[Erik Olson]

Thanks RLC.

Some spurn inaction, itch to fly;
Jumping off cliffs to live, some die.
Some stay dead stones at every age,
So never fly beyond their cage.



P.S. I'm so used to my name spelled so, I barely notice actually. Still thanks anyhow.
-Erik

[RCL]

Well done, Erik! Maybe a period or semi-colon to close line 1, to be rid of the dreaded Comma Splice (each of the first two lines stand as separate sentences).

[Erik Olson]

Thanks for pointing that out, RCL, and earlier suggestions/observations!


Some spurn inaction, itch to fly;
Jumping off cliffs to live, some die.
Some stay dead stones at every age,
So never fly beyond their cage.



-Erik

[Brian Allgar]

Boldly Going Nowhere: Alex Salmond Blocked From Flight After Booking Ticket As Star Trek Character

The former Scottish First Minister was left red-faced after British Airways staff refused him entry onto the plane when they saw ‘James T Kirk’ on the ticket


Alex Salmond, it seems, has gone dotty;
His flight plans became rather knotty.
But why didn’t this jerk
Who believed he was Kirk
Simply call, and say “Beam me up, Scotty”?

[Ann Drysdale]

Because that would have proved that he was not James Tiberius Kirk, who was a stickler for protocol when interacting with his crew. He would have addressed his Chief Engineer as Mr. Scott in any operational situation. "Scotty" was strictly for off-duty conversations.

[Brian Allgar]

Ann, with all due respect for your evidently compendious knowledge of the subject (I didn't know that Kirk's middle name was Tiberius), I must beg to differ:

Despite the phrase entering into popular culture, it is a misquotation and has never been said in any of the television series or films. The complete phrase was eventually said by William Shatner in the audio adaptation of his novel Star Trek: The Ashes of Eden.

In the Original Series episodes "The Gamesters of Triskelion" and "The Savage Curtain", Kirk said, "Scotty, beam us up"; in the episode "This Side of Paradise," Kirk simply said, "Beam me up;" in the animated episodes "The Lorelei Signal" and "The Infinite Vulcan", when he said, "Beam us up, Scotty"; in Star Trek IV, saying, "Scotty, beam me up"; and in Star Trek Generations, by saying, "Beam them out of there, Scotty".

[Ann Drysdale]

Thanks, Brian. Well, it was worth a little stir. And I'm more of a TNG Trekkie anyway. She said, hooked and wriggling.

[Brian Allgar]

I agree about TNG, Ann - how did they ever manage to persuade Patrick Stewart to say "To boldly go"? - but the one I liked best, especially towards the end, was Deep Space 9. The writing and plot construction in certain episodes actually verged on the adult, although I realize that is probably not the primary quality that Star Trek addicts seek.

[Erik Olson]

He heeds his dream, and shuns his work,
Tries to fly high named Captain Kirk.
But they denied the airy trek,
For the audition proved a wreck.
Most adult fantasies are steamy;
This one's was saying: "Scotty, beam me
Up to the cockpit, from the dock."
Yet Kirk says Scott, thus Trekkies block!
"Beam me up Scotty" only beams
The red face of high flying dreams.

[Douglas G. Brown]

Erik,

A Swiftian commentary, indeed