Or the Wardrobe, for you Narnia fans.

This is my living room.

And, as living rooms go, there's really not a lot to say about it.  It owes a large debt to IKEA, as so many transient living rooms do, there's a forgettable Frank Lloyd Wright poster over the couch, a couple of paintings by my friend Norah the artist, books, DVDs, some antique cameras, and that's that. Pictures of my dining nook, my kitchen and my bedroom would reveal a similar approach to decorating.

And then there's this one other room...thousands of science fiction and fantasy novels, comic books under the desk, some boxes of Heavy Metal fantasy art magazines, my toy robots, a Starcraft action figure, my Atlantean shortsword, a chrome battleaxe, my globe of Mars, a Dalek, computer game boxes, the R2D2 mug that my nephew Chris made for me about 25 years ago, and right now a big stack of bits and pieces destined to become a Hallowe'en spacesuit. (Or not.)

It's funny to realize that, as far as my geek life goes, I haven't really come out of the TARDIS, so to speak.  Seal off that second bedroom, and there's no evidence in my apartment of the interest in science fiction and fantasy which has been a mainstay of my entire life.  I've no idea why.  It's not as if I'd have any difficulty decorating the living room with classic science fiction movie posters and moving a few robots onto the wall unit - why don't I?

At some fundamental level, I'm still self-conscious - if not embarrassed - by my hobby.  The term "self-conscious" is well chosen, because other than some high school ostracism, there haven't been any incidents in my life where it's been a barrier in any way.  The current social environment embraces - or at least accepts - the geek lifestyle, but the lessons taught to me during my redneck childhood subconsciously tell me that I should be watching baseball highlights on TSN rather than Voyager reruns on Space.

But there's hope.  After all, I do have this blog with my actual real name on it, and the people I work with know that I'm a geek, and they've generally been pretty accepting.  In fact, as it turns out, one or two of them are geeks as well.  Hmmm...I wonder how they've decorated their living rooms?

- Sid

"Láthspell I name you, Ill-News!"

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Chris e-mailed me a link to an article in the Vancouver Courier about The Storm Crow, a newly opened fantasy/science fiction and gaming themed bar over on Commercial Drive. (For those of you unfamiliar with the derivation*, Stormcrow is one of the names by which Gandalf is known in The Lord of the Rings.)

I've always felt that there was room in the marketplace for a bar that would show the third Star Wars movie instead of the fourth game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but to be honest, details in my mental picture have been fuzzy (outside of a few unfortunately juvenile ideas regarding costumes for the waitresses).  As such, I was interested in seeing what an actual implementation of the concept would look like.

Apparently the new spot has been a hit, to the point where I've read a few online comments on their difficulties dealing with the crowds. I'm off work this week, and I thought that I would take advantage of the opportunity to go over to the Drive early enough in the afternoon to avoid the rush and scope the place out in relative peace and quiet over a contemplative pint.

So this afternoon at about three, after putting on my London Doctor Who Experience 2011 souvenir t-shirt (hey, if you're going to a gang bar, you got to wear your colours) I was out the door and onto the Number 22 bus.

Fifty-five minutes later, as I was making my way up the last bit of a hill to Commercial, I thought to myself that generally I wouldn't patronize a bar that required a two hour round trip.  SF and fantasy motif or not, it's a big city, there's lots of bars.  However, I had high hopes that it might prove worth it now and then just for the ambience - and, you know, the opportunity to hang with my peeps.

I rounded the corner onto Commercial Drive, there was the sign for the bar, I started to unlimber my Nikon for a picture, and what do you know - CLOSED TODAY FOR STAFF FUNCTION.  So I took three shots of the frontage, a closeup of their sign, and trotted back to the bus stop.

A little investigation revealed that there had been a Tweet announcing their closure at about 2:30, and the fine print on their Facebook™ page also said that they were closed until tomorrow.  Sadly, I didn't decide to follow them on Twitter™ or friend them on Facebook™, I just went to their web site for the address - which, by the way, did not mention any sort of closure in their Events calendar for September 24th.

I realize that these things happen, and that no lives were lost as a result of this. I'll make another attempt to visit The Storm Crow later this week.  However, I would like to suggest to the management of the bar that if you're going to be closed for a full day, you should have that information EVERYWHERE - including, perhaps, your web site.

- Sid

* There are some other genre references to storm crows, but Gandalf Stormcrow is probably the best known one.

Voight-Kampff machines - your tax dollars at work!

Photo by Chris Sumner

I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'd like to see a little more transparency in the British Columbia government's handling of the Nexus Six replicant situation.

- Sid