Star Trek 50th Anniversary Las Vegas Convention - 2016/08/04

I finally got pictures uploaded last night, even if video is an absurd struggle on the (free) hotel wifi.

Yesterday was amazing. Aron Eisenberg literally moved me to tears, Whoopi Goldberg was funny and charming, and Melanie Smith provided some wonderful insight into one of my favorite characters, Ziyal.

First, here's some pics from the last couple days:

^ Dominic Keating

^ Nicole deBoer

^ Connor Trinneer

^ Garrett Wang

^ Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman

^ Aron Eisenberg

^ Melanie Smith

^ Martha Hackett

Yesterday, we started out with Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman from 'Where No Man Has Gone Before.' Both of them were very funny and far more accomplished than I'd ever realized. They also couldn't have been more different. Where she was all class and utterly professional, he's that friend of your dad's that has multiple ex-wives and stopped giving a fuck a long time ago. I found him funny but didn't really like him up until the moment he started talking about his daughter with an intense pride.

Following that, Aron Eisenberg and Max Grodenchik came out in full Ferengi costume and makeup and delivered an incredible performance. It was both funny, as they riffed on what a great Ferengi Donald Trump would be, and moving, as Eisenberg talked about the fan support for his kidney transplant, as well as how moved he was by his character Nog's arc throughout the show.

As an aside, something I always loved about my favorite Star Trek show, Deep Space Nine, was how deep the cast was, in terms of both regulars and recurring, but that show really did lean on their recurring characters, and even devoted entire shows to them. I loved it so much.

Following that, we grabbed a quick bite and then took our youngest to the youth Star Trek trivia. He bounced out relatively quickly in all three rounds, which surprised me. He knows the super-deep hardcore trivia, but missed stuff like 'does Captain Picard like earl grey tea, hot?' I think he's cursed with my need to overthink everything.

After that, we watched some of the TOS cosplay group photos, and there was some amazing stuff.

And after that, we hurried back to the Nimoy Theatre for Whoopi Goldberg, which was immensely gratifying. One of my favorite things to hear about is how much it meant to her to see Nichelle Nichols on the bridge of the Enterprise when Whoopi was a child. She has an immense passion and humility that are wonderfully balanced, and it's so wonderful to hear about Star Trek from her perspective.

And we closed the day with a panel that I deeply loved, which was Guest Stars of Star Trek, and featured Martha Hackett, Hana Hatae, Natalia Nogulich, and Melania Smith. Each of them played a character that I greatly enjoyed, in particular, Melanie Smith.

To me, Ziyal was both the most tragic character in all of Star Trek, and the manifestation of Gene Roddenberry's vision. She was a child of two disparate worlds, and wanted so badly to just bring people together in peace and love. Her character's murder was one of the most gut-wrenching moments in all of Star Trek for me, and I believe actually had me in tears when it happened, as it was so sad. It also put Damar in the sights of the two most dangerous men in the Alpha Quadrant, Dukat and Garak.

So, it was really cool finally getting to see Melanie Smith talk about Ziyal. That was a really special moment for me.

And I apparently screwed the pooch and whiffed on Nichelle Nichols. Shit.

Well, we're getting ready to head out for day three! Talk to ya later!

-Blaine

Star Trek 50th Anniversary Las Vegas Convention - 2016/08/03

I'm gonna have to be quick about this one. We got in crazy late last night, and I opted just to go to bed.

Yesterday was the first day, and an abbreviated day. We got to the con around 1300 local time, got registered, gazed at all the cosplay in awe, explored, and got to enjoy some very cool panels.

And oh look, the hotel wifi is so bad, most of my pics from yesterday haven't finished uploading. Crap.

Well, so much for that. Maybe I'll do a condensed post later? Or maybe I'll just say 'fuck it,' and push them all via my cell data connection.

Either way, we got to see part of the crew from Star Trek: Enterprise talk about their show, which was awesome (I was a big fan, predictably), a tribute to Leonard Nimoy by his son, Adam Nimoy, a panel of TNG guest stars (which was awesome, since I'm a huge fan of Suzie Plakson), and JG Hertzler, Robert O'Reilly, and Gwynyth Walsh in their Klingon makeup and costume (and character), which was hilarious, filthy, and so much fun.

FYI - 'we' is my wife, my oldest son, and me.

Also, my wife hadn't seen 'Beyond,' so we took after the panels yesterday.

I've also eaten at Hooter's twice now.

And Vegas is insane. There are so many beautiful people in such a small place, it's ridiculous. Oh, and everything here is crazy expensive.

Yeah, so the fucking pictures are just taking forever since the hotel wifi sucks and goddam OneDrive app on iOS halts whenever the phone locks. I got some great pictures and video.

Time to run steaming hot water over my naked body before I venture out for the day. We're planning on an earlier night tonight, so maybe I'll be able to get some pics up then.

Live long and prosper.

-Blaine

ENGAGE!

I'm heading to Vegas in a few hours to attend the Star Trek 50th Anniversary convention. I'm so pumped. I'm also stressing a bit at work over something I forgot to do last week. Shit.

Regardless, it's going to be an awesome vacation, and I'm so excited to take my oldest son and let him experience this. He's become a big fan over the years.

He and I, for a few years now, have been watching the shows and films in chronological order, starting with 'Broken Bow.' We're now at the point where we are roughly alternating Deep Space Nine and Voyager, with the occasional The Next Generation film popping up. We're at DS9s4/VOYs2 now. I'm not sure how many years we've been at it, but we've probably got a couple more to go.

No, we do not consider the Kelvin Timeline that effectively deleted most of the canon.

No, I do not care what Roddenberry may or may not have considered canon. For me, the Roddenberry/Bennett/Berman shows and films are canon, even if there is some contradiction in there.

Anyway, I'm super-excited and super-busy, but I wanted to share my excitement here briefly.

This is the convention I will be attending.

I also plan to post and maybe even livestream a bit while I'm there. I've never been to one of these, and may not ever go to one again, so I want to document at least some of it.

Also, I REALLY hope they talk/show more about Star Trek: Discovery. I'm so hyped for that show! Everything they're saying sounds right, with an emphasis on exploration and the core tenets of Star Trek, as opposed to the generic summer action films of the Kelvin Timeline.

And don't get me wrong, I found those films to be fun, mindless action flicks, but they're 'Star Trek' only in their branding.



If the above video isn't showing for you, check it out here. I loved that the Onion riffed on people like me. And, granted, Star Trek, overall, doesn't really lend itself to big, expensive films.

Anyway, I'm super-excited for Discovery, and it would just make the trip that much more amazing if we got to see/hear more about it.



So, I'm heading out shortly, but like I said, I wanna share my amazing experience, so I'll be checking in over the next few days.

And, if I get time, I wouldn't mind checking out some of the real-life sports from Fallout: New Vegas. I probably won't have time on this trip, but that would be fun ...

-Blaine