Star Trek Fans Explained

Star Trek Fans Explained

 

I have been a fan of ‘Star Trek’ for almost my entire 40 years of being on this planet. I consider myself a Trekkie or Trekker, either label works for me but for some they get offended if you use one or the other. I’ve also had the pleasure (and sometimes displeasure) of meeting other ‘Star Trek’ fans. With all this knowledge of Trek fandom I have broken the fandom down to these categories, and these categories can be used for other fandoms.

·         The ‘Discriminating’ fan

If it’s good I’ll like it. If its hot garbage I’ll leave it where I found it and not bother. (I fall into this camp). If people ask my opinion I will be honest.

·         The ‘I love everything Star Trek no matter what!’ fan

As long as the words ‘Star Trek’ are there or logo’s/actors associated with ‘Star Trek’ there these fans will LOVE IT no matter what!  They will also defend it to their dying breath no matter how wrong they are to the rest of the world. CBS/Paramount could literally put dog crap in bags, put a ‘Star Trek’ logo on it with a letter of authenticity stating that this is ‘Authentic dog Poop from Captain Archer’s dog’ and these fans will buy it, love it and brag to all their friends and family about how much they love this franchise.

·         ‘This is shiny and new so it’s better ‘ fan

We all know that someone who loves something just because it is brand new. It looks good, sounds good so it must be good right?

 “Benedict Cumberbatch’s ‘Khan’ in the 2013 film ‘Star Trek into Darkness’ is better than the original because he’s new! Forget that Ricardo guy, he was so 1967….”

·         The traditionalist   (“My Star Trek is better than yours” fan)

For this fan ‘Star Trek’ was and still is what came before. People whom got their start on TOS believe it is the best. People whom started with TNG believe it is the best and so on. Every other Trek that followed (or came before depending if it was TNG or later where they got their start) is inferior to their favourite Star Trek.

·         The ‘Fake’ fan

These fans annoy me the most.  The fake fan is someone who pretends to like ‘Star Trek’ but doesn’t actually or hasn’t actually watched or payed attention to it. One lady whom I met at a convention dressed in a Starfleet uniform as it turns out doesn’t watch the show. She informed me she simply enjoys hanging out with all “these people”. She’s there for the party and not because she actually cares for the franchise and she is not alone. I met another guy at the same convention at an after party and he laughed at me when I asked what show was his favourite.

“I don’t fuckin watch that shit!” was his response.

When I asked him “Then why are you here? This is a Star Trek convention after all?”

“I’m just here for the party” was his reply as he attempted to teach the poor young woman whom was with him how to 2-step (country music dancing).  He also wasn’t much of a dancer either….

·          “Pew Pew” Star Trek should be more like ‘Star Wars’ fan

Star Trek was supposed to be a positive vision of the future. The characters of Star Trek were always intended to find diplomatic and peaceful solutions to their issues and only use violence as a last resort. Star Wars on the other hand violence is expected; hence why “WARS” is in the title. During wars you will have fighting and violence and that is the expected normal. But there are some Trekkers out there that want fighting, phaser fights, hand to hand combat, etc. in their Star Trek. They don’t want to see a peaceful diplomatic solution: they want a fight!

-          In the first episode of season 2 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ we see Captain Pike, Michael Burnham and two other Enterprise officers piloting fighter crafts through an asteroid field shooting their phasers… it was then they jumped the shark to become more like ‘Star Wars’ than ‘Star Trek’…

 

In my opinion as a lifelong fan of Star Trek my advice to you is like what you like and leave the rest. If you don’t like what JJ Abrams is doing with the newest films or what Alex Kurtzman is doing with ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ or ‘Star Trek: Picard’ just don’t watch them. I know I’ve stopped watching ‘Discovery’ and I’m still watching ‘Picard’, there is no set rule stating that you have to love and watch EVERYTHING ‘Star Trek’. Along with dropping ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ half way through season 2 I also have only ever watched half of the episodes of ‘Voyager’ and I’ve only seen 2 episodes from the 3^rd season of ‘Enterprise’. Back in those days I also was not happy with the creative choices they were making at that time so I simply stopped watching. In fact I know I wasn’t the only one as evident in the fact ‘Enterprise’ was cancelled after season 4 due to low ratings…

Aside from being a Trekkie I am also a comic book fan. There are certain characters and titles I’m drawn to because they are my favourites. But from time to time a new creative team will take over a title or character that I like and change up the status quo to something I do not like or agree with. Rather than sticking with that character or title I’ll move on to another book. Why waste my time and money on something I’m not enjoying? The same applies to ‘Star Trek’. I may not be enjoying or agreeing with what they are doing on ‘Discovery’, but that doesn’t mean I’m never going to go back and watch another new ‘Star Trek’. Maybe this rumoured ‘Captain Pike’ series will be better! Or maybe not...

But I do know a Michelle Yeoh ‘Section 31’ series will not be good. We do not need ‘Star Trek’ to be dark; it is after all supposed to be a “positive vision of the future” according to original series creator Gene Roddenberry.

