Tagged: star trek
In other Science-y News: The Sun’s Magnetic Field Is About to Flip
No, the sun is not about to go DMX on you and lose its mind (up in here, up in here). However, the sun’s magnetic field is about to flip, likely in the next few months. The polarity flip takes place about ever 11 years, so, don’t worry, we aren’t going to die a fiery death. There may be some more sunspot activity and potentially some telecommunications disruptions due to increased solar storms. But, have no doubt, this is a big deal that will affect our entire solar system!
Check out more about the flip here
And, while we’re at it, here’s the clearest picture of a sunspot ever taken. Pretty nifty, huh:
Credit: Big Bear Solar Laboratory/New Jersey Institute of Technology
This is old, but it is so perfect that I had to share.
All Trekkies who watched the Borg Queen’s torment/seduction of Data in First Contact will appreciate this.
To jog your memory (from IMDB):
[a Borg scratches Data’s flesh arm]
Lieutenant Commander Data: Ah!
Borg Queen: Is it becoming clear to you yet? Look at yourself, standing there, cradling the new flesh I’ve given you. If it means nothing to you, why protect it?
Lieutenant Commander Data: I… I am simply imitating the behavior of humans.
Borg Queen: You’re becoming more human all the time, Data; now you’re learning how to lie.
Lieutenant Commander Data: My programming was not designed to process these sensations.
Borg Queen: Then tear the skin from your limb as you would a defective circuit.
[Data hesitates]
Borg Queen: Go ahead, Data! We won’t stop you!
[Data forces himself to try to tear off the skin]
Borg Queen: Do it! Don’t be tempted by flesh!
[Data relents and leaves the skin alone]
Borg Queen: Are you familiar with physical forms of pleasure?
Lieutenant Commander Data: If you are referring to sexuality, I am… fully functional, programmed in… multiple techniques.
Borg Queen: How long since you’ve used them?
Lieutenant Commander Data: Eight years, seven months, sixteen days, four minutes, twenty-two…
Borg Queen: Far too long.
[they kiss passionately]
P.S. I still have no understanding of the Gotye video concept. Why was he painted like that?
Spoiler-free Review of The Wolverine
First, let me say that I love me some Hugh Jackman. I don’t know him personally, but everything about him just suggests that he is a stand-up guy who can act his behind off. He’s a quadruple threat. That said, not even he could save this slightly-worse-than-mediocre movie. I was really excited about seeing this movie because I was hoping that they could make a good Wolverine movie. Wolverine is probably the most explored character in all of X-men and, yet, they just can’t get the movies right. I think they are going to have to reboot James Bond-style and make the movies darker to achieve what moviegoers want from the character. Wolverine is impulsive, daring, self-sacrificing, brooding, and vulgar and Jackman hasn’t been given a script yet that allows him to show that.
The plot starts out good enough. He is, as always, on a search for himself and missing his love, Jean Grey, who is pretty effective in her tiny role. Famke Jennsen is so beautiful that she looks unreal anyway (hate her!). Yukio is well cast and has some great scenes and I thought they did a great job in selecting Mariko as a foil to Wolverine. That’s about it for the smaller parts. Let’s not even get into the waste of screen time that was the Viper’s character and the Silver Samurai. The f-ing Silver Samurai, how do you mess that up? There is passion in that hyphen.
Aside from some great action sequences, the second half of the movie is just a waste. I was honestly stunned at how bad the plot became. And, I really just want filmmakers to stop selecting female villains just to have some eye candy. It’s so unnecessary.
Rating: C with a sideye for the Viper character. Wait for Redbox.
P.S. Don’t go see it in 3D, no need for it. And, yes, there is a great extra scene about halfway through the ending credits.
P.P.S. I don’t think there was one black person in the entire movie. I mean the setting is Japan, but still, not one…in 2013? Get with it Hollywood.
A Dirge for the Star Trek: Las Vegas Experience
The first time I went to Las Vegas, there was one place I knew I had to go. That place where everyone’s at least a passing Trekkie. Well, alas, it is no more. The Las Vegas Hilton got rid of it years ago, but I still miss it. I guess that it wasn’t bringing in the big bucks like its Elvis impersonator. Yes, these grapes are sour.
If you’ve never been, I’ll paint the scene from memory: You walk in and get in line and see a few prop exhibits and a Trek timeline. But, the real fun starts when you get into the interactive Borg invasion. The Borg Queen tops my list of villians because of her detached ruthlessness. She was a bad mamajamma! The simulation was dated, but I didn’t care because it was the closest I’d ever get to being on a starship. Then, after you won, you could go into the Enterprise simulation and sit on,the Bridge and play an officer. Again, it felt more like a science museum exhibit, but it was great for any trekkie. Afterward, you could hang out in Ten Forward, drink some Romulan ale and chop it up with the Klingons wandering around. The highlight for me was being choked by a Klingon female. Then, of course, there was a neat gift shop with pretty good memorabilia.
Vegas felt a little emptier without any sort of Star Trek attraction there. So, here’s to sadness.
FYI: I hear there is a nice convention coming in August. Check it out if you get a chance.
Black Aliens Among Us?
Y’all seemed to enjoy the Miguel’s an Alien post, so I’m thinking of regularly expanding upon that by highlighting other black folk who fit the bill. They, of course, aren’t actually aliens (that we know of), but some of their shenanigans deserve a long side-eye stare.
The thing is when you have special powers, it’s just so hard to stay in line.
