End The Month

It is the end of the month again. This month of February went by very quickly. Well "Duh" it is the shortest month of the year and this year is not a leap year so it only had 28 days. As usual I have procrastinated in my blogging and making a post for the month. I have had a bit of writer's block or rather blogger's block I guess.

I was originally going to try to finish out a draft that I started who knows when about some childhood writing of mine. That project is still on the back burners for now. As the month grew closer to the end I determined I didn't have enough time left for some of the prep work for that post. That draft will grow some more dust. A day or two ago I thought that since it was the end of a month that maybe I would tackle the topic of the end of life aka: Death. I was going to discuss the most common theories of what it is and what we will experience on the other side (if we do experience things in that state of being). Sadly though I think that will take more time to prepare than I have given myself in these last few hours of the month of February.

Another topic I could discuss could be some of the Television shows I enjoy or have watched. I am a bit surprised that I have not mentioned The Blacklist or The Orville on this blog. Shame on me I love both those shows. James Spader as Raymond "Red" Reddington the lead role of Blacklist is fantastic. The writing is superb and his delivery is exquisite. The ensemble for the most part is excellent. I am a bit disappointed with Megan Boone who plays Elizabeth Keen. I should devote some blog posts to that show. Ditto with The Orville which many say is more Star Trek like than the recent Star Trek Series Discovery. It definitely has a Next Generation vibe to it. The main thing keeping me from "discovering" Discovery is it being only available from the CBS All Access pay-per-stream or pay yearly service or whatever the heck it is. I did see the pilot episode that was on regular broadcast CBS. It is the only Star Trek show I couldn't get much into. Maybe it was they only showed the first hour of the series and it takes time to get into.

There are some shows that I occasionally watch or will binge watch some. Those have included: TNT's Wrecked, Fox's The Masked Singer, as well as bizarre type comedies BrainDead and Ghosted.

I also have some book reviews in my drafts queue. Most need either a cover scan or I need to come up with a quote from them or both.

The Mandela Effect: Not Always A Mandela Effect

THE MANDELA EFFECT: Not Always A Mandela Effect

While not specifically looking for something on the Mandela Effect a YouTube video on the subject popped up on my recommended list, because I checkout a lot of Mandela Effect videos: This video attempts to explain the phenomenon with the psychological answers. I guess it is up to viewers to decide if does or doesn't explain things.

Many Mandela Effect videos are just about slightly different words or pronunciations of the words, or part of the word dropped off at the end, or the not as popular spelling variant of a name. Hmm was the Toys R Us giraffe mascot named Jeffrey or Geoffrey? I'm pretty sure it was the not as common Geoffrey not Jeffrey. Many people might "remember" it as Jeffrey because it is the more common spelling.

Misheard lyrics: For lyrics often improper grammar is used either to make a rhyme or to keep the timing and tempo of a song consistent. Or an entire new word will be created (see Steve Miller Band: The Joker and the line "'Cause I speak of the pompitous of love"). In transposing lyrics to the written word mistakes can be made. Also how a word is enunciated or spoken, well sung rather, can be misinterpreted. For instance do you know what Manfred Mann's Earth Band is singing in "Blinded By The Light"? It isn't the crude version that people think it is. Misheard lyrics are simply that misheard lyrics. They haven't been changed by the Mandela Effect. They are just commonly misheard and the "new" version of what they say is mistakenly passed along. There is a similar thing with misquotes from movies. I won't get into those here, but many people remember a quote in a specific way that was never actually said. In many ways it is like that kids game of Telephone. Where you sit in a circle (or organized line) and someone whispers something in the ear of the person siting next to them. That person then whispers what they "heard" to the next person, That person repeats the process and on and on til the saying gets to the last person. That person then says out loud what they heard and then the original person reveals what they started things with.

There is even a Mandela Effect for the opening title speech from the Original Star Trek series. The real line is and ALWAYS has been "Space THE Final Frontier..." The Mandela Effect has changed it to "Space A Final Frontier..." It is simply a matter of pronunciation. In the Speech William Shatner pronounces the word "T-H-E' as "Thuh" not "Thee" so it sounds like he is saying "A". There are similar misunderstandings exactly like this that people have labeled as a Mandela Effect.

The phenomenon that is called the Mandela Effect could just as easily be called the "Barenstain Bears Effect".

There is at least one ME video poster who has blocked all comments on his videos, you can't even vote thumbs up or thumbs down on them. He says he is tired of people commenting on his videos. I think maybe he was getting too many negative comments and didn't like people complaining about them or the Mandela Effect. I first noticed him from a video where he has compiled about 20 minutes worth of reports of John Lennon's death and points out some of the inconsistencies of the reporting. Many of the reports were the first "breaking news" reports that were broadcast within an hour or two of his being killed. Some details of those early reports were in error. As often happens with news reporting the first initial reports have inaccurate information. Unfortunately it is the first reports that people often remember. They will remember a celebrity being arrested for something, but not that they were found innocent a few months later, or that the charges were dropped and there was never a trial.

On some other Mandela Effect video I commented on how the first initial reports often contain inaccuracies and someone tried to correct me by mentioning some details of an event I wasn't even commenting on but apparently was mentioned in the video I was commenting on. I have also been "corrected" at times with comments that basically say the same thing I had just commented, or they think I am complaining about what I commented on. This sort of thing happens to me sometimes on Facebook also. I often think I should stop commenting on social media especially videos some of which are a couple of years old.

There are some Mandela Effect believers that say if you don't believe in the Mandela Effect and mock it. You have not been effected by it yet and are from this reality. Huh? Yes most people believe that part of the Mandela Effect is that we are currently in a moment of time where multiple realities are combining together as one reality and that is why many are experiencing the Mandela Effect. They refuse to believe that they might be wrong about one difference and they defend the entire phenomenon. They also say if you don't believe in the phenomenon you don't get it and don't understand it. The one thing to understand is people are finding proof of different spellings of things or of slogans or logos that are different than what they had remembered.

Name Game: We Need A Real Earthy Sounding Name This Time

Well I thought I had seen, heard, and otherwise all the different ways to mess up my name. Never say Never and Never think you have heard the last butchering of your name. The usual suspect a cashier at a food place where they ask for your name to identify your order. This time early in November I must have listpth or sthumthing because the name sounded like Mork & Mindy's Offspring Mearth as played by Jonathan Winters.

The name this time was Kurth for what it was worth. Hmm sounds like a Klingon actually.

Captian K'rth

A Late Myka Monday: Swordplay

Sorry this one is posted at a weird late time. On Monday I saw this (at work) on the Sci-Fi Channel's Tumbler page via facebook.Apparently they do Myka Mondays too. My work internet network doesn't like the Syfy channel pages and I forgot about this till late.

SyFy Tumbler Myka Mondays If I recall correctly it was from the Episode that Jeri Ryan (7of9 from Star Trek: Voyager) guest starred in "Queen For A Day" Season 3 Episode 4

Quantum NCIS Enterprise

OH BOY!

The latest casting news for the potential new spinoff in the NCIS franchise NCIS: New Orleans has been announced. Scott Bakula has been cast as team leader Special Agent Pride. Pride is described as a man who “embodies New Orleans" and is driven by the "need to do what’s right and does it all with warmth, passion, strength and humor." He is also apparently an old associate of Gibbs (Marc Harmon) from the NIS (Naval Investigative Service) days.

Special Agent Pride and his team will debut this spring in a two-part story on the current flagship show NCIS as a backdoor spinoff pilot. NCIS itself is a spinoff from the mother flagship show JAG.

Speaking of JAG Zoe McLellan (P.O. Jennifer Coates) has been cast as Special Agent Brody on Pride's team. Also cast is CCH Pounder (Mrs. Irene Frederic from Warehouse 13) who will play medical examiner Dr. Wade. Another field agent named LaSalle has yet to be cast, or at least the casting has yet to be announced for that character.

I have mentioned in this blog and elsewhere that I really don't think there needs to be three NCIS shows right now. This show, however, seems more interesting and has a bigger named star to anchor the potential series than the previous spinoff attempt (from NCIS: Los Angeles) NCIS: Red. I'm a big NCIS fan and a big fan of Scott Bakula as well as a huge Warehouse 13 fan. Even though I don't agree with the plans for a new series I will end up watching, supporting and probably enjoying NCIS: New Orleans.

Related Links:
'NCIS: New Orleans' casts 'JAG' actress - Entertainment Weekly
'NCIS' scoop: Scott Bakula to star in new spinoff - Entertainment Weekly
'JAG' Alum Set as Female Lead in CBS' 'NCIS' New Orleans Spinoff - The Hollywood Reporter
NCIS: New Orleans? - Kirk's Knook (This blog right here)
Bakula cast in lead role of 'NCIS' New Orleans spinoff - New York Post
Bakula leads cast of 'NCIS' New Orleans episodes - USA Today

Books Update: February 2013

FEBRUARY 2013

This is a bit outdated, it was in my posting queue and I wanted to clean out the queue. I still need to review this book by the way.

Well my first book of the month (and as it turns out only book o' the month) I got from a giveaway at Goodreads.com it is the second time I've won a giveaway there out of the 80some I have entered. Jesus Was A Time Traveler by D.J. Gelner. An interesting concept that I've been toying with writing a story about a time traveler going back to the time of Jesus and trying to prove he existed.

This book tells of a time traveler who makes his own time machine and goes back to first century Judea and meeting "Jesus" and learns he is really a grad student turned time traveler that claims that history is fixed and immutable.

This book is a fun read. It has many references to Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation almost to the point as being overdone. An interesting concept in it is that time travelers have adopted the "Vulcan Live Long And Prosper" hand salute as a code for time travelers to recognize each other as a fellow time traveler.

I will do a proper review of this book later on this blog as well as at Goodreads.

Another Name Misspelling: ACK!

The other day I was at a food place that uses your name to track your order while you are waiting for it. Well on the receipt they misspelled my name. It wasn't as bad as the mailing list that butchers my name as "KIRL" (which I blogged about in my Mailinglist Name Misspelling Rant) but it was a mistake just the same. I think part of it was the cashier/order taker was an English as a second Language person. I now forget what nationality the person was. Any way this time they misspelled my name as "CORK". What?

OK I might understand being mistaken for this Guy:

Or maybe this weird looking guy:

But this?

Oh well things could be worse.

Book Update: November Books

NOVEMBER 2011 BOOKS

Not much this month. I did get another book from the MLB Insiders Club I have to double check to see the title I think it was "Greatest Rivalries" or something of that nature. I'm not really concerned about that right now. Anyway the bulk of what I got I found at decent prices on Ebay since I haven't been to a proper bookstore lately and the ones I've dashed in didn't have these books when I looked.

STAR TREK (2009)

First up the Novel version of the most recent Star Trek Movie (2009) by Alan Dean Foster. His adaptations of stories for films are usually pretty good. I hadn't planned on getting this book but it is the first book to read for a sci-fi book club I joined at goodreads.com. The schedule for this group as it stands right now seems to be that every other month we will read a book and discuss it while reading it. I think the wide birth of reading time is to give people time to pick up the next book to be discussed.

WAREHOUSE 13: A TOUCH OF FEVER

Next up is the first book based on the Sci-Fi Channel hit show Warehouse 13. Hopefully there will be many more books in this series. This one Warehouse 13: A Touch of Fever by Greg Cox sounds interesting but I'll find out when I read it if it is an exciting enough story to start a book series with. Who knows.

Incoming:

DOCTOR WHO: THE STONE ROSE

Speaking of "Who" this final one is a more recent Doctor Who book with the David Tennant Doctor (#10). Another book I'm getting via Ebay due to arrive in early December Doctor Who: The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner. It is the second book for my goodreads sci-fi book club which we don't start reading till March. I'm not sure if I can wait that long. The companion for this story is Rose Tyler.

June DVD Update

OK Time for the DVD stuff I got in June Starting with some Doctor Who DVDs I hinted at in the May report that I technically ordered and paid for via Paypal on 30 May. They came in on Thursday 02 June, but I couldn't pick them up from the post office til Saturday 04 June.

Doctor Who: Dreamland This is the second Animated Doctor Who DVD that I know about and have. (The first one is Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest with Martha Jones as the companion) Both animated adventures were shown on TV in the UK but not here in the States. This adventure though has two new companions not in the television series, they are one time companions or "one-offs" I suppose (I still prefer to say "one-of"). I have watched this one and it is a fun watch. The animation is computer generated and is a little choppy and jumpy in some spots but once I got into the story I hardly noticed the problems with using computer animation. This DVD has a bonus disc that contains the 2009 mini-series Doctor Who Greatest Moments. I'm not sure if this has been shown on US television or not. BBCAmerica has shown the occasional Doctor Who Mini-Series or inserts the interview clips from these things (Doctor Who Confidential - the extra bits they put on some of the DVDs) so often I can't keep track of which have been shown.

Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol This is the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas Special. Yes it is based on the Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" story. It is not bad, it is very enjoyable even if a little predictable.The producers of Doctor Who probably at the fan's requests have wanted to do a Doctor Who Christmas Carol for many years.

Doctor Who: The Complete Specials This is what should have been Series 5 (Season 5 for Americans who get confused by the use of the word series) of the Doctor Who reboot series. It is the final DW "series" for actor David Tennant as The Doctor (he makes a cameo in the next DVD I got).

The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Third Season As I hinted at above for the specials DVD this DVD has The Doctor show up to help out Sarah Jane Smith.

 

Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series Season 5 of Doctor Who the first season with Matt Smith in the title role will Karen Gillan as his traveling companion Amy Pond.

Star Trek: The Animated Series Before there was The Next Generation and a few years before The Motion Picture there was an animated series of Star Trek with the Classic Original Crew (TOS - The Original Series). The cartoon series lasted 2 seasons "finishing" the original five year mission of the USS Enterprise.

Highlander: The Source I haven't yet watched this movie so I forget if it is a prequel or series ending sequel for The Highlander Franchise.

Highlander: The Complete Animated Series I vaguely recall seeing an episode or two of this series on afternoon television. I don't recall if it was a weekday when I was off of work or on a Saturday afternoon. It might have been a Saturday morning.

On an outing to Target I picked up a couple of animated (well one of them is live-action with CGI animation) discs.

Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel I've got the first one might as well get the second one. Need to watch them.

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! Hard to believe that this was the First full length movie for Hanna-Barbera. I haven't seen this in it's entirety for ages. I've seen a few clips here and there but not the full thing.

Well that is if for the June DVD's close to my biggest month of 13 DVDs August of 2009.