Posted in: Reviews, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction

Re-watch of the Planet of the Apes

Written by TardisCaptain
Planet of the Apes DVDs
Planet of the Apes DVDs

I just finished watching all five of the classic Planet of the Apes movies using the Legacy Collection of DVDs. I had originally started this watch through several months ago when I was prepping for the Apes Victorious entry in the Character Creation Challenge.

I remember watching the different shows when they were shown on the mid-Saturday movie time slot on KSTU (back when they were still channel 20 on the dial). They were show in different order, but I just remember being enthralled by the thought of a “planet of talking apes”. This was what science fiction was, the whole “What If” scenario. Sometimes and idea pops up and says “What if there was a planet populated by talking apes?” Not only did this make for an entertaining series of movies, but a good set of comic books as well. I’ve always felt that this would be an excellent world to conduct role-playing sessions in. That was part of the reason I was interested in Apes Victorious when I saw it on DriveThruRPG.

The disks in this Legacy Collection included the following.

Planet of the Apes (1968)- The original movie that started it all. Several astronauts returning from a long journey crash land on a desolate planet. After several days of traveling through wastelands they discover mute humans being hunted by intelligent apes. These apes are divided into several categories. The warlike gorillas, the chimp scientists and the orangutan leaders. I still enjoy watching this film when I can. The ways that the actors are still able to portray their art through the makeup still astounds me.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)- A second set of astronauts searching for the first group find the planet. Following the path (and meeting the same characters from the first movie) our heroes discover that a race of mutant survivors with physic powers live under the surface of the destroyed city. While some of the special effects look a little dated, the plot works. This was originally going to be the end of the series.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)- Three apes (two of which we know from the earlier films) use one of the spacecraft used by humans and accidentally get sent back to the current time. The apes are treated like celebrities until human fear of their unborn child takes over. It was good to see Ricardo Montalban. The way the apes got back into the past seemed a little “whoops how do we get out of this corner we’ve painted.” but otherwise a good film.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)- The child of the two talking apes returns to see what is happening to the other apes that are trained by the humans to do subservient tasks. How far can they be pushed? An interesting uprising film. The ending was a little weird, but I understand that they changed it at the last minute.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)- Set a few years after the events of Conquest, Caesar is trying to create a community with apes and humans living side by side. But what happens when old grudges arise from both inside and outside of Ape City? This was an interesting ending to the series. I thought I had recognized singer Paul Williams as one of the orangutans.

Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)- A very good behind the scenes documentary hosted by Roddy McDowall showing the legacy of the five classic films and the impact that they have had on society. It also talks about the animated series, the TV series and the merchandising.

This DVD set is an excellent resource if anyone wants to role-play in this universe. I only wish that it also contained the TV series and animated series. There are also a series of comics from Malibu Comics and Boom Studios that would also be invaluable for Ape Masters (Game Masters). Proof that there are more stories to tell in the Planet of the Apes universe.

Posted in: Cosplay, Star Trek

Latest cosplay project: Admiral Picard uniform variant

Written by TardisCaptain
Cosplay Project step 1
Cosplay Project step 1

It’s been a while since I’ve put together any type of new cosplay. There hasn’t been any events where I could cosplay at (with the pandemic and everything). I’m also a little self conscious about trying to cosplay with my glasses and gut. I know that my friends and other cosplay enthusiasts would try to tell me that those two items don’t really matter in cosplay. But I’m my own worse critic when I look in the mirror. So I’m using this project as a motivator to get a new cosplay finished and to lose some weight in the process. In the past I have cosplayed Star Trek (several Starfleet uniforms, Angosian soldier), Star Wars (Imperial Officer, Rebel Commando) and my favorite, Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (a robe, pajamas, copy of the guide and (of course) a towel). I may have to do that one again for a convention.

I started with the decision to put together an Admiral’s uniform from one of the new Star Trek series on Paramount+, Star Trek: Picard. This is the uniform used by Starfleet in the mid 2380’s. I thought that the red with the gold stripes looked really sharp. The sleeves were also quite interesting as well. As we see different admirals wearing different styles of uniforms, I’m taking the opportunity to make my uniform a little more unique. That will be revealed later.

Step one has been completed. Some friends had purchased their mid-2380’s uniforms from a site called FanRek and they really liked them. I saw the shirt portion of the admiral’s uniform there (and at the time they were having a 20% off sale for Mother’s Day) so I pulled the trigger and made the purchase. The shirt arrived in ten days which shocked me. I thought it would have taken a few weeks more. This made for a very pleasant surprise when the packaged arrived. I’m modeling the shirt in the above photo. It appears to be made out of a nylon type fabric (I don’t know my fabrics by heart) so I will be wearing an undershirt with it. But for the test photo it felt fairly comfortable. In the past, most of my uniform tops had been hand made by friends. However schedules had been very hectic so I decided to try this company.

For step two, I’m going to get a new set of rank pips and combadge. I have a set already on my 2370’s uniform (grey top with division colored undershirt). However I didn’t want to add to the wear and tear of the two shirts by swapping the pins as needed. I didn’t see anything special on the episodes for pants or boots. So I am going to continue to use the black pants and black boots that I have used in previous cosplay.

Step three is going to be the additions to the cosplay that I want to make. I’m not ready to talk about it now because it may change as I try to put it together. But it would logically fit in with the theme of the uniform style. Yes photos will be posted as things come about.

For future cosplays I have a few ideas. I’d like to do a hybrid of a TOS/TNG style Klingon uniform. We’ve seen a few Klingons with bellies and I’ve got a good cloak that would work this with cosplay. From Babylon 5 I’d like to assemble an Centarui Ambassador (like Londo Mollari). Besides being able to have a belly, I could have some creativity with the flamboyant jacket. As I’ve always been fascinated by pirates, that is also on the list as well.

I’m actually looking forward to this.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: May 17-23

Written by TardisCaptain
When you find out your favorite NBA team has the best record in the league.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes twitter account for the week of May 17th through the 23rd.

May 17
“Good tea… nice house.” Worf- The Survivors, Stardate: 43152.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

May 18
“Going out with phasers firing may seem heroic, but in the long run, it is merely foolish.” Tuvok- Learning Curve, Stardate: 48846.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #WeAreStarfleet

May 19
“Labels do not make arguments.” Spock- I Mudd, Stardate: 4513.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

May 20
Happy Birthday to John Billingsley. @JBillingsley60 https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/John_Billingsley #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #WeAreStarfleet

“Once again, I’m struck by your species’ desire to help others.” Dr. Phlox- Dear Doctor, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #WeAreStarfleet

May 21
“James T Kirk.” Lucsly “The one and only.” Sisko “Seventeen separate temporal violations. The biggest file on record.” Lucsly “The man was a menace.” Dulmur- Trials and Tribble-ations, Stardate: 4523.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #WeAreStarfleet

May 22
“A library serves no purpose unless someone is using it.” Mr. Atoz- All Our Yesterdays, Stardate: 5943.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

May 23
“Know your enemy and know yourself and you will always be victorious.” Portal (quoting Sun Tzu)- The Last Outpost, Stardate: 41386.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: Music

Thank you 103.1 The Wave

Written by TardisCaptain
103.1 The Wave
At the 103.1 The Wave KLO-FM offices.

One of the standard marketing techniques that radio stations use to attract listeners is to run promotional give-a-ways. Last week I was lucky to win one of these promotions. KLO-FM, aka 103.1 The Wave, was running a contest for listeners who heard an audible clue to call in an be lucky caller number seven.

The week before the prize was a $100 gift card and the chance to win a Las Vegas trip (that would have been nice). On the Thursday before the contest ended, I was caller number six in one of the entries. At first I was excited because usually when you try to call in on one of these promotions, so many people are calling in that all you get is a busy signal. So when it started ringing I got excited. The person answering the phone (it wasn’t Andrea even though the audio clip happened during her show) said “I’m sorry you are caller number six.” Dang it.

