Carol the Dabbler

I take it the Metro doesn't reach your area?

I've been thinking we might all be bald by then! Glad to know that VBS's crystal ball says otherwise.

I must say that's one experience I've never had! There may have been one time when my airline seat didn't work properly (so I couldn't follow the required safety instructions), but they were able to switch me to another seat on the same flight.

Nope, those were written in British as well. I am deeply puzzled! The show must have, by law, had American closed captioning. But come to think of it, that uses a special technology, so maybe there was no way to convert it to regular subtitles, and they had to start from scratch? In any case, it's kinda weird, hearing the dialog spoken with American accents while reading it in British spelling. I suppose we could just turn off the subtitles, but they do save us from this occasional scenario: Me: What'd he say? Alex: I couldn't understand it. Me: Can you back it up? [Alex backs it up and we listen more carefully.] Me: I still didn't understand him. Alex: Me either.

OK, I finally get it -- you guys are just making up half of these movie titles, right?

Yes, thank goodness! The scene you're apparently thinking of is in "Great Game" (I think I've previously said Reichenbach, but Ariane DeVere just convinced me I'd been wrong): . But then in S4, John clearly *is* using "product" in his hair. I'm glad Sherlock will finally be able to bring him to his senses in S5.

The best price we found for the complete series (a couple hundred episodes) was a Region 2 (British / European) box set, which is very nice (and we have a region-free player). But there's one thing that kept puzzling me -- the English subtitles are spelled in British. Why not just use the original American subtitles? But then I realized that the show was filmed during the nineties, when closed captioning was becoming a legal requirement in the US, so most shows had it. The subtitles used for closed captioning are the kind referred to as subtitles for the deaf or hearing-impaired (i.e., they also include non-verbal audio info, such as "phone rings"). Our Home Improvement DVDs offer that sort of subtitles, and they also have speech-only English subtitles. So I'm guessing that the more extensive subtitles are the original American closed captioning (which would have been the only subtitles the show originally had), and the speech-only subtitles (which are the ones we've been turning on) were created later for the British / European market. Tonight I plan to test that hypothesis by watching with the "deaf" subtitles turned on, and see which brand of English they use.

Tim and Jill called him Wilson, and the kids called him Mr. Wilson. (It finally came out that his full name was Wilson W. Wilson, Jr.)

I agree regarding formal communication, where one is more likely to be taken seriously if one communicates using the "correct" forms. (I could still not bring myself to say "It is he," but neither would I say "It's him" in a formal setting -- I'd figure out some other way of saying it.) The most important thing, however, is to express one's ideas clearly.

I just found that the site linked to above includes a good bit of cross-referencing, including a list of interviewees who talk about Star Trek, and for each of them, links to each segment of their interview that discuss the show. Looks like I missed quite a number of people, and have a good bit more viewing to look forward to. I recommend Herb Solow's segments in particular; he gives a number of insights into everything from the development of ST, to factors leading to the show's cancellation.

That new animated comedy (ST: Lower Decks) is in production, with two seasons already authorized and a release date of roughly "whenever we're ready." Here's Wikipedia's overview. It's still intended for streaming, but if it's any good it'll hopefully be available on DVD after that. ****** I just stumbled across this site last night (scroll down that page to see the full list). It's a collection of in-depth interviews with people who were involved in the early days of television, including lengthy interviews with numerous people involved with the original Trek series. Unfortunately the project doesn't seem to have begun in time to include Gene Roddenberry, DeForest Kelley, or James Doohan, but it does have the following (in alphabetical order): Robert Butler (directed first pilot "The Cage") Alexander Courage (composed Trek theme & some episode music) Douglas S. Cramer (Paramount exec, oversaw Season 3) Harlan Ellison (wrote episode "City on the Edge of Forever") Dorothy "D.C." Fontana (story editor; wrote a number of episodes) George Clayton Johnson (wrote episode "The Man Trap") Robert Justman (heavily involved with both pilots and Seasons 1 and 2) Walter Koenig (played Ens. Chekov) Ricardo Montalban (played Kahn in episode "Space Seed") Diana Muldaur (guest star, "Return to Tomorrow" & "Is There in Truth no Beauty?") Nichelle Nichols (played Lt. Uhuru) Leonard Nimoy (played Mr. Spock) William Schallert (played Federation official Nilz Baris in "Trouble With Tribbles") William Shatner (played Captain James T. Kirk) Herbert F. Solow (Desilu exec; oversaw both pilots and Seasons 1 & 2) George Takei (played Lt. Sulu) Jane Wyatt (played Spock's mother Amanda in "Journey to Babel") I have not watched any of these interviews yet, but certainly intend to have a look. Please let me know if I've omitted any original-series Trek alumni who were interviewed.

Yes. For example, "You have it; I want it; therefore you should give it to me." And the person I mentioned above seems utterly bewildered if you don't immediately hand it over. Of course I have no idea whether the bewilderment is real or merely an act they put on in order to get what they want. As far as I've ever been able to tell, this person is all facade (though I don't see how that could literally be true).

You definitely have a point there. I know someone who is presumably no serial killer (I don't think they have the stomach for it), but does nevertheless take advantage of friends and family, wanting frequent sympathy for their "bad luck" (meaning they screwed up again) and also wanting to be supported financially because their "bad luck" cost them yet another job. They seem to consider all of this special treatment to be perfectly reasonable, and in fact owed to them, and will attempt to shame or emotionally blackmail friends / family who refuse to be taken advantage of yet again. But since they're not doing anything really illegal, nor have they quite ruined any lives, I would say they haven't quite crossed the line. I think this type of sociopath is (fortunately, I guess) far more common than the serial-killer type.

That sounds absolutely wonderful, VBS -- I can hardly wait till they show it over here! P.S.: If it's not a spoiler, can you tell how John is doing his hair?

Nope, Indianapolis, where I got on the train. The lovely old concourse, which used to be ticket windows and such, has been uhh, remodeled to accommodate restaurant stalls, like the mall food courts. I understand there are still some trains coming through downstairs, but it's not a real train station any more, it's just a place where a few trains stop now and then.