What a cool surprise! Today I accidentally stumbled across a five-part presentation of the Star Trek fan film, "Starship Exeter: The Savage Empire", that included a creators' commentary track! Producers Jimm and Josh Johnson recorded this commentary in December 2005, exactly ten years after the film was conceived. The fan film itself burst onto the Internet - at www.starshipexeter.com - in December 2002. I knew the commentary existed but I had no idea it was available through Youtube.
Now, if you're only interested in seeing my scene (as Senator Therin of the Andorian Planetary Council), you'll need to scroll down to Part 5. Otherwise, enjoy the full commentary using these Youtube links.
THE SAVAGE EMPIRE
Part One of Five - with creators' commentary!
Part Two of Five
Part Three of Five
Part Four of Five
Part Five of Five, featuring my cameo scene, which was videotaped here in Sydney and airmailed to Jimm in the US to be edited into the footage as a special effect.
Because this a clear example of an FAQ (Frequently Asked Question), I'm putting this example of Star Trek geekiness where I can find it easily for next time.
Someone over on TrekBBS just asked about the differences between airdate order, production order and stardate order when watching Star Trek DVDs...
For a long time, people didn't readily know the "production order" of TOS (The Original Series). The "Star Trek Concordance" by Bjo Trimble (and all other lists of the day) presented summaries of the the episodes of TOS and TAS as they had originally aired in Los Angeles, USA, and then tried an experiment by adding a second list: putting the stardates into order (which really only proved conclusively that stardates, particularly in TAS, were quite random, and prone to typographical errors).
Gene Roddenberry had gone to great pains to say that stardates were really just random numbers, at a whim of time and space irregularities, and only had to be progressing sensibly within an episode, but weirdly, they do often seem to have a weird connection to each other. And fans love weirdness.
TOS was usually made to be viewable in random order and, when the series went to US syndication in the 70s, US TV stations either stuck with original airdate order or total randomness. Then along came "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" - and Alan Asherman's "Star Trek Compendium". He had researched the production numbers and dates and, for the first time, many ST fans could see the order in which the episodes had been made. The TV order they'd all been used to had only came about due to such random factors as late SPFX on some episodes and/or network exec demands ("Give 'em a monster ep first up", ie. "The Man Trap".) When a few fans (and TV stations) started using this "new" order to screen episodes, it was noticed how a few continuity threads suddenly matched up. Uhura's gold uniform episodes suddenly ended up together, for example. "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the show's second pilot was not suddenly a confusing "flashback" episode, but more like an Episode 1.
With Filmation's animated "Star Trek" series (known as TAS), the airdate order in Los Angeles - and Bjo's Concordance - was different to the rest of the country. George Takei was running for local political office when TAS premiered, so a Takei-less episode of TAS had to be run on a certain week in LA, otherwise his opponents could have demanded "equal time" (22 minutes) from the station running it.
By the time of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (and beyond), if an episode was running late due to tricky SPFX, or if episodes were shot out of order (ie. Denise Crosby making another episode after her on-screen death; or "Unification Part II" being made first to fit in with Nimoy's availability), the producers were able to tweak things to keep the screening order okay, continuity-wise. There are a few glitches they glossed over: originally, the realism of the holodeck scenario in "The Big Goodbye" was originally possible only because it had been upgraded by the Bynars in "11001001", but they realised they'd have to screen those episodes out of intended order, IIRC.
Anyway, if you want to recapture the viewing experience of the very first TOS fans, watch your TOS DVDs as presented, with "The Man Trap" first. Hop around your discs if you want production order instead. (The first DVD twinpacks, originally released in the US, had production order, and many TOS diehards - including the people preparing the DVD sets - thought that was a travesty!)
For the rest of Trek, just relax and let the DVD boxed sets screen you the eps as presented.
Today, racing through Pitt Street Mall in the Sydney CBD, to meet up with my friend, Wendy, for lunch, I happened to notice the familiar sign of the "FREE HUGS" guys. It was the first time I'd noticed the sign in about a year - I'd assumed they don't stay as late these days. I also noted that the Asian man holding the sign wasn't the regular "FREE HUGS" guy - perhaps the original guy was overseas again? - but I didn't think too much of it as my watch was closing in on 1.00pm and so I quickened my pace.
As you know, I'm in the city every Thursday, usually early evening, doing the rounds of my favourite book, comic, collectibles, CD and DVD shops, a ritual I've done almost every Thursday night since 1977, when I was at the Guild Teachers College, Ultimo. After classes at college I'd often walk all the way up to the CBD from the old Grace Bros. building at Broadway, usually all the way to Circular Quay, dropping into all my special and secret haunts along the way. (So many of the old second hand bookshops have gone, of course...)
Four years ago, at about 6pm, I noticed a neatly-dressed guy in Pitt Street Mall, holding a large sign advertising "FREE HUGS". He wasn't busking - there was no hat or bowl on the ground for people to toss money into - he was just giving out free hugs.
It was a puzzling scene and I recall watching him for quite a few minutes - he was catching quite a few hugs - and I was probably thinking, "If the idea is to frisk (and mug) people while hugging them, he's pretty blatant about it." I remember both of my hands were barely holding several bags of packages and, knowing me, I probably had more purchases stuffed in my backpack, so I decided to just toss him a smile as I passed, and declined any attempt to give or receive a hug.
Now, it's not as if it's the weirdest thing I've seen in the mall. There are always unusual buskers to be found there - singers, musicians, jugglers, silver robots, living statues - and even a young guy who used to dress up as a very realistic nodding donkey. One cold winter's night in 2003, there were even numerous almost-naked young men, handcuffed to poles as faux Buck's Night grooms, to advertise the premiere night of "American Pie: The Wedding"!
Eventually, the "FREE HUGS" guy and his pals had become a Sydney institution: someone to swap a smile with every so often, but I never did collect my free hug. A few years ago, a great Youtube music clip appeared online of the original guy - he calls himself Juan Mann. (Get it?)
The Youtube clip that stepped up Juan's notoriety
From that publicity, Juan managed to attract the attention of "GMA" (not "Good Morning Australia", but "Good Morning America"!), and then... Oprah Winfrey! (Not to mention the Sydney City Council, who tried to close down his "operation" because he didn't fit the standard profile of a busker.) I remember seeing the Oprah clips, and the petition fuss, on the nightly news, and being impressed that his little gesture of humanity had paid off in such an abundance of good will and positivity, but I still didn't give it much thought. According to Google, I missed his appearance on Andrew Denton's "Enough Rope".
The Free Hugs Campaign on TEN News, featuring Juan Mann and band, Sick Puppies
Well, after lunch, Wendy and I were hurrying back to her office. The Asian man was still soliciting "FREE HUGS" a few metres away, but suddenly Wendy was greeting a friend and chatting away as if completing a conversation from a previous day. The distinctive velvet jacket and ponytail on her friend should have clued me in. We were talking with the Juan Mann!
Well, I finally got my hug today! And it was cool that Juan seemed just like an old friend - he's already become such a familiar part of my Thursdays. Wendy was saying that Juan told her a few days ago that he was celebrating the fourth anniversary of his "FREE HUGS" campaign. I'm in awe. And tonight, trawling through all the Internet gossip about the campaign, I feel great!
Onya Juan!
Shimon Moore and Sick Puppies, who created the Free Hugs Campaign video
Today I had a chance to catch up some fun cartoons of my childhood: episodes of "The Herculoids", "The Impossibles" (of "Frankenstein Jr and the Impossibles") and... "Prince Planet". Although many of my US penpals say they've heard of "Prince Planet", most never saw it in their area. Black and white cartoons were pretty old hat in the US at the time. And yet, here in Australia, it was as well-known as the original "Astroboy". I even made my own (double-sided) "P" medallion - the reverse side was all P'ed out, for when Prince Planet needed to refuel.
Prince Planet, aka Bobby Prince, in glorious black and white.
Hmmmm, there's a superhero theme common to all of those, I only just realised.
As I mentioned here recently, the first TV show I remember vividly was the Magic Circle Club in 1965. I was in Year 1 at school, and my brother was in Kindergarten. The show, a precursor to "Adventure Island", was like a live musical pantomime and it played five nights a week - but very often, instead of seeing the Friday resolution episode, we had to go shopping after school with my Mum and grandmother!
Monday recess was for catching up with what had happened on the Friday, much as "Number 96" was discussed in the playground when I was at high school. (And in primary school, it was always "Batman", and how he and Robin were going to set themselves free from the arch criminals' amazing trap.)
Other very early TV memories: "The Adventures of Robin Hood" with Richard Green, and the very scary UK version of "The Invisible Man", both favourites of my Dad.
