If the cast of Community were Batman villains…

(artwork by the very talented Ben Deguzman (@abouthebenjamin) from Southern California.)

Christmas preview: Joy to the World by Beth Moran

(courtesy official Beth Moran Facebook page) This Christmas, the nation’s favourite life coach is in desperate need of a little holiday magic. Alex Nixon has built a glittering TV career teaching clients how to win at life. But when a disastrous viral awards speech reveals that she has zero friends, Continue Reading

ABBA’s Dancing Queen at 50: why we’ve spent half a century having the time of our lives (curated article)

(My original copy of the “Dancing Queen” single from 1976) Fifty years ago, Swedish pop sensation ABBA released their single “Dancing Queen”. It reached number one in 15 countries, from Australia to the US, to Norway and South Africa. Five decades later it’s still riding the airwaves, being belted out Continue Reading

Movie review: A Light That Never Goes Out (Jossain on valo joka ei sammu)

(courtesy IMDb) When we are young and brimming with self confidence and optimistic expectation, it’s near impossible to think of a time when all the certainties of our youth might fall away in a kind of existential cataclysm that will make us wonder if there’s a future worth having at Continue Reading

New releases August book review: Algot, Anna Stina and the Water of Life by Jonas Jonasson

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) Reading has always been a great way to escape the world. When all around you things go from bad to worse, and the nothing seems to be make any kind of meaningful sense, having a written story to escape into can make all the difference. Continue Reading

A final season: Thoughts on Survival of the Thickest season three

(courtesy IMP Awards) Good lord but there such an infectious vibe to people who know and love themselves. In the nicest, least aggressive of ways (we’re not talking unreconstructed narcissists here), they own who they are, celebrate what they do and don’t feel the slightest need to begin to apologise Continue Reading

Movie review: Heartstopper Forever

(courtesy IMP Awards) Is anyone really and truly a fan of goodbyes? There’s a saying that flies round when someone skips out on a fond and meaningful farewell that goes something along the lines of “I’m not good at goodbyes”, and it’s said like that person, and that person alone, Continue Reading

Graphic novel review: D’Orc TP#1 by Brett Bean

(courtesy Image Comics) OMG D’orc is fun! SO. MUCH. FUN. Created by Brett Bean, and now its first five issues gathered together in a trade paper, playfully and appealing titled Volume One: The Book of Certain Doom, D’Orc is the kind of goodhearted character you want when you’re trying to Continue Reading

New releases August book review: The Bookshop Detectives #3: Murder and Mojitos by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward

(courtesy Penguin Books Australia) If you are a reader, and let’s face it, if you’re reading this review, you probably are, then you will have conducted a lifelong love affair with their source – bookshops (not libraries, in this instance, though they are, of course, also quite wonderful). There is Continue Reading

Christmas preview: The Secret Holiday Kiss (The Secret Bookshop #3) by Cressy McLaughlin

(courtesy official Cressy McLaughlin newsletter) SNAPSHOTIn a seaside village, where the winter sunset meets the sea, Daisy is coming home … When her perfect life falls apart, Daisy returns to Mistingham, determined it’s a temporary stop until she can find her feet again. She hasn’t counted on the community’s irresistible Continue Reading

Movie review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Being different from the mainstream is never an easy road to walk. Oh, it has its wonders and delights, and as a gay man who’s spent much of my life on society’s margins, I know well of what I speak, and you value the sense of liberated perspective and buoyant Continue Reading

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