Friday, February 23, 2007

Photo of the day: The view through my window


A week ago we moved (temporarily until we find something better) to a tiny flat in the middle of Cambridge. It's a great location for the money and is only 10 minutes walk into the town centre or to the station. This is the view through the skylight. It's great to lie in bed and look straight up at the clouds. The only problem with this place is that we're right next door to the local curry-house and their roof extractor points right at our skylight. They're in there making curry day and night, seven days a week. I love the smell of Indian food myself, but the problem is that it makes me drool continuously whenever the window gets opened.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Photo of the day: The Andaman Sea


I'm cheating again - this photo wasn't taken today. I took it 2 weeks ago as I stood in the warm crystal-clear Andaman Sea in Phuket, Thailand. I was over there for a few weeks, managing to miss almost all of the British winter in fact. It's quite a shock to be back in England with the constant clouds, drizzle and cold. It's sometimes hard to believe that I had fish swimming around my ankles a fortnight ago. It seems like a dream now.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Photo of the day: The view through my window


I didn't actually take this photo today. It was taken last week (16th Feb) in Cambridge (the same house with the kitchen photo). Admittedly it's not the most exciting photo, but I guess it captures a dismal February morning.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Photo of the day: A kitchen!


I came across someone's photoblog recently whilst surfing. Such a good idea I thought - you can still be creative without having to spend hours writing a load of bollocks that nobody will read anyway. Therefore, because I simply am too lazy to write anything right now, here is my very first "DrGaz photo of the day".

What is it? Well, I'm currently staying for a few days at a friend's house in Cambridge. This is a wacky perpective on the kitchen I snapped earlier. I quite like how the blue fading natural light outside contrasts with the artificially lit interior.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Sevans Dalek models

"Sevans Models" was a British firm that manufactured 1:5 scale Dalek models in the 1980s. These were the first authentic ones ever produced (they actually did look like Daleks), and were popular with Doctor Who fans despite criticism of requiring a degree in mechanical engineering to build one.

The Dalek kit retailed for around £16 (with inflation that'll be the equivalent of around 30 quid now). I owned two (pictured). Santa kindly brought me the first one for Christmas 1986. My father helped to build it and I painted in the grey/black livery of the Doctor Who story Resurrection of the Daleks. The second Dalek, (the silver/gold one) was received the following Christmas. This time I built it all on my own and it came out fine, despite my father's lack of intervention.

Sevans Models was set up by a bloke called Stuart Evans, hence the name "Sevans" (get it?). As the story goes, he gave up a boring job driving a desk for the civil service to set up the company after obtaining a licence from the BBC to manufacture the Dalek model. The company was successful with the Dalek, and it wasn't long before they were banging out Cybermen, Davroses, Movie Daleks, K9s and Ice Warriors.

My gold Dalek had a very short life. It was repainted, modified, and generally buggered around with many, many times until it looked so awful that I binned it.

Goldie's predecessor had a happier story. It survived almost until it's 20th birthday before getting unceremoniously flogged on Ebay (for a ridiculously small amount of money, I might add) at the end of 2006. I have to say that age had taken its toll on the little fella and he was looking a bit knackered by the time he was packed off.

My Sevans Daleks were truly excellent models and I had a lot of fun building, painting and buggering about with them years ago. Full credit to Stuart Evans. I wonder what he's doing now.

Did you (or do you) own a Sevans Dalek? Do you want to own up to DrGaz about it? If you do then please leave a message here. Don't forget to include a link to a photo if you can.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Horror dream diary: The Labyrinth

This is my account of a disturbing dream I had last night…

I was walking though dark London streets trying to find my way home. I didn’t know where home was or where I had been. I was dragging a large, wheeled suitcase and over my shoulder was a large bag containing my laptop.

Somehow I found myself within a labyrinth of dark, claustrophobic underground tunnels. They had a Victorian feel and wooden doorways and trap doors in the walls and floors led in hundreds of different directions. Gas lamps mounted on the walls flickered in the gloom.

Now and then a flurry of pale figures would dart past me, around me, hurtling through one door and into another, disappearing down different corridors. These diminutive, naked human forms scuttled on their way indifferent to me, an intruder.

I was soon alone, wheeling my suitcase along, trying to decide which door I should choose. Some slammed themselves open as I walked past, as if trying to entice me along a certain route – the same, brightly lit well-trodden paths that the others had taken. I was determined to find my own way and this meant that I had feel my way down sections of corridor that were in total darkness.

As I progressed deeper into the labyrinth, more doors would hurl themselves open for me, trying to force me to deviate from my path, and the further I went, the more violently they flung themselves open. It was as if they were trying to make me lose confidence in the route I was taking and force me to change my mind.

In a particularly dark and remote section of tunnels, I came upon a rectangular opening in the floor. It was partially obscured by a stack of books, but through a narrow slit I could see that there was a brightly lit room beneath and a figure was moving around within.

This is when things started to get seriously weird.

A hand burst through the opening and clawed at me, snatching at my ankles. My eyes somehow magnified the hand as if I was seeing it through a fish-eye lens. Distorted fingers thrashed for a few moments before giving up and withdrawing.

I walked on until I came to a locked door. I knocked and the door was thrown open by a middle aged rat-like gentleman dressed in a tired black suit and wearing a crumpled top hat. He invited me into his room. The floor was strewn with electronic equipment and piles of old clothes and books. In the corner a crude wooden staircase led up to the black void of an attic room above.

A blonde girl in her mid-twenties accompanied the man. She was dressed in a green and red frock.

At this point I realised that the bag I carried on my shoulder was empty. My laptop had vanished.

The atmosphere in the room was welcoming and I exchanged pleasantries with the unusual couple, joking with them that their appearance reminded me of characters from “Alice in Wonderland”, making particular reference to the man’s top hat. The man soon announced that he had to attend to some business elsewhere, and he left through the door that I had previously entered. I was alone with the girl who confided in me that her acquaintance was not the friendly person he appeared to be. He was a liar and he was evil. He was the one that had taken my computer, and he was setting a trap for me.

The girl led me up the stairs to the attic room where we searched for the laptop. We found it concealed under piles of rags. I retrieved it and as we climbed down to the lower room I heard footsteps echoing in the corridor outside as the man returned. I hurried down the last few steps and hid my laptop away underneath a bundle of clothes. The door was flung open and he entered, his eyes glaring with suspicion. The laptop was poorly concealed under the clothes, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before he saw it. I attempted to distract him by examining one of his electronic gadgets, asking him to explain its function to me.

I awoke exactly at this moment, and whoa... what a weird dream. What was the meaning of this dream? What would have happened next?

Any suggestions? Please leave a comment. I’m not on drugs or anything.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Recipe: DrGaz's Mexican Fajitas

Here’s my recipe for Mexican fajitas. Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients - the method is pretty simple really and gives excellent results. One word of warning, go easy on the lime. It’s easy to get carried away with them, and you don’t want the sauce to end up being too rich. For extra flavour, it’s best to marinate the meat beforehand (step 1), but this is not essential. If you can’t be bothered with this, just skip this step.

I would suggest that if you’re going to invest your time and effort into trying this recipe, always use the best ingredients you can get because it’ll be worth it! I personally don’t use packet mixes or tinned ingredients! Fresh is best.

STEP 1: Marinate the meat

  • 4-5 large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper?
  • 1/2 cup balsamic or red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup fresh coriander, chopped roughly
  • 500g. boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cubed. Alternatively 500g sirloin steak, slices into strips.

Method: This is an easy one! Just shove it all in a big bowl and mix it up. Then mix the meat in and leave it for a while. For best results, leave it in the fridge overnight, but an hour or two will be fine if you’re pushed for time.

STEP 2: Make the salsa

  • 2 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 smallish onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 tbsps. fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped, add more if desired (wear rubber gloves)
  • 2 Tbsps. fresh lime or lemon juice

Method: Combine all ingredients and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl and set aside for 2 hours.

STEP 3: Make the fajita sauce

  • 6 large flour tortillas (and some aluminium foil to bake them in).
  • 2 tsps. olive oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 350g. tomatoes, skinned and chopped.
  • 85g. green chilies, drained and chopped (wear rubber gloves)
  • 2 Tbsps. coriander or parsley, minced
  • 1/2 tsp Salt.
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 Tbsp. lime juice

Method

  1. Heat oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
  2. Sauté chicken 8-10 minutes or until browned.
  3. Add onion and garlic and sauté until the onion becomes transparent. Ensure that garlic does not overcook.
  4. Stir in next 7 ingredients.
  5. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
  6. Cover pan and reduce heat to low.
  7. Simmer 20-30 minutes or until meat is tender.
  8. Stir in lime juice.
  9. Serve wrapped in warm tortillas with salsa.

