If you want on the Trek Tour bus '16, jump by Feb. 26!

RED ALERT: Friday, Feb. 26 is the deadline!

If you ever thought about jumping in on our special 50th anniversary edition of the #LA2Vegas Star Trek film site tour this summer, leading into the Vegas Khaan—and with the all-new San Francisco option—please reach out to "head geek" Teras Cassidy at @GeekNationTours by end of day Friday, Feb. 26.

One way I knew this Trek year was going to be "5-0 crazy" was how the tour this year has DOUBLED in size over any other. And we've barely done any regular promotion!

So, now... with STLV sold out, amazingly—there's not much point in keeping the Tour open. Of course, you can always come if you have your #STLV ticket safely in hand... or if you just want to come hang out around the con fringes at the Rio after your awesome trek across Hollywood and/or SF —but if so, you better sound off by the end-of-day tomorrow!

Check the details .... then fill out the website form or email Teras at headgeek@geeknationtours.com —just to get the conversation started ... because this boutique company that does dozens of other "geek" tours as well—sci-fi to gaming, military to historical—will give you personal service and tweak it for you, any partners or spouses, or special needs you might have.

No wonder we've got a group twice as big as ever before (24, at last count—10 seats open; we don't open a second bus). It's taken two cycles, through 2012 and 2014, but now the word seems to be out about LA2Vegas—and 5-0 fever has not hurt any. Those GNT Trek tour bowling shirts are known around the Khaaan now, and the Facebook page albums for both past tours has more memories you can check out.  This year, with the earlier start in San Fran for many, I'll be talking for 10 days before I ever GET to Vegas—so we'll see how that goes!

Of course, there's still room to jump in on the "Kirk Memorial" one-day tour out to the Valley of Fire canyon on Tuesday, the day before the expanded con opens on Wednesday this year. It's one way to smaller leap, a smaller tab, and get a taste of what the booming Trek touring experience has become.

And...we're off! The 2014 LA2Vegas Trek Tour has sailed

Yep, the Trek Tour 2014 is underway!

Social media will chart our progress, under #trektour and #LA2Vegas on Twitter, for one thing, but —in this crazy week twixt Comic-Con and Trek Vegas.... here's at least a look at our launch: the Saturday afternoon welcome dinner at Lucy's across from Paramount, where Gene and Co. would water (especially after Nickodell's closed and was swallowed up by the expanded front of the Paramount lot, circa 1993.)

A good group, don't you think? And we're even missing one late arrival. More Aussies and Brits than Americans... some Vegas vets, some newbies... and you can meet them all in just a few days at Vegas.

Last call: No deposit, but LA2Vegas Trek film site tour for 2013 closes THIS Friday, May 31

Yes, last call!

Our "LA2Vegas" Trek film site tour from Geek Nation Tours is back for its second year, running Aug. 3-11—before and then through  Creation's Vegas Khhaaann! Trek convention and carrying some tweaks for 2013 .... but hurry!

We've talked about it on many, many podcasts since we first announced it, but allow me to say how proud I am that Teras Cassidy came to me in 2011 to develop this tour together with him and lead it for everyone headed to Vegas. (In fact, if you don't want to attend the core con, you could still go with us Trek-touring, hover on the outskirts of the Rio events, and just enjoy Sin City that weekend!)

You can get aboard now for no deposit, but the registration ends THIS Friday, May 31. Click on the email at GNT's site, but as always you'll soon be talking to Teras directly for a personal chat as to what exactly you need for your trip—and it doesn't have to be cookie-cutter off the basic template, either more OR less.

Geek Nation Tours, home of many "geek" niche excursions, is travel agent Teras's own boutique company, and the personal care shows:

Have your airfare already set for a Las Vegas arrival? No problem. Already have your hotel at con host Rio, or elsewhere? Never fear—Teras will adjust your plan. As our tourists learned last year, getting to the idea late with plans in place is no reason to not come along now!

Sorry if the used-car salesman is coming out here, but I really do enjoy this—and everyone on the shakedown cruise last year was happy to say so at Vegas 2012 and the Facebook site.

A chunk of the tour is the same as we mapped out in that debut —with photos here on Facebook as well from a lot of our "tourists."

But check out these tweaks for H2V 2013:

First, we've got some great promotional sponsors this year with discounts and goodies—Creation Entertainment, Robe Factory, Bye Bye Robot and Stronghold Games.

Then, we've moved the Saturday welcome dinner to Cirroc "Jake Sisko" Lofton's own hands-on restaurant—and he has a lot more than Cajun on the menu!

Plus, our  all-new final stop pre-con is none other than the site of Captain Kirk's death in Generations: Nevada's incredible Valley of Fire State Park—and with none other guest host than Trek makeup guru Michael Westmore, one of the few eye witnesses from the shoot's  final days. And Bobby "The Gorn" Clark will be back to tour us around iconic Vasquez Rocks himself and recreate vividly for you exactly how "Arena" was made. Larry, meanwhile, will point out the Vasquez angles from TOS's "Friday Child,"  TNG's "Who Watchers the Watchers" and JJ's Star Trek '09, among others shot there. As always, bring your uniforms and props for the "Oh yeah!" photo opps at every stop—or we may have some to loan

Whatever your favorite series or cast, we'll hit one or more of their iconic off-the-lot filming locations—and all of them double as famous or beautiful L.A. postcard-perfect vacation spots to show off even to your non-fan friends. Which you means you see a LOT of "SoCal" as well as the Federation!

Just remember: what even your own personal tour can't bring you, apart from my expertise and that of our guests, is the chance to do it with fellow Trekfans—much less those from around the world, from Asia to Europe and then some, reflecting Teras's clientele and the adventursome souls who have already, and plan to now, join us. That means, in turn, that no one on the tour enters Vegas Khaann a stranger.

Give the page a look, email Teras and get in for a call—but whatever you do, hurry!  You have three days to at least claim a seat and pay later.

I hope you can make it!

Trekland on pods: Doomsday, McCoy, and the Tour

Whoa—now it's the last TWO months that have been a blur...

But one thing that's easy to do no matter how intense the "day job" gets is a friendly little blog interview when Trek is the subject... and Trekland, too.

Shame on me, for I've been remiss in sharing when some of the best Trek and sci-fi podcasts have been good to have me on ... at times with Teras Cassidy of Geek Nation Tours and our second annual Hollywood2Vegas Trek film site tour just before the Creation Vegas con. It's been a flurry.

In all of these we talk about not just the new Trek Tour for 2013, but also what's going on in Trek at large—according to what the hosts bounce off us—and I even wax poetic about esotrekica (yes, that is now a word). Because we turned over another generation in fandom the past couple years, in case you didn't know. In fact, you may have been part of the turnover (okay, I'll stop talking about you, now).

Of course, if you're already a fan or subscriber of these fine pods, you know this already—and if you're not much of a podcast downloader yet, here's your entree. They make a great way to spend a jog or a long commute or an interminable airflight. The hot air in mine alone is enough to start a balloon ride with.

Trekland got even more global than the Internet when UK-based Colin HIggins at Trek News & VIews over trek.fm had me on just today in Ep. 66 to talk about my fave "The Doomsday Machine" with Lou Costanza of The Lou Trek Show, plus explain how I came to be wearing McCoy garb in Georgia last month, and saying things like "Well, it's damn peculiar, Jim." And other Trekland stuff.

Then, Teras joined me to be grilled by Terilynn and "@Gettysburg7" NIck re: a lot of Trekness on their G&T Show for my beardless McCoy experience, the JJ "defection" to Star Wars (whoooo cares?) ... plus the Tour—and even a shoutout to 1701 Pennsylvania Ave on YouTube (you're welcome, Pony and Ralph!) ... Steve & Co. had us on as well for a new Tour Tart entry on the tasty menu at Sci-Fi DIner, Ep. 162B ... and Tom Cruz and Risa of STOked Radio over trekradio.net went way beyond the realm of Star Trek Online gaming for a trifecta of guests on Ep. 27 (the 41:30 mark; or download only here) where we went on about forgotten true fans, the upside of having no Trek TV (blossoming fandom), the future of the "next" Trek TV show, the fun of playing McCoy and of course the Tour—along with Teras, AND Mr. Enterprise-D Non-Profit Restoration & Museum himself, Huston Huddleston, and his project.

Which is all pretty cool considering I haven't even told YOU gentle readers about my Kingsland, GA experience as Bones... much less the Secret Project that's kept me from posting and vidchatting more with you here at TREKLAND... including today's Oscar guest post at startrek.com.

And more podcasts coming up quick ...

Star Trek Google Doodle reshines light on Bobby, too

Google's Star Trek day has been such a splash for the franchise, this year's "off-year" 46th anniversary celebration—and good will for Star Trek in general, with lots of great mainstream media coverage on the Google Doodle design team choices. And a huge spike at startrek.com.

It's even given me the chance to tell folks that Chekov is not in the animation because he's in Hollywood getting ready to get his Walk of Fame Star! 

But Bobby "The Gorn" Clark's wife Judy just reminded me that's it cool in another way—the local media is all over the fact that, of all Trekdom to throw at Google-Kirk and his hapless landing party for today's episode, it's obviously Vasquez Rocks Planet and the Google-Pez Dispenser Gorn that Google chose! (Though that wind sounds pretty Guardian of Forever Planet to me.)

Here's Bobby (at right, sans scales) choreographing the original "Arena" shoot from 1966 for our gang last month on the Hollywood2Vegas Film Sites Tour for Geek Nation Tours before Vegas Khaaan...









Oh—and if you have no idea why I'm talking about any of this—go to google.com. NOW.

On the pods: Time runing out for Hollywood to Vegas Trek tour signup

If details about the "Hollywood to Vegas" Trek film site tour I'm hosting for Geek Nation Tours in August is old news to you, well here's a FLASH:

This is the final month to book, and/or place your deposit.

That was the topic—and a little update on The Con of Wrath documentary... and oh yeah, some wacky trivia—as tour operator Teras Cassidy and I were hosted by host Rodger Noriega on his live NDB Media Internet radio show this week—and the pods is up now! Get it here... and give a listen to Blog Talk Radio Channel 3's other fine shows.

Don't scream: I'm in the new VIDEO podcast, Trekspeak

Darren Molloney hosts "Trekspeak" globally from Ireland.

Well, this is new.

In a year of firsts, there's a great video podcast—yes, video— that just had me on to guest. Since starting up just last February, Trekspeak takes on all manner of Trek guests, many of them game and fan-film related so far ... and you SEE THEM in the podcast, or their video work at least.
And yet it's not that simple; this is not just a split-screen Skypefest. Host Darren Molloney out of Limerick, Ireland, runs the show with a couple of monitors and a suitably cool background in his virtual set. I mean, look at that! 


And sure, he asks about my current stuff like the Hollywood-Vegas Trek Sites Tour with Geek Nation Tours, to The Con of Wrath of course ... but also the state of the Trek world and all kinds of old stuff too. Now, I say that—I think he also needles some private stuff out of me as well, and Trek context I'd almost forgotten ... the kind of thing that seems old and moldy to me, but newer fans seems to enjoy.  And I'm such a sucker...


Anyway, conversing and being interviewed by anyone with an accent—nay, dialect even—is always cool. Makes you feel more cultured and elevated, if you are just another dumb American.  Darren of Limerick does a great job—so dial this one up and take a listen ... or a peek at a new experiment ... on iTunes as well as www.trekspeak.comhttp://www.youtube.com/trekspeak (the Trekspeak YouTube channel).

Little Rascals and Trek? Well, it IS us—and Subspace Comms

I have been slow to share!

Our good friends Charity and Chris—now they of the Bye Bye Robot licensed fine art Star Trek  prints—just had me on with Teras of GeekNationTours to talk up our Hollywood2Vegas Trek film site tour in August at Subspace Communique .. and as usual, our convo wandered all over Trekland.... in a good way.

But Spanky McFarland?

Yep, and much more... take a listen/download here. It's been up a couple days.

Chris did his usual interview-driving best, and the topics came thick and fast. I even found out Teras really WASN'T a poser!  I hope you take a listen to our Austin friends, and check out their many other great sessions with Trekland notables of all stripes at their site archive.

More pods, new pods!: We're on Trek Mate & Priority One

Just so you know: With only 35 seats max, we want to let fans around the world know about the Hollywood-to-Vegas Trek Sites Tour coming up in August as soon as possible ....


Thus, the reason for covering the pod world so that no matter who your fave downloads are, we'll hopefully turn up at one of them: either me alone, or my "boss" Teras from Geek Nation Tours—or, heavens, both of us.


Of course, if you just can't wait to hear what hilarity tumbles out of my mouth next, this is also a good prod just to go listen outside the box as well: sampling some new podcasts is a great way to try out hosts or shows you might not already know. Everybody is trying to find their own niche on the pod spectrum, and power to 'em.


Thus, today you can give a listen (or download) to the very latest this past weekend from Wayne and Marc at UK-based Trek Mate again—after my rookie visit earlier this year, they wanted me back for the Tour, with Teras  ... and we still managed to squeeze in some geekery, as well as more details on the Hollywood Trek. And with breaking news, too! 


I also enjoyed my maiden voyage with Elijah and James, the Priority One podguys at Quantum Cafe, and once again we had a rollickin' time... it's up just today.  Yes, I did let them squeeze a couple of old stories out of me, too;  I mean, they're chestnuts to me, but for anybody new to this game I suppose that, yes, they might be fresh peanuts!  Either way, the guys were great to have us on and were very kind—and cool to run the Hollywood Trek Tour link on all their pages. (And even let me plug for fan-donor donations to THE CON OF WRATH once again!)


(You know, if just a thousand fans gave $20 each ... that would be a lot of donor screen credits.)

A TOUR of the real Trekland? Guess who's leading it?

So, this guy walks up to me at the Vegas Khaaaan last year ...

And stunzap! —next thing I know I've been tractor-beamed into leading a tour for fans taking in 4 1/2 days worth of Star Trek film sites, around L.A. and en route to Vegas so as to end up—and extend through—the annual Creation Vegas blowout next August.

Well, actually, he didn't really have to stun me. Or even twist my arm—as if I had to tell you that.

You can read all about the facts of the "Exploring Trek Sites: Hollywood to Vegas With Larry Nemecek" here, but I want to talk about the feelings this all conjures up. Like how I'm flattered  to have Teras Kassidy approach me to partner with him on this Trek sites tour ... and how I'm confident to do so, knowing that his Geek Nation Tours has been doing theme tours for various flavors of "geeks" around the U.S. and Europe since 2009. And how I'm thrilled that this has been a great add to his travel agency of 13 years—so I know I've hitched my good name to one that's equally dependable.

I'm also excited to think of Trek site touring in terms of a group dynamic, and a big crowd. But not too big: one example being Teras' quality control, insisting on a one-bus limit so there's no "second class" tour-fans on the "second" bus getting just the faceless audio off a wireless mic pickup from Bus 1, or an exhausted host (ahem) hopping back and forth between stops. I've hit the Trekland sites over the years with friends and visiting "scholars," of course—I'm lookin' at you, Jorg!—but never considered how to maneuver a busload of Trekkies into these sites. And in a schedule that makes sense for fans who are also human beings needing food, shelter and plumbing.

I'm also curious to see what climes and time zones' natives decide to beam in and make up that busload, which will spend a couple days in greater L.A. and then actually hit the road for some rarer sites before we pull into Vegas just in time for the Creation clambake.  Seriously, Teras' agency reaches from Oz to Japan to the Americas and then cross the pond to the U.K. and Germany... so I hope we have quite the World Wide Warpcore of fans in the mix for this thing. They ALL can speak English, you know.

Most of all, I'm delighted to do double-duty once again: researching Trek's filming location for all series and movies. My archive of call sheets and memos, and those hundreds of interviews back to 1992, are the best source—but this has been a great poke in the butt to finish doing the legwork.

Of course, we can't go everywhere. Some are not open to groups, and we've only got 4 1/2 days! And—do you go to the obvious sites anyone can get to, like a Paramount studio tour or Vasquez Rocks? Do you play the numbers and favor Original Series or TNG or movies, or include a broad swath of the series? I've tried to factor in all series and their movies—including JJ Trek—and we have the known as well the obscure. For one thing, fans on their own won't get to go to those places with a great tour guide, and for another—well, again, I think a boatload of Trekkies from around the world will be just an awesome experience you can;t easily replicate. Of course, there are planned outs where you can take off on your own if you need your own space, so to speak.

I've already lined up one special: none other than Bobby Clark the Gorn will meet us at Vasquez Rocks—you can see him at the big cons,incuding Vegas, but how many get to hear him talk about that inhabiting that Gorn suit right on the iconic site where he so famously fought James T.? We may add a few more surprises in, too; we already have some "fudge factor" sites bneyond what you will read about, just in case we get a chance at, or have to adjust, to a Plan B due to factors beyond our control.

Seriously, folks, I just can't get across how excited I am to be a part of this. And Teras has all kinds of options for accomodating your not-so-fannish travelmate or spouse... or if you already have your Rio or other Vegas hotel reserved ... or in matching you up to a "double opccupancy" partner.  I know it has a pricetag, but if there's any way you can beam in and join us this Aug.  4-13 in Los Angeles ... and wind up in Vegas to survive the Khaaann—well, be there or be dunsel!