/* *************************************************************************** ** *************************************************************************** ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** Published at increasingly random intervals by Phillip Thorne ** Volume 3, Issue 4: Tuesday, 5 June 2001 ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** ** The future's so bright, I gotta wear sunglasses at night, 'cause she ** blinded me with science -- weird science! ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */ OBSERVATIONS & C: Douglas Adams day, size, mass gelato, furniture foibles. ERRATA & O+A+A: Clouds, walking, Buffy move, Vgr specials, linewrap. UPCOMING SERIES: "Star Trek: Enterprise" era, tech, range, cast and crew. UPCOMING: Bloodquest, Heavy Gear, MechWarrior, Buffy, JLA, etc. plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions. http://nsx.underbase.org/ - back issues http://nsx.underbase.org/index_plus.htm - reviews, analyses, etc. http://nsx.underbase.org/tv/ - Philadelphia TV listings /* *************************************************************************** ** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS ** Douglas Adams Day ** Why big spacecraft are structurally intimidating ** Mass-marketed gelato ** Furniture: designers too clever, retailers too hasty ** ************************************************************************ */ After the recent untimely death of British author Douglas Adams at age 49, someone has decided to declare a tribute day. As he was born on 11-mar- 1952 and died on 11-may-2001, this person has declared Happy Adams Day to be 11-feb (the 42nd day of the year). Moreover, 25-may has been declared Towel Day. Towels and the number 42 are two of the jokes in the _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ novel series. Indeed, many attendees at Balticon 35 had towels over their shoulders (none containing wheat germ or vitamins, so far as I saw). See: http://www.happy-adams-day.net/. [Pointed to by www.balticon.org] Consider the vast spacecraft that populate space-opera SF; for instance, an Imperial Star Destroyer from "Star Wars". They're daunting not so much by their linear dimension (1600 meters long according to the West End Games RPG), or their volume (less than a cubic kilometer), or the number of internal chambers, but rather the *complexity* of those chambers -- their connectivity. After all, a high-rise apartment building or office contains many rooms, but the floors are duplicates that each contain many duplicated rooms. The other day I was in the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and the cafe was serving /gelato/ (pl. /gelati/) -- Italian ice cream. Surprisingly, it was the same brand as at a local gelato servery, Aroma d'Italia -- the same presentation, signage, and pastel-colored plastic cups. Ha! This merely proves that good food can be mass-produced. *** Some merchants know what to do with returns, and some don't. The other day I bought a home entertainment center (a fancy particleboard cabinet) from my local Sears, and my sister eagerly tore open the package (she had a hankerin' to build somethin') -- only to find many damaged panels. Our first thought: that was dumb of the manufacturer, to pre-install the little metal connector rods exactly where they could scratch the finish. Our second: oh, somebody half-assembled this, then sent it back to the store. Our third (after performing an exchange at the store): somebody half- assembled this, then forgot to return all the pieces. It should never have been re-sold in its incomplete state. When *we* returned it, the inventory clerk asked *us* what the problem was, but didn't inspect the contents himself (and had to ask the furniture department sales clerk what to do with it). Shouldn't this be covered in training? Also, why don't heavy boxes of furniture and electronics bother listing, right next to "fragile" and "this end up", the parcel's *weight*? Size would be handy, too. Moreover, today's furniture manufacturering engineers have gotten clever faster than the instruction writers. The entertainment center had four panels "D", identical, which delineated three separate compartments. The middle compartment accomodates a shelf, and the panels have pre-drilled holes to admit the pegs to support said shelf. However, since *one* panel has to serve *two* roles in *two* versions (left and right), it's symmetric