a rant... the news relating to the cast shake up for season 5 is out, and to say I have mixed feelings is a bit of an understatement, and I did have a major overreaction to the new appointed leader of Atlantis, which has now been confirmed as Robert Picardo! Due to Amanda Tapping's new series, she has stepped down which has resulted in the character Richard Woolsey taking over. First reaction is i'm not a happy camper, personnaly I loved RP's character in Star Trek, and for me what I find difficult when characters come into play, is that they have to be believeable in that particular role. With Richard Woolsey, sorry I just don't see him as having the ability to command such a large community in the midst of battle, and as a friend said, Richard Woolsey in leather is just wrong on so many levels. LOL.

The character is a bit panicky, can occasionaly be a muppet and for me cannot cope with the demands that a leader must possess. Everything that's been written about his character so far suggests that, so for me it's a bit unbelievable and to be honest has me feeling a tad nervous. I'm normally one to go with the flow and look at the positive aspects of change, but I mean it's WOOLSEY!! My whumping buddies have been telling me it could be great for angst potential and butting heads with the team and specifically with Shep, BUT, it's Woolsey! I keep repeating it like a mantra in the hopes i'll get used to it, as yet, I just can't imagine it. Throughout the changes i've never been disappointed in what TPTB had put forward save for a few exceptions *cough*Kelleer*cough* and i'm trying to like her, really I am, but I don't know what it is about her that I'm not fond of. It's not even as if I dislike the character, it's simply that for me she doesn't add anything, and I miss Beckett. I think maybe for me I've not seen that 'caring side of her' yet. Maybe I need for her to take care of Shep! What? Don't look at me that way, i'm a whumper and a shallow one at that. :P

Beckett for me had those caring, sweet qualities, and told the team off when they didn't do as they told, and he had a 'quality' about him that i've yet to find in Jewel Staite's character. I did enjoy the episode 'Missing' so maybe there's still hope for me. At this point, i'm just meh about it all. And then to top it off, I hear that Michael Shank's character from SG1 is coming over for a couple of episods. Hmmph! I did love SG1, and adored the character Daniel Jackson for a long time, but for me his character evolved to a point where he had changed too much, and I went off him. So for him to come over for one ep, let alone two? I'm not fond off, hopefully i'll be pleasantly suprised and i'll adore the ep, but at the moment i'm not too keen.

*sighs*

As I can't end the post on a negative point, so.........

Ahhhhhh all is right with the world again! :D Let me just say this one thing before you fall asleep (that is if you haven't already).

I absolutely adored Outcast, that aired in the US on Friday. There was just so much feeling of love, that it just melted my heart. But, I think i've said too much today, so i'll save that for a few days. Suffice to say if you haven't watched it, you really need to, as it's 42 minutes of pure enjoyment.

Odd and Sods and a Merry Christmas

Okay, so i'm a really bad blogger. In my defence though so much has gone on and i've hardly had two minutes to myself. So today, as it's Boxing day, I thought i'd send you all to sleep after your heavy meals. See, that can be my present to all the insomniacs out there, just because i'm kind and generous like that.

So, where to start? Well, let's start with Stargate and the two eps that have aired since I updated last. I'm debating whether to bored you needlessly from the onset or give you the choice. Hmmm decisions, decisions. Tell you what, i'll give you the highlights and if you're feeling exceptionally bored one day you may feel inclined to read them at your peril.


Miller's Crossing. What I enjoyed about this ep was the moral issues that were created. This initial post was just a series of posts with others at GW to debate back and forth whether the choices Sheppard made were ethical or not. Let's just say the debate is still ongoing. After tensions on the boards reached it's peak some decided that the only way to decide if he was correct to make the decision he did was to hold an Article 32 Hearing. Yours truly is 'playing Shepard' and it's up to the judge to determine if there were any wrong doings. So far things are being set up, so i'll keep you apprised on the progress of the trial if you're at all interested. I think it's certainly a good way of keeping people out of trouble (namely me) and having lots of fun along the way. While some parts of the ep (specifically the beginning did bore me slightly, I found myself enthralled by the end and questioning the morality of what took place! There have only been certain eps like this, and I love that SGA seem to be going darker and throwing up these sorts of 'What would you do?' dilemmas. I also felt it tied in nicely with previous eps and the moral question that was raised in Season 3's 'The Game'.

Next up was This Mortal Coil. I thought i'd done a review for this, but can't find any trace of it!! How bizarre. Well, I did enjoy it to a point, but to be honest it was a bit meh! Though it has to be said i'm like that with the majority of two parters. I understand the set up has to happen, but I tend to find I like the second parts more than the first. What I did like was that everything seemed to be coming together. That we got two Sheps! ;o) And we got great continuity throughout (which I absolutely adore and there was lots and lots of team moments.

Best line for me? Sheppard: The last time I met up with myself, I ended up kicking my own ass! (flashback to DG)! Told you there was great continuity.

Oh I went to Haworth, did some Ghost Hunting... found no ghosts! Alas they must have heard I would be in the neighbourhood. I rode the Harry Potter express, which was lots of fun. Took a tonne of vids (learnt i'd never make a good cameraman).

What else? Oh yes, I started a new job! I am now the man!! With cleavage though. Lots of things going on. Remember I told you about my having to bond with my team, and how management weren't very receptive about my idea of paintballing, bowling or going to the pub? Well, they allowed me (very generous of them) to make an executive decision on how we would bond. So I was very good, we compromised and for the first day, we had lots of fun being creative. The second day we went bowling and the staff (I hope) bonded. From the vid, above I think we're at least part way there. And from the sounds of it, bowling was the right choice. I heard from some of the other staff in the other new teams that had been set up, and they were gutted their manager didn't take them bowling!! Well, I ask you, who is going to learn anything by sitting in a room and dictating to staff (two days before xmas, I might add) and listen to the benefits of regionalisation and consistency? I don't do death by PowerPoint, for me a happy team makes a productive team.

Okay I think i've bored you enough. Merry Christmas everyone!

Spirit guides

Well, today was the second week of our course to be the best and the brightest. This week's learning involves creativity and innovation. I've always said i'm probably more creative than I am academic, but being such does not mean that I haven't got a brain. Though some days it may feel that way, and i'll hold my hand up and say that I'm no Einstein, but then Einstein was no me. I bet he's thanking his lucky stars as we speak (well he would if he was alive) LOL.

As has been the norm since we began our management course, every Monday (without fail) we've had examinations. I'm one of those people that just the simple word 'test' sends me into a blind panic. Doubly so, when we've not even learned the material we're being tested on! Thankfully, this time I was not alone. Taking a peek at my co-workers papers to see what they put down... What? I mean it's not like you've never done that. Come one admit it, you've peeked! Or at least thought about it. I was relieved to see that everyone (well as far as I could see) didn't fair any better than me! For some reason that made me feel lots better. Our tests involved the Left and the right brain, which parts are creative and which are the logical ones. Then this was followed by a brief Mensa test. I kid you not! Yep, and it's still early in the morning. Strangely enough I actually managed to answer a few questions! Go Me.

Then we moved on to the fun part of drawing pictures, playing with toys, (Spirograph's, ping-pong, cuddly toys, glittery wands) apparently it stimulates all your synapses. As i'm drawing my stick men to represent an answer, it dawns on me that I'm actually enjoying myself. I knew it was too good to last!

The trainer decided after lunch that she'd like to us to 'think outside the box'. As such she wanted us to practice some meditation techniques to solve any problems that we had through using whomever we were paired up with to act as a 'spirit guide'. Now things probably wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been paired up with my partner in crime. So far we've behaved reasonably professional, with only brief moments of him and his boss 'flashing us' after we had to make a commercial, and my 'giggling' has only occurred a couple of times. So, I think so far i've behaved very well. When we were paired up, he was very hesitant, it was a bit 'new age' and he's a 'man's man' if that makes sense? He doesn't like anything involving 'fluffiness' But, I was determined that he was going to give it a go. Given this we trundles off with another couple to somewhere quiet, and he had me go first. I scooted down in the chair, and closed my eyes relaxing my body as much as possible. The exercise was for us to ask ourselves a question, and then go into our secret garden, then have a wander around before jumping over the imaginary stone wall using our super powers. Can you see now why we might have found this a bit embarrassing? I mean this is him and it's me guiding each other through our imaginary garden's!

