|
The Enterprise is Already Under Attack! By Fanboys of Course…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2008 in Star Trek
Despite the speed of my RSS reader I first learned about the Enterprise redesign via an angry chain email from a fellow fanboy who was quite pissed that J.J. Abrams was ruining everyones beloved starship. Well it seems the reaction was so bad to the new designs that movie production designer Ryan Church posted a online defense of fan criticism: Read more… Blind Space Engineer Saves the Day: No This Isn’t Star Trek but NASA!
Someday in the future spaceships will make use of talented but perhaps blind engineers to rescue the day? Yes it sounds like the character Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but no it’s the year 2008 and our hero is Marco Midon who works for NASA: Read more… The Latest Star Trek Posters Look Very Twilight Zone Like (But I Like Them)
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 11, 2008 in Star Trek
Star Trek Radiation Shields to Become Reality
Radiation shields on! One of the real limiting factors with space exploration is human biology itself. A good example of this are cosmic rays which are quite scary when you study them, and so far we’ve come up with some pretty crude protection methods. So it’s great to see some research being done to imitate the protection that we get here on Earth with the magnetosphere: Magnetic shield for spacefarers “Future astronauts could benefit from a magnetic “umbrella” that deflects harmful space radiation around their crew capsule, scientists say. The super-fast charged particles that stream away from the Sun pose a significant threat to any long-duration mission, such as to the Moon or Mars. But the research team says a spaceship equipped with a magnetic field generator could protect its occupants. Lab tests are reported in the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. The approach mimics the protective field that envelops the Earth, known as the magnetosphere.” By the way it should be noted that deflector shields pre-date Star Trek and have been employed in science fiction stories since the 1920s, although the show did popularize the concept with the general public. The Kirk Drop Kick (and Please Support Sulu – err George Takei)
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2008 in Star Trek
Shown above is the latest William Shatner video: I know it was shot in advance but I wish that Shat would take George Takei up on his recent offer to come out against on Proposition 8 before election day: Paris Hilton is the Secret Love Child of William Shatner!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2008 in Star Trek
Just kidding! This was the result of playing with the website PhotoFunia which has all sorts of wonderful opportunities for creative mischief: Gene Roddenberry and the Lost Social Consciousness of Star Trek
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 26, 2008 in Star Trek
The above interview with Gene Roddenberry was from Good Morning America in 1986 (I believe that’s Joan Lunden with her big 80s hair asking the questions). Roddenberry came to my mind because he brought the series to life, but sadly was shoved to the side even during the original run of the series which as he points out wasn’t a success during its original run. In fact even after the movies brought the show back to life he was pushed over after the first film. New Trek Stills Give Me Bad Muppet Baby Vibes
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 16, 2008 in Star Trek
I’m trying hard not to pre-judge the up and coming Star Trek film, but it’s hard knowing that Shat won’t be a part of it. But looking at the latest batch of stills that are “leaking” onto the net I’m not getting a good vibe. Shown above is a still image from UGO showing off the crew — maybe it’s the lighting or the costumes but they all look a bit too baby faced for me. There’s this next shot from MTV:
That set for the bridge looks a little too much like the cosmetics section of the drug store — this worked well on the old Space:1999 but here there’s no style holding it all together. Again the lighting is just a tad too bright, although the actors look a bit more animated. But I fear this film is committing the sin the Star Trek: TNG where the captain sits around all day and yammers — while what I loved about the original series was that Kirk wasn’t afraid to have a fist fight. But there’s some hope below in this next shot of Spock from AICN:
But this begs the question of why Spock is so hands on? However at least Spock seems to be doing something rather than enjoying a cup of earl gray while having a conference call with Star Fleet command on what he should be doing about the situation. This last shot from TrekMovie gives me the most hope:
Start Trekkin: To Goof Boldly Where No Fan Has Gone Before…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 10, 2008 in Star Trek
To me there will never be anything quite as fun as the original Star Trek series, so it makes my heart happy to see a new generation having a bit of fun with the old school crew right here in New York City: “Start Trekkin is in fact the greatest comedy experience you will ever have. Each episode is a fully improvised explosion of the Universe created by Star Trek. A new crew and a new ship explore the universe every time, taking on the single most exciting problems sentient life has ever encountered. This is a full hour-length narrative created before your very eyes and based on your suggestions.” By the way if you’re on Facebook you can join their fan club here! I’m sure they’ll be announcing some new stardates shortly… Support Shat: Don’t Buy this T-Shirt!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 9, 2008 in Star Trek
There’s only one man on planet Earth who has the right to wear this t-shirt and that’s none other than Mr. William Shatner — THE only man qualified to play Captain James T. Kirk on the silver screen. I blame J.J. Abrams for the fact that we now find that any slob with $25 and access to the internet can prance around with Shat’s shirt on his back. Damn all of you apathetic fanboys who haven’t spoken up on this issue. Hell if it weren’t for Shatner we’d all still be watching friggin’ Westerns…
Trek Nation: Gene Roddenberry Documentary
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 23, 2008 in Star Trek
Rod Roddneberry (the son of Gene Roddenberry) has been working on a documentary featuring the work of his dad relating to Star Trek for a few years now — at long last a trailer for the film is out and it looks pretty promising: Trek Nation. Thank You Joan Winston
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 22, 2008 in Star Trek
If you’re a Star Trek fanboy (or fangurl) you owe a great deal to Joan Winston — she was one of a handful of people that invented the modern science fiction convention as we know it. Before 1972 there had been science fiction conventions going bak to the 30s, but these affairs were always focused on literary science fiction as the main show. In the 70s thanks to Star Trek this changed, and with it the audience for science fiction (and thus fandom) came in from the fringe to being a larger subculture that is now part of the mainstream of American society. I was too young to get to those original Star Trek cons in the 70s (although I did talk my parents into a visit to the Star Trek Trading Post before it closed) but those cons served as a role model for the first generation of anime fans to take the bold leap into the larger world of conventions. In fact many of Joan Winston’s friends at the Lunarians played a critical role in allowing the first anime room at a science fiction convention in 1983. Joan Winston, ‘Trek’ Superfan, Dies at 77 “It was January 1972, and the first Star Trek convention was under way in a rented ballroom at the Statler Hilton in Manhattan. The organizers had expected a crowd of about 500. In the end, more than 3,000 fans turned up, so many that by the final day of the event registrars were issuing ID cards made from torn scraps of wrapping paper. For fans of the series, the convention marked the moment when a diaspora became a nation. And it made a subculture celebrity of Joan Winston, who played a leading role in creating the event and went on to achieve a second-order fame as one of world’s most avid “Star Trek” fans. She died of Alzheimer’s disease on Sept. 11 at age 77, her cousin Steven Rosenfeld said. She lived in Manhattan.” Shat Strikes Back!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 19, 2008 in Star Trek
In this latest video below William Shatner pretty much calls J.J. Abrams a liar (in a kissy kind of Hollywood way). Now is the time to bring back Shat! Seriously how can you have Nimoy but not Shatner? Frankly if it weren’t for Shat you wouldn’t have 50 million fanboys waiting in line to see the next film in the first place. Forty years from now will Lost inspire a four spin off shows and a dozen movies? No I don’t think so Mr. hot shot director… Found via trekmovie.com. Shat Should be in Trek, Not Shilling TekWar
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 16, 2008 in Star Trek
It depresses me no end to see Williams Shatner being forced to shill copies of TekWar comic books, when he should be a cornerstone to the upcoming Star Trek film. As someone who grew up loving Star Trek as a kid it’s depressing for me to see the way that they’re treating William Shatner. It would be one thing if Nimoy wasn’t in the film, but he is and that’s just rubbing salt in the wound. And sadly at this point it seems more and more like this isn’t some sort of Andy Kaufman stunt to get PR for the film — but shoving Shat out into the cold. At the end of the below excerpt of an interview Shatner argues that that Star Trek is science fiction and it’s easy to write him into a script. But I’ll take that a step further — not only is it easy to write him into a script, but if they did it in the right way they could have done it as a future flashback or something. I feel many