A three-day weekend was very much needed.  As always, I did less — much less — than I planned and had an extremely lazy weekend.  That’s not to say it was boring; On the contrary, I had more happen in the past several days than I have had happen in the past several months.  Starting last Wednesday through Saturday, I learned of a pending jail sentence, a pending divorce, two pregnancies, and a severe motorcycle accident — all involving family or close family friends. If there is one thing family is good for, it is keeping things interesting!

The new Star Trek is directed by JJ Abrams and reboots the series back to the beginning by creating an alternative timeline.  I read a preview of the movie over on /Film that described the premise and had extremely low expectations of the movie.  JJ Abrams is widely praised by a small group of passionate fans but I am much less impressed with his work.  The only work that ever grabbed me was Lost but I’ve never seen a show become as much of a chore to watch.  I happily gave up on that show a couple seasons ago.  Needless to say, I was not optimistic that JJ Abrams time-traveling tendencies were going to do anything but kill off the last remaining Star Trek nostalgia.

I am not what one would consider a Trekkie.   The original Star Trek series was enjoyable enough but it never really caught me like it did many others — it was a bit before my time, I guess.  I never paid much attention to any of the later series but when I did happen to catch the odd show, it ranged from “all right” to “who watches this stuff?”.

As far as the movies though, I thoroughly enjoyed II – The Wrath of Khan, IV – The Voyage Home, and VI – The Undiscovered Country, the three of the so-called “even-numbered” Star Trek movies with the original cast; the rule of thumb being that the even-numbered movies were the good ones.   The last of the “good” Star Trek movies, VIII – Insurrection, didn’t impress as much but that’s possibly because I never found The Next Generation cast as compelling as The Original Series cast.

I typically find time-travel movies/books instantly worthless as there will inevitable be too many plot-holes to tie the story together (see Lost above).  However, on very rare occasions, a movie/book can overcome that and succeed.  The Back To The Future movies have been the only exceptions I ever held to my “time-travel stories suck” — the exception that proves the rule — until Star Trek.

Not to say Star Trek didn’t have massive plot holes that weren’t glaringly obvious.  It just succeeded with a very entertaining story, a great foundation for future adventures, and a superb cast based on the original series characters.   Simon Pegg as Scotty?!   Yes, please!

Space… the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.

The premise of Star Trek — man’s voyages to discover space — is simple, open-ended, and a great foundation for some truly great entertainment.   I highly recommend the new movie, plot holes and all, and am looking forward to the future sequels.   Star Trek is now relevant again.

I’m always shocked when I hear someone say “I don’t want a credit card” or “I try not to use my credit card” so that they don’t spend too much.  I’m the exact opposite: If a store takes credit cards, I use my credit card, no matter the price.  Cash is obsolete as far as I’m concerned.

Today, there is an article on CNN about a group urging a stop to all use of credit cards.  This is like taking matches from an arsonist and saying he’s cured.  The problem is not the matches, it’s the psychotic lunatic setting fire everywhere.  Similarly, credit cards are not the problem but the complete inability of people managing their personal finances.

A responsibly used credit card is a great thing: it’s essentially a month long interest free loan every time you use it.  Not to mention the cash back and other rewards many credit cards offer.

Is there any nation loved less than Mexico these days?  Somalia has its pirates and North Korea has its belligerence but I don’t think any other nation can claim quite as many haters as Mexico.   Between the escalating war between police and drug dealers and the outbreak of H1N1 (the disease formally known as swine flu), they have not gotten much good press in 2009.  It’s pretty bad when even China, purveyor of hazardous exports, doesn’t want your exports.  Mexico had already been taking a beating from America for years over immigration and I can’t imagine the latest troubles are going to do anything to help its cause.

Christina allowed me to take her out for dinner & a movie last night — by which we all know to mean that she demanded it.  :-)  Regardless, after dinner we went to see Taken.  I thoroughly enjoyed the movie — it was pretty much a straight-up action movie and pure entertainment.  It had its moments that stretched credibility along the lines of a James Bond movie.  Actually, if I had to summarize the movie, it would be just that: A James Bond movie stripped of all non-action scenes.  The weakest part of the movie is the first 15 minutes which just setup the movie for the nonstop action that was to follow.  But once Liam Neeson’s daughter is “taken”, the movie hits its stride and is a very enjoyable flick all around.