Star Trek: Cathexis

Episode: "Cathexis"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 1, Episode 13

Original Air Date: May 1, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Chakotay and Tuvok's shuttle is attacked on their way back from a trade mission.  Tuvok escaped with a concussion but Chakotay is left brain dead.  Voyager tries to return to the point of attack but something keeps turning them back.  Meanwhile, a mysterious entity is taking over the minds of crew members one at a time.

It's not the greatest episode, aliens taking mental possession of crew members being well-tread territory for Star Trek.  The most obvious precedent is the notoriously terrible "Spock's Brain."  The plot twist at the end isn't bad, though.  The most important element long-term is the glimpse into Captain Janeway's fantasy world.  The episode opens in the holodeck with Janeway taking on the role of governess for the children of a widower in "ancient England."  The 19th century costume drama will resume in two future episodes.  I find the story an odd choice for a woman who has worked hard to attain a position of authority but the idea came from Jeri Taylor so what do I know.

The main story was inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.  The holonovel draws from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw.  

Acting Notes

via Arrowverse Wiki

Brian Markinson played the role of Lieutenant Pete Durst, a bridge officer.  Markinson was born in New York City.  He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  "Cathexis" marked his second of four Star Trek appearances.  He'll be back as Durst in the next episode.

Films include Shooter, Godzilla (2014) and three Woody Allen films: Sweet and Lowdown, Small Time Crooks and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.  His most prominent television work has been in Canada, playing Police Chief Bill Jacobs and Da Vinci's Inquest and Da Vinci's City Hall.  On stage, Markinson led Lost in Yonkers on Broadway and Angels in America at the Arts Club Theatre Company in Vancouver.

On the Road: Tree Farm 2024

For a full understanding of what the Tree Farm is, exactly, I refer you to this post.  A quick summary: my family has a cabin in central Pennsylvania, not far from State College.  It's in a summer community that has been a part of my life since I was seven years old.  My parents spend a decent portion of their summer there every year.

The three of us (wife, child, me) went for a week-long visit in July.  I have already blogged about some of our food adventures:

Tara Kitchen

Akita Asian Cuisine

The Naked Egg Café

Snap Custom Pizza

It has been 14 years since my original post about the place.  That's a long time in the life of such a community.  It's an older crowd for much of the summer with most folks in their 70s and 80s.  Late July to early August is the high social season when the younger generations arrive en masse.  There are a lot of small children who weren't there 14 years ago.  And of course, loved ones have passed on in that time, too.  The rest of us have simply gotten older.

Every year, I feel I have to sort out my place at the Tree Farm all over again and I suppose more to the point, its place in my life.  The cabin is a lower tech version of our own home in Vermont.  If anything, I'll take the woodlands here over the woodlands there.  It's a long drive, too, and beyond my family, the person in the community I feel closest to also happens to live in northwest Vermont.  So, why bother?  If the place weren't so important to my parents, would I still make the effort?

Life never sits still for long.  Change is the only constant.  That's a self-contradicting sentence yet people say it all the time.  It's good to have one spot of earth where you can always return.  You'll always feel welcome.  My parents haven't lived in the house where I grew up for nearly a quarter century.  My wife and I have no intention of staying in our current home forever.  But the Tree Farm is right where it has always been and that is a comfort.  

Even if I didn't want that for myself, I'd want it for our child.  They love the place and have made clear they're committed for life.  

State of the Blog 2024

Blogging Year 16, here we go!  Looking back at last year's State of the Blog, I'm pleased to report that sophomore year of college did, indeed, go a lot more smoothly for our child than the first year did.  Life is never exactly stress-free for any of us but their finding better balance helped my wife and I to do the same.  Here's hoping junior year is even better.

I don't have any big changes planned for the coming blogging year.  The schedule will be the same...

Tuesdays: Family Adventures

Fridays: Star Trek

Occasional book posts

Family Adventures will still likely be food-dominated, though I'd like to write more about our travels, too.  We don't take too many big trips these days, mostly weekend excursions plus visits to friends and family.  But you never know.

For Star Trek, it's onward with both Deep Space Nine and Voyager.  I should be well into Season 4 for the former and Season 2 for the latter by this time next year.

I am eternally grateful to those of you who stop by to read and engage.  As always, if any of you enjoys reading The Squid half as much as I enjoy writing it, we're all doing fine.  

Squiddies 2024

The Armchair Squid turns fifteen years old today.  It's time to hand out some hardware.  The Squiddy goes to...

Biggest Surprise: The Cat and the Roomba

via Wikipedia

The premise of the Japanese manga The Way of the House Husband by Kosuke Oono is wild.  Tatsu, a Yakuza boss, leaves his life of organized crime when he marries a career woman.  Obviously, he doesn't have too many job skills beyond thuggery so he learns to cook and clean while his wife makes the money.  Manga, particularly the ones that make it into translation, are dependably high-quality compared to most English-language comic books.  So I wasn't surprised that it's good.  I was definitely surprised that it's so funny.  Humor does not always translate well from one culture to another.

In one issue/chapter, Tatsu attempts to vacuum via Roomba.  The family cat is not pleased.  Madness ensues.  Yes, it is the stuff of TikTok videos.  Somehow, it's way funnier in sequential art form.  I genuinely laughed out loud.

Biggest Disappointment: Queerphobia and Misogyny at Citizen Cider

Last year, our favorite local cidery released its first beer, an offering called Hey Bub.  In itself, it seemed a reasonable choice for expanding the brand.  The trouble came in the marketing campaign, clearly targeting straight, white, blue-collar men.  There were t-shirts of men doing manly things like riding a tractor or fishing with taglines like "Get Plowed" and "Approved for Hooking Up."  The company's own pub staff, specifically the female and LBTQIA+ employees who have to endure unwelcome advances from drunk customers all the time, took offense and refused to wear the shirts as directed by management.  During Pride Month, the staff decorated a chalkboard promoting the new beer and other products with rainbows.  The board was mysteriously erased.  Twice.  A company director was overheard saying "We can't have that shit" associated with Hey Bub.  

Not good.

Loads of people quit and the public backlash has been severe with a local boycott of the brand doing real damage.  The Boardroom, our local game cafe, sold their last keg of Citizen Cider at a reduced price and gave all the proceeds to LGBTQIA+ charities.  Obviously, Citizen Cider has tried to walk it all back but for those injured, it's too little too late.

I'm upset that it happened but I cheer for the whistleblowers who stood up for themselves.  And I'm proud of the Vermont public that backed them up.  It's the sort of thing that makes me glad we live here.

You can read the original Seven Days article here.

Best Read, First Time Category: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

via Amazon

I guess I'm a sucker for books about aging and death.  I still recommend Atul Gawande's Being Mortal to any and all.  In her graphic memoir Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Roz Chast shares her experiences in dealing with her parents.  The story is neither pretty nor sweet.  There is pain, frustration and struggle at every stage.  As my own parents grow older, these are the sort of things I think about all the time.  Chast's book was a meaningful find.

  

Best Re-Read: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

via Amazon

I have a love-hate relationship with R&J.  On the one hand, I feel the double suicide is one of the great narrative copouts in all of literature.  On the other, it is the play that made me fall in love with Shakespeare and it didn't happen until I was in my late 30s.  This past fall, I read it for pure pleasure, neither scholastic nor professional responsibilities involved.  Without a doubt, it is a masterpiece.

Best Comics Find: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

See above.

Athlete of the Year: Bernie Casey (1939-2017)

via Amazon

Bernie Casey played the role of Calvin Hudson in the DS9 two-parter The Maquis (see parts 1 and 2).  Long before that, he was a professional football player and a successful one at that.  He had a seven-year career in the NFL, playing as a halfback, flanker and tight end, first for the San Francisco 49ers, later for the Los Angeles Rams.  He made the Pro Bowl in 1967.  In addition, he was a champion hurdler in college.  

Best Family Adventure: Hot Water

Last year's adventure at Scandinave (see same category last year) turned us on to the pleasures of hot water bathing.  This year, we had three trips where spas and jacuzzis figured in the planning: two visits to Porches Inn in North Adams, Massachusetts and one to the extraordinary Balnea Spa in Bromont, Quebec.  I expect our new hobby will be a prominent theme in our future travels.  

Star Trek: Improbable Cause

Episode: "Improbable Cause"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 3, Episode 20

Original Air Date: April 24, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Garak episode!

A bomb destroys Garak's tailor shop.  The prime suspect, a Flaxian named Mr. Retaya, makes a run for it.  Odo and Garak pursue in the runabout but Retaya's ship suddenly explodes.  When Odo digs a little deeper, he learns five other Obsidian Order operatives were killed the same day as the attempt on Garak.  Evidently the Romulans are involved.  Meanwhile, Enabran Tain, the retired head of the Order, has gone missing.  What's going on?  Quite a lot as it turns out.

