Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Rivals" (season two, episode eleven; 3 January 1994): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Welcome to 1994. "Rivals" is a charming little episode. It is a minor shame that Martus never returned as a rival for Quark, if only because Chris Sarandon is such a delightful actor.

Bonus! Anti-Valentine's Song o' the Day

Less Than Jake, "Let Her Go" from In with the Out Crowd (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Welcome to the most joyfully bitter week of The Secret Base's whole year! Love is a lie & all that awaits us are misery & heartbreak! Woot!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the VI Sunday in O.T.

The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matt Maher, "Alive Again" from Alive Again (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today

Samstag, 10. Februar
The Raymond Scott Quintette, "Powerhouse" from the Microphone Music compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: I was super productive this morning!

Bonus! Fish Fry Song o' Yesterday

Freitag, 9. Februar
The Ditty Bops, "Fish to Fry" from Moon Over the Freeway (Mike Papa Walleye)

Commentary: Yesterday was the annual pre-Ash Wednesday fish fry, which I regard as spring training/the pre-season. 'Tis a shakedown cruise to make sure we all remember our jobs & all the equipment still works, after having sat idle since last Easter. No one died & we didn't set the parish hall on fire: so, I count the day as a success.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday

Freitag, 9. Februar
The Pogues, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" from The Best of the Pogues (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Sanctuary" (season two, episode ten; 29 November 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Sanctuary" gives us the second mention of the mysterious Dominion, the Skrreans having been freed from centuries of domination by the T-Rogorans, who were themselves overthrown by "a major power… in something called the Dominion."

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Second Sight" (season two, episode nine; 22 November 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The best part of "Second Sight" is the opening narration, Commander Sisko's log about the fourth anniversary of Jennifer Sisko's death in the massacre at Wolf 359 ("The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I & II," The Next Generation) & a conversation between Sisko & his son, Jake, about a bad dream Jake had. Jake confesses, "I miss her."

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday: In Memoriam

Donnerstag, 8. Februar
The Spinners, "Rubberband Man" from Happiness Is Being with The Spinners (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: In memoriam Henry Fambrough (10 May 1938-7 February 2024). Requiescat in pace.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day before Yesterday

Mittwoch, 7. Februar
Avril Lavigne, "Sk8er Boi" from Let Go (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Skylab 4, Part V
3-8 February 1974: Carr & Gibson conducted an E.V.A. to retrieve film canisters from the Apollo Telescope Mount; the trio set a new spaceflight endurance record: eighty-four days; after the rocky first half of the mission, productivity increased markedly & the crew exceeded all of their objectives; the unnamed C.M. splashed down in the Pacific & was recovered by the U.S.S. New Orleans.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Skylab 4
They Might Be Giants, "Another First Kiss" from Mink Car (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Semper exploro.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Necessary Evil" (season two, episode eight; 15 November 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Necessary Evil" is a film noir episode, beginning with a scene between Quark & a Bajoran femme fatale. We see flashbacks to five years earlier (2365, concurrent with the second season of The Next Generation), our first glimpse of the Cardassian occupation; the storylines of the past & the present are perfectly intertwined. Aside from the fascinating plot, it is also interesting to see that Gul Dukat is responsible for Odo's vocation as an investigator & that there is an element of truth a Dukat's later, situationally self-serving claims that he tried to ameliorate the Cardassian occupation of Bajor while serving as prefect of Terok Nor (the original Cardassian designation for Deep Space 9): in the past, Dukat coerced Odo into finding the murderer of a Bajoran shopkeeper-cum-collaborator, as an alternate to the Central Command's preferred response of executing ten random Bajorans. Yes, Dukat was also distancing himself from the murder of a collaborator so as not to draw attention to the rest of his network of collaborators, but avoiding the execution of ten innocents is an unadulterated good.

"Necessary Evil" is also the debut of the fully-formed Rom. He had been seen since the series premiere, "Emissary" (there credited as "Ferengi Pit Boss"), but his characterization was inconsistent up to this point. Here Rom's mechanical aptitude & relative lack of greed are cemented. Huzzah!

