The Final Frontier 9/Final Frontier 9 (Disk 2 of 3).adf/LCARS/TextFile/Conventions/Con_Reports_1.pp/Con_Reports_1

Text File | 1995-11-17 | 35KB | 653 lines

TF01
3,Convention Reports - Part 1
4,

Another helping of news and views from the world of Trek conventions!
Kicking off this issue we have  a  selection  of views from the first
official Star Trek con seen in the  UK  - Generations - along with an
update on all the  news surrounding  the con scene and exclusive news
on Infinite Frontiers first Star Trek convention - DELTA QUADRANT! As
well as this, there are  another  couple  of  con reports from Edward
Woo... you have been warned!!


                             GENERATIONS
                            -------------
                 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
                ------------------------------------
                       4th - 5th February 1995
                      -------------------------

Ian Shuttleworth
----------------

Day One

Friday, 3rd February, 11:00  am  and  we  are  finally all packed and
ready to go. First stop is to pick  up Andy and Shelly. On our way at
last and it's 11:30 am.  With  quite  a  long  journey ahead of us we
decided to break our  journey  at  Sheffield.  This  would  give us a
chance to buy some last minute  bits from the Sheffield Space Centre.
Got into Sheffield at 1:00 pm  but  not  a Picard picture to be found
anywhere. It looked like we were  not  the first Trekkies to hit this
town so we bought something with the name "Generations" written on it
(with the hope of getting it  signed).  Well,  after a long, hard and
very slow drive to Gravesend, we arrived at Dawn's house at 6:30 pm.

Well, we all unpacked and had  a  brew.  The tension in the air about
the convention was electrifying and it must have gone midnight before
we all finally stopped talking and went to bed.

Day Two

Then suddenly, the whine of the alarm  clock  was to be heard. It was
5:30 am and I seized the opportunity to be the first to get a shower,
but yes, you guessed it, Shelly was already in there, and as for Dawn
she was already  dressed!  Well,  finally  I  got  a somewhat warmish
shower, then just enough time for a  quick bite to eat before putting
on my uniform. Well, it was now  7:30  am  and it was time to hit the
road, so we all jumped into the car and we went.

Got into London at 8:15 and as we drove past the Albert Hall we we're
astonished at the size of the queues so we quickly found an expensive
car park to park in and we waved  a  cab to take us back to the Hall.
Well, we got in the correct queue  and  waited for the doors to open.
We saw a few familiar  faces  from  past  conventions and were handed
what seemed to be hundreds of  flyers.  And then, suddenly, the queue
started to move. This was it. We were going in! We were seated in the
upper balcony which proved to be a hell of a climb, up what seemed to
be a never ending staircase,  but  what  a  magnificent sight when we
walked into the Hall. It's absolutely  breathtaking, the sight of the
famous, if not historical monument.

Well the time had finally  come,  the  lights  dimmed, and the famous
Next Generation theme tune began  to  play. Then a powerful spotlight
came shone towards the stage, and emerging  from a haze of fog walked
Worf,  or  should  I  say  Michael   Dorn.  What  a  spectacular  and
entertaining performance he gave, with  some brilliant answers to the
audience's questions.

Well, after Worf had left  the  stage  it  was  time  for a half hour
break, so we walked  over  to  the  dealer  rooms.  This  was a major
mistake as almost five thousand other  convention people had the same
idea. Well after queuing for ages we decided to go back to our seats.
Next on stage was Gates  McFadden,  who  seems  to look younger every
time you see her. She was  very  entertaining and when Worf walked on
they both did a  dance  routine  which  was  quite  funny. It was now
twelve o'clock and we  decided  to  go  eat  our  food outside. As we
walked around the rear of the hall  we  saw a massive mob of Trekkers
and in the middle  was  poor  Gates  trying  her  best  to get to her
limousine. I managed to get a couple of photo's as she drove past but
unfortunately they did not turn out so  good. Then, as I was about to
tuck into my third sandwich I spotted a rather large sort of bloke on
the other side of the road. Me  and Andy walked across and noticed it
was Big Boy Barry, or Alex, as  he  is  really called. Well, we had a
quick chat with Alex, whoops  sorry,  Big  Boy  Barry  and took a few
photo's with  him.  Oh  yes,  he  was  fascinated  with  my  flashing
tricorder and wanted to keep it. Next we saw Rick Berman at the stage
door and as there were only a few people there Rick had decided to do
a few autographs so again the camera was clicking away.

After lunch, me and Andy said we  would  stay near this stage door as
Patrick was soon to arrive next.  Well,  the girls decided to go back
inside to listen to Rick Berman's speech,  and I think word must have
spread about Patrick's arrival because as the time grew closer to the
great one's arrival, a  rather  large  crowd  had  formed outside the
stage door. Well, not to lose my  position  in the crowd, I hung onto
the railings and it paid off  because, when Patrick arrived, his limo
stopped right in front of me so  I  took as many pictures as I could.
His departure from the car was swift  and  before you knew it, he was
gone. Soon after we got back to  our  seats to see the main character
he came on stage and the audience went wild for what seemed like ages
and ages. Finally they calmed down.

As soon as Patrick  spoke,  the  audience  went wild again. Patrick's
hour seemed to fly by and  I  think  he  spoke for almost an hour and
half. He even spoke without  the  aid  of  a microphone and you could
still here his voice  from  where  we  were  sat.  I remember someone
asking him to repeat  those  immortal  words  "Mr. Crusher. Warp One.
Engage." which he did. Well  that  was  it.  He said everything, even
"Tea, Earl Grey, hot.", "Make it  so."  et  cetera. I must admit this
man is a very talented and  clever  actor  whenever he acts, be it on
Star Trek or on the stage.

But the end came and he  bowed  out  graciously.  Oh yes, I forgot to
mention that the first lady  of  Star  Trek  made an appearance. I am
referring to Nichelle Nichols (Uhura).  She  had  come to the Hall to
promote her new autobiography as she  was  signing it if you bought a
copy.

Well, as the first day had come to  an end, we decided to go to Pages
Bar in Westminster. This  is  the  only  Star  Trek  theme bar in the
country and yes, you guessed it, it was full when we arrived and they
would not let us in. So,  we  drove  back to Dawn's house stopping on
the way for some pie  and  chips.  Afterwards  we watched some videos
that Dawn had taped from T.V. after all, there had been loads of Star
Trek interviews and reports that day.  We  must have talked yet again
into the early hours of the morning before getting to bed.

Day Three

I thought I would treat myself to  a  bit  of  a lie in today and let
everyone else have a shower first so  as  I  lay there I did not here
any sounds so I assumed that the  others were thinking the same thing
si I finally made an attempt to  get up. This must have encourage the
others and we hurriedly got into our uniforms and had some breakfast.
Well it was time to get on our way again.

Got into London at 8:30 and decided  to find somewhere better to park
so we started to look. I spotted  a  small  car park in the middle of
Hyde Park and to my  amazement  it  was  free  all  day and what made
things better it was only five minutes away by foot from the hall.

Today's line was first, Levar Burton. He came on stage  and he seemed
very serious about  life  in  general.  He  spoke  like  some kind of
philosopher, still he was good. Next  was  Brent Spiner. This man was
the most comical and  entertaining  man  I  have  ever seen. He could
quite literally become a comedian, he is that funny. And all the time
he was on the stage, it was hard  to believe that this man was really
Brent and not Mr. Data. As Brent's spot came to an end, Levar came on
with this enormous pole with a  hook  on  the end and he pulled Brent
off the stage. This was hilarious.

Well, once again we  decided  to  have  our  lunch outside and whilst
talking to some people  who  said  that  Marina  was  soon to arrive,
closely followed by Jonathan Frakes. We  decided to stay outside. The
girls, except Shelly, went back inside for the charity auction. Well,
the rest of us decided to get a  good position near the stage door. A
little time passed before Marina arrived  and  then she was here. The
limo stopped and she got out. She was absolutely gorgeous. She wore a
very short black  skirt  and  a  matching  jacket  and  as she walked
towards us she stopped and did a few autographs. She looked at me and
I handed a picture for her to  sign and her hand touched mine (WOW!).
She duly signed it and walked through  the door. I even manged to get
some fantastic pictures of her.

