Tag Archives: Star Trek

Star Trek – Century 20 @ Bella Terra, Huntington Beach, CA

Posted on by
Reply

This is my event movie for this summer…if I didn’t see any other movie this summer I would be happy…well the first half of summer (Harry Potter)…well for May (no wait there’s Up and Terminator)…well I left the theatre feeling uplifted and optimistic and just plain jazzed.

Not only is the film chock full of inside references (which are geek-tastic every time), but the story is absolutely fantastic. The science fiction is at acceptable levels (black holes are very destructive and space is sometimes silent) and the acting is perfect.

Yay! It’s Jennifer Morrison (Cameron from House) as Kirk’s mom! Talk about awesome big screen cameos!

If the end of the credits says that the movie is for somebody or in honor of somebody, that usually means that person died during the production of the film, right?  [checks IMDB]…NOOOOO!!!  Majel Barret died!  *tear*

Spoiler reviews that I enjoyed:
Jim Hill : Set phasers on fun: “Star Trek” reboot is really a kick
Jim Hill tries to scientifically prove that the new film really IS his father’s Star Trek…and tells us where the tribble is!

The Future Is Bright Indeed
I didn’t consciously realized this, but it’s a nice addition to the film…

have been and always shall be…
Scott Kurtz talks about his and his father’s experience…

Messing with the Time/Space Continuum
Yep…that’s the movie for you…

webcomics @ chainsawsuit by kris straub for Monday, May 11, 2009
Kris Straub pokes fun at Star Trek…

West Side Story Injuries (Detail)

Posted on by
Reply

Thursday night (3 performances left) during the opening number, I started a move, went up on my left toe and came down to a crouched position….when I did, something popped in my left knee….the choreography had me jumping back up a half second later (longest half second of my life), but the damage was done. I made it through the rest of the show alright and saw the chiropractor in the morning. Luckily I had just hyper-extended it, so the muscles were a little stiff, but prone to damage, so I did the next show with a knee brace. Then during that show, I bruised my right thumb during “Cool” (I have to support myself/push myself up with my hands during the show and I did it wrong). I saw the chiropractor again the morning after, but there was very little to do except ice it and use it as little as possible. So now here I am, missing a show that went really well until closing weekend. Oh well…it was still a great experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And now I’ve got my own West Side horror story!

Other Things
I came up with a really great analogy today. It’s political and probably controversial, but I’m going to share it anyways. My dad told me about a CNN reporter who said something really…you have to read this for yourself.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour says that President Bush is the main cause of Islamic extremism worldwide.

Of course, this is from Rush Limbaugh, so I will be the first (as the poster) to question the bias. If however, she really did say this and this is what she believes, I have a comparable analogy of some merit. If President Bush is the main cause of Islamic extremism worldwide, then William Shatner is the main cause of Star Trek extremism worldwide. Trying to pin a worldwide movement on just one person has very little merit as it is, but this is ridiculous. President Bush and William Shatner were just doing their jobs (I will not accept arguments about Bush…I’m broad-stroking the reality of his job-performance)…they’re not responsible for the extremism movement.

And that’s about all the other news I have…I’ll be posting reviews of my weekend, after it happens, but it promises to be a rollicking good time. Friday night I’m seeing The Bill Handel Extravaganza at The Grove in Anaheim, Saturday night I’m seeing John Williams with some orchestra and the Irvine Ampitheatre and Sunday night I’m going to see my friend Luke Adams as the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in San Diego’s Balboa Park! Enjoy your week/weekend and see you around!

Brief Recap of My Birthday Extravaganza

Posted on by
Reply

Disneyland for a Monte Cristo sandwich at the Cafe Orleans, then an hour fifteen wait for the subs. Then go home, get all dressed up and truck it out to LA for Maxwell Demille’s Cicada Club party/bash/thing.

Robert Picardo (the Doctor from Star Trek Voyager) sang a couple of songs and he wasn’t bad actually. His first “set” was “Swinging on a Star” and “San Fernando Valley”, so he gets like 50,000 bonus points right there because those are two freaking awesome songs that I absolutely love. Then I accidentally kicked him later while doing 20′s charleston – oops! He also made a great star trek joke about three gay Klingons – Maxene, Patty, and LaVerne (The Andrews Sisters) before singing either “Drinking Rum and Coke” or some song along those lines.

Richard Halpern
Awesome performer – oh mammy!/muquin

Rusty Frank was great tap dancing all over the place, the Hollywood Hornets busted out the Big Apple, and Dean Mora and his orchestra were incredible – can’t wait for live album (hopefully they recorded last night’s performance).

I did get recognized for my birthday and the band/crowd sang to me, but no birthday dance…oh well.

All in all a very enjoyable celebration (even if I was very tired).

Star Trek 11 Rumors Off Base, History of Song Of The South and How Oil In Iraq ISN’T Saving Us Money At The Pump

Posted on by
Reply

Moviehole.net – J.J says Star Trek news not entirely true
This is very welcome news. If they tried to prequelize the original series, you would have trekkie riots in the streets. I’m glad J.J. is smart enough to know that. This give me hope for the film. But what about The Next Gen cast? Are we just going to make original ideas in the Star Trek universe? Trying to draw in more mainstream?

Wade Sampson : Wednesdays with Wade: Further thoughts on “Song of the South”
Bob Iger shut down the re-release to avoid big controversy due to political correctness. Frankly I understand what he’s trying to do. In his own words, he is placing the ethics and integrity of the Walt Disney Company over the desire to increase the bottom line. I think this shows Bob’s diplomatic skills and is a good sign for the future. Of course there’s also side news about it being released through the online Disney Vault coming in 2012. I can wait that long…especially with my downloaded copy. ;)

The Dilbert Blog: The Oil Theory of Iraq
Scott asks us to explain why we went to war in Iraq for oil and gets some resoundingly patriotic replies. Cool.

Mario – Live – Google Video
Oh…my…God! This is ridiculously beautiful.

Renewing Your Passport And New Language

Posted on by
Reply

So I renewed my passport today. I got in just under the wire, as it takes 6 weeks to get a new one and my flight leaves Friday, June 29th (8 weeks from today). My dad and I are going to Amsterdam via New York via Toronto via New York via Kansas City via Los Angeles. Why the long legs? The Toronto leg is two fold: Niagara Falls (missed it on my first New York trip in 2002) and the new Lord of the Rings Musical. I’m wary, but I’ve read several articles and it looks like fun. Definitely worth the trip. While in New York we’re going to check out Spamalot, since Steven Wynn is a bastard (he landlocked the West Coast with a contract for a SHORTENED VERSION that will only play in Vegas in a new theatre he’s building…damn youse!). To get to New York from Los Angeles, we have to switch planes in Kansas City. But the real goal of the trip is to get to Amsterdam for computer training. But on to the real story.

When my number came up and I walked up to the counter, Mike (Postmaster/Sales Associate), said that whenever he sees someone with a wireless phone headset, he thinks of the Borg. That led to the cell phone being like a communication device from the early Star Trek series (one of the cooler reasons to own a flip phone). While the process is kind of laborious, requiring you to recall details of your life that you thought you knew but didn’t (like your mom’s birth date, city and state…I promise mom…one of these days I’ll remember all on my own when your birthday is), I certainly didn’t notice the time thanks to Mike. He also introduced me to a new phrase that he coined. ITD’s or Internet Transmitted Diseases – referring to all manner of electronic bugs and viruses. He derived it from the more popular STD’s (Sexually Transmitted Diseases).

Guilty Killer Turns Himself In and Cyclone Larry Is Easily Anticipated

Posted on by
Reply

Asymmetry must be punished wherever it lies! Is this a genetic thing? What does it look like? Or is that too prudish a quesiton to ask?

Hooray! Now that 1GB stick of memory will be much cheaper!

Syriana

Posted on by
Reply

This movie was intriguing…if you look past the left-wing wacko theory Clooney and cohorts are trying to push (there will be no peace in the Middle East if it doesn’t help American big business)…because if you look past the politics of the movie, it’s really fun to watch. But because the politics are there, this film screams propaganda. Which is sad because it was a lot like a Tom Clancy novel and I am a big fan of his blend of political intrigue (as opposed to Robert Ludlum’s). Just such a damn shame that artists have to send political messages with their art..

The movie takes its name from what some think-tanks in Washington D.C. would call the Ideal Middle-Eastern State*. It follows George Clooney, an undercover agent (specializing in getting information out of people and then killing them) who loves to send memos (why?) and Matt Damon, an energy analyst for a big firm who takes on the job as advisor to Dr. Julian Bashir of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I’m sorry, but I just think it’s so cool that after all these years, Alexander Siddig has been in two films within such a short amount of time (Kingdom of Heaven rules!). It just makes me all giggle-y. Siddig plays Prince Nasir Al-Subaai who wants to re-envision the way his country does business with the world. He brokers a deal with China for oil distribution which would give him the money and power to revolutionize his backwards country. Unfortunately, the CIA (under a Republican president no doubt) can’t let that happen because it’s not good for big oil. Here’s where the movie’s purportedly main theme shines through: corruption. While all this is going on, two big U.S. oil companies are proposing a merger and awaiting government approval which brings in Bennett Holiday, a lawyer seeking the broken laws behind all the “corruption” that’s kept big oil in business all these years. The all-star supporting cast (including Tim Blake Nelson, William Hurt, Chris Cooper and Christopher Plummer (the original anti-Nazi! … Captain Von Trapp? From the Sound of Music movie with Julie Andrews? Oh come on!)) weighs in on the matter causing Clooney and Damon to hem and haw, but in the end, corruption wins and American oil companies merge and are more profitable than ever. And to top it off, nothing is really being done about stopping the creation of fundamentalist Islamists who want to blow up the West. Now, isn’t that just a pretty picture for the holidays?

*Got that from a Matt Damon interview in Premiere. He doesn’t think this movie is “against” anything except for corruption…in a sense that is the truth. Unfortunately, the movie suggests that the corruption is at the very core of our nation and there’s no escaping it, which is baloney.

Gargoyles

Posted on by
Reply

Gargoyles

Back when I was younger, Disney had a really cool afternoon program arrangement that aired on K-CAL 9 (at least where I was). It was entitled The Disney Afternoon. I really enjoyed it because it was fun to come home from school and watch the next generation of Disney toons. (Heh, Next Generation. I love Star Trek). Speaking of Star Trek, there was one of those new toons that I came to thoroughly enjoy and celebrate. Gargoyles.

“In 1994, Buena Vista Television released the animated series Gargoyles. The show followed the adventures of a band of Scottish gargoyles in present-day New York after sleeping in stone under a magic spell for a thousand years. Gargoyles quickly became a hit with fans and lasted for two more seasons. Unfortunately, in early 1997 Buena Vista Television cancelled Gargoyles, despite the millions of fans who loved it.”

The above quote is from a Gargoyles fan-site that I discovered while pondering the ponderosa. I mean, surfing the web. If you want to check it out, here’s a link. Gargoyles Fan-site

I am a big fan of P2P (Peer to peer for all you uneducated schmucks out there) and it has helped me gain access to all the old episodes of my childhood. Of course, I’m not condoning the downloading and sharing of copyrighted material. I mean, here I am, on a public website, and I would have the balls to say “YES, I CONDONE THE ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL!” Those aren’t my words, but what the hey. By-the-by, it’s only illegal if you sell it. But enough about dodging the police and hiring a scum-bag (lawyer, that is). Lets talk about voice-overs. I was recently watching episodes and I was again faced with that dilemma of the voices sounding familiar. I am a Star Trek: Next Generation fan. I always have trouble putting two and two together. I usually do more research than is necessary and have discovered that, OMIGOSH! David Xanatos is voiced by none other than Commander William T. Riker (AKA Jonathon Frakes) and Demona is voiced by Counselor Troi (AKA Marina Sirtis). Oh yeah, a minor player, Coldstone (rookery brother of Goliath) is voiced by Worf (AKA Michael Dorn). Another discovery is that Captain Kathryn Janeway of Voyager is the voice of Titania, wife of Oberon and ruler of all the fairies. For one episode only, but still it’s a notable Star Trek-Gargoyles cameo. If you’ve read my ramble, this may or may not make sense to you, but like I said, if you don’t like, I don’t care! HAHAHAHAHA! Don’t forget to tip your waitress on the way out! Buh-Bye now! Buh-Bye!