As I step back into the forum community..
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Ok guys, as you may know, I rarely visit here, but I was bored this evening, so I figured I would make an effort to post here after such a long period of time. As many of you know, i'm still around on msn and in the chat, trying to maintain and run it. It's been rather nice to be talking with a few new faces lately and i've tried to make more of an effort at getting involved in the community. I thought i'd chat about one in particular.
Late October last year, I went to visit good ol' Kieran, and had a rather nice time. Next week, I plan to do it again. I must say he's a rather good host, him and his parents made me feel very welcome indeed! In the short time I was there, we got up to an awful amount of stuff, such as meals, cinema, a trip to the doctor who museum and some nice meals and drinks at his place. It was a very nice time.
The highlight for me, was actually fulfilling a little dream of mine I never thought i'd be able to do, and that was to actually try on both the helmets of justice. It just felt very surreal for me...Knightmare is a fond memory of mine, and to actually be around these famous pieces of television history, was just amazing. I almost didn't feel worthy of it, and they hold much respect to me. I'm so thankful they're in a place with a person who is trustworthy. Also, spending time with this guy, has proven to me that further.
Next week we have a few plans, such as a trip to the lake district, i'm sure it'll be very nice. I shall let you know how that goes!
In October, I plan to meet up with a few of you for the London Expo, and you have no idea how excited I am for this! I am going to finally meet people I have talked online with for years. One person I am really looking forward to meeting is Billy! It's going to be another surreal moment for me..
Anyway, although i'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to Knightmare, I have met a lot of fantastic people in this community, and I really hope I can post here a bit more, and get involved with even more of you!
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It's a shame that there are very few open meetups organised any more. In fact, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realised there were ever any open meetups (unrelated to the RPG).
I know that there used to be one or two every year, but recently they seem to have tailed off. Most likely because the organisation is pretty harsh and those who did it want a break (or no longer have time).
Perhaps there's a role available for someone here. If we had someone who was dedicated to organising Knightmare meetups, we might be able to improve the health of the community.
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Thank you for the kind words there, Mr Darren!
As far as the social aspect of our little community goes, things have naturally gotten a little slower in recent years. When we first started socialising outside of these forum walls (circa 2002) we were all students/schooliers, and therefore had plenty of liberty for meetups during school hols and the summertime.
Now we're all boring adults with jobs and careers etc, and there's suddenly not quite as much free time as we'd like. Of course, that's not to say things have come to a grinding halt. In May there was a lovely meetup with KM folk down in London for the Expo (yes, we did meet Craig Charles and Ianto from Torchwood) and of course last year 6 of us headed off on a holiday to Florida. Organising these things takes some doing, and as Mystara pointed out, there just isn't the time these days to do as much as we used to.
So, in a sense, we're still doing pretty well for meetups, however more would always be welcome. Perhaps this very forum would be a good place for future suggestions; it would be nice to see others get involved in these things.
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Dammit, I missed Craig Charles?!
I was so very close to going down for the Expo meetup, but changed my mind at the last minute due to work and costs. The same reason I missed the Florida trip
I agree that the forum might be a good place to discuss things. Maybe we could see about adding a subforum for it.
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A sub-forum would be very welcome I think.
The socialable aspect of this small community is a very important one, and I'd love to see some new people coming along to our little trips.
There's another Expo in October if anyone has an interest...I think a few of us are planning on costuming for this one. Details are available if folks want to go.
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The expo is due to take place on the 24th/25th October.
Currently there's a few of us going, though we have yet to arrange any accommodation.
This is a good site to learn exactly what its all about http://www.londonexpo.com/
If you're interested in going then I'll keep you updated one where people plan to stay during the trip.
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i'd love to go it's been far too long isnce i had the chance to meet up with my friends
I will be living in london then a scary thought! asd i just got my first teaching job so time of ciourse is very very limited!!
Catch up wiht u all in the summer i hopoe its a long 6 weeks holiday
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i'd love to go it's been far too long isnce i had the chance to meet up with my friends
I will be living in london then a scary thought! asd i just got my first teaching job so time of ciourse is very very limited!!
Catch up wiht u all in the summer i hopoe its a long 6 weeks holiday
As it's on a weekend it shouldn't cause too much issue for you to pop along, hopefully.
I wish I did have a 6 week summer holiday...2004 was the last time I had that luxury sadly.
Shall perhaps see you at the expo then, sir.
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Well, I thought i'd also post here regarding a more recent visit to see Kieran. This is now the second time i've been to visit him, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the trip! The visit lasted from Friday 17th July to Wednesday 22nd July. It was a much longer visit than the last, so i'll break it down the best I can for you. Can I also mention at the time of posting this, it's 1:16am, so please excuse me if I begin to ramble here
The journey out wasn't so bad, I had to take a coach from Scunthorpe to Doncaster due to maintenance work on the tracks, which will be going on until September. Apart from that, the changes from Doncaster, Manchester and then to Blackpool were all on time and smooth. I actually arived at the station a couple of minutes early! As I stepped through the doors, I saw the familiar face staring out across the station, trying to find me. As I walked through the barriers, I greeted the onlooking man with the words "Are you looking for someone?" or something like that.
After our greetings, we went to the car, where we met up with his mum, who kindly gave us a lift back to the house. After I had dropped off my things at the house, we went straight out for a meal and a couple of pints! What can I say? The traveling made me thirsty, and I was very much hungry. We tucked into a nice Chicken/Bacon and Cheese sandwich with a side order of garlic bread, which Kieran had kidnapped all to himself on his side of the table We headed back home and I settled in for the night.
During the visit, I watched a wide selection of classic Doctor Who episodes, at least seven stories. I think my favourites were The Two Doctors and The Caves of Androzani. The latter, had two great cliffhangers, at one point I turned around to Kieran and was very confused to how they could have possibly managed to get out of a certain situation.. We also managed to watch Quantum of Solace on DVD, which ironically, is a film we went to see together at the cinema on my last visit. We also managed to watch Carry on Cleo on the Sunday, which was rather nice.
But we didn't just sit in and watch tv for the duration of the visit, we managed many country walks close to where Kieran lived. There was one evening that was rather spooky. We left the house later than usual and came across a certain abandoned caravan in a field, which suddenly slammed open its door. Although there was a breeze, I doubt it was strong enough to slam the door open so quickly. It certainly gave me a chill down my spine. I also jumped out of my skin when I heard something rustling in the tall grass next to me. It was all rather interesting though, and certainly didn't stop me from going out the next night to attempt it all again! We had many of these walks over the visit, they certainly helped me sleep at night!
I must say, the standard of food I was provided with during the visit, whether it be by Kieran's parents, or out in cafes, pubs and bars was exceptional! We visited a place called Toast, where I had been on the previous visit, and somewhere that Kieran has been since. There, I had a rather nice Cajun Chicken Penne Pasta, with a tomato and basil sauce. It was extremely nice, if I had to rate it out of ten, it would have to be a ten! The garlic bread that came with it however, came with a whole clove of garlic! Thankfully that was spotted before I choked on the thing!
At Kierans house, we had some rather nice meals, such as a Roast Chicken dinner, followed up the next evening with a Thai Chicken soup, made from the leftover chicken the previous evening. Both of which were extremely nice. I must compliment his mother on the cooking, she certainly does a grand job in that department. I did feel a little sorry that she was the last to sit down to her meal though, but I guess that's just something that mothers do.
On the Monday, we had a half day out in Blackpool. It was nice to do have a fuller day than usual, given the majority of the visit was more relaxing than anything. The weather warmed up and we managed to visit a few shops and have a walk across the beach. It was a rather nice day, I managed to take a few snaps (which i'm sure i'll link to once they're uploaded). Overall, a very nice day out.
The highlight of the whole trip though for me, was trying on the Helmet of Justice and the Eyeshield. However this time, we took a few photos as evidence! Those can be found on Kierans Facebook, but again, i'll try and link a few images here at some point. Kieran reprised his role as the dungeon master Treguard and I attempted to look Dungeoneer(ish) to the best of my ability. Shame I didn't have the right clothes for it mind.
Oh, and how can I possibly forget Tim and Tessa, Kieran's pet cats. Those two certainly amused me for the majority of the visit. Best memories of those two were Tim getting chased around the garden, or Tessa getting stuck in the glass doors or running head first into an empty box of Stella Artois in the garden! All very funny, and highly memorable.
I think i've covered the majority of the visit, i'll allow Kieran to fill in anything i've missed. However what I will say publically, and to him is that he was a great host, he very much made me feel welcome, and I even had him on tea duty every morning! But in all seriousness, I feel now that I have a true friend, and I am certain that these visits will be far from over!
So thanks very much for having me!
Also, we did have a plan to visit Liverpool, to meet up with fellow KM user Mashibinbin, but unfortunately we received no reply from him, and due to the weather, it just wasn't going to happen.
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