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)