Star Trek best Captains

From Space.com contributing writer Elizateth Howell we have a compilation of some of the best Star Trek live action to date (the list was compiled a few days before the newest Star Trek program airs)

 https://www.space.com/ best-star-trek-captains. 

6. Capt. John Archer ("Star Trek: Enterprise," 2001-05)

5. Capt. Benjamin Sisko ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," 1993-1999)

4. Capt. James T. Kirk ("Star Trek" reboot movies, 2009-present)

3. Capt. Kathryn Janeway ("Star Trek: Voyager," 1995-2001

2. Capt. James T. Kirk ("Star Trek: The Original Series," 1966-1969; "Star Trek" movies,

1. Capt. Jean-Luc Picard ("Star Trek: The Next Generation," 1987-1994; "Star Trek: The Next Generation" movies, 1994-2002)

For the complete article please click here

Some of Nimoy's Stage Credits

Listner Phil really knows his theater.  I asked him what he knew about Nimoy and stage and he

sent me back a "did you know" list:

Here are just a few stage shows that Leonard Niemoy was in and parts he played.

Musical Theatre

Melody Top Theatre Milwaukee, WI (Regional Theatre)

Camelot - Arthur (1973)

Fiddler on the Roof - Tevye (1974)

My Fair Lady - Henry Higgins (1976)

Oliver - Fagin (1972 - 1973)

The King and I - The King (1974)

Dramas

Atlanta Theatre Guild, Atlanta, GA (1955)

A Streetcar Named Desire - Stanley Kowalsky

University of Alabama Town and Civic Center Clark Memoiral Theater

Cat on A Hot Tin Roof - Brick

Town and Gown Repertory Theatre - Birmingham, AL. (1959)

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest - Randle Patrick McMurphy

Little Theatre on the Square - Sullivan, IL. (1974)

The Fourposter - Michael (1975)

Star Trek Discovery Update

CBS issued press release:Star Trek Discovery launch has been pushed 

back.  DISCOVERY will now launch in May 2017.

To get more information please press HERE

George Takei Upset That Sulu in Star Trek Beyond is Depicted Gay

George Takei, who originally  portrayed Sulu  in the televised Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry - has misgivings about  Sulu in Star Trek Beyond being written as gay. Takei feels that this deviates from  Roddenberry's original intent.

Click HERE for complete IO9 article

Star Trek Fan Film Rules Guidelines

Barry sent me an article recently released by CBS and Paramount which contains very strict guidelines

1. The film can't exceed 30 minutes

2. The title can't contain the words "Star Trek," but must contain a subtitle using the phrase "A Star Trek Fan Production"

3. The film must use all original footage

4. The film can't use bootleg merchandise. It all has to be official. 

5. No one can be compensated for the work.

6. No one can make money off the film. 

7. The film must be family friendly. That means no profanity, nudity, alcohol, drugs, etc.

8. The film must have a disclaimer in the opening credits

9. The creators of the fan film cannot try to copyright or trademark their work

10. The film cannot be affiliated with CBS or Paramount 

These restrictions mean you can no longer boldly go where no man has gone before when creating fan films devoted to  Star Trek

 For the complete article you can go HERE  or enter the URL directly  http://www.startrek.com/fan-films 

Star Trek Actor Dead

I received a rather upsetting news. 

Actor Anton Yelchin died Sunday morning in what his representative confirmed as a “fatal traffic collision,”. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office said that his body “was found pinned between a car and a gate at a home in Studio City, California” and that an exact cause of death will not be announced until the autopsy is complete. He was 27.

Fans of the Star Trek movie franchise should recognize Anton Yelchin who begin his acting career appearing in shows like ER, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2006, he received critical acclaim for his performance in crime drama Alpha Dog and starred as the title character in the next year’s Charlie Bartlett.

More info can be had by selecting HERE

Wikipedia info HERE 


scbuzz has left a new comment on your post "Star Trek Actor Dead":

Basically, his (recalled) Jeep Grand Cherokee came out of park and rolled back pinning him between the vehicle and gate. Said death was due to asphyxia (i.e. crushed) :( 

I don't usually quote my blog replies, but as you can see it lent new info to the article - Thanks scbuzz

Will Ferrell Sings the Star Trek Theme...

Totally outrageous!  Will Ferrell sings the original Star Trek Theme....That's right, sings.....

BMU #440 is now online "Goodbye Mr Spock"

This week I start with the less than enviable task of marking the passing of science fiction's most favored son, Leonard Nimoy, known to a whole generation as Mr. Spock, of Enterprise and Star Trek fame.

To catch my breath, I play the closing music to the anime series "Good Luck Girl".  I don't know about you, but I needed something kick ass, just to get running again.

Next, I trundle back to the blog for some other articles of interest.

First off, papers have been filed with arguments against there being a Big Bang.   NASA's Dawn spacecraft is just a few days out from Ceres.  I found an article where on the surface it seems like such a simple and straight-forward question.  Given that there were no obstacles, would you take a trip into space?

Finally our story for the after-noon is a spooky tale of loneliness and wish fulfillment.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

RIP: Leonard Nimoy @ 83

 Leonard Nimoy, well known, talented and beloved character actor, died Friday at the age of  83.   A family member told CNN that Nimoy succumbed  due to complications brought on by
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Nimoy is probably best remembered for his depiction of the green, pointed eared alien - Spock - in the 1960 television series (and later feature movies) Star Trek. 

His is survived by cast members  William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Takei wrote "We return you now to the stars, Leonard. You taught us to 'Live Long And Prosper,' and you indeed did, friend," .

Read the CNN article Here

Review: Star Trek - Into Darkness

Directed by J.J. Abrams

Staring

Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk   

Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock
Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura

Karl Urban as Lieutenant Commander Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Simon Pegg as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

John Cho as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu

Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov

Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan
Bruce Greenwood as Admiral Christopher Pike

Peter Weller as Fleet Admiral Alexander Marcus    

Alice Eve as Lieutenant Dr. Carol Marcus

Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime

and cameo by  Christopher Doohan (son of James Doohan) as Transport officer   

So it comes to pass that someone had the bright idea to make a Star Trek movie for Star Trek fans. Ok, I know, they almost all were in some fashion or another and to be honest this outing takes from a lot of the previous films but throughout it all is the feeling that you have been here before in some alter ego, and it is all strangely familiar as well as bright and shiny new (even with Abrams incessant lens flares). 

There is often the feeling that any moment now, the plot will drop into a classic StarTrek series with all the associated nods and winks.  But that is what makes it so entertaining.  Can I say right now though that I never for one instance bought into Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan ?  Nope, nope nope no nope never.   If you are going to do Kahn, look at how Ricardo did him, BOTH TIMES!!!   The man oozed barely controlled rage and exuded extreme confidence.  Did Cumberbatch come within a row of a** holes? Be honest....Kahn is not played sophisticated but with distane ......  ok, only bitch, really!  This is truly a film for fans, the nods and winks, the double backs, the switches and the one really big switch that I thought was really balls out. (nope, no spoiler)  

So if you have seen all of TOST and even though you hated some, seen all the  movies, if you have not seen this one yet....find a blu-ray and enjoy  ADD this one to your Star Trek collection of movies or hope that someone takes the hint and adds it to your Christmas list.  

Now I saw the movie at a small group viewing so I can not speak to the extras but the movie is a 9.5 and only to bitch about the incessant flares.  It is worth it, rent it, buy it....whatever, it is that good a Star Trek venue....

Star Trek's "Neutron Cream" Gag

A must see, for Star Trek fans.  Simon Pegg and Chris Pine prank some of the Star Trek actors into....well you will see.   I can tell you that it is pretty damn funny.....

Great Transporter Illusion

Recently in a mall in the UK, a couple of illusionists performed a transporter illusion.  The act was to help promote the new Star Trek movie, "Into Darkness"

When you watch the video, you may be able to catch onto the initial illusion, but I would like to know where the initial subject went to?

Check it out...great demo for a non existent tech!

Star Trek Style Radiation Deflector Shield Possible?

Right out of a Star Trek episode, UK scientists are working on a device that could protect astronauts from high levels of radiation and it would work very much like the Trek "deflector shield" or how Earth's radiation shield works.  

Recent NASA studies have shown that astronauts exposed to open space, as on an extended trip to Mars, are exposed to as much radiation as they would be allowed to be exposed to in two-thirds of their allowable lifetime exposure.

Effective shielding would be expensive, massive and for the most part impractical.  

But the researchers at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory seemed to have stumbled upon an elegant solution - a mini Earth-magnetosphere.   Researchers have found that if you set up an electric field around an object, electrons from a plasma will flow around the object.  However lighter ions will be deflected or continue past the shielded object.   In effect, a miniature Earth magneto-sphere.   Initial tests have shown proof of concept.  

Radiation shields using this concept will be light and self supporting once started.  

Read more in the IO9 article HERE

Photo shows a small model in an energetic plasma stream.  The model is being protected by an electric / magnetic field as described in the article. 

BMU #368 online - The Hunted - Robert Frazier + No Great mMa

Beam Me Up for another week!  yaaaaaaaaa!  Episode 368 is on the   bubble this week.  This episode is taken up with two longish story episodes and so there wasn't much time for other material, 

but I managed to squeeze in some good stuff.  If you happened to  have listened to the radio broadcast, you might have noticed  that I cut the last story short to fit into the hour, it is 

complete here in the podcast.

So, I start off with the closing song to an anime series Pet Girl, which is proving to be a bit better than your average teenage high school angst/harem anime series.  The song: Prime Number by Yume no Tsuzuki.

I then review the anime series Eden of the East which is mile ahead of your average anime series. 

Fritz Leiber's No Great Magic chapter six is the first story.   This is being read by the Librivox readers which will give you a change from my reading.

Hey Hey I manage to get in a couple of questions from Trek book which is always fun.

I head back to the Beam Me Up blog to read about the Mars Rodent.., Iron from meteoroid impacts, Live action Akira?  Ain't happening!, Hunter Prey is reviewed by Kallamus which he really 

liked as well.

And I wind up with Robert Lee Frazier's s excellent story The hunted.  I am sure you will like it as much as I did. 

That's it for this week. Enjoy!

Star Trek's Universal Translator Much Closer

In answer to fans wondering why everyone in Star Trek universe spoke the same language. Gene Roddenberry  answered with the Universal Translator.  Though not often in evidence it did its job in realtime and with perfect accuracy.  

With the advent of increased computational power in the latter part of the 20th century, scientists began to work in earnest on a system that could do just that.  

Many software packages have at best been marginally successful with error rates of as high as one work in 5.  Plus most came no where near real time.  Word for word translators tended to be the slowest, pattern recognition fared only slightly better.  

Microsoft's chief research officer Rick Rashid  explained:

• The system works by recognizing a person's words, and then converting the speech into organized sentences. This data is then picked up by speech synthesizing software trained to replicate the speaker's voice and their unique cadence.

Many other programs exist to date Apple's Siri or AT&T's English to Spanish translator.  But according to Rashid:

• The big difference between these and Microsoft's breakthrough is the new software's ability to learn, process and pass along a human's voice and cadence.

Rashid was confident that the new software was a big improvement  so much so that he demonstrated it translating the system translating English to Chinese in China!  I  was enthusiastically  received by the audience.   

Check the Dvice article HERE

Spock Fascinating

A fascinating compilation of Spock's favorite word. Excellent face book discovery by our favorite researcher Xnewsman! Check this video out. It should be every bit a star trek meme as McCoy's I'm a doctor dammit. Check it out!

Get A Life!

Xnews man sends in an article from the NY Daily News concerning one of the funniest and one of the most iconic phrases spoken by a science fiction television show personality. I even remember seeing this episode of SNL where William Shatner faces a gathering of fanatical (and faux) "Trekies". After a stream of inane questions from the fans, Shatner informs the gathering in frustration to "get a life!"

Never one to let an opportunity pass, Shatner went on to pen a book in 1999 called “Get a Life!,” exploring the cult of “Star Trek” fans and conventions.

Expanding on the 1999 book, Shatner now plans to host a documentary of the same name.

“Get A Life!,” is set mostly at the 2011 Las Vegas Star Trek convention. It features interviews with fans from around the world who travel to the gatherings, as well as cast members from the franchise.

Life copying art copying life....

For more you can check the NY Daily News article here

Down Town Las Vegas Almost Had Full Scale Enterprise!

According to The Goddard Group via Boing Boing, Down town Las Vegas almost had a FULL SIZED Star Trek Enterprise. The rational being that this would revitalized the sagging down town economy which had over the past few years had been loosing a large share to the strip.

Gary Goddard was to build a life-sized Starship Enterprise replica in downtown Las Vegas. Goddard successfully bid to build the attraction as part of the 1992 competition to revitalized Vegas's sagging downtown and bring back tourist traffic. However, the project was scuttled at the last minute when Stanley Jaffe, then CEO of Paramount, got cold feet.

The project was budgeted at $150,000,000 (in 1992 dollars) and the whole system was a ride based around a mock "tour" of the newly constructed Enterprise were replicated in the build. All of the most familiar rooms, chambers, decks, and corridors from the movie. Jaffe though was not as enthusiastic as everyone else however. “I don’t want to be the guy that approved this and then it’s a flop and sitting out there in Vegas forever.” was his reason for nixing the whole project.

Boing Boing article

And Now For the Paranoids Among Us......

My computer was slowing a bit so I did some clean - up which usually at the end requires a reboot. Well this time, for a split second I swear I saw a purple page with a square with a unhappy smiley face on it and I swear, the words to the effect of "He's Dead Jim!" Well the paranoid in me was suspicious now so I began to watch the computer when it reset...and there it was again! Well for me it is straight to the web, and find out if this had happened to anyone else...Come to find out it did! Come to find out, what I saw was indeed a real result of a Chrome!

Here is the down-low:

• The fun play of the Google Chrome team never ends. Their latest adventure is on the sad tab, the page you see when a tab crashes. ”He’s dead, Jim!” is a catchphrase used by Leonard H. McCoy, a character from Star Trek.
• The message continues: “Something caused this page to be killed , either because the operating system ran out of memory, or for some other reason. To continue, press Reload or go to another page.”

Ha!  Now that is just plain funny!

Star Trek - Shatner and Nimoy 1966 Interviews

Xnewsman sends in some Star Trek gold. Interviews from 1966 of Shatner and Nemoy as the liner says:

• at the very early stages of the original Star Trek TV show from 1966..

Enjoy!