And an afternoon kids' show with Bill the Koala, a lifelike hand puppet, who climbed back up a gum tree at the end of each show, while the hostess sang, "Bill's asleep, Bill's asleep, tra la la la la..., Bill's asleep." For the life of me, I can't remember the name of that show.
So, what were your earliest TV memories? Go on, make me feel old!
I'm enjoying IDW Publishing's "Star Trek New Frontier" storyline, "Turnaround" by Peter David, very much but it must be very confusing to anyone who isn't familiar with the long-running book series that David writes for Pocket.
Robin Lefler's mom, Morgan Primus, looking like Number One, Chapel and Mrs Troi is worth a smirk or two in the novels (and her face was obscured by a hand mirror in the Wildstorm one-shot comic), but seeing Number One - er, Morgan - phasing in and out in the new comic issues requires some background knowledge from the books.
Likewise, M'Ress and Arex (formerly of TAS - see below) have just turned up for their NF comic cameos (issue #4) and casual TOS readers (or anyone who's just been reading IDW's various "Year Four" issues) are gonna wonder why they're suddenly in the 24th century.
Art by Stephen Thompson
And hey! We've now finally seen a depiction of Desma the Andorian - she's the new first officer (below) of the USS Trident, introduced a few novels ago.
I'm glad no one was watching, with a video camera or mobile phone at the ready. They missed a spectacular trip and fall by yours truly today. A prize winner on "Australia's Funniest Home Videos" is ever there was one.
Just after lunch, to celebrate the first weekday of my present school vacation, I was going to take a long stroll to Nepean Square (mainly to check out the big K-Mart toy sale that's getting so much radio airplay, but I also needed milk for my first coffee of the day), but I stubbed my toe on the traffic roundabout at the end of my street and did a leap worthy of "Hancock", and ended up all palms-and-knees on the concrete. Ouch!
Once I'd recovered my bearings, I had no option but to trudge back home to apply some Dettol on the extremities, and later headed off in the opposite direction to get just the milk this time. I really needed that coffee now. My big toe (luckily, not the one I injured last April) is still throbbing, but is hopefully not broken, and I sense a rectangular bruise forming on my right thigh in the shape of my mobile phone. Thank goodness I wasn't walking Jack at the time...
I realised, as I arrived home, that the force of my toe-stubbing actually poked a hole through my sock. It's been many years since I've darned a sock and I'm not sure I want to spend these holidays doing so. I did get back to Nepean Square later this afternoon. There were no toys of interest, so I bought chocolate instead. Oh dear...
I have a small wad of Hoyts' Hot Cash coupons in my wallet (no moths!) which expire in July, so I used one today to see the unlikely superhero movie, "Hancock".
I'd seen some great trailers, which seemed to indicate a Will Smith comedy, and then some fairly positive reviews on "The Movie Show", which suggested a movie with something more to offer. Hancock is a tramp-like, perpetually drunk, super-powered human living in Los Angeles, who has no regard for the damage he causes when rescuing victims of crime and natural disaster. When the amnesiac Hancock saves the life of a public relations exec, Ray (Jason Bateman), who was trapped in the path of a train, Ray promises Hancock he can turn the tide of the way the public perceive his life. Ray's wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), believes Hancock cannot be transformed into a legitimate superhero, and yet there seems to be an odd connection between Hancock and Mary.
I really don't want to say any more, because the movie has several unexpected twists that really took me by surprise. One was almost spoiled by one of the TV commercials, but I found I quite forgot about that while watching the movie. So there are plenty of surprises. There's nothing particularly new about this movie, but the elements are put together very well, and the cast is extremely appealing. I haven't noticed Jason Bateman in anything since TV's "Valerie"/"The Hogan Family", although I note he was in a few things I've seen, such as "Dodgeball", and a DVD I own but haven't watched yet, "Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium".
If you're wondering about whether to bother with "Hancock", and you're still waiting for the next big superhero movie on the horizon, "The Dark Knight", I say, "Go for it."
Sunday's not so magic number: 95.5 - Oh dear. Oh well.
Well, today I chalk up my second year of blogging.
As I said this time last year, it is so satisfying to put my various inner thoughts (and Internet responses) somewhere more permanent that just letting them drop off the menu at some online bulletin board.
