Star Trek autobiographies

Now that we have moved and I have a little more elbow room in the house, it’s easier to pull things out and show them.

These are three books from signings I picked over the years. I already chronicled the Nimoy signing.

George Takei was nice. I had a few seconds to mention the convention in 1977. I told him I was a bratty little kid when I saw him. He asked if I was still bratty. Pretty funny.  He added the line about running because I mentioned I attempted to run with him.

I honestly don’t remember a thing about Walter Koenig’s signing. Obviously, I wasn’t very witty.

AH

Leonard Nimoy Dallas ComicCon 2011

Last weekend’s Dallas ComicCon brought Leonard Nimoy to town for a signing.  Leonard Nimoy is a huge name in the geek world. His popularity has grown outside of the normal Star Trek fan base after his work on Fringe.

Knowing this, my expectations were simple: spend as little time in line as possible and get an autograph.  I did not expect to sit down and tell him how much I enjoyed the first time he used the Vulcan Mind Meld or how cool it was he brought his Jewish heritage into Star Trek with the Live Long and Prosper sign.

The crowds were huge.  Plenty of people were in Starfleet uniforms (and some even looked good in them) to celebrate his appearance. People brought all kinds of items to get signed. Looking through the long line I even saw a Vulcan Lute that someone constructed.  

I must admit I had a bonus by standing in line with an interesting lady that was going to have her copy of Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock (yes, that’s vinyl) signed. Not only did I get to see a copy, I found out Leonard Nimoy had recorded 3 other albums. A total of 4 albums but no Grammies.  Can’t have everything.

The line moved quickly.

As he signed my photo, I asked if he would appear on Fringe again and he stated that ‘work was done’.  It may seem like a silly question considering he died…but Fringe had the ability to do anything they want to do. So why not bring him back?

This wasn’t the first time I got Nimoy’s autograph.  Back in 1995, he was signing his book, I Am Spock. This was an autobiography that was continuing or a retelling of his previous book called: I Am Not Spock.

Back then I waited in line several hours at Taylor’s bookstore in Dallas and was able to buy 2 copies.  He was pleasant and after I got through the line I dropped my signed copies off at my car and went to the back of the line again. I wanted to try to purchase an extra copy for a friend.

After waiting 45 minutes or so this second time, they announced they had sold out all of his books. Taylor’s was very experienced with book signings and having adequate supplies.  They hosted a lot of big name guests.  They were always prepared.  To sell out at one of their events is very telling.

Before the crowd could riot, Leonard stated he would sign any memorabilia that you had.  He felt bad the store was out of books.  Pretty classy of him.  Most people didn’t have anything else to sign as the store was fairly emphatic about NOT bring memorabilia. So a lot of people left right them.

Me, I stayed.  I’m such the contrarian.

I walked through the line and when my turn came, I just shook his hand and told him I really enjoyed Spock and In Search Of. I know he smiled and thought I was the stereotypical geek. I was and am.  It didn’t matter what he was thinking.  I was really happy to meet him. He was such a huge part of my life when I was a boy growing up in Jersey.

It’s embarrassing to admit but it’s like crossing off a bucket list item.

AH

Dallas ComicCon 2011

New location. Larger building.  Improved line up.

Last Saturday I attended the Dallas ComicCon.  While it was much further to drive than the old location, the lineup was well worth it. 

Since I got there about 10AM I was still able to park for free at the Irving Convention Center.  I arrived and parked in the back and on the top of the garage and surprisingly had an elevator not 50 feet from my car.

I appreciated the show putting out roadside signs to help with the navigation. I also liked that they had John Romita Jr signing before the doors open.

Who can complain about a TARDIS waiting for its Master with Klaxon bell ringing? The TARDIS was almost magically. Young and old wanted a photo of it and with it. It didn’t matter if you were in a Starfleet or Imperial costume, you wanted to see and take a picture of the TARDIS.

With the larger venue came more cosplay, more vendors, more fans, and more talent.

For the most part the lines for the big names (Stan Lee, Leonard Nimoy, Thomas, Jane) were organized and flowed fairly quickly.

Some animals are more equal to others - Animal Farm.  Again, I appreciate that the volunteers guarding the lines are looking at badges and taking the time to filter you into your proper location.  This convention does the best job of honoring the value of VIP or Priority badges.

I met some friends and made some new acquaintances.  Did you know that Deep Ellum runs an internet version of cable access shows?  I bumped into Wolfman of Terror Radio. Got to http://deepellumonair.com and then look through the various shows – you only really need to watch Terror Radio.  He and his girlfriend were fun to talk to and while we are a generation apart in age I felt we communicated well. They put up with my incessant questions (Are you married? Set a date? Does mom and dad like him? How long have you been dating, etc, etc, etc) with more patience than I deserved.

They also put up with my comic book artist ignorance. We were all in the line for Amanda Conner and they asked what I was getting signed.  I politely showed them the copy of the The Pro I had. They hadn’t heard of it so I flipped through it for them and they enjoyed what they saw. They asked how I found out about it and I had to admit I was getting the autograph for a friend.  And then the questions started about what I read.  I had to plead the 5th as I don’t read many comics or graphic novels.  And they were okay with that.

While standing in line for Nimoy I had an interesting conversation about Tweeter.  The lady I was waiting with said penultimate.   I love that word. So British and arcane and powerful.  The first thing I thought was it’s too long for Tweeter.  It eats up 11 characters of your 140. That’s not good.  Then I figured no one would ever say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious on tweeter. That’s a 1/3 of your tweet. We then wondered what other words Tweeter would kill off in its draconian limit of characters.

While I shouldn’t be surprised how much I enjoyed this convention I am.  I still have the silly notion that local conventions are small and amateurish.  Dallas ComicCon has really proved otherwise.

AH