Drat this working for a living all to heck.

 I would like to invite everyone to remember the sign off of Looney Tunes cartoons by Porky Pig.  I do believe the graphics for the white hole/ black hole, as we see them, with a cloud band as a stage across the front, is meant to remind us of "That's All, Folks!"

And it was never "All" - there would always be another cartoon in front of another movie.

And *THAT* means that "The Space Baby" was likely Porky Pig.

If they can avoid more gimmick episodes for the final five, then this will indeed have been "all".[1]


[1] - does anybody know -> did Looney Tunes end up owned by Desilu?

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And TOS S2 E14 Wolf in the Fold

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Spoilers

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Split time-lines: perfect.  This solves all my fusses about how they are going to mesh up with TOS.  Well: apparently some time lines will mesh better than others, and I can live with that. 

I also like the idea that it was more than two time lines.  We've got Captain Pike, and Captain Kirk, and possibly Admiral Kirk.  The Admiral Kirk part was never explained, and it could have been a private joke between one pair of Kirk/Uhura and not the other.  Or it could be a third time line.

The birth of a what from a what is meant to be all beyond our understanding, but it does sort of imply a disembodied uterus/vaginal canal - or a tubey hole from which new life springs fully formed and not needing to suckle.  Okay.

I really admire the make-up team getting Gooding to look very Uhura-like, and I think Gooding did a good job of taming the cheerleader and becoming the character we know from TOS.

I really like the young Scotty, too.

So, I am glad the SNW episode allows for multiple versions of the TOS characters because as I have been rewatching TOS episodes more methodically, I have become really troubled by the 60's mores.  That's my formative years, and I just swam like a fish in the toxic soup - as we all did - and thought nothing of some really questionable givens at the time.

I just rewatched Wolf in the Fold, where Scotty, while visiting a pleasure planet, is possessed by the spirit of Jack the Ripper and kills three women.  This is a story about Scotty, and so we are focused on proving Scotty's innocence, but the deaths of the women are treated like the loss of a favorite shirt.  Spock also says that the possessing spirit choses to kill women instead of men because women are more easily frightened and their terror is more heightened than men's.  No one mentions what it's like to wake up to having murdered someone you know.  And no one mentions mourning the women even one little bit.  It's really creepy.

So, while I think they are skillfully arcing back to the TOS, I think it would be more fun to carry on with alternate time line characters.

And hey.  Isn't this called Strange New *Worlds*, not Strange Visits to a Character's Head?  Where are the worlds of skimpily clad influencers oppressed by an evil AI, which controls them through a rigid evil cult?  Eh?

So.  We are all aflutter because the European Union wants a closer relationship that might include trade even though 10 of the 27 members haven't yet ratified the trade agreement floating around since 2017 (CETA).  Ish.

As Althia Raj says, it's all very well, but Canada wants to send things Europe isn't interested in[1], because, as Emilie Nicolas says, "Yeah, I think in a way this whole thing is going back to the basics of Canada where Europe wanted furs and fancy top hats, so there goes our beavers.  So then it was that Europe needed newspapers - they thought newspapers were great - so there goes Canadian forests.  So now it is critical minerals, this new thing, but I do expect that this idea of Canada as this vast infinite reserve of natural resources could still be part of the European imagination.  So, the extractivism part of it is granted, but I'm interested in what is going to be new.  Smaller European cars?  Smaller European appliances?"[2]

And don't get me started on this greedy little plan to privatize Canadian airports.  If Airports make enough money to pay a dividend, why isn't that money going back into the public purse?  Apparently, we need to use the sale money to build other assets, like airports in poorly served areas.  Hmmm.  But even so, when I take a second mortgage to cover the cost of building a garage, the house is collateral and is only collected if I fail my payments.  I am not selling part of my house to the bank.

Huh.  You can tell the politicians are lying because their lips are moving.

I still believe Carney is the better choice of the two available, but we're going to regret him.


[1] - badly paraphrased from At Issue on the CBC on 17Sept26

[2] - transcribed badly from Rosemary Barton Live on the CBC on 20Sept26

[3] - maybe we could be the Royal Purple or the Eastern Star or the Rotary Anns or ...

Also Star Trek TOS S1 E 29, Operation - Annihilate!

SPOILERS

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I feel that Uhura's arc is very much like the arc of us as viewers: we've been so accustomed to trick episodes, that we aren't thinking about regular life in a regular space opera.  We - meaning: I - forgot that Uhura went to Star Fleet Academy, and played those team games of scrabbling around in the dirt and taking stunner fire.  I forgot that under that Cheerleader pep is the woman that also has it in her to become the alternate universe Uhura who plots and stabs.  I forgot that she is the Uhura who, as a black woman, openly, to his face, expressed her exasperation with her white male boss in TOS S1 E 29, Operation Annihilate.[1] [2] So she is totally the woman who can concoct a spur of the moment plot to outwit and kill the blue pirate thieves.

