Star Trek: The Survivor

We celebrated Easter this past Sunday in the MOCK household with bowls of Nan's homemade Pozole Rojo and a viewing of Star Trek: The Animated Series episode The Survivor.

This was a solid episode that embraced some of Star Trek's overall themes and exploited the animated series ability to "bust the budget."  

In this episode, the crew rescues a long missing philanthropist named Carter Winston.  In an example of cosmic coincidences, Winston's fiancee, Lieutenant Anne Nored, is a member of the Enterprise's security team.

Winston Carter in his super groovy spacewear

Anne Nored: Suffers from some early 70's stereotypes about women

Before long, we learn that Winston is really a shape-shifting alien called a Vendorian . 

Kirk and the Vendorian

Once aboard the Enterprise, he transforms himself into Captain Kirk and tries to take the ship into a Romulan trap. But after falling in love with Lieutenant Nored, the Vendorian saves the Enterprise and Kirk agrees to take his actions into account.

Favorite Exchange

Doctor McCoy: I'm glad to see him under guard, Jim. If he'd turned into a second Spock, it would have been too much to take.

Mr. Spock: Perhaps. But then two Dr. McCoys just might bring the level of medical efficiency on this ship up to acceptable levels.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bloggers extraordinaire, Maurice Mitchell, Spacerguy and The Armchair Squid are embarking on a new journey to watch all 22 episodes of Star Trek's animated series.  Anyone who watches an episode will be posting on Wednesdays.  All are welcome to join them for all or parts of the adventure. More information can be found HERE.

Star Trek: One Of Our Planets Is Missing

Bloggers extraordinaire, Maurice Mitchell, Spacerguy and The Armchair Squid are embarking on a new journey to watch all 22 episodes of Star Trek's animated series.  Anyone who watches an episode will be posting on Wednesdays.  All are welcome to join them for all or parts of the adventure. More information can be found HERE.

-----

My son and I had Star Trek: Generations on in the background while he was using his DS and I was catching up on last Friday's movie bloghop, when I finally got to comment on Squid's entry.  I had forgotten about his Animated Trek project.  My son and I had a little bit of time still before his Odyssey of the Mind meeting, so I decided to throw this week's episode on the screen.

Star Trek played a HUGE role in my life right up until about the turn of the century.  The animated series was a part when I was young but I had only seen the two episodes considered "cannon" as an adult and that was about 20 years ago.

In this episode, which was the third of the animated series, the Enterprise must contend with a massive space cloud that eats planets, now targeting a Federation colony of over 82 million.

I had dismissed the animated series a little while back.  If the episodes are all as strong as this one, perhaps it will join Star Trek Voyager and Enterprise in my son's and my Trek television rotation.  I thought the story was strong, the animation was acceptable, and the voice work top notch.

October 26, 2014: Vermont ComicCon

After an all day class yesterday, I spent the afternoon and evening visiting with The Armchair Squid and Drama Guy.  We watched next month's Mock Squid Soup movie, Space Battleship Yamoto (available for FREE on YouTube!) and had some good conversation and some good Chinese food.

Today...today was Vermont ComicCon!  The Squids and Mocks met up and had a blast.  I'm at the point in my comic book collecting where there really isn't anything on my wish list.  I occasionally hear about a run or a series I missed that might be worth picking up.  But today was about random finds, artists and costumes!

I grabbed two Batman '66 comics for Logan, four random Star Trek issues (two John Byrne photo novels and two alternate reality issues) and a Red Sonja one shot.  For a buck a piece, I couldn't say no!

I also snagged all 5 issues of the Spider-man: With Great Power... mini-series for $2.00!

I spent some time exploring the work of a whole lot of artists!  I picked up a Doctor Who print by Blair Shedd from one of his recent Doctor Who comics and a smaller print from Vermont artist Lee Wakerly of the 12th Doctor.  I plan on displaying them both in my classroom.

