Star Trek Archives - Chris Carosa

Why I Started To Write

By Chris Carosa on August 15, 2023

I’ve seen this quote all over the news lately. Funny thing, but I remember the quote and not the news story that prompted its use. The quote is from Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises. In it, Bill asks how Mike went bankrupt. Mike responds with the now literary meme, “Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly.”

It turns out this “gradually then suddenly” concept applies to a lot more than bankruptcy. Think about how the Roman Empire fell. This applies both to the OG empire centered in Continue Reading “Why I Started To Write”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Armageddon, chain reaction, critical mass, English class, Erie County Fair Museum, Ernest Hemingway, first grade, freshman year, Herbie the Helicopter, high school, I think I can, Joseph Conrad, Kirk, Mary Lee, Miss Jackson, Mr. Clauss, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Polito, nuclear fission, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Spock, Star Trek, The Enemy Within, The Secret Sharer, The Sun Also Rises

Simple Summer Mornings In The Years B.C. (‘Before Chili’)

By Chris Carosa on August 1, 2023

If the summers of Dortmund Circle were filled with sports of all sorts, flingable fruit filled the summers of Abbott Parkway. That wasn’t the only difference.

While nearly all the kids my age on Dortmund Circle were boys, girls dominated the peerage on Abbott Parkway. There were a lot more kids on Abbott Parkway, in part because the street was twice as long. That length also changed our venues of play.

On Dortmund Circle, all us guys lived within a few houses of each other. Our playing fields (mostly the street and our driveways) lay right outside our doors. Given its substantial length and the location of most of the kids, Abbott Parkway presented a different avenue to fun.Continue Reading “Simple Summer Mornings In The Years B.C. (‘Before Chili’)”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 3-d Football Card, Abbott Parkway, Angelo, bikes, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, Dave Thomas, Dick Butkus, Dortmund Circle, grandpa's house, Highland Parkway, Kellogg's, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Kenny, Kirk, Life cereal, Markie, Mary Lee, McCoy, mom, Quake, Quisp, Raisin Bran, Rocketship 7, Spock, Star Trek, Trix

The Black List Listless Series Finale Disappoints

By Chris Carosa on July 18, 2023

I don’t usually review movies or television series, but when I do…

If an image of a smart looking older man just dripping of Mexican aristocracy blossoms in your head, then you’ve been influenced by the same advertising campaigns as I have. No, in case you’re wondering, this column is not a Dos Equis beer commercial. But it is about the most interesting man in the world.

Or at least the television world.

Before I leave the advertising realm, chances are the image you conjured was that of a well-tanned but weathered gentleman with graying hair and an even grayer beard. He looks like a modern-day Don Quixote. It’s an allure that’s hard to turn away from.

Incidentally, the actor Jonathan Goldsmith portrayed this character from 2006 through 2016. In his final ad, Dos Equis launched “the most interesting man in the world” on a one-way trip to another world—Mars. His final epitaph was the fitting, “His only regret is not Continue Reading “The Black List Listless Series Finale Disappoints”

Posted in Movie Reviews, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged bull, bullfighter, Death in the Afternoon, Don Quixote, Dos Equis, Dr. Richard Kimble, Elisabeth Keen, Ernest Hemingway, Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, James Spader, Jonathan Goldsmith, M*A*S*H, man in the arena, most interesting man, Reddington, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Star Trek, The Black List, The Fugitive, The Sun Also Rises, Theodore Roosevelt

My Life With AI—Part I: Early Geekdom

By Chris Carosa on May 23, 2023

The lure of artificial intelligence (or “AI”) enticed me. But let’s not get ahead of the story.

For reasons that aren’t important right now, I spent my high school years channeling my inner Spock. Relying on logic to drive your life rather than the vicissitudes of emotion made things quite amazing. Today we’d call it going down rabbit holes. Back then, I merely explored wherever my curiosity took me.

“Hold on!” you’re saying, “isn’t ‘curiosity’ an emotion?”

Well, some psychologists might agree, (see Litman, “The Measurement of Curiosity As a Feeling of Deprivation,” Journal of Personality Assessment, 82(2), 147-157). Spock merely uses it as a statement of fact. In Episode 26 of Season 1, “Errand of Mercy,” in Star Trek—The Original Series, he says, “It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.”

There is an intersection between Litman (who says curiosity is a “motivation”) and Spock’s use of the term. Think of what happens when you hear a strange noise on the other side Continue Reading “My Life With AI—Part I: Early Geekdom”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged artificial intelligence, BASIC, Basic Scientific Calculator, BatteryMarch, C++, calculator, COBOL, computer, curiousity, FORTRAN, Gates-Chili High School, HP-31E, Litman, logic, Moore's Law, RadioShack, Spock, Star Trek, TRS-80

This Is More Important Than Being ‘Tolerant’

By Chris Carosa on January 25, 2022

No matter where you are, there it is. It’s called by a lot of different names, but it all means the same thing.

The trouble is, it doesn’t. And that can hurt people.

You may have heard this story before.

Decades ago, before I had the joy of children, I was assigned as the Town Board liaison to the school district. It was during the initial hype of political correctness. At the time, and not so different from today, you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing the maxim “Be Tolerant” plastered somewhere.

During one meeting, (a strategic planning discussion), we were asked to brainstorm on Continue Reading “This Is More Important Than Being ‘Tolerant’”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Axis Powers, Captain Kirk, City on the Edge of Forever, commonality, Crusades, Edith Keeler, HFL School District, Hue de Tabarie, King Saladin of Egypt, Nazi, Ordene de chevalerie, Order of Knighthood, Prince Hugh II of Tiberias, Star Trek, Tolerance Paradox, Town Board, World War II

Abandon All Bond, Ye Who Enter Here

By Chris Carosa on November 2, 2021

I don’t usually do movie reviews, but I when I do, I drink water. And I also usually write them immediately after seeing the film. I did that in this case. The editorial calendar, has the review coming out a month later. On the bright side, at least everyone who watched the movie will have done so by now, so I don’t have to warn you about spoilers.

For James Bond aficionados, there’s always been an obvious choice for “Worst Bond Film Ever.”

Following Sean Connery’s “retirement” after the box office smash You Only Live Twice, the film series’ producer Albert Broccoli had to look for a new Bond. It’s said he considered over Continue Reading “Abandon All Bond, Ye Who Enter Here”

Posted in Movie Reviews, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Adam West, Albert Broccoli, Batman, Burt Bacharach, Burton K. Wheeler, Captain Kirk, Casino Royale, Charles Feldman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, City on the Edge of Forever, Daniel Craig, Dante Alighieri, David Niven, Dick Van Dyke, Dr. No, Fry's Chocolate, George Lazenby, Hal David, Ian Fleming, Inferno, James Bond, Jimmy Bond, Marquess of Queensberry, MI6, No Time To Die, Oliver Reed, Peter Sellers, Roald Dahl, Sean Connery, Star Trek, The Look of Love, The Magical Car, Timothy Dalton, Ursula Andress, Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Family, Woody Allen, You Only Live Twice

‘The Coming Thing…’ Thoughts on Turning 60

By Chris Carosa on July 21, 2020

OK, OK, so I admit it. This is a vanity post. I’ll be writing to you this week (and, it turns out, next week, too) in an unusually personal fashion.

Next week’s column (which was bumped a week for this week’s column) will make more sense. It’s written in a true “drama in real life” fashion. Oh, you needn’t worry. There’s very little real drama in it. But it will hold together in a way the following potpourri of random thoughts won’t.

Don’t mistake me, though. There will be portions of this mishmash very alluring. Some of it may even elicit the thought, “I’m glad someone finally said that.”

And with that, here we go…Continue Reading “‘The Coming Thing…’ Thoughts on Turning 60”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Brian Keith, Brisco County, Bruce Campbell, Catarina, Cesidia, coronavirus, COVID-19, Dean Martin, Evil Dead, Goldfinger, Holy Grail, Honor Blackman, Jr., mom, Peter, Sam Raimi, something big, Star Trek, syndication, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, the coming thing

Should Yale (and Other Elite Colleges) Require Students Take a Kobayashi Maru Test?

By Chris Carosa on December 3, 2019

When it comes to “The Game,” precedent has no say. The annual Yale-Harvard ritual evokes a rivalry that transcends the ages, as well as the win-loss record of the season’s previous games. So it was in 1979 when the heavily favored undefeated Yale Bulldogs fell to the Harvard Crimson in the season’s ultimate game by the score of 22-7.

Even the final score means nothing. In 1968, when Harvard scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds to earn a tie, the Harvard Crimson headline read: “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.”

This year, the 136^th edition of The Game was much anticipated. ESPN had it moved up an hour to a noon start since the Yale Bowl has no lights. Yale, with a record of 8-1, scoring an average of 37.4 points-per-game and fighting for the Ivy League title, was the odds-on favorite to defeat Harvard, losers of four straight. Was anyone surprised, then, that the first half ended with Harvard beating the Bulldogs by a solid 15-3 margin?

The halftime show changed everything.Continue Reading “Should Yale (and Other Elite Colleges) Require Students Take a Kobayashi Maru Test?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Alumni Assembly Convocation, Buffalo Bills, Campusland, Doonesbury, ESPN, football, Harvard, Kabayashi Maru, M*A*S*H, Marv Levy, Peter Salovey, resilient, Scott Johnston, Star Trek, The Game, YAA, Yale, Yale Bowl

We’ll Always Have Paris… How The Business of Sequels Destroyed America’s Youth

By Chris Carosa on July 23, 2019

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. That may be true, but it is also the greatest impediment to progress.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a certain business sense to imitation – and I don’t mean outright theft of intellectual property. I’m referring to the “variation on a theme” that has become a successful marketing trope since well before Beethoven, Bach, and The Beatles.

Companies use the goodwill (and good publicity) generated by a top selling product, give it a tweak here and there, then come out with a “new” product that borrows heavily from the theme of the original. Rarely, however, does this sequel product ever reach the heights of its predecessor.

Here’s an example. Following the tremendous success of Continue Reading “We’ll Always Have Paris… How The Business of Sequels Destroyed America’s Youth”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott and Costello, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Buck Rogers, Casablanca, Charlie Chan, Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, George Lucas, Han Solo, Hollywood, Ilsa, Kirk, Leia, Luke, McCoy, millenial, On the Road, Pepsi, Renault, Rick, serial movie, Spock, Star Trek, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Tarzan, The Wrath of Khan, Two and a Half Men, variations on a theme, Victor Lazlo

Confessions of a Numbers Guy

By Chris Carosa on March 5, 2019

Admit it. How many of you read the headline and immediately thought of running the rackets? Tsk, tsk. Too many late-night gangster movies watched on AMC for you!

No, this numbers guy has nothing to do with gambling. I’m not worried about some random fed chasing me down on some random RICO charge. These numbers deal with only one thing: math in its various (legal) applied forms.

My high school teachers knew me better than I knew myself. For four years I paraded from class to class singing the hosannas of science. In science class I asked the toughest questions (especially in physics). In social studies class I trumpeted the scientists during the Age of Enlightenment. In English class I rebelled – even to the point of denying any Continue Reading “Confessions of a Numbers Guy”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Alana Foley, B.F. Skinner, Carol Weissbrod, Cesidia, S.S. Stevens, Sheila Tobias, Sian Beilock, Star Trek, Susan Levine