Jim Murray

3 years ago · 5 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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VOLUME 9: Raised By Wolves (CTV Sci Fi) • Star Trek Discovery (CTV Sci Fi) • The Vice-Presidential Debate

VOLUME 9: Raised By Wolves (CTV Sci Fi) • Star Trek Discovery (CTV Sci Fi) • The Vice-Presidential Debate

CBS®ALL ACCESSI don’t know if it is the same for you, but for me, the time really seems to be flying by. Maybe it was because for 4 months I was in an environment where time seemed like it was trudging like a wounded soldier. And now that I have a good part of my old life back it’s been restored to its usual breakneck pace. Just hope I don’t run out too soon.

I’m making good progress with my rehab. Walked roughly 75 yards today on a spiffy walker with wheels and hand brakes. But it completely wore me out. My homework, as always, is just strengthen my legs, don’t overdo it and realize that this is a long road I’m on.

The Spud Rating System

NO SPUD 4U - Crap 

ONE SPUD - OK Time Waster

TWO SPUDS - Worth Watching/Reading

Raised by Wolves (2 SPUDS)

e8ec79a5.jpgLast night I was feeling in the mood for some sci-fi. So I diddled around on the CTV Sci-Fi channel, formerly known in my part of the world as Space and found, among other things, Raised By Wolves.

Now I didn’t know much about it other than that there were androids, and I always like androids, and the first two episodes of the series, were directed by none other than Ridley Scott, who is one of the world’s great sci-fi directors and the main Executive Producer of the series.

More about Ridley Scott. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000631/

I only watched the first two episodes before I conked out, but what I saw was pretty cool. Ridley Scott is a master of atmosphere and the atmosphere he created here was exquisite.

But that’s to be expected because Ridley Scott has produced and or directed some of the great movies of the last 30 years, including Alien and Bladerunner which I consider to be the second best sci fi movie of all time, (second only to A Clockwork Orange). So I have no problem getting into pretty much anything he does.

The story concerns two androids who land a small space craft on a more or less deserted planet where they proceed to become parents to six children. There are hints that they are trying to start a new colony and that, maybe, something has gone wrong back on terra firma.

And the story goes on from there. And yes, it does get more complex and interesting, but I don’t wanna spoil anything for you because if you like sci-fi, this looks like it could be one of the great series, right up there with Altered Carbon and The Terminator.

Star Trek Discovery Season 2 (2 SPUDS)

a2277836.jpgWhile I was sick, I managed to miss a whole season Of Star Trek Discovery so I started watching it on demand at CTV Sci-Fi. Hopefully at the end of my binge I will be up to speed on all the goings-on.

Season 2 seems to be all about those nasty Klingons working on getting their shit back together and re-assembling their nation which was torn apart by the nasty imperialistic United Federation Of Planets.

Season 3, has just started and it looks spectacular too. But I have to watch season 2 because, well, it’s always important to know what’s going on with those Kiingons.

The Klingons are the Star Trek race that require the most makeup and speak the weirdest language, which basically consists of a series of gutteral grunts and muted screams. But make no mistake, they are powerful and nasty, and though they seem to be predatory, you kind get the feeling that all they want is their hunk of the galaxy and basically to be left alone.

In this season I’m watching now they very much appear to be regrouping all the mighty houses (24 in all) under a single banner once again, and are spouting all kinds of trash talk about putting the Federation in its place.

The parallels between the Klingon race and the Republicans in the US is not lost of anyone with any sense of the symbolism in most sci-fi. Oddly enough, it is a woman named Michael Burnham, a black human who was raised on the planet Vulcan, who looks very much like she will be the undoing of these nasty buggers.

Michael is one of the most interesting star Trek characters ever devised, by the motley creative Trek makers. She is young, always the smartest person in the room, and fearless to the point of getting into big time trouble about how to deal with the nasty Klingons and anyone else that tries to keep her from protecting her peeps.

The production values of this series are, as you would imagine, world class, but that’s to be expected from a series that has a world wide audience.

I have been a fan of Star Trek since the get go, when my friend Keith Butler, myself and Heather (my wife) would get suitably stoned and watch it every Sunday. It has come light years since then, but the one thing it has never lost is that spirit of discovery that these intrepid TV explorers all possess in spades.

The Vice-Presidential Debate aka The Fly On Mike Pence’s Head (NO SPUD 4U)

1181d490.pngThe American media call them political debates. But, in actuality, all they are is nothing more than 2 hour infomercials where each of the two main political parties get to spout their talking points and make a lame attempt to prove that they are worthy of the trust of the American people...well at least the several million of them who care enough to sit though these ordeals.

So after the major league joke that the boorish Trump turned the Presidential debate into, there were high hopes that this so called debate, between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence would be a little more civilized.

To the regret of almost everyone, the most exciting thing that happened in this debate was that a fly landed on Mike Pence’s head, and when that happened all I could think was, yep, that’s gonna be the big story for sure.

Now both Harris and Pence are career politicians and both probably had their marching orders not to rock the boat or lose any of the base of support they had. At the end of the day, the Vice President is one of the more invisible people in the administration. If they’re good at their job they are really more the ultimate trusted advisor. If they happen to be a vice president under a maniac narcissist like Trump, they then become the scapegoat, which really is what Pence became when Trump called on him to head the so called Corona Virus task force.

And as of last night, it’s become all too obvious that Pence was willing to play back all the conventional Trumpish BS, about how 200,000 deaths could have been 2,000,000 and all the rest of the crap that goes with the epic fail that the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic has become and continues to be.

Pence was in a no-win situation on that critical issue, and it was Kamala Harris’ job in this ersatz debate to keep reminding people of the 200,000+ deaths that lay at the feet of Trump and the Republicans.

The rest of the stuff didn’t really matter all that much because this is the issue that the election will turn on, as it is the lynchpin into any discussion about the economy and from all indications, it already has turned toward Biden and Harris.

The problem is not super difficult to fix, if you’re not all that concerned about the optics of the situation. But it’s going to be a tough pill to swallow for the American people who have already suffered quite a bit to date, and will suffer even more because Trump is using the promised stimulus package as a political ploy to get votes.

But I digress. This debate was pretty dull. In fact I took an hour out of the middle of it to watch another episode or Raised By Wolves and when I came back, it was still pretty dull.

Except for the good old fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head. So I’m declaring the big winner…the fly.


6deeaab9.jpgJim Murray is a writer, a reader, a sports fan and a TV watcher who has been writing about the sports & entertainment worlds since1998, when he created his first blog, The Couch Potato Chronicles, which he publishes regularly along with his political/marketing blog, Skinny Dipping In The Lava Flow, both of which are available onbeBee.com

Jim Murray is also a former ad agency writer and art director. He ran his own creative consultancy, Onwords & Upwords, from 1989 until just recently when he closed and opened a freelance enterprise called Murmarketing.

He lives with his wife, Heather, in the beautiful Niagara area of Ontario and works with a small cadre of companies that are trying to make a difference in the world.

You can follow Jim

On beBee: https://www.bebee.com/@jim-murray

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-murray-b8a3a4/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jimbobmur

On Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y97gxro4


Comments

John Rylance

3 years ago #1

There is a phrase "There are no flies on me/him", often used to describe someone who knows what they are talking about.

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