This novel was read at Kalimna, Yeranda Cottages, Main Creek (Dungog) NSW, August 2026 Life is so full of quiet, everyday moments that we can forget how momentously explosive it can be, how, that hiding in those self-same nuanced and seemingly unremarkable slivers of time, can sit some of the Continue Reading
Once he was an Avenger … but who is he now? VisionQuest drops an intriguing first trailer
(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTThe Vision (Paul Bettany), rebooted and having escaped those who sought to use him as a weapon, has been in hiding. His quest for new meaning and discreet existence is interrupted when a bounty is placed on his head, forcing Vision to forge real connections and embrace Continue Reading
New releases August book review: Porcupines by Fran Fabriczki
This novel was read at Kalimna, Yeranda Cottages, Main Creek (Dungog) NSW, August 2026 If there’s one thing that is guaranteed to get me diving into a novel faster than you can say “Yes, I’ll buy that book!” (a favourite and enduring phrase of mine) it’s saying that the novel Continue Reading
Movie review: One Night Only
(courtesy IMP Awards) Romcoms are usually fairly straightforward affairs. Two people of any kind of gender mix meet, find themselves attracted to each other, do and say cute things, fall in love, stuff it up a little (or a lot), recover and sail off metaphorically into the sunset, hardly believing Continue Reading
New releases August book review: Country People by Daniel Mason
This novel was partially read at Kalimna, Yeranda Cottages, Main Creek (Dungog) NSW, August 2026 Becoming lost in life is far easier than we might think. Oh, we march from the vivaciously assured certainty of youth, inwardly adamant that we know we are, what we want and how we will Continue Reading
Christmas preview: Love From Christmas Tree Farm by Jo Thomas
(courtesy official Jo Thomas Facebook page) SNAPSHOTGwen has lived at Christmas Tree Farm for many years. It’s where she’s built a life, a business and a place to call home. But after her beloved husband Paddy dies, it’s time to downsize and move on. But when nine-year-old Willow, a distant Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #140: mustbejohn, LILY B, HRVY, Sabyna + marguerite … check out Snow Patrol & Kylie Minogue’s These Alarms video
(via Shutterstock) Life has a lot of dark shit going on right now. Climate change, AI menace, global fascistic machinations and bird flu are just four of the things making 2026 feel like a complete and utter buzzkill, and so, we need things that remind that life be uplifting and Continue Reading
Christmas movie preview: Violent Night 2
(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTIf you’re nice, you get presents from the Big Guy. If you’re naughty, you get justice. In 2022’s bare-knuckle holiday sensation, Violent Night, an embittered Santa, armed with lethal combat skills, took out a team of mercenaries to rescue a girl & her family. Now, not-so-jolly Saint Continue Reading
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds review: “Human Best Friend” (S3) and “A Case of Chiaroscuro” (S4)
(courtesy Memory-Alpha fandom) “Human Best Friend” (S4, E3) After the good but not great first two episodes of Strange New Worlds‘ fourth season, it was fun to see them come back playfully roaring with “Human Best Friend”. It had all the quirk and bounce of the best of the series’ Continue Reading
Movie review: The End of Oak Street
(courtesy IMP Awards) It’s likely one of the greatest tests any person can face – what do you do when your world changes, literally in an instant, and you have to confront and deal with a brand new set of circumstances with no time to prepare and no real understanding Continue Reading