by Rob Cottingham | Sep 16, 2014 | Uncategorized
trekkiefeminist:
I decided to watch and review “The Apple” after it was mentioned as an episode chock-full of red shirt deaths on a super-fun episode of All Things Trek featuring the creators of The Red Shirt Diaries.
“The Apple” does not have a complicated plot, so I won’t spend a lot of time on that. Basically:
- Away team beams down to Eden-esque planet, and makes sure you know how Eden-esque it is. Chekov is excited to spend time with his gf, Yeoman Martha Landon
- Four redshirts die after being attacked by trick flowers and comically exploding rocks.
- Away team meets “primitive” people festooned in plastic but non-attacking flowers and redface makeup, finds they are worshipping papier mache high school art project monster named Vaal
- Away team finds Vaal is a computer that is keeping the people on the planet immortal but also forbidding them from love/sex
- Away team + Enterprise kill Vaal because Kirk thinks people should not live in ignorance, despite Spock’s concerns about the Prime Directive
- Kirk and McCoy joke that Spock kinda looks like Satan.
- The End
Some parts of “The Apple” work better than others. Let’s start with the others.
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Awesome: “Really? I mean, as a union activist, I’m all for giving people the right to refuse unsafe work, but it doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense in Starfleet.”
by Rob Cottingham | Sep 16, 2014 | Speechwriting
Inspiring speeches don’t just persuade people of a point of view; they urge the audience to action, and show them how that action will produce meaningful progress toward a better world. Here’s an example. After I tweeted this column by the Vancouver Sun’s Daphne Bramham (“We need citizens, not just taxpayers and bookkeepers“), Ryan Merkley … Continue reading →
by Rob Cottingham | Aug 11, 2014 | Speechwriting
Originally posted on Key Messenger:
Recently I attended a luncheon speech by a senior executive from one of the world’s leading technology firms. I even sat next to be guest speaker. During lunch, his colleague indicated that the presentation had technological issues: the file wouldn’t speak to the laptop, which was angry at the projector…
by Rob Cottingham | Jul 15, 2014 | Speechwriting
If we tell them the truth, tell them that truth with a story, and tell that story with pictures, our presentations will be extraordinary. ‘Show and Tell’ Author Dan Roam Talks to Marketing Smarts I’m a fan of Dan Roam’s. He delivered a fantastic presentation to the Nonprofit Technology Conference a few years ago (you … Continue reading →
by Rob Cottingham | Jul 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
I’ve been watching The Amazing Race reruns with the kids. I’m proud of the way they’re able to spot the often-patronizing (and that’s being charitable) attitude the show takes to the countries and cultures it encounters. It’s the ultimate whirlwind, see-the-sites, reduce-a-nation-to-a-simple-caricature vacation.
But I also enjoy the shit out of it, partly as I imagine myself conquering the challenges that trigger my own phobias (heights heights heights heights heights oh god the heights) and partly because of the chance to see people react to heavy pressure.
It isn’t the casual, tossed-off cruelty of, say, American Idol judges sneering at some poor shmuck with a dream that exceeds her or his talents. It’s character revealed under pressure, Robert McKee-style… and often revealed not just to the viewers, but to the players themselves. Moments of self-revelation are surprisingly rare in American TV, and I’ve been surprised at how many I’ve seen in TAR.
