Star Wars Convention

I'm off to a science fiction convention with my trekkie friend Colm on Monday, so saddle up Solarians, lock and load. Tickets for Sunday's and Monday's 'Invasion Dublin' shows can still be obtained at a 20% discount when bought online.

I've got my digital camera charged and ready for shooting at.... the next Star Wars invasion. I know, admitting this is certainly putting my neck on the line. Star Wars defection never even crossed my mind. I promise, LOL. Spacerguy is not defecting to the darkside!

Hey, Maybe I'll get David Prowse to sign my Star Wars Book. LOL...

Realistic Reading

Really short messages are just as good as really long messages in fact they're better. Twitters success is based on getting your point across quickly "called tweets" using only 140 characters or less. I've broken a cardinal rule by mentioning Twitter but who really cares? Twitter is good for reporting realistic, rapid, relaxing, randomized, respectful, rumors to its ready, resolute and resourceful readership.

'Pick' Your Brains out.

Its Trekker Pick your brains time. How good is your knowledge of Star Trek's Final Frontier or has it gone off the boil? Well, theres only one way to find out and it doesn't involve any Star Trek technobabble jive. Although forgive me if I sneak in just a little. This Trekker Quiz will scan your galactic memory banks and establish how finely tuned your wits are pitted against Star Trek's elite. The answers will follow tomorrow.


1. How many Photon torpedoes could a federation starship simultaneously launch from a single photon torpedo tube?

A. 4?
B. 7?
C. or 10?

2. How manyPhaser banks does Captain Jean Luc Picard's flagship U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-D have?

A. 10?
B. 12?
C. or 17?

3. PADD was a handheld information unit used by Starfleet personnel aboard Federation starships. What does the acronym stand for?

4.Pattern enhancers were used by Starfleet landing parties during transport missions to amplify the beam up signal and lock on any object contained in their triangular formation. How many Pattern enhancers were generally used in Star Trek The Next Generation and Voyager?

A. 2?
B. 3?
C. or 4?

Worf's Big Win

Name the Neurogeneticist in Star Trek TNG "Ethics" whose experimental Genetronic Technique gave a badly injured Lt Worf extremely high hopes of walking again?

1. Dr Lewis Zimmerman?
2. Dr Toby Russell?
3. Dr Phlox?
4. Dr Leonard H. McCoy?
5. Dr. Julian Bashir?
6. Dr Beverly Crusher?

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkers.

Spookiest Star Trek TNG "Schisms"

M is for Majel Barett. Do you ever get that creeped out bogeyman vibe? You know the kind that surprises unsuspecting sleepers with goosebumps during the night.

 But hey, thats never going to happen! right?? Schisms is one of the most disquieting TNG episodes to air with Riker, Troi, Data and Worf being kidnapped overnight and taken to alternate dimension. What made this epic even more gruesome were the aliens, who conducted medical experiments on the USS Enterprise-D crew and crikey... These creatures were pure ugly, not exactly what you'd want to wake up to in the morning, if you catch my drift.

But take comfort. If you're a cat owner or petlover then the chances are good you'll really enjoy Star Trek's TNG Schisms. This episode has Data reading his "Ode to Spot" poem.

The crew of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D thought they were invincible, safe aboard their mighty Federation Flagship but Starfleet's finest thought wrong, big style. I must warn you readers, "Schisms" is pretty creepy, so prepare yourself for an awesome Star Trek TNG episode with sinister aliens. So Commander Riker, Chief of Security, Worf and Chief Engineer, Geordi La Forge are sleeping soundly when an insidious race of solanagen-based aliens sneak silently aboard the USS Enterprise-D flagship!



What follows comes in the shape of a Medical Horror with biobed nightmares freaking out crew members. The abductees try to piece together a reproduction of the biobed from their hazy memories by reaching deep into their subconscious thoughts. The mysterious aliens conducted a secret experiment on living Enterprise crew for no other reason other than to satisfy scientific curiosity. The aliens fail to realise that they are leaving behind clues.

