The Haylien

PROSPECT 2018 Streaming on Roku

On a last run to collect gems from a toxic moon, a girl and her father hope to resolve all their financial woes. Will they get the gems? Will they make it to the transport? Will they even survive? Great Sci-Fi.

Movie: DARK CITY 1998; Speculative Fiction

Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt

Streaming on Roku, Tubi

Bleak setting, perpetually dark. The day starts at 9pm and everything resets at midnight. Aliens are in control, but why? Why are they doing this? Nothing is as it seems.

This is a great movie. Dr Schreber's (played by Kiefer Sutherland) accent was annoying. Other than that the noir setting and weird events entertain well. Low key action.

SYSTEM COLLAPSE

The seventh book in The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, was published in 2023. Redacted. System Collapse continues the story of Murderbot... redacted...as it navigates complex human situations involving colonists and corporate staff. Redacted. It takes place immediately following the events of the previous book, Network Effect.

So, yeah that "redacted" stuff got real annoying real fast, and left me nonplussed through the full first half of the book. I see that it is Wells' intention to make Murderbot more human as the series progresses. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Perhaps the aim of the series is for Muderbot to achieve "humanity," or even to exceed humanity.

At chapter 23 there are 23 pages remaining in the book. This is no coincidence. It had to be in order for this book to exist in this universe.

Ellie, her sister Chris, their cousin Daniel explore variations. They create a mystery. They are sad when they solve the mystery. If you get lost or confused just keep reading. It will all unfold in the end.

Do you like the way it ended?

I dunno, but I love this book. If I read it again, will the ending change?

That was intense. 66 pages of notes on a steno pad over the last few days, plus downloaded charts and glossary. I laughed. I cried. I learned. I think I will buy this book. It is a user manual for my brain. For now, I need a break. I'm gonna go take a shower.

June 25, 2026

Absolute Martian Manhunter: Martian Vision, Deniz Camp, Javier Rodriguez

A mind bending, weird, psychedelic, comic book with a message if you can find it.

Network Effect and Other Books and Movies

I was reading 2 or 3 books when my Library Hold for How to ADHD became available. I finished the other books as fast as I could, then started in on ADHD with heavy note-taking. I left Network Effect to be read later. Not too far into the ADHD book, McCabe shared a story about how she took a math class (I don't remember what level), and she did really poorly at it. Her instructor suggested she review some background material, or lower levels of math that support the class she was attempting. It worked well, and she performed well when she took the upper math class over.

Network Effect is the 5th book in the Murderbot series. It is the first full length novel. I was having trouble figuring out what was going on and who all these people were in this book. It was hard to follow. It felt like a complete divergence from the previous books.

After I read McCabe's experience with the math class, I read an online summary of Network Effect. I then went back a few chapters and read them over. It was like someone turned the light on. I realize that in the past I frequently read summaries and reviews of books and movies before I view them. A lot of people hate "spoilers," they want to be surprised. For me a good short summary enhances my entertainment experience.

It's like the first time I watched Star Wars when I was a kid. I had no idea what was going on and I didn't really enjoy the movie. 40 years later and the rest is history.

They really don't look alike -- I mean they're not even close enough to look like brothers.

They were both born in 1971. They are both actors.

Anthony Rapp played Mark Cohen in the Broadway musical Rent. He is more widely known as Paul Stamets from the television series Star Trek: Discovery.

BLACK CRAB

C-PTSD

I don't think I'll finish this book. I worked through a lot of shit with Huberman here. I wrote down the worst of my trauma several times over a few months. And I tried EMDR here. Foo says her friends generally had it worse than she did. But Foo had it a lot worse than I did. So I don't think the severity has as much to do with your response as your own resilience and awareness of what is going on. Like, if you think it is normal to be punched in the face and maybe you deserve it, then you are not going to suffer a big woe is me moment. Whereas if you are shocked to be punched then you are going to have a much bigger negative emotional response that becomes more ingrained in your system. (I don't know. This is just my opinion.)

I found the book to be depressing. I was going through some unrelated physical problems some time ago which I felt changed me emotionally. I cry more easily, and I changed from being an existentialist to a nihilist. This book seems to highlight those ideas, and doesn't give me much hope for obtaining a more typical outlook on life. Foo says herself that the first half of the book can be depressing.

ROGUE PROTOCOL

The third book in the MurderBot series by Martha Wells. Murderbot is on a mission to uncover illegal activities of GrayCris Corporation while dealing with its own emotions and the need it feels to protect a group of human researchers. While the story starts out rather busy with the mundane giving the reader the feeling of "here we go again," pay attention, because by the end this is another "hell yeah" book.

Artificial Condition is the second novella in The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, published on May 8, 2018. It follows the character Murderbot as it seeks to uncover its past and the events that led to its rogue status, while taking on a job as security for clients involved in corporate intrigue, and assisted by an AI in a Research Transport vessel. Murderbot calls himself Eden in this book, an makes a few minor changes to his appearance and demeanor in order to more closely model a human.

I found this book enjoyable. But all the Murderbot Diaries books are too short.

Wow. The Creator from 2023 is a gorgeous film, hits all the right emotional buttons, nominated for best sound, and visual effects. This shoulda won awards big time. Must not have gotten the right publicity. I love this movie. AI wars.