Official Creation Star Trek Con Philadelphia 2012 Day 2 Coverage

If you are just joining me, go back and read my Initial Impressions and Day 1 coverage.

Saturday morning started bright and early with more from Richard Arnold talking about the behind the scenes happenings of Trekdom. He mentioned that if you look closely, the court scenes in “Encounter at Farpoint” and “All Good Things” are very different. In the pilot, Q’s chair was on a crane lift. In the finale, it was inserted in digitally. Originally, Q’s throne had lions for handrests, but in the finale they became massive griffins. But the biggest difference was Q’s judges robes. The original robes were rented out by a fan, as Paramount rented out their costume warehouse to make extra cash. However, John de Lancie is rather tall at 6’4″. This fan apparently was not, as he cut 8″ of fabric right off the bottom, rather then hem it like a normal person. The robes needed to be rebuilt from scratch for the finale. He also told the story of Gene meeting the actresses who played Lursa and B’Etor for the first time. The two of them were watching the dailies, and Gene said “Let’s head down to the set”. Gene was in a wheelchair at the time, so Richard had him wheeled down to the set. Then in a break in filming he had the girls brought over to Gene. Gene stood up slowly, and while talking to them stuck his hand out and was ready to cop a feel, to which they grabbed his hand and said “Oh no, those are actually mine”, to which Richard commented “Yeah, like he didn’t know that!”

After that it was time for Gary Graham. He said that on Alien Nation the role of Matthew Sikes was down to him and Colin Quinn. Yes, that Colin Quinn. Before getting the part of Tanis on Voyager, he had read for the producers a total of 13 times. Discussing his Enterprise character, Soval, he said that the key to his character was a line from pilot. Jonathan Archer says to him “You raised your voice at me, you really have been on Earth for too long”. That idea of someone so stoic being surrounded by these, in his mind, savages and slowly picking up their behaviors and becoming more like them helped him define and hone his portrayal. It was nice to see that I was not alone in my belief that Manny Coto was a unsung savior to the show. Gary agrees with me, saying that Manny wrote his character very well and helped his character arc advance and grow. He said the compassion his character showed in later seasons came from when T’Pol decided to stay on Enterprise at the start of the Xindi arc in Season 3. His character shared a fatherly bond with her, and he was worried about what happened to her. Most of the audience questions to him were about his time on Alien Nation, including what he thought of the idea to make his male Newcomer partner pregnant, to which he said he thought it was a grand idea.

Up next was was Morgan Gendel’s Journey to The Inner Light. Morgan was the writer of probably the most well regarded episode of The Next Generation, “The Inner Light”. Unfortunately, this and my Photo Op with Gary Graham both started at 10:20, so I missed the first 10 minutes or so, which was a real bummer. What I did catch at the end however was that the original idea spun out of seeing the Goodyear blimp, and how it “beams advertising right into your head”. He also stated it was based on the Green Lantern, in that he never thought of the probe as interacting with the first person it encountered, but that it was actively searching for “a good true man of good convictions”. He then discussed his follow up to “The Inner Light”, the online exclusive comic, The Outer Light, and brought up his co-writer Andre Duza. He said that even though this was such a emotional trial for Picard, by the next episode he seemed to be untouched by it, and this was his way of trying to explain it away, and bring about some closure. He then showed and read us the first 5 chapters, of which only Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 are currently available. I then asked him how they approached the writing, whether it was designed initially as one long novel and then broken down into chunks, or written as episodes. Because each episode is only 5 or 6 pages, to me it seems to be awfully fast paced, with lots of room for them to delve deeper into what is going on, as if this was just the initial story break doc and not the finished draft. The two of them said they have a overall idea for the whole arc of the story, but they have been writing it more as a TV show with each chapter as a episode, and each episode having a cliffhanger. The speedy pacing is deliberate they say, to compete again all the other online distractions of games, twitter, xbox, etc.

Up next was Tim Russ. He started with a story about how his Star Trek fame is usually a good thing, especially when travelling and trying to go through customs. If he meets a fan, he usually gets passed right through. However on a recent trip over for a con in England, he was met with a non fan, and made to feel like a idiot. The Customs person kept asking him questions, all of which he answered with “I don’t know.” “Where are you going?” “I’m a actor, I’m in town for a convention.” “Where is it?” “I don’t know.” “At what hotel are you staying?” “I don’t know.” “How long will you be here.” “I don’t know.” “Who is picking you up.” “I don’t know, they are sending a car, someone with a sign? They have people who arrange all this for me, I just show up.” They asked him to step aside, and about 45 minutes later, after someone finally told the customs officer who he was he was waved along. He also had a story of arriving at Philadelphia airport and not knowing how to get to the taxis, as there is a sign on a elevator for “Ground Transportation”, but all it does is take you down one level to a empty hallway. Confused, he stepped out of the elevator, looked around, and this elevator also had a sign on it that said “Ground Transportation”, so he got back in, went up again, looked around, got confused, went back down, repeated that about three times until at the end of the hallway is a door that looked like if you went out it, you wouldn’t be able to get back in and you’d be stuck walking around the highway. He poked his head out, and there was a man outside at a little podium with a phone who called the taxis. I feel his pain. I’ve flow from there many times, and I still don’t know how to find the cell phone waiting lot, I always have to be picked up from the terminal. He said that he particularly identifies with Tuvok and his dislike for the illogical, with the elevator signs above being the perfect example. His favorite episode of Voyager was “Future’s End”, because he got to get out of the studio and shoot on location, and got out of his uniform and got to wear civilian clothing.

Every con has one guy, or a few, who monopolize the Q & A’s and ask the same question to all the quests (I’ll admit, I’ve been that guy, but I always try to ask each person something different that they don’t talk about all the time besides “What was Star Trek like” or “Do you still talk to those guys?”, something that isn’t on their wiki page and isn’t a simple yes or no question, which a lot of people don’t know is bad con etiquette). The first of these was this guy who first thanked everyone for being on a show of ideas, as ideas are the most important thing we can all share, and if there were any particular idea conveyed through their series that they connected with and liked. It’s a good broad question, just annoying when you ask every panelist it. Tim’s answer was he liked the concept of “Living Witness”, and the aspects of revisionist history it portrayed, that we don’t ever “really” know what happened, as history is usually written by the winners. Someone asked him what he gets recognized more for, Tuvok or the principal from iCarly. He said that it depends on the crowd, but it’s a pretty good split. He then told of one time when he lost his wallet, and it was returned to him because he had some phone numbers in it and they called them and managed to get in touch, and he was willing to offer a reward, and all the guy wanted was some Spaceballs memorabilia signed. This blew my mind, as I had no idea he was the “We ain’t found shit” guy. It’s amazing what a small world it is when it comes to Trek. It was only recently when I discovered that the parents on 7th Heaven were Captain Decker from ST-I and Dr. Carol Marcus from ST-IV. I don’t know how that alluded me for so long. They both look almost exactly the same on the show as they did in the movies.

At this point it was around noon, and both the Photo Op with Jonathan Frakes and The Evolution of Starfleet: Across the Neutral Zone started at the same time. That sounded interesting, as it was supposed to be a history lesson on the Romulans and Klingons. I obviously missed the first 10 minutes getting my photo taken. When I came in, I only stayed for 3 minutes. Imagine a thinner, nerdier Comic Book Guy reading you a technical manual in a nasally high pitched voice with no inflection whatsoever to a matching powerpoint presentation. And this is coming from me, I own several of those tech manuals, and knowing the various stats of ships is my thing. I can tell the difference between a D-5, a D-7, and a K’t’inga Warbird, or a K’vort, a B’rel and a D12 Bird of Prey, but even I was like “Fuck this, this is dumb as shit!” The next thing I cared about was not until 1:20, the Sir Patrick Stewart Photo Op. The Eric Menyek/Robin Curtis spoof piece was at 12:35, but I wasn’t all that interested. Instead, I had exactly enough time to run to my local comic shop and pickup my books for Free Comic Book day, which was also Saturday. Who schedules these things? I’m gonna miss it again next year too. Damn!

So I’m able to rush off to get my comics, and get back in time to line up for my photo with Sir Patrick at about 1:10, photos aren’t scheduled until 1:20. The Photo Op room is at the end of the hall on the second floor. At this point, the line is all the way down said hall, down a flight of stairs and out into the lobby. By the time it starts moving it has worked its way entirely around the perimeter of the lobby. It’s at this point my friend Dani finally manages to make it to the con, and the two of us wait to have our photo taken. We finally manage to make our way up to Sir Patrick. It’s a little disappointing, as he’s simply sitting in a chair, and he seems to be balancing his checkbook between shots. They really should let you know ahead of time if it’s going to be that kind of photo. I know, I’m buying a photo, not a conversation, but still, a handshake (or a fistbump even, I know, con plague) and a smile would be nice. It gets to be our turn, and Dani walks up to Sir Patrick and asks “Can I hug you?” to which he responds “Of course”. At this point Dani throws her arms wide and full on wraps her little self around him, totally fangirling out and full of squee, to which Sir Patrick replies in his regal British Accent “Ohhhhh, you mean one of THOSE!”, clearly taken aback.

I think it made for a pretty good photo though, don’t you?

So remember how I said I didn’t see any costumed fans or younger kids or families and it was mostly older people on Friday? Yeah, scratch that. Apparently they all just didn’t want to take off work, and they showed up Saturday. I lost count trying to keep up with all the costumes. Every generation was well represented, though I still only saw 1 person in a Enterprise jumpsuit. The costumes ran the gamut from a very buxom 7 of 9, to a female Gorn (which I didn’t like, it was a good costume, but it was a terrible representation of a Gorn, looked more like the M-113 salk sucker), to some Orion Slave Girls, to even a Caitian, which was nice to see, as everyone loves a good catgirl. And of course there was a garrison of Klingons. No full on borg though that I saw, besides 7. There was also a very accurate Beverly Crusher and a Chakotay, and I like to think I do a pretty good Riker. You can see a good gallery at both of our local newspapers, the Courier Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Even though Dani was only there for about 90 minutes, she still managed to get the cover photo in both galleries.

