Read to the end to see Steve Dog.

Hello. It’s great to bring you a new edition of TimeMachiner this Tuesday. A big welcome to the more than 10 of my newest subscribers to TimeMachiner. Thank you for giving me space in your inbox. 🙏🏻

My year of reading has been unexpectedly supercharged. Since I last spoke to you, I finished Ken Kocienda's book about Creative Selection. This brings my total to seven completed books this year. For someone who does not generally find enough time to read, I've had a great run. I'm now moving on to The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. This is a bit of a mystery/thriller that seems to have a quick pace. If you want to see more of what I'm reading, feel free to friend me on Goodreads or The Storygraph.

I've also been eagerly anticipating the buildup of enough episodes of The Orville's third season so I can binge them. For years, I was cautious about starting this show, mainly because of its creator's sense of humor. For me, Family Guy was funny 20 years ago and isn't my schtick these days. And yes, The Orville started out that way. I dubbed it "Star Trek with dick jokes". Only last year did I finally give it a try.

However, something interesting started to happen midway through its run. Seth MacFarlane began to hone in on actual good character-based writing and relied on crass humor less and less. Before I knew it, the show was getting good and I was hooked. Without spoiling anything, there is a major storyline midway through the second season that solidifies it as a now-serious series and it doesn't look back. Suffice it to say, it's almost more fun than actual Star Trek. The writing is superb, the actors have shifted their tones to be a bit more serious, and the episodes have high stakes without the Save The Universe Every Episode stakes that Star Trek: Discovery has each time out. It's a relief.

The Orville starts off rough but if you stick with it, I promise it gets good. Really good. If you can handle or even like a bit of Family Guy humor, the first season goes down that much easier. Side note: as good as Star Trek: The Next Generation is, its first two seasons were so rough they're nearly unwatchable and an episode is downright racist. If a show like that can shift to be one of the best Treks out there, The Orville has shown it can pivot with the best of them.

Here's today's Random Factoid: In space, you don't need welding materials to get two metals to fuse. They will do it on their own if you place them close enough together. Source

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