SEATTLE'S EMP MUSEUM'S NEW EXHIBIT "STAR TREK: EXPLORING STRANGE NEW WORLDS" OPENS IN MAY

The Star Trek Exhibit will include key costume pieces from TOS

The EMP Museum (formerly the Science Fiction Museum) in Seattle will be returning to its roots with a new Star Trek-themed exhibit appropriately called "Strange New Worlds". This will kick off the museum's celebration of Star Trek's 50th Anniversary. Here's what they have to say:

"Discover the beloved series all over again in this fully immersive experience, featuring more than 100 artifacts and props from the five Star Trek television series, spin-offs, and films, including set pieces from the original series like Captain Kirk’s command chair and the navigation console (on display for the first time to the public); Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and McCoy original series costumes; and the 11-foot U.S.S. Enterprise filming model from Star Trek: The Next Generation."

For more info, visit the EMP site at:

EMP Star Trek Exhibit

LLAP,

Don

REVIEW: WILLIAM SHATNER'S "Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man"

When I heard that William Shatner was writing a memoir about Leonard Nimoy, the cynic in me said "Bill must need a paycheck". After all, he had half a century to write such a book. Why wait until the subject is gone to make it so? And, over the years Mr. Shatner has made it clear that he'll do anything for a buck ("Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", anyone?). So when I received my copy, I realized I had to put my own preconceived notions aside and let the book stand or fall on its own.

It's important to take the title into account. From the first page it's clear that this is not a biography of an individual, but the recounting of how that individual's life intersected the writer's. Because of that, Shatner intertwines elements about his own life (though to a lesser extent than Nimoy's) in the telling of Nimoy's story. In this case, that is a very proper thing to do, for without knowing how the two men led their individual lives, we'd have little understanding of how and why they would first come together as colleagues and, eventually, as friends. 

If you're a long-time Star Trek fan and reader of Shatner and Nimoy's past memoirs, there's very little new material regarding their early days. And very little new material, period, at least from a nuts and bolts "these are the facts" perspective. Been there, read that. But where this book shines is that, for the first time that I know of, the narrative is exclusively about how these two men became attached – first by fate and then by choice – for almost half a century. Each had played some role in the others' memoirs, but only as one of dozens of other players. Here the focus is specific and laser-tight.

It's interesting to see Shatner acknowledge that his own self-image was perhaps not as accurate as he once thought. In the past, Shatner has admitted to having being oblivious to the needs of others. And so, in relating various stories, Shatner gives us the sense that his friend Leonard sometimes gave him a very honest take on his past behaviors and how they affected those around him, and not always in a positive light. 

The book is filled with various interplay between the two over the years and is laid out in a roughly chronological way. Shatner and co-author, David Fisher, show no real ability to consistently connect to the material on an emotional level with a couple of exceptions. When Shatner relates a conversation with Nimoy in 2001 and quotes the actor as saying "You're my best friend", you'd have to be made of stone to be unmoved. So, too, as Shatner tells the story of his third wife's battle with alcoholism that would eventually lead to her death and Nimoy's steadfast support for his friend – an understanding that could only have come from an alcoholic like Nimoy, himself – we get a stark, honest look at one of the worst moments in Shatner's life. His friendship with Nimoy was one of the few rocks upon which he could lean. 

But the most interesting – and strangest – part of the book comes at the end when Shatner basically tells us (spoiler alert!!) that despite their deep friendship, the two hadn't spoken since 2011 because, for some reason unknown to Shatner, Nimoy stopped speaking to him. Shatner claims to have reached out to Nimoy several times to no avail. He also claims to not understand the basis of the problem. It's interesting to note that the last time the two saw each other was for the production of a German Volkswagen commercial in 2014, just a few months prior to Nimoy's death. Despite mentioning this event, Shatner tells nothing about how the two related to each other during the shoot. Surely the subject would have been broached, right? But no insight is given and we're left to wonder "what the...??".

While an imperfect story, "Leonard" should nonetheless be considered a must-read for Star Trek fans who, like me, grew up with these two wonderful actors and their iconic characters who took us, boldy, where no man had gone before. We'll never see their likes again, and any insight into these individuals is well worth the effort.

LLAP.

Don

EXCLUSIVE SHOTS OF THE ENTERPRISE IN HER SMITHSONIAN DRYDOCK

On January 30, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum held their annual open house. It was a special day for Star Trek fans, of course, since one of the items on display was the original Enterprise model from the 60's as it awaits its impending restoration. Friend of the blog and Star Trek fan extraordinaire John Simmons was in attendance and has kindly shared some of his exclusive shots with us. Click on each photo for much larger versions.

Dismantled in preparation for its upcoming restoration, the Enterprise was lovingly laid out in pieces for attendees. All photos courtesy of John Simmons.

Engine nacelles with the light module that resulted in the "warp effect" under the domes. Note the Shuttle Bay doors in the center.

A better shot of the impulse engine add-on (lower left) and the engine domes.

The secondary hull with the front assembly removed. The skin's inaccurate heavily weathered paint job will be removed and restored to its original simple texture.

Aft end of the nacelles showing the domed caps. The secondary hull front piece is sitting just behind it with the iconic saucer sitting between.

Side of the primary hull showing the same exaggerated weathering as on the secondary hull.

More detail is shown on the nacelle front opening. It looks like rather crudely carved wood because that's exactly what it is!

The museum displayed this graphic as an overview to attendees.

Thanks to John for recording and sharing the amazing experience of being in the presence of the one and only original Enterprise!

LLAP,

Don

THIS SATURDAY CATCH A GLIMPSE OF A TRUE RARITY: THE DISASSEMBLED ORIGINAL ENTERPRISE MODEL AT SMITHSONIAN

Spread out in pieces on a work table, the USS Enterprise sits as if on a flat space dock, its parts carefully laid out around her iconic saucer awaiting the Starfleet engineers to complete their final assembly. But this is no fictional shipyard, but the real-life Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

The old girl has been to hell and back but she's finally getting the long-awaited refit she deserves. That's right – the original 11-foot-long shooting model of the legend that started it all – the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 – is in for repairs and will be on display this Saturday during the annual Open House at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on Saturday, January 30. She's been taken apart, prodded, analyzed and measured, all toward the goal of stabilizing the model and returning it to its appearance from August of 1967, during the filming of the episode The Trouble with Tribbles, which marked the last known modification of the ship during the production of Star Trek.

Ready for restoration to inspire whole new generations.

This isn't the first time the model has undergone restoration. The last time was in the early nineties and lead to a controversial outcome. Instead of being given a freshening that would have reflected her true appearance in the studios of Desilu, someone thought it would be a good idea to "idealize" her and gave her an overly-detailed, totally inaccurate paint job instead. To this fan's eye the outcome was not pretty and should never have been called a "restoration" as the original appearance was never "restored". This time around things are apparently being done differently and the goal is a TRUE restoration – make her look like she actually did during original production almost a half century ago.

The final painting of the Enterprise model will begin in April, using newly discovered reference photos from an appeal to Star Trek fans in the fall. That appeal garnered all sorts of images that haven't been seen in decades and will aid the conservation process.

For a full report on the process and more photos, visit the Smithsonian Natioanl Air and Space Museum page.

LLAP!

Don

"BEST DAD EVER" BUILDS TOS BRIDGE PLAYSET FROM SCRATCH FOR SON

This is the coolest thing I've come across in a long time and I had to share it. A guy named David Weiberg built a complete TOS Bridge Playset for his 8-year-old son, a budding Star Trek fan. It was created in the same scale as the old 5-inch Playmates action figures. Amazingly enough, with all the toys that Playmates made back in the 90's, they never made this playset!

Below are some shots of his amazing creation. It was made with wood and plastic and a lot of patience.

You'd swear you were on-set! All photos: David Weilberg

He began with basic wood construction building modules – just like the original shooting set:

He then moved on to the center command section:

 

And the all-important viewscreen:

All parts were then rough-assembled to check fit:

 

Everything was then filled, sanded and primed:

 

Next – building and painting the iconic chairs:

Then came the rails made from plastic:

And final paint:

 

Next came the super-critical client review:

Graphics creation:

 

And application:

And completion!

Notice his son's multi-level approach!

This is an incredibly cool and – let's face it, charming – piece of Star Trek-inspired love. I hope his boy has fun with it for years to come!

You'll find the entire build overview here:

Star Trek Bridge Playset

LLAP!

Don

AXANAR LAWSUIT "DOE" DEFENDANTS CAN GET EXCLUSIVE SWAG – SUITABLE FOR THEIR COURTROOM APPEARANCES!

This story references the current controversy and lawsuit surrounding the Star Trek Axanar project. You can get more info HERE.

The folks over at Axanar are known for the "Donor Swag" they send out to their mindless minions who apparently have more money than common sense. Daniel James Squire over on the "I Stand With CBS" Facebook page gave the idea his own unique (and realistic!) twist:

I'm sure that all the unnamed "Doe" defendants (as in John and/or Jane Doe) will be sporting this on T-shirts and coffee mugs (filled with Axanar Coffee) real soon! That way we'll be able to pick them out in the courtroom.

Thanks for an inspired message, Daniel!

LLAP.

Don

I FINALLY WATCHED "PRELUDE TO AXANAR" AND IT DIDN'T SUCK EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE BIG THING...

When the video of "Prelude to Axanar" became available on Youtube, I just rolled my eyes and ignored it. After all, its creator Alec Peters had, among other things, ACTUALLY THREATENED MY LIFE. So you'll forgive me if I was never going to be a supporter. And, by the way, I can't be the only person who noticed with not a little irony that Alec Peters' character in Axanar would go on to become a crazed lunatic bent on the destruction of all around him in the Star Trek original series episode "Whom Gods Destroy".

One of the these guys is a crazy, egocentric buffoon, bent on the destruction of everyone around him. The other is TV actor Steve Ihnat (left).

But with all this hoo-ha over Axanar, I decided that I really needed to see what all the fuss was  about. It's not that I thought I'd change my mind on the legality of the project – I have NOT. But I wanted to see why so many people were so passionate about defending an unwinnable proposition, ie: the survivability of Axanar after being sued by CBS and Paramount.

And so I cued up the video, cleared my mind, and hit "play". Here are my thoughts:

The Look

The thing really looked high-end, for the most part. The CGI was a bit uneven ranging from the burning cities – that looked a bit fake to me – to the space and ship scenes – some of which looked VERY good. Overall, not up to true feature film standards, but better than any fan film I'd ever seen. The one flaw to me was the overall design of things. Instead of establishing something retro-unique to their early Trek universe, they simply copied the aesthetic of "NuTrek", ie, the JJ Abrams films. Of all the visual touchstones to use, that's the least interesting to me, personally. And since Peters himself has panned those films, I'm shocked he'd use them as a design basis. It definitely shows a lack of creativity, however, and that shocks me not at all.

The Acting

I admit to being as big a Trek nerd as anyone, so that having Tony Todd, Gary Graham and J.G Hertzler all in one place, well, that's nerd heaven. But more to the point, they all delivered excellent performances. Kate Vernon was unknown to me (I had forgotten she was Ellen Tigh on BSG) but she also delivered a solid, engaging performance. To my surprise, I was less taken with Richard Hatch's performance. Not Klingon enough, perhaps? It's not that he was bad, just not very interesting. And then there's Alec Peters, the creator/actor/writer/"This isn't a vanity project"/visionary himself. I wish I could tell you he sucked, but he didn't. He put in a perfectly serviceable performance for an amateur. But when compared to the rest of the cast, he was obviously the weakest link. No one but he would have ever cast him as a lead role. There's no "there", there. Vanity, thy name is Alec.

The Story

And now to the heart of the matter. Because no matter how well done the CGI might be, or how good the acting might be, the heart of any production is the story.

Spoiler alert: this story was simply stupid.

At the heart of this short film is the notion that one man – Garth of Izar – comes up with a battle plan against the Klingons that is so innovative, so brilliant and of such genius, that it turns the tide of the war and establishes Garth as one of the greatest heroes of the Federation for all time.

What is the nature of his genius? Apparently, (drumroll, please) he can see... the obvious!.

We're told that Axanar is in "the heart of Federation space" and that Starfleet's next heavy cruiser – one USS Enterprise, by name – is being built there. Garth knows that Axanar is a target that the Klingons cannot ignore since this new ship could match the Klingon firepower.

What was Garth's brilliant plan? As Admiral Ramirez tells us: "to battle the Klingons at Axanar". Ramirez' first thought was "how far he'd come" (Garth, that is). Huh?

Garth's flash of brilliance was to recognize that the Klingons would come to the most obvious military target in the Federation and that Starfleet should fight them there?

Oooo-kay.

We're not told why such an obvious event is genius, we're simply told that it is. But, as a certain engineer once said, "if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon". Saying something is genius does not make it so. 

So this legendary figure's reputation is based solely on the fact that he was Captain Obvious? Apparently Ramirez and friends were complete and utter morons if THIS was brilliance! Garth is a genius because he doesn't drool on himself! My hero.

Bottom line: I don't get it

Now that I've seen "Prelude", I am utterly baffled by all the comments I've read that say how wonderful this is and how Axanar is real Star Trek, not like that awful Abrams stuff.

Except that the Abrams stuff is awful because it's poorly written pieces of shit. And so is Axanar. Because if the heart of your story is stupid – "Garth sees the obvious" – then everything else falls down like a house of cards. A pitiful, uninspired, house of cards.

THIS is what has so much rabid support? SERIOUSLY? I was expecting something akin to "Wrath of Khan" or at least "The Best of Both Worlds". Something more than this vapid, silly story that wouldn't impress a twelve-year-old.

As usual, William Shatner said it best: "Get a life!"

LLAP

Don