Star Trek Hungry

With the recent release of fan based series Star Trek New Voyages Episode 3 (Aug 2007 - World Enough and Time) we are ready and hungry for more. With the Paramount Feature Film - Star Trek XI not even going to be released until Christmas next year, what else is available or coming soon to satisfy our need for more? Well I'm glad you asked.

Star Trek Fan based first full length feature film, which has been delayed several times, has announced that on December 22nd, 2007, the first part of this mini series (3 x 3o min. parts) will be released. Of Gods and Men feature many of the various Star Trek television shows cast members in a brand new story. Taking place 12 years after the last Original Star Trek movie story line, this tail takes place amongst a wide number of character scenarios including Chekov and Uhura reunited to dedicate a special new ship when they are interrupted by a distress call that sends them on a whole new mission. Sounds familiar?


Act three of the fan based Star Trek Exeter's 2nd episode has been released still leaving us in a cliff hanging moment until the final tag/credit segment is released.

The third Fan film based Star Trek New Voyages emagazine volume has been released. This glossy high class adobe pdf file is really quite gorgeous and professional looking and I enjoy reading it from cover to cover.

More fan based Star Trek news to come soon...

Chicken Enchilada

For some reason our whole family loves these, maybe because they are so rich. This recipe is not the easiest but certainly one of the tastiest.

3 tablespoons Butter
1 cup Chopped Onions
1/4 can (1 oz of 4 oz can) green chilies, chopped
1 Clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 Cups Cubed cooked chicken (I frequently use the Oven Fried Chicken leftovers)
2 teaspoons Flour
1 1/2 Cups of Chicken Broth
1 Cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
12 x 6inch Corn Tortillas

Saute onions, chilies and garlic in 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir in chicken cubes; set aside. Over low heat, combine flour and remaining butter, stir in Chicken broth and 1/2 cup of cheese. Stirring constantly, continue cooking until sauce begins to thicken and boil. IMPORT TRICK: Keep sause hot while doing next step!

Dip each tortilla into hot sauce to soften; fill with 2 heaping tablespoons chicken mixture, roll up. Arrange in about 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish. Combine remaining sauce with leftover filling; pour over rolls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake in 350^o oven for 30 minutes or until heated through.

I serve chicken enchiladas with Spanish rice, beans and a salad.

Star Trek New Voyages - World Enough and Time

Just released and having just watch it I am very impressed with the latest episode of the continuing adventures of the Original Star Trek Fan based series "Star Trek New Voyages" called "World Enough and Time". It successfully features a couple of the original series' actors, George Takei as Hikaru Sulu and Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand as well as Majel Roddenberry reprising her Enterprise Computer Voice role.

This time the story line, acting and filming is the best of all of the Star Trek New Voyages series so far. Despite a few unrealistic button pushing frenzies by the actors and a few scenes that dragged just a tad too long, I was emotinally drawn in as I had never been before by other any fan based video. This group keeps getting better and better in each of their releases. I hope this level of quality and entertainment can be keep up for the next 2 part installment previewed at the end of this episode.

The only drawback I had was taking several hours to fully load the best quality video onto my system, which I know will improve as it is released more widely onto additional mirror download sites. I highly recommend this and applaud the many actors, crew and tradespersons who gave their time freely to this quality production and look forward to the additional bloopers, trailers and any other releases to round out this episode for me to cut a DVD to add to my growing collection.

So Much Free Time - So Much Star Trek

I never meant this blog to be a critical review on fan based Star Trek films but there are getting to be so many appearing on the Web. The favorite is still Star Trek New Voyages, based on the highest number of downloads, but not necessarily the best. Not to say that Star Trek Farragut is better with it's fat Klingons, weak dialog and horrid original music.
Star Trek Farragut takes place in the same universe and time as the original Star Trek series and, in fact, exchanges sets and props with the Star Trek New Voyage crew. This crew is unique and, so far, all human based. But the true star of the this show is the outstanding graphics and effects.

Potpourri

It's tough keeping up a job, family and a blog. Priorities, priorities, priorities. Also what is interesting to attract readers attention? If you haven't hooked them by the first line, then it is most likely never to be read or acknowledged. Oh well, if you look at my track history this is life. But pressing on....

More Star Trek!
There seems to be a proliferation of fan based Star Trek amateur films being created for free distribution on the web. It has to be free or else the mother company (Paramount/CBS) will come down on them. Actually it is amazing that that has not already happened since intellectual rights are being trampled all over, but there is a fine line between franchised property and creative expression of a concept. All this gobbledygook aside, the quality and quantity is increasing. There's still a lot of junk but there is an amazing amount of passionate time being applied to the recreation of Roddenberry's Trek Universe.

Star Trek Intrepid
This Scottish born rendition follows an different crew and ship of a 'Next Generation/Voyager' timeline. The ship and crew are assigned un-welcomely to protect a new colony. It's very strange for me to hear aliens sounding a bit like Sean Connery but the production quality is very good with very high quality acting for the most part.

Star Trek Exeter
This Texas based production is based in the Original Star Trek time-line with another Constellation based ship on patrol on the outer reaches of known Federation space. The acting is a bit over the edge and mimics the style and feeling of the characters from the 60's based series. Interestingly this production used green screens for their first episode but has since built extensive sets as well as using an interesting set of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and miniature based special effects.

Of Gods and Men
This mini-series is still in post-production but includes several of the Original Star Trek Cast and Guests. Associated with the very popular Star Trek New Voyages. (See Star Trek Series Lives) This much anticipated film was at one time being offered to CBS for their sale/distribution but now has been decided to be released as a free web based film.

Several other sites have popped up with various quality episodes such as Tales of the 7th Fleet, Star Trek Hidden Frontier and an interesting CGI animated Star Trek Aurora series.

As always, the weakest link in all of these films is the script. It is easy to forgive the acting, uneasy editing and presentation if the story is engaging. I do see that home video, editing and CGI effects are getting nothing but better as equipment and software becomes available and affordable.