Happy Birthday Whoopi Goldberg!

All I really want to do is just keep acting, and some of it will stink, and some of it will be really good, and maybe when I'm 85 and presenting an Oscar like Bette Davis did, I can look back and say, 'It was okay, I did all right.' 

Born ham, that's basically me.

An actress can only play a woman,I'm an actor I can play anything.

Everything for me is visual. That's just how my head works.

Her least favorite thing: VOLUNTARY IGNORANCE.

For some reason, all artists have self-esteem issues.

Art and life are subjective. Not everybody's gonna dig what I dig, but I reserve the right to dig it.

When I listen to these women, it makes what I thought were my hard knocks feel like little nudges.

Taking action is hard, but know what? Enduring a bad situation can be its own hell.

The art of acting is to be other than what you are.

Normal is just a cycle on the washing machine.

It's being willing to walk away that gives you strength and power - if you're willing to accept the consequences of doing what you want to do.

It you want to be somebody, If you want to go some where, you've got to wake up and pay attention.

I don't look like Halle Berry. But chances are she's going to end up looking like me.

I am where I am because I believe in all possibilities.

I grew up in a time when it would never have occurred to anyone to tell me there was anything I couldn't do.

Now, I've always known that there were bullies in the world. We've seen a lot of it in politics lately as well as in daily life. You see it where people who may be stronger, or bigger, or better with verbiage than other folks... show off. To me, that's what bullying is, showing off. It's saying, I'm better than you, I can take you down. Not just physically, but emotionally.

My family is Jewish, Buddhist, Baptist and Catholic. I don't believe in man-made religions.

We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.

You know, be an actor because you love to act. Don't be an actor because you think you're going to get famous, because that's luck.

I would love to teach every kid to say "fuck." Hang on, now, hang on, listen to why. The reason is because to me, that is a word that doesn't have any effect. But "stupid" and "dummy"? You can say it to someone who is six and you can say it to someone who is a hundred and six and they will hunch their shoulders and it will be like somebody kicked them in the stomach because they are harsh, ugly words.

If I was doing a talk show, I would do the kind of show that comes on just once a month, with amazing guests.

We forgive sometimes, and sometimes we don't. One thing that's consistent is, at least in the early going, we love to punish and we need to find a villian.

If every American donated five hours a week, it would equal the labor of 20 million full-time volunteers. 

Is there any forgiveness? If somebody does something wrong, we now have copped this "off with the head" attitude, which, I confess, feels great sometimes, but come on. Why do we paint everyone with the same brush? Why does it seem more & more we want people ruined rather than rehabilitated?

There are roles I am never considered for. Meryl Streep roles, let's say. Why not? I really wanted to do 'Ironweed,' for example, because the depression era in this country was one of the best for multiracial people, because everybody was poor. Everybody lived in the tents, and under buildings, and under gratings, together.

We are all here for a reason.I believe the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people thru the darkness.

I don't have pet peeves; I have whole kennels of irritation. 

And for some reason, there seems to be no internal policeman for a bully that says maybe you're hurting somebody's feelings. Or worse, maybe you're going to push this perons too far and they'll do something terrible. Something's not processing correctly in a bully's head. It doesn't seem to occur to them that what they're doing is corssing a line that shouldn't be crossed. And it's really, in my mind, no different than taking on defenseless kids. You do it just because you can.
It's an exercise in power; but it's also meant to dinsintegrate someone's Self. It's meant to take away their sense of who they are. And why? Because they're not as strong, or as bit, or as witty. 
Bullies are ball-less, soul-less creatures to me. And they're not just children, they're adults too. 
It's a terrorist act.
It's meant to make you feel afraid. It's meant to make you feel powerless to take care of the situation you find yourself in.

I want Carl Sagan to explain the sky to me. 

TALIBAN-ESQUE Any behavior that imposes the beliefs of one person on everyone else. Conversations with the Taliban-esque are impossible. They aren't even conversations. WIth them, it's my way or no way.

Normal is in the eye of the beholder.

Don't you believe that the punishment should fit the crime? Isn't that what justice is? Letely, though, I wonder if we've gotten more into vengenance than justice.

I am an artist, art has no color and no sex.

I should not ever live with anyone, because I just don't have the patience for it. I'm very cranky around other people.

I think the idea that you know who your inner self is on a daily basis, because... you know. What's good for you 25 years ago may not be good for you now. So, to keep in touch with that, I think that's the first ingredient for success. Because if you're a successful human being, everything else is gravy, I think. 

Before you judge me, look in the mirror.

I'm fighting the label of 'Black' actress simply because it's very limiting in people's eyes, especially people who are making movies. 

I'd like everyone to imagine a world where you get a job as Tom, and then the next day you're Tina. Imagine you're in the world where you love what you do, but people say that you can't be who you are.

Most of all, I dislike this idea nowadays that if you're a black person in America, then you must be called African-American. Listen, I've visited Africa, and I've got news for everyone: I'm not an African.

The original Sister Act is running all over the world now, on-stage as a musical. It lives!

Just call me black, if you want to call me anything.

What we're doing is not just about becoming a model. It's bigger than that. It's shining a spotlight on folks who know who they are. They know what they want to do. And in terms of modeling, they're already working. They know what they're doing! They're fantastic!

When I was doing ensemble theater and comedy work, I felt I had some talents. But when I started doing my shows in Berkeley and found that I could be funny on my own, I was shocked.

In the dark times, if you have something to hold on to, which is yourself, you'll survive.

The Africans know I'm not an African. I'm an American.

When I started, I knew I didn't fit any visual that anyone was going to lie down and take their clothes off about. Work doesn't come to me; I go out and look for it. 

Actors have no color. That's the art form.

I don't really view communism as a bad thing.

I don't have to be bam, bam, bam, funny when I'm working. I can tell stories, and there's some funny in them.

I'm a big old egotistical baby and that's okay. I can accept it.

We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.

I have the strangest time to get cast in anything. 'Ghost' was the same thing. Six months I had to wait for them to decide they had seen everybody possible. Why not? What limits me? I'm black? Oh, am I black?

When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else. And it'll become like a wildfire. 

And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy.

I think because I've gotten permission from my style icons like Tim Gunn and André Leon Talley, who say to me, "You don't need to dress like anyone else, because you're your own fashion icon. You represent comfortable. And you do fashion your way, and you should be at Fashion Week." They gave me permission to enjoy it! And it's great!

I'm as American as Chevrolet.

When I was nine years old, Star Trek came on, I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, 'Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!' I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be.

Happy Birthday Robert Duncan McNeill!

Zach Levi has a huge heart.

The comedy in 'Star Trek' is always very subtle, if it's there at all.

I directed an early episode of 'Supernatural' the first season called 'Skin.'

A lot of fans know that I love motorcycles. That's a big love of mine. I could spend days on the bike if I had the time.

The first season, 'Supernatural' was very anthology-like. It was like a scary story of the week that the brothers would solve.

One week, you can have a real heavy romance 'Chuck' episode, and the next week it can be some kind of murdery mystery. It's not like doing a procedural.

I always loved working in comedy. 

Happy Birthday Armin Shimerman!

I’m particularly proud of the fifth season story ‘Business As Usual’ because it shows Quark as much more of a thinking, deeper person in the sense that he has a real problem to solve.

We were right across from each other for years on the lot, but I never met Jeri Ryan until Boston Public.

There are a number of episodes in which he must face moral dilemmas, such as ‘Bar Association’ and ‘Looking for Par’mach in All the Wrong Places.’ I always saw Quark as much more of a dramatic character than the show’s writers, who always saw him as sort of comic relief. They did give me some dramatic episodes, but there was always a lot of comedy mixed in.

I didn't take anything from the set, at the end of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. I wanted to remember everything the way it was.

