Tuesday, April 23, 2013

A-to-Z Challenge Day 20: The Letter T


Tsan
Dead Letters
Space Corps Book 5

Besides Lord Phan, the only notable Tikanni in the entire saga is Tsan.  This is a little odd because as far as the mythology goes, there's probably no alien species more important than the Tikanni, who were responsible for bringing the more arrogant Omoxians to the notion of forming what became the Galactic Alliance.  Because they were overshadowed, however, the Tikanni retreated from further involvement in the community.  It's only fitting, then, that Tsan should be significant in Dead Letters, because it represents an entire era where the traditional relationships between species have been turned upside down.  He operates as a financier to the ship captained by the gal you'll meet on W Day.

Mother Teresa
Yoshimi and the Shadow Clan
Yoshimi Trilogy Volume 1

You only thought you knew her!  Just kidding.  Mother Teresa is referenced for the same reasons as Princess Diana (discussed on D Day).  When I was growing up, it was Reagan and Mother Teresa who were basically the two most notable international figures, and I used to believe they were secretly one and the same person.  I mean, it's not much of a stretch of the imagination!  She's a touchstone in the timeline of Yoshimi's life, however, because she died around the same time as Diana, and obviously they were fairly dissimilar individuals (although the latter also worked as an activist on the side, mostly spreading awareness of the continuing danger of landmines), which is an indication to the reader that Yoshimi herself shouldn't be interpreted in black and white terms.  On the surface you might expect her to be a fairly strong character, but she's also vulnerable (much like Sydney Bristow from Alias).  

***

The Red Sox beat the A's.  As discussed earlier, I'm okay with this result, despite the conflict of interest.  I grew up in New England, raised as a member of the Faithful.  I branched out to the A's admittedly because their ballcaps were green and had a giant A on them (green being my favorite color and by a stretch of the imagination the team celebrating my first name, Anthony), and also because at the time everyone loved Oakland, what with Tony La Russa and the Bash Brothers (Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, who both eventually fell out of favor with the public; it should be noted that one of the last teams Canseco played with was Boston) as well as the undeniably great Rickey Henderson (who also played for the Sox as well as Yankees).  The A's later helped introduce the concept of moneyball thanks to Billy Bean (and Kevin Youkilis, the Greek God of Walks, who of course made his name in Boston), and basically became the farm system for every other team.  It's good that they've finally bounced back into contention.

The Angels lost thanks to blowing the later stages of the game.  Mark Trumbo is at .311, Mike Trout at .291, Albert Pujols at .279.  Yeah, it might also be because these guys apparently didn't do so hot, either.

The Cardinals won yesterday.

5 comments:

Kate OMara said...

Often important changes are made by characters who aren't featured but for their portion of the plot which makes for great sequel material. ;)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Mother Teresa and Princess Diana did die about the same time, didn't they? Seems so long ago now.

Tony Laplume said...

Kate, sure!

Alex, it's just bizarre, especially to think that it's Diana's son who has been the subject of the next great British royal marriage chatter, which is two years in the past now.

The Armchair Squid said...

Teresa and Reagan as one and the same? I don't know. I'm not sure she could have played The Gipper quite as convincingly. Any photos out there of her eating Jelly Bellys? That would be the clincher.

Tony Laplume said...

Maybe I have to do some research, but do you remember ever seeing them in the same room at the same time?

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...