The abducted Enterprise crew are kept drugged during their ordeal, but the big give away is physical exhaustion. Some of them seek medical help bewildering Dr Beverly Crusher who soon figures theres more to this than bad dreams and disturbed sleep. Many Enterprise crew have undergone metabolic changes and some have had limbs severed and invisibly reattached. Sweet dreams Trekkers!

Klingon Geiger Counters

Our own special little Klingon Geiger Counter were hard at work in "Trouble with Tribbles" Star Trek's classic episode.

The chance to observe these furry little critters emitting purring sounds had a strangly relaxing effect on me and Mr Spock, although he wouldn't admit it!!! Pointy ears could find no practical use for the lovable little furballs. How could Spock be so cruel? It must be the green blood. The Chief Medical Officer, Dr McCoy nearly dove off the deep end after Mr Spock's extremely harsh analysis. The tribbles were after all soothing creatures despite their voracious appetites with most of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 crew growing very attached to the fluffy warm things. Lt. Uhura couldn't resist picking up a charming tribble on K7 and made off home with her new friend aboard the Enterprise. The tribbles kept the Klingons from running amok on Deep space station K7 except there was a high price to pay. The guy pointing his finger Nilz Baris, the Federation Undersecretary for Agricultural  Affairs is threatening Captain Kirk.

Where are the Klingon spies and what happened to the high yield Quadrotriticale kept in the storage compartments?


Can you guess the ending?


Live long and prosper!

Jack the Ripper

Image Owner/Creator: Paramount/CBS Studios

J is for Jack the Ripper. Who or what is Jack the Ripper? Our pointy eared friend, Mr Spock from Star Trek the Original Series has an interesting theory. The vulcan suggests that Jack the Ripper is essentially a "Ripper entity" and may not possess physical form. 

Instead the entity feeds off fearful humanoids terrorizing the wits out of its victims before taking possession of their minds and bodies! On the planet Argelius II, a black cloud looms over the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701, when Scotty is found gripping a knife taken from Kara played by Tania Lemani. 

This poor lass danced the night away and this is her reward! She's completed the finest belly dance ever and goes out for a walk in the fog with Scotty. What is her reward ? A dagger taken from her back! Dr Hengist is the Administrator and a native to Rigel IV. He takes a keen interest in the murders as the noose around Scotty's neck begins to tighten

Captain Kirk investigates the name "Redjac" which is a nickname for "the Ripper", so too were "Kelsa and Beratis" on worlds the ripper entity visited. The enigma deepens when a female Argelian empath is brought in and detects an evil presence, driven by a deep hatred of women. The young women Sybo, crys out in agony before she too, is found murdered by the USS Enterprise's Chief Engineer.

The question is, did Scotty do it?  What makes Star Trek's TOS "Wolf In the Fold" frantically funny is Scotty can't remember anything which makes him look pretty guilty. I mean the guy is covered in the girls blood. Yup, right up to his eyeballs, so its worse than bad. Scotty's goose was in a spot but he wasn't finished.

The USS Enterprise NCC 1701 springs a lie-detector test which throws Mr Hengist into a spin. Scottys innocence is finally confirmed which gets the engineer off the hook. However, something doesn't quite add up so Kirk and Mr Spock leave no stone unturned. Why was Mr Scott found at the scene of the murders?. The murder weapon is discovered and analysis yields startling results. The knife originated from Rigel IV, Mr Hengist's home planet! When confronted, the "Redjac Entity" controlling Mr Hengist goes beserk.

Mr Hengist has some explaining to do except on further scrutiny the "Redjac or Ripper" entity inhabiting Mr Hengist desserts his body and enters the Enterprise computer. Kirk and Spock devise a plan to get rid of "Redjac" once and for all. Scotty is relieved to discover he wasn't to blame for the serial murders. The Ripper entity made engineer Scott stab beautiful young Kara, Lieutenant Tracy and Prefect Jaris's pretty wife Sybo. It always fun to watch Chief Engineer Scotty get an active role during an away mission, but could you live with all that bloodshed on your hands?

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers.

Imagined.

I is for Imagined. Commander Data of the Star Trek Universe has a Positronic Brain. Isaac Asimov first imagined this concept in his first robot stories in 1939 and 1940. The word "Positronic" was coined by this world maestro of science fiction with five hundred books and several hundred articles to his credit.. This word can be used in conjunction with many other words for example positronic supercomputer, positronic robot, positronic brain etc.

Star Trek 4 the Voyage Home.

In 1986 the crew of the ill fated USS Enterprise NCC 1701 slingshot around the sun aboard a Klingon ship to earth of the past. Kirks crew are called back to earth to face nine criminal charges of Starfleet regulations. Its looking pretty serious for our Enterprise buddies who decide to face the music. Along the way the HMS Bounty encounters a mysterious alien probe of unknown origin threatening to destroy all life on Earth. The probe is apparently calling out to humpback whales and vaporising earths oceans and atmosphere in the process. Spock quickly surmises Earth's predicament. SPOCK: Fascinating. If my suspicion is correct, there can be no response to this message. Why? Because the Probes transmissions are the songs sung by whales! Isn't that wonderful?

Image Creator/Owner: Paramount Pictures and or CBS Studio

Star Trek IV the Voyage Home is a delightful, fun movie with Whalesongs! Its rebel crew and a light hearted Mr Spock (not exactly firing on all thrusters) attempt time travel in search of two humpback whales. George and Gracie. When the HMS Bounty lands in the City by the Bay, Sulu engages the Cloaking Device. San Francisco is the focal point in time where Starfleet's finest beam down and begin their rescue operation. Scotty builds the whale tanks with transparent aluminium and re-energizes the de-crystallising dilithium crystals using high energy photons drained from a 'nuclear wessel.' Mr Spocks colorful metaphors and Kirk's "Well, double dumbass on you" demonstrates the lighter plot of the movie which fans totally enjoyed.

KIRK: That's all there is. Don't splurge. All set? Good hunting. ...Well, Spock, here we are, thanks to your restored memory and a little bit of good luck, we're walking the streets of San Francisco looking for a couple of humpback whales. How do you propose to solve this minor problem?
SPOCK: Simple logic will suffice. I believe I shall begin by making use of this map. I have the distance and bearing which were provided by Commander Uhura. If we juxtapose our coordinates we should be able to find our destination. It lies at two eight three point seven degrees...
(a bus with an advertisement on the side pulls up). I love watching this movie because during the voyage we get to enjoy the hilarious comedy as the crew fumble around in twentieth century San Francisco. The interplay between Spock, Kirk and Dr McCoy is priceless with Dr Mc Coy going off the deep end for good reason.

McCOY: Are you sure this is such a bright idea?
KIRK: What do you mean?
McCOY: Him? I mean him (Mr Spock), back at his post, like nothing happened. I don't know if you've got the whole picture but he isn't exactly working on all thrusters.
KIRK: It'll come back to him.
McCOY: Are you sure? ...That's what I thought.

Kirk vs the Gorn

A mysterious alien race called the Metrons intervene and transport two starship captains to a planet where Kirk and the Gorn are given a choice. Fight or die and whoever is victorious saves the lives of his crew. The thing is see, Captain Gorn destroyed the Earth outpost on Cestus III and claimed it was an intrusion into Gorn territory. Now Captain Kirks got major issues with that kind of crap. You just can't let aliens get away with that kind of stuff especially when it undermines the peaceful harmony currently enjoyed within the United Federation of planets which Starfleet is sworn to protect.

Image creator/owner: Paramount Pictures and/or CBS Studios.

Here is a large, immensely powerful, hissing, reptilian creature with sharp claws and spikey, sharp, teeth. Thats right he's the Gorn. Look at the color of the its scaly skin and the fierceness of those terrifying teeth. When I watched Star Trek TOS "Arena" episode for the first time I was highly entertained by the worst Star Trek fight of all time but something puzzled me. The lizard Gorn's character played by both Gary Coombs and Bobby Clark demonstrates a true warrior bred for fighting. This alien creature obviously means business! I mean watch how easily the lizard creature catapults that massive rock at Captain Kirk! The Gorn is strong but being a lizard sure can be major drag sometimes! Poor Captain Kirk has to engage this beast in a fight to the death. Now I have to ask why doesn't the Gorn just chomp off Captain Kirk's head when he gets him in the deadly wrestling grip?