I had a family matter that I had to attend to today, which meant that I wasn’t around to watch the latest example proving that John Boehner is not good at his job. I also didn’t get to enjoy the hilarity at the CPAC conference. And then I found out that Leonard Nimoy had died.
Overall, I guess it doesn’t matter that I wasn’t online to receive these pieces of news, but I would have had something to say about them if I had been.
I don’t talk about it much, but I am total Trekkie. And I’m the pure form, which means that nothing but the original series will do it for me. I love each and every character from the original Star Trek and I think all of the actors were unusually awesome people. Leonard Nimoy and his character Mr. Spock was my favorite. It would not be unfair to say that Spock helped make me the person I am. As much as I love him, I can’t say that about Captain Kirk.
I already miss Nimoy. This is a real loss for me.
I miss him too.
Though I can’t relate to the sense of knowing celebrities as if they’re close family or friends, he did seem like an authentically good, smart and humble man — someone it would have been cool to know.
As much as I loved and learned from the character he played Nimoy himself was a grand person. That he was more than Spock speaks volumes. Star Trek made all of us better people.
agree with everything on this thread. Too bad never expanded Gary 7 episode to a series as originally planned.
I so agree Booman. I’m 47-year-old, and Star Trek the original series was one of the two most important influences in the media on my inner imaginatory life as a kid. The other was Bugs Bunny (and really the entire Looney Tunes universe). From those two shows I learned a love of space, of creativity, of experimentation, of wit, of irony, and of humor, and most importantly, that pride goeth before a fall.
Obama’s tribute to Leonard Nimoy
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/leonard-nimoy-president-obama-loved-spock
A family friend works at Paramount and he said his office was across from Nimoy’s. He said he spoke with him often and that he was a genuinely humble, smart, and good man.
Nimoy seemed to be comfortable with who he was, and he was an important figure in television and science fiction history. A rare talent who will be missed.
Je suis Spock.
I cannot recall the death of an actor having the slightest effect on me, but today I am crying.
Fascinating…..
The nice thing about the vintage Star Trek episodes is that they will always be with us, even as the actors leave us. Gene Roddenberry died a while back as well. Spock’s character, so well delivered to us by Nimoy, would have us understand this and not become so overwhelmed by our emotions that we become destructive to ourselves or others.
It was worthwhile and amusingly transgressive when the Star Trek scripts had Spock deal with his emotions of love and caring; my memory was that those episodes provided an opportunity for Spock to learn and grow. Feeling emotions and reacting to them in a non-destructive way is good, and occasionally necessary, even for a Klingon. This is only logical, after all.
OTOH, Spock would have found the actions and attitudes of the House majority highly illogical. Perhaps he would have counseled Boehner, saying “you hired a racist as Majority Whip because you felt he would deliver votes from the recalcitrant members of your Caucus, but the racist has shown that he cannot deliver those votes. This means you have been embarrassed in all ways and you have gained no benefit from your racist hire. This, I do not understand.”
Indeed, but Spock was a green-blooded Vulcan. Not a Klingon.
Damn, gotta keep my galaxial references straight- that one was a gimme. Glad to get an “Indeed” for the rest of my stuff, though.
… and that magnificent voice….
Last year we purchased TOS and showed it to the kids over a series of our usual pizza-movie Friday nights. This was at their request after I showed them Wrath of Khan again (it had been many years since the first showing).
If you are a Trek fan and haven’t done this, I strongly recommend it. I also got into the habit of afterward reading the AV Club reviews of TOS episodes that was done in 2009, as they add some interesting tidbits.
It was a pretty amazing series – I can’t think of another series that holds up as well over that much time. Yet, there were quite a few stinker episodes which reflected the constraints they were under.
You have the option with the latest release to use the enhanced effects or the originals. I know some who use the originals to appreciate what was done with the special effects at the time. I can understand that in a watching-Dark-Star kind of way, but for newcomers to the series the enhanced version allows them to focus on the actors and the stories and not the sets that at times looked very cheap.
Spock was always my favorite too. Nimoy was a giant, and I miss him already too.
There were [are?, I haven’t kept up] many fan written novels, pretty much free for all except they can’t contradict info in the original Star Trek. My favorite has Kirk and Spock go back to the 20th century, they get separated and Spock ends up staying with his ancestor, a professor in Boston. lent out my copy and now don’t remember the title, wish I had it though (if anyone read it and recalls the title, please add).
The feeling I have is similar to what I felt when we lost Carl Sagan. Every once in a while someone comes along whose persona, humanity and intelligence kind of transcends the self imposed boundaries we place on ourselves; simply by virtue of their own unique perspectives, insight and humility.
Nimoy was that type of person. The world is more diminished today because of his passing.
The original Star Trek featured 3 central characters with many others also important. Kirk was the ego. McCoy was the id. Spock was the superego. As such, he was one of the key characters. It would be difficult to be influenced by Kirk, since he is simply unalloyed desire and willfulness. McCoy was the emotional heart of the show, but Spock’s mission was to provide the intellectual backdrop for the ship.
I’m a TNG/DS9 guy all the way but Nimoy was a really good guy. Sad loss and my condolences to his family.