LXB | He tasks me, and I shall have him!

I'm not as much of a collector as I used to be, but I was still able to come up with an answer to this assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers.

We all collect something. What is a holy grail item you hope to find at a flea market, toy show, or comic convention? What else do you collect? 

I used to collect comics, but now I mostly just accumulate them. I don't have particular characters or creators that I follow religiously anymore. In fact, I've lost the collector bug for most everything. I still buy a lot of books, comics, movies, and music, but the difference is that I don't do it anymore with the specific idea that I'm building a collection other than just Stuff I Like. Collecting is fun, but the completist mindset was keeping me from trying new things by forcing me to focus exclusively on things I already liked. Others will have different experiences from mine and that's awesome. I just decided it wasn't for me and the Star Trek and Star Wars novels are a perfect example of why.

I was a huge Star Trek fan during the Next Generation days and I was still very much a collector. I wanted all the episodes, all the movies, all the books, and all the comics. The problem was that the publishers of the Star Trek Expanded Universe novels knew this about me. I started to realize that in order to keep up with the Star Trek novels (and the same was true for Star Wars), I literally could read nothing but Star Trek and Star Wars novels. I treaded water that way for a while - hoping that the publisher would selflessly ease up on me one day - until I finally read an interview with one of the Star Trek editors who explained that keeping me focused purely on her novels was exactly the plan. They were never going to let up; so I quit cold turkey. Same goes with anything else that threatens to eat up all my resources and leave me no time to explore new things.

Having said that, there is one collection that I started years ago that I'd love to complete. During the last days of Star Trek: The Next Generation's influence on pop culture, I went to a Star Trek convention and bought the poster at the top of this post. And since Michael Dorn was at the show (Worf was always my favorite), I had him sign it. And I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if I could get everyone in that picture to sign it too?" It never happened, so that poster is still rolled up in a tube in my office somewhere with Michael Dorn's lonely signature on it. Even though the days in which I'd hang up a Star Trek poster in my office are long gone, I'd totally put it on the wall if it had all those autographs on it. Too bad I wasn't in Calgary last weekend. If I'd known about it, I seriously would have tried to make that happen. I forget how much I loved that show until stuff like this reminds me.

The rest of the League mentioned some cool stuff that they collect, but a few of them especially crossed over with my interests. Pendragon's Post wants a cool Wonder Woman villain toy from the Linda Carter show. Lefty Limbo wants an awesome Space: 1999 ship. Toyriffic wants a giant-sized Rodan toy. LXB host Brian from Cool and Collected wants a wind-up gorilla (and who wouldn't?). The Lair of the Dork Horde wants a Weebles Haunted House (My brothers and I totally had that as kids and I have fond, but frustrating memories of trying to integrate it with our extensive collection of Fisher Price Little People playsets). And finally, Flashlights Are Something to Eat reminds me yet again of how wonderful a show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was.

Do you collect anything? Are there holes in your collection that you're eager to fill?

SpringCon is coming!

SpringCon 2012 is hitting the Twin Cities in a couple of weeks and I'll be there as usual. Will definitely have some Kill All Monsters ashcans and Cownt stickers, but I'll see if I can't find something new to bring as well. I'll probably have David with me for some of the time, so if you want to talk dinosaurs or Godzilla (or Pokemon), he's your man.

The full guest list is up at the Midwest Comic Book Association website and it includes some awesome names as usual. In addition to the many friends I love seeing at that show, the MCBA does an especially great job at bringing in and honoring classic comic book creators. This year they've got Allen Bellman (The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner Comics), Jose Delbo (Jimmy Olsen, Wonder Woman), Bob McLeod (Action Comics, Conan the Barbarian), and Don Rosa (The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck).

They've also got other creators making their appearance for the first time this year: artist Jamal Igle (Supergirl, Zatanna), animator Joel Seibel (A Pup Named Scooby Doo, The Angry Beavers), and writer Bill Willingham (Fables, Fairest). I have no idea how I'm going to meet Willingham without geeking out, but I'm definitely going to ask him to sign my copy of Fables, Volume 2 (the one that quotes a review I wrote on the back cover).

If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop by my table and say "hi."

Song of the Week | "Bright Whites" by Kishi Bashi

The obsolescence of geeks and nerds

Image via Fresh Cargo

It’s apparent to everyone at this point that the geeks have inherited the earth, right? I mean, no one doubts that anymore. When I was a kid, it was an unthinkable concept. Sure, everyone loved Star Wars, but not everyone was obsessed with it. Reading comics or playing role-playing games had all sorts of social stigma that you didn’t want to deal with unless you were so into those things that loving them was worth the dishonor. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the war Star Trek fans waged to be known as “Trekkers” instead of “Trekkies,” as if that was somehow cooler. We don’t have to deal with any of that anymore. But in a world where liking geeky things is the norm, what does the “geek” label (or “nerd,” if you prefer; I use them interchangeably) mean anymore?

The Mary Sue ran an article on this, which is part of why I’m writing this. I was already thinking about it, but it was the Mary Sue piece (written by Becky Chambers) that pushed me toward my own keyboard. In it, Chambers decides that geekdom is defined by being interested in details. “All of these things are chock-full of tiny little details,” she writes, “just waiting for a curious mind to patiently examine them. Want to write code? Mind the details. Want to develop a good strategy in a game? Pay attention to the details. Really like that sci-fi book you just read? You’ll enjoy it even more when you look at the glossary and the galaxy map. They’ve got tons of details.” And she’s right of course, but I also think that she’s missing part of the picture.

