On the Nature of Giving (and Receiving) Gifts

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Nov 212011
 

I was trying to come up with something to write about this week. I had even written a makeshift blog entry. Then, as luck would have it, I was thinking about Christmas gifts and I figured that I would write about that instead.

Why do we give presents to a person? Well, it can be for a variety of reasons. To thank someone, to say we care, to say we’ve been thinking about someone, to show our appreciation for someone’s efforts, to show how much a person means to us. There can be ulterior motives as well, but for the sake of this blog I’m going to focus on the positive.

What makes a good present? Well, that depends on who you’re giving the present to. Something that might go over like gangbusters for Friend A would be a terrible present for Friend B. There are the classics of course: chocolates, flowers, a nice card. They might not be imaginative, but they usually convey the right message. That’s why they’re classics and easy to fall back on. It helps to know a little about the person you’re giving a present to. Does he like astronomy? A book on astronomy might make a nice gift.

Does the price matter? It shouldn’t but sometimes it does. There’s a delicate balance. You don’t want to make the other person feel cheap with an expensive present. Conversely, you don’t necessarily want to pass off as cheap either. The present should always be from the heart and always within your means. It’s all very well and good to love someone, but giving a present should never bankrupt you. If price is an issue for you, then set a dollar limit ahead of the time. Just don’t be disappointed when the presents YOU receive are within that limit too! ;)

The old cliché goes, “It’s the thought that counts!” No truer words have ever been said. You can give a thoughtful gift that costs a dollar, just like you could give a $1000 gift that’s just terrible. You just need to know the person a little. Listen! Did your friend tell you that she likes panda bears? Well, if you’re going to give her a plushie, a panda would be the way to go, wouldn’t it? Your friend collects Coca-Cola memorabilia? Maybe that Burping Pepsi clock isn’t quite the nifty present you think it is! (or maybe it is! Burps are funny…sometimes).

So now I’ve talked about giving presents, well what about receiving them? Everybody is different and not everybody is expressive as we might like them to be. You have to know and accept that for some people, a hearty thank you is all they’re comfortable with, as both the giver AND the receiver. It’s always okay to show your appreciation for a present in a fashion you’re comfortable with. It’s NOT okay to show it when you don’t like a gift. It’s not always easy to hide but always remember that when someone is giving you a present, they’re trying to do something nice for you that they really don’t have to.  They may have bought you a Barry Mannilow CD when you like Barry White, but that doesn’t give you the right to spit on the gesture by being rude. Smile (or don’t if you’re not a happy smiley kinda person) and say thank you. Who knows? Maybe you could learn to like BOTH Barries! :)

I’m a difficult person to shop for. I know this because I’ve been told it is the case…repeatedly…and by several people who have been moved enough to buy me presents, whether it be for my birthday or Christmas. The reason? Well there are a couple:

  1. “I know he likes X, but I don’t know anything about it.” It’s hard to shop for stuff you know nothing about. This is most often the case for my mom and my sister since they don’t share my nerdier interests.
  2. “Is this the kind of thing he’ll like?” My interests are varied and yet I manage to be quite narrow when it comes to things I like within those interests. I like pop culture t-shirts for example, but I don’t like to have a real person’s face on a t-shirt. A Bazinga t-shirt with Sheldon’s face on it? Bad! A Good Grief t-shirt with Charlie Brown’s face on it? Good!
  3. “Does he already have this?” When there’s something I like/want, I will go out and buy it. I have a job that pays well enough to allow me to do so and so I do. But that makes it difficult for others to find things that I like that I haven’t already bought for myself.
  4. I have moderately expensive tastes. Video games, board games, and season box sets on DVD don’t always come cheap.

Now, I recognize the truth in these statements. It’s why every year, I dutifully make out a list of things I would enjoy receiving as Christmas gifts, trying to be as specific as possible as to the variants, as well as where the items are most likely to be found. I also maintain an amazon wishlist. And always I include things at different price points. There’s a downside to this approach: there’s very little chance that I’ll ever be surprised by the gifts I receive. But just for the record, I appreciate any and all gifts I receive. It means a lot to me that someone likes me enough to even WANT to buy me a present. So like…feel free huh? :D

Thinking About Fairy Tales

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Nov 142011
 

Today I’m gonna talk about fairy tales.

Fairy tales are everywhere.We all read them when we were younger, or had them read to us, or watched animated versions of varying quality of them. Chances are, if you have any kids you’ve read a fairy tale or two to them.

Fairy tales exist as cautionary tales: Little Red Riding Hood teaches us not to talk to strangers. Snow White warns us about accepting gifts from strangers. The Three Little Pigs lauds the merits of hard work now. Jack and the Beanstalk teaches us not to be dumb and trade a cow for five beans…okay that may not have been the primary lesson in that one. Oh! But love is definitely blind! How else can you explain so many wicked stepmothers?

Over the years, the stories have been somewhat sanitized. I remember reading a copy of Little Red Riding Hood where Red and her grandmother both got eaten by the wolf, only to be rescued by the hunter who cuts the wolf open while the wolf is sleeping. He then replaces Red and her grandmother with large stones and sews the wolf back up so that he’ll be none the wiser. Well that had to go. We wouldn’t want our kids to be traumatized by a fairy tale. That’s what television, movies and video games are for.

Over time, some fairy tales have fallen out of popularity for unknown reasons. Sure everybody remembers Snow White, but what about her sister (in some stories) Rose Red? Does anyone know the story of the Water Nixie nowadays?

Because everyone’s familiar with the classic fairy tales, they’re easy to adapt to various mediums.

In my younger days, my record collection of stories was a prized possession. Danny Kaye kept me entertained for many an hour with the stories of Clever Gretel and Rumpelstiltskin. He was a great storyteller, let me tell you.

Disney built an animated empire on the backs of the Brothers Grimm amongst others. Back in the days of First Choice Pay TV, I used to look forward to new installments of Shelly Duvall’s Fairy Tale Theatre. There’s a lot of star power in her adaptations of popular tales often with a little of the dark edge maintained.

And those are just examples of straight adaptations. Fairy tales lend themselves well to parody, such as the Fractured Fairy Tales of  The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and numerous Looney Tunes and Disney shorts.

I’ve been noticing a recent renewal of interest in fairy tales in popular culture these days. And why not? They’re in the public domain so anybody can use them. Everybody is familiar with them, so you can count on same name brand recognition. And there are loads of them out there. For an industry starved for ideas, fairy tales are a gold mine. Just add a twist here and there as needed to keep things fresh.

Red Riding Hood was adapted as a motion picture where the wolf is actually a werewolf. Snow White and the Huntsman will be an empowering tale where the Huntsman teaches Snow White to kick butt so she can defeat the wicked queen. I would imagine dwarfs will be at a premium. Felicia Day starred in Red, a Made-for-TV movie where she’s the descendent of Red Riding Hood, the original werewolf hunter.

On television, no less than two new shows premiered with a fairy tale foundation this season: Grimm is a Buffy the Vampire monster of the week show, while Once Upon a Time asks the question “What if the characters in your favorite fairy tales were real and living in the present day?” Sounds like the comic book series Fables if you ask me, but then if I want Fables (and I do) I’ll read the comic. I’ve been watching both Grimm and Once Upon a Time and I find the latter to be more enjoyable than the former.

Through it all, there’s something comforting about these stories. Now I need to go find those Danny Kaye recordings.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Nov 102011
 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Yup! As a Canadian, I celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, rather than in November like my neighbours to the south. Whatever day you celebrate it, it’s nice to take a moment to look back on your year and be thankful for all that you have.

I’m thankful that another year has passed without me being run over by a bus (my default disaster). That’s 37 years without a mass transit mauling. Woot!

I’m also thankful that:

  • I have family and friends who love and support me;
  • I’m gainfully employed, have a roof over my head and food in my belly;
  • I have the means to share my thoughts, musings and creative outbursts with the world (that would be this site of course!

Those are the biggies. They get dots. I’m also thankful for little things like having a new place to buy comic books every week, new seasons of my favourite shows as well as new favourite shows (even if some will not last into the new year) and  getting to attend another Comic-Con this year.

We celebrated with a delicious chicken dinner (thanks Fab) and a rousing game of Blood Bowl Team Manager (Thanksgiving and football go hand in hand, right?) where my elves came in last to the humans and the orcs.

Until next week, you’ve been blogged!

Games!

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Nov 072011
 

I love games! Not the mind games that people sometimes play, mind you. I’m talking about games of the board, card, role-playing and video variety.

I have a hefty game collection. Until about a year ago, I had dozens of games that I had never even played before. Now with two gaming groups, I’ve managed to play a good number of them. I’d even go as far to say that I have more games that I have played than I haven’t. Some are winners (Mansions of Madness, Heroscape, Battlestar Galactica) while others, not so much (Android, Order of the Stick (sadly, though the expansion might help)). Regardless of how fun the game is, it’s always interesting to see the different game designs. After a while, you get an idea of what works and what doesn’t.

It’s been a longtime dream to design and publish my own game. Back in high school I came up with Snoopopoly (Peanuts Monopoly), Peanuts the Roleplaying Game. I obtained a copy of Starfleet Battles that had no rules included. so I developed my own. It was a simple pass/fail system. It wasn’t the most elaborate of systems, but we played for quite a while just because of how weird I made the setting.

A couple of years later, during my college days, when collectible card games were the hot thing, I created a Ronin Warriors CCG. I remember scouring the internet for screen captures of the show to put on my cards and then printing, cutting out and gluing my cards to doubles of my Star Wars CCG cards. I got to test it out a couple of times and I thought it was alright.

Since then, I’ve had dozens of game ideas, inspired by various shows, movies and genres. I’d work out some of the basic ideas, but inevitably I’d set the idea aside. It’s not like I was ever get those games published, right?

Well, over the last while there’s been a print-on-demand movement that’s picked up steam that’s a real game-changer (pun intended). I’ve already put it to use in my Cafepress store. But just last week, Danny V. shared a link with me: The Game Crafter. It’s a business built on letting people design and upload their games which are then available for order. When an order comes through, The Game Crafter prints up the required number of copies and blammo! You’ve sold a game! Awesome!

Now, there’s a reason to actually push through the game design process! My dream will become a reality. There will be Age of Animus games available for sale within the next year. Woot! Woot!

Puss in Boots Review

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Oct 312011
 

So yesterday I was trying to think of a subject for today’s blog since I like to write it the day before. Nothing was coming to mind. I figured, ok, if I don’t think of anything, I’ll write about Puss in Boots. And then I didn’t think about it again until I went to bed. So here I am this morning, writing about the movie I saw yesterday afternoon.

 

About a month ago, my niece Kayla told me she missed going to the movies, so I told her the next time a family movie came out we’d go. That next family movie ended up being Puss in Boots. Now, I enjoyed the first Shrek movie. It was lots of fun. The second…not so much. I was so unimpressed that I didn’t even bother to see the third and fourth movies. The one thing I did like about Shrek 2 was the new character Puss in Boots. And here he is in his own movie that tells his origin.

 

I saw both movies in French (that’s what happens when you live in small-town Quebec), so I didn’t get to benefit from Antonio Banderas’ performance. I have no clue who voiced Puss in the dub, although I imagine it’s some well-known Quebec actor. He does a good job whoever he is. He manages to capture that suave latino persona. The rest of the cast, is competent but unremarkable. I think the guy who voiced Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels voices Humpty Dumpty…that guy’s in everything!

 

The action scenes are well choreographed. There’s a lot of over the top stuff as you would expect from an animated movie. But for a movie set in the Shrek universe, what you’re really hoping for is humor and heart. The movie has both. Puss and Humpty’s history provides the heart. They were as close as brothers until a series of incidents set them on different paths. Now they’re estranged and Humpty is trying to make amends. Most of the humor I felt was contained in the first half of the film when Puss is facing off with a new-found rival, the Cat in the Black Mask. In the second half, the movie is more concerned with moving the plot forward, which is fine, but the funny bits are fewer and farther between.

 

But what about the 3D? I admit, I hate 3D. I don’t feel like it adds enough value to a movie to charge us extra for. It’s a gimmick I hope will go away soon, sorry James Cameron. I think more people are starting to agree with me, as more movies are starting to make less money from their 3D showings. But that’s a debate for another time, the question is how was the 3D in Puss in Boots. It was…alright. To be honest, I didn’t even notice the 3D after a while, which is part of the reason I’m against 3D in the first place. If it’s not jaw-dropping awesome or integral to the story, then why bother? Oh right, to charge me extra to get in. Anyway, let’s say you had a choice between seeing the movie in 2D or in 3D (I did not). I would say save the extra money and go see the movie in 2D. You’re not missing ANYTHING.

 

I liked the movie, but more importantly, Kayla liked the movie. It is a movie geared towards a younger audience after all. I’d say the mission was accomplished. It was fun enough that none of the kids in the theatre seemed bored, and well-told enough that even the parents (and uncles) in the room could enjoy it. If I had to rate the movie, I’d say 3 and a half stars out of five.

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