Welcome to Callum's Space/Time Continuum! Enjoy!



Time Travel

My favourite subject of all time is time travel. The idea of it has fascinated people for centuries and many stories have been written about it. I have been a time travel fan since my childhood in the early 1980s, and I first became interested in the subject after seeing it in cartoons. I have seen it in films such as the two movie versions of ‘The Time Machine’ and the ‘Back to the Future’ Trilogy and I’ve seen it on TV shows such as ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Quantum Leap’. I’ve read about it in novels such as ‘The Time Machine’ by HG Wells. I officially became a big fan of time travel in 1985. In that year, I saw the original movie version of ‘The Time Machine’ on TV for the second time and I saw the first ‘Back to the Future’ movie in a cinema. Since then, I have noticed that the idea of time travel has become more and more popular and I’ve even seen it more than ever before being taken seriously by scientists and many other people.

Is time travel possible? Yes! I for one believe that it is. In fact, we’re all doing it every second of our lives from birth to death in a forward direction only. We can look at something from the past and travel back in time with our own minds by remembering what happened or by imagining what it must have been like in the past. When we see the stars at night, we look back into the past because of the time it takes for light from each star to reach Earth. Because of this, some of the stars we see may no longer be there. I once witnessed a supernova in 1995 but it occurred many years earlier. We go forward in time with our minds when we think about what might happen or have dreams of what we would like to see and do someday. People have reportedly seen in front of them images of events that happened long ago. Others have had premonitions foretelling events such as the sinking of the Titanic and John F Kennedy’s assassination. There have been claims of people travelling through time physically. It is believed that UFOs could be time machines transporting humans from the future. If God can do what’s humanly impossible, He can send people on Earth and his angels in Heaven to different time periods and He can give people the ability to travel through time. If time travel is not impossible, it’s just improbable.

Many believe that if one travelled back in time and changed an event, it would change the way things are today. Paradoxes come to mind in regards to this. For example, if one travelled back to a time before they were born and killed their parents, how could they exist and travel back to kill them? One theory that resolves this paradox is that if they succeeded, they would still exist, but on return to their own time, they would be in a parallel universe in which they hadn’t been born. The person would still be born in the universe they came from but they would be a complete stranger in the parallel universe. This is the Many Worlds Theory. The other theory goes that if they travelled back in time to kill their parents, someone or something would prevent them from doing this. A police officer might arrest them on the spot and prevent the killing, or the gun might have something wrong with it and not fire. This theory is called the Self Consistency Principle.

It is believed by others that if you travelled back and did something in the past, it wouldn’t change the past or present, but it would result in the shaping of history. For example, a World War 1 veteran tells a young person about how his life was saved in the war. The young person then travels back to the event. In doing so, they save the life of the one who told them the story. A person could go back in time to meet HG Wells in the late 19th Century and tell him of events in the 20th Century and beyond. This in turn could inspire him to write his novels that have foretold events such as World War 2, atomic bombs and space travel.

If you had a time machine, where in time would you like to go? I have many time periods I would like to visit such as 1956 to see Elvis Presley in concert and to see the first TV broadcast in Australia, 1969 to see the first moon landing on TV, 2050 to find out what will have happened to myself and to others and to find out how much the world will have changed and 3000 AD to see what the world will be like if it still exists.

When imagining the time periods I would like to visit, I’ve thought about what might happen if I intervened in those times, got myself involved in the events and interacted with the people. I’ve thought about the changes I would make to the past. For example, I would save one of my cats from being killed, I would give John Lennon a bullet proof vest or knock the gun off Mark Chapman, I would tell everyone with Princess Diana in a car to put on their seat belts, I would prevent terrorists from going on board planes to make attacks or warn people to evacuate the World Trade Center Towers and I would warn Steve Irwin not to get too close to a stingray. If the theory of parallel universes is correct, however, I would, after changing the past, end up in a parallel universe and I would be gone from my own universe, probably forever. It’s not the sort of risk I’d want to take. If I travelled into the past, I would rather observe history than change it. I would avoid letting my younger self see me if I have no memory of literally seeing myself as I wouldn’t want to create a past different to the one I remember.

