Happy New Year in Chicago!

Having already done the train trip into Union Station, with Lynn yesterday, my confidence was boosted about replicating the trip to catch up with penpal and Facebook Friend, actor James Dauphin, on New Year's Day of 2013. We had a wonderful lunch, talked at each other about a million words per hour, and took a wander around the sights of Chicago's CBD. James had recently done some acting work on the then-forthcoming "Superman" movie, Man of Steel, and he pointed out several street angles that might appear on film. (Sadly, James' scenes were cut, but yes, lots of buildings were recognisable.

James is the master of the Facebook selfie, and as we bid each other farewell, we indulged in the above duo-selfie before I headed off for my train. He was deep into rehearsals for a stage production of Deathtrap, playing the role made famous by Christopher Reeve on screen. I understand the play ended up having a sell-out season, although I was already due to move on to my next destinations before opening night.

My first challenge for the day had been finding a while-you-wait photo lab that was open on January 1, to have my cousins' photographs scanned and printed. Although the shop I encountered had several self-serve devices, the guy took pity on the helpless tourist with the fascinating pictures and did an expert job on them, using the "special" printer behind the counter to get the best results.

While I was there, I remembered to ask for directions to "The Bean" (above). I knew nothing about it, except that its official name was Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, and that a Facebook Friend had urged me to add it to my bucket list. I wasn't that far away from it, and Millennium Park was certainly a great place to fill in time before the rest of Chicago's shopkeepers awoke for their late-morning January 1 openings.

Day 10's other photos:

Virtual waterfall, Millennium Park

The Bean!

Macy's Christmas windows for 2012 celebrated the history of Macy's

Art Gallery festive lions

It's not easy being green...

Alert all "Star Trek" action figure customisers!

The latest batch of DC Direct action figures includes Brainiac (above) from the "Superman: New Krypton" comic storyline, and he'd make a great "Star Trek" Orion slaver with just some minor alterations.


An Orion slaver from the
"Star Trek: Enterprise" episode, "Borderland".

Which reminds me, I once bought a wrestling figure of Big Show (aka Paul Wight), who once also appeared as an Orion trader on "Enterprise", but I never got around to painting him green...


Brainiac, Big Show and Vina.


Big Show (aka Paul Wight) as an Orion trader, with T'Pol on "Star Trek: Enterprise".

A meeting of the Supermen? PRC 2010

Only a few days after hanging up the framed Premier's Reading Challenge poster of our students in our new BER school library (our students were selected this year's Challenge "poster kids", below), and opening the library to its first timetabled week of visitors, I was off to represent us at the annual reception. This year, the PRC celebrated another successful year at the Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour.



My official job this year was to be the minder for football heroes, Mario Fenech and Hazem El Masri (that's Hazem in the background of the first pic, behind those two handsome superheroes). Mario and Hazem had a great rapport with the students attending the event, and slipped in plenty of references to the value of reading, as each group wound its way through short, meet 'n' greet activities - with a host of popular children's authors and illustrators, including Duncan Ball with Selby the Talking Dog (who stayed mute), and Kim Gamble sketching yet another "Tashi" masterpiece as we watched, gobsmacked.


Kim Gamble draws "Tashi".

Snow White was also there, making balloon animals, and there was a very gregarious Superman, who, at the event's close, did additional duties - as Selby's minder and Grug's wrangler!

Yes, Grug is back! Remember that shaggy caveman creature from the 1980s, in Ted Prior's hugely popular little picture books? Well, Grug is back in print, and many of the younger students found their own little stuffed Grug in their goody bags (look out for them in bookstores this Christmas!) Several of the adults noticed, just before the Premier's car was due, that a huge blue vinyl bag had arrived in the foyer. Normally, such an occurrence may have caused a security alert, but we were abuzz with "It's Grug! Grug's in that bag! What else is that shape like that? That'll be Grug!" (Well, we had noticed his name on the guest list, which helped immensely.)


Grug arrives undercover!


Grug unleased!


Selby unleashed!


Premier of NSW, Kristina Keneally, spoke passionately about the joy of reading, and the many rewards that books can bring.


Children's author Andrew Daddo sums up. Boori "Monty" Pryor is in front of me!


Superman is asked to round up the overheated Grug and Selby.




Grug has left the building!

Superman (It's not easy)

Five for Fighting sing "Superman (It's Not Easy)"

GJoves put this great Five for Fighting song together with images from the 2006 movie, "Superman Returns" to create a very cool Youtube music video. The distinctive Martin Place fountain, in the Sydney CBD, is glimpsed.

The end, but yet not the end

The school students finish up today, but New South Wales public school teachers have two more days on duty. Hard to think about planning for next year when you're tired from teaching this year...

