Got back from the Doctor Who Expo in Cardiff late last night - I have to say, those guys really know how to put on a fantastic show. Slick is a good work to describe it but then I wouldn't expect anything less. There were a few surprises and some extremely solid seminar type things, notably the "how to dress up a monster" sessions that ran all day and Doctor Who Uncut. You'll no doubt find spoillery type things littering the web already from that, so I won't dive in here and add to it. It's probably enough to know that the next season simply looks wonderful. Anything else from the psycho-bloggers is nothing more than posturing for the masses. Anyway - had the good fortune to bump into Mark Sheppard along the way. We only had time to chew the fat briefly before a queue of amazing length descended upon him at the open autograph sessions. A great guy, I wish we could have chatted some more, but regardless of that, he'll always be Crowley to me and not an FBI agent but it was good to see I wasn't the only one who thought that. Must also say a word of thanks to Gary Russell who could be bothered to spend some time with me and dispel/enforce some myths I had going around in my head about writing for TV. Your input is much appreciated. Possibly more than you'll ever know.

It was a long day, but that didn't stop us going out in Cardiff for a meal. Man, that place is insane. There seemed to be about a dozen hen parties all going on at the same time and every restaurant we went to was jammed solid. Recession? What recession would that be? However much they've spent on the place since I was last there about 25 years ago has been totally worth it that's for sure.

...and now, having taken a proper weekend off, I now find an unhealthy amount of proper work stacked up behind the door with every little thing vying for my attention, but the stack wasn't quite big enough to stop me from checking out The River. If you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, think LOST with the lessons of LOST learned and applied.

And what better way to end the post than by directing you to my review of the new Shinedown album, Amaryllis at The Void. You'll be hard pushed to find much else better than this for a very, very long time.

That's it. I'm out of here for today...

I hate getting up early, and yet whenever I do I always find it's actually a pretty good start to the day. Yesterday I got up early enough to catch the postman which meant I got handed my package instead of having to drive to the collection office. Package in question? A delicious mint condition vinyl copy of Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime. Today, having gotten up early again, I'm hoping that Empire - the next part of the deal - will turn up but if not, all is not lost. No - today I am sitting on two albums that I've been waiting on for so damn long, I don't know which to play first. Shinedown's last album has been one of the 'constant companions' in the car since it came out. I expect the same from Amaryllis. There's not a hope in hell that it's going to be bad, it's more a question of just how good is it. I might need to be in the mood for the other one. The new Mars Volta album - Noctourniquet - is going to need time and space to get to grips with. It deserves that much - and if you read any reviews of it that suddenly appear online this week, those writers are doing you an injustice. There's no way on earth that you can review a Mars Volta album properly without living with it for at least a month.

I think I ordered some old Mott the Hoople t-shirt as well. I should probably pay more attention to these things.

Anyway, that little swag will keep me company for the next few days - which are looking pretty busy. I've got some first drafts here of Raised on Radio that I need to look at, but I'll certainly miss the deadline of the end of March that I was working towards. April is fine though. I can live with that. Note to self: change the graphic on the home page. Meanwhile, its the Doctor Who bash this weekend. Am I ready for it? Well, kind of. Being as the writing crew will be there, it's more of a research trip than anything else, but I am prepared for any eventuality. The script is finished but still needs more work. That's OK - nobody is expecting it, it's a personal thing. I think the ending is weak and even though I can well imagine how ripped apart it would get in a real-life scenario, that's not the point. I may need a hair cut but I'm still a professional.

Video for today? In the spirit of the post, how about this: