Star Trek Pins - Journey to Babel, Starfleet Medical Academy, TNG Combadge, and the Romulan Emblem.

After figuring out how to order items off of ebay, I have had a steady trickle of packages coming in for the last couple of weeks.  A lot of those packages have been small padded envelopes, with amazing pins and patches inside - so I decided to make a post with pictures of all of my pins and patches, including the ones that I got at comic con throughout the last couple of years.

The first item that I received from ebay was this beautiful Journey to Babel cloissone episode pin:

Journey to babel is one of my all-time favorite episodes, mainly because I am madly in love with Sarek and Amanda as a couple. On this pin is the episode name, the stardate, and the hands of Sarek and Amanda in the ozh'esta (finger embrace). It is secured using a butterfly clasp in the back. This is, by far, my favorite pin. As far as I know, these pins went out of production in the mid 1990s. 

The second pin I received in the post was this Starfleet Medical Academy pin with a safety pin clasp back:

Now if only Starfleet Medical Academy were up and running right now - then I would have something worthwhile to work towards.

At my first ever Comic Con a couple of years back, I picked up this TNG combadge pin, secured with two butterfly clasps:

I wore this pin when to last Comic Con as well, when I met William Shatner and Jonathan Frakes. It was actually the only Trek related component to my outfit, strangely enough.

The last pin that came in the post was this (multicolored) cloisonne Romulan Emblem pin, secured in the back with two butterfly clasps:

As far as I know, these Romulan Crest pins were produced by Lincoln Enterprises (Barrett and Roddenberry's company). It features "the Eagle", a symbol of military might and honor, as well as a symbol of pride in the Romulan State. The eagle clutches Romulus and Remus in it's claws - Romulus protectively and Remus as it's prey. Usually Romulus and it's side of the eagle will be green, and Remus and it's side of the eagle will be blue.

I could go on and on about the Romulan Eagle. Instead, I will end and leave that topic for another day. In the meanwhile, I will be searching for more pins!

Michael Dorn - Comic and Toy Expo Q&A 2012

M is for Michael Dorn!

At the beginning of March, as some of you may recall, I had a chance to meet Michael Dorn at the Comic and Toy Expo - I took a lot of video and a few pictures, but I never quite got to uploading them as I promised. This changes today.

I actually saw him on the Saturday, but I was to shy to go up and speak with him. He was sitting at the desk, but there was nobody there - people seemed to be ignoring him. I tried to get up the courage to say hello, but to no avail. I did, however, manage a greeting as I passed him in the hall later that day - to which he responded and practically melted my brain with his charm.

I did go over to talk to him the next day, and had him sign a DS9 publicity photo. We spoke for a while, and then I gallivanted off to search through the comics.

And then came the Q&A session. He is hilarious - a very funny guy. He answered a lot of questions, including a couple of mine, and spoke about how he got the role, the shenanigans going on when the camera wasn't rolling, and how the DS9 cast was much more serious than the TNG cast. I would highly recommend watching the video I took, even if the picture quality gets pretty bad for a couple of minutes. For those who do not wish to watch the videos, I wrote out some quotes as well.

"They called (About TNG casting), and they said 'Aw, too late - we've already had everybody cast, and if anything happens in the future we'll let you know'.  And to me, that's a big brush off, so you kind of go 'Okay, thanks, goodbye, later.' And then two weeks later, I get a call - and my manager says 'Hey Michael, they want to see you for the role of a Klingon' - and I knew, I mean I was a fan of the original so I knew what they wanted. So that's - that's how it happened.


"I was in an acting class at the time, and this wonderful teacher taught me how to - you know, you walk in the building - you walk in the set - you walk, wherever you're gonna go to audition as the character.

