797 – The Neutral Zone | Sleep With TNG S1 E26

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary, it's time for the podcaster … I don't have anything witty to say, or naturally hilarious, but in all honesty, I'm glad you're here, and I hope I can keep you company, or help you fall asleep. You're important to me. That's what I really mean to say, and clearly, the show's important to you because you've supported it, and that's great. Thank you, patrons, so much. Are you up all night, tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. All you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play. I'm going to do the rest.

What I'm going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you can set aside whatever's keeping you awake, whether it's thoughts, feelings, the physical sensations, so stuff like that, that's keeping you up. It could be outside stuff. It could be [inaudible 00:01:10], whatever's keeping you away, I'd like to take your mind off of it. Like I said, what I'm going to do, what I'm going to do … I was trying to think of something because I always say that. I say what I'm going to do is send my voice across the deep, dark night. I'm going to use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones. I'm going to use gentle motions with my hands to create a safe place, kind of carving it out, smoothing it out, patting it, I'm rubbing it down. I'm saying safe place. Lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet [inaudible 00:01:41] pointless meanders. I forget how … circuitous logic, all those things. I'm going to send my voice across the deep … [inaudible 00:01:49] pointless meanders. I honestly forgot what I say next. But to take your mind off stuff and help you fall asleep. To keep you company if you can't fall asleep.

And honestly, sometimes my brain runs out, say what was in there, what were we supposed to say next? I don't know, but I guess I'm supposed to kind of greet you. I did change out the order there. I think that's what threw me off. But I'm the podcaster who's naturally thrown off anyway. But I'm here. If you're new or if you're a regular listener, you might say, “Scoots, this is going a little bit different.” I say, yeah well we're staying calm, we're staying in the moment. I'm staying here for you to keep you company. Now, if you're new, couple of things I'd like you to know right up front. This podcast is a little bit different. So try to kind of sink in, relax, kind of observe me with a little bit of distance if you're new, 'cause you kind of say this doesn't make a lot of sense. This show defies logic. And I say I don't really defy logic, I just noticed … is that Spock who says well, that's illogical. Could you imagine … Spock was on the original Star Trek, but I think he used to say well that's illogical. Spock and Vulcans like logic. I'm pretty sure this gives a broad generalization.

Excuse me, Vulcans, but I don't know. I guess Spock would find me illogical. But actually, the thing is, you don't need to be a Vulcan to find me illogical. There you go. That's what I mean. If you're a human, you're going to find me … like you see, most people follow some sort of logic. This podcast, it kind of peters out, it doesn't go anywhere, gets started then slows down a bit. I'd say you're right. So if you're new, those are some things, kind of instead of … I say well I don't really defy logic or expectation, I just kind of drive around it. I take the long way around, there you go. Some people say I take the long way, I say yeah, I saw the logic and I drove. They say that's the logical way to go, right? And the said oh, did you say go right at logic? Okay. Well, I don't know, there's some grass in the road there, so I'm going to take this other path here in the middle, not right and not that logical way. Just off there … No, no, not off the beaten path, either, that area next to it.

Oh, that's not a path. Oh, that's the way I went. So that's the way I'll go. Okay, so if you're new though, let me get back to you. Sorry, I got lost in my … I took a wrong turn at logic, just like Bugs Bunny used to take a wrong turn at [Pismo 00:04:45] Beach. As a kid, I never got it. I guess I missed the hay days of … Okay, here's a question. Was that just a joke or did Pismo Beach have a hay day. Also, to a lot of people, so Bugs Bunny, back before … There used to be two big cartoon groups. There's the Warner Brothers cartoons and then there was the company D-I-S-N-E-Y, so you had the mouse, like Mickey Mouse and you had Bugs Bunny. And I'm no historian, and I think it was before my childhood, but even during my childhood, while Bugs Bunny was losing momentum, again maybe to marketing dollars and maybe to just a beloved … maybe because you could go visit the other one. But Bugs Bunny was another cartoon figure that was really liked by kids a little bit more acerbic and more of a trickster god than Mickey. No offense, Mickey.

You know, Mickey's more of an aww, shucks, let me help you carry that suitcase. Or like, Mickey you got great … I can't find a flaw with you. In opening the sleep podcast, but Bugs Bunny was a little bit of a … Okay, so what was my point? I have no idea what my point was. Oh, Bugs Bunny used to take a wrong turn at Pismo Beach. And I guess I'll have to Google it. I thought that was maybe in LA or somewhere, but then I said maybe it's in Florida. Or maybe it's just a beach they saw on a map and they said that's the beach … that must be a great beach. Because as much as I love California, we have really nice beaches for sitting on and looking at the beauty of the ocean, especially in Northern California. But as far as swimming goes, which I associate with beaches. I mean, I think Southern California's got that pretty good. But you have to drive pretty far south. I think you have to get all the way down. I don't know. I've never … I'd have to see about like San Luis Obispo or something. I've never swam there.

But usually, you gotta get all the way down to like, Ventura County, I think, to get good swimming. I don't know. So maybe as I say, well maybe that's where Pismo Beach is, Scoots. And I say well I took a wrong turn at remembering Pismo Beach and Bugs Bunny. Anyway, what was my … Oh, this podcast is a bit illogical. That was my … Thank you, Spock, for bringing it back. I guess I could hire Spock to just hang out while I'm recording, and say well that was illogical, and I'd say thanks, but let me … like, to rail in my meanders. Okay, so where was I? If you're new, structurally, what to expect, the show starts off with a few minutes of business and that's how we keep the show free for everybody, is the people that support the sponsors sort of become patrons, so it's a really nice thing. This show is communally supported by people who support the show. That's why business is up front. There's also business between the intro and the episode. So there's business, then there's the intro. Now we're about eight minutes into the intro, which is usually around 12 minutes or so, of me kind of explaining what the podcast is and going off topic.

And then saying let me try to bring it back. I guess I don't know what my point is. Oh, what the intro is. Oh, yeah. So, sorry, I was thinking about … I was thinking originally I was going to talk about plants in this intro and I said well, I guess we're not going to be talking about plants this intro. But so … Yeah, thanks Bugs Bunny. I get Bugs Bunny and who's that, Spock. I think they have teamed up. I've seen a cartoon version of Spock somewhere. Like a comedic version, but that could have been somewhere else. I don't think Spock and Bugs Bunny have appeared together, but it is within the realm of possibility. How about this? If you're going to ComiCon, or something like that, or some other con with cosplay that has … I don't know when the next Star Trek movie comes out, but there's the new Star Trek TV shows. I don't know if Spock's in any of those lineups, but what if you went to one of those dressed as Bugs Bunny, let's just imagine it's a Star Trek con, like Trek Con, you go as Bugs Bunny in a Starfleet uniform.

But then at some point you take … like you're Spock dressed as Bugs Bunny in a Starfleet uniform. Too much? Okay. Oh, 'cause I gotta get … Oh, so the intro is a part of the podcast. It's not really efficient, it kind of … yeah, it drives around the logic. But it's a part of people's bedtime routine. About 95 … I can't remember the last statistic, maybe like eight percent of listeners or less skip the intro and go straight to the story, but for most listeners, they use this long intro, about 12 minutes, to get ready for bed or they're already in bed and they're winding down. They're listening to Scoots. Some listeners are easing off in dreamland and some like you are just getting comfortable and cozy. Hey, I'm glad you're here. Thanks again for coming by. So the intro is kind of a part of the show and a show within the show. And if you're new, some people can find it a bit frustrating, 'cause they say are you ever going to start talking about Star Trek? And I'd say yeah, I'm going to do that next, in a little while. Be start talking about Star Trek: The Next Generation, been a while since I have.

But yeah, that's the structure. So we have the intro, then some business, then I'll talk about Star Trek: The Next Generation, an episode, I'll talk about stuff that came up in the episode. It won't really be super reflective of the episode, just 'cause that's not my … that's just not what I'm good at. And it's not super sleepy. And then we have some thank yous at the end. So that's the structure of the show. Here's a couple other things. You don't need to listen. You may have come to that conclusion yourself, or you say … But really, some people turn me way down and some people listen to me at a mumble, but it's more like it's an optional thing. You can listen, but you don't have to. So there's no pressure from my end for you to listen to me. Or say well, you can't miss out on this part where I confuse Bugs Bunny and whatever and confuse Pismo Beach with Ventura Beach or whatever. So I say I guess you could miss that, that's okay with me, right? If you fell asleep or if you were just kind of drifting in and out.

So no need to listen, but there's also no pressure to fall asleep. The reason the show's about an hour, or a little bit over an hour, is 'cause I want to give you plenty of time, no pressure. You drift off when you need to. I'll be here to keep you company. If you can't sleep, I'll be here till the end. I don't make half a show and then just start droning on. I mean, I drone on, but it's with intention and ideally presence that you can feel that I'm here for you to keep you company and to take your mind off of stuff. So, no pressure to listen, no pressure to fall asleep. The reason I make this show is 'cause one, I've been there. Particularly lately, I haven't had the drift off issues, but I've had the unsettled nights issues. We'll just leave it like that. And so I know how it feels, and I really, truly believe you deserve a good night's sleep. I want you to know whether you're new or whether you're a regular listener, I'm glad you're here. I work very hard, I yearn and I strive and I'd really love to help you fall asleep and here's a couple ways we keep the show going.

All right, everybody, we're back with Star Trek: The Next Generation coverage. It's been awhile, or more than a while for me recording. And we're covering Star Trek: The Next Generation season one, episode 25, I believe, The Neutral Zone. And this is one Max from Cards recommended and I've seen it before, I watched it a few more times, then I did my notes. It opens with the First Officer's Log, not … So, Riker's log, 41986.0. We see we have a beardless Riker, 04030, I don't know what that stands for. I know they're going to Star Base 718. 04030. I don't know what that is. That might be in notes about something else or something. We see an ancient capsule, they see an ancient capsule. It could be headed towards … 'cause he [inaudible 00:14:21] binary system, but somebody says I think not, Riker. Oh, he says it's a piece of space junk. Oh, 'cause Worf says you want me to send it into [Cazesus 00:14:32] Binary System or adjust its settings so it doesn't get destroyed? And Riker says I think not, it's space garbage. I have a note here to look up about Worf in season one.

Data standing very straight. I had a couple Data questions I didn't have a chance to research on this. Presumably, he has excellent posture. Do I need to readjust or will request permission to investigate? He says leave it be, then Riker, 'cause Captain Picard is off on a mission, he's going to be back in several hours. Data says request permission to investigate this ancient vehicle. And Riker says it's derelict, why do you want to know? And Data says history. This is history, I'm curious about it, we got the time, don't we? And Riker says you better be back before the Captain gets back. And then he goes, Worf, keep an eye on him. And they say aye-aye, sir. And then we see a shot of the capsule … oh, that was what. The capsule as 04, 03, and 02 on it. That's what those numbers I said earlier. We see a shot of the capsule, they energize in. There could have been a dot matrix burner on the left side of where they energize in. Solar [Gammanar 00:16:00], oh, solar generator. Worf glares when he looks at the computer.

I did research kind of computers at the time when this episode came out, which was 1987, so talk about that later. There's a clanging that gets Worf's attention, then he tries to open the door. He says must be the seal's stuck or something. I don't know if Data was showing how strong he was or that you just use the handle, 'cause he opens the door without a problem. I put what question mark, it's a bit like the video game fall to the outs and there's frost on the glass, there's capsules where you do a long sleep. Acoustic paneling inside, I said that's nice. Sound absorption panels. We get some Disney music in bells as they look in the different ones. The O2 is running close to empty, I think that's what my handwriting says. Then Worf says Commander, look at this. And then there's like Disney theme park music on the discovery. And then the episode opens, The Neutral Zone. And they found three people. There's some mystery music, they're sleeping right now. Data's talking extremely loud. Like, he's doing … he caught my attention. He's doing loud talking, just him and Worf. And I said well, maybe Data has to go in for a hearing test.

Refrigeration and something Geordi, shuttles coming. They say the captain, uh-oh. Oh no, everybody get back. Data, I don't know what this says. This is my handwriting, I'm not trying to be funny. We got some poop circles. Then do it quick. Somebody looks [inaudible 00:17:55] here. Let's see, they find … oh yeah, they're on extended journey, why are they here, these are just for refrigeration only. Captain's shuttle is approaching. Number one, I want to get underway. Well, make Data get back here. Unusual situation, we got three peeps and we need to bring them back. Riker says you're going to bring them back here? And Data says we got to. Do it quick. I don't know, we got some poop circles, that's really want my handwriting says. It has nothing to do with anything. It's probably something else, but I have no clue. Oh, people … that's what it was. It was a joke. It wasn't as funny as what I thought it was. Peepcicles, that was a joke I wrote. Then I couldn't read my handwriting. We got three peepcicles. Do it quick, captain on the bridge. Picard says give as LaForge 8058173, got it. Then he says number one, we got to have a staff meeting.

And Geordi kind of questions, he goes, that's the neutral zone, boss. He goes yeah, no duh, I'm in charge. He goes warp factor eight. Aye, sir, warp factor eight engage. All business, that's what I said. That is correct. He says save it for the staff meeting, what are you doing talking in front of the people that come on? [Kirk 00:19:39] stands during the staff meeting, his arm's like hugging the chair. He says we got an assignment here. We're missing some outposts, can't find them, no communication. They say Romulans, they say yeah, that's it, there haven't been any talk since the [Tomit 00:19:57] incident. That was 50 years ago, we haven't heard anything from the Romulan. And Riker says remember, this is all rumor, conjecture. Send on ship, oh the strategic, whatever that is, Starfleet or whatever says they're going to send one ship, the Enterprise. And he says it's a gamble, [inaudible 00:20:21] your first encounter, it could be a set up. Riker says let's assume that. And Picard says we're not really there to use force. We're there to establish relations, so if we use force we failed.

So if we use force, we failed and if we can't establish relations, we have to convince them of our resolve. It looks like they're the ones seeking trouble and we don't want to give them that. We want to really know what they really want, we want to get to the bottom of this. Give me a full profile, in 19 hours and 20 minutes, we'll be there. Okay, let's have a meeting in six hours, stay sharp. Wall comm, no ball shard. I don't know what that means. Oh, he says any questions, no one has any. So then all start, Picard goes to see Crusher, he says what is it, doctor? And she goes it's the people from the capsule. He goes capsule people? WTF? She goes we thawed them out, the peepcicles. He goes I don't even know what you're talking about. Data … I didn't know what to do, they're all sleeping, they had some minor stuff we fixed on all of them. Now back them tart [torrence 00:21:49] frozen after, WTF. Made me wonder what's the current life span on Next Generation. They said people used to worry about the big farm back then. That's one of the silly things those 21st century people did. And I guess it worked.

Data, get up here. He goes, look, I'm never critical of people being curious but they were already at the big farm, it seemed like the proper thing to do. He goes we'll have to treat them like they're humans. Then he calls Worf in, repeat to their no choice wake up builder. Let's see, so they say okay, well before we wake them up, get Worf up here, they're going to be awake soon, we got no other choice. So then Beverly wakes one of them up. The woman who wakes up, she's kind of smiling like with a kind of dopey look on her face like she just woke up from a big sleep. She kind of smiles at a couple people, she sees Worf and then she falls back asleep and there's comedy music. And they say welcome to the 24th century. And then there's more comedy. They think or Data says I checked the discs. Oh, different things, you watch it. One of the other person … Let's see, so that was Clare, Clare Raymond, then you have Ralph Offenhouse, [Liskfein 00:23:33], I don't know what that means. 55, maybe that was a rich dude. And then L.Q. Sunny Clemons, who doesn't even have a file. He's a musician or something.

So he's in the club Scoots is in, too afraid to live, too scared to not. Why … This is the question, it's answered actually, at the time I asked why isn't Troi up there, then he calls in number one. Number one, he goes, you gotta deal with this stuff. He's so irritated, Picard, he pulls his shirt down and he says keep them out of my way. And Picard explains there in blue, 12364, Data looks over his shell as of what is that. Let me see what happens. So, you keep them out of my way, Riker's trying to explain everything to the people and they're all dressed in blue. That's what that blue thing says. I don't know what 12364 means. 2364, that must be the year in their terms. Data looks over his shell at what is that, we're on a vessel. Oh, they say, what is this, a US ship? They say no, no, United Federations of Planets. Earth's a member of that. Oh yeah, 2364, you're all in excellent health, it worked. What are you? Android, is that a robot? No, there's differences between those two. What about Worf? They talk about, that would be a little bit more.

They say is this some sort of hallucination? No, no, no. This is real. I love it when Data says who are you, one of the dudes … let's see. I got ahead of myself. Klingon, 370 years ago, this is a long shot, whooey, I love it, Data says whooey. I loved that moment, that was probably one of the high moments of this thing. And let's see. They talk, I don't know. There's a lot of exposition, ride, thorn's, a shade … Clare throws some shade on her husband Donald. Ralph humble brags. They say this whole thing you got, this was a fad, after the popularity began falling out, he says I gotta make a phone call, read the Wall Street Journal, they say what are you talking about dude? Take it slowly. Then we cut to Troi. The reason Troi wasn't there is because she's busy researching Romulans and covering that with Picard. Data says whooey, hogwash, malarkey, jive an intentional fabrication. So let's see. Troi says there's very little on Romulans. Extremes, could be nice and then not nice, related to the Vulcans but different, very curious, believe superiority beyond arrogance. Fascinated with humans, but they don't initiate anything, so you have to commit yourself.

Picard goes good to know, counter, okay. Counter measures, Data shows how to use the food, whatever that thing is called. He's teaching Sonny how to use the food thing. He said he gets a drink and I said is that a real drink or a fake drink. Then there's twang music, cut on the TV, he says. Something delusion, sir? Stopped in 2040, TV did. That's not good for us. It's not that long off. And they say boring. This is like modern kids without the internet kind of. Riker laughs, they say gotta get to the bridge. The rich dude says with whom? He even uses proper … with whom are you speaking? ‘Cause Picard calls in on the speaker. And he goes, the captain and the guy goes, well I'm rich, man. I'm used to talking to captains. You ever heard of Captain [Stuebing 00:28:04]? Right, that's the one from that show. And he goes I don't know, I don't remember, but they see how let's get the boss in here. And then the Sonny guy, he says Data, we gotta hang later. Like he's using all sorts of slang, which Data likes.

Captain, good, all up to the captain. Oh, the rich guy says I gotta call Geneva and Riker says I'll pass it along. Data and Riker are walking in the hallway talking, they throw some shade on the 21st century. They say if this is were the people in the 21st century, I don't need to get over there. Unusual humans. Then they check in back in the ready room, Picard says I want a report. We're six hours out in the neutral zone, six hours away. No nine outposts, I don't know what that says. Can't get a hold of anybody at any of the nine outposts, they're all gone. We have to consider the information we have about the Romulans is out of date, Data says. They say okay, well what are they … are the Romulans trying to start something with the Enterprise, Picard says. Well, no, the Federation, but you know, they're sending the best, of course. That's [inaudible 00:29:40] Riker pulls up his pallet or whatever you call those little things, his lapels. Picard says what do you recommend, he goes no, I think we should assume the initiative. Worf says I agree with Riker. This is it. We gotta seize the day, carpe diem.

Picard says, Data? And Data says well, that's based on one premise, the intent of the Romulans. If the premise is sound, the proposal is. And I thought Sherlock Holmes would have liked that, maybe. Let's see. LaForge says but if their intent isn't trouble, then what is it? Then the rich dude just calls on the speaker, Captain Picard? Ralph Offenhouse, here. And Picard's not happy. Ralph calls, talks about the QE2, [inaudible 00:30:34] alive when Picard rolls in. Picard rolls in on him, he goes excellent, I've been waiting to talk to you. First Picard says number one, did you give him permission to contact? I said don't you guys have pin numbers on this thing, or like touch ID or face ID? So Picard goes … Oh, first he's still talking back and forth. He's talking about the QE2, where he goes this isn't a cruise ship and he demands a phone or radio. He goes, gotta make contact with my firm and Picard goes those things are for special ship business. And the guy goes how come you don't need a pin number, like Scoots said. They said people exercise self discipline here, except for you.

And he goes we got a lot going on, not just you three, we're dealing with something. And he goes I don't care, man, this is the ego talking. And he goes I'm cognizant of where I am and when, it's simply … I'm not like a … He goes I'm upper class, you're working class military and Picard's just kinda dealing with this nonsense. He goes a lot has changed. People aren't obsessed with accumulation of things, no hunger, no need for possessions, we've grown out of our infancy, you infant. And the guy goes it's not about possessions, it's about control. And Picard goes control is an illusion. And I couldn't tell if this was like a parallel conversation for the Romulans 'cause my intellect isn't on that level, but I think it might be. Other than … Oh, I said other than kids being on the ship, this must be like Picard's worst day as far as why do I gotta deal with this. And then he says Troi, you gotta come up here and help these people adjust. Get these people under control, we cannot continue or afford distractions. Captain Scenic Station Five.

Let me see, they must have been coming up or something. And then Troi talks to Clare for a little while in the hall. Oh, this is when he runs into Troi. Then Troi talks to the country dude, Wade. I don't know who Wade is. I don't think there is any Wade. She kind of tries to calm everybody down. Oh, no, that's not Troi, that's … Oh, the guy wants … yeah, he's trying to get some Rx from Crusher, Sonny. Grating palm jam on music, mom. Painting behind them with red craters. When Troi's talking to Clare, there's a cool painting behind her with red craters. LQ, big wand, birch marble. Oh, in his room, there's a big marble sculpture. Oh, 'cause he gets Data sent to his room. And Data goes what's up and he goes, I want to have a party, suds and sounds. And he goes you're doing good, he goes yeah, I like to party man. It's just the same dance, different tune, I need a guitar. And Data goes I could replicate one. And he goes, get it to me man. Just sock it to me. And then they say Data, we're near the neutral zone, by the way.

Data goes, I gotta get out of here. The guy goes, what's a neutral zone? He goes, I didn't know if this was actually … He goes a buffer between the Romulan empire and the Federation. I liked how it was just tucked in there, [inaudible 00:34:27]. He goes they're going to have Romulans at this party? He goes no, that wouldn't be appropriate. Something to do. Same dance, different tune. Neutral zone, no Romulans at the party, there's some music. Captain's Log supplemental with the neutral zone, there's no bases, we can't find a trace of them at all, period, which is weird. And we show the crew talking about it. Couldn't have been any technology we know about. Some great force with insufficient information to figure out could it be natural or something. And they say let's go to the next station and then the old rich guy is there. Which was weird, I mean the episode pays off but he's buzzing around. Mind your own business. Oh, that's … he's with LQ or whatever. And LQ says mind your own business 'cause he's talking trash about the ship and everything. He goes, I'm an expert at negotiations.

He goes, there just trying to do their jobs, we don't need them swimming in our soup. MYOB. And he goes I'm not letting my fate be decided by others. I gotta know what's going on. Grabs guitar pattern replicator. The rich guy storms out. Terra nine in conduit identical. Conditions identical, everything's out. Riker wants to go to red alert, he says that's a little bit more defensive than they think, I don't know, I don't want to send the wrong message. And Worf says yeah, let's go to red alert. He goes, oh no rash actions. He says there's three other stops, let's proceed in a calm and ordinary manner. Riker says well, how about yellow alert? He goes that would be prudent, make it so. The rich dude, Ralph's walking around. He figured out how to use the lift, voice activation and let's see. Worf, you can't get we shoulder up Riker, Captain, wait. Let's see. He goes up, Worf says there's something coming, large and moving, can't get a view, shields up. Riker wants to boot up, he says let's wait, let's let them … we don't want them to read our intent, then they'll take a similar posture.

Riker says we got sufficient out, evidence, so does Worf, but [inaudible 00:37:18] goes no. Then they say it's weakening, they're gone. And we lost them. Picard says D double A to the M-N. And he goes where are they? They go they must have worked on their cloaking. But Picard goes, yeah, they wanted to see our intent. And then Ralph's there. He says who in the heck, and Riker goes get him off the bridge. He goes no. Like, literally, there's like two security people, he says no. Oh, shields up, that's what I couldn't read. Dude sneaks on board, negative, Geordi. What's that mean? He goes I'm not going anywhere. Then the ship comes in. Romulan ship materializes, they can't believe they're seeing it and Picard says stay calm, open hailing frequencies, got our answer. Dude, who are they? Two officers can't get that dude off the bridge. Captain, they're back. A green colored ship comes in, they go to commercial break.

Amazing, never thought I'd be this close. And they hail, he says this is Jean Luc Picard and Riker says they're armed, they goes yeah but they haven't done anything, Picard knows they're not going to take the initiative, I guess. And one dude says I'm Commander Tebok. Picard goes what are you doing on this side of the neutral zone? This is Federation terf. And other dude says, or the other Romulan says this was necessary. Picard goes, it could be aggression and they go if we were aggression, you'd know it. And we want to do stuff for the right reason. We're here because our outposts are missing too. And missing the same way yours are. And Worf says well, what gives you the right to come this far? And they say silence your dog. Picard goes, answer the question. And they go what are you asking us questions for and they go do you think we did it? And they go no, too technologically advanced. Picard goes, who's responsible? And Ralph, they don't know why they give him this role. He says they don't know, they're hoping you know 'cause they're too arrogant to ask. And Riker goes, you're out of line, mister.

But Picard goes, he's right, unfortunately. And they go, we don't know why are all these outposts missing? Picard goes how about a proposal? And they say an alliance? No way. And he goes nothing so grandiose, just cooperation. We'll just share info about this and they go okay, on this one issue, sounds good. Only if it's convenient and they say Picard, you're a thoughtful man. I'll tell you that. We've had more matters more urgent and we shouldn't have been dropped our guard down, Federation expanded, our outposts vanished. We've been negligent, but no more. We're back. And they say we don't let you know, still kind of saying … and then Picard says get this old rich guy off my bridge. So pretty good, a really good scene. 390, 3915, there's a good look. So Riker and Picard look and then get the dude off my bridge, and then Troi has one of those genealogy sites up for Clare, she finds like her great, great, great … wait, great, great, great, great, great grandson named Donald, too, like her husband. Maybe they can find each other. Then Picard has a proposal. He says you can't stay on the Enterprise, but we're going to [inaudible 00:41:37] over the Charleston, they're heading to Earth, they'll drop you off.

And rich guy says I don't have any rich stuff, how am I going to … He goes material needs no longer exist. And this is like the end of the season, remember, so he says well, what's the challenge then? And Picard says the challenge, Mister Offenhouse, is to improve yourself, to enrich yourself and to enjoy it. And then the country guy goes nobody's going to remember how my antics and he goes what if you … I mean, this would be great fan fiction, 'cause he says, Data, why don't you come with me, be my side man? Data says that does offer … that offer does present a certain fascination. Then on the bridge, Geordi says we could take him to [Arlof 00:42:25] Nine, it would be faster, because the Charleston's going to be there for awhile. Oh no, Star Base 39, Sierra in five days, it'd save them months. Picard goes they need the extended time. They're not ready for Earth. And Riker goes pity we can't take them ourselves, it's like having a visit from the past. And Picard says that would take us in the wrong direction, our mission is to go forward and it's just begun. Set velocity warp six, Mr. LaForge.

