Who are We?
Janine Baseley
A bit about myself … well, I'm a Kiwi from the wonderful city of Wellington (New Zealand if you didn't catch on). What on earth am I doing here? Well, when I came over to live and work in London I met an Aussie into sci-fi who introduced me to a Star Trek themed pub (no longer exists) where I met my future husband, Dave (sci-fi nutter).
My involvement with the League of the Non Aligned group comes from Dave and our friend Corinne wanting to have a friendly place for like-minded people to meet. Once they had found our former home, the Horseshoe Inn, the group who gathered there became LOTNA.
Sci-fi is just one of my many interests but the sci-fi genre I really enjoy are well-conceived and written TV shows. I think I was lucky growing up in N.Z. receiving the best of both worlds - a good variety of TV shows from both Britain and America. I enjoyed Dr Who and Blake's 7 and also Buck Rodgers and Knightrider just to name a few. Dave has introduced me to a lot more shows - sci-fi, cult and fantasy. Some I like, some I don't. But I've really enjoyed Battlestar Galactica, Buffy/Angel, Firefly, Babylon 5, early Stargate SG-1 (should have been cancelled after season 4!) and I was gutted when they cancelled Farscape (loved that show!). My favourite non sci-fi programs have been The West Wing and The Wire (amazing story-telling).
As a result of our collective interest in sci-fi TV programs, Dave and I have been to many conventions. I find it is a great buzz to hear actors from favourite shows talk about themselves and their work plus get the opportunity to meet them briefly while getting an autograph. This has led on to active collecting of autographs from film and TV stars while they do theatre or attend premieres. We also like to go to the regular organised autograph events. Some of them have talks in conjunction with their celebrity signings and the best one was when I got the opportunity to discuss Wellington with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin!
As I said I do have other interests - I love movies, most types (except horror) and judging from my list of favourites - adrenaline-pumping action flicks. Of course, the Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is an obligatory favourite too (of course I’ve been LOTR location hunting when I’ve been home!). Love cats and currently have 3 of them. I enjoy the theatre, specifically musicals and I don't go far without my camera. So there you go - that's me.