Electric Snapshot: Conquest of Space (1955)

"SEE HOW IT WILL HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFETIME!!"

A classic scene from George Pal's technically accomplished "Conquest of Space" A personal favourite.

Cult Icons: The Jetsons (1962 - 1963 and 1985 - 1987)

MEET GEORGE JETSON & FAMILY FROM ORBIT CITY

Tough call this one. The Flintstones, Wacky Races or the Jetsons as a personal favourite. All are classics in their own right and much loved by this author, but in the end I've gone for the Jetsons mainly because of its retro-futuristic vibe. Amazing to think this was originally aired back in the early sixties and as a kid it painted a picture of how we all thought the future might turn out where we'd all be living in automated apartments on singular columns way up in the clouds, where you went anywhere and everywhere in flying bubble cars, and you had your own personal robot called Rosie who always tidied your room up after you. Retro futures are just so much more fun and 2062 isn't that far off really. Basically just a space aged take on 1950's Americana and family life, the original only lasted for 24 episodes but they were fantastic episodes and when or if the much talked about and optioned movie eventually gets made I'll be first in line. Great cartoon and if I ever get a dog I'm definitely gonna call him Astro..

Electric Snapshot: The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

BEYOND LIES THE INFINITE MICROVERSE - SCOTT CAREY AWAITS HIS ULTIMATE FATE

"So close -- the infinitesimal and the infinite. But suddenly, I knew they were really the two ends of the same concept. The unbelievably small and the unbelievably vast eventually meet, like the closing of a gigantic circle.

"I looked up, as if somehow I would grasp the heavens ... the universe ... worlds beyond number ... God's silver tapestry spread across the night. And in that moment, I knew the answer to the riddle of the infinite. I had thought in terms of Man's own limited dimension. I had presumed upon Nature. That existence begins and ends is Man's conception, not Nature's.

"And I felt my body dwindling, melting, becoming nothing. My fears melted away, and in their place came -- acceptance. All this vast majesty of creation -- it had to mean something. And then I meant something too. Yes, smaller than the smallest, I meant something too. To God, there is no zero. I STILL EXIST!"

**

A classic moment in a classic movie.

Lenscap: Neon Tokyo at Night 2011

THE ARTIFICIAL GLOW OF TECHNOLOGY

There is something about Japan and its culture that just fascinates me. A traditional society living in a neon bubble at the forefront of the technical age. Especially in Tokyo - a megacity humming to the sound of phosphor creating backstreet rainbow valleys. A proper 21st century city and how I'd always imagined the future to be.

Retro Future: Return to the Moon - July 10th 2045

NASA "DESTINY" MISSION LANDING SITE IN VALLIS CAPELLA

Astronauts Jackson, Fisher and Hellerman exit the Lunar lander module Selene which sits in the rift Valley of Capella just north of Mare Nectaris, a region marked by small impact craters. The mission marks the return of America to human planetary exploration in preparation for a planned permanent base on the moon.

Retro Videogames: Animal Crossing (2005)

ELECTRIC PIX TOP VIDEOGAMES - ANIMAL CROSSING

a personal selection of retro favourites

To the point: Animal Crossing on the Nintendo DS is a superb game. Superb because its brilliance is in the simplicity of its design and theme. Insert the cartridge, switch on the DS, and what happens next is up to you. You're dropped off at the train station and you begin your digital life to the rhythmn of real time. Simple. Simple done with style.

Animal Crossing is a game of interaction with the characters within that digital world. Animal characters that range from a demented gorilla to a neurotic duck.Through this interaction you begin to see the true depth of the game. You have a basic unfurnished house. With a mortgage. A mortgage that you need to pay off by getting a job. And the only job in town is working for Tom Nook at his Convenience Store. Here you earn money to pay off that debt but also to buy the essentials to get further into the game. A fishing rod to catch fish to sell. A net to catch bugs and butterflies to either sell or donate to the local museum. A shovel to plant things and to dig up dinosaur fossils. Money also buys you stuff to furnish your house. Is that a totem pole for 500 bells? A pink sofa? A spaceship? There are tons of things to buy and how you use them is up to you. The game is about collecting and the continuing urge to complete a collection on a specific theme.

