The Game on Star Trek, TNG

This episode of Star Trek: Next Generation has hung on my brain for decades. Decades. 

Ok who remembers this episode of TNG lol. You got people addicted to this just like how people are on cellphone nowadays lol. You got a Frisbee going into a part of record player and what is the solution out of all this a flickering flashlight lol.

         

Only good thing was Ashley Judd Wesley romance we never see again just small part on Darmok not even DS9 or Voyager. One character was hoping to be a series regular. I mean Barclay had a ton of screen time along seen in First Contact lol paragraph was copied from somewhere, who knows where?

This episode from Star Trek: the next generation was unusual in that it didn't deal with war, space exploration, or conflicts between warring species.  It instead focused on the role of children in-the space tech world.   Wesley is the boy genius on the Enterprise, the son of the ship's doctor. 

In this episode, Captain Riker has returned from a sexual overload trip, where one of the ladies sharing his bed shares a game from her ship and Riker is happy to bring to the Enterprise. It proves to be a disaster as the entire crew is enthralled with this game. Only Wesley and the girlfriend (Ashley Judd) are not giving into this, leading to the chase to capture them and force the game on them. 

 What happens? Won't tell you, except that all ends well.  

What this episode said to me is that anything and everything can turn a situation on its head . It took over the ship and was poised to the destabilizing the security of the ship.  This game left Enterprise open for being taken over by the race who use this game to weaken the ship. 

 

Our games? The computer? the cell phones? Aren't all of these the equivalents of the game device in this Star Trek episode?

 

I realize that many bloggers do not know of Star Trek:The Next Generation or like it. Star Trek helped me escape the farming world and head out to the stars. 

 

 

 

   

Live Long and Prosper

                                opening theme of Star Trek 1966

Every person is in search of something, whether it is glasses, car keys, a library book.  Searching for something can be applied for such simple items as these, or for something much grander, elusive, possible or impossible. 

This leads to a television show narrated by Leonard Nimoy, “In Search of….” where Nimoy (with his recognizable voice) leads the viewers through history.

"Before we unlock the future we must find the keys to the past.  I am Leonard Nimoy. Join me and open the door to the Ancient Mysteries beginning now.".... 

 

Then he shares the histories of Pompeii, the Pyramids, Camelot, Astrology, the Vikings, Atlantis, Macchu Picchu, Blood and honor at the first Olympics, Blood and treasure in Peru...the list is long and engaging.

 

What amazed me is, of course the list of fascinating events and place, but also Leonard Nimoy himself.  Where does an actor go or what does he do after being known for a SyFy show that establishes a genre new to viewers?

Nimoy did act on stage successfully and in various television shows, but it is his voice, so recognizable and enigmatic.  Just with his voice, viewers are grabbed to watch long (sometimes) episodes about the mysteries that captured others, including myself.

Live long and prosper!

 Star Trek pilot: the Menagerie

Each of the following clips are about 1 minute each.  

 

In the late years of Nimoy's career, he worked with projects that showcased his Jewish faith.  We saw him in Escondido, California when he was traveling with a partial cast of Fiddler on a Tin Roof. He narrated parts when he shared the meanings of the dances and scenes, how it related to the Russian Jewish people.

Three or Four Lights?

 

This is a scary thought, because it really is not just a thought: it is a reality.

Here it is:  If you repeat a lie often enough, it will become the truth.

IF I told my students “The sky is pink!”  a thousand times a day, for days on end, eventually one student might look up at the blue blue sky.  He might say, “Why, you’re right!  It IS pink!”  Soon every student would agree with him.

Source

So a lie becomes the “new” truth. 

Where will it all end?

In this video clip from “Star Trek: Next Generation”, Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has been captured by the evil Cardassians (not Kim or Kourtney).  David Warner is the interrogator who relentlessly and brutally questions Picard.  

But first Warner has to break Picard.  He shows Picard four lights, tells him repeatedly there are three lights.

 

This will last about 1 minute. This was considered a profound episode.

 

At the end as Picard is rescued, he is peering up into the lights, on the edge of breaking down.  Are there three or are there four?

The new truth:  what will we do with it?

