Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The "Star Wreck" movie

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning

Of course, that's a play on words. It really means: "Star Trek: In the Beginning", and this movie is a parody.

I belong to what one can describe as an online Science Fiction Fan Club or Association. Years ago, some other members had alerted me to the presence of this 2005 movie from Finland. It is a very well made parody of Star Trek made in the vain of the "Airplane" movies. The movie is just over an hour and a half long. At the time, the folks who had produced the movie were promoting it, and I had just gotten high-speed Internet. So, I took their offer of a free download. But, since that time, I had not had the opportunity to watch it.

But, technology finally caught up with this common man. I am the owner of a TiVo Box and there now exists the technology, via this wonderful program called pyTivo to watch any video stored on your computer via your TiVo on your TV.

Isn't Technology great? Thanks armoo and krkeegan, two of the developers of pyTivo!

Anyway, onto the movie . CAUTION! This contains some spoilers.

The story opens with Captain Pirk (yes, I know -- hilarious!) leading a combined fleet through some sort of "wormhole" (oh, you will like, what they call wormholes in this movie). But before, the movie continues, we're given some background. How Captain Pirk came to be in this situation.

Apparently, he and his crew, are caught in some sort of time warp that takes them to Earth's past (our present) where they try to blend in -- in a rather funny way. But then, they decide, enough with that, we'll speed up progress and conquer the world. So, Captain Pirk, becomes the leader of this new United World and goes on a mission to discover more habitable planets.

I will leave the rest of the movie UNSPOILED, for those who want to watch it. It is imperative to remember that some of the sensibilities of the actors are European from Finland, but a lot of the humor is universal. It's also important to remember what these folks accomplished without a big Hollywood budget. I was thoroughly impressed.

Even though, I got this movie for free, I will definitely be willing to spend money to purchase it, and I intend to do so. I think, the creators intended for word of mouth to spread the fame of this movie. So, if you don't find subtitles daunting, I recommend you go and find this movie, buy it from Amazon, or from whatever other online source, and enjoy it. You'll have a blast. More importantly, you'll question, WHY it takes Hollywood so much money to produce the kind of crap they put out, when a couple of guys from Finland can succeed with an effort like this. But even if you don't care about Hollywood politics, the movie is FUN.

Monday, February 25, 2008

My Book Journal

Years ago, I had this great book journal where I used to record ALL the books that I've read. And believe me, I read a lot. By this point, you're going to say, "Oh, No! Not another book review blog!", and I am afraid, I won't be able to assuage your fears. Yes, this is another "book review blog".

But, I will also sprinkle in it some movie reviews, some Journalistic thoughts (nothing TOO political, I promise!) and maybe a short story or too! Since, I have barely been published -- oh yeah, I have been rejected a lot (I wonder why? ) -- I guess this will be a forum for me to publish my stories.

Another thing, I used to do, when I kept my multitude of book journals when I was younger, was number my books, like keeping track of how many I had read. Now this wasn't very accurate for sure, but it was something to amuse me. It wasn't accurate, because before I started it when I was 15 or 16, I must have read at least that many books.... And since the time, I stopped my written book journal, I must have read at least DOUBLE that amount of books. So, I decided that the first book that I will review here, I will number as number 1001. Why do this? I don't know! Maybe I am insane! Or maybe that's how I keep my sanity.

So, I hope you enjoy this new blog. I will slowly build up the links in it, and I hope you take advantage of the services I link to. Additionally, I hope you enjoy reading AND you teach your kids to read! Books ARE fun! Books are knowledge! Books are great! Long live books!

Take Care!