Category: Television shows

Posted in Star Trek, Television shows

Star Trek: Enterprise 15th Anniversary.

Posted on by sokorra

Today and yesterday marks the 15th anniversary of Star Trek: Enterprise being announced.  Star Trek Enterprise is my favorite of the franchises.  Not a completely common thought, but there is a group of us who really enjoy the show and have active interaction together.

It also gave me some of my greatest friendships.

I grew up watching Star Trek.  My father was a fan of the original (TOS), my mother of The Next Generation (TNG).  There were marathons on Saturdays from a WV channel that just happened to manage to get far enough that we could catch it on our TV.  They would tape it, and years later my sister and I would enjoy the commercials with brick sized cell phones and news about Boris Yeltsin making a trip to DC.

But I didn’t really get into Star Trek till I was in high school.  I had started to get into sci-fi when I found a box with my mom’s old books by Anne McCaffrey, and so when I found the old marathon tapes I decided I might as well.  So I watched, and enjoyed.

So I decided then that I should netflix Enterprise, as it was available as it had only recently gone off the air (so about the time I graduated high school).  I had heard odd reviews about it.  About how the finale made no sense (Which admittedly it does not, but that is a post for another day), how there was this weird cannon couple no one liked  (Not so true) and in general it wasn’t as good (also not true).

Enterprise has the disadvantage of being a prequel.  Prequels are harder to manage because you have to make sure it doesn’t change the story already out there.  Enterprise managed to do this, though it had some growing pains.  It also had the disadvantage of 30 years of technological development which meant that to look futuristic to the time they were airing, they also had a problem with looking more advanced than the ships that came after them.  And there was 9/11 to deal with, which also caused the theme of season 3, which was a bit more heavy-handed on the social commentary then perhaps other shows went.

I also think it suffered from a sense of crew exhaustion.  Some of these writers and crewmen had been working on the franchise for almost 20 years.  TV viewers had been watching Trek for as long.

Enterprise is a good show.  I believe if it had been given a fifth season we would have seen more connections to TOS, and later shows.  Season 4 is probably their best, yet many had already given up on it, especially TPTB.  So the show only got 4 seasons (oddly, still more seasons the TOS, which my father uses as the golden standard).

Again, we won’t go into the awful finale.

If you are a Trek fan, or sci-fi in general, I recommend you watch Enterprise.  Its a fun show, although like any it has its high and low moments.  I personally love it.

 

Posted in film, movie reviews, Star Trek, Television shows, tv reviews

May the Fourth be With You

Posted on by sokorra

Today is May Fourth, which has been adopted by Star Wars fans as a bit a punned holiday.

I first watched Star Wars in sixth grade.  I walked in during a viewing of Return of the Jedi, and was so confused as to what was going on.  I thought that there was some strange thing going on that every time that blond kid hit the machine man, he gained a maniacal part.

Well, my friends decided that was not going to stand, and eventually I watched all of Star Wars (well, until recently.  Still need to watch VII).  I watched Phantom Menace first, then the original trilogy.  I think this set me up for an interesting look at the trilogy.  Many of my friends grew up with the originals.  They had time to build expectations for the Prequels.  Thus they hated the prequels a little bit and I actually was able to enjoy them.

Not that I don’t see the flaws (and quite a few point to Lucas himself as a cause despite the blame I see cast towards characters and casting).  The original trilogy was made in a 7 year period.  They were right along side one another, and limited in the same ways by technology.  The Prequels had 30 years of tech advancement.  It gave Lucas & Company the chance to widen the scope of the universe they were playing in.  Only I think Lucas decided this was his chance to take to the editing pen again and made too many small changes that make the fan who watched the original trilogy first and grew up with it go “Wait…that doesn’t fit.”

Prequels in general have this problem.  Star Trek Enterprise had this problem, though not nearly as badly as Star Wars.  Enterprise was filmed 32 years or so after the original series.  The average person had more technology around them, and in some way the sets looked more advanced then the sets of what was supposed to take place 100 years later.  Simply because they had to update it to be compatible with the reality.

It also had problems because it was new history and had to fit in with the older series, which didn’t always prove to be easy.  And many people with the power to effect the show’s ability to stay floating quit long before the show started making strides in connecting it to the older series.

Of course, going back to Star Wars,  I’ll have to see what almost 20 years with the Prequels  (Phantom Menace came out in 1999)has settled in and biased me against (or for) the new movie.

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics, Television shows

The Amendments: Twenty Six

Posted on by sokorra

This is a relatively easy amendment to talk about as it simply is that people, ages 18 years or older, are allowed to vote.

SECTION 1

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

SECTION 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The amendments spend quite a few words on reminding us that we have the right to vote.  Previous amendments have added that it doesn’t matter what our race, gender, or ability to pay fees are, we have the right to vote if we are an American Citizen.  This Amendment adds that as long as an American citizen is of age (18), they have the right to vote.

This is important, because for many 18 year olds this year, their first opportunity will be to vote.  If you are 18 (or new to voting) and wondering how to register and/or vote, here are a few links to help you out:

Register to Vote (USA.Gov)

This website can help answer your questions (including about Absentee Ballots, which may be important if you are going to college away from your polling area and can’t get back to vote on election day).

The link takes you to their page on registering, but it also has many informative pages on voting and elections.

CanIVote.com 

This website allows you search and find out if you are registered to vote.  I tried it out and it sent me to my state’s services which told me I am registered (although apparently not to the party I thought I was.

The Voting Information Project 

This website is put together by a group of organizations including Google, and state governments to help gather information to help voters inform themselves on items they find on their ballots.

You can also google your state and voting information to find out information that specific to your states.   Remember that some states (like my own) have Voter ID laws and other such specifications on how you register and/or verify your vote.

The first step to changing the way your government does things is to participate in voting.  On average, only 60% of eligible voters actually participate during Presidential elections.  Its even less during midterm elections (about 40%) and even less than that when you are in between those two election years.  We can’t complain about not being heard when we don’t take advantage of what is already there to hear us.

Please register to vote and take advantage of your right to participate in your government.

And you can always listen to Martin Sheen:

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics, Television shows

The Amendments: Twenty-Five

Posted on by sokorra

For those of you who watched  West Wing (or you are up on your amendments), you may know what the 25th amendment is set up to do.  Several episodes of the television series mentions the amendment.  For those of you aren’t aware, The Twenty-fifth amendment deals with Presidential succession.

SECTION 1

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

SECTION 2

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

SECTION 3

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

SECTION 4

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

(Source)

 

Before this amendment was passed by Congress in 1965 (and ratified in 1967), the succession to president had been vague as far as the constitution went.  There were of course precedent since by this time 8 Presidents had died in office, and several times the Vice Presidency was vacant.

However, before this amendment it wasn’t known what the exact line was.  Article 1, Section II, Clause 6 specifies that the Vice President will recieve the duties, and if there isn’t a Vice President, then Congress had the duty of selecting an Acting President.

When William Henry Harrison became the first President to die in office, people debated if the Vice President was really a President, or just an Acting President.  John Tyler took the oath of office, making the “Tyler Precedent” for Vice Presidents becoming full fledged presidents upon assuming the powers of their predecessor.

The Twenty-Fifth amendment clarifies the line of secession, and what Congress can do should something happen.

Section One reiterates that should a President die, resign or be removed from office for some reason, the Vice President should assume the title and duties of the Presidency.  This was also stated in the 12th amendment

Section Two clarifies that should a vacancy appear in the Vice Presidency, the President must present Congress with a nomination for them to confirm.

Section Three and Four  get a little more involved.  The example in the West Wing is that Jed Bartlet’s daughter had recently been kidnapped.  Reasonably, Jed was overwealmed and decided he could not be a worried father and a President at the same time right then and drafted a notice to Congress that he felt unfit to uphold his duties.

However, right before this event they had been without a Vice President for awhile as Bartlet’s first Vice President had resigned after a sex-scandal.  Thus the job went to the Speaker of the House, Glenn Walken.

Basically this section of the amendment lists what should happen if over the course of the Presidents term he feels he can not hold up his job.  It could be something like Bartlet’s emotional tormirl or perhaps a serious surgery that might keep him out of work for an extended time period.  If this happens, the President can write in to Congress and temporary the Vice President will assume the role of Acting President till it is determined that the President can resume, by either writing another note to Congress.

The Vice President and the President’s senior officers can also write to congress and claim he is unfit for duty.  At this point the Vice President would become Acting President.  The President could refute this and Congress would then have a month or so to review and make a decision on whether the President really is ready to resume his duties.

Other sources:

Article 1, Section II, Clause 6 (WIKI)

Presidential Sucession Acts (WIKI)

Presidential Sucession Act of 1941 (Senate)