Thank God for the Salvo's!

Today I found the perfect stuffed polar bear I need for a school project (for the book rap on the children's picture book "Bear and Chook") at a local Salvation Army "Salvo's" charity store. I've been pricing toy polar bears all week, and this one was just $2. He was even dressed for Christmas (in July?), but even his garments are worth way more than $2! Boy, am I glad I didn't buy the one I saw for $130 during the week!

Even better, Bear's the perfect scale for my battery-operated "Choke-a-Chicken" (below left), who'll be standing in for the character of Chook. (Remember "Choke-a-Chicken"? A real novelty hit several Christmases ago. He does the Chicken Dance, and squawks in agony when you pick him up by the neck!)

It was the most amazing day. I was dropped off at the station today, to head into Darling Harbour and have lunch with friends at the Meat and Wine Co. I just missed a train, so I headed off to the shops for a while, and then decided to check out the stuffed toy section of the "Salvo's" charity store on High Street. Sure enough, there was Bear, waiting on a couch and looking resplendent in his Christmas outfit. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the woman serving me said, "$2 please"!

Of course, I then had to take Bear into the city with me - and pay an extra 95 cents for a recyclable carry-bag - but who cares when I'd just saved $128! I also missed the next fast train into the city, which was also frustrating, but again - who cares when I'd just saved $127.05!

I even managed to send profile updates and the pic (above) direct to my Facebook page from my iPhone! In the time it took to get into the city, there were many hilarious comments coming in from friends making puns about the polar bear that had made me late for lunch!




Introducing "Bear and Chook by the sea": Emma Quay, illustrator, and Lisa Shanahan, author.

Easter eggs for Midwinter Christmas?

Gosh, look at that date creeping up. The night air is chill in Sydney at the moment and it reminds me that i usually have my plans for Midwinter Christmas well underway - but this year I haven't secured a suitable date, or even an invitation list. It looks like the celebration may well pass me by this year. Sigh...

Over on TrekBBS, I've been discussing two aspects of Star Trek novels that many people find very frustrating.

Firstly, one debate that rages, on and off, is the perception that licensed TV tie-in novels are somehow inferior because they must take their lead from the parent/source material (ie. live-action Star Trek episodes and movies, as aired), and that new readers are discouraged from reading them. Or, there is the almost-opposing perception that inter-continuity between ST novels is so tight that the supposed result is the same: ie. that new readers are discouraged from reading them.

Now, I must add that I'm very happy with the status quo because the modern ST novels, as a whole, seem to be at a peak of quality at the moment: solid storytelling in very generous chunks, and plenty of variety. my main beef is that I've fallen so far behind, mainly because I spend so much time here (ie. online). Of course, there are others who strongly disgree, and claim that the heyday of the ST tie-in is long gone.

One poster complained about "Easter eggs", those wonderful little in-jokes and bits of trivia that ST writers will seed through their work, either to provide avid fans (and themselves) with amusement, or to provide some inter-continuity between the novels, short stories and comics in unobtrusive ways. I mean, if an Easter egg is so obscure that you don't recognise it, why even worry if it might be there?

Surely, it's all a matter of personal taste? For every reference that has ever annoyed one fan, or passed unnoticed by their geek radar, another fan has acclaimed, "Hey cool!" And vice versa. Some references I might not have cared for might have been significant for them. For example, I never care if an author says Warp 5 for a three-day trip when it should be Warp 7, but some fans actually do these calculations. Ditto stardate inconsistencies. Different strokes... etc.

I'm happy to know that the Easter egg references (if I actually notice them) were significant enough for the author that they were included. For example, I can always tell which ST novelists are fans of Filmation's animated ST series (TAS), since they are usually the only ones to reference TAS events and people in the novels. An author calling a shuttlecraft the Fontana is probably a fan of DC Fontana's work on the ST TV series. "Vanguard" novel titles are named after "Rush" songs - whoever "Rush" might be? - and so on. One doesn't have to buy "Rush" CDs to enjoy the "Vanguard" novels, and one doesn't have to watch or know TAS, or read Peter David's "Star Trek: New Frontier", if a new ST novel or comic contains an obscure (to some) TAS or NF reference.

I challenged one poster to give examples of where references to other ST books have been "too gratuitous and/or uncool", and his response was to say that he was cancelling plans to buy any of the recently-announced TOS tie-in novels in 2009 and 2010. Gosh, my apologies to the ST novel writers! Looks like I managed to scare away one of their customers by disputing his disdain of Easter eggs in ST novels? (Guess I'll have to buy two of everything due in 2009 and 2010 now... Maybe there's still time? Eradicate all Easter eggs now!)



