Wednesday, 29 October 2014

The Coffee Shop Diary of a Woody Whovian by "Bone Muncher"


How does one explain to ones fellow men and women that you are a sci-fi fan, a passionate geek, the nerd in the back of the class reading the Hitch Hikers Guide to avoid calculus?  When I was that young…. Some decades ago now, being that ‘that way’ inclined was rather like having the plague, especially for a girl. It rather explains why I only had a few friends and those I had were the best.

I was raised on a diet of Dr Who, Blake’s 7, Asimov, Douglas Adams etc etc etc the list is rather long… So my blood group is definitely….out of this world.

Okay so what about Torchwood?   Well I was up to my neck in business with work so heard nothing about it.  A friend had recently told me of his extreme excitement about working on Season One of the new Doc Who and I watched all that with great expectations which were thankfully not let down…. Remakes do not have a good reputation but this was more of a re-birth and as we all know it continues to be so.  So I was skeptical about a spin-off Doctor Who show and watched it with great prejudice, expecting it to be crap…..

HOW WRONG I WAS.

So I was hooked from episode one and it was Ianto Jones that landed me.  The first episode established that Owen Harper was willing to go to any measure to get laid…. Lets face it, half a step away from being a rapist.  Tosh had no social life, Gwen had no social skills and Jack had no social boundaries….WHATS NOT TO LOVE?

It just so happened that the first Torchwood Convention was right on my doorstep in Northampton…. So I went….. Had the coolest time ever, met some bloody amazing people and got to have a quick cuddle with Gareth David Lloyd and a rather drunken discussion about breasts at the bar.

From this point I began collecting stuff, as you do…so here are some of the things picked up along the way.

WITHOUT MEANING TO BE CHEESEY, THE BEST PART OF MY TORCHWOOD EXPERIENCES HAS BEEN SHARED WITH MY FRIENDS AND THOSE MEMORIES ARE THE MOST PRECIOUS.



I HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET TO SOME OF JOHN’S CONCERTS AND THE CALENDARS AND SCRIPTS HAVE COME FROM EBAY…NATURALLY THERE IS SOME BLUE GILLESPIE TOO BECAUSE I LOVE THE MUSIC THAT GARETH AND HIS MATES CREATED. I WENT TO A LOT OF THEIR GIGS TOO.


I HAVE LOTS OF POSTERS, WHICH GET SWAPPED OUT EVERY SO OFTEN, THEY ARE MOSTLY OF GARETH/IANTO AND JACK. I ALSO HAVE A GIANT OWEN ONE TOO.



THIS SUIT WAS WORN BY IANTO…GARETH IN SEASON ONE AND TWO… IT WAS RATHER EXPENSIVE, BUT I HAD TO HAVE IT. I GUESS IT IS ONE OF THOSE QUDOS THINGS YOU JUST DO WHEN YOU HAVE MONEY TO WASTE…. WHICH BY SOME RARE FREAKISH COINCIDENCE… WELL THE DETAILS ARE NOT IMPORTANT.  THE SUIT ACTUALLY FITS ME, WHICH WAS RATHER NICE AND I WORE IT FOR HUB 7 AND ALSO FOR A FRIEND’S FUNERAL BECAUSE WE MET THROUGH OUR MUTUAL LOVE OF A CERTAIN WELSHMAN AND I KNEW SHE WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED IT.  THE FOLLOWING YEAR I GOT INTO A BIDDING WAR WITH SOMEONE IN AMERICA OVER ONE OF IANTOS TIES, SHE TOTALLY OUTBID ME AND ENDED UP PAYING OVER 300 QUID FOR IT… I CRIED.  I DO HAVE THE CORRECT COPY OF THE RED AND BLACK TIE AND A RED SHIRT, THOUGH WOULD LOVE THE ORIGINALS TO COMPLETE THE SUIT.






THE CHAIR WAS PURCHASED AT HUB THREE BY A DEAR FRIEND AND THEN HE GAVE IT TO ME, MUCH TO MY GOB-SMACKEDNESS.  HUB 3 IS SPECIAL TO ME BECAUSE IT WAS SPENT WITH A FRIEND NO LONGER WITH US, A WELSH FLAG AND CLARKY (FROM BLUE GILLESPIE).  WE ALSO HAD GARETH AND GEMMA SITTING WITH US IN THE BAR WHICH WAS REALLY NICE… GEMMA IS LOVELY.
  

WHAT WOULD ANY COLLECTION BE WITHOUT ACTION FIGURES?  YES I BUILT A HUB… SORT OF.


THE SIGNED PICTURE IT TOOK ABOUT THREE YEARS TO GET ALL THE SIGNATURES ON IT; HAS PRIDE OF PLACE ON MY WALL.



I WON'T BORE YOU WITH PHOTOS OF BOOKS AND PHOTO ALBUMS AND DVDS.  BUT HERE IS THE STAR I NAMED AFTER IANTO, I DON’T THINK IT’S VISIBLE FROM THE UK BECAUSE I CHOSE ONE I COULD SEE FROM MY HOME IN NEW ZEALAND.  AS I SAID EARLIER IN THIS PIECE, MEMORIES ARE MY MOST TREASURED, THE GOOD FRIENDS AND GETTING TO MEET A REALLY NICE BUNCH OF ACTORS, WRITERS ETC.

IANTO….. GARETH DAVID LLOYD…. GOT ME WRITING A STACK OF TORCHWOOD STORIES WHICH CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE NAME DEETATARANT ON FANFICTION.NET.  I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE MOVED BY THE JOURNEY OF A FICTIONAL CHARACTER ON TV AND WAS GUTTED WHEN OWEN, TOSH AND IANTO AND FINALLY TORCHWOOD ITSELF WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM US.

THANKS FOR READING THIS AND PROJECT TORCHWOOD, THANKS FOR ASKING ME TO CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR WEBSITE.

FINALLY LET’S NOT FORGET…. COSPLAY, BUT THAT’S FOR ANOTHER TIME.

BELOW IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MISS A CON….



  

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