Andrew J. Weirdbeard

I used to read Billboard magazine as a kid. It reflected my musical world. I just realized that world is now the Golden Oldies section and I have no idea who most of these artists are. It’s like I skipped over thirty years of music.

...his introduction came late and was buried under other ongoing plots. Jay-Den cannot thrive on gestures or by being inserted into a scene. He needs to be the focus and action agent of an episode, more than one where the world shaped him. He needs to shape his own world.

This is why Jay-Den Kraag struggles with casual Trek viewers. He was not introduced in a way that adequately explains the distinction and so he is seen as a "token" or a "checkbox" and not as a character. Of course, many people will reject the character out of *-phobia, but it did not help that...

Only variants are permitted based on their inspirational lore - Western Lit stories of old warriors, knights, barbarians, crusaders, etc. Not barbers, dentists, or even pacifists. There is no Desmond Doss equivalent in the Klingon Empire because that breaks a "convention" of fiction.

Klingons represented a part of ourselves and not a good part. That changed when they went from all enemies to cautious allies. Worf seemed to become their pinnacle (or Alpha, depending on who you ask). So anything that doesn't scream "VIKING KNIGHT" is compared unfavorably to that icon.

We on Earth cannot agree (nor should we; nor CAN we) what a "real man" is within our species. It makes sense then that no one is going to agree what one is for any fictional species because, in fiction, a race or species is usually a way to express a TYPE of human, not the totality of humanity.

Think about the industry that exists where there is a vast audience of men who pay to learn what it means to be a "real" man. It implies that being a real man is not a natural thing and, more ominously, there is ONE way to be a man for all men in the world. Pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

No one has considered that Jay-Den Kraag might choose to wear a utilikilt as part of his cadet uniform because of his enormous Klingon BALLS. #starfleetacademy

Noem was not fired for bad policies. She was fired because she wasn't effective enough at being evil.

I wonder if Trump would have fired her if he knew he couldn't crate her back to the factory for a refund now that she's soiled.

I get the feeling that this new guy coming in is going to see Secretary Noem's body count as a high score he needs to beat.

Over generations, media has become passive. Radio went from the focus of a room to background noise. We "watch" films and TV while doing chores around the home. Experience theater live. See movies in the cinema. READ a novel. Study a subject. Go to art museums. That might save our souls and culture.

Uh oh. Cancer picked the wrong screwhead to mess with. #BruceCampbell

If you complain about Star Trek’s “fat characters” and “gay Klingons” you have allies among the people who called their local NBC station in 1967 promising to boycott the local Ford dealer advertising on the show over a “colored woman working the radio on the bridge.” Good company, huh?

You know what has never ended a conflict in human history? Turning the leader of a cause into a martyr.

People who have an issue with "gay Klingons" seem to have a fundamental lack of understanding about human sexuality and shouldn't branch out into xenobiological matters.

We must be careful. We are now in an era where compromise and governance for all is punishable by primary challenge. The system wants us divided, all or nothing. That's not America. I don't want a country until Dem rule any more than MAGA. I want justice and liberty for all. Advanced Democracy.

I don't watch the SOTU. I stopped when Obama left. It's no longer a rally to project America's strength to the world. It's a sideshow desperate for attention that undermines our credibility to the world.

And MAGA says they're "saving God" now. Isn't that like saying "we're more more popular than Jesus"?

You know, this makes me feel better about my last several con appearances.

YouTube video by Steve Shives Star Trek: TNG But It Was Released in 2026

@steveshives.bsky.social gives a one-man show of the modern Trek hater comment section. It is so salty you can melt all the snow and ice off your sidewalks this morning. I love it.

YouTube video by Disturbed Disturbed - Land Of Confusion [Official Music Video]

youtu.be/YV4oYkIeGJc?...

The “Mac vs PC” guys are reunited to pimp Ozempic. I can’t explain it. I don’t want to.

Blame me. I'm Gen-X. I grew up on a diet of Hollywood movies that promised that it didn't matter how batshit crazy our ideas or dreams were, we lived in an objective reality that would one day save the world, regardless of what experience and wisdom brought against us. We're just their NPCs.

THIS ONE MAKES US SMILE! Thank you, Cadet Wilks! You make us all proud and keep us shooting straight. Appreciate the trade and look forward to great things from you in the future!

YouTube video by Steve Hofstetter World leaders are getting arrested. Who’s next?

I love Steve Hofstetter.
youtube.com/shorts/MfYXj...

"I'm talking about 'Jayden' with a 'Y' not 'Jaidon' with an 'I'" or some silliness. It's like their variant has some sacred meaning like "He who crosses oceans of fire," when, in my experience, it is more like "They who whine about having to run laps around the soccer field."

It is funny when people jump on misspelling Jay-Den's name in comments, but because God help you if you botch a 21st century "Jaden"'s name. There are around 20 variations of that name and parents are SUPER sensitive to theirs. I've had conversations that had to clarify ...

I have heard of writers putting passages in their print books with geocache instructions to secret prizes, including cash.
Seems to me that it's not effective, maybe not because no one has reported such discoveries to me. :)

#Starfleetacademy has hammered the "you're not perfect, but beautifully flawed" message so hard the horse is not just dead but muddy paste inside the stall. Not a lot happened here that I cared about. Maybe it meant something you others, I don't know.