Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Viral Videos Part 1: Phazer blast from the past
I can’t get enough of this: a striking young Leonard Nimoy sings “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” while five mod hipsters provide accompaniment.
I feel a little bad for Nimoy. Typecast as Spock, his acting career never really went anywhere. IMDB has the details. Lots of voice acting, few meaty roles. I thought he was great as the prophet Samuel in the 1997 TV production David, and as pop psychologist David Kibner in the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I hear him several times each week, whenever I play Civilization IV.
A more painful video — watch it once, and you’ll probably not feel the need to do it again: William Shatner sings “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” He brings to the song all the subtlety and understatement he employed to great effect as James T. Kirk. Go on, watch it, and cringe.
While you’re at it, don’t forget that Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) is an accomplished vocal stylist. The Star Trek theme has words — who knew?
D.
I had no idea he was a time-traveller. When he sings “a magic ring he stole”, he’s twiddling something on his finger.
I tell ya, it’s a compact disc.
I remember hearing the Nimoy tune sometime last year. That memory lives in a little capsule, like a pearl, which has grown over an irritant.
The vocal stylings of ex-Trekkers is a bizarre little side road in entertainment history.
Maureen, that wasn’t a diaphragm?
Dean: I’d heard Shatner’s various musical adventures years ago, but I only discovered Nimoy’s video when I recently decided to harrass Maureen.