Things have been pretty busy lately, so I haven't had a great deal of time to do many scifi activities. However, I am continuing to watch the 4th season of Star Trek Voyager, and am enjoying it as always. I am also continuing to read the Star Trek New Frontier novel After the Fall by Peter David. I'm on chapter 5 as of today.
After the Fall is the 15th book in the series. In all of the books before, the new ones started off at almost the moment the previous ones ended. This one however begins after a gap of three years from the previous novel entitled Stone and Anvil. What makes this one so interesting at this point is to see the changes that have taken place during the three year gap in the story line. There are promotions, changes in relationships, and some new characters appearing. It is really neat how one can become so involved in a group of fictitious characters and actually wonder at and care about what is happening to them.
I have managed to keep up on most of my favorite podcasts and am currently listening to Trek News and Views episode number 55. The topic for this Colin's entry this week is time travel. Specifically the Star Trek Enterprise episodes that involve Crewman Daniels and the Temporal Cold War. I'm only about 20 minutes into it, but will listen to the rest on my drive home this afternoon. It is an interesting discussion so far.
Yesterday I listened to another episode of the Life After Trek podcast. Capt. Pyke and Crewman Becky interview two of what I consider to be the greatest Trek stars of all time. Those being J.G. Hertzler and Robert O'Reiley. Hertzler played the role of the Klingon character General Martok on Deep Space Nine as well as numerous other personalities in the Trek universe. Not only that, he was also in one episode of another favorite series of mine, Highlander. O'Reiley played the infamous Chancellor Gowron on both Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
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| Robert O'Reiley |
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| Chancellor Gowron |
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| J. G. Hertzler |
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| General Martok |
The Sci-Fi Diner Podcast posted a new episode of their Conversations show. This is #70 in this series. I have not had a chance to listen to it yet, but will be doing so in the morning as I drive to work. Scott and Miles have plugged this blog on that show as one can see on the Diner's website. I was also invited to appear on another edition of the SciFi Rewind where a movie is picked apart by Scott, Miles, and a guest which will be me in in a couple of months or so. I am not going to give any details beyond that. You can go to the Diner's website and download the last Rewind I was on, Total Recall. I think it was a pretty good show if I do say so myself.
In Other News...
I have begun watching Fringe for the first time on the Science Channel. Isn't it amazing that a channel that is supposed to be devoted to science fact is delving into the world of science fiction? Hmmm, perhaps SyFy might think about giving that a try...
But I digress. Anyway, a few weeks ago while watching something on the Science Channel, I caught a commercial that announced that Fringe was to begin broadcasting on Tuesday, November 20th, which I did. I made sure to get my DVD+R machine all ready to record the pilot and first episode of season one. All went well there and I enjoyed both shows and planned to watch more.
Later, I noticed that there was a Fringe Marathon scheduled for Friday and Saturday. I didn't do anything with this thinking that Science would show all of the episodes in order on Tuesday nights. So, on this past Tuesday night, I again set my machine to record the next three episodes. Last night, I sat down in the Lazy Boy to watch at least the first episodes that were recorded. Well, I was really dismayed to learn that I had not recorded the next three shows from season one that I had expected, but I had gotten three season two episodes. I am not happy!
Is it any wonder why I DESPISE commercial television? I have very limited time to watch TV, and when I do, I don't want to screw around with the idiotic scheduling that goes on.
Anyway, I did a little research and found that as an Amazon Prime member, I can stream Fringe for free. Guess what Science Channel: Goodbye. The reason I want to watch Fringe is because Scott and Miles of the SciFi Diner talk about it all the time on their shows, but at the same time, they also mention that this show is NOT for children. Who in their right mind would schedule an all day marathon of a show that might traumatise little kids. With an eight year old in the house, I am certainly not going to have Fringe on while she is playing with Barbies on the living room floor. Think about it Science Channel! Geez.
Science Fact...
This morning and yesterday morning, I was witness to an event that never ceases to fascinate me. I got to see a fly-over of the International Space Station. I knew exactly when it would be overhead and got some great views as the ISS passed directly over the school I teach in. How did I know this was going to happen you might ask? Well I subscribed to a website at NASA that sends me the times and locations of Station fly-overs. You can do that too by going to http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ and following the very easy instructions that asks for your location and your e-mail address. Give it a try.
One More Thing...
Thursday evenings is the night that Chrissy (my daughter) has her piano lesson. Tonight was also the night that Kearney (where I live) decided to have some to-dos downtown for Christmas. Now you might be asking, what does this have to do with Sci-Fi? Well, I think it falls under the heading of Abnormal Psychology. You see, there were hundreds of people roaming the streets. There was absolutely no parking left anywhere as people walked the sidewalks and tried to get free hot chocolate, popcorn, and whatever else might be available. What strikes me as funny, is that the same people that were walking up and down the street, smiling, waving, exchanging good holiday wishes, and generally spreading cheer; these same people who were all about peace on Earth and good will toward their fellow man on this Thursday night, were the very same people that were ready to beat the crap out of each other last Thursday night at Wal-Mart to get a laptop for $279!
We're all for Peace on Earth, just stay out of my way on Black Friday!
'Nuff Said!
Well, there it is.
Next time, I will write about my holiday wish list, and share some of the items that make decorating for Christmas fun.
Q'aplah!
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