Sunday

Ina, Marta and I had breakfast together. Once again, the service was horrible!! It took forever for us to even get the menus!!! While we were waiting, I looked over at the doorway and saw Walter Koenig walk by. I said hi to him, glad to see that he still looked good and healthy. After he had gone past, Ina said I should have invited him to join us. What is with these people?! LOL We just laughed about it, but then, a few minutes later, John de Lancie came in and I said hi again and this time, I actually invited him to join us!!! He just grinned and said he had to meet Dave Scott for breakfast. I said something like, "Oh, maybe another time..." Yeah, cuz that's going to happen!! LOL

We finally got our menus, and ordered. It took nearly forever to get our food!!! We had skipped the two morning Starfleet meetings, but I wanted to maybe hear Dick Gordon speak, and I had no interest in hearing Jerry Doyle speak, so I didn't need to be in the big room until 1 pm. Good thing too!!

We completely missed Dick Gordon, but Jerry was speaking by the time we got there. I wanted to go get Dick's autograph for my dad, so I made sure Marta was in her seat, then ran out to get in line. He had a reasonable line too! I didn't want to miss John's speaking, so I kept an eye on my watch. It was about 12:55 and I was only 5 people away from the table with Dick, so I decided to get it, and rush in. I got up to Dick, and he smiled sweetly and asked who he should make the autograph out to. I said "Randy" (my dad's name) and he blinked at me, chuckled and said, "Your name is Randy??" I laughed and said it was for my dad. I also mentioned to him that my dad had spent 20 years in the Air Force, and had just been in Houston on a business trip and had visited NASA. He asked how he liked it, so I told him that he loved it, he signed it and while he did, I heard John just coming out on stage.

I ran in, blowing on the picture so it would dry, and when I saw the crowd, I decided it might be a good idea to sit in my assigned seat. But I got over to row L, and the entire row, except one seat--my seat, was full!! LOL So I sat in the center, maybe in row P, and tried to settle in to listen to John. But I looked over and saw an empty seat next to Travis. So I got up, and sat with him, right behind Marta. Because of all that, I missed the first 5-10 minutes of John's talk. Dangit!!

John was a pretty good speaker. I've heard that he can come across as rather snobby, but he wasn't that day. He said something really funny (I forget what the question had been, or what it had to do with). His reply started off with, "The pleasant surprise that night was Mr. ---'s wife...oh, wait...let me rephrase that!!" LOL Someone asked about his son (who was in a Voyager episode called Q2) and he said that his son wasn't really interested in acting, but was considering politics. I thought that was interesting.

The most important thing I think John talked about was what happened after the September 11th events. The next day, the 12th, he had been scheduled to fly to Canada to shoot the episode of Special Unit 2 he guest-starred in, but since all of the airlines shut down, he was given a car and 2 drivers to get there. It took nearly 24 hours to get there, and he said that it was nearly silent the entire trip. No radio, no chit-chat...they just sat there, wishing they were with their families.

Immediately following John's talk was the autograph sessions with John and Leonard Nimoy!! Marta and I started getting really nervous and excited. I kept teasing Marta that she should ask if she can touch his face, since that's how she sees. But she chickened out!! LOL I'm just teasing, Marta!! You could also get Jerry Doyle and Dick Gordon's autographs if you needed to. I already had Dick's and had no interest in Jerry's.

Since getting Leonard's autograph in person was for VIP ticket-holders only, they were being really picky about checking your tickets. If you didn't have a VIP, you were dismissed directly to John's line. Otherwise, VIP people went to Leonard first. I had brought my copy of I am Not Spock (hardbound, first edition, mint condition--my birthday present to myself) for Leonard to sign, and I had a message for him from my dad. I'm a big nerd and couldn't come up with anything on my own that didn't sound stupid, or something he's heard a ga-zillion times. LOL

It seemed to take forever for them to get to our row. I can't imagine why!! LOL As I said, Marta and I were having little fits, which Travis didn't understand at all. LOL During this time, Dave answered more questions. I can't remember really anything else specifically that someone asked and he talked about. How could I listen to him when I was about to see Leonard up close and personal?!?! LOL But he did emphasize that the stars aren't supposed to talk to us as we go, except for quick little comments. Any questions we had for Leonard were to be held for the Q & A time.

Finally, they said our row and I led Marta up the main aisle, since she wouldn't have been able to maneuver through the seats like everyone else. Travis waited for us up front, so the three of us ended up together. The guy at the door checking for VIP people turned out to be a guy I had seen at the dinner at the table beside me. He didn't bother checking us since he recognized me, which was kinda cool. I had my book out and Marta had her copy of I am Spock ready. I gave her a play by play of how close we were and when I caught a glimpse of him, what Leonard was up to.

Finally, we were at the table. I had Marta ahead of me and I handed Jackie Scott (Dave's wife) her book. Jackie asked if Marta wanted him to sign the cover or the inside. Since we were a mere four feet from Leonard himself, Marta was having some trouble thinking straight!! I repeated the question to her, but she grinned and said "Yes." I laughed and said it again. She blushed and laughed and said, "inside". Jackie opened the book and passed it on to sit beside where Leonard was signing things. I handed her my book and asked that he sign it inside as well.

I had a moment here where I don't remember taking the last few steps up to Leonard. I recall Marta telling him something, but like I said, I kinda went blank--can't imagine why!! LOL

Suddenly, it was my turn! Leonard took the book, flipped it so he could see the cover, then looked up at me and grinned. I grinned back, hoping I'd be able to pass on my dad's message in a somewhat intelligible manner. As he signed the book, I said my message and even managed to sound calm!! LOL I said, "Mr. Nimoy, I have a message for you from my father." He looked up again, his hands still on my book, a curious expression on his face. "Oh?" he said. I took a deep breath and quoted "Mr. Nimoy, my dad saw you in Fiddler on the Roof in Toledo, Ohio, and he said that you were the best Tevye he'd ever seen!" And I sighed, relieved I had said it right. LOL He raised both eyebrows (I would have died if he'd raised one eyebrow!! LOL) and said, "Well, give him a message back for me: thanks very much, I appreciate that." He paused, handing me the book, and added, "He must be rather old; that was a long time ago!" LMAO Oh, yeah, I'm a message-carrier for Leonard Nimoy!! *G*

I took Marta's arm and we started towards John's table. We sounded like teenagers talking about a crush that had deemed to talk to us!! LOL People just went around us, because we were walking a little slow, not that eager to get away from Leonard. We rounded the corner and joined the line for John's table. While we were still wiping the drool from our chins, Travis joined us. He stood and chatted with us while the line moved. I could feel that my face was flushed with excitement and I felt a little giddy, drunk almost. LOL

I put my I am Not Spock book away, and got out my huge copy of the first Q Scriptbook. That thing is so stinking heavy!! LOL Anyway, the lady helping John was nothing short of nasty about making him go fast! I mean, he seemed like he wanted to be like Leonard had been, chatting while signing, and keeping the line moving at a reasonable pace. But no, she was practically throwing the items for him to sign at him, and he was diligently signing and shoving across the table, signing, shoving...He hardly had the chance to look up at the fans! So, I got up there and he signed the outside of the book (the assistant lady didn't even ask how I wanted it!!) and shoved it at me. I think I said something lame like, "Q is one of my favorite characters", but like I said, he was getting rushed. He did look up and smile, and he seemed kinda annoyed at the rush. Oh well, it was nice to get his autograph. Since he signed the front cover, when I got home, I put a piece of laminate over it so it won't rub off.

By now it was 3, and time to go sit down to listen to Leonard Nimoy talk!! We had to wait a while, since he had to finish up the autograph session, so Dave came out and talked for a few minutes. But finally, finally he announced Leonard!!! The audience went nuts and I had Marta’s camera (and mine), clicking away. But we were so far back, the pictures aren't very good.

He had barely had the chance to begin when he was interrupted. He did get to say something rather funny, though. He told us that the Vulcan hand salute had magic powers when he did it--every time he does it, all these bright lights flash (camera flashes)!! LMAO Well, shortly after he said this, before he could really get into his talk, Dave asked if he could interrupt. It was time for the Toys for Tots Marines to say their thanks and announce the total collection.

