Big Apple Con! – March 2023

Living in Perth as I do, getting to things like comic book conventions is not something that is so easy to do. And even when I can, they often don’t have the same range of comic book guests or the cheaper comic deals that I find at the American events. Thus, if I’m at the States and there is something going on while I’m there, I’ll definitely make the effort to check it out.

And so it was that I journeyed from my mother’s house in Westchester County to New York City, to the New Yorker Hotel on 8th Avenue, to attend Big Apple Con, one of the major New York-based conventions.

Quantum Leap – It’s a Wonderful Leap [4.18]

Sam leaps into Max Freeman, a cabbie in New York City struggling to earn enough money to get his own taxi medallion–essentially the right to go into business for himself. His quest is both helped and hindered by the presence of Angela, an exuberant woman who claims to be an actual angel. Sam wonders if she might be sincere in her claims, while Al imagines she’s mentally unstable.

2023 Trek to America – The Comics

For the last couple of months my family and I have been on holidays (that is, “on vacation” for the Americans amongst us) in the United States. The USA is the in which I was born and bred, but for about half of my life now I’ve been living in Australia. Normally we get back her for a visit about ever two years, but owing to various policies in both the USA and especially Australia related to recent global events, this is my first time back with my whole family for nearly five years.

My time in the US has been filled with many blessings and many things to be grateful for. One of them is the chance to get some comics for less than they would cost in Australia. This is not the major blessing, or the most important one, but it’s something I enjoy about my visits to the States nonetheless.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

OK, can we just pause and appreciate the fact that no matter what we think of this particular movie, that we live in a world where we can watch a film called Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Like, honestly, that’s just crazy. If you are a comic book fan, it’s something to be excited about, not because Ant-Man or the Wasp are the best characters ever, but because it means that really maybe any comic character you like could eventually become a movie. Maybe someday I’ll see a live-action feature film called Mister Miracle or The Sword of the Atom or The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga.

The Pandorica opened…

…in Beacon, some time ago.

The King’s Demons [Classic Doctor Who]

Doctor Who has long been my favorite show, but there was a long period where I hadn’t revisited old episodes in any focused way. Lately, I’ve been going back through the show, often with one or both of my two nerdier daughters, but not necessarily systematically. Rather, I’ve enjoyed picking out stories from different eras of the program and watching them as the mood strikes.

Star Trek: Picard – The Next Generation [3.1]

Now that’s a confusing title, but still fun.

Spoilers ahead.

Doctor Who and the Silurians [Classic Doctor Who]

Doctor Who has long been my favorite show, and lately I have been revisiting old episodes for the first time in a long time. I haven’t been doing this in any sort of systematic way–rather, I pop through the series randomly. In fact, sometimes, my daughter and I will use the internet to generate a random story number and then just watch that.

Movies on a Plane: Goofy espionage, light filmmaking fantasy, arctic monsters, and romance everywhere

Hey, guess what? I went on an international flight for the first time in about three years. And that means it’s been the first time in a long time that I’ve watched a bunch of movies on a plane!

Max Headroom: Security Systems (Ep 4)

Max Headroom is a short-lived science fiction dystopian TV series that aired in America (on ABC) from 1987-1988. There were only 14 episodes (including one which was unaired). It featured Max Headroom, a supposedly computer-generated personality who was already familiar to television audiences through The Max Headroom Show (a youth-oriented talk / music video program).

In story, Max (Matt Frewer) is an A.I. originally created as a copy of celebrity investigative television journalist Edison Carter (also Matt Frewer), apparently with Carter’s personality but lacking his self-control. He also has the ability to come and go from TV screens any time he wishes, which makes him a powerful force in the show’s world, a near-future dystopia in which everything is shaped by corporations and networks chasing television ratings.