What is On Jeffs' Mind

I will be doing a series of 3 posts on my favorite ships from different Sci-Fi Movies and TV Shows. This first one will be ships that are not from either Star Trek or Star Wars. Then I will have posts, one for Star Trek and One for Star Wars.

One of the reasons why I like Sci-Fi so much, is for the Ships. There is something about them that really grab me, so I was thinking, why not talk about some of my favorites.

Original Series Cylon Raider

This ship has always been a favorite, since the first time I saw it as a kid. I really like that it has some what of a saucer shape, but looks so menacing. It looks fast, it looks tough, it looks mean. When I think about this ship, I think about all the stock clips from the old Battlestar Galactica series, where the Cylon Raiders would cruise onto the screen in packs. I saw it over and over, but never tire of those clips. They are iconic to me.

When I was a kid, a friend down the road from me, had a toy Cylon Raider, and I would remember going over and always gravitating to that toy. The Cylons in side were pretty small, and it shot little missiles, but I thought it was real cool. I am not really sure why I never asked for one from my parents, it might have been there were other Star Wars toys that I wanted more. But I had a lot of good times playing with my friends Raider.

When the updated Battlestar Galactica came out, I was interested to see what the new Cylon Raider would look like, and to be honest, I really did not like it, and still dont. I get the idea that in the new series that the Cylon and Ship are one, but I guess the design of it really did not grab me. They did come out with some larger Cylon ships that were bombers, that were more reminiscent of the original, but they never got a lot of screen time.

Jupiter 2

A pretty plain looking ship from all accounts, but I find something charming about it. From the 60′s show Lost in Space, each week the Robinson on the Jupiter 2 would travel to some new strange world and have a new and usually cheesy adventure.

I think what I like about this ship, is it simplicity, as it really is just a saucer, almost like what one would imagine of a flying saucer from that era. It spun when it flew, landing and take off. It had a big front wind shield so to say, where they could look out to help navigate. But since it’s mission was to take the Robinson’s to different planets as they found a new place for the people of Earth, it was sort of a futuristic Motorhome.  There was two floors to it as we saw on the show, with the upper level for navigation, and the lower level for living.

It did seem for the size for the Ship, that they were able to pack a lot into it, as they had a Land Chariot, a bunch of equipments, and a crew of 7 plus a robot. The sets looked quite large compared to the scale of the ship when we saw it on the outside. I suspect back in the 60′s, they did not put as much thought into the scale like they would now. Also it was Lost in Space, so a very Cheesy show. But still, I really liked this ship, and some day I hope that I can get some sort of model of it.

Blackbird BSG

I have always liked Vipers from Battlestar Galactica, and I actually like all of them from both series. There is something about them that I really find cool, they look so fast, and can deliver a good punch. Some might say they are a bit derivative of the X-Wing as they have some of the same lines to them with a long nose, rear engines, and red striping, but I think they are cool none the less.

I chose the Blackbird out of all the Vipers as the one to put on my list as I found it different from the rest, but still very familiar to the over all design. They don’t really consider it a Viper, but part of me still does. It is cool as it is black, and made for stealth. Built from carbon fiber they use it to go on secret type missions when they want to do surveillance, since it cannot be detected like the standard Viper.

It was named Laura after president Roslyn on BSG, and it is a pretty simple design. There is not a lot to it, and it is pretty sleek. I think part of the reason why I like this ship so much, was that it was in some of my favorite BSG episodes. I always liked more of the space and ship based episodes compared to all the dramatic and arc based episodes. So anytime they got out in the ships and did battles or missions, I really liked the episodes.

Phoenix

Growing up one of the cartoon series I watched a lot was Battle of the Planets. I remember watching it every day after school, and looking forward to it. The show was based off a Japanese anime show called Gatchaman, and re dubbed and edited for North American audiences. It followed 5 young people who protected Earth from an enemy called Spectra. The crew was led by their commander Mark, his second in command was Jason, Tiny piloted the ship, and Princess and Keyop rounded out the crew. Their base was an underwater facility called Center Neptune.

This was a real cool ship in my opinion, it was a pretty basic design, and was blue and red. But what the Phoenix could do made it so special. 4 of the members had their own vehicles which would be located in different parts of the ship. It was always cool, when they would show clips of the Phoenix picking them up. Jason had a race car that would fit into the nose of the ship, Keyop had a buggy of some sort that was in one of the wings, Princess had a cool looking motorcycle that went in the other wing, and Mark had a jet that would be docked in a hangar in the back of the Phoenix. All their vehicles could transform from standard type vehicles to the special vehicles they used to protect Earth. Another thing that made this ship so cool, was that they could transform it into what was called the fiery Phoenix, which was that the ship turned into a flaming bird.

This ship will always hold a soft spot in my heart as it was one of the first models I ever built. I built it in the early 80′s at summer camp. I wish I still had the model, but I don’t as I played with it quite a bit. I suspect that I did not do a very good job, since it was my first model, and I might have been a pre teen at the time, but it always gives me some nice memories of the time. It is a ship that I am hoping that one day I can find a model of, as I would not mind having something in my collection. I look for it off and on on eBay but never really got to anything serious, but it is on my list of ships I would like.

Original Series Basestar

Seems like my list has a lot of Battlestar Galactica ships in it. I guess for me, I really liked the ships in the shows, and they really grabbed me. The Original series had a lot of episodes based on space battles and missions, and like I said, I really like sci-fi shows that focus a lot on ships. The Basestar from the original series I thought had a real cool and different design from the rest of the ships.

Again, like the Cylon Raiders, I really liked these ships, especially when they traveled in numbers, as they looked like a formidable opponent. Basically they look like two disks which tapered down and connected to each other. They had a much different look to them then the Galactica did, since they did not have a real traditional ship look to them. I guess they are a Basestar, so in a sense probably more of a Spacestation then a ship. I guess another argument could be made that they come off a bit similar to the Deathstar, since both are sort of round, and a ship or station that does not have a lot of detailing to it.

All I know, is if I was a fugitive fleet, on the run, that I would not want a pack of these following me, with their squadrons of Raiders that could be deployed to attack. I think some of the coolest Episodes these ships were in was the Living Legend episodes, where the Galactica and the Pegasus take on the Basestar is some cool battle sequences.

 

So that is my list of top 5 Sci-Fi ships that are not in Star Trek or Star Wars. I was going to add honorable mentions, but to be honest, there are probably quite a few ships I could add, so I think I will leave it at this list. Also, I only included shows that I watched a lot of, as I am sure there are plenty more cool shows with cool ship I have not seen. Maybe this list is a bit of a reminder to me that I need to watch some more Sci-Fi . My Followup posts for Star Trek and Star Wars I will add Honorable Mentions.

Tags: Basestar, Battle of the Planets, Battlestar Galactica, Blackbird, BSG, Cylon Raider, Fiery Phoenix, Gatchaman, Jupiter 2, Lost in Space, Phoenix, Viper

I have found over the past few years that I have been losing my interest in all the tech that is coming out. I am not sure if the reason is that I am getting older, or that if all the tech coming out is more mobile in nature. I have been thinking about this a bit, and I think there might be a few reasons for my lack of interest.

Not a Mobile Guy

First off, I have never been a person who has really ever been interested in mobile devices. So I think that is probably a major reason why the shift over the past few years has not grabbed me at all. I have never been a big mobile phone guy. I have had a few over the years, but I have never been a person who felt the need to upgrade when something new came out. I will admit, that over the years, when people had showed me their new phones, some of the feature did amaze me. I think I liked the idea that there were so many different phones out there, all with different features, so a person could have a unique phone that was different then the next. But over the past few years with everyone moving to smart phones, there are just less and less models, and to me they all really do the same thing. I guess when I see someone pull out an iPhone, it does nothing for me, as that person and millions others have the same phone. There is nothing unique about it, even the interface from phone to phone is the same. Even with the Android phones, there are different makes and models, so they are closest to the days when there were so many different phones, but again they are essentially the same phone. The Blackberrys were cool at the time, but it seems like they have lost their magic. The Windows based phones never seem to get off the ground.

