Month: January 2023

Review of my children’s restaurant: Lantern’s Loom

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Children

I want to talk about restaurants; technically one restaurant in particular. Why? I haven’t written much about food before, other than praising Salt and Vinegar flavoured snacks, and warning you good people, about the dangers of falling in love with Sour Cream and Chives. To remedy this, I want to offer you a review about a restaurant that I recently visited. The restaurant’s name is Lantern’s Loom, which I think was named after Green Lantern or Sinestro, though the staff were very vague about that.

Image by Dima Dmitry from Pixabay

Let’s set the scene. I was in my bedroom, trying in vain to put all my random stuff away, when I received an unexpected invitation from a personal messenger. It turned out to be the grand opening of a new restaurant. You see I was completely confused, because I had no idea there was going to be a restaurant opening in my house. Our kitchen and lounge are basically in the same room, so there’s no dividing wall between them. This means setting up a restaurant there, makes it the best location in the house. However, I couldn’t remember ever giving permission for this.

I have to admit though, I was very impressed with the invitation. It wasn’t a phone call, email or a letter; it was a personal message from the manager of the restaurant. He came and explained that the restaurant was open and if I would like to eat there for free. I thought it could have been a bit of a scam, but he showed me it wasn’t. It was their opening day and they wanted to build up some customers. I thought, “Hey, you know it’s a local restaurant, so we should support it.” So off I went to make the epic 6 m walk.

Once I was there; and I have to be honest, I started to see some red flags that maybe, just maybe, this restaurant was not quite as professional as I thought it would be.

I discovered that the manager was actually the waiter as well, and the chef was the waiter’s younger brother. He looked very happy doing nothing in the kitchen, which was odd. So I looked around and noticed that I had the whole restaurant to myself. While I was comfortable in my chair, the waiter came over and brought me the menu. It was a hand written menu, but in all honesty, I was a little bit disappointed with it. Not with the handwriting of course; that was awesome! What disappointed me, was what they were actually serving.

The menu had three different combos. The first was Vegemite sandwiches with hot chips; the second was chicken nuggets with hot chips; while the third combo was tomato soup with bread. Because of such a limited menu, I asked the waiter if there were any specials of the day. The waiter said that he didn’t know, but he would ask the chef. However, the waiter even didn’t bother turning around; even though the chef was less than 2 m away from him, because he yelled the question.

It was at this point when I noticed what the chef was wearing. He was standing in the kitchen wearing a SpongeBob SquarePants t-shirt, dinosaur shorts and nothing else; not even footwear. Now I’m not a food critic, but I did get the impression that this chef may not even be qualified.

The chef’s response to the waiter’s question was quite breathtaking. He replied that the waiter was not allowed to talk to him, while he was working. And by working, I mean standing there, eating a raw carrot. I heard the response, which was quite bizarre, but the waiter replied to me, saying that the special was chicken pizza. WTF?!

This was another red flag, telling me that this restaurant wasn’t quite legitimate. Anyway, I thought I would still give them the benefit of the doubt. The waiter asked me if I would like a drink, so I asked him what drinks did they have. He responded by saying, that they had every drink in the world.  

I was quite excited about this, so I asked for some fresh orange juice. The waiter walked away to talk to the chef, then came back to inform me that the chef didn’t like orange juice, so they didn’t have any. I was disappointed with this, so I asked for some grapefruit juice instead. After discussing with the chef again, the waiter replied they had no grapefruit juice either. I was starting to think I was in the middle of a Monty Python sketch.

This was another disappointment, so I thought it could be safer to ask for the waiter’s recommendation, which was chocolate milk and I agreed. Because of this, the chocolate milk arrived very quickly and as I was drinking it, I noticed the chef again. This time he had finished eating his carrot and now he was banging things around the kitchen, like he was drumming. I mentioned this to the waiter and he explained that the chef enjoys making loud noises while he is cooking.

The weird thing about this, was that waiter hadn’t taken my order yet. There were no other customers, so what was the chef cooking? It turned out that the chef was actually making his lunch, which was another carrot and some biscuits. I thought this was really strange, so I ordered the chicken nuggets and hot chips. The waiter told me that was a great choice, so he turned and yelled the order to the chef. I didn’t know why, but I had a terrible feeling that something was about to go wrong. And it did.

The chef replied that a giant squid had stolen all of the nuggets. To avoid another farcical interaction, I asked the waiter for his recommendation, which was tomato soup and bread. The waiter informed me that the chef would be able to cook this meal soon, so I would only have 10 minutes to wait.

I was alright with that, so I was left to enjoy the quiet atmosphere of Lantern’s Loom.

Or so I thought. In another display of unprofessionalism, the chef and the waiter were disagreeing on the amount of time it would take the cook the soup. The waiter was telling the chef, it would only take 10 minutes, but the chef was saying it was going to take 100 years. Again, I’m not a food critic, but I really didn’t have the patience to sit there for 100 years, waiting for tomato soup and bread. I took a deep breath and tried really hard to wait for the food. As I was waiting, I heard a familiar song.

The chef was singing his version of Intergalactic by The Beastie Boys. I offered to sing with the chef, but he declined saying that he was too busy to be singing with anyone; he was only busy enough to sing by himself.

I continued to wait. Not long after that, the waiter was called into the kitchen for a secret discussion with the chef. I continued to wait. Eventually the waiter presented my tomato soup and bread to me; however it wasn’t tomato soup and bread. The waiter explained that the chef didn’t want to cook tomato soup, so he made me a Vegemite sandwich instead, along with some chips. Luckily the chips were not Sour Cream and Chives.

I ate my meal in silence, except for the occasional request from the kitchen dog for my food. This place was bonkers. After I finished the meal; which was great, the waiter came over and asked me if I would like a dessert, to which I tactfully and politely declined; purely because I thought the chef might get angry again over my food choices.

Upon leaving Lantern’s Loom, I did ask for the bill, just to make sure it was free. To my amazement, it really was. The waiter thanked me for coming to the restaurant, while the chef said that I could cook the food next time.

Lantern’s Loom is a local restaurant, but also a family business, so I wish it great luck and success, because I want to patron the restaurant again…however, I feel some issues need to be addressed before I make another visit. If I visit Lantern’s Loom again, I’ll let you know if things have improved or not. Here’s hoping.

We are slowly heading into our final month of Summer here; which is equally positive and negative, just like a riding in a clown car. Anyway, that’s it for me. Please walk your dog, read a banned book, rescue a bee, and I’ll see you next week.

Epic Rap Battles of History and the people I had never heard of

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, People, Social Media

I want to talk about Epic Rap Battles of History. Why? ERB is one of my favourite YouTube channels for all of the best reasons. History, music, pop culture and burns. A whole lot of burns.

If you don’t know about ERB, don’t worry, I used to be just like you. ERB creates videos that have two or more individuals involved in a rap battle. These individuals are either fictional characters from books, movies, tv shows, video games, and comic books; or real people from history, whether they are living or dead.

The first ERB video I saw was Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes and I loved it. I mentioned it to my girlfriend at the time (later my future wife) and she was dismayed that I had only just discovered it. Because of this, she mentioned some insult about my age that I can’t remember 1.

The series was created by Nice Peter (Peter Shukoff) and EpicLLOYD (Lloyd Ahlquist) and has evolved from a sketch in an improvised show to legendary status; at least to me. The first rap battle was released on YouTube in 2010 and since then, the channel has had multiple guest actors, performers and writers.

My ERB black t-shirt

Apart from the fact that the rap battles are as funny as Wile E. Coyote failing, they do actually educate people; especially concerning historic icons. With each new rap battle, my wife and I will sit and watch it together, because you know what they say…the couple that watch rap battles together, um…watch rap battles together.

Anyway, I love picking up subtle references with the lyrics, so I get to polish my geek badge after each rap battle. Well, that is not entirely true. Now I love history. I love learning weird and bizarre things about historic people and events, because it keeps me semi-sane. To prove a point, while my classmates were going to school dances, I was at home reading the oldest set of encyclopedias, humanity had ever seen. Why? Because some geek didn’t tell me about history, so I had to learn about it myself.