"IT SNOWED!!!" - A WINTER WONDERLAND IN ANIMAL CROSSING

The game runs on a real time calendar and day/night cycle. The landscape changes with the seasons. Leaves fall from the tree's in Autumn. It snows in Winter - the first time this happens in the game is absolutely fantastic and you run around making snowballs and just having fun like a big kid. Following the calendar gives the impression that you're actually in a living breathing world. You tell it your birthday and on the big day you'll get cards and presents from your friends. Same goes for Christmas Day. At midnight on New Years Eve everyone gathers in the Town square to watch a fireworks display. Events happen during the year when you have to be playing the game at a specific time to witness them. The game rewards the players participation and is brilliantly done. If you are away from the game for any period of time, the next time you return you'll discover weeds growing everywhere and your animal characters asking where the hell you've been. Brilliant. AC is also as funny as hell. The animal conversations are laugh out loud funny most of the time. The characters each have their own personality with some of them becoming your own firm favourites and you don't want them to leave town as the game "refreshes" as time passes and characters leave so as to bring in new faces. For me, it was Victoria the mule. She was like a hyper version of Liberace on speed and had an obsession for pink furniture. Major bummer when she left.

Animal Crossing's greatest achievement is that allusive "just one more go before bed" magic which it has in abundance. So very few games have it these days and it was no surprise that it sold millions around the world. Visually its wonderful to watch with its distinctly Japanese cutesy tone. The sound is also fantastic and I spent many an hour just sitting on the riverbank fishing listening to the chirps of crickets in the background. The game is meant to be played in short bursts which is another reason for its enduring longevity and is just one of the many reasons why this is easily one of the greatest games I've played and certainly the most fun. Come to think of it, I never did find that T-Rex skull..

Retro Comics: Roy of the Rovers issue #1 (1976 - 1993)

FOR FOOTIE FANS EVERYWHERE

Now this was a great comic featuring the adventures of Roy Race and his team, Melchester Rovers. Other notable series in the comic included: Tommys Troubles, Billy's Boots, The Safest Hands in Soccer, Hot Shot Hamish, Mighty Mouse, and my own personal favourite - Mike's Mini Men, all about a kid and his Subbuteo team. It was brilliant and great fun to read. This first issue came with one of those cardboard fold out thingys that had all the English and Scottish League Division's printed as a template on one side. Each team had it's own little cardboard tab that you slotted into the correct postion in the table after watching the results on Grandstand or World of Sport at Saturday tea-time. Then you'd stand it up on the table beside your bed and realise that your team was never ever going to win anything ever.

Each issue ended on a cliffhanger and I guess once Roy had his foot amputated - what a shocker that issue was - there wasn't really anywhere else for the comic to go. Smashing comic. Nothing like it around today sadly. Kids don't know what they're missing - again.

Electric Snapshot: Explorers (1985)

THE FIRST VOYAGE OF THE "THUNDER ROAD"

The ultimate space geek adventure and one of the best sci-fantasy movies ever made. Joe Dante's wonderful  tribute to star dreamers everywhere. EXPLORERS is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Electric Star Wars: Dominion Theatre - Tottenham Court Road - London 1977

A LONG TIME AGO IN A CITY FAR FAR AWAY

Love this photo showing the Dominion Theatre marquee for the original release of STAR WARS. You can almost feel the sense of place, the defining decade, and creation of cinematic history oozing from the photo. From memory, I think it only had a very limited release which made the madness surrounding it and the anticipation to see it all the more fun. It seems like only yesterday I was 14 and stood in a huge line outside my local cinema for that first showing - 34 years ago. Everything was so different back then. When blockbusters were new and to see them was an experience never forgotten. These were the STAR WARS days and they were the bestest days ever. 

