Star Trek: Heart of Glory

Episode: "Heart of Glory"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 1, Episode 20
Original Air Date: March 21, 1988

via Memory Alpha

Our heroes rescue three Klingons from a damaged freighter.  They befriend Worf, though they can't resist mocking him for his Starfleet loyalties.  In time, we learn they are fugitives from justice and actually intend to hijack the Enterprise and bring Worf along with them as they seek a new and better life as "true Klingons."

Okay, so this is the sort of information I'd normally hang onto until the end of the series but we still have 6+ seasons to go and who knows if I'll even stick with the project that long?  Worf is my favorite.  By the end of TNG, all of the principals have decent character threads to follow.  None is more satisfying than Worf's, not even Picard's.  TNG is first and foremost Picard's show and all credit to Patrick Stewart for that.  But if you want to follow a character who grows far beyond his original starting point, Worf is your guy.  His struggle to come to terms with his Klingon identity is everything Spock's story could have and should have been, yet never quite became. 

"Heart of Glory" features much of the clumsiness typical of TNG's first season.  But this early glimpse into Worf's history and his self-identity conflicts sets the stage for rich, rewarding stories to come.  Through Worf, we are privy to more intimate glimpses of an alien culture than we get with any other Star Trek society.  In this tale, we see Klingon death rituals, witnessed by outsiders for the first time according to Data.  We sit down to a Klingon dinner, the first meal we see prepared by the replicator at all, I believe.  Through the renegades, we learn of the dissatisfaction among some Klingons with the Starfleet alliance.  We learn of the moral conflict between traditional Klingon values and those which Worf learned away from that world.  Best of all, we have a better understanding of TNG's most fascinating character and what is already the best backstory going.

Captain Picard puts it best in the episode's final line: "And Mister Worf, the Bridge wouldn't be the same without you."

Damn right.


Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Vaughn Armstrong plays the role of Korris, the leader of the fugitive Klingon band.  Armstrong was born July 7, 1950 in Sonora, California.  While "Heart of Glory" is his only TNG appearance, he has appeared in various Trek series over the years in, count 'em, 12 different roles!  His devotion to the franchise is total, even starting a band with other Trek actors called the Enterprise Blues Band which performs songs about the series at conventions.  Armstrong is lead vocalist and also plays harmonica.



"The Enterprise Blues" song:

Squid Eats: Bangkok Bistro in the Alley

Bangkok Bistro in the Alley is a relatively recent resurrection of a restaurant that ran in Burlington from 2002-2012.  It is our favorite Thai restaurant in town, more conveniently located than the also good East West Cafe.  Our daughter and I went on Saturday night as a prelude to a VSO concert.  My wife was out of town so it was some good bonding time for us.  The girl is suddenly more open to talks about her future - simultaneously exciting, bittersweet and terrifying.  She's growing up...

via Facebook

We got spring rolls and potstickers to start.  The girl was especially impressed by the Penang sauce that came with the dumplings, eventually dunking all of her food in it.  I got the Ga Pow for my main - seriously hot but enjoyable.  I can take hot, crave it even.  The Ga Pow didn't quite move me to tears but it was intense.  Sadly, they were out of mango sticky rice by the time we got to dessert, even though it was on the specials menu and it was early in the evening.  Oh well.

Due to illness, the featured violinist for the concert, and her piece, had to be replaced on short notice.  Enter Shannon Lee with the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, fortunately an orchestra standard that can be thrown together quickly.  Lee was dynamite.  The audience gave her a standing ovation after the first movement - a bit gauche but certainly sincere.

The real treat for the girl and me, though, was Mendelssohn's Fifth Symphony - aka "Restoration" - to close the evening.  As noted in this post, she has played the fourth movement herself with her youth orchestra.  Apart from being generally magnificent, it is a woodwind-heavy piece which suits our family tastes well.  I will never tire of posting this:

Marvel Immersion Project: Amazing Fantasy #15

via Wikipedia

My friends, today I begin a new weekly series: the Marvel Immersion Project.  Inspired by the game Marvel Codenames (see here), I have decided to dive head first into the Marvel comic book universe and swim around for a while.  The amazing Marvel Unlimited app is my medium.  To get the ball rolling, Comic Book Herald's list of "The 25 Essential Trades to Marvel Comics from 1961 to 2000" shall be my guide.

With a new series comes a new weekly posting schedule for The Squid...

Monday: The Marvel Immersion Project

Wednesday: Family Adventures

Friday: Star Trek


For starters, I'll keep things simple with just the quick details on individual issues as I read them, then some broader thoughts as they come up.  Here we go...

Amazing Fantasy #15: Spider-Man!
Originally published August 10, 1962
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Steve Ditko

The origin story: the outcast brainy teenager, the radioactive spider bite, the powers, the costume.  Uncle Ben dies at the hands of a criminal Spidey had previously let get away.  A motto that has held up for nearly 60 years: "With great power there must also come -- great responsibility!"


I have read the earliest Spider-Man stories before and have even blogged about them (here, for instance).  Nonetheless, Spidey is both a sensible and a comfortable place for me to start in this new adventure.  He is probably the Marvel character I know best.

Star Trek: Coming of Age

Episode: "Coming of Age"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 1, Episode 19
Original Air Date: March 14, 1988

via Memory Beta

Wesley takes a crack at the Starfleet Academy entrance exam.  Meanwhile, an old friend of Picard's, Admiral Gregory Quinn (Ward Costello) has come aboard to investigate the Enterprise for reasons he can't explain.  Tensions run high as Lt. Cmdr. Dexter Remmick, the investigating officer played by Robert Schenkkan, asks probing questions of the senior officers regarding their dear leader.

"Coming of Age" is sort of like a clip show without the clips.  Remmick's questions touch on incidents from previous episodes, including "The Last Outpost," "Where No One Has Gone Before" and "Justice."  Remmick certainly rankles but eventually he reveals what we as the fans already know: this crew is deeply loyal to their captain and to each other.  Plus, he gets to see first-hand that Jean-Luc is a total badass when he calmly rescues a wayward cadet from himself.  The investigator acknowledges his admiration in the end, saying that he would like to work among them after his current assignment is completed.  Once again, we see that Picard's Enterprise is a great place to work.

In the investigation story's conclusion, Picard is offered a promotion to Admiral, overseeing Starfleet Academy.  While tempted, the captain ultimately turns it down.  This is not the last time one of our heroes declines advancement.  It certainly serves the series well in terms of continuity but it also leaves one wondering about the realism.  We know Picard is a romantic at heart and it's easy to understand his desire to be an explorer rather than an educational administrator - and implicitly, an internal spy.  But still, how many people in the real world turn down an admiralty when it is offered?  Probably not too many.

The entrance exam story, while probably technically the primary narrative, is less interesting.  The development for Wes is good, though we already know he is smart, kind and generous.  We do get a guest appearance from Tasia Valenza as the Vulcan T'Shanik.  I featured Valenza in one of my Clone Wars posts a few years ago.  Wes also has a nice scene with Worf on the holodeck, though Worf gets much better development in the next episode.


Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Ward Costello was born July 5, 1919 in Boston.  "Coming of Age" was his first of three appearances as Admiral Quinn.  In addition to his numerous acting credits, Costello was a composer and lyricist.  He wrote the theme for The Gallant Hours, a docudrama starring James Cagney.  The piece is unusual for a film: an acapella choral arrangement.



Costello died in 2009 from complications due to a stroke.

Squid Eats: ArtsRiot

As discussed in this post, ArtsRiot is the primary venue for the VSO's Jukebox series featuring their string quartet.  It is both restaurant and concert space, managed under the same umbrella but operating in separate rooms.  As such, it is usually our easiest dinner choice before the concert.  The cuisine is described as "inspired by flavors from around the globe," which in this case typically means American/Asian fusion.

ArtsRiot would seem to be in transition at the moment, looking to emphasize the event hosting aspect of the business over the dining.  The food is still perfectly nice but there's less of it.  The menu - not even available for viewing on the website anymore - is significantly reduced, marketed as tailored to the evening's concert.  Servings are smaller, too.  I'm pretty sure the 400 Burger I ordered used to come with fries.  No longer.  This change is not a deal breaker for us.  In a fair trade, the prices were lower, too, I believe.  We managed under $50 for the three of us, not bad for a night out.  The cost was helped by the fact that I was the only one to order an alcoholic beverage: an impressive, pint-size can of Lagunitas Sumpin' Easy.  Also, no dessert was offered.  We were even warned off what gelato was available.  Not soft enough to eat.

Our daughter's favorite thing about the restaurant is the Guns 'n' Roses poster on the ceiling above the loft.  She always checks to make sure it's still there. 

For the concert, the quartet was joined by a soprano vocalist, Mary Bonhag.  She's a wonderfully dynamic performer.  I might quibble with some of her classical technique - taller, rounder vowels would be nice - but she more than makes up for it with her daring and her variety.  The program began with the atypically conventional "Laudamus Te" from Mozart's C Minor Mass but also included the downright bizarre "Sequenza III for Female Voice" by Luciano Berio.

Ms. Coffey, in the following, offers more of the technique I would wish:



Just to clarify, I like weird.  The Berio:



A fun evening.


Squid on the Vine

Terra Santa, Ile d Beaute Vermentinu Chardonnay, 2018
Apple
Smells sweeter than it tastes
Peach aftertaste
My Rating: 8.3

Star Trek: Home Soil

Episode: "Home Soil"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 1, Episode 18
Original Air Date: February 22, 1988

via Memory Alpha

The Enterprise visits a terraforming colony only to stumble upon a murder mystery.  The scientists' own machinery has turned against them.  But how?  The culprit is fascinating: a new life form, in fact a broadened concept of life.  What appear to be tiny, inorganic crystals emit erratic pulses of light and color in defiance of known science.  Eventually our heroes realize the crystals are trying to communicate.

The story stumbles along awkwardly in the beginning with much of the weak writing and wooden acting we've unfortunately come to expect in Season 1.  But in a delightful turn, "Home Soil" contains one of the most genuinely magical scenes of the entire series.  As our heroes are trying to determine the nature of the crystals, they tick off the boxes for living matter, one being reproduction.  The moment when the one crystal splits into two with a brilliant flash is one that has stayed with me for years.  Science fiction is filled with dazzle, of course.  Even so, it's rare to share with the characters in the witnessing of not only something new, but something previously un-imagined.  Trek has toyed with the bending of life parameters before, most notably with the silicon-based Horta in TOS's "The Devil in the Dark."  But at least that creature was still otherwise recognizable as a life form.  "Home Soil"'s crystals are entirely new.

Interestingly, the two episodes share a similar shot of characters staring down into a tunnel: Kirk and Spock in the one story, Data and Geordi in the other.  


Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Walter Gotell plays the part of Kurt Mandl, lead scientist at the colony.  Gotell was born March 15, 1924 in Bonn, Germany.  His family emigrated to Britain when the Nazis came to power.

Gotell had roles in several major films, including The African Queen, The Guns of Navarone and The Boys from Brazil.  It's likely he will always be best remembered for his numerous appearances in the James Bond franchise, featuring in seven movies as two different characters with three different Bond actors.  First, he was the henchman Morzeny in From Russia with Love, starring Sean Connery.  The recurring character General Gogol first appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me with Roger Moore as Bond.  Finally, Gogol appeared in The Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton's first Bond film.

Gotell died of cancer in 1997, age 73.

Squid on the Vine: The Mixed Blessing of Sugar

Fratelli Levis, Piemonte Barbera
Floral nose
Berries
Starts sweet.  Finishes bitter.
Touch of spice
My rating: 8.3

Frederic Mallo, Rosacker Vieilles Vignes, Alsace Grand Cru Riesling, 2010
Peachy finish
Starts sweet, bitter, then sweet again.
Dark yellow
I have a sentimental attachment to this particular vineyard for reasons I won't go into here but it's possible my rating is slightly inflated by bias.  Even so, it is genuinely good.
My rating: 9.0

Stefan Meyer, Ein Liter Rhodt Red Blend
Berries
A little jammy but enough bitter to keep it honest
Finishes sweet, then bitter, then sweet.
My rating: 8.4

As I sort out my wine preferences (see here), I am finding one common element for both reds and whites: I like it sweet - not too much, mind you, but I definitely want it there.  I love fruit and a grape is a fruit.  I'm not looking for Welch's but I want to know I'm consuming a fruit.

With reds, the adjective I seek is "jammy," which implies a particular mouth feel along with the sugar, a pronounced sense of volume.  Too much sweetness, though, and it wouldn't taste like wine anymore, just juice with a kick.  For whites, Rieslings are definitely heading in the right direction.  The German offerings, however, tend to be too sweet.  The Alsatians like the example above, on the other hand, are just right.  The Stefan Meyer listed above could have done with a bit more spice (indication of alcohol content) but the sugar level was good.