This episode is more like the original TOS.  Questionable ethical decisions.  Information revealed, but we are aware of further secrets continuing in concealment.  We seem to be further away from Kirk in the chair, but we are also seeing several people's comfort being disturbed, and how several characters could be eased off stage.

One of the general things that I think SNW does well are back of scene details.  In this episode suddenly a senior officer, in this case the admiral, is being accompanied by a Yeoman.  In the TOS episode, Kirk asks a Yeoman to provide a transcript of all events.  It is as though Admiral Seeger's tampering with the past ship's digital record has been found out by the time of this timeline-later TOS episode, and a move to add an additional analogue record has occurred.  Even in the TOS era episodes, they were relying on camera records for evidence, so it is not like analogue recording wouldn't have been a dated method[4].

Also in this episode we see Scotty in "a dress".  It's the longer tunic that some of the women have occasionally worn.  It makes sense that a kilt-wearing person might not feel that a longer tunic was wrongly coded for himself, but it is a nice dig at the Star Fleet Academy whiners who faint every time they see Jay-Den's shapely knee.

A flaw in the writing for me is the scene of all the senior officers of both adventures in the ready room, where the accusations of drugging occur.  I was surprised to see the admiral standing upright, and still mostly in charge.  I don't think La'An will escape shooting an admiral.  I don't think Pike will dodge a direct order from an admiral.  I think in his flailing, Admiral Seeger will cause Sam Kirk to choose his family on a remote station.

I am not sure what I think about Vulcan A'sha leaving.  I mean, we knew she was going to because her initial reaction to shipboard life was "ew yuckie" - but logically, of course.  I had high hope that Scotty expecting her to shift her butt and engage with the problem ('You're not helping." followed by an exasperated facial expression did seem to galvanize her.) might have hooked her.  The thing that cheerleader Uhura never does is ask A'Sha to share her logic, so she could either see it or pick at it.  Not engaging it at all is rather insulting.  I liked the character, and I'm sorry she was just a foil for showing that Uhura's emotional impetus saved the day.  Yay Emotional Human Beans.  Also, A'Sha has been at risk of death three times in as few weeks, and things seemed to be escalating - normal people need to know when, as T'Pring said, not to argue with the laws of physics - or chance..




[1] - I don't think people remember how world normalizing Roddenberry's Uhura is/was.  I was nine and ten and eleven.  People my age and younger have never lived in a world where a black woman couldn't be on the bridge as an equal team member.  Okay, she was still ickily *female* (ew) and our culture is still working on that, but shows had to begin to budge on black inclusion because that unconscious cultural thing (the narrative  stuff I've been on and on about regarding Holy Green Luigi) was expecting a black presence somewhere equal-adjacent.  We didn't and aren't doing it gracefully, but the limits continue to budge. 

[2] - I watched TOS S1 E29 as a match for this episode because it is about Kirk's brother Sam.  I was not shocked with Uhura's response to Kirk when I saw it at age ten - I thought she was right and he should have been sorry enough to say so.[3]  In this recent viewing, I am boggled that it didn't raise big eyebrows at the time.  Maybe it did, & I just didn't live where it did.

[3] - okay, this just proves I didn't understand military hierarchy either, and should have also been shocked that she back talked a ranking officer.  Anyway.

[4] - however, in truth, in the 60's, we couldn't yet imagine a senior male not having a secretary, so bring on the Yeoman beings, with their clipboards and ink  pens.  So it was a failing of the era.  Hubba hubba.

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Spoilers

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Well.

In general I am underwhelmed.  However, I will watch Sybok the pirate[1] and La'An, his piratess, do heaving bosom and shirtless romance covers *forever*, yes.

I really appreciate how much effort was put into finding an actor physically similar to the original Trelane.  Unfortunately, the original character had more charm, more of an obsessive adolescent approach.  Someone around 14.  This feels like someone around age 8.  It feels clunky - which I suppose is the nature of soap operas.[2].

I *think* there might be an effort to echo "Through the Looking Glass" in the title, which, sure, okay.  I have looked it up and now know that chronitons are "subatomic particles of time energy".  Fine.  Little granular things falling through the pinch of an egg timer.

And I understand why the actors enjoy these episodes.  A chance to show the chops, and novelty keeps the characters fresh, right?

