Hi Everyone

Following on from our my last update we did three shows in a row with Showmasters – Sheffield, Glasgow and a new venue in Bournemouth – these shows are always fun.

Hello everyone –

I must apologise for the lack of an update for so long. I cannot believe it is now 2016. This update starts in a far sunnier clime in Gijon, northern Spain. I was invited last June to the Metropoli Festival which takes in film, music exhibitions and cosplay.
They had a rather large Star Wars exhibition with far too many items to show here, but below are just a few.

I have only gone up to the beginning of August last year and will make a concentrated effort to get up to date very soon.

Thanks for following.

Jeremy

Hi Everyone

Hi Everyone,

Another three months have raced past and we are now looking forward to a busy Spring/Summer. Christmas seems so long ago now - we spent it at home quietly with the family. Robbie & Kirsty are now settled back in their house in London and finding life very different from Colombo, but it is lovely to have them close to home again. Our first event of the year was the Star Wars #1 Marvel comic launch at Limited Edition Comix in Stevenage. It was a great day supported by the 501st and we saw a steady flow of people coming in to purchase their comics. Thanks to Richard Emms for inviting us.

Fast forward to February and we took the train and headed north to Middlesbrough for Teeside Unleashed 5. Lee had invited me last year and promised me a busy day - he was not wrong - there was even a traffic jam outside the hotel where the event was held. We had a wonderful meal the night before at the Treebridge Hotel with Lee and his lovely wife Sharon - a great weekend – thanks Lee and Sharon and the team – well done.

As I had a big birthday coming up in February our children in their wisdom arranged for week's skiing holiday in Austria. Maureen had never skied and I had skied briefly many years ago whilst filming a documentary for the Royal Marines in Norway. Twelve of us set off in two cars with ludicrous amounts of professional looking skiwear. We stayed in the lovely town of Offenburg – where they were celebrating Carnival for Lent, so there were many costumes and masks around.......a bit like a convention!

It took us two days to drive through France, Germany and finally into Austria to the ski resort of Mautendorf.

The house we rented was perfect with its own sauna and jacuzzi. Jamie's girls had skied the year before and were soon zooming down the slopes and Robbie's two boys learnt very quickly and were enjoying the whole experience. Indy preferred her sledge as did I.......................... Both Ned and I had our birthdays in Mautendorf.

A wonderful week - the gondola to the top was a bit scary (should have used Slave 1) but very exhilarating.

A few days at home then it was time to take our first transatlantic trip of the the year to Pensacon in Florida. After the beautiful weather in the mountains London Heathrow airport seemed a little dull. The flight over just showed snow and frozen lakes.
It did improve however on our descent into Pensacola.

This show is in it’s 2nd year and oranisers Mike & Ben had done a great job promoting it. We stayed at the Lee House Suites which was a very relaxing place after a busy day. We were taken out by the 501st for an interesting evening at McGuire’s Irish pub – always fun with those guys and girls and the following evening we went to the fabulous Fish House for dinner.

The show was very busy and the whole town turned out – they will need to build a bigger convention centre for 2016.

Home for a couple of days then we headed off to the Ritz Cinema in Lincoln for Star-Con 15. Andy met us at the station and after visiting the cinema we went out for a little meal with fellow guests.

We were joined on the day by Brian Muir, and we all gave a talk about our experiences with Star Wars. There was also a photo shoot, and Gary came along with his brilliant Boba costume. He also gave me a lovely
picture as a birthday present.

After a lovely day we had quite a long journey back to London due to late and cancelled trains – but we got there in the end.

Jamie and his family had organised yet another birthday bash – this time for the rest of the family. It was a beautiful day and is was good to see my brother Nigel again. Delicious food followed by an amazing Boba Fett chocolate cake lovingly made by Lara, Evie and Connie – almost too good to eat.

Thanks to all my lovely family for making my big birthday so memorable.

Although I never like to use the London underground, I was forced down to the Northern Line at Stockwell to see an advertisement for a book ‘Look Who’s Back’ by German author Timur Vermes that Jamie has translated – a brilliant read.

Off to Lexington tomorrow and speak very soon and thanks for following my blog.

Jeremy

 

UPDATE: DECEMBER 23, 2014

Hi Everyone

Well its been almost three months since my last update, but it has been non-stop since September. I was invited to an event in Speyer, Germany and my son jumped at the chance of coming along with me (a) because he wanted to visit Speyer again and (b) he speaks fluent German. It was a very interesting trip as the event took place in the Speyer Technik Museum which is unique as it houses a variety of masterpieces of technology. I was joined by Daniel Logan for the weekend, and we had great fun sampling the German beer and German food. Dirk and his team made us very welcome and it is certainly a very interesting place to visit.

On our return it was off to Manchester with Showmasters for a day at a completely different show at Event City. It was a video gaming expo and I have never seen so many screens in my life. Sorry no photos from this show.
The following weekend it was a return visit to Earls Court for the winter LFCC - it’s sad that this amazing venue is being demolished as we have attended some very good shows there.

Our next jaunt was to Canada for two big shows. We were very happy to be returning to the beautiful city of Quebec and on our arrival the view from our room was spectacular. The old town is just amazing and one can spend many hours walking around the old streets.

This was a new event put on by Oscar and Alex (promoters of the Montreal Comic Con) and it was very successful – the venue was just a one minute walk from the hotel. We had some lovely meals and went out with the Mercs for a fun evening at the 3 Brasseurs.

At the show we met up with Steeve Gros-Louis who we had done an event with in October 2001. As we were staying on for a few days in Quebec he very kindly offered to take us to the new Hotel Musee Premieres Nations in Wendake where we spent a lovely afternoon being given a tour of the museum and hotel. In the evening we went to his restaurant Sagamite and met up with his lovely wife Niva and three children. We had a delicious meal which was flambéed to perfection.

We then flew on to Winnipeg where we had last been in October 2008. Violet and her husband Michael invited me back and the show had grown a great deal since then. Another splendid view from our hotel room.

Before the event opened I was attacked by the Wolverine which is always a good start to the day! We were sitting next to Ron Rubin who is a well known Canadian voice actor and he kept us amused with his banter with fans, he even had his own fans serenading him. As always the Mercs were on hand to help out.

A great two weeks in Canada and now it was time to head home and drive to Cardiff for another event. This is another show that is growing and it’s great to be in the town centre where everything is going on.

The following few weeks were very busy and the next show was Collectormania in Milton Keynes. This is a well established event and we have been many times – it’s always a good show. with some brilliant costumes.

It was now time for relaxing – it was Maureen’s Birthday and our son had arranged a dinner at his house and a surprise gift of a lovely garden seat. Also she was given a voucher for ‘An unconventional Weekend’ We were to meet on Friday afternoon on St. Pancras station to get a train to????. On our arrival there were 6 grandchildren with their respective mothers. We boarded the train and were whisked off to Worcester, and a short taxi ride to the most beautiful house which was to be ours for the weekend. Jamie & Robbie had already driven there and had prepared an amazing dinner. There was much celebration, a trip to the wonderful cathedral and a five mile walk in perfect weather – what a lovely weekend.

Another weekend - another trip to Wales – this time to Wrexham in the North. This is another show that gets bigger and better each year. We had dinner with Shane and Sheila Rimmer and Brian and Lindsay Muir, and met up with a rather weary Matt Wood who had just flown in from LA. It was good to see Gary aka Boba who had come along from Manchester to troop in his Boba costume (it’s nearly as good as mine!). Thanks Jaime for another good show.

Our final show for 2014 was a weekend in historic Plymouth for Dev-Con. Leah and Julian from the store First Frontier had organised the event which took place in the Guildhall. Ken Colley was a fellow guest and we had a lot to catch up with as I had not seen him for a while. It was more of a Christmas fair than a convention, and there were lots of lovely gifts and goodies for sale. Money was also raised for local charities.

All the best,

Jeremy

Hi Everyone

Following on from our last update we spent some time in the UK and took a trip to one of our glorious English beaches - a lovely sunny day and not a soul to be seen apart from our two grandsons having a wonderful time.

I was invited along with artist Lee Townsend to the opening of a new shop in Strood, Kent called 'Get Ready Retro'. Strood is a charming town and the shop was situated in a pretty little street with lots of independent shops. My fellow guest was artist Lee Townsend. The 501st were there in force and Paul was running a stall for Make a Wish. The owners of the shop Michael and Jenna made us very welcome and it was great to see so many people turning up to support this new venture. We wish them lots of luck.

Another weekend - another shop - this time in Bexhill-on-Sea. I had been invited to Famous Collectables in the past and now it finally worked out for a visit. The shop is run by the three Pang brothers and was fully stocked with every collectable imaginable and it even has its own gaming area. It was a busy day and was rounded off with a delicious home cooked Chinese meal made lovingly by their parents.

Now it was time for a short break and a trip to Tuscany with our son and family. Italy is a time for making pizzas, drinking wine, taking in the magnificent views and relaxing. Cannot think of anything better, except of course the sunsets! As always there are many guests and supper time is great fun – this evening was 'Pizza time' - Jamie made all the pizza dough, and I cooked them (well almost!)

We visited the lovely old town of Bolgheri for lunch and spent the afternoon sightseeing

You always seen to find interesting creatures roaming the Italian countryside and this was no exception.

Could not believe we were now at the end of August - where did the summer go? Our next trip was to Sheffield - for a new show put on by Showmasters at the Sheffield Motorpoint Arena. Friends and acquaintances were in abundance and it was great catching up with Sylvester McCoy, John Rhys Davis (who we spent a very interesting lunchtime with). Other guests included Virginia Hey, Paul Blake, Rusty Goffe to mention a few.

Our next adventure was a trip to two South American countries for Concomics in Cordoba, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. We were very excited as we had never been to these countries before, although we knew organisers Eduardo and Carlos from our previous trips to Mexico.

We were travelling overnight to Buenos Aires and then transferring to another flight for the short hop to Cordoba. On our arrival at Buenos Aires we met up with Kristen Hughey a cos player from the US (who we had seen last year in Guadalajara) and took a taxi ride along with her husband Bruce across the city. In Cordoba we were taken out for a lovely meal with the Planeta Kordhova for a typical Argentinian feast, and I was given some lovely gifts including two wine glasses and a bottle of Malbec wine.

It was great to meet new Argentinian fans in Cordoba, and they made me very welcome and presented me with a lovely plaque. The show was busy and we had great fun.

We had a day to sightsee in Cordoba and the city has some wonderful architecture including this rather spectacular government building.

Everyone else was travelling to Montevideo by coach, but they very kindly put us on a flight.

On our flight back to Buenos Aires we got a good view of the River Plate Stadium. Our connecting flight to Montevideo was a quick hop across the Rio de la Plata.

Montevideo is a very pretty city and we took a three hour stroll along the seafront.

We were taken to lunch at the famous Mercado del Puerto which has an amazing amount of restaurants serving South American Barbeque.

On the way back I managed a brief game of footy with a young up and coming Uruguayan star! We also took in some of the sights.

Their were many fans in costume and I felt rather boring in my jacket.

These events are always very colourful and it was exciting to be in South America - the fans are the same the world over and I feel privileged to be able to meet them. I was given two special gifts, a beautiful painting on an old 78 rpm record by Emexem, and a wonderful throw from Luis whose mother had made it on a loom especially for me.

Sad to be leaving South America, but we had an exciting show - Autographica - to look forward to on our return. It took place in Birmingham and I met up with several actors I had not seen in a long time including Tony Osobo, George Leyton, Roy Holder and Carol Cleveland. It was a thrill to meet John Manzi and Gerry Glasser who gave a wonderful presentation on their time piloting the famous SR-71 Blackbirds - they were so passionate about their time spent flying these wonderful aircraft.

All for now - speak soon.

Jeremy
 

Hi Everyone

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog, but there never seems time to sit down at the computer and write.

Our next adventure was to Toronto and Orlando. We flew to Orlando and stayed the night at the wonderful Hyatt airport hotel.

The following morning we flew to Toronto and were surprised to see how much building had taken place since our last visit. There were condominiums all along the lakeside and in the evening all you could see were lights in apartments. I went off to do a breakfast TV show the next morning and was interviewed by the same charming presenter Bob Cowan who had interviewed me in Niagara last year.

The event was not so busy as expected, but everyone worked hard to make our stay very enjoyable and promoter Paul Newdick and his team looked after us well.

It is always great to visit Toronto and we did see some amazing statues, and the view from the restaurant was pretty too.

It was then back to Orlando and Disney - this is beginning to feel like our second home! As always we had a great time and it was good to see all our friends and work with Warwick Davis, James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein and meet Tiya Sircar who voiced the character of Sabine Wren in Star Wars Rebels.

This time we managed to see the amazing firework display at Epcot and took in the lovely view of the lake on our way home.

We were home for a couple of weeks and then headed back across the pond for the Denver Comic Con. The convention centre was protected by a very large curious bear. It was a very busy show with lots of costumes both large and small.

Downtown Denver was very lively in the evening and the horse drawn carriages looked great fun and very elegant – they even painted their hooves. We spent a great evening with Sylvester McCoy and our friend Julian, sitting in an outdoor restaurant taking in all the nightlife.

I was given a rather nice bottle of specially brewed Boba beer.

The following weekend was split between the Leicester Space Centre and Wigan Comic Con. Its always fun to go the the Leicester Space Centre and I was with Dave, Peter & Kenny. A quick drive up the motorway to Wigan for the Comic Con the following day. Another show another Dr Who – this time Colin Baker. Thanks to Paul Prescott for a great day.

I had a call from Ian Freer from the Empire Magazine that had voted 'The Empire Strikes Back' the best sci-fi film. They were holding a screening of the film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and I was invited along as a special guest to the screening and to do a Q & A with the audience afterwards. We took a very pleasant train journey - beats driving anyday and takes half the time. I felt very honoured to be greeted outside the theatre by the 501st and a wonderful lady bagpipe player. After the event we went to a reception and met the organisers. Over breakfast the following morning we looked directly over to the wonderful Edinburgh Castle.

Before our train home we had a guided tour of Edinburgh and also a chance to look over the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Back home and the next event was a mere 20 minutes drive from home - The London Film & Comic Con at Earl's Court in London. This show gets busier every time we go along and this one must have broken all records for attendance. It was also a special event as I was wearing my Boba Fett costume for a photo shoot and was able to donate a very handsome amount to Great Ormond Street Hospital where our little granddaughter had been brilliantly treated only a few months ago. Thanks to all the amazing people who wanted a photo with Boba and also thanks to the guys from the 501st who expertly got me kitted up in my costume- without them I would still be struggling with my jetpack!

An old acquaintance Steve from Cardiff had invited me to his Cardiff Tattoo convention where strangely enough most of the people were tattoo artists! I was not quite sure this would be the right show for me but Steve assured me I would be very busy. We went along and fellow Star Wars guests were Alan Ruscoe, Toby Philpott and Nathalie Cox. It turned out to be a very interesting show, and there were plenty of people who were dedicated Boba fans and wanted their artwork signed. We had a great time and like Edinburgh Cardiff is a very exciting city to be in.

Will follow up pretty soon with the rest of the summer events.

All for now - speak soon.

Jeremy

Well folks it's been a while since the last update, but a lot has happened in the past couple of months - some things good, some things not so good, but finally something very good. After Christmas fast forward to February when we headed out to Sri Lanka to visit our son and family. We would be celebrating our grandson Ned's birthday and mine. It was good to see the family again as they had not been back to the UK since last summer. We drove down to the lovely old city of Galle for the first weekend, and were thoroughly spoilt by having our own chef who cooked up some amazing food. It was Ned's 11th birthday so plenty of cakes were enjoyed by all and guess what I gave him as a present? It was very warm and the locals had a good way of keeping cool.

For the journey back to Colombo Maureen, Robbie and Ned decided to take the train and what an experience that turned out to be. Standing room only for three hours and at each station another 100 or so people crammed into the carriage until they were literally hanging out the doors – that’s when a jetpack comes in handy!

The following weekend we had another trip this time to Mirissa to celebrate my birthday. When we arrived we couldn't quite believe that the villa was just for us - it had it's own pool, cinema, fireman's pole (which delighted the children - Boba did not attempt it!) plus about eight bedrooms to choose from and of course staff to attend to our every need - we could easily get used to this life.......

The villa was very beautiful and had a great terrace ideal for early evening cocktails and glorious sunsets.

On my birthday we decided to have a game of cricket by the sea. The day started with a huge slice of birthday cake, followed by a game of cricket played mainly by myself – the children found playing in the sand more interesting Sad smile

Back in Colombo it was good to spend time with the grandchildren, just swimming and relaxing and we visited the famous Tintagel Hotel for dinner.

We decided to spend our last weekend in the Maldives as it was only an hours flight away, and also we would probably never have the opportunity again. Flights and accommodation were booked and we were looking forward to the wonderful trip when we got the devastating news that our youngest granddaughter Indy who is five years old had a malignant brain tumour. Everything went into freefall - she needed immediate surgery in Colombo and then was to be flown back to the UK by air ambulance for major surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital. After much debating it was decided that Maureen and I would still go to the Maldives with Ned and Joss. The Maldives are made up of a chain of islands in the Indian Ocean. We flew to the capital Male and stayed the night there. Transport was by speedboat, or if one was very wealthy by private seaplane - we chose the boat!

The Four Season Resort on Kuda Hurra is out of this world and if ever you happen to be in the Indian ocean it is well worth a visit Winking smile The children enjoyed the stunning pool, and even fed the baby sharks in the evening.

The weekend went far too quickly, and we enjoyed it as much as circumstances would allow. Soon it was time to jump on the boat and plane and head back to Colombo.

Back home in the UK our first event of the year was Autographica, a nice gentle show at the Radisson hotel at London Heathrow airport. There were several astronauts there including Buzz Aldrin and it was fascinatingly talking to Greg H. Johnson about his experiences in space. He also was a Star Wars fan.

The following week we got the amazing news that Indy’s tumour was not malignant after all and she is making a very steady recovery - our home was completely taken over by get well cards, balloons and an excessive amount of cuddly toys.

This meant we could go to Salt Lake City Comic Con feeling much happier. We were staying in the very luxurious Grand America hotel. Salt Lake City is very beautiful and is surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The show was astounding with around 100,000 attendees – not bad for only a 2nd show. Well done to Dan Farr and his professional crew for giving us a great weekend.

The Krayt Clan – Utah Chapter invited Maureen and I to join them at the fabulous Pizza restaurant 'Settebello' which had the best pizza I have tasted. They very kindly presented me with a lovely crystal and made me an honorary member.

Just a note to say thanks so much to all the fans who very generously gave us donations for the Great Ormond Street Hospital which took such good care of Indy. We raised $800 -thank you guys and girls from Salt Lake City.

Our next two shows were in Europe which is easily reached by Eurostar – just a quick train ride under the channel. Our first trip was to Antwerp, Belgium for a one day event. We arrived the day before and explored the lovely city. It's central railway station is a very impressive building Other guests included Alan Harris (Bossk) and my old friend Colin Baker from Dr. Who and we all gathered for special dinner on Saturday night. The show was fun if not a little noisy due to the lady wrestlers in the ring just in front of our table. Alan and I were made honorary members of the ‘Rebel Legion – Benelux’. Thanks to Lode for inviting us for a fun weekend.

Back on Eurostar again the following weekend, this time heading for Cusset in France. We travelled from London with Dermot Crowley and Cathy Munroe. We stayed in the spa town of Vichy which like Antwerp has lovely
architecture.

I first appeared at the Generations Star Wars event in May 2003 and was amazed at how big it had grown over the years, in fact it needs a bigger venue. Well done to Fabien and his team and also to the wonderful chocolatier who surprised us all at the end of the show with all these goodies which were demolished very quickly.

Another weekend, another train journey this time to the beautiful cathedral city of Lincoln. I was going to the Ritz Cinema which is being completely renovated. The owner Pete Genders was raising money to complete the works. Peter Davison - who was the fifth Doctor Who – was just about to do his stage Q & A.

On Saturday, many people turned up for my Q & A and I was supported by friend Gary aka Boba. The 501st were out in force, and we raised a good amount of money by doing a photo shoot.

It was a very successful day and we wish Pete and his crew lots of luck in bringing the Ritz back to its former glory.

We have been to two more events (Toronto and Disney) and that update will be coming very soon. The good news is that Indy has recovered so well that she has travelled back to Sri Lanka for the last few months of Robbie’s posting. She has been a very brave little girl.

Speak soon and take care.

- Jeremy
 

Hi Everyone!

A belated very Happy New Year to you all and hope 2014 is treating
you well. This little island is being battered by storms, but luckily
in London we have escaped the worst. Although Christmas seems an age
ago here is a little update on our trip to the Emerald Isle.

>We had been invited to spend Christmas with family in Ireland and
decided to take the ferry across the Irish sea. The crossing was
pretty rough, but we managed to avoid being ill. We drove down to the
beautiful town of Kinsale to visit our eldest four granddaughters. The
first day was beautiful, and the harbour looked very pretty with all
the yachts. It then became very stormy and we had to make a mad dash
to the restaurant without getting too drenched. We had a lovely
evening with the girls. We had not seen them for some time and there
was lots to catch up on.

We then took a wonderful drive up to County Carlow to meet the rest of
our family. We were having a late lunch on Christmas day, so took
advantage of the good weather to have a rather long walk. It was well
worth the effort as the views were stunning. Boba did drag behind a
bit, but at least did not resort to what Lara did, which was have a
rest halfway there!

After such an invigorating afternoon we were all ready for a superb
meal. The table had been set and looked very inviting. A great time
was had by all.

On boxing day the children tried out their new skateboards, and then
we jumped in our cars to follow the local hunt. And by the way the fox
escaped - hooray! Our return ferry was cancelled due to dreadful
weather in the Irish sea, so we spent another day in Ireland – yipee –
another pub lunch with Guinness!

Finally we arrived home, and have spent many hours in my office trying
to get all the lovely artwork displayed – not an easy task with a
sloping roof. Industrial velcro came to the rescue, thanks to some
friendly hints from fans.

Speak soon everyone and keep safe.

- Jeremy