Another change that took place with our show had to do with its characters. When we first started out, the flaws everyone had were minor, but as the series continued these imperfections expanded and all of our characters became much more three-dimensional because of it. Quark’s flaw was that he’d become a little too human and moral. Kira was much more of a jingoist; anything that wasn’t good for Bajor wasn’t good for her, either. Sisko struggled between being a captain for the Federation and also respecting his position as the Bajoran emissary. So every now and then he was caught up in a moral dilemma as far as which path he had to follow. All of this, hopefully, is what made the show interesting to watch and the audience tune in week after week.

Rick told me at the end of the audition process for Quark that the part had been written for me but I still had to try out for it. I was thrilled when I heard that they were doing a third Star Trek series, Deep Space Nine, but when I discovered they were also going to have a regular Ferengi character in it I was determined to get the part. I’ve always been a big fan of the show and the idea of my possibly making a bigger contribution to the Trek myth other than my work on The Next Generation really appealed to me.

The worst diva moments I ever had, without a doubt — two shows that are neither Buffy nor Star Trek — I hated the ladies on Charmed. 

Because we stayed in one place we really went from being an episodic program to something more like a serial. With an episodic show you can tune in any week having never watched before and know what’s going on as well as understand what’s going on with the characters because it’s all new every week. With Deep Space Nine we had more than 40 recurring characters and ongoing story lines, so our show was closer to being a serial. If you tuned in for the first time and, let’s say, saw the relationship between Worf and Dax you were going to be a little bit ‘lost at sea’ because you weren’t aware of what had come before.

I was the first person read for Quark, and I waited about a month and a half, two months to get feedback. I had always been a big Star Trek fan. I was very honored to have been on Next Generation - even though I wasn’t happy with my performance, I was very honored. When I heard that they were casting a Ferengi for Deep Space Nine, I did everything I could to try and get an audition - and as I said, I was the first person seen. Two months went by and I began to get depressed about the fact that it wasn’t going to go any further … because nobody was giving me any feedback. Nobody was saying, “Yes, we’re interested/No we’re not interested.” The agent said they would call, but there was no feedback.

I really did want it, for all sorts of reasons. I thought I had had a good audition, but the situation would have been better if the agent had called and said, “Armin, they loved your audition, but they’re going a different way.” Which is what you hear often.

At that time I was doing a production of Richard II at the Mark Taper Forum, with Kelsey Grammar. So I was doing a play, and I was thinking about it, but my mind was focused on the play. But I was thinking about it. Also during that time, I think I finished Richard II and started doing a production of Hamlet as well … Then after two months they called me in for callback, and I read. While I was sitting in the room waiting for the audition, I saw another actor who I recognized from TNG, Max Grodenchik. I never met him before. I waited for him after he had finished reading, he was reading for Quark as well. We went out and had a long, 45 minute chat about the audition, about the script and about the roles. When I left, I sort of said to myself, “I guess it must be between me and Max.” Then there was a third audition about a week or ten days after that one. I walked in and there was no Max Grodenchik - however, there was Rene Auberjonois, there was Avery Brooks, and there was Nana Visitor… I think Sid was there, too …

Yes, essentially the cast was there. I didn’t know that, of course, at the time. I looked around, and there weren’t any other short actors there. That gave me pause. I thought, “Well, maybe they’re coming in later.” Of those people, I was the first one to read, and I read all of Quark for the “Emissary” episode for the suits in Paramount. When I was finished, Rick Berman came out and chatted with me for a little while. I told him I was very nervous about it, and he said, “There’s no reason to be nervous, Armin, we wrote this role for you.” Now, I wish they’d told me that at the beginning of the audition process, but as it turned out, everybody that Rick had handpicked for that day’s audition, he got.

Classical literature is primarily about language. The plots are rather stodgy and they’ve been copied over and over again. The language that the great playwrights used to talk about those plots and characters is what fascinates, intrigues and why those particular plays have survived the centuries. In the theatre, we call it language or composition – in Star Trek, they call it techno-babble. It’s the same thing. But the actor, teacher,  has to be able to use that language correctly to reach the audience to facilitate understanding through imagination.

I’m somewhat within the nexus of acting and teaching. One of my many hats at Antaeus is that of a teacher of Shakespeare. I’ve been teaching there for quite some time.

To be an actor capable of shouldering those huge topics is essential to communicate with them.

Of course! We store curse words in a different part of our brain than language. Which is why when you hit your thumb with a hammer, that’s what comes out!

The generosity of the entire company has been astounding. We are blessed to have so many passionate people in our midst whose hearts are so devoted to the arts. Having emptied our pockets, we now look to a wider community to help build our new home.

I got involved as an actor back in 2005, I had tried to get into the membership years before. It started in L.A. about 25 years ago by a wonderful Shakespearean scholar by the name of Dakin Matthews. I had just moved to Los Angeles and very much wanted to be a part of the company because of my Shakespearean background. I had a lot of Broadway experience and a great deal of Shakespeare festivals and thought I’d be a good part of the ensemble. But… they rejected me!

Language. Language and the struggle – climbing that impossible hill. The other thing is, in TV and film, in which you can find wonderful work, you have relatively little time to craft a performance. You show up on the set, you make some choices, the other actors make some choices, and in a relatively short matter of time – in TV it’s usually an hour, in film it could be half a day – you come up with a performance, and it gets put on tape, and it lives there forever.
In the theater, you get a month to craft every nuance of your performance, and that’s appealing to actors of all stripes, because you have a more sculpted performance, and you can be proud of all your choices. You can be proud of your choices when you do them quickly too, but this gives you the time to really hone your work, and really be sure of what it is that you’re doing.
And there’s also the immediacy of the relationship between the actors and the audience. You’re immediately given feedback when you do something on stage, which you don’t get on-camera.

Each actor finds within himself the essence of what he thinks the character is and then plays that essence. So the scamp that is Quark is somewhere inside of me and I let that part show. The anal-retentive son-of-a-bitch that is Principal Snyder must be inside me as well and I let that show. And Anteaus, who I found to be a wonderful mercurial fantastical fairy-like character, that must be in there too.

I'm often asked that but, no, I don't have a favourite character. I do have favourite experiences though. It's not so much what happens on camera but rather what's happening off camera. Each character is a part of me so it would be wrong of me to prefer one part of me over another. As far as backstage experiences go, my favourite would be Buffy.
When I was working on Buffy it was a new show that was just becoming quite popular. I was working with young actors who were very excited about the opportunities they were facing and that they knew eventually that they would attain. It was a great delight to watch that take flight. Star Trek is a brilliant franchise and everything works like clockwork and works perfectly, but everyone knows what's going to happen. There's a security in that, but there isn't as much epiphany in that.

At this time in my life, it is enlightening to discover that I much prefer writing to acting. Writing is more creative because you are the principal creator as a writer. As an actor you are always the interpretive vessel.

The gods have made science fiction my favourite genre. But I've always thought of myself as a classical actor so classical theatre would be my favourite genre. One of the reasons I write about John Dee is that he is an Elizabethan and my forte is Elizabethan theatre and history. I actually teach seminars on Elizabethan language. There's something called Elizabethan Rhetoric, which was a primary study at the time.

I am greatly honoured. I campaigned strenuously to become Quark because I'd always been a major Star Trek fan, so nothing was going to stand between me and that role. I am very proud to be one of the icons of Star Trek and by extension of modern television.

The luck of having talent is not enough; one must also have a talent for luck and unwavering focus.

Creativity can only happen if you take risks. But there are no guarentees, only the hope of artistic rewards.

Creative people often want to be outsiders.They want 2 live in chaos 2 maximize the creative tensions between different parts of themselves.

Trying 2 determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying 2 tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock

Never loose sight of the fact that just being is FUN! Let us celebrate the enormous miracle that we ARE.

A school principal may not behave in an autocratic manner,but he or she is a prince or princess, etymologically speaking.Same Latin rootword

Got my taxes done.The liberal in me wants to pay more;the Ferrengi in me wants to pay less. At least,there's the satisfaction of finishing.

Nearly had heart attack.Backed all up then rebooted computer 4 test.For 10 minutes,I thought I had lost 44 chapters of my novel. Found them!

Sitting home memorizing lines. The challenge never gets easier. Tedious and painfully slow.

Seems to me that the root cause of our political differences is whether one has faith in government or not. Is that intelligence or nurture?

Everything Bill Shakespeare ever wrote can be reduced down to 140 characters.
Yea verily!

Shot the Ghost of Hamlet's father today. What a glorious experience. How I love doing Shakespeare.

While I was signing photos in Nashville, the world turned a corner on Syria. We should all be grateful for global sanity and cooperation.

To those kind enough to inquire, laptop is going in for a checkup tomorrow at Apple store.Everything copied including the book in progress.

Time weighs heavy today.Nothing on the schedule.Perhaps, I should return to my novel; but my laptop is on the fritz. Maybe its just the heat

The word FASHION was invented by Shakespeare in AYLI. 11 letters and the world has been debating its meaning and relevance for centuries.

A small prayer to all.Whatever weighty problems you may be facing, no matter how dreadful, I wish you the strength and courage to persevere.

On all matters of controversy,the Pope's question must be asked first,"Who am I to judge?" So much anger & misunderstanding could be avoided

Alert the media.I came through my minor surgery w/flying colors.However, my refrigerator is completely empty.Time and travail have their end

Off to hear a Mozart concert at the Mirabelle palace tonight. then on to Wels to meet Max's Lenya and Carina. Cuddles and hiking to follow.

Liz. Saltzburg is just as you said. Brilliant. Kitty and I are gobbsmacked.

Salzburg.Wow! Most beautiful city me and @kittyswink have ever seen. Sat by the river &stared at castle in the distance.Young lovers again!

Packing to travel abroad is always an adventure.What do I need?What have I forgotten?Though surely they must have stores in the UK & Austria

Having lunch today with @RobertPicardo and Ethan Phillips. Star Trek characters never die; they just wallow in ice tea and smoke cigars.

Sliced my index finger while cutting the cheese. Two stitches. Recovering nicely. Luckily not my autographing or directing hand.

Skype'd Max Grodenchik in Austria today,setting up plans 4 our visit in July.Saw him, his wife, his baby-all while I sat in Los Angeles.Wow!

Just come from a High School seminar on the Crucible.Later today I walk the red carpet for small film"Intelligence."Life is real interesting

Finished first week of Crucible rehearsals.2 acts blocked. Inspiring cast. Talk of rebellion in play,but luckily none in the dressing rooms.

Just about finished casting for the Crucible. Start rehearsals in 48 hours. Did you know in Shakespeare's day, hours was pronounced whores?

Just taught a brilliant bunch of people in the ways of Shakespearian Rhetoric at Theatricum Botanicum. Bravo to the nine of them. A real joy

Happy Birthday Robert Picardo!

Prosthetic make-up is very constricting to wear. The actors who are most successful in it are willing to be very expressive to make the make-up look real and move real. Working in make-up is more emotional acting than regular acting, like you're singing an aria; you let it invade your whole body.

On how the success of "Stargate SG-1" has surpassed that of Star Trek in recent years: I am always amazed when I travel abroad that Stargate has become huge. It's huge in Britain. It's far eclipsed Star Trek. It's now huge in Germany. I understand they're making big inroads in other countries.

If Picard can baldly go, why not Picardo?

I came to the Star Trek franchise a little late. I got into it, I married a woman who's a big Star Trek fan, so, even though I was not into it when I was a kid, in order to court my wife I had to go to Star Trek movies. You know, I think she had a thing for Captain Kirk, right when she was hitting puberty -- which is really when they get you! And, uh, I really grew to understand and appreciate the quality of Star Trek storytelling. And then, when I joined the Voyager franchise, and really became knowledgeable about Star Trek -- and watched more and more of the other shows, that preceded us -- I think that I became a Star Trek fan in my own right, as well as a Star Trek actor.

Watch your tongue... Or I'll remove it.

