DrGaz's Stuff

Gaz-urrection of the Daleks

2010-01-23T14:30:00.000Z

Here are some pics of that place in London where they filmed "Resurrection of the Daleks". It is Shad Thames near Tower bridge. I always wanted to go there since I saw that episode, and happened to be there by accident. I didn't have a camera with my, so it was very lucky that my mobile cordless telephone has a function whereby photographs may be taken. I actually took these pics months ago in Aug 2009. Only just got around to posting them here...

A pic of Davo on location in 1984 or whenever

Photos of the day: Shanghai

2009-07-28T21:15:00.006Z

Below are some pics taken last Saturday from the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center (inset - the one that looks like a giant beer bottle opener). It's an absolutely massive building - one of the tallest in the world. It's a spectacular view from there I must say - everything looks unreal like toytown! Even the other skyscrapers look pathetically tiny from the top of this beast. As impressive as the view is, I wasn't too keen on Shanghai. The tower was a sod to get to from my hotel, requiring a subway journey (just to cross the river), and much scrambling across building sites. I was also harrassed by every scam-artist, beggar and "art teacher" during my very short visit to Shanghai. I was actually glad to leave in the end!

Read up about the "Shanghai Scam" here and here. Male tourists beware!

Photo of the day: Revolving restaurant

2009-07-26T17:12:00.003Z

DrGaz on the Keys: Menuet en Rondeau

2009-06-20T18:21:00.009Z

Download MP3

Here's a tune I recorded on the piano today. I hope you like it. Click on the player to listen or right mouse click the "download MP3" link and use 'save link as' to download the MP3.

This piece is by Jean-Philippe Rameau and is from an ABRSM book I'm working on at the moment called Baroque Keyboard Pieces Book 1, Edited by Richard Jones. I think that Baroque isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoy working on these pieces.

DrGaz in New York

2009-05-16T21:27:00.003Z

This was taken last Sunday in Times Square in New York. What an amazing city! Only had a weekend to explore - nowhere near enough time to do the place justice. Stayed in a hotel literally around the corner from where I took this photo. This hotel, although not lavish, was clean, tidy, recently refurbished and great value at $130 per night. That's amazing considering the sort of s**thole you'd get in the middle of London for that money.

Photo of the day: Sainsbury's "large" onions

2009-04-19T17:26:00.005Z

I don't have a complaint about the quality of these onions, but Sainsbury's are taking the piss with their description. I can't see how an onion with a diameter of 60mm can be considered large, and at £1.29 for 3, these tiny onions are damn expensive. I bought these onions online, so had no way of actually telling how big "large" would be.

"Hartnell's Armpit" - The Doctor Who Gossip Rag

2009-02-24T21:59:00.005Z

Here's some general Doctor Who related silliness for you. This is a cover for a Doctor Who gossip magazine I invented called "Hartnell's Armpit" (click to enlarge). It's basically my version of one of those trashy celebrity gossip mags for the Doctor Who world! I have done my best to ensure that it is as tasteless as possible. Watch this space for more of this stuff, folks!

Sevans Models: A review

2009-02-09T22:00:00.006Z

As featured in Doctor Who Monthly Issue #132 (January 1988), here is an article reviewing new kits from SEVANS Models.

It’s been a busy year for SEVANS Models, for aside from the five brand new kits available now, they are going into a new venture – pre-assembled models shipped out and ready-made and only in need of a lick of paint. The perfect solution for those who just want the finished article, rather than all the fiddling around that preceeds it!

The new models are much simpler to build than the original Dalek issued back in 1983, so that construction is within the grasp of ninety-five percent of fans, regardless of modelling ability. Yet, for those who still aren’t courageous enough to have a go, he is engaging out-workers to produce the final unpainted items at a price which should still make them attractive to the bulk of readers.

All the models will, of course, still be available in construction kit form, so let’s see what’s on offer this Christmas and for the coming year.

One general improvement to all the models is on the packaging front; the same sturdy boxes are used, but now the two-tone cover art has been replaced by photographic colour pictures of the assembled contents in appropriate settings.

The New Dalek will doubtless soon be familiar to you all and needs little comment, save to say that these really are Daleks! Excellent though the original was, these are far more aggressive, pepperpotty and menacing. The metal collar mesh adds considerably to the effect, as does the new neck, with its eight separate rods which now actually push through holes in the three neck rings, just like the real thing!

K9 and the Ice Warriors benefit from extensive painting guides which, unlike many other commercial kits, not only tell you what to paint but how to paint it – brush techniques, etc

The long-awaited Davros kit is also hot off the press, and by far the speediest and easiest to build of all the SEVANS range, with only two dozen basic components.

The skirt, being flat-surfaced panels, fairly flies together, and the Lad himself, based entirely on the original Michael Wisher Genesis version, comprises five pieces! The two body halves and wrist are plastic, while the head is one solid resin and the hand one solid metal forming. The model pictured here is shown at a stage of construction prior to the chair-back and microphone being installed.

The extensive painting directions feature a stage-by-stage photographically illustrated guide on how to recreate the realistic flesh effects shown here.

The Mk6 Cyberman Kit, advertised a year ago and withdrawn by Stuart prior to release, because it did not meet with his standards, is also now available and, judging by the accompanying photograph of one made “straight from the box”, was well worth the wait.

The bulk of the bodywork is again plastic, though the helmet and gun are one-piece solid resin castings. The “ear-jugs” are metal and slot in place, while the clear plastic hose pipes dog into pre-drilled holes in either cheek.

This kit features the widest variety of components yet seen, with pre-printed decals, reflective tapes, springs, miniature body netting, clear mouldings, fabric gun strap, etc. Don’t be put off by any of this, though, or by the apparent complexity of the photograph. Construction time is only about an hour-and-a-half and painting two hours.

Stuart painted the model shown here himself, and chose to enhance the “wear and tear” aspect to achieve a battle-weary trooper. Full details of all paint variations are given in the kit and the arms and hands can be varied to create a choice of poses.

Finally, a new departure. SEVANS are now licensed by BBC Enterprises to produce the full range of Cyberman helmets from Tenth Planet to date! They are full size, extremely robust and come ready-made and painted! The Earthshock variant pictured is from the first batch and shows very clearly the eye mesh and ear hoses fitted as standard.

These helmets are pulled from the same moulds as the original TV props, only in thick plastic, instead of fibreglass. Partially foam-lines and with a removable back-plate, they should be available shortly, but only in one colour, Gloss Black, as in tests, Silver was shown to wear very badly and looked cheap.

No special tools or glues are required to build SEVANS Model Kits, just the regular sort you will find at all Hobby or Modelling Shops.

Should you require any further details, write to SEVANS Models PO Box 34, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8XY, England. Only do please send an SAE (UK), or one dollar bill (Overseas) for your reply.

Sevans Models: Portrait of a Licensee

2009-02-08T21:33:00.018Z

Here's an interesting article about SEVANS Models. I transcribed it from Doctor Who Monthy Issue #114 (July 1986). This is an interview with Stuart Evans - the man behind the highly accurate Dalek model kits from the mid-'80s. This interview gives insight into how he obtained a license from the BBC to manufacturing them, and also discusses his expansion of the model range to cover other monsters from the Doctor Who universe. Enjoy!

A scan of the original article from DWM (click to enlarge).

Stuart Evans, of Sevans Daleks, talks about his merchandising experiences and his plans for the future.

“I’ve always been a fan of Doctor Who. It really is quite beyond the comprehension of anyone born after the mid Sixties just how massive Doctor Who in general and the Daleks in particular were between 1963-65. Every child in our street had a toy Dalek.
“It’s quite an admission, but I’ve never lost the love I developed for the show all those years ago. Indeed, the desire to one day be involved in some aspect of the programme has been on e of the few continuous threads in my life”.

After school, Stuart went to Salisbury Art College, but left before completing his B.A. Graphics course.

“I found my way into a local government, pen-pushing job, which afforded me the opportunity of getting an HNC in Business Studies on day release.”

Moving on to a job in the Civil Service, Stuart became increasingly dissatisfied with his work, and concentrated on finding other interests.

“The quite out of the blue, I was sitting in the bath one night, and there it was, staring me in the face… the Radio Times Tenth Anniversary Special. I decided then and there to put all my efforts into building a full-sized Dalek.

Stuart persuaded the BBC Who Exhibition at Longleat to let him measure up one of the props. However, he quickly realised that building a full-scale Dalek model just wasn’t viable, and decided to turn his attention to a scaled down model. Having created his first scratchbuilt Dalek, after reading up on model making and fibre glass techniques, Stuart was ready to move on to other things, when he attended the Longleat Convention.

“The model was in the back of my car – until two fans saw it, and I left one Dalek lighter.
“I now knew there must be a larger market on maybe several dozen people (believe me this wasn’t false modesty, but total ignorance speaking), but I had no contacts in TV, the press, or merchandising.

GETTING THE LICENSE

However, when Stuart’s job moved offices, he met Simon Lydiard, ex editor of the defunct fanzine Skaro. Simon suggested that Stuart approach BBC merchandising.

“At this time, I’d envisaged making two fibre glass models a month, and wrote into Chris Crouch (then of BBC Enterprises) asking only if I could use the work ‘Dalek’ in an Exchange and Mart ad I’d planned, and how much the BBC royalty would be.
“Chris wrote back saying ‘no can do’, and that unlike the Sixties when everyone under the sun obtained Dalek licenses, nowadays concurrent merchandising wasn’t entertained.”

BBC Enterprises did add that if Stuart could get a manufacturer interested, they might reconsider.

“Again the idea dropped, and then a couple of weeks later, I was in a local model shop, and heard mention of a nearby firm specialising in short run kits.”