The money saved by the government on those two days of students' free travel (ie. because they won't be coming to school those last two days) was diverted to pay teacher salary increases earlier in the year. But with everyone looking so weary this week (party days, report cards, room clean-ups, Year 6 farewells, library stocktakes) I'm not sure how enthusiastic we'll be about two days of professional development when the rest of the world is seemingly off Christmas shopping.



Today's pic: Superman cap given to me as an end-of-year gift by two of my most enthusiastic young library patrons! They know me too well.

Super!

"Superman" insignia on the back of my favourite jacket, as it hangs from the back of a chair.

Back on track with Sassy

Yesterday Selwa Anthony, Australian literary agent extraordinaire, held her annual all-day seminar and gala dinner for her ever-growing network of amazing authors. Once again at the Novatel Hotel in Brighton-le-Sands, Succeed, It's Great in 2008 was as stimulating as the first one I attended (way back in November 1993, Succeed Some More in '94.) The seminars take their title from a little self-help book, "Succeed With Me", which Selwa once wrote with Jimmy Thomson - and it's now available in audio by Bolinda Audio; we received a freebie in our goodie bag upon arrival!

Despite the fact that, so far, I haven't earned Selwa any percentages, she keeps inviting me back. These seminars have certainly directed me into numerous opportunities over the years but so far nothing commercial enough that would earn Selwa her percentage. Yet. Selwa continues to have faith in me, but i always feel quite humble in the talented company of Selwa's network.

The first speaker yesterday was a no-show. The poor person ended up booking a flight and heading to Brighton in Melbourne instead of Brighton-le-Sands, Sydney. So compere, Mark Macleod, brought on stage Selwa's young assistant, Selina, for an insight into a day in the life of being Selwa's assistant. It was a great impromptu session, and it also meant that Mark could offer up what he called "one-minute spots", over the course of the day, to anyone wanting to share something special to the rest of the network.

A few people availed themselves of the opportunity and, in the morning tea break, I was boasting to author/journalist Sue Williams about my Kindergarten students' recent work writing fables on the World Wide Web via a wiki. Sue's eyes lit up and she said, "Go and tell Mark you'll do a one minute spot! If anything, you'll also get to show off that fabulous jacket" *

The next thing I knew, I was sharing my young students' work - from memory! - with the likes of Tara Moss, Kim Wilkins (now also writing as Kimberley Freeman), Ian Irvine and so many other Australian literary luminaries. It was a highly energizing experience, and it made sooooooo twitchy to get to the keyboard. Maybe there'll be a chance for a much longer session at the next seminar?

And now, back to the drawing board.

* Oh - I must mention my new jacket, as seen in the picture of me with Selwa (above). I bought it on my recent trip to Perth (not usually a place where one thinks of buying a jacket, but I couldn't leave it in that shop in Northbridge. It was way too cool!). As well as the upraised silver "Superman" logo on the front, it has a larger one on the back. It picked up compliments all day and night, including a most enthusiastic accolade from first-night red carpet denizen/veteran, Susie Elleman. Someone came up to me later and whispered, "Wow! Susie likes your jacket! That's great, getting compliments from celebrities." But then we wondered... Poor Susie is annually castigated by the media for her poor clothing choices every Logies Award night, and her outfits and hairstyles are the stuff of Logies legend! So is it, in fact, good to get a high rating for my dress sense from her? ;)

Last night's Sassy presenter was the very sassy Dinah Lee. As I always say, it was a great day and night, and a highlight of my year every November. Maybe by next November I'll have a book of my own on the way.

Sunday's magic number: 90.3 - much better! A two kilo drop at last. You know, after the last few weeks' disappointment, I could actually feel the weight disappearing this week, as I cut out almost everything yummy I hold dear (the late night snacking especially). It is gratifying that I was able to eat my way through two gigantic meals yesterday at the seminar (and the Sassy Awards' banquet) and still wake up two kilos lighter than last Sunday, to smile about it this morning. Yay me!

And I should point out that I first met my "Fat Free Forever" dieting gurus, Dianne Barker Wilson and former "Gladiator" Geoff Barker, via the "Succeed With Me" seminars.

Super LA memories

My series of 2D representations of my 3D photograph collection, taken with a Nimslo 3D camera, continues:

When I arrived in Los Angeles, in January 1984, I contacted Bjo Trimble, often better known as "the woman who saved Star Trek", and organised to catch up with her for several days of shared Star Trek geekiness with her family.

I had several people trying to organise, on my behalf, an "executive tour" through the (empty) sets of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" at Paramount. The movie had not long finished filming, and was then in post-production. But it wasn't looking good; Susan Sackett, Gene Roddenberry's assistant, was on a rare one-week vacation out of town.

Bjo suggested I make a point of going to the more commercially-oriented Universal Studios tour, just in case the Paramount tour failed to materialise (which is what happened, sigh), but also: the La Brea Tar Pits (I was shocked that I didn't need to take a left turn at Albuquerque!); and the (now defunct) Movieland Wax Museum, only a block from Knott's Berry Farm at Buena Park.

