Shame on you...

A member of a forum, of which I frequent far too often, has posted this on her Live Journal account, and I just had to share it (with her permission) in the hope that we all stop and think about our online activities ...


"Please Read - Inappropriate Use of Photos"

"I am not usually one to get all up on my high horse about photos I've posted online. It's annoying when something you've posted ends up somewhere else without credit, but at the weekend I heard something that made my stomach churn. A complete stranger told me that she recognised my son from an email attachment that's been floating round. Apparently someone has taken a picture of him and Gareth David-Lloyd and captioned it "Ianto and Lisa's Baby". I can only imagine that someone saw the photo of Gareth and a small mixed race boy and there mind had that random thought. The thing is that most normal people would leave it there and wouldn't then pass that photo around with a silly caption. You have no idea how I felt on hearing that my son was being used as an object of amusement for someone. I share my pictures in very few places - my LJ (photo posts are usually flocked), my private photobucket account and this one photo was shared with friends on a Torchwood forum. What makes this worse is that it is probably someone I know that has done this. While I usually don't worry too much about sharing pictures of my son online this is taking it too far. I want to be able to share pics with my friends but this has seriously made me have to rethink that. Taking a picture of someone's child and knowingly editing it and passing it around is not cool. Not cool at all. I know this is my fault for being trusting but I wanted to post this so that people may think twice about how they use images belonging to others. I feel violated, I feel that my son has been violated and I just can't understand why someone would do that. it was creepy having a stranger approach me and say "I'm sorry to have to tell you this..." and then go on to describe the photo in detail. I just hope that by posting this the person who did this may see it and that they (and anyone reading this really) will have a long think about how they use other people's images without permission in future. There's not much I can do about this now but please, if you get this email, don't pass it on. Seriously fandom, it's creepy stuff like this that gives us a bad name."

*

Coke* with Steven Savile

Yep, another meet-up with Mr. Savile, and this time I think the two of us drank enough diet coke to, well, raise the diet coke shares a few percentage... at least. Oh, and yes, ‘me and me fella’ got lost again whilst trying to find the hotel. Train to Richmond, check; District Line to Gloucester Street, check; Circle Line to Bayswater, check; bothered to work out the route from the station to the hotel before leaving, so we knew which way to go... erm... well. God bless street maps you can download onto a mobile phone... ;)

Steven was sat in the bar when we arrived, Mac laptop open, looking intelligent and cool in his jeans and open shirt, dressed ‘full circle’ as he says, like he had done in the 80’s, an empty glass to one side (to prove how long it had taken us to finally locate the hotel in Queensborough Terrace - 3 minutes from the station - but hey, we took the scenic route!!!).

First round in.. diet coke for me and Steven, an Irish cider for me fella, with the football results playing on the big screen telly - bit of a theme in hotels methinks, or is that just the way it looks (shame we hadn’t met during the Ashes). Steven was pleased to say he’d been moved from his tiny basement room to a big boy's one UPstairs, and then sat enthusiastically telling us all his latest news and gossip. Of course I had to tease him about meeting Sandra Bullock a couple of weeks ago - but then, if she will make a film ‘All About Steve’, who am I to argue?

Then onto news about ‘Silver’ - boy! is Steven excited about this book, and it’s hardly surprising. I can still remember him talking vaguely about it in the past, and even then he was excited: and who can blame the guy... it’s going to be one of those tales that will have you questioning so much about everything you have previously taken as, well... Maybe I should let you find out for yourself. And you won’t have any excuse not to read it when it’s released, as you’ll have the pick of fourteen different languages, such as French, Spanish and Polish.... or maybe you’ll try it in more than one!

Another round of coke & cider, and out came a couple of books I’d brought for Steven to sign, (with much giggling and sarcastic commenting): ‘Slaine: The Exile’ was very kindly signed by Ukko, that little darling who’s the REAL hero; and ‘Vampire Wars: The Von Carstein Trilogy’... which we then sat flicking through, as Steven explained the ‘over 700’ puns and references he had made throughout... highlighting some of the chapter titles, playing on songs that meant something to him which, for some reason, led into a hummed rendition of the 'Peter Gunn' theme - such is life.

And then it was time to eat: I let the guys choose the venue...

We may not have had a pool, and I certainly ‘ain’t no Sandra Bullock’, but Hollywood doesn’t have the "Whiteleys Centre" where we enjoyed MORE diet coke and a good fill of Mexican/Tex Mex specialities at Oscars. Delicious!!! And more talk about ‘Silver’.

This is not going to be a quick read, nor is it going to be an easy read, but our book shops are full of ‘best sellers’ that you can plough through in a couple of hours, which then end up at the local charity shop, having made NO impact, what-so-ever, on your life. ‘Silver’ is going to change you, challenge you... and have you thinking about deeper things than “will the hero get the girl/heroine get the guy (or new handbag/pair of shoes)”.

Steven is such an intelligent writer, and has probably been slightly stifled (my term, and used loosely) over the years of his ‘over night success’, but now he is coming into his own, and a thriller is were his heart lies. I don’t think I’ve ever met somebody who can hold me totally enthralled by simple observations, which he fills out with Plato-like philosophies. A chat with him isn’t just a natter about ‘how’s things?’, ‘did you see that thing about what’yer-ma-flip on the telly?’ and ‘what about old thingy-ma-bob saying...?’: it’s all that, and then some... and then some more. He always has an amazing theory or two (or ten), which you know are going to set you thinking... And then he’ll have you giggling in the corner with some antic he’s been up to... ;)

*Coke - well, I’ve had Coffee and Curry with Steve so far... but I don’t think I’ll be sticking to the formula next time... unless we go to a Butterfly Farm with a rather weird menu.

Dreamscape Extended Cut Trailer

Final trailer for Chat Noir Productions first feature film, 'Dreamscape', written and directed by Daniel J. Fox.

Starring Daniel J. Fox, Mark Ellingham, Sandra Darnell, Magda Rodriguez, Richard Dodd, Mike Lockley, Chris Owen, Ian Paul, Abigail Fox
and Frank Pipkin.

Be sure to pop over to the 'Dreamscape' website too.

The Day of the Troll

By Simon Messingham
(Now, where have I heard that name before? Hmmm....)

BBC Audiobooks - Due for release 8 Oct 2009.
Further details here

"When the Doctor arrives on Earth in the far future, he is horrified to find the planet beset by famine and starvation. England is a barren wasteland, and scientists are desperately seeding the ground to make the crops grow again. But now it seems that something even worse is happening. Karl Baring, the owner of research facility The Grange, has been snatched away in the middle of the night. His sister Katy was with him when he vanished, but is now in catatonic shock - so it is up to the Doctor, with the help of the scientists at The Grange, to investigate. What is lurking under the old bridge, and why is it preying on people? The Doctor must find out, before it strikes again... "

Written specially for audio by Simon Messingham and read by David Tennant, this brand new exclusive adventure features the Doctor as played by David Tennant in the acclaimed hit series from BBC Television.

Edit: Check out page 14 of DWM 413 - a nice interview with Simon Messingham.

Steve Chats - September 2009

Yes, that's Steven Savile... chatting.... online!!!

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009 -

LA, the Roosevelt Hotel, to be precise, holds a special place in my heart. In 2003 I spent a week there attending a workshop run by Tim Powers and KD Wentworth. It was the week that changed my life. The one that convinced me I might have a career here. Kevin J Anderson, David Carradine, Bill Widder, and Charles Brown came to talk to us and convince us to quit (well in Charles' case). Bill gave us a great talk about pulps. Carradine rambled incoherently and was a salutary lesson of the ills of celebrity, and KJA talked business. It was an inspirational talk. Powers gave so graciously of his time and craft, and as a counterpoint Kevin essentially said 'you want to survive, know these things...'

Continued here...