I am saddened to say that I am in a rush again this morning. I've had an expected assignment dropped into my lap yesterday and between that, the newsletter and helping with the choir "garage-sale" setup at church tonight, I have a full day ahead! First, some comments from previous columns . . .
Television Series Cross-Overs
Beginning with Omer Belsky's comments in the 3/20/98 column
Anomaly: There has been a lot of talk about different show being in the same universe. I'd just like to suggest some more appropriate terminology. Marvel comics deals with this subject matter a lot, so it'll prove helpful.
A given universe/timeline is referred to as a 'reality.' When characters from one TV show visit another (like Urkel on "Full House"), they are indeed within the same universe or reality. The Star Trek Universe is one reality, while Marvel is another.
Other realities, "What Ifs...?," like in TNG's "Parallels" or the Mirror Universe, are called alternate universes (Marvel), alternate quantum realities (Trek) or alternate worlds (Sliders).
Related realities belonging to a given universe, again, like those in "Parallels," are said to exist in the same Multiverse. Therefore, Worf can travel to different realities and still stay within the same universe (the Trek Universe).
All multiverses are collectively referred to as the Omniverse. When Superman meets Spider-Man (DC & Marvel) or when Picard meets the X-Men (Trek & Marvel), they are crossing into different Omniverses.
Erin Hunt: A few nights ago on "Diagnosis Murder", they did a hilarious parody of hardcore Trekkies. Steve (a cop who's a regular on the show) was investigating the attempted murder of a TV exec, who had recently canceled a cult hit series called "Space Cops". When he interviewed a group of "Spacies", they were all walking around in space cop uniforms, reciting the "Space Cop" mantra, and wouldn't step out of the characters they were playing. When Steve finally asked, "You do know it's just a TV show, don't you?", they all stood around with slack-jawed, glassy-eyed looks of incomprehension on their faces. Ouch. :-)
Phil: Ya know. I've seen a lot of shows do this and there is always something a bit ironic about it. Here is a television series that is attempting to convince it's viewer that the events within are "real" and it criticizes those who believe that the events of another show are real. Does this seem hypocritical to anyone else? (Me thinks that the creators of these episode would love to have the kind of fan devotion that Trek or the X-Files has!)
<Michael Deeds: Since my Scooby Doo-I Dream of Jeannie link has been invalidated, I can find an indirect link. It starts with the Batman-Scooby Doo cartoon. In 1972, there was a cartoon called The Brady Kids which guest starred Superman and Wonder Woman. In A Very Brady Sequel, the last scene had Jeannie as Mike Brady's first wife! So, you have Scooby Doo to Batman to Superman to The Brady Bunch to I Dream of Jeannie.
Corey Hines: The title of this subject needs to be changed a little but it's a mistake anyone can make. A crossover is a storyline starting on one program and continuing over onto another, such as the "Law & Order" "Homicide: Life on the Streets" storyline this past week. When a character from one show is seen on another show, it's simply called a guest appearance.
Phil: Or perhaps we are using the terminology "cross-over" in its ontological sense as related to its third degenerative supersillacious conjunctive.
Bullies on the Playground and the End of the Nitpicker's Guides
Beginning with Phil Farrand's comments at the end of the 5/15/98 column
(Note from Phil: As usual, I'll let everyone have their say and then I'll add some comments at the end.)
Tim Riggins: I just read the website and I am sorry to hear about that. I have enjoyed your guides and will continue to enjoy the ones I have. I wish you well in your search for a job.
Jeni Gordon: So sorry to hear about the discontinuation of the guides! They are wonderful, and I will miss the fact that there won't be anymore!
Eric Collins: Woe to those who interfere with nitpick guides...
Siskel & Ebert do it TV Guide does it...
ET Tonight does it
They all critique shows & movies with no fear of reprisal from producers et.al. I also agree with your interpretation of fair use...commentary is fair game. As long as you don't start publishing your own fiction you should be fine. How about instead of "guides" refer to them as "reviews"? You have a right to comment on such things and there is freedom of the press; you are entitled to your opinion provided it is based on fact and even if no one agrees with you.
You give credit where credit is due...
Ever read news.startrek.com???
I'm sure you can drum up a heck of a lot of support with online Trekkers and something should be on the home page like a e-mail submittal form that is forwarded to a key player <Dell/Paramount?> so that we log on, fill out the form including e-mail addresses and a generic message declaring our outrage as well as a comments section so that these people know there are hundreds if not thousands of people who enjoy your reviews.
Jenny Ball: I just wanted to add my condolences with the rest of your many fans about there being no more Nitpickers' Guides. I have bought and really enjoyed every single one of them and was in fact saving up for a new one. You have given me many hours of enjoyment and I wanted to thank you very much for that. I hope that you will be able to publish more Guides. I know that there are lots of nitpicks in the new X-files movie, and I mean a lot. I was really looking forward to your opinions on them and on Deep Space Nine, First Contact, Voyager, etc. I hope you can publish a Guide for Star Wars. I will definitly get it. I hope all the publishers get it into their heads that the Nitpickers' Guides aren't risky and fit into the commentary and review group and are legal. I wish you good luck in all your future endeavors. If a petition would help I am willing to sign it.
Jon Liming: Just got through reading some of the Ask the Chief sections. Sorry to hear about Paramount overreacting yet again.
Brad Higgins: Sorry I haven't written in a while but I've been rather busy, what with getting myself moved from Korea to my new home in Tucson, AZ. I'm very sorry to hear that you've ended your writing career. First Paramount came down on the web pages, then they ended the Star Trek Micro Machines (coolest Trek toys ever, by the way), and now the end of the nitpickers guides. It seems that Paramount is determined to regulate the amount of joy that we trekkers get out of our favorite shows.
Ben Maniwatana: I was very sorry to hear that you would not be publishing any more Guides. Your Nitpicker's Guides have dawned a new era of nitpicking and Star Trek (and the X-Files) for myself and many, many (thousands) of people. Your Guides made me a fan of Star Trek, and without them, I probably wouldn't be what I am today. I have enjoyed browsing through the Guides and flipping through my video collection and picking out nits.
I am very confident that you will pick up the Nitpicker's Guides in the future. I hope you will write more of these Guides when this situation clears up. The battle against Paramount is far from over...
Because there will be no more Guides, it would be a great idea to set up a "Guide" online at your website, ../ that would include nits from ds9 and voyager that you haven't published. people can submit their own nits using a form, and their nits would appear on a main page. this would keep the spirit of nitpicking well and alive. and since you probably won't be publishing any guides in the near future, this could be public domain. you wouldn't have to worry about publishing the material in any book.
i think many people would agree to this plan, and if i could help in any way, please let me know.
we will all miss your nitpicker's guides.
melanie f. koleini: i just heard about the cout rulling. it seems paramont wants to alienate all its fans. do you know how i can complain to paramont?
thomas jungbluth: i just read of your disengagement of the books and feel very sorry.
matthew darby: i would publish the starwars guide on the web if i had to, just to make a point, with the the first ammendment in large letters on the front. also, in my opinion, only un official expressions of fandom are legit. "official" and"fan" are diametricly oppisite terms. please tell this to the lawer at dell and insist he belive it. you have proved youself a master of lewisian logic, as i stated earlier this eavening, so this should prove no problem. copyright dose not assume absolute controll of the copyrighted itetem , only moderate damage control. if paramount sewed you you you wouldnt eaven have to pay the lawer , because all expenses, including any dameges a juge could rule(no mater which side they were against ) would come from micheal pilars poket only, scince that is the only way paramont could save it's honor, and without honor, there would be no studio. please forgive the typos, it's getting late. basicly, your work is totaly sue proof, and any lawer who would try to make it otherwise would not be elected to the bar, because of disregard to the constitution, which has leagle precedence over preceptions of copyright universaly anyway. freedom of speech always means all speech, weather you paid the 20 dollars to curb it or not. this includes images, sonds music, whatever. the constitution says it is all up for grabs.
