Court Martial

Woops! Slept on the couch last night with my contacts in. If you are not a contact wearer you don't understand the pain of waking up and peeling your eyelids open and then peeling a dry contact off your eye. The feeling is what I imagine peeling off a layer of your eye would be like. Don't this folks... it hurts. Well once I woke up I lounged around the house and then fell back asleep in my actual bed and woke up at 1:30. I feel like a lazy boy today. But I'm super pumped my sister is coming over tonight for mexican food and a movie!

Today's Workout:
Treadmill- 2.29 miles and 305 calories

Court Martial
A crew member has died in a freak accident during an ion storm. No clue what an ion storm is but I'm sure it is not good. While giving his statement about the accident Kirk claims the death happened because he jettisoned an observation pod during a red alert. The computer says it was jettisoned during a yellow alert and that Kirk did not warn Lt. Finney to exit the pod before it was released. Kirk knows his version of the truth as does the rest of the Enterprise bridge crew but Starfleet trusts the computer's account. During the trial Kirk remains steadfast to his version of the truth. During the trial Spock begins to review the data from the computer and finds some peculiar evidence. The trial is moved to the Enterprise to get "testimony" from the computer. When the ship is cleared of all crew but six we find out that Lt. Finney is still aboard and holds a grudge against Kirk from the past and that he manufactured the computer records to frame Kirk. All works out in the end and the Enterprise is off to its next adventure.

Tomorrow is Yesterday

So I didn’t blog yesterday because I was super busy but I still managed to get in a 25 minute Pilates work out! I had school all day yesterday and then went to see Crazy Stupid Love and get dinner with a few friends.  Let me say that I did not like this movie despite all of the rave reviews. I didn’t find it funny and even found some of the storyline objectionable, and I’m not usually a prude, but using a 17 year old girl’s intense crush on a 45 year old man is not an appropriate comedic plot point! EEEEW. Of the six of us who went Two enjoyed the film on its own, Two liked it because Ryan Gosling was shirtless most of the time and Two of us disliked it. So the moral of the story here go see the movie, cause maybe my opinion is horse shit!   But it is always good to see friends and so all in all it was a very fun night.

Today is a combination of running errands, lunch with the sister and then I’m off to see Elk River Community Theatre’s production of “Phantom of the Opera”. I love spending time with my theatre family so obviously we will be getting drinks later on tonightJ

Yesterday’s workout-

Windsor Pilates 20 minute workout

Today’s Workout-

Treadmill:  2.2 miles and 272 calories

Tomorrow Is Yesterday

Due to a freak accident in space the Enterprise is shot backwards in time to the current day (1960’s). They are soon spotted on the US Air Force radar systems and a plane is sent up to investigate. To prevent the captain of the fighter jet from destroying the Enterprise he is beamed aboard, and told the exact truth about the Enterprise. COME ON! If you are worried about the timeline changing  at least make up a lie and tell him you are aliens,, how stupid Kirk. Well now Kirk and crew must retrieve any evidence of their being there to prevent the future from changing. They also find that they have to let the fighter pilot, Captain Christopher, go home because he has a kid who becomes someone of note in the future. Blunder upon blunder happen until the Enterprise finally fixes everything and can leave to travel home by reversing the phenomenon that brought them to the past. This is the same technique we will see later in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 20 years later. In the end the past is set right and the Enterprise is back where and when it should be.

Arena

So Today has been AWESOME thus far!!!! I had an amazing doctor's visit today and ran a few errands then had lunch with my momalla! Funny that a doctor's appointment can be amazing but it was. I have been on medication for quite some time because of high blood pressure and for a guy my age that is no good. Well as a combination of loosing weight, working out and eating better my blood pressure is looking great according to the doctor and he said that if I keep it up I will be able to eventually get off the meds. I'm really hopeful for this and plan on making it happen. I always tell people that my goal is "thin by 30" but really it is simply to be healthier! The thin part sounds good and rhymes nicely with 30 so it is a good goal. I don't tell people often about being on medication for blood pressure because to be honest I'm a little embarrassed about it but I am taking control now and want to get healthier without the use of pills to maintain blood pressure.

Today's Work Out-
Treadmill: 1.97 miles; 208 calories

Weekly Weigh-in: 246 lbs
(Ten Pounds Down, and according to medical records 16 down since December)


Arena-
Kirk and company are invited to a formal dinner and reception at a starbase on Cestas-3. When they arrive at the starbase they find it to be destroyed and still under attack from an unknown alien force. Kirk and crew fight back and beam out when the enemy backs down. Kirk decides to follow the alien vessel to "punish them for what they did" and pushes the Enterprise to its limits. When passing by an uncharted vessel both ships are stopped dead in their tracks. The inhabitants of the planet are known as The Metrons and are a highly advanced race of beings. The Metrons do not believe in violence and decide to intervene and they take the captain of each vessel to a barren planet to fight to the death. The winner's ship goes home, the loser's ship will be destroyed. Kirk finds himself in a fight with a Gorn. The Gorn are a large lizard-like race with superior physical strength but inferior mental capacity. In the end Kirk's ingenuity wins out when he creates a cannon out of bamboo, diamonds, sulfur, and charcoal. When Kirk decides not to kill the injured Gorn the Metrons decide there is hope for humans and they allow the Enterprise to leave freely.

The Squire of Gothos

Sad but true… nothing really special to report today. I have two weeks left of summer classes after today and I am so excited to be done with it! I’m enjoying all of the learning and networking but I want a vacation.

Today’s Workout-

Treadmil: 2.29 miles and 307 calories

The Squire of Gothos

Once again the Enterprise is en route to deliver supplies to an Earth colony! Now I thought the Enterprise’s mission was to “explore strange new worlds and new civilizations” not to be some type of intergalactic pony express… but I digress. So the Enterprise is on this mission and comes across a planet that shouldn’t be where it is. The Enterprise investigates and find themselves at the mercy of a strange being named Trelane. Trelane proceeds to annoy and harass the crew of the Enterprise even holding several of them hostage on the planet below. The crew always seems to be nearly a step ahead of Trelane and eventually outsmart him even though he is extremely intelligent and can make things appear and disappear out of thin air. Trelane allows the crew to escape after they foil him but he recaptures them and puts Kirk on trial for his crimes against him. Kirk challenges him to a match to the death with the crew of the Enterprise as a prize for the winner. In the end Trelane throws a massive tantrum when he feels Kirk cheats, at this time we find out that Trelane is a mere child among his race of super beings. The Enterprise is then set free and leaves to drop off its medical supplies.

This Episode is pure entertainment and is pretty funny at times. The character of Trelane may even have served as the basis for the popular ‘Q’ character in the future incarnations of Star Trek. The actor who portrays Trelane also went on to play a klingon in the Original Series and Deep Space Nine.

The Galileo Seven

What a difference a workout makes! Today I started off bright and cheery and then slowly as the day went I began to become slightly moody, despite it being a great day. It was the last day of summer school for me, which means no more working until the end of August! Then I got to hang out with my sister this afternoon. We did some work at her farm and then went to dinner. I finally went to Dickey’s, a restaurant whose name has been a long standing in-joke among my theatre friends. Then we went to see Bridesmaids and it was just as funny the second time! But after my workout today I feel energized and once again at peace! YEAH

Today’s Workout-

Treadmill: 2.08miles and 275 calories

The Galileo Seven

The Enterprise is on its way to deliver a supply of emergency medical supplies to the New Paris colony. To make sure the delivery takes place Starfleet has assigned a special agent to oversee the transfer, for the sake of this summary let’s just call him Commodore TightWad. Before the rendezvous the Enterprise is exploring a rare space phenomenon. The shuttlecraft Galileo goes out to explore but gets caught up in a damaging wave and crash lands on a planet in the center of the phenomenon. The Enterprise must now engage in a desperate search to find the Galileo and the seven officers stranded on the planet’s surface. Due to the phenomenon though the Enterprises systems are not working properly and must rely on visual scanning methods. On the surface Spock is in charge and several officers are finding it difficult to deal with his Logic Only Approach to command. The stranded crew finds the planet to be inhabited by hostile ape-like giants.. YEAH! Two crew members are killed and the Spock’s plans practically backfire because he does not take emotion and irrational actions into command. In the end Spock uses a bit of desperation to gain the Enterprise’s attention and saves the remaining 5 crew members in the nick of time.

Shore Leave

I would like to find a work out video or join a gym that has the ‘Captain America Workout’ if there is such a thing. I am not a comic book reader and never really have been but I do really enjoy the recent string of comic book movies that have been coming out. Today I went to Captain America with a friend and really enjoyed it. The guy playing Captain America buffed up big time for the movie and it was really quite impressive. Good inspiration to keep working out as well, in addition to seeing the scale read out a smaller number on a consistent basis! I am really starting to look forward to my daily workouts and genuinely feel like a schmuck when I miss a day. Usually feeling like a schmuck is a bad thing but not in this case.

Today’s Workout-

Treadmill- 1.97 miles and 237 calories

Shore Leave

Space travel and exploration is tiring! And the crew of the Enterprise is exhausted and in need of shore leave. The crew is doing a preliminary study on an uninhabited planet that appears to be the perfect place for some rest and relaxation. McCoy and Sulu are surveying and having a discussion in which the topic of Alice in Wonderland comes up, a mere minute or two later McCoy sees a giant talking rabbit. Kirk and a small landing party beam down to the surface to investigate before shore leave is approved. Each member of the landing party are confronted with people or items from their dreams and fantasies.

Kirk is confronted by a fellow Starfleet Academy student who bullied him to no end, he also is runs into an old flame whom he hasn’t seen in years. Sulu finds an antique pistol and is attacked by a samurai warrior. McCoy and the yeomen develop a bit of a romance and have some medieval fun. The yeoman finds a dress fit for a Lady and McCoy is assaulted by a Knight on horseback. Other members are attacked by tigers and even WW2 style fighter jets.