 

Source

 

 

 

 

 

Sunshine Blogger Award

armchairsquid

Recently, The Armchair Squid honored me by selecting me as one of bloggers to receive The Sunshine Blogger Award. I love her blog. She is never boring, and just her drink recipes are enough to make me feel a bit light headed. She shares her interest in Star Trek, which is also mine.

These are her questions:

If you could live one year of your life over again, which year would you choose and why?

If you could learn to be an expert at something without putting in the work, what would it be?

If you could learn a new language instantly, which would you choose and why?

If you could give $1 million to any charity, which would you choose?

When was your Robert Frost moment a la "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..."? The poem (read it here) says you can't go back and that is true. "Way leads on to way" and so forth. But if you could, would you? What is the difference you think it would have made?

Time travel: where would you go and when? Why?
Who would you want on your fictional character bowling team? You get to pick four.

What would you want for your last meal?

What's your favorite song?

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

If you came over to my home and I offered you a drink, what would you want me to serve you?

This really made me think and ponder what I should answer. What would you answer?

#1 One year, couldn’t I have two?

  

The year when I was 7 is my choice. We had just moved to the farm where our buildings was built in late 1800s. We kids didn’t know that we were living rough and it was exciting. Playing in the hayloft, stomping through snow drift, eating snow ice cream, the smell of Mom’s beef stew cooking slowly on our old coal heater in the kitchen (there were two heat sources:  kitchen  and living room, nothing upstairs)…these a strong memories that pop up and make me smile.

#2 I would love to become an excellent pianist.   Their hands and fingers fly across the keyboard and I envy their skills.

#3  A new language?  Gaelic. We lived in Ireland a few years; Gaelic was taught in school where our two younger kids (4 and 6) learned to speak it, being young. Our 10 year old was excused from learning as she was considered to be too old.

#4  $1M?  I would donate it to the American Red Cross, no question. They respond quickly to disasters and needs.

#5  Robert Frost (one of the most gifted and meaningful American poets) I would not go back in time or forward either. It would be tempting to do something that would change the course of the future. Knowing history would tempt me to do something like kill infant Hitler, prevent Lincoln’s assassination. Those actions would have unknown consequences.

#6  Time travel? Dang.  Hard to think, but I guess it would be observing the founding fathers and the development of the Constitution, signing. Seeing how these brave men took a chance on the development of a unique country gives me goosebumps. They showed integrity and honesty.

#7 Fictional character bowling team?  Members of the Avengers, no question. Just pick 4, except Aquaman. Yes, he is majorly hot, but his talents are in the ocean and probably other places.  😉

#8  My last meal?  I know this sounds strange, but I would love pinto beans and ham with cornbread. Real butter and honey. Rhubarb pie with homemade (hand churned) vanilla ice cream. And, don't forget a glass of Pinot Grigio.

#9  Favorite song?  "Hallelujah"** written by Leonard Cohen. This version is being performed by an acapella group named "Pentatonix"Everytime I hear it, I stop and sing along. 

#10 So very extrovert! Oh yes, yes I am.

#11 Something Bailey’s Irish Cream, a lot of it. Maybe with some coffee.

These were awesome questions, very thoughtful ones. Normally, I request that I do not get any awards. I can't deal with the work required to pass them on. It is not actually the work, but it is the combing through my mind and pulling out sincere answers. Please do not give me any awards, altho I appreciate them. :)

Pentatonix singing "Hallelujah" . No instruments, just this is a group of gifted musicians.

I've decided that I will hold onto this wonderful award as mine and not pass it on. But I encourage other bloggers to take these questions and make them your own.

**

In Search of....

Leonard Nimoy

Every person is in search of something, whether it is glasses, car keys, a library book.  Searching for something can be applied for such simple items as these, or for something much grander, elusive, possible or impossible. 

This leads to a television show narrated by Leonard Nimoy, “In Search of….” where Nimoy (with his recognizable voice) leads the viewers through history.

"Before we unlock the future we must find the keys to the past.  I am Leonard Nimoy. Join me and open the door to the Ancient Mysteries beginning now.  

Wandering Trader

Then he shares the histories of Pompeii, the Pyramids, Camelot, Astrology, the Vikings, Atlantis, Macchu Picchu, Blood and honor at the first Olympics, Blood and treasure in Peru...the list is long and engaging.