Very soon after, Jonathan arrived  and  the  security were not taking
any chances as about a dozen hot blooded females were ready to pounce
on him the minute he arrived, so the security moved everyone away and
he got out the car and did about two autographs and was gone.

Back inside for the show  and  Marina  was  on  first and if you have
never heard her speak before  then  you  are  in  for a surprise. Her
accent is cockney and  I  mean  cockney.  But  still, this was Marina
talking and it did not matter.  I  do  recall that she kept trying to
apologize for crashing the Enterprise.  Her  reason  was that she did
not see the planet until  it  was  too late (typical). She eventually
rounded off her spot with a few more questions before leaving.

Next, after a short break was Jonathan and I think Dawn couldn't wait
as she had been talking about  him  all  weekend.  He came on and and
started his performance. I recall him saying how much he did not want
to get into the pool of tar in  the  episode Skin of Evil and how the
production crew said don't worry about  it  so he did it anyway, then
as he crawled out  he  saw  Levar  walking  towards  him  and he said
"Frakes, I would never have done that." I'm sure you get the picture.

Well it was soon over and I'm sure in my mind who I enjoyed the best.
In order, I must say in third  place  it was Michael Dorn followed by
Patrick Stewart and in first place  without  a question of a doubt it
had to be Brent Spiner.

Well it was time to go  home,  so  back  to Gravesend we went to take
Dawn home and as we said our  goodbyes  we thanked her for letting us
stop at her house and waved a  final farewell. Not looking forward to
the long drive ahead, the girls, Julie  and Shelly fell asleep in the
back and me and Andy talked about  what  a  good weekend we had as we
tootled up the M1  talking  about  things  like  time travel and warp
theories and what ever et cetera.

Well, thats about all. I can't wait until the next film. I hope there
will be another convention like this  one  and  my advice would be to
get yourself to one.


                             SOL III '95
                            -------------
            The Norbreck Castle Hotel, Blackpool, England
           -----------------------------------------------
                        26th - 29th May 1995
                       ----------------------

George Griffin
--------------

Main Guests: Dwight Schultz (Lt. Reginald Barclay)
             Eric Menyuk (The Traveler)
             Harry Harrison (author of the Steel Rats Books)
             Richard Arnold


After many years away from  Star  Trek  and not overly impressed with
the first season of Star Trek:  The Next Generation, we have recently
been watching re-runs of season  6  on  Sky  TV  and  also the run of
season 7 and Deep Space  Nine,  we  found  ourselves enjoying the new
world of Star Trek.

With this new found interest in Star Trek  we decided to go to a Star
Trek convention.  The next convention to be held was to be Sol III at
Blackpool in May and as it was  the  middle  of April there was a mad
rush to organize everything, we  could  not  get booked into the main
hotel so we had to find a small hotel in Blackpool.

After a 5:00 am start to get connecting trains to arrive in Blackpool
for 12:00 pm, my wife  and  I  made  our  way  to the hotel and after
registering and receiving our convention pack, we sat in the foyer to
study the programme for the weekend.   The convention programme was a
36 page book with black and  white  photos  of  the main guests and a
couple of stills from Generations.

First off we noticed that the  first  two episodes of Voyager were to
be shown at 2:00 pm and  then  to  be followed by Generations.  After
watching Caretaker and Parallax, we  eagerly awaited Generations, but
after about 40 minutes the picture was  lost and it didn't seem to be
coming back, so we left to get  something  to eat and be back in time
for the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony started  at  8:00  pm  and  the main guests were
introduced, Dwight Schultz,  Eric  Menyuk,  Richard  Arnold  and Chas
Evans, who brought a photograph  of  himself  and Dwight on the giant
big dipper at Blackpool pleasure beach.