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Rules of Acquisition" (season two, episode seven; 8 November 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Rules of Acquisition" launches two story threads that will persist until the very end of Deep Space Nine: The Ferengi female rights movement (Pel is also the first Ferengi female seen on screen) & the Gamma Quadrant's anti-Federation, the Dominion. The fight for equal rights for Ferengi females won't pick up steam until we meet Quark & Rom's "Moogie," Ishka, late in season three, but the first seeds have been planted.

The Karemma are mentioned as "powerful members of the Dominion," but will not be seen until the season three premiere, "The Search, Part I." (They will return in season four's "Starship Down" & on Lower Decks, in season three's "Hear All, Trust Nothing.") The governing apparatus of the Dominion, the carrot (the Vorta) & the stick (the Jem'Hadar), will not be seen until the season two finale, "The Jem'Hadar." Television was different back in the 1990s, favoring episodic storytelling over seralized storytelling; in a perfect world, I wish DS9 had been just a little more serialized a little earlier, & that the Dominion had been teased & hinted at more consistently throughout season two.

Quark: "The Dominion? What's that?"
Zyree: "Let's just say, if you want to do business in the Gamma Quadrant, you have to do business with the Dominion."

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Pre-Lenten Edition

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 355.6 lbs. (Wednesday, 20 December 2023)

The time nears to get back on track, to go out into the desert & strip away whatever is not essential. For now, make ready for carnival!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday

Dienstag, 6. Februar
Joel McNeely & the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, "Main Title" from The Last of the Mohicans: Original Motion Picture Score (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Score written by Randy Edelman & Trevor Jones.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Melora" (season two, episode six; 1 November 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: A wheelchair bound character was an early idea for the regular cast of Deep Space Nine, but was discared due to the inherent production difficulties, an issue that was then paralleled by the on-screen adaptations to Starbase Deep Space 9. Due to the realities of television production during the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, & 2000s, the overwhelming majority of sapient aliens seen on Star Trek are humanoid oxygen-breathers accustomed to Earth's surface gravity. As a one-off, it was gratifying to explore how an officer from a low-gravity world would adapt to & strive in 1 g.

"Melora" marks the first, but not the last time that Doctor Bashir will fall in love with his patient of the week.

The Explorers' Club, № MIX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 50th Anniversary of Mariner 10, Part II
5 February 1974: The Mariner 10 probe flew by Venus, approaching to within 3,584 miles; it was the first mission to broadcast to Earth images of Venus, returning 4,165 photographs; infrared radiometry confirmed temperature inversions in Venus's atmosphere & ultraviolet photography revealed details of the cloud layers; Venus's gravity changed Mariner 10's heliocentric orbit to approach Mercury closely.

Semper exploro.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Cardassians" (season two, episode five; 25 October 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Cardassians" marks the return of "plain, simple" Garak for the first time since his debut early in season one. The episode is a sensitive examination of the lingering hatred between Bajorans & Cardassians, the internal rivalries between Cardassians with the war orphans abandoned on Bajor used as pawns, & decent everyman Miles O'Brien's casual bias against Cardassians, motivated by his traumatic wartime experiences. Chief O'Brien begins to reform after Mrs. O'Brien, Keiko, chastises him for his ugly words.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Cable TV" from Dare to Be Stupid (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: I don't mind the bursting of the streaming bubble, & I hope many of these companies go out of business. Burn, Hollywood! Burn! Why? Because their customer service is even worse than the widely acknowledged nightmare of cable telvision customer service. With cable, it is the trial of waiting on the phone for an operator, who may or may not be able to solve one's issue through a remote reset of one equipment, or scheduling an appointment with a technician for a home visit. These annoyances are well known & widely loathed. With streaming, one is on one's own: There's no number to call, the on-site F.A.Q. & help center are no help, & one can do nothing more than send direct messages into the dark, wondering if one will ever receive an unhelpful response. Fool me once, shame on thee; fool me twice, shame on me.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Invasive Procedures" (season two, episode four; 18 October 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Invasive Procedures" delves into the consequences of Trill symboisis, as did the first season's "Dax." My only frustration with "Invasive Procedures" is that our heroes don't criticize the villain Verad's plan of abducting & joining with Dax & then escaping through the Bajoran Wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant as being not only a death sentence for Jadzia, but also for Dax: the Dax symbiont has lived for hundreds of years through numerous hosts, Jadzia being the eighth, but if Vrad takes Dax into the Gamma Quadrant, in the best case scenario Dax will die when Verad reaches natural death for a Trill host, somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred years. That would not have dissuaded the murderous Verad, but since the Trill are a joined species, Sisko & crew ought to have at least voiced concern for both the Dax symbiont & the Jadzia host.

