Tau Cetaceans
@tau-cetaceans.bsky.social
Foreign service brat, escaped NASA lab monkey, recovering planetary geologist, aspiring sci-fi novelist, armchair geopolitician, history buff, alternate history buff, future history buff, non-fan of the current cyberpunk dystopia. 🇺🇳 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 ♾️🖖🥥🫏🐿
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Tau Cetaceans
@tau-cetaceans.bsky.social
· Aug 14
point well taken... though I do have this little issue that one of my main hobbies (since circa 1993) is writing the sci-fi timeline wiki thingy, one facet of which is that it incorporates / adjusts to IRL current events... /1
went to advanced screening of Serenity, chock full of die-hard Firefly fans.. it went to black instead of finished credits, I ad libbed the zombie "grrr... argh..." sound from the Mutant Enemy production company credit that comes at end of every Firefly episode... entire theater burst out laughing
Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences?
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
It was hands-down one of the most memorable theater-going experiences I can remember, a collective 30-minute butt-clench/armrest-grab for the final climb. And we knew he lived! Wild.
December 13, 2025 at 6:05 AM
went to advanced screening of Serenity, chock full of die-hard Firefly fans.. it went to black instead of finished credits, I ad libbed the zombie "grrr... argh..." sound from the Mutant Enemy production company credit that comes at end of every Firefly episode... entire theater burst out laughing
if only New York City had a crack team of specialists (maybe you could call them ghost-busters?) operating out of I dunno, an abandoned firehouse, that could be called upon at times like these...
NYC Mayor Adams warns Zohran Mamdani that Gracie Mansion is haunted: ‘Beware of the ghost’
Zoh’s going to get ghosted. Outgoing woo-woo-loving Mayor Eric Adams spookily warned successor Zohran Mamdani that his soon-to-be new home of Gracie Mansion is haunted. “Beware of the ghost,” Adams...
www.aol.com
December 11, 2025 at 12:49 AM
if only New York City had a crack team of specialists (maybe you could call them ghost-busters?) operating out of I dunno, an abandoned firehouse, that could be called upon at times like these...
actual dream had: was in command of a Galaxy-class in LEO, using photon torpedoes, phasers and transporter beams to ruin Vladimir Putin's day
grim reality: turned down LEGO Enterprise-D for xmas b/c Paramount in bed with Trump
(also nobody is giving me a real Galaxy-class starship because reasons)
grim reality: turned down LEGO Enterprise-D for xmas b/c Paramount in bed with Trump
(also nobody is giving me a real Galaxy-class starship because reasons)
December 10, 2025 at 11:49 AM
actual dream had: was in command of a Galaxy-class in LEO, using photon torpedoes, phasers and transporter beams to ruin Vladimir Putin's day
grim reality: turned down LEGO Enterprise-D for xmas b/c Paramount in bed with Trump
(also nobody is giving me a real Galaxy-class starship because reasons)
grim reality: turned down LEGO Enterprise-D for xmas b/c Paramount in bed with Trump
(also nobody is giving me a real Galaxy-class starship because reasons)
me: (need to focus on things besides US politics)
wikipedia current events portal: elections in Guinea-Bissau
me: (does deep dive on Guinea-Bissau's political history)
me: (awaits election results)
me: (still waits)
news: TA DA!!!
me: ah, okay, we can just do another coup d'etat, I guess...
wikipedia current events portal: elections in Guinea-Bissau
me: (does deep dive on Guinea-Bissau's political history)
me: (awaits election results)
me: (still waits)
news: TA DA!!!
me: ah, okay, we can just do another coup d'etat, I guess...
Guinea-Bissau coup: Soldiers seize power and detain President Umaro Sissoco Embaló
The military takeover comes as the West African nation was awaiting the results of Sunday's election.
www.bbc.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:58 AM
me: (need to focus on things besides US politics)
wikipedia current events portal: elections in Guinea-Bissau
me: (does deep dive on Guinea-Bissau's political history)
me: (awaits election results)
me: (still waits)
news: TA DA!!!
me: ah, okay, we can just do another coup d'etat, I guess...
wikipedia current events portal: elections in Guinea-Bissau
me: (does deep dive on Guinea-Bissau's political history)
me: (awaits election results)
me: (still waits)
news: TA DA!!!
me: ah, okay, we can just do another coup d'etat, I guess...
really don't think elevating a former fighter pilot turned astronaut turned Senator into the poster child of the resistance is going to work out for them in the long run... say in 2028...
(but maybe that's my "please not Gavin" wish-casting speaking)
(but maybe that's my "please not Gavin" wish-casting speaking)
November 25, 2025 at 7:58 PM
really don't think elevating a former fighter pilot turned astronaut turned Senator into the poster child of the resistance is going to work out for them in the long run... say in 2028...
(but maybe that's my "please not Gavin" wish-casting speaking)
(but maybe that's my "please not Gavin" wish-casting speaking)
aside from how Musk is stealing this idea from the Culture novels, and that it'd work better in a far future anarcho-socialist utopia than some capitalist implementation with existing tech
a modest proposal: if you commit a crime, the only car you are permitted to buy is a Cybertruck, mark of shame
a modest proposal: if you commit a crime, the only car you are permitted to buy is a Cybertruck, mark of shame
November 16, 2025 at 4:15 AM
aside from how Musk is stealing this idea from the Culture novels, and that it'd work better in a far future anarcho-socialist utopia than some capitalist implementation with existing tech
a modest proposal: if you commit a crime, the only car you are permitted to buy is a Cybertruck, mark of shame
a modest proposal: if you commit a crime, the only car you are permitted to buy is a Cybertruck, mark of shame
Reposted by Tau Cetaceans
Hear me out: David Tennant as James Bond. But he dresses like the 10th Doctor and every time somebody points out something contradictory about his background or timeline, he just breaks the fourth wall and winks at the camera. Continuity problems solved.
November 11, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Hear me out: David Tennant as James Bond. But he dresses like the 10th Doctor and every time somebody points out something contradictory about his background or timeline, he just breaks the fourth wall and winks at the camera. Continuity problems solved.
If you see this, post an album cover with a motor vehicle on it.
November 8, 2025 at 11:18 AM
If you see this, post an album cover with a motor vehicle on it.
ah man - TIL the official Shadowrun canon (since 4th edition at least) is that James Baker III was the losing GOP candidate against Dukakis in 1988... and here I was assuming it would have been this guy...
Shadowrun: the cyberpunk dystopia where Iran-Contra had meaningful consequences...
Shadowrun: the cyberpunk dystopia where Iran-Contra had meaningful consequences...
a man in a suit and tie appears on a pbs news show
Alt: Bob Dole in a suit, blinking his eyes in an unsettling way - PBS News Hour logo in upper right
media.tenor.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:14 AM
ah man - TIL the official Shadowrun canon (since 4th edition at least) is that James Baker III was the losing GOP candidate against Dukakis in 1988... and here I was assuming it would have been this guy...
Shadowrun: the cyberpunk dystopia where Iran-Contra had meaningful consequences...
Shadowrun: the cyberpunk dystopia where Iran-Contra had meaningful consequences...
recent coping mechanism - e.g. focusing on the long-term / interstellar phase of sci-fi worlds-building / timeline... and fuzzing the near-term bit... feels like this sometime
"taking the long view" being at an uncomfortable venn diagram intersection of geology major and cishet white male privilege
"taking the long view" being at an uncomfortable venn diagram intersection of geology major and cishet white male privilege
The Late Bronze Age collapse plunged the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East into a period of chaos and starvation, but 300 hundred years later, the region emerged stronger and more prosperous than ever. Could the same thing happen here in the United States?
October 28, 2025 at 4:21 AM
recent coping mechanism - e.g. focusing on the long-term / interstellar phase of sci-fi worlds-building / timeline... and fuzzing the near-term bit... feels like this sometime
"taking the long view" being at an uncomfortable venn diagram intersection of geology major and cishet white male privilege
"taking the long view" being at an uncomfortable venn diagram intersection of geology major and cishet white male privilege
Nowhere Man
Everyone has a 1-2 season TV show they sorely miss and not enough people knew about that you are always praising the heavens about.
What's yours?
What's yours?
September 13, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Nowhere Man
on one hand - the Maduro Regime are a bunch of economy-wrecking, election-rigging, protest-crushing narco-petro-state commies who can't be trusted to speak the truth...
on the other - the Trump Regime is a bunch of things I am running out of space to type - who can't be trust to speak the truth...
on the other - the Trump Regime is a bunch of things I am running out of space to type - who can't be trust to speak the truth...
Venezuela suggests video of boat apparently carrying drugs is AI
Venezuela's Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez is claiming a video of the U.S. striking a boat in the Caribbean is AI-generated. CBS News' Charlie D'Agata has more details after President Trump said...
www.cbsnews.com
September 4, 2025 at 12:11 PM
on one hand - the Maduro Regime are a bunch of economy-wrecking, election-rigging, protest-crushing narco-petro-state commies who can't be trusted to speak the truth...
on the other - the Trump Regime is a bunch of things I am running out of space to type - who can't be trust to speak the truth...
on the other - the Trump Regime is a bunch of things I am running out of space to type - who can't be trust to speak the truth...
Reposted by Tau Cetaceans
Are vaccines safe? Let's ask this guy who sounds like a dying refrigerator compressor
August 28, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Are vaccines safe? Let's ask this guy who sounds like a dying refrigerator compressor
З Днем Незалежності
August 24, 2025 at 10:38 PM
З Днем Незалежності
Reposted by Tau Cetaceans
Day three after the attack – Russian Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery is still on fire.
August 23, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Day three after the attack – Russian Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery is still on fire.
obvious but silly ideas I'd had for the sci-fi timeline wiki thingy that were so obvious and silly that they happened IRL:
1) Africa calls it's planned common currency the Afro
2) anti-AI activists calling themselves the Butlerian Jihad... because they are well-read and appreciate the classics
1) Africa calls it's planned common currency the Afro
2) anti-AI activists calling themselves the Butlerian Jihad... because they are well-read and appreciate the classics
Anti-AI activists targeted "AI Portland’s Summer Soiree," writing anti-AI graffiti, throwing paint on cars, and leaving behind these flyers declaring '“Butlerian Jihad Against AI,” a reference to the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy...depicting a war of humanity versus robots and computers."
August 23, 2025 at 10:44 AM
obvious but silly ideas I'd had for the sci-fi timeline wiki thingy that were so obvious and silly that they happened IRL:
1) Africa calls it's planned common currency the Afro
2) anti-AI activists calling themselves the Butlerian Jihad... because they are well-read and appreciate the classics
1) Africa calls it's planned common currency the Afro
2) anti-AI activists calling themselves the Butlerian Jihad... because they are well-read and appreciate the classics
Remember when the GOP was the party of free enterprise and being hawkish on Russia?
August 23, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Remember when the GOP was the party of free enterprise and being hawkish on Russia?
the prequel trilogy: Andor S1 + Andor S2 + Rogue One
the trilogy trilogy: New Hope + ESB + RotJ
the sequel trilogy: Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy
it's such a shame they never made any other Star Wars...
the trilogy trilogy: New Hope + ESB + RotJ
the sequel trilogy: Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy
it's such a shame they never made any other Star Wars...
Someone in comments (and now I can't find the actual comment, sorry) said the best Star Wars trilogy is now Andor, Rogue One and Star Wars Ep 4, and you know what, I'm here for that argument, call it the "Death Star Trilogy"
August 22, 2025 at 11:06 PM
the prequel trilogy: Andor S1 + Andor S2 + Rogue One
the trilogy trilogy: New Hope + ESB + RotJ
the sequel trilogy: Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy
it's such a shame they never made any other Star Wars...
the trilogy trilogy: New Hope + ESB + RotJ
the sequel trilogy: Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy
it's such a shame they never made any other Star Wars...
chaffed at the meme rule to not explain your picks here, especially after the author made a cameo in an episode of "Behind the Bastards". It sprung back to mind because of the business with Sam Altman yammering about Dyson Spheres... so, okay, here goes, my past flirtation with transhumanism... /1
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers!
Day 10/20
#BookSky
Day 10/20
#BookSky
August 22, 2025 at 8:27 PM
chaffed at the meme rule to not explain your picks here, especially after the author made a cameo in an episode of "Behind the Bastards". It sprung back to mind because of the business with Sam Altman yammering about Dyson Spheres... so, okay, here goes, my past flirtation with transhumanism... /1
had always skewed more to the David Brin argument (Star Trek is morally superior to Star Wars because it encodes secular democratic values and not "magic bloodlines have divine right to rule the galaxy")... but damn it if Andor didn't flip the script and be better piece of SF antifa agitprop by far
Andor: Nemik's Manifesto
YouTube video by SWFT
www.youtube.com
August 19, 2025 at 2:02 PM
had always skewed more to the David Brin argument (Star Trek is morally superior to Star Wars because it encodes secular democratic values and not "magic bloodlines have divine right to rule the galaxy")... but damn it if Andor didn't flip the script and be better piece of SF antifa agitprop by far
know I'm preaching to the choir here - but MAGA is the intellectual and spiritual successor of the OG America First movement that wanted to let Hitler have his way with Europe
Post-WW2 Geopolitics 101:
- No Changing Borders By Force of Arms
- No More Munich-type trading away other countries
/1
Post-WW2 Geopolitics 101:
- No Changing Borders By Force of Arms
- No More Munich-type trading away other countries
/1
August 19, 2025 at 1:01 PM
know I'm preaching to the choir here - but MAGA is the intellectual and spiritual successor of the OG America First movement that wanted to let Hitler have his way with Europe
Post-WW2 Geopolitics 101:
- No Changing Borders By Force of Arms
- No More Munich-type trading away other countries
/1
Post-WW2 Geopolitics 101:
- No Changing Borders By Force of Arms
- No More Munich-type trading away other countries
/1
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Without saying Raiders of the Lost Ark, fav Harrison Ford Film?
August 18, 2025 at 10:12 PM
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”