But all these emotional character arcs are one-sided and leave an unsatisfactory constipated feeling.  I feel like we are spinning our tires and waiting for our onramp to TOS.  I wish they would break free, and alternate timeline themselves into lots more episodes.

[1] - for some reason, the Sybok looks like the Spock is a librarian who has removed the glasses and flipped the hair.  ;)

[2] - the last soap opera I followed was Dark Shadows[3], back in the late 60's - yes, it was timed so that kids could race home and catch it.  I don't dare get into soaps, or I will do nothing else.  Nope.

[3] - it was super weird.  It made no sense whatsoever, but it had atmosphere in sacks.

Third viewing and:

I would watch the hell out of a T'Pring spin-off.  It must be Gia Sandhu.  I really really love that the theme music from Amok Time (TOS, S2 E1) has been turned into T'Pring's theme.[1]

I don't know how that would work in the Star Trek universe, and I don't care.  WANT.

Anyhoo.  Spoilers.

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I was ready to be irked/tired of the continuous trick episodes - what will they do next to top this?  Cirque du Soleil episode?  We've been to Toronto, why not Montreal?  Bungee cords for everyone!  Including T'Pring!

But I do think they handled this very well.  The puppets were fun, the Orions were fun, and, well, we know how I feel about T'Pring.

I am concerned about poor Spock's mental health, though.  He's been having some seriously resolving conversations with various imaginary T'Prings.  Meeting the real one, and expecting his imagined changes will be tough.

One thing I am disgruntled about, though, is that the last time we saw T'Pring, she was leaving because Spock did not share with her that he had been transformed entirely into a human being, and now it is being said it is because he left to explore his human side.  It results in the same ensuing episodes, but it changes the active agent.  It matters, and I don't think the writers see the difference.  It's all for the lulz, I guess.

I will watch this one frequently, but hey.  On the other hand: T'Pring!!!.


[1] - yes, yes, yes !  <gleeful scrubbing of hands>

I was trying to find out the most common starch to be fermented into gin, and Google wouldn't do anything but wax lyrical about juniper and botanicals, which, yes, yum, but if I wanted to plant a crop to become gin, I wouldn't be waffling around with juniper bushes, nor fragrant foliage.  Eventually it was revealed that the base alcohol is a neutral spirit most often made from grain, and sometimes potatoes.

I was looking for this because there is a new (to me) grain in town, Kernza[1], which is exciting because it is perennial and thus doesn't need to be planted every year, saving planting costs.  It also has super long deep roots, so it holds the soil in place and helps retain water.  It also means that the plants are not removed at harvest, and so the ground is never bare, gone on the wind[2].  The plant produces grain (a bunch grass seed), and hay stuff as fodder for feed.  It is a relative of wheat, but not exactly wheat.  Less gluten, smaller grain size.  It grows well in colder climes[3]

Someone is already making whisky with it:  https://smokyvalleydistillery.com/blog/what-is-kernza

So I was thinking about what starches are most commonly used for alcohol fermentation, and it's:

whisky          wheat
beer              barley
rye whisky    rye
bourbon        sweet corn
vodka           potato
rum              sugar cane
gin               any old thing

So then I wondered why there isn't a booze linked to beets[4].  Something pink, delicately botanicalled with dill, eh?

Google google google - oh.  Apparently it is ersatz rum, not allowed to be called rum[5].


[1] - name patented, and researched mercilessly, and ultimately to be controlled completely for the benefit of stockholders, don't you worry 
https://kernza.org/
https://landinstitute.org/our-work/perennial-crops/kernza/
[2] - did you see what I did there?  *snortle*
[3] - which, face facts, folks, means less and less each day
[4] - and turnips, now that I think of it, but where's the romance (or comedy) in that, eh?  I wonder whether turnips/swedes/rutabagas weren't the first starchers used in gin fermentation
[]5 - yes, yes - only sparkling disappointment

Someone mentioned this person somewhere I was mooching around.  Her early work here is from ten or so years ago.  The more recent work is from charity work about 4 years ago, and it is more polished, with more strings and things.  Her translations are almost singable without heavy coaching.  Nice.  :)   I think she should be filling venues.  (Easy for me to say.)