I was pleasantly surprised by the thoughtful layout of this wax museum. While some of the likenesses failed to emulate the superior figures of London's Madam Tussauds', Movieland Wax Museum excelled in its presentation of each exhibit. I loved the way visitors were tantalised into guessing each upcoming exhibit as they wandered around its maze of corridors. A path gradually changed to yellow pavers... and, around a corner, there were the characters of "The Wizard off Oz"! The trail gradually turned to gravel, and there were the brothers and Dad from "Bonanza"! Distant cheers from a huge crowd led to the just-ended chariot race from "Ben-Hur". Electronic beeps and a droning female computer voice led one right onto the bridge of the USS Enterprise with the "Star Trek" crew.

And an unexpected chilled breeze led to...



Superman's Fortress of Solitude! Wow! That was a moment where the hairs rose on my neck. There, in one corner, the imposing figure of the Man of Steel himself, looking oh so very Christopher Reeve, and even wearing an authentic costume from "Superman: The Movie". It was quite breath-taking.

I even braved "The Black Box", which was a relatively new section dedicated to horror movies, such as "Friday the 13th", "Alien" and "Halloween". I didn't realise, until buying the View-Master reel sets for the museum in their gift shop, that there had once been an accompanying "Palace of Living Art" exhibit (which lives on at San Francisco's wax museum). "The Black Box" at Movieland was part of a major renovation.

It was an amazing day - thanks for the tip, Bjo! I ran out of time to revisit the museum in 1992 - and I was saddened to hear that the museum finally had to close its doors in 2005. They auctioned off most of its figures, sets, and props. According to a fan web page, the "Star Trek" main cast went to a fan for $34,000 in the auction. The Elizabeth Taylor-as-"Cleopatra" figure brought in $25,000. The Christopher Reeve-as-"Superman" figure sold for $16,000 (coincidentally, just days after the death of the late Reeve's widow), and "Elvis" went for $14,000.

Big Blank

On the way home this afternoon, I had a wonderful thought about a funny, heartwarming topic for a blog entry. I couldn't wait to get started...

Right now? I have no idea what that story may have been. Let's retrace my steps... I went to the post office, continued on down the main street to Penrith Plaza; picked up the eagerly-awaited (by me), just-released DVD of "Hollywoodland", the story of the death of George Reeves, the television "Superman" of the 1950s; bought dinner; and trudged home.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

Ah! Now I know!

The post office had a new stamp series on display - and even stamped, collectible postcards - dedicated to Australia's bizarre "Big Things" tourist attractions. The recently-renovated Big Banana, the recently-moved Big Merino of Goulburn, the recently cash-strapped Big Pineapple of Nambour, plus the Big Golden Guitar of Tamworth and the Big Lobster of Kingston South East, were all represented!

Of course, I just noticed that the anecdote I was planning to tell was already my topic on Sunday, May 27, 2007. Maybe this is like a non-ratings period and I can start repeating the best of my earlier stories? Big deal, eh?

How I got into science fiction media

As a kid, I followed "Batman" on TV (so cool!), and vividly recall reading "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in the 60s. At high school, we were expected to read "The Black Cloud" (by Fred Hoyle) and "The Hobbit" (Tolkien) as set novels. Then came two attempts to read "The Lord of the Rings". The introduction of colour TV in 1975 saw the return of "Star Trek: The Animated Series", as repeats during the innovative and new breakfast TV, plus a few selected "Star Trek" episodes on weekends.

At teachers college we were expected to read "Dune" (Frank Herbert) in our literature course, and produce an essay on ewater symbolism, but I didn't like the book much, and preferred that lousy motion picture they made, featuring Sting in bizarre silver underwear, and where it rained at the end (two books too early, I believe)!

Movie releases that swept me away in the 80s included "Superman: The Movie", "Barbarella" (which I saw at someone's Christmas party on 16 mm), "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and "Superman II", quickly followed by the first "V" mini-series on TV. "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" was a popular hit, and ensured that TOS repeats returned in prime time! Somehow I missed the "Star Wars" phenomenon until "The Empire Strikes Back"; the magazine "Starlog" became an essential monthly purchase.

From 1980, I had become deeply involved in "Star Trek" fandom, and began attending conventions, writing fan fiction and skits, publishing fanzines, making costumes, collecting rumours about new trek projects, and producing a regular column for the NSW club's newsletter. Since the 90s, as fan club activities and conventions became more splintered, I began using the Internet to satisfy my Trek yearnings. As a direct result of "Star Trek", I now read general science fiction novels by the likes of David Gerrold, Larry Niven, Vonda McIntyre, Peter David and others. I still buy and read all the licenced "Star Trek" novels and comics, and "Starlog".