Up to 3 hours free man parking

Spotted at Westfield Plaza, Penrith, today: Man Lounge - Park your man here. Rest area for bored men. Up to 3 hours free man parking.

ALF gains a chair, meets a dog

This silvery spaceship chair is a repaint of a dolls' wooden high chair I found on the kerb a few days ago. Note the new green and red buttons on the throttles and gears. A perfect chair for...



... my Mum's ALF doll, which used to sit an a rather substandard stool in her spare room.


ALF (Alien Life Form) meets Jack.

Double spike!

This year, the grass tree has developed a new spike - while last year's is still in the centre. Normally, it has only spiked every second year.

A taste of Jam Sandwich

In 1983, I renewed my acquaintance with ABC-TV director, Virginia Lumsden, who had overseen an episode of "Mr Squiggle and Friends" I did in January 1980.

"Jam Sandwich" was a children's afternoon magazine show, quite similar to "Simon Townsend's Wonder World". The night they featured science fiction media fan clubs: including Astrex (the NSW Star Trek Fan Club) and the Australasian Doctor Who Club. Young reporter Rachel Enright was making her "Jam Sandwich" debut. Her more experienced host, Tim Grogan, who'd been with the show since its first episode in October 1982, even forgot her name at the end!

We were invited to gather, in costume, one evening at the original 106a Bathurst Street location of Galaxy Bookshop.


The show's opening credits resembled a "Space Invaders" computer game.


Rachel Enright and Tim Grogan presenting; Rachel discovers Galaxy Bookshop - and K-9.




Assistant Manager Ron Serduik morphs into "Doctor Who" fan, Karsten John.


Therin of Andor (Ian McLean) and the Empress of Traken (Carol Bott) beam down.


Rachel and Karsten witness a beam-down!




A non-commercial network helps to promote my fanzine!


Aliens from "USS Hood Orientation Manual: Races of the Federation".








Gary Armstrong explains how he built his K-9 robot.


K-9's control box (80s-style miniaturisation); Therin goes browsing.


Chrissy Amphlett and the Divinyls accompany the episode's closing credits (above right).

Into the Vault

According to Trek Today, new "Star Trek" books will include:

The Star Trek Vault (Abrams – October 2011). Charting the first 40 years of Star Trek, Star Trek Vault is the ultimate treasure trove of Star Trek imagery and memorabilia, sure to appeal to both the casual and die-hard fan. Author Scott Tipton has written numerous Star Trek comics. His award-winning website, comics101.com, was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s “100 Greatest Websites.”

Star Trek TNG 365 (Abrams – Fall 2012). Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 is the definitive, authorized guide to the landmark television program that aired from 1987 through 1994. A visual celebration of the adventures of Captain Picard and his crew, the book covers the entire series in unprecedented detail, combining in-depth commentary, behind-the-scenes histories, and interviews with writers, cast, and crew with synopses for the series’ 178 episodes.

Star Trek Book of Opposites (Quirk Books – September 2011). The Star Trek Book of Opposites will make a great novelty gift for Star Trek fans of all ages, offering an exciting voyage of silly educational fun. The book will pair colorful photographs of Star Trek‘s classic heroes and aliens to introduce the concept of opposites through immediate visual humor.

Star Trek: The Animated Series music

Star Trek TAS music! Art by Kail.

Woah, spooky. I was only thinking today that I wished Arex and M'ress were in that famous TAS cast publicity shot you see around. And yay, M'ress without her sometime-black koala nose - but with her black collar.

Post-Rapture signage

Post-Rapture poster

Rapt

Hellova stupid time to buy new shoes, but at least the "Star Trek" novel had a time travel theme (21st May, 2011).

The Gruffalo goes to The Joan

My school's latest adventure, captured as a Photo Peach slideshow!

The Gruffalo goes to the Joan