Yeht'es t'Nash-veh - My Truth

From now on, I will be posting any Vulcan translations on Vibrant Oxymoron's new sister blog, "Yeht'es t'Nash-veh". Not only will I continue translating Star Trek related literature and transcripts, but I will also be translating miscellaneous material that I enjoy, or material that has been requested..

If you would like to request material to be translator or have any questions, you may comment here or email me at vibrant.oxymoron@gmail.com.

Happy 81st Birthday, Leonard Nimoy!

To the man who made the Vulcan Culture what it is, the actor who never lost his sex-appeal - happy 81st birthday! May the wonderful Leonard Nimoy live long(er) and (continue to) prosper.

I still maintain hope that I will be able to meet him, as he is my absolute hero. He pursues is passions now matter what age, and excels at it - whether it be photography, acting, or music. He was amazing when he was young, and he is just as much of an epic bad-ass now.  In fact... I have been watching the alternate music video for "The Lazy Song". I hate the song, and am indifferent to Bruno Mars. The video, however, is hilarious. Let us all watch in honor of Leonard's birthday:

What if the Manic Street Preachers were on Vulcan? Die in the Summertime Translated

As many of you may know, I am utterly obsessed with the Manic Street Preachers - and have been for years. There is absolutely nothing about them I do not admire. The quality I admire most was/is in Richey Edwards - a god-like lyrical ability.

Two things have been taking up most of my time lately: the Vulcan Language, and the Holy Bible (album). While listening to "Die in the Summertime", I decided to try translating it into Vulcan.

Each line has three rows. The first row is my translation, and the second row is how my Vulcan translation translates back into English literally. The third line is the original.


Tev-tor svi'falek-wak - Die in the Summertime

Sash-thes-tor mal t'nash-veh k'zhar'es felu
(Etch leg of this one with rust(y) nail)
(Scratch my leg with a rusty nail)

K'la'tusan hakausu
(With mourning healing)
(Sadly it heals)

Kur-tor isachya t'nash-veh - hi sa-to'ovau kur-tukh
(Color hair of this one, but outward grow(s) dye)
(Color my hair, but the dye grows out)

Ri hafau nash-veh nodo-tangu
(Not stay this one fixed ideal)
(I can't seem to stay a fixed ideal)

-

Bikuvlar t'kan-wak korsovau - sok'i eh k'mol-kom
(Pictures of childhood redeem, clean and with serenity)
(Childhood pictures redeem, clean and so serene)

Gla-tor nash-veh shal ri k'vashaun zehlar
(See this one self not with destroying lines)
(See myself without ruining lines)

Ovsot gadlar - lehman pi'gelar vi'pilashlar
(Total days, throwing sticks in streams)
(Whole days throwing sticks into streams)

-

Ki'ukrau nash-veh ni irak fi'vla
(Have crawl(ed) this one so far on side)
(I have crawled so far sideways)

Naglanshau nash-veh neik-ha'gel-ulidarlar t'fereikan
(Recognise this one dim marks of creation)
(I recognise dim traces of creation)

Aitlu nash-veh tev-tor - tev-tor svi'falek-wak
(Want this one die, die in summer season)
(I wanna die, die in the summer time)

Aitlu nash-veh tev-tor
(Want this one die)
(I wanna die)

-

Razh svi'ha'kiv t'nash-veh kurau ruhm solek
(Hole in life of this one stain(s) even soil)
(The hole in my life even stains the soul)

Netakidau khaf-spol t'nash-veh - pi'khaf-spol-gaya goh
(Reduce heart of this one, small pulse only)
(My heart shrinks to barely a pulse)

Pi'aushfa - vi'tcha yonuk-da-kuv
(Small animal, into curl quarter circle)
(A tiny animal curled into a quarter circle)

Kuv tun-tor du maut - pu-tor du ash'yalar t'eit'jae-sular
(If care you very, wash you feet of beg person)
(If you really care, wash the feet of a beggar)

William Shatner's 81st Birthday - A Message on a Banana.

I wanted to bake a cake and ice the words "Happy Birthday William Shatner" onto it in honor of his 81st birthday, but I don't have icing. I did, however, have a banana.

"William Shatner" wouldn't fit, so I wrote "Happy Birthday Bill". And then I went outside in my socks and took a picture of it amongst the twigs. And then sent it to him on twitter.

Happy Birthday, Bill!

Presenting: A Drawing by Sam.

The other day while I was at work (my first day with braces on!), my friend Sam decided to draw a picture of me in an effort to combat boredom. It is accurate in every detail. (Except for the fact that the brackets of my braces are in between my teeth - but wearing braces correctly is TOO MAINSTREAM. Take that, Ortho.)

So much Angst.

She even got my ears and eyebrows right. I am actually obsessed with this drawing right now.

Feel special, Sam. Feel very, very special. You have earned a spot on my blog.

Peter Pan Records - Star Trek Book and Record Set - The Crier in Emptiness - 1979

I happened across a Star Trek Book & Record Set at one of last years comic cons - specifically, "The Crier in Emptiness". These are original stories for children inspired by Star Trek, and are very fun to listen to and read. The pages are beautifully colored, and the sound - especially the Crier in Emptiness's sound - is beautiful and haunting.

On the cover of my copy is a publicity photo from the Motion Picture, although there are other covers out there as well - as it was first published in 1975 and re-released around six times afterwards. This release was published in 1979. On the back cover, to my delight, is a member of one of my favorite species: A Rigellian. To the left right of the Rigellian attendant is a Megarite. Both of these species were briefly shown in the motion Picture.

Click images to enlarge.

As amazing as I think the story and it's telling is, there are a few strange things that "stand out". First of all, Uhura is white, with blonde hair:

You might think that they are being racist, if it were not for the fact that they made Sulu black:

That guy beside Sulu? That is Lieutenant Connors, and he sounds like a cross between Scotty and Chekov. And both Connors and Sulu are wearing science uniforms, for some reason (although now that I think about it, Sulu also wore a science uniform in the pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before").

The plot of the story is quite simple - the crew starts hearing musical notes, and they do not know where it is coming from. They soon discover (or rather, hypothesize) that they have encountered a being of pure sound.  McCoy grasps his head and looks up in muscle-man-mode.

The notes are straining and harming the ears of those on board, so they begin devising a plan to drive the creature out. Zoom in on Spock's dark and moody profile. The situation is dire.

The bridge erupts with sound!

Lieutenant Connors brings out an Edoan Elisiar - a triple keyboard operating an echo chamber, resonating bars made of bone, and "something that rather resembles an earthly xylophone twisted into a mobius strip". He begins to play music in an attempt to communicate with the beings. After less than a minute of playing, he starts complaining about getting tired. Either it takes immense effort to play this instrument, or Connors is the wimpiest person on the Enterprise.

Oh, and things get colorful. Very colorful.

Suddenly, it leaves. Nobody knows where it went, or why it was there, but Kirk thinks it may have just been lonely. "Uhura" says something cryptic, and then goes back to work. (Notice also that her insignia disappears, not that it was ever very visible to begin with.)

Fun fact: It is theorized that Lieutenant Connors was originally pencilled to be Arex, the Edosian (Edoan in the TAS novelizations) navigator from the Animated Series. This is backed up by the fact that Connor's name in the speech bubbles are always crushed (implying that the name was originally shorter), and that the instrument (which was Edoan) was designed to be played with three hands.

Sometimes in the mornings I play this on my old record player while I drink tea. Luckily for those who do not have access to the record and/or a record player, the story was kindly uploaded to youtube:

PS. You may not have noticed (I hope you did) but they spelled "effort" wrong on the sixth page.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Bubble Gum Pack 1979

Here's a little anecdote: I was walking down one of the isles at the Comic and Toy Expo when I saw some old bubble gum packs with the Joker and Batman. The man behind the table, however, took one look (or I would assume it was only one look - maybe he took a few looks) at my "Mirror Mirror" shirt and beckoned me over to the other side of the table. There he rummaged though piles of items until he found the one thing I never knew I wanted:

So for a mere two dollars (I would have paid fifty, I swear) I found myself in possession of a pack of 33 year old bubble gum:

Fortunately, I was not after the gum. I don`t even like gum. I do, however, like Star Trek cards and stickers. In fact, I had previously seen scans of a few of these cards on tumblr and was wondering how one might procure a pack.

You don`t. Random packs procure you.

I have scanned the sticker and the cards that came in the package - both the front and back. On the backs of the cards are either bits of information or pieces of a puzzle. Unfortunately I do not have enough cards to make any of the puzzle pictures at the moment, but I am now on the lookout for more.

Quick notes: For those unsure of the species shown on the "Advanced Life Form" card, it is an Aaamazzarite. The sticker features a Saurian. On the "Terror in the Transporter Room" card, the woman with Commander Sonak is unnamed in the movie, but is named Lori Ciana in the novel. You can read more about her in the TOS novel "The Lost Years".

PS. Never try chewing 33 year old gum. My curiosity got the best of me - but it just crumbled into a weird paste in my mouth, and it tasted like pills.

Doctor Who Postcards From Time and Space - 100 Doctor Who Postcards in One Box - Part Two

(Part One)

I have scanned my favorite postcards from the box set shown in part one and split them into two categories - portrait and landscape. Below are the "portrait" postcards, and at the top of each card I have written the description from the back. Click images to enlarge.

"The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit"

"The Evolution of the Daleks"

"The Vespiform"

"For the glory of Sontar!"

"Davros - creator of the Daleks"

"The Flesh: fully programmable matter"

"New Earth"

"Festive Roboforms"

"Silence in the Library"

"Rory Williams"

"We are the Silence. And silence will fall."

"Partners in Crime"

"Beware the red eyed Ood!"

"The Eleventh Hour"

"The Tenth Doctor regenerates into his Eleventh incarnation"

"Howdy!"

"Amy Pond"

"Bow ties are cool"

"Screwdriver! A sonic one. And other stuff."

"The Doctor's most feared enemy - a Dalek"

"Please save me from the monsters." (George)

"The Doctor's Flesh Double"

"So, what are we doing here? Where's the TARDIS?"

"Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel"

"Meeting the Impossible Astronaut"