Blair Shedd: Approximately 11" by 7"

Mr. Shedd signing his print

Lee Wakerley: Approximately 4" by 6"

Mr. Shedd also did TWO sketches!  One for my son and one for his friend!

Nan bought a limited run print from Mr. Shedd with a Vermont theme for the house!

And then the costumes....you can see more on Nan's NEW site here!

Cinema Sunday: February 2, 2014: "Definitely not Swedish."

Cinema Sunday: The Lone Ranger, Independence Day (Special Edition), X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek: First Contact

Currently #186 on my flickchart list

It always seems like faint praise to say a movie was better than I expected.  That being said, despite the reviews, we actually expected to like this movie.  Nan and I are big fans of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but were disappointed by numbers 2 and 3.  The fourth was, for us, a return to form.

While we agreed this movie could have been a little more "light" in places, overall it was enjoyable.  We expect it to be added to our collection once we find a used copy.

Currently #113 on my flickchart list.

I saw this sooooo many times in the theater.  At the time, it led to the (short lived) public debut of both my Robert Loggia and Harry Connick, Jr. impressions.  Despite all of that, I've never seen this extended edition.  Well, I've a stack of papers to correct, two assessments to enter into the school grade book and a week's worth of lessons to plan, so why not bring up some movies to have on in the background.

I find it weird to type that this version added to the movie, but it actually did.  A few character motivations get fleshed out and there is nothing that feels padded.

Currently #132 on my flickchart list

Better than I remembered.  And the only portrayal of Gambit in any medium that I've liked!  I'm fine with the mucked up movie timeline and the changes to how things "really" happened in the comics.

Currently #65 on my flickchart list

Our last movie of the day was Logan's choice.  We watched it with the pop up Trek trivia which fired us both up to watch more episodes of ALL of the series.  It leaves the episode of Enterprise which deals with the fall out of this movie as the only Borg themed installment we haven't seen!

Captain Picard Sings “Let It Snow!”

It is December here in Vermont and the Green Mountains remain as green as ever.  No significant snow fall yet this season.

This video seems to be making the rounds right now.  I'm not sure where I saw it first.  The original song is one of my all time favorites!

 

Sunday Night Wrap Up

I missed the Cephalopod Coffeehouse gathering...again.  Here are all the links if you are so inclined to go check them out!  Wonderful bloggers all!

1.	The Armchair Squid	2.	Remembering Grace
3.	Vanessa Morgan	4.	Trisha @ WORD STUFF
5.	M.J. Fifield	6.	Denise Covey @ L'Aussie Writing
7.	My Creatively Random Life	8.	Subliminal Coffee
9.	The Random Book Review	10.	Divine Secrets of the Writing Sisterhood
11.	Scouring Monk	12.	Clarissa Draper
13.	Huntress	14.	mainewords
15.	Excuse Me While I Note That Down	16.	Mark Noce Stories
17.	StrangePegs -- Temporary Anne	18.	Blue Sky Gazing
19.	What's Up! MOCK?	20.	Nicki Elson
21.	V's Reads	22.	Stephen Tremp
23.	Ed & Reub	24.	StrangePegs -- The Spirit Well
25.	Hungry Enough To Eat Six!	26.	Words Incorporated

I've been meaning to sit and babble at you all for awhile now.  A new school year is underway!  The family has become Doctor Who fans!  I was invited to my alma mater to join a small panel and speak to a class of first year students about the teaching profession.  Broomball has started!  There is so much in my head all of the time!

But instead, for you, a look at the members of Star Trek: The Next Generation (also in heavy rotation these days!) in Original Series uniforms! via io9

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

This is not my best entry...I am trying to pre-write this days ago (watching one of the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "Cause and Effect") and publishing it when I will be away.  Actually, as it publishes, I am teeing off at the Tommy Keane Invitational in Hanover, NH.  Past posts about the TKI can be found HERE.

I recently mentioned to Nan that I think reading Stephen King is a rite of passage for readers, especially for males who became readers during King's heyday in the mid to late 1980s.  I loved "The Talisman" and "Eyes of the Dragon" as well as the "horror" novels "Pet Sematary", "It", and "'Salems Lot".  Heck, I read "The Stand" in one "sitting" after getting out of the hospital (I was unable to sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time and would be awake for what seemed like days).

I wandered away in college.  I really wanted to like "The Dark Tower" series but it didn't catch me and I stopped following it after the third book.  I think the last King novel I read was "Dolores Claiborne".

This month's entry for the Cephalopod Coffee House has actually received a sort of shout out from another member.  Last month, Tony mentioned he had read this book recently.

I really liked this book.  Time travel has dominated lots of my conversations recently.  As my son and I watch Star Trek episodes, his favorites are the time travel episodes.  The Armchair Squid and I have a common friend who recommended Ray Bradbury's exquisite time travel story "A Sound of Thunder" which gets name checked in this book.

This might not be a good choice as someone's first Stephen King novel.  It does have some neat callbacks to other King works but nothing that hinders the enjoyment of the novel.

King has done his research here.  One gets lost in the time period quite easily.  My only caveat is that it seemed that King actually got too in depth at times.  As the fateful day referenced in the title approaches, King actually has the narrator SPOILER ALERT HIGHLIGHT TO READ get beaten up to the point of near death and sort of fast forwards the story seven weeks. END SPOILER

Beyond that, if you like King, time travel, or mind bending works, this is for you.  While our Cephlapod Host is not a time travel fan, this one MIGHT be up his alley...the cosmic ramifications are spelled out explicitly and the ending is bittersweet and personal.

=================================================
What's The Cephalopod Coffeehouse all about?  Let's ask The Squid himself!

"The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you've finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same.  In this way, we'll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers."

Click a link below to check things out!

1.	The Armchair Squid	2.	Counterintuitivity
3.	Subliminal Coffee	4.	Scouring Monk
5.	A ARTE DE NEWTON AVELINO	6.	The Random Book Review
7.	StrangePegs -- The Ocean at The End of the Lane	8.	Ed & Reub
9.	What's Up, MOCK?	10.	My Creatively Random Life
11.	Jim Devitt	12.	Hungry Enough to Eat Six!
13.	Bird's Nest	14.	Divine Secrets of the Writing Sisterhood
15.	Words Incorporated	16.	Spill Beans

Star Trek Stuff

This summer Logan and I are home alone a lot.  Nan is working this summer so that I can continue with my Masters Program and Haley is volunteering at one of the local sailing centers.

That means Logan and I have been watching LOTS of Star Trek recently...he seems to like it.  The collections I have let us cherry pick the best episodes or themes.  He seems to like Next Generation best, though we've seen a few Borg episodes from Voyager (that I had never seen) and we both were very impressed.

We are gearing up for some marathon viewing sessions with The Armchair Squid, Wikes, and maybe a few other.

Just a few cool Trek images from off of the world wide web.

Speaking of Tribbles...

Happy Birthday, Sir Paul!

Born: June 18, 1942

Also, on this date in 1990, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Best of Both Worlds" aired!

Star Trek Into Darkness

I went to see this last weekend with The Armchair Squid, Wikes, their daughter and my son.  This marks the SECOND movie in a row that both the Squid and I remained awake through!!

I know reaction to this has run hot and cold.  Some blogging friends seemed to like it, while others walked out!

I liked it for what it was...a big action flick with some sci-fi elements.  Wikes called it STINO: Star Trek In Name Only...and I think she is right.

I proclaimed it my third favorite Trek film.  Squid asked what my top three were...

If I look at ALL 12 movies that fall under the "Star Trek" banner, here are my Flickchart rankings....

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

#46

 Star Trek: First Contact

#63

Star Trek Into Darkness

#71

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

#95

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

#118

Star Trek

#120

Star Trek: Generations

#163

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

#189

Star Trek: Nemesis

#276

Star Trek: Insurrection

#407

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

#414

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 

#549