This Week in Geek (1-7/06/09)

Buys

I'm not a big fan of the sexy vampire genre, but I AM a fan of Alan Ball's Six Feet Under, so I'm giving True Blood a go. I've also gotten a cheap-ass copy of Hamlet 2000 because I've got a Hamlet-related project brewing. And then there's Battlestar Galactica. I saw the mini-series that reinvented it all, and enjoyed it, but then the show didn't air on any channel I had access to. Now that it's all over, and I found the boxed sets reasonably priced, I've gotten it all. Four seasons, Razor, Caprica, the whole schmear. Looks like an interesting month of July.

Seeing as I've almost read all the New Who novels I currently own, I bought the next few: The Pirate Loop, Peacemaker, Martha in the Mirror and Snowglobe 7. Oh, and the Quick Read, Revenge of the Judoon. Speaking of Doctor Who, I'm still building that toy collection:
As you can see, I got the whole Series 1-3 potpourri wave, each figure including a build-it-yourself Gelth inaction figure. So that's Poofy Sleeves Master, Trenchcoat Captain Jack, Astrid Peth, Jabe, Wizened Doctor, Gollum Doctor, Bananafatafalaka (or whatever) and a Clockwork Man.

"Accomplishments"

DVDs: I only flipped Hamlet 2000 this week, which isn't saying much since it's a bare-bones release, without so much as its own trailer. Plus, I have it on tape. So yeah. I'd originally found this modern adaptation to be clever at the expense of the language, as I do all such adaptations, though Bill Murray does a very interesting Polonius. This time, I was also struck by Sam Sheppard's Ghost, which is perhaps the best I've seen in all the Hamlet movies. And like every time I read or watch the play, I found something new in it. Which goes without saying, and yet might be surprising after reading/seeing it however many dozens of times I have.

New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: Only 4, as a quick taste of what I'm doing with Doctor Who and the Silurians.

Someone Else's Post of the Week
Caleb offers a makeshift comic strip with prehistoric fish that managed to amuse and move me. Check it out at Every Day Is Like Wednesday.

Comments

snell said…
A "Hamlet-related project?" Do tell!

A Hamlet collectable card game? A Hamlet module for some RPG? Hamlet: The Musical (oh, wait, Gilligan already did that...)? Hamlet Monopoly? Hamlet translated into Galadorian?

I can keep this up all night, so you'd better spill...
Siskoid said…
Let's see...
A Hamlet collectible card game: No, but I do have a Hamlet game around here somewhere. A treasured possession.

A Hamlet module for some RPG: No, but I did play a Shakespeare-related Call of Cthulhu game once.

Hamlet: The Musical (oh, wait, Gilligan already did that...): No, but I'm not against it with my improv troupe. Except we're deathly afraid of musicals, despite our successes with it.

Hamlet Monopoly: Not a fan of Monopoly, but that could help make me one.

Hamlet translated into Galadorian: No, but I do have two and a half acts translated into French somewhere on my machine.

Actual answer: Forthcoming, probably in the next couple weeks. It was actually inspired by your secondary [James Bond] blog.
snell said…
A Hamlet game?!? What, at the end of the game, all the players die? Roll the dice and spend the next six turns pondering if that's what you really want to do before you actually move? Get Thee To A Nunnery--Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200? I've got to see this game...

A Shakespeare-related Call of Cthulhu game? Oh, you Mean The Shakespeare Code..."I dub thee Carrionite!!
Siskoid said…
The game, written by Mike Young, was published by Interactivities Ink.

The CoC scenario was part of Strange Aeons, a collection of three scenarios occurring in different times (Spanish Inquisition, 21st century, and Elizabethan). I've run all three, that one won "best game" at our annual RPG awards show that year.
mwb said…
On the sexy vampire show note - ever see Kindred when it was briefly on?

I remember it not being half bad, but its next to impossible to find it now so I can't confirm my memory.

I may have been blinded by Stacey Hayduk as a sexy vampire babe...
Siskoid said…
I remember it, but I didn't watch it. My lack of appreciation for the sexy vampire genre (as epitomized by Interview with the Vampire) isn't a recent phenomenon.

Why I ever bought that first Vamps comics series is surprising to me even now.