International Cosplay Day Part Three - Abducting McCoy

Part One - Vulcan Priestess
Part Two - Whovian Chalk Art

On the way to the park for International Cosplay Day, I picked up a McCoy figure for fifteen dollars. It had been in the same cabinet for an entire year- I don't know why I didn't get him before.

We brought McCoy everywhere with us, so that he could observe the culture of the giant beings that had abducted him and kept him in a cage in so long. In this parallel earth, many dangers awaited him - we were his only protection.

My friend "Gnomes" providing transportation for Bones.

Unfortunately (for him), we did subject him to caterpillars. This one took quite a liking to his face, and was named "Tribble". You can see the distress in his face.

All did not go as planned on the planet's surface...

We brought him along with us to watch "Conan the Barbarian", a typical cultural occurrence. The movie basically consisted of people holding things over their head and yelling. It also included holding a naked baby up in the middle of a battle to be pierced with an arrow. Inspired by the movie, and weary of large predators, McCoy stole my ring and proceeded to use it as armor.

Self defense comes first. Prepared for battle, Barbarian style.

As soon as the movie ended, we were told by a young couple to go and get a coffee (in a very profane way). None of us were quite sure why, but we decided it would be nice to go to Tim Horton's anyways. As McCoy, in his current state and position, was unable to find appropriate sustenance - we provided it for him. Unaccustomed to such large utensils, we felt obligated to help him out.

Being spoon fed soup - Doctor's do, however, make difficult patients.

McCoy asked specifically for a mint julep, but was told that they did not sell them in coffee and doughnut shops. He settled on sharing a fruit smoothie with us. We had to lift him up to the straw.

But nothing beats a mint julep.

Eventually we all made our way back, and McCoy now resides on a shelf with the others whom I had abducted in the past - Kirk, Sulu, and Spock.

Thus concludes my tales of International Cosplay Day. Please do not be concerned about Doctor Leonard McCoy, for he tells me he has settled and is content in his new home. He was retiring anyways - It has been about 45 years, after all.

Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual - History

I have posted scans from the Star Fleet Medical Reference manual before, focusing mainly on Vulcan physiology. Lately, however, I have noticed an expanding interest in the manual around the internet. So here I am, revisiting the reference manual - studying the history of medicine.

I had posted the cover of the reference manual here, but it also came with a loose cover within the protective case:

Inside, we find that the Medical Advisor for this manual is none other than Leonard McCoy, M.D.  That automatically makes this the best book in the entire world. It makes me glad that I found it before my friend did, who was right beside me looking on the same dusty shelf.

Below are some pages with the history of medicine, not limited to Earth. It is very interesting to see the different planets' timelines - how advanced Vulcan was, for instance, when Earth was still in the middle ages. Some of the highlights (in Earth years - click images to enlarge):

4200 BC - Great Plague on Vulcan, thousands die of the skag maug.

2750 BC - Kohl, Klingon god - patron of medicine.

1900 BC - Sikar, founder of the Vulcan School of Medicine.

Around 480 AD - Kassaba fever destroys entire populations of Rigel IV

Around 1000 AD - Zora experiments with body chemistry of tribes on Tiburon

1348-1350 AD - "Black Death", bubonic plague kills one-third of Europe.

Around 1530 AD - T'Laan of Vulcan discovers an artificial blood plasma. (It wasn't even until 1628 that William Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood on Earth)

According to this timeline, Louis Pasteur developed "pasteurizer and rabies vaccine" in around 1820. He was only born in 1822, and the first pasteurization tests took place in 1962.  He started working on a rabies vaccination in the 1880s...

Around 1960 AD - Birth of Stavos Keniculus, first cloned human. (Also spelled Stavos Keniclius. Dr McCoy had mentioned in TAS that the scientist would be around 250 years old, which means he would have been born in around 2019, as the episode took place in 2268.)

1992 AD - Eugenic "supermen" revealed to public. (Eugenics wars begin)

Around 2000 AD - "Green Death", Vegan choriomeningitis ravages Vega IX.

2002 AD - Nomad Probe launched to search for extraterrestrial life.

2005 AD - Cygnian Plague Vaccine developed by Zilzu of Tellar.

Around 2020 AD - Cancer-inhibiting plant compound discovered on Ganymede.

Around 2015 AD - Life on Lavinius V is destroyed by the flying parasites. (Other sources say 2060 and 2067)

2042 AD - Ka'hat plague spreads throughout the Klingonii worlds.

2046 AD - Sessek of Vulcan studies alien physiologies.

Around 2175 AD - Radioactive pollutants on scalos cause drastic mutation.

