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Captain's Log: Conventions, Planets and Star Trek NCIS Would J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (referred to here as Star Trek JJA) obliterate interest in the previous incarnations, more closely associated with Gene Roddenberry and those he tutored? This summer's conventions put that fear definitively to rest, at least for a few years more. Classic Trek stars were everywhere, playing to the same loving crowds.

Those crowds will get another chance in October at the Hollywood Xpo, which includes other s/f and related stars (from Ray Bradbury and Stan Lee to Richard Hatch) as well as other TV and film stars, but the lineup is Star Trek-heavy (Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, John Billingsley, Connor Trineer, etc.) and features stars of the Original series and films, and the independent films Star Trek: Of Gods and Men and InAlienable, many of whom are the same people: notably Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Alan Ruck and Tim Russ. Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry will also be there.

Though this is the first of what promises to be an annual event, the folks organizing it used to be called Planet Xpo, and they did the last two conventions I attended, first as a reporter ("Beam Me Up, Scotty, One More Time" in LA) and then as the host of the Soul of Star Trek panel (the 40th anniversary in Seattle.) The October 15-17 do is at the Hilton Universal City--more info at the web site.
Star Trek NCIS

We've careened through five plus seasons of NCIS on DVD this summer, and are finishing the 6th season just in time to start getting the new 7th season DVDs from netflix. I'm not going to explain this series for those who don't know it, but simply make a comment for those who do. (Though I will recommend it!) This insight came to me tonight, in fact, when I was struck by the character of Ziva, who as an Israeli is still learning American idioms, and does not use contractions. And that of course suggested: Ziva is Data!

Like Data and Spock, Ziva is an alien, highly skilled and intelligent but whose misunderstanding of human i.e. American behavior is often comical, while she's also physically stronger than everybody else. Like Data, Ziva does not use contractions. Even their names are similar.

It's interesting to figure out resemblances of the other NCIS characters to Star Trek/TNG, but the best actual correspondence is Ziva=Data. And I wonder if that was intentional.

New Worlds

Astronomers keep discovering new worlds around other stars. Last week scientists said they believe they've found an exoplanet closer to Earth's size than ever before, although it's actually about the size of Saturn. That's an artist's conception of it up there at the start of this post, as published in the New York Times.


The Democratic primary is over among Vermont candidates for governor who made their choice of Star Trek or Star Wars in the video below, but the election may not be. So far the apparent winner is Peter Shumlin (Star Wars) but by fewer than 200 votes, so the runner-up, Doug Racine (Star Trek) is calling for a recount. May the force be with him. Or should I say live long and prosper?
Posted by Captain Future at 10:38 PM Labels: Alan Ruck, Eugene Rod Roddeberry, InAlienable, John Billingsley, Jonathan Frakes, Nichelle Nichols, Of Gods and Men, Tim Russ, Walter Koenig




Welcome to Soul of Star Trek. Craig of Craig's List names it one of the top ten Star Trek blogs, Film Fresh names it as one of the top five. It's on the Guardian's top 10, Blogs.com's top 10, and at least one other top ten list. The Trek Movie site recommends it.

There are posts here about other science fiction, from 50s classic movies to Doctor Who and Firefly, H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon to Kim Stanley Robinson. Most wind up relating to what I feel is the soul of Star Trek in some way.

As for Trek itself, you might start with Star Trek origins posted for the 40th anniversary, or the Trekalog essays on the Star Trek feature films, or on one of the more popular TNG episodes, The Inner Light (with a comment by one of its writers.) I'm also partial to the posts on Encounter at Farpoint.

I've tried to make the labels useful, so I hope they can serve as good guides on your explorations. The Captain's Logs are generally newsier and more random. Thanks for stopping by.
William Severini Kowinski is a writer living in Arcata, California. 
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