Thanks everyone for the continued support, even if so few of you leave messages. I check Sitemeter almost every day, and my stats tell me I continue to get about 50 visitors a day, who read more than one post per visit, and these numbers have been consistent for many months, whether I'm posting every day or being slack. A great many newcomers stumble across this blog via Google Images. I continue to be a more visual medium than the quality of my written entries, so I won't be giving up on putting lots of images on Flickr. There are still plenty Star Trek, pet and naked Abigail fans out there, even if you don't always tell me in person that you've dropped by.
I'm feeling quite ragged this week. It's been a long and eventful term at school/work - but on the other hand the weeks have been just flying by. Every (usually) spare spot on my timetable has been used to let as many Stage 3 (Years 5 & 6) students as possible participate in the Identity: Sharing our stories rap, not to mention any other spare second, and many late nights, helping to moderate the incoming messages and solve a few tech problems.
The rap has used print and online interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, and the ten groups of students, who've worked on the rap for the last seven weeks - brainstorming group responses to set questions, which are then shared with other school groups via a blog - have gotten so much out of the experience, it's all been well worthwhile.
Last night, I was supposed to be presenting our work to any interested parents, while their children attended the school disco. Unfortunately, I had no takers and i was left sitting upstairs with a whole bank of computers set to the rap, and no audience. (Last term we had a good roll up for a similar presentation on the Wilfrid book rap.)
No matter. On Friday it's our annual NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration) Assembly at school, and I get to do a presentation there of some of the highlights of the students' work.
I must admit to feeling a little put out this morning when suddenly one of my student helpers in the library slipped me an impromptu note, artfully decorated in glitter glue of many hues: "Thank you Mr McLean for all your herd (sic) work." She stressed that the note was created by her, but was from all ten of my library monitors. It left me grinning all day, despite my weariness.
Still recovering from Friday night's wine bar debacle, I had to organise a group booking for lunch today at the local Hog's Breath Cafe.
Always a reliably great meal and good, jovial service - and with a fun group of friends I simply don't see often enough these days - so it helped to remind me that not everyone is as hard to get along with. Our friends from Brisbane, Maria, Peter and little Ben, were down for an extended weekend, and it was a great excuse to get the ol' gang together to share good food and good conversation.
It was also too hard to ignore the Mars Bar Sundae. Sigh.
I waited a few days before posting this, because I've been so angry and I wanted to see if a few days to process the events would help. They haven't really, so here it is a week later, and I've backdated the date so it sits in the right place in my chronology of events.
Last night I was invited to join six other people, all aged between 30s and 40s, equal numbers of male and female to a Japanese Teppenyaki restaurant in the city. as it turned out, I only knew one person (from my Star Trek Meetup Group) but via the unfolding discussions there was another person with whom I shared several mutual friends. Also was going quite well, although it wasn't the best Teppenyaki I've been to - you know the idea behind Teppenyaki, where the chef is in close quarters and does an elaborate performance with the food and cooking implements as he goes? - and after the bill was settled, six of us retired to a nearby wine bar.
Now, the only early inkling that the evening was doomed to swirl into an oblivion of anger and frustration was when one woman mentioned her ex-husbands (plural), and then wanted to know if Star Trek Meetups was "where we picked up our women".
???
Anyway, at the wine bar, the host ordered a bottle of white wine, which a waitress efficiently divided across six glasses. the conversations began to flow again, and it seemed as if people were barely pausing for breath, let along sips of wine. John and I had just finished a conversation about the upcoming Star Trek movie (I think) and the aforementioned woman, who shall continue to remain nameless, leaned forward and said, "So, you guys have moths in your wallets?"
Huh?
It took more than a few seconds for me to realise I'd actually heard her correctly. I looked down at the low table and realised that our host had ordered a second bottle of wine.
Now, the bill at the restaurant had been split evenly, as far as I knew - if the wine accompanying the meal was BYO that others had already paid for, I still have no idea. Nothing was said, apart from splitting the bill and everyone seemed happy. Perhaps due to the wine buzz that had already set in - after several reds at the restaurant, and now the glass of white at the bar - I still have no comprehension of where the woman's comment was coming from. I asked her, politely, I believe, if she thought I was planning to let our host foot the entire bill?
"The world is full of Givers and Takers," she proclaimed loudly. "Richard, here," indicating our host, "is one of the world's Givers. And you two are Takers."
I say again, "?????"
And so endeth all sensible conversation for the evening. I was eventually able to make sure Richard would accept my contribution towards the wine, which had now taken on quite a bitter taste. If the woman's intention was to make John and I decide it was way past our bedtimes, and time to head back out to the Western Suburbs (where she obviously felt we belonged), I guess it worked. John asked if I wanted a lift home, I accepted and we were out of there, and now she had the only other male in the group all to herself.