"Improbable Cause" marks an important turning point in the series.  Here is where we first learn of the impending war between the Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant powers, the driving narrative force for Deep Space Nine from here on out.  It's also the best episode in a while.  Surprises abound.  Odo's interrogation of Retaya is stellar.  And, of course, Garak is spectacular.  This is the first episode in which he gets to play primarily off of Odo rather than Bashir or Sisko and the results are wonderful.  Their best exchange:

Odo: I'm not about to leave you alone in here so you can look through my security files.
Garak: What makes you think I haven't already looked through them?

So good and yet I couldn't find room in my running Top 10 list of episodes.  That's what it's like with DS9.  The list of rock solid gems is long.  A lot of elements go into making the engine hum and so many of the stories feel essential, even some of the ones that seem frivolous on the surface.  

That's not to say there aren't occasional problems.  Odo's suspicion of Retaya is straight-up racial profiling. 

Acting Notes

via Mighty Med Wiki

Carlos Lacaméra (Retaya) was born in Havana, Cuba, November 11, 1958.  His family moved to Washington, D.C. after the Cuban Revolution.  He attended UCLA.

Lacaméra has had principal roles on Nurses, The Brothers Garcia and its sequel series, The Garcias.  He has had recurring roles on Close to Home, Mighty Med and Major Crimes.  Lacaméra is an accomplished playwright.  His plays Nowhere on the Border, Havana Bourgeois and Cuba Libre, a musical for which he wrote book and lyrics, have all been performed by professional companies.

Squid Eats: Snap Custom Pizza

Snap Custom Pizza is a Pennsylvania-based chain with five locations in its home state plus one in Delaware.  My wife and I went to the one in State College for lunch during our recent Central PA adventure.  The concept is wonderful, basically build your own pizza with your choice of crust, sauce, cheese, protein, vegetables and "finishing touches."  You want a cauliflower crust with spicy diablo sauce, goat cheese, Buffalo chicken and truffle oil?  They can do that.

Understandably, they also have a number of "Signature Pizza" offerings for the customer who's not up to thinking so hard.  We ordered two.  In the photo, the one at the top is the Sweet n' Slow, basically a meat pizza with pepperoni, sausage and meatballs.  The one at the bottom is a more adventurous curry-based pizza with chicken, corn and onions among other things.  My wife had never had corn on pizza before, a standard topping in Japan when I was there in the '90s.

We were pleased.  We definitely prefer a thicker pizza - Chicago deep-dish is the ideal - but Snap's was decent.  Maybe a little greasy but flavors were nice.  The leftovers made for a pleasant breakfast the next day.  I'd go again.  None of the ingredients on offer are particularly far out but I'd still enjoy playing mix-and-match.  I will pass on the cauliflower crust.

It's counter-service and pretty quick considering they're doing made-to-order pizzas.  In summer, there aren't quite as many students around but still, it was busy - loads of families with what looked like perspective students in tow.  I would imagine it's a popular spot during the academic year.

Star Trek: Heroes and Demons

Title: "Heroes and Demons"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Season 1, Episode 12

Original Air Date: April 24, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Ensign Kim disappears while playing in a Beowulf-scape on the holodeck.  When Chakotay and Tuvok go in after him, they disappear, too.  A holographic problem requires a holographic solution.  As such, the Doctor is the best choice to get to the bottom of things.  

What seems like it will be a Harry story as he's the one missing evolves into a Doctor story, and a meaningful one.  The EMH gets significant development.  For the first time, the Voyager crew sorts out a way for him to go anywhere beyond sickbay.  He also gets to eat.  He even tries on a name for a while, Dr. Schweitzer, though he gives it up in the end.

"Heroes and Demons" is one in a series of episodes in which the possibilities for the Doctor character expand.  From the beginning, it is clear he's not content being contained in a box.  He wants to be part of the crew, making contributions and being treated with respect.  This is hardly the first story in which he saves the day but it is the first one in which he does so beyond sick bay, and beyond the specific role for which he is programmed.  It also expands his capacity to develop relationships, though it's still at the initiative of others - Kes on Voyager and the warrior Freya in the holodeck.  With the latter, he shares his first kiss.

Acting Notes

via The New Systems Commonwealth Wiki

Marjorie Monaghan (Freya) was born in Orange County, California, March 19, 1964.  She's rather tall, though not quite as tall as the 6' 11" Robert Picardo described.  She's 6' tall.  Picardo is 5' 10".

Monaghan is best known for the recurring character Tessa Halloran on Babylon 5.  She also had regular roles on the short-lived Space Rangers and Rescue 77.  Films include The Bonfire of the Vanities, Regarding Henry and Nemesis.

Squid Eats: The Naked Egg Café

The Naked Egg Café is a diner on the western edge of State College, Pennsylvania, not far from the Tree Farm (see here).  Years ago, the same site was home to Watkins Dariette, a good place to stop for ice cream.  I think this was my second visit to Naked Egg, though my first in several years.  It's a charming spot with a college-student waitstaff in the summer (maybe year round?).  Our server has broader farm-to-table aspirations of her own.  Listening to conversations around us, I'd say it's a popular spot with Penn State professors.

I got "The Burger" with a side of cole slaw.  A straight-up burger is always a solid test order for such an establishment, especially if there's no club sandwich on the menu.  It was well-cooked and pleasantly - and not overwhelmingly - seasoned.

Interesting artwork on the walls.

We'll definitely be back.

Star Trek: Through the Looking Glass

Episode: "Through the Looking Glass"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 3, Episode 19

Original Air Date: April 17, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Garak episode!

Sisko is kidnapped by Mirror Universe (MU) O'Brien and brought to the alternate dimension.  The Terran Rebels want Jennifer Sisko (Felecia M. Bell), still alive in the MU, to join their cause and see "Real World" (RW) Sisko as the best bet for convincing her, especially since MU Sisko has been killed.  Problem is, while the Siskos are indeed married in the MU, this Jennifer detests her husband.  

The episode title is an homage to Lewis Carroll's classic novel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.  

We see several characters' mirrors this time who didn't make appearances in Season 2's "Crossover," specifically Bashir, Rom, Dax, Tuvok (in a Voyager crossover) and the aforementioned Jennifer.  The first four are all Terran Rebels though, as we soon learn, Rom's loyalties are conflicted.  Interestingly, MU Dax (who suffers from a terrible mid-'90s hairstyle) is MU Sisko's lover so RW Sisko finally gets to have sex, a fact that pleased actor Avery Brooks.  In fact, he gets to sleep with MU Kira, too.  

Both Patrick Stewart and Brooks pushed for their characters to have more of a sex life.  Kate Mulgrew, on the other hand, fought hard against the sexualization of Captain Janeway for understandable reasons.

I'm not a fan of the way DS9 uses the MU.  For the original series, it was a fantastic one-off concept.  But Deep Space Nine (and later Discovery) develops a whole separate story arc and I just don't see the point.  It doesn't provide insights into the RW equivalents.  It's just a separate thread.  Maybe sometime, I'll watch all of DS9's MU episodes in one sitting and I'll appreciate them better.  But as it is, it doesn't work for me.

That said, bringing Jennifer back was definitely an interesting idea, especially given the very different relationship the Siskos have in the MU.  Others have criticized Bell's performance but I'm not sure what exactly they wanted from her.  Did they really expect MU Jennifer to instantly fall head over heels for RW Benjamin?  Clearly, it's a disastrous marriage in the MU and at episode's end, Jennifer is just coming to terms with the idea that there's a different, kinder, honorable version of her husband - the opposite of an evil twin.  Of course, it's going to take some time for that to sink in.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Felecia M. Bell was born in Los Angeles.  In addition to DS9, she has had a recurring roles on both Days of Our Lives and General Hospital as well as a principal role on Night Man.  She only has one feature film credit: Clara in Babyfever.  Bell retired from acting in 2007 and has since worked as a holistic nutritionist.

On the Coffee Table: Thi Bui

Title: The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir

Writer and Artist: Thi Bui

via Amazon

In an extraordinary work of sequential art, Thi Bui documents her family's history through much of the 20th century to the present.  She shares all of the struggles through the wars - first with the French, then between the North and the South with the US taking the side of the latter - and beyond.  Her family made it to the States in 1978.

The Vietnam War had an enormous impact on American society.  Obviously, those who fought were affected deeply.  Television brought the battlefield right into civilian living rooms, affecting millions more.  Countless books have been written.  Academy Award-winning films and documentary mini-series were made.  Vietnam is, for many in the Baby Boomer generation, the defining event of their young adulthood.  

What is lost through nearly all of this storytelling is the Vietnamese perspective.  In American history, Vietnam is painted as the first war we lost because the expressed objectives were not achieved.  But who won, exactly?  Yes, thousands of American soldiers were killed.  But the Vietnamese deaths - both North and South - counted in the millions.  Never mind the long-term, catastrophic damage the American military brought to a primarily agricultural country in the form of napalm and Agent Orange.  Sure, the Communists marched into Saigon anyway but the damage exacted by the United States exceeded that suffered by the United States many times over.

Bui's narrative lays plain the realities.  She also makes clear, her family was fortunate to survive.

Her story isn't all war trauma.  The books starts with a quick, two-page history of Vietnam from 111 BC to 1975 AD.  Then we're taken to the labor ward of a New York hospital where Bui awaits the birth of her first child.  Throughout, the tale shifts back and forth between present and past.  It is the rare memoir that lives simultaneously - and successfully - in the personal, the familial, the local and the global.  For anyone interested in history, Asia and/or the immigrant experience, The Best We Could Do is highly recommended.

On the Coffee Table: Hostage

Title: Hostage

Writer and Artist: Guy Delisle

via Goodreads

Quebecois graphic novelist Guy Delisle interviewed Doctors Without Borders administrator Christophe André about the latter's experience being kidnapped in the Caucasus.  André was snatched out of his office one evening in 1997, then held for ransom for several months in Chechnya.  For most of the time, he was chained to a radiator, only a bare mattress between himself and the floor.  On a typical day, he only saw his captors for meals and a single bathroom break.

Delisle drags us along through the seemingly endless, torturous tedium.  Since he doesn't speak his kidnappers' language nor they his, he has no idea what's going on most of the time with only occasional indications that anyone on the outside is looking for him.  For his own psychological survival, André, a war buff, plays mentally through battles from the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War in order to keep his brain occupied.

Amazingly, he survived to tell the tale.  I'd be interested to know more about his adjustment back to "normal" life afterwards but the book doesn't dig into that.  While the action is minimal, it's certainly a compelling story.  The starkness of Delisle's typical art style suits it well.

Squid Eats: Akita Asian Cuisine

We took our time on our way down to Pennsylvania a few weeks ago.  Between Schenectady (see here) and the Tree Farm (here), we made an overnight stop in Scranton because it's about halfway.  In search of a place for dinner that was reasonably close to our hotel, we chose Akita Asian Cuisine in nearby Moosic.

It's not fair to say at all but upstate Pennsylvania - meaning everything that isn't Philadelphia or Pittsburgh - can easily feel like a land of strip malls.  Such is the location for Akita, though the restaurant itself is inviting once you're inside.  I'd say there were about eight tables and a sushi bar in a comfortable, shoebox shaped room with an open space in the middle allowing easy navigation for the wait staff.  The decor is simple - nothing either glamorous or memorable.  It's a functional space.  Sometimes, that's all you need.

I got the sashimi dinner:

The fish was both expertly cut and beautifully presented.  Some of the cuts were still a bit too cold.  We're talking about raw fish so obviously you want it stored on ice before it's prepared but it's supposed to then warm in the chef's hand.  I realize I could also have been a bit more patient.  I was hungry.  It's a minor gripe.  Overall, I enjoyed my meal just fine.

Akita does not have a liquor license - not a disaster, obviously, but I do typically enjoy a couple beers in the evening.  We bought some elsewhere afterwards - no easy feat in Pennsylvania.  The state has some of the strangest liquor laws in the United States.  If you're curious, Nick Vadala explains it all here.  

On the Coffee Table: Talk to My Back

Title: Talk to My Back

Writer and Artist: Yamada Murasaki

via Amazon

In 1981, Yamada Murasaki created a manga series for Garo magazine, an influential platform for alternative and avant-garde comics.  Talk to My Back depicts a woman navigating her difficult, though hardly unusual, relationships with her husband and their young children.  Murasaki accomplishes quite a lot with a little.  The artwork is sparse in the extreme.  Facial features are notably absent in many panels, enhancing the loneliness of the protagonist's world.

Feminism has a much quieter voice in Japan than it does in the West.  Women wanting to be more than wives and mothers has been a central message of American feminism at least since the publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique in 1963.  Even by the time I was in Japan in the mid-to-late '90s, typical views were archaic.  

Quiet, however, does not mean subtle.  Talk to My Back is a powerful work.  There's no mistaking the resentment and isolation revealed.   And I'm confident there are women throughout the world who often find themselves in similar emotional circumstances.  Unreasonable expectations are placed on women, period - in the home, in the workplace, in society at large. 

Don't think so?  What was one of the first criticisms leveled at Kamala Harris when she became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President?  She has no children.  No politician would ever dare hold that against a man.  Harris is a woman so evidently it's okay.  It's disgusting.  Thankfully, the Republican ticket seems to be suffering a political price for their idiotic and hateful rhetoric.

Yeah, I know I've promised to keep the Squid apolitical but seriously, if you're not yet convinced that Donald Trump shouldn't be President, I don't even know where to start with you.  Hate mongering is not politics.  It's just gross.

I'm getting off topic (sort of).  Talk to My Back gives you a lot to think about regardless of your sex, gender or political affiliation.  Or at least, it should.  It's the sort of work that should make you uncomfortable.  I won't ever claim to be a perfect husband.  I know my wife feels unappreciated at times and she's right to, not because I don't try but because too often, I don't think.  Reading a book like this is an important kick in the pants.

If this sort of book "offends" you, well, I'm not sure where to start.  It's a book I feel everyone should read.  It gets to the heart of why families - all families - are difficult, and likely more so for the women involved.

Star Trek: Distant Voices

Episode: "Distant Voices"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 3, Episode 18

Original Air Date: April 10, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Garak episode!

Doctor Bashir is attacked by Altovar, a visiting Lethean who is desperate for bio-mimetic gel.  While his conscious body slips into a coma, Bashir hallucinates.  In his dream, the station is under attack.  It takes a while for him to find his friends.  He gradually realizes that each one represents an aspect of his personality.

After such a strong opening, Season 3 has definitely fallen into a rut.  This and the previous two episodes have all been weak.  I wonder if Voyager's kickoff was siphoning off creative energy from DS9.  No worries for the long term.  I know that all will come right soon.  It's just been a bit of a drag in the short term.

As ever, even in a weaker episode, Garak is the highlight.  Predictably, the tailor plays the most enigmatic role in Bashir's dreamscape.  The two discuss it in the denouement, after the doctor regains consciousness.  Garak's closing line: "To think, after all this time, all our lunches together... you still don't trust me.  There's hope for you yet, doctor."

Acting Notes

via Criminal Minds Wiki

Victor Rivers (Altovar) was born in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, October 1, 1955.  Football came before acting: offensive guard.  He played college ball at Florida State where he was a team captain, then for the NFL's Miami Dolphins for two seasons.

Films include Nixon, The Mask of Zorro and Hulk.  He has had guest-starring roles on Cybill, 24 and Miami Vice.  

A child survivor of physical abuse at the hands of his father, Rivers is now the national spokesman for the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

On the Coffee Table: Dungeon

Title: Dungeon, Twilight, Vol.1: Dragon Cemetery

Creators: Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim

via Amazon

It's been nearly ten years since I'd last read a Joann Sfar comic.  He was our family favorite for a while as we explored The Rabbi's Cat, Little Vampire, Sardine and Klezmer.  Dungeon is a sweeping epic with Twilight only one of several sub-series.  Originally written in French, most though not all issues have been translated into English.  The first issue was published in 1998 and the series is still ongoing.

Dungeon is intended as a parody of Dungeons & Dragons.  For Twilight, we have a team of adventurers: Marvin the dragon, old and blind but clearly powerful; Marvin the Red, rabbit warrior, scrappy, caddish and impulsive and an unnamed, yet invaluable bat who serves as the dragon's faithful guide.  Dragon Marvin's quest is the titular dragon cemetery.  Herbert the Duck, also known as The Great Khan, wants to find it, too.  So while Marvin the dragon is technically his prisoner, Herbert pretends to let him escape so his minions can follow.

It's all more complicated that and a little too busy to follow at times.  But the world-building is rich and the characters charmingly colorful.  It's bawdier than I remember D&D being, too, though admittedly I stopped playing when I was about 13 - imagination limited by inexperience.

I'm inclined to continue with the series - could be a while, though.  The TBR shelves are pretty well stuffed these days.