1. Innis & Gunn Original
2. Fuller’s ESB
3. Leffe Blonde
4. Guinness
5. Tennent’s

Honourable mentions:

• Steam Whistle
• Keith’s Red
• Blanche de Chambly
• Beau’s

I might also be adding Innis & Gunn Blonde to the list shortly: I’m sipping my first one right now, and really enjoying that hint of caramel that Darren noted on a Blog o’ Beer post.

Update 19APR2010: Boy, just goes to show how things can change in a year: since moving to the U.K., the real ales I’ve been exposed to would probably unseat all these entries. I mean, I still like I & G — I’ve since tried the tasty Rum Cask edition as well — and I’ll always have a soft spot for Guinness, especially after touring the brewery now, but once you’ve tasted Timothy Taylor’s Landlord or St. Austell’s Tribute right off the pump, even bottle-conditioned real ale pales in comparison. And then there was my trip to Belgium… Oh, it’s gonna be hard, moving back…

I also noted fairly early on — when Spock and McCoy were around back of the shuttlecraft — the difference between McCoy’s comments about command and Spock’s actions: it turned out to be the theme of the episode, as, at the crucial moment of the creature attacking the shuttlecraft, Spock openly questions how what is logically correct continues to lead them astray. It was clear that his actions weren’t appreciated long before this, but I particularly liked Yeoman Mears‘ line of some inspiration would be nice, or some such. :-)

My other notes follow:

• I thought the service for Latimer was a bit premature, but Spock was needlessly callous about it; particularly when it seemed he might even leave the body for the creature.
• Spock’s look upon finding Gaetano‘s body was priceless! As if to say, “Well, this is inconvenient.” :-)
• A Zefram Cochrane (from First Contact) sort of move, that fuel burn.
• I loved how Kirk couldn’t speak for a moment upon learning that five crewmen had been beamed aboard alive.

• Ah, the life of a starship captain: “I’m beaming back down” — for a cocktail party! :-)
• Spock was hilarious during the “pick-up” scene: first, with wondering how Kirk knew that Lenore was beaming aboard, and then with his eyebrows when Kirk hinted at quoting Starfleet regulations to her.
• Did she just ask Kirk if he was throbbing? :-D Ahem… Sorry, high-school moment.
• I really like it when Uhura sings.
• I loved that scene in Karidian‘s quarters: “I AM TIRED!” I had my doubts about Moss in the opening scene, but by this time I was thoroughly enjoying both his and Barbara Anderson‘s performances.
• Lenore’s collapse was both terrible and beautiful.

I really enjoyed Balance of Terror; I think it was an even better battle than Khan’s last stand in Star Trek II:

• The unseen Romulans; great opening.
• Spock’s hint of a smile as the Romulan commander was revealed was pure gold. Mark Lenard was immediately recognizable.
• The Romulan ship’s paint-job was awesome! Of all the references to birds of prey over the years, this was the best!
• The reference to Centurion got me thinking about the Roman Empire. Upon reflection, it’s clear that that’s just one of many with regard to the Romulans.
• As I said, the battle was fantastic. The moments of silence reminded me of the submarine warfare I’ve seen dramatized.
• The conversation between Kirk and Bones as Kirk gets up from his rest was great: it reminded me of the pilot footage of Pike talking about retiring with his doctor.

1. Innis & Gunn
2. Leffe Blonde
3. Guinness
4. Tennent’s
5. Steam Whistle

Honourable mentions:

• Keith’s Red
• Blanche de Chambly
• Beau’s

It seems to be a widely reported problem, and indeed, some persons clearly have it worse than I do: mine usually doesn’t freeze up more than a dozen times per song. Others have suggested that it might be specific shipments (i.e., a bad press or two). I bought the two-disc Guitar Hero & Guitar Hero II package today — I didn’t have the first one, and, frankly, it may have the best track list of the lot — and while Guitar Hero worked perfectly, the new copy of Guitar Hero II has the same problems as the old one (outlined above).

I too tried playing GH2 with all the various permutations of widescreen mode and progressive scan being on and off, to no avail. Oddly enough, when I played Guitar Hero III (for Playstation 2, as all these other titles are, obviously) with both widescreen mode and progressive scan on, it worked like a charm; just the slightest of skips every now and then, and all the tracks were still in sync afterward (which is worst part of the GH2 problem, by far).

What finally led me to giving up on GH2, however, was the discovery that practice mode doesn’t suffer from this problem: basically I just wanna play the songs — Wayward Son is AWESOME! — and now I know I can, so long as I make it through the game once in the skippy-crappy version (to unlock all the tracks for practice). I’m reasonably happy with that; especially since the world seems to have moved on to Guitar Hero World Tour et al.

So I’ll return the two-disc package tomorrow, buy myself a copy of Guitar Hero and cut my losses, as it were. Unless they come out with their own “track packs” of the GH and GH2 tracks for the Wii (the system I started playing GH3 on); then I’ll be dippin’ in my wallet again.

• My interest was piqued as soon as they said the name Capt. Pike. :-)
• My first thought, as Pike was slowly turning around, was that his chair looked a bit like Davros’ (from the 70s Doctor Who Daleks); then all thoughts were blown away by that horrifying make-up.
• Spock’s actions were very intriguing, particularly in their thoroughness re the speech he’d recorded earlier.
• I sure was surprised to hear McCoy defend Spock! Unexpected! :-)
• Could only imagine how pissed Kirk was as they pulled in tight for the message that the Enterprise had left without him.
• They set up the pilot footage perfectly: you could believe that that was a younger Spock, and the one possible confusion of Majel‘s presence was covered by her darker hair, worn in a style different from Chapel’s.
• I liked the old doctor’s comment about how bartenders and doctors both see two kinds of customers: the living and the dying.
• Capt. Pike says “Engage!” too! And that was quickly followed by his reference to his “Number 1″ — more indications of just how far back these Picard-isms (as I knew them) go.
• Spock seems to have a pronounced limp in that first shot of the away mission. It’s less obvious in later shots, but it struck me as strange.
• I knew the timelines were off, but I couldn’t shake the resemblance I noticed between the Keeper and Diana Muldaur (who played Doctor Pulaski on TNG).
• I got to liking that old doctor more and more as the second part of the episode continued: strange hair-style, but I liked his lines, and I felt they were really delivered with feeling.
• I really liked that incongruous argument between Pike and the Keeper, when he discovered the power of primitive thoughts, and the Talosian steadfastly stuck to its story about the crash survivor. It’s a technique you often see, but it’s rarely used to such effect: normally it descends into a general cacophony, and while Pike’s frustration was clear in this case, you could always discern both lines of dialogue.
• Sometimes Jeffrey Hunter (playing Pike) would get this look in his eye — particularly when he was feeding that horse — that reminded me of Chuck Connors in the opening of The Rifleman. :-)
• The slag that was left of the entrance to the underground was a nice touch.
• I wonder how they got that final footage of Jeffrey Hunter going back underground with Vina? Was it extra footage shot as Vina’s illusion of how the pilot ended? Or maybe an alternate ending? Interesting.

Anyway, that’s only idle speculation on my part. And I don’t mean to say that I didn’t enjoy the episode, because I really did; as per usual, I made some notes:

• A war in the 1990s, eh? Another war would certainly seem logical in ’66; my only question would be why set it that far in the future? Particularly when you’re hinting at a “dark age” followed by nacelle (or at least non-nuclear) technology some two decades later (2018, according to McGivers); it seems a bit compressed. Then again, I have no idea how all this fits with the Zefram Cochrane timeline(s).
• Speaking of McGivers, I was certain I heard MacGyvers, to which my immediate response was, “Damn, she should be on every away mission! You just never know!” ;-)
• The Botany Bay set reminded me of a Tom Baker-era Doctor Who set: there were more whites and silvers on that one, but the feel, with the chambers, etc., was very much the same, as I recall.
• I laughed at the use of “oriental”.
• The formal dress was great. There was an unusual feel to the entire episode that was highlighted in moments like this one. (Of course, I can’t be certain that I’m not imposing that import on it, knowing what followed.)
• The scene in Khan’s room onboard the Enterprise was a tough sale, and I felt that both Montalban and Rhue pulled it off unimaginably well: Khan never let up, and McGivers managed enough strength under his onslaught to hint at her training (which, of course, came to the fore later in the episode — and all that made for a believable ending).
• The banter regarding admiring one’s enemies was fantastic: loved Spock’s, “Illogical!”
• Spock’s speculation, while much farther out than it, certainly hints at the movie.

And now it’s time to get ready for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan at the Mayfair Theatre in Ottawa; very exciting!

• I loved how professional everyone was throughout the opening (well, except for Bones, maybe :-) ).
• Kirk’s poise during the encounter with the beacon was great! It just added to the tension.
• The turbolift dialogue between Kirk and Bones was fantastic: “I never say that… I never say that either.”
• The weight of a captain’s responsibility continues to grow on Kirk right up ’til the poker conversation; you can see it in his face and posture — great stuff!

• Again, a really intense opening; in particular, Dr. Van Gelder’s (played superbly by Morgan Woodward) initial psychotic episode in the sick bay.
• I recognized James Gregory right away, but I’m still not certain what memories are triggering. I watched a lot of Barney Miller as a kid, but Gregory made brief appearances on many of the other shows I watched too (e.g., Love Boat, Wonderful World of Disney, etc.); and then there’s the original Manchurian Candidate, although I was much older when I saw that.
• The neural neutralizer was like something right out of early Doctor Who, sound effects and all. ;-)

• That first encounter with a humanoid was really intense: there was a terrible conviction is his eyes as he spat, “Liar!” and his make-up absolutely hideous.
• I loved the new vocabulary, delivered so non-chalantly.
• The taunting of Spock and the guards in the alleyway gave me chills… And Ring Around The Rosie was a particularly nice (read: grim) touch, given the possible plague; oh, how I hate that rhyme. (I’ve since read that many think that the theory of plague allusions in the rhyme are baseless; interesting, but I still dislike the rhyme.)
• It was around this time that I noticed how much Miri (played by Kim Darby) reminded me of Linda Blair. *shudder*
• Jahn (the leader of the ‘onlies’) was great! Very Lord of the Flies, obviously.
• While trying to find a vaccine was an admirable goal, presumably the only ones it would help at that point would be the remaining crew on the Enterprise (allowing Spock to return at some point) and possibly some of the younger onlies: your body can’t build up antibodies while it’s fighting a disease, as I understand it, anyway. Oh well; minor point. (Again, later research shows that vaccination after a person has been infected is not pointless.)
• I wonder whether this episode made the short list of possible starting points for the script of the second Star Trek feature-length film; there were certainly many loose ends.