The oldest debate

So the Star Trek movie opens this weekend and given that I have spent most of this week talking about Jedis and droids you would expect to find me to already be camping out in front of the theater waiting for the first showing. Well, I’m not and it isn’t just because I now have a girlfriend. Ok, that is the main reason but it isn’t the sole reason.

See, there is a distinct difference between Star Wars and Star Trek fans. It really is a rather sharp divide across all of fandom. You can like both of the series but you can only truly be an uber fan of one of the two. You can’t go to the Star Trek convention dressed like a Ferengi on Saturday and then go to the Star Wars convention dressed like Admiral Ackbar on Sunday. That would just be silly and wrong.

I for one fall on the Star Wars side of the ledger and for good reason. I was just a kid when the original trilogy hit and I was Lucas’ target market for action figures and playsets. There is nothing that Star Trek could do that could compare in my mind. Star Trek had things like plots while Star Wars had Darth Vader and the Death Star playset. Nothing could ever compare to the Death Star playset. Even now I wish I still had one.

But there is a serious difference between the two series and it is one of action and contemplation. It can all be boiled down to how do the two ships fire torpedos. In Star Trek Kirk gives the orders to fire photon torpedos, then someone (possibly an unknown actor in a red shirt) presses a button and a single torpedo is launched. Meanwhile in Star Wars if Luke wants to fire a blast from his X-Wing all he has to do is press a button. In Star Wars the characters are individually controlling their action while in Star Trek it is more of a group dynamic.

That is what leads to my love of Star Wars. It is a classic hero mythology with larger than life characters taking extraordinary risks. Each character is an individual, possibly working as a collective but definitely a distinct unit. It is all high risk and high adventure. Star Trek, on the other hand, is much more realistic. It is actually a pretty good representation of life on a submarine or a battleship. It’s view of conflict is really maritime based and the plots revolve around negotiations and political interplay. In my mind, if I wanted to learn about international relations I would watch something more practical than a typical Star Trek episode. Otherwise I would rather watch someone get their arm chopped off with a lightsaber.

Wednesday Night Music Club: I shot this video in England with my band a few years ago. We were going for this whole early 80’s music video retro vibe with the piece and I think it came across quite well. It felt like a video that was at least twenty five years old. And I even got to do my own stunts and dress up like a pirate.

Marshall Crenshaw MTV Music

Sigh, of all the people I could look like in the world the only one I can find is Marshall Crenshaw. Love the music though.

All aboard the pop culture express

As I wait in line with a large number of teenage girls prior to the midnight showing of Twilight (uh, that statement reads a lot worse now that I have written it) I thought that I would address some of the questions that have been posed to me in the comments over the past week as well as just some other random bits that have been unable to find their home in any of the other posts.

I have watched the Star Trek trailer and I’ll say that I am cautiously optimistic about it. It automatically wins a place in my heart by having Kirk mention his middle name of Tiberius in the first twenty seconds of the trailer. That and having Simon Pegg as young Scotty will be so totally awesome that the word awesome will need to be redefined. Spock seems to be well cast but I am not sold on Kirk yet. On first glance it seems to be Kirk as whiny Emo boy and I’m not sure if that is right. He should be brash and arrogant to be sure but I worry that they will make him too conflicted. Also, this is an odd numbered Star Trek film so we shouldn’t get our hopes up to begin with.

The film that I am totally stoked for (assuming that the lawsuit gets settled and it can actually be released) is Watchmen. First off, it is based on the graphic novel that is as close to literature as I have ever encountered. The story (about what if costumed heroes existed in the real world without any special powers) is so engrossing and I have dreamed of seeing Rorschach on the big screen. The trailer looks like the comic come to life with even Dr. Manhattan being properly represented. I’m worried that the story will be V for Vendetta’d in that it is ripped of much of its allegorical power in order to become a more palatable two hour film. It will be fascinating to watch.

The other film that I am really curious about is The Road. Based on what I consider to be one of the best written books of the past decade (Cormac McCarthy’s writing style in creating an apolocalyptic world is mesmerizing) it is quite possibly the most unfilmable book ever. Not in terms of plot or setting. In that sense it is a very simple adaptation. It is just that the book is the most depressing thing I have ever read. There is beauty and honor in its darkness but it is just continual suffering. I just don’t know how you turn that into something that people can sit in a theater for two hours and withstand.

Apologies for no new How I Met Your Mother reviews as I am now two weeks behind on my watching (similar with Big Bang Theory). I’m hoping to get some time this weekend to just veg out in front of the tv and empty the DVR. Basically I have been completely swamped at work and a stretch of twelve hour days has caused me to greatly reduce my television viewing. It doesn’t seem fair, does it? I spend all this time working so I can afford the large television set but I never get to enjoy it.

I have watched the new season of Top Chef, though. It is in New York this year so we can expect a season that thinks it is superior to all of the other seasons just because of where it is even though the Chicago season is in reality better in every way. I’ve already lost my favorite contestant, or at least the contestant that I would most like to date, as Jill was eliminated this week after deciding “Let’s see if I can cook an ostrich egg” and failing miserably. It is a general rule that for every reality show I find one contestant who I follow just because I think she is pretty and cool. For Project Runway this was the eventual winner Leanne. Sadly, Jill, whose main culinary skills were being tall and having a wry smile, did not last as long. Now I’ll just have to watch annoying Europeans explain why they are better than Americans week after week.

(But yes, even if you gave me 45 minutes for a hot dog challenge all I would do is make a Chicago dog. Why change from the best?)