@NASA had the geekiest tweet last night and I loved it

[Guest EXPAT]

Sometimes little messages mean a lot. William Shatner decided to ask @NASA how things were going and they responded in the best possible way.

[wayout]

Love it.....Thanks for that. Btw, to show how dense I can be, I always thought the term was "com" as in command. I learned something new. And for those Star Trek fans, here is an interesting article about its use there

http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/?p=3907

“Scotty, you’ve got the conn.”

We’ve heard it a zillion times. Kirk is frequently leaving the Bridge of the Enterprise for one reason or another and leaving someone in charge of the Bridge.

The Online Etymological Dictionary clarifies that con, conn, and conning when used in this context come from the old word cond, which comes from Middle English conduen (meaning “to conduct’) which comes from old Anglo-French cunduire, which in turn comes from Latin conductus (past participle of conducere), meaning ”to lead or bring together.” The earliest written English use of the word con in this context would seem to be from the year 1626. This concept of “getting something (in this case, a ship) successfully from Point A to Point B” is also still in use in the English word conduit. The differences in spelling (conn versus con) would seem to be simple American English verses British English variant–like tires and tyres. In the end, whatever the actual etymology of the word is, its meaning is clear: “you have control of the ship.”

The Naval Shiphandler’s Guide has this to say about the term:

“One of the most important principles of ship handling is that there be no ambiguity as to who is controlling the movements of the ship. One person gives orders to the ship’s engine, rudder, lines, and ground tackle. This person is said to have the ‘conn.’

—James Alden Barber, 2005, ‘Introduction,’ p.8, The Naval Shiphandler’s Guide”

So, how many times did Captain Kirk actually have someone “take the conn?” It turns out, not quite as many as you might expect.

Without getting into those times where “giving the conn” to someone happened throughout the Star Trek movieseries, and without getting into all those times where someone (like Lieutenant Leslie, for example) clearly had the conn without us ever seeing the initial handoff, here are the thirteen (13)–yes, thirteen–a baker’s dozen–times that Kirk gave orders for someone to “take the conn” in The Original Series and The Animated Series:

1. “A Private Little War” (episode 45) “You have he conn, Scotty.”

2. “A Piece of the Action” (episode 49) “Scotty, you have the conn.”

3. “Return to Tomorrow” (episode 51) ”Mister Sulu, you have the conn.”

4. “Elaan of Troyius” (episode 57) “Mister Spock, you have the conn.”

5. “The Tholian Web” (episode 64) “Scotty, you have the conn.”

6. “For the World is Hollow, and I Have Touched the Sky” (episode 65) “Mister Scott, you have the conn.”

7. “Wink of an Eye” (episode 68) “Mister Spock, you have the conn.”

8. “That Which Survives” (episode 69) “Mister Spock, you have the conn.”

9. “The Cloud Minders” (episode 74) “That’s an order, Mister Spock. You have the conn.”

10. “The Way to Eden” (episode 75) “Scotty, you have the conn.”

…and then the final three times were in the Animated Series:

11. “One Upon a Planet” (animated epiosde 6) “Mister Arex, you have the conn.”

12. “The Survivor” (animated episode 9) “Take the conn, Mister Spock.”

13. “The Pirates of Orion (animated episode 17) “Mister Sulu, you have he conn.”

So, all in all, it wasn’t that many times. With no instances in the first season, three instances in the second season, and the rest in the third season (or later, in the case of the animated episodes), the use of the term “the conn” was actually a fairly late development in Star Trek.

For those who are keeping score, here are the final counts:

Mister Spock 5

Mister Scott 5

Mister Sulu 2

Mister Arex 1

For the sake of being a completest, there were a few times where someone was asked to simply “take over.” Presumably, this general “take over [command of the Bridge]” order is about the same thing as the “take the conn” order. Those times were:

1. “Tomorrow Is Yesterday (episode 21) “Try and beam that pilot aboard. Take over, Mister Spock.”

2. “The Doomsday Machine (episode 35) “Very well, Mister Spock: the Bridge is yours,” says Commodore Matt Decker.

3. “I, Mudd” (episode 41) “Spock, take over.”

4 “Journey to Babel (episode 44) “Mister Chekov, take over.”

5. “The Tholian Web (episode 64) “Take over, Mister Sulu. I’ll be in the transporter room.” says Mister Scott.

[Guest hitoallusa]

I personally think the Star Trek series stimulated young minds about the universe and its endless possibilities. I love Star Trek. My favorite character is Dean Troi.. If I could read other people's thoughts that would be great- my spouse could never cheat on me and I will stop him from doing so.. Well not so great for my wandering spouse.. LOL..

[Guest EXPAT]

I also learned something new with the "conn". Thanks for posting that description.

[AdamSmith]

Also this term:

A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can conn the vessel, i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility of the entirety of their ship itself and of ocean conditions and other vessels.

The verb “conn” probably stems from the verb “conduct” rather from another plausible precedent, the verb “control”.^[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conning_tower

[Guest ButtWilde]

Not to be outdone by the cunning-ilinguis tower!

[RA1]

One useful bit of information was to realize that Star Trek's military organization was based upon the US Navy. Those of us who served in the US Navy knew immediately what, "you have the conn" meant.

If they had referred to academy graduates as "zoomies" I would have known the organization was US Air Force but perhaps not much more after that.

Best regards,

RA1

[AdamSmith]

Not to be outdone by the cunning-ilinguis tower!

Those cunning linguists.

[Guest ButtWilde]

Capt Kirk: Mr. Sulu you have the cunning-ilinguis tower.

Mr. Sulu: But Captain.....

Capt Kirk: Mr. Sulu, mister, you heard me man - man the cunning-ilinguis tower!

Mr. Sulu: But Captain, I would be conning everyone here if I took the cunning-ilinguis tower!

Capt Kirk: Mr. Sulu, report to my cabin. Immediately!

[AdamSmith]

...but in reality...

...from the eternal subtext...

Star Trek: The Original Series

Regular Characters edit

He's just like you - and he's the captain!

James The Kirk edit

To get the nucleus of the character of Kirk, you have to look at his slight paunch. Roddenbury was insistent that the Captain of the Enterprise should be a man who the audience could engage with and as such he insisted Shatner looked like the kind of guy who is a sexy beast, the kind of guy who could sleep with more women per year than every other man in the history of the world has only thought about having sex per year (and this counts just thinking about the possibility of having sex).

Though Vulcans naturally have six fingers, tight budgets meant that Spock's back-story included his middle finger's loss during a miss-timed death-grip. To indicate he had a finger missing Nimoy had to constantly hold his hand in this uncomfortable position. This is undoubtedly why he wishes others to, "Live long, and 'prosper'."

However, in an attempt to humanize the image of the actor (William Shakespear) they subsequently had Kirk sleep with only some women on the show so all other men on the planet can not be threathened by his supreme awesomness.

Spock edit

Often referred to as Kirk's "shipboard wife", the character of Spock was, in fact, based on the little known, and exotic (to most Star Trek fans) gender, "women". The writers were strongly influenced by their disinterested and disdainful wives who would regard their husbands every action as, "Illogical!", "Watching grown men chase a ball around a field!", they would protest.

Plans to have an alien race in the series called "Women" was overruled by the only member of the production staff not under the influence of some particularly potent Skunk. This overruling was never challenged, because most Nerds seldom encounter "Women", so are not fully aware of their existence. Instead they settled upon the compromise of having a race in which both genders would act in a similarly, irritatingly logical manner.

Being a Vulcan, Spock apparently experiences a state known as the Pon Farr, but for reasons of some possible hormonal abnormality, seems to be trapped in it permanently. Though, he won’t talk about it... to anyone... at all. “Leave me alone! We do not discuss it with off-worlders.” Instead, he is obliged to sneak around demonstrating it, at every available opportunity, to almost any female who manages to avoid Captain Kirk. When not emerging from these well timed, romantic, musical interludes (generally, following a commercial) he spends much of his time: weeping, moping, throwing objects in rage, incensed with indignation, exploding in bouts of hysteria, sulking, laughing, crying, smirking, or smashing things in anger, when not murderously attempting to asphyxiate a close friend. Aside from this, he appears to have an amazing degree of control over his emotions.

Spock is the most beautiful life form in the whole universe (that's a fact!)

Doctor McCoy edit

Known as 'Bones' because of the fused and individual bones supported and supplemented by ligaments, tendons, muscles and cartilage that go into making up his skeleton, Bones has no medical knowledge whatsoever due to technological advances making such skills redundant. He simply follows instructions given to him by moving triangles on the wall of his sick-bay. His pronouncements of "He's dead Jim" given during away missions, are the guess of an amateur or prompted by some special hand held device. His primary duties are to loiter on the bridge, to lean on the railings, and to be an annoyance and impairment to command procedures.

Doohan's two-week spell in solitary confinement proved an extra headache for script-writers.

Welshy edit

Convicted murderer James Doohan played the role of Montgomery Scott, the ship's chief engineer. Doohan was considered too dangerous to interact with the other actors and thus all his scenes were filmed in his cell in the West LA Correctional Facilty, decorated to look like the engine room. The set eventually had to be digitally added, because Doohan kept killing his guards with the styrofoam walls in his eager bids at freedom. He eventually escaped and went on a murder spree in which the only connection between the victims was that they were wearing red shirts.

Foreigners edit

Lt. Uhura

Still from rejected 1970 Trek spinoff pilot, deemed "ill-conceived" by NBC.

Renowned racist Roddenberry insisted on having ethnic minorities in the Star Trek crew so as to give them nothing of any use to do, thus reinforcing the stereotype of lazy foreigners. So underused were the characters of Sulu and Chekov, they were both replaced by mannequins in the third-series. The only line they would ever utter in this final year was the pre-recorded 'Aye Aye Captain'.

Nichelle Nichols broke ground by being the first actress to appear in a sci-fi series with a 'disconnected ear'. Nichelle's right ear was chopped of in a bread-slicing accident weeks before filming commenced; this forced her to play the part of Uhura whilst continuously holding her ear in position allowing her to hear her colleague's lines. Unfortunately, this meant she was recast from her intended role of futuristic African sex slave to that of Telephone Operator.

1960's serial killers 'The Tennessee Two' are executed by robot probe Nomad.

Red Jumper Row edit

Reece Binspoon of Utah, convicted of the old first-degree, was the first man in the USA to be executed for real on a prime-time television drama. An initiative of Roddenberry and the American Government, men from death-row would be executed whilst playing minor characters on away-missions. Such executions were not compulsory; Death Row inmates had to volunteer to have their death recorded as part of a Star Trek episode. "Nobody can forgive these people for the crimes they have committed," Roddenberry said at the time, " but in having their life taken for the entertainment of an American audience, at least they are giving their victims families some comfort."

Amnesty International refused to campaign against this practice stating, "Whilst we understand why some consider this barbaric, the first consideration is how the execution serves the narrative of an episode."

Guest Stars edit

A variety of guest stars appeared to make the series seem more realistic. Most were former sex partners of Gene Roddenberry and his horses. For many, it became the line on their resume they usually highlighted and put three exclamation points after. Ricardo Montalban used it to break out of his Latin-lover stereotype and progress to roles as Sikh-lovers. Michael Dunn's growth as a thespian was stunted because his toga was needed for alien women's clothing. Diana Muldaur spring-boarded her career by guesting twice on Star Trek. This led to many roles on NBC Mystery Movies and, to the chagrin of Trekkie redheads, the sexy second-season doctor on ST:TNG, Dr. Pulaski. Maria, her child fathered by Roddenberry, sang Midnight at the Oasis but nothing else worth mentioning. Roger C. Carmel was hired thrice to characterize Harcourt Fenton Mudd, including his more lifelike portrayal on ST:The Animated Series. Julie Newmar's stunning performance in Friday's Child led most people to believe she was even weirder than her Catwoman character made her look. John Drew Barrymore's failure to show when contracted to play Lazarus broke his family's heart and led to his subsequent years as a pious monk. As Elaan of Troyius, France Nuyen confirmed rumors that Vietnamese men had a chance with French women. Quite a few has-been actors were lucky enough to be cast on the sequel shows. John Colicos reprised his role as Kor, a war-mongering Klingon-Canadian. Mark Lenard came back as Sarek although he'll always be most famous as Aaron Stempel on Here Come the Brides. Michael J. Pollard, however, was unwilling to play a child on ST:Voyager. Ron Howard's goofy-looking brother Clint portrayed a goofy-looking American on ST:DS9. Majel Barrett Roddenberry's voice, of course, was used as the voice of each of Stephen Hawking's wives. Her Lwaxana Troi character on ST:TNG won a Saturn Award in the category for Best Captain-Tease.

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series

[AdamSmith]

[AdamSmith]

[Guest ButtWilde]

Those cunning linguists.

I love a good pasta dish!

[AdamSmith]

I love a good pasta dish!

Haw!

Made me think, only slightly off point , of strozzapreti.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strozzapreti

[lookin]

Perhaps from reconnaissance since it's a military term?

[Guest ButtWilde]

Perhaps from reconnaissance since it's a military term?