If you could travel through time, would you go forward or back? I’d go forward to find things out. I would find out the winners of the next Melbourne Cup horse races or the next lottery results to win some money. If I made some time capsules, I would take them with me and drop them off in the years they are to be opened. If I found out that some natural or man made disaster would to take place in the not too distant future, I would leave the area before it happens and warn others to do the same. I would visit the Moon and Mars when there are cities on them. I would visit the night of 2999/3000 to join in the next New Millennium celebrations. Back in my own time, I would write a book telling of what I saw in the future and giving descriptions of the shapes of things to come.

I am interested in the different theories of time travel and they include wormholes and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. If wormholes exist in space, they would act as a short cut to another part of the Universe and perhaps to another time. If a spaceship travelled through one, it would be able to reach another solar system or another galaxy in a matter of seconds or minutes. If a spaceship travelled to another solar system and back to Earth at a speed close to that of light, only days, months or years would pass for the people on board. By the time they return, however, they would find that decades, centuries or thousands of years have passed on Earth. It would prove to them Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Suppose two twins named Mark and Hugh build a wormhole of their own and put the Theory of Relativity to the test. Mark keeps one mouth of the wormhole on Earth while Hugh takes with him the other mouth and goes off on a journey through space travelling close to the speed of light. He returns to Earth after spending five days on board his spaceship. However, he sees that Mark now looks much older than him, he doesn’t recognise the place he returns to and he finds that fifty years have passed on Earth. While travelling near the speed of light, time on board the spaceship slowed down. Hugh didn’t notice it though. He is shocked to see Mark as an elderly man but is pleased to see him and know that he’s still alive. They find that the Theory of Relativity has been proven in a big way and Hugh has become a time traveller who has journeyed many years into the future. He spends a bit of time catching up on what has happened since his own time and sees lots of items that look unfamiliar. The spaceship is ready to be put in a museum. Another elderly man shows up and it’s the older version of Hugh. Both Hughs are pleased to see each other, and the young Hugh is glad to know that he’s still alive. Young Hugh is ready to return to his own time. He steps into the mouth of the wormhole he took with him and travels back to the time five days after his journey began. He is welcomed back, and he tells Young Mark of his incredible journey through space and time along with what he saw in the future.

The Theory of Relativity has already been proven by the comparison of two atomic clocks, one on the ground, the other in a jet. Less time passed for the clock on board the moving jet and it fell behind the other clock by a fraction of a second. Although not achievable in a big way so far, forward time travel through high speed is possible.

I believe that another type of time travel that will one day come true is the use of a cryogenic device to freeze people alive. After being frozen for a period of time, they would be defrosted and not look a day older than they did before the freezing. Such a device would come in handy for people on long voyages in space. It could be used to freeze a patient until a cure is found for a disease they have. Others could use it if they just want to take a trip into the future. After being defrosted, they would tell others about the time they came from and see what the new world will be like.

Maybe someday, other types of time machines will be invented, ones that can send people to different times in the past and future. Only time will tell. To building such a device, it would be unimaginably costly.

I love the idea of time travel in its many different forms both real and fictional, and I will continue to be interested in it for many more years to come. To those of you who have read this article, I wish you a safe and pleasant trip into the future.



The Time Machine

In 1895, H.G. Wells published his first novel ‘The Time Machine’. Many time travel stories were written beforehand, but ‘The Time Machine’ was the first one in which a time traveller had mobility and control over movements, both forwards and backwards in time, and travelled to other eras selectively and purposefully. It was the first scientific thriller in our language and it has remained popular to this very day. It is a great classic.

The first version of ‘The Time Machine’ appeared in 1888 as ‘The Chronic Argonauts’ in ‘The Science School’s Journal’, a college magazine founded by H.G. Wells. A revised and expanded version of ‘The Chronic Argonauts’ was serialised in the ‘National Observer’ under the title ‘The Time Machine’ between March and June 1894. The whole story was then published in one volume in June 1895.

