Leonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
-Captain James T. Kirk
Star Trek: The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise - Saturday Night Live
As we were standing in the aisle at the end of the flight, I raised my hand in the Vulcan salute and said "Live long and prosper". No, actually I didn't, but I thought about doing so! In fact, I never told him that I recognized him, and I suspect he was happy to have a regular conversation as if he hadn't played one of the most important fictional characters in many people's lives.
But he did, and his portrayal of Spock was profoundly impactful to me, and I am now introducing the character to my young sons as well.
I don't know why, but it deeply saddens me to know that my children will only ever know him as a historical figure. I'm young enough that I've never known a world without Spock, and while I know Spock hasn't gone anywhere it's surprisingly hard to adjust to the idea of a world without Nimoy. He's always seemed, to me, such an amazing combination of larger-than-life and down-to-earth.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had,
but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP
Don't smoke. I did. Wish I never had. LLAP
Clearly, not enough that, looking back, he thought it was worthwhile. And the cost isn't just years, its quality of life impacts of smoking-related illness (in his case, COPD.)
15 years later, I'm still not yet old enough for my chickens to have come home to roost, nor those of my school friends. But looking at my parents, and their parents too, it's very obvious that those who never smoked are in much better shape.
Moral of the story? That's easy - don't smoke. Like... duh.
But - if you really insist, at least smoke only the doobie doo, and without any tobacco mixer. Because at least that gets you high. And then, when you're old, and your lungs are fucked anyway, you can at least say that when you were young... nobody knew for sure.
It's so nice to see that all the money and propaganda that was going into covering scientifically proven facts like that up is now going into global warming denial instead. We've come a long was, baby!
http://dermnetnz.org/reactions/smoking.html
Beyond its known links to cancer, lung and heart disease, smoking is now thought to be associated with premature skin ageing and delayed wound healing, as well as a number of skin disorders, particularly psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa and cutaneous lupus erythematosus.
Smoking can accelerate the skin ageing process in the skin. Ageing of the skin means that it droops, develops wrinkles and lines and can become dry and coarse with uneven skin colouring and broken blood vessels (telangiectasia). Smokers can appear gaunt and develop an orange or grey complexion.
Since the 1970's studies have shown that smoking results in more premature facial wrinkling than sun exposure. Lines around the eyes called “crow's feet” can develop at an earlier age. Multiple vertical lines around the mouth also occur and are called “smoker's lines”. These effects continue into old age. By the age of 70 years, smoking 30 cigarettes a day could lead to the equivalent of an extra 14 years of skin ageing.
http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/ss/slideshow-ways-smo...
Maybe there is no fountain of youth, but there is a surefire way to make yourself look older. Smoking changes the skin, teeth, and hair in ways that can add years to your looks. It also affects everything from your fertility to the strength of your heart, lungs, and bones. Take a look at these side-by-side photos. Can you pick out the smoker? Check your pick and get a closer look on the next slide.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19675554
Molecular basis of tobacco smoke-induced premature skin aging.
Although it is now widely recognized that tobacco smoke has negative effects on the skin, the molecular mechanisms underlying its skin-aging effects remain uncertain.
One lucky day, when I was a teenager, Leonard Nimoy came over to my house. A mutual friend thought he would like to meet my father, a local artist, to have lunch and chat. I watched quietly as they talked and looked at art for hours.
Spending the day around him, and the few minutes I spent alone with him just chatting about nothing, was one of the highlights of my childhood.
I kept calm, but he knew I wasn't joking around when I asked him to sign the fine pencil drawing of myself as Kirk standing next to him as Spock, which I had received as a gift years prior.
I'm happy for him that he got 83 years and used them incredibly well. Choked up though.
No offense to Nimoy of course; the guy was an iconic actor and personality. But, as Spock would note, his passing is irrelevant to computing.
After downvotes, I feel compelled to add: nor a logician!
How many of us were called "Spock" by bullies, but actually found comfort in knowing that Spock was six shades of badass?
"Hello. I'm Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is: No." - "The Springfield Files", S8E10 , Simpsons.
Watching it for the first time made me immeasurably happy
Here's a fun video of him in a commercial with the "new" spock. Always love to stay positive when someone passes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UengULt6t7Q
Star Trek was one of the reasons why I became passionate about science and tech. Its humanism deeply shaped the beliefs I eventually formed. The notion of kindness and fairness intermingled with the belief that through technology we could achieve a better world for all. But that took a while to percolate. His depiction of Spock was what kept me watching in the first place.
Same for me. Star Trek is the very reason for me being who I am, a technologist believing in the better angels of our nature. And in the days when future looks dark, or when I feel lost, I sometimes rewatch a few episodes to regain both my hope and remind myself of the values I cherish.
Farewell, Spock.
He (and Scottie) had a huge influence on me. And to this day, I still watch ST when I'm feeling blue.
Farewell, Mr. Spock. And thank you.
Whether or not he did so on purpose, he taught a lot of lessons to a lot of kids who now have their hands on the various controls of the spaceship we share. Thank you Mr. Nimoy.
In Star Trek, even though I didn't realize it at the time, I was first introduced to the idea that you could break apart decision-making into three pieces: the emotional (McCoy), the logical (Spock), and the noble (Kirk). This idea, and the way these actors portrayed these concepts in a hokey, corny "Wagon Train To The Stars" changed the way I looked at life. I owe them all, along with the writers, a debt of gratitude.
For those looking for an off-the-beaten-path way to remember Nimoy (and Spock) this weekend, I suggest watching "Mind Meld". It's just Nimoy and Shatner sitting around shooting the breeze. It makes for a good way to remember both the person and the role he played.
So long Nimoy, and Spock. You two didn't get along at times but it's been fun as hell watching you work together.
If you've been to the Boston Museum of Science IMAX theater, you hear forever hear his voice say:
"who put the bump in the bump... shabump"
Forty-five years later, he came to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and I attended a lecture on his extensive photographic work of nude, corpulent women. It blew my mind to see the massive sweep of his artistic and intellectual range. He was so much more than Spock, the character. The world tries to pigeon hole us in something that catches the popular fancy, and Leonard Nimoy very deliberately never let that keep him from his artistic pursuits.
On Twitter, he said: 'I quit smoking 30 yrs ago. Not soon
enough. I have COPD. Grandpa says, quit now!! LLAP (Live Long and Prosper)'He touched so many lives...
The first one he had a fair bit of screen time. IIRC, in Into Darkness, the new crew contacted Nimoy to ask him about Khan and how to defeat him. I think that was the only time he was on screen.
Not since John Peel's passing have I felt quite so sad about a "famous" person leaving this mortal coil.
Farewell Spock. It's for us who are left to work towards the bright future you shown us.
And as I grew up, I started seeing all of the parts of the show: the way good leadership inspires the best in people, and how good leadership is about creating a sense of unity rather than being a God-like character demanding worship. How working together in diverse groups and hearing input from everyone can find solutions no one person would have found on their own. How saving the day doesn't have to be about violence, it can be about engineering, or just being there for someone. That the search for truth and knowledge is often the best motivation for anything.
It made me want to be the one who made the things and fixed the other things and save the day because of it. I call it "Wanting to Be the Guy". The go-to person. The one that can be counted on.
The entire run of Star Trek series' has a lot of flaws. I recently rewatched the first season of TNG with my wife: boy howdy does it stink. But I think a lot of that has more to do with the economics of serial television. The team that put together Star Trek gave themselves a phenomenal undertaking. And I think they covered a huge range of the human condition in an incredibly tasteful, nuanced manner. That's extremely commendable.
I personally haven't even watched the whole TOS. TNG was on when I was a kid as well, and this is the best and I think most true to the spirit part of the show.
But then the Kirk's crew were part of the show's legacy, so I grew connected to them as well.
> the way good leadership inspires the best in people, and how good leadership is about creating a sense of unity rather than being a God-like character demanding worship. How working together in diverse groups and hearing input from everyone can find solutions no one person would have found on their own. How saving the day doesn't have to be about violence, it can be about engineering, or just being there for someone. That the search for truth and knowledge is often the best motivation for anything.
Couldn't have said it better myself. This show was the embodiment of benefits of cooperation. It inspired me not only to love science and technology, but first and foremost to be the best person I can. To love the truth, to love the fellow men with whom I'm stuck together on the same piece of rock orbiting a giant gas ball. To always seek peace and progress. To stay helpful, and stay curious.
> The entire run of Star Trek series' has a lot of flaws. I recently rewatched the first season of TNG with my wife: boy howdy does it stink. But I think a lot of that has more to do with the economics of serial television. The team that put together Star Trek gave themselves a phenomenal undertaking. And I think they covered a huge range of the human condition in an incredibly tasteful, nuanced manner. That's extremely commendable.
True, it's hard to rewatch old series now, they just feel off - a lot of that is due to its age. And yet I can still clearly see the message these shows had. As someone once said, maybe TNG was the last sci-fi that was hopeful of the future.
And while I know the newest Star Trek series, Enterprise, was somewhat controvelsial among fans, I do believe it's intro is the best summary, the very embodiment of what is the spirit of Star Trek.
I've similarly felt a lack of aspirationalism in modern sci-fi. That's one of the aspects that I like about Interstellar. It almost feels like a pre-warp, Star Trek universe Earth. It's gritty and bleak in a lot of places, but the overall message is one of hope. People also complained about the plot, but I thought it was pretty typical Christopher Nolan fair, so if you don't like that flavor of ice cream, you probably shouldn't have ordered it in a sunday, if you catch my metaphor.
What got to me was his comment a year or so ago on Twitter where he said that he would be anybody Grandfather just for the asking. I asked him, because I never new my grandfather (either one) and darnit if having him for even a virtual Grandfather wouldn't be the best thing ever. But in doing that, I more feel like I've lost a member of the family than I did when I actually lost some members of my family.
Hollywood works really hard to create a portrayal of Ubermensch out of people who are just people. In some cases, those people aren't good people, and that's where the celebrity worship worries me. I think a lot of people confuse the characters the actors play, and the words they speak written by other people, for the actor themselves.
