Zixar
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Yep, Rudolf Karp and Bart Nagy were two scientists who believed fossilized microbes might be found in meteorites.
From the obituary at Univ. of Arizona:
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Bart's landmark volume Carbonaceous Meteorites appeared in 1975. (Note: this was 4 years after TAS the movie)The excitement of those times is currently being relived as new information about meteorites, particularly those from Mars, is being discussed. The focus then, as now, was on carbonaceous matter. The Martian carbonaceous matter may hold the key to prebiological chemical evolution or evidence of extraterrestrial life. Bart and his colleagues pioneered efforts to resolve these issues. Carbonaceous Meteorites deserves the careful scrutiny of all researchers balanced on the precarious cutting edge of research for evidence of extraterrestrial life. This is especially so in light of the current "identification" of fossil microbial life forms in meteorites believed to be fragments blasted off the surface of our red sister planet. At times, the boundary between science fiction and reality seems disarmingly flimsy. The reader will discover this upon reading (or rereading) Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain where the author refers to "Nagy".
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TSRTS: Okay, I think I know what you're talking about now. If memory serves, in the book MC goes into the idea that visitors from other worlds would be microscopic in size, due to the efficiency of transporting such a tiny thing. In the movie, Dutton is shown in a flashback drawing a picture of a scientist looking through a microscope with a word balloon from the slide saying "Take us to your leader!"
This was taken from a real scientist's theories, and the only two I remember being mentioned in the book were Karp and Nagy. That's where I'd start looking.
God bless,
Zix
"Scoop was built for germ warfare, and you knew it, Stone!"
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John: Simple. Open up your paint program and click on the Edit/Paste menu. Then save it as a JPEG.
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On a side note, if you like humorous fantasty fiction, do yourself a favor and pick up some of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Think "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with "wizzards", trolls, and Cohen the Barbarian.
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When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away childish things because, wow, then I could afford much *better* childish things!-- Terry Pratchett, on alt.fan.pratchett 20.01.2001
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SocketCreep: Try Grisham's "The Runaway Jury" next. You'll like it.
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quote:
Originally posted by ChattyKathy:How about Elton John, The Stones, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Socks, My Dad.
Never having heard Socks or your Dad, I can't say on them.
Elton John, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, yeah, I think they've made music that will still be recognized in a hundred years.
Springsteen, Clapton, and Ray Charles, I don't think so. They might be relegated to historical one-hit-wonders, perhaps, modern Vivaldis, Pachelbels, Telemanns, but not Mozarts. Not to take anything away from them, I just don't think they have a large enough body of instantly-recognizable songs to keep them out of a footnote in the far future. Of course, music students will fancy them for their work, but I just don't see much more, in my opinion.
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Who do you think among the truly gifted artists of the Rock era will be remembered for their work a hundred years from now?
I think one of the candidates would be Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. It's rare that someone is both innovative and successful for an extended period.
Who really pushed the Rock envelope successfully, in your opinion?
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P-Mosh: Here's a sample, the one I did for the "Terra Nova" episode.
You have been warned.
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"Terra Nova"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard disclaimer applies.
FADE IN
INT. ENTERPRISE BRIDGE
MAYWEATHER
Look, sir! My new set of Time-Life Space Mysteries cards came in the mail today!
ARCHER
How'd the mail get here if we're the fastest ship in the Fleet?
MAYWEATHER
Who cares? Wow, I sure am glad we're headed towards a planet where everyone has mysteriously vanished. Maybe I can get a cool skull or something to hang from the rear-view mirror...
T'POL
[rolling her eyes]
And if everyone has VANISHED, Ensign, exactly from where are you going to get this "cool" skull?
ARCHER
Shut up, T'Pol. Nobody likes a know-it-all.
T'POL
Sigh.
ROLL TITLES
INT. BRIDGE
ARCHER
Who wants to exposit the plot this week? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
MAYWEATHER
[raises hand frantically]
Ooh! Me! MEE!
ARCHER
[ignores him]
Anyone at all? Ok, I'll do it then. A long time ago, some colonists came here, settled down, then rudely put out a Do Not Disturb sign when Earth tried to ship more of its street-people out here. The nerve! The only other habitable piece of real estate we found in 20 light years (overlooking Vulcan, Alpha Centauri, Tellar, Andor, and all the other planets mentioned in that Kirk show, established to be within 20 light years of Earth) and the first set of colonists go all snobby on us. So, of course we sent a classified mission to drop an asteroid on them...oops! Forget that last bit everybody...