In the end we find out that this planet is a playground of sorts for a far superior race of aliens. The strange occurrences are created by a massive energy system below the surface that is connected to a number of scanners that read the thoughts of the people on the planet. Odd but it makes for a light and fun episode.

Balance of Terror

Who knew I was going to be so busy on a weekend I planned not to be busy. I missed my blog yesterday because after class was over I went to Twins’ game and then went to a few bars with friends afterwards. How fun, despite the awful and bitchy waitress, word to the wise we will tip you when we are done ordering for the night not after each individual order, and when you remind us we didn’t tip you… your tips is going down. Then today I did some cleaning and went to help out at Elk River Community Theatre’s production of ‘Phantom of the Opera’. On the way their though I got pulled over! Well to be precise I got to my parking spot and was about to get out of the car when I noticed a cop had just turned their lights on behind my parked car. Apparently I was going 5 over and turned on a yellow light that turned red right after I started turning.. oops. The cop was new and even came and inspected my eye to make sure I had in my contact lenses. There were two cops in the car so I am guessing she was new. The good news is I didn’t get a ticket just a very stern verbal warning. I ended the night by getting some drinks/food with my Theatre Family J

Today’s work out-

Treatmill- 2.1 miles and 272 calories

Balance of Terror

Let me start by saying that this is one of the best episodes of the original series! The Enterprise is on route to investigate the destruction of several Earth outposts on the Romulan Neutral Zone. The episode begins with Kirk overseeing a wedding on board which is interrupted by an emergency distress signal from one of the remaining outposts. The Enterprise gets a first look at the Romulan ship and finds that they have a cloaking device and superior weapon power than expected. The Enterprise and the Romulan vessel enter into a cat and mouse submarine style chase. We are introduced to the Romulan commander who is a man proud of his people but who has also grown weary of war and does not want to start a war with the federation. There is a great deal of parallel between Kirk and the Romulan commander both who are facing the same moral dilemma. The story is a cold war plot about nuclear war but is disguised as simple science fiction. The story also deals with the prejudiced we have against others. Officer Stiles (this week’s navigator) is a descendent of men and women who fought in the Romulan/Earth war approximately 100 years ago. This officer has several prejudices and freely voices them in front of the whole crew. These bigoted comments increase when it is discovered that Romulans look almost exactly like Vulcans. Because the Romulan/Earth war was so long ago humans and Romulans have never seen each other as a result of the lack of technology. Officer Stiles makes several comments about Spock’s loyalty and his appearance, with very little reprimand. In the end the Romulan ship is paralyzed and Kirk offers to help them get back home to Romulus but the other captain self-destructs his ship so it will not be captured. The incident rattles Kirk and the episode ends on a very pensive note.

The Romulan commander is played by Mark Lenard who became a Star Trek mainstay later in the series. He is most known for his portrayal of Sarek, the Vulcan ambassador to Earth and Spock's father. This was a role he originated during the Original Series and then reprised in Star Trek: 3, 4, and 6 and in an episode of The Next Generation. Mark Lenard is distinguised because he is one of the only actors, if not the only actor to play each of the following races:

Romulan (Balance of Terror Episode)

Vulcan ( Sarek)

Klingon (ship commander in Star Trek- The Motion Picture)

The Conscience of the King

I had today off and yet I still ended up going into work for about an hour and a half just to get some paperwork done for next week. Then I ran some errands and enjoyed my Thursday off. I went to get a haircut and well the results are not great and I knew they wouldn’t be. I went to a local Great Clips and as always there were a few different stylists working at the time. One of the women had cute hair and a cute outfit the other one… not so much. Guess who did my hair? Yep the one with the bad hair and outfit. I find it very odd when a person whose profession is to make other people’s hair look good has bad hair themselves. I see these women and men and just want to scream “Physician Heal Thyself!” but of course my reserved nature does not allow this. I mean why should I get my haircut from a person who can’t help themselves? This is the same reason I won’t go to a doctor who is a smoker, a dentist with missing teeth or  take diet advice from someone who is fat; hence the reason why no one should take diet advice from Dr. Phill. I am not even able to look at the cashier and request that I have the person with a good hair cut because heaven forbid I offend their feelings. I sometimes wonder if it is time to simply go to a better salon and pay a little more.

Today’s Workout

Treadmill- 2.62 miles and 300 calories

It is also time for the weekly weigh-in: 248lbs

That means I am down 8 lbs! yeah !!!

