Number 96, Mavis Bramston... and David Sale

David Sale's tell-all book about "Number 96" and "The Mavis Bramston Show" is out... very soon!

MEDIA RELEASE:

"In the history of Australian television, two shows changed the face of television forever and rocked the nation to its foundations. Now the creator of 'Number 96' and the Executive Producer of 'The Mavis Bramston Show' goes behind the scenes of these two controversial, outrageously ground-breaking series for a jaunt through the industry’s Golden Years.

"'Number 96' and 'The Mavis Bramston Show' flaunted the unmentionable, destroyed taboos, ridiculed sacred cows and dared to deal with subjects hitherto considered too shocking for polite society. They were condemned from the pulpit, slayed by the critics, yet adored by an immense majority of viewers.

"'NUMBER 96, MAVIS BRAMSTON AND ME' by David Sale will be launched by the Hon Michael Kirby on May 13 at a function hosted by Carol Raye, and available online and at selected bookshops from that date.

"Actor, script writer, producer and author David Sale’s career progressed through the theatres and movie studios of London and Hollywood and the turbulent world of Australia’s TV industry. As an actor early in his career, he performed in the UK and Europe including a tour to Malta playing the lead in 'The Mousetrap' and Malcolm in 'MacBeth', before roles for the Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney’s Tivoli Theatre and across Australia in 'The King And I'.

"Sale has been a contributor to many TV series including 'A Country Practice', 'The Group' and 'Carrots', and has provided special material for some of Australia’s legendary entertainers to perform on TV, stage and in cabaret, including Julie Anthony, Maria Venuti, Toni Lamond, Carol Raye, Lorrae Desmond, Hazel Phillips and Donna Lee. He produced the last in the line of Sydney’s notoriously naughty Phillip Street Theatre revues, 'Lie Back and Enjoy It', and created 'Arcade', one of the biggest flops in Australia’s television history. He has written six novels, two of which – bestsellers in England - were bought for the movies.

"He is frank and revealing about his own life, a life that began in war-ravaged Manchester, followed the migrant route to Australia, and – against all odds – hit the heights of show business.

"But over and above anything else, Sale gives the inside story on Australia’s two most iconic television shows. After years of enduring misconceptions, outright lies and under-researched reporting of the series in which he was intimately involved, David Sale decided the truth should be told. He doesn’t pull any punches about any aspects of this incredible journey. He takes us with him every step of the way - huddled in a bomb shelter as a child to dodging Aussie’s TV critics as an adult.

"From blitz to glitz, David Sale tells of a fascinating life in 'Number 96, Mavis Bramston and Me'."

SALES DETAILS:

Cost: $29.95

Published by Vivid Publishing. Available from all good Australian bookstores and worldwide in paperback and ebook editions.

See also www.vividpublishing.com.au/number96/

"We've passed a lot of water under the bridge."

Fame is fleeting... and Blogger is slow!

Maybe you've been wondering where I've been?

Well, a few months ago, an automated message told me that neither Firefox nor Safari web browsers would be supported by the latest upgrades to Blogger and that, if I wanted to be able to keep posting efficiently, I needed to switch to, or at least install, Google Chrome. Then Google Chrome strongly suggested that I make Google Chrome my default browser. Mmmmmm.

Problem is, I really, really like Firefox - and my first attempts to upload (or link) to things like slideshows made with Flash suddenly weren't being supported by Google Chrome. Mmmmmm.

And everything seems to be running sooooo slow. Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!

These days I do spend quite a bit of time over on on Facebook and, when a FB thread would become noteworthy, I was often turning that into a more polished blog entry, but these recent changes to Blogger - and the agonising slowness of Blogger to load (especially when keyword searching for a previous blog entry in my History) - has stripped out all the spontaneity. If I can't find an efficient way to auto-synchronise Blogger, Twitter and Facebook, without my entries looking like bizarre cut-and-paste jobs filled with bad formatting and "@" symbols all over the place - I'm afraid time just runs out for well-considered, longer, funnier, blog posts. The art of commenting on blog posts also seems to have dried up in recent years. Again, the same anecdote or pic on Facebook will garner many more responses, even though my potential audience there is much smaller.

Anyway, braving the current mire that is Blogger and Google Chrome, I shall persist, and, if it works, I might try to find time to retro-add some old blog entries that have been stockpiling in my memory.

A friend emailed me this morning to ask, "Did you read about yourself in 'Good Weekend' this weekend? I think you were the man in the leopard skin suit (jacket) in the story on Selwa Anthony."

OMG? The leopardskin print shirt I wore at last September's Sassy Awards? Off to the newsagents I went! Joe Bananas (of QVB) did say, when I bought the shirt on his strong recommendation, that it was a shirt that no one would forget. It kinda rubs it in, when I'm so far behind on blog entries. That shirt is old news now.

Okay, I'm back from the newsagent! He gave me the supplement for free because it was yesterday's news! Page 9, "Never-Ending Story"; Tim Elliott's article on Selwa in the "Sydney Morning Herald" magazine supplement. I guess I'm the guy in the "full leopard skin suit" who "nods hungrily" at Selwa's suggestion that we be "ready to dance". Never let the truth get in the way of a good anecdote. (Mr Elliott is in good company here!) Ha ha!

It's not my first time being featured in leopard skin, either, thanks in the first instance to Geoffrey McSkimming when he put me in a "School Magazine" play!

Above: Thanks to writer, Geoffrey McSkimming, and artist, Tohby Riddle, I once featured in a "School Magazine" play ("Touchdown", Vol 87, No 10, Nov 2002, pp 341-346). The character of "Ian, the lost librarian", a Tarzan memorabilia fanatic (instead of "Star Trek"), appears in "Mr A at the Floor of Heaven, or, Not Quite Yeti".

"The misguided librarians are lost in the snow,
Dewey's their system, but snowy they go..."

Ian the librarian wears a spotted loincloth over his snow-pants, of course. He is one of those tiny silhouettes in Tohby's artwork, and was joined by my real life workmates at SCIS & "Scan": Anne (aka "Mrs Dowling"), Wendy and Deirdre.

Yes, fame is fleeting! And Google Chrome is slow.

Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History

It's out!

"Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History" has arrived at Galaxy Bookshop.

The Trek's not over till the last Ewok falls!

Written by Robert Greenberger and edited by Scott Pearson for Voyageur Press. For those playing at home, it features a few photos from my own collection. Look out for my Arex and M'Ress Filmation TAS customized action figures (page 58), yours truly as Maltz the Klingon, introducing Bjo Trimble at Eccentricon (page 135), the "Star Trek"-themed Mr Potato Heads I bought from Kings Comics (page 135), Lana Pennington-Brown's beautiful artwork of Data and Tasha on a Mike McGann-printed sweater (page 145), and my "United Federation of Paramount" t-shirt from Lincoln Enterprises (page 146).

Customised Tuvix, Dr Selar, Arex, M'Ress and Trader Worf with tribbles.

I've only had a chance to do some quick riffling so far, but there is some really great stuff in here! Nostalgia plus for fans of any era, but particularly those who remember the original TV series of the 60s with fondness, the Filmation animated series and the six classic movies. Later chapters look at the tie-in novels, collectibles and the expansion of the franchise with "The Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine", "Voyager" and "Enterprise".

The ideal book for Christmas gift-giving to that hard-to-buy-for Trek fan in your life?

Friends of Phyllis Wong

Today, at The Children's Bookshop, Beecroft, Paul Macdonald introduced the irrepressible author Geoffrey McSkimming, of "Cairo Jim" fame, to a young audience who'd come to celebrate the start of Book Week with some magic! Geoffrey read from his new novel, "Phyllis Wong and the Forgotten Secrets of Mr Okyto", the first in a projected series of six books. His professional magic adviser on the book, Sue-Anne Webster, performed some wonderful feats with the help of members of the audience. There were autographs and collectible lapel badges for all!

Paul Macdonald introduces Geoffrey McSkimming

Author Geoffrey McSkimming is about to unleash his "Saturday imagination",
and magician Sue-Anne Webster prepares to catch it in a paper bag
at The Children's Bookshop. (For his weekday imagination, Geoffrey
would need a bigger container.)

A highlight of the event:
Geoffrey: "Any questions?"
Comment from audience: "What's behind that black cloth?"
Geoffrey: "Books I didn't write."

