Disaster (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 5) Picard Trapped in Elevator with Weeping Moppets

Rewatching ST:TNG A character-based bottle episode (no off-ship locations), in which the Enterprise randomly bumps into a Space Thing that gives the writers an excuse to force all the main characters into odd groupings where they must act against type. The grumpy captain is trapped in an elevator with weeping moppets; the warrior must deliver…

500 Consecutive Days of Duolingo

I have no pressing need, professional or personal, to practice my German, but it was something to do during the pandemic lockdown. Similar:Chess tournament final pairing. (He’s currently tied for 2nd.)PersonalPICT’s ‘Oliver Twist’ Offers a Different Kind of Holiday PunchThe first review I’ve seen. My daughter …BooksFrozen opens tonight. (All shows have been sold out…

‘So, So Angry’: Reporters Who Survived the Capitol Riot Are Still Struggling

I weep for these patriotic, reasonable, sensibly-dressed citizens whose tourist visit to the Capitol has been labeled a “riot” and an “insurrection” by the lying America-hating fake news media. As tear gas still wafted through parts of the Capitol, with broken glass and blood staining the building, the House reconvened to certify President Biden’s Electoral…

Take a moment to appreciate these good COVID-19 statistics

Similar:They've got magic to do. Carolyn is the Leading Player. (Pippin, Oct 21-29) AwesomeNext up for the girl: Amy, the youngest sister, in Little Women: The Broadway Musical. Nov…PersonalTime’s Arrow, Part 1 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 26) Data's head in a mine …Rewatching ST:TNG An archaeologist wh…CultureLiaisons (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode…

You know the Arsène Lupin story has a few more plot twists in store when, before Lupin actually appears, Sherlock Holmes turns up. (Kind of. It’s complicated.) #crossover

You know the Arsène Lupin story has a few more plot twists in store when, before Lupin actually appears, Sherlock Holmes turns up. (Kind of. It’s complicated. And I’m still reading.) Source: The Hollow Needle; Further adventures of Arsene Lupin by Maurice Leblanc Similar:Interpretation and Intellectual Inquiry: A Charge To KeepI took a little break…

FBI launches flurry of arrests over attacks on journalists during Capitol riot

Imagine that. Nearly six months after the U.S. Capitol riot, the Justice Department has begun arresting a new category of alleged criminals — those who attacked reporters or damaged their equipment as journalists documented the violence perpetrated by supporters of President Donald Trump. The first such charge came last week, when 43-year-old Shane Jason Woods…

Silicon Avatar (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 4) Grieving scientist mom wrecks career, earns facepalm, that’s a-spacetree

Rewatching ST:TNG Riker does some seriously exposition-friendly flirting with a civilian engineer whose fledgling colony turns out to be the next target for the Crystalline Entity, a big Space Thing that slurps up all life on a planetary scale. We spend just enough time here on Melona to care about the colony, which, fortunately for…

That Class Where Stanford Profs Projected Hundreds of Zoom Students on a Video Wall

Of course, not all institutions happen to have a video wall that’s 32-feet wide and 8-feet tall. But Stanford already did, in its Wallenberg Hall. So the three professors reached out to the university’s director of classroom innovation, Bob Smith, to see what they could rig up. No matter how big your screen, Zoom can…

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial and Museum

Another visit to Pittsburgh with my history-loving son. Similar:Teaching “The Odyssey” at San QuentinThe opening of “The Odyssey” describes O…BooksEthics (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 16) Leaky cargo barrel-1, Worf-0.Rewatching ST:TNG Worf is paralyzed i…CultureLooking forward in the back room of the officers' pub, in the #steampunk cruiser from…AestheticsWhat would holidays be without Dickens'…

Darmok (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 2) Picard of the Federation, His Metaphors Timely

Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation After an awkward encounter with aliens whose language is incomprehensible, Picard finds himself on a strange planet. The alien captain, holding two daggers, offers one to Picard, saying “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.” When I first saw this episode, as a young grad student in a crowded room full…

Redemption, Part II (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 1) Klingon Empire Wages Civil War

Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation The teaser opens with Worf serving on Kurn’s ship, and being scolded for second-guessing his younger brother’s aggressive tactics. Picard convinces an admiral to agree to a blockade, to prevent or expose Romulan support of the Duras faction. LaForge’s new strategy for detecting cloaked Romulan vessels requires a network…

Steampunk flag for the United States of Britannia (from the alternate history my kids and I made up during bedtime stories)

In the steampunk world my kids and I made up for bedtime stories (from about 2007-2013), Benjamin Franklin’s discovery of ether technology was the bargaining chip that forced King George to grant the 13 colonies full membership in the new kingdom of United States of Britannia. I’m working on a Blender3D model of the flagship…