It's all about knowing the right time.

As the previous posting would suggest, there are times when I feel a bit over-extended at my place of employment.  Because I'm a one-man band in terms of my role there, I frequently find myself balancing deadlines and prioritizing jobs in order to keep my head above water.  I don't view this as unusual, I don't think I've ever had a job where I didn't have to do this sort of thing, it's just the nature of the beast.

However, there are times when it can be challenging trying to keep up with everything, and the past few weeks have involved a lot of juggling in order to keep all the balls in the air. To my intense amusement, someone was kind enough to leave me a random little gift in the middle of my trials and tribulations, something to help take my mind off my problems - to be precise, a bottle of Doctor Who hand soap in a convenient TARDIS shaped container.

Because I'm a reasonably clever person, it didn't take me long to figure out which of my co-workers would have both the requisite knowledge to find something like this, and the good sense to know that it was a good time for it!  Thanks again, Christi - it couldn't have come at a better time!

- Sid

Is it okay to call you Bill?

 

Hey!

HEY!

HELLO? 

HI, EVERYBODY!  IT'S ME, SID!  ANY RICH SCIENCE FICTION FANS OUT THERE WHO WANT TO PAY ME TO DO THIS?  SOMEBODY LIKE BILL GATES MAYBE?

Seriously, I'd love to do this for a living - it would be great to be able to dedicate a lot more time to The Infinite Revolution, I'm constantly trying to balance my desire to do blog postings with everything else in my life! 

I'd treat it as a full time job, and I'd be happy to do at least one post every day - maybe more if inspiration strikes, and to be honest, inspiration strikes more often than I have opportunity to take advantage of it - at least in a timely fashion, I have a long list of stale draft postings that will never see the light of day. 

Sadly, I doubt that anyone other than someone like Mr. Gates would be in a position to pay me a living wage for blogging - where would the payback be?  Right now it's a pretty casual thing, although that would certainly change if this was my full-time career.  After all, right now I make no effort to market this site, because it's just a hobby, and as such I rather enjoy not having to take it seriously.

However, if someone wanted a proven level of readership in exchange for their contribution, I'd certainly want it to be worth their while, and I'd branch out to Twitter™ and Instagram™ in order to start building an audience.

So, if there are any would-be patrons of the arts out there, drop me a line and we'll talk.  Especially you, Bill, I'd be happy to swing down to Washington State and discuss this over lunch - my treat.

- Sid

(Sorry, just some wishful thinking, the last few weeks have been a little over the top in terms of workload...)

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

Aragorn: Gentlemen! We do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?
[Aragorn stares at him, then walks off.]
Merry: Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.

The Fellowship of the Ring

My friend Chris recently informed me that last month the Storm Crow Tavern had opened a sister location more or less in my neighbourhood.  I quite liked the original Storm Crow, but it was a bit of a hike to get to it, and as such I was pleased that they'd added a location closer to home.

Karli had also enjoyed visiting the Storm Crow, so we decided to pay the new bar a lunchtime visit to see how it measured up.  The original Storm Crow was a gamer-friendly location, and we had no reason to expect the satellite bar to be any different, so we packed along a couple of our more portable games.

I found it surprisingly busy and loud for noon on a Sunday - I can only imagine what it's like in the evening. Apparently it's been quite busy from day one:  not a huge surprise, the Commercial Drive location quickly developed a loyal following.

The Alehouse is probably a bit larger than the Tavern, and the decor looked considerably more expensive:  a life-sized copy* of Han Solo in carbonite, a mounted rancor head, and backlit transparencies of Tank Girl, Dengar the Bounty Hunter, and genre movie posters. It's a bit reminiscent of the original Storm Crow during its early days - right now it's looks like everything was carefully planned and set in place, whereas the original has gotten a bit funkier and more lived-in over the last couple of years.

During our visit, a professional Starcraft II tournament** was playing on one of the large TVs mounted around the place - in my mind, a perfectly acceptable alternative to football. Other screens featured the Teen Titans animated series and the first Tron movie - they're obviously doing their best to cater to a mixed audience.

After we finished eating, we played a few rounds of Lost Cities, and we weren't the only gamers there: two people at the next table were having a spirited match of Kings of Tokyo, a kaiju board game - good choice for a geek bar.  For people who don't want to haul along a box, the bar also has a nice selection of games shelved in the back. For old school bar goers, there's also a Game of Thrones pinball machine beside the bar.

