DarkFather

While you guys debate the preservation of film, Gotham City is getting a new freeway:

The guy rambling on and on and on about the various sounds was the thing that made me turn it off.

And George Lucas' monotonous voice that is like an elderly frog who just woke up from a nap. It was especially intolerable on the ROTS DVD commentary.

Star Wars has usually failed when it comes to additional features on DVDs. It's weird, because it seems like the type of film franchise that would excell at bonus footage, commentaries, makings of, etc.

I think The Simpsons' season DVDs set a great standard for commentaries.  And when it comes to television (off topic, I know), I like South Park's approach of "mini-commentaries."

I'll play Picard.

It is likely a foreigner wanting to spark a romance with an American so the American can pay for their trip to America.

A glass of cold water every two hours or so is best. Don't overdo it, as there is a possibility you could flush too many enzymes from your body (a.k.a. water intoxication). Use your best judgment.

I assume you have taken benadryl or something close to it.

To not badly scew your sleeping pattern, I recommend letting yourself stay awake all night and day. By the time tomorrow night comes, you will be exhausted, and sleep will come easily.

Frequently drink cold water as an alternative to coffee, as caffeine crashes are detrimental to any method for alleviating insomnia.

DarkFather said:

 

Scandanavians and Aborigines have been genetically seperated for more than 2000 years, and they're still the same species.

 

Fascinating. And are the Scandanavians from the planet Scandanav, or have they been on the earth those whole 2,000 years just as the Aborigines?

In case this makes sense only to me, I was demonstrating that TheBoost raised a point perfectly answered by the statement he quoted me on before raising the point.

Good luck in your struggles.

Scandanavians and Aborigines have been genetically seperated for more than 2000 years, and they're still the same species.

Fascinating. And are the Scandanavians from the planet Scandanav, or have they been on the earth those whole 2,000 years just as the Aborigines?

sean wookie said:

Yup one of those at least told her she looked nice and she said I looked nice too.

I advise against all of those behaviors. If you pay her a compliment, it must be something about her personality or achievements, not about her appearance.

As the male, you need to be taking the lead on your dates. That means you decide the destinations. Don't just go along with anything and everything she says. Not only does that fail to display leadership, but it is neither entertaining or challenging.

Continue escalating kinosthetics. If you neglect to make physical contact often, then the first kiss will be uncomfortable for both of you. I recommend squeezing the nape of her neck, and sliding a palm over the small of her back. Both of these areas of the body are bundles of nerves that are rarely touched, thus she will become naturally more excited.

again, this would be like saying that we're a different species from Jesus or Ceasar.  Like you said, they took different paths.

We do not live on separate planets as they did.

Did you at any point pay her a superficial compliment, buy her an unearned gift, seek her approval, or attempt to verbally qualify yourself as a mate?

Are you and I related by a common ancestor?

The races themselves had a common ancestor. A more accurate analogy is apes and humans.

According to Alpha Memory, they diverged during the Time of Awakening:

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Time_of_Awakening

Around the year 300 A.D. That lends the Romulans nearly 1,000 years (ending when the crew first encounter them in TOS) to adapt to their new enviroment and evolve. It is conceivable that the differences became physiological in that frame of time.

Though, admittedly, not enough for them to be distinguishable at face value.

you also have to note that Vulcans and Romulans are the same species.

Negative. They are relative by a common ancestor. I do not believe Vulcan physiology is identical to that of Romulans.

I do agree with the general thought in your post. All of this talk of Spock "getting in touch with his human side" is erroneous. He could as easily be in touch with his Vulcan side when expressing an emotion, considering that Vulcans are inherently an emotional race, even moreso than humans.

[...]Romulans and Vulcans both have pointed ears and eyebrows, but Alley's Saavik only had the ears.[...]

Probably part of the reason it's hard for me to accept her in the role. She came across as a human actress, not someone belonging to a different species.

I thought the new actress for Saavik was far superior to Kirstie Alley. I couldn't buy Alley as a Vulcan for some reason.

Who are "they"?

That was my initial reaction. I'm now neutral regarding it, meaning I don't find Tolkien's trick there either "cheap" or "clever." It's at least acceptable, since I have greatly enjoyed the LOTR films and books.

I first watched TMP when having an extremely limited knowledge of Star Trek. It was late 2005. I had to know what my father loved so much about Star Trek, so I devoted a great deal of time watching the films and the various series (mostly TOS and TNG).

One of my favorite scenes, which cemented Spock as being in my top 10 list of favorite fictional characters, was when he shot himself into V'Ger while only in a space suit. He then proceeds to non-chalantly record his findings.

Then there's Ilia, who has to be the most attractive bald woman I have ever seen. The probe, an exact replication of her, then emerged from a chamber in bare legs. I am a leg man, and she had a perfect pair. RIP to her actress. I found out recently that Ilia and Decker were the basis for Riker and Troi in The Next Generation.

The film has an almost creepy vibe, augmented by the fact that it is very visibly aged by today's standards. William Shatner provides the human aspect, when everyone else is oddly distant.

The twist as to the identity of V'Ger was very well done. The score, special effects, and timing of scenes, all masterful.

I had read The Hobbit before I saw the LOTR films. It was peculiar to me that the tiny plot point of Bilbo's ring was expanded into an epic trilogy. It irks me when minute points in a story are later so elaborated upon, when the story the point originated from worked so well as a stand-alone, and the point as a minute point.

Elan Sleazebaggano ("You wanna buy some death sticks?") in Attack of the Clones was given a small, passing scene played only for humor. The Expanded Universe took that passing scene, took the character, and elaborated on... pointlessly... just so people could know more about the character created only for passing humor.

Am I the only one annoyed by things like this? It's cheap.

It certainly isn't an action-packed film. It satisfies on every other level instead.

I sense ageism.

My favorite Star Trek film is Star Trek: The Motion Picture, followed by Star Trek (2009).

No. I did, comparably, go around spelling "Gandalf" from Lord of the Rings "Gandelf." I blame it on Frodo's strange pronunciation of Gandalf's name in Fellowship.

Part of what made this summer blockbuster such a critical hit is that it went in its own direction with the characters. After Star Wars, people are less interested in seeing actual prequels. We know the middle and ending, is there really any point in even covering the fine details of the beginning? Now thanks to this timeline, we have infinite storyline potential and character fates that we can hardly theorize on. In this sort of prequel, we are ignorant of the future. That is the seasoning appeal to this.

As far as new actors being unable fit in the shoes of these characters, I say nonsense to that. Of course this is subjective, but I believe it takes a lot of mental stretching to even come close to saying these actors didn't become their respective roles. Pine masterfully played the maverick, wet-behind-the-ears leader. Quinto was the intellectual working to suppress the human half of his identity, etc.

It worked for me. It's futile to argue in circles about it. It either functions for you personally, or it does not. As for me I definitely look forward to the next two installments.