The Conscience of the King

Shakespeare meets Star Trek!! The Enterprise is called to respond to an emergency call from an old friend of Captain Kirk’s. The friend reveals that he has found a person he thinks to be Kodos a former governor of Tarsus IV who can be compared to Hitler. The man committed several acts of genocide over 20 years ago. He is thought to be dead but there was never a confirmation of the dead body. Kirk and 8 others saw Kodos 20 years ago before he vanished. The man has become an actor now and has a traveling acting troupe that tours productions of Shakespeare’s classics. Kirk volunteers to take the troupe to their next destination for two reasons. 1- Find out if the man is indeed Kodos 2- hit on the man’s daughter and hopefully “pump” her for information. There is a murder attempt made at Lt. Riley who also saw Kodos years before and an attempt is made to kill Captain Kirk. After the assassination attempts Kirk confronts the actor who neither confirms nor denies that he is Kodos. That night the troupe puts on a production of “Hamlet” for the starship’s crew. During the production Lt. Riley tries to kill the actor but he is stopped by Kirk. We find out that Kodos’ daughter has been killing the surviving witnesses to Kodos’ death and in true Shakespearean fashion she accidentally kills her father and goes bat-shit crazy! She is dropped off at a mental institute and the Enterprise is off to the next adventure.

The title of the episode makes reference to a famous speech in Hamlet. During the speech Hamlet explains his plans to use a troupe of actors to see if his uncle truly did kill Hamlet's father. Hamlet says to the audience "The plays the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king".

The Menagerie, Part 2

Today was my last day of the Applied Behavior Analysis portion of the Autism Certificate program I am taking this summer! This class was a challenge and made my mind think about behavior in ways that I never have before but in the end I’m really glad to have taken this class. As sickening as it may sound I am really looking forward to the school year starting because of all the new information I have obtained this summer.

Today’s Work Out-

Treadmill- 2.13 miles and 263 calories burned!

The Menagerie, Part 2

So today’s episode is a continuation of the previous episode. Spock’s court martial continues with Kirk and Commodore Mendez becoming even more agitated with the evidence being presented. We find that once Captain Pike was kidnapped on Talos IV that he was experimented on by the Talosians. They wanted to test his capacity to be trained by reward and punishment by using a variety of his past experiences and future hopes and dreams. We come to find out that the Talosians are looking to breed an army of human slaves to work on the planet which was ravaged by a war hundreds of thousands of years ago. Captain Pike captures one of the Talosians and escapes to the planet’s surface. The Talosians release the captain and the Enterprise warps out of orbit.

Back in the Court Martial it is revealed that the Talosians and Spock planned this whole hijacking from the beginning in order to provide Captain Pike a better life. In the end we see Captain Pike on the surface of the planet with Vina the woman from the past; though now Pike appears to be in fine health. In the end Kirk is irritated with Spock but their friendship continues untarnished and all charges are dropped against Spock.

The Menagerie, Part 1

Welcome to procrastination station currently inhabited by ME! I have this paper due on Wednesday (or Friday… apparently my current professor is encouraging procrastination) and I have not started it yet. One reason is that I am a little more than frustrated with the way this class has been run. Two, I’m not that into this content area. I had originally thought ABA would be interesting and a possible second master’s degree… NOPE! The third reason is that It is summer and there are always better things to do than work on a paper. So here I am writing a blog instead of a paper, but right after this I am hunkering down and getting at least a few parts of the paper written.

Today’s Workout-

Treadmill: 2.2 miles and 254 calories burned (I even ran for about a total of 4 minutes in a 1 on 1 off cycle)

The Menagerie, Part 1

Well about 15 weeks into production the executives figured out they were running out of scripts and that the episodes were taking a long time to finish in post production. They also had about 90 minutes of pilot footage that was to go unused as that pilot was not approved for TV. The solution was simple… write a simplistic storyline in which the footage from the pilot could be used, thus The Menagerie was born. Star Trek-The Original Series’ only two part episode, though it uses only about 40 minutes of new footage to tell the story.

In this episode Spock hijacks the Enterprise to return his former captain, Christopher Pike to Talos IV,  a planet they visited 13 years ago. Captain Pike has been severely injured in a starship accident and is paralyzed and unable to communicate, except for a light that blinks to represent yes and no. I know it was a plot device but we have far surpassed this level of technology about 20 years ago. Now we have dynamic speech output devices that people with communication disorders can use. I love how so much of the technology in Star Trek is starting to become reality.

But back to the Show… The Enterprise leaves orbit without Kirk, who departs in a shuttlecraft to pursue Spock. The Shuttle looses power and Spock is obligated to rescue his captain and the commodore from the starbase. Once on the ship Spock is court martialed for mutiny. During the trial Spock shows footage from the mission 13 years ago (pilot footage). The transmissions are revealed to be coming from Talos IV. To add more drama, visiting Talos IV is punishable by the death penalty. The episode end here with the trial in progress and Kirk not understanding Spock’s motives.

The Corbomite Maneuver

Yesterday I went to see 9 to5: The Musical with my family at the Ordway. It was really funny and enjoyable with good performances by a strong cast.  Was it the greatest play I’ve ever seen? No, but I had fun and that is what theatre is about sometimes.

OMG was it hot today! The weather in Minnesota sometimes is just mindbogglingly frustrating and makes me want to move elsewhere. Today was also the annual ‘Olson Family Christmas Party’ where all the Olson’s I’m related to gather to eat, drink and laugh. Once upon a time this gathering was held at Christmas time but for as long as I can remember it has been Christmas in July. Thankfully the party was held at a family member’s large house. I’m not sure I would have gone had it been outside as I am always afraid of melting like a ice cream cone in this heat.

