Star Trek Sightings!

There's a little game I like to play-- Find the Star Trek! This happens when you're out running errands or doing something completely not related to Star Trek and you find some fun bit of Star Trek merchandise or memorabilia. For example, finding Captain Kirk pez dispenser at the grocery store. I mean, a grocery store is the logical place to buy candy. But still when you walked into Stop & Shop you didn't expect to see James T Kirk's head in a bin along side Tweety Bird, right?

I recently had two fun findings at the movie theatre. Tim and I when we went to see Bridesmades at the local theater near his Mom's house in Danvers, MA. The halls of this particular multiplex are decorated with older movie posters. For example, you might walk past a poster for Free Willy on your way to see Thor. I knew this but I didn't know they had a Star Trek IV poster! I was very excited when I saw it! (photo below)

But the fun didn't stop there. They also have the Star Trek Voyager Arcade Game! I'd never actually played this first person shooter game before. I wasn't very good at it and died pretty quickly. It's basically a zombie game with the borg standing in for the living dead. You have to shoot them right in the chest several times. As soon as they adapt to your phaser you re-modulate by shooting off of the screen. Ok-- I made that up. In reality it's not a phaser. It's totally a gun and when you run out of bullets you reload by shooting off the screen. But... it's fun to pretend that the game designers knew something about Star Trek. :) I did a YouTube search and found a vid of the game to share with you. :)



[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAWMyrImuVw]

G'Morning!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog entry about how Captain Janeway is OBSESSED with coffee. In that entry I said " I'm not a slave to caffeine." But since then I've had to re-examine myself a little. I drink a lot more coffee then I'd like to admit. I often pop into Dunkin Donuts for a "medium iced coffee with french vanilla, skim milk and two equals" when I'm out in the city. It gives me energy. Perks me up when I'm out running errands. I'd say I do this maybe twice a week. I also tend to drink coffee when I'm in rehearsal for a show. If I have 6 rehearsals in a week I'd say I go thru maybe 3 cups. And since getting the Keurig coffee pot at home (thanks to Gail) I'd say I brew a cup of my own a couple times a week as well. That puts me up to like 7 cups a week! This is a dramatic increase compared to a couple of years ago when I never drank the stuff. If I continue to increase my coffee intake I may soon be as addicted as Janeway herself! Then what will I be capable of?! Stay tuned to find out!!

Marina Sirtis Should Be the New Voice of the Computer!

Ever since the passing of Majel Barrett Roddenberry in 2008, there has been talk of who should voice the computer in in Star Trek 2012. Often called the First Lady of Star Trek, Ms. Roddenberry voiced the computer in every version of Star Trek dating back to the original series. She even recorded the computer voice for the J.J. Abrams film shortly before her death. Here is a You Tube movie with a compilation of her Computer Voice work:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJfkYjrbPS4]

But who should take over where she left off? Who should be the new voice of the computer in the upcoming movie! For me there is an obvious answer. MARINA SIRTIS! She is best known for playing Counselor Troi in The Next Generation and Voyager. And Majel played her mother, of course. Not only would Ms. Sirtis do an amazing job-- it would keep the computer voice sort of "in the family". :)

I'm not the only want who wants Ms. Sirtis to be the new computer voice. There are online polls addressing the matter and Marina herself is talking about it! check out this recent interview from OMGWire.com:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epCQR9QEdBg]

My Star Trek Birthday Party!

Sunday was my 32nd Birthday! Tim threw me a fun Star Trek themed birthday party and really went above and beyond! He made a kick-ass Enterprise Bridge Birthday Cake for me. :) Check it out below. He even added "Happy Birthday Mike" to the main viewer display. :) Very cool! BTW- there are Star Trek figures and playsets from the 2009 movie on clearance at Toys R Us in Queens right now. :)

In addition to eating delicious cake, my friends and I watched some of my favorite fun episodes of TOS and TAS, played some Star Trek Scene It and enjoyed some food even Neelix would approve of-- 5 different kinds of nachos! :)

I also got some pretty cool gifts including comic books like Star Trek: The Motion Picture Trilogy. It's a fascinating look at the three films. I also got a Star Trek bathrobe! It's gold and looks like Captain Kirk's command division uniform. Check it out over at thinkgeek.com.

