Another crazy day of advising and I am wiped out at 10:30 pm. Sorry for another day of no more Trek.
Wanted to update you all on the last remaining “Days of Halloween”, after my first and second posts.
16. You’re a mean one, Oogie Boogie. You really are a heel.
17. Have yourself a spooky little Halloween. Let your heart be black and orange. From now on our troubles will be solved with free candy.
18. When Jack visits his Paesans with Dominick he’ll be, because Zero doesn’t know his way round Italy.
19. Deck the halls with skulls and pumpkins. Fa la la la la la la la la. ‘Tis the season to be spooky. Fa la la la la la la la la.
20. It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween, everywhere you go (except for Walmart because they’ve had Christmas shit up since August).
21. Doors creak, are you listening? In the lane, shadows glistening. A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight, walking in a spooky, haunted land.
22. Neighbor’s grilling on an open fire. Sweat is dripping down my nose. Time Warp is being sung by a Baptist choir and folks might be dressed up like Eskimos (because I live in the South and it’s 85 degrees in October).
23. Oh the weather outside is frightful. 84 and humid, it’s not at all delightful. And since we’ve no place to go. Stay inside, wash your hands, and wear a mask.
24. Grandma got run over by a dragon. Walking home from our house on Mischief Night. You can say there’s no such thing as the Jersey Devil. But as for me and Grandpa, we’re a-fright.
25. Joy to the world, it’s Halloween week. Let Earth rejoice in spooky songs.
26. Have a spooky, spooky Halloween. It’s the best time of the year. I don’t know if there’ll be trick-or-treating, but have a cup of cider or beer.
27. I saw Mommy kissing the Pumpkin King at the graveyard last night. Daddy’s totally cool with it because they’re polyamorous and he’s got Sally sleeping over tonight.
Day 28 will be something about “Silver Bells”, Day 29 will be a riff on “Feliz Navidad”, Day 30 will be something about “Silent Night”, and the 31st will be fashined after “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”.
This is my 300th post, which means it’s also the 10th full month of this blog!
Today was hell at work and I just finished working at 9 pm. I only took a short break to chat with a dear friend, another to shower and eat dinner, and a few minutes to put lunch together this afternoon. Needles to say, I am le tired.
Fuck, indeed.
Since I’m not up to posting about Trek, we’ll do an update on where I’m at in this first-time-thorugh-Trek.
I’ve watched nine movies, the next one I will watch will be Nemesis.
I’ve watched a little over 400hours of Star Trek. That’s the equivalent of 17 full days! Considering it’s taken me 10 months to do this, I’m not sure that I’m actually impressed.
I am way behind schedule. I should be more than halfway done with Voyager by now, but life has happened… sigh.
“Life Got In The Way” by Sister Hazel
Anyway, happy 10 months to my blog. I’m going to go pass out now.
Interstellar News: It has rained all day and I’ve napped, a lot. I did, however, watch Coco this morning and I cried a good cry.
“Darkling” inTL;DR: Voyager is hanging out with the Mikhal Travelers because they can tell what’s ahead and the EMH is tinkering with his personality by adding “only the good parts” of some famous people. Kes and Neelix did, apparently, really break up sometime after “Warlord” and she’s gotten close to Zahir, one of the Travelers. She considers leaving Voyager to go exploring with him while Zahir talks to Tuvok. Zahir is later attacked by the EMH, but it’s his Mr. Hyde side. The “upgrades” to his personality caused a split-personality that our normal doctor is unaware of. Hyde attacks Torres and tries to get her to delete the doctor, but ultimately he kidnaps Kes. They’re confronted, he tries to kill them both, but Janeway does some magic that allows them to be beamed back aboard and the EMH is himself again. Kes decides to stay on board.
Favorite Quote:
Tuvok: From what I’ve surmised, that is something your people do not seem to value. You take many chances.
Zahir: If we’re alone, yes. But when we’re responsibly for the safety of another it’s a different story. I’m in love with Kes, I want her to go with me, but whatever she decides, it would please me to earn the trust of her closest friends.
Tuvok: It would please me to be able to give it.
This is totally me when I drive. When I’m in the car by myself I drive way differently than when I have a passenger or two.
“Everyone seems to be treating me like I’m still a child. I’m three years old now. If I’m attracted to someone it’s my business, not the whole ship’s.”
“In whatsoever place that I enter, I will enter to help the sick and heal the injured. And I will do no harm.”: I loved this episode when it was Kes being a petulant teenager who was staying up late with a boy she liked, behind on her work, and trying to figure out what she wanted out of life. This was eclipsed by the EMH is Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde story line, instead of them intermixing well. I absolutely loved that the EMH had contacts in when he was “evil”, it had a neat effect. The acting, however, was not great and that’s unusual for one of my favorite characters who is almost always on point. I was not as compelled by his story, though it was an interesting bit of technobabble, and I found myself wanting to know more about Kes and Zahir. Would things have turned out differently had he not interfered? Did they say goodbye? Did Torres plop in a fail-safe so the EMH couldn’t go messing with things he doesn’t understand? Janeway and Tuvok are great here, by the way, as sort of Captain Mom and Uncle Mentor to Kes. They sort of raise their eyebrows at her behavior but allow her to explore and make her own decisions. Give me more of Kes and less of the EMH (a sentence I never thought I would write) and this would have been an interesting story for me. 4 very large cheeseburgers with some root beer to wash it all down for me, please.
