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A few weeks ago I found the need to seek out a universal remote. Looking for a good list of remotes with comparisons and ratings proved to be... boring... and tedious. Just as I was about to give up for the afternoon, I stumbled across just what I was looking for. The review had five or six remotes listed, with pros and cons to each device. Then, it listed a remote with no buttons in the form of a "magic wand". They didn't have too much to say about it, because it wasn't a traditional universal remote, but they did say it was fun. It sounded just like the kind of device I needed.
Curious, I visited the website to check this "wand" thing out. (The site is worth a peek... take a look... this page won't go anywhere while you're checking it out... back already? Let's press on.) I was definitely intrigued by the web site's presentation of the device. Overall, it called to the science fiction/fantasy geek that is a big part of me. Magic. Technology. Both of them in one cool package. How do I buy... bah! The wand was still being produced in the "Orient" and would arrive in the UK and US soon. I could reserve one and decide if I was still interested when they notified me of the impending availability. Last week I got the email. The shipment had arrived! I took the rest of the week and weekend to think it over. Yes, it was cool. Yes, it was very, very geeky. But it was fun. My wife asked why I hadn't gotten it already. I guess that was answer enough. Tuesday at lunch, I ordered the Kymera (its proper name) and looked forward to its arrival. Today, when I got back from lunch, it was sitting on my office chair bundled in a FedEx package. I opened it, shared it with a few coworkers, and put it away, knowing I wouldn't be able to really mess with it for several more hours.
Several more hours have passed. I opened it up again and really took a good look at it. This thing is cool. Sure, the body is plastic, but it's not that bad. I was hoping for wood, but this'll do. I quickly read the instructions. Andie and Ethan got a look at it, Ethan grinning like a gnome (or, better yet, a kender) who'd found a Wand of Wizardry in his closet. He's off to bed. She's watching some vampire show. I'm in the studio waving a magic wand around. After a bit, I'm really ready to try this thing out. With a "big swish", the electronic beast that is the Onkyo rack turns on. Industrial/electronica music thumps from the speakers. I grin and chuckle. Another "big swish" and it turns off. I check to see if the beer I've popped open was inadvertently consumed and I am merely experiencing some alcohol-induced delusion. Nope, I've only had a swallow or two. This wand is cool and fun. Yet another "big swish", the music continues, and I try some other gestures. A twist of my wrist "anticlockwise" and the volume drops. "Clockwise" and it goes up. I've got ten more gestures to associate to other functions and/or devices. Muwahahahaahaaaaaaa!!!
One word here... awe-sommme!!! This wand is a brilliant addition to my neo-Victorian, Steampunk-ish, Tolkien-esque, Medieval-influenced, 100% "geek cave".
I think I just had a nerdgasm.