of the old Trek movies were a mixed bag, so there’s no reason you have slavishly follow the plot if you feel like you’re reinventing the series. No doubt I’ll be there on line when the film hits the street with my fellow fanboys, but after reading this I’m not sure that I’d love the show as much from this point on: Shatner On Comics And ‘Star Trek XI’ “Shatner will have his name emblazoned in the title of the new comics, and it would have been a nice tie-in if the early issues were coming out amid the hoopla of his appearance in the next “Star Trek” film, the J.J. Abrams reboot set for May, but that’s a party he is not invited to. Only Leonard Nimoy, sharing the role of Spock, will be returning to the cast, which will otherwise feature young actors portraying Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew fresh from Starfleet Academy. Set Phasers to — KHAAAAAAAAN!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 3, 2008 in Star Trek
I don’t care what the hell J.J. Abrams is cooking up with the next movie — you just know in your heart of hearts that it will never be 25% as cool as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. And why is that? Because whatever man child/pretty boy they cast as Kirk, he’ll never pass the test unless he can scream KHAAAAAAAAN! and really mean it:
Oh and by the way if you want to pre-order The Wrath of Khan Phaser you should go here. What’s cool is that like the phaser in the movie you can remove the type-1 phaser from the larger assembly (which is quite useful for stalking casting executives). Star Trek Warp Drive is a Possibility
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 19, 2008 in Star Trek
I just want to put the entire world on notice that my feelings as a fanboy won’t be the slightest bit hurt if warp drive technology become real! Of course if I can get a free pass on the next mission that would be cool too: Star Trek warp drive is a possibility, say scientists “Two physicists have boldly gone where no reputable scientists should go and devised a new scheme to travel faster than the speed of light. The advance could mean that Star Trek fantasies of interstellar civilisations and voyages powered by warp drive are now no longer the exclusive domain of science fiction writers. Dr Gerald Cleaver, associate professor of physics at Baylor, and Richard Obousy have come up with a new twist on an existing idea to produce a warp drive that they believe can travel faster than the speed of light, without breaking the laws of physics. In their scheme, in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, a starship could “warp” space so that it shrinks ahead of the vessel and expands behind it.” New Star Trek Posters
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 13, 2008 in Star Trek
Confession time: I’ll admit it that I’m a grumpy old fanboy when it comes to the fact that William Shatner won’t be in the upcoming Star Trek film, but I have to say that Paramount is doing a great job of fan outreach. Thanks to their webmaster program I’ve managed to get some copies of posters for the upcoming film. Above is the main poster (click on them to see at full size), below is a version with “Kirk” (quotes used out of respect to William Shatner): Star Trek Online Game Announced
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 28, 2008 in Star Trek
Good news for Star Trek gamer fanboys: Cryptic Studios Licenses Rights to Produce Star Trek Online “Trek Fans Worldwide Are Invited to MMO Gamplay Reveal at Annual Star Trek Convention August 10, 2008 or Via Live Webcast at startrekonline.com. Cryptic Studios a leading developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), announced today that it has secured the global rights to develop and publish Star Trek Online, a massively multiplayer online game based on the legendary Star Trek franchise, from CBS Consumer Products.” Found via timetravelisawesome.com. Assignment: Earth?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 28, 2008 in Star Trek
Above is a debate from a recent episode of Larry King which is a debate if UFOs have been involved with missile misfires — the premise of the show gave me a bit of deja vu and the it hit me: This was the plot from the 1968 Star Trek episode Assignment: Earth: “The starship USS Enterprise time travels to 1968 Earth for historical research. Suddenly, the Enterprise intercepts a highly powerful transporter beam from thousands of light-years away. A man dressed in a business suit materializes on the transporter pad. He carries a black cat with a diamond collar with one hand and a briefcase with the other. He converses with his cat, Isis, then introduces himself to Captain Kirk as Gary Seven. Seven tells Kirk that he is an Earth human from a far more advanced world. His ancestors are humans taken from Earth over 9000 years ago and trained to intercede on Earth to help it survive. Seven refuses to reveal his home planet and warns Kirk that history will be changed and Earth destroyed if he is not released immediately.”
