Recycling Your Collectibles

One of the things that geeks, (and most people in general) probably accumulate a lot of over their life times is collectables.  Now, not to point fingers, but I am an obsessive collector.  I have a movie collection, autographs, action figures (NOT dolls.  Don't go there), books, video games, toys, movie paraphernalia and more that I don't care to think about.  I haven't had to break down and rent a storage unit yet, but I'm sure my mom would like me to move some of my stuff out of her garage and basement.

Last year I was complaining about all of the Star Trek T-shirts I had purchased over the years at different conventions or what-not.   Most of them didn't fit, (There you go judging again, I was in high school!) but being the obsessive collector, and because each of them did have some sort of assigned meaning to them, I couldn't bring myself to just toss them away.  There had to be something that could be done.  I hit upon the idea of making a blanket with them.  Cutting up the panels of the shirts and then  sewing them together into one collage.  Great idea, and one that of course, I did nothing with.  (I think that's something else I collect: wasted opportunities!)

My girlfriend Mel decided it should not be so, and embarked on a sneaky, underhanded campaign of lies, secret meetings and clandestine projects.  In simpler words, she surprised me with it for Christmas.

Not only is this bad boy HUGE, (I like big blankets), eco friendly (since we're recycling) but it's incredibly warm, and with the sudden cold snap we're experiencing here, I love pulling it out of the closet and snuggling up with it.  Our next project involves all those old, cheaply made Concert T-shirts that shrunk as soon as you got them home.    Have any of those lying about you want to recycle?

Oh, and check out TeeFury, QWERTee, and Shirt.woot, these sites have new shirts daily, only available for 24 hours. There are other shirt sites, but these are my favorites. (And obviously, they're not helping my compulsive disorder.)

Star Trek 101

Over on Traveling The Vortex, we focus mainly on Doctor Who, but each of the three of us are very well versed in other areas of fandom as well.  My particular cornerstone is Star Trek.  Many of our listeners have requested that we do a primer for Star Trek, so as to facilitate their watching of that series as well.  After all, this year marks the shows 46th anniversary (it started in 1966) it's spawned 7 television series, 11 movies, and a massive merchandising empire, to say nothing of it's effect on Geek and pop culture.

And so, with all humility, I present my short audio cast, (it comes in at 31 minutes, so if you are time conscious or would prefer to download it for listening in the car during a commute or something, check out our iTunes feed) or what we've come to term a "side trip", for those interested in dipping their toes into the waters of Star Trek...

Star Trek 101 Podcast...

A Mad Man With A Box

This week, something extraordinary happened. I'm not referring to a successful preseason game for a football team, or the reuniting of a loving couple, or even a political rally, thou those things too undoubtedly happened. I'm talking about the return of Doctor Who.

For the uninitiated, Doctor Who is a British science fiction series that started all the way back in 1963. Keep in mind, 1963 was not exactly a bumper year for science fiction. The heyday of films like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, FORBIDDEN PLANET and EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS was long past, Star Trek had yet to air an episode, and the juggernauts like STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS were far off in the future. So, without a built in audience, this was considered quite the gamble. Add to the mix that Doctor Who started (and in many ways remains) a children's show. Dedicated to tossing in some education with it's entertainment, many early episodes traveled back to historical Earth, and encounters with The Aztecs, or The Romans were common place. The show enchanted, captivated and scared the little ones.

 And it's been doing it for nearly fifty years. It ran continuously on BBC from 1963 to 1989, when it was put on hiatus... and never returned. A co-produced TV movie for FOX television was made in 1996, (Steven Spielberg had a hand in bringing it back) with the idea of a new series launch, BUT, it was up against the episode of Roseanne where Dan had a heart attack. Viewing figures were not kind in the states. But it did well enough that hope remained for the show to return. Finally, it did in 2005. Not a reboot, but a continuation from where we left off, though with a faster pace and better effects. This is the longest break between episodes since the show was revived. Partially because of the summer Olympics in London, partially because current show runner Steven Moffat has something planned for the last half of this season, which will actually air NEXT year in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary. Current episodes air Saturdays on both BBC and BBC America. So naturally, there's a huge amount of hype built up right now, and many people are wondering, why?

 The show is pure magic. Unlike Star Trek, which almost prides itself on it's techno-babble, there are times when the Doctor just gives up. An example: "We're just entering conceptual space. Imagine a banana. Or anything curved. Actually, don't, because it's not curved or like a banana- FORGET THE BANANA!" and then the matter is dropped. Most episodes deal with the Doctor and his friends landing on Planet X to discover Problem Y which must be solved by Time-Frame Z. The odd thing, is that at any point in time, the Doctor could just climb back into his ship and fly away. They've made jokes about it. But he doesn't, because he's curious, and because we wouldn't have a show if he did. A hero who runs from trouble just isn't all that exciting.

 I co-host a Doctor Who Podcast, Traveling The Vortex (www.travelingthevortex.com) so I’ve been talking to a lot of newbies about the show, which is riding a crest of unprecedented popularity at the moment (last season it had the highest number of downloads from iTunes). I frequently find myself repeating some of the same things (not that I mind). So here’s my list of the 5 things you MUST know about Doctor Who, and the 5 things you MUST know before you sit down and try to delve into the new Series 7:

 5 Things you NEED to know about Doctor Who

 1) The Doctor is the last of the Time Lords, a race who understands, and can travel through time and space. He does this via his TARDIS, which stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It’s bigger on the inside, and its outside appearance is locked into that of a 1960’s London Police Box thanks to it's cloaking device--called a chameleon circuit that disguises itself as something in the environment around it--or it would before it got stuck in that form.

 2) Time Lords have two hearts and the ability to Regenerate their bodies depending on the extent of the injury, resulting in a new body (although sometimes the process is unpredictable). To date, 11 different actors have played the Doctor (Matt Smith is the newest), each bringing a unique set of quirks and personality to the role, but it’s always the same man.

 3) The Doctor usually travels with one or more companions.

 4) The Doctor is beyond intelligent, often making “Sherlock Holmes” like deductions with very little available information. Sometimes these are explained, sometimes you just roll with it.

 5) Yes, there are nearly 50 years of history associated with the program, but don’t let that deter you. For the most part if you really need to know, they’ll let you know, and there are always plenty of fans to ask!

 5 Things you NEED to know before you start Series 7…

 1) Amy and Rory are the current companions, and are married.

 2) The Doctor is presumed dead by most of the universe at the moment, which he is only too happy to play into, believing he's gotten too big for his britches as there are legends about him.

 3) One of those legends is about the First Question "It's all still waiting for you. The fields of Trensalore, the fall of the eleventh, and the question. The First Question. The question that must never be answered. Hidden in plain sight, the question you've been running from all your life... Doctor... WHO?" The legend says that silence will fall when the question is asked, leading many to believe it will be the Doctor's REAL death.

 4) The show is unpredictable and quirky, and unlike most science fiction, the “WHOniverse” has things that may not be explainable. Roll with it.

 5) The show is British; yes they have accents, yes sometimes they talk fast and are hard for the untrained ear to understand. Just roll with it and stick with it!

 If you are really interested but afraid to jump into the middle even with the primer, then I suggest "series one" or the 2005 relaunch as an excellent jump off point to familiarize yourself with the show. And since British shows run shorter seasons, there's only thirteen episodes for you to digest in a block. 

In the words of the first... "One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine." Welcome back, Doctor. <>
  Check out this awesome tribute video from LastWhovian on Youtube...

Rethinking The Reboot

Hollywood is dead, the prophets of doom and gloom will tell you.  And they may be right.  For every fantastic, Oscar winning original idea, there are an equal number of empty headed, big budget blockbusters that just bust.  We've been buried in an avalanche of sequels, prequels, based on, inspired by, and "from the producer of"s...  As as each wave in the tsunami of Hollywood crap crashes ashore in cineplexes around the world, the flotsam and jetsam of the system continues to bring less than stellar quality entertainment and more mind-numbing-why-are-we-paying-for-this crap.

Back in 2004, a new concept word started floating around tinsel town.  The Reboot.  It really began on television, when Ron Moore took a small, beloved but campy and maligned 70's science fiction show and remolded it into a darker, grittier one.  Battlestar Galactica made the Sci-Fi channel into a force to be reckoned with.

In 2006, Christopher Nolan decided to make BATMAN BEGINS, a new, darker take on the Batman legend that would retell his origin story.  Friends, I was so far against this idea when it bubbled to the surface of the Hollywood pond scum I didn't even see it first run in the theatre.  Why retell the story when it's already been told?  Well, obviously I was wrong.  Not only did Nolan craft a beautiful movie, it did it's job of universe establishing very well, and was rewarded with good box office.

Unfortunately, that opened the flood gates, as producers everywhere embraced the "everything old is new again" motif and started looking for projects that were ripe for rebooting.

Take James Bond, an action franchise juggernaut, with 20 films under it's belt.  Actors have come and gone, but the core remains the same... until producers decide to Reboot the franchise in 2006, starting over with a younger, more inexperienced Bond in CASINO ROYALE.  While most critics and fans agree this was a good move, I remain skeptical, not only of Daniel Craig who hasn't won me over as 007 yet, but also of the concept of taking an icon and "moving in a different direction" with him.  Um, is that really necessary?  After all, doing what worked (and to a certain extent, repeating the formula) is what made him an icon in the first place.

2008 begat THE INCREDIBLE HULK, starting over since HULK underperformed at the box office.  And while it's a better film, I still don't understand why we need to continually retell the creation story.

In 2009 we got STAR TREK, which had me so wound up in knots I couldn't sleep.  This is my baby, one of the corner stones of my geekdom. The idea of seeing Kirk and Spock in their academy days has been floating around since 1989, and there was a good reason the idea never moved forward.  No one wanted to replace William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.  After all, they were ICONS.  But Paramount moved ahead... and found a way to make the reboot work.  In a nifty trick involving time travel and parallel universes, they have allowed the existing Trek continuity to stay continual. This new, hipper, younger STAR TREK wasn't treading on the hallowed ground of fandom, it revered it, and allowed it to exist in it's own right, while still moving into uncharted territory and new directions, truly going where no one has gone before... (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

By the time 2010 rolled around, TV started Hawaii 5-0 and La Femme Nikita (in itself based on a film) over, and even more films cropped up in the pipeline. CONAN, PLANET OF THE APES, SPIDER-MAN (really?  SPIDER-MAN?  We're gonna reboot a movie that's only ten years old?) and more retold the story of how things began.

The kicker is, that most of these have actually been decent, quality entertainment.  Oh sure, there's a few clunkers in the mix, (FRIDAY THE 13TH anyone?) but I've been pleasantly surprised by most despite shuddering every time I hear a new one has been announced.  It's a very polarizing idea, some people literally giddy with excitement over the idea of a new... whatever, and others paralyzed with fear that they'll find a way to screw it up.  I think most of geek fandom feels the same way, one way or the other depending on the project at hand.

Next year brings MAN OF STEEL, a rebooted Superman story.  And a retelling of the origin.  Again.  And I think to myself... "What?  Why?" I mean, unless you yourself ARE an alien from another world, you should know Superman is an alien from another world.  I have NEVER read a Superman comic in my life and I know this.  I know he has the worst disguise ever and fights for truth, justice and the American way. What is there to reboot?  WHY?  To allow a fresh perspective on it?  Okay, but why cant that fresh perspective come without retelling a story we already know?  And then changing it to make it fit your new ideas?  Why cant it be:

Act One, Scene One: Exterior Metropolis - A nuclear ICBM roars into frame, fiery contrail blotting out the sky as it nears the great city.  SUPERMAN flies close behind, straining to catch it...

See?  We're with you already.  We get it.  You don't need to start everything all over again.  Just go.  The irony is the film is produced by the afore mentioned Nolan and directed by Zack Snyder (of 300 and WATCHMEN) so I should be all over this, but I just cant get past that starting over point.

And now Hollywood keeps branding about the idea of doing old classics like THE WIZARD OF OZ, CASABLANCA, and THE GODFATHER, to which I reply, would you "reboot" the Mona Lisa?  I mean, surely some digital paint would clean that old print right up.  Or maybe you'd like to take a stab at rebooting the Magna Carta or the Declaration Of Independence.  Surely those could be made fresh and new for today?  I myself have been thinking long and hard about tackling Hamlet, cause that one's ripe for updating, don't you think?

It's a slippery slope Hollywood.  When you get it right, your silver cinematic magic brings us together as no form of art on this earth can.  But when you get it wrong.... ugh.

I submit the following motion: The term reboot should be used for a complete change of style, NOT substance.  Origin stories are origin stories for a reason. We all had to begin somewhere.  You want a new "fill-in-the-blank" film?  Fine.  But don't make me pay for a story I already know, and don't change it to fit your needs.  Just make a new one and make it good.  Focus on storytelling, the rest will take care of itself.  And for god sakes... LEAVE THE CLASSICS ALONE.  THEY'RE CALLED CLASSICS FOR A REASON!!!

Okay, I'll put away the soap box now. <>

What is the Ka-Tet Of Geek?

In Stephen King's magnum opus The Dark Tower, the heroes embark on a journey to save Mid-World (and in deed, all worlds) from the insane Crimson King, who seeks to topple the Dark Tower which sits at the nexus point of all creation.

The tight-knit group is called a Ka-Tet, meaning in the high speech of the land, "a group of people drawn together by Ka for a purpose."  Ka is fate, or destiny, or god, or whatever you make it out to be.  Roland, the lead protagonist of the novels describes Ka-Tet as being "one from many", while one of his friends and followers, Susannah derives it as even simpler, it is the notion of family.

So what is the Ka-Tet of Geek?  It is, in my own estimation, that strange conflux of fans who become friends, and friends who become family.  Like Google+, you can belong to one or many circles or groups, and frequently the people within that circle will cross into the orbits of others.  Star Trek fans for example, are not exclusively Trekkies. (Or Trekkers, depending on their preference.)  

People who worship at the alter of STAR WARS can also be as deeply embedded in the religion of Joss Whedon's Firefly, which hovers close to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which probably joins up with True Blood, and by proximity of network, Game Of Thrones, which should be read by all accounts, and if you like George R.R. Martin, then you simply must read J.R.R. Tolken's Lord Of The Rings trilogy if you haven't already.  Thus, in six degrees of separation, we moved from the height of popcorn pop culture film through cult television, to premium network adaptation to classic novels.

But it's not just that.  Yes, Potterheads can be comic book fans (and frequently are), but the Geek family extends beyond a mere fandom or celebration of content.  Most fans are well read, deeply passionate about various causes--everything from fighting Cancer to animal cruelty--and are students of science as well.  I hate to shatter your illusion, but those geeks on The Big Bang Theory?  Yeah, they really do exist, and they ARE that much smarter than you. 

Geek circles exist in part because society at large has always shunned them.  Nerds, geeks, dweebs. Whatever negative derogatory term was brandied about to classify someone who didn't conform to the "norm".  No, jocks aren't evil (In fact, I'll go one better and submit that it is perfectly fine to be a die hard geek, and also like sports.)  It's not quite as bad as they make it out to be in the movies, Jocks and Geeks don't have to always come to contests of brawn vs. brain.  But the geeks laughed last, didn't they?  The computer I'm using to write this blog?  Invented by a nerd.  The touch screen tablet you're using to read this?  Nerd.  The film you watched last night?  A geek directed it.  

Blessed are the Geek, for they shall inherit the Earth.  Yep.  Already happened.

But of course, it's not just that either.  Fans are are a...well, fanatical, devoted bunch.  Weather it's the writings of Douglas Adams, the film styles of Quentin Tarantino or Kevin Smith, or even the composing work of Danny Elfman or John Williams, geeks exhibit an almost proprietary attachment to their fanaticism.  But unlike a miserly Scrooge like hoarder who wishes to keep the treasure for himself, a true geek is always willing to share, to bring someone else into the magic of that universe.

To find another piece of the Ka-Tet.  Another friend, another family member. 

And so, my Ka-Tet, we assemble Avengers style.  We share the same interests, watch the same shows, read the same books.  So come along with me for the journey, as I attempt to navigate my own personal solar system of Geek circles.  Some will intersect with yours, and some will be like the rouge comet that randomly shows up every few dozen years only to disappear back into the void.  But the ride should be interesting. <>