Sally Apokedak: Incoming links and search engine placement

Sally Apokedak explains about Incoming links and search engine placement

Which is a fancy way of saying it helps if other blogs link to you (in the post, not the sidebar). Which is why some blogs will have links to other people's blog posts at the end of their own blog post--- to help people out in hopes that other people will do the same.

Like This:
Links:
Biblical Evidence for Catholicism: Anti-Catholic TAO Sez I am a "Loose Cannon" Who is "in Violation of Canon Law" and Needs to be Shut Up by "Rome"
Adventures in Fiction: Newest Episode of Thieves' Honor

So, everyone that reads this run out and write a blog post that, like this one, links to three other posts, and in time the gravity from all those posts will create a black hole which I can use to jump-start my warp engines.

Weekly Poll: A Female Doctor Who?

On a recent Doctor Who episode the Doctor mentioned a male Time Lord friend who had regenerated as a female. Which makes it a possibility that the next Doctor will be female. To express your view on that, please vote in the poll in our sidebar, and you may also explain/defend your vote in the comments. And, please, let others know about the poll so they can vote too!





Last Week's Poll

Winner of the Favorite Harry Potter Character poll was a tie between Sirius Black and Severus Snape. The results in detail:
1. (tie)Sirius Black
Severus Snape (4 votes each)
2. (tie) Harry Potter
Hagrid
Fred Weasley (2 votes each)
3. (tie) Ron Weasley (1 vote each)
Hermione Granger
Dumbledore
Luna Lovegood
Dobby
Molly Weasley
Tonks
Bellatrix
Remus Lupin
George Weasley
Wormtail
Barty Crouch Jr.

Characters with zero votes:
Dudley Dursley
Lord Voldemort
Neville Longbottom
Ginny Weasley

A Haven of Free Kindle Ebooks

Ever had one of those weeks when you are REALLY jonesing for a book you haven't already read, but your finances are such that Ramen Noodle Day has been 7 days a week?

If you have a Kindle--- or else if you download a free app to your computer to read ebooks--- you can find a load of ebooks for free at the web site Ereader News Today. There are also bargain ebooks. You can also 'like' them on facebook, so you will see their latest free ebooks on your news feed.

They have a feature, Book of the Day, with reviews. The books on this that I saw were not free, but were quite cheap.

One fault I have with the site is the books are not tagged for genre in some way that is easy to use to find all the science fiction, or all the fantasy, or all the Christian fiction or Catholic fiction.

But it is a good resource. Here is a link to 2 fantasy books: Free Kindle Books: 2 Free Books for 7-30-11. I'm thinking of downloading Horker's Law. If I do and it's any good I'll review it.

NOTE: if you are an author and have a book out on Kindle/ebook which is:
1. science fiction, fantasy or horror and/or
2. written from a Christian (evangelical, Catholic, LDS) perspective
3. available free
Let Me Know!

NewTorchwood: Dead is Dead absurdity

The Torchwood episode Escape to LA had a lot to like about it. For example, we the viewers were not required to participate in any character's sex life. And the new Torchwood team moving to Venice Beach was pretty cool. I used to live within walking distance of Venice Beach myself. I liked the way we got to keep in touch with Rhys--- I think he, and now the baby, are what keep Gwen grounded. And we made another slow step forward in figuring out what's going on.

Here is the problem: OK, human beings have stopped dying though many remain with severe horrifying injuries (like the guy who blew himself up). It's only natural that people who were raised in today's culture of death, for whom it's second nature to look at a brain-injured person, or a person with profound disabilities, or a person with Down's Syndrome or low-functioning autism, or a person in the last stages of a terminal illness, and say, eew, ick, I don't want to look at that! That's not a real human person with a Life Worth Living. Turn it off!

So it's not surprising that given the miracle day scenario a movement like the Dead is Dead movement would arise, demanding the segregation of those people who ought to be dead but aren't, since it's no longer possible to euthanize them.

But what is wholly absurd is when the Torchwood writers peg the leader of this movement, not as a part of the euthanasia/assisted suicide/death with 'dignity' progressive/liberal movement, but as a member of the Tea Party with connections to Fox News.

OK, this is how human beings work. In a crisis, you DON'T have staunch prolifers leading the charge for a cause based on the opposing side's philosophy. Yes, weak souls will change their views, but they--- and their observers--- will experience it as a change. To put a conservative(and I'm sure the writers meant phrases like 'Tea Party' and 'Fox News' to indicate extreme conservatism, that's what the progressives want those terms to mean) in charge of the Dead is Dead movement without anyone, not even a critic, to point out the inconsistency, makes no sense.

Of course in the real world the Tea Party started out as a protest regarding bad economic policy and included liberals as well as conservatives, but the MSM has never admitted that. I doubt that by now there is a single pro-euthanasia person who would identify herself as a member of the Tea Party as the sole political identifier.

I think though that the writers wanted this character not only to be a villain, but to be such a bad villain that her final fate would be accepted (and it was pretty bad). And in their tiny little minds, the only way to make her a villain that evil was to brand her a conservative and ignore the absurdity of it.

Now I DO realize that the main reason for the existence of television dramas is to feed us our little doses of progressive/socialist/liberal propaganda. But not only is it annoying, when it is this heavy-handed and illogical, it's probably less effective. You don't want the conservatives in the audience switching channels in disgust before they've had their full brainwashing dose, do you?

A question for the audience--- when the writers/producers make their partisan beliefs this obvious, does it affect your enjoyment of the series? Or are you easily able to tune it out and enjoy the story?

Satan blogs about abortion

Didn't you just know Satan had a blog? If you go on over to Satan's Blog, you can see the original Dark Lord's musings about how his abortion agenda may be quite literally in the crapper.


Looking over the Prince of Darkness's blog, I wonder, if I add it to my favorites do I gotta go to confession? Worse, will it cause the Mark of the Beast to sprout on my forearm, kind of like the Dark Mark in Harry Potter?

Writers: How important is character naming to you?

Over at Faithwriters there is an excellent article called Seven Tips for Naming Characters. It set me to thinking about how character naming is more important to some writers than to others.

I'm sure there are some writers that could just pluck a name at random from a name book and use it for a character--- if they came up with 'Carol' that would be just as good as any other name and they'd have no problem with it.

Other writers agonize. I have one character who commonly goes by the name 'Mina Bayern'. Some time ago I came up with the absolute perfect name for her actual family name (which is also the name of her House, a clan-like grouping). But I don't know where (or if) I wrote it down and it's driving me crazy and I can't just pick another name because it won't be the right one.

Because of this name-obsessiveness I collect a lot of name books. I have one or two ordinary baby name books, 2 baby name books in German, a book of Esperanto names, and a book of Celtic names. I also have an encyclopedia of the Saints. I also have a hand-written list of Korean names gleaned from Korean dramas over the last 4 years.

Some writers have a real talent for coming up with appropriate names. J. K. Rowling comes to mind. Think of the names of Hagrid, Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, or Lord Voldemort. Aren't they just-right names for the characters?

Romance novels tend to have romance-y names for the heroine and her love-object. Some realistic writers make a point of using the most commonplace names they can find, one almost might think they derive the names from common-name lists. Science fiction names can include the weird, the unpronounceable and the randomly hyphenated. (like F'nor in Dra'gonride'rs of P'ern)

It's also possible to use temporary names for minor characters--- like Mr. Alpha, Miss Beta, Senator Gamma--- to keep the flow of your writing going rather than stopping for an hour to name them.

So--- how do YOU handle the name thing? How important is the just-right name to you? Do you have naming methods that you use? Please let us know in a comment!

A NAME GAME:
Here are eight Korean female names: Namju, Haebi, Dohui, Chunja, Boksun, Sunok, Juri, Sojin
From these, pick the names of:
1. a young main character from a poor family, who loves a rich boy, Taemin
2. an older woman at the market who sells dumplings
3. the maid of the rich family
4. a hateful over-the-top female villain (think Bellatrix from Harry Potter)


What do people want from this blog? According to this blog's stats, what people are looking for on this blog is mainly Billie Piper pregnant (all time most popular search terms), David Tennant naked, and Torchwood Miracle Day nudity. Just in case you were curious.

If you were in the musical Chicago, who would you be?

They are running the movie Chicago all the time on the Starz channels, which I get because they are giving it away for free (some people have love lives like that, I hear.)

So I've seen the movie about ten times lately, and of course I fantasize about being in the play and playing all the roles--- isn't that what musicals are for?

Ignoring all realistic considerations, the role I'd most like to play in Chicago is Billy Flynn (the lawyer), played by Richard Gere in the movie and Jerry Orbach on Broadway.

Or else I'd be the gal in the Cell Block Tango number who says: "So I took the shotgun off the wall and fired two warning shots.... into his head."

So I thought I'd throw the question out to the readers--- if you were in the musical Chicago and could play absolutely any role you wanted and be brilliant at it, who would you be? (Inquiring minds want to know....)

God and Cosmic Evil (Christian Doctor Who fanfic)

One of my blog's best friends is Tea with Morbius, a Doctor Who blog written by a Christian gentleman. A recent blog post he's written is an original Doctor Who short story. Normally I'm to antsy to be able to read stories online, but I read this through and liked it.

I highly recommend that you give it a try too:
God and Cosmic Evil by Matthew Clarke

Holignes! I lost my notebook of cool word verification words!

When I am writing and a new character, place, or alien species pops up, I often take out a small notebook of word verification words I've encountered, and pick one more-or-less at random.

It's better for my writing than stopping the writing process to search for the perfect name for an hour and a half. And some of those word verification words are worth keeping in the final draft.

But today, alas, in between trading kittens around to different cat mommies and feeding a newborn kit milk with a spoon (she won't take a bottle), I discovered that my little word verification notebook is missing in action.

This is doubly tragic as I have started work on a writers' naming book. It will have a section on German names, one on Korean names, one on Welsh names, one on Esperanto names, and a list of word verification words as a source for alien and other odd names and words.

So--- I've had to start a new notebook. Luckily I have a spare one that's the same as the one I use for Korean names. I'm also going to start files on my computer and enter the WV words into that whenever I have a page or so. I already have similar files for Korean names.

But it's an ednesh lot of work, so if you have a cool WV word to share, mention it in your comment and it will be added to the list.

K-Drama 'The King of Legend' (근초고왕) ends on KBS-America

The Korean drama 'The King of Legend' (근초고왕, King Geunchogu) came to an end last weekend. It was the story of the famous king of Baekje (an ancient Korean kingdom) who enhanced the power of his kingdom, largely by fighting the neighboring kingdom of Goguryeo.

The main character, Prince Yeogu (later known as King Geunchogu), underwent a lot of ups and downs. His father the king was murdered by one of his queens, who blamed Yeogu and Yeogu's mother for the crime. The wicked queen led her sons to fight against Yeogu taking the throne as the king had wished. Later, she ordered one of her non-traitor sons to sacrifice his own life to save that of his traitor-brother (and he did it, too.)

Yeogu repeated his father's mistake by having two rival queens, who naturally produced rival sons. But according to the last episode his reign was highly beneficial for his nation.




The King of Legend on Wikipedia

If you want to watch the series, it may be available on DVD on Ebay. Be sure to check that the DVD has English subtitles and can be viewed in your region.

Or you can try watching online at koreandrama.us.

No More Asperger's Syndrome!

After 2013, there will be no more Asperger's Syndrome. No, they haven't developed a cure. They are just removing the Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis from the official manual. People who now have Asperger's Syndrome will be moved over to the category of 'Autism Spectrum Disorder'.

People who have Asperger's Syndrome have an 80% unemployment rate, in my opinion largely because it is perfectly acceptable in our culture to discriminate against people who don't make eye contact properly, who are not 'outgoing', and who don't read non-verbal cues correctly, even if this is not essential to the job at hand.

This is tragic enough, because lots of folks with Asperger's are not merely competent, they are capable of being brilliant in their areas of special interest.

I've tried out the new diagnosis, Autism Spectrum Disorder. When I told a woman that was what I had, she asked me if I was able to sign my name. The assumption seemed to be, of COURSE I couldn't read or write, but there was some slight possibility I was able to sign my name.

Since I have a genius level IQ (I could join MENSA, but I'm too smart to want to), I'm not thrilled about any new diagnosis that will leave folks like potential employers think I am suffering from mental retardation instead. (I know, you are no longer allowed to use the words 'mental retardation'.)

By keeping the term Asperger's Syndrome, perhaps as a subtype of Autism Spectrum Disorder, it will help with the employability of people with Asperger's. Though I guess some folks aren't concerned about that. They think we should just subsist on government services until we are mature enough for our assisted suicides.

Personally, I think persons with Asperger's Syndrome--- NOT parents of little kids with Asperger's Syndrome--- should be asked for their input. If the majority of them prefer the possibility of the less stigmatising diagnosis, it should be retained. After all, the DSM-IV doesn't contain diagnoses with names like 'sexual perversion disorder' or 'absolute idiot disorder' or 'serial killerosis'. Why not have a less stigmatising name for those of us autistics who have some ability to pass as human, and who thus might be able to live a normal life?

New Weekly Poll: Favorite Harry Potter characters

In the sidebar you will find a new poll, this week it's on favorite Harry Potter characters, you can vote for more than one. Please VOTE FIRST in the sidebar, then you can defend your vote and persuade others to vote the same in the comment section.

Voting will end in one week's time (unlike the previous poll) and winners will be announced some time thereafter.

I have added a LOT of characters, yet I'm sure I've missed a few favorites. There are just so many! I didn't add Nearly Headless Nick or Moaning Myrtle or Mrs. Norris or Fleur or Viktor Krum or.... well, the list could go on forever. I did include Barty Crouch Junior, who was played by David Tennant. (Note: Moaning Myrtle was played by the actress who was Ursula in the Doctor Who episode Love and Monsters.)

David Tennant as Barty Crouch jr.

Note to the first smart aleck to vote for Lord Voldemort: I plan to throw cats at you. And I have lots of cats--- see the previous post.

