REMEMBER ME (2 of 3): Mission Log Explores Star Trek Philosophy Under the Roddenberry Name

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In Part Two of our three part series, Remember Me, TrekMovie takes another look back at Star Trek nostalgia. The Mission Log podcast, which you can now find on TrekMovie.com, has taken on the immense challenge of picking apart Star Trek one episode at a time. What does this perspective teach us about Trek’s past, present, and future? What makes Trek good, how do different incarnations of Trek appeal to different kinds of fans, and how might a look at Trek’s past help us figure out what’s coming next? Hit the jump for Part Two.

Proving the importance of toys for brand awareness, John Champion’s earliest memories of Star Trek are playing with the Mego action figures when he was 5.

trekmego

That combination of the toys and the cartoon was what got him hooked.

“I just remember that Star Trek was always on or catching glimpses of the cartoon here or there,” said Champion. “I also remember things like the little records that came with the comic book. Just that image of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in bright colors on the bridge was indelible.”

Trek would become an important part of his life – notably when he auditioned for the role of Wesley Crusher in New York in 1986. Nowadays his involvement with the franchise is primarily as co-host of the popular Star Trek podcast Mission Log, a weekly podcast which is reviewing every episode and movie from “The Cage” to “These Are the Voyages …

mission_log_screencap_1

Among all the websites that explore Trek nostalgia, Mission Log is notable as the only one carrying the Roddenberry name. Its executive producer is Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr., who captured attention in 2011 with his documentary Trek Nation, which explores the franchise from the unique perspective of The Great Bird’s son.

Champion met Eugene Rodenberry through his day job as a videographer – producing extras for DVDs/Blue Rays and a 40th anniversary special in 2006. Champion’s co-host on the show, Ken Ray, is a long-time podcaster most famous as the voice of the Apple-related podcast Mac OS Ken.

All the galaxy’s a stage
The show’s main focus is exploring how the Trek philosophy evolved over time.

“For a lot of fans, what they love and appreciate is the vision for the future and the philosophy that it espouses about mankind,” Champion said. “By going in order, we’re learning along with the audience, putting ourselves in their shoes. We’re building a stage for what the Star Trek philosophy really is.”

mission_log_screen_cap2

This allows them to ask a variety of questions, such as:

  • When did the glimmers of that philosophy start to show up?
  • How did it get shaped over time?
  • What did it end up with at the end of an episode, a season, a series?
  • Do we start to see a thread, a line, of what they were trying to say over all?

In terms of capturing the Trek philosophy, one of Champion’s favorites is the “Corbomite Maneuver,” because the conflict with Balok forces the Enterprise crew to live up to their ideals.

“It shows the crew facing fear with a sense of wonder,” Champion said. “Balok is a monster who wants to kill them, but when he’s hurt, they face their fear and beam over, and just try to help him because that’s what they do. They’re there to help, to learn, to explore, even though it might be dangerous. It’s more important to them to live up to that ideal, look at something that’s not like them and decide what to do.”

He listed other episodes that are fan favorites for a reason, such as “City on the Edge of Forever,” which is a great romance, great science fiction, a great what if, great character study –to see Kirk Spock and McCoy as ego, super-ego, and id – but “it’s not necessarily great Star Trek.”

“I still love it. I still get choked up at the end,” he said.

New fans and new civilizations
If a young person or new fan asked Champion where to start with the franchise, his response would depend on what drew them in. If it was the excitement of the JJ Abrams movies and the charm of the characters, Champion says just start at the beginning.

“Shows tend to not start out at their best – but Star Trek did,” he said. “The first season strikes a nice balance between action, humor, and just ‘knock out’ stuff.”

knockout

If a new fan is turned on by the idea of the philosophy, Champion recommends somewhere in the middle of TNG – “where they got good.”

(Sidenote: My recommendation would be “Booby Trap.” It’s the most TNG episode there is – a great introduction to Geordi, Picard, O’Brien, and the holodeck. The central theme is that technology can never replace human instinct. AND some of the best music of the franchise. Vintage.)


Let’s see what’s out there … again?

Mission Log has been underway since August 2012. Those of you who are good at math will have calculated that, by doing only an episode a week, the podcast’s mission will be a little more than five years: Champion estimates they’ll finish their run in 2026. But before that happens, Champion would “put money on there being a new series.”

The question of what such a show would look like is one we’ve speculated here at length. And, of course, like any good Trek fan, Champion has his own ideas.

“It would not focus entirely on spaceship and battle. There seems to be a lot of fans who think Star Trek needs to be about war and conflict,” he said. “At its best, it’s about people. It’s about characters you can get behind. It is about exploring the ways that we live up to our ideals.”

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And sometimes, not all looking at the camera at the same time

The key to good Trek is situational conflict, not armed conflict.

“Regardless of whether it’s live action or animated – and it could be very effective animated – whether it’s serialized or anthology, whether it’s OS era or TNG era or something entirely different … I think that what we have to do is make a case for the characters and for who we are as human beings,” Champion concluded. “That’s what’s special about Star Trek.”

What are some of the best examples of Trek nostalgia you know? Tell us and share links in the comments below.

 


 

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Believe it or not, sometimes I view Trek as a form of Zen. It’s a way to meditate on the nature of reality and the surreal, as well as the metaphysical.

Someone once jokingly postulated that Trek could become a religion in a thousand years; I think it was the show, “Futurama.” But Trek cannot become a religion unless you define “religion” as guided spirituality. There are no dogmas per se, other than universal ideals that have roots in many faiths. There are no high priests or priestesses — no Trek creator would ever dream of claiming anything close to that position. There is canon, yes, but by the definition of the word, “canon” is common in fields from Shakespeare to “Law and Order.”

Trek is more about the search for truth, the search for the best of humanity, and a contemplation of how we as a species have evolved, are evolving, and should evolve, in the broadest prescriptive sense.

More than mere spirituality, and more than a religion, it is a companion that suggests that there is more out there than we see, and that we are on a journey — an important, vital journey — that we share with the past, the present, and the future.

Gene’s Philosophy for Star Trek is kind of like what the Prime Directive was for… well, Star Trek. It’s a good idea that should be explored from a lot of different view points, but when taken to it’s absolute form as a basis for a what you do, it can create all kinds of havoc. Take for example what Champion himself said regarding where a new fan should start in TNG when it comes to Gene’s philosophy. “somewhere in the middle”. Kind of funny when you consider that the first few seasons of TNG was when Gene Roddenberry himself had absolute control over the series, so his philosophy was all on display and it was crystal clear. Humanity as it is today represents some of the worst things to have ever existed in the galaxy that even common folks are looked upon as irredeemable boneheads that it’s a wonder we ever made it to the 23rd century.

And the highlights don’t stop there. We have Picard mocking 20th century military uniform by calling it a costume, we have the whole “We’ve grown out of our infancy” speech where a society that uses currency is looked down on, and Data who wants to destroy everything that makes him special so he can become human. I doubt very much that Gene practiced his Star Trek philosophy when it came to how much money he was getting from all the merchandise and royalties to material he didn’t even create.

If I had to pin-point my biggest problem with Gene’s philosophy is the simple premise that it’s solely based around humanity. For a franchise that’s set in a universe with a huge variety of alien life and different societies, having all this “humanity is so great and special” that it makes our characters come off like they have a god complex. I’ll never forget that one episode where Picard takes a sarcastic line from Hamlet and says he believes in it for real.

“What a piece of work is man. How noble in reason. How infinite in faculty. In form, in moving, how express and admirable. In action, how like an angel. In apprehension, how like a god.”

Yeah, but what about Worf Picard? Or Troi? Would you honestly say that out loud to their faces? Would you tell Troi that it’s her human side that makes her special and unique? This is the kind of conviction I find sickening because it gives our characters (and the audience) license to look down on anything and anyone that isn’t human.

“If it’s not about humanity, what’s the point?”
– Gene

Here’s a fun little fan series that blends nostalgia with melodrama and humor (filmed here in NYC):

Keeping Up with the Cardassians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziYFnhDc09k&list=LLqIhmkJVDHlmmVtBItRMfUg&index=4

A lot of good larfs and Trekkie/er inside jokes in this series.

