Tag Archives: Star Trek: The Next Generation

2024-05-16 · 18:00

To Blog or Not to Blog

Wow! Look at that stock picture. Sometimes you find exactly what you are looking for. Isn’t that special?

To blog or not to blog? That is the question I am asking myself today. I say today but it is more than just today given that the draft for this was started some time ago.

With an uninspired title like that it might be that not blogging is for the best. Still I am going to explore this topic.

A blog is the blogger putting their thoughts out into the universe. The real question is is the universe interested.

I’m entitled to my opinion.
It is your assumption that we are entitled to it as well that is irritating.
Vila & Avon Blake’s 7 (Bounty)

No one can do a put down quite like Avon. The internet is packed to the gills with people expressing their opinions and/or giving advice. After a while online it all starts to become overwhelming. I have even started to doubt my own opinion on things like TV, films and books. “Well GenericScienceFiction4247 doesn’t like this episode so maybe I am wrong.”

You are erratic. Conflicted. Disorganised. Every decision is debated, every action questioned, every individual entitled to their own small opinion. You lack harmony, cohesion, greatness. It will be your undoing.
Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01: Star Trek: Voyager (Scorpion Part 2)

This post started out as me questioning if I should keep blogging. Now I am advocating for the Borg. Something has gone horribly wrong.

The thing about blogging is that it is takes time and it has to be thought of in the context of when it is being posted.

Let’s say I wanted to tell you about the time I took a water pistol to school. That might be just a funny story. However if, on that day, there is some story about a kid doing the same for nefarious reasons my funny blog post becomes insensitive.

I did actually take a water pistol to school once. I don’t know how old I was. I think I was around 12-14. The reason was the school was having a fancy dress day. I went as James Bond. Mum spray painted a water pistol black – and to my eyes it looked like a Waltha PPK. And that is actually the end of the story because I have a memory like Swiss cheese.

Let’s imagine that I had more to say. I would sit at my computer, write a blog post, and be ready to hit the post button. Then I read the bad water pistol story. Suddenly it sounds like I am making light of a tragedy. (How there can be a tragedy involving a water pistol is another question entirely.)

Photo by John Guccione http://www.advergroup.com on Pexels.com

The point is that for blogging you have to be aware about stuff like this in a way you don’t, as much, for any other sort of internet content.

Every now and then, on Facebook, there is a post proposing a question. “Could you live without the internet for a month? At the end you get £1,000,000.”

Unfortunately no one is actually offering that. Nevertheless I have often wondered about my answer to that question. I think if I was allowed a good supply of books and DVDs it might not be so bad. This would especially be true if there were good places to go for walks. The only slight wrinkle is that there are some people I only talk to online. I would obviously have to make sure they knew I wasn’t just ignoring them.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

A lot of what I do online is the internet equivalent of eating sweets. I watch YouTube videos. Sometimes they may have a lasting impact but mostly they are enjoyable in the moment only.

I don’t even want to know how much time I spend on YouTube on a typical day.

Sometimes I have the following rather silly thought: ‘I can’t sit and watch TV because I should be being productive. In lieu of that I will watch YouTube. Therefore I will have a break of only 15 minutes instead of 45.’

Yeah that is a bad idea. What normally ends up happening is that I just spend those minutes (and more) on YouTube instead.

At the beginning of the year I left my job. To say I had a plan might be playing fast and loose with the word. What is something that is a step down from a plan?

Anyway the “plan” was to focus on writing for a bit, finally get my novel finished, and find a way to earn money in a way that didn’t drive me completely mad. (That ship might have already sailed.)

I have achieved a draft of my novel. It is incredibly rough and incoherent but it is something. I now need to pull together all the other drafts (I hate my past self) to make it work. There is just one small problem….

I don’t have a villain. Maybe that is more than a small problem. It is like trying to make onion bhajis without onion. Which I have attempted. No. I am not a complete idiot. What I mean is that I have set out with the intention to make bhajis only to discover I have all ingredients except for onions. My brain and I have a rather dysfunctional relationship.

Do stories need a villain?

You will bow to my awesome power. There is nothing that can stop the destruction I bring upon you. Prepare to meet your doom.
Anubis (Stargate SG1: Redemption Part 1)

Actually Stargate is very good at this. The Goa’uld are literally described as ‘cliched bad guys’. Although that is mostly because it seems to be Colonel O’Neill’s favourite word.

Stargate SG-1 without the Goa’uld wouldn’t be quite the same. (Yes that was a dig at seasons 9 and 10… sorry.) SG-1 needs a villain so they can save the world at the end of each season. I don’t think a villain is always needed.

When I first started my novel, a long time ago, there was a villain. He lived in a grand castle with his minions. The castle stood alone on a mountain. The heroes make a daring attack in the final chapter – and not all of them survive.

The villain in their fortress has been done many times. From Ming the Merciless, to Sauron, to a number of the Bond villains. It does work but what if my story needs something else?

One of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation is “The Defector”. This episode doesn’t end with a battle but it does have a villain. That villain is Tomalak played by the late great Andreas Katsulas.

The episode is tense. The Enterprise must determine if a Romulan defector is genuine or a ruse to start a war.

At the end of the story the Enterprise is outgunned and all seems lost. Then we get the reveal. The Enterprise has Klingon reinforcements. What was a sure thing for the Romulans is now, at best, a Pyrrhic victory. Tomalak chooses to withdraw.

I look forward to our next meeting, Captain.
Tomalak (Star Trek: The Next Generation SG1: The Defector)

I am trying to stumble towards a point here. (Although I have written this over so many days I am not sure what it is.) Perhaps this blog does have a purpose in that it helps me to work out story possibilities.

Fantasy novels often end with an epic battle. So in an effort to set myself apart I want to do something different. The question is what? Without a battle it might just be a bunch of connected ideas and nothing more.

I said at the top that I have a rough draft of my novel. I do. However this post has proven there are a huge number of kinks to work out. I

If nothing else I need to put barriers in the way of my heroes. Some writers like their characters to go through a series of horrible events. I am not so sure that is what I want. I also don’t want to end up with a red shirt problem. And I am not sure my novel is even that kind of story.

Thank you for staying with this rambling excuse for a blog post. Will there be more? Maybe. This is my first (Reviews notwithstanding) post in nine months! That is a long time. I think I will leave the final words to Homer Simpson.

…it’s just a bunch of stuff that happened.

Homer Simpson (The Simpsons: Blood Feud)

I just wanted to say that I have checked this post. I really have. Unfortunately my particular combination of dyslexia and dyspraxia makes it really hard for me to spot typos. Please enjoy and I’ll try not to make too many errors.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SDuKYJBkJm

Two Things Not Connected

https://www.pexels.com/photo/animal-cat-face-close-up-feline-416160/

This post is coming to you late because I fell asleep! I was tired this afternoon and decided to take a twenty minute nap. That ended up being a one hour and forty minute nap. As my mum might say: ‘You must have needed it.’ – I guess it just shows that I don’t get enough sleep in the week. Here I am now though to ramble at you for a few minutes. Can you ramble at someone? Is that a contradiction? I do not know. Here is a cat for no reason.

Photo by **Immortal shots** from **Pexels**

I want to talk about two things today. They don’t have anything to do with each other; which is why this post is going to be rambley – is that a word? – it is now. I want to talk about Picard and Brexit.

Photo by **Miriam Espacio** from **Pexels**

First there is Picard, the new Star Trek series, which, after two episodes, I’m still not sure about. I don’t hate it but there is something off about it and I can’t quite put my finger on what that is. It is not even a case of expectation versus reality. I am not sure what I was expecting.

Here is the trailer.

There is an old saying: ‘You can’t go home again’. Perhaps this is the problem – it is different. I think there is more to it than that and I would like to think I am not that shallow.

One of the best final episodes of any TV show ever.

I grew up on TNG and DS9. I was seven when TNG ended and six when DS9 started. Those are the shows I remember the most from the original five live action shows. DS9 is especially important to me as I was able to watch it as it came out. I remember fondly the cliffhanger from Call to Arms with the Federation Fleet filling the screen. It was so cool to see this wall of ships.

Star Trek: Picard is such a different animal to its predecessors. Star Trek has always been about the ensemble but this show is focusing on just one character. Picard is one of my favourite characters but I still see this as a problem.

Also a problem is the name of the show. The way it is structured I am not sure what else it could be called but making it just about him is a mistake.

Come on! Without my crew I’m not a commander, huh?
Jason Nesmith (Galaxy Quest)

I would have started in space with the crew assembled and told this part of the story in flashback. Perhaps calling it Star Trek: Dunkirk – that would be a good name for a ship given what was said in the opening episode.

We are two episodes in and still not in space. DS9 was, essentially, a ground based show too but we got a full cast of characters from the beginning. Then again Picard is not episodic so I should just be patient and wait to see what happens.

Final words… Picard is a good show. I am not sure it is a good Star Trek show. How it all comes together remains to be seen. I look forward to finding out. I thought about writing a review of the episodes so far but I don’t think I could do that justice. Sometimes you need to see the whole picture to know if it was worth it.

Photo by **eberhard grossgasteiger** from **Pexels**

The other thing I want to talk about is Brexit. The UK has now left the EU and I am not happy about it. I know – I know – I was in the minority when it comes to EU membership. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. There is the small matter of the leave campaign lying to the people which, for reasons I don’t understand, never mattered in the government’s plans. I am not even sure how to put all my thoughts on this subject in order.

I want to travel and have been putting it off for almost a decade. I figured one day I would meet someone and the two of us would go together. The meeting someone didn’t pan out so, next month, I am going to The Netherlands. It will be the first time I have ever travelled abroad by myself – incidentally the prospect is rather scary.

Leaving the EU won’t effect me much this time around, I will have to join the queue for non-EU counties, but as time goes on travelling may get more difficult. I hope I am wrong about that.

Nevertheless I plan to go abroad as much as possible. There is a huge world to explore and The Netherlands seems a good place to start. I can fly from my local air port and, from what I hear, Dutch public transport is pretty good so getting about won’t be difficult. (Public transport is one of many things we need to learn about in the UK.)

It is funny thinking about Brexit. All this time and I still don’t understand. I can see no upside to leaving but leave we have. On the one hand I hope the doom and gloom proves to be false. On the other hand if this does all go belly up I, and other remainers, can laugh and say: ‘I told you so.’

Well hasn’t this been a ramble? It is funny but some weeks I don’t know what to say and other weeks I write an essay!

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you. See you next time.

I have a Patreon page. I hope you will consider supporting this blog: https://www.patreon.com/unstableorbit

Predicting Technological Growth

In Star Trek: The Original Series the characters used large rectangular microtaps. With today’s technology a card that size might have a capacity of over six terabytes. Given the rate that Mr Spock sometimes switched disks it is clear the creators of the show didn’t have that capacity in mind.

This isn’t surprising. The first floppy disk wasn’t commercially available until 1971. It was impossible for someone in the 1960s to predict how data storage, and compression, might work in the future. For us today it is a little easier. I have used floppy discs, CDs, CF cards and, the various sizes of SD cards. Just in my life time I have seen technology change.

I like the technology, in the science fiction I write, to look as plausible as possible. This works but only to a point. If you asked an inventor, living two thousand years ago, to imagine a speed boat – what might they come up with? They might look into the best shape of sail or having a huge deck space for hundreds of oarsmen. They would have no concept of electricity or anything else that makes a speed boat work. My point is that one day we may discover something new. The microprocessor was a huge change from how computers worked before. What if their is some other change? That would throw any prediction off.

