Thursday Thirteen

At one point I had promised to do a comparison a la Thursday Thirteen with Star Trek. Instead of Star Trek's merits versus another series. In the spirit of community accord to list reasons why Star Trek and Star Wars are great(and why) as opposed to the 'why one is better than another'. This way I can reasonably mollify the Star Wars and Star Trek fans without injuring the other's ego... unless you happen to be fans of both. So, without much fanfare I present 13 reasons Star Wars and Star Trek are awesome:

1) The Force: 'May the Force be with you' became a pop culture phrase of good feelings in the late 70's and early 80's but now it is more philosophical as The Force has become more universal (though I disagree with midicholirans... before The Force could be present in any of us. This made Force-users more specialized).

2) Phasers: Such a cool name for a weapon, plus generally far more destructive than the common 'laser' and 'plasma' weapons.

3) Lightsabers: No explanation necessary. If you were a kid in the late 70's and early 80's you wanted a lightsaber... admit it. I still want one, but I am, as I always admit, a super-nerd.

4) 'No, Luke. I... am your father.' The greatest line in movie history, one that even shocked the ones saying it. (In rehearsal, the line had to do with Obi-Wan killing Anakin).

5) Transporters: This is an easy one. Who wouldn't want to be teleported instantly anywhere on the planet, or a planet.

6) Warp Drive/Hyperspace: Again with the technology, but trans-light speed is a necessary component (if it is possible) to colonizing the galaxy.

7) Yoda and his abuse of the English Language: Awesome this is, I tell you.

8) Droids, or Androids if you will: I prefer R2 and C3PO over Data, but pick your poison, I suppose, though Data is more of a Deus Ex Machina than the droids.

9) The Fett-Man: 'nuff said :)

10) The Boys in White (Stormtroopers): Makes any ground battle easier. Of course, their training must have gotten worse later (or the genetic material got worse). One day, killing Jedi with ease. Next day, losing to Ewoks... go figure.

11) Khaaaan!!!: One of the great Shatnerisms ever. A bit over acted, Wrath of Khan is still my favorite Trek film.

12) Borg: An enemy to fear and sometimes respect. Added a sense of woe and terror to an otherwise placid Trek universe :)

13) Massed Starship Battles and Dogfights: Especially as a kid, this was amazingly cool, even if you can't hear the sounds in space.

Well, I could probably add 13 more, but in the interest of civility, I will forgo such a thing :)

C.