The Late Star Trek Blog

Well this was my first Star Trek episode, and I must say I didn’t enjoy it. I actually hated it but I shall suspend judgment for the remainder of the blog. The episode was titled “The Enterprise Incident”. It involved Captain Kirk disguising himself as a Romulan and stealing a cloaking device. Not having watched Star Trek previously, the episode was really odd for me. A lot of things didn’t make sense, especially when Captain Kirk knowingly led the Enterprise to the Romulans, across some neutral line I think it was called. It was really odd behavior for a captain but no explanation was given as to why he did it.

The whole set-up of things was really simple to me. It seems to be one of those shows where the good guys always have some sort of incident with like the same bad guys, like those old Boomerang cartoons if you know I’m talking about. It seems like the SciFi back then was just for entertainment, the classic good vs. evil idea being used to draw storylines. Our current SicFi is also for entertainment, obviously, but it is definitely more in-depth with other factors involved. Today’s SciFi has many real world connections that have many different lessons for us to learn. It also seems like SciFi is taken more seriously and writers must be of higher quality. It’s clear to me that SciFi has come a long way because the new SciFi (BSG, Firely, etc.) kicks the old SciFi’s butt!

WB 5

Dear new Students,

I must start off by stressing the fact that you must come to class with an open mind. When I started English 110 and found out my theme was televised science fiction, I thought it was going to be a rough quarter. I decided I would give SciFi a fair shot, though, and I was really impressed by how much I enjoyed a lot of the SciFi.


When I look at my first day writing and WB 1, I remember thinking SciFi was really stupid, but I opened my mind in hopes of broadening my horizons. I am very happy with the decision I made.

I would say make sure you come to class. A lot of the class is based on watching shows in class then blogging, so be here or it can be a hassle. Also make sure you get your assignments done quickly. There aren';t many huge assignments, but they are plenitful so it's easy to forget if you don't get your work done on time. Also do your blog comments or they can slip you're mind and you'll end up in the gutter! Good luck with English 110!

Yours Truly,

Zach Ryan

Farscape

I feel like the SciFi we have watched all year has just been far too serious and besides involving spaceships we have not had a good taste of the goofy ScFi we all associate SciFi with. But now having watched Farscape we have seen some of the good old human and alien puppet interaction haha. The old frog looking guy was just a breath of fresh air.

I just feel like the plots of all SciFi are too related, always involving the banged up ships and prisoners always involved. I kind of zoned out a little ways into the show. I really wasn't able to take it very seriously. I think BSG was the only Blockbuster o0f all the SciFi we have watched this year. Everything else was too corny for me.

STNG Blog and such

After the slow, painful torture of watching an original Star Trek episode, I cringed at the thought of another Star Trek episode. It wasn't bad at all, though. The old ST reminded me of those old Boomerang cartoons, and was far from entertaining. This STNG episode, though, was very different from its ancestor. I was able to take this episode seriously and it made more sense than the original series.

I enjoyed that the writers included internal drama in the ship aside from the external conflict with the bad guys (sorry I forget their name). It was pretty intense while everyone was trying to decide if Data was a human or robot by law. The conflict really kept me entertained and interested for the entire show. It wasn't just "Ok good guys are gonna beat bad guys... now let's just see how interestingly the bad guys come into the scene". I was rooting for the poor Android the whole time though I must say...

BSG

I thought this episode was really outstanding. It really mixed the Sci-Fi and reality drama well. It took the Sci-Fi story line and kind of made it into a sweet show with a more serious feel than those stupid Sci-Fi movies like Alien haha. It just had a seriousness that really kept me interested the whole time.

I thought the characters were portrayed very well in the mini series. I loved Selena's dad as the commander, and if anyone watches Burn Notice, the girl who plays Carla made an awesome villain as Number 6. My favorite character was definitely Starbuck, who was definitely a bad ass girl!

The opening scene was pretty well done in my opinion. I like the type of story where the bad guys kind of go away for a while then come back it's time to fight once again. It really seems like the humans have no chance, which is sad. I really hope it turns out to be one of those scenarios where the underdog looks like they have no chance but end up opening up a can of whoop ass!

