GWC Podcast #162: Star Trek VIII: First Contact

Podcasts Galactic Watercooler
#91

Well, very nearly so, though:

Spock (in “Balance of Terror”): … and if the Romulans are offshoots of my Vulcan blood, and I think this likely…

So it’s never 100% established as FACT, I guess, but it’s pretty much … um… “implictly explicit” ? :slight_smile:

Crispin’s 2 Yesterday’s Son novels are still among my favorites, too. I read the sequel while my family was moving from North Carolina to Texas, and it was like being at home with my make-believe Trek friends to read Time for Yesterday during the transition.

#92

I can’t recall a 'cast in recent memory in which I laughed along with you three so constantly, and with such enjoyment. :slight_smile:

#93

From Sandy’s Blog:

Sigh. Oh, well. Another wasted first date. Chrissy told me about this guy and she said he was a real “wind-bag.” Turns out that wasn’t what I thought it mean. Oh, well. At least I assimilated his species.

But that means another night with me, a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, and Mr. Ceiling Fan. Again.

#94

[Sniff] I love you guys, maaaan!

#95

= Moist
=Sweaty, and Leathery

#96

  1. Regarding the high density of Space Cougars in the Star Trek universe: If they could regrow a kidney with a pill circa ST IV, imagine how advanced hormone replacement therapy must be by TNG era…

  2. From a fella who didn’t hardly watch DS9 or Voyager (and now feels like he really should), here’s a question for y’all experts and expanded universe buffs:

Has anyone ever weaponized the transporters? Seems like they’d be a swell toy for wreaking havoc. Even if you can’t teleport through shields, still… You could put plenty of things into places they shouldn’t be. Or remove even mere slivers of big things that are otherwise well-fortified, and kaboom!

#97

You are not alone.

#98

I am so going to do a poll on the age range for the fourm…

#99

It’s already been done. Search Off-Topic for 2 of them.

#100

Probably good idea to do a new age poll. At this point many of us can’t remember the previous ones…

#101

A pole? Why would I want a pole!? Get off of my lawn! I’m calling your moms!

#102

Speaking of wiring up skin to cause orgasms…

From Snopes:

Claim: The drug clomipramine has been known to cause orgasms in yawning patients.

Status: True.

Origins: This 1995 article quite nicely sums up the issue of clomipramine, an anti-depressant drug, having the side effects of causing some of its users to experience orgasms when they yawn:
Some people prescribed an anti-depressant drug have found an unexpected side effect: they have an orgasm when they yawn. The drug clomipramine usually elevates mood and boosts physical activity and appetite. However, the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry reports four patients on the drug had orgasms on I’m soooo tired yawning.

“There is a small subset of people who are affected this way,” commented Dr. Martin Godfrey, a London GP who has prescribed the drug. “I understand they find this side effect quite pleasant.”

One woman who took clomipramine told researchers it cured her depression but she wanted to go on taking it because of its peculiar properties. She found she could experience an orgasm even by deliberate yawning. And a man who had also taken the pills said he was “highly satisfied” with the drug’s usefulness.

Around five per cent of clomipramine users report the side effect, though for most people the drug inhibits the ability to reach orgasm. The New Scientist says that the drug’s users have been comparing notes on the Internet and speculating on its unusual consequences: people who experience it would presumably seek out the most boring person they could find at parties.

http://www.snopes.com/risque/aphrodisiacs/yawn.asp

#103

This is not an Onion article?

#104

Speaking of erotic side effects from anti-depressants, read the first letter here from someone who claims to have had an odd experience with Ambien…

#105

Getting back to First Contact for a second, I never did give my thots on the film.

Star Trek First Contact was a very special film to me. It was one of the first films I was ever excited about long before it came out. I remember seeing the teaser for it attached to Independence Day, and knowing I would be counting the days to November 22, 1996. (Yes, I still remember the release date). The lead up to the movie was also memorable to me, because it was the first movie I ever read about on the internet. I tried to find everything from images to plot descriptions and was somewhat successful. That was one of my first experiences messing around on the net, and it gave me a lot of the sites that I continued to visit long after the move was released. In other words, it was my introduction to sci-fi on the web, which lead me to lots of other interesting places, and eventually GWC. :slight_smile:

As for the movie its self, it’s my favorite trek movie and one of my favorite movies of all time. The movie did live up to the hype that I had generated for myself around it, which is saying a lot. To me it has just the right blend of action, character moments, morality play, and humor. I also really dig the new uniforms and the new Enterprise, especially the interiors.

Fun fact: In “The Best of Both Worlds”, the Enterprise crew plans to use the deflector dish as a weapon to defeat the Borg, but it is stopped by the Borg. In First Contact the Borg use the deflector dish as a weapon to call in reinforcements, but are stopped by the Enterprise crew.

#106

I think that’s because Star Trek has evolved more slowly with more different creative minds in charge of canon, while Lucas reigns Star Wars with a tight fist, and released three movies, then some novels appeared (ignoring the retroactively disturbingly incestuous Splinter of the Mind’s Eye), then released another three movies all at once. Less complicated interspecies relationships, history, geography, politics, etc., too.

#107

“My [ship] has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina.”

#108

Thanks! Lol - Another common use is “huevos” (eggs or slang, balls) in Spanish.

Maybe Lily invented warp drive and let Cochrane take the credit? :wink:

LOL ewwwww…

I always wondered if they had ret-conned the Evil Founder Panty-Line Chick into Next Gen, where she scarily becomes a creator of all humanoid races. shiver

Yeah, it’s like they just wanted to avoid dealing with any DS9 storyline because of potential confusion for those who hadn’t seen it. It would have worked if they bumped back the storyline just a few months.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Ceiling Fan!!!

Again, BWAHAHAHA!!! You rock!!!

#109

The thing that bothered me most was that I was sure that the Defiant was built specifically for combat with the Borg. So, either Sisco’s specs were flawed, or Worf is a bad Captain…Either one makes me sad.

#110

Yeah, but consider that the Defiant’s shakedown cruise had engine problems, and coupled with the stagnation of the Borg-related defense programs, it is likely that the Defiant never had any specifically anti-Borg weaponry installed (the ones Shelby referred to in “Best of Both Worlds”).

That being said, when Sisko pulled the ship out of drydock, the Defiant did have some features not found on standard Starfleet vessels: ablative armor, pulse phasers, powerful engines. This did give it an advantage, and allowed it to survive direct hits even when shieldless. Remember, at Wolf 359 an Excelsior-class vessel was destroyed in one shot by a similar Borg weapon that hit the Defiant.

Also, Worf was prepared to ram the Defiant into the side of the cube. Another benefit of having those large engines. It could even be said that may have been a contingency plan, the ship being a big antimatter missile.

Additionally, at the end of the battle when the Cube exploded, the Defiant was probably still within the blast radius but survived.

“Tough Little Ship” indeed.