What ComicCon and fandom are really all about

Forget the bucks and booze and bigscreens and parties and promos... here's what it's all about:

I spied this mom sitting ahead of me, neither one in cutesy costume—but she's just making sure her son knows the classics ... in this case, a newly remastered Blu-Ray LooneyTunes with Daffy in "Duck Twacey" that's about to roll...:

Thank pig noses and pointed eares: sharing diversity via Star Trek

Thank goodness we didn't exactly have overwhelming numbers after all, but I think the Roddenberry Vision fit right in with the rounds of kids last Saturday who came through our little corner of Multicultural Day at Western Nevada College in state capital Carson City.

Between simple dress-up and role-play for four aliens and "us humans," the kids tackled the problem of whose planet got to host the "party" or festival to mark the Federation's next big anniversary. That's about how simple we kept it...but the day's theme of diversity and cooperation hopefully came through. As well as the fun of slipping on those pig noses or blue pipe-cleaners antennae ...

Of course, I think we had as many parents who wanted to hang out and take pics of their kids, as their kids themselves. More than one mom or dad came over and thanked us for "teaching Star Trek to their kids." Seriously... perfectly normal looking spring-weekend parents. Maybe we've got something here?

Thanks to Daryl Frazetti for inviting and hosting me and letting us try this idea...and thanks to John and Marian at CBS Consumer Products for the official Spock ears that we used! (And why isn't there a licensed Tellarite porcine-nose or Klingon forehead or Andorian antennae on elastic—not just generics or put-togethers? Talk about a hole in the market there...)

Sorry I don't have the names for the faces... but you get the idea. :-)

Kids, aliens, diversity and Carson City/Reno

Don't you think Star Trek's aliens are a great way to help kids role-play to explore diversity?

That's why I'm in Carson City, Nev., in the Reno/Tahoe region... making Klingon forehead ridges for a baldcap (at right)... and hoping the kids come by the youth corner Saturday for the annual Multicultural Day at Western Nevada College. My buddy and educator Daryl Frazetti is to blame--he of the genre anthropology con panels that are so popular he's doing a book and starting a educator's group on genre pop culture as teaching aids. Catch us from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Marlette Hall of the Cedar Building, but there's also an outdoor food court and music festival with some headliner acts.

I had no idea this was such a genius idea, but it must be: my BFF and ST The Experience character actress extraordinaire April Hebert just tweeted me they used to do this in Vegas schools all the time as outreach in their STTE personnae, and "the kids loved it." So there you go!

So if you're in the region, bring the kids by from 11 am to 4 p.m. Saturday. Maybe they'll get to be a Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, Klingon or human ambassador and get to solve some galactic dilemma... every half hour. (Hey, that's twice as fast as Starfleet's heroes!)