Stuart spent the next month living on their doorstep picking up tips on how to make moulds and dies. Eventually he made up the tools for a foot-tall Dalek kit. He approached the BBC again, who agreed to see him.

“With only a day to go, the first mouldings were ready and we sped to the factory to collect two of the most awful pieces of tat you’d ever seen.
“Fleet of brain as ever, and with only hours to go, I realised what had to be done, the pokers were heated, the Doc Martens donned, and the two made the trip as smashed up ‘exterminated’ versions!”

Stuart impressed Chris Crouch and Brian Codd (of Terry Nation) sufficiently to win the world rights to making Dalek kits.
“Now the problems really started; who would produce the quantities required, what would those quantities be. All previous Who merchandise had been kiddie-based: there’d never been any accurate, well researched, up market, up-price models before.”

CREATING THE PACKAGE

Aiming to build a creation that would please him personally, Stuart determined to create ‘The Ultimate Dalek Package’.

“The three-thousand-word history took six months to research. The lead Dalek from Genesis was measured and refined over several months and individual parts were moulded and tooled.
“I wanted to make this one kit have the potential of being assembled in many forms, and this has paid dividends, as many customers were to but four or five kits, just to create their favourite variants.
“Everything went so smoothly that I should’ve guessed that there was trouble around the corner and sure enough, with all the ads placed, two unforeseen things happened.
“First, I realised that the shoulders were 3mm too far forward. The moulds were, at great cost, altered. Then with only days before the kit’s launch, the factory (one of the main contractors for Marks and Spencer and Boeing Aircraft) developed faults on its moulding plant and I had no kits to send.
“To further compound this, I had an overnight success to contend with! Everyone’s estimation of the market was way out: every day for weeks we received literally hundreds of orders and well over a thousand before anything was ready.
“Mercifully, extra hands were laid on, and we finally shipped the goods out.
“With this behind us, the long lacking ‘fun element’ once again returned, and within weeks of sending the first kits out, we were getting loads of photos and letters from fans saying how good the kits were.”

Stuart plans to stay in merchandising for as long as Who lasts and then perhaps another decade, if he can secure the rights.

KITS IN PREPARATION

“I really want to stay in business long enough to exhaust the main monsters and get down to the really rare ones, like Quarks and Zarbi”.

Although he keeps an eye on the market, he basically turns out the models he likes the most.

“Hence K9, which would still be a big seller in America, being kennelled at the moment in favour of other things.
“The kits no the drawing board are Ice Warrior, 1967 Cyberman, Feature Film Dalek, Davros, Tardis Console, New Mk6 Cyberman and Sil Borad. The first three of these kits will be available this Autumn, with a possibility of the Mk6 Cyberman appearing at Christmas.
“Readers will have to wait until the ad appears for details of price and exact box contents, though I can now reveal that the Ice Warrior and Cyberman kits will both stand over fifteen inches tall and will have solid one-piece plastic heads, alternative weaponry and costume details, and that in the case of the Cyberman, you’ll get three heads: trooper, Controller and zapped trooper with the Cyberface showing through behind the mask … Oh and you’ll also get a scale Cybermat!
“I’m introducing new elements with each kit, with resin, rubber and self-adhesive components appearing, the Cyberman will have individual pipes and tubes and I’m currently trying to find a supplier for synthetic bristles for inclusion with the Ice Warrior to simulate its body hair!
“As the histories on these two monsters are somewhat slighter than that of the Dalek, you’ll get details of how to recreate your own Ice Cave diorama and readily obtainable components.
“The ‘humanoid’ kits will be comparatively simple to produce and should hopefully be available from UK and foreign dealers within a few months of issue. The Dalek family of kits is, however, so time consuming to manufacture that we can’t really afford to sell through agents and keep the price so low, so it does look as if certain of our kits will remain exclusively available from us, the manufacturers. Generally, anyone wanting any kit in a hurry or by a deadline, is much safer ordering direct from us.
“All the kits should retail around the £15 mark and the original TV Dalek will still remain on sale.
“One other point perhaps worthy of mention is that subject to final BBC approval each new kit will contain a raised plastic badge of the monsters’ head or whole body, which can be painted and pin-backed.”

Stuart does his own modelling, tooling, artwork, research and a lot of his own photography.

KEEPING UP THE STANDARDS

“To be perfectly honest, by the time I’d explained what I wanted to an assistant, I could have done the job myself, anyway!
“The ability to design is only one factor in the equation; you’ve got to have a good eye for advertising and PR, a grasp of commercial law and basically the ability to see a sizeable hole in the market, then come up with a really good product to fill it.
“Almost every time a Merchandising feature appears, the BBC get flooded with readers’ ideas for ‘Terror of the Zygons Draught Excluders’ or ‘Gallifrey Kitchenette Tin Openers’, and although they’re always receptive to marketable ideas, they actually receive singularly few. That not to put people off, it’s just that unless the possibility of a worthwhile royalty return exists, it’s not worth the administrative expense involved.
“Perhaps my biggest handicap is that I’m a perfectionist and will only release a kit when I’m two hundred per cent satisfied with it. Were any other manufacturing company producing the same range, there’s probably be six titles available already; only the quality and accuracy would be as woolly as the merchandise of the past!
“For all this, I should be releaseing between three and five kits this year, which should live up to, or transcend the standards I set myself on the Dalek.”

If you have any difficulty in obtaining SEVANS kits, or have any comments on them, please write in to them at: PO Box 34, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8XY, enclosing an SAE for your reply.

Guide to the pics:
1) A realistic scene from the SEVANS models video, which was used on a Pebble Mill feature
2) Stuart demonstrates one of the full-size silhouettes cut out before the modelling begins
3) A close-up of the Davros model – under two inches from the chin to the cranium

Photo(s) of the Day: Weird world

2009-02-06T23:18:00.003Z

Here's some more of my weird experimental stuff for you. I borrowed the peephole from the door and took these pics. They're quite surreal and I'd like to experiment more with this technique (preferably taking pics of slightly more interesting stuff outside). I'd better get down to B&Q and buy a spyhole (I think they're pretty cheap) so that I don't have a hole in the front door!

3D Dalek rendering test

2009-02-03T23:48:00.005Z

Just for fun here's a quick rendering of of my incomplete 3D Dalek model.

Photo of the day: Spyhole 2

2009-02-02T20:28:00.002Z

Another treat for you! It's another pic taken through a spyhole! I hope you're enjoying visiting this strange world as much as I am, folks. This one's through the spyhole of a Spanish apartment I stayed in last month. Seriously - I might even keep the spyhole photography thing going. Perhaps I should publish a picture book - "DrGaz's Peepholes of the world" or something. What do you think? Anyone? Someone?

Photo of the day: Spyhole

2009-02-01T22:08:00.004Z

This is the view through the spyhole of my flat (or "apartment" if you're an estate agent or American). Quite a surreal world through one of these isn't it?

Dream Diary: Colin Baker's Omlette

2009-01-14T22:24:00.006Z

In my dream Colin Baker was standing in the corner of my living room dressed in full Doctor Who costume. He was looking a bit younger, and shall we say, less portly than he is today (in other words he fitted into the costume). I spent some time admiring his coat (I have always been rather fond of Colin's costume, actually). I reminded him of how I tried it on when I was a kid, meeting him at a signing in 1986.

Then Colin got all arrogant and Doctorish and demands that I make him a mushroom omlette. I obliged and checked the fridge for ingredients. When I opened the fridge it was full of rotting mushrooms. I turned back to Colin and tell him that I can't possibly cook him an omlette. He didn't seem too happy about that.

Photo of the day: Posters

2009-01-11T22:45:00.000Z

Doctor Who: This car's a sod to drive

2008-12-14T22:08:00.003Z

A nice Jon Pertwee out-take from the Five Doctors. "Oh ****! Sorry this car's a sod to drive at the moment"

I just did piano grade 2!

2008-12-06T21:06:00.008Z

Well I just sat my grade 2 piano exam today. I've been playing for almost exactly 1 year, and did my grade 1 approximately 6 months ago. I was feeling that I'd bit off a bit more than I could chew.

Grade 2 was MUCH harder than grade 1. One of the most difficult things about grade 2 is the scales, you have to play them simultaneously with both hands. I thought I'd mastered this, but my nerves got the better of me in the exam and I butchered the very first scale I was asked to do. This was F Major, and about 3 or 4 notes into it I realised that I'd run out of fingers on my left hand. I forced myself to bodge my way through the rest of the scale.

I made a few more silly errors on my scales and arpeggios, and there were two instances where I stopped and asked the examiner if I could do it again. Hopefully that didn't cost me too many marks. Fortunately B minor harmonic (which is a sod to play with both hands) went really well.

I was then asked to play the 3 pieces. I started with A:3 "Bouree" (L. Mozart). That generally went OK apart from a few notes I mangled up in the first couple of phrases.

The next piece B:3 "The Bee" actually went remarkably well. I find this a very difficult piece to play because it is fast and the ending is a bit fiddly. I always thought that if I messed up a piece it would be this one, but amazingly it turned out to be Bouree I messed up - the piece I was most comfortable with.

The final piece was C:3 "Garage Sale". This is a piece that does nothing at all for me, but I chose it because it's easy. Why are the "C" examination pieces always so naff? I wonder if anyone ever chose the godawful "The Temple by the Sea".

The sight reading went pretty smoothly this time. I didn't have any problems with it. It was in a simple key signature and was in 2:4. The aural test was pretty straightforward too.

On the whole I think definitely a pass. I'd be pleased with a merit, but I think that a distinction is totally out of the question primarily due to my massacre of F major at the beginning.

Below are some vids of me playing the 3 pieces. They were recorded on the same day of the exam. The dynamics aren't too clear in these videos. Please rest assured that I was giving the piano a good bash in all the "forte" bits, but the piano's volume is turned quite low so it's hard to get much light and shade across.

