The REAL 50th at last!—and if in L.A., come toast with us

After all the big conventions and events, after all the special merch, after all the other hoopla... it finally all comes down to Thursday....THIS Thursday, Sept. 8...at 8:30 pm Eastern*... at the hour when "The Man Trap" first flickered across NBC's airwaves.

So where will YOU celebrate Star Trek's actual 50th anniversary of its aired debut?**

Lots of folks are having get-togethers in their homes ... or nearby watering holes, or pop-culture storefronts: many will be screening "The Man Trap" at its debut hour—all over the world, actually. Feel free to take snaps of your own celebration and share with us on the Trekland Facebook page that night! 

But IF you're in SoCal with no prior plans and want to share the night with Trekfans... please do so! Here's an invite to join us that night to toast Star Trek's 50th at Lucy's El Adobe, right across the street from Paramount Pictures and a onetime watering hole of Gene Roddenberry and friends. You can check out his autographed photo to the joint (right)!

Together with co-host John Champion of Roddenberry's Mission Log podcast, my Portal 47 will be lifting a toast at 6:30 pm* to the debut of Star Trek on the equivalent of its premiere in Eastern time—and then twice again on the half-past hour for Central/Mountain and Pacific times. 

You're on your own for drinks, and some of us are getting dinner around 7:00.

 

But we'll have a giant 50th Anniversary card to sign ... and some other fun and a surprise or two as well. Most of all, we're coming together to mark this landmark that has meant so much to so many.

And for those around the globe not with us in person, you can join us in spirit: I plan to film each toast, and any fun surrounding subspace chatter, all live on Facebook Live online at my Trekland Facebook—again, at 6:30, 7:30 and 9:30 PDT.*

For a Thursday night, and after all the big extravaganza of the past few weeks, I just wanted to do something relaxed, in an LA venue of even a tenuous Star Trek connection... with a vibe where folks with no plans otherwise could come for fan fellowship and fun. There may even be recent tales of Vegas, New York and elsewhere...or memories from further afield in fandom, back further on the timeline.

Hey, we only get one shot at the true golden anniversary moment for Star Trek—just make you sure to mark it somehow, somewhere, with fans you love and enjoy. Maybe that means we'll see you at Starbase Lucy's!

If you do plan to come by... PLEASE just help us keep tabs on turnout and click the "Going" button on the Facebook Event page—thanks!






*As my talented buddy and fellow STC'er James Kerwin pointed out, Daylight Savings Time was not created until 1967—so, techincally, celebrants this year ought to mark "The Man Trap"'s 1966 debut at *9:30* PM EDT—an hour later—to compensate.

**And yes, we all know by now, thanks to the wackiness of younger-brother sales and marketing, Star Trek actually flashed on-air before an audience the TWO DAYS before NBC's Sept. 8 premiere— on the CTV, in Canada!

A music gift from Five Year Mission & Geek Nation Tours

Everybody's partying this year, and now Five Year Mission band and Geek Nation Tours have teamed up to present their own gift to Trek fandom—a new song and video, "Take A Ride."

Take a Look! It's just a fun freebie to everybody—all about "taking a ride" through Star Trek to "STLV," the big annual Vegas "Khaaan" that expands to five August days this year in the crazy anniversary frenzy....and doing it via the tour stops of the expanded #LA2VEgas tour that I lead.

"We commissioned a song with Five Year Mission as a gift to the Star Trek community on this most important of years," says my bud Teras Cassidy, "head geek" at Geek Nation Tours. "It is especially dedicated to Star Trek fans making trips around the world to events celebrating the 50th anniversary."

So whether that's New York, England,  your local con down the road, or your own imagination via plasmascreen, podcast or any other portal — as always, it's all about the Trek travels of the imagination... and the friends.  Vegas #STLV is sold out and the tour is closing, so it's not so much about selling as celebrating. It's just a glorious fun road-trip song fest. That's the spirit!
 
I'm gonna cut FYM a hit-break and send you to their YouTube channel for the song—and give you a very non-spoilerific still above (and below). You can also download it easily at the GNT 50th anniversary Tour page: scroll down to July 29 and click "Take a Ride" to get the song.

...And both of them ready for sharing from either Facebook page, of course.

I expect to have a full orchestral and choir arrangement by the time we set sail in San Fran for the tour in July... if I don't take it with me everywhere I go this year already. Seems like just the thing for San Diego, Scarborough and CLEVELAND as well; OKC is soooo cool already, it can only help the gloss.