View allAll Photos Tagged Question,
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Nikon D800E Beautiful Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens!
Epic Goddess Straight Out of Hero's Odyssey Mythology! Pretty Model! :) Tall, thin, fit and beautiful!
Welcome to your epic hero's odyssey! The beautiful 45surf goddess sisters hath called ye to adventure, beckoning ye to read deeply Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, whence ye shall learn of yer own exalted artistic path guided by Hero's Odyssey Mythology. I wouldn't be saying it if it hadn't happened to me.
New 500px!
500px.com/herosodysseymythology
New instagram! instagram.com/45surf
Pretty Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! :)
Follow me on facebook! facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken
Nikon D300 Photos of Beautfiul Sexy Hot Brunette!
She was a beauty--a gold 45 goddess for sure! A Gold 45 Goddess exalts the archetypal form of Athena--the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroic endeavour, handicrafts and reason. A Gold 45 Goddess guards the beauty of dx4/dt=ic and embodies 45SURF's motto "Virtus, Honoris, et Actio Pro Veritas, Amor, et Bellus, (Strength, Honor, and Action for Truth, Love, and Beauty," and she stands ready to inspire and guide you along your epic, heroic journey into art and mythology. It is Athena who descends to call Telemachus to Adventure in the first book of Homer's Odyssey--to man up, find news of his true father Odysseus, and rid his home of the false suitors, and too, it is Athena who descends in the first book of Homer's Iliad, to calm the Rage of Achilles who is about to draw his sword so as to slay his commander who just seized Achilles' prize, thusly robbing Achilles of his Honor--the higher prize Achilles fought for. And now Athena descends once again, assuming the form of a Gold 45 Goddess, to inspire you along your epic journey of heroic endeavour.
ALL THE BEST on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
Modeling the Gold 45 Revolver Gold'N'Virtue swimsuit. :)
A laid-back,classic, socal lifestyle shoot!
May the 45surf goddesses inspire you along am artistic journey of your own making!
All 45surf Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography is shot in the honor of Truth, Beauty, and the Light of Physicist Dr. E's Moving Dimensions Theory's dx4/dt=ic . The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c. Ergo relativity, time, entropy, and entanglement.
All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person based in Kent who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them but just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.
This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.
I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.
You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.
Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)
To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.
There was this pink piece of plastic streamer on the fence. Its all around the construction site marking stakes in the ground.
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Nikon D800E Beautiful Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens!
Epic Goddess Straight Out of Hero's Odyssey Mythology! Pretty Model! :) Tall, thin, fit and beautiful!
Welcome to your epic hero's odyssey! The beautiful 45surf goddess sisters hath called ye to adventure, beckoning ye to read deeply Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, whence ye shall learn of yer own exalted artistic path guided by Hero's Odyssey Mythology. I wouldn't be saying it if it hadn't happened to me.
New 500px!
500px.com/herosodysseymythology
New instagram! instagram.com/45surf
Pretty Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! :)
Follow me on facebook! facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken
Nikon D300 Photos of Beautfiul Sexy Hot Brunette!
She was a beauty--a gold 45 goddess for sure! A Gold 45 Goddess exalts the archetypal form of Athena--the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroic endeavour, handicrafts and reason. A Gold 45 Goddess guards the beauty of dx4/dt=ic and embodies 45SURF's motto "Virtus, Honoris, et Actio Pro Veritas, Amor, et Bellus, (Strength, Honor, and Action for Truth, Love, and Beauty," and she stands ready to inspire and guide you along your epic, heroic journey into art and mythology. It is Athena who descends to call Telemachus to Adventure in the first book of Homer's Odyssey--to man up, find news of his true father Odysseus, and rid his home of the false suitors, and too, it is Athena who descends in the first book of Homer's Iliad, to calm the Rage of Achilles who is about to draw his sword so as to slay his commander who just seized Achilles' prize, thusly robbing Achilles of his Honor--the higher prize Achilles fought for. And now Athena descends once again, assuming the form of a Gold 45 Goddess, to inspire you along your epic journey of heroic endeavour.
ALL THE BEST on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
Modeling the Gold 45 Revolver Gold'N'Virtue swimsuit. :)
A laid-back,classic, socal lifestyle shoot!
May the 45surf goddesses inspire you along am artistic journey of your own making!
All 45surf Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography is shot in the honor of Truth, Beauty, and the Light of Physicist Dr. E's Moving Dimensions Theory's dx4/dt=ic . The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c. Ergo relativity, time, entropy, and entanglement.
All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions about dolls? See my FAQ!
blog/commissions- happydolls.tumblr.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lana always looks so mysterious. No one can ever tell what she's thinking! People and animals are naturally drawn to her quiet nature.
Wow, ebay gave me a lot of shit with this!! First I publish it, then none of the photos show up! So I re-upload them, and then two of them fail! Ebay, ebay...
She's available here: cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170915879551
If you have any questions or would like to contribute to this archive, please visit tigerjams.art/ and contact me on Twitter DM or Telegram ♥
At the conclusion of my Astronomy class this noon I couldn’t resist passing by Dundas Square since it was only a few steps away. Dundas Square is in the heart of Downtown Toronto and is usually a hub of activity. I’ve met several of my past Strangers here so I thought I’d check it out before going home.
Sure enough, the Square was mostly fenced off while a number of delivery trucks and workmen were busily engaged in setting up for some kind of event. I asked a security guard and was told I was witnessing preparations for a videogame release party. The new videogame “Call of Duty – Ghost” was to be released at midnight tonight to an eagerly-awaiting audience of gamers. I thanked the guard for filling me in and upon turning away I was struck by this young man standing by the security fence, chatting with his friend. It was his colourful, high-altitude Mohawk hairstyle that first caught my eye but then I noticed the piercings decorating his face which appeared friendly and expressive. I tried waiting for a break in the conversation but his friend was a real talker and finally I just had to apologize for interrupting and commented on his impressive hairstyle and told him about my photo project. Meet Josh.
We shook hands and Josh agreed to participate in 100 Strangers almost before I had explained it to him. He had to have seen my camera and said he’s used to people wanting to take his photo, so “Sure.” Finding a decent background nearby was not easy and I was a bit concerned about the bright overcast light, but wasn’t going to miss photographing this interesting young man. I decided to simply pose him alongside the security fence he was standing near and he willingly shifted his body position as I requested in my effort to minimize background distractions and get some light reaching his eyes.
Josh will be 22 in 2 weeks and was born and raised in Toronto. He works as a body piercer and has the appropriate qualification for the work. He is also an apprentice tattoo artist, still working under supervision while he gains the experience to complete his qualification as a tattoo artist. He is between jobs and will be starting work at a new studio in a week or so. I found out that the Call of Duty game is something he has been waiting for with great anticipation – enough anticipation that he came down to Dundas Square at 4:00 this morning to become the first person standing in line for the midnight release! When I asked Josh how he would describe himself he said “I’m not as unusual as I look. Basically I’m just easy-going and down-to-earth.” We talked about the fact that I have a son with the same name (but not the same hair). I asked how he deals with his hair at night and he said he just washes out the gel and spray he uses each morning to spike it up into a Mohawk. As for the dye, he said it lasts months so he doesn’t have to reapply it very often at all.
I found Josh to have a very gentle and friendly manner and it was fun meeting him. He was very tolerant of my questions and happy to answer them. It was abundantly clear that he and I, though far apart in age and lifestyle, were quite similar in what really counts: respect, openness, and good-will. Our brief acquaintance on Dundas Square today proved that.
I decided to use the Mohawk photo as the main submission since this is the feature that first attracted me to Josh. I'm including the close-up as a comment photo because without the hair, it seems to open a different window into his personality.
Thank you Josh for participating in 100 Strangers. You are now Stranger #258 in Round 3 of my project. It was a pleasure getting to meet you and I hope the game proves worth your long, cold wait.
Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
To browse Round 1 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157633145986224/
To browse Round 2 of my 100 Strangers project click here:www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157634422850489/
The Star Wars Question and Answer Book about Space. The personable droids from Star Wars answer all your questions about space: Are there Moon creatures? Can humans explore Mars? And more!
The sticker on the cover was added by a young Jedi Knight.
Random House; 1977.
Closeup view of 7.62-mm rounds
Print version: society6.com/VoronaPhotography/Questions-0AB_Print
To follow me on Facebook, see www.facebook.com/VoronaPhotography
What color is the most accurate in LEGO for Panzer grey? I can't seem to decide between dark bley and light bley.
Thoughts?
Photo credit: aknownduck.deviantart.com/art/Tiger-Tank-Color-317463126
Cornwall 2011.
may just do a tag :)
People Today:
1. Person You hung out with: mostly jemma :)
2. Rode in a car with: no cars yet, only school bus.
3. Went to the movies with: no one.
4. Went to the mall with: no one.
5. You talked on the phone to: no one yet surprisingly :o
6. Made you laugh: ben, jemma & sophia c:
7. Last person you told and/or they told you they Loved you: chandni c:
Would You Rather:
1. Pierce your nose or tounge: neither, ew.
2. Be serious or be funny: funny omg
3. Drink whole or skim milk: whole<3
4. Die in a fire or get strangled? which ever is fastest.
5. Spend time with your parents or enemies: parents any day!!
Truth:
1. Do you like anyone: yes
2. Sun or moon: moon
3. Winter or Summer: winterrr
4. Left or right: right
5. 10 acquaintances or two best friends: two best friends
6. Sunny or rainy: rainy okay?
Me:
1. What time is it: 4:44pm
2. First Name: Sophie
3. Where do you wanna live: Nottingham (ew the name isn't even nice, when can I live in america)
4. How many kids do you want: 2 or 3
5. Do you want to get married: yes
6. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it: twirl, I'm lazy
7. Have you ever eaten spam: yess
8. Favorite ice cream: ben & jerry's cookie dough
9. How many kinds of cereal are in your cabinet: all ones I don't like because my mum doesn't like getting cereal I like.
10. Do you cook: yeah all the time <3
11. Current mood: fed up
Last 48 Hours:
1. Kissed some one: no :c
2. Sang: yep!
3. Been hugged: yeah
4. Felt stupid: I tend not to but yes actually.
5. Missed someone: yes.
6. Danced Crazy: yes aha
7. Gotten your hair cut: noo
8. Cried: yes, like 5 minutes ago wah
Stuff:
1. Have you ever been searched by the cops: no.
2. Do you have a Dog: yes, she is adorable.
3. When's the last time you've been sledding: like... last winter? idk.
4. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone? someone else.
5. Do you believe in ghosts: yes, but not in the simple 'there's a ghost' thing my opinion is complicated.
6. Do you consider yourself creative: kinda.
7. Do you think you're pretty: never have, never will.
8. Have you ever drank milk straight from the carton: yes omg
9. Do you like to dance: when intoxicated? apart from that I can't dance so I save everyone's pain
10. Are you sitting next to someone right now: no, forever alone in my room.
the longest tag I've ever had, quite cool questions c:
hope everyone's thursday's have been & are going to be fabulous c:
27 I'm drinking a lot of water lately, and it's put me in such a good mood!
Quick question, for my upcoming Pacific MOC i was wonder what would be the best looking marine? Just focus on the torso for now, I want to know if i should leave my 15 marines with the Endor torso or do I apply my decals?
Nebraska State Liaison Officer Julia Schmitt asks at question during the NRC 2015 National State Liaison Officers Conference in Rockville, Md.
Visit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's website at www.nrc.gov/
For those who wish to leave a comment or feedback please send via email to opa.resource@nrc.gov.
Photo Usage Guidelines: www.flickr.com/people/nrcgov/
Privacy Policy: www.nrc.gov/site-help/privacy.html
We now take you to the temporary headquarters of the Texas Kritter Krewe for a press conference...
Timmy: Good morning. As the self-appointed chief of the Texas Kritter Krewe, I will be making a brief statement regarding our evacuation of Hugetown. Afterward, I will field questions as long as I feel like it.
As all of you know by now that the Gulf Coast area was struck by Hurricane Ike last Friday. I just want to make sure that all of our friends and relatives know that I am OK. My part of Hugetown was in the eye wall for several hours of intense wind and rain without the break that would have come if the eye had passed directly overhead. As a result, I was left without lectrical power, running water and unreliable connections for communications devices. After several days of making the best of a bad situation and inspired by the words of the great philosopher Thomas Earl Petty, who said "Now baby you don't have to live like a refugee", I decided that the best alternative was to evacuate until conditions improve.
I made the decision to head where important people hide out in times of trouble and danger, a ranch in Crawford, Texas. I arrived at the front gate and pressed the buzzer to ask if I could hang out there until the storm damage is all cleaned up -- the voice on the other end said that only Dubya could OK that and he couldn't be interrupted while watching cartoons. I asked to speak to that other dude, the one who should be playing The Penguin in the next Batman movie -- they said he couldn't OK that but he would love to take me hunting sometime...
Since that was a bust, I decided to head further north into Indian Territory, since I am on pretty good terms with the Osage. Once I crossed the Red River, I was happy to find that the Native Americans had built a turnpike to provide us safe passage through their nations. Upon arriving at the Fairy Godmother's house, I have been able to relax and enjoy the kritter comforts to which I am normally accustomed.
I'll now consider answering some of your questions...
Snort the Bull, Beanie Times: You only make references to yourself. Were you alone in this escape from the hurricane-ravaged conditions of your neighborhood?
Timmy: Nah, Mommy, Daddy and all those other stuffed dudes were with me and are doing just fine but I'm the only one I really care about, so let's stick to the most important subject here: ME!
Fluffy Muffins, Stuffed Cat FanMag: How did your food supply hold out during the days after the storm?
Timmy: Good question. At first, there were plenty of snacks, even enough to share with friends. When everything in the fridge and freezer started to go south, Mommy and Daddy wouldn't stop whining... and with no stores open, there was just no shutting them up -- it was all like "We want to eat more than two meals a day. We want a balanced diet."
Fluffy Muffins, Stuffed Cat FanMag: A follow-up question, if I may... You mentioned sharing snacks with other victims of Hurricane Ike. What about the rumors that you distributed cookies contaminated with monkey-butt?
Timmy: I will not, at this time or in the future, discuss the current or past activities of my butt or its proximity to hurricane relief supplies. Those supplies were distributed in good faith and were appreciated by those who received and consumed them. Would you ask John McCain that question?!
Scruffy, Knitters Gone Wild: What about the relief supplies to be distributed through official channels?
Timmy: I never saw any of those. As a matter of fact, our congressman was on TV asking for food and water for the Texas DPS officers and National Guard. FEMA was supposed to give them some, plus extras for the hurricane victims. I know that the E and M stand for "Emergency Management" but Mommy will get really mad if I say what Daddy told me the F and A stand for...
Rover Reporter, Plushie Canine Insider: But what about the MRE's being distributed to the victims?
Timmy: Dude, once I heard that they would be handing out "Monkeys, Ready to Eat" -- I didn't stick around to become somebody's snack pack!
G.I. Joe, Action Figure News: Um, don't you think some of your remarks might be slightly offensive to Native Americans?
Timmy: My experience has been that most Native Americans have a pretty good sense of humor. The Osage were uprooted and relocated twice -- only to find that the land they were given was sitting on top of a whole bunch of oil! Now they can just laugh and laugh...
Scooter, Webkins Web Blog: What about the stories of gas shortages in Hugetown?
Timmy: Sure, all of the stations were closed because they were either out of gas or didn't have power but as long as we have Daddy, there will never be a gas shortage wherever we are.
Sox the Monkey, World Handycraft Review: Will you be returning to Hugetown anytime soon?
Timmy: I suppose I'll have to at some point... but have you seen the Fairy Godmother's pantry? I'm moving the TV in there and never coming out!!!
OK, I'm bored and over this, so that ends our press conference -- Later, Dudes!
I am combining questions with trying a new technique each week. This was mini misters by Tim Holtz.
see full list: www.karenika.com/individual/2009_projects_project_3_52_ta...
Star Trek- The Menagerie , “Return to Talos IV”
youtu.be/v5XBfgPy43A?t=2s The full feature.
The Menagerie Review: February 8, 2014 by neoethereal
As the only two-part episode in The Original Series, “The Menagerie” also cleverly serves as a re-telling of the very first Star Trek story ever filmed, “The Cage.” This week on The Uncommon Geek, I examine all of these episodes in full detail, highlighting their connections to other aspects of the Trek mythos. As well, I take a look at the ground broken by Gene Roddenberry concerning the nature of reality, decades before movies like “The Matrix” challenged the perception of our everyday world.
Equipped with little more than a shoestring budget and massive constraints on time with which to work, Gene Roddenberry and his Star Trek production team had to get extremely creative in order to make the show work. Nowhere, in my opinion, is that more evident than here in “The Menagerie,” an entry that served the purpose of buying the production team time to properly finish subsequent episodes, and as well, afforded Gene Roddenberry a unique opportunity to re-tell the story he had wanted to get on the air all along, “The Cage.”
This episode begins with the Enterprise having been called out of its way, to Starbase 11. Confusion arises when the starbase’s commanding officer, Commodore Mendez, reveals to Captain Kirk that the base never sent any message to the Enterprise. Spock claims to have received that message, which puts Kirk into the difficult position of whether to trust the starbase computers, or the word of his first officer and friend.
It turns out that Captain Christopher Pike, the former commander of the Enterprise, who was recently crippled and disfigured in a terrible accident, is on Starbase 11, and suspicion arises that perhaps he relayed a message to Spock. When Kirk finally gets to see Pike, however, he realizes that it would have been impossible for Spock’s former commanding officer to have done this, for Pike is now wheelchair bound, and his communication with others is limited to electronic beeps that fill in for “yes” and “no.
While Kirk and Mendez wrestle over the truth, Spock executes a daring and clever plan to hijack the Enterprise, taking Captain Pike with him. It goes to show just how dangerous an opponent someone as smart and calculating as Spock can be when he puts his mind to it. Spock sets the Enterprise on a locked course for Talos IV, a planet which the ship visited on a past mission under Christopher Pike, and a planet that invites the death penalty upon any Starfleet officer who goes there
The secret file on Talos IV, and the article of General Order 7
I personally find the idea of a death penalty being associated with Talos IV to be somewhat dubious; although there is a very good reason why Starfleet wants the existence of the Talosians kept secret, I find it hard to believe that if the Federation is capable of having a death penalty, that it only applies to one law. It may just be a grand bluff, and indeed, there is some evidence to that effect later in the episode. Regardless, breaking General Order 7 is a serious offense, and Spock is if nothing else, putting his career and livelihood on the line.
Kirk, of course, isn’t going to sit by while his ship is abducted. He and Mendez make a daring attempt to chase the Enterprise in the Shuttlecraft Picasso, knowing full well that while they would never catch up, they would appear on the Enterprise sensors. Kirk gambles his life on the fact that his friend Spock would not leave him to die in the void of space, as the shuttle runs out of fuel. Kirk’s illogical gambit causes Spock’s plan to unravel, and he surrenders himself to custody, pleading guilty to every charge leveled against him. However, Spock has locked the Enterprise into a course for Talos IV that cannot be broken, which will potentially extend the death sentence that is on himself, to Kirk as well.
The court martial that proceeds against Spock is highly unusual; as mentioned, Spock pleads guilty without defense, but through some legal technicality, manages to arrange for the court to hear out his evidence as to why he went through with his illegal actions. Given that Kirk is presiding over the hearing, and that the crew has little else to do but wait until they reach Talos IV, I get the lenience, but I am not sure what real court would remain in session to examine evidence for someone who just admitted their guilt. Or admittedly, maybe I just don’t know enough about legal proceedings.
Spock’s evidence, as it turns out, is a transmission from Talos IV, beamed directly to the Enterprise, which details the vessel’s first trip there under the command of Captain Pike. Of course, this transmission is the original Star Trek pilot, “The Cage,” and from this point on, “The Menagerie” consists almost entirely of footage from that episode.
Aside from some really goofy tech dialogue, and incomplete characterizations, “The Cage” holds up surprisingly well. We get to see that Jeffrey Hunter’s Captain Pike is a darker, colder man than James Kirk; he is someone whose decisions and responsibilities as a commander are weighing on him heavily, and he is nearing the point of considering resignation. Pike’s first officer is only referred to as Number One (played by Majel Barrett), who is an amazing example of a strong female role for 1960’s television, but unfortunately her character had to be discarded by Roddenberry when the studio forced him to choose between keeping his strong, logical female, or his alien Spock. Roddenberry ended up giving Spock Number One’s cold, emotionless, logical persona, and thus the Spock we know and love was born.
It really is a shame that NBC put so much pressure on Roddenberry to alter his concept of women in the 23rd Century; aside from Number One, the other female crew members of the Cage-era Enterprise also seem to be on equal footing with the men, and there isn’t a mini-skirt in sight. Of course, this reviewer by no means, from an aesthetic point view, objects to how the women of the Enterprise look in said mini-skirts, but cheekiness and my own red-blooded male impulses aside, the female officers in Starfleet should have been offered the same, more professional uniform as the males. Unfortunately we would have to wait until The Motion Picture to see more fairness in the way men and women are presented in Star Trek.
When Enterprise finds evidence of human survivors on Talos IV, from a doomed expedition many years ago, Pike, Spock, and an away team beam down to investigate. What at first seems like a wonderful discovery of lost, homesick men, turns out to be just an elaborate, life like illusion created by the Talosians. Pike is abducted when he is lured in by the only true human survivor from the crash, Vina, whom he is extremely attracted to.
Pike is subjected to a variety of illusions crafted by the Talosians, in order to foster cooperation, as well as to strengthen his attraction toward Vina. Vina is presented to Pike in a variety of forms; as a damsel in distress on Rigel VII, as a wife in the countryside on Earth, and as a primal, animalistic Orion slave woman, all in an attempt to make him submit to his situation.
However, Pike is every bit as stubborn as Captain Kirk, and certainly has a darker, more furious edge to him. When he discovers that primitive, base human emotions such as hatred, and anger, block out the Talosian’s illusions and their telepathic abilities, he mines that weakness long enough to take one of them captive. Once the illusion is broken, the Enterprise crew find out that their attempts to break Pike out from his underground cage with phaser fire were actually working, but all along they weren’t able to see it.
The Talosians had, thousands of centuries ago, devastated their planet and their civilization with war. They retreated underground, where their telepathic abilities flourished, but their physical bodies and their technology atrophied. They had apparently been testing various species for many years, looking for a suitable slave race to use for rebuilding their world, but none had shown as much promise as humanity.
However, when the away team threatens to kill themselves with an overloaded phaser, and as well when the Talosians finish screening the Enterprise‘s records, they realize that humans would rather die than be enslaved, and would be too violent to keep in captivity. With of course, the sad exception of Vina, who in reality is too badly disfigured to live a normal life outside of Talos IV.
(I once heard a suggestion that Vina could be repaired using the transporter. I don’t think 23rd century transporters were sophisticated enough for that, plus, there wouldn’t be an original, unaltered version of her pattern to reference.)
The ending of “The Cage” leads us to the final moments of “The Menagerie,” where it is revealed that not only have the Talosians been transmitting a signal to the Enterprise, but even Commodore Mendez himself has been one of their illusions all along!
It is also revealed that Spock’s only intention was to take Captain Pike to Talos IV, so that the crippled starship commander could live out the rest of his life as a healthy, happy man with Vina. Even Kirk seems to relent that it is better to live with an illusion of health and happiness, than a reality of living as a useless vegetable. That Commodore Mendez was an illusion, and that Starfleet sends a signal to the Enterprise, apparently excusing their violation of Talos space, seems to let Spock off the hook. Perhaps too easily in fact; despite acting out of nothing but loyalty to his former Captain, and despite that the way he enacted his plan was done in such a manner as to put the blame only on himself, Spock seems to get out of his predicament with apparently no trouble at all. We can make a guess that perhaps this incident is why he doesn’t receive a promotion or command of his own until years later, but there is nothing spoken on-screen to that effect.
We are also left to ponder about how much of the incident was real at all. Since the Talosians can apparently project their powers through subspace, one wonders just how long they conspired with Spock, and also, how much we see of Mendez was real or an illusion. My guess is that the Mendez we see at the base was real, and what goes onto the shuttle with Kirk was the illusion, but unfortunately, again, there is little to back that up. What we do know for sure is that the Talosian’s powers are not to be trifled with, and it is truly for wise for Starfleet to give them a wide berth.
Despite some problems with logic and consistency, “The Menagerie” is an entertaining, fascinating episode that shows original series Trek at some of its most interestingly cerebral. Gene Roddenberry’s first pilot examines the nature of reality decades before The Matrix did, and asks the questions: What is real? How does one define their purpose, their reality? Is our reality just relative, defined only by experience? Is there a such thing as an absolute reality, or only what our senses perceive, or for that matter what they think they perceive? This is smart, ahead of its time writing for the 1960s.
Through the tragedies that befell both Vina and Pike, we must also question the quality of human life, and the value we place on it. Is it worth staying alive if you can’t function? If your brain is sound but your body is broken, can you still truly live? Speaking for myself, I certainly would despise the existence that Captain Pike is forced to endure in his wheelchair. I’d rather be dead than live that way. I’m not sure how I would react exactly to being forced to live in an illusion, but it is certainly preferable to a reality of uselessness and immobility. Besides, is our everyday life not just an elaborate series of deceptions spun before our very eyes; maybe not as powerful as a trick of telepathy played by an alien race, but an illusion nonetheless?
For even provoking these thoughts, and much more, “The Cage,” and by extension, “The Menagerie,” are what I consider among the best of Star Trek’s purely cerebral stories about human nature. It is imaginative, thoughtful, and quite engaging.
Bruxelles, 4.2024
Galeries Royales Saint Hubert
Sculpture: Jean-Michel Folon
"Ce grand malheur de ne pouvoir être seul."
>>> La Bruyère (1645-1696)
Every copy/paste comment codes, awards, group logos will be deleted. Please only personal comments. Don't fave without comment, thanks!