You may be wondering
Why the trail ended
So abruptly.
You said you were
Reading a map
And assumed I was too
Only I knew
There was no map
We were forging new ground
Your map brought you where it was:
Nowhere.
4/9/13
Best Next Generation Episodes
Recently I decided to watch some of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watched a lot of Voyager in middle school, and have seen a few Original Series episodes with a friend, but while I like Picard and his crew, I’d never seen NextGen. But I didn’t want to watch all seven seasons straight through, so I looked around online for which the best NextGen episodes are.
There are many lists! Because I like fiddling with such things, I aggregated the recommendations, to see which episodes were widely agreed to be among the best. Below you will find my results! These are the ones appearing on two or more of the lists. I’ve watched a few already. So far my favorites have been The Inner Light and Darmok.
- The Measure of a Man (11) Wired, WC, Ent, WMIF, TVT, Today, TR, GFR, DOG, SFTV, TV
- Chain of Command (10) WC, Ent, WMIF, TVT, Today, TR, GFR, DOG, SFTV, TV (“There are four lights!”)
- The Best of Both Worlds (10) WC, Ent, WMIF, TVT, Today, TR, GFR, DOG, SFTV, TV (“I am Locutus of Borg.”)
- The Inner Light (10) WC, Ent, WMIF, TVT, Today, TR, GFR, DOG, SFTV, TV
- Yesterday’s Enterprise (9) WC, Ent, WMIF, TVT, Today, TR, GFR, SFTV, TV
- All Good Things (7) WC, Ent, WMIF, TVT, Today, SFTV, TV (Series finale)
- Darmok (7) Wired, TVT, Forbes, GFR, DOG, SFTV, TV (“Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra!”)
- Relics (6) Wired, WC, TVT, GFR, SFTV, TV
- Tapestry (5) Ent, WMIF, TVT, SFTV, TV
- Cause & Effect (4) TVT, DOG, SFTV, TV
- Parallels (4) Wired, WC, SFTV, TV
- Q Who? (4) WC, GFR, SFTV, TV (First appearance of the Borg)
- Remember Me (4) Wired, WMIF, TVT, Forbes
- Time’s Arrow (4) Wired, TVT, SFTV, TV
- Clues (3) Wired, TVT, TV
- Encounter at Farpoint (3) GFR, DOG, SFTV (Series premiere)
- Family (3) WMIF, TVT, Forbes
- I, Borg (3) WC, SFTV, TV
- Lower Decks (3) Wired, TVT, DOG
- Phantasms (3) WC, Today, TV
- Ship in a Bottle (3) Wired, WC, SFTV
- The Naked Now (3) Wired, SFTV, TV
- The Next Phase (3) Wired, SFTV, TV
- Brothers (2) WC, SFTV
- Datalore (2) WC, SFTV
- Data’s Day (2) GFR, SFTV
- Deja Q (2) WMIF, Forbes
- Disaster (2) Forbes, TV
- First Contact (2) Ent, TV
- Frame of Mind (2) TVT, TV
- Gambit (2) WC, SFTV
- Identity Crisis (2) Wired, Forbes
- Redemption (2) Forbes, TV
- Schisms (2) WC, TV
- Sins of the Father (2) Ent, TV
- Skin of Evil (2) GFR, DOG
- The Chase (2) SFTV, TV
- The Drumhead (2) Wired, TV
- The First Duty (2) Ent, SFTV
Wired = http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/10/star-trek-tng-readers-best-worst/?pid=8412&viewall=true
WC = http://whatculture.com/tv/star-trek-top-25-next-generation-episodes.php/
Ent = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20661787_20057754_10,00.html
WMIF = http://weminoredinfilm.com/2013/05/15/top-10-episodes-of-star-trek-the-next-generation/
TVT = http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/StarTrekTheNextGeneration
Today = http://www.today.com/entertainment/7-best-star-trek-next-generation-episodes-celebrate-25th-anniversary-6162973
TR = http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/geekend/the-five-best-star-trek-the-next-generation-episodes-of-all-time/
Forbes = http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/09/28/the-other-top-10-best-star-trek-next-generation-episodes-and-none-are-the-inner-light/
GFR = http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/10-star-trek-generation-episodes.html
DOG = http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/10-groundbreaking-episodes-of-star-trek-the-next-generation/22575/10-groundbreaking-episodes-of-star-trek-the-next-generation
SFTV = http://www.sftv.com.au/news/2012/09/which-is-the-best-star-trek-the-next-generation-episode-ever/
TV = http://www.tv.com/shows/star-trek-the-next-generation/forums/top-5-star-trek-tng-episodes-247-484362/
For the TV.com list, the link is to a forum where many individuals listed their 5 favorite episodes. I included in this summary all of the episodes receiving two or more votes from that list.
The Way to Dream
I struggle to fall asleep
Though it fills me with joy
In sleep, the sun
Warms my spirit, and
Trees shade my vulnerable skin
And you’re there.
Sometimes
Lying in a hammock, or
Walking a trail, or
Walking a city street
In my dreams, you’re there.
I can feel your warmth
If I can get to sleep
I try and try
But wait and wait
And when I stop trying
And just accept it
That I’ll get there
When it comes
Then I arrive
And we lounge in the springtime field
But I haven’t gotten there
Tonight, yet
I will soon.
See you there.
3/20/13
Fate’s Library
Don’t worry
As she stares
Down her bespeckled nose
At you.
She’s not angry,
She’s just –
Absent-minded.
Absent, but glad,
Because now you’re here – look!
Her lips curve quickly
Upwards, warm,
And welcoming.
Because you’re here, you’ve come,
And she anticipates your joy.
She hands it to you, with a wise nod.
She’s seen inside its pages
And she knows you will enjoy it.
3/9/10
Moira
Her hands apply their craft
With such dexterit
Men bend and twist
Their lives
In alignment with her will
So long accustomed
To the tickling of the strings
Are her hands
Textured by the force
Of powerful emotion
Under her control
Threads of creativity
Effortlessly flow into
A tapestry of such beauty
To make a god shudder
With awe at her work
2010
Phoebe
She hasn’t finished her coffee,
Grounds staled by luke-cold water,
And yet, her strict gaze
Assures you she doesn’t need it.
You said something clever,
Trying to evoke
Her needle-sharp wit.
She doesn’t laugh;
Titans don’t laugh.
Yet she’s no glacier,
So she smiles,
And Apollo shines through.
Last night she remained alert,
Despite the full arc
Of the cloud-embalmed moon,
Awake then for to finish her tasks
Later today.
Her stature dwarfed by intellect;
She won’t have trouble.
She dressed up to go out tonight,
Just to the coffee house.
Her fingernails shine
Like justice dispensed
With a gesture of her hand.
How she must surprise her adversaries!
To them she requires coddling,
For they miss the Olympian fire
Roaring from out the dark circles
Mortals call eyes.
Her coffee sits cold by her side,
But she takes another sip—
Tonight she will outsmart herself again.
5/8/08
Greatness in Amherst: Larry Kelley
The first four profiles I wrote in this series focused on community leaders who, as far as I can tell, are pretty well-respected. For the next four, I’m going to be bold and bestow compliments on people who tend to get a lot of flac but who I still think are assets to the community. Nobody fits that bill better than Larry Kelley.
Larry writes the blog Only in the Republic of Amherst, where he diligently follows goings-on around town and provides commentary on them. I would be surprised if at some point he has not clashed with all of the subjects I’ve previously profiled in this series. He is a self-described conservative in a staunchly liberal community, but is also a prime example of how national politics sometimes map poorly onto local politics. In terms of Town Meeting votes, I tend to agree with him a majority of the time! He wants Amherst to be run more efficiently and responsibly, and if you recognize his hot-button issues (flags & patriotism, Cherry Hill Golf Course, high-salaried administrators in schools, UMass responsibility) and look through his sometimes belligerent tone of disgust at poor behavior around town, it is clear that he cares about this place a lot, as I do.
But what I like most about Larry is not simply his passion, or the fact that he too is an Amherst native, but the fact that he is masterful at rocking the boat. I think one of Amherst’s biggest challenges right now is the difficulty of adapting to our changing environment given the traditionalism & caution of Town Meeting, and Larry delights in shaking things up, which is an important thing to do in a calcified system. Absolutely he offends people. Absolutely I don’t agree with him all the time. But that’s okay, in my mind, because he serves an important role in the local discourse.
Did I mention that Larry is a proud father of two young girls? He owned Amherst Athletic Club in Pomeroy Village (Larry himself has an impressive history as a martial artist). And talking to him in person, I have found him to be quiet, kind, and respectful.
I think Larry is great, and thoroughly interesting. I read his blog diligently, and you should too, even if it makes you angry. He has a lot of good information, and is worth paying attention to.
The Sophists
They paid for tutelage,
because it was the thing to do.
Once the instruction had
begun, they owed
their patrons and teachers
obedience. What a gift
had been bestowed on them!
Then those others
began to expect that obedience.
Ungrateful students
were dismissed.
Only correctly appreciative youth
deserved the education
provided by the great teachers.
This turned the process
into something mechanical:
place student.
Open mind.
Fill with knowledge.
Garnish with skills.
But what of Socrates?
He lived for dialog and
died for freedom. He
cast education as a balanced discussion
of questioned assumptions.
That is the freedom
to learn together. But
such a radical concept
was corrupting,
and deserves death.
4/30/08
Bike vs. car and sexual assault
As I was biking home the other night, I was struck by the parallels between bike vs car collisions & sexual assault.
- They are both absolutely horrific.
- In both cases, the wrong response is to blame the victim: “She shouldn’t have been wearing such a short skirt/have gotten so drunk/have let it get to that stage” or “He should have been wearing a helmet/watching where he was going/staying in the bike lane.” In both cases, a lot of that victim-blaming is incorrect as well as just tactless & offensive.
- In both cases, there’s a massive systemic privilege granted and usually unacknowledged to one party, the sexual assailant or the motor vehicle operator. Acknowledging that not all sexual assailants are male, there’s a devastatingly thorough message to men in our culture that women are good for no more than being sexual objects. And for cars, there’s an assumption that everyone drives as their primary transportation, and our infrastructure, laws, and norms reinforce that automotive hegemony.
- There’s a repulsive strain of “they deserved it” whispered in the aftermath of both cases. See #2.
Of course they’re different things, but I would encourage you to keep an eye out for such oppressive victim-blaming when it crops up and speak up to weed it out.
Greatness in Amherst: Stephanie O’Keeffe
In my job as Executive Director of the Amherst Business Improvement District, I have had the pleasure to work with a number of exceptional individuals. I thought I would take a few blog posts and shower some of them with compliments. Stephanie O’Keeffe is in her fifth year serving on Amherst’s Select Board, of which she is currently chair.
Just like Dave Ziomek and myself (and even Town Manager John Musante), Stephanie grew up in the Valley, and has a father who’s been very involved in local affairs (John Coull, former Chamber of Commerce director & bicycle shop owner). She has made her mark improving Amherst government’s executive branch (Select Board). Attending those meetings, which she runs, it is a marvel to see her finagle agendas like a jigsaw puzzle to impose efficiency on an otherwise bureaucratic process. And it’s not just behind the scenes that Stephanie excels. She embodies accessibility of public officials by holding weekly “office hours” in the Black Sheep Deli. She listens patiently to those of us with bones to pick, and clearly and articulately points us in the right direction to effect the changes we’re looking for. Her responsibility, her rationality & pragmatism, and her ability to stand tall amid the slings and arrows that target her position, these things make her great. Plus, she’s just started a weekly hula-hoop jam in a park downtown. Anyone in a position of power who injects fun & play into adulthood makes me really, really happy.