Escot Park

My other half Amy and I are both suckers for cute animals, so with a little time on our hands we drove down to Escot Park near Honiton to see if we could get a glimpse of some great British wildlife.

We headed straight for the Red Squirrel enclosure to try and see those cute little critters up close, but after hanging around for quite a while, they were conspicuous by their absence.....

So, we decided to wander off and come back later.

When we returned there were two very cute, and surprisingly small, Red Squirrels.





If you live nearby, or are in the area on holiday, Escot is well worth the trip. As well as the squirrels there are birds of prey and falconry, seahorses, woodland walks, Letterboxing (a kind of treasure hunt) in the beautiful gardens including a maze, and a play area to keep kids amused.

Barrett: The Definitive Visual Guide

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett was a founding member and singer/songwriter/lead guitarist of Pink Floyd, he even came up with the group's name, mixing together the names of two of his favourite blues artists Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

Syd's rise to fame came quickly, and after the initial success of early singles Arnold Layne and See Emily Play and the Pink Floyd's debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, his health began to decline. It has been argued that Syd had psychological issues prior to his brush with stardom, but the opinion of those closest to him at the time seems to point toward Syd's increasing use of psychedelic drugs as the cause of his breakdown, not helped by some of his many hangers on lacing his food and drinks with LSD.

After a period of trying to work around Syd's increasingly erratic behaviour, the others in the band decided that they had had enough, so one day en route to a performance they decided not to pick him up, and not long after, Barrett's departure from the band was officially announced.

After his time with Pink Floyd he made a couple of solo albums that offered glimpses of the musical genius he had to offer, but he found performing live increasingly stressful and decided to leave music behind and withdraw from the world of celebrity and stardom altogether.

Returning to his family home in Cambridge to live a quiet and peaceful life (apart from his occasional run ins with the tabloid press and well meaning but over zealous fans) Syd took up painting again which he had dreamed of making his career, before he became obsessed with being a pop star (he also wrote a book about the history of art for his own pleasure, which remains unpublished).

The coffee table book Barrett: The Definitive Visual Guide (published in March 2011) is the most comprehensive collection of Syd's artwork combined with a photographic history of Syd and Pink Floyd.

This large format limited edition book is available in two editions, the classic edition is presented in orange brilianta cloth binding with a green, foil embossed slip case.

The signature edition comes in an orange brilianta bound hinged box with two volumes contained within, volume 1 has over 250 images including more than 100 never seen before this collection was released, plus illustrated letters. Volume 2 is a tan leather bound collection of recently restored photographs taken during rehearsals with Pink Floyd in 1967. This set is signed by the authors and is also signed by one of Syd's siblings and is limited to only 500 copies.

Syd sadly passed away on 7th July 2006. If, like me, you ever felt a connection with Syd Barrett's work, this is a beautifully presented record of one of the 20th century's most iconic and unique artists, a wonderful celebration of a truly remarkable human being.

If you are interested in obtaining a copy the website can be found here

Podcast Episode 7 Doctor Who Season 7

Mark is joined by Matt Barber to discuss Jon Pertwee's first series of Doctor Who, with a whole bunch of other Doctor Who related topics covered along the way.

The Doctor Who Book Club Podcast: The Dying Days

I was thrilled to be asked to do a reading for The Doctor Who Book Club Podcast, which is in my opinion, one of the best podcasts around.

Erik and Sean read the books that were released during the period between the end of the classic series and the beginning of the revived series on television.

Their pick for this month is The Dying Days, by Lance Parkin featuring the Eighth Doctor as played on TV by Paul Mcgann and the character of Bernice Summerfield, who had her own range of books released after this novel was published.

I love their show, and even if you haven't read the books their conversation makes for very entertaining listening.

Erik has appeared twice on the Nerdology podcast discussing I, Claudius and Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.

If you would like to hear their show follow this link for iTunes:  


Or alternatively you can listen via their web page.

Podcast Episode 6 The Black Hole

Simon Brett and Lee Rawlings from Starburst Magazine's Blue Box Podcast return for another commentary, this time it's Disney's 1979 "space oddity" The Black Hole.

You can hear their Phonic Screwdriver show on www.phonic.fm and on mixcloud.com





For more thoughts on The Black Hole, head on over to the rather fab Andrew Lewin's Taking The Short View.

And be sure to tune in to www.phonic.fm at 8pm UK time on Friday 29th June to hear the guys discussing this film and much much more......

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show Live!

Last night I attended the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show Live at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.

The original radio cast were in attendance, except for the sadly departed Peter Jones who had provided the voice of the eponymous book.

There was a great atmosphere in the build up to the show, with plenty of Sci-Fi effects being played out from the speaker system in the theatre, and in a very moving moment, there is a distorted sound like an analogue radio being tuned, when the signal becomes clear the voice of Douglas Adams comes through loud and clear, telling anecdotes about the writing of the series and talking about his plans for the movie version.

As Douglas' voice fades away the sound of a vast storm brewing starts emanating from the speakers and the house band walk on to the stage and launch into a rip roaring version of Pink Floyd's One Of These Days, fitting as Douglas was a friend of David Gilmour from the Floyd and also because part of the song drifts off into the Doctor Who theme (which Douglas famously wrote for/script edited).

Once the final notes have died away the band play Journey Of The Sorcerer, the theme used for the show in all of it's many guises.

And when the cast walk on stage they receive warm applause, and although they have advanced in years (haven't we all!) they have aged with grace, their voices still sound as good as ever and the assembled crowd are soon lapping up all the memorable dialogue they know and love from this classic story.

Simon Jones is, in my opinion, the quintessential Arthur Dent, his voice manages just the perfect level of bewilderment and indignation to excellent comic effect. Mark Wing-Davey is as cocky as ever in the role of Zaphod Beeblebrox, his second head and third arm are skillfully provided by a colleague! Geoff McGivern and Susan Sheridan reprise their roles as Ford Prefect and Trillian as though they had never been away from their roles.

Two of my favourite characters are voiced from recordings, Marvin, the paranoid android (voiced by the marvelous Stephen Moore) who appears on stage with the help of a puppeteer. And the demented Agrajag voiced by the late lamented Douglas Adams himself.

The voice of the book is given to a guest actor in each performance, for last night's performance we were treated to the wonderful (and ever so slightly erratic) Rory McGrath. Other guests to provide the voice of the book include: Billy Boyd, Phill Jupitus, Roger McGough, Jon Culshaw, Christopher Timothy, Clive Anderson, Andrew Sachs, John Challis, Hugh Dennis, John Lloyd, Terry Jones and Neil Gaiman.

The supporting cast are fantastic, Toby Longworth doubles as Slartibartfast and Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz with great aplomb. And Andy Secombe and Philip Pope are wonderful in their numerous roles, including the doors of the Heart Of Gold space ship and our mousey overlords Frankie and Benjy.

There are singalong musical numbers, with some very impressive robotic dancing by Mr Longworth! I think this show really exudes the feelgood factor, and the audience are soon swept away by the sheer silliness of this wonderful story.

At the end of the show when the cast came back on stage for their much deserved applause, I thought it was a very neat touch to have a picture of Douglas Adams projected on to the stage, giving everyone there a chance to show their appreciation of him.

If you are a fan of Adams' writing and sense of humour you should really go to one of the dates on this tour, it's zarking amazing!

Podcast Episode 5 Oliver Twist

Mark welcomes back Erik Stadnik from The Doctor Who Book Club Podcast for a second appearance on Nerdology, this time the subject is Charles Dickens' second novel Oliver Twist.

Also up for discussion are the David Lean adaptation from 1948 and the 2003 version "Twist" starring Nick Stahl.