I'm really looking forward to at least the rest of the mini series. The writers definitely did an excellent job of building up the action, especially towards the end where the commander gives a speech and the troops all get ready to fight. The little rally speech from the pilot was really intense, too. They all know that they really have no chance but they won't give up on their fellow humans, even after hearing how many ships have already went down to the robots. Its' really inspiring.

POETRY AND SUCH

My poem is one of the all-time greats; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Ok, so I really love this poem. I love how the rhyme scheme just works for me, and my favorite part about it is the theme of winter and snow. It's my personal favorite time of the year. I'm not really good at understanding those deep meanings behind poems, but I just like how Frost describes the sounds and looks of winter. This poem is very special to me, and I have loved it ever since I was a youngster.

Buffy Blog

I thought it was kind of funny how the role of the hospital was reversed. The mental hospital is usually the reality and a helpful place, but it was actually the non-reality. It was a place holding Buffy back FROM reality. It was her ideal reality. Although the real world isn't as attractive to her it is the reality, and what must be faced if she is to succeed. Being the hero she is, Buffy comes through.

Movie Blog

My mama always said, "Life is like a box a' chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get." Who could ever forget possibly the most famous movie quote of all time? Forrest Gump is just a treasure, with great scenes and memorable moments that seemed to never end until the credits rolled around. We can all relate to so many elements of the timeless classic, no matter where we're from or who we are, and I think that helps make it special.

Watching the movie, we all enjoy seeing Forrest around for some great moments in American history, and being responsible for inventing notoriously popular things like the smiley face, or the phrase "shit happens". Being Americans we all feel close to Forrest because of his accomplishments, which bring some sort of unexplainable feeling like "Wow, Forrest, I remember when that happened". It's really funny when you think about it.

I think the great love story (Jenny) and friendship (Bubba) in the movie are excellent. Everyone sympathizes with Forrest, and it breaks everyone's heart when Forrest exclaims after Jenny says he doesn't wanna marry her, "I am not a smart man, but I know what love is". It seems like just about every aspect of the movie brings us closer to the protagonist, and Forrest truly embraces the image of an American hero, with no egotistical or evil personality traits (or any negative traits) at all. He is really the ultimate good guy, and no one can deny that.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Commonplace Paper Problem

Ok folks, so my commonplace paper will revolve around how we need to have close relationships with those working closely beside us, in the workplace, classroom, sports team, etc. And I am talking about the benefits of that, and I am also using examples of how those close relationships have been proven successful.

My issue is that although my topic is slightly compelling, and it's hardly timely in my opinion. What do you guys think? Any suggestions on how I can wow the crowd and brainwash them into becoming my "Ideal Audience" Henchmen? Thanks!

Commonplace Paper

I had a little bit of trouble toward the end of my Research Paper, as far as tying in my paper in to the real world. After thinking things out, and taking a little advice from Professor Chambers, I came up with a pretty solid idea in my mind, and I think I will base my commonplace paper on this idea. And the idea is that building close relationships with the people who work close beside us is beneficial to us and the job at hand. I thought this made good sense, since my papaer was talking about how Giles is a father figure to Buffy, and how that is beneficial to his position.

Poorly Integrated Quote

Also in episode one we see his vampire knowledge displayed in various situations; he knows Buffy is the Slayer the very first time they meet, and he also was aware of other details, such as the dreams Buffy was having (signaling the Harvest is near). According to Barbara Maio he presents himself as “smart, bookish and quite useful in a non physical kind of way” (Maio 1). These words suit the title of Watcher very well.

I just do not feel like I have discussed the quote well enough after putting it down, although it is not a long quote...

My Blog Problem

Well since Leslie is just so amazing, I only have a few problems that I could possibly address with all my class mates. I think I am gonna go with sources, though. They seem to be my main problem. I am having trouble finding good sources. I know part of it is laziness on my behalf, but I still need some help. I really do not know where to look for sources concerning Giles from Buffy. It seems like a very small area of study and I don't know where to look for VALUABLE resources. What about you guys, what kind of sources are y'all using? Where are you getting them from? And who thinks they have a solution for me?

WB Post 3

As an overall theme, I have chosen writings that have to deal with my research topic, Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The first of my pieces of writing is an article from Slayage Online, a place with a lot of Buffy articles. The article is called "Watching the Watcher: Analysing the character of Rupert Giles. It was written by Barbara Maio. The link for the article is http://slayageonline.com/SCW_Archive/Maio.pdf

The article has many up's and down's, as do most. One huge flaw in this article, as the title suggests is the grammar and mechanics of the author. Although it is clearly a scholarly article with good observations backed up by factual evidence, the fact that there are many misspellings and grammar mistakes really does take away from the credibility of the article. The mistakes aren't drastic or extremely bountiful but again, they seem to "dumb down" the article a bit. I think this woman honestly doesn't know english as well as she knows Giles. The upside to this article is that Maio really does an excellent job of getting her point across. She makes bold observations at the beginning of her paragraphs and then follows up by providing much information and evidence from different Buffy episodes to back up her opinion. This not only helps support her argument, but all the evidence makes things easier on someone who doesn't watch the show much. I have not seen many of the episodes mentioned in the article, but I understood Maio's stand and why she chose it on every issue mentioned because of all the evidence provided.

My second piece is also a Slayage Online article. This one is titled "Rupert Giles and Search Tools for Wisdom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It was written by GraceAnne A. DeCandido. The link for this one is http://www.well.com/user/ladyhawk/Giles.html

This article took a somewhat different approach than the other, but it was very effective. I like how DeCandido started out by making her claim right off the bat, gave a generous amount of general background information on Giles's role as well as how he does things (and also gave some background info on other characters, which helped), and then got into the details. I think that by making one's thesis right off the bat really gives the reader something to think about throughout the article, and it really got me (the reader) interested from the very beginning. Putting the background information directly after the "thesis paragraph"made sure that reader knew those important facts about the show before diving into the article. The article felt a little scattered to me at points, but everything went together pretty well. The writer definitely puts a lot of facts about Giles in her article to back up her point that Giles is a good image for a librarian, using a lot of quotes (all relevant to the thesis, mostly about Giles and his books) to really give hard evidence to support her claim. and I think my favorite part about the article was that when it came to talking about Giles, the author stayed to the librarian side of him, staying on topic and not straying to other aspects of Giles's character. This helped keep the article relatively short and to-the-point, which made it readable and entertaining.

If you stuck around until now, thank you for being part of my longest blog ever. Haha!

Song Blog

I had to go with one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs for this blog. His music is so heart-felt and his lyrics are so deep that I couldn't pass up another chance to brag about him! The song I chose is called "Ribbon in the Sky".

This is a beautiful piano ballad, written and produced by Mr. Wonder himself. It is definitely on the more emotional side, as many people choose for to be their wedding song. The main line of the song is "There's a ribbon in the sky for our love". It is a song about a current love, no heart breaking or missing someone.

The first line basically says "I am so glad to have found you" and "If I can make you happy can we stay together". The second verse says "Our love isn't a lucky chance, it's a ribbon in the sky". It obviously sounds better in song form.

The music is a very important aspect of this song, and basically any other Stevie song. The piano is the biggest part of the music, with one large solo at the end of the song. The slow tempo of the song gives it a lovey kind of feel, too. It is just an amazing song from one of the greats.

Here's a link to listen to the song if any of you guys want to. It's a pretty sweet live version. Stevie's incredible vocal prowess is put on display at the very end of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06F-zwx_9Bc

Fear: The Princess Screamed Once

I saw one particular detail of this essay that I wanted to focus on, and that is how the author is describing how Buffy doesn't fit the princess role. I thought was kind of interesting since she doesn't fit the typical hero role, and both roles are at least partially characterized by gender. A hero is supposed to be a strong, muscly man. Buffy is a hot high school girl. A princess should be a delicate, incapable beauty. Buffy, as pointed out by the author, "... breaks into the tower... swings through the air feet first in battle..." (Wilcox 149). So she basically acts the opposite of a princess, although she physically fits the role. The bottom line is that we keep seeing this theme that Buffy likes to "break the mold" and act the opposite of what her role should stereotypically be.

Is It Art

I thought the author made some interesting connections, one of my favorites being that Moeller noticed St. Francis in the episode "Hush", being extremely significant since, as Moeller mentioned, "St. Francis [is] protector of those who cannot speak". This is very relevant considering everyone lost their voice in the episode.

Moeller also mentioned the Blue Meanies from the Yellow Submarine, who resemble the Gentlemen in that they take something away from their victims. I think as humans we find it difficult to deal with adversity since we are used to schedules and patterns in our lives. When something like our voice or sound & color is taken away, we are dealt a lot of adversity at once. We would certainly find it difficult to handle a situation like losing our voices when vocal communication is our main form of handling problems. It certainly brings out a big weakness in us.

Grimm Realities

As far as the theme of creepy nursery rhymes goes, it seems children and youth involved in horror makes it more creepy. I am not sure what does it, but nothing is creepier than the little girl singing a nursery rhyme about cutting out hearts. One of my theories is that we associate children and our childhoods with happiness and innocence, and when that is turned completely upside-down it sparks a deep fear inside of us. In describing the eerie nursery rhyme of the Gentlemen, Bridges says "the verse is accompanied by eerie music box tones and delivered by a small, blonde girl with a blank stare and a sing-songy voice..." (Bridges 101). Again, the small girl, sing-songy voice and music box are all symbols of innocence, but yet are scarier than any creeper around.

Hush Hush Hush

So I hope we don't have to quote from this episode, considering there wasnt' much said...

Anyway I suppose I might as well tie in my man Giles, who is my research paper topic. In this episode we see him doing his job as Watcher, gaining information on the Gentlemen. He eventually gathered enough knowledge on the group to put together a presentation, which proved to be enough intel to figure out how to destroy the Gentlemen.

As Watcher, one of Giles's main concerns is gathering information and being a source of knowledge for the Slayer, Buffy. He is kind of her "coach", and this episode displayed that very well. He used the overhead presentation to give her the gameplan, and then she executed. It was a blast! (Get it?)

Quote Blog

In examining Giles's role of Watcher, and more closely his role of father figure to Buffy, I decided to use a quote that helps demonstrate the close relationship of Buffy and Giles.

According to Buffy, it is tradition for her real dad to take her somewhere special on her birthday. This year her dad decided to bail out on her, so she says to Giles, "'if someone were free they would take their daughter, or their student, or their Slayer'".

It is kind of funny how Buffy is slightly beating around the bush, but her intentions are perfectly clear; she accepts Giles as her father figure. Not having a father around really opens the gap for someone like Giles to come in and take that father role. Giles being Watcher is really the first step to that. Being a Watcher or parent involves watching over someone without having direct contact 24/7, and protecting that person. Giles meets this criteria well, and since he is a man around the age Buffy's dad would most likely be, he seems to be a perfect fit as Buffy's "dad". When Buffy asks the question, it basically seals the deal on their relationship status.

Research Question Blog

For this blog, I am exploring the role of Giles as Watcher in Buffy. Just so you guys know, Giles eventually becomes kind of a father figure for Buffy, becoming very involved in her slayer "activities". Eventually the Council tries to "fire" him for his emotional attachment to Buffy.

So from clues in episode 1 we see Giles portrayed as a typically intelligent kind of guy. He is a librarian, from a big museum in England, and displays that he has knowledge on the slayer. This kind of shows us he will be the Watcher; the source of wisdom and not the active side-kick fighting with Buffy.

In episode 1, Buffy refuses her duties, which, if continued, would put Giles out of a job. Giles is than forced to push the issue to convince Buffy to accept her duties, and she eventually accepts her destiny. Because of Giles's going beyond his role to convince Buffy, an opening was created for their relationship to become more than straight business (if things would have been easy and if Buffy would have accepted her duties from the beginning, it would have been easier for the two to just have a "business" relationship).

Some, including the council, believe a close bond between Giles and Buffy is not beneficial, and the council uses this as reason to relieve Giles of his watcher duties. The other standpoint here is that a father-daughter relationship means Giles will take better care of Buffy. Now you all will have to wait to read my paper to hear my opinion on things.... Muahahahaha!