More Motivational Posters!

Here’s a trio of new motivational posters for you do use as you like.  Let us know in the comments sections where you’ve used them and the reactions you got.

STAR TREK Turns 45!

Yup, 45 years ago today audiences across the country had their first taste of “Star Trek”.  The episode was “The Man Trap”.    Nope, it wasn’t the first episode made.  But it was the first to air.  Here’s the first words they heard:

Captains Log:  Star date 1513.1.   Our position:  Orbiting the planet M-113.

And the first person they saw sitting in the captain’s chair was not Kirk, but Spock.  Still image of that is above.  The first image of Kirk was a long shot of him materializing via transporter on the planet with McCoy and another crew member.  And the phrase “beam down” is used for the first time.   Shatner doesn’t get his first close-up (below) until over two minutes into the episode.

And so began the show that wouldn’t die.  The show Variety said “won’t work”.  Well, work it did.  After an initial three years on NBC, where it got low ratings but critical acclaim, the show found its real popularity in syndication.  This popularity led to 11 movies (with a 12th on the way), four spin-off series, and an animated series.  Not to mention countless toys, games, and endless parodies, jokes and so on.

It introduced many of us to Science Fiction.  And to writers like Harlan Ellison, Robert Bloch, Norman Spinrad, and Theodore Sturgeon.  All accomplished writers who contributed episodes to the series.  It also introduced us to many scientific, political, social and historical concepts.  Yup, it thrilled us with action and adventure.  But it also captivated our thoughts and imaginations.   “Star Trek” was a show that has a big reputation.  And deserves it.  Happy 45th Birthday, Star Trek.  And here’s to another 45!

Video: Happy Birthday Nimoy and Shatner!

Best known as screen comrades Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both turned 80 this week.  We offer a few of the better YouTube tributes to celebrate this.

More videos after the jump …

Vulcan Pub Needs Spock to Live Long and Prosper!

From Wales Online:

ENTERPRISING Vulcan pub campaigners are boldly going where no drinkers have gone before by calling on Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy to save their bar.

More than 100 people have signed a letter to the 78-year-old Mr Spock star asking him to beam the pub from the clutches of developers who want to knock down the Victorian building next month and replace it with a car park as part of the St David’s 2 development.

The Echo has also made several attempts to reach Mr Nimoy. A letter has also been sent to Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the new Star Trek film.

Each reads: “If you would put your name to our campaign it might help save our beloved bar. Please help!”

Brian Smart runs The Vulcan with his wife, landlady Elizabeth Smart.

Paraphrasing Vulcan greeting “Live long and prosper”, he said from behind the bar of the Adam Street alehouse: “Any form of outside help would be good. He is a celebrity and connected with Vulcans so it’s a good theme. I’m not a Trekkie, but I have seen everyone do the thing with their hands. And I’d tell him ‘Drink long and prosper’. I don’t know what I’d say to him if he came in though. I’d give him a free pint on the house.”

Celebrities James Dean Bradfield, Rhys Ifans, Neil Kinnock and Howard Marks have all backed calls for the pub to be saved. More than 6,000 people have signed a petition to get it listed.

Royal Mail manager Steve O’Connell is a regular at the pub, which was this week named Cardiff pub of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

The 55-year-old, from Llanrumney, said: “It is a local that has got character. I have always enjoyed coming here. You are always made to feel welcome, it has got a great atmosphere. It’s a landmark in Cardiff and one of the few remaining traditional drinking pubs left. I think Leonard would like it here. I think he would call it ‘a quaint British pub’. I would say to him, ‘Save our heritage’.”

His wife, retired teaching aide Linda O’Connell, said: “I think if he were to support it financially he is going to have to pay a lot of money. They are not going to give it up easily.”

Source.

STAR TREK Gets a Rave from Variety!

It seems like everyone is loving this movie so far.  So far nary a negative review has surfaced.

Zachary Quinto's Spock looking appropriately unmoved by all this praise.

Here’s the Variety rave snipped of spoilers:

Blasting onto the screen at warp speed and remaining there for two hours, the new and improved “Star Trek” will transport fans to sci-fi nirvana. Faithful enough to the spirit and key particulars of Gene Roddenberry’s original conception to keep its torchbearers happy but, more crucially, exciting on its own terms in a way that makes familiarity with the franchise irrelevant, J.J. Abrams’ smart and breathless space adventure feels like a summer blockbuster that just couldn’t stay in the box another month. Paramount won’t need any economic stimulus package with all the money it’ll rake in with this one globally, and a follow-up won’t arrive soon enough.

“Star Trek” here joins the James Bond series as the long-term ‘60s franchises that have been most successfully rebooted, although the current accomplishment is the more surprising since, after 10 films and a succession of TV series, “Star Trek” was widely thought to have exhausted itself. While respectfully handling the Roddenberry DNA, Abrams and longtime writing cohorts Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have transferred it to a trim new body that hums with youthful energy.

As happened with Bond and “Casino Royale,” the Abrams team decided it would be best to go back to the beginning — earlier, in fact, than the first TV show did in 1966 — to show the origins of James Kirk and Spock and the launch of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Stir in a well-chosen cast of relative unknowns, a strong new villain, vastly updated special effects and a dynamic style that makes “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” look 60 years old rather than just 30, and you’ve planted the seed for a whole new generation of Trekkies.

You can read the rest here but there are some minor spoilers.

The First STAR TREK Reviews are in!

And so far they’re pretty damn good!

Cole Abius of Cinema Rejects says that “[Star Trek] showcases the brilliance of science fiction: building a universe that is different from our own and filling it with people that are just like us.”

Full review here.

While Neil Miller also of Cinema Rejects says, “…when it all comes down to it, the average moviegoer in America just wants to see a movie that is a shitload of fun — and that’s exactly what you’ll get with Star Trek.”

Full Review here.

Urban Cinefile says:  “The overall effect is sensational and the film is fully satisfying as a major entertainment.”

Full review here.

Timeout London says:  “But perhaps the best summary of the film comes from James T Kirk himself, dying on the side of a rock many decades later: ‘It was… fun’.”

Full review here.

And IGN UK says:  “This is simply a fantastic achievement from Abrams and Co.”

Full review here.

The reviews aren’t as nice about the villian or the film’s climax, but other than that they’re raves.