Star Trek into my eyes and brain, man!

Star Trek Into Darkness has been in theaters since Wednesday night. Amazingly, I have not seen it yet, though I plan on addressing that Saturday afternoon. 

While I would not have called myself a Star Trek fan — Trekker, Trekkie or whatever — one who devotedly watched all the TV shows and movies, I absolutely loved J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot.

The film did a perfect job of reinventing itself for a new audience while taking pains to reach out to the longtime fans who could make or break the project with their approval. It did what reboots and prequels should do: Tell the story that hasn't been told. For all we know about Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of the U.S.S. Enterprise, we'd never seen how the band got together. 

To me, this is best typified by the scene embedded below. The Enterprise is an iconic figure in Star Trek mythos and pop culture. Tribute had to be paid to that ship in this new version.

Abrams does it so well here. There's the slow build-up with Dr. McCoy seeing the ship through the window and telling Kirk he had to take a look. We see their reaction. And then there's the reveal with Michael Giacchino's fucking awesome score kicking in. It's probably my favorite scene in the movie, one that I've watched and rewatched dozens of times. 

When I traveled to Malaysia last year, I had two movies on my iPad: Star Trek and Iron Man 2. (I also watched a bunch of movies on in-flight programming, but that's another blog post and entry into The Malaysia Diaries.) 

While watching Star Trek, I played the Enterprise intro scene over and over again. If the person sitting behind me was trying to watch over my shoulder or between seats, he or she must have wondered what the hell I was doing and when I'd begin watching the rest of the movie. Sorry about that. You're just lucky I kept my pants on as the scene was playing. 

But the visuals and music just blow me away every time. It's perfect, it's awesome and I'm getting the geek jitters just writing about it. Will Star Trek Into Darkness have a moment like this? 

What I also enjoyed is that Abrams injected some action into his version of Star Trek. In my view, most of the action in the movies was always passive, with characters talking at each other through viewscreens and massive starships lurching at each other in space. Abrams gave his Star Trek an energy that I'd always felt the series lacked. (Many fans might disagree.) 

So I'm definitely excited to see the sequel and watch Abrams continue his revitalization. I'm heading off to the theater right after clicking "Publish." 

Space Oddity? How about Little Niece's oddity?

By now, you've probably heard about Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and the videos he's recorded from space. (If not, NY Mag's Daily Intelligencer has collected several of them in one post.) 

I don't know how, but while I was waiting in the car with Little Niece a couple of days ago, she started playing Hadfield's rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."

I thought I was just giving her my iPhone to play with the PBS Kids app and watch Caillou. But then I hear "Ground control to Major Tom..." Hey, that's not Caillou. PBS Kids plays David Bowie? 

How did Little Niece just happen to pull up the internet's latest viral sensation? (OK, maybe she just opened the YouTube app.) What else could this kid be watching on my phone when I'm not paying attention? 

Iron Man, Iron Man does whatever an iron can

Yes, I do believe this is how I'll be spending my Saturday afternoon.

If only The Ramones could have recorded that tune, as they did with the original Spider-Man cartoon theme song. This could've been even cooler. 

At the very least, it's better than the theme from the 1990s Iron Man cartoon.

I wonder if Robert Downey Jr. saw that and worried that he would have to grow a ridiculous mullet to play Tony Stark?

OK, let's end this with a classic.

Mr. Rogers! Do you realize what you're doing?

I'm sure this is another indication that it's far too easy to access my inner 15-year-old, but I've been giggling at this screenshot frequently since I saw it at The A.V. Club this afternoon. 

I fully expect to see Mr. Rogers giving the double-barreled bird on my Facebook feed as someone's cover photo any minute now. My friend Dawn Howard now has it as her Twitter header pic. Beautiful. 

Here is the YouTube clip this screenshot was taken from. Maybe a middle finger didn't hold the same meaning in 1967 as it does now.

I'm sure an episode of Mad Men will explain that to me. Oh, wait — they're already past 1967. Rats. 

When Tommy Lasorda watched Psy

I continue to be amazed that Psy's 15 minutes of fame haven't long run out. (I've made my feelings known about this elsewhere.) 

But why should he say no when CBS News invites him to the White House Correspondents Dinner or the Los Angeles Dodgers ask him to perform at a ballgame? (Psy was presumably at Dodger Stadium because fellow Korean Hyun-Jin Ryu was pitching for the home team.) 

However, Psy's presence at the ballpark and subsequent 45-second performance between innings did give us former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda looking on with a "what the hell is going on here?" expression. 

Here is the whole video. I'll bet Chan Ho Park is glad he retired before he was subjected to something like this. 

(via SweetSpot)

Oh, the White House press corps can be so funny!

I wasn't the only guy who watched the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night, was I? 

Well, since you had better things to do, here's what you missed: Steven Spielberg's 'Obama.'

Daniel Day-Lewis probably could play Obama. If not, Meryl Streep should get a shot.

But actually, the far more entertaining video was the House of Cards spoof. Lots of inside Washington media baseball in there, but fun if you follow that stuff closely. 

Mostly, this just made me want the second season of HoC even sooner. 

Cheer me up, Derek Jeter's Taco Hole

I lost approximately 45 minutes of my life this afternoon that I would like back.

I was originally set to talk with Zachary James on KSTM-FM in Iowa for a weekly baseball segment, but we made the decision to delay the call so we could watch a press conference that the New York Yankees called involving Derek Jeter.

Jeter, if you didn't know, hasn't played yet this season as he's recovering from a broken leg that he suffered in the playoffs last year versus the Detroit Tigers. During his rehabilitation, Jeter apparently broke the same bone and that's obviously set back his return. 

But nothing particularly informative was revealed during the presser. We already knew Jeter's leg hadn't healed and that he might not play until after the All-Star break in mid-July. 

However, since the Yankees were going to the trouble of calling a press conference, speculation exploded on Twitter that maybe this was something more serious. Hey, what if Jeter was announcing his retirement? 

Except if that was the case, MLB Network would have broken its regular programming to show the presser. ESPN almost certainly would've found time between its NFL Draft coverage to cover the event. Since you had to really dig through your cable listings to find the press conference or go online to watch it, it was safe to assume that nothing momentous was being announced. 

Sure enough, Jeter just went out there to tell reporters and fans what they already knew. There was nothing else to add because Jeter didn't know when he would be back and made it pretty clear that he had no interest in sharing further thoughts on the matter with the media. 

That was really the only enjoyment of the press conference: Watching Jeter be bitchily coy with the press. "Well, I have an idea, but I'm not going to tell you." 

Had this been anyone but Jeter and any other team besides the Yankees, a press release would've been issued. But maybe the Yanks wanted to let everyone know that Jeter was actually alive and still looks great in a Yankees uniform, even if he has to walk in a boot right now. 

It was a total waste of time. I could've spent those 30 to 45 minutes playing with my sweet Little Niece. She's sick with a runny nose and fever and surely could've used some quality time with Uncle Ian. Instead, I watched Jeter snip at reporters on my laptop. 

The only thing that will make me feel better about this is to watch the "Derek Jeter Taco Hole" skit from Saturday Night Live in which he points at the camera every 40 seconds. I hope you really are cooking award-winning Mexican food these days, sir. 

Look at the star power in that skit, by the way. Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph and Jimmy Fallon! Oh yeah — and Jeter.

"Chips, salsa and guaca-MOLE — Derek Jeter's Taco Hole!"

When you want crazy, you want Michael Shannon

Nobody does batshit crazy like Michael Shannon. 

You can see a great example of this in the new Man of Steel trailer, when his General Zod emphatically states his purpose to find — and presumably kill — Superman. 

Of course, if you've seen Shannon in Boardwalk Empire, Premium Rush, Take Shelter or any of his other roles, you know that he plays a kettle ready to boil very well.

That makes him a great — almost too on-the-nose — choice to read the crazy sorority girl e-mail ("Newsflash you stupid cocks: FRATS DON'T LIKE BORING SORORITIES") that circulated around the internet last week, courtesy of Funny Or Die. 

Michael Shannon Reads the Insane Delta Gamma Sorority Letter from Michael Shannon

By the way, is Shannon doing his performance from the Dunphy family living room on Modern Family? I expect Phil to emerge from the shadows and give him a hug. 

(via Amanda Rykoff on Facebook)