Bilby in a basket

Easter basket of goodies, not mine unfortunately.
Note the cute Easter Bilby in the middle.

Serving the Easter Bunny

What's an Easter Bunny buy at an electrical store? Energiser batteries?

When life hands you a lemon...

... make lemonade!



First ripe lemon of the season. Last year was a dismal crop; I don't think more than four lemons survived. It seems that every second year produces a bumper crop.

"I'm ready for my closeup, Mr DeMille!"

Jack, for once not being camera shy! Just before bedtime, he was tossing his sheepskin platypus around, and I tried for a motion pic of that - but he suddenly put the toy down and posed beautifully.

The Inexplicable Legend of Frank Force

Over on TrekBBS, someone was wondering why fans latched onto the USS Kelvin's Captain Robau as a "badass" many months before they had any idea what he'd be like in JJ Abrams' "Star Trek" movie.

The now-defunct "Star Trek" Club of NSW, Astrex, once had a bizarre in-joke running about an enigmatic actor called "Frank Force". I was in the US, at a Creation convention in January 1984, and I won some very rare "ST III: The Search for Spock" call sheets in their auction. The call sheets declared that one of the very last new main actors introduced in the script was Frank Force, playing "Nacluv".

This seemed rather bizarre, till a friend of the production team mentioned it was an anagram - "Vulcan" spelled backwards. Yes, it was Leonard Nimoy under a secret, assumed name, to hide his participation as a regenerated adult Spock till the last minute. After all, Spock was the most "frank force" in the universe.

Australia waited many months after the US to see ST III, giving Australian fans a lot of idle time to generate wacky Frank Force jokes. One penpal of mine, from Perth, arrived at Sydney airport for the film's gala premiere night, only to be collected by three complete strangers wearing large "Frank Force Fan Club" badges.

You'll notice that Director Nimoy also voices the USS Excelsior Elevator in ST III as "Frank Force", which got a huge cheer from us on opening night when the credits rolled.

Auction nostalgia

Green "Number 96" delicatessen jacket, as worn by Harry Michaels as Giovanni Lenzi.
Bought at auction after the series ended (in 1977).

Underneath the jacket, the red T-shirt reads "I'm quite ardamant about that", a Dorrie Evans catch-phrase from the show. Unused wardrobe item made for Andrew Mercado, TV1's "The Best of Number 96" (2000).


Raw footage of 1975 Christmas message by Arnold and Giovanni,
"Number 96". Harry Michaels wears the jacket I now own.

See the full Christmas message on the bonus features of the DVD "Number 96: Aftermath of Murder" (2010, Umbrella Entertainment).


Reg, Edie, Trixie.


Dorrie, Herb, Flo, Don, Dudley.


Jane, Norma, Gary.

See the full Christmas messages on the bonus features of the DVD "Number 96: Aftermath of Murder" (2010, Umbrella Entertainment).


A young, impressionable, trainee teacher, Ian McLean
(wearing Giovanni's deli jacket from "Number 96"), interviews Elaine Lee,
who was playing Principal Margaret Gibson in TV's "Glenview High" at the time (1978).

Out of the darkness

Not sure I can think of a caption?

Earth Hour 2010

Earth Hour

Balloon aloft

During a hectic, very humid, power walk to work this morning, a peaceful hot air balloon on the horizon (above the road, barely a little smudge in the middle of this pic) contributed a small element of tranquility.

Dancing for Dummies

Male busker with life-sized mannequin dance partner, Sydney CBD.

Harmony Day? No worries!

These great Guatemalan worry dolls were created by the Kindergarten students to help our school celebrate Harmony Day this week.

Aftermath of Murder: trivia time

A hilarious discovery: watching DVD episodes of "Number 96" this week, on came a character called Dolores Hackenback, an brassy American "Oomph!" cosmetics consultant. She was helping Roma Godolfus set up a cosmetics section in the delicatessen.

I said to myself, "Wow! It's almost like they've based a character on the producer's wife, Del Harmon!"

Then I read the closing credits: Dolores was portrayed by... Del Harmon.

I'm really enjoying this batch of 32 more episodes of "Number 96", which continues the storylines following the death of the suiciding Patyhose Strangler. Also included on the DVD, as bonus features, are two newly recorded audio commentaries (2009) with Carol Raye (Baroness Amanda Von Pappenburg) and Elisabeth Kirkby (Lucy Sutcliffe) talking to TV historian Andrew Mercado; a segment from "The Australian Way: A Salute to Aussie Sex Appeal", a long-forgotten TV special (1982, incorrectly identified as 1978), hosted by Gordon Elliott and Joanna Lockwood; the original 1976 "Adults Only" TV promo for the premiere of "And They Said It Wouldn't Last" documentary special; hilarious 1975 uncut Christmas messages from cast members; and 2008 footage of the Network Ten News announcement of the previous "Number 96" DVD release, including a reunion between Chantal Contouri (Tracey Wilson, the Pantyhose Strangler) and Pamela Garrick (one of her victims, Patti Feather).


(This strip of internal artwork courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.)

The Puerto Rican adventures of Miss Playtrek

Miss Playtrek is ready to go and check out the beach in Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean!


Here is Miss Playtrek passing the Taino Indian Chief head rock in Isabela!




Hot tubbing, while enjoying the view
of the beach and the ocean.

It figures: Being black on the right side?

Commercial Playmates Toys' Commissioner Bele of Cheron and (customised by me in the 90s) Lokai of Cheron - from the "Star Trek" episode, "Let that be your Last Battlefield". The face sculpt of Frank Gorshin (aka The Riddler of the 60s' "Batman" TV series) is uncanny. I chose a Major Don West of TV's "Lost in Space" to double as Lokai. I did remove the silver hem of the costume's tunic, by simply tucking in Lokai's shirt, and unstitching the collar decoration.


Today's pic: They meet the official 2009 replica of the 70s Mego figure!

A collectible in my supermarket?

20 March 2010.

Kraft's new "Vegemite" and cream cheese spread, "iSnack 2.0", was quickly renamed
"Cheesybite", but the first name is still in stock, along with the competition's
placeholder name, "Name Me...".




21 March 2010.

Xtra Normal for extraordinary animations!

Wow! I literally spent only about 20 minutes on the above animation, using a free site called Xtra Normal.

The possibilities are... endless!

Ian in Wonderland - in 3D!

Oh frabjous day! I thoroughly enjoyed this evening's little excursion to the cinema to see the new "Alice in Wonderland" 3D movie! I'd heard rather mixed reviews, but this was a most satisfying 3D experience.

And how curiouser and curiouser to notice Joel Swetow in the credits as Man With Big Belly - I own the Andorian ambassador's robes he wore in "Star Trek: Enterprise". Always love a neat Star Trek connection! And yay Michael ("Alfred Pennyworth") Gough as the voice of the dodo!

I wished I gone with someone now, even it it was to get a photo standing in the middle of this huge cardboard display (above). Woulda looked a bit like this:


Me, attending the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in Central Park, New York (January 1992).



Today's pic of the day: a signwriting plane going home at sunset, after a hard day's signwriting?

Brain behind glass

"Pinky & the Brain", the famous TV cartoon mice, visited my school this week - as teaching aids. Coincidentally, they were posed next to computer mouse.

Green, green, green!

Hastily made replacement "Cat in the Hat" hat, for tomorrow's "Green Eggs and Ham" event at school. 16 March 2010.

By happenstance, the replacement hat wasn't needed...


"The Cat in the Hat" was a special guest at our school's "Green Eggs and Ham" event,
coincidentally - and serendipitously - falling on St Patrick's Day. 17 March 2010.


Sam-Am-I meets "The Cat in the Hat"

Gollum!

Gollum snowglobe from "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy.