The Apple

How are things for the people of Vaal? Well they seem good, but not good enough for Captain Kirk. Hitting up another side of “This Side of Paradise,” we’re putting “The Apple” in the Mission Log. This is the plot for “Pleasantville.” Be happy and fine, until some schmucks arrive and introduce sex. I’ve never realized that before. Never looked at it that way before, but yeah, pretty much. 🙂 There’s always this need for hyperbole in the classic episodes. The Feeders of Vaal could be 20 years old or 20,000, Bele and Lokai had been chasing each other for 50,000 years, the same amount of time the Horta race dies out except for one, Sargon’s folk have been sitting in fish bowls for 500,000 years… Another great podcast about free will, religion, sex and materialism/spiritualism. Of course, I’m still wondering about those explosive rocks that Vaal uses as food. After centuries or more of what seemed like daily feeding, how many rocks can still be in the immediate area? I’d expect after a while you’d have to do some serious travel to find more rocks (unless they’re somehow produced as part of the planet’s funky ecosystem). – FIRST OBSERVATION: Really excited that I’ve finally gotten to the “it’s called Freedom and you’ll like it” episode! – “Ken, I may have had some Star Trek toys as a kid. And… I may have some Star Trek toys now, but I’m not going to divulge…” Little did John Champion know that one day soon a Star Trek toy company would sponsor his podcast. I bet that’s why you held back on this one, right, John? Wanted to see who would finally pony up that sweet cash so you could finally properly enthuse about your love of Trek toys? Although I’m sure many would take exception to the Star Trek Starships Collection being called “toys”. – Especially that first one: “Oh snap, he just got shot with this plant! He’s dead, Jim.” a few minutes later “Oh snap, Spock just got shot with this plant! MEDICAL EMERGENCY SPARE NO EFFORT JUMP INTO ACTION ok we saved him.” The benefits of command, I guess? “Arvis, Defense Attorney” says that OF COURSE McCoy had time to analyze the plant and cook up an antidote on the spot, but that’s less funny. – Arvis, Defense Attorney, says: “There’s no evidence that the numbers Spock was rattling off for Starfleet’s ‘investment’ in him were monetary units. They could have been units of time… or something…” – So, I can’t help but wonder where will Kirk be with his “enjoy your freedom” speech when these people start growing old and dying. That said, it’s not like I’m advocating that eternal life is worth giving up free will for. It’s hard to say how much free will these particular humanoids really had. – Of course, I’m going to comment on the “blind faith is every religion” comment. By Ken’s standard, he’s right and there’s no arguing that. But, at least speaking Biblically, real faith is based on evidence of something, even if you don’t physically see it (Hebrews 11:1). True, not seeing a thing with your eyes can be considered “blind”, but that doesn’t mean you can’t see evidence of it. But then of course you have to deal with confirmation bias everywhere. This goes for science and religion equally. For me, actual “blind faith” is believing something in which there is ZERO evidence at all, circumstantial or otherwise (like, for random example, the belief that anything that exists could have sprung into existence from nothingness). I also recognize that Ken’s standard for what amounts to blind faith is as valid as my own. – There’s also a pretty heavy-handed implication that “the apple” in Genesis WAS sex, which is nonsense, of course. But that, too, could be why the writers had Vaal forbid sex. – “It’s going to be Kirk’s way or… the interstellar bypass way.” For a Hitchhiker reference so casually thrown out there, this was brilliant. It’s works on multiple levels! Oh man – I just realized the toy thing has come full circle! Thanks for that. Decades of obsession, finally paying off (kinda). Someone p