Trivia: Ready to beam you up, Scotty

Actor James Doohan has died (peacefully) at 85. Alongside William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk, he played Montgomery (Scotty) Scott, chief engineer of the U.S.S. Enterprise in that great western-in-space, Star Trek. (I suspect he also inspired the trend in Scots-accented characters such as Shrek and Fat Bastard, played by Mike Myers, and broguish characters in nearly every comedy and animated show that airs today.) His trademark line (usually in response to the captain's request for high warp speed or a cold restart of the warp engines after taking enemy fire) was "I canna do it, Cap'n! I've got to have tharty minutes!" Of course, Capt. Kirk's trademark line was "Beam me up, Scotty."

Trekkies everywhere will weep for the much-beloved Scotty, who reprised in a surprise role for one Star Trek: Next Generation episode where the crew found he had jury-rigged and stored himself in a transporter pattern buffer until he could be rematerialized and rescued (which turned out to be 75 years later). Without stretching the metaphor, we believe that Scotty has now beamed up to a better place, to a paradise beyond the imaginings of terrestrial science fiction (even with ILM special effects). Heaven was ready to beam you up, Scotty. May the chief engineer of all engineers give you the grand tour.