Greetings from TREKLAND: the place I've lived and worked for some 20 years as Star Trek author, interviewer, editor, commentator, producer, event wrangler.
Now I share the folks, fun, fotos and future of it all here at Trekland — all in my own unique slant. So what are you waiting for? Jump in, sound off, geek out.
Finally, I'm gonna see the Sunshine State... for any reason. I even have some extra hours to see it from outside a convention hall!
I was thrilled to have Fernando and Javier have me to their Vulcan Events show in Orlando this weekend, with Sir Patrick, Armin and Max, David Warner, Jewel Staite of Firefly et al, and many more... plus RIck Sternbach and I get to co-con together again, my more common "partner in crime" Lolita Fatjo and I as well, and many more authors and designers.
We're at the Hilton Disney in Lake Buena Vista Saturday and Sunday (with sneak peeks tonight) ... it's not too late if you're in the region. Here's the full schedule: when not at my table from 10 am to 5 pm, my topics are:
FRI: 6-7 pm: The State of Trek --more a forum than panel, I poll and hear back from audience and we all catch up.
FRI: 7-8 pm: "Trek, Wars, Gate: Tech in Sc-Fi" with RICK STERNBACH (mainly Rick!)
SAT: 12:30-1:30 : "Larry's Trekland : The Con of Wrath" --Main Stage
SAT: 5-6 p.m. "Trek Tales" with LOLITA FATJO
SUN: 2-3: "Larry's Trekland: Between the Cracks"-- the usual parade of pics for info and insanity
So come on down/over. The cap is intentionally at @ 1200 folks, so you will not drown in a sea o' fandom.
Now that I'm out of my "veteran" comfort zone (and time zone), lookin' forward to a lot of new faces! Follow my tweets!
This is amazing news—just being released today: $5 million for stem cell research from, basically, Star Trek and its fans via the Roddenberry family. We can go to the cliche that "the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree," except that Roddenberry Sr. didn't have the cash for most of his life to take this kind of direct, positive-future-now kind of action.
But he was able to hand a lot of it off to Junior (at right)—who is finding his own frontiers to explore that are true to the spirit behind Star Trek, that core value beyond mere entertainment that has influenced and inspired millions of fans with what we all know and call the "Roddenberry Vision."
Way to go, Rod—as he says, here's one way to bring Gene's distant Star Trek future one step closer to NOW.
And to get this out now, here's the press release in toto (boldfacing mine): a story in today's SF Chronicle cites studies and new researchers already in motion thanks to this gift.
Roddenberry Foundation Gives $5M to Gladstone for Stem Cell Research
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—October 19, 2011—The Gladstone Institutes and the Roddenberry Foundation today inaugurated the Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at Gladstone, a new unit founded on an unprecedented $5 million gift from the foundation that was established to honor the legacy of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
“This gift is our largest to date, and with it, we hope to help accelerate advances in biomedical research,” said Gene Roddenberry's son Rod Roddenberry, who is co-founder and chair of the board of directors of the Roddenberry Foundation. “In addition, if our support can inspire one child to become a scientist, one organization to become more charitable, one person to simply invest himself or herself in improving the future of our world, then our foundation can be a catalyst in making the future envisioned through Star Trek a reality.”
The center will build on Gladstone's existing expertise in stem cell science, helping to speed the process by which discoveries are turned into therapies for a host of devastating illnesses.
“Today's biggest challenge for solving disease is getting the investments required to transform our basic-science discoveries into health solutions that can alleviate human suffering,” said Deepak Srivastava, MD, (left) who directs both stem cell and cardiovascular research at Gladstone. “We are a basic science institute—but with the purpose of solving three major disease groups.”
Indeed, Gladstone focuses on disease areas that afflict millions of people and their families: cardiovascular disease, viruses such as HIV/AIDS and neurological conditions such Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's alone afflicts 5.4 million people in the United States at an annual cost $183 billion, estimated the Alzheimer's Association. Without a therapeutic breakthrough, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease is expected to double by 2050.
On top of this, no single disease-modifying therapy exists for Alzheimer's or other devastating neurodegenerative diseases, said Steven Finkbeiner, MD, PhD, a senior investigator at Gladstone, adding that it takes an average of 12 years and as much as $1 billion to develop a drug for a neurodegenerative disease. “The tsunami is coming and we have nothing in the drug pipeline to treat Alzheimer's,” he added.
Research at the new center can help to change that, in part by building on pioneering work done by Gladstone senior investigator Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD. In 2006, Dr. Yamanaka and his Kyoto University team discovered how to reprogram skin cells into cells that, like embryonic stem cells, can develop into other cells in the body. This discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, has since altered the fields of cell biology and stem cell research, opening promising new prospects for both personalized and regenerative medicine. Dr. Yamanaka currently divides his time between Kyoto and San Francisco, as the director of Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA)—which focuses on drug discovery and regenerative medicine—and as a senior investigator at Gladstone.
