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January 22, 2010

News Roundup.


As previously reported, the soon-to-be-released Star Trek Online is currently in open beta. Today they released a huge patch for the game which includes Leonard Nimoy's "audio journal overview" upon entering a new sector. The patch also removes the level cap and opens up Cardassian and Romulan Sectors to Federation players, among other changes.

Leonard Nimoy will be stopping by the town of Vulcan on April 23 (Hey! That's my birthday!) before making his appearance at Calgary Comic Expo that weekend.

On Thursday, Zachary Quinto made a guest appearance in episode 7 of the comedy podcast Yoda & Me. Quinto plays "the director" in the outtake footage of Yoda filming The Empire Stikes Back. It's quite hilarious. Click here to launch iTunes and download/subscribe to Yoda & Me or visit the YodaAndMe.com.

Zachary Quinto will also be performing in a one-night only, benefit performance for Naked Angels New Play Fund on January 28 at 7:30pm in New York. For more information and tickets, check out their website. He'll also be appearing at the Ojai Plays event Hearts On Fire on January 30. Tickets for the event are sold out.

And finally, ONTD_StarTrek's UNICEF page are still taking donations for Haiti; at the time of posting, 641 people have donated $16,952.

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Amie R. at 1:17 AM 0 comments

January 17, 2010

Trek for Haiti: Update.


Since I first posted about the fund raising on Thursday, the fans over at ONTD_StarTrek have raised over $15,000 in around 48 hours. I don't even have words for how awesome this is. I'm just amazed at the support and generosity the fandom has shown over the last few days. And the money just keeps growing. As I mentioned in my previous post, I will be donating whatever I get from my auction of my Star Trek I-VI DVDs. Bidding ends this Wednesday, January 20.

In other news, I've acquired a beta key for the new Star Trek Online game (due out February 2) and I've been making a few notes which will be posted probably sometime around the end of the week, since I will have played quite a bit.

I've also recently received a very unique collection of Star Trek items which belonged to Sherna Comerford, publisher of the very first Trek fanzine, "Spockanalia", which I will be sharing with you soon as well.

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Amie R. at 2:03 AM 0 comments

January 14, 2010

Star Trek fandom raising money for Haiti.


I am part of a wonderful community over on LiveJournal, ONTD_StarTrek. Maybe some of you have heard of it, maybe some of you are members. :) So far the community has raised over $4,000 just today for Haiti. If you would like to make a donation, please visit the UNICEF Star Trek Help for Haiti page.

EDIT: I am auctioning my standard Star Trek DVDs, featuring the original crew, for Haiti. Details and photos here.

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Amie R. at 8:48 PM 0 comments

September 13, 2009

(Belated) Worldcon Report


With Amie sharing her experiences at Dragon*Con, I thought I would post something about my convention experience in August. Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada, was my very first science fiction convention - I was glad to be able to travel from my Nova Scotia home to attend.

Worldcon is the oldest science fiction con (running 67 years so far... ) and focuses primarily on written sf, though the discussion panels also touch on TV, film, comics, music, etc. The "celebrities" everyone lines up to meet are not actors or producers, but rather authors: old, young, well-known and obscure. Neil Gaiman was guest of honour, and other big names included Robert J. Sawyer, George R.R. Martin, Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, and even Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman!

Anyway, the Star Trek aspect of this report comes in the form of two veteran authors, Joe Haldeman and Larry Niven. Their best-known novels are The Forever War and Ringworld respectively. Being authors who rose to fame in the 1970s, each worked on early Star Trek: TOS tie-ins.

Haldeman wrote the Bantam novel, World Without End. I read this (fairly short) book years ago, and remember liking it, so I will have to find it again and review it fully.

Niven's Tales of Known Space cycle provided many elements for the animated episode The Slaver Weapon. Admittedly the episode is not one of the best, but it does nicely merge the TOS and Niven universes.

Both authors were pleased with their involvement in the franchise, and have been faithful fans and regular convention goers since the 1960s. I was happy to have the honour of meeting them. (As you see below!)



You can view more Worldcon photos in a Flickr set I put together. Since next year's Worldcon is in far-away Melbourne, Australia, I'm going to join Amie for Dragon*Con in 2010 instead. :)

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karenjeane at 8:59 PM 0 comments

September 11, 2009

Dragon*Con: Report


On Friday, September 4, the first day of Dragon*Con 2009, the first (and best) panel of Dragon*Con this year — Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner — began at 10am. But if you wanted to make sure you had a sweet spot in the Hyatt's Centennial Ballroom, you had to get up pretty damned early. My friend Jane and I woke up around 6:30am to head over to the Hyatt. The line already stretched outside and around the building. By the time we found the end of it (skipping over stairs and doorways), we were outside, on the corner. And it just kept growing. Luckily, the weather was nice and they began seating us early, around 8am. Jane and I were in the sixth row from the front. Jane set up her video camera and we proceeded to wait. While we waited, we were entertained by the Dragon*Con Late Show and then DC*TV. Just before the panel, DC*TV even showed Fall On Your Sword’s “Shatner of the Mount”. I’m not sure if Mr. Shatner saw it one of the many times it continued to play over the weekend, but I hope he did and I hope he was amused.