Hüten Sie Ihre Zunge, oder ich entferne sie.

I am always amazed when I travel abroad that Stargate has become huge. It's huge in Britain. It's far eclipsed Star Trek . It's now huge in Germany. I understand they're making big inroads in other countries.

Die war doch rein therapeutisch!

Hello, bright boy.

Und wenn sie fette violette Protoplasmatropfen sind?

Don’t you know anything?

Na schön, ich werde nun in das Kraftfeld eintreten und mit ein paar Scans Ihrer mittleren Sektion beginnen. Ach ja, ich bin ein Hologramm und kann nicht gebrochen, gewürgt oder verstümmelt werden. Also versuchen Sie es gar nicht erst. 

You know me, but I don’t know you. Why is that?

So fängt es an. Medizinische Bagatellfälle sind jetzt mein Gebiet. Für jede laufende Nase, jeden verstauchten Zeh, für jeden aufgekratzten Pickel bin ich jetzt zuständig.

Electomagnetic Pulse. As in the kind generated by the detonation of a nuclear device? I doubt that the toy industry has become quite that competitive.

Wenn jemand Tuvok provozieren kann, Mr. Neelix, dann Sie.

Missing! The captain is missing! It seems I've found myself on the voyage of the damned. 

Nihiliphobie: Die Furcht vor dem Nichts. Oder verständlicher ausgedrückt: Die Furcht .......vor dem Nichts.

She is the healthiest member of her species I have ever seen. She is the only member of her species I have ever seen. You have a lovely brain. It will make a fine addition to our files.

Keine Sorge, ich werde Sie nicht küssen. Ich kontrolliere nur die Einstellungen der Röhre.

I'm a doctor, Mr. Neelix, not a decorator.

Wundervoll. Aus der Tiefkühltruhe direkt ins Feuer!

Don't worry, I'm not going to kiss you, I'm only adjusting the restraint. 

Denkt denn niemand daran das Programm zu deaktivieren, wenn er die Krankenstation verlässt?"

First they tell me there’s no doctor, so I have to be on call 24 hours a day. And then they tell me there are no nurses, so I have no one to assist me. 

Hm, mal sehen... Aha... Ich weiß was wir machen... 20 Einheiten Salpetersäure. Etwas sprichwörtliches Salz in die Wunde.

Like I said -- no one to assist me.

Ich habe kein Leben, ich habe ein Programm.

Keine Sorge Mr. Neelix, ich nähe alle Gliedmaßen wieder an. Wenn Sie sie mitbringen.

Let's see ... you ran your ship through it, fired phasers at it, and blew a hole in it with a photon torpedo. I'd say it's a pretty good chance that you did some fairly significant...

Ich habe ein vertrauenswürdiges Gesicht.

How many times do I have to tell you, Madam? I'm a Doctor, not a bartender.

Berichte über meine Dekompilierung sind maßlos übertrieben.

I'm a doctor, not a voyeur.

Willkommen auf der Krankenstation, ziehen Sie eine Nummer...

I shouldn't have to remind you ... I'm a doctor...

All of us have violent instincts. We have evolved from predators ... Well, not me, of course. I've just been programmed by you predators.

I was inspired by the presence of a master.

He's a sick man. This is where sick people come. [The patient dies.] 
He's a very sick man. 

Not to mention my hairline.

Make a wish, and follow it wherever it leads you.

Wishing you that this year is filled with friends and fun.

On your big day you are wished all that you hope for, all that you dream of, all that makes you happy.

I wish you to celebrate all the wonderful things that make you so special, not just on your special day, but on every day of the year!

May your birthday bring a smile to your face, happiness to your heart and many blessings to your life.

May the brightest wishes on your day shine every path of yours in good and bad times.

May your big day be as special as you are special to me.

May you sail through all the obstacles and challenges to success.

Have a magical bday with love and hugs.

Life may be full of challenges but there will always be people around you to support you in your time of need.

It's my birthdayyyyyyy!! I am proud to be in show business for 39 years and to I still love what I do. Come see me

Same-sex marriage is the law of the land! In a five-four decision, the Supreme Court upholds our Constitution.