A good variation of this is to line up 4 or 5 filled fajitas in a oven dish, dress with salsa, sour cream and grated cheese, and bake at 180 degrees C until the cheese has started to brown.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

DrGaz’s House of Horror

A few years ago I had the pleasure of working for a technology company that was based in a 19th century manor house in Essex (pictured). One day I was chatting to the receptionist, who gave me the following account of how she’d once seen a ghost there:

“I was sitting at reception one winter afternoon, just before Christmas. It was approaching the end of the day and the light outside was fading. As I sat there in front of the PC, I could feel that someone was watching me. I turned around to see a young girl staring at me incredulously. I’d say she was perhaps in her late teens, and was dressed in a maid’s outfit. She had curly, golden hair. She peered at me and my computer for what seemed like a very long time before turning to study the Christmas tree in the same way. She then turned her back on me and walked straight through the wall. The whole experience lasted for about a minute”.


A pretty intriguing little story I thought. I took a look in the room behind reception, and there was a doorway exactly in the area that the girl had supposedly walked though. It was sealed off and paneled over on the reception side.

I found out later that there were all sorts of ghostly rumours about the building. Artifacts from as far back as the Bronze Age have been found on the site indicating that the area had been inhabited for a long time before the manor was built. The manor itself started life as an 18th century farmhouse. Over the years it was extended and embellished, gradually mutating into a mansion. Some of the original farmhouse exists at the heart of the building. These areas are reputed to be the most haunted, the focus being a particular corridor at the centre of the mansion.

Naturally, I didn't stay too late for overtime.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

BBC Video review: The Daleks (1989)

Below is a review of the original BBC Video release of "The Daleks". I wrote this for a Doctor Who fanzine that I edited in 1989. Back then I was a 15 years old member of a DWAS (Doctor Who Appreciation Society) Local Group. I thought it would be fun to share this with you. There's more to come if you're very lucky!

"Having now seen this video, I have to admit that it has become one of my favorite BBC video releases so far. I was amazed at watching the story in such excellent quality. I have seen it once before in extremely bad quality before it was released on BBC video and I didn't enjoy it so much. "The Daleks, in fact has become one of my favorite Dalek stories along side Revelation, Resurrection and Genesis of the Daleks.

I can picture how watching this story back in '63 must have been like (remember, no one had ever heared of the Daleks before then). I bet viewers must have literally forced themselves to watch episode 2 to find out what Barbara has screaming at (the scream that “launched” Doctor Who, no doubt!) and discover what the hidden menace was which lurked in the metal corridors of the mysterious alien city.

The Daleks in this story are absolutely brilliant - far more harsh and cruel than they are today. The Daleks were better. They looked more sinister and alien when they were smaller - as if there wasn’t an actor simply pushing the casing around a studio from inside. Ray Cusick's designs for this story, the Daleks and their city - both inside and out were absolutely faultless.

The acting in this story was superb. William Hartnell made a great Doctor, now one of my favorites. All the other characters in this story were convincing and played well. Incidentally, the theme in the earlier years of Doctor Who, the historical/educational theme worked very well. Perhaps it should be brought back!

Of course, I have one thing I'd like to say against this release - not the story or the acting or anything on that side but, of course the price. They could have released it all on one tape for around £9.99, couldn't they?

Anyway, "The Daleks" is definitely worth buying. One other thing, though, I don't think it's worth quibbling about the bits which were cut from the story. It's only seconds which are totally irrelevant to the plot. Even though, I do think that the BBC have been a bit naughty by saying that the story is totally un-cut when in reality it is.

I think that it's worth the BBC releasing more of these earlier black & white stories on BBC Video. My suggestions are "Edge of Destruction", "The Time Meddler” (definitely), the pilot episode and "The Tribe of Gum" with it, the “Dalek Invasion of Earth” and possibly a few more Troughton stories, perhaps".

Sunday, January 21, 2007

The Hot Babes of Destiny



This is my latest YouTube effort, and it seems to be doing OK at the moment with quite a few hits. You can view the video above, or by clicking here to go to it on YouTube.

"The Hot Babes of Destiny" is a semi-finished techno tune that I knocked up on Garageband on the Mac. I quite like it, actually. The video is a bit of an afterthought though; just some cobbled together TV footage of some asian girls prancing around.

It's just about to crash the 800 hits barrier after being online for about a month. This is incredibly crap by most YouTubers' standards, but spectacularly amazing for me, given my poor track record in getting anyone to look at my videos.

I suspect that the viewing figures are more to do with me including tags such as "sexy", "hot" and "girls" in the description, rather than people flocking to witness my musical talent. The fact that in 800 hits, no bugger has left a single comment or rated it indicates that this is proably true.

Well I like it, anyhow.