I can't say I'm in too much of a hurry to meet up with her again. How can people be so deliberately insulting to people they've only just met, and could quite possibly become people they will be seeing quite often in their social circle? I find myself wondering if she truly found my behaviour to be rude and miserly, or if it was just a ploy of some kind, to eliminate some competition, or test our mettles?
And I didn't realise the whole event would be treated by someone as some kind of blind date or game.
I promised to tell you about my recent (though expensive) success on eBay...
a 1965 program to a stage production of the "Magic Circle Club", surely my favourite Australian television show from my very early years!
This purchase arrived on Monday, by registered post, but the notification card came to my home address instead of to work, where I wanted to be able to sign for the package. I was finally able to collect it today.
Wow!
Godfrey Philipp's "Magic Circle Club" was a national children's television show, which I watched on a then-fledgling Channel TEN-10 in Sydney (from 23rd January 1965 till 1967). The channel was so new we had terrible reception. It ran for 550 thirty-minute episodes and had its roots in live pantomime and classic fairy tales. The show was the talk of the playground when I was in Year 1 and Year 2, and featured amazing song and dance production numbers and original songs by none other than John-Michael Howson.
Being a Sydney boy, I hadn't heard of this particular version of "Magic Circle Club" before: a specially written episode called "The Stolen Smile". It was performed live on stage at Melbourne's Tivoli Theatre (from December 27, 1965 for the summer school holidays). In this adventure, evil Sir Jasper Crookly and Gaspar Goblin had banished Clocko the chief clown and Spangles the trapeze artist from a circus - and had also taken away Clocko's smile. Appearing on stage with Max (Max Bartlett) and hostess Nancy Cato were Fredd Bear, Fee Fee Bear (John-Michael Howson), Mother Hubbard, Curley Dimples, Crystal Ball, Hep Cat, Montmorency James Rabbit and bird puppets, Cassius Cuckoo and Leonardo de Funbird, all played by the regular TV cast.
One of the reasons I was so determined to obtain this program was for the cast and crew names that were sure to be mentioned. Although my memory was fairly good, I had many gaps - and so do (or did) places such as Wikipedia. For example, this production was stage managed by some now well-known Aussie names: Sue Nattras, Simon Wincer and Jim McElroy. I'd also forgotten that Leonardo lived inside the IKAN (Instantaneous Knowledge Accumulation Network) computer. (In 1965? Surely a zany computer to predate the Bat-computer of TV's "Batman"!)
Here's an excerpt from the program, featuring the three characters and performers I remembered the least about:
Today I had a prepaid Greater Union movie coupon to be used up by the 24th, so I went off the most convenient of their cinema complexes (Parramatta) to see... whatever was on at a convenient time.
Hard on the heels of "Ironman", I ended up choosing "The Incredible Hulk", a sequel-of-sorts to the controversial (and expensive) flop of a few years ago, "Hulk". I say a sequel-of-sorts because the whole cast has been replaced. While I enjoyed Eric Bana's performance as Bruce Banner in the first film, I really enjoyed Edward Norton in this one! Ditto the new Betty, the former Lady Arwen of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Liv Tyler!
Also excellent were the many cameos and links to previous versions of the Hulk legend: the rejection of some purple pants; a clip of TV's David Banner, actor Bill Bixby, in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"; the return of TV's Hulk, Lou Ferrigno as a security guard; the cameo and name drop of a university student named McGee; and the poignant "Lonely Man" theme music that played during the TV series. Not to mention the sudden appearance of another Marvel character in the final moments, seemingly a harbinger of an eventual "Avengers" motion picture?
It was a worthwhile few hours spent in the dark.
Maybe I should have considered how wise it was to wear a silver-logo "Superman" jacket to a Marvel film, but I'd quite forgotten what was on the back of my jacket until my courageous rescue of a mother and her baby on the train coming home! When the train pulled into Parramatta Station, several people alighted and new passengers started to get on. Suddenly two women appeared in the vestibule area, essentially blocking my way in, but seemingly ignoring my suggestions that I assist them to dismount the train.
"Do you need help getting out?" I asked again, but no one was answering.
When it seemed obvious at least one of the women was slooooooooooowly attempting to get off the train, I got back on the platform to lift her pram out. Still she wasn't moving - were the two prams locked together? Why was I being ignored?
The guard announced that doors were closing and I had no choice but to lean on the door, keeping it open, and scream out "Two prams coming off!" in both directions, being unsure exactly where the guard's compartment was located on this particular train. After the third announcement, neither woman was making an effort to leave. Admittedly, I was essentially blocking half of the entrance, but that was all that was preventing the train from leaving, and there was still plenty of room to get out... if only someone would move! Eventually, I grabbed the pram nearest to me and pulled it towards me and the open door.
"But I don't want to get off," the owner of that pram said quietly.
"Well, you'll need to get out of the other woman's way," I replied, exasperated.
Finally the other woman allowed me to lift her pram out of the train and the other woman returned to her seat. The train was finally on its way. I guess the woman who wasn't getting off had tried unsuccessfully to get out of the other woman's way as they approached Parramatta, but I was flabbergasted that they had the survival instincts of beached fish. I recall my mother being extremely well prepared for train journeys in my youth, and she was never shy about getting off a train, being ready for her station, and/or accepting assistance from strangers.
As I entered the main compartment to finally choose a seat a disgruntled fellow passenger commented under his breath, "Have you finished holding up the train now? Can we close the doors?"
"Oh," he noticed as I passed (refusing to make eye contact with him and hoping not to exacerbate the situation). "He even has the right symbol..."
Today had such a nice, relaxed, nostalgic feel to it, and the only annoyance was the crazy bumper-to-bumper traffic that seemed to be everywhere - all afternoon! so much for the petrol prices everyone complains about.
It's been a while since I've been to inner-city Glebe - but I wanted to gather up some reasonably priced Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children's books for school/work, and past experience had told me that Gleebooks is usually the best port of call for these items. The staff were so helpful - at one point I had three staff members scurrying around at my whim - and any chance to wander through their children's and second hand collections is a pleasure. ("You can smell the shop before you get there", to quote - loosely - the line from "84 Charing Cross Road".) Because that store is at the opposite end of Glebe Point Road to their other bookstore, it meant that Jack and I had a great stroll past all the amazingly eclectic curio shops and cafes in between. And - more colourful than ever: Glebe Saturday markets in the grounds of the primary school. Jack found lots of happy, friendly, Glebe doggies to touch noses with.
Gleebooks also had three of the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) shortlisted books I've been after. Thanks to the shop's trusty computer cataloguing, they identified that three of my elusive (ie. "awaiting reprint") needs were sitting, forgotten, on shelves somewhere in the well-stocked shelves! Every year it's like a crazy little hide 'n' seek game I love to play: how quickly can I round up all of the shortlisted titles for the school library. Thanks to Gleebooks today, my search is almost over for 2008. (Of course, but the time Book Week comes along, all of the books will be freely available in most bookshops - but I want to use them in my teaching in the lead up to Book Week in Term Three, not after the event.)
It's a shame so many of the Glebe stores are vacant now, victims of the nearby Broadway Centre shopping mall that has evolved from the old Grace Bros buildings. Where Grace Bros and Glebe shops had survived, almost side-by-side for decades, so harmoniously, it now seems like the might of the all-inclusive air-conditioned mall has done its job and killed off a lot of the life from the street shopping strip. i recall in the 70s and 80s, people waited for restaurateurs to die before they could rent an empty shop in Glebe!
For three years (1977-1979), I spent many an afternoon or lunch break strolling through Grace Bros at Broadway, eventually venturing further afield into Glebe and its amazing shops, during my years at the Guild Teachers College. Then, for a while in the late 80s and early 90s, it was worth going back to Glebe Point Road every so often just to see what was for sale in weird shops like Half a Cow (now long gone) and second hand bookshops such as Cornstalk Books.
I've also been squealing with delight over some recent Amazon online purchases. The official soundtrack album of "Ironman", a few tricky-to-find old science fiction paperbacks (postage will be more than the $1 or so for the book, but who cares - I found them at last!), and some television rarities on DVD. Yes - I'm a happy shopper in both real and virtual bookshops.
For all the criticism that goes on about Amazon, such as odd quirks in their product descriptions, I still think they do an amazing job. It has become such a comprehensive website - with all their links to the international second hand and remaindered markets - that it's a rare thing to seek out a book (from any era) and not be able to get any leads. I can forgive their sometimes-bizarre semi-automated computer listings any errors that inevitably creep in. My days of haunting bricks 'n' mortar bookshops, week after week, on fruitless searches for impossible-to-find-stuff are mostly gone. Now when I go into such a store I can browse at leisure, not search frantically.
