60.

It's my 60th birthday tomorrow, and sadly, I've had to settle.

My dream milestone birthday celebration was going to be an echo of my 50th birthday - a trip to London, a visit to the Doctor Who Experience, followed by some souvenir shopping (I do like a t-shirt) and a pint at a classic English pub, all enhanced this time by the company of my lovely wife Karli.

However, given the current state of international travel during the pandemic, I regretfully decided that it just wasn't practical right now, and downgraded my expectations.

It's going to be an interesting birthday regardless.  We're still going on a trip:  Karli found us a pleasant looking Airbnb in Ucluelet, a small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and we'll be leaving later this morning to catch the ferry. It won't have the same geek gratification as the Doctor Who Immersive Experience in London - in fact, I'm not aware of anything geek-related in our itinerary - but you know, it's surprising how often something unexpected makes an appearance, and I'm quite looking forward to our little one-week getaway.  All other issues aside, I think it would be impossible for me to have a bad vacation with Karli, who has proven herself to be a fabulous travel companion.

I haven't completely abandoned my hopes for a trip to England and the Doctor Who event, but I'm aware that the window is getting smaller and smaller.  But, if science fiction has given me anything, it's a well-developed ability to believe in the impossible.  As I've said before, the horse may still learn to sing.

- Sid

P.S.  By the way, I'm impressed beyond words (no pun intended) by the Merriam-Webster definition of the word "Sixty" - I mean, they're not wrong, but I somehow feel that they've missed the mark - and I have to wonder if there's a different Sixty that's defined as a number which is equal to five time 12.

 

"Happy birthday to me."

Since my purchase of a set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture lobby cards in March, I've been keeping an eye on the weekly Heritage Auctions Movie Posters Select Auction for similar opportunities.  As I said in that posting, I find the idea of lobby cards to be more attractive than full sized movie posters, which require a more substantial investment in both money and wall space.

I've seen a few tempting options for cards from classic SF films from the 50s and 60s, but in every case they've quickly gotten out of my financial reach.  However, you never know with auctions, which can often have as much to do with luck as money, so I haven't given up on the idea.

The most recent sale featured a pair of lobby cards from Return of the Jedi, the dramatic 1983 conclusion to the original Star Wars trilogy.  In this case, the items were actually over-sized cards - the standard is 11x14, and these were 16x20.  The scans on the listing revealed a few scuffs and scratches, but I somehow feel that things like that add a sense of history to items like this, and the mere fact that Heritage Auctions classified their condition as "VERY FINE" indicates that the system is somewhat forgiving.  

When I received the notification late Sunday night that I'd won the auction, it actually took me a minute to remember that I'd even placed a bid.  Generally Star Wars related items sell for a premium - it's a pretty dedicated fan base - so I was surprised that the auction hadn't even gotten up to my modest $52 maximum bid, rather than stopping at $34. (Plus, of course, the inevitable Buyer's Premium for the auction house, but even that only brought the grand total up to $53 - a bit cheaper than my Star Trek purchase.)

Given the probable timing on shipping, I expect to receive the cards nicely in time for my birthday at the end of September.  I generally like to buy myself a little gift for my birthday, and given that this is a milestone at 60, I'm pleased to have found something a bit special that didn't cost a fortune.

- Sid

Immersion - literally.

I continue to find my Quest 2 VR headset to have been the best entertainment purchase of the last few years - it really is a unique experience, and thanks to affordable pricing and frequent discounts from Oculus, I've built up a nice little library of games to go with the various VR offerings within the system.

However, I have discovered an unexpected challenge in the VR experience.  Due to its immersive nature, it's almost impossible to use the headset casually, or to do anything else while wearing it.

Whereas it's easy to sit at my iMac for a minute to just check my bank account or look at e-mail, or to munch away on barbecue Lays while playing a game in Windows, once I'm geared up for an Oculus session I tend to stay in it for a while.

The cliche of the emaciated VR inhabitant who has abandoned reality for the virtual realm actually has some truth to it, simply because it's a pain in the butt to stop using the headset for a minute to, say, get a drink of water or grab a snack.  It's simplicity itself to eat something crunchy while playing a regular game on a computer, but with the VR system, simply finding the damn bowl is its own little event - not to mention having to drop a controller to get a free hand.

Oculus has made some allowances for this by adding a system whereby you can temporarily use the boundary sensor cameras to get a blurry monochromatic view of your surroundings, but again, it involves divorcing your point of view from the VR environment and then going back in. 

None of these issues are the end of the world in terms of using the system, but you know, it really makes you appreciate how user-friendly the Matrix was when it came to issues like this.

- Sid