Saint Nicholas?

There's a horror movie named Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everybody keeps invading you. 

The Doctor, Last Christmas

Christmas is a time of traditions, and as such I feel obliged to follow the Infinite Revolution tradition of posting a brief review of the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Over time (no pun intended) I've found the holiday episodes of Doctor Who to be a bit uneven, with last year's offering quite definitely scoring as one of the less impressive samples. However, this year's special redeemed the shortcomings of Matt Smith's disappointing final episode.

Last Christmas offers a well-written scenario which prominently features Santa Claus, elves, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and alien monsters, and then cleverly integrates them all into the story in a logical, reasonable fashion which makes perfect sense in the context of the plot.*  This qualifies as good science fiction by my definition, in that it creates what seems to be an irrational situation and then explains it in a completely rational manner** without ever breaking the rules created by the storyline.

Last Christmas pays homage to several classic films, to the point of even listing them on screen for the less observant or knowledgeable members of the audience.  (If you're curious, yes, apparently Dave is forgiven.) To be fair, number five on that list should probably be Inception, but it may be that they were less eager to point out that particular influence.***

The episode also resolves the question of Clara Oswald's continued involvement (or not) with the Doctor, and manages to gracefully break the barriers to that involvement that were created in the final episode of Season 8.  Ultimately though, the episode's greatest achievement is in casting.  I mean, seriously, how can you go wrong by choosing an actor named Nick Frost to play Santa Claus?

Merry Christmas to all - once again, we're half way out of the dark.

- Sid

* In acknowledgement of previous complaints by my sister Dorothy, no spoilers here.

** Well, to be truthful, that's a bit strong.  It's not completely logical, but by Doctor Who standards it's pretty good.

*** That being said, series producer and writer Steven Moffat had damn well better not end the next season by announcing that it was all a dream, that will NOT go well for him.

Geekmas III: One to beam up, Scotty.

Pop quiz:  what makes for a good seasonal gift?

Well, it's not a bad thing if it's practical, but it can also be frivolous and entertaining, and obviously it should somehow be related to the recipient's interests. On that basis, I have to give my friend Colin full points for his choice of a Christmas gift this year:  the Star Trek Transporter Shower Curtain and Bath Mat combination.

It fits all the criteria - it's both practical and frivolous, it certainly reflects my interests, and it makes a decorative replacement for my previous plain white shower curtain, tying in nicely with my desire to come out of the geek closet.

I've seen Starfleet towels somewhere on line as well...hmmm...and, when you think about it, having a Star Trek themed bathroom would certainly put a different spin on the whole "to boldly go" thing.

Thanks, Colin!

- Sid

Geekmas II: Gimcrackery.

Every year my department at work has a pot luck luncheon combined with a Secret Santa gift exchange. One of my co-workers is very much a Christmas person, and as such invests a lot of time and effort* into decorating our boardroom and arranging the Secret Santa draw and so on. However, this year there was some discussion about the continuation of the Secret Santa tradition.  As someone quite accurately pointed out, “We’re all adults who make a reasonable wage, we can buy ourselves a $25 bottle of wine if we want to.”

The sad truth behind their observation is that it can be very difficult to buy a small gift for someone that you only know through work, which leads a lot of people to fall back on alcohol, the gift that keeps on giving.  I've been quite fortunate - my public reputation as a geek has done quite well by me with Secret Santa, as I’ve pointed out in previous postings.  This is the first year that I’ve received anything close to a duplicate of an existing possession – I received another figure from the CubeBot line – but that was followed up today by what I assume to have been the contents of a late-arriving parcel.   Coincidentally, when I came back to my desk after discussing the efficacy of the Secret Santa concept, I discovered a Doctor Who Floating TARDIS Pen on my desk.

Now, let’s be brutally honest.  The little collection of pop-culture geek gimcrackery that adorns my computer desk at home would be considered trash by most people, a pointless collection of dusty toys.  But for me they all have little stories. There are icons and memorabilia from my longstanding hobby, echoes of my childhood that would otherwise be forgotten, and, in the case of things like the Doctor Who pen, some of them represent a little bit of recognition from someone who has gotten to know me well enough to get me a little piece of shared memory – even if it is in secret.

Thank you, Santa.

- Sid

P.S.  The licensed manufacturers of this pen have a lot of confidence in their product, even if they've taken a slightly old school approach to it.  The packaging includes a twelve month guarantee for the pen, which is a long time to expect a pen to survive.  Surprisingly, pen owners seeking restitution cannot simply send an e-mail, but must write a letter - presumably using another pen.

* Time and effort which does not receive enough acknowledgement - thanks again, Meadd!