T'POL raises an eyebrow, or an earlobe.
MAYWEATHER
Screw the exposition! Let's go see some dead guys!
REED
Whee! Oh, yes, LET'S!!!
EXT. PLANET SURFACE, A MEADOW - DAY
ARCHER
Huh. Nobody home.
REED
Being the Tactical Officer, I suggest we split up and search the place so no two people are together at any time.
ARCHER
Agreed. Everybody run in random directions until something happens.
EXT. A FOREST - DAY
REED
T'Pol said there were no life forms on this planet...Aaah! GHOST TREES! No, wait, get a hold of yourself. What are the odds of TWO planets filled with space-crack flowers? I know! I'll ask that scruffy-looking guy over there... HEY! You're not a life-form by any chance, are you?
THUNDERDOME REJECT
Who, me? Life-form, shmife-form, I'm just the guy with the gun!...BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!
EXT. SHANTY TOWN - DAY
ARCHER
Gunshots! Quick! Everybody save yourself, this is no time for teamwork!
Enter MAYWEATHER, running.
MAYWEATHER
The bad guys got Mr. Reed! Last one in the shuttle pod's next week's plot device!
ARCHER and T'POL stumble over each other trying to beat each other into the door. ARCHER wins.
T'POL
.....
INT. ENTERPRISE BRIDGE
TUCKER
So you heard shots...was this before or after y'all ran like a bunch of yellow-bellied varmints?
ARCHER
Before.
TUCKER
Ok, I'm with you so far. Oh, look, there's Mr. Reed, in our curiously-now-more-efficient Life-scanner-thingy.
ARCHER
And you know it's him because...?
TUCKER
Aliens give off different, uh, whatever-this-thing-detects through solid rock.
ARCHER
And when we find out that these aliens are actually descendants of the human crew, just with mud splattered on their faces, we'll just all conveniently forget this continuity glitch?
TUCKER
[shrugs]
It seems to have worked for us so far, Cap'n...
ARCHER
Works for me. Ok, why don't I leave my gun here, but load Dr. Phlox up with his Junior Iron Chef kit and go down and try to charisma Mr. Reed away from the aliens, er, humans, er, mudboys?
T'POL
That's a stupid plan. Therefore, logically, it will succeed, given our track record on this show. Please, someone shoot me.
ARCHER
No way, you're signed to a fat contract. Phlox! Grab your picnic basket!
T'POL
Sigh.
EXT. PLANET'S SURFACE - DAY
PHLOX
...And that's why the French are too stringy to make a good roast, Captain.
ARCHER
Fascinating. Ok, time to go to work. [shouts] HELLO? HEY, YOU GUYS FROM THE ROAD CAST OF MAD MAX? WE'RE UNARMED AND BEGGING TO BE CAPTURED OVER HERE!!!!
BALD THUG
Tag, you're it!
INT. CAVERN
REED
Thank God you've returned! I've got this awful rug burn...
ARCHER
Oh, do shut up, Reed. One more word and I will leave you down here to eat bad cave-sushi with these aliens.
REED
But...
ARCHER
Right, I did warn you, didn't I? You're staying here.
MUDWOMAN
Cough, cough.
PHLOX
Two coughs, eh? That's lung cancer, I bet. Have you ever considered donating your liver to science? How about your onions?
ARCHER
[turns to MUDWOMAN]
You, on the other hand, are coming with us.
BALD THUG
Sez who?
ARCHER
Me. You're coming too! Plenty of room!
BALD THUG
Now see here, my good man! If you estimate for one minuscule moment that I'm going to allow you to abandon your useless subalterns here in my subterranean troglodytic abode, you have quite another rumination coming, I assure you!
MUDWOMAN
Cough, cough...mind your language!
BALD THUG
A thousand apologies, Mater... Ahem. [to Archer] Tarzan ride sky-bird with mud-mother to trade for more cigarettes and firewater.
MUDWOMAN
Cough, cough. That's better.
INT. SICKBAY
BALD THUG
Open that door and let my mother out!
PHLOX
Don't be stupid. If we take her out now, she'll still be raw in the middle!
ARCHER
You know, you guys aren't aliens at all. You're actually humans, and I've got the pictures of you to prove it.
BALD THUG
Sez you. We're leaving. Open a window and let us jump out. I've got some mold to scrape for dinner. Coming, Mater?
MUDWOMAN
Mmmphglmph! [apple pops out of her mouth] That's better. Bald Thug, I've got something to tell you...your grandparents weren't the Slithering Mole People after all, I just told you that so you wouldn't freak out when you found out you're...from Belgium.
BALD THUG
Excuse me while I come up with some bizarre word for "lie".
MUDWOMAN
Stop trying to deny it, son. You and I are as Belgian as waffles. Face it like a mud-man.
PHLOX
Oh, by the way, you are all dying anyway, so can I have your liver? You won't have any more use for it in about a month.
BALD THUG
More prevarications!
MUDWOMAN
Oh, just say "lies", for mud's sake...
T'POL
We could stun them and take them back to Earth...handcuff the ones who freak out.
ARCHER
What? And admit I can't talk my way out of a situation? With a bunch of freakin' MUD PEOPLE?
BALD THUG
Hey! We're still in the ROOM, you know...
ARCHER
What would Capt. Kirk think of me in the future?!?
T'POL
What's your brilliant idea, then?
ARCHER
That does it, we're going to stun your asses and take you back to Earth and make you live in condos, because WE Know What's Best For You Pathetic Mudpeople.
T'POL
That's exactly what I said!
ARCHER
Yes, but I made the FedEx Vertical Hand Gesture when I said it.
T'POL
Sigh. Why don't you just let them die? It's what I'd do.
ARCHER
Condos aren't so bad...although they won't let them in the swimming pool with all that mud on them...
T'POL
Move them to another part of the planet, imbecile.
ARCHER
[makes Vertical Hand Gesture]
I know, we'll move them to another part of the planet!
T'POL bangs her head against the wall, slowly...
BALD THUG
No way. You just want our tunnels and slime-covered rocks for yourselves.
MAYWEATHER
You know, I still haven't gotten that skull I wanted, Captain...
ARCHER
No, no, this is still prime-time. No merciful beheadings. Say, why are you here at all, Ensign?
MAYWEATHER
So I can make a living on the convention circuit when this show gets canned, sir.
INT. CAVERN
REED
Uh, hello?!?!? Remember I'm still stuck down here?!?!?
INT. ANOTHER CAVERN
Shuttlepod lands in precisely the wrong spot.
ARCHER
What are the odds of that happening?
MAYWEATHER
Dunno, sir. Wanna go show us how the monster works this week?
BALD THUG
[beats on the door]
For a troglodyte, I'm beginning to be bizarrely claustrophobic now!!!
MUDWOMAN
Uh, oh, he's talking all flowery again! Do something, Captain!
ARCHER
Ok, door's open.
BALD THUG
The only thing that will cure my shakes is to hold your pistol, Captain.
ARCHER
I'm not that kind of...oh, you mean this gun here. Sure, what can you possibly do with it, anyways?
BALD THUG
Absolutely nothing, but I'll give it back to you instead of using it on that fake tree that's about to fall on a useless extra.
USELESS EXTRA
Help, help! A fake tree has sort of pinned me to a puddle!
ARCHER
Gimme that gun, mud boy! ZAP!
USELESS EXTRA
I'm saved! I even managed to walk three steps on a broken leg! Aren't I a great actor?
ARCHER
For this show? You're over-qualified!
BALD THUG
[soliloquizes]
Now I see the error of my ways. Let's move to somewhere else for reasons I don't really understand, but since they have zap guns that could braise our spleens, I believe them.
MUDWOMAN
About damn time.
INT. ENTERPRISE BRIDGE
MAYWEATHER
Just think, now my Time-Life cards are a collector's item now that it contains the useless "Terra Nova" card!
PHLOX
Sorry to disappoint you, Ensign, but it's illegal to artificially inflate the price of a collectible item for personal gain. But I brought you a sandwich to cheer you up.
MAYWEATHER
Mmmm...liverwurst! But this brown mustard tastes a bit, um...
ARCHER
Muddy, Ensign?
MAYWEATHER
Yeah! That's it! Muddy! [turns pale] Oh, no... [vomits noisily off-camera]
Crew laughs. ARCHER takes a bite out of his own sandwich.
ARCHER
[mouth full of mud-liverwurst]
Ahead Warp Factor four, Ensign!
MAYWEATHER vomits noisily again.
FADE TO BLACK
ROLL CREDITS.
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quote:
Originally posted by Zixar:...and I gave up on Enterprise 3/4 of the way through Season 1. (Wish those parodies I wrote of the first few episodes were still up here...oh well.)
Hey, I found them in my archive files! If anyone missed them the first time around and wants to read them, let me know, ok?
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P-Mosh: I was the same way about B5 at first. Catching it here and there, I just didn't see what the fuss was about. My friend Chris nearly had to put a gun to my head to make me watch the whole thing, because it's hard to realize all the little bits of backstory being fed to you piece by piece during the first season especially. It really starts to pick up in season 2, and Seasons 3 and 4 are, in my opinion, the best television sci-fi yet filmed. Season 5 sucked, because they were forced to wrap up the 5-year storyline in season 4 due to impending cancellation. Warner Brothers is releasing the whole series on DVD now, with Season 1 on the shelves. If you can find the time, push your way through the whole thing. You'll be hooked soon enough. Humans and Minbari, Narn and Centauri, Vorlons and Shadows...so much going on, and yet it all fits.
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Kay: To each, his own. I just never got into Voyager or DS9, and I gave up on Enterprise 3/4 of the way through Season 1. (Wish those parodies I wrote of the first few episodes were still up here...oh well.)
Hey, I really like Patrick Stewart. He's a fine actor that I've always enjoyed. The sappy scripts he was given just killed Picard for me, though.
Say what you like about Bill Shatner, but you have to admit that no one chews scenery like he does. Fictional heroes need to be larger than life to give the audience an ideal to aspire to. Picard as a Captain was just too bland, too stilted. I think Stewart played Picard more like an Admiral who would have been quite at home in all the political machinations of the upper echelons. Courtly Shakespearean themes of the 23rd Century, that sort of thing. Kirk was more of a heroic captain who never hesitated to get his hands dirty. I'm surprised they didn't show Picard getting a manicure!
If you want a good insight into the line between commanders and just officers, check out the Bill Paxton/Matthew McConaughey characters in U-571. Gold braid does not a leader make--remember Commodore Stocker in TOS' "The Deadly Years"?
Or, if you want to see the right way to make characters interesting and interwoven with the right amount of conflict and camaraderie, watch the first four seasons of Babylon 5. (Well, to be fair, Sinclair did have a major stick up his arse the first season, but viewed as a whole, the series is still a masterpiece.) It's a shame it took so long to get going, but in hindsight, all the clues were there, built up piece by piece. I didn't watch B5 when it was originally on, I only caught the reruns on TNT. Turned out to be better that way, seeing the incredible 3rd and 4th seasons one day at a time instead of a week was fantastic.
The only other halfway-decent sci-fi series of the past few years (barring X-Files) is the surprising Stargate SG-1. They took a forgettable B-movie, added some great non-stereotypical characters, and revived the alien-of-the-week genre. For some strange reason, it does not suck. (Unlike all the other Showtime original SF series...)
But, like I said, to each, his own.
God bless!
Zix
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Yes, he is that bad. Think about it, is anyone in any of the spinoffs competent to hold their positions in Starfleet? How many plots were resolved by:
a) Technobabble "reconfiguring" of some piece of ship's technology that wasn't built well enough to take care of it in the first place, but the crew can redo the whole thing in ten minutes?
B) Politically correct or maudlin feel-good happy thoughts, despite howlingly bad tactical judgment?
c) Data grows a new power and is annoying about using it?
d) insert your favorite peeve here...
All plot is driven by conflict. Since all the crew have a big group hug and sing Kum Ba Yah when they get off duty, there is nothing left to drive plot among the crew. Remember Spock vs. McCoy? That's how you keep the characters interesting. Next Generation's Enterprise is The Good Ship Wonderbread.
Sound familiar?:
Picard: Prepare a full spread of mayonnaise torpedoes, Mr. Worf.
Worf: Why? They never do any damage any more.
Picard: Prepare to fire on my mark.
Worf: All I have to do is punch this button, why don't you save the dramatic pauses for sometime when hesitating won't get us killed?
Picard: Wait for it.....Fire!
Worf: You were supposed to say "mark!"
Picard: Wesley, get out of that airlock!
Wesley: Hey, this isn't a holodeck...(whoosh)
Worf: Full spread of mayo torpedoes hit! But were totally ineffective against their (insert buzzword here) defense.
Picard: Perhaps they just need a hug. Counsellor Troi, shake your boobs at them.
Riker: Ooh, ENGAGE!
