I know I am behind schedule. Episode 13 has already dropped and I'm still catching up on episode 12!
The Engage podcast guys had guessed that Lorca might have been mirror universe Lorca and that is the big reveal in this episode. Thus, everything we have seen from him was all to get himself back into the mirror universe. There now remains two questions for the screenwriters to work out in the next few episode: (1) how did he get to the good-guy Federation universe? (2) what are his intentions in the mirror universe?
Certainly, it appears that he wants to seize power in the mirror universe. However, is it merely a power play in which he is the next one up to run the Terran Empire until someone else kills him off or is it that he turns out to be the lesser of numerous evils and becomes the catalyst for future change? Might mirror Lorca have some ties to the rebellion? Or is he purely an evil-hatted character with no redeeming values at all?
We shall see.
As for how he got to the good-guy Federation universe ...... an open question. The ST-TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror" accomplished the feat during a transporter malfunction during an ion-storm. I think DS9 did the feat by transporter as well. So perhaps Lorca had a transporter accident.
The other (perhaps more likely?) is that he has been working with mirror-Stamets and their tinkering around with the spore-network resulted in an unplanned (or perhaps planned?) transfer to the other universe? Lorca may have made the transition counting on Federation-Stamets to eventually (unintentionally) help Lorca figure out a way for Lorca to get back to he plans for the mirror universe.
We shall see.
The Burnham-Georgiou interaction was ..... grim but interesting. Burnham, out of cards to play, goes with the truth and manages to stay alive. However, the deal to hand over the spore drive technology in exchange for help to get the ship and crew back to the other universe may prove to be a deal she will have to find a way out of later on in the game of cat and mouse. Also, will Burnham back Georgiou in a power play against Lorca?
We shall see how that plays out.
Doug Jones continues to amaze with his acting even if he isn't on the screen a lot. Mary Wiseman didn't have too much to do this episode but am sure she will have some key scenes in episodes ahead.
Meanwhile, am totally confused at how the script-writers created Voq-Tyler! If I heard the dialog right, it is Voq's body surgically altered to be human, Tyler's DNA is slapped onto Voq's cells to fool the Federation doctors, and Voq's personality covered over by a fabricated Tyler personality.
What a mess! The script-writers wanted the Voq-Tyler vs. Mirror Voq moment of confrontation so much that crafted this crazy mix and match of body parts, DNA, and personality!
Lastly, we get to see the meeting of minds between Stamets and mirror-Stamets inside the spore network. He finds out the the network is dying and perhaps it is mirror-Stamets' tinkering with it that has caused problems. Of course, it is possible that Stamets using the network isn't good for the network either. After all, presumably they are both using the network because they injected themselves with some Tardegrade DNA. The Tardegrade was fully optimized to travel in the network. A human-Tardegrade hybrid might be "sub-optimal" just like the Men In Blazers duo. So perhaps Stamets guiding Discovery through the network and who knows what crazy stuff mirror-Stamets is doing with the network in combination has made the whole thing sick and wanting to vomit them out.
In terms of character development, Stamets and Culber get some good lines as Culber re-appears much like Obi-Wan Kenobi giving advice to Luke Skywalker. Culber's lines are vaguely like Kenobi, "The Force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." Substitute the Force with spores and mycelial network binding the universe(s) together. Wonder if someone is putting a TV show or movie pitch merging the Star Wars and Star Trek universes in some fusion of the force's midi-chlorians and Discovery's spore-mycelium.
Anyway, the Stamets' wake up and are able to return to their respective universes or ..... did they swap?
We shall see how that plays out. I hope the fact that Stamets runs immediately to check on the health of the spore forrest indicates it is the correct Stamets in the correct body. Meanwhile mirror-Stamets dashes out of his interface chair in search of his collaborators to explain the new information he has gathered.
Will mirror Stamets turn out to be working with Lorca? Will his brief interaction with Federation-Stamets change his ways?
We shall see how all the crazy threads play out.
Overall, the serialized story telling is an addictive approach. Each thread has had many good moments. The character development and acting has been strong. The pacing of the episodes and production design have been solid.
The weakest components have been the story devices that didn't really pass the "it sort of makes sense" perspective - not that anything in science fiction really has to make sense - but still sometimes there have been some big asks in terms of suspension of disbelief.
Examples:
(1) The Voq-Tyler set-up was the weakest and I have been harping on that from the start.
(2) The technological premise of the spore drive was also a very huge hand-wave.
(3) Various occasions when things happen that don't seem plausible: leaving valuable technology onboard the Shenzou, the stupid way Landry was killed off, Lorca getting kidnapped, Cornwall walking into a trap, Cornwall being left for dead but not being dead, L'Rell being left for dead but not being dead, failure of the medical teams to really check over Tyler until it is too late, failure of the medical team to really check over Stamets until it is almost too late.
Soccer - LFC fans and QPR fans
Haven't been blogging about soccer as much as I had hoped to but do get the occasional tweet fired away.
This captures what it is like to be a Liverpool FC fan .....
For QPR fans, one can pay five British pounds to get a streaming feed of Queen Park Ranger matches unless there are international broadcasts of the match in which case QPR is not allowed to video stream the game. They can still audio stream but not video. Anyway, if you are a USA R's fan, you can see this week's contest on ESPN3. Go QPR! How many Ranger fans are their within the sound of this blog? How many in Los Angeles?
This captures what it is like to be a Liverpool FC fan .....
This is the life LFC fans have chosen: beat #1 ManCity one week lose to #20 Swansea the next ... oooofffff ..... https://t.co/wFO17h3SBF— RF Chun (@a4theroad) January 23, 2018
For QPR fans, one can pay five British pounds to get a streaming feed of Queen Park Ranger matches unless there are international broadcasts of the match in which case QPR is not allowed to video stream the game. They can still audio stream but not video. Anyway, if you are a USA R's fan, you can see this week's contest on ESPN3. Go QPR! How many Ranger fans are their within the sound of this blog? How many in Los Angeles?
For US fans the match is on ESPN3 10AM eastern 7AM Pacific #COYRS ! https://t.co/4YsG9ijng3— RF Chun (@a4theroad) January 24, 2018
Star Trek Discover Episodes 10-11 - spoilers ahead
Nice thing about the streaming format is that you can watch at any time.
Am playing catch up and am not actually current as episode 12 dropped last Sunday and I haven't seen it yet
Season 1.5 started with episode 10 and the cast and crew in the "mirror" universe introduced in ST-TOS episode, "Mirror, Mirror." I believe this concept was only re-visited in Deep Space Nine and in Star Trek Enterprise. I don't recall any episodes in Star Trek Next Generation or Star Trek Voyager that used this setting.
Stamets remains in his confused state but at the end of episode 11, we get the "cliff-hanger" of him meeting his mirror self in the forrest where the spores grow. Will see how that develops in the remaining episodes.
The death of Dr. Culber was a shocker but unlike the death of Security Chief Landry, it was a plausible development within the story arc.
Lorca doesn't get to do too much in episodes 10-11 as he spends most of the time in the agonizer booth. But he gets in a few lines and is likely to have more screen time in upcoming episodes. The guys at "Engaged: The Official Star Trek Podcast" suspect maybe Lorca is actually the mirror Lorca ... we shall see. The guys on the Podcast did come out strongly in favor of the Voq/Tyler plot twist that turned out to be exactly what the writers went with.
In regards to that plot twist, it is a good story device and paid off in the dramatic showdown between Tyler/Voq and mirror Voq in episode 11. However, there were many holes in the details of how they set it up.
First of all Tyler/Voq was produced by elaborate surgical alteration that Dr. Culber detected in Episode 10. You would think other doctors would have picked it up right after Tyler and Lorca escaped from the Klingon prison ship. Released prisoners of war would/should get pretty thorough medical exams!
Second, a full on personality overlay of a Star Fleet officer onto a Klingon is a stretch. How would the Klingons have that level of detail about the life of Tyler who was a real Star Fleet officer presumably killed in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Not only did they have his personal life details to create false memories they were able to craft his personality components such that Star Fleet medical personnel did not detect something strange was going on.
Third, there is the matter of DNA! Voq would have Klingon DNA and you would think in the 23rd century, every Star Fleet officer has her/his DNA on file. To pull off the Tyler/Voq scheme would mean they would have altered Voq's DNA to perfectly match Tyler's DNA.
So even if the storyline has a nice dramatic payoff, the gymnastics to get there was beyond implausible.
I continue to be a huge fan of Tilly and Saru and they both deliver some fantastic moments in episode 10-11. At some point, I'll probably have to check out Youtube to see if there are clips of the actors Mary Wiseman and Doug Jones talking about how they prepare for their roles.
Meanwhile, Burnham as a character continues to grow on me. SMG's acting chops in playing the good Burnham playing the bad mirror Burnham without losing her identity paired with the performance of SL's good Tyler/bad Voq acting as mirror Tyler with a disappearing good Tyler as the bad Voq emerges was quite the drama. Although, I was a bit surprised that Burnham wasn't more suspicious when Tyler/Voq tried to kill mirror Voq! I suppose Burnham was somewhat "blinded" since Tyler was her only link to her own universe.
The big reveal at the end of episode 11 was the return of Michelle Yeoh as the mirror universe Emperor Georgiou!
All in all, great production values, interesting characters, and the serialized story telling format does leave you wondering what is next?
Was Lorca really the mirror Lorca all along as suggested by the Engage podcast guys?
Will mirror-Stamets turn out to be a good guy and Stamets and mirror-Stamets team up together to help their respective crews return to their correct universes and perhaps plant more seeds (spores!?) of revolution in the mirror universe?!
How will the Burnham vs. mirror Georgiou conflict play itself out?
Will season 2 be a continuation of Discovery in the mirror universe? Or will they be back in their own universe by the end of season 1?
Will there be an episode where the cast and crew will play their mirror-selves in the opposite universe?
Four episodes to go to wrap things up or to wrap most things up but leave some threads for season 2!
Live long and prosper!
Am playing catch up and am not actually current as episode 12 dropped last Sunday and I haven't seen it yet
Season 1.5 started with episode 10 and the cast and crew in the "mirror" universe introduced in ST-TOS episode, "Mirror, Mirror." I believe this concept was only re-visited in Deep Space Nine and in Star Trek Enterprise. I don't recall any episodes in Star Trek Next Generation or Star Trek Voyager that used this setting.
Stamets remains in his confused state but at the end of episode 11, we get the "cliff-hanger" of him meeting his mirror self in the forrest where the spores grow. Will see how that develops in the remaining episodes.
The death of Dr. Culber was a shocker but unlike the death of Security Chief Landry, it was a plausible development within the story arc.
Lorca doesn't get to do too much in episodes 10-11 as he spends most of the time in the agonizer booth. But he gets in a few lines and is likely to have more screen time in upcoming episodes. The guys at "Engaged: The Official Star Trek Podcast" suspect maybe Lorca is actually the mirror Lorca ... we shall see. The guys on the Podcast did come out strongly in favor of the Voq/Tyler plot twist that turned out to be exactly what the writers went with.
In regards to that plot twist, it is a good story device and paid off in the dramatic showdown between Tyler/Voq and mirror Voq in episode 11. However, there were many holes in the details of how they set it up.
First of all Tyler/Voq was produced by elaborate surgical alteration that Dr. Culber detected in Episode 10. You would think other doctors would have picked it up right after Tyler and Lorca escaped from the Klingon prison ship. Released prisoners of war would/should get pretty thorough medical exams!
Second, a full on personality overlay of a Star Fleet officer onto a Klingon is a stretch. How would the Klingons have that level of detail about the life of Tyler who was a real Star Fleet officer presumably killed in the Battle of the Binary Stars. Not only did they have his personal life details to create false memories they were able to craft his personality components such that Star Fleet medical personnel did not detect something strange was going on.
Third, there is the matter of DNA! Voq would have Klingon DNA and you would think in the 23rd century, every Star Fleet officer has her/his DNA on file. To pull off the Tyler/Voq scheme would mean they would have altered Voq's DNA to perfectly match Tyler's DNA.
So even if the storyline has a nice dramatic payoff, the gymnastics to get there was beyond implausible.
I continue to be a huge fan of Tilly and Saru and they both deliver some fantastic moments in episode 10-11. At some point, I'll probably have to check out Youtube to see if there are clips of the actors Mary Wiseman and Doug Jones talking about how they prepare for their roles.
Meanwhile, Burnham as a character continues to grow on me. SMG's acting chops in playing the good Burnham playing the bad mirror Burnham without losing her identity paired with the performance of SL's good Tyler/bad Voq acting as mirror Tyler with a disappearing good Tyler as the bad Voq emerges was quite the drama. Although, I was a bit surprised that Burnham wasn't more suspicious when Tyler/Voq tried to kill mirror Voq! I suppose Burnham was somewhat "blinded" since Tyler was her only link to her own universe.
