Geekmas 2015: Flawed logic.

 

"Well, Sid likes hats, and he liked that giant robot thing in Japan, therefore...."

No.  Thank you, but no.  I like barbecued ribs, and I like peanut butter, but you would not have much luck if you suggested that I have them together in a sandwich.

- Sid

Geekmas 2015: These Are a Few of My Favourite Things

Here we are, the second week of December, and the clock is ticking quickly toward the 25th. I'm a bit tardy with this year's seasonal gift suggestions, my apologies to those of you who have been drumming your fingers impatiently while awaiting inspiration. As I've stated in previous years, I'm a big fan of gift cards and movie coupons and so forth, but for the people who prefer the personal touch, here are some affordable* suggestions for Santas and Secret Santas alike.

Movies
It's an easy year for this - Ant-Man! I'll accept a copy of Age of Ultron as well, but really, Ant-Man is the clear choice. However, there's still a lot of classic SF movies left over from last year that would be welcomed as gifts: Them!, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Day of the Triffids - preferably the 1963 version** but any of the adaptations would do. Once again, my preference is for Blu-ray, but I realize that some of the older films might not be available in HD.

Gaming
My friend Colin has already suggested that we buy each other copies of Fallout 4 - it speaks to a long and enduring friendship when you can buy each other the same gift.

 

Regardless, there's another offering in the markeplace that would be equally welcome: Legacy of the Void, the third module for Starcraft II, which tops out the price range at $49.99 CAD.  Macintosh OS please!! (This may not be an issue, Blizzard has always been very good at cross-platform installation packages.)

Books
Generally, I don't recommend book shopping to people as a gift option for me - if I want to read a book, I buy it. However, thanks to a very recent Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2015 posting on Tor.com***, there are a few titles that I'd be interested in receiving for holiday reading material:  Fran Wilde's Updraft, Elizabeth Bear's Karen Memory, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie****, Ian McDonald's Luna, and Naomi Novik's Uprooted, which seems to be a universal choice as a best book of the year.  Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace makes the list on its title alone, and I'm a bit surprised that I don't already own Three Moments of an Explosion by China Mieville.

Doctor Who
I've been amused and entertained by the selection of Doctor Who accessories that have appeared under the Christmas tree with my name on them: pens, USB hubs, scarves, mugs and so on.  I applaud everyone for their dedication in seeking out these BBC-endorsed items.

But if you'd like to get me something Doctor Who oriented that requires a little less ground work, how about episodes from the series? I'd love to own some more of the classic adventures from before the 2005 resurrection of the show. The older episodes have an undeniable charm, and although they're often derided for their cardboard-and-chewing-gum special effects, the stories are well-written and well-performed.

 

I do own a few of the classic episodes on DVD - The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, The Robots of Death, and The Caves of Androzani, as well as the 1996 movie - outside of that, it's open season. (Okay, maybe not so much the Colin Baker episodes - some Doctors are more accessible than others.)

And there's my list! If you're one of the people in my life for whom this is intended, just leave an anonymous comment saying which item you're buying - thereby avoiding the unfortunate embarrassment of riches that would result if four or five people decided to buy me a copy of Logopolis.

- Sid

* I realize that affordability is a moving target. I think that most of the movies come in under $20 or $25, with other items ranging up to fifty bucks.

** If you're really looking to score, I'd like the British cut, which lacks the extraneous subplot with the scientist and his wife at the lighthouse which was created solely for the American release.

*** Tor.com is a great site. I'm on their mailing list, and I strongly recommend them for their combination of thoughtful, entertaining commentary and free original short fiction.

**** Astute readers will note that this is not the book recommended in the Tor article. Their review is of the third book in the trilogy, whereas my request is for the first book.  I've seen it on shelves for a while, but just hadn't quite made the leap to purchasing it.

The Village.

Number Six: I am not a number. I am a person.

The Arrival, The Prisoner

Friday afternoon, and we're off to spend the weekend in Whistler.  As a non-skier, British Columbia's best know winter sports destination isn't normally on my list of getaways, but as a scholar of science fiction, Whistler itself has always held a certain fascination for me.

There is, of course, a town called Whistler, where people actually live, and do things like grocery shopping, dropping off dry cleaning, and so on.  This is not to be confused with the resort portion of Whistler, an artificially created environment known as the Village.

This might not resonate with everyone, but for me it's impossible to visit Whistler Village without thinking of The Prisoner, a cult SF classic from the 60s.
 
This strange, surreal British television series, which ran for a brief 17 episodes in 1967, deals with a government agent who is kidnapped and held prisoner in an idyllic dystopian community following their abrupt resignation.  This community, known only as the Village, is barred by mountains and the sea, and warded by both conventional security forces and bizarre bouncing globular guardians.

 

The overseers of the Village seek information from their captive, who has been deprived of his name and is now known as Number 6.  Everyone in the Village is designated solely by number, making it impossible to distinguish the guards from the prisoners, the interrogators from the captives.

 

Number 6, played by Patrick McGoohan, embarks on an extended game of cat and mouse with his captors, most notably Number 2, who is replaced every time one of their schemes to break Number 6 fails.  The identity of Number 1 remains a mystery, although the enigmatic conclusion to the series hints at who it may be.

I realize that there's already been a "reinterpretation" of The Prisoner, the 2009 version with Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellen, but maybe it's time for a reboot.  Imagine awakening in the middle of a manufactured community, isolated on all sides by mountains and snow...

I wonder when I'll get my number?

And what number will I be?

- Sid