Chambers is still focused on traditionally geeky stuff: science, genre fiction, role-playing, etc. The truth though is that everyone is geeky about something. This is an old observation, but sports fans are total nerds. I’m not just talking about the ones who join fantasy leagues either, but the ones who follow all the teams, know all the players, and can quote all the stats. I’ve felt a lot of social pressure over the years to be “into” sports, but have resisted because I just couldn’t get into the detailed minutia the way my sports-geek friends were. Going to a ball game with them was like going to the comic book store with That Guy; the one who wears the Captain America T-shirt and will not stop talking about which Green Lantern is the best. Chambers is correct that it’s all about the details, it’s just that everyone obsesses about something: comics, sports, movies, or scrapbooking.

Knowing that, I wonder if it’s not time to retire these terms as identifiers. Rick Remember recently tweeted, “I'm calling overdone on comic folks self-applying ‘nerd’ and ‘geek’.” I think I agree. When everyone is a thing, does that thing even need a label anymore?

Ocean Beach tourists hate cephalopods

[IMP Awards]

Guest-blogging | That F'ing Monkey

I've been wanting to try guest-blogging at some other blogs for a couple of months now, but hadn't gotten around to seriously thinking about it or approaching anyone yet before my buddy Ken from That F'ing Monkey asked if I wanted to chip in for three posts. Ken and his wife just had a baby boy and he knew that when his son arrived he'd need a break from the blog to focus on being a new dad. It was awesome timing, but I would have agreed even if I hadn't already been thinking about it.

Ken's idea was for me and him and Brandon (the other regular TFM contributor) to imagine that we were guest programmers on Turner Classic Movies and pick three films to talk about. We'd introduce them, talk about why we liked them, and give some background information and trivia if we wanted. I was totally into it.

I'll let you visit TFM to read my posts (and Ken's and Brandon's), but the films I picked were Alfred Hitchcock's silent version of The Lodger, the under-appreciated British horror classic Night of the Demon, and Tom Berenger's hilarious Western parody Rustlers' Rhapsody. Click the links or each picture below to go to the appropriate post.







My main criterion at first was simply that I wanted to choose from three different movie eras, but I ended up finding a recurring theme that tied them all together. I explain more about that in the Rustlers' Rhapsody entry.

Anyway, thanks so much to Ken for asking me to participate. It was a lot of fun and I'd love to do it again.

Land of the Lost episode guide

Remember when I spent all that time talking about Land of the Lost episodes? Pop Apostle has spent even more time than that and the results are fantastic. Seriously, this is the user-friendly resource you've been waiting for.

LXB | Baseball Season

First of all, I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger the last two days. There's no drama and I'm still employed, but I'm looking for a new day job and that's taking up quite a bit of time. I love my current gig, but it's not going to turn into what I hoped it would, so with the complete blessing and support of my awesome boss, I need to find something else. I'm going to try to double up on posts today and tomorrow to make up for Monday and Tuesday.

I'm still catching up to the League of Extraordinary Bloggers and my next late assignment is an open-ended one about baseball:

Take me out to the ball game! America’s past time has been prominently featured in pop culture for over a century, so this week, we’re talking baseball!

I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm not a big sports fan. I grew up in Tallahassee, so I have very fond memories of going to Florida State football games with my friends, but I haven't stayed motivated to keep up with the Seminoles in a serious way since I moved from there. Now that I live in Minnesota, I've been to a handful of Twins and Saints games, several Wild games, and a Timberwolves game, but that's about the atmosphere and hanging out with people I like. I understand the rules and cheer loudly for the home team, but I can't get into the players and the stats. In other words, I'm a casual sports watcher.

That said, I do love me a sports movie and that includes baseball. Favorites include Major League, A League of Their Own, and Bull Durham. But really, when I think about baseball and pop culture, I always go first to good ol' Charlie Brown. The Peanuts defined Americana for me as a kid and their neighborhood games romanticized baseball more than any film ever could.

 
 

The next thing I think of in reference to baseball is always the last 1:10 of Chuck Jones and Co.'s "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!"

 

Some of the other League members came up with some baseball references I can relate to. Team Hellions talked about a baseball-themed West Coast Avengers comic and reminded me of all those fun baseball games the X-Men used to play between epic story arcs. I used to love those issues where the team would try (and fail) to play without using their powers. Cavalcade of Awesome and Red-Headed Mule both put together dream teams of movie baseball players; an awesome idea. And Lair of the Dork Horde reminded me of the batting helmet ice cream bowls we used to get and collect in the '80s (and those awesome-at-the-time handheld baseball video games).

How about you? What - if anything - does baseball mean to you?

Song of the Week | "Craig's List" by Weird Al Yankovic

LXB | What can Michael Bay make better?

This League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignment is from a couple of weeks ago (I'm catching up!).

Brian from Cool and Collected said: We can all agree that Michael Bay makes everything better. After he’s done with the Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles movie, what should Michael Bay blow up next?

I love Brian, but I reject that premise so hard. With the exception of The Rock, which I loved, there's not a Michael Bay movie that I care to rewatch and I can't imagine a situation in which I'd ever go see a movie with his name on it again. His films are boring and they don't make any sense.

I was never a huge fan of the Transformers cartoon, so I don't have any complaints about his messing up my childhood or anything. I just know that I got distracted by my own thoughts during the climactic battle in the first one and if you can bore me while giant robots are punching each other...there's something wrong with you.

There's only one movie that I can think of that Michael Bay would improve and that's Battlefield Earth. Because there's no possible way to make it worse.

The rest of the League tends to like Bay more than I do, but I admit that curiosity would get me into the theater to see a Bay remake of Plan 9 from Outer Space or a Bay adaptation of A Button for Corduroy. Those are awesome ideas. My favorite suggestion though is from Freak Studios, who shares my opinion of Bay and thinks that his perfect genre is war porn.

Someone having a worse day than you

With apologies to Cal.