The big reveal at the end of episode 11 was the return of Michelle Yeoh as the mirror universe Emperor Georgiou!
All in all, great production values, interesting characters, and the serialized story telling format does leave you wondering what is next?
Was Lorca really the mirror Lorca all along as suggested by the Engage podcast guys?
Will mirror-Stamets turn out to be a good guy and Stamets and mirror-Stamets team up together to help their respective crews return to their correct universes and perhaps plant more seeds (spores!?) of revolution in the mirror universe?!
How will the Burnham vs. mirror Georgiou conflict play itself out?
Will season 2 be a continuation of Discovery in the mirror universe? Or will they be back in their own universe by the end of season 1?
Will there be an episode where the cast and crew will play their mirror-selves in the opposite universe?
Four episodes to go to wrap things up or to wrap most things up but leave some threads for season 2!
Live long and prosper!
Larry Shapiro and John Lennox in conversation "Is there truth beyond science?"
A lively, honest, and friendly conversation between a classical Christian (Lennox) and an atheist (Shapiro) held at the University of Wisconsin.
People engaged in our current political discourse could learn a lot from these two gentleman and scholars about how to talk about things where there is disagreement.
In our 21st century world, there are people who don't think there is even such a thing as truth. On this point, they both agree that there is such a thing.
On the question of whether truth can be found outside of science, I think they would both agree on that point as well. They both point out that science as a method is very good for understanding the natural world. However, our lives have aspects that are more than just the natural world - morality, purpose, meaning, etc.
Where they do part company is whether or not God is in the equation of our grasping of truth. Shapiro does not think there is enough (or perhaps even any) evidence for the existence of God. In an interesting segment, he asks how would one distinguish "god" from a powerful alien from another planet or a "flying spaghetti monster."
Lennox's response was that the claims of Christianity exist within a long historical narrative framework that can be assessed by human reason.
The podcast is about 90 minutes and a worthwhile listen if you are interested in such things.
P.S. If you find these types of conversations interesting, be sure to check out Bishop Robert Barron (Catholic Christian) and Professor William Lane Craig (Protestant Christian) discuss faith, science, and society. In this discussion there was much more agreement between the two speakers (compared to Lennox and Shapiro) but the same friendly honest approach. There was a short segment on the differences between Protestant and Catholics but both emphasized that the common ground is so large. One could also see some differences in emphasis and style but the centrality of Christ was the guiding light in their presentations.
Update: found the video for embedding (1/25/2018)
LA Galaxy depth chart as of 1/23/2018
Goalkeeper
- Need a serious #1 keeper - Deal maybe for Bingham? (12/15/17) Official 1/10/18
- Need a #2 keeper with at least some experience - Brian Sylvestre (1/12/2018)
- Pick up a youngster with potential?
Defense
- Ashley Cole - expiring contract but should try to extend - Cole is back (1/4/18)
- Jurgen Skjelvik is official - he can play left-back and center-back
- Michael Ciani - rumors he might be on the way out but large contract might be hard to move
- Need an actual right-back! Rolf Feltscher signed (12/19/17)
- Daniel Steres
- Dave Romney
- additional defender for squad rotation and backup? Emrah Klimenta
- Hugo Arellano
- Tomas Hlliard-Arace via draft 1/21/2018
- Nate Shultz via draft 1/21/2018
- Romain Alessandrini
- Jonathan dos Santos
- Sebastian Lletget
- Perry Kitchen - defensive mid-fielder 1/9/2018
- Chris Pontius - I don't think anyone saw that one coming! 1/22/2018
- Emmanuel Boateng
- Joao Pedro
- Baggio Husidic - expiring contract but should try to extend - Baggio is back (1/4/18)
- Servando Carrasco - not exactly young but I guess he adds some depth to the club as he has got MLS games and minutes under his belt (12/21/17)
- Drew Skundrich via draft 1/21/2018
Forward
- Giovani dos Santos
- Need a ready for prime time forward who can start - Rodrigo Aguirre rumors; Ola Kamara rumors turn out to be correct! 1/20/2018
- Bradford Jamieson - a developmental project with good potential
- Ariel Lassiter - a developmental project with good potential
Gyasi Zardes - lots of talk of moving him out but no live rumors of where - he moves to Columbus
There are probably four other spots that need filling. The roster will have more than 24 players but players 24 and beyond probably aren't going to get many minutes.
On the top of the list is a prime time forward who can start. I would say the LA Galaxy off-season has been productive with a lot of solid moves but this is a key piece for them to start out of the gate strong.
Next would be a back-up goal keeper.
Ciani and Cole are older players so having an additional defender for squad rotation would be helpful. Finally, a number three goal keeper for developmental purposes is always nice to have.
Spots 25 and beyond will all be youngsters for future development.
4-2-3-1 formation?
4: Cole, Skjelvik, Ciani, Feltscher
2: Kitchen, JDS
3: Lletget, GDS, Alessandrini
1: ??? Kamara!!
4-2-3-1 formation?
4: Cole, Skjelvik, Ciani, Feltscher
2: Kitchen, JDS
3: Lletget, GDS, Alessandrini
1: ??? Kamara!!
QPR FC podcasts and online news
Living here in the West Coast of the USA, there are a few sources of information to help me follow a West London club like QPR.
However, through podcasting, one can get a flavor of what is going on at Loftus Road.
The Loftcast is produced by the in-house media team at QPR. In the above, embedded pod, there is the usual match recap, an interview with a QPR player, in this case Paul Smyth who scored the wonderful goal against Cardiff City, and some thoughts on future matches. Being an in-house production, the tone is fairly upbeat and optimistic.
The "Open All R's" podcast is produced by several QPR fans (many of the contributors are in the media business so the production value is quite good) and visiting guests (QPR players, former and current, celebrity fans, local and non-local QPR fans). Not being in-house, the pod occasionally takes QPR players and management to task for failings on the field. This pod gets the occasional "E" marking for explicit language as these passionate fans occasionally get "colorful" in their language!
I also check out sports pages from the following sources:
BBC
The Guardian
Get West London
However, through podcasting, one can get a flavor of what is going on at Loftus Road.
The Loftcast is produced by the in-house media team at QPR. In the above, embedded pod, there is the usual match recap, an interview with a QPR player, in this case Paul Smyth who scored the wonderful goal against Cardiff City, and some thoughts on future matches. Being an in-house production, the tone is fairly upbeat and optimistic.
The "Open All R's" podcast is produced by several QPR fans (many of the contributors are in the media business so the production value is quite good) and visiting guests (QPR players, former and current, celebrity fans, local and non-local QPR fans). Not being in-house, the pod occasionally takes QPR players and management to task for failings on the field. This pod gets the occasional "E" marking for explicit language as these passionate fans occasionally get "colorful" in their language!
I also check out sports pages from the following sources:
BBC
The Guardian
Get West London
Where the two LA soccer teams are at in roster construction ........
The LAFC roster as of 1/23/2018
At the Designated Player level:
Carlos Vela - F
Diego Rossi - F
From a loan:
Omar Graber - M
Rodrigo Pacheco - F
Aaron Kovar - M
Drafts and Deals:
Latif Blessing - F
Laurent Ciman - D
Tyler Miller - G
Marco Urena - F
Walker Zimmerman - D
Jordan Harvey - D
Benny Feilhaber - M
Calum Wallace - M
The LA Galaxy depth-chart as of 1/5/2018
Goalkeeper
- Need a serious #1 keeper - Deal maybe for Bingham? (12/15/17)
- Need a #2 keeper with at least some experience
- Pick up a youngster with potential?
Defense
- Ashley Cole - expiring contract but should try to extend - Cole is back (1/4/18)
- Jurgen Skjelvik is official - he can play left-back and center-back
- Michael Ciani - rumors he might be on the way out?
- Need an actual right-back! Rolf Feltscher signed (12/19/17)
- Daniel Steres
- Pick up a veteran defender for squad rotation and backup?
- Dave Romney
- Hugo Arellano
- Romain Alessandrini
- Jonathan dos Santos
- Sebastian Lletget
- Emmanuel Boateng
- Joao Pedro
- Baggio Husidic - expiring contract but should try to extend - Baggio is back (1/4/18)
- Pick up a young player with potential? Servando Carrasco - not exactly young but I guess he adds some depth to the club as he has got MLS games and minutes under his belt (12/21/17)
- Pick up a young player with potential?
Forward
- Giovani dos Santos
- Need a ready for prime time forward who can start
- Pick up a veteran forward who could be a super sub a la Alan Gordon
- Bradford Jamieson - a developmental project with good potential
- Ariel Lassiter - a developmental project with good potential
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