As I took some deep breaths and exhaled slowly, I could hear him snickering to the side of me. I swatted him in an effort to keep my own giggles at bay. Then he uttered those fateful words. "Now it's time to release your burden!" At that point, all I could think of was the episode, 'Tao of Rodney' and Shep saying to Weir that Rodney needed to release his burden! Oh dear things were not going well, and I burst into fits of giggles. So we tried again after i'd composed myself. Finally I was in my secret garden, and i'd lasted a whole 2 minutes without laughing! Go me! Then he had to walk me through my garden, and it was at that point, I lost it again. When I open my eyes my partner in crime is shaking his head and I we end up giving up. His turn! Let's see how he likes it. Closing his eyes, I tell him to breathe easy and relax his body, he's to clear his mind and think of bright blue skies! And then I lost it! Again!! Then he lost it, and no matter how many times we tried this, both of us ended up hitting each other with our books. Things were not going well. So we ended up giving it up as a bad job, and hoped the teacher wasn't going to ask us what we saw in our garden's. If this is day one, i'm dying to know what tomorrow brings!

Management - the Cheeky way

As I mentioned a few days ago. I have been promoted to a senior manager. Whether this was fluke or someone took pity on me, i'll never know. Personally I think they promoted the wrong person and today's first day pretty much confirmed that for me. A few of us (including my partner in crime) have been sent on a training course to become the best and the brightest leaders. This course is to last a whole 4 weeks and will apparently include a variety of topics and activities in an effort to get all the managers to utilise their skills and bond with each other ready for the mammoth task ahead.

I'll be honest with you, I was slightly nervous going in, and had no idea what to really expect from my colleagues or the course! Our group consists of several 'executives' who appeared quiet and deadpan. No humour, no smiles, no laughter. These type of courses freak me out. Me being serious for a whole 4 weeks? This was not going to be easy. I had to remain professional at all times as i'm now in a position of power. BUT it's 4 weeks!! I'm never going to last. So our first task involved a pop quiz regarding employment legislation, learning techniques and grievance procedures. A whole 91 questions on the topic. To say I was unprepared would be an understatement. The trainer advised us that this was purely a benchmark exercise. Just as well really, lol, you can't exactly get any worse than being absolutely crap. ;o)

After our test we were asked to draw a pictogram about who we are, what influenced us, what our job entails and what our motto is. And just to make it that much more interesting our big boss decides to tell us that we are 'the cream of the crop'! She might want to take that back at the end of my presentation. :P I told the group that I was *cough* on occasions a bit cheeky and geeky and how much I loved Stargate. My partner in crime kept rolling his eyes as if to say, "Oh no, not again." LOL What was my motto that I live by? Carpe Diem (Seize the day - stolen from Dead Poets Society) One of the best films i've seen! Alas, the only way I knew how to draw that was to draw a picture of a sun, and a hand grabbing it. Let's just say i'll never win any awards for my creativity. ;o)

So our third activity of the day was to design, present and act out a two minute commercial on how to promote out business. This is the point where I lost the plot and had a fit of the giggles for ten minutes solid. In my defence it really wasn't my fault. Anyone seen the show with Les Dawson? It's the one where he dresses up as a woman and keeps hoisting his boobs up whilst pulling funny faces. Well, my partner in crime decided that we (the other girl) and I should be the women and we should hoist our boobs up like Les Dawson Don't ask. LOL Well since I have the attributes, I felt like I could play my part pretty well. I've noticed recently that most topics seem to be about boobs... specifically mine. Then the boys decided that while us women were pretending to play these parts, they would jump up behind us, tap us on the shoulder and then 'flash us'! Yep, you heard me. Complete with mac and dodgy persona, (though obviously.. and thankfully not nekkid.) They planned to sneak up on us and tell us both 'Not to fear' as they'd have the solutions to our problem. I was fine up until the point where 'flashing' would take place (complete with actions, I might add). Well, I lost it at that point and continued my giggling hysterics for about 10 minutes while the others looked on as if this was part of the norm. Their seriousness just had me laughing even more.