Bouree

The Bee

Garage Sale

Jamaican Doctor Who

2008-12-05T15:07:00.003Z

"It looks to me like big trouble for Dr Who". This video featuring a Jamaican dubbed version of Doctor Who is really funny:

"You don't look like no Dalek to me" gets me every time.

Bungle's Twanger?!?

2008-12-02T21:16:00.002Z

Oh my giddy aunt! I can't believe this video. That's my childhood ruined. The things you can find on YouTube. This video is very funny, yet slightly disturbing at the same time.

Photo of the day: Passage

2008-11-22T18:30:00.001Z

Photo of the day: Aircraft

2008-10-15T18:34:00.005Z

Tom Baker regeneration - my piano version

2008-10-05T22:36:00.006Z

This is something I've been gradually working out on the piano and managed to get it in good enough shape to post it on YouTube. This is my own version of the Tom Baker regeneration music from the 1981 Doctor Who story Logopolis (originally composed by Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop).

I'm a huge fan of early '80s Who, particularly the style of the production of which the music in an integral part. For me this is probably the most memorable scene and musical score of the entire series which is why I wanted to have a go at my own version.

Photo of the day: Cooking stuff

2008-08-16T19:16:00.005Z

I cooked my "DrGaz's nice Italian-style tomato & basil sauce with pasta" earlier.

I got my grade 1 Piano!

2008-08-01T23:51:00.006Z

Well I got my grade 1 piano! I wen't to my piano teacher's house and picked up the certificate this evening. I did pretty well - I scored 127/150 - a merit. I was only 3 marks away from a distinction.

Here is a transcript of my marks and examiner's comments:

A3 - "This was in a suitably lively tempo. Dynamic contrasts were effective and vivid. The R.H. fingerwork was strong (a couple of semiquavers aside). Although balance between hands was sometimes uneven (L.H. tended to dominate), this was characterful". 26/30.

B2 - "You judged the tempo well. Dynamic variations were mostly convincing. There was a slight hesitation before the second half. You recovered promptly and projected something of the mood here". 25/30.

C1 - "Opening staccato patterns were crisp and even. Fingerwork was largely even and strong, aside from fleeting exceptions in stave three. The dynamic range was appropriate. Another well prepared account". 27/30.

Scales and arpeggios - "Your scales were prompt in response and mostly even. Arpeggios and broken chords fared similarly (depite some uneveness in L.H. patterns)". 17/21.

Sight reading - "You started accurately. There were subsequently stumbles and rhythmic errors. You kept going, giving a clear outline". 15/21.

Aural tests - "Small slip in "B", otherwise assured". 17/18.

Additional comments - "An impressive start to your piano playing - well done today!"

2008 Nicola Bryant calendar: August

2008-07-31T19:20:00.003Z

Yes folks! It's August - and as usual Nicola's here to brighten things up a bit. I hope you'll enjoy the latest installment. I actually nearly forgot to do it. Phew! That was close. Only four months left. Will I run out of material? I hope not, but I might be scraping the bottom of the barrel soon. I wonder if I could book Nicola herself for a photoshoot to keep me going until December...

INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 600x600 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

New banner

2008-07-28T22:54:00.007Z

For absolutely no reason at all I can't resist buggering around with my "DrGaz" blog banner now and then. Depending on what date you read this it may or may not be at the top of the blog right now! Otherwise here it is below. I was going to do a major overhaul, but got bored and decided to leave it for a rainy day. Instead I just adulterated the existing version - messed around with the colours and bunged in a few more random images.

Just for the hell of it, here are some of my old versions:

Photo of the day: One hell of a view

2008-07-27T21:30:00.005Z

This was the view from my window for the last 4 days (click to enlarge). It's Nice in the South of France. Please excuse the my dodgy Photoshop job - you can clearly see that it's a composite of 5 photos. I have to say it wasn't exactly the cheapest 4 days of my life, but to wake up to this every morning for a just a few days made made me forget about my wallet entirely.

DrGaz's Music: Maybe Next Time (on piano)

2008-07-21T14:06:00.003Z

Here's my piano version of Ritchie Blackmore/Rainbow's "Maybe Next Time". There are a couple of slight mistakes (I still haven't managed to play the whole thing perfectly). This is the first guitar solo. I also have a guitar version that you can watch here.

Photo of the day: Metal Mushrooms

2008-07-20T21:57:00.002Z

Some mushrooms... and they're made out of metal.

Photo of the day: The Bike of DrGaz

2008-07-19T19:20:00.004Z

Earlier today I stopped off on the nice new cycle bridge on the way to the library. This is my bike - it's held together with bits of sticky tape. It's been so windy today - it was really blowing a gale when I took this photo. Cambridge is generally quite windy, which as a cyclist drives me mad as it makes pedalling really hard work.

I dropped of 3 piano music books at the library. They were a week overdue and I had to pay around £4.50. An unbelievably huge fine! I though library fines were pathetic. It doesn't seem long since I recieved fines to the order of 5p and 10p for much more serious offences.

Photo of the day: Green stuff

2008-07-13T17:29:00.005Z

I left a plant pot full of water on the balcony two months ago. It is now full of green slime (see photo). Maybe I will post another photo of it in a few weeks time so that you can see how this stuff develops

Photo of the day: Grand piano

2008-07-09T22:30:00.005Z

This photo of the day is hot off the presses - taken less than an hour ago. It's the grand piano in chapel of Churchill College, Cambridge and I was bashing it this evening. My piano teacher organises a bi-annual "adult pupils' soiree" there and I went along and knocked out out a couple of tunes.

It may seem from looking at the photo that no bugger showed up, but that's just the angle I took at it. There was actually around 40 -50 people in the room. I played "The Old Cuckoo Clock" (one of the pieces I did for my Grade 1 last Saturday) and my own piano version of "Maybe Next Time" by Rainbow. Here is a link to my guitar version of the song. I hope to make a video of my piano version soon to put on YouTube.

This was a seriously nice piano to play - so expressive. Yamaha certainly know how to make them. As good as my digital Yamaha Clavinova is, I fully understand that there's absolutely no subsitute for an acoustic piano. One day I will have one. One day...

My Grade 1 piano exam was today!

2008-07-05T10:17:00.007Z

Today was the day, folks! I had my grade 1 exam this morning.

I arrived at the examination centre about 20mins early, and announced my presence to an old dear seated behind a uncomfortably low desk with an "ABRSM" sign next to it. The previous candidate (a piano grade 7) was slightly ahead of schedule, so she told me that I could start slightly early. I was taken upstairs to a practice room where I warmed up for a few minutes on a digital piano - a really dreadful Kawai. Playing that thing made me feel good about spending the extra money on my Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240. As I sat and played a few scales, a young girl blasted hell out of trumpet in the ajoining room in readiness for her exam. I filled in a slip of paper stating what pieces I would be playing and was soon led back downstairs into the sound-proofed exam room. I was eagerly met by my examiner - a young chap, who was very friendly and enthusiastic which put me at ease.

After a few seconds where I was allowed to get used to the piano I was asked to do some scales - D, Am and G. They went smoothly enough. Then it was contrary motion (both hands playing a C scale beginning at middle C and working outwards). Then I did some broken chords and arpeggios. I made a small mistake on the first arpeggio because I started playing it as a broken chord. I apologised and did it properly (hopefully I didn't lose marks).

I then played the 3 pieces. They went really well from what I can remember. The only mistake I made (a very minor one) was I played a D instead of an E on one of the repeating "tick-tock" phrases of "The Old Cuckoo Clock". I managed to continue playing through the mistake and made no further ones.

Then came the dreaded sight-reading test, and he chose me one that was in D Major, so there was loads of F#s and C#s to contend with. I think I got the whole thing about 80% correct as far as the notes were concerned, and around 70% correct as far as timing. My dynamics were sadly lacking. I noticed afterwards I should have played some of it loud (forte) and some soft (piano) I hope they don't mark me down too much

The examiner then took the driving seat and I had the aural test. This was pretty easy and over in a minute or two.

The whole thing went so quickly. It was scheduled for a duration of 12 minutes, but it felt more like 5 or 6. Overall I think I did pretty well, but I think I have to wait a few weeks for the results.

I'll go for Grade 3 next I think.

My Grade 1 piano exam is tomorrow!

2008-07-04T19:45:00.006Z

Tomorrow's the day, folks! I will be having my Grade 1 piano exam in the morning. I'm sure that most people doing this exam are usually about 7 years old, but I can't help feeling a tiny bit nervous. I know I can pass it with my eyes closed, but I still want to do well. A distinction would be nice, which means there's little margin for cock-ups.

I couldn't resist Googling my piano examiner, and I found a few web pages with photos & biography. He's quite a young chap and has excellent credentials - educated at Oxford, plays the organ on BBC Songs of Praise. I wasn't too sure what a piano examiner would look like - I was expecting some very straght-laced Victorian type - all suited and starched collars, so it's much less intimidating to know that they're just normal people like you or I.

2008 Nicola Bryant calendar: July

2008-06-30T23:51:00.002Z

Here's July's installment of my Nicola Bryant calendar for your enjoyment...

INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 600x600 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

Photo of the day: Platform 2

2008-06-27T19:50:00.002Z

"What the hell is going on?" I hear you scream. That's three "photos of the day" in one week! This is absolutely insane. A sheer triumph of quantity over quality. This was taken last night at about five to midnight while I was waiting for a train back to Cambridge after a few beers in Royston.

Photo of the day: Phone box

2008-06-24T21:49:00.004Z

Here's another "photo of the day". That's two of them in two days folks! This is an impulsive shot of a phone box I took on the way home this evening that I have Photoshopped within an inch of its life.