phil: well . . . as far as free speech goes, there does need to be some limit on the use of copyrighted material. creative people need to be able to make a living or their ability to create gets severely curtailed because they have to do something else to put food on the table. but, i agree that there needs to be a balance and the constitution and the copyright law do provide for such a balance. it just doesn't always work out in the marketplace that way.
now, just to reiterate, paramount was not directly responsible for the discontinuation of the nitpicker's guide. while paramount's actions contributed to an over-all atmosphere concerning the litigious dangers of unauthorized publishing, it was dell that made the decision to cancel the star wars guide and indicate that they were not interested in any future guides.
as far as complaining to paramount goes, i would prefer at this juncture that we hold off a bit. i have god reasons not to irritate them at the moment! ;-) (and that's all i'll say about that . . . for now.)
finally, once again, i do appreciate all the kind comments. it's nice to know that you've enjoyed the work!
Nitpicking the Animated Series
Beginning with Briony Coote's comments in the 6/5/98 column
Jim Elek: A great source of info for the animated Star Trek series is on the web at http//www1.ridgecrest.ca.us/~curtdan/TREK/TAS.cgi?FILE=Main
Unfortunately, the author seems to be having problem with his service provider concerning hits, so it's only available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
The Leftmost Seat on Apollo 13
Beginning with John Isakson's comments in the 6/5/98 column
Tim Thompson: I imagine the producers did want some conflict on the spacecraft for dramatic reasons, but I always thought the primary purpose was to show the effects of the carbon dioxide buildup. The argument occurred when the CO2 was very concentrated, right before the astronauts built a filter adapter to correct it... so they were suffering effects like muddled thinking and irritability... plus they were all suffering from sleep deprivation as well.
Klingon "Houses" and The House of John The Shrubber
Beginning with Mark Schieber's comments in the 6/5/98 column
Aaron Dotter: In your last Ask the Chief, someone posed the question "Will Worf get his honor back before the end of DS9?" (I don't think that is an exact quote but it sums it up.) Well, now that he is "officialy" a member of the house of Martok, would that have restored his honor? At first I thought it did but in "Favor the Bold" Martok says that Worf and Gowron are still enemies. Now, I'm not sure. What do people out there think?
Phil: Hmmm. Interesting point. One would think that Martok's inclusion would restores Worf's honor! And, I don't see any reason that Worf could have his honor back and still be Gowron's enemy. Klingons are exactly chummy with each other all the time.
Klingons Have Ridges (At Least They Do Now)
Beginning with Mark Schieber's comments in the 6/12/98 column
Christopher Querry: Personally, I've always liked the theory that Klingons altered their appearence in an effort to ease First Contact, and make it easier to dominate a culture. They probably saw that ever other intellegent life form looks like a human, and didn't want to be left out. I wonder, however, why Worf wasn't recognized as a Klingon by the other Klingons in "Trials and Tribble-ations." Then, of course, there's the matter of Klingon blood. Everytime their blood is shown it is red, except in 'Undiscovered Country' when it was Pepto. I believe this is because Klingon blood changes color when it is exposed to anti-gravity. Note, at the end of the movie, Col. Worf didn't know that the blood of the assassin wasn't Klingon until he felt it. Of course, the real reason for all of these changes is because the writers & directors aren't nitpickers, and because... ...That Was Then, This Is Now.
John Burke: About the Klingon Forehead discussion in Ask the Chief: Personally, I think DS9 screwed up big on that one! Don't get me wrong, "We do not discuss it" was a great line and all, but until then I was perfectly willing to ignore the forehead thing due to money and assume that Klingons had always looked like that. Instead, for the sake of one little throw-away joke, they opened up a giant can of worms and purposely called attention to one of the biggest nits in the history of Trek. Now us nitpickers cannot rest until we have solved this puzzle. It's terrible, I tell you. In the future, creators should learn to let sleeping dogs lie, and not go around indiscriminantly rasing nits, leaving US to pick up the pieces. It might just be a fun line to them, but its always the nitpickers who end up getting hurt.... :)
Tim Thompson: My theory is somewhat similar to the infection postulated by someone else... When Klingons first visited Earth in A.D. 2270, claiming planetary shore leave privileges under the Organian Treaty, they were exposed to Terran flora and fauna which they had never seen in space or on the Federation's ships. One such creature was the horseshoe crab.
