(Also available from Starland mirror site)
First, some comments from previous columns . . .
Roger Caine: On the cover of the episode "All Good Things" that has Picard and Q's face on it, the picture of the Enterprise-D at the bottom is actually the toy enterprise that lights up and makes sounds. If you look closely, you can see the buttons on a strip just at the edge of the saucer section and the battle section.
Phil: Fun stuff!
Cheryl Hart from Sydney, Australia: I don't know if this would belong in the area of recycled actors (or if nyone else has ever mentioned this) but I was watching DS9's Fascinations when Lwaxana came onto DS9 & it made me wonder why no one on the show has mentioned that her voice is the same as the computer. To me this a unWHIRL (would happen in real life). If I worked with a computer and it talked & then one day I met someone who had exactly the same voice I would make a comment - wouldn't you? It's just something I always do. (eg they look like... they sound like... etc) It would have been funny to have Deanna say something like "I wish I didn't feel like my mother is everywhere I go!"
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: In the episode "Brothers", Soong says "If you brought a Newfie unto Earth." Newfie is what we Canadians call someone from Newfoundland, a provice in Canada.
Rene Charbonneau: In "A Call To Arms", at the end of the episode, people claim to see a second Defiant-class Starship....My question is where? I can only see one...the Defiant itself.
Phil: Keep your eyes on the Defiant. It swoops into the center of the screen and then executes a 180 degree turn. When it is halfway through the turn, shift your eyes to the upper left hand corner of the screen and you should see a Defiant-class ship flying overhead. Now, quickly switch to the upper right hand corner of the screen and you should see another one!
Phil: I wasn't able to get in touch with Larry Nemecek this week. (Actually, I've been on vacation!) But, I'll try next week and see if we can't nail this down for sure!)
Phil: I'm going to ask Larry about this as well!
Murray Leeder: I believe in "The Omega Glory", Spock was referring specifically to a war between the western and eastern worlds, not a nuclear war in general.
Schuyler Hauser: Regarding Data's last name: we can also assume Data is his last name since military convention is to refer to someone by their rank and last name (Lt. Commander Data). Another viewpoint: giving someone a first and last (and a middle) name is a cultural convention, one that is followed by many societies but not all. Remember, the Chinese and some other cultures give someone's full name as last name first (which seems to confuse a lot of news organizations) as in DS9's Kira Nerys. One would think that Data might want some kind of an informal name, too.
This begs another question, though - I forget the episode, but Spock tells someone that his first name is unpronounceable (or at least by humans). If Spock is his last name, then why is his father referred to as Sarek? And why do his parents refer to him as Spock? (I might see Sarek use such a formal tone, but not Amanda) Do Vulcans have a completely different way of naming? Does Spock mean something like "son of Sarek" in Vulcan? Or do they adopt more pronounceable names when dealing with other cultures, like some immigrants to this country do?
Phil: Good question! Couldn't tell ya!
R.F. van Hulst: In response to the Question from Pam van Allen about the Dalai Lama on the cover of "The Ensigns of Command", I send attached a scan from the Dutch jacket and a photo of the DL from Encarta. To my opinion, none of the three monks on the jacket photo look like the DL.
But I have another question about the photo. I wondered about when I bought the video and watched it for the first time: Where do the monks fit in, I don't remember seeing them in either "the ensigns of Command" or "Evolutions"?
Phil: I've looked at the scans that Robert sent along and I think he's right. It's not the Dalai Lama on the video cover! As to what the monks are doing on the cover in the first place--aside from the fact that they happened to be visiting the set one day--their appearance remains a mystery!
Cheryl Hart from Sydney, Australia: We have the Video Slip Jacket of "The Ensigns of Command" with the [monks] here too.
Shane Tourtellotte: I sympathize with your comments about "mid-course corrections" in characterization. I would be remiss, though, if I didn't note that you yourself gave whole-hearted approval when they did exactly that to the once meek, mild-mannered Jadzia Dax. I'm sure you'll have a good explanation.
Phil: That's easy. I liked the towel. ;-)
On to the questions . . .
Scott Vogt, Cedar Rapids, IA: Since Cochrane built his warp drive here on Earth, then dilithium must be able to be found on Earth. Is there any canonical info on what dilithium is or where it came from?
Phil: I'm away from my files at the moment but it seems like Cochrane's engine wasn't very efficient and it used something different than dilithium. When I went to see First Contact, I received a promotional piece that had a roug blueprint of the Phoenix and seems like I remember something . . .
Murray Leeder: While looking over a list of online First Contact reviews, I followed a link to a Christian movie reviews site. I noticed a post from a reader saying that (get this) the Borg are Christians! This person claims that their drive to assimilate life is tantamount to evangelization and conversion... that their desire to bring less beings to perfection is as showing them "the light of God". Furthermore, their leader calls herself "The beginning and the end" (a la "The alpha and the omega"). So what do you think? Were the Borg conceived as a religious mockery, or is person who wrote that just off base?
Phil: Well, I've certainly noticed the similarities and they resonate with the attitudes that someone would have if they were antagonistic to Christianity. (And the Borg cube is shaped suspiciously to the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation chapter 21.) Certainly, the only person who could tell us for sure is the writer of "Q Who" and "Best of Both Worlds" (whose name slips my mind at the moment and--as I have said already--I am away from my files this morning).
HOWEVER, I would be surprised if this was done consciously. For one thing, it would be petty and vindictive. For another thing, the Borg are not an out-of-the-blue concoction. Hive societies, cyborgs and certainly cube-shapes are fairly common sci-fi fare. Unless the creators specifically told us that they intended the Borg as a slap against Christianity, I would be inclined to find the similarities intriguing by let it go at that!