“Rise” inTL;DR: Voyager is helping the Nezu destroy some asteroids, but they just won’t die! Neelix is going on the away team with Tuvok and Sklar where they crash land and from Dr. Vatm who has VERY IMPORTANT NEWS he won’t share with anyone but the Ambassador. Since they can’t shuttle or beam back, they decide to use the orbital tether to get withing communications range. On Voyager, Torres and the EMH discover someone has been controlling the asteroids. Oxygen is running out on the tether, Neelix proves himself to Tuvok, and Dr. Vatm is murdered by Sklar… who was working for the opposition. Voyager helps drive off the invaders and Tuvok gives Neelix a special commendation. They also end the episode. with the world’s most adorable discussion.
Favorite Quote:
Hanjuan: I say we throw Vatm out the door. We could use the extra oxygen.
Tuvok: If you are trying to intimidate me, I should inform you that as a Vulcan I possess physical strength many times your…
Hanjuan tries to hit Tuvok. Tuvok grabs his fist and forces him to his knees.
This was such a beautiful scene. Tuvok’s like: okay, now that I’ve shown you my penis is bigger, can we get on with it?
Tuvok tried to warn him…
“I’m looking for Mr. Neelix’s instinct. Perhaps it will be marked.”: Neelix is still trying to make himself more useful, he just wants to be of some help. His problem is that he never does just what is asked, he’s not great at following orders. His heart is in it, though, and he finally gives Tuvok the verbal lashing he totally deserves because he does always condescend toward Neelix no matter what he does. When you’re stuck 70,000 light years from home, you’ve got to lighten up a bit. Neelix also exaggerates a lot, which also doesn’t help, but his enthusiasm is totally there. I thought this was an interesting tactic, controlling asteroids to make it look like a natural disaster and then take over the planet. This was also a good vehicle for Neelix and Tuvok to work together and I enjoyed that part of the story. Neelix was able to get Lillias on their side and helped her fix part of the tether, even if it was in a way that Tuvok did not approve of. It was a fun little thriller and mystery and Tuvok climbing his way back into the tether was fantastic. Unfortunately, it was still a very ‘meh’ episode with a few good lines here and there. 5 words to end the conversation, and they are always Tuvok’s because he’s always got to get the last word in. Indeed.
Musical Accompaniment: Ambient Worlds presents The Matrix
Interstellar News: The weather is beautiful and I’m stuck inside because I am so damn exhausted.
“Blood Fever” inTL;DR: Voyager finds a deserted planet with gallicite, so Torres gets to work. Before she can, however, Vorik proposes marriage and tries to show her how strong he is. She clocks him, they wind up in sick bay, and then she gets ready to go on the mission. Vorik is in the grip of pon farr and can either fuck, meditate, or kill, so the EMH confines him to quarters so Vorik can meditate it out. Torres, Neelix, and Paris go down to the surface where Torres is acting manic and bites Paris, quite playfully. Tuvok realizes that Vorik accidentally transferred his pon farr to Torres and now they’re both in its grip.
“The blood fever has been purged. They will both recover.”
Tuvok and Chakotay go to rescue Torres, Neelix, and Paris. Neelix is transported to sick bay, Tuvok and Chakotay are captured by the Sakai who are living in the caves, and Torres keeps making passes at Paris, who tells her no each time as she’s “under the influence”. The EMH convinces Vorik to try his holodeck sex program as therapy. It totally works, except it absolutely doesn’t because Vorik disables Voyager so he can beam down and fight Paris, except he and Torres fight instead and the pon farr dissipates after a good sparring match. Chakotay helps the Sakai camouflage themselves better so no one will come looking for them, in exchange for some gallicite of course, Paris and Torres have an awkward turbolift ride, and it’s brought to light that the Borg were the invaders of long ago.
Favorite Quote:
EMH: For such an intellectually enlightened race, Vulcans have a remarkably Victorian attitude about sex.
Tuvok: That is a very human judgement, Doctor.
EMH: Then here’s a Vulcan one. I fail to see the logic in perpetuating ignorance about a basic biological function.
The EMH does not give a fuck, pun not at all intended, and just wants to help. It’s biology people, sigh.
“When we get back, I’m sure Starfleet medical will… never hear about your personal experiences from me.”: I am so fucking glad that Paris takes informed consent so seriously. While he’s been a bit of a womanizer and a sleaze in some past episodes, he really seems to take to heart that Torres is not in her right frame of mind. It’s only at the end where she seems to be a little lucid that he even considers it, but in the end her and Vorik duke it out and that’s so satisfying to watch her defend her own honor in some Vulcan mating ritual. Torres all but screams “I’m not a prize to be won”, and it’s wonderful. We all talk about how much Kim is growing up before our eyes, but so are Paris and Torres in their own ways.
“I’m planning to do a comparative study of all these mating rituals. It really is fascinating, from a socio-biological point of view.”
The EMH was also fantastic, as always, not being there to judge but being there to help in any medical way he could. He also geebles about mating rituals in the most pure way possible, I mean… it’s FOR SCIENCE! I also LOVED that there was no hint at who the invaders were until the very last shot and BOOM, now the Borg are the next big bad. It was very skillfully done. So the thing I’m curious about, in regard to the pon farr, do Vulcans only mate with people their own age? Do Vulcan siblings only happen once every seven years? I need to know!!!! 7 rounds in the boxing ring for this one, it was wonderfully fantastic.
“Unity” inTL;DR: Chakotay and Kaplan are, wait for it, lost… in… space. They answer a distress call and are attacked, Kaplan dies but Chakotay is cared for by another faction on the planet. A human woman named Riley explains how she, and others, came to this planet (similar to the 37’s) and they are trying to build a new cooperative and could use medical supplies and technology. Meanwhile Voyager finds a dead Borg ship, the EMH does an autopsy, and Chakotay finds out the people who rescued him were captured at Wolf 359 and assimilated. They were caught in a lightening storm which shorted out the cube and they came back to themselves. Unfortunately some of them don’t want to be friends, sigh. They heal Chakotay using Borg technology, Voyager finds them, Riley talks to Janeway about what she wants, and Janeway ultimately refuses but does provide them with supplies. Unfortunately they brain-jack Chakotay, reform the Borg collective (a friendlier I don’t want to assimilate you kind), and then let Chakotay and Voyager go.
Favorite Quote:
Janeway: I don’t know. I’m not saying I’m happy about what happened, but so far they haven’t acted like typical Borg. They saved us from that Cube, and they let you go.
Chakotay: But they didn’t hesitate to impose their collective will on me when it served their interests, did they?
Janeway: No, they didn’t.
Chakotay: I wonder how long their ideals will last in the face of that kind of power.
With great power, comes great responsibility.
“Are you saying we’re lost, Ensign?”
“That depends what you mean by lost, sir.”: Well it didn’t take long for Voyager to encounter the Borg after the last episode and boy was I SHOCKED when Riley and the cooperative turned out to be Borg. I get what they were trying to do, but assimilation is assimilation no matter if you are trying to take over the world or build one big, hippie commune. There are a few things that I don’t understand, though. Like how were they abducted at Wolf 359 and brought out to the DQ? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for the humans to at least have been from the Enterprise during the first Borg encounter? I also don’t understand how they reactivated Chaktoay’s mind-meld thing after they took the device off him and also how they severed it… or did they really? It’s not had to see how enamored Chakotay was with Riley and the collective, as it brings him back to his roots as an Indian, but I’m wondering if it was an act or if Riley really liked him. Still, an overall fun episode where Chakotay gets to knock boots with a pretty Borg lady. 6 avocados, nice and ripe.
Musical Accompaniment: Billy Joel, The Maine, and Sleeping with Sirens
Interstellar News: My new tablet and case came in today. I am in love.
TL;DR: Janeway and Chakotay are on a shuttle and discuss the recent talent show when they crash land. She appears dead until he revives her, but thinks they were shot down by Vidiians… who eventually come and kill her for real. Except she and Chakotay wake up in the shuttle and remember everything, and then get blown up by another ship. It resets again and this time they get Tuvok on the com but now Chakotay doesn’t remember the time loop. The EMH shows Janeway has the phage and goes to euthanize her, and then she’s back on the shuttle. Janeway has an out of body experience where she sees herself die, the EMH try to revive her, the way Kes and Tuvok try to see if she’s still there, and even hears the memorial service about her. Her “father” comes to bring her to the afterlife, but she refuses. Turns out he’s an alien who feeds off of those who come willingly into his “afterlife matrix”, so she then wakes up and goes back to work.
Favorite Quote:
Alien: I’ve waited for you. I’ve been patient.
Janeway: But your patience is wearing thin. What’s the real reason you want me in that Matrix? Somehow I don’t think it has anything to do with everlasting joy.
Janeway is totally right, as usual.
Oh Herminoe.
“I’d rather be here in spirit than not at all. A Captain doesn’t abandon ship.”: I first want to point out that “Kathryn” and “Captain” sound A LOT alike. The music was also super awesome. Now, onto the story. I went through so many emotions. I was shocked they remembered the time loop, I was devastated that Janeway kept dying, I was horrified at the EMH trying to euthanize the captain, I was thinking the time loop was getting a little long and then we finally get to where she might really be dead… and that was all in the first 15 minutes. The part where her “dad” comes to ferry her off to the afterlife I realized it wasn’t a time loop but something else, though I thought it was a nice touch for us to see how the rest of the crew would handle Janeway dying on a mission. It was a bit disappointing that it was an alien and not a time loop, but it makes you think that there might actually be a fate worse than death. This episode didn’t leave much of an impression on me, though, other than Janeway being the badass actor and captain that she is. 5 plastic containers that no longer have leftovers in them, hooray for making a week’s worth of leftovers in three days!
To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before 