Post Convention Blues

What could possibly be better than spending a weekend with the people that you have persistently watched grow and develop on television for twenty years,  in some cases even longer? For most fans of film and television, their relationship with the characters they love starts and ends with watching the movie or TV show, but for a Star Trek fan its much more hands on than that as we have the luxury of being part of one of entertainments largest ever fan bases.  Because of that, the demand for meeting the stars causes dozens of conventions all around the world and almost every week of the year.   

Me and Aron Eisenberg (Nog) 

I am a collector of personalised Star Trek autographs and have been attending conventions for many years, the first being ‘Generations 2’ at the Royal Albert Hall in London back in 1996. I have recently returned from the Destination Star Trek 3 event, also in London, and have discovered that the often mentioned ‘Post Con Blues’ is a very real thing. I'm sure it affects people in different ways, some feel down because they have to go back to work afterwards and some because they generally spend most of their time alone and they must leave their new like-minded friends behind. For me, it is a sort of sick feeling of nostalgia and loss in my stomach, the loss being the time I spent as a teenager growing up in the middle of Star Trek’s  Golden Age. A time which had three different Trek incarnations running simultaneously, with weekly events  to keep me satisfied such as a monthly magazine, fact files delivered to my door and VHS releases of brand new episodes. I had the original excitement of the season ending cliff-hangers and genuinely did not know what was going to happen next. There was  even a hotline you could ring to listen to actors interviews as they gave hints of upcoming story lines.

A small selection of my Autograph collection

The thing that depresses me the most after having attended an event like Destination Star Trek is the realisation that what has been has gone and could never return (at least not to the way it used to be). We all watch Star Trek on an almost unending loop, and by the time you’ve finished watching, say,  The Next Generation, it's been six months since you watched Voyager, so it's time to start that series over again. All the Star Trek shows (after season two of TNG) are holding up remarkably well with the passage of time, as are the movies, and it is easy to forget that over 25 years have passed since the TNG crew were in their prime. The ‘modern’ series of DS9, Voyager and Enterprise were produced to such high standards that they look like they could still be in production today, until of course you actually meet your idols! For me, there lies the problem. There is something terribly depressing about seeing a face that yesterday (on TV) was strong, commanding and comforting and today is aged, withered and tired. They are not the people you remember and it can be a little disheartening as it hits you that the show you love is as good as an antique. The last time I saw the legendary Uhura was two days before DST3, she was doing the naked fan dance in ST:5. To be confronted by a little old lady with white hair in a wheelchair a few days later only served as a reminder that the actors are ageing, that I am old and that the movies are classics. Perhaps there’s a sub conscious thought way in the back of our minds that keeps whispering  ‘’they may do a DS9 movie or one last TNG outing’’, but seeing the actors in the flesh then destroys that possibility.  I think the biggest wake-up call for me over the weekend was meeting Hana Hatae who played little 5 year old Molly O’Brian. Of course Hana is all grown up now and is a far cry from the character she used to play in Deep Space Nine. I probably know more about the O’Brian family than I do about my own neighbours, and I miss following those characters, and all of the other Star Trek personas.  We did grow up together after all. 

Me and Hana Hatae (Molly O'Brian)

Despite pining for the time when Star Trek was in the middle of its franchise boom, meeting the people that made the show a reality is the next best thing to still having the programme on air, and I will continue to follow them as we grow old together. It isn’t difficult to understand why Trek fans hunger for new (old style/traditional) Star Trek and we can only hope that CBS acknowledges this sooner rather than later. For now, lets hope the existing retired casts Live Long and Prosper.

'The Host' and the changing face of the Trill race.

For such a huge and varied universe, Star Trek has managed to stay pretty consistent, partly due to a long-serving production team and partly due to the fans anal attitude to fine details. Of course, this is TV and after spanning five decades, the show simply couldn't adhere to the production values of the 60s show and artistic licence was taken with technology and the look of alien races when Star Trek was brought back in the 80s. This was unavoidable and widely accepted as compulsory by the fan base, yet ultimately many Star Trek episodes offered geeky explanations as to why things were altered along the Trek timeline. The most famous of these alterations was the change in the look of the Klingon race when The Next Generation added a full prosthetic make up to them which the Original series could not afford. This mystery was tackled, explained and solved more than forty years later in an episode of  Enterprise - one of the shows finer moments. Differences between the 60's Star Trek series and the 80's one were unavoidable and forgiveable, but what about between the 80's and later 90's shows?

Here is a niggle I've had since I began following Star Trek. In Season 4 of The Next Generation a race called the Trill were created, initially as the 'Alien of the week' but later on in Deep Space Nine they returned as series regulars. TNG Trill looked like a slapdash, nondescript beige forehead-appliance type humanoid which could not use the transporter for fear of damaging their Symbiont, and the Symbiont themselves, appearing as colourful neon fat slugs, could exist in human hosts for a week or so before being rejected.

Odan from TNG episode 'The Host'

Our first look at a Symbiont (TNG 'The Host')

When the producers of Deep Space Nine decided that the concept of the Trill demanded more exploration, they included one as their Science Officer. After casting an attractive young female actress, they decided they didn't want to cover her face with prosthetics and so designed a less restrictive make-up for the Trill. So, that's the TV show explanation, but what about a Star Trek cannon explanation?

Now that Trek is no longer on TV, it's unlikely that this particular mystery will be officially solved, so I guess we could take some artistic licence ourselves and theorize between us. Away we go.....

Trill Jadzia Dax from Deep Space Nine.

Which series has the best finale?

First of all, I will be starting with The Next Generation for this one. After cancellation, the Original Series just ended, and on a bit of a bum note I might add. The rest of the Star Trek series attempted to wrap up the entire run of the shows in a final two-hour special (with the exception of Enterprise).

An almost dead cert for a successful Star Trek episode is the inclusion of time travel in the story line.  The final episode of TNG went in this direction with 'All Good Things...', and has Picard flipping through three time periods: past, present and future. The story was a Star Trek treatment of the classic Dickens tale 'A Christmas Carol', where Captain Picard was sent back to when he first took command of the Enterprise and then forward to when he is retired.  It's always a kick to catch a glimpse of our characters in a possible future and see how they could turn out.  The geekiest little moments in this episode for me are in the future time-scape, when we find out that Picard and Crusher eventually got married and seeing Geordie with ocular implants (which later became a reality in the movies).

'All Good Things...' was an outstanding episode - it had action, it brought the series full circle by bringing back Q and his judgement of humanity which he started in the pilot episode, and it is concluded with Picard finally joining the senior officers for a game of poker which was a nice touch.  This episode didn't wrap up the series like some of the other closing episodes from the sister shows, but that's because it didn't need to. The Next Generation was going straight over to the big screen, so the crew was kept intact and the mission of the Enterprise was left on-going. As good as this episode is, it could have been put anywhere throughout the show's run. When it comes to finalising a show, no other terminated like the next Star Trek spin-off, Deep Space Nine.

TNG; The future Enterprise D from 'All Good things...'

Whilst Star Trek: Deep Space Nine took a little longer to find its feet than its predecessor, once it hit its stride there was no stopping it.  It's huge sweeping story arcs revolving around the Dominion War lasted several seasons, and with the show being set on a huge space station, it had many semi regular characters popping in and out every year so there were a lot of loose threads to tie up when the show ended. Never before or since have we had a Star Trek show be so defiantly concluded, with many of the crew members heading off to new lives and some even meeting a grizzly end. In my opinion, 'What You Leave Behind' is the finest series closer of any show I have watched and I judge it so because it is the only one which I have shed a tear to! The music plays a big part in making the final scenes so poignant, that mixed with flash backs of experiences the characters had and the whole crew gathering before saying goodbye to long friendships and relationships. You are left in little doubt that this is the end for Deep Space Nine, and it was, this show never made it to the big screen like TNG.

DS9: The last pan shot of the station

Star Trek Voyager's concept was a little different from the other shows, and with them spending seven years trying to reach home, it seemed inevitable that the final episode would see them achieve this. Sure enough, the final shot before the credits roll on 'Endgame' have Voyager approaching Earth escorted by a Federation fleet. A winning theme that Star Trek can always rely on to deliver a popular episode other than time travel is the Borg. 'Endgame' uses both time travel AND the Borg to give us an action-packed, high concept science fiction finale that entertains from start to finish. The main criticism from the fans about this episode is that it ends! You've heard the old adage 'always leave them wanting more'?  Well, that's what they did. Unfortunately we were clamouring to see our characters and their reactions to being back on Earth, so we ended up feeling a little cheated. All in all, 'Endgame' was great Star Trek.

Voyager approaches Earth after 7 years in the Delta Quadrant

Now, if you're a Trekkie (which I assume you are if you've read this far) then you will have been dreading this bit!  The final episode of Enterprise has been dissed and slated by fans ever since it aired.  The show had been cancelled and, had it have reached its seventh season, then I'm sure 'the birth of the Federation' angle would have been a great pay-off to fans of the series. Instead, we were given a rushed crossover/holodeck farce that focused on The Next Generation character of Riker.  While it was nice to see Riker, Troi and bits of the Enterprise-D again, the episode did very little for the NX-01 characters and only served to show how Archer's service had ultimately given rise to the Federation.  There was a little confusion from fans that mistakenly likened the episode to Patrick Duffy in the shower in Dallas and the whole thing being a dream. That was not the case.  Just look at the episode as a flash back from Riker's point of view. All the events in Enterprise really happened in the Star Trek timeline, so don't be thinking we were robbed of the four years we spent watching the show. The best thing about this episode is the closing monologue of the legendary 'Space, the final frontier' in the voices of Kirk, Picard and Archer. It has a 'lump in the throat' feeling going on as we realise that this is the moment that Star Trek was departing from our screens, perhaps forever!

Enterprise: The last Star Trek image we see on television



Creating 7 of 9 for a convention

It's rare I go to a convention these days without Cosplaying. The women of Star trek are legendary and plentiful but for a Drag Queen, the glamorous females in Trek shows are few and far between. They may be beautiful, but more often than not, they are neck to toe in boiler suit like uniforms. For a Drag Act, it's all about exaggerating those feminine features like curves, lips, legs and eyes so my Cosplay options have always been rather limited. It was inevitable that one day I would have to tackle the Seven of Nine look and decided to do so for Destination Star Trek Frankfurt. It was a time consuming and expensive process, but here is the final result and how it was achieved...

As with all my Trek costumes, it starts with images and screencaps of the outfit in question, and where possible, stills of the actual screen-used garment in it's natural state without TV lighting and colour tampering. Usually I find these images on auction site archives where the original outfit has been sold after production had ended. These kinds of sites carry detailed pictures taken from all angles and close ups of seams and linings.

Seven's catsuit was relatively easy for the costume-maker to replicate but it was the under-garment which gave Seven her ribbing which was the fiddly bit. Again, the corset had previously been sold at auction and images were plentiful...

 

Front and back view of 7's under-garment

Whilst visiting the First Contact Day event in Leicester, I browsed a fabric shop as a Drag Queen would and spotted a stretchy blue matt Lycra with a sparkly fleck running through it. It immediately reminded me of Seven of Nine's outfit and so I bought up enough to one day have the costume made. It sat in my dressing room for over a year until I decided it was time for a new Cosplay. Below is the design sheet which I sent to the costume-maker (along with a few clips on DVD of the costume in use on TV so he could get a feel of how it moved and creased)...


Seven of Nine mood board (the text description of detail was taken from the auction of the original outfit)

One of the most difficult aspects of the 7 of 9 costume is the facial implants she wears.  I thought I had found the better quality ones available online and ordered them (£16 for the eye piece and the cheek star), but when they arrived, they were lacking in detail and the paint job was basic. I decided to have a go at making my own and created some clay replicas, followed buy a mold and ultimately the latex prosthetics. I finished them off with a four-colour paint job and sponge texturing and was very pleased with the result - so much so that I now offer them on my eBay. The hand-piece was a lot of trial and error, but I found the best result came from cutting the tips off rubber Halloween witches fingers, popping them on the ends of my fingers and painting liquid latex over them and down and around my hand. After two or so hours with a useless hand held in the air drying, I peeled off the latex and finger tips and treated it to the same paint job as the face pieces.

One of the things which I've noticed other Seven of Nine Cosplays lack, is the unique built in footwear that is seamless to the costume. I can understand why people struggle with this as it requires very exact measurements of some very unusual places. No matter how we tried it, we couldn't get the fabric to sit tight around the ankle whilst the shoe was pulling on it and I really wanted to get that 'sprayed on' look for the costume. To get around it, we cheated a little and separated the shoes from the jump suit and opted to cover them with the same fabric. This was achieved by painting the shoe with PVA glue, stretching over the fabric and jamming the excess between the shoe leather and sole using a  screw driver. Unless you're planning to end up with your ankles up the side of someones head, then the join between costume and footwear is virtually undetectable (plus has the added benefit of being able to take off your shoes when you've been on heels all day, which I found a great relief).

In my regular Drag work I prefer hair which is high, big and bold, however, Jeri Ryan has quite a natural looking style, a simple French twist and cow lick quiff. As a man, using my own hair was out of the question (I have none!) so the front hairline of the wig had to be a very high quality lace front one. I found that the colour 'Honeysuckle' was a perfect match for Jeri Ryan's natural colour.  The wig was done by a professional wig-dresser from a selection of screen captured pictures.

All in all, the whole look was very successful, especially enjoyed by Gates McFadden (Crusher) who asked for a picture which she later Tweeted, Marina Sirtis (Troi) who complimented me on my Camel's Toe or lack of, and Connor Trinneer (Tucker) who wolf whistled at me from his signing table!

The cost of the combined ensemble was approximately £350.

So, what's next for Misty in the world of Star Trek Cosplay? Well, I'm inclined to bring back the big hair and wild Gagaesque wardrobe so my initial thought is Lwaxana Troi.

See you in Space Trekkies!

Who likes Dr Pulaski?

In Season 2 of The Next Generation, Gates McFadden took a year out to have a baby and was replaced with Diana Muldaur who had previously played 'Bimbo of the Week' twice in The Original Series. I don't ever remember being a great fan of Dr Pulaski, not particularly because I was attached to Dr Crusher, but there was nothing likeable about Pulaski for a teenager. I simply saw her as a cantankerous ageing broad with a chip on her shoulder. I'm on my umpteenth re-watch of TNG and I'm currently in mid Season 2. This time around I actually saw her as dry, and quite amusing, possibly because our age gap has decreased since the last time I watched her. Whilst looking through her IMDb, I came across a quote from the actress which put me on the offensive once again, she said....

"A lot of people ask me why I did Star Trek for a year and I said, "because it sounded wonderful and  creative, fun and children's theatre." It wasn't any of those things... that was a mistake of mine."

The implication that Star Trek is neither wonderful or creative is annoying enough but 'children's theatre'?  Perhaps the brightly coloured pyjama uniforms gave her this 'Teletubbies in Space' analogy, either way, I do not agree with her assessment. She does go on to say some wonderful things about Gene Roddenberry and his imagination so redeems herself a little. I suppose we just have to keep in mind that doing Star Trek was just a job for some actors and we can't expect them to love it as much as we do. Having said that, guess who is at the London Film Comic Con signing autographs and doing talks this year? Well, at 75 year old, she's actually welcome to £15 of my money for her squiggle.  It could supplement her pension.

Diana Muldaur wearing well at 75?

The actress interviews for TNG Blue Ray

Muldaur recently did an interview for the New Blue Ray Box sets of The Next Generation and as you might expect, she sings the praises of the show and its crew, in fact, she came across quite lovely and I look forward to meeting her later in the year.

My final thoughts on this character are as follows:

1. She is just like a female Dr McCoy
2. She is the only officer that talks down to the Captain and gets away with it
3. She wears a Skant variation and is the only officer that is allowed to wear trousers underneath
4. If she had stayed with the series, Worf would have been her greatest 'bounce off' character

Janeways hair: What's with that?

I LOVE CAPTAIN KATHRYN JANEWAY! Don't worry if you didn't absorb that statement, as it will be repeated several times during this article.

So anyway, yeah, I love Captain Janeway and there are a million and one reasons why. This piece focuses on not one or more of those reasons, but instead on a subject which has plagued Janeway and Mulgrew herself for many years, and still does as far as Kate is concerned!

Janeways hair! We've heard Kate Mulgrew talk about this subject many-a time and at conventions it's her most commonly asked question.

''So hey, I'm Cedric from Outer Mongolia, I'm a big fan [wipes runny noes and squints over his jam jars]...What was with the hair?''

As she has explained in the past, the 'Suits' became a little nervous over putting a woman in the Captain's chair in what was ultimately a Boys Club. This could have brought a grinding halt to the franchise as males in their 30s were the biggest demographic. Would they follow a woman? Well, of course, we now know the answer to that question, and Voyager is one of the most loved of the Star Trek spin offs.  So why was Janeway's hair such a concern for the studio bigwigs? ('wigs'....see what I did there?)

A persons hair says a lot about them, and when creating a character, the hair style can denoted many things without them saying a word. It could give an indication of what their job is, how vain they are and how they view themselves, whether it be a practical style or for display, rather like a peacock. Whilst shooting the Pilot of Voyager, Janeway was given a feminine, shoulder-length, natural smooth flat bob, which was quickly dismissed by Paramount - many feel because it was simply too 'girly'. Janeway was quickly given her famous Bun of Steel (which I personally think makes her look like a school dinner lady), and please note: Aunt Bessie sports the same hair style today!

We've all heard of Aunt Kathy, well, here's Aunt Bessie.

The bun was eventually followed by my personal favourite, the volumised bob. There were a few variations of the bob, for example, the 'Year of Hell' bob that I'm sure had a few people going ''ahhhhh, that's why it ain't happening with Chakotay, she's a Les...'' ANYWAY...

Janeway sported several styles through Voyager's seven seasons, and her hair became as legendary as her ship and crew, but did it really make a difference how she wore her hair from episode to episode? Well, let's switch her hair with another Starfleet Captain and see.

PicaJane?

The hair department is clearly a very important piece of the Star Trek production puzzle, yet through bobs, short and long, flat and volumed, buns with varying degrees of firmness, French Twists, hair broaches and Rapunzel-waves that tickled her arse-crack, Janeway was unmistakably in command and anyone under that command knew who the boss was... even her bun used to repair itself between torpedo blasts.  Now THAT'S a diva if ever I saw one.

So what would I have done if I'd have been dressing for the Voyager hair department? Well...

PS. I love Captain Janeway

What rank is O'Brian?

While all the other character in Star Trek remained the same rank or gradually rose up the chain of command, Miles Edward O'Brian seems to have been demoted and, at one point, fluctuated!
We all know that ultimately his position was Chief, whether that be of the Transporter Room on the Enterprise-D or of engineering on Deep Space 9. What seems clear is that, from the very beginning, the writers did not know what to do with O'Brian, or indeed what purpose he was serving.
When we first see him in the pilot episode of The Next Generation: he is at the com station of the battle bridge wearing a RED uniform! He was not a principle cast member and therefore it was assumed he was there as cannon-fodder. At that time he wore one pip (Ensign).

The next time we see O'Brian, he has apparently transferred departments and wears gold (a much safer option), but now appears to be a lieutenant!


Season 1 TNG: Ensign O'Brian, The Red Shirt!

Season 2 TNG: Lt. O'Brian in Gold

Rather than a background extra/lacky he was given the prestigious job of sounding card to the Bridge crew, usually over a game of poker, probably because of his 'every man' image and accent - a role that he was used for many times in the later DS9 years. With that role would have to come a back story, and for O'Brian, a family too. As TNG continued, 'The Chief' as he was now known, seemed to randomly revert back to an Ensign for no apparent reason and with no explanation! The character makes references to being an un-commissioned officer and not a graduate of the academy which did not fit the rank he seemed to be carrying.

Season 3 TNG: Ensign O'Brian?

Now, all the confusion as to his rank was cleared up on more than one occasion in Deep Space Nine when he made numerous references to being non-commissioned, and to have never attended Starfleet academy. He points out that even Ensigns don't need to call him sir as he is not an officer. All this however does not explain the early Next Gen muddle. Off course its likely to be the writers finding their feet and once they realised Colm Meany would be a semi regular reoccurring character, they settled him in to a nice back story. This is not of course a Star trek answer and you know what us Trekkies can be like when it comes down to the fine details.

If any one does have a genuine Star trek explanation, then please get in contact...The Truth Is Out There!

Season 6 DS9: Chief Petty Officer O'Brian

Who is resposible for the cancellation of Enterprise?

When Enterprise was announced, I was living in Australia and my mother was posting over Star Trek Monthly so that I could keep up to date with its progress. At this point, it was all just chatter and it hadn't yet been cast; but the word 'Prequal' was being banded around. At that point, I had been a Star Trek fan for around 5 years and after following the continuing timeline through The Next Gen, DS9 and Voyager, I was a little disheartened, and even a tad angry that they were leaving us guessing as to what comes next and instead going back to the beginning. I felt like I had read the last page of a book first and therefore had no interest in what happened to get us to the end result.

The final announcement was one that had me lose all interest in the new show. Scott Bakula? I spotted Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap in a new type of Star Trek uniform on the cover of a Sci-Fi magazine. In the history of Star Trek, they had never before had to rely on an already known actor, especially one that was synonymous with another science fiction TV series already! And the icing on the cake? The new programme wasn't even called Star Trek! INSULT.

Sam leads the new boiler suit crew.

The show lasted longer than I had anticipated, and the initial feedback was not at all good. Listening to fans at Star Trek conventions, even to this day, it still remains the least popular of the Star Trek spin-offs.

After the show was cancelled and I had watched the existing 24th century Trek shows to death, I was given a gift of an Enterprise DVD box set by a family member (all Star Trek is the same to a non Trekker... in fact, even Star Wars is the same thing to a non Trekker!).  I watched it and was a bit 'meh,' but intrigued and starved enough to want to see season two, realising that (as with all the previous series) it takes time for a new show to find its identity.

By the time I got to season 3, I was a fan of the show and the little nods to the future of Star Trek were giving me little giddy moments.  By the time I got to the end of season 4, I felt nothing but guilt!

Admittedly, Enterprise was a late bloomer, but this was as good as any Star Trek produced so far but with a 00's modern twist. At the same time, with the Andorians, Tholians and Gorn, it captured the essence of the Original series.

Our first good look at a Tholian thanks to Enterprise

If only I had given it a chance from the start and had a little more faith in Berman and Bragga! In fact, if we had ALL stuck with it a little while longer then it would have reached 7 seasons, which in turn would have undoubtedly led to a sixth Star Trek spin off!  So who is responsible for Enterprise having a short run and Star Trek no longer being on TV? We are! So instead of complaining about its absence, give yourselves a slap on the wrist, I know I have!

Orange is the New Trek

I mentioned previously that Voyager is where crazed Star Trek fandom started for me and, as ridiculous as it sounds, Janeway like a mother. My biological mother was working like a Bajoran during the occupation in the pub we owned and so I spent a huge amount of time after school sat in my room watching Star Trek, and Janeway was a nice stand in.

