:: gia’s blog ::

Last year I did a run-down of my year and thought I’d do the same again this year.

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January

After rather unbelievably reading a Tweet from someone within my social media sphere who stated that he believed in the Mayan Prophecy (you know, the whole 2012-the-world’s-going-to-end-nonsense). I felt compelled to write a post about my take on the whole end of the world scenario.

It’s now the most popular post on my blog with an average of around 2000 visits to that page alone per week. At times it’s been as high as 15,000 per week. It’s also been the reason for some disturbed individuals sending me nasty messages because I don’t believe in their crazy fantasy world. Hey ho.

Some outtakes from Brian’s Horizon on Gravity were put up on YouTube.

I also found out that I was going to be working on the new X-Files movie. Some of my Tweets from that time (1, 2, 3, 4) are pretty obvious about that fact, but only really in retrospect…

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February

February was really all about our trip to San Francisco and the TED conference where Brian spoke.

I was also working on the very fabulous film Water Lilies.

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March

Brian was made Professor while we were still in San Francisco, just after his 40th birthday at the beginning of March. That was pretty cool!

My mum came to visit for a bit and during that time we went beachcombing on the Thames and found some cool stuff.

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April

This was the coolest month! Right after visiting CERN with both Phil Plait and Chris Morris, I was delivered the super top secret X-Files script. I had a terrible cold and, I learned later in the year, had asthma which was making me very ill. That is my excuse for looking so utterly terrible in this video. :)

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May

OK, wait, THIS was the coolest month. Apart from Brian going off to film his Horizon on Time, it included getting my hair cut and dyed like Dana Scully, then flying off to Cannes to ‘interview’ Harrison Ford and having a chat with X-Files’ producer Frank Spotnitz.

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June

June was X-Files-tastic!

Excitement was definitely building for the X-Files film and I was caught up in it all. Towards the end of the month, I went to LA for the LA Film Festival to attend a special screening of a couple clips from the film, along with a Q&A with David Duchovny, Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter.

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July

X-Files! X-Files! X-Files!

The film premiered at the end of the month and Chris, Frank, David and Gillian attended the London premiere. The day after the premiere Chris and Frank did a signing at Forbidden Planet.

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August

Brian and I went to SciFoo in Silicon Valley and had a fabulous holiday in LA being touristy.

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September

This is where things start getting a bit weird for me as I found out I was pregnant so had a bit of a awful time over the rest of the autumn dealing with morning sickness and anxiety over scans and blood tests and the like, all the while being unable to talk about it with anyone.

September was also when CERN swtiched on. Along with all the excitement of the whole build up to it came all the nasty emails from the idiots who thought it was going to destroy the Universe and who thought that Brian was somehow the Sith Lord in charge of the destruction of the human race. All that wasn’t too entertaining. Honestly, it’s just not fun at all to be newly pregnant and then receiving emails calling the father of your unborn child the ‘Black Hand of Death’.

Brian on Newsnight the night of CERN’s switch on reminded me exactly why I love him so much.

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October

The main things I was thinking of in October were morning sickness. Obama and Jonathan Ross.

I started keeping a pregnancy diary in October as I wasn’t blogging about it, but after a few entries it was pretty much just, “Nauseated. Constipated. Tired. Fat.’ so I decided to give it up. I realised that even in retrospect it would be boring.

My obsession with Obama, of course, was not unique to me. I mainly kept out of the whole election thing on my blog this time around as the Rightwing Christian Republican Dumbshit Bush-lovers (yes, for long-time readers, I mean Amy Proctor, Bull-headed Donna and the other one) caused me such grief before, during and after the last election (did you know that one of them tried to get me fired from my job on Sunshine?!), I wasn’t up for a second round. I was just hoping that they’d get their reward in November when Obama won. And they did. The twunts.

Now, Jonathan Ross.

The whole Daily Mail-fuelled madness just confirmed to me that most people are absolute illogical fucktards and that includes MANY people in positions of ‘power’ in the media. This whole episode has given me LESS hope for the human race than ever before… Thank Christ Obama changed that in November.

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November

OBAMAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

This month I was up for a new job on telly. I’ve not done any telly for a few years now, mainly because all the web producing I’ve been doing has been keeping me busy. Also because I was enjoying using my brain, being creative, being able to make decisions *myself* which is pretty much unheard of for most TV presenters.

This job, however, seemed different. Not only was it a ‘tech’ programme, but it was a retro tech programme AND it wasn’t a presenter’s role, but an on-camera expert role. So I did the meetings and the screentest and crossed my fingers that I’d get it cos it sounded like it’d be a lot of fun. I had to wait until December for a decision.

This month was also the most stressful pregnancy-wise. Along with waiting for scans and blood tests looking for chromosomal abnormalities in the baby, I also had to have blood tests for various diseases. Having an HIV test- no matter how sure you are- has this funny way of making one become highly illogical. ‘I wonder what the chances are of it turning up a decade later? Two decades later?!! Maybe it DOES and they’ve just not figured that out yet!!! Oh. God. What will I do when they tell me I’ve got HIV?! Oh. God. I’m feeling a bit ill. It’s HIV, I know it.’

Not fun.

Everyone I’ve told about my HIV test worries who has had an HIV test themselves said they went through EXACTLY the same thing. Every. Single. One. So glad to know I’m not the only lunatic… (For the record, I don’t have HIV, nor do I have Hep C or Syphilis. w00t!)

Also, this month Jonathan Ross surprised me by asking me to be his Neu Meeja advisor (or whatever). First thing I did? Got him on Twitter. He’s been Tweeting up a storm!

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December

I found out I got the TV job. It’s called Electric Dreams and will be on in April on BBC4. Right before the Christmas break I did the first bit of filming and it’s been good fun.

Brian and I also found out that we’d got a book deal to write a kids’ book on Physics. So that’s going to keep us busy…

This month, generally, has been good mainly because I was finally able to announce my pregnancy. It was getting increasingly difficult for me to hide it as I was getting pretty big fairly early on. This is me a couple days ago.

The other day Brian and I went off to Llandudno in Wales to visit our friend. I got a lovely snap of Brian and Peter talking politics whilst walking along the beach…

And today, the last day of December and 2008, I’m looking forward to an exciting year ahead. I hope you all have a good year!!

I’ve been very encouraged reading the science and technology page on the new website for the Office of the President-Elect. Obama seems to be mentioning science a lot, both in education and on its own:

America risks being left behind in the global economy: Revolutionary advances in information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology and other fields are reshaping the global economy. Without renewed efforts, the United States risks losing leadership in science, technology and innovation. As a share of the Gross Domestic Product, American federal investment in the physical sciences and engineering research has dropped by half since 1970.

Too many Americans are not prepared to participate in a 21st century economy: A recent international study found that U.S. students perform lower on scientific assessments than students in 16 other economically developed nations, and lower than 20 economically developed nations in math performance. Only one-third of middle class physical science teachers are qualified to teach in that subject, and only one-half of middle school math sciences have educational background in that subject area.

• Invest in the Sciences: Barack Obama and Joe Biden support doubling federal funding for basic research over ten years, changing the posture of our federal government from being one of the most anti-science administrations in American history to one that embraces science and technology. This will foster home-grown innovation, help ensure the competitiveness of US technology-based businesses, and ensure that 21st century jobs can and will grow in America.
• Invest in University-Based Research: Barack Obama and Joe Biden strongly support expanding research initiatives at American colleges and universities. The U.S. faces a challenge in funding younger researchers. Obama and Biden will provide new research grants to the most outstanding early-career researchers in the country.
• Restore Scientific Integrity to the White House: Good policy in Washington depends on sound advice from the nation’s scientists and engineers and decision-making based on the needs of all Americans. Obama and Biden will restore the basic principle that government decisions should be based on the best-available, scientifically-valid evidence and not on the ideological predispositions of agency officials or political appointees.(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
• Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: Obama and Biden will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. They will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.
• Increase Science and Math Graduates: Obama and Biden will improve science and math education in K through 12, to prepare more students for these studies in college. They will work to increase our number of science and engineering graduates and encourage undergraduates studying math and science to pursue graduate studies. They will also work to increase the representation of minorities and women in the science and technology pipeline, tapping the diversity of America to meet the increasing demand for a skilled workforce. The challenges of the 21st century can only be met by combining many skills from people with many backgrounds. America’s diversity is a clear competitive advantage if we use it.
• Advance Stem Cell Research: Despite recent advances pointing to alternatives like adult stem cell and cord blood, embryonic stem cells remain unmatched in their potential for treatment of a wide variety of diseases and health conditions. Barack Obama has been a long-term supporter of increased stem cell research. He introduced legislation while a member of the Illinois Senate that would allow embryonic stem cell research in Illinois. Obama has cosponsored legislation to allow greater federal government funding on a wider array of stem cell lines. Obama believes we need high ethical standards that allow for research on stem cells derived from embryos produced for in vitro fertilization, embryos that would otherwise be needlessly destroyed.

I really love the guy.

I’m going to be staying in with my son and watching the election tomorrow night. I’m hoping that he’ll got to bed early for a few hours before I wake him up at midnight to watch when the results start coming in. There *are* some polls that close earlier than that, but they’re Indiana and Kentucky and will likely be McCain states, so I’m not bothered about him seeing that.

I’m posting up some widgets here to follow over the next day.
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Oh. How I love Sarah Silverman.

(there’s swearing in this so don’t turn up loud at work)

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

“The Great Schlep aims to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favour. Don’t have grandparents in Florida? Not Jewish? No problem! You can still become a schleper and make change happen in 2008, simply by talking to your relatives about Obama.”

More here

This episode was shown here on Monday. I just watched it tonight with my son. I literally jumped up out of my seat and said, ‘Yes!!!’ after the McCain-Bush bit. It was so brilliant I had to share it with those of you who may not have seen it. I superheart Jon Stewart.

During the Republican primaries I was thinking “You know, if McCain wins the nomination and ends up winning the election, it’ll be OK. He’s not completely batshit insane, certainly compared to the Bush White House. So if it happens, I’ll be OK with it.” I was always going to vote Democrat, of course, but wasn’t massively worried about McCain.

I have now completely changed my mind. With this whole Sarah Palin thing, McCain has shown that he is clearly chaotic and dangerous. He should not be in charge of a country which has so very much at stake. America has a chance to step out of the darkness, a chance to wake-up, a chance to join this wonderful world we live in. This will NOT happen with McCain in the White House. If he puts so very little thought into who he chooses as his running mate - the person who could end up being the Vice President of the country for 4 whole years- what amount of contemplation will go into, say, starting another bloody war?
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Anyone who’s been following me on Twitter or reading my Twitter-based status updates on Facebook may have realised I’ve been following the soap opera-like goings-on in the US Republican party.

Short recap: first there were was a story on Daily Kos, which has since been deleted, that claimed that Sarah Palin’s 4-month-old baby boy, Trig, was actually her grandson.

• They talked about how she only announced her pregnancy when she was 7 months gone
• how no one she worked with had realised she was pregnant
• they linked to images and video of her at 7-8 months pregnant and she didn’t *look* 7-8 months pregnant
• they explained how her daughter Bristol had been taken out of school for 5 months ‘with a bad case of mono’ (in American high schools that’s often a euphemism for ‘pregnant’)
• how when Sarah Palin went into labor a month early and was leaking amniotic fluid, she got on a plane, took an 8 hour flight, then a 45 minute car journey from Texas to Alaska- did I mention the baby has Downe’s Syndrome?- had the baby on a Friday, then was back at work Monday morning. To pretty much everyone who’d had a baby, this seemed either pretty unlikely or an example of SUPREMELY bad judgment on the part of Sarah Palin for all kinds of reasons…
• they put 2 and 2 together and got a ‘Desperate Housewives’-style plot which made me remember why I love teh internets so much

Then someone from Sarah Palin’s hometown (pop. 9,000) pops up in the comments on a blog and says, ‘Trig is Sarah Palin’s son, but her 17 year old daughter is pregnant NOW.’ (see comments by ‘Sue Williams’). Then comes the announcement that, yes, Bristol Palin, 17 years old, unmarried, is, indeed, pregnant and her boyfriend describes himself as a “f - - -in’ redneck” and that he “[doesn't] want kids”. Doh!

So far so Jerry Springer. Or, as I read yesterday, so far so “Beverly Hillbillies in igloos”.

The Republicans are saying this is ‘nobody’s business but the Palins’‘. Barack Obama has said that families are off-limits. Republican bloggers and commenters are talking about how despicable and low Democrat bloggers and commenters are by even talking about this. Some Democrat bloggers and commenters are agreeing with them.

What, I ask you, would be happening on Fox News right now if one of Barack and Michelle Obama’s daughters was 17 and this was happening? A black, unmarried, teenage, pregnant girl. What would the Republicans be saying about that? Think they’d be saying ‘it’s a private family matter’? No. They wouldn’t at all. They’d be judging and condemning Barack and Michelle. They’d be questioning their parenting skills. They’d be going on about how this is exactly what America *doesn’t* need in the White House. And you know it.

I think Bristol Palin’s unwed, teenage pregnancy IS an issue that does need to be talked about. Here’s why:
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