Entertainment Media Show 2012

After attending London Film and Comic Con and having the most amazing time, it is a safe bet to say I caught the convention bug! So it will come as no surprise that I attended my second convention at the beginning of October and again had an amazing time.

The Entertainment Media Show has a similar set up to LFCC. It is a predominantly a signing event but with the added addition of Sports Stars. I had been keeping my eye on the forums to see who was announced as guests and while a few people were announced that I wanted to meet, it was not until the stars of two huge sci-fi programmes were announced that I decided I had to go. It was also an additional treat for Matthew as it was his 7th Birthday the day we had chosen to go.

I have to admit I was expecting the show to be as busy as LFCC so it was a bit of a shock to get off the train just before 10am to no queues. It was a blessing in disguise as it allowed for a more relaxed day for me and Mattie and actually resulted in minimal meltdowns from him. We were able to go straight in, upgrade our tickets and pick up our Extra Help Pass with no waiting.

I had originally plan to tell our story from the day but sadly, my laptop crashed and died before I completed my original blog entry. So instead, it will be a quick recap from day, guest by guest.

Before I jump into the story of our day, I must explain now about the monkey I am going to mention. At Mattie's school, each class has a mascot and each weekend, one child gets to take it home. As it was Mattie's birthday, he had been given the mascot, Curious George and his book to write about their weekend in. We had decided immediately that we would bring George and see how many of the guests would be willing to have their photos taken with him!

Guest Number 1: Chris Barrie

First up, one of the stars of Red Dwarf and one of the reasons I decided to come, Chris Barrie. I have Chris is absolute gentleman and a pleasure to meet. I had got to have a quick chat with, as he didn't have as long a queue as I was expecting. I cannot remember much of the conversation except for telling him my  husband, Jon, who is a huge fan, was unable to come as he was at football and telling him what team we supported, who I think he was not impressed by. He also willing posed with monkey after I explained it was part of school project (which in a way it is).

Guest Number 2: Robert Llewelyn

Next, we went to meet Robert Llewelyn, another of the stars of Red Dwarf. I think poor Mattie got confused as Robert plays a robot on the show, so to see him look normal compared to his picture of him in character was confusing. Robert was great to meet and was fantastic posing with the monkey!! Probably the most enthusiastic with it!






Guest Number 3: Matt Smith

The next guest we met was the main reason for us attending, the current Doctor, Matt Smith. I was so excited to meet him, as was Matthew. First, we headed for our photo opportunity with him. We used our pass to cut into the queue near the front and barely waited a couple of minutes before it was our turn. Poor Mattie got scared and ran straight pass Matt, who attempted to say hello. I had to explain that Mattie had been really excited to meet him but was a little scared for some reason! Matt understood and turned so we could have our photo, he was very polite and welcoming with every fan who had their photo with him. I was quite impressed with the new printing on site as I got my photo within 2 minutes of it being taken. Well Done Showmasters!!! Only problem with photo, is it is impossible to crop to a small enough size as Matt is so tall!

After having a look round, we then headed over to get Matt's autograph. The queue was long but moving swiftly. We chose for the picture that would be signed and told them who we wanted the autograph made out to. I chose "The Ellacott Family" as we all love Doctor Who. Once we got to the front, Matt greeted us with "Hello, The Ellacott Family!" in the exact same voice as the Doctor. Matt is exactly like his character, which was fantastic! Matt was most definitely worth the money we paid to meet him and would be a welcome return to any convention we attend in the future.

Guest Number 4: Henry Davies

I will admit I am not hugely into comic books, but the chance to meet Henry Davies, a comic artist for Beano and Dandy, was too good an opportunity to pass up. I had heard amazing things about him from how great he is with the fans to the amazing drawings he will do for you if asked. I thought getting Mattie a drawing of himself would be a great present so we headed over as requested one. Henry was fantastic with Mattie and understanding of Mattie's autism. Once he had enough to do his drawing, he encouraged to go and enjoy our day and come back for the drawing later, something I really appreciated. The drawing itself was fantastic and something I will cherish forever.


Guest Number 5: Dean Cain

Another big draw for me, Dean Cain a.k.a. Superman. Mattie got really excited when he realised who Dean was, not because he had ever seen the show, just because he was Superman! Dean was a fantastic guest to meet and Mattie had him laughing because of his excitement of who he was. Turns out meeting Superman is way cooler in the eyes of a 7 year old than meeting Doctor Who!






Guest Number 6: Robert Englund

After speaking to Jon, I had to add two additional guests to my list of people to meet. The first was Robert Englund, most famous for playing Freddie Kruger. It was added bonus for me as he had also had a guest appearance on Charmed! Mattie was a little wary of meeting him as the fan in front had a replica claw glove, which scared Mattie. He also was not impressed by the photos used for autographs. Once we met him though, Mattie relaxed as Robert was not (obviously) in costume and he was a really nice and down to earth person.




Guest Number 7: Craig Charles

Craig was the most popular of the Red Dwarf cast and so we waited a little longer to meet him. He was a great guy to meet and willingly posed with Mattie's monkey, though I suspect that he thought I was nuts for even asking. I have to say I was impressed with Craig as originally he was only booked for one day but he decided to appear the next day as well!






Guest Number 8: Billy Gunn

This was the second guest Jon had asked me to go and meet. To be honest, I had and still have no idea who he is, except for the fact he is a wrestler. Despite that, he was such a great guest and so happy! He had Mattie in hysterics by making funny faces and playing with the monkey and was more than happy to pose for a photo with Mattie's monkey.






Guest Number 9: Luke Campbell

Meeting Luke was a special present for Mattie and Charlie. Luke was an Olympic Gold Medalist for Team GB at London 2012 and I had promised the boys to get his autograph for each of them. However, we ended going back and forth from where he was sitting as he was never there when we went. Eventually he turned up back from lunch and proved to be worth the wait. He was so quiet and such a nice guy. He was fantastic with Mattie and had photos with both of us. I know getting his autograph made Charlie really happy as well.

Cosplayers

One of the big part of conventions, as I have come to discover, is Cosplay, which is simply (as I was told) hardcore fancy dress. The effort the people who take part in Cosplay put into the details of their costumes is amazing! But sadly, it is so good that it scared Mattie. I had to coax him into going to look at K9 and the Tardis as he did not like that a Dalek was nearby. One person, who had dressed as an incarnation of the Doctor, walked over, tapped the Dalek and promptly told Mattie that it had been switched off and then just about encouraged Mattie to have a photo with him and a woman dressed as Sarah Jane. I have to thank them so much for doing that!


All in all, despite it being quiet, we had a fantastic day and met everyone we wanted to meet. I know Mattie had a great day and it really made his birthday even more special!

Our Greatest Team Parade 2012

The moment it was announced there would be a Team GB Parade through London, I knew I would be there! I never usually go to things like this as I prefer to watch it on TV, but this was different! This was the end to an amazing summer of sports and a chance to celebrate the amazing athletes of Team GB and Paralympics GB! I planned the day right down to very last detail to make sure I had the best time and it worked, cos I had an amazing time!

I left my house with my son, Owen at 8am and after a couple of minor issues getting up there, managed to find my way to Queen Victoria Street by 9am, four and a half hours before the parade was due to begin! I had convinced myself that when I got there I would either be the only one stupid enough to arrive that early or there would be loads of people to stop me getting a front row view! I was so wrong! There was a handful of people lurking about but not too many to stop me getting a great place to view the parade. I chose a spot opposite the junction with Poultry (yes that is the name of the street!), right on the edge of the pavement, with a good view of the corner from which the parade would begin!

Four hours sped by! Keeping Owen occupied was easy and he didn't even watch the parade in the end! I chatted to a number of other fans and even gamesmakers! Slowly throughout the morning the crowd began to swell! I breathed a sigh of relief when Jon and Charlie turned up as not long after the crowds got crazy! On the lead up to the parade, the crowds would cheer everything going past, from joggers to the police riding past on their motorbikes! Charlie got a cheer when he ran down the road back to Daddy! He loved it so much, he kept on wanting to going running back and forth! A Paralympic Torchbearer had brought his torch and ran along and allowed people to have photos with it! And a Policeman even did Usain Bolt's famous pose! And we even got an impromptu performance from some of the Olympic Ceremonies performers! It was hard to get bored in those four hours! Though the funniest moment came from our Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who came cycling down the road to huge cheers, then stopping to speak a policeman, who seemed to be pointing him the way!

Finally it was time! Led by the Police on motorbikes and horses, the parade began! Two huge Lions' heads, similar to that of the Chinese Dragons began to move dancing to the music of the amazing band, playing "London Calling". Then the huge floats arrived, with the athletes with had been waiting for! 21 floats, arranged in alphabetical order by Sports, with around 700 athletes! 

It only took fifteen minutes for the floats to go past us but it felt so much quicker! The crowds went crazy cheering for the athletes, some going as far as screaming out their names just so they could get a photo! (I was not one of them but I got a couple of photos thanks to those people!) Charlie was waving to each athlete and luckily some waved back which made him so happy! Just as we thought the parade was over, a small group of Gamesmakers came marching up behind and from what I found out later, the number swelled as the parade progressed. They were given as big a cheer as the athletes did!

My early start and long wait was well worth it! We had a great spot and got to be part of what was the biggest parade in the history of London, if the numbers they reported are to believed (and I do believe!).

 

London 2012

So this year was the year the Olympics and Paralympics came back to London for the third time, the only city in Olympic history to host the games three times. While many have moaned, the majority have been excited for this once in a lifetime opportunity to attend!

Well our family was no exception! Over the past month and a half, me and my family have (between us) attended the Olympic Torch Relay, Football, Hockey and Handball at the Olympics, the Paralympic Torch Relay and Swimming and Athletics at Paralympics. My daughter and I have also done all six of Discovery Trails put together by The Mayor of London, on which different types of Wenlocks and Mandevilles have been placed. We have even been to see some local gold postboxes! You could basically say we have Olympic/Paralympic Fever!!!

Let's start with the Olympic Torch Relay. There is definitely an advantage to living in London, considering the Torch was not due to come through our area until the beginning of the Summer Holidays, meaning none of my children missed out on seeing it. The disadvantage, how big the crowds would be. Luckily I stumbled across the map provided by our local council and discovered that there was a disabled area. I contacted them promptly to check was it for those in wheelchairs only or for anyone with a disability. Mattie is autistic and I wanted him to feel comfortable while waiting. The reply I received granted us permission to use the area so Mattie could see, which I really appreciated. We arrived an hour before the torch was due to come through and it was already packed. It made me relieved that we were able to use the disabled area. Sadly, some people directly next it blocked our view on the torch's approach and while it bothered me at the time, I am now not (and you will find out why later in the blog). The kids were very well behaved despite the long wait and dancing along with the music as each vehicle came along as part of the proceeding procession! The best part about where we were, was the fact that a changeover was to take place there. It was on the other side of the road but the fact we got to see it was still amazing. The kids had a great time, loved the freebies and cheered really loudly when the torch came past. They even got to wave to Sir Patrick Stewart as he went by on the Torchbearers' Bus!

Next up in our Olympic schedule was the Women's Football at Wembley. I had booked these tickets nearly a year before the groups were drawn and matches announced. So it was pure luck that I had managed to get tickets for the final game of the group for the Women's Team GB squad, which was against Brazil! It meant I had one very pleased husband. As getting a babysitter, proved impossible, I asked my Dad if he wanted to go. He jumped at the chance as he had never been to new Wembley and this gave to chance to finally go and be part of the Olympics. They both had a great time especially as Team GB won 1-0!

Next was our first of four trips to Olympic Park and to see the Hockey at the Riverbank Arena. Now I will say this, in the months proceeding the Olympics, TFL had been warning passengers to leave extra time for travel as it would be busy! I can safely say our tube was near empty, but perhaps it was because we were travelling to the Park for one of the first events of the the day and perhaps because the Athletics had yet to start. Either way, we had an easy and smooth journey up to the Park. We arrived with plenty of time, but still arrived after the start of the match as it was a bit of walk from the entrance of the park to the entrance of the arena. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the hockey, despite only watching one out of the two matches in our session. They loved being able to play it even more. The Riverbank Arena was the only venue that provided a chance for children to try out the sport they were there to watch! We ended leaving half way through the second match, which ended up being good timing as after leaving the souvenir shop, we were lucky enough to meet Nicole Cooke, a cyclist for Team GB! To top off our great day at Olympic Park, we headed over the Royal Opera House in Covent Gardens to see an amazing exhibition, The Olympic Journey! The children were fascinated by the story of the Olympics and loved seeing all the previous torches and medals. At the end we had a family photo with the London 2012 torch.

A week later, I was back at Olympic Park with my Dad for the Handball at the Basketball Arena. I had never heard of the sport until I came to book the tickets and I had read that I should just pick a team and start shouting for them! We had arrived early so that my Dad could get a chance to see the Olympic Park and when we finally started walking over to our venue, we discovered just how much the Europeans love Handball. The Norwegian fans were dressed up in the colours, chanting while shaking cow bells (don't ask, I have no idea either) and it really caught the crowd's attention, with many people asking to take photos. Once we got in there, it was so loud that you could tell how much their love this sport. The match we were seeing was the Women's semi final, Norway versus South Korea. If they hadn't got the Koreans to cheer, I doubt we would of known they were there. Handball is a fast, rough and crazy game! I loved it and really do hope the sport catches on in this country! The game is only made up to half an hour halves, but it goes so quickly! We had such a great time that I will probably watch this sport again given the chance!

The day after, I took Mattie on a search for the Gold Postboxes near to where we live. These postboxes had been painted gold in honour of every Team GB Olympian who won their event. The first we visited is no longer there as it was painted in the wrong place but we took advantage while it was there! Joanna Rowsell's first gold postbox was near Carshalton Ponds and her second one is in Cheam Village, down the road from the High School we both attended. Then we shot across to Wimbledon to see Sophie Hosking's, which is near Wimbledon Station and Andy Murray's second one by Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club! It was a long afternoon for Mattie but he loved seeing all the postboxes! I am planning on taking Owen around London to see other gold postboxes painted for both Olympians and Paralympians!

To keep the Olympic spirit alive, Rachael and I undertook five out of the six Discovery Trails. These are trails located across London, set up by the Mayor of London, to give people a chance to discover different areas of London, while finding different types of decorated Wenlocks and Mandevilles along the way! We begun with the Purple Trail, which gave us a chance to see Piccadilly and Oxford Circus with its amazing architecture. Next up was the Red Trail, a walk giving us the chance to see Westminster and the South Bank. Then came the Blue Trail, which us around some the London Bridge area, allowing us to see some important areas of our British history. Next was the Pink Trail set in the heart of Theatreland and finally the Yellow Trail, a chance for me and Rachael to finally discover the East End. For someone who has lived in the London area all her life, I never realised just how little of London I had seen!

On our first trip to London to do a discovery trail, we were lucky enough to meet a Spanish Olympian, who had competed in the Rhythmic Gymnastics. As Jon's side of the family has Spanish Ancestors, whenever Team GB were not competing, Rachael would cheer on the Spanish instead. We were lucky, that despite their basic English, they agreed to have a photo with Rachael, which she was happy about!

Finally, it was time for the Paralympics. This was really important to me as I wanted Mattie to experience it as much as he could. Mattie was diagnosed with Autism back in June 2010 and I want him to understand that no matter the disability, people can achieve great things and their own dreams! So to begin with, we went to the Paralympic Torch Relay. Originally we had planned to go to Westminster to see it past but the relay was around two hours behind schedule and as Rachael had a dentist appointment in the afternoon, we had to change our plans. After a quick calculation of where we could get to in time to see it and still leaving enough time to get back, we settled on Regent's Park. We could not of planned it more perfectly. Once we had found where needed to be and still having time to waste, we started walking further up along the route. We had barely walked five minutes and after speaking to a Policeman, spotted the proceeding Police Escorts! The warm up vans were coming along and the next five torchbearers were dropped off barely a few metres from where we were stood! We walked down to get photos and were given the chance to hold the torch ourselves and get photos! Mattie and Rachael were so happy with that and to get see the changeover again as well was truly amazing! We discovered later on that the gentleman who had given us his torch to hold and kindly taken a photo of us together was Patrick Jarvis, one of the governing board members of the IPC. We are grateful for his generosity and kindness in helping make the relay an unforgettable experience for me and the children!

Finally it was time to revisit Olympic Park for the Paralympics with the chance to visit the two main arenas. First up was the swimming at the Aquatic Centre. It was incredibly hot that I am now not surprised the children started arguing! But for the hour, they just about managed in there, they did enjoy. We got to see a number of Paralympics GB qualify for the final of their events! Luckily Daddy turned up to take the boys out towards the end so me and Rachael got to enjoy the final few races. After that, we went across to Regent's Park for the final Discovery Trail, which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. My only moan for that day was the shock of a long queue for the javelin. We had no trouble during the Olympics but as it turns out around half a million were expected to travel through London that day alone for numerous sporting events taking place!

Our final trip was to the Olympic Stadium to see Athletics. Sadly the day starting with a few annoyances. Being advised to go a different route to which I planned, which I ignored and the one and only buggy area being a long walk from the entrance which then had a long queue, which I proceeded to jump as I needed to avoid a meltdown from Mattie who hates waiting! We finally got into our seats around half an hour after the start of the session and amazingly managed to survive till final race! I knew we were in higher seats, so thought our view would not be so good, but it was! The stadium has been well designed so that no matter where you are sat, you can see what is going on, especially when directly in front of your block! Mattie was fascinated by all the different types of disabilities racing that day and was so delighted to be able to see Aled Davies win Gold in the discus, which happened to be located in front of the block we were sat in! The roar in the stadium when it was announced, even before his final throw, that he had won was incredible. You can only truly grasp and understand the atmosphere from being there in the stadium as it is nothing like what you see on TV. Despite that, Owen still managed to have a nap after having a good nosey at the those light things attached to the seats! If you didn't get to go to the Olympic Stadium, it is a shame as it is really a once in a lifetime experience! But luckily, it will be hosting the World Athletics Championship in 2017, so take advantage!

Now if you have not spotted the recurring theme with my kids, then let me remind you! They seem to have uncanny knack for being in the right place and at the right time resulting getting to meet people that you would not normally have the chance to! Well it happened again on leaving the Olympic Park on our way to catch the DLR! We saw two Polish athletes being interviewed while wearing their medals! They were very kind to allow photos with them and to let the kids hold the Gold Medal (my camera died before I could get a photo!) The kids were fascinated by them especially by how heavy the gold medal was! They were even filmed by the camera crew! So chances are they have been on Polish TV by now!

To finish off my London 2012 experience, I will be attending the Team GB Parade in London on Monday with Owen, Charlie and Jon. So keep an eye out for the next blog!

West End Wonders

It has been a month since I have last posted and in that time, I have met many more celebs. Many have come from waiting at the stage door after seeing a West End Show!

The first show as part of Kids' Week, I took Rachael to see was Singin' In The Rain at The Palace Theatre. I have loved this movie since seeing it and we were both very excited to see them make it rain on stage! Would highly recommend seeing the show! Afterwards, as we had done the year before, I took Rachael to the stage door to meet the main cast members. We got to meet Sandra Dickinson but sadly she does not do photos but was very nice nonetheless. However, we did get to meet and have photos with Katherine Kingsley, Daniel Crossley, Francis Haugen and Scarlett Strallen. Scarlett was the final member of the main cast to come out and apologised for making us wait so long but she appreciated the fact that we had!

Four days later, and another Kids' Week show, we went to see Billy Elliot the Musical. I have to admit I did not understand half of what was said due to the strong accents used and I was completely shocked to hear kids, young ones as well, using very foul language as part of show but I was taken aback by how talented the children were! They outshone the adults in every respect. Immediately after we shot round to the stage door to meet whoever we could. We were very lucky as the security guard asked Rachael wanted to meet and that was the boy playing Billy, Kaine Ward. As the children in the show, come out quickly and are usually whisked away in a car, we were lucky that the security guard got us over to meet him! He was extremely sweet to her and it made Rachael's night to get (what I think was) the only photo with him that night. We also got to meet Deka Walmsley and Gillian Bevan as well. Other cast members sneaked past before we could stop them.

Next theatre trip was to our favourite musical, Wicked. It was my third time seeing it and Rachael's second and I had booked specifically for this date as it pretty much guranteed the main cast being available. We had seen the standby for Elphaba the year before so we were delighted to finally see Rachel Tucker in action and she was phenomenal! After the show, we went to stage door, place ourselves where we had the year before, directly in front of the stage door and waited, but I was amazed to see it busier than it had ever had been before, but something tells me that having a former boy band member in the show may of have something to do with that. We got to meet six main cast members, who were: Lillie Flynn, Christopher Howell, Adam Pettigrew, Gina Beck, Matt Willis and Rachel Tucker. Now usually when we meet cast members at the door, I usually leave the photos to Rachael but this time, I had to have my photos done as well! I mean it was Matt Willis, formerly of Busted!!!! I have to admit he was not as chatty as he has appeared to be in the past, but he knew the drill, placed his bag by the stage door and just went down the line of people signing autographs and having photos taken with the fans. The biggest shock was Rachel Tucker's accent. I had no idea she was from Northern Ireland so when I heard speak with the accent at the end of the show, it kinda threw me!

Next up was Shrek, The Musical! We had been excited about seeing this ever since going to their Family Fun Day back in May, where we had been lucky to meet the cast and the former Princess Fiona, Kimberly Walsh. Have to admit, the show is phenomenal and the cast are all amazingly talented, but I was not prepared for the two shocks I was going to get at the stage door. Some of the first people to leave from the stage door are those in the orchestra. Imagine my surprise, when my next door neighbour comes walking out! Turns out he plays the French Horn for the show! The cast members were next out and first out, was Richard Blackwood, wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt, despite being in a show, directly produced by Dreamworks. I also had a Mickey Mouse top on which led to a conversation about Disneyland. Turns out he had just been to the American one and I am off to the Paris one next month! He was quickly followed out by Neil McDermott, and Carly Stenson. Then came our next shock. The lady we were stood next to while waiting, informed us that the cricketer, Freddie Flintoff had been in the audience with his family. Being famous does help in getting you backstage to meet the cast, so obviously they were going to be leaving by the stage door too! He had barely got through the door, when I asked if I could get a photo and he happily obliged and did the same for everyone waiting and then strolled off down the road with his kids and wife! Finally the main man himself, Shrek or Dean Chisnell appeared. All I can say is thank God for the photos in the programme, we would not of recognised him without it!

Our final show as part of Kids' Week was Mamma Mia. If you have not seen the show, go and see it! It is ridiculously funny and extremely emotional at the same time and it is most definitely the cheesefest that the movie is. Oh and EVERYONE can sing in the show, unlike the movie. That being said, Mamma Mia has one of the biggest main casts in West End. Usually Rachael and I will meet 4-5 people after a show, this one we met 12! They were also the quickest to get out after the curtain went down. But they were all so nice and so happy to stop and have photos. The biggest draw for me was Neil Roberts. He appeared in Season One of Charmed as Rex Buckland and I told him that I remembered him from the show and he really appreciated being to meet one of his fans! I absolutely adored meeting Kim Ismay and Joanna Monro as they are both just as funny as they are onstage! But Rachael was desperate to meet the guy who played Pepper, as she fell in love with him over the course of watching the show. The moment I saw him, I pointed at him and told him not to go anywhere as Rachael had to meet him! He was so sweet to her to the point where Rachael got shy (despite having the confidence to speak to those she met over the past month). Just as we were planning to leave, the final main cast member came out and I cheekily made a sarcastic comment, leading him to believe that Rachael's name was not Rachael! He did laugh though when I told him it was though. He admitted that being from another country he does not always get the British sense of humour! Rachael's programme is now full up with autographs, which she is very pleased with!

Have to admit, that despite planning to go to the stage door, I never expected to meet so many people! We have had a great summer made great by the generosity of the cast members' time!