That episode was in fact a pilot for another series that Gene Roddenberry had hoped to produce, but sadly the show never got off the ground. But the concept of the episode mirrors the fear of a nuclear winter that shadowed the Cold War era, and the idea that a more advanced and enlightened civilization would save us from ourselves was very appealing. Although I wonder of that premise is a bit egotistical of us? If the universe is brimming with intelligent life that was capable of interstellar travel then wouldn’t those aliens be so advanced as to be hands off when observing our primitive civilization? For example one of the things I always hate about nature films is that the crew never interferes. Never mind that I’m clearing rooting for a peaceful escape when a poor creature on Meerkat Manner is being chased by an eagle, the snotty apathetic humans never rescue our hero. So this begs the question why someone would want to save us dumb humans? Unless of course you want to take that premise in a very different direction and assume that those creatures are humans from the future (ala the crew of the Enterprise from Assignment: Earth) have their own selfish survival at stake by mixing it up with our primitive civilization. Now getting back to our current situation here in the early 21st Century: I wonder if this reintroduction of the concept of “aliens trying to save us” reflects a new subconscious fear that we’re once again on the edge of destroying human civilization? Between global warming and the new micro Cold Wars we see being introduced (like between India and Pakistan or Israel and Iran) I get a sense that that feeling of uncertainty about our collective future is back. Star Trek: To Boldly Not Allow Embedding
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 11, 2008 in Star Trek
The Good News: CBS now has all of the original Star Trek episodes online! The Bad News: You can’t embed them into your blog! Old media just doesn’t get it — and the “it” is economics. On the web page views equal cash, so if nobody can find your video you won’t do so well. You’d think with an army of Star Trek fanboys allowing embedding would be obvious, but to me it’s just another sign of old media not understanding the medium. I also wish that CBS had done a deal with YouTube — as a brand CBS is dead to me because it’s a TV network which is something I make it a point to skip when channel surfing (and I’m an old guy!). There’s something quite sad when a show about the future is married to people stuck in the past. The Genius of Alexander Courage
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 31, 2008 in Star Trek
The music of Alexander Courage set the mood for every Star Trek TV series and movie to come — the tone is clearly that of a swashbuckling naval adventure set in the stars. This is amazing when you think about the fact that that approach was so out of style by the 60s, and yet Courage manages to reinvent it. And if I do say so, the music holds up rather well — it doesn’t feel dated, it’s a real classic is every sense of the word (it’s also important to note that he did this before Kubrick used classical music in 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968). Alexander, thank you for being a special part of the soundtrack of my childhood: ‘Star Trek’ theme composer dies at 88 “His most famous work is undoubtedly the “Star Trek” theme, which he composed, arranged and conducted in a week in 1965. “I have to confess to the world that I am not a science fiction fan,” Courage said in an interview for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation’s Archive of American Television in 2000. “Never have been. I think it’s just marvelous malarkey. … So you write some, you hope, marvelous malarkey music that goes with it.” Courage said the tune, with its ringing fanfare, eerie soprano part and swooping orchestration, was inspired by an arrangement of the song “Beyond the Blue Horizon” he heard as a youngster. “Little did I know when I wrote that first A-flat for the flute that it was going to go down in history, somehow,” Courage said. “It’s a very strange feeling.” Courage said he also mouthed the “whooshing” sound heard as the starship Enterprise zooms through the opening credits of the TV show.” Because there’s only one Captain James T. Kirk
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 25, 2008 in Star Trek
As usual TrekMovie.com is doing some great coverage of the upcoming Star Trek film. However sadly the news is bad for us fanboys who grew up with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. I think it’s crappy how they’ve treated Shatner who played such a huge role in making the series what it was: Shatner: JJ Abrams Never Called Me Back Newsweek: What’s the latest on the upcoming “Star Trek” movie remake that J.J. Abrams is doing? Have you been hearing from him at all? Newsweek: Were you offended? Newsweek: Why do you think you were left out? …would it hurt so much to give the guy a five minute walk on role? WTF! Congratulations to George Takei
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 20, 2008 in Star Trek
What I’ve always liked about the original Star Trek series is that it represented a very progressive view of the world — not only could we travel to the stars, but all nations could be at peace and the world could be a better place. George Takei is an amazing man, at age 5 he was placed in an internment camp with his family during World War II and he’s had exceptional longevity as an actor appearing in everything from two Jerry Lewis comedies to the action packed MacGyver TV series (and most recently on Heroes). So this fanboy wishes him and Brad Altman the very best: Gay wedding for Star Trek’s Takei “US actor George Takei is to wed his long-term partner after California lifted its ban on same-sex marriage. Takei, 71, best known for playing Mr Sulu in Star Trek, said he and Brad Altman were going through the “delicious dilemma” of where to marry. The actor and 54-year-old Mr Altman have been together for 21 years. “We can have the dignity, as well as all the responsibilities, of marriage. We embrace it all heartily,” Takei wrote on his website.” Mod Looking Gold Key Star Trek Covers
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 12, 2008 in Star Trek
In 1967 Gold Key started publishing a series of Star Trek comic books. What I love about these early ones is that the designs look very and mod, not what you’d expect to see on the cover of a comic book. The use of colors is very psychedelic and they incorporate design elements which are reminiscent of op art and Andy Warhol. Shown above is issue 01-00 from 1967, below are issues 03-00 from 1968 and 04-00 from 1969. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2024 Fanboy.com All rights reserved. Theme by Laptop Geek.
