The latest Star Trek film is good and I did enjoy it, but it left me with an empty feeling at the end.

I am not a crazy Trekker, but I do have particular fondness for the Original Series. I had to think about why this movie just did not do it for me. Here is what I came up with:

1. The plot was pretty standard Sci Fi plot. A crazy bad guy gets himself a powerful weapon and wants to destroy a planet or two. This is pretty much the plot for any two penny action/cgi driven schlock now-a-days. Not that every single episode in the TOS (the Original Series) was good, but the ones I remember had very bizarre twists and plots. Like the time the Enterprise is stuck in a mirror or when Spock mindmelts with a rock. A good ST plot engages the mind and confounds and surprises the viewer.

2. Spock and Kirk are good friends and are not afraid to break a few eggs to make an omelet, but to me that is not why they are cool. The essence of this characters, what makes they appealing to me, is that Kirk can talk his way out of anything and Spock can think his way out of anything. Kirk crashed a homicidal robot by telling him a fallacy. Spock is essentially a scientific detective. He observes the situation and solves puzzles.

I actually believed an April Fools joke today. For about 10 minutes I was fuming about Ontario bringing in a mandatory driver’s licenses for cyclist that would have to be displayed on the backs of helmets. Silly me.

I have been feeling really exhausted for last two months and I ended up getting a cold on Wednesday. This put me completely out of commission. I really need to recover, not just from the cold, but from the constant work/school/housework cycle.

In any case, I’ve made this weekend a no-think weekend. I am not allowed to do any schoolwork whatsoever, only do the basic housework and rest. I get a headache if I just lie in bed so I finished some knitting projects. I made a hockey sweater for Trev, though whether he will thank me or chalk this one to the “my mom was so horrible, she made me wear handmade clothes” list, I don’t know.

In any case, I wasn’t sure I would actually knit entire sweater so I used krummy yarn, If I knit him any more clothes I will use better quality materials. It is still too big on him because I want him to wear it next year for skating lessons. It is not quite done, I still have to sew a number on the back. I wasn’t going to put anything on the front because old-timey sweaters did not have logos.

Anyhow, I am going to go back to resting now. Wish me speedy recovery!

Cake dough

8 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups of sugar (210 g)
2 cups of ground walnuts (200 g)
100g softened chocolate

10 egg whites

Filling

4 eggs
1 cup of sugar (160 g)
250g softened butter
150g melted chocolate
ground walnuts to dust the cake

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Mix the egg and sugar until fluffy. Blend in chocolate and walnuts. Whip the egg whites separately in a cold bowl, make sure that there are no traces of egg yolks in the mixture. Blend the egg whites slowly into the chocolate mixture. Pour into prepared buttered spring-form pan. I use two pans, one with 2/3rds and the other with 1/3rd of the mixture. Bake for 40 min or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry. Cut in three layers after the cake cools. Mix filling ingredients until smooth. Put filling between cake layers and around the cake. Sprinkle with walnuts.

N.B. When in doubt the measurements in brackets are more accurate.