The next week 103.1 The Wave was running a contest for Mother’s Day at Lagoon, an amusement park in Utah that first opened in 1886. If you heard the audio clue of every mom ever (she was threatening to turn the car around if the kids didn’t settle down) and was caller number seven, you could win a family pack of four tickets. This prize had a higher value than $100 by far plus taking my family to an amusement park was something we badly needed. So I listened for the annoyed mother. Surprisingly enough, on the second day of the contest the I was actually able to make it through. The phone rang and Chet Tap (the morning DJ) asked me who I was. After responding (and we follow each other on Facebook so he knows about my attempt to win the week prior) he told me that I was once again caller number six. Gah!!! At least he played the recording on the radio before talking to the lucky winner.

Wednesday work duties prevented me from calling in. But Thursday I waited for the audio clues again and made my attempt. Busy signal, busy signal, busy signal. What the heck, let’s give it one more try. Ring. What? Ringing? Chet Tap comes on the phone again and I’m expecting to hear, “caller number six”, but instead he said “Finally. You made it as caller number seven.” Woot!!!!! After taking my information I dragged my wife downstairs so she could hear me win on the air. She’s excited because we haven’t been to Lagoon in a few years so this was a great Mother’s Day gift for her. The photo above is when I went down to the offices to pick up the passes. Yes I asked for permission to remove my mask and no one was near me while I was taking the photo.

I listen to the radio for a good chunk of the day, about 8-10 hours. In the car while driving or when working. In fact I’m listening to 103.1 The Wave while I’m writing this blog post. The music can play in the background without dragging my attention from what I’m working on. I also like the randomness of the music plus the structure of the regular shows (80’s at 8, Sets with Andrea, Mister’s Theme Park and especially the punk/industrial/goth themed Unrest on the Seventh Day). I found 103.1 The Wave just after it launched in 2016 and loved that they focused on just playing the music. I had felt abandoned by the local alternative radio stations. Either the format was dropped by their management or the DJs became so annoying that I had to stop listening. Sure, there were the local rock stations that were good, but they just didn’t scratch the itch of the alternative music from the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. I’ve estimated that about 98% of the songs played on The Wave don’t give me the urge to reach over and change the radio station. If they could drop “The Reason” by Hoobastank that number would probably rise to 99.9%. That song is like nails on the chalkboard. The rest of the time I’m listening to an old favorite, a song I hadn’t heard in a long time, or music that I just won’t hear on the other stations.

So thank you 103.1 The Wave, not only for the Lagoon tickets for Mother’s Day, but just being a soundtrack in my life. The music is great and the DJs make the station enjoyable. Keep it going.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: May 10-16

Written by TardisCaptain
I don’t know if I like this update to Microsoft Word.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes twitter account for the week of May 10th through the 16th.

May 10
“Perhaps to be a Teer is to see in new ways. I begin to like you, Earthman… and I saw fear in the Klingon’s eye.” Maab- Friday’s Child, Stardate: 3497.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

May 11
“There are always other solutions. You have said so yourself, many times.” Picard- Sarek, Stardate: 43917.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

May 12
Happy Birthday to Jennifer Hetrick. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jennifer_Hetrick #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9 #WeAreStarfleet

“When it comes to choosing between science and profit I’ll choose profit every time.” Vash- Q-Less, Stardate: 46531.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #WeAreStarfleet

Happy Birthday to Eugene Cordero. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Eugene_Cordero #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #WeAreStarfleet

“It’s creative estimating. When you get an assignment, you exaggerate how long its gonna take, then you’re a hero when it’s done early.” Rutherford- Temporal Edict, Stardate: 57501.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #WeAreStarfleet

May 13
“Just beyond the next planet, just beyond the next star…” Archer (hologram)- These Are The Voyages, Stardate: 47457.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #WeAreStarfleet

May 14
“Speak softly, governor. Those who cannot hear an angry shout, may strain to hear a whisper.” Odan- The Host, Stardate: 44821.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

May 15
(on being in a war) “Maybe this is one experience that can’t be shared. It’s too.. hard to.. describe how I feel to someone who didn’t see what I saw.” Neelix- Jetrel, Stardate: 48832.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #WeAreStarfleet

May 16
Star Trek Into Darkness premiered on this date in 2013. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_Into_Darkness #StarTrek #WeAreStarfleet

“You don’t rob a bank when the getaway car has a flat-tire.” Dr. McCoy- Star Trek: Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55 #StarTrek #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: My Creations, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Homebrewed stats for Starships Part III

Written by TardisCaptain

Past Entries:

Homebrewed Stats for Starships

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part II

I received quite a bit of feedback on my last batch of starships that I have converted to FASA’s Star Trek Starship Combat Simulator. So I’ve sat down and scanned a few more into PDF formats. Once again, these are from the original documents that I created back in the early 90’s with a photocopier and cutting and pasting the images into the documents and then photocopying that document.

Most of these entries are destroyers. In my first entry I selected several ships at random. Starting in my second blog post I started going in order of what I had in the book. I tended to follow the organization that was in the three Starship Recognition Manuals. I’ve got a few more destroyers in the next batch then we will be onto some of the dreadnoughts.

Starranger-Class-X-CruiserDownload

In the original source for this starship, it was called the Ranger Class Cruiser. However FASA already had a Ranger Class. So I renamed it to Starranger. Many years later I’ve noticed that there have been several published designs (both licensed and fan-made) that use the “Ranger Class” name.

Behemoth-Class-IX-DestroyerDownload

I’m not certain what source I got this starship from. In 20/20 hindsight I should have referenced them when I created the document. I thought it was an interesting concept on the Saladin/Hermes family design.

Saladin-Class-VII-DestroyerDownload

And speaking of the Saladin Class, here it is directly from the Starfleet Technical Manual. When I created this document, I had no idea that Saladin was a real historical figure. I created a backstory for the name and entered it into this starship description. If I was creating this document now, I would update it to properly represent it’s namesake.

Shenandoah-Class-V-DestroyerDownload

This was definitely from a fan-made technical manual. It was probably one that I had borrowed from my fellow Treknologist, Dennis Hollinger. I’ll have to ask him if he remembers which book this was from and post it in a future blog entry.

Siva-Class-VII-DestroyerDownload

Another member of the Saladin/Hermes family. I believe this was from one of the Starfleet Academy tech books. I’m still unpacking things so I’ll see if I can track this one down. I know I’ve seen other (better) drawings of the Siva class.

That’s it for this round. I’m also planning to set up a page where all of these can be found in one location. More on that soon.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: May 3-9

Written by TardisCaptain
Look out, here comes another Monday!

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes twitter account for the week of May 3rd through the 9th.

May 3
“I know that for them (humans) guilt can be a powerful motivator. Don’t let it cloud your judgment.” T’Pol- E2, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #WeAreStarfleet

May 4
“There are lives at stake– by our standards– alien life, but lives nevertheless.” Kirk- The Corbomite Maneuver, Stardate: 1512.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

May 5
Happy Birthday to Marc Alaimo. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Marc_Alaimo #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

“There was a time when the mere mention of my race inspired fear. And now… we’re a beaten people. Afraid to fight back because we don’t want to lose what little is left.” Dukat- Return to Grace, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #WeAreStarfleet

Happy Birthday to Santiago Cabrera. @santiagoc https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Santiago_Cabrera #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #WeAreStarfleet

“No one gets all of it right, Raf.” Rios- The Impossible Box, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #WeAreStarfleet

May 6
“Your past does not excuse unethical or immoral behavior, sir.” Data- The Most Toys, Stardate: 43872.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

May 7
“You just pretend that nothing bothers you and then you turn everything into a joke.” Torres “That’s a valid observation. Defense mechanisms come in many forms.” The Doctor- Homestead, Stardate: 54868.6 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #WeAreStarfleet

May 8
Star Trek film released on this date in 2009. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_(film) #StarTrek #WeAreStarfleet

“You will always be a child of two worlds. I am grateful for this, and for you.” Sarek- Star Trek (2009) #StarTrek #WeAreStarfleet

May 9
“We are every bit as fragile as an egg and as impossible to reconstruct.” Aaron Conor- The Masterpiece Society, Stardate: 45470.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: Reviews, Star Trek

Book Review- Star Trek: Picard The Last Best Hope

Written by TardisCaptain
Last Best Hope cover
The cover to the Star Trek: Picard novel “The Last Best Hope”

Note: This article that I wrote originally appeared at www.SeventhFleet.org

Book Review- Star Trek: Picard The Last Best Hope

Title: Star Trek: Picard The Last Best Hope

Author: Una McCormack

Page count: 336

Breakdown: Fifteen chapters in three parts.

Year Published: 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3944-5 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3945-2 (ebook)

The Last Best Hope is the first novel based on the CBS All Access (now Paramount+) series “Star Trek: Picard”.  I recently had a chance to purchase this book for my Amazon Kindle to add to my reading list.  Being the first book in the series, I knew that I just had to know the show and not any previous books (I’m doing a lot of catch up on my Star Trek reading right now) so I was eager to open this book up and explore.

                This book starts out with Starfleet Command approaching Captain Picard with the task of assisting the Romulan Star Empire after the discovery of the supernova that will destroy countless inhabited planets.  The newly promoted Admiral Picard is immediately moved into a role of coordinating the relocation efforts that the Federation extends to the Romulans.  He first meets Lt. Commander Raffi Musiker who briefs the Admiralty on the supernova that we first learned about in the 2009 Star Trek movie. 

                There is a lot of discussion about how the Federation would handle such an evacuation.  The resources needed, the ships built, and the manpower required.  What projects would be placed on hold just to accomplish such a goal.  There is a lot of insight into what happens with refugees.  Especially when the government like the Romulan Star Empire is built upon keeping secrets.

                Author Una McCormack introduces us to several of the characters we will get to know in the Star Trek: Picard television series.  The above-mentioned Raffi Musiker and her time as Picard’s Executive Officer on the USS Verity.  We get an insight into the effects the mission has on her family life.  Doctor Bruce Maddox mentors a student known as Agnes Jurati.  This mentoring develops into a relationship, especially when Dr. Maddox is forced to abandon his life’s work to develop a form of artificial ship builders known as the Synths.  One of he Romulan planets that is evacuated by the Verity contains Zani and the band of warrior nuns known as the Qowat Milat.  Here Picard meets a very young boy named Elnor.  While not seen in the series, Geordi La Forge features prominently in this novel as he heads up the shipbuilding efforts at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards building the Wallenberg Class transport.  We also get a chance to meet future Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy at Federation Headquarters.

                There is also a rich band of characters that are introduced for this novel.  Estella Mackenzie works at Utopia Planitia alongside La Forge and comes up with the idea of creating androids to help with construction.  With the supernova being a unique event, Doctor Amal Safadi at Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy conducts several studies.  He tries to get a hold of his Romulan counterpart, the scientist Doctor Nokim Vritet who first discovered the disaster that had befallen his people.  On the USS Verity are two interesting individuals such as Lt. Koli Jocan, a Bajoran who is very familiar with relocation due to the history of her people and provided one of the most inspirational moments within the book.  The other is the Romulan “cultural liaison officer” Lt. Tajuth sent to make sure that Picard considers Romulan interest while within their territory.  Tajuth provides quite a bit of insight into the Romulan culture.  One of the more interesting characters is Olivia Quest.  A politician who is a representative from the agricultural colony near the Romulan border called Estelen.   She provides a lot of insight into how the smaller worlds within the Federation feel about the sudden influx of Romulan refugees into the area. 

                With this book set before the Romulan star exploded I was wondering if we were going to see or hear from two individuals.  The first one, Spock, did not disappoint me.  I was also wondering if we were going to hear anything about Nero and his crew.  They did not make an appearance, but this may have been due to (at the time) the rights to characters from the 2009 movie.

                The writing style and detail provided by the author delved very deeply into the characters and various sub-plots.  The short chapters made for quick reading.  Unfortunately, my reading schedule only allowed for short reads each day.  Most of these I did not want to put my reading tablet down.  I found myself spending extra time reading “just a few more pages”.  The writing was that engaging in the story and characters. 

                This was also the curse of the book.  The main characters seen in the show had their stories wrapped up by the end of the book in a very good story.  I’m not certain if there was a limit on the number of pages, but it seemed like the very well written characters introduced into the book were quickly wrapped up in a few pages.  This disappointed me a little.  With how well these characters had been written, I was hoping to find out more about what happened with them at the end of the book.  Perhaps this could be an opportunity to see some of these characters again in future novels.

                If you enjoyed watching the first season of Star Trek: Picard and would like to know how some of the characters developed before the television series, I would highly recommend The Last Best Hope.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: April 26-May 2

Written by TardisCaptain
Data, my jokes aren’t that bad. Are they?

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes twitter account for the week of April 26th through May 2nd.

April 26
“Hope? I always thought that was a Human failing, Mister Spock.” Dr. McCoy “True, doctor. Constant exposure does result in a certain degree of contamination.” Spock- The Gamesters of Triskelion, Stardate: 3211.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

April 27
“My great-grandfather was once bitten by a rattlesnake. After three days of intense pain, the snake died.” Riker- Shades of Gray, Stardate: 42976.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

April 28
“On Earth, there is a cautionary tale about the dangers of releasing a magical creature called a genie from the bottle. Once it’s out, it’s extremely difficult to put back in.” Dr. Phlox- The Forgotten, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #WeAreStarfleet

April 29
Happy Birthday to Kate Mulgrew. @TheKateMulgrew https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Kate_Mulgrew #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekProdigy #WeAreStarfleet

“There are three things to remember about being a Starship Captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew.” Janeway- Dark Frontier, Stardate: 52619.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #WeAreStarfleet

April 30
“My mother always said, ‘If you try to combine talking and eating, you’ll end up doing neither very well.'” O’Brien- The Die is Cast, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #WeAreStarfleet

May 1
“I am pleased to see that we have differences. May we together become greater than the sum of both of us.” Surak- The Savage Curtain, Stardate: 5906.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

May 2
“Dream not of today, Mr. Picard.” Galen- The Chase, Stardate: 46731.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

Posted in: My Creations, Star Trek

Flashback Article: Star Trek Encyclopedia Update 1994

Written by TardisCaptain
Galactic Engineers Concordance Logbook
The cover to the Galactic Engineers Concordance Volume 6 Number 1 (January – February 1995)

One of my earliest articles that I had published in a national fanzine was an update to the Star Trek Encyclopedia that was published in 1994 and written by Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda and Debbie Mirek. I remember purchasing the Encyclopedia the date it came out, it was the same day that the news broke of the death of Kurt Cobain. I poured over this book several times. I remember talking with some fellow Star Trek fans over the early internet fan sites. It was during one of these discussions that I discovered that his version of the encyclopedia was slightly different than my copy. I was a little shocked as no announcement had been made about an update. We had spent a lot of money purchasing our books. We didn’t want to spend any additional money buying different copies. So my friend let me borrow his copy of the book and I did a side-by-side comparison.

I typed up this comparison article (calling it v1.0 to v1.1) and submitted it to a Treknology fanzine called The Galactic Engineers Concordance Logbook. The article was published in the Volume 6, Number 1 (Jan-Feb 1995) issue of the fanzine. I was able to find my copy of this fanzine and I scanned the article into a PDF file. It is presented here.

Star-Trek-Encycopedia-1994-updateDownload

When several of the staff writers for Star Trek: The Next Generation came to Salt Lake for a writers presentation, I was able to provide them with a copy of the article. They also asked me to mail a copy to their offices at Paramount. However someone there thought I was attempting to submit a script. They sent back a copy of the script submission guidelines.

As I find more of my past articles, I will scan them and post them on this website.

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