17 Years

I probably write the same thing every year, but today Cindy and I celebrate 17 years together. Recalling our 15th, it seemed like we had reached a milestone, now, I am just amazed at how long 17 years is. Putting it in perspective, I told Cindy that she was 17 when she left New York for South Carolina to start college.

We have two anniversaries: the marriage and the wedding. We married earlier than planned so that she could get added to my order to go to Okinawa. I recall standing in line of the JOP in Panama City, Florida. In front of us were two kids barely 18, behind two adults barely sober. And there we were, Cindy in a white dress and me in my Air Force uniform. Two of my AF buddies, Airman Balbas and Hoag witnessed for us.

Traditionally, Cindy and I have fallen out of celebrating our anniversary, but, I hope to change that. Even if we just go out to a nicer than usual dinner alone, I want to do something for her to mark the occasion.

After all, she deserves a medal for living with me for this many years ;)

5-25-77

Happy 32nd Birthday Star Wars! It's funny that I woke up thinking about this particular date, and then looked in my blog reader and found this trailer: 77.

Be advised, this trailer is not for little ones hanging around as there is a brief "coming of age" scene (really, no pun was intended).

Last Trek Post (maybe)

I am very thrilled that we have a fresh Trek, so much that I want to see the next episode. I have "Ain't It Cool News" in my blog reader, and they just posted an interview with JJ Abrams.

But there was only one moment in the movie where I actually asked Chris to do a little bit of the Kirk we know and it was literally just one, silly little thing, but it’s this moment later in the movie where Spock is telling Kirk the statistics of how unlikely it is for their plan to succeed and it’s the first time in the movie that Spock calls Kirk Jim. Young Spock calls him Jim.

And then the response that Kirk has is he says “Spock, it’ll work.” And I actually asked him to give that reading of just “Spock” a little bit of the Kirk we know, because it was the first time that it felt like… “Jim” and the first time that Jim said “Spock” in that way, it just felt familiar and it’s a subtle little thing, but again Chris did a great job.

Blog Etiquette

In case you haven’t noticed, there is a way to say something under your breath in a post. All you have to do is use the “strike through” and you can say anything just about anything.

For example, you could say that Congress woman Nancy Pelosi was lied to by the CIA, but she apparently was the only one. See, I just said something under my breath. Or, you could interpret that as carte blanche to say whatever your want. It’s ok. Just put a strike through and it’s all “did I do that?”

Trekkie

My pal Todd published his thoughts on the new Trek film. As I was commenting, I realized that “New Trek” has tainted “Old Trek.” I include “Wrath of Khan” in that.

Yesterday was a rainy day in Chesapeake, Virginia. After church, I got comfortable and watched Trek II and III. The thought struck me that the writing was very laborious. Don’t get me wrong, I still liked them, but there is so much more potential.

I also was reflecting on my three Trekkie encounters (not including Mot). The first was at the Richland Public Library. I honestly cannot remember how old I was, but I think I must have still been in high school. The second was the 25th Anniversary Marathon. Jay and I drove from Columbia to Atlanta. We found that the fans ranged from nice to down right rude. Lastly, Jay and I met in Raleigh, NC, for a full on convention – complete with William Shatner. As far as his wife knows, he was delivering blueprints for his dad (or was it mine?).

I have come to the conclusion that I am a closet Trekkie. I would love to come completely “out of the closet” but there is something that restrains me. I still say that TOS is my favorite, because I grew up on that. I read all of the James Bliss novels, had the Alan Dean Foster set, and saw each show at least a dozen times. Of any of the future endeavors, TNG was the best. I could never really get past the “grit” of DS9, although I loved the Sisko character. Voyager was lost on me. I started watching it while in Okinawa on cassette tapes mailed over by my father in law. Enterprise had a lot of potential, but it never sparked for me.

The Birthday Marathon

Thank you for the 4th Annual Birthday Movie Marathon suggestions. I took one of the suggestions and am running with it: 80's Fantasy Movies. Here is the line up:

Programming a movie marathon is always tricky, so, I thought  that you couldn't go wrong with a comedy at the end.

And, I got my birthday present yesterday: A Samsung BD-P3600 Blue Ray Player! And, I found a deal on Best Buy.com - Purchase a Samsung Blue Ray Player, and get "Star Trek: The Motion Picture Collection" Blue Ray Disc(s) for $19.99. I watched ST:TMP with commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman. Awesome quality.

Star Trek II: The Second Viewing

Since last Friday, I have been trying to talk Cindy into going to see Star Trek. Ok, I also wanted to see it again. Last night, after the kid’s piano recital we caught the 9:20 showing. That’s right kids, mom and dad were out late last night.

I noticed several things this time.

1. 9:20 doesn’t seem like a bad idea. However, getting home around 11:30 and getting up at 5:45 am doesn’t make for a good combination.

2. The Sky Dive Sequence. The trailer shows three bodies plummeting towards some obstacle. As a spoiler, I will tell you who they were – the guy in blue was Kirk, the fellow in yellow was Sulu, and the dude in Red was some no-name security guy who has the explosives to demolish the obstacle.

Guess which one dies?

3. Scotty’s prank – Scotty describes an argument with a professor about transporting a melon between two planets. Not satisfied with transporting fruit, Scotty beams the professor’s prized pet beagle (who has yet to materialize). The professor? One Admiral Archer…Admiral Jonathan Archer of the first U.S.S. Enterprise.

So, today I will pay the piper for the late night outing, but we enjoyed the time together.

Boldly Going to 11

Nigel Tufnel:	The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi:	Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel:	Exactly.
Marty DiBergi:	Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel:	Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi:	I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel:	Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi:	Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel:	Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi:	Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel:	[pause] These go to eleven.

I was really worried about over-hyping Star Trek in my mind that I would be let down and disappointed. Why not? George Lucas released a less than satisfactory prequel to Star Wars. Indiana Jones’ last adventure probably should have remained in the “gee…wouldn’t it be neat to do another Indy movie?”

But Trek, what can we say about Trek? The TNG films have been, how shall I say this, very unadventurous (I liked First Contact the best).

The TOS crew had a hit-miss pattern with the even movies being the better of the six. Although Khan is the best, I really enjoyed Voyage Home (I remember seeing this with the guys at o’dark thirty at the original Dutch Square theaters).

For years, there had been some rumors of a “Starfleet Academy” movie, recasting all of the TOS characters. I never thought it would work. A few years ago, the rumor resurfaced, but this time, JJ Abrams was associated with it. I like JJ’s work on Lost and Mission Impossible 3. Fringe, which he produces, is very good TV, much in the vein of X-Files.

What was really neat in the movie was that each character “emoted” the original performances. I use the word emote just to indicate that the actors weren’t imitating – they blended the characteristics into their acting and made it their own. I loved seeing little bits of Shatner’s Kirk showing up in Pine.

The movie itself looks NOTHING like any previous Trek. Perhaps what it needed was someone unconnected with the previous incarnations to really spin it off. I have seen the future, and, it has a lot of lens flares.

There was a moment when Spock looks over at Kirk and says “I have been and always shall be your friend.” I choked up. What can I say?

Trek almost here

Is it too big to fail?

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'