Star Trek: Discovery Review: 4x02 "Anomaly"

Discovery always jumps into stories faster than I expect them too. Lots of things that I think will happen later in the season instead happen within the first couple of episodes.

In a perfect example of what I mean, we get to see what will hopefully be Gray's body in this episode! I thought they would still be searching for ways to even give him a body, but nope. We still don't know for sure that it will be successful, but they're much further in the process than I expected. I'm excited but also nervous that this means that something will go wrong in transferring Gray's consciousness to the body, as that would draw out the storyline until later in the season.

Saru also arrives back on the Discovery in this episode! An example of yet another thing that happened faster than I thought it would. Though I thought he might come back relatively early in the season, I thought we'd see a bit more indecision from him about leaving Kaminar first. Instead, he was right back at headquarters in this episode. Not that I'm complaining. (Though I would have found it cool to see more of what Kaminar is currently like too.)

This episode was an excellent reminder of the important role Saru plays among the crew. It was wonderful to see him comforting people and offering guidance. Discovery just isn't the same without him, and I'm so happy he's acting as Michael's number one. Even though they sometimes have conflict between them, I think they work well together and help compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses.

A dynamic that came out of nowhere this episode was Samets and Book. We get a lovely scene between them after they're able to complete their mission. I hadn't considered how Stamets would feel about Book's role in rescuing Culber and Adira (and Gray), but it makes sense that he would feel indebted to him in a way. I loved his promise to figure out what happened to Kwejian for Book's sake. It makes me excited for the possibility of a future friendship between them and perhaps Book becoming closer with other members of Discovery's crew, not just Michael.

Tilly and Culber have a scene together where Tilly opens up about not feeling like herself and asks to have an appointment where they can talk about it. I felt as awkward as Tilly while watching that scene, but I'm happy it was there. Detmer didn't seem all right last season either, but then that was kind of brushed aside later in the season and not dealt with again. I'm a little sad that Tilly is getting that storyline now. Though I love Tilly, we don't get to see Detmer that often, so it would have been nice to have that storyline with her. However, I'm glad the mental health of the crew is still being addressed somehow.

This is a small detail in the episode, but Michael reveals that the computer has named itself Zora. I do know of the short film about Zora and the theories surrounding that, so this moment was yet another connection between that short and Discovery. I kind of wish I didn't know about the short though. On one hand, it's fun to theorize, but on the other, I feel like I know too much about where the story might be heading. If you want to know more about that theory, then you can look it up yourself, since I don't want to reveal too much to people who might rather stay in the dark about it.

The data that they've gathered tells them that the anomaly is randomly changing direction in a way that they can't explain and that is unpredictable, so I'm guessing that will be the big mystery of the season. I'm curious to see where it goes. I've seen some suggestions that the anomaly could be alive. Between the tardigrade and the sphere or even Su'kal being the source of the Burn, that feels similar to what they've already done, but I'll wait and see.

Book Review: Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation by Kyo Maclear

Published: January 3, 2017
Publisher: Scribner
Received: purchased through Life's Library subscription
Read from October 9 to November 24, 2021

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A writer’s search for inspiration, beauty, and solace leads her to birds in this meditation on creativity and life – a field guide to things small and significant.

In 2012, Kyo Maclear met a musician with a passion for birds. Curious about what had prompted a young urban artist to suddenly embrace nature she decided to follow him for a year to find out.

Observing two artists through seasonal shifts and migrations, Birds Art Life celebrates the particular madness of chasing after birds in a big city, and explores what happens when the principles of birdwatching are applied to other aspects of art and life. It looks at the ecology of urban spaces and the creative and liberating effects of keeping your eyes and ears wide open. Far from seeking the exotic, Kyo discovers joy in the birds she spots in city parks and harbours, along eaves and on wires. In a world that values big and fast, Kyo begins to look to the small, steady, slow accumulations of knowledge, and the lulls that give way to contemplation.

Moving between the granular and the grand, peering into the inner landscape as much as the outer one, Birds Art Life asks how we are shaped and nurtured by our passions, and how we might come to love and protect not only the world’s natural places but also the challenging urban spaces where so many of us live.

Review:

Birds Art Life has probably been the quietest, most contemplative book I've read all year. It has a tone and pace that I don't typically gravitate towards in books, but since this was a Life's Library pick, I was going to give it a shot. Life's Library doesn't usually let me down, and that was true this time too.

This book is a memoir that takes place over a year, with each chapter representing a month. The author befriends a bird watching musician after deciding that she wants to try bird watching herself. What follows is a lot of reflection on birds, art, and the author's life, hence the title.