And even when you think someone looks like a good person, outside of what characters they've played, you don't know the whole story. Look at the allegations against Bill Cosby lately. Are they true? I don't know, and it's not my place to say--we have a legal system for that very reason. And people make mistakes sometimes, too (though, in this case, they'd be pretty big, awful, questionably-forgivable mistakes, if they turned out to be true, but the example is the only one I could think of off of the top of my head). It's just another good enough reason to adopt a general policy to not elevate celebrities so high.
But in the case of Nimoy, he really seems like he did his best to enjoy life and be a decent person towards others. I don't know if he ever did anything specifically humanitarian, but if the story of Mr. Nimoy ended there, it'd be a pretty good one, one that more people should emulate.
Yeah, it feels a bit like losing a grandfather for me, too.
The world of Star Trek TOS and TNG normally felt unambiguously better than ours, but it felt better in ways that were achievable. A world focused on exploration, with a society that did not shy away from conflict but worked to resolve it peacefully. It felt like what a steadfast belief in modernity could lead to. In the word's of Neal Stephenson (who I think borrowed the term from someone else) Star Trek and Spock serve as forms of cultural hieroglyphs, recognizable symbols of a great possible world developed from an unshakeable faith in modernity and progress.
I think we morn in part because we will miss our hieroglyph. While there have been a number of unamibigously pro-science/modernity movies lately, Spock stood out for generations. He stood for progress and goodness. He managed to be absolutely moral and absolutely logical. And I think it is the blow to those ideas we mourn as much as the man.
If you are nerd enough :), you will have caught all you could of the interviews with Gene Roddenberry. Gene was caught genuinely by surprise that Spock was such a hit. If you look at how Nimoy played Spock in "The Menagerie", where they (rather crassly ) reuse footage from the rejected pilot, the evolution of the character is startling.
Leonard Nimoy simply hit that part and the creation of that character out of the park.
One of the things that Frank Zappa used to use to talk about the space-between-the notes in art was "put the eyebrows on it". Isn't that a Spock reference? Were there eyebrows in theater or film before Nimoy?
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069900/
Incidentally, William Shatner played the villain in 2 episodes of Colombo: 'Fade in to Murder' (1976) [2] and 'Butterfly in Shades of Grey' (1994) [3].
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074328/
[3] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109458/
Apple fanbois will be interested to learn that Columbo loved to use the innocent-sounding phrase "Just one more thing ...." while faking an exit.
He has a long list of roles as a voice actor.
Not one of the stories I have seen so far gives even a brief description of COPD.
We spend many billions on fighting terrorism, and on fighting 'crime', but most of will die of cancer, lung, or heart deceases.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-d...
edit: Here's the poem, below, for anyone interested. And for anyone unfamiliar with what my parent's comment means: In the game Civilization IV, researching a technology is accompanied by a quote. Nimoy reads these quotes aloud, in this game, and '"And on the pedestal these words appear: / 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' / Nothing beside remains."' is the chosen quote for the "Construction" technology. You can probably find audio of it on the internet (which I recommend), but I can't youtube at work.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.The one thing I will always miss will be his voice, it was so distinctive. No matter when you heard it, you knew right away it was him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnKCCrZHlbY
That theme song was always one of my favorites too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(1995_The_Outer_Limits...
RIP Leonard Nimoy, Long Live Spock...
Fond childhood memories of waiting for the weekend for the next episode of ST. Then going to school on monday and pretending to be Mr. Spock, calling everything "logical" or not , or "fascinating".
Live Long and Prosper Mr Spock.
I heard he was hospitalized a day or two ago, but I just assumed he would make it. He was always one of those people who just came off as... immortal, I guess.
I mean, I know intellectually that everybody dies, but emotionally I didn't even think it was a possibility that he wouldn't make it.
I'll miss him :(
He made some solid music back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tpe1HEMVSM
I knew there was a reason I don't care for HN that much.
I used that quote for my domain name. LLAP.
If you are not familiar with the series, it's worth exploring. It was deeply flawed* show, but the basic premise is amazing and they executed on it brilliantly.
*continuity problems, props that were laughable, a severe and unyielding formula, long stretches of no dialogue at all.
The Mentalist at its best got close to it. I can't think of anything else that did.
I was kind of surprised to see him last this long.
Spock was also a huge influence on me as a writer. I have a sci-fi adventure series, The Dread Space Pirate Richard, a bit like a modern faerie tale for adults. The main character is strongly influenced by Kirk. And there's a bounty hunter who starts off an enemy of Richard/Kirk, but eventually becomes an ally and, by the very end, his best friend. His name is Vega Venturion. The V is for Vulcan. And his personality is modelled after Spock in many ways, esp the Kirk-Spock dynamic. I have another character who will serve as McCoy, to complete that trinity pattern evident in the original Star Trek series. Also Vega is the very first and very last character "on stage" in my series arc -- the final pages of the last book are already written. The only two people who've read the preview draft of this last Vega/Spock scene have told me it made them cry like a baby.
At some level Spock will live forever. Vega Venturion lets me cheat and create new adventures for him, for as long as I want and can keep it going.
RIP Spock and Mr. Nimoy. You will be missed. You've inspired and effected millions for the better.