'The Time Machine' is by far my favourite novel. I've read it four times and I've read other versions including comic books and graphic novels. I've also heard the story told on cassette and CDs .

The Time Traveller in the late 19th Century explains to his guests that time is the fourth dimension, the first three being length, breadth and height. He talks about his invention, a time machine, and shows his guests an experiment with the small scale model that is sent into the future. He later takes a trip in the full scale model where he sees all the changes around him and stops in the year 802,701 AD. He finds himself in a forest with buildings bigger than the ones in his own time. He finds out that the human race has divided itself into two species. They include the Eloi who are very peaceful but also uneducated and the Morlocks who prey on them. He believes that the Eloi and the Morlocks are respectively the descendants of the upper and lower classes of his time. He rescues an Eloi girl named Weena from drowning and fights against the Morlocks. He continues on his trip through time where he sees giant crabs on a beach and travels even further to a time when the world is almost lifeless. He returns to tell his guests the story. He then goes on another journey without returning. The author is left wondering whether he'll ever return.

Numerous sequels to ‘The Time Machine’ have been written over the years. One of them is ‘The Time Ships’ by Stephen Baxter. It was written and published in 1995 to mark the centenary of ‘The Time Machine’ and it continues straight after that novel. The time traveller goes on a mission to rescue Weena from the Morlocks only to find that the future has been completely altered by the telling of his own story. He meets a talking Morlock of the alternate future, one who is both intelligent and friendly. They go on time trips together where they discover other alternate versions of the past and future. The time traveller eventually finds a way to return to his original timeline where he’ll have the chance to finally save Weena’s life. ‘The Time Ships’ is by far my favourite sequel to ‘The Time Machine’.

The world’s first TV science fiction production was ‘The Time Machine’ on the BBC in 1949. The Australian born actor Anthony Nicholls starred as George, the Time Traveller. It ran for an hour and it relied on description rather than sets to recreate the world of the far future. Unfortunately, no copy exists of this landmark production.

The first movie version of ‘The Time Machine’ was produced and directed by George Pal at MGM Studios, Hollywood in 1960. It stars Rod Taylor from Sydney, Australia as the time traveller George, Alan Young as his best friend David Filby and his son James Filby and Yvette Mimieaux as Weena. The movie won an Academy Award for best special effects.

George, on the last day of 1899, talks to his guests about the fourth dimension and shows the experiment with the small scale model of his machine. Soon afterwards, he takes a trip in the full scale model. He makes a few stop overs in the 20th Century where he sees three major wars and he finally stops in the year 802,701 AD where he finds himself in a forest. He rescues Weena from drowning and he learns that the human race has divided itself into two species. He fights against the Morlocks and returns to 1900, five days after his journey began, to tell his story. His best friend David Filby is about to see him again after hearing the story only to find that he has returned to the Eloi world with a plan to rebuild it. David and the housekeeper Miss Watchitt are left wondering whether George will ever return.

The George Pal movie is my favourite classic. I've watched it close to 20 times and I still enjoy it very much. I've especially enjoyed the time travel sequences and the stopovers in the 20th century. I once wrote to Rod Taylor telling him that the best thing I've ever seen him in is 'The Time Machine'. In return, he sent me two autographed photos of himself, one of them of him in the time machine. It was great to receive such pictures.

George Pal had plans for a sequel in which Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieaux would have reprised their roles. He wrote a novel about it that was published shortly after his death in 1980, but it was never made into a movie. It is 'Time Machine II' published in 1981 and it is about the son of George and Weena who builds his own time machine and goes on one mission to save his parents from being killed in World War 2 and on another mission to save the human race over a million years into the future.

Thirty two years after the George Pal movie, Rod Tayor hosted a documentary called ‘Time Machine: The Journey Back’. He discussed the makings of the movie and where the time machine prop had been since then. After being found in a thrift shop, the prop was restored to its original condition and used in a Halloween special in which George Pal finally got to sit in it. It was also sat in by Carl Sagan in 'Cosmos' and by Michael J Fox in the documentary 'Time Travel: Fact, Fiction and Fantasy' which promoted 'Back to the Future'. The prop is now owned by Bob Burns in a private museum.

