Not All Girls Bring You Lasagna...

My wife and I never signed prenuptials before marrying. We've been happily married for almost 7 years. Thankfully she tolerates my geeky obsessions and has even joined me in the dark side for a few of them. Some marriages, however, can be strained by geeky obsessions, like any other obsession such as sports or video games. The result of a strained marriage can mean a messy divorce where the geeky life-long collection of toys or comics comes to an end. In these cases prenups would have been ideal.

From SF website.

An article from the website Science Fiction recently posted  a story about Tony Alleyne, of England, who lost his customized flat to his ex-wife. This was no ordinary flat but one that was personally customized into a replica of the star ship Voyager! Tony had, with incredible patience and skill, transformed his flat into a real-life Trekie dream, minus the warp drive! The verdict from his long divorce showed that it was his wife that actually owned the flat he had transformed into a piece of Star Trek heaven. So with this decision, Tony was forced into destroying all his customized Trekie embellishments. In all, Tony had spent over $150,000 US and 16 years to create this 'man cave' fit for Captain Janeway herself, only to see it disappear the same way his marriage had!

From SF website.

Not to be outdone was an earlier story  (also posted on Science Fiction) where a man was kicked out of the house by his ex-girlfriend. She piled and bagged up his life's collection of Star Wars collectibles and threw them out into the neighbouring alleyway. Blessed with clear skies and two working arms, the man hurried to save his collection. While I feel for this guy in the way of having a life's collection being put in jeopardy, I feel more strongly that if he had put as much gusto into his relationship that he now (presumably) would not be back to living in his parent's basement. I would say the same argument goes for Mr. Alleyne but to be fair the story of these two men's actual relationships is left unsaid, except (and it is telling) that the stories never mentioned if these men were in new relationships.

The moral of these two stories is that if you are entering a serious relationship and have a geeky passion, you must then make a decision! Before entering a serious relationship, decide what is more important: your geeky obsession or your relationship with your significant other. If it is your obsession that wins out, then make sure you have prenups in hand because chances are your serious, real-life relationship will falter. A good relationship is built on love, respect and to devoting time to being with one another. In this case, the second option is to continue your geeky obsessions with a modest amount of restraint and understanding that it is not the most important component to your life. 

Personally, I love my geeky obsessions such as Lego, comic books, and science-fiction movies. However, it is the relationship with my wife that means more. It is for this reason that my wife has shown interest in my hobbies, as I have shown interest in her's. A solid relationship is built on understanding what is truly important, which I suppose is something that neither of the men in the  two stories above understood before they entered serious relationships. 

So to all the geeks in relationships out there, remember that it's easier to replace a collectible than it is a relationship! Don't take it fore-granted!

The wise Silent Bob (Clerks) sums it up best.

Star Wars: The Next Generation, Blue Ray Release

Recently read that TNG seasons, the TV show, will be begin being released on blue-ray early in 2012, beginning with a sampler collection on January 31st. I usually don't care about HD transfers because I have a crappy TV but this time I do because the difference is substantial! On the Random Tuesday website, photos from the DVD set are shown morphing into the same photo from the Blue Ray set. This morphing illustrates some outstanding differences between the two sets. Scenes with characters appear substantially sharper and the film grains from the original production are smoothed out and the lines now appear crisp. Changes in focus are also made, providing greater depth to each scene as well. The most noticeable differences are probably those that involve special effects. These scenes are principally those that feature the Enterprise, where the ship is depicted with considerable more detail. In one particular screen shot, the Enterprise is shown in front of a Klingon Bird of Prey. The Enterprise again is shown with a much higher level of clarity and detail and the Bird of Prey is replaced completely with a CGI version of the ship. 

Overall, the changes look fantastic and is what a lot of fanboys had originally hoped would happen with the Star Wars films -update the film quality and special effects but leave the damn story line alone! Again, here is the link to the website that features the comparison /morphing screen shots.

Star Trek Sequel Update!

I loved J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie because it was a fresh and gritty take on a classic sci-fi favorite. I also appreciated the movie because it engaged people that were not originally fans of the franchise, such as my wife who loathed the acting in the original series but loved how the characters were portrayed in the new movie despite how the new actors faithfully rendered the styling of the original Enterprise crew. This being said, I do recognize how many Star Trek fans were dismayed as to how Abrams filmed a Star Trek movie that was more in line with the Star Wars franchise and dismissed some of the core values of the original shows.

The latest news of the Star Trek sequel is that principal photography has begun, along with the announcement that the release date will be May 17th, 2013. Below is the press release from Paramount pictures:

Paramount Pictures announced today that principal photography has commenced in Los Angeles, CA on the sequel to STAR TREK from director J.J. Abrams. The film will be released on May 17, 2013 in 3D. The 2009 re-launch of the “Star Trek” franchise by Abrams was met with critical acclaim and a worldwide gross of over $385 million at the box office.
Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions present a Bad Robot Production of a J.J. Abrams Film. Returning to their posts on the Enterprise are John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, and Anton Yelchin. They are joined by new cast members Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Peter Weller.