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Captain Picard

Started by Solomon Zorn, July 14, 2017, 12:50:51 AM

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Solomon Zorn

It's been a long time, since "Star Trek: the Next Generation" was on TV, but I just saw Patrick Stewart, on a commercial, and it started me thinking, about how much I love him.

I would never diminish William Shatner, much less Captain Kirk(especially having watched the first run of the original series, of "Star Trek," probably sitting on my dad's lap, in the 1960's), but Captain Picard is the "Captain of the Enterprise," that matters most, to me.

Even though I was still a Christian, when the show was originally airing, I always admired his character. Now, in my mind, he embodies the best of humanity. Someone we should all try to emulate.

To put it another way...fuck, "What would Jesus do?"

"What would Captain Picard do?"
If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com

Cavebear

In the late 60s, I loved the original Star Trek.  Always a good ethical message.  Bad acting, but good characters.  When TNG came along, I watched a few, but resisted the series.  Not the original.  Later, I realized I was wrong and came to respect it as a superior view and better plots.  Same ethical messages, but less in-your-face.

Hated SP9, especially when Cisco became a semi-deity.  Voyager was good at times.  Loved Janeway as Captain, but never quite got over the Maquis tension. 

In a way (for me at least), the minor special characters were the best.  Spock started it after the weak pilot attempts.  Then Data, Odo, Dax and the Doctor.  I always felt that the special characters added something unique to each series.  But, while I think DS9 the least of the series, I think Odo and Dax could have been better-developed.  They always seemed a bit shallow.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Solomon Zorn

#2
IF YOU'RE A STAR TREK FAN...
DON'T PASS -UP, THIS REALLY LONG POST!

(Even though, since it does'n't involve Patrick Stewart, or Captain Picard, it is technically a tangent)
By the end, you'll be glad you came along for the ride, on one of my BEST MEMORIES...


Back when Star Trek: The Next Generation was in it's final season, on TV, I had a close friend, who was over-the-top fanatical about it. We used to try to get together, with several other friends(who were somewhat more casual enthusiasts), to watch each new episode. It was a lot of fun.

And thanks to him, because he payed for our tickets(ours were Constitution Class: $150 for the weekend....Galaxy Class were $300), I had the privilege of attending the, "Star Trek: One Weekend On Earth," 30th anniversary convention(1996), in Huntsville...correction, Star Trek, Alabama(the mayor actually renamed the town, for the event, enabling a small U.S. Post Office to be set up, at a table in the convention, for attendees to get their mail officially postmarked, "Star Trek, Alabama").

I got to meet, and talk with, original series actors, Nichelle Nichols(Uhura), George Takai(Sulu), and Grace Park(Yeoman Rand), and nearly backed-into Walter Koenig(Chekov), when I didn't see him standing behind me(his security-guard prevented it). I was also the first person to identify Chase Masterson(DS9's Leeta, the Dabo-girl) by name, as she entered the building(I got to talk with her several times actually - very intelligent woman). I burst out, "CHASE!" and she looked over, and waved at me(Such a beautiful woman too). I also passed Kate Mulgrew(Captain Janeway), as she was exiting the building one time, and I had stepped out for a smoke. And thanks to what is described in the following paragraph, I was able to take a picture, of Robert Picardo(DS9's Doctor), standing 3 ft. in front of me, taking his own video of the original cast members(ALL of whom were there, except for Mark Lenard(Spock's Dad, Sarek), who was too ill to attend.

For the stage show, that featured a bunch of the actors, from each of the various Star Trek incarnations, and was hosted by Kate Mulgrew(a very funny woman, nothing like her Captain Janeway character, at all), we were assigned seats(listed on the passes we wore around our necks) on the upper level, in the auditorium. But when we went to sit-down, and watch the show...OUR SEATS DIDN'T EXIST! So we went to the people who were running everything and told them, so they assigned us new seats. It turned out...THEY DIDN'T EXIST EITHER! So when we pointed this out, to a person in the auditorium, who seemed to have some authority, he seated us left of the stage, on the ground floor, in the last seats, just across a small divide...FROM THE VIP SECTION! We got to enjoy having many of the Star Trek actors, who weren't actually in the stage show, but just there to enjoy it, walk past our seats.

Okay, if you don't enjoy bumping elbows with your favorite celebrities, or have a difficult time living vicariously, then I apologize for the long post, but it was one of MOST FUN WEEKENDS POSSIBLE, for a life-long Trekkie. And I have really enjoyed recalling it for you guys, just now.

Still have the free hat.
If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com


Cavebear

Quote from: Solomon Zorn on July 14, 2017, 05:34:28 PM
IF YOU'RE A STAR TREK FAN...
DON'T PASS -UP, THIS REALLY LONG POST!

(Even though, since it does'n't involve Patrick Stewart, or Captain Picard, it is technically a tangent)
By the end, you'll be glad you came along for the ride, on one of my BEST MEMORIES...


Back when Star Trek: The Next Generation was in it's final season, on TV, I had a close friend, who was over-the-top fanatical about it. We used to try to get together, with several other friends(who were somewhat more casual enthusiasts), to watch each new episode. It was a lot of fun.

And thanks to him, because he payed for our tickets(ours were Constitution Class: $150 for the weekend....Galaxy Class were $300), I had the privilege of attending the, "Star Trek: One Weekend On Earth," 30th anniversary convention(1996), in Huntsville...correction, Star Trek, Alabama(the mayor actually renamed the town, for the event, enabling a small U.S. Post Office to be set up, at a table in the convention, for attendees to get their mail officially postmarked, "Star Trek, Alabama").

I got to meet, and talk with, original series actors, Nichelle Nichols(Uhura), George Takai(Sulu), and Grace Park(Yeoman Rand), and nearly backed-into Walter Koenig(Chekov), when I didn't see him standing behind me(his security-guard prevented it). I was also the first person to identify Chase Masterson(DS9's Leeta, the Dabo-girl) by name, as she entered the building(I got to talk with her several times actually - very intelligent woman). I burst out, "CHASE!" and she looked over, and waved at me(Such a beautiful woman too). I also passed Kate Mulgrew(Captain Janeway), as she was exiting the building one time, and I had stepped out for a smoke. And thanks to what is described in the following paragraph, I was able to take a picture, of Robert Picardo(DS9's Doctor), standing 3 ft. in front of me, taking his own video of the original cast members(ALL of whom were there, except for Mark Lenard(Spock's Dad, Sarek), who was too ill to attend.

For the stage show, that featured a bunch of the actors, from each of the various Star Trek incarnations, and was hosted by Kate Mulgrew(a very funny woman, nothing like her Captain Janeway character, at all), we were assigned seats(listed on the passes we wore around our necks) on the upper level, in the auditorium. But when we went to sit-down, and watch the show...OUR SEATS DIDN'T EXIST! So we went to the people who were running everything and told them, so they assigned us new seats. It turned out...THEY DIDN'T EXIST EITHER! So when we pointed this out, to a person in the auditorium, who seemed to have some authority, he seated us left of the stage, on the ground floor, in the last seats, just across a small divide...FROM THE VIP SECTION! We got to enjoy having many of the Star Trek actors, who weren't actually in the stage show, but just there to enjoy it, walk past our seats.

Okay, if you don't enjoy bumping elbows with your favorite celebrities, or have a difficult time living vicariously, then I apologize for the long post, but it was one of MOST FUN WEEKENDS POSSIBLE, for a life-long Trekkie. And I have really enjoyed recalling it for you guys, just now.

Still have the free hat.

I envy you the experience!  That was a once in a lifetime thing,
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Hydra009

Quote from: Cavebear on July 14, 2017, 03:16:21 AMIn a way (for me at least), the minor special characters were the best.  Spock started it after the weak pilot attempts.  Then Data, Odo, Dax and the Doctor.
Also, Garak and Quark.

Cavebear

Quote from: Hydra009 on July 14, 2017, 07:11:33 PM
Also, Garak and Quark.

Yes, I should have mentioned them.  A lapse of memory.  In fact, I like Quark of DS9 quite a lot.  He came quite a long way from Farpoint, didn't he.  Unabashed capitalist but sometist showing a sense of ethics as we humans understand it.  Well, maybe he was just takibg the long view of his businesses. 

I always felt a bit sorry for Garak.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Solomon Zorn

Quote from: Cavebear on July 14, 2017, 07:10:35 PM
I envy you the experience!  That was a once in a lifetime thing,
Very true. It can literally, never happen again, because DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, and Leonard Nimoy have since died.
If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com

Solomon Zorn

#8
An addendum to the story...

Chase Masterson, the actress who Played Leeta the Dabo-girl, in "Star Trek: Deep Space 9", was the celebrity that I interacted with most. She is a very beautiful girl(see her picture below), and she was speaking, live, on the Sci-Fi Channel, in a show about the upcoming convention, just the night before, which is where I learned her name...

Just after we had arrived at the convention center, we were in an exterior hallway, and my friend spotted her coming down the hallway. She was accompanied by security guards, and presumably  had just entered the building, since there was no other reason to be in that hallway. My friend pointed at her excitedly(she was our first celebrity-encounter, of the weekend), and said, "It's...It's..." And I saw her then too, and said, "CHASE!" Which, as I said before, is when she looked over at me, and waved. That's when my weekend-long crush on her began.

She was a little bit more accessible, than most of the other actors. You had to buy the "Galaxy Class" ticket($300), to even get to meet Shatner, Nimoy or Deforest Kelly, and I guess a lot of people, who bought those tickets, still didn't get to meet them, because they didn't hang-out long enough to see everyone.

So the first time I got in line to talk with her/get her autograph, it wasn't a very long line. When I got up there, I remember telling her, that in responding, the previous night, to a somewhat rude criticism, that DS9 was borrowing from earlier sources, she gave a really good answer. She had said, essentially, that every story is derivative, to some extent, of some earlier work. When I said that, a pretty girl sitting next to her, asked what I was talking about, and she had to give a short explanation to her, of the Sci-Fi Channel thing.

The next time I encountered her, as I recall, was when she walked past our seats in the auditorium. I stopped her and talked for a few seconds, and got another autograph. Some "handsome-guy," ended up taking over the conversation, by asking her out, and oddly enough, she seemed to look him over, and consider it, before saying that she already had, "...a prospect..."(Her words).

The next day, she was hosting a Star Trek toy auction, standing on an elevated area, wearing a low-cut dress, that really showed off her boobs...so of course...I stood across the room, and waited, and waited, with my camera ready to snap a picture...until she, finally bent down, to talk to a person on the ground...and I got a great cleavage-shot! at which point, she gave me a head-tilt, accompanied by a, "That was naughty" smile.

So much fun, man...

If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com

Solomon Zorn

Quote from: Hydra009 on July 14, 2017, 07:05:15 PM
Quote"The Wrath of Picard"
Bad example?
Not...necessarily...but definitely not what I meant.

Still a great video though.
If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com

Cavebear

Quote from: Solomon Zorn on July 14, 2017, 08:03:54 PM
Bad example?
Not...necessarily...but definitely not what I meant.

Still a great video though.

Leeta WHO?  Got me on that character.  But as  said, DS9 was my least favorite.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Solomon Zorn

Quote from: Cavebear on July 14, 2017, 08:41:21 PM
Leeta WHO?  Got me on that character.  But as  said, DS9 was my least favorite.
Leeta was the Bajoran Dabo-girl, who worked in Quark's bar, and married Quark's brother, Rom...

Here's a picture of Chase, in her Bajoran makeup:

If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com

Solomon Zorn

#12
A small addendum, to the above addendum, about Chase Masterson...

The final time I interacted with her, was on Sunday, when I saw her at a table, signing autographs, in the same hallway that I first encountered her. I had become so comfortable with talking to her, that I was somewhat oblivious to the short line of fans, and walked up to the table, to ask her a question, about whether her role on DS9 might expand. She was in the middle of signing an autograph for a fan, but she answered the question, and then lightly admonished me, that I "really should wait in line." Which resulted in an abrupt moment, of...self awareness...
If God Exists, Why Does He Pretend Not to Exist?
Poetry and Proverbs of the Uneducated Hick

http://www.solomonzorn.com

Baruch

Quote from: Solomon Zorn on July 14, 2017, 08:03:54 PM
Bad example?
Not...necessarily...but definitely not what I meant.

Still a great video though.

I can understand why Capt Picard was triggered by Borg ;-(
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

I must have missed that year.  No recollection of Leeta.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!