Primary Fandoms

When I was seven or eight years old cable television either didn't exist or wasn't widely available. To watch television we needed an antenna and with that we could receive four channels: NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS. There were two times when television went straight to ultra boring - when the president was giving a speech and Sunday morning. It was Sunday mornings that got me interested in SciFi.

While Saturday morning was cartoon time for the kids, Sunday morning was for the religious. All three of the big networks played church programs. Now, this was before mega churches and video sermons. The programming that was on was the service from a local church. If you were lucky, there was more than just one camera sitting in the back of the sanctuary with a wide shot of the altar/pulpit. Considering we often left the television off on Sundays until after church, the last thing my eight-year-old self wanted to see was more church. As George Carlin said, "Church was a weekly reminder that there was something worse than school."

With church on the big three we usually turned to PBS. This is the only reason I know what Nova is and it is what introduced me to Star Trek. It wasn't just that it was often the only thing to watch on Sunday mornings that wasn't church, I really enjoyed it. I loved Star Trek so much over the years that there was a time that I could literally identify the episode, by name, and give you a full plot synopsis by watching no more than ten seconds of any part of any original series episode. Even if it was just a closeup of Mr. Spock raising an eyebrow. Yes, seriously.

Star Trek, in its many forms, has always held a special place in my heart, like a first love. If you asked me what my fandom was, my unhesitating response, for many, many years would have been, "I'm a Trekkie!" [side note: fandom is a recent expression. It's sort-of like cosplay. It's always been there, we just didn't always call it that.] I will forever refer to myself as a Trekkie (or Trekker, depending on my mood) but I've recently been taking notice of which fandom I gravitate toward most strongly and, to my surprise, it's changed.

Way back in 1977 there was this little box office sleeper that was quietly released to theaters called Star Wars. You may have heard of it. I think it was the first movie I absolutely had to see. There were so many incredible things about the movie theater experience back then but seeing the lines wrapped around the building (we mostly had single-screen theaters back then) had to be the most spectacular to my young self. If that many people wanted to see this movie at any particular time it had to be good.

I love the original Star Wars and will forever raise it up as an example of great film making. From the story to the characters to the then ground-breaking special effects (up to that point no one had left the model stationary and moved the camera around it to create motion) it's absolutely amazing. I watch it now and can see its rough edges but still marvel that George Lucas and his team put so many firsts in that production. They literally had to invent new ways of producing special effects, some of which are still used today.

As great as it is and as great as it was I still identified myself as a Trekkie. Maybe because the fandom never got saddled with a catchy name, I don't know. What would you call a Star Wars fan, anyway? Star Warrior? Star Warian? Skywalkerer? At any rate, my placement of Star Wars as my number one favorite lasted maybe a year or two after its release if it ever was on top. I eventually settled back into my old, comfortable, Starfleet mindset.

In the early '80s PBS, yet again, introduced me to this odd little show from England called Doctor Who. I know it wasn't another Sunday morning find. I think it may have aired on Saturday afternoons. Anyway, Here was this show about this quirky guy with bushy hair and a looooong scarf around his neck traveling through space and time in... a British police box... that was bigger on the inside. This show was not some highly-polished, big-budget production. On the contrary, it looked quite cheap. But that was part of its charm. Being interested at the time in television/video production it was fascinating to see how they used ordinary objects and materials in unusual and unexpected ways.

I lost touch with the show when the local PBS stations started shuffling the schedule. It was also around that time that I really started to take an interest in girls. The latter was likely the reason I didn't fly my geek flag quite so high anymore. I lost track of The Doctor and eventually heard that the show had ended in 1989. It wasn't such a hard blow for me because I'd missed out on something like four doctors by that time and I'd settled comfortably back into my Trekkie seat in 1987 with the introduction of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

With a steady diet of Star Trek movies and television and Star Wars sequels I'd put The Doctor on a shelf to gather dust. I kept him around, to be sure, and when people asked I would politely tell them, "Yes, I know of The Doctor and enjoyed the show very much." I really didn't give him much thought until 2005 when BBC America, a channel that didn't even launch until 1998, announced that they were bringing it back.

By this time I'd done away with my self-consciousness and flew my geek flag as high as I could. I was uneasy about this rebirth (or should that be regeneration?). Would they maintain the spirit of The Doctor? Would the stories be any good? Would The Doctor be any good? I watched the first episode with trepidation. I didn't want to hate it but so many rebirths of so many shows had failed miserably. I needn't have worried. When I heard Christopher Eccleston utter the phrase, "Hello, Rose. I'm The Doctor. Run for your life." in that Doctor-esque calm and whimsy I was hooked again. This time, I don't think I've missed a single episode (thank God for DVRs).

As I look around my desk I see four Star Wars figurines, some The Walking Dead Funko pocket pop!s that I got in a grab bag, a Captain America Funko mug I won at work, a Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head, and a space marine action figure from Starcraft. Scattered about amidst all of that is a six-inch vinyl TARDIS, three postcard-sized pictures of the TARDIS (one looking in to the control room, one with the doors closed, and one with a cat peering inside), a photo of me stepping out of the Tulsa TARDIS, and a Funko pocket Pop! of the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker). But it doesn't end there. My current vehicle is a 2014 Jazz (darker) Blue Dodge Charger with a vanity plate that reads TMTRVLR (TARDIS was already taken). I think it's safe to say that I've changed my primary fandom from Trekkie to Whovian.

Live long and prosper, may The Force be with you, always know where your towel is, and Allons-y!

Rule Of Acquisition Number 168,894*: Garage Sales Are Good

On almost any Saturday morning you can usually find me cruising by at least one or two garage sales. Hey, I gotta do something since they got rid of Saturday morning cartoons.

I tend to find the sales I want to check out by using iGarageSale or Garage Sale Rover on my iPhone. Both of these apps parse the Craigslist database and display pins on a map representing the sales near your current location. You can tap the pins and view the listing details.

Today, I found two. A garden variety garage sale and a pawn shop that was selling everything except guns and ammunition at 50% off Friday and Saturday to make room for a U-Haul center. I thought it was rather clever of them to advertise in the garage sale section of Craigslist.

After enjoying our traditional Saturday morning breakfast at Hardee's/Carl's Jr. we popped in at the first garage sale. Not much there, really, but I managed to snag a copy of the original Halo for the XBox. We gassed up my car then stopped by the pawn shop. Given their location, lack of inventory and minimal variety, it's no surprise they need to bring in another business type to stay afloat. We learned they will also be selling scooters and ATVs as well as used cars. They have the lot space for all of that but can you say, "all in?"

Anyway, the pawn shop sells DVDs for $2 each, making them $1 each on sale and I picked up The Man With One Red Shoe and 300. Not on the top of my must-have list but worth a buck to have them in my collection. I also spotted a copy of Left 4 Dead for the XBox 360. While I was meandering about looking at other things I didn't need or already owned, the wife asked me, "Did you see this?"

She handed me a white box. It was The Star Trek Original Motion Picture collection. It has the first 6 movies plus a bonus disk. It was still in its original shrink wrap with an $89.96 Wal-Mart sticker on it and a $60 pawn shop sticker on it. Today, it would be $30. Now, I've never been a big fan of the odd-numbered films so I took a look at the spines to remind me of the titles. They're in thin cases so I start squinting at The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, The Search for... "Ooh! These are Blu-Rays! I want." So, that's another one of my Christmas presents I already know about.

The wife had mentioned during our morning planning session that she wanted to go to Tulsa to return some items to K-Mart and redeem her "Turkey Bucks," which garnered us an $11 coupon for a Butterball turkey. I had a small pile of items I had decluttered from my office, including an inkjet printer, a stereo received and a 6-disc CD changer I haven't used in six years, and decided it would be a good time to take them over to Goodwill. Finally, we wanted to swing by a Kohls to look at a waffle maker they had on sale - she's been into waffles lately for some reason.

We made the trek to Tulsa and got everything squared away at K-Mart and dropped off our items at Goodwill. As is our habit, we popped in to see if there were any goodies worth taking back with us. The wife picked up a blouse and I walked out with a Sister Hazel CD and the Barenaked Ladies greatest hits disc one.

The big score of the day, however, was at Kohls. Many years ago my wife gave me a nice leather wallet as a gift. It is a tri-fold wallet with an extra pocket in the back of the middle section of the cash area. Over the years I have found this space invaluable for storing FSA cards, corporate credit cards and other items I don't want to accidentally utilize.

About a year ago we noticed the wallet was starting to look a little past its prime. The black dye had faded from the corners-in so that the wallet now looks to be black with green highlights. I started looking for a replacement, even from the same company, but never found one that had anything like that extra convenience of that separate pocket.

It being (almost) holiday season, Kohls had their wallets prominently displayed. I started looking at them and, as usual, was getting disappointed with what I was finding. Around the back side of the display there were wallets from the company who made my wonderful extra-pocketed model. Wouldn't you know it, the very first one I picked up was exactly like the one I carry - extra pocket and all. Joy filled my heart and I was more than willing to pay the $20 to obtain this gem. I looked around a bit more and found one in a deep brown that eventually made it home with me.

Add another good Saturday to the list.

*Can anyone tell me where my Rule of Acquisition number comes from?

Expo Memories

Trek Expo 2009 has wrapped up. Overall, I had a good time but the atmosphere was much different this year. I don't know if it was me, the economy, the guest list, the not-so-rushed attitude, or what but there wasn't as much of a spark of excitement as in past years.

Speaking of guests... Chase Masterson, a regular attendee (she must have family in the area or something), was lovely in form and voice as usual.


Leonard Nimoy started out interesting but we bailed on his talk. We were in the cheap seats and the acoustics of the room, combined with the tonal quality of his voice, made it very difficult to understand what he was saying (we weren't the only ones).


The one I really wanted to see was Corin Nemec from Stargate SG-1. He was one of only four guests I hadn't seen before. He was well spoken but needs to work on his timing. His stories, while interesting, tended to grab attention early then fade out instead of having a punch. He's very nice, though and I think he's losing his hair (he was never without a hat all weekend).


Of unexpected interest was Phil Morris. He has done a lot of voice work, he played Jackie Chiles in Seinfeld, a Jem-Hadar and a Klingon on Deep Space 9, and most recently The Martian Manhunter on Smallville. Two bits of trivia: He is the son of Greg Morris who was on the original Mission: Impossible. When it was remade later during a writer's strike, he was cast as the same character his father played. Also, he got his start in television and in the Star Trek universe in the original series as one of the children in the eposide Miri. He has some great stories.

Garret Wang was entertaining as usual. Here, he is doing his "Power of DeLanciiiiiiiie!!" schtick. He brings a lot of energy to a convention.

For the second time, I had the opportunity to see Avery Brooks. He is a very interesting person with very zen-like insights and mindset. It makes for interesting Q&A because half of the time when he's finished giving his answer, your mind has followed his etherial rhetoric and you have forgotten what the original question was.

Cirroc Lofton, who played Jake Cisco on DS9, was scheduled such that he and Avery spent an hour sharing the stage. At one point, they were talking about an eposide in which Tony Todd had guest-starred and called him up to the stage. Made for a nice photo-op.

Insert Prophetic Title Here (AKA - Kirk Wins)

Odd that I should have chosen that particular title yesterday. Kahn is dead. Ricardo Montalban, the man who played Kahn Noonien Singh in both Star Trek The Original Series (Space Seed) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, passed away yesterday at the age of 88 reportedly of natural causes.

Nope, Didn't Make It

I skipped Trek Expo this year. Like I said, I'm disappointed on many levels.

It's probably a good thing. Our cash flow hasn't been that great recently and that's money I didn't need to spend. Of course, what I spent at garage sales and getting to them this weekend probably cost about the same. My friend Kevin and I haven't hit garage sales together since before I moved to Idaho and he was in a mood to go. It didn't hurt that there were no less than eighteen neighborhood garage sales near his area of Oklahoma City. I got up, drove to OKC, and we spent the day buying stuff on the cheap that we really didn't need.

That's not entirely true. I picked up a Hoover FloorMate for $30 and I've been wanting one of those for a LONG time. That's only $10 more than the deductible to go see my doctor when I have back spasms after trying to mop our ceramic floors. Quite a bargain if you ask me.

Other than that I've been doing stuff around the house like laundry, mowing the lawn...

Speaking of mowing the lawn... I haven't mowed the back lawn in 3-4 weeks for various reasons and excuses. Some of the grass was better than knee high - seriously. As I came around on one pass, I noticed a small area I had just mowed over on the last pass and it was squirming. I looked down and saw three or four very small critters jockeying for position. None of them appeared to be hurt as they had been burrowed in just under ground level.

These were baby critters who hadn't opened their eyes quite yet and, at first, I thought they were mice. We have a multitude of them around our area and they've gotten into the attic again (gonna have to do something about that). Having gloves on, I gently picked one up and examined it. Odd shaped ears. The back feet don't look quite right. No whip of a tail. This is not a mouse.

Somebunny used our long grass for cover. They were baby rabbits no bigger than an adult mouse.

I don't know if they'll survive but I did what I could for them. I put the one back and he snuggled in with his siblings. I turned the mower chute away from them and carefully mowed the grass around them. Finally, I pulled some of the long grass that was left and laid it over the hole. I figured this would shelter them from the sun and any prying eyes circling the sky. I checked on them this morning and they seem to be OK.

Trek Expo Letdown

My annual pilgrimage has come around once again. The event that is Trek Expo. It is something I look forward to with great anticipation. The ability to see TV and movie start up close, hear them talk about their experiences and get an autograph or maybe even a picture is too much to resist. Through these events I have met or seen the likes of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Jeremy Bulloch, Bruce Boxleitner, Kevin Sorbo, Walter Koenig ... the list goes on. It's an exciting time for me.

Because we moved to Boise, I missed any chance at a convention last year. We were actually driving through Denver, CO on the opening day of StarFest, another convention, but couldn't afford the time (or money) to stop. I have been following the buildup to this years Trek Expo and had started to get excited about it. They promoted Adam Baldwin, Nichelle Nichols, Dean Stockwell, Wil Wheaton, the guy who plays Silar on Heroes and the lady who played Admiral Kane on BSG. I was kinda pumped. Then Silar and Kane cancelled. This was a fairly early cancellation. Disappointing but not devastating.

As May ended, I went back to the site and double-checked the dates. I also double-checked the ticket prices and almost fainted. I am used to $20-$30 for general admission for the whole weekend. The price this year jumped to $50 for the whole weekend or $20/day for Sat or Sun. Can you say wet blanket? No matter, the chance to meet Adam Baldwin and Dean Stockwell as well as see Wil Wheaton again would be worth it.

Today is opening day. I just checked the web site and Stockwell and Wheaton have cancelled. That means four out of the 5 people I really wanted to see have cancelled. In addition, the hosts have not back-filled the schedule so there are no substitutes coming (not that they've noted, at least).

They have nobody coming from any currently-airing shows or recent movies (unless you count Chuck on NBC). They have nobody from any recent shows such as Stargate. The people they do have, with the exception of Baldwin and Nichols, are all supporting actors/actresses or not big headliners. I don't have anything against these people and I actually enjoy seeing/listening to them but they're not who I go to see.

I am seriously reconsidering my resolve to attend at all this year. I will probably make an appearance tomorrow just so I can see Adam Baldwin and meet up with my friend Greg. I will most likely not attend Supper with the Stars as I have the past 4 or 5 years and I'm almost certain that I will save my gas, save the price of admission and skip Sunday altogether.

Sorry Starbase 21. You've collapsed the field on my warp drive.

A Plea for Assistance

Friends, I'm not usually one to ask for money but we've been looking over the cost of relocating to Boise and it's going to be EXPENSIVE. Shipping our stuff is going to cost $3,000-$5,000 and that's if we load and unload it, boxes are going to be $300 or more, it's at least a two day trip so we have to cover fuel, meals and lodging, and we'll have rent and utility deposits once we get there. We are getting relocation money from Boise State but it will only cover a small portion of the expenses. The problem is that since my wife has been out of work for over a year, all of our resources are tapped out.

There are two ways you can help. One way is to click the button on the right side of the page and make a donation of any amount and you will receive my eternal gratitude. If you want something material in return, check out my eBay auction and I will send you a DVD of photographs in return for your donation.

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Added 3-18-07

I've felt guilty about this since posting it. I can't just take money. If you donate, I will send you a photo disc just like the auction. And it doesn't matter how much or how little you give, I'll send you BOTH discs. Just be sure to provide your shipping address.

Pilgrimage

Just back (and I do mean just back) from Trek Expo in Tulsa. I have lots of photos to sort through and a few stories to share. I truly hope I can find some time in the next few days to share some of both with you. Here's a bullet list to tide you over until then:

• I have well over 1,000 pictures
  
• Christina Hendricks is hot HOT HOT! I hope to see her in many more movies and shows.
  
• Jonathan Frakes was somewhat Shatner-like (he was in, he did his spiel, he signed some autographs, he was out)
  
• There's more to Paul McGillion than meets the eye
  
• Garrett Wang was a poster-child for A.D.D. this weekend - but very fun
  
• The Klingon Rap by J.G. Hertzler and Robert O'Reilly was worth the price of admission
  
• Aaron Douglas is as much of a fan as he is a star and is extremely approachable
  
• Connor Trinneer has a slightly different look and I had to do a double-take on him
  
• Bruce Boxleitner was very professional and has some good stories
  
• Robert Beltran was... he was... hmmm...he was more interesting after Garrett Wang showed up
  

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend as well and I'll get back to you soon with details (fingers crossed)