BookBin2011: Seven of Nine

~ lobablanca

“Best laid plans” entry here. While perusing Trek books on Amazon.com a while ago, I discovered that there was a Voyager book, written by Christie Golden, all about Seven of Nine. It was called…Seven of Nine. Based on the creative title alone, who wouldn’t want to buy a copy of this book, right?

Yeah, okay, I’m being unduly snarky and I’m barely into this review. Bet you can tell how this is going to turn out, right?

Anyway, I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to have a Seven of Nine book on my shelf, right next to that novel all about Captain Janeway? Janeway and Seven, together again.

It would be nice. But it ain’t happening with this book.

I’m beginning to get a little bit frustrated with Trek novels in general. Minus the joy that the DS9 Season 8 books have brought me, I haven’t really loved any of the Trek books I’ve read in a long time. Even Mosaic was barely a notch above meh, which either means that my tolerance for Trek cheese is diminishing or the books are declining in quality (I suspect it’s a little bit of both, with possibly a smidgen more of the latter…I still loves me some cheese).

I’d say this particular novel is noteworthy only for the fact that it’s a discordant amalgamation of several different Trek plot lines, stuck together with duct tape, chewed gum, and kite string. Just off the top of my head, I’d say that this had aspects of “Violations,” “The Raven,” “Infinite Regress,” “Hard Time,” “Ex Post Facto,” “Phantasms,” and “The Survivors.” Plus, bits and bobs from pretty much every major Seven of Nine-specific Voyager episode made up to the point of this book’s writing.

Additionally, I’ve read so much Voyager fanfiction (there’s a confession for you all) that most of the time I was reading this book I was thinking: A) Most of the fanfic I’ve read was better written; and B) Why aren’t the characters in this story behaving the way they do in the fanfic I like? Because, honestly? I think most of the fanfic writers have a better understanding of the Voyager crew than Golden seems to have.

But maybe that’s just me.

Whatever the reasons, I simply didn’t like this book. Didn’t like the plot. Didn’t like the character depictions. Didn’t like. Period.

Final Verdict: Alas, poor Captain Janeway will have to remain by herself on my virtually Voyager-free bookshelf for a bit longer. This book shall not pass.

Don’t Bogart That Roach

~ LobaBlanca

She might not have come from the awesome Silver Snail, but Debbie Stevens is finally a part of my collection. Along with all the Freddy K. movies and the awesome Never Sleep Again documentary that Heather Langenkamp did on the Nightmare on Elm Street series.

Can you tell that I’m getting ready for my most favorite holiday of them all? Winter may be coming for some, but Halloween is coming for Loba…

Flashback Friday: Square One Television

~ LobaBlanca

Ha! I bet you all thought that another Friday would pass without the inevitable lupine flashback, didn’t you, denizens? Yeah, sorry about last week. I was caught up in a bit of packing. No, not that kind of packing. Honestly, you’re all so filthy sometimes. Another reason I love you so. No, this was actual luggage packing. For to see some super-smexy ImagiFriendsTM up in the Great White North. I should probably write a special post about my trip. Yes, I do believe I shall.

But not right now.

Now, it’s time to hop in the lair’s WABAC Machine (did you know that’s how you spell this? My boy Sherman knew) and visit the late 1980s, those care-free days of big shoulder pads and even bigger hair. The Gipper was still in office, Jean-Luc Picard was confusing nerds everywhere with his French name and English accent, and Children’s Television Workshop was showing mercy on the math-deficient of America with its newest 100-percent math-centric show: Square One Television.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPvOthnDj6I&w=480&h=360]

Could that theme be any more 80s? No, Miss Chanandler Bong, I don’t think it could.

I both loved and hated Square One. It was cool and clever (for a math show)…but it inevitably always made me feel a bit stupid. I’m not going to do my usual thing of putting myself down (shocker, I know). I can do math. It just takes me a little longer than more mathematically inclined minds. Sue me, I’m right-brained. All I need is a patient teacher and a lot of time. And erasers. Lots and lots of erasers.

However, Square One was a relatively fast-paced show, as most vignette-driven kids’ shows are. There was no way in hell I was going to catch on to some of the things they were teaching in a 2-minute sketch. So, really, I just watched it for the fun sketches. Like Mathman, which was a silly parody of Pac-man:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUhpIS8YTfc&w=480&h=360]

Or spoofs of 80s-style music videos:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqIki33mTgs&w=480&h=360]

Okay, is it just me, or was that song a bit dirty? Just me? Okay then.

My favorite recurring sketch, though, and the one that kept me coming back to Square One every weekday, was Mathnet, a cutesy rip-off of Dragnet, with cases that played out in 10-minute snippets each day of the week and starred Beverly Leech as Kate Monday and Joe Howard as George Frankly, two math detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department (they later relocated to New York). Both actors have been in numerous things throughout the years. I’m actually quite pleased that I immediately recognized Howard on an episode of CSI from a few years ago. He was also on West Wing at some point, although I can’t pinpoint his character at the moment. Leech showed up on Quantum Leap and Northern Exposure among other things and then later made the ultimate in Geek Girl moves when she appeared on the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Nightingale,” which most fans probably won’t remember because it was a Harry Kim episode. Sorry, Harry.

I loved Mathnet. But only the version with Leech as Kate Monday. She was later replaced by Toni DiBuono as Pat Tuesday, which never really worked for me. Of course, by that point I was a bit too old for Square One anyway, so it didn’t really matter. But when I was the right age? It was all about Monday and Frankly:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl8aIizUBNI&w=480&h=360]

Seriously, how do you not love that? So 80s. And, hey! I actually followed most of what they were talking about! It’s only…24 years later.

Yeah, I was going to try to come up with a funny math pun to end this on, but, seriously, denizens, my brain really doesn’t work that way. So I’ll instead leave you with a link to this Zazzle Mathnet T-shirt, which I’m almost tempted to buy. It’s acute shirt…even if it would make me look like a square.

Heh. See what I did there? You’re welcome.

BookBin2011: The Man Who Fell to Earth

~ LobaBlanca

I almost feel as though I need to apologize for having never read this science fiction classic before now. Tangentially, I also feel as though I should apologize for having never seen the David Bowie movie either, especially now after having read the book and realizing that of the few people who could plausibly play the eponymous character, “back in the day” skinny androgynous Bowie would be at the top of that list.

I do intend to rectify the movie issue soon, and I’m quite pleased that I have now rectified the literary side of this sci-fi faux pas of mine. Walter Tevis’s novel is, quite simply, marvelous. Rather than being all about the ‘splosions and space battles, The Man Who Fell to Earth is instead a quiet treatise on the more sociological/philosophical/political aspects of the genre. The story focuses on the arrival, survival, integration, and subsequent discovery of “Thomas Jerome Newton,” an Anthean sent to Earth as a savior for his nearly extinct people.

The story as it flows from Tevis’s imagination is provocative and introspective, composed of poetry and perfect prose. If you find traditional science fiction to be intimidating, you might want to give this story a try. This could very well be the gateway drug that will pull you into the genre.

Also, for a book originally published in 1963 (there have been minor updates to the text since then), this story never feels outdated. To the contrary, it almost completely transcends the shackles of age that so many “futuristic” novels cannot escape. Admittedly, there are some gadgets and gizmos that come across as charming and quaint. Some, however, are quite prescient.

Final Verdict: I do believe that The Man Who Fell to Earth will be falling into my collection at some point soon.

BookBin2011: Poe: A Life Cut Short (Ackroyd’s Brief Lives)

~ LobaBlanca

This one will be…brief. Heh.

I’ve already read one book this year that could be partially categorized as a biography of Edgar Allan Poe. However, when I saw Peter Ackroyd’s rather diminutive biography on one of my favorite authors, tucked away on a shelf at the library, I decided in that instant that I needed to read yet another one.

Admittedly, I didn’t really learn much from Ackroyd’s telling of Poe’s upsetting life and death. And it is upsetting. Just like so many of his macabre tales, his was a tortured soul. Some of it was external, but much of his torment sprang from demons of an internal sickness that raged within him until the very end.

If you’ve never read a biography on Mr. Poe, then I would highly recommend this one. It’s a bit more thorough than my previous Poe-related read this year (although that one is holistically more interesting) and it never does Poe the dishonor of sugar-coating any aspect of his life. However, if you have read anything on Poe, you, too, might find this to be simply an exercise in revisiting already known information in a well-researched and well-written way.

Final Verdict: It was an interesting refresher course on Poe’s life that I will now gladly return to the library.

Strictly Ink Is Strictly Awesome

~ LobaBlanca

eBay is a dangerous place, denizens. A wonderful, dangerous place. It feeds my need for collectibles. It never judges me for my nerdy passions. It remembers what I like most and makes awesome recommendations based on what makes me squee.

