StillPaisleyCat @ StillPaisleyCat @startrek.website

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2 yr. ago

I have to say that I just don’t get the hype about this book.

Project Hail Mary is really targeted at a middle grade reading and maturity level. I would have happily given it to our kids to read in middle grade (as I did The Martian).

It’s a Robinson Crusoe meets a buddy in space boys-own-adventure tale (although Weir insists on male gendering a hermaphrodite when ‘they/them’ is well understood). There are clear indications that the story was told to pull in immature readers - starting with the ludicrous scene where Grace has spent days waiting for zero G without stowing any of his lab equipment or supplies.

It’s a compellingly written ‘work the problem’ read but anything beyond high school science concepts isn’t really there. Once again, I feel like we’re seeing more overhyped STEM based on concepts that haven’t advanced beyond what a mid 20th century bachelors degree would cover.

It held my attention as an easy read while fighting a bug, I can’t see picking up another of his books for myself.

There are a few very odd ‘too much information’ references to sexual relationships and use of alcohol that seem almost awkwardly placed to bump up the level, but there’s not really enough in there to even warrant the ‘school edition’ treatment that ‘The Martian’ got. Otherwise nothing stretches past middle grade emotional maturity.

All told, I was expecting more.

A strange, new to us viewers, world.

And the Orion homeworld this week!

Lower Decks keeps bringing it.

I’m all here for the Lower Decks production design team’s determination to ensure that Orion comes across as a diverse planet, with different climatic regions and levels of urbanization.

I also think it’s fantastic that the Orions as a people have a broad range of skin tones and hair colours.

I’d like to see more of this in other major humanoid (and feliniod) alien species across the franchise.

Will do. Thanks.

Will do as well.

For me it has occurred when I am setting up a comment and copying a link from another tab to add. I’ve had at least a couple of comments that I’ve lost and had to re-enter.

The long hamster wheel to load communities has been reduced over the past week, but still much less smooth than on the previous server for me.

Actually, the independence of central banks, or in other words the isolation of monetary policy from fiscal and interventions to counteract market failures, is not a settled or proven essential for developed economies.

A basic knowledge of dynamic macroeconomic theory and evidence shows that some level of coordination of monetary and fiscal policy is essential to avoid bad corner outcomes. That means coordination between the finance/treasury minister and the central bank.

Most of the time, independent monetary policy is fine to contain inflationary pressures, especially when most of them are externally driven in an open economy like Canada’s. But not always. In those cases, when fiscal and monetary policy move in opposite directions, the trajectory will be poor.

I’d love to get the sun doily pattern.

There are a couple of ethical concerns here though.

I’m unclear on whether the original creator would be compensated in this case.

It’s also a question whether the creator might be in Russia, which is embargoed for trade by most European and English speaking countries. The owl pattern is posted on a Russian-based group which would fall under embargo.

The pattern is available in English and Russian, but the family name is of Ukrainian origin. So, it’s possible she could now be in Ukraine or any number of countries other than Russia. I don’t see a creator profile linked that would clear this up.

It’s important to consider the impact and total volume of ultra processed foods, and the chemicals they contribute to the diet.

There’s increasing evidence that it’s not just a a matter of calorie equations or carb restriction overall that has effects.

Decades ago, research established that managing the glycemic load was more effective than just calorie counting for persons with diabetes.

15 years ago there was evidence building that diet drinks actually could contribute to metabolic problems.

Now studies looking at overall impacts of ultra processed foods suggest they mess up the gut micro biome or at best get taken up into energy much faster than expected.

The items listed in the article fall into the ultra processed category. The ‘everything in moderation’ approach may not be that successful when too much of the diet flips into the ultra processed categories.

One of the biggest questions is whether she’s willing, as finance minister, to take on the Bank of Canada.

Monetary policy isn’t the only macroeconomic tool, and it’s one that should be coordinated with fiscal and other measures.

In this case, the inflation fighting interest hikes can be argued to be having a ‘perverse effect’ of keeping the housing stock tight without cooling demand while at the same time being completely ineffectual for the other major inflationary drivers of food and fuel.