 

The owners have been quite faithful to concept in other ways as well.  The menu layout is done in standard Starfleet LCARS format**, and features things like the Brew of Cthulhu, a "non-Euclidean lager" from Red Truck, and cocktails like the Sonic Screwdriver or Nuka Cola Quantum.

However, I have to say that some of the actual menu items didn't impress me as much as the design.  Personally, I think that you should be able to order lunch at noon, and the brunch options didn't completely thrill me. (To be fair, Sunday brunch is probably not a fair test.)  In  addition, our waiter was well-intentioned and eager, but if you'd told me it was his first day, it would certainly have explained a lot about some of the more non-standard aspects of his performance.

Overall, I'd give the new location a B, verging on a B+, and I'm confident that with time things will settle in and they'll work their way up to an A. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something a little different in their evening out.

- Sid

* I assume it's a copy - the original prop is supposed to be touring with the Star Wars Identities exhibition, currently in Vienna.

** Library Computer Access/Retrieval System - it's the distinctively geometric computer operating system interface used in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the related spinoffs.

"The world is plunged into darkness."

How long would it take you to destroy civilization on Earth?

It took me about 26 days.

As part of the promotional push for its new post-pandemic game The Division, French game developer Ubisoft has created an online simulator called Collapse that graphically illustrates exactly how long it would take for civilization to fall apart based on a single disease-carrying human vector.

The simulator adds a grim twist: it asks for your home address, and then directs you to the hospitals, drug stores, potential vaccine distribution points and airports near your actual location.  Based on your decisions, the site details the number of people you would infect - followed very quickly by the resulting number of deaths.

The simulator uses information from the World Health Organization, NASA, the International Air Transport Association and Open Street Maps to calculate the impact of your actions, and explains the various problems that would arise as a viral apocalypse overwhelmed humanity.

The concept of a global pandemic is almost not science fiction - the simulator bases its infection pattern on smallpox, and as 2014's Ebola epidemic in Africa illustrated, it takes constant vigilance to ensure that the problem is contained in the originating area during the battle to stop an outbreak. Collapse clearly shows just how quickly a similar situation would escalate in a North American urban centre rather than isolated African villages.

And now, you'll have to pardon me - I think I need to lie down.  I seem to be feeling a bit feverish...

- Sid

Doctor When?

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 James 1:2-4

I recently had one of those moments of mild panic when I thought to myself, "Wait, I haven't heard anything about the premiere date for Doctor Who this year - my goodness, did I miss it?"

A little research revealed that there's good news and bad news. The good news is that I haven't missed the start of this year's episodes. The bad news?  There won't be any episodes this year.*

Excuse me?

Okay, here's the deal.  Steven Moffat, who took over as showrunner from Russell Davies in 2009, is in the process of handing the baton over to his replacement, series writer and long-time Whovian Chris Chibnall (who scripted 42, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, The Power of Three and the YouTube short series Pond Life.) Chibnall was also the co-producer and unofficial head writer for the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood.  2017 will be Moffat's last season, and Chibnall will take over in 2018.

Which is all very well and good, but what does this have to do with the lack of episodes in 2016?

There was some discussion during 2015 that Season 10 might end up being a bit shorter or delayed  which, interestingly, Steven Moffat vehemently denied at the time.  However, since then, Mr. Moffat has changed his tune, and in January of this year announced his upcoming departure, along with the dearth of Doctor Who episodes in 2016.

I've seen some speculation suggesting that the hiatus is so that details of the handoff can be all worked out, but the official explanation is more peculiar. The BBC, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that it has enough interesting television for 2016, and as such had better save something for next year.  To quote BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore:

“I have decided to schedule Steven’s big finale series in Spring 2017 to bring the nation together for what will be a huge event on the channel. 2016 is spoilt with national moments including the Euros and Olympics and I want to hold something big back for 2017 – I promise it will be worth the wait!”

Sigh...Charlotte, let me explain something to you. People like me watch Doctor Who because we DON'T want to watch things like the Olympics or the European footie championships. Why in the world would you decide to deprive us of what we like just because there's a bunch of sports happening this year?  I will bet good money that you're not dumping the Premier League next year in favour of the Doctor - why are we being punished?

Someone recently asked me to explain the popularity of Doctor Who. I replied that Doctor Who has become the last refuge of the hard core geek - franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek have been absorbed into popular culture, but you still need to be a committed genre fan to follow the Doctor's adventures.