A different poster complained about which ST novels were targeted for reprint in trade-sized omnibuses. Of course, reprints are not made in an effort to gamble that the reprint will create a possible resurgence of interest. They are a response to the laws of supply and demand. Not enough demand, no supply.

There are many, many out-of-print ST novels out there. The ones that do get re-presented in some form are reprinted because their original sales figures were excellent and it is hoped they'll perform well again - to a new audience who might have missed them the first time. (ie. The four first "Rhiannsu" books, reprinted just in time for one, new, oft-delayed conclusion, "The Empty Chair".)

I suggested that a quick browse in a large second hand bookshop would uncover the mass market paperbacks he was looking for. I find it really hard to believe that London, UK, has less second hand bookstores than Sydney. (While our second hand stores have slowly vanished over recent decades, especially from the CBD, I still know about four with huge ST sections.)

A lot of second hand sellers have gone exclusively online these days. Sure, some ST novels are perceived as "rare" ("Mission: Gamma #1" before the recent trade paperback omnibus reprint) and command high prices, but I'm sure most ST titles would be quite reasonable online. Often, the postage is higher than the cost of the book. And online searching is so efficient!

It's called the "thrill of the hunt". I guess it's not for everyone? I did it - the hard way - for my first four or five years of collecting in the early 80s (every Thursday night and Saturday morning, for many months at a time, until all the shops knew me by name or at least reputation, and they'd often "save" things for me!) - and, you know, I still pick up the odd gap in my collection, but now using Steve Roby's Complete ST Library listings and the online searching facilities of Amazon.

These days many second hand stores have their entire collection on a database and, even if browsing in the bricks 'n' mortar stores, the managers can often tell you, as you walk in, whether the book is somewhere inside! As for early Pocket ST novels, many of these were on the bestseller lists, were kept "in print" for ages, and are in larger quantities than one might imagine. Every ST novel turns up somewhere, sometime! It's the thrill of the hunt to find the right title, in the right condition, and at the right price.

Hampering housework

Today I'm trying to do my annual guilt trip. it's almost time to start finding hiding places for lots of "stuff", that has accumulated over recent months, so the house will look good for Midwinter Christmas. I can't believe we're nearly there again!

I keep looking over my shoulder, trying to build up the energy required to do the job properly, and not just hide everything in cupboards and behind furniture. And I keep on surfing the 'Net.

Over on the Aussie Bloggers' BBS they are chatting about the concept of the modern day Christmas hamper, which one pays off in advance so as to have an overabundance of Christmas fare in December - several companies bungled their deliveries last year - and it was asked if companies like Chrisco gave value for money. It got me thinking...

When we were kids in the late 60s and early 70s, a highlight of the pre-Christmas period was the arrival (and ritual unpacking) of my mother's "Walton's Christmas Hamper". She used to pay it off in small advance instalments over the whole year, and the stuff that was in it was readily consumed by us over Christmas and January. It contained lots of stuff we bought regularly, anyway, but there was stuff we only ever had as annual treats because they were in the Christmas hamper, such as glacé fruit, Kool Pops, chocolate syrup for ice cream, tinned plum pudding, bonbons, etc. In the 60s and 70s, the Walton's hamper was very good value, but with the advent of supermarkets - and "specials" - it has become possible, and more economical, to grab the stuff you really needed throughout the year at lower prices.

We have a funny family anecdote concerning the matching plastic bottles of BBQ sauce and chocolate syrup! One year we went on a picnic and my Mum had made the most delicious stack of home-cooked roast beef sandwiches for us to take with us. Of course, when we arrived at the picnic grounds we realised that she'd used the chocolate syrup (brown bottle) instead of the BBQ sauce (dark red bottle). We still laugh about that error at family gatherings.

Return of the bird

Yesterday, I mentioned the bird that entered the school library, seeking the spider I'd caught during my lesson. Today the bird was back! I glanced at the clock and it was exactly 24 hours since his previous visit. Good timing!

I was going to suggest that he came in to hear the next chapter of the book I was reading but, last week, my story sent one of the students into a sound sleep, so maybe I'm reading way too much into these events!

Meanwhile, I'm really enjoying seeing vacant floorspace in the living areas of the house. Last January, I pulled lots of stuff out of one room, intending to rearrange and consolidate all the stuff and store it more efficiently. Admittedly, I did end up shoving things back into the other room as visitors were imminent on Saturday for Midwinter Christmas, but still the cosmetic effect is great!



The event was successful. There were nine of us, a good number for catering purposes. Just for fun, we had a cupcake decoration contest, a full-sized artificial snowman, and enjoyed watching one friend's well-edited DVD of a vacation in Japan, and another friend's professionally edited DVD of her son's Malaysian wedding. Bluey was on display for the evening; the guests reckoned than only I would be so determined to have the world's biggest Star Trek action figure in my dining room!

Avoidance behaviour

What am I doing online? I have a Midwinter Christmas here in a few hours, and still some last-minute boxes of junk to put out of sight.

I think I fear that if I do seal up the huge plastic tubs and stack them away, they'll join the ones I hid a few years ago - and never get looked in again.

Sigh. What can I say? I'm a hoarder.

Waiting for Santa

"Found him, Dad!

How do you Google? Part III

Time to share some new wacky search terms on Google that have led poor deluded Internet surfers to my blog! According to my site meter, it's:

andorian fanfic

adam-12 books dead on arrival

old transformers toys purple phaser

entomology ebook blogspot.com

Star Trek Voyager Full episodes WMA
(WMA?)

trek TAS script aurelian

"taste of brazil" pyrmont
(actually, that's a popular one, and it finds them some good, brief information about that restaurant)

"cookie puffs"
(who can blame them?)

youtube phaser

squeaker squeak shoes

"Richard Arnold" + "Peter David"
(I'd recommend "But I Digress..." omnibus of articles by Peter David)

Raccoons in Christmas Costumes
(Awwww, cute! for Midwinter Christmas, perhaps?)

When I first put the site meter onto the blog, at the end of January, the blog was getting about 50 page views a day. That increased to almost 100 per day, until I went on vacation, which is how the readship fell to about 30 visitors per day. When I bought my screen-used Andorian robes on eBay, my hit rate reached almost 150 daily visitors, but this has settled back to about 60 per day.

People definitely stay on the site longer per visit, and read other pages while they're here. I do remain flummoxed about what people search for on the Internet: essentially, every topic - and combination of topics - you could ever imagine. Human beings are fascinating animals. (And 'm glad to be one. When I'm not an Andorian, that is.)

Feeding/kicking the habit

After spending a fruitless two weeks trying to clean up the house in time for Midwinter Christmas - my collection backed up in January, you see, and POW! all over the house! - which has seen me moving piles of stuff from one room to another, one pile to another, desperately trying to squeeze stuff into overstuffed shelves, while continuing to dust it all and pretend to try and make it look orderly. It's driving me crazy.

I spent fifteen years in a two bedroom home unit (aka flat), and it took fifteen years of collecting to fill it. Then I moved to a three-bedroom house with a big family room (and no family!) and a double garage, but it's taken me only seven years to reach critical mass. Just trying to bring a sense of order to it all, every few months, sees me back on the Internet doing random Google searching just to ignore the impossible task.

I almost promised myself I'd stop collecting. (Dusting and sorting will do that to you.) I love what I have, and I love having it all displayed to look great, but it's soooo hard. And getting harder.

Tonight, I was in J&B Hi-Fi and they had a "buy two get one free" offer on boxed DVD sets of full-seasons of many TV shows. The four "fan collective" Star Trek sets were there ("Borg", "Q", "Klingons" and "Time Travel") for reduced price of $39 each, and I really don't need these, as I have all the regular season sets, but the offer seemed a great way to get the new text and audio commentaries, etc, that were created just for these boxed sets. If only I could find two more boxed season sets of something I needed, but alas, I think I already have everything I need from their sale stock, all bought at at full price, of course. Aaaarrrgghhh!!!

Anyway, you'll be proud of me: because... I put them back. After sorting through everything on the bargain table to find all four sets, then sorting through them again to find the undamaged cover slicks, I put them back.

I'll keep buying everything Star Trek (books, novels etc, and the remastered original TV series on high definition when it comes out), of course, but I'm really going to have to bite the bullet and kick this collecting habit.

But can I?

Magazine Sorting Day

It's already threatening to become Magazine Sorting Weekend. Or Month. Sigh...

I moved house in January 2000, and every time I hold an event at my place (the original housewarming party, annual Midwinter Christmas, Jack's first birthday party, the Weber BBQ christening, New Year's Eve, etc) I usually spend a few hours stashing loose magazines into boxes and hiding them: behind the bar; in the Star Trek (Shrine) room; under the bed; in the built-in wardrobes.

It's now reached the point of no return - critical mass - and so, in order to get a little control back into my collection, every magazine bought since 2000 is now in piles on the lounge room floor. I've sorted them by title, and I'm now puting them in issue order. There are some ongoing magazines titles I make a point of buying every issue ("Starlog", for example: I have a complete set from #1; I started with issue #30 and found all the back issues in 1980 or so). Other titles I buy only when there's a meaty article about Star Trek, or something more fleeting that I'm particularly interested in at the time.

It's an awful job, this Magazine Sorting Ritual, and I know why I kept putting it off. I have no idea where I'm going to store them when they're all in order, since most magazines bought between 1980 and 2000 are in storage, and just as hard to use for research as the more recent ones when stashed in random piles behind the bar, in the Star Trek (Shrine) room, under the bed, and in the built-in wardrobes. Sigh.

But neither am I ready to downsize the collection, nor attempt to sell them off, nor create "tear sheet" scrapboxes so I can recycle the rest of each magazine. I watched a friend once try to sell off several boxes of really great, old movie magazines at a garage sale, but there was zero interest. She couldn't even give them away. Well, actually she did give some away... to me - and they're all here on the floor too, all those years later.

I haven't read all my magazines yet either. They've all been glanced at, usually in the train, on the way home from purchasing them. And - when they are handy to the computer - I do use them for research.

At the moment, I'm panicking - because there are certain issue numbers missing from the piles. I'm sure they'll be in another box somewhere, but part of me already wants to order... back issues! Someone, please stop me!

On the second day of Christmas

Okay, this is really weird.

A few years ago, I was wandering through the Christmas Cave here in Penrith, one of those popular warehouse-looking retail/wholesale outlets that had just opened up in Penrith for the first time. The place had some very reasonably priced, larger-sized plastic Christmas baubles, especially made to go on outdoor Christmas trees, ie. because the garden had lots of blue flowers in it at the time, I bought a package of metallic blue balls.

It was a bit of a challenge getting enough baubles up into the higher sections of the huge pine tree in the backyard. Essentially, from chair height, it entailed grabbing a fist full of foliage, pulling it towards me, looping the bauble into place, then letting go. Unfortunately, I managed to launch at least two baubles, as if on a Medieval catapault, over the back fence and into the neighbouring yard. (The neighbours did eventually toss them back over.)

The decorated tree looked amazing but, after a few weeks of the hot Penrith sun, most of the baubles had lost their metallic sheen on one exposed side, so the next Midwinter Christmas, I had to place them other side out. Of course, whenever the wind blew, they'd rotate around to expose their faded sides. By the time of the next outing, the were more plain aqua than shiny metallic blue and I needed to purchase some glittery gold plastic shapes to supplement the decore. These new ornaments have lasted surprisingly well over the years, although last year I seemed to be missing one faded blue bauble and one glittery gold bonbon shape when packing everything away.

That was also the year I stepped back from my chair to admire my work after decorating the tree, only to end up in the pool: clothes, watch, wallet and all. I limped about with a sprained ankle for the rest of November, all of December and most of January. The things we do in an attempt to celebrate Christmas with a little flair.

Anyway, after last year's soggy debacle, I was rather reluctant to go climbing for my Midwinter Christmas in July, and I still didn't find time to paint the round baubles with some strong, outdoor-resilient glue, and smother them in new glitter, in time for this Christmas, either - and then we had one day where it absolutely bucketed down with rain for most of the day - so it looked like the backyard was going to be decidely less festive this year.

Then, yesterday, as I was making breakfast, I looked out to my decoration-free yard - and, hanging high in the tree, was a lone glittery gold bonbon ornament glinting in the morning sun! It was one of the missing trinkets from last Christmas season. Hidden for an entire year, the massive downpours of rain we had on Christmas Eve had exposed it from wherever it had been, lost inside the tree. Another miracle of Christmas, I guess!



I had an immediate urge to race out with the chair - or maybe a stepladder this time - and put up the rest of the outdoor decorations, but I noticed the pool smirking at me, and recalled the pain of my ankle the year before.

But wait, there's more! This morning I went out into the yard and my eye was distracted by a flash of blue: sitting beneath the pine tree is a single blue Christmas bauble! It, too, has spent at least a year, lost in the densest part of the tree, and had chosen Christmas Day to drop back into sight.

Truth is stranger than fiction, and bizarre coincidence is alive and well in Penrith... Either that, or it really is a sign that God has a sense of humour. (Some of my crueler "friends" have told me that the vision of me falling into the backyard pool while decorating my pine tree last year was the real proof that God has a sense of humour.)



Above left: For 2004, the goofy-looking horse (left) came from a specialist Christmas shop, probably the one in Leura in the Blue Mountains.. At right, a miniature picture book of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr Seuss (bought from Angus & Robertson to use in class that year), plus a last minute addition: a Grinch-as-Santa ornament, found at the Parramatta Collector's Fair - several years after searching for one (especially popular after the Jim Carrey movie came out). Better late than never.

Above right: For 2003, a tiny teddy bear ornament, originally attached to a Christmas gift from my cousin, Christina. The glamorous giraffe in the shoe, seemingly inspired by "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"(?) is applying lipstick. She came from the specialist Christmas shop in Leura in the Blue Mountains.