And so I walked in, very stern, and not very talking to people, and people are like 'Hey Michael, how you doing?' (Michael glares sternly) And I went up to the secretary and I said (in what we now know as Worf's voice) 'Excuse me. Is there a place where I can be by myself.' And she goes 'uh... yeah, over there' ... 'Thank you.' And I walked in there and I sat by myself, and then I went into the audition, and I knew - you know, I've seen Gene Roddenberry, and Bob Justman, and all these people - and they're sitting there.  And I wanna go 'Hey, Gene! Hi!' you know, but - I was very stern, I didn't crack a smile and just did it, and left. And said, 'thank you very much.' and left. And that's how it happened. And I guess they probably just went, '... he's nuts.' you know? 'We like him.'"


"I think the Worf and Dax thing was a great story line."

"I still think she (Nicole) should have ended up with Worf. At the very end, when he's leaving, she goes... looks at Julian, and says 'I'm sorry, Julian, I can't do this. I belong with Worf.' and goes off with him - but that didn't happen."

I got to ask a couple questions of my own - I asked, first of all, if he related at all to Worf:

"I'm kind of the same - I'm a little gruff and surly at times - you know, I didn't think I was, but I am."


"I actually learned a lot, or admired a lot, about Worf - because he was really a strong character and all that, but he was also learning, and trying to understand , you know, Klingons, and aliens, and things like that and he was struggling with it, but he was, he was learning."


"Worf wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the world - I mean, it wasn't he was stupid, but he was just sort of like - he didn't understand... people. In general. 'You want me to do that? Really?' You know? And I'm kind of like that too."

And then I asked him if he like swimming, or if it was too much like bathing:
"Too much like bathing. No, actually, I like to bathe... (starts laughing) I'm sorry..."


"My favorite piece of technology, which was on Deep Space Nine, was... the Defiant. Yeah, you know - that's a very cool ride."


"There's a youtube video that somebody put together of Worf getting shit down every time he says something, you know? Which is pretty funny. 'Well Captain I think we should -' 'No, Mister Worf, Shut up!'... It's a very funny video..."

"Whenever Patrick and Jonathan would be standing at the screen, and I'm back there and I have to be very serious, and they'd turn and walk back to their seats - they were always making faces at me."
"And you'll see in a couple episodes, I'm like this - (looks down, pretending to concentrate on the console,, pressing buttons)"

"One time he (Patrick Stewart) actually ran, jumped on his chair and jumped over the horseshoe to get at me - I don't know why... but he jumped up and I caught him - and I'm holding him like this (arms stretched out in front of him) and he looks at me and he went 'Aaaw, I love you Mister Worf.'"

A local news crew also asked him to, for the camera, repeat the line from First Contact - "If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand". He did - but Michael, that's not how you said it in the movie! I'll forgive you, though - it's been a little while.

Lal - The Beautiful Daughter of an Android

L is for Lal!

Lal - Data's android daughter - appeared only in the TNG episode "The Offspring". She was probably one of the most adorable androids in the Universe, and it is a shame that she had to fail. When she began to grasp concepts such as verbal contractions and feel human emotion, I was sure that she would be special - exceeding her father. Unfortunately this was a symptom of cascade failure in her neural net, and complete system failure followed.

As Data moved "frantically" to save her, I was sure he felt love for her. (For more information on the episode, please visit Memory Alpha.)

As Lal is one of my favorite Star Trek characters, I decided to do a quick sketch of her. The sketch turned out better than I had thought it would, and so I inked it:

After that was finished, I decided I would scan it and alter it digitally for practice. Unfortunately, I do not own a tablet so I had to use the pad on my netbook - resulting in shaky lines. Despite these difficulties, I believe it turned out quite well:

For those of you who may be interested, I also have an art blog called Bitter Ambiguity.

Vorik and Taurik are Two of the Sexiest Vulcans of all Time.

Vorik and Taurik are largely speculated to be twins, a speculation backed up by the similarity of their names, the fact that the same actor - Alexander Enberg - played both characters, as well as the suggestion of this fact made by the producer - Enberg's mother, Jeri Taylor. As one may read here, twins on Vulcan are very rare due to an evolution in harsh environmental conditions with a lack of resources.

Whether or not Vorik and Taurik are, indeed, twins - there is certainly something very special about these under-appreciated characters.

Let's start off with Taurik - seen only in the TNG episode "Lower Decks".

Ensign Taurik of Vulcan served in the engineering section of the USS Enterprise-D. We don't know too much about him, as he only appeared in one episode. During this episode, however, he was often found playing poker with his human and bajoran crew-mates - each of them eager for a promotion.

Ensign Taurik definitely deserved to be promoted above the rest of the ensigns at the table (in my opinion), as he had already improved the ship's warp field stability by seven percent after reviewing preliminary findings by Dr. Nils Diaz and wished to make additional modifications. He was incredibly perceptive (much to La Forge's dismay) and definitely had the potential to make vast technological improvements which would be extremely valuable to the federation.

I only wish we found out what happened to him in later years. Perhaps I will have to hunt down the novels which include such information on him.

His wit was very Vulcan, but more playful than that delivered by Vulcans such as Tuvok. Listening to him interact with Ensign Lavelle reminded me greatly of the banter between Spock and McCoy.

And his voice. But I will get to that in a moment.

Moving on to Ensign Vorik:

Sadly and disrespectfully known by Voyager Fans on the web as "Pon Farr boy" due to his situation and actions during his first Pon Farr in the episode "Blood Fever", I feel that there is a lot of mockery were this character is concerned. (Losing his virginity to a hologram, etc.)

Other than in "Blood Fever", Vorik was a very minor character, often assisting B'Elanna in Engineering and making brief appearances among the telepaths of the ship in the episode "Counterpoint". In the episode "Alter Ego", one may clearly see Vorik's attraction to Lt. Torres as he wisks he away from Tom to a table he had reserved for the two of them a table with a view of the lakeside. These feelings are finally made clear in "Blood Fever" as he declares "koon-ut-so'lik", his desire to become her mate.

It is always very interesting to watch a Vulcan attempt to ignore and then work through the Pon Farr (especially their first), as we see a vulnerability - one that has always been there, but was carefully controlled.

Both Vorik and Taurik actually attempt to socialize with others by partaking in "illogical pastimes" such as luaus and card games. For example, in "Alter Ego" one finds Vorik at the luau, dressed for the occasion in a patterned shirt and accepting a lei where Tuvok flatly refused to have anything to do with the event. I somehow doubt that Spock would have put in much more effort than Tuvok, as Spock tended to over-compensate for his human half. Then again, both Vorik and Taurik were part of a younger generation, something that may have had an impact on their social behavior (although somehow I doubt it).

Now on to the first thing that really got me to focus on these two Vulcans - their voices. Or shall I say, Enberg's voice. I have heard it described as a "bedroom voice", but I really don't know how to describe it other than comparing it to warm molasses running over one's face every time he speaks. That is how it feels to listen to his voice (for me, anyways - I get light headed every time I hear it).

Did I mention how incredibly good-looking they are? They deserve more (positive) attention, for sure. In fact, why not go take a gander at some amazing Vorik/Taurik (and general) fanart by itachiXOXOkisame and PrinceHamlette?

I would love to hear your opinions on Vorik and Taurik (as they seem to differ so greatly from one person to the next), so don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine Ads - Playmates Figures and Game of Trivia 1993

Going through a copy of Starlog Magazine (1993), I found quite a few interesting ads, articles,  and comics relating to Star Trek: The Next Generation. I am actually scanning them right now. Until I have scanned some actual articles, here are a couple of advertisements.

Coming this fall: I don't actually have this game as of yet, but from what I have heard I would definitely like to.

Game description:

Star Trek: The Next Generation Trivia, Exploration and Discovery is a game of navigation, search, and discovery. The object of the game is to ‘seek out new life and new civilizations’ on an unknown number of planets and be the first to report them to Starfleet Command. It is a fun, challenging game for those with general Star Trek knowledge and even more exciting for dedicated Star Trek fans.

You are the Captain of your own starship, in control of your navigation and in command of your actions. Your knowledge of Star Trek: The Next Generation influences your success. Unpredictability abounds. You are always on the lookout for chance encounters with the Borg ship, Temporal Fluxes, “Q”, planets, and other starships. Your sensors detect these entities to keep you abreast of your relative position.

Test your knowledge of Star Trek: The Next Generation as you commandeer your own starship through unexplored territory.

There is also an ad on the back of the magazine for some TNG Playmates figures that come with exclusive Skybox Playmates collector cards.

One thing I don't have enough of is Borg merchandise. I find the Borg to be quite fascinating, as well as aesthetically pleasing. I would love to get a hold of any one of these figures - but if I could get a hold of those two Borg, I would be utterly elated.

C4 Comic Con - Jonathan Frakes - Quotes and Photos (Updated)

One of the special guests at the Central Canadian Comic Con (C4) was Jonathan Frakes, best known by Sci-Fi fans as Commander William T. Riker of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I took a lot of pictures, but as there was no video allowed, I had to depend on my terrible note-taking skills for quotes. Here are some of my favorites:

He was legitimately singing opera here. Seriously. It was amazing.

"When I first started on 'Star Trek,' I went to a convention in a little town called Syracuse, New York and everyone was still indignant that our show had come on the air because they were very heavy into Kirk and Spock and they really didn't like the idea of a new 'Star Trek.' I was waiting in the dealers' room to go on stage and at a dealer's table they were selling those action figures of the thinner versions of all of us... with Geordi LaForge $35, Picard for $50, a limited Data for $50 and the sign at the end of the table said, "buy any action figure and get Riker for free."

"I was more interested in where do you go to the bathroom on the Enterprise? What do you EAT? And why no POCKETS in the space suits? Don't get me started on my space suit. And what about this... (does an exaggeration of Riker's walk). Why did he walk like that all the time?"

"Wheaton is walking next to me and says, "you know Frakes, I can tell by the clothes that you wear and the music that comes out of your dressing room that, you used to be cool. Little shit."

"In real life, I play the trombone but I don't play it well. And on the show when you hear somebody playing the trombone and it sounds sort of not so good it's me. When you hear the trombone and it sounds really good on the show, that's Bill "

"Picard. Come on. Pfft, Kirk or Picard. You saw 'Generations.' Two captains in search of one good hairpiece."

" I wish 'Gargoyles' was STILL on the air! The greatest job. First of all, you go to work in your pajamas. Secondly, they've always got bagels and cream cheese. Thirdly, you sit around in a circle with other funny actors. It was a great gig. Marina, Data, um, Kate, Keith David, it was a great group. And it was one of those jobs where they would gather us all, like when we do the 'Family Guy' stuff they'd find us and we'd just have to do our lines. But with 'Gargoyles' we'd actually get together in the room and do the show. I liked that gig. I want it BACK!"

"So Nana Visitor... she sends Thomas Riker to some Cardassian prison and leaves him there for years! For years I was in the prison! ...Still in that bloody prison! I'll speak to her about that this evening."

"That was a great space bird." (after standing on one leg, other leg stretched out behind him, flapping his arms for about five seconds)

It's a really bad quality pic, but "That was a great space bird".

"In my country, we have wireless mikes." (after trying not to trip on the cord, and yelling at a Klingon (in Klingon!) who was trying to untangle it.)

"I try to encourage actors to find any other career... It's a really GLAMOROUS profession and it ALWAYS works out! EVERYBODY gets rich and you stay young FOREVER!"

"(Talking about Twitter) Spiner's got a million and a half, LeVar's got a million and a half, I just, I just joined, feel free to sign up. Jonathan S. Frakes. Who is that pretty girl who called me Franks when I came up here?" (He was, in fact, introduced as Jonathon Franks.)

"I'm not much of a Sci-fi fan, oddly enough... But I am enjoying Person of Interest."

"But oddly enough when Star Trek started, I didn't really know that we were joining part of the popular culture and thought we'd be under a rock or something. I didn't understand the power of the original Star Trek and didn't understand the passion. And then Roddenberry, may he rest in peace, was so great. He believed so heavily in his optimistic view of the future. I auditioned for 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' six times over several weeks, and each time as it got closer and closer to them finally making the decision I'd have to go into Gene Roddenberry's office and I'd sit there and he's sort of you know, he was like a coach. And he'd coach and say your audition is going to be great today, you're the guy I want to play Riker, and he said to me in the 24th century there will be no hunger, there will be no greed, and all the children will know how to read."

"Deep Throat Nine" (As he called Deep Space Nine throughout the show)

"I started to look at the original show and at that time got the VCRs of the show and watched those. And my wife Jeannie Francis who is a big Kirk fan she had Kirk posters on her wall when she was a kid. And then I go home for Christmas after the first season to see my mom and dad in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and I went out to the refrigerator to get a beer and a refrigerator was on the back porch and I go to the refrigerator and on the door is a poster -- this big -- a picture of Patrick Stewart. 'Oh, I just love Patrick Stewart.' Mom??! I'm in THE SAME SHOW! The other half of that picture is ME! 'He's so beautiful. And that voice… numba one… to BE!' (Imitating Patrick Stewart). Humbling."

"The 'Nemesis' movie was, my thoughts on why it didn't do well, awkward, be very careful Jonathan you are using your outside voice… speak diplomatically. I think that the core audience of our movies, which was you guys, wanted to see the Star Trek family which is Patrick and Brent, etc., And that movie was sort of about Thomas Hardy's character. The guy who was by the way, not only Inception, he's like the hottest thing. He's like a huge movie star now. And it's fabulous. He got his start in that movie. So I always thought that that movie, in addition to not being directed by me, was problematic because it was about a character who none of us really knew. I'm not sure that's what the problem was. I also think that Paramount with their infinite wisdom was really, incredibly, greedy, in terms of we had our show on the air, that they put Deep Throat--'Deep Space Nine' on the air, no, they put 'Voyager'then 'Deep Space' then 'Enterprise' and then we did 'Generations' and 'First Contact' and 'Insurrection' and there was just too much Star Trek. And 'Nemesis' was the first star trek movie to lose money. We made nine movies that all made money and as you know that's what projects into the future, so when 'Nemesis' stopped to make money the franchise came to a screeching halt until J.J. rebooted it brilliantly a couple of years ago. What's your theory about why it was a stinker? Or was it a stinker? Some people liked it."

"I'm serious. It's all work with me… Except for this one time. Michael Dorn, dear sweet turtle head, is up on the, you know, back end of the bridge, and old baldy is sitting there and I'm over here and the beautiful and talented Marina is over here. And Dorn had in his hand, because for years he's wanted to do this -- raw egg. So he leans over the bridge, and SMASHES it on Patrick's head. Albumin everywhere. Yolk down that British face. That's a lie. That's a boldfaced lie. It never happened. It would've been great though, right?"

"You know how we use to get hit by phaser fire from enemy ships? And we'd all rock around and be thrown around the bridge, and Marina would be over in her seat, and when we got hit her hair would lay back and she'd look over and her breasts would be full, and I'd be over here rocking and throwing my self around like Riker, and Patrick would be sitting over in his captain's chair, the ergonomically built for his back captain's chair, which was stolen by a fan at one point… And he would all be, very stoic. And under his breath, I heard this many times (imitating Patrick Stewart), "Oh Jonathan… Jonathan… 25 years in the Royal Shakespeare Company… FOR THIS??"

Just as I suspected (and was told by other Star Trek cast members), Jonathan Frakes is a very funny man and a great performer. At one point, a couple of people were attempting to take video of him talking. He walked to the front of the stage, leaned down, and yelled - "NO VIDDEEOOO!" It must have been a personal request, because video was permitted for every other guest.

I went and got a picture with him after the Q&A, which was very rushed and taken professionally. I looked up at him and said, "I love you". He hesitated for a moment before saying "and I you". I felt like a really big creep, but I don't really care. It was great seeing him, and he is just as handsome as ever. I just wish I could have been less awkward is his presence.