My Birthday!

My Birthday is the day after tomorrow! To celebrate, my partner

Blinking Lights & Glowing Diagrams

There's a great Star Trek screensaver out there called System 47 from the folks over at mewho.com. It's been around for years and simulates a computer display on the U.S.S. Enterprise E circa Star Trek: First Contact. The graphics and animation are really nice (video below). I've had it on my Macbook for... well... as long as I've had my Macbook. (The program is also available for Windows for you PC lovers.) System 47 has served me well but I'm kind of bored with it now a days. What I really want is a TOS era screen saver! True, the special effects on the bridge of the original Enterprise aren't all that great by today's standards, but a screensaver that shows the computer displays from Lt. Uhura's Communications console would be pretty awesome! It can be animated more like the graphics on Star Trek: Phase II and have sound effects-- the whole works!

I've searched the net but no one has made this yet. I don't really understand how to but it wouldn't be too hard I think for someone who understands programing. I did find some pretty cool photos of the original bridge on Greg_Weir's Flickr Photostream. Below is a shot of Uhura's station from one of the Star Trek: The Exhibition. Come on computer people! Somebody make this! :)


Photo (c) Greg Weir


System47 Enterprise E Screensaver Demo:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaCP-sTXMlc]

"There's coffee in that nebula"

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm introducing Star Trek Voyager to my partner Tim. We're currently in season 6 of our marathon and Tim has come to love 7 of 9 (of course). Jeri Ryan is really talented and really ads a lot to the show. BTW- Ms. Ryan is obsessed with twitter (@JeriLRyan).

But getting back to our Voyager marathon, one thing sings out to me more now than it ever did before. Janeway is OBSESSED with coffee. It seems like she always has a cup in her hand. "Keeps you sharp" she says. Maybe she's right. We just got a Keurig coffee maker as a gift. Maybe I should pop in a pod whenever I watching an episode of Voyager. It can even be a drinking game. Take a shot of espresso every time you see Janeway drinking... or something like that.

It's obvious that our favorite Captain (in the delta quadrant) has an addiction. It's made me look at myself and ask if I have any similar crutches. I'm not a slave to caffeine. I don't take afternoon tea (earl gray. hot.) I do have quite a sweet tooth, however. Ice cream. THAT is my addiction! Summer will be here soon and I can't help but want a bowl of ice cream on a daily basis (at least). Still, it's no match for Janeway's need for coffee. Do you have any addictions?

Star Trek Slots in Atlantic City!

Even during a short escape to Atlantic City I somehow manage to Trek-out! We recently spent a night at the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino in Fabulous Atlantic City and had a great time. We played the slots, had an nice walk in the boardwalk, and even enjoyed a "free" buffet. Our room had a cool ocean view too. It was a great get-a-way. But the highlight of the trip for me was playing a Star Trek slot machine!

These Trek themed gambling machines were first released in 2008 by the WMS company. I actually got a chance to play one in a recent visit to Las Vegas. It's loads of fun! The machine is based on the original series and incorporates sound effects, audio and video clips from the show. You can even create a profile and then print a ticket to scan at the next Star Trek slot machine you come upon and it will remember you and let you pick up where you left off. There are bonus rounds where you get to fight on multiple Klingon battle cruisers (each one you defeat has a different bonus $ amount. It's a penny slot machine so you can actually play for a while on just $20. According to Trek Movie the company is releasing a new Star Trek slot machine system this summer.