Interestingly, the horseshoe crab has a powerful reaction to Klingons -- exactly opposite to the reaction of Tribbles, in fact. The first horseshoe crabs to encounter a Klingon delegation leapt onto their heads and clung there lovingly (and inextricably). Of course, the Klingons expressed much consternation at this at first, but they soon grew to appreciate the crabs, for it turns out that the Klingon-horseshoe crab relationship is a symbiotic one. The Klingon forehead exudes a greasy kind of sweat which contain certain trace nutrients vital to horseshoe crabs' physiology. The sweat also has the effect of making the crabs extraordinarily docile, and making their spinelike tails fall off. In return, the crabs give off a chemical which is absorbed directly into the Klingon nervous system. This chemical has both physical and psychological effects; the Klingon grows taller and much stronger, but also develops a sense of honor and morality previously absent from their species.
At first, the latter effect was seen as a disadvantage to horseshoe crab hosting, but the physical empowerment was too much of a temptation and soon thousands of crabs were being bred and shipped to Qo'noS, where they were first distributed to the warrior-aristocrat class, then to all Klingons. Even infants get their own juvenile crabs when they are born. A few reactionaries still remain crabless, but they are dismissed as crackpots by mainstream Klingons. This perception is aided by the fact that they must constantly wear steel helmets to protect them from involuntary assimilation by an unmatched horseshoe crab. Other Klingons (like General Chang) have previously hosted crabs and bear scars attesting to the fact, but have since contracted diseases which rendered their sweat unappealing to the crabs, so they abandon the host. This often has the added effect of destroying the Klingon's chemically induced sense of honor. Nonetheless, it is a continuing source of shame that much of the Klingons' present strength had its origins on Earth, so Klingons prefer not to discuss the matter with outsiders.
John Bibb: Joshua Truax listed some aliens who have had variations throughout the years of Trek. He did list Romulans, but not for the reason I expected. Has anyone else noticed that Romulans have a slightly mis-shapen forehead too? This is a variant from the original series, where you couldn't distinguish Romulans from Vulcans. How Spock managed to infiltrate Romulus with his smooth forehead is beyond me....
Gordon Davie: Just an additional thought on the Klingon foreheads thing. The best solution, I feel, would be for the creators to use the computer graphics technology which put Sisko and the others aboard the original Enterprise in "Trials and Tribble-ations" to replace all the smooth-headed TV Klingons with the ridged ones we have now, and pretend they had been there all along! Then Paramount could release those episodes on video and make a whole heap of money as fans bought them all over again!
Jon Liming: I thought I'd throw this into the ring. Several years ago, I ran a ST:RPG campaign (it started out using the old FASA rules from the early eighties, but went on to the HERO system, but I digress. Also, a new Star Trek Role Playing Game is slated for release in August, I digress again.) The reason I had that the old and new Klingons looked differently was that the old Klingons were actually humans altered by the Romulans. The Romulans were afraid of the humans and Klingons meeting and took human DNA to make the psuedo-Klingons. THey brain implanted memories into these altered humans to make them believe they were Klingons. The Klingons only agreed to this because the Romulans were the brains of the operations, and the Klingons were the brawn. The Romulans wanted to keep the true Klingons as a secret weapon to use against the humans when the time was right, but then the rift occured between the two and that was that. Of course, this isn't a real satifactory explanation to what happened with the old Klingons appearing on DS:9, but the game predated the DS9 episodes. My friend Denis also has a plausible explanation for the difference. He used the same approach Star Fleet Battles took. The old Klingons weren't genetic Klingons. They were another humanoid species under the Klingon flag (think about it, the empire is pretty big and no doubt encompasses many worlds). So they were Klingon nationals, but not Klingons. Of course Trials and Tribbulations did hint at that there was something shameful about the difference.
Scott Neugroschl: Regarding "Klingons have ridges"... Joshua Truax lists races which have multiple races or have changed. He lists the Romulans, but forgot to mention that TOS Romulans look like Vulcans, while TNG Romulans also have brow ridges...
By the way, it would be cool to have an alien race name the "Ruffle", and have them with brow ridges, so we could say "Ruffles have Ridges" <insert groan here>
The Death Of Jadzia
Beginning with Matt Greer's comments in the 6/12/98 column
Matt Nelson: Actually, Worf and Troi will definitely not be getting back together in this film. As a matter of fact, according to Frakes, who is once again directing, Troi and Riker will be fanning the flames once more. Also, our dear captain is supposed to be getting a love interest. More can be found by following this address:
Defibrillator Energy Output
Beginning with Steve Braun's comments in the 6/12/98 column
Phil: Rats! Didn't get to this this week. Next week, next week . . . hopefully!
Ferengi "Comedy" Episodes On DS9
Beginning with Rene Charbonneau's comments in the 6/19/98 Column
Jim Elek: As for "Ferengi comedy episodes", I have enjoyed them. My only criticism would be that they happen too often. Maybe once per season would be a better pace.
While we're on the subject of "comedy episodes" I am reminded of the tradition of the amusing ending on TOS with it's accompanying music. It was something I sorely missed in TNG and its spawn. Unfortunately, the writing for the current Trek shows seems to take itself far too seriously at times. That's why I'm glad for these ocassional escape like a "Ferengi comedy episode."
Deep Impact's Second Impact
Beginning with Daniel Cunther's comments in the 6/19/98 Column
Rob Orton: In response to Daniel Gunther's question about where the second comet would hit in "Deep Impact", I believe that the President said that the second comet would hit in Western Canada.
Jason Allan Haase: Daniel Gunther asked where the second comet was supposed to hit in Deep Impact. If memory serves, it was in central or western Canada.
David Duchovny's Other Acting Gigs
Beginning with Stephen Mendenhall's comments in the 6/19/98 Column
Donald Carlson: You should rent the 1991 movie THE RAPTURE if you want to see a stunning performance by Duchovny along with Mimi Rogers. This movie honestly scared the daylights out of me, and the ending is quite powerful.
Be warned -- it's rated R for nudity and sexual situations Mimi Roger's and David Duchovny's characters are "swingers" at the start of the movie, leading completely amoral lives, and there are scenes that show this lifestyle. You can just scan through those scenes, though there is some significance to persons they meet (one woman in particular) that surfaces at the end of the movie.
Jason Allan Haase: Stephen Mendenhall asked if David Duchovny ever acted differently in other roles than he does on the X-Files. The best example of seeing him act a lot different is on Twin Peaks. He was very funny as Denis/Denise Bryson, a crossdressing DEA agent. Which has been wrongly reported over and over again in the press as an FBI agent. The main character Dale Cooper was an FBI agent, but Bryson was only on two or three episodes, and was a DEA agent. If Stephen or anyone who's interested is able to rent the Twin Peaks series from the local Blockbuster or whoever, Duchovny is on the tape with episodes 15-19 and the tape with episodes 20-24.
The Computer Chronicles
Beginning with Matthew Patterson's comments in the 6/19/98 Column
Alex Otis: That's a nice computer you have there. Have you tried First Aid for Windows 95? I've found that I only crash 3 times a day instead of ten now. :) It does work.
Kelly Kirkland: I just read your comment about the trouble with your new PC. You might want to try Win NT 3.51 or NT 4.0. I use both (on different pc's) and they are far superior to Win 95 in stability. They are both true 32-bit, multitasking operating systems. NT 3.51 uses the Win 3.1 interface and 4.0 uses the Win 95 desktop, and they are different internally. Win 95 is really not very stable, and it wasn't made for such powerful systems. I don't have much hope for Win 98 either.
Installation can be a bit of a chore, but if you want to try or know someone who has used NT, then go for it. One thing to be sure a check: go to Microsoft's web page and consult their NT 4.0 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL.) Make sure that your specific PC and items such as video adapter, CD-ROM drive, hard drive, etc. are on the list. If not, then the manufacturer needs to have an appropriate driver. Or you can trust to luck. I think you're about due for some ;)
Thomas Jungbluth: I also read of the problems you're having with your computer. I think they are because of a wrong video driver for your Matrox card. You should either try to get a new driver for the card or another card that fits better together with windows (I would recommend an ATI card).
Phil: Thanks for all the good suggestions! I shall look into them. ;-) I did shut off video caching and that seems to help a bit!
On to the questions . . .
Edward Jefferson: After much consideration, I think I have finally sussed the holodeck. In your various books, you question how objects can sometimes be removed from the holodeck. I think that I now have the answer.
At the start on TNG, when the holodeck was fairly new, the only way to make an object/person look, feel (smell?, taste??) was to actually make them out of replicated matter. With tables, chairs and the like, this is easy enough. However, characters have to perform very complex movements. To achieve this, their matter needs to be unstable- it is constantly moved by 'tractor beams'. So far this shows that while you can remove a book from the holodeck, a character will just destabilise (and even if it didn't, it would have no tractor beams to control it. I think this explains most nits of this kind from TNG.
Next I move on to Voyager, and the holodoc. When looking for nits in this, you seem to think that the Doc is made of holomatter. I am not so sure about this. I think (I may be wrong) that there was an episode in the 1st Season of Voyager (The Phage?), where the Doctor demonstrated to Tom Paris, that by turning a forcefield off, he could not touch anything. I think he mentioned Magnetic Containment Fields or something. This makes a lot of sense. Sickbay has only about four holo-emitter wall thingamys, and that they can create holo matter and control it, exactly like all the equipment behind the walls of holodeck seems a bit far fetched- if you can do this, then why not just make the holodeck a normal room with some holo-emitters on the walls. Starfleet has obviously improved holo-technology. Also, in Season 3, the Doc gets the autonomous holo-emitter. It sounds more likely that it uses a forcefield, and not holo-matter.
I hope you find this reasonably interesting.
Phil: I usually find things reasonable interesting! With regards to the holodeck, however, it remains clear to me that the writing staff and the art department at Paramount disagreed on how the holodeck worked/works. As I have stated in my guides, some episodes indicate replicated matter, some "holo-matter," some forcefields. Surprisingly enough, the holodeck seems to work however the creators need it to work to conform to the constraints of the current plot! (Hmmm. Imagine that.)
Kevin Weiler: Phil, sorry to hear about the whole Dell situation, my condolences.
Anyway, I have 2 questions that I thought I knew the answer to, but recently, a person I've been talking to on the chat.paramount.server (room #starfleetlounge or #starfleetacademychat [its an IRC chat protocol]) has been telling me stuff that is contrary to the beliefs I've had about Trek. Here they are:
1. Are novels canonical? This joker says they are, and I think, nay, I KNOW, they aren't. Am I right? Please back me up. All I need is a bunch of you saying "NO" to convince him. I just need it in writing that I can present him with.
2. Did Transwarp fail only because Scotty sabotaged it? (ST III) I've always thought that the Transwarp Drive experiment in Star Trek III failed regardless of Scotty's sabotage. I thought that Federation scientists would have noticed some chips were missing, replaced them, and THEN discovered it was a failure.
Phil: My source for what is and is not canonical in the Trek universe really came from the submission guidelines for Star Trek novels. The guidelines that I saw years ago, clearly stated that only the films, television series, and reference materials were considered authoritative. This notion is reinforced by the fact that the reference materials only reference the films and televisions series. The only exception that I know of to this rule is the novel that Jeri Taylor wrote which told of Janeway's upbringing. I've been told that this novel has been declared by Taylor herself as being canonical. As always, the creators get to make their own rules!
As far as Transwarp goes, I would agree with your assessment that the engineers eventually discovered that Scotty had pulled the chips. I would be stunned if they couldn't figure that out! Good trouble-shooting technique would surely lead them to this fact. So, for my money, it seem reasonable that the transwarp experiments with Starfleet vessels failed for another reason.