So we'd rehearsed through my laughing, up until the point where I was told to 'go and sort myself out'. I can't help it. Once I start laughing, that's usually me gone for a while. People were coming out to see what the raucous was, and why it was having this effect on me; they couldn't wait to see what we'd come up with. Oh the pressure of a performance!! Needless to say, like the consummate professional I am, I held it together for nearly the duration, but what set me off again (oh yes I know I'm childish) Was when one of the lads 'flashed us' he ripped his mac so much that his buttons flung off. After that there really was no going back. :o)

So, with my fate in the group firmly sealed, I think TPTB are thinking of ways of retracting my promotion. I'm not sure if i'm exactly the kind of person they were hoping for. Even if I do get kicked off the course for being a bad influence, at least i'll have had fun along the way!

Spideysense

Well, it looks as if someone's spidysense is working well for them! In this weeks episode of Stargate Atlantis, The Seer. The team got a taste of their possible future... or demise, as this week the team encountered a 'Seer' whose accurate predication's makes him a valuable asset to the Atlantis team. The problem is, he's dying, and there are a few things he needs to tell the team before he dies. That, coupled with the fact that the CG Wraith is back *squee* made this an excellent 42 minutes of pure entertainment.

What fascinates me about predicting futures is probably the same as other people's thoughts. Are our lives mapped out already or are we able to chose our own paths? These are the sort of questions, that I like shows to delve into. I asked a question on the whump thread about this episode as I don't know why I thoroughly enjoyed it, I simply did. S4 has been very much like a tapestry and each episode the threads become interwoven; building up slowly until the viewers will finally get to see the full picture.

One thing i've always commented on is the fact that at times SGA doesn't always follow up on things. But, I have to say, this ep had continuity in abundance. The CG wraith initially appeared in S3's Common ground, and the tentative alliance he built up with Sheppard was an integral part of the story. The events surrounding that episode resulted in both man making a pact of sorts, in that 'All bets are off', if or when they ever met up again. So for me this was one ep I was looking forward to. I'll admit I had reservations, particularly as I didn't want the ep to go down an 'Irresponsible' route. ;) And you know what? This episode blew me away. We had angst, mistrust and an uneasy tentative alliance, with both sides. I adored the fact that even though Sheppard and the wraith shared that common ground before, that here and now the circumstances were very different and the two men reverted back to the same uneasiness that we felt initially in Common Ground. I loved it. But then I am a sucker for angst, mistrust and tension type of episodes. ;o)

There was so much information and build ups in this ep, that I had to watch it several times to get the full impact. Yes, that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it. :P I'll be honest, I was worried about Carter coming over from SG1 (even though i've always liked the character). I felt that now that SG1 had finished that TPTB felt some kind of loyalty to the actors, which is understandable. I didn't however want SGA to always be reliant on it's sister show. I wanted it to stand on it's own two feet and do well on its own merits, and there are times when I still think it's overshadowed by its sister show, even now that SG1 is off the air. People will always make comparisons. However after the episodes that have aired thus far, i'm hoping that people will realise that it's a different type of show. The content is darker, the story lines (personally) feel stronger, more so recently. And I hope it goes from strength to strength. With that said with the viewing figures dipping I do wonder if Season 5 is the last. I hope not, but my spideysense continuously tingles on this issue. And i've not been wrong so far. :( Anyway I digress!

Spidysense!!

So, with the team being shown possible futures, Carter had several tough decisions to make based on the visions shown. One in particular related to the potential destruction of Atlantis. Given the arrival of the CG Wraith and his pose, it was understandable that they perceived the two to be connected in some way. So the dilemma was, after seeing the vision and arrival of two hive ships, do they play safe or do they go with their instincts? I won't spoil it for you. Suffice to say, I think this episode left more unanswered questions that will hopefully be revealed in the coming weeks!! Darn it!

So what did I love? I'll try and be succinct, this could be a first. :P

• CG Wraith and his humour. *g*
• Shep and the CG Wraith (that really doesn't get old). :o)
• Angst, tension and mistrust throughout
• Shep and Carter scenes showing a lot of respect for each other.
• Rodney and Shep scene *sniff*
• Continuity with Teyla and the Athosians
• Tentative alliance with the Wraith
• Great story and SFX
• Lots of unanswered questions. (What? I like it when things aren't nicely squared away). :P

Alas we're not going to find out the answers for a few more weeks. Dagnabit! But, hopefully we'll get to know in time how things tie up. In the meantime it means that we get to speculate to our hearts content. :o)