I'm sure you want to know how I did. Well.. let's just say it was a kobayashi maru kind of situation. But still- I had fun. :)

I did a little Youtube search and found this video. It gives you an idea of what the slot play looks like.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ounyd_n5RKE]

Star Trek Phase II

I have been a big fan of James Cawley and his online Star Trek fan series Star Trek Phase II for a long time. It's an all volunteer, all fan produced & fan acted TV show that's available for free download online. In my opinion, it is by far the best most professionally produced Trek fan series out there! Not only have they worked with veteran Trek actors like George Takei, Walter Koening & Denise Crosby, but they have also collaborated with great Trek writers and directors like David Gerrold and D.C. Fontana. Their production values, sets, costumes & CGI are top notch! It's really unbelievably well done.

Phase II has also pushed boundaries that the Paramount produced shows never have. Their last episode "Blood and Fire" featured an openly gay couple-- that of Captain Kirk's nephew Peter Kirk and a new character, Freeman. It's a simple love story that's is an integral part of the plot but doesn't detract from it. I highly recommend watching "Blood and Fire" as well as the other Phase II episodes here. Did I mention that IFT is also the official fan club of Phase II?

Now another episode is almost ready for download!
Here is the official press release from the Crawley folks:

Senior Executive Producer for Star Trek Phase II Mr. James Cawley has set a release date for the latest episode, "Enemy: Starfleet!" The episode is scheduled to be released via the Internet on Friday, April 22, 2011 ("Earth Day") at 5:01 pm (1701) Eastern Daylight Time.
"Enemy: Starfleet!" (written by Dave Galanter and Patty Wright, based on a story by Galanter and Greg Brodeur) is the seventh full-length episode produced by the Star Trek Phase II production team.
Veteran actress and Star Trek alumnus Ms. BarBara Luna ("Marlena Moreau" in the Star Trek original series episode "Mirror, Mirror") joins the cast of "Enemy: Starfleet!" as "Alersa," a space terrorist leading a faction of alien agressors who steal a starship and reverse engineer it, to create a marauding fleet--an "enemy Starfleet."
More details about where exactly to view this episode (streaming web sites, download websites, international mirror websites, YouTube, etc.) will be announced soon at our Facebook page and at:
http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/Episodes.html
In the meantime, the opening teaser and the first portion of Act I have been available for some time now. So if you're interested in viewing (or re-viewing) this first portion of "Enemy: Starfleet!" in the interim, you can find it here:
http://videos.startrekphase2media.com/Enemy/
Gregory L. Schnitzer
Co-Executive Producer
Star Trek Phase II

Here is the teaser from this exciting upcoming episode:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKQ0WtfDTJU]

Enterprise Coming to New York!!

All Star Trek fans who can track their obsession back to the 1970's knows that back in 1976 NASA named their first prototype space shuttle "Enterprise" after our favorite starship. This real world fact was quickly incorporated into Trek history. You can see a photo of the shuttle in an "Enterprise Legacy" display in Star Trek The Motion Picture when Decker and Ilia are on the recreation deck. You can also see a sketch of the shuttle in Captain Archer's ready room and catch a glipse of the Enterprise in the opening credits of... Enterprise.

Some BIG NEWS came out yesterday that the Enterprise will soon be a part of the Intrepid Air & Space Museum's collection right here in New York City! If you haven't been down to the Intrepid, I highly recommend it. It's a fun educational experience! But I'd wait until the Enterprise arrives if I were you. I'll be sure to post more info about the Enterprise's voyage to the big apple as I learn it. :)

From the Wallstreet Journal:

"The NASA prototype used for test flights in the 1970s will arrive sometime next year at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River — likely on a mammoth Boeing 747 airplane, then a barge up the Hudson River, said Intrepid president Susan Marenoff-Zausner."