Matthew Chiappardi: Here's one I've been burning to ask. Out of all the Trek, series and films, which one is your absolute favorite episode and why? And, breaking it down to the four Trek series, which series is your favorite (why)? And, which episode per series respectively is your favorite (why)? Now, I know your tastes might change over the years, days etc, but right at this moment, what are your favorite ones.
Phil: For suspense, my favorite of all would have to be "The Best of Both Worlds"--not only for the writing but for the context of my experience while viewing of that episode the first time. (I wasn't sure NextGen would survive. I wasn't sure if Patrick Stewart would remain with the series, etc., etc.) However, for an emotional episode, I think it's really tough to beat "The Visitor" (DS9). I just love the dedication in Jake's last collected works . . . "To my father who's coming home." So that takes care of NextGen and DS9. "City on the Edge of Forever" would probably be my favorite Classic episode. As for Voyager? I'm trying to think of an episode where everything comes together and really works. "Projections" was pretty good. It had some nice turns.
Roni Choudhury of Naperville, IL: I must have been born only yesterday or something, but what's a trailer?
Phil: "Trailer" is another term for "preview". I would imagine that it was called a trailer because the preview for the next week usually "trails" the end of the current episode.
Matthias Roth: Yesterday I saw an old videoclip on TV. To my big surprise, one of the actors looked like LeVar Burton ! He played a police detective (?, I only saw the last half of the clip), who ends up handcuffed to a woman. The clip was from 1986, "Word Up" by Cameo. And now the logical question : Was it really LeVar Burton in the clip or only a lookalike? Of course, he didn't dance or sing...
Phil: I consulted the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) but I couldn't find this credit in Burton's "filmography". Of course, that doesn't mean he wasn't in "Word Up," the Internet Movie Database simply has no record of it.
Jason Barnes: The USA Network aired ST II this last week and it reminded me of a question I was meaning to ask you about it. I have a copy of ST II on video from Paramount. It's part of the five boxed set (though I only bought ST II at the time). After I bought it, it aired on ABC one night and the tv version had a few different camera angles on some scenes (most noticable was Saavik and Kirk's conversation in the turbolift) and some extra scenes. For example, when Scott's nephew dies, Scotty says "WHY?" and then Kirk reluctantly asks him how long to get the warp drive running. There is some additional dialogue between McCoy and Kirk here before the bridge pages Kirk. There is also an additional shot of the camera moving out in front of Kirk as he walks down the corridor on his way to tell Spock the news that he needs the ship to go to Regula. Are you aware of there being two different versions of ST II out there and how I might get the other version?
Phil: I was aware that the version aired on ABC had different footage but I'm not sure how to get a *legal* copy! ;-) (And don't ask me for an illegal copy. Wink, wink.)
Christina Crawford of ABQ, NM: I was just wondering, what ever happened to Alexander? I mean, his Dad IS getting married. Do you think we will see him or the Rozchenkos? (sp?) I don't remember even a mention of him on DS9? Is he at the Academy?
Phil: Evidently, Alexander is doing the limbo in the land of characters without television shows. I am disturbed on a continuing basis over Worf's abject failure as a father. Have sex with a woman and make a kid out of wedlock? No problem! Just ship the little guy off to the grandparents! Grandparents won't have him? No problem! Make plans to ship him off to a Klingon academy. Too much resistance from your co-workers concerning that option and you want to score points with the ship's counsellor? No problem! Keep the kid around until you have your fill of the counsellor and then start cycle all over again by shipping the kid off to the grandparents! (Hmmmm.)
Brian Lombard: I was recently thumbing through my record collection when I came across a Beatles' song called "The Inner Light". I didn't remember it, so I decided to play it. The lyrics are quite interesting. It goes like this:
"Without going out of your door,
You can know things or not.
Without looking out of your window,
You can know the ways of heaven.
Ride on, without travelling
See all without looking
Do all, without doing".
To me, this sounds like a pretty good description of the events of the Next Gen episode "The Inner Light". Do you think the writers had this song in mind when they wrote that show?
Phil: No idea but I'd say it's a possibility!
Jason Barnes: Some time ago, I purchased a copy of "Mr. Scott's Guide To The Enterprise." It was put out by the now defunct FASA corporation. They did a lot of Star Trek role-playing and starship combat fighting stuff (it was all pretty silly but they sure made a great line of die cast ship minatures!) Anyway, the book was released shortly after ST:TMP as detailed the Enterprise after her refit. But a lot of people have told me that anything released by FASA was not considered canonical. Do you know anything about this? canonical. If it's true, then it's a shame because it is quite an informative little book.
Phil: I don't recall seeing "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise" on the canonical lists!
Robert J Woolley: Remember the decontamination that the Enterprise had to undergo in "Starship Mine"--the deadly "sweep" to remove a build-up of some sort of by-product of the warp engines? It just occurred to me: How is Voyager going to get this procedure done? Or have I missed a line of dialogue that explains why this new model of engine doesn't need this done, or some such?
Phil: Sounds like a problem to me but I'm sure that we'll learn that the Voyager hull doesn't have that problem or better yet Paris, Kim and Torres will figure how to turn Neelix's Althrudian elephant toe soup into a barion gruel that can be ejected from the phaser ports and cleanse the entire ship like a giant automated carwash!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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Copyright 1997 by Phil Farrand. All rights reserved.