Day III of the 2010 Las Vegas Trek con

The Report 2010 Las Vegas Creation Star Trek Con: (Day 1 not attended) Day 2 Day 3 Day 4

The Jeri Ryan “photo op” was the first item on our agenda. However, the attempt to break the Guinness record for most costumed fans in one place (scroll to bottom) was scheduled concurrently! We were both in costume, but one was in line for the photo, the other in the room for the costume record attempt. The number of fans for the record started to dwindle right around 490 (we needed more than 507?) The convention staff were concerned that we’d fall short, so yours truly decided to alert them to the fact that there were numerous costumed fans waiting in line for the Jeri Ryan photo. Without even one word of thanks or acknowledgement for the suggestion, the staff started pulling people from the line, thus putting us back together, and beating the record by a large margin. It should have occurred to them that scheduling a popular event such as Ms. Ryan’s photos alongside the record attempt was unwise. You’re welcome, Creation staff.

Jeri Ryan took the stage later, to wild applause and a very crowded auditorium. Fans were very considerate during this, which allowed us to get fantastic shots of her. She was in very good spirits, giggling and smiling broadly. She has a surprisingly high-pitched voice, and her giggle is somewhat like a squeal. Not a criticism, just an observation, after seeing her using her Borg voice on Star Trek: Voyager. Ms. Ryan has caught Twitter fever, as she was tweeting to her fans during her session. Garret Wang joined her onstage while she was tweeting, and she sent a photo of the two of them to her Twitter account. Ms. Ryan said that her inspiration for acting is the great Sidney Poitier; she found that she would be working with him in a project, and said she had to compose herself before meeting him. She got herself calmed down, but when she met him face-to-face, she became a hysterical fan. Her portrayal of the encounter was hilarious! She spoke of her fondness for all of her fellow cast members, but especially Kate Mulgrew. A fan asked if she would like to be a “Bond Girl”, but she said she was “a bit long in the tooth” for that, to which the audience loudly objected. When asked what name her Bond girl character should have, she said she’d leave that to the fans, but doesn’t want to know what they suggest! As is usual for these things, someone asked her which is her favorite episode. She said there were several, but she liked “Scorpion pt. II”. One (not surprisingly, male) fan thanked her for wearing her (short) dress, on behalf of all of the men in the audience. When asked how she got the role of Seven Of Nine, she said she initially did not want the part, after hearing about “scary” Star Trek fans, and that she turned it down several times, before relenting. She said she was glad she chose to be a part of Star Trek. Toward the end of her session, Robert Picardo also joined her onstage, and they reminisced. She was enormously entertaining.

Next up was Chase Masterson, who sang a song, ("The Way You Look Tonight") in tribute to fans, which was very good, except with the title part of the song. She couldn’t quite hit the right note then. The males (and probably some of the females) were very pleased with her clothing, however. More interestingly, Jon Povill, associate producer on "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" said that the cut seen in the theaters was just a rough cut, that was being rushed by the studio, following the success of "Star Wars". The director's cut is actually what was supposed to be shown in theaters. This explains a great deal.

The Voyager cast took the stage, minus Robert Beltran. (he cancelled) Some (in our opinion) rather inconsiderate fans made taking pix of the Voyager cast very difficult. They would hold their cameras up in the air, stand, wave things in the air, and did just about every rude thing one can do at these things. So, alas, these were the worst pix taken. We had to hold our cameras above the heads of standing fans, thus probably blocking the views of others, which is why we did not take very many shots. When Jennifer Lien (“Kes”) took the stage, she seemed to be walking in what we medical folk refer to as, a “guarded gait." She appeared to perhaps be a chronic pain victim, suffering from maybe fibromyalgia. Hopefully this assessment is completely incorrect. She only spoke when directly spoken to, and still has that beautiful, velvety voice. Ethan Phillips (“Neelix”) mentioned that there was a farewell scene between Neelix and Kes, but that it was edited out, to the disappointment of both. The aforementioned “interviewer” asked the cast about Kate Mulgrew, who could not make this con. All agreed she is a total professional (they were using past-tense, which was creepy, since she’s still alive) Each of the cast turned the tables and took pix of us! Some bon mots: On Kate Mulgrew: Garrett Wang (“Kim”) (“pronounced wong”) spoke of Kate’s infamous early hairstyle, a.k.a. the “Bun Of Steel” – he said that if the turbo-lift needed repairs he could use the BoS for it. A fan asked Robert Picardo (“Doctor”) what it was like to be “married” to Seven (“Endgame”) – he said it was a struggle, having to pretend to love such an unattractive woman. He’s always been a card. Picardo described Tim Russ (“Tuvok”) as, “The man, the myth, the methane.” He was referring to Russ passing gas on the set. Wang spoke of the numerous changes Picardo would want made to the script, and that every time the writers made such changes, Wang would get lost. Ethan suggested that Picardo could provide his own lighting with the reflection from his bald head. We don’t recall who, but someone said that if you leave Bob in the dryer long enough, you’ll get Ethan (might have been Picardo himself, who said that) Scarlett Pomers (“Naomi Wildman”) was asked what she’s been doing since Voyager, to which she replied she’d been kicking her crack addiction. (she actually starred on the series "Reba", which another fan later mentioned) Then, when Wang asked Scarlet who was nicest among the cast, she replied, “Not YOU.” Those men were a bad influence on Scarlett! Russ was asked about portraying a Vulcan, and said that it’s more difficult than one might think, because he had to portray his emotions with body language. He also said that the human characters actually had to dial down their emotions, to make the aliens look more “real.” He said there were scenes where Kate Mulgrew mustered up tears, but such scenes were cut as being too obvious. Wang said Russ is always Vulcan, even on his answering machine. Wang went on to say he views his character as the everyman of the show. Wang said Neelix’s nose looked like a “butt crack.” (it does!) Ethan then brought attention back to Russ, by saying Russ is a “gaseous anomaly” who can emit a 15-second fart. Russ mentioned a scene in which he and Ethan were trapped in a confined space, and Russ was trapped with Ethan’s “foul air.” (or it may have been the reverse, as to whose air was foul) It’s not a Trek convention without bathroom humor. Russ suggested Ethan donate his brain to science (we saw the end of this coming) because it’s never been used. A fan asked Wang if he actually could play the clarinet. Wang replied that he hated all of the clarinet scenes, because he does not play it off-camera, and had to be coached by-the-numbers with the finger movements for the clarinet scenes. He mentioned that he and Robert Duncan McNeill (“Tom Paris”) were at a different convention, where a fan asked Garrett to play her clarinet. Wang tried to tell the fan he couldn’t really play it, but McNeill started chanting “Garrett Garrett Garrett” riling the crowd to insist that Garrett play the instrument. Wang quickly practiced backstage, thought he was ready, then came back out, but was not able to produce a single sound, as reed instruments are difficult to play. Wang insisted McNeill remove his shirt to make up for Wang’s humiliation; McNeill complied, and Wang says McNeill had a big belly. The snark was flying very quickly, with Scarlett and Jennifer standing rather silently by.

Following the Voyager cast were Leonard Nimoy at first, then William Shatner, then each of them taking the stage solo in turns. This was easily the most active session of the entire convention, as these two decades-long friends, as they say in the south, “cut the fool” for quite a while. Their session was preceded by a film by a fan who lost her battle with cancer recently, but her friend was present to accept the award for the film. The film illustrates the longtime “bromance” of Kirk/Spock. This no doubt gave certain slash fans an entirely different idea, especially as it was scored with the 80s love song, “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”. The film was wonderfully edited, and nicely nostalgia-provoking. After the film, Nimoy took the stage, and spoke of his recent visit to Vulcan, in Alberta, Canada. He said he was amazed to see the Vulcan Bank, Vulcan Bakery, and even the Vulcan Funeral Home. He was honored with a parade (as Grand Marshal, of course), and given the Key To The City. A fan asked about “Star Trek III, the Search for Spock” and its “Pon Farr scene.” Nimoy said the scene was nearly cut by the studio, until test audiences responded very positively to it. Another fan asked about Nimoy’s participation in the 2009 film by J.J. Abrams. Nimoy said that he was very impressed with the film overall, was especially impressed with the performance of Zachary Quinto as Spock, and proclaimed Quinto as “very talented” as an actor. When asked if he really is hanging up his Spock ears, Nimoy said that he’s learned to “never say never” in show business. This was met with thundering applause. A fan named “Rachel” stated that she was Nimoy’s “biggest fan ever” (not original, of course, but she seemed most sincere) – Nimoy thanked her, then asked her age, to which she replied “My age!” Nimoy realized this (probably middle-aged) woman wasn’t divulging the information, and said, “What do you want to know, now that you’ve told me your age.” The fan (as we recall) did not have a question; she simply wanted to make that statement. Another fan kept shouting “I love you Mr. Nimoy!” throughout the session. This must have been annoying for those around that individual. When asked about the book, “I Am Not Spock” Nimoy said the purpose of the book was obscured by its title. His message was that Leonard Nimoy and Spock are two separate entities, but was perceived as Nimoy rejecting the character. He admitted that his publisher strongly advised him not to use that title, and the book did not sell well (at the time) Nimoy was later asked his favorite episode, to which he replied “Devil In The Dark”. He later wrote a book called, "I Am Spock". Shortly after this, William Shatner (“Shat” to his most loyal fans) got onstage, pretty much kicking Nimoy off.

The screaming fan continued to shout “I love you Mr. Nimoy!” During Shat’s session. (quite rude!) Shat asked the individual to repeat it, but they did not. This is probably best. The Shat discussed the hassles he has when he goes through airport security, as he has a metal hip. Shat then described the humiliation of having the security personnel wave the wand over his pelvic area, while he’s in a bowed position, thus making the wand sound its alarm in a most unfortunate area (Remember “Spinal Tap”?) The Shat went on to say that he has been doing a lot of traveling lately for his new project, a documentary, called, “The Captains.” He interviewed actors who played Star Trek Captains, as well as others associated with the show. Shat then said that he didn’t have enough in his budget to afford all of the necessary travel, since the actors were scattered around the globe. Someone shouted “Priceline!” which got a chuckle out of those in the audience (including ourselves) Fortunately, the CEO of the aircraft company, Bombardier Aeorospace is a huge Star Trek fan, and gladly donated as many planes as Shat and company needed. The Shat also mentioned his recent scoop while interviewing one of the DC snipers, John Lee Malvo, in which Shat got new information from the infamous killer. Shat asked Malvo if Malvo should be forgiven by his victims’ survivors, to which Malvo stated he did not expect forgiveness, since he had not forgiven himself. A fan later asked Shat what it was like shooting the horseback scenes in “Generations” with Patrick Stewart, and wanted to know if Stewart was a rider prior to the film. The Shat said that Stewart was not a rider before the film, and that Stewart was not aware of the “tricks” to make horseback riding more comfortable, such as wearing pantyhose. Yes, that’s what he said. He said he told Stewart to wear them, but that Stewart wore them outside of his costume. J The Shat stated that there is nothing more beautiful than the sight of horse and rider, but not in the case of Patrick Stewart. When asked about the 2009 Star Trek movie, The Shat said that when he heard about it, he asked Nimoy if he’d also heard about it, to which Nimoy replied yes. Shat said he waited by the phone to be called for the project, but the only call he got was from Nimoy, saying that he had been cast in the film. (everyone laughed heartily, including Shat) Shat asked Nimoy about the plot of the film, and other details at the time, but Nimoy would not budge on the subject. The Shat then asked Abrams if he could shoot his own film footage while the movie is being shot; no. Regarding his travels for his “The Captains” documentary, Shat later spoke of how great he thought Avery Brooks’ jazz music was, and thought it was odd that Brooks could be a tenured Ivy League professor, yet associate with jazz denizens, who say things like, (attempts street-type voice) “Hey, man..” Shat says jazz fans are “out there.” Shat joked about Patrick Stewart’s “phony accent” and that Shat couldn’t remember from what country Stewart’s accent originates. Shat says he surprised Kate Mulgrew with his visit, and that she looked “homeless” J. When asked what his favorite Kirk yell is, Shat asked the (very young) fan to yell “Khaaaaannnn!!!!! - as well as yell “Spooooocccck”!!!! Shat then decided the two were the same. Shat was asked what his favorite Trek movie had been, and to no one’s surprise, he said, the fifth in the series, “The Final Frontier” which Shat described as a “huge success” with “record box office”. (also directed by Shat) The Shat said his budget was thirty million, and that from the start, twenty-nine million had been spent. He said the idea of searching for God was prompted by Kirk being Jewish (Shatner and Nimoy are Jewish) and that he and Nimoy were “chosen” for the task. J There were a few more questions, then the two had to go sign autographs.

Jonathan Frakes stepped up on stage, and like Avery Brooks, he took each fan up to the stage, which of course cut into fan question time. The usual questions were asked, but someone asked Frakes what it was like to direct himself. Frakes then did a hilarious impression of his yelling commands at himself, as well as growing impatient with his own performance. You had to be there. Perhaps it’s something about Las Vegas, but Jonathan, like a couple of other actors, belted out “VOLARE!” When told that Gates McFadden didn’t seem to be happy to replace him at a convention in Florida, he said, “No comment.” Wise move. One fan apparently had forgotten “Star Trek: Nemesis” (who could blame them) because Frakes was asked what happened to Riker/Troi after TNG was cancelled. (they were married in “Nemesis”) After Frakes’ session, there was autograph-signing. Unfortunately, those who only wanted Frakes’ autograph (like us) had to get into the huge line that wrapped around the theater for Shatner and Nimoy. Thank goodness Frakes had already agreed to come back Sunday morning, because we would have been there past 9:00 p.m. (we, and others thanked him for that the next morning)

We were planning to meet some friends, so we had to leave during Brannon Braga’s session. We did manage to snap some pix (these are on the miscellaneous page, as are supporting actors from Trek and other sci-fi/fantasy) and we did hear him asking the crowd, “Why are you so nice to me here, and so mean online?” J

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