There is also a recent exciting eBay purchase, but I'll save that story for when it arrives from Melbourne - hopefully Monday - by registered post.
Today's most excellent gathering of bloggers - in Albion Park, near Wollongong - was so enjoyable. Two Canberrans traveled up and six Sydneysiders traveled down to rendezvous at the (highly recommended) Aviator Lounge for a meeting of Aussie Bloggers.
Phoning in her attendance from distant Townsville, Queensland, was the envious Anonymum, who was determined to be part of the action - via speaker phone - from the moment I clambered into Gemisht's car. She also checked up on us during dessert and encouraged several attendees to partake of the decadent Deep Fried Mars Bar. As for myself, I can heartily recommend the White Chocolate Cheesecake.
The only brief lulls in conversation were when all eight of us happened to be swallowing mouthfuls of food at the same time. It was great to put faces - and actual names - to some Internet identities I've gotten to know quite well over the last six months. I'm really looking forward to catching up with them again.
Sunday's magic number: 93.6 - Wow! That's amazing! I don't feel like I've done that many different things to recent weeks, and yet this week I'm two kgs lighter? Today, I celebrated!
Okay, I've been in a funk most of this week. My timetable at work is particularly overstuffed - my choice, because I really wanted to work with a particular group of students on a short-run, one-off, statewide online project - so I'm tired, and I've also felt let down by a few disastrous attempts at socialising (see previous post) this week/month/year. And I think I was dreading the outcome of tomorrow's meeting in Albion Park, near Wollongong, of the Canberran and Sydney virtual denizens of the Aussie Bloggers' bbs. I'd advertised this function on the two blogging Meetup sites I run and, despite telling a supposed interested group of about 140 people, only two of us (sigh...) seem to have committed to joining the Aussie Bloggers tomorrow for the big day. Luckily, there are plenty of Aussie Blogger regulars going.
Coming up soon, it is six months since Aussie Bloggers site launched. The first blog post appeared on December 31, 2007, and the forums were "soft launched" on January 1 this year. It's been a great six months - off the cuff, I don't recall how I found them - I think they invited me to check out the beta testing of the forums?
Tomorrow, I guess you could say we are having a preemptive celebration of the half-year anniversary at the highly recommended Aviator Lounge cafe and restaurant. I was assuming I'd be heading down - alone - on the train when, this afternoon, one of the Aussie bloggers attending tomorrow emailed me and offered to collect me from a station much closer to home and drive me to Albion Park. Wow, thanks Gemisht. My funk finally lifted, and I'm really looking forward to meeting the merry band tomorrow. (Too bad I'm not providing a train carriage full of bloggers, though, as I'd originally assumed...)
I must say that I've really enjoyed being part of the Aussie Bloggers' community this last six months. I've met some great people through the forums, one (so far) in person - Hi Riayn! - and it's been such fun lending my quirky humour to the plentiful Kaos and Mayhem threads, where almost anything goes. The more serious forums, such as Tools & Resources, have also been really helpful as I continually weigh up the differences between Blogger, WordPress and EduBlogs, and someone always comes through when you you have those nagging problems too embarrassing to say out loud. Being an Aussie blogger's site, there's lots of good ol' Aussie ocker humour, but we also have numerous international members and we are probably slowly converting them to the more laconic, stereotypical-but-true traditions of "She'll be right, mate".
Happy Six Months Anniversary - and see you guys tomorrow!
On Thursday night, a planned CBD Meetup of local bloggers attracted just a handful of positive RSVPs - which dwindled to only two by the morning of the meeting. I emailed the only other person who was coming and said he might want an early night instead. Then I realised that if anyone did send a last minute RSVP - as has happened in the past - I had no way to find out (work's firewall blocks all social networking sites) and a brand new person would turn up to find nobody at the coffee shop. So I had to turn up anyway...
My emergency back up plan - to catch an Internet friend for coffee also failed miserably (I got stood up) - and I ended up in exactly the dilemma I had sought to avoid: standing around in the cold in the city when everyone else - even the coffee shop's regular crowd - was at home snuggled in front of the TV and heater.
You know, I avoided the recent remake of "I Am Legend" because I heard the featured character ends up wandering a deserted Manhattan, New York. (That was me in Sydney on Thursday night, but I no longer feel like a legend.)