up-and-down; and if you don't pay very close attention to certain tiny dots in the instruction drawings, it's entirely possible to assemble them in the wrong direction... ...Which is exactly what I did. Twice; I suffered the same indignity with *another* piece of video furniture, from another manufacturer, a month ago. /* *************************************************************************** ** ERRATA & OMISSIONS, ADDENDA & ADMISSIONS ** Clouds, walking to the store, Buffy move, Vgr specials, line-wrapping ** ************************************************************************ */ In Issue 3.1-Observations, I asserted that one never sees a single cloud perched atop a tall building. Perhaps not, but this past weekend I saw the cloud *deck* perched atop a Philadelphia skyscraper (ie, the building vanished into the underside of a seamless-to-the-horizon stratum of fog). I had in fact observed this phenomenon before writing 3.1, but had forgotten it. In Issue 3.3-Observations I made a connection between residential minimarts and electric cars. Writing in, JA of PA points out that *walking* is another option. Indeed -- what self-respecting Frenchman doesn't daily perambulate to the local /boulangerie/ for fresh bread? However, I was specifically thinking of the greater cargo capacity of powered vehicles, and their speed when carrying refrigerated items. In Issue 3.3-Upcoming I mistakenly reported that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is moving from The WB Network to Fox. In fact, it's moving to UPN; it's *produced* by Fox Entertainment. (UPN has the option to buy spin-off series "Angel" if The WB chooses not to renew it. It would be *very* strange if its new home *were* Fox; it'd then be living alongside "Dark Angel".) In Issue 3.3-Upcoming I mistakenly advertised that two hours of "Star Trek Voyager" pre-finale specials would air at tue-22-may-20:00. In fact, the regular programming ("7 Days" and "Chains of Love") aired in that slot. In Issue 3.3, I overlooked one line when manually line-wrapping the paragraphs. /* *************************************************************************** ** UPCOMING SERIES ** Star Trek: Enterprise ** Other ships, era, technology, range, precedents, cast and crew ** ************************************************************************ */ On thu-17-may-2001, UPN entertainment president Tom Nunan officially announced Paramount's successor to "Star Trek Voyager", which began production mon-14-may-2001 and will air wed-20:00 in the 2001-2 season. (September? November? January? Who knows?) Previously known only as "Star Trek Series V" (sometimes rumored to be "Birth of the Federation"), it will be called "Star Trek: Enterprise". The series is set in the early 22nd century, some "150 years" before "ST: The Original Series" -- and therefore, about 40 years after human Zefram Cochrane invented warp drive (2063, see 1996 "ST: First Contact"). See: http://www.startrek.com/production/seriesv/default.asp The starship will be called _SS Enterprise_ -- but what will it look like? In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979) we see a niche in the rec deck, a display of the ship's historical namesakes. Featured are a couple of sailing ships, a US Space Shuttle, and a peculiar vessel featuring a pencil-like spine encircled by two ribbon-thin rings. (This is actually an early unused design by Matt Jeffries, production designer for TOS; the rings are for centrifugal gravity.) A full list of Colonial, US, Earth, and UFP vessels called _Enterprise_ follows (lengths are in meters): Launch Number Class Len Captains Series Note ------ ---------- ------------------- --- --------------------- ------ ---- 1775 n/a sloop 19 1776 n/a schooner ?? 1799 n/a schooner 25 1831 n/a schooner 26 1877 n/a sloop of war 55 1914 n/a motorboat 20 1938 CV-6 Yorktown 242 ?? 1961 CVN-65 Enterprise 335 (17 to date) ST4 [1] 1976 OV-101 STS 37 n/a [2] c.2120 ??? ??? ??? Cpt.Jonathan Archer ST:E c.2245 NCC-1701 Constitution 289 Cpt.Robert April ST:TAS Cpt.Christopher Pike ST:TOS Cpt.James T. Kirk ST:TOS 2270 NCC-1701 Constitution refit 305 Adm.James T. Kirk ST1 Cpt.Spock ST2 2286 NCC-1701-A Constitution refit 305 Cpt.James T. Kirk ST4-6 c.2293 NCC-1701-B Excelsior variant 467 Cpt.Thomas Harriman ST7 [3] c.2330 NCC-1701-C Ambassador 526 Cpt.Rachel Garrett ST:TNG [4] 2363 NCC-1701-D Galaxy 641 Cpt.Jean-Luc Picard ST:TNG 2372 NCC-1701-E Sovereign 674 Cpt.Jean-Luc Picard ST8-9 ------ ---------- ------------------- --- --------------------- ------ ---- [1] The ship filmed for ST4 was actually the _USS Ranger_; the _USS Enterprise_ was at sea at the time. [2] The US Space Shuttle Orbiter Vehicle OV-101 was dubbed _Enterprise_ in 1976 by NASA, thanks to a massive letter-writing campaign by Trek fans. OV-101 was an aerodynamic and landing testbed, however, and never actually *orbited*. In 2000 it was placed in storage at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Large Aircraft Annex at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia; the facility should tranform into the public "Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center" by 2003. [3] An Excelsior-shaped model of the _Enterprise-B_ appeared in the history case in the _Enterprise-D_'s Deck One conference lounge in TNG, but didn't appear onscreen until ST7 -- by which time it had acquired a variety of extra hull bulges. [4] The _Enterprise-C_ appeared in the 1990 ep TNG:"Yesterday's Enterprise", arriving through a temporal rift into an alternate future (a Federation-Klingon war) caused by its disappearance. (Or, its *return* to 2344 created an alternate future in which the two powers were at peace.) [Sources: _The Star Trek Encyclopedia_, M.Okuda et al, 1994 http://home.att.net/~enterprise1701d/shipselect.html, N.Angeloni, 2001 http://www.ncts.navy.mil/homepages/cvn65/, PAO Lt.C.Loundermon, 2001 http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/ext/overview.htm, NASM, 2001 ] Era The early 22nd century is some 60 years before the Earth-Romulan War and the subsequent founding of the United Federation of Planets and establishment of Starfleet. The familiar chevron insignia may or may not appear; individual starships had their own shirt-logos in TOS, and _Mr.Scott's Guide to the Enterprise_ claims the _Enterprise's_ was adopted by all of Starfleet to honor the one heavy cruiser (out of 15) to survive - - but that book's not considered canon. The logo also appeared on Earth's _Friendship One_ probe launched in 2067 (Vgr 721:"Friendship One"). And if it's not Starfleet, under what banner will the _SS Enterprise_ fly? Maybe UESPA, the United Earth Space Probe Agency. (I'm not sure if that's one of the several pre-Starfleet names given in early eps of TOS, or merely a fan creation.) Apparently ST:E will feature first contact with the Klingons, a date that's never been established (despite pre-TNG widely-accepted RPG events like "the battle of Axanar"). Shoe-polish Mongols or turtleheads? It's definitely before the Q and Borg. It's the era of the _Valiant_, the first ship to reach the psi-charged energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy, where the crew's espers went mad-omnipotent and the captain destroyed the ship lest they be released upon civilization (as reported in TOS:"Where No Man Has Gone Before"). Technology We know Zefram Cochrane invented warp drive for *Earth*, and that many other races had it millenia earlier; but we don't know what local contemporary species may have developed it independently. The Vulcans seen in ST:FC might not have had it; given their 250-year lifespans, their missions could easily be conducted at sublight (high impulse) velocities. ST:E should display low warp factors; or lesser engine endurance; or *some* sort of engine performance far inferior to that of later centuries. They might lack a dilithium-catalyzed antimatter warp core, and be limited to fusion; we don't know what Cochrane's _Phoenix_ used. The era predates phasers, photon torpedoes, and subspace radio. There *will* be transporters, but they're not trusted; they may be slow, short- range, and unreliable. This new/old _Enterprise_ might lack such subspace/gravitic technologies as medical forcefields, artificial gravity fields, tractor beams, and shields (but hopefully they have inertial dampers, or warp transitions will smear the crew into jelly). The shipboard controls will be more "tactile" instead of the flat backlit touchscreens Starfleet (and most everyone else) has used since the later TOS films. This is obviously a matter of ergonomic choice, since we can build touchscreens *now*. Exploratory Range The first officer is a Vulcan, and apparently that race will supply knowledge of the terrain beyond Earth. Given the new ship's probable low warp, it should therefore (by all that's consistent) be limited to nearby stars. Dramatically, the crew