An Interesting Day (November 3, 2007)
The 'Imiloa Astronomy Center celebrated Star Trek's fortieth anniversary yesterday (Saturday). {Smile} I went, of course. I used to know the original series pretty well thanks to reruns, tho I haven't followed any of the later incarnations as closely. Maybe I'll catch up some day. I'm sure I can catch the other series in reruns like I caught the first series. {Smile}
Anyway, they had special presentations off and on all day. I didn't make it to the morning talk about the fans, or to the lunch with live music. I had to miss something... those sounded like reasonable choices. {Smile}
Mom and I got there in time to check out the special exhibit of Star Trek Memorabilia. {Smile} That was interesting. They had toys and costumes both commercial and fannish, as well as mugs, plates, and even a collection of hand carved ships made of wood. {Smile} I was quite intrigued. {Smile}
Then we went to a talk by the featured guests: Michael and Denise Okuda, who worked on set design and special effects for a long time. Michael's been at it since The Next Generation started. Denise got into it later... in Deep Space Nine, according the article I just checked. {Smile} Anyway, the talk was about how they've been busy remastering the original series and The Next Generation. {pause} When first asked to do this, they said "no." They didn't want to be part of wrecking a show they loved. But they decided to take it on when they were promised creative control. {smile} I think they've done a good job, judging from the advance stills we got to see. They've fixed some minor shots they weren't happy with, and varied the angles you get to watch the shuttle land and take off from. However, they assured us they didn't change much. They mainly added detail to the shots while keeping the original vision. {Smile}
Next was the costume contest. There was some kind of a small princess in gold cloth and tattoos, and her little brother, a "baby Borg" with tubes going between his cap and his clothes. {SMILE} Then there were two older girls, maybe late elementary school, or else intermediate school (late primary to early secondary school). One was a young Klingon girl who wants to be a warrior just like her father some day. {Smile} The other was a very good Jadzia Dax, the gal in Deep Space Nine with the spots framing her face. All four of them won prizes. {Smile}
There were a few more entries among the adults. I don't remember all, but there were maybe around eight or so? I do remember the three winners. There was a "visitor from the future" who admitted she was from elsewhere, but certainly enjoyed the series. We also had a science officer from another ship in the original series. His costume was a handmade dress uniform: the only dress uniform of the day. {Smile} Korg the Klingon won, and he deserved to. {Smile} He really did a good job, both with his makeup, and with his uniform. {BIG SMILE}
Then the audience called for the staff to go up on stage. They did. They included assorted regular uniforms, plus the third Klingon of the day, and what I think was a gray-skinned Borg, and a gal who didn't stop at her uniform, but included a work panel. (The Okudas signed that panel in silver ink, I noticed later. {SMILE}) Oh, and then there was the gal with the most original costume I saw all day. Her floor-length dress was black, with gold stars and gold glitter. Her hat was the Enterprise E from The Next Generation.
Yes, she went as the ship! {REALLY BIG GRIN}
Then Dad joined us, bearing Subways for all three of us. We ate dinner in Mom's car. Then Mom left, while Dad and I went inside.
Then we lined up by the planetarium for the next show. While in line, Dad brought out his tickets. He had a general ticket, and a ticket for a six o'clock planetarium show. {blink} That was the first I'd heard about that. They'd asked about which show I wanted to see when I came in with Mom, but I only heard about the three o'clock show then. Since that one overlapped the last half of the Okuda's talk, and would have overlapped the first half of the costume contest if they'd started when they said they would, I wasn't interested in that one! {Smile} But six was a dead time, and Dad had a ticket. I went to the front desk and inquired. She happily gave me a ticket. {BIG SMILE}
Next was the presentation that convinced me I wanted to come. No, it wasn't by the Okudas. It was by my former astronomy professor, Richard Crowe. He had a show in the planetarium called "The Stars and Science of Star Trek." This was divided into two parts, as the title almost suggests. The first section was on the stars, and the second was on the science and technology.
For the stars, Richard had gone thru the series, and figured out which stars mentioned were real stars. He had a really long list, including the most likely candidate for Vulcan. Then he "took us out" to visit a selection of them. We'd start with Earth's night sky, and "rush out" to the chosen star, and circle it, sort of seeing what their night looked like. I say "sort of" because our real night sky doesn't have a lot of connect-the-dot lines showing some of our constellations, and this did. For almost all of the stars, our constellations were pretty distorted. Most of the constellation lines were on one side of the star. The main exception was when we visited the most likely candidate for Vulcan. They were pretty close, so the constellations were all around. They were distorted, but often still recognizable. {Smile} I did think that was neat. {BIG SMILE} The other particularly neat star was in the Pleiades. When we circled around that star, we actually circled several stars in the cluster. More cluster stars were barely beyond us, so they moved much faster than I expect stars to move. {SMILE}
The second part was about the science and technology of Star Trek. He looked at technologies that had become reality since the show began, like flip phones, personal computers, and medical scans. He looked at science and technology which was likely, and possible, and impossible, too. I was particularly amused by his examination of the transporter. He first explained why it was absolutely impossible according to current scientific theory. Then he mentioned how far they've come in exploring it. It sounds like they're already farther than they think ought to be possible, and they're still working on it. {SMILE} That's one of the things I like about science: most scientists have minds open enough to admit when their previous ideas were wrong. {BIG SMILE}
After that talk, I quickly took Dad over to the classroom so he could see the memorabilia. {Smile} We just had time; we had just about reached the end of the display when we got the five-minute call for the six-o'clock planetarium show. {SMILE}
This planetarium show was unusually simple. We toured the night sky. They'd pick out a constellation or few, and summarize a Greek or Hawaiian legend that went with them. I think that's my favorite kind of planetarium show, to tell the truth. I love to hear the legends, and this really concentrated on them. Besides, the other graphics rarely look right on the curved dome. {SMILE}
Then Dad and I checked out the regular exhibit hall. We found a display that gave short videos about various features of Hawaiian music, like the ukulele, the steel guitar, and falsetto singing. {Smile}
After that, we left. I would have liked to see the Okudas' second presentation, on astronomical images in Star Trek. However, that started at 7:30, and I'd been there since 1:30. Dad had come around 4:30, but he'd had a short spell of tachycardia during Richard Crowe's presentation. So we were both too tired to stay thru a presentation scheduled to run from 7:30 to 8:30. {Smile}
So that was yesterday. It was full, and tiring, but very fun. {Smile} I do hope they do it again next year. Mom was concerned that there weren't that many people there. I noticed. Still, right at the end of the costume contest, one staff member said they would do it next year. I can hope. {BIG SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Anyway, they had special presentations off and on all day. I didn't make it to the morning talk about the fans, or to the lunch with live music. I had to miss something... those sounded like reasonable choices. {Smile}
Mom and I got there in time to check out the special exhibit of Star Trek Memorabilia. {Smile} That was interesting. They had toys and costumes both commercial and fannish, as well as mugs, plates, and even a collection of hand carved ships made of wood. {Smile} I was quite intrigued. {Smile}
Then we went to a talk by the featured guests: Michael and Denise Okuda, who worked on set design and special effects for a long time. Michael's been at it since The Next Generation started. Denise got into it later... in Deep Space Nine, according the article I just checked. {Smile} Anyway, the talk was about how they've been busy remastering the original series and The Next Generation. {pause} When first asked to do this, they said "no." They didn't want to be part of wrecking a show they loved. But they decided to take it on when they were promised creative control. {smile} I think they've done a good job, judging from the advance stills we got to see. They've fixed some minor shots they weren't happy with, and varied the angles you get to watch the shuttle land and take off from. However, they assured us they didn't change much. They mainly added detail to the shots while keeping the original vision. {Smile}
Next was the costume contest. There was some kind of a small princess in gold cloth and tattoos, and her little brother, a "baby Borg" with tubes going between his cap and his clothes. {SMILE} Then there were two older girls, maybe late elementary school, or else intermediate school (late primary to early secondary school). One was a young Klingon girl who wants to be a warrior just like her father some day. {Smile} The other was a very good Jadzia Dax, the gal in Deep Space Nine with the spots framing her face. All four of them won prizes. {Smile}
There were a few more entries among the adults. I don't remember all, but there were maybe around eight or so? I do remember the three winners. There was a "visitor from the future" who admitted she was from elsewhere, but certainly enjoyed the series. We also had a science officer from another ship in the original series. His costume was a handmade dress uniform: the only dress uniform of the day. {Smile} Korg the Klingon won, and he deserved to. {Smile} He really did a good job, both with his makeup, and with his uniform. {BIG SMILE}
Then the audience called for the staff to go up on stage. They did. They included assorted regular uniforms, plus the third Klingon of the day, and what I think was a gray-skinned Borg, and a gal who didn't stop at her uniform, but included a work panel. (The Okudas signed that panel in silver ink, I noticed later. {SMILE}) Oh, and then there was the gal with the most original costume I saw all day. Her floor-length dress was black, with gold stars and gold glitter. Her hat was the Enterprise E from The Next Generation.
Yes, she went as the ship! {REALLY BIG GRIN}
Then Dad joined us, bearing Subways for all three of us. We ate dinner in Mom's car. Then Mom left, while Dad and I went inside.
Then we lined up by the planetarium for the next show. While in line, Dad brought out his tickets. He had a general ticket, and a ticket for a six o'clock planetarium show. {blink} That was the first I'd heard about that. They'd asked about which show I wanted to see when I came in with Mom, but I only heard about the three o'clock show then. Since that one overlapped the last half of the Okuda's talk, and would have overlapped the first half of the costume contest if they'd started when they said they would, I wasn't interested in that one! {Smile} But six was a dead time, and Dad had a ticket. I went to the front desk and inquired. She happily gave me a ticket. {BIG SMILE}
Next was the presentation that convinced me I wanted to come. No, it wasn't by the Okudas. It was by my former astronomy professor, Richard Crowe. He had a show in the planetarium called "The Stars and Science of Star Trek." This was divided into two parts, as the title almost suggests. The first section was on the stars, and the second was on the science and technology.
For the stars, Richard had gone thru the series, and figured out which stars mentioned were real stars. He had a really long list, including the most likely candidate for Vulcan. Then he "took us out" to visit a selection of them. We'd start with Earth's night sky, and "rush out" to the chosen star, and circle it, sort of seeing what their night looked like. I say "sort of" because our real night sky doesn't have a lot of connect-the-dot lines showing some of our constellations, and this did. For almost all of the stars, our constellations were pretty distorted. Most of the constellation lines were on one side of the star. The main exception was when we visited the most likely candidate for Vulcan. They were pretty close, so the constellations were all around. They were distorted, but often still recognizable. {Smile} I did think that was neat. {BIG SMILE} The other particularly neat star was in the Pleiades. When we circled around that star, we actually circled several stars in the cluster. More cluster stars were barely beyond us, so they moved much faster than I expect stars to move. {SMILE}
The second part was about the science and technology of Star Trek. He looked at technologies that had become reality since the show began, like flip phones, personal computers, and medical scans. He looked at science and technology which was likely, and possible, and impossible, too. I was particularly amused by his examination of the transporter. He first explained why it was absolutely impossible according to current scientific theory. Then he mentioned how far they've come in exploring it. It sounds like they're already farther than they think ought to be possible, and they're still working on it. {SMILE} That's one of the things I like about science: most scientists have minds open enough to admit when their previous ideas were wrong. {BIG SMILE}
After that talk, I quickly took Dad over to the classroom so he could see the memorabilia. {Smile} We just had time; we had just about reached the end of the display when we got the five-minute call for the six-o'clock planetarium show. {SMILE}
This planetarium show was unusually simple. We toured the night sky. They'd pick out a constellation or few, and summarize a Greek or Hawaiian legend that went with them. I think that's my favorite kind of planetarium show, to tell the truth. I love to hear the legends, and this really concentrated on them. Besides, the other graphics rarely look right on the curved dome. {SMILE}
Then Dad and I checked out the regular exhibit hall. We found a display that gave short videos about various features of Hawaiian music, like the ukulele, the steel guitar, and falsetto singing. {Smile}
After that, we left. I would have liked to see the Okudas' second presentation, on astronomical images in Star Trek. However, that started at 7:30, and I'd been there since 1:30. Dad had come around 4:30, but he'd had a short spell of tachycardia during Richard Crowe's presentation. So we were both too tired to stay thru a presentation scheduled to run from 7:30 to 8:30. {Smile}
So that was yesterday. It was full, and tiring, but very fun. {Smile} I do hope they do it again next year. Mom was concerned that there weren't that many people there. I noticed. Still, right at the end of the costume contest, one staff member said they would do it next year. I can hope. {BIG SMILE}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin