This week has been all about “Star Trek Into Darkness” for me, with lots of articles about J.J. Abrams’ much-anticipated sequel to “Star Trek,” his 2009 reboot of the popular sci-fi franchise.

I confess that I’m not a big fan of the “Star Trek” franchise (or “Star Wars,” for that matter), though I did grow up watching the original “Star Trek” television series in syndication. I’ve seen all the movies, as well as the full run of the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Things get a little spotty when it comes to “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager,” and I don’t think I’ve seen any episodes of “Star Trek: Enterprise” (though I had the “surprise” of the final episode spoiled for me).

I do have find memories of the original series, though – especially some of the crazy creatures and colorful characters that show introduced.

Over at Movies.com, I put together a list of 15 characters from “Star Trek: The Original Series” that I’d like to see in the new, rebooted universe. If nothing else, I’m curious what sort of redesign they’d get from J.J. Abrams’ team.

Here’s an excerpt from the article, featuring one of my all-time favorite “Star Trek” creatures:

Mugato

A white-haired gorilla with a long horn on its head and a venomous bite, the mugato is a fan-favorite alien predator from the original series that could certainly do with a smart redesign for the new universe that gets away from the actor-in-a-furry-suit motif. Fun fact: Ben Stiller reportedly named Will Ferrell’s villain in Zoolander after this crazy creature (hence Mugatu’s white hair).

You can read the rest of the article at Movies.com – but keep in mind that this was written before seeing “Star Trek Into Darkness,” so some of these characters and creatures may indeed appear in the new movie.

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For one of my recent Mental Floss articles, I compiled a list of movies that underwent significant changes at some point in development (or production) and became very different films.

While that happens to a lot of projects, I put the spotlight on six particularly notable change-ups that involved well-known films or their potential sequels. For example, did you know that Jean-Claude Van Damme’s “Cyborg” (admittedly, a guilty pleasure of mine) was originally intended to be the sequel to “Masters of the Universe” (with a little bit of “Spider-Man” thrown in)?

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

CYBORG

This violent, post-apocalyptic 1989 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a mercenary with the musical moniker “Gibson Rickenbacker” began its production cycle as a sequel to 1987′s live-action He-Man adventure Masters of the Universe. After studio Cannon Films was forced to cancel its deal with toy company Mattel for the He-Man license (as well as a deal with Marvel for a live-action Spider-Man movie), it was left with more than $2 million in costumes and sets for the project. In an effort to recoup its expenses, the studio repurposed the props and sets for a new film, and cast up-and-coming actor Van Damme as the lead. This is the reason that the movie is still occasionally labeled Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg in television listings.

You can read the full article at MentalFloss.com.

Last month, I trekked down to Brooklyn to chat with one of my high-school classmates about her debut novel, Her: A Memoir. I went to school with Christa Parravani and her identical twin sister, Cara, and the book chronicles the time leading up to and following Cara’s death.

Along with talking quite a bit about the book, we waxed nostalgic for a little while about high school and laughed about some of the weirder aspects of earning a living by stringing words together. I had pitched the interview as an author profile for Metroland the excellent alt-weekly of New York’s Capital Region where we both grew up (and where I spent several years as a staff writer), and I think the final piece turned out well. The experience was also a nice reminder of how good it feels to step outside the realm of geekery every so often.

Here’s an excerpt from the profile:

Early in Her: A Memoir, author Christa Parravani shares a disconcerting fact that came to her attention shortly after her twin sister, Cara, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2006.

“I researched our situation and read somewhere that that 50 percent of twins follow their identical twin into death within two years,” she writes. “That statistic did not discriminate among cancer, suicide, or accident. The second twin goes by illness or the intolerable pain of loneliness.”

And therein lies the inspiration for Her, the former Capital Region resident’s debut memoir that explores the shared life she led with her twin sister, and the circumstances leading up to—and following—Cara’s death. As her story makes painfully clear, the anguish of losing a sibling can take an even greater toll when every look in the mirror is a reminder of what you’ve lost.

You can read the rest of the article at Metroland.net.

In the week leading up to the release of “Iron Man 3,” I wrote about a bajillion different articles about ol’ shellhead. (That’s what you get to call him when you’re pals with Tony Stark. We go way back.)

Among the editorial projects I churned out during that busy, busy time was a column for Movies.com in which I argue that the success of Iron Man as a comic-book character — and now one of the most popular mainstream superheroes in the world — is the most unexpected success story of all the characters in Marvel’s stable.

Here’s an excerpt from the column:

Originally conceived as the “quintessential capitalist,” Tony Stark was introduced in 1963 as a billionaire industrialist who amassed considerable wealth by developing weapons for the military. Making his debut at a time when the Cold War had made readers tired of war and the greed that accompanied it, he was at a disadvantage from the very start as the comic book personification of everything his audience hated.

“I gave myself a dare,” Stan Lee said of the character’s origins in an interview found on the Iron Man DVD. “I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him.”

You can read the rest of the column at Movies.com.

It’s amazing how life can get away from you sometimes – especially when you suddenly have this little person that requires your attention on a constant basis and becomes very upset when you want to spend the afternoon blasting old Bad Religion albums and reading comics.

Regular updates to the site here were one of the early casualties of the new “OH MY GOD I AM A PARENT AND HOW DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHO LET THIS HAPPEN AND IS THAT PERSON INSANE” status quo, so the next few posts will hopefully catch me (and you) up with what I’ve been working on the last few weeks. (I’ll refrain from posting a photo of dirty diapers and shirts covered in regurgitated milk, even though that’s a more accurate representation of what really kept me busy the last few weeks.)

Now to get with the catching up and stuff…

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