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SYFY WIRE Bad Astronomy

Spock vs. Spock

By Phil Plait
spock_vs_spock_splash.jpg

Let me be clear here: THIS IS THE SINGLE GREATEST AD OF ALL TIME.

OF ALL TIME.

If you havenât seen it, take a look.

So. Many. Inside. Jokes. Leonard Nimoy singing to himself slayed me, but you have to understand why. Also, the lens flares as Zachary Quinto drives off in his carâ¦masterful.

But I noticed something I havenât seen anyone else mention. When Nimoy is at his house, on the phone with Quinto, we get a good shot of his bookshelf:

When I saw that, I do what I always do when I see a bookshelf: I scan the titles. And what leapt out at me?

Ha! âFlim-Flam!â, by my old friend James Randi. I have a copy on my own shelf; it's Randi's best-known work, and a fantastic guide to pseudoscience, from seances and spoon-bending to fairy sightings and dowsing rods. Even better, I had to chuckle ruefully knowing Nimoy hosted âIn Search Ofâ, a show I loved as a kid even though it took a not-very-skeptical look at a lot of pseudoscience.

I donât know if thatâs actually Nimoyâs book, let alone his bookshelf. I rather hope it is (and not just because I choose to believe that sculpture is actually the Fesarius). It makes me smile with delight thinking so.

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