Tag Archives: social commentary

Review of Quantum Leap Ep 12 “Let Them Play”

QL 12-1

QUANTUM LEAP — “Let Them Play” Episode 112 — Pictured: (l-r) Josielyn Aguilera as Gia, Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

To be honest, I was dreading watching and reviewing the most recent Quantum Leap episode Let Them Play. In fact I avoided watching the episode for at least a day so I wouldn’t have to deal with it. I’m not one to take things at face value just because someone tells me something, so I didn’t know how I was going to receive the content of the episode, especially given the expectation that it be seen as overwhelmingly positive.

I knew it would be highly pro-trans. In fact, there was a significant marketing uptick for this episode, probably more so than any of the other previous 11 episodes of the show. There was a specific target of presenting trans kids in a highly positive light, and as far as I could tell, everyone involved in the show from the directors, to the writers, to the actors was dedicated to make that happen.

Okay, first the brief synopsis from IMDb:

Continue reading →

Is SciFi Author/Editor Robert Silverberg Really Racist and Sexist (or has the internet once again lost its mind)?

robert silverberg

SF author/editor Robert Silverberg – 2005

If I hadn’t read a blog post at Superversive SF called The Cardinal Mistake With SJWs and Robert Silverberg, I probably wouldn’t be writing this.

First off, I’ll state for the record, that because I’m even mentioning Jon Del Arroz‘s (yes, he deliberately makes himself a lightning rod for controversy) name and daring to write something with a social and political perspective not shared (necessarily) by Democrats, leftists, and progressives (those words are not synonyms), that at least one person will be vocally upset with me here on my blog.

I suspect that a lot of other people who regularly read my fiction will simply not respond because A: they like me and what I write, and B: they think that I’m a nice enough guy not to be flamed for expressing unpopular opinions.

Thank you.

Anyway, I did read Del Arroz’s article which starts out:

Continue reading →

Do You Have To Destroy Men To Take Down The “Patriarchy?”

smash patriarchy

Found at thecompanion.in – No image credit listed

Based on my blog post called More on Social Media and University Radio Show “Echo Chambers” and my conversation in the comments section of that post, I felt it necessary to write this one. Let me explain.

I had a twitter “conversation” with someone from the radio show Scene on Radio (possibly producer and co-host John Biewen, but since the twitter “handle” was @SceneOnRadio, it’s impossible to know for sure).

Marleen, one of the readers of this blog, wanted me to listen to Episode 53: Himpathy (MEN, Part 7), originally broadcast in October of this year, because in her words:

I’ve gone and listened to four episodes. I’d recommend the 53rd one. I would hope that if something like that happened to your granddaughter or daughter your response would be that it ma mattered rather than that the thing people should be doing is telling “good” stories (defined as not bothersome).

Since I’ve expressed somewhat of an oppositional viewpoint relative to how the show’s content is presented, and specifically their misuse of Biblical interpretation, Marleen suggested (at least as I understand it) that listening to this episode might help me realize that I don’t necessarily have to “lock horns” with the show or its co-hosts (the other co-host being Celeste Headlee).

Continue reading →

Let it Bleed: The Diversity Wedding

Berkeley, CA

Downtown Berkeley. The Oakland – San Francisco Bay Bridge and the San Francisco downtown can be seen in the background – Found at Wikipedia

She sat there drinking her tenth cup of coffee while watching the sunrise’s sickly yellow light piercing her kitchen window.

“Why did this have to happen to me?”

Rosie stood up leaving the remains of her breakfast on the table and walked down the hall to use the bathroom for what seemed to be the thousandth time. She normally limited herself to two cups of Sumatra in the morning plus a cup of Pike Place Roast from the Starbucks drive-thru on her way to work, so the bottom of her stomach felt like it had been drowned in battery acid.

Last night she couldn’t sleep. Her gray thoughts anticipating the next day refused to allow her mind to rest. She must have dozed here and there, but now sitting on the toilet, she felt like 120 pounds of steel wool and boiled inner tube. Maybe a shower would help. She had to be at the church before noon and her parents would be pissed if she showed up looking like a drugged out refugee from an all-night rave.

Continue reading →