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Pop Culture: Does Star Trek or Star Wars have the greater influence?

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on September 8, 2019
Posted in: Activities, Conventions, Seventh Fleet. Tagged: , , , , .

Does Star Trek or Star Wars have the greater influence on popular culture? That question was asked over the weekend at the FanX court (sponsored by a local law office), and our own Ensign Richard Blanck was part of that debate. His report is posted below, edited by yours truly…

– Jill

Ensign Blanck’s log Star date 73090.7. 

While attending this year Salt Lake City FanX (ed. note: Sept 2019), I happened upon usual venues I visited. I visited the Seventh Fleet Borg alcove display, Dr. Trek ( Larry Nemecek) and his booth, food vendors, Kyber Lightsaber shop, and other events and displays going on at Fanx.

Then I came upon Fandom court in the heart of the convention – a court of fandom law where fans of many different types of genres can come and plead their case before a judge and a jury panel of their peers. I usually move on to the next venue or panel, but then I read what the last case of the of the convention would be. Star Trek vs. Star Wars- Which franchise had the greater impact on pop culture.

After I signed up to litigate for team Star Trek, I endeavored to get as many of my fellow Fleet members involved as I could. I immediately went back to our base to see if anyone else way available to litigate with me. Unfortunately for me, all members we away or were going to be engaged in other events at time. I concluded that the only logical thing to do was to take the case on myself and hope my knowledge of Star Trek was sufficient for the case at hand. Then I found out that after litigating a previous case I forfeited my chance to litigate for team Star Trek.

Undeterred by that news, I commenced an intense search for all things Star Trek. I used all the sources I could find to strengthen my case against Star Wars, including gathering information from Dr. Trek. I spent the rest of the time at FanX compiling information. After I returned home I used the rest of the night to put my information into a legal format. I returned the next day to FanX ready to plead my case, though whether I had a chance to litigate was up to the court. I arrived early to the court to see if the team was full and it happen to have one spot left which was award to me.

Our Star Trek team consisted of people very knowledgeable about Star Trek: Mr. Andrew Sigrist, Mr. Justin Hegstrom, Miss. Heather Protzman, and myself.  We had 40 minutes to prepare our case as a team. With our combined knowledge on the subject of Star Trek we felt very confident in our ability not only to litigate the case, but win it. On on the Star Wars side of the case we heard a lot of chatter and not a lot of substance in their case planning.

The opposition started first in the case with their open statement that quote “We will show you through popularity, merchandising, monetary gain, and fan base, that Star Wars and not Star Trek has had the greater influence on pop culture.” 

We started off in our opening statement to the jury that “We will show through technology,  invention, influence on people, change of society norms and many other influences that Star Trek had on not just pop culture, but culture in general. And we will show that Star Trek influenced many of our favorite sci-fi shows, including Star Wars. We will show you by all this that Star Trek and not Star Wars has had the greater influence on  pop culture then Star Wars”.

Star Wars started off their argument with the first definition of pop culture you find on google which stated “modern popular culture transmitted via the mass media and aimed particularly at younger people.” they continued their argument by stating statistics, fan base size, merchandising, source material, and overall popularity and monetary base.

Our opening argument completely ignored playing the “who is more popular” game with Star Wars. We stated that pop culture is more then just fan base and how much money a franchise has, but how it has influenced pop culture as a whole. We tried using our vast arsenal influence, tech, and other examples. Unfortunately, this was objected to every time we started down that road and the judge was sustaining every objection Star Wars called out. We closed out our remarks and yielded the floor to Star Wars.

While the opposition continued on their crusade of who is more popular, Justin asked us to find the “real” definition of pop culture. We regrouped for round two and opened our argument with the actual meaning of pop culture from the Cambridge Dictionary which stated that pop culture in “music, tv, cinema, books, etc., that are popular and enjoyed by ordinary people, rather than by experts or very educated people”. (On a side note, half of the opposition team left for other panels at this point, including their two best debaters, not waiting to hear us enter in the new definition of pop culture.)

The court allowed us four examination and cross-examination opportunities. We continued on our warpath to show that Star Trek has had the greater influence and effect on culture, and society in general. We threw everything at them. The first comic convention in May of 1972, first woman in command, first minority in command, women’s rights, first interracial kiss on television, I.D.I.C. (Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations), inspiration of people to become what they had thought to be unachievable. People became astronomers, astronauts, scientists, inventors, actors and actresses, engineers, and more.  The technological achievements and inventions that came from Star Trek are now used in every day life: cell phones, smart phones, iPads, the ion drive, tricorders, tractor beams, diagnostics beds, replicators (a.k.a. 3D printing), the hypo-spray, cloaking devices, voice interface computers, transparent aluminum, bluetooth headsets, google glass, portable memory, focused ultrasound technology, biometric data tracking, GPS, automatic doors, big screen displays, real time universal translators, teleconferencing, and the v.i.s.o.r. (a.k.a. bionic eyes).

After many back and forth examinations and rebuttals on both sides the judge called for closing statements from both sides. Star Wars was first and tried to close with the popularity and monetary/fan base angle. We gave our closing statement on the basis of change, invention, inspiration, technological creation and advancement, changes in society, influence it had on people, and that the inspiration of many sci-fi shows and movies came from the genius of Star Trek – including Star Wars. We closed our statement with a quote: “Star Trek softened up the entertainment arena so that Star Wars could come along and stand on Star Treks shoulders”.

The jury deliberated for 15 minutes and found that Star Trek has had, and continues to have, a greater influence on pop culture than Star Wars. Therefore Star Trek has the greater impact and influence on pop culture and society in general.  And with that I close this log entry.

Interesting Elephant Facts

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on August 25, 2019
Posted in: Activities, Gallery, News. Tagged: , , , , , .

Since the USS Kelly’s new spirit guide is the elephant, we thought we’d go over some interesting fact about them. All of the following information below on the African elephants, including the photos, are courtesy of the National Geographic website.

  1. African elephants are the largest mammals on Earth.
  2. Elephants are fond of water, and enjoy showering themselves by sucking water into their trunks and spraying it all over themselves.
  3. An elephant’s trunk is actually a long nose which is used for lots of things other than breathing and smelling. They will trumpet, drink through their trunk, and grab things – especially food.
  4. The trunk alone contains about 10,000 different muscles.
  5. Elephants use their tusks to dig for food and water, and also to strip bark from trees. Males also use them in battle.
  6. Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark – about 300 pounds of it per day.
  7. Elephants don’t sleep much, and they roam great distances while foraging.
  8. Elephant mothers are pregnant for about 22 months – that’s nearly two years!
  9. Baby elephants shed their first set of teeth and tusks, just like humans lose their baby teeth.
  10. Elephants make powerful low-frequency rumblings to communicate over long distances.
  11. An elephant’s brain has a very similar structure to humans.
  12. When an elephant dies, their family grieves. They may even revisit the bones of their deceased for years, touching them with their trunks. Not many animals do that.

Remember, our next activity will be going to the Hogle Zoo to view these majestic animals. We will be going on Saturday, September 21st. Time TBD.

Fleet Games report and September Activity

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on August 20, 2019
Posted in: Activities, Seventh Fleet.

FLEET GAMES REPORT:
It was great seeing everyone at the Seventh Fleet Games last Saturday. Many of our crew were able to come up and participate. We didn’t win the bragging rights trophy (congrats to the Valkyrie), but I think we did well. On the other hand, we kicked butt at Shields… but that’s another story.

If you have pictures you’re willing to share, please contact me (Jill) by PM on Facebook so I can make arrangements to get them. (I’d prefer copies of the original files.) The pictures below are from Liar’s Dice.

SEPTEMBER ACTIVITY:
Our next activity will be September 21st. We will be going to the Hogle Zoo and looking at the elephants. Since September is our birthday and our new spirit guide is the Elephant, we figured this would be appropriate. Times and other details TBD.

Seventh Fleet Games 2019

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on August 14, 2019
Posted in: Activities, News. Tagged: , , , , , .

The next USS Kelly activity is going to be the Seventh Fleet Games, held this coming Saturday, August 17, 2019 at Heyburn Central Park in Heyburn, Idaho. Directions to the park, the agenda, and additional information from the USS Valkyrie are listed below.

If you plan to attend and need a ride, please contact Mel Andrew so she can coordinate rides.

Directions to Heyburn Central Park
1. Coming from Utah take Exit 211
2. Turn left towards Burley/Heyburn
3. At the first stop light turn right onto 21st street
4. Turn left on K street and go to the end of the street
5. Park comes up on your right at the end of the street

Important information
1. We will be keeping to the time schedules listed above. If two events are going on at the same time you will need to choose which one you want to participate in, time frames can not be extended to keep us on time so travelers do not get a late start heading back.

2. There will be a silent auction that will go on throughout the Olympics. There are 30 Lots of different Sci-fi Memorabilia. Auction will close at the time the medals are awarded. We will be able to take cash, debit, and credit cards and PayPal for payments of auction items.

3. There will be a playground for small children who do not want to participate in the Cadet games. There will also be restrooms available to us for the duration of the Olympics.

4. Lunch will be Street Tacos, Salad, Chips and Dessert. We will also have bottled water available to drink. Anyone not wanting these options are more than welcome to bring their own lunch. We are not charging any Fleet member for the lunch provided. If you feel you would like to donate to cover cost a donation jar will be there for donations but is not required.

5. The event will run from 10 am to 6 pm. Instructions and sign up will happen until 10:15 am and then the games will start. Sign ups will be available up until each game starts. Time schedules will be strictly adhered to.

RPG Update: Rise of the Phoenix

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on August 6, 2019
Posted in: RPG, Tactical Logs. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

The USS Kelly held our most recent roleplaying session on August 3, 2019. We are just now starting to get to the heart of the story. You can read prior posts for the earlier parts of the story, but here’s what happened last Saturday…

Faced with multiple contract options, our intrepid crew decided to head for a starship graveyard. Unfortunately, as they were heading toward it, their propulsion quit. Instruments all said that the power generators were at full power – we just quit going anywhere.

Faced with multiple contract options, our intrepid crew decided to head for a starship graveyard. Unfortunately, as they were heading toward it, their propulsion quit. Instruments all said that the power generators were at full power – we just quit going anywhere.

It turned out that this area is a galactic “Bermuda Triangle” called the Carvon Nebula. What we didn’t realize is that our assistant engineer is from this area… an area that has magic.

We took the shuttle that is part of the ship’s configuration and mounted it on top of the bridge. What most of we didn’t realize is that we now have air and use the ship like a sailing ship, cruising between the planets in the nebula.

We landed on the nearest planet, and quickly realized that most of the people don’t speak Galactic Common. Fortunatley we found a … rather enthusiastic young woman named Ruby who was willing to help us out. (She was viewed as as a weirdo for studying science in a world where it doesn’t work.)

We also discovered that our ship is infamous within the nebula – the prior Eperor’s private yacht, named the Royal Dawn. We had to change the name, and it’s configuration, rather quickly.

Now the hull looks like a bird made out of various shades of wood, and the sails (to the port and starboard) look like giant, flaming bird wings. We named the ship the Phoenix.

What will we face next?

New ships’ colors, new Spirit Guide, and new banner

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on July 29, 2019
Posted in: News. Tagged: , , , , , , .

When a ship of Starfleet Command’s Seventh Fleet gets a new captain, they have the option to change several things about the ship, including the club’s colors and our the animal Spirit Guide, and more. Captain Nada has done just that.

The U.S.S. Kelly’s new colors are purple and silver, and our new Spirit Guide is the Elephant.

With a new Spirit Guide and new colors, it is also time for a new banner, so we need YOUR help.

1. What elephant traits do USS Kelly members possess?
2. Captain Nada also needs submissions for banner ideas (graphics are preferred over text submissions).

You can post your answers on our Facebook post, by Facebook Messenger, or by e-mail to Captain Nada.

Elephants on the meadow

New RPG Adventure begins

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on July 14, 2019
Posted in: RPG, Tactical Logs. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

On the first Saturday of every month, the Tactical department gets together and does a role-playing game. In July, we started with a new system (for us) called Savage Worlds.

Here are the notes from the first session…

“On a backwater, nothing of a planet named Kayleain lies a ship graveyard, a fuel post, and people who got stuck. Our players were all travelling on various ships when they broke down. Since there are no real spacedocks on Kayleain (which is actually a moon of the gas giant Darian V), the only way off the planet is to try to scavenge parts for repairs. Our travellers met each other on the planet, and decided to work together to get the repair work done.

Out in the debris field they found several likely candidates, all about the size of a scout vessel, including one very interesting ship that seemed more grown than manufactured.

Our intrepid travellers hired local kids to help scavenge, purchased a house that had used their ship’s airlocks as doors, and ended up putting the ship back together using most of its original parts (since they weren’t exactly compatible with other vessels).

Now, our travellers have said goodbye to their original ship (which used other parts they scavenged), hired a second Engineer named Torran, and have set off across the galaxy to find work. As soon as our adventurers took off, they found two young stowaways they don’t know what to do with.

This is going to be an interesting journey.”

Tactical Department, a brief introduction

Posted by Jill Bogler-Patterson on December 13, 2016
Posted in: Tactical Logs. Tagged: , , , , , .

I am very proud to announce that the U.S.S. Kelly’s Tactical department is back up and running!

 

Let me introduce myself. I am Lt. Commander Jill Bogler-Patterson, Chief Tactical Officer of the USS Kelly and general pain in the rear. I have been involved with this fine ship for over two decades, though due to real life issues I have not been able to work with the Kelly as I have in the past. Fortunately, that has changed.

Captain Hollinger asked me to head this department, and I have taken on the challenge with gusto.

Since the Tactical department is in charge of gaming events, we have started with a Star Trek based role playing game that will be held the first Saturday of every month and is created using the GURPS system. You can check out the USS Kelly calendar on this Web site for game dates and times. These Tactical Logs will be used to provide information on what we’re up to, but we’re also going to write up our game-play as a story.

Speaking of the story…
We are all recent graduates of Starfleet Academy, on our final training cruise aboard the USS Chimera. The Chimera is set to be mothballed and a museum piece after this mission. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned, does it?

 

If you are interested in creating a character, come up with a character idea and contact our game master here. (For example, I am a half-Betazoid/half-Caitian engineering graduate.)

If you’d like more information about the U.S.S. Kelly in general or the Tactical department specifically, contact me here.

 

Hailing frequencies closed.