Random Thoughts #25 - (Insert Title Here)

Well, it's that time of the month again... no, not that thing. It's time for a couple of random thoughts.

 WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

So... I was on IGN last night and I saw this article. Let's just say it has something to do with a kinda funny post I did a couple of years ago.... They really want me to come back and watch the show again, don't they? I know I'll probably tune in for the 20th anniversary team-up since team-up episodes are usually pretty cool... Dang, it really has been 20 years, has it? I was in 2nd grade when that show came on!

Superman Month
As I said in a earlier post, this June will be Superman Month. I decided to move it up this year. This time, it's pretty much back to basics. I've got 7 or 8 (!!!!) stories I want to get through this month. I also going to look at a couple more TV shows and some of the DC Direct-To-DVD movies involving Superman. I'll definitely give my impression of the new movie after it comes out. For S

Women
... Well, when I find her, I might say something about her.

Movies
Well, I've seen two movies this month: Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness. I actually stepped into IM3 about a third into the movie. I thought it was okay not great. It was a little better than the second one though. The first one's still the best out of the three. I voiced my opinion on the new Trek movie already. It was good. I have to admit that I had a better time with it than with IM3. I'm supposed to schedule some time with someone and see After Earth... Eh, I don't know about that.

Well, that's all I got for tonight. Watch out for some good/strange stories involving the Man of Steel. Peace and God Bless.

Movie Talk - Star Trek Movies Ranked From Most Favorite to Least Favorite

Well, it's the end of the month and I've made it to the toughest post: ranking all of these movies. I can say that I really enjoyed this month. While I probably won't do another Star Trek Month, know that the other shows and some more Trek Novels and comics (!) will show up on here one day. Now, you can probably guess which will be #12 (least favorite) and #1 (Most Favorite).  I decided to name it the way I did because I do think there are things to like in all of these movies. Yet, there are some that I do consider to be better than others. Hopefully, I can at least give you a good reason on why I think one movie is better than another.   With all of that said, let's start this thing!

Trek Novels - Star Trek: Spock's World

This installment of Trek Novels is brought to you by the Vulcan Tourism Agency.

Come to Vulcan. It has everything from Mount Seleya to the Vulcan Science Academy. Come to learn about  the beginnings of Surak and about the way of logic. It is the logical thing to do.

Well, it's been fun reading novels for this month. I know that I have some more Trek novels (and some non-Trek novels) that I want to someday talk about. Today's book is called Star Trek: Spock's World. I picked this up at the book store for $.50, I believe. The things that caught my attention were the cover which looks cool and the little blurb on the back. Of all of the books I have... this one took me a long time to read. The reasons vary from school to other reasons that  I'll list below. The book is written by Diane Duane and I hear that she is no stranger to Star Trek. She has written a lot of Trek novels, some comic books, and she even co-wrote an episode of TNG. Well, with that out of the way, let's see what this book has to offer.

QUICK BLURB
When the planet Vulcan threatens to secede from the Federation, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are called in to keep Vulcan from leaving the Federation. The book also delves into the history of Vulcan.

TV Talk - Star Trek: The Animated Series

'Sup guys! Well, I have one more TV show to do this month that relates to the original crew of the Enterprise. That's right... it's the animated show from 1973. I don't have too much to say, so let's finish it!

Background
Until recently, I had only seen one episode from this 22-episode series. It was one Saturday morning, maybe 5th or 6th grade. I don't remember which channel it was on but I do know it was some sort of cable channel. The episode was "Yesteryear." When I got Netflix, I saw that this show was on there along with the other Trek shows. I really had no interest in seeing it until this month. Since it does involve the original Enterprise crew, I knew that I had to do it for this month and you know what? It's actually not that bad.

Weird Star Trek Eps. - The Magicks of Megas-Tu aka "Magic + Satan-Look-Alike = WTC?"

Well, if there was ever an episode that had to show up in this segment, it would have to be "The Magicks of Megas-Tu". This trippy episode came from the animated Star Trek show... yes, Kirk and the crew were actually on Saturday Morning cartoons in the 70's. Man, it seems like everyone had a cartoon back then!

Anyway, the basic plot is that the Enterprise are investigating the theory of creation  at the center of the galaxy.The ship gets caught in some anomaly  and a devilish-looking being called Lucian comes and takes the ship to the planet Megas-Tu.  The whole realm is essentially a realm of magic. The Megans... yeah, the Megans, are ageless beings who normally practice magic and at one time visited Earth. The crew try to take advantage of using this magic, but this alerts the rest of the Megans. When they find out they're Earthlings, the whole crew is transported to a recreation of The Salem Witch Trials and put on trial for the actions that happened on Earth back then. Luckily, Spock is able to defend the crew since he's not entirely human. The Megans then put Lucian on trial for bringing them here. Kirk defends Lucian even when the main Megan tells him Lucian is supposed to be The Devil.... Eh? Still, Kirk defends Lucian and a fight breaks out between Kirk and the main Megan... a hilarious fight involving magic. In the end, it turns out to be a test for the crew and they passed. All is forgiven and the Enterprise is sent back to its universe...

I believe this definitely qualifies as a weird episode with all of the references to magic and the occult. Here are four things to watch out for other than Lucian looking like "The Baaaaaaaahd Goat-Boy":

1. Trippy sequence where the Enterprise surrounded by hamburger buns

William Shatner said it best: "...and I'm gonna be... High..."

2. Spock literally calling upon the power of Satan 

 Wow, Spock's not helping that whole "I look like the Devil" thing, is he? Didn't he learn anything from "The Omega Glory?"

3. Salem Witch Trial

 Wow, 70's cartoons were weird, man!

4.Kirk doing his best impression of Merlin

Now I know Kirk has a big ego, but this is pushing it. I wonder how he would fare against Skeletor...

All in all, this is an episode that one needs to watch. I can't say if it is good, but I will say that it's interestingly weird. I wonder if ideas about Q  came from here. I also wonder if episodes like these is what spawned all of the different church groups that said television was bad for kids. 

Movie Talk - Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness

 

I'm James T. Kirk... and I fight for The User... Yeah, that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw Kirk and "John" in those suits.

Remember when I said that it would be a while before I saw the new movie? Well, I... exaggerated. I just had to go see  it on opening day after work.  What did I think of it and the previous movie that started it all? Find out below.

Background
Hmm... just look at this month and that should let you know that I'm a fan of Star Trek. When I found out  that that the 2009 movie was going to have younger versions from the original series, I already figured that this might be some sort of reboot or prequel. I went to the theater in Murfreesboro the day I left for the summer. For this segment and for fun, I watched the first movie last weekend on DVD. For the new movie, I was pumped but not trying to get too excited. I've made that mistake before. Anyway, since I didn't want to break tradition and it's my last day on dayshift, I thought I might as well see the movie on opening day.

Movie Talk - The Next Generation Movies

I think this is the moment where the movie franchise jumped the shark and beat the final boss.

This installment of Movie Talk is brought to you by the idiots who thought having a joystick controlling the Enterprise was a good idea... Yes, that actually happened and it was kinda stupid.

I decided to change my mind about the Next Gen movies. Since the new movie is coming out this week, I decided I might as well knock these movies out too. I don't have much to say right now, so let's see if these movies are actually good.

Background
I 've seen all four of these movies on VHS, DVD, and even the cinemas. I don't remember when I first saw Generations. I know I rented it somewhere in town. Star Trek: First Contact was the first Trek movie I actually saw in theaters. I showed up at the part where Picard and the crew are arming themselves before they go into the lower decks. I actually saw two other movies that day: Space Jam (yep) and 101 Dalmations. I saw the last two on video. I remember that most of my 7th grade class was going to go see Insurrection in Lawrenceburg but they ended up seeing Jack Frost instead. I don't whether that was a good thing or not.

Unlike with my look at the other movies, I wanted to watch these movies again. It has been a long time since I've seen these movies.  I saw Insurrection on Netflix and I own Nemesis on DVD. I've seen First Contact enough times to know what happens and I just recently bought it used. As for Generations, I guess SFDebris will have to do. I could have bought it, but it was either that or First Contact. I chose the latter and I feel like I chose wisely.

Random Video of the Month - Eddie Izzard: Star Trek

And here is  the random video of the (week, month). I actually found this a few years ago. After I saw Izzard's "Star Wars Cantina" bit, I found this. It's pretty funny. I especially love his somewhat exaggerated impression of McCoy. I have to say there is a little vulgarity, so I'm warning you now.



Favorite bits:
The McCoy Bit
The phaser bit
The "Red Shirt" Bit

Trek Novels - To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh

Yes, it's not Spock's World. It looks like I'll be saving that for next time. I found the book last year at Hastings and it was used. I looked at the little description of it and decided to check it out. Plus, look at the cover! It looks epic! Anyway, it was a while before I started to read it. Then, school got in the way and I didn't start to read it until this month. I'm kinda glad I did this themed month (and this segment in general) because I now have a reason to finally read it and a few other books I have.

The book came out in 2006 and was written by Greg Cox. This book is actually the third and final book in a series that detailed Khan's life. The first two books detailed his origins and the Eugenic Wars (insert random 90's joke here). So with all of that out of the way, let's see what happened to our bronze, chiseled dictator during his exile on Ceti Alpha V.

Star Trek - To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh
Writer: Greg Cox

BRIEF BLURB
Captain Kirk and some of his crew travel to Ceti Alpha V to find out what happened to Khan and his followers during their exiled years. During this expedition, they find data disks and a journal that detail the exile.

Random Pictures of the Month - May: Six Things About Spock

You know, I didn't even realize that I skipped last month for this. Oh well... To stay within the theme and change it up a bit, here are six things that need to be said about Spock.

 

 Spock can be a cold, logical prick to everyone even his old 'mum!

TV Talk - Star Trek

This installment of TV Talk is brought to you by none other than Dr. Cornelius, husband of Zira and friend of Taylor.

"Beware the beast man, for he is the devil's pawn."

........ Wow,  either that Lawgiver was an enormous prick, or he was talking about Beast Man from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Anyway, welcome back. This time, I will be finally looking the classic series, Star Trek. Yes, this had to take a while for a few reasons as you will find out.

Background
My first TOS (The Original Series) episode was the one called "Obsession." I believe I was in fourth grade and I was at my uncle's apartment when I saw it and it was playing on Fox. When we eventually got cable, I would watch it on the SciFi Channel when they would show it during the day. If it was ever on in syndication, I'd watch it. I even watched a couple of episodes on YouTube when CBS used to officially have them on there. When I got Nextflix, I started to peruse through the episodes. For this month, I've been trying to watch episodes that I either haven't watched in full or that are my favorites. Shockingly, I'll admit that's been a little hard to do with some of these.

Trek Novels - Star Trek: Prime Directive

'Sup, guys! Here is the first novel I'll be talking about this month: Star Trek - Prime Directive. I actually have an interesting story with this book. I had found a large print version of the book at a used book store in Columbia. The title and the quick blurb about it intrigued me, so I got it. I read it for a while, and then it, along with other things in my old bag, got stolen. This was one reason I was so peeved about that bag being stolen! Anyway, I was able to find a small print version of the book at McKay's in Nashville for a really cheap price and I was able to finish it.

 This new segment will move a lot like my Graphic Novels segment with a brief blurb, a somewhat detailed synopsis, and an opinion on the book as a whole.

And for a reminder... 200TH POST!!! YOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I've made to 200 posts after three years. Nice!

Star Trek: Prime Directive
Writers: Judith and Garfield Reeve-Stevens 

BRIEF BLURB
Because of a catastrophe that involved the planet Talin IV, the main crew of the Enterprise is blamed and forced out of Starfleet. Shamed and with nowhere to go, the crew must band together and find out what really happened during the mission.

Movie Talk - Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Spock: Hmm... Fascinating. It seems I have come out of retirement at the wrong time.

This segment of Movie Talk is brought to you by Marion's Antiques and Spirits. They have all you need: Romulan Ale, Denubian Slime Devils, and Tribbles.

As you can tell by the title, this is a look at the first six Star Trek movies. I just had to start with these. Of course, I'm saving the Next Generation movies for another time and the reboot and its sequel will be discussed later this month after I've seen the new movie. With all that said, Engage!

Background
As I stated back in my intro for this month, the movies were what drew me to the franchise. I've watched them all and enjoy them all... some more than others. Are they perfect? Find out below. I have the first three movies on DVD/VHS (yes, I have VHS tapes) and the sixth movie on VHS. I do need to eventually get the fourth and fifth movies. I haven't done a re-watch with them since I've seen them enough times. What I have done is re-watch SFDebris' reviews of those movies. If you haven't heard of SFDebris, then where have you been for the last few years?!? All kidding aside, SFDebris is an Internet reviewer who looks at all sorts of Sci-fi, primarily Star Trek. Check if him out if you want. If you're really looking for a thought-out review of the movies, then definitely check his site out.