After the ceremony there was to  be  a  party for all 1st timers, but
the bar where it was to be held  was taken over by an Irish folk band
so we were taken to one  of  the  video  rooms  and shown a 15 minute
video of past conventions, after  the  video  we were told that there
was a surprise for us, and we were directed to another room this time
with a bar  and  the  committee  had  arranged  for  Dwight, Eric and
Richard to spend some time  with  the  people  new to conventions, so
about 20 people had the  main  guests  all  to themselves for most of
Friday night. By 10:30 pm the party  seemed  to be in full swing, but
because of our early start we  decided  to leave for some much needed
sleep.

We unfortunately missed Richard Arnold's talk on the Saturday, mainly
because it was scheduled for 9:00 am  (!),  and this was the only one
he did.

With so much going on it was  hard  to  decide what to do next, after
Dwight Schultz's talk we went  to  the  dealers  room where I got the
final Spectra Card for  the  Master  Series  trade  cards, but it was
quite  expensive.   Then  it  was  off  to  the  video  room  to  see
Yesterday's Enterprise, but missed Data's Day.

Later in the evening  was  the   fancy  dress/disco,  the fancy dress
contestants consisted of  a  group  doing  a  scene  from  Star Wars,
Lwaxana Troi, A couple of  Klingons,  a crossover between Red Dwarf's
Mr. Flibble and Data, but the  best  entry  and overall winner was an
amazing Ambassador Kosh  from Babylon 5.

Sunday started  with  another  visit  to  the  Dealers  room  where I
purchased some more trade  cards,  2  jigsaws  one  Classic Trek, the
other Next Generation,  a  Next  Generation  operations  shirt  and a
signed Chief O'Brien trade card.

The Party on Sunday night was  a  Sci-Fi  quiz followed by a Karaoke.
Dwight Schultz turn  up  guarded  by  a  team  of  F.B.I agents which
included agents Mulder and Scully, he  also  had a sword fight with a
Cyrano de Bergerac look-alike. The quiz was a bit difficult to follow
because of the noise in the bar,  but  the Karaoke was a big hit with
everyone and Quark and his Dabo girls  went down quite well, and even
Eric Menyuk did a turn.

On Monday there was a guests panel which consisted of Dwight Schultz,
Eric Menyuk  and  Harry  Harrison,  the  main  questioning  was about
U.F.O.s and what they would do in a first contact situation.

The closing ceremony was running  about  40  minutes  late and by the
time raffles and fancy dress prizes  had been presented it was nearly
1:30 pm and we had a  train  to  catch  at  2:00 pm, so we missed the
finale which was a tribute to Gene Roddenberry.

As this was our first convention we  cannot compare it to others, but
overall it was a very enjoyable convention with plenty to see and do,
and very well organised.


Edward Woo
----------

Thursday. I was really looking forward to  this  con as it will be my
first one in over a year and  we  are returning to the Norbreck since
Frontiers in 1990. Unfortunately, neither  Baggy or Simon were going,
so I was sharing a room with  a  new  Star Trek fan. Got packed, made
sandwiches and tanked up the car with fuel for the journey in the am.

Friday. Got up at about  8:00  am  ready  for  the drive ahead. Had a
breakfast of orange juice  and  cornflakes.  Eating  my sandwiches of
salmon and lettuce as I warped up the M6 to Blackpool making a ninety
degree turn onto the M55. Following the  signs I made a slight detour
but got onto the sea  front  road  and  found a perfect parking place
where I could see the car from most windows.

As it was only 11:00 am and  still  early  I did begin to recognise a
few faces. Some were already in  the queue for registration which had
not quite opened yet. Saw Philip  of  Leicester and said hello. I put
my case down and waited at  reception.  My  room was 181 but it would
not be ready for another two hours  so  I  put what bits of luggage I
didn't need in  the  car  and  did  a  wander  of  the  hotel and its
facilities. The eating facility was better  and the hall still had an
echo. The video rooms were okay and there was a big dealers room.

Saw Franke and his sister  in  the  queue  and  we chatted for a good
while in between snacks whilst waiting to get my con package. Richard
Arnold, Dwight and Eric were on their way out to enjoy the sights and
rides of Blackpool. Noticed a lot  of  first timers at this con. Alex
Green his first Klingon language class  and  had  a few more over the
weekend.

People that were missing at  this  con  were  Paul, Sade, John that I
know of. Jacquie of South Wales fame found the hotel satisfactory and
with dogs in tow.

Chatted to  Keith  of  Peterborough  when  Leeds  Starfleet  Starbase
committee arrived - Mike, Carol, Graham.  They  were staying at a B&B
down the road as  more  cost  effective.  Got  a  hug from Carol that
nearly crushed  me.  Graham,  a  science  teacher  now  qualified was
working in a games shop  instead.  I'm  sure  I  will try and come to
Starbase '96 as part of the tech crew.

My con registration package  number  was  292.  As  it  was noon plus
thirty minutes I went to see if my room  was ready - it was so made 3
trips from my car with  bits,  books,  food and clothes. I eventually
found my room up one flight of stairs and past the dealers room.

The room was pleasant enough but  lacked  mains sockets as there were
only two. One for the TV, the  other  for the charger. Plugged the TV
set on and  got  Sky  One.  Sort  of  rested  awhile  having  tea and
biscuits. Got unpacked and actually used the cupboards this time as I
usually live out of the suitcase over the weekend.

Opened the con package. They even gave  you a free plastic yellow bag
with Sol III on  it.  Discarded  everything  I  didn't  need except a
timetable  of  events  and  video   programme.  There  was  a  trivia
competition. Some of the questions  I  knew  the answers - Klaatu and
Robbie the Robot came to  mind.  Serial  number  of Commander Riker -
difficult if not impossible unless we rewatched the episode. As to my
stewards duties, it was with the  tech crew with Tim, Richard, Andre,
Lee and company. Lee was from Stafford Space Central.

Looking at the programme it would be  the main hall events for me and
some of the latest episodes of  DS9  and Voyager. The general SF film
selection had a varied choice and worth watching.

Took a shower, but first had to find  out how it worked but got there
in the end and wet in the  process.  It was about 1:00 pm have rested
and watched Sky TV and getting  into a more comfortable ST sweatshirt
and trousers. I ambled down the  corrider  and steps towards the main
hall to find Tim. Passed  the  Norbreck  room  where the dealers were
setting up and found Jean helping  at  the  IDIC table. Janet was not
coming because one of the dogs  was  ill  but Valerie and Sheila were
here. The dealers room was big but plenty of walking space.

Entered the main hall to  find  Tim  and introduced myself as knowing
some technical bits and pieces. I  was  introduced  to Lee who was in
charge of the main  hall.  She  knew  of  my  jottings  in the [IDIC]
newsletters. She  seconded  two  others  to  help  -  they  were  the
spotlight spotters. We all trailed with  Lee back to the registration
so that we got suitable badges (blue for technical).

My first errand was to get  a  flip  chart  for the main hall so that
people knew what was taking place.  Keith,  myself and Jean and David
stood around and chatted til  the  flip  chart  arrived  - it took an
hour. The video programme had started with "Caretaker" and "Parallax"
beginning only 11 minutes late. Plenty  of people were asking for our
help - it's those red badges. There  was  a dealers table set up just
by the door way with cartoon ST characters and t-shirts with "La cute
ass of Borg" (for Counsellor Troi) and "I've got a big symbiant" (for
Dax). I dumped some of my  auction  items in Registration in a yellow
bag as well.

It was now 1600 hrs and  the  dealers  room was opened today, amazing
for a Friday. I was able  to  get  in  okay as the queues were small.
Again, nothing instantly attracted my  attention except Voyager #1 by
Starlog which I bought and a  couple  of 10x8's of our guests, Dwight
and Eric.

Having spent a bit of time  there  I  went  to see the main hall film
"Star Trek Generations" as Richard  hadn't seen it yet. Unfortunately
the quality of the  video  machine  heads  deteriorated  and the film
became unwatchable. Andre came to  our  assistance and we got another
video machine and continued with the  film.  We had pinched the spare
machine from the Classic Trek video room - no one was watching.

The faulty VCR is a Panasonic and well known for rubbish on the video
heads that needed cleaning. We  took  the machine out to registration
and had a look. We  needed  some  iso  property  alcohol to clean the
oxide off. I volunteered to  set  into  town  to  see if any shops we
still open i.e. a chemist.

I moved swiftly passing colleagues by  as  the machine was needed for
the weekend passing Frances and Carol  by.  I drove into town to find
one chemist open but no  alcohol  and  another  camera type shop that
didn't stock video head cleaner fluid. Upon returning Andew had found
some fluid and a cloth at the very  last minute and cleaned it. Had a
banana and sandwiches as I rested.

Upon returning I got to return  our  Classic Trek VCR machine back to
its own room as I followed  Mark  Oliver from Committee room (full of
drinks) to one place and another  until  the VCR was back and plugged
up ready to go.

I had to think about the route  to  the Holodeck (Castle Rock bar) as
it was not quite easy to follow  the plan. Meanwhile, John of Fek'lhr
was here and Anne Page. I passed  Jill and Christine as they had just
arrived who I last saw at Baggy's wedding last week.

The quiz had  not  yet  begun.  I  joined  Karinn,  John (Harminder's
friend) and some new attendees on a  table  for a Trek trivia quiz. I
thought it would be good but as  we waited with drink in hand. Karinn
I hadn't seen since Contagion and John had a list of items and prices
to get a  Richard's  auction  for  Harminder.  Drinks  of coke, fruit
juice, lemonade came  and  went.  People  were  wearing  18th Century
costumes and masks and wandered around the bar.

Then the news came the quiz was cancelled due to the lack of time and
there were too many entries.  It  would  be postponed until space was
available in the programme. The  disco  began  but we went to another
bar near the food restaurant.  Keith,  Peter, Dave and myself chatted
awhile watching the activities. Dax was here and Bajoran males. A lot
of DS9 and Next Gen uniforms and  one  or two Trek movie ones. It was
midnight plus 30 when I decided it  was bed time. Having already seen
the "Phage", "Time Again" and "Life Support".

Got some raffle tickets for  the  Alpha  and Beta raffles. Judith was
still  around  carrying  her  Guide  Dog   Fund  dog  which  we  duly
contributed. Finally met the famous  Neil  J. Barrett. He's different
from what I had imagined and  he  only  lives down the road and drove
in. I said someone want to  meet  him  with a steam roller. David had
his pager phone and  rang  Dave  as  to  a  Trek trivia question that
needed answering.

Taruka and Judith were waiting  for  their  lift  home as I found the
Castle Rock bar which had the first timers party and we couldn't gate
crash as Frankie and Pam  knew  it  was  not  a  first con for us. As
Dwight and Eric were  there  drinking.  So  ended  the first day just
about. As Peter didn't have  anywhere  to  stay  I suggested he could
come back to my room tonight instead of sleeping in his car. He got a
few things together and we headed up to my room.

Joseph was not in yet either.  Read  a  bit  a Voyager #1 and decided
what events I would attend  in  tomorrows proceedings. Joseph came in
then.  First he thought he had the  wrong  room when he saw Peter and
his sleeping bag but he was okay about it. He hadn't unpacked yet and
still had to get his luggage and so he went off. It was about 1:30 am
when we had tea. We set the wake  up  call for 6:45 am with my trusty
clock as back up. Batteries  for  camera  and shaver on charge before
lights went out and sleep.

Saturday. Hello Helen. I here you were  at the con through Jean but I
didn't see you - hope  life  is  better.  The  0645 alarm phone rang.
Joseph stayed asleep in bed. Peter  was  already up as I moved slowly
towards the bathroom. Washed, shaved  and  dressed  for the day. Went
down to breakfast at about 7:15 am with people already eating. A full
fat buster breakfast of eggs,  bacon,  sausage, toast, tea, juice and
baked beans. Something to survive on all  day. After the food, got my
camera and extras and went to  the  main  hall  to see "The Cloud", a
Voyager story but it was also to  get a seat for Richard's talk after
it.

Unfortunately, Richard was only on for  one session the whole weekend
which is disappointing to us and  for  him. The video finished and we
had a break. As part of  the  tech  crew  we  got to set up the slide
projector equipment. Glenn would be in charge of the cartridges as we
maximized the viewscreen. Glenn was on  top  of a portable crane. Got
him a drink as it was hot  today.  The attendees gathered as I stayed
on the left hand side of the hall for any tech problems.

