Geekmas 2019: And A Partridge in a Pear Tree.

 

I have to say that I'm gratified by the degree to which people followed the suggestions from my Geekmas gift posting this year (with the obvious exception of my Secret Santa at work and my friend Chris, and I really can't complain about the results in either case). In fact, Karli has suggested that in the case of her family, the shopping process was based on screen grabs from the posting, which is probably why I didn't receive anything that didn't have an image in the post - because it would have been challenging to read the fine print under those conditions.

In practical terms, this means that I received a glow-in-the-dark Canadian Space Agency t-shirt (which does glow in the dark as advertised); Ruthanna Emrys' H. P. Lovecraft-inspired* novel Winter Tide; The Five Doctors, The Android Invasion, and The Sea Devils episodes of Doctor Who on DVD, and the Batman: White Knight graphic novel, which I've already found time to read - it's an intriguing take on the Batman - Joker relationship that turns things around several times in the process.

 

In addition, Karli broke away from the pack and picked up a copy of the Epic Yarns adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back,** by Jack and Holman Wang - which I've also already finished, but to be fair, at a total of twelve cleverly chosen words it's not a challenging read.

My thanks to all the parties who saw fit to indulge my interests once again this year - merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

-  Sid

* This originally said "Cthulhulian" but my internal copy editor has issues with that particular turn of phrase.

** She actually wanted to get me A New Hope, but they were out of stock.  This resulted in my receiving an enigmatic text asking which movie I liked better, The Empire Strike Back or The Return of the Jedi.  Fortunately I get this sort of text now and then, so it didn't spoil the surprise.

"Scary scary scary scary solstice!"

(To the music of "The Carol of the Bells") 
Look to the sky, way up on high 
There in the night stars are now right. 
Eons have passed: now then at last 
Prison walls break, Old Ones awake! 
They will return: mankind will learn 
New kinds of fear when they are here. 
They will reclaim all in their name; 
Hopes turn to black when they come back. 
Ignorant fools, mankind now rules 
Where they ruled then: it's theirs again 
Stars brightly burning, boiling and churning 
Bode a returning season of doom 
Scary scary scary scary solstice 
Very very very scary solstice. 

The Carol of the Olde Ones, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society

My friend Chris got in touch with me about an exchange of seasonal gifts, so we met up this evening at a local pub.  Chris has an astonishing ability to select the unexpected when it comes to gifts, and this year was no exception, as he presented me (no pun intended) with a downloaded copy of An Abhorrent & Ancient Solstice, an album of H.P. Lovecraft-themed seasonal carols. The use of "seasonal" here isn't isn't political correctness -  with titles like Death to the World and Silent Night, Blasphemous Night, these are NOT Christmas songs.

I was a bit curious as to the origins of this unique gift, and after a bit of research, discovered that it had been produced by The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society.  The HPLHS was started in 1986 by a group of friends in Boulder, Colorado, and now has over 2,000 members worldwide. The group produces a wide variety of H. P. Lovecraft-themed material, including props, fonts, and, of course, music.

 

If this album is an example of their work, they have high standards - the production values are professional, the vocals are excellent, and the lyrics are quite well written.  It's so good that it's a bit subversive - it would be very tempting to replace the standard shopping mall muzak with this album and see if anyone was actually listening to the lyrics.  All in all, a great unique gift, and, in its own way, completely appropriate for the season - thanks, Chris, and I hope you have a very scary Solstice.

-  Sid

Resolute.

I was doing some seasonal shopping on Main Street last Saturday, and decided to take a bit of a break and pay a visit to Pulp Fiction, an excellent book store that features a wide selection of both new and used books.

I wandered back and forth along the shelves of the science fiction and fantasy section, morosely straightening books as I went*, and after half an hour, I left empty-handed and a bit depressed.  Why?  Because I didn’t know which books I didn’t already own.

So, as an early New Year’s resolution, my plan for 2020 is to catalogue my library.

 

Given that I have thousands of books, this seems like a ridiculous undertaking – how bad is your OCD if you need to record the names of all your books, for heaven’s sake?

However, this isn’t about being compulsive, it’s about management. I’ve crossed some kind of threshold where I am unable to keep track of everything that I own, and as a result, what I want to buy.  I have a pretty good feel for the majority of my collection, but if someone asked me if I wanted a copy of the Ace Double edition of Planetary Agent X by Mack Reynolds, backed by Kenneth Bulmer’s Behold The Stars, I’d be a bit stuck. I own about 60 Ace Doubles, and whereas I can recognize most of them on sight, some of them I just don’t know offhand,** and those are exactly the kind of lesser-known niche purchases that I’m interested in these days.

The other side of this coin is the books that are so well known and familiar that I don’t think I own them:  this is why I ended up with two copies of Fahrenheit 451, and I actually don’t know whether or not I have paper copies of Brave New World and 1984.

I’ll also be creating a secondary list as I go: replacements. My collection has its origins in used bookstore basements, library discard boxes, dollar bins and yard sales, and as such some of my older books were more than a bit battered when I got them, not to mention the cumulative effects of time and handling – although at least I’m past the point of owning any books that are held together with elastic bands. (I think.)

There was a nice copy of Pat Frank’s cautionary post-atomic 1959 novel Alas Babylon at Pulp Fiction, and I know that I’m due to replace my Scholastic Books edition from 1970 (although, really, I’d love to get a matching copy, not just because I like to do that, but because it seems such an unexpected choice for Scholastic’s pre-teen library).

I also took a thoughtful look at some of the options for replacing my early Ace editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the ones with the Roy Krenkel Jr. covers and interior illustrations, with matching copies that are in better shape – but which ones?  Age isn’t the only factor, of course - I can’t imagine getting rid of my autographed copy of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, regardless of wear and tear.  (Fortunately I have a hardcover copy as well.)

And that’s the last reason for my resolution: duplicates.  In some cases, such as the one above, there are actually good reasons for owning two copies, but in others, it’s simply because I didn’t remember that I already owned that book - which takes us back to where we started.

Behind all of this looms the unthinkable possibility of actually getting rid of books that aren’t damaged or duplicates, but rather just ones that I don’t need to keep. Obviously this goes against the grain, but let’s be honest, there has to be a book or two in there that I shrugged indifferently after reading, but shelved regardless.

Oh, and I’d also like to start off 2020 by losing ten pounds, but by comparison, that seems like a much easier undertaking.  Regardless, let’s hope that both of my resolutions come to pass in the coming year.

-  Sid

* Sorry, but if someone has left a book sticking out from its fellows, decades of book ownership compel me to push it back into place.

** I carefully chose this example from an online list of Ace Doubles, and having done so, I had to get up and look to see if I do have it. As it turns out, I don't, but in the process of looking, I found three Ace Doubles that were duplicates - and so it begins...