Clean Definitions

Oh, you bet ... those definitions for "fear" and "hope" were a bit loose. Frankly, after having written them, I wondered if I'd short-changed the concept of "trust" in that equation. But then I got to thinking whether "trust" is really just a fancy word for "high expectation that good" -- whatever that may be, given the person and the circumstances -- "will occur."

Trust is always always associated with good, right? Does anyone trust that bad will happen to them? Many fear bad will happen to them. If they're certain of it, is that the same as trusting? I suppose it is. Certainly if they make plans based on that.

Uh oh ... there's our insurance analogy again. :-)

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Spock / Bones Numbers

Kirk -- 40 Spock / 60 Bones ... I don't agree he's the balance. The Enterprise herself was the 60 Spock / 40 Bones that made it balance.

Spock -- 100 Spock / 0 Bones ... but that's only because we agreed he had to be by definition. But in truth there's a shred of Bones in him.

McCoy -- 0 Spock / 100 Bones ... again, I think there's a shred of Spock in him.

Question: how many Bones points would Bones have at that point in the episode "City on the Edge of Forever" where he'd been accidentally shot up with some neural agent and he went nuts after jumping through the time portal? "Assasins! Murderers!" That was a great episode. But what blatant use of the blurring filter whenever Edith Keeler's face was shown as she went goo-goo over Kirk.

Scotty -- 80 Spock / 20 Bones. But get some scotch in him and stand back.

Sulu -- 70 Spock / 30 Bones ... the only episode I can recall where he got really emotional was the one where he took his shirt off and threatened to kill everyone with his Samurai sword. That was the episode with the little spinning special effect up near the ceiling that was supposed to represent some kind of energy-based alien. If memory serves, Kirk came up with the notion to drive out the alien by laughing at it. Kirk even got the Klingon to laugh. I didn't think that was possible, but with Kirk all things are possible.

Note: I wonder if Roddenberry was making a veiled allusion to Satan with that episode. A long-time notion of Satan is that what he can't stand is being mocked.

Chekov -- 20 Spock / 100 Bones ... I view Chekov as being quite emotional. Any pretense of him being cool and collected at the helm was just that: a pretense. He's a seething cauldron of Russian passion.

Uhura -- 30 Spock / 70 Bones ... cool as a cucumber at the communications station, but an emotional mess otherwise. Plus, she'd always trip and fall down whenever they were being chased.

Nurse Chapel -- two states: 60 Spock / 40 Bones around everyone else; 0 Spock / 100 Bones around Spock himself. They were the human equivalent of matter / anti-matter. But the question is, who served as the dilithium crystal?

Note: I was at a college trivia contest where someone in the audience -- it was probably me; I was such a dateless geek -- got all hot and bothered because the master of ceremonies thought that "Dilithium Crystals" was the answer to the question, "What fuel did the Enterprise use." "No! They served as a controlling agent! The fuel was matter / anti-matter." Oh hell, no wonder girls didn't pay me no never-mind back then. :-)

Yoeman Rand -- who cares ... she was hot. But talk about "high-maintenance." How long do you suppose it took her to get that hair all stacked up and braided like that? Hours.

Commodore Decker ("The Doomsday Machine") -- I love this episode. He was 99 Bones with the a one-point veneer of Spock that comes with commanding the ship.

Pop Quiz: what material comprised the exterior shell of the Doomsday Machine?

T'Pau ("Amok Time") -- Spock was a blubbering wreck compared to T'Pau. 400 Spock points. I want that woman. But she scares me. That must be what fuels my passion for her.

T'Pring ("Amok Time") -- 90 Spock / 10 Bones. Why not 100 Spock? Because what she did to Spock was heartless and calculating. Spock may have characterized her logic as "flawless," but in truth I didn't find it so. (Actually, it would be fun to find that dialog where she outlines her logical reasoning and then tear it apart.)

Stonn ("Amok Time") -- Who knows? He didn't say a word. :-)

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You know, as I look back on the original Star Trek series, I view it as a pretty emotions-based show. The show as a whole was only 40 Spock and 60 Bones. But that was in keeping with the times. The late 1960's was all about the awakening of our "feelings".