Slashdot Mirror
Sci-Fi Memorabilia To Ogle And / Or Buy
bluegreenone writes "While I was nerding it up and looking for some original Battlestar Galactica
insiqnias on Google I came across an
enormous auction of
classic sci-fi props and costumes
being held July 31. I'm a little surprised
they are getting rid of some of this stuff. Highlights include a
piece of the original Deathstar,
Scotty's original uniform, and the
Terminator's first jacket.
How would you like to own Twiki
from Buck Rogers, or even
better one of Erin Gray's
hot
spandex
pantsuits from the show?
You can have your own Cylon,
Commander Adama's uniform,
or a Colonial Warrior helmet from the never-filmed second season of BG.
There's
E.T.'s head,
Cyclop's visor from X-men,
and even the alien hand switch from Total Recall.
And who wouldn't want their own cute cuddly face-hugger from Aliens?
There are a ton of items but be prepared, most prices start around $500 and go up to
$40,000."
My daily mug of weak coffee from the building cafeteria was steaming
unnoticed on my desk. Something much hotter was consuming my attention:
once again, the DBA in the office next to mine was left unable to work by
some glitch or another with her Sun Ultra 10 box. This time, she
complained in broken English that her usual graphical desktop was gone,
replaced by a simple csh-like terminal. I stopped by assuming human error
was again the culprit, but this problem went deeper. Openwin was missing.
I poked at it for a moment and quickly found that the junior admin had
upgraded her OS to Solaris 9, so I retreated to my desk to consult with
the head of the group down the hall about changes between Solaris 8 and
its successor that might have created this issue. Wheeling in my chair to
make the call, the phone rang, startling me and leaving me to ponder for a
brief moment how odd the coincidence was. The number on the caller ID
readout seemed familiar but I couldn't place it. I picked up the receiver
before it could finish barking again. "This is Paul."
"Hey man."
The voice on the other end was strong, and sounded like passed through a
smile before entering the line. It took me too long to recall who it
belonged to and I bailed. "Heeey."
"Did you hear the news?"
All at one a wave crashed over me as I suddenly put everything together,
and I knew that this could only end badly. Jeremy was calling, sans
pleasantries, and his poorly restrained glee tipped me off. I scrambled
to open a new tab in my web browser. "Oh no, don't tell me... no way..."
My heart started thumping harder at the thought that I was about to lose a
lot of money. I tried to bring up MSNBC but clicked the wrong entry on my
recent history list, bringing up a Java-intensive financial site.
Jeremy's voice was in my ear again. "Yeah man, it finally happened. Sad to
say it -- well, not really, but he's gone."
My choice for our high-stakes death pool proved foolish after all. I
nearly regretted it at the time, and now wished I could take it back. I
knew Bob Hope was a strong if elementary candidate, but after Hume Cronin
slipped under the radar and earned Peck a tidy grand just a few months
previous (an aside -- if I had Robert Stack, a personal favorite actor, I
would have retired on that victory), I steered away from the obvious
choices, delving into slightly more obscure and creative options, like
Don Knotts, my ultimate selection. Having had Mr. Hope in two earlier
pools, the thought that he would pay off for someone else was revolting.
The web site I had fumbled for finally appeared across my screen. The
headline confirmed what I already knew: the legendary comedian and popular
death-pool pick Bob Hope had passed away. Jeremy's prattling as to why he
knew this would happen went by largely ignored as I contemplated my
failure, forgoing a classic favorite for a long shot. I would mull over my
mistakes, and plan my comeback in the next pool, a new opportunity to
profit in a gruesome game based on the ordinary ends of extraordinary
people.
Oh good, parent gets modded up then modded back down by a 'tard of a mod. Well pld.
Yeah, but I'm sure they've seen plenty of pictures, so comparing to that face hugger picture should be easy enough.