Twitter Trek

Some guys start their day with a cup of coffee and reading the morning newspaper. I start my day with a bowl of cereal and reading Star Trek News! I always check the news feed at the official CBS web page as well as checking a few blogs like Trek Movie. But what if that's not enough? I still have half a bowl of cheerios left and I'm all out of Trek news. Luckily some of my favorite Star Trek actors are active tweeters! It's a lot of fun to read actual thoughts and messages people like George Takei, William Shatner and others. Twitter makes these celebrities seem a little more "real". Unlike some famous people, these tweets aren't written by a PR firm or a marketing department. When you read Leonard Nimoy's tweets you're reading Leonard Nimoy's actual words. I think he likes connecting to his fans so directly. Spock isn't the only one either-- at last year's NJ convention Jeri Ryan told everyone in the crowd to follow her on Twitter.

Here are some of my favorite recent tweets from some familiar friends:

@GeorgeTakei

Family Guy gave me a hilarious "shout out" last night. Have you seen it? http://ow.ly/4y2g9 #TheSuluShow

@TheRealNimoy

Working on Transformers. Isn't it about time ??!! LLAP

@WilliamShatner

Another pic of tonight's stage in Auckland NZ. Show begins in a couple of hours. My best, Bill http://twitpic.com/4i6q5q

@JeriLRyan

7 of 9 Doctors agree you should be watching #bodyofproof tomorrow: http://bit.ly/dPSWnI The other 2 couldn't be reached for comment. ;)

@RealNichelle

Roses are also in bloom all over my neighborhood. I took a long walk just to admire the beauty that Spring brings.

@BrentSpiner

Now following @sarahksilverman She makes me laugh.

Here is a list of Star Trek related Twitter feeds:

Star Trek News/Blogs
@StarTrek
@TrekMovie@roddenberry

TOS Cast Members
@WilliamShatner (William Shatner)@TheRealNimoy (Leonard Nemoy)
@GeorgeTakei (George Takei)@RealNichelle (Nichelle Nichols)

TNG Cast Members@BrentSpiner (Brent Spiner)
@levarburton (LeVar Burton)@wilw (Wil Wheaton)

Voyager Cast Members
@JeriLRyan (Jeri Ryan)

Star Trek 2009 Cast Members@ZacharyQuinto (Zachary Quinto)
@simonpegg (Simon Pegg)@zoesaldana (Zoe Saldana)

If you want to follow me, I'm @themikejones. :)

Voyager thoughts..

First, let me say HAPPY FIRST CONTACT DAY!

Now on the main topic-
I've had the exciting experience of introducing Star Trek to my partner Tim. He had watched some Next Generation (TNG) as a child but didn't really remember much of it and he certainly didn't really consider himself a fan. However, since being with me we've watched all 176 episodes the TNG, all the feature films, and a few original series and animated series episodes. Now we've moved onto Star Trek Voyager. We're about 3/4 the way thru season 3. It's fun watching with Tim because has an outsider perspective. He's always making interesting observations and comments. Let me share a couple of them here:

1. Before diving into Voyager Tim warned me "I might not like it". He loved TNG but would make no promises about Voyager. Once we did start watching Voyager he realized "Well, this is just like Next Gen! Why didn't they just keep making that show?". Ya know, he's really right. There are a number of Voyager episodes that could easily be TNG stories. In some cases, the Voyager writers took unused TNG scripts and adapted them. What am I talking about? Well, Take the season 3 episode "Remember". A group of telepaths come on board and one of them forces his/her thoughts onto Torres. Wait a second... doesn't that sound like the TNG episode "Violations" where a group of a telepaths come on board and one of the forces his thoughts onto Troi? I know the similarities end there. "Remember" is ultimately about the Holocaust and "Violations" is about.. well.. violations. But still- the set up is very similar. There are other examples. Just take compare the Voyager episode "Ex Post Facto" with the TNG episode "A Matter of Perspective". Sometimes the "This is just like that Next Gen episode..." problem can be annoying when watching early episodes of the Voyager. Of course, TNG had this problem too. Do we need to talk about "The Naked Now"?

2. "Roxann Dawson is talented actress! Why haven't we seen more of her?" I totally agree with this observation! Upon some research, Ms. Dawson had a nice theatre career before Voyager. She must be a good dancer too because she was on Broadway in one of the most difficult dancing shows in the history of musical theatre-- A Chorus Line. But where is she now? Well, a little digging on IMDB shows that she's moved into the world of television directing. She's even directed episodes of Caprica and Lost. :)

Like I said, Tim and I are heading towards the end of Season 3 and you know what that means. The world is about to change! Voyager experienced a change in producers around season 4. Michael Piller left the show in 1996 and Jeri Taylor left in '98 just as Brannon Braga came onboard. Kenneth Biller joined the show in 2000. These changes really influnced the show. I think Voyager evolved nicely over it's run and just got better and better. TNG experienced a similar evolution. Oh! And we're just around the corner from 7 of 9!! Ok.. back to watching DVDs...

3 Fix All Solutions

I'm enjoying a free afternoon by watching some Star Trek. :) I started out with a couple episodes of Enterprise and have moved onto some Voyager. As I sit here and enjoy some of my favorite episodes I've come to a realization. There are 3 "fix all" solutions in the Star Trek world.

1. Reverse the polarity.

2. Initiate a tachyon beam.

3. Re-modulate.

If only real life were this simple!


- Lt. Jones

Star Trek Live: Review

The touring version of Mad Science's Star Trek Live came to New York City this weekend! (Please click those links and read more about the producing organization and the show!) As soon as I learned of this stop on their tour I made plans to go check it out! They performed at NYU's Skirball center as part of a children's programing series. The house was pretty full for this afternoon's performance. There were a lot of families with smart kids there along with a nice turn out of Star Trek fans. There were even several fans in uniform. I almost felt like I was at a convention!

The show was great! It basically uses Star Trek as the background for a science based educational program. It's set today, in 2011. Starfleet Academy has just been founded and the audience finds themselves enrolled in the very first Starfleet Academy class. They are met my Commander Sean Christoper, a Starfleet Academy trainer. But before the training can begin a Vulcan named Voula arrives from the future to warn us of a dangerous threat. A Romulan has traveled back in time from the late 24th century to destroy one of the 21st century's greatest scientific minds thus undermining our future. Commander Christopher and Voula must defeat this foe with the help of the new cadets in the audience. Along the way they have a lot of fun and teach the audience lots of things about NASA and science. It's really a very well written well planned production. It entertaining and educational. There's plenty for the hardcore Star Trek fan to latch onto as well! Everything from the accurate costumes and props to the pre-show Star Trek trivia fed my Star Trek loving heart!

From a production perspective it's a pretty simple show. For those of you who don't know, I'm a Stage Manager in real life and have done my fair share of touring educational theatre. The show has a unit set with a larger "hanger door" (that opens to reveal Voula's ship), another door, 2 flat screen TVs, what looked like two larger projection screens and several hatches to hind away the science equipment. The cast is small- just two actors. I'd bet they travel with no more than 5 people (2 actors, a stage manager, a company manager, and a technical director). The show is a bit prop heavy including a several pieces of scientific equipment for experiments, some familiar little furry creatures and Starfleet equipment like a tricorder and phaser. One nit-picky thing I noticed. Although Voula is wearing a Starfleet uniform from the 29th century she uses a Mark X Tricorder from the 24th century and a type 2 phaser from the 23rd century (from the new movie). Maybe Voula has an affinity for antiques.

Here is a little preview I found on YouTube. This video wasn't taking at the performance I attended today and the cast members are not the same. Actually I think the cast we saw in NYC today was MUCH better-- but you'll get some idea of what the show is like.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P6rL1a6lnA]


Signing off--

Lt. Mike Jones
Communications Officer
U.S.S. Atlantia NFC-1846

I'm going to "Star Trek Live"!

I just purchased tickets to Star Trek Live: Starfleet Academy which will be playing at NYU's Skirball Center later this month. I can't wait to go see this educational and, I'm sure, entertaining show! I'll make sure to fill you all in with a complete report after the show.

Click HERE for the official web site. More info:

"Star Trek Live is an action-packed, interactive adventure based onone of the most popular science fiction franchises of all time. Members of the audience join the newly formed Starfleet Academy only to be unexpectedly whisked into an exciting adventure steeped in the grand tradition of Star Trek. With the help of a surprise visitor from the planet Vulcan, Starfleet Commander Sean Christopher and his team of rookie cadets must save planet Earth and stop a shocking invasion of Romulan forces from the future. The cadets will have to quickly master the intricacies of modern communications, space travel and NASA technology as they draw on 21st century achievements to try to defeat advancing alien adversaries.

With cutting-edge special effects, unmatched audience interaction and on-screen appearances from Captain Kirk and Spock themselves, Star Trek Live is an exhilarating and unforgettable journey through the universe. Be a part of Star Trek Live and boldly go where no one has gone before!"

Ensign Jones

Brannon Braga Speaks on the Topic: Why are there no gay characters in Star Trek?

I just came across a fascinating article on After Elton.com, a lgbt new blog. They interview Brannon Braga - one of the main writers and creative minds behind Star Trek TNG, DS9, & Voyager asking him why we never saw any gay characters in Star Trek. The author of the article points out that "in 1991 Gene Roddenberry told The AdvocateThe Next Generation would at least show gay crew members as part of ship life. Unfortunately, Roddenberry died that year and none of the subsequent episodes featured gay people at all."

Here is more of the fascinating interview:

AfterElton (AE): I'm very much a fan of Star Trek but unfortunately none of the series ever included a gay character. You were involved with writing two of the movies and produced or executive produced for The Next Generation, Voyager and Enterprise. Can you speak to why that never happened?

BB: It was a shame for a lot of us that ... I’m talking about the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and there was a constant back and forth about well how do we portray the spectrum of sexuality. There were people who felt very strongly that we should be showing casually, you know, just two guys together in the background in Ten Forward. At the time the decision was made not to do that and I think those same people would make a different decision now because I think, you know, that was 1989, well yeah about 89, 90, 91. I have no doubt that those same creative players wouldn’t feel so hesitant to have, you know, have been squeamish about a decision like that.

AE: Why do you think science fiction, given that it’s so much forward looking, has done so poorly when it comes to being inclusive on American television?

BB: You know what’s funny is it was dealt with more metaphorically. Next Generation did a couple episodes you could say ... I worked on one for Deep Space Nine with Dax. I don’t know if I can speak to the whole genre of science fiction, certainly the Star Trek franchise as it existed at the time.

AE: Do you think 20 years ago there was a reluctance to do it because science fiction, wrongly or rightly, is perceived as being for young straight males? Were you guys concerned about that?

BB: I think it was, not so much a young man’s [issue], it was a syndicated family show, showing at six o’clock, you know, in Salt Lake City, so you had to deal with each separate affiliate rather than one network. And things like that.
It was not a forward thinking decision. Knowing the players involved, knowing the decision makers, knowing it was that they felt reluctant about, you know, we’re not saying “yes,” we’re not saying “no,” we’re not just not going to touch that right now.

AE: Do you think if the next iteration of the series or movie doesn’t go there, do gay fans have a right to be really upset at this point? After all this, if it still doesn’t go there in 2011 0r 2012...

BB: Well, I mean, the movie is such a different bird. If there were a TV series, I would agree with you. But for a movie, I personally wouldn’t. With a TV series you’re creating a whole world, you’re creating a whole. You were saying, if this is going to last for five years, and if you don’t go there, then yes you got some questions. A two-hour movie and you’re sitting there and you’re eating your popcorn, if doesn't fit ... if it’s not part of the story, it’s not part of the story. There are many things that aren’t part of the story, you know? That's my personal opinion.

Read the entire article here.

Thoughts On A Lost Doctor

Being sick has its bonuses. For example, recovering from this cold I've been able to marathon Star Trek The Next Generation on DVD. We started with season 2 on Saturday and now we're most of the way thru season 3. You may ask why we didn't start with Season 1-- this is because we already marathoned thru that last summer.

This look back at season 2 has given me the opportunity to reconsider a somewhat forgotten character in the Star Trek canon. Dr. Kate Pulaski as portrayed by Diana Muldaur. From what I understand, when the show as picked up for a 2nd season the producers failed to reach an agreement with Gates McFadden to reprise her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher. This left the Enterprise without a chief medical officer and the cast incomplete. The producers then reached out to veteran Star Trek actor Diana Muldaur who had appeared more than once in the original series. They wrote the part of Dr. Katherine Pulaski to serve as the new Chief Medical Officer. She's an interesting woman. She hates the transporter- much like Dr. McCoy did. She's stubborn- much like Dr. Crusher is. She also is given a chance for character growth. She starts off with a prejudice against Data, seeing him as a machine only and not a true lifeform. It takes a couple episodes but eventually she comes around and respects and cares for Data like the rest of us do. Muldaur does a great job playing Pulaski. To be frank, I didn't really find myself missing Dr. Crusher. It does seem strange that Wesley remains on board even though his mother has transferred to Starfleet Medical.

My biggest problem with Dr. Pulaski is how the writers wrote her out of the series. You see, they didn't. Her last episode is Shades of Gray-- an embarrassingly bad clip episode that focuses on Riker. Why couldn't Dr. Pulaski have appeared in the first episode of season 3, Evolution. We could have seen her transfer off the Enterprise with some exciting opportunity or promotion while welcoming Crusher back on board. But instead we are given NOTHING. They acknowledge that Crusher is back from her "year at Starfleet Medical" and that she missed her son Wesley while away. But there is no mention of our dear Kate. We are left wondering whatever happened to our lost Doctor, Kate Pulaski. Where oh where did she go??

Book Club!!

I'm not much of a reader. I never have been. I tend to start books and not finish them. I certainly like books. I mean I like shopping for them. I like buying them. Flipping thru them. I carry books around in my shoulder bag. I display books on my bookshelves. I dust them. But do I actually READ them? Not usually. But occasionally I find a book that really speaks to me-- a book that I want to do more than dust. When this happens I suddenly I transform into a reader for the duration for the piece. Suddenly you can find me sitting at the laundromat with my nose buried in a paperback. I read thru lunch breaks. I might sneak in a few pages while waiting for rehearsal to begin or on the train on my way home. I have to knock out a chapter before bed time. What kind of books might hold this power over me? Mainly GEEKY books! I'm hoping that Night of the Living Trekkies will fit the bill. I picked up a copy today. In the same vain as Pride, Predjudice & Zombies comes this little tale of a zombie outbreak in the most likely of places: a Star Trek convention. Perfect. Now I have my airport/beach/laudromat for the next few weeks. :) I'll have to let you all know how it goes! Stay tuned!

Oh-- and if anyone else wants to pick up a copy and read along (like Tommy is going to do) feel free to join our little book club! :) Once we've finished the book we'll have an online group chat about it! :)

Vintage Star Trek Comics!

Friends of mine stumbled onto a set of Star Trek comic book volumes at a local thrift store. Knowing that I would love such a fun pop culture find, they quickly snatched them up for me. I'm now the proud owner of the first 4 volumes of Star Trek: The Enterprise Logs published by Golden Press. Each volume contains 8 original Golden Press comic books. According to Ebay, these volumes are going for as much as $50-$60 now-a-days. Seeing as Jon & Amanda paid a dollar for each of them, I'd say they got a great deal! I read a few Star Trek comics growing up when DC Comics held the rights to publish Star Trek. I loved the movie era Star Trek TOS (The Original Series) comics back then. I've never read any of the old original comics from the 60's and 70's though. Now's my chance!

I dove into volume 1 with the eagerness of a school boy! Right off the bat I could see the differences between the comics and their on screen counterparts. The introduction was an "Identi-Fax Psycho File" on James T. Kirk. Right away I could tell Gene Rodenberry didn't have creative control over this comic. The "Identi-Fax" was drawn to look like a file folder with a paper clip in the upper corner. Roddenberry would have insisted that computers had long since replaced paper files. But moving onto the story-- the Enterprise crew are exploring "Galaxy Alpha" and report that so far they haven't found any life in the galaxy. The terminology immediately makes me cringe a bit. In Star Trek intra-Galactic travel isn't really possible. But, whatever. It's a comic book. So, let's move on. The crew goes on to explore a hostile planet ran by plants. These plants feed on animals and keep them as livestock. They see our heros as food and treat them accordingly. They also have the ability to take animals and transform them into more plant monsters-- maybe it's how they reproduce.

The idea of sentient plants is also addressed in the Star Trek Animated Series episode "Infinite Vulcan". However there the plant race, known as the Phylosians, are highly intelligent and communicate easily with the Enterprise crew. Kirk and company treat them with respect. However, in the comic book the enterprise crew see the walking plants as simply dangerous. They make no attempt to communicate with them or determine their intelligence level. They just.. well.. they kill them. They kill them all. (See image to the right).

Um.. WOW. How could this be Star Trek? The Enterprise crew's mission is to seek out new life. Well they found it! And what did they do when they found it? THEY KILLED IT! How could Gene Roddenberry have let this happen? Well, I can only assume that money had something to do with it. Paramount/Desilu owned Star Trek and could basically do what they want to with it. I bet the studio sold the comic book rights to Golden Press and gave no additional input. I did some quick wiki-reasearch on this topic and found this:

The first Star Trek comics were published by Gold Key between 1967 and 1978. Originally they were illustrated by Alberto Giolitti, an Italian artist who had never seen the series and only had publicity photos to use as references. These comics were highly stylized and diverged wildly from the TV series continuity. Writers included George Kashdan, Arnold Drake and Len Wein. (Wikipeadia)

So THAT explains it! This guy didn't know ANYTHING about Star Trek! And no wonder some all the terminology was off. Just check out this technobable:

"Laser Beam Destruct Ray"??? Don't you mean "Phasers".  "Materialize us aboard"???  Don't you mean "Beam us up". And why is Captain Kirk talking into his tricorder instead of his communicator??  It's like I'm in some kind of weird Bizaro-world where everything is slightly wrong!

*Breath*



Ok. So it's not really "Star Trek". But it is fascinating! It's a total 60's kids comic book take on the Star Trek franchise. And I love classic comic books. I mean, the Dick Tracy comic strips from the late 60's were full of "ray guns" and fun 60's pop culture ideas. The bright "POW!" "WACK!" style Batman books from the 60's gave us Batgirl (my favorite comic book heroin). So maybe if I get over the non-Roddenberry ideas in these old comic books I can really enjoy them. I mean, Star Trek can use a little of this fun child like adventure, right? After all, look how cool the transporter room (sorry, I mean the teleportation chamber) looks!

 **UPDATE**
More info about the comic: http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Planet_of_No_Return

White Christmas!

IT'S A WHITE CHRISTMAS!!

"I'm dreaming of a White Christmas"... and I got one! Popular culture will tell you that Christmas = Snow. I've known this all my life-- ever since I was in kindergarten and the teacher decorated the bulletin board with white paper snow flakes and a Santa Claus cut out for December. This was confirmed with TV specials like the Rankin Bass Christmas features. Santa, Rudolph, the Grinch and all my favorite characters seem to exist only in snowy Christmas wonderlands. Plus, the only time it snows in Bedrock, Garfield's backyard, or Smurf village is on Christmas. So yes- as I a kid I always associated snow with Christmas. But in East Tennessee it hardly ever snows on Christmas. Each year I would dream of a White Christmas and was always sadly disappointed. UNTIL NOW! I woke up this morning to find that Santa had left something in my stocking and the world outside is a beautiful winter wonderland! The snow is clinging to the trees and glissining in the Christmas morning sun! IT'S AMAZING! Just look at the view from our hotel window: