Hello again, and welcome to your weekly dose of news, views, and... snooze? I dunno.
Please remember that, when it comes to the state of the world, not everyone will agree with you. You're free to state, discuss, and defend your viewpoint (provided it does not violate the Constitution), but please don't use that fact to attack others.
Fandom News
(Link 1 & Link 2)
Soooo hands up who remembered there's a new Star Trek series on the way? :D Yes, we finally have a proper trailer for Star Trek: Discovery, which is revealed as taking place ten years before TOS. Actually, we have two trailers: a 1:50 cut and a 2:24 cut which has vanished from YouTube. The only reason I'm aware of the second is that my phone popped it up on my newsfeed last night.
As a part-time Trek fan (we've been watching Voyager; for some reason it's the only one we've been able to stick with), I'm cautiously excited for this. It certainly looks very pretty, and I love that uniform design. The ship itself (as seen breaking through the clouds) doesn't look half bad from this angle, either - rather more NX-01 than NCC-1701, but maybe that's not a bad thing? (The Internet suggests that might not be Discovery, but Shenzou, Michelle Yeoh's ship. We shall see.)
On the other hand, it does look like the first episode is Invasion from the Lens-Flare Dimension, and I'm finding those Klingons pretty disturbing. We'll see, I guess.
Silly News
(The Netherlands & Japan)
There's no serious way to put this... the king of the Netherlands has a secret double life as a pilot. As in, he secretly takes the co-pilot's slot on commercial flights, without telling the passengers who he is.
He's been doing this twice a month since he became king in 2013, and for 21 years total. He, uh, is now training to fly the Boeing 737, too. So... yeah? Good for him?
Meanwhile, over in Asia (yes, Friday Forum does know of a world beyond Europe and America...!), Princess Mako of Japan is giving up her royal titles to marry a commoner, as required under Japanese law. As it happens, her aunt Sayako did the same thing back in 2005 - she went from being the daughter of the Emperor to living in a one-bedroom apartment.
Neither of them were eligable for the throne - apparently only males can inherit (which puts Mako's younger brother third in line) - but even so.
Serious News
(Link)
Ian Brady, one of a pair of serial killers known as the Moors Murderers arrested in the '60s, has died in prison (and who said Serious News had to be bad news?). He did so without ever revealing the location of the body of his one still-missing victim, though it doesn't seem like he was ever going to. The other four were buried on Saddleworth Moor, though (and have been recovered), and that's where the interesting part of this story comes in:
Christopher Sumner, the senior coroner running the inquest on his death, has refused to release the body until he's received an assurance that Brady's ashes will not be scattered on Saddleworth Moor. He says he's fully aware that he isn't legally entitled to make that request - but that he's doing it anyway, for moral/ethical reasons. I find that quite heartwarming. Good on you, Mr. Sumner.
Not News
(Link)
The Grand Canyon is a) very pretty, and b) haunted. Possibly by the ghosts of dead oceans.
hS