Matt Hackmann

MattHackmann

The thoughts and goings-on of some programmer dude.

One good turn

In my previous post, I mentioned the little "micro list" thing my mom is currently doing on her blog. Among these was a favorites list. Noticing that she had added a row for video games, I snarkily suggested she should have "favorite TNG character". To her credit, she devoted the entire next post to the topic of Next Generation. It's moments like these when I consciously consider the fact that my mom has a bit of a nerdy streak which is pretty cool.

But, enough of that, given that she went through the trouble of constructing that list, I feel it's only right that I do the same. So, following her parameters, here is mine:

1. Favorite Character - Gonna have to go with Picard on this one. How can you not respect the guy who is essentially a role model for humanity? Following closely behind would be Q, Data, and Riker (in no particular order).

2. Favorite Episode - Much to my mom's chagrin, I can't not give this award to Cause and Effect. I believe it's been mentioned before, but I love time travel stories and time loops in particular are a guilty pleasure of mine. On a funny aside, the first Google result for "enterprise keeps exploding" is the Wiki entry for this episode.

3. Least Favorite Character - You thought I was going to say Pulaski, didn't you mother? Well, despite the fact that I cannot stand her elitist attitude and the way she treats data, she's only number two in that regard. No, this coveted award goes to Tasha Yar, the overly emotional, too bull-headed security officer that preceded Worf. Her death is one of the shining moments of the series.

4. Favorite Doctor - I don't have much to say about Lwaxana Troi (though, I do enjoy the episodes she's in), but I do have words for the various doctors in the series, my favorite being (drumroll) the Doctor! Sure, the actual TV series only had Pulaski and Crusher (of two, I prefer the latter), but the good ol' EMH makes a wonderful yet brief appearance in First Contact making him eligible for this list. You can't not love his dickish, self-serving attitude and, as a main character on Voyager, was given much more time to be fleshed out as a character.

5. On the topic of Q - Who doesn't love Q? He's such an asshole, but a highly entertaining one (see above about the Doctor). Q episodes always tend to bring out the more interesting topics, such as "how would you relive your life given the chance"? He also introduced the Borg, which is kind of a big deal.

Okay, I have geeked out about Trek for long enough. I should run to the store to pick up ingredients for turkey soup. Should be a hoppin' good time.