STV: Mimi Craven tells tales of the Voyager Vaadwaur

After 18 years, you bet that a lot of faces have appeared across the "modern" Star Trek TV incarnation, not to mention the whole 50+ year saga. By now, even those with a one-off guest role, especially with a long credit list elsewhere behind it, get sought out by fans. It's all part of the sparkling Trek tapestry. 

One of those gems is Mimi Craven—she of many fan-favorite roles over the years even outside of Trek. At a recent signing show in Burbank, I chatted with her about her unusual turn on Voyager as the ill-fated female Vaadwaur, Jisa, in "Dragon's Teeth."

The Vaadwaur were designed to be a new culture with much backstory, intended to be a leading face in the last year of the show and launched with a two-parter—but those plans went for naught. 

Mimi wore it proudly, though, and has some great moments to share as she was the test case for the makeup, even before shooting her scenes. Find her at a con and she can add insider stories from the original Nightmare on Elm Street, and many more. Good stuff! 

Last call: LA2Vegas Tour—and a NEW 1-day 'Kirk Trek'

It's been 20 years since Generations gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Captain, you have the bridge."

It seemed like a great anniversary reason to spur something we hadn't done in 2012 with our debut "LA2Vegas" Trek Film Site Tours with moi: make a stop at Nevada's breathtaking Valley of Fire State Park, site of "Veridian III" and J.T. Kirk's controversial death scene after he and Picard battled with that living Nexus magnet, Dr. Tolian Soran.

After Teras Cassidy of Geek Nation Tours and I decided to make our tour bi-annual—and still keep it a lead-in to the annual Vegas Khhaaan bash in August—we tweaked this year's itinerary to include this awesome new stop in the desert canyon, by popular request! 

And now, it's "all aboard" with a last call deadline of this Sunday, June 15—and you can still jump in with a deposit, for now.

We kept most else from what fans loved on the 2012 debut: the stops famous and not-so, with guests like Bobby "The Gorn" Clark on hand to talk about filming the iconic scenes at Vasquez Rocks from "Arena."  All stops are Trek-related, plus make pretty good snaps to impress even your mundane friends, too (Santa Monica Pier and Griffith Observatory, anyone?). And who can resist a stop inside the Q Continuum? Or Starfleet Academy in both its Prime (above) and SubPrime versions?

We've talked about the tour many times on podcasts near and far, my original post about it in 2012, and of course the tour description here. So I won't go on and on about it, if you promise you'll take a glance and just know that we've traded in the mountain leg to Lone Pine for the day out on "Veridian III"—which includes not just the film site (right) but a visit to the KIRK DEATH BRIDGE itself, which was donated by the film crew to the park after they wrapped! As well as a stop in the (air-conditioned) visitor center for the park's real-life petroglyphs, Native American spiritual vibes, and more natural history.

What's NEWS this year is the simple OMG thunderbolt we had this year: Offer the new Valley of Fire segment, a trip the day before the Vegas Convention opens, as a ONE-DAY TRIP for those coming into Vegas a day or two early, anyway. It's a smaller hit to the wallet, you get a taste of what the full tour of Trek in-your-face awesomeness is like—and you see some jaw-dropping scenery far from the Strip. His work schedule permitting, I'll be joined on host duties by our buddy and now FaceOff star Mike Westmore, who as makeup designer was among the small skeleton crew who shot the beautifully bleak scenes for Generations in the gorge 20 years ago.

PLUS: A big new wrinkle this year are all the sponsors we have on board with goodies for tour-takers: Robe Factory, Bye-Bye Robot,  Stronghold Games, con-producer Creation Entertainment themselves—and now Anovos costumes.

Again: Deadline for the main tour sign-up ends June 15 —and you only need a deposit to hold your seat for now. Plus, 5 of the 12 add-on day trips seats are already gone. So hey, read up, check the site and then give Teras an email so he can call you back and get personal on this. It's what his boutique GNT offers—amid gaming, convention, military, historical and other geek-out topic tours around the globe, all listed on his main site.

