#gareth williams

[zanephillips]

GARETH WILLIAMS The Shield 3.04 "Streaks and Tips"

[retroscifiart]

Poster art by Gareth Williams for Star Trek IV The Voyage Home 1986

[spilladabalia]

This Heat - Makeshift Swahili

[captainknell]

BOOK REPORT

I had wanted to read this book eventually but it got immediately bumped up on the list when someone pointed out that it had basically the same plot as my WIP. I dropped everything and started reading to make sure it wasn't too similar. The book was just getting good and explaining things when the free pages on the internet ran out so I had to wait for the physical copy to come in the mail. I am pleased to say that besides the basic plot, it is not like my book. And now I'd like to read the next two in the series.

Anyways, the report!

The book is about a history teacher named Richard Davey that has a very boring life. He is a fan of Napoleon and finds out that time travel is real and possible through a mysterious shop keeper so he goes back to Waterloo to try and change history and give his life more meaning.

It was an interesting story and I never knew what was going to happen next. It starts right when he goes back in time but explains how he got there by use of flashbacks. I actually loved how this worked. Usually when there's a back and forth or either time or characters, I find myself having a clear favorite and wishing the other one would hurry up so I can get back to the good part. In this book, both were the good parts! I was just as happy to be back in time as I was to be getting the explanation of how he got there and vice versa.

Unfortunately, the tense of the story was driving me crazy. If I wasn't already interested in the topic, I probably would've ditched it by the end of the first page. Here's an example of what I'm talking about that doesn't contain any important information:

He returns to the carriage and rummages in his bag. He extracts his penknife and the dried sausage wrapped in his handkerchief. Standing at the open end of the cart, he spreads the square of linen as a tablecloth and carefully cuts several slices. He throws the small hunk of meat attached to the string to the back of the barn. At least he will know where the rodents are for a while. The sausage's pink flesh is mottled with white fat and shreds of garlic. The skin is covered in fine white mould with the texture of paper. He teases it free and adds it to his offering among the fallen timbers.

He chews each slice slowly, savouring the taste as the rich meat replenishes his energy. When finished, he takes a gulp from his round, wooden water canister. British army issue is pale blue but his is plain inside a hessian jacket. It would not help his cause to fall into French hands in possession of British army kit. He replaces the cork stopper and repacks his haversack.

My other big problem with the book, is that Richard is being described as being middle aged, balding, and kinda pudgy yet every young attractive girl in the book is flirting with him/throwing themselves at him. The other characters are good though!

Bonus (?) we get to see Napoleon in a dress

[bandcampsnoop]

6/11/23.

I bought this a couple of weeks ago during a sale by Superior Viaduct. Flaming Tunes were a one-off collaboration between Gareth Williams and Mary Currie (originally from Cardiff, Wales). Gareth had just returned from India - a trip he took after leaving the band This Heat - and reconnected with his childhood friend Mary Currie.

The result is Flaming Tunes. The Superior Viaduct page mentions pastoral British psych-folk and early Residents. I also hear Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Momus, The Great Unwashed, and Cleaners from Venus. But make no mistake, this deserves its experimental tag...but it also deserves a lo-fi pop tag.

[l8in]

Once again, cyngor Gwynedd council's planning committee has voted against the very policies they helped create. An application to build 18 affordable houses on land near Cae Capel, Botwnnog, Pwllheli, LL53 8RE was rejected by councillors.

The application, which was supported by planning officer's with conditions can be found here - https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/s41658/Land%20At%20Cae%20Capel%20Botwnnog%20Pwllheli%20LL53%208RE.pdf

Opposition to the homes for social rent was led by the local member Cllr Gareth Williams.

The webcast of the planning meeting can be found here - https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/907555

Councillor Gruff Williams also opposed the scheme and proposed the motion to reject saying most of the need for housing is around the Caernarfon area. In his summing up he said - 'Social media and people try and claim we are racist when we are trying to protect the language...' 

