It seems every summer, we get sidetracked by life.  This summer was no different, except that the excitement of life extended into the fall.  The episode we released this past weekend (The Deadly Years) was actually recorded last February, I believe, which is quite fun to listen to.  So much has occurred since that month.

Here is a quick overview:

• Talk Trek Crew (sans ClankFu) went to Vegas
• Njord4 and wife went to Hawai’i
• Vontresc went to San Diego
• Njord4 and wife adopted the most beautiful puppy in the world, Gunner
• ClankFu and wife lost one hedgehog and adopted another
• No deer were shot by any of the Talk Trek Crew
• ClankFu broke his foot and NewPowerSoulMan’s baby broke her arm
• Vontresc attained his commercial glider certificate
• Njord4 attained his instrument rating
• NewPowerSoulMan’s baby turned 2
• NewPowerSoulMan, ClankFu, and the Vontresc both entered their 35th years
• Njord4 ended age 32

We hope 2009 treated you all with as much adventure as it has treated us!

Happy Holidays and let’s welcome the new year for the joy it has the potential to bring!

Live Long and Talk Trek!

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

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?

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!

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!

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

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

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.

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