h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The John Lewis Ad is not as sad and emotional this year. Put a grin on my face!

"And from now on, I'm not going to be guilty about the eclectic mix of things I enjoy doing and watching either. So what if we watch cheesy programmes like 'The Lost World' or 'My Little Pony' - it's our free time to spend how we want, anyone who dislikes it, tough.  "

Wise words indeed eclectic

Yes, just because eg Spiderman started life as a drawing with text doesn't make it any less science fiction than eg a book with text and no drawings...

Sorry you're still struggling with a cough etc... Is that the longest you've run since catching the bug?

It poured with rain on Wednesday and I put off leaving work as long as I could, but finally donned my rain cape and cycled home. Because everything was dripping wet, I hung it up to dry (well, draped it over the door actually, nearest the fireplace) Yesterday morning it was beautifully sunny and warm, so I didn't take the raincape down and put it back in my bicycle basket, thinking how could I possibly need it today? Guess what....

I can't imagine wearing tights to cycle in. But I have a MAMIL for a husband. At least you don't have to iron the stuff.

Yes, it was indeed the furthest I've run since getting the bug, and I would have run further too if I hadn't started coughing up lumps of phlegm the size and texture of opal fruits.

Hope you didn't get too wet yesterday. I always say you can't go swimming without getting wet, and the same is true with cycling… If anyone knows a better way to dry out cycling gloves than sitting on them all day, please let me know.

I've not cycled in lycra at all – that doesn't appeal to be honest. Besides which, I normally wear cargo shorts but this time of year I wear cargo trousers – I need to have pockets to keep my glasses and keys in, and if I leave my bike somewhere I have to take off all my lights and put them somewhere. You don't get enough pocket space in lycra.

When I'm running I keep what I'm carrying to a minimum; tissues, keys, £1 for the locker and my Parkrun barcode, which has both my name and my wife's In Case of Emergency contact details. I'd still like more pockets, though.

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{throws half-eaten tube of Opal Fruits in the bin}

Last year the University's Remembrance Service was a farce. The VC turned it into a media circus and/or Party Political Broadcast, ensuring that he was centre stage at all times. This led to numerous complaints.

This year the VC was present but not involved, allowing the chaplains to get on with their jobs and hold a service of Remembrance. Which is exactly what was wanted.

Today, my maternal grandfather would have been 99.

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My organisation didn't do anything to commemorate the day, but did allow us to do the silence if we wanted...

It was a fairly uneventful damp Saturday. We pretty much stayed home so the children could do their homework. It is Children in Need on Friday and my son's school wants everyone to go in wearing spotty clothing. As far as we can see, no-where sells boys spotty clothing, so my son made a paper hat and stuck some spots on it.

Just before midday I went round the corner to the Co-op and took my son with me. On the way we saw in the distance some Daleks and the Tumbler Batmobile from 'The Dark Knight' trilogy.

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My son's enthusiastic reaction to seeing the Daleks and Batmobile the day before was enough to convince my wife that he should be allowed to come with me to a small convention that was being held in the local high school round the block, which we wouldn't even need to cross a road to get to. Previously her reaction to my suggesting that we go was to say, 'I'm not happy about it – it costs too much!' She couldn't say no to our son, but did say that our daughter would have to stay at home to finish her homework.

So my son and I walked round the corner to the local convention, where they had a fun Lego display (they didn't allow photographs, though), various stalls selling stuff, retro games (by which they meant old games consoles) and fun displays.
The displays were of 'Ghostbusters '(including a giant inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man), 'The Terminator', 'Gremlins', 'Star Wars', a very fake looking Game of Thrones throne, a Stargate, HG Wells' science fiction, including a 'War of the Worlds' Martian tripod and Time Machine. There were also at least four Daleks; whenever they came near, my son would grab my leg and hide behind me, just as he did when he was a toddler. I had thought that he'd outgrown that.
There were a variety of cars, but different ones from yesterday, so the Batmobile had gone. It had been replaced by Herbie, Lightning McQueen and a Transformer. My son was a little disappointed that the Batmobile was no longer there, but not for too long.

Then there were the three special guests. The first one was Julian Seager, who is famous for being briefly in such films as 'Thor: The Dark World' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and has even been uncredited on 'Doctor Who'.
The second guest was Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards, who famously represented wanted to do everything in his power to represent his country and personified the ideal of trying hard being more important than winning. He triumphantly came last in ski-jumping during the 1988 Winter Olympics. He very happily posed with my son and also signed a photograph for him.
Next to him was Josephine Gillan, a lovely lady famous for playing Marei, a prostitute on 'Game of Thrones'. She very kindly gave my son a lollipop. She also was happy to sign photographs for fans although these showed her in various poses unencumbered by clothing, some leaving me in no doubt that she is much better at 'Twister' than I am. Not knowing the polite protocol or propriety of how to ask a young lady I'd just met who had given my son a lollipop for a signed nude photograph, I instead asked if I could take my own photograph instead, which she readily agreed to in exchange for a donation to charity. As my son didn’t want to pose for another photo he took one of me with her.

So though it was no-where near in the same league as the world's major conventions, it was a very enjoyable way to spend an hour or so a short walk from home.

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Oh, and there was also an inflatable grotto in which Father Christmas gave a present to all the good girls and boys (included in the price of admission).

He looked younger, taller, thinner and his beard looked faker than I was expecting...

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At lunchtime I had a look around some shops for spotty clothing for my son, but couldn't find anything suitable. I did think that with it being Children In Need somewhere would sell spotty clothes for boys – even if just a pair of socks - but no, apparently only girls are allowed to have spots

I did get to see that Southampton's Christmas Market is open now. In the past it has always been very disappointing, predominantly the same tacky market stalls that are normally there, but in sheds. This year they actually seem to have German craft items, as well as the big attraction of the flying Father Christmas, who with his life-size reindeer and sleigh flies over the market on a zip-wire.

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Happy birthday to my wife
Happy birthday to my wife
Happy birthday dear darling
Happy birthday to my wife

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Glad the Convention was good fun, even if it didn't have the most exotic special guests Sounds like it was quite reasonably well attended rather than packed full, which is better

Makes me think of the convention I went to when I decided to take part in my first h2g2 mini meet - I was amazed by how busy it was there, and because of the queues, I nearly didn't get into the hall never mind to the meeting place... I got there eventually, and it was good although it was too...

You got some excellent photos too - very tasteful

Was that the Queen convention? The local one – my first convention - definitely wasn't at all crowded, just about the right number of people to make it nice and easy to photograph everything, although I imagine that the organisers would have liked a much bigger attendance. It wasn't anywhere near as busy as the local model railway shows.

Still, it was good to meet Josephine Gillan (don't look at the photos on the wall behind her) and Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards. I bet anyone who actually won a medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics is fed up that they're completely ignored while the world only cares about Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaican bobsleigh team. (I still think that the winter Olympics, rather than being purely about snow and ice, should have some indoor games too. Like Darts, Snooker, table tennis etc – include most of the indoor events at the Summer Olympics. That way there will be events that people in countries that never ever get snow – or, like the UK, only get snow settling for more than a day about twice a decade - can participate in.)

Alas my wife wasn't very well yesterday, so we didn't get to go out and celebrate her birthday after all. Hopefully she'll be better by the weekend.

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That's a shame your wife was not well on her birthday I hope she gets to enjoy the weekend celebrating instead

No, the h2g2 meet was in a Comic Con - the Ghostbusters car was there, and manga/comic book stalls, and charity stalls, and hardly any space in between everything to fit all the people in...

The Queen Convention in Pontins was pleasant - there was a marketplace on one day, which got busy, but it was in a sports hall so there was plenty of room between stalls. The main stage was in a huge room with tiered seats, so it was very civilised that people had a seat each and it wasn't overcrowded.

I like your idea that the Winter Olympics could have warm indoor events as well as snow and ice I did enjoy the events last time, though - curling is good, and ice skating as well as snowboarding and skiing.

"don't look at the photos on the wall behind her "

Ooo - I didn't see them yesterday (they are quite small) but I had to look today...

Hopefully she'll be well by then as her family is coming down to visit and we hope to do something Christmassy – but if I said what, no-one would need to read my journal. (Whether or not anyone does anyway is another matter )
We did get to stay in and watch some Laurel & Hardy and Goodish – I particularly enjoyed 'Berth Marks' (1929), their second ever sound short, which has a scene showing that even then people were joking that railway station announcements are incomprehensible mumble.
We did have a laugh in which she asked me why one of the presents I'd given her was Robbie Williams' latest album. I reminded her that, in the week leading up to her birthday, when we were listening to Radio 2 she had said 'I like this song, it's the new one by Robbie Williams'. I quite understandably interpreted this as a hint that she wanted the album for her birthday – much to her bemusement. I still maintain that if you say 'I like X' during the hint-dropping period leading up to your birthday, you deserve to get it as a .

I didn't realise there was a meet in a Comic Con – must have missed that one Perhaps I was busy that weekend and so didn't sign up…

Those photos on the wall were nothing to the ones she had spread across the table, which fortunately my son didn't notice, being too engrossed in being given a lollipop and watching the 8-foot Wookie.

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Another fairly quiet day both at work and at home. At work we're experiencing the calm before the storm, in which we're waiting for other departments to finish what they need to do before we are flooded with a hundred different tasks that will all need to be completed at once.

At home I started work on writing this year's Christmas crossword – just trying to incorporate David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Ronnie Corbett and Alan Rickman etc. I'm trying to think if Robert Vaughn has done anything famously Christmas related? 'The Magnificent Seven', 'Superman III' and 'The Man from UNCLE' aren't particularly festive (although there was snow in an episode or two, it isn't really enough).

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THE die hard films are set at Christmas

[I'm trying to think if Robert Vaughn has done anything famously Christmas related}

He's starred in several turkeys, if that helps?

Ah, 'I like X' like Dave Gorman saying he likes Marmite

I see you saw the mini meet planning, but it wasn't school holiday so you must have been otherwise engaged... F40114?thread=8303284