could stay several episodes in each before spending months warping to the next. (The Rigel system apparently has at least three inhabited worlds.) Or, the writers could finally explain the wildly inconsistent travel times seen in each series, maybe by declaring naturally-occurring (or so they seem!) "warp highways" that permit faster-than-usual travel between certain systems (an idea proposed years ago on news:rec.arts.startrek.tech). Dissenting Precedents The novel _Star Trek: The Lost Years: A Flag Full of Stars_ (1991, Brad Ferguson), the OV-101 _Enterprise_ appears (in reverse-homage) as the only survivor of NASA's fleet; it's refitted with impulse engines and helps chase down some Klingon terrorists. The novel _Star Trek: Federation_ (1994, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens) presents an alternative to the early history of Earth warp travel and colonization. _Starfleet: Year One_ (2000, Michael Jan Friedman) is a twelve-part mini-novel tacked onto the end of Pocket's 2000 Trek novels. In the wake of the Earth-Romulan War, the Federation is founded, and Earthfleet is to form the core of the new Starfleet, but there's contention between the military and scientific contingents as to its direction. Cast and Crew Scott Bakula will be CAPTAIN JONATHAN ARCHER. Inevitably, snide typecast comparisons will be made to his five years as Doctor Sam Beckett on "Quantum Leap" -- but the same transpired with Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko on "Deep Space Nine" (Hawk, "Spenser for Hire") and with Kevin Sorbo as Captain Dylan Hunt on "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda" (Hercules, "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"). Scott Bakula as Cpt. Jonathan Archer (captain) John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox (chief medical officer) Jolene Blalock as Sub Commander T'Pol (Vulcan first officer) Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed (weapons) Anthony Montgomery as Ens. Travis Mayweather (navigation) Linda Park as Ens. Hoshi Sato (communications) Connor Trinneer as Cdr. Charlie Tucker (chief engineer) The crew (producers, directors and photography, art department, etc.) are all multi-year "Trek" veterans. Illustrator Doug Drexler transferred to CG house Foundation Imaging after DS9 closed in 1999, but he's back -- and the rest, you wonder if they're trying to avoid finding other jobs... Co-Creators Rick Berman Brannon Braga Executive Producers Rick Berman Brannon Braga Supervising Producer Merri Howard (TNG: 1st AD, UPM, linep; Vgr) Unit Production Manager Brad Yacobian (TNG: UPM, 1st AD; Vgr: UPM, linep) Visual Effects Supervisor Ronald B. Moore (TNG, Vgr, ST7) Scenic Arts Supervisor Michael Okuda (TNG, DS9, Vgr, 5 ST films) Art Director Louise Dorton (Vgr: set designer, art dir) Production Designer Herman Zimmerman (TNG, DS9, 5 ST films) Senior Illustrator John Eaves (SQ:DSV, DS9, TNG, 3 ST films) Junior Illustrator Doug Drexler (film m/u, TNG m/u, DS9, Found.Img.) Director James L. Conway (TNG, DS9, Vgr) First Asst Director Jerry Fleck (1st AD: TNG, Vgr, ST8, ST9) Second Asst Director Michael DeMerrit (Vgr: 2nd AD) Director of Photography Marvin V. Rush (TNG) Camera Operator Douglas Knapp (Vgr) Chief Lighting Technician William Peets (TNG, DS9, Vgr) Makeup Supervisor Michael Westmore (TNG, DS9, Vgr, 3 ST films) Makeup Artist Suzanne Westmore née Diaz (Vgr) Hair Stylist Charlotte A. Parker née Gravenor (Vgr) Costume Supervisor Carol Kunz (TNG, DS9, Vgr) Set Security Lazard "L.Z." Ward (TNG, DS9, Vgr) Steve D'errico (Vgr) /* *************************************************************************** ** UPCOMING ** CG series and movies: Tusker, Bloodquest, Heavy Gear, Dan Dare ** CG-heavy series: MechWarrior ** Animated series: Buffy, Team Atlantis, JLA, Cardcaptors ** Available DVDs: Roughnecks, Robotech, Transformers ** ************************************************************************ */ CG house PDI (Pacific Data Imaging) has produced two feature films for studio Dreamworks SKG ("Antz" oct-1998, "Shrek" may-2001), and is now working on a third: "Tusker", which follows a herd of Asian elephants fleeing poachers through tiger country and the Himalayan Mountains. [From www.animationchronicles.com to www.pdi.com/feature/tusker.htm] "Warhammer 40,000: Bloodquest"... Exile Films is still working on the CG telemovie based on the Games Workshop RPG. Want to star in it? Send a photo of your face and it might get modelled as a character. [www.animationchronicles.com, www.exile-films.com (not exilefilms.com), www.games-workshop.com/40kuniverse/40kuniverse.htm] "Heavy Gear"... half-hour CG series based on the "BattleTech"-style RPG from Dream Pod 9. CG house Foundation Imaging lost the production contract to Mainframe Entertainment, which applied its semi-serious style to the story of man-sized robot suits in gladiatorial combat. Now airing in Australia. [www.animationchronicles.com, www.dreampod9.com] "Dan Dare"... CG show in production; like "Max Steel", inherited by Foundation Imaging after Netter Digital folded. Based on the UK comic book from the '50's. [www.animationchronicles.com] "MechWarrior"... one-hour live+CG series based on the "BattleTech" RPG (and novel series) by FASA. Foundation Imaging will work with FASA and Microsoft (current publisher of the "MechWarrior" series of PC games) and writer D.C.Fontana (ST:TOS, ST:TNG, B5). It's the same plot once again: two princes from rival Successor States get together to repel the invading Clans. (See the 1995 cel+CG series "BattleTech".) [www.animationchronicles.com] "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"... a half-hour animated series to appear on FoxKids, not before spring 2001, to be written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, who is trying to sign the entire cast as voice actors; will return to the days of Sunnydale High, with lighter plots. (You might say: after her heroic demise in the season 5 finale, any show featuring Buffy would *have* to be set in the past; but Whedon has written: Yes, she's dead. Yes, she's coming back.) [From www.scifi.com's SciFi Wire.] "Team Atlantis"... Disney animated series based on the upcoming summer movie. Follows the precedent set by "The Little Mermaid" and "Hercules" (pre-film) and "Aladdin" (post-film). [www.animationchronicles.com] "JLA"... "Justice League of America", the latest animated incarnation of DC's characters, will air on both KidsWB (home of "Batman", "Batman Beyond", and "Superman") and The Cartoon Network. Promo posters feature Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Green Lantern, and Aquaman; plus a couple from the obscure-characters-who-haven't-appeared-repeatedly folder: Hawkman's female equivalent and some guy in a grey suit and blue high-collared cape. [www.animationchronicles.com] "Cardcaptors"... the butchered-to-change-its-focus "Cardcaptor Sakura" anime import first appeared on KidsWB Saturdays, moved to Fridays, and is now in The Cartoon Network's Toonami block. DVDs... "Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles: The Pluto Campaign" (five episodes). "Robotech" (six half-hour episodes per disc), $14.98 retail. "The Transformers: Villians" and "Heroes" compilations. /** ************************************************************************ ** Legalese ** Acknowledgments ** Opt-in/out Instructions ** *********************************************************************** */ The set of creative works herein reviewed and analyzed, including the subset {books, movies, TV shows, toys}, are the property of their respective copyright holders. No infringement or endorsement is expressed, implied or intended. The original reviews and analyses are themselves copyright 2000 by Phillip Thorne. In this issue, certain data (not otherwise acknowledged) have been obtained and aggregated from: Animation Chronicles animationchronicles.com Epguides.com epguides.com Excite TV tv.excite.com Roughneck Chronicles roughneckchronicles.com The Sci-Fi Channel scifi.com Star Trek Continuum startrek.com If you're receiving this newsletter, you've probably intentionally subscribed to it, or possibly you're interested in special conference/ convention/tradeshow coverage. In any case, to cancel your subscription, send an email message to nsx@underbase.org with the words "UNSUBSCRIBE NON-SEQUITUR" in the subject line and/or body. Capitalization and punctuation don't matter, since there's absolutely no automation behind the subscription process. Still. /* *************************************************************************** ** *************************************************************************** ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** Volume 3, Issue 4: Tuesday, 5 June 2001 ** Copyright 1999-2001 Phillip Thorne, nsx@underbase.org ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */