And now, a Star Trek solo
I haven’t posted anything about Star Trek for a couple months, so… enjoy:
Various and Sundry
Category: Various and Sundry
Various and Sundry
English? Time for the Subtitles…
It could be the theater-related post from Tuesday. It could be that I’ve been catching up on a lot of Shakespeare, but this particular video about how English sounded 500 years ago is the right thing to stumble across at the right time:
Various and Sundry
Chris Hadfield finds your lack of Hard Sci-Fi Disturbing
I’ve really enjoyed Chris Hadfield letting us know about the realities of space exploration, from his space-based cover of Bowie to his book to his counsel on dealing with the pandemic. So, I was happy to check out what his thoughts were on some of my favorite “hard sci-fi” films were and– oh, it’s like comparing notes with my dad, the physicist and history buff…
Various and Sundry
Supporting your friendly local bookstores…
So many industries are being shaken by the coronavirus pandemic, the retail section overall is suffering, but specifically, small retail businesses are hurting. What with coming from a family of librarians and book-lovers, I’m especially keen to see independent book shops weather this latest storm, so I was happy to see an article earlier this month about how one online outfit, Bookshop.org is helping brick-and-mortar operations have an online footprint too. My “unread” bookshelf is…
Various and Sundry
Life? Don’t talk to me about life! RIP, John Conway
I hope this doesn’t become too frequent, but I had to post something about one of the recent victims of the pandemic. As is being reporting in multiple outlets, John Conway has died at the age of 82. I know Conway the same way so many people know him: from his game of Life. No, not the family board game with the impressive spinner in the middle of the 3-D board. Conway’s game was abstract…
Various and Sundry
Tips on Isolation from Astronauts
It’s week two of a lot of us Americans staying at home. Per historian and librarian recommendation, I am keeping a journal during this time. Lesson plans and activities are set up for the kids. We’re doing our best to make sure Jabberwocky Audio Theater continues as planned for this year. And of course, there’s some home projects that are rearing both their practical and sanity-based heads. In the face of all this, it can…
Various and Sundry Writing
Science Fiction Tropes, Ranked (Barnes & Noble Edition)
I’ve posted about science fiction tropes before, but as we’re now deep into the Era of Social Distancing, at least some writing has got to happen, right? So here’s another list ranking tropes via Ross Johnson for Barnes & Noble. I might quibble with the ranking of the top 5 (dystopian governments and time travel would be my 2 and 1 respectively), but everything on the list should give you a knowing nod or a…
Various and Sundry
In the face of global pandemic? Muppets.
Much of this week has been adjusting to the very new reality of self-quarantining (well, with the fam). My social media feeds are now almost exclusively news and reports about the coronavirus striking the globe and memes to try and help with it. Replicating the social media feed seems quite pointless, but I’ll certainly post links to resources or other fun things as relevant. For now, one recommendation, which I heartily endorse, was for families…
Various and Sundry
The Mind and Music
Someone posted about Bobby McFerrin earlier this week (who many people still know best from his song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy“) and that made me think of this short video where he shows how humans naturally think in musical terms: If you like the video above, it’s part of an overall talk that is just delightful in a geeky sort of way (which I’m biased towards anyway.
Various and Sundry
Star Trek Fandom: Generations
Readers know I have an abiding interest in Star Trek (as evidenced in part by my previous series of posts, Crisis of Infinite Star Treks). So it should come as no surprise I happily devoured the data and geekery on display in Keith Wilson’s Medium entry last month all about Star Trek fandom likes and dislikes. From over 3,500 responses, he breaks down Trek fans’ likes and dislikes of the various series and by different…