Zach Trek Random #000 - Destruct - 0: Zach Trek II!

Greetings! If you have stumbled across this blog, you are visiting a rather sadly neglected site. I always intended to resume it, but ultimately decided that, rather than trying to redesign this site, fix all the broken links and poor formatting, and update everything that needs updating, I would instead start fresh with a whole new blog. So, I invite you to visit the new, "refit" version of this blog, Zach Trek II!

As I detail in this post on Zach Trek II, I have decided to allow this site, Original Zach Trek, to remain drifting across the internet, mostly untouched (and, obviously, not actually engaging the "auto-destruct"!).

Zach Trek Random #9: RIP Leonard Nimoy

Image from Bing's news bar.

Although I have been very remiss in my blogging duties, there would be no excuse for failing to take note of the passing of the great Leonard Nimoy, beloved portrayer of Spock.

Most Star Trek fans are well familiar with his period of conflicting feelings about his association with the character, but we are all fortunate that he later enthusiastically embraced the role, reprising it more than once and referencing it in cameos in other shows and commercials, and finally serving as the bridge between all previous Star Trek installments and the 2009 reboot. It was quite fitting that the character of Spock was his final role in Star Trek Into Darkness.

I spent a good bit of time searching for a suitable tribute video to post here, but most of the videos I found were news reports featuring polished reporters reciting the same platitudes without a lot of emotion, and so I found this one from gaming web site IGN to be perhaps my favorite:



For those who didn't know, the Vulcan salute was Nimoy's brainchild. This video of Nimoy explaining its origins will give you a greater appreciation for it, and for Nimoy himself:



As many have rightly said, Nimoy did indeed "live long and prosper", and he will be missed.

(image edited from Nimoy Sunset Pie)

Zach Trek Random #8: RIP Robin Williams

As un-active as I've been here for a while, I felt the need to say something about the passing of Robin Williams. It is very sad to see someone who brought joy and laughter to so many and outwardly appeared to be so vibrant, happy, and full of life go out this way. By all accounts that I've read, he was as kind and funny off the screen as on.

Thanks to TrekMovie.com for this article detailing Star Trek actors' comments on Williams' death, and giving us some history of his connections to and interest in Star Trek, including this video of a William Shatner (or is it Captain Kirk?) cameo in his TV show Mork and Mindy:

[Edit: Unfortunately the video is no longer up. It was a short clip of a couple of minutes in which Shatner made a cameo on Mork and Mindy, brought in by way of a transporter accident. Here at least is a still photo from the scene.]

I have not given up on this blog, by the way! I still have lots of items to add, including a couple of slightly unusual items that I'm pleased to have. Right now, I have been busy with a variety of other things, but I have every intention of adding to this blog in the future.

RIP, Mr. Williams. As Leonard Nimoy said, "May his memory LLAP."

Zach Trek Video #16: Learn Klingon With Rosetta Stone!

An exciting opportunity to use Rosetta's immersive approach to learn this language! Sadly, I live in a location in which this course is not available according to a disclaimer at the end of this video:




If you also live in an area where this offer is not available, but would still like to learn some Klingon, check out Bing's translation tool, which features two different forms of Klingon, or check the Klingon Language Institute's web site. While, for those who, like Samuel T. Cogley, prefer books, there's always the Klingon Dictionary.

Zach Trek Random #7: Star Trek GIF

I recently discovered this Star Trek GIF, which I found strangely difficult to stop watching...