A Fond Farewell to the Canadian Crippler

Stardate 06-26-2007

Captains Log:

If there was a sport that captured the essence of Science Fiction, I would have to say that that sport was Pro Wrestling. My earliest memory of wrestling is sitting on a blue couch with Ian and my Dad, watching Andre the Giant fight Hulk Hogan. I'm glad that my dad let me watch wrestling and I plan to pass on this torch to my children.

Pro Wrestling lost a legend this week and though I haven't followed wrestling in a while, I was sad to see him gone. Chris Benoit aka The Canadian Crippler hung himself after he murdered his wife and seven year old son. Steroids were found on the scene and though autopsy results won't be available for weeks, many are pointing their fingers to "Roid Rage."

Though these events are extremely tragic, I would like to focus on the Chris that I remember. In my opinion, the high light of The Crippler's career was being asked by Ric Flair and Arn Andersen to join the 4 Horsemen.

Just before the computer melt down of Y2K, me, Juddy, Nate, Clay, and Christopher went to WCW at the ECenter. We were privileged to see such athletes as Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Mr. Perfect, Ric Flair, Mean Gean Okerlund, Chris Jerico, Ray Mysterio Jr., Rick Stiener, Bam Bam Bigalo, and Goldberg. We were also graced with the presence of The Crippler. He was featured in a tag-team cage match against the NWO. The Rumbler captured the magic with his camera. Enjoy.


The Crippler getting ready for some serious cage action.

The Crippler laid a serious suplex on his opponent, leaving him immobilized. This opened the door for Chris to climb to the top of the cage.

I remember seeing him at least 20' up in the air and wondering what he was going to do next.

The next thing I knew, he was flying. The Crippler sprawled out completely and as he landed flat on his belly, his head landed right in the mid-section of his opponent. The final crushing blow was enough...

For Victory.

Follow this LINK to see pictures of Pro Wrestlers who have died. Its crazy to see how many have died from heart attacks (steroids) or cocaine or other drug OD.

After looking at the link, Mr. Rumble and I would like you to do the following:
1) Share any memory or story that you have of the greats who have fallen
2) Create your own list of 5-10 Pro Wrestlers that you believe will die from steroids or other drug OD

KVP: First Mission

Stardate 06-15-2007

I've checked things out over at Fanlib.com and its actually pretty cool. The idea of the site is that fans of all types of sci fi and fantasy can write their own short stories and have others read them and comment on them. It appears that they often do writing contests and have prizes for the winnners.

The first mission for KVP got kicked off this last Wed. The directors have given 4 story lines for fans to contemplate, discuss and vote for. (If you want to participate in this then you must sign up by the 16th. I have already done so and will include a link below so that you can go and sign up if you want.) The favorite will be used as the premise for the story. HERE is the link to watch the four videos. I've also copied and pasted the stories below so that fans of The Ministry of Truth can read and discuss them here if the so desire.

From Fanlib.com-
I'm your Mission Director, Andre Bormanis, and to kick things off, I've outlined four potential directions for exploring the "Kirk versus Picard" argument.

Please discuss and debate each one here in the forum, and then vote for your favorite. Whichever direction you choose, I'll guide you with weekly "Missions" and helpful suggestions. Working together, we'll create the ultimate "Kirk vs. Picard" adventure.

1) THE RETURN OF KHAN
Enterprise-D returns from a three-month, long-range recon mission beyond our galaxy and makes a shocking discovery: the Federation has been all but obliterated.

Picard learns that a renegade human colony, established nearly a century ago by James T. Kirk on Ceti-Alpha V, waged a surprise attack against Earth, and won. Picard quickly realizes the time-line has somehow been altered. The notorious Khan was not killed in an epic battle with Kirk fifteen years after he was exiled on that remote planet...

Picard orders Enterprise-D to go back in time to confront both Kirk and Khan in a desperate gambit to restore the time-line -- and the future of the Federation.

2) HISTORY LESSON
James T. Kirk is on a top-secret historical mission to present-day Earth. Someone from the future is trying to alter Earth's past, and Kirk has been ordered to find and stop him. But Kirk isn't the only agent visiting our era from the future: Jean-Luc Picard is also here, and his mission is to track down Kirk!

A game of cat-and-mouse ensues as Picard befriends Kirk and gains his confidence, all the while concealing his identity as a fellow starship Captain from the future. Picard has been told by Starfleet Command that Kirk is going to tamper with history by preventing one of the defining events of the 21st century. Picard has orders to stop Kirk, even if it means killing him.

