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krisg
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hey krisq, since you are interested in constructive critism here is some for you. Take an anger management class. You put your post on here for a reason( im sure you get the point) and that may not sit well with others.

Maybe if you had positive thinking I.E. glass half full not half empty you would have a better time in life.

If you did in fact send you comments to SM, then why post it here unless to argue or get some kind of response to secure you feelings of disappointment.

I have been reading posts all day, and insulting people because you did not have the experience you expect does not warrent being nasty to others.

Next time, chant a mantra or something while you there. Ya know like "I will be nice, I will be nice, I can wait, I can wait, I can make this positive, I can I can!!!!" :angry:

Life must be a big crap cake for you, I feeling your pain, I stuck a splinter in my foot just for you :angry:

Share positive not negative :angry:  Be the little engine that could.....HUR HUR

yeah I totally agree- he just needed a forum for his anger & we were the unfortunates who had to put up with it!

Hey I have every right to view my opinions and vent my anger in any way that I please especially after spending nearly £300 on the day. I posted my comments here and sent to Showmasters because I wanted my comments to be made public - I have as much right as anyone else to say exactly what I want.

 

You don't have to put up with what I write because you don't have to read it - like I didn't read the banal (and off topic) rubbish posted above about web pages and hugs.

 

There are plenty of people who agree with me and found the show to be a shambles like me - I made suggestions to make it better at the start of this post - many people have supported me and this is a way to make the next show much better - if we all said things were wonderful on Sunday (which they weren't) how are Showmasters supposed to put a better show.

 

I really think that your young age is making you see the show through Rose Tinted Glasses - the show was not well organised at all and there are plenty of things that can be improved upon - you do want a better don't next time don't you? The rough has to be taken with the smooth.

 

I’m not getting into anymore forum wars with kids from here on in – if you have a personal comment please address it directly to me – if you’d like to comment on my original post and ideas on how to make things better – go for it – let’s discuss.

Not many of us are "kids' on this site. Yes, you are entitled to you opinion as, I may add, are the rest of us. What I object to is your manner- read your own posts and perhaps you might see how you are coming across (and not just you- there are others as well). O.K. you are angry, upset and a lot of money out of pocket, but obviously some people enjoyed the day, so let's not spoil it for them. Hopefully Showmasters will take the criticism on board, and improve things next time around for others; some of your ideas were worth investigating. So let's just play nice and get on with the important things in life- as I said before it is only a show, no matter how disappointed you are. Family and friends are so much more important, aren't they.

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Hello All,

 

I got back from C4 last night after a brilliant weekend. I give Showmaster's a big thumb's up for giving me the opportunity to meet some truely amazing people. Well done!

 

To all those having a go at SM due to the doors opening early on Sunday, you do have a right to be dissapointed. However, may I point out to you ...I arrived at the centre at approximately 8am, even though I knew that the doors weren't supposed to be opening till 10am, at which point there were already about 400 people there, a lot of whom had been waiting through the night to guarentee that they would meet the hobbit's. By the time SM opened the doors the queue was massive .....and I would say that only those who had been there at that time or before would have got there by about 9am or before had a realistic chance of meeting the hobbits.

 

Thus, even if the doors had been opened at 10am, and you arrived at approximately 10am your chances would have been few and far between as the masses were already there waiting. I mean on Saturday they were only giving out 500 tickets per guest ....and there were at least that there when the doors opened.

 

The reason why I was told the doors were opened early was because they wanted the hobbits to start signing at 9am to increase the chances of more people getting to meet the guests by an extra hour. Which was a good move on behalf of the organisers in order to get more people to meet the key guests.

 

I understand people are disapointed, but what can you expect when you are dealing with 4 of the biggest stars from the biggest trilogy of all time. People came from all over the world, not just the UK. Unlike other conventions i.e. Autographica and Memorabilia who mostly have washed up celebs who have not done anything in the last 20 years. Collectormania brought the highest profile A list Hollywood celebs you could find and for free! There were never any guarentees, and just because not everyone got to meet every guest doesn't meet the event was disorganised. I think that everyone must have met at least one guest they wanted to meet, which was all possible because of SM.