What amazed me is, of course the list of fascinating events and place, but also Leonard Nimor himself.  Where does an actor go or what does he do after being known for a SyFy show that establishes a genre new to viewers?

Nimoy did act on stage successfully and in various television shows, but it is his voice, so recognizable and enigmatic.  Just with his voice, viewers are grabbed to watch long (sometimes) episodes about the mysteries that captured others, including myself.

Live long and prosper!

Estate Sale

Source

Handwritten neon-green signs led Sarah down streets to the estate sale.  Let’s see—mid-1980s, neatly kept desert lawns…retirees who have moved from the busy life to the business of staying alive.

The sign and number of cars indicated that this house was the estate sale.  Sarah prepared herself for venturing into someone else’s house, someone who either no longer lived, or at least, not here.

Walking through the door told her everything, almost.  Blue and mauve was a sure sign of the late 80s.  Furniture was well worn, especially the big recliner.  The man’s recliner…Sarah thought.  He was the last to leave.

The high ceilings and fans over the dining room and the dining furniture showed the couple had been well off; no Jerome’s or MOR furniture here.  Oak, real oak—and Lenox china ware, a complete set?  Waterford lead crystal? Ireland?

Sarah passed through the kitchen with its separate dining table, a mid-century set.  Now that’s worth some money, she thought as she ran fingers along the maple.  The then much younger couple must have loved this during the 1960s.

The bedroom was a bigger story about the couple’s lives together.  Travel.  Native American artwork.  Framed movie posters lined the walls. MASH.  Hmm, they loved MASH.

Sarah began crying in the bathroom.  Hair rollers in a plastic bag, shower cap, and rows of nail polish lined the counter.  She picked up a purple vinyl purse and promised herself she would use it.

Then the man’s attached office told of his fascination—no, obsession with Star Trek and X-Files.  Rows of video tapes, graphic novels (comic books), and collectibles lay casually on shelves.  How long had he been amassing this stuff?

The other two bedrooms had been her rooms.  Loved dolls, giraffes, Hallmark special Christmas ornaments.  His room was all Sci-Fi and her rooms were filled with a soft love.

The garage was the final stop.  It told the final chapter.  Sarah’s eyes watered as she held rusted hammer and tools, beheld the walker and raised bathroom seat, and saw “50 cents” attached to one golf club.  It was too much to bear.

She paid for the purse, 25% off the $5.00, and hurried away from the house. Inside her car, Sarah opened the purse and appreciated its construction.

In one zipped pouch was a scrap of paper.  It read, “Pick up t-bone steak for dinner.”  It was for him.  Sarah found a tissue and wiped her eyes.

T is for...

Time.  We all moan about not having enough of time.  I used to tell my children that they had too much time on their hands if they were getting into fights.  My husband always has big plans for projects he will do over the weekend, but on Sunday night, we look at each other and ask, “Where did the time go?”

That is the big question of the day:  Where did the time go?

It is not as though it slipped behind the bookcase, or joined the lost remote in the sofa cushions.  It certainly isn’t hiding with the iPod, which my husband has AGAIN misplaced!  Time seems to run away from us, like a small child who has just discovered he can outrun his parents.

Time is a fire in which we all burn.

In “Star Trek: Generations” with Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean Luc Picard (sighJ), he is confronted by Dr. Tolian Soran, played by Malcolm McDowell, who says, “Time is the fire in which we all burn.”  Picard has just learned that his brother and nephew have perished in a fire, and this statement hits him rather brutally. 

Is Dr. Soran correct?  Is this the view that most people accept? 

I don’t believe, or can’t believe that it is. 

Time is the ticking of some form of clock, to be sure, but it is also an accumulation of life experiences, memories, events, and closely held loved ones.  Time is a steady revolution of the earth around the sun, a myriad of glorious sunrises and sunsets, the rushing of the foamy tides.  Time is holding the hand of my husband on our wedding day, and still holding his hand when we are old. 

Jean Luc Picard, at the end of the movie when all action is said and done, concludes that time is much like an old friend who moves along slowly with us through our life time.  I really like that conclusion.  “Do not go gentle into that good night!  Rage, rage, against the dying of the light!”  as proposed by the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas is certainly an option.  But, as for me, knowing that the closing of my eyes as a mortal being, and the opening of them to behold God for all eternity, I prefer that measurement of time.