T'El'es heh T'Sochya k'T'Vet heh T'Mol-kom

You may recall that in June of 2011 I got a couple of mice that I named T'Vet (Of Doubt) and T'Mol-kom (Of Serenity). T'Mol-kom is getting rather old these days, and has a couple of health problems. I ended up getting two more mice the other day because a) they were going to be fed to snakes otherwise, and b) T'Vet would be absolutely lost without T'Mol-kom if anything were to happen to her as she had no other mice at the time.

It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway) that I gave them Vulcan names. Introducing...

T'Sochya (above), who happens to be about one week pregnant as the males and females were not separated when I rescued her. Her name literally means "of Peace" and should be due in about two weeks as the gestation period for fancy mice is about 21 days. I can't say for sure how far along she is, due to the circumstances.

The other mouse I brought home is quite a bit younger, and may actually be T'Sochya's daughter. T'Mol-kom (behind) has become quite protective of her, after a day or two of fighting. Her name is T'El'es, meaning "of Freedom". I have had to watch her closely, because she could easily slip through the bars of the cage. T'Sochya slapped her down a couple of times for trying to sneak out, and she hasn't tried again.

You can see how much older T'Mol-kom looks when you compare her to the picture here.

Last but not least, I will re-introduce T'Vet because I really enjoy this picture (she looks so shocked!). You can also see T'Sochya in the background, peaking out through the bars. T'Vet has definitely aged more gracefully, and has all the energy she first came home with.

This had nothing to do with Star Trek other than the fact that they have Vulcan names.

Star Trek The Manga Volume Three - Uchu

My sister and I decided to take a couple of buses to the library the other day. We both sat in the bus, looking like weirdos with motor difficulties who just crawled out from a hermit's lair. For once, because I got bored, I actually looked up to see who else was on the bus - people quickly looked away. I think they were watching us, but that's okay because we rock. (Get it? Rock?)

After making our way downtown and browsing the non-fiction floor for books on Latin and Arthur Rimbaud, we went downstairs to look at the graphic novel section. I was really only looking for Daniel Clowes' "Like a Velvet Glove Cast In Iron", but instead I found a Star Trek manga:

Exciting?

I have never really been into manga or anime, but I felt I had to get this one because - well, because it is Star Trek, and Star Trek usually makes everything amazing. Upon further investigation on the way home, I realized that the first story  (Art of War) was written by Wil Wheaton, and the second story (Bandi) was written by David Gerrold (writer of the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles").

The story written by David Gerrold was by far the strangest in the book. It wouldn't be too strange as a story on it's own, but the artwork (done by Don Hudson) makes it bizarre. The guest character freaks me out.

It all begins with Chekov complaining about a teddy bear (he would say it was Russian) who stole his sandwich.

He really cared about that sandwich guys, it was his lunch.

Thanks to Chekov, we will never forget the important fact that this "Russian teddy bear" stole his sandwich. That sandwich was his lunch. And it stole his sandwich, which was his lunch.

It turns out that Lieutenant Altman brought the creature on board because he was their mascot, and he didn't want to leave it behind. After an examination of the stowaway, they find that it has a highly developed empathic ability, and is able to radiate a field of intense emotions as a defense among predators.

The crew begins to express intense mood swings, without knowing the reason. Eventually, even Spock is effected emotionally. Suddenly, on the next page, this happens:

This panel is probably the coolest panel in the entire book - Kirk is being attacked by a Gorn, Mugato, and Klingons. We find out later that this is a nightmare being projected upon Kirk by the creature. He wakes up, sees the creature at his feet, and makes his best "Khaaan" face:

The creature seems to be absolutely terrified of Kirk. When Kirk comes near, he projects feelings of anger (and who knows what else) onto the crew members guarding him. They turn their weapons towards Kirk. They begin to fire, forcing Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to flee and climb through the ceiling.

Because the "Bandi-Bear" can also feel emotions felt by others, the only way to get close to it is for Kirk to think about it pleasantly, projecting feelings of contentment and safety. He finds that the only way he can feel like he cares is to think of his "family" aboard the Enterprise. The only people I recognize in his thoughts are McCoy, Spock and Uhura.

He begins to feel nostalgic, and even admits that it was funny when the tribbles wouldn't stop falling on him in the episode. He realizes that as the Captain of the Enterprise, it is his job to create happiness. (Click images to enlarge)

And then this happens:

Kirk and the creature become "madly in love" and Kirk - overcome with sentimentality, begins to tell Spock how much he cares about him. Spock puts a stop Kirk's gushing by administering a nerve pinch to the Bandi.

The story ends with the Bandi being held in the transporter beam, where it would remain until the bio-station was ready to receive him. Spock remains embarrassed by what Kirk has said, and will not repeat it when Kirk does not remember.

End story.

Although this is supposed to be a manga, it should be read left to right.

That Bandi-Bear still creeps me out.

Benedict Cumberbatch for Star Trek Sequel = Best Thing Ever

I found out this morning that one of my favorite actors is going to play the villain in the upcoming Star Trek "sequel". Benedict Cumberbatch, the man we all fell in love with when he played Sherlock, is that very actor.

It has been suggested that the new villain might be Khan, or a Klingon. Personally, I would love to see him play a more traditional Romulan (as opposed to Nero):

Unfortunately, this is not likely to happen seeing as they used the Romulans as the villain for the last movie. I can't even imagine him playing a Klingon (although I am sure he would make it work, somehow) or a Ferengi (what if they were the bad guys this time?). Or another one of my favorite species, Andorians? What if there were a faction of Andorians rebelling against Starfleet?

It would actually be interesting if they chose a species that was not as well developed, or brought in an entirely new species. They've messed around with the Star Trek universe this much, why not go all out?

I never thought I would be excited to see a new Star Trek movie, but with good ol' Mr. Cumberbatch I suppose anything is possible.

January First 2012 AKA 18721 Days Until First Contact

It's a new year, and I have made some new year's resolutions. I realize I have been neglecting this blog lately, which may have to do with the fact that my laptop was dying. Luckily, I am now the proud owner of a new netbook that works just fine.

New netbook = answering hundreds of emails and finally getting around to finishing posts.

It also means that I can now edit party hats on to photos:

But I digress. I have quite a few new year's resolutions this year, the most relevent being a) Posting to all three of my blogs weekly and b) Becoming perfectly fluent in Vulcan.

(Another resolution was to meet Leonard Nimoy and go out to tea at a poetry reading, but I decided that I should make that a goal for the future instead.)

Already today I have quite a few posts (almost) ready to go, and have added a countdown to First Contact in the side bar. So far, so good.