Let's have a squirm off!

Spock

Picard

Both are interesting videos. More on that after more votes come in.

Interesting subject material, keckler.
While, Nimoy's tribute to Bilbo is strange and unusual it is also psychedelic fun, so it doesn't give me the heebee-jeebees.
Picard goes to the Rave is much more disturbing. It is the stuff of my nightmares.
The Wesley reprimand is entertaining, but then there is the crew dance off.
I scream every time I see The Dancing Doctor and her Android.
Then, it ends with the final notes from the Enterprise theme. Just Shameful!

My experience is the opposite of jake's. Maybe 'cause I've just watched the LotR movies (or more likely, I'm too young to appreciate the 60's psychedalia) but the Nimoy piece didn't do it for me. The Picard piece was silly and addictive. Plus, I've played SIMs, so appreciated the graphics.

I kinda like them both but I voted for the Picard being worse because, like jake said, the Nimoy one is just too damn mod to hate on!

Ana took the words out of my mouth. My basic reaction to the Nimoy thing was, "...the frack?"

I'm trying to imagine a creepy dance-off between the Sims and those drugged hobbit-ear wearing dancers. Now my brain hurts.

Creepy Picard who doesn't look like Picard is much worse. Because a melding of Star Trek and Tolkien? There are few things better. Plus, it's just too damn funny.

(I almost tortured my students with the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins this past quarter since we read The Hobbit in class.

Picard vs Spock? I don't see a downside. :) Maybe I should watch them again. And wipe up all this drool before I slip and fall down.

As I recall, the Hobbit thing was something that Nimoy did for a music variety show back when his album came out. Rumor has it that Erin Gray was one of the dancers.

As for the SimPicard - that's a style of video known as machinima. There's also a more conventional video with clips from the shows and blooper reels. This one's better/creepier though.

Had to go with Picard - my kids sing Bilbo all the time!

Well, Picard has one line that sticks in your head. Bilbo's never really done that for me.

Great idea, keckler! When I first saw the thread, I was half-wishing it was a request for a new recap, though.

Nimoy's is worse. Just looking at it from the meta level, Nimoy did his video himself, thinking it was a good idea. Stewart was remixed, so that one's not his fault. So Nimoy's makes me squirm more.

But it's Tolkien, Cleo! You are dead to me now.

Well, not so much.

Still, Tolkien! I have no other means of measuring this dispute. Nimoy's is better simply because of that in my estimation.

I stand by my decision, regardless of to whom I'm dead. :)

I think Cleo's excellent grammer skills must offset his anti-Nimoy/Hobbit song choice.

Techno Picard is catchier and anything involving four lights is awesome.

What did Nimoy's button say? It had his name on it, but I couldn't make out the rest.

"Nimoy is Spock"?

How can "Tolkien" be a rallying cry for Spock's bastard, red-headed step child of a song, but is insufficient for Jackson's respect-filled and far superior in quality movies?

Because Nimoy is not trying to tell the story. It's a silly song about The Hobbit; it doesn't claim to be The Hobbit. Huuuge difference.

I'm going to go with the age-old fallback: Semantics. Jackson doesn't claim to be Tolkien either, and his movies don't make me want to cut off my ears. And Nimoy may not be trying to tell the story, but he tells it all the same.

So we basically are voting in opposing ways for the same reason: I voted it the worst because Nimoy is trampling all over The Hobbit. And Picard and "There are four lights!" with the fifth blinking floor lamp is just funnier.

Nimoy's button, if you're referring to the one he puts on at the end, says, "What's a Leonard Nimoy?"

The little green one he wears throughout is a complete mystery.

I love both of those. If I had to choose I'd say I like the Picard one better because it's funnier.

Though I agree with you, Harrison, I thought I'd point out a rationalization I came up with to explain the apparent conflict:
the LotR books are full of songs, silly or sad or just plain long. The Hobbit song could be considered (and was probably meant in all seriousness to be) a tribute to that part of the saga. In effect, it addresses a different and equally valid part of the original material.

The fact that the frolicking pointy-eared teens make me want to poke my eyes out with a sharp object is just an unfortunate side effect.

:)

I'm taking this discussion over to the Meet Market since I think Jackson vs. Nimoy is off topic here.

I've decided that Picard wins. It's the hip-shaking dance that has me rolling on the floor. Come here, Spock. Let me comfort you! >:)

Irish Wolf, his head shaking, his mouth agape.

See, I find the Picard one amusing and funny and clever. The Nimoy? is so bad, it makes me cringe. And then laugh. I'd rather just laugh than feel embarrassed.

And can I just say how funny it is how that Darmok episode has infiltrated our language?

I've gotta say, even setting Tolkien aside, the Picard one gives me the creeps. The Nimoy one does make me cringe, but it doesn't make my skin crawl.

And Peachy, when you say Picard wins, do you mean he "won" your vote for worse or that he's better than Nimoy?

The SIMian Worf freaks me out even more than Picard's dance. He looks like an anorexic drag queen. Or Dave Navarro.

Indeed, keckler. I was glad he wasn't featured much.

Geordi's eyes were also "want to turn away but I can't".

W'ord!
At first I thought that the WorfSim was a female Klingon based on the frame and hair. That should never happen with a Klingon Warrior.
The BevSim had way had way too much makeup on. She looked like a madam and not a doctor.
Who was the woman with PicardSim when he proclaimed his love?
She sounded like Lwaxana, but looked like Vash. *shudders*

I guess I was a little confused by the voting too, but I'm pretty sure I voted for the worse one.

The question is "which Star Trek video is worse." So, that's what you're voting against.

Nimoy's is worse. Picard wins my affection, not my vote.

And I thought Dave Navarro is an anorexic drag queen!

Hee! And yet I thought it was the exact right amount considering the vast quantities Crusher was always wearing. Especially in the last couple of seasons. She seriously needed a "Jane Make-Under"!

Wow. Both of those were quite disturbing, but I voted for Spock because I....kinda liked the Picard one. Creepy and all. It's like, good natured humor from someone who I figure likes the show but can still make fun of it. God knows, I love it but have made fun of it enough. Thanks keckler for digging these up!

I voted for the Sims video. I'm not familiar with the program to design your own Sim, so I let the lack of resemblance in some of the characters slide. For the record, it bugged about as much as the makeup on Nimoy's backup dancers. I'm pretty sure one of the Nimoy albums I own (but are in storage far away from here) has this song on it, so maybe I'm biased.

My issue with the Sims piece? They broke up the rythym of a couple of Picard quotes, robbing them of some fo their value. The drone Picard uses when talking about the monotone speaker in "Timeless" just isn't the same when they set it to the beat. And to dump the Shakespearean rythyms of the passage from "Menage a Troi" for techno - wrong on so many levels.

This seems a good a place as any - found a different kind of video - Sci-Fi Battles: Kirk vs Picard. Very clever.

I'm not sure how I feel about that outcome. I might feel better if Sisko came along and blew up Kirk.

It seems like that vidder fell in love with using that TNG episode, which lent itself well to that outcome.

Some other Star Trek vids I found lately:
YouTube: "Pure Energy", more like a slideshow or screensaver with music, but the shots were chosen well.
YouTube: Star Trek Cribs - The Director's Cut, part of the teasers for G4's Star Trek 2.0. Mostly an animated doll video, like Robot Chicken.
YouTube: William Shatner "I am Canadian!"; I've heard of this, but never seen it before. Shatner sends himself up much like he did on SNL, but also sends up Molson's legendary ad campaign.
YouTube: Mr. Spock, by Nerf Herder. A tribute.

I think G4 has a series- at least three- of those Spock doll pieces.

William Shatner sings to George Lucas at the "2005 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to George Lucas" show. Hilarious and priceless.

Oh, that's hilarious. "Live long, you've prospered enough!"

I just love Charlie Murphy's take on Spock in the G4 spots. That Murphy sure looks like he was a background clone in "Up the Long Ladder" is just a bonus.

Something brought to my attention on a tv list:

Picard sings to Gene

Oh my. That is a rare and special kind of awesome.

A Star Trek/Python mashup, you may have seen it bouncing through the tubes.

Hee, there does seem to have been a frightingly large amount of dancing and sword fighting in TOS for them to sample from doesn't there? :D

That is hilarious. And oh so nerdy.

OK, "sequin vests" just makes it perfect.

The looping on the dialogue at the beginning is a little eerie, particularly Sulu's first line.

"I have to push the pram a lot" put me on the floor.