Electric Movie Preview: the AVENGERS (2012)

PREVIEW PIX: CAPTAIN AMERICA and IRON MAN

PREVIEW PIX: SHIELD TROOPS AND LOKI

PREVIEW PIX: BLACK WIDOW

Marvel/Disney have released some rather cool promotional preview pix to give us a taste of what next years megablockbuster "The AVENGERS" will look like. Though not officially confirmed, the main baddies seem to be a motley collection of "aliens" who are part of an invasion force summoned by LOKI so that he can rule the Earth and make all those hot Scandinavian women slaves or something. Rumours of the Skrulls and THANOS are plenty which would be seriously epic and expand the Marvel Universe beyond the mythic. The look of the movie so far is pretty much spot on, though I did have reservations about CAP'S new 21st century outfit. A little too sleek maybe. Dunno. We'll see. Basically impressed with everything else and as he did in THOR, I expect Tom Hiddleston as LOKI to dominate the flick and be nothing short of fucking amazing. May 2012 needs to hurry up.

- all images copyright of marvel/disney -

Cult Icons: Carl Edward Sagan (1934 - 1996)

LOVING THE COSMOS BEYOND THAT PALE BLUE DOT

In 1980 I first discovered Carl Sagan through his ground breaking 13 part documentary series "Cosmos - a personal voyage" and who instantly became a personal hero to this then seventeen year old who spent far too much of his time with his head in the clouds. That Cosmos is still remembered to this day as one of the great television series is in no small part a tribute to its presenter. Here was a man whose passion for his subject and life long work was so palpable and heartfelt you could almost feel it physically.

A few years back, I was wandering around the big city near here, just mooching and browsing around in a backstreet second hand bookstore when, to my delight, I came across the book of the series printed around the same time as the program was first aired. It has pride of place in my bookcase and of all the books I own, I've spent more time reading it than anything else. A wonderful book written by a true visionary who left us far too early.

Electric TV Review: Doctor Who Season 6 "The Wedding of River Song"

THE STARS AND TIME ARE MY LONELY DESTINATION

Alas my expectations were not met. But I'm not sure why. This last episode of Season 6 fairly bounced along on a bouncy thing of its own internal logic and was a thoroughly entertaining ride and watch. I guess I expected to be more surprised than I was. That the revelations therein would be at the more extreme end of the mass speculation that this series has given arise to. Very last "Losty" in the end for me - though nowhere near the emotional deflation I felt watching the final moments of that series. In truth, it is a very rare gem that lives up to the anticipation of expection. We are slaves to our own perceptive reasoning and timey whimeyness. More fool us and is certainly no slight to those that strive to create through love and passion that which we all cherish.

No point in discussing the plot of the thing as I'd end up tying myself up in wishful thinking knots but here are some random bubble universal thoughts on this finale. The most important being the rebirth of the shadow Doctor. Applaud this loads. Bedone with the Jesus myth and begone this intergalactic Napoleon. Season 7 has a new gameplan with a more invisible Gallifreyan bouncing around singular episodes doing good deeds and keeping a low profile. Hopefully the writers can expand this return to the original horizons for the character. Gee whizz, maybe from the get go this was Moffats grand scheme of returning the show to pre-cancellation basics. Thumbs up if so. Went the long way around and did it the hard way though..

Liked the respectful nod to the Brigadier. More so because it changed the character of the Doctor. That in sadness he came to realise than no one can escape their ultimate fate. Smith was outstanding here. Loss, pain, realisation and resignation writ large on his oblong face. Even with wonky writing, Smith has the ability to rise above such ding dong dialog and make it matter.

So there was no second Doctor as I and many others had presumed. Instead we had a clockwork doppleganger who bit the bullets for the greater good. Loved that the "other" Tardis was actually inside the robot Doctor all the time. "Look into my eye." Indeed. Enjoyed that. Oooo, when was the switch then?

Bit sad that the River Song character arc sort of withered on the vine. And that her story really was nothing more than a plot whisper to create a fixed point in time. Though did enjoy that nice little scene with her and her parents in the garden at the end. Full circle. The Ponds were peripheral to the greater plot. Amy was hot in the suit. Rory didn't die again despite the best efforts and jive talk of the Silents. Cute coda that Amy and Rory will always find each other no matter what. Their overall destiny is that they are soulmates and destined to be together. Everything is right with the world when the geek gets the hot girl.

