In Seattle? See this summer's Outdoor Trek, 'Amok Time'

If it's Trekland in the summer in Seattle, then it must be time for "Outdoor Trek"—a live Trek-in-the-park by the homegrown Hello Earth troupe that plays for donations as a non-profit, and offers an innovative, fun, Shakespeare-esque approach to minimalist staging, the Redshirts backing band, and "blind-sex" casting.

Here's my impromptu vidchat (below) with director Joy DeLyria and Kris "Kirk" Hambrick at Emerald City Comic-Con in 2014 (just before my panel!) and their goals and history—but the keys are all the same as they are for this summer's offering, "Amok Time". Listen for their intriguing thoughts about Star Trek's boldness, then and now, and translating that via today's cultural and gender points of view.

The group, with assistant to the producers Phillip Duff along (and standing just off-camera here), took their cue from Portland's "Trek in the Park," which since has run its planned five summers and ended. The Seattle crew has received good press and support locally, as well as around the fandomosphere, and has no plans for stopping with a similar five-years-only mission: The tell me that show number six is due to follow for 2016, and audience-goers once again vote by coin and cash for their choice among finalist titles for the next year's TOS script.

Check the links to the website and their Facebook for more details, both under Hello Earth (Twitter too) ...but "Amok Time" performances are 7 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sundays in Blanche Lavizzo Park, with pre-show musical guests an hour prior (Marc Okrand helped kick off opening weekend!), and food trucks on hand an hour before that. See the video for images as well from past and current park-TOS moments (Photos by This Apeture, Phil Duff, and others).



OH—and I love the live stage transporter beams.

White House to Empire wannabes: Geek snark wins out

Sure, it's cross-franchise, but this is too good to pass up, even in Trekland:

And just what tone you'd expect, too, from the Administration of our first Trekkie President (although everyone knows he's ready to take on a bat'leth any time):

For starters, Pawl Shawcross—of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget—actually titled the reponse to this "We The People" online petition of 35,000 signatures as...

 ..."This Isn't The Petition Response You're Looking For" ...

Death Star Petition Gets White House Rebuff

Via Ethan Klapper/ HuffPo...

The White House responded Friday night to a petition on its website urging construction of a Death Star for job creation and national defense purposes by 2016.  ...

—The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
 

—The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
 

—Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

I'm told this reply is being sent on all hailing frequencies and linguacode ...