Finally, 10am rolled around and we were introduced by TrekTrak director Eric Watts to these two legends that would enthrall us for the next hour. The audience — a very packed ballroom — cheered and gave them a standing ovation. It was so surreal to be occupying the same space as these two men, I can’t even tell you. I spent the entire hour either grinning or laughing. Mostly laughing. The friendship they share is quite evident. It reminded me of myself and my best friends. Around halfway through the panel, they decided to take questions, but were sidetracked for a good 10 minutes or so after the first one, wandering off on a tangent. Shatner’s use of the word ya’ll had me in stitches. Shatner revealed he still had not seen the new Star Trek movie, despite it being available on his Delta flight to Atlanta. However, later in the show, he uttered, “Bullshit,” at Nimoy in the exact same tone used by Chris Pine, so perhaps he has seen it after all and is just playing his audiences…to great effect. Eventually, they did answer a few more questions, but were unable to get to everyone. The Daily Dragon article about the panel is available here.

As previously reported whilst I was still at the convention, you can watch the entire panel right here on our YouTube channel, courtesy of my friend Jane (WhatJaneSays).

Immediately after the panel, I was scheduled to go to the official (and at this time, only) photo op with both Nimoy and Shatner. The lines were long and confusing, but I had pre-purchased my photo and eventually made it to where I needed to be. Unfortunately, due to the volume of people, the photo op line, while quick, did not offer an opportunity to greet the guests. People were herded in like cattle, you posed, and you were herded out. Very unlike the smaller conventions I have been to. (I have never done official photo ops at Dragon*Con before.) For some, this resulted in a terrible photo, which, had it been me, I would have had to raise hell about. Thankfully, mine turned out rather well.

A second panel with Mr. Nimoy was scheduled for Saturday at 4pm, but was canceled when he was added to the Dragon*Con Awards Banquet, where he was presented with the 2009 Julie Award. His last panel, however, remained scheduled for 10am on Sunday, in the Marriott Atrium Ballroom. This panel was entitled “Beyond Spock” and was meant to focus on Leonard as an artist. This was another up at 6:30am for a panel day, but it was well worth it. Rumours circulated that morning that the panel now included William Shatner, who had apparently added on an extra day for his appearance. Jane and I were even closer this time, in the fourth row. She set up her camera, but it died halfway through the panel. At first, it seemed like the Shatner rumour really was a rumour. We enjoyed several anecdotes by Mr. Nimoy and he spoke of his upcoming photo project, Secret Selves. After Jane’s camera died (right before Shatner’s appearance), I managed to shoot the last 20 minutes or so on my Sony Cybershot. It isn’t too steady, but the audio is good. This is also available on our YouTube channel’s Dragon*Con play list.

On Saturday afternoon, I made my way over to the Hilton where the Walk of Fame was set up so that I could purchase autographs from Mr. Nimoy and Mr. Shatner. When I purchased my tickets, the boys were on lunch, so I wandered back over to the Marriott for about an hour. When I came back, I had to wait for maybe only an hour or so for the line to advance. I don't like the way they had them set up which was behind a sort of ticket counter or something and not at a table. Shatner didn't really engage anyone and I was too dumbfounded to speak to him anyway. What could I say that hadn’t already been said before? My brain was shouting, “OH MY GOD, IT’S CAPTAIN KIRK!” I'm not even sure if he looked at me, but I can't say I am surprised. Mr. Nimoy got a jab in about this at the Sunday panel, though: Shatner said, “We‘ll be signing autographs at one o‘clock today,” to which Mr,. Nimoy replied, “And Bill is going to speak to each and every one of you individually!” So Shatner signed my photo and then it was over to Leonard. He was just as fantastic as before — made eye contact, said hello, signed my photo and then I gave him the fanbook with a short explanation of what it was. He was a bit surprised and he said, "Oh! Wow, thank you. That's very nice, thank you very much!" I said, "I hope you like it," and he thanked me again. I have no idea whether he read it or not, but he did mention filming Catlow at Sunday’s panel and that if you saw it then, “You saw my naked butt!” and I know a contributor to the book mentioned it in their letter with, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for making Catlow!” ;) An interview with Mr. Nimoy was conducted by the Daily Dragon before the Beyond Spock panel, but you can also read this full article about it. Or you can watch the panel itself on our YouTube channel!

And that’s pretty much the end of the story where Leonard Nimoy (and William Shatner) is concerned! I also attended J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek: the Verdict Saturday evening. It was a two and a half hour discussion where people talked about what they did and did not like about the new film. I was glad to see that many people shared my opinion about the Spock/Uhura transporter pad scene being out of character for him (by no fault of Mr. Quinto or Miss Saldana). Mostly only good things were said.

