Squid Eats: Halvorson's

Over two decades ago, now, my wife and I were at the hospital.  My wife had been hooked up to a pitocin drip all day, intending to induce labor for the birth of our first and only child.  The doctors told us we could keep going with the drip through the night or take a break and get a good night's sleep.  My wife chose sleep.  My job was to run out to get some real food for dinner so we wouldn't have to settle for hospital grub.  I went to Halvorson's, one of the few places on Burlington's Church Street that was still open and taking orders.  I came back with cheeseburgers.

They were the best cheeseburgers we've ever eaten in our lives...

If hunger is the best sauce, exhaustion runs a close second.  That last night of our pre-parenting lives, we had plenty of both.  The story itself is one I still gleefully tell expecting parents, particularly those preparing for a planned inducement.  A return visit to Halvorson's seemed as good a way as anyway to celebrate Father's Day, our first without the kid - they have an internship in Massachusetts for the summer.

My cheeseburger was still damn good - a reasonable medium rare but with a respectable sear on the outside, as if fresh off the grill.  I'm not sure it was worth $17 but that seems to be the going rate at restaurants these days.  My wife was less impressed with her fish tacos, essentially deconstructed for her to put together at the table.  The mud pie for dessert was nice.

We haven't been to Halvorson's much in the intervening years.  That's mostly because of ample preferable alternatives on Church Street.  Apart from sentimental value, I don't know if I'd be inclined to go again.

But the classic cheeseburger really is pretty good.

Star Trek: Death Wish

Episode: "Death Wish"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 18

Original Air Date: February 19, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Our heroes encounter Quinn (Gerrit Graham), a member of the Q Continuum.  Quinn wishes to be allowed to die and suicide is illegal among his kind.  Our usual Q (John de Lancie) turns up to bring Quinn in for punishment.  Quinn requests asylum, giving Captain Janeway a decision to make.  Q agrees to abide by her choice, though he dangles a bribe: bringing Voyager home.  

The right to die on one's own terms is a relevant moral question for any society and not entirely new turf for Star Trek.  The philosophical debate aside, "Death Wish" earns praise from critics for the acting.  Graham, de Lancie and Kate Mulgrew are all wonderful.  Plus, we get a brief cameo from our old pal Will Riker.

The series's strong run continues.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Gerrit Graham was born in New York City, November 27, 1949.  He attended but did not graduate from Columbia, though he did meet Brian De Palma, a fortuitous encounter in the long run.  "Death Wish" was Graham's second of two Trek appearances.

Graham has been in several of Brian De Palma's films, including Greetings, Hi, Mom, Home Movies and Phantom of the Paradise.  Beyond Trek, he had a principal voice role in The Critic and a recurring role in Parker Lewis Can't Lose.  He was one of the finalists for DS9's Odo along with René Auberjonois and Andrew Robinson.  He also wrote the teleplays for two Twilight Zone (80s version) episodes.  

Squid Plays: Solo

Solo is a card game produced by AMIGO, a German company.  It's been described as "UNO on steroids."  It's basically the same concept: play a card, next player matches number or color, lots of other cards you can play to mess with your opponents.  Solo has some additional fun cards which involve swapping hands with another player, gifting two cards, everyone passing cards to the left (or right), etc.  The biggest change, and the most fun, is that you can play a matching card - color AND number - anytime, effectively stealing the turn.  So, you've gotta pay attention all the time.

Left to right: Protection, Gift, All Swap Cards, Swap Cards with Another Player

Our game group fell in love with Solo during COVID as it was one of several games we discovered on Board Game Arena during social distancing times.  We've since played a few times in person and it loses none of its appeal offline.  I might even go so far as to describe it as addictive.  Simple, well-designed games often are.

How does AMIGO produce what appears to be an UNO knock-off without getting sued?  Well, the more famous game itself is simply a marketed version of the much older, public domain game of Crazy Eights.  You can't really sue someone for stealing the same thing you did.  And it's not technically stealing if it's public domain.

Star Trek: Sons of Mogh

Episode: "Sons of Mogh"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 4, Episode 15

Original Air Date: February 12, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Worf's brother Kurn is back - his final Trek appearance and his only turn on DS9.  Worf got off pretty easy for opposing Gowron (see "The Way of the Warrior").  Whatever personal distress he might have experienced, at the end of the day, he was able to just go back to his life in Starfleet.  For his brother, the family disgrace has not been so easy to bear.  The story begins with Kurn (Tony Todd) asking Worf to kill him in the Mauk-to'Vor ritual in order for Kurn to recoup his honor.  Fortunately (from the human perspective), Dr. Bashir is able to save Kurn.  Predictably, Captain Sisko is none too pleased...

Meanwhile, this is the first episode that makes direct suggestions of romantic possibilities between Worf and Dax.

Obviously, this is a big development story for Worf, opening up new, fruitful narrative paths.  However, the end of the Kurn thread is a shame.  I can understand wanting Worf to move on but I love that Kurn shows up from time to time to try to draw him back.  Especially in light of future attempts to bring Alexander back into the fold, one can't help but think how much better a Kurn story should have been.

Even now, nearly 30 years later, Worf is easily one of the most fascinating characters in all of Star Trek.  A Worf-centered series would be an easy sell.  Goodness knows, Michael Dorn has aged better than anyone else from the TNG cast.  Just imagine how much they could have done with a return for Kurn before Tony Todd passed away.  Cutting him out of the saga in 1996 was a huge mistake.

Mind you, it's still an enjoyable episode.

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Robert DoQui played the role of Noggra, a friend of Worf's father who helps Kurn start a new life.  DoQui was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, April 20, 1934.  He served in the Air Force before embarking upon an acting career.

Films include Coffy, Nashville and the first three RoboCop movies.  Television appearances include The Jeffersons, The Fall Guy and Family Affair.

DoQui passed away in 2008.

On the Road: Paul F. Tompkins and Gnome Houses

We took a swing through southern New England this past weekend.  The main excuse was Paul F. Tompkins's Varietopia tour stop in Westerley, Rhode Island.  We also visited our child in western Mass and our dear friends the Mocks in eastern Mass - quite a lot of territory for one weekend.  

Tompkins's tour is essentially a traveling variety show.  He himself, of course, is the comedian.  He also has a four-piece band, a singer and a magician along for the ride.  Tompkins sings, too, and he's surprisingly good.  I don't mean to imply that I'm surprised he's talented as he certainly is.  I just didn't know singing was among his talents.

The show's a lot of fun.  Tompkins's comedy is the highlight, though the singer (Medusa) was also quite good.  The magician (don't remember his name) was a good showman but the tricks themselves were pretty basic: card tricks I've seen friends do.

As ever, a stop in Northampton requires a visit to The Botanic Garden of Smith College.  At the moment, they're featuring a student-initiated and -created exhibit of Gnome Houses, hidden among the other plants for visitors to find, scavenger-hunt style:

A few other highlights: