Ask me about Star Trek, SC edition

NightG1 · Post by **NightG1** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:20 pm

Who played the original First Officer of The Enterprise?

Abdul Alhazred · Post by **Abdul Alhazred** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:22 pm

It's pretty obvious from our few glimpses of the Vulcan home world that they are bronze-age savages.

The whole "logic" shtick is the result of an inferiority complex.

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:39 pm

Nyarlathotep wrote:Okay, the ULTIMATE question.

Kirk or Picard ? Or Sisko? Or (if we must) Janeway or Archer.

Depends. If you want to know who I enjoyed the most from an entertainment standpoint, I'd say Sisko. If you're asking under whom I'd rather serve if I were a starfleet officer, I'd say Picard.

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:48 pm

Grammatron wrote:Did Q really talk to God?

I personally think he was bullshitting Picard.

As to whether "God" exists, of course the material is not definitive. It's been fairly established that the Judaeo-Christian religions have extraterrestrial origin. (As is so for the Greek pantheon)... the point is made above that in one of the novels Q associated with a being called The One (which eventually became the head-entity in Star Trek V)... so it could be said that Q has spoken to the entity that humans thought was God.

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:00 pm

Bearguin wrote:So, whats your opinion of Vulcans "knowing" god exists but still having issues with evil in the world (according to Spocks World).

I found an excerpt:

"Jim sat quiet for a moment, absorbing it. It would certainly explain the uncanny--un-Earthly--calm and serenity of many of the Vulcans he had met: they all seemed to carry some certainty around with them that everything was all right. If this was the root of it, he understood at least some of that serenity at last. But there were problems still. 'Spock,' he said, 'in the light of this, how do you explain someone like Shath?'

Spock looked a little somber. 'Captain,' he said, 'I think I can understand your viewpoint. Humans have no innate certainty on this subject and therefore must hink it would solve a great deal. In some ways it does. But there are many, many questions that this certainy still leaves unresolved, and more that it raises. Granted that God exists: why then does evil do so? Why is there entropy? Is the force that made the Universe one that we would term good? What is good? And if it is, why is pain permitted?...' "

"'...You see,' he said, for McCoy was nodding, 'they are all the same questions that humans ask, and no omre answered by a sense of the existence of God than of His nonexistence. Some of the answers are frightening. If God exists, and pain and evil exist, while God still seems to care for creation--for that sense is also part of the experience--then are we effectively 'on our own' in a universe run out of the control of its creator? Such a view of the world leaves much room for anger and aggression. We spent millennia at war, Captain, Doctor, despite the fact that almost every Vulcan born knew that a Force then extant had created the Universe, and now maintained it, from second to second. It takes more than the mere sense of God to create peace. One must decide what to do with the information.'

available here:

http://www.adherents.com/lit/Na/Na_503.html

I like Spock's viewpoint... that "knowing" that a creation force exist isn't useful in the face of the evidence that the universe contains evil and harm. I'm glad to see them applying logic even to that issue. On the other hand, just because they have this feeling doesn't mean they're right

Bear in mind the author here, Diane Duane, tends to inject her own metaphysics sometimes, and take it with a grain of salt.

Cool Hand · Post by **Cool Hand** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:11 pm

NightG1 wrote:Who played the original First Officer of The Enterprise?

Majel Barrett.

Shit, you just made me answer a fucking trekkie question. And I didn't have to look it up. Shit.

CH

Nyarlathotep · Post by **Nyarlathotep** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:12 pm

Okay, gnome. Trekker or Trekkie?

Or do you steer clear of that 'De-bakkle' too?

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:22 pm

NightG1 wrote:Who played the original First Officer of The Enterprise?

It depends. If you go with technical fandom sources, multiple publications refer to the launch date of Enterprise as 2220, when the original first officer of the Enterprise, Shundresh, served under Captain Robert April.

If you accept Diane Carey's novel Final Frontier, the "Constitution" class had not yet been commissioned until as late as 2236 (in context) and Robert April took an early, non-commissioned version of the "Enterprise" (NCC-1700) on a secret mission with George Samual Kirk as first officer. This does not jibe with many other sources and I think it can be dismissed in favor of the more influential works.

Neither of these, of course, appeared on screen.

The first First officer to be "played" by someone was "Number One" in the pilot "The Cage", under Captain Christopher Pike. Some sources give her name as "Leigh Chapel", which is provocative as she was played by Majel Barrett. It would explain the resemblance

ETA: Kudos to Cool Hand for getting it first.

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:30 pm

Abdul Alhazred wrote:It's pretty obvious from our few glimpses of the Vulcan home world that they are bronze-age savages.

The whole "logic" shtick is the result of an inferiority complex.

I've often wondered where they keep the factories and infrastructure that supports the starships they've built. Or those fancy holographic computers they have

I've drawn the conclusion that what we've seen of Vulcan are the equivalents of rural areas. Parts of Spock's family's ancestral estate. Various temple grounds. Say, didn't the animated "Yesteryear" have a Vulcan city?

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:38 pm

Nyarlathotep wrote:Okay, gnome. Trekker or Trekkie?

Or do you steer clear of that 'De-bakkle' too?

A "Trekker" is just a Trekkie that somehow thinks that by adopting a different word he can divorce himself from the geekness of being a Star Trek fan. He is wrong. Embrace your geekiness!!!

"Dungeon masters don't have levels!! Dork!"

Grammatron · Post by **Grammatron** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:46 pm

How come some places take weeks to get to and some take hours? Particularly on DS9

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:22 pm

Grammatron wrote:How come some places take weeks to get to and some take hours? Particularly on DS9

Even at warp speed, the galaxy's pretty friggin huge. The range of time doesn't bother me, but there are lots of inconsistencies.

I believe it's actually been said by the writers that there usually isn't even an attempt to make the transit time consistent. They have the trip last as long as dramatically necessary for the episode.

For the most part I'm OK with this... hate to ruin the pacing by being rigid about how many light years away Rigel is... consider it a conceit to the storytelling medium.

ETA: I could lay some bullshit on you about how traveling in warp space distorts how far away certain stars are, but I think it would be clearly recognized as such.

Grammatron · Post by **Grammatron** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:31 pm

(I hope I'm not pestering you with all these questions)

I remember in one of the early TNG episodes they had a 3D holographic monitor where they would plot their destinations and such. Whatever happened to that thing?

Cool Hand · Post by **Cool Hand** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:46 pm

Grammatron wrote:(I hope I'm not pestering you with all these questions)

I remember in one of the early TNG episodes they had a 3D holographic monitor where they would plot their destinations and such. Whatever happened to that thing?

They got OnStar and didn't need it anymore.

CH

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:50 pm

Grammatron wrote:(I hope I'm not pestering you with all these questions)

I remember in one of the early TNG episodes they had a 3D holographic monitor where they would plot their destinations and such. Whatever happened to that thing?

You may have spotted something I didn't notice... can you remind me of where it was, what it looked like?

I do know that there was something similar used in Star Trek: Generations by Picard and Data to track the Space Ribbon (tm)

NightG1 · Post by **NightG1** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:57 pm

When Shatner was the host of SNL, he was in a skit called "Star Trek Convention" where he played himself. At a point during the Q&A, he looses it and starts berating the trekkies in attendance.

The funniest bit was when he asked one of the trekkies

You, you must be almost 30... have you ever kissed a girl?

Who was the SNL cast member Shatner was speaking to and what TOS character was he in costume as?

Grammatron · Post by **Grammatron** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:04 pm

gnome wrote:
Grammatron wrote:(I hope I'm not pestering you with all these questions)

I remember in one of the early TNG episodes they had a 3D holographic monitor where they would plot their destinations and such. Whatever happened to that thing?
You may have spotted something I didn't notice... can you remind me of where it was, what it looked like?

I do know that there was something similar used in Star Trek: Generations by Picard and Data to track the Space Ribbon (tm)

They were sitting in the ready room at this table, at the center of the table there was a computer device. When activated, it displayed 3D holographic images with they used to plot their mission.

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:21 pm

NightG1 wrote:When Shatner was the host of SNL, he was in a skit called "Star Trek Convention" where he played himself. At a point during the Q&A, he looses it and starts berating the trekkies in attendance.

The funniest bit was when he asked one of the trekkies
You, you must be almost 30... have you ever kissed a girl?
Who was the SNL cast member Shatner was speaking to and what TOS character was he in costume as?

John Lovitz... Spock...

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:35 pm

Grammatron wrote:They were sitting in the ready room at this table, at the center of the table there was a computer device. When activated, it displayed 3D holographic images with they used to plot their mission.

Haven't heard any references to why this would have been abandoned, except that I know the CGI budget was tight for the first season, maybe they had to scrap that particular effect?

From a continuity standpoint I would say anything seen is probably still available, unless something specifically mentioned dismantling it.

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:36 pm

NightG1 wrote:When Shatner was the host of SNL, he was in a skit called "Star Trek Convention" where he played himself. At a point during the Q&A, he looses it and starts berating the trekkies in attendance.

The funniest bit was when he asked one of the trekkies
You, you must be almost 30... have you ever kissed a girl?
Who was the SNL cast member Shatner was speaking to and what TOS character was he in costume as?

What's funny is I was just reviewing that sketch to answer your question... and noticing how many errors were made in the sketch...

Wow, I'm a dork.