Captain's Presence

The Top 20 Sci-Fi Starship Captains of All Time, according to Kunochan.com, are as follows:

1. Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Guess, Patrick Stewart’s voice commands a presence like no other with so much authority and respect. It is like having Shakespeare on-board. From, 1987 to 1994, Captain Picard led the Federation flagship Enterprise-D through strange new worlds and discovered new life forms. His character is a highly intelligent man prefers to peacefully resolve disputes rather than fight.



2. James T. Kirk (Star Trek)
James Tiberius Kirk is the 1st captain of the Enterprise on TV from the original Star Trek television series. The character was played by Canadian-born actor William Shatner. Today, producer J. J. Abrams will give new life to Kirk in the upcoming 2008 Star Trek film. Gene Roddenberry is said to have based the character on C. S. Forester's fictional hero Horatio Hornblower. Today, Shatner sometimes refers to Kirk in the series “Boston Legal” where he plays an aging lawyer, named Denny Crane.



3. Han Solo (Star Wars)
In the mid-70s, I first saw Han Solo in the 1st version of Star Wars, which is now chronologically called “The Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.” Solo is a roguish smuggler who is in debt and gets involved with Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance against the evil Galactic Empire. Harrison Ford became an icon out of this role.



4. Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek: Voyager)
I never really did follow “Star Trek: Voyager” where Kate Mulgrew plays Kathryn Janeway. She is the first female to be the lead character in a Star Trek series and is the captain of the Federation starship USS Voyager. According to Wikipedia, the character was originally to be named "Elizabeth Janeway" after the famous poet.

Kate Mulgrew, who had previously auditioned for the role, was brought in as replacement for Geneviève Bujold who dropped out on the second day of production for the pilot episode, “Caretaker.” The character name was changed to Kathryn upon the earlier request of Geneviève Bujold



5. Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is from Firefly and is played by actor Nathan Fillion. Reynolds is the captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity with a mission to keep his crew alive and to keep his ship flying. I really have not seen much from this series. Maybe, soon.


Other captains in the top 20 list are:

6. William “Husker” Adama (New Battlestar Galactica)
7. Bruno J. Global (The Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
8. Turanga Leela (Futurama)
9. Jacob Keyes (Halo)
10. John J. Adams (Forbidden Planet)
11. Wilhuff Tarkin (Star Wars)
12. Christopher Pike (Star Trek)
13. Creideiki (Startide Rising)
14. David Bowman (2001: A Space Odyssey)
15. The Doctor (Doctor Who)
16. Zaphod Beeblebrox (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
17. Exeter (This Island Earth)
18. John Robinson (Lost in Space)
19. Adama (Old Battlestar Galactica)
20. Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Dancing Classroom

I spent 30 minutes on the threadmill while watching the start of the dancing classroom at Fitness First.

Sharapova and Djokovic

Both made their strong presence at the Australian Open this weekend,as they emerged as champions in the 1st tennis grand slam event of the year.

Heath Ledger

We first watched Heathcliff Andrew Ledger in the Mel Gibson film, “The Patriot.” And also in “Four Feathers” which one of my favorite movies as it epitomizes a strong friendship. That was many years ago. And he probably became even more popular in the award winning Ang Lee film “Brokeback Mountain.” And that movie, we never really got to watch. Maybe, now with the death of Heath Ledger, we will finally get to see that movie.

But before that we will definitely see his presence at the Joker in the latest Batman flick, “The Dark Night.”

The Academy Award-nominated Australian actor was born on April 4, 1979 and died yesterday in his apartment in the upscale SOHO district. I was telling Cecile that we were in that area during our recent trip to the States last December 2007.

Here are a few interesting trivia from Wikipedia about Heath’s short presence in this world. His name and his sister, Kate were named after the two main characters in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff and Catherine. At age 10, Peter Pan was his first acting experiences was in a school production.

In 1996, he already played a gay role in an Australian TV series called “Sweat.”

From August 2002 to April 2004, Ledger had a relationship with actress Naomi Watts, whom he met during the filming of “Ned Kelly.”

On the set of “Brokeback Mountain,” Ledger met actress Michelle Williams, whom he met on the set of Brokeback Mountain. Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on October 28, 2005 in New York City.

Did you know that Ledger had aspirations to become a film director? In 2006, Ledger directed three music videos and during a news conference at the Venice Film Festival in 2007, he spoke of his desire to make a film about the British troubadour Nick Drake who died tragically young at the age of 26 in 1974. As a first step, he created and appeared in a short film set to Drake's recording of his 1974 song about depression titled "Black Eyed Dog".

In 2007, he was one of six actors to portray different sides of singer Bob Dylan in the film “I'm Not There.”

On July 18, 2008, Ledger will his presence felt as the iconic comic book villain The Joker in “The Dark Knight.” This is the sequel to the 2005 film “Batman Begins,” opposite fellow “I'm Not There” star Christian Bale.

We will surely watch "The Dark Knight."

King

Popular view of King ignores complexity
By DEEPTI HAJELA,
Associated Press Writer
Sun January 20, 2008

NEW YORK - They are some of the most famous words in American history: "I have a dream ..." And the man who said them has become an icon.

Martin Luther King Jr. has certainly gotten his share of attention this year, the subject of a presidential campaign controversy over his legacy that blew up just around the time of the holiday created to honor him.

But nearly 40 years after his assassination in April 1968, after the deaths of his wife and of others who knew both the man and what he stood for, some say King is facing the same fate that has befallen many a historical figure — being frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full complexity of the man and his message.

"Everyone knows, even the smallest kid knows about Martin Luther King, can say his most famous moment was that "I have a dream" speech," said Henry Louis Taylor Jr., professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Buffalo.

"No one can go further than one sentence," he said. "All we know is that this guy had a dream, we don't know what that dream was."

At the time of his death, King was working on anti-poverty and anti-war issues. He had spoken out against the Vietnam War in 1967, and was in Memphis in April 1968 in support of striking sanitation workers.

King had come a long way from the crowds who cheered him at the 1963 March on Washington, when he was introduced as "the moral leader of our nation" — and when he pronounced "I have a dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

By taking on issues outside segregation, he had lost the support of many newspapers and magazines, and his relationship with the White House had suffered, said Harvard Sitkoff, a professor of history at the University of New Hampshire who has written a recently published book on King.

"He was considered by many to be a pariah," Sitkoff said.

But he took on issues of poverty and militarism because he considered them vital "to make equality something real and not just racial brotherhood but equality in fact," Sitkoff said.

While there has been scholarly study of King and everything he did, that knowledge hasn't translated into the popular culture perception of him and the civil rights movement, said Richard Greenwald, professor of history at Drew University.

"We're living increasingly in a culture of top 10 lists, of celebrity biopics which simplify the past as entertainment or mythology," he said. "We lose a view on what real leadership is by compressing him down to one window."

That does a disservice to both King and society, said Melissa Harris-Lacewell, professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University.

By freezing him at that point, by putting him on a pedestal of perfection that doesn't acknowledge his complex views, "it makes it impossible both for us to find to new leaders and for us to aspire to leadership," Harris-Lacewell said.

She believes it's important for Americans in 2008 to remember how disliked King was in 1968.

"If we forget that, then it seems like the only people we can get behind must be popular," Harris-Lacewell said. "Following King meant following the unpopular road, not the popular one."

In becoming an icon, King's legacy has been used by people all over the political spectrum, said Glenn McNair, associate professor of history at Kenyon College.

He's been part of the 2008 presidential race, in which Barack Obama could be the country's first black president. Obama has invoked King, and Sen. John Kerry endorsed Obama by saying "Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right."

Not all the references have been received well. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton came under fire when she was quoted as saying King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

King has "slipped into the realm of symbol that people use and manipulate for their own purposes," McNair said.

Harris-Lacewell said that is something people need to push back against.

"It's not OK to slip into flat memory of who Dr. King was, it does no justice to us and makes him to easy to appropriate," she said. "Every time he gets appropriated, we have to come out and say that's not OK. We do have the ability to speak back."

Scout's Presence

According to Krishan Francis from Yahoo news last Thursday, a boy scout in Maldives made his presence felt when he saved the life of the president. The 15-year-old Boy Scout who foiled the assisanation attempt by grabbing the attacker's knife.

Wearing his blue boy scout uniform, Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim, was among Maldives crowd waiting for the president when the attacker lunged out from the crowd. The attacker hid a knife in the Maldivian flag. The attacker tried a second time until he was overpowered by security guards. President Maumoon Gayoom was unhurt.

"Jaisham our national hero saves the president," the Midhu Daily newspaper cheered in a headline.

Maldives is an island country with1,190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean.

I used to be a boy scout when I was studying in Immaculate Concepion Parish School, located in Lantana Street, Cubao, Quezon City. I remember going on “camping expeditions” in Mt. Makiling. And the Maldives boy’s act of bravery definitely exemplifies the values of the boy scout movement.

The Boy Scout Movement was founded in 1907, when Lt. General Robert Baden-Powell held the first “campigng” on Brownsea Island, South England. Baden-Powell also wrote “Scouting for Boys” which described the Scout method of using outdoor activities to develop character, citizenship, and personal fitness qualities among youth.

Gayoom had ruled since 1978 and helped turn it into a major tourist destination.

Sweeney Todd

Last New Year's day, Cecile and I found ourselves in the heart of Times Square. And since it was a holiday, there were no shows on Broadway. We had already watched two plays since we arrived in the Big Apple. We saw "The Color Purple" which featured Fantasia.... yes, the American Idol winner. We also watched "Young Frankenstein."

And on New Year's Day, we watched Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd." This film is Tim Burton's adaptation of Sondheim's musical starring Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin and Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli.

Timothy "Tim" William Burton, like me, born on the month of August (1958) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated American film director and writer. He is noted for his quirky and gothic and dark atmosphere of his films. I remember to have watched "Edward Scissorhands" a few years ago... also with Johnny Depp. This movie is Depp's 6th collaboration with Burton.

Tim Burton also did "Batman Returns" and "The Nightmare before Christmas"

Photos courtesy of Warner Brothers.

Pierce's Curtains

Cecile and I watched our third Broadway play last Saturday, 05 January 2008. The play was called "Curtains" and starred David Hyde Pierce! Yes, he is Frasier's brother in the award-winning comedy series called "Frasier." Photo of cast of Fraiser from http://www.afterelton.com/people/2007/5/davidhydepierce

We have watched Pierce in Frasier, even when we were in Vietnam and back in our Greenhome here in Makati City. He won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical at the 61st Tony Awards last 10 June 2007 and this was another reason why we opted to watch this play.


David plays a detective in Boston who tries to find out a murderer amidst a stage play. “Curtains” also stars Tony and Emmy Award winner Debra Monk as producer Carmen Bernstein, Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba as lyricist Georgia Hendricks, Jason Danieley as composer Aaron Fox, Jill Paice as ingénue Niki Harris and Edward Hibbert as director Christopher Belling, with John Bolton as theatre critic Daryl Grady, Michael X. Martin as stage manager Johnny Harmon, Michael McCormick as investor Oscar Shapiro, Noah Racey as choreographer Bobby Pepper, Ernie Sabella as producer Sidney Bernstein and Megan Sikora as understudy Bambi Bernét. Photo of Pierce from the Broadway play "Curtains" from www.playbill.com

Scott Ellis (Twelve Angry Men, The Little Dog Laughed) directed the play while Rob Ashford choreographed the steps in "Curtains." The play also marks one of the last collaborations by one of the longest-running songwriting teams in Broadway history — composer Kander and lyricist Ebb. Both have worked on Cabaret, Chicago, Zorba, The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Watching Pierce on "Curtains" is definitely a strong presence on Broadway!

Ampy and Al

Ampy and Al are two persons I met and talked to aboard NW 19, our flight from New York City back to Manila last 07 January 2008. We left JFK International Airport at around 8am and arrived at NAIA at around 12 midnight...nearly 28 hours on the plane with two stop-overs at Minneapolis and Tokyo.