Tag Archives: TNG

2020-02-02 · 19:46

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 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.

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

Orinoco

Sorry Enya fans this post has nothing to do with her. In case that is why you are here I’ll just post this:

No I am talking about a different Orinoco: This is from the Eaglemoss the Official Star Trek starships collection. I have been cherry picking these for a while and have finally got this beautiful runabout.

The runabouts were a wonderful idea. Like a shuttle but they certainly pack a bigger punch and actually seem to have an airlock – unlike the silly shuttles used in TNG.

Having this model allows me to tell you a little story. A poorly timed story but who’s counting?

I don’t remember how old I was when I stopped believing in Father Christmas. But this little ship might have been something to do with it. I have the vague recollection of asking for one for Christmas once – not a model an actual ship!

I have no idea what five or six year old me was planning to do with such a well armed vessel but there it is.

I do remember often asking for impossible presents from Father Christmas. It was my thinking that he was magical. He didn’t need to go down to Toys’R’Us did he?

It was all rather wonderful to be a child and believe in magic. I look forward to those days with my nephew.

***
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.

Fiction Within Fiction

In Star Trek we never, well hardly ever, see examples of contemporary fiction. Contemporary to the people in the show that is. Captain Picard likes Shakespeare, Captain Sisko likes baseball (which in Star Trek’s time is a defunct game) , and the concerts are always classical music.

Even in today’s would Picard could be considered old fashioned. He still reads paper books. Of course the Kindle would have been to difficult to believe back in 1987. He could still have been old fashioned by reading Stephen King. Remember King would be as long ago from Picard as Shakespeare is from us.

TNG and DS9 are set in the 24th century. We know TV doesn’t exist but there are holo-novels – and I imagine there would be books. The book has existed for thousands of years. It has survived cinema, radio, TV, and, the internet. Reading is still one of the best ways to absorb a story.

So given the setting there would be 22nd, 23rd, and 24th century authors for the characters to read. They don’t of course for one obvious reason – it would be too difficult.

In a novel or TV series you don’t want to include too many irrelevancies. You can’t have Geordi and Troi talking about The Only Way is Vulcan, I.n.t.e.r.c.o.n.n.e.c.t.e.d, Time Trek, or Bones (A TV series based on the life of Dr McCoy). As it would detract from the story.

However it is nice to see little titbits of information about the fictional world. In an episode of Babylon 5 there is a reference to an upcoming match. It could be American football or football I don’t remember. Go sports! The match is between Mars and Earth. So one of the factors is the gravity. When each team plays at each others venues there is a physical home advantage.

Deep Space Nine did pay lip-service to this idea with Jake Sisko. He wrote fiction but fiction from the POV of his universe. So he wrote a story about the Maquis – a group of freedom fighters/terrorists depending on your view point.

All this got me thinking. Let me explain. No, there is too much, let me sum up.

When writing you create a fictional world. A lot of effort goes into that. Eventually you have to make choices about characters and races. My idea is you could create a complex web of stories each of which is another’s fiction. You’d have to be careful not to confuse the reader. Coloured spins could achieve this.

So say I write a novel set in the 25th century. Its about a brash Private Detective, James Sachs, who travels the universe with his alien companion, Hol, solving crimes.

In another novel, Hyper Star, we follow the story of Stephanie McKnight. She is training to be an officer in the Earth Confederation navy. In her free time she watches TV and follows the adventures of Sachs and Hol. For her its not science fiction its a contemporaneity series. Hol is a played by a real alien actor.

And being clear this is not me being narcissistic. I’m not saying that my novels will survive hundreds of years from now. – Hell I might never finish anything – I’m saying these are contemporaneity fiction.

So while you might pick up The Warehouse by Daniel O’Donovan – Stephannie McKnight would pick up the Warehouse by Cynthia Cline.

Tag Archives: TNG

Two Things Not Connected

Orinoco

Fiction Within Fiction

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