Kilburn does Comedy

So Sunday will mark the one month anniversary of me, Ocean & Lis (not forgetting Marlon the cat) living in Kilburn, the lovely NW6 area of North London. And I have never looked back. So this has spurred on a local blog post for me today.

I've been used to living in the East end or South West and out in the sticks of zone 3 where there was never anything close to home. But Kilburn has everything on my doorstep. A high street with a selection of shops and Brent Cross down the road, but even better some great bars and pubs! The North London Tavern is my local (it is on the corner of my road!) and the Goodship (great for comedy). I do love heading down the road to the Westbury as well and now there is the Betsy Smith, which I am yet to try out.

This Sunday does not just mark when Kilburn gained some lovely new people, it is also the first night of the Oxjam Kilburn Comedy festival. There are some great acts lined up including Alex Zane, Jeff Leach, Gail Porter and the brilliant Rufus Hound. I know I'll be trying to go to as many evenings as I can. And with tickets priced at £5 or £6 on the door it's a bargain for a great cause. Visit the site for more details here.

Breaking News: Man of Steel has a director!

So he was on the list of possible directors, but Zack Snyder has revealed that he is all set to direct the next revamp of Superman: The Man of Steel. News is spreading across the pond via Twitter, and I must say as a fan of Watchmen he was my favourite choice. He's done some great things so I look forward to what he will bring.

Now who will he bring on as his Superman...?

The Catfather

Hello all,


I just wanted to share a link with you to a blog by a very special friend of mine. He can be a bit grumpy sometimes, but is thorougly entertaining. If you are a fan of Marlon Brando then you will love the new kid in town.

Check out The Catfather, you don't wanna mess with him, capiche?!

Here come the Men in Black (again)

Men in Black was a fun family sci-fi film. Correct. But for me it was the film that started my love of sci-fi and shaped my decision for what to study at university.  Highlighting the fact that the ‘Government’ could have the technology used in the film to wipe our memories, therefore making us oblivious to aliens living amongst us may seem far stretched, but who knows, considering this technology ‘wipes’ the memories of the public we would never know if this is happening or not.

This film made me realise that a popular entertainment film can deliver messages about the world, politics, science and more. From this I went on to study media studies specialising in digital media and science fiction.

Now Men in Black 3 is set to be released in 2012, a full ten years after the first instalment and news released last week highlighted that Emma Thompson is in talks to star in the next film in the trilogy.
And ten years on I might not be working in film or sci-fi specific for that matter, but here I am blogging about it and my passion for the subject is stronger than ever.


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Happy Birthday Superboy!

I spotted today on Superman Homepage that today is the anniversary of when Superboy aired on TV in 1988. As a child of the 80’s after the Superman movies, this is probably one of my strongest memories of the Superman franchise. I also spotted when researching on IMDB that Gerard Christopher was all set to play Superman in Lois & Clark – The New Adventures of Superman until it was spotted on his CV that he had in fact played Superboy in the 80’s adventure show and was replaced with Dean Cain.

Superboy may not have been a hit, but it’s reincarnation through Smallville has been such a hit it has been on our screens for 10 years, making it not only the longest running Superman TV show, but the longest running sci-fi show.

There have been a few actors play the classic caped hero and to celebrate I have added a poll to my blog and would love to hear who your favourite Superman actor is.

You can find the poll on the right hand side, but below is a picture created by Superman Fan Art to remind you of the actors.

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Bring on the classics

Left: Lois & Clark's man eater Cat Grant, Right: Smallville's innocent version

Smallville's final season may only be two episodes in, but it is already promising to be the epic send off to a decade look at the early years of a comic book great. Episode two brought us Cat Grant, and a very different Cat Grant from the one portrayed in Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman. Looking at all of the female characters that have appeared alongside Clark in the past ten years this Cat work perfectly, rather than throwing in a character that is going to chase down Clark until she gets her man, we are seeing someone who is just looking out for her family and using her work to deliver her message to the masses.

But next week's episode sees the return of one of the greatest characters in the Superman story, that of his cousin Kara, aka Supergirl. This will be an interesting episode so early on in this season, as Laura Vandervoort revealed that she teaches Clark something he cannot do yet. And we all know what that one thing Kara can do that Clark can't is...

Going back to episode two briefly we also saw a new look for Clark as the blur, a brilliant red leather jacket, moving Clark one step closer to the famous suit Jor-El currently has locked away at the Fortress of Solitude.

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Why Barney Stinson is AWESOME

If you still haven't watched How I Met Your Mother, what are you waiting for? The show might be about main character Ted telling his children the story of how he met their mother, and yes we might all be waiting and guessing who that mother will be, BUT that is not the reason for watching this show. The sole reason for watching is for the brilliant Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris. Barney is full of catch phrases that you can't help but say such as 'Awesome', 'Legen...wait for it...dary, Legendary' and 'Suit up'. And the latest season's second episode provided another reason to love Mr Stinson. Bringing back Barney's gay black brother, we learn more about Barney's past and how when it comes to his childhood he is a bit naive about his everything his mother has told him. We meet who we think may be Barney's dad, but is in fact his brothers father (still Barney thinks its his father, although that is impossible). Barney provides some great entertainment annoying his brother and new found father by joining in on their 'bonding' song.

Neil Patrick Harris has a background in singing, just check out Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long for a great example, so when you mix that with his comic acting it makes for laugh-out-loud entertainment. Not forgetting Jason Segal of course, who wrote and performed the brilliant Slap song, but that's another story....


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