Conference misery::feline

    I like it!  Who said it and in which episode?
    a semi trekki
    Karen
    whose kitties will live long and prosper!

    
    	Data wrote it.
    
    	It was on this past Saturday's episode I believe....

    That figures!  Data was my first love and that sounds like something he
    would say! Worf has the sexiest voice tho!
    Karen

    
    	Karen,
    
    	Have you ever seen the actor who plays Worf without his
    	Klingon getup?  He's quite handsome!
    
    	JJ
    

    Judy,
    Yes I saw him on some talk show once.  He is almost as good looking in
    real life!  The voice is great tho, but he makes it sound"deep" for
    Worf.
    K

    Not sure if this should be a new note or should be part of another
    string - moderators - please move it if there's a better place...
    
    On this week's episode of Star Trek:The Next Generation there is a
    great opening scene for any cat owners. 
    
    a little background.... One of the main characters, Data,
    an android who tries to be as human as he can be, has a cat (named
    Spot).  The cat has appearred in several episodes over the past several
    years but only very briefly. One scene where Data has specifically
    programmed a "feline supplement" that he thinks will especially appeal
    to Spot - and the cat takes one wiff and walks away in disdain, with
    Data wondering aloud that he can't seem to figure out what Spot
    prefers. Anyway - this season we have definately seen more of Spot.
    
    This week's episode starts off with an entire scene about Spot. One of
    the other crew members (Geordi) has temporarily borrowed Spot, to
    experience pet ownership, in order to decide if he should get a cat.
    The scene opens with a broken vase and the cat under the bed. Data
    comes in and Geordi explains what trouble the cat has been - broke a
    vase, scratched up a chair, broke something else, etc.... and complains
    that Data hasn't trained the cat very well. Data's response is
    something like - gee, that's how cat's are and other similar statements
    that any cat owner would recognize.  Later scenes have Data trying to
    train Spot not to jump on the computer keyboard (sound familiar?), by
    picking him off the counter and saying "this is up, this is not good"
    taking hime to the floor "this is down, this is good" ..... Spot is
    unimpressed. Then, (while Geordi is in the room) Data responds to meows
    from Spot by giving him food and then playing with him  and Geordi
    makes a comment that Spot's training of Data seems to be well in hand!
    
    In all - I'd say the cat got almost 10  minutes of air time, on a 1
    hour show! Now, maybe the non-pet people didn't like it, but to me it
    made it one of the best episodes.
    
    So - Cats in Space!
    
    janetb.

    Tell Data he *is* human... in the good meaning. An android who loves a
    pet is not a machine!
    
    We also have Star Trek here in the TV, but of course not the newest
    series. I do not look it very often, but I'll be on the watch for Spot!
    
    Nat

    I personally can't handle this program. I must say I like the character
    Data though. If I had know there was going to be a kitty scene I would
    have watched it for sure! ;-)
    
    Yonee

    
    And "Spot" has changed breeds, too!  Spot was a Somali (or lookalike)
    in the beginning, and is now a Morris lookalike.....
    
    I guess they thought no one would notice!  (8 (;
    
    Lynne

    
    	I laughed my butt off for that episode!  Good to see that
    	they don't expect cat's attitudes to change much in the
    	next 400 years.  =)
    
    	I particularly liked when Data said that Spot must not 
    	have the brain capacity to be trained. Then Spot meows
    	at him, Data picks up the ball of yarn and starts playing
    	with him and Geordi says "but I see you're training is going
    	very well".  So true, so true!  =)
    
    	JJ
    

    Speaking of cats and Star Trek...
    When was out in Schenectady for the show this fall, there was also 
    a Trekker convention in the hotel we were at.  We had drinks with a 
    Klingon who one 3rd best costume.  We also got to rub elbows with a
    couple of Starfleet Lieutenants, a few Romulans and other Klingons.
    We took several pictures but have not had them developed yet.
    I can't wait to see them!
    You never know who you'll run into showing cats!
    Karen

    
    
    	I'm a Trekie and a cat lover.  I saw the SPOT episode and 
    thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Did you happen to catch last season's eposide where Data and a woman
    were trying to be a "couple"?  At the end, they decide it won't work
    and she leaves him in his quarters.  Very sad shot of Data sitting at
    the table all alone except for Spot in his lap.  The best advertisement
    for having a cat I've ever seen. I wold have made an entry in the log : 
    "If everyone else lets you down, there's always your cat"
    
    Sarah

    Just wanted to let you know that I have modified the title of this
    note somewhat so that this can be the repository of all notes 
    related to Star Trek and Data's cat "Spot".
    