Any suggestions for whom to highlight?
Woo, They Lucked Out Finding Kate Mulgrew for Voyager
I’m not sure that we’ve talked about Voyager on this blog yet, but my favorite series is a constant toss up between TNG and Voyager. I really liked Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway despite the critiques of her style (and, her interview in “Captains”). Below, is a short clip showing the two actresses who were competing for the role. Mulgrew brought so much gravity and charisma (and a ‘I’ve been smoking and drankin’ since before you were born-voice’) to it that it is surprising that the other actress was even considered. Peep it.
Patrick Stewart Being a Total Mensch
See, this is why he’s my favorite captain:
http://lemonsweetie.tumblr.com/post/51652237280/let-me-tell-you-a-thing-about-an-amazing-man
And, shouts to Lemonsweetie for rocking an awesome Trill costume.
Captain’s Log: The Meaning of the Phrase “Kirk Out”
This might truly be the first truly esoteric black trekkie post ever. I think you had to be Black and born some time between 1975 and 1980 to appreciate the phrase “kirk out”. So, let’s get into it.
Does anyone know how this became a black cultural idiom? I have no idea. The funny thing is when you say it, almost every black person knows exactly what it implies–you went temporarily (read: batsh*t) insane. In most situations, you’ve tried your best to keep your cool, but someone or a situation kept trying your patience and…finally, IT, whatever IT might be, was on! You were done negotiating, trying to be heard, waiting patiently, listening to reason, trying to be empathetic, whatever. You, Bruce Banner, turned into this raging Hulk of a person that not even your momma could calm down:
Example convo:
John: Yo, I was driving today and this mickey flickey cut me off. I couldn’t believe it when he flipped me the bird after I honked at him. Yo, seriously, I almost got out of the car and KIRKED the ****(optional) OUT on that cat! He better be glad I had a meeting because, otherwise, y’all would have been seeing me on the news at 6, yo.
Homie: I’m glad you didn’t, man. Not over something so silly.
Now, we all remember that Captain Kirk said “Kirk, out” whenever he signed off communications. We also know that Captain Kirk was forever going off-script and just flying into rages, but how did this enter the black vernacular? Not sure, but I’m glad it did. It is such a effective, concise way of conveying about 50 curse words at once.
Anyone else have ideas?
Edit: We are still looking for answers in 2021.
Black Trekkies, I’m Looking For You!
We just turned 1 year old! Woot! Hosting the blog has been a fun, creative outlet so far. It turns out that “Black Trekkies” is the top search term that is leading people to find the Black Trekkie blog. I knew we were out there! And, it appears that we are searching for one another. It’s been a fun year and we have bigger and better things planned for the future.
SO…if you happen onto this blog and find it funny and/or interesting, become a guest poster. If you just want to hang, leave a comment and subscribe.
I’d love to have more activity on the blog and offering alternative insights into the Trek would be great. And, please post comments and follow Black Trekkie. Every click gets us a little closer to the Delta Quadrant. Just kidding, it just lessens the distance between us.
We can even have an awesome Gorn/Kirk-style play fight. We’ll figure out what the fight was about later. Keep checking in, I’m looking to hear from you!
Reasons Why You Need to Go See Star Trek Into Darkness, Even if You’re Not a Trekkie
So, the numbers are in on “Star Trek Into Darkness” and they aren’t as good as the opening for Iron Man 3. Come on, y’all. Was I the only one who saw the dreck that was Iron Man 3? It was like cold pizza; in fact, it was like cold, 10 for $10 pizza. And, Iron Man didn’t even do half of the upfront trailers and promotion that Star Trek did! Iron Man couldn’t have been more accessible to the masses than this Star Trek. Maybe, it was because people love Robert Downey, Jr? But, let’s face it; for all my critique of “Star Trek Into Darkness,” it was still a muuuuuuuch better movie.
Did Paramount get it wrong by doing all these sneak previews and opening internationally first? I think so. The international opening is less of an issue than the sneak previews. It seemed like people were seeing the movie a week before it opened and I think that made people forget what weekend it actually opened. After seeing all these reviews pop up, I had to check to see whether I had missed the opening. Yes, ME, Captain Jackson. So, you know if I almost missed it, people who didn’t care definitely missed it. I think the studio also screwed up on basic playground psychology– people like to be first and, if they can’t be first, they lose interest. After seeing all these reviews and feeling like they weren’t in the in-crowd, a lot of people who were looking forward to the movie probably said, “Eh, I’ll get around to it.”
We can’t discount the fact that, despite having the same rating, Iron Man seems like a much more family friendly movie. Do you want to have to explain death to your children after seeing Star Trek or do you want to explain all of Tony Stark’s sexual innuendos to the kiddos? Toss up. I hadn’t thought about it, but does anyone actually die in Iron Man? The reboot of Star Trek didn’t have to be like this, but I guess that was a calculated decision by the studio. I wonder if they regret it a bit now. Here’s why you have to see Star Trek anyway:
Nerds lose. And, we have to win. Arguably, Tony Stark is one of the smartest people alive, but his persona is much about self-interest, bling, and glitz. He doesn’t really know how to work in a team. Even though he has renounced his ‘lord of war’ ways, he still has all the treasure that came from that life. Star Trek is about teamwork. The team is ordinary, not of any extraordinary superpower or superintellect; they work harder. That’s the secret sauce in the Star Trek Universe and real life.
Black Trekkie 