the owl and the olive tree

I ought to be going to bed. It is, in fact, bedtime, especially as I'm sick. But a Star Trek: TOS episode just came on, and I can't bring myself to go to bed yet.

I watched (most of) TOS with my mom, who is a stealth science fiction fan in that way where she has neither knowledge of nor interest in fandom, and reads only a certain subset of SFF. (Alternate history, gothic ghost stories, and things that remind her of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. She also likes the X-Files.) So I have fond memories of watching Star Trek (TOS and later TNG) with my mom.

So the boy and I are thinking of watching TOS (which he hasn't seen at all, except the movies), since I think it's all available streaming online. He's happy to watch both the good episodes and the hilariously bad ones, but he wants to skip any that are merely mediocre and forgettable. Any tips on which to skip, given that criteria? (And which ones to definitely not miss?)

For more, see: http://www.racebending.com

Whitewashing: not a pretty thing.

(For another example, see Ain't That A Shame, Justine Larbalestier's post about how one of her books, with an African American protagonist, was published with a cover depicting that character as white. Note that this was over her protest; authors don't get much say on book covers.)

In happier news, coffeeandink is hosting the Book Re-Covery Program, a repository for fan-created alternative/reimagined covers for books -- "Covers with people of color on them. Covers with cool but not stereotypical designs. Covers that demonstrate the diversity and richness that's already inside the text, or that reimagine white texts as more diverse, male-dominated texts as more feminist." I'm watching with interest, and may try my hand at a few, even though I'm not very good with graphics.