The Mike Jones Blog!: May 2014

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Star Trek TheMikeJones Rewatch - Episode 1: Encounter at Farpoint

May 23rd 2014 marked the 20th anniversary of the airing of "All Good Things"- the series finale of Star Trek The Next Generation. I feel that this is the perfect time for me to look back at the show and give it a through rewatch. TNG is classic 80's/90's television and it has provided countless hours of entertainment and inspiration for me ever since I was 8 and it first premiered. Now, I love the original series but TNG was my first Trek.

A little bit about this project. I've started at the beginning (a very good place to start). But I might not watch 100% in order. I might jump around a bit-- especially if it's convenient for a guest star (like a friend) to do an episode with me and I want them to see a specific episode.

Ok- enough intro. Here is the first episode. Be gentle... this project is still a baby. Maybe it'll develop into something better soon!

Review: Star Trek TNG Encouter at Farpoint

Earl Gray Podcast:
https://trek-fm.squarespace.com/earl-grey-episode-directory

Cyber Life...

Once again I'm away for the Summer stage managing at the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival. This means that:

A) I'm a little cut off from the world up here and
B) I have more free time than I know what to do with.

Item B on on this list is true because of the nature of the show I'm doing. It's a show we're bringing in that requires little rehearsal and then we run it all Summer. During the run I don't have much to do before my show call each day. Back home in NYC these free mornings and afternoons are taken up with dog walks, shopping, having lunch or coffee with friends, and commuting into the city. But while I'm upstate I don't have any of that. Well.. I will have the dog to walk starting next week (YAY!) but still. I spend a lot of time sitting my apartment, catching up on Netflix, scrapbooking, and web surfing. A big part of that web surfing is reading blogs and watching YouTube videos.

And just like last year, I'm watching these Vlogs on YouTube and think I WANT TO DO THAT! That's why things like this happen:

The real purpose for that quick video blog was to test out my Canon Powershot A2500 point and shoot camera to see how it would do for making YouTube videos. I think it did pretty well!

So... I want to catch up on my blogging. What ever shall I talk about? I might do a Star Trek episode review series. Where I make a quick video with my thoughts on every episode of Star Trek. I'd prob make these pretty quick-- like 5 min. It would be a lot of fun to have special guests-- like friends and family who watch the episode with me (or not with me if they're far away) to give their thoughts. A 2nd perspective or opinion-- maybe from people who know NOTHING about Star Trek would be a lot of fun!!

Of course-- most of my special guests aren't anywhere near me. So, how do I make a video with someone who's far away? I think I've found the answer in Google Hangouts On Air! I can set up a live hangout session with someone and Google will record it & load it to YouTube for me! Here's the test I did by myself. I honestly didn't know it was recording...

Here is link to a Google Hangout with Adam Rucker & Keith Lapinig that will give you a much better example of what it would be like. They are also live chatting with fans while "hanging out".

But the Star Trek review show is just one idea. Tim has also been talking about doing a Disney podcast. That idea could also translate into a YouTube / Google Hangout format perhaps. The challenging thing is editing these videos. Since Google automatically loads them to Youtube I'd have to then go in and use YouTube's editor to trim out parts or add captions, etc. I think it's possible though. :)

Anyway, that's where I'm at for now. What are your thoughts if any?

Live Long & Prosper Y'all!!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Star Trek "3" Director Announced

When Variety announced yesterday that Roberto Orci is going to be the director of the 3rd alternate timeline (or nuTrek) Star Trek film I had mixed feelings. First off I just want to say that at least Orci is a self proclaimed Trekkie. Unlike J.J. Abrams who admitted that he was always more of a Star Wars fan and could never really get into Star Trek-- yet still he said "yes" when asked to direct them. It might be a nice change of pace to have a true fan direct a film rather than just co-write it. That being said, my 2 favorite films of the TOS era came from a director who was also not a big Star Trek Fan. Nicholas Meyer directed both Wrath of Kahn and The Undiscovered Country from an outsider's perspective. He brought a refreshing naval feeling to the Enterprise and arguably saved the franchise. One might say that Abrams did the same thing in 2009 by bringing a more "Star Wars" action packed energy into the franchise.

So where does that leave Orci? He was a big part of the team that created Abram's 2 Trek films (Abrams is also producing the 3rd) so one can assume that he's a safe choice to bring us more of the same. The problem comes when you look at his resume. He's never directed a movie. So the fans are understandably worried about putting our baby in the hands of someone with no experience. Add to that the fact that Orci's past fan interactions haven't always been positive and we're even more worried.
I'm a mix of emotions on this one. So I decided to re-watch Star Trek Into Darkness today as I considered the situation. What I found was that despite its flaws, I love this movie. It gets my heart pumping, my tear ducts open and it makes the fan-boy inside of me very very happy. If Orci's Star Trek 3 can do that-- I'm ok with it. And maybe a 3rd successful film on the 50th anniversary of the franchise will convince the CBS/Paramount that a new Star Trek TV show would be profitable. That's all we need to make that happen. :D

So-- final decision-- am I upset at the news of Roberto Orci directing Star Trek 3? No. I am, however, as worried as I always am about the future of the franchise. But this news doesn't make me any more worried than I was in 2008. And that turned out ok. I like the new movies and am happy that they co-exist with the rest of the prime universe cannon.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Star Trek Retro Review Show?

I've been listening to a lot of Star Trek Podcasts lately. It's really got me thinking. I have a lot to say about Star Trek and I'd LOVE to create my own Star Trek Review show to share my thoughts. It would either be a podcast or a youtube show. But I really don't want to do it alone. I have done some video blogging-- my most recent attempt was last Summer. While these were fun, I feel like I have a hard time carrying the show by myself. I really need a co-host.

This person wouldn't have to be a hard-core Trekkie (although that would be fine). It could be someone who's into watching along and reacting as a Trek newbie would. That would be a nice contrast actually.

I think I'd mold the show so that we look at one episode (TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT) or one movie per podcast. We'd approach it from both an in-world and real-world approach. My co-host and I will have watched the episode, had time to gather our notes and then we'd jump into record/discuss.

I'd also do some homework on each show. For, example, if we'd looking at the TOS episode "The Naked Time" I'd have read the Memory Alpha entry about it, checked Shatner's book to see if he mentions it, read the section of George Takei book where he brings it up, read what the Star Trek Compendium says, the Star Trek Encyclopedia, and the Nitpicker's Guide. I'd love to bring all that kind of "real world" commentary on the episode into my review show. What were the writers thinking? What was Roddenberry trying to say? What did the actors think?

Hmm.. maybe it's just a dream. Or maybe I'll make this dream a reality. :)

The Mike Jones Blog!

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Vlog Roll (Who inspires Me to Make My Vids Better)