I wasn't on the edge of my seat while reading Birds Art Life, but reading it was an enjoyable and relaxing experience.

If you want a fast-paced book, this probably won't be the one for you, but if you're looking for something reflective and slow-paced, this is a great choice.

Star Trek: Discovery Review: 4x01 "Kobayashi Maru"

Discovery is back! I've been excitedly waiting for this season for what feels like ages, especially after I re-watched season three. I don't feel disappointed by the first episode either.

The episode starts with Michael and Book on a diplomatic mission, which gives us a good idea of what Discovery have been up to in the gap between the seasons. Things don't go well, and I have a lot of questions about why they kept talking when everything they said just made it worse. But my favorite part about it was getting a glimpse at the Federation building up support again.

The Discovery crew have new uniforms this season, which isn't a surprise as we saw them at the end of the last season. I don't know how I feel about the uniforms themselves, but it does help solidify the feeling that we're in a different era now.

We get a glimpse of Kaminar, where Saru and Su'kal have been for six months. After everything that happened with Kaminar earlier in the series and the tidbit last season about how Su'Kal had been taught both Kelpien and Ba'ul traditions, I was very curious what Kaminar looked like now, so I appreciated getting a glimpse of that. Though we didn't see much of the planet, it did give us a good idea of how Kelpians and Ba'ul work together. It's a pretty hopeful scene considering the state of the rest of the world.

Su'Kal, though, knows that Saru isn't very happy there, and he makes a good point about Kaminar not really being the home that Saru lost anymore. That must be freeing in a way because it leaves him to go with the Federation without mourning the life he could be living (at least not in the same way). I'm assuming Saru will be back with Star Fleet by the end of the season, but it'll be interesting to see if it happens right away or if we'll get more of Kaminar first.

The president was an unexpected addition to this episode. I've found that I'm very distrustful of every new Federation person that pops up since season three, and each time so far it's ended up being a little unwarranted. Still, she provided a lot of tension in this episode, and the thought of everyone doing their jobs with her there watching them... I feel stressed on the characters' behalves. That's especially true for Adira, who was nervous and then has the president there for the whole thing too.

Speaking of Adira, they've been made an ensign. We also see them speaking with Gray a bit, and that scene was such a fun one. I love seeing them joke around together after what they went through last season, and Gray's joke about getting a body makes me wonder what we're in for this season in terms of that storyline. It seems like something that will definitely come up again.

There was enough light-heartedness in this episode that the ending came as an even bigger shock. Book's home planet is destroyed just after we got a sweet scene of him with his nephew. I'm assuming that what caused the destruction of the space station and Book's home planet is going to be what drives this season.

At the end of the episode, the president also questions Michael's abilities as captain. This was discussed last season too, in way, when Michael was stripped of her position. The president makes comments about how Michael is going to get everyone killed, and I have a feeling that was foreshadowing of some big disaster later in this season, which has me nervous.

Despite the ending, the tone of this episode did feel more hopeful than the beginning of season three thanks to seeing the graduation and talk of more planets joining the Federation. Time will tell if that holds throughout the season, but it's nice to have an episode that feels a bit more light-hearted compared to the last season.

Book Review: A Disability History of the United States by Kim E. Nielsen

Published: October 1, 2013
Publisher: Beacon Press
Received: purchased
Read from September 10 to October 14, 2021

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The first book to cover the entirety of disability history, from pre-1492 to the present

Disability is not just the story of someone we love or the story of whom we may become; rather it is undoubtedly the story of our nation. Covering the entirety of US history from pre-1492 to the present, A Disability History of the United States is the first book to place the experiences of people with disabilities at the center of the American narrative. In many ways, it’s a familiar telling. In other ways, however, it is a radical repositioning of US history. By doing so, the book casts new light on familiar stories, such as slavery and immigration, while breaking ground about the ties between nativism and oralism in the late nineteenth  century and the role of ableism in the development of democracy.

A Disability History of the United States pulls from primary-source documents and social histories to retell American history through the eyes, words, and impressions of the people who lived it. As historian and disability scholar Nielsen argues, to understand disability history isn’t to narrowly focus on a series of individual triumphs but rather to examine mass movements and pivotal daily events through the lens of varied experiences. Throughout the book, Nielsen deftly illustrates how concepts of disability have deeply shaped the American experience—from deciding who was allowed to immigrate to establishing labor laws and justifying slavery and gender discrimination. Included are absorbing—at times horrific—narratives of blinded slaves being thrown overboard and women being involuntarily sterilized, as well as triumphant accounts of disabled miners organizing strikes and disability rights activists picketing Washington.

Engrossing and profound, A Disability History of the United States fundamentally reinterprets how we view our nation’s past: from a stifling master narrative to a shared history that encompasses us all.

Review:

This is the second book in the series ReVisioning American History, which seeks to tell the history of groups that have been underrepresented in most US history books despite their impact on the country. I reviewed the first book in the series, A Queer History of the United States, a while back, and some of what I said in that book holds true for this one as well.

It's true that disability history isn't told as much as it should be, and that needs to change. While this is a starting point, it can only really be a starting point. People with various disabilities have come together to form a disability movement because it makes them a more formidable force. Despite this, the "disability movement" remains a coalition of very diverse groups. It's just impossible to tell the full history of all of these groups in one book. You can't cover them all in that much detail.

As one individual, I definitely can't name every disability out there and decide if they got adequately covered in the book, but from my own personal perspective, it did seem like some groups got covered more than others. Deafness and physical disability (lost limbs in particular) seemed to be covered more than anything else. Other disabilities, such as blindness or some mental health disorders, seemed to be spoken about less often.

I did enjoy what history was there. I think the stories told in the book are stories that are important to talk about and are things people should know. In the end, though, I think it comes down to the same thing I said about A Queer History of the United States, this book is a starting point, but it's really only a starting point. What I would really love is a series of books that focus on specific disabilities and are therefore able to go more in depth about each of them, but I recognize that that isn't what this book was meant to be from the start. I'm sure books like that must exist somewhere, and I'll make an effort to find them, which I suppose is a positive outcome of having a book like this.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Season 2 Review

This is going to be a review of HSM season two. Like I mentioned in my video about season one, I got really into this show, so I have a lot to say. But I'm going to try not to go too overboard talking about every little detail.

This season introduces Lily, and whereas last season I expected Gina to be Sharpay 2.0 and then she wasn’t, Lily is a lot more of a Sharpay 2.0. We get hints about her backstory that could possibly flesh her out, but she doesn’t change much over the course of the season. It seems like she’s going to be in season three, so I’m curious if she’ll develop more then. But she is kind of an exaggerated villain in this season with how easily she gets a role at North High and all of that.

We also meet Howie in this season, and eventually, we find out that he’s North High’s Beast. He adds a bit more depth to North High since everyone else at that school just seems like villains. But it’s interesting because we never really see him interact with his classmates. Lily gets shooed out of Slices in the finale, while Howie's there and no one minds. Howie himself doesn't seem to really want her there. It’s an interesting dynamic.

I was worried that he was working with Lily during the show when he was acting weird around Kourtney, but luckily, he seems to really just have been nervous because she was so good. Which is really cute. They’re adorable together.

Ricky and Nini also break up in this season, which isn’t hugely surprising after what happened earlier in the season. I do feel a little frustrated that getting back together was such a big thing in season one but then they broke up in season two. Because when relationships are back and forth like that in shows, it gets frustrating to watch. Obviously, breaking up is normal for teenagers, but in terms of a story, I don't want to watch the exact same thing happening over and over.

In terms of what happens with Rickey and Nini in season three, I don’t know what I want for either of them now. But it’s definitely not Ricky dating Lily. At least that’s how I feel now. Maybe that’ll change in the next season if Lily becomes more interesting.

Gina and EJ was a storyline that I wasn’t expecting but absolutely loved. The way their relationship developed over the season was cute. I loved that so much. Really. That was one of the highlights of the season for me.

Carlos and Sebastian were another highlight. They were adorable in this season. Carlos also sings Disney’s first same-sex love song, which has been a long time coming. Everything they did with them this season was great. I loved it too.

During the final show, Lily steals the harness. The show goes on anyway, and we hear that the transformation was passable but don’t see it. But nothing huge happens with that. We don’t find out the results of the rewards. Lily doesn’t get found out. So I’m curious if that’s something that will carry over into next season.

Since Ricky did contact Lily what I’m wondering is if something will happen between them and then he’ll learn the truth about what she did, which will start drama. Then Lily will feel guilty and that might be what spurs her to change. That’s what seems most likely to me at this point, but I suppose that we’ll see.

There are still a lot of things I’m curious about next season. Like where Lily's going as a character. And is that really it for the awards? (I get the statement of them not caring, but I admit that I care.) The love triangle between the teachers and Ricky’s dad just kept going this whole season with no resolution. I’m definitely ready for season three to see where it all goes.