Site of the Week -- March 20, 2000
oughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, a new computer-animated series
adapted from the film Starship Troopers and the Robert A. Heinlein novel
on which it was based, hasn't garnered much attention since it debuted last
summer. But far from being forgotten, the show--available in certain cities
and early mornings on the SCI FI Channel--is lavishly celebrated by the
extensive and beautifully designed Roughneck Chronicles. This
"officially unofficial" site provides more and better information about
Roughnecks than some official sites do for better-known franchises.
Roughneck Chronicles takes its audience into the Starship
Troopers universe, where humans have banded together to combat a variety
of "bug" threats and help societies enslaved by the evil creatures. The
site's centerpiece is a jazzy applet-driven section called Order of Battle,
which features stats, images and RealVideo clips. Though memory-intensive,
Order of Battle is a compact and creative way to dig deeper into the show's
people, places and technology.
Roughneck Chronicles also features behind-the-scenes articles,
interviews with the creators, up-to-date news and daily airing
schedules for the U.S. and the U.K., as well as a detailed episode guide and
a lively fan forum. Roughneck Chronicles is a blueprint for how to
pay tribute to a show you love.
-- Mark Wilson
Site of the Week -- March 13, 2000
ar Jar Binks as a Borg? ("Yousa gonna be assim'lated!") Error messages on
the Enterprise's main view screen? ("This starship has performed an illegal operation and
will be shut down.") Spock and T'Pring on Jerry Springer? ("I killed my
captain for this?!") You can't do that on Star Trek!
Mining how open Star Trek is to both devotion and ridicule,
You Can't Do That on Star Trek! features hundreds of original images
depicting situations and juxtapositions that will never be seen on any of the
shows or films. Many of these compositions mix Star Trek with other
cultural touchstones, from Worf romancing Dax in a revisited Gone With
the Wind to the Scooby Doo gang in classic Trek duds. Some are
truly inspired and not a little bizarre, like Kirk fighting a Gorn that
looks a lot like a certain singing purple dinosaur, or Forrest Gump
reimagined as a Vulcan mystic.
The site is organized in chronological galleries, and there are
seasonal polls leading to the celebrated You Can't Awards. As the site
has gained fame (or notoriety), it's attracted ever more creative and
accomplished submissions. For those who want to imagine the Enterprise
soaring among X-wing fighters--or who just want to see the poster for
Seven, Warrior Princess--You Can't Do That on Star Trek! is a
command imperative.
-- Mark Wilson
Site of the Week -- March 6, 2000
aptain James T. Kirk should have died a great, noble death on the bridge
of a starship, with the fate of the galaxy in his hands and phasers
scorching space around him.
Instead, he was killed by scaffolding in the movie Star Trek: Generations.
The Bring Back Kirk Campaign seeks to remedy that mistake by bringing
Star Trek's best captain back from the dead. William Shatner already
accomplished that goal in his Star Trek novels, but those books aren't part of the "official" Star Trek universe. The BBK campaign wants Kirk
back on the deck of the real Enterprise, if not on the big screen,
then at least on the small one.
The campaign's Web site includes information about where to send letters of protest, a place where visitors can submit letters online, links to other
"Bring Back Kirk" Web sites, and a discussion board where people can vent
their rage over Kirk's untimely death.
-- Kenneth Newquist
