What to Watch?

Andor if only for the scene where the young revolutionary Karis Nemik says to Cassian Andor, "The pace of oppression outstrips our ability to understand it, and that is the real trick of the Imperial Thought Machine. It's easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident.”

We see how a population is subjugated through economic exploitation, a creeping surveillance state and draconian policing that feeds a giant prison industrial complex.  (source) 

Sounds like here and now doesn’t it? All we gotta do is replace Imperial Thought Machine with Despot Demento Donnie’s Deathworks and Kiddie Rape Emporium and we’re all set.

Did Andor's revolutionaries overcome the Evil Empire? I don’t know. I believe I need to know the answer to this before diving into the show, into the Andor storyverse. Why? I need a happy ending. I need some inspiration to hope and dream that our current, supremely wretched reality can get better.

Remember the show Deep Space Nine? It ran from 1993 to 1999 – you know, last century, back when we were young. Deep Space Nine was mostly set on a space station of that same name with Benjamin Sisko as the captain, (played by Avery Brooks).

In a two episode story, Sisko and his crew, through a transporter beam mishap (?) are sent back in time to 2024. Homelessness and wealth disparity are wildly out of control – poor and homeless people are put in concentration camps. Gee, sound familiar? Sisko and team, having just arrived from the future, are without acceptable ID and money. They’re busted and put into the camps.

I don’t remember these episodes but, and this may come as a shock, I haven’t been deeply into ALL of Star Trek's offerings.

The original series, Next Generation, Picard, and Strange New Worlds are, to date, my favorites. Mind you, I truly loved the first few seasons of Discovery, especially all the episodes with Michelle Yeoh as the good Captain Philippa Georgiou and then the evil, despotic Terran Empress Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius, and finally, the semi-rehabbed, still evil yet heroic Philippa. 

Captain Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, was Spock’s adopted sister – human but raised Vulcan. She was great for the first three seasons. By season four, Captain Burnham seemed to have lost her Vulcan tone and characteristics. She came down with some serious quirks, like always tilting her head to the side and getting this confused doe-eyed look in her eyes when anything or anyone didn’t respond as she would wish. It came off as Lifetime channel/Hallmark movie concerned/condesending-mother-with-troubled-child level of acting. Martin-Green was SO much better than this in the first few seasons. Whose idea was it to turn her character into a maudlin, repellent cliché?

Clearly I’m still pissed about this.

Neither Andor or DS9 seem to offer up much in the realm of escapism today. After the week’s insanity, I've GOT to take a few hours away from reality. 

Alien: Earth is right out. In it, our planet is ruled by five supremely greedheaded corporations. The only good guys are a bunch of seemingly powerless kids. The show’s brilliant but NOT today, thanks. Life brings enough horror.

Too bad I’m not healthy and wealthy enough to just fly off to another, safer land. Where’s safe though? Russia’s flown drones into Poland and Romania. Naturally, Putin’s best employee, the Tangerine Taint, hasn’t said a word.

I woke from a dream where Ten and I were happily rushing through Logan airport to our departure gate. We were heading to Amsterdam. In real life, I haven’t been there in, probably, 20 years. It’s definitely a walking city so I don’t know how I’d get around now. Luckily, in Dream World, I was still fully mobile. Amsterdam would be a great escape.

Is it more dangerous to be geographically closer to the Russian homicidal madman or the batshit U.S. tantrum toddler?

Escapism

Picasso, Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée

I dreamed I was being chased by Cubists. Yes, I DO in fact mean folks like Picasso, Braque, and Juan Gris. WHY were a bunch of Cubist paintings (the artwork, not the artists) running after me? Beats the fuck outta me. I’m usually able to suss out symbolism, the meaning of my dreams but this one has me thoroughly flummoxed. 

Juan Gris, Woman with Mandolin

Possibly my subconscious is just trying to insert some humor to give me a nice break from reality? I’m sure you’ve noticed, reality pretty much sucks right now.

Which brings me to escapism…

Jen, Oni, Kevin (Oni’s brother) and I watched the final episode of Murderbot, season one. It was absolutely perfect. Seamlessly awesome. The books (by Martha Wells) and show are each exquisitely done – absolutely the right blend of science, space stuff, drama, humor, humanity (good, bad, and ridiculous), and creativity. 

