Employees get paid

by O on December 14, 2011 at 12:00 am

There’s a list of things I try my best not to let a year go by without me doing. It’s a list that gets updated every year and it includes all the stuff I consider to be my “geek essentials”, like movies, games and certain books.

Naturally, this last month of the year is when most of those things get done, although it’s not too important that they get done in December and I sometimes leave some for January – as a sort of “good start” to the new year.

I any case, it’s only natural that during this refueling of my geek fuel, I come up with a lot of joke ideas. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s dangerous territory just as well since there’s a very high risk of making jokes that have already been made. Of course, I try my best to Google any idea I might get, just to make sure it hasn’t been done before (it’s happened to me with other ideas) and sometimes I even ask my friends to help me check.

Today’s joke is one of several observations I made during my last watching of The Lord of the Rings. And it’s that for all of Sam’s dedication to his supposed “job” and all his loyalty to his supposed “boss”, you never really get to see Frodo pay him. Not even once. I’ve read the books many times just as well, and it’s the same.

Sure enough, after everything’s said and done, Frodo gives Sam a bunch of stuff and the fat, loyal little gardener does pretty well for himself. But all through the year (or so) that they’re out adventuring the subject of how much Sam is getting paid (or when) never seems to pop up. And let’s remember that Sam didn’t exactly “volunteer” for their little excursion at first.

Thinking of this, I was also thrust into thinking of the many underlings, minions and servants that I’ve seen, read about or killed in games and forced to ask myself how, when and how much they get paid exactly. My reflections upon this subject eventually led me to remember one of my old favorite games, Dungeon Keeper 2, where you actually had to pay your minions a salary and gathering enough money to cover your payroll was actually one of your main concerns as an evil overlord.

Anybody else remember Dungeon Keeper 2? Good times.

Anyway, I’ve got some more movie, book and video game jokes for what’s left of the year, and I thought it’d be a nice way to end it.

Good hunting;
O

NOTE: In case you’re wondering, my “geek essentials” list is more or less (in no particular order):

The Lord of the Rings (in book form at least every couple of years)
Star Wars (complete 6 movies, I actually like the prequels)
The Matrix trilogy(although slowly sliding off my list)
Blade Runner
Tron (now with the pleasant addition of “Legacy”)
Nightmare before Christmas (even if the emos did sort of ruin it)
At least one old Van Damme movie (preferably Bloodsport)
At least one old Schwarzenegger (with a preference towards Running Man or Conan)
Robot Jox and Futuresport (gotta love the cheese)
Akira (movie and manga)
A complete Hayao Miyazaki marathon
Ghost in the Shell (movie and manga)
Appleseed (manga… although the movies are fun, too)
A long list of Lovecraft stories
At least some of the Dune novels (I also like the Brian Herbert additions)
Chrono Trigger
Half Life 2 (now with the addition of Episodes 1 and 2… and mandatory whining about 3)
Psychonauts
Super Metroid
At least one Final Fantasy

… and I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch of stuff, please don’t hold any unforgivable omissions against me. Nevertheless, I’d love to read what your annual “geek essentials” list might be. Share in the comments?