A couple of years ago I got caught up with getting a smart phone, so I went out and bought a Palm Pre, as at the time it was the new hot phone to have. I had seen some videos of demos of them, and found myself impressed with them. But after a month or so the magic wore off. It became very apparent that Palm was not going to be a player in the smart phone space, and the disappointment of next to no apps on the phone turned me off.  I still have the phone, it is pretty beat up, and I use it to check email mostly. I just got the option to upgrade the phone, but I just don’t have the interest. I looked at some of the new phones out there, all very nice, and full featured, but I get the nagging feeling if I move to another phone I am going to have the same feelings I have currently for this Palm phone. They all boast video play back on larger sized screens, but for me the reality is either I am not able to capitalize on getting the video, or the experience in not all the rewarding in the end when watching it. Also as I found with my Palm Pre, once you start using the phone and it’s processor, the battery discharges at a really alarming rate.

Truthfully, I am not a person who receives or makes many calls on my phone, so in a sense, I really do not even need the actual phone part of the phone. It can be debated that I do not need the data portion either, as I have a rather small circle of friends and family, which the majority do not use texting or other social media to communicate. So for the most part, I am not using the phone to communicate with people anyways, I am more just following others. I am weighing my options, if I should just let the contract  run out, depending on the penalty, I might just end it early as well. I think deep down, my introverted personality and phones just do not match up. In the new year I will make my decision on that.

Not an i Guy

I have never really been able to get on board with Apple products as there is something about them or the company that I do not get wowed about. This is sort of weird to say, as of right now in my household we have 2 iPod touches, 1 regular iPod, 1 iPad2, 1 iPhone 4S and a Mac Mini. I guess truthfully for me, I own a Mac Mini and a regular 30 GB iPod, the rest of the i devices are my wife’s, and it was not my decision to purchase them. I would not say I have a hate for Apple products, as I own some, but given the option, I will probably by a different product.  I think for me, Apple makes products that many people like, but the complaint is that they cannot be customized or changed, a person has to work in the constructs of what is provided. I guess for me, even though I am stating I losing my love for tech, I like the idea that something can be changed to suit me, or make what I have a bit different from the next persons. Also I have found with my thinking and how I approach things, I have never found Apple products intuitive or easy for me to use.

My Wife got an iPad2 as stated, but I have found myself not all that interested in it. I use it from time to time to play some games, or look at a website when I am not close to the computer, but beyond that it does not hold a lot of interest to me. I know there are a lot of people out there who are making a lot of use of it, like my good friend Rick who creates some awesome music with it. But I guess for me, I am not creative in that area, so I cannot make use of it in that fashion. I have not really looked that far into apps past a few of the popular games that we downloaded for it. I was told there is an update for the iPad2, but even that I have not felt compelled to download, as to date for what we have used the device for, haven’t run across the need. Maybe again, it is my feeling that it is a locked device forcing a user to only one experience that leaves me not that thrilled on it.  I do check out some of the Android tablets from time to time, as truthfully, for a few hundred dollars, I might have need for something that can browse the internet and do a few other things, but so far what is offered is more then I want to spend.

I do like my iPod, but I have had it for years. It does what I want which is play music and podcasts. I have not had any desire to get a new one, and will be with this one until it dies. I have to say I am very impressed with the life span I have gotten out of it. My wife wants to buy me a iPod touch, but truthfully, I am not very interested. What I would really want is another iPod like I have, with more storage space. All the rest on a iPod touch just feels like clutter to me, and really busy. I guess I also view the iPod though as a bit of a money pit, as there are probably a bunch of games a person can buy for it. I don’t buy a lot of music anymore, as most of what I listen to I have on CD and had for years, and podcasts are free. I guess at the end of the day, if an iPod can play music, then that is all I am looking out of it.

Nostalgic Guy

At my core, I am a really nostalgic guy. I spend a lot of time reliving some of my memories and times from when I was younger. I guess it is debatable if that is good or bad, but at the core, that is who I am and not going to change. So I think at times I get more excited about getting things that remind me of things I love like Star Wars or Star Trek, or reminiscent of my younger years.

When I think of tech, I think back to when I first got into it, and it was all about PC’s. I remember the first few computers I had, the fun I had on them playing games or even running programs or writing programs on them. I remember fondly building computers, and upgrading them. I would get excited over a new Video Card, or a Sound Card or even a Hard Drive. I loved going to computer stores with friends and checking out the new hardware, or games. I recall when we first got 3D accelerated video cards, how exciting it was to get them, put them into the computers, and all the great looking games to follow. My friends and I would always be trying to out do each other with our computers, and once someone got a new PC or part, the rest would follow suit. I remember the hours I would sit playing games like X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, IndyCar Racing or Nascar Racing. On the weekends we would have Lan parties, so we were excited with the advent on home networks. It was cool to pack up your computer and gear and head to someones house for an all weekend gaming session. So I sort of regretfully look forward at where computing is going, and might be why I am losing the interest. I think for the foreseeable future, I am always going to have a traditional computer sitting on a desk, as it is a bit of a link to the good memories of days gone past.

The one place I like to try and keep up on is with home entertainment. I think that has to do more with my love of Movies and TV, and wanting to have the best possible setup to watch them in. I am not as heavily into Home Theatres like some, as my stereo is a few years old, but things like TV and Blu-Ray player I am up to date one. I can no longer watch anything that is n Standard Definition and it has to be High Definition for me. When I got the Star Wars Blu-Rays I felt like I was in heaven, as they looked so good. It might be that wanting to relive those memories, that I strive to make sure that I can view them the best way I can.

I do a lot of collecting also, and found that I get much more excited over a new collectible then I ever could with a piece of tech today. I recently put a preorder in on an Original Series Battlestar Galactica prop replica Viper helmet. The big thing with this one, is it is based off the series one and it has lights, ooooohhhhhh. That is funny, as truthfully lights on a Helmet is really nothing to get excited about when compared to what can be done on a phone in your hand. But I guess for me, it just excites me more, as it reminds me as a youth watching Battlestar Galactica and how cool I thought their helmets are. I guess at my core that is the feeling I am going for. I have even found myself drawn to watching shows on TV like Pawn Stars or the Pickers shows, where people are digging up old stuff. I can see the appeal people have to the past, and even though I don’t collect antiques, some of the things these show dig up are really cool.

Its all good

Sort of a long post, but felt like I wanted to get my thoughts down on this. I find it a bit surprising that I have gotten to this point. I remember when I was younger I seemed to have such a good handle on tech, but now I am older and sort of reacting to it like the older generation would. I struggle on things like setting up my GPS unit, as I seem to only use it at it’s most basic functions. My wife will ask for help setting up her iPhone, and I am at a loss on it. I guess part of my interest has fallen more into building websites and the such, and not so much on all the gadgets that are out there now.

All the respect to the folks out there that have a handle on all this new tech, I am thinking I am going to need your help in a few years

Tags: Battlestar Galactica, iPad 2, iPhone, Palm Pre, PC's, Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Wars Complete Saga Blu Ray, Tech

For the last few night, I have been having some rather vivid dreams. Most of them involve people yelling. A few nights back I was awoken, because the dream was so intense, and revolved around me arguing with someo0ne else, and involving a lot of yelling on both my part and the others. That one left me so disturbed, that I really could not get back to sleep after.

Last night I had another dream, I woke up right after it, and figured I would right it down, what I remembered so I could reflect on it after. I decided I would do it in point form, as that was easier for me to capture the details of the dream.

• - I was on a bus going to NAIT (That is the school I took my computer course at)
• - The bus was on schedule and coming to the stop, but then the driver changes the route, as the driver did not want to wait to make a left hand turn, so will take a long way around and get back to my stop.
• - I am not that concerned as they change schedule from time to time and will get to my stop. It looks now the bus is slowed down by traffic, and will be late. People start getting angry at the bus driver for changing the route and making them late.
• - The bus driver apologies for making the change. Was trying to do what they felt best, but it turned out not to be the best choice. The bus driver then cries and tell everyone they are doing the best they can, they had just had a heart transplant, so trying to deal with that.  (I cannot really tell if the bus driver is a man or a woman, sometimes it appears one, then it is another, the last part they are in my dream, they appear as a woman, though I think it started as a man)
• - I am now worried about being late for class. I am not sure what the teacher will say about me being late, and if it is alright to come into class late or not. The dream gives me the sense that it is a math class that I am going to.
• - I realize I have no idea where my class is. I have a room written down, but I am not sure if that was just for the first day, or if that is every day. I am looking through my notes and books to try and find what classroom it is in. I think that it is in the third building and I am in the second building at the time.
• - I stop in the lounge and sitting beside a group of film students working on an assignment for their class. I am still trying to find what classroom I should be in.
• - The students are watching some Special Effects clips and rating them
• - They are watching a clip of old Battlestar  Galactica. They are laughing at it and giving it a bad rating.
• - After holding back my thoughts, I finally tell them that it is over 30 years old and a TV show, so to keep that in mind.
• - They don’t see my point on that, but are somewhat friendly, we are in some sort of friendly debate.
• - One student does not want to give it as bad of a rating, so they change their rating from a 4 to a 5
• - As I leave, I tell them by today’s standards it looks bad, but that it is over 30 years old so to keep that in mind. I tell them I agree can do better today on our own computers.
• - I leave, they call to me, and then wave a long stick at me (not sure if it is chiding me or in acknowledgment) . The stick looks like some sort of electronics, possibly a very long remote control.
• - Going to registrar to find the room my class in. I had look through my notes I have going through all the papers in my bag, can only find the one room that I wrote down at the start, but not sure if that meant for just the first day or every day. I also look through some sort of schedule, which also seems to indicate the room I have written down. But for some reason I am not certain that is the room, and scared to walk there in case it is not.
• - Realize I don’t have a badge, so thinking I will not be able to get my course details from the registrar without proper identification.
• - I am debating on just missing the class and sending the teacher an email to send me the homework for the course.
• - I walk over to the third building, I have to go across a pedway to the next street. I am on the second floor and the class would be on the third. I look out the windows and notice NAIT is in some downtown core, with lots of tall building around it. It looks some what futuristic, but also with some old building as well. Very sci-fi looking.
• - I realize I have nothing written down for the course. No notes or anything. And I have no memory of the class either. Just a room number I think it would be in. I find it strange that I would have no memory of it, even though I have been to class before.

I wake up

This dream was a bit different then the last few, it had some angry people in it, but mostly at the beginning of the dream, and then it was over. But there was still frustration on my part in that I was not sure where the class was. Looking at it now, I thought I could not recall where my classroom was. But all information pointed to the one I had written down and what was in the schedule. But for some reason I was not sure and frightened to go check without someone confirming for me. Maybe that is some message about doubting myself, which is something I do quite often.

Since I started back to work in the office, I take the bus daily. So that all felt familiar to me. Due to all the bad weather lately, sometimes the bus is late, and it does not bother me all that much.

Tao tao is taking an accounting course at NAIT for the next few months. I am not sure why I had a dream where I was taking a course at NAIT, and that it was math. That might explain why I did not remember anything about the course. But the dream felt like I was taking a bunch of courses, but the first one for the day was math, and I am not good at math, so strange I would even be taking a math course.

Last weekend my friend Rick and I did a podcast on Battlestar Galactica, so I am guessing that is where that part of the dream came from. The Original series and Galactica 1980 had some campy moments in them, so possibly when I was coming up with my notes and arguments, the idea of the time it was made in was one of my notes. A lot of people tease both of the old Galactica’s for how they look today, and I always felt they should be looked in the context of when they came out. The discussion with the films students was not angry or anything, just something you might have with younger people in regards to the looks of old shows.

Going through my notes seems familiar to me. I often have the problem of having a lot of papers on my desk and in my house that I don’t want to throw away as I feel it might have information I need later. Usually the documents that are really important I can never find within all the clutter of unimportant paper. Maybe the dream is telling me I need to throw away a lot of the useless paper I have around me.

I was thinking about the dates and numbers in my dream, what they might have meant. I arrived in building 2 on the second floor, the class was on the third floor in building 3. The rating the film students gave the Battlestar Galactica clip was 4 and then they changed it to five. Is it as simple as the days of the month. So does building 2 (2nd Floor) mean Feb 2, and then building 3 (3rd Floor) mean Feb 3. Rating of 4 does that mean Feb 4 and then changing to 5 mean that we are now at Feb 5th. That is really the only thing I can think of.

I think that the main message from my dream was all about doubting myself. I had the classroom information right in front of me, but I was not sure. I was to the point where I was scared to even go and check the classroom to see if it was the right one or not. Maybe I am giving myself a message, not to let my doubts hold me back from doing things. I need to go off the information I have and not to second guess it. Interesting dream, maybe in the fact that I remembered it so well. Usually with dreams I might remember them for a short time, but then forget them, sometimes even before the end of the dream. In the future I will try and document them more. I am not sure if there is a lot of analyzing that can be done after the fact, and if you get a lot out of the analysis. But might be a fun exercise to try regardless. So I have this one documented so I might do some searching on dream analysis, and see if I might be able to find some more clues in the dream I had.

Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Dream, Rick Moyer, Tao tao

This week I am guess hosting the Treks in Sci-Fi podcast with my friend Rick. When I visited Rick in the summer, we had talked about doing a guest host gig on Treks in Sci-Fi, and this week we got our chance to do that. We had talked about a few different subjects, but Galactica 1980 was at the top of both of our lists. We both have a fondness for the original Battlestar Galactica series, and Galactica 1980 was not a series that was covered in any depth on Treks in Sci-Fi. Rick approached Rico, the show host about the idea, and he allowed us to do it.

Galactica 1980 was never a series that was held in much regard. A lot of the episodes were very campy and cheesy, and most felt that the over all quality of the series was very low. I am not going to disagree that it could have been done much better, but there was some cool stories and ideas that came out of it. I think another reason that turned people off of the show, was that the majority of the cast did not return. I remember as a kid being disappointed that Apollo and Starbuck were not on the show, and that the settings were not sci-fi enough for me, and just plain pedestrian. The series only lasted 10 episodes, and then it was gone into history. Looking back at the series, it makes me remember just how old I am, as to think that it came out 31 years ago almost to the day. Wow, I am feeling very old.

We joked on the podcast, that we are sort of into B grade Sci-Fi, which made both of us chuckle. Last year I did a podcast on the Time Tunnel, another cheesy sci-fi show from another era. I also did a podcast on Earth 2, which some considered B grade as well. So I am thinking that the listeners of Treks in Sci-Fi are associating me with B grade stuff, I am sure every time they hear my name, they are going to be wondering what I am going to come out with next . It was a lot of fun to guest host with Rick, we had a great time reminiscing about the show. I was surprised how much information I found on the show, so it gave us plenty to talk about, to the point that Rick had to cut a lot out. Sometimes when you start a project you worry if you will have enough content, but usually by the end, you have more then enough.

Guest hosting was a lot of fun, and looking forward to getting the chance to do it again in the future. Check out the podcast at Treks in Sci-Fi, it should be up sometime Sunday.

Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Earth 2, Galactica 1980, Rick Moyer, Rico, The Time Tunnel, Treks in Sci-Fi