Monday Meme: Happy Mother's Day Weekend

Monday Meme: Darmok's Christmas Story

Oh My God, Jim....Its Full Of Stars!

A little crossover for all my fellow classic sci-fi geeks.
Here on the recreated bridge of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) are two familiar faces.
On the left, sitting in the navigator's seat is Gary Lockwood -- Gary Mitchell in the Star Trek: The Original Series
episode Where No Man Has Gone Before (Season 1, Episode 3) and Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
On the right, sitting in the helmsman's seat is Keir Dullea -- Dave Bowman who played in both 2001 and its
1984 sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
Photo courtesy of Destination Star Trek and Fandomcons.com -- via Reddit.

Happy Star Trek Day, Y'all!

As Fans Of Star Trek: The Next Generation

The finest USS Enterprise command crew of the 24th Century Federation Starfleet:
From left to right: Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn), Deanna Troi Riker (Marina Sirtis),
William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart), Data (Brent Spiner), and
Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden).
Taken on the set of the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard, Season 3.
(Image courtesy of Paramount Studios and Facebook)

As lifetime fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, we should all aspire to have the following ideals and characteristics:

The morality & integrity of Jean-Luc Picard;
The boldness & joy of William T. Riker;
The humanity & child-like wonder of Data;
The tenacity & compassion of Beverly Crusher;
The empathy & insightfulness of Deanna Troi-Riker;
The ingenuity & heart of Geordi LaForge;
& The honor & courage of Worf, Son of Mogh.

Carl's Famous Roasted Tribble Recipe -- The Best Tribble You'll Ever Eat

Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Trek: The Original Series TV series, or movie franchise, those belong exclusively to Paramount Studios and Star Trek is the brainchild of the Great Bird of the Galaxy himself, the late Mr. Gene Roddenberry. I also didn't come up with the idea of Tribbles, those came from Hugo Award Winning author and television writer Mr. David Jerrold who wrote the screenplay for the Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Trouble With Tribbles (Season 2, Episode 15).

Ah yes, Tribbles!

They're nice, soft, furry, and make a pleasant sound.... then again so does an ermine violin, and I see no advantage in having either one. Sure its a human characteristic to love little animals, especially if they're attractive in some way; but overall they eat a great deal and are practically born pregnant -- pretty much like stray cats.

If someone you love makes the mistake of purchasing one of these soft, furry little pests from some wandering space trader who decided to remove one of these creatures from its natural, predator-filled, habitat where its multiplicative tendencies are left unabated; you'll end up with many, many more of these hairballs than you could ever want.

When that happens you'll get Tribbles all over your ship: on your bridge, in the lower deck hallways, in your turboshafts and Jeffries tubes, and worst of all in your grain storage compartments. Aye, even in your food replicators -- good luck enjoying your chicken sandwich and coffee when that happens!

They have to go, but what do you do when they're about to overrun your ship? You can't simply beam them out into space -- I mean you could, but that'd be inhuman.

Well, I can think of at least one practical use for the little furry critters....Carl's Famous Roasted Tribbles Recipe.

Ingredients

1 pound ground Tribble meat (you can substitute ground chicken).
1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg, unmolested
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes

Preparation and Cooking Directions

Mix 1 pound of fresh Tribble meat (or ground chicken) with olive oil, bread crumbs, one egg, and all your seasonings. Shape the mix into egg-sized balls.

Crack your remaining eggs into a large bowl and beat them. Mix your flour, coconut flakes, and crushed cornflakes in a bag.

Set up an assembly line. Dip your Tribble meat in the egg mixture, roll the meat around in the crunchy coating, and put it on a well greased baking sheet.

Spritz your Tribbles with olive oil spray, or nonstick coating (like refined Ferengi lobe wax) for some extra crunch.

Bake at 375 F for 10 minutes. Flip your Tribbles and bake them for another 10 minutes. Then set them on a plate, or tray to cool and serve.

If you and your friends are out camping, you can fry the Tribbles over an open flame, or a grill.

Tribbles also go really well with the famous McCoy Family Beans for that memorable campfire
cooking experience.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Image courtesy of Paramonunt.

Happy Star Trek Day, Y'all!

Happy First Contact Day -- April 05, 2063

 

On this day 41 years from now, on the evening of Thursday, April 5, 2063, a Vulcan T'Plana-Hath Class Surveyor ship landed near a former U.S. military missile complex outside of the town of Bozeman, Montana. This historic event for the human race occurred just hours following another historical event -- the flight of the Phoenix, the first human-made, manned warp spacecraft to achieve faster-than-light speed using an experimental warp drive.

The Phoenix, constructed using a derelict USAF ICBM rocket with a titanium casing, was the revolutionary work of Dr. Zefram Cochrane, the human inventor of warp drive, with the assistance of his partner and fellow engineer, Lily Sloane.

On April 5, about 11 A.M. (MST) the Phoenix took off from a missile silo with Dr. Cochrane in the pilot's seat and two co-pilots: Georgi LaForge and William Riker. The first stage of the craft used traditional chemical-fueled rocket engines. First-stage shutdown and separation was performed in orbit. The nacelles were then extended and the warp core and plasma injectors were brought online. It took several seconds to accelerate to critical velocity and then the Phoenix achieved light speed (Warp 1).

*The flight of the Phoenix attracted the attention of a passing Vulcan survey ship, the T'Plana-Hath, causing the Vulcans, in accordance to procedure, to officially make First Contact with the human race.

The ship landed near the complex outside of Bozeman where the captain of the T'Plana-Hath, Commander Solkar, formally greeted Dr. Cochrane with the traditional Vulcan salute, "Live long and prosper." This would be responded by a simple handshake and a thanks from Cochrane.

The Phoenix would later be put on permanent display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The successful flight of the Phoenix would later lead to the founding of Starfleet in 2130 and innovations in the original warp engine designs based on Dr. Cochrane's work would carry on into the next century with the creation of starships with faster engines that would lead the human race into deep space and further contact with other lifeforms and new civilizations.

Even more important, the first official meeting between humanity and the Vulcans would form the beginnings of a formal alliance that would grow to become the United Federation of Planets (UFP) founded in San Francisco in 2161.

In the spirit of universal peace and prosperity, this blogger would like to wish each and every one of y'all a Happy First Contact Day today -- and my prayers that such a hopeful future may be more than just a work of excellent science fiction someday.

* Though First Contact Day is remembered by humanity as the day human beings were first introduced to the Vulcan people, a Vulcan survey ship crashed on Earth near Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania, USA in 1957 while observing the Soviet satellite Sputnik -- the first artificial human satellite launched into Earth's orbit. The surviving crewmen allegedly lived on Earth for several months awaiting rescue, remaining incognito in order to avoid "cultural contamination with a primitive species" and posing as human travelers near the small town.

There is also anecdotal evidence that other extra terrestrials have also visited Earth in the years and centuries prior to First Contact, perhaps even as far back as early human history, or even pre-human history.

This blogger would like to thank the outstanding fans of the Star Trek franchise for the information used in this article, especially the folks at Memory Alpha.

Celebrating the 55th Anniversary Of Star Trek -- 1966 To Present

This historic moment took place on a recreation of the original Enterprise bridge at Destination Star Trek 2016 in
Birmingham, UK. Star Trek alumni from all five major television series, as well as several of the major motion
pictures and guests gathered for this group photo.
Shown here are: William Shatner (James T. Kirk --TOS) is seated in the captain’s chair,
 George Takei (Hikaru Sulu -- TOS) at the helm, and Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov -- TOS) at navigation,
Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi - TNG), Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax -- DS9), Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed -- ENT),
Armin Shimerman (Quark - DS9), Alice Krige (The Borg Queen - ST First Contact), Chase Masterson (Leeta -- DS9),
Connor Trinneer (Charles "Trip" Tucker III -- ENT), Max Grodenchik (Rom -- DS9),
Jeffrey Combs (Shran -- ENT/Weyoun -- DS9), Nicole de Boer (Ezri Dax -- DS9),
Casey Biggs (Damar -- DS9), Garrett Wang (Harry Kim - VOY), Greg Grunberg (ST - 2009),
along with Leonard Nimoy’s son Adam Nimoy, and Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden.

Photo courtesy of Destination Star Trek and Fandomcons.com.