Design wise, very impressive look to the episode. Money on screen for sure. I could live in an alt-timeline like that. A sort of Vernetopia. How wonderful to see a British science fiction show done with such imagination and sheer bravura.

Despite my overall reservations "The Wedding of River Song." was a satisfying end to what has been a very enjoyable season. The feeling that the story has progressed and moved on is obvious. Another chapter in the tale of Doctor Who has been writ. Another piece to the jigsaw has been placed. Time is no longer standing still. The future is an exciting horizon. "Doctor Who?" said the head in the box as the Timelord stepped away from the limelight back into the shadows. Exactly. A new start. A new adventure begins. Roll on Christmas 2011 and Season 7.

Retro Toys: Kerplunk!!

THE FINAL STRAW.

Most kids had Monopoly. A few had Buckaroo. Some even had Cluedo. But everyone, every kid had Kerplunk!!

It was usually the present of last resort along with the Cadburys selection box or the Beano annual bought in the local department store by your mam or dad in the last desperate hours before closing time on Christmas Eve. But that didn't matter because Kerplunk!! was just so much fun to play when playing was as much about your imagination than anything else.

Tube of clear blue plastic. Middle riddled with holes. Bunch of straws fed into and out of these holes, and then a clack of marbles are dropped onto the criss cross of straws. Depending on how many are playing, each player takes it in turn to carefully pull out a straw with the object being to stop any gaps appearing which would allow a marble to fall through into their slot. Player with least marbles in their slot wins. Simple. Yet fun. A classic game because only classic games stand the test of time.

Cult Icons: The Bash Street Kids

MEET CLASS 2B from BASH STREET SCHOOL, BEANOTOWN

School hijinks with Fatty, Danny, Wilfrid, Smiffy, Spotty, Toots, Cuthbert, Plug and Sidney.  Entertaining kids and making Teachers life a misery in the BEANO since 1954.

Retro Videogaming: Commodore 64 (1982)

COMMODORE 64 - FROM RUBBER KEYS TO THE REAL THING

It was about Christmas 1985 when I got that first nagging urge to upgrade and so decided to put an advert in the window of a local ice cream shop. It was time to say goodbye to my little rubber keyed buddy, the Sinclair Spectrum 48k and move on to the next big thing. That next big thing being a Commodore 64. Now this was a proper computer with a proper keyboard. A couple of days after I had placed my advert, there was a knock on the door and the beloved Spectrum - and about a 100 original games - were sold for £50. That money then went towards buying a second hand Commodore 64 which belonged to a friend of a friend of a friend. Original box. Chunky manuals. Dedicated Cassette player. Classic Atari style two buttoned centre nub joystick. And a couple of games. Epyx's Summer Games 1 and Impossible Mission which tempted you to "Stay awhile. Stay forever!" Classic games with superb replayability. Especially Summer Games 1 where doing the "wankers waggle" 1500 metres nearly killed me the first time I tried it - much to the amusement of those watching.

Over the next couple of years more games were bought, traded, copied and sold to feed my C64 addiction. Magazines like Zzap 64 and Commodore User were required reading each month and I spent hours checking up on the next big releases for the machine. I even tried to figure out how to program on it and failing miserably. No matter. I loved the thing. Still do. Wish I'd kept it. Just a great all round fun machine - with a proper keyboard.

Electric Star Wars: Arrival at Mos Eisley Spaceport.

"YOU WILL NEVER FIND A MORE WRETCHED HIVE OF SCUM AND VILLAINY"

Under the early dawn light of Tatooine's twin suns, Luke Skywalker scans Mos Eisley spaceport before entering with Obi-Wan Kenobi and his droids to seek a pilot and transport to hire. A beautiful example of Ralph McQuarries epic portrayal of alien landscapes on a grand scale.

Electric TV Review: Doctor Who Season 6 "Closing Time"

THE ASTRONAUT COMETH

Well, that was kind of alright in a bubblegum sort of way. I approached this episode like trying to dodge the kissy kissy grasp of an over eager Aunt when it's your tenth birthday. Having survived the kitchen sink drama's of the RTD era, I feared armageddon was about to happen during a bout of heavy hoovering or ironing. And there was James Corden. Last season's "The Lodger" was perfectly fine mostly due to the eccentric watchability of Matt Smith. Pretty much the same here with "Closing Time." Smith again carried the day and the sense of impending doom/death was a nice counterpoint to the baby talk and poop. Corden was bearable - just. I thought the sprog had more gravitas than the rotund one and the funnier lines.

So, this was a 200 year older Doctor than the one seen in the last episode. I think. Since dropping Amy and Rory back into good old boring domesticated suburbia he's been galivanting around time and space having untold adventures which will all probably come out in paperback in the near future. But even a space alien cannot avoid the call of fate. Fate is a pain in the rear - especially when you know your own and the exact moment it happens. Heavy. You can only run so far for so long.

Liked the bit of the Doctor demonstrating the toys to the kids. Really liked the scene in baby Stormaggedon's bedroom where he transformed the projected singular stars into a whole epic galaxy spanning panorama of awesome wonderment. Loved when Amy and Rory appeared and that the Doc hadn't seen them for a very long time, was going to say hello, but thought better of it. Let them live whatever lives they're now living - Amy, a model!! Cool but not unexpected. So some nice little moments but not enough to make this rise beyond merely average. Pity the poor Cybermen. Boy, have they had a bum time of it lately. Stand up fall guys of the Universe. Arse kicked by the power of love. Ugh. Well, ok. This one is for the grannies and Titanic groupies. The ending was like being force fed head first into a candy floss machine. But there are worse things that could happen in space so I sighed and chewed harder on that bubblegum.

Then there was the other ending. Alrighty, this is more like it. Holy smokes. Cool. But I'm worried. I loved the final episode of last season. "The Big Bang" was a pure joy for me. A magnificent blancmonge of time travel timey wimey that had me grinning like a loon whilst watching it. No more fucking gnomes, peek-a-boo Timelords or half assed Deux whatevers. No, I'm worried because I doubt whatever answers Moffat reveals in the final 45 minutes of this season won't meet the expectations I've built up as the season has progressed. Season 6 has been great. The fun of it hasn't really been what's shown onscreen but what's implied offscreen. So many theories. So many fantastical possibilities of multi-timelines and multi-characters. It's been brilliant. I hope Moffat can at least pull off his own literary ambitions and give us an ending of epic storytelling.

Time will tell. As it always does.

Retro Babes: Diana Rigg.

Mz RIGG as the STUNNING EMMA PEEL

No one defined retro sexy better than this lady in the ground breaking 1960's UK tv series The Avengers.

Retro Videogaming: EDGE issue #1 (1993)

THE FUTURE IS ALWAYS TOMORROW

Fair to say, EDGE is the videogaming industry's "bible". Launched in late 1993, EDGE brought a more adult outlook on what was then still considered a childish hobby and passion. Serious consideration and contemplation of all things hardware and software was like a breath of fresh air to those of us who wanted to see beyond the surface gloss of product and managment speak. Their coverage of the Japanese market was so ground breaking and exotic that it seemed like they were peeking into a whole new world of consoles and cartridges. They were right. Japan was the future. The stalwarts Atari and Commodore were the past. Amazing how times have changed. I didn't buy that 3DO but looking back 28 years, I sort of wish I had.

EDGE is still going strong with a recent update to a new format and design. And, yes, I have every issue.

Retro Comics: TV CENTURY 21 and COUNTDOWN issue #1

STANDY BY FOR ACTION

I am a huge Gerry Anderson fan. His genre epics like UFO, SPACE 1999, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray where just the best things ever when I was growing up. Had all the toys, games, annuals, models and loved them all with a passion. But what I remember the most were the comic spin-offs which serialised his creations. TV CENTURY 21 and COUNTDOWN were my absolute favourites and were published in broadsheet format on quality paper. Typing this I can even remember that particular smell comics had back then. Noticed a few on eBay. Tempted...