Pop Culture Hindsight Blog #1: Star Trek The JJ Abrams Films

To set the record straight I must admit I am not a fan of the JJ Abrams 'Star Trek' films. Aside from Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban playing 'Spock' and 'McCoy' I was not too impressed. Initially I was; I think it was because of the lack of Trek there had been for so many years. From 2005-2009 there was no Trek series or movies and I has hungry for new adventures. After watching the first 2009 film I was happy to see Trek back; but then as time went on I became less and less thrilled with what Abrams and company was doing with the franchise.

Here's some things I had problems with and what I would have done differently:

- Khan blood: Cure for the common death???
So when I was watching 'Into Darkness' for the first (and last) time I was blown away with their decision to kill off Captain Kirk (SPOILERS). I remember thing "Wow. What a brave choice. I can't wait to see where they take the films from here!". Not to worry because after several minutes Captain Kirk was saved from death by a transfusion of Khans blood. Yep they brought a man back from the dead by simply injecting his dead body with genetically engineered blood. I'm sorry but this is way to far fetched for science fiction. If Khans blood can bring people back from the dead why didn't they use it on Admiral Marcus? Or why do they not mass replicate his magic blood so no one ever dies ever again? This was such a brain dead plot twist that should never have been allowed to take place. Either kill Kirk or don't just don't insult our intelligence.

- Recasting new actors to play iconic roles
They got it right with Quinto and Urban but other than that the casting sucked. Chris Pine was a passable Kirk but lacked the charm and charisma of William Shatner. The guy who played Sulu...George Takei is Japanese and this new guy is Korean. Chekov isn't even the right age to be at the academy with the others. Uhura was never so horny and having her with Spock just seemed wrong to me. I love Simon Pegg but he's no James Doohan. Benedict Cumberbatch is an amazing actor but all his talents went to waste when it was revealed he was playing Khan. You simply cannot recast Ricardo Montalban. It would have been so much better if Cumberbatch played an all-new villain that he can make his own with his amazing acting talents but instead it was all wasted on a character who clearly was not Khan to a die hard fan like myself.

- Lens Flare....not needed. Stop it JJ, just stop it!

- The look of the Enterprise
It looked like they filmed the interior of the Enterprise in a Apple Store. Also since when did the Enterprise have all these huge tanks/vats in Engineering? Is this a starship or a brewery? In fact they filmed those scenes at an actual brewery.

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I have more nitpicking to do on these movies but that will have to wait for another day...

The Pop Culture Pub

 

I created and manage a group on Facebook called

'The Pop Culture Pub'

It is a group where we discuss anything pop culture related. It is an open group for anyone to join I only ask everyone be respectful to each other. My good friend and former podcasting sidekick Calvin Heighton is the admin with me in this group. Cal is also a great blogger so check his blog out at: http://calvinscanadiancaveofcool.blogspot.com/

So go over to Facebook and search up 'The Pop Culture Pub' and join the group!

My Podcasting Future....

After about 5 and a half years of podcasting last February I announced my retirement from the podcasting field. I handed over the creative control of 'Geek Fallout Productions' to Geek Fallout Co-Creator Richard Rehder.  But I soon felt I missed it and planned on re-launching a new podcast for this fall. But I am here today to announce that will not be happening after all.

Earlier in the summer my laptop I used for podcasting was stolen. It was found and returned to me but unfortunately all my files on it had been erased. I had been in the habit of backing up all my files but got lazy in the last year or so and as a result all my podcast work for the last year was lost forever. I had spent several hours editing new opening music, bumpers and other things for the new podcast I was going to launch...all gone now.

And to be honest I thought with a break that my heart would be more into making a return to the podcasting drivers seat but it has not. Instead I have been talking with Richard Rehder, whom is still driving the 'Geek Fallout' vehicle, about coming on the show from time to time as a guest on the podcast. Hopefully that will happen. At this point all I want is to be someone else's podcast guest for a change. In the meantime I intend to focus on getting back to writing. I am currently working on a first draft of a new book (not a sequel to my first book). I also want to get more involved in the local pop culture scene. I am a member of both the USS Bonaventure (Edmonton Speculative Fiction Society) and The USS King Edward (Calgary based chapter of STARFLEET International) and I hope to do more with these groups.

For those of you who have taken time over the years to listen to me podcast I want to thank you. I did have a lot of good times podcasting and made a lot of new friends. I especially would like to thank to following people:

- Calvin Heighton. He was my "Co-Podcaster in crime" for the last few years. He is truly a funny guy with a great insight into pop culture, especially comic books.

- Erik Johnson. He has been on many podcasts with me and is perhaps our most loyal listener.

- MissM. She brought a great female perspective to the shows we did together. I'll miss our She-Ra discussions.

- Richard Rehder & Jeff Brown. We Co-Created 'Geek Fallout' together and they helped me a lot with the technical side of podcasting.

- The Atomic Geeks Podcast. Thank you Digio, Christian, Downs and Bloom for being my inspiration to get into podcasting. You guys are legends in my book.

- The Nerd Lunch Podcast. Thank you CT, Jeeg and Pax for the years of podcast gold you have given and for allowing me to get my first taste of podcasting by being a 4th chair guest many years ago.

- The Random Nerdness Podcast. My first podcast and my creation. Spent many hours podcasting with my sister Brianna, friend Tyler Kluin and brother-in-law (and our Engineer) Sebastion.

- Crystal Lockhart. My wife was generous to give me the time to work on podcasting when I probably could have been doing something else more productive.

And the following people in no particular order: Chris Gaida, Jason Roberts, Derek Ash, Evan Hanson, George Pappy, Dan Thale, Joseph Harvey, Dave Kish.

I'm sorry for anyone I forgot to mention as I have podcasted with a lot of people over the years!

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Talk to you later.

Tastes change with time...

When I was a kid I used to love smoked oysters. So much so that oysters were at times used as a reward for being a "good boy". Many times when visiting Grandma and Grandpa LaBerge I would pester them for some smoked oysters, and if I was good I would get them. Most kids would rather be rewarded with candies or chocolate (which I also liked) but given a choice I would pick a can of smoked oysters.

Ironic considering I cannot stand sea food. The only sea food I would ever eat was battered  fish and smoked oysters. Then one day in my later teen years I decided to open a can of oysters to eat; and when I opened it the oysters were mold green and the smell took my breath away. Ever since then I have been unable to open another can of oysters. In fact when others eat them near me I can't help but gag a little.

The other day I decided to try some oysters again and reignite my love for 'the chicken of the sea' (I know that typically applies to Tuna but I apply it to oysters). Ten minutes ago I opened a can, drained the fluid, applied salt and got my toothpick ready and I ate one...and just one. The smell and the texture got to me and I promptly disposed of the oysters.

They say tastes change with age. As a kid I hated Caesar salad but now I love it, and as a kid I loved oysters and now I cannot stand them. It's all part of the aging process I suppose...

A LITTLE CATCH-UP

So I've been away for the summer, busy with work and holidays and now I'm back to do some blogging. so here goes:

Ant Man & The Wasp
I watched this Marvel film shortly after its release and I liked it. It definitely had some big shoes to fill with 'Avengers Infinity War' being as incredible s it was back in May. Paul Rudd is great in any film he's in and he was the perfect choice to play Scott Lang (Ant Man) and he was just as great in this film. After all the heavy stuff in 'Infinity War' it was nice to have a more light hearted film as this one takes place prior to 'War'.

3.5 out of 5
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As I mentioned in a previous blog post I attended a Star Trek convention in Canada's Star Trek Capital: Vulcan Alberta.

This will be the 6th time I have attended this convention. The reason I make this pilgrimage every year is because of the town, the people who live there and attend the con, and the organizers. I'm not a big fan of line ups or large crowds of people so this convention is a perfect fit for me.

This year was a little different. New organizers, a lot of my friends who attend did not this year and the guest list was not very stellar. In years past I have met The Doctor from Voyager, Neelix, Odo, Kira, Jake Sisko, Gowron, Kurn (Worfs brother), Rick Sternbach (TNG/DS9/Voyager technical consultant), Chakotay, Ensign Kim, Lieutenant Reed, Leeta...and the list goes on. But this year they had some C-Listers, no one to get excited about. And I suspect that may be the reason for the low attendance this year. Also the vendors market was missing quite a few vendors compared to other years.

Next year I'm sure it will be better. My good friend Tyler will be back for next year and he always makes conventions more lively.
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I am an Elvis Presley fan. I've always loved his music but I will be the first to admit I am not the biggest fan. I have never watched any of his movies and was shocked to learn he made 31 films!!! But I do love his music and for the past 10 years there has been something called 'The Blue Suede Music Festival' being held in Busby Alberta, which as luck would have it is about a 35 minute drive from my place.

Busby attracts a lot of Elvis 'Tribute Artists' every year. Saturday night they had a live band called the 'Cadillac Kings' to play with the artists. Unfortunately the BC wild fire smoke, hornets and rain did put a damper on the day but it was still a load of fun and I will be attending in years to come.

Check out my pics on the Blue Suede Festival on my Twitter and Instagram @chrisloc1701

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Still on the fence about getting back into podcasting...will keep you informed.

Summer Holidays

Hey there everybody. Just a quick note to say I’ve been enjoying my summer holidays, despite all the BC smoke pollution entering our Alberta air (and our thoughts and prayers are with our BC friends).

But the summer didn’t start off so well. My laptop was stolen, which was later recovered but was completely erased. Thankfully I backed up my book work but my podcast work for the last year or so was erased. 

Then my wife and I separated and were on the road to divorce...but we have reconciled and are working out our issues. :) 

As far as a return to podcasting I’m still on the fence on that one. I love podcasting and made a lot of friends while doing it but with the erasure of everything on my laptop I literally have to start from scratch and that task is very daunting to me. But we’ll see what happens.