A few non-spoilery observations (and let me nerd out about David Bowie for a bit): The name of the planet where most of the action happens this time is called Freecloud, and that made me think of an old David Bowie tune, “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud,” which was the B-side of the original single release of Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” “Space Oddity,” in case you don’t recall, is the song with the lyrics, “Ground control to Major Tom,” and is a song that is much beloved by real world astronauts. Alas, “Space Oddity” was not a track on Bowie’s album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, however, since the title of this episode is “Stardust City Rag” I can’t help but hope that the name of both the planet and the city are hat-tips to Bowie.
There are two homages to the character of Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. One happens in dialogue, and another is in the background of another scene. There are probably many other Easter eggs I missed, but if you’re setting an Star Trek episode on a lawless planet that seems to be one giant casino, how can you not make some mention of Quark?
Final non-spoilery thing: this isn’t related to tonight’s episode, but have I mentioned that the orchestral soundtrack of the series is available to purchase? I bought it from the iTunes store more than a week ago and have probably listened to it far more than I should. The theme song of the series is just so, so good!
I can’t think of anything more I can say without spoilers, therefore…
Past this point there be plot spoilers. So if you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read on.
(Click to embiggen)Thank goodness it’s Friday. Already the thirdd Friday of the new year and I haven’t made much progress on any of my tasks for the month. Let’s not talk about stress, or car accidents, or illnesses, or famous people we have admired most of our lives dying way too soon, eh?
Anyway, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week.
Dick’s Drive-In Founder Dies. (noooooooo! If you’re not from Seattle, you won’t understand. For nearly 62 years he’s run a group of fast food restaurants that pay a living wage, provide full health coverage, and offers each employee up to $20,000 in tuition reimbursement. And their burgers and milk shakes are to die for!)
Font Folly 