Listen: I deep-dive the Trek 2017 news on NPR & Trek.fm

For those of you who prefer your Trek 2017 info and discussion audio-style as well as deep,
I took part in two great discussions this week that are now downloadable for a listen at your leisure.

Many are familiar with The Ready Room, the flagship program of Chris Jones' Trek.fm network of podcasts—and for the third time this year he invited me on for a breaking-news special edition. This time, rather than the deaths of Leonard Nimoy and Harve Bennett, we had a much more upbeat time talking about the future: the news, business angle and still many questions surrounding "Star Trek 2017"—as well as the stupifying and varied fan reaction to the CBS All Access streaming platform it would pioneer. It's 90 minutes and quite a deep dive, by the times we plumb the angles and implications...and as usual I hope I brought some historical and production context many fans might not have thought of yet.

Also this week, NPR radio host Tom Ashbrook in Boston invited me on his On Point call-in talk show Friday to join two TV critics and bring the hot-news Trek perspective to the topic—the current so-called TV  "reboot" wave. Of course I made the point that Star Trek has already passed through its initial "regeneration" not once but twice, 1986 and 2009—and that to fans this represents not a TV fad but just the latest volume in the series FINALLY coming out, dammit. I had the last half-hour of the hour-long show, but it's all great fun with X-Files and Gilmore Girls getting the secondary attention from the other guests, as well as Trek. You can listen or download it as well at the link.

And if you are not in the download audio habit—that's simply what a podcast is!—they make a great on-demand companion for your long commute, your long jog or workout, or whenever meaningful (and specialized) audio can come in handy. 

Here's as good a time as any to try them out!  I've been a guest on 30+ shows all across Chris's Trek.fm network for years now and he even has a special page made up for them in Trek.fm's coveted "featured iTunes" status section...although you can get to them in a zillion ways—including just direct audio play off the website.

Of course, this was also the topic of this month's "Ask Dr. Trek" Roundtable telebriefing in my Portal 47 group of backstage deep-divers (that's the session where they pepper me, instead of a wonderful guest Trek voice you've likely never heard from—which is the second one of the month). And true to my archive opening feature in P47, I shared both Bob Justman's 1986 memos and Interstat fan letters that year to show how much things are still the same between 1986 and 2015.
 If you're diggin' these type of second-level info, past or future, you really should come through the Portal with us each month for the whole package!

Call in LIVE Sunday: We're on Question Reality radio

As this whirlwind summer dies down, this is a hoot:

Catch me live on an online radio show THIS Sunday night and call in... Priscilla Leona' s "Question Reality"—5-6 p.m. Pacific/ 8-9 p.m. Eastern on LA Talk Radio's Channel 1.


That includes YOU, you UK-ers getting ready for Destination: Star Trek London.

I love the feel of live radio, and call-in is so much more immediate than even chat rooms. You LISTEN at the LA Talk Radio Channel 1 site, but the number is (323) 203-0815 when calls are taken at the bottom of the hour—5:30-5:45 PT, and so on.

I ran into host Priscilla at the recent Burbank International Film Festival—where Star Trek Continues won for "Best New Media, Drama, Short"—and she practically grabbed me to come on her show. Being so close, I had to go over and do it live, of course.

Please listen in and razz me —we'll be talking about my projects, our recent Con of Wrath  shoot, Enterprise in Space, and of course the latest rumors in Trekland.

By the way, here's two recent podcast appearances of note: 

I was just on trek.fm's Commentary Trek Stars Ep. 99, during their Robert Wise career series, to talk about the fan intangibles around The Motion Picture—the stuff that does not survives on a disk or a box.  Max and Mke were their usual inquisitive and acquiescent selves!

Plus, I was just invited on an actual experimental podcast with visuals, Star Trek Greece, co-hosted by my friend Dimitri from our 2010 trip to Terraformers II in Sounion. It's a bit long, posyed on YouTube and simple on graphics—but those Greeks, they love to indulge. And list the sidebar links!

15 years without De—and a G+ Hangout to recall him

De in a shoot for TV Guide: June 1968, post-S2

It's no secret that I am as big a DeForest Kelley fan as I am of his character, the ever-iconic Leonard Horatio McCoy, M.D.,* himself.

De passed away 15 years ago today, on June 11, 1999, at age 79, of stomach cancer—an affliction known only to a few (and certainly not me). Caring for his beloved and ailing wife Carolyn, it was De instead who passed away first—and, likewise, preceded all his Trek colleagues from their TV crew. After Gene's death in 1991, it was Jimmy who followed next in 2005 and then Majel in late 2008.

As for De... well, I can't believe it's already been five years now, but I've been blogging long enough that it was actually the tenth anniversary of his passing when I shared the story of how I learned the news of his death—in a typically Star Trek way: at a convention.

De's subsequent memorial at Paramount, and our DFK tribute issue of Communicator—the favorite of my eight years as managing editor—are bittersweet memories, too. The recent passing of his friend and Paramount icon A.C. Lyles, who prompted De's last public appearance eight months before his death and talked of him in our DFK issue, revived many of those memories and feelings as well. Of course, playing McCoy twice for Star Trek Continues in a serious vein, after years of "party impersonations" in fun, felt like it brought me even closer to what made De tick—if you didn't have a clue from Terry Rioux's long-awaited 2005 biography, From Sawdust to Stardust.

So... it's 15 years since we lost De. If you're as big a fan as I am, you should know that his longtime assistant and author, Kris Smith, is taking part in a typically open online tribute to De that you too can attend this Saturday at 5:30 pm PT/ 8:30 ET on Google+ . I'm going to "attend" as well during the hour, and potentially other Trek notables.

You can even submit questions for the virtual panel at the Q&A app at the Google+ group created for the event by fan Brandon Cowles: the "In Memory and Honor of DeForest Kelley" Facebook page.

As with a trial run last week, the whole thing will also be streamed live on YouTube here and then recorded for download later.

Come over Saturday and bask in some memories and reflected glow of the great and humble De himself... or catch it when you can.

We're LIVE this Saturday on Internet radio...twice!

UPDATE: If you missed them, these live shows with yours truly last week are now up as downloadable podcast archives: All Things Trek Ep. 136  and The Jeff-Trek marathon show!



 
The new Trek Tour of LA2Vegas film sites... the latest Star Trek Continues episode and what's coming next ... that cool "Stellar Cartography"… the T-Trunk, of course … and finally, just about anything that's hot in Trek trends and topics …. commercial or thematic.

Tantalizing topics? Well, if you and I never got to cross paths at a convention, why not get on and talk/listen with me LIVE tomorrow—Saturday afternoon/evening, Feb. 22—over Internet radio.

TWICE.

First up, try me at 1 p.m. Pacific/4 p.m. Eastern on "All Things Trek" with host Oren, Grace and Deyvid over Trekradio.net. You can interact with the show live in the Trekradio chatroom there… and for now you can share this huge poster on Facebook!

And right after—mind the gap, grab a bite and a cold one!—I'll be on live at 2:30 pm PT/5:30 pm ET on the "JeffTrek" show over NBD Media. You can call in live for at least an hour—maybe two?—at 914-338-0314, with the enthusiastic Jeff Ferguson and co-host Mr. Goodnight.

And for a shout-out a week early: I'll also be on live on CAMERA for an hour or more next Friday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. PT/ 6 p.m. ET on UK-based Trek Mate —another show where you can pop in live to join in, either via the comments box under the streaming video at that YouTube link, or tweeting with the hashtag #TrekMateLive.

All of these live shows will be archived as podcasts you can download later, too… so while we're on that subject:

I've been negligent to thank a heap of other podcasters who have great shows and been kind enough to have me on in this busy season after the release of ST Continues and "Stellar Cartography". They want to talk about my stuff, but in almost each one, the varying personalities of the hosts and co-hosts means we also veer off into current-day Trek talk and topics as well.... the franchise future, how old Trek fandom compares to fandom today, goofy aspects of old fandom that SHAPE new fandom ... and where to put your energy if you want "new" official Trek.

These are all great shows that are worth the podcast download habit, if you are so inclined. And if not—why not try it out? A great way to pass the commute, the jog... the ironing slog.

In fact, with all the Trek attention on Star Trek Continues and "Stellar Cartography", for starters… and with the LA2Vegas Trek tour coming up … I've been on a slew of other shows in recent weeks—and then negligent  to post them. I'll make up for that tomorrow! 

