Happy New Year!

It's New Year's Eve. Lots of single people are spending it alone. Some by choice and others (like me when I was single) through no choice of their own. I remember one new year's where I was stood up, so I rang it in by being in an Internet chat room with people who I "knew" from there, drinking...something that I don't recall. I do recall that it was pretty good though.

It's also the only time I've ever gotten sick from drinking. Coincidence? You be the judge.

They were nice people, though, so that was a good thing.

Hell, even some married people are spending it alone. And that's truly sad.

Wow, how uplifting this post has been so far! Let's rectify that.

Many of you around the world have already hit midnight, but there's still a few hours to go here in North America. I want to wish you the happiest new year's possible, no matter how you choose to celebrate it. We do a quiet night at home, and that's all we need.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 14 - Progress

We all feel for the underdog. When you're watching a fight, or a game, and you don't particularly care who's going to win, you usually root for the underdog. You want to see an upset. David vs Goliath. The little guy against the giant corporation. What if you're that underdog, though? And what if, after winning, you become Goliath? How do you adapt, or do you even want to adapt?

Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) has spent her entire life fighting for a cause. Fighting against oppression. Fighting against people in uniform trying to impose their will on others. Now, however, her home planet Bajor is free, and she finds things aren't quite so cut and dried anymore. "Progress" tells that story in a wonderful fashion. With a powerful script and wonderful acting from both Visitor and guest star Brian Keith as Mullibok. "Progress" is another great character piece for Kira, and continues a string of great episodes in Deep Space Nine's first season.

Bajor is preparing for its first large scale energy transfer project to give aid to hundreds of thousands of Bajorans. To do so will involve tapping the resources on its fifth moon, and they have had to evacuate all forty-four inhabitants of the moon to do it. However, during a routine check to make sure everybody's gone, Kira and Dax (Terry Farrell) discover that there were actually forty-seven inhabitants. Kira beams down to get them moving. She finds a cantankerous old man, Mullibok, and his two friends who help him on the farm. This is Mullibok's home, and he refuses to leave.

Uh-oh! Missed a few days, so here's some random stuff

Not my family, but aren't they a lovely bunch of people anyway?
Hey, kid! Don't eat when you're picture's being taken!

Surprisingly, the blog didn't fall apart! Yes, after almost two months of getting a post per day up on the blog, I haven't done that the past couple of weeks.

For one thing, I didn't want to pressure myself while I was in Iowa. If something occurred to me to write about, I would. But otherwise, I didn't want to be sitting there in the morning saying "come on! Get something down so you can go continue your day!"

That's one of the benefits, I think, of my three regularly-scheduled posts per week. The blog didn't disappear while I was gone. I also scheduled the Christmas posts in advance so I didn't have to worry about them.

The ability to schedule posts has been a godsend for me, as I already have Star Trek and book review posts scheduled through mid-January. I hope you've been enjoying them.

I did have a good trip to Iowa. The travel itself was uneventful both ways, except for having a pack of 20 children (8-10 years of age) on the bus ride home from Seattle. That got a bit loud. Thankfully, they got off the bus at the first Canadian stop right on the other side of the border. It was a packed bus, so I did have somebody sit next to me for most of the trip. That's a first for me in my 10+ years of doing this.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 13 - Battle Lines

Violence lurks inside all of us. In some, it’s buried so deep that it will never come out. For others, it’s just below the surface. Part of whether it comes out or not depends on our circumstances or our upbringing. It can become a way of life for some people. Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) is trying to put that past behind her. While she thinks she’s succeeded, deep down she hasn’t allowed herself to do so. That's one of the major issues of "Battle Lines." We’re mid-way through the first season, and we've had a series of fluff episodes leading up to this point. This episode, however, digs a little deeper, and it’s all the better for it. While it’s certainly not a perfect episode, it is intelligent and features some wonderful character development for Kira.

Kai Opaka (Camille Saviola), the religious leader of the Bajorans, unexpectedly comes to the station. Sisko and Kira go to meet her, but she seems distracted. She gazes out to where the wormhole is, but no traffic is due to go through today. Sisko (Avery Brooks) offers to take her on a ride through the wormhole. Bashir (Siddig el Fadil) tags along (he’s got nothing better to do) with Kira as the pilot. As they are leaving, Opaka gives O’brien (Colm Meaney) her necklace to give to his daughter, a sign to the viewer that Opaka knows her destiny is waiting for her on the other side of the wormhole.

They go to investigate a moon where they find strange sensor readings. Sisko wants to leave a marker and go back to the station, but Opaka insists on investigating. The satellite defense systems around moon knock the runabout out of the sky and it crashes, killing Opaka. Or is she dead? Sisko and the crew get caught in the middle of a never-ending battle, where death is not an option or a release. Has Opaka found her destiny? And will this war bring peace to Kira’s soul?

Book Review - The Battle of Britain by James Holland

Many thought Great Britain would fall to the Nazi onslaught during that fateful Summer of 1940. The country stood alone against the German juggernaut. France had just fallen; the Soviet Union was still ostensibly allied with Hitler's regime; the United States was still "neutral," though they did help the British out in a few capacities.

Adolf Hitler wanted to get Britain to sue for peace so he could concentrate on the Soviets. If that took an invasion, so be it. If Germany could pound Britain into submission via bombing, that would work too. Either way, the British Air Force must be destroyed.

I've read a few books on the months-long air battle known as "The Battle of Britain," but nothing as comprehensive as James Holland's book, also called The Battle of Britain: Five Months that Changed History. For one thing, it does what most other books on the battle don't do: it goes in-depth into the battle for France, and shows us just what that invasion did to both the British and Germans in preparation for the coming battle.

Merry Christmas Everybody

I want to wish everybody a truly wonderful Christmas, those of you who celebrate it. And if you don't, may the good spirit of the season affect you anyway.

It's been almost two months since I've re-started this blog, and I've been fairly regular with it. I have you readers to thank for some of that, as you've made it worthwhile. I do plan on continuing it well into the new year and beyond.

Thank you for your love and support, and just your comments if nothing else. I'm always happy to hear from you.

In the meantime, regular programming returns tomorrow with the weekly book review. I hope you enjoy it.

For now, you can enjoy two hours of a Yule log burning!



Ok, it's just a log in a fireplace, but I think it works the same.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

A Star Trek Christmas

Since I doubt anybody will wanting to read Star Trek: DS9 reviews on Christmas Eve, this week I leave you with a couple of hilarious Star Trek videos.

The first is a blooper reel of DS9 outtakes that are pretty hilarious. It's also, sadly, pretty scant. Where are all the bloopers? There are tons of TNG and TOS ones.



Secondly, a hilarious mix of Original Series and Monty Python, with the immortal Python song from Monty Python & the Holy Grail, "Knights of the Round Table."



Finally, in searching for the above video, I found this hilarious mix, also of Python and Trek. It's almost uncanny how well this one is done, and it's one of my favourite Python scenes.



Regular Trek programming resumes Friday, of course.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and the above videos bring a little humour to your festivities.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 11 - Vortex

One of the big mysteries as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began was: who is Odo (Rene Auberjonois)? He's a shape-shifter who knows nothing about where he came from or who his people are. He's alone on a station full of species who can't do what he can do. When he was introduced, we figured we'd find out over the course of the series just who and what he is. "Vortex" takes a small step in that direction. We don't find out much concrete information about Odo, but we are given some tantalizing hints. We're also given a great episode with some good acting and wonderful dialogue.

Odo is ever watchful of Quark (Armin Shimmerman), the Ferengi bartender who always seems to have a scheme on the side. Today, he's sitting in the bar talking to Quark about the Miradorn freighter that had just docked, wondering if Quark knows anything about it. He also notices a strange man sitting in the corner looking away every time Odo looks at him. Quark claims innocence on both counts, but Odo is suspicious when the two Miradorn, Ah-Kel and Ro-Kel (Randy Oglesby) come into the bar, nod at Quark, and then head to a holosuite, so he changes into a nondescript form and infiltrates the meeting. Unfortunately, it's also crashed by Crodon (Cliff De Young), the quiet man in the corner. In the resulting incident, Crodon kills Ro-Kel and Ah-kel vows revenge, as Miradorns are symbiotic twins and can barely exist by themselves. Sisko (Avery Brooks) prepares to extradite Crodon back to his home planet in the Gamma Quadrant, but they have to get past the Miradorn ship first, as it's preparing to assault any ship that goes through the wormhole with Krodon on it. Odo volunteers to take him.

Crodon is trying desperately to get Odo to let him go, and keeps talking about the Changelings, paranoid and persecuted shape-shifters that he met while he was on the run from his people. He even has a token from them, a pendent that has a small piece of material similar to Odo's genetic make-up inside it. This is the first clue to his origins that he's ever had, and he's torn. But the Miradorn may make it all moot, as they discover where Krodon has gone and come charging after him.

Book Review - Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy by David Stevenson

I've always been a military history guy, even dating back to third grade (that's the last memory I have of it, anyway). I used to read and collect these World War II cards (about 3 inches square, so not something like a trading card) that explained many aspects of World War II. I had read every World War II book at the Wilson Elementary School library by the time I finished 6th grade.

That has never changed. So when I had the chance to pick up Cataclysm, David Stevenson, I jumped at the chance (one of the great perks of reviewing for Curled Up With a Good Book). I had read a few things about World War I, but not anything comprehensive. This book looked seriously intriguing when I picked it off the "books to review" list back in 2005.

I wasn't disappointed. This book is very dense, which makes it extremely comprehensive for a 500-page book with a ton of end notes. If you have any interest in World War I, or just military history in general, this is the book for you.

From my review on Curled Up With a Good Book:

"It has been a while since I've really gushed about a book, but I won't be able to help myself with this one. Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy by David Stevenson has to be one of the best books I have ever read on World War I, and one of the most compact yet comprehensive history books I've seen. It is less than 500 pages, but it covers every aspect of the war, from the strategy involved to the politics of starting, running, and, most importantly, ending the war. It goes beyond even that, though, by discussing the impact the war had on the post-war years, analyzing the years between the two world wars and even how memories of the war affected how the second one was fought. As a final thought, the conclusion discusses how the war has been looked at over time, how perceptions have changed, not only of who started the war, but also how it was fought."

The only problem that I saw in the book was the really weird use (or lack thereof) of commas. It made it confusing at times, requiring me to reread a sentence or two to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding something.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you'd like to see why, go check out the review.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 10 - The Nagus

When Quark (Armin Shimmerman) was first named as a character on the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series, I was a little apprehensive. Everything I had seen of the Ferengi, greedy business-only types who have annoying voices and mannerisms, in Next Generation had not given me the desire to see one of them every week. However, when the show debuted, Quark was one of its better characters. I was somewhat relieved. I was then apprehensive again when I heard there was going to be an episode full of Ferengi. Would my annoyance-meter need to be replaced after it exploded?

Thankfully, no. "The Nagus" is the first Ferengi-centered episode that Deep Space Nine had and it is still the best, even on repeat-viewing. While Ira Steven Behr, the producer of the show, would go on to produce many cringe-inducing Ferengi episodes in subsequent seasons, I can't hold that against this one. "The Nagus" is just a treat from start to finish. Even the B-plot of Jake (Cirroc Lofton) and Nog (Aron Eisenberg) staying friends despite their parents' wishes has some wonderful moments.

Is Customer Service Getting Better?

Not a Fido rep, or if he is, that would be quite the coincidence

I had an interesting experience with Fido yesterday. Fido is our cell phone provider, and we've been with them for just over three years, since we first bought our iPhones. Over those years, I've had to make numerous calls to their customer support line, mainly to sort out billing issues as well as to do things like add features to our account and so on. There have been a number of times where I've had to call back at a later date because something that I had called about had been mishandled on their end.

However, like the situation yesterday, it has always eventually been resolved to our satisfaction.

I bought a new phone yesterday with a new number, and in the process of setting it up, discovered that I had somehow been put on another 3-year contract in November when I had changed my plan (my contract had expired so I was month-to-month). I spoke to a manager (Kristin) who was very quick to sort things out and get me up and running. I wasn't looking forward to the fight, and thankfully she didn't give me one. She was calm, pleasant, and very efficient.

Unfortunately, the fact that my earlier call back in November had resulted in this fiasco is a strike against their customer service. That kind of thing has happened a few times, some really good customer service coming out of some really bad earlier service. Because the good and the bad balance out, I would have to give Fido a "fair" rating on their customer service.

It appears I'm not alone, and not just regarding Fido, but customer service in general.

Ascension - Come Play with me on Apple's Gamecenter!

Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer is now free on all iOS systems. I downloaded it to my iPad on Thursday.

I don't know how long it will stay free, but you should jump on it while you have the chance. And then friend me on Apple's Gamecenter (username: histerin) and play it with me.

Why? Because I said so!

Oh, and because it is a seriously awesome game. It's a deck-building fantasy game where you are playing for the most "honor."

The game is for up to four players, but you can play against AI opponents.

The rules of the game are actually quite simple. Each player starts out with ten cards. Dealt across the center are six cards dealt from a separate deck, a combination of heroes and constructs that you can buy (with "runes" that the cards in your hand produce) or monsters to kill to gain honor (with "strength" that the cards in your hand have). As you buy cards, your deck will grow and you are able to do more. Heroes can give you more runes to use to buy more stuff, or strength to kill more monsters. They may also give you the ability to draw extra cards that turn, or things like that.

(Click images to see a bigger version)

Here's one of the heroes you can buy. At the top right corner is the rune cost to buy the hero. From the description, you see that he gives you four strength.

Here's the starting board configuration, with the center row laid out and your beginning hand.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 9 - Move Along Home

One of the great joys in life is a game, a competition between two people to see who can come out on top. Hopefully, it’s not a violent game, but a contest of equals that will allow the person with the most skill to win nine times out of ten. Then there are the games of chance, where you play alone against the odds. Things like roulette, for example. Or, in the Star Trek universe, Dabo.

“Move Along Home" is a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode about games. In fact, it introduces a culture full of people who live for games. It’s an utterly bland, completely inoffensive game of an episode that doesn’t have much payoff, much characterization, or much fun, despite it being about a game. In fact, the payoff is a cheat, which really cheapens what’s already a lackluster episode.

Another Look at Chivalry

I know it seems that I've beaten this topic to death (namely here, here, and here), but how about one more for the road? I promise it won't get you drunk.

Well, not *too* drunk, anyway.

The reason I'm re-visiting this so close to the last time (just over a week ago) is because Emily Esfahani Smith has a terrific article in the Atlantic called "Let's Give Chivalry Another Chance."

In the article, she brings up something that I hadn't really touched on in all of my posts about chivalry and "benevolent sexism" and all that. I have talked about the wonderful effects of this behaviour and questioned why people would want to get rid of it or be offended by it.

Port Mann Bridge - Toll Stupidity

There has been a lot of road construction over the last couple years here in the Lower Mainland. I'm sure many of you elsewhere can empathize with what drivers here have had to deal with.

One of the major projects was the expansion of the Port Mann bridge spanning the Fraser river, taking Highway 1 (the Trans-Canada Highway) from the Vancouver area all the way across to the Atlantic Ocean. Before it was a 4-lane bridge, but it's been expanded to eight lanes now.

To help pay for the monumental costs of the expansion, they've decided to implement a toll. Until March, it will cost you $1.50 to cross the bridge. If you sign up for the automatic TReO tolling, then that rate will go until December 2013. Otherwise, you'll be charged $3 every time you cross the bridge.

That's going to be hell on commuters who have to cross that bridge every day. Tolls of $6 a day? That's going to put a major crimp in the budget, isn't it?

Book Review - Allie Beckstrom Series by Devon Monk

I've been a big fan of Devon Monk's "Allie Beckstrom" series since book #3. It's an urban fantasy series set in Portland, Oregon, where magic is real and is governed by a group called The Authority, which has branches all over the country (and world, I believe). Things have been going from bad to worse for Beckstrom, her lover Zayvion Jones, and the rest of her friends, as there are those in the magic-wielding community who will stop at nothing to use magic to lord their power over the rest of the world.

It doesn't help that Allie's father was trying to merge technology and magic to make its use even more efficient and powerful, and he died for what he did. But his psyche lives on in Allie's mind, interacting with her (much to her chagrin).

I've posted previous reviews on this blog before, both for Magic at the Gate and then a double-post for Magic in the Shadows and Magic on the Storm. For this week's book entry, I realize that I've done three reviews since I last posted anything here, so you get a triple shot!

You Don't Know Jack

A "Dis or Dat" answer

No, I'm not insulting you.

Instead, I'm introducing you to a really fun trivia game that's currently on Facebook and is on its way to Android and iOS devices.

You Don't Know Jack is a long and storied trivia franchise on the PC, but I never played it until the last version came out on consoles. It was really nicely-priced at $30, but I guess it didn't do very well.

Then Jellyvision Games hit the mother lode: Facebook!!!

Now You Don't Know Jack is one of the few Facebook games I play every day.

The game is hosted by a character named Cookie Masterson, and his jokes are usually pretty funny. Or at least amusing if nothing else. He welcomes you to the show with things like this one that I heard on the game I played today (paraphrased from memory):

"Hi, this is Cookie, and I'll be with you after I file a complaint about this truck driver. Let's see, 1-800.....E....A....T...S...H...Hey!!!!"

Each game consists of five questions, which can either be straight trivia questions, a Dis or Dat (where he gives you seven things and you tell him which of two choices each thing is a member of), a gibberish question (where you are given a gibberish phrase and you say what TV show, saying, or something else that it rhymes with), or several other ideas. The fifth question is the Jack Attack, where you have to make the best match possible.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 8 - The Passenger

Warning: While I usually reveal major details about the episode's plot, I generally try to avoid the ending. This time, I can’t really do that. Some major twists have to be talked about. So for this review, major spoilers ahead.

When one sees arrogance, especially in somebody young and inexperienced, we want to bring it down as hard as possible. What business does this young pup have thinking so highly of himself when he hasn’t proven anything? It really rubs us the wrong way. In “The Passenger,” Dr. Bashir (Siddig El Fadil) experiences this in the worst possible way. He goes from the height of saving somebody who everybody else assumed was dead, to the low of having his body used for the basest murder. It’s funny how, while he’s been arrogant before, they ratchet it up a notch in the teaser to this episode to make the fall so much worse.

Replacing literature in the classroom

You remember reading those classic books in school, such as Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the like. Don't you?

Of course you do. We all had to read that stuff in our English classes. If it wasn't those, it was something else. Maybe Canterbury Tales? Or Shakespeare?

Your kids may not be getting that chance anymore.

According to the Daily Telegraph (and why isn't this stuff in any American newspaper?):

"A new school curriculum which will affect 46 out of 50 states will make it compulsory for at least 70 per cent of books studied to be non-fiction, in an effort to ready pupils for the workplace."

To do that, they're going to be removing books like Rye and Mockingbird, instead forcing them to include recommended "informational texts" like "Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California's Invasive Plant Council."

Seriously?

Podcast Stuff - Episode 49 of Down the Hall

It's the holidays! Our last show of 2012, and we're almost at 50! We have a very special holiday episode this time around to tide you over.

This is definitely *not* Leanna's class, but it's the same idea

Lots of laughs, some good information on the various December holidays that are floating around out there, as well as even a little singing.

Also, I interviewed Leanna Johnson, who's a teacher in Missouri whose school is going paperless. They're using e-texts, networked dropboxes, laptop and tablet computers, and all of that. It's a really great interview and we had a few laughs too.

It's all packed into 40 minutes of goodness. We had a lot of fun recording it, and I hope it's just as enjoyable for you to listen to.

Episode 49 can be found here.

Take a listen and let us know what you think! What are your holiday traditions?

And while you're posting all of your pre-holiday, on-holiday, and post-holiday snapshots on Facebook, why not take a moment to "like" us over there? It's just a click a way, and it's really in the spirit of the season, isn't it? A season of giving?

Give your finger a little bit of a workout, why don't you? It doesn't get enough exercise.

It also has our cool new picture! Ok,"new," as in it's about a month old, but it's probably new to you!

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 7 - Dax

One of the cornerstones of human morality is that one must accept the consequences of his or her actions. But what does this mean to a being that inhabits different hosts at various times in its life? Is the current host of this being responsible for the actions of previous hosts? Just how far does responsibility go? To the death of the current host? Or does it extend through the lifetime of the being itself?

These questions are addressed in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode called “Dax.” They are addressed, but they are not answered. Instead, we learn a lot of interesting information about the Trill, the symbiotic race of slugs that inhabit various hosts throughout their long lifetimes. We learn about the joining process and how hosts are chosen. But do we really learn that much? Not really. While the information is interesting, it isn’t really enough, and we never do get the answers to the questions the episode actually asks, as these answers are conveniently avoided by a timely entrance. Thus, a possibly very interesting episode becomes mildly entertaining, and some questionable guest acting draws it down that little bit more.

Book Review - The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

Jasper Fforde is a rather unique author. His tales are usually quite outlandishly funny and creative, be it his Thursday Next series of books (where characters can go in and out of novels, interacting with the characters in them and possibly messing up how they read) or his Nursery Crimes books with Detective Jack Spratt. I never fail to laugh at his books, even when some of the jokes fall flat (not many of them do).

His stories definitely fall into the "absurd" category, so you may have to check one out to see if it's to your taste. I, however, love them.

It's wonderful when authors try something new, though, and Fforde has done so with The Last Dragonslayer.

