Sweet Nothings

On a scale of Star Trek enthusiasts, where 1 is reserved for occasional dabblers and 10 means you got married in an exact replica of Worf and Dax’s Klingon garb from You Are Cordially Invited (Deep Space 9, S6, ep 7), I would sit no higher than halfway. Which I think stands me in good stead when it comes to judging New Trek - I’m informed enough to know how much JJ Abrams has deviated from the original material without getting het up at the fact that he’s been allowed to have his way with the franchise in the first place. Seeing as Hollywood has been on a mission to reboot every classic movie or series recently (not to mention plenty of rubbish ones), a shiny new reset button-smashing Trek was always going to be on the cards. The 2009 film took plenty of money and vindicated Paramount’s decision to hand Abrams the reins - being a self-confessed Trek virgin (not in the stereotypical Trek fan = virgin sense, either), our man was able to approach the franchise with a fresh p...

Plans for those recent Kraftwerk gigs went through several unsuccessful drafts On paper,  Iron Man 3 wasn't quite the home banker that some may have thought. Whilst Robert Downey Jr's show-stealing turn in Avengers Assemble arguably made up for the lacklustre second instalment of his own franchise, did this merely prove that the character was best taken in smaller doses rather than as a chaotic focal point of the action? With their third Stark-starring film though, Marvel have proven themselves once again to be no mugs, giving the Tony Stark character a post-Avengers hangover to deal with but wisely maintaining the series's identity by keeping any crossover characters out of the mix. Plus, they've executed something of a coup by handing the director's chair to Shane "Lethal Weapon" Black. In the interests of full disclosure, I should confess at this point to never having seen anything else which Black has written or directed. Good job I'm not...

I participated in an awful game of football this week. Thanks to a lack of bodies, what would normally have been 5-a-side became 5 on 4. We were thoroughly outplayed and my performance - shoddy at the best of times - grew steadily worse thanks to our failure to do the basics, keep it tight, get amongst them, or any other Sunday league cliche you could mention. Needless to say, I was in the team of 5. Granted, the team selection was such that the best players were on the other side. But, as time went on and we became steadily more outplayed by opponents with more teamwork, movement and desire despite our apparent superiority on paper, I was consoled by the fact that, having grimly followed Wolves throughout this season, at least I'd experienced such feelings before. A year ago, I wrote this blog  after one ignominious relegation. Never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine that trapdoor opening once again and us bumbling right through it - and I am quite the accomplished pessim...