Around 2190 AD - Life on Theta Cygni is destroyed by the flying parasites. (Theta Cygni XII)

Around 2550 AD - Life on Ingraham B is destroyed by the flying parasites.

2267 AD - Silicon-base life discovered on Janus VI. (Horta!)

They should teach these things in school - if a Canadian can get a Master's degree in the Beatles, then I should be able to get one in Star Trek.

Spock Gets a Box of Tribbles from McCoy for Christmas

Once upon a time, the crew of the enterprise decided to bring back the "secret santa" tradition. Most were very excited, with the exception of Spock and Doctor McCoy. Spock felt that such a tradition was illogical and meant for humans, to which McCoy responded harshly, "You ARE half human, Spock - how about you try getting into the spirit of things, you green blooded hobgoblin."

Things really got interesting when McCoy picked Spock's name out of the boot.

"I'm a doctor, not a damn Santa!" McCoy exclaimed loudly as he paced Kirk's quarters. "What am I supposed to give to a Vulcan for Christmas?"

The corner of Kirk's mouth turned up slightly - "Why, appeal to his human side, Bones."

Christmas day finally came around on the Enterprise, and the main crew was gathered on the bridge. Each held a small box or bag in their hands, looking around anxiously.

Kirk recieved an antique paperback from Uhura - "The Crucible". McCoy was given a beautifully framed picture of his daughter Joanna and himself, Scotty a bottle of vintage scotch, Sulu a genuine leather cloak, and Chekov a Russian history book with wide margins where he could add his own "facts".

Spock had gotten a hold of another Vulcan Lute for Uhura, which she accepted gratefully and began to play. As she played, she sang a song in Swahili.

Finally, it was McCoy's turn to present Spock with his gift. With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he handed to package over to the Vulcan. Spock, raising one eyebrow, inspected the package before untying the bow and and lifting the lid.

Trying to hide his surprise, Spock watched as the box overflowed with tribbles that fell at his feet. Kirk and McCoy were beside him now, not bothering to hide their grins. Lifting a tribble from the box in his hand, he held it up inquisitively.

The entire crew broke out in laughter - Spock cocked his eyebrow once more, and with the tilt of his head, muttered... "fascinating."

McCoooooooooooy!

And there you have it - the back story I made up (in a couple of minutes, just now) to go with my new figure. I got this amazing figure at the same time and place as I got my Doctor Who glass and duvet set - from a wonderful man who really knows his stuff. I am in love with the structure of his face and ears here, hence all of the close-ups. Whoever made this is a glorious being.

Cranial, Brain, and Heart Development: Human, Andorian, Klingon, Gorn, Tellarite, Vulcan

Did I ever mention I am the (very) proud owner of the fully illustrated Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual? It is epic - I mean, the medical advisor is listed as Leonard McCoy, MD.

One of the super-cool sections in this book shows the differences in cranial, heart, and brain development between Humans, Andorians, Klingons, Gorn, Tellarites, and Vulcans.

Now anyone who knows me also knows that I somewhat obsessive about Vulcan biology and culture - other species, not as much. Because of this, I will quickly go over what these illustrations tell us about Vulcan physiology, while completely ignoring every other species (except for human).

The Vulcan skull is considerably larger than that of humans, with harder bone that is about 0.2cm thicker around the brain. It is also said that Vulcan males do not possess the "supraorbital taurus" (bony ridges above the eye socket).

Now let's check out them brains!

The Vulcan brain and the Human brain have the same overall structure and size, however the midbrain is significantly different in Vulcans. This midbrain is where telepathic and telekinetic powers originate - the Vulcan midbrain is larger and far more intricate, explaining to a certain extent their psionic powers.

Last one - the heart.

The Vulcan heart beats at 242 minutes, and the average blood pressure is 80 systolic, and 40 diastolic (the blood vessels are extremely dilated). Blood vessels with a large diameter help cool the body. The heart is contained where a the liver would be in a human, thus leaving room for their larger lungs. The cartilage that would normally protect a human heart extends an extra 3.5 cm down to protect the Vulcan heart. The Vulcan heart is somewhat larger in size, extremely muscular, and has thinner walls (to allow for a greater pulse range and a greater volume of blood.

Bonus Fun fact:
Vulcan time is based on the beating of the heart and units of ten. Let's say, for this, that the Vulcan heart beats 240 times per earth minute. 100 Vulcan heart beats is equal to one Vulcan minute. A Vulcan minute is equal to 25 standard seconds, and 24 standard minutes is equal to ten Vulcan minutes. (Strangers from the Sky - Margaret Wander Bonanno)