Nikki-ann

Look who I bumped into today! OK, maybe not bumped in to… more like queued for over 2 hours on a cold & windy high street in Birmingham. I looked extremely windswept and the lovely John Barrowman looked perfect!

JB was only supposed to be signing books for an hour, but I’m guessing he stayed a bit longer (depending on his schedule) as the queue stretched right down the High Street.

I took this photo (click to enlarge) while I was in the queue. A couple of police officers had come in and he asked if he was in trouble. It turns out the male police officer just wanted to take JB’s photo!

When it was my turn I had my photo taken with JB (which turned out awful - I was windswept and the Waterstone’s staff member who took the photo had obviously never used a digital camera before), my book personally signed and a smile, then I was off. Happy as Larry.

JB’s autobiography Anything Goes has jumped the queue and is now next on my pile of books to read. I’m currently half-way through Gary Barlow’s autobiography My Take (the updated paperback version), which is very interesting so far. I’ve also got Richard Hammond’s account of his life before & after his terrifying high-speed car crash while filming for Top Gear - On The Edge - waiting to be read, as well as one or two other books.

January usually sees the return of Jack Bauer and ‘24′ on our TVs (well on my TV, anyway!). Unfortunately, Kiefer Sutherland is currently sat in jail and the 7th season of ‘24′ is on hold indefinately due to the writers strike. Filming hasn’t finished on the series and the season needs to air uninterupted due to its format, so it looks like we’ve got a bit of a wait for this one. I have seen a trailer for the forthcoming season and it looks great, so I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

Another show I’m looking forward to is Torchwood season 2, starting 16th January on BBC2. The first episode of the season not only stars the wonderful John Barrowman (obviously!), but it also stars another favourite of mine, James Marsters as Captain John Hart. Videos (including spoilers - so BEWARE!) can be found over at the Episodes section of the website - Link.

Talking of John Barrowman… His autobiography (so far!) Anything Goes (written with his sister) is released on 24th January (UK) and in April (US). Yet another book for me to add to my growing pile, but one I’m sure I’ll enjoy. John will also be doing book signings… and I am very tempted! The book will also be available as an abridged audiobook.

Everybody Loves Raymond is currently in my DVD player. I finished season 7 last night and will probably start season 8 at the weekend. I have yet to buy season 9 though, so I guess I’d better hurry up on that score!

I couldn’t help myself last weekend while passing through WH Smith. They had a sale on DVDs, so I couldn’t resist taking a look… and buying 4 DVDs (including In Pursuit of Happyness)! I had a bargain though. The DVDs cost me £19 in total, with one of them only costing £1. I also found a bargain in Woolworths. I managed to buy Take That’s official 2008 calendar for £2.49 - Definiately a bargain!

This

This might be worth checking out. Tin Man (you may recognise the character’s name from The Wizard of Oz) is a new mini-series about to be shown on the Sci Fi Channel in the US. After spending time looking around the website, I’m hoping it comes to the Sci Fi Channel (or any other channel) in the UK. It looks to be a lot darker than the original book/film, but that doesn’t stop me wanting to sing “We’re off to see the wizard….”!

A colleague recently went to see Wicked the musical in London and has been raving about it, so I’ve got a bit of a feeling for all things Oz at the moment. I’d love to see Wicked and from what I’ve seen and heard, it’s well worth going to see.

That

I’ve been looking through the 100+ photos I took at Take That’s concert on the 17th and decided to upload two or three more.

The rest can be found over at Flickr and here.