Jacob makes scientific progress

Today's breakfast was very exciting. Just Jacob and I were present. He ate some Quaker oatmeal from an envelop that Grandmama left behind. Breakfast wasn't exciting because I watched him eat dry oatmeal from an envelop (as you may have surmised). I did cook the oatmeal for him. It wasn't exciting because we shared the meal--I didn't make anything for myself and Jacob didn't even pretend to offer me any of his oatmeal.

What made it exciting was the conversation or, more precisely, Jacob's monologue. During past meals, if Jacob thought something was too hot we would tell him to drink some milk to cool it off. This morning, Jacob had a bite of oatmeal that made him say, "Too ho'." He reached for his milk and said, "Dri' mi'k coo' off."

I was stunned. I was floored. I was overjoyed. Not only has he learned a valuable skill (dealing with hot food on his own) but he is starting to grasp scientific principles. I am not sure if Jacob has discovered the principle of cause and effect but he is certainly applying it to his breakfast cereal. What more could a father ask for?

Well, I would still like some sort of Star Trek universal translator. I can't always interpret what he is trying to tell me. The statement Angie and I really can't figure out is "Beem uhh." Sometimes he says it repeatedly and vociferously and we just can't parse it. Maybe he is quoting Kirk, "Beam me up, there's no intelligent life down here." I refuse to believe this interpretation is true. I just hope he never gets his hands on a communicator.

Star Trek Review and Reflection

I saw the new Star Trek movie twice. The first time I was really impressed with the fun and fast pace. The second time I started to notice a couple of things about the movie, now that I wasn't constantly being wowed by J. J. Abrams' masterful direction. He can certainly keep a movie moving.

If you have to pick who was the main character in the movie, the obvious two to choose from are Kirk and Spock. The movie was written by nerdy fan boys, thus Spock is clearly the main character. Consider the evidence: (1) Even though the movie starts with the birth of Kirk (in a brilliantly orchestrated sequence) more time is devoted to Spock's back story. (2) Kirk is legendary for his womanizing, but who really sees the most romantic action in the movie? Spock wins this one hands down. (3) Who is the only character from the "original continuity"? Again, it's Spock (or Spock Prime according to the credits).

I listened to a podcast with the screenwriters (hear it here) which was both enlightening and frustrating. Enlightening was the discussion of what Nero was doing for the 25 years from killing Kirk's dad to going after Spock (Klingons showed up en masse and took him to a prison planet; later his crew frees him and thus Uhura hears about the Klingon fleet being wiped out); why use a Rimbaldi device from Alias (to curry favor with J. J. Abrams); and other fun tidbits. Frustrating was their discussion of why Nero didn't try to save Romulus from the supernova. They had some excuse about how he didn't want to meet his wife as a young woman and he had to wait around for Spock to show up and then it would be too late to save the planet. They seemed to think he only went back 25 years. Of course, the Romulans arrive 25 years earlier than Spock Prime did, but Spock Prime also traveled into the past. If Spock Prime was 125, it seems as though he arrived when his younger self was in his twenties or early thirties. If so, that would leave about 100 years before Romulus's destruction and plenty of time to use the Rimbaldi red matter to turn the supernova star into a black hole, per Spock Prime's original plan.

So I really liked the film, but the more I think about it, the less I enjoy it. Oh well, there are plenty of other blockbusters coming.

Star Trek Trailer 3

Trailer #3 has come out for Star Trek, the new re-imagining/re-booting/re-tooling/re-etc. of the beloved franchise. When I first heard about the project directed by J. J. Abrams, I was cautiously excited. Alias and Lost are great TV shows, but Mission Impossible 3 was pretty mediocre and I heard that Cloverfield (which he only produced) wasn't really enjoyable until the story stopped trying to make the characters sympathetic or interesting and just got on with the monster. So it seems like he's better at doing action then developing characters when he's limited to a 2 hour movie production rather than 22 hours of a TV season.

The other trailers for Star Trek didn't give me any hope that this movie would be any different. They looked slicked-up and sexed-up with no hint of a story, plot or real interest in exploring the characters. As if they re-imagined it without using any imagination, just digital effects and crazy camera work. George Lucas has convinced me that great special effects do not make a great movie. So my expectations started plummeting faster than the stock market.

This new trailer is completely different. Sure, it still looks extra-slick but they've shown some story. Kirk has something to prove, a past to overcome. There's a bad guy who seems to be after Kirk for revenge. Sure, there's some sort of ice planet involved (or is it just Antarctica?) and they seem to have better technology than when they were on their five year mission, but at least I have some hope now. I just don't want to develop too much hope, because nothing kills a movie going experience more than high expectations that aren't met (not even close). Thanks again, George Lucas.

Hey, I thought of another reason not to be worried about the new Star Trek movie. George Lucas isn't involved!