Last year when I heard Kate Mulgrew was returning to episodic television with a new woman's prison drama (playing a Russian to boot) I was concerned that I would only see and hear Capt Janeway in the role, not the actress, and perhaps it would spoil the character of Kathryn Janeway for me.  I put off watching it for a short while and listened to all the Trekkie feedback. The general consensus was that she was amazing in the part of Red, and so I checked it out for myself....

What Mulgrew did was show her skills as an actress.  Janeway to me was as real as any person and so you just assume that Kate is like that at all times, but that is not so.  Janeway was a character wisely written by Pillar and Taylor and molded by the actress, and now she was doing the same with a Russian prison chef. The two couldn't be more different, the only similarity between the two characters is that 'dont f*ck with me' aura that lurks just beneath her authoritative stance.  Mulgrew has infused both Janeway and Red with this quality and it is there whether she's reading out a crew evaluation report or the prison gruel menu.

So, it was the early hours of the morning about two months ago and I was waiting for sunrise as I was off to London for Panto rehearsals.  With a couple of hours to kill, I discovered thatIi had a red spiky wig in my dressing room, a wig which I had previously used when being one of the Cheeky Girls in a double Drag act. Red immediately sprang to mind, but could I do the Russian accent? ...Well, no, but that didn't stop Nana Visitor in 'Our Man Bashir'. The video camera came out. The results are below.

Kate Mulgrew as Red

Racist Star Trek episode?

My Next Generation re-watch continues, and I have just passed what Jonathan Frakes has dubbed the 'Racist' episode: 'Code of Honor'.

I have heard him state that this was his all time worst episode, and far be it for me to contradict the First Officer, but I'm going to disagree. It is clear why he has labelled the episode as racist as the 'aliens of the week' are all black and wave spears around. At times you half expect Michael Cain and his regiment to come storming in.  But racism works both ways - why can't a species all be one race? This is not set on earth after all.

We are used to Star Trek giving actors a strange hair style or stylised set of costumes to wear and then calling them a different race, and this usually happens when an episode requires numerous members of that species to appear.  Making mass alien make-up prosthetics can be too expensive and time consuming to do, but we have never before (or since) had one particular human race depict an entire species. If you think about this from a Star Trek universe point of view, it is not that hard to believe that the whole population of a planet could all be black, depending on the climate and evolution of the planet. What does seem awkward however is the method of keeping us thinking that this is a different species. They keep the black 'human' actors, like Levar Burton, out of the way, basically saying that the only way to recognise a Ligonian, as opposed to a human is by the colour of their skin.

Having said that, here is why I can forgive the race implications. The episodes message is nothing to do with race or religion, it is in fact dealing with sexism and feminism. The plot twist at its conclusion has the women turning the tables on the lead Ligonian and depose him from power in quite a shrewd way. It turns out the females were always the ones calling the shots and having the wealth. It is unfortunate that the 'Zulu' style culture that the writers created totally over shadows the point of the story.

Aliens of the week. Look familiar?

Birthday Wishes to Jimmy Doohan

As I follow the various Star Trek web pages and social media groups, I always make note of their posts regarding the birthdays and anniversaries of the Star Trek stars. If a particular actor uses Twitter, I more often than not send them a birthday Tweet - admittedly without getting a reply. I know it can be a little frustrating if you are a regular Tweeter of the Star Trek cast and have never gotten a reply but as you can imagine, their news feeds must be packed day in and day out, and I would take solace in the fact that they DO read them and I dare say get a fair amount of joy out of our fandom, even if they can't answer them all individually.

I've been fortunate enough to get a few Tweets from some of the actors and I'm going to post screen caps of them on here eventually. Call it pride, call it privileged or call it showing off, haha, either way, receiving a Tweet back, especially when it's something that you want to hear, is better than any drug to a true Trekkie.

Unfortunately, it's not just birthdays that our community is reminded of on social media sites, but it is also passings. Today sees the birthday of Mr James Doohan (Scotty), and if you haven't yet seen the documentary 'Trekkies' then I urge you to do so immediately. I was never lucky enough to see Doohan in person at a convention, but watching his interview on 'Trekkies' where he wells up telling a tale about a suicidal woman whom he helped become an engineer all because of her Star Trek fandom is inspiring to say the least.

Birthday wishes to Jimmy Doohan. R.I.P Scotty

Trek Radio Interview

During my time at Destination Star Trek Frankfurt, I did several interviews for various radio and internet Trek media. One of those interviews was with Trek Radio - 24 hour a day Trek audio!

Encounter At Farpoint, best and worst bits?

I have to admit, when it comes to Star Trek, I'm a Voyager baby - mainly because I was there at its conception and release. In later years, I was converted into a DS9er (although it took several re-watches).  I have recently finished re-watching both those series and after becoming a little Trek starved, I reluctantly decided to head back to the beginning of The Next Generation. I say reluctantly because being made in the late 80s, it doesn't visually stand up as well as some of the other spin offs, and today with the HD/Blu-ray technology, viewing it is full of distractions like Worf's make-up joins and brush marks on the Matte paintings.

However, needs must and I began with Encounter At Farpoint, the pilot, a very good place to start!  I was more than pleasantly surprised and I was fascinated by the early versions of the Next Gen characters. It was clear that back then, the actors were just finding their feet and I found myself comparing the very beginning of the series to the very end (which was 'Nemesis' for this particular crew) and that was rather entertaining. What a journey!

It genuinely is quite astonishing what the production crew managed to create for TV, not so much due to the budget because that was quite healthy (over a million dollars per episode) but for the time restraints on a television schedule.

Best bits of the pilot episode? Well, for me it was the Q court judgement scene and Picards defence of humanity. It really captured the tone of the Original series and set the path from there on for all other Star Trek to follow. The social commentary (which despite being in the 24th century, makes no attempt to hide the fact that they are referencing today's society) is what Star Trek does at its best and continued to do so (well, up until JJ Abrahms got his greedy hands on it).

Worse bit of the Pilot? For me, I was hoping for stronger women. Troi seems overly desperate and bimbo like... a characterisation which she would keep until she got rid of those Camel Toe Of Death outfits. Also, there's a shot of the Enterprise separating its saucer section at warp and in the long shot, the detached saucer section is wobbling around all over the place!  Seeing that has just always been a pet hate of mine and I usually have to look away! I know, I know... budgets, time etc, but I just wish the shot hadn't been included (so there's one for a remastered version?).

Note to self: Pay more attention to Dr Crusher this time around, she really is the female balls on the ship (after Tasha dies).

I know there are some real stinkers coming up in season one so I anticipate watching those through my fingers.

Check out the first time we ever see Capt Picard as he steps out of the shadows to a monologue...

The first time we see Capt Picard

Welcome to my new Star Trek Blog

Hello Geeks!

As my evening job and hobby seem to collide more and more these days, it seemed logical, in typical Star Trek tradition, to do a spin off page that truly assimilated those two very different cults so here you can find 'The Best Of Both Worlds'.
As you can see, Star Trek referencing is already in abundance.

First of all, I'm fresh back from Destination Star Trek Frankfurt where I presented my self as Intendant Kira (photos to follow) and my new character '7 of 9'
Most of my weekend was taken up having pictures taken with equally enthusiastic Trek fans and even some of the actors. I also fielded many questions on where I acquired my costume and more specifically, my Borg implant accessories. To that end, I have made extra sets which you can now find on ebay (link here).

I have currently just begun a Next Generation re-watch, so many new blogs here will be gushing/ranting/squeeing over that series, episode by episode.

Aside from all that, if there's anything else you might need to know about me, hopefully you'll find it below:

My name is Misty Chance (obviously)
My real name is NOT Misty Chance (obviously)
I'm a Drag Queen based in Manchester
I Love Star Trek
I collect Trek action figures, Eagle Moss Starship Models and Cosplay the Trek women (for camp/work, not in a pervy way)
I Tweet like there's no tomorrow (@themistyshow)
What I say is usually tongue in cheek so if you're easily offended, let me know then we can argue about it.

Welcome to the page
Live Long and Prosper

Misty