I suppose that these are the challenges that are intended to test that commitment - so be it, then.  All I have to say is that there had better be some damn good episodes next year.

- Sid

* There at least will be a 2016 Christmas episode of Doctor Who, so things haven't gone completely off the rails.

Acme.

Rule 7: All materials, tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme corporation.

Chuck  Jones' Nine Rules for Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner

At one point during our stay in Palm Desert, Karli excitedly pointed out a small bird darting along the edge of a mall parking lot, and said, "Look, a roadrunner!"  We tried to get close enough to take a picture, but to my intense amusement, it was going too fast for us to catch up.  Hmmm...if only there was someplace that could supply the right equipment to catch a roadrunner...

Actually, come to think of it, it was probably for the best that we just gave up and moved on.

- Sid

P.S. If anyone is reading this and thinking, "But isn't this a bit off topic?", the Warner Brothers cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, the Roadrunner, et al., represents one of the most impressive collections of outrageous, creative and brilliant fantasy ever put on film.

A Walk In The Dark.

Very unreasonably, his intelligence told him, he began to think how horrible it would be if anything happened now, so near the end of the journey. He kept the worst of his fears at bay for a while, hoping desperately that the lights of the city would soon reappear.

Arthur C. Clarke, A Walk in the Dark, Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1950

I'm currently in the middle of a five-day visit to Palm Desert with my girlfriend Karli and her squad in order to celebrate her birthday.  Sadly, as sometimes happens during this sort of trip, I woke up at 3:00 AM feeling a bit under the weather - the result of a little too much alcohol* and a few too many nachos.

Fortunately, experience has taught me a very simple cure for the times when I feel like this: go for a long walk, preferably in cold weather.  So I quietly climbed out of bed, dressed, made my way down the hallway, and crept out the front door into the chilly desert night.

An hour long tour of El Paseo Drive left me feeling much better, and I decided it was time to go back to bed before Karli started to worry.

However, Palm Desert is one of those towns which doesn't really see a lot of pedestrians, and as such the city fathers haven't invested too much of their budget in street lighting.  It's rare that any city street is completely black, but once off the main thoroughfares of Palm Desert, it was certainly dark enough to make it difficult to navigate.

As I made my way down the unlit street to the rental home, I was unfortunately reminded of a short story by Arthur C. Clarke in which a lone traveller is attempting to make his way on foot through the night to the planet's spaceport, only to have his flashlight stop working.  Forced to proceed in pitch black conditions, he is unable to stop thinking about the stories that the colonists had told him regarding a mysterious creature that prowls the region around the colony - a creature unseen by human eyes, but whose presence is hinted at by evidence such as rocks scarred as if by the sharpening of gigantic claws or talons.

He finally reaches a point where he can see the lights of the port, with just a small detour back into the night before he reaches his destination.  Relieved, and a little embarrassed by his fears, he confidently walks down in the dark valley that will take him out of the light.

Only to hear the rattle of monstrous claws in the darkness ahead of him.

Trust me, these are the moments when I wish I had less of a memory for science fiction plot lines.

- Sid

* It doesn't take a lot of alcohol for this to happen to me - or to most of my siblings.  Apparently it has something to do with liver functions and our ability to metabolize alcohol.

Geeks in Love.

 

Sometimes you find a greeting card that perfectly matches both your interests and your feelings toward someone special. Happy birthday, Karli - loving you very much!

- Sid

Toys 'R' Us 2: She-Hulk

"Is there any reason we shouldn't go into Toys 'R' Us?"

Karli T.

First, this looks unexpectedly realistic.  Second, wouldn't this mask just be ridiculously large for a child?

- Sid

Toys 'R' Us 1: Shouldn't they be in gigantic blister packs?

"Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

Princess Leia Organa, Star Wars IV: A New Hope 

In the wake of postings about my co-worker's 12-pack of original Star Wars toys, I was a bit disappointed not to find a rack of current Star Wars action figures at Toys 'R' Us.  But look at the alternative!  Did anyone else know that these were a thing?

These First Order Stormtroopers stand four feet tall, cost $149.99, have more articulation than the original 3 3/4 inch Empire Stormtrooper figures, and produce sound effects and lines from The Force Awakens if you press a button on their chest. I would loved to have owned one of these when I was ten - and I was a little tempted by them right now.*

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine storing twelve of these in a box in the attic and forgetting that you own them for 40 years.

- Sid

*  Apparently the word is out that $150 is my top limit for ridiculous SF geek toy purchasing.

"I'm in it for the money."

Luke Skywalker: Rich, powerful. Listen, if you were to rescue her, the reward would be...
Han Solo: What?
Luke Skywalker: Well, more wealth than you can imagine!
Han Solo: I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit.

Star Wars IV, A New Hope.

My coworker Damon brought in his collection of vintage 12-back Star Wars toys today, and it's definitely the original twelve, and it's obviously the vinyl cape Jawa.  Far more interestingly, and more difficult to ascertain from a closed package, the Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker figures look as though they have a two-part telescoping lightsaber rather than a one-part.*

Darth Vader and Obi-Wan toys with the two-part lightsaber are incredibly rare, and it would probably boost the value of the collection to nearly six figures, which sounds ridiculous (and probably is, considering that we're talking about children's toys made out of molded plastic sandwiched between two cents of four-colour printed cardboard and one cent's worth of styrene.

At that point, I told Damon that I was out.  I'm an interested geek with good Google™ skills, but that's it - I have no solid knowledge about these toys. It's definitely time for him to seek out someone with the resources and knowledge to accurately assess the value of his collection, and hopefully give him some guidance in selling it. There's a major collectible/antique fair of some sort here in Vancouver next month, and he'll be attending in hopes of getting further information, if not an actual buyer.

Good luck, Damon - and may the Force be with you.

- Sid

* My girlfriend Karli quite logically asked me how you ascertain whether or not it's a one or two part lightsaber without opening the packaging and destroying the MIB value of the toys.  According to the Internet, the instructions on the back of the card for extending the lightsaber are different for the one and two-part versions - which, again, leads me to think that these may be the two-part versions.

Toys in the Attic.

A co-worker named Damon came to me today with what I only describe as a challenging question. Apparently he inherited a collection of Star Wars toys from the original movie, in their original blister packs, and he was curious about their potential value.  He'd done some research online which suggested that they might be worth a substantial amount of cash, and was hoping that I might be able to help him confirm that research, and perhaps offer some advice on how to sell them.

Collecting vintage toys and action figures is one of those areas of obsessive geekhood that can completely consume someone's life - and very probably their bank accounts, in some cases.  I’ve made a few forays into the shallows, as it were, with Major Matt Mason and my Buck Rogers disintegrator pistol, but Star Wars toys are very deep water indeed.

In 1978, Kenner released twelve 3 3/4-inch Star Wars action figures in standard blister packs with a cardback that showed all twelve figures from the initial release: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Artoo-Detoo, Chewbacca, See-Threepio, Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Han Solo, a Jawa, a member of the Sand People, and the Death Squad Commander.

As time went on and more toys were released, the 12-back became a 20-back in order to include the new characters that had been introduced. Then a 21, a 31, a 32, and so on, culminating in a 92-back* in 1985. It’s generally considered that there are 111 distinct variations of the Kenner figures, ignoring minor variations in colour and so forth from different production runs.

However, some of the small variations in production can make a large difference in the value of a collectable toy. The Jawa featured in first run of figures had a vinyl cape, but Kenner felt that it made the toy feel cheap, given that it was a smaller toy than the others, and replaced it with a fabric cloak.  Due to the relative rarity of the original vinyl-caped figure, they're worth more on the market - a vinyl cape Jawa in its blister pack is generally valued at about $4,000 USD, and they have sold for as much as $18,000 USD**.

Damon's little collection is made up of the original 12-pack, including the vinyl cape Jawa, so he's obviously a bit excited about that particular sale price. However, the sad truth of any sort of collectible item is that there often a substantial difference between what a dealer will sell it for, and what they will pay you for it.

Based on online sources, if Damon's set is in reasonably good shape, it would probably be valued at between $14,000 and $18,000 USD, but that's not the same as selling them for that much.  Obviously, it would be to his advantage to bypass any sort of middleman and go directly to potential buyers, but what is the best way to do that?  eBay?  Some other form of auction?  Even eBay takes a cut, as would an auction house, but the benefit is that the transaction is protected on both ends.  How would someone go about doing a completely independent sale and feel confident that it was a safe transaction? 

But there's a more subtle question.  If we assume that the toys are worth $18,000 now, what would they be worth in another 20 years?  Toys are probably more subject to the ebb and flow of trend and fashion than most vintage items - today's treasure may well become tomorrow's trash, and as much as I'd like to think that Star Wars toys would continue to appreciate in price, there's no way of knowing that for sure.

As Damon quite accurately put it, “It’s like owning a bottle of fine wine - do I hold onto it in hopes that it becomes more valuable, or should I sell it before it turns to vinegar?”

- Sid

* In the interests of complete accuracy, there was a 93-back intended for distribution outside of the United States, which included the “Yak Face” figure from Return of the Jedi. Some sources say that the 93-back actually was made available in some American outlets - regardless, the figure is considered to be a very collectable rarity.

** Because of this, there are actually fake vinyl cape Jawas constructed from the fabric Jawa plus a cut-down version of Obi-Wan Kenobi's cloak. There are also "restoration" repro blister packs available on eBay. Caveat emptor.

Mea culpa.

I will never understand why the Internet seems to take away the basic humanity of most people, and allows — no, enables — them to say things that they’d never say to another person face to face.

- Wil Wheaton, Just A Geek

I'm sorry to say that I owe Wil Wheaton an apology.

To be fair, I think that a lot of people owe Wil Wheaton an apology, and probably a lot of them owe him a much larger apology than I do, but that in no way excuses me from offering mine.

Even before his departure from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wil Wheaton had become somewhat of a punching bag for the fan community.  People were unimpressed by the direction that the character of Wesley Crusher had gone in, and in spite of the fact that he was only working with the material created for him by the writers, he became the focal point for the fan community's resentment regarding the situation.

When he left The Next Generation in 1994, he continued to be a target of criticism, paradoxically for his decision to leave - and probably by the same people who hated his work on the show.  At that point in time, Wheaton fell off the map for me, to be honest.  I heard various bits and pieces of news that suggested he had left the world of acting and had shifted his interest to computers, but I really didn't pay attention.

However, I've just finished reading Just A Geek, his well-written and deeply personal autobiographical description of those years following his departure from the show - his struggle to find work, his frustration, anger and disappointment at his lack of success, and the difficult process of reinventing himself as a writer, both online and in published form.

One of the things he discusses is the feelings of failure from not having an income, and having to resort to the sad irony of selling bits and pieces of personalized Star Trek memorabilia in order to pay his bills.

Unfortunately, I wrote a post in 2012 that discussed the loss of The Next Generation from television, and speculated as to the possibility of a Next Next Generation starring the various child actors - now adults - from the show, with "Wil Wheaton as the infamous Wesley Crusher" and a link to one of the less fortunate exchanges between Wesley, his mother, and Captain Picard.*

The posting then went on to hope that Wil Wheaton wasn't behind on his mortgage payments, which might well provide the impetus for just such a series.

So, Wil*, I'm very sorry - I feel that I was kicking you when you were down, or at least making fun of a time in your life when money was a serious issue for you. By way of explanation if not defense, I wasn't aware of the details of your situation, but that's no excuse for bad behaviour.

I've edited my original post so that the phrasing has nothing to do with your financial situation, and I've changed the link so that it takes readers to your scene from Nemesis that was cut from the movie - which shows you in a far more flattering light as a performer. 

And again, my sincere apologies.  There's a lot of people left to go, but at least it's a start.

 - Sid

* Which I won't quote here.

** Or Mr. Wheaton, whatever you go by with apologetic strangers.  Having a public persona tends to create a sort of artificial intimacy, but under the circumstances it may be inappropriate.

Gnomic Statements XV.

Well, at least this time he gets to drive.

- Sid

P.S. Seriously, though - a "Time Master"?  This is genre typecasting writ very large indeed.

"There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?"

The Force Awakens has reached a global box office close to 1.9 billion dollars after a month in movie theatres, and the critical response has been glowing in its praise for the seventh movie in the Star Wars series.  I've seen it twice now (a third trip may be in the offing, I'm a movie wing man for several people) and I have to say that it's a spectacular film, with flawless effects, good performances and excellent cinematography, which does its best to balance between the old and the new - and, for the most part, succeeds, without falling prey to the errors of the prequels.

(Because I'm fully aware that there are still people queuing up at the theatres for tickets to Episode 7, I'll do my best to keep my comments spoiler-free - for a given value of the term "spoiler".  I won't give away any of the big plot twists, but if you haven't seen it yet and you want a completely virgin mind when the Lucasfilm™ logo appears on the screen, stop reading now.)

Although I appreciated and liked The Force Awakens, I can't quite bring myself to say that I enjoyed it - for me, it was a somber first act from a larger story, with moments of personal emotion that outweighed the larger scenes of triumphant success.  Some questions were answered,  but many more were left unresolved, as you might well expect from the first film in a planned trilogy.*

 

To a surprising extent, the plot of The Force Awakens echoes the plot of A New Hope: a droid holds important information that everyone wants, it ends up on a desert planet in the possession of a young local who turns out to have an astonishing connection with the Force, a daring rescue is staged to release a captive from a gigantic enemy base equipped with a planet-killer weapon before they can reveal their secrets under interrogation by a helmed, black-clad villain, and said enemy base needs to be destroyed by a ridiculously small fighter squadron before it can eliminate their headquarters.  (There are a couple of other similarities that I can't go into here, see above re: spoilers.)

Regardless of these strong similarities in overall plot, The Force Awakens has a completely different tone than A New Hope. If I had to sum up the overall theme of The Force Awakens in one word, that word would be "regret".  Almost every major character is motivated by remorse in one form or another, which gives the film an unexpectedly solemn feeling. I re-watched A New Hope** before seeing The Force Awakens, and it felt completely carefree by comparison.

In addition to its more dramatic tone, The Force Awakens came across as somewhat incomplete.  There's certainly a lot of action and resolution, but it also felt very much like one-third of a trilogy, a 136 minute dramatis personae in order to provide an introduction to the players, both new and old, who will appear in the next two films.

Almost everyone that we saw in the first trilogy makes an appearance*** to a greater or lesser degree, but the new characters are the focus of the action: ace pilot Poe Dameron, ex-Stormtrooper Finn, abandoned desert waif and potential Force adept Rey, and the villainous, traitorous Kylo Ren, who is hoping to literally don the mantle of Darth Vader.

The dynamic between the new trio of protagonists isn't as defined as the one between Luke, Leia and Han in the first trilogy, and it's actually very close to just being a partner act between Finn and Rey, whose relationship could easily develop into either a friendship or a romance.

However, let's take a broader view.  If the writers really want to break new ground in this trilogy, let's not rule out the possibility of Finn and Poe building on their initial connection to create a love story - I think that science fiction cinema is long overdue for its own version of Brokeback Mountain.

- Sid

* It's a shame that George Lucas hadn't signed a three-movie deal for Star Wars before production began.  If he'd written all three scripts at once he might well have avoided some of the more egregious contradictions from A New Hope, such as the incestuous love triangle between Han, Leia and Luke, or Obi-Wan's explanation of how Luke's father was killed by Darth Vader. 

** Sigh...I watched the blu-ray edition, which contains far too many tweaks and adjustments to the original material.  I should have gone with my bootleg download of the original cut...

*** With the exception of Lando Calrissian - hopefully the 78-year old Billy Dee Williams will stay in good health until his planned cameo in the next film.

"Surprise..."

 

Now you could study Shakespeare and be quite elite
And you can charm the critics and have nothin' to eat
Just slip on a banana peel
The world's at your feet
Make 'em laugh
Make 'em laugh
Make 'em laugh

Donald O'Connor, Singin' in the Rain.

I honestly though that I'd misheard the category when it was announced that Matt Damon had won Best Actor, Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the 2016 Golden Globes™ for his performance in The Martian - which went on to win Best Picture, Musical or Comedy.

Wait, what?

Although my girlfriend Karli shared my confusion at this unexpected turn of events, at least she was able to shed some light on how it could have happened.  Apparently if a nominee does not expect to win, they are allowed to compete in a different category, provided that they can convince the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that they qualify in said alternative category. 

The decision not to go head-to-head with Leonardo DiCaprio and The Revenant was probably a wise one, but in all honesty, I have to say that I cannot remember Matt Damon singing even a single note in The Martian.

- Sid

Geekmas 2015: Epilogue

With the belated arrival of my Secret Santa gift this week at work, I'm finally able to wrap up* the 2015 holiday season with a look at the geek-appropriate gifts that I received.

Topping the list of seasonal gifts would have to be the trio of custom art pieces created for me by Karli, my significant other.  Karli is a talented and creative artist in her spare time, and wanted to give me something unique for our first Christmas together.  Accordingly, she purchased a well-worn copy of a 50's young adult adventure-fantasy novel entitled The Sky Pirates, and used a few select pages as canvases for suitably whimsical illustrations. 

Karli also presented me with a 75th Anniversary edition of The Hobbit in hard cover.  It's a marvelous little treasure featuring Tolkien's illustrations, along with his original wraparound dustcover design, printed for the first time to match his artwork - originally the sun and the dragon were not reproduced in red due to printing costs.  All in all, a wonderful set of presents - thanks very much, my love!

There's been a cascade effect from my friend Colin's present: Fallout 4, the latest and greatest game from Bethesda.  In order to run this state-of-the-art open-world role-playing software, it was necessary to upgrade my copy of Windows 10 to a 64-bit version, and double the RAM on my PC platform.  Fortunately, I received almost exactly the right amount of Amazon** gift cards from Karli's relatives to cover the cost of the RAM, with the balance of the money going to one of the items from my Geekmas shopping list - Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice in trade paperback.

As I've said before, I do love a good time travel story, and this Christmas my friend Chris added to my collection with The Time Traveller's Almanac, a collection of classic time travel stories. Some of them are well know favourites, like Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder or Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore's Vintage Season, whereas others break new ground for me.

And my belated Secret Santa gift?  A TARDIS teapot - certainly a great addition to my collection of Doctor Who items, and it goes very nicely with the mug that Santa gave me in 2013, but it did make it obvious that Santa didn't see my request for episodes over merchandise.  Hmmm...perhaps next year I'll just send him a letter, Santa is probably still using the old school approach to gift requests.

- Sid

* No pun intended.

** To my mild surprise, the Amazon.ca third party vendor that I found offered a very competitive price on memory chips.  That being said, I'm hoping that I didn't order the wrong ones, there are an awful lot of variables in terms of speed and configuration - we'll know for sure when they arrive early next week.  I also gather that there may be some issues in terms of configuration, based on various comments on the process that I've read.  Wish me luck.

Resolution.

  

The new year is traditionally a time for resolutions, mandates for change - and hopefully improvement.  Generally I haven't bothered with this sort of thing - admittedly, I'm using the new year as an excuse to lose a little weight, but it's more based on just waiting out the dietary excesses of the holidays than anything else.

However, I have become increasingly aware of an area where I do need to improve, and I've decided to address this in one of my rare New Year's resolutions.

My problem?  I've become a lazy geek.

In years gone by I was a far more dedicated fan, although perhaps a less discerning one - it can take some time to learn how to separate the wheat from the chaff.  But for the last few years, I've been slowing down - not going out to movies as much, watching less TV,  buying fewer books, and perhaps not revisiting my existing collection to the degree that I should.

Admittedly, 2015 saw a major change in my life in the form of a new relationship and a wonderful live-in partner, and I don't think that all of my decisions to miss movies were bad ones - I'm not certain that I need to particularly regret missing Chappie, Jupiter Ascending, Tomorrowland, The Fantastic Four or Pixels.  (Particularly the last two.)  And I did manage to see Ex Machina, Fury Road, Age of Ultron, Terminator Genisys*, Ant-Man, Jurassic World, The Martian and The Force Awakens.

 

However, there's been a lot of well-received TV** programming from the last couple of years that I've skipped entirely, such as Daredevil***, Orphan Black***, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter***, Arrow, The Flash, The Man in the High Castle and Gotham - not to mention almost entirely avoiding Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. (In my defense for those last two, I'm fairly familiar with the source material, and I think that I felt that watching TV versions would just be redundant.)  In fact, if it weren't for Doctor Who and The Big Bang Theory, I really wouldn't be watching any TV at all.

Overall, I've been relying far too much on second-hand information and other people's reviews of things rather than forming my own opinions, and spending a little bit too much time looking at YouTube™ videos and funny cat pictures instead of reading.

So it's my hope that in 2016 I'll be able to catch up on some of the opportunities that I've let slide over the last couple of years - not to mention finding the time to report as appropriate via blog postings.  Wish me luck - and a happy New Year to all!  Once again, half way out of the dark...

- Sid

* Okay, on a flight to Japan rather than a theatre.

** For the sake of simplicity, we'll consider Netflix™ to be the moral equivalent of a television broadcasting network.

*** Okay, one episode.