AFTER you take a shot at the live shows.

More podcasts to sample—and why not do it with me!?

As promised in a recent initial spate of these—I wanted to share two more excellent and unique Trek podcast series that had me on recently. And if you haven't tried downloading podcasts as a way to expand your Trek enjoyment and edification—what's your excuse? Time to start now....

...Especially as I have been making a conscious effort lately NOT to take on more than five sentences at a time. Yes, really. So see how I did:

First off, an always fun time was had by all with a revisit to the G & T Show—mine being a special Supplemental Log a weekend ago.  Yep, Terry, Nick, Mike and I talked about all my "stuff"—led by Star Trek Stellar Cartography, adventures in gap-filling and canon clampdown over the years... and playing Bones again for ST Continues— plus all the jawboning about Trek overall lately. Thanks again, guys! Too kind. Too much personality of the old-school radio talk variety. (And that's a compliment).

On the other hand, I was also marooned on an epsiode of Desert Island Trek where I had to divulge my own five across-the-board Trek episodes that I had to have if stranded forever without further contact on Episode 65 of Trek Mate's Ten Forward show, with hosts Sina, Chris and Matt. Do any of my picks surprise you? Half of them you likely know, if you read these lines and soundings often enough—but a couple may surprise, including my Voyager pick. Plus, the trio grill me on just what my take is on Trek's longterm popularity, and how that stacks up against all the current hullabaloo. And yes, we hit up STSC and my other stuff of late—including a sneak peek about the Trekland Trunk!  (What that, you say? Stay tuned ...)


Sunday G&T and TenForward—two more great podcasts you ought to be listening to.

I really am alive! Give the podcast thing a try, and see

(UPDATE: An erroneous link to The Lou Trek Show episode at first posting has now been corrected.)

While we scramble to get Trekland HQ back up in ship-shape, er, shape... and I once again say "Next year!" to a DragonCon visit ... I wanted to let you know I've not toally been off the radar—and perhaps introduce you to to the fun world of podcasts, if you're a newbie to all that.

Yes, three different Trek podcast series have had me on just since the Vegas Khhaaaan koncluded.

Once again, by show of hands with our Vegas audience, I got it that a lot of them in the smaller theater were not big podcast fans—which is exactly why so many of the friendly rival series were on hand at the Khhaaann, to convert new listener-downloaders. They did a hella job both covering the con's events, planned and unplanned, and also sponsoring the appearance of Huston's New Starship non-profit bridge museum project.

So, take a taste here—each of these three had me in various capacities: some about my projects, some to help them out, and some just to shoot the interstellar breeze regarding Trek:

Just up Friday, Lou Costanzo and Brian Baker had me on for the 201st edition (wow) of the Lou Trek Show, and we talked about all things Trekland—INCLUDING a sneak peek at some news of a new project I haven't formally announced yet! You can see Lou Trek Show's Ep. 201 with me here, complete with all the reference sidebar links... or grab it off iTunes or RSS. LouTrek is in the Trek Mate Network of podcasts and posts a new show most every Friday.

In a different style, host Jon Park and a bevy of panelists pummelled me on live radio with questions from all over Trek via their fans and each other for Keep On Trekkin's Episode 10, "An Evening With Larry Nemecek." My apologies to them as a family change in plans took me away after only 40 minutes, but I promise to make it up to all of them, including Bishop, FullBack and the lovely Kestra, among many more. Keep On Trekkin' is a member show of True Podcast Media where it airs live every Friday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT over Black Star Radio, then is remastered and ready for download the next Tuesday at the show site, iTunes, and Stitcher.

Finally, it was an honor for Roddenberry's celebrated Mission Log Podcast to have me on as moderator for the Vegas panel/Q&A about the series, which followed on (no break!) in the small theater right after my own Trekland fan forum on "the State of the Trek." That Aug. 9 session was recorded and posted as a Supplemental, Episode 55A: "John and Ken Play the Rio" (look for the fifth show icon-link at far right). It was an honor and a privilege to help John Champion and Ken Ray with their rare annual face-to-face meeting, and to highlight this acclaimed in-depth series and its plans. For our Vegas special, listen and/or download here—and just look for # 055A. Mission Log is part of the Nerdist Network, with regular episode centric shows, in aired order, up each Thursday; they just hit Season 3 and posted "Spock's Brain." (No, seriously.).

