Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

An alternate take on Admiral Morrows blatant error saying that the Enterprise is twenty years old in STIII.


He doesn't even bring up the captains before Kirk. He makes a convincing argument that the age of the ship was reset during the pre-STTMP refit, and thus it can't possibly be twenty years between STTMP and TSFS.


After all, how much of the 1701 actually survived the refit process? The nacelles were replaced, the saucer was replaced. At best the bottom part of the stardrive (the proverbial "keel") survived. How is this the same ship?


For that matter, why was it so important to maintain that the ship in STTMP was the same ship as that in TOS? All we had to be told was that the 1701 was destroyed saving the Federation, and this new ship was named the same to honor it.



Furthermore, you don't need to fall back on the age of the ship to justify scuttling it in TSFS. Khan beat the heck out of it. Ships pre-Defiant just don't shrug off that much weapons fire while unshielded to be recoverable.

[Nate the Great]

Someone actually made earrings that look like Ceti Eels.


Cool, but gross.

[Nate the Great]

An attempt to chart the course of the 1701 in TOS S1.



I never would've thought that it would zigzag so much.



It's an interesting thought experiment: how many TOS episodes take place on planets that they find along their set course of exploration, or on Federation colonies that they happen to visit along said course, and how many episodes are we given the distinct impression that Starfleet Command diverted the 1701 from it's normal route?


For example, in "The Trouble with Tribbles" the Enterprise just happened to be the closest ship during the crisis. We can therefore assume that they were on their normal patrol/exploration route. On the other hand, "The Menagerie" involves a deliberate diversion from their normal course.

[Nate the Great]

Cliff Stoll shows us how he packages his glass Klein bottles for shipping.


Cliff is always fun to watch.

[Nate the Great]

Ashens 15th Anniversary Compilation


Snippets from each video he's made (well, the ones that still exist, anyway, I could see some omissions). If you're not subscribed already, give this one a try and see if something tickles your fancy.

[Nate the Great]

Clips from the little-known Singapore dub of Yu-gi-oh.


Why someone would want to turn Yami into a surfer dude I'll never know.

[NAHTMMM]

Originally Posted by Nate the Great

For that matter, why was it so important to maintain that the ship in STTMP was the same ship as that in TOS? All we had to be told was that the 1701 was destroyed saving the Federation, and this new ship was named the same to honor it.

The ship is as much a character as the people. Would fans be less likely to buy a ticket if, say, Chekov had been recast? Probably. Psychologically we want to watch the same ship we loved during the series, even if it looks kinda different now.

The context of the long spacedock scene would be different too. It would be less "See how we prettied up your favorite ship for the big screen!" and more "Your favorite ship looked dumb, see how much better our version is!"

[Nate the Great]

You can now watch The Questor Tapes at the Internet Archive.


Of course a Gene Roddenberry pilot would feature Majel Barret.

Watch for Questor gambling like data.



These events will eventually be referenced in Trek novels, particularly Immortal Coil, where Questor's creator Vaslovik will be revealed to actually be Flint (who faked his aging when McCoy scanned him), and will eventually take the name again to be the mentor to Soong and Graves.

[Nate the Great]

Pre-pilot promos for TNG.


I don't like the reuse of footage, especially when it's clear that they had at least the first handful of episodes to work with.



You can't deny that the whole thing is very '80s.

[Nate the Great]

Electronic Press Kit for TNG


Stardate 41153.7, 78 years have passed since the days when the original crew of the USS Enterprise explored the unknown wonders of the universe.


This is the correct stardate for "Encounter at Farpoint. However, it is also the year 2364. 78 years would be 2386, the same year that the (bookends of) Star Trek IV are set in. Since that would've been the most recent movie at the time, this is reasonably accurate.


Now a spectacular Galaxy starship, eight times larger...


That's Galaxy-class, dude. Many online sources are ready to give overall dimensions for the various classes, but not very many are willing to give volumes. I'll trust the figures from ST-v-SW.net, which somehow has dimensions for everything in both the Trek and Wars universes.


For "Constitution B", their term for the refit, or what I still call "Enterprise-class" on occasion, the volume is 235,000 m^3. Enterprise-D is at 5,821,000 m^3. That's 25 times bigger (because the E-D's saucer is WAY TOO BIG).


(Meaningless aside, but I intend to return to st-v-sw.net in future once I've had time to explore properly)


To boldly go where none have gone before.


"None" seems a bit clunkier than "no one", doesn't it? I actually prefer the proto-Enterprise version, "no human." It doesn't seem to have the same racist vibes. "Oh yeah, only humanity counts as being people!"


The most technologically advanced starship ever built.


To adequately judge this station we need a proper definition of "most technologically advanced". One could certainly argue that the D'deridex class has more advanced tech, but is it designed to be totally self-contained for years on end like the E-D was designed to be?


It was Picard who ordered [Jack Crusher] on his ill-fated mission.

Oh boy, is there a lot to unpack here. Even after all these years we don't know all that much about Jack Crusher's death. He died while serving on the Stargazer in an accident on an away mission, that's it. While it's true that Picard as the captain would've ordered him on the mission, there's never been any indication that he knew of an extraordinary level of danger.



The novel Reunion portrays the events quite differently. It wasn't an away mission, Jack was doing a spacewalk outside the Stargazer during repairs when he was injured in an accident. Picard chose to rescue security chief "Pug" Joseph first as he was closest. Jack died before Picard could return.



The novel Q-Squared reveals that there's only one reality where Jack survived, but kharma still needed Picard and Beverly to get together, so Wesley was killed instead. Their grief split Jack and Beverly up, but it wasn't until both of them being posted on the Enterprise-D that Beverly started a relationship with Picard. It all gets a bit messy after that, by all means read the novel.


The novelization of "Encounter at Farpoint" (later contradicted by actual canon) states that Jack was killed by natives who suddenly turned violent on an away mission. I think I prefer the Reunion version.


(An alternate version of a scene from Farpoint)
Q: You will now answer to the charge of being a grievously savage race.
Picard: "Grievously savage" could mean anything. I will answer only specific charges.


A good point, I wonder why they didn't keep this one.


I never saw Robert Justman talk before! He was one of the old hands from TOS that Gene eventually scared away when he went crazy. I remember him well from the book "Inside Star Trek."


Frakes: To a long and successful voyage, the new crew of the Enterprise!
Burton: Live long and prosper!



I remember that from the "Journey's End" documentary!


Berman: We didn't want in any way to be accused of trying to recreate the old series.


Well, you kinda muffed that one, didn't you, Rick?


It's odd to see Sirtis use such a strong English accent.


Frakes: This is science fiction in a very believable format, I think.


Not really. At this point in Trek history the universe was supposed to be very aspirational. This is what we could actually do someday. Conflict was no longer required in most cases. All that Roddenberry gospel that conflicts with creating good drama.



It's too soon to tell yet whether the relationship between Riker and Counsellor Troi will develop.

This is a question that could be taken many ways. I think it was always assumed that both parties would date other people for awhile as they built a new relationship with each other based more on friendship than sexual desire or rescuing each other. I'll refer you to the novel Imzadi for that.


In the '80s it was understood that the chase was much more interesting than the actual relationship. Doing a long-term plotline like the O'Briens wouldn't even have been thought of at this point.


Best-known for his roles in the miniseries Roots and the TV movie Dummy, LeVar Burton...


I'd never heard of Dummy. It was a 1979 film where he costars with Nikolai Roshenko actor Paul Sorvino. Burton plays a deaf man who is framed for the murder of a prostitute.



Geordi sees through the use of a VISOR-a Visual Input Sensory Optical Reflector.


Eventually the acronym will be settled as Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement. Still a little clunky, although I have to admit wondering how "reflector" has any meaning in this context.


(Dorn speculates that the creators saw that he could do anything.)


You're telling me. It could be argued that of the TNG regulars, Worf transformed the most during the series. Toss in DS9 and you might have a contender for "transformed the most in the entire franchise".


(Wil Wheaton uses the term "really rad")


Had I been drinking at that moment, that might've been a spit take. I know it's the '80s, but seriously?


Berman: I think the only way that this show can work, the only reason that it is going to work, is Gene Roddenberry.


Oh, the joys of hindsight!

[Nate the Great]

Well, here's a crossover that I never expected to see: Numberphile and Eric Harshbarger!


You should all know what Numberphile is by now. Eric is another story entirely. Back in the day he was one of the foremost professional LEGO sculptors. He doesn't really do that anymore, but I didn't know that he makes games now.

[Nate the Great]

SF Debris revamped his "Darmok" review and the accompanying Tamarian language video today.


He makes a valiant effort to explain how the language works, but it completely falls apart under scrutiny. The Universal Translator can translate the Companion, a being who lacks common references with any humanoid language or mindset. Are you going to tell me that the UT became LESS sophisticated in a hundred years?



It's sad how the Babel Fish is actually more plausible than the Universal Translator. At least the Babel Fish knows how to establish a telepathic connection with the language centers of the brain. We're never given the implication that the Universal Translator can do this. If it could, the Tamarian metaphors would be convertible with no problems.



We know that the UT can't make a direct telepathic link because if it could we wouldn't need a mind-meld to understand Horta. Then again, perhaps the Horta don't "speak" via sounds, perhaps they can create vibrations in the rock around them to transmit ideas (or control their own heat signature to create patterns, for that matter). In the novels one of the Horta children joins Starfleet and has a custom UT, but that's another story and it probably took Spock's experience to build it to interpret vibrations or heat signatures or whatever.

[NAHTMMM]

Animating A Charlie Brown Christmas

Animating Schulz's style in four months was really hard to do, and they didn't like the result.

[Nate the Great]

If you want some real groaners of Trek puns, look no further than the comments on this Not Always Right story.

[Nate the Great]

A guy makes a motorcycle model out of old watches.

I was reminded of my dad even before I realized that today is Fathers Day. He would've loved this.

[Nate the Great]

Today I found out that this year is the 50th anniversary of Schoolhouse Rock. Of course ABC made a special to commemorate it.

I can't begin to tell you what Schoolhouse Rock means to me. It's a labor of love by people who really wanted to educate and entertain children at the same time. While it's had its clunkers (most of Earth Rock comes to mind immediately), you never feel that these guys are phoning it in. I'll forgive a lot of flaws if the creators had passion.