I took probably too many photos and I will sort the best ones out for the gallery. I was unable to scan everything submitted to the fanbook, but I did take photos of each page and I will post those as well. If there is another opportunity in the future for another fanbook, I will organize one again. It was great fun to put together and I hope Mr. Nimoy enjoyed reading the letters and seeing the artwork collected. And I hope he got a laugh from the inclusion of the definition for “GQMF”.

While on the subject of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, Mind Meld is now available on iTunes for $9.99.

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Amie R. at 8:53 PM 3 comments

September 01, 2009

Fanbook: Cover Photos.


Dragon*Con is fast approaching and my group and I are heading out early Thursday morning. I have received 32 submissions filling nearly 30 double-sided pages of the 8.5x11 scrapbook I have been organizing the materials into. I have had a number of contributors to the book ask if the contents might be made public, so after Dragon*Con, I'll probably put up a special folder in the gallery. I've scanned almost all of the handmade stuff already. It has been such a pleasure putting together this book for Mr. Nimoy. I hope he likes it as much as I have liked compiling it. I'm planning to deliver it on Saturday, September 5, sometime in the afternoon. For now, here's a look at the front and back covers!


Since I have nine pages left to fill, I will continue accepting digital submissions (scanned art, typed/scanned letters, essays, or fic) through Wednesday in the hopes these pages might be filled. I hope to bring lots of photos and perhaps some video when I come back from Dragon*Con.

Also, added a new review for Vulcan! to the bookshelf.

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Amie R. at 12:09 AM 0 comments

August 18, 2009

Project: Fanbook Reminder!


Just a friendly reminder to everyone to let you know that the deadline for the fanbook project is this Friday (August 21) to ensure that something gets through the snail-mail on time. I'm extending the digital submission deadline to September 1. I'm a little worried that I won't have enough to fill the book, as I currently only have nine submissions. I do know that a few are in transit or will be soon. Once again I'd like to reiterate that the hand-written/hand-made stuff really adds a personal touch. As always, any questions or concerns about this project can be e-mailed to me at amie@spocklives.com.

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Amie R. at 2:37 AM 1 comments

August 12, 2009

Quickie.


Kind of fell off the update wagon there for a bit due to moving so regular updates should start happening again. :)

Added a new appearance for Mr. Nimoy to the side bar and a few new links as well. Getting ready for Dragon*Con in just a matter of days! By the way, we are still accepting submissions for the fanbook until August 21! Please check it out!

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Amie R. at 2:42 AM 0 comments

June 19, 2009

Media: Reviews & News.


Added reviews to the bookshelf for Vulcan's Glory and the comic book Enter the Wolves.

MTV has a first look at the upcoming comic book miniseries Spock: Reflections, due out later this summer. I think they've made an huge error however as the article includes the line, "Reflections aims to round out Spock’s origins by shedding light on his activities leading up to the events of the film, specifically his childhood on the planet Romulus." Romulus?! Perhaps this was just an editing mistake... I hope. In related news, Nero is also getting his own miniseries.

We would also like to remind you to check out the fanbook page and please let us know if you'd like to contribute to this project!

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Amie R. at 1:01 AM 0 comments

June 10, 2009

Project: Leonard Nimoy Fanbook.


We have a new project which requires your assistance. We are looking to put together a fan appreciation book for Leonard Nimoy to be delivered to him at Dragon*Con and are in search of participants. Please see Fanbook for more information and the project guidelines. We hope to see submissions from you!

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Amie R. at 3:20 PM 0 comments

May 19, 2009

Fandom: Art, Links & Games.


I came across this link the other day and thought I'd share it here, as it is relevant to our interests. Check out My Little Spock by Mari Kasurinen (Spippo) over at DeviantArt! Mari does awesome custom My Little Pony sculpted art. Check out her website or her DeviantArt gallery for more.

We would like to thank Sean of Zachary Quinto's official website for linking to us there. We've also been accepted as an affiliate to the Zach Quinto Network.

You might also be interested in checking out this video from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in which half-Vulcan, half-gangsta rapper "Tu-Spock" makes his Earth debut with "Highly Illogical" (not to be confused with Leonard Nimoy's song of the same name).

Last, but not least, we have been asked to help get the word out about the new Star Trek mobile game, based on the new film. You can try out the demo here on EA's website. Players with iPhones actually get a version of the game which uses the film's characters as avatars. Here's the official description of the game:
YOU are the captain of the USS Enterprise in this action-packed shoot-em up based on the blockbuster movie. Soar through galaxies as you race to complete your campaigns. Pick up new weapons and fight valiantly alongside and against famous ships and races from the Star Trek Universe. Collect power-ups to increase the abilities of your ship - including speed, energy and firepower. Explore the depth of the score system and get higher ratings on the high-score ladder. Get beamed up!
Further in the week, look for a gallery update, as well as at least two new outfits for the Spock paper doll, and more. Live Long and prosper.

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Amie R. at 3:11 AM 0 comments