ONE DAY LEFT! WHOOT!!
Ooooone Daaaaaay Moooooore!
Tag Archives: UK
MOVING ON UP: T-Minus 7
A daily video blog documenting my last 20 days in London before I move back to Manchester on Saturday 28 January 2012.
Saturday 21st January 2012.
There is also a MUCH better still image coming too once YouTube updates its servers properly ha!
Sorry, in this video, not only did I prattle on with myself, but also YouTube has cut off the bottom of the video, so it hasn’t centred me!
If you want to keep up to date with what’s happening, do please follow my blog (there is a button at the bottom of the page).
Thanks to all for your continued support and interest!
Gari x
MOVING ON UP: T-Minus 16
A daily video blog documenting my last 20 days in London before I move back to Manchester on Saturday 28 January 2012.
Thursday 12th January 2012.
There is also a MUCH better still image coming too once YouTube updates its servers properly ha!
If you want to keep up to date with what’s happening, do please follow my blog (there is a button at the bottom of the page).
Thanks to all for your continued support and interest!
Gari x
Oh, and ‘Moving On Up’ is my ‘move’ song, in case you’ve not caught this yet 
MOVING ON UP: T-Minus 18
A daily video blog documenting my last 20 days in London before I move back to Manchester on Saturday 28 January 2012.
Tuesday 10th January 2012.
If you want to keep up to date with what’s happening, do please follow my blog (there is a button at the bottom of the page).
Thanks to all for your continued support and interest!
Gari x
Oh, and ‘Moving On Up’ is my ‘move’ song, in case you’ve not caught this yet
MOVING ON UP: T-Minus 19
A daily video blog documenting my last 20 days in London before I move back to Manchester on Saturday 28 January 2012.
Monday 9th January 2012.
You will have to forgive my tired ramblings, for it is late and I have giraffe to attend to! There is also a MUCH better still image coming too once YouTube updates it’s servers properly ha!
Promise that it will be less boring as time goes on, and the updates will be far shorter (and I’ll be far less tired/more cheery) heh!
If you want to keep up to date with what’s happening, do please follow my blog (there is a button at the bottom of the page).
Thanks to all for your continued support and interest!
Gari x
Oh, and ‘Moving On Up’ is my ‘move’ song, in case you’ve not caught this yet
A first peek at our new gaff, and a HUGE plea for help!
So, for all you curtain twitchers out there, here are some pictures of our brand new apartment in Manchester City Centre! 
Should probably add that the apartment isn’t quite as ‘brown’ or ‘peachy’ as these pretty naff estate agent’s pictures make it look – it’s very light and airy too, and incredibly spacious! Hurrah!
Best yet, it’s just over the road from where I used to live, before I moved to London, and only 10 minutes walk to work each morning.
Now, here’s where Max and I desperately need some help, and though we’re not expecting anything to come of this, we’re desperately trying any avenue possible to try to sort out the actual move itself. Below is what we really need, and if you feel that you would be willing to help, you would have our eternal gratitude, as well as a bottle or two of something nice!
- We are moving on Saturday 28 January 2012, and this date is fixed.
- The cheapest way appears to be to hire a van from Europcar, and go from London to Bristol, from Bristol to Manchester, and then for the driver to go back from Manchester to London. (or any other variation of this twisty location map – starting in Bristol or Manchester actually makes it a lot cheaper for us).
- Ideally, we’d need the person to check out the van at, say, 11am on the Saturday, and return it back to the same depot by 10am on the Sunday.
- Annoyingly, it is the law in the UK that the person who books the van has to have a credit card, and has to be in the name of the driver. I would happily send an same-day bank payment to the person who agrees to do this prior to any payment being made on their credit card – for this reason, we’d prefer to find someone who we’ve chatted to or known for some time if possible…
- I imagine that you will need to be able to drive a van / have the necessary bit on your license.
- We will also cover the insurance costs, which prevents an excess charge, but the Europcar may ‘pre-auth’ the card for £250, which does not get taken from the card at all, and is ‘released’ as soon as the van is returned unharmed.
- We’ll pay via same day payment for the petrol costs too, as they provide a full tank, we just need to ensure there is a full tank when it goes back. Any re-fulling on the way will be paid for by us directly at the pumps.
- We calculate this as a round trip of 500 miles (let’s all sing The Proclaimers! heh) and appreciate that it could be a long day. We are more than willing to build in plenty of rest stops, and for the person who drives to crash at ours for a few hours on the Saturday evening before heading back on the Sunday morning.
