Wednesday, January 30, 2019

The haters, trolls and snowflakes strike again... (and other news)


Go to metalheadzone.com to read the article. 

Brian May is not only a rock legend but he is a sweet and kind gentleman. He definitely didn’t deserve any social media backlash. 

———————

In other news....

I am so looking forward to this series: 


I have been a fan of the comic book since the 80’s and I really enjoyed their debut in the ‘Titans’ tv series, which is available to watch on Netflix Canada. 

- spent the last couple days in Fairview Alberta with my son visiting our Grandma & Grandpa Oliver. Weather has been nice and the visit has been wonderful. Apparently a severe winter storm is coming our way starting tomorrow...




Tuesday, January 29, 2019

So that happened...

It was about 24 hours ago a Facebook “friend” of mine posted an article for which I commented on. Then I was insulted and ridiculed by this “friend” and his kind. So this is the gist of what went down. I will not be using specific names or references to protect the identity’s of those involved. 


So this “friend” of mine is a D-list celebrity on the pop culture convention scene and someone I had as a guest on my podcast a few years ago. He posted an article on Facebook about another celebrity (a C-list celebrity on the pop culture convention circuit) who is now being accused of being inappropriate with underage female fans and for making homophobic remarks. This D-lister has been called out for misappropriation of crowd funded money by both the C-list celebrity and a major Hollywood studio, a studio that actually went so far as to take this D-lister to court and he was forced into a settlement. The following is a brief breakdown of what happened that I found online in regards to his legal issues: 





 

So to say this D-lister had a bone to pick with the C-lister is an understatement. He hates that guy with a passion and had publicly ridiculed him in the past. So when the news of these accusations came out he happily posted all about it on his social media outlets and even added his own spin on it. He stated that he and his associates had known about the accused’s supposed behaviour “for years”...

My response to his post against the C-list celebrity was this: 




So then I was blasted by a number of people both female and male. 




I responded by stating: 




Then I got accused by a lady of being in denial and a typical man who looks the other way when other men are accused of bad behaviour. My response was this: 




(The last line I was referring to myself as she was passing judgment on me, I was not referring to the accused. I’m not sure I was clear enough...)


I then was accused of ‘not getting it’ by this lady in which I responded: 




My “friend” in his initial post claimed that he and his associates ‘knew for years’ about the accused’s supposed behaviours to underaged fans. He then began to respond to my comments: 



Now to be clear I am in full support of any woman (or man) who has been a victim of crime to come forward and speak out against the person who victimized them. No matter the circumstances. That being said I also know people do make false accusations too. Sometimes the real victim can actually be the accused. That does sometimes happen. So I withhold judgment until the authorities get involved and the claims are investigated. To rush to judgment without any investigation is liken to a lynch mob mentality. A false accusation could destroy a persons life and reputation. 




Seriously if Mr D-List saw this other guy acting inappropriately towards young girls as he claims why did he not go to the authorities? 




I do understand why women do not come forward. I know there can be shame and embarrassment in admitting you were victimized. But again let me make clear: I fully support anyone who has been victimized to come forward and report the crime to the authorities. But until the proper authorities have conducted their investigation I will not pass judgment in a court of public opinion. There is a reason why the legal system operates under the code ‘innocent until proven guilty’ because sometimes those being accused are actually innocent. I don’t know if this C-lister is innocent or guilty but I will not pass judgment until due process has run its course. 

 Now back to the show: 


















Obviously at this point a struck a nerve. But seriously if you know someone is being victimized by someone else and you say and do NOTHING are you not guilty of letting it continue to happen? Even if you do go to the authorities and nothing happens at least you tried. And maybe you coming forward would help to encourage the victims to stand up and testify...


But I think the reason D-list didn’t come forward is because he’s talking out of his ass. He has a bone to pick with C-List guy and is jumping on this lynch mob bandwagon as a means of revenge. 


And we continue: 






And just a reminder that all this back and forth started from this simple comment (had I known it would have went down this road I would have kept my fingers off the keyboard...): 



Again I believe this whole fiasco was started because D-List guy wanted to smear C-Lists name over social media and he didn’t take kindly to someone not joining him on his quest of hatred. I truly hope if the accused is found guilty he is punished to the full extent of the law. If he is innocent I hope he is vindicated. 


But for someone to make claims they witnessed this behaviour in the accused ‘for years’ and he said and did NOTHING until someone else wrote an article, which he then attached his ‘claims’ to is complete and utter bullshit. He is nothing more than a bully and an opportunistic piece of work.


Suffice to say I am no longer Facebook “friends” with this guy and good riddance. 

My recent Facebook rant




And that’s all Facebook folks...

Monday, January 28, 2019

Why are we so quick to rush to judgment?



I am writing this in response to news I read on Facebook about a celebrity I have met being accused of acting inappropriately with underage female fans and making homophobic statements. (This celebrity shall remain nameless during this blog post as I do not want to add fuel to this social media fire) I met him a few years ago at a convention and he was very kind to me and the rest of the fans assembled to get his autograph. There were many young female fans there too and I never saw any of the behaviour described in the article I read.

Problem is with social media I find people are so quick to rush to judgment, the 'Where there's smoke there's fire' mentality runs rampant and sometimes innocent people are vilified. I am not one to rush to judgment, especially when I have not witnessed 'it' myself ('It' being the behaviour in question). I have no idea if he’s guilty but until it is proven without a reasonable doubt I say innocent until proven guilty.

But people jump on these crusades and what I hear and don’t understand is when people say “Many of us knew about this for years”...Really? If you knew this years ago why didn’t you say something years ago? Why wait until someone else does then jump on the bandwagon? If you witness an injustice and do nothing about it at the time would you not share in some of the guilt?

Again I am not saying this person is innocent or guilty but let us not hang this man on accusations. If he is guilty let it be proven and let us not rush to judgment.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

The fight over Disco (not the music but Star Trek)

Star Trek fans fighting over whether they like or hate Star Trek: Discovery (STD...god I love that acronym...) Everyone is entitled to their opinions. Just because you like it or don’t like it neither makes you right or wrong.


I’m just tired of both sides of this argument. If you like it you like it and keep watching. If you don’t you don’t and stop watching. Enough of the fighting between fans.


Any Star Trek is a good thing ultimately (yes even the JJ Abrams films) because if they are profitable there will be more made. And maybe the subsequent offerings maybe something you will really enjoy! 


Still have high hopes for the new Captain Picard series coming in 2019!!! 


Make peace not war Star Trek fans! 






Saturday, January 26, 2019

The End of ‘Geek Fallout’...

The ‘Geek Fallout’ podcast, a podcast I Co-Created with Rich Rehder, and Jeff Brown (with help from Eric Torok) is at an end. For the 5+ years I was associated with it, first as a  Co-Host then ultimately as it’s producer and ‘Editor-in-Chief’ (a title I may have appropriated from Stan ‘The Man’ Lee) we did some great work. Hundreds of hours of material from thousands of hours of work in editing and preparation. Many friendships were made as a result of GF and all the associated podcasts (GF: The Comic Book Episodes, Trek1701, GF: Technobabble, etc.).  






Last year I had to leave podcasting due to personal reasons and I handed the keys to the Geek Fallout podcast back to Rich Rehder. Now almost a year later he has decided to rebrand GF as ‘The Chatr Nexus Group’, with a number of new shows spinning out of the ‘Chatr’ banner. 





I will be appearing on the Chatr Nexus Group in the not too distant future. And I am also developing my own podcast: the ‘Pop Culture Pub Podcast’, which will be launching in 2019


Now I say “Good bye Geek Fallout, you were a great podcast and you will be missed”... :( 







*** Also this was written in response to a FB comment that GF was a ‘sinking ship’: 






Friday, January 25, 2019

A movie to watch or avoid??

I just watched the trailer for the Zac Efron ‘Ted Bundy’ film and I don’t know if I want to watch this film. To me based on the trailers music and the clips they use they are taking a light hearted approach to telling the Ted Bundy story??!! HE WAS A SERIAL KILLER! He brutally murdered people for his own sick enjoyment. 


Maybe the trailer doesn’t accurately portray the intent of the film. He does seem to be good in the role (Zac Efron) but the tone seems to make light of the very serious (and real) subject matter. The tone seen in the trailer really threw me off... 





Sunday, January 20, 2019

The Orville

Anyone watching ‘The Orville’? I find myself enjoying the series. At times the ‘poo-poo’ humour and pop culture references can be a little eye rolling but overall I’m liking the light hearted take on space science fiction. 


The uniforms and ship designs are awesome. Makeup and special effects are great. They’ve also had some Trek alumni on the show in guest and directing roles. 


In this “Trump era” of darkness it’s nice to have a tv series that doesn’t take itself too seriously. 





Saturday, January 19, 2019

Deadly Class: Pilot Episode





So I just finished the pilot episode of ‘Deadly Class’ and I really enjoyed it. It is based on the Rick Remender created comic book from Image Comics. It’s basic premise is about a group of teenagers who attend a private school where they are taught the deadly arts of killing. It’s kinda like a dark version of Harry Potter where the school trains assassins in the art of death instead of wizards and magic. 


Benedict Wong (‘Wong’ from Doctor Strange & Infinity War) plays the headmaster of the school with a cast of unknown young actors who so far seem perfectly cast. It takes place during the 1980’s so it has a nostalgic feel to it. The first episode does a good job introducing the characters and the overall feel of the show. I’ve only ever read a few issues of the comic but I will definitely be sticking with this series.  Rick Remender is a great comic book writer and he is directly involved in this series. 


Pilot episode rating: 4 out of 5 ****





Star Trek Discovery, season 2 episode 1 mini review

For the record I do consider myself a ‘Star Trek’ fan and have been so most of my life. However that being said I’ve never been a blindly loyal fan either. If Star Trek did or was doing something I didn’t like I would criticize and abandon ship so to speak as a fan. For example I am not a fan of Star Trek V, also known as ‘Shatners Flop’. I quit watching Star Trek: Voyager half way through season 3. I did go back and watch some Voyager again in season 4 and 5 but then dropped it due to bad writing and bad creative decisions they were making. I stopped watching Star Trek: Enterprise during season 3’s ‘Xindi War’ because the continuity ramifications were just mind boggling for me, I did however return in season 4. And now with Star Trek: Discovery I have gone on record as saying it is not my cup of tea during season one. 


Finally finished episode one of season two of Star Trek Discovery. Anston Mount, Doug Jones and Mary Wiseman were fantastic as always. Other than that it kinda was a boring episode in my view and the action was very Star Wars-ish. The ‘this technology isn’t working so we have to do this’ and ‘that technology isn’t working so we have to do that’ trope is eye rolling. 


With special effects technology being as good and affordable as it is today the writers tend to write lazily as compared to twenty+ years ago. Instead of focusing on high stakes tech scenes I would prefer more grounded character drama, especially when they have such a good actor like Anston Mount now a cast member. 


But I keep telling myself as long as people are watching and enjoying it that’s a good thing. And as long as I also think of this series as being out of what I think of as “Star Trek continuity” I am able to enjoy it more. Because let’s face it these writers are not writing for continuity...


Keeping my fingers crossed for the Captain Picard series. 





Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Section 31: Star Trek series idea, part 2

As far as the proposed Section 31 series is concerned it definitely wouldn’t be my first choice in a new Trek series idea. I know Michael Dorn has been pushing for a Captain Worf series for years and I’d love to see that.


That being said I really don’t mind them trying something new, even if it is a dark take on Trek. The darkness has always been there in Star Trek, it’s just never taken centre stage. This may turn out to be something awful or it could be something great. Time will tell. 


But seriously folks, let’s give these new ‘Treks’ a chance. I’m not a fan of Star Trek Discovery, but to be honest I wasn’t a fan of Voyager either. We don’t have to like it all but don’t hate on it before we’ve seen it. 

Section 31 Star Trek series

People are so hung up on the notion Star Trek is a positive vision of the future. But it has not always been...



Saturday, January 12, 2019

A little bit about me...


Chris Lockhart: In his own words (Part One)

“What can I say about Chris Lockhart…well he’s a big jerk and he owes me money and a ham sandwich!” – Chris Lockhart, December 5th 2018

 For those of you who do not know that statement was what is known as the ‘Lockhart dry humour’, which I inherited from my father whom inherited it from his. Sometimes it doesn’t translate; it can throw people off a bit but its classic Lockhart.

 

I was born January 31st 1980; I’m told it was a warm winter day. My parents are Ken and Darcy Lockhart. I was an ‘oops’ baby but with the insistence of Grandma Yvonne I was not born a bastard. I was later joined by a baby sister in 1983 named Brianna. My parents were great and did their best raising my sister and I. We always had everything we needed and never went without.

 

From my Dad (aside from my dry sense of humour) I learned a good work ethic. He was always hard working and tried his best at everything he did. His love for music, hockey and sports rubbed off on me: I’ve been a fan of 80’s music, the Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Blue Jays because of him. Dad has always been a generous person: he has helped me out with financial and emotional support whenever I needed.  He’s been a great father and grandfather to my kids and I.

 

My Mom: She also has instilled a love of music and sports in me. She coached my baseball team for 8 years while growing up. She also taught me to love good music such as: Elvis Presley, Meatloaf, Queen, ABBA, Michael Jackson and so on. She also helped to feed my never ending appetite with great food which she expertly cooked or baked including: beer barrel buns, pies, hamburger soup, turkey dinners, and Caesar salads and so on.