Towards the end of the documentary, there is an eight minute sequel in which George returns from the future on a mission to save the life of David Filby during World War 1. Beforehand, Walter Kemp tells of the time he heard George’s story about his trip into the future. Rod Taylor, Alan Young and Whit Bissell respectively reprised their roles as George, David Filby and Walter Kemp.

There is a TV movie version of 'The Time Machine' set in Los Angeles and made in 1978. It stars John Beck as the inventor and time traveller Neil Perry, Whit Bissell as his friend Ralph Branly and Priscilla Barnes as Weena. Neil Perry invents the time machine in 1978 and travels to the past and future. He almost gets burnt by people in the late 17th Century and he visits the Wild West. He sees the destruction of his own world in the early 21st Century and visits the Eloi world a few thousand years away. He meets Weena and saves all of the Eloi from the Morlocks. He returns to his own time to tell his story before returning to the Eloi world.

On YouTube, I saw the TV movie for the first time, 30 years after it was made. I didn't like it as much as the George Pal movie and the special effects and time travel scenes aren't so great but I did enjoy it.

In 2002, ‘The Time Machine’ was remade by Dreamworks and Warner Brothers and directed by Simon Wells, the great grandson of HG Wells. This movie is very different to the George Pal version and it is set in New York. English born Australian actor Guy Pearce played Alexander Hartegan, a school teacher and the inventor of the time machine. Alan Young made a cameo appearance.

Alexander, after losing his fiancée Emma in 1899, spends four years building a time machine. He travels back to save her from being shot only to lose her in another way. He then travels to the 2030s to see how far technology has gone. He witnesses a disaster that destroys the city and the rest of the world and he continues his trip through time before stopping in 802,701 AD. He meets an Eloi named Mara played by Samantha Mumba and finds out about the human race dividing itself. He travels millions of years ahead to see a world dominated by the Morlocks and returns to the Eloi world to change their future for the better. Unlike in the novel and the original movie, Alexander is left stranded in the future after losing his time machine.

Not everyone liked the remake and it received mixed reviews. I enjoyed it and saw it in the cinema three times. However, I was disappointed by the way it turned out. I think it could have been better and I much prefer the original movie. Alan Young himself was disappointed by the remake. I only hope that if there’s going to be another remake that they will do a much better job of it.

There is an animated version of 'The Time Machine' called ‘Time Kid’ made in 2002. A father in 1902 builds a time machine with the purpose of finding in the future a cure for his wife who died a few years earlier. When the time machine he has used returns from the future without him, his son uses it to find him. The son stops over in different times, one of them being 2002 where he meets his own descendants. He finally stops in 11,902 AD to find his father. He discovers two species of humans. The father and son eventually reunite before returning to their own time. I didn't like this animated movie as much as the George Pal version but I liked it much better than the 2002 remake.

‘The Time Machine’ has also been made into a stage show. Mark Lee played the Time Traveller in this one-man show. He is another Australian actor and he is best remembered for his lead role as Archie Hamilton in the movie ‘Gallipoli’. The stage show was performed in Sydney, Australia, firstly in the Cat & Fiddle Theatre in Balmain in August 2001 and again in Glenn Street Theatre in Belrose in March 2002. The show was very much the same as the novel with only slight differences. Mark Lee wore late 19th Century style clothes and the setting was late 19th Century England.

At the start, the Time Traveller talked to us in the audience about time being the fourth dimension. He spoke of his invention, a time machine that he could use to travel within the fourth dimension, only to find that none of us believed him. He left the room and headed off to his laboratory to take a journey in his machine and returned a short moment later to tell his story. He told us that he had been away for eight days. The Time Traveller travelled to the year 802,701 AD and found himself in a forest. He discovered the two different species of humans and he met an Eloi girl named Meena. He retrieved his time machine from the Morlocks and travelled even further into the future. On one of his stops, he found himself on a beach with a crab as big as a table. After several more stops and seeing an almost lifeless Earth, he returned to his own time.

