By Gene Augustine BlueFollow @bluegene47Friday afternoon, February 27, 2015 we the development team had just wrapped up the weeks project discussion. All of us had a warm feeling typical of the Friday Afternoons. We discussed our weekend plans and the chances of snow. Every member was in high spirits. Then out of the blue one of our colleagues announced “Rumor has it that, Spock is no more!†Quickly there were collective sighs of shock across the meeting room.One thing that connected our diverse team of developers was the love of Star Trek. Spock and Caption Kirk were our favorites. The team wrapped the meeting early and we all started digging into our cell phones. Dam!!!@%%^ you wifi network! Of all the times you had to show “no wifi signal†this was one of the worst. Finally I gazed over a colleague’s cell phone.And yes the rumor was true, Leonard Nimoy is no more! Leonard Nimoy, the immortal Spock, a wonderful human being and an Icon for many kids, Space Fans and Science Fiction aficionados, was no more. What a shocking and sad way to welcome the weekend?The warm feeling usually present when the weekend is in the horizon, was now gone. With this sad news the weekend shall be spent sadly brooding over the space adventures of Caption Kirk and Spock.For those uninitiated, Star Trek is the TV and Film saga set in interstellar space. It had characters based on Humans, Vulcan’s and other Aliens. It started as a TV serial in the late sixties and was eventually made into a series of feature films. Star Trek series is one of the most loved movie series. Geeks, Techies, Space and Science aficionados are its chief patrons. Leonard Nimoy played Spock to perfection. The other major character is Caption Kirk, played by William Shatner. Have to add Shatner is rocking even now with his Priceline commercials.(Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner in a scene from Star Trek)Spock the Vulcan who worshiped LogicLeonard Nimoy in his exceptional portrayal of Spock encouraged the worship of logic, and made Vulcan mannerisms hip among Star Trek aficionados. Spock was not prone to emotions but only to cool and rational thinking, so much so that many times he chastised Caption Kirk on his transgressions from logic. On his part Caption Kirk was irritated when Spock showed no emotions when he was required to, as per human norms.Spock was half human and half Vulcan. Perhaps it’s his Vulcan side that made him immune to basic human emotions like anger, fear, hatred, sadness, happiness etc. Many a times when a team member was killed, a space ship was destroyed or a planet was blown up, Spock stood like a rock with out any emotions. Even during those tiring times he was busy working out logical explanations to events, executing complex tasks, plotting future attack plans and mastering alien technologies. On their part his team members wished and hoped to see Spock’s human side. Alas it was just wishful thinking, for he was almost always emotionless.But on the brighter side it was his lack of emotions that helped the team members during difficult times. He logically thought it through when the thought process of his human team mates, were drowned in emotions. Many technologies were alien even to that highly intelligent and well trained Star Trek team. That’s when Spock would come into picture. Spock can fix even the rarest of rare alien gadgets. He can explain even the most complex of theories in simple layman terms. So good was his explanation of complex theories that many alien and human ladies fell in love with him in spite of his cold behavior. Alas he neither showed love nor emotion to those poor ladies. How could he? Spock was half Vulcan and hence emotionless.Spock knew no emotion, but worshipped Logic. He had installed Logic as the supreme deity in his mental sanctum sanctorum, the Holiest of Holies! To add to this he had immense technical knowledge.(Spock, a Human/Vulcan hybrid, demonstrating the Vulcan salute)No doubt Spock and hence Nimoy had a major positive affect on many geeks, scientists, space enthusiasts and techies. They are the day to day worshippers of logic on planet earth. Many an evenings, in these geek’s childhoods, were spent pretending to be Spock. Those awesome Spock salutes those rock solid mannerisms unaffected by emotions, that purely logical approach to life and all its complex problems, those magical words “Live Long and Prosper†and finally those ugly yet strangely imposing Vulcan Ears.Indian Movie Audience recently saw those big ears, standing out from normal human ears, in the Bollywood movie PK. Not that Aamir Khan’s character PK (the film named after an alien character, PK, visiting planet earth) is an exact Spock replica, but surely they had similarities. Spock’s big Vulcan ears, his love for logic, and his aversion to emotions appeared in traces in Aamir Khan’s character PK. Not withstanding all