    Jan
    Moderator, FELINE

    There was also an episode recently where Data was having day dreams
    of a sort of dangerous nature.  He feared he might harm the crew.
    At one point he talks Worf into caring for Spot.  I can't remember
    why.  Seems he was going to be shut down or something like that.
    
    Anyway, he hands Worf the cat.  Worf is standing there holding this
    cat about as far away from his body as he could get.  He was holding
    him under his front arms and the cats body is hanging down.  Data
    tells Worf he must feed the cat, play with the cat, and talk to the
    cat and tell him what a wonderful cat he is.  Worf (being the big, 
    gruff Klingon that he is) states "I will feed the cat".
    
    Spot had quite a bit of air time on that episode too.  They also 
    showed Data playing with a Spot using a type of kitty tease.
    
    Jan

    
    My favorite parts of the Star Trek episode are
    
    	- Data's line during the opening scene "Spot does not respond to
    	  verbal commands." (we all know how that is, don't we?)
    
    	- Data and Geordi are discussing various advanced training methods,
    	  and Geordi says that his sister trained her cat to jump on her on
    	  command, so training cats can't be that hard.
    	  
    	  How she did it was to carry a piece of tuna around in her shirt
    	  for 6 weeks!
    
    	- And of course the part where Spot obviously has Data well trained!
    

    re: -2
    (Spot episode #2/Data's Dreams episode)
    
    Since Data had already uncontrollably attacked another crew member and
    was being confined to his quarters, he thought he might accidentally 
    hurt Spot before anyone could figure out what was going wrong with him.
    This is why he asked Worf to take care of his cat.  
    
    There were other funny parts to this scene:
    	
    	Worf saying "Spot, come here!" in a commanding voice to said cat,
    who is lying calmly on a couch across the room. Spot continues to lie calmly 
    on the couch across the room.
    
    	I'm pretty sure that as Worf was leaving with Spot, he (Worf) sneezed! 
    
    Some writer for this show must understand cats very well.

    
    Did anyone see the show this week?  I saw about 3 minutes and
    Data was talking to Dr Crusher about Spot being pregnant!
    So I guess Spot is a female!!  I'll have to try and catch the
    re-run this week-end and see what great one-liners they had
    for this star Kitty.
    
    Becky
    

    
    
    	Really?  I missed it.  I'll have to try and catch the rerun
    	as well.... 
    

    There is some discussion about this going on in rec.pets.cats
    on the internet.  If I think of it I'll see if I can pull some
    of the more definitive info on that story next time I'm in 
    there.
    
    Jan

    Pulled from the interenet.  Some headers/postmarks removed in the 
    interest of saving space.  There are spoilers placed between each
    mail message.
    
    Jan
    

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: jprice@dpw.com (Janice Price)
Subject: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 15:20:57 +0000
Message-ID: <9403241520.AA25736@prd11.dpw.com>
Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk
Lines: 10

Did anyone see "Genesis" - Star Trek the Next Generation?
Well spot had kittens!

I know it is only t.v. but I hate it when
I see cats on a television show or in a movie.  I am always
afraid that something bad is going to happen to them!

I was very dissappointed at the and of the show because they
did not show what happened to Spot and her little Kitties!


> From: ceager@qualcomm.com (Carrie Eager)
> Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
> Subject: Re: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
> Followup-To: rec.pets.cats
> Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 10:25:12 +0800
> Organization: Qualcomm Inc.
> Lines: 11
> Message-ID: <ceager-240394102512@ceager.qualcomm.com>
> References: <9403241520.AA25736@prd11.dpw.com>
> NNTP-Posting-Host: ceager.qualcomm.com
> 
> 
> > I was very dissappointed at the and of the show because they
> > did not show what happened to Spot and her little Kitties!
> 
> Everything worked out in the end. The kitties were not affected by the
> virus and Spot was changed back to normal as was the rest of the crew.
> 
> I was glad to hear that there are 12 male cats on board and at least 1
> female.
> 
> BTW, Spot has a trainer wholooks out for her (-8


From: larson@cfar.umd.edu (Sara Larson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
Date: 24 Mar 1994 18:06:46 GMT
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 20
Message-ID: <2mskrm$fvj@mimsy.cs.umd.edu>
References: <9403241520.AA25736@prd11.dpw.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: apollonios.cfar.umd.edu
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]

Janice Price (jprice@dpw.com) wrote:
: Did anyone see "Genesis" - Star Trek the Next Generation?
: Well spot had kittens!
: I know it is only t.v. but I hate it when
: I see cats on a television show or in a movie.  I am always
: afraid that something bad is going to happen to them!
: I was very dissappointed at the and of the show because they
: did not show what happened to Spot and her little Kitties!


I did not realize Spot was female. It must be another case of the
ancient mistake of thinking your cat is male when it isn't. But isn't
Spot orange? Is she one of the extremely few female orange cats in the
world? Will the ST:TNG episode be shone again soon? I'd like to
arrange to see it sometime (I don't have a tv of my own, because this
is one of the few programs I enjoy).

-Sara


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From: ssnyder@sunai.er.usgs.gov (Steve Snyder)
Subject: Re: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
Message-ID: <1994Mar24.193559.25814@rsg1.er.usgs.gov>
Sender: news@rsg1.er.usgs.gov
Organization: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston VA
References: <9403241520.AA25736@prd11.dpw.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 19:35:59 GMT
Lines: 12

In article <9403241520.AA25736@prd11.dpw.com>,
Janice Price <jprice@dpw.com> wrote:
>Did anyone see "Genesis" - Star Trek the Next Generation?
>Well spot had kittens!
>
Does anyone know when this will be (re)aired?  I've been wanting to see
it so badly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Snyder  ssnyder@sunai.er.usgs.gov  US Geological Survey Reston, VA
supervised by:                           These are my thoughts only.
 Hobbit:  DS W+Rt Y 1.8 X L+ W++ C*+ T+++ A+ E   H+ S++ V+ F Q P+ B++
 Tribble: DS Ot   G 1.8 X L  W  C+++ T    A  E++ H+ S   V+ F Q P- B--


From: brand@bnr.ca (Brand Hilton)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
Date: 24 Mar 1994 17:57:29 -0600
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Richardson, TX
Lines: 33
Message-ID: <2mt9d9$l33@crchh949.bnr.ca>
References: <9403241520.AA25736@prd11.dpw.com> <2mskrm$fvj@mimsy.cs.umd.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: crchh949.bnr.ca

In article <2mskrm$fvj@mimsy.cs.umd.edu>,
Sara Larson <larson@cfar.umd.edu> wrote:
>Janice Price (jprice@dpw.com) wrote:
>: Did anyone see "Genesis" - Star Trek the Next Generation?
>: Well spot had kittens!
>: I know it is only t.v. but I hate it when
>: I see cats on a television show or in a movie.  I am always
>: afraid that something bad is going to happen to them!
>: I was very dissappointed at the and of the show because they
>: did not show what happened to Spot and her little Kitties!
>
>I did not realize Spot was female. It must be another case of the
>ancient mistake of thinking your cat is male when it isn't. But isn't

Oooh... good point!  I distinctly remember Data referring to Spot as
"him" when asking Worf to look after him.  ("You must pet him, and 
tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat" ... "I will feed
him" ... "Perhaps that will be enough.")

>Spot orange? Is she one of the extremely few female orange cats in the
>world? Will the ST:TNG episode be shone again soon? I'd like to
>arrange to see it sometime (I don't have a tv of my own, because this
>is one of the few programs I enjoy).
>
>-Sara


	Brand
-- 
---------------------------------------------------------
The opinions expressed here are not mine.  I had my own opinions 
surgically removed several years ago.  They don't belong to BNR
or Northern Telecom, either, since they let their license lapse.


Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: hyler@ast.saic.com (Buffy Hyler)
Subject: Re: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
Message-ID: <1994Mar24.222926.1733@ast.saic.com>
Sender: news@ast.saic.com
Reply-To: hyler@ast.saic.com
Organization: SAIC
References: <ceager-240394102512@ceager.qualcomm.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 22:29:26 GMT
Lines: 40

In article 240394102512@ceager.qualcomm.com, ceager@qualcomm.com (Carrie Eager) writes:
>
>> I was very dissappointed at the and of the show because they
>> did not show what happened to Spot and her little Kitties!
>
>Everything worked out in the end. The kitties were not affected by the
>virus and Spot was changed back to normal as was the rest of the crew.
>

I think what the original poster was disappointed in (as was I) was
that they didn't *show* Spot and the kittens at the very end of the
show.  The last scene that showed Spot was with Spot regressed to a
reptile and the little kittens mew-ing behind the couch.  Data and
Picard were talking about how to make an antidote and then realized
they needed to find a pregnant human since the cat version wouldn't
work.  But although it is presumed, they didn't show Spot turned back
to a cat with her kittens.  (At least not in the show I saw the other
night).  I would have liked to have seen the followup...especially with
Data finding the "father" through DNA samples of the kittens, as he
had mentioned doing earlier.  :-)

BTW, I caught an old episode with the first Spot and it appeared to be
a long haired orange tabby.  The current Spot seems to be a short haired
orange tabby.  Quite different looking.


(My favorite Spot scene was when Worf was asked to look after Spot and
as he was leaving with Spot and the door slid shut, there was a very
distinct Klingon sneeze...)


---
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffy Hyler (hyler@ast.saic.com)
San Diego, California
Spot   : "MC" (W+Bs) G 2   Y   L+++ W+ C-- I++  T++  A+  E+ H++  S+  V   F Q P
Blackie: DS   (B)    Y 2   X   L-   W- C-- I+++ T+   A+  E- H+++ S+  V   F Q P
Stubby : DS   (B+W)) Y .09 X++ L    W  C++ I+++ T+++ A++ E+ H    S++ V++ F Q P+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


From: orca@rice-chex.ai.mit.edu (Orca Starbuck)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
Date: 25 Mar 1994 02:48:13 GMT
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab
Lines: 28
Message-ID: <2mtjddINNcsc@life.ai.mit.edu>
References: <ceager-240394102512@ceager.qualcomm.com> <1994Mar24.222926.1733@ast.saic.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: rice-chex.ai.mit.edu

In article <1994Mar24.222926.1733@ast.saic.com>,
Buffy Hyler <hyler@ast.saic.com> wrote:
[...]
>BTW, I caught an old episode with the first Spot and it appeared to be
>a long haired orange tabby.  The current Spot seems to be a short haired
>orange tabby.  Quite different looking.

Close... The first Spot was not an orange tabby, it was a pedigreed
Somali, which is the longhaired version of the Abyssinian.  This breed
looks somewhat like a small red fox.  The color of the cat that played
Spot on that show is called "ruddy," which is genetically a brown
ticked tabby.  "Ticked tabby" means that there are no stripes or spots
in the cat.  Instead, each individual hair is banded with dark and
light bands, similar to the coat of a wild rabbit or a squirrel.  The
extremely warm, orange color that you noticed (which is why you
thought of the cat as "orange tabby") is the result of selective
breeding over the years for warm colored cats.

The particular cat that played the first Spot was actually a very
good-quality show Somali who earned the title "Grand Premier" (it's
the equivalent of "Grand Champion" for neutered cats).  I've forgotten
the cat's registered name, but he did come from a very highly
respected breeder of show Somali cats.  Being a neutered male, it's
probably a good idea that he wasn't called upon to have kittens :-)

I haven't personally seen any episodes with the current Spot but I've
been told that it's now being played by an orange tabby DSH.


Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Spot -- Startrek the Next Generation
Date: 25 Mar 94 08:21:13 -0500
Organization: Laurentian University
Lines: 25
Message-ID: <1994Mar25.082113.1@nickel.laurentian.ca>
References: <ceager-240394102512@ceager.qualcomm.com> <1994Mar24.222926.1733@ast.saic.com> <Cn76vL.85w@csc.ti.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: nickel.laurentian.ca

In article <Cn76vL.85w@csc.ti.com>, david@pangloss (David Thomas) writes:
> Buffy Hyler (hyler@ast.saic.com) wrote:
> 
>> BTW, I caught an old episode with the first Spot and it appeared to be
>> a long haired orange tabby.  The current Spot seems to be a short haired
>> orange tabby.  Quite different looking.
> 
> The longhair Spot, in "Data's Day", and one or two other episodes, is 
> a Somali.  Beautiful cat, and stylish, too--most appropriate for the 
> Enterprise.  Typically, the Somali wanted a bigger part, so they didn't 
> renew her contract, citing creative differences :-).  Replaced with 
> a shorthair red tabby--they must have thought we wouldn't notice...  Hmph!
> --
> David Thomas                                  (david@micro.ti.com)
> Texas Instruments, Houston                          (713)-274-2347

If you think thats confusing, how about the fact that Spot is
sometimes referred to as 'him' and sometimes referred to as 'her'.

Carolyn Devries
Cognac & Kenya.