Don't forget you can also grab all of these great podcast series and keep up via their Twitter feeds and/or Facebook pages, natch. I mean, it IS 2013.

And that ain't all for me. Be listening for a couple more coming up soon: I'll be a guest of the always-raucous Terry and NIck of the Sunday G&T Show, plus a "Desert Island Trek" segment of TrekMate's 10Forward podcast —more great series you should give a try.

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 ...

Check out this new podcast from Canada—and me

One of the cool things about being invited on to Trek and sci-fi podcasts is that it constantly reminds me how diverse the DIY Trek communication biz is these days—like zines of  old on steroids, and without the overhead of a Starlog or a Communicator mag, killing trees.

Obviously.

So a big overdue hello and Trekland thanks to Chris Lockhart of the Random Nerdness podcast/blog out of Barrhead, Alberta, Canada for having me on right amid the holiday crazy—which is why I have been negligent to thank him and share the links! I'm all for pod diversity, and Chris' is not a Trek-only show, obviously—though he was on hand for the big Calgary Comic-Con  with that TNG reunion now on the Blu-ray HD for TNG S1. And he says the TNG Companion was one of his Best Christmas Gifts Ever. Plus, anyone from BARRhead has got to be cool, right?

So give him and the related Atomic Geek pods, a listen. In fact, since it was our first meeting and he was fresh with questions, why not start with ours: Captain's Table #2? I don't even plug that juch—we talk about the Blu-rays, that state of cons and fandom, The Next Trek Series and other inconsequential topics like that there.

After movie news, try out a podcast or three. With me.

On top of this being an insanely busy month in Trekland old and new ... and the frenzy over a character name and a trailer ...

Well, when things calm down over John Harrison, perhaps you'll have time to try out a few podcasters ... who were good enough to have me on this past week.

We talked about everything from the opening salvos of Into Darkness mindgame hyper-promotion to fan generations with Doug Mirabello and Jose Munoz, Trek TV vets now on The Zero Room... where they forced me to explain all over again about The Con of Wrath. With some all-new points by the boys I hadn't even thought of. Our chat follows after their regular couple takes on comics/sci-fi news of the week.

Wayne Emery at the UK's Trek Mate was good enough to have me back on and share the concept of the Trekland: On Speaker debut CD as a late gift idea (foreign gift deadline is Friday!), and mentioned it there as well as current topics we'll all been buzzing about.We are the final segment there, after co-hosts' other takes.

Then, my buddy and colleague Teras Cassidy of Geek Nation Tours joined in on Germany's TrekcastDE with Malte Kirchner, where we spilled beans on the new Hollywood to Vegas 2013 Trek sites tour, now reservable on deposit ... and yes, "TLOS" Disc 1 as well. Honored to be Malte's second-efer all_english cast, too!


Really, if you want a taste of where Brit and German podding is going re: Trek, take a listen there and in future. Back in L.A., Doug and Jose (co-creators of the unsold Animated Star Trek pitch for the old st.com) cover the broad swath of things genre and fannish; they've done 211 episodes, and we just gave 'em a big taste of Trek this week in our first, too-long-delayed visit.

AND THEN: this Trekland Media Watch of note ends with a long article on ArsTechnica.com about Huston Huddleston's Enterprise-D bridge restoration/museum—a good involved read that was also good enough to include me.




And more's coming ... podders want to know about the CD and the Tour as last-minute gift ideas. Who can blame them? So stay tuned.


And now, back to our regularly scheduled program: "JJ's Movie Marketing Seminar."...

Light bulbs, Romulan transference: download this pod!

I've been a guest on many great Trek and sci-fi podcasts the last couple years or so, and trekfm's The Ready Room is one of them.  Including brand-new Ep. 73 just up this week, about all things Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

I know, I know—28-year-old movie. Yada yada yada.

I don't say that just because host Chris Jones helped me produce my first interview-archives CD ... or because Greg Harbin made it to my first Seattle CON OF WRATH fundraiser.  Or even because they sat mum as I called them Mike & Bryan by mistake for a while. (Or because Charlynn Schmiedt was civil to me despite my all-in-the-family loving cracks about Voyager.)

