I have dyslexia which is why ‘Apple for a job’ was on my to-do list. Incidentally who decided that dyslexia should be spelt that way. Why not dislexear – is that the correct phonetic spelling? I do not know I have dyslexia – and apparently I like to repeat myself – so I won’t be winning Just a Minute any time soon.
This show is always funny.
Well it is not ‘apple’ but apply for a job. And there is nothing more tedious than filling out an application form or bolstering a CV – especially when some places require you to submit a CV and then repeat the information on the application form!
The problem is that, aside from writing, I have no idea what it is that I want. This is bad because I am 32 and because without a clear idea it is difficult to go at it with any enthusiasms. So I am left with searching for jobs and seeing what sticks in my mind. Frankly I just want to write – and possibly live in a tiny house – and travel – and fall in love – and have lots of kisses – and banish my depression. Most of that shouldn’t be too much. If I can find a job that allows for those things I could do almost anything couldn’t I?
I do not know.
Just a short one this week. See you next time.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
It has been a long time since I did a Trek review here so here we go – Episode 8 of Star Trek: The Original Series – seven things I have noticed
One
…two expeditions have failed to find (Dr Korby).
Captain Kirk (TOS: What are Little Girls Made of?)
Yes I am starting off with picking some nits. Dr Korby stopped sending messages, two expeditions failed to find him, and the Enterprise finds him in two minutes. Perhaps that should have been a sign of something being very much amiss. Still it makes for a nice short and effective teaser.
When it comes to TOS I am seeing it through the lenses of someone born twenty-one years after it was first seen. As such I often feel like I am not the target audience. As it turns out there is a good reason why Korby hasn’t been communicating but I would like to have seen a bit more suspicion.
Two
It isn’t my custom to send an away team of one.
Captain Janway (Voyager: Hunters)
Dr Korby requests that Kirk beam down alone. This too should have been a sign of there being something wrong. Starfleet has some pretty silly regulations but you would think even they wound’t let a Captain beam down to an unknown situation without escort. Then again you would think a typical landing party won’t consist of the two senior most officers and the CMO – incidentally Dr McCoy doesn’t appear in this episode.
Three
I’m the guy…who dies to prove the situation is serious.
Guy (Galaxy Quest)
In this episode we get two red shit deaths. This was where it all began. There were deaths before this but this was the first time red shirted security people had died. And did you know red was actually the safest colour? This video explains.
I still wouldn’t wear red!
Four
So that is how the solids experience intimacy.
The Female Changling (DS9: Favour the Bold)
When Kirk and Chapel arrive on the planet they are met by Andrea. Andrea is wearing a costume so skimpy that she is, putting it as delicately as I can, likely to fall out of it if she turns too quickly. Naturally Chapel is not too pleased to discover that her husband has been spending time with a young attractive woman. Korby decides to put her mind at ease but does it in a very strange way. He tells her that Andrea is just a machine and talks about the impossibility of loving her – she only responds to orders.
The implication being that sex cannot exist without love. As assurances go this is like claiming you couldn’t eat the ice cream because you didn’t have a spoon. It also seems to be stating that Andrea is not a sapient being which begs the question, this is where it gets a little blue, if Korby had slept with her would that be cheating or an advanced form of masturbation?
The 1960s really must have been a different time. Meanwhile in the modern world a man is admitted to hospital with an injury involving a stuck kethup bottle. He claims he was up a ladder and landed on it butt first. A claim the doctor might have humoured him over – assuming the man could explain why he put a condom on a ketchup bottle. Given this information, for which I apologise, I think that a human and an anatomically correct android is not so far fetched. And by the way this episode has been reviewed by SFdebris – I happen to agree with him: https://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/s010.php
Five
I like the Yellow Ones
Thor (Stargate SG-1: Small Victories)
This one has nothing to do with anything but when Chapel and Kirk are served dinner on the planet it is coloured cubes in gravy. This is something I have seen in other franchises; SG-1 as mentioned above. For some reason there is this idea that food as we know it would fundamentally change and be reduced to coloured cubes.