Food inflation needs antitrust action, while fuel is a long term necessary adjustment to move the market away from fossil fuels. Interest rate hikes have nothing positive to contribute to those concerns.

The Bank of Canada isn’t constitutionally independent no matter how much certain previous governors have tried to make that case. It only has responsibility for one macroeconomic tool, and isn’t democratically elected, rather appointed by the executive.

The current governor of the Bank sounds increasingly like John Crown did in the early to mid 1990s when he put Canada into a deeper and deeper recession/depression because he placed inflation-fighting above all, and used the bank. He claimed however that no government should tell him how to manage monetary policy, and made speeches about the need for a constitutionally independent governor. Then, it took the electoral near eradication of the Progressive Conservative Party at the federal level plus the eventual exasperation of Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien to push Crow out.

I wish Hallmark would have a better balance between promoting and featuring new shows and dial back having yet another 1701 TOS or TAS era model.

Given that Data’s connection to Spot was a significant plot/character point in Picard season three, I can get behind this one.

The Bagey one is however the only truly fresh collector’s item that profiles a currently running show.

However, they completely lost the window with our kids to get them interested in collecting. They would have loved a Discovery or more positive Lower Decks ornament a couple of years back. There was nothing.

Now, they’ve moved on to other fandoms that actually had stuff to collect. They each still have their favourite Eaglemoss Voyager and 1701-D ship models prominently on display in their rooms, but other franchises have crowded out interest in Star Trek.

As I have mentioned previously, Jon Van Citters and the CBS side really need to take a lesson from colleagues in the Paramount Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles team who have moved TMMT from niche collectibles back to main stream tie-ins that are worth 10 times the value of their new movie.

Thanks for flagging this!

I agree. I’m wondering if they might find another panel to slip into.

Neither is Prodigy.

Really hope someone from the production can bring some Prodigy presence and impact similar to at SDCC.

Or Short Treks, which was referred to as a fifth series at one point.

The Prodigy erasure is brutal and unbecoming.

I really feel like I’m back in the late 70s with the TAS erasure.

Am I really the only one here getting T’Pol-Trip-like Vulcan-Human romantic tension from T’Lyn towards Boimler?

The B’lyn / T’boimler / Boilyn ship is getting a lot of chatter elsewhere.

Normally, I’m not into such speculation but with the number of failed Vulcan- Human romances in the franchise despite the success of other inter species relationships, this seems exactly the kind of thing Lower Decks would target for humorous remedy.

Besides even for an ‘out of control’ overly emotional Vulcan, T’Lyn was far too distraught and physically close to Boimler when he was being revived.

Loved the episode. My take is that we’ll get to see every classic junior management mistake from our Lower Deckers this season, fit to personality.

Boimler’s admission of discomfort sending others into danger may have been part of his motivation. The classic micromanager bad behaviour of not trusting subordinates with risks, and doing everything himself was pretty much what I’d expected of Boimler though. He had a hard time learning to trust and rely on peers, why would he be different with subordinates?

Lower Decks may become another Star Trek (after TNG) to be cited in leadership training.

But they’re so cute!!! All those extra eyes are adorable.

And they only suck fluids rather than dissolving bones…

I can’t recommend Andromeda.

I attempted unsuccessfully to slog alone through the first season. Our kids bailed after a few episodes.

The fact that it’s fans say the early seasons are the better ones gave me no incentive to persevere.

The first season can be hard to slog through due to the alternating wooden performance / theatre extreme facial expressions of the principal character.

I had really enjoyed the 90 minute pilot (with a different first officer) and was surprised how stiff he was when the first season.

While there’s a lot of important set up in the first season, if it’s too much of a barrier that you’re not watching B5 at all, better to skip ahead to season two.

I understood that the EP/Showrunner is the same for all, and the writer of the first one. So, he set the tone. Sigh.

A am still hopeful for ‘Holograms all the way down’ as it has Aaron Waltke as the writer credited.