Freaky & Funny Weather Forecasting

Star Trek Marathon IV
Season 1 Disk 4

Balance Of Terror
A class episode of Star Trek which pays serious homage to the
WWII submarine war movies in particular The Enemy Below which
tells the tale of two Captains both intelligent men with integrity
and honour who could indeed have been friends if there were not on
opposing sides of a war.
With the destruction of a number of outposts on the Romulan neutral
zone the Enterprise tracks a cloaked starship travelling at sublight,
what follows is a battle of wits and tactics with two very different
vessels but evenly matched. This was the first story that featured
Romulans and for me they were never better than in this episode,
far superior to the laterTNG/DS9 Romulan cultures.

Shore Leave
This is an out and out humorous episode with it's fair shirt of menace
and underlying it a very solid piece of science fiction. On what appears
to be an empty world but with plenty of vegetation a number of the crew
beam down and begin to experience events that should not be happening,
a giant rabbit that's late and followed by a young blonde girl, samurai
warriors, a tiger and people long since assigned to their pasts.
Like I said a fun episode and a new yeoman.

The Galileo Seven
Spock commands a shuttle on an exploration/scientific mission but during
a storm they crash land on a world with a very large primitive humanoid
species, there are deaths and Spocks use of logic clashes with the
emotional aspects of his human crew who he has to save and things do not
look good. Meanwhile on the ship a senior commissioner is pushing Kirk to
abandon the search and get much needed medical supplies to a far away colony.
An interesting tale which maybe shows how a very rigid logical line of
reasoning may not merge well under pressure situations with humans,
amongst fellow Vulcans who knows.

The Squire of Gothos
A world where there should be no world and an alien with strange powers
who fails to realise that spying on the Earth without taking into account
the speed of the light transmissions means your environment recreating
Earth is going to be out of date. A very large and almost over the top
performance from William Campbell but it suits the role perfectly, he later
went on to play a Klingon and for many Trelane is the prototype Q.

Extras
Previews
Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner
Starfleet Access Episode

Star Trek Marathon III

Star Trek Marathon 3
S1 Disk 3

The Corbomite Maneuver

A routine exploration patrol discovers a probe like device which blocks their passage, when it shows signs of reacting to the ships attempts to evade it is destroyed and then it's bigger brother arrives and grabs the Enterprise in an unbreakable hold. To prevent destruction Kirk convinces the commander of the other ship that to destroy the Enterprise will result in his destruction as well so they are towed by a smaller ship for investigation allowing time to come up with a solution.

A classic episode which was actually the first filmed post pilots and shows the way Gene Roddenberry wanted to take the show, humans and the Federation were capable of thinking beyond the monkey.

The Menagerie 1 & 2

This two parter was created due to time and financial constraints imposed on the show by the studio and network, in many ways that pressure created a masterpiece of television and inventive use of older material.

Jeffrey Hunter played Captain Pike who had become unavailable in the aftermath of the failed pilot but the idea of a race of advanced telepaths capturing sentient beings to breed to provide entertainment is serious scifi. The show also pushes the Spock character well beyond the cold machine like entity and laid most of the groundwork for the loyal and vulcan/human blending we come to know and love.

The Conscience of the King

A horrorific situation on the planet Tarsus 4 which led to the murder of half the population during a famine returns to haunt the handful of survivors who could identify the leader of the colony who implemented the "cleansing" of those he thought as less than useful. Eighteen years on one such survivor goes to Kirk with the identity of Kodos The Executioner but is then found dead leading Kirk to investigate and become a target himself. This isn't the strongest episode of the first season but there are some very good moments and if nothing else it may be the source of the love of Shakespeare within the Star Trek universe:)

Extras

Previews

Reflections on Spock

Starfleet Access Episode

The Long Earth

I've just finished the latest Terry Pratchett novel "The Long Earth" written in collaboration with scifi author Stephen Baxter, it's a very imaginative story yet ultimately a simple premise but done with a huge amount of flare and style. While there is a narrative that could lead to a second book I think this novel pretty much stands alone although the "b" plot is a little under developed compared to the main story yet despite that it's so very human in terms of the events which take place.

Star Trek Marathon II

Star Trek Marathon II

Season 1 Disc 2

The Enemy Within
A transporter malfunction creates a physical duplicate of Kirk but one being has all
the negative emotions and the other the positive but neither one is really Captain Kirk,
only together do they have the strengh and compassion to make life and death decisions.
A great episode but certainly of it's time, the way they treat the attempted rape victim
and her own reactions is way out of sync for todays society.

Mudd's Women

A rogue trader and all round dodgy dude is transporting three willing women who are
looking for husbands and boy are they crackers (for the late 1960's). Of course we learn
not everything is as it seems because good old Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) can not
do anything on the level but it all turns out ok at least for the one woman
(Eve played by Karen Steele) who shows some integrity.

What Are Little Girls Made Of
Nurse Chapel joined Starfleet to search for her fiance Dr Roger Corby and when
the Enterprise visits his last known location they discover him alive and well having
found some wonderous technology. The joyous moment is cut short when it turns
out Corby has his own agenda and controlling the Captain and then the Enterprise
are the first steps in his master plan.
Ted Cassidy is excellent as Ruk.

Miri
A duplicate Earth (weird or what) is discovered but with a destroyed civilisation.
On beaming down they discover a group of young children who shouldn't be alive
but are then discovered to be carrying a disease which kicks in at puberty and then
they contract the disease and have less than a week to find a cure.
Kim Darby (True Grit) guest stars as Miri.

Dagger Of The Mind
A visit to a penal colony results in a patient stowing away on the Enterprise but in a
surprise twist it turns out to be a doctor who is suffering from his own experiments.
The story doesn't seem to ring true so Kirk along with Dr Helen Noel beam down
to investigate (they had a fling at a christmas party) and their relationship is exploited
to cover up the shady dealings in the penal colony.
Mariana Hill is absolutely gorgeous as Helen Noel (Noel = Christmas party get it?)

Extras

Previews

Another strong batch of episodes with a mixture of humour, mystery and intrigue and
Kirk is in his prime, the guy looks good and the chemistry between the three leads is
coming on nicely.

Star Trek Marathon

Star Trek Marathon

It's been a long time coming but I have finally started my marathon re-watch
of the original series of Star Trek, I bought the Blu-ray boxset last Christmas
so it's been patiently gathering dust for longer than it deserves. The main reason
was the backlog of current shows I wanted to get through before committing to
Trek for the best part of 3 months allowing for the reduced broadcast output
over the summer.
So here we are, Star Trek The Original Series on Blu-ray with the enhanced
video and audio and without any doubts this is the blueprint to taking a vintage
piece of television and updating it for both the existing and modern audiences.
There will be spoilers:)

Season 1 Disc 1

Where No Man Has Gone Before 
The second pilot is significantly different to how the series proper was presented
but as a stepping stone it's ideal, the story of sacrifice and megalomania had to
come with deaths and bloodshed and thus losing central characters.
A few of the Trek novels have explained away the barrier at the edge of the galaxy
but as with most scifi entertainment you still have ignore a few things or ruin your
enjoyment such as sublight travel time scale.
A very nice reference to Carol Marcus later used in StarTrek II and III.

The Man Trap
On a routine medical mission Bones runs into an old flame but all is not as it seems
as each man who looks upon her sees his own version oh her physical form, it's a
defence mechanism of the creature and when crewmen begin to die the hunt is on.
This isn't a bad opening to the series, a few deaths and some quite dark elements
along with the immediate chemistry between Kirk and Bones.

Charlie X
The sole survivor of a crashed space ship around 18 years previously is given to the
Enterprise to return to a human colony world but there are questions as to how he
survived by himself on a world known to be almost devoid of edible vegitation.
Charlie is vague but like any teenager short of temper and patience and soon his
abilities are revealed and he attempts to take over the ship leading to numerous
one on one confrontations with the Captain.
Again a solid episode with plenty to do for the whole cast even if Kirk does get
to show off a little:)

The Naked Time
A visit to a reseatch station on a dying world by the Enterprise discovers all members
of the facility are dead and despite safety suits the contagion/virus is passed back to
the ship driving people to distraction. Each infected person acts differently but you ain't
seen or heard anything as Riley sings old Irish songs and Sulu swashbuckles and gleams
all over the ship. Kirk's admission of the limits imposed by being Captain and in service
to the ship is quite moving  and so early on hints at a lot more depth to the character.

Extras
Preview Trailers
Starfleet Access Episode
Spacelife: Transporting Star Trek into the 21st Century.

For A Good Time, Call... Red Band Trailer

It's not going to be for everyone but you know I think this movie will be a great bridge for the gross out & chick flick movie in a similar style as Bridesmaids and it also co-stars Justin Long.

