Hang around my favourite social network, the ever-irritating Facebook, for long enough and you’ll discover a preponderance of pages entitled I Fucking Love…, amongst which my favourite is I Fucking Love Science. It’s one of the few good reasons to continue to use said website instead of just living one’s online life completely on Twitter.
Since…er…I fucking love the I Fucking Love… phenomenon, and since I fucking love science fiction, I hereby bring you a humble little homage to both.
The characters below (yes, ships do count as characters for the purposes of the following pictures – indeed, some of them are actually alive, so fair dos) are the men, women, puppets, CGI cleverness and naff make-uped eejits that make me love science fiction. Many of the below are excellent actors and actresses, and some are less so – but loveable in their own inimitable ways. I’m by no means the sci-fi geek I’d like to be, but I do appreciate the contribution that all these people – and their characters’ and scripts’ creators – have made to the genre. Here’s to you all! I’d like to make some half-decent pictorial celebration of you, but this is the best I can do for now.
The source of some of images in these montages will be obvious even to people who don’t know anything about sci-fi. There’s quite a surplus of Star Trek: The Original Series – it’s not a secret that I’ve been watching that religiously of late – and of course it has seeped into many aspects of popular culture, sporting at least some universally recognisable characters. Everyone knows I love Babylon 5 more than any other series ever made (and that includes series of any genre), so it won’t surprise readers that material from it is included heavily here too.
OK…but what of the others? Some are reasonably well-known, and others are very obscure. In total, there are 25 sci-fi sources included in the collages, including the two already mentioned.
A pointless little game tied to a pointless but-I-felt-compelled-to-post-it little blog entry – can you work out where the photos come from, and if so, can you name the characters/species/ships etc? Go on. Take up the nerd gauntlet! 😉
At the Mountains of Madness 
Is that a Vorlon(spelling?) I see? Lol. This really made me laugh and reminded me of when I was in labour with my son. I was taking everything they were offering me and they of course gave me gas & air. The only thing it did for me was make me start talking about Babylon 5. Much to my husband’s horror I spouted-this is like the mask you have to wear if you want to talk to the Vorlon. I think they must have given me sonething else or maybe it was exhaustion.
While most of my colleagues watch the drivel called reality shows I like you watch sci fi programmes.
I think I saw an alien girl from Farscape-can’t remember her name and there are quite a few characters from Heros too. Dr Who of course and you just can’t beat original Star Trek. V for Vendetta, ET & Jabba the Hutt. Is there a prize for the biggest nerd?
x ❤
I am replying to this, Ash…I just need to get you your prize first 😉
OK.
Well done, Ash; all the series you’ve named are indeed there 😀 *passes champagne*
I cracked up at the story of your labour. That is a proper way to bring a child into the world! It’s a good thing I wasn’t your midwife, because I’d have forgotten about the childbirth bit and started asking you about your favourite B5 stories and characters 😉
When the man told me that CBS were showing the original Star Trek, I reacted with a giant ‘meh’. I watched part of the first few episodes and thought it was dreadful; I metaphorically tossed it aside in favour of my Kindle. But after a while, I found myself paying more and more attention, to the point where I would not miss a second right now. It is completely made of win 😀
And I am so with you about sci-fi instead of reality TV. I cannot stand the vast majority of the latter (I have to admit that I’ve never missed an episode of The Apprentice, but it was so unbearably dull this series that next year I may well shove on whatever nerd DVD set I have handy instead :-)).
You get this prize:
(((big hugs)))
K ❤ xxx
Love my prize. (blush)
We also love Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, the other Stargate, Serenity, Fringe , oh the list is endless.
My favourite characters in Babylon 5 were Londo Molari and Shakar. I know they are probably spelt wrong but you know who I mean. I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me.
Not so keen on Dr Who. I was traumatised as a child by the Daleks and it does still freak me out:)
I never really got into Stargate, I must admit, but Serenity (and its predecessor Firefly), B5…all of these are win. On the latter, I agree that Londo and G’Kar were legends; the interaction between them was just amazing. They really had this Shakespearean relationship – hatred, friendship, tragedy, and all of those all over again.
I loved Who as a child, though I’ve not really enjoyed the new incarnations as much as I did with the old series (especially those of Pertwee, Baker and McCoy). That said, I’m a fan of Stephen Moffatt, and like Matt Smith in the role, so feel it has improved since Russell T Davies slung his hook. He had no conception of science fiction plotting. He focuses so much on characterisation, but at the expense of the actual sciencey stuff. At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, B5 demonstrates not only characterisation done well – really well – but it also exemplifies how it should interact with a good, convincing, engaging story.
I do love the Daleks, I must admit 😉 x
This is gonna suck:
SPOILERS!
**********
1: [can’t remember its name], Babylon 5; Pass; Capt. Kirk, Star Trek; Pass; Cylon #?, Battlestar Galactica; Pass; Pass; Hiro, Heroes; ? Ivonova, Babylon 5; Pass.
2: 6th Dr.? 7th?, Dr. Who (Classic Series); Scotty, Star Trek; Gaius Baltar, Battlestar Galactica; Pass; Starship Enterprise, Star Trek; Inara, Firefly; Pass; Pass; Tribbles, Star Trek; Mollari and G’Kar, Babylon 5; 9th Dr, Dr. Who.
3: 3rd? Dr., Dr. Who; [Forget his name, Mollari’s assistant], Babylon 5; E.T., E.T., Spock, Kirk, ?, Bones, Scotty, Star Trek; Pass; Gizmo, [on the tip of my tongue]; Agent Smith, The Matrix; Alex, A Clockwork Orange; ?, Blake’s 7.
4: ? [Klingon], Star Trek; Ripley, Alien; Pass; Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly; Pass; Pass; Pass; Reaver, Firefly; Pass.
5: Spock, Bones, Star Trek; Pass; ? [Psi. Corps], Babylon 5; Gizmo [still can’t remember]; Pass; Flash, Flash Gordon; Pass; Mollari, Babylon 5; Cyberman, Dr. Who.
6: Horta?, Star Trek; Mal Reynolds, Firefly; Pass; 3rd? Dr., Dr. Who; G’Kar, Babylon 5; Marvin, Hitchiker’s Guide; Cat [it says on it!], Pass; Spock and Kirk, Star Trek; Pass.
7: Jabba the Hutt, Star Wars; Alex, A Clockwork Orange; Pass; Pass; Pass; V, V for Vendetta; Neo, The Matrix; ?, G’Kar, Delen, Mollari, Leneer (sp.?), ? [Mollari’s assistant], Babylon 5.
8: Nyota Uhura, Star Trek; Pass; 3rd? Dr., Dr. Who; Zoe ?, First Officer, Firefly; Generic Cylon, Battlestar Galactica; TARDIS, Dr. WHo; Sylar, Heroes [or is it the new Spock in the 2009 Star Trek film?]; Mollari, Babylon 5; Pass; Bones, Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Star Trek [I love this image!]
9: Cylon #?, Battlestar Galactica; Leneer, Babylon 5; 9th Dr., Dr. Who; Liberator, Blake’s 7; Pass; Daleks, Dr. Who; Uhura, Chekov, Tribble, Star Trek; “The Cutie”, Hitchiker’s; Shadow Ship ?, Mr. Morden, Babylon 5.
10: 11th Dr., Dr. Who; Kirk, Star Trek; Pass; Doc, Back to the Future; Pass; Sam, Quantum Leap; Psi Corps Cop [what is his name??], Babylon 5; Bones, Star Trek; Pass; Bennett/HRG, Heroes.
**********
END OF SPOILERS!
Phew!!
How did I do? That was tough–I trust I win a prize!!
Great compilation, by the way. How did you do these images? Really neat stuff. And is there any science fiction with which you are *not* acquainted?? =p
Sincerely,
Robert =]
Crikey, sir, you’re good. You also do indeed win a prize:
SPOILER: The B5 characters you couldn’t remember were Kosh and Al Bester. Two of my favourites. END SPOILER
I wish I could say I had some GIMP skill, but these were all made on an iPhone app. If you have iOS, you can get it here 🙂
I’m sure there’s a multitude of stuff out there that I haven’t yet encountered – but I will keep on searching 🙂
I can’t believe you sat down and worked all this out. Much kudos!
Karen,
I *love* my prize–thank you! That’s awesome. If you did that yourself, you have more skills than you think you do.
I don’t have any iOS devices, though I have been considering purchasing an iPad, as it would be both subsidized by and useful for work. If I get it, I’ll check out that app.
I did this all in work, of course. Much kudos to *you* for giving me an hour off =p
Sincerely,
Robert =]
Lol, right enough, I would have loved to have something sci-fi related on which to waste time back in my office days – but then I didn’t have the pleasure of working in psychology, did I? 😉
I can promise you, Karen, it gets dull after a while ;]
Karen,
I left an immensely long answer to this, but it hasn’t shown up–maybe it’s in the moderation queue? I’m going to email it to you just in case, because it took me *forever* to write it all out, and I’ll be damned if you don’t check it =]
Sincerely,
Robert
It went into spam, probably because of the numbers or something. It’s going to take me eight years to ‘mark’ it, so find something to do in the meantime 😉
I’ve just remembered Gizmo’s film. It was Gremlins.
I had to laugh at Ash’s story too–I hope your son/daughter has followed in your footsteps =]
My darling boy is almost 7 and is completely obsessed with Star Wars. He spent 7 hours(seriously) on Boxing Day building some ship with his dad. How many different types of clone troopers can there be? He speaks in an Australian accent (that’s the clones),Ewok and Geonosian on a daily basis-I may start saving for his therapy now:)
Ash:
Sounds like you’ve raised a great boy there! It’s really refreshing to hear of kids being so interested in a genre that promotes thinking. I’m sure he’ll make a very welcome addition to any therapist’s client list ;]
Sincerely,
Robert =]
I’m not going to repeat everyone’s awesomeness, I’ll just say how cool this is.
Oh my goodness I love Firefly! And Farscape with my girl Claudia Black!? V for Vendetta and Matrix with Hugo Weaving!? Yay! Doctor Who too? Woot! Star Wars, Star Trek, Gremlins, Clockwork Orange, you’re a girl after my own heart!
You would love my closet full of t-shirts: Browncoats, Han Shot First, my shirt with the 11th Doctor Matt Smith, one about Schrodinger’s cat…you get it. 🙂
I love these!
Extremely well done, my dear!
The Schrodinger’s one – it wouldn’t happen to say on the front “Schronigers cat is dead” and on the back “Schrodiner’s cat is not dead”, did it? If so then we own the same t-shirt 😀 (If not, head to GeekThink at warp eight).
So happy that you love so many of my favourite shows and films – we were so meant to be friends 😉
Matt Smith rocks; though I’ll always be in a thrall with the original series I’m generally enjoying his tenure. He reminds me of Tom Pertwee, my favourite Doctor, and has a nice amongst of Patrick Troughton in him too 🙂
Anyway, CI, you sci-fi nerdom wins you too a prize:
I love that so many people in the mental health club love sci-fi, it’s so awesome! 😀
Take care m’lady.
(((hugs)))
Karen xxx
Ahhh! It IS the same shirt! Same store too lol!
We were definitely meant to be haha! 🙂 Nerdvana!
Gaaaaaahhhhhhh! That gets filed under “freaky – but very cool” 😀
OK, since I’m away for the weekend, here are the (the first half, as it turns out – sorry) of the answers.
Slide One:
Slide Two:
Slide Three:
Slide Four:
Slide Five:
END SPOILERS
Crikey, I’m knackered and I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning. I’ll give you the answers to six to ten next week 😀
(((big hugs))) – love you all loads
Karen xxx
A bit late on completing this…
SPOILERS
Slide Six:
Slide Seven:
Slide Eight:
Slide Nine:
Slide Ten:
* Apparently Douglas Adams hated this ‘character’, which was not of his creation. I believe it was introduced on American covers of the Hitchhiker‘s series to show that they were all related to each other.
** The best sci-fi geeks will know that Babylon 5‘s Al Bester is named after Alfred Bester, the science fiction author (one of the few whose works are regarded as bordering on ‘literature’). Bester was the author of The Stars My Destination, whose protagonist Foyle was included in slide seven.
END SPOILERS
Phew!