What am I missing here?

 One of these things is not like the others,

One of these things just doesn't belong,

Can you tell which thing is not like the others

By the time I finish my song?

Sesame Street

Another rainy Saturday afternoon in Vancouver, a good day to stay inside and perhaps watch some television, do a little channel hopping.

Let's see...what do we have?  Channel 32 appears to be in the middle of showing all of the Star Wars prequels, with Attack of the Clones currently up; there's The Mummy Returns, not as good as the first Brenda Fraser/Rachel Weisz teamup, but okay; History is showing the over-the-top apocalyptic extravaganza 2012, TCM has The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, one of Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion masterpieces, which also features Doctor Who alumnus Tom Baker; Tomb Raider is on channel 47 for the Angelina Jolie fans in the audience - and what is Space showing?

The A-Team.  Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Quinton Jackson.  Based on the TV series of the same name.

Seriously, people, where does this fit in your programming mandate?  Right beside shark movies?  SHOW SOME SCIENCE FICTION, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE.

Wait a minute, though - for that matter, why in the world is the History Channel showing 2012?

- Sid

Skatethulhu?

My co-worker has unexpectedly accessorized her Cthulhu idol...isn't this a bit hipster for an Elder God?

Or maybe Great Cthulhu picked it up from Bart Simpson...

- Sid

The line in the sand.

And now, the Geek table at Chapters, displayed for your shopping pleasure under the calm gaze of Spock, the patron saint of geeks.  Halo book - check. The Art of World of Warcraft, check, a superheros book, check, a guide to Klingon, the Doctor Who Vault, a book on droids, a Neil Gaiman novel, the Steve Jobs bio, the Hitchhikers Guide box set, the big book of Lego™ minifigures...

Wait, what?

Is Lego fandom a geek thing now?  Do I need to add the dimensions of the standard Lego block* to my catalogue of trivia?   Hmmm...you know, I try to keep an open mind in terms of these things, but I think I'm going to draw the line on this one and say "no".

Having drawn the line, I acknowledge that it's a bit of a blurry one.  The current public face of Lego is strongly associated with comic book kits and science fiction sets, which has spawned the odd offshoots of Lego video games and animated programs that feature blocky superheroes or Star Wars characters with square bodies and cylindrical heads. 

Regardless, Lego is a medium rather than a genre, and as such I find it difficult to add it to the list of geek pursuits simply because that medium has been applied to Batman.  I don't deny the collectibility of Lego, but ultimately ANYTHING is collectible, and I think there's a fundamental difference between collecting mint condition Kenner Star Wars figures and, let's say, old license plates or glass insulator cones, and in my opinion, Lego qua Lego doesn't really make the cut as a geek/fan item.

But, I have to be fair here - for all I know Spock would have loved Lego, which, after all, is typified by a sense of order and logic in how the pieces are designed, created and ultimately fit together.  There's a Vulcan philosophical concept known as IDIC - Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination - can you think of a better way to define Lego?

- Sid

*  A "classic" four-knob brick is 31.8 mm in length, 9.6 mm in height, with an additional 1.6 mm of height for the knobs, and 15.8 mm in width.  Some sources cite a knob height of 1.8 mm, and I gather this is a contentious issue.