Dredd

Star Trek (TOS) Alternate Title Sequence

Thanks to @jmswallow for the spot.
Live Journal

A few of my Ipad Apps

I've had the Ipad3 for a couple of weeks now, it's got a nice light weight and slim case to protect it for day to day use/travel as well as a renewable thin plastic screen guard which makes it safer to clean the sticky finger prints off which do tend to build up.
I've added some of the basic apps such as Facebook, Twitter and also installed GetGlue, LastPass, Skype, Tweetdeck, Youtube, IMDB, iBooks, Angry Birds and Spotify. 
Some of the extra gems so far both free and pay include...
Dark Horse Digital
Marvel
DC
Kindle
Stargate Episode Guide
Star Trek PADD
TVCatchup
Comixology

PADD

Black Horse

iBooks

Kindle

Stargate Episode Guide

TV Catchup

I am still looking for a decent podcast app, not overly impressed with itunes on the ipad more it's integration with my much more expansive desktop/home networked install, I need something cleaner and more exclusive to downloading and playing podcasts. 
With a few weeks under my belt I'm still loving the ipad, it's display is fantastic and the audio quality very good for a device this size, the battery life is also very usable just a shame there are no wifi hotspots where I work, the O2 3G works fine for a price:)

Resident Evil: Retribution - Trailer

It's more Milla aka Alice, never a bad thing:)

TED - Red Band Trailer

Ok it looks hilarious but I can't help but think of Supernatural:)

Revolution

A few familiar faces in the new NBC series such as Tim Guinee (Stargate SG1, Lie To Me, Iron Man), Andrea Roth (Rescue Me, Ringer) and Giancarlo Esposito (Once Upon A Time, Breaking Bad).

Ipad 3

I've been circling the new Ipad for a few weeks now looking for a full colour more flexible device to replace my Kindle, now the Kindle does an excellent job but Amazon have not offered an upgrade path with the Fire in the UK and well I'm  fed up of waiting.
The delay in buying the new Ipad however was based on the price and the need for the 3G option and broadband data only deals are not that attractive but my cash back scheme (Quidco) offered a 2.5% deal which while only a token amount just pushed me over the edge. So I ordered and received a Personalised iPad 3 with Wi-Fi + Cellular 64GB in Black and you know took to it straight away, within minutes I've fell in love with this device to a level I never got with my laptop (hate it's touchpad) but I'm doing things on the Ipad that were always at times infuriating on the other machine.

As for the apps well I've loaded up the obvious ones such as Facebook, Twitter, Kindle, LastPass and various streaming options (BBC, Ch4 etc) even though the video streaming will be restricted to wifi delivery (cost per meg). One of the important abilities I wanted was to be able to access my Dark Horse Digital comics and I have to say the mobile device is how it should be done, a whole new appreciation of such content is opening up to me. Lets not forget the GetGlue app which if you know me then I use that service quite a bit even though they seem to be ducking on the their sticker obligations oh and the Youtube app is fantastic, the best way of accessing that service I have used so far and finally able to really enjoy my subscriptions.

Nothing is perfect of course so having a touch screen is always going to be an issue when it's highly reflective, the oil and grease left on the screen can't be good so I'm getting some disposable screen protectors and see how they work and if the Ipad is going to go on my travels it needs a proper case/cover. There are lots of options and designs here but given that the size and weight of the device is a selling point then you don't want a cover to ruin that and at least it has to match the aesthetics.
One interesting aspect was the lack of documentation with the Ipad however at the box it was very easy to setup and get working probably even easier for those more familiar with other Apple devices or the latest phones and tablets. I have had to look up how to delete apps and any tricks and tips on itunes/ipad syncing as well as supported media formats but after a couple of days I'm pretty close to where I want to be.

Apple

ARACHNOQUAKE Trailer

Come on admit it this looks like a hell of a lot of fun:)

Star Trek 2 Teaser trailer

I was proved wrong with the first movie so I will not jump to judgement again but if this is anyway close to the plot then I think we'll be just fine:)

The Most Astounding Fact

The Most Astounding Fact - Neil deGrasse Tyson



Absolutely beautiful in thought and deed.

Falling Skies S2 Trailer

Falling Skies returns to TNT on the 17th with a double episode, no word on it's UK return.
The series finished on a high with perhaps the best scene of the entire series as it's cliffhanger and well it worked I want to know what happens now:)
Official Website

Looper - Teaser Trailer

Love me some time travel and there's Bruce of course, surprised I hadn't seen much of this movie before now.

Space Command: Neil Gaiman