Link Thread

[Nate the Great]

Star Rekt is best known for his habit taking real music videos and changing the lyrics to Trek themes.


Well, today he did something different. He listed some times when it would be irresponsible and terrifying for children to be on board the E-D.


Of all of the examples listed my only problem is with "Disaster", that's not the fault of anyone on board, it was a random quantum filament that could've happened anywhere at any time without warning (and I'm pretty sure the thing could've happened to a planet just as well as a ship).


It does make you wonder how the assignments would be different if the E-D really was going on a long-term exploratory mission outside the Federation. For example, it wouldn't be the glorified taxi that it often was, so there'd be a smaller ratio of visits by hostile aliens.

[Nate the Great]

This year's episode of "Matt Parker uses the occasion of Pi Day to find increasingly silly ways of calculating pi" features a cameo by 3blue1brown. I've never seen this guy before!


The idea of using collisions between objects of differing masses to calculate pi never occurred to me, but I find it exceedingly silly. There's no such thing as a material that will create a perfectly elastic collision, nor is there a way to ensure the objects stay on the same linear path without physical constraints that will cause excessive energy loss via secondary collisions and friction.


I'm reminded of the time the Mythbusters tried to create a Newton's Cradle with wrecking balls.

[Nate the Great]

Old TOS novel cover art: Harry Mudd


Just in case you've never seen Mario cosplaying as a pirate and hitting on adult Powerpuff Girls. Hehe.

[Nate the Great]

Just when I think I know everything about Ocarina of Time...


The amazing part to me was learning that the Poe Sisters were named after the Little Women because one of the creators liked the 1994 movie.

[Nate the Great]

John Cleese in a British radio show parodying TOS


Funny of course, but I can't help but feel that there's too much material dedicated to "we're doing a parody of Star Trek" and not enough material dedicated to actually being a parody of Star Trek.

[Nate the Great]

Certifiably Ingame tackles what it means to be the flagship of the fleet.


The biggest thing that occurs to me is "why are we sending the flagship out past the known Federation for a years-long mission of exploration?"



I mean, really. And this doesn't even apply to just the E-D, but the 1701 as well. Kirk's ship seldom hung around the core of the Federation.



Then again, Trek never really used the term "flagship" correctly. It's supposed to mean the lead ship of a fleet, the one that figuratively flew the admiral's flag. The only time that I recall the Enterprise even serving as the key member of a fleet, admiral or no admiral, is First Contact. Even the Battle of Wolf 359 had the flagship be the Melbourne under Admiral Hansen.


In a loser sense a "flagship" could also mean simply the most advanced or important ship in the general fleet, which would fit the Enterprise, except when it doesn't. Sure the refit 1701 was the most advanced for a time, but they were quickly supplanted by the Excelsior class. I even think that the Galaxy class didn't hold the title very long after the Borg invasion.

[Nate the Great]

Adam Savage views some Star Trek shooting models, including one of the prototype Voyager designs.



I'd long known about this particular design, but I thought it only existed in concept art, not as an actual model!


The video is to tie into the latest auction of Trek props.


One item that I want to call attention to is this signed photo of Picard in his "suede" uniform jacket. I always hated that jacket, it's up there with Kirk's green wraparound. It's too casual and especially stands out because nobody else ever wore anything like it. I'm all for slightly heavier uniforms for missions to colder planets, but this wasn't the way to do it; I'd rather stick to the TWOK jackets.

[Nate the Great]

The B1M talks about the end of the International Space Station in 2030, plus its history.


I still remember visiting the Minnesota Science Museum back in the '90s and seeing a model of what was still called "Space Station Freedom" back then.


And this wasn't at the current location of the Minnesota Science Museum which opened in 1999, it was the prior location where it was for over thirty years.



Don't mind me, I'm just being old and crotchety.

[Nate the Great]

We Travel By Night tackles the TOS->STTMP period, which I call The Lost Years after the novel subseries set during that period.

In STTMP Kirk states that he's been in the admiralty in Starfleet Operations for 2.5 years, yet Decker states that the 1701 was being refit for only 1.5 years. So what was going on in that missing year?

To me the simplest solution is that Spock was using the Enterprise as a training vessel just like he would do prior to TWOK.

Then again, I'm dubious that you could strip a starship down to its skeleton and rebuild it in the 23rd century in just 18 months.

And of course you have to ask why Starfleet would bother replacing 90% of a ship in the first place. Just make the STTMP ship the Enterprise-A and be done with it! (Of course, that would push the TNG ship out to F at least, but that's a discussion for another day).

For that matter, why was Decker in charge of the refit? The possible explanations don't really stand up to scrutiny:
1. It was tradition for the next captain to be in charge of the refits between missions, and Kirk did this before TOS. I don't really like this, as starship design, construction administration, and starship command are different skillsets.
2. Decker just happened to be trained in both and he asked to be allowed to be in charge of the revit. Possible nepotism what with the loss of his father back in "The Doomsday Weapon".
3. This was some sort of scheme by Decker to "earn" the captain's seat as the next step in his career.

[Nate the Great]

Sita Sings the Blues


An animated adaptation of the Ramayana (AKA Indian/Hindi mythology)


This was certainly different. I was introduced to the Ramayana through its rendition in the Childcraft volume Great Myths and Legends.

[Nate the Great]

We Travel By Night tackles the inconsistent size of the Defiant.


This is one plot hole that always bugged me. The size of the station should be set in stone, therefore a shot of the Defiant docked at the station should set the size of the ship in stone.



Why was this ship so freaking small? It doesn't matter if the ship has four or five decks, it was TOO SMALL.

[Nate the Great]

Cracking the Cryptic presents a U.S.S. Voyager-themed Sudoku.


Although if you ask me that ship looks more like the E-E...

[Nate the Great]

Matthias Wandel strikes again, this time with a homemade wooden toy castle set.


Wooden blocks were my jam as a small child, there was always something new to build.

[Nate the Great]

George Wendt (or as everyone will always know him, Norm from Cheers) has died.


Every Norm entrance gag



As Henry MacAfee in the Bye Bye Birdie TV remake. Going from Paul Lynde to George Wendt is one of the weirdest remake castings I have ever seen.


As Tweedle-Dee in Hallmark's Alice in Wonderland. Another three-hour Hallmark movie that should've been a proper four-hour one like the 1985 miniseries.

[Nate the Great]

Peter David, our favorite Writer of Stuff, has died.


Well, that hurts.


Looking over his Memory Alpha page, I'm learning and relearning lots of things about him.


Trek novel bibilography at Memory Beta. Putting aside obvious things like Q-in-Law, Imzadi, and New Frontier, I'd like to point out The Captain's Daughter, the best biography of Demora Sulu that we're ever going to get.


A more general scifi bibliography at fantasticfiction.com. By sheer coincidence I read Sir Apropos of Nothing fairly recently. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Nate the Great]

Someone recreated the TOS crew as Muppets.


Aside from the obvious "why didn't they make Spock green" remark, any further comment would seem whiny and nitpicky, even for me.

[Nate the Great]

Gameplay footage of the cancelled Commander Keen mobile game.


Ugh. Commander Keen is not a puzzle game, it's a platformer. And you can't fit a decent platformer on a phone screen.

[Nate the Great]

Stuff Made Here strikes again: a brownie pan that doesn't create edge


I'm a man who likes my brownies (especially if you mix some marshmallow or caramel in there), but edges are a real pain.

[Nate the Great]

Adam Savage reviews a number of model Grogu toys.


I will probably never watch The Mandalorian, but even I knew of the Baby Yoda mania at the time. I still think that was a big mistake on the creator's part, waiting that long to reveal the name Grogu. Convincing the fandom to use "the Child" instead of "Baby Yoda" was never going to happen.

[Nate the Great]

A few years ago Pedro Araujo turned the first generation of Pokemon games into a movie, and now he's done it for the second generation.


Still an impressive work and I enjoyed it, but it's not quite as good as the first one. Then again, I do have more nostalgia for the first generation.