More Essays On The Final Frontier

Star Trek Essays - Volume Two - now available in Kindle format on Amazon.

Delving into Trek Tech, sexuality, actor background and much more, this is my second volume of collected trek goodness.  It's now available on Amazon

Orange Is The New Black And Also 'Red'

Orange Is The New Black is the hot show everyone's buzzing about on Netflix.  Chronicling the desperate lives of inmates in a women's prison, the show rides a thrilling roller coaster of intense emotions and wild themes.  Sexuality, of all kinds and stripes, also plays a big part in the narrative equation.  There are so many fun characters, one would be hard pressed to pick a favorite.  But one of the inmates holds a highly respected sci-fi connection.  One familiar face stands out from the pack of gals - one Kate Mulgrew, best known to loyal Star Trek:Voyager fans as Captain Kathryn Janeway.

Now, Mulgrew plays 'Red' - a tough talking, no nonsense Russian named Galina Reznikov, who cooks up the grub for her fellow prison pals.  It appears that Janeway has morphed into Neelix - who'd have guessed it?

The Regulation Stands - But Not On Risa

"You gonna throw me in the brig?" asks the first officer of Starship Equinox to B'Elanna Torres in the Star Trek: Voyager episode of the same name.  In Max's case, he was up to no good, so the question had merit.  During other situations, it's a seemingly innocent query full of a myriad of legal and moral possibilities.  Indeed, a starship like Voyager, according to Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) must run on regulations and protocols.  However, on the pleasure planet of Risa, those nagging, old school laws and parameters fall neatly away.

Like the Fantasy Island of the cosmos, Risa enabled stressed out Starfleet professionals to officially and efficiently take a load off.  Recreation came in many forms - most especially of the sexual kind. One of the trademark visuals - and helpful items - of a stay on Risa is the ritualistic displaying of the Horga'hn or fertility idol.  It may not look like much, or even downright silly, but it's said that once displayed, the holder nearly always gets romantic action.  Of exactly what type and amount, well, that's strictly personal.