Star Trek attracts people of all sizes, shapes, and colours and I mean all colours. Green Orions, blue Androdians, brown Klingons, red shirts, gold shirts, trillions, and all of us pale-faces who didn’t have the gumption to dress up ourselves. However, despite their size, colour, background, religion, or nationality I have had the wonderful opportunity to notice the kindness Trekkies bring with them to a convention.





It took a whirlwind to get me to Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Many miles, two passports, and a lot of money later I crossed the Canadian border, drove into Vancouver, and finally made it to the Sheraton Wall Convention Center downtown. I was tired, I was hungry, I was achy, and I was alone.
The first to befriend me were two girls applying copious amounts of Green Mac makeup in the bathroom downstairs, later to become known as Green Orion Slave girls – a small, but popular species from the original series. New to Star Trek themselves, my new friends Judy and Kate were there with their companions from Simon Frasier College doing research on the subculture that is Star Trek. After finding out about my journey and that I was alone they let me stick to their side(s) for a bit and allowed me to partake in their research as I filled out a Star Trek Diary – recording my observations and reactions to this marvelous experience.



Soon it came time for the photo op with Leonard Nimoy, so after bumming around in the disappointingly small vendors room, I made my way to the line and fortunately – since I was about 45 minutes early – was near the front. There I met a woman named Esther who was also there alone – although she didn’t have to travel very far being a native to Vancouver. We talked about our love for Star Trek and Leonard among other things. We were both so nervous to get our picture with him! What would we say? Is there anything in our teeth? It didn’t really matter. The line was rushed through the picture process very quickly.

“Ok, move there.”
*Gasp, it’s him!*
“Hi Leonard, can I put my arm around you?”
“Sure!”
“Smile!!!”
*snap*
“Move along.”



And it was over. I was elated to have finally seen him and touch him and get my picture with him, but disappointed at how quick the process was, making the whole thing seem like a dream rather than the reality I had been hoping (and paid) for.
Fatigue embraced me as did hunger as I roamed around the convention. My green friend Judy took me to the store to get us some food, stopping here and there for wide-eyed passerby’s and an occasional picture.
“What are YOU supposed to be?”



I was tired and while happy to be there, was still disappointed at the overall process. But there was still time to see him on stage as well as get his autograph.
I forgot to mention I also saw Jacob Kogen, the kid – now a teenager – who played young Spock in the2009 Star Trek movie. He was on stage with a less than stellar interviewer for the first session.
I missed the second two sessions sadly, one talking about the history of Star Trek, which I was really looking forward to.



After walking around, meeting people, taking pictures, and then sitting down to rest, I heard that there was an auction. I got to the auditorium when it was about half way over and sat near the front.
“This beautiful poster of William Shatner will be autographed by him as well. Retail price is $300, can I hear $300?”




“350!”
“400!”



And eventually after two ultimate trekkies haggled over the giant poster of Captain Kirk, one walked away with it for no shorter than $1,000.
Most things sold for under a grand. One item was a relatively small print picture of Zachary Quinto as Spock in the new 2009 Star Trek movie. It was signed by him as well with an authentication sticker on the back.
“Can I hear $40?”
Surely, this thing is worth more than $40, I thought. Or at least it will be when the next Trek movie comes out, my friend Esther reassured me.
So I raised my hand. “$50!”
“$50! Do I hear $60? No? $50 going once, going twice . . . . sold to the lady in the orange shirt!”
Damn it. I was amused, but wasn’t expecting no one else bidding on it. So I went up to claim my prize. I’m sure it will still be worth more in the future.



Immediately after the auction, it was time. Time for Leonard and Bill Shatner to take the stage. I had sold my general admission tickets early to a really nice couple who helped me find cheap parking. I was able to in turn by preferred tickets which meant I got to sit closer to the stage – 3rd row and to the side to be exact.



Soon Leonard came out onstage, with a big grin on his face. He talked and joked and schmoozed with the audience. Then it came time for Q&A. They brought two microphones on either side of the stage where the ultimate nerds – such as myself – could ask a question.
The man I was sitting next to, another new friend named Greg, whispered, “Well go up there! Hurry!”
So I did. I was very close to the mic, so I was only the 3rd person up there.
One guy on the other side asked some question about what his favorite scene was to film.
Then someone else asked him about the scene in Star Trek IV where he nerve punches the punk on the bus blasting his music.
All cliché questions I’m sure he’s heard a thousand times. My question was different. It wasn’t even Star Trek related.


Soon it was my turn and my heart was pounding.



“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Erinn” I gulped.
He asked me where I was from and I told him. I also told him I had come by myself.
“You came all that way by yourself?”
And then – he held out his hand. “Well let’s make your trip worth it!”



I couldn’t believe, out of everyone there – at least a 1,000 people, he was calling me up on stage. Me! So I went up there and he took hand in his. (Just for the record, I was the ONLY one to come up on stage).



It was cool and soft and I had a ridiculous grin on my face that was somewhere between elation and downright shock.



We exchanged conversation. He asked me my full name. I even spelled it. Talked about where I was from. How I got here. My ordeal. And then I got to ask him my question.
“I absolutely adore your photography and especially your book ‘The Full Body Project’ which works with plus size modeling. As a plus size girl myself, I think it is wonderful how you view the female body and especially the plus size community. Do you plan to do any more photography, especially with plus size girls again?”
I could tell he was pleasantly surprised by question. Most of the audience stared in dumb questioning. He explained that he was also a photographer and talked about the book. Then we went on to discuss how sad it is that the “need” to be thin is pushed on girls, especially in Western Society, and sadly in non-western societies now as well. Truly a marvelous man with a marvelous perspective. He answered my question by saying that while he will continue to do photography, he probably won’t put out any more books.
“I don’t plan on it,” he said. “But people keep asking me to shoot them and I keep getting new ideas, so you never know!”













I’m not sure how long I was up there for, but soon it was time to let go of his hand and go back to my seat.
And then I started to cry.



I couldn’t believe my luck. I was so glad that my trip and all that money I had spent had been worth it! And I was also the new Star Trek celebrity. Everyone knew who I was after that.
“I can’t believe you got to go up there!”
“You deserve it.”
“That was so cool!”
“He held your hand! Don’t ever wash it!”
Bill Shatner was up next, but I had to go outside for a minute. Regroup. Out there I met two ladies, one dressed as a Romulan, the other as a Borg, who heard about the convention a day too late and couldn’t buy tickets.




A nice woman let them at least come into the building and look around at the vendors booths and what not, but they weren’t allowed to attend the session, only stand outside and listen, perhaps catching a glimpse of the Trek legends.
I talked to them for a minute and took my picture with them. They knew who I was even from outside the doors.
I eventually went back in when it was both Leonard and Bill on stage, cracking jokes with each other.



“Why do you take pictures of fat girls?” Bill asked.
The disdain on Leonard’s face was priceless.
“Well they ARE! Fat I mean,” Bill countered.
Leonard let him have it. I was so proud. It’s no secret that Leonard is a chubby chaser and I think it is wonderful. So does he.
They continued to banter and Bill talked about saving the Salmon in Canada and about being nominated General something or other. It was nice to see them interact. Too soon it was over and they were gone and I was on cloud 9.



The friends I had made all took pictures of me on stage and Judy, with an extremely nice Nikon with a beautiful lens, was front and center and took the best shots of all. I was ecstatic. And they all e-mailed them to me right after the convention.
Right after the session was autograph time. I couldn’t find “The Full Body Project” in stores, which is what I wanted him to sign. So I had his autobiography “I am Spock” out.
We were called out by row and shuffled through past a black curtain where Leonard and Bill were smiling and signing autographs.
“Hi Erinn.” He smiled.
I gushed as I handed him the book.


“Now I don’t normally do this, so don’t tell anyone ok?” He said as he signed my name above his.



“Don’t worry , it’ll be our secret,” I said.
“Thanks again Mr. Nimoy for everything you do, you definitely deserve some time off,” I said referring to his retirement after over 50 years of acting, directing, and being involved with film and TV. He wasn’t even going to be at any more conventions after this year.

“No problem gorgeous and thank you.”

And then I was on my way and that was that, book clutched closely to my chest.


He called me gorgeous. I think I actually squealed a little bit.


And before you judge me and call me “Super nerd” and think I’m crazy . . . just remember all those concerts you went to and screamed at cute boys for hours or swooned over actors on TV.
I’ve never been the swooning type. I have very few “hero’s”, but everything Mr. Nimoy has accomplished and the charisma and charm and passion for what he does that exudes from his personality is reason enough for me simply be delighted over meeting this wonderful and iconic man.



And let me tell you . . . at 81 years old – he’s still got it. He is such a gentleman and sweetheart. I could have never have thought in my wildest dreams I would have met him like that. What a day.

After the autograph I continued to hang out with some friends and do some shopping in downtown Vancouver, but I was wiped by that time and ready to crash. So I drove back to Seattle.

I still can’t believe it happened. I still can’t believe I got to walk among the stars, even if I did occasionally trip once and awhile.

A review by Erinn Streckfuss



$400 million and 15 years later, James Cameron has delivered one of the most visually groundbreaking pieces I have ever seen.

The bold richness of the alien moon Pandora makes almost anyone who sees this movie want to teleport there immediately. The bedazzling rainforest, complete with dragon-like creatures and huge plants that glow when they are touched, invites the viewer into a world of mystery and magic.

Pandora’s landscape teems with creatures you might find in your wildest dreams – or your worst nightmares. The flora and fauna shines with the bioluminescence of a thousand deep-sea critters, surrounded with trees which dwarf the Empire State Building.

However, it is not only the ornate graphics that have made “Avatar” so splendidly received. It’s true there is a certain preachiness to the film. But without being able to put it into one clear-cut genre – is it action, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, or what? – “Avatar” has seemingly created a breed of its own. It’s like a combination of “Pocahontas” and “Ferngully” on acid.

While the plot does resemble “Dances With Wolves” a little, it does not ruin a mind-blowing experience. The well-developed characters more than make up for the plot’s lack of originality.

Jake, played by aussie Sam Worthington, is an ex-marine who fills in for his recently deceased brother to run an avatar on the moon Pandora, where a bunch of military ego’s are trying to tear it apart in order to get to a rare natural mineral.

As a human, Jake is crippled from the waist down and often feels belittled by others despite his extensive military background. As an avatar – a humanoid in the likeness of the native people – he is awed by the simple and resourcefulness of native Neytiri and her people, the beauty and mystery of the exotic flora and fauna of the forest, the magnificence of the ancient willow tree known as the “Tree of Souls,” and the thrill of riding a giant winged creature as part of his rite of passage into the Na’vi clan community.

The growth that takes place in Jake’s character is wonderful to watch as he eventually learns humility and to value and respect the life of the people more than orders and commands.

Throughout all this, the film’s deep spirituality surfaces, forcing us to deal with the shadowy side of life. It vividly depicts and condemns the blindness, selfishness, and destructiveness of the American path of warfare, violence, and use of technology to destroy the Earth and others considered to be subhuman or collateral damage.

There is much sprinkled within the story line by Cameron that has to do with U.S. imperialism and shock and awe wartime campaigns. He contrasts the self-destructive path of greed and overtaking one’s land with a people group that chooses to respect and revere nature rather than try to master it as a resource. The Na’avi people live in a harmonious balance with nature, taking only what they need and respecting their earth.

Cameron is to be commended for presenting their life-affirming integration into the larger web of life as an alternative to the narrow perspective of the Western world. His story celebrates diversity and other ways of knowing. The “People,” like other tribal cultures, value harmony, simplicity, community, the spirit in nature, the sacred feminine, and much more.

Hopefully viewers can take away some of the teachable moments “Avatar” offers. It can teach us to respect not only human life, but all life, and to understand the spiritual elements and sacred beauty God offers us through nature.