 

Anyway, I just want to say a big thanks for SM, and don't let all this negativity get you down, you did a great job, and everyone who I spoke to enjoyed the event thoroughly.

 

Cheers,

 

the_grapher :angry:

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Great post dude, I totally agree with what you said.

 

The fact of the matter is, that you simply cannot get much of a bigger draw at a convention (at the moment) than four of the main Lord of the Rings stars. These guys do not come to England often, they certainly don't attend conventions often, and the fact that people had travelled from New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Holland, Belgium and the U.S.A. to meet them says something about the calibre of support they have.

 

Has anyone read a complaint from anyone that's travelled more than a 1000 miles? The answer is no, the majority of complaints so far have been from people that could quite happily complete the journey from their front door to Milton Keynes in under 12 hours.

 

I wasn't aware that any guarantees had ever been made, to anyone, on availability of guest's time, autographs, the chance to meet them.

 

I've attended many different conventions, I can assure you that the virtual queueing system is the best I've seen, it certainly beats having to stand in line for 8 hours as I've had to before to get an autograph.

 

Showmasters DO NOT HAVE TO bring guests of this calibre to the U.K. if you were really serious about meeting them, you'd be there today, when everyone knows that most of the screaming fangirls will be at school, many other people will be at work.

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Ok, this may be partly biased as I live in MK but I wouldn't like to see Collectormania moved to somewhere like the NEC. The main reason i like it in the shopping center is that I had something to occupy my time. I was in MK at 9am on Sunday and I left at 5pm. I didn't manage to get any autographs but at least I had something to occupy my time whilst I was waiting! I would much rather wander round the shops and sit in the cafes and restaurants all day as I waited for my numbers to be called!!

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Here's an idea - how about introducing an entrance charge to the convention and making a certain amount of tickets available to people who have to travel significant distances only to be told no chance of getting a signature when you arrive.

Nuff said. :lol:

And a website announcement of first 1000, none after that doesn't cost as much as a full tank of petrol and two upset kids.

Better luck with C5 guys.

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Can we stop with the arguments theres already been about 500 posts on it, I agree there were some problems, but what do you expect with 2 a listers. There was problems with the tickets, screenings and some of the helpers but i'm sure showmasters will improve it, it is only there 4th show. Every 1 happy now. :D

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I agree with the original poster, The event was a shambles. Nice to see they are responding to this criticism as well. No reply and we are on page 6. Lets be thankful there are decently planned film fairs in this country still.

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I agree with the original poster, The event was a shambles. Nice to see they are responding to this criticism as well. No reply and we are on page 6. Lets be thankful there are decently planned film fairs in this country still.

be fair. They probably haven't left the centre yet!

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I agree with the original poster, The event was a shambles. Nice to see they are responding to this criticism as well. No reply and we are on page 6. Lets be thankful there are decently planned film fairs in this country still.

be fair. They probably haven't left the centre yet!

Those must have been invisible laptops I saw over the weekend then.

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Sorry but I think you are totally out of order.  Showmasters made it possible for you to meet Sean and Andy - shouldn't you be so grateful for that?  Think of all the LotR fans who didn't get to meet any of them?  You've met some of the coolest and luckiest people alive and you shoudl be so grateful.

 

Ok - I REALLY wanted to meet Elijah and Dom but i didn't arrive early enough and couldn't get tickets with them.  I got Andy tickets though and some very kind gentleman gave me a Sean ticket which I am so grateful for. 

 

This was the best day of my life!  I didn't get to meet my favourite stars but I got to meet some other brilliant stars!  Look on the bright side of things.  You came with nothing - and you left with memories of meeting Andy and Sean.  The atmosphere was brilliant I thought - everyone was brilliant and so kind to each other.  Please rethink what you've just said.

I am pleased to have got the autos I did get but why don't you take the time to read my points again - do you really disagree with them all? Do you agree that is it fair to scalp money from raffle tickets that are given out free? Think before you type.

 

Sunday was an absolute shambles - so many people were upset and disappointed it was untrue - this is not just about me or you - it is about the THOUSANDS of people who were let down by the whole day.

 

As for rethinking what I wrote - you are joking aren't you - my response was well thought out and considered over a few hours - your response is a typical adolescent knee jerk reaction that lacks depth, reason and any type of logic.

 

Do you really suggest that Collectormania 5 is run in exactly the same fashion as today - an honest answer would be appreciated.

Obviously with any event - things could have been better.

 

1) How is the Showmasters fault that people were going round selling tickets? Its unevitable.

 

2) I was dissapointed but you don't hear me ranting about it. I came away without seeing the main person I went for but I had such a good time just being there that I don't care!

 

To be completly honest -I think I am more mature than you because I know that ranting about how "awful" my day was isn't going to change anything. If you were really mature - you'd realise your comments are just malicious and will only end up upsetting more people - is that want you really want? To cause people more upset? Complaining isn't going to change your weekend - just makes you concentrate on all the bad things that happened which isn't going to go you any good.

 

We only have one life - if you spend all your time complaining, you'll never enjoy anything.

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Hi, I am gonna post my orignal message here too as seems kinda relevant.......not having a dig at anyone, this is just how I saw everything......

 

 

Hello everyone, this is my first post after feeling compelled to register (although have been reading posts on here for months ). I attended collectormania for the first time Sunday, I had been looking forward to it for months, I first found out about it in June I think when the Hobbits hadn't even been mentioned yet and I really wanted to go, if I remember rightly the main guests then were the likes of the Rayment twins, kristanna Loken amoungst others and I was really hoping to meet any of them. I had never met anyone famous in my life and am pretty much too shy to go up and speak to them in the street if I see anyone even remotely famous. When the hobbits names were mentioned I was a bit dubious as to whether or not anyone that famous would show up to an event, so well done on even getting them there. I didn't get to meet them or anyone from Buffy as it happens, but after the initial disappointment, that wasn't such a bad thing in the end as I had gotten to meet the people that I had originally wanted to meet from all the way back in June.

 

I managed to meet Kristanna Loken(Gorgeous!!), the Rayment twins (I really wanted to meet these two as I loved their characters from the matrix), Robert Davi, Corey Feldman (childhood and still 21 years on faves) and Sauron himself!!! I have been watching films with Robert Davi and Corey Feldman in for as long as I can remember so it was a real honour to meet them and they could not have been any nicer, Robert Davi especially, he was a real gent, he seemed really interested in you and he laughed at me when I stood there pretty much star struck, I couldn't think of anything to say until he started signing, I also found it incredible that the Rayment twins, Corey and Robert actually asked me if I wanted a photo taken and not the other way around, they didn't have to do that and could easily have said no photos at all. I was really impressed not to mention pleased.

 

As for Milton Keynes not being a good place for it, I couldn't disagree more........not so far to travel as opposed to London (from Gloucestershire), parking right next to the arcade, enough to keep my parents and sister occupied for 8 hours, stuff to keep you occupied whilst you waited for your ticket to be called......imagine how busy it could have been in the centre of London!!!!

 

Now I don't know about any of you people, but an average day for me does not involve seeing Hollywood superstars from box office smash hit, let alone meeting, having photos taken and getting autographs from them.

 

I am not a rude or moany person, I took the disappointment of the hobbits on the chin practially straight away and went about getting all of those people that I mentioned above and had fun doing it, the stalls were also excellent.....where I live there is nothing like this and I don't drive so I have to buy all my models and stuff from the internet so when I can't stuff I am pretty much stuck and the stalls were really cheap compared to the net or is that just me?

 

Well done to all staff and celebs alike, it was a thankless task to keep people happy........but I for one was a thouroughly satisfied customer, so thankyou from the bottom of my heart for making some my ambitions come to fruition.

 

Sorry for rambling on.......

 

ben

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Hi, I am gonna post my orignal message here too as seems kinda relevant.......not having a dig at anyone, this is just how I saw everything......

 

 

Hello everyone, this is my first post after feeling compelled to register (although have been reading posts on here for months ). I attended collectormania for the first time Sunday, I had been looking forward to it for months, I first found out about it in June I think when the Hobbits hadn't even been mentioned yet and I really wanted to go, if I remember rightly the main guests then were the likes of the Rayment twins, kristanna Loken amoungst others and I was really hoping to meet any of them. I had never met anyone famous in my life and am pretty much too shy to go up and speak to them in the street if I see anyone even remotely famous. When the hobbits names were mentioned I was a bit dubious as to whether or not anyone that famous would show up to an event, so well done on even getting them there. I didn't get to meet them or anyone from Buffy as it happens, but after the initial disappointment, that wasn't such a bad thing in the end as I had gotten to meet the people that I had originally wanted to meet from all the way back in June.

 

I managed to meet Kristanna Loken(Gorgeous!!), the Rayment twins (I really wanted to meet these two as I loved their characters from the matrix), Robert Davi, Corey Feldman (childhood and still 21 years on faves) and Sauron himself!!! I have been watching films with Robert Davi and Corey Feldman in for as long as I can remember so it was a real honour to meet them and they could not have been any nicer, Robert Davi especially, he was a real gent, he seemed really interested in you and he laughed at me when I stood there pretty much star struck, I couldn't think of anything to say until he started signing, I also found it incredible that the Rayment twins, Corey and Robert actually asked me if I wanted a photo taken and not the other way around, they didn't have to do that and could easily have said no photos at all. I was really impressed not to mention pleased.

 

As for Milton Keynes not being a good place for it, I couldn't disagree more........not so far to travel as opposed to London (from Gloucestershire), parking right next to the arcade, enough to keep my parents and sister occupied for 8 hours, stuff to keep you occupied whilst you waited for your ticket to be called......imagine how busy it could have been in the centre of London!!!!

 

Now I don't know about any of you people, but an average day for me does not involve seeing Hollywood superstars from box office smash hit, let alone meeting, having photos taken and getting autographs from them.

 

I am not a rude or moany person, I took the disappointment of the hobbits on the chin practially straight away and went about getting all of those people that I mentioned above and had fun doing it, the stalls were also excellent.....where I live there is nothing like this and I don't drive so I have to buy all my models and stuff from the internet so when I can't stuff I am pretty much stuck and the stalls were really cheap compared to the net or is that just me?

 

Well done to all staff and celebs alike, it was a thankless task to keep people happy........but I for one was a thouroughly satisfied customer, so thankyou from the bottom of my heart for making some my ambitions come to fruition.

 

Sorry for rambling on.......

 

ben

Wow - that was a wonderful post! I really think those were valid points. I totally agree with you.

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Wow, thanks.....glad someone agreed, it took ages to write that, I just had to write it. I got a little mad with how people didn't enjoy it or how it was a shambles......I think that a lot of that was peoples impatience and them almost deciding that they were not going to enjoy it because they couldn't meet their main targets, but if you didn't enjoy it, that's your own fault, there was plenty to enjoy there you have to make the most of it, it doesn't happen everyday.......

 

ben

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well i suppose i can understand what u mean, but surely u should have expected the mass of people ???

 

i got 2 mk 2 late on sunday for a ticket 2 dom, sean or elijah which was a pity but some very nice people that i met sacrificed their tickets for me! Amy gave me a Dom and a Sean one (i swapped my sean one for a later one cos some guy had to go home early) and then the 2 very nice ladies that sat next to me in the fotr screening gave me 2 andy serkis tickets

 

these were people who didnt really know me and didnt have to give me anything but they were friendly. ok the sm cocked up a bit but theyre human and theyre all nice people

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There really were some nice people there, I had taken a Kristanna Loken ticket earlier in the day, as I was waiting I got given one from someone who couldn't stay that was a few places in front of mine that let me go through, then I passed mine on in return.......so thanks whoever you were that gave me yours!!!

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I kinda agree that maybe..A hotel or something could be used for a convention but i dont really mind. I always seem to get everyone i want and dont come away disappointed and i hope that maybe i made some people happy by giving them my spare tickets and allowing some to see Elijah with me. I can honestly say that it was one of the best days of my life. I dont really mind all the wait as i got what i came for in the end. Im very sorry you didnt get what you wanted though.

 

I think that the way people say "oh well you travelled a long way away so its understandle i live in MK so im so amazing i get everything" Is very cruel. I saw so many children crying due to not seeing Elijah and Dom that i tried to get in with one ticket with success and gave it to one. So just because you live in MK does that mean you have no heart when a 7 year old kid is crying because they cant see their hero? What does that say about you people?

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First of all I think it is important to state that Showmasters is a business and that a business is set up to make money – they did not do Collector mania out of the goodness of their heart they did it to make money…I don’t have a problem with that but some of the pre-pubescent little girls that post on here need to realise that. They also need to realise that people in business (in the real world) have to run a business to the best of their ability, which means pleasing the customer!

 

I travelled from Hereford (140 miles) with Kelly on Saturday – our main reason being the Kane Hodder appearance and seeing the film and talk – needless to say that when we got to Milton Keynes we found Kane missing – so we got our money back for the tickets from SM (fair play) – to be told that the film would still be on. In this case we wouldn’t cancel our room booking at the Holiday Inn (£40) – we would go and see Friday 13th: The New Blood at the cinema – even though we had no Kane Hodder.

 

The rest of Saturday was OK – we got Peter Weller, David Naughton, Lurtz, Sauron and Witchking. Plenty of shopping too.

 

We were told at the Showmasters booth that the centre would be open on Sunday at 10am and the signing would commence at 10:30 – this sounded good.

 

Saturday evening, without going on too much – they showed the wrong film at the cinema – Jason X – which is a piece of crap – around half the audience walked – no behind the scenes footage either – even though it cost us nothing it was a total waste of an evening.

 

Sunday came, which shall be called the Sunday from hell from this point forward – we had a wake-up call at 8 and arrived at the centre at 8.45am. To cut a very long story short and a story that many people know by know the centre was open!!!!! The majority of tickets for the 4 LOTR people had gone – Showmasters had LIED – bottom line –God knows what time they started giving out tickets but it certainly wasn’t 10!!

 

So we got a ticket for Sean Astin (470 1st book), Andy (270 1st book) and Dom (114 2nd book) – all the Elijah tickets has gone.

 

What happened from that point forward was surreal – we couldn’t hang around all day so we gave the Dom ticket to a young girl who was really upset she couldn’t see him – I do have a heart. We also gave the Sean ticket away to another family who got to the centre too late – I am running for Sainthood.

 

We got the Andy auto which was great!

 

We were then offered a Sean ticket (for the line, not the sig for £10) – I bought it – got me straight in as it was 120 from the 1st book – even though I got in I consider this is bad…very bad!!!

As we stood about I saw quite a few people SELLING the raffle tickets to other people – I best not comment on what I think of this in fear of being barred from this forum!

 

 

So we have Sean and Andy – time for home.

 

Not ONE person who I spoke to had a good word to say about Showmasters – what they organised on Sunday was a total joke and appalling business practice so here are some note which I think that Showmasters should read and act upon or perhaps comment on…it will certainly be interesting to hear what they have to say…

 

- The venue is awful – shopping and autograph hunting do not mix – no space, casual shoppers get in the way – move to a purpose venue – Memorabilia do very well at NEC – and I would willingly pay £10 to get rid of all of the Saturday and Sunday shoppers out of the way.

- At the film showings – make sure that the right film is shown and how about a few signs in the cinema to let us know what screen we should be heading for – took us about 20 minutes to find the right screen.

- SELL PRE PAID TICKETS FOT STAR SIGNINGS – nuff said – sell 500 tickets that guarantee an autograph pre event and give 200-300 out on the day first come first served – you then won’t get people travelling hundred of miles only to go home empty handed – it will also stop people touting virtual raffle tickets.

- One ticket equals one autograph – not hard is it?

- If the guest is popular BAN posed photos – I am sure EVERYONE will agree that if is better to get through 1000 conveyor belt autographs and quick greets that 500 long winded selfish chats and posed photos.

- Do interviews with guest at the start of the day or at the end of the day – don’t eat into the fantime with more self promotion for Showmasters and how great they are – do it in your own time!!!!

- DON’T get your Mum to apologise for you on the forum – never have I read anything more pathetic – you’ve made plenty of money from this event, at least have the decency to hold your hands up and say – “ we really screwed up! – sorry” – don’t get your Mum to do it for you.

- Don’t tell me you were surprised by the turnout – WHAT DID YOU EXPECT BRINGING 4 STARS FROM THE BIGGEST FILMS EVER TO AN EVENT.

- If you can’t get a decent venue at least have some room and ropes in place to stop gawpers from getting in the way – all some people wanted to do stand and stare – no intention of spending any money. Why not board off the entire area where the signings are happing – therefore NOTHING to look at.

- Don’t give out raffle tickets – did you know that people bought books from the stationary shops in the Centre and were pulling their own numbers out.

- Get your staff to give the RIGHT information out to everyone. If the tickets were given out at 8am – tell EVERYONE – don’t try and trick people by breaking the crowds up and give different times. If you say 10 – make it 10 – at least everyone will be on a level playing field.

- Your customer service / apologies desk had a real “couldn’t care less” attitude – get them to care – some people were really upset.

 

 

I met lots of people today from all over the world that travelled to the UK to this event – to these people who left disappointed I say sorry – you were let down by a thoroughly unprofessional outfit who made a HUGE mess of a potentially decent day.

 

The only solace I can take from today is that I got 50% of the autographs that I wanted (which is 50% more than some people) and that one of the Showmaster organisers got a punch in the face – not that I’d advocate violence – but the Father in question whose 7 year old daughter was distraught when she could get any autographs, simply lost it. To him I’d say fair play to – that was a punch in the face from all of the people who walked away today disappointed.

 

Hey Showmasters before you embark on the CM5 and the pound signs flash in front of your eyes just think about all the people walking away from Milton Keynes today cursing you – all the unhappy customers…a one off is a one off but make a habit of it and you won’t have a business to profit from.

 

Get the principles right first.

 

Kris

I think maybe you should be thinkin about that fact that at least 8000 lotr fans got to meet their idols in just 2 days. It seems to me u were the one not expecting the large numbers otherwise you would have got there early enough to get all the tickets u wanted like the rest of us.

 

I'm sorry but for those of us who didn't q jump or buy / sell tickets the staff were as polite as anyone would be if people who were basically too late were shouting and in the case u state getting violent because they dissappointed themselves.

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Like myself many of you travelled for a couple of hours or more to C4, but u all knew who was going to be there and what time it all started. U knew it would be busy (to say the least) so why not leave that bit earlier and get there in plenty of time and run less of a risk of not meeting/seeing the people you wanted to see.

 

I dont think Showmasters should take the blame for this, there are always going to be disapointed people at events like these, as it is not possible for everyone to meet who they wanted, but under the circumstances i think showmasters did well with the amount of people who turned up. the only gripe i do have is the raffel tickets, they were not a good idea, they were not being collected from people and were then being used for a second time. this stopped many people with higher numbers from getting autographs.

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Eeeeeeek!, I didn't see Elijah. OOOOOOO, I'm not a member of any secret societies. AAAAAAAArrrrrrgggghhhh! I kan spell propa!!!!!

 

No poems, no bands, no quotes, no silly msgs to peeps I don't no (fank Gawd).

 

Is this off topic or wot.

 

Oh yeah, what does Andy Sekis smell like??

 

It's idiots like you who spoilt my day on Sunday. That & the crowds, little girls dressed as men (if it was the other way round you'd all be laughing). And the plastic swords - they're very convincing.

 

No organisation, bad location, screaming girls, gawpers, people with cameras who wouldn't pay for autos, poor communication, public safety, shoppers, no entrance charge.

 

Hopefully @ C5, I'll get to talk to Brad Dourif about working with David Lynch.

 

If you don't know about the last 2 names, get mummy to hire Blue Velvet from your local video store - it's all about a boy named Blue who's reeeellly cute. He forms a band called Velvet and then they go looking for a clever person to rite some songs for them. Why don't they rite there own songs?? 'Cos they're too bloody thick :D .

 

Fully paid up member of the F****d off club

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