Check It Out!

Today, it's as if Weird Al's "White & Nerdy" video exploded on the NeighborGoodies Table and left behind shards of geekery all over the place:

We've got plenty of books from the late 90's Star Wars X-Wing series...

...along with three massive DUNE novels, a collection of "Great Tales from the Golden Age of Science Fiction..."
...and approximately two jillion VHS tapes full of content that is so nerdy, even I've never heard of it...

...and I grew up ensconced in Nerd Culture. Things with names like "Vengeance of the Space Pirate," "Area 88," and "Gall Force." There's also a series of tapes from "Iczer One" and "Macross," which is described as such on IMDB:

In the next century, a reconfiguring ship (think "Transformer" with a pilot) called Macross carries fifty thousand refugees within its hold as it returns to Earth pursued by giant humanoid warriors. A young pilot in the military named Hikaru rescues the beautiful singer Lynn Minmay, from the giants. The giants grill them on how males and females can survive together without fighting. The giants' female counterparts arrive to wreak havoc on their male foes, and in the ensuing confusion that costs squadron leader Roy Focker his life, Hikaru and commander Misa Hayase are stranded on a now-totally-lifeless Earth, which leads to revelations on all three sides of the conflict regarding their past and future as well as the origins of mankind and the power of love and song.

With such universal themes present in this series, I'm shocked that it didn't reach a wider audience (AKA: me.) I can't say I'm disappointed that it never reached me, but I'm shocked nonetheless. Who doesn't love a good story about the "origins of mankind and the power of love and song" as told in cartoon form? Oh, me. I much prefer to receive those lessons in music video form:

Complete with a 2 minute intro that makes no sense!

If you want your stories of the Power of Love in a more traditional format, there's also a book of poems here by Canadian poet Irving Layton...


...who, as far as I can tell, is probably spinning in his grave at the mere thought of being forever linked with the Star Wars novels in the blogosphere.

And finally, there's this object:

It's the home-version of a library checkout kit, complete with a rotating date stamp. I kind of just assumed you'd only ever really need one of these things if you worked at a library. I've never seen one out on the streets before. It's almost as scary as seeing the librarian outside; neither belong away from The Stacks.

This item was manufactured specifically for use with a Private Film Collection:

...and was tried once on January 7... a mere two weeks ago!

I wonder if Nerdy NeighborGooder got this for Christmas and, upon opening it, had an epiphany: "Oh God," he thought, "Is this really who I am? Is this what my life has become? King of the Nerds? Lending my friends these Japanese Anime VHS videos and having them sign them out in order to ensure a prompt and timely return?" After giving the home library kit one try after the New Year, Nerd renounced his Fanboy heritage and began selling off his collection piece by piece. Those that were too sad for Ebay or his former cronies wound up on the NeighborGoodies Table.

I, for one, am disappointed in The Nerd. I think he should have stayed on the course of Lifelong Nerddom like the rest of us. But... all hope is not lost: I don't see his Dungeons & Dragons paraphernalia anywhere. Perhaps his friends can still rescue him from The Dark Side.