It’s not just computers. In Peter F. Hamilton‘s: Commonwealth Saga the characters enjoy virtual immortality. They can go through this process, rejuvenation, and basically become young again. Might we have this in the future? Given my limited, non-existent, knowledge of science it isn’t all that ridiculous. Cells in the body already replace themselves so what if you could do away with the degradation of that process?

Should I have immortality in my science fiction?

Ultimately science fiction seems to go down one of two paths.

In the case of Star Trek we are ahead of them – with the notable exception of warp drive, phasers, artificial gravity, deflector shields, and… okay this is getting silly. Much of today’s household technology is ahead of Star Trek’s. Even in TNG the away team would describe stuff for Picard. Today most of us carry a camera where ever we go.
On the other hand 2001: A Space Odyssey was set thirteen years ago and we still don’t have a moon base… damn it.

There are no real answers here. Perhaps all science fiction is destined to eventually be damned with this sentence: ‘Its of its time.’

Perhaps warp drive will be invented one day. Maybe a student studying at a university, somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, – will one day wonder why the USS Voyage is so slow. In his universe a trip of 75,000 light years can be considered as a weekend get away.

It’s Life Gym But Not as We Know It

Five weeks ago I posted here about joining a gym. I’m still going! Does that count as an achievement? Maybe. If I’d made going to the gym a New Year’s Resolution I’d be into February. The common wisdom is that that is unusual.

I actually like going to the gym. Previously I exercised using wii fit. Despite the wii being in my flat, obviously, I never quite felt like exercising. There was no time before work and I was tired after work. The gym is better exercise yet doing that after work feels easier. This is probably because when you get home you want to slump.

The annoying thing about the gym is the music. Sometimes there is multiple competing music. The gym is open plan so when there is a class it’s music, or in my view noise, plays on top of the general music. Meanwhile I’m trying to listen to my own music.

Exercising with music makes it easier. I find it gives you something to aim for. When the current treadmill level gets too difficult I’ll try and wait to the end of the song to reduce it.

The music is my only real gripe about the gym. It does seem just a tad strange to have it when most everyone has MP3 players or phones.

What’s on my gym playlist?

Okay I’ll tell you.

Don’t judge me.

Please.

I actually have three playlists, of different lengths, because sometimes you only feel like exercising for a short time. This is my long playlist…

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Main Title – (Without voice-over and the tune is a little different)
Go the Distance – Emma Blackery
Dancing in the Rain – Ruth Lorenzo
Would You Be Happier? – The Corrs
Hunter of Stars – Sebalter
Bring it All Back – S Club 7
Tick – Tock – Mariya Yaremchuk
Hard Rock Hallelujah – Lordi
Calm After the Storm – The Common Linnets
Two in A Million – S Club 7
99 Red Balloons – Nena
Children of the Universe – Molly
Everybody Wants Ya – S Club 7
Opa – Giorgos Alkaios & Friends
Fear the Future – Emma Blackery
Shine – Tolmachevy Sisters
No More Cry – The Corrs
Satellite – Lena
I Quit – Hepburn
Star Trek: The Next Generation – End Credits

Yeah… Star Trek, Eurovision, S Club… well there you go….

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Tagged as 99 Red Balloons, Bring it all back, Calm After the Storm, Children of the Universe, Dancing in the Rain, Emma Blackery, Everybody Wants Ya, Fear the Future, Giorgos Alkaios & Friends, Go the Distance, gym, Hard Rock Hallelujah, Hepburn, Hunter of Stars, I Quit, Lena, Lordi, Mariya Yaremchuk, Molly, Nena, No More Cry, Opa, Ruth Lorenzo, S Club 7, Satellite, Sebalter, Shine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Common Linnets, The Corrs, Tick-tock, Tolmachevy Sisters, Two in A Million, Would You Be Happier?