“The Expanse” is a SyFy channel series that premiered in 2015, and is based on a book series by James S. A. Corey (which I’ll confess I’ve never read, let alone heard of till recently). When the show first premiered, I was intrigued by the promotional material I’d seen at Comic Con 2015; the series…

This past Sunday (Sept. 10th) marked the debut of Seth McFarlane’s new Fox sci-fi comedy series, “The Orville”; a gently (perhaps too gently) parodying Star Trek-style series that has all of the tropes and visual aesthetics of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” while attempting some  “Galaxy Quest”-style mockery of the space opera genre itself. However,…

20 years ago (already??) in the summer of 1997, the film adaptation of the late Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel, “Contact” was released.  As a fan of the book, I (of course) eagerly saw it several times.  The third time was the charm, as it marked my first date with my then-future-now-present wife.   The movie…

Was deeply saddened to learn this evening that Richard Anderson (“Oscar Goldman” of “Six Million Dollar Man” fame among MANY others; including John Frankenheimer’s “Seconds” and “Forbidden Planet”) passed away at age 91. I’d met this kindly, sophisticated gentleman at several San Diego Comic Cons; first in 2006 (after a “Forbidden Planet” 50th anniversary panel) and…

In addition to being the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, this year also marks the big 4-0 for another movie that greatly influenced me as a kid (and well into adulthood); Steven Spielberg’s ‘other’ big movie of the 1970s, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Looking back on it, I still very much remember the…

I spent most of the first week of August in Las Vegas at the annual Star Trek convention at the Rio hotel, and a couple weeks before that, my wife and I spent five days at San Diego Comic Con.   Now, to any who’ve read this blog, I tend to go on a bit…

Well, the annual Vegas Star Trek convention for 2017 ended Sunday, and I got home early Monday morning; and while I meant to file this one a day or so ago, life stuff happened (lots of little things that needed attention seemingly snowballed into a big pile of things to do once I got home)….

Well, I was hoping to have photos to go with this blog entry but the combined might of my iPad, iPhone and hotel internet just aren’t up to the task. Humph… oh well. As soon as I’m back. Promise. Day one (Weds. August 2nd). Got to Vegas around 10 in the morning (3.5 hour drive…

This Wednesday I set out for the 3.5 hour at maximum warp journey to Las Vegas for the annual Star Trek convention at the Rio hotel. Last year, my wife and I attended the Vegas con for the 50th anniversary of Star Trek celebration, and it was a blast.  It was my first time at…

Well, SDCC has come and gone.    It’s been a lot of exhausting, sweaty, crowd-navigating fun.   At age 50, it’s becoming increasingly patience-taxing at times to navigate/negotiate the formidable crowds with good humor and grace, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.   It’s Nerd-vana.   And when you’re in the middle of it?…

Our annual pilgrimage to Geek Mecca (aka San Diego Comic Con) began yesterday morning (Weds. July 19th) as we arrived at our hotel (Springhill Suites, Marriott, San Diego) around noon, unpacked our stuff, ate, and Jules immediately went down to Preview Night down at the convention center.   I, feeling a bit more infirm than…

Let me begin this blog entry by saying I feel woefully inadequate (as a blogger and a fan) to sum up the life and work of the late Martin Landau. Martin Landau worked for Alfred Hitchcock (“North By Northwest”).  He and his ex-wife Barbara Bain headlined a science fiction cult series (“Space: 1999”), as well…