Category: Home Entertainment

Fond and Retrogaming with the C64 Enthusiasts Club, an Interview with Kevin Casteels

Kevin Casteels leads the Commodore 64 Enthusiasts of Victoria, BC and he’s taken over most of the chores in a society once headed by Steve Carpenter and Andrew Anderson since moving to this garden city.

C64 Reloaded
The C64 “reloaded” to sport more than just a translucent case.

Back in 2011, the Commodore 64 (C64) was to make a comeback with modern parts while sporting a retro look. While the 64x briefly sold, interest by other companies deciding to use the Commodore name was still wrought with problems.

The original operation died in 1994 and other businesses got the patents to continue the legacy with varying levels of success. Commodore USA was a rebranded Florida firm and they fell to hard times after its founder, Barry Altman, passed away in 2012 — the enterprise ultimately folded. A UK version of the brand is focussing on a smartphone. Fortunately, interest for the original machine remains alive in the form of clubs.

These societies have emerged since this device’s original inception in 1982 and a few are remaining strong — like the Toronto PET Users Group. While these types of groups do not number in the hundred like Macintosh or PC clubs, the love is very clear. Kevin Casteels leads the Commodore 64 Enthusiasts of Victoria, BC and he’s taken over most of the chores in a society once headed by Steve Carpenter and Andrew Anderson since moving to this garden city.

This club is still relatively young. It’s existed as a Facebook entity for over two years, and open meetings started early in the year at venues like Lucky Bar for retro video gaming parties and at Cavity Curiosity Shop for other fun. Their first meeting was held May 13, 2015.

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Anglicon 2016 is Getting Sontar-ized with Dan Starkey!

Dan StarkeyThe Sontaran Invasion fleet is coming to the Pacific Northwest next year, and its ambassador will be addressing the masses at Anglicon 2016! Well, that’s if Strax was still with the order. The actor behind the irrepressible character, Dan Starkey will be appearing instead; he will entertain fans with stories from behind the set, and perhaps reveal what’s next for the Paternoster Gang in the series. They defined one part of what made Matt Smith’s run in the Doctor Who series great.

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Google Play Offers Free Comics!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

google-play-logo1

Google Play is an online store where people can buy software, music and books to read on their mobile devices (mostly Android) and today they are celebrating how their Play Books application have become comic-book interface friendly. New features include a vertical scrolling experience in landscape mode, and a curated series webpage to make searching for favourite titles easier. These features are nothing new when compared to standalone readers like iComics on iOS, but its a step closer to not having a mobile device bloated with tons of software.

To get people embracing this new distribution method, the company is offering several free comics. These first issues are only teasers of what’s to come. To name a few, titles include: Batman, The Walking Dead, Star Wars Previews, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Orphan Black, The X-Files, Jem and the Holograms, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. A huge selection of manga is offered, making this announcement very notable amongst the gang here at Otakunoculture. A full list can be found here.

Is Anglicon To Be Invaded By Daleks?

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

terry_molloyActually no. Daleks will not be invading Anglicon, but the Pacific Northwest’s Doctor Who television and British media convention will be hosting the Daleks’ creator, Davros.

Terry Molloy is known to many Doctor Who fans for playing Davros during the Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy years. Molloy revised his role as the father of the Daleks in a 2005 stage play titled The Trial of Davros. He can also be hard voicing his signature character in the Doctor Who Big Finish audio productions.

Outside of the Whoverse, Molloy has kept busy in television by appearing in Simon Wheeler and Alan Whiting’s Kingdom (2007), as George Mellor in Chalkface (1991), and more recently as Michael Lord in the TV mini-series Kosmos (2015).

Molloy will be appearing with Red Dwarf‘s Robert Llewellyn at Anglicon in 2016.

Anglicon will be hosted at The DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport Hotel August 5th-7th.

You can learn more about Anglicon by visiting their official website here.

Source(s): Anglicon.

Heroes Never Die — Greatest American Hero To Make Comeback

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

GreatestAmericanHeroAccording to Deadline, 20th Century Fox TV has committed to a television pilot of The Greatest American Hero

The original production was a comedy-drama created by late writer-producer Stephen J. Cannell and aired for three seasons on ABC. The cast starred actors William Katt, Robert Culp, and Connie Sellecca.

The series saw Katt playing special education teacher Ralph Hinkley who is given a red suit by aliens from another galaxy. Upon acquiring the suit Hinkley loses the instructions only to learn of the suits powers through trial and error. With FBI special agent Bill Maxwell (Culp) and Pam Davidson (Sellecca), Hinkley would solve national and international crimes using his new found powers.

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Humourous Tales from the Bald Side, An Interview with Michael Roberds

Michael Roberds can sometimes found in the background of many a Vancouver production. When on the spotlight, fans will remember him in the season four Supernatural episode, “Yellow Fever,” where he played Mark Hutchens, a reptile lover.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Michael Roberds

Going from an actor from a well-received series (The New Addams Family) to being an all-around media personality in Vancouver, British Columbia, Michael Roberds certainly is not resting. He appears on television as a movie critic for Global TV and he is sometimes found in the background of many a Vancouver production. When on the spotlight, fans will remember him in the season four Supernatural episode, “Yellow Fever,” where he played Mark Hutchens, a reptile lover. He also has a notable role in The Further Adventures in Babysitting, a made for TV movie due in 2016. When considering that being an extra keeps him occupied more often than any other job, there’s a certain pleasure to know that he was requested by a casting director to appear in the X-Files miniseries that’s also broadcasting next year.

Although Roberds has not gotten a new role in today’s pop culture scene to guarantee him regular appearances at media conventions, he’s still looking. He still enjoys working on the side-lines and there was a time in his life where he also helped a talent agency geared specifically for people just wanting to be an extra. “But ever since The CW came along with Smallville, the attitude became we don’t want anybody over the age of 30 and they have to be good-looking. I had an elderly couple and they were available 100% of the time. They were never a problem but I was lucky if I could get them work once every couple of months.” revealed Roberds.

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