613 Media — Telling the Story

Day 2 – Cardiff, Wales

When I decided to make this trip to London and Paris with Adventures by Disney, I realized I had a real problem. Casey’s favorite show is Doctor Who. When I say it is her favorite show, I am not exaggerating. She has watched everyone of the new episodes at least four times! So, I realized that going to London would bring us right to the area where Doctor Who is filmed. Casey had also expressed a desire on many occasions to visit Cardiff, Wales where the show is filmed. If we were going to London, could we possibly visit Cardiff while there? When I was finalizing the trip the Adventures by Disney rep said we could add on days before or after the tour at the same hotel. They would still pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel. That was the solution. Instead of arriving on Friday morning, we chose to arrive on Wednesday morning and that would give us two full days before the orientation Friday evening at 530 PM.

That is how we managed to plan a day trip to Cardiff. The tour package I located on line gave us first class passage on a train to Cardiff, a tour of Cardiff Castle, and a “hop on hop off” double decker bus tour of Cardiff with a return trip that evening to London. We arrived at Paddington Train Station at 730 AM after taking a taxi from the hotel. What you hear about these “official” taxi drivers well versed in the “Knowledge” of London is true. Our driver was friendly and helpful and even refused the tip I tried to give him because it was “too much money, mate.” That wouldn’t have happened in the States! We found the tour rep in the station and he gave us our tickets and refused a tip! Again! I was beginning to like this place! Not because they refused exorbitant tips. But, because they were all so mannerly and polite! In the U.S. the main emotion is anger and arrogance over service. Not here in London! We then had about fifteen minutes to grab some breakfast and guess where we ate? McDonalds! Again! And, I spilled an entire cup of coffee over my pants and shirt but had no time to change. I reeked of coffee the rest of the day!

The train to Cardiff was First Class and we had our choice of seats in any of the three First Class Coaches. The seats were large and comfortable with a table in between. There was even a power plug for our computers but we didn’t know this. The trip would take 2 1/2 hours but just seeing the countryside was enough to keep me from napping. And, there was the lovely lady who came down the aisle after we stopped at each intervening station and asked, “Would you like something from the trolley?”

The “trolley” carried all kinds of British snacks, hot tea, coffee, and bottle water either “sparkling” or “still”. The “still” water meant it didn’t bubble. It was just plain bottled water.

We arrived in Cardiff and tried to find our tour bus. We got quite lost and ended up at the Millennium Rugby Stadium Security Office asking for directions. The kind man must have known we were clueless “Yanks” from the U.S. and he said we should make our way down the road to Cardiff Castle and find the bus stop.

I looked around the corner and sure enough just two blocks away surrounded by the buildings of this modest city was a castle! We arrived at Cardiff Castle and found our tour bus. He gave us our tickets for the rest of the day and we set off to visit the castle. It wasn’t a large castle. It had a tall, stone wall surrounding a “keep” and a “palace”. The keep was quite primitive and basically a round building on the top of a huge mound of earth surrounded by a moat. It was the last ground to stand on in the event of an invasion. The palace was more recent and contained some breathtaking stained glass.

Unfortunately, this being our first full day in London, we were not feeling very chipper. We were sinking fast so we didn’t enjoy the castle as much as we could have. We went back out and boarded our bus for the Millennial Center at Cardiff Bay. If you have ever seen an episode of Torchwood, the Doctor Who spinoff, you would instantly recognize the huge, bronze performing arts center in front of which stands the tall, metal structure with an encompassing waterfall. Casey was ecstatic. She was running around like she was a member of Torchwood! We took pictures and made some video footage for her fan film, “The Scientist” and then walked over to Mermaid Quay and ate at a really nice Chinese restaurant overlooking the square and the bay. Afterward, Casey and I walked across the street to the main focus of our trip, the Doctor Who Exhibit in the Red Dragon Center.

Here, in a shopping mall, was housed a huge exhibit of Doctor Who props and costumes complete with a functioning tableau of three Daleks. We filmed and took snapshots and generally soaked in the wonderful environment. Casey was again ecstatic. The only thing that could have made it better was to have run into some of the stars of the shows filming an episode. All of Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Sarah Jane Adventures are shot in Cardiff. Sarah Jane, played by Elisabeth Sladen, was a companion of the early Doctors back in the seventies and she returned three years ago with her own show.

We finished our tour of Cardiff, Wales and returned to the train station. We boarded the train and decided once we were underway to investigate the “buffet” in one of the First Class coaches that sold more than just trolley treats. On the way walking through the coaches who should we see by Elisabeth Sladen! I could not believe it! She walked right past us and Casey went bonkers. “That’s Sarah Jane! That’s Sarah Jane!” She squealed. We tried to look for her on the way back, but were unsuccessful.

