Set phasers to "Don't Date Until You Are 30".
Posted on 08/12/2005 8:44:29 AM PDT by JRios1968
Convention at LV Hilton can bring out a little Andorian in anyone
It must be difficult to publicly maintain that you are not a geek when, in fact, your T-shirt proclaims as much, and you're standing next to your big sister at a "Star Trek" convention.
Nevertheless, that's what Jim Moorhouse did Thursday, the first day of this year's trekkie gathering at the Las Vegas Hilton: the fourth annual Official Star Trek Convention.
"I like to say I'm destroying the stereotype because I'm cool," said Moorhouse, 38, a public relations rep for a sports league who really did seem like a cool guy despite having "GEEK" printed on the front of his T-shirt.
There were, of course, the requisite pasty-white pudgy guys in floppy sandals and tie-dyed T-shirts all over the Hilton's grounds. Organizers say the convention, which runs through Sunday, will attract about 12,000 "Star Trek" fans.
Fans, most of whom were not pudgy or pasty, said it's no surprise that the convention attracts so many people given that "Star Trek" is the greatest television show in history.
(Excerpt) Read more at reviewjournal.com ...
Jim is waaaaay too late. Back in '85 I was the only girl that looked like one at the big Orlando con. Made up, coiffed, and I wore trendy clothing. All the other gals had beards, I recall.
*blushes*
Sex? Que?
Name Assessment
We've wanted to audit William Shatner for a while, but here's the problem: which William Shatner? Shatner, the early charmer with a talent for frantic paranoia, as evidenced by his sweaty, twitchy star turn in the famous 1963 Twilight Zone episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"? Or Breakout Shatner, the dashing J. Tiberius Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise? Or Late-Kirk Shatner, with his smirk, his corset, his boner, his wandering eye?
Or how about Kitsch Shatner, when he gamely slid across car hoods as T.J. Hooker, with Adrian Zmed and Heather Locklear in tow? Or Shatner Redux, in the early, good Star Trek movies, screaming skyward, shaking his fists, the corset only slightly more generous, the toupee only slightly askew, giving us the most immortal of immortal quotes: "Khaaaaaaaan!"
Or Ironic Shatner, spoofing himself in Airplane II? Or Literary Shatner, cashing in with a series of TekWar books? Or Wink-Wink Shatner, crooning in Priceline commercials? Or how about the early, earnest Singing Shatner, be-bopping through Tambourine Man? Or the latter, I-get-it-now Shatner, duetting with Ben Folds? Or Buoyant Shatner, now appearing on Boston Legal? Now winning an Emmy! Now winning a Golden Globe!
So many Shatners. So much Shatner. So much Shatner love.
Most stars are lucky to have a three-phase career: young heartthrob; blowsy superstar; Austin Powers cameo. Or some careers play out this way: heartthrob; handshakes; U.S. President.
By that yardstick, Shatner's had ten careers. He's had twenty. He's had entire careers before breakfast. You could tell your life story twice in the time it would take him to tell the story about that one time he pantsed DeForrest Kelley. Shatner has conquered. He was cool, then he was nerd-cool, then he was kitsch, then he was kitsch-cool, then he was knowing-wink cool, then just plain cool again, and now he's something better than cool. He made himself a punchline with such debonair cunning that -- guess what? -- the man is not a punchline anymore.
When the world zigs, he zags. When the world zags, he zigs. When the world zigs back, he records an album with Ben Folds. When the world chuckles, he pantses the world.
Some celebrities think they've got this whole image thing figured out, they can have fun with it, and they can make it their bitch. Sure, we like John Malkovich, and, sure, we thought it was cool and funny when he starred in Being John Malkovich. But for William Shatner, every day is Being William Shatner. Some celebrities get it, but Shatner so thoroughly gets it that "it" no longer exists. He's consumed "it." He's crawled up inside celebrity and made it explode, the way that Neo finally crawls into Agent Smith and makes him explode. (Uh, sorry -- Matrix spoiler, for all you Amish out there.)
As a result, Shatner is so damned awesome, so abundantly unexpected, so fucking necessary, he's practically Biblical. It would be an insult to Shatner to compare him to some other celebrity and suggest they are equivalents. There's only one other celebrity who comes to mind as being even one iota as cool as Shatner, in the way that Shatner is cool, and that's Leslie Nielsen. And the only way that Leslie Nielsen could ever be even remotely as cool as Shatner is if he'd spent the first half of his career flying around the cosmos banging space broads on Styrofoam rocks.
By the way, Shatner and Nielsen are both Canadian.
Damn, Shatner, you're making our teeth ache, you suave bastard.
LOL - Right on!
Oh, M-A-A-A-N, that was GREAT!!!! I know a lot of folks on FR will think I'm crazy, but I agree with every word. I've been watching ol' Shatner blithely change gears and make humorous appearances in movies and ads for years, and been astounded at the way the man pulls it off with coolness. Folks who don't like him are always a bit on the insecure, envious dweeb side. Nice to read something by someone who thinks along the same lines, isn't so timid as to be able to admire Shatner's congenital hipness, and expresses it ten times more eloquently than I ever could. Thanks for posting it!
Cooler? Let's see, Star Trekkies can beam themselves anywhere, Star Wars fans carry sticks of light...
Actually, I like Star Wars more
May the Schwartz be with you...
> I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Original Star Trek, but Babylon 5...
Could we add Farscape and make them the Big 3?
Set phasers to "Don't Date Until You Are 30".
Jerry Brown
1-800-NOT-FLAKEY
Wasn't it COMDEX that used to be held in Atlanta? I think it was, it coincided with the black college spring break called Freaknik, so COMDEX became known as GEEKNIK. Eventually, Freaknik drove Geeknik out of Atlanta, and then Atlanta drove Freaknik out of Atlanta.
I think we would be happy to have Geeknik back. At least the interstates wouldnt be shut down by cruising geeks blaring tech speeches. And they certainly wouldnt be blocking traffic having sex in their cars.
Were you forced to say that? ;-P
LOL, "descend"?
More like beaming into the area in throngs.
> Wasn't it COMDEX that used to be held in Atlanta?
I only ever went to LV in Nov, which was the core show.
They did run satellite shows, on other dates in multiple
cities all over the planet. Atlanta may have been one.
I saw a preview screening of a near-final cut of the Serenity movie. Even people who never watched the series who went with me liked it. It was just what I needed to get rid of the bad taste of Star Wars Episode III. Definitely worth seeing in the theater.
The one thing I preferred in Babylon 5 over Firefly is that while both J. Michael Straczynski and Joss Whedon are atheists and lean left, I think Straczynski knows how to capture the essence of a religious or conservative character so they feel authentic while I'm still not sure Joss Whedon does. Of course I was never a Buffy or Angel fan so perhaps I've just never seen it, but Straczynski's religious and conservative characters (e.g., the priests in "Passing Through Gethsemane", Mr. Garibaldi, etc.) felt authentic. (The cliched characters in the pro-labor union episode "By Any Means Necessary" were written by Kathryn Drennan not Straczynski.)
As for Star Trek, I'm an original series fan. I thought some of the later series had their momenets but I prefer the original to them all.
Farscape is much better than either B5 or Star Trek.
Ahhhhhh, 7 of 9, Resistence IS Futile!
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