Deep Sky Anchor

You never have to grow out of playing with toys, wearing costumes, reading books with pictures and talking animals, watching animation, singing songs for fun, and just prancing around when you feel like moving. You only get one life. Hold onto the things that make you happy.

I’m watching The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005) with the six-year-old, and the singing dolphins seemed to be perfectly natural to him, but he did not expect the Earth to actually be blown up. “Whaaaaaat??” Now he’s speechless and entranced.‬

There are two big ways to express misogyny — one is to actually express the underlying contempt for women that runs through so much of society. The other is to simply leave women out.

For a long time, I found it easier to ignore the misogyny in books, movies, shows etc. that simply didn’t have women than in the ones that blatantly treated them like objects. Continue reading “Bad Representation vs. No Representation”

Well, I’ve now watched all of Veronica Mars. I have extremely mixed feelings about that show. There is a lot of misogyny baked into it… but Kristen Bell is awesome and elevates the central character even when the show consistently punishes and isolates her.‬

There are two big ways to express misogyny — one is to actually express the underlying contempt for women that runs through so much of society. The other is to simply leave women out. Continue reading “Thoughts on Misogyny Inspired by Veronica Mars”

Alright, so, I’ve just started Dark Phoenix (2019)… and I am so sick of car-crash-killing-the-parents origin stories. It seems tired and lazy.‬

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Okay, so the space rescue at the beginning of Dark Phoenix (2019) is super cool, and renders the weak & tired car crash scene totally unnecessary.‬ Continue reading “Dark Phoenix”

That feeling when you’ve been watching Futurama, and then you go back to the book you’ve been reading, and suddenly all of the characters are speaking in Futurama voices, and it’s very hard to take them seriously.‬

The six-year-old is learning how to play World of Warcraft…

Six: How do I–
Me: Click on it.
Six: Oh! But how–
Me: Click on it.
Six: Okay, but how–
Me: Just click on it. The answer to any “how” question will almost always be “click on it.”

In World of Warcraft, when the NPCs are supposed to say your character’s name — but of course don’t have a sound file for it — they just call you “Hero.” This seems like it should be standard practice for times when you can’t remember someone’s name.

I’ve always believed that the free mints at restaurants confer superpowers. However, they’re generally arcane — like the ability to survive in vacuum — and only last fifteen minutes, so it’s hard to figure out what your new superpower is before it wears off.‬

Step 1: Find sand dollars at the beach‬
‪Step 2: Bring sand dollars home & let them dry‬
‪Step 3: Gently shake sand dollars & the now dry sand will come pouring out‬
‪Step 4: Sand keeps pouring out‬
‪Step 5: Sand pours out forever‬
‪Step 6: You have infinite sand now‬