Space flight industry contribute $3,000,000 to Save Star Trek Enterprise

[Mutts]

Forgive something a little off topic for the group.

Thought that some fellow pilots would want to know about this
effort to save Star Trek Enterprise from cancellation. It is a
very serious effort, and not just "trekkies".

There is an active campaign to raise money to finance a
fifth season that has now raised over 3 million dollars thanks to
commercial space flight entrereneurs. I betting Paul Allen of
SpaceShipOne fame had a hand in this.

The show has greatly improved this last season, and I'm sure I'm
not the only one that found Star Trek inspirational as a child to
look skyward. I think its worth saving.

Thanks for looking.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4312767.stm


http://www.trekunited.com/news.php?id=13


www.saveenterprise.com

[Robert M. Gary]

I thought that show was canceled 10 years ago.

[Montblack]

("Robert M. Gary")
>I thought that show was canceled 10 years ago.


Which one?

http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/Search

Much like Law & Order, star Trek keeps spawning new series.

Star Trek ....................................(1967-1969)
Cartoon ......................................(1973-1974)
Star Trek Next Generation .......(1987-1994)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine ....(1993-1998)
Star Trek Voyager ....................(1995-1999)
Enterprise ..................................(2001-May 2005)

"Enterprise" needs to figure out how to get the Vulcan into the shower more.

Come up with something good or die on the vine. $3M won't help.


Montblack

[Jay Honeck]

> Which one?

Next Generation is/was still the best.

Voyager sucked.

Enterprise keeps moving from night to night -- I've only seen it a couple of
times. But, I enjoyed it when I caught it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Mutts]

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 17:47:06 -0600, "Montblack"
> wrote:

>
>"Enterprise" needs to figure out how to get the Vulcan into the shower more.
>
>Come up with something good or die on the vine. $3M won't help.
>

The stories are much improved now. UPN does not know
how to market the show properly.

More help is likley on the way. But
they may not need to raise the full amount. It could offset the cost
of any percieved losses or make the show much more attractive
(cheaper price offset by the contributions) to be shopped to another
network. Manys shows have changed networks in the past. JAG for one.
UPN is an awful home for Star Trek. I am hoping the show is picked up
by another network.


www.saveenterprise.com
http://www.trekunited.com

[Brian Burger]

Three million US for a freakin' TV show?

I liked Next Gen & DS9, couldn't get into Voyager or Enterprise. Just my
taste.

But it's JUST A TV SHOW - not worth 3mil of anyone's money.

And I *hope* Paul Allen is smart enough not to throw his money at a silly
TV show...

Just had to rant,

Brian

[Mutts]

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 23:10:59 -0800, Brian Burger >
wrote:

>Three million US for a freakin' TV show?
>
>I liked Next Gen & DS9, couldn't get into Voyager or Enterprise. Just my
>taste.
>
>But it's JUST A TV SHOW - not worth 3mil of anyone's money.
>
>And I *hope* Paul Allen is smart enough not to throw his money at a silly
>TV show...
>
>Just had to rant,
>
>Brian

Ill rant back........

Imagination drives us.

It inspires us to try things never done before. We picture things
in our minds before we do it. We write about it, we make movies about
it. It doesnt matter if it is an ancient story teller around the fire
20,000 years ago or a modern digitally projected film today.


Someone had to dream and imagine treating disease first before it ever
happened. Imagine that...I want to stop people from dying. Think how
crazy that sounds to someone thousands of years ago. They just
accepted it. Someone had to imagine it and try.


Jule Verne wrote of traveling to the moon long before it happened.
Happen it did.

People had to imagine and write of powered flight long before it ever
happened. The world would be in a pretty poor position without flight.
Look at all those aircraft rushing to the aid of the tsunami victims.

Would you have ridiculed those who dreamed of powered flight?
Leonardo da Vinci ?
Drawing or writing silly tales of the future as nonsense?

We have imaginations for a *reason*.

It seperates us from all other species on earth.
We can imagine what we want to be.

If we can dream it, we can do it eventually.

Star Trek -Inspires- people. Not all, to most it is entertainment
and wasting time to others, but to some others..... *those* people
make a difference.

Yes Doctors, Astronauts, Engineers, Pilots, Computer designers, on and
on.

These people make the world better, because a fire
was started in their minds first. Because someone *imagined*
what the world could be like someday.

What if that spark of inspiration
happened to be a campy TV show called Star Trek
that was about just a little bit more then most shows?

Is it morally wrong to value this? to want this kind of
show and imaginings to continue?

Its not just Trek. Many things inspire people obviously.

Your argument would therefore have to be against
ALL things that fire peoples imaginations.

Imagination...... asking questions like "what If"?


Carl Sagan said "dreams are maps"
He asked who the "cartographers of human purpose" were.
"The visions we present to our children shape the future. It matters
what those visions are. "

Now maybe Im just a "trekkie" with a pilots certificate, but then
again, The Wright Flyer and SpaceShipOne was just a dream once too.


-----------------

The benefactors also added a statement explaining why they believe
this campaign deserves such a substantial contribution:

"We think Star Trek and especially its latest incarnation,
"Enterprise" is the kind of TV that should be aired more often. The
people responsible at Paramount think this is just a show and we want
to tell them, it is not. We are in the commercial space flight
industry and would like to testify that at least one out of two of all
the actual entrepreneurs involved in this industry has been inspired
by Star Trek; and we are not only good at watching TV sci-fi , we are
also good at writing checks, big checks. The people airing this kind
of TV have a responsibility; inspiration. Star Trek has inspired us,
and particularly Enterprise, with its superb theme song that tells so
much about our struggle to move space travel forward and closer to the
public, this inspiration is so self evident, that Virgin Galactic has
ordered a 5-sub orbital ship fleet from Scaled Composites, a 100
million dollar investment, and the first one being built is going to
be christened ‘VSS Enterprise.’ Now doesn’t that ring a bell in
Paramount’s ears? Now, canceling the series so bluntly, for the sake
of just ratings, tells very much about the kind of thinking going on
inside Paramount. If we thought the same way, Paul Allen would have
never funded the SpaceShipOne program. Sir Richard Branson would never
have funded Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures would never have put
two space tourists aboard the International Space Station. Instead, we
would all be at home watching Survivor or some other reality TV show.
Enterprise needs to be renewed, for the sake of fan loyalty, for being
quality TV, for bringing imagination and hope for a better future to
our homes, but over all that, for inspiring us so strongly that we
have fought all our adult lives to bring that future closer to our
children and to us."

[Jay Honeck]

> And I *hope* Paul Allen is smart enough not to throw his money at a silly
> TV show...

Paul Allen probably makes $3 million every day -- in interest alone on his
investments.

I hope he can spare some of it for Star Trek -- even if I'm not "into it"
like I was with the old shows...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Darrel Toepfer]

Mutts wrote:
<snip>
> Jule Verne wrote of traveling to the moon long before it happened.
> Happen it did.

Yoda, is that you?

[Andrew Gideon]

Mutts wrote:

> Imagination drives us.

I have to agree. I've no proof, but I'm fairly certain that my life-long
love of computing, which has provided me with an income sufficient that I
have been able to satisfy my other loves (family and aviation) in comfort,
was at least well fed by watching the original Star Trek as a youth.

Of course, I also read every SF book or story I could find. But ST was
certainly an important part of that mix. And who knows, at this point,
which came first.

- Andrew

[Mutts]

On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 08:18:39 -0600, Darrel Toepfer
> wrote:

>Mutts wrote:
><snip>
>> Jule Verne wrote of traveling to the moon long before it happened.
>> Happen it did.
>
>Yoda, is that you?

Me it is not.

[ET]

Mutts > wrote in
:

> On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 17:47:06 -0600, "Montblack"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>"Enterprise" needs to figure out how to get the Vulcan into the shower
>>more.
>>
>>Come up with something good or die on the vine. $3M won't help.
>>
>
> The stories are much improved now. UPN does not know
> how to market the show properly.
>
> More help is likley on the way. But
> they may not need to raise the full amount. It could offset the cost
> of any percieved losses or make the show much more attractive
> (cheaper price offset by the contributions) to be shopped to another
> network. Manys shows have changed networks in the past. JAG for one.
> UPN is an awful home for Star Trek. I am hoping the show is picked up
> by another network.
>
>
> www.saveenterprise.com
> http://www.trekunited.com
>
>
>
>
>

There big mistake this year was moving it to Friday, lining it up
against Sci-Fi channel's Stargate etc. Sci-Fi channel ought to pick it
up, that's about the only thing that would save it.

On, yeah, and more Vulcan shower scenes <grin>.




--
-- ET >:-)

"A common mistake people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete
fools."---- Douglas Adams

[Blanche]

Each episode of ENT runs about $1.2-1.5 Million. So the contribution
is only 2 of 22 episodes.

[Blanche]

Trek communicators from TOS. Taken a look at the flip cell phones?
PADDS - tablet PCs. Also useful for displaying charts and such while
in the cockpit (just to keep this on an aviation topic)
Back to TOS, remember the data cards that Spock and Uhura kept loading
into the computer? Just like 3.5 floppy disks (talk about two-way
nostalgia!)
FTL - Hawking claims he's working on it.
Medical scanners - maybe not as sophisticated yet, but it'll happen.

Of course we're still working out the bugs on transporters....

A number of current and retired members of the US Astronaut corps have
admitted to being motivated by Trek when young.

[Mutts]

In article >, says...
>
>Trek communicators from TOS. Taken a look at the flip cell phones?
>PADDS - tablet PCs. Also useful for displaying charts and such while
> in the cockpit (just to keep this on an aviation topic)
>Back to TOS, remember the data cards that Spock and Uhura kept loading
> into the computer? Just like 3.5 floppy disks (talk about two-way
> nostalgia!)
>FTL - Hawking claims he's working on it.
>Medical scanners - maybe not as sophisticated yet, but it'll happen.
>
>Of course we're still working out the bugs on transporters....
>
>A number of current and retired members of the US Astronaut corps have
>admitted to being motivated by Trek when young.
>



Scott Bakula (Captain Archer) recently had a long talk with fan and Astronaut
Mike Fincke on board the ISS. They would send DVDs of the show for him to
watch in orbit.

http://www.saveenterprise.com/spacestation.htm

Fincke spoke of how the opening of the show helped him cope with the loss of
Columbia. Also the second starship on the show has been named after Shuttle
Columbia.

[Mutts]

In article >, says...
>
>Each episode of ENT runs about $1.2-1.5 Million. So the contribution
>is only 2 of 22 episodes.
>


The donation campaign is only weeks old, there may be more big dogs coming
to help out.

I dont know what the profit margin is or if that term applies
to television shows. But there is a money threshold somewhere.
And no doubt internal political postioning on such big decisions.
It may not have to finance the whole season. It may make it very
cheap for another network to pick up.
Uncharted territory. Nothing like this has ever happened.

[Doug Carter]

Blanche wrote:

> Of course we're still working out the bugs on transporters....

Indeed. See: CNN.com 'Star Trek' teleporter nearer reality'

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/06/17/aust.startrek/

....probably have to keep the Skylane for a while, but still, you don't
get anywhere without a dream first.

[Jose]

> Trek communicators from TOS. Taken a look at the flip cell phones?

Yes, and I'm amazed that =none= of them flip like the commuicators did.
They are (to a unit) clumsy to open, require two hands to open (or
prying with fingers) and it is obvious that nobody who designs these
things has ever =seen= a Star Trek episode (at least from the original
series).

Jose
--
Math is a game. The object of the game is to figure out the rules.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[ET]

Jose > wrote in news:jLHVd.5561$DW.5105
@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com:

>> Trek communicators from TOS. Taken a look at the flip cell phones?
>
> Yes, and I'm amazed that =none= of them flip like the commuicators did.
> They are (to a unit) clumsy to open, require two hands to open (or
> prying with fingers) and it is obvious that nobody who designs these
> things has ever =seen= a Star Trek episode (at least from the original
> series).
>
> Jose

Hah!

My i500 (samsung) phone opens with a flip of the thumb,


It just takes a bit of practice.

--
-- ET >:-)

"A common mistake people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete
fools."---- Douglas Adams

[Mutts]

In article >,
says...
>
>Blanche wrote:
>
>> Of course we're still working out the bugs on transporters....
>
>Indeed. See: CNN.com 'Star Trek' teleporter nearer reality'
>
>http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/06/17/aust.startrek/
>
>...probably have to keep the Skylane for a while, but still, you don't
>get anywhere without a dream first.


I heard on Paul Harvey the other day they are getting closer to a cloaking
device.
Something to do with the way atoms reflect light. Or sumthin'

[John Harlow]

> Yes, and I'm amazed that =none= of them flip like the commuicators
> did. They are (to a unit) clumsy to open, require two hands to open
> (or prying with fingers) and it is obvious that nobody who designs
> these things has ever =seen= a Star Trek episode (at least from the
> original series).

Lol - I can't imagine anyone *wanting* to look like they are flipping open a
"communicator" except possibly a child or Comic Book Guy (tm). Thank
goodness phones don't make a silly noise when opened too. The ringtones
nowadays make me want to flip them against a wall.

[Blanche]

John Harlow > wrote:
>Lol - I can't imagine anyone *wanting* to look like they are flipping open a
>"communicator" except possibly a child or Comic Book Guy (tm). Thank
>goodness phones don't make a silly noise when opened too. The ringtones
>nowadays make me want to flip them against a wall.

I agree about the ringtones.

but....anyone know where I can get the original "squeak" that Trek
uses for the communicator? I think it was the same on TOS as on
TNG.

[Blanche]

In article >, Mutts > wrote:
>In article >, says...
>>
>>Each episode of ENT runs about $1.2-1.5 Million. So the contribution
>>is only 2 of 22 episodes.
>
>I dont know what the profit margin is or if that term applies
>to television shows. But there is a money threshold somewhere.
>And no doubt internal political postioning on such big decisions.
>It may not have to finance the whole season. It may make it very
>cheap for another network to pick up.
>Uncharted territory. Nothing like this has ever happened.

These days the studios don't make that much money on any series.
The money has always been in the syndication after the series is
over. Add to this (in the past few years) the sale of DVDs and
that's the real money.

Personally, Paramount/Viacom is really doing a number on Trek with
the outrageous pricing of the various Trek DVDs. For example, the
Fox Whedon series' (Buffy, Angel & Firefly) are all available for
under $40 per year. Anything Trek, on the other hand, is in the
$80-120 range.

And I'll take the Marx Bros movies on DVD anytime! Those are
usually under $30 and well worth it.

Last I heard, Paramount/Viacom still owned a goodly chunk of UPN
so I'm not sure ENT can easily move to another network. Or if
another network would even want it.

[Montblack]

("Mutts" wrote)
> I heard on Paul Harvey the other day they are getting closer to a cloaking
> device.
> Something to do with the way atoms reflect light. Or sumthin


Will it be plug-n-play like the one Kirk and Spock stole from the Romulans?


Montblack
Best all-time Star Trek Scene (IMHO)
"The Most Toys"
http://www.twiztv.com/scripts/nextgeneration/season3/tng-322.txt

O'BRIEN - I'm reading a weapon in transit with Commander Data. It seems to
have discharged, sir.

RIKER (curious) - Mister O'Brien says the weapon was in a state of
discharge...

DATA - Perhaps something happened during transport, Commander.

[Jose]

> My i500 (samsung) phone opens with a flip of the thumb,
> It just takes a bit of practice.

The original communicators needed no practice to flip. A kid we sponsor
in the islands gave me a toy cell phone which needs no practice at all
to flip. The real cells are ... designed... er.. "differently".

Jose
--
Math is a game. The object of the game is to figure out the rules.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[Jose]

> anyone know where I can get the original "squeak" that Trek
> uses for the communicator? I think it was the same on TOS as on
> TNG.

Sound effects like that are usually added in later. Best way to get it
is to copy the sound from a CD of one of the shows. I doubt anybody
knows at this point how the original was generated, but even so, the
resulting original sound may have been modified aftwerwards anyway.

That's how it's done in pictures.

Jose
--
Math is a game. The object of the game is to figure out the rules.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[Roger]

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 17:47:06 -0600, "Montblack"
> wrote:

>("Robert M. Gary")
>>I thought that show was canceled 10 years ago.
>
>
>Which one?
>
>http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/Search
>
>Much like Law & Order, star Trek keeps spawning new series.
>
>Star Trek ....................................(1967-1969)

TOS was canceled after the first season, but due to the effort of fans
it was brought back. There should be a short gap after the first
season.

>Cartoon ......................................(1973-1974)
>Star Trek Next Generation .......(1987-1994)
>Star Trek Deep Space Nine ....(1993-1998)
>Star Trek Voyager ....................(1995-1999)
>Enterprise ..................................(2001-May 2005)
>
>"Enterprise" needs to figure out how to get the Vulcan into the shower more.
>
>Come up with something good or die on the vine. $3M won't help.

I liked it.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

>
>
>Montblack
>

[Roger]

On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 17:24:31 GMT, Jose >
wrote:

>> Trek communicators from TOS. Taken a look at the flip cell phones?
>
>Yes, and I'm amazed that =none= of them flip like the commuicators did.
> They are (to a unit) clumsy to open, require two hands to open (or
>prying with fingers) and it is obvious that nobody who designs these
>things has ever =seen= a Star Trek episode (at least from the original

My little Altel can be opened with one hand and a flip. Just start it
with your thumb.

But the thing doesn't give that "Start Trek double beep". They need
to program that in and they'll make a fourtune.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
>series).
>
>Jose

[Montblack]

("Roger" wrote)
>>"Enterprise" needs to figure out how to get the Vulcan into the shower
>>more.
>>
>>Come up with something good or die on the vine. $3M won't help.
>
> I liked it.


My SciFi reading friends like Enterprise, I haven't warmed up to it in the
least. I watched more DS-9 but never really warmed up to that one either.

The original is the original <g>.

NG was very good. And now, guilty pleasure here ...I sort of liked Voyager.


Montblack

[Peter Duniho]

"Jose" > wrote in message
. ..
>> anyone know where I can get the original "squeak" that Trek
>> uses for the communicator? I think it was the same on TOS as on
>> TNG.
>
> Sound effects like that are usually added in later. Best way to get it is
> to copy the sound from a CD of one of the shows.

Someone already did. I found this in ten seconds with Google:
http://www.nexus1.net/ST-SoundEffects/e012.wav

It's got some background noise, and isn't the greatest recording. If you
want something better, learn to use Google. There's lots more where that
came from. :)

Pete

[Darrel Toepfer]

Mutts wrote:

>>>Happen it did.
>>
>>Yoda, is that you?
>
> Me it is not.

Then kinfolk you must be...

[Montblack]

("Peter Duniho" wrote)
> http://www.nexus1.net/ST-SoundEffects/e012.wav
>
> It's got some background noise, and isn't the greatest recording. If you
> want something better, learn to use Google. There's lots more where that
> came from. :)

I saw a TV show (a long time ago) where a sound effects person was showing
some secrets of the trade.

A familiar Star Trek sound was a hammer hitting one of those metal shields,
which cover the bottom 7' of a telephone pole anchoring cable. We used to
throw rocks at those wire shrouds to get the same sound.

I think that was the ship's phasers firing. Maybe it was the photon
torpedoes exploding.

Google.


Montblack

[Corky Scott]

On 03 Mar 2005 16:11:43 GMT, Blanche > wrote:

>Trek communicators from TOS. Taken a look at the flip cell phones?

I have an interesting and true story relating to those communicators.

I knew a guy who joined the Air Force to learn to fly. Turns out, he
did not time his joining very well, he did not qualify for flight
training because he was a few weeks too old. So he was stuck for the
duration in a hell only the military could produce.

During the first month of training and indoctorination, which occured
in some very hot and dry area devoid of vegitation, he learned that
the military had it's own way of doing things. For instance, the
military felt that an idle mind was the work of the devil so they'd
have the recruits mow the lawns, simultaneously and in formation.
Only there wasn't any grass, it was all sand, dirt and dust. So here
are these guys all marching with their lawn mowers mowing the sand.
The dust from this excersize, he told me, looked like a dust storm
from the 30's.

I'm getting there, I'm getting there.

Chow was served in tents and when it came time to eat, everyone rushed
double time for the chow tent because it wasn't big enough for
everyone to be seated at once. So if you arrived a few seconds after
the other squads, you stood at parade rest outside the tent in the
blazing sun.

One day my friend arrives for lunch and his squad is late so they are
standing in the sun just melting from the heat. A number of rows up,
this one guy steps out of line and raises his hand to his lips. He
makes an opening motion with his other hand, with full beeping sound
effects and says into his open hand "Kirk to Enterprize, BEAM ME UP"

My friend told me the guy was jumped by the DI's who dragged him off
to the stockade.

Corky Scott

[Morgans]

"Roger" > wrote
>
> TOS was canceled after the first season, but due to the effort of fans
> it was brought back.

TOS?
--
Jim in NC

[Jose]

> TOS?

The Original Series.

Jose
--
Math is a game. The object of the game is to figure out the rules.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[Montblack]

("Morgans" wrote)
> TOS?

The Original Series - Kirk, Spock, Scotty...


Montblack

[Blanche]

hang out on rec.startrek.* and you'll catch on to the abbreviations
real fast:

TOS - The Origial Series, aka Classic Trek
TNG - The Next Generation
DS9 - Deep Space 9, not to be confused with JPL's DS1 or Deep Space 1
satellite
VOY - Voyager
ENT - Enterprise - currently on UPN, now cancelled
TAS - The Animated series. Cartoon spinnoff back in the 70s
B&B - Berman & Braga; Rick Berman & Brannon Braga, the producers.
STx where x is an arabic number that refers to the appropriate film
and the title is irrelevant. For example,
ST4 - The Voyage Home
ST - Star Trek
SW - Star Wars

True Trekkies/Trekkers/whatever know instinctively which film
is being discussed without the trivialities of "titles".

Hey, don't blame me! I never sat thru the last 2 ST films nor the
SW1(4) or SW2(5) in the theatres.

why SW1(4)? Because it was the 4th film made but according to
Lucas, the 1st film in the first trilogy. Not to be confused with
SW4, which was the first film of the middle trilogy which was the
first SW film made back in 1977.

Clear?

sorta like learning to do holds....

(*chortle*)

[Morgans]

"Montblack" > wrote in message
...
> ("Morgans" wrote)
> > TOS?
>
> The Original Series - Kirk, Spock, Scotty...
>
>
> Montblack

I feel so foolish. I will have to turn in my trek insignia.

I went to the publicity tour stop for ST1, in Columbus Oh, back in 76 or 77,
when they had several cast members tour with some clips from the movie that
did not even have all of the special effects edited in, yet. kinda cool,
but I saw then that there were some there in uniforms, and such. Too much
for me.

I was close to that, in one respect. I would always try to schedule classes
so I could be home by 4 PM, to see the daily rerun of TOS. Hmmm.

I do hope they get Enterprise back on. Although there were times that I did
not like the direction of the series, overall, I did enjoy it.
--
Jim in NC