Bad Romance

Let It Go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYXPriLXtn4&list=RDzYXPriLXtn4&start_radio=1

Love is a Battlefield

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg3jiO099hM&list=RDJg3jiO099hM&start_radio=1

We're Not Gonna Take It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReYJNgp21NU&list=RDReYJNgp21NU&start_radio=1

Dream On

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A51iviJTxfI&list=RDA51iviJTxfI&start_radio=1

Born To be Wild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8gXK6jEI0M&list=RDF8gXK6jEI0M&start_radio=1

Baby Baby One More Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaZOnMwz3GU&list=RDVaZOnMwz3GU&start_radio=1

No Scrubs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRqIpcRBlrs&list=RDbRqIpcRBlrs&start_radio=1

Hungry Like the Wolf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQmEszdMuV0&list=RDQQmEszdMuV0&start_radio=1

Sorry - spoilers, spoilers, spoilers


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Okay.  So I accept that Spock might be "inebriated" enough to think he was hallucinating James Kirk.  He has, after all, just recently imagined T'Pring, and committed damage to himself while "believing" it was T'Pring using the scissors.  Game pieces being moved is really small potatoes.  Even the final slap fits into the same type of experience as the T'Pring experience.

My question is: Now that we know James Kirk is real, and he spent his time with a Spock who appears to not keep secret his belief that Kirk is a hallucination, why do the planetary gases not affect Kirk?

Kirk says he is on holiday at Cesnar.  The gases are planetary, not just at the resort.  And even so, he seems to have been spending his time in the resort, so the gases should have got him.

Ortega's lack of inebriation is explained by the gases' effects being blocked by her negative emotions.  Is Kirk to be assumed to both have negative emotions and also be a seriously empathetic ear for Spock?  Very kind and open, actually.  And why does Kirk never get out of his uniform?  If it is because he views Starfleet as his family, then La'An should also have been in uniform.

In practical storytelling terms, I understand these quibbles keep the audience from knowing that Kirk is real.  But I think it is damn sloppy.

Okay, yes, Kirk asked for french fries, like he is stoned - but then he should really have asked for Doritos.  *nods*

(PS - yes, I looked up the yiddish meaning of "plotz".)

So.  All three Pegg/Pine/Quinto/Saldana/Urban movies were on yesterday, so I finally watched them front to back.

Movies on TV[1] are just the worst.  The flow is broken at exactly the wrong time, so the urge to bail is encouraged.  I resisted and now I deserve a gold star.  And maybe a cookie.

My SODB-F[2] spot was the appearance of traffic cop/nazi officer caps on top of black uniforms for star fleet officers.  No hats.  Never.  And especially not those.  Those date from a period where there were heavy-duty rules about hats, and a person could get themselves shunned, possibly court marshalled for doing it wrong.

I got very tired of Pine being pummeled to a pulp.  I also got tired of super unrealistic action sequences since it means they can't lose no matter how dire.  So there is nothing at stake.  So.  This is not my time line, but its existence permits other timelines, so I can live with it, as long as I don't have to watch it.

I want think about casting comparing Trousers of Time with Strange New Worlds

ORIGINAL                             TOT                             SNW

Kirk/ Shatner                          Chris Pine                    Paul Wesley
Spock/ Nimoy                        Zachary Quinto            Ethan Peck
Uhura/ Nichols                      Zoe Saldana                 Celia Rose Gooding
McCoy/ Kelley                       Karl Urban                    missing
Chapel/ Barrett                      missing                         Jess Bush
Scott/ Doohan                       Simon Pegg                  Martin Quinn
Number One/ Barrett             missing                         Rebecca Romijn
Pike/ Hunter & Kenney          Bruce Greenwood         Anson Mount 
Sulu/ Takei                            John Cho                       missing
Chekov/ Koenig                     Anton Yelchin                missing


I prefer the Wesley Kirk to Pine because he has been written as showing more brain, and not burdened so much with rage.  I prefer the Peck Spock because he is very much in the style of his grandfather (!).  I'm not as crazy about the Gooding Uhura because she is a little too much cheerleadery[3] for my tastes.  Too perky.  I think the Quinn Scotty is given more range - and not burdened with a silly mascot.  I really like the Bush & Romijn versions of Barrett roles.  Anson Mount has the humour to play up the "hair", so that's a bonus.  The only TOT characters I prefer are Saldana and Urban.

So.  I guess I prefer ensemble acting in a non-action script, so that puts the action movie cast at a disadvantage.  Really, I just want more movies/episodes with the SNW crew.

[1] - I'm not buying streaming services.  First it's Five Bucks, and next it's First Born and All Yer Honey Forever.  No.
[2] - SODB-F = suspension of disbelief - fail
[3] - cheerleaders: not a big thing in my highschool, so I didn't angst to be one, or admire anyone who was one.[4]
[4] - it fact, cheerleading is weird to me like the Greek Changing of the Guards in Athens.  Both have pompoms, and there are severely right ways and wrong ways to do it - and I don't understand the allure.