Southern California Trek XI meet

[Darth Fanboy]

yeah that sounds good, If anyone wants to approach me i'll be sporting my kick ass beard and likely a star wars t shirt.

[Questor]

I've got a red shirt and khakis.

[Darth Fanboy]

NAtch the Star Warws gear, it's duuurrrrtttty.

So i'll be rocking my lucky Ralph Wiggum shirt. I'm going to try and get my ticket and then be at Alcatraz around 3:00-3:30 at the bar enjoying my goodies.

[Jack Bauer]

Sorry fellas, but I got to take a rain check.

I gave in and I've already watched the movie twice (7:45 pm on Thursday night and again last night). I think I'm all petered out.

But trust me, you'll have a great time. It's a fun fun movie.

[Crayz9000]

If anyone's still checking, I'm running a little bit late but should be at Alcatraz around 4. See the rest of you guys there.

[Kanastrous]

Okay, now that we've all presumably seen it once or twice, I have some questions:
Spoiler

Starfleet Academy is located in San Francisco. Why do Starfleet Academy cadets go out drinking in west-bumfuck-nowhere Iowa bars?

Spoiler

Nero describes his ship as a mining vessel. Why is his mining vessel packing enough military-grade firepower to annihilate a dozen or so Federation warships in the space of a few minutes? I mean, what was the ship designed to mine? Some kind of ore that shoots back?

Spoiler

This one has been on my mind for months, now: why would anyone want to build the Enterprise on the ground? Well, maybe because the hero can't very well ride a motorcycle up to it, while it's in orbit.

Spoiler

There are canyons like that, in Iowa? Really?

Spoiler

Why do starships now have such gigantic basements? I mean, Nero's ship is basically sort of all basement, but at least it's an effort toward nifty-cool alien basement. Half of the Enterprise (well, actually a greater volume than that occupied by the whole ship from the outside, but...) is literally modern industrial basement with the addition of some XXIIId-century dressing. Stowage space for the upcoming five-year mission? Maybe. I don't know.

I haven't been able to satisfactorily answer those for myself. But apart from that I enjoyed it very much. Some of the casting was really darned great, and some not-half-bad dialog, too.

[avatarxprime]

For number 3, Spoiler

Nero's ship was upgraded with Borg tech scavenged by the Romulans during the events of the comic that sets up his journey back in time, Star Trek: Countdown. Here's a link to the board discussion of it.

[Darth Fanboy]

For those interested, the meet was a quasi success.
Spoiler

Starfleet Academy is located in San Francisco. Why do Starfleet Academy cadets go out drinking in west-bumfuck-nowhere Iowa bars?

Spoiler

The shipyards in Riverside, Iowa suggest a concentration of Federation personnel in the area making it more important than it otherwise is. Now, it appeared as if those cadets in the bar weren't yet cadets, rather they were enjoying their last night before heading off to the academy.

[Crayz9000]

Okay, now that we've all presumably seen it once or twice, I have some questions:
Spoiler

This one has been on my mind for months, now: why would anyone want to build the Enterprise on the ground? Well, maybe because the hero can't very well ride a motorcycle up to it, while it's in orbit.

Spoiler

As I think was mentioned in one of the discussion threads, it seems like it was political maneuvering. We've seen some really funky politics when it comes to throwing your constituency a bone; no doubt the Enterprise getting constructed in Bumfuck, Iowa was the local representative's doing.

Spoiler

There are canyons like that, in Iowa? Really?

Spoiler

That was a gravel/rock quarry. It was obvious from the sky camera shot that it was not a natural canyon; natural canyons aren't square holes in the ground.

Spoiler

Why do starships now have such gigantic basements? I mean, Nero's ship is basically sort of all basement, but at least it's an effort toward nifty-cool alien basement. Half of the Enterprise (well, actually a greater volume than that occupied by the whole ship from the outside, but...) is literally modern industrial basement with the addition of some XXIIId-century dressing. Stowage space for the upcoming five-year mission? Maybe. I don't know.

Spoiler

For its bulk, Enterprise really should have had a large amount of space dedicated toward running its systems. I'm actually glad that they showed it, although I'm not quite so sure about their picking the Budweiser plant here in Van Nuys as the base of the shots. I'm also a bit uncertain about the need for a large, Willy Wonka-style water plant, although I suppose a ship of its size would have a need to recycle a lot of water. But glass (fine, transparent aluminum...) pipes? Huh?

[Kanastrous]

Should there be a spoiler thread so that we don't have to put everything behind cut-outs...?

[Havok]

Should there be a spoiler thread so that we don't have to put everything behind cut-outs...?

You know, it would be cool if we had a place where we discussed just Pure Star Trek. Man, that would be awesome. We could have like 5 or 6 threads, just talking about the new movie. Man... if only...

[Kanastrous]

If only. Someone oughtta ask a mod to set it up.