This is sounding bitter but, in these days of mobile phones, the way we all run our lives is changing. To the opposite of Meetup.com's ambitions, we all seem to rely to much on spontaneity and coincidence. Someone else I know (only "virtually") is always saying he "really wants to meet up" with the Star Trek group soon, but he's just emailed me that he's still unable to give any advance dates.
I'm fighting a losing battle. In one Meetup group I run, two members with young families want Saturday meetings. But one is in the inner city; and the other is in the west, and neither want to travel. How many others in our group are willing or able to travel to either event? Who knows? (From experience, not that many.)
Sorry if I sound jaded but I've spent way too many days sitting on park benches wondering where everyone else is. I've been at Meetups (and not official "Meetups") either by myself, or with only one or two others. Especially annoying when we've been expecting 20 or so). I've sat in parkland settings in Lane Cove, Parramatta Park, Royal Botanic Gardens, Manly Beach and many coffee shops and pubs over the years. Thank goodness I have my Star Trek novel with me. I've just endured almost a year's worth of solo "Lost" meetings and solo bloggers' meetings (in the CBD) and solo Art workshop meetings (here at my place in the West). In most cases I'm told at least six to eight people are "definitely" turning up - and it ends up being just me, or just me and one other. And it's almost always a different "one other". If only all the "others" turned up on the same day!
Now I'm even attracting "serial Meetup joiners", who seem to get their kicks out of RSVPing "Yes" to Meetups all over Sydney and yet have absolutely no intention of coming along.
On this Sunday, I'm heading off on a train to a Bloggers meeting in Albion Park near Wollongong. I invited over 140 people through my two blogging Meetup groups several months ago, to meet people from the new bloggers' bbs. What a grand adventure! When we planned it months ago - to give people maximum time to plan their social calendars - I thought I'd be leading an entourage. Guess how many of my members are doing the train journey with me? NONE. In fact, only one member (and his wife) is still going. I'm really hoping the Canberrans turn up from the other direction, and I really hope/assume the Sydney-based people organising it will be there.
Well, in the wee hours of this morning, I put Parramatta and CBD Saturday gatherings on the schedule for the Star Trek gang, and hopefully some members (beyond the Thursday night regulars, who are usually quite regular) will surprise me by RSVPing. I'll hold my breath, but only until I turn blue.
I read last week that Disney Studios worried that they had released "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" at the wrong time of year, and that its disappointing box office takings reflected that decision.
Could it be that the whole film is a bit of a mess?
I saw it today, and while I went into the first film with fond memories of having read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" as a primary aged child, and also knowing how popular the whole series of novels have been over many decades, that first film had many moments of nostalgic delight - and SPFX CGI magic and awe - but "Caspian" seemed to lack heart.
The actor who played Prince Caspian seemed quite capable, little Lucy had a few cute moments, her siblings spent much of the movie with petulant looks on their faces, and there were some nice CGI FX - but I was over it before the war had even started.
I had plans for a sumptuous breakfast in a cafe in the lower Blue Mountains this morning, but the day was quite gloomy and my plans were dashed.
Having just jumped on the scales for my weekly weigh-in, I'm so depressed I wanna just eat everything the fridge, and then go polish off some Krispy Kreme donuts.
Admittedly, it's been too rainy to get much walking in this week, although I've certainly been out there in it. The only way I'm feeling a little more positive about the situation is that, this time last year, I'd avoided the scales altogether, because I knew I'd managed to reverse a whole previous year's worth of dieting in just a few months of post-Christmas mystery.
As I've said before, I don't feel like I'm over-eating, or having too many treats, and I do an incredible amount of brisk walking. I do not want to have to go to a gym, and my body seems to be saying it likes being the size it is. It's been about eighteen months of quite resisted meal choices now - I still get so envious on a Thursday night when I pass all those glassed-walled CBD restaurants and cafes with my banana skim milk smoothie, and see people seemingly eating a normal meal. Or when I go to a movie and I'm the only person not nursing a huge bucket of hot, buttered popcorn.
This is a great Youtube find: William Shatner (aka James T Kirk), singing "Common People" on the "Has Been" CD, set to edited images from the Filmation Star Trek animated series. Some cameos by M'Ress and a jammin' Mr Arex!
Otherwise known as "Therin of Andor", Ian McLean has had an active association with "Star Trek" and science fiction media fandom in Australia since 1980. Before then he was an avid fan of the "Batman" TV series (60s) and the Australian TV classic, "Number 96" (70s).
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