Riverside, Iowa Trekfest - Part 2
Okay, on to part two of my exciting Trekfest adventure in Riverside, Iowa. Just to whet your appetite, here's a picture of all of us on the bridge. What could be grander than that?
Yeah, they're all real -- even the Spock doll. This is awesome!
The afternoon events for the Star Trek fans moved from the fairgrounds to reconvene in a casino up the street. I therefore am unable to report on many events I had hoped to witness, including the greased pig contest, the duck race, the tractor pulls for various age groups, and my personal favorite, cow chip bingo. But we did get to hear our guests speak and tell interesting stories. Nichelle told a wonderful story about her audition where she actually read the character of Mr. Spock, as hers had not yet been defined. You can find the full story in the Spock/Uhura community that I've been enjoying here: http://community.livejournal.com/spock_uhura/235515.html
It's clear that these three people-- Nichelle, George, and Walter-- are all good friends. The good-natured banter among them was just precious. Spock listened attentively from the audience.
The next variation came when it was time to get photos. The people arranging for the photos were very confused. You see, each person is supposed to get one photo. But my sister's husband hates to have his picture taken, so he gave his chip to us for the two-person shot at the top of this entry. The lady taking the chips just did not understand how two people could use three chips among them. Fortunately, this most excellent Vulcan understood immediately (natch) and got us through the line. May he have peace and long life!
The way our pictures went was, my sister was to go out and get hers taken, that I was to join her for the two-shot, and then I was to get my picture taken alone. But-- oh noes! After our two-shot picture, the film ran out! I was forced-- forced, mind you-- to stand there while the film was changed.
Now, if any of you have been fortunate enough to meet George Takei in person, you will know that he is the friendliest, most chatty person you'll ever meet. So I had no difficulty at all in drawing his attention to the painted black console they were sitting behind and saying, "Have you ever been to the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle?" And he's like, "Yeah, I love that place." And I said, "Doesn't this panel remind you of that replica of Sulu's station they have on display there, with the painted black plywood and the plastic buttons stuck on?" And he started cracking up and acknowledged the truth of it all-- and then I got my picture taken and had to leave. But he's a real sweetheart.
There was lots of waiting around between getting pictures taken and autographs signed. (We bought the deluxe package, so we did the shebang.) To kill time, here I am posing in one of the numerous cardboard cutouts that people could clown around in. Don't I make a great Vulcan leader?
Here are some more of our costume winners posing at that plywood console that made its way from the parade float onto the convention hall floor. There were some hilarious guys-- redshirts-- who took over the console and threw themselves back and forth, pretending to be shaken up by phaser fire. One of the guys kept throwing himself over the console onto the floor in front in real-life stunting. It was awesome and quite amusing.
By the way, Mirror Uhura was one of the two winners of her division. She made the costume herself, even down to the golden knife. I got a picture of her and Nichelle embracing after the contest, but it didn't come out. Still, it was a super cool moment.
We had a huge rainstorm partway through the afternoon-- I'm afraid it might even have impacted the greased pig contest. What it did to us was knock out the color printer, so we were unable to get our photographs that night. My sister and I returned to Riverside the following afternoon to pick up our pictures.
This is Riverside on the Day After. You know you're in Iowa when there's a grain elevator in the heart of downtown.
We proceeded to the Star Trek museum to collect our pics. Yes, they have a Star Trek museum. It's about the size of someone's living room and features lots of pictures, a few models, and many many glasses that are labeled Riverside, Iowa. It also features this Spock standee. Did I mention you can never have too many Spocks?
Afterwards, doll!Spock came outside for one last spin in the command chair on the parade float. I know that Vulcans don't easily show emotion, but it was a misty moment.
We're off for new adventures. Warp 2, Mr. Sulu, and never mind the asteroids! Farewell.
Yeah, they're all real -- even the Spock doll. This is awesome!
The afternoon events for the Star Trek fans moved from the fairgrounds to reconvene in a casino up the street. I therefore am unable to report on many events I had hoped to witness, including the greased pig contest, the duck race, the tractor pulls for various age groups, and my personal favorite, cow chip bingo. But we did get to hear our guests speak and tell interesting stories. Nichelle told a wonderful story about her audition where she actually read the character of Mr. Spock, as hers had not yet been defined. You can find the full story in the Spock/Uhura community that I've been enjoying here: http://community.livejournal.com/spock_uhura/235515.html
It's clear that these three people-- Nichelle, George, and Walter-- are all good friends. The good-natured banter among them was just precious. Spock listened attentively from the audience.
The next variation came when it was time to get photos. The people arranging for the photos were very confused. You see, each person is supposed to get one photo. But my sister's husband hates to have his picture taken, so he gave his chip to us for the two-person shot at the top of this entry. The lady taking the chips just did not understand how two people could use three chips among them. Fortunately, this most excellent Vulcan understood immediately (natch) and got us through the line. May he have peace and long life!
The way our pictures went was, my sister was to go out and get hers taken, that I was to join her for the two-shot, and then I was to get my picture taken alone. But-- oh noes! After our two-shot picture, the film ran out! I was forced-- forced, mind you-- to stand there while the film was changed.
Now, if any of you have been fortunate enough to meet George Takei in person, you will know that he is the friendliest, most chatty person you'll ever meet. So I had no difficulty at all in drawing his attention to the painted black console they were sitting behind and saying, "Have you ever been to the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle?" And he's like, "Yeah, I love that place." And I said, "Doesn't this panel remind you of that replica of Sulu's station they have on display there, with the painted black plywood and the plastic buttons stuck on?" And he started cracking up and acknowledged the truth of it all-- and then I got my picture taken and had to leave. But he's a real sweetheart.
There was lots of waiting around between getting pictures taken and autographs signed. (We bought the deluxe package, so we did the shebang.) To kill time, here I am posing in one of the numerous cardboard cutouts that people could clown around in. Don't I make a great Vulcan leader?
Here are some more of our costume winners posing at that plywood console that made its way from the parade float onto the convention hall floor. There were some hilarious guys-- redshirts-- who took over the console and threw themselves back and forth, pretending to be shaken up by phaser fire. One of the guys kept throwing himself over the console onto the floor in front in real-life stunting. It was awesome and quite amusing.
By the way, Mirror Uhura was one of the two winners of her division. She made the costume herself, even down to the golden knife. I got a picture of her and Nichelle embracing after the contest, but it didn't come out. Still, it was a super cool moment.
We had a huge rainstorm partway through the afternoon-- I'm afraid it might even have impacted the greased pig contest. What it did to us was knock out the color printer, so we were unable to get our photographs that night. My sister and I returned to Riverside the following afternoon to pick up our pictures.
This is Riverside on the Day After. You know you're in Iowa when there's a grain elevator in the heart of downtown.
We proceeded to the Star Trek museum to collect our pics. Yes, they have a Star Trek museum. It's about the size of someone's living room and features lots of pictures, a few models, and many many glasses that are labeled Riverside, Iowa. It also features this Spock standee. Did I mention you can never have too many Spocks?
Afterwards, doll!Spock came outside for one last spin in the command chair on the parade float. I know that Vulcans don't easily show emotion, but it was a misty moment.
We're off for new adventures. Warp 2, Mr. Sulu, and never mind the asteroids! Farewell.