My Sci-Fi Man Cave
After my The Abyss - Guy Night my man cave was in a cleaner state than usual so I'll take this opportunity to curate my sci-fi infused den of geekery. Please don't read this list of items as a show of vanity, for I will show you the special significance of each sci-fi and nerdtastic item in this room.
Papercraft Back to the Future III Time Train My best friend Stephen made me this exquisite papercraft model for my birthday. He even constructed the rails the train sits on out of paper and glue. I don't have a BTTF:III Delorean but my Mr. Fusion version from BTTF:II will be a suitable stand-in.
I began my obsession with Star Trek: The Next Generation at a young age, but more on that later. I was given this model as a gift around my 12th birthday but as much as I loved Star Trek I had yet to develop a taste for models. Fortunately "PastDarren" was smart enough to realize that "FutureDarren" would LOVE a model like this and therefore tucked it away in his parent's attic. Three years ago I pulled it out and had a blast building it together with some of my friends who enjoyed both models and ships named Enterprise. But Dr. Sci-fi, how did young Wil Wheaton sign your model if it was only constructed three years ago? As fortune would have it, my wife and I were scheduled to attend a taping of The Big Bang Theory in Hollywood. I did some inter-web scouring and discovered that the episode we would be witness to would feature Wil Wheaton in it! Our good friend who is a camera operator for the show had to leave at the end of taping so we couldn't get back stage to see Mr. Wheaton, but he said if we wanted anything signed he could take it back to him. I then produced a small warp nacelle from my pocket. I said, see if he will sign this. When our friend returned he had a huge grin on his face. Wil Wheaton's eyes lit up when I showed him this, he exclaimed "I know what that is!" and signed it. Once I got home the nacelle was reattached to the model and proudly hangs from my ceiling.
Sheldon Comic Strip by Dave Kellett I am a huge fan of online comics and read several each week. PVP, Penny Arcade, The Trenches, Sheldon and The Big Crunch to name a few. When Dave Kellett penned this gem of a comic which references the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Darmok" I just had to put it on my wall.
Boy Scouts of America - Eagle Scout Certificate This is not sci-fi, but I am very proud of achieving the rank of Eagle in the Boy Scouts of America.
Star Tours - Hoth travel poster Another birthday gift which I absolutely adore. You should have seen me bounce around the room when I opened it. I have always loved the iconic Star Tours posters you see on the corridor wall when you exit the ride at Disneyland. Those versions are between 6-7 feet high but this little one fits nicely on my wall.
Sherwood Forest Coordinator Hats - Westminster Woods One of my most beloved summers was spent leading the 4th-6th grade "Sherwood Forest" camp at Westminster Woods in the costal redwoods of California. The campers were in one of six color groups, each wearing a sining colored felt hat. As the coordinator I had a rainbow hat using all the colors. It is also decorated with my camp name. Each camper takes their name and mashes it with a phrase or a word. Darren Moser became Finding D-mo. As a wedding present, my fellow coordinators gave my wife her own rainbow hat with the Maureen Biology name.
Star Wars / Star Trek Shelf This is the shelf where my collection of Star Wars books and my collection of Star Trek books battle for supremacy! The left side contains Star Wars cross-section books, the magic of the myth, my obsessed with Star Wars electronic trivia book plus several Star Wars novels. In my quest to become a Stormtrooper of the 501st, I especially love "Allegiance" and "Death Star". Once on the Star Trek side you have my Klingon dictionary, "Ship of the Line" an amazing book, some fan collectives, my TNG technical manual, the making of Deep Space Nine and two large binders holding my Star Trek Universe binder sheets. This was a Star Trek club you could join. They would mail you inserts each month to add to your collection. Kind of a Memory-Alpha before the internet (which it was).
Space Shuttle Enterprise Picture Another addition to the room from my friend Stephen. This depicts the test shuttle Enterprise OV-101 making one of it's landings alongside a NASA jet. While it never flew in space it sat in the Smithsonian for years until recently replaced by Discovery.
Books and Blueprints I used to pour through my ST:TNG technical manual for hours admiring all of the details and explanations of the ship systems. It was only recently that I became aware of the Enterprise-D blueprints! A quick Amazon search later and I had a gently used set of thirteen full blueprint sheets of every deck of the "D". I may or may not have wallpapered one whole side of my office for a time..... But this shelf also contains one of my favorite books, "The Way Things Work". This book fueled my interest in the internal parts of our daily lives. I can't wait to crack it open and explain new things to my daughter when she asks me questions. I also have a good chunk of MacWorld next to my wife's Food Network magazines.
So thank you for joining me for this little trip abound my Sci-fi Man Cave. I'll get around to installment 2 after I publish a few other posts I've had in "drafts" for far to long.