SNAPSHOTWith his bright red coat, big orange nose, and wide eyes, Elmo is arguably the most famous of the Sesame Street muppets – but he didn’t always have it this good. Elmo began as an ‘Anything Muppet’–an extra, if you will, until Kevin Clash refashioned his character into the one Continue Reading
Movie review: In the Heights
Maintaining hope in the face of adversity, or simply a lack of substantial and real change, is taxing for anyone. Even more so, when you have placed everything on the line when it comes to fulfilling your dream and all you see for your effort of incremental advancement that seems Continue Reading
Welcome back old friends! Thoughts on the first 4 episodes of Grace and Frankie season 7
You know that lovely feeling you get when you connect with old friends you haven’t seen in a while? How that long-established sense of familiarity and intimacy comes rushing near instantly and you find yourself talking as if mere minutes, not months or years have passed, and suddenly it feels Continue Reading
Book review: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
There is real power in reading. Some people might find that surprising or amusing – how can something so apparently inert have the ability to make palpable change in someone’s life, or at the very least, give them the means and the support to cope with it? And can something Continue Reading
Mike Chen’s upcoming new book takes you Light Years From Home … and then back again …
SNAPSHOTMost families experience drama from time to time. But aliens don’t usually play a part in said drama. That is not the case in Mike Chen’s Light Years from Home. The upcoming novel combines space opera vibes with family feelings. Fifteen years ago, Jakob Shao and his father disappeared during Continue Reading
Are marshmallows for bouncing or eating? Lucas the Spider finds out in “Fun with Findley”
SNAPSHOTThat’s so Findley! Lucas is so excited for you to meet his friend Findley the Fly™ who loves to laugh, eat, and play with Lucas in his new show for the whole family on Cartoonito coming to Cartoon Network THIS FALL! (synopsis via YouTube (c) Cartoon Network) It’s a debate Continue Reading
Book review: Loving Lizzie March by Susannah Hardy
Ah, the pursuit of love! If we all lived inside sparklingly quirky romantic comedies, and let’s face it the food, parking and occupational opportunities are unparalleled, then falling in love seems to be a simple matter of a whimsical meet-cute, a few further random but serendipitous meetings, a third act Continue Reading
Mini-mass of movie trailers: About Pie, Falling For Figaro, The Survivalist
Thank goodness for streaming huh? With lockdowns a feature of many people’s lives even in the latter half of 2021 – the Sydney one which I am in is in week 8 with about another 8 to go – it’s good thing we don’t have to rely on cinemas anymore. Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #54: Magdalena Bay, Lump, Matilda Mann, Madison Olds, Sycco
Do not speak ill of pop my friends. There are those who look down upon it because of its derivation from the word “popular” with some erroneously assuming that if something is well liked by many, it mustn’t be any good. That’s rubbish, of course, because often something is popular Continue Reading
Movie review: Gunpowder Milkshake
Whimsical threatening title aside, Gunpowder Milkshake is one hell of a violent film. That is not necessarily a bad thing since much of the murderous mayhem takes place in almost operatically balletic fashion, cartoonishly lit by primary colours that instill a trippily colourful film noir aesthetic to proceedings. But the Continue Reading