2012: It's The End Of The World As We Know It (But Blogging Feels Fine)

Another year comes to a close (but not for good thankfully) dear readers and friends. So long 2012.

2012 was a strange year.  It certainly was not without personal highlights, but it was a year marked by some significant sadness that one couldn't help but connect with as a human being.  Apart from the failed Mayan predictions for the end of the world, the last months of 2012 seemed marked by sadness.  Between the awful aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the terribly horrific act on the children and innocents of Sandy Hook Elementary in CT, how could you not feel somehow personally affected?  It has weighed heavy on my heart these last few weeks.  These are just truly sad events that impact us as a people and my continued prayers go out to the families involved with such heartbreaking losses.  It's a pain none of us would want to know or wish on anyone.



All of this has been compounded by the loss of such wonderful creators as Gerry Anderson.  His passing after Christmas this year just seemed to put an exclamation point on a pretty sad ending to a year that seemed to keep on knocking people down.

I'm certainly not trying to bring people down, it was just a general feeling I had as the year came to a close and again, I'm one of the fortunate ones.  I'm grateful for it.  I only hope the new year brings better things to everyone.  I'm also hopeful and optimistic that 2013 might be better for some.  I certainly hope so.



On a more positive and personal note, 2012 was something of an exciting year on a number of fronts and one of those was the publication of the book Back To Frank Black: A Return To Chris Carter's Millennium [2012].  It was a major accomplishment for the editors involved and the team behind the Back To Frank Black site and campaign.  As a writer, it was wonderful to be part of such a magnificent project surrounding the world of Chris Carter's Millennium.  It was an honor and was indeed one of the highlights of the year on a creative level.  As much as I was pleased with my contribution, I look forward to taking time to offer a proper analysis of the book and all of its wonderful contents here in 2013.



That outstanding book, and of course, my effort and ongoing pursuit to make Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic a special and creative outlet of quality for you to enjoy and as a place for me to unlock and explore the recesses of the mind as affected by science fiction.  Bringing you something of a visual storybook with commentary is something to take pride in and I hope to continue that trend.  Though I like to think this is becoming something of a vivid science fiction reference blog.

It's always a pleasure on New Year's Eve to look back at a sample of the best of 2012 from your humble Sci-Fi Fanatic as a way of reflecting back and perhaps taking another look once more at efforts that might potentially soon be forgotten.  This entry was written primarily on New Year's Eve, but, alas, it got too late and had to be completed here in the new year.



This year brought us more close encounters with a close inspection of Milla Jovovich, not just in Resident Evil, but The Fourth Kind [2009].  This offers a nice complement to our ongoing Alien Abduction Films series like Fire In The Sky [1993].  Though we are now taking an intensive look at those delicious guilty pleasures known all too well as the Resident Evil films.  There is so much junk out there.  I only have room for the good junk.





We also continued our ongoing analysis of the very best of science fiction television with Star Trek: The Original Series [1966-1969] including Shimon Wincelberg's Dagger Of The Mind.  You'll recall Wincelberg had a big hand in Lost In Space [1965-1968] and its Season One fortunes.  Wincelberg wrote the pilot episode, The Reluctant Stowaway and Invaders From The Fifth Dimension and outlined at least four others.  Other Star Trek classics covered this year included The Corbomite Maneuver and Gene Roddenberry''s The Menagerie featuring his pilot episode The Cage [thank you for the kind words and nod over at Leopard 13's always pensive It Rains... You Get Wet].  On the Lost In Space front we covered One Of Our Dogs Is Missing reflecting on the great Russian wonderdog Laika, which I've since updated with a short clip from My Life As A Dog [1985].





There was plenty more FAB FRIDAY stuff honoring the world of Gerry Anderson from UFO [1970-1971], Space:1999 [1975-1977], Thunderbirds  [1965-1966] and more.  UFO's The Dalotek Affair guest-starred Tracy Reed, who also passed away this year along with Dolores Mantez, Bob Kellett and Gerry Anderson from the FAB universe.  Be sure to check out A Question Of Priorities, one of UFO's best.



And puny humans there was generally more awesome, classic The Incredible Hulk covered and all things Bill Bixby with The Courtship Of Eddie's Father.



More Farscape!



More Land Of The Lost!



More Anime!  But still no Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Doh!



Speaking of Chris Carter's Millennium earlier, we also took an extensive look at Chris Carter's The X-Files Season One. 





Other film highlights included a closer look at the sorely underrated or underappreciated Sucker Punch [2011] by Zack Snyder along with the release of Ridely Scott's much anticipated Prometheus set against the expectations presented by the classic Alien.  We look forward to Snyder's interpretation regarding Superman for the Man Of Steel [2013].





Not unlike the wonderful Lance Henriksen blogathon over at John Kenneth Muir's Reflections On Cult Movies And Classic TV in 2011, The Film Connoisseur enlisted my participation along with ace writer J.D. of Radiator Heaven for a fun little marathon called 15 Of The Apocalypse.  I can only say that it was an absolute pleasure to work with the thoughtful Francisco Gonzalez for what turned out to be a major blast!  Fortunately, it wasn't the end of the world then either.



An analysis of the very best of Toho and Ishiro Honda continued with Rodan and much more.



We took a close look at the part one segments of the pilot, Rising, for Stargate Atlantis along with Glen A. Larson's Battlestar Galactica's Saga Of A Star World.







On the Doctor Who front, we continued to pay tribute to the fantastic Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker and companion Elisabeth Sladen.  Additionally we got busy looking more closely at the Ninth Doctor starring Christopher Eccleston and companion Rose Tyler played by the delectable Billie Piper.



Along with Top 10 lists and other kibbles and bits things have been slow and steady here at Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic, but hopefully solid on the science fiction front.

As I said, it's always a lot of fun to look back at my year end retrospectives, as noted here, to see exactly where I ended up at the end of the year.  Was I faithful in fulfilling the promises I extended a year earlier?  I don't like to intentionally mislead or promise things if I can't deliver, but as much as I cover aliens and spaceships and other oddities of an extraterrestrial nature here, I am only human.  I'd like to think failure is not an option, but to err from time to time is only human.  That is never my goal.



So the rear view mirror has determined I didn't fair badly.  My hope was to bring you the full Saga Of A Star World analysis from Battlestar Galactica, but I managed only Part 1.  The same goes for Stargate Atlantis whereby I managed only Part 1 of Rising. I also never got around to Communion starring Christopher Walken.  Neon Genesis Evangelion was on the table yet again and still nothing.  I'm taking it off the table for now. Who knows?  Otherwise looking at last year's new year hopes I was mostly on the mark.



So what can you expect in 2013?  The end of the world?  I hope not.  There is just too much to talk about.

We'll definitely be bringing you conclusions for Stargate Atlantis pilot Rising as well as the final two parts for Battlestar Galactica's Saga Of A Star World.  Expect the third entry in the Resident Evil series, Extinction.  More Hulk crushing!  More FAB FRIDAY!  More Toho favorites beginning with Mothra.  More Lost In Space and more Star Trek: The Original Series.  And of course, more BIG 10s!

Last year we brought you Season One of The X-Files. This year Season Two!  I'm also pleased to report a full re-assessment and examination of Fringe Season One for fans of the Abrams-created genre favorite sadly coming to a close at the beginning of 2013. Plus, we give a detailed look once again at one of television's finest pilot's ever made, Lost.

So, no Lost [2004-2010] and now no Fringe [2008-2013].  What is 2013 to do?  We'll see, but in the meantime Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic we'll give you a taste of the very best of science fiction television and film from years passed, and much more.



My best wishes that you have a Milla Jovovich-styled, ass-kicking new year! Anyway, off to do the polar plunge.  Joking.  Heck no!  That's crazy!