A sad announcement…

Unfortunately, Ned, the Talk Trek mascot, died Thursday morning. He was less than 1 year old. He will be missed.

“A Dream” by Edgar Allen Poe (Episode 45)

The first Talk Trek Poem of the Week is titled “A Dream” by Edgar Allen Poe.  This poem will be discussed along with Episode 45.

———————-

In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed-
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.

Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream- that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding.

What though that light, thro’ storm and night,
So trembled from afar-
What could there be more purely bright
In Truth’s day-star?

Poem of the Week

Here at Talk Trek Enterprises, we’re going to start a new segment aptly named “Talk Trek Poem of the Week.”  Each week, we will choose a poem that has captured and raptured the minds of the Talk Trek crew so much so, that we must talk about it!

This week, we will be recording Episode 45 – The Gamesters of Triskelion, so stay tuned in a few weeks when we release it.  You will also hear an educated discussion of the Talk Trek Poem of the Week!

Greetings from Ned!

Hello, my name is Ned. I am hybrid of the African pygmy hedgehog and the Algerian hedgehog and I was informed a couple of weeks ago that I am the official Talk Trek mascot. Whatever, as long as the Star Trek episodes and the mealworms keep coming. I suppose I have to do *something* to earn my keep around here. I was born in July 2008 at Hedgehog Valley in Iola, KS.

Truth be told, I spend most of my day sleeping. Like most hedgehogs, I am most active during the evening and night, though Jim’s wife likes to get me up during the day sometimes so she can coo at me and tell me how cute I am (and I’m not complaining). I eat high-grade cat food, some human foods (I just love beef brisket!), and mealworms. During the night, I like to run on my wheel and stick my little nose in old toilet paper tubes. They’re just so fascinating—all the patterns, all the ways I can lose balance and roll on my back, it’s just so much fun (and I look so good doing it).

I’ll be watching Star Trek episodes with Jim from now on and give you the hedgehog’s take on the action. If I like the episode, you’ll get to see my face, but if it’s a bad episode you’ll get to see just how much of a ball I can roll into (I’m easily offended). Is it kind of silly? Sure, it is, but if it’s what I gotta do to get some good barbecue around here….

Anyway, I am going to do some cute hedgehog things like burrow in a blanket on the couch. See you later!

The Vontresc has made it to the great state of Texas!

The Vontresc in Kansas

The Vontresc, driving through Oklahoma at night

The Vontresc, staying in Wichita Falls for the night

The Vontresc, on his way to Abilene - to see sweet Ilene, maybe

The Vontresc is going to Texas!

A little Christmas update to everyone -

The Vontresc is on his way to Texas for a week of some serious soaring. He’s going to be finishing up his rating with a friend/instructor of his and hopefully, we’ll be getting some regular updates with pictures!

He left Wisconsin this morning and is driving down to someplace near El Paso, TX.  At present time, he is passing through Iowa.

The Vontresc, driving through Iowa

It’s been a long time…

Not only do those words mean something at this time, what with the regrettably long absence of Talk Trek, but they are also the first words of the worst TV theme song in history. To tell you the truth, I haven’t ever actually listened to the entire theme of Enterprise, only the first line. For some reason, I have a hard time coming to grips with a Star Trek theme song that isn’t composed from classical music.

If you would have asked me a year ago if I liked “Enterprise,” I would have told you no. I was there on September 26, 2001, in front of the TV at a friend’s house in Des Plaines, IL when the premier episode aired. When I first heard the theme song begin after the intro scene, I yelled “Mute that shit!” towards the man holding the remote control. And from that point onward, I have always muted the opening credits. But I still was excited about the show. I watched perhaps the next 5 – 10 shows before my interest began waning. I’m not sure why I quit watching “Enterprise,” but I always assumed it was because it wasn’t a good show. Within the last six to nine months, however, I have begun to watch more and more of it, and I’m really enjoying what I’m seeing. Maybe I just needed time to accept Captain Archer and his new style of command. Who knows?

Hopefully soon, we’ll do another Listener’s Choice and perhaps an episode of “Enterprise” will be picked! I wouldn’t mind hearing what ClankFu, the NewPowerSoulMan, and the Vontresc have to say about it.

In any case, Talk Trek is back with a vengeance! Episode 33 is coming out in four days (Mirror, Mirror) and the Listener’s Choice episode Yesterday’s Enterprise will be out on Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Live Long and Talk Trek!

–Njord4

Aviation, Star Trek, and the Sci-Fi Genre

I’ve always noticed a variety of common interests among Star Trek fans. I’ve tried in the past to develop some prevailing themes that would connect these interests, but I have yet to be successful. Let’s explore aviation, for example. Everyone that I know who likes Star Trek likes aviation. And I would bet that many people who like aviation enjoy Star Trek as well. What is it about Star Trek that interests pilots? Is it the flying of a spaceship? I would have to guess not, because for the most part there is very little flying of the Enterprise/Voyager/DS9 that takes place. I imagine it doesn’t even take up 1% of the airtime of an episode. Usually, the Captain sets a course and demands, “Engage!” That’s about it. The autopilot systems on the Star Trek spaceships are very advanced and therefore do not need much input at all from the pilot. So, there must be something else.

Could it be simply the science fiction genre in general? In the past, I would have said no, but perhaps there is something to this hypothesis. Personally, though I love Star Trek more than any other television enterprise that has ever been in existence (caveat: I’m not counting Seinfeld because that’s like choosing which parent you love more), I actually don’t like science fiction all that much. I’ve read a few sci-fi books and seen many a sci-fi movie, and I really haven’t enjoyed them. Perhaps it’s because most sci-fi books and movies leave much to be desired. There are great ones out there such as the Star Wars trilogy and… umm… well, ok, I guess that’s it for the movie department.

In the book department, I feel a bit of a conundrum brewing in my soul. A few of my favorite books include 1984, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Fahrenheit 451, and Slaughterhouse Five. My favorite book of all time is Brave New World. These books are generally considered science fiction novels, however for some reason, I’ve always viewed them as something more. Something better than simply science fiction. Perhaps, it’s because the genre has always had a bad rap. The cool people never dig science fiction. That realm is for the geeks and the nerds. But how could Huxley’s brilliant commentary on the inhumanity of societal “advancement” be only for the geeks and the nerds? It doesn’t make any sense! Actually, I think a lot of this new age fantasy crap that is getting shoved out each year deserves the bulk of the blame. Why else would books need illustrations like those that drape the covers of this genre in the aisles of Barnes & Noble? No one is going to pick up a book with a cover of a dragon breathing fire while jumping over a bottomless crevice on another world. It’s just plain silly. For example, let’s just take a look at the following covers:

Hmmmm… which one looks better?

Now that I have said all this, I would really like to explore the sci-fi genre. I’m sure I have overlooked some classic movies and spectacular books. Isn’t that what we’re all looking for after all? If anyone out there could recommend some good books and good movies, I would really enjoy digging in and finding out the truth about science fiction. It’s time for me to explore the undiscovered country.

Convention Costumes

A year and a half ago, the NewPowerSoulMan and I attended a Star Trek convention in Chicago. As you may remember if you listened to our Convention Synopsis podcast that was released afterwards, when it comes to costumes, it’s very important to be unique. Now, I’ve only been to one convention, but I’m sure the general attributes that allow one to win the costume contests are remarkably universal. Since the Las Vegas Star Trek convention is several days long, I was thinking that the Talk Trek crew could dress up in some Trek garb on one of the days. I’ve always been a little leery of the merits of dressing up in costume, however at what other times in our lives can we as adults dress up and act as another person? Halloween could be an annual example, but I’ve never been the Halloween type, and I’m afraid that what happens in my local village WILL stay in my local village. Las Vegas is better suited for these sorts of exploits.

Now, as we all know, Pete the Vontresc is going as Harry Mudd. This in itself is a perfect costume. Not only is it unique, but it shall surely attract a fair share of women on account of the episode Mudd’s Women. I cannot count the number of girls I have known in my life who dreamed of being an escort of Harry Mudd. I’m quite certain that in the setting of Vegas, the Vontresc will have his hands full as the day comes to a close, and night draws nigh.

But what about the rest of us?

If anyone has any ideas, please let us know!

Live long and Talk Trek-

Erik

My First Trek And Beyond

We all touched on this subject very early in the existence of Talk Trek, but it’s a subject that I’d like to touch on a little further. Do any of you remember what you felt like the first time you saw an episode of Star Trek/TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT (whichever was first for you)? I remember what I felt like, as if it were yesterday. In my case, the first episode I saw was the TNG episode “Ship In A Bottle” in 1993. It was a school night (I, along with Damien and Erik, was a junior at Notre Dame de la Baie Academy in Green Bay, WI at the time), and I was flipping through channels at the time, my homework done, looking for something to pass the time until I went to bed.

On WGBA, channel 26 in Green Bay, I happened across something. Because of where my parents lived, our reception was rather poor. My family did not have cable (satellite TV was restricted to the big C-band satellite dishes at that time, and we lived out in the country, so we could not get cable), so needless to say, something special was on the air that night for me to stop and pay attention. I don’t remember exactly what caused me to stop, as that has faded into the memories of my past. I watched for a little while, intrigued by the story of Geordi, Data, and Capt. Picard attempting to wrest control of the ship back from a holodeck recreation of Dr. Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes. And I kept watching. And kept watching. And, by 10 PM that night, I was hooked for life. After that, I eagerly watched TNG every night (TNG was still in its original run on Thursday nights in Green Bay, with reruns every other weeknight). “The Best of Both Worlds” is, in my mind, one of the best things to ever be broadcast on TV. Even now, 15 years after watching my first episode of Star Trek, the cliffhanger of that episode is simply mind-blowing, and every time I see it, I am still convinced that there is no way Capt. Picard is going to come out of this alive (though, of course, he does).

Very few shows on television have ever had an effect on me like Star Trek. Based on its large, worldwide, fanbase, many of you feel the same way. Only a few other works of literature, movies, or TV shows have ever resonated with me the way Star Trek did, and still does. As far as works of literature go, one that has stayed with me through the years is John Steinbeck’s masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath. I had to read that as a sophomore in high school. Considering that we had to read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter earlier that year, I was not looking forward to having another so-called “masterpiece” foisted upon me solely for the purpose of reading it because it is a “GREAT BOOK”. However, the story of the Joads and their quest throughout pre-World War II American life was a book that had a profound effect on me. It shows a very real portrait of the United States during the Great Depression. In a way, it showed me how the thoughts and feelings of an entire generation were shaped because of their experiences with the Depression. I can certainly relate to the Joad’s long voyage to California to make a better life for themselves only to find themselves, in the end, not wanted. I’ve had that experience in my not-too-distant past, but that is a story for a different time.

Another set of works, both print and film, that have really stuck with me are the three Lord of the Rings movies that Peter Jackson did so well, as well as J.R.R. Tolkien’s wonderful novel of the same title. It reminds me of the stories I read and heard as a child of gallant warriors, powerful wizards, beautiful ladies, terrible beasts, and truly evil enemies that the good folk only barely defeat in the end. Perhaps Peter Jackson did not copy Tolkien’s novels word-for-word (and that’s a good thing–some things on the written page do not translate well to the screen) but in my opinion he kept to the spirit of the novel. The scene where the beacons of Minas Tirith are lit, one by one, across the mountains, signaling Gondor’s plea for help, was beautiful. Perhaps people once thought New Zealand was full of sheep but Peter Jackson has no doubt shown otherwise.

While we are on the subject of high fantasy novels, I have only recently gotten into George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. My goodness, those books are good. I got into these books purely by accident. I was in a Half-Price Books in Virginia in January looking for something to read on the plane ride back to Texas (we were in the DC area to see my brother). My wife saw A Game of Thrones on the shelf there, and she told me that she’d heard that these were good (she’s now starting the series herself). So, not seeing any other better options around, I gave it a shot (I am not normally a fantasy fan) and am glad I did. Though they are rife with sex and violence (none of it gratuitous, to the author’s credit), all three I have read have a tight plot, and most of all, involve characters that you can relate with and care about on a personal level. For example, I see a lot of Catelyn Stark in my wife, from their looks (at least in how Catelyn’s described) to their demeanor. Perhaps I am just projecting one onto another, but when Catelyn is described, somehow my wife pops into my head. Somehow, she’s the character I tend to like the best. The scene at the Red Wedding where she is murdered is heartwrenching. The Stark family in many ways reminds me of my own family (though we’ve turned out to be a lot luckier than them). There is a scene towards the end of A Storm of Swords that is almost as heartwrenching, where Sansa, alone with her thoughts as the snow silently falls around her at the Eyrie, finally seems to be waking up to the fact that a knight like those in the stories she enjoyed as a little girl is not coming to her rescue, and that she has to make the best that she can of her current situation. Sansa is a character that seemed rather one-dimensional at first, but she has, in my opinion, grown more than any other character in terms of depth as the series has gone on. I look forward to finishing A Feast For Crows and, if they ever get published, A Dance With Dragons, The Winds of Winter, and A Dream of Spring. (And even if the aforementioned titles don’t get published, we’ve been blessed with four wonderful books that many have enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy for years to come.)

So, folks, what’s your first experience with Star Trek? And what are some of the other TV shows, movies, books, comic books/graphic novels, or other forms of media that had a profound impact on you?

Live long and prosper, folks.