Friday, July 11, 2025

Star Trek: Investigations

Episode: "Investigations"
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Season 2, Episode 20
Original Air Date: March 13, 1996

via Memory Alpha

A couple of subplots have been running through the last few Voyager episodes.  Crewman Michael Jonas has been sharing intelligence with the Kazon and Tom Paris has been acting like a jerk, even getting himself thrown in the brig and removed from duty.  Both stories come to conclusion in "Investigations" and - surprise! - they're connected.  Neelix gets to play investigative journalist with his new morning show, A Briefing with Neelix.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was firmly against continuing stories.  To a point, it's an understandable objection.  In the 1960s - an era long before streaming or even home video collections - you would want a new viewer to be able to tune into your show any given week and be able to get caught up in the story right away.  Going back and binging from the beginning simply wasn't an option.  In the 2020s, the television industry has moved so far in the other direction that Roddenberry's objection seems archaic.  

But the mid-'90s, there was still some resistance to the idea within the franchise.  Showrunner Jeri Taylor didn't like "Lifesigns" quite as much as I do, for instance, because she didn't like how the otherwise strong story was broken up by unexplained teasers from the two threads that culminate in "Investigations."  I think the format is clever, but I suppose I understand the purist point of view.

As for "Investigations" itself, I see positives and negatives.  On the plus side...
  • The reveal of what's really going on with Tom is satisfying.  Very Trek.
  • Pushing on the no one trusts Tom button is effective.
  • Neelix's show within a show is an accurate parody of 1990s television.  
On the negative...
  • I'm starting to feel the same way about Neelix episodes as I do about droid episodes in The Clone Wars - groan-inducing.
  • The plan for getting Tom on the Kazon ship works too well.  I understand the press for time within a TV series but they still could have stretched that out a bit.
  • Jonas's story is short-changed.  In an earlier installment, he is encouraged by his Kazon contacts to damage Voyager's warp coils (which happens by accident anyway) and he flatly refuses.  He makes clear he won't do anything to harm the ship or the crew.  Clearly, he's motivated by something other than anger or resentment and he's killed off too quickly for us to learn more.
  • Making Chakotay the chump doesn't feel good for the long-term development of the character.  Tom's apology is meaningful but the implications for a trusting Janeway-Chakotay relationship are not encouraging.

Acting Notes

via Film and Television Wikia

Jerry Sroka played the role of Laxeth, a Talaxian who takes Tom on as a member of his crew as part of the scheme.  "Investigations" is his only Trek appearance but he has another fun connection with the franchise.  He has been married to Mariette Hartley, Zarabeth in the original series episode "All Our Yesterdays," since 2005.

His films include Godspell and Our Almost Completely True Love Story.  The latter is the tale of his romance with Hartley.  The two wrote, produced and starred in the movie.  Beyond Trek, Sroka's television appearances include Seinfeld, Murphy Brown and The West Wing.

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Squid Eats: Zaytoona

There's a new halal restaurant in South Burlington, Vermont!  We're big fans of Middle Eastern cuisine.  Unfortunately, such dining options in Vermont are limited so any new place is well worth checking out. 

(Don't feel too sorry for us.  Nearby Montreal offers plenty - plus my wife is pretty damn good at cooking her own.) 

We went to Zaytoona for the first time this past weekend and I'm confident in predicting it will become part of our regular rotation.  The chefs are Jordanian and the owner is Yemeni so the Arabian peninsula is the focus.  The space is small, sparse and simple.  Service is prompt and very friendly.  Prices are reasonable.  Informal, too.  The staff were enthusiastically following a football match on the television.  PSG v Bayern Munchen.  I appreciate a place that feels human.


Right, the food.  I got the lamb & beef shawarma bowl, my wife the kofta bowl.  As you can see, there's a lot on there.  There's rice under the meat, salad and hummus you can see in the photo.  It was both tasty and filling - quite filling.  I almost couldn't finish mine.  As is often the case, I think my wife ordered better.  The pomegranate lemonade was lovely, too.  The restaurant is BYOB so it's nice they have satisfying non-alcoholic option.

We'll definitely be back.  Unfortunately, the mixed grill options - kababs, ayares, tawook - are not available for lunch.  So, dinner next time.  Based on this one visit, I'd say I still prefer Istanbul Kebab House in Burlington but it's good to mix things up.

I also may feel differently once I've tried the kababs.

Friday, July 4, 2025

Star Trek: Lifesigns

Episode: "Lifesigns"
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Season 2, Episode 19
Original Air Date: February 26, 1996

via Memory Alpha

The Doctor falls in love.

In responding to a distress call, our heroes encounter a lone, Vidiian traveler, dying from the phage.  While working desperately to save her, the Doctor creates a holographic clone of her to help in the treatment.  A healthy clone.  A beautiful, kind, intelligent, vulnerable clone.  Honestly, he never stood a chance.  

I'm going to take a risk here and say that this is not only the best episode of the series so far, it is the best of the first three seasons (pre-7 of 9).  I have been through most (but not all) of Voyager a few times now and "Lifesigns" sticks with me.  Obviously, it's wonderful development for the Doctor.  Who knew he was even capable of falling in love?  He sure didn't.  Plus the deeper examination of the pain and awkwardness of first love cuts deep.

If anything, the awkwardness is even more obvious for Danara (the Vidiian) than it is for the EMH.  She must overcome her own insecurities, having been shunned by society from a young age.  Much as Halle Todd's performance as Lal makes TNG's "The Offspring" one of Trek's all-time greats, Susan Diol's turn as Danara brings the magic to "Lifesigns."  Of course, in both cases, the exploration for the principal character is the whole point.  But it's the guest stars who make it work.


Acting Notes

via Quantum Leap Wiki

Susan Diol was born May 25, 1962 in Marquette, Michigan.  She's a Yooper!  She graduated from Otterbein College.  "Lifesigns" is her second of three Trek appearances, first of two as Danara.  

Most of her work has been on television.  Beyond Trek, she's made guest appearances on Night Court, Seinfeld and Quantum Leap among others.  Films include Reality and Loqueesha.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

On the Coffee Table: Saga Five

Title: Saga, Volume Five
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples

via Amazon

The adventures of Alana, Marko and Hazel continue, though now in separate threads: Alana and Hazel in one, Marko in another.  By the end of Volume Five, Hazel has been kidnapped but Alana and Marko are reunited.  Everyone's on the run and seriously, I think I'm going to need to create a character map to keep track of everybody.

If you wish for more info on the basic premise of Saga, my previous post is here.  This installment covers issues #25-30.  The energy is relentless.  Death is frequent, instantaneous and brutal - don't get too attached to anyone.  The material is often disturbing, including bad drug trips.  It is often disgusting - dragon sperm plays an important role.  Yet, through it all, even with all of the bizarre scifi trappings, the basic tale of the family is one of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.  It's downright masterful.

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

On the Coffee Table: The Sculptor

Title: The Sculptor
Writer and Artist: Scott McCloud

via Amazon

Struggling professional sculptor David Smith makes a deal with Death.  Over the next 200 days, his hands will create - as if by magic - anything his creative mind can conjure.  However, at the end of 200 days, he will die.  To complicate matters further, soon after, he falls in love.

I first became aware of Scott McCloud through his extraordinary non-fiction work.  His books Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of the sequential arts medium.  They were an essential part of my own orientation to the comic book world.  The books themselves also reveal a great deal about their creator.  McCloud is as fascinated by the artistic process as he is by the product.  

The Sculptor reflects this, too, though rather than focusing on the technical aspects - especially since with his new "powers," David instantly creates whatever he wants by simply touching the material - the story follows the artist's emotional journey.  The narrative itself, particularly the love story, is engrossing.  But the deeper explorations of inspiration, motivation and the relationships between creator, consumer and critic are the more interesting drivers.  

A few years ago, I had a memorable conversation with an art teacher colleague about the role of "the audience" in creating art.  I asserted, naïvely as it turns out, that one should always consider the perspective of the consumer in the creation of a piece.  She furrowed her brow at me and responded, "No.  Some of the most important work you'll ever do as an artist is what you create for yourself - only for yourself."

I can say from decades of experience that musicians, like me, hardly ever see things that way.  Our training is built entirely around what we project to the listener.  Yes, we should internalize the work as much as we can so we embody it.  But still, that is for the sake of the performance.  Until that conversation, I took for granted that everyone in the arts felt the same way.  

While The Sculptor doesn't explore this matter explicitly, much of David's journey revolves around reconciling what is meaningful to him with what is meaningful to the consumer.  He is, after all, trying to make a living so finding buyers is important.  But as the literal deadline approaches, the financial motivations fall away.  It's the legacy that matters.  How will he be remembered?  Eventually, even that becomes less important than the honesty of his work.  

My own visual art talents don't extend very far past stick figures.  I envy anyone who can convert a mental vision into a concrete reality.  McCloud's talents are considerable.  He's a master of black-and-white, bringing rich depth and texture to his drawings.  The Sculptor was published in 2015 and I haven't seen anything new from him since.  His work is so detailed that I'm not surprised he doesn't crank out books more quickly.  Still, I hope we see more from him before too long.

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

On the Road: Montreal 2025

Montreal is one of our favorite getaway spots.  We visited recently for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  It had been a couple years since our last trip and we stayed in a different part of town from our usual. Typically, we stay on the Plateau, a relatively residential area with ample dining and shopping opportunities.  This time, we stayed in Vieux-Montréal (Old Montreal) which, largely because of the Notre-Dame Basilica, is considerably more touristy.  Still lovely, of course.  Just a different vibe.

Our first full day was spa day, our morning spent at Scandinave, just down the street from our hotel (described in this post).  For me, few things in the world feel more self-indulgent than a long, hot bath.  It's wonderfully freeing to be in a place where your only purpose is to relax.  Electronics and even conversation are taboo.  While my wife went for a massage, I enjoyed three full hot/cold/relax cycles.  I wish we could afford to do it everyday.

We spent the second day at art museums, primarily the Musée de Beaux-Arts.  It was also my best day for photographs:

Paysage by Albert Gleizes

Le port (Marseilles) by Gleizes

Le port de Bordeaux by André Lhote

La Vierge attentive ou La Vierge à l'étoile by Louis Cattiaux

Forme dans l'espace by Alfréd Réth


Evening on the Terrace (Morocco) by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant

The Main Path at Giverny by Claude Monet

The Pitchpoling (D-27, 2X) by Frank Stella
Stella created a mixed media piece for each chapter of Moby-Dick.  "The Pitchpoling" is chapter 84.

"Tower of Songs", a street mural portrait of Montreal native Leonard Cohen by Gene Pendon and El Mac

As we were packing up our car to leave, our valet joked that we'd "had enough of Montreal."  Not true.  While I'm definitely not a city person at this stage of my life, I find Montreal to be as dynamic and accessible a city as any I've visited - and I've been to quite a few of the world's greats, even lived in a couple.  We'll definitely be back.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Star Trek: Accession

Episode: "Accession"
Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 4, Episode 17
Original Air Date: February 24, 1996

via Memory Alpha

A traveler appears at the opening of the wormhole, 200 years after he first entered it.  That's just the beginning of the surprises.  The man, Akorem Laem, experienced the passage of centuries in minutes.  What's more, he claims to be the Emissary!  Funny, Sisko had just been complaining about the burdens of his own sacred role within the Bajoran religion.  Here's his chance to pass it on to someone else.  

Apparently, neither the viewers nor the studio execs were fans of the religion-themed episodes.  I say the topic is fair game and inherently interesting, even essential if you're going to spend meaningful time exploring a culture.  For Bajor, religion and politics are deeply intertwined.  I'd say we have some experience with that here on Earth, too.  If anything, the lines have become even further blurred in the 29 years since "Accession."

This week's story is one of several in a series-spanning arc about Benjamin coming to terms with his role as Emissary.  The resolution of this particular installment is interesting - and somewhat surprising.  In his brief term as Emissary, Akorem promotes a more traditional position, particularly in regards to the Bajoran caste system, an structure abandoned during the Cardassian occupation.  While the Bajorans seem (mostly) ready to fall in line, Captain Sisko takes great exception as reverting would compromise Bajor's chances for joining the Federation.

What sets up as a political conflict is ultimately resolved by spiritual means.  Sisko challenges Akorem's claim as the Emissary and the two return together to the wormhole to confront the Prophets regarding their intentions.

We still have over three seasons to go in the series so it should be easy enough to guess what the Prophets tell them.

In the long run, Sisko fighting for a title he'd previously made clear he didn't want is a big deal.


Acting Notes

via Mork and Mindy Wiki

Richard Libertini (Akorem Laem) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 7, 2016.  He graduated from Emerson College.  Films included All of Me, Fletch and Fletch Lives.  TV credits include a regular cast role on Soap, multiple guest appearances on Barney Miller and voice work on Animaniacs.

Libertini passed away in 2016 from cancer.