Note: I now have a 'LinkWithin' widget which generates links to related blog posts for each new blog entry. Works pretty good so far.

Fresh Kittens!

Why is it lately that whenever one of my cats goes into labor the first thing she does is steal a kitten? At first only Psychokitty was doing it, now they all are....

New kittens plus the stolen one.

None of the kittens born this year have names except for one that was named Tesseract. So I've decided all the boy kittens are named Ianto and all the girl kittens are named Myfanwy, after killed-off characters from Torchwood. (Myfanwy was the pterodactyl.)

As for the mama cat, I'm not sure she has a name either. I'll have to look up my kitten pictures on facebook. If she doesn't have a name I'll have to come up with one. Maybe Ursula (Love and Monsters episode, Doctor Who?)? I'd name it after the Racnoss empress but I don't think she has a name....

The Massive Character Tag: Interplanetary Edition

I found this over at The Pen and Parchment, who found it at Hidden Doorways.

The rules:
1. I pick three characters
2. I make my characters answer these questions
3. I tag three people

So--- I've picked 3 characters from a work-in-nonprogress:
Colonel Natalia Oblonskaya (Lady Natalia, head of the Oblonsky Organization, also a homicide cop.)
Raoul Oblonsky (son of Natalia, actor, spaceship pilot)
Jamison (the manservant)

Question 1: Do you want a hug?
Natalia: Do you want a kick in the [bleep]?
Raoul: No thank you.
Jamison: Anytime, sweetie.

Question 2: Do you have any kids?
Natalia: My twins Raoul and Ellie--- Ellie was murdered eight years ago. And my foster daughter Mina. I guess you have to count her though I never intended her to be a child of mine.
Raoul: Kids--- I hope not. I'm only sixteen, and I don't fool around with girls. Mind you I do know my genetic material is preserved in the family genetics lab and if they did something with it I'm not sure they'd tell me.
Jamison: Had four kids, but they don't speak to me at all no more. Which I pretty much understand. I wasn't much of a father during my drinking days.

Question 3: Have you killed anyone?
Natalia: Loads! The funniest time was when I was pregnant with the twins, and I summoned every enforcer, hitman and deleter in the Kassavi Sector to a convention--- offered 'em free booze and hot and cold running hookers. When they got there, I turned out the lights, locked the doors, and when the shooting stopped I sent in the morgue wagons.
Seriously, as a homicide investigator, prime class, with zeta-level telepathy, I am fully authorized to kill any murderer I encounter. Mind you, I prefer taking my serial killers alive. Adds to the sport.
Raoul: I don't want to talk about it.
Jamison: Leave the boy alone! He don't want to talk about them kind of things. Don't want to talk about the incident myself, there was blood and broken glass all over the hallway. But far as I'm concerned anyone who'd try to kill kids had it coming.... Me? No, course not. I never killed nobody, don't even want to see pictures of it, like I keep telling the Lady, if she'd only keep them crime scene holos of hers locked up stead of spread out all over the kitchen tables, maybe the cook wouldn't have quit.

Question Four: Love anyone?
Natalia: I love my kids and my brother Remi. My brother Danton? Well, I don't actively want to kill him, does that count as love?
Raoul: There was this girl--- she'd been Mina's girlfriend but they broke up, and I was trying to get them back together because Mina was just miserable and so she was making everybody around her miserable, and, you know, well, things happen but I did NOT steal my foster sister's girlfriend. I mean when she's screaming at the top of her lungs how she wants to wrap an anchor around the girl's neck and throw her in the sea, I presumed that meant it was over between them.
Mina: What part of 'evil soulless phrag-eating bitch' did you interpret as me recommending you go out with her?
Jamison: Kids! Cut it out! And Mina you're not even supposed to be here. Love? Well, I must of loved my wife--- ex-wife--- or thought I did.
No, I do NOT love Lady Natalia, or have a crush on Lady Natalia. I prefer gals who DON'T kill five men before breakfast. I'm just not a morning person.

Question Five: What is your job?
Natalia: Homicide cop. The acting thing was just a kid thing. Plus I'm the same dress size as my brother Remi and sometimes I'd get to keep the costumes which of course I shared with him.
Raoul: Actor. And manager of the Company B theatrical company. Or I would be if my grandfather hadn't stolen my theatrical company out from under me. I'm kind of between gigs until the lawsuits over that get finished. Oh, and my foster sister Mina thought it would be a kick for us to join the military, so now I'm a pilot with the Fleet and she blows stuff up for a living--- excuse me, she's the weapons officer--- on the Fleet ship Lina Lamont.
Jamison: I'm NOT the butler. People just say that because every time someone rings the door bell folks say 'Jamison if you want to be the butler answer the [bleeping] door'. But I'm not the butler. Not even close.
Raoul: I tell people you are the manservant.
Mina: I thought you just lived in our house.
Natalia: He started out as a stalker, but I promoted him from stalker to nanny. Temporarily.
Mina: But we don't need a nanny anymore!
Jamison: What makes you think it's you kids I'm nannying?

Question Six: Your favorite season?
Natalia: I don't care. Serial killers are always in season.
Raoul: There are no seasons in space. And when we land on a planet, it's always bad weather.
Jamison: Any season I don't have to shovel or sweep up's fine with me.

Question Seven: Who's your best friend?
Natalia: Don't have one. Want to hear about my mortal enemies?
Raoul: My sisters.
Mina: Thanks.
Ellie: But you like ME best, right. You probably only include her because you're afraid she'll shoot you with a laser cannon or a mass torpedo, right?
Mina: She's saying something, isn't she?
Jamison: All the world's my friend. But the Lady is the one who saved my life.

Question Eight: Hobbies?
Natalia: Besides collecting serial killers? Collecting historical royal DNA. That's how my daughter Ellie was conceived--- and I passed along some DNA to Mina's mother as well.
Raoul: collecting James Cagney memorabilia, and making telepathic contact with inanimate objects.
Jamison: I play a little cards every now and then. That's how I won my pet elephant.

Question Nine: What are you going to do when this tag is over?
Natalia: I've got to see a man about a corpse.
Raoul: When my duty shift is over I'm going to sit back, relax, watch a James Cagney movie and file more lawsuits against my grandfather.
Jamison: I'm going to cook a little dinner, seeing as how the cook's quit. But anyone that don't treat the kids right, they can go cook their own damn dinner.

Question Ten: What is your eye color?
Natalia: You mean right now? Pulls out mirror. Sort of orangy-yellow. But then I'm in a bad mood.
Raoul: Usually sort of metallic gold--- it's not my mood or anything, my eyes just kind of got stuck on that color when.... But sometimes they're back to normal and change with my mood like everyone else's.
Jamison: Brown. Always brown. And beautiful.

Question Eleven: Are you good or bad?
Natalia: Yes.
Raoul: I try not to kill people any more.
Mina: We think he's allergic to killing people. But I'm not.
Jamison: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Natalia: That's no answer.
Jamison: YOU should talk.

Question Twelve: What is your greatest fear?
Natalia: That people will be killed because I didn't act fast enough.
Raoul: What I fear most has already happened.
Jamison: That I ruint my kids permanent by how I carried on during my drinking days.

Question Thirteen: What do you think of your parents?
Natalia: I hate my father. But that's all right. Everyone who knows my father hates him. I'm amazed every time I see him and notice that no one has as yet chopped him up into seventeen small pieces. My mother, on the other hand, was a saint. She'd have to be to have married my father.
Raoul: I admire my mother. As for my fathers, Seraphim is a saintly monk, Gianni is a mob boss, and my third father, according to my mother, is none of my business.
Jamison: My parents were fine Christian folk. Feel like I really let them down, and I'm sorry that they didn't live to know me as I am now, cured of the drinking and all.

Question Fourteen: Any siblings?
Natalia: Two brothers, five sisters, and Remi. My sisters don't like it if I count Remi as a sixth sister, and if I count him as a brother he'll run off in tears and lock himself in the nearest women's restroom. So--- two brothers, six sisters.
Raoul: My twin Ellie, and my foster sister Mina.
Jamison: None of them have spoken to me in years.

Question Fifteen: Was it fun to answer all these questions?
Natalia: No. It's about as much fun as filling out a 'shots fired' report. Speaking of which, Raoul, you are about two years behind on filling out my 'shots fired' reports.
Raoul: You never tell me why you shot them.
Natalia: Because I [bleeping] felt like it.
Jamison: Can't you get a rubber stamp with that on it and fill out your own damn reports?

Question Sixteen: Do you have any weaknesses?
Natalia: No.
Raoul: None I care to talk about.
Jamison: I have a weakness for a good chicken fried steak.

Question Seventeen: Your favorite element
Natalia: The element of surprise.
Raoul: Molybdenum.
Ellie: Molybdenum's an element? I thought it was a brand of absinthe.
Raoul: It's an element, look it up.
Ellie: How am I supposed to look it up? I'm DEAD. And mama won't let me use the computers, it messes them up somehow.
Jamison: You talking to one of them ghosts again, huh? Not sure I'd even WANT that special gift, seeing ghosts. Ain't natural.
Ellie: If you think SEEING a ghost is tough, try being one.

Question Eighteen: Do you care what others think of you?
Natalia: No.
Raoul: I just hope they don't want to harm me or anyone I love.
Jamison: I'm just so used to folks being disappointed in me, I try not even to think about that any more.

