Happy Birthday Star Trek

You got the extra credit right. ;)

Guano... Partial credit. The guano was both used for fertilizer and also to make saltpeter for gunpowder. (Which made sources of guano strategically interesting during WWI, when gunpowder became... Kinda important.) ;)

The "crazy" was related to how insane workers appeared to be to the rest of the world, when it wasn't widely known they were virtually slaves on an island they couldn't escape, and really were slaves on others.

They'd go "crazy" and slaughter their bosses/captors, etc. That plus lots of diseases that wouldn't leave a person very "sane"...

The award... Was the Nobel Prize. For the guy who figured out how to synthesize nitrates. Guano market relatively quickly disappeared.

Here's a fun story about a dude who's been trying to claim one of these islands under the still active U.S. Guano Islands Act where Congress just decided if there was an island anywhere on the planet that was uninhabited and it had guano, it was ours.

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/navassa/poop.htm

Also includes some crazy history about some of the workers being charged with murder and then that being commuted.

The U.S. history isn't isolated... The Brits and French had similar slave/work camps on poop islands.

Bat/bird poop was big business back then. Huge business. As big as energy sources today.
 
The Federation probably has some slaves locked away on a Dilithium mining planet somewhere the Starship Captains don't know about. ;)
 
silver-eagle said:
T'Pol from Enterprise. T'Pau was the senior vulcan in Amok Time.
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And just to REALLY highlight my geekitude: The Vulcan on "Enterprise" was originally intended to be the young T'Pau. IIRC, the producers felt it would cause too much consistency problems as the series continued.

Ron "I'll still be a geek when nobody thinks it's chic" Wanttaja
 
denverpilot said:
The Federation probably has some slaves locked away on a Dilithium mining planet somewhere the Starship Captains don't know about. ;)
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Not necessary. The Ferengi took over Rura Penthe and manage all the dilithium (DI) mines. As the primary supplier for Dilithium and Corbomite, the are obviously doing very well, too.
 
I always got a kick out of the Bridge of a Starship always being on the upper deck of a warship and not buried well within the structure.

The new Battlestar Galactica at least gave a nod to this Engineering reality. They also had to drag their provisions around with them, dealt with scarcity of resources and rioting for part of a season, etc.

They were a little too hung up on the "racial tension" thing in the new one. "Cylons are People Too!". The ending was totally stupid.

Baltar's character as Christ-like religious leader in the new one was interesting. Colonel Tighe's charter acted a hell of a lot more like a real human stuck in the XO seat for way too many years, by his own choices.

And that thing with his wife in a concentration camp setting? Wild for a SciFi show. Very dark.

A crusty old Adama was okay, but the love story between him and the President... Meh. Liked his acting, but they didn't write his character all that well.

BSG's "nukes in space" was a hell of a lot better than the Federation running around with their hippie-dippy lasers that never seem to even put a scratch in anything larger than a shuttlecraft.

Your *flagship* has some wimpy lasers and a couple of photon torpedoes that never seem to be available when needed??

Voyager barely gave a nod to a possible full mutiny during a voyage that long and boring. People'd have eaten Janeway and her crew alive and gone for a stellar Party Cruise fueled by synthohol and cheetos from the food synthesizers, eventually.

And Ten Forward with Gynan/Whoopie Goldberg on TNG?! Yeah. Right. The Federation outfitted their flagship with a huge party bar forward and hired the wise old politically correct Rastafarian to tend bar. Sure. Haha. Sounds like the future military fleet. Haha.

Watching the Federation get it's wimpy little butt kicked for a couple of seasons of Deep Space Nine was satisfying though. Captain Sisko had a great voice, though. Harkened back to Shatner in that the Captain's voice was "unique". Come to think of it, Picard and Janeway also had distinctive voices.

The Federation had their butt-kicking coming on DS9 when a whole frakkin' (ha!) rescue armada showed up without so much as a new secret weapon to fight back with?!

We're going to the battle of our lives with... Phasers again!! :rofl:

Sticking a remote base at the wormhole without so much as a medium cruiser close by is pretty stupid too.

Didn't these people ever play the board game, Risk? ;)

And of course the only bad guys powerful enough to break up the hippie party in the first place were slaves to their passive-aggressive masters because they were addicted to a liquid drug? Yeah, because you know... The drug necessary for conquering a quadrant wouldn't have been easier to manage in pill form. :rofl:

The sneaky Cardassians were kinda fun on that show, though. Ruthless.

Ferengi? Let 'em build up a business and take it from them by force. They were fun but would've been wiped out.

The Dax character was fun. Ancient being with nine-lives so to speak, chillin' in different host bodies 60-80 years at a time. Okay, kinda cool.

Borg. Very cool.

The "Q" character? Annoying. A being that powerful dorking around with Enterprise constantly? Writer's block I guess.

To seek out New Civilizations and have our flagship's ass kicked by every one of them... unless mega-genius child Wesley Crusher is aboard. He'll come up with something. Hahaha.

The only shocker in TNG was that Tasha Yar was another typical large-breasted not-self-conscious-in-skin-tight-uniforms female of the Future... that they actually killed off.

I always wondered what she did or said to Jonathan Frakes to get canned. ;)

They also never showed the schoolkids laughing nervously every time they heard an adult called, "Number One" or even a few Ensigns making fun of the same. :rofl:

"Yeah, he's Number One all right!"

BSG's Cylon in Baltar's head was waaaaaay hotter than anything Star Trek ever dreamed of. ;) ;) ;) Whew. Hot.

All BSG was really missing was the cool Cylon voice from the original... "By Your Command..." Why'd they write that out?! That voice was wicked back in the day.

Having a stark-raving lunatic female Admiral show up with another Battlestar mid-way through the seasons was brilliant. Gotta love a good showdown with sidearms drawn between Officers in the CIC.

A little torture down in the Brig. A bunch of politicians royally screwing over their people while meaning well. A little reincarnation complete with full memory thrown in.

Yeah, the new BSG was quite entertaining. Waaay better than anything after Kirk's Trek. All were fun but BSG kicked it up a notch.
 
I always wondered... How come, after all those years traveling through space, that they never built a second battlestar or fully armed any of the other ships? If they ALWAYS had fighters, and they ALWAYS had weapons on the Gallactica, then they had some kind of manufacturing. While not a trivial matter, it would have given added hope they could battle back against the Cylons.
Trisha Helfer is still most deffinitely a beautiful woman. She has been in a number of series since including Burn Notice for most of a season.
 
Nate. You're scaring me. Time to get to Falling Rock, have a beer, and re-assess your life.

:D
 
silver-eagle said:
7 of 9. And still pretty nice as a lawyer (Shark) and a con-artist (Leverage).
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Smoking-hot screen when she's on...

Jay Honeck said:
The female Vulcan in Enterprise, T'pal, was the only chick in Star Trek that gave 7 of 9 a run for the money...
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Was this the one that started with them having to smear goo all over their barely-clad bodies in order to decontaminate?

TMetzinger said:
Jeri Ryan played a "rescue Borg" adopted by the crew of the Voyager on that series. A striking woman.
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"Striking woman" - I like that. So much more polite than RED FREAKIN' HOT!

:D
 
POA is truly one of the very, very, few places where I get to feel like the adult in the room. I have been totally outgeeked. Many congratulations to all.
 
denverpilot said:
Yeah, the new BSG was quite entertaining. Waaay better than anything after Kirk's Trek. All were fun but BSG kicked it up a notch.
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But remember, Ron Moore made his mark and earned his chops on Star Trek (TNG, DS9 and can we please forget VOY?) then went on to Roswell and Carnivale before BSG.
 
7 of 9 used to live near my house. In the off season I would often see her at the gym and at Starbucks. Since the divorce she is a full timer in LA. But one of my friends, who is a gay women was so very happy to get to see 7 at the gym, in the locker room......I'll leave the rest to your imagination. But lets just say that my friend tells me it was a religious experience.
 
ScottM said:
7 of 9 used to live near my house. In the off season I would often see her at the gym and at Starbucks. Since the divorce she is a full timer in LA. But one of my friends, who is a gay women was so very happy to get to see 7 at the gym, in the locker room......I'll leave the rest to your imagination. But lets just say that my friend tells me it was a religious experience.
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My wife and I are trekkers, and we've met some of the cast over the years. I've traded a hunting license for Jeri Ryan for a hunting license for Patrick Stewart. Neither of us has had any luck, but at least mine will live longer.
 
TMetzinger said:
My wife and I are trekkers, and we've met some of the cast over the years. I've traded a hunting license for Jeri Ryan for a hunting license for Patrick Stewart. Neither of us has had any luck, but at least mine will live longer.
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Ryan's first Trek Con appearance was in Denver in the mid 90s (during VOY). Had her son (Jack Jr) with her. He had lots of fun with all the crazy people and she was overwhelmed. I don't think anyone warned her about SF cons.

Stewart came to something (early 90s? but after TNG ended and don't remember why he was here) but appeared at an event at the Denver Museum that evening. Didn't meet him in person but got to work as a volunteer for the event. (Museum volunteer staff)
 
Lets see Star Trek people I have met over the years.

TOS:
James Doohan
Nichelle Nichols
Walter Koenig

TNG:
Brent Spiner
Gates McFadden
Wil Weaton
Marina Sirtis
Jonathon Frakes
Micheal Dorn

DS9:
Micheal Dorn

V:
Jeri Ryan


Of all of these Jeri was the only person I met outside of a Star Trek conventions. Yes I said it, I have gone to multiple Star Trek conventions. I am not ashamed of my nerdness!!
 
My wife and I ran into James Doohan at a Safeway in Washington state... he was in front of us in the checkout line and we had a nice little chat... RIP!
 
Anthony said:
Nate. You're scaring me. Time to get to Falling Rock, have a beer, and re-assess your life.
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:lol: :dunno: :rofl: :goofy:

My wife and I were really into the new BSG when it came out... nowadays we've dropped the cable/dish, since we realized TV is an enormous time-suck. BSG was on during a night when she's home from all her rehearsals, and I was usually home too... so it was our "date night" for a long time, I guess.