Then it was time for the big event of the weekend, the Sir Patrick Stewart panel. The room for the other panels was relatively right, there were still empty seats all around, but for this we were packed in tight like sardines. He started things by taking off his jacket and telling a story while off mic and getting all comfortable, only to finally get a hold of a mic and end his story with “and that’s how that all came about”. After effectively breaking the ice, he then went on about how no matter where you are, you always seem to meet people “from” New Jersey, which seems to be more then the amount of people you meet who are actually in New Jersey. He then talked about his shirt, and that he doesn’t really wear tshirts, but this particular one was given to him by a fan at a previous show, and it was that kind of satiny fabric that fit really well. However, he had no idea what “Magneto was Right” even meant. He revealed that the first read through of a script for The Next Generation did not occur on the Paramount lot, but at The Universal Hotel, and that he thought there should be a plaque there commemorating the occasion. He then said he usually starts these panels off with a review of what he’s been working on, but that he truly wasn’t doing anything after 8 years of theater work, but should be getting back into movies at the end of the summer. When discussing the future and his hair, he was surprised they hadn’t figured out how to fix it by the 22nd century. He went bald at 19, and has been told by wig makers that “[his] head is a great block for a wig”. His thoughts upon first seeing himself in full costume and makeup was that he felt “pretty silly”.

At this point someone with ALS (I assume, he had the Stephen Hawking text generator thing and was in a wheelchair) asked how he got picked to be Picard, and he told the story of doing an acting workshop for a friend and getting seen by Robert Justman, and that Gene was not a fan, and actually sent out a memo that Stewart was not to be mentioned anymore as a candidate for the role, but eventually everyone wore Gene down and he was cast. Stewart then asked if he had anything more to say, and then stood by patiently for a good two minutes while he typed away that he wished him many happy years of work in the future, and everyone clapped and Stewart went down and gave him a hug. When asked about his main recollection for the series, he replied “hopeless, helpless laughter”. When asked about working with Malcom McDowell, he recollected that they had both worked together back in the 60s at the Royal Shakespeare Company. McDowell was a understudy, but on one night one actor was out, which lead to a series of understudies being called up. He was the understudy for the English messenger in Henry V. Unfortunately, they didn’t realize all the understudies would be moving up until just before the performance, so the Company did not have time to rehearse as a group with everyone in their upgraded roles. McDowell had one set of lines, which he rehearsed by himself back in the green room. The line goes “my gracious liege, bestow yourself with speed, the French are bravely in their battle set and they will charge us!”. McDowell comes out for his cue, freezes, then motions with his hand “Come on, come on, they’re coming!”. With everyone left in stitches, Sir Patrick gave a bow and it was time for autographs.

Even though I was only in the 7th row, it still took a good hour to get my items signed by Sir Patrick. I had initially bought a second autograph to have my Photo Op signed, but they said Photo Ops with him would not be ready until 6:30, and he most likely wouldn’t stick around that long, so I had to go buy another 8×10 for him to sign. Fortunately, Photos were done at 5:45, and I had just enough time left to buy another autograph ticket before registration closed, and get the Photo Op signed as well. Being Gold had it’s advantages, as I was able to skip the line and go right up rather than wait till my ticket number was called, which would have meant that last autograph would have been likely the very last item getting signed. I got all my items signed for the day at around 6:30, and then it was waiting until the concert at 9:00.

First up was Gary Graham and his acoustic guitar. I’m not much of a music person, so I can’t say I was familiar with most of the songs he played. If I had to qualify his style, I would have to say it was like Eric Clapton with some Tom Petty thrown in. He did do a rendition of Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” which had a very. . . interesting arrangement. He closed his part of the evening with an original song “Thank You For Your Service”, which as you may have guessed is a thank you for our troops. It is about him and his son meeting a disabled vet at a pancake house, and he tries to buy the vet his meal, and he gets up to pay for their meals, and when he looks around, he can’t find his son, only to see him saluting the wounded vet, who stands up and returns the salute even though he has a prosthetic leg. It was really nice.

After Gary’s set was Tim Russ and his band, which included a keytar and a cajon, which Wikipedia says is most widely used Afro-Peruvian musical instrument since the late 18th century. I cant say I was overly familiar with their setlist either, except for “Kushangaza” (Swahili for “amazing”), which I had seen on youtube before, and have included below. If I had to describe their sound, they would not be out of place as a very funky and groovy wedding band, and that is not an insult. For a couple of their songs, they brought Gary Graham back out on harmonica, and while he was no John Popper, he can really wail.

So that was the the big day of the show. But I’m not finished yet. Read on for details from Sunday’s events.

JohnScott is the proud owner of a life size replica Captain Kirk Chair. He is a hoarder of Comic Books, Transformers, and Star Trek action figures. He attended Space Camp as an adult. He has taken vacations to the closing of the Star Trek Experience and the final night Shuttle launch. He has been known to yell at his television when the kids can't put together the damn statue in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. When not writing for InsufficientScotty, he is a Software Engineer for a major healthcare communications company. You can Email or follow on Twitter @NotEnoughScotty or Facebook