After telling his story, he found that we still didn’t believe him and he apologised for wasting his time with us. He was ready to take off on another journey through time and his last words were, “I’m going back now, or forward.” He left and the show finished.

All of us in the audience enjoyed the show which lasted for over an hour. It was intense, exciting, dramatic, at times scary and even believable in the way it was told. Mark told the story very well and he did it with such intensity to the point of working up a sweat. In Belrose, the performance was just as good as it was in Balmain but the setting, the action of the actor and the special effects from the lighting were even better. The audience was bigger. Overall, it was a very good show.

I saw the show five times, four times in Balmain and once in Belrose. I brought along others to see the show including my father and my friends Phil Hill, Steve Weston and Janelle Archer. Phil saw it twice. When I saw the show for the fourth time in Balmain, Steve Weston and I met Mark Lee after the show and we each got his autograph. In Belrose, Phil, Janelle and I met him after the show. I got two more autographs from him. In return, I gave him on a card two of my Time Machine drawings, one set in 1895, the other set in 802,701 AD. I asked him if he was looking forward to seeing the new ‘Time Machine’ movie and he replied that they did change things around a bit. He sounded like he wasn’t too keen on seeing it because of this. This I could understand. The new movie was only about a month away from being released in cinemas in Sydney. It was a pleasure to meet Mark Lee on both occasions. I now remember him for two things, his lead role in ‘Gallipoli’ and his solo performance in the stage show of ‘The Time Machine’. If the show is on again in say a few years, I’ll definitely see it again.

If you could travel in a HG Wells time machine, what times would you like to visit? I would meet HG Wells in 1895 shortly after he wrote and published his book 'The Time Machine' and I would meet him again shortly before his death in 1946. If I visited 1960, I would see the original 'Time Machine' movie on the big screen. I would then travel into the future to see if there will be any other movie remakes of 'The Time Machine'. If I travelled to the year 802,701 AD and beyond and the world still existed, I would check to see if it will be anything like what HG Wells predicted it to be.

If there's one thing I would like to see in the future, it's a movie remake of 'The Time Machine' kept similar to the novel and perhaps the original movie. I would like to see the story set in London in the late 19th Century and 802, 701 AD and include stopovers in both the 20th Century and the 21st Century along with a future time before the Eloi world. I would also like to see the inclusion of the further future with the giant crabs on the beach and the future with life on Earth at its end. If such a movie is ever made and if we ever get to see it, I just hope it will be a good one.

Of the different versions of the ‘The Time Machine’, the ones I most recommend to those who are into great time travel adventures are the HG Wells novel and the George Pal movie. I also recommend the sequel ‘The Time Ships’. ‘The Time Machine’ is a great story and a timeless classic and it will continue to endure in popularity for many more years to come.



QUANTUM LEAP

One of my favourite sci fi shows is 'Quantum Leap'. There was no sci-fi show I liked better than this one until the current series of 'Doctor Who' came along but that's another story. The more I saw 'Quantum Leap' the more I enjoyed it.

There are many things I like about 'Quantum Leap' including the eras within Sam Beckett's lifetime that he leaped back to, the visual identities he took on when leaping into other people, the issues, the situations Sam found himself in, the challenges and activities he took on and the outcomes he changed for the better. I not only liked it when he leaped into people both male and female within his own lifetime, I also liked it when he leaped into a chimpanzee and on two other occasions leaped back to two eras outside his own lifetime. In the last episode, I liked it when Sam went back to being himself and even got a free choice on which time and place to leap to. I always liked it when Sam kept saying, "Oh boy!" I enjoyed the show so much that I was very disappointed that it was cancelled after five seasons and many other fans were disappointed as well. I was especially disappointed that Sam did not leap back to his own time.

I hope that there will be a new show soon. It could be one in which Sam continues with the leaps and finally leaps back home or it could be one in which his daughter Sammy Jo, born as a result of the leaps, does some leaping herself to hopefully find Sam and and return him home. I would like to see in a new show more times and places that we have never seen the leaper leap to before, and I would very much like to see Sam make his final leap home.