It also introduces me to things that I never knew existed, and in doing so, makes me wonder how I ever lived without them.

Okay, that’s an infamous Loba HyperboleTM. However, eBay did show me a new dimension to trading cards to which I was previously clueless. It’s been a while since I dabbled in this particular collector subgenre, so imagine my delight to discover “sketch cards.”

Maybe it’s because the concept of trading cards has become a bit quaint and silly (yes, I’m fully aware that “normies” would argue that they have always been silly). Whatever the reason, I have noticed a few snazzy concepts that have been introduced to genre card series that have helped keep these as viable collectibles. The two standouts that I already knew about were limited edition autograph cards and costume cards, which contain pieces of fabric cut from costumes worn in genre shows like Star Trek, Xena, et al.

These are both creative concepts, even if they didn’t really reach me on any particular level. I’m a bit old for autograph collecting (unless it’s Keith Birdsong…or the autograph accompanies latex body parts), and the only costume prop I actively lust after is a Dr. Crusher lab coat. And I don’t want a scrap from it. I want the whole enchilada.

The sketch card concept that I just learned about, however, is one that I think is utterly brilliant. The trading card companies design a shell template that identifies the card as being part of a particular set, but they leave the bulk of the front side nothing but white space. They then disseminate copies of this shell to various genre-related artists and pretty much say, “Show us what you can do in this space that’s somehow related to our [show, cartoon, comic book, etc.].”

What you end up with is a pint-sized original drawing that gives a unique take, not only on the trading card concept but also on a genre favorite. Like this card, part of Strictly Ink’s CSI sketch card series:

Loba's protective pawprints of approval added for effect...

This sketch card of Sara Sidle was done by artist Rowena Pagarigan. I love everything about this card: the still visible pencil guide marks; the rough, cartoonish coloring; the random details like the surfer-esque beaded necklace and the pensive eyebrow arch. It’s quirky and one-of-a-kind. Just like Sara Sidle 😀

Does this mean that I’m going to start collecting trading cards again? Nah. But do I think this is a wonderful idea? Absolutely.

Now if you’ll excuse me…I still have some lunch time left. I’m going to go stare at my sketch card a little more…

Sugar and Spice and Everything…Catty?

~ LobaBlanca

Today’s EXTREMELY long-winded feminist rant will be brought to you by the letters C, S, and I. You have been warned.

Have you ever seen the first interaction between CSIs Catherine Willows and Sara Sidle? No? Let me share:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOLg3RWL9DU&w=480&h=390]

Not the most welcoming of people, that surly CSI Willows (just look at the video clip description: “Bitchy & Rude Catherine”). In Catherine’s defense, I should point out that Sara Sidle was originally brought onto the Las Vegas team to investigate one of their own for his role in the death of another investigator. She was an interloper, brought in to suss out the possible guilt of one of Catherine’s closest friends on the job. Not exactly the best setup for a warm and fuzzy friendship.

However, this animosity between our two heroines not only lingered, it evolved…or, rather, devolved into a series of biting comments, veiled insults, and out-and-out vitriol. True, some of it stemmed from personality differences. Catherine as originally created had a world-wise brusqueness to her, not necessarily spiteful or cruel, but direct and sharp. Sara, on the other hand, arrived with a quirky, nerdy sensibility and equal doses of naivete and a “black or white, no gray” outlook that often set her apart, not only from Catherine but from others on the team.

They weren’t the only ones on the team who had disparate personalities. Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes as first conceived shared very few commonalities. Our introduction to them also showed them vying against each other for a promotion. Yet right from the start they were still shown to share a comfortable camaraderie, a friendly competitiveness that served to bring them together rather than set them on opposite sides of an ever-widening chasm. Not at all like the steadily increasing animosity shared by our lovely ladies of the pink printing powder. (For the record, I love this scene for the fact that this is one of the rare moments from the show’s early days that showcases the previously mentioned contrasting characteristics of both women in a wonderful albeit short comedic moment.)

It’s not just this loopy lupine who noticed this decidedly disappointing development default in the relationship shared by Catherine and Sara. In this PopGurls Interview, Jorja Fox had the following to say:

You’ve said that the CSI writers and producers are really kind. That if there’s someplace you don’t really want to go with the character, you can talk to them, and generally they’ll change the course or direction. When was a time that you brought up a path w/the producers that you didn’t feel comfortable with for Sara?

There have been a couple of times over the years. The first one that comes to mind