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

Spring Updates

So, the beginning of 2022 has gifted a return to a pretty lively convention circuit. Things are not entirely back - plenty of events are still postponing, or are operating under capacity, and with various restrictions. But the excitement of in-person events is back! Having said that, there is also an unfortunate disappearance of virtual events, which could have and should have continued, perhaps, as a part of mixed content creation. Alas.
The Star Trek Cruise was outstanding! Those issues that came up in 2020 were either not there anymore due to differing procedures because of the pandemic, or have been corrected by ECP, or were mitigated/ignored by me and my sister. Great programming, lots and lots of friends and fellow fans, an all-around truly great experience! We are really looking forward to the 2023 cruise, which will be leaving from LA for the very first time, and will feature Kate Mulgrew as the Cruise Captain again.
Star Trek Mission: Chicago was an overall success, though most certainly not without misses and growing pains. I sincerely hope that ReedPOP will analyze the fan feedback, improve and evolve for the next year's event in Seattle.
Chiller Theatre was the usual low-key affair, a couple of hours spent getting some autographs and selfies, mostly from the BTTF cast. But the end of that same Saturday proved to be magical - I was invited to attend the Star Trek: Strange New World red carpet premiere in New York! Amazing!

2022:

May 11th - 15th - NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem and Jewelry show in Edison, NJ
May 12th and 14th - ABBA The Movie Fan Event
May 27th - 29th - Phoenix Fan Fusion convention in Phoenix, AZ
June 29th - July 4th - trip to London to see the amazing ABBA Voyage concert
July 15th - 17th - Shore Leave convention in Hunt Valley, MD (had to cancel due to illness)
August 25th - 28th - 56-Year Mission Tour convention (former STLV) in Las Vegas, NV
October 6th - 9th - New York Comic Con
November 9th - 12th - CTBUH 2022 International Conference

2023:

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

New Year Events

The second half of 2021 had finally brought some wonderful in-person experiences, conventions and get-togethers with friends. STLV hit it out of the park, truly! I can't recall the last time when my social calendar during a convention was that busy. The NJ Mineral Show was rather lacking this year, but it did bring a very nice collectible fossil my way. The small NJ Trek con and the California trip for Greenbuild were both solid fun (aside from a attending useful conference, I finally got to see the San Diego Zoo after hearing about it for years). NYCC turned out to be tremendous - I managed to see the premiere of Star Trek Prodigy and hang out with fellow fans at a Trek after-party. Chiller was another small but nice outing. And DST came out a rather contradictory experience - fantastic interactions with guest actors (Kate practically made this con for my sister and me) and with fellow fans, while being surrounded with frustratingly low production.

Hopefully, this year will bring more events, even as the pandemic goes on.

2022:

February 26th - March 5th - Star Trek: The Cruise V
April 8th - 10th - Star Trek Mission: Chicago
April 29th - May 1st - Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ
May 11th - 15th - NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem and Jewelry show in Edison, NJ
May 27th - 29th - Phoenix Fan Fusion convention in Phoenix, AZ
August 25th - 28th - 56-Year Mission Tour convention (former STLV) in Las Vegas, NV
October 6th - 9th - New York Comic Con
November 9th - 12th - CTBUH 2022 International Conference

2023:

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

 С Новым Годом!!! Здоровья, добра и счастья!!!

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