The New Musings of a Quiet Geek

So far, my Thanksgiving weekend has been quite different. My roommate and I had my parents, grandmother and uncle over for the actual meal. My aunt/his mother had to work but she provided the chocolate cream pie and got a plate later. As is usual when my family gets together, we laughed a lot. My father told this story he heard on the radio where astronauts have this machine that turns their urine into drinkable water but it's still being perfected so it's still 10% urine. They compensate by using Tang! Supposedly, it tastes good... Yesterday included going to Applebee's for lunch with more family followed by going to my grandparents for more pie and conversation. That was nice actually and devoid of annoying weirdness so yay! Last night, we went down to see the annual "Lighting of the Holiday Tree Ceremony." They call it thus to be PC but aside from "The Dreidel Song" and the universally accepted "I Love Mud." It was all Christmas. Be acc...

Apparently the new trailer for the upcoming Star Trek film has been updated: So excited!

This past week I finished reading a classic Star Trek novel. The Pandora Principle is the official, until debunked in a movie or TV series, origin story of Lt. Saavik; who's now a captain in the recent "Vulcan books" by Sherman and Schwartz. I really have to doubt the two women read this book by Carolyn Clowes when they decided Spock and Saavik would be betrothed to each other. In the Pandora Principle , Spock is not only her mentor but, it turns out he raised her from the time he found her at around age 11 or 12 until she was old enough to enter Starfleet Academy making the betrothal plot point kind of "Woody and Soon Yi" which may be less taboo in Vulcan culture but still... The book takes place shortly before Star Trek II even though Robin Curtis, not Kirstie Alley, is on the cover. The dialogue in this book was great and the plot overall was interesting but I was left unsatisfied with the ending despite the awesome climax. It seemed they were gearing up f...

Musical Magic 8 Ball Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING. 1. How does the world see me? "Band on the Run"- Paul McCartney & Wings Do they see me as stuck inside a room? 2. Will I have a happy life? "El Salvador"- Peter, Paul & Mary I'm gonna have to go with "No"... 3. What do my friends really think of me? "I'll Never Find Another You"- The Seekers Awww That's sweet... 4. Do people secretly lust after me? "For the Life of Me"- The Wallflowers Probably not then... 5. How can I make myself happy? "Fire and Rain"- Richie Havens Reconnect with an old lover? 6. What should I do with my life? "Good Shepherd"- Jefferson Airplane Feed sheep apparently... 7. Will I ever have children? "Just a Girl"- No Doubt. Well, yes, that would help... 8. What is some good advic...

Probably every four years, maybe more often, maybe less, the "Christian Right" determine which candidate best follows their interpretation of the Bible. This forces the implication that to be a follower of Jesus' teaching you must be a Republican. I have no idea where people get this. I personally do not remember the verse or chapter where Jesus goes to Abraham's homeland (Find Ur on a map. It's in Iraq!) and subjects the villagers to illegal search and seizure or the part where Jesus praises John the Baptist, or whoever, for leveling a Samaritan village after a Samaritan bombs a donkey or something. But they must be in there... The death penalty is based on the code of Hammarabi which states "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Jesus says, on the other hand, Christians must "turn the other cheek" and that the other law was total donkeyshit. Someone will have to explain to me how continuing the act of vengeance with another act of vengeanc...

A revelation hit me the other night while I was trying to sleep. Terry Brooks' Word and Void series continuing with the just finished Genesis of Shannara trilogy (I haven't read the final book Gypsy Morph yet.) Is basically The Dark Is Rising series for a more mature audience. Yes, fantasy book fans will point out that every fantasy series is basically about good versus evil but the similarities here are rather scary. Both books deal with the Dark or, more creatively, the Void trying to take over the Earth. Both deal with prophecy predicting this would happen thousands of years ago. Both have the ultimate "Force of Good" known simply as "The Lady." Oh, and both a have a Tree... The differences are great, however. While Susan Copper's series draws off Celtic Myth. Terry Brooks combines Native American myth with typical fantasy elements as elven magic. Though I haven't read it, I'm imagining the ending of his series as more akin to the wa...