A Fistful Of Datas

The first day of workshop has come and gone and it was such a long day. I am so not used to working 8 hours in a row but I will get used to it sooner or later. The other major highlight today was getting to present to the local school board about space camp. I was extremely nervous going into the whole thing but after the presentation started It went so very well! The adults who spoke did a great job but the real pleasure was in getting to listen to the students present about their trip to space camp and how it impacted their lives and plans for the future. It is so heartwarming to hear children talk about enjoying the learning process and making plans for their lives and saying the ever illusive “THANK YOU TEACHERS!” What an amazing day.

Elliptical Machine- Calories:627, Miles: 3.76

A Fistful Of Datas

The Enterprise is once again taking a short break between missions and Picard knows exactly what he wants to do to relax, play his flute! The only problem is that he is continually interrupted by the crew. First Crusher wants him to be in one of her plays and promises it to be only a very small part. Then Data and LaForge want to explain an experiment where they hook him up to the computer to see if he can run the ship. Finally, Worf comes into ask about doing a few security procedures but Picard tells him simply to relax so Worf goes back to his quarters. In his quarters Alexander is waiting for him with a cowboy hat as the two of them are now going off to the holodeck. Worf and Alexander are going to reinact a story from the “Ancient West” (I guess it finally got old enough to be called ancient in the 24^th century). Worf and Alexander are the sheriff and deputy of Deadwood and their job is to arrest a criminal and save the town. At the same time LaForge and Data are conducting their experiment and something appears to go askew with Data and computer glitches start happening all over the ship but none of them seem to be too terribly bad. With the exception of the Holodeck where Worf, Alexander and Troi are now stuck with the safety protocols off. Troi shows up in the holodeck because she is a huge fan of the “Ancient West”. Soon Alexander is kidnapped by a holodeck character who looks like Data, and the prisoner in the jail cell now looks like Data, and the rest of the posse after Worf looks like Data. Troi and Worf decide to play along with the program and proceed with a prisoner change that will of course become a shoot out. With a little ingenuity Worf and Troi outsmart the holodeck Datas but the program does not end yet. We then see the local bar maid rush down the stairs to give Worf a big ole kiss and low and behold she is Data in a dress. The Enterprise crew also figures out how to straighten out the ships computer and gets Data back in order after he has turned into a real life embodiment of one of the holodeck characters. The show ends with the Enterprise heading off into the sunset, just like in the old westerns.

This episode is once again pure fun! It is a total joy to see Brent Spiner inhabit the character of Data but as so many different old west archetypes. It is also fun to see Marina Sirtis play the old west bad ass chick who slings a shotgun and wears leather pants, she even dons a southern accent for this episode! The show also features nods to a lot of old western movies, especially the uber cheesy Italian made ones and the musical cues pay homage to the music in those films.