Star Trek: What’s That In Her Ear?

I knew they’d do this. I knew JJ Abrams would go ahead and keep that stupid silver earpiece in Uhura’s ear in the new Star Trek movie. Everything else is different — The bridge is shinier, Chekov outranks Kirk, Pike knows McCoy, Kirk can drive, and Scotty is Simon Pegg. But JJ just had to leave that stupid earpiece in.

As you may recall, I mentioned this a few months ago. I’ve also groaned about it on the Starbase 66 podcast. Now a new image, one of several released via trekmovie.com today, shows the shining silver buttplug in all its glory.

Oh, wait — they did change it. See the photo at left? On The Original Series, Uhura wore the earpiece pointing down. In the new movie, it points up. Genius!

But still, it would have been nice to see it changed a bit more. Couldn’t Zoe Saldana have asked for changes in her contract?

Agent: “My client agrees to wear the red minidress, and she agrees to three appearances of her red panties, with the stipulation that said appearances do not last longer than three seconds, and do not occur when and/or if William Shatner is visiting the set. But she does not agree to insert a metallic butt-plug-looking object into her ear.”

Ah, well. It’s Star Trek. You sort of have to expect the strange decision along with all the cheesy glory. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Funny, though: with all the new toys being announced, I haven’t seen a toy earpiece. I guess toymakers worry it would be used for … other things.

Ezra Levant and Human Rights

Anyone interested in human rights and the role of media should watch Ezra Levant, a Canadian journalist, blogger and political advisor, appearing before the Alberta Human Rights Commission. They wouldn’t let reporters in, but allowed him to videotape it. Ezra being Ezra, he put it on YouTube.

Levant was called before the commission because he printed controversial Danish cartoons about Islam in his magazine, The Western Standard. Nowadays, you can find him at his blog.

This is just the opening remarks. For the full experience of Ezra vs. Stupidity, go to YouTube and search his name. It’s worth watching. It’s also the focus of the latest episode of Weather Station 3, but in a pretty dumbed-down fashion. I’m bright and all, but I’m no Ezra Levant.

Ezra’s new book, Shakedown: How Our Government Is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights, is now available. Even if you’re not in Canada, it’s an issue worth exploring.

Today’s Moron: Jason Leroy Savage, Part III

I’m starting to feel bad for Jason Leroy. Apparently he can’t leave the house because people laugh at him. I guess he should have thought of that before he sexually molested a vacuum cleaner at a car wash.

Even the judge at his sentencing caught on to the fact that Jason’s notoriety had spread, telling the 29-year-old career criminal that he had brought shame and embarassment to his community. As it turns out, I should note, his three-month sentence was for violating parole (he has a record for a lot of stupid crimes), not for tubing; the prosecution determined he had been embarassed enough.

When reached for comment by newspaper reporters, Jason said “I’m keeping my nose clean.” This is good news, I suppose. Unless he means something else entirely, in which case I guess that roll of paper towels in the kitchen had better watch out.

Jason makes an appearance on the new episode of Weather Station 3, by the way.

Previous mentions of Jason’s antics can be found here.