I have a strange affinity with phone boxes. They are of course British icons and design classics, but I think my obsession with Doctor Who probably has something to do with it. It's a shame there's not a few more Police Boxes around too.

If you have nothing at all to do and want to read up on the history of British phone boxes, then www.redphonebox.info is an excellent place to do so. There's a secton on Police Boxes there too.

Photo of the day: Down the docks

2008-06-23T16:58:00.004Z

I happened to be in the London docklands today (Royal Victoria Dock). This is a view down the towards the dome and Canary Wharf. Such a beautiful day and it was very peaceful down there. I really like the rows of preserved cranes on the dockside.

Horror Dream Diary: The Man In The Chair

2008-06-18T22:32:00.001Z

This nightmare is one of the most frightening that I’ve ever had. I dreamt that I awoke in the middle of the night to find that I had disturbing visitor to my bedroom. The next morning it actually took me a while to get my head around the whole thing because it was difficult to work out if it was dream or reality. You could say it was a “dream within a dream”. I actually had this one in 1996 when I was an undergraduate, and I always meant to write it down, so finally here it is…

When I awoke in the dream the house was dead silent and the room was drenched with moonlight that came in through partially drawn curtains. The window was open and a gentle breeze fluttered the curtains. My bed was in a corner and I lay facing the wall. As I turned over and reached for my spectacles I saw that somebody was sitting at my desk. All I could see was a pale bald head above the back of the chair.

I sprang for the bedroom door. It was jammed but I got it open without too much difficulty. On the landing I switched the lights on and calmed down before returning to my bedroom. The chair was empty so I put it down to being a bad dream.

I closed the window and went back to bed. Later that night I awoke a second time. The window was once again open. I looked over at the desk and saw the same bald head. I froze and stared at it noticing that it was embossed with a thick network of pulsing veins.

My bedroom door was jammed solid and opening it required all my physical strength. I glanced back at the desk and saw the chair slowly turning towards me. I got out of the room before I saw the face.

DrGaz's new image

2008-06-14T14:49:00.008Z

After many months of searching for a new pair of spectacles frames a decision has finally been made. It's gonna be a pair of DKNY 5548s in colour code 1062 (pictured). I "discovered" them in a shop in Cambridge a week ago, and decided to write down the model number and shop around for them (they were priced at £150 in the shop). I found one company on the internet that sold them for £70 in the correct colour. However I decided to check Google Maps to see where they were based and it turned out to be in someone's back garden in Dorset. I had absoutely no luck trying to find them anywhere else, so sadly I ended up going back to the original shop and paid top dollar for them. I tried my hardest to knock them down they would not budge on the price at all. It was a shame that Vision Express didn't stock this model. If you ask for a discount at Vision Express the nice people there will knock of 30% before you can finish the question.

Well that's £150 spent on just the frames! If you wear glasses yourself you will probably be aware that the expensive part is the lenses. Sure you can get the cheap ones, but if you have eyesight like me or my good friend Mr Magoo then the last thing you want to do is buy the bog-standard lenses. They will make you look like a nerd and you will have abolutely no hope of ever pulling a woman. The worst pair of cheapos I ever had was when I was 16 years old and the lenses measured 12mm thick. Therefore, I always go for the highest quality pair of frames and lenses I can afford. I am still shopping around for lenses, but I'm going to have 1.9-index Zeiss ones (glass) which are the highest spec currently available. The best price I have had for them is £350. Ouch!

I paid £450 for the spectacles I'm currently wearing. Most people who knew how much they cost me thought I was clinically insane for spending so much money on a pair of glasses, but I think it's insane to save a few quid on something so important that you wear all day every day. This pair have lasted me 10 years. Thats 12p a day.

Royal Mail Hell

2008-06-07T20:49:00.003Z

Again this not exactly "hell" - but pretty bloody irritating...

During the last 12 months for various reasons I've had cause to send a total of 5 letters by the unbelievably crap Royal Mail "Recorded Delivery" service. Four of those letters have disappeared into a black hole - two about a year ago, and another two about a fortnight ago. I sent the mail by this method because I specifically wanted to know that it had arrived, so what exactly is the point of Recorded Delivery 80% of your post goes missing?

Fortunately what I had sent was of no actual value - it was just boring but important stuff (changes of address to banks etc) that I wanted to guarantee would get to its destination. After the first two went missing I went to the local post office (the same one I sent them from) and spoke to a miserable git on the counter about the service. He was surprisingly defensive about the whole thing ("not my fault mate" etc) and shoved a couple of forms at me. I explained that it wasn't worth me bothering to fill them in just to claim back £2 worth of postage, and then left.

Another recent annoyance is that a book I sold on eBay went missing recently. Two years ago a £30 John Lewis gift voucher (again sent by recorded delivery) that I also sold on eBay vanished.

Bloody annoying.

2008 Nicola Bryant calendar: June

2008-05-31T16:43:00.002Z

Here's the June edition for you... Enjoy...

INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 600x600 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

IKEA hell

2008-05-30T19:28:00.004Z

Well my current situation is more mildly irritating than "hell" to he honest....

In summary: I ordered a bookcase, chest of drawers and 2 x bedside cabinets from IKEA, waited 2 weeks for it to be delivered. Unwrapped it all and they had the following problems:

1) Bookcase backing was broken.
2) Two of the drawers on the chest had horrible scrach-like marks on the front, and a horrible mark on the front.
3) The quality of everything is generally shite.

I didn't want to wait another 2 weeks for replacements which would probably just have their own defects of some description, so I thought I'd just keep them and demand a discount. Although the defects don't look pretty, the one on the bookcase can be masked by the books, and we'll just have to live with the markings on the drawers.

So I phoned customer "service" where "Dave" gave me the email address of the department who deal with this kind of situation. I sent them an email and some photos. I then waited...

and waited...

A week later and and still no reply. So I rang them and asked them what's going on. I was speaking to "Susan" this time who informed me that a character called "Darril" has definitely got my email and will definitely phone me tomorrow to sort it out. Guess what? "Darril" didn't bother ringing the next day. I rang them back a couple of days later and "Pam" tells me she'll chase everything up and phone me back later. Later comes and still no phonecall from the helpful Pam.

I do want a discount, but it's not all about money - it's more about why I should put up with this crap quality and crap customer service. Why should I just allow myself to be fobbed off by them? So methinks I'll have to get a letter of complaint sent out to them. But here's the catch.... you won't find a single postal address for IKEA HQ on their website!

I've found what seems to be an authentic address on a messageboard which I'll try out.

It's bloody annoying, but nothing compared to the aggro I'm currently having with Vodafone and Barclaycard. I'll tell you about them another time. I simply don't have the strength to even think about those bastards right now!

Gaz on the keys: More tunes for Grade 1

2008-05-12T21:46:00.002Z

Here are two more tunes I'm working on for my Grade 1 piano exam in July. They are "Allegro in F" by 5-year old Mozart and The Old Cuckoo-Clock by N. Bachinskaya. They still need a bit of work as far as I'm concerned, especially the Mozart one which I only just learned over the last few days. I keep buggering it up half way through as you will see if you watch the video. I'm all fingers and thumbs. AAAArrrrgh!

Gaz on the keys: Andante (for grade 1)

2008-05-03T22:33:00.003Z

Here's a video of me playing Andante (a tune by some geezer called Henreich Friedrich Enckhausen). I'm going for my Grade 1 piano exam in July 2008 and this is one of the 3 pieces I've selected to play. It's quite short, and this is because I'm playing it without the repeats. You are not supposed to bore the examiners with repeats, you see.

The other things that have to be done in the exam is scales. I've learned all the grade 1 scales now (C, D, F and G major, and D and A minor). D and F major are quite fiddly actually. I also have do some arpeggios which are pretty easy and broken chords which are not too difficult. The hardest bit will be the sight reading test. This is where they give you a few bars of some music you've never seen before and you have to play it. Grown men have been known to turn to jelly under these circumstances. I hope that I won't be one of them.

2008 Nicola Bryant calendar: May

2008-04-30T19:49:00.004Z

Well it's been a bit quiet around here latetly hasn't it? I 've been a trifle busy of late and simply haven't had any time at all to do this blogging mallarkey. Does anyone read it anyway? Somehow I managed to find time to do the May edition of the calendar. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. Someone? Anyone?

INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 580x580 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

2008 Nicola Bryant calendar: April

2008-03-29T10:12:00.001Z

INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 580x580 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

Photo of the day: Hong Kong

2008-03-21T21:58:00.004Z

Well I just happened to be in Hong Kong the day before yesterday, and had a bit of time to look around before I flew back. This is a photo I took at Victoria Peak. I took the Peak Tram up there which travels up the side of the mountain at a ridiculously steep angle. At the top there are amazing views of the place. It's a shame it was a bit cloudy on the day I was there. Hong Kong is a great place, but I couldn't really do it justice with a mere few jetlagged hours at my disposal.

Photo of the day: On the train

2008-03-13T16:33:00.003Z

Ah, the joys of having a new portable telephone. It's got a mini camera on it too hence the above photo (or should I say image?) It's nice to have this gadget and I also quite like the idea of the in-built MP3 player. However, I have to admit that I am strugglling with the concept of going about my daily life and trying to listen to music at the same time. As much as I love music, I can generally only do one thing at a time, and walking down a street trying to focus on the music means I will only bump into things. If I decide to concentate on my walking and coordination instead I find that I'm just vaguely aware of some bloody irritating noise in my ears. I suppose continuous entertainment just isn't my thing.

Photo of the day: Show me the money

2008-03-08T00:08:00.004Z

As I'm still rather busy (even too busy to tell you all about my new Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240), here's another photo of the day. It appears that I'll be shortly fleeing the country with a bit of cash on the hip. Lovely Jubbly!

Photo of the day: Waiting room

2008-03-03T22:15:00.004Z

Waiting for a bus. Ah, that lovely aroma of urine and disinfectant...

2008 Nicola Bryant calendar: March

2008-02-29T19:55:00.003Z

Well here's the March installment. I almost didn't get around to doing it this month... I'm a bit busy at the moment!

INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 580x580 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

Photo of the day: A big heavy box

2008-02-23T13:08:00.002Z

Well it's finally here! My digital piano (Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240) finally arrived in the huge (and extremly heavy) box you see in the photo. Fortunately the nice people from the shop humped it upstairs for me and I then spent a couple of hours putting it together. Assembling it was actually quite hard work, especially disposing of the mountain of cardboard and foam that was left over.

I'm afraid that I'm far too busy playing it to write any more details right now, but I will reveal all soon (or maybe I'll just tell you about the piano). Suffice to say it's really really bloody good. I am quite amazed by the sheer quality of the instrument. Those Japanese really know what they're doing with this kind of thing.

Photo of the day: Guitar practice

2008-02-18T23:30:00.000Z

I was trying to figure out Ritchie Blackmore's guitar solo in Rainbow's Gates of Babylon (click here to listen to the original). This is something I've tried doing a number of times over the last few years and given up. I've always wanted to learn it because it is one of my favorite pieces of guitarwork of all time! It is an extremely complex solo. It has unusual scales and phrasing, and I find it very difficult to pick out the notes when listening to the original recording. In other words it is a sod to play!

I decided to I'd pull an MP3 of it into Audacity and slow it down to try to make sense of the bits I am struggling with. So far this experiment is working quite well and I've worked out quite a few bits of it. In fact I think I'm about 70% of the way there now. I'll hopefully do a backing track and record it up on Garageband and post a YouTube video soon. The photo shows my PC with the original track slowed right down on Audacity. The laptop is my trusty Mac with Garageband on it.

The piano has been ordered!

2008-02-14T20:30:00.001Z

I ordered a piano a few days ago! Well a digital one anyway. Of course I'd love an acoustic, but this is much more convenient for me at this present time; headphones... USB interface... different instruments... doesn't weigh a tonne etc... you get the picture.

The model I have ordered is a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240 in Rosewood. These digital pianos have a "graded hammer effect" which means that the keys are weighted like in an acoustic piano (heavy at the bottom and lighter at the top). They also look pretty good as they've tried to make the cabinets look more like acoustics. I was going to get one on ebay, but I just couldn't find what I was looking for which wasn't miles away. Therefore, after lots of homework and a few trips to music shops I finally ordered one from new.

I was blown away by how the thing sounded in the shop, and can't wait for it to arrive next week. I'm looking forward to resuming my lessons! I've had about 5 or 6 lessons so far, and haven't had one since December. I decided to stop them until I get a piano because much as I enjoyed the lessons, I thought it was a bit pointless continuing unless I could practice. Anyway it'll finally be here soon and I'll have to get to work on it as I think it's the deadline for applying to do Grade 1 next month.

Here's a video of some bloke playing the same model Clavinova that I ordered:

2008 Nicola Bryant calendar: February

2008-01-29T22:22:00.000Z

It’s time for the second instalment of my Nicola Bryant 2008 calendar, and this month Nicola is looking particularly foxy. It’s the 24th anniversary of Nicola’s debut as Peri in the Doctor Who story Planet of Fire, so what better way to celebrate than with a few saucy screengrabs of that infamous bikini scene!

Make it your desktop wallpaper, and don’t forget to drop by next month for the March instalment. If you don’t want to miss it, you can always sign up to my mailing list! I promise not to sell your email address to marketing companies.

INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 580x580 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

DrGaz's Music: Maybe Next Time

2008-01-26T19:36:00.000Z

This here is my humble attempt at the mighty Ritchie Blackmore's "Maybe Next Time". This is the first part of the song. There's a mid-section and a more technical end section. I will try to finish them off soon. I've already learned most of the guitar bits, but I need to complete the backing track on Garageband before I can post it in its entirety.

Ol' Blacky is definitely my favourite guitarist, and this song is probably one of my favorites of his. It should really be played with a slide, but unfortunately I can't find mine. That may not be a bad thing as my slide playing is pretty dodgy.

If you would like to hear this in better quality than the iTubes offering above, click here to download an MP3 version.

INSTRUCTIONS TO DOWNLOAD MP3 FILES: Right-click on the "Download MP3" link and click on "save link as".

DrGaz's Music: New guitar tunes.

2008-01-10T23:00:00.000Z

Here's a couple of new experimental ditties that I recorded by plugging my guitar into the computer:

Gazrock!

Download MP3

Basically I recorded a couple of clean guitar tracks on Audacity then transferred them individually to Garageband on the Mac. A bit of a pain in the arse doing this way, but I had no option because I currently only have a jack line-in to the sound card on my PC, and no such connection on the Mac. I really need to get some music composition software for the PC tomorrow. As good as Garageband is, my PC is much more powerful.

I had to use a metronome on Audacity to get the timing right, then when I transferred the tracks to the Mac I replaced the metronome track with some drum loops set to the correct tempo. It feels pretty weird trying to record riffs in cleantone when they are intended to be distorted in the final version. However are some nice guitar effects you can add in Garageband (distortion, echo etc), but listening again to Gazrock!, I think I may have overkilled on the reverb and echo. I was trying to get a really heavy sound, and although it sounded OK on my headphones I thought it sounded a bit distant and woolly through the speakers. That said, my current speakers are a bit crap anyway so maybe it's not so much of an issue. Please post a comment if you have decent speakers and tell me if it sounds any good! LET US ROCK!

Twiddly Tune

Download MP3

This is another little test (recorded using the same method as "Gazrock!"). It's half finished and I may have another bash at this one because I quite like it. I may even actually tune my guitar if I redo it! Maybe it'll go on DrGaz's Party somewhere (that is my um "album" I might do one day).

INSTRUCTIONS TO DOWNLOAD MP3 FILES: Right-click on the "Download MP3" link and click on "save link as".

Above is a quick "photo of the day" shot I took earlier of my guitar.

Organism Consciousness

2008-01-03T01:24:00.001Z

This is another one of my experimental weird sketches done over the Christmas period when I was a bit bored one day. I know it’s a bit wacky, but don’t worry – I’m not on drugs or having a nervous breakdown or anything (or at least I hope not). This drawing follows the same rules as my Mechanics of a Damaged Mind drawing I did a few months ago. I am of course referring to the “make it up as you go along and just draw anything that pops into your head” rule. I drew this one in pencil instead of pen, the idea being to try to create a bit more texture and a 3D feel that my Mechanics pic lacked. I also added some highlights to the big swirls afterwards using an eraser to try to make them more 3D.

DrGaz's Music: Jingle Balls!

2007-12-22T19:27:00.001Z

Another little Christmassy treat for you! This is Jingle Balls, my own rendition of Jingle Bells (obviously). It is perhaps nearly as irritating as my Hark the Hells Angels Sing. Play them loud and annoy family & friends over the festive period. Well that's it for me for 2007! I'm off somewhere hot over Crimbo and will be back in the 2008 with some more mildly interesting stuff for your entertainment.

By the way, this is the 1st anniversary of DrGaz's Stuff - a bit worrying since I only started it for a laugh with absolutely no intention of taking it seriously at all.

Coming to DrGaz's Stuff in 2008

The rest of the 2008 Nicola Bryant calendar
More of my terrifying Horror Dream Diary. Dare you read about The Man in the Chair, or The Void?
Some more recipes perhaps
Generally more of the same stuff as before (Doctor Who, sketches, photoblog etc etc)

DrGaz's Music: Hark the Hells Angels Sing

2007-12-21T21:47:00.000Z

Merry Christmas! Here's a little treat... possibly the most irritating version of a Christmas carol you will hear this year. It's intentionally crap, and I also think it has an "imperial" feel to it! Enjoy.

2008 Nicola Bryant Calendar: January

2007-12-19T22:38:00.000Z

Oh, yes. Here's a special Christmas treat for all you Nicola Bryant fans out there! This is the 1st installment of my very own "DrGaz 2008 Nicola Bryant calendar". This is something I hope to do on a monthly basis (it would take me ages to issue the whole year right now), so please pop back at the end of each month for the following installment! If you don't want to miss out, just sign up to my mailing list (don't worry I won't spam you), and I'll make sure you're notified the second each month is ready!
INSTRUCTIONS: Just click on the above image to open the larger 580x580 version in your internet browser. Then right mouse click to save to your PC. When you've done that just make it your desktop wallpaper. Bingo! You now have some saucy pics of Nicola to keep you company throughout 2008!

The Monopods

2007-12-17T23:00:00.000Z

This is something I came across on YouTube recently. I thought I'd post it because I've done a few Tripods posts recently. Anyway, I thought this was quite amusing - it's rather silly. I'm really impressed with how they've done the title sequence so accurately to the original.

Purple bally thing in space

2007-12-11T22:02:00.000Z

This is something I did ages ago in 3D on Autodesk Inventor 9, that I just found on my PC. I thought I'd just give it a quick Photoshop job (add some stars and stuff) and bung it on here.

Horror Dream Drary: The Haunted Apartment

2007-12-09T21:49:00.000Z

I was living in a Victorian mansion that had been divided up into individual apartments. My apartment looked out onto beautiful gardens.

Soon after moving in I realised that the apartment was haunted, and it became worse over the space of a few weeks. The ghosts were three black servants – a man, a woman and a young girl in her early 20s (possibly their daughter). The man and woman were both in their 50s, and were extremely menacing characters. The man was particularly frightening. He had deformed hands and I would often turn around to find that he’d been standing behind me, glaring at me.

