"It's... a piece of the Enterprise!!!"

Or so said game show host, Therin of Andor, during the first Harpic Productions extravaganza, Sale of the 23rd Century at a 1985 Brisbane science fiction media convention called Con Amore.

I had a good belly laugh this morning, checking out the latest batch of amazing screen-used "Star Trek" props and costumes on eBay by It's a Wrap!...

It's... a piece of a Klingon vessel!!!




While Tharrah and Therin wrote questions for Sale of the 23rd Century, Tackee, our irrepressible, green Orion slave girl cum game show merchandise model was making a big, light, easily-foldable (into carry-on aeroplane luggage) prop of a piece of the Enterprise (from "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock") so we'd have something hilarious and impressively big to put in the "gift shop" of our "Sale of the Century"-inspired game show. Yes, it was "... a piece of the Enterprise!!!"



I think ours (above left; photo by John Tipper) compares pretty well to the Klingon piece that "The Next Generation" SPFX guys did for the episode "A Matter of Honor"! I wonder where our piece ended up? Perhaps we let our winner, Garfield Barnard, keep it? Maybe it'll turn up on eBay some day?

School is: OUT

Here I sit, with the school vacation finally here - two weeks, yay! - and I can't think of anything to post.

I even went through a whole stack of old photograph albums, hoping for inspiration, but every photo I thought of wasn't in the stack that happens to be on hand, or it features someone not easy to track down to ask about putting their photo on the Internet. It's been a long time since I saw some of these wonderful people, and I'd prefer that our first emails in yonks isn't an angry "Take down that pic!" demand. Just because one owns a photograph doesn't mean one took it oneself, owns the copyright or has permission from everyone in it to share it with the world in an electronic medium that wasn't even imagined when the photograph was taken.

Plus, I'm reminded about the terrible condition of my 70s and 80s era photograph albums are. No photo corners of the 60s, all of my albums were sticky-page and transparent plastic albums, and the years have either fused the photos permanently to the album pages, or the stickiness has all dried up the photos slide out onto the floor as the pages are turned. Some of the old Polaroids have turned dark, some of the regular pics have drastically altered colour - and the 3D photos from my old Nimslo 3D camera can't be scanned. (To show those, I'd have to find the negatives and order regular prints from them first, or scan the negatives on my scanner.) And I also get into a panic wondering where a few missing photo albums ended up during the big move of January 2000.

The thought of transferring all my photos to new albums is daunting beyond believe. There are also recent piles and piles of photos, all over the house, that have never been lovingly stuck in albums, or even dated and captioned.

In addition, another visit to my Sitemeter today shows me that each mention of my Andorian costume eBay purchase in the month of June brought in a record number of page views to the blog (for about a week or so), but these new visitors don't necessarily convert into regular viewers. Do I just talk about Star Trek stuff in an attempt to keep them? Furthermore, the 70s photo of Aussie actress Abigail (from her 70s autobiography) continues to be the main way people find this blog.


Sydney's Luna Park - a random, favourite photo

The Wrath of Jim the Toad (and Spock the Gerbil)?

In the 80s, two fellow Star Trek fans were playing with a computer's drawing program, trying to keep their minds off the drudgery of preparing yet another issue of the Star Trek fan club's newsletter. In the wee hours of a weekend, they came up with the hilarious and silly "Adventures of Jim the (ugly) Toad and Spock the Gerbil".

Imagine my fascination tonight, browsing the piles of old sale books at Galaxy Bookshop, and discovering, for just $5: Commander Toad and the Voyage Home (Putnam & Grosset, 1998) by Jane Yolen, and illustrated by Bruce Degen. Mainly, it's a parody of "Star Wars", although the logical sidekick, Mr Hop, seems to have derived from a certain pointy-eared celebrity.

Lost Wednesday

I opened the posting window at about 10pm last night, and pottered around trying to get inspiration for a witty post but - suddenly, at about 11.30pm, my Internet connection went down.

Still uninspired, but getting more desperate, I made several attempts to reboot, but once that connection is down, it's down. The midnight deadline came and went, so did "Big Brother Uplate" and thus, I went to bed.

Sigh...

Andorian generals and ambassadors...

* need the help of at least two attendants to get dressed

* cannot bend their arms, let alone shoot a phaser rifle

* are either very tall, or wear platform boots, or have very clean floors as their cape sweeps over surfaces

* cannot put on their own boots, since they also cannot bend over.

(This is all to be kept in mind when I go hunting for boots to complete my eBay win.)


Ambassador Thoris from "Terra Prime"

It's a Wrap!

My eBay win arrived this morning! And it fits! It fits!


Left: Andorian Ambassador Thoris's robes ("Enterprise: Terra Prime");
Right: Andorian General's outfit ("Enterprise: Proving Ground").

The cape has a long piece of Velcro where Ambassador Thoris had his universal translator attached, but I decided to put my facsimile UFP pin from ST IV into this position, and it looks great!.

And yes, as I suspected, the Paramount "Enterprise" label inside the dark blue, sleeveless, full-length costume has three actor names on it: Ted Sutton (originally cast as the Andorian general in "Proving Ground"), Granville Van Dusen (who played the role in the reshot, aired footage) and Joel Swetow (a "Star Trek" alien veteran) who featured in "Terra Prime". The top with the blue-furred sleeves lists Granville Van Dusen and Jowel (sic) Swetow, and the silver cape just Joel Swetow!

The Fantastic Four and the slippery slope

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

A super power would have been very useful for my trip to Westfield Penrith Plaza, today, to see "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer". I originally planned to see a different film, but my friend was unavailable, so I saved up "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates 3" for next week and decided to enjoy a solo FF fix.

I took my usual shortcut, realizing only at the last minute that (a) it was probably going to be muddy or flooded at the end of the shortcut, and (b) I was wearing the wrong (white fabric) shoes. As I stood at the muddy, sloping edge of my shortcut, pondering whether to leap, or take a detour through perhaps worse conditions, I felt myself sliding helplessly towards oblivion. Splat!

With both hands, one arm, and one buttock cheek now thickly covered in fresh mud, I continued on to the Plaza. After a quick clean-up in the rest room (which thankfully had both paper towels and full-length mirrors), I secured my cinema ticket and filled in some time - shopping, of course - before the film started.

I really enjoyed the movie. It has received some very mixed reviews but, in my view, if you liked the first film, then this is more of the same. Some great lines, very likable characters, and amazing special effects, especially the Silver Surfer himself, and the Fantasticar. And some clever script seeding - in that the FF's power-swapping phenomenon was put to very good use (giving Michael Chiklis a little screen time as human-looking Ben Grimm), and Doctor Doom was able to be resurrected so easily, as both Doom and Julian McMahon (son of a former Australian Prime Minister, no less).

And it's heaps better than the quickie "Fantastic Four" movie that was made, but never released, in 1994. I once saw a bootleg copy from eBay, something I don't usually condone, but there was no other way to see it and I'd been quite intrigued by the casting - and the costumes, which were the same blue/white ones I'd used when we did "Perfect Botch" (a live convention game show) as the Fantastic Four in the 80s. Mind you, to give the 1994 film its due, in a list of the "50 Top Comic Movies of All Time (...and Some So Bad You've Just Got to See Them)", Wizard magazine ranked this film higher than "Batman & Robin", "Steel", "Virus" and "Red Sonja", all of which did get a theatrical release.


Michael Bailey Smith as The Thing, Rebecca Staab as Invisible Woman, Alex Hyde-White as Mr Fantastic
and the former "Boy Who Could Fly", Jay Underwood, as the Human Torch.

This pic has autographs from Smith, Staab and Joseph Culp, who played Dr Doom. The signatures were collected as a surprise for me from Glenn Ford of The Phantom Zone comic shop, who attended the big US comic convention that promoted the movie, with the actors unaware that there was no intention by the producers, including Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger, to actually release it.

Here's the trailer Glenn Ford would have seen at the convention:


(The trailer's soundtrack lifts music from "Battle Beyond the Stars".)


So will the real Mr Fantastic please stand up?

Curry in a hurry?

Briefly - tonight I'm off to explore the menu of a local Indian establishment: Tamleni Indian Restaurant. I'm not very brave with Indian food and I'm hoping there's plenty of milder offerings.

Wish me luck! Or perhaps a tall glass of icy cold milk.

Captain's log: Supplemental. The restaurant was most enjoyable. We didn't get too brave with the hot stuff, but the Pieroth BYO wines I took turned out to complement the food perfectly! A great night.

Big Squeaky

A funny night tonight, while watching "Big Brother: Friday Night Games" on TV.

It was a "Nightmare" theme night, with all the housemates dressed in pyjamas, and the first game had the participants in pairs: both blindfolded, and one running through obstacles with a pillow that issued loud snoring sounds, and the other wearing a boogie man mask and squeaky shoes.

Jack, my Jack Russell terrier, was sitting quite contentedly beside me... until the voiceover on the television mentioned "squeaky shoes". Now, I often tease Jack ("Where's Squeaky, Jack?") when playing a game with his own beloved squeak toys - most only last a few days/weeks because Jack makes a point of attempting to remove the squeaker, which then gives him enough of a tooth-hold to start devouring the rest of the toy in small chunks - and here was Jack actually reacting to the word "squeaky" on the TV.

Anyway, once the "boogie men" started running in their Very Squeaky Shoes, Jack went ballistic - barking loudly and relentlessly at the TV, at me, at the heater, at cushions on the lounge, at Chookie the cockatiel... at anything that might just be hiding a squeak toy - and then looking at me imploringly as to how I'd suddenly located - and then hidden! - a squeaky toy without even moving from my spot on the lounge.

Thanks for the headache, Big Brother!

Movie overload

"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" opened in Sydney today and, although it got panned on ABC's "The Movie Show" last night, the trailers look amazing and I'm still keen to see it.

I guess I'll catch it on the weekend, but I still have "Shrek the Third", "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Pirates of the Caribbean 3", among others, on my list. Sunday might become a lost day, spent traveling from darkened room to darkened room.

There's no business like snow business

The Year 5 and 6 teachers at school/work took their classes on an excursion to the Three Sisters, Katoomba, today. The radio news this morning warned of icy conditions, a blocked highway at Wentworth Falls, closed schools, and snowfalls.

Although it looked extremely doubtful that they'd be going, especially after two recent postponements due to torrential rain and sodden conditions, they were actually able to depart on time, and were rewarded with clear views from Echo Point. A screening of a Blue Mountains movie at The Edge IMAX theatre replaced the planned bushwalk, but the students were able to scrape together enough snow to have a snowball fight.

The ESL (English as a Second Language) students took the snow in their stride - plenty of snow back in their native lands - but the views of the Three Sisters and Megalong Valley took their breath away, I hear.

It seems it as worth the risk to postpone the previous dates. According to the TV news tonight, this was the first decent snowfall in the Blue Mountains in eight years.

I guess the appropriate response is: Cool!

Too bad I had to stay behind with the younger classes. It's been 15 years since my last snowman (built of actual snow).

Holy word power, Batman!: recent superhero novels

I've made a point, over the years, of collecting novels and novelizations based on superheroes, particularly DC Comics' "Batman" and "Superman", and extending that interest to other DC heroes, plus Marvel's "The Fantastic Four".

One day, I'll put together my pre-2000 list, but first...

Pocket Books:
"Batman: No Man's Land" comic novelization by Greg Rucka (Jan 00)

Justice League of America original novel mass market paperback (MMPB) series:
"Batman: The Stone King" by Alan Grant (Mar 02)
"Wonder Woman: Mythos" by Carol Lay (Jan 03)
"Flash: Stop Motion" by Mark Schultz (Mar 04)
"Superman: The Never-Ending Battle" by Roger Stern ([Jun] 04)
"JLA: The Exterminators" by Christopher Golden (Jul 04)
"Green Lantern: Hero's Quest" by Dennis O'Neil (Mar 05).

After Pocket fulfilled their contract with DC, the licence passed back to ibooks for five hardcovers, then Chronicle and HarperCollins, Del Rey for "Batman" MMPBs, Warners for "Smallville" TV tie-ins and the "DC Universe" MMPBs, and Ace for two comic maxi-series novelizations.

From ibooks:
"The Forensic Files of Batman, the World's Greatest Detective" by Doug Moench (Jun 04)
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" comic novelization by Marv Wolfman (Apr 05)
Green Lantern trilogy (2004-2005):
"Sleepers, Book 1" by Christopher J Priest & Mike Baron
"Sleepers, Book 2" by Christopher J Priest & Michael Ahn
"Sleepers, Book 3" by Christopher J Priest [& Mike Baron].

From Chronicle:
"It's Superman!" by Tom De Haven (2005).

From HarperCollins:
"The Last Days of Krypton" by Kevin J Anderson (2007)
"Enemies & Allies" by Kevin J Anderson (2009) - Batman, Superman.

The Batman MMPB titles from Ballantine/Del Rey:
"Catwoman" movie novelization by Elizabeth Hand (Jun 04)
"Batman Begins" movie novelization by Dennis O'Neil (2005)
"Dead White" by John Shirley (2006)
"Inferno" by Alex Irvine (2006)
"Fear Itself" by Michael Reaves (2007).

From Warner/Aspect in MMPB:
Smallville original novels:
"Strange Visitors" by Roger Stern (Oct 02)
"Dragon" by Alan Grant (Nov 02)
"Hauntings" by Nancy Holder (Jan 03)
"Whodunnit" by Dean Wesley Smith (Mar 03)
"Shadows" by Diana G Gallagher (Sep 03)
"Silence" by Nancy Holder (Nov 03)
"Curse" by Alan Grant (Jan 04)
"City" by Devin Grayson (Mar 04).

"Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu" game novelization by Devin Kalile Grayson & Flint Dille (Nov 03).

Smallville Young Adult MMPBs from Little, Brown & Co:
"Arrival" episode novelization by Michael Teitelbaum (2002)
"See No Evil" by Cherie Bennett & Jeff Gottesfeld (2002)
"Flight" by Cherie Bennett & Jeff Gottesfeld (2002)
"Animal Rage" by David Cody Weiss & Bobbi JG Weiss (2003)
"Speed" by Cherie Bennett & Jeff Gottesfeld (2003)
"Buried Secrets" by Suzan Colón (2003)
"Runaway" by Suzan Colón (2003)
"Greed" by Cherie Bennett & Jeff Gottesfeld (2003)
"Temptation" by Suzan Colón (2004)
"Sparks" by Cherie Bennett & Jeff Gottesfeld (2004).

The DC Universe MMPB titles, also from Warner:
"Last Sons" by Alan Grant (Feb 06) - Superman, Martian Manhunter, Lobo
"Inheritance" by Devin Grayson (Jun 06) - Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Nightwing, Arsenal, Tempest
"Helltown" by Dennis O'Neil (Nov 06) - The Question, Lady Shiva, Richard Dragon, Batman
"Trail of Time" by Jeff Mariotte (Mar 07) - Superman, Phantom Stranger, Demon, Jonah Hex.

"Superman Returns" movie novelization by Marv Wolfman (Jun 06).

From Ace, Berkley/Penguin:
"Infinite Crisis" comic novelization by Greg Cox (Oct 06) - focus on Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman
"52" comic novelization by Greg Cox (Jul 07) - focus on Booster Gold, Supernova, The Question, Batwoman
"Batman: Gotham Knight" animated movie novelization by Louise Simonson (Jun 08)
"The Dark Knight" movie novelization by Dennis O'Neil (Jul 08) - sequel to "Batman Begins"
"Countdown" comic novelization by Greg Cox (Jul 09) - focus on Jimmy Olsen, Mary Marvel, Troia/Wonder Girl, Robin II, Catwoman
"Final Crisis" comic novelization by Greg Cox (Jul 10) - focus on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Darkseid, and remnants of the Justice League of America.

From Pocket Star:
"Wonder Woman" animated movie novelization by SD Perry & Britta Dennison (Jan 09).

Although I've resisted getting a lot of the Marvel superheroes when they've appeared in novels, the reputation of Pocket Books, and its stable of "Star Trek" writers contributing to them, made me weaken...

Pocket Star's Marvel MMPB original novel titles:

Fantastic Four:
"War Zone" by Greg Cox (Aug 05)
"The Baxter Effect" by Dave Stern (Jan 07)
"What Lies Between" by Peter David (Jul 07)
"Doomgate" by Jeffrey Lang (Dec 08).

Spider-man:
"Down These Mean Streets" by Keith RA DeCandido (Sep 05)
"The Darkest Hours" by Jim Butcher (Jul 06)
"Drowned in Thunder" by Christopher L Bennett (Jan 08)
"Requiem" by Jeff Marriott (Nov 08).

The Ultimates:
"Tomorrow Men" by Michael Jan Friedman (Sep 06)
"Against All Enemies" by Alex Irvine (Sep 07).

Wolverine:
"Weapon X" by Marc Cesari (Nov 05)
"Road of Bones" by David Alan Mack (Nov 06)
"Lifeblood" by Hugh Matthews (Mar 07)
"Violent Tendencies" by Marc Cesari (Nov 07)
"Nature of the Beast" by Dave Stern (May 08)
"Election Day" by Peter David (Sept 08)

X-Men:
"Dark Mirror" by Marjorie M Liu (Jan 06)
"Watchers on the Walls" by Christopher L Bennett (May 06)
"The Return" by Chris Roberson (May 07).

Pocket Star's crop of Marvel adaptations include:
"Elektra" movie novelization by Yvonne Navarro (Jan 05)
"Fantastic Four" movie novelization by Peter David (May 05)
"Ghost Rider" movie novelization by Greg Cox (Feb 07)
"Spider-man 3" movie novelization by Peter David (Apr 07)
"Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" movie novelization by Daniel Josephs (Jun 07).

Marvel adaptations in MMPB from Ballantine/Del Rey:
"X-men" movie novelization by Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Dean Wesley Smith (Jun 00)
"Spider-man" movie novelization by Peter David (Mar 02)
"X-men 2" movie novelization by Chris Claremont (Mar 03)
"Hulk" movie novelization by Peter David (May 03)
"Spider-man 2" movie novelization by Peter David (May 04)
"X-men 3: The Last Stand" movie novelization by Chris Claremont (2006)
"Iron Man" movie novelization by Peter David (Apr 08)
"The Incredible Hulk" movie novelization by Peter David (2008)
"Iron Man: Femmes Fatales" by Robert Greenberger (2009).

Onyx:
"Daredevil" movie novelization by Greg Cox (2003).

HarperEntertainment:
"Iron Man" movie teen novelization by Dan Jolley (2008).

Grand Central:
"Iron Man 2" movie novelization by Alexander Irvine (April 2010).

Keith RA DeCandido's Marvel list predates 2000.

Captain's log: Supplemental (Updated: 21st October, 2011)

Bluey is in da house!

As I impatiently await my recent eBay costume win, at least I can console myself with the arrival today of... Bluey the mannequin.



Bluey is quite lightweight for such a strapping young man. Instead of a regular metal stand, he gets suspended by a sturdy wire coming out of the top of his head. Bluey's arms and hands detach, but the rest is all one piece. The blue hands are exquisite: very expressive, and they are definitely life casts of a real man's hands.

I have this terrible sneaking suspicion that it's all just a bit too much like owning a giant Andorian Ken doll from Mattel - and waiting anxiously for my Mum to buy me the clothes to dress him in. Now I just need to find somewhere to hang him up that won't freak me out every time I enter a room and see him there in all his bluish naked glory.

I hope his Andorian robes arrive soon...

Origins of Filmation's TAS: 1969!

Titan's latest "Star Trek" magazine (Aussie version #90 JUL/AUG 2007; UK #132) features a bonus section, including "The Secret Origins of 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'" by Andy Mangels.

Andy's article includes reprints of official comments, from Paramount to Filmation (dated October 15, 1969), about Don Christensen's 1969 "concept paper" proposing for TAS: a training ship called Excalibur; Scotty's moustache; new characters called Tun-Tun, Stormy, Ploof, Steve and Bob; and a suggestion to eliminate Chekov and his paired cadet, Chris, in favour of finding a cadet pairing for Uhura.

Excalibur (originally proposed as 6D12 Lightly) would have been able to break up into smaller pods. It sounds like Tun-Tun was already slated to be replaced by the moustachioed Scotty - and his cadet counterpart, Stormy, was to be dropped. Steve was Spock's cadet companion, and Bob was McCoy's. There was concern that Kirk's companion looked too much like "any boy in the world", and Sulu's and Uhura's companions were not decided yet (although a preliminary sketch of the female cadet paired with Uhura is in "The Art of Star Trek" by Garfield & Judith Reeves-Stevens, so she did see further development).


From "The Art of Star Trek" - Note the pre-TMP moustache on Scotty!


Three early story outlines were "The Space Cocoon", "The Impossible Rainbow" and "Klingon Attack". Some "crab/spider" business in "The Space Cocoon" was deemed unacceptable for a kids' show, but there was an effort to boost up the educational angle of each TAS instalment from even this earliest incarnation. There were aliens called trogs.

Perhaps "The Space Cocoon" inspired the story about the pod ship of "Beyond the Farthest Star" (That ship was built by an insectoid race, and there was already talk of the TAS cadet ship being able to break into smaller pod vessels?) "The Impossible Rainbow" was about "a quiet boy" and fantasy becoming reality - perhaps inspired by "Charlie X"? There was concern there was "no real point" to "The Klingon Attack" and it needed work to draw out the interrelationships and to add an educational message.

Very cool trivia from the archives! Thanks Andy Mangels, Filmation animator/historian Darrell McNeil, and Titan!

Flashback to 1987: Cooking with Strop

A satirical presentation about "V: The Series" at Eccentricon, a science fiction media convention (1987) at Richmond, NSW, Australia, took its lead from the classic "Twilight Zone" episode, "To Serve Man". Yours truly, Ian McLean, plays Strop, a Visitor from the Sydney mothership (ie. from television's then-current "V: The Series"). The hapless audience member was supposedly selected "at random". Hehehehe.


Strop says, "Here's one I prepared earlier..."



"Room for one more..."



THE END!

Comparisons #4 & 5: ST Magazine UK/Aust vs ST Magazine US

Continuing my series of comparisons between the UK/Australasian and US editions of "Star Trek" magazine.




The good news for American fans is that #4 (MAR/APR 2007) of the US issue has much the same content as the #89 AUS (MAY/JUN 2007)/#131 UK issue. The main variations are to do with the placement of advertisements and mail order pages; the UK/Aust. version is also (as usual) two centimetres taller and one centimetre wider. Both magazines are 98 pages, plus covers - but for the first time the US edition has an extra (brief) article ("The Alpha Guide: The Klingons" by Jake Black, a primer on surviving as a UFP tourist in Klingon space) on the pages where the UK/Aust. edition features a two-page mail order catalogue for the UK science fiction store, Forbidden Planet. Previously, it was the UK edition that carried an "Alpha Guide" - to the Borg - in a bonus "Voyager" supplement.

But... (you knew there was a "but" coming) Where the "Next issue" promotion of the US edition promises "our history of Star Trek reaches the 1980s...", the UK/Aust. edition will present "previously unseen material from 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'." 32 pages of extra material again!

And that latest issue turned up yesterday, Down Under!




#5 of the US version of Titan's Star Trek (MAY/JUN 2007) is back to the regular 66 page size, but the UK/Aussie version (#90 JUL/AUG 2007; #132 UK) continues to be 98 pages.

While both versions carry the same cover banner, "Writing for 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'", above the title, the main UK/Aussie difference is the generous bonus lift-out Celebrating 'Star Trek: The Animated Series', a supplement in the middle pages. For the US version, the banner would refer only to the David Gerrold article, which both versions have in common. (David Gerrold talks about many aspects of Trek, including his contributions to the recent DVD set).

The UK/Aust. bonus material, however, features even more material about TAS:

* "The Secret Origins of 'Star Trek: The Animated Series'" by Andy Mangels, which includes reprints of official comments about a 1969 "concept paper" proposing a training ship called Excalibur; Scotty's moustache; new characters called Tun-Tun, Stormy, Ploof, Steve and Bob; and a suggestion to eliminate Chekov and his paired cadet, Chris, in favour of finding a cadet pairing for Uhura. Three early story outlines were "The Space Cocoon", "The Impossible Rainbow" and "Klingon Attack".

* Storyboard comparisons of the first two minutes of "The Terratin Incident".

* "Five best!", an illustrated episode countdown by Jake Black: "The Pirates of Orion", "More Tribbles, More Troubles", "The Jihad", "The Counter-clock Incident" and, at number one, "Yesteryear".

* "Charting 'The Counter-clock Incident'": an interview with writer Fred Bronson (aka John Culver) by Anthony Pascale.

* "Animated Pioneers" by Chris Dows: Trek tech that was first suggested by TAS. The aquashuttle, large shuttlecraft, robot ship, land vehicle, hover robots, and seatbelts.

* "Still Drawn to It", celebrating 35 years of TAS - by Kevin Dilmore and Dayton Ward.

* Mail order catalogue for the UK science fiction store, Forbidden Planet, seemingly incorporating the functions of the UK Star Trek: The Official Fan Club's "Tower of Commerce" pages.

* "ST: TAS Trivia" by Chris Dows, one text selection and still for each episode.

* "Under the Great Bird's Wing", an interview with Gene Roddenberry's former assistant, Susan Sackett, by Michael A Martin.

* Contest advertisement for Fedcon XVI convention.

The next US issue is again 66 pages, but the forthcoming #91 AUS/#133 UK issue promises a 32 page "exclusive guide to the Star Trek novel series"!

This stuff is so cool, I'm sure Titan USA will eventually find a way of getting this material to US fans.

Colour me impressed (blue)

As you may know, I'm currently awaiting the arrival of my recent eBay win: a screen-used Andorian costume of jumpsuit, robe and belt from two "Star Trek: Enterprise" episodes.

Although I didn't want to Jonah myself and buy a suitable male display mannequin too early, a casual Google search surprised me. I typed in "second hand" male mannequin Sydney and up popped a mannequin called, so appropriately: "Bluey"! Perfect! And no need to panic about finding a mannequin that can be painted, or working out which paints were stable enough not to react to fabric.

I immediately got on the phone and secured him.




For my international readers, "Bluey" is a typical Aussie nickname for a red-haired man. (Please don't ask why.)

Frostbite folly

Today was Sydney's coldest overnight temperature for 2007 and here, near the base of the Blue Mountains, it was almost 0 degrees C. I hadn't thought about how truly cold it might have been until I was halfway to work - walking briskly - when a slight tingling on my ears made me regret not digging out a beanie and woolly gloves.

I well recall one particular morning in Chicago, USA, in December 1983. I'd been temporarily unable to make contact with my second cousin, and take up his offer of accommodation, and had booked a night at a hotel adjacent to Chicago airport. It was several degrees below freezing, but considerably even more below due to the wind chill factor.

With time to kill the next morning, I headed off to breakfast at the McDonalds across from a snow-covered park. (I was on a promise to my Ann Arbor penpal not to see falling snow until I got to Michigan.) Partway across the park, I realised that the stinging sensation to my fingertips and ears was due to going outside without the appropriate garments. I had visions of collapsing in a heap, being covered by fresh snow, and not being found until the next thaw.

I did finally make it to the McDonalds and, after eating, I reluctantly prepared to head back to the hotel. In a brainwave, I ordered a brewed coffee - and I hate McDonalds' brewed coffee - and used it to get back across the park: the coffee warming up one hand, and then the other, and reaching to cup one ear, and then the other.

Not quite frostbite, sure, but still scary (and not to mention painful).

Aliens amongst us

During a clean up yesterday (yes, I was so deeply into it, I missed my posting deadline for the day), I found these pics from 2002, taken by my parents as they travelled through the Northern Territory, in central Australia.



Wycliffe Well, near the Devil's Marbles is known as "the UFO capital of the Territory, with many reported sightings of strange flying objects in the skies above".

My mother jotted on the back of one photo, "Roadhouse, Wycliffe. We were not sure about stopping here for fuel."

Morass for M'Ress

I've been searching high and low for my back issues of "Dreadstar" comics to share a particular frame. And I finally found them today.

Issues #63 and 64 (First Publishing, 1991) of "Dreadstar" by Peter David featured parody Star Trek pixie-like characters, who are amazed to meet Cookie, a felinoid alien who closely resembles Lieutenant M'Ress the Caitian of "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (TAS).

When Peter David took over DC's Star Trek comic (Series I), he inherited Arex and M'Ress (formerly of TOS) who'd only been recently been re-introduced to the Star Trek universe in comic book adventures set after "ST IV: The Voyage Home". Then Star Trek went on hiatus while Pocket Books' and DC Comics' tie-in licences were renegotiated. With DC's Series II #1 ready for release, the Peter avid and the editors were asked to change their plans for M'Ress - and antelope woman M'yra literally took her place.

But Peter David wasn't yet done with M'Ress. Changing her name to Cookie (and giving her a fluffier tail), he added a new felinoid character to "Dreadstar", as a vivacious love interest for regular felinoid alien, Oedi. Cookie and Oedi married in issue #62.

When "Dreadstar" was winding up its ongoing story arcs, Peter David went out with a bang when he unleashed the United Franchise of Worlds (a parody of Star Trek's United Federation of Planets) in "The Day the Urth Stood Still" and "Franchise & Empire".

As an all-powerful Great Bird of the Galaxy swoops down elsewhere, the Chekov-like pixie alien, "Navigations Officer Anton" (ho ho!), mistakes Cookie for a "Lieutenant Morass". Later, with Tibrus and his crew incapacitated, Captain Jean-Paul DeGaulle explains that "zee Benedyct [Arnold?] was something of an embarrassment to us". Someone later complained - of the United Franchise, in particular - that "with all the stuff they eliminated... they sound kind of dull..." Hilarious stuff, especially for those fans following both storylines, and the ongoing Richard Arnold versus Peter David feud.


ANTON:
"... Lieutenant Morass eess no longer een offeecial conteenuity.
She was only aneemated and doesn't count."

... where skeletonised corpses lie!

Walking through the Sydney CBD last night (heading to the Star Trek Meetup at Darling Harbour after an almost-two hour car trip), and again today near Paddy's Market, I was stunned to see over 100 tattered remains of storm-ravaged umbrellas, abandoned in garbage bins, on steps of shops, or lying in gutters. Twisted skeletons of metal ribbing and sodden cloth.

Wow! That was some rain we got. As per usual, the garage here at home flooded - it just can't cope when the rain is so heavy and relentless. Luckily almost everything is up on stilts these days. But Australians can't complain about precipitation these days; like everyone, we all hope this turns out to be Week #1 of long-awaited drought-busting relief.

Into the soggy night...

My online Star Trek friends and I are heading off to Baia San Marco restaurant in Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour tonight. I was planning a leisurely ride in on the fast country train, curled up with a good Star Trek novel ("Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind"), but my friend Rosalind is swinging by in a car to pick up her cache of wine, ordered at the Pieroth wine cruise last February (I bought plenty of my own, so wasn't tempted to sample hers, and it's been safely in storage while she was overseas).

So wish us luck as we take on the motorway in wet conditions, Friday-night-of-a-long-weekend, but hopefully in the opposite direction to commuter traffic.

After the restaurant, it's off to Pyrmont for an all-night marathon of ST episodes. Or snoring (not a comment on the episodes, but it's a 40+ thing I think; lots of Nanna naps to get through the session these days).

Blood, fire and the involuntary human

On my weekly, traditional browse through Galaxy Bookshop tonight, I swung past the "G" section to check out if David Gerrold's latest "War of the Chtorr" title was out yet. David was in-store recently, and signed Galaxy's back stock of all his titles; he'd been publishing several new and reprinted titles through Benbella in recent years, so several times books have just popped up there, rather than getting displayed on the "New Releases" shelves.

I was surprised to see "The Involuntary Human": a single, handsome, new David Gerrold 477 pp hardcover omnibus (dated February 2007, NESFA Press) sitting there, that definitely wasn't there last week - and even more surprised to see that this book publishes the complete text of Gerrold's controversial (and axed) "Star Trek: The Next Generation" script, "Blood and Fire" (pp 69-135).

Recently, "Blood and Fire" was rewritten as an instalment of his "Voyage of the Star Wolf" original SF book series, and it was even more recently announced that the story was being revamped as a TOS story for the "New Voyages" fan films. Now fans can finally own a hardcover copy of the original TNG script. (Previously, David Gerrold sold copies in script binding, via the Internet and at conventions, for HIV/AIDS charities. I bought a copy of that way back in 1988, at a New Zealand ST convention at which we were both guests of honour.)

In addition, the new hardcover volume includes: new foreword and afterword to "Blood and Fire"; a preview chapter from his eagerly-awaited, long-delayed, next "War of the Chtorr" title; the original, previously-unpublished version of "Chess with a Dragon"; quotes from his "Solomon Short" limited chapbook; and several fascinating short story reprints from various SF magazines.

But if you want a copy from a bookstore, hurry. "The Involuntary Human" is limited to 1000 hand-numbered, (some autographed, some also slipcased) copies. Mine is #180.

Of course, only a few weeks ago, my weekly swing past the "G" section in Galaxy found David Gerrold himself, preparing to autograph Galaxy's shelf stock of his body of work.

Happy little Vegemites

Today, in my capacity as teacher-librarian - and the school's Possum Magic Book Rap coordinator - I was invited to observe our ESL (English as a Second Language) students making Vegemite sandwiches with their ESL teacher.

This activity was the practical part of a lesson about writing procedures, in this case a recipe, and a culminating activity of the students' work on the actual book rap. In the Mem Fox & Julie Vivas picture book, Hush the invisible possum was able to again turn (and stay) visible by eating Vegemite sandwiches, pavlova and lamingtons on her birthday.

There were plenty of laughs to be had as the ten- to twelve-year-old students grappled with the uniqueness that is Vegemite, not to mention their admirable manipulation of the English language, when their Australian experiences are so limited. I mean, it's hard enough to explain to Australian-born students why "knife" starts with a "k", let alone informing newly-arrived students that Vegemite yeast extract is a favourite food of Australian children, and that it's a by-product of the ggreat Aussie beer-brewing process.

The students are already demonstrating an Australian sense of humour. After being told that the steps of a procedure always begin with a verb, one student rejected Step 4 as "Eat Vegemite sandwich" in favour of her own Step 4: "Put Vegemite sandwich in bin." (That's "trash" for all you Americans reading this blog, by the way.)

At various Star Trek conventions over the years, we used to foist Vegemite upon the unsuspecting US guests of honour. Their usual response was "It looks like axle grease" - and science fiction author, David Gerrold, once said, "... and I believe you feed this to young children?"

The students did survive their Vegemite experience today, but only just. One had previously boasted he "ate all foods", but even he has now found one to cross off his list. I explained to the students that I may not accept their invitation to turn up next week, when they are planning to follow a procedure for making lamingtons. (I hate lamingtons! I've often postulated that my mother was once frightened by a rogue coconut while I was in the womb.)

Variations on a theme

I had a cameo role in the first Starship Exeter fan film pilot, "The Savage Empire", in which the Johnson brothers, Jimm and Josh, re-used the original Star Trek theme to accompany their opening credits.

But here's the all-new, fantastic opening theme, wonderfully reminiscent, a score specially written for episode #2, "The Tressaurian Intersection"! The episode's fourth segment has been long delayed, and some fans waiting to download it are way beyond antsy, but meanwhile... enjoy:

Props, costumes and auctions, oh my!

Over recent weeks, my monitoring of the It's a Wrap! auctions of Star Trek props and costumes led me to a great online bulletin board (BBS) for collectors of Star Trek props and costumes. I can highly recommend it as a place where questions are answered, answers are questioned (always in a friendly, helpful manner), and the members display amazing access to encyclopedic knowledge of ST trivia.


Star Trek Props, Costumes and Auctions BBS

As for my own journey as a SF media costumier - and authentic Star Trek prop collector - I cobbled together my first TOS redshirt in 1980, from an old red velour sweater. Coincidentally, this favourite velour top had some tiny holes right where the insignia and rank stripes should be.

Over the years, my Andorian persona, Therin, got to wear a homemade beige TMP costume, a ST II-style uniform, and a formal tailcoat, depending on the occasion, be it convention or movie premiere night. A friend made me the TNG outfit in which I played Data several times. My mother helped me to make a Robin the Boy Wonder costume (from TV's "Batman" series), a David Marcus shirt, and a "Greatest American Hero" costume. Our Star Trek club once spent a weekend casting plaster moulds of each other, and making latex appliances, which is when I made my Maltz (the Klingon from ST III) head! After growing a beard for a few years, I also began to play a Tellarite named Grol.

Owning an actual screen-used costume is going to be a very different type of satisfaction and excitement, as making replica costumes was a wonderful challenge, and perhaps something I've really missed since so much of interactive ST fandom vanished from Sydney in the 90s.

Performing in a costume parade (when not actually hosting or judging them) was also very fulfilling. It's not just wearing a good replica, or choosing something that suits your personality and/or physical dimensions, it's staying in character. And that clever one-line quip during the performance can really make a costume, and can definitely tip the voting in your favour.

A few examples:

I was in my Robin the Boy Wonder costume, with friends dressed as Batgirl and Lois Lane. Our Batman failed to turn up at the convention. The theme of the convention was "V: The Series" and the guest was Judson Scott (aka Lt James). As we came out, Lois pretended to be taking notes and I exclaimed to Batgirl, "Holy indigestion! Batman's been eaten by a Visitor!" (We won best group in that costume parade.)

My friend Karen and I came out dressed as Andorians - at a science fiction literary convention, no less - and I presented her to Guest of Honour, Harlan Ellison, and said, "Isn't she blue-tiful?" (We won best couple, even though Harlan has his infamous love/hate relationship with Star Trek.)

Bjo Trimble - "the woman who saved Star Trek" in the 60s - once told a convention audience about a very shy girl in a costume parade, who came out dressed as a female version of Luke Skywalker ("Star Wars"), with a life-sized Yoda doll/backpack on her shoulders (as per "The Empire Strikes Back"). She asked the Yoda doll, "How can I prove my Jedi powers, Master Yoda?" Yoda replied, "Levitate audience you will." She simply closed her eyes and wiggled her fingers a bit. When she opened her eyes again, the entire audience had stood, as one. Spectacular!

Bjo also mentioned one of the poorest efforts she'd seen at costuming. A beautiful young girl, wearing a stunningly brief slave girl Leia "Return of the Jedi" outfit, but she walked out "as if going to the shop to get a milkshake". As I said the other night, clothes maketh the alien - but so, it seems, does performance.

Raiding my old photo albums for some fun stuff to put on Flickr!, here are some scenes from Sale of the 23rd Century. This was a parody game show, performed and videoed live at Brisbane's Con Amore in 1985. The edited footage, with titles, a few newly-shot insert sequences, plus some special effects, became the first fan film of Harpic Productions. As a lark, I nominated the fan film for an Australian Science Fiction Media Award, and it ended up winning in the category of "Best Audiovisual Production". No doubt we were helped by the fact that many fans voting had seen the live version at the previous national convention.


Therin of Andor and Tackee the Orion slave girl (left); Therin and Tharrah see Tackee get shocked (centre); the contestants resolve a tied score (right). Photos by John Tipper, 1985.

Propwise, I own one of the very last large two-toned, screen-used 60s tribbles (from "The Trouble With Tribbles") that David Gerrold found in his garage a few years ago. I also have: a security clearance set pass from TMP; a patch of artificial Genesis Cave grass from Stage 5 (ST II); Majel Barrett and Michael Berryman cue cards (from ST IV); an unfinished breathing mask prop from ST V; a security clearance set pass from TNG; two "Starfleet Materiel Supply Command 01" cargo deck decals (one red; one blue); and a "baggie full of Star Trek" - bits of carpet, decking, wood and wire from ST: TNG - collected from the set by Bjo Trimble.




My favourite item might just be: a little clay tabletop-model house from the Old Bandi City of "Encounter at Farpoint", which were once attached to dozens of Christmas cards given out by the SPFX guys to the cast and crew.


Originally located on Deneb IV, somehow this little cottage was transported backwards through time and space - and is now situated on a plot of grass from the Genesis Planet. Yes, it's my Little Bandi House on the Prairie.


And my apologies to my niece, Beckie, who likes all my blog posts except the Star Trek ones. Sorry, Beck, it's been a big Star Trek week!

Puss in boots - and other fabulous felines

Now that I have my pro account with Flickr!, I really must do something about my tragic collection of photo albums. Most of them date back to the early 70s and were the then-innovative, original plastic sheets (and no-glue) technology. Sadly about ten years ago, most of the pages have oxidised badly - and many pages have either lost their self-adhesion, or refuse to give up the photos now seemingly bonded to the pages.

Here are three favourite cat photos!




Tiger-striped Dugil (left) was born in late 1978, and moved with me from the family home in Kingsgrove to my new Lakemba flat in late 1984. He lived a much longer life than his alley cat siblings, whom I'd tried to catch first, mainly because he was a dead ringer to my first cat, Meggsie. Named for the newspaper of the Guild Teachers College ("Dugil" is an anagram of "Guild"), Dugil loved playing "Puss in Boots", or sitting on any important sheets of paper!

Meggsie (right) was Dugil's older brother from an earlier litter. Meggsie ended up in my care in 1976 as a two-day old kitten, and was a traditional ginger tabby whom I raised on an eyedropper (during the crucial Higher School Certificate examinations). He survived our family's move from Rockdale to the new house in Kingsgrove, but lasted only three months before being skittled on Stoney Creek Road at age fourteen months. He's seven weeks old in that photo.

The black and white photo (below) illustrates a familiar Winter scenario, which we always called "frying your eyeballs". My younger brother would stretch out on the floor in front of the heater, preventing the rest of us on the couches from most of the benefits of the radiated heat. Mac, our German Shepherd/Boxer cross, would sneak between Brian and the heater to "fry his eyeballs". And then Meggsie would slide into place in front of Mac, to "fry his eyeballs".

Clothes maketh the alien

Re my eBay win of yesterday, I've been asked, "What is the shiny fabric? I want to buy some of that."

I look forward to finding out. As I told the poster of the question, when designing and making science fiction costumes, don't just visit regular haberdashery suppliers for bolts of unusual material. The really weird (if uncomfortable; hard to sew) stuff used in much SF media costuming is often not worn as intended, nor is it fabric made for humans to wear. So look in furniture suppliers and restorers, army surplus stores (space blankets!), hardware stores, etc. (Did you know that the fabric used in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season One Starfleet uniforms was used inside out, to give a strange effect? Made 'em hot for the wearers, though.)

I was also asked, "Now the big question: Will you WEAR it or just "collect" it?

Well, I'm really hoping that Therin is about the same size as Granville Van Dusen or Joel Swetow, the two actors who wore the costume on "Enterprise". The sleeves of the jumpsuit look very snug in the pictures. The great thing is that the gorgeous cloak portion is going to fit anybody.

On Thursday night I saw some amazing lizard skin boots (in a shoe store in Sydney's CBD) that might look heaps better than my blue bare feet sticking out of the ends of the jumpsuit!

I "performed" Therin the Andorian regularly from 1980 through till 1990, when I grew a full dark beard - and had to start playing Tellarites and Klingon Maltz instead. The beard finally went grey and was shaved off in 1997, but I didn't "go blue" again until 2001, when I was asked to video my own cameo as Senator Therin (Therin's Dad) for the US fanfilm, Starship Exeter: The Savage Empire.


The changing (blue) face of the Andorian


So I know I'm gonna be terrified of getting blue makeup on a costume that's costing me $AU 1000 to buy/import to Australia. But yeah, I'll wear it at least once, if it fits. Maybe a full-on costume shoot at Jenolan Caves (yes, the same limestone caves that Scotty's misspelt USS Jenolen was named for).

I'm thinking I'll also have to seek out a suitable second hand male mannequin and paint it blue. Finally, a suitable place to store/display Therin's wig and antennae between gigs!

The Andorian's new clothes

I told you a while ago about John Paul Lona's Rasiinian ambassador's costume from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" in the It's a Wrap! auctions of Paramount Star Trek costumes. I was sort of kicking myself because it went for a very small amount, but it made me determined to find something more suitable for longterm display, and which still meant a lot to me. The ad had also warned that the rubbery materials on the Rasiinian were highly perishable.

Last week, the impressive Orion costume worn by WWE professional wrestler, Big Show (aka Paul Wright, see last pic), in the "Enterprise" episode, "Borderland", came up on eBay and I figured it would be a good one to try for, but would I also be competing with Orion fans, wrestling fans and just large-framed ST fans who wanted a costume they could fit into.

I also started to wonder if the metal buckles, and the huge, decorated boots, included with the outfit would be way too expensive to ship to Australia. From the description, it sounded like two people could live inside Big Show's footwear! Big Show seemed to be a man mountain of green in "Enterprise", and the metres of imitation reptile skin used in the costume reminded me too much of the female Andorian outfits (I have two rare costume-swatch trading cards of leatherette Talas outfits). But this costume got me wondering as to what complete Andorian costumes might yet turn up as auction lots. A ST:TMP Andorian outfit of purple suede, perhaps? A TMP flabbjellah? A TOS Andorian tabard?

Jeffrey Combs' Shran uniforms would command prices into the thousands, of course, and the Enterprise-patched Arctic jacket he wore in "The Aenar" had sold for a fortune recently, as did a slinky Talas number from either "Proving Ground" or "Babel One". I didn't have to look far, though: there, on eBay, was the outfit worn by Granville Van Dusen's unnamed Andorian General from "Proving Ground"! Bingo!

Mmmmm, I thought. Not many people would bid for this item. It was only seen as a rather brief head-and-shoulders viewscreen shot. I placed a very reasonable top amount on it and watched my bid move me into position as top bidder, where it stayed for the rest of the week.

Two days ago, I had a brainstorm. What was the outfit worn by Ambassador Thoris (Joel Swetow) at the intergalactic peace talks in the episode, "Terra Prime"? I suddenly realized that this "new" outfit had actually been recycled from "Proving Ground" - now with its additional robe and leather belt - and was the one I was trying to win! But would anyone else realise that Thoris's outfit was being auctioned? Probably not! Oh joy!

This morning I told myself I could not bear to lose it. Or rather, my alter ego, Therin of Andor, had decided that he "simply must have it". On his behalf, I upped my bidding maximum. (Yesssss, my precioussssss! We wants it, and we must have it!) I didn't want anyone else wearing that costume! (Nassssty little hobbitses!)

Now, I'm not telling how high I was prepared to go - that way embarrassment lies - but I sat here this morning, eating breakfast and pretending to surf the 'Net, fully expecting to be outbid. The time crept by sooooo slooooowly and, with what I thought was only five minutes to go, an incoming email chirped.

Ah, this was it: the notice that I'd been outbid - and how many more thousands of dollars was I willing to part with? But no! It was an email to say that the costume was mine: a winning automated bid of only $US 743.33! Ten bids in all. (Incidentally, the Orion costume was a bargain for anyone not needing international shipping: $US 455.00.)

Doin' the Andorian happy dance! Soon winging its way Down Under, via Andor:

The auction description said: "A costume featured in the 'Star Trek: Enterprise' episode 'Proving Ground' where Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs) suddenly appears to assist 'Enterprise' in locating the Xindi super weapon. The costume is that of the Andorian General (Granville Van Dusen) who orders Shran to keep the prototype of the Xindi super weapon for Andoria should he come into possession of it. The costume is a full-length sleeveless blue-black jumpsuit that is a black spandex type material/blue-black vinyl with a circular pattern, a silver vinyl jacket in a vaguely reptile skin design and fake fur-lined sleeve and plastic bead piping, a full-length, sleeveless vinyl cape of the same design as the jacket, a leather pouch and harness. A sewn in tag reads ‘Enterprise, Granville Van Dusen 065’. Item Number 3366."

PS. Now I have Andorian boots from the auctions as well!