Star Trek: The Next Generation Complete Series DVD Set
One of my favorite all time TV Series is Star Trek: The Next Generation. And, the ultimate DVD collection has just been release. If you’re a fan of TNG this is for you.
But first let me say, I really hate it when companies, specifically Paramount, release something like this yet won’t listen to their fans. They only want their money. These over priced box sets are hard to swallow.
I will say this though, there is so much content with this set you might wear out the DVD player before you get through it all.
From StarTrek.com web site:
Called one of the greatest television shows of all time, Star Trek: The Next Generation takes it to the next level on DVD, celebrating its 20th anniversary with an extraordinary DVD collection of all seven of the series? groundbreaking seasons in one collectible box set from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment.
You can pick this collection up from Amazon as of this writing for $304. Compare that to the StarTrek.com store price of $440. I think I’ll pocket my $140 and not give it Paramount.
Day Three of Mountain-Con III
The morning started off talking with Convention Chair Carl Stark about my t-shirts. I pre-registered months ago for the convention and also purchased shirts. As you’ll remember when I checked in the person didn’t know anything about shirts. Come to find out the company that was supposed to supply the shirts had to back out at the last second and so there weren’t any at the show. However, the company did print shirts for those that pre-registered; that would have been me. Carl quickly had someone find my shirts and get them to me. Right number of shirts and most importantly the right sizes.
First up was a panel on How to get Published. Again, this is turning out to be a convention on writing Sci-Fi. But hey, at least I’m having fun and learning something. Everyone on the panel had some great advice. The panel agreed that they best place to meet Editors and Publishers were the various conventions, specifically writing conventions. The panel also agreed that attending writing workshops from Authors such as Orson Scott Card or an Odyssey workshop are worth the investment. There are plenty more you just need to search them out. The panel also talked about Editors and what they look for and what gets thrown into the trash quickly. One of the panelists advised to read plenty of books on the style you are writing for examples of accepted style, not story ideas.
The next panel was Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy. Great panel of guests. I learned a lot about the genre and what to expect. We talked a lot about World creation. Character creation. The kind of writing styles that don’t work and ones that do. Everyone on the panel seemed to have their own style (duh), but I liked the contrasts between the styles because each one had a different approach to writing that worked for them.
The next panel was 10 Years & Beyond of Stargate SG-1. This was the most fun of the day. I really like SG-1 and so did the people in the audience. Did you know there are lyrics to the Stargate SG-1 theme song? Written by Peter Deluise. The audience and panel discussed several episodes, the upcoming SG-1 movies (Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, both going straight to DVD), Stargate Atlantis, and several other SG-1 topics. There was a lot of interaction between everyone in the room. There were definite fans there.
The final panel for me was Blogs for Business - Do They Help? I attended this only to see what the panelists are doing with the web to generate business. When I read a title like this I’m very skeptical that the actual discussion would be on business and on general blog questions, and that’s pretty mush what it was. Although, Howard Tayler’s entire business was built online. He sells books, but a majority of his customers come from his web site. I appreciated him sharing his success and what he does to draw in traffic. It was incredible. I think Paul Genesse has an incredible opportunity to improve his business via the web. My suggestion Paul if you ever read this is (as it has been my experience) to actually build a web business plan. Using the web to build your business is completely different than traditional methods. He’s on the right track but would really love to see him explode his web presence. You do have the time Paul. You really do.
So to wrap things up, it was a great, no, exceptional experience. Carl Stark did a fantastic job. I had a chance to speak to several of the staff members and they were always willing to help and had a smile on their face. I can’t wait for next year.
Here is a link to several pictures I took at the convention.
Did you attend? What was your experience and a link to your thoughts.
Day Two of Mountain-Con III
Being day two and a Saturday my expectations of the convention are higher. Reading the panel and event list I’m excited to get started. So, I’ll pick up later after I’ve had a chance to get going.
After a great morning breakfast and a quiet ride to the convention, I attended Sci-Fi Podcasts on the Internet. It was an interesting panel. We didn’t talk a lot about the different Sci-Fi podcasts as much as we talked about how the I-Sci-Fi.com podcast is created. Jeff Norris is a co-host and techie guy for this podcast. I did talk about one of my podcasts, The Jazz Show, and the upcoming GalactiFi Podcast.
Next panel was Mary Rice. She played T’Pring on an episode of the original Star Trek. She has a great story about how she was chosen to be the actor for that character. You can find more on Mary Rice on her MySpace.com and Memory Alpha pages. I wish she was acting more. She’s incredibly funny, easy going and has a great personality.
Next up was Surviving Your First Convention. This had a lot of interest for me because this is my first official convention. We talked a lot about staying hydrated, having snacks to eat between panels or events, and making sure you get a lot of sleep.
My next panel was Self Editing. Honestly, this was a very cool panel. I’ve decided that I’m drawn more to the writing workshops at this convention than the fan based panels and events. I’m discovering more people in Salt Lake City who have the same interests as I do. And I’m learning a lot. visit Paul Genesse’s site to learn more about the writing profession.
By this time my wife had joined me. I was really excited to share in all the fun activities with her.
Our next event was a 2 hour anthology from David Prowse. As you all know, David Prowse was the man behind Star Wars Darth Vader. In all honesty, it was rather boring and he glazed over the Darth Vader part of his career. Most of the questions from the audience were on his role as Darth Vader. Go figure.
Next on the stage was Garrett Wang. Garrett was an actor on the Star Trek series Voyager. I took a bunch of pictures of Garrett on stage. He was a blast. Funny. I felt like I was at a comedy club he was that funny. I don’t think he meant to go that direction but I’m glad he made it light and entertaining.
After Garrett we called it a night. We were exhausted and hungry. Off to rest for the final day tomorrow.
Day One of Mountain-Con III
Today was the opening of Mountain-Con in Salt Lake City, Utah. I have been excitedly waiting for this day to arrive since it will be my first real FanCon.
So I’m going to do is basically give you a run down of what I did, who I met and what activities I participated in.
When I arrived at the registration booth it was very chaotic. I’m sure it was because the event had just started and probably and everyone was running around trying to tie up all the lose ends. But I have to admit, first impressions are always a gage for me and my first impression wasn’t exceptional. Again, I’m trying to keep an open mind and just go with the flow.
Personally making me feel completely welcome, invited and appreciated for paying months in advance, should have been a priority. Don’t place people at the registration booth who don’t give a crap if I’m there or not. I was hoping this experience wasn’t a reflection of the entire event, seeing how I had just walked in.
I fully expected the attendance on the first day, a Friday afternoon, to be pretty low and I was right. I attended several panel discussions and there were only a hand full of people in each ones. It really made it difficult to carry on a conversation with only one or two people, so I had high expectations of the panel guests. And I think they did a super job.
The first panel I wanted to attend was BSG - Season 4 & Beyond. It was canceled, not sure why, the sign at the door just had the words CANCELLED written on it. So I high tailed it over to Starfleet Academy History 101. This turned out to be a lecture on the early US space program. I believe the person presenting was Professor Victoria Windsor (who seemed to have a British accent that kept coming and going), but was a complete hoot. Event though the subject matter was sort of dry she was very entertaining. You can see a picture of her here.
The next panel I attended was Sci-Fi on TV - Best 10 TV Shows. This turned out to be an open discussion about TV shows currently airing or soon to be on the air. I was really hoping this panel was had a little more structure. I really wanted to know what the panel felt were the top 10 shows. Here are the ones we discussed:
- Heros (of course the best Sci-Fi show currently running)
- Jericho
- Dr. Who
- Torchwood
- Sara Jane Adventures (a British show not yet in the US)
- Bionic Woman (this is supposed to be a rocking show)
- Battlestar Galactica
- Razor
- Journeyman
- Flash Gordon
- Lost (honorable mention)
- A bunch of others I couldn’t type fast enough to catch.
By time we were done with this panel I had a headache. There were a few good discussions but the gist was most of the attendees and panel guests thought Sci-Fi TV is getting darker and darker and harder to watch.
The next panel I attended was one I had been looking forward to all afternoon, Working with Small Publishers. I am trying to attend as many of the writing panels as I can because I want to get a better understanding of the business and what other Authors have faced and what advice they have. Everyone was very eager to share and the panel was awesome.
One of the coolest guys I’ve met so far has to be Ken Rand. He’s a writer; of many genres. But most of all he’s a writer. He’s passionate about writing and I can tell just from our brief interaction I’ll be buying some of his books tomorrow. -PS when you go to a show like this, take some cash. I didn’t and wish I had. Duh. Ken says “Anyone can say can’t write. Let no one say you don’t”. That statement took me a while to understand, but I think he’s trying to say is people may not like what you write but that doesn’t mean you don’t.
Another writer that was on this panel was Howard Tayler. His web site name is awesome, SchlockMercenary.com. He writes a comic strip on the web and also published a couple of books. He is a very interesting and passionate writer. In fact, I must have pushed a button of his when he asked who in the room were writers, I raised my hand, and then said, well, I’m trying to be a writer. He slammed his fist on the table and said “are you writing?” I answered “yes”, he said “then you are a writer.” It was interesting. Again, he has a lot of passion and I look forward to reading his comic and his blog.
There were two ladies on this panel and I am so sorry but didn’t write down their names and they aren’t in the convention program. I’ll update tomorrows blog post with their names and stories.
After that panel I just walked around to several of the Actor booths (David Prowse who played Darth Vader behind the mask was there), talked with a few more Authors and walked through the dealers room (where they sell all the lout.) One of the Authors I met was Paul Genesse. Very sharp guy. Has a new book coming out in 2008, visit his web site and check it out. I also met an Author named Eric James Stone. He tells me he writes short stories mostly and hands me a business card, and says “look at the back, it’s a short story”, and sure enough, on the back of his business card was a short story. Visit his web site here to learn more.
Exhausted and hungry I decided to call it a day. Saturday is the big day and has so many panels that I’m going to have to miss some to be in others. I’ll attend as many of the writing ones as I can.
One final note; I saw Garrett Wang walk in just before I left. It was pretty cool. In all honesty, I wouldn’t have been as excited to attend this convention had it not been for Garrett. My favorite Star Trek series is Voyager and I think it’s pretty cool he’ll be at this one.
By the way, no wireless Internet. That would have been a great bonus.
That’s all for today.
Attending Mountain-Con III in Utah
I’ve lived in Utah most of my life and this will be my first year attending Mountain-Con. I’ve looked at the web site before and never really took the time to learn about the con or the people running it.
This year I decided to get involved in different SciFi clubs and groups and attend several cons, whether they were in Utah or not. Fortunately for me we have a great con right here and it seems like a good group of special guests.
I had intended on volunteering but decided I should experience the whole thing my first time around. Maybe even twice. But eventually I will volunteer. I think that’s important to help out, especially if you enjoy the event. Help make it grow and become more successful.