I know that this seems a pretty awkward and unattractive deal, and it is rapidly becoming a HUGE headache for us. Simply, we cannot afford £900 to get a man and a van service to move both of us, and at around a third of the cost, this is really our only option, and is actually the very last hurdle between us and Manchester! It would absolutely kill me for the wheels to fall off (no pun intended) just as everything’s fallen into place so well!
Failing that, if anyone fancies letting us rent their van, or can put us in touch with any non-exorbitantly priced movers, we’d love you long-time too!
If anyone is feeling generous, please do feel free to contact me via email, Twitter or Facebook.
Thanks for reading folks!! x
PHOTO: Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree, Nelson’s Column and the Houses of Parliamant at dawn
Great picture, I hope that you’ll agree – just a pity I was nearly at work at seven-thirty!! 
Incidentally, and whilst I am showing off my pictures – here’s a few nice ones from last Christmas:
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds – The New Generation!
As regular readers may be aware, this morning, I was very kindly invited along to the Press Launch for Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds – The New Generation!
To say that I was jolly excited this morning would be something of an understatement!
Simon Mayo was on hand to chair the conference, along with Jeff Wayne, and the brand new Narrator (George Herbert), played by LIAM NEESON! 
Whilst I already knew about the tour dates, I had deliberately shied away from any information as to the new star that was being added to the production, as I wanted to get maximum impact from the day. All that I can say is that Liam is a FANTASTIC choice for the new Narrator, and that he is probably the only person alive today who could successfully take over the role from Richard Burton – absolutely LOVE Liam’s voice!
With The New Generation, we are promised a lot more in the way of special effects, technology and a ‘re-exploration’ of the original work. From his quote below, you can ascertain why the need existed for the role to be recast, and to be honest, as a fan, I can fully support this notion, and especially welcome the addition of deeper story lines:
“After long consideration,” says Jeff, “I concluded that for future productions, some of HG Wells’ storylines and characters should be re-explored. It would also give me the chance to re-interpret my compositions with the production techniques of today, exciting from a musician’s point of view.
But perhaps the greatest opportunity was revisiting the main character of George Herbert, The Journalist and the development of the love story between George and his fiancée Carrie (played by Anna-Marie Wayne). While it may have been the greatest opportunity, it was also the hardest decision to make because I knew that with a re-developed storyline, a new Journalist would need to be sought as Richard Burton’s original performance, was finite.
“And whoever that person might turn out to be, he would have to be of no less stature and quality of voice than that of Richard – an incredibly tough act to follow.
But once again I have been fortunate and have attracted Liam Neeson to these New Generation productions. He has, so-to-speak, been handed the ‘baton’ from Richard Burton, and I believe audiences and listeners alike will find Liam’s interpretation no less compelling.”
We were also treated to a sample of the holographics that have been recorded for the touring production, and I have to say that they were very impressive. Whilst the holographic head for Richard Burton was a technical feat at the time, I did feel that it was time for this to move on slightly, and with the new holographics that are being used (which includes a full body hologram, interacting with the cast (a world ‘first’ in live entertainment), along with an 11 foot high holographic head, and within the 2 hour CGI film, itself projected onto a 100 foot wide ‘animation wall’), I am very excited to see the technical aspects of this show going into motion.
Of course, one of the most visually striking features of the production is the Martian. Whilst none were (thankfully) running rampant in the conference, we are assured that there will be a “3 tonne, 35-foot tall Martian, firing real flame heat rays at the audience”. There will also be a levitation, and a Martian Fighting Machine will also ‘incinerate’ a cast member – which is cheery!
We were played the end sequence to the CGI section and through that we heard some of The Eve Of The War – for those purists who are worried about a reinvention of the score, I don’t think there is anything to worry about here – it actually really came alive, and I thoroughly loved it! It was VERY hard not to stand up and dance along! I am very excited for the Double Album release that is coming in June 2012, to support this ‘re-exploration’.
The rest of the cast is yet to be announced, and are being held back until 2012, however, already I am super-excited for this new production!
A list of tour dates appears below, in addition to ticket prices for the UK and the like.
Tickets go on general sale on Friday 25th November, at 9am.
