A part of me thinks the Federation of Planets is real

I saw the Star Trek movie. I wasn't wowed, but it was fun. What was even more fun, though, is that I saw it in a small theater. It felt like a group experience. When Leonard Nimoy appeared on the screen, much to my surprise, everyone in the theater started clapping. When he raised his hand in the Vulcan gesture and said "live long and prosper" the clapping was even louder. I looked around and could see big smiles in the near darkness.

I think the adults enjoyed it more than the kids. When the movie let out, it was raining about as hard as it ever does, and there was a small crowd under the movie theater marquee. One woman shouted to her friend as she ran to her car, "That was SO great! I feel like a kid again!"

As I said, I enjoyed it, though the plot was pretty much incomprehensible. The special effects, I must admit, were great. But, there were too many fist fights and men about to fall off the edge of things. I think it was Dick who said, "You'd think there'd be more railings in the future."

Nonetheless, I'm glad I saw it in the theater. I'm glad I saw the smiles and heard the clapping. And every time I see anything Star Trek I do a lot of thinking afterwards, though in this case, it wasn't about the movie, for I found it distinctly unmemorable. The next day, I had forgotten I'd watched it.

As the subject line says, a part of me thinks the Federation of Planets is real. I mean it. I've been watching Star Trek in all its incarnations since I was a young kid, and I've always loved it. It's a part of my inner world. I, on occasion, think about things like whether the Prime Directive is a good idea or not or if the Vulcan's rejection of emotion is truly good for them as a race. Go ahead and laugh. It's pretty funny, I know.

This entry is not really going anywhere. I'm also thinking about other things, some of them just as superficial, like how wearing Jicky really helps me out on days like this one when I've overslept terribly and can't seem to ever wake up. Another part of my brain is thinking about mattresses, having just spent hours looking at them online, and marveling at the variety, the sheer volume of unhappy customers for almost every mattress there is, the outrageous prices, and the fact that the "manufacturer's suggested retail price" is never what it's sold for. It's like shopping for a car, but maybe worse.

I was going to call this post "a mess o' thoughts" and that's what it was. So, it's another of my recent "staying in touch" posts. I hope this trend stops soon, and I find some coherence and humor to share with you. I've been scattered. So, for now, live long and prosper.

Afterthought: When I was a kid, NASA's space program was a big deal, and when a rocket lifted off,or a man walked on the moon, everyone would watch TV. They'd always show mock-ups of what was happening, and my father would joke that the whole thing was fake. Of course that wasn't true, but a part of me thought, "Well, it would save a lot of money." So, if the space program was fictional, then Star Trek could just as well have been real. And now, with the way special effects are, how can anyone tell the difference? My subconscious can't tell, that's for sure. I wonder if it's worse for kids nowadays. After all, on the original Star Trek series, one could tell that those big boulders on the planets where no man had gone before were quite fake, and weighed little enough to be blown away by a small breeze.

Photo note: The original Star Trek crew, of course. Another thing I always wondered is why every species wore a different outfit. Obviously, the real answer is so one could identify them easily. Another answer could be that my previous post where I jokingly said that Star Trek was a commie plot is true. The wearing of uniforms certainly does keep folks from gauging the class of person by their attire. But I think that the depiction of how people dress in the future was portrayed best by Blade Runner, where we saw everything from 40's retro to silver bodysuits. If you look around you in a big city, that kind of diversity of dress has become more common with each decade.