Cool day !! Nothing like a good dose of science to make your day special!! 

Okay: indulge me, please – –if Donald Trump were a Starfleet  Captain,what would be his Prime Directive?

Prosthetic make-up is very constricting to wear. The actors who are most successful in it are willing to be very expressive to make the make-up look real and move real. Working in make-up is more emotional acting than regular acting, like you're singing an aria; you let it invade your whole body.

I resent those who say "Trump is an entertainer, not a leader,"     Gives entertainers a bad name....

Donald Trump is my dream candidate – speaking as a Democrat. I hope and pray that he wins the nomination. If you are at Trump fan, we agree!

Culture Wars Dead Horse File: Huckabee and Cruz visit rally for Kim Davis today. If either gets the nomination, he'll have at least  1 vote!

On how the success of Stargate - Kommando SG-1 (1997) has surpassed that of Star Trek in recent years: I am always amazed when I travel abroad that Stargate has become huge. It's huge in Britain. It's far eclipsed Star Trek. It's now huge in Germany. I understand they're making big inroads in other countries.

Great 21 year old clip of Dick Cheney on Meet the Press effectively predicting a war in Iraq would create present Isis reality. Bipolarity?

Balloon gives birth to 55-year-old man. T-shirt like placenta baffles medical/balloon experts. 

Endangered Species Alert:    Javan Rhino, Cross River Gorilla, Republican politicians not running for President , Leatherback Turtle...

Record number of Emmy screeners this year.  My house sitter so glued to the TV my car battery died... 

Experienced my third Carol Channing possession of 2015. Somewhat disappointed it didn't occur on the 31st. 

What do you mean I have a silly life? 

Been left Twitter-speechless the last few days by Donald Trump's comments. Which cartoon character does he most resemble?Foghorn Leghorn?

Water found on Mars! Will Southern California be next?

Rest in Peace Gene Roddenberry! Thank you for Star Trek and the hope, Great Bird of the Galaxy!

To be different is not necessarily to be ugly; to have a different idea is not necessarily to be wrong. The worst possible thing is for all of us to begin to look and talk and act and think alike.

Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. […] If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.

In the 24th century there will be no hunger, there will be no greed, and all the children will know how to read.

'Star Trek' says that it has not all happened, it has not all been discovered, that tomorrow can be as challenging and adventurous as any time man has ever lived.

I handed them a script and they turned it down. It was too controversial. It talked about concepts like, 'Who is God?' The Enterprise meets God in space; God is a life form, and I wanted to suggest that there may have been, at one time in the human beginning, an alien entity that early man believed was God, and kept those legends. But I also wanted to suggest that it might have been as much the Devil as it was God. After all, what kind of god would throw humans out of Paradise for eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One of the Vulcans on board, in a very logical way, says, 'If this is your God, he's not very impressive. He's got so many psychological problems; he's so insecure. He demands worship every seven days. He goes out and creates faulty humans and then blames them for his own mistakes. He's a pretty poor excuse for a supreme being.

'Star Trek' is a 'Wagon Train' concept - built around characters who travel to worlds 'similar' to our own, and meet the action-adventure-drama which become our stories. Their transportation is the cruiser 'S.S. Yorktown,' performing a well-defined and long-range Exploration-Science-Security mission which helps create our format.

If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear.

It has become a crusade of mine to demonstrate that TV need not be violent to be exciting.

It isn't all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning.

It is important to the typical 'Star Trek' fan that there is a tomorrow. They pretty much share the 'Star Trek' philosophies about life: the fact that it is wrong to interfere in the evolvement of other peoples, that to be different is not necessarily to be wrong or ugly.

For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain. If people need religion, ignore them and maybe they will ignore you, and you can go on with your life. It wasn't until I was beginning to do Star Trek that the subject of religion arose. What brought it up was that people were saying that I would have a chaplain on board the Enterprise. I replied, "No, we don't.

Time is the fire in which we burn.

Ancient astronauts didn't build the pyramids. Human beings built the pyramids, because they're clever and they work hard.

Earth is the nest, the cradle, and we'll move out of it.

Matter of internal security - the age-old cry of the oppressor.
Picard

We stress humanity, and this is done at considerable cost. We can't have a lot of dramatics that other shows get away with - promiscuity, greed, jealousy. None of those have a place in 'Star Trek.' 

Reality is incredibly larger, infinitely more exciting, than the flesh and blood vehicle we travel in here. If you read science fiction, the more you read it the more you realize that you and the universe are part of the same thing. Science knows still practically nothing about the real nature of matter, energy, dimension, or time; and even less about those remarkable things called life and thought. But whatever the meaning and purpose of this universe, you are a legitimate part of it. And since you are part of the all that is, part of its purpose, there is more to you than just this brief speck of existence. You are just a visitor here in this time and this place, a traveler through it.

His name is 'Mr. Spock.' And the first view of him can be almost frightening - a face so heavy-lidded and satanic you might almost expect him to have a forked tail. Probably half Martian, he has a slightly reddish complexion and semi-pointed ears.

Can all this just be an accident? Or could there be some alien intelligence behind it?

I wanted to send a message to the television industry that excitement is not made of car chases.

PICARD: There is no greater challenge than the study of philosophy. 
WESLEY: But William James won't be in my Starfleet exams. 
PICARD: The important things never will be. Anyone can be trained in the mechanics of piloting a starship. 
WESLEY: But Starfleet Academy 
PICARD: It takes more. Open your mind to the past. Art, history, philosophy. And all this may mean something.

When you get into an airplane by yourself and take off, you find yourself in this lovely, three-dimensional world where you can go in any direction. There is no feeling any more exciting than that.

The Strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.

If 'Trek' is a hit, we'd love to do a series of films - a regular event. Look at James Bond's films. They've been around since the early sixties.

Technology would have long ago made privacy impossible, except that this had only made it more precious and desirable--and in the close confines of starship life, respect for another's privacy had become a powerful tradition.

We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.

Vejur was everything that Spock had ever dreamed of becoming. And yet Vejur was barren! It would never feel pain. Or joy. Or challenge. It was so completely and magnificently logical that its accumulation of knowledge was totally useless.

The human race is a remarkable creature, one with great potential, and I hope that 'Star Trek' has helped to show us what we can be if we believe in ourselves and our abilities.

When dreams become more important than reality, you give up travel, building, creating; you even forget how to repair the machines left behind by your ancestors. You just sit living and reliving other lives left behind in the thought records.

A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away.

There was much to put out of his mind. Why was it difficult to forget Chekov's astonished delight which greeted him at the command airlock when he boarded. And on the bridge - Kirk! The mere name made Spock groan inwardly as he remembered what it had cost him to turn away from that welcome. T'hy'la!

These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five year mission... to boldly go where no man has gone before.

For Star Trek proves, as faulty as individual episodes could be, is that the much-maligned common man and common woman has an enormous hunger for brotherhood. They are ready for the twenty-third century now, and they are light-years ahead of their petty governments and their visionless leaders.

I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will -- and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain.

Star Trek speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow—it's not all going to be over with a big flash and a bomb; that the human race is improving; that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids—human beings built them, because they're clever and they work hard. And Star Trek is about those things.

It is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are. It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward.

For me science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects.

Happy Birthday Gummo Marx!

For many years after I quit the stage people referred to me as an actor, but during my career most people vehemently denied this.

Happy Birthday Ira Steven Behr!

On why he left Star Trek: The Next Generation: Basically because I found the work frustrating. I felt there wasn't enough conflict within the characters. I felt that the types of stories we could've done were limited. Humor was not encouraged. Just in terms of the work itself, it was unfulfilling. So I left. They offered me a two-year pay or play commitment, but I still left. I guess I really wanted to go. But I still remained friendly with Michael Piller and he was able to convince me to come back to the fold for DS9.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, we're here to make quality television.