How are you feeling right now?

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Fruitbat

Ben - I love trivia - am hopeless at it.. wish there was atrivia thread here..

Give me a little bit to properly formulate a brief set of rules (so the trivia isn't too hard or insanely obscure and so there's a fairness to the validation of answers and the passing of "right to ask next question") and I'll start a trivia thread shortly.

Oh, and I'm glad I made you laugh ... I think.

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Happy Anniversary!

In the old days, based on the stew, I would have cracked a joke asking if you were celebrating the fact that the rabbit died. But that reference seems rather dated and it occurs to me that I probably have to explain to some of the younger readers here that pregnancy tests used to require a rabbit ... and if it died that meant you were pregnant. (Boy, does that seem like a long time ago.) It also explains the Aerosmith lyric "Can't catch me 'cause the rabbit done died."

And that bit of non-nostalgic reminiscing has made me feel old.

Also, I ran a trivia contest at my family reunion about a month ago, and I created all the questions myself. And after the contest was over, it left me thinking about a number of questions I asked that no one knew the answer to ... because I was using some cultural items and events that nobody else seemed to remember. Like Candid Camera and Leave It To Beaver. The Dick Van Dyke show and I Love Lucy barely appeared on their radar.

So part of me feels sad that some things that I and many others thought were culturally significant seem to be gradually fading from the general public memory. I know it's the way of things, but it still makes me a just a little sad.

Oh Boy, would I most certainly not be celebrating the death of a pregnancy-test rabbit, if the death of such meant that I was carrying a human parasite. I do not like children, and having one of my own (while probably making me appreciate children more and activating at least some of my motherly insticts) would take time and money away from painting. I am not, at this point in my life, willing to give up more time from painting than I have to my male and my full-time job.

With regards to trivia, I have seen a couple of the I Love Lucy shows, and I'm 23.... does that make me good/better than one's average pleb? I have at least heard of them all...

[Saya]

hey Labelle, ever read Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood? The main character is a painter, so between that and the CBC you're really making me think of it XD

I feel sleepy, had a long day and just watched a few episodes of Star Trek TOS.

[Ben Lahnger]

Hey, remember how weird it felt the first time you ever saw that "Star Trek TOS" ... before you had someone explain to you (or figured it out yourself) what TOS stood for?

When I was president of a Star Trek club in Milwaukee and new episodes of ST:TNG were still airing, we called it "Classic Trek".

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

Saya - I will check it out as soon as I'm done the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, which I'd promised both my male and my friend that I'd read.

I''ve never *seen* it abreviated as TOS, but I have heard it called "The Original Series." Star Trek is so ridiculous (especially TOS). I think TNG and DS9 are tied for my favs, but I also very much liked early Voyageur, before 7 of 9 became permanent (though she was pretty cool, even without the kickass ability to walk in mega heels and the well-endowed chest) and before Captain changed her hairstyle.

[Saya]

Wow Ben, you're OLD! My mom says the same thing.

My family were big TNG fans, but I've only seen a few Classic Trek episodes XD I really want to rewatch TNG but I'm going to watch Classic first, and I have so many questions already! Why are the women's skirts so short? What do they do to keep them from blowing up every time they land on a windy planet? If its appropriate for a star ship why can't I wear skirts above the knee at work?

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

http://db.rambleschmack.net/images/p...al-awesome.jpg
^That about sums up Kirk, for the entirety of the series and TOS movies.
I have a feeling that the women's skirts were so short because that was something of the style at the time, and Sci-Fi was usually based on the fashion of the time - note the big late-60s, early 70s hair.

I like the concept of the Red Shirt. Many a remotely jockular sci-fi show has made jokes, such as "Aww, we might as well be wearing red shirts."

[Saya]

I liked how in the new movie when Kirk and Sulu go down to Vulcan with the guy in red, everyone just automatically knew "that guy is going to die."

I follow LeVar Burton on twitter, the other night he was tweeting and answering questions as he was watching a TNG episode he's never seen before. Apparently he's never seen about 100 of them!

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

That's pretty much it - red shirt (or yellow shirt in later serieses) gets sent down with the Kirk, Spock and Bones....
"He's dead, Jim."
Also called Generic Crew Member or Ensign Ricky.

[Fruitbat]

I like the last movie - Eric Bana is such a badass bad guy.

Ben - yeah it was a good thing you made me laugh - my stupid fault for laughing until I coughed.

Now you have me dancing around the house at the trivia.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Saya

Wow Ben, you're OLD! My mom says the same thing.

Er ... thank you? LMAO!

Originally Posted by Saya

My family were big TNG fans, but I've only seen a few Classic Trek episodes XD I really want to rewatch TNG but I'm going to watch Classic first, and I have so many questions already! Why are the women's skirts so short?

Because in the advanced century the show takes place in, women are very liberated? No? Okay, it's because miniskirts were a new thing and were all the rage in fashion and Gene Roddenberry had to agree to some things the network (NBC) wanted to get the show on the air ... like having the female crew members all wear miniskirts (or as it worked out, short skirted uniforms.)

Roddenberry thought it was ridiculous and did not make sense in the context of serving on a semi-military, semi-diplomatic spaceship. And he really did want to portray women as equals (he would butt heads with the network over this for the show's entire run.) But he was fighting bigger battles, and this is one of the compromises he gave in on to keep things like having an ethnically diverse crew, a female (Uhura) as one of the command level crew members and having his alien (Mr. Spock) on board. The network really didn't want Spock, so Roddenberry had to give up a lot to keep him.

Originally Posted by Saya

What do they do to keep them from blowing up every time they land on a windy planet?

They made sure the female cast members never stood over grates in the street with wind turbines under them. (Think Marilyn Monroe.) This was just a matter of good set design! LOL!

Originally Posted by Saya

If its appropriate for a star ship why can't I wear skirts above the knee at work?

It's too bad your company isn't trying to get more people to watch them in the Nielsen ratings ... I'm sure they'd go for short skirts if that was the case. Since it's not, they've probably got some human resource policy concerns like not wanting to create an environment in the office that is more conducive to sexual harassment claims. Mundanes ... what are you going to do?

*snicker*

BTW, in all the episodes of Star Trek that I've watched (and I'm talking about all the series), I've noticed that there have been several occasions where characters were accused of rrape, but not once was there ever a sexual harassment charge leveled. Hmmmm ....

[Fruitbat]

Saya I used to work for a firm where one boss was known only to employ girls who wore tight short skirts and low cut tops.

I liked Voyager. DS9 was a bit zzzz...

How I'm feeling right now - it's not polite to swear.

[Catch]

I feel cuddly soft.

[*Twitch]

I feel like shit. It's time to take another break from drugs and alcohol, hopefully I can do it :S

Any one have any tips for a 3+ times a day pot smoker and potentially budding alcoholic tryin to pull a bit of the cold turkey?

[Saya]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Er ... thank you? LMAO!



Because in the advanced century the show takes place in, women are very liberated? No? Okay, it's because miniskirts were a new thing and were all the rage in fashion and Gene Roddenberry had to agree to some things the network (NBC) wanted to get the show on the air ... like having the female crew members all wear miniskirts (or as it worked out, short skirted uniforms.)

Roddenberry thought it was ridiculous and did not make sense in the context of serving on a semi-military, semi-diplomatic spaceship. And he really did want to portray women as equals (he would butt heads with the network over this for the show's entire run.) But he was fighting bigger battles, and this is one of the compromises he gave in on to keep things like having an ethnically diverse crew, a female (Uhura) as one of the command level crew members and having his alien (Mr. Spock) on board. The network really didn't want Spock, so Roddenberry had to give up a lot to keep him.




They made sure the female cast members never stood over grates in the street with wind turbines under them. (Think Marilyn Monroe.) This was just a matter of good set design! LOL!



It's too bad your company isn't trying to get more people to watch them in the Nielsen ratings ... I'm sure they'd go for short skirts if that was the case. Since it's not, they've probably got some human resource policy concerns like not wanting to create an environment in the office that is more conducive to sexual harassment claims. Mundanes ... what are you going to do?

*snicker*

BTW, in all the episodes of Star Trek that I've watched (and I'm talking about all the series), I've noticed that there have been several occasions where characters were accused of rrape, but not once was there ever a sexual harassment charge leveled. Hmmmm ....

Wow, thats really interesting! I thought the pilot episode "The Cage" was weird about the women crew, it does make sense now knowing that there was a tug of war going on behind the scenes. I knew Uhura being black was a big deal, I love her already though, I'm glad she didn't quit after the first season. I didn't know Spock was a controversy though! o.O

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Saya

I knew Uhura being black was a big deal, I love her already though, I'm glad she didn't quit after the first season. I didn't know Spock was a controversy though! o.O

Yeah, so you know her talk with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped convince her to stay on the show.

The thing about Spock was actually huge. Really big. They wanted the pointed ears gone because they thought it made the character look satanic. Roddenberry wouldn't budge on that, which is why he had to compromise on so much else. They did convince him to tone down the upsweep of Spocks eyebrows. Also, Roddenberry hadn't worked out the Vulcan philosophy when the first pilot was shot, which is why you can see Spock being much more emotional in that episode.



And you'd think after seeing what a huge iconic character Spock has become, that television networks would have learned their lesson.



But no, I'm afraid they will never learn.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by *Twitch

I feel like shit. It's time to take another break from drugs and alcohol, hopefully I can do it :S

Any one have any tips for a 3+ times a day pot smoker and potentially budding alcoholic tryin to pull a bit of the cold turkey?

Who do you want to be 10 years from now?

You don't need alcohol or drugs, everything you need is right there inside you, you just need to find it. **climbs down off soapbox**


Replace the unhealthy wirh the healthy? start running every time you feel like a drink or a smoke?

My ex gave up smoking by cutting down - he stopped one cig at a time. He used to smoke after every meal, so he stopped at lunchtime, then dinner etc til he was down to 1 a day. he also stopped hanging out with pple who smoked.

[Saya]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Yeah, so you know her talk with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped convince her to stay on the show.

The thing about Spock was actually huge. Really big. They wanted the pointed ears gone because they thought it made the character look satanic. Roddenberry wouldn't budge on that, which is why he had to compromise on so much else. They did convince him to tone down the upsweep of Spocks eyebrows. Also, Roddenberry hadn't worked out the Vulcan philosophy when the first pilot was shot, which is why you can see Spock being much more emotional in that episode.

Yeah, my roommate was all over that XD We figured it was just because it was the pilot but it was still pretty funny to see him giggling over plants.

But pointy ears being satanic, really?

But then, it would explain The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04

DEMONESSES!

[Fruitbat]

Spock was always so much better than Kirk but then Scotty was always my man. I love Scottish accents. **drool**

[*Twitch]

Originally Posted by Fruitbat

Who do you want to be 10 years from now?

You don't need alcohol or drugs, everything you need is right there inside you, you just need to find it. **climbs down off soapbox**


Replace the unhealthy wirh the healthy? start running every time you feel like a drink or a smoke?

My ex gave up smoking by cutting down - he stopped one cig at a time. He used to smoke after every meal, so he stopped at lunchtime, then dinner etc til he was down to 1 a day. he also stopped hanging out with pple who smoked.

Bwahaha quitting smoking for me is not even an option. There's no way I'm giving up all three of my major vices on the same day. Mostly the problem's going to be the ganj, as I've been using in lieu of my medication, because the effect is similar, and the herb doesn't turn me into a giant bag of nausea. I'm optimistic about my booze cut down though, because tthinking of beer still makes me feel kind of queazy.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by *Twitch

Bwahaha quitting smoking for me is not even an option. There's no way I'm giving up all three of my major vices on the same day. Mostly the problem's going to be the ganj, as I've been using in lieu of my medication, because the effect is similar, and the herb doesn't turn me into a giant bag of nausea. I'm optimistic about my booze cut down though, because tthinking of beer still makes me feel kind of queazy.

What meds are you on? (can I ask that here?*looks around nervously* none of my business really, just curious)

Give up one at a time *shrugs, I have no idea, because apart from 10 years of binge drinking I've never been addicted to nicotine or drugs**

[Ben Lahnger]

James "Scotty" Doohan was born in Vancouver, was of Irish-Canadian descent and was considered a master of dialects and accents. When he auditioned for Gene Roddenberry he actually tried out a number of accents, but when Roddenberry asked him what accent he thought the character should have, he replied "Well, if you want an engineer, he better be a Scotsman because, in my experience, all the world's best engineers have been Scottish."

So that's how the Scottish accent came to be.

I first got familiar with Jimmy as Scotty in the Star Trek series, so it came as a bit of a shock when that show went off the air and I next saw him in the Roddenberry penned quirky 1971 made-for-tv crime movie "Pretty Maids All In A Row" starring Rock Hudson and directed by Roger "Barbarella" Vadim. The movie is a trip with it's dated tight pants, mini-mini skirts, people saying "Right on" and Rock Hudson as a girl hound - seducing any girl who comes into his classroom. (copied from IMDB) It's more sex-farce than murder mystery, but the real surprise was seeing Doohan as a police officer assisting detective Telly Savalas as he investigates a string of murders, speaking with a plain vanilla American accent (or no accent, as it appeared to me.) I had some serious WTF moments every time he was speaking on screen.

No worries, I won't be posting a bunch of Star Trek trivia when I start the trivia thread.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

*snip*
No worries, I won't be posting a bunch of Star Trek trivia when I start the trivia thread.

Aw.. **fruitbat flies off feeling a little disappointed**

What did you think of the new Star Trek movie?

[Ben Lahnger]

Ooh! I found the opening credits from "Pretty Maids All In A Row" so you can see how dated and strange it was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l0jadxSVEQ

I thought the new movie was brilliant. I loved it in the theater and bought the deluxe Blu-Ray version for home viewing the day it went on sale.

Besides making some astute casting choices, J.J. Abrams cleverly restarted the series by switching us to an alternate time-line. With all the history that had been written by 5 television series and 10 motion pictures, it was nearly impossible to write a story without contradicting something that had happened previously. Plus, the best drama is about characters changing ... and it was almost impossible to do anything new that would cause those original characters to change (what else can you do after you've had one die and come back to life?)

So yeah, as much as I like those original episodes and characters, as well as the actors that gave them life, I am appreciatively digging the promise for the future that new movie represents. And who in the world would have seen that Spock/Uhura thing happening?!? Abrams is a mad genius!

Oh, I might ask the occasional trek trivia question.

[Fruitbat]

Ben - it may have been almost 40 years since that movie was made but somethings have never changed - guys trying to look down girls blousing and guys driving along checking out girls wearing short shorts.

40 years... wow I feel old.