'Quantum Leap' is a great show and very much missed. The leaps we saw were great and I hope we'll see many more soon.



DOCTOR WHO (Current Series)

I very much like the current series of 'Doctor Who'. It is a case of so far so good and the adventures are the best ones I've seen since the Tom Baker era. I like the current series even more than the classic series.

I liked Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and I have liked his successor David Tennant even more. David is definitely the best Doctor since Tom Baker and he is for me my favourite Doctor coming a close second to Tom. I've liked the companions in the current series including two from the classic series.

Some of the highlights include travels to distant times in the past and future, trips through a time window to 18th Century France, the London 2012 Torch Relay, battles between the Daleks and the Cybermen, the Doctor's reunion with Sarah Jane Smith & K9, the return of the Master, the trip to Pompeii in 79 AD, an alternate reality without the Doctor and many of the companions coming together to save the Universe.

David Tennant will not return as the Doctor in 2010. After appearing in three series of 'Doctor Who', David will appear in four 'Doctor Who' specials in 2009 before departing. He decided to depart from the show to move on with other projects. I could not believe it when I heard his decision to leave and it was so sad to hear, but I'm so happy for him playing the Doctor and he has done such a fantastic job. I'll miss him, his other fans will miss him and he will miss the role. I wish him continued success and I hope his replacement Matt Smith will do well.

The current series is excellent and I look forward to seeing many more great adventures in the years ahead.



'The War of the Worlds' Live

On Wednesday night on 19 September 2007, I saw Jeff Wayne's musical version of 'The War of the Worlds' live in Acer Arena, Homebush. It was fantastic!

This show is a stage version of Jeff Wayne’s 1978 album based on HG Wells’s novel ‘The War of the Worlds’ published in 1898. It is about a journalist who witnesses a martian attack. The story is followed by a modern day epilogue. On the album, Jeff was the composer and two of the singers were Chris Thompson and Justin Hayward. All three of them reprised their roles for the stage show which commenced in the UK in April 2006. The show has also been seen in numerous parts of Australia and in New Zealand and it will be seen elsewhere.

I not only liked the music and the stage performances but also the different scenes and settings that were shown on screen from Mars and Victorian London to present day Earth and Mars. The scenes were a combination of live actors and CGI including the martian fighting machines. On stage, there was a large scale version of a tripod that was never actually built before.

It was great to see in it the composer Jeff Wayne himself and the two of the original singers Chris and Justin along with a few relatively new singers including Rachel Beck, Shannon Noll and Michael Falzon. Shannon played Parson Nathaniel, Rachel played the Parson’s wife Beth and Michael played the artillery man. Richard Burton played the journalist George Herbert on the album and his role was posthumously revived for the show. It's great to know that Richard Burton still had a part even though he's been gone since 1984. I was impressed by that large computer generated hologram of his head projected onto a transparent screen and it was good to hear his voice as recorded on the album.

Rachel Beck sang her song well and I was very impressed and pleasantly surprised by Michael Falzon's song about a brave new world when he played the artillery man. One criticism I overhead from someone on that night was that Shannon Noll overacted and sounded too much like a Southern Baptist minister. I think he sounded too much like one myself. Otherwise, his singing was good.

Jeff Wayne's musical version of 'The War of the Worlds' is my favourite version of the story with the 1950s movie in second place. I definitely would see it again. I really enjoyed it and I never want to forget it.



Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

In ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, set in 1957, Indy fights against Russian agents intent on finding the mysterious skull to harness its unique powers and he goes on a quest to find the skull and return it to its rightful place. A young man named Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf, meets up with him to help him on his quest and they are reunited with an old friend, Marion played by Karen Allen.

The end of the movie has a few surprises for first time viewers including a paranormal event like never before. ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ is set 19 years after 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'. It was released worldwide on 22 May 2008, and it has been given mostly positive reviews by critics.

My friend and celebrity photographer Frank Lavery invited me along to see celebrities arrive at Greater Union Sydney for the Red Carpet Premiere of ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. One of them was Cate Blanchett who played the lead Russian agent Irina Spalko. Frank took plenty of photos of her and I managed to take a few photos of her being interviewed by different reporters.

About a week later, Frank and I went to see the movie. It was great to see in it a different time period and Harrison Ford and Karen Allen reprising their roles. I think both actors did great, just like in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. The movie had quite a few surprises, and I was hugely impressed and blown away by the entire movie itself. Like the first three Indiana Jones movies, it had quite a few laughs. I think it's one of the best 'Indiana Jones' adventure since 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and we both saw it again.

It was great to see Indiana Jones back on the big screen. I think the new ‘Indiana Jones’ movie is worth seeing, and I recommend it to those who enjoyed the first three movies.




Red Carpet Premiere of 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' with Cate Blanchett at Greater Union George Street, Sydney, Australia



HEROES

‘Heroes’ is about ordinary people with extraordinary abilities. Examples include Matt Parkman who can hear people’s thoughts, Claire Bennet who has a regenerative ability, Hiro Nakamura who can manipulate the space/time continuum, Nathan Petrelli who can fly and his brother Peter Petrelli who can absorb other people’s abilities. Villains with extraordinary abilities such as Sylar, Adam Monroe and father Arthur Petrelli have also been included. Each Season involves a mission to save the world.

I have enjoyed all four Seasons so far. I was disappointed that Season 2 was cut short due to the Writers’ Strike but I was happy with the way it finished.

Who’s your favourite hero? Mine is Hiro Nakamura. He’s kind and pure hearted and I loved it when he teleported through time and space. He has visited different places in the past and future such as Japan in 1671 and New York City in 2011. He had a glimpse of the end of the world and he and his friend Ando were on a mission to prevent it from occurring all too soon. Arthur Petrelli stripped him of his ability to manipulate the space/time continuum, but through Matt Parkman's son, he got part of it back.

Two of the actors were in Sydney for signings at JB Hi-Fi on 2 September 2008. They were Milo Ventimiglia who plays Peter Petrelli and Masi Oka who plays Hiro Nakamura. I saw them both. I brought along the DVD box set of ‘Heroes’ Season 1 and a few ‘Heroes’ magazines and graphic novels, all of which I was hoping to get signed, but the only item I would have been able to get signed was the DVD cover of ‘Heroes’ Season 2 and I didn’t have enough money to pre-order. Instead, I managed to take a photo of Masi. I didn’t get to meet the actors face to face but it was great to see them.

'Heroes' is a great show. Don't miss it!


Masi Oka at JB Hi-Fi, The Galeries Victoria, Sydney, Australia



STAR TREK

‘Star Trek’ is the eleventh movie in the Star Trek franchise, and it boldly goes where no Star Trek movie has gone before, to the very beginning.

At the start, the early life of Captain James T Kirk is shown starting from birth and Spock’s childhood is also shown. The rest of the movie shows how all the original USS Enterprise crew members came together. They train at the Starfleet Academy and they fight against Romulans intent on destroying inhabited planets. The story is set several years before the original TV series.

‘Star Trek’ is directed by JJ Abrams and has an entirely new cast as the characters of the original TV series. It includes Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Dr McCoy, Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Hikaru Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. The Romulan villain Captain Nero is played by Eric Bana, the Enterprise's main computer is voiced by Majel Barrett and Leonard Nimoy, from the original TV series and the first six Star Trek movies, plays a much older Spock. This movie is dedicated to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry who died in 1991 and his wife Majel Barrett who died in 2008, shortly after doing voiceover work in the movie itself.

‘Star Trek’ first premiered at Sydney Opera House on 7 April 2009 and many of the cast members attended. It was released worldwide a month later. The movie received mostly positive reviews.

I saw the movie twice in the cinema, firstly with my father and secondly with Frank Lavery who saw the cast members at Sydney Opera House. We all enjoyed the movie. I found it exciting, intense, at times humorous, realistic, interesting in showing the origins of the original USS Enterprise crew and very action-packed. I particularly like Leonard Nimoy’s appearance in this movie. It is the best Star Trek movie I’ve seen in years.

To those of you who’ve just read this article, Live long and prosper!