3) PRISONER OF TIME
Enterprise-D discovers an escape pod floating in the void. Sensors show one human lifesign, in cryonic suspension. They beam the pod aboard and discover the occupant is James T. Kirk.

Picard orders Crusher to revive him. Kirk is amazed to find himself alive, so many years into the future -- he didn't expect there to be a future! That means there's still time... Kirk warns of an impending threat to the galaxy. But his behavior is paranoid, almost delusional. Crusher warns Picard that brain damage is often a consequence of long-term hibernation, but Kirk insists that he's completely sane, and unless Picard takes him deep into the heart of Romulan territory on what may well be a suicide mission, the entire galaxy - and every living being in it -- will be destroyed.

When Picard refuses to cross the neutral zone, Kirk steals into the Battle Bridge, separates from the saucer section, and heads into Romulan territory. Picard has no choice but to pursue...

4) THE GUARDIAN OF FOREVER
The Guardian of Forever is malfunctioning -- or possibly going insane. Time-quakes are erupting from it, throwing an entire sector of space into chaos. Kirk is ordered to investigate, but the Enterprise becomes trapped in a temporal eddy.

A tractor beam from another Federation ship pulls Enterprise to safety. Kirk is shocked to discover that the other ship is Enterprise-D! From the perspective of Kirk and his crew, only a few hours have passed since they entered the Guardian's system, but the temporal eddy has thrown them nearly a century into the future.

The time-quakes are becoming more violent, and could eventually spread throughout the galaxy. Kirk wants to destroy the Guardian immediately, but Picard argues that would be immoral - the Guardian is a unique, sentient being.

As the two Captains clash, the surprising source of the Guardian's malfunction is discovered... but is it too late to save this mysterious gateway to the past?

OK--Which one do you like the most? My favorite is the Khan story line. I sort of had a similar idea so I have voted for this one out of sheer pride. I love the idea of Khan getting tangled up with Kirk and Picard. This would make for quite the triangle.

Star Trek: Kirk vs. Picard

Stardate 06-08-2007

From Sci Fi Wire- A News Service of the Sci Fi Channel

Fans Invited To Write Trek Story. Click HERE to see an introductory video with Wesley Crusher and Sulu.

Star Trek actors George Takei and Wil Wheaton and writer Andre Bormanis have teamed up with FanLib.com and CBS Interactive for Kirk vs. Picard, an event in which fans will be invited to write pieces of a new online Trek narrative.

The event, which kicks off June 13, marks the first time that CBS has ever allowed the use of Star Trek characters for an official online fan-writing event, organizers said.

The storyline will require that Capt. James T. Kirk be pitted somehow against Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.

Takei (Sulu) and Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) will act as online "hosts" for the endeavor. Bormanis will moderate and help fans navigate the site.

Writers of winning scenes and several other winners will be featured prominently online during the event and will win prizes, including a trip to Las Vegas with a VIP tour of Star Trek: The Experience, Apple MacBook computers, an Apple iPhone and Star Trek merchandise and memorabilia.

Readers of the Ministry of Truth--How awesome is this? This sounds like so much fun to me. We have some talented writers and some creative minds in the family. We should get together and come up with a story to submit. Basically how it works is that they will have an online forum where people can discuss ideas and issues. Then the moderators will give direction and a basic story outline to those who want to participate. Each week a new scene gets written for the virtual experience and fans get to vote on which one they think is the best.

Lets get started with some basics. Kirk or Picard? Who would win in a fist fight? a mind battle? a space battle? who has the better crew? who gets more ladies? which one do you like more and why?

Why would they fight against each other? how and where would they meet up in time?

Any and all ideas are welcome. I'll even allow females to post, even though their ideas probably wont be worth much.

Heroes Finale

Stardate 06-03-2007

For me, the first 22 episodes of Heroes was like this kid getting his Nintendo 64, and then the finale was like getting the remote control car. The video says it all. A special thanks to Kyle for first posting the video on his blog. I've watched it about 5 times already.

Here is a list of things that would have made the finale better.

1. Mr. Bennet should have killed that annoying little girl, Molly. I realize that's brutal to kill a little kid, but she is so dang annoying, and we wouldn't have had to put up with crap like this, "You're my hero officer Parkman." "Please don't die officer Parkman. You're my hero." Killing a little girl would have given that darkness back to Mr. Bennet that made him such a great and creepy character for the first half of the season. Also, they keep saying that she is the only one who can stop Sylar. This makes no sense. The Haitian and Eden were both able to put Sylar down earlier in the season. Molly is expendable and would have made for good collateral damage in the finale.

2. The finale wasted some serious time with the story line of Ando and Parkman going after Sylar on their own. Why would either of them think that they could kill Sylar on their own when both of them have seen what he can do. These events were not even important to the lack luster ending.

3. Instead of the time they wasted with Ando and Parkman, they should have focused on Hiro and his back story. In one of the online comics, we find out that Hiro is short for Hiroshima. He was named Hiroshima because his grandfather died in the nuclear blast. They should have tied this idea to the bomb going off in NYC and Hiro's desire to stop it.

4. The showdown at Kirby Plaza between Peter and the rest of the Heroes against Sylar was totally boring. We have a whole group of people with super powers and all they did was punch each other? I've given it some thought and this is how things should have gone down. The first thing we see is Peter, staring at Sylar in the plaza from afar. Peter goes invisible and starts running towards Sylar. Though Sylar can't see him, he can hear him and with the quickest of reactions he uses his telekinesis to cut down a light post and sends it hurdling at Peter. But Peter is one step ahead of Sylar. He knows what his thoughts are because he can hear them, so right before the pole hits him, he becomes uninvisible and flies straight up into the air and then straight down and plows him into the cement. After they both get up, Peter and Sylar commence to sling different items from around the plaza at each other. It is clear that Sylar is more powerful or at least has more control over the telekinesis and Peter is wearing down. Its at this moment that Sylar lifts up the water from the fountain at the middle of the plaza and sends it flying at Peter. At the last second, Sylar freezes the water and huge icicles impale Peter's body, the largest of which goes right through his head. Sylar belts out a scream of excitement and rage. Excitement because he has killed Peter and rage because he has damaged Peter's brain. He knows that he will be unable to collect Peter's brain and steal his powers.

Right away, Sylar knows that this emotional breakdown is a mistake. He has left himself temporarily vulnerable right at the wrong moment. He looks up and sees Hiro appear out of thin air. Hiro runs at Sylar and starts slashing his samurai sword at him. Right before the blade is about to slice of his head he stops it with his telekinesis. He pushes Hiro back and faces him and realizes that he can stop the force of the sword with his mind. With one hand behind his back, Sylar signals with his other hand for Hiro to attack him once again. Again, Hiro runs at Sylar and a battle begins; Hiro using his sword, Sylar using his hand and mind (think Luke and Vader in a light saber duel mixed with the moment in the Matrix when Neo discovers that he is the One and he fights Agent Smith with one hand behind his back). After a while, Hiro steps things up a notch and begins to teleport. One second he's in front of Syler, the next he's behind him. Everytime he reappears, he slashes at Sylar. If not for his ability to hear everything, Sylar would surly die. Eventually Hiro wears him down and appears directly behind Sylar in a crouching position and Sylar isn't quick enough to stop Hiro from slashing both of his Achilles heels. Hiro slashes, and we see blood splatter everywhere and hear the flesh cut. Sylar drops to his knees. Hiro teleports so that he is standing right in front of Sylar, looking him directly in the eye, and plunges the sword right into his gut. Hiro withdraws his sword and Sylar topples over.

Hiro sees Peter lying on the ground dead and runs over to help him. By now however, the icicles that impaled Peter's body have melted and his brain and other parts of his body have regenerated. He sits up right in time to see Sylar grab Hiro with his mind and send him flying at the wall. Peter sees Hiro teleport at the last moment. Syler struggles but gets to his knees. Peter sees his hands light up like a torch and realizes that Sylar is going to set off the bomb. At the last possible moment, Peter decides to sacrifice himself and flys away with Sylar in hand. The rest of the Heroes look up into the sky and see the nuclear explosion go off.

These things would have made for a very interesting and exciting finale. I think the biggest problem was that people who watched the show, including myself, really like Sylar as the bad guy, and I think that they felt that they should try to keep him around for a little longer. I don't think it was worth it to have the finale end like it did, with Sylar getting away.

There were one thing that I really liked about the finale and it will be interesting to see if it really means anything. The last thing we see as we pan out of Kirby Plaza is a trail of blood leading to an open sewer hole. If you look closely, you can see a cockroach climbing down into the hole. This is only cool when you think back to the first time we meet Mohinder while he is teaching a class back in India. Speaking of evolution, he says this, "We are not the pinnacle of so called evolution. That honor belongs to the lowly cockroach. Capable of living for months without food, remaining alive headless for weeks at a time. Resistant to radiation. If God has indeed created himself in his own image, then I submit to you that God is a cockroach."

What did you think about the finale? What do you want to see in Volume 2? Are you at all worried that Heroes will go down hill from here? How would you have made the fight between the Heroes and Sylar better?