As Worf would put it in a later season:

"…the magnificent Jadzia Dax."

My brother & nephew recently encountered the actress Terry Farrell, who played Jadzia Dax, at a fan convention. As my brother described her via text:

"She was luminous."

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the V Sunday in O.T.

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matt Maher, "A Future Not My Own" from Saints and Sinners (Saint Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Explorers' Club, № MVIII

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 40th Anniversary of S.T.S.-41-B (№ 10), Part I
3 February 1984: The Space Shuttle Challenger OV-099 lifted off from Florida's K.S.C. with CDR Vance Brand, Pilot "Hoot" Gibson, M.S.1 Bruce McCandless, M.S.2 Bob Stewart, & M.S.3 Ron McNair; the quintet deployed two satellites, Westar VI & Palapa B2, both of which limped into too low of orbits due to Payload Assist Module problems; the Challenger also carried five Getaway Specials.

Commentary: S.T.S.-41-B was the fourth flight of the Challenger OV-099.

S.T.S.-41-B was the tenth Space Shuttle flight, thus the "(№ 10)" at the top. S.T.S.-1 was the first Shuttle flight & S.T.S.-9 the ninth. It is going to be a long time before the flight designation lines up with the ordinal number, but that time will come again, should the world perdure. Unpacking the new flight designation system, the "41-B" in S.T.S.-41-B, will require a separate post. Watch this space.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: S.T.S.-41-B
Guster, "Satellite" from Ganging Up On the Sun (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"The Siege" (season two, episode three; 11 October 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Thus concludes the first three-parter in Star Trek history. "The Homecoming," "The Circle," & "The Siege" continue on directly from the first-season finale, "In the Hands of the Prophets." These three episodes reset the standard for Star Trek storytelling, all of them telling one cohesive story, yet each also telling its own episodic story—the best of both worlds!

Bonus! Song o' the Day

Mustard Plug, "Life Is Too Short" from In Black and White (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day the Music Died

Operation AXIOM: The 65th Anniversary of "The Day the Music Died"
The Hippos, "Rock & Roll" from Forget the World (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"The Circle" (season two, episode two; 4 October 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "The Circle" begins with something new in the introductory voiceover, "And now, the continuation" in lieu of the customary, "And now, the conclusion," because the first three episodes of season two—"The Homecoming," "The Circle," & "The Siege"—are the first three-parter in Star Trek history. If you want to know how big a nerd I am, this absolutely thrills me, even after thirty years.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today

Freitag, 2 Februar
Reel Big Fish, "Everything Sucks" from Turn the Radio Off (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Well, I went down to the show,
Everybody was there, I didn't wanna go,
'Cause everything they do is so fuckin' cool,
Every song is a hit and the girls like 'em, too,
I can't do that; so, I'm giving up again…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday

Donnerstag, 1 Februar
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Callin' in Sick" from Bad Hair Day (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"The Homecoming" (Part I; season two, episode one; 27 September 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: The first three episodes of season two—"The Homecoming," "The Circle," & "The Siege"—are the first three-parter in Star Trek history. At the end of "The Homecoming," we see, "To be continued…" on screen. Even at this early stage, Deep Space Nine was taking serialized storytelling in Star Trekto new heights!

The Stars My Destination: The Columbia Disaster

Operation AXIOM: The Space Age—The 21st Anniversary of S.T.S.-107
Twenty-one years ago to the day, 1 February 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia OV-102, the first Space Shuttle Orbiter to fly in 1981, disintegrated during atmospheric re-entry, killing all seven of her crew: Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool, Mission Specialist 1 David Brown, Mission Specialist 2 Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist 3 Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist 4 Laurel Clark, & Payload Specialist 1 Ilan Ramon. Husband (STS-96), Chalwa (STS-87), & Anderson (STS-89) were spaceflight veterans; McCool, Brown, Clark, & Ramon were rookies. Ramon was the first Israeli in space.

The Columbia suffered the ultimately fatal damage to her heat shielding during launch, a fortnight earlier on 16 January 2003: a piece of thermal insulating foam was shaken off the massive burnt orange External Fuel Tank by the titanic forces involved in boosting a Space Shuttle into low earth orbit & struck the Columbia's left wing, compromising the composite-material heat shield. When the Columbia re-entered the atmosphere on 1 February, hot gases penetrated the wing, leading to the disintegration of the Shuttle & the deaths of all seven on board. The Space Shuttle Atlantis OV-104 had suffered similar heat shield damage during the launch of S.T.S.-27 (1988), but by the grace of God had returned to earth safely, becoming the most-damaged Space Shuttle ever to make a successful landing.

The falling foam phenomenon was common enough to be known as "foam shedding" & had been observed on S.T.S.-7 (1983), S.T.S.-32 (1990), S.T.S.-50 (1992), S.T.S.-52 (1992), S.T.S.-62 (1994), & S.T.S.-112 (2002), but foam shedding was not perceived as posing a danger. Subsequent to the disaster, Space Shuttle missions launched without the foam, suffering no ill effects from its absence. The hideous irony is that the thermal insulation was on the External Fuel Tank to prevent the build up of ice that could be shaken loose during launch, striking & damaging the Shuttle.

The Space Shuttle Columbia suffered a catastrophic loss of structural integrity during re-entry, leading to the deaths of all seven aboard, 1 February 2003, twenty-one years ago today.

Bonus! Space Age Song o' the Day: The Columbia Disaster
The Phenomenauts, "Heroes" from For All Mankind (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Columbia Disaster
Wayback Machine '23 | Wayback Machine '22
Wayback Machine '21 | Wayback Machine '20
Wayback Machine '19 | Wayback Machine '18
Wayback Machine '17 | Wayback Machine '16

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Tori Amos, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from the Crucify E.P. (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"In the Hands of the Prophets" (season one, episode twenty; 21 June 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Much of the billiance of Deep Space Nine can be glimpsed in the tension between Vedek Winn, a leader of the Bajoran religion, being a major, recurring villain throughout the series & the nuanced, respectful treatment of Major Kira's faith in the Bajoran religion.

"In the Hands of the Prophets" also stands head & shoulders above its peers, the first-season finales of the contemporaneous Star Trek series: "The Neutral Zone" (T.N.G.); both "Learning Curve" (VGR), the aired finale, & "The 37's" (VGR), the intended finale; & "Shockwave, Part I" (ENT).

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Duet" (season one, episode nineteen; 14 June 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Duet" is one of the best episodes of Star Trek ever. No qualifiers, no hedges.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Firm, "Star Trekkin'" from the Dr. Demento's Hits from Outer Space compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Bruce Lee Band, "Running Out of Time" from the Beautiful World E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Section 31: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-2024)

Episode o' the Day
"Dramatis Personae" (season one, episode eighteen; 31 May 1993): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I enjoyed seeing the clock Commander Sisko made under the influence of the Saltah'na telepathic imprint on display in his office throughout the rest of Deep Space Nine.

The Explorers' Club, № MVII

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 60th Anniversary of Saturn-Apollo 5
29 January 1964: Saturn-Apollo 5 (Saturn I S.A.-5) lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, the first flight of a Block II Saturn I, the first flight with multiple live stages, & the first orbital flight; the S-I ("S-One") first stage had a larger fuel capacity than the Block I's & fins for aerodynamic stability; the S-IV second stage became the largest satellite yet orbited, burning up on 30 April 1966.

Commentary: In a speech delivered on 21 November 1963, the day before he was assassinated, President Kennedy pointed to the upcoming Saturn-Apollo 5 as the flight when the United States would overtake the Soviet Union in raw boost capacity.

Saturn-Apollo 5 was the first Apollo Program launch since Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy, in the slain president's honor.

Ex Luna, scientia.