The meeting heard claims that Gwynedd council were gatekeepers of the Welsh language and that they were there to protect the language and not follow policy. Adra's track record was attacked and it was mentioned that non Welsh speaking families had been allocated houses in Nefyn and that it harms the social fabric in these estates. Williams also mentioned small children in Nefyn speaking english...

After the vote, Gareth Jones, the long suffering planning officer called for a 'cooling off' period, which means the decision is not yet finalised as there are risks to the council.

Councillors of the planning committee have a long history of going against their own department's recommendations. In February, 2023, Gwynedd council's monitoring officer, Iwan G D Evans, pleaded for consistency with regard to decision making after councillors rejected one application for a touring caravan site in Afonwen, Pwllheli. Councillor Gruff Williams led the opposition to this application. (This decision was later overturned on appeal).

In October, 2023, the committee passed one application contrary to the department's recommendations. The application was from Gruff Williams father - a former councillor -  in relation to his own caravan site in an area of outstanding beauty. The decision caused an outburst from councillor Elwyn Edwards, who angrily asked the committee 'where are your principles'? 

The October meeting was also notable for the monitoring officer resigning his position as solicitor for the planning committee...

Nine days after this meeting, the Daily Post reported - Cyngor Gwynedd Council was adjudged to have 'behaved unreasonably' over the issue The decision, by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), overturned previous rulings made Cyngor Gwynedd Council’s planning committee which went against officers’ recommendations. Welsh Government inspector Janine Townsley considered the local authority to have “behaved unreasonably”. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/century-old-footpath-row-ends-27881162?int_source=nba

Then there was the case of the family in Nefyn, whom one councillor claimed were 'under siege by their neighbours. This application was for the construction of an affordable dwelling on farm land near Uwch y Don, Bwlch Gwynt, Pistyll, Pwllheli, LL53 6LP, owned by the applicant's father. https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s33598/21-3-22%20Committee%20Report.pdf

Some councillors appeared to know the applicant well and spoke of the family’s troubles. Mention was made that the family already own an ex council home in Nefyn but that the family have been experiencing abuse from some in their community which is now affecting their children.

The applicant is an Information Technology Programmer/Analyst and one wonders if he is employed by Gwynedd council in some capacity? Planning officers had recommended refusal - for many reasons - but councillors voted to support the applicant and permission was granted, despite fears of intervention by the Welsh Government.

There are other cases where councillors have acted contrary to their own policies... To an onlooker, there is a perception that the rules do not apply for some applicants and this has led some people to ask themselves if there is a two tier planning system in Gwynedd?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LezoMi3yftM In other news, the Llŷn A.O.N.B Joint Advisory Committee held a meeting. Projects on the peninsula such as litter picking and repairs to dry stone walls by volunteers were discussed and praised for their success. The agenda pack can be found here - https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5302/Public%20reports%20pack%2010th-Sep-2024%2016.00%20Lln%20A.O.N.B%20Joint%20Advisory%20Committee.pdf?T=10

But councillors of this committee appear focused more on the Welsh language than anything else and many were unhappy with the council - and other organisations - for being bilingual. Members discussed using their positions to put pressure on the council to push the Welsh language even more.

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

[thevellaunderground]

This Heat: Fiery, Chaotic, and Full of Emotion

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a band emerged from the claustrophobic streets of London, creating music that defied categorization. This Heat, consisting of Charles Hayward, Charles Bullen, and the late Gareth Williams, crashed together disparate elements: lo-fi recordings, cutting-edge technology, free improvisation, musique concrète-like tape experiments, funk rhythms, distorted guitar, and…

[paulgadzikowski]

As I recall, this was the episode that got the militant censorship activist Mary Whitehouse gunning for Doctor Who. She was enough of a pain to the BBC that when the current producer/showrunner/whatever left they told the next guy, "Not so much with the gothic horror, okay? Okay," and he thought, "Well, if I can't be scary, I can be funny," and hired Douglas Adams for story editor/head writer/whatever, and that's where K-9 and TARDIS interiors which look like loading docks and big green blob monsters with phallic appendages came from.

Doctor Who - The Deadly Assassin (1976)

Only seen part 1 in the past, watching them all now and can safely say this might be one of the creepiest moments in whoniverse history.

[queer-ragnelle]

Sleepless Knights by Mark H. Williams | More quotes at Arthuriana Daily

[ratsoh-writes]

Made a Christmas present for my dad who’s the biggest fan of “He who fights with monsters!”.

Now that he’s gotten the picture, I can finally post it lol

[nobodyytodaylol]

[joannerenaud]

I'm so happy you enjoyed the book! I felt the same way as you.

MALMAISON MEDIA SALON SOIRÉE 15: NEEDING NAPOLEON (2020)

1. The Introduction

Hello, Neighbors! Welcome back to Malmaison Media Salon! At last we’re here and today is a bit of a special review. Why special?

Let me explain:

1. Firstly, it’s one of those cases where I stumble upon a media piece via recommendation from another community member. This time it was @suburbanbeatnik , who interviewed the author of the book and there was a contest where the first 3 users to comment would get a free ebook copy via email.

I was the first to comment because I was given the link and because I was really excited about what sounded like a promising story, considering my soft spot for the adventure genre, time travel and alternative history. So yeah, I became one of the lucky three users.

Unfortunately, the book is only available in English and has to be purchased through websites like Amazon, so those who don’t speak English too well might be out of luck for now.

2. Secondly, it’s one of the few anglophone (British, to boot!) media pieces that DO NOT paint Napoleon as a villain! How cool is that?! For newcomers, stumbling upon a gem like that is about as likely as seeing a UFO, so you can bet your asses that I HAD to check out the book!

3. Thirdly, I already mentioned that I’m a sucker for adventure, time travel, historical fiction and alternative history so that really boosted my excitement… as well as my worries. I prayed that the book would turn out to be good. Luckily, it did! More on that later though.

Anyway, before we proceed, this review is dedicated to @suburbanbeatnik and @garethwilliamsauthor . Not only is the latter, well, the author, but he also graciously gave me permission to write said review and I’m thankful for this.

Okay, with formalities out of the way, let’s begin!

2. The Summary

The novel tells the story of one Richard Davey, an ordinary schoolteacher who admires Napoleon and lives a very boring, lonely life.

However, during a fateful holiday in Paris, he gets a chance to leave his old life behind, meet his hero and maybe even change the course of history.

To me, the idea sounds very interesting, so let’s move onto the deeper analysis and see if the execution matches the potential.

3. The Story

Although the beginning of the story did confuse me a bit because we jump straight into action, I. Fucking. Love. This. Book. I was extremely hooked when reading and felt like I was back in my childhood, reading my favorite swashbuckling stories. The excitement is REAL.

The pacing is excellent, most loose ends get tied up in the end, the ending is satisfying yet also realistic and we don’t have the protagonist getting everything he wanted, which is awesome!

I did have a problem with the flashbacks though, mainly because they kept popping up and breaking the storyline immersion, but that’s just me.

Also, there’s a good mix of gritty artlessness (in a good way because it doesn’t gloss over war), a swashbuckling adventure, romance and down time (we can’t have action ALL the time).

The romantic subplot is very well-written and realistic, even though my asexual self still didn’t care much because I don’t normally like romance. Spoiler, it’s one of the few times where the protagonist doesn’t get the love interest in the end, for a lot of reasons.

So yeah, only minor complaints here and there.

(Oh, and tiny bonus for the Frev community: Frev isn’t demonized either!!! Yay!!!)

(P. S. Also there were a lot of moments that cracked me up, like the pun with HMS Bellerophon being called Billy Ruffian.)

