The Walking Contradiction explains his screen name and hopes to meet you all

[DeterminedJuliet]

Welcome!

I need to alert my husband as to the star trek debate. I'm sure he'd love to contribute. 

[Buddy]

Welcome! Nice intro, 203% better than mine.

[Tank]

Welcome! Nice intro, 203% better than mine.

208% actually 

[OldGit]

Welcome, TWC!  I'll shorten you to TWC because WC alone might give an unsalubrious impression.

[Buddy]

Welcome! Nice intro, 203% better than mine.

208% actually 

I actually don't have anything snarky to say about that.

[Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism]

Hello and welcome! What can you contribute? Well I speak somewhat decent Spanish and I heard Italian is very similar so... teach us Italian!!!

[Tank]

Welcome! Nice intro, 203% better than mine.

208% actually 

I actually don't have anything snarky to say about that.

Wow!!!!!

[Sandra Craft]

Another Star Trek fan, good stuff!  By the way, are we Trekkies or Trekkers?  I always get that confused.  I've been addicted to ST since I saw the first episode in 1966 -- I was eleven then and already deep into sci fi.

I would also liked to have seen Guinan in a bigger part, and love the idea of her being the ship's Counselor.  To me, Troi never seemed like more than pretty stage setting.  As for her two best friends, it struck me as sad that a ship like Enterprise apparently didn't have a sauna in it, or did I miss the Troi/sauna scenes?

I agree with what Tank wrote about Voyager, except I would keep Kathryn Janeway (it's a woman thing).  As for fraternizing allowed among the crew, I get first dibs on Tuvok.  If time-warping cross-overs are allowed, I get first dibs on Tuvok and T'Pol -- I'm a bisexual with a Vulcan fetish, sue me.

Really should say something about atheism here, but I can't think of anything.  And on a Sunday, too.

[Buddy]

I remember watching Voyager with my brother. We would always crack jokes about how Tuvok sounded like Tupac.

[Amicale]

The Walking Contradiction, welcome!

Awesome intro, very glad to meet you! I'm somewhat of a Star Trek fan, but not nearly as much of one as most of the folks here, it seems. The other neat thing I saw mentioned in your first post is that you're an ESL teacher. I am too, but instead of a classroom I work from home and teach folks in several different countries. It's SO awesome speaking with them, and really, really rewarding. Like you, I love using humour and being silly whenever it's possible - it really DOES help them reduce their stress/anxiety levels. I'm teaching mostly adults and a few kids right now, and wearing funny hats, scarves, and silly shirts etc go a long way towards making the kids giggle. The adults too, occasionally. In our field, we can't take ourselves too seriously. 

[Yodas_Apprentice]

I have to echo Tank's criticism of Voyager, but personally the only characters I find really appealing in the whole series are Tom Paris and the Doctor (though since I've become a hardcore Whovian, Voyager's Doctor is just kinda white bread).  I liked Kes, but she left too early.  Chakotay, imo, was a failed attempt to add depth, Tuvok was just plain bland, Harry was uninteresting, B'Elanna had only 2 (maybe 3) stories that kept getting recycled, Seven was just eye candy (not to mention an inferior parallel to Data's quest for humanity), and Neelix may be the single most annoying/useless Trek main in the history of the franchise.  Janeway, while I didn't mind her too much, is simply a lesser Picard.

As for the Picard/Guinan dynamic, I don't think they'd ever get married.  Picard consistently classifies their relationship as being "beyond friendship, beyond family," which I take to also connote an absence of any kind of physical or sexual desire.  Picard also tends to favour ladies who are more adventurous (Vash, even Anij from Insurrection), which Guinan's soft-spoken personality and general mellowness seems to exclude her from being.

Next Gen will likely always be my fav, but DS9 is definitely by far the most critically interesting of the series (though I thoroughly enjoy the grittiness of Enterprise as well).


Oh yes, and welcome to the forum, TWC! 

[Tank]

I wonder if this thread comes under "Don't post controversial topics" rule.

[TheWalkingContradiction]

Hi, Tank.  Maybe I can compromise and keep everything in one post but also provide all the quotes...?  

Me, I like the Ferengi, but that shouldn't surprise too many people here... Cardassians too, which is equally unsurprising, really.

I love these two races because they are so different from other humanoids in their core beliefs, motivation, and deception.  As much as I love Voyager, its aliens races are not nearly as interesting as those explored in Deep Space Nine.  Alien races of even induviduals (humans or aliens) with unusual make-up and motivations make for interesting shows.  This is particularly true of the five Treks where, in my opinion, only one episode in four is really good.

I also adored the first two seasons of Andromeda because of its interesting alien races and premise.  Unfortunately, I only liked a few of the episodes in seasons three and four, and I hated almost everything about season five.  Still, there was one reason to watch everything, even season five: Seamus Harper is just plain hilarious.  One of the best characters in any science fiction series...  EVER!  I also like the way the very strong women (Bekka, Rommie, and post-metamorphosis Trance) were usually written.  I could have done without Kevin Sorbo, though.

Welcome!

I need to alert my husband as to the star trek debate. I'm sure he'd love to contribute.  

The more Trekkers, the merrier!  

Welcome! Nice intro, 203% better than mine.

208% actually  

Wow, I'm flattered!  

Welcome, TWC!  I'll shorten you to TWC because WC alone might give an unsalubrious impression.

While it is true that I do not wish to be called toilet, I don't mind being compared to W.C. Fields.  I heard that he left money to build an orphanage--with the provision that children in it were never to be taught religion.  I don't know if that is true, but if it is then he is my hero.

Hello and welcome! What can you contribute? Well I speak somewhat decent Spanish and I heard Italian is very similar so... teach us Italian!!!

I am always amused when my Spanish, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese students understand each other even though each is using his or her native language.  This only works in basic language, though, as more advanced vocabulary and grammar can differ sharply.

I am not a native Italian speaker, but I can hold my own with people who do not speak English and make time to read and listen to videos in Italian.

Not sure if you are talking about real lessons, beginning with basic vocabulary and grammar, or if you just want some useful words and phrases.  

In my opinion, the most useful phrase is Dov'è il gabinetto? (Where's the bathroom?).  The accent in Dov'è goes on the second syllable (do VAY) since the word is a contaction of "where" (dove) and "is" (è)--similar to "doesn't" (does not) or "won't" (will not) in English.  Unlike English, the contraction is mandatory.  If you put the accent on the first syllable (DO vay), you say the sentence without a verb ("Where bathroom?").  Gabinetto means cabinet, as in water closet or WC.  The "tt" is voiced and should be pronounced midway between an English T and D.

Some useful Italian words for atheists:

atheist (noun or adjective) = ateo
atheists = atei
agnostic (noun or adjective) = agnostico.   (Note: Italian gn is pronouced like Spanish ñ.)
heathen = pagano
secular humanism = umanesimo secolare

I am not sure about the difference between secolare and laico for "secular" as an adjective.  They may be interchangeable.

Another Star Trek fan, good stuff!  By the way, are we Trekkies or Trekkers?  I always get that confused.  I've been addicted to ST since I saw the first episode in 1966 -- I was eleven then and already deep into sci fi.

I would also liked to have seen Guinan in a bigger part, and love the idea of her being the ship's Counselor.  To me, Troi never seemed like more than pretty stage setting.  As for her two best friends, it struck me as sad that a ship like Enterprise apparently didn't have a sauna in it, or did I miss the Troi/sauna scenes?

I agree with what Tank wrote about Voyager, except I would keep Kathryn Janeway (it's a woman thing).  As for fraternizing allowed among the crew, I get first dibs on Tuvok.  If time-warping cross-overs are allowed, I get first dibs on Tuvok and T'Pol -- I'm a bisexual with a Vulcan fetish, sue me.

Really should say something about atheism here, but I can't think of anything.  And on a Sunday, too.

As I understand it, the original term was Trekkie, but that is now a put-down.  Trekker is more, um, PC.

I was barely out of diapers when I first saw Star Trek seated on my father's knee.

Nothing wrong with a Vulcan fetish.  I have a Romulan fetish, and I suppose that just means Vulcans with emotions...  Then there is my Andorian fetish...  You know that in fan literature you need four Andorians for sex, right?  

I remember watching Voyager with my brother. We would always crack jokes about how Tuvok sounded like Tupac.

I like that!

The Walking Contradiction, welcome!

Awesome intro, very glad to meet you! I'm somewhat of a Star Trek fan, but not nearly as much of one as most of the folks here, it seems. The other neat thing I saw mentioned in your first post is that you're an ESL teacher. I am too, but instead of a classroom I work from home and teach folks in several different countries. It's SO awesome speaking with them, and really, really rewarding. Like you, I love using humour and being silly whenever it's possible - it really DOES help them reduce their stress/anxiety levels. I'm teaching mostly adults and a few kids right now, and wearing funny hats, scarves, and silly shirts etc go a long way towards making the kids giggle. The adults too, occasionally. In our field, we can't take ourselves too seriously.  

A teacher is a teacher is a teacher.  It isn't the location that makes a teacher a teacher.  You sound really cool, and I am sure your students have a wonderful time learning from you.

I have to echo Tank's criticism of Voyager, but personally the only characters I find really appealing in the whole series are Tom Paris and the Doctor (though since I've become a hardcore Whovian, Voyager's Doctor is just kinda white bread).  I liked Kes, but she left too early.  Chakotay, imo, was a failed attempt to add depth, Tuvok was just plain bland, Harry was uninteresting, B'Elanna had only 2 (maybe 3) stories that kept getting recycled, Seven was just eye candy (not to mention an inferior parallel to Data's quest for humanity), and Neelix may be the single most annoying/useless Trek main in the history of the franchise.  Janeway, while I didn't mind her too much, is simply a lesser Picard.

As for the Picard/Guinan dynamic, I don't think they'd ever get married.  Picard consistently classifies their relationship as being "beyond friendship, beyond family," which I take to also connote an absence of any kind of physical or sexual desire.  Picard also tends to favour ladies who are more adventurous (Vash, even Anij from Insurrection), which Guinan's soft-spoken personality and general mellowness seems to exclude her from being.

Next Gen will likely always be my fav, but DS9 is definitely by far the most critically interesting of the series (though I thoroughly enjoy the grittiness of Enterprise as well).


Oh yes, and welcome to the forum, TWC!  

I agree that Tom Paris and the Doctor were two of the more interesting characters in Voyager.  While I did like Seven and Janeway very much and must disagree with you there, I agree with your assessment of how poor some of the other characters were.  I wanted to like Tuvok, Harry, and B'Elanna, but could not.  Chakotay and Neelix...  Double ick!  

One great addition to Voyager towards the end of its run, however, was one of my favorite characters, Icheb.  He was everything Wesley should have been but wasn't--and aside from a couple of embarrassing scenes Icheb had none of Wesley's annoying qualities and did not put the ship in danger every other week.  And then there is that delicious episode with Icheb and Q, Jr.--oh, the slash potential!

Hmmm...  I did say that Picard and Guinan should marry, but I said nothing of sex.  "Beyond friendship, beyond family" can also be beyond sex.  In my opinion, theirs can be an intensely loving asexual pairing.

I wonder if this thread comes under "Don't post controversial topics" rule.

Hope not!!!  

[Tank]

TWC please do separate posts so others don't have to dig out bits from your posts. 

Thanks

[TheWalkingContradiction]

TWC please do separate posts so others don't have to dig out bits from your posts. 

Thanks

Will do from now on.  No problem.

Almost forgot...  Here is the love of my life.  Her name is Roscoe.