Yet Another Ode to Bill

6 Reasons Why William Shatner Is the Greatest Performer of All Time

#6 - “Damnit Jim, Booty is Booty”

It would call to reason that a show about space exploration would lead to several encounters with alien beings. It would also call to reason that some of these aliens would be smoking hot half-naked women in all shades of the rainbow. Aside from the fact that he shared television’s first interracial kiss, Shatner’s portrayal of “Jim” taught us that Booty is Booty, and that means it’s quite all right to make passionate love to a 6-foot-tall blue (or oftentimes green) Amazonian. Without these epic performances, how could Comic Conventions exist in their current state? They could not.

Go, Geeks of Doom!

All the Trek News That's Fit to Print

In the Week in Review section from Sunday's New York Times, there were 3! count em, 3! Trek articles/editorials.

Exploring the Universe, One B-Movie at a Time by David Hajdu

[M]y big sister, then already in high school, was on hand to explain the wondrous narrative physics of the episode [A Piece of the Action]. I was watching a puzzle made from three things, she said: one, the “Star Trek” I understood; two, a period crime movie our father liked, called “The Roaring Twenties”; and three, the clownish “Soupy Sales Show.”

Put Aside Logic by Maureen Dowd

Commanding his own unwieldy starship of blended species, with Cheney, Limbaugh and other pitiless Borg aliens firing phasers from all sides, Mr. Obama has certainly invoked Mr. Spock’s Vulcan philosophy of “Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.”

The Two Sides of Star Trek by David Itzkoff

“A lot of science-fiction is nihilistic and dark and dreadful about the future, and ‘Star Trek’ is the opposite,” Mr. Nimoy said. “We need that kind of hope, we need that kind of confidence in the future. I think that’s what ‘Star Trek’ offers. I have to believe that — I’m the glass-half-full kind of guy.”

Romulan Ale! Sort of.

Illegal throughout Federation space, you no longer need to board a freighter crossing the Neutral Zone to get your hands on Romulan Ale. The drink of choice of the xenophobic Romulans, this non-alcoholic energy drink will keep your mind sharp and your passions sharper.

This stuff will run you about $40 a case, and it's just a freaking energy drink - there's NO ALCOHOL in it. As I said to Mike Sterling, you should add grain alcohol to it; it's supposed to be berry flavored, but if it's anything like Pepsi Blue, it's probably undrinkable straight out the bottle.

Romulan ale: Helping captains make bad decisions since stardate 2243.5.

William Shatner is very disappointed in all of you.

He could spank all of us. And then the oral sex.

Kim Hollis: Star Trek earned a jaw-dropping $79.2 million from Thursday evening until Sunday. What are the primary reasons that Paramount was able to hit it out of the park with the Star Trek reboot?

Josh Spiegel: First of all, this film came out at the right time. It's been long enough that most people have forgotten the last two Star Trek films, Insurrection and Nemesis, which were both flops. Second, the movie has looked like, from the first major trailer being released, like it could easily please Trekkers and non-Trekkers alike with enough callbacks to even the most familiar Star Trek references and lots of action. That, more than anything else, is what I would call the biggest reason that this new Star Trek film works: you really don't need to know anything about the mythology of the show aside from the characters' names (and the original series has been around for over 40 years, so you'd have to live under a rock to not even recognize the name Spock) to enjoy it.

Box Office Prophets

If nothing else, at least I have a reason to post this picture of pouty Kirk.

Trek XI: The Missing Shatner Scene

Well, it's not exactly a scene...

Star Trek Writers Reveal the William Shatner Scene That Never Was


"I! Don't! Do! ... CAMEOS!"

Top 10 William Shatner Moments

Courtesy of IGN UK

Coming in at #2:

Star Trek: The Cartoon

via the Village Voice. "Old Kirk and new Kirk go where no Kirk has gone before, thanks to Ward "Energize!" Sutton."

Bill used fishing line...

...but Quinto used superglue.

Also on that page is a video clip that reinforces my original perception of those two actors: Quinto, witty and geek-charming; Pine, kinda stupid.

Whipped Kirk and Other Delights

The cover of Bill's next album, perhaps?


I'm so glad someone has mastered Photoshop. Grepthar knows I never will.

Did I mention we love our listeners? Check out Francesca's blog Star Trek and 60s Design for great photos and commentary.

Star Trek apps for iPhone

A nice piece about some of the apps that are out for the iPhone. I'm definitely getting Daxhotel, and the TOS trivia one too - we'll be playing it on an upcoming show!

Logan has the phaser one and he says it's not all that. Oh well.

Wired magazine Trek comic online

When Worlds Collide, by Paul Pope

In a Flash presentation. It's pretty keen!


There's just something about a man with a harp...

Trek interior design

Courtesy of Dave Campbell - too funny not to quote in its entirety (and I completely agree with him!).

Where did the Enterprise crew get all those wonderful lights?



Now YOU can transform your apartment or living room into a futuristic starship bridge in three easy steps.

1. Paint everything Bright White latex paint with a satin finish for easy cleaning.
2. Swap out all accessories, furniture, and fixtures with brushed stainless steel replacements.
3. Purchase the following lights:

* 650 Dioder multi-purpose lights (with extra lens flare filters)
* 24 Asker countertop lights
* 12 Gruda bookcase/picture lights
* 24 Kramare spotlights
* 1 Spoka night light (for science officer's station)

Caution: You may have to wear sunglasses at all times.

The only thing they lack, of course, is the fixture that makes Kirklight.

A Mother's Day Space Treat

Captain Kirk's Childhood

Marjorie takes time out from her busy Mother's Day (opening all those space gifts, doncha know) to tell us a bit about Jimmy's childhood.

Bill didn't use it...

So why shouldn't you have it? Bid on Bill's invitation to the premiere of Star Trek XI. It's autographed!

See it and bid on Ebay

The auction consists of the two piece Premiere invitation plus mailing envelope. The address label has been whited out for privacy but it still shows William Shatner's name. There is a special Star Trek stamp on the envelope. On the reverse of the envelope Mr. Shatner has boldy signed the envelope. The invitation is also accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from WilliamShatner.com attesting that the invitation is Mr. Shatner's and that the envelope was hand signed by Mr. Shatner.

100% of the Proceeds from this auction will benefit Mr. Shatner's Hollywood Charity Horseshow.

Trek-pimp your desktop!

Icons! Get your Star Trek icons for your desktop.


The tricorder looks an awful lot like a jukebox to me. Maybe that's the future evolution of music devices: jukebox ... Sony Walkman ... iPod ... iPhone ... Tricorder. Hell, the iPhone already plays music and does practically everything in the world. Just hang a strap on it, wear it like a manpurse and voila! Tricorder.

Violence! Mayhem! Kirk-Fu!

On the Enterprise, every night is Saturday night!

Trek movie review in the SFChron, featuring BILL!

Great review in today's Chron by MickLaSalle (he likes the movie a lot) - and OF COURSE Bill is mentioned:

So the young Kirk is a wise guy. Of course he is. He's still a wise guy today, doing commercials for "Priceline" - but wait, that's William Shatner, not Kirk. It all gets mixed together in the mind. As Kirk, Chris Pine doesn't imitate Shatner, but he evokes his confidence and breezy, jolly narcissism. At 10 years old, the young Kirk is taking the family car out for a joy ride, and as a young man, he's getting into bar fights. He has brains and nerve to spare, but he's going nowhere on Earth. Space is the answer.

Also this bit about Leonard is priceless:

Leonard Nimoy shows up as the old Spock, and he's not just there for a perfunctory blessing. He serves both a story function and an emotional function. At 78 (and looking not a day older than 79), Nimoy, just standing there, is a reminder of the passage of time and the glory of it all. He gives this new series a kickoff that it just might deserve.

This review is pretty much spoiler-safe, but if you're like JK and don't want to know ANYTHING about the movie, don't read it.

Starfleet Academy online

Via Brandweek (I have to read this stuff for work):

It's a safe bet that if any audience can appreciate brands showing off tech muscle, it's the Trekkie crowd.

Verizon Wireless and Nokia are betting that holds true as they team up on a new site that makes one of the first efforts to use so-called "augmented-reality" technology to create an interactive version of the highly anticipated Star Trek movie on Friday. The Join Starfleet Academy site is to promote Verizon Wireless services and Nokia products.

Visitors to www.joinstarfleetacademy.com can enter the "interactive video display center" to build the augmented-reality experience. It involves printing out a PDF document reading "incoming message from Starfleet Academy." Then, using his or her computer's Webcam, the site shows the viewer holding the sheet and the trailer plays on top of it and moves along with it.

"This is a very particular audience," said Shawn Moore, group creative director at Moxie Interactive, the Publicis Groupe shop that developed the campaign. "They're very particular and look for any detail they can find."

The Starfleet Academy site is meant as a hub for Trekkies. It includes everything from mobile applications to wallpapers to snippets from the film.

The effort is similar to a recent General Electric campaign that promoted its smart grid technology. It also allowed visitors to print out a PDF and then showed them on screen interacting with animation.

The hope is the wow factor will ignite a pass-along effect. The Starfleet Academy site includes a sharing option for popular social networks.

Such immersive experiences require some work from consumers (as well as a Webcam), making them applicable only for some audiences, Moore said.

"If I was just selling a service that's so mass market, that's not the right fit," he said. "This type of audience and this genre of movie really speaks to tech gurus."

If any tries this out, please let us know! We'll probably explore it on an upcoming show, but it would be great to have the inside scoop...

Entertainment Weekly Luuuuuuvs Bill

They use the debut of a new Trek movie as an excuse to flaunt their mancrush. AND they include "Galaxy Quest" as a Trek milestone! That's classy.

Trek Milestones

I know you're all shocked to see an image from TMP here but GAWD he's gorgeous! And there's Kirklight! (Ignore those 2 clowns in the back trying to get some Kirklight action.)

THIS IS A DISASTER (Part 2)

Don Asmussen (Bad Reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle) reveals the LIES behind the TRUTH, and the TRUTH behind those LIES that are behind that TRUTH.