1. Hat Rick – June 29, 2014

Trek definitely promotes a world-view and a good one at that. And I think we have GR “the Great Bird of the Galaxy” to thank for that more than anyone else. Sure, it was all a group effort, but I get the definite impression that it was GR’s stubbornness about keeping the philosophy of Trek intact that pushed it forward through all obstacles that were put up, even if at times GR was too rigid about it (as he apparently was during the first two Seasons of TNG).

P.S. Can anybody tell me where GR’s nickname comes from and what it means??? I have been wondering about this for years.

Cygnus –

Bob Justman gave him that nickname. It doesn’t have any meaning, as far as I know.

The question of what such a show would look like is one we’ve speculated here at length. And, of course, like any good Trek fan, Champion has his own ideas.

“It would not focus entirely on spaceship and battle. There seems to be a lot of fans who think Star Trek needs to be about war and conflict,” he said. “At its best, it’s about people. It’s about characters you can get behind. It is about exploring the ways that we live up to our ideals.”

…but, as the article mentions above, there are many,( and I’m not one of them) who think Trek will be best served with spaceship battles and gritty war. The bottom line is that, due to there being so much diversity under one “Star Trek” umbrella, what makes Star Trek good to some make it bad to others. it’s all subjective to which incarnation of Trek you like.

Nostalgia is a natural and common response to aging.

But it can be dangerous.

5. Brian Drew – June 29, 2014

Thanks! You pointed me in the right direction and I found what appears to be the definitive answer according to Herb Solow:

In TOS The Man Trap, about 23 min into the episode, Yeoman Rand brings Sulu some food. As he’s sitting down to eat it, Sulu thanks her thus, “May the Great Bird of the Galaxy bless your planet.”

Apparently “the Great Bird of the Galaxy” was supposed to be a stand-in for a generic deity or something analogous in 23rd Century Federation colloquial phrasing. It was a throwaway line, Justman took to calling big daddy Gene “the Great Bird of the Galaxy” after that line.

Later on, in Trek novels and whatnot, “the Great Bird of the Galaxy” was given its own backstory and its significance as a blessing was expounded upon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Justman
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Great_Bird_of_the_Galaxy

P.S. In case you’re not aware of it already, I’m getting fritzy behavior here at the site. The columns and fields on the right-hand side are messed up and the text in this box is 3X as large as normal and in bold. Pass along to Matt Wright if he doesn’t know.

I always thought that GR’s depiction of the economics within ST was a bit unrealistic. Thank goodness for the introduction of the Ferengi and gold-pressed latinum.

9. dswynne – June 29, 2014

I agree.

Interesting and thoughtful comments here, everyone. Thank you for them.

Here are a few more thoughts for your consideration.

Star Trek works on many levels, by which I mean it works as philosophy, as storytelling, as entertainment, and so on. There is also a sense in which each of the series was a product of its times. I’m sure that to many longtime Trek fans, the comparison between the Romulans and the Klingons to the erstwhile Cold War adversaries of the United States comes to mind when they first appeared onscreen. What is interesting is that, of course, in this sense, the United Federation of Planets was something of an extended version of the United States-led United Nations. TOS played it relatively safe by participating in the political atmosphere of its age. More explicitly, there was even an episode in which the “Yangs” and the “Comms” were exhorted to hew to the meaning of what essentially was a version of the U.S. Constitution; by Kirk’s lights, both sides were equally protected by the purportedly alien, but actually eerily American-like, fundamental laws that had somehow failed on the alien planet because they were observed more in the breach than in the observance. (“The Omega Glory.”)

There are numerous allusions and even direct references to the United States in contemporary or near-historical times. The episode with Gary Seven is a good example; another one is “Tomorrow is Yesterday,” in which the Enterprise must make chronologically correct decisions regarding a U.S. Air Force pilot it accidentally kidnaps. Of course, the justifiably acclaimed “City on the Edge of Forever” is rooted in the Great Depression-era United States.

Thus it can be seen that TOS is deliberately connected to the United States and, by extension, its geopolitical role from the 1930’s through the 1960’s.

Ideologically, there is much to be said that the original Star Trek’s politics was fundamentally compatible with the zeitgeist of its production era.

However, it can also be argued that Star Trek was careful not to be limited by conventional wisdom. Although I’ve stated that TOS was respectful of the U.S. role in the international order, it also made strict demands of the what the U.S., through its leadership in the UN and the wider world, proclaimed as was ideal for all mankind. In other words, to the extent that TOS worked hand-in-hand with comfortable ideas of the role of the U.S. and the West regarding civilization and progress, it expected the audience to require that those ideals be made real. Particularly toward the latter days of TOS’s original run, it became clear that the series had begun to push strongly for the realization of the highest ideals the U.S. claimed for itself. It advocated for equality of all races and backgrounds; it explored what it meant to project equality and other ideals, including freedom, into the future.

I would argue that Gene Roddenberry’s so-called “politically correct” formulation of TNG was simply a further extension of the trajectory we saw in TOS. In fact, this was so much so that by the time of TNG, the politically influence, more Americocentric tendencies of some of TOS were increasingly dispensed with in favor of a more universalistic humanism that significantly exceeded anything that might have been considered mainstream during TOS’s original run. If TOS could have been considered centrist in political terms, then TNG was decidedly center-left. This, too, was in some ways a result of the times (even though the 1980’s are considered conservative), and perhaps of what Mr. Roddenberry saw in the wake of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

These things are interesting to consider, even though, of course they constitute only the political level of Trek. We can, if we wish, speculate how Gene would have further evolved politically had he lived longer. I think that as TNG moved toward its close, the overt political parallels between various Trek productions and their contemporary times become more difficult to parse. There is, I think, a relationship between politics and political philosophy that resonates with those of us who think of Trek as reflective of a coherent strain of thought regarding the human condition.

#8. Cygnus-X1 – June 29, 2014

FWIW, I’ve noticed that too.

Seems cleared up now.

You can always point and click on the triangle of dots in the bottom righthand corner of the box to adjust the text entry box within the column to assist clarity.

11. Hat Rick – June 29, 2014

I think an argument can be made that there’s also a definitive “Christian” influence in the Trek world-view, especially post-TOS — “Christian” in the strictest sense of the word, i.e. derivative of the ideals of the philosopher, Jesus of Nazareth.

In TNG, DS9 and VOY, the protagonists are ever willing to sacrifice their own lives rather than “interfere” in the cultural development of a pre-warp species. In VOY they took it so far that Janeway was constantly risking the lives and well-being of her crew just to avoid inconveniencing some species. The unadulterated, “natural development” of strangers was always more important than the lives of Janeway’s crew, which to me made her a bad captain.

They tried to do some of it as well in STID, with Spock willing to sacrifice himself in the volcano rather than have the Enterprise be seen by the primitive inhabitants, though it made no sense in terms of the plot (if he wanted to adhere to the Prime Directive, Spock should never have gone to that planet to begin with).

If you’re introducing a new fan to TNG, have them watch the handful of good episodes from the first season and go from there. And be sure to show them “Hide and Q.” No, it’s not a good episode, but it does have one of the series’ best scenes, because it sums up, through Shakespeare no less, what Trek is all about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8205kJSig4A

@Cygnus-X1, 13,

That’s an interesting observation, Cygnus. I’ve never really considered that particular aspect of Trek in quite that way. There are some examples of self-sacrifice that come to mind, but I wonder if one can say that these are specifically rooted in Christianity rather than a broader concept altruism.

In TNG’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” Picard makes the fateful decision to assist the Enterprise-C so that “history remembers the name, ‘Enterprise’,” but of course the real reason was that he wanted to prevent the occurrence of the timeline in which there was a militarized Federation that was at war with the Klingons. Was this a Christian sacrifice? I’m musing here, since the Federation does include hundreds of worlds, including the Earth. Was it altruism? Was it simply not a military commander’s prerogative or simply duty?

I think a case can also be made that the Prime Directive resonates with some aspects of Hinduism, with the idea of noninterference in other living things. There are some religious sects in which one is held to refrain from hurting even a fly — for example, one should breath carefully lest one inadvertently inhale and kill a flying insect.

Aspects of the Vulcan religion are quite reminiscent of the ascetic or monastic character of several worldwide religious traditions.

Further as to this, there is the oft-repeated example of Kirk’s mentioning that a certain alien people were worshipping not the “Sun,” but the “Son of God.” Setting aside the strange coincidence of homophony in words of two unrelated languages (English and the alien language), for most audiences of the time, this would indubitably harken to the idea of Christianity. Alternatively, however, one can note that technically, the term “son of God” or its close equivalent, “son of Heaven,” was a title that emperors and other rulers historically claimed for themselves.

I think you’ve opened up an interesting vista for consideration.

If you’re looking for philosphy, take a course in philosophy or read some books.

The “philosophy” in Trek really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny once you realize that the various shows and movies often contradict each other in terms of message and theme. TOS and DS9, along with most of the TOS movies (excluding TMP) held the belief that while humans had become more civilized over the centuries, they were still fallible, made controversial/risky/morally ambigous choices which often had consequences that in some cases, led to conflict. Those shows also acknowledged, quite accurately, that not everyone wanted to live by the ideals of the Federation.

TNG, its films, and VOY tended to preach utopianism and correction of societies through diplomacy which tended to come off as ham-fisted, arrogant, hypocritical, and black-and-white in terms of “we’re the perfect guys, and you’re the flawed society we’re going to fix whether you like it or not” mentality at times.

I also think that a lot of fans tend to elevate Star Trek into something supposedly “holy”, “spiritual” and “moralistic”, when in fact, it is merely a piece of entertainment (albiet one that allows for ideas and concepts to be explored, which is not the same as philosophizing) designed to make the studio money.

The problem is, Gene Roddenberry fell too much in love with his own creation later in life, which led to Trek bordering on becoming a full-on social lecture flying in the face of TOS, and of which DS9 would later tear down.

Fans tend to regard Trek the same way that Roddenberry did during his later years, and this has proven to be a problem in allowing Trek to become more mainstream, and less of a “nerd culture”. The BR movies have done the opposite by going back to the TOS (and DS9) theme of human society being evolved, but also still exhibiting flaws and imperfections. And this is why that, on one hand, some fans have become bitter, and on the other, why Trek is finally being taken seriously by the mainstream and international (non-English speaking) audiences.

And I agree with Jeyl as well.

@ 13. Cygnus-X1 – June 30, 2014

“They tried to do some of it as well in STID, with Spock willing to sacrifice himself in the volcano rather than have the Enterprise be seen by the primitive inhabitants, though it made no sense in terms of the plot (if he wanted to adhere to the Prime Directive, Spock should never have gone to that planet to begin with).”
——————————————————————————————–

It was clear the “plan” would not have violated the Prime Directive so it did make sense. He obviously thought existence of the Nibiruens was worth the risk. No one was pointing a gun at Spock’s head.

12. Disinvited – June 29, 2014

#8. Cygnus-X1 – June 29, 2014, FWIW, I’ve noticed that too. Seems cleared up now.

You can always point and click on the triangle of dots in the bottom righthand corner of the box to adjust the text entry box within the column to assist clarity.

The triangle with the dots here just adjusts the size of this box that I’m typing in now. That’s not the issue. The issue is that the size of the TEXT has changed. The size of the text in this box is now out of sync with the size of the text on the rest of the page. And if I make this text smaller (by holding Ctrl and scrolling down on the mouse scroll-wheel) then everything on the entire PAGE gets correspondingly smaller—the already posted comments, the images, the article—all of it. Also, this page is now divided into two sort of halves. The stuff that used to be on the right-hand side next to the article and the comments—“Categories,” podcast, etc…—now begins after this comment box ends, and extends the rest of the length of this page, which is now longer. The right-hand side next to the article and comments is blank, as is the left-hand side underneath this comment box.

Is no one else experiencing this problem? It just started happening yesterday. I rebooted, but no change. And I don’t have any issues with any other website.

Hi, Cygnus,

I don’t have this problem at all. What browser are you using, if I may ask?

@19. Cygnus-X1

“Is no one else experiencing this problem? It just started happening yesterday. I rebooted, but no change. And I don’t have any issues with any other website.”

I noticed that last night & I thought they were updating the servers or something. But the site is normal now, the background colors are a bit off but everything else is ok.

One thing I would suggest is to use a different browser. I have four different browsers on my computer.

By process of elimination, you can determine whether it’s a browser issue or a problem with, for example, your pop-up blocker or antivirus program.

You can also play around with the settings on these programs, resetting them to default mode, for example.

Given the various possibilities, there are a multitude of combinations and so it is difficult to determine unless one tries the most likely reasons.

21. Ahmed – June 30, 2014

Wow, ask and you shall receive.

The problem is gone now. :-)

P.S. Hat Rick, I use Firefox

18. Yanks – June 30, 2014

It was clear the “plan” would not have violated the Prime Directive so it did make sense. He obviously thought existence of the Nibiruens was worth the risk.

The Prime Directive is non-interference with pre-warp societies unless it’s to reverse a previous interference. A Spock adhering to the Prime Directive would never have tried to save the Nibiruens from their natural course of development, which in this case entailed the volcano erupting and killing some or all of them.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Prime_Directive

Thanks, Cygnus-X1, for your answer. I made a further comment that explained why I asked the question. I have various browsers that I can use, including Firefox. I’ve found Chrome to be quite usable.

In case of emergency, I can even use Safari for non-Apple computers (yes, there’s such a thing).

I’m of sufficient computer dotage that I can remember using Netscape and, of course, the native AOL browser. I think CompuServe had a browser as well that I might have used. And, of course, there was good ol’ Prodigy. Now, those were the days! Eh, maybe not.

Thankfully, with TrekMovie, I’ve never had a problem that requires me to switch browsers.

Glad to know the problem has righted itself.

#19. Cygnus-X1 – June 30, 2014

Yes, I noticed the size of the text in the entry box enlarged as I indicated by agreeing with you. And that was limiting me to a few words per line. I adjusted the box as best I could to compensate and also tried the general global “ctrl -” which made the text of the article extremely small.

Again, I experienced what you described but worked around it until it cleared up.

#16. Red Dead Ryan – June 30, 2014

I took Philosophy in college and aced it, but your notions about it don’t reflect anything I was taught.

“The “philosophy” in Trek really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny once you realize that the various shows and movies often contradict each other in terms of message and theme. ” — Red Dead Ryan

One of the first things our instructor had us do is learn about debating and argue the points in all the various schools of thought.

And you know what we learned? Not a one of them hold up to that form of scrutiny as each one is not perfect and eventually paints itself into a corner of self-contradiction.

“… it is merely a piece of entertainment (albiet one that allows for ideas and concepts to be explored, which is not the same as philosophizing) designed to make the studio money.” — Red Dead Ryan

Here’s the definition of “philosophize”:

phi·los·o·phize

fəˈläsəˌfīz/

verb
gerund or present participle: philosophizing

speculate or theorize about fundamental or serious issues, especially in a tedious or pompous way.

“he paused for a while to philosophize on racial equality”

synonyms: theorize, speculate; More
pontificate, preach, sermonize, moralize
“philosophizing on racial equality”

There are many that accuse various narratives of Trek and most of TNG of being precisely that: tedious AND pompous in speculating and theorizing about fundamental or serious issues..

@4 hat rick

The Great Bird of the Galaxy

This was written by George Takai in a memo to a member of the
writing staff! His closing line on the memo was:

“May the Great Bird of the Galaxy shit on your Oreo’s”

Source: “The Making of Star Trek” by Steven Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry.

@4 hat rick

“The Great Bird of the Galaxy” is Gene Roddenberry.

Source: George Takei.

I put this comment on the wrong thread, so am re-posting it here where I intended to. So shoot me.

I feel that Star Trek has a role in our ongoing evolution, not only physical/scientific, but mental, even spiritual, if you will (not “spiritual” in the religious sense). Evolution is a force which exists in our collective consciousness; we usually do not think of it or feel it, but it is there – it has to be or we would die as a species. We need that collective message, that collective energy.

For whatever crazy reason, GR tapped into that collective human river. And to be honest, this is why I feel so strongly that Trek can’t be turned into a popcorn movie fantasy fest.

The reason TOS (mostly) seems to have seen the future regarding inventions and scientific innovations and progress is that this is the physical/scientific aspect of the human evolution GR saw.

TOS’ message is the mental/spiritual aspect of our collective evolution. They are not perfect, they are not a holy book of any kind, but they offer us a glimpse into our future. It DOES exist and our collective evolution is possible.

There are always possibilities and we can choose the dynamic, healthy, thrilling ones: To Boldly Go!

“Champion estimates they’ll finish their run in 2026.”

That’s two years after the Bell-Riots! ;-)

(OK, seriously, I do enjoy Mission Log!)