Persistent, Niggling Questions

[Nate the Great]

PNG: If you could go back and redo Star Trek V (without Shatner in the director's chair), what kind of plot would you like to see between 4 and 6?

I would've liked a Romulan-centric story, they didn't make enough appearances in the movies. Have a different sort of threat than the Klingons. A conspiracy that forces the Federation into a no-win scenario that Kirk and company find a third option for.

[Nate the Great]

So apparently the creators have rewritten Trek canon to put the Eugenics Wars into the future and possibly merging it with World War III instead of being in the past...

PNQ: What's the point?

Does anyone REALLY think that Trek takes place in our universe?

Besides, we're on like the third Trek canon at this point (TOS/TAS only, the movie/TNG/DS9/VOY era, and the current century stuff). Even throwing the Kelvinverse out the window, everything else would never fit into one consistent universe.

The Eugenics Wars novels actually make a good point. What with all the time travellers leaving behind advanced tech for the secret governments to find and develop, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that important stuff could happen that won't be fully explained for decades afterwards.

Think about it, the Voyager crew left behind stuff in Los Angeles, the Enterprise crew left behind stuff in San Francisco including a phaser and the formula for transparent aluminum, Gary Seven is running around, etc.

[Nate the Great]

So I'm rereading the DS9 Retrospective entries and the following occurs to me....

PNQ: Suppose the TNG creative staff never had a movie on the horizon and they wanted to transfer one of the TNG main characters to DS9 instead of O'Brien, which one would be a good idea?

Clearly not Riker. He wouldn't want to be planetside.

Making Riker captain of the Enterprise and moving Picard to DS9 would've been interesting. Not as commander of the station, of course, but as the captain of a dedicated ship that patrols the DMZ, helps with reconstruction efforts on Bajor, etc. A recurring character instead of a regular one. Picard would have a different negotiating style with the Bajorans. Plus having Picard backing one Bajoran faction and Sisko another, with neither side being 'the bad guy", would open up dramatic possibilities.

Troi wouldn't have worked. Garak and Quark would've steamrolled her in no time flat. Plus she couldn't resigned, married Riker, and stayed on the Enterprise as a civilian counsellor.

Worf couldn't have handled DS9 in the chaotic early days.

Geordi was too dedicated to the Enterprise. Scotty's words would've been fresh in his head, he wouldn't leave.

Data would've had an interesting character arc. For five years on the Enterprise he was exposed to the best of humanity, but what if you surround him with Bajorans as role models? Definite dramatic possibilities. His dynamic with Quark and Garak would've been interesting as well.

Beverly...I don't know what to say. She has the chops for the job and would certainly be better than early seasons Bashir. Having her command the Defiant sometimes as well would be awesome.

[Nate the Great]

Inspired by "I Knew You Were Tribbles When You Dropped In..."


PNQ: What would you use as the appropriate verb for Tribble movement?


They don't exactly "walk." One of the comments guessed "scuffle", but I'm not sure about that one.


The closest real-world animal motion that I could come up with is snails. Each muscle contracting and extending and acting as a "foot" and "leg" in turn.



The real name for snail movement is "crawling" or "gliding" or "sliding" or "creeping."



I don't have much problem with "creeping".



When it comes to worms, "crawling" is up there with "squirming" and "wriggling", none of which seem to fit tribbles.

[Nate the Great]

In STVI the Federation President talks about evacuating Kronos within 50 years....


PNQ: Was Kronos really evacuated to another planet and the Klingons decided to name their new homeworld Kronos, or did the scientists figure out how to save the ozone layer so an evacuation wasn't needed?


Unlike the stupid situation with Vulcan, I can buy that the Klingons would name their new homeworld after the old one. However, the amount of construction that would be required for the new capital (the First City, FYI) to reach its TNG size in only fifty years is absurd, and there are landmarks linked to Kahless in the TNG era that still exist.


Then again, perhaps the planet was evacuated, the atmosphere was "rebooted" by Federation technology toxic to humanoids, and then the Klingons returned when it was safe.



Then again, I'm not sure of the technological level of the age of Kahless. The book implies something akin to the nomadic tribes of Russia in the 19th century with reasonable forging technology. Not much technology is mentioned.

[Nate the Great]

Inspired by a "First Time Watching" video of Mary Poppins...


During "A Spoonful of Sugar" Mary Poppins talks to a bird singing outside the window...


PNQ: She can talk to animals, does that make her a Disney Princess?


I'll put aside all of the animals in the "Jolly Holiday" segment, they don't count. But she can talk to Andrew the dog.

[Nate the Great]

It was inevitable that this question would come up eventually...


PNQ: Which Lantern Corps. would you be in?


I took several online quizzes on this subject. They were split 50/50 between Green and Blue, but personally I think Green would fit me better.