April 2, 2001
Note
Click on the images to see them full size.
April 2, 2001
Woo hoo! What a weekend! A great celebration of the 35th anniversary of Star Trek.
I arrived at Burbank Airport Thursday evening where I was met by the lovely and charming Karmen Ghia who whisked me away to Pasadena to the refrain of "Hey Hey We're the Monkees!" I don't remember what all we talked about but we laughed a lot.
On Friday, things got started at noon. They really did a beautiful job with the program, don't you think? It was available
as a poster and t-shirt but I'd spent so damn much money just to be
there that I really held back on other purchases.
I went straight to the auditorium where George Takei was first up. There's something about him that I always find rather off-putting so I left after a few minutes and cruised the dealer's and autograph rooms. I chatted with Barbara Luna (Marlena Moreau in "Mirror, Mirror") and she still looks great. Others in the autograph room: Chekov's girlfriend from "The Apple," Subcommander Tal, Khan's son from TWOK (who still looks almost exactly like he did in the movie), Commodore Mendez, the Asian kid from "The Children Shall Lead."
Among the fans (and this was much more crowded than the Grand Slam I was at two years ago) there was a woman wearing a 7 of 9 catsuit. Luckily, she had the body for it. There was also a guy wearing a Mirror Universe captain's uniform and he did not have the body for it. I'm trying very hard to purge that memory.
Went back to the auditorium to see James Doohan. What a shocker. He is quite frail and had to be helped onto the stage. His right hand shakes and I heard someone say he had had a stroke altho I don't know if that's true. However, he is still all there mentally and when someone asked him to say, "Admiral, there be whales here," he obliged, much to the audience's delight. (This "say my favorite line" business turned into a theme with most the guests but more about that later.)
I was kind of woozy from cold medications so I went to the hotel and conked out until it was time for Nimoy to be on. When I went back, I walked into the auditorium just as Michael Dorn was saying, "I am not a merry man!" Hee hee. It took him two tries to get it as gruff and angry as he wanted. I wish I'd gotten to see his presentation, he seemed like he was probably fun and interesting. I heard that someone asked him about script ideas and he said, "Don't do anything that starts with 'Wouldn't it be cute if Worf...'"
This was my first time seeing Leonard Nimoy live and what a delight! His
hair was quite short but not as short as it was in those Sci Fi clips.
It's dark gray and very becoming. No beard and looking great. He has
such a wonderful smile. He was very relaxed and actually seemed to be
enjoying himself. He poked some affectionate fun at Bill Shatner saying,
"Bill had a birthday this week. He's sooo much older than I am." It was
also really something to see LN wiggling his butt and going, "Priceline!
Boom boom boom!" He was wearing dark slacks and a white sweatshirt that
said "Vulcan" across the front. Very cool. They have microphones set up
on either side of the stage for fans to ask questions and Nimoy gave
most of his time to Q&A. About halfway thru it, I thought, "Get in the
question line, dummy!" So I did which put me much closer to the stage
and I think/hope I got some good pictures. I was next up when his time
ran out so I didn't get to ask my question. Oh, well, I figured I'd use
it the next day with Shatner.
Nimoy was very sweet with the people who asked questions and frequently
engaged them in convo, asking them questions before they got to ask
theirs: "What do you do?" "Is that interesting work?" A guy in a Romulan
uniform explained that this was probably his last con because he had
just married someone who isn't a Star Trek fan.
LN: Wait a minute. How could you marry someone who isn't a Star Trek fan?
Romulan Guy: At the time, it seemed like the logical thing to do.
This got a huge laugh (as you can imagine) and no one laughed harder than Nimoy. I really love him for that because I've been around stars who don't respond well to anyone topping their joke.
He was asked what his favorite line was and he said, "Live long and prosper. I guess it doesn't get much better than that."
I didn't go to the "Spock vs. Q" show that night (these things are so damn expensive) but I had great Thai food and convo with Karmen. Thank goodness for her. There was no one I knew at this con. Everyone was very friendly tho and I chatted with a lot of people but I guess this con is really about seeing the stars and getting autographs because I didn't hear anything about fannish activities in the evening. It was wonderful to spend time with Karmen.
On Saturday, Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig were first up. It's hard to
imagine two people more different in the way they handled themselves
onstage. Koenig just sort of ambled out and sat down but Nichelle went
straight to downstage center and stood there with a huge smile basking
in the applause and blowing kisses. I loved her right from the start.
She was wearing a white pansuit with a green jacket and she looked
great. Her voice is lower and huskier than it used to be and I found
that wonderfully sexy. She said she's shooting a movie in which she
plays Cuba Gooding Jr.'s mother. She talked about this at length and
finally gave a moment to Walter who said, "I just did 'Son of the
Beach.'" Big laugh.
The minute they set up the microphones, I was first in line. I told NN that I considered her performance in the series a triumph of actor over material because they didn't really give her much to do yet Uhura is completely memorable because of the presence and intelligence she brought to it. (Never hurts to kiss up, right? But it's true.) I asked her how she felt about her work as Uhura as she looks back over 35 years. She said she wanted to clarify the stories about how she nearly left the series. She said she had been working a lot in musical theatre and really felt that was her true calling so she was going to leave at the end of the first season to pursue that. Then Martin Luther King pointed out how important she was as a role model and she stayed with it. At that point, she refocused her energies on Uhura and she's very glad she did.
Later, she talked about the interracial kiss in "Plato's
Stepchildren." What a classy lady. I know she has no affection for WS
but you never would have guessed it from hearing her tell this story bec
she kept it light and playful in the same teasing manner that LN had
when talking about WS. She said the script originally called for Uhura
and Spock to kiss but WS said, "If anyone's going to kiss Nichelle--I
mean Uhura--it's going to be Bill Shatner--I mean Kirk." So it was
changed. The kiss was the last scene shot on the last day for that
episode. When they got to it, suddenly there was all this concern and
the suits got involved and then Gene Roddenberry got involved, acting
like it had never occurred to him that this would be a problem, nodding
and saying, "Hmmm, yes, I see what you mean." So there was a quick
conference where they decided to shoot it two ways--one with the kiss
and one without. They did the kiss first. Shatner took 36 takes to "get
it right" Koenig was very low-key and altho he didn't seem uncomfortable, he
really didn't seem to have much interest in participating. When they
were through, Nichelle again went downstage and took a bow. I love her!
I went back to the dealer's room, controlled myself and only bought a few
things. One was a
ridiculous "magic motion" card where the figures move when you move the
card. The one of people being thrown around the bridge made me laugh the
hardest but I bought the one from "Mirror Mirror" with the Kirk/Marlena
kiss. It's so cheesy but it was only a dollar so I had to do it.
I also bought the Barbie and Ken Star Trek dolls, a purchase that I feel I must explain. About 2 years ago, Jonk, Laurel & I were in an "antique" store
where they had these in the box for $100.00. Jonk said, "That's not Ken
and Barbie! It's Kirk and Brandt! Look, even the initials are right!" I
didn't buy it then ($100!) but when I saw it at the con for $35 and
managed to bargain down to $25...well, now I have Kirk and Brandt dolls.
Also, on the back of the box is this weird picture of Ken & Barbie
walking along with very silly smiles on their faces and Ken is holding a
phaser on Barbie. This inspired Reesa and me to write a play in the
parking lot at Friscon. This year we can make the dolls act it
out! (Wanna read that play?)
I don't know if you're a fan of packaging but I love the weird things
they write on the boxes. On the back of the doll box, it says:
Barbie(R) doll cannot stand alone. (Well, duh.)
WS came out and the place went wild! It was incredible. Everyone jumped
to their feet as soon as he was announced. I know Nimoy is supposed to
be more popular with the fans but the place was packed and it went crazy
for Shatner. I think a lot of it has to do with the incredibly high
level of energy from Shatner when he's on stage. He's all over the
place, moving and gesturing and loving the crowd as much as they love
him. It's a wonderful thing to see. Also he didn't tell any of the
stories I'd already heard (the bicycle story and the english muffin
story). The first thing he said waas, "As I was coming
onstage, the young lady who was escorting me patted me on the ass. I
don't know what to think about that. In one way, it was a little
uncomfortable but in another way, it was very comforting."
(When it came time for questions, I really did want to ask him if I could pat him on the ass but even I am
not that nervy. Although in that girl's place, I would have done exactly
the same thing.)
He also talked a couple of movies he's working on and how
weird it was to host the Miss USA pageant. He's going to be driving in
the Grand Prix in a couple of weeks and he told about going to practice where
they told him that on the curves, it's slow in and fast out. He said,
"You just saw the clip [they show clips of each actor before bringing
him on and we had just seen a brief bit from TWOK] where Kirk said 'I
don't like to lose.' Well, in reality, I! Don't! Like! To LOSE!" HUGE
roar from the crowd. "So I figured fast in and faster out would be even
better. So I was going faster than anyone! ... But not on the road. I
kept ending up in the brush and driving around the saguaros." I wish I
could describe this for you because all his stories are so over-the-top
and he makes fun of himself in every single one and the crowd just ate
it up. And when you've heard as much Kirk- and Shatner-bashing as I
have, it's a great high to be in a huge crowd of people who love seeing
Shatner be Shatner.
Once again, I made for the mikes as soon as they set them up so I was
the 4th or 5th question. In answering the question before mine, he said
he had celebrated his birthday with his family and a few friends and
they all got food poisoning. Then he turned to me and it went something
like this:
WS: Thank you. I'm the luckiest man on earth to have Elizabeth.
JK: Do you have a picture of her?
WS: My picture of my wife is very close to my heart.
JK: Does that mean you won't show it to me?
WS: My heart?
JK: Anything you'd care to show me would be fine.
WS: No, I have nothing at all in my pockets because I wanted to present
as slim an appearance as possible.
(He opened his jacket and preened. Drool drool drool. He looks great and
is obviously very proud of his weight loss. At this point, I figured
he'd had enough of me so I was about to relinquish the mike.)
WS: Do you have a question?
JK: Well, I was going to ask you about your birthday but you already
told us that.
WS: And you don't have another question.
JK: No, not really.
WS (looking at me strangely): What a narrow world you live in.
(We were getting big laughs from the crowd and OK, I'll confess, I'm as
big a ham as he is. Plus when someone zings me, I have to come back. So
there I was with my eyes doing this naughty little dance and smiling
like "Oh you wanna play like that?" and my voice dripping with
innuendo...)
JK: I *could* ask you some other questions...
He paused and really looked at me. I didn't blink.
WS: Ahhh, no. I don't think so.
Jonk, I think I owe you a nickel. When I got back to my seat, the guys were grinning and giving
me thumbs-up. They got a picture but it's pretty dark. They said they would do what they can to fix it up and send it to me via email. I
hope, I hope, I hope...
By the way, despite what you see in the photo, I swear to you that Shatner's suit was not green. It was a dark fawn color.
After Q&A, WS was to introduce Ricardo Montalban. Every time he said the
name, he'd roll the Rs and try to do the accent which he acknowledged he
couldn't do. He talked about how much he admired RM as an actor. Then
the lights went out so they could show a brief clip of Montalban. Except
nothing happened. So out of the darkness, we hear WS say,
"Rrrrrrrrricarrrrrrrrdo Montalban." Big laugh. Then WS again (same
strange accent): "Hit the friggin' switch." The clip came on immediately
and the crowd thought that was great.
Montalban came out with a walker (but he still looked much more vigorous
than poor Doohan) and sat down in a chair center stage. This was his
first con appearance and the crowd loved him. WS completely gave stage
to RM, standing on the far left out of the light. Then he came to
center to give Ricardo a microphone and they shook hands. The flashbulbs
went off like crazy. Unfortunately I was too far away and didn't get a picture of that. When the applause finally died down, WS said,
"Ricardo, will you do something for me? Will you say your name?" I
really love him for doing that. It was such a fan moment because just
about every star had been asked to say something in particular. So
Ricardo did, really projecting and rolling his Rs and it was
"hwonderful." Then WS left the stage. Ricardo took questions through
most of his time and was just as gracious and charming as you would
imagine. He talked about what it was like to come back to play Khan
after so many years. He also talked about doing the Chrysler commercials
and when he said, "rich Corinthian leather," the place went nuts. (See,
I told you everyone was doing their tag lines.)
On to the autographs. I had bought my WS autograph ticket ages ago so I
was very close to the front of that line, too. They were really moving
along fast, faster than 2 years ago. They said WS had another engagement
and they were running behind (which they were but just a little--I
credit the Creation folks--this was much better organized than the one I
was at 2 years ago and they did a pretty good job of keeping to
schedule).
A couple of days before the con, I took a disk copy of Killa's wonderful
Photoshop rendering of Kirk and Brandt kissing to my local photo shop
where they can print out computer images on photo paper. Even tho the
picture wasn't high-res, it came out beautifully with vivid colors so I
was very eager to get it signed. In the program, it said something about
"please have licensed merchandise only for the celebrities to sign" and
"a celebrity may refuse an autograph even if you have a ticket." I
figured that was just a Creation ploy to get us to buy more stuff and
unless you brought out something obscene, no one would say anything.
After all, it would take longer to say "No, I won't sign this" than it
would to just sign it. So I really wasn't worried about my Kirk-Brandt
picture altho I had brought along the foto-novel of "Where No Man Has
Gone Before" just in case.
The last guest of the day was John DeLancie and frankly, I was a little
disappointed. He seemed rather impatient and was mocking people's
questions in a way that wasn't as fun and affectionate as what the
others had done. I was very surprised because I met him 2 years ago when
Creation had screwed up and not made space for him so they set up a
table for him to do autographs among the fan art and he had no stage
time at all. I got to chat with him and had him sign my TSU t-shirt and
he seemed quite jovial and pleasant. Maybe he was just having a bad day
on Saturday but he was (IMO) a little over the line.
After that, there was Japanese food with Karmen, off to the airport, and
home to find that my poor Buster had spent the entire weekend in the
living room watching for me to come home. Great. A guilt trip from my
dog. I guess I better go snuggle him and my other guy, too. :-)
If you navigated to this story from anywhere on my website, that window is probably still open right behind this one. If you navigated to this story from anywhere else, please visit Invisible Planets for more of my stories.
Space instruments are non-working. (What a gyp!)
OK, on to William Shatner. By this time, I had gotten quite chummy with my seatmates (who had a marvelous digital camera) so I told them I was going to get in line to ask WS a
question and IF I got to ask my question and IF he came over to the
edge of the stage to answer it (which many of the others had done) would
they please try to get a shot with both of us in it? They agreed. So...
JK: Congratulations on your marriage.
When I got to the front of the line and
handed the picture to the handler, he said, "Wow, that's beautiful!
Where did you get it? Is it a painting?" I explained that a friend had
done it on her computer. The handler was very impressed. (Kudos to you,
Killa!) WS said nothing (he's actually very subdued in the autographing
part and I think that's due to years of experience with how his fans
sometimes are up close