4. The Characters

Richard Davey is by far one of the most relatable characters ever, since I can relate to his loneliness (me during the worse days of depression) and love for History (I’m a Frev and Napoleonic nerd). He’s flawed, reacts realistically and in his own way to situations and has a great character arc, from a man just going with the motions of life to a hero who can and does make a difference in history, just not in the way he first planned.

Emile Béraud, a soldier Richard befriends in the past, is an absolute sweetheart. Loyal to a fault, friendly and just as lonely as Richard, he takes part in the adventures and is a very compelling character.

Aunt Patricia, Richard’s only living relative, might be a minor character who doesn’t personally appear, but her presence is felt throughout the story and Richard constantly imagines what she would have to say in his position and how she would judge him.

Madame Odillet, the owner of an antique shop who helps Richard get back in time, is a mysterious woman with a troubled past, who definitely knows more than she first lets on. I like the book parallels between her and witches, even though she’s just a regular human.

Napoleon starts out as an insufferable punchable prick, but later on his portrayal becomes nuanced. He loves and misses his son, has a soft spot for kids, has a temper and at times alternates between acceptance of his fate and resolve to fight back. He’s not in a good place mentally nor physically, but he’s portrayed as someone flawed yet far from being a bad person.

Jerome is an arrogant hedonistic ass. Full stop. But he’s a minor character so I can understand why he’s not as nuanced, even if I wish there was a bit more complexity.

Gourgaud is an impulsive and arrogant bastard who is loyal to his emperor yet entitled due to having saved said emperor twice.

Bertrand and Fanny are extremely sweet.

Las Cases… I found him unpleasant and arrogant.

Murat and Caroline are mentioned and, LUCKILY, not depicted as traitors.

Ney in his cameo is his usual post-Russia reckless self (he possibly had PTSD, I believe).

Overall, the cast is memorable and I did enjoy the portrayals for the most part.

5. The Setting

The descriptions really sell the setting here, in my opinion. I particularly enjoyed the scenes at Malmaison where Napoleon essentially is Richard’s tour guide.

Always nice to see that the author really did their research and has a way with language to make immersion that much easier to achieve.

6. The Writing

Once again, the descriptions. Short, sweet, to the point.

The language is mostly easily understandable, but there are French words sprinkled in that (fortunately) can be more or less understood in context. I wish there were footnotes with translations though. Oh, and some words were unfamiliar to me as a foreigner so please keep that in mind too.

7. The Conclusion

If you can, please give the book a go. Remarkable adventures, nuanced characters and believable settings that are reminiscent of swashbuckling novels are definitely worth your money, in my humble opinion.

Of course, no work is perfect but I throughly enjoyed this one despite some flaws and I look forward to reading the sequel. It’s not every day we get an anglophone pro-Naps media piece, after all.

On that note, let us conclude today’s soirée. Please stay tuned for updates on future reviews, my dearest Neighbors.

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[torchwood-99]

I Went To The Torchwood Panel Today, With GDL and Kai Owen

So, to kick things off, they talked a fair bit about how Ianto and Rhys were meant to be killed off fairly early on, and that they didn't have the biggest roles to start with. Rhys was a "semi regular" character, and GDL had to audition with another character's lines because there weren't enough written for Ianto. Kai said he and Eve already knew each other because they did youth theatre together (!!!<3) And after the first read through of the first scripts, Eve came up to him and said they had to work to make the chemistry and heat believable in order to get people to fall in love with them as a couple, because the more people love Gwen and Rhys, the better chance Rhys had of getting a bigger a role and sticking around longer. Kai is very grateful to Eve for that. (my queen, my angel) Then they talked about how Ianto managed to evade the cull twice and made it to Children of Earth, and that Rhys is still alive (which GDL accused Kai of being braggy about) They also talked about how quickly Ianto rebounded from Lisa onto Jack "after all his friends shot her", and they talked about how COE was just very, very good. They were asked by a member of the audience which time period they would like to travel to. GDL said he loves armour and horses and all that, so he would pick the Middle Ages, except for the gonorrhoea and other diseases. Kai said he'd go and watch Elvis in Vegas, and to watch Live Aid. This got a big round of applause. GDL grumbled that no one clapped for "the middle ages and gonorrhoea" Then they were asked which Doctor was their favourite. GDL said it was the doctor who did surgery on one of his testicals. And Sylvester McCoy. Kai said David, which got another round of applause, so two for two for Kai. The sex gas came up a lot in discussion, so when they took a group photo and asked what we should say, GDL had us all say "Sex gas!"

[by-gray]

Okay, so my convo at Megacon with Gareth, Naoko and Kai so I can never forget it.

Okay so first of all, they all decided to troll the panel runner by coming on in the wrong order to how he announced them. Gareth seemed to be the lead-troller. The guy went “give a round of applause for Kai Owen!” And Gareth came leisurely walking on, hands in pockets. So the other two followed suit. When Naoko flopped down, she sorted out her bag and there was a muffin in it, so she asked us “does anyone want a muffin?” and she literally yeeted it (badly yeeted it) to this guy to have.

The cast’s whole dynamic seems to be “let’s bully Naoko for being lovably silly.” She’s chatty too. Like all I could think about is how she’s the complete opposite to Tosh whereas Kai is more Rhys than Rhys and Gareth is an even funnier Ianto (also, somehow, even more fucking gorgeous in real life his whole face seems to GLOW).

When it came to my convo, I asked “is it okay if I ask two questions?” because there was loads of people behind me queuing. Kai went “NO!” Naoko laughed. Gareth said: “Only if both questions are directed to Naoko.” This was a running joke since the beginning of the con because Naoko for some reason couldn’t understand any questions that day. Her excuse throughout the con was “English is my second language” – btw at some point, Gareth said “you have a lot to say for your second language.” He was hilariously savage.

Anyways, my two questions were: “what is your favourite Big Finsih audios you’ve done? And, if you could have one Doctor Who monster that could’ve been in Torchwood, which one would you pick?” Naoko didn’t quite get the questions (again). Kai went “bloody hell she only asked it two seconds ago!” Everyone laughed. Gareth tried to explain it to her, but he got it the other way around himself and said “which Torchwood alien would you like to be in Doctor who?” I explained the question again and Gareth went “oh sorry I got it the wrong way around”.

Naoko answered that she liked the Dinner and a Show audio and she loved the adipose because she thinks they’re really cute. Kai’s first audio mention I can’t remember… in the moment, you sort of find it hard to take in everything they say because you’re so overwhelmed and excited. It’s killing me, but he said he loved Rhys and Ianto’s Excellent Barbecue as well. He agreed that he liked the adipose but also the daleks and the weeping angels. Gareth’s fave audios I can’t remember either, but my friend thinks he said Fall to Earth because he mentioned a ship falling out of the sky. He also spoke about earlier, in answer to another person’s question, how cool Absent Friends was with DT (alas, as we know, never to be released). He immediately agreed with Kai about weeping angels. He said that he’s kinda been with the daleks in Doctor Who, but the Master would’ve also been amazing. I immediately jumped in and asked my third question: “which one?” He said John Simm. I nodded in agreement because all Masters/Missy are incredible choices.

During Kai’s talk he looked straight at me, smiling so wide, teeth showing, and lovely. And when they all thanked me for the questions, he said: “you look great by the way.” I was in a gender-bend Jack costume.

Along with Gareth shaking everyone’s hands during the Photo op, asking our names and then saying “nice to meet you [insert name]” with the sweetest smile… highlight of my day.

[theroyalsandi]

British Royal Family - The Prince of Wales, President of Football Association, presenting shirt to England manager Gareth Southgate and skipper Harry Kane as he wish the England squad good luck ahead of the Euros at St George’s Park (Photo by Andrew Parsons) | June 10, 2024

[captainfairygodmother]

Meanwhile, Post CoE: