Bottle Episode of Ham (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.9, "The Tholian Web")

• Star Trek had two dedicated studios for its use at Desilu's studios - Stage 9 and Stage 10, now Paramount Stages 31 and 32. Stage 9 was used for the Enterprise sets, with Stage 10 used for off-ship scenes. This one used Stage 9 pretty much entirely entirely.
• This is very clearly a budget-saving episode, albeit one with a fairly large number of extras - the most ship personnel in one scene in fact for TOS. The Defiant is clearly a redressed Enterprise bridge, the interior only seen in one scene.
• They seem to have missed a bit explaining why the transporter went down in the first place.
• Chekov's screaming is particularly memorable, that's for sure.
• DeForest Kelley does very good anger.
• Why did they not believe Uhura when she saw Kirk? Are they stupid?
• As Memory Alpha has pointed out, this is not Starfleet's first mutiny. It's not even the first TOS mutiny.
• The environment suits from this actually look pretty decent, although were apparently a real problem when it came to bodily functions. But "MC COY" with a space in the middle.
• The effects on this episode got the show an Emmy nomination. That rather shows how far the VFX industry has come since 1968.
• The Tholian ship comes in rather too slowly for something flying at half the speed of light.
• Injecting someone through a spacesuit? That doesn't seem like it would work.

Conclusion

It's a bottle episode, sure, but sometimes those can be among the best a show does. I wouldn't say it's one of the best Star Trek episodes, but it's still pretty good.

8/10

 

London Loop Section 17

A holiday in September meant that I was unable to do any more of the trail until today. It's quite possible that I won't be able to finish it this year as the nights get longer and the weather gets colder.

We shall see.

Section 17 runs from Cockfosters to just south of Enfield Lock station, taking in Enfield Chase, which was a historical royal hunting ground that is currently undergoing a major restoration process. Nearby Forty Hill Farm has also seen the reintroduction of beavers, but I didn't see any.

The paths on this route are of high quality and it being a warm Saturday, there were plenty of people around. Curious Dog count was two.

The section also includes the most northerly part of the entire LOOP, although there is nothing on the ground to mark that. No particular reason there should be, I suppose.

The route also contains Maidens Bridge, supposedly the site where Sir Walter Raleigh laid his cloak down for Elizabeth I to walk on to avoid some mud. The local history sign does a "lost his head" pun, due to his later beheading.

Lunch was at the Rose & Crown, which claims a connection to Dick Turpin via his grandparents owning the place and him possibly hiding out there. The highwayman has a lot of legends attached to him, so we don't know how true that is.

An easy walk overall; I finished the 8.3 miles in just over four holes, including lunch.

Aim to do Sections 18 and 19 at the end of the month before the clocks go back.

HS2

Sadly, unless we can bring costs under control, cancelling HS2's Northern leg is the best option.

But the money must now be used on genuine improvements elsewhere. I doubt that the Tories will deliver that... for one thing, they might not be in power much longer.

In which Kirk and McCoy get Dalek-zapped (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.8, "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky")

• Straight into the action here, that's good. Although it's odd that there aren't further attacks on the ship after the initial missile barrage.
• That's an exceedingly long episode title!
• I believe this was still a time when cancer was a very taboo subject. However, any tension is lost because I've seen the TOS movies and know McCoy survives. He also doesn't show any physical deterioration, which would have added to the peril.
• I am sure those rocks have turned up already. Definitely some props were reused. Unfortunately, the fact this is clearly a studio is obvious on modern screens. They should have a 1960s mode on streaming platforms.
• Some pretty decent camerawork in some scenes, especially when they come down the staircase.
• The zapping effect reminds me very much of the one used for Dalek exterminations in Doctor Who at this time - with some modifications i.e. visible skeletons, it's still used today.
• We get another William Ware Theiss skimpy outfit - and a female lead with a ridiculous hairdo. It's 1960s Star Trek, I should really expect that.
• A romance plot for McCoy is an interesting one. It would have worked better had Natira been better acted; it's a very stilted performance and I wrote "Show me more of this Earth thing called kissing" in my notes before crossing it out. At least she survives, unlike some of Kirk's previous love interests.
• How does Spock know the language of a species dead for 10,000 years and where the planet was destroyed?
• The ending is a bit rushed; this might have worked a lot better as a two-parter, to be frank.
• Is that Jan-Michael Vincent as an extra in this? IMDB doesn't list it as one of his early credits, but he was acting at this time.
• The whole concept could make for an interesting mini-series; I'm reminded of Silo myself.
• I noticed the IATSE logo at the end - they've been around since 1893, but I hadn't realised their logo has been around on TV credits for that long. The AMPTP logo is also there.

Conclusion

There's a lot of interesting ideas here, but they're bogged down in a rather sappy romance plot with a poorly acted female lead.

6/10

Boiling Point (2021)

Watched this film today in anticipation of the new BBC1 series - while not the best thing I've ever seen, it's technically brilliant, being done on in one continuous take (the ad breaks of Film 4 mean that was less obvious). It's also a reflection that many of the big disasters in life happening through no malicious act, just a series of small, inadvertent errors.

Stephen Graham is a superb actor.

7/10

Spain 1-0 England

Watched this today. Despite the massive amount of Spanish simulation going on and a ref making some dodgy decisions, we were definitely outplayed at the end of the day and the result was fair.

It's good we got this far and this, along with the Euro 2022 win, will do wonders for the women's game in England.

Sir Michael Parkinson 1935-2023

A true legend of British broadcasting has died aged 88.

Rest in Peace.

London Loop Section 16

When I started my walk on Wednesday 9 August, I discovered to my annoyance that my camera had run out of battery, so the photographs are from my phone.

Section 16 of the LOOP, which runs from Elstree & Borehamwood to Cockfosters is the longest one of all, coming in at eleven miles - and has very few break points in the first section. This resulted in me spending around three hours between beginning and a break for lunch, which might be a bit much for some people.

My arrival at Elstree was rather delayed as industrial action on Thameslink meant a reduced service and a further delay resulted in me spending half an hour at Farringdon waiting for a train.

But once I got there, I did some stretching - essential to avoid major injury - and headed off.

The Section is mostly fields and wooded paths, the latter not always very well signposted, with the result I went badly off the path at least three times and as a result ended up missing at least one item of interest. I have raised my findings with Inner London Ramblers as usual.

Fortunately, there's nothing too steep and it wasn't too hot. It was moderately muddy under foot in places after the rain on Tuesday, but I've encountered worse in other sections. Make sure you have insect repellent as there are a lot of bugs at this time of year.

Overall, this wasn't much of a challenge, even if it took a good while - about four and a quarter hours of walking.

Lunch was at the Queens Arms in Barnet - decent food for a reasonable price and they had The Hundred (i.e. the cricket) on the TV screens.

Cockfosters is at the end of the Piccadilly Line and will be a bit inconvenient for me to get back as if you want to avoid Zone 1, it takes four trains. But I'll only be going back there once...

Curious Dog Count was three.

SAG-AFTRA and WGA Strikes

I support the unions in the States who are striking for better pay and conditions for jobbing actors, who won't earn anywhere near as much as the big $100,000+ an episode stars. AI is a concern, but it's not good enough yet to supplant a decent writer and may never be.

But sadly, even giving them everything they want won't fix the serious issues in the industry. It has become bloated, with too high salaries at the top, too many content providers and a dearth of decent ideas.

We are going to see a major contraction in content creation over the next few years and that will make things even harder for many.

London Loop Section 15

Did this section on Saturday just gone - I would have done it this week, but train strikes meant I would have had problems getting back from Elstree.

Frequently I've had to brush mud off my walking boots when I get home from these things, but this was not the case this time - it was a pleasant and dry day, while not being too hot.

The first bit from Hatch End was one I had done before on the previous walk and was heavily overgrown in places, but once I got past the garden centre at Carpenders Park, things got a lot more pleasant, although I did end up going badly off path more than once. There's only so much Inner London Ramblers can do as they rely on cooperation with local landowners and the various councils.

I found out that the pub I'd hoped to have lunch was in fact permanently closed - and had been for a year. So, I had to go to another one nearby that was a pricey brasserie, but no eatery is really cheap at the moment in this country.

The route takes you across Stanmore Common, with views all the way to Central London on a good day.

I'm not a flower expert, but there was also a lovely field filled with what I think are buttercups, albeit near the M1.

All of this is accessible by Oyster card and contactless travel, too! Just make sure you have a printed map and some good boots. Don't wear shorts as some of the foliage is high now and occasionally prickly.

US Upfronts 2023

The writers' strike in the States has severely hampered the television scene there and a lot of series will not start their new runs until next year as a result. We are 27 days into this strike, the actors' union is balloting its members for industrial action and we could see a near complete shutdown of Hollywood as a result.

After the boom, this is very much the bust. The 'main' networks are commissioning a fraction of what they were doing even a few years ago.

Some series of note:

• NCIS: LA was cancelled after 14 seasons - I had lost interest in it a while back.
• CSI: Vegas has gotten a third season and will likely get a fourth. While still rather good, it isn't frankly up to the original series.
• The Arrowverse is dead as the CW refocuses its efforts on an older audience. This includes a spinoff for The Librarians, which was a TNT show and will likely be set in Europe, as North America isn't known for its castles.
• The Blacklist will wrap its final season in July; as I predicted some years back, the grand finale will be called "Raymond Reddington". I have still to watch all of Season 9 and there is no firm UK date for Season 10.
• Star Trek: Discovery will be cancelled after its fifth season. It's frankly run its course now but did the job of re-establishing TV Trek. The announced Academy series will likely act as something of a continuation, reusing its physical and digital assets.
• Star Trek: Picard finished its three-season run in fine form, providing an excellent concluding chapter for the TNG-era crew.
• CBS were boasting about having five 11-million viewer shows. I remember they used to get 20 million viewers for NCIS.
• The new series announced for the networks look uninteresting - do we really need a cop show spinoff from The Good Wife?

So, we've got these prop swords... (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.7, "Day of the Dove")

Not that long to Strange New Worlds returns - and it's got a crossover with Lower Decks that should be a lot of fun, but I'm trying to get a couple more of these in before those two shows start.

• We've not had the Klingons turn up for a while - this is one of the three appearances of the D7 battlecruiser in the original series as transmitted, with four more added in the remastered version.
• In this case, the Klingon makeup is really obvious. I am watching it on HD on a tablet, not on a 1960s analogue television.
• Again, nearly all taking place on the ship, apart from one planet scene.
• This is an interesting scenario; Star Trek often does these, but the execution is sometimes lacking.
• We still haven't got the "honourable" Klingons we come to know and love; these ones still retain the strong Imperial Japanese and Soviet Union influence they were originally written with.
• Warping out of the galaxy? Haven't we just had that?
• Pretty strong anti-war message in this one, I would say.
• I really did not like the scene where Chekov, even under the influence of an alien entity, attempts to rape the Klingon scene officer. I suspect that it would not be made in modern Trek.
• This is the only time a female Klingon seen in TOS.
• Lots of sword fighting in this one, including a couple of big fights in the corridor. The choreography must have been a challenge as even a blunt sword can hurt it if it hits you in the face.
• And of course, Scotty likes claymores.
• Shatner has some good stuff, but sometimes he's acting a bit too hard, and it shows.
• Everybody laughs at the end - but this time it serves a purpose.

Conclusion

Generally, a very good episode - a great concept and on the whole, well realised. Some bits haven't dated well, mind, but that's true of TOS in general.

8/10

Tina Turner 1939-2023

 We've lost another music icon, simply put. Tina Turner's career produced many an iconic banger, with "GoldenEye" in particular a contender for best Bond theme.

Few people get a musical about them while they're still alive - she was that much of a legend, overcoming a troubled childhood and abusive relationship to become one of the biggest female artists of all time.

Rest in Peace.

London Loop Section 14 + a walk to Watford

Section 14 of the London Loop is a pretty short one - at just shy of five miles from end to end, including the station links, I was able to do it in just over two hours.

As stages go, it was distinctly average. There was some bad mud in the opening sections, and I decided as a result to take the suggested diversion route on the latter stages to avoid what might be an even worse bit.

I was justified - the alternative diversion is nicer with wider paths and less mud, although you do have to go through a couple of golf courses.

I'd come prepared for rain, but it stayed dry for the whole day bar some light spots in the morning. In fact, I ended up with a decent sweat and quite a few dead bugs on my neck as the insect repellent only partly worked.