No, it's not often that insights melt your brain while in the midst of recording or broadcasting... but that's exactly what happened amidst this show. I guess that speaks to the power and longevity of Star Trek... or something. Anyway, give a listen and see if you can see when I had my Joe E. "Romulan" Ross moment.*

At least enjoy that title: "Hot Vulcan Finger Action." Boy, that Chris... he knows how to market.








*Actor who's most famous for saying his trademark insistent "Oooooo! Oooooo!" in all his roles. Which, had he been living, might have included a Star Trek spinoff: "Pod 74, Where Are You?"

This was fun: I'm a TIE lover, not a TIE fighter

I can't believe we just spent a rollickin' two hours on "Tribbles in Ecstasy," but we did.

It felt more like the old-fashioned "Meet the Press," when the line of journalists would offer a poser apiece to the guest in question. I THINK I got to the core of each one, but who was counting? No one ever cut my mic, Senator.

And you could have known it if they did, cuz we were live over trekradio.net last Friday. But now the show is up for all you podders at the TIE area of holosuitemagazine.com.

Thanks to Don Burrito, Xander, and all the other fine TIE folks who really have real names as well, for having me on. I think we covered just about everything they threw at me, including the TREK.... OF THE FUUUUUUTURE!. Plus they were nice enough to let me plug "Trekland: On Speaker", Hollywood2Vegas tour and of course "The Con of Wrath."

Enjoy your audio experience! And I'll be back to TREKLANDING real soon.

"Klingon love machine god"? We're on The Ready Room

The log line should say:
 "For the first time in years, Larry Nemecek talks about his experience in selling, developing, mourning, and then watching the resurrection of their Season 1 Voyager story idea that finally became Season 7's 'Prophecy'."

But a chunk of this "The Ready Room" Episode 52 on Trek.fm is, um, wacky as well, with Chris and Greg. I've been tardy to tell of it here, delayed by SoonerCon & Sooner State travels.

I wonder if THAT qualifies as The Other Side of the Room? (Oh, you have to listen...The TRR News is great, then we come on at the 53:23 mark—if you don't do chapters via an iTunes download.)

I'm so behind on guesting! These ARE the podcasts you want ...

So many hosts have been keen to hear about The Con of Wrath ... or our Hollywood-to-Vegas film site trek with Geek Nation Tours, which closes guaranteed booking June 15 (but can likely still keep taking Trek tourists after that) ... or just jaw with me about various topics of pure-dee-ol' Trek awesomeness lately ...

...and I have been negligent to let you know about them.  So, as long as it does not slow you down from getting to SoonerCon 21 this weekend ... then download away! Per each one...

—Amid another ear-worthy funkfest with Nick Minecci and the great Terry Schull on The G & T Show ... Teras Cassidy and I pop in for Trek Tour talk, after Terry asks me about Con of Wrath, too  (though the whole show is, of course, worth a whole listen!)





—If it's VISUALS you want, Darren Maloney of the new Trekseak video podcast (yes, video)  in Limerick, Ireland —yes, Ireland—caught me while passing through his town—and amid other things he corners me for an opinion on all things hometown Irish in Trek: take a look!


—And then host Carl Stark has me on his Stolen Droids brand in the first of his new "Presents" format ... and I guess he had a good time talking Trek TV, films, industry dynamics: you decide!




—Then, back in the UK, a gobsmacked Wayne Emery, Marc Stamper and Paul Drinkwater conned me into making the virtual trip cross-pond for their TrekMate show, where this time we go down whatever path those crazy Brits care to veer into.

And finally, if you want to hear how a GERMAN Trek podcast sounds, then give a listen to Trekcast Germany—not to be confused with the recently resurrected US version, as this one hosted by Yann-Patrick Schlame and Malte Kirchner had me on as their first international guest, woo-hoo! And of course we all spoke solely in Mandarin, to commemorate.  NOT.

The Trek Tour comes in for special focus, but we also talked about an American's perspective on FedCon, the old Galileo-7 cons, and other bits of German fandom. Thanks for having me on, der herren!


So it really is a wide array of the best of fan pods that blitzed me in later May and June. 'Twas an honor to be invited on in each and every case (well, all except for Nick & Terry), and each has a distinct personality, angle or insight to share. I hope you give them all a try, and forgive me if I duplicate a story here or there across the different time zones.

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.

Pods and news and secrets—what a day

Wow, this is an insane day prior to travel... but had to share about what you can download TODAY: A great show with some deep places ... really! .... as I got to be a part of trek.fm's "The Ready Room" podcast this week— for their Episode Number 47, naturally!  (And yes, we did review "47" for the newbies."

Totally unrelated, but in breaking secret news I have to sit on something that will surely make news when I can say! At least, among the hard-core canonistas ... and perhaps even my author friends.  More on that in a few months, when I can ...


But back to trek.fm today and your download click-finger:

Now that fandom and the biz have awokened from the drunk of how the Star Trek 2009 dynamic would play out,  Trek's current and future form wound up as our topic —and former Treklanders Doug Mirabelo, onetime emergency Andorian, PA,  and Rick Berman's last assistant at Parmaount, and industry vet Jose Munoz, also a former PA at Star Trek back in the day, joined me from their Zero Room geek-media podcast (and their great Star Trek animated pitch with Dave Rossi) for this show. Hosts Chris and Greg gamely tried to herd the cats. I had not talked to Doug nor Jose in years, so it was doubly fun. And heaven forbid any of us had strong opinions to spout.

And I even use some colorful metaphors. Yes, really.

A shout-out to Chris and Greg for including in the news roundup that it's the final weeks of open registration for our "Hollywood to Vegas" Trek filming site tour that I'll be hosting for Geek Nation Tours in August, pre-Vegas Khhaaann. Please give Teras an email for info so he can call you and see how to make it work best.

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).

Global Trek thoughts? It's just us and the world on this week's Trek News & Views podcast

With an Okie, a Brit, and a Canadian transplant in the Netherlands, it was bound to happen: my guest turn on this week's edition of the Trek News and Views podcast took a decidedly global take on Star Trek—both the fandom and the biz of it all.


It's up now, thanks to host Colin at @Treknewsviews and guest co-host Xander (who still showed up despite having us on his Tribbles in Ecstacy show a few weeks back).

I mean, I kept trying to keep it snarky and light—but danged if we didn't keep going there. Fans in Uganda? A zillion other countries? Who knew? In that vein I also gave a shout-out to our old Communicator reader and correspondent Veljko, who later turned up in Trekkies II helping to organize his war-torn nation's humble but very first Trek convention—and speaking from the heart what Gene Roddenberry's vision meant to him and his compatriots while their city was being bombed. So much for our hyperflaming over hem widths and starship numbers and quantum vortexi.

Of course it was a natural to mention our Hollywood/Vegas Trek film tour with Geek Nation Tours and the international pull there, but we went far beyond all that.  You just have to take a listen —and enjoy once again the Brit accent "culture thing," if your Yankee ear appreciates that. I also take home the prize as "the talkiest pod guest we love to listen to" ... I think.

Colin has been at it since only last October, but there's a great body of 'casts already on the site, many episode-focused reviews. He's obviously taken on more global issues this week. ;-)

Trek.fm's The Ready Room: Fun with TNG's "Sins of the Father"

There are lots of great Trek and sci-fi podcasts out there, with engaging and knowledgeable hosts, just pouring out their passion and love for the topic. (I should know, I've been hitting a lot of them.)

And if you are not listening to Chris and Greg's Trek.fm's podcasts, including The Ready Room, you are missing out. And here's the perfect reason to start: the guys were crazy enough to have me on TRR this week when the Very Serious Subject was  TNG's landmark "Sins of the Father." (Okay, maybe not THAT serious.)

Sure, you may have seen it, and even know it was an important Klingon episode. But can you count the ways?

There is sooooo much context wrapped up in this episode, and where it fell in Greater Trekland History on so many levels, that an hour barely contains it. Much less all the other tangents we work in.

Of course they offer news on the front end of the download, too—and, among several stories, Teras Cassidy and I make a brief appearance to talk about the latest on our "Hollywood to Vegas" Trek film sites trip from Teras' Geek Nation Tours.

But there's a good chunk here that is nothing but pure-dee-ol' Trek nuts and bolts. I hope you give it a listen, and stay with them for a lot of great guests.

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.)