Traditionally, the Star Trek adventures have been about quests.
This week, the quest for a successful television series ends and
pursuit of a blockbuster movie begins as "Star Trek: The next
Generation" offers its final original TV installment, a two-hour
saga airing Monday at 9 on WDCA. Titled "All Good Things...," the
story takes the crew to Enterprises of the past and future. Coming
soon: A theatrical film.
In the series, no "Trek" quest has been more persistent, poignant,
frustrated and funny than that of Cmdr. Data. The Enterprises's
resident android, played by Brent Spiner, has long searched for
what it means to be human. For seven seasons he failed to find
out. But like humans, he may have come closest in his relationship
with his cat, the perfectly ineptly named Sport.
Felis Catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skill and natural defenses.
I find myself intrigued by your sub-vocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communication
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilections
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents,
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion
It often serves to illustrate the state of you emotions.
Oh Spot, the complex level of behavior you display
Connotes a fairly well developed cognitive array;
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.