Love, Death + Cats

We, the Valhalla crew, binge-watched John Scalzi’s Love Death + Robots offerings yesterday. Oh my magnificent Medusa these are awesome+++! Mind you, we’d seen four of them before but they are totally fresh the second time around. In fact, I want to see them all again NOW!

• Three Robots (Season 1, Episode 1)
• When the Yogurt Took Over (Season 1, Episode 6)
• Alternate Histories (Season 2, Episode 5)
• Three Robots: Exit Strategies (Season 3, Episode 1)
• The Other Large Thing (Season 4, Episode 5)
• Smart Appliances, Stupid Owners (Season 4, Episode 9)

My favorites? This morning they’re Three Robots: Exit Strategies and The Other Large Thing. Scalzi knows that cats will take over the world one day. It’s a sure thing they’ll be better caretakers of the planet than humans. Hells bells, a dead rat would do a better job.
~~~
I’ve been a vegetarian for a lot of years now. Weirdly, despite the fact that meat grosses me way the fuck out, curious cravings occasionally ambush me. Yesterday fer instance.

Me (texting Jen): WHY do I all of a sudden have a stone need for a steak and cheese sub with pepper jack cheese, onions and jalapeños?!!!

   I ask you?!!! I mean, FFS!

Jen: Hah!!! Oni says it’s because they’re good !

Me: 😖

Me: Next thing ya know I’ll be wanting an IPA or 6 and will be trolling for one night stands.

   What am I? 19 again?

   Christ almighty!

Yeah, I didn’t indulge that yearning (which would have done a real number on my poor flesh and fowl eschewing digestive tract anyway).
~~~
I follow a few Ukrainians on Threads. This morning one posted that a Russian bomber, that had been on its way to bomb them (in Kyiv?), was shot down by Russian air defense last night.

How very trumpian. Is the “criminally incompetent” Pete Kegseth moonlighting for the Russian military now? Is he authoring their attack strategies? Has he texted the bombing plans on hacktastic Facebook Messenger yet? Did he include journos from WAPO and Fox not-really-the-news on the group chat? Maybe Putin’s having Monty Python or Stanley Kubrick write his scripts now?

Whatever – keep it up dude, you're aces!
~~~
I know I said I felt really good yesterday. I was so pleased with myself that, not only had I bounced back from a bad, weak-ass, what-the-fuck’s-up-with-this-wonk-ass-body patch, but I had increased BOTH my PT exercising AND my daily time on the elliptical. YIPPEE! Well, I crashed. All I could manage yesterday was acts of hygiene, getting dressed, and walking next door for teevee time. So, this week all I did was just four out of seven days versus five.

S’ok…

It’s all right, it’s all right
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest
That’s all I’m trying to get some rest
American Tune – Paul Simon 

I'll get back up on the exercise horse today.

Space the Final Frontier

When asked for a writing tip, Stephen King said make readers care about the people in your story.

Yes! Related, we watched the first episode of The Expanse the other day. There will not be a viewing of the any further eps. NONE of the characters were in any way relatable or knowable—more like cardboard cutouts. Stick figures. Best I could tell, it wasn’t the skills (or lack thereof) of the actors. It was how they and the scenes were written. It was entirely unclear as to who was good and who was an evil, conniving monster.

Who WERE these people? How about a wee bit of context, hmmmmm? Also, WHY was there only one woman on the crew and why was she the only Black person? Does space lack people of color? Did they kill two quotas with one stone by making the sole woman Black?

WHAT’S my motivation for giving a damn about any of them? Can I have some damned exposition?

A hardened detective begins an off-the-book investigation of a missing heiress in the series premiere of this futuristic thriller; at the same time, the captain of the ice-freighter Canterbury inquires into a distress call from a mysterious derelict ship. (source)

There was a hardened detective? A missing heiress? Maybe their scenes were performed in an alternate dimension’s version of the show? Could I have fallen asleep mid ep? All I saw was a half dozen bland folk in a small, ratty, banjaxed spaceship who were running out of air. They’re finally rescued (sort of) but the rescuers are, possibly, bad guys. Tune in next week to find out!

Eh, no thanks.

The show is based on a book series by James S. A. Corey (pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). I guess, in order to understand the story line, I should have read the books first? I wonder if the written form has better character and story development.

Jessica Rabbit comes to mind. I’m not bad, I’m just drawn this way.

Related, I read that we’re on the cusp of an alien invasion. Are these the same aliens that Braintrust Boebert was quizzing about during a House Oversight Committee meeting?

Are these the same as the ones she says live in the ocean? Are they heading home? Will they take me with them? Is this the long awaited and hoped for (by me and a fuckton of other sane Americans) rescue mission?

JPL-Caltech

I’ve read that there will be battles in the sky between UFOs and the military and that the aliens will even attack their fellow aliens. Why would they do this last bit? Are there two different alien races fighting over who gets to take us home? If Vulcans are involved, I hope they win. It’d be a real treat to live in a society based in logic and facts. I’m figuring there are no MAGAts on Vulcan.

Oh wait, the invasion was supposed to happen yesterday and, dammit, I missed it! Did the air battles only happen in, say, D.C. or maybe Berlin? I didn’t see anything unusual here in Boston. Was anyone taken onboard/beamed up? Did they take TFG (That Fucking Guy) and his minions? I suspect not. It’d be hard to get the stench out of the upholstery.