"We're gonna sing it, anyway"

 Sharing the day with another panoply of names including Karl Marx, Sylvia Pankhurst, Lance Henriksen, Tammy Wynette, Marc Alaimo, Michael Palin, John Rhys-Davies, Richard E. Grant, Simon Rimmer, Dieter Brummer, Santiago Cabrera, Craig David, Henry Cavill, Adele and - erm - Maggie MacNeal...

 

 ... it's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "birthday" today.  "Oh, gods..." I hear you sigh...

 

 Strange New Worlds is the eleventh Star Trek spin-off series and a prequel to the original 1960s series.  It stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike (the USS Enterprise's second captain and the first to be filmed in the original pilot "The Cage"), Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley (Number One), and Ethan Peck as Spock.

 Amongst the many themed episodes is "Subspace Rhapsody", a musical from season two, and here is the finale "We Are One":

 

 (If you think this is weird, season four - out this summer - has a Muppet episode!) 

Four Photos: How am I supposed to read it now?!

Ooh, what's this?

 

 

Why, the business end of one of these, of course!

 

 

Wait a minute... I don't remember ordering a craply shredded tarot magazine.

 

 

Ah, that's better.  Beneath that packaging was this:

a little model Starship Cerritos (and accompanying booklet)

Hibernation-Mode Entertainment

 In my less than triumphant return to blogging last Saturday (after three weeks off), I mentioned that I'd been in hibernation mode, i.e. eating lots of chocolate while slumped in front of the telly.  However, I also slouched before YouTube and lolled about in bed reading. 

 And here are some of the things I watched, read and listened to:

 

Played

"Immortal Love" - MIKA

 Over and over and over again. Thank you, Jon!

"The Moon's A Window To Heaven" (Album Version) - Hiroshima

Because I rewatched Star Trek V: The Final Frontier after several years - It wasn't as bad as I thought (or as some on the internet would have you believe).  It's not a patch on III and IV, but easily bests VI.

 

"I Had This Thing" - Röyksopp

 I have been listening to a lot of Röyksopp in Car II on my way to work.

"Cold Sweat, Hot Boys!" - Bright Light Bright Light & Ana Matronic

 I found this one just now!

Four Photos: Wishful Thinking?

A hummingbird hawk moth drinking from one of the buddleias in the Hexenhäusli Device gardens this afternoon.

 

Oh my gods!!!  They're almost holding hands!  They're going to do It*!!!!!!

(Two of my three favourite** lowest of the Lower Deckers - Fin*** the super-hot, pretty boy human med tech and Charlie**** the adorable Andorian engineer - from the first episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, "Twovix".  I took this photo back in April as I couldn't take a screen shot and couldn't find one online [I have found one since then, though] - I wanted it for research purposes, the end result of which will probably be posted here at some point.)

 

Bitey on the beach on Wednesday evening.

 

Someone in this house had this for tea on Wednesday - and it certainly wasn't me!

 

 

* According to First Officer Jack Ransom (in "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place"), the Cerritos is the "horniest ship in the fleet" (and doesn't have any married couples on board).

** The third is Buddy the Vulcan, as featured here with the other two.

*** He's not named in the show as he's just a non-speaking background character, but he looks remarkably like my backup lifeguard at the pool I swim in, so I've given him the same name.

**** Again, unnamed in the show, but someone has named him Charlie.  I'm going with it for now as I haven't thought of anything better.

Art vs Artist

 By popular demand-

 What? Since when was two people showing a polite, vague interest "popular demand"?

 Since now.  Go and interfere somewhere else.  This is my post!

 I think you'll find it is our post.  After all, whose name is on all those header images further down, hmm?

 Oh, hush.  Why don't you go and see to that ever widening Cusp interface before someone - or someones - falls in!

 Fine.  I'll leave you to your little doodles, then!

 

 Right.  Now that Witchface has gone, here is the Art vs Artist thingy I mentioned in the last post. It's something I saw on BlueSky so I thought I'd have a go, too.

 The majority that I saw are 3x3 square grids with a photo of the artist in the centre square surrounded by eight pieces of their work, so I followed the same pattern (it's all Star Trek stuff as I rarely produce any other kind):

 

Top left to right:

Four Photos: The Drier Side of Britain

 

Something for Ms Scarlet to consider...

(Proof of North Norfolk's dryness compared to Devon's - well, Cornwall, as Bude is the closest weather station to Ms Scarlet's neck of the woods) 

 

 

Stinking iris or roast-beef plant (Iris foetidissima)

 (A native to Britain, but "exotic" in New Zealand - the tables are turning, Dinah!)

 

 

A practise pose from 2021's Hallowe'en Star Trek Art Challenge

(I've included this as a reminder for me to concoct an Art vs Artist collage)

 

 

An unused photo from 2023's Salt Rooks

 You know, to show how dry it is here and all that...
 

Last Day of MerMay

Sam Rutherford from Star Trek: Lower Decks as a merman.

(His trident is an elongated trident scanner from the original Star Trek series)

 

 

 

That is all. 

Four Photos: Let There Be Light

 The first foxglove of the season - and it's self illuminating!

From six years ago

 

 

G&T time! (July 2023)

 

 

From Madam's Lane (June 2018)

Yg----=----..-sD

 Even though the Big, Tiresome Work Project has come to an end (see last month's Rutherford post for slightly more details), I'm still finding it difficult to return to blogging.  This is partly because something else has taken its place: the Allotment Drama!  I won't go into all the whys and wherefores now otherwise I'll never finish this post, but I will do at some point soon because at least it'll give me something to blog about.  Some of the other reasons are the same as in this post from a year ago except that I don't have any washing on the go and Ms Scarlet hasn't published a new post, although her current one says it's new..... Scratch that.  In the time it's taken me to compose this, there is a new post!

 

 Anyway, here are a very select few of some things that have been going on here recently:

 

Saturday 22 February: Sonic Shower Show Rutherford.  Although number four in the series, this is the eighth Rutherford fantasy action figure I've created:

 

 

Rutherford...

 Oof!  Sorry I'm late.

 

 I hadn't realised just how much time had passed since my last foray into the Blogworld.  I hope you've all been good - or, at least, not too evil - since I last saw you?

 

 Anyway, one reason/excuse for my absence has been work - I've been dealing with a big, tiresome project which means that once I get home (or log-off when I'm working from home), the last thing I want to do is sit in front of another computer.  So, instead I sit in front of the TV watching TaskMaster (thank you, Peenee), or sit at my desk drawing risqué pictures of Rutherford (from Star Trek: Lower Decks) like these two:

 

 'Medical Experiment Victim Rutherford' is my take on the questionable medical cat-& mouse chase in the first episode of season 2, "Strange Energies".  [More here]

A Colourful Effort at Timekeeping

Well, I did warn you (kind of) in the last post.  Although I am a couple of days early...

Timekeeping

 

We know our Starfleet crews get themselves into all sorts of temporal scrapes, but how do they (and other galactic citizens) tell the time wherever they are?  Apart from stardates, the odd PADD/viewscreen display, Sisko's Saltah'na clock, and a couple of "antique" 20th century watches, what do contemporary timepieces look like in the Star Trek time periods?  Especially those from worlds other than Earth?  After all, not everywhere has a 24 hour day...

 Timekeeping was a theme I suggested back in March 2023, and it finally got the votes it needed last month to become this month's Fan Art Challenge.

 I can't remember what my original thoughts/ideas for this theme were, so I came up with something new: a poster for the Star Trek: Lower Decks first season episode "Temporal Edict".

 

 I began by looking at time travel film posters.  Many of them feature someone or someones in front of a circular background somethingorother - usually a clock face or something similar.  One of them in particular caught my eye: The Adam Project.  I liked the layout - and Ryan Reynolds! - so decided to use it as the basis for my poster.

The Year with a Convenient Birthday at the End

 I'm sure it won't come as any surprise when I tell you that I've been somewhat slack with regards to blogging this year - both posting here, and reading all of yours.  And the Host hasn't been much better, either.

 Hey!

 Well, isn't it true?

 Yes.  I suppose so.  Except for June and November.

 Anyway, June and November aside, we've pretty much given up on our annual "Year of..." extravaganza, and instead focused on one very important award that always features towards the end of said extravaganza.  And that award is, the Most Inconvenient Birthday Award. 

 Only this year, it's the Most Convenient as it's saved us from exploding with frustration and exhaustion in an attempt to pack two or three days worth of work into just a couple of hours!

 And so, we'd like to present this golden, hazelnutty, chocolatey award to, none other than Savvy!

 

✮ ✮ ✮

Hot Chocolate

 Very quickly, here's the latest in my series of Rutherford action figures - from Star Trek: Lower Decks "Parth Ferengi's Heart Place", I give you: 

 

Chocolate Romance Edition Rutherford

 

[The colour's a bit washed out due to the terrible lighting here (storm outside, and indoor lights are useless), so I might have to try this again on a nicer day.] 

 

EDIT 12/12/2024 : Here's the nicer day version ~

There's a Christmas robin at the end

 Don't mind me - Just popping in with a little Star Trek fan art catch up.  

 First up is the adorkable Sam Rutherford from Star Trek Lower Decks.  

 I did this pencil sketch back in September for The Trek BBS's fan art challenge, Alphanumeric Soup:

 

The Star Trek universe is littered with initialisms and acronyms for devices, technology and organisations: GNDN, UESPA, ODN, EPS, PADD, DS9, DTI, MACO. Take your favourite(s) and use them as inspiration for your piece of art. Alternatively, you could coin your own initialism or take one from the modern day and show us how, in the future, it might become the GOAT.

 

 I chose to depict Rutherford from the second season's first episode "Strange Energies" undergoing treatment for falsely diagnosed Synthetic Memory Degradation (SMD).  His friend and science officer Tendi didn't have Rutherford strip down to his undercrackers in the episode (he just had his top off), so I thought I'd correct that egregious error in this piece: SMD with a side order of PADD & LCARS.

Bluer Decks

  Star Trek fan art time!  But don't worry - I'll make it quick.

 

  August's Star Trek fan art challenge theme was "Toon Trek":

Take some inspiration from your favorite non-Trek cartoon or comic and draw Trek scenes in the same manner. How about Looney Tunes, Arthur, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, etc? Alternately, show us your own unique drawing style.

 Initially I was thrilled because I thought it would be a chance to finish the Ulysses 31 / Lower Decks poster I started last year, but real life got in the way so I had to reduce the scope of my plans.  I didn't think I was going to have time to do anything, but at the very last minute I came up with this Bluey / LDS mash-up:  Bluer Decks

 

From left to right: Bandit Heeler/Sam Rutherford, Bluey Heeler/Beckett Mariner, Bingo Heeler/Brad Boimler, and Chilli Heeler/D'Vana Tendi.

 

 

 The final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks is out on Paramount+ 24th October! Yeah, I know I've already featured this teaser trailer before, but you can never have too much Lower Decks!

Romancing the Precious Cargo

 The brief for July's Star Trek Fan Art Challenge was, well, brief:

  

Not Good Enough: Art inspired by unpopular episodes

  One particular episode came to mind as soon as this theme was suggested: "Precious Cargo" (a kind of screwball comedy).  Although it's not my absolute favourite, it is one of my most watched episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise (and not just because the lovely Connor Trinneer is running around in his undercrackers again).  However, almost everyone else considers it "a piece of crap" - even the episode writer, David Goodman!

 I quickly gathered up some screencaps from TrekCore and put together the rough draft below.  The inspiration for this came from the Romancing the Stone movie - specifically the odd couple romance and the crashing around in a jungle (I love that movie!). 

 

 Initially, I'd intended the backdrop to be a screencap of the watery jungle that Trip and Kaitaama find themselves in (similar to the RtS poster background), but the characters didn't stand out very well against it so I used a shot of their escape pod descending towards the planet instead.  Happily, the top of the escape pod lent itself as a marvellous background for the episode title.

"Wow, was that your girlfriend? What crawled up her boob window and died?"

 Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!1!!11!!1!!!!!!!1!!!

 The trailer for the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks is out! 

 Jennifer!  A Bajoran lightship??  Creepy little cyborg arm hug!!  Decon gel scene!!!  Ma'ah is back!!!!

: :

 

 In other news, my niece, Lionel (not her real name), got a mobile (cell) phone two or three months ago.  She's eleven.  Far too young to have a mobile, but she was the only one in her class without one so her parents relented so she wouldn't feel left out.  She now has access to anything and everything.  Smut, filth, the rudest of swear words, Taylor Swift - It's disgraceful! 

Golden Towers

 Yes, I know at the end of the previous post I said I may return the following day, but I also said that "normal service may resume" which, as you all know by now, means days if not a week or two between posts.  And, if you hadn't already gathered, this post includes the previously mentioned space shuttles and golden towers - I'll do the Bitey walk and Norwich skyline photos another time.

 So, why are there space shuttles and golden towers on the beach, I hear you clamouring - or at least tutting indifferently about?  Well, it was all for June's Star Trek art challenge which had a "World(s of Star Trek) Buildings" theme.  I had intended to construct a little cardboard castle or palace to represent Lwaxana Troi's family home, but despite collecting various cereal boxes for the raw material, time escaped me (again).  So, in a last minute panic, I rushed down to the beach last Thursday evening with a carrier bag full of coffee jar lids and a small model shuttle.  The photo above and those at the end of this post are the result. 

 I also took some non-Star Trek photos for those of you who couldn't give two figs about such things (i.e. most of you) - and these are them:

That's either the sun setting or everyone in Cromer forgot they left the gas on as they lit a fag.

MerMay: A Whale of A Time

 Because The Very Mistress was washing her hair on Saturday - and therefore missed streaming Star Trek: Lower Decks - I said I'd make it up to her by posting some more Star Trek stuff on a different day.  

 Well, today is that day!  So, be sure to thank TVM after you've hastily scrolled through this post to see if there's anything of interest other than the muscular merman at the end enjoyed the last two months worth of my Star Trek fan art!

 

 Right.  We'd better get on with it.  Here's last month's Star Trek Fan Art Challenge: 

April: Inspired by Laura

"As some of you might know, @Laura Cynthia Chambers has been doing her own, very unique starship designs in Microsoft Paint for a while.  Some are simple and almost crude, while others can be super complex, especially if they were realized in three dimensions.  For this theme choose one of her designs and make it your own.  Recreate it in 3D, draw full orthos from all views, build it as an actual physical model, make a detailed pencil drawing of it à la @Atolm, let yourself be inspired … the possibilities are endless.  And please make sure to post a link to the starship design you picked."

 By 19th April I'd already picked three of Laura's starship designs (Starships 52, 57 & 58), but found another one that piqued my interest (31) and started sketching:

 At the top is #57 - I envisage this "stuck with plungers" ship with a spherical hull bristling with sensor antennae.  The three middle sketches are of #58.  To me, Laura's design looked rather Oberth-like, but she mentioned that this is a top-down view.  So, rather than having a secondary hull/sensor pod overshadowing the saucer, I made it part of the primary hull (as in the USS Kobayashi Maru) with the central ridged part a 'greenhouse' dome (as this could be a botanical crusier).  At the bottom middle-right is a head-on sketch of # 52 - I imagine this is the side view, with the grey ovals on the left being the front of the ship, and the six vertical bars are large, exposed warp coils (or small, in-line warp rings like the Vulcans use).  And bottom left is #31 - what I interpret as its undercarriage.  My sketch next to it is how I imagine a side view to look.  [Ignore the fishy Excelsior on the right - that's an idea for MerMay]

All Hands On Deck(s) - Star Trek: Lower Decks

SaveStarTrekLowerDecks.com

Calling all Lower deckers!  On April 12th Paramount+ announced the upcoming 5th season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will be its last.  The cast, crew and fans have all expressed a strong desire to go beyond this season.

 

As Mike Okuda, a graphic designer best known for his work on Star Trek, posted to social media:

 

One of the ways that the success of a streaming show is measured is by the number of minutes that each episode is streamed.  If a lot of fans replayed each episode a lot, it is conceivable that that could make a blip in the ratings.

 

Our goal is to make that blip!