Who Do You Do?

I had the pleasure of meeting character actor Simon Fisher-Becker tonight at the Five Leaves Bookshop in the city centre.

He called in to give a talk about his life so far and to promote the first volume of his autobiography; "My Dalek Has a Puncture".

The intimate setting of the bookshop was just right for Simon to chat about how he was bullied at school, his working life in HR before becoming an actor, the plays and shows that he had been in and the good fortune that he has had since landing the part of Dorium Maldovar, the blue alien in Doctor Who.

He was also in the first Harry Potter film, albeit briefly, as most of the film ended up on the cutting room floor. In fact he joked that his screen credit was on longer than he was.

But it's not all been glitz and glamour, as he was badly attacked one night back in 2009, while he was at a petrol station.  Sadly this has left him with some disabilities. But ironically enough, if he hadn't been injured, he wouldn't have got the part of Dorium, as he would have had a role in a panto, and therefore unavailable.

Isn't like strange sometimes...

Having Words

I went to a book launch tonight at I think Nottingham's only independent bookshop called Five Leaves.

The tome called "More Raw Material" has been compiled and published by local poet Neil Fulwood and David Sillitoe, son of late Nottingham author Alan Sillitoe. It is an anthology of poetry and writing by some fifty authors including TV writer and producer Henry Normal, who helped to write The Royale Family, Gavin & Stacey and Alan Partridge.

Five Leaves is quite a small shop, but it was packed with people who had come to hear some of the writers read some of their work. David himself read a couple of his dad's poems.

I bought a copy of the book, which also includes some of David's photos and got it signed. Something to thumb through on these cold winter nights. It might also inspire me to take up the pen and do a bit myself.

Keeping Track

Some of you may remember Formula One racing driver Nigel Mansell from the 1980s & 1990s, although his moustache may be more famous than his driving skills.

He was in Nottingham tonight to sign copies of his autobiography 'Staying on Track'. There were quite a crowd waiting, both inside and outside the shop. In fact the queue stretched halfway up the side of the bookshop.

Slightly earlier than planned, Nigel made his entrance. Then he did something that I've not seen before at a celebrity signing, he went outside and said hello to the waiting fans. He also signed autographs, so some people didn't have to wait in the queue.

I was standing with a couple of other photographers, including one from the Evening Post. The manager of Waterstones then gave the OK for us to take some photos for our various publications.

Rebel With A Heart

Another day, and another famous person visits Nottingham.

This time its been Huey Morgan, front man of the Fun Loving Criminals.

He was at Waterstones today signing copies of the book that he has written about rebels in music. Singers like Billie Holliday, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

It was fortuitous in a way that I had arrived at the bookstore later than I wanted, as I had missed all his adoring fans and more or less had him to myself. So I politely asked if he wouldn't mind posing for a photo or two, which he was more than happy to do.

Crime Does Pay

Wednesday night is Headbanger Challenge night in Blogland, and Richard, our newest recruit has come up with this weeks' theme. He has picked 'through the window'.

Now this sentence takes me back to my childhood when I watched Play School at about 4pm every weekday. And everyday they used to either go through the round, square or arched window, and we'd see a film of something being made, a different country or some such thing.

So I'm taking you through the oblong window to Chester today and this pirate who was standing guard inside a shop; which I just can't remember what it's name was, or what it was selling. Still it makes for something different.

Don't forget to pop over to the other blogs to see how they have interpreted the theme, and enjoy this nostalgic song from the 1930s.


The famous American crime writer Lee Child was in town today, doing a book signing at Waterstones of his latest novel "A Wanted Man'. And he certainly was wanted, as there was a queue a mile long that stretched up the side of the building.
His wrist must really have ached after autographing so many editions. In fact one guy came along with a bag full of his previous novels to sign!

I have read one of his novels so far called 61 Hours. It was a good read too. Quite suspenseful and certainly a page turner. I will probably get this one when it appears in my local library, which I think is about his 12th so far.

I also had a bit of a surprise, as this young lady came up to me and asked if I was "Gailsman". I said I was, and she introduced herself as Eva, and she helped to write the Nottingham Confidential website; of which you'll find a link on my favourite blogs. She said that she enjoyed looking at my blog and thought my photos were great. I said that I found NC very useful for finding out about some of the events that were taking place in the city. So if you are reading this Eva, nice to have met you today and hope to bump into you at the next event.