I don’t want to give anything away but I was thrilled to see the tech expert character, Gurathin, who’d previously been distrustful and jealous of – even jerky-boy antagonistic towards Murderbot, come around (understatement). Also, both Gurathin and Murderbot’s “favorite human,” Mensah (President of Preservation Alliance and the leader of the science team protected by Murderbot) totally understood Murderbot’s ultimate decision.

I can’t wait for season two! Sadly, it won’t be out until later in 2026. This gives me a serious sad. 

Good news though – the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is out now! In case you’re having trouble keeping all the Star Trek timelines straight, Strange New Worlds is the one right before James T. Kirk took over the Enterprise. Christopher Pike is the captain and he is fabulous – significantly better than that scenery molesting ham who followed him. 

In other escapist news, my latest Libby hold has finally become available. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping [On a Dead Man] by Jesse Q. Sutanto. 

Online, Xander had it – a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents. (source) 

Her books are definitely the sort that you take for a plane ride or to the beach or when you need to forget, if only for an hour, that your country has devolved into a lethal soup of diseased fecal fascism. Sutanto's books are murder mystery lite (fun reads/less thinking). I’m grateful for “great beach reads” – they have their place. Still, I feel a bit guilty. I mean, what’s next? Harlequin Romances and People Magazine?

Next on my Libby hold list is The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt. Never read him before but it sounds up my alley, pretty much. 

A ragtag crew of humans and posthumans discover alien technology that could change the fate of humanity... or awaken an ancient evil and destroy all life in the galaxy. (source) 

The other thing is, I like his Bluesky bio:

Writer and editor. Loser of Nebula, World Fantasy, Dick, and Stoker Awards (won a Hugo tho). Been published in Best American Short Stories AND Best American Erotica. Genderfluid. Any pronouns

Seems he’s got a sense of humor AND he’s followed there by John Scalzi who I totally trust.

So that’s it for me today. I’m going to avoid Cubists, fascists, and escape into great beach reads,

Things That Go Boom

As you may recall, we watched Star Trek: Section 31 last night (part of Jen’s birthday celebration). Sadly, very sadly, it was a mondo disappointment.

How could a Star Trek movie, especially one starring Michelle fucking Yeoh, be such a letdown? A few reasons.

The storyline was unclear. As in, who are all these people and why are they banded together.

Philippa Georgiou has a wickedly complicated backstory (Star Trek: Discovery) which couldn’t be smoothly summed up in a stand alone feature film format. Maybe it could have been but the movie writing team weren’t up to the challenge?

Alok is a genetically enhanced human who’s been around since the 20th century. Seems long life and perpetual youth are his only enhancements. If he has other superpowers, they aren’t on display. 

Quasi is a Chameloid who has the ability to shape shift into nearly any form. Cool but any shifting was obscured by all the explosion scenes. It seemed like the writers felt the need to have ships, machines, and what-have-you go  BOOM every 10 minutes.

Zeph is a dumb guy in a big mech suit. That seems to be his entire character.

 Fuzz is a microscopic Nanokin in a robot Vulcan body. Right from the get go you can see that Fuzz isn’t really a Vulcan because he’s laughing...a LOT and he has pretty intense mood swings. He’s basically a Men in Black knock off. Though annoying, he’s one of the more fun and fleshed out players. *SPOILER ALERT* Fuzz ends up being one of the bad guys. 

Rachel Garrett’s a Starfleet officer. She’s the only character who seems like a good Star Trek/Federation fit. A little uptight and by-the-book at first but awesome and creative in crisis chaos situations.

The Section 31 organization itself?

Section 31 is a top-secret branch of Starfleet Intelligence, operating way outside usual Federation rules and regulations. Its operatives exist in the shadows, doing unsavory work behind the scenes so that James T Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway, and other Starfleet captains can carry out their day jobs without getting their hands too dirty. (source)

Basically, it’s the CIA in space. Would you know this if you’re not up to speed on all things Star Trek? Doubt it. I’d have to rewatch the flick to see if the org is ever explained. With all the fight scenes, blasts, and fiery blowups, either I missed it or the explanation just didn’t happen.

Though the writers injected some witty banter here and there it mostly all fell pretty damned flat. The crew had very little cohesion—they just didn’t play off each other well. Why? Was it the actors or the writing?

Omari Hardwick (Alok) is probably a good actor but this role and him  seem a poor fit. I would have loved to see either Aldis Hodge or J. August Richards in his place. Both of them can play serious and comedic at the same time.

Sam Richardson as Quasi was cool but his part really needed to be more fully developed. I mean, could we cut just one special effects explosion and have a bit more story and character development? Same for Kacey Rohl as Rachel Garrett.

Yeoh as Emperor Georgiou—she’s always fab. HOWEVER, movie Georgiou versus Discovery teevee show Georgiou was a bit of a bummer. She was softer—less wittily arch. Her fight scenes were obscured by all the flying blown up space bits AND the long robes. Honestly, how anyone can fight in a flowing cloak is a mystery to me.

My conclusion? The movie had hack writers, direction and TOO much shit blowing up. It was just not up to the quality usually found in the Star Trek universe. Still, I'd like to see a sequel if they got better writers and a different director.

What's Happening

An entity alleging godhood has claimed responsibility for the bolts of lightening which struck the Capital and the Washington Monument last night. The "god" left a statement saying that this was just a warning shot to the U.S.

What provoked this action? There’s the genocide of the people native to this land, all the enslavement, Jim Crow, KKK, etc. shit, the heinously cruel and absurd misogyny crimes and NOW we’ve reelected Donnie Dipshit, the felonious rapist, racist, conman, and Putin flunky to the highest office in the land?! Yeah, the gods are sick of our insanity and hate.

They’ve had enough and won’t be tolerating much more. Can you blame them? I surely can’t.

Who exactly left the note? Was it Indra, Hindu god of lightning with his trusty thunderbolt, Vajra ? Norse god Thor and his faithful buddy Mjölnir? Zeus, Greek god of lightning and king of the gods? Fulgora, Roman goddess of lightning? Raijin, Japanese god of thunder, lightning, and storms? Possibly the wee missive was left by the christian’s god. Who can say? It’s not like it was signed or maybe the lightning was the signature.

COULD be that the strikes on the Capital and monument were a unanimously approved Gods and Goddesses Union action. I rather suspect this is the case.

Here in Valhalla, how did we mark the end of 2024? I didn’t throw any bolts but I did have an excellent physical therapy session. After my last unfortunate time I decided to just see how things went. Would my PT be an asshole again? Would she be treating me like a dimwit once more? If so, I figured I’d just halt the session, state that we didn’t seem to communicate well, and that it would be best if I saw a different therapist. Calm, direct, brief. Also, happily, unnecessary. Maybe, last time I was in, Amy was just having a truly wretched day? Possibly I remind her of a hated auntie from childhood. Who knows?

Afterwards, the two Valhallan households got Mexican take-out and watched Earth Girls Are Easy. I hadn’t watched it since it first came out in 1988. That’s 36 years ago! Damn, I feel old. The flick was dated but still fun. One of my favorite bits was Julie Brown’s song 'Cause I'm A Blonde. Also, I may have mentioned this before but, Jeff Goldblum is quite the handsome fellow. Woof!

What’s the main business that I accomplished in ’24? I didn’t die. Pretty neat huh?

I had dental surgery in May. Later the same month I had a huge fucking tumor removed from the front of my brain (eighth all time bean op and third since 2020). Recovery’s been slow as frozen molasses rolling uphill in January. I’m seven months post-op and not where I want to be physically...YET.

But HEY, I’m alive AND rolling.

Gemma Correll

Comedians

Janey Godley, the Scottish comedian, has died from ovarian cancer at the age of 63. 

Images of her solitary protest against the US president’s 2017 visit to Turnberry golf course, armed with a “Donald Trump is a cunt” placard, won progressive hearts. (source)

She was younger than me. It always weirds me out when folks with less mileage on 'em croak. I’m still here and these talented, kind people aren’t—is that really fair? Survivor's guilt anyone?

I’m unfamiliar with Godley’s work (apart from her great protest of the most embarrassing and disgusting “human” in the US) but I understand she was a friend of fellow Glaswegian, Billy Connolly. Were they at all similar. I absolutely adored Connolly's stand-up comedy. He reminded me of George Carlin. I'll need to find a clip of Godley performing.