To kill a mockingbird in 2012

Old and new: 1963 Sydney premiere of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and today's presentation
at the same theatre (2012), to celebrate 100 years of Universal Studios.

Yesterday, I was off to kill a mockingbird. In glorious black and white.

What a coincidence that this movie played a reprise screening. I am deep into the original novel at the moment, in preparation for a course in creative writing with author Jeni Mawter, at the Sydney Writers' Centre, Milson's Point.

The State's publicity blurb said, "Screen legend Gregory Peck stars as courageous Southern lawyer, Atticus Finch - the Academy Award-winning performance hailed by the American Film Institute as the 'Greatest Movie Hero of All Time'. Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about innocence, strength and conviction and nominated for eight Academy Awards."

And it was a great film. The little boy beside me was quaking in his seat, but watching through his hands. So much of the music was familiar, especially the suspense theme.

Prior to the screening of the main attraction, a b/w Cinesound newsreel from 1963 was shown. It started with the Christmas Parade of 1962, down the main street of Adelaide, then a gala day for the fire brigades, the triumphant return of the new Miss Australia to her home atate (SA), and included a festival on the Great Barrier Reef. Quote of the newsreel: "After [tennis champion] Rod Laver declares the [Great Barrier Reef] festival open, all the towns go gay."

R.I.P. Gene DeWeese

Awww. Sad.

I just heard that "Star Trek" and science fiction novelist, Gene DeWeese, passed away last March.

If I recall correctly, Margaret Wander Bonanno (garamet on the TrekBBS message board) was a friend of his. Certainly, Gene himself briefly joined several conversations on the old Psi Phi bbs if/when anyone began discussing his books, sometimes only minutes after someone mentioned his name.

I swapped a few email exchanges with him about his contribution to "Star Trek" over the years. Always witty and chirpy. I'd really enjoyed the early "The Peacekeepers", the second orginal novel featuring "The Next Generation" characters, although "Chain of Attack", an original series novel, felt a little too techy to me; I was thrilled to notice it was actually a followup to Lee Correy's "Abode of Life". I know that, for many fans, "Chain of Attack" was their first original ST novel experience, being part of a major design rejig by Pocket Books - the first on shelves after the release of the much-hyped, international hit, "ST IV: The Voyage Home". "Chain of Attack" was released in the UK as Book #1 of a new publishing program (Titan Books).

For many ST fans, "Chain of Attack" is as revered as Vonda McIntyre's "The Entropy Effect". Or James Blish's "Spock Must Die!" Or Mack Reynolds' "Mission to Horatius".

The most memorable aspect of Gene's "The Final Nexus", a direct sequel to "Chain of Attack", was the feisty female guest character depicted on the cover, plus his very welcome reuse of Ingrit Thomson, the non-canonical female security officer shared by several other TOS writers of the day. "Renegade" I read, but don't really remember much about it now.

I do recall expressing my frustration, once, on Psi Phi, with how frustratingly dull and slow "Into the Nebula" was - so slow that I'd quite forgotten any details of the plot. To my initial embarrassment, Gene suddenly popped up - from a long bbs absence - to admit that he, neither, could remember anything about that novel's plot, except that the Enterprise-D crew went into a nebula.

Discussions by the regulars on Psi Phi and TrekBBS about the mysterious "Engines of Destiny" (listed in Steve Roby's online "Lost Star Trek books" archive after someone noticed several unpublished draft manuscripts that Gene had donated to a public library's reference collection), led to garamet summoning Gene to the bbs again to tell us more about it - and, ultimately, to then-Pocket editor Marco Palmieri reactivating Gene's contract to publish it.

R.I.P. Gene.

Hold on to your pointed ears!

How does fifteen discs of soundtrack music from the original series of "Star Trek" sound?

For more about STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION, visit www.lalalandrecords.com now and join the STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES SOUNDTRACK MAILING LIST to receive important forthcoming information and announcements regarding the release, such as the official release date, the number of units pressed, pricing and much more!

It is "licensed by CBS Consumer Products and produced in cooperation with GNP Crescendo Records, the longtime home of pioneering classic Star Trek television and film soundtracks. GNP Crescendo’s Neil Norman has allowed for episode scores previously and exclusively released by Crescendo to be newly expanded and remastered for this box set, in order to make the collection as comprehensive as possible."

How cool is that?