End of 2018

Another year is coming to an end! As I already wrote before, it has been a wonderful fall; lots of great events. Northeast Trek Con turned out to be a nice weekend away with many friends and fun panels. Let's hope there will be another next year. None of the special evenings or lectures disappointed, and the professionally useful trip to Chicago for Greenbuild was very enjoyable and educational. Andrea Bocelli is an incredible talent, the concert was a true pleasure!
2019 fun is already on the horizon, cannot wait!

January 16th - Japanese Whiskey Tasting, From Yamazaki to Suntory Old
January 26th - Rutgers University Geology Museum Open House
March 2nd - Elton John at Prudential Center (Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour)
April 3rd - 7th - New Jersey Mineral, Fossil, Gem and Jewelry Show
April 17th - Selected Shorts: LeVar Burton and Friends at Symphony Space
May 1st - Professor Brian Cox: Universal at NYU Skirball Center
May - Kate Mulgrew author events
July 31st - August 4th - The Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, NV
October 3rd - 6th - New York Comic Con
October 28th - November 2nd - CTBUH 10th World Congress in Chicago, IL

2020
March 1st - March 8th - Star Trek: The Cruise IV

Having a Wonderful Fall

September and October have been absolutely wonderful this year! So many great events, meeting lovely people! Eddie Izzard was predictably brilliant and hilarious in that special way of his that makes you really think while being wildly entertained. I am looking forward to the eventual full show. Both whisky tastings were informative and simply fun - this is truly a fascinating spirit! NYCC brought the usual intense pop culture immersion for a day; for the first time ever, I even managed to get into a panel (Adam Savage is great fun!). Auxiliary NYCC events fit perfectly with the overall experience. My Star Trek fandom got an incredible boost via attending the newest documentary on DS9, followed by a short but phenomenal trip to Destination Star Trek convention in UK. I had a fantastic time - autographs, photo ops, panels, favorite guests, meeting both the faces familiar from the US convention circuit again and the online fellow fans for the first time. Amazing!

October 26th - 28th - Northeast Trek Con in Albany, NY

October 29th - ScreenTimes: advanced screening of Bohemian Rhapsody with Rami Malek

November 1st - An Evening with Richard Dawkins and Brian Greene

November 5th - Frontiers Lecture: Scott Kelly: Infinite Wonder book presentation at AMNH

November 14th - 16th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago, IL

December 11th - Hogwarts, Poudlart, Rokfort: Translating Harry Potter at New York Historical Society (Note: there is a Harry Potter exhibition currently held at the museum, which I am also looking forward to checking out)

December 13th - Andrea Bocelli at Madison Square Garden

2019

March 2nd - Elton John at Prudential Center (Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour)
May 1st - Professor Brian Cox: Universal at NYU Skirball Center

August 15th

Somehow, the bulk of summer has just slipped away. But what wonderful summer it has been so far!

A couple of great small events, and a couple of amazing big trips! Both STLV and Fan Expo Boston were out of this world - traveling on two consecutive weekends was a little bit rough but I have had tremendous fun!

August 28th - Astronomy on Tap: Out of This World Books at NYPL
September 14th - Eddie Izzard Work In Progress at Vineyard Theatre
September 18th - Introduction to Whisk(e)y at The Swedish Townhouse (NY Adventure Club)
October 3rd - Glen Moray Scotch Whisky Tasting at The Swedish Townhouse (NY Adventure Club)
October 4th - 7th - New York Comic Con
October 5th - NYCC Master Class with Emmy-winning Producer and Writer Ronald D. Moore
October 9th - The Skeptics' Guide to The Universe at Strand Book Store
October 14th - What We Left Behind: A Star Trek Deep Space Nine Documentary premiere for NYC IndieGoGo backers
October 19 - October 21 - Destination Star Trek convention in Birmingham, UK
October 26th - 28th - Northeast Trek Con in Albany, NY
October 29th - ScreenTimes: advanced screening of Bohemian Rhapsody with Rami Malek
November 1st - An Evening with Richard Dawkins and Brian Greene
November 5th - Frontiers Lecture: Scott Kelly:Infinite Wonder book presentation at AMNH
November 14th - 16th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago, IL
December 13th - Andrea Bocelli at Madison Square Garden

Hopping Along

It is nearly the end of May already, things are just hopping along.

Zippers did not disappoint - wonderful, loud night of irreverent fun! Went to another great mineral show in Edison. Though it did feel like the selections were somewhat less varied than last year, the overall experience was still very much worth it - there were very nice exhibits, plus I walked away with a couple of neat purchases for my collection. Perlman is utterly brilliant, goes without saying - my grandmother and I have enjoyed the concert immensely. Chiller turned out be extremely successful this time around, met some wonderful actors. Both the book launch and the NYC archaeology talk were excellent - both involved people directly responsible for the subject matter, who gave interesting presentations. I do wish I had managed to get the tickets for the Saturday show of Letters Live, it turned out to have more of the names I really wanted to see perform. Alas, but seeing Cumberbatch and Dancy perform during the Friday show was fantastic nonetheless. The Discovery panel at the Vulture Festival turned out to be a resounding success, so much better than anticipated - lots of familiar faces of fellow fans, and I got to grab a quick selfie with Michelle Yeoh!

June 1st - "The Birds Sing Too Loud" at New York Shorts International Film Festival
July 5th - 8th - Grandma's birthday trip to Boston
July 11th - European Vacation: The Birth of Grand Tour at NYPL
July 21st - A Mid-Summer Oddities Flea Market at Brooklyn Bazaar
July 23rd - New York Academy of Medicine's Rare Book Room: Medieval Sex and Death
August 1st - 5th - The Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, NV
August 10th - 12th - Fan Expo Boston, aka Boston Comic Con
October 4th - 7th - New York Comic Con
October 26th - 28th - Northeast Trek Con in Albany, NY
November 14th - 16th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago, IL

Where Is The Spring?

The spring just cannot get started this year. There have been four Nor'Easters in a row - getting pretty tired of all this snow. April is almost here, and it is still cold and wet and unpleasant outside.

The Michelangelo curator talk was fascinating. I even managed to stop by and check out the exhibit itself right after it. I wish the exhibit lasted longer, but, given that most of the pieces were loaned from outside of the country, it was probably not feasible. The play reading was interesting; always wonderful to see Kate perform. Both author events at B&N were tremendous - intellectual and fun. I did not attend the CTBUH event, and got very lucky with Monster Mania (I managed to do everything I planned early enough in the day, before some major organizational issues came to the fore). I have wanted to meet Kathleen Turner for years, and it was amazing!

Two of the cons I have been planning to attend - the NJ trek convention and A Tribute to OITNB have been cancelled unfortunately. I am thinking of possibly checking out Shore Leave in MD.

March 28th - Squirrel Nut Zippers at City Winery, NYC 
April 4th - 8th - NY / NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem and Jewelry Show in Edison, NJ
April 21st - Izhak Perlman concert at Mayo Arts Performing Center
April 27th - 29th - the spring Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ
May 4th - Chasing New Horizons: Inside The Epic First Mission to Pluto, book launch at Intrepid Sea, Air & Space museum
May 8th - New York at Its Core: The Archaeology at Museum of The City of New York
May 18th - Letters Live, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, at Town Hall, NYC
May 20th - Star Trek Discovery: The Future is Definitely Female panel at Vulture Festival 
June 1st - "The Birds Sing Too Loud" at New York Shorts International Film Festival
July 21st - A Mid-Summer Oddities Flea Market at Brooklyn Bazaar
August 1st - 5th - The Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, NV
October 4th - 7th - New York Comic Con
October 26th - 28th - Northeast Trek Con in Albany, NY
November 14th - 16th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago, IL

Beginning of the Year

And January is already gone somehow.

I had to skip the Rutgers Geology Museum Open House this year; thankfully, there is the Edison show to look forward to. Generally, looking forward to more fun and interesting events in the next few months.

February 2nd - Curator Talk - Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman at MMA
February 7th - SciCafe: Trilobite Takedown at AMNH
February 16th - a play reading at Cherry Lane Theater, The Fat Lady Sings, featuring Kate Mulgrew
February 27th - Steven Pinker author event at B&N Upper West Side
March 1st - CTBUH New York Chapter and ICE Debate: Has New York Build Too Tall?
March 6th - Rick Steves author event at B&N Upper West Side
March 9th - 11th - the spring Monster Mania Con in Cherry Hill, NJ
March 28th - Squirrel Nut Zippers at City Winery, NYC 
April 4th - 8th - NY / NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem and Jewelry Show in Edison, NJ
April 21st - Izhak Perlman concert at Mayo Arts Performing Center
April 27th - 29th - the spring Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ
August 1st - 5th - The Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, NV
October 4th - 7th - New York Comic Con
October 6th - 7th - Orange is the New Con, A Tribute to OITNB in Parsippany, NJ - sadly, cancelled
October 26th - 28th - Northeast Trek Con in Albany, NY
November 14th - 16th - Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago, IL
November 16th - 18th - Star Trek Convention at Whippany, NJ

Happy 2018!!!

 Wishing and hoping for a smooth and happy year!

All the best to everyone!