And may I say: you expect the awesome tour stops, Trek tie-ins, all kinds of Trek shooting data from me and our guests. What you don't expect is gaining all the new friends on the bus—many of whom are from other countries. Don't forget: they're all bound for the very same Vegas Khhaaan you are. (So look out: If you come alone, after this trek you're guaranteed to waltz in the front doors of the Rio a stranger no more.)

Aside from the Tour pages and my post, you Facebookers can also check out our fans' many photos from the debut 2012 tour over on the GNT Facebook photo gallery for "LA2Vegas."

See you on the bus!

Happy 95th, A.C! You were great in the Oscars' memorial

One good thing about Facebook is that birthday reminder function—and last Saturday, up popped A.C. Lyles on mine. He would have been 95.

It was a great reminder that I had meant to regale you all after he rightfully turned up in the Oscars' memorial reel (right) ... after I let his actual passing last Sept. 27 get by without getting wistful about A.C., this living legend of Paramount and yet another piece of the Treklander tapestry—if not an unlikely one.

“A.C.”—no one ever called him Andrew Craddock or Junior—never worked on any Star Trek per se, but as a former theater usher boy-turned-producer emeritus and goodwill ambassador for Paramount, you can bet he overlapped Star Trek in all kinds of ways.  For one thing, his last office for decades had been in the Hart Building, where all the spinoff Star Trek writers and assistants over the years were officed—including Gene Roddenberry himself. More on that later…

What’s more, A.C. was a publicist in the postwar days at the studio when among others he helped promote one young Jackson Deforest Kelley as the studio’s latest contract player—and later stood up as his best man when De and Caroline got married in 1945.

A.C. must have been good at it—he was also best man to another actor you may recall: Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy, in 1952. That’s why, along with roles as the unofficial or official Hollywood liaison to Washington under four presidents, of course it’s A.C. who’s guiding The Gipper during his post-presidential tour of the Next Generation set in this iconic series of pics (right), during the shoot of season finale “Redemption” on April 18, 1991 (with Michael Piller (left), Patrick Stewart and Rick Berman).

 
Yep, A.C. was Paramount’s ambassador to every event where regaling was in order, happy or sad—and “regale” is the verb that best comes to mind when you have that many decades of stories you can recount first-hand—or perhaps stretch a bit.  I saw him both crack jokes or roast raw about honorees at Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters award luncheons since 2007 (at left, meeting student PPB visitors in Sept. 2011) ; Mike Westmore asked him to speak at the dedication of the Westmore family’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2008 (below), and he did the honors for De Kelley at his old friend’s memorial program on the studio lot in 1999.

In fact, when I talked to A.C. for our De Kelley memorial issue for Communicator, the old softie confided he was shocked when De, whom he knew to be very ill with his stomach cancer at the time, just had to get dressed up and make it to the lot for A.C.’s 80th birthday party in 1998 — thankfully recorded in this snapshot (right). It was to be De’s last public appearance before his death just eight months later. 

Indeed, everyone eventually got a visit to A.C.'s fourth-floor Hart enclave, where among the sights were posters of his own produced movies AND a hand-crank silent-era camera used on Paramount’s landmark silent film Wings, the very first Best Movie Oscar winner from 1927—and the movie that enraptured young A.C. into his cinematic infatuation back home in Jacksoniville, Fla.  The most striking element of his office decore, though, were the dozens of framed, red-matted 8x10s of his friends in the biz from the Forties to the Aughts that lined the walls.

Who knows how many visitors he invited in for a photo with him before the massive wall o’pix… but it took until a random lot visit I made in June 2011, when something just told me I should check in on A.C. and say hi, before I took my turn in his chair. Something must have told me I’d better do it that day, for while I saw him later at Pacific Pioneer Broadcast luncheons and even helped introduce him to students there once or twice… I’d have no idea that office visit would be the last time I’d ever see him on the lot.

And even then, as he had for years—well after her five seasons on Voyager were up—A.C. always ended our visits with “And give your lovely wife a kiss hello for me, too.”

For the charm of A.C. was far more than knowing him as a spellbinding talker and a living Hollywood memory wall. Anyone and everyone who worked on the lot at Paramount knew A.C., because he made it a point every day to introduce himself to any face he did not recognize, no matter how low or how high on the totem pole it might appear to be sitting. And that new face, in turn, quickly learned several points about A.C. from colleagues—or the man himself:

—The fact that he knew everyone "in town," and had since Edison invented film… and had a story or two about them ALL;

—That he drove a gleaming, cream-colored '62 Thunderbird convertible, always smartly parked in the producer’s lot for all to admire;

—That he was the most dapper dresser you ever saw, every time you saw him, no matter where—made even sharper still against his eternal SoCal tennis tan;

—And that everyone was his friend. Especially the ladies.  Even tourists on the studio tour (right, in 2008), whom he loved to regale with impromptu stories when he happened to spot a group on the main promenade. Especially the ladies.

In fact, for the Star Trek writers—and especially their mostly female assistants—A.C.’s “good morning” and “good evening” look-in as he passed their open doors en route to the Hart Building’s tiny elevator were a daily rite of work. Especially so when his cologne tended to pre-announce his presence a couple of minutes beforehand!

And when A.C. stopped you, or tangented off with a typical “That reminds me of the time Ronald Coleman…”  … you listened. And tried to will yourself to etch it into memory.

Paramount hosted a celebration in that memory, to that memory, right on the studio lot Nov. 11 (left). The day was done up right: many of those legendary red-matted photos from A.C.'s were brought over to the back wall of the Paramount Theater lobby, his friends and colleagues over the decades spilling out to the lawn and some good eats afterward. Thankfully, Paramount has been doing us all a favor in recent years, and had set A.C. down and walked him all over the lot to record hours of his memories and tales on film—and at his memorial we were treated to parts of it.

My own thoughts were drawn, mistily, to that afternoon—could it already be 14 years now?—when they’d done the same thing for De… and now here, like A.C. that day, were others on stage to speak and laugh and share their awe of this icon’s wonderful life. Heck, that last photo of A.C. and De together was snapped in this same lobby as well.

They ended A.C.'s program with that sneak peek at a big chunk of his memory tales on film—where we all instantly realized that the top speaker of the day was, of course, the ol’ story spinner himself. A.C. was still the best show of them all.

And why not? It’s the old Hollywood maxim:

With some blockbusters, you just can't make a sequel.




All photos except Regan set visit tour  and De-A.C. 1999 are the author's; copyright and use reserved.

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!

TNG Movie Night S3: Sights, sounds & tales from L.A. to E.P.

We'll keep collecting anecdotes here, but it's safe to say Thursday night's "Best of Both Worlds" TNG Bluray movie night from CBS and Fathom Events was easily the biggest Trek blowout event in this series. And kudos to TrekRadio for having podcasters and others (like moi) call in from theaters around the country for a little live flavor of Collective fun.

TREKLAND had our ticket-giveaway winners among the hordes of non-drones heading to cinemas nationwide, and Canada too. As promised here's a round-up of what we got in—including a wedding proposal, thanks to Locutus (or at least thanks to his timing of return).

Of course, the fact that the newly HD'd show in question was "The Best of Both Worlds"—and an all-new cinematic edit to boot—didn't hurt the turnout.

The fact that the flick in question not only packs its own punch, but evokes for all who were around in 1990 that long-ago innocence of witnessing a breakout hit in the process, your reward for  standing by in the lean early years... before all the movies and sequels and had-to-get-a-job worldweariness. It calls to you, back to the days when you really could obsess over the world's best cliffhanger... all. summer. long.

Which, as @SirPatStew recounts in the new documentary, applied to parents as well as kids. (And I won't spoil his story, if you haven't seen it elsewhere yet.)
 
Still, I heard that some goers were confused with that Other Star Trek Movie coming next month ...

"There were five people (looked like a family) who got up and left at the beginning as soon as the Fathom trailers finished and the documentary came on. They apparently thought they had bought tickets for the new J.J. Abrams film-—you know, the one that hasn't even come out in the U.S. yet. Pretty amusing!"—Frank Gruber, Paramus, NJ screening

"Guy came out of the theater, saw an Into Darkness poster, said to his friend: 'That's what I THOUGHT we were coming to see!'—@gregharbin (Seattle)

Unofficial ground central for TNG movie night may have been at the Century City Arclight in L.A., where goers got to hear remarks from TNG staffers and Blu-ray project consultant Mike and Denise Okuda, LeVar "Geordi" Burton, onetime TNG S3 writer Ira Steven Behr, and even Elizabeth "Shelby" Dennehy herself, plus Blu-ray doc producers Robert Meyer Burnett and Roger Lay Jr. The Westmores Michael and Michael Jr, who did the Borg electronics, were also in the house—and thanks to my Vegas Vanna, Mary "Televixen" Czerwinski, for these photos while I was "on location" in El Paso:

Listening to Ira wax historic are (from left) Rob, Roger, Denise, Mike, and LeVar ...

...plus a zinger from Elizabeth!

And friend/photog Mary snags those Westmore boys

But meanwhile, in Charleston, S.C.:

"As the director of Carolina Alliance of Star Trek Fans... last night at a local Regal theater we hosted an event. I've worked with NCM Fathom Events since Season 1 and last night was our largest attendance yet!!! We even had a couple get ENGAGEd!"—Erika Y. Figueroa

Our ticket winner in Philly sent this:

"I attended the showing at the Rave 6 University City... It seats about 200 and was a sellout. As I waited for my friend Amy, I talked with members of the Philadelphia Star Trek Meetup Group and the Southeastern PA Nerd Herd.  I ended up missing the pre-show trivia questions and the [documentaries] and instead spent my time talking with my new friends! (Even more members of these 2 groups showed up after this photo was taken.)—Loretta Painter (in TNG T-shirt), Philadelphia

From our Cleveland-area winner, too, in North Canton:
"The theater was almost sold out, and I bought the tickets for our others there; I was going to help the less fortunate anyway."—Roger Scritchfield, Akron


We also heard from the USS Ticonderoga crew in Salt Lake City:
"We had more than the previous two showings"— @TardisCaptain_p

And the USS Atlantis in Idaho, too:

And yes, here in El Paso, where I was in town for Sun City SciFi con, the small but rowdy group at the "overflow" Tinseltown Cinemark theater stood up for my camera to yell out for TrekRadio, and then racked up a few raffle prizes from the con promoters:

Family night!: "Not a great shot, but here's me and my daughter, @ConeErica in Provo, UT"—@cone_is










We also got some thoughts from Treklanders who simply pinged me:

"Modern me got hit almost as hard in the gut as the 1990 me: Fleet graveyard scene hits me right in the feels every time. —@thejoncon, Phoenix area

"That was fun! Loads of #TNG fans, Trek t-shirts everywhere & even a few costumes. Too bad about tech issues tho."—@wetodded, San Diego

"Unfortunately, here at the Orem, UT event, nobody was in costume. Except me."—Scott Armstrong

"I wonder how many Miley Cyrus fans were disappointed last night?"—@doubleofive, Bedford, IN

"Yes [ennoyed],  but thanks to technical difficulties we lost 30 minutes of the episode #dontgotoAugustaGA —@The_Don_Burrito


"Awesome big sceen show, almost full theater, lots of fun, laughing, clapping, true ST fans." —@laura_leclair8, Revere, MA


The event has not dropped off, the numbers keep growing, and a TNG Season 4 promo night seems a sure thing—especially with that trailer for the set on view as well.  I have it on good authority that plans are well along for a repeat of this special edition and documenatry, so we'll see you in a few months back at the theater—even after that other Trek movie... and hopefully glitch free and with cheer to spare.

Hey, it's also Michael Westmore's birthday too: Visit his home

Heaven forbid, Treklanders, that all these years of rightly celebrating March 22 as The TNG-film era makeup genius, Michael Westmore. Happy 74th!
Shat's birthday have also taken a chunk of the spotlight away from one of our other notables )and a nice guy to boot): the modern TV and

It always pops up from anyone who talks about him, but Michael has always been both a great friend and an open resource for all my projects, from the TNG days onward, and I treasure that.

In fact, he was one of the early boosters of TREKLAND the blog, and gave us a tour of his house in prep for his upcoming family Walk of Fame star ceremony back in the fall of 2008.

So, to celebrate today, let's go back to the archives and pre-HD days, since many of you just finding TREKLAND may not have been around in the early months (although it still sits right here, along with dozens of other videos). Enjoy!

L.A. ALERT: Westmores and more this weekend at "Monsterpalooza"!

If you're a special fan of makeup folk and the creatures both alien and horrific they create for film, then you already know about the third Monsterpalooza show THIS weekend in beautiful airport-adjacent Burbank. Or ought to!

If not, here's the Trekland scoop: "modern era" Trek make-up supervisor Mike Westmore—a good friend to me and this blog—has a noon Saturday panel called "Behind the Mask," the actor's perspective on wearing such a prosthetic load. He'll be joined by Curtis Webster, his co-host for the "Spirit of Star Trek" series., now on hiatus awaiting a new home, and his daughter McKenzie—she of soap-opera Passions fame and now Face Off host  (and, yes a TNG "Angel One" youngster and Voyager's Ens. Jenkins of "Warhead.") PLUS Richard "Admiral Paris" Herd, who also went under the latex to play the Klingon L'Kor on TNG's two-part "Birthright."

It's a great chance to see them all in this context and gleam some great make-up/character stories. You might even get sucked up into the rest of the show!

My how you've grown, Spirit of Star Trek!: Saturday's pics & lots more coming

Look at that Saturday front page! It was only a matter of time before the philosophy/ethics-rich "Spirit of Star Trek," the brainchild of my new friend Curtis Webster with my old friend Michael Westmore, finally hit critical mass and took off with some mainstream attention.

As you gentle readers know, I try to always shoot a vidchat blog for each session—where an actor or other Treklander notable screens one of their episodes with an apropos theme, followed by Q&A with Curtis, Mike and then the audience.

Now it is reporter Bob Strauss and the LA Daily News story that likely helped the turnout hit 60 this month—and that's with the first non-actor, non-Roddenberry guests ever: Roger Nygard, the Trekkies director (at left, below), and anthropology professor Daryl Frazetti (center), who teaches using Trek, Star Wars, Indy, Middle Earth, etc, themes, and now takes it on the con circuit.
And what an April for the Spirit of Star Trek gang:
—Curtis and Michael are doing a panel Friday, April 9 at "Monsterpalooza," the second-year Burbank convention for the film/stage monster art and make-up industry and its fans.
—A full-blown "Spirit" screening April 11 of Yesterday Was a Lie, the enigmatic sci-fi/film noir odyssey by September guests Chase Masterson and director James Kerwin, with Q&A afterward.
—A "Spirit" road show with Chase just prior, at Wondercon in San Francisco Saturday, April 3.
—A full-blown "Spirit" SNEAK PEEK early screening May 23 of Roger's new doc, the globe-trotting, non-Trek The Nature of Existence, with Q&A afterward.

And—finally scheduled!—Marina "Deanna Troi" Sirtis is coming April 25, with TNG's "The Child" and a theme about the alien in all of us.

So stay tuned—or better yet, get aboard. It's like no other Trek evening you've ever seen.

STV—LA ALERT!: Spirit of Star Trek Feb. 28 hosts TREKKIES director and "Professor Trek"

Did you miss it, SoCal fans?



For those who can get there in the LA area, "Spirit of Star Trek" returns from winter hiatus this Sunday in Encino with a break in the routine of "actors and their roles." Come have an equally thoughtful fun and FREE evening with Roger Nygard, the guy behind the infamous documentaries Trekkies and Trekkies II, and "Anthropology Trek Prof" convention speaker Daryl Frazetti, who also appeared in Trekkies (out of town when the video was shot). Mike Westmore is back as well to join Curtis as co-host. (Remember, RSVP to 818-788-1147 (--"47!!"--) if you can)!

STV: LA ALERT! Phlox's ethical headaches: LIVE with John Billingsley Nov. 8

"I'm an explicator, not a fist-fighter!" (7:15)

Well, that's certainly a new twist on Bones' old chestnut. But that's what we got on this little video preview here with our returning good Trekland buddy, John "Phlox" Billingsley.

This time, John is the next great guest for Curtis Webster and Mike "Mr. Makeup" Westmore at "Spirit of Star Trek." If you're in SoCal this is the chance for a free evening: "Dear Doctor" on the big screen and an hour of Q&A and interacting on ethics, morals, and behind-the-scenes hijinks.

The "Spirit" series looks at how Star Trek raises issues of the philosophy and morals of humanity via the lens of its aliens, especially, so this month it's Denobula's turn. And if you've never been—this ain't no glib, shallow convention stint: Curtis has already welcomed Armin, Max, Ethan, O'Reilly, Rod, and Bob Picardo—and this is the last session of the year til after the holidays. It's held in a church but decidedly not "churchy"—as a glance at the backgrounds and attitudes of past guests will tell you.

Last month was a record high turnout... spread the word.

A good "Spirit" was had by all

I counted right at 50 folks who turned out for the inaugural session of "Spirit of Star Trek" on Sunday—but the crowd should grow once word gets around. Those on hand got an earful and eyeful of the philosophy, ethics and spirituality—and fun— of the alien viewpoints of the Star Trek universe begun by Gene Roddenberry... and what all that really says about us. The location was the First Presbyterian Chruch of Encino, but the tone was anything but "churchy" as the first forum hosted by the Rev. Curtis Webster (right, above) focused on the Ferengi, a big-screen showing of DS9's "Prophet Motive" and guests (from left, above) Max "Rom" Grodenchik and Armin "Quark" Shimerman.

As co-host and Trek's makeup guru Mike Westmore noted, "It ain't your typical convention show"—you'd be hard-pressed to say where you've ever seen such a thoughtful and yet funny talk and audience interaction... and for free, or a donation. Highlights: Max's question about any "universal" ethics among cultures ... Armin's description of fan queries worldwide wondering if the Ferengi are supposed to represent the Jews ... the Irish... the Chinese—depending only on the home of the questioner and the "Other" in that culture ... Mike reassuring Armin that the director, not the actor, was responsible for the Ferengi coming off not as villains but as monkeys on TNG in their debut, his episode "The Last Outpost."

If you missed this one, look for a new one each month or so. Mark calendars now for Ethan "Neelix" Phillips on March 29 and Voyager's "Mortal Coil," your afterlife beliefs shattered; Bob "Gowron" O'Reilly and those spriritual Klingons of TNG's "Rightful Heir" on April 26; Bob "The Doctor" Picardo and the fatal humanity of a hologram in “Latent Image” on May 17; Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, Gene's son, with an episode TBA on June 14 – and more in the offing.... stay tuned!

STV: Quark, Rom, and a new free screen-n-talk series



It's a laid-back and fun look at the philosophy, ethics and, yes, sprirituality of Star Trek through its various incarnations and alien perspectives. If you are in the Los Angeles area March 1, don't miss The Spirit of Star Trek: Makeup maestro Michael Westmore co-hosts with his pastor, the Rev. Curtis Webster, after screening an apropos episode—and would you believe the kickoff edition is about the Ferengi, with "Prophet Motive" onscreen and Armin Shimerman and Max Grodenchik afterwards as guests? Yes, there's more to come: Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Robert O'Reilly and others are lined up for the monthly sessions.

The debut session is Sunday, March 1 from 7-9 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Encino, 4963 Balboa Boulevard just south of the 101 and Ventura Boulevard. Best of all, the thing is free—and don't be thrown by the church setting: this is obviously a nondenominational, free-flowing event and the discussion is open. If you don't believe me, take it from the Ferengi brothers themselves ... but better call to reserve, just in case: 818-788-1147.

STV: Come See The Westmores' Star Unveiled Oct. 3

It's been a while coming, but the entire Westmore family legacy of Hollywood make-up legends is prepping for the unveiling of their new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Oct. 3. That includes the brothers who each ran all of the major studios at one time, and modern Star Trek's own Michael Westmore, their son/nephew and now partly retired. Here he tours us on just part of the history wing of his house; we'll have more of our visit later—stay tuned!

For those in the SoCal area who can make it, the star ceremony is 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at 1645 Vine Street in Hollywood, on the west side of Vine just south of Hollywood Boulevard. It's open to the public--but there will be a crowd.