 

Star Trek Disaster (oops I meant ‘Discovery’…)

Cadet Tilley. One of the characters from 'Disco' I think is great (if at times a little annoying)

 

Before I begin let me say I want Star Trek, whether it is a TV series or movie to be good.  I am a lifelong fan and I want the franchise I love to do good things. Unfortunately early on in season one of ‘Discovery’ I realized things were not going the way I felt it should have. We were told this would be a prequel series and would be in established Star Trek continuity and would be respectful to what came before. That clearly did not happen as evident with the use of the Klingons, the retcon of Spock having a human foster sister, the spore drive system (Voyager sure could have used that “old” technology in the 24^th century), the mirror universe angle, Section 31 is a “secret” organization that EVERYONE seems to know about… and the flaws go on and on. Sonequa Martin-Greene (aka SMG, previously from her NON-ground-breaking role on ‘The Walking Dead’) plays Michael Burnham who is a mutinous Starfleet officer whom helped start the war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, don’t worry all gets forgiven for some reason. The rest of the “crew” are essentially background characters to her with the exception of Captain Lorca (later Pike), Commander Saru and Cadet Tilley, the chief engineer and doctor are there too. Add inconsistent pacing, tons of lens flares, special effects orgies, endless Deus Ex Machina to solve problems for the characters and situations, continuity errors galore, bad acting by SMG and this show is just a terrible mess of a series. People have pointed out that TNG had a terrible first 2 seasons but at least series lead Patrick Stewart (Picard) could act the hell out of what he was given to work with, can’t say the same for SMG. And speaking of TNG needing 2 seasons before it got good: I would argue TNG had more to contend with behind the scenes that caused them to suffer creatively such as a rotating writing staff, a Hollywood writers’ strike, limited budget and technology to utilize for the show (this was the 80’s after all, not much CGI in those days…) and so on. Star Trek Discovery has the benefit of hindsight and technologies that can help tell their stories and not limit them, etc.

L to R: Stamots, Saru, Ash Klingon, Beardy "Spock, unknown guy, unknown gal, unknown guy, unknown weird eyed gal hidden behind Tilley, Tilley

 

I am a Star Trek fan and I do want it to be good and do well. In the past TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT all had bad episodes and did suffer from time to time creatively. But not like this, not the way DISCO is suffering. It is consistently bad with too many cooks in the kitchen (Disco: 21 Producers with 8 of them being Executive Producers as compared to TNG season 2 : 8 Producers with 3 of them as Executive Producers).

Disco’s 2^nd season was a slight improvement over the first but not by much. Anson Mount was great as Captain Christopher Pike but sadly he will be gone in season 3, and judging by interviews given he doesn’t seem anxious to return to Trek any time soon. That’s just my opinion after seeing some interviews and the words/body language he used.

Admiral Forgettable and Anson Mount as 'Captain Pike'

 

Maybe the Captain Picard series will be good…there is always hope and hope is all we have.

 

 

TNG Season 8?

 TNG Season 8?

A person should not dwell on the past but sometimes you cannot help but do so. TNG ended with season 7, and in my opinion it ended on a very sad note. There were only a handful of episodes from that season that I actually liked, and they are:

- "Parallels" Ep 11 (Worf finds himself randomly shifting between alternate realities) This was a fun episode and I like the idea of alternate realities. Neat to see a possible romance between Worf and Troi.

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- "The Pegasus" Ep 12 (Commander Riker's former Captain boards the Enterprise to retrieve the USS Pegasus. Features Terry O'Quinn as Admiral Eric Pressman). This episode was the best of the season. O'Quinn was excellent in his role. Great to see Frakes shine as Riker. Final episode with the Romulans as the big bad, wish they had had Andreas Katsulas as 'Tomalok' on this episode, but it wasn't meant to be.

- "Homeward" Ep 13 (Worf's human foster brother violates the Prime Directive to save a doomed primitive race). I like Paul Sorvino and it was great to see him as Worfs brother. This was a good episode but far from great.

- "Journey's End" Ep 20 (Wesley considers his future, as the Enterprise is ordered to remove Native American colonists from a planet that is about to fall under Cardassian jurisdiction. Appearance of Eric Menyuk as The Traveler). I always like the character of Wesley and it was great to see Wil Wheaton back for his final appearance.

- "Bloodlines" Ep 22 (DaiMon Bok returns to exact revenge on Picard, by trying to kill the son Picard never knew he had. Guest star Lee Arenberg as DaiMon Bok, but not the same actor who originated the role, Frank Corsentino). This actually was a poor episode, I only included it because it was neat to see the Bok story return from the first season. But it sucked that Bok was played by another actor, even with all the make-up you could tell it was not the same person.  

5 episodes out of 26 or so done that season...not good. I'm thinking maybe with some of the creative staff going off to do DS9 and some left to prep 'Voyager' is what hurt TNG in that 7th season. The series finale too was very bad and not a fitting end to the series. 

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Not many good episodes that final season. Which is why they needed another season. Apparently Paramount signed a deal with its stars for an 8th season. Patrick Stewart (Picard) and Brent Spiner (Data) reluctantly agreed to an 8th season but no more. Paramount was apparently even considering bringing in other actors to replace Picard and Data for a 9th season. Ronny Cox who had played "Captain Edward Jellico" who took command of the Enterprise for 2 episodes would replace Picard and Elizabeth Dennehy as "Commander Shelby" would replace Data. It would have been interesting and an 8th season should have happened because the 7th season sucked, ending the show on a sour note because of it. Unfortunately it was business that destroyed the proposed 8th season.

Paramount was set to launch their UPN television network and they wanted Star Trek to be its primary show, this new network was set to launch in January 1995. Problem was Paramount was already producing Star Trek: TNG and Deep Space Nine for syndication and couldn't put one of them on their network because of all the syndication deals they had in place. So the decision was made to end TNG at the end of season 7 and create a new Star Trek series for the UPN network. TNG ended in May 1994 with a lousy final season and final episode and a new Star Trek series was created and launched in January 1995: Star Trek Voyager.

 I'm sure if the Paramount executives could have foreseen the end of UPN in 2006 and the poor ratings and reviews for "Voyager" they would have stayed with TNG for at least one more season...

Thanks for reading. See you next time.

Live Long And Prosper.

When 'Star Trek' re-invents itself...

Back in 1989 we Star Trek fans were introduced to a new ultimate villain in the Trek Universe, they were called 'The Borg'. They are a race hive mind which assimilates other races and technologies whether they like it or not. They threaten to end our individuality and turn us all into mindless drones as part of their overall collective. Its a scary thought to lose ones own individuality which makes the Borg perhaps the scariest of all the Trek alien races. 

But in this post I am discussing how from time to time Star Trek likes to take what works and change it anyway with most times terrible results. Long before JJ Abrams and the creators of 'Star Trek Discovery' reinvented the Klingons the Borg were reinvented. And like the new Klingons they took something that worked and made it worse: 

Klingon design 1979-2005

Klingons 2018

Now the Borg looked good in their initial use from 1989-1995. They were emotionless yet they had a underrated scariness about them :

Now with the film 'Star Trek: First Contact' the Borg were reinvented to be angry zombie like villains. They seemed to be something more out of a horror film than a science fiction one:

And I also found this chart online which apparently explains the differences in the Borg:

Put simply there was nothing wrong with the Borg. They did not need to be re-invented but were for some reason that escapes me. And it continues today with the new Star Trek movies and series. I'm a firm believer that if something is not broken do not try to fix it. I really do not want to see anymore aliens reimagined in future Trek installments. Star Trek is starting to not feel like Star Trek anymore

:(

Rest in Peace Stephen Hawking

I just saw on FB that Stephen Hawking has just passed away. No details as of yet but he did suffer from a form of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) for most of his adult life. My first exposure to him from growing up in a small town in central Alberta was his guest appearance on the season six finale of Star Trek The Next Generation. After that I learned more about him and became an admirer of his work in theoretical physics.  I’ve watched both the film ‘The Theory of Everything’ with Eddie Redmayne playing him and the TV movie ‘Hawking’ with Benedict Cumberbatch playing him. I liked the TV film more but both are great to watch and definitely give you a perspective on the man other than what we have seen in the media.

Rest in peace Professor Hawking.

League Assignment: Cowboys

This week’s assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers, if you’re man (or woman) enough to accept it:

 

“Cowboys.”

Well this weeks discussion is on Cowboys. I'm not the biggest western watcher. I've always been more of a sci-fi guy. My Grandpa Leonard LaBerge was a huge fan of the western. He loved western movies, TV shows and books. He had a huge collection of Louis L'Amour books and was always reading one. In the past I've never been much for westerns or cowboys, but as I've gotten older I've grown to appreciate this genre of storytelling. Heres a few things I've checking out that are cowboy/western themed that I have enjoyed:

Movies:

- Probably my favourite western movies are the 'Young Guns' movies. Especially the second one, 'Young Guns II' is definitely my favourite western. 

- The newest 'True Grit' film starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon was absolutely awesome. I actually went to the theatre to watch this movie. 

- I also remember going to the theatre to watch 'Unforgiven', my first western seen in a theatre. The older I get the more I have come to appreciate Clint Eastwood. He truly is a great actor and Director. 

- Although not technically a western, I do consider 'Legends Of The Fall' to be a cowboy movie. Filmed in my home province of Alberta it starred Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and one of my favourite Native Canadian actors: Gordon Tootoosis. 

- Back To The Future III: I loved this movie when it came out and I still love it. Definitely my favourite BTTF sequel. 

TV: 

- Again filmed in Alberta: AMC's 'Hell On Wheels' is an incredible series to watch. The most recent season was amazing and shocking. This is one series I look forward to watching every time it returns to TV. 

- 'A Fistful Of Datas': One of the funniest 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' episodes ever made. I want to see Brent Spiner do more westerns!

- 'A Town Called Mercy': A great episode of 'Doctor Who'. 

- 'Firefly': The Joss Whedon created series starring Nathan Fillion. Imagine 'Star Wars' meets western. Excellent series, cancelled too soon. 

And that is about all I have. I am looking forward to checking out some more Clint Eastwood and John Wayne films. Also I've been told that 'Deadwood' was a great HBO series and it is on my 'To Watch' list. 

Be sure to check out other blogs associated with the League Of Extraordinary Bloggers. Here is a few:

www.fortuneandglorydays.blogspot.com

www.coolandcollected.com

 

www.goodwillhunting4geeks.blogspot.com

 

www.infinitehollywood.com

 

RN Episode 4: Boldly Goodness & Gas

Chrisloc1701 is once again joined in the 'Batcave' studio with his sister Brianna, Sound Engineer/Brother-In-Law Sebastian and good friend Mr Tyler Kluin. In this fresh exciting episode we give our listeners some shout outs. Trek1701 gets its own segment where we discuss TNG Season 2 on Blue-Ray. On our 'Good Ideas' segment we discuss the best ways to survive a zombie apocalypse. Does methane gas found on Mars an indication of former life on the Red Planet or an indication of current life? And in the Random Rant we discuss Time Travel in TV & film. (and Tyler gulps his beer like a camel...)

The Random Nerdness Podcast is a proud member of The Atomic Geeks Podcast Network!

Picard and TNG are BETTER than Janeway and Voyager

Recently on an episode of the podcast 'Nerd Hurdles' they did an episode where they discussed Star Trek: Voyager. I am fairly new to this podcast but from my understanding is that they are a married couple who do this podcast and this year they watched the complete run of 'Voyager' for the first time, and they made some pretty bold statements that I, a die hard Trek fan, did not agree with in any way. So it inspired me to write this:

- Voyager is better than TNG?:

No freaking way is Voyager even in the same league as TNG, let alone better than it. One of the problems with TNG, and I think a lot of people who did not watch TNG and the following series from the beginning don't realize this, is that TNG really was a pioneer series and very much a product of its time. In 1987 no one did a show like this, and back then it cost a lot of money to produce all aspects of that series especially when it came to special effects. TNG had very few computer generated special effects because it was still very early on for that technology to be utilized on a TV budget. So TNG relied heavily on model driven sequences which were very expensive and time consuming to produce. This is why Picard and crew were involved in very few big epic battles, and most of their conflicts were solved with diplomacy rather than weapons and battles. Digital special effects involving computer generated ships and space scenes really became more common and cost effective during the course of Voyagers run which is why they got to use them more for their stories. And I would argue it is much easier for writers to write a big battle sequence than a cool way of resolving conflict that does not involve a battle at all. TNG was very much a product of the time in which it was made, but the producers and writers did the best job they could with what they had available to them at the time. Voyager simply abused what they had and relied too heavily on gimmick storytelling than good solid storytelling. Case in point the Borg: a race created in TNG yet not used very much. Sometimes less is more and that is why 'Best Of Both Worlds' is probably the best Trek cliffhanger ever made. Voyager on the other hand over used that race, so much so they had a Borg be a part of their crew, wearing a skin tight silver body suit in a lame attempt to attract horny new viewers.

- Janeway is a better Captain than Picard?

Say WHAT? At first I thought this was a bad joke, but the Nerd Hurdles crew really believed this. Their argument was that Janeway was much more caring and more involved in the well being of her crew. That may be true, but allow me to break down why there was such a difference in that way between the two Captains:

- Janeway only commanded a crew of 150, not including all the ones who died, and since they were cut off from Starfleet they would not be getting any replacements. Picard commanded a crew of 1014, and they were constantly swapping out crew members on a regular basis as is the nature of living on a starship. Voyager never swapped out crew members because they were cut off from them. And with them being so far away from home and being a small crew stuck together for so long of course Janeway would be more involved with them and closer to them. With Picard commanding a crew of 1014, that is constantly rotating, potentially there would be tens of thousands of people passing through as ship crew members. There is no way Picard could get personal with them in the same way.

- Janeways mission for the entire run of the series was simply to get Voyager home. Picard commands the flagship of the Federation. He is constantly involved in special missions, diplomacy, scientific research, etc. Picard is a very busy guy, involved in a lot of big things, unlike Janeway, so he really does not have time to become intimate with his crew.

- Picard is a dedicated member of Starfleet, one of their finest Captains and one of the most decorated. He obviously passed up promotions to remain on the bridge, as Captain Kirk suggested to him. Janeway on the other hand couldn't wait to get that promotion and get away from being a Captain as she proved by being an 'Admiral' in the film Star Trek: Nemesis.

Is Janeway a better Captain then Picard? I don't think so.

If you would like more Star Trek discussion be sure to check out my blog on Trek at: www.trek1701.blogspot.com

This week’s assignment from the League: How to destroy the Death Star

This blog is a proud member of 'The League Of Extraordinary Bloggers'.

Write a step-by-step guide on how to do something. This could be a real world project or a fantastical one, so do with it as you will.

Challenge Accepted. Being a 'Star Trek' fan I have decided to take a Trek spin on this weeks challenge. There are talks about there being a new Star Trek series in the works so I've decided to do a step-by-step guide on what it takes to ruin Star Trek for television and film, thanks in part to watching former Trek head Executive Rick Berman at work. Now if the future Trek Head Executive is reading this consider this blog post as a 'Do-Not-Do' list. If you want to have a successful Trek television series follow none of these steps. These are the step-by-steps Rick Berman created for Trek television destruction. I'm simply pointing them out.

Step-By-Step Guide On What It Takes To Ruin Star Trek For Television & Film

1: When you have a successful Trek series doing well on TV and gaining viewers with each season create another Trek series! Exploit your viewers, they will watch anything that has 'Trek' in the title...not.

2: Bring Religion into 'Star Trek', because that's what every Trek viewer wants to see in their favourite show. Only change the names of important Religious symbols such as: The Pope = The Kai/ Cardinals = Vedicks, etc. Also God is actually an alien (actually several) who really don't care about us so be sure to point that out (The Prophets).

3: If you have a successful Trek series like 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' be sure to cancel it and replace it with a much inferior series, like 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

4: The Borg are a popular villain race in Trek, so be sure to over exploit that. Also be sure to have one of them join the crew and wear a skin tight outfit that really shows off the actresses T&A. Trekkies love their T&A and will most definitely be back for more each and every week! You can substitute female Borg T&A with female Vulcan T&A if needed for good storytelling.

5: If your stuck for a story idea just exploit the holodeck! You can have multiple episodes each and every season that simply take place in that room because its a magic room where imagination becomes reality and writers can be lazy.

6: When one Trek series ends be sure to put another one on the air within a few months because you don't want people forgetting about Star Trek.

7: Star Trek is a money making machine, it is literally a license to print money: So be sure to have the Trek brand on EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE and in GREAT NUMBERS! Have so much Trek merchandise out there that it literally turns people off of Star Trek. Always exploit the brand for every possible penny.

8: If your Trek series gets the green light for feature film treatment be sure to do a terrible job on the scripts, completely ignore things established in the series, and be sure to make them as forgettable as possible.

9: Ignore Trek fans. They really don't know Star Trek as well as someone who never watched Star Trek, like Rick Berman.

10: When Star Trek finally dies a slow death, and your final series ends after just 4 seasons, be sure to do a final episode that makes no sense and is a slap in the face to the fans of that series. And bring back aged actors from a previous series and have them play their younger selves, despite the obvious fact that they have aged a lot and don't really look the way they did 11 years earlier.

Follow NONE of these steps and you will do better than Rick Berman.

Well that was fun. For more of 'The League Of Extraordinary Bloggers' check out these blogs:

http://primordialbadgersmediahoard.blogspot.com/2012/09/this-weeks-assignment-from-league-how.html

http://greenplasticsquirtgun.blogspot.com/2012/09/loeb-how-to-destroy-death-star.html

http://monstercafesaltillo.blogspot.mx/2012/09/league-assignment-step-by-step.html

http://spacemanstar.blogspot.ca/2012/09/stay-on-target.html

Blog #39 'Back To School'

Fond Memories Of Going 'Back To School'

Growing up and at one time being of school age, the thought of going back to school was met with both excitement and later resentment. Having just joined the 'League Of Extraordinary Bloggers' this is my first topic to tackle for the league. 'Back To School' is simply the topic, so I have decided to talk about some fond memories associated with my geeky side of going back to school.

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Grade 1: Way back in 1986 I was huge into 'He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe'. Every Saturday morning our local station would air episodes at 7am. So I never slept in on Saturdays like most other kids, I had to get my He-Man fix. I also had 3 He-Man lunch kits for school.

Played T-Ball after school. Was also in Ice Skating after school in Winter. I believe our group was 'The Flintstones', because I remember wearing a Fred Flintstone shirt.

First Grade Teacher: Mrs Pickard

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Grade 2: I had that year a 'Transformers' lunch kit for school. Also 'Captain Power And The Soldiers Of The Future' took the place of He-Man on Saturday mornings and it was must watch viewing for me. I had almost every action figure and play set from that line. Although I had no station where I could watch it I did get some 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' stickers as part of some cereal promotion, not sure which cereal it was. Also my parents pulled myself, my sister and my cousin Lenny out of school early on special day to attend the 'He-Man & She-Ra Power Tour', a live on stage show featuring actors playing the iconic characters from that series. It was an amazing show and I still remember that special trip into the city. It was also the only time in my life when I actually ate a Fish Fillet sandwich from McDonalds.

Played T-Ball again after school. Again was also in Ice Skating after school in Winter, don't remember the theme that year.

Second Grade Teacher: Mrs Vobeyda

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Grade 3: A year too late since the series was cancelled but that year I had a silver 'Captain Power' lunch box for school. This was the year I really got into watching the original Star Trek series. Every Saturday morning at 11 am on CBC I was catching up on Star Trek. Still had not seen an episode of TNG. This year for Halloween my Mom created the greatest costumes for me and my sister. I was 'Batman' and Brianna was 'Robin'. The costumes were based on the Adam West 'Batman' and were amazing, she really out did herself that year, it is still the best costume I have ever worn. That summer before going into grade 4 I remember going to see the Tim Burton 'Batman' film at the old Barrhead Drive-In. What an awesome film watching experience that was.

Played Mite softball after school with my Mom as our teams Coach.

Third Grade Teacher: Mrs Norton.

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Grade 4: Finally started watching 'Star Trek: the Next Generation' as it had just started it's 3rd season, and I became a life long fan. At this point I was too cool for lunch kits so this year I started taking my lunch to school in a cloth bag. I was also too cool for Halloween costumes so that year I sat out going door to door for candies. Watched TMNT Sunday Mornings at 7am! That school year I remember going to the drive-in for the last time and watching the original 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' live action film, which I still love to this day. That summer was also my first time going to Summer camp.

Played Mite softball after school with my Mom as our teams Coach. I was also in Tae Kwon Do that year after school, every Monday and Wednesday night.

Fourth Grade Teacher: Mrs Furmstin Brennon

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Grade 5: Still too cool for lunch kits and Halloween. Still watching TNG every Friday night at 7pm on Channel 13 ITV, watching TMNT on Saturdays now at 8am (I think...). Joined the Scouts that year and went to Scout Camp in Jasper in May. This was also the school year when I kissed my first girl, Shawna. My friends and I had our own 'Air Band' that year, but I cannot remember what songs we rocked out to. I think 'California Girls' by the Beach Boys. This was the year that my Comic Book collecting really took off. I went back to Summer Camp and had a great time.  Went to see the TMNT 2 live action film at the Roxy Theatre in Barrhead.

Played Softball with Mom as our Coach again.

Fifth Grade Teacher: Mr Lee

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Grade 6: Still watching TNG and TMNT cartoon. 

Played Softball with Mom as our Coach again. We did very well that year, we won the league and if I remember correctly I had the most home runs in our final tournament. I remember that year in school going to 'Outdoor Ed' camp for 1 week. It rained almost the whole time we were there, it was cold and all us kids were soaked but we made the most of it and had a great time there. My parents came out to visit on the Wednesday and they brought me some comic books to read which I really appreciated.

Sixth Grade Teacher: Mrs Dievert

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Grade 7: Puberty hit me like a ton of bricks. I hit the 6 foot tall mark, gained 60 pounds over the summer before school. The summer between grades 6 and 7 involved a lot of sleeping, eating and tripping over my feet. I attended my first Star Trek convention that year in October and met Marina Sirtis (TNG's Troi) for the first time. I also attended my second Trek Convention in March where I met Nana Visitor (DS9's Kira). Still watching TNG and DS9 kicked off their First Season in January. Also checked out the 'Babylon 5' TV movie, which really sucked.

Again played Softball with my Mom again as our Coach. Tried the Basketball team but I quit after one practise because all that running sucked!

Seventh Grade Home Room Teacher: Mr Luciuk

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Grade 8: TNG ended, DS9 continued to grow and 'Babylon 5' launched into it's own TV series which I actually liked. Also 'Seaquest: DSV' launched and I too liked that show. 'The X-Files' launched too and I became a instant fan.  March I attended another Trek Convention where I met Michael Dorn (TNG's Worf) for the first time. My family and I took a trip into the USA for the first time, driving to Vegas then to LA. We went to Disneyland and Universal Studios, and then we took a bus tour into Tijuana Mexico.

Again played Softball with my Mom again as our Coach.

Eighth Grade Home Room Teacher: Ms Matheson

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Grade 9: Attended my last Trek exclusive convention where I got the chance to meet the great James Doohan (TOS's Scotty).

Again played Softball with my Mom again as our Coach.

Ninth Grade Home Room Teacher: Ms Philips

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And that is about it for me, going into High School the 'Back To School' craze pretty much died. But looking back on those days I wished I had taken school more seriously and tried to enjoy myself more. When your a kid growing up your in such a rush to grow up you don't stop to realize just how good and easy things really can be as a kid. This year my Step-son is in Grade 7, my Step-daughter is in Grade 5 and our youngest is in Grade 1. all the kids are in school full time, hope they enjoy their time in school because they too will grow up too fast.

For other 'Back To School' blogging goodness may I suggest you check out these blogs who are all members of the League Of Extraordinary Bloggers:

www.coolandcollected.com

www.rediscoverthe80s.com

www.blog.paxholley.net

Captains Log: Sunday 4/29/12 Calgary

Hey there friend thanks for checking out the blog. Thanks to social media outlets Facebook and Twitter I was able to document my recent trip to the Calgary Comic And Entertainment Expo 2012. It was quite the quest filled with misadventure, good times and a few bad. Among my many activities that weekend it included the fact I got drunk with 'The Honky Tonk Man', I got to meet Stan Lee and most of the cast of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', and I had a talk with comic book writing icon Peter David. 

Captains Log: Sunday 4/29/12 Calgary

The following is a log of each days activities with pictures included, with more blogs and pics later in the week. Enjoy and please leave a comment!

* Another day begins. Leaving for the con 2 hours a head of time so I can actually get in, even though I have a 3 day ticket and pre-paid photo tickets for today... Apparently that doesn't matter to the organizers...

- Chris Lockhart We're in. Just have to sit and wait till 10 am now, but we're in!

* Brief Re-Cap of Last Nights Star Trek TNG EXPOsed Show:

- Chris Lockhart It opened with a awesome band playing Sinatra and swing band style music, kinda like Michael Buble. Then a recorded message from the Mayor of Calgary. Then the introduction of 'Emily Expo', the cons super sexy mascot. Then a video of Emily interviewing other sci-fi stars at the 'Emerald City Con' about TNG. Those interviewed included Christopher Judge (Stargate), Edward James Olmos (BSG), George Takei (Sulu), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Robert Picardo (The Doctor from 'Voyager') and others who I didn't know, mostly voice actors.Then Garret Wong (Ensign Kim from 'Voyager') came out and had a funny story about why he likes TNG, and he did a great George Takei impersonation. Then one of the original TNG crew workers was there to say some words. He apparently works on the TV series 'Hell On Wheels' now and said Colm Meaney sends his best. Meaney was Chief O'Brien and stars on 'Hell on Wheels'. Then they unwisely had a 30 minute intermission...Then the TNG cast came out. 

It was a great show, moderated by the Innerspace Crew (Teddy, Ajay and Cynthia) and guest appearances by Aaron Douglas (Tyrel from 'Battlestar Galactica') and John DeLancie (Q). They asked Patrick Stewart who his favorite villain was and he said 'Damon Bok', then from the back of the arena someone yelled 'Hey wait a minute!' And in walks John DeLancie. He came on stage and sat with the crew and Stewart admitted it had to be Q. Wil Wheaton had some great comments, the whole crew were funny to watch. 

Chris Lockhart Wheaton discussed how he felt bad leaving the show when he did. And Gates McFadden thanked fans for getting Dr Crusher back on the show after the Producers decided to get rid of her in Season 2, she returned in season 3. I was not aware that is why she was taken out.  It was a great show. Hopefully it was filmed for release because I would like a copy. There was a film crew there. If they were smart they would sell that on DVD or on iTunes.

*Just saw a very hot 'Wonder Woman' who basically was wearing underwear...VERY NICE!!! X a million!!!

* got Denise Crosby's autograph and now in line for Marina Sirtis

*in line to meet Worf

*in line to get my pic with Data at 12:30

-Chris Lockhart This will sound bad but I wish I had a wheel chair to sit in. My legs are so sore and a wheel chair would give me the mobility I require...

-Chris Lockhart Got our pic with Data. Amazingly nice guy!

*some guy had the nerve to ask if he could jump the line ahead of me. Felt like saying FU(K u! But I politely refused. Don't complain to me about long line ups!

-Chris Lockhart Some people... Its amazing how many people try to butt in line...

-Chris Lockhart And it's amazing how pushy people get.

*Just seen a guy dressed up as the A+W Manager from the commercials... At least I hope he's dressed up...

-Lori Flood I love that guy

-Chris Lockhart This guy wasn't as handsome...lol

* having some lunch at the con. Just talked with The Honky Tonk man again and got his autograph. Real nice guy.

* I should have dressed up as 'The Hamburgler' so I would have an excuse to steal someone's hamburger... If I got caught I would just laugh it off and say I was in character and all would be forgiven...maybe next time...

* Peter David quote "I would take Dick Clark with a stroke over Ryan Seacreast". Freakin hilarious!!

* got some more classic 'He-Man' toys in my quest to rebuild my lost collection from my youth.

* Note to self: buy bigger pants so I can carry a bottle of water in my ass pocket. (Probably glad I put 'pocket' in that sentence...)

- Chris Lockhart Waiting in line for my 'Fringe' photo!!

-Allison F. VanderGriend Cool can't wait to see that picture!!!!!! :D Yes that was a good idea....the pocket that is!...lol

-Chris Lockhart Legs so sore... Feels like I ran a marathon...

-Allison F. VanderGriend yea i can see that...lol well todays your last day right? How did bailey( i hope I spellled it right) like it?

-Chris Lockhart He's good. And it is the last day!

-Chris Lockhart The Fringe guys were very nice. Can't wait to post all my pics!! Monday or Tuesday!!

*got Aaron Douglas's autograph and now going to get Hayden Panettiere. Then back to the room! Day over!

-Chris Lockhart Done and done. Aaron was very nice. Hayden was nice enough, but she seemed a little high maintenance. But very beautiful!! We're back at the room. Gonna have some supper then swimming at the pool. It has been a great weekend spent with my son!

-Chris Lockhart Just had a half hour cat nap. Feel much better!

* I can officially say that I have met every regular cast member of Star Trek: The Next Generation!! Thanks Calgary con! Despite all the problems, line-ups and frustrating moments in the end it was all worth it!

- David Fitzpatrick Did the Geek get his mother her gift?

- Chris Lockhart Nope I didn't. The line up to get the Weasley twins autograph was unbelievable. They were getting as many people in their line as Patrick Stewart and Stan Lee. Pottermania lives on!

-  Jeff Torvalson Was nuts in there

- Chris Lockhart Sorry we missed u Jeff. We'll have to exchange stories sometime!

-Jeff Torvalson Yeah... Got some good ones

-Chris Lockhart Did you see that 'Wonder Woman' in her underwear? OMG nerdgasm!!

*Bailey just shook hands with 'The Million Dollar Man' and 'Jake The Snake' is here in the restaurant too!

-And Bailey got Jake The Snakes autograph and shook his hand.

-Another wrestler came in. Not sure who he is but he said 'Hi' to Bailey. Guess Bailey made quite the impression on the Wrestlers at the Expo. He's a cute little dude who loves wrestling.

* Peter David just walked past our table at the lounge. Didn't know he was staying here too, would have loved to have had a beer with a Comic Book writing legend!

*didn't see any 'Innerspace' people this year. Too bad they were very nice to meet last year. Too many celebrities this year to meet I suppose...

-Melody Warman So did you like it? Did you come and play in my transporter room transit shelter?

-Chris Lockhart I saw it but didn't have time to stop in. You made that?

-Melody Warman Yep!! We had 2 on the street downtown Calgary. Used augmented reality in the poster design and using an app on ios platform it actually had a transporter 'beam' and you would disappear and then beam back reappearing...uber cool! Ppl could share on facebook too!

-Chris Lockhart Sorry I didn't try it. It sounds awesome. Too busy standing in lines this weekend...

-Melody Warman Lol yep par for the course...soooo busy!

*My Mom likes to say the word 'Darlin' a lot in sentences, for example "How are you darlin?" Is something she would say. Keep that in mind for the following comments:

-Anyway as a young lad Denise Crosby was one of my boyhood crushes. She played Lt Tasha Yar in Star Trek TNG. Google her outfit from the episode 'The Naked Now' to see why she had my attention. She seduced Data! Anywho I got the chance to finally meet her today. This woman who attracted me so long ago. And she says to me "Hi Darlin, how are you today?". And she ended our conversation by saying "take care darlin"... One of my boyhood crushes now sounds like my MOM!!! I don't know what to make of that. Bizzare perhaps? I was happy to meet Denise Crosby, in fact I think she posed for 'Playboy' pre-TNG if I remember correctly, and I wondered if meeting her would 'do' something for me... But when she said "Darlin" I can never think of her ever again in that way. Very weird vibe is what I felt this morning. But that didn't stop me from getting her to autograph a photo of her from 'The Naked Now' episode. I'm actually not sure why I'm sharing this story...they say honesty is the best medicine and I need some healing!! Did someone actually say 'Honesty is the best medicine" or did I just make that up? I don't know anymore. Down is up and up is down at this point.

*Thanks to all my friends and family for reading my facebook posts and for leaving comments as I undertook this mission into Geekdom. This is my best weekend of the year!! Special thanks to my wife Crystal, for letting me go to this thing.

-Chris Lockhart And thanks to my Mom for helping me to get my ticket to the TNG EXPOsed show.

-And thanks to my son Bailey for joining me on this trip. Had some great time spent together here.

*Comic Book Writing Icon Peter David just tweeted me!! My geek weekend is complete!!

Captains Log: Monday 4/30/12 Calgary-Barrhead

*Well it's Monday and my Geekend is over. Wanted to sleep in but the Sun (our closest star, not to be confused with my Son Bailey) woke me up at 6:18 this morning...

-Chris Lockhart As soon as sunlight hits my eyes I'm wide awake. I forgot to seek out a night mask last night. Plan on checking out between 10-11, that way we should avoid the bulk traffic. I seen a news story last night on the Calgary News about the Calgary Con. Guess next year they are going to be pre-selling their tickets only. That way people won't be turned away at the door because no tiks will be sold at the door. That would be an improvement. But they need to expand the days, expand the hours and hire more photographers for the Photo-ops. The photo-ops are a gold mine and I know they made a lot of money, but so much more would have been made. I've actually prepped a letter to the Organizers with my suggestions, which I will post on the blogs later this week. But despite all my rants about my experiences this weekend I had a great time. Hopefully they learned from this year and will make improvements to the event next year. I haven't heard who they plan to bring next year, but I'm hoping for Matt Smith (The Doctor) and other cast mates from 'Doctor Who'. Maybe some 'Game Of Thrones' and 'Walking Dead' people too?   But I am so tired today, but just can't sleep. Feel like I ran a marathon. Legs are so sore. Plus I still have a chest cold which hasn't helped, but I haven't allowed it to slow me down. I wanted to buy a 'River Song' sonic screwdriver this weekend, but it wasn't meant to be. But I did get a prop medieval sword which I will wield while watching 'Game Of Thrones'.  

* Out of Calgary, on Highway 2 on our way home

* When ever I see the word 'Balzac' (the place in Alberta) I think 'ball sack'. Lol

-Chris Lockhart And I giggle with boyish glee

-Jamie Gronlund-Moebes Ditto! I'm giggling now! :)

*driving past Bowden and there is a guy hitch hiking with an orange jumpsuit. Maybe I will give him a ride... (Bailey is writing this for me)

-Brianna Lockhart Rydvall personal secretary!!!!!!! How much is he getting paid??? lol

-Chris Lockhart He got lots of money to spend this weekend!

*Home Sweet Home. Chris Out.