April 1, 2004: Sandy suggests Tommy Lee Jones to play Trip's father:

Tommy Lee Jones! Look at TLJ profile. He's even got that slope on the nose. And his accent is real and he really has a smart ass attitude and a wicked way of injecting it in his characters when it's called for it.

I like it! Let's start a postcard campaign.

March 24, 2004: While I don’t usually do spoilers, I thought you’d appreciate knowing that the rumors are indeed true: one of the May sweeps episodes will be featuring an Angel crossover. Spike’s been dimension-hopping again, and somehow finds his way onto the bridge of the NX-01. A leaked script allegedly details a huge battle of cheekbones between Spike and Malcolm (my money’s on Reed), presaged by an argument with our favorite engineer over who really deserved the nickname “Spike,” William the Bloody or Charles Tucker (I have to go with William on this one). A less reliable rumor has it that if ratings are really good, Spike will join the cast full-time in September, as James Marsters will be unemployed at the end of this season.

March 19, 2004: Buona Festa di San Giuseppe, for my paisane who celebrate it. Have some sfingi for me and Papá. And Happy Birthday to Connor Trinneer, who packs Trip with such a pulchritudinous punch.

Hoshi dances for the Jolly Green Telepathic Stalker in the hopes that he’ll tell them where the Xindi are building the weapon, for real this time.

Photo: StarTrek.com

March 17, 2004: Happy St. Patrick’s of Orion Day! Don’t drink green beer and drive.

I think I enjoyed the repeat of the limerick episode even more than the first viewing, because I knew what to expect so I could watch the plot unfold more than laugh at the limericks. You could see the cast really got into it -- Park did a nice job with all the bizarre languages they were throwing at her. Shame about the "Klingon from Nantucket VII" one getting cut off, though...

Memo to Makeup: Phlox does not look good in blue lipstick. Stick with plum. I don't care if it brings out his eyes -- it makes him look like he's been face-down in a Slurpee.

Loved the spontaneous weightlifting competition with the boys! Obviously Keating has really been working the machines in his trailer. Poor Hayes; even Archer bench-pressed more than he did. Of course, at the rate Travis was going, I was expecting him to pick up Trip and Mal and use them for weights.

March 10, 2004: So now that the Killer Bs are finally gone and Majel is in charge, we can expect some kick-butt stories for Season 4. How about some, you know, Birth of the Federation stuff? Maybe the beginnings of the Romulan War? Groundwork for Starfleet Academy? And now that outside writers can submit scripts again, we can start to see the envelope-pushing we used to have -- not to mention followups to previous episodes and character consistency.

Robbie McNeill does such a great job as Trip's younger brother. The two actors are still hoping to put on a production of Sam Shepard's "True West" in L.A., swapping off the roles of the two brothers each night. The amount of energy in that room would probably power the entire West Coast. (Not to mention the kinetic energy of all the swooning bodies would power several windmill farms...) Maybe we could bring Majel on as Trip's grandmother? Who should play his other sister, his mother, and his father? (Sean Connery can't manage the accent, sorry. Yum, but sorry.) Robert Redford? Paul Newman?

Trinneer has a really nice singing voice, doesn't he? Maybe Bob Picardo can find a way to do a guest shot, and they can duet.

This week's support effort: write to Democratic presidential nominee apparent John Kerry and ask him to make seven full seasons of ENT one of his campaign planks. We're Trekkies and we vote!