Like Connolly, Godley was sexually abused as a child. Godley by an uncle, Connolly by his father. That they both survived and turned their respective horrors into trenchant, razor-sharp, spot-on wit is buoying—it gives me hope.

Side note: Connolly retired to Key West in 2018. Other famous freshwater conchs? Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, Judy Blume, Jimmy Buffet, Truman Capote, Robert Frost, John James Audubon, Shel Silverstein, Harry Truman and the poet Wallace Stevens who got into regular bar fights with Hemingway and Frost.

I visited Key West once in the early ‘80s. It was nice but not so much my scene—too touristy. If I was to leave Massachusetts, what island paradise would I go to? If it was easy to accomplish citizenship-wise, I think Iceland would be quite good. Someplace tropical? I’m not keen on hot temperatures, giant insects, and hurricanes. Wait, wait, you say that Iceland has active volcanoes? Meh. Those seem safer (maybe just easier to outrun) than tropical cyclones with 74 mile per hour wind.

 Also, I've not heard about Icelandic poets beating up on each other. Maybe they only engage in fisticuffs over Brennivín (AKA the black death) at home?

I NEED Escapism

As it turns out, I’m more nervous than anticipated about my upcoming bean surgery. From what the docs say, this is expected to be, practically, a drive-by or drive-through event. I MAY even go home the day after.

Still, after all I’ve been through (medically speaking) in the last four and a half years, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. This means that I’m not getting in as much rehab exercising as I should. Being in top (for me) shape pre-op means my post-surgery recovery time will be shorter, less onerous.

What do I need to get through this swamp of demoralization? Distracting entertainment, that’s what!

I’m between new books and authors right now (so many promising escapist reads are on my waiting list at the library) so I decided to reread some Vonnegut. I’m very much enjoying his style, absurdities and wit, of course. At the same time though, the river of melancholy that runs through Breakfast of Champions, is proving too much for me. I find myself living within the characters and, just wow. When Kilgore Trout is the most clearheaded, sane and happy soul in the book, it may well be past time to find a different flight of fancy.

Jen and I began rewatching Northern Exposure yesterday. You remember the show, right? It ran from 1990 -’95. It’s a classic fish out of water tale. Big city (NYC) born, raised and educated doctor ends up working in a small Alaskan village to pay off the loan the state gave him. Heartwarming, culture clashing hilarity ensues.

I only mention it but ALL the characters look MUCH younger than when I first saw it. I mean, of fucking course they do. I was in my early 30s when it came out and that was 34 goddamn years ago! Dr. Fleischman looks like a kid (when the show began, Morrow—the actor playing him—would have been in his late 20s). Darren E. Burrows’ character, Ed Chigliak the wonderful, teenaged Indian, was actually in his mid-20s. John Cullum, the old guy bartender, was younger (and more fit) than I am now.

The other show we’re watching is Dead Boy Detectives. So far, it fits the escapism bill.

Two teen ghosts work alongside a clairvoyant to solve mysteries for their supernatural clientele — until a powerful witch complicates their plans. (source)

How else am I ducking reality (besides continuing to avoid my tax prep work)?

On Threads I’m now following the ghost.of.kristi.noems.goat, the.bear.in.the.woods, the.friendly.crow, a raccoon, the worm in RFK Jr.’s brain, deer, fox, wolf, an opossum and orcas.sinking.yachts.

The orcas introduction line?

We're a pod of orcas hoping to rid the ocean of the human billionaire scourge. We also enjoy memes. Tag us when someone needs to get capsized.

The bear’s?

Your friendly neighborhood bear. I only maul misogynistic men.

Goat ghost?

Malcontent spirit of a goat seeking justice from beyond the Veil of Death. Haunting fascists & anyone who dare to abuse animals or the vulnerable.

Deer?

I’m here to eat your birdseed and raise a little hell. And you forgot to put out birdseed.

The raccoon says they’re just looking for some good snacks as they smash the patriarchy. Also, they love Taylor Swift and marshmallows and dislike people filled with hate.

Okay then, this totally counts as escapism!