I recently found an amateur Star Trek production on the web, and it turns out there are a number of such productions. These are downloadable episodes of  Trek-inspired series that are produced by fans and distributed for free (apparently to avoid copyright problems).  I've found five of them (and a couple of parodies not listed here).

1. Star Trek: The New Voyages, which picks up where the original 1960's series left off. A small number of episodes can be downloaded now, and more are planned. The most recent release includes a guest appearance by Walter Koenig, and the next one announced features George Takei.
2. Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, which picks up where the movie Star Trek: Insurrection leaves off  and features (mostly) new characters. This series has provided many episodes and has explored some new territory (a gay storyline involving several of the main characters).  It is about the end, and the producers have announced a new project, Star Trek: Odyssey, to replace it.
3. Star Trek: Of Gods And Men, which has not yet been released, but is a feature length story involving several original series characters played by the original actors. It also includes performances by many Trek actors in different roles. This one is more professionally produced than are the others.
4. Star Trek: Intrepid, which occurs some time after the last movie (Nemesis) and appears to be a feature length story. It is scheduled to be released this month.
5. Starship Farragut, set at the time of the original 1960's series. This one creates a new ship and set of characters. The first episode has been released, and a second one announced.

I watched one episode of New Voyages and a couple of Hidden Frontier. As you would expect, the acting isn't terrific and the production values are what you would expect from amateur productions (though, you may be surprised - modern computers and editing software mean you can do an awful lot at home). However, some of the stories are shockingly good and worthy of notice. It is also interesting the caliber of talent New Voyages and especially Of Gods And Men have been able to attract. And the premise behind Hidden Frontier is well thought out and interesting.

I'm not serious enough a Trek fan to download all this stuff, but if you are you may be surprised.

Apparently I've been out of touch lately. I'm innocently watching television, hoping for a pleasant evening of mindless entertainment. So I see the "Rick Mercer Report" is on, and tune in. That's got to be harmless, right?

But, no. What do I get? Yes, you guessed it. I know you did. Uh-huh. Bob Rae's butt. Now, don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Bob Rae's butt. I just don't need to see it. And it turns out I could have avoided it - it was a repeated of the October 10 episode. Why, oh why, did no one warn me?!

OK, I'm over it now, so I'll make 2 observations.

1. Politicians will do literally anything to get attention these days.
2. We are stupid enough to fall for it.
3. OK, 3 observations. Rick Mercer is hilarious for 3 minutes on that other show. But 30 minutes of him is just too much. And, yes, we did see too much of him too.

I saw Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, yesterday. He presents a picture which is already quite well known to anyone paying attention to environmental issues. For those who've had blinders on, though, it is a good presentation to get your attention. And, for those who already know the story, some of his graphics are worth the price of admission. You may find it slightly self-serving on Gore's part, but I don't suppose you get to the level of political achievement he did without a healthy ego.

Certainly worth 4 somethings (stars, thumbs, whatever) out of five. If it isn't playing near you, the DVD is due out in September. A disclaimer, though - hard core types will come away saying he doesn't go far enough, or that his outlook is too optimistic. The rest of you might ponder that, after you see it - this is the optimistic version of the future!

Saw Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest last night. The reviews  I've read are largely correct, I think. The effects and action are terrific, but (because it only takes the story half way) it seems to just sit there (just go see it, I don't want to give too much away). It is worth seeing, in any event, and will leave you anxious for the third installment.

But one complaint. What are they thinking with Norrington's character? That was just wrong!  To get him to where he needs to be at the end, it could have been done without ruining the great character created in the first movie.

Now you have to go see it to know what I'm talking about, don't you?

I watched the film Osama tonight. It is about an Afghan girl who, during the Taliban years, is forced to pretend to be a boy to support her family. The film very vividly shows us what life was like for women in Afghanistan at the time.

The film mercifully avoids anything terribly graphic, but it doesn’t need it. I don’t want to give anything away, but listen to the comments made by the wives of the mullah near the end of the film. Their voices and words tell us more than graphic depictions ever could.

While this film is fiction (so far as I know), it (like Bangkok Girl about which I’ve written before) draws us into the lives of the characters very successfully. It is difficult not to come away from the film both furious and sad.

On the other hand, the film does something else very important. It points out that ordinary Afghan citizens – including men – did not share the Taliban’s radical ideology. Many of the men in the film are victims of the Taliban in their own way. Those ordinary citizens are no one's enemy, and never were.

This is something we often forget when dealing with extremists.

I found myself home earlier than expected last night, and thought I’d spend some time in front of the television. John Doyle’s recommendation in the Globe & Mail, combined with the fact that a friend is currently in Thailand, convinced me to watch a documentary on “Rough Cuts” called “Bangkok Girl”.

The film describes the life of a young Thai woman who works in bar in Bangkok’s sex-trade district. Through interviews and scenes of her life, we slowly discover what her life is about. I won’t go into detail, but it is terrible. You may be thinking that you have some concept of what her life may be like; whatever you are thinking, it is worse.

The documentary also talks about the social and political conditions which create and sustain the sex-trade. Women (and children – the woman in the documentary began working in the bar at 13) are forced into the sex trade by poverty. And it is sustained by money – too much money is a stake for anyone to be willing to put an end to it.

This documentary may not tell you anything you didn’t know already. But it will give you an insight into the lives of the women working in the sex-trade in Thailand. It will make it personal for you. It will make you furious. And, in the end, deeply sad.