Coming back to ERB, there have been some rap battles where I have looked at one of the historic or pop culture figures in the opening credits, and had no idea who they were. This would mean I would have to quickly research the person before the rap battle started, so I had an idea on what to expect.

I’ve decided to list them in order of release and for your entertainment. In my defence, the five people listed are all Americans, and being a non-American myself, means I don’t know everything about America. Yet.

Season 1

Billy Mays vs. Ben Franklin

I had no idea about Billy Mays, I had never heard of him. I understand he was a salesperson on the Home Shopping Network, however I did know about Benjamin Franklin, so that’s a plus! I felt like I should have known about Billy Mays, but I didn’t; I let the team down.

Season 2

Mozart vs. Skrillex

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was easy, but Skrillex?! Skrillex?! Since my musical appreciation ended about 2000-2005, I really didn’t know of any new bands or artists. My future wife at the time; whom is 9.5 years younger than me, was shocked that I didn’t know who he was. Leave me alone, I’m old. I thought Skrillex sounded like an antidepressant, so after researching him and watching the rap battle, I considered myself educated. Not like the Tories.2

Season 3

Bob Ross vs. Pablo Picasso

I knew of Pablo Picasso, but never met him, because….he died before I was born. Yeah, that’s the reason. Anyway, my issue was with Bob Ross. I knew of some artist that taught people to paint happy little trees on television, but I didn’t know that guy was Bob Ross. After matching the name to the face, I now know about cadmium yellow.

Season 5

Gordon Ramsay vs. Julia Child

Now before you get excited, yes, I have heard of Gordon Ramsay. It’s Julia Child, I had never heard of. When the opening credits for the video started, I said, “Who the hell is Julia Child?!” My wife had worked in the food industry, so unknown to me, she was the perfect person to educate me. Upon wondering how I had lived my entire life having never heard of Julia Child, she told me all about her. The rap battle made a lot more sense because of that, even with my beloved ignorance.

Season 5

Frederick Douglass vs. Thomas Jefferson

Out of the five entries on this list, Frederick Douglass is the one I’m the most ashamed of not knowing. As soon as I read the title of the video, I realised we didn’t know a single thing about Frederick Douglass, so my wife and I paused the video and researched him. As I was reading about his life, it reinforced the concept that even though I knew some things about US history, there are equally as many things that I didn’t know. Because of this, it quickly became my favourite rap battle for Season 5.

I love ERB and I will write more about it. Eventually. Do you watch ERB? Has there ever been a rap battle with a person you had never heard of? Please let me know.

Well that’s it for me. I’m still making my way through Star Trek: Discovery. I’m at the halfway point of Season 4, so wish me luck. So thanks for reading, go watch some football, walk your dog, read a banned book and I’ll see you next week.

1 I lied, I remember exactly what she said.

2 Sorry, I couldn’t help it.

Touring the Solar System: Meet the Family

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Science

One of my simple goals for 2023; not in terms of teaching the public about the dangers of Sour Cream and Chives, is to write more science based content. So to kick the new year off, I’m going to be writing about astronomy; namely the Solar System. Each month I’ll use a badly scratched and well used magnifying glass, to look at some of the stellar1 features within our Solar System.

I chose to write about astronomy, because it’s the first field of science I fell in love with. I didn’t even have to ask its phone number either; though to be fair, if it did give me a phone number, it would be fake. Nice.

I plan on starting off in the centre of the Solar System and slowly work my way out, so with each new month, I’ll be adding a new entry into my expansion pack. They will be full of facts and information, so they may look, sound, and read a bit differently than my other blogs. Hell, it could even be an improvement.

So for the first tour, we’ll be making very brief stops across the Solar System. A quick introduction will be made to each family member, then we’ll move onto the next one. Clear as mud? Great, so you need to strap yourself in, because we’re going to meet the family!

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

Our first stop of the Solar System is meeting the single parent that looks after the family. The funny thing about this parent, is that it’s actually a fusion reactor. We call it the Sun and just to make sure everybody understands how important the Sun is to us and rest of the family, we need to remember a few small things:

1.) The Sun is actually a star.

2.) The Sun is around 4.5 billion years old.

3.) The Sun’s mass is so large, that everything within the Solar System orbits it. This includes comets, asteroids, planets and us.

Moving on from the Sun; which many of its ex-partners simply can’t do, we need to discuss the siblings; also known as planets. And just like nearly everything, you can place siblings in groups. A person could have a brother or sister, half-brother/half-sister, step-brother/step-sister or an adopted brother or adopted sister.

The same can be said for the planets of the Solar System. They can be grouped into three simple types: terrestrial planets, dwarf planets and gas planets.

The four planets closest to the Sun, in order are Mercury, Venus, Earth (Yay!) and Mars. These are the terrestrial planets, also known as the rock planets or Inner Planets. They are rocky planets that are dense and small, they contain various metals and have a solid physical surface; as well as a few or no natural satellites (moons).

Beyond Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, and Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, lies a region called the Asteroid Belt. This area of space has millions of asteroids of various sizes, that orbit the Sun as well. It’s here in the Asteroid Belt, that we meet Ceres, the first member of the second group; the dwarf planets.

Just to clear things up, dwarf planets do not have beards, swing axes, enjoy singing, living with princesses, like mining or wear mithril. They are known as dwarf planets because there is a small difference between them and planets. This difference was established by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006 upon three criteria.

Remember when everyone’s favourite ninth planet from the Sun, Pluto, was demoted from planet to dwarf planet? Pluto remembers, because it failed to achieve one of the three criteria; which I will cover in another blog, very soon. People are still emotional about Pluto getting kicked out of the club, but I will explain it, I promise.

Ok, are you still with me? Great, let’s push on. Now we visit the four gas planets, also known as the gas giants or Outer Planets. These are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These planets are different from the Inner Planets, because they filled with different gases, they have no physical surface and they are extremely cold. They also have rings, multiple moons and they’re huge; each one is larger than the Earth.

Past Neptune’s orbit, we have the Kuiper Belt. This region of space could possibly be the source and origin of short-period comets. The Kuiper Belt also has a collection of dwarf planets, which fall under the label of trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs. These include Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris.

There are some other TNOs named Gonggong, Quaoar, Sedna, Orcus and Salacia; and from what I understand, these TNOs have not been given the prestigious title of dwarf planet. Yet.

There are many other parts to our Solar System, but I’ll just be sticking to the Sun, Inner Planets, the Asteroid Belt and Ceres, Outer Planets, along with the Kuiper Belt and dwarf planets for the time being. So the first blog will be about the Sun in February, and I’ll try to put the Solar System post up on the fourth Monday of the month. Maybe, though it depends on how enthusiastic I feel.

This side mission is different for me, so I hope it makes sense. Alright that’s it, go watch some football, read a banned book, walk your dog and I’ll see you next week.

1 Pun very much intended.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Review (Finally)

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Television

I want to talk about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Why? This is a no brainer. I’m a modest fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s work, so the concept of a tv show set in Middle-earth during the Second Age, was always going to interest me. When the show was released, I happily read several articles about it; which included positive and negative reviews, plus everything in between.

In September, I wrote a blog about some creative negative reviews about the show, because I didn’t know when I would get a chance to view it. That changed a few weeks ago, when I promised myself a reward for surviving 2022, in the form of watching the show.

So during my holiday break, I watched the show over three nights, which involved rain, a snoring and farting dog; as well as UMC2 getting out of bed multiple times, to check to see if the house was still there. I’ve also just finished The Fall of Gondolin, so the timing was written in Varda’s stars.

After watching the first season, I thought in my infinite wisdom that reviewing The Rings of Power would be a smart idea. Maybe.

Image by Marco Ianna from Pixabay

The first thing I want to discuss and acknowledge, is how difficult it is to adapt any prequel medium; let alone a famous one like The Lord of the Rings. The pressure on the crew and cast to satisfy the media, fans, critics, and the public would be immense. Imagine if a tv show was developed to focus on the founding of Hogwarts, from Harry Potter, or the creation of Panem, from The Hunger Games? The social media response would be madness.

The reaction to The Rings of Power was always going to be mixed. The show’s expectations would be higher than a person that’s fantastic at jumping, on a day they have a special reason to be jumping. Among the viewership, there would die hard Tolkien fans, The Lord of the Rings trilogy fans, movie fans, fantasy fans, critics, and the casual viewer.

Would people be comparing the show to the movies? How accurate do you want the show to follow the source material? How much artistic license can you use? How do you keep old fans happy, but not alienate new fans, and vice versa? Would people want to see more of Middle-earth or are the movies enough?

That’s all well and good Scott, but what are your thoughts on the show? Wow, what an original question!

Let’s break this down into four sections.

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Things I feel The Rings of Power, may need to improve on

  • The sets were amazing, but they looked new. They didn’t look like they were hundreds or thousands of years old.
  • Some dialogue could do with some polishing.
  • Elrond’s oath to Prince Durin about mithril was strange, because he ended up discussing the metal with many non-dwarven people.
  • Even though time is not absolute, it was difficult to determine how much time had passed. eg The Númenóreans journey to Middle-earth and Galadriel’s adventures.
  • Why was Halbrand in the middle of the Great Sea in the first place?

Things I liked in the The Rings of Power

  • Having a mortal human man (Aragon, Beren and Tuor) falling in love with an immortal elven princess (Arwen, Lúthien and Idril) had been done before. So it was refreshing to see a immortal male elf (Arondir) in love with a mortal human woman (Bronwyn).
  • The costumes, sets, CGI and music were outstanding.
  • Witnessing the creation of Mount Doom and the conversion of the Southlands into Mordor, was an unexpected and excellent surprise.
  • Adar and the Orcs winning, was actually a moral victory.
  • The concept that not everybody hated Sauron, was a quite clever idea.
  • The design of Númenor was visually gorgeous; especially their ships.
  • Travelling by map was great for viewers unfamiliar with Middle-earth.
  • Elrond and Durin’s relationship was special, because not only did it highlight inter-species friendships, but it also looked at what it would be like having an elf as a friend. Elrond missed 20 years of Durin’s life, because 20 years is nothing to an immortal elf.
  • Finally showing us female dwarves was great.
  • Having Sauron play the hero and victim in his own story, was unexpected. The more I thought about it, I more I liked it.
  • Because Nori discovered and helped Gandalf, it explains as to why the wizard has a soft spot for hobbits. Not including Bilbo, of course.
  • I’m bias as a New Zealander, but the cinematography was beautiful.

Things people are angry about

Complaining about casting non-white characters:

This is embarrassing and idiotic. We live in the 21st century, so we have evolved into a global community. Because of this, stories like The Lord of the Rings have been translated and spread around the world; it’s a global brand. This means people from all walks of life, in hundreds of different countries, are already or possibly potential viewers and fans.

Why would the production company alienate these people, by casting all white actors? People need to see themselves on the big and small screen, because we need to reflect society and reality. The fantasy genre is not just for straight white males; it’s for anybody. So anyone complaining about non-white actors in the show, really need to join us in the 21st century. Seriously, come join us, we have Salt and Vinegar chips!

Complaining about the pace of the show:

I’ve read several complaints about how the show was slow, boring and lacked action. I can understand this, but for me it was a slow burn. Yes, it did start slow, but it didn’t end that way. As the show progressed, tension, intrigue, drama and action, started to develop. You can’t have a show that has action and drama in every scene, because that would be exhausting and pointless.

Yes, some parts of the show were slow, but that was by design; it needed to be that way. An example of this was when Theo found the sword hilt, that just happened to be what Adar was looking for; but what did it do? What was its function? You had to wait to discover the secret.

Basically, I had the attention span to watch all eight episodes and not be bored. The pace of the show was fine.

Complaining about Galadriel’s personality:

For this one, people were upset about how Galadriel was so combative, argumentative, arrogant, selfish and unpleasant. The main reason viewers felt that way, was because they were comparing Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel to Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel; which was always going to happen. That was unavoidable.

Yes it’s true that Galadriel is not all about kittens and rainbows at the start of the show, but we need to remember two things:

1.) Galadriel’s brother Finrod, was killed in battle against Morgoth, and her husband Celeborn, is missing, believed dead. She is suffering and angry. She knows Sauron is alive, she just needs the evidence to prove it. The way is she is obsessed with finding Sauron is questionable, but Galadriel’s not wrong.

2.) Clark’s Galadriel is thousands of years younger than Blanchett’s Galadriel. The Galadriel in the future (The Lord of Rings) is wise, compassionate and sympathetic. She has crafted these traits over thousands of years, because she has evolved and changed; just like us. Are you the same person you were 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 years ago?

No, you’ve changed, along with your opinions and the way you see the world. Why would a fictional elf that is thousands of years old, that has gone through terrible life experiences, be any different? In order for Galadriel to be the wise elf we know in The Lord of Rings, the journey that she has started in The Rings of Power, will take her there.

You can actually see Galadriel’s emotional growth from the first episode to the last. It’s her story arc; all great characters have them. Galadriel has made mistakes, because even fictional elves are not infallible. We know what Galadriel’s final destination is, but we get to tag along with her on that journey. Galadriel will change and develop over the course of the show; that’s the point many people have missed.

Things I’m looking forward to seeing in the show

  • Hopefully watching King Durin III and Gil-galad, become more compassionate leaders towards other races.
  • Exploring what the three elven rings, Narya, Nenya and Vilya can do.
  • More battles.
  • Spending time with Sauron and his shenanigans.
  • The forging of the seven dwarf rings, and exploring their abilities.
  • The forging of the nine rings, destined for the leaders of Men; but also the corruption of the mortal men. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
  • The forging of the One Ring by Sauron and how he uses it.
  • More battles.
  • The downfall of Númenor.
  • The return of Celeborn and Isildur, but also the rise of Elendil.
  • Maybe some Balrogs.
  • Gandalf interacting with the world.
  • More battles.
  • The Harfoots settling in the Shire. Maybe.
  • Seeing Arondir and Bronwyn marry.
  • Watching the relationships between the elves, dwarves and mortals develop.

If it’s not obvious, I liked The Rings of Power. Is it perfect? No. Is there room for improvements? Yes. Am I going to return for Season Two? Yes, yes I am. The show has added to the Middle-earth lore. There is huge potential for the show, so we can pray to Eru Ilúvatar, that Season Two will blow us away.

But that’s my humble opinion. Have you seen The Rings Of Power? What are your thoughts? Please let me know.

That’s it for me, I’ve off to raid the pantry before bed. Thanks again for following Some Geek Told Me, read some banned books, walk your dog, and I’ll see you next week.

Are there things to look forward to in 2023?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Books, Comics, Movies, Sports, Television

I want to talk about 2023. Why? Um…let’s see. It’s nice to see the back of 2022 and usher in 2023, so Happy New Year! Because we have a brand new year, filled with fear and disappointment, I thought it might be optimistic of me for a change, to discuss what I’m looking forward to this year.

This is not a New Years Resolutions List, because you know, they don’t work. No, these are special events that are happening in 2023. It could be the release of a new movie, tv show, book, sporting event, of just about anything, as long as it is happening in 2023. They are five notes that go with the list.

1.) Just because an event is on the list, does not mean I will get to experience that event in 2023. A book might be released in May, a movie might come out in December, or a tv show will be released on a streaming platform that I don’t currently subscribe to, so I may not read and watch them until 2024. Also I can’t watch every single World Cup match or sports game either; I wish.

2.) Annual events like birthdays, anniversaries, Free Comic Book Day, or annual sporting competitions are special, but they don’t count, because they happen every year.

3.) Sour Cream and Chives being banned is very hopeful, but severely unlikely, so I can’t really put it on the list.

4.) Some dates could be confusing because of time zones differences, but they are subject to change,

5.) Against popular belief, I don’t know everything. There will be information about an event that hasn’t be released yet, that I could be interested in; but if I don’t know about it, I can’t add it to the list.

Right, I’m not here to shag spiders, so let’s do this.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Sport

Cricket

  • ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: 11th February-27th February
  • New Zealand Tour of India: 18th January-1st February
  • England Tour of New Zealand: 16th February-28th February
  • Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand: 9th March-8th April
  • New Zealand Tour of Pakistan: 13th April-7th May
  • New Zealand Tour of England: 25th August-15th September
  • ICC Men’s World Cup: 10th October-26th November

Football

  • FIFA Women’s World Cup: 20th July-20th August
  • CONCACAF Gold Cup: 24th June-16th July

Side note: The 2023 AFC Asian Cup and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, have been pushed back to late 2023 to early 2024, with no confirmed dates. Thanks COVID-19 and climate change.

Rugby Union

  • 2023 Rugby World Cup: 8th September-28th October
  • I have no idea about international fixtures, other than the Six Nations and the World Cup.

Rugby League

  • I have no idea about international fixtures or tournaments.

I live in New Zealand, so these are my favourite sports. I’m very sorry.

Movies

  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February)
  • Shazam! Fury of the Gods (March)
  • John Wick: Chapter 4 (March)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May)
  • The Flash (June)
  • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (June)
  • Oppenheimer (July)
  • The Marvels (July)
  • Blue Beetle (August)
  • Dune: Part Two (November)
  • The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (November)
  • Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December)

And for various reasons, I’m a little nervous for this one:

  • Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June)

I’m painfully aware that out of all of these movies I want to see, only one is not a some type of sequel. Damn you Hollywood!

Television

  • The Mandalorian (March)
  • Superman & Lois (March)
  • Loki (Unknown)
  • Secret Invasion (Unknown)
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender (Unknown)
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Unknown)
  • Invincible (Unknown)
  • Doctor Who (Unknown)
  • Star Trek: Discovery (Unknown)
  • House of the Dragon (Unknown)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Unknown)

Wow, what a list of superheroes, fantasy and science fiction shows! I’m embarrassed now.

Music

  • I have no idea, I have to start listening to more music created after 2005.

Literature

Manga

  • Sadly, I read six different titles and they’re published sporadically; so I don’t know when they would be released in 2023.

Comics

  • Saga is back in January with #61.
  • Any Locke & Key or The Umbrella Academy mini-series.

Fiction

  • The Nature of Middle-earth (February-paperback)
  • Star Wars: The High Republic – The Battle of Jedha (February)
  • Star Wars: The High Republic – Quest for Planet X (April))
  • Star Wars: The High Republic – Cataclysm (April)
  • Star Wars: The High Republic – Path of Vengeance (May)
  • The Fall of Númenor (Unknown-paperback)

Non-Fiction

  • Starry Messenger : Cosmic Perspectives on Civilisation (June)
  • A Brief History of Black Holes : And why nearly everything you know about them is wrong (Present)
  • The Men Who Destroyed Africa (Unknown)

Let’s be honest, shall we? One day I will talk about Star Wars: The High Republic; I purchase too many books; but also, my to-read pile is not getting any smaller. It has grown to three piles now. Because of that, I could continue listing books, but you’re probably already bored with my ramblings anyway, so I won’t add any more.

Random

  • New Zealand General Election (Sometime in mid-late 2023)
  • More news of nuclear fusion discoveries.
  • Any new SpaceX , ESA or NASA launches.
  • New images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
  • Any new species discovered.
  • Any new Count Binface election campaigns.
  • New content from my favourite bloggers and YouTube channels.
  • UMC1 and UMC2 could be playing sport this year, so I’m looking forward to that.

The problem is that I’ll publish this blog and then realise I’ve missed something; as usual. Anyway, is there anything that you think that I’ve missed? What are you looking forward to in 2023? Please let me know.

That’s it for me. Read some banned books, walk your dog, and I’ll see you next week. Thanks for reading!