Oh my god! - Falkor you are a genius!
...I dunno what to say... thanks Julia!

I've been called many names in my short time on this earth, but never a genius, so I'm very flattered.

Albert Einstein is still the main man in my books. I'm just a bum--an ordinary bum.
Falkor- your videos are AMAZING!!! I had no idea you were even taking them (so glad about that or I would've gone all self-conscious!). Its so brilliant to hear the sound of the scrunching gravel underfoot - it totally brings back the whole atmosphere of the place to me!
Thanks; I'm glad you enjoyed the videos.

I was pretty quiet that evening, but there was a lot of thought processes occuring in my mind. As soon as I figured you had gone to so much effort, I tried to think of a way to make it even more special. Given the circumstances and time constraints, I wondered what to do with my favourite gadget before the candle light was naturally extinguished; I wanted to make the most of it.

At first--if you remember--we were both coming up with poor results due to the limited light. It was only later, after the "double flash" of enabling Red Eye Reduction that some satisfactory photos were finally taken. Anyway, I hastily decided to switch to video mode for the first time, but the quality of using my digital camera as a camcorder was comparable to using a mobile phone as a digital camera!

To achieve some good views of both the "light world" and the "dark world", I thought about choreographing the photos and videos more close-up to the objects. I am very pleased with the overall results. The last video has it all, visually, including some blue and red neon effects--similar to the photos you took. You can even see the flashing red light of "The thing" you had hanging up on the wall.

I assumed you had hired your costume and all the accessories, but was shocked to find out you had actually gone and bought all this stuff on your own! I find that very generous, considerate and thoughtful of you--was beyond the call of duty. Before arriving, I envisaged everyone bringing along their own pumpkin lanterns, and us all walking around the tunnel and woods without another soul in sight; that same night after our previous walkabout, Tony and I bravely took the Riverside Walk from Southend Road to Catford Bridge, but never encountered a single person. I wasn't even worried about being mugged--it was probably the safest place to be that night. On Halloween, I was looking forward to seeing that extra special lantern you had carved for me, as you know I can't even peel a potato let alone a pumpkin.

We were all wondering what the hell you were doing when you told us to wait outside for so long. On finally entering and seeing the fact that you had completely decorated the entire end of the tunnel gave me such an aura of surprise. As Xanthe said, "Julia, I really like your tunnel!", I also felt you owned it for that one night. Also, I'm starting to wonder about the supernatural, as neither of us can remember the girls crossing our paths---what an eerie experience that was.
(even my own ramblings I can bear!)
I must say you are very well spoken, although I wouldn't say you were posh or anything. Throughout that aimless wander, notice you never mumbled once! I wish I could speak as well as you. I always mumble too much, and can even stutter on some rare occasions--helps if I know what I'm talking about though. I was always good at Maths--never English or Art (another one of your qualities hence your profession). If I thought any of these videos seemed embarrassing, I would never have uploaded them by the way. Notice again, you were really in your element in the 3rd video!!
*edited*
I don't blame them but they're not made of the Falkor stuff!
Everyone is made of Star stuff; we are all equal, but I'm sure most people had more important things to do that evening, like, earning some money.
I am chuffed to bits because now I have a lovely record of the whole evening. thankyou a million times!
It really was nothing... It's the least I could do for you! But I understand how you feel. As any historian like Steve Grindlay will tell us, keeping a photographic record of events is very important. If we never had the evidence of raw, unedited footage showing the World Trade Centre on 911, I would never have believed there were bombs going off inside the buildings or thermite reactions taking place or molten metal etc. Seeing photos of one's birthday and a video of one's 3rd birthday--as I have done--really stresses this importance. However, I remember the day it really hit home... I had so desired to own a video of the first ever modern day Kung Fu film shot in colour, but unfortunately it was never commercially available. All we had were posters, stills and lobby cards as a tantalising glimpse. My opportunity came when one of the last surviving 35mm film prints was shipped from Hong Kong to UK, via USA, for a special screening here in February 2004. I smuggled my friend's camcorder into the National Film Theatre at Southbank to record the entire film from the back row. Another so called "friend" who attended the event with me tried to discourage me, and when I ignored him, he sat 5 seats away in danger of being potentially arrested alongside me. But
nothing was going to stop me from achieving my number one ambition at the time. My attempt was successfull. On analysing the footage along the east Golden Jubilee Bridge after leaving the theatre, I was feeling ecstatic and euphoric! I will never forget this; it was the greatest moment in my life!! My friend apologised and took a copy. It's been over 35 years since the premiere, but this historically important film remains unreleased.