Comments on The Art of the Impossible by @kradec.bsky.social. Although my primary interest was in Part 3, I liked how the book built out the Betreka Nebula incident into a full story centered around Raknal V. This was a highly effective use of Ian Troi, about whom canon has said very little.

On his birthday, we remember the great composer Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote the musical scores for five Star Trek movies and the main title themes for Star Trek TNG and Voyager. What's your favorite Goldsmith score, Star Trek or otherwise?

Over the past year, I've been imagining a two-season TV series focused on the characters, events, and galactic politics leading up to the Khitomer Massacre. Arriving today: @kradec.bsky.social's Lost Era novel The Art of the Impossible. Very interested in his take on all this.

In Books of the Emissary, the Sisko has already returned. And as promised, it's not linear. It's Deep Space Nine re-imagined for the streaming age. Visit the link in my profile for the complete list of episodes and films.

Alterpiece No. 1 was painted by Hilma af Klint in 1915. It was completely hidden from the world until it was first exhibited in 1986. Star Trek fans may notice that it bears a striking resemblance to the Vulcan IDIC symbol, which stands for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

Way back during the Clinton administration, I thought: You know what Star Trek needs? A witty, sharp, dry comedic character loosely modeled on the persona of Attorney General Janet Reno. Wish granted.

I'm glad SFA is finally giving us a gay Klingon. In my longstanding head canon, Alexander is gay. There would have been a Nog-Jake-Alexander story late in season six that raises the question, and sets up an Alexander-Ezri-Worf story for mid season seven that confronts it directly.

If you're a Deep Space Nine fan, check out Books of the Emissary. It's an entirely new way to watch this iconic and groundbreaking show. See this post for a brief description of it, and then scroll down for the complete list of episodes and films. medium.com/@treknotes12...

This was a big night and a very good one for SFA, DS9, and Star Trek. With the addition of Series Acclimation Mil to The Book of Ghosts, Books of the Emissary's overall count has reached a total of 250 Treks.

Interview: Tawny Newsome On “Gargantuan Task” To Give DS9 “Resolution” On ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’##startrek #starfleetacademy #tawnynewsome #exclusive https://bit.ly/sfa105newsome

Some exciting personal news. I just launched a Five Year Mission to get back in shape and push my physique where it's never gone before. I turn 45 next week. The mission will take me to my 50th birthday. I might post about it here from time to time.

In the first episode of Starfleet Academy, the scene where the ship descends and lands in San Francisco was one of the highlights. The visuals were moving and the soundtrack hit all the right notes. I teared up on first watch. Star Trek should aim for more gigantic emotional moments like this.

In high school, I was on the debate team at one of the top debate schools in the U.S. So it was personally very gratifying to see such a compelling Star Trek episode centered on debate. SFA's Vox in Excelso had lots of debate-related easter eggs. There was even a nod to Kant!

Vox in Excelso is Starfleet Academy's first good Star Trek episode IMO. I've been avoiding news, previews, potential spoilers, reviews, and social content on it for at least a month or two. But for some reason, I really wanted to watch TNG's The Drumhead a few weeks ago. Now I know why. 👀

I found it especially meaningful that Stranger Things told a story about a young gay wizard coming into his power as part of coming out. As a gay wizard, I can relate. It's remarkable that a story about this was seen by mass audiences.

Cooking achievement unlocked! I've now got 750 ml of home rendered duck fat, which I've been accumulating for the last few months. And yes, it definitely looks like a Changeling. It's uncanny! Prediction for 2026: Founders French Fries

I rewatched DS9's Homefront / Paradise Lost last night. My main longstanding criticism of this iconic two-parter is that it is very "talky" given the story that is being told. To me, that makes it a bit less enjoyable to rewatch compared to other Treks with similar themes and stakes.

"To boldly go where we've never gone before..." I would propose this as the next update to the iconic phrase. "Where no man / no one has gone before" erases both the experience and the existence of lifeforms, people, cultures, and civilizations who were already there.

There usually comes a point a few weeks or days ahead of any new Star Trek season, series, or film where I prefer to avoid any further spoilers, trailers, and previewing. I've reached that point with Starfleet Academy, perhaps a bit earlier than usual.

A dear friend and I have imagined our own live action Star Trek shows set during the Lost Era. Both our shows feature Curzon Dax in a major role. Great minds must think alike, because we each independently concluded that Curzon should be played by Andrew Scott.

Wednesday S2 E7 has a couple of moments where Jenna Ortega's line delivery felt very Seven of Nine. The line "you failed" stood out. Seven probably said that at some point.

There's an entire universe of compelling Star Trek tales that have little or no connection to existing canon. The problem is that the studio too often treats canon as limiting, when it's actually pointing the way to all the best ideas.

Star Trek Generations in 4K is a big improvement over the HD version. They dialed back the oversaturated color and fixed the obnoxious green tint, though the tint veers a bit too yellow in a few scenes. It's prettier and much more consistent with the look of the other Trek films of that era.

Normally I watch Star Trek (2009) on bluray, but thought I'd try the 4K version on P+. Regrettably, P+ is the letter grade I'd give this version of it. It's painfully oversaturatred, and they did something that makes people look like cartoons. Didn't make it to the title before switching back.

My family's first dog was named Gizmo. So I am pleased that another Gremlins movie is on the way. Hope it's good!

Star Trek (2009) was enormously popular and helped revitalize the franchise following the Berman era. That said, Into Darkness was awful, and Beyond was just okay. At this late date, it would make little sense to revisit the Kelvin cast or timeline.

As I told a coworker yesterday, making Books of the Emissary -- especially Volume II -- was how I got more into the Klingons. I know the Klingons were not planned to be a big part of the show, but now I can't imagine DS9 without them.

In the early 1990s, I went to an all boys summer camp in Maine, and I was in the theater kids bunk. One year, I had the Wrath of Khan script with me. I was certain it could be performed there as a stage production. Saw that stage on Thursday.

Alien: Earth Very entertaining! I really liked the new creatures, the premises, and a lot of the cast. But this franchise sometimes overrelies on characters who believe dumb things and make stupid decisions. It's good that they justified a lot of it, but they also drew too much attention to it.

RE: Stranger Things At this point, I'm mostly curious how a season made up of eight TV movies is going to work out.

THREAD: Tuvix Star Trek sometimes does bonkers things that draw decades of attention, debate, and meme-making. Say what you will about these episodes, but WE ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT THEM. I think that has to be some kind of a revealed preference, and maybe a sign of a healthy fandom.

I hear there's a Rapture this week. It won't be as good as the original.

Star Trek needs more series, more episodes, and more seasons. More films, more TV movies, and more miniseries. And more outside-the-box experimentation. The one thing we can dial back on is production values. All the best Star Trek is great because of the writing, acting, and music.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope holds an interesting place in my life. One of the Sunday school classes I took as a teenager was organized around analyzing the film from a theological perspective. In addition, the film is a touchstone in many of my academic interests and hobbies. It's up next.

As narrative, Rogue One functions as the series finale of Andor. I'm intrigued by the idea of making a film that doubles as a proof of concept for a prequel TV series. It's clever and nonlinear, both as narrative and a production model.

Star Wars is fine but has never really done much for me. I finished Andor this week, which was fantastic but distractingly overproduced. I'm making my way through the parts of the franchise that I want to see with the expectation that I may want to cancel some streaming subscriptions soon.

Foundation's S3 finale, The Darkness, is A+ science fiction.

My take on the infamous Khitomer Massacre reimagines it as one the seminal political turning points in Star Trek's history. Existing canon both constrains the narrative and illuminates some astonishing possibilities regarding what happened, how, where, and most importantly who all was involved.

Star Trek can be many things. The execs at Paramount clearly believe that to attract new and younger fans, Star Trek must mainly be ABOUT young characters. The resulting shows are not the issue. The problem is the marketing premise. Star Trek has six decades worth of counterexamples.

I'm in between things, so it turned into a TNG S3 Disc 2 night. Lots of DS9 connections. Booby Trap has a great soundtrack. And of course The Enemy is relevant this week. Ira is credited in The Vengeance Factor, and in retrospect Sovereign Marouk reads like an early template for Winn.

Agree! This is the rationale behind Books of the Emissary's character-driven reorganization of DS9.

Foundation's "psychohistory" has a real-world analogue in Strauss & Howe's generational theory. It's a model that can be used to forecast recurring cycles in history. I've proved and enlarged that model's predictive power, so it's worth taking seriously if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm all caught up on Foundation, which I have lovingly dubbed "Keeping up with the Cleons." The Genetic Dynasty is a clever storytelling adaptation for a TV show with huge time jumps between seasons. As with The Expanse, the show comes into its own and finds its footing in the third season.

I'm glad social media didn't exist when VOY and ENT were airing. I'm sure I would have been angry and cynical about Star Trek all the time. And I'm pretty sure I would have lacked the maturity, perspective, and self-awareness to temper my criticism.

Maybe it's just me, but Pike's brand of Vulcan at times felt like a nod to Herman Munster. And Herman Munster as a Vulcan is legit funny.

Star Trek's production schedule means lessons learned now won't air for two or three years. And if five seasons is the norm, shows may be over before lessons are learned. The feedback/response mechanism is broken. The franchise has to be more agile than this to bring in a new generation of fans.

Cringe and comedy go way back. Romance and fantasy are often part of the mix.

Having now seen nearly all of its third season, I am increasingly forced to agree with the decision to end SNW in its fifth season. This season also has confirmed my earlier instincts that remaking TOS is a bad idea, though I am still open to skipping ahead to Phase II.

I understand, respect, and even agree with many of the criticisms of Four-and-a-Half Vulcans. OTOH, the episode was clearly intended to be high silly season on the 1701. It's okay to just laugh. There's more than enough room in this franchise and in my heart for both points of view.

Superman: The Movie (1978) is a part of who I am every bit as much as DS9. But most superhero stuff isn't for me, hasn't been for a very long time, and I'm okay with that. I saw the latest Superman film recently, and it was no exception.