But, near the end of our long journey as we made our way through our deserted coach to the exit who should be standing there alone waiting to disembark but Elisabeth Sladen. She just stood there and the train halted before it reached the station to allow for the station to clear. So, I stepped forward and asked her for an autograph. She was so kind and gracious and spoke to Casey at length about our trip and how much we enjoyed her show. She was very lovely and gracious lady and it just made the whole trip seem worthwhile.

All in all, I was so glad we made the trip to Cardiff for Casey. What did I learn? The best food in England is always English food. Now, English cuisine is international cuisine. Fame means nothing to someone who is not a fan. Sherry could care less about the exhibit. She took a nap by the ice cream stand. And, stars and famous people are all just real people like us. The only thing that separates them is the image they have in their minds. If they are gracious and caring in real life and don’t let their fame dominate them, they are real people. I am happy to say that Elisabeth Sladen is a real person. Thank you, Sarah Jane!

To see pictures from this trip, go to this link:

http://gallery.me.com/bhennigan#100352

You may have to copy and paste it into your browser.

I have been in Europe for seven days now and I haven’t had a chance to post any information about my fact finding trip for the fourth book in the Jonathan Steel series. So, if you are interested, by all means read ahead.

Day 1 — London

I have flown First Class only twice in my life. Once at the expense of a tech company trying to convince my group to buy their brand of MRI. The other time was last August when Sherry and I flew to Seattle for our Alaska trip and that was only because we got an affordable upgrade. But, this trip would be different. I could not imagine spending 9 1/2 hours in the air in coach. We had done this twice in our lives, both of our trips to Hawaii for our tenth and our 25th anniversaries. But, we had some unused mileage points and I was able to trade those in for first class tickets from Houston to London and back from Paris. I was a fish out of water. Or, more to the point, a country boy off the farm!

First Class was huge. The seats were huge! My seat was bigger than our obligatory recliner at home! And, like those fancy motorized recliners, this seat had all the electronic bells and whistles. With the push of a button, it would recline into a sleeping position. With another push, it would sit you up half way. Out of one arm rest, a large tray could be found that would more than accommodate my laptop. Out of the other arm rest, a neato swiveling, tilting LCD monitor could be deployed complete with over 250 movies and television shows and a built in game controller. I also got this little travel kit with a complete toiletry including a pair of socks! Our flight was scheduled to leave at 635 PM and arrive in London at 935 AM. 9 1/2 hours in the air and I was planning on sleeping most of it. Unfortunately for me, they serve a five course meal in First Class. Steak. Baked potato. Salad. Cheese and crackers with fruit. Appetizers. And, sundaes for desert. I was stuffed by 10 PM and couldn’t sleep very much the rest of the way. And, to top it off, they started serving breakfast around 8 AM London time. Three courses! How do you get three courses into a breakfast? But, as astonishing as all of that was, I was shocked once more when the flight attendant asked me if I wanted to take a shower! Those are some chairs!

Bleary eyed and dizzy, we made our way through Heathrow Airport and customs to bag claim. A chipper young man waited for us outside with his “Adventures by Disney” sign and packed us into a hired car for the trip to our hotel. The car was small and crowded but then this is true of all British cars unless you own a Rolls Royce. If you do, you can take a shower in it.

Expecting a crisp, British accent, our driver disappointed us. He was from Turkey. We discovered that London is indeed a multi-national city. Our driver was kind and informative but I couldn’t pay much attention to his words. He was driving on the wrong side of the road! I knew this would be true, but my higher brain functions could not persuade my instinctual drives that we were not about to crash headlong into an upcoming vehicle! The driver laughed at one point. “You are trying to push the brakes! They are over here!”
Traffic in London is similar to traffic in New York City. Cabs and buses slewing around fighting for an opening to cut ahead of the person in front. Then, there are long, tedious waits in standstill traffic. The big difference is in London, the streets are one third the width. All of that buzzing, pushing, shoving traffic is squeezed together. And, to make matters worse, there are motorcyclists and bicyclists cutting in and out of traffic. I was a nervous wreck by the time we reached the hotel. But, oh what a hotel!

The Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel is in an old building with an arch through which you drive into a stately courtyard surrounded by cobblestone pavement and overflowing flowerboxes. We unloaded in the courtyard and moved into the lobby to discover it would be an hour until our room was ready. I was ecstatic. I thought it would be five hours before our room would be ready. You see, it was 1130 AM London time (530 AM Shreveport time) and official check in time was 4 PM. An hour later, we were in our room and in the bed for a quick nap.

Note to anyone traveling to London: buy your bundled packages ahead of time. I am so glad I did. We went through “The Original London Tour” and I ordered their basic London package. We received a three day pass for the Underground (subway), tickets for the London Eye, tickets for Hampton Court, Tower of London, Kensington Palace, and two other palaces, and a free pass for a river cruise. I had all of this with me when I arrived. I had already scouted out the Underground route to reach the London Eye. Our official Disney tour did not start until Friday night so we had the rest of Wednesday, all day Thursday, and all day Friday to begin our trip. About 4 PM we went to the closest Underground station. We ended up at Westminster station and when we came up out of the ground we were stranding across the street from Big Ben! We walked across the Thames and I looked back at Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey all right there! Now, we were hungry and we’re walking across this busy bridge in downtown London with the River Thames running beneath us and old and new buildings all around us and the London Eye (a huge Ferris wheel construction) towering over us and we had no idea where to eat so we ended up at McDonald’s! I don’t even eat there at home! But, the chicken fingers and fries were delicious by then.

Here’s where planning ahead paid off. There were dozens of people in line to buy a ticket. We just walked right up to the ticket taker and onto the London Eye. There are these glassed in pods sort of shaped like a suppository. They move in their mounts as the wheel slowly turns so you are always level. And, the entire thing is glass so you can see all of London as you go up and over. Each pod holds about 15 people and it was amazing. I could see everything. Of course, most of what I saw made no sense to me because I only recognized parts of the city.

Here is what is important. In 1940-1941 the Germans blitzed London with nightly bombing raids after they occupied France. Most of the buildings in London were destroyed, with the exception of St. Paul’s Cathedral (More on that on Day 5). So, when London rebuilt after the war, if became a mixture of historic buildings and very modern architecturally advanced buildings. So, the city is a hodpodge of old and new. This means the streets are still crooked and serpiginous and narrow and there will be a building 500 years old right next to a new modern glass and chrome high rise. It is a bit jarring to the senses. This is what I saw from the London Eye. Classic Big Ben versus the Gerkin, a pickle shaped skyscraper build in the last few years.

After our ride, we went back to the Underground and to our hotel room for a good night’s sleep. Our first day in London was a resounding success. My trips on the Underground and the London Eye paid off. I have two major scenes in the fourth book set at each of these places.

What did I learn from the first day?

First Class doesn’t mean you have class. Sometimes, when the past gets misplaced or forgotten, it is not always the best path to take to pave over it with new, shiny stuff. As Ravi Zacharias once said, “The only thing worse than nostalgia is amnesia”. We can’t afford to forget things like World War II! The right side of the street can sometimes be the wrong side of the street! You can see all kinds of people on a subway, especially in London. More on that later!

Here is a tag to my pictures from day one:

http://gallery.me.com/bhennigan#100331

It was “the biggest blunder of my career”. Albert Einstein, late in his life made this admission. What was the blunder? Just what did he do? He faked data. That’s right! The venerable Old Man of science lied and faked his way into the hearts and minds of modern scientists. Why in the world would Einstein do such a thing? Just what am I talking about?

At the beginning of the twentieth century modern physics believed in an eternal and infinite universe. All the knowledge of the universe had been obtained and all that was left to do was to fine tune the measurements to more decimal points. The universe was all there was and all that had ever been. Along with Charles Darwin’s theories, this meant there was no role for a creator. God was officially out of the picture!

Then, along came a man by the name of Albert Einstein. Einstein did something very simple. He took the data gathered by scientists used to determine the speed of light. Using calculus, he rendered a very famous equation. E=mc2. You’ve probably seen that equation. It was, pardon the pun, an earth shattering development. This equation would later become synonymous with the development of the atom bomb, something that Einstein encouraged President Roosevelt to do before the Nazis took over the planet.

Einstein also developed another idea. It was called the theory of relativity. You may or may not have heard of this theory but if you spent any time in a high school science class, you’ve been exposed to this theory. Simply stated, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.

But, there was a third discovery made by Einstein that never made it to the general public. Buried within the equations that govern the very nature of the universe, Einstein discovered what he called a coefficient of expansion. It seems that when Einstein considered the very nature of the universe, he discovered that the data suggested the universe was simultaneously expanding and decelerating. In other words, the universe was slowing down as it expanded. Now, this type of behavior was not the nature of a static universe that had always been and was infinite in its scope. Such a universe would show stasis, not expansion. And, it would not be slowing down. It would be doing, well, nothing! But, here was evidence that the universe was not static. In fact, the behavior of the universe was explained by only one known phenomenon. The universe was the result of an explosion!

Stop and think about that for a moment. If the universe came from some type of explosive event, then it could not be eternal. Nor could it be infinite. This meant the universe was finite and had an “edge”. In fact, Einstein with great trepidation that these discoveries meant the universe had a beginning. And, anything that has a beginning has a beginner. Einstein had discovered evidence for God!

