Hello!

Been on the road the last few weeks (or, more accurately, in the air / on the train, with a teeny bit on the road here and there), and very much so today, so will just note my travel media diet:¹

• In book land, I’ve been alternating between The Left Hand of Darkness (by Ursula K. Le Guin) and The Unaccountability Machine (by Dan Davies). The first is a long overdue reread, while the second is a first time through, though the ideas feel very familiar after spending time reading Davies’s blog and listening to a few interviews with him. They’re both great at building a world, one I’m happy to spend as much time in as I can.
• Project Hail Mary (film): I started this on an outbound flight two weeks ago, got nearly to the end, saw the plot twist but didn’t get to see how it ended—until today. What a touching film. Friendship is beautiful.
• Darkest Hour (film): Ugh there’s a lot about this movie that feels necessary to pay attention to in today’s times. The huge difference is the information asymmetry in the Second World War versus now: Churchill could just decide not to say that France was falling, and nobody knew otherwise! On the flip side, he could paint a vision for the whole nation via broadcast, which would reliably be listened to by much of his people. Neither of these are possible anymore. (Also, was nearly moved to tears multiple times watching it. Sleep exhaustion or pathos, who can say!)
• Notting Hill (film): This has been one of my all-time favourite movies for a very long time, and I’m happy to report that it holds up. Just delightful, start to finish. (Though the copy my airline played was the “redacted”, more family-friendly version. Proud to say many correct lines came to mind just before the alternate ones were delivered. Some of the iconic lines!)
• Starfleet Academy (series): I’d held off starting this, but the first two episodes fit nicely into the tail end of a flight. Also, with news of both Walter Koenig and Patrick Stewart’s passing, it felt fitting to turn to the latest incarnation in a franchise they each helped create. (I’ll need a proper TNG rewatch, among other things, to properly mourn SirPatStew. Hell, maybe it’s time to queue up ASonnetADay!) I welcome any Trek material, and enjoyed being back in that world from a new angle, though I found the first episode suffered from almost all of modern Trek’s issue of an absurd ship-level crisis that should really take out far more people than it actually does.

Alright, I’m nodding off. All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas