December 31, 2018 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

Alien invasions are, for the most part, treated as popcorn-chomping blockbuster spectacles replete with big epic action sequences, lives in mortal and imminent danger and big stakes battles between good (us; for once) and evil (most certainly them). They do not generally have time, what with all the awe-inspiring spaceship Continue Reading

Life is space is really animated – Thoughts on Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek is serious. Very, very SERIOUS. Sure, it can be goofy at times – think “The Trouble With Tribbles” (The Original Series), “Deja Q” (The Next Generation), “Body and Soul” (Voyager) and “Our Man Bashir” (Deep Space Nine) – but mostly it is all Prime Directives, deadly “Away Missions” Continue Reading

Book review: Truganini : Journey Through the Apocalypse by Cassandra Pybus

History is usually looked upon very dispassionately. We see conquerors and the conquered, civilisations rise and civilisations fall, and while we know there are real people involved in all these recounted events, we don’t often pause to consider what it must have been like to be on the receiving end Continue Reading

Songs, songs and more songs: New & emerging Aussie talent – ASHWARYA, Budjerah, BEXX, Genes, BARKAA

Today is technically Australia Day. But honestly as someone raised to recognise, call out and fight inequality, I cannot sit here and pretend like everything is okay in this country I love so much. What many people outside Australia may not know is that the 26th January is the day Continue Reading

Book review: Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch

Happiness! It’s what we all crave, what we need, what we must have in all its technicolour, eye-poppingly perfect, sadness-banishing glory, right? Well, yes, in a sense – I mean who doesn’t want to be happy? But in Lucie Britsch’s brilliant novel, Sad Janet, it becomes patently clear that happiness, Continue Reading

Delicious shorts: A review of the ten bite-sized stories of Pixar Popcorn

There is no point at which you can ever say “I have had enough Pixar, thank you.” The now Disney-owned and run animation powerhouse has a proven track record for delivering animated features that is visually lush and evocative, stories that don’t simply tug at the heartstrings but rip them Continue Reading

Book review: Prime Deception by Valerie Valdes

Do space operas always have to be so deadly serious? Sure, the protagonist’s life, and that of their gallant, family-sized crew are often in the balance, the galaxy is teetering on the edge of oblivion and bad guys and gals seem to be creeping out from under asteroid and half Continue Reading

Movie review: My Salinger Year

In an idealised world, pursuing your dreams is a thing of ethereal perfection, a waftingly hopeful sensation that is equal parts sigh-inducing wonder and a tenacity to succeed that always pays off and is never less than astoundingly and soul-enrichingly triumphant. Alas, we beings with feet of dream-hollowing clay do Continue Reading

Book review: The Beginning at the End by Mike Chen

“The end of the world” is one of those soul darkening phrases that sounds definitively, irrevocably, irreparably final. But what if the end of the world wasn’t so much an end, though in many ways it is, but simply a “pause”? What might that be that like? In The Beginning Continue Reading

Crack them open! Easter Eggs revealed for The Mandalorian and Soul

If you consume any kind of pop culture media in our postmodernist, digital, information saturated age, you will be well acquainted with the concept of “Easter eggs” which are defined, as per Wikipedia, as “a message, image, or feature hidden in a video game, film, or other, usually in electronics, Continue Reading

Happy pop culture new year everyone!

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