Question Nineteen: Your Theme Song
Natalia: Another One Bites the Dust
Raoul: I Fought the Law and the Law Won
Jamison: I'll Fly Away. Not that I hold to that Rapture stuff, but it's a pretty song.

Question Twenty: What's Your Species?
Natalia: I'm from the Old Families, a Psion. Which some people don't count as human.
Raoul: Unsure, since mama won't even tell me who all of my fathers are.
Natalia: Raoul, my private genetic life is none of your business.
Mina: I'm the rightful Queen of Bavaria. Does that count as a species?
Ellie: I was the rightful Queen of Bavaria FIRST.
Raoul: Mina, Ellie--- Bavaria is no longer a monarchy so who cares?
Mina: Is Ellie still here? Tell her she's not the Queen anymore because she's dead so she's a ghost and doesn't count. Otherwise our father would still be king or his father or.....
Jamison: I'm just a plain old normal live non-psion human, thank the Lord. I'm not no sort of queen, I don't even wear dresses--- except to costume parties of course, and only if I can borrow a pair of nice fake titties from Remi.


Wow--- it comes out to be twenty questions. Isn't there a game like that? But I've had some fun playing with my characters even though I've pretty much given up hope on using them in an actual work of fiction that other folks might read.

So--- if you've read this far, you are tagged. Answer the questions from the point of view of your own characters. Not a writer, don't have characters? Make some up, it's fun!

Torchwood: Miracle Day: too draggy, too naked

I have by this point watched three episodes of the new Torchwood series on Starz network. Here are some of my reactions.

The concept is a little like if, after the 3 year run of the original Star Trek series, they had destroyed the Enterprise, killed off all the crew except Kirk and Sulu, and then decided to film a new Star Trek series set in 1970 London (and filmed there) where Kirk, Sulu and their new British companions solve mysteries. I might watch it but it wouldn't have been MY Star Trek.

The new series Miracle Day seems to be like the last season 'Children of Earth'---- one big long dramatic global story. It seems to be throwing away the one advantage of series television--- the ability to do small stories as well as big 'save the galaxy' stories. I've always liked episodes such as 'The Trouble With Tribbles' episode of Star Trek which are NOT about saving the galaxy (or a whole planet at least). Or like the Doctor Who episode Love and Monsters.

The main plot of Miracle Day is that suddenly, no one is dying any more. The horror! Yes, it's just your basic 'death takes a holiday' plot. But it gives the creators of the show a lot of chances to show off the fact that they are a loyal part of the Culture of Death. They even wrote in a scene where the hero-doctor is listening to reports on the crisis on how unborn babies who are 'nature's mistakes' are no longer dying in the womb like they are supposed to. One (evil Catholic) doctor takes exception to the inhumane way in which they refer to these children only to be slapped down by a bit of anti-Catholic hate speech from the hero-doctor. (Remember the good old days when the good characters weren't allowed to be bigots?)

In the most recent episode for no apparent reason the writers had Captain Jack and the male American character go out and commit some random sex acts for no real reason. Jack's sex partner was some guy he picked up in a gay bar. FAR TOO MUCH of these sex acts were shown, especially the one involving Capt. Jack which as an act between two men, makes a LOT of straight males very uncomfortable and sets back the process of creating more compassion for people with gay identity/same-sex attraction.

Of course when Capt. Jack gets romantic with a guy it is only an apparent Gay relationship. Capt. Jack is an alien dude who at one point admits he has given birth in the past (and in the future when he's the Face of Boe he gets pregnant again). So in the whole 'girly or the freak' question it looks like the answer, as far as Capt. Jack's concerned, is a definite 'girly'.

But in any case the whole sex scene was TMI. I've never, in real life, had a pair of friends decide to commit a sex act in my presence. Why should my TV friends be doing it? I don't need to see it and they could be using the time to forward the plot.

Another flaw in Miracle Day is that since they are only telling one story this whole season, the plot D-R-A-G-S terribly. Many of the lighter moments they could have had can't happen since Gwen is in the US and her hubby Rhys and the baby are back in the UK.

I will continue to watch Torchwood: Miracle Day--- at least as long as Starz is giving me their channels for free and I still have access to satellite television. But I will continue to miss MY Torchwood--- the Torchwood of the first few seasons before the bloodbath. And I'll continue to miss Owen, Tosh, Ianto, Myfanwy the pterodactyl, and the unnamed Weevil, who all perished in the course of six episodes to take Torchwood to the next level (which I will never like as well as the old level.)

Law & Order's Lenny Briscoe sings in his underwear.....

My mom told me that the actor Jerry Orbach, who played the cop Lenny Briscoe in Law & Order, was a song-and-dance man in Broadway plays.

Didn't know that but found out some proof when I was googling about the movie and the musical 'Chicago'. Here is a video of Orbach as Billy Flin in Chicago:

Damian Spinelli: Does he have Asperger's?

One of my favorite characters from the soap opera General Hospital is Damian Spinelli, AKA The Jackal. He's a computer geek who shows a lot of eccentric behaviors, such as giving people odd nicknames. For example, he always refers to his best friend Jason Morgan as 'Stone Cold'.

It's been suggested that Spinelli has Asperger's syndrome but that hasn't been officially established on the show. It probably shouldn't be, in my opinion. In the TV series 'Bones' the main character is written as if she has Asperger's but the word isn't used by the show, which paradoxically allows the character to be more like a real aspie than like an aspie stereotype.

I think that if there were a major storyline on GH of Spinelli having Asperger's or an autism spectrum disorder, the character of Spinelli would end up changing radically for the worse. Various advocacy groups for Asperger's and autism would complain greatly about anything Spinelli did which was inconsistent with the group's take on Asperger's. The character would either be written off the show altogether, or just come on for a minute or two once or twice a month to do something Asperger-y.

Spinelli video:


Related blog post (this blog)
Fictional Characters that might have Asperger's Syndrome

Related blog posts (off-site)
Anna's Blog: Spinelli and Asperger's
Marlena De Lacroix: On the Soap Shrink's Couch: General Hospital's Spinelli
General Hospital's Spinelli: Asperger's Syndrome - BA's Response

A Perverted Vermin defends traditional marriage

Moonbattery blog posts the following (Emphasis Added):

Dem Senator: Defenders of Marriage Are On The Wrong Side Of History

Moonbat Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) informs us that those who defend the sanctity of marriage from defilement by militant degenerates and creepy politicians are on "the wrong side of history":

Holy matrimony has been revered around the world for thousands of years, as has the awareness that homosexual depravity is an obscene abomination. With or without DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Obama Regime refuses to uphold), marriage will endure. Whether America endures depends on how quickly we can take back our country from the perverted vermin who control the political/media establishment.

Perverted Vermin! Wow! Maybe I should change my internet name from nissa_loves_cats to Perverted Vermin Nissa. Maybe this blog should become the Perverted Vermin Fan Club. Maybe I should declare an annual Perverted Vermin day when we can exchange Perverted Vermin Day cards, eat Perverted Vermin Day cakes, and use the tag 'perverted vermin' in our blogs. What a cool phrase!

But what a great way to convince the public at large that defenders of traditional marriage are hate-filled creeps who are likely to do harm to every person with same-sex attraction.

This is what one Bible-based church teaches about Gay people:
2358. The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

If you support traditional marriage but not anti-Gay hate
Please visit Moonbattery and drop him a polite comment to that effect. I believe it will be a most effective way to defend marriage by filling up his comment page with thoughtful, non-hateful comments. Thank you.

My comments on Moonbattery's blog (which may not be there for long:

Even perverted vermin like me (I am a CHASTE Catholic Gay woman) can recognize that traditional marriage is something to be defended.

Even ancient Roman emperors who married their underage and possibly castrated boyfriends did not succeed in changing marriage from what it is.

Question: are lawyers and clients 'unequal' because we don't use marriage to mark the lawyer/client relationship? Are best friends 'unequal' because we don't use marriage to mark friendship relationships? If no, then why must we use government recognized marriage to mark same-sex partnerings?

The state has no vested interest in recording same-sex partnerings or best friendships because these relationships aren't going to produce biological children from within the relationship. Same-sex couples can have commitment ceremonies, and even call them 'marriages', without government approval and permission.

I guess some of us Gay people have been so hurt by people calling us 'perverted vermin' that we want government-approved Gay marriage which people will be forced to recognize just to avoid being bullied by society at large.

But as a loyal Christian when I am given the choice between my faith, and being better protected from bullying, I'll have to choose my faith.

Blog posts on the topic:
The Gay Question
Keeping the Riff-Raff Out of Heaven

Comments welcome. Please read this blog post before commenting. Comments which show the person has not read the post will not be deleted, they will be laughed at.

The Diet that Cured Type 2 Diabetes (Warning: Science Content!)

Recently there have been news reports of a British study in which patients were cured of their diabetes by following a strict 600 calorie diet for 8 weeks. There is a lot of buzz on this story and curiosity about the exact diet used--- curiosity which I am about to satisfy after a little warning:

I am not a medical doctor! If you have diabetes and you are lucky enough to have less-than-horrible health care access, you MUST consult with your doctor about your diet. The very strict diet in this study was under very close medical supervision. If you are already on some kind of medication for your diabetes, changes to your diet can cause problems!

OK, warning over! The news story I consulted had a link to the journal Diabetologia in which the study was reported in a paper called 'Reversal of type 2 diabetes: normalisation of beta cell function in association with decreased pancreas and liver triacylglycerol'. Catchy title, ĉu ne? You might want to print out an extra copy to give to your diabetes doctor when you go in for permission to try the diet for a brief period.

The patients in the study, after 1 week on the diet, had blood sugars in the normal range. After 8 weeks, their bodies responded normally to insulin and their beta cells were better able to make insulin. (Note: they were type 2 diabetics, and had not had diabetes for long.) After 8 weeks they went off the strict diet.
After four more weeks three of the 11 patients in the study had their diabetes come back, as measured by an increase in their fasting blood sugar level. Others were able to discontinue pills (metformin) and stayed off them over the longer term (18 months after the study).

THE DIET: Three portions of a liquid diet formula (Optifast)
Three portions of non-starchy vegetables (salad-type vegetables)
Total caloric intake: 600 calories.
The Optifast is 46.4% carbohydrate, 32.5% protein and 20.1% fat.
The diet was continued a maximum of 8 weeks.

As you may have guessed, I'm trying the diet, at least temporarily. In two days my blood sugar has improved and I've lost 6 pounds. Since I can't get the Optifast where I live, I've modified the diet as follows:
Three meals consisting of 1/2 can of Slimfast and one cup of salad vegetables (no dressing or other additives). This comes to 105 calories per meal.
Plus: three 95 calorie portions of other nutritious food, either as part of a meal or as snacks. I've had vegetable soup, canned spaghetti and meat balls, and rye-crisp crackers with Laughing Cow cheese.

When I go off the diet, perhaps before the end of week 1, I plan to go on the diet in this book: Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. This is a low carbohydrate diet developed by a diabetes doctor who is himself a diabetic. Unlike the very temporary 600 calorie diet above, Dr. Bernstein's diet is one you can stick to for years.

Asperger's, empathy deficits and serial killers

'Lack of empathy' is on the list of symptoms of Asperger's syndrome. (This list of symptoms is very important because once you are diagnosed, you stop being a person and are seen as merely that list of symptoms.)

'Lack of empathy' is a particularly dire symptom because everyone knows that's what sociopaths and serial killers have. That's how come a serial killer can enjoy torturing victims to death--- he doesn't have any empathy for their suffering.

Having Asperger's and being told, ever so nicely of course, that you have no real future other than subsisting on the government dole and having no friends, is bleak enough but find out you are allegedly kind of like a serial killer is especially dire.

I think the problem is the 'lack of empathy' observed in Asperger's Syndrome and that observed in sociopaths is not the same 'lack of empathy'.

Empathy means vicariously sharing in the emotions of others--- as when you wince when someone else is hit in the head with a volleyball, you are sharing that person's feeling of pain.

In Asperger's Syndrome, the person cannot so easily read the non-verbal clues given off by others. This lack is not absolute, and the aspie's abilities in this area improve over time. But when the aspie is not aware of another person's feelings, he cannot empathize, not because he is a heartless monster, but simply due to unawareness of the other's feelings.

The sociopath usually knows full well what another person is feeling--- or at least, knows as much as a normal person does--- he just doesn't give a flying 'eff' about it.

So you might say that the sociopathic empathy deficit is a lack of concern for others, while the aspie is suffering merely from a lack of informed empathy.

My own experience as an Aspie is that I don't lack empathy in any way. In fact, I could never enjoy the kind of sitcom plot in which one person lacks a key piece of information and makes an utter fool of herself, because I empathized too much with the character's embarrassment and humiliation to think it funny.

I suppose that as an aspie I am supposed to plead guilty to missing the non-verbal cues given off by others to a greater degree than normal people would, but quite frankly a large part of the normals I have encountered haven't been all that sensitive to other people and miss even more non-verbal cues than I do.

Of course when I do empathize with a real person rather than a TV character, I don't know the correct way to show that empathy in a way the other person will recognize. It's either too much or not enough and since the too much version makes people think I'm self-centered and trying to make everything all about me, I tend toward the not enough so they will think I'm merely uncaring and heartless.

I guess it ticks people off to say that most people with Asperger's have no friends. And it may not be true: I'm not absolutely friendless--- I had a friend in 2nd grade and didn't lose touch with her until we moved out of state a year later (it's the one whose brother I kissed, causing him to be transformed into a Gay Latino Elvis impersonator.) But the fewer friends and social contacts you have, the fewer opportunities you have to trot out your empathy skills. (The abject poverty so many aspies live in keeps the social contacts to a minimum since it's hard to be friends with someone who can't afford to drive to your house or go to the movies or a restaurant with you.)

I suppose this would be an off topic post on this blog except for the fact this blog doesn't really have a topic other than whinging about the last season of Torchwood.