Richard started his slideshow with behind  the  scenes of DS9, on and
off camera. Scenes from Generations.  We changed cartridges smoothly,
the sign was an  explosion.  Couldn't  remember  the slides but there
were only two from Voyager -  keeping  them tight, the Art Department
from outside eyes.

Richard then had a Q&A  with  the  attendees. Philip Anglim who plays
Bariel wanted to leave the show and  so the character was killed off.
O'Brien's pips could so eaily be  solved but Paramount were stalling.
Star  Trek  Generations  2  script  is  definite  but  no  script  or
characters yet. Jake Sisko has  grown  very  tall this year, Sisko is
promoted to Captain, sporting an end  of season beard. Rick Kolbe has
publicly been seen with Kate Mulgrew. Cliff Bole does have two shorts
- blue and green. Voyager renewed for  a  second season and DS9 for a
fourth. No Star Trek  office  hence  continuity errors still persist.
The runabout set is still  available  for  use. The Defiant bridge is
the smallest set  on  the  show.  Miles  O'Brien  still there despite
Colm's film work. Richard Arnold said it is now more difficult to get
on the sets but still  has  contacts. Paramount only notices anything
when the sales figures drop and  there  is  a lot of crap merchandise
out there.

Then Richard's auction began. Dave Simons was in the room and Richard
knew there was something special  for  him. Again, mainly autographed
trading cards and photos. DeForest 10x8 - £50. Generations phone card
- £40. Generations Enterprise  #51  out  of  250,000  -  £65 as early
numbers went to the cast.  Jonathan  and  Patrick trading card - £46,
whilst Kirk and Uhura trading card - £45. Dave Simons got the Voyager
press kit for £125  only  (that's  cheap).  10x8  Kate Mulgrew - £37.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Star Trek turtles - £30. Keith bought the signed
trading card of Kira - £30. envelope of Star Trek goodies - £101. CIC
artwork, 3 Borg episodes -  £15.  Hamilton  plate  of Pike and Vina -
£50, Finally a Galoob figure of Data - £35.

I think Richard was surprised  how low  the prices were for the stuff
- probably a sign of  the  times  as  prices  have been higher in the
past.

It was 1100 hrs and  our  guest  Dwight  was  next. He came on stage,
announced by  Lee  to  a  huge  welcome  and  flash  photography  and
clapping. He is very distinctive  in  appearance  and voice and could
mimic anyomne including Patrick. He did  a brief Picard and was asked
about the character  Barclay,  his  spide  impersonation,  his A-Team
work, working with the late George Peppard and Mr T. Mr T was working
brilliantly with a child who was dying and Dwight said he couldn't do
that sort of thing - so  difficult.  There  is  a rumour of an A-Team
movie with a new and  younger  cast.  Pam  bought Dwight up his drink
upon stage. As he poured  it  into  his  glass everyone watched if he
would spill a drop. He described how  he  got the Murdock role in the
A-Team based upon a character he met. His recent portrayal in Babylon
5 seemed to cast him  in  roles  of  unusual  mean  "mad ones" he has
cornered as an actor. He would have  loved to be in the "Generations"
movie. Being on the TNG set, he  couldn't believe the amount of jokes
being played especially Jonathan and  the  peg on someones clothes in
camera shot - the director would say "Cut!"

I can't remember anymore but his  repatoire was entertaining us for a
full one and a half hours. It  was  only his second convention and so
far he was enjoying it.

We were running behind but we had a half hour break before Chas Evans
was to talk about the releases of new films and CIC video promotions.
it was an oppurtunity to get some food and pop upto the Art Room.

The Art Room was quiet and  we  got  permission to take photos. A USS
Enterprise made of rubbish bits. Plenty of portraits by Wendy Ward or
Ware (I can't remember) all  superb  ranging  from Star Wars, Indiana
Jones  to  Star  Trek   people.   A   couple   of  childlike  Galileo
shuttlecrafts on the floor. Plenty of Anderson models, a Thunderbird,
Shadomobile, Ski and to a massive R2D2  that had a remote control. On
one table we had a Bat'leth made  of  solid metal - it was heavy. Got
some nice photos  despite  the  relecting  sun  and  daylight  on the
picture frames.

We returned to part of Chas' talk -  he was still going - he had many
film trailers.  Waterworld  was  being  edited  by  Costner,  various
stories no how the most expensive had  spent its millions even a boat
from Italy. Tank Girl not  quite  understood  in the US and re-edited
for the UK. Generations 2 logo already prepared.

Erik Menyuk started his guest show  only  a little late but I thought
it was poorly  attended  -  shame  that.  He  came  upon the platform
wearing his baseball cape from yesterday's opening ceremony. He had a
bag of bits next to a table, stool and drinks tray. He had a cassette
recorder which he talked to to prove  to  his wife he was in England.
He had a camera and took pictures  of the audience. He then came down
to the audience and gave one attendee the camera so he could get good
photos of him for his wife and posed briefly so the shot was taken.

During his answer session with the crowd he started to try and answer
a question before  derailing  with  other  stories.  He  even started
answering the Trek trivia competition  but  we  gave  him some of the
answers. He then realised he  was  being  videoed onto a screen above
him. He tried to  outrun  the  video  camera  operator ducking in the
process but the man was too quick.  He talked abput the Traveller and
not getting the part of Data in early auditions.

He was asked about his law  studies,  the O.J. Simpson trial, whether
he's guilty and will he get away  with  it. He said he could be doing
O.J.'s work if the trial goes on that long.

Eric's favourite topic was his young  son, just recently born and how
to bring them up. Eric said he and  Patrick had one thing in common -
both bald.

Jean who was taking notes could not write them down fast enough as he
was always off on a tangent  in  a storyline, but Eric's entertaining
bit soon ran out of  time.  He  did  mention  the con booklet - wrong
Enterprise for Picard, his work with  Andy Griffiths and Mattlock and
the three episodes  of  LA  Law  and  Married  with  Children. He was
currently unemployed as an actor but has  his law studies for being a
lawyer in a couple of years time.

Around about 1600hrs, Alan Whibley, a  man of Special Effects came on
with bits and bobs.  Keith  stayed  but  I  drifted  out  to get some
photo's of Dwight and  Eric  before  they  were sold out. Fortunately
Dwight was in the dealers room signing  and photos being taken. I got
him to personalise one for me.  Richard  taking  my money first for a
change. Dwight had his agent with  him  and had presigned 1000 photos
of Barclay for speed and efficiency.

I founf Eric in the bar  as  usual  and  he  signed his photo with my
Chinese name despite  the  unusual  spelling.  I  didn't  confuse him
anymore with the pronunciation.

After Alan's talk, Keith said he  got his business card with possible
jobs in special effects but you  had  to  start  at the bottom of the
ladder like him.

Next we had Rog Reytus auction part  one, the first 60 odd items. His
table was being set up,  Carole  doing  the paperwork. Roger needed a
drink before starting bitter. As I enjoyed  the auction I got to help
carrying and presenting the auction  items  to  hall attendees. I was
showing them to the camera so  everyone  in  the hall got a good view
propping them on the edge of the table. Not too many people as it was
early evening and suppose hunger overcame the attendees. Personally I
thought the reserve prices were  high  but  some  sold and others did
not. Roger was doing the bidding and  selling quickly. Quite a few of
writers signed photos  failed  to  sell.  Fran  bought  the Star Trek
record and book set. Quite a  few  American TV guides Star Trek sold.
Playmates figures of Troi and Jonathan  sold both were autographed. A
small  Leonard  Nimoy  was  sold   but   came  back  because  it  was
personalised.

Those Star Trek annuals found  their  way  to  the auction and I must
think everyone's got a set by now but Roger still tried to sell them.
The Star Trek playing cards from The Wrath of Khan are rare as I have
a set but got expensive for me. The items went swift and quick and we
came in with a half hour  to  spare  -  very unusual as we overrun in
most cons. Helped to carry of the  items to the committee room as the
bidders came for the money and items. Part two would begin tomorrow.


                         to be continued...