Thursday 4 September 2014

200th Post Special: A geek's day out and his books

In keeping with my milestone blog posts, I am lifting the curtains slightly (I would say Scottish kilt but it kinda gives the wrong impression) to allow a peek into what makes me tick and do art the way I do, if you could call it art, or even write the way I do. So for my 200th post, I am sharing some old photos I found during a virtual spring cleaning of my hard drive that showcases a geeky day out as well as snapshots of my book collection taken after a spring cleaning (non-virtual kind) of my room. 

Handsome devil isn't he ... Kirk too ;)

Honestly, I sometimes wonder where all the Star Trek fans in this country are. With all the brouhaha surrounding the more popular space soap opera that is Star Wars (I am a fan too but I love Star Trek way much more), I think us Trekkies - in Malaysia at least - are a sadly neglected bunch. So when I heard that a Star Trek exhibition was in town (this was nearly two years ago) ... the only one ever in living memory ... I was super psyched up as you could well imagine. That the exhibition turned out to be a bit of a dud was beside the point as I still had fun seeing all those Star Trek props on show.  

Something writers can appreciate ... the screenplay of an STNG episode called The Measure of a Man
Costumes of various starship captains in the Star Trek Universe
Samsung Galaxy? Apple iPhone? Nah ... I wish I had one of these babies

Why do I love Star Trek so much? For starters, it was the first time in which an Asian (George Takei as Hikaru Sulu) as well as other minorities had starring roles in a 1960's US television series. That in itself was mind blowing. I also loved the futuristic concept whereby sex, race and religion had no bearing on one's station in life. There are enough narrow minded hate mongering bigots in the real world as it is, so this was a unique and not widely accepted viewpoint which I took inspiration from.  

Can a shuttle look anymore duller?
Now this is an awesome design for a space craft ... optimal and efficient as a Borg would say

Below are a couple more photos of the missus and me geeking out on Star Trek props. We weren't actually allowed to take any photos but that's like asking a Tribble not to multiply ... duh! 

Missus wasn't too impressed that my camera focused on Picard's dress uniform and not her
Oopsy ... just fired a photon torpedo at Risa ... noooooooooo!

What goes on in my head when I write (and to a lesser extent influences what I like to paint) is hugely affected by the material I read. Most books in my collection revolve around two genres namely Science Fiction and Fantasy although on occasion I'm not adverse to enjoying books from other genres such as Autobiographies/Biographies among others. Having gotten a few IKEA Billy bookcases that were on sale recently meant I could finally bring a semblance of order to my room.  

Terry Pratchett is the only author that can make me laugh out loud while reading ... pure genius
Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite books
Just some of the Star Trek books in my collection
Only war in the future? Well wasn't there only war in the past too?
Fantasy and SciFi, two main genres in my collection; sadly I haven't gotten around to reading Hamilton's books yet

Having accumulated this collection over a period of thirty years, it stands to reason that there are bound to be many books that I have yet to read. A conservative estimate would place at least one fourth of the books I have as being unread. Because I usually buy books when they are on sale or at a discount, sometimes books don't get read straightaway, are stored and later forgotten about.  

A closet Otaku I am
Haruki Murakami, an author that I like for his dysfunctional and troubled characters

So there you have it, a peek into my world. Normal service resumes in the next post as I put up the latest progress photos of one of my ongoing miniature projects. Until then, stay well and be happy.

20 comments:

  1. Congrats on your 200th post!!! Looking forward to more postings from you!

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  2. You have the Reality Dysfunction trilogy and haven't read it yet? Cmon ;) Do yourself a favor and read it soon, it's awesome (like most of Hamiltons fiction). Oh and congrats on 200th post :)

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    1. It's just that I am in the middle of the Game of Throne books and am in two minds if I should read two HUGE book series concurrently. Ahhh what the heck, I guess I will give it a go. ^_^ Thanks for the best wishes. :)

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  3. Congrats on your 200th Post. I must admit I'm not a Star Trek fan I enjoy watching it if its on. I quite like the shape of the shuttle. What shape would you have done it?

    I have a good many of those books gotta love Terry Pratchett's writing.

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    1. That's essentially what's so frustrating with Star Trek sometimes. Because it tries to follow the principles of science (although it breaks them sometimes e.g. transporter and warp drive) the spaceships are rather functional but boring. However, that being said ... the reason why I love Star Trek is because of the science too so I have to take the good with the bad. The shuttle design in Voyager was much better in my opinion.

      Terry Pratchett has a gift for combining words and turning into something very very funny. My favourite character ... one of em anyway ... is DEATH. ^_^

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  4. Congratulations! And thank you for letting us know about your hobbies :)

    Live long and prosper! :D

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    1. Heh heh ... live long and prosper indeed. :) I used to be teased in school for liking Star Trek ... most of my classmates, actually all except one found it too boring and with too much talking. Most would prefer the thinking done for them.

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  5. I resisted leaving a comment but quickly realized that resistance is futile. Congrats on hitting 200.

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  6. Happy 200th! Nice to take a peek into what goes behind all that awesome art. I know you're not too much into wargames, but you might want to check out the new Star Trek Attack Wing game? Also, have you seen this: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2014/08/when-star-trek-meets-40k_22.html

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    1. Oooo ... nice one on the kickstarter. Thanks for the heads up! Much appreciated. ^_^

      I really wanted to get into Attack Wing but budget constraints at the moment mean if I were to indulge in that ... the old ball and chain, I mean love of my life ... would slaughter me. ;)

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  7. well done until now and waiting for more to come!
    your post could be mine as well, in fact, look to what i've posted today...
    bye

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    1. Nice post you did on the USS Reliant ... very very cool. :)

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  8. Congrats on your 200th post! Nice Trek pics too!

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    1. Is there ever a bad Star Trek photo ... ok maybe those with Riker in it. ;)

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  9. wow... Star Trek, Tolkien, Pratchett... so many passion we share! But not the same for Murakami I am afraid! ;)

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    1. Great to know someone else likes Star Trek and Pratchett! ^_^

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