To further develop Dr. Yamanaka's iPS technology in order to create patient solutions, the Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at Gladstone today is also announcing a collaboration agreement with CiRA. This accord will clear a path for these two leading stem cell centers to freely exchange materials and knowledge—all in order to accelerate the advancement of their stem cell research results into therapeutics to improve human health.
Ideally suited to do that, iPS cell technology and subsequent cell-reprogramming discoveries opened the door for scientists to create human stem cells from the skin cells of patients with a specific disease for research and drug discovery, rather than using conventional models made in yeast, flies or mice. As a result, the cells contain a complete set of the genes that resulted in that disease—representing the potential of a far-superior human model for studying disease development, new drugs and treatments—while also avoiding the controversial use of embryonic stem cells.
“The Roddenberry gift will help us create the human, iPS-based disease models that we need to accelerate the development of drug therapies for a host of devastating diseases, honoring Gene Roddenberry's call to ‘live long and prosper,’” said Dr. Srivastava.
About the Gladstone Institutes Gladstone is an independent and nonprofit biomedical-research organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discovery and innovation to prevent illness and cure patients suffering from cardiovascular disease, neurological disease or viral infections. Gladstone is affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco.
About the Roddenberry Foundation The Roddenberry Foundation supports and inspires efforts that create and expand new frontiers for the benefit of humanity. It funds innovative solutions to critical global issues in the areas of science and technology, the environment, education and humanitarian advances.
About CiRA Following the generation of human iPS cells by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka and his team in November 2007, Kyoto University established the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application within the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (ICeMS) in January 2008 to further promote scientific advances in the fields of induced pluripotency and reprogramming. CiRA is the world's first institute to focus specifically on these areas, and its researchers strive to realize the potential medical benefits of these cells as rapidly as can safely and responsibly be done. CiRA became an independent institute in April 2010, under the leadership of Dr. Yamanaka.
Photos: Roddenberry Dive Team (top); SFGate.com (bottom)
That includes the guys behind trek.fm's The Ready Room weekly podcast, Christopher Jones and Greg Harbin, who had me on for TRR #19, "It Doesn't Have to be Seven Years Apart," which is posted now and also available on iTunes.
Thanks to the title given the original piece by startrek.com—"Is It Time For a TNG Comeback?"—there seems to be a lot of misconception about what I meant (era/vibe/look, not specifically a Stewart/Spiner/Frakes et al reunion movie again). The TRR guys let me come on to talk about the piece and clarify some of those sidetracked misconceptions, but we also opined on The Big Trek Picture in general, especially as to any future TV return. And they were even gracious enough to let me talk about The Con of Wrath and even about the long-lost Grolst coming to light.
I hope everyone gives it a listen and becomes regular TRR listeners. It's a slick addition to their trek.fm lineup of shows and features, and one of many great Trek podcasts that Treklanders are privileged to enjoy.
I know the New Voyages-turned-Phase II Trek fan films have a great following all their own, as well as recurring and regular characters and actors. I know many of you follow them, and may even go back as far as 2005, when the big news was to be a series of five "vignettes"—short films to fill the agonizingly long gaps between the release times of the all-volunteer projects—usually a year or more. That's because, as a lot of you are aware, the fan films get their slick look from many professionals who do them as "weekend work" to add to their demo reel—or simply out of love for Star Trek.
But in case you haven't heard the amazing news by now, the Klingon-centric and "long lost" No Win Scenario is out after six years, only the second of the three actually filmed to ever be released (you can see it below)—and all because NV/P2's John "Kargh" Carrigan (above, on set lakeside, with "Grolst") was determined to make it so. He's pulled off a miracle here, with the help of many hands, to rescue the pieces and finally make them whole. (See more from John, below the fold).
What you may not know is that it's been my secret, too—unless you got me to talk about it at a con in recent years. Not on John or anyone else's level, of course, but on the scale of a true fanboy moment—and after years of the pro life, they are so hard to come by. See, I've always loved the Tellarites since "Journey to Babel," always thought they got short shrift next to the Andorians—even did a nose-puttied Tellarite for my make-up class "fantasy character" project in college. Finally, they even turn up on Enterprise for realz (thanks to closet Tellarite fans Mike Sussman and Manny Coto), but I missed getting in line to be an extra in "Demons"/"Terra Prime"—and then date conflicts ruined my other chance, among other UFP alien envoys for Walter Koenig's groundbreaking NV/P2 "fan" film by Dorothy Fontana, To Serve All My Days.
But thanks to head honcho James Cawley and the gang at NV/P2, they still let me come out on my dates, play a cameo in that ep, and THEN converted the Klingon spy role to a Tellarite in Erik Korngold's "No Win Scenario" script just so I could still be a "porcinoid." The professional prosthetics sized and built by Kevin Haney, who counts Mike Westmore's modern TV Star Trek team among his credits, were just a hoot—and my four late-night hours in the chair with talented makeup artist Jimmy Soltis(above, combing my clove-hair) were unforgettable (and thoroughly documented with video and stills, you better believe it.) To top it all off, we discovered that the nose piece was glued down in such a way that trapped air from a normal "huff" breath resulted in a beautiful nose flare that Gav himself would be proud of—all completely unplanned. And all happily utilized on camera by vignette director Erik "Gooch" Goodrich; the 1 a.m. shoot was topped only by my 5 a.m. release from makeup removal!
So see the video below...but I have to share the overall "phoenix" survival story that John Carrigan was good enough to tell TREKLAND—and yes, knowing how much it meant to me for Grolst the Tellarite to see the light of day, I'd been among those he kept in the loop re: the saga's survival:
The main original shoot did not yet have a Klingon bridge set for the "trainer" scenes, John tells me, and was shot before green screen—a first run which later proved too dimly lit to key the background accurately. The actor playing the Klingon trainer also had to be recast. A few months later, the project stalled, John and wife Annie dined with FX donor/producer Doug "Max Rem" Drexler and NV director Jack Marshall among others during a visit to LA, and even saw a rough cut of NWS that showed up those problems.
"In their opinion even the outdoor campfire footage was not good enough," John continues. "Annie and I were really upset hearing this, because I had seen some rushes on set when we shot the campfire scenes and I at least thought we had all done some good work. On the same trip we also hooked up with Jim Van Over (aka Erik Korngold) who wrote NWS, and ...we sat with Jim and watched the [rough cut] video. When it was finished, I still believed what I saw was some very good acting and well worth saving, but I had to agree that because of many technical problems we had filming outdoors and at night, if anything could be saved, it would take a whole load of work."
Back in the States to shoot "Of Gods and Men" in summer 2006, John told NWS director Erik "Gooch" Goodrich he still hoped to find a way to finish the vignette. When both John and Annie reprised their Klingon roles for NV's "Blood and Fire" a year later, they were thrilled that a real Klingon bridge set would be built at last—and perhaps provide a second chance for NWS, if the "green screen" scenes could be reshot with a new co-star. Even having the set delayed for use did not deter him: "I went about the set, quietly telling some people of my intentions and putting together my own little production crew (inside the Phase II production crew) and they pulled out all stops and built the Klingon bridge in 24 hours, as Gooch was only going to be on set that first weekend," he says. With him behind camera and Paul Sieber cast as the Trainer, the "secret" shoots went on at night—including a new insert of a fireside Klingon map John mocked up, complete with an orange-gelled light to simulate the original camnpfire. "It worked so well that you would never know it was shot years apart," he says.
When Cawley decided that all New Voyages' efforts had to go into the main annual episodes, seemingly ending the chance for the vignettes of 2005, John asked "Gooch" to help secure all the footage so that it might be tackled at home in the UK. "He was as good as his word, and I contacted my amazing editor friend Graham O'Hare, and after agreeing that I could only pay him a fraction of what he was worth, we began," John says. The joint choices and all the matching problems were eventually worked out—including the infamous original campfire. "The fire was blazing one moment and gone the next, and was dramatically dead at some points," John laughs. "Graham cured these problems in one amazing go: He created false fire and a glow in the shots which had an amazing effect." Once happy with a rough cut, O'Hare tweaked the audio, and then pulled stock FX shots since even CGI industry friends seemed unable to do the big amounts of original work needed to illustrate Kargh's tale. And then the next Phase II episode "Kitumba" brought John and CGI artist Pony Horton together.
"It wasn't until Annie and I discussed at some length back home about so wanting to get NWS finished that she said, why don't you ask Pony?" he recalls. "What had I to lose? I contacted Pony ... and he said he would be honoured. So after swearing Pony to secrecy we continued: Graham sent him our cut with the temporary SFX in, and Pony went to work. He did an incredible job, but one amazing CGI shot really set the scene for everything to come."
Their rough cut had used the campfire pull-back from Star Trek V but in reverse, going from space to ground: "We had shot the original campfire scene in James Lowe's back garden right next to a river (which nearly claimed our amazing sound man Ralph Miller). What Pony sent to us just blew us away: he had inserted our campfire into an amazing landscape."
"Graham was an amazing co-producer as well as an editor, and he and Pony just went above and beyond for me," John says. "And with a little financial assistance from my amazing wife Annie to pay for some of the long years of work this project took, 'No Win Scenaro' was finally finished. As Kirk said in Trek III, "The answer is no—I am therefore going to do it anyway." And all of this is why 'No Win Scenario' means such a lot to us."
And now that you know The Rest of the Story... please enjoy! And relish in the notion that little miracles still do come true—with enough patience and sweat. And Tellarites.
Well, here's something you don't see everyday--but it is well deserved. On the other hand, after the ever-higher world records of Trek costumees the past few years, maybe it's the wave of the future!
I'm talking about an official Guiness World Record for “most special effect characters portrayed in a career," and a couple of charity events this Sunday, Oct. 9 in Hollywood for both fans and celebs to honor ... Bill Blair!
Who, you say? Well, Bill's been in all your sci-fi faves—and that's the point: He's famous for a career of wearing every other face (and species) but his own—and now been recognized for it.
There's two events Sunday, and tickets are still available but going fast. Both the 3 p.m. public "red carpet" and the 6 p.m. celeb red carpet and party at Trastevere Restaurant, attended by friends and stars of his various series and films, are hosted by the Hollywood Rotary Club, with all proceeds to benefit Rotary's "Global Alternative Energy Alliance" project. Tickets are at brownpapertickets.com.
What's more, this red carpet ain't like any you've ever seen: Bill, who calls himself "The Alien Actor," will arrive as a special-effects character, accept the presentation (and learn the number), and then undergo his "de-transformation" back to human guise with his makeup artist, all while meeting with fans and media. That happens, appropriately enough, outside the Guinness World Records Museum on the sidewalk at 6764 Hollywood Blvd.
I guested with Bill once, at a Galileo-7 convention in Germany in 2001, and danged if I can't find a pic of us together. But that's not the point. Bill's work goes far beyond the work on DS9, Voyager and Enterprise... to include aliens, vampires, and monsters in TV series and movies from Trek to Babylon 5 and Alien Nation and beyond. Rotary's association is a nod to his involvement in social and civic causes as well.
Bill "requests that his fans stand beside him, as he has always stood by them," says publicist Lisa Mueller. "It is Bill's wish to share a few guiding words and to speak of hope, faith, trust, and the never-ending search for a better tomorrow."
UPDATE 10/7/11: Prizes changed, date corrected: BIDDING ENDS TODAY!
Okay, kids, you have ONE WEEK left for some truly unique goodies:
Whether you live in SoCal or not, there's 86 items large and small now up for bid for an online fund-raiser auction through Oct. 7 for the Antaeus Company, L.A.'s classical theatre troupe that includes the likes of oh, say, Armin Shimerman and Kitty Swink, and a host of others you'll know.
You can bid on a dinner with DS9'ers Armin, Kitty, and Michael Dorn ... or similar dinners those from Buffy or 24 (below) ... a lunch with Castle's Seamus Deaver and show goodies ... original art from Rene "Odo" Auberjonois ... much less a cast-hosted set visit to The Big Bang Theory (left) or Body of Proof (Jeffrey "Tahnna Los" Nordling). Or further afield: a cooking lesson with Top Chef fan-fave Fabio Viviani or an in-home fondue party with Emily Bergl of Desperate Housewives ... And many more: There's cool photos, scripts and signed items, rare cast gifts (like a DS9 Season 6 jacket), and even more live services, in-home dinners and gift certificates.
Kitty points out The Antaeus includes a slew of other actors with Trek and sci-fi connections, with but a few being Joe "Galt" Ruskin, Kurtwood "Annorax/President" Smith, Chelsea Field (Scott Bakula's partner), Richard "Admiral Paris" Herd, Gregory Itzin, JD "Toral" Cullum, Adrian LaTourelle (Rene's son-in-law), Bob Pine (Chris "Kirk '09" Pine's dad), Lawrence "Tekeny Ghemor" Pressman, Rhonda "Dixon Hill's Madeline" Aldrich, and Josh "Lt. Carey" Clark. Not to mention Tony Amendola (Stargate), Harry Groener (Buffy—and Tam Elbrun/ Nathan Samuels), Paul Eiding (voices for dozens of sci-fi games), Arye Gross (Minority Report), and Joel Swetow (Charmed).
The trustable website biddingforgood.com is handling the online auction, so you know it's in reliable hands. Check it all out today and find all kinds of genre and actor goodies up for bids to help The Antaeus—some of them on the real "up close and personal" side.
Set to open at The Antaeus Oct. 20 is the rare 1947 Noel Coward xomedy-drama "Peace in Our Time," the American debut of Coward's what-if look at his beloved England under Nazis occupation —with 22 roles, all double-cast. It is slated to run through Dec. 11.
