It’s not every day I get to tread the red carpet.

And by red carpet I naturally mean the type they have rolled out at a lavish opening night premiere. The type that comes with popping champagne corks, paparazzi and manicured ‘Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’ bleached white teeth.

Throw in the fact I’m the host (if it helps picture me in a tux with microphone in hand) and it all adds up to one very special occasion.

Assuming my best scene-stealing, head-held-high-silver-back-gorilla walk, I stride purposefully to the podium, clear my throat and in the best announcer’s voice I can muster say this…

Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow bloggers, accidental tourists who may have stumbled here wondering what all the fuss and smell of hairspray was about, and dedicated fans of the Robot, Jonathan Harris and Billy Mummy both young and old,

It is my pleasure to welcome you here tonight to the official launch party of my new blog LOST IN SPACE FIRESIDE. This occasion represents the culmination of months of preparation in readiness for this unveiling as well as a lifetime’s devotion to the original 1960’s television series LOST IN SPACE.

As such, there are a great many people I must thank. As always we start at the beginning.  James T. Aubrey (1918 – 1994) was the Network President at the helm of CBS in the U.S. back in the 1960’s. He was the decison-maker who originally agreed to green-light the series that would become known to the world as LOST IN SPACE. Without a money-man believer like him and the battalion of super-creatives he put to work to make the vision come alive there would be nothing to remember and nothing to celebrate. Other gravy train accomplishments he pressed-suit-nodded to production included Gilligan’s Island and The Beverly Hillbillies. The New York Times Magazine once described him as “a master of programming whose divinations led to successes that are breathtaking”.    Thank you James T.

Next, in the great tradition of sons and daughters everywhere I need to give heartfelt thanks to my mother. As a child growing up in Brisbane, Australia in the 1970’s, LOST IN SPACE was being shown on rerun on Channel 10 Monday to Friday in a 5 – 6 pm time slot. I’d watch the show camped on our brown-patterned carpet at a close distance to the screen while my Mother made dinner in the kitchen. Entranced by my favourite show while beginning to smell the wonderful aromas of dinner wafting through from the kitchen was a comfort and pleasure I’ll always be grateful for. Thankyou Mum.                                                                                                                                                                                          It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the direct inspiration I received from viewing American blogging maestro Lady Emily Rose‘s on-line digital wonderland known as KNIGHT OF ANGELS (FIND IT HERE)  Emily embarked earlier this year on the great re-watch of all 79 episodes of  STAR TREK The Original Series (HERE)      Her write-ups of each installment are stunning to the degree I was stirred to see if I could aspire to something similar, done my way. Only time will tell on that front.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Deserved recognition goes to all the loyal readers who voted on the proposed name for the blog (HERE) last month. As you now know, I have awarded the royal decree to LOST IN SPACE FIRESIDE. That name’s ‘captivating–stories–read–from–the–comfort–of–a–burgundy–leather, mahogany–wood–armchair–around–a–fireplace‘ feel hit the right notes for me.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          And last but not least, I reserve my most immediate and personal thanks to all of you who have turned up here today. The six of you (including the person I hired to serve Sprite from plastic cups for the occasion) have shown what true fan dedication is. Without you this celebration would have taken place merely in my mind, the host venue of so many of my previous accolades and awards ceremonies.                             

At this moment I feel like a parent who is about to anxiously send their own child off to that very first day of school. How will they be received? Will they make it to first lunch? Will anyone subscribe to them be their friend?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Unlike answers to some of life’s other lingering questions – like why McDonald’s doesn’t sell hotdogs or which movie theatre armrest is yours – I have little doubt the resolution to that will soon be known. For now, I choose to celebrate this moment with all of you and in doing so recall the words of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius who famously said –  ‘What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I DO, I understand.’  The doing is the subscribing my friends. I ask you to walk with me now out from the grey twilight into the glorious sunshine and the dawn of a new blogging era.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Thank you, help yourself to the free sprite and cucumber sandwiches and I love youse all.

 

GOD! Don’t you hate boring speeches!

I know I was fidgeting like a first time guest waiting in the green room about to go on a tv talk show during that speech and I was GIVING IT! So I can’t imagine how you must have been feeling. Alright, so the formalities are over but this is where the real fun begins. Or as they say down at the business end of town – the ‘call to action’.

A blog is literally just a diary stored under a bed without subscribers. If you’re a fan of the original series of LOST IN SPACE or like the reimagined new version currently enjoying it’s second season on Netflix or just keen to receive insightful and possibly witty episode commentary (and in reference to those two just-mentioned plus-points I’m possibly thinking of some other blog besides LOST IN SPACE FIRESIDE but you’re kind enough to allow me to claim that, however misleadingly, for the present moment ) in your inbox once a week, then I would love to have you along for the journey.

Click HERE to go to the homepage of LOST IN SPACE FIRESIDE.

Once there you’ll see the image below in the sidebar. Insert the email address you’d like to receive the once-a-week blog posts in to the rectangular space that says ‘Enter your email address’ then click the blue FOLLOW button. That will generate a confirmation email that if you scroll to the bottom of will have a blue CONFIRM button inserted. If you click that you’re jumping through hoops torture ends and you magically transform into a bona-fide LOST IN SPACE follower. Yay! And double Yay! And then beyond your wildest expectations Yay!

Click HERE  to go to LOST IN SPACE FIRESIDE and (fingers, antennas & robot arms crossed) subscribe.

Ps. Think I’d better mention this as well..

As a result of some wily tinkering on my part with the brain box of the new blog, the very first post has been set to automatically publish when the followers count reaches a very modest 16 subscribers.

Why 16?

‘Cause October 16, 1997 is the date shown on screen in the very first episode of LOST IN SPACE, setting the scene that this story is taking place in what was, at that time, the distant future for the original television audience back in 1965 when the series first aired.

Now you know.

And now you know what to do… what are you waiting for?

Click HERE to be a part of history and let’s get this goddam thing launched!