After 20 years, "Tribble-ations" is still Trek's best fan film

November 4th is not only the day to say "Happy Will Rogers Birthday!"—yes, there is a physical as well as a philosophical link there—but this year it's the 20th anniversary of DS9's delightfully and awesomely monument anniversary homage show, "Trials and Tribble-ations."

Now this is a valentine to fans. I mean, it's pro-Trek's own fan film, is what it is.

Look, even if you're not a DS9 fan or even an original series fan—you must get  familiar with this episode. It's the "Charlie Brown Christmas" of Trek that transcends everything else ... and when it was made, I dived in to do a two-day set visit for the best bits for a TEN-page feature for the official Communicator magazine (before I was editor)... and wound up helping make a little history myself.

In fact, I've long said this was the most effortlessly fun writing project I've ever had—it's both a diary and an interview digest. That shoot was simply a magical time ..as magical as the final episode preserved on film turned out to be.
Sadly, none of the custom photos I took were used on deadline for the spread, but you can still see and read these original PDF pages here, via my site:

 

What's more, this year's Trekland: On Speaker Vol. 5 "30 at 50" featured my remastered stage visit to "Tribble-ations" (as well as "Flashback"), and there's even more good background there—in 17 of the actual voices, from 1996. It's a great anniversary year gift! The new online order page is coming with the new site in a matter of days, but for now...

When I am live at conventions, as with Northeast Trek Con or Starbase Indy, you can grab one from me there.. as you could since its debut at STLV.

Here's the back cover: