Phil Farrand

Last updated
Phil Farrand
20090620PhilFarrand.jpg
Born (1958-11-05) November 5, 1958 (age 62)
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Occupation Novelist, Non-fiction writer
Genre Science fiction, Children's literature, Non-fiction
SpouseLynette Farrand
ChildrenElizabeth Farrand
Website
philfarrand.com

Phil Farrand (born November 5, 1958) is an American computer programmer and consultant, webmaster and author. He is known for his Nitpicker's Guides, in which he nitpicks plot holes and continuity errors in the various Star Trek television programs and movies, and for the creation of Nitcentral, a website devoted to the same activity. [1] Subsequent to his Nitpicker's Guides, he has ventured into fiction as a novelist.

Contents

Early life

Farrand was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and grew up in the Philippines, where his parents were missionaries for Assemblies of God. He first became interested in the original Star Trek as a child. [2] After returning to the United States, Farrand earned bachelor's degrees in piano performance and music composition. [3]

Career

Music

Farrand worked as a music editor, but became frustrated with working with music printed on paper, and worked for two years on a notation package for the Apple II series of computers, which later became Polywriter. Later, working with Coda Music Technology, Farrand created an award-winning, [4] high-end desktop publishing software package for music notation called Finale. Now owned by MakeMusic, Finale won Best Book/Video/Software at the 2015 Music & Sound Awards [5] and has been used to score films such as Million Dollar Baby , The Aviator , Spider-Man 2 , Sideways , Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , The Passion of the Christ , Ratatouille , and Michael Clayton . [6]

As a nitpicker

Farrand first became a Star Trek nitpicker when watching a scene in the 1990 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Offspring . In the scene, the character Wesley Crusher speaks to his mother, Dr. Beverly Crusher using his communicator badge. After responding to Dr. Crusher's reminder to get a haircut, Wesley utters a sarcastic remark, but without tapping his comm badge to terminate the connection, leading Farrand to wonder if Dr. Crusher heard the remark. This sparked a spirited discussion between Farrand and his Trekker friend as to how the communicators worked, and the inconsistencies in their depicted usage in the series. [2]

In 1990, Farrand decided to try writing fiction, but could not find anyone to read his work. Because the only agent willing to represent him dealt only with nonfiction works, Farrand decided to attempt writing nonfiction in order to develop a reputation on which a career writing fiction could be based. A book producer liked Farrand's idea for a Next Generation nitpicker's guide, and so Farrand spent two years conducting careful analysis of the first six seasons of that series, spending eight to nine hours a day for months watching each episode multiple times, composing a tongue-in-cheek analysis of the plot holes, continuity errors and other trivia in the series. In 1993 Dell Publishing published the first guide, The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers. By 1994 nearly 800,000 copies had been sold, and four printings published. [2] From 1994 to 1997, similar guides followed annually, including Guides for Star Trek: The Original Series , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The X-Files , along with a second Next Generation volume. Watching the episodes and movies of each series in order to compile each Guide took about seven months, leaving Farrand five months out of the year to learn how to write fiction. [7] Although exhaustive in their attention to detail, the Guides were not intended as critiques of the series' episodes or movies, but lighthearted musings that Farrand explained with the philosophy, "All nitpickers shall perform their duties with lightheartedness and good cheer," explaining that nitpicking should be about having fun with one's favorite television shows, not pointing fingers and assigning blame.

Farrand solicited submissions from readers, who then became members of the "Nitpicker's Guild." [8] He began sending out newsletters in 1994 in order to keep in touch with the Guild, [9] beginning with the April 1994 edition. The Guild numbered 7,450 members from 32 countries as of May 28, 1999. Farrand decided to create an online version of the newsletter called Nitpicker Central, or Nitcentral; this took the form of an HTML feature called "This Week at Nitcentral", and debuted in November 1997. The hardcopy version of the newsletter also continued, with a total of 17 issues published intermittently, ceasing with issue dated October 1998, which coincided with the creation of Nitcentral's message boards, using free Discus software. [10] Farrand was Nitcentral's first and sole moderator at first, with the site covering only four topics, the live action Star Trek television programs that had been produced up to then: Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager. By June 2009, the topics listed on the main Topics page numbered 89. [11]

Farrand planned to release a Nitpicker's Guide for Star Wars in April 1999, one month before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace , but publishers became wary of publishing media tie-in products as a result copyright infringement lawsuits brought against similar products. Although the lawsuits did not name Farrand's Guides as an example and in fact, even cited the Guides used as an example of what was legal Del Rey ceased publishing Farrand's Guides, leaving Nitcentral as the sole ongoing outlet for the Guild. As the site expanded, Farrand assigned dozens of moderators to oversee the site's various topics. Although Farrand has since stepped down as a moderator of day-to-day activities, he remains the ultimate authority on the site and will step in occasionally to resolve matters of severe conflict among visitors and moderators, who refer to him as "The Chief".[ citation needed ]

Church work

Following the cancellation of the Guides, Farrand returned to the computer consulting industry, hoping to begin writing his first novel in his free time. Those plans changed when his wife Lynette, who had served as music minister at their church for 16 years, decided to take a two-year break. Farrand, a devout Christian who mentions Jesus Christ in the acknowledgments of all his books, agreed to serve as interim music minister; combined with his consultation job, this consumed all of his time, and he worked seven days a week. He eventually stepped down as music minister on September 28, 2003.[ citation needed ]

As a novelist

Farrand's initial attempts to publish through a small publisher in August 2003 were not fruitful, and he ultimately decided to self-publish through on-demand publisher Xlibris. [12] His novel The Son, the Wind and the Reign was published in 2004. It depicts a world in which Jesus Christ and his followers have returned to Earth to rule with an iron rod for a thousand years. Twenty years into the new rule, a resistance fighter named Avery Foster decides to confront the new rulers, including Judge Thomas Stone, whose brutal interpretations of the new law have oppressed anyone daring to rebel. Farrand wrote the novel in part to explore the question of how one can distinguish between the divine and extraterrestrials, and added a topic to Nitcentral for discussion of the novel. [7]

In 2007, Farrand published Grumpy Old Prophets: A Christmas Fable for Adults. He also began a new Internet provider venture called Zarks, providing high-speed Internet access to the rural areas in and around Greene County, Missouri. [13]

Personal life

Farrand lives with his wife Lynette and his daughter Elizabeth in Springfield, Missouri. [2]

Books

Nitpicker's Guides

On audio cassette

  • The Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers Part 3 [14]

Fiction

Non-fiction

Related Research Articles

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Wesley Crusher Character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation

Wesley Crusher is a character in the fictional Star Trek franchise. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and the feature film Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). He was a regular character in the first four seasons of the series and appeared sporadically in the next three seasons. He is the son of Beverly Crusher and Jack Crusher and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton.

Tasha Yar Fictional character on Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Holodeck Star Trek device

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"The City on the Edge of Forever" is the twenty-eighth and next to last episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Writers contributed to the script including Harlan Ellison, Steven W. Carabatsos, D. C. Fontana and Gene L. Coon. Gene Roddenberry made the final re-write. The episode was directed by Joseph Pevney and first aired on NBC on April 6, 1967.

"Cause And Effect" is the 18th episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 118th overall. It was originally released on March 23, 1992, in broadcast syndication. It was written by Brannon Braga, who sought to write an unusual type of time travel related plot, and directed by cast member Jonathan Frakes.

"Second Sight" is the 29th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the ninth episode of the second season.

"The Squire of Gothos" is the 17th episode of the first season of the American science-fiction television series, Star Trek. Written by Paul Schneider, and directed by Don McDougall, it first aired on January 12, 1967.

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"Genesis" is the 171st episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 19th episode of the seventh season. It was directed by series cast member Gates McFadden.

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<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> (season 1)

The first season of the American television science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on September 28, 1987, and concluded on May 16, 1988, after 26 episodes were broadcast. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. It was the first live-action television series in the franchise to be broadcast since Star Trek: The Original Series was cancelled in 1969, and the first to feature all new characters. Paramount Television eventually sought the advice of the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, who set about creating the new show with mostly former The Original Series staff members. An entirely new cast were sought, which concerned some members of The Original Series crew, as Roddenberry did not want to re-tread the same steps as he had in the first series to the extent that well known Star Trek aliens such as Vulcans, Klingons and Romulans were banned at first.

<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> (season 2)

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References

  1. Nitcentral. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nachtigal, Jerry (April 3, 1994). "'Star Trek' fan points out flaws". The Beaver County Times , The Times/Beaver Newspapers, Inc. (Pennsylvania). p. 4.
  3. Farrand, Phil (1997). Phil Farrand biography. Nitcentral. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  4. Phil Farrand: About the Author. Random House. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  5. Ferrisi, Dan (March 23, 2015). "And The Award Goes To…". The Music & Sound Retailer.
  6. "Finale Plays a Leading Role in Oscar-Winning Films" (Press release). Business Wire . February 25, 2008.
  7. 1 2 Message Board Message Archived January 1, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Farrand, Phil (May 28, 1999). "Current Guild Statistics as of May 28, 1999". Nitcentral.
  9. "Continuing Communications". Nitcentral. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  10. Message Board Message [ dead link ]
  11. "Topics". Nitcentral. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  12. Phil Farrand. "This Year at Nitcentral". May 25, 2009
  13. Zarks.net
  14. Nitpicker's Fun & Games for Next Generation Trekkers at amazon.com