So we divided the not so creepy crawlers (as if we were playing quartet) and we went for a drink. In a lovely hotel/restaurant. We had to bring the bugs along and to my surprise this led to at least four different people coming round to our table to have a look. Like moths to flames, sort of. I also ended up giving a lecture on bugs on the platform. And in the cramped train home, as I was sitting on the stairs, a nice guy asked if he could see the other box too. People like biology. This pleases me. So I figured I’d show them here as well. Before I get back to my study books and birthday party and….

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So the original English show, but in Amsterdam, in an arena (the Heineken Music Hall). I have seriously lost count. But I had to see this. On the train I thought of the very first time I went, back in 2005, which was when I first met both Brian and Chris. What an evening. I’ve seen the show evolve over time and I still enjoy every minute of it.
 

I was a bit worried that the Dutch audience would be a bit too tame for this, but we gave a standing ovation from We Will Rock You all the way till the end of the Bo Rhap. They deserved it. Later I heard ‘we’ were the most enthusiastic audience so far… See on the train I ended up chatting to a lovely guy, who turned out to be the Musical Director (so we have a common friend)!
 

We went for drinks with a couple of his friends (I’m so rock and roll, I had tea) and we stayed up much later than I had expected. Serendipitous? Yeah. But that’s just the sort of thing that happens to me really. Thanks again Pablo, I had a wonderful evening! (They’re still touring, go see them!)

All pictures by me, except the group one (done by the waitress) and the one from the band. (I always love it when the band comes out). This wonderful picture, with from left to right: Rufus Taylor, James Barber, Pablo Navarro, Bob Broad, Matthew Wharton-Lee and Matt Mclaughlin, was taken by Zoe Hitchen.
 

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It was sunny out, the first skirt day of the year in fact, and the people were nice. Although they’re not an astronomy society – they had contacted me after a recent appearance on the telly – they were genuinely interested in the subject. At the dinner table even, where I found myself philosophising with the kind strangers. The places I end up these days!
 

Anyhow. That’s another few people ‘Zoonified’. Daylight hadn’t gone to bed when I went home. But the Moon was already beautifully visible. I took this (rubbish) picture of it and smiled all the way back. Just because.
 

They gave me a bottle of red by the way, so if you want to come round…

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It was a relaxed evening, we did questions in between and the lovely guys in the audience helped me find the Dutch words when I could only come up with the English (!) One reply from one of them was particularly amusing as he described Galaxy Zoo as “it’s like deep sky imaging, but without the cold”. I had just enough time to get a train back and I have also already heard from one of the guys in the audience who took a picture of my Voorwerp. I’ll dig it out!
 

Here are some pictures of the event. The last one was sent to me by Wim Holwerda – thanks!

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I’m still wearing my teacher’s, student’s and ambassador’s hats and as the latter I recently did two Zooniverse lectures of which I might share some musings later. Oh and I’ve also been to the We Will Rock You Arena Tour in Amsterdam (what a weekend!) And in between there was this impersonator we dealt with rather swiftly. Some free advice: don’t just take any of the pictures from here without asking nicely first.
 

Anyway. Other stuff I’ve been up to includes preparing for a certain birthday party, with friends from abroad coming over for a weekend of fun! I’ve sent them these invites. (Thanks again to my super dad for helping me make ‘em). Keep calm when turning thirty right?
 

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So print it. Get an OWL, preferably. And enjoy! (Thanks Bri!)
 

Credit for the picture obviously goes to the brilliant Jamie Cooper, who took more amazing pictures of the comet. Follow him at: twitter.com/CoopsCamera. The three dimensional magic was done by the brilliant Dr Brian May, who’s on brianmay.com.
 

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I have met some of the most awesome people in the world, but I have had my share of basket-cases too. Keeps life interesting, doesn’t it?! And I have learned a lot indeed. For instance, before I was “quoted” in the media a lot, I used to think quotes were sentences actually said by the people quoted! (Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing particularly wrong with this interview, I’m really just saying). (And yes you can quote me on this, tee hee).
 

Anyroad. I woke up yesterday with a text from my good friend Richard, merely saying: “Wow, two pages!” It took a while for my brain to process what he was on about (the interview was a while ago). I’m also not on facebook as much as I am on twitter, so the friends on the former hadn’t seen earlier announcements and posted pictures of the newspaper being all surprised their friend was in it.
 

I like the piece; it sums it all up quite nicely. And I’ve had some nice comments on it. The group of people who like the Zoo is ever growing! Onwards and all! Oh and here are some pictures Jan-Willem Souren (who let us in the science centre) took at the shoot. The last picture is the one they used in the article. It’s from their photographer Bas Quaedvlieg.
 

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