Out of the Blue

The Wobbling Dead!

From the creator of Stalled Trek: Amutt Time comes his new project "The Wobbling Dead" an animated parody of The Walking Dead, as before it'll be funded via Kickstarter so I'll be backing the project.

Best of Both Worlds

I pre-ordered the Best of Both Worlds feature on Blu-ray, I won't be buying the TNG season boxsets but this is one of the few episodes worth owning and not acquiring via other means.
I placed the order with Zavvi for £7.95

Game of Thrones Season 3 Trailer

 Welcome back:)
A little snippet, GOT Season 3 Blu-ray is $30 on Amazon US but £36 on Amazon UK, something wrong about that!

The Cosmonaut Trailer

I tell you it's almost a sin to class some movies as amateur or fan driven, forget where the finance came from or it's place in the big corporate media system just sit back and enjoy the experience that is The Cosmonaut.
Official Site

Star Trek: Temporal Anomaly

QMX - Codex Figure

QMX have out done themselves with this beautiful figure of Codex from The Guild, they have truly captured the gaming alter ego of Felicia Day's imagination and creativity. It carries a hefty price tag but there is no denying the quality.

QMX

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Finale

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 26
Season 4 Disk 6

Terra Prime
Paxton (Peter Weller) now in control of an asteroid/comet energy based tractor/pusher
device located on Mars threatens Starfleet command and holds off the Enterprise with
both Trip and T'Pol as hostages. A daring rescue mission is under taken and secrets
revealed on both ships, the final scenes are heart breaking and would have made
a very satisfactory series conclusion. I don't know if it's reassuring or not that the human
race continues to rehash the same old issues, race, creed, colour, gender, orientation
etc etc.

These Are the Voyages...
Ok lets get this out into the open, when this episode premiered on television I hated
it with a passion, it was a knife in the back to every single person who had supported
Enterprise by watching the show and a big F**K you from Rick and Brannon.

Deep Breath.
This is the first time I've rewatched this episode since that day so lets begin with a
few comments taken during the episode.
So the Enterprise is going to be moth balled after just ten years, maybe it wasn't
really built that well or more likely the new Warp 7 engines were incompatible and
with other developments a new generation of ships was logical. Of course it is only
fitting that the NX-01 Enterprise is used as a museum ship, she made her mark in
Starfleet and the birth of the Federation.
What The F**K is Riker doing here!
Hmmm, the Enterprise D rendering looks very nice and even Riker looks pretty good
in the Enterprise blue jumpsuits perhaps the best uniforms of any series and very fitting
that Jeffrey Combs gets one more Trek appearance.
Considering it's ten years later I'm surprised how little the cast has aged, T'Pol is the
only one that has definitely altered looking more open and relaxed which is more of a
state of mind considering the extended Vulcan lifespan, her boobs look smaller.
Were the Enterprise D holodecks that advanced in creating interactive forms of real
people based on profiles and anyother data the ship carried? I guess in TNG
Moriarty was a pinnacle of creativity but with the crew of the NX-01 where is the raw
data coming from, Klingon and Romulan security would have this level of snooping but
Starfleet?
Nice touch with Trip wanting the ship to be as good as possible at retirement, a nod to
Scotty repairing his Enterprise upon returning to spacedock.
What do you mean Tucker ain't coming back!
Blimey security seems to be pretty lax onboard the ship these days and that's the way
Trip ends his voyage amongst the stars, lame.
Loved the group chat prior to the speech commencement, one final wide wide smile
from Phlox and loved the hug, they've come a long way.
The final WTF moment, you f*****g bastards this isn't TNG it's Enterprise lets hear
the critical speech Archer has been prepping for which kick starts the Federation.

Damn, the three Enterprises and voice over, not so pissed now.

Extras
Enterprise Moments
Inside the Mirror Universe
Enterprise Secrets
Visual Effects Magic
That's a Wrap!
Links to the Legacy
Outtakes
Photo Gallery
Enterprise goes to the Dogs
Westmore's Aliens
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes

So what do I think now, well I still believe Rick and Brannon had the right to do the
finale but I also believe it should have been a thank you to the fans that kept the
show on the air and who gave even more support in the final season on UPN.
The idea of doing a TNG/Enterprise crossover via the holodeck has a lot of merit
but the series finale was not the time and place, it screamed disrespect to the cast
and crew maybe even more so than the viewers.

This is the end (for now) of my Enterprise viewing, I suspect I may still watch the odd
episode during my listening to the Previously in the Alpha Quadrant podcast but for now
it's been fun and the show proved even more entertaining the second time around.
I've only skipped one episode but there were a few I'd probably skip if I rewatch within
the next year or so but that's still an impressive percentage of watchable episodes.

May the journey never end.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 25

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 25
Season 4 Disk 5

Bound
An Orion trader looking to do business with Earth gives Archer three slave women
who shall we say play the part exceptionally well:)
As usual even with their suspicions raised (amongst other things) the crew get
themselves into trouble and end up in a fire fight with Orion warships.
This is a fun episode, the three Orion women look great and the performance is
a huge call back to the original pilot but with a little more skin but I can't accept
that the women have the power on a cultural/social level, for this story fine but
the premise is a little too much.

In A Mirror Darkly I
A Mirror Universe adventure with no direct crossover from the existing characters, a
first for the franchise and it works quite well. In the first part of the double bill we have
Archer taking over the Enterprise and committing to an unsanctioned mission into
Tholian space to retrieve a ship based on some questionable intelligence.
An excellent episode, every looks great, the ship looks great, Porthos is rockin' and
the Vulcans are Starfleets bitch:)

In A Mirror Darkly II
Archer now onboard the captured Starship runs amok amongst the rebel starships but
once again takes his own future in his hands when his superiors do not share his vision.
The rebellion plays into his hands but once again those that live by the sword can die by
the sword and the Starship is used to fling Earth into even greater dominance over the
Alpha quadrant.
Fantastic conclusion to the story with a lot of action and suspense and while it may be
reaching to marry the episodes conclusion with the TOS episode it doesn't totally
fail. Oh yes T'Pol and Hoshi kick ass and isn't it strange that some of the weaker
characters in the show really shine in this mirror universe.

Demons
Xenophobia is growing and there are those who will stop at nothing to
isolate Earth even from alien species who we have allied with and helped us.
The separatist anti-alien group Terra Prime is looking to stage a major political
and social coup using a vulcan/human hybrid cloned from genetic material gained
from Trip and T'Pol and then who knows, what lengths will the deluded go to.
A strong first half to the two parter which brings to the front the rumblings
we heard after the Xindi attack and perhaps the rise of a minority opinion from
those opposed to change and growth. Peter Weller chewed the scenery:)

Tapped Out

Homer and Kent taking it easy, on a small scale a graphic representation of social structure based on value as perceived by wealth and status, that or just a fun picture:)

Ankh-Morpork Discworld App

I just bought the app for my ipad and it's absolutely beautiful, a lot of work has gone into this
little gem and an awful lot to explore:)
Discworld App

Gatecast

Our latest episode is out and covers the Stargate SG1 episodes "Affinity" which is a Teal'c episode with

special guest star Erica Durance playing Krista James.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 24

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 24
Season 4 Disk 4

United

The second episode of the three parter continues with the Andorians and Tellarites clashing onboard the Enterprise as the fiendish plot to turn worlds against each other is all too successful. Tripp and Malcolm still stuck on the alien ship continue to search for a means to escape and Archer is forced to engage in a honour duel to prevent the death of an ambassador.

A solid and entertaining episode, once again Shran is a delight and Archer pulls the proverbial rabbit out of the hat to defuse the situation and earn more respect from the Andorians and Tellarites.

The Aenar

The discovery of the pilot leads the Enterprise back to Andorian and a meeting with a secretive offshoot who are highly telepathic. Shran bonds with the young Aenar "Jhamel" who agrees to operate the device which they hope will allow them to access the remote systems of the alien starship. Once again we get some excellent work down fleshing out one of the first Trek alien races, the Aenar being a good addition without seeming to be too silly or desperate.  

The consequences of Archer's actions strengthen the bonds between him and Shran and by extension cements maybe the first real agreements between the Andorians and Tellarites two of the founding members of the Federation.

Affliction

Phlox is kidnapped whilst on Earth and it seems that someone in Starfleet may have helped to facilitate the abduction. We get more twists and turns as it turns out the Klingons are behind the kidnapping and a shadowy organisation within Starfleet who quote Section 31 of the charter have an operative on board the Enterprise and is ordered to prevent the ship from rescuing Phlox.

Affliction is the first half of a two part Klingon centric story which ultimately attempts to provide a reasonable explanation of why some Klingons have ridges and others as in TOS were smooth. In that regard I think it succeeded and the use of the human augment DNA just ties everything together.

Divergence

The Klingon story concludes with Phlox and his new friend searching for an antidote to the augmented DNA while avoiding being killed by the Klingon who sponsored these experiments who now needs to show results before the fleet arrives and bombards the planet from orbit.

Enterprise agrees to aid the research and has to fight off Klingons ships in the provess but it still takes a desperate hail mary pass to bring the events to a satisfying conclusion at least to most of the parties involved.

The Klingons in Enterprise have been done well, prosthetics are spot on as you would expect and the mannerisms and attitudes refined from years of TNG and DS9, all these factors add to the real quality in these two episodes. Of course not everyone is happy with the explanation of more human looking Klingons and others not able just to ignore it as being a product of the TV market at the time.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 23

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 23
Season 4 Disk 3

Kir'Shara
The Enterprise warns the Andorians via Shran about the impending invasion but the
High Command through V'Las will not back down and the ship gets caught in a
shooting war. Meanwhile on Vulcan T'Pau, Archer and T'Pol find the writings of
Surak and venture forth with the goal to face down the Vulcan leadership with proof
that the Vulcans have moved off the path of logic and peace.
This was an excellent episode, I really did like the Vulcan story despite some issues
with it's timeline but T'Pau was a good call back to the original series and the clash
of Starships looked great.

Daedalus
Emory Erickson the creator of the human transporter technology visits the ship with
the aim to test a long range system which may make ships obsolete, you know like the
Stargate. However he has another reason for being there, he intends to co-opt the ship
to attempt to find his son lost in a transporter accident no matter what the consequences
for the Enterprise and her crew.
I wasn't fond of this episode even with echoes of the TOS The Ultimate Computer.
I thought Archer especially acted just plain wrong, he should haver slammed the door
on this experiment once he learnt of it and doubly so with the death of a crewman.

Observer Effect
Two alien beings possess bodies of the crew and observe them as they struggle with an
infection which threatens the lives of Tripp and Hoshi. The aliens view this as some sort
of test and how each visitor to this infected world reveals truths about them and maybe
just maybe a species may prove itself worthy of being contacted.
I really enjoyed this episode because of the call back to the original series and The Errand
of Mercy, I honestly think Enterprise was at it's best mining the lore of TOS and revealing
new things about existing aliens.

Babel One
A high level meeting between the Andorians and Tellarites is being held on Babel One and
the Enterprise is bringing the Tellarite Ambassador but they find Shran in the wreckage of his
warship and he claims it was attacked by Tellarites.
This is the background to a trilogy of episodes dealing with an external threat to the stability
of this part of the galaxy by provoking a war between species, we see once again the humans
being the convergence point and again building on the groundwork laid by TOS.
Excellent episode and a great start to this three part story.