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The fellow at Gibson in the 20s was Lloyd Loar, and if you have one of the F-Style mandolins Loar built in the 20s, it's worth $60 thousand plus. Loar was the Stradivarius of the mandolin.
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Yeah, he went from Benign to Before, since he's a pre-Lore/Data prototype.
...
Sorry, I had to repress the heaves there...
We'll never see Avery Brooks(Sisko) or Robert Beltran (Chakotay) in a movie as long as that moron Rick Berman is the tumor in charge of the Trek franchises. They can't stand Berman and what he's done to Trek.
With Riker, Troi, Crusher, and Data gone, all you have left is Picard, Worf and Geordi still on the Enterprise. That may actually be progress, but you can bet that Berman will fill the spots with even lamer characters. He can't help it, it's just the medication.
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SocketCreep: True. Andromeda Strain was a fantastic book, especially for, what, 1969? I must have read it twelve times. Jurassic Park and its sequel are the only ones that are in the same league as TAS.
The Lost World was a bad movie, but a fantastic book. The second half of the book was totally different (and infinitely better) than the stupid ending that Spielberg bolted onto the movie.
TSRTS: No, I don't know the exact reason he wrote TAS, but he did write it right out of medical school, and Robert Wise optioned it for the movie immediately.
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Geek: Thanks, but Rafael's original was much funnier, IMHO.
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Lessee...
"Martindale Returns, Repents, Sells the Farm, and Decides to Split TWI Treasury Equally Among All PFAL Grads"
Nah, too long.
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Kay: Just curious. I started playing D&D in 1977, but now I've played just about every RPG there is. I like 3rd Ed D&D, it fixed a lot of problems in the original.
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Okay, they did cave and rename Data's latest "brother" to B-4 from B-9 in the script draft I had, since the Robot from Lost In Space was the "B-9" in that show.
My mistake.
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Hmmmm....I feel a Director's Cut coming on!
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Originally posted by Rafael 1969:How about a movie called,
Star Trek: Enough Already
The alpha quadrant is threatened by a seemingly indestructible and undefeatable threat. The Enterprise-E, the only ship in the quadrant, is sent to deal with the threat by talking to it for two hours. The threat, sensing danger, immediately destroys the Enterprise-E, killing everything on board except Data's head, which drifts uncontrollably toward the nearest star.
Deleted Scene: It continues to mouth lame showtunes, mostly from Gilbert and Sullivan and Irving Berlin, fulfilling the contractually-mandated stroking of Brent Spiner's galactic-sized ego to get him to do this picture.
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Just when it seems all hope is lost and Data's head is going to melt - it does.Starfleet, which observes the calamity using one of its ubiquitous cameras, sends 371 other ships to deal with the threat. Unfortunately, the 371 ships won't be ready until Tuesday.
Deleted scene: Desperately, Starfleet unleashes its entire Counselor Corps to hold off the enemy by thinking happy thoughts at it. Unfortunately, they all wear those ridiculous lavender pantsuits Troi wore in the second season, giving them tremendous self-esteem problems because it makes their butts look fat. The Counselor Corps gives up and programs the replicators for ice cream and sweat pants.
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Faced with all but certain destruction, Starfleet surrenders, and the undefeatable threat destroys Starfleet, along with the final remnants of ILM studios on earth, ensuring that the 745th Star Wars movie will not be made.The movie ends with a close up of the undefeatable threat.
A single gold band.
One ring to rule them all.
Sorry, Raf. Couldn't resist. Well, could have, just didn't.
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Garth: Looks like it. Troi, Riker, and Dr. Crusher are all heading off to other jobs when the story begins. (Not much of a spoiler, happens in the first 5 minutes.)
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Kay: Which edition of D&D?
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Socks: You might enjoy the recently-released Director's Cut of Amadeus, now on DVD. Lots of extra scenes, but it's now rated R because of a topless shot of Elizabeth Berridge. (Constanze, Mozart's wife)
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P-Mosh: Roger Ebert gave "Equilibrium" three stars. Dunno if that's good or bad, but he does say there's more ammo expended in this movie than any movie he can remember, and yes, he remembers "The Transporter".
Might be worth seeing, as it explores how freedom of opinion is fatal to religious totalitarianism.
With lots of bullets.
Am I The Only Trekkie Pissed Off About...
in Movies, Music, Books, Art
Posted
Nah, it was actually pretty easy, given the source material. Here's the one that got the most positive response, a take off on "The Andorian Incident".