American actor and singer, Michael Dunn (born Gary Neil Miller) arrived on this date in 1934 in Shattuck, Oklahoma. When he was four, his family moved to Dearborn, Michigan. Parents Jewell and Fred championed his right to live and develop openly, as part of mainstream life, defying repeated pressures from school authorities to send him to a school for disabled children. An early reader, he was a champion speller, showed an early aptitude for the piano, and developed a lyric baritone and was given to crowd-drawing impromptu public performances even while just waiting for a bus. He ice-skated and swam in childhood, remaining a skilled swimmer throughout his life. He attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, but was seriously injured on a stairwell during a "student rush" and was hospitalized for three months. Transferring to the more forgiving climate and accessible campus of the University of Miami, he seemed to excel more in extracurricular...
So much else calling out for attention, and with watchables already piled up, finding even more things to watch doesn't seem like much of a sane prospect. I'm not even fishing around for new things at the moment, as I need to get some other things done and make some attempt to round out my life a little. This week on Paramount+, the fourth season of the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks came to a satisfying end. A manic pace of in-universe nods continues to give it the Star Trekiest of Trek feels with the casual, plot-essential trivia drawn from decades of Star Trek shows, woven throughout. Also there, the contemporary Frasier series' first season hits its halfway point with episode five. I'm enjoying it, but it continues to walk a wobbly line as some of it works smoothly while other moments reek of formula, with some of each overlapping. I'd be very interested in seeing how well or not this new series works on its o...
A fairly brief nod toward t his past week's pair of additions to my library. The fourth volume (of five) of Brubaker's Captain America run, and the all-in-one collection of Peter David's run of Captain Marvel stories, following the tale of Genis-Vell, son of (Marvel's) first Captain Marvel. Each of these were series I only read once, as each was coming out, each with likely even less attention than I realized at the time. (Which I've been realizing again and again is true for entirely too much of my unfortunately distracted adult life.) The Captain America volume is 928 pages, and while I recall some of the specifics it's receded to a blur in memory. The fifth volume, wrapping up Brubaker's run with the character, will be coming out within the next month or so if memory serves. The Captain Marvel tome is 1400 pages, covering some sixty one issues, between his...
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Hadn't heard a WORD about impending lightning strikes in the Pennsylvania area, though...;)
Good choices.
J.