What to do? Without an infinite universe, there wasn’t enough time for evolution to produce life. Without an infinite universe, the structure and stable laws of nature would have to be fine tuned instead of relying on all of eternity for them to “settle down into a steady state”. This discovery meant there was a beginner to the universe and that beginner had hands on fine tuning of everything.

Einstein quietly put aside the coefficient of expansion and pushed his other two discoveries to the forefront. Years later, he introduced a new factor, the cosmological constant. This factor perfectly cancelled out the expansion of the universe. All of the scientific world breathed a sigh of relief. The universe was once again eternal and infinite. Two problems immediately arose. The newest telescopes of the 1920’s and 1930’s began to demonstrate that far away galaxies had “Doppler” shifts that proved they were moving away from each other. In other words, the universe was indeed expanding. The second problem was the discovery that these galaxies were, indeed, decelerating. Einstein’s first discovery was correct.

Later, a famous British astronomer, Fred Hoyle would coin a “cartoon” phrase for this phenomenon as “the Big Bang”. His hope was to quash the growing belief in the beginning of the universe by making fun of it. Instead, he should have made fun of the cosmological constant. Why? Because Einstein later admitted he made it up! He couldn’t live with the philosophical implications of the universe having a beginner so he created a fudge factor to hide the truth. No wonder he called it the biggest blunder of his career.

Now, scientists realize there is indeed a cosmological constant that is, in fact, causing the universe to accelerate in its expansion. But, this development had nothing to do with Einstein’s original intent. The universe is not infinite. The universe is only 13.7 billion years old and compared to eternity, that is less than the blink of an eye. But, the most telling development in this whole story is the fact science has now proven the universe had a beginning. And, that means it had a beginner.

No matter if aliens showed up on our doorstep tomorrow, it wouldn’t change this incredible fact. We would both live in the same universe, a universe that had a beginning and a universe that had a Beginner. We’ll talk more about the nature of the Cause of universe next time.

Until then, look to the skies!

Before I post my next entry in the question of God, the Universe, and Everything let me give you an update on the next book. I turned in the first revision of my book proposal to my agent last Friday. This is the first step in looking for a publisher. So, even though I have finished “The 11th Demon: Children of the Bloodstone” it will be some time before we see the book on the shelves of our bookstores. I also turned in a book proposal for a legal thriller featuring Jonathan Steel as a minor character called, “Death by Darwin”.

Now, the next chapter in my journey with Jonathan Steel begins next week. I have already written the first twelve chapters of “The 10th Demon: A Wicked Numinosity” and the scene I wrote this weekend takes place at the Lyceum Theater in London at a performance of “The Lion King”. In this flashback scene to Jonathan’s past, a certain assassin from his past makes a surprise appearance outside the theater. The reason I am writing this scene is that next week, my family and I are heading to London for five days and then under the Channel to Paris for three days. The next book takes place in Europe and I have to scout out some locations for these scenes.

We are taking a train from London to Cardiff, Wales to tour some castles. I plan on taking a tour of Stonehenge, an important location in the novel. And, we’ll be roaming the streets of London checking out all the tourist traps. What is cool is that Sherry has become friends with a lady from England. She has been playing Bridge on line with her and she is planning on meeting us for lunch and giving us some unofficial tours. That is where I plan to find the out of the way places that Jonathan Steel will be searching for the 10th demon.

Of course, part of the novel will also take place in Paris. It begins in Switzerland and I was unable to get that included on the tour. But, in the future, as I am finishing up “The 10th Demon: A Wicked Numinosity” I hope to pay a visit to the location of the airplane crash that leaves Jonathan Steel stranded on one of the highest spots in Europe, the Jungfrau with this mysterious woman . . .

Whoops! Too much information right now. We haven’t even gotten the 11th demon taken care of. Yet!

But, for those of you hungering for more Jonathan Steel, I do plan on doing another thirty day novel in November in time for Christmas and this will be a novel that takes place in the near future after all the demon stuff. You see, Jonathan Steel eventually becomes a private investigator and Josh . . .

Sorry! I just wish I could get books out as quickly as I write them! So, be patient. Encourage your friends to pick up copies of the 13th and the 12th demon books and go to lulu.com to search for that elusive in between book, “The Ark of the Demon Rose”. Remember, you can download it free as an ebook at that site.

Whilst we are taking a holiday in London, we’ll load plenty of photos to the internet from our trips on the underground and double deckers. We’ll try some bangers and mash, maybe some fish and chips, and probably pass on the shepherd’s pie. So, until next week, ta ta for now!