Showing posts with label William Shatner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William Shatner. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

Le Groove

Fashion. Inflatable rooms and furniture?! Human kaleidoscopes?!

Let the wonders commence, and let those marvellous people at Soft Tempo Lounge take us on a trip. And it is a trip...

Ah, that's better.

[Music: Les Masques - Mais un jour...]


FOOTNOTE - a word from our sponsor:

A.I. CONTENT vs STL PRESENTATIONS

Dear fans and friends, we have crossed the ‘A.I. Rubicon’… not to be too melodramatic.

The flood of A.I. generated videos, images, and music across YouTube and the Internet is at an unprecedented pace. Driven by algorithms that reward relentless content production these creations increasingly dominate search results, recommendations and playlists. The sheer scale of A.I. ‘retro/lounge’ content is overwhelming the authentic music, art and culture, while stripped of historical context, cultural depth and the human experience that gave it meaning.

We are not condemning those who enjoy A.I. generated content. On the contrary, there is room in the world for many forms of creativity, and the more joy people discover, the better. Yet imitation is not the same as heritage.

As original recordings, films, photographs, and artwork become harder to discover, we risk losing touch with that heritage - the musicians, performers, filmmakers, designers and countless other creative individuals whose talent, vision and dedication shaped the era we cherish.

At Soft Tempo Lounge, we remain committed to celebrating authentic recordings, genuine artistry, and the rich cultural history of the music and visual aesthetics we love. Our little corner remains a place where the REAL THING can still be found... where it remains accessible, appreciated, and connected to its true origins.

Thank you for joining us in keeping that legacy alive!

The Soft Tempo Lounge Team.

Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Dance and drink and screw

It's the centenary today of the birth of Marcel Marceau, the 80th birthday of George Benson, the 75th of Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber, the 60th [gulp!] of Susanne Sulley of the Human League [and of The Beatles debut album Please Please Me], and the 50th of soulstress Beverley Knight, as well as the birthdays of Stephen Sondheim, Roger Whittaker, Chico Marx, Reese Witherspoon, Wilfrid Brambell, Stephanie Mills, Foo Foo Lammar, Leslie Thomas, Fanny Ardant, Karl Malden and Nicholas Monsarrat...

...and that of William Shatner...

...and last but not least our own, our very own, Star Trek's Number One Fan, Inexplicable DeVice!


I just had to repost this "face swap" again...

Just because - let's celebrate with a brilliant montage video featuring everyone's favourite "Captain" and his unbeatable tribute to BritPop, shall we?

Happy Birthday, Mr IDV!

Monday, 1 June 2020

To boldly go...



Here we are again, dear reader. Back down to earth with a bump, and into week eleven of working from home - while outside, the sun keeps shining...

Never mind, eh? Today is the 75th birthday of the very lovely mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, one of our favourites here at Dolores Delargo Towers, so let's open the celebrations with her remarkable version of one of my favourite arias - the Song to the Moon:


However, before anyone thinks I have gone all "cultural with a capital K" on this Tacky Music Monday, there is a helluva lot more to the Great Lady's repertoire than her exquisite operatic talents. She's also tackled Bernstein's On the Town, Kern/Hammerstein's Show Boat, Sondheim's A Little Night Music and plenty more "crossover" roles...

...including this marvellous Mistinguett number:


And, in a final twist to the true meaning of "tacky", she also did this!

[with William Shatner, singing the Star Trek theme at the 57th Emmy Awards 2005]

She's a trouper, alright!

Many happy returns, Miss Frederica "Flicka" von Stade Gorman (born 1st June 1945)

Thursday, 8 September 2016

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations



"The Starship Enterprise was a metaphor for Starship Earth. It was the diversity of this planet - people of different backgrounds, different cultures, different races ... all coming together in concert and working as a team ... I think that's why, even a half century later, it's as popular as it is." - George Takei ("Lieutenant Sulu")

Happy 50th birthday today to that most memorable (and one of the most profitable) of sci-fi creations, ever - Star Trek!

When the very first episode of Star Trek aired on American telly on 8th September 1966, no-one would ever have guessed it would have created such an enduring impression on the world - born as it was in a world dominated by the Cold War and Vietnam, an age of racial segregation in the "Land of the Free" [sic], its recipe of simplistic, classless integration, heroes, villains and cod-science was dismissed by many as "kids' stuff", and largely ignored by the pundits. Star Trek was cancelled twice by the network, and even the cast never believed it would have any kind of future.

The rest, of course, is history.

Facts about Star Trek:

  • Creator Gene Roddenberry used the acronym IDIC, or Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations to describe his vision of an almost Utopian future world.
  • When the producers originally approached Lucille Ball (then in charge of Desilu Productions) to tell her about the "Star Trek" idea, she thought it would be a series about a group touring a war zone to entertain the troops.
  • The original series was only three seasons long, yet blossomed in the wake of Star Wars into much more than just a "cult" - the Star Trek film franchise alone has grossed $2.2 billion.
  • James Doohan ("Scotty") was actually Canadian, and he chose to massively over-emphasise the accent as he believed that the Scots had a reputation for being great engineers; he also invented both the "Klingon" and "Vulcan" languages.
  • U.S. Censors initially rejected Spock because he was seen as a satanic representation with his pointy ears.
  • When Nichelle Nichols ("Lieutenant Uhura") confided to Dr Martin Luther King that she wanted to quit the show (his favourite, allegedly), it was he who managed to convince her to stay.
  • Captain Kirk never actually said "Beam me up Scotty".

Although I adored The Next Generation, the original series - and its cast - is indeed a classic.

And they sang!

...after a fashion.

An idiot's guide to Star Trek, courtesy of The Daily Mirror.

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Thought for the day...



...William Shatner is eighty-five years old today!

Scary.

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Captain Kirk's secret weapon



This is priceless.

From the ever-wonderful Dangerous Minds:
In a classic scene from the Star Trek episode titled “What are Little Girls Made Of” (season one, episode seven, which aired on October 20th, 1966) we are treated to a skirmish involving Captain Kirk, a stalactite strongly resembling a huge dildo and a giant alien named “Ruk,” played by actor Ted Cassidy (who portrayed “Lurch” in The Addams Family).

Thirty-five minutes into the episode, Kirk is chased by Ruk into the caves of the alien planet he teleported to. To defend himself, Kirk pulls a huge piece of stalactite from the ceiling of the cave and after a quick edit, we get to see Captain Kirk holding what looks inexplicably like a gigantic marital aid. Kirk smacks Ruk around with it and you get to wonder how hard the production crew was laughing when this one slipped by the censors over at NBC.

In case you are short on time, someone has kindly put together a 25-second video summary of the episode that is posted below for your perusal.

The full episode is currently streaming on Vimeo.

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

To boldly go where no man has gone before



Many happy returns today to that marvel of the modern age, that walking send-up, Mr William Shatner - who is 80 years old today!

Here's a little message from the former Captain Kirk to all his fans out there...


I know I have blogged about him before, but I just can't help it!

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Because there's nothing else to do



I had a long conversation with my sister last night, and one of the more obscure topics of discussion was the "singing" career of one William Shatner, Star Trek stalwart, proud wig-wearer and self-parodist extraordinaire (if such bollocks as T.J. Hooker is anything to go by anyhow). So of course, I just had to share some of this man's marvellous moments...

This was a very very bad year, actually:


Would you want to be handled by this man?


And finally, his classic venture into the world of BritPop - Common People



Jarvis Cocker must have been so proud...