Ireland
November 2012
| Thurs 29 Nov | DUBLIN 02 ARENA |
UK
December 2012
| Sat 1 Dec | LIVERPOOL ECHO ARENA | |
| Sun 2 Dec | CARDIFF MOTORPOINT ARENA | |
| Tue 4 Dec | NOTTINGHAM CAPTIAL FM ARENA | |
| Thur 6 Dec | LONDON WEMBLEY ARENA | |
| Fri 7 Dec | BIRMINGHAM NIA | |
| Sat 8 Dec | MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS ARENA | |
| Sun 9 Dec | SHEFFIELD MOTORPOINT ARENA | |
| Mon 10 Dec | NEWCASTLE METRO RADIO ARENA | |
| Tues 11 Dec | GLASGOW SECC | |
| Thur 13 Dec | BOURNEMOUTH BIC | |
| Sat 15 Dec | LONDON O2 ARENA | |
| Sun 16 Dec | BRIGHTON BRIGHTON CENTRE |
UK Ticket Prices (all of which are subject to additional booking fee):
£62.50 / £52.50 / £42.50 LONDON
£62.50 / £42.50 REGIONAL
Netherlands
December 2012
| Wed 19 Dec | ROTTERDAM AHOY ARENA |
Portugal
December 2012
| Sat 22 Dec | LISBON PAVILHO ATLANTICO ARENA |
Germany
January 2013
| Thurs 3 Jan | HAMBURG ARENA | |
| Fri 4 Jan | OBERHAUSEN ARENA | |
| Sat 5 Jan | BERLIN 02 ARENA | |
| Mon 7 Jan | NURNBERG ARENA | |
| Tues 8 Jan | MUNICH ARENA |
Poland
January 2013
| Thurs 10 Jan | GDANSK ARENA |
Brand New 2011 ThunderCats Toys / Action Figures! ^_^
Most people who know me will know that not only am I a huge, huge geek, and huge fan of the ThunderCats, but I am also a massive fan of Christmas… and it looks like all my Christmases have come at once this year – I am genuinely, genuinely, really excited haha!
I’ve just been provided with the below information on the new range of ThunderCats toys that are coming out in the UK in time for Christmas 2011, and which were first displayed at this years International New York Toy Fair, and I have to declare right now, that I want them ALL haha! (can I set up a blog donation fund, perhaps?? ).
I really love that there are two versions of Lion-O – a classic 80s version, and an updated 2011 version (the other figures are all based on the – FANTASTIC – 2011 series, currently airing on Cartoon Network at the moment).
More information can be found below, and do, please, click any of the pictures to see a full-sized version of the action figures!
RETURN OF THE CATS
A 1980s favourite is set to become this year’s Christmas ‘must-have’ as retailer demand outstrips supply of the new Thundercats action figures and vehicles.
The retro cartoon – with celebrity fans including Jonathan Ross, Chris Moyles and Paulo Nutini – has been updated and recently released on British TV screens. The toy range from Bandai is due to hit the shelves on 1st December – with all available stock already snapped up by nostalgia-loving buyers.
Andrew Welch, Product Manager for Boys brands at Bandai UK says:
‘The new animation series of Thundercats is fantastic, with a great refresh look to update the brand for new fans, whilst keeping true to the original series. Our Thundercats product range has previewed very well with all our retailers and with very encouraging early US sales we are excited about the launch of Thundercats in the UK.’Buying Director Stuart Grant from toy store The Entertainer said, “As soon as we heard there was to be a new Thundercats range of toys we knew we wanted stock. Thundercats is expected to reenergise the boys’ action market and be a huge Christmas seller. News from America is that it’s flying off the shelves so we are confident it will have the same impact in the UK.”
Last week Peaches Geldof dressed up as the new look Cheetara to promote the launch of the new Thundercats series on Cartoon Network, which kicked off a wave of excitement at the return of this cult classic.
The toy range will consist of Thundercats figures, vehicles and role-play items from the brand new cartoon series, as well as Classic Collector Figures of Lion-O and Tygra from the original 80’s TV show.
Key items in the range include collectable figures, Thunder Racer cycles and the Thundercats most powerful vehicle, the Thunder Tank which comes complete with a Snarf action figure.
The predicted top seller in the range looks set to be Lion O’s legendary weapon, the Deluxe Sword of Omens. The toys are priced between £7.99 and £39.99.
Emeli Sandé – Heaven
I’ve been loving this chooooon for a few months now (having been an Emeli fan for quite some time; I didn’t realise I was so far ahead of ya’ll! heh), and I’m very glad to see that the single ‘Heaven’ is predicted to storm the UK Charts this weekend now that it’s finally been released:
I reckon that the track has a rather soulful 90s Manchester vocal House feel about it – I absolutely LOVE it, and would, without doubt, easily rate this as one of the best songs of 2011.
There’s also a wicked good acoustic version:
Roll on the album! (Our Version of Events – Out 21 November 2011) ^_^
P.S. If you fancy seeing her live, she has some 2011 tour dates, as below:
Tour dates:
01/11/2011 @Oran Mor, Glasgow
02/11/2011 @The Caves, Edinburgh
03/11/2011 @Deaf Institute, Manchester
05/11/2011 @The Fleece, Bristol
06/11/2011 @Ballroom, Brighton
07/11/2011 @Tabernacle, London
