Monthly Archives: June 2017

You Mean Yet!: TOS #21: “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”

Posted on Wednesday 28 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

The Enterprise accidentally travels back in time to Earth in the 1960s, where it’s seen as a UFO, and then struggles to erase records of its visit and to return to its own time. This is a fun episode that … Continue reading →

Posted in Star Trek | Comments Off on You Mean Yet!: TOS #21: “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”

Links and Comments: Tribal Loyalty and Values v. Reality

Posted on Friday 23 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times: The 15 Best-Educated Congressional Districts in the U.S.. All but two of which, including the just contested Georgia district north of Atlanta, are solidly Democratic. Hmm. \\ Also: Trump’s Lies, a comprehensive, up-to-date list. It’s not surprising that … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Tribal Loyalty and Values v. Reality

Absolute Annihilation: TOS #20: “The Alternative Factor”

Posted on Thursday 22 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Kirk wrestles with a bizarre pair of near-duplicate antagonists whose meeting threatens to wipe out the entire universe. This is in the running for worst Trek episode ever, with an incoherent premise, overwrought acting, and sloppy writing and direction. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Star Trek | Comments Off on Absolute Annihilation: TOS #20: “The Alternative Factor”

A Most Promising Species: TOS #19: “Arena”

Posted on Wednesday 21 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Kirk is pitted in a one-on-one contest with the reptilian alien captain of a starship that destroyed a Federation outpost. This is the famous episode, filmed on location (again at Vasquez Rocks), in which Kirk battles this green reptilian (though … Continue reading →

Posted in Star Trek | Comments Off on A Most Promising Species: TOS #19: “Arena”

Frequency Interactions

Posted on Tuesday 20 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

When I was a teenager, in the Fall of 1971 just after I turned 16 years old, and just a few months after my family had returned to California from a three-year stay in Illinois, I took a typing course … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal history | Comments Off on Frequency Interactions

Carl Sagan’s “Baloney Detection Kit”

Posted on Friday 16 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Carl Sagan, one of the great scientist-communicators to the general public of the past century, author of the 1980 book Cosmos and host of the 1980 TV series of that name, has a list of ideas for how to evaluate … Continue reading →

Posted in MInd, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Carl Sagan’s “Baloney Detection Kit”

Studying My Predators: TOS #18: “The Squire of Gothos”

Posted on Thursday 15 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

The Enterprise encounters a remote planet where a foppish ‘squire’ insists on entertaining (and studying) them and challenging them to the death when they refuse. I’m fascinated in retrospect by how episodes open, about what is going on before the … Continue reading →

Posted in Star Trek | Comments Off on Studying My Predators: TOS #18: “The Squire of Gothos”

Gary K. Wolfe, How Great Science Fiction Works

Posted on Tuesday 13 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a course released by The Great Courses (http://www.thegreatcourses.com/) in early 2016. The course consists of audio or video downloads or discs (as lead Locus reviewer Gary K. Wolfe delivers lectures on a set), and comes with a 200-page … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Science Fiction Nonfiction | Comments Off on Gary K. Wolfe, How Great Science Fiction Works

Linkdump: Science, society, conspiracy theories, the fear of NRA conventioneers

Posted on Monday 12 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Science: The Atlantic: Are We Living in a Giant Cosmic Void?. Maybe. Scientific American: How the Science of “Blue Lies” May Explain Trump’s Support. Subtitle: “They are a very particular form of deception that can build solidarity within groups” Guardian: … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Cosmology, Lunacy, MInd, Psychology, Science | Comments Off on Linkdump: Science, society, conspiracy theories, the fear of NRA conventioneers

The Need for Play: TOS #17: “Shore Leave”

Posted on Friday 9 June 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

The Enterprise visits a lovely planet where the crew discover that their daydreams and memories become instant reality. This is a fun episode, but also sort of a kitchen-sink episode, in which many colorful things happen without much relationship to … Continue reading →

Posted in Star Trek | Comments Off on The Need for Play: TOS #17: “Shore Leave”