Thehalford

From Sodor Island Forums

Revision as of 02:27, 3 August 2006

thehalford is one of the five moderators of Sodor Island Forums. One of the many Australian residents on the forum, he joined on December 23, 2004, as a result of auditioning for TV gameshow The Einstein Factor with Australian Football Grand Finals as a specialist subject. Of course, The Einstein Factor would come up later in his time on SiF. It was suggested (somewhat tongue in cheek) that he ask if he can change his subject to Thomas the Tank Engine. From there, he found TV Tome and was amazed that there were other people his age (he was born in 1986) who still remembered and enjoyed Thomas.

From TV Tome, he found Ryan's Sodor Island Fansite, which linked to Sodor Island Forums, which was in the midst of a no-rego period. Instead, thehalford joined the Clearwater Forums, which focused on Thomas's spin-off series, Tugs, as well, on December 8. Soon enough, he grew to feel accepted, and was promoted to moderator in February of 2005. Meanwhile, he had joined SiF, and was quite amazed and somewhat intimidated by the large post counts of many members.

He continued to co-habitate both forums (along with several other, non-Thomas related ones) for the majority of 2005, writing several fictional works along the way. The first – a proposed ERS book about Duck's days before he came to the Island of Sodor – did not pass, and he decided to try again, this time with a volume set on the Skarloey Railway and featuring a new engine, Scott, who is revealed to be Rusty's brother in RS Vol 89: Little Diesel Engines.

Having his ERS volume passed for posting was one of thehalford's highlights of his first year on SiF, and he set to work writing other volumes for evaluation. In between these writing capers, he found the time to audition again for The Einstein Factor, this time with Thomas the Tank Engine as his special subject. He felt that since joining SiF, his knowledge of Thomas had increased greatly from talking about it with fellow fans on an almost daily basis.

Meanwhile, life on Clearwater had begun to slow, as many members joined SiF in May 2005 when registration there was reopened. However, he did meet one member who would prove to be his best friend on the forums. This was Jake, and their friendship would endure for well over a year. Others, such as old iron, ATKtrains and benpennock also populated his PM inbox over the times.

In June 2005, thehalford was a part of the first successful Australian SiF Member Meeting with Jim522 and Jarrah White. Several meetings have been held since, with sodor18, hartleymartin, gonzerelli and tm85 also taking part in some of the meetings. Indeed, he has hosted two meetings himself – excepting of course the countless times he has seen gonzerelli, given that they were friends before the days of SiF.

Several months later, he decided to revive an old concept of an Independent Work he had swirling around in his mind for several years. The result was Gifted, and it was began in September 2005. Currently it stands at approximately 30 pages in Word, and is unlikely to be ending soon. Other independent works he has read and enjoy include: The Laggan Railway; Scarlet and Co; Spit City; Carly and the Strasburg Railway; Fading Away; and most importantly, The Pinchers. Indeed, he is writing the finale to the first series of A Very Pinchy Life.

December 2, 2005, saw the information that thehalford was indeed going to appear on an episode of The Einstein Factor. Buoyant, he relayed the information to the forum, and that his first filming would be on January 25, 2006. The very next day, the forum crashed and was reborn on Proboards. All that had been worked for by so many was suddenly gone.

The rebuild effort by many people was excellent, and it wasn't long before the old SiF feeling had returned. Around a month later, Clearwater Forums saw themselves crashing and needing rebirth as the Star Tugs Pier. thehalford was retained as a staff member, and some months later, was promoted at SiF as well, to his surprise and happiness.

Meanwhile, filming for The Einstein Factor had gone ahead – he won two episodes, before losing on the last question in the Grand Final Qualifier. Nevertheless, he was extremely proud of what he had done – moreso when he was introduced to a Tasmanian child and his family who had traveled up to Melbourne to watch the GF Qualifier. He also learned that several people had applied for the show with Thomas the Tank Engine as their specialist subject as a result of his appearance.

Meanwhile, his writing continued. He collaborated with benpennock and ATKtrains on an ERS volume before going it alone with a volume set of the Main Line. Gifted continued as well, and thehalford began to sink his teeth into the Multimedia world.

His debut was in Truro's redub of All At Sea, before continuing his minor roles in redubs and audio productions. His first 'major' role was as the Fat Clergyman in Chris the Xelent's dub of Tit Fir Tat, but his microphone failed to work properly, and his lines were of a poor quality. Indeed, he still cringes when he listens to the dub and hears his lines.

Nonetheless, the minor roles continued until he was cast as the Narrator in Jake's redub of Gordon and the Gremlin. He continued to have some minor parts – Edward in The Old Bean's audio dub of The Deputation, Coaches in Alaric's Troublesome Engines saga – before deciding to open his own studio, Albert Studios, with a view to creating audio dubs of the Very Old Engines Railway Series Volume.

Crosspatch was, naturally enough, the first production to be released, and was generally reviewed positively. Bucking Bronco is in the works as of 2 August 2006. In addition to this, thehalford has found himself one of the leading members of WikiProject Thomas, devoted to fixing the Wikipedia pages of Thomas the Tank Engine and making them a reasonable standard.

Also, thehalford has a Choose Your Own Adventure story at work in the SiFan Fiction board as a way to involve many members in writing the one story. This story is nearing completion, and he plans to allow someone else to write the story next time.

thehalford has thoroughly enjoyed his time on SiF, and looks forward to many more years to come as a productive member of the community.

In Real Life

• Name: Clay Alan Halford
• Date of Birth: 2 April, 1986
• Resident of: Australia (New South Wales)
• Favourite TTTE Characters: Edward, Rusty, Peter Sam, Duck
• Favourite Railway Series Volume: Small Railway Engines
• Favourite TV Series: Series 2
• Favourite Episode: Tender Engines (Series 3)
• Least Favourite Episode: Bulgy Rides Again (Series 7)
• Least Favourite Character: Bulgy
• Favourite Bands: Queen, Mike and the Mechanics, Men At Work, Skyhooks, AC/DC, Supertramp, Led Zepplin
• Other Favourite TV Shows: Iron Chef, Spicks and Specks, The Einstein Factor, Red Dwarf, Porridge, The Office
• Favourite Sports: Australian Football (supporter of the Carlton Blues), Cricket, Rugby League (supporter of the St George Illawarra Dragons)