And Geordi says aye, sir, warp six. There's still much to do, still so much to learn. Mister LaForge, engage. And there was kind of like some music like Superman and I don't know how long the season break was for or if they already knew they had a second season, but a really strong ending. And yeah, that's how the episode ends. Now, a few things that came up. One was Riker's beard. I found two things. I didn't realize it was in the urban dictionary, so over on urbandictionary.com, there's Riker's beard, a euphemism for a moment in time, typically in pop culture, when something that is lack luster or underachieving, surprisingly became much better and exciting. Which thought that Riker's beard coincided with the show hitting a real good stride. Also, they say Heather Locklear joining Melrose Place was that show's Riker's beard moment. All of them are hard to follow, but yeah, just like it's the opposite I guess of jump the shark. So I thought that was interesting.

Then there's an article from syfy.com, S-Y-F-Y dot com, or an excerpt from an interview with Jonathan Frakes about why Roddenberry wanted Riker to have a beard. And let's see, it talks about the Star Trek: The Next Generation blu-ray is a second renaissance of the show, the actors being interviewed, this is by … the article or the interview's Danny Roth, January 14, 2013 and he goes we got to find out this fun fact, the Riker beard … oh, they talked about that. A thing, but how did it come to be? Frakes grew the beard during a writer's strike that took place between seasons one and two, but when Gene Roddenberry felt it should stick around, Gene said Jonathon, I love the beard, it'll be nautical, we'll shape it and that way it'll be decorative. And yeah, I think actually, they have a video interview with him. So I'll link to that. I did just want to follow Worf a little bit here. Let's see, family history, I just wanted to go storylines, back story. Worf was assigned to the USS Enterprise D in 2364, relief flight control and tactical officer, Lieutenant Junior grade, but the next year, so that would be season two, he became acting chief of security.

And then the next year after that, he was transferred to operations division and made for … oh, acting chief of security, then formal chief of security. So there's just why he's dressed a little bit differently. It just caught my eye. Derelict, here's a nice SAT word, probably in the early parts. Derelict, D-E-R-E-L-I-C-T, it's an adjective, abandoned by owner or occupant or lacking a sense of duty. Or it's a noun, in this case, in this show, something voluntarily abandoned or attractive land left to dry by receding water, derelict. Also, derelict dialect is a [inaudible 00:46:40], I don't know if that's … I think that's their first album, maybe, with Prime Minister Pete Nice. Let's see. Aye-aye, sir. This one I had to look up on Wikipedia. It's a phrase commonly heard in present-day Naval language and aye, just one, became … aye, A-Y-E, came into the English language in 16th century or early 17th, meaning yes or so.

It was also used in formal for voting in the house of commons, most common use of aye-aye sir in Naval, meaning an order has been received, understood and will be carried out immediately. Oh, so it's like aye-aye, sir. Received, understood and will … oh, so it has different than yes, which could just mean civil agreement without an intention to act. Aye-aye. I understand and will comply. That's interesting. I'm glad we looked that up. Okay, pulled a few articles here about timeline in computing in 1987, when this show came out. When these episodes first aired, 'cause I was just thinking about … [inaudible 00:47:55] just what we used, disc drives and stuff and I was like, where were we in '87. So the Mac 2 and the Mac SE were released March 2nd, and so we probably did have three point five inch drives. The IBM PS/2 was also introduced in April and yeah, that had the three point five inch drives. Or three and a half inch drives, which could store one point four four megabytes. On the less expensive model, only 720K.

Acorn, Archimedes in the UK, let's see what else we had. Some sound cards, compacts started getting … VGA started getting. Oh, wow VGA came out in 1987? Wow. Okay. So that was from Wikipedia, there's also computerhope.com, computer history in 1987. CompuServe introduced the GIF standard or the GIF standard in 1987. Texas Instruments developed DLP which is used in TVs today, I think. Maybe not anymore though, in '97. Steve Wozniak left Apple February 6, 1987. First South By Southwest, first version of Microsoft Excel, oh the first AR processor. Acorn, Archimedes. Microsoft shares were a hundred bucks. First email from China was sent to Germany September 20th. Oh, this was when, if you've ever seen Criminal Life, that was in 1987 with the Max [Hedrum 00:49:47] thing. Apple hyper card, Microsoft Works, that's a little bit more.

I wanted to look at pricing now. Let's see, so this is pcworld.com, Benji Edwards, 25 years of the IBM PS/2. It's a good little history article. I just wanted to talk on the price though. The four initial models that came out in April '87 launch were the model 30, model 50, model 60 and model 80. It ranged dramatically in power and price [inaudible 00:50:26], the 30, which was like a PC XT, I think we had a PC Cologne, PC XT Cologne. Oh, yeah, 8086 CPU. Eight megahertz. 640 K of ram, 20 megabyte hard drive and it cost $2,300, which would be about 4600 in 2012. In the high end model 80, it was … it did cost 11 Gs, which is like 22 Gs, and neither one came with an operating system, you had to buy PC DOS 3.3 for about 120 bucks. So that's a little bit about computing. I looked at frosted glass, I ended up not looking up the right thing, though. Because I was thinking of frost on glass. But it's always interesting to find out what comes up, so let me see.

Frosted glass, what else do we have? We have the Tomed Incident. So yeah, frosted glass, let's see. We get frosted glass produced by sad blasting or acid etching of a clear sheet of glass. Pitted surface on one side, rendering the glass translucent by scattering the light and blurring images. Just what you would use in your bathroom, right? So just an interesting … I looked it up. The Tomed incident, this is memory-alphafandom.com. Tomed incident was the confrontation between … wait, I hit the wrong button here. United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire in 2311, which lead to the signing of the treaty at Algernon, which banned the Federation from using cloaking devices and the withdrawal of the Romulan government until 2364. It might have a connection to the Beta Quadrant star Tomed. It was in a couple of books, which in that story, it was a staged thing where the Romulan ship the Tomed crashed. Stopped accidentally on a Federation base and when Quantum Singularity confinement of the Tomed failed, they took a searching Starfleet outpost in the USS [Agamemnon 00:53:07] and all the bases were … Oh, but in reality, all the bases were empty and rigged to emit false life signs.

It sounds like a big coverup on the Starfleet. Interesting. I don't know, so you can read more about it in one of those two books that are in the link. Another SAT word, conjecture. C-O-N-J-E-C-T-U-R-E, noun, an inference formed without proof or sufficient evidence. We're pretty familiar with that nowadays. Or conclusion deduced by surmised or guess work. Or the proposition as in mathematics, before it has been proved or disproved, it could also mean obsolete. Conjecture, also a verb, to arrive at or deduce by guess work or to make conjectures. Don't conjecture me, [brah 00:54:11]. Here's a couple tidbits. I wanted to look up the lifespan, this is from memoryalpha.wiki, too, humanoids was known vary, comparative lifespans. Swarming moths of [Gonah 00:54:32] Four, Majorans. I'm just looking up humans, I want to know humans. Anterans, the average … Okay, here we go. The average human lifespan had greatly increased during the 22nd century was 100 years, still roughly the same during 2250, but was 120, a hundred and twenty years by mid-century, so Leonard McCoy had reached 137 by 2364. So that's just my general question when they were talking about the big farm there.

Alcohol, like … 'cause whatever that … Sonny Clemons or whatever wanted some alcohol. Alcohol is a colorless liquid chemical. This is also from memoryalpha.fandom.com, due to it's emboldening effects called liquid courage. Vulcans don't drink wine and don't drink alcohol. Let's see. In the 24th century, alcohol was often replaced by synthol which had all the properties of alcohol without the deleterious effects. Oh, Starfleet replicators could produce real alcohol. Okay, so that was my main question was if that guy was drinking real alcohol. He could have been, but we don't have total definite yes or no. And then finally, Queen Elizabeth II came up, also called the QE2, a floating hotel, retired ocean liner, built for the [Cunard 00:56:18] Line, was operated as a transatlantic liner and cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. Since April of 2018 has been a floating hotel in Dubai, was designed to provide transatlantic service from her home port of Southampton, UK and New York, named after the earlier ship, RMS Queen Elizabeth. This ship served as the flagship from 1969 until it was succeeded by the RMS Queen Mary II in 2004. It was designed in Cunard's offices in Liverpool and Southampton, built in Clydebank, Scotland.

She is considered one of the last great transatlantic ocean liners until the Queen Mary II entered service. It was also the last oil fired passenger steam ship to cross the Atlantic in scheduled liner service until she was retrofitted with a diesel power plant in '86 to '87. Undertook regular world cruises during 40 years of services. This is all from Wikipedia. She undertook regular world cruises during 40 years of service, predominately as a cruise ship, had no running mate, never ran a year round transatlantic service, did continue the tradition of regular scheduled transatlantic service crossings every year. Was never a royal mail ship, retired November 27, 2008. Private part of Dubai world, maybe. Let's see. It took awhile. In '57, it was obvious transatlantic travel was becoming dominated by air travel due to the low cost and speed. At that time, it was 50/50. And the increase in air, like the Boeing 707 in '58, it ended up becoming more and more expensive to operate some of these ships. But despite revenues, they didn't want to … Cunard did not want to give up its traditional role so it decided to replace it's aging ships with a new ocean liner, the Q3.

Let's see. Anything else? Two engine rated … There's a lot more. Maybe you can link to it and check it out, really interesting, all this history and stuff. But yeah, that's it. Welcome back to [inaudible 00:58:58] crew of the Enterprise. Good to be back with you. Good night.