Kirk's Nightmare At 20000 Feet

Tom Whalen's take on the classic Twilight Zone episode Nightmare At 20000 Feet for Gallery 1988's Another Dimension, which opened this week. Fabulous stuff.


Previously on Popped Culture...
Twilight Zone: To Serve Man
A Dimension Not Only Of Sight And Sound
Prepare To Enter... The Scary Door

Prepare To Enter... The Scary Door

"You are entering the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location. The kind of place where there might be a monster, or some kind of weird mirror. These are just examples; it could also be something much better. Prepare to enter The Scary Door."

This is pop artist Glen Brogan's piece for the Twilight Zone tribute show opening up at Gallery 1988 in May. I can't wait to see some more work from that show!

Previously on Popped Culture...
Super Mario's Closet
Grimace McSection
Shatner Of The Mount

Music From Outer Space

Who would have thought the original cast of Star Trek would turn out to be such a musical bunch? Likely no one, after the spoken-word stylings of William Shatner and the unintentionally hilarious Leonard Nimoy.

Still, that hasn't stopped George Takei from joining their ranks, not with an album but as a country singer on the upcoming Secret Talents of the Stars on April 8. Yep, CBS is essentially reviving Circus of the Stars and everything old is new again.

Seeing as we will soon be hearing Mr. Sulu's dulcet tones, why not a review of what has come before? Most people, when they think of Shatner and music probably think of his over-the-top rendition of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. While it is a camp classic, I've always been more partial to his interpretation of Elton John's Rocket Man at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards.


I actually listen to that one voluntarily — it has a way of growing on you. But Nimoy? Not so much. Highly Illogical is painful.



For even more on the song stylings of the Trek casts from Next Generation to Voyager, read The Collective's Star Tracks - Trek Stars Sing.

The Talented Captain Kirk

Shater. Stewart. Bakula. Damon? If rumors are to be believed the next captain of the USS Enterprise will be Matt Damon (excuse my photoshopping). It appears that Star Trek XI: So Very Tired is actually moving forward and director/producer J.J. Abrams wants to promote Private Ryan to the helm. He’s even gone so far as to ask William Shatner’s approval.

"Shatner gave his blessing," reports The Insider. "J.J. got his approval. J.J. wants Damon as Capt. Kirk. He really loves the idea." I don’t think they should be bothering with a new film – it could do with a bit of a time out – if they are insisting on revisiting our future past than Damon doesn’t seem such a bad choice. He’ll have to work on that Kirk bravado though and, uh, be a few years younger.

The film is supposed to follow the early days of Kirk and Mr. Spock at Starfleet Academy and first outer-space mission, making the 35-year-old Damon older than Shatner was when he chased short-skirted blue women though the galaxy. They’ll also need to be looking for a new Vulcan. Does this mean we will see an on-screen reunion with Ben Affleck? Call it Good Will Trekking.