I also find it odd that Kirk stays on the planet. With the transporter they are five minutes away and surely there would be some regulation about this. Over the course of TOS there are some rather silly regulations that are shown – such as bureaucrats and flag officers with no command experiences having the right to take charge and nearly getting everyone killed. A lot of episodes would be far shorter if characters had a bit more common sense. When Ruk, as Kirk, says they will be staying on the planet what if Spock had questioned that?
Six
Spinning is so much cooler than not spinning. I’m the General I want it to spin.
General Hammond (Stargate SG-1: 200)
When a robot of Kirk is made he is placed on a spinning platform. This scene looks very silly but perhaps it is being used to disorientate the viewer. When watching TOS the effects are always going to look dated. It is quite amazing how much special effects have come on since that time. And the less said about the phallic shaped rock at the end of the episode the better. As I said in number four the 60s really were a different time. Maybe no one in the production team noticed. Maybe none of them had the chutzpah to point it out.
Seven
Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.
The Emperor (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Well there had to be a sinister plot around here somewhere! Yes Korby plans to create android duplicates to take over the galaxy. (Cue evil laugh)
It is a common theme of TV shows and films isn’t it? The person who wants to take over the world. It sound like far too much paperwork if you ask me! Usually these people have vast resources, and thus they can do a great deal anyway, and it is very rare that the reason for wanted to take over is valid. That said Korby at least wants to take over for the betterment of mankind. Although couldn’t he do that with the points I made in back at number 4?
No. I am not suggesting he take over the world with sex robots but Korby could sell them for a variety of purposes. Despite later information to the contrary money does exist in TOS. So Korby could start a business and he would be very rich very fast. It is more of a long game than just replacing key figures but surely more effective.
Aren’t you doing exactly what you hate most in Humans: killing with no more concern than when you turn off a light?
I am not a computer. Test me. Ask me to solve any… Equate… Transmit… Christine! Christine, let me prove myself!…
Don’t you see Roger? Everything you’ve done has proved it isn’t you.”
I AM Roger Korby!
Kirk, Korby, and Chapel (Star Trek: The Original Series: What are Little Girls Made of?)
Korby is revealed to be an android too and shortly afterwards he vaporises himself and Andrea. Doing this ends the threat and the galaxy is safe.
This episode review has been in draft for a long time. The truth is that I don’t really have many thoughts on it. In fact while watching TOS it felt to me like there was a bit of a hump to get over before getting into a string of really good episodes.
I struggle with TOS. When I think of where I would place it in a ranking of all the Trek series I don’t know where to put it. I think I now know the reason for my confusion…
Watching TOS is live visiting an elderly relative. That sounds weird but here me out because I have thought this through…
Visiting grandma is usually fun. You play games, have chocolate, watch television, perhaps help her with her housework, and have a nice conversation. However sometimes Grandma will say something wrong. Well not wrong exactly but something that indicates the generational gap. She might describe a black person as ‘coloured’ for instance. And it is not because she harbours any racism necessarily she is just using the language in the way she grew up with it. (Incidentally I wonder what words of mine my nephew will cringe at in thirty or forty years.) And so we cringe inwardly and move on.
Watching TOS is like that for me. It has some great episodes and ideas but some of the ideas and the lines haven’t aged well at all. Kirk can be a bit creepy at times, mind you so can Riker but we’ll get to that much later, and so I have to remind myself when it was made.
I feel that TOS hasn’t aged too well. When I first saw it it must have been at least twenty years old. TNG is now over thirty and it feels like it has aged far better. Although TNG still has its moments of cringe.
What are Little Girls Made Of? is an interesting episode but in my view it is also unremarkable. There are lots of better episodes which we will get too soon – next up is: Miri.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
It is funny, and also sad, how a birthday changes as you get older. When you’re young it is exciting. It might mean going to bed later. It might mean being allowed to do something new – either from a legal perspective or because your parents now deem you old enough. However there comes a point where a birthday is just another day.
I am starting writing this on the 14th – my birthday is the 17th and the day has just crept up on me. At one time I would have been so excited now I am kind of meh about it. It is sad.
I have spoken before about feelings of sadness and depression and I think that on my birthday is when it really comes in to focus. My birthday is a milestone I am 32 now (it is now the 17th) and it can be a sign that another ship has joined the fleet of missed opportunities. That is how it feels sometimes at least. I am not in a relationship and I am still figuring myself out. And sometimes I think I always will be.
I know exactly how Kirk feels.
Lately I have been thinking of fundamental changes I could make to my living situation. I live in a studio flat and at times it feels like not enough space. I have come to realise that it is not the amount of space but how it utilised. I am renting and the flat came with a bulky bed with little storage – one of those that lifts up would be far better.
I love this space – I would have a library instead of the walk-in wardrobe.
I have been watching a lot of videos of these tiny homes. I say tiny but this place is better than where I live. The clever use of space is wonderful there is so much you can do if you have control. We are heading into a new year and living in a place like this lovely house would be amazing.
There are only two things you need for a tiny house – money and a place to put it. The first one should be doable, even a loan could be paid off in five years and be no more than rent over those five years, the problem is the second one.
I encourage you to go to this YouTube channel these videos are great.
The world hasn’t really woken up to the idea of tiny homes yet. This seems a little silly. There is often talk of it being impossible to own your own home in the current economy and a tiny home can make that possible. Land could be set aside in cities for such constriction. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a street of these little houses each one unique? And that is not even getting into what it could do for homeless people.
The number one house in this video costs $5000. It would be so cheap, on a governmental scale, to provide a home for all the homeless in the UK. Brexit has cost so much money just think of what that could have done to help the homeless and others in great need.
It is now the 22nd of September – yes it has taken a long time to write this. Yesterday I was out with my family. We had a beautiful sunny day and went to Margam Park. I hadn’t been to the park in a long time and it was wonderful to walk in the sunshine. I got a Lego set and some money from my parents and a book and some money from my brother.
Today I am okay and sometimes that is all that can be said. It is early still as I finish this and then on to the next task. Today is a good day. My feelings are often problematic as I know that deep sadness will return but that is tomorrow.
Oh and I picked up my repaired phone – they did a great job.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
Thinking about what you can’t control only wastes energy and creates its own enemy.
Worf (Star Trek: The Next Generation – Coming Of Age
This is one of my favourite quotes and is a good way to think about life. I know it is good advice but that doesn’t mean I am easily able to follow it. In fact at the moment of writing (Friday) my mind is preoccupied with something I can’t control. I am concerned and feel as though I am shaking and, what is worse, it is for a very stupid reason.
My phone is still being repaired. I handed it over on Sunday (2019-09-08) and it has yet to come back. I know it can be fixed and I have now acquired a case for it so that this will not happen again – yet I can’t stop thinking about wanting it back. I am using my old phone at the moment and now I am remembering why I got the new one in the first place. I also realised that the photos were not backed up. If they are lost it is actually not a big deal as there is nothing much their but it would still be a shame. I actually thought they backed up automatically. Which shows what little I know about technology.
This has been a learning experience for me though. The most obvious is the necessity of having a phone case. The less obvious is the importance of disconnection from time to time.
I realise the irony of that statement. I am writing this on my laptop, Majel, while listening to Emma Blackery on my Google Home, and my ipad has a timer running. However when I go out I am not checking Facebook all the time – I haven’t bothered to set it up on my other phone. And I don’t want to use the other apps much until the real phone is back in my hands. It shouldn’t be too much longer now.
Worry seems to be a near constant companion for me. I am trying to get it under control but it is a constant enemy. Today it is the phone, when the phone is back it will be something else, and through it all there are the daily concerns – some are trivial and some less so – but most are things I can’t control.
I hope that you reading this are having a good day. I hope you find the time every day do do that thing that makes you smile
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
So on Thursday I smashed my phone’s screen. I tried to put it on the counter next to the sink, misjudged it, and it slammed on to the floor with a crack. Can I blame this one on my dispraxia? Maybe.
It is funny I see a lot of people with smashed phones and, until now, I have always wondered how they managed it. I have dropped my phone before and only ever ended up with a nick or two in the casing.
It didn’t even fall that far but ugh now I have a problem to deal with. That is the down side. On the plus side I have something to talk about here.
When something like this happens my brain turns it into a bigger deal than it really is. It is annoying. It is not the end of the world. The phone still works, I have not lost any data, and I can always get another.
Poor Captain Sisko. I believe he was quite found of that ship.
Weyoun (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Changing Faces of Evil)
It is a funny thing though. I have money set aside for just such an eventuality. It is a fund for the future, for emergencies and for accidents – and yet it still feels like a big deal. Why is that?
It might be because even if it is affordable it is still money that I shouldn’t need to be spending. It could have been avoided by acquiring a case. So why no case? I never got around to it. There is no other explanation and have never felt the need. (Also stuff I don’t put on my to-do list doesn’t tend to get done.) Now I know better. So today I will see how much it will cost to replace the screen and maybe I’ll need to get a new phone. I am more glad than ever that I did not go for the iphone back in may. Although had I gone for such an overpriced phone I would have been more likely to get a case. Funny that.
With this action I have embraced what humans are very good at… only dealing with a problem after the problem. Titanic didn’t have enough life boats, it sank, ships that followed did have enough. (At least I hope they did.) For a more up to date example fossil fuels have been known to be an issue for a long time and only now, at the crisis point, is stuff starting to happen.
So from now all my phones will have cases. And perhaps yours should too.
Here endeth the lesson.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
Today I am going to talk about politics. Which is about as clever an idea as calling Worf a coward.
…a really bad idea.
For the last three years, yes that is right, there has been almost nothing in the news but brexit and now we are on the cusp of it finally happening and the UK is incredibly divided on the subject. Some people believe that the action of brexit will lead us right over a cliff.
Before I say my bit I want to say two things. Firstly I know nothing I have only my opinion and a gut instinct. Secondly I grew up on Star Trek and I am forced to wonder if seeing the exploits of the United Federation of Planets makes me want the UK to be part of some great alliance.
Too many videos? This will not be the last!
I voted to remain in the EU as I believed that was the best thing for the UK. I have not changed in that belief. The thing is I believed it and had little in the way of facts to back that up. It is my opinion that this was true of a lot of people no matter which side of the debate they fell on. The reason to have politicians is so that they can make the decision we would have made if we had time to look at all the details of an issue. A referendum was a mistake from the start – and I am not just saying that because my side lost. I don’t believe either side was completely sure what they were voting for. One thing is certain there was no plan for if they won.
Too much?
Maybe that clip is over the top, no pun intended, but I am going next. (And it is really only here because Baldrick had a plan!) Brexit has me deeply concerned. There seems to be an undertone of prejudice in the UK now and even some Britons who live abroad want to see a decrease in immigration and seem incapable of seeing that they themselves are immigrants. A very dear friend of mine left the UK recently and I think that was, at least in part, because she didn’t feel welcome here any longer.
Have we become so… fearful, have we become so cowardly, that we must extinguish a man because he carries the blood of a current enemy?
Captain Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Drumhead)
I have seen signs up in shop windows and at work that offer meetings and advice to EU citizens after Brexit. It makes me sad that we are facing the idea that people may be removed from the country for no other reason than there national identity. Also, and I debated putting this in, it feels like the small shadow of much worse things that have happened in the past. That maybe hyperbole but there it is.
I am not completely naive I understand the need for control of boarders. However the point that seems to always be missed is that it works both ways – a British person has just as much right to live in an EU country as they do to live here. That reciprocity makes it work and I don’t see any issue with it – none at all. I would love to see a world without boarders where the country you are from only has relevance at a sporting event or during Eurovision but beyond that has little relevance. Not an idea I expect to happen – I like the thought though.
Boris Johnson has prorogued parliament which sounds like a circumvention of democracy to me. Like I said though I know nothing. I only know one thing all of this has me worried. I will leave you with some words of wisdom.
…each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us.
John Sheridan (Reading G’Kar’s Words) (Babylon 5: Wheel of Fire)
…we must be kind to one another.
G’Kar (Babyon 5: Wheel of Fire)
I hope that the predictions of doom fail to materialise but I am concerned about the future. I hope that you reading this are well, happy, and most of all safe. See you next time.
I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.
Unstable Orbit 