imhilien

The weather is up and down. Last week it was nice, hot t-shirt weather but today it's back to wearing more layers.

I recently went to the Armageddon convention and went to hear Jason Issacs talk. He was nice and cheerful, talking about how tricky it was to film 'Hook' in Australia with its heat and having to wear layers of velvet clothing. I went to get his autograph after and saw that he shook everyone's hand who lined up to see him. He shook my hand too (squee!). We chatted for a few minutes and he said he was going to have a holiday down in the South Island, so that was nice.

I also went to hear a talk with Inbar Lavi, an actress who played ( Spoiler ) in 'Lucifer'. She was nice and said how she was looking forward to seeing more of New Zealand after this. She was a bit smaller than me (I'm 5"4) so acting with Tom Ellis must have been interesting because he's 6"3. She said the set was very professional and there was also a lot of laughter and joking. She gave her talk in a smaller hall than Jason's, which was OK as it made things more cosy. It was packed, though. There was a fan who asked a question who had to stand at the back as she was dressed up as a Weeping Angel from 'Dr Who' - very realistic. At the end of the talk we were all gathered together for a group selfie. I went and got her autograph afterwards. The person in front of me gave her some Whittakers chocolate and Pineapple Lumps sweets, which is very New Zealand. Yum.

I saw that the two actors from 'Wellington Paranormal' were there at the convention too, but I didn't have time to see them, unfortunately.

A new season of local quirky police drama 'Brokenwood Mysteries' started up last night. It featured a murder at a gathering of steampunk enthusiasts. Yes, the show's like that. :-p 

I feel sorry for Australia at the moment with it's fires in NSW and Queensland... it's not even proper summer yet. Smoke from the fires have arrived in the South Island and they say the North Island will get some too. :(

Well, last month New Zealand had to deal with two cyclones that came down from the Pacific Islands. Ok, they had mostly reduced in size by the time they got to us, but still there was a lot of wind and rain. We've been told Cyclone #3 is heading down here around Monday, urgh. Cross fingers.

A few weeks ago I was watching the Bafta's (Brit film awards) and I confess to sighing over actor Daniel Day-Lewis whenever the camera alighted on him. Even though he shaved his head(!) he just has this slightly fallen-angel look to him (sigh). He's made some interesting films over the years - I think he was almost cast as Aragorn in LotR. He's a bit of a method actor, and he would have gone Full Tolkien(TM), I'm telling you. :D

We recently had the Oscars, but it was on a cable TV station that I don't have. It will probably turn up in some nowhere weekend slot on ordinary TV, so I'll have to stay sharp and look out.

Movies - I recently went to see 'Black Panther' - oooh, yeah, that was a great film. I confess to enjoying it more than 'The Last Jedi' (which I still have mixed feelings about - don't get me started). I loved the princess who was in charge of research and development of Cool Science Stuffs(TM).

Easter weekend is coming up at the end of the month and the national sci-fi convention (aimed at people who read scifi) is on here in Auckland this year. I'm not staying at the hotel it's at this time, but will go each day by bus.