Vasquez Rocks...Captain Kirk and the Gorn, 13 November 2010
 Vasquez
Rocks, Agua Dulce, with large rock formations so fantastic that it's been
featured in numerous "Star Trek" episodes. |
 Occasionally
dubbed "Kirk's Rock", an episode of "Star Trek" called "Arena" featured what
must be one of the worst fight sequences ever committed to film.
Truly, Vasquez Rocks Captain Kirk and the Gorn. The crew returned to film
numerous shows and movies in this Southern California location. |
 These
rock formations were formed by violent earthquakes along the San Andreas
Fault. However, that doesn't seem to alarm this person reading a book. |
 Captain
Kirk ensnared in a clever trap by the man in a rubber lizard suit, Vasquez Rocks. |
 Another
view of the most prominent rock formation, with this man paying an extended
tribute to the Tataviam Indians, who inhabited these sacred grounds years
ago, long before the Metrons landed here. |
 Did
Captain Kirk know that Vasquez Rocks may be the only park named after a
captured bandit? It's true...Tiburcio Vásquez - one of California's
most notorious bandits, considered a sort of "Mexican Robin Hood" by some,
hid out in these rocks and caves to elude capture by law enforcement. |
 Tiburcio
Vásquez may have never encountered a slow-motion Gorn, but he did encounter
plenty of California law enforcement. |
 "Pardon
me...have you seen a little man wearing a tan shirt and black pants?" |
 A
busload of people from Long Beach appeared and scurried up "Kirk's Rock".
They, however, found no perfectly round paper-mâché boulders to chuck at
unsuspecting lizard-people. |
 Now,
I've been focusing on the Gorn episode of "Star Trek". But there were
other episodes of "Star Trek" filmed here, including one involving shore
leave, in which the crew of the Enterprise beamed down to an amusement
planet, where Kirk thought of his past, and his old nemesis Finnegan.
Who was Finnegan? Finnegan was the name of an older
classmate at Starfleet Academy who tormented James T. Kirk. A complete
jokester, Finnegan played jokes on the then rather |
 A
hawk soars over Vasquez Rocks, located in Agua Dulce, a small community of
mostly large horse ranches located north of Los Angeles. |
 Sarek,
Spock's pappy, and Amanda, played by Winona Ryder, bond on what is
presumably the planet of Vulcan, with Vasquez Rocks in the background,
albeit greatly CGI-enhanced (copy, paste, copy, paste!). |
 Captain Kirk squares off with a guy in a rubber lizard suit. |
 Arrrrrrr.
Arrrrrr. |
 Arrrrr.
Arrrrr. Gus Lozada battles the Gorn. These M-Audio guys don't
mess around.Creative Photoshop by Bill Plummer. |
Vasquez Rocks, November 2010
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