Today’s Work Out:

Treadmill- 2.25 miles and 254 calories

The Corbomite Maneuver

The Enterprise is on a routine star system mapping mission when they encounter a strange object that looks like a gigantic Rubix Cube. The cube will not let the Enterprise pass the tension on board begins to increase among the crew, especially for a young Lieutenant named Bailey. The Enterprise takes action and the cube is destroyed. Soon after a large ship that looks like a blinking Tennis Ball shows up and threatens to destroy the Enterprise in ten minutes. Through a stroke of genius Kirk pulls a large bluff and tells a lie about a device called Corbomite that will not only destroy the Enterprise but the enemy ship too. The ship sends out a small shuttle and begins to tow the Enterprise to its home world. It is about this time that Bailey has huge mental breakdown and is removed from his post. Kirk and crew again break free from the shuttle and are invited to beam aboard the ship to help out. The entire incident is revealed to be a test to determine the Enterprise’s intentions. The captain of the ship appears to be a child but is an old man on his planet. He is looking for company and Lieutenant Bailey volunteers to stay on board and leave the Enterprise.  The Enterprise then heads off the next adventure.

The child captain in this episode is played by Clint Howard, the brother of actor/director Ron Howard. This man has played several small roles in movies such as Austin Powers, That Thing You Do, Apollo 13, Backdraft, and about a million others. He is slightly odd looking (to put it nicely) and this episode reveals it is not a result of age…Clint was an ODD looking young kid, YIKES.

Dagger of the Mind

So Yesterday I went to see the final Harry Potter movie and it was fantastic! It is like when a favorite TV show ends you find yourself saying “what is there to look forward to now?” Not to imply that the end of a movie series or TV series means the end of life on Earth. Simply what I mean is that we find ourselves so invested in the lives of these fictional characters and they become part of our live that when it ends it is like a death. I distinctly remember when Will & Grace ended because that signaled the end of a 8 year routine of watching that show each week. Isn’t it also strange that we can care so much about these fictional characters but when it comes to knowing our neighbors some of us are clueless.

Today’s Work Out-

Treadmill: 2.8 miles and 315 calories

Today I used the ‘fat blast’ preset program on my treadmill and found it to a tougher workout that increased the incline while increasing the pace as well. I will have to continue to experiment with these settings in the future.

Dagger Of The Mind

The Enterprise visits a penal colony to make a routine shipment of supplies but one of the inmates sneaks onto the Enterprise and sends everyone into a panic. There is something odd about the prisoner and Dr. McCoy insists that there be an investigation of the prison planet, which Kirk is obligated to perform. In visiting the prison there is something strange and lifeless about the inmates who wonder the halls unguarded. Kirk and his assistant Dr. Noel (who Kirk at some kind of one-night-stand with earlier in the year) find a “brain neutralizer” device that the warden is using to alter his patients minds and program them not to be criminals. The warden is a respected doctor but his principals look a little bit more like radical scientific experiments on prisoners. While Kirk is investigating the device he is found and the warden begins to experiment on Kirk and erase his memory of the device. Meanwhile on the Enterprise, McCoy encourages Spock to do a Mind Meld to see what happened to the prisoner from the planet. All is revealed and Spock and crew beam down in time to save the Captain.

This is the first appearance of the Vulcan Mind Meld which became a trademark for Spock throughout the series. I believe this was used as a time saving device to avoid doing a lengthy interrogation scene. With the Mind Meld Spock could get the information in minutes and explain it quickly later which would leave time for other action to take place in the story. 

Miri

So I missed yesterday’s work out… L But so much was going on that made it a great day that I just didn’t have enough time. Yesterday was the last day of my Thursday Summer School Job which has been stressful and a bit trying at times but also very rewarding and fun. After that ended I needed to get everything settled and turned in so I could be done. Then it was off to see the Twins play last night. So yeah I’m not a big baseball fan but watching a live game in the new stadium is exciting and fun. As a bonus I brought my momalla with me so we had a good time doing some Mother/son bonding, I will fully admit that I am a “Mama’s Boy” and enjoy hanging out with my mom. Beautiful weather, good food, and people watching made the game even more enjoyable.

Today’s Workout:

Treadmill- 2.55 miles   283 calories

Miri

So the episode starts with the Enterprise responding to an “Earth Style” distress signal coming from a planet. This perplexes everyone because they are light-years away from the Earth. Well when the planet comes into view low and behold it looks just like the Earth. Now remember the show is LOW BUDGET… the Earth replica was used as a way to cut costs use existing exteriors from the studio and current clothing because it just so happens that the “new earth” is about at the year 1960. Cheesy but once you just ignore that fact it is a pretty good episode.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Rand and two Red Shirts beam down to investigate. They find a planet full of children and no adults. We find out that the planet is infected with a horrible plague that kills everyone the minute they hit adolescents. The landing party is now infected and must find a cure in seven days or they will die. Along the way they meet a girl named Miri who helps the crew deal with the other children and convince them to help the crew. This is after Miri develops a crush on Kirk and gets the other children to kidnap Rand because she is jealous of her. In the end a cure is found by means of some drastic medical experimentation on McCoy’s behalf and the Enterprise heads off to the next adventure. No, they don’t leave the children alone to fend for themselves. Starfleet sends out medical staff and educators to help the children.

This episode is to host to a number of child guest stars two of whom went on to become big Hollywood players of the day. The first is Kim Darby as “Miri” who two years after this episode aired starred in the original “True Grit” with John Wayne. This role earned her a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as the girl out to avenge the murder of her father. The second is Michael J. Pollard as “Jahn” ,the leader of the children. Two years after this episode aired he went on to star in one of my favorite movies, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. For his role he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

What Are Little Girls Made Of?

Well as today is day 7 it was time for the weekly weigh-in! When I got on the scale I was delighted to see I had dropped 6 POUNDS!!!! I have been doing a good job this week of eating less but also eating more fresh foods and fewer boxed or prepared foods! I’m also increasing my water intake and limiting the amount of caffeine in my system. For those of you who know me you will understand the challenge! I have a serious Diet Coke addiction and have gotten into the habit of drinking a cup of coffee in the morning. So the new rule is one cup of coffee per day and no more than one diet coke.

Today’s Work Out:

Treadmill

2.25 Miles and 305 calories burned

What Are Little Girls Made Of?

Good question… In this episode the answer happens to be computer circuits. We have our first of many Android stories from this series. I’m not sure why but the writers of this show seemed to be almost obsessed with androids! In the episode Kirk and crew make a trip to a distant planet to investigate a scientist who has gone missing. The scientist happens to be Nurse Chapel’s former fiancé. This plot point doesn’t tie into the concept of the show too much to be honest but adds some conflict towards the end. The scientist in question has found an ancient civilization of androids and wants to bring these human looking androids to a planet to start a new society. The Doctor makes a copy of Kirk to help get the whole group off the planet but Spock becomes aware of Kirk’s peculiar actions and beams down to intervene. Kirk saves the day by confusing one of the servant androids and attempting to seduce the other one. In the end we find out that the Doctor is an android and he commits suicide when he is discovered…. Or would it be “androidicide”? There is also a lot of oddly sexual human/android and android/android sexual content in this episode. In the end all is well and the Enterprise is off to the next adventure.

Of note this is the first episode featuring the “red shirt guy death”. As the original series is famous for very early on in the show a random guy wearing a Red Uniform is killed in some outlandish manner. In this episode he is thrown from a rock ledge by the giant android. If I were a guy in Starfleet I would make the conscious choice to avoid having a Red Uniform. Again, how does Starfleet continue to recruit people if death is nearly assured for 1/3 of the officers? 

Mudd's Women

For the first time since I started this blog it almost happened! I nearly didn’t do my work out but better judgment prevailed and I hopped on the treadmill in the end! I’m really glad I did and I’m starting to really enjoy my work outs even if they challenge me. All in all today was good!

Today’s Work Out:

Treadmill- 2.32 miles and 282 calories maximum incline of 8 (yikes that hurt my booty)

Mudd’s Women

What a gem of an early episode! The episode opens with Kirk and Crew following a rogue vessel that drifts into an asteroid field. The Enterprise picks up the Captain and cargo but in the process destroy their Lithium Crystals (soon to be known as dilitium in the future episodes). Well the Enterprise picks up the galaxies most lovable PIMP… Harry Mudd! This man is transporting women and even wearing a giant hat with a feather stuck in it! HOLLA! Yep Harry Mudd is traveling around with a shipment of women and he is waiting to sell them off as wives and collect the industry standard 15%. Not that I know what the industry standard is but I heard it once on an episode of Will & Grace J

Anyways back to Star Trek. Mudd discovers that the Enterprise is heading to planet to pick of Lithium from three miners who are all young and single. Well the daft pimp goes to work to set up marriages. The miners initially won’t work with Kirk and Spock and throw a party to meet their new ladies. We find out there is something fishy going on with these women who continue to turn on every man they come in contact with. There is a very good message here about self-esteem and believing in yourself no matter who you are. In the end the Enterprise gets the crystals they need, the girls get their husbands and all is well in the universe!

So I had totally forgotten this but Uhura started off wearing a yellow uniform; which does not look good against her stunning ebony skin tone! I think she only wore the yellow for two episodes before the powers that be decided it was to be red! I just love the sassy look on her face in this pic too!

The Enemy Within

Today I was back at work after some time off because of the 4th of July. The little kiddos asked where I was last week because they saw a different teacher one a make-up day of class. One eve gave me a drawing she made... I am calling it "Scribbles on Scratch Paper" and I'm shopping it around to the local galleries! Currently though it is on my fridge. There is no better attitude booster than working with 2-5 year olds. Every summer I remember how much I do enjoy working with these kiddos!

Today's Workout:
Treadmill- 2.3miles and 280 calories burned!
(I took the advice of a comment and upped the incline in my treadmill!)

The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within is a new take on the tale of Jekyll and Hyde. In this episode a freak transporter malfunction splits Captain Kirk into two halves, a good half and an evil half. The good half embodies the characteristics of love, compassion, and wisdom. The evil half conversely represents lust, rage, aggression, and hatred. It is a unique dichotomy to see Kirk play out both characters and how he truly can’t function as a person without both halves. Kirk is forced to see himself and he is not happy with the negative side, but who would be right? In the meantime there is a group of four men trapped on the planet below and the temperature is starting to drop drastically. With the transporter malfunction they are stranded. This is obviously before the creators of the show added a shuttlecraft to the show. If there was a shuttle let’s be honest this whole show’s secondary conflict wouldn’t be an issue.  Oh and for some reason there is a dog with the crew on the planet. The dog is obviously a cocker spaniel that has had a horn, antennae and a large rat’s tail added to it so it looks like some kind of alien. In the end Kirk and Kirk are brought back together and the Enterprise is off to the next adventure.

This episode is hillarious to watch because if you thought that William Shatner was over acting normally  this performance has been cranked up a few more notches. It reminds me of the scene in "This is Spinal Tap" where the band members brag about having speakers that go to 11. Evil Kirk frequently screams and makes a spectacle which culminates in a final plea where he shouts "I wanna live" about 5 times. There is a drinking game in this episode, I just haven't figured out the rules yet.

The Naked Time

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You GOD for Air Conditioning. My house is a cool and wonderful 70 degrees right now and I know for a fact it is not outside. I love me some Minnesota for about 9 months of the year. We are currently in the middle of the three months I dislike the most. So again, Thank You God for Air Conditioning.

It has been another lazy day around my house. I have cleaned a little, done a little laundry, and worked out of course. I also recently purchased the first six Star Trek movies on Blu Ray and it was well worth the price. These movies look fantastic on my big TV with Blu Ray. I’m currently on Star Trek V… What a dog of a movie, but we’ll talk about that later.

Today’s Workout:

Treadmill- 2.54 miles   218 calories burned

A question for anyone in the know… how accurate are the mile and calorie counters on treadmills?

The Naked Time

No.. No one gets fully naked during this episode but it does continue the trend thus far of at least partial nudity among the male cast members. In this episode the Enterprise has been sent to pick up a group of scientists from a dying planet and to observe the planets destruction. The people are found dead on the planet after they have seemingly all gone mad. Spock and another crew member beam down to survey the damage. They are wearing what appear to be Haz-Mat suits made out of an old shower curtain or table cloth. The random officer takes off his glove like a jackass and brings back the infection that killed the scientists on the planet below. One by one the crew of the enterprise begin going crazy and someone shuts off the engines. The Enterprise then begins to spiral towards the planet, now Kirk, Spock, Scotty and McCoy have 20 minutes to save the ship and find a cure… amazingly they do it!

In the episode Sulu strips off half his uniform and starts swashbuckling down the halls like he is one of the musketeers or something. In fact later Spock flippantly says “someone get D’Artagnan off the floor”. I wonder if this was written in the script or adlibbed, It seems a bit out of character for Spock but did make me laugh out loud. We also find out the Nurse Chapel loves Spock and we see Spock show emotion for the first time.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

What a lazy Saturday! I somehow woke up early today but have had nothing planned and I’ve kept it that way! Besides today’s workout I have done nothing productive besides grow a couch out of my ass while watching TV. Why exactly is the Food Network and HGTV so addicting? I could watch pretty much any show on that channel and enjoy myself. I even watched a show about cooking fish today and I HATE fish. Maybe it is just that you can watch these two networks and fall asleep easily because the same show with a different name will be on when you wake up?  LOVE THEM BOTH!

Today’s Workout:

Treadmill – 2.3 miles and 220 calories burned

Where No Man Has Gone Before

In this Episode the Enterprise is planning to travel outside the Galaxy. There is a barrier at the end of the galaxy that is difficult to pass through. The Enterprise recovers a recording device from a ship that attempted the crossing over 200 years prior. The records of the tape showed that there was some type of accident that happened and the captain destroyed the ship. There were several mentions of ESP in the ships records too. When they cross the edge of the galaxy two crew members are affected by the crossing. Gary Mitchell, Kirk’s good friend, develops super human powers as a result of the crossing. It becomes apparent that they need to get rid of this guy before he decides to kill everyone on board. Kirk and Spock agree to abandon him on a desolate planet. Gary becomes aware of the plan escapes and ultimately he and Kirk must face off in the middle of nowhere on this planet. Kirk defeats Gary but the episode ends on a very somber note.  The message here is “absolute power corrupts absolutely” and asks us each what we would do if we had supreme powers.

This show is very interesting because it was the second pilot but they decided to air it third. This is interesting because there were several differences in cast, costumes, props and sets made after this before the show went into regular production. For this to be shown third must have absolutely confused viewers in 1966. There were a few other changes made in the first few episodes that I will keep you updated on as the blog goes.

Charlie X

What a day today! Between a trip to get groceries and speakers, another trip to get a part for the speakers and hanging out with friends I’m not sure how I found time to work out! But I did… YEAH. I got together today with a few of my co-workers who I am happy to also call my friends! We got dinner and had a few drinks! Then I did something I have not done for a very long time…the random trip to Target to kill time. I have not made a trip like this since I was in college, and I am glad to say that it felt just as good walking around the Rogers Target as it did walking around the Wal-Mart in St. Cloud. I find some type of unnamable joy in walking around a store and goofing off with friends, whether it is making fun of products, sharing stories or trying on a kid’s bike helmet that looks like a shark (which I did!). I had a sneaking fear growing over the last few years that I had outgrown this passion and thankfully I have not!

With all of the fun though, I have not done a great job of sticking to my diet today. People keep telling me there are calories in alcohol and I have never believed them. I have a strict rule… Liquids don’t have calories, especially clear liquids. Hence the reason I drink vodka. Well I guess I need to change this rule. From now on out I will stick to the diet more regularly at least 6/7 days of the week.

Today’s Workout:

Treadmill- 2.55 miles   230 calories

Charlie X

This show is about a young man named Charlie who is discovered living alone on an abandoned planet and has grown up without human contact. Charlie seems fine and normal despite being incredibly socially awkward and naïve.  As the show goes on suscpicious events start happening around Charlie and we come to find out that he has some pretty extreme super powers, like being able to destroy a ship with his mind. He even changes a lady into an iguana, not practical mind you but impressive none the less. In the end he tries to hijack the Enterprise so he can go and live with distant relatives on a human colony. At the end an alien from a race of super beings shows up on the bridge of the Enterprise to take Charlie back with them. At this point everyone is sad and the boy is gone. Oh and by the way, the super beings look almost exactly like the wizard from The Wizard of Oz.

A few worthwhile or interesting points about this episode:

The character of Charlie reminds me so much of the students with Asperger’s Syndrome I work with on a daily basis at school. Like them, Charlie is so awkward and does not know how to interpret social cues, engage in conversations, get his needs met, or even talk to a person they want date. In one scene Charlie sees two men share a greeting and then one pats the other’s butt to say good job. Charlie later tries this with a female to disastrous results. Charlie though can’t see the difference between the two situations. I find this show very interesting because it was written so long before Asperger’s was recognized as a syndrome and yet Charlie clearly fits the label.

Uhura Sings! Oh yes ladies and gentlemen she is a lounge singing, short skirt wearing, Beehive hairdo’d Diva. Check this episode out for this odd yet fun segment.

Starfleet officer in red lycra pants! WTF??? Yep Kirk tries to teach Charlie wrestling and they wear the most awkward outfits ever. And apparently underwear for men in the 23^rd century sucks because it was Panty Lines a go go for this scene. Also interesting to me is the reminder that William Shatner was once a sex symbol, though now the sight of him in those red pants may make a baby throw up!

"The Man Trap"

So Hello everyone and welcome to day one of the "Star Trek Workout". I am going to Workout/Walk my way through all 600+ episodes of Star Trek. I have been a huge Star Trek fan ever since I was a little kid! I can remember staying up late to watch the re-runs of The Original Series episodes late nights on Fox and collecting all of the toys I could get my hands on. My fondest Star Trek Memory is when my grandmother picked me up from a little league baseball game to take me to the Star Trek Convention in Minneapolis. I can remember so much about that day including getting to see James Doohan (Scotty) and Nana Visitor(Mjr. Kira) speak about their Star Trek experiences! Such a dork but... Once a Dork Always a Dork. I've just learned to hide it a little better than when I got my fourth grade picture taken in a Lt. Worf T-Shirt. Coincidentally I also had on a pair of huge glasses that would have made Sally Jesse Raphael jealous.


In the future I will be sharing some insights into my daily life, thoughts on the world and of course Star Trek related quips. I will also keep you up to date on the Workout progress!


Starting Weight: 256 (ouch)


Today's Workout:
Treadmill- 2.25 miles  217calories


The Man Trap
So The Man Trap is the first episode of Star Trek aired on TV and it is low budget wonderfulness galore! So the gist of the story is that McCoy Kirk and some random Blue Shirt officer land on a planet to check out a couple of archeologists. Turns out the lady is McCoy's Ex-GF. Well the lady apparently looks different and the Blue Shirt guy is apparently uber horny and hits on the lady who happens to be married. Well random officers start to die left and right. They figure out that something must be killing all of people, but of course not before the creature makes it to the Enterprise. Well The creature is a shape shifter and continues to cause havoc and leave a string of bodies all over the ship. A thought... How does starfleet keep recruiting new members if seemingly 1 in 4 dies in the first week of service? Anyway the creature is some ugly Salt Vampire and McCoy kills it! All is well the Enterprise is off for another adventure!