I’ve just got in from another night of many a laugh with Lisa - this time in the form of a fine pub meal followed by a viewing of Hot Fuzz ont’ big screen.

The portion was large (ooer!), the film excellent and company adequate. Ha ha, no Lisa was as delightful as ever - and the night was the boost I needed after my hellish penguin play of late.

First thing this morning - straight out of bed.

I am hardcore. Love it!

The Wombles of Brommerly Common are we.

Such a wizard night! Well, not bad if you fancy nobbing a gorilla. Ha ha.

Well, sort of - there wasn’t much actual dribbling involved, thank God!

Oooh, it was excellent, wasn’t it?! I was so excited when I first heard rumours about it, even more so when it was confirmed by the Beeb.

I was disappointed not to see it scheduled for over Christmas - because everywhere said it was going to be shown later in the year (of 2006) and it still hadn’t happened by November. Then BBC TWO started repeating the first two series to build up to the one-off special - presumably to be shown at Christmas. Waiting another week wasn’t too bad, but it’s not the point.

Anyway, the episode was fantastic and I really hope they make a regular thing of doing a special every ten years. They made a joke about not doing so in the proceeding documentary, but it’s one of few programmes that I can see working in such a way - bringing it back periodically for quick insights into their lives. Very apt I thought - just look at its title for a start.

When it mattered, 2006 was a bit of a poo year; I’ve just neglected to mention the bulk of the bad bits on this here blog because - well, because I can.

Not that 2006 was without highlights, nay don’t be silly - there were loads of good things in 2006. It’s just the undocumented bad aspects far outweighed the good. And going on the goodness apparent in this post, you’ll see how bad the bad was.

Anyhow, being asked to stay on at Paramount for a second week, having dazzled them with my skills in the first, was definitely a high point of this year. That and Hob McD. saying that he’d actually seen the work I’d done there go to air. Fantastic.

English & Pockett was also a great company to work for, just sod’s law that I went for the one week of the year that supposedly saw very little work going on. ’twas a very insightful experience, and their name is perhaps the best for graphic design to have on your CV in the United Kingdom. So I’m not complaining.

My day in the Sky News studio was brilliant too, even if I did get trapped on the London Underground on the way there. Pirate’s motion control demonstration at their studio was also amazing, though I am a bit narked it wasn’t a week later when I could’ve had my photograph taken holding an Oscar. Bah.

Then, of course, there’s the vast amount of celebrities I saw at signings, live shows and generally walking about the place: Robert Llewellyn, Chloe Annett, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules, Russell Brand, Ricky Gervais, Sean Lock, Lee Mack, Stewart Lee, Robin Ince, Alan Carr, Matthew Holness, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, David Mitchell, Robert Webb and Shaun ‘Fat Baz’ Williamson. A ridiculously impressive list I’m sure anyone would agree. And let’s not forget bumping into fellow geek, Eugene Sully and the amusing - if not erratic - Nikki Grahame, both of which didn’t make it onto the previous list on account of not being proper celebrities. And perhaps even more impressive than all of that, I interviewed Peter Tyler for my dissertation. Boy did he come up trumps. Again.

Television, on the whole, wasn’t good. Life on Mars, which kick-started the year, was fantastic. Doctor Who was similarly splendid, though the Christmas special was a leetle bit disappointing - but generally a great episode. Torchwood was excellent - its series finale (apart from the rushed ending) beat the Doccie Who Christmas special hands down.

Not Going Out, Man to Man and Lead Balloon were superb new sitcoms; Pulling also being great, but not quite as funny as it could’ve been. Likewise Extras was hilarious in places, but in general wasn’t quite as sparkly as the first series. And That Mitchell and Webb Look, while funny, also disappointed, as so much of it was recycled material from their radio series.

Robin Hood was also thoroughly entertaining. And The Bill was as Billiant as ever. Oh, and I also fell in love with Firefly and Serenity having finally got around to watching the DVDs I’ve had of them for over a year. (Twat!) The Mighty Boosh and Nathan Barley also pleased me muchly having got them on a whim.

Film-wise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Saw III were the only films I saw at the cinema this year - both of which were excellent. I was fairly keen to see Superman Returns, but I’m that fond of the originals, I didn’t mind waiting until the DVD came along - although I still haven’t seen it. I am annoyed I never got around to seeing Clerks II on the big screen, though, so am desperately awaiting its release on DVD in February.

Food opinions in 2006 were varied. I discovered that potato salad was “mmmmm”, and that KP crisps far outshine Walkers and Golden Wonder for both flavour & freshness. But I also found out that cheddar cheese popcorn is a definite no-no - an absolute disaster of food that will stink out your kitchen, reminding you each time you smell it of the horror actually consuming the snack was.

What else to say? Oh yes, I invested in an Xbox console *just* to play Halo, which didn’t disappoint - but again, I’m a bit behind in only doing this in 2006. And in health: the bruises underneath my two big toe nails have yet to fully grow out. So that’s something to look forward to in 2007, along with:

More Life on Mars, Doccie Who, Torchwood, Lead Balloon and The Billage on the box. And theatrical releases of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, Spider-Man 3, Hot Fuzz, Live Free or Die Hard, Shrek the Third, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpson’s Movie, Sunshine and the film about Guy Goma - purely because the whole fiasco is so amusing.

And here’s hoping the independently made The Legend of Zelda: The Hero of Time gets finished, and that Red Dwarf: The Movie finally gets funded too.

Game on, no question!

Well there we have it, the end to what could possibly be the best television programme of all time. Yes, I know, I know - I’m four years late. But hey, it happens. Still, it was worth the wait and I’m glad I delayed watching it even further in saving it for my 21st birthday; incredibly sad slash geeky, maybe. But that’s what I’m like. And at 21 years of age I’m set in my ways.

I’ve just met the author, dreamweaver, visionary (plus actor) Garth Marenghi and co. Wizard indeed!

To end my busy two week stint of traversing London from early int’ morning until considerably late int’ evening, I spent yesterday afternoon moving about London with Katherine McK. (who has surprisingly not got FAT despite having just returned from a year in America - although she is still a ginge), ending the day with a viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

It was great finally catching up with Katherine in the flesh and the film was sensational - the ultimate in cool. The extortionate ticket price of £12.50 didn’t impress either of us, although getting reasonably good seats, the film being exceptionally long - a digital print at that - and being an awesome film to boot was of some comfort.

Ah, I really want to see it again now. I’ve never seen the same film twice at the cinema, but I’m almost tempted to go again as I know waiting for the DVD is going to be painful. As is waiting a whole year for the final instalment of the trilogy, dammit.