Mike Wyzard: In regards to the Sci-fi reading list talk a while back, I saw Ray Bradbury give a talk to writers a few weeks ago. He said that while he read all the great literature, his main influences when he was growing up were the Bible and Shakespeare. He emphasized reading and absorbing as many influences as possible. In regards to Sci-fi, he pointed out that the best stories are about people more than the scientific elements. I think he may know what he's talking about.
Phil: I may think so as well! ;-)
Brian: Since Marvel seems to be having fun with Paramount, why can't DC do something with their shows (Warner Bros. owns DC)? Batman on Babylon 5 maybe. Have ER docs show up in the Superman comic. And what about Green Lantern? Tie him into Friends? Should Guy Gardener (is he still around?) pop up on The Drew Carey Show? I think it make for interesting TV and Comics.
Phil: Perhaps, but I seriously doubt we'll ever have any say in it!
Corey Hines: I was re-reading the NextGen II Guide and came upon "Yesterday's Enterprise". One of the nits was that why would the warship Enterprise look the same as the starship Enterprise. If I recall on DS9, they use Galaxy class starships in the war with the Dominion. They still use all the other old classes we've seen throught Star Trek history. Actually, we've only seen a couple of advances with new starship designs. The new ships seen in ST:FC including Sovereign class may have been built for combat. The only two confirmed advanceswe have seen is the production of more Defiant class starships and a Prometheus class starship. Wonder what they do with all the empty space inside Galaxy class starships.
Phil: It is true that we see Galaxy-class ships in the battles with the Dominion but those we're built before the war began. My point in the NextGen II Guide was this: If the war ha been going on for so long, why build the Galaxy-class in the first place. Wouldn't smaller, more manueverable ships be a better approach? (Especially since you could manufacture them faster and perhaps maintain a resonable gap with regards to attrition.)
Corey Hines: In the DS9 guide you speculated that the reason why the Federation has been at war with every species they encounter is because they don't know when to back off. I think it's the way the Star Trek writers make the enemies. Here's a list.
Klingons: A warrior race that live for the victory of battle and try to fight anyone who isn't Klingon (and sometimes they fight their own).
Romulans: A race that most of the time uses others to do their fighting for them and are very deciteful.
Ferengi: A race that cares only for greed and since humans no longer are greedy they are an enemy.
Cardassians: A race that brutally treats their enemy so much even 20th century humans are appauled by them.
The Borg: A society which believes that everything in the universe should be like them and if their not they should be destroyed.
The Dominion: The leaders believe themselves superior and that everything should be controled by them. The Jem'Hadar: A race that is specificaly bred to destroy thier enemies and even destroy themselves to accomplish their goal.
Kazons: A race that believes that everything they come in contact with they should have access to.
Viddiens: A race that steals body parts and forces aliens to do their work for them.
8472: A race that believes that the weak will perish and they believe that they are the strongest around.
The Hirogen: A race in which their entire culture seems to live for the hunt.
I have a hard time believing that anyone could be friends with these species much less the Federation.
Phil: I'll grant you that it's a pretty hornery bunch! ;-)
Brian: I am currently attending English 101 and yesterday we were discussing Multi- Culturism. Then, he brought up Star-Trek and asked us the Alterior Objective or motive of Star-Trek, so i know it has something to do with Multi-Culturism. Like maybe how they have many different cultures on the Enterprise and they get along alright and its maybe setting an example for us. I have been known to be wrong especially when it has to do with English, i would love to hear any of your thoughts or comments on the subject, please feel free to help me out. I can always use it.
Phil: Star Trek has been a de facto proponent of Multi-culturalism from the beginning. The crew for Classic-Trek is multi-ethnic. It even includes an Alien. (And originally, a woman in a command position) That was big stuff in the late 1960s. Of course, the Vulcan "IDIC" is a prime example of the ideals of Multi-culturalism as well. This Vulcan principle stands for "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations."
Have a great weekend, everybody!
If you would like to submit a question or comment, send it to: chief@nitcentral.com with "Ask the Chief" or "Question" in the Subject line. (Remember the legalese: Everything you submit becomes mine and you grant me the right to use your name in any future publication by me.)
Copyright 1998 by Phil Farrand. All rights reserved.