New Year, New Events

2025 has certainly carried some big lows, but it also brought some absolutely spectacular experiences that will be hard to top. Let's see what happens!

January 6th - Star Trek: Starfleet Academy World Premiere Screening at AMNH thanks to the NYC Away Team
January 6th - two walking tours with the New York Adventure Club (Exclusive Tour Inside the Woolworth Building and The Garbage That Built New York: A Walk Through NYC's Trash and Rat History)
February 5th - Yo-Yo Ma concert at NJPAC
February 11th - An Evening with Annie Leibovitz: Women
February 21st - The Big Flea Antiques Market in Edison, NJ
March 1st - St. Pat's For All Parade
March 3rd - Chess The Musical
March 5th - David Nihill at Gramercy Theater in NYC
March 7th - 8th - The Chocolate Expo
March 13th - 15th - Awesome Con
March 26th - Exclusive Truffle 101& Hands-On Tasting @ The Urbani Truffle Lab NYC with the New York Adventure Club
April 18th - 19th - Rescueverse convention
April 24th - 26th - Chiller Theatre convention
May 5th - Stanley Tucci in Conversation with Josh Horowitz at 92Y
May 6th - 10th - NJ Gem Show in Edison, NJ
May 29th - 31st - Fan Expo Philadelphia
June 12th - 14th - Trek Long Island
August 5th - 9th - Star Trek Las Vegas
August 14th - 16th - Monster Mania convention
October 8th - 11th - New York Comic Con
October 20th - 23rd - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in NYC
November 20th - WhiskyFest New York

Happy New Year to all! May it be healthy and kind!

Events for the Year

2024 brought some absolutely incredible experiences! Conventions, talks, plays, and more!

I cannot wait to see what 2025 will bring!

January 15th - Year in Review with Neil deGrasse Tyson at AMNH
January 22nd - 24th - three different screenings of Star Trek: Section 31 movie (special screening by Paramount, screening at 92NY with actors and creatives, and a fan hangout screening with NYC Away Team)
January 25th - Rutgers University Geology Museum Annual Open House (skipped)
February 23rd - March 2nd - Star Trek: The Cruise VIII
March 20th - Nathan Lane at Symphony Space
March 29th - 30th - The Chocolate Expo at Edison, NJ
April 5th - Matteo Lane at Radio City Music Hall
April 25th - 27th - Chiller Theatre convention (skipped)
May 14th - 18th - NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem, and Jewelry Show (skipped)
May 16th - 18th - FanExpo Philadelphia convention
May 2oth - B. Dylan Hollis author event at B&N Union Square
May 30th - June 1st - Trek Long Island convention
June 14th - Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 premiere as part of TriBeCa Film Festival
June 26th - Sarah Millican at the Beacon Theater
August 6th - 10th - STLV - Trek to Vegas convention
August 14th - NYC Special Screening of "The Thursday Murder Club" 
September 6th - 7th - STNJ - Trek to New Jersey convention
October 5th - Richard Osman at Union Square B&N
October 9th - 12th - New York Comic Con convention
October 14th - Annie Lennox: Retrospective at Cooper Union, NYC
October 16th - Dinner with Lidia Bastianich at Becco celebrating release of The ART of Pasta
October 24th - 26th - Chiller Theatre convention (skipped)
November 6th - NYU Alumni Club in NJ: Chinese Cuisine Night in Morris County
November 10th - David Garrett concert in NYC
November 12th - Pen Pals play in NYC, with Sharon Lawrence and Maureen McCormick
November 21st - 23rd - Monster Mania convention
November 25th - This World of Tomorrow play in NYC
November 30th - Monet and Venice at the Brooklyn Museum of Art
November 30th - Playing Shylock play in NYC, with Sal Rubinek
December 6th - The Parlor of Deceptions with Daniel Roy

2026:

January 8th - Year in Review with Neil deGrasse Tyson
February 5th - Yo-Yo Ma concert at NJPAC
March 5th - David Nihill at Gramercy Theater in NYC
March 7th - 8th - The Chocolate Expo
May 29th - 31st - Fan Expo Philadelphia
June 12th - 14th - Trek Long Island
August 5th - 9th - Star Trek Las Vegas
October 8th - 11th - New York Comic Con
October 20th - 23rd - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in NYC
 

Happy New Year!!!
May it bring health, peace and love to all!!!

 

This Year's Trips and Events

Another year is upon us!

Trips and events in 2023 were nothing short of spectacular, even with the unfortunate but most understandable writers' and actors' strikes in the second part of the year.

The new year is promising many more great outings!

January 27th - Rutgers University Geology Museum Annual Open House (haven't attended this one in ages, and had to miss it again)
February 3rd - attending a performance of The Connector with Scott Bakula in NYC, which includes a post-show Q&A
February 8th - A Major Crush: Piedmont: Hills of Gold (Italian wine tasting)
February 16th - attending a one-person performance of Hamlet with Eddie Izzard
February 27th - Rediscovering New York's Art Deco Architecture talk
March 8th - 10th - STSF - Trek to San Francisco convention
March 20th - StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson
March 22nd - attending a one-person performance of Eddie Izzard: Hamlet at Orpheum Theater
April 16th - The Rediscovery of Thutmose III and Hatshepsut talk at the Salmagundi Club
April 26th - 28th - Chiller Theatre convention
May 3rd - 5th - FanExpo Philadelphia convention (missing, unfortunately)
May 15th - 19th - NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem, and Jewelry Show (missing, unfortunately)
May 31st - June 2nd - Star Trek Long Island convention
June 6th - Hauser: Rebel with a Cello concert
June 14th - 16th - FanExpo Boston convention
July 13th - 14th: Contropolis New Jersey convention
August 1st - 4th - STLV - Trek to Vegas convention
September 11th - November 24th - "The Beacon" with Kate Mulgrew at the Irish Repertory Theater
October 11th - Eddie Izzard at NJPAC
October 17th - 20th - New York Comic Con convention
October 25th - 27th - Space Con convention in San Antonio
November 7th - LA Premiere of Voyager Documentary
November 8th - 10th - STNJ - Trek to New Jersey convention (missing due to the above)
November 11th - NYC Premiere of Voyager Documentary
November 12th - 15th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Philadelphia

Happy New Year!

 Happy, healthy and peaceful New Year to all!!!

Upcoming Trips and Events

New year, new plans:

February 24th - March 3rd - Star Trek: The Cruise VI
April 28th - 30th - Chiller Theatre
May 17th - 21st - NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem, and Jewelry Show (likely not due to schedule conflict)
May 20th - 21st - Star Trek Long Island
June 9th - Secrets of Ancient Egypt - New Discoveries: An Evening with Dr. Zahi Hawass
July 7th - 9th - Shore Leave convention
August 3rd - 6th - Star Trek Las Vegas
August 18th - 20th - New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival
September 22nd - Eddie Izzard The REMIX Tour Live in New York
September 26th - 29th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Washington, DC
October 2nd: Patrick Stewart's author event for "Making It So" at Symphony Space
October 12th - 15th - New York Comic Con
October 27th - 29th - Chiller Theatre
November 3rd - 5th - Rhode Island Comic Con
November 10th - 12th - a trip to Palm Springs, CA to celebrate a friend's birthday, including visits to the Joshua Tree National Park and to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

Happy New Year!

End of the Year Closing In

The bulk of the trips and events for the year are done, only the holiday season remains! And what a year it was.
The end of the summer and the fall delivered some extraordinary experiences. STLV was pretty fun, though understandably hobbled by an inadequate venue (Bally's certainly wins points in terms of location and access to various great places on the Strip, but a convenient convention facility it is not; as one of my friends put it, Rio may be a dump, but it is our dump; the convention is expected to be back there next year). The virtual Star Trek Day celebration has predictably brought lots of fun along with teasers and trailers for all the current productions. And the continuously expanding nightmare-of-ticket-buying NYCC has nevertheless included a spectacular Star Trek Universe panel. What an amazing time to be a Star Trek fan! All of that was topped by a trip to Bloomington, IN to see Kate Mulgrew visit the Captain Janeway Statue. It was brilliant, just brilliant! A truly happy and celebratory day spent with my sister and our friends, which has left many wonderful memories! Chiller Theatre provided the usual brief but lovely experience - small Galaxy Quest and GoodFellas reunions. Finally, the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat International Conference ended up being a nice educational trip to Chicago.

I am looking forward to finishing the year in style - a few more outings, parties and hangouts await, all thankfully local.


December, 2022 - Eddie Izzard in Great Expectations

2023:

January 5th - Year in Review with Neil deGrasse Tyson at AMNH
February 24th - March 3rd - Star Trek: The Cruise VI
April - Chiller Theatre (no info yet)
May 17th - 21st - NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem, and Jewelry Show
May 20th - 21st - Star Trek Long Island
June 9th - Secrets of Ancient Egypt - New Discoveries: An Evening with Dr. Zahi Hawass
July 7th - 9th - Shore Leave convention (perhaps, this year is the year I will finally make it)
August 3rd - 6th - Star Trek Las Vegas
September 26th - 29th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Washington, DC (hooray!)
October 12th - 15th - New York Comic Con

Long Time, No Post

Whew, it's been a while since I updated. Lots of events and trips have come and gone. All in all, it has been a pretty busy summer, even though some of planned summer Trek gatherings did not pan out due to another bout with Covid.
The NJ mineral show was better than last year, but I do hope that it will continue improving. I miss the special exhibits, and I can stand to see less polished, tumbled and otherwise modified rocks. ABBA movie event rocked; my best friend Ken and I had a blast! A nice precursor to what was to come in July. Phoenix Fan Fusion turned out to be a nice, if very hot, convention. I had a wonderful time hanging out with my friends and seeing some of the guests. The two long-planned trips to London in July - one with my sister and one with the said sister and our grandmother - hit all the spots! We got to see quite a few of old favorites, museums and galleries. And we got to visit the Buckingham Palace! Truly amazing, like a fairy tale! It is fortuitous that we had an opportunity to visit various royal places in the year of Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The special exhibits alone were worth the price of admission. Windsor Castle had one dedicated to the Queen's Coronation, and the Buckingham Palace had one dedicated to the Queen's Ascension.
And then, of course, there was the ABBA Voyage concert. Incredible! They advertise it as “a concert like no other”, and it is 100% patently true! A tremendous show and an extraordinary technological achievement! On top of that - there was a great atmosphere, as the audience genuinely felt it and totally bought into the whole mood! Loved it! I hope we get to see it again some time.

In other news, I have launched a page with the Trek and Trek-related events calendar, which I had run in a form of Facebook posts for more than two years. The return of in-person conventions made such format rather unwieldy, so here it is.

2022:

August 25th - 28th - 56-Year Mission Tour convention (former STLV) in Las Vegas, NV
October 6th - 9th - New York Comic Con
October 23rd - Kate Mulgrew is visiting the Captain Janeway Statue in Bloomington, IN
October 28th - 30th - Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ
November 9th - 12th - CTBUH 2022 International Conference

2023:

February 26th - March 5th - Star Trek: The Cruise VI