-David Ramirez has a new live EP coming out the first quarter of 2022, called Rules and Regulations. Try Hard Coffee has created a custom coffee flavor that pairs with David's music. Pre-order your copy of David's new EP on vinyl (super limited edition) and get a free bag of coffee and other goodies to enjoy it with. Join David's mailing list for more information.
-Delta Spirit and Wild Child have been in the studio and full length albums are coming soon for both. Join their mailing lists to stay in the loop.
Here's a link to the official Troubadours on Trek Spotify Playlist, where you can hear all the featured songs from every episode in one playlist (songs will be added as episodes air on Patreon):
-Fabian's song pairing for this episode: “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” by The Beatles.
-Grace's song pairing for this episode: “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
-Fabian's featured songs are "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Pure Imagination" by The Wild Reeds, from their 2020 Covers EP.
Corrections:
- Pon farr, as established in "Amok Time," is the once-every-seven-years event in an adult Vulcan's life when they experience such extreme biological and psychological sexual desires that their normally rational minds are overcome and they are compelled to either mate with another Vulcan they are mentally bonded to, or engage in a ritualized battle. If they fail to do one of these two things, they will enter "Plak Tow," or the "blood fever," become violent and potentially die. Star Trek canon has established that Vulcans can have sex (and I guess, masturbate too) any time they want; not just during pon farr. But masturbating can't kill their crazy sex urges during pon farr. Only mating with a Vulcan they're bonded to can do that (or, alternatively, ritualized battle, or the "kal-il-fee").
- “Africa U.S.A” was a 100-acre wild animal preserve in Soledad Canyon, California (in Santa Clarita, about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles). It only existed from 1965-1969 before it was tragically destroyed by a flood. “Shore Leave” was in fact the only Star Trek episode filmed there.
- Angela reappears at the end, after Kirk and the Caretaker have had a conversation about the planet. We don’t see her coming out from underground, but at the end, when everybody is paired up we see her standing next to Rodriguez, apparently healed and/or resurrected. At no point does anyone mention her or the fact that she was injured/dead.
- Androids, or robots made to look like humans, are a science fiction staple. The term originates in the 1700’s, as a descriptor for an automaton. (Automatons are human-like or animal-like mechanical dolls that move and perform functions when wound up or switched on. There are lots of creepy historical examples. See for yourself on YouTube.) Androids began showing up in science fiction around the turn of the century and have been heavily featured in lots of science fiction short stories, books, film, and television.
- Some famous and early examples are found in Metropolis, the 1927 German film by Fritz Lang, I, Robot by Issac Asimov, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick (which was the inspiration for Blade Runner), Westward , which, before it was the popular HBO series created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, was another television series from the 1970’s, written and directed by Michael Crichton, and of course, Star Trek. Episodes of the Original Series that feature androids include “What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "I, Mudd", "Return to Tomorrow", and "Requiem for Methuselah.” One of the most beloved main characters of Star Trek: Next Generation is Data, an android created by Dr. Noonien Soong.
- Many stories about androids are not really about androids as much as they are about humans; android stories tell us about the human condition and human nature. Depictions of female androids, like the androids in The Stepford Wives or Westworld, tell us something about the ways that humans (read: men) understand, idealize, and seek to control women.
