Colors, Critters, Cats, and my Journey with MS

Saturday, April 4, 2026

On this day in the Star Trek universe - The Star Trek Reader IV, Discovery:

The Star Trek Reader IV / book (1978)

Star Trek: Discovery (2019 & 2024)

The Star Trek Reader IV

by James Blish.

Published by E P Dutton.

Published 1978.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 052520962X

ISBN-13: 978-0525209621

Description:

James Blish was a science fiction writer who wrote over 27 novels, most notably the Cities in Flight series, and A Case of Conscience, for which he won a Hugo Award. He also was a highly respected critic, and his criticism in collected in the books The Issue at Hand, and More Issues at Hand, (published under the pen name of William Atheling, Jr.). Using the original scripts, which sometimes differed from the final filmed episode, Blish turned each episode of the original Star Trek into a short story, which were collected into anthologies and published as paperback originals. The Star Trek Reader IV collects two of these anthologies: Star Trek 10, and Star Trek 11, and Blish's original Star Trek novel, Spock Must Die!. The episodes present include: The Alternative Factor; The Empath; The Galileo Seven; Is There in Truth No Beauty?; A Private Little War; The Omega Glory; What Are Little Girles Made Of?; The Squire of Gothos; Wink of an Eye; Bread and Circuses; Day of the Dove; and Plato's Stepchildren.

Star Trek: Discovery
Season 2. Episode 12.

Episode entitled: Through the Valley of Shadows.

Released April 4, 2019.

Directed by Doug Aarniokoski.

Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Bo Yeon Kim, Erika Lippoldt, Kirsten Beyer, Sean Cochran.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jeff Russo.

Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Shazad Latif, Anson Mount, Mia Kirshner, Mary Chieffo, Ethan Peck, Tig Notaro, Kenneth Mitchell, Rachael Ancheril, Emily Coutts, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Oyin Oladejo, Ronnie Rowe, Sara Mitich, Ali Momen, Julianne Grossman, Ian James Corlett, David Benjamin Tomlinson, Byron Abalos, Olivia Croft, Nicole Dickinson, Pamela Mars, Shelley Owens, Ronald Tang.

Star Trek: Discovery
Season 5. Episode 1.

Episode entitled: Red Directive.

Released April 4, 2024.

Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.

Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Michelle Paradise, Brandon Schultz, Lauren Wilkinson, Carlos Cisco, Eric J. Robbins.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jeff Russo.

Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, Callum Keith Rennie, David Ajala, Oded Fehr, David Cronenberg, Annabelle Wallis, Tara Rosling, Eve Harlow, Elias Toufexis, Emily Coutts, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Oyin Oladejo, Orville Cummings, David Benjamin Tomlinson, Victoria Sawal, Natalie Liconti, J. Adam Brown, Gregory Ambrose Calderone, Mei Chung, Michael Copeman, Julianne Grossman, Addison Holley, Nicole Nwokolo, Flex Aleo.

Star Trek: Discovery
Season 5. Episode 2.

Episode entitled: Under the Twin Moons.

Released April 4, 2024.

Directed by Doug Aarniokoski.

Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Alan B. McElroy, Brandon Schultz, Lauren Wilkinson, Carlos Cisco, Eric J. Robbins.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jeff Russo.

Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, Callum Keith Rennie, David Ajala, Oded Fehr, Chelah Horsdal, Annabelle Wallis, Eve Harlow, Elias Toufexis.

On this day in music history - Slick Chick, Songs of Ned Rorem:

Slick Chick by Lee Aaron and the Swingin’ Barflies (2000)
Songs of Ned Rorem by Susan Graham (2000)

Slick Chick

Album by Lee Aaron and the Swingin’ Barflies,

released April 4, 2000.

European album cover:

Track list: He Ain't Got Rhythm; Evil Gal Blues; I'd Love To; Why Don't You Do Right?; Chaser for the Blues; Doodlin'; Slick Chick; TV Is the Thing This Year; In the Dark; Twisted; Teach Me Tonight; Samll Day Tomorrow; Tell Him I Said Hello.

Songs of Ned Rorem

Album by Susan Graham,

released April 4, 2000.

Track list: The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: Santa Fe Songs: No. 4, S; Clouds, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Paul Goodman'); Early in the Morning, for voice & piano; The Serpent, for voice & piano (from 'Three Poems of Theodore Roethke'); Now sleeps the crimson petal, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Tennyson'); The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: Santa Fe Songs: No. 2, O; I Strolled Across an Open Field, for voice & piano; To a Young Girl, for voice & piano; Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, for voice & piano; Poèms pour la paix, for medium voice & strings: Ode; For Poulenc, for voice & piano; Little Elegy, for voice & piano; Alleluia, song for voice & piano; Look Down Fair Moon, for voice & piano; O you whom I often and silently come, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Walt Whitman'); I will always love you, for voice, string trio & piano; The Tulip Tree, for voice & piano; The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: Santa Fe Songs: No. 8, T; The Lordly Hudson, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Paul Goodman'); O Do Not Love Too Long, for voice & piano; Far-Far-Away, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Tennyson'); For Susan, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Paul Goodman'); A Journey, for voice & piano; Sometimes with One I Love, for voice & piano (from 'Poems of Walt Whitman'); Love, for voice & piano; Orchids, for voice & piano; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, for voice & piano; Poems of Love and the Rain, song cycle for mezzo-soprano & piano: Do I love you more than a day?; Nantucket Songs, song cycle for voice & piano: Ferry Me Across the Water; The Santa Fe Songs, song cycle of 12 poems of Witter Bynner for medium voice, violin, viola, cello & piano: The Sowers (Santa Fe Song); Whitman Cantata, for men's chorus, 12 brass & timpani: The Shadow, My Likeness.

Friday, April 3, 2026

Jhumpa Lahiri, on stories:

I am drawn to any story that makes me want to read from one sentence to the next.
I have no other criterion.

- Jhumpa Lahiri.

National Film Score Day:

Celebrating music in the movies.

Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age at the American Film Institute (2007).

by George Stevens Jr.

Published by Vintage.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1400033144
ISBN-13: 978-1400033140

Description:

“Impressive and entertaining … A sweeping and valuable compendium of picture-making and picture lore.” – Peter Bogdanovich, The Wall Street Journal.

The first book to bring together interviews of master moviemakers from the American Film Institute’s renowned seminars, Conversations with the Great Moviemakers, offers an unmatched history of American cinema in the words of its greatest practitioners.

Here are the incomparable directors Frank Capra, Elia Kazan, King Vidor, David Lean, Fritz Lang (“I learned only from bad films”), William Wyler, and George Stevens; renowned producers and cinematographers; celebrated screenwriters Ray Bradbury and Ernest Lehman; as well as the immortal Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini (“Making a movie is a mathematical operation. It’s absolutely impossible to improvise”). Taken together, these conversations offer uniquely intimate access to the thinking, the wisdom, and the genius of cinema’s most talented pioneers.

Conversations at the American Film Institute with the Great Moviemakers: The Next Generation (2014).

by George Stevens Jr.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0307474984
ISBN-13: 978-0307474988

Description:

“Magnificent … A collection that is compendious, illuminating, and utterly indispensable.” – Director’s Guild of America Quarterly.

A rich companion volume to George Stevens, Jr.’s much admired book of American Film Institute seminars with the pioneering moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age, this time with a focus on filmmakers of the 1950s to present day.

The Next Generation brings together conversations with moviemakers at work from the 1950s – during the studios’ decline – to today’s Hollywood. Directors, producers, writers, actors, cinematographers, composers, film editors, and independent filmmakers appear within these pages, including Steven Spielberg, Nora Ephron, George Lucas, Sidney Poitier, Meryl Streep, David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and more. We see how the filmmakers of today and those of Hollywood's Golden Age face the same challenges of both art and craft – to tell compelling stories on the screen. And we see the ways in which actors and directors work together, how each director has his or her own approach, and how they share techniques and theories.

“An entertaining in-depth look into the art, economics, and politics of filmmaking for those of us for whom film still has the impact of being struck by lightning … Essential reading … A sine qua non of film books, one that belongs on the shelf of every film student or serious fan.” – New York Journal of Books.

“Cuts across the spectrum of genres and artistic attitudes … A rare treat [and] an eclectic one … A treasure-trove to flip through and savor.” – Los Angeles Times.

My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington (2022).

by George Stevens Jr.

Published by University Press of Kentucky.
Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0813195241
ISBN-13: 978-0813195247

Description:

The son of a celebrated Hollywood director emerges from his father's shadow to claim his own place as a visionary force in American culture. George Stevens, Jr. tells an intimate and moving tale of his relationship with his Oscar-winning father and his own distinguished career in Hollywood and Washington. Fascinating people, priceless stories and a behind-the-scenes view of some of America's major cultural and political events grace this riveting memoir.

George Stevens, Jr. grew up in Hollywood and worked on film classics with his father and writes vividly of his experience on the sets of A Place in the Sun (1951), Shane (1953), Giant (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). He explores how the magnitude of his father's talent and achievements left him questioning his own creative path. The younger Stevens began to forge his unique career when legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow recruited him to elevate the Motion Picture Service at the United States Information Agency in John F. Kennedy's Washington. Stevens' trailblazing efforts initiated what has been called the "golden era" of USIA filmmaking and a call to respect motion pictures as art. His appointment as founding director of the American Film Institute in 1967 placed him at the forefront of culture and politics, safeguarding thousands of endangered films and training a new generation of filmmakers. Stevens' commitment to America's cultural heritage led to envisioning the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors and propelled a creative life of award-winning films and television programs that heightened attention to social justice, artistic achievement, and the American experience.

Stevens provides a rare look at a pioneering American family spanning five generations in entertainment: from the San Francisco stage in the 19th century to silent screen comedies, Academy Award-winning films, Emmy Award-winning television programs and a Broadway play in the 21st century. He reveals the private side of the dazzling array of American presidents, first ladies, media moguls, and luminaries who cross his path, including Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier, the Kennedys, Yo-Yo Ma, Cary Grant, James Dean, Bruce Springsteen, Barack and Michelle Obama, and many more.

In My Place in the Sun, George Stevens, Jr. shares his lifelong passion for advancing the art of American film, enlightening audiences, and shining a spotlight on notable figures who inspire us. He provides an insightful look at Hollywood's Golden Age and an insider's account of Washington spanning six decades, bringing to life a sparkling era of American history and culture.

Born on this day – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco:

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Composer

Pianist

Writer

April 3, 1895 – March 16, 1968

Credits:

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957); A Letter for Evie (1946); A Slight Case of Larceny (1953); A Yank at Eton (1942); Above Suspicion (1943); Address Unknown (1944); Adventures in Silverado (1948); Adventures of Rusty (1945); Alias a Gentleman (1948); And Then There Were None (1945); Asana Travelogue (2012); Bad Bascomb (1946); Barbary Coast Gent (1944); Barbary Pirate (1949); Barbed Wire (1952); Bataan (1943); Batman and Robin (1949); Battle of Rogue River (1954); Battle Stations (1956); Bewitched (1945); Big Leaguer (1953); Black Eagle (1948); Blondie's Hero (1950); Boston Blackie (1948); Boston Blackie's Rendezvous (1945); Brave Warrior (1952); Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947); Cannibal Attack (1954); Captain Pirate (1952); Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951); Captive Girl (1950); Charge of the Lancers (1954); Chinatown at Midnight (1949); Courage of Lassie (1946); Crash Landing (1958); Creature with the Atom Brain (1955); Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946); Criminal Lawyer (1951); Cripple Creek (1952); Cry of the Hunted (1953); Cry of the Werewolf (1944); Customs Agent (1950); Dangerous Business (1946); Desire Me (1947); Desperate Search (1952); Devil Goddess (1955); Devil Ship (1947); Down to Earth (1947); Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941); Drums of Tahiti (1954); Du Barry Was a Lady (1943); Duel on the Mississippi (1955); Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956); El Alaméin (1953); Emergency Wedding (1950); Escape in the Fog (1945); Everybody Does It (1949); Fingers at the Window (1942); Forgotten Treasure (1943); Fury of the Congo (1951); Gaslight (1944); Gentle Annie (1944); Goldtown Ghost Riders (1953); Harem Girl (1952); Harrigan's Kid (1943); Hellcats of the Navy (1957); He's a Cockeyed Wonder (1950); Hitler's Madman (1943); Hurricane Island (1951); I Love a Mystery (1945); In Our Time (1944); Inca Gold (1943); Jack McCall, Desperado (1953); Journey for Margaret (1942); Jungle Jim (1948); Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952); Jungle Man-Eaters (1954); Jungle Manhunt (1951); Just Before Dawn (1946); Keeper of the Flame (1942); Key Witness (1947); Lassie Come Home (1943); Last of the Redmen (1947); Last Train from Bombay (1952); Main Street After Dark (1945); Man in the Dark (1953); Manhattan (1944); Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945); Mark of the Gorilla (1950); Mask of the Avenger (1951); Masterson of Kansas (1954); Mr. Blabbermouth! (1942); Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944); Mrs. Parkington (1944); Mule Train (1950); My Name Is Julia Ross (1945); Mysterious Intruder (1946); Mysterious Island (1951); Night Editor (1946); Nine Girls (1944); Okinawa (1952); Orchestra of Exiles (2012); Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945); Out of the Depths (1945); Pirates of the High Seas (1950); Pirates of Tripoli (1955); Plan for Destruction (1943); Prince of Pirates (1953); Prison Ship (1945); Prison Warden (1949); Racing Luck (1948); Rage in Heaven (1941); Rationing (1944); Reunion in France (1942); Revenue Agent (1950); Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950); Savage Mutiny (1953); Secret Command (1944); Secret of Treasure Mountain (1956); Sergeant Mike (1944); Serpent of the Nile (1953); Seven Sweethearts (1942); Shadowed (1946); Shadows in the Night (1944); She's a Soldier Too (1944); Siren of Bagdad (1953); Slaves of Babylon (1953); Smuggler's Gold (1951); Somewhere I'll Find You (1942); Son of Lassie (1945); Stop! Look! and Laugh! (1960); Streets of Ghost Town (1950); Strictly Dishonorable (1951); Superman (1948); The Affairs of Martha (1942); The Big Gusher (1951); The Black Parachute (1944); The Brave Bulls (1951); The Brigand (1952); The Canterville Ghost (1944); The Clock (1945); The Crime Doctor's Courage (1945); The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949); The Crime Doctor's Gamble (1947); The Crime Doctor's Warning (1945); The Crooked Web (1955); The Cross of Lorraine (1943); The Devil's Henchman (1949); The Devil's Mask (1946); The Fighting Frontiersman (1946); The Gentleman from Nowhere (1948); The Ghost That Walks Alone (1944); The Giant Claw (1957); The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957); The Hard Man (1957); The Heavenly Body (1944); The Hidden Eye (1945); The Long Wait (1954); The Lost Tribe (1949); The Love Machine (1971); The Loves of Carmen (1948); The Maestro (2018); The Man Who Dared (1946); The Mark of the Whistler (1944); The Miami Story (1954); The Millerson Case (1947); The Missing Juror (1944); The Phantom Thief (1946); The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945); The Prince of Thieves (1948); The Return of the Vampire (1943); The Return of the Whistler (1948); The Saracen Blade (1954); The Secret of St. Ives (1949); The Soul of a Monster (1944); The Stars Look Down (1940); The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945); The Stratton Story (1949); The Unknown (1946); The Unwritten Code (1944); The Valley of Decision (1945); The Werewolf (1956); The White Squaw (1956); The World Was His Jury (1958); Thief of Damascus (1952); Time Out of Mind (1947); Tortilla Flat (1942); Trapped by Boston Blackie (1948); Two-Man Submarine (1944); U-Boat Prisoner (1944); Undercurrent (1946); Valley of Head Hunters (1953); Vendetta (1942); Voice of the Whistler (1945); Voodoo Tiger (1952); We Were Dancing (1942); Whirlwind Raiders (1948); Whistling in Brooklyn (1943); White Cargo (1942); Without Love (1945); Zombies of Mora Tau (1957).

Born on this day – John Batten:

John Batten

Actor

April 3, 1903 – August 10, 1993