As a near two-hour public transport journey each way for a comparatively short walk wasn't justified, I'd decided ahead of time to do a bit more. The 9.3-mile section onto Elstree was too long to do in an afternoon even if the light is now favourable for that, especially as I'd done five miles already.

So after, doing a chunk of Section 15 to get me to a garden centre for lunch, I used the Go Jauntly app to navigate my way to Watford Junction station through some more of the woods east of the West Coast Main Line, around four miles. This involved some overgrown and unkempt paths through the woods along with a few wrong turnings as this wasn't a guided path, but also some nicer bits like below:

My right leg was starting to complain (a fairly heavy landing from a stile that was my fault not helping), especially once I got to a forty-minute walk through Bushey and Watford itself - I considered giving up and hoping on a bus. But I persevered and made it to Watford Junction, which isn't exactly the best-looking station on the planet, before getting the LNWR train back to Euston.

Curious Dog Count was five. I think. I encountered several in one go at one point.

Planning to do Section 15 at the beginning of next month; I've got seven bits left to do and as some are combinable, I will need five days to finish the loop off.

Why not give it a try yourself?

The Actually Pretty Good Corral (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.6, "Spectre of the Gun")

This is another Gene L. Coon episode, albeit written under a pseudonym and is so far frankly the best episode of Season 3 that I've seen so far.

So, my thoughts:

• When an alien telepath tells you to turn around, it's probably a good idea. Especially as you people have encountered plenty of such situations before.
• The half-built town, which is obviously something done for budgetary reasons (it's also all in studio), is cleverly explained.
• The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which didn't actually take place there, also formed the basis of an entire story of Doctor Who in the Hartnell era, "The Gunfighters". It would be one of the last 'pure historical' stories i.e. a story set in the past with no science fiction episodes and isn't considered a classic.
• Chekov really does not cover himself in glory during this - spending far too much time flirting with a vapid young woman who also does nothing for female writing in this tale.
• There's certainly a particularly good concept here and it's well handled, with a keen sense of inevitability as the characters try to avoid the gunfight. This would have made a good plot for Legends of Tomorrow, sadly cancelled on a cliffhanger.
• Spock is well done, proving his worth as the science officer and figuring out the situation in time to save everyone's lives. The others also do well, except for Chekov as mentioned above.
• Clearly the budget wasn't there for the Melkotians, of which we get one entirely static creature and a voiceover.
• Sadly, humans have not overcome their predilection for violence, as current events continue to demonstrate.

Conclusion

I don't think we get many great episodes in this run, but this is one of them, despite some flaws.

8/10

Well, I suppose a hexagonal box doesn't need lunch (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.5, "Is There In Truth No Beauty"?)

As I continue my way through Star Trek's third season, the budget cuts remain clearly obvious - this entire episode takes place on the ship bar model/CGI shots and it's clear that the set space available is now limited.

It's also clear that interesting concepts are not working in their execution. So, my thoughts:

• The music in this is a bit much - the dramatic stings should not be that noticeable in general.
• Everyone's behaviour towards Dr. Jones is frankly rather chauvinistic at best. Kirk confronting her in the med bay is just unpleasant to watch.
• Not sure how something being ugly can make someone homicidally mad. Especially as we never see the actual form of Ambassador Kollos.
• I see this is the original of the "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" mantra.
• The idea of a blind person having a sensor net is an interesting one, but you'd think the technology would be smaller than a cloak.
• Diana Muldaur, later twice nominated for an Emmy, makes her second TOS appearance here.
• The show was still working out its mechanics of how warp drives work.
• Nimoy gets to do something a bit different from his usual Spock acting, but then it all goes to pot when he goes crazy.
• Indeed, the other bit of going crazy acting isn't that good either.
• The fight scenes we get in this look particularly badly done, even for a show not known for its realistic hand-to-hand combat.
• Perhaps this was a lower-budget episode to save money for elsewhere?

Conclusion

Not a good episode, sadly, but it isn't awful. I hope something better comes along as we continue, but I'm not optimistic.

4/10

The Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla

I rang for this at my Church this morning and the delay in getting home meant that I missed the first fifteen minutes, but I saw the rest.

It was definitely one of those events that showcase Britain at its best - we do pageantry like no-one else - with plenty of symbolism and the right level of pomp. Charles will have a challenge adjusting the monarchy for a modern age with growing republican sentiment - and the Metropolitan Police look to have gone too heavy-handed on dealing with potential protests - but he seems to be trying. He has gotten more popular over time and it says something that the two least popular royals present made quick exits after the main event. 

There also seem to be some good memes coming out of this too - Penny Mordaunt has earned herself some kudos for holding those swords for so long.

Now to enjoy the rest of the second of three long weekends this month.

Never Work With Children or Animals (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.4, "And the Children Shall Lead")

With Picard having concluded in brilliant style, I am going back to the original series for a bit, at least until Strange New Worlds starts in June and Lower Decks follows soon after that.

This one is considered one of the worst episodes of Star Trek, full stop, as I found out after I watched it. It seems to be one of those episodes with an interesting concept that falls apart in the execution.

So, some thoughts on all of this:

• It's clear that the budget has been badly cut - we only get two sets beyond the existing Enterprise ones and they look they've used previous bits of scenery.
• Good child actors are hard to come by. You may get one in a production - sometimes, like in Stranger Things, you get an entire cast - but often they're clearly not experienced enough for the job. As in this case.
• When Gorgan turns up for the first time, my immediate thought was about Mystery Science Theater 3000. Hiring a high-profile attorney - Melvin Belli was the lawyer for Jack Ruby, the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald and was known as the "King of Torts" before that - to play a villain was a publicity stunt that the production team realised was a mistake.
• Gorgan does have an interesting overall plot - kill the adults, then use the kids to get to more adults - but how has he given them the powers to mind control people?
• The mind control gesture is a bit silly looking.
• Uhura seeing herself have a long, slow death hits a bit harder in the light of Nichelle Nichols' later dementia.
• We get two redshirts killed in this - beamed out into space - and we don't even see their deaths in space. Again, clearly budget cuts.
• The costumes for the kids look a bit silly, quite frankly. Then again, in the 1960s, many things looked a bit silly.
• Everyone gets to ham it up under mind-control. Not necessarily very well.
• I am sure that in one of the fight scenes, the redshirt flips himself!
• We also get Chekov's gun! That is different from Chekhov's gun of course.
• The resolution is poorly done - badly acted and filmed as much as anything. At least we don't get a laughing ending, but those kids will be traumatised for years.

Conclusion

It's a pretty poor episode of Star Trek but I've seen a good deal worse in other media.

3/10

London Loop Sections 12 and 13

 

Sometimes, walking the London Loop can be a very pleasant experience. At other times, you're wondering if you're going to make it to the end without sustaining injury.

Thus was the case for this walk. It was a dry Wednesday in April, sure, but for large parts of Section 13, it might as well have been a wet day in November.

Section 12 mostly operates alongside the Grand Union Canal, and I was able to walk it faster than the man driving the red canal boat could get along it, even before he had to stop at the various locks. It's no wonder that the railways very much did for the commercial canal business in this country. Indeed, you can see the under construction HS2 as you go along this route, along with the Chiltern line.

After lunch at the Coy Carp pub in West Harefield, the only eatery open on that route, I continued onto Section 13 and once I got around halfway, reaching Bishop's Wood Country Park. things got bad. Very bad.

At several points, I nearly fell over, and the mud would have been on more than my trousers. I have flagged this with the Inner London Ramblers, who "run" the Loop as the word "hazardous" is valid at several points.

Anyway, I plan to do Section 14 at least next month. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as parts of Section 13.

Easter 2023

Easter has come round again, and I thought that this article was well worth sharing:

Jesus rose from the dead. Here are 3 reasons why we can be confident.

It contains some stuff that I'd not heard before - namely the other "messianic" movements that completely disappeared.

In any event, Jesus died to save sinners - and that's all of us. I know all too well that I sin at least once every single day and sometimes a good deal more. Without Jesus in my life, I'd probably be in a much worse place than I am now morally. He has been my rock and my guide since my childhood, and I wish to continue being a Christian until my dying day. 

That does not mean endorsing everything his followers do - far from it - but it does mean holding fast to the essential truth of his message, about loving one other as he has loved us.

Happy Easter!