Tag: Star Trek

IMAGINE THAT!!

Driving home from work last night, I decided to blindly choose an old play list on Spotify to play on the way home.
My usual ‘go to’ playlist is my Hozier playlist as he is so chilling and soothing to listen to that it really helps me to relax, particularly if it has been a particularly busy day, on my feet for 12 and half hours.

Anyway, the playlist I landed on was my ‘Movie Music’ playlist.
I think I have mentioned in the past that I’m not opposed to a little classical music occasionally, and movie soundtracks are what I consider to be ‘modern’ classical music.

The last 5 years have seen me falling into the abyss known as ‘Star Wars’ fandom. I have been a fan my entire life, but with the resurgence of interest with the final Skywalker trilogy, I dived right in!

Of course, it just so happens that the greatest modern composer of our times, John Williams, composed the iconic music for all 9 films in the Skywalker saga. I have written about him and his incredible body of work before, and that can be read HERE.

So, getting back to my drive home last night, I randomly selected the playlist and then just hit shuffle play and this is what graced my ears.

Ah yes!! James Horner, another incredible modern composer and responsible for the stunning music in Star Trek the Wrath of Khan.

Yes, I am also a Trekker! Imagine that!
In fact, without Star Trek, I would never have met my husband, would never have had all the fun of the old fan run conventions and would probably not have my kids. It’s just taken a bit of a back seat in the last 5 years.

As I sit here writing this, I am also watching ‘The Wrath of Khan’.
From a Trekkers point of view, I think this film has to be a fan favourite and the music has a lot to do with it’s popularity.
The battle in the Mutara Nebula is just incredible.

So, now that all the Star Wars hype from the last 5 years has died down a little, there is now a little more balance between my interests.
I am still mega hyped to get the Rise of Skywalker on Bluray next month but… we are now back to TV shows and re-watching movies.

Both Star Wars and Star Trek have new TV shows with ‘Picard’ and ‘The Mandalorian’ and I have to say that , so far, both of these shows have been amazing!!

However, I am REALLY going to miss the build up to any new Skywalker movie every two years.
I am eager to see what their next trilogy will be about, but, without the Skywalkers, I don’t think it will ever be the same……. that said… if we see more Imperial action and uniforms and Star Destroyers, I may quickly change my mind!

BLAST FROM THE PAST

So this evening my youngest daughter says to me…

“Have you got any ideas for my child development homework? I have to come up with an idea for a kids book. It only has to be the opening pages”

She reminded me of a project I did at college, waaaaay back when…..
So we went to dig out my old college folders and I showed her the start of a story I had created and then I carried on flipping through all my old illustrations and sketches and then some of my first ever ‘fan’ driven artwork appeared.

These pieces are around 30 years old.
They were created when I came out of the sci-fi closet and joined a club.
They are pencil work and created before I’d ever even touched a computer!!

Sorry about the quality.
They are A2 in size and won’t fit onto my scanner.

I really don’t think I’d have the patience to do something like this again.
It’s probably been a good 20 – 25 years since I’ve even picked up a pencil in anger!
Not that I haven’t given it a go. I just don’t have the time or the patience to sit for hours on end until a piece is complete.

 

 

ALL TOO SOON

Back to reality tomorrow with a bang.
After 18 days off it’s back to work but I’ve just had a look at my rota for the next two weeks and only just realised I’m going to be doing 7 x 12.5 hour shifts in the next 9 days!! 87.5 hours total and virtually all of it on my feet.
On the up side, I get 6 days off at the end of it….. if I survive.

There’s no more alcohol in the house and won’t be for a while.
I had my last milky coffee this morning. I’m going cold turkey tomorrow so watch out!!
I will be denying myself savoury snacks and going healthy.
When I’m not doing rediculous hours at work I will be starting my walking again.
My aim is to lose 2 – 3 stone (28 – 42 pounds) by Xmas.

I know that sounds like a lot but the last time I did this I managed to lose 3 stone in 3 months. So doing the same over the next 4 months is doable.
I’ve just got to stay focussed and not give in this time.
I want to be able to wear a nice dress to my brother’s wedding in August next year and I am seriously considering getting a cosplay costume tailored for me but I need to be a little slimmer first.

It’s going to be a bit of a wrench over the next week not being able to spend as much time on my PC.
I’m going to miss Tumblr and I’m really going to miss AO3. I just won’t have time to read a lot of fan-fiction for a while. I’ll just keep my eyes open for any updates on the pieces I’ve already started and that will be it.

I’ve watched 16 films over the last couple of weeks.
I actually only got to the cinema 4 times which is a little disappointing.

We saw ‘Star Trek Beyond’ which was good. I don’t think It quite had the flair of ‘Into Darkness’ but I still enjoyed it and the Spock/McCoy interaction was brilliant!

Star Trek beyond

We saw ‘Jason Bourne’ which was also good but that’s just it, it was your typical Jason Bourne outing and nothing special.

jason bourne

Then we saw ‘Suicide Squad’ twice!
We went to a 2d midnight showing on 4th August and then we went to an IMAX presentation on our anniversary on the 6th August.
I loved it. My Husband loved it. The kids loved it but apparantly the critics hate it!

Harley Quinn 2

Other films I watched via Bluray or streaming services like Netflix and Prime included…..

‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’. This was a must watch after I took two of my girls to see the stage show early in my annual leave.

Rocky Horror 4

‘True Grit’. The 2010 re-make with Jeff Bridges.
It’s good but doesn’t quite get the feel of the original. My hidden agenda for watching it was an early performance by Domhnall Gleeson who played ‘Moon (The Kid)’. Scared whitless and panicking. Something Domhnall does very well.

true grit

‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’.
A film I’ve been meaning to watch for a while and just a little disturbing.
Starring Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller.

We need to talk about Kevin

IMDB states ‘Kevin’s mother struggles to love her strange child, despite the increasingly vicious things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined’

Kevin is the personification of evil literally from birth but he’s only like it around his mother and no-one else believes her. Very creepy.

and then ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’. Just because……

Star Trek Into Darkness International Trailer

‘Batman v Superman’. Released onto Bluray it would’ve been rude not to.

batman v superman

‘Non-Stop’ because I wanted to snuggle and watch something with the husband so I picked something a bit manly and not containing any of my current obsessions. Then the hubby fell asleep and left me to it anyway. Sod!

Non-Stop

‘The Revenant’. Sod Leonardo DiCaprio, I watch this for Captain Henry played by Domhnall Gleeson!

revenant 3

‘Midnight Special’!!! Yay. Finally out on Bluray and the ONLY Adam Driver film I’ve watched in weeks (shock horror!!)

midnight special

‘Eddie the Eagle’ also just released onto DVD and one of the best films of the year so far.

Eddie the Eagle

An then there are 4 films I watched because of another current obsession.
My fan-fiction. Both reading and writing has got me a little hooked on gay male relationships.
I started with going back to a film I haven’t watched in years, ‘Brokeback Mountain’
Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. What more needs to be said?

brokeback

Then I discovered a wonderful film called ‘A Single Man’
As I said in a previous post (HERE)

A Single Man 1

Starring Colin Firth, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult and Julianne Moore, it tells the story of an English Professor (Firth) in the 1960’s. One year after the sudden death of his boyfriend of 16 years (Goode)
It is set during one single day as he is obviously preparing himself for suicide as he struggles to cope and the events throughout the day that bring memories and realisations to the ultimate and achingly heartbreaking conclusion.
It’s a beautiful film.

Then I watched a film on Netflix called ‘Holding the Man’
IMDB states ‘Tim and John fell in love while teenagers at their all-boys’ high school. John was captain of the football team, Tim an aspiring actor playing a minor part in Romeo and Juliet. Their romance endured for 15 years to laugh in the face of everything life threw at it – the separations, the discriminations, the temptations, the jealousies and the losses – until the only problem that love can’t solve, tried to destroy them.
Based on Timothy Conigrave’s cult-classic and hilarious memoir, and the inspiration for the award winning stage play, HOLDING THE MAN is the remarkable true-life love story that speaks across generations, sexualities and cultures’.

holding the Man

I ended up LOVING this film.
My only issue was that the 30 something year old actors playing John and Tim, also played John and Tim as high school students and that looked and felt a little strange but once you get past that, this story is amazing and had me blubbering at the end.

And then I found ‘4th Man Out’ on Netflix.

4th man out

About Adam, a car mechanic in a small, working class town who comes out of the closet to his unsuspecting, blue-collar best friends. The results are touching, hilarious and endearing and I’ve watched it twice already! It’s just a lovely gentle comedy.

On top of all those films I’ve also managed to write 2 pieces of fan fiction.
The pair of them totalling around 9000 words.
I’ve really surprised myself at how much I’ve been enjoying the writing.

Apart from the usual housework and gardening in between all that, that’s it!!
Today I have to do a tidy and clean from top to bottom this afternoon and then I think I will have an early night to try and charge my batteries for the next 9 days slog.
You never know, I may get to squeeze in another film.

 

UPDATE

So what’s been happening over the last week?

Aside from relaxing, nothing much!!

We went to see Star Trek Beyond last weekend and it was AMAZING!!
I wouldn’t have expected anything less. I think another showing during this annual leave is a must.
I loved the fact that Sabotage by the Beastie Boys is used in one of the key scenes!
Not just as music for the scene but as a track that is specifically picked  by the team to achieve a certain objective!! Classic!

I managed to get out into the back garden before the weather got a little too wet. I can now sit in it and not fret about it.
It’s never going to be great. I simply don’t have the time to look after it enough but at least it’s now tidy again.
I now have to tackle the 10 foot hedge in the front garden when the weather dries up!

Anyway, with the rain over the last few days, it gave me a great excuse to sit at my computer and chill a little.
I’ve been getting into a series on Netflix called Bloodline. Here’s a first. I got into this because of an actor in a film I haven’t even seen yet!!
Ben Mendelsohn, who happens to be this cool looking dude in Rogue One this Xmas.

Krennic 2

Bloodline is a steady paced show with a big dark secret that I’m desperate to find out about!!

All this time on my hands gave me a great excuse to write another fic!!
My husband came up with a bit of an idea and I ran with it.
Angel on my Shoulder.
3 chapters this time.
Another Kylux fic but no smut this time. Just lots of fluff and angst and mutual worry and a decidedly big decision to make on Kylo’s part.
I loved writing it.
If you’re interested you can read it HERE.

Tonight I may curl up with a book. A real book.
Star Wars: Aftermath, Life Debt.
Set immediately after Return of the Jedi.
Interesting start. I want to see where it goes.

What have I still to look forward to?
Batman vs Superman on Bluray on Monday
Suicide Squad – midnight showing on Thursday
Anniversary – 22 years on Saturday
Midnight Special – Bluray on  the 8th – ADAM DRIVER!!!
Tons more time on the PC chilling. Might just have time for another fic if I can come up with another story idea.

OK, time to get back to this bottle of wine and some more Bloodline.

NOTHING!!

So, Star Wars Celebration was a huge success, surprise, surprise.
I enjoyed what I could live streaming.
I loved the Rogue One Panel and the appearance of Director Krennic.

Krennic 4

Yes, the bad boy is definately making an impact again!! Forget the rebels, I’m definateley @TeamEmpire!!!  Roll on December!

Anyway, aside from the first look at the glorious new poster for Rogue One and the 3 minute sizzle reel, we did not get the new trailer we were hoping for which is a little dissapointing.

We also didn’t get much in the way of news about Episode VIII, aside from Rian Johnson confirming that Ep VIII carries on directly from where Force Awakens ends, we didn’t even get an official title!!
What that does confirm though is that they are breaking with tradition by directly continuing a story and it also means that the wounds Kylo suffered at the end of Force Awakens are still going to be pretty raw!

My chest infection seems to have eased off quite a bit today. I actually feel a lot better than I thought I would after yesterday.
Hopefully on the mend so I won’t be coughing a lung up during Star Trek Beyond next weekend!!

I have just comitted a cardinal sin. I’ve mentioned Star Trek in the same blog as I’ve mentioned Star Wars!!  Oooops!