My wife is still a horrible TV addict (she has to have the silly thing on), and she's also really into cop shows, which I call "murder is cool!" shows. (She gets cranky when I say that.)

But I end up watching, if I'm in the living room and haven't retreated to some other room in the house. I have to balance the "Don't you want to hang out with me?" with my total annoyance at the advertisements and BS on the boob tube. My podcast recording setup is also in the living room (don't ask... I don't want to go crazy and build a recording studio in the basement) so the constant blare of the idiot box isn't much help in getting podcast editing or recording done, either.

Right now, she's working her way through all of the episodes of Flashpoint on Netflix while I sit there and make comments about the awful writing. Stuff like, "How many minutes away are we?" asked to the driver of the big black cop SUV by a guy in the passenger seat who's supposedly been working as a SWAT team member in the city for 20+ years... yeah... right. ARGGGH.

You want some SERIOUS nerdiness/geekiness? Get someone who was a Firefly fan started on THAT show. (I've never watched it. I am a little afraid of it, with as cultish as a couple of co-workers are about it. GRIN!)
 
Michael Dorn is a jet rated pilot which at one time had a Sabrejet and a Sabreliner. I don't think the sabrejet had either photons or phasers, but I could be wrong.
 
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denverpilot said:
:lol: :dunno: :rofl: :goofy:
You want some SERIOUS nerdiness/geekiness? Get someone who was a Firefly fan started on THAT show. (I've never watched it. I am a little afraid of it, with as cultish as a couple of co-workers are about it. GRIN!)
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Don't get me started....Ever notice that two of the actors on Firefly ended up with major roles on Buffy or Angel? Gee, I wonder why....?
 
silver-eagle said:
Michael Dorn is a jet rated pilot which at one time had a Sabrejet and a Sabreliner. I don't think the sabrejet had either photons or phasers, but I could be wrong.
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Bill Shatner was either a private pilot or working on getting his license during TOS production. One of the earliest editions of Private Pilot magazine in 1969 carried a pilot report article on the new C-177A, from the perspective of low-time pilot Shatner. The article was called "Captain Kirk And The Cardinal".

Of course Gene Roddenberry had been a professional pilot, and I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Leonard Nimoy was learning to fly, as well.
 
Telemakhos said:
Janeway way fine, but according to me, Counselor Troi was much, much more of a hottie.
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ugh. Did you ever see her without makeup. Not even close to being a hottie.

Gates McFadden is certainly more attractive. Much more attractive.

And then there are the various guest stars (e.g., Julie Warner)
 
Pilawt said:
Bill Shatner was either a private pilot or working on getting his license during TOS production. One of the earliest editions of Private Pilot magazine in 1969 carried a pilot report article on the new C-177A, from the perspective of low-time pilot Shatner. The article was called "Captain Kirk And The Cardinal".

Of course Gene Roddenberry had been a professional pilot, and I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Leonard Nimoy was learning to fly, as well.
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Shatner has ASEL & Glider, Nimoy ASEL & Multi. Neither have current medicals. Nimoy used to use his twin (IIRC) for travel with the family. And he really likes margaritas....at least he did when he was the guest at an SF con in Tucson many years ago. Con staff & Nimoy went to dinner together one evening...
 
Bob Noel said:
ugh. Did you ever see her without makeup. Not even close to being a hottie.

Gates McFadden is certainly more attractive. Much more attractive.

And then there are the various guest stars (e.g., Julie Warner)
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Babylon 5. Delenn.
 
Bob Noel said:
ugh. Did you ever see her without makeup. Not even close to being a hottie.

Gates McFadden is certainly more attractive. Much more attractive.

And then there are the various guest stars (e.g., Julie Warner)
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Another guest star: Olivia d'Abo

 
Bob Noel said:
Another guest star: Olivia d'Abo
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Pilawt said:
Bill Shatner was either a private pilot or working on getting his license during TOS production. One of the earliest editions of Private Pilot magazine in 1969 carried a pilot report article on the new C-177A, from the perspective of low-time pilot Shatner. The article was called "Captain Kirk And The Cardinal".

Of course Gene Roddenberry had been a professional pilot, and I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Leonard Nimoy was learning to fly, as well.
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Roddenberry was a B-17 pilot. Says it all right there.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Does look interesting - just watched the first episode.

But Babylon 5 is still my favorite. Every episode. In order.
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Babylon 5 was awesome, but did take a bit to get going. Its creator pitched the show to Paramount, who said no, then made the first and only Star Trek series based on a space station, Deep Space 9.
 
denverpilot said:
And for fun trivia... Why were people ever called "bat guano crazy" and what was the guano used for. Next, what prize was given to the person who made the guano unnecessary? ;)

Extra credit: Explain "mad as a hatter". ;)
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Guano was used for making explosives. The biggest fastest sailing ships ever were dedicated to the Nitrite trade.
 
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