More On The Closing Of 'Star Trek: The Experience'

   Star Trek: The Experience is closing, but there is a small glimmer of hope for the future.

As reported by reviewjournal.com, more information is coming out regarding the closing of Star Trek: The Experience and attempts to find a new home for it.

"I know they are definitely investigating other Las Vegas possibilities [for The Experience]," said Leslie Ryan, a CBS representative.

Fans are hastening to visit before the doors close for good. "We are going to have our flood of fans returning," said Chad Boutte, marketing director for the attraction. "Over the last three days, I've responded to over five-hundred and seventy e-mails from fans alone." Some of that flood of fans may occur during a 'Star Trek' convention slated for August 6-10th, just several weeks before The Experience will close for good.

Other fans are mourning the loss of the unique attraction, as reported by TrekMovie. Steven Biggs, who worked at The Experience until 2002, playing the part of Kralk the Klingon, was instrumental in encouraging fans to contact CBS and Cedar Fair in hopes of keeping The Experience alive. "I was hoping to nudge them," he explained. "But now that it is decided...that's it." He added that he understood that it was a business decision, but "...it was the last bastion of Star Trek and a great presentation of the whole forty-year history of Trek, and I just didn't want to see it go."

It is still unsure which of the three organizations responsible for the attraction; Cedar Fair, the Hilton or CBS, was responsible for the decision. It was suspected that the Hilton might want to find a more profitable use for the space now used by The Experience but according to Hilton spokesman Ira Sternberg, "I think it was really a decision from their [Cedar Fair] end, not a decision from our end."

To read more, head to the articles located here and here.

Koenig on Chekov and 'Star Trek'

Walter Koenig found out that encounters with fans could be sweet or they could be downright odd.

As reported by Roddenberry.com, most of Koenig's interactions with fans were pleasant. "My mail was almost exclusively from kids, from eight to fourteen years old," he said, speaking of his Star Trek days. "I got a lot of fan mail on lined paper and pencil saying that I was groovy."

But occasionally, he has had the bizarre request. "I had one where a fan asked me if I would come up to her room and sacrifice a chicken." Koenig declined that request, handing it off to another actor.

Koenig was surprised that he never took criticism for portraying a Russian during a time when Russian-American relations were strained. "I never received any vitriolic mail or anyone challenging the right to have a Russian character on the Enterprise," he said.

Although not in Star Trek XI, Koenig has a positive opinion of the project. "I think the movie is a great idea and I hope they really do a terrific job," he said. "I have no reason to believe they won't. I know J.J. Abrams is a very sharp guy and he is obviously extremely successful, and the cast I got to visit on the set...seems to be very confident, very good performers and interesting personalities. So I'm sure that they'll have a good film."

He also had kind words about Anton Yelchin who is playing the role that Koenig made famous. "I talked to Anton. He came by and we actually spent a couple of hours talking. [He is a] very ingenuous pleasant young man. He already has a career. He's already quite well-established so this will add to his already building reputation as an actor."

Behind The Scenes With 'Star Trek: Intrepid'

Far from the glitter of Los Angeles, a group of devoted fans create their own Star Trek from the lofty heights of an attic apartment in Scotland.

As reported by News.scotsman.com, making The Stone Unturned, the next film being made by Intrepid Productions, means having one's apartment covered with fabric and other Star Trek items, hoping that the birds singing outside will not be too loud while the scene is being shot, and trying to avoid setting the living room carpet on fire.

This production of Star Trek is being made in Dundee, Scotland where seven people comprise the core of the fan film effort. Steve Hammond, a 39-year-old computer programmer is the director. Nick Cook, a 38-year old nurse is the producer and an actor in the film. His wife Lucita Faria is an actress in the new film. It is in their apartment that the new film is being created. Hammond and Faria met at a local Star Trek club in Dundee, which has since folded. They were married several years ago in Las Vegas.

"Most people who make fan films do it because they want to be in Star Trek," says Cook. "They want to put on the costumes, they want to run around, they want to shoot phasers, and they want to make out with green Orion slave girls. Quite frankly, that's why I'm doing it."

Intrepid Productions has created one film prior to this, Heavy Lies the Crown, which has been downloaded by thirty thousand people from the Starship Intrepid website which can be found here. Heavy Lies the Crown took four and a half years to make and is forty-seven minutes long.

Making a fan film can be pricey. Cook estimates that he has spent more than $10,000 on Intrepid in the last few years. He does save costs by making the costumes himself. "I'm constantly knee-deep in bits of fabric," he says, which can drive him a bit crazy sometimes. "But not as crazy as it drives my wife," he says.

The Stone Unturned is due to be released in 2009.

To read more, head to the article located here. Heavy Lies the Crown can be downloaded here.

Takei Sets The Date

George Takei will marry in September with some Star Trek alumni participating and in attendance.

As reported by People, September 14 will be the day when Takei and his partner Brad Altman tie the knot. Two of his former cast-mates will be in the wedding party. "The best man is my colleague from 'Star Trek', Walter Koenig, who played Chekov, and the matron of honor is (Lt.) Uhura, Nichelle Nichols," said Takei.

Another famous Star Trek actor will be there. "Leonard (Nimoy) and his wife Susan are on the (guest) list."

Takei and Altman have been together for twenty-one years, and the ruling from the California State Supreme Court cleared the way for them to plan their nuptials. "We knew that the Supreme Court was going to be coming down with their ruling (legalizing gay marriage)," said Takei. "So I was planning on asking Brad to get married."

But Altman beat him to the punch. "We were at home in the kitchen and we had the TV going, and when the word came down suddenly Brad got on his knees in front of me and I said 'What are you doing?' He said, 'George, will you marry me?' I said 'Yes. You beat me to it. I meant to ask you.'"

The wedding will be held at the Japanese-American National Museum in Los Angeles and will be a formal affair. Several details will reflect their personal tastes as well as their backgrounds. Scottish bagpipes will play during the ceremony at which a Mexican-American Buddhist minister will officiate. The wedding rings will be Native American turquoise and silver. The wedding dinner will feature fusion Japanese-Mexican cuisine.