the controversies that surround PK it did give a nice tribute to one of the greatest characters of cinema, Spock and his big Vulcan ears. PK shall make every Indian Star Trek fan happy.A certain hugely successful Hollywood movie had alien characters with blue bodies, long tails and long ears. We can safely assume that traces of Spock’s big Vulcan ears can be found across the universe, especially in some hit films based on aliens.There is a famous scene from the hit American comedy show The Big Bang Theory, where the brilliant yet eccentric scientist Dr. Sheldon Cooper openly despises Zachery Quinto for donning the role of Spock in the Star Trek remake. Such is the power of Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal of Spock, that many Star Trek aficionados detest some one other than Nimoy, playing Spock.A self proclaimed “atheist†(but not when his Born Again Christian Mom is around), Sheldon worships Leonard Nimoy’s portrayal of Spock. In fact he always thinks of Spock, when ever he plays the game 20 Questions, making it very easy for his friends to win over him. The death of Leonard Nimoy shall surely make Sheldon heartbroken and crestfallen. It would be interesting to see Sheldon‘s reaction in the forthcoming season of The Big Bang Theory.(Nimoy with Jim Parsons on the set of The Big Bang Theory)Leonard Nimoy faced many hurdlesLeonard Nimoy was not always successful and had to face countless hurdles.First there is Anti-Semitism. Leonard Nimoy was born 1931 in Boston, USA in a Jewish Family of Russian Origin. He grew up in a community of Italian Immigrants. Many of his friends were Italian. As is the sad truth with most Jews, he had to face Anti Semitism. Worse still, many of his friends had Anti Semitic views. How heartbreaking would it be, when ones own friends have feelings against your race?This is what Spock; the worshipper of Logic would have said “Hating another human is such a waste of time and energy! On the top of it hating humans for their Race, Region, Religion, Color, Sex etc is not only a waste of time and energy but also ludicrous!†It is not an exaggeration to say that Nimoy who played Spock, the emotionless genius, in the future, moved on with his friends Anti-Semitism. He still maintained friendly relationships with his Italian friends. What a spirit.One of the notable features of people from Boston area is that they have a “thick dead end Boston†accent. The joke is Boston Accent is “thick†even for Texan standards, who themselves are known for their unique Texan accent. It is more than apparent that Hollywood encourages only neutral American accent. Neither Boston nor Texan accent is acceptable in Hollywood. A thick accent may force that actor to play only stereotypical roles. Nimoy had to work hard to loose this Boston Accent. But loose he did. So much so he developed his own Vulcan accent in Star Trek.Star trek’s pilot show in mid sixties was cancelled. In fact it was not hugely popular, when it started airing in the late sixties. After three seasons it was taken off the air. Many in the TV network even wondered loud that “Star Trek had run three seasons is indeed beyond Logicâ€. But Star Trek did have a group of dedicated followers, mostly geeky boys. It was this team of dedicated followers who forced the TV network to air it again. These followers called themselves “Trekkiesâ€. Well dedication pays doesn’t it?Fast forward a few decades something similar happened with Family Guy, the popular cartoon show on Fox. It was cancelled, yet bought back to life by a team of dedicated fans. And now it has become so popular that it has two spin off shows and a couple of related feature films.Live Long and ProsperLeonard Nimoy had to do many odd jobs during his struggling years. Yet he persisted and had a long career as an actor and director.On 27th of February, 2015, Nimoy passed away at the ripe age of 83.His death was blamed to old age and on his past habit of smoking, which he quit decades ago. True to his spirit he helped fund a non profit for fighting smoking related lung problems and constantly warned people to immediately quit smoking. His last public word on Twitter was LLAP, short for Live Long and Prosper, Spock's catch phrase.Leonard Nimoy is never dead for he is forever living as Spock in the hearts of Star Trek fans. How can we fans pay a true tribute to Leonard Nimoy? By humanly emulating Spock’s love for pure Logic and seeking to make true his most famous words “Live Long and Prosperâ€.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this articles are the personal opinions of the author. The News Minute is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information in this article. The information, facts or opinions appearing in this article do not reflect the views of The News Minute and The News Minute does not assume any liability on the same.TweetFollow @thenewsminute