And September Smiles On Me

Things are looking up….kinda…sorta… We still aren’t doing the best financially but that is not to say the situation isn’t improving at all. We’ve started saving for Christmas, which we at first thought might end up being a sparse one but I think we are gonna be okay in that department.

I spent the majority of last weekend working on my Early American History and Economic Theory finals. Needless to say I passed both finals and I passed both classes and I am now moving on to International Business and Religions of the World. Two electives in a row is mighty nice I have to say…..anything to distract me from my core classes 🙂

The Tigers continue to hold on to the first place spot they’ve held since May! Being that it is now September the race for the AL Central is officially on! And it is nice to once again the Tigers contending for a playoff spot following the debacle from last year.

I recently saw Inglorious Basterds and while I enjoyed it I just wasn’t all that blown away by it. LOTS of dialogue heavy scenes that dragged on for what seems like ever and most of it is in French, or German.  The most interesting characters had the least amount of screen time. The fellow playing Landa should receive an Oscar nod however.

I also saw District 9, a movie that I was blown away by. It is  featuring a talent pool from South America and a strange documentary/actual film kind of style that really sucked me in.

WETA and Peter Jackson once again delivered stunning and subtle special effects. They blend in so well that you just buy it. The story isn’t all that uncommon but it is told from a different perspective and it was just done so good. For me it does what a good movie should and that is that it should suck you into the narritive to the point where you are almost living in the story for a while. Great movie!

Walking The Walk

Well I got the nod from my Doctor to start walking with the walker once again. This is taking place earlier then it did last time and I am hoping that is a good sign. So far everything is feeling okay and I will endeavor to keep my head up.

Other wise there is not a lot of noteworthy events taking place. Lately I’ve been playing a lot of video games, watching movies and so on….. There hasn’t been much to do other than that I’m sorry to say. I managed to watch the entire Star Trek library. It took several months but I have watched everything in chronological order.  So that is from the Enterprise pilot “Broken Bow” to the last Next Generation “Nemesis”.

Now I am going through all nine season of Seinfeld. I am currently on Season 5.

Sports wise the Tigers are doing okay. They are still holding on to 1st place. Barring some craziness later in the season it appears that they are in a good position to make the playoffs this year! Speaking of the playoffs, the Red Wings have been incredible once again this year. The Stanley Cup Finals start tonight and just like last year it’s the Wing and the Pens!

Where No Blog Has Blogged Before

Yes I have realized that it has been nearly a month since my last post. I guess there has really been that little going on in my life. Still recovering from foot surgery number two. I head back for another check up on the 26th.

I did have the great pleasure of seeing the new Star Trek movie and that has really been a highlight for me.

In a word the movie was “awesome”! I grew up with my parents who told me stories about how they watched TOS everyday when they came home from school. So I very much grew up on Trek. The first Trek I ever saw was The Search For Spock and The Voyage Home. Of course I grew up on The Next Generation and I was a bit of a closet Trek junkie. Since those years I have come out of the closet. Matter of fact I am nearning the completion of a Star Trek odyssey that began late last year. I have watched every single episode of every series and movie in chronological order! I just have Season 7 of Voyager and the Nemesis movie left to go. So it is a safe bet to say that I am a die hard Trek fan.

I was excited to hear that a new movie was being made I was less excited to hear it was going to be Kirk and Spock in college. But I gave it shot albeit a small one. That’s how it started. I was trepidacious at first but I grew more and more excited the more I read, heard, and saw from the movie. By the time 2009 rolled around I was really looking forward to it.

It is obvious the new creative team wanted to appeal to their inner nerd but also wanted to reach out to the mainstream audience. The last 40 years of Star Trek have been incredible for me but that formula is dead, and it has been proven in the box office and in the TV ratings. New things HAD to be done in order to bring Trek back. Yes, there will be people who think they should have left Trek where it was even if it meant no more new content.

I found it hard to believe that the reports I heard were true. This new Trek was different but REALLY familiar. After watching it I found out what that meant. This is most definitely Star Trek but it’s also been done in a whole new way that DOES NOT destroy what came before it. I will touch on that in a second. I certainly think the new cast really pulled it off. Perfectly cast, and everyone did a great job of walking in the foot prints of those who came before them. Nobody can ever replace Shatner, Nimoy, and DeForest but Pine, Quinto, and Urban did a great job of honoring them without imitating them. Urban literally channeled DK at times and sans the accent he was a perfect choice.

As far as following cannon….. It most certainly does. Also it doesn’t which is the beauty of this reboot. The villain and original Spock come from the future 8 years following the events of the last TNG movie, they go back in time and the past is altered. After that the writers are free to change what they want.

Let me just say that the original time line of Star Trek IS NOT ERASED! Think Back to the Future.

Marty and Doc Brown existed in their time line much like Nero and Spock (Prime). When Doc and Marty went back in time Marty did something that changed the future. It created an alternate time line. Essentially life is full of choices and one theory states that for every possible choice there is an alternate reality where that choice is made instead of the one you chose. If you’ll notice on the chalk board the original time line doesn’t vanish Marty and Doc simply are no longer in it, they are trapped in the alternate time line created by Marty’s actions. Luckily they had a time machine. They went back in time before the mistake was made, they fixed it and Marty and Doc were restored to their normal time line as a result (having never altered the past).

The same has happened here. Nero and Spock (Prime) have changed the past and created an alternate time line. The original remains intact, except nobody goes back in time to stop the original incursion and therefore we stay in the new time line. Much like how Marty and Doc were the only ones to notice the difference so are Nero and Spock (Prime).

Yes there are a few things to nitpick over but most of it can be brushed aside with some logical fannon (aka filling in the blanks yourself). At the end of the day Trek has been reborn, and it is back and it could be better than ever. This new movie is an origin story and it has the pitfalls of one. You have to spend the whole movie telling the stories of the characters, but it sets up some good story telling for the sequels.

In other news I am burned out on Epic and wrestling in general these days. It might just be that I am in a crummy mood in general as a result of the surgery and being forced to esstianlly live in my living room for the last year and a half. The Tigers are in first place and kicking some ass this year. Rookie pitcher Rick Porcello, Justin Verlander, and Edwin Jackson are really throwing the ball well. Brandon Inge is having an incredible season thus far. Plus the Red Wings are heading towards the Western Conference Finals tonight vs. The Blackhawks! A good time for Michigan sports so long as you ignore the Lions and Pistons.