Movie Review: Godzilla (1998)

Godzilla (1998) co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich

The king of all monsters was given a reboot in the late 1990s by Roland Emmerich, the director of summer popcorn blockbusters like Independence Day and 2012. This movie follows the over-the-top entertainment of Emmerich's other films.

The story introduces Dr. Tatopolous (Matthew Broderick) investigating the impact of Chernobyl radiation on earth worms (it makes them 17% bigger!). He's pulled out by the military to investigate another large, apparently radioactive monster. The army has only found footprints, but the incidents of the big monster lead from French Polynesia through Panama and onto New York City. Another female scientist (Vicki Lewis) is both threatened and attracted to Tatopolous. They move quickly from Central America to New York, where most of the movie takes place. Godzilla shows up in the city and wanders around, with the army destroying stuff around the amazingly nimble giant lizard. The monster vanishes as the city is evacuated. Mayor Ebert (Michael Lerner) panics about his reelection as he deals with the army's destructive campaign against Godzilla (who uncharacteristically inflicts minimal damage on the buildings, unlike the army). Plucky junior reporter Audrey (Maria Patilo) is Tatopolous's college ex and the whipping girl of TV anchor Charles Caiman (Harry Shearer). Caiman is the typical sleazy top dog in the TV studio, hitting on Audrey while using her research as his own. Also, a Frenchman (Jean Reno) follows Godzilla around, though the reason is a bit mysterious at the beginning.

The movie has lots of flaw. First of all, too many characters are introduced, leading to one-dimensional performances and cliched plot lines. The French character seems especially shoehorned in to crack jokes about Americans and (maybe?) to appeal to French cinema goers. Godzilla, though the title character, is relegated to tertiary standing among the cast. Also, he is almost unrecognizable. Physically, he's slimmed down and more alligator-like with smaller eyes and longer limbs. Godzilla's iconic roar is barely discernible in the noises made by this movie's monster. His atomic/fire breath is used once or twice but not explained, even though the movie seems obsessed with making pseudo-scientific explanations about everything else.* And Godzilla is upstaged by his offspring, who go after the main cast like the raptors from Jurassic Park (they even look a bit like the raptors) in the final part of the movie. The script is full of cliches that make the movie feel tired and lazy. The cleverest part of the movie is Mayor Ebert's helper with whom he constantly bickers and at the end is named Gene, when he gives a thumbs down to Ebert. Even so, that joke is aging out as fewer people have a living memory of Siskel & Ebert's At the Movies.

Not recommended--at least the old Godzilla movies earned their cheesiness through being entertaining and being focused on the monster.



*To be fair, the old Godzilla movies don't explain his atomic/fire breath either, but they never bothered with technical explanations.

Book Review: Batman vs. Superman: The Greatest Battles

Batman vs. Superman: The Greatest Battles by various authors and artists

In a cash grab/hype up to the Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice movie, DC Comics put out this collection of confrontations between the Caped Crusader and the Kryptonian colossus. The stories are mostly from the 2000s, with two from 1986. They all deal with the basic problem that fans love to argue about--who would win in a battle between Hero A and Hero B. In this case, Hero A is Superman, a virtually invulnerable strong man with a myriad of random powers (flight, laser/heat vision, supercold breath, X-ray vision, etc.); Hero B is Batman, a super-wealthy genius with a myriad of random gadgets (Batmobile, Batcycle, Batarangs, whatever else the creators can dream up for his utility belt, etc.). Obviously Batman has to out-think Superman because Superman can definitely out-punch Batman.

Various answers are given here. The best is the 1986 story "A Night in Gotham" which imagines the first uneasy team-up of Batman and Superman. Superman doesn't like Batman's methods but has to go along because Batman has set a bomb on a citizen of Gotham that will blow up if Superman doesn't help him bring down the villain Magpie. The ending is quite brilliant as the two heroes part ways with more mutual understanding if not mutual trust. The runner up is "Who Would Win" from 2011 with two kids debating which hero would come out on top. The others are a bit run-of-the-mill. The last story is taken from the middle of Frank Miller's 1986 "The Dark Knight" and is hard to follow without knowing the rest of the story. I found myself tuning out about half way through because it's been a long time since I read Miller's classic. That's the trick with comics books and with compilations like this--taking random bits of stories out of context doesn't work well. Stand-alone issues work better for random dabbling.

Only recommended if you want to explore the Batman versus Superman argument. And, yes, this is better than the film that came out.

TV Review: Doctor Who: Shada (1979)

Doctor Who: Shada (1979) written by Douglas Adams and directed by Pennant Roberts

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward) are summoned to Cambridge by Professor Chronotis (Denis Carey), who is a retired Time Lord posing as a Cambridge don. The only problem is Chronotis can't remember why he summoned them. A bit of the professorial senility has set in, which is probably why he loaned out an important Gallifrean book to one of the undergraduates. It's an ancient text with enormous power. Another time and space traveler has shown up and is looking for the book as well. He has a creepy grey sphere that he uses to steal other people's memories. What better device to set up end of episode cliffhangers?

This story is a bit legendary because the production was shut down half-way through making it. Strikes caused a lockdown at the BBC. A bit of the content was used in The Five Doctors but otherwise it had remained unseen for a long time. For the thirtieth anniversary of Doctor Who in 1993, they edited together what they had and Tom Baker filled in the gaps with descriptions of the missing action. Having Baker in a Doctor Who museum exhibit telling bits of the story makes for interesting viewing. The plot is good and the performances are a lot of fun. The special effects are the usual mishmash of good sound effects and dubious visual effects. The Cambridge location shooting is nice, especially if you've been there before.

Recommended, well worth putting up with the shortcomings. Beware--there is a more recent version of this with the choppy animations of other Doctor Who restorations that is generally poorly reviewed.

Book Review: Great Short Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Great Short Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A long time ago I picked up a copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories from Barnes and Noble with the intent of eventually reading them. Finally, this year A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast covered The Scarlet Letter, which got me to read about half of the book. I decided to finish it off. Here's a story-by-story review...

1. The Scarlet Letter--reviewed here, because, let's be honest, this is a great work but not a short one.

2. My Kinsman, Major Molineux--A man comes to town searching for his kinsman. His inquiries are met with a mixture of rudeness and laughter. Being a country bumpkin, the man naively wanders about with little success. The ending has a nice twist and successfully humanizes the characters in the story.

3. Roger Malvin's Burial--Two soldiers, Roger Malvin and Reuben Bourne, are wounded in battle and try to return home. Roger's wounds are too severe to continue and he has a hard time convincing Reuben to return to civilization without him. Roger wants Reuben to take word to his daughter Dorcas of his fate in the woods. He also wants Reuben to marry his daughter. He finally convinces the young man that he may be able to bring back help, or at least come back and bury him properly after Reuben has recovered from his wound. Reuben makes it back to civilization and marries the girl but an inopportune lie keeps him from fulfilling his promise to return. Tragic results ensue. The story is touching if a little bleak.

4. Young Goodman Brown--Goodman Brown, against the advice of his wife Faith, goes for a walk after dark into the forest. He has an appointment that he really shouldn't be keeping, but he insists on going. He's meeting up with the Devil (or maybe just one of his minions) and along the way he meets most of the good folk of his town, who have apparently all done what he's about to do--join up with the wrong side. Goodman starts to have doubts but can he get out of a bad situation? I'm not quite sure if this story is lamenting the Puritan mindset that everyone is evil or lampooning that idea.

5. The Minister's Black Veil: A Parable--Mr. Hooper is minister to a small Puritan town. He shocks his congregation one Sunday morning by coming to the meeting house with a black veil that covers most of his face, leaving only his mouth and chin visible. A lot of whispered speculation happens behind his back. A lot of unease happens in front of his veiled face. He won't explain it, even to his fiancee Elizabeth. She breaks off the engagement. He continues his ministerial duties, often comforting the afflicted and the dying. The well have no need of such a physician, as can be seen when he brings down a wedding party at which he officiates. He wears the veil to his dying day and even to the grave. When a young minister tries to take it off Hooper while on his death bed, Hooper refuses and tells everyone there (including the nurse, his beloved Elizabeth) that they too wear black veils. Hawthorne's parable shows how we all have hidden sins and need to find consolation. Embracing that knowledge is a fearsome thing for all involved.

6. The Birthmark--A husband becomes obsessed with his wife's birthmark (on her left cheek). He's a brilliant scientist who had no time for love until he met her. At first he ignored the mark (a red, hand-shaped blemish) but soon his disgust is apparent to her. She's willing to have it removed so as to remove his revulsion. He tries several methods with continual failure. A final concoction works on a blemished plant. The wife gladly takes it, removing both her birthmark and her life. The story is an interesting allegory of someone obsessed with a minor flaw in another without noticing the major flaw in himself.

7. Rappaccini's Daughter--Giovanni, a poor student, moves to Padua for a university education. He takes a cheap room that overlooks a garden. The garden is tended by Doctor Rappaccini, a botanist who has been crafting his own breeds of plants. He has a beautiful daughter, Beatrice, who helps with the plants he can't come near. He uses gloves and sometimes a mask, presumably because the plants are less than healthful. Beatrice has no problems, especially the fantastic purple one next to the decrepit water fountain. Giovanni is smitten with Beatrice. One of Giovanni's teachers, Baglioni, warns Giovanni of the dangers of Rappaccini. Baglioni and Rappaccini are rivals, so he may not be the most objective source. There is something weird about the garden and Beatrice. The purple flowers are toxic to insects and the first bouquet Giovanni gives to Beatrice almost immediately starts to wilt. Tragedy ensues. The story is quite fascinating and full of rich and bittersweet details.

8. Ethan Brand--Bartam the lime-burner is the latest in a line of kiln-tenders who use Ethan Brand's kiln. Ethan left town twenty years ago in search of the Unpardonable Sin. Many stories have grown over the years about Ethan, e.g. that he summoned the devil inside the kiln to discuss his search. On this night, Ethan returns and proclaims his success. Ethan has an evil laugh and unkind words for the old guys who come from the town tavern to see him. In spite of being asked, he never reveals what the Unpardonable Sin is, though he gives plenty of hints of the evil that he has done on his journey. Now at his journey's end, Ethan says he'll watch the kiln overnight for Bartram, who has an unpleasant and mystifying discovery in the morning. This is another tale of dark and hidden sin that resides not just in Brand but in most of the characters. Perhaps Brand is the only self-aware person, or the only one to see and embrace his evil rather than see and ignore it. The story isn't as compelling as the other but is interesting and fits in with the themes of his other stories.

I enjoyed these stories a lot. They give you a lot to think about and present a time long ago in a familiar and convincing way. Julie and Scott comment on Rappaccini's Daughter and Young Goodman Brown in episode 194 of A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Highly recommended, though I don't think this version is in print anymore. It should be fairly easy to find a collection of his short stories and well worth the hunt.

Random Bits of Maryland and Delaware 2020

Here's some random intriguing things I managed to take pictures of while on our recent beach trip.

Usually an above-the-ground pool is not all that impressive. Right near the seashore I spotted this pool which was a lot more than I was expecting. Usually this kind of pool is on top of (or inside of) a building like a nice hotel. There it was, just blocks from the actual ocean.

Convenient parking underneath!

One home had a sign out that reminded me of the pubs in England.

Bar or residence?

Some of the buildings along the Ocean City boardwalk looked cool to me.

Balconies galore!

A nicely old-fashioned building

One giant chair is called a "Selfie Spot" which I seems more like a way to get free ads posted to the internet for their business. But my son really wanted to get a picture in the chair, so here it is.

I did think about cropping out the top of the chair

Near our rental, we saw some interesting buildings. I liked the matching corner balconies and was intrigued by what the upside-down L-shaped windows were for.

Fun corner balconies

Near our rental was a Saturday morning farmers' market. We didn't buy anything because we were on our way to mini-golf.

Farmers' market in Phillips's parking lot

We brought a basketball with us and got to do a little bit of practice among all the other activities.

Playing on a local court

The trip was fun but exhausting.

Taking a nap

Book Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 23 by Hiromu Arakawa

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 23 by Hiromu Arakawa

The battles in and around Central City continue unabated. Alphonse Elric has a philosopher's stone which he uses to fight Pride and Kimblee rather than restore his normal body. The Elric brothers are heroes, after all. Speaking of siblings, Major General Armstrong is finally reunited with her brother Alex in a massive battle against the homunculus Sloth and the forces of the president. Ed, Scar, and a handful of others take on Envy. All the while, the homunculi's "father" is waiting below Central City for the big confrontation.

This is another exciting volume. The action is almost non-stop but the author still has time to advance the story and show the depth of the characters.

Recommended.

Movie Review: The Shallows (2016)

The Shallows (2016) directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

Medical school student Nancy (Blake Lively) goes to a secluded Mexican beach for a day of surfing. A friend was supposed to come with her but stayed at the hotel, too hungover. Nancy catches a ride with a local who convinces her to pay more attention to the beautiful jungle rather than to pictures on her cell phone. She's been looking at a lot of photos from 1992 when her mom came to the same beach while pregnant with Nancy. She has some sentimental and some sorrowful issues that motivated her trip. The situation takes a bad turn out on the water. Nancy discovers a beat-up whale that has drawn a shark. Nancy gets caught a few hundred yards from shore on a small reef--too far to swim before the shark gets her. She patches up a wound on her leg, the first step in her hoped-for survival. Can she make it to shore? Can she get help?

The premise is simple but convincing. Nancy has enough character development in the first ten or fifteen minutes to make her sympathetic and intriguing. A phone call from home establishes her personal relationships with her dad and her sister (her mom died recently). The tension builds up quickly and convincingly, making the movie a satisfying thriller. Lively's performance is fine and she's not treated like a sex object by the camera, which could have easily tanked the film's credibility and ruined her performance. The visual effects are seamless and the location is beautiful. Occasional moments are a bit over the top (how far can a shark throw a surf board in the air?) but are easy to overlook for the bigger story.

Recommended.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation (1978)

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation (1978) written by Robert Holmes and directed by George Spenton-Foster

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) is joined by Romana (Mary Tamm), a Time Lady who is assigned by the White Guardian (Cyril Luckham) to help the Doctor search for the components to the Key to Time. The Key is a powerful device, too powerful to be left in the hands of just anyone. The Black Guardian (whom viewers do not see) is also looking for the components. In addition to Romana, the Guardian gives the Doctor a locator device for the components. The device leads them to the planet Ribos.

Ribos is a fairly primitive planet, currently in a medieval period. The planet is centrally located, making it an ideal spot for Graff (Paul Seed), a petty and shouty prince, to take over. Graff was not allowed back in his kingdom after a war of conquest because the people didn't like his pettiness or his shoutiness. He's hoping to buy the planet from a consortium represented by Garron (Iain Cuthbertson). Garron is actually a con man trying to bilk money from the prince. When the Doctor shows up, he's not sure if Garron is a thief or an agent of the Black Guardian. The usual hijinks ensue.

The story is entertaining with a more original setting than most. The medieval world keeps the sets and costumes simple. There is a dodgy-looking monster that appears a few times but he's not the focus of the episode. Mostly it's about sorting out the con and trying to get the component. The initial relationship between the Doctor and Romana is a bit frosty on his part since he doesn't want a companion to watch over. She starts out a bit young and naive but she catches on quick. Baker and Tamm have good chemistry, promising a good run together. The show is also interesting as it is the first arc of a set of six series all involving the components from the Key to Time.

Recommended.

Food on the Maryland/Delaware Trip 2020

On the way out to the beaches, we stopped at the Ram's Head Shore House. Located on Kent Island just the other side of the Bay Bridge from Annapolis, the restaurant made a convenient stopping point. Bay Bridge traffic was already getting backed up at Thursday's lunchtime. We were glad to have a break from driving.

The restaurant has a large covered seating area out back to be compliant with pandemic lockdown requirements. Inside, there was only one other customer, so we decided to take a socially-distant booth.

Decor on the back of the building

My eldest had his beloved mac and cheese. I had a steak-a-dilla along with Old Rasputin, a Russian Imperial Stout from North Coast Brewing Company. It had a rich, roasted chocolate flavor that I liked a lot.

My beer

For dessert, we traveled another hour or so to Vanderwende's Creamery. My son was a little distressed by the sign.

The sign

Somehow, he only read the bit about milk and cheese and wasn't too enthusiastic about the dessert options.

The building is unassuming and charmingly simple.

The store

Picking out flavors

They had a scattering of tables outside where we enjoyed our very generous scoops. My scoop was Banana Fudge Walnut, which was delightful. I had to help two of the children finish theirs. Oh, the burdens of parenting!

Enjoying ice cream

We saw the cows from a distance.

Cows at the creamery

The business end of the creamery

On the Ocean City boardwalk, there's a million little shops that sell food, clothing, and souvenirs. We bought donuts from The Fractured Prune, a donut shop that makes fresh, customized donuts. The customer can pick the glaze, the topping, and/or sugar. The shop is very popular, so we had to stand in line for a few minutes, even before 9 a.m.

Waiting to order a donut

We ordered off the recommendations: Chocolate-covered cherry (cherry glaze and mini-chocolate chips), Caramel Bliss (caramel glaze with mini-chocolate chips), French Toast (maple glaze and cinnamon sugar), and Blueberry Hill (blueberry glaze and powdered sugar).

Food, glorious food!

Near our rental was an ice cream shop called King Kone. I bought a Jersey Shake in loyalty to my birth state. It was a delicious combination of caramel and vanilla.

My shake

Other shakes were available

We did some take out meals, but nothing too spectacular. We did a lot of cooking at the rental as a way to save money and to provide something satisfactory to all tastes.

The Maryland and Delaware Border, Now With Lighthouse

Our Ocean City rental was a few blocks from the Fenwick Island Lighthouse, just across the border from Maryland. We wanted to cross the border on foot just to say we had. The lighthouse wasn't open for tours but it was easily visible and had plenty of information on the outside.

Fenwick Island Lighthouse

The lighthouse was built in 1859. Ships were wreaking on the Fenwick Shoals so the United States Lighthouse Board recommended the installation. Congress approved $25,000 in 1856. They bought the highest point of land on Fenwick Island and started construction on the 87 foot tower. The lighthouse is conical in shape with a Fresnel Lens at the top. Fresnel was a French designer whose lenses sent more light further out. His lenses became the gold standard for lighthouses.

The lens at the top

At the time, Fenwick Island was undeveloped, with no bridges to the mainland. The island has the Atlantic to the east and Assawoman Bay (and no, I didn't make up that name) to the west. The first bridge was built in 1880. The lighthouse keepers had a rough life, even having to harvest their own salt in a special bowl! The bowl was sold at one point and a farmer used it to water his livestock. The bowl eventually came back and is in the yard.

Salt bowl from back in the day

The lighthouse was automated in the 1940s and decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1978. The locals protested and wanted the light back on. By 1981, the Coast Guard sold the lighthouse to the State of Delaware and funds were raised to restart the light.

A view from the bottom

We were surprised to see a white stone right in front of the lighthouse. The stone marks the Transpeninsular Line.

A strange stone marker

The stone was erected in 1751 to mark the border between Pennsylvania (Delaware not being a separate colony at the time) and Maryland. The stone has two coats of arms. On the south side (the Maryland side) is the coat of arms of the Calverts. On the north side is the coat of arms of the Penns. The border was ratified by King George III in 1769.

Calvert coat of arms

Penn coat of arms

The deed to the "Lower Counties on the Delaware" was given to William Penn, who had a separate deed for Pennsylvania proper. The counties were governed as part of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1701. The counties then petitioned for a separate colonial legislature, though they remained under the Pennsylvania governor's authority until 1776. Then they severed ties with Pennsylvania as they joined the other colonies in severing ties with England.

Walking to a nearby intersection, we saw the welcome signs from both states.

Maryland welcome

Delaware welcome

Who knew we would get two history lessons in one?

Book Review: The Shadow/Batman by S. Orlando et al.

The Shadow/Batman written by Steve Orlando and art by Giovanni Timpano

In the past couple of years, some bizarre crossovers have happened in comic book--Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Green Lantern/Planet of the Apes (at least the Star Trek/Planet of the Apes crossover has the cool title "The Primate Directive"), etc. I've avoided them like social contact at the height of corona virus paranoia. This crossover makes a lot more sense and immediately appealed to me.

Batman travels to New York City where he joins forces with The Shadow and Robin (the Damian Wayne version, who has gone off on his own even though he's only a teenager). Their tense triangle of crime-fighting is interesting, especially as the story assumes The Shadow trained Batman, who trained Robin. The family theme runs through the book. The Batman bad guy is Ra's al Ghul who is Robin's biological grandfather on his mother's side. The bad guys are part of an evil conspiracy that has dominated the world from the background for decades, even resurrecting certain people to maintain control. Bruce Wayne uses his financial power to try and force them into the public, an act that only invites devastating retribution.

I enjoyed the story for its noir styling and old-fashioned feel. The dialog is well written and the confrontations are exciting. It's just as much a Shadow story as a Batman story, which is nice. The art is great. Timpano worked on a Shadow comic before this, so he's had plenty of practice with the style. The only problem was the bonus material at the end where the author goes page by page through the first issue commenting on the creative process. The first few pages have the uncolored art that matches what he is talking about but pretty quickly the art switches to other pages from later issues and have nothing to do with the commentary. Whoops!

Recommended.

Movie Review: The Reef (2010)

The Reef (2010) written, produced, and directed by Andrew Traucki

Luke (Damian Walshe-Howling) pilots sailboats to whoever the new owner is. To make the adventure more fun, he invites Matt (Gyton Grantly) and his girlfriend Susan (Adrienne Pickering) to join him. Matt's sister, Kate (Zoe Naylor), also comes along even though she's Luke's ex-girlfriend. Warren (Kieran Darcy-Smith) is a boathand to help with the sailing. The group sails out past the Barrier Reef, stopping off at an island for a little fun in the sand. After leaving the island, the boat runs over some sharp rocks, tearing a hole in the boat and inverting it. The five manage to clamber onto what's left of the boat and retrieve some supplies from inside. Then it is decision time. Matt wants to swim north about ten miles to Turtle Island. If they don't, the current will just take them farther and farther from land. Warren stays with the boat, hoping to get discovered. The other four get in the water and start the long swim to safety. Warren is worried about sharks in the waters (he's got a big collection of jaws in his boathouse on the mainland), which indeed turns out to be a problem for the quartet.

I was a little worried the premise was too slim to yield a satisfying movie. The actors all do good jobs and the pacing is very even. The movie sticks to a "people's eye" view, leaving only glimpses of the sharks and the gore. The style is used very well, keeping the tension going right to the end.

This sort of slow-burn horror film is probably not to everyone's tastes but I enjoyed it a lot.

Recommended.

Minigolf in Ocean City 2020

Ocean City has seemingly a minigolf course every few blocks along the main north-south road (you can't go very far on an east-west road). We felt obligated to try one out. Near our rental was Lost Treasure Golf, an adventure-themed minigolf course. Many other themes were available in our neighborhood, including pirates, dinosaurs, and Australia. We picked one with a crashed airplane because that looked like fun.

Local golf

The welcome sign definitely had an "Indiana Jones" vibe without violating any copyrights.

Come on in!

This particular golf course has two courses, the gold course and the diamond course. When we asked about the differences between the two, the lady behind the counter said they were very similar. We let the kids choose our path, which lead us to the diamond course.

A nice sign

The course winds its way through the features, which includes the airplane, a waterfall, and various water hazards.

An overview of the course

We climbed up some stairs to start. After a few holes, we found one that led us back down to earth. The different cups on the hole led to different outlets at the bottom. None of us were able to hit the right hole to get a hole-in-one.

Going downhill

The very bottom led us into a cave where we found an unfortunately golfer hung up on a wall. Cheaters never prosper was the lesson we took from that skeleton. That blue thing in his mouth is indeed a golf ball!

Don't break any of the rules on this course!

The course offers a free round of golf to anyone who hits a hole-in-one on a certain hole. That hole changes everyday. We managed to get two holes-in-one--hole number ten and hole number thirteen. When we got back to the shop, the lady showed us the winning number--seventeen. Oh well, maybe next time. Golfing was fun and quite successful. We had no tears shed and no angry shouting.

Front view of the course

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet (1978)

Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet (1978) written by Douglas Adams and directed by Pennant Roberts

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Time Lady Romana (Mary Tamm) continue their hunt for the components of the Key to Time started in The Ribos Operation. They travel to the planet Calufrax only to find it not there. The TARDIS had trouble landing, which they initially assumed was just tempramental machinery (though Romana wants to fly the TARDIS by the instruction manual, which the Doctor disregards). They discover the planet is called Zanak. The planet's society goes through periods of prosperity which are heralded by a change in the stars in the sky. That is, the pattern of the stars completely changes. The Doctor and Romana investigate, finding out that the planet jumps around the galaxy, landing on smaller planets to mine them for valuable resources. Such a plan must be stopped and they get to work.

The show has a fairly interesting plot with some surprises along the way. The writer is the same fellow who wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so humor abounds. The captain of Zanak is a bit like a Vogon captain, all shouty and threatening death to those who disobey. His cartoonishness has a better explanation than uncreative writing. Baker and Tamm make a good team and work well as individuals.

Recommended.

Book Review: They Call Us Enemy by G. Takei et al.

They Call Us Enemy written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, art by Harmony Becker

George Takei, most famous for playing Sulu on Star Trek, tells the story of his childhood during World War II. He grew up in Los Angeles--his dad was a Japanese immigrant and his mother was a first-generation American. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, the government's attitude (along with a good deal of the country) shifted into a paranoid mistrust. Takei's family was forced into an internment camp in Arkansas. They lived under difficult conditions. The hardest part to take was that they, as loyal citizens, were assumed to be "alien enemies." The federal government only made matters worse by passing a law that "allowed" Japanese-Americans to revoke their loyalty to America and return to Japan. The story has been neglected for a long time and is well worth learning about.

The book does an excellent job of presenting the facts of the situation, told through the eyes of a child who experienced the situation without realizing fully what was going on until he was much older. Happily, Takei tells the tale in full maturity, without the histrionics of youth who hang on to anger without even trying to understand other points of view. Takei shows his teenage self (years after the internment) raging at his father for accepting such indignities. The author Takei understands the sacrifices his father made to keep his family together. At the end of the book, he does suggest that contemporary events are making the same mistakes again.

Highly recommended as an evenhanded and personal telling of a grave error our country made. Hopefully we will learn from it.

Northside Park, Ocean City, Maryland

On our little beach vacation, we went to Northside Park so the kids could take advantage of the playgrounds and I could get some geocaching in. The park also has a lot of ball fields for all sort of balls (baseball, basketball, soccer ball, etc.). The fields were closed because of the pandemic shutdown. We had enough to keep us occupied.

The older kids were surprised to find an exercise area. I went in with them to check out the equipment.

Entrance to exercise

Leg work

More leg work (with a little arm work thrown in)

Rowing machine without boat or oars

They enjoyed it a lot though some of the machines were mystifying. Each one had a short description of how to use the machine written in Ikea-form. That is, the pictures had no words and you had to work out how to do the exercises. Even I found it confusing.

The proper playground was the destination of our youngest, who spent a good deal of time exploring and pretending to be a Ninja Warrior.

Playground

Having dropped off the older kids at the playground, I went in search of the geocache Bushy Bush Bush. Even with the hint I could not find the cache. A lot of people were walking around in the park, making me a little more cautious than usual.

I found bushes but not caches

Another cache, Bill's Beach Box is Back, was located on the other side of the park. I took a leisurely stroll in the right direction, enjoying the views from a small bridge.

View toward the ocean (with no ocean to see)

View toward the bay

This cache was near an open field with lacrosse players practicing. After some searching, I could not find this cache either! My phone buzzed with a text that the kids were ready to go back to our rental. I walked over to the bay where they were throwing in rocks.

Bay approach

On our way out, the kids decided to try out one more park feature.

Wobble board fun!