Don't get me wrong. It's still a hilariously funny story with a storyline that always walks the edge of making you roll your eyes but never quite ends up doing so. But it's actually a young adult book with a 15-year-old protagonist who's not precocious. She's had to do a lot of growing up in her 15 years, so she does feel older than she actually is, though she's sometimes reminded rather harshly that she is still quite young.

It's a fantastic book with a lot of hilarious commentary on modern society, such as the 24-hour news cycle and sensationalism, as well as the endorsement culture where companies try very hard to cash in on somebody's sudden celebrity.

My review of the book has now posted on Curled Up With a Good Book.

Programming Note - Star Trek episodes

I was scheduling a few more DS9 episode posts last night when sudden inspiration struck me. (Don't worry, I did hit it back. Nobody strikes me without retaliation)

See? Captain Picard agrees with me.

There are 144 episodes of DS9 to watch (something like that). Doing one episode a week kind of makes this an almost 3-year long project when it doesn't need to be. If I do two episodes a week, it will still take well over a year to finish. And then we have all of the other Star Trek DVDs to watch too.

So why not go and do that?

Yes, starting this week, there will be two episode reviews a week, on Monday and Friday. Nice bookends for the week.

Hope that doesn't tax you too much.

I also hope you're enjoying them (whoever's reading them, as I only know of one specific person). It's been a nice nostalgia treat for me too.

Now I'm off to re-schedule all the future ones that I've done.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 6 - Q-Less

One of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s most memorable characters was the omnipotent Q. He was a constant foil for Captain Picard, and the repartee between John DeLancie and Patrick Stewart was always wonderful, even when the story wasn’t the best. Whether it was DeLancie’s delivery or just the writers being inspired by his acting ability to write some good stuff, he was always a joy to see, even in the worst episodes (e.g. "Qpid"). So it was only natural that he would show up on Deep Space Nine to spar with Commander Sisko (Avery Brooks). Would the producers be able to catch lightning in a bottle twice? Unfortunately, no.

It all starts with Dr. Bashir (Siddig El Fadil) trying to woo a Bajoran woman at the bar while O’Brien (Colm Meaney) looks on in disgust. In the middle of Bashir’s attempt, they are called to a runabout pad, where Lt. Dax’s (Terry Farrell) runabout has lost all power and the air is disappearing from inside. They also have an unexpected passenger, Vash (Jennifer Hetrick). It seems that Vash has been alone in the Gamma Quadrant for two years. Sisko would like to know how a human managed to get to the Gamma Quadrant before the wormhole was discovered, but Vash says it’s personal.

She also has a bunch of artifacts that she would like to sell. Quark (Armin Shimmerman) offers to host an auction for a small percentage. Everything may be put in danger, though, when the unexplained power outages start affecting the station. Meanwhile, Q has come aboard to try and bring Vash back with him. It seems they did not have an amicable parting in the Gamma Quadrant. He crosses swords with Sisko and generally gets in the way of the crew trying to discover what’s going on. Just what is causing these outages, and will whatever it is end up destroying the station before the auction is over?

Revisiting "Benevolent Sexism"

Some of you may remember my post last year about benevolent sexism (called "The Post in Which I Admit I'm a Sexist Pig") and how stupid the whole idea of it is.

For those of you who didn't catch it (and who are too lazy to go to the link, and what do I pay you for anyway if you don't go to my links? Oh, I don't pay you...never mind), "benevolent sexism" is basically gentlemanly behaviour. Doing nice things for a woman, like opening a door, helping her with a heavy bag, that sort of thing. You're doing it out of the goodness of your heart, but you're still a HEARTLESS SCUMBAG!

Ahem. Sorry. My inner-feminist-idiot reared its ugly head there for a moment. All better now.

Yes, even if you are doing nice things, you are still demeaning the woman by helping her.

Why am I revisiting this subject? Because there's an interesting new post on the topic that I'd like to highlight.

The Online Comic Book Revolution - Comixology

In keeping with yesterday's newspaper comics post, how about comic books?

A couple of years ago, I mentioned how I was always a big comic book fan, but that I had fallen away from it both from the story point of view but also because I just ran out of space and was getting tired of making room for them. I was thrilled to see that both Marvel and DC comics had online services now that offered comics for their readers who wanted digital versions.

The problem was that all of the comics on the apps were old. I lamented the fact that you couldn't get your monthly subscriptions as digital downloads.

Fast forward a few months, and that's no longer true.

Yes, I am a comics reader again, though nowhere near to the extent I used to be.

Thanks to Comixology.