The hauntings started off pretty low-key – Just a fleeting glimpse of one of them in a mirror, but when I turned around they would be gone. It wasn’t long before they were still be there when I turned around, fading away seconds later. Soon they were around pretty much all the time, and I decided to try to exorcise them, which was very difficult at first because they mocked me as I read prayers. I persisted and gradually the hauntings got less and less until I stopped seeing them.

DrGaz on the keys

2007-12-08T19:00:00.000Z

Just got back from my 4th piano lesson! I've played guitar (mainly electric) for the last 15 years but it's always been a compromise, because since I was a kid I have ALWAYS wanted a piano! Sadly this is something that was always been impractical for one reason or another - usually "It's too big", "It's too expensive" "It's too noisy" etc etc etc... (the list of excuses not to is endless - you'll never win), so I've decided to go for it in adulthood and learn it properly with a teacher, and hopefully very shortly I'll be purchasing a digital piano. Not the cheapest hobby with lessons at £24/hr, and yes an electric piano WILL take up space, but what the hell! Sometimes you have to say balls to it just do it!

What I really want to do is go through the grades, and I'm aiming to make grade 1 by summer 2008. For now as a novice I have to start somewhere, so I'm currently working my way through the Grade 1 scale book, and another book called Piano Time 1 by Pauline Hall (both pictured below). Piano Time 1 is written for 5 year olds, and contains exciting stuff like "She'll be coming 'round the mountain", but as I said, you have to start somewhere. You can't just start bashing out Beethoven straight away.

A tricky thing about learning an instrument "properly" is learning to sight read (I learned guitar completely by ear and tabulation or "Tab" as it's called) . The thought of learning how to read music sounds pretty scary, but in the last couple of weeks I've actually been getting on quite well with it. This is largely thanks to a piece of software called Note Card which tests you on all the notes. I downloaded it to my PC at work, and give my self a quick test every lunchtime. It's amazing how quickly you pick it up.

DrGaz's Music: Tuesday Night: The Video!

2007-12-05T21:10:00.000Z

Just for the hell of it:

DrGaz's music: Tuesday Night

2007-12-04T22:42:00.000Z

This is a little thing that I recorded on the PC this evening. It's just a 30 second ditty I did on the guitar as a little test. I wanted to see if I could plug it into the mic port on the PC soundcard and record in Audacity (a nice piece of Freeware for sound manipulation that allows you multitrack). This is about 5 or 6 tracks together. The sound quality isn't wonderful, but it's nice to know that I can do this so easily. I wouldn't mind having a bash at doing some guitar stuff in Garageband (if I can ever get around to it).

Below is a pic of my guitar. It's been recently dusted down after spending a year in storage. It's a US Fender Stratocaster that I puchased new in 1996. Cost me £500 from Cranes in Cardiff.

Actually I quite like this little tune, so maybe I can turn it into a proper song. My ultimate aim is to make an er "album" (it'll be called DrGaz's Party), and with a bit of work I can also develop some of the other tunes on this blog to go on it too!

DrGaz's virtual Dalek build

2007-11-22T19:06:00.000Z

This is something I did a couple of years ago on a piece of 3D software called Autodesk Inventor 9. Since I was a kid I always wanted to make a full-size Dalek. Unfortunately I never got the opportunity and these days I certainly haven't got the time or a garage to devote to such a project. Therefore I thought it would be fun to create an accurate 3D model using this sofware. Here's some pics of the model. It's onlt about 60% complete. Maybe I'll come back one day and try to finish it off.

I used the plans compiled from The Dalek Builders' Guild to create this model. They are extremely accurate, and if you can get into their website there are some fantastic examples of replica Daleks that people have built themselves. There is also an amusing section devoted to "Wokleks", which are slightly dodgy, less accurate builds!

Wiggy Davison

2007-11-06T20:37:00.001Z

This is the cover to the latest Radio Times which is promoting the Doctor Who special for Children in Need. Someone on the Outpost Gallifrey forum mentioned that Peter Davison should wear a wig because these days he's a bit of a slap-head - his hair was much longer when he played the Doctor in the early '80s! Well I couldn't resist the challenge of Photoshopping on Davison's original hair to see the difference, so below is here's him before and after his makeover. Actually I think it takes a few years off him:

...and here's the revised Radio Times with Wiggy Davison in all his glory:

...and here's some more wig options for both Doctors:

Photo of the day: Traffic

2007-11-01T22:04:00.001Z

Again, on the way home this evening on the top deck of the bus. Now that the clocks have gone back it's dark so early in the evening.

Photo of the day: Empty bus

2007-10-30T21:49:00.001Z

On an empty top deck of the bus in the way home from work this evening.

DrGaz's Music: The Tripods v2

2007-10-27T19:30:00.000Z

This is my second attempt at the theme tune for The Tripods. Although still not perfect I think it is slightly closer to Ken Freeman's original than my first attempt. I have corrected the key and tempo, and I think that I've managed to get the bassline a bit more accurate. I have also synchronised it better to the opening credits (see YouTube video below). The main problem I've been having is with the instrument sounds. I still can't get the main theme instruments to sound right - the original has more attack and also seems to have some horn sounds in there somewhere that I just can't get close to. Instead I'm pretty much having to use the default Garageband strings instrument. I am also unable to find anything similar to the gut-wrenching metallic sounds at the beginning. I quite like my version of these, but they don't have as much oomph as Ken Freemans!

Photo of the day: Donkeys

2007-10-25T19:33:00.000Z

Donkeys on Mablethorpe (Lincolnshire) beach last Saturday.

Photo of the day: Haunted archway.

2007-10-24T20:29:00.000Z

I visited Lincoln with some friends last weekend. On Saturday night we went on the excellent Original Lincoln Ghost Walk. Pictured is the most haunted part of Lincoln - a medieval archway that was originally the "back door" to the walled city. The Greestone Stairs are beyond the archway.

Apparently lots of people who take this shot get a mysterious black blob in the top left-hand corner of the pic by thee lamp. I resisted the temptation to photoshop on such a ghostly entity...

DrGaz's Music: There Is Only Death.

2007-10-17T07:52:00.000Z

Here’s a cheery tune for you! I hope you don’t find it too depressing. I actually did it a few months ago and just got around to putting the finishing touches to it today. There Is Only Death is more of a mini audio project rather than a song because apart from the rhythm of the “heartbeat” bass drum and the bleep of the life support machine there’s no actual melody. It’s mainly sound effects and weird noises.

This is the final few minutes of terminal pain before the heart gives out and brain activity ceases. Everything goes black and that’s yer lot, mate!

I’m hoping to go completely in the opposite direction for my next tune. I’d like to make up to you for this utterly depressing song by making something so sugary and cheerful you’ll want to throw up! Something about happy, happy people, blue skies and cute furry kittens perhaps.

Sevans Daleks Adverts - NEW DALEKS (1987)

2007-10-17T07:32:00.001Z

Thanks again to Outpost Gallifreyan MasseyLopez for sending this in. I believe that this is the final outstanding advert for Sevans models (if anyone knows about one I've missed, please get in touch!)

This ad introduces a redesigned range of Sevans Daleks, far simpler to assemble than previous models. The TV Dalek (pictured) also shows a further improvement - a removable head section complete with Kaled mutant and controls!

A very nice ad, I must say. Some great looking models, and I like the warehouse set. There's even a pic of the man himself!

Interestingly this advert also mentions the availability of an A2 Sevans wall-poster. I've certainly never seen this and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has a scan of it.

Source: Doctor Who Monthly, 1987 Autumn Special, rear cover.

DrGaz's 2008 Nicola Bryant calendar.

2007-10-14T12:16:00.001Z

Coming soon from DrGaz!! It's the "unofficial and unauthorised" DrGaz's 2008 Nicola Bryant calendar. This is my own tribute to Nicola Bryant, the actress who played Peri again Colin Baker's and Peter Davison's Doctor. She was indeed the hottest companion the Doctor had in my opinion.

Soon to be available (hopefully in time for Crimbo) in an electronic format! Watch this space...

P.S. Sign up to my mailing list if you'd like it to be emailed to you.

DrGaz's Music: The Tripods

2007-10-11T16:06:00.000Z

Contrary to the slagging off most Doctor Who fans give The Tripods, I have to say that I bloody loved the series! I recently re-watched some episodes on YouTube and was amazed to find that even after 20 years it is still gripping and the effects hold up surprisingly well.

I recently had a bash at trying to emulate Ken Freeman's magnificent theme tune using Garageband, and you can listen to it here. You can either use the above player or hear it on the video below where I've dubbed it over the title sequence:

Above: my version of the theme opening title sequence.

Aaargh it's all out of sync! The bassline's all wrong! Where did those drums come from at the end? It's ALL wrong! (But I sorta quite like it).

Well I'm not saying it's perfect and I have to admit that I did this when I didn't have an internet connection so it's completely from memory. Listening to it against the actual theme music, I know now that my instruments, tempo, key, phrasing and baseline are all wrong (well everything's wrong then).

I'm been slowly working on a more accurate version, but sadly I'm limited with the voices available on Garageband - I just CAN'T seem get the strings to sound right on my new version - they don't have enough attack and sound too relaxed. Maybe I can find a way around that somehow...

Photo of the day: Hammersmith Tube Station

2007-10-03T22:15:00.000Z

Well I just happened to be in London last night and passing the tube in Hammersmith I thought I'd take this as I had my camera on me. There are a number of stations in Hammermith for different lines and this is the lovely old Victorian one that accommodates the Hammersmith & City line. I really like the style of some of these old London Underground stations have, and I thought that this one looked quite atmospheric all lit up at night.

Sevans Daleks Adverts - Doctor Who Monsterkits (1988)

2007-09-30T20:00:00.000Z

Here's another full page DWM advert for the Sevans model kits. Interestinigly the price of the Dalek kit has risen again to £17.95 (from £14.95, and from originally £11.95). Quite a large price rise in such a short space of time (approximately 2 years). I imagine that this increase reflects the overheads involved in the introduction of the other model kits seen in this particular ad, notably the Cyberman and Ice Warrior kits.

Thanks again to Outpost Gallifreyan MasseyLopez for sending this in.

Source: Doctor Who Monthly, Issue 136 (May 1988), page 10.

Sevans Daleks adverts - TIMELORD - BEWARE (1985-6)

2007-09-30T13:01:00.000Z

This advert was featured in several issues of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) during 1985-6. Thanks to Outpost Gallifreyan MasseyLopez and John Main for sending this in.

A fantastic advert I must admit, and the first Sevans one (to my knowledge) that was in colour, this one frequently adorned the rear cover of DWM during 1986, and again as a kid I remember drooling over it trying to decide what colour to paint my very own one that I got for Crimbo in '86! In the end I painted my Crimbo '86 one in the "Resurrection" scheme, and my Crimbo '87 one in the silver/gold scheme that you can see in this ad.

Hey they've gone up to £14.95! That's a whopping +25% in 1 year. I know that house price inflation was insane in the late '80s (as it is now), so maybe Stu Evans had a whacking great mortgage he needed to pay off!

Source: Doctor Who Monthly, Issue 105 (October 1985), inside front cover.

Sevans Dalek adverts - DALEK INVASION (1985)

2007-09-30T12:00:00.000Z

Here's a classic example of a Sevans models ad from the mid '80s. This was featured in several issues of DWM (Doctor Who Monthly) in 1985. I remember drooling over this particular ad for a long time as an 11/12 year old before finally getting one delivered to me by Santa in 1986. As you can see, the price was £11.95. That sounds so cheap by today's standards! It's amazing how inflation creates that impression... probably the equivalent of £30-£35 nowadays I guess. Thanks to Outpost Gallifreyan, John Main for emailing this in.

Photo of the day: Post office signs

2007-09-26T12:48:00.000Z

Here's a photo taken in Prague this weekend. It is a post office door. I was amazed by the amount of activities that are non-permissable in this establishment. I even had to leave my shooter outside.

Gaz’s Spaghetti Bolognaise (serves 4)

2007-09-21T11:46:00.000Z

This is my own recipe for spaghetti bolognaise. It is no doubt based on a number of recipes that over the years I have I have combined, altered, refined and customised to my own taste.

Actually, I find that spaghetti bolognaise is pretty hard to get right. This recipe is based on my most recent attempt from the other day. It came out really well, and I believe that the secret is totally in reducing the sauce so that the flavour of the tomatoes is intensified.

Ingredients

Olive oil
Onion (1 large one)
Minced beef (500g)
Tomatoes (12 of them, nice and ripe)
Basil – A handful of leaves, washed and finely chopped
1 bay leaf
Ground black pepper (a good few grinds)
Mixed dried herbs (2-3 tbs)
Chilli powder (1/2 a tsp, don’t go mad – you shouldn’t notice it)
Balsalmic vinegar (3 or 4 tbs)
Optional – red wine (a good slug)
Optional – Worcestershire sauce (3 tbs)
Minced garlic (3 or 4 cloves)
Salt (to taste)
Optional – mushrooms, chopped and fried separately (a tub of them)
Pasta (as much or as little as you want)

Method

Heat a good slug of olive oil in a pan.
Finely chop the onion and fry until translucent.
Add the minced beef and brown off nicely. Give it a good blast but do not burn. Salt it while it is cooking.
Skin and chop the tomatoes and add to the pan.
Add the bay leaf, pepper, mixed dried herbs, chilli powder, Balsalmic vinegar, optional red wine, Worcestershire sauce.
Finally add the garlic (I always add this slightly later in the cooking process. I find that its flavour is diminished if it’s put in too early, especially with the onion).
Add the previously fried mushroom to the sauce (and their juices) if required.At this time the sauce will be quite watery because of the tomatoes. Reduce the sauce over an hour or so on a moderate hear. This will intensify the flavour and make it tangy (most recipes use tomato puree to achieve this, but I don’t use the stuff). The longer you can do this the better.
Salt the sauce to taste.
Serve with pasta that has been boiled with some salt and a slug of olive oil.

Horror Dream Diary: My Gran's Remains.

2007-09-09T20:20:00.000Z

My grandmother died in 2000, which is obviously plenty of time for me to come to terms with her passing, but strangely I have had two nightmares recently that featured her. Both were within 3 months of each other, and both featured people desecrating her remains. This is not exactly a pleasant thing to dream about, and originally I decided that there was no way I would write down something so disturbing, but after a while I recognised that the dreams had a slightly comic element to them that takes the sting out of them …so here we are with my macabre (but slightly silly) tale of “My Gran’s Remains”.

In the first dream I stood in the aisle of a church facing the altar. In front of me was my grandmother’s coffin. It was on a long, high table that raised it up to shoulder height. A man stood at the side of the coffin. He was dressed in a black suit and was leering at me. His eyes gleamed with wickedness. He rubbed his hands together in an extravagant way like a magician would before performing a trick. He then lifted the coffin lid slightly and reached inside with his whole arm.

He heaved on something large that was inside the coffin, and in one motion pulled out my grandmother, but minus her insides. The man had basically pulled out a Gran “body-suit” somehow leaving her bones and internal organs inside the coffin. The nearest thing I can think of that resembled this is that trick where someone yanks a tablecloth from a table leaving the crockery intact on the tabletop. This was a grotesque parody of that stunt, with my Gran’s bones being the crockery and her outer “body-suit” being the tablecloth.

I don’t know how the man did this but I found this scene utterly vile. He stood there laughing at me while my boneless grandmother flopped limply around his feet. When I woke up I felt quite sickened at what I dreamed about.

I had a second, similar dream around one month ago. Once again I was in the church from the previous dream, but this time I stood facing a wall. It had been crudely smashed open to reveal an urn that stood within the wall cavity. Somehow I knew that it contained the cremated remains of my grandmother (this is strange because I was fully aware in the dream she had actually been buried in real life).

My mother breezed into the church and tipped the urn upside down, pouring out some of the ashes into the wall cavity. She scooped some up using a small gardening spade and shovelled it into a small plastic bag. I asked her what the hell she was doing, and she explained that some of my Gran’s ashes were needed over at the hospital. Apparently “the hospital” had a collection of ornaments and semi-precious stones that they liked to display, and they favoured displaying them on a bed of somebody’s cremated ashes (apparently the colour of the ash complimented the display items perfectly). For some reason the hospital occasionally needed to renew the ashes, and this time it was my mother’s turn to get hold of some. Interestingly, when my mother explained all this to me, her tone was one of nonchalance, as if what she was doing was simply just a normal everyday occurrence. She did not seem to understand why I found her actions strange, and she found it odd that I thought she was doing something unusual.

My mother breezed back out of the church with a plastic bag containing some of my Gran’s ashes, and I turned back to look at the urn feeling very confused.

Read more of my HORROR DREAM DIARY

Mechanics of a Damaged Mind

2007-09-07T21:24:00.001Z

This is an experiment that I've been working on sporadically for a few weeks and I finished it today. I set out to draw a completely random picture - just anything that came into my head. I stared in the middle of the page and progressed round and round until I got to the outside, aiming to cover every inch of the page with some sort of design.

During the process I realised that is that if everything is completely random it is not so interesting to look at - the eye is not drawn to anything specific. Therefore, as I progressed to the extremes of the page, I tried to work in more geometric designs and bolder patterns. I think that they work much better. I suppose that even chaos needs a few rules.

Horror Dream Diary: The Grey Man

2007-09-01T21:40:00.000Z

Recently my brother told me something disturbing. He described how he had seen a ghost in my parents’ house some 8 or 9 years ago. Why he had not told me sooner I don’t know. I have always felt slightly uneasy in the upstairs rooms of that house – there is something unusual about the atmosphere - and now that I know that the place is haunted everything makes sense. It’s not a particularly old house. It was built in the early ‘70s, but in my opinion that’s more than enough time for a soul to make its mark.

What he described to me was quite unusual, and not at all like any ghost stories that I’ve heard before. He was having a sleepless night in the back bedroom (a twin room), and out of frustration shoved the duvet aside. With the duvet out of the way he could see that an elderly man was kneeling on the floor between the beds. He had grey hair and was bent over so much that his forehead was almost touching the carpet. The man held his head in his hands, his knuckles clenched around the back of his head. The position that the man was in was almost like a brace position as if an earthquake or bombing raid was happening. Despite this, my brother sensed that there was something deeply tragic about the man and that he was in this unusual position because he was experiencing some grave despair.

Terrified, and realising that he was seeing something supernatural, my brother covered himself back up with the duvet. A few minutes later he dared to take another look, but the old man was still there, frozen in the same position as before. Somehow he managed to get off to sleep and by morning the apparition had thankfully gone.

I mention all this because the other day I had a nightmare featuring the same ghost which went something like this…

For some reason I had taken up residence in the upstairs of my parents’ house. The house was disturbingly empty, as if nobody lived there anymore. I was alone in the house and it was night. The place was really creepy and inexplicable things would happen – electrical appliances would spring to life by themselves, and the light cord in the bathroom would often start swinging, clacking rhythmically against the tiles.

I heard the noise from the light cord and went to check it out. I passed the open door of the back bedroom where my brother had seen the ghost. Inside the room the electric light crackled dangerously, and a TV in the corner hissed menacingly at me. I stood at the threshold of the room and watched as the same elderly man that my brother has seen gradually materialised in the middle of the room. Sometimes he partially appeared then faded away, but once or twice he appeared to be completely solid. He seemed animated as if talking and gesturing to an invisible person who was also in the room. I could hear what he was saying. It was mostly gibberish – the ramblings of a madman, but he coherently said two or three sentences. I distinctively heard him say that there were “problems in Arkansas”.

I tried to attract the old man’s attention. “Hey” I shouted, but he was not aware of me. I tried again more loudly and he immediately stopped talking to his invisible partner. Slowly and silently the man turned around and looked into my eyes.

“What is your name?” I asked.

He told me.

I wish I remembered what it was when I woke up.

Queen tribute band tickets (2000)

2007-08-25T22:01:00.000Z

I designed these tickets in 2000 (bloody hell, that 7 years ago) for a Queen tribute band that played in Aberdare, South Wales (I worked near there once upon a time). They are business-card size and I based the design of the first one on the colour scheme for Queen's Greatest Hits 2. The second one is is pretty much the same design but with a different colour scheme and diffrerent effects. I used CorelDraw8 and Corel PhotoPaint8 for these. These days I am using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop CS2 (far superior!)

Hi-fis, Daleks and smoke alarms - 3D modelling (1996)

2007-08-25T13:52:00.001Z

Here are two images that I created in 1996 on 3D Studio version 3. The first two images are based the hi-fi that I owned at the time. It was a nice easy one to do as the geometry was relatively simple to model. The third image is of some Daleks. They are slightly inaccurate because I modelled them completely from memory without a visual reference. More recently (about 2 years ago) I modelled a much more accurate Dalek using a 3D package called Autodesk Inventor 9. I used the Dalek Builder's Guild plans for reference so the new model is faithful to the original props. I never completed the model (it is about 80% finished), but I will shortly post some images of my "virtual Dalek build". The final image is a wireframe of a a smoke alarm moulding that I modelled for some reason.

SF Fantasy Cardiff (SFFC)

2007-08-20T10:15:00.001Z

SF Fantasy Cardiff (SFFC) was a Cardiff-based group that evolved from the DWAS (Doctor Who Appreciation Society) Cardiff Local Group (CLG). I was a member in the early days and even helped to organise it a bit before I finally lost interest in about 1992! I designed a logo and poster (pictured) which was used to advertise the group locally. They were primarily displayed in Cardiff's central library and in the Forbidden Planet shop.

The Cardiff Local Group became the SFFC in an attempt to boost membership. Interest in Doctor Who had waned considerably following the cancellation of the series in 1989, and it was decided that we should "branch out" into general Science Fiction and fantasy in order to survive. Most members already liked Star Trek: The Next Generation and Blakes 7 so why not? Personally I wasn't so passionate about much apart from Doctor Who, but the idea made sense. And so the Cardiff Local Group was reborn as the SFFC. Admittedly it was a wasn't a great name, and it made us sound like some kind or regulatory authority rather than than a a group of teenage sci-fi enthusiasts, but for some reason it stuck, and I believe that it continued for a few years after my departure from the group. Eventually the SFFC transformed into a group called Timeless, that is still running to this day. A much better name I think!

SF Fantasy Cardiff publications

The SFFC had two regular publications when I was a member. Firstly, it had its own fanzine called CSO, named after the usually dodgy Colour Separation Overlay effect used in many episodes of Doctor Who for back-projection (by the way, CSO was refered to as Chromakey by the entire world apart from the BBC for some strange reason). I put together the first issue of CSO myself (pictured) with the aid of contributiors from the group, I don't know who designed/edited the second issue. I'm pretty certain that there was a second one, but it was after I left the group and I never saw it. If anyone one has a copy, please email me some .jpegs and I'll update this post.

The second publication was simply called The Newsletter (pictured), this was simply a continuation of the CLG's former publication of the same name. As with CSO, I put together the first SFFC one (issue 13) - a really simple 2 pager, and somebody else handled the more substantial future issues after me. The cover of issues 16 and 17 are also pictured below as examples.

Above: "The Newsletter". L-R: Issue 13 (my issue), issue 16 and issue 17.

Sontaran drawing (done in 1990)

2007-08-19T13:35:00.000Z

This is a drawing I did in 1990 that I thought I'd scan in and post just for the hell of it. It's a Doctor Who related one featuring some bad dudes called Sontarans.

I drew this because I intended it to be the front cover of a Doctor Who fanzine, Cybernetix, I was doing as a teenager back in the late '80s / early '90s (pictured below). I'll post more about the fanzine at a later date, but basically I was a member of the Cardiff DWAS Local Group (or the CLG) and several members contributed articles and it ran for 3 issues and one "special issue" (which wasn't actually that "special" really - more of an attempt to use up the remaining material). This artwork was intended to be the cover of a 4th issue that I never got around to doing for some reason - probably because I was in sixth-form and had discovered pubs etc.

I remember that the "in" technique at the time with "Who" fan artists was to make up drawings from thousands of tiny ink dots. I suppose the main reason for this is that the artwork photocopies extremely well if it is drawn in this way (pencil drawings once photocopied always look rubbish). The other reason is this technique is quite forgiving in that you can conceal errors easily by increasing dot-density in dodgy areas. This drawing was one of my numerous attempts at the "Whofan multi-dot" style. I must admit that to draw things in this way is a bitch to do - it takes absolutely forever and it makes your hand go numb. I do however think that the results are quite nice.

Some Doctor Who fanzines I made during the late '80s/early '90s - 4 issue of "Cybernetix" and issue 1 of "CSO"

SEVANS Dalek models - readers' Daleks.

2007-08-11T10:30:00.000Z

Here's some SEVANS models pics sent in by Outpost Gallifreyan, Ben Flay.

The Dalek is a hybrid of three separate kits! - A MK1, Mk2 and MK3. The dome and shoulers are from an original Mk1 kit, the neck is from a Mk2, and the skirt from a MK3. Ben has had it for about 10 years. The reason why it's made from three kits is because Ben found that the quality of the plastic was poor and only managed to get one decent Dalek by combining all three kits together (this is another great example of how damn difficult the things were to put together!). The Dalek is a generic '70s Dalek rather than an episode specific one. It is due for a refit soon as the glue has dried out and the paint has suffered. It looks damn good if you ask me, though. I think the battle scarred look works pretty well.

Below are some photos of Ben's MK1 Davros. This was also a hard kit to make. It is the Micheal Wisher version. Ben added lights and extra deals to the interior panels. The kit is even older than the Dalek (from around '87), and the skirt needs repainting (a bit faded because it was kept on the bedroom windowsill for a bit).

Do you have a Sevans Dalek you'd like to share? Go on send in a pic! You know you want to.

All images in this post are copyright Ben Flay ©2007.

Photo of the day: The joys of commuting 2

2007-08-11T00:21:00.000Z

Here's a few more pics that I took the other day that I thought I'd post (click to enlarge). I guess they capture some snippets of the "excitement" of commuting from Cambridge to London on a daily basis. The first shot is the sun coming up over the railway at Cambridge train station at 7:15am. The other two shots are of the entrance to the tube at Kings Cross in the morning, and the platform at Kings Cross on the way back home in the evening. I was thinking that maybe one day I might record some "sounds of the day" and compile them into a song or something - something weird like a kind of audio commuter's nightmare. I imagine that it will probably come out like Pink Floyd's "On the Run" off "Dark Side of the Moon"!

Photo of the day: The joys of commuting

2007-08-07T21:00:00.000Z

For some reason I felt compelled to take my camera to capture anything on my commute to London that might be interesting. I don't know how this amazing idea popped into my head when I awoke at 6:30am because I am usually incapable of rational thought for at least 3 hours after I get out of bed.

I took this photo at King's Cross just as I was about to enter the underground at 8:15am. Actually its a bit quieter than usual this week. I think that many people are on holiday.

Photo of the day: Train sunset

2007-08-07T19:33:00.000Z

There was a pretty amazing sunset this evening. I took this photo on the train coming back to Cambridge from London. Looking at it now on the PC, I wish I didn't cut off the ground as much as I did. I guess I was too distracted by the clouds at the time to notice.

Sevans Dalek models - videos!

2007-08-04T23:14:00.000Z

Here's two videos that I made just before I flogged my grey Sevans Dalek on eBay last year. The first one I did just for a laugh, the second is one that did specifically for the auction in the hope that it would help to sell it better.

My Sevans Dalek before I eBayed it last year!

2007-08-01T21:42:00.000Z

Here's a few pics of my Sevans Dalek before it was flogged on eBay in November 2006! As you can see, it was a bit of a wreck compared to how it looked when it started off life in the mid '80s (click here and here to see how it used to look).

It was repainted and modified many times, and dropped a few times! The cat knocked it off a window sill a couple of years ago, almost destroying it completely! He also enjoyed pulling out the sink-plunger! These thumbnails link to some pretty big images. I have a video of this Dalek floating about somewhere that I might upload at a later date...

TARDIS console model

2007-08-01T21:25:00.000Z

I came across a couple of photos of this cardboard model I made in the mid '80s. I think I made it when I was 13 or 14 years old (click to enlarge). It's the late Tom Baker / early Peter Davison TARDIS console. I believe I scaled it from the "Doctor Who Technical Manual". I remember that it didn't take too long to build.

Sevans Dalek models: More photos

2007-08-01T21:00:00.001Z

As a follow-up to my original post about my old Sevans Daleks I have dug out a few more photos of them (click to enlarge). I took these when I was about 12 years old in the mid '80s. I have to say that these pics make me feel terribly nostalgic. I built the grey one with my father. I will post some more pics soon of the grey one. That one survived until last year when I sold it on eBay. It was in a terrible state.

Just to clarify, I had two Sevans Daleks. One was painted up as a "Resurrection" model, and the other was gold and silver. It was later repainted silver/blue (an "Evil of the Daleks" version. One of the photos below shows before/after this happened.