When Leonard finally was allowed to take the stage again, someone asked him to tell us a story about De (DeForrest) Kelley. So he told us about one of the pranks that Bill Shatner pulled on De. It seems that every morning, De would come in, cut an English muffin in half and pop it in the toaster, then go to make his coffee. By the time he was done with the coffee, the muffins would be ready to be buttered. Well, Bill knew this full well, so he one day he got one of the crew to distract De while he was getting his coffee. Meanwhile, Bill went to the toaster and ate De's English muffins!!! So when De finally got over to the toaster, he was so mad! He started yelling and grumbling and by now it was too late to make more. Soooooo, the next morning, the same scenario happened. This time though, when De found the muffins were gone, Leonard was walking up. He started complaining to Leonard about the whole thing until they heard some laughing around the corner. It was Bill--and De started hollering at him for eating his muffins, which Bill denied. In fact, Bill said that De must have eaten them without realizing. When De got indignant, Leonard said, "De, if you stand the two of you side by side, you can tell who ate the muffins!!" LMAO

Someone also asked about his next project. He mentioned his photography website, and that he was currently working on a book of his poetry and photography called the "Shekhina Project" that's due out in 2002. You can check out a lot of the pictures at the above website.

I forget the context, but I think someone asked a question about him keeping healthy and does he exercise or something. He laughed and said that he was "at the age where just hearing the word 'sweat' makes me sweat!" LOL

Marta, as she did many times with the other guests, got up the nerve to ask him a question. She asked, "Will there be an audio recording made for the new poetry book?" He said that was a very good question and the audience applauded for her!! WHOOHOOO!!! Go Marta!!

The next question was if he liked how Mind Meld turned out. He said yes, "I feel good about it." Then someone asked him about why he had been so reluctant to do the Phase 2 series. Leonard chuckled and said, "Well, I can't really discuss that, but..." We all laughed and he continued, "That was in the 70's, when the original series had become wildly popular, and I discovered that my name and likeness was being used without my permission. I had to take legal action--a lawsuit--and it didn't seem right to sign on to play Spock when I was in the middle of a lawsuit concerning that image. So that was why I was one of the last to sign on."

Then someone asked about Mission Impossible. He busted up laughing and said "Aaah, yes. I did two seasons on Mission Impossible and no one ever recognized me because of all that makeup!!" He paused and added, "You know, it's been five or six years since anyone has asked me about my Mission Impossible days!"

Another person stood up and said, "I just want to thank you for sticking your neck out for the other actors on the Animated series." Leonard explained that situation, where they weren't using the actual people, but were using their faces. He said he wouldn't do it unless the others were brought in to do their own voices. He also said that to him it wasn't "sticking his neck out", it was merely doing what was right. What a guy!!

He also talked about a project he worked on very hard and never came to fruition. He wanted to do a movie about the original Siamese Twins--Chang and Eng--and he tried very hard, but just couldn't get the funding. He even had a script, but it was still a no-go. He mentioned too that he was very happy with his work in Atlantis.

Someone, who obviously wasn't a Nimoy fan, asked how he got the role of Spock. So Leonard real quick rattled off about being on The Lieutenant, and that Majel Barrett was on it, etc. I won't bother getting into that since you can read it in his books. But he did say that when he took the role of Spock, the pointed ears really scared him because no one was taking him seriously. But eventually, when he had figured out the character, with his internal life, and the dignity took over, the jokes pretty much stopped.

The next question was about the Next Generation episode he did, Unification. He said that how it came to be was that they were working on Star Trek VI at the time and he gave Rick Berman a copy of the script. He said, "If you can do a story to play off of it, I'll do a The Next Generation." So Rick did, and he did!

Someone asked if after he was done with the In Search Of... series, did it affect him in anyway? He said "Yes!! It was all so fascinating!" And of course, the audience screamed, including me!! LOL He said he'd always been curious about those things--Bigfoot, ESP, etc. When they started the show, they expected it to last maybe 2 or 3 years, and it ended up being 7!!

The next guy he called on told him that in one magazine article, they referred to him/Spock as "that dog-faced alien"!! He laughed so hard (so did we, but Marta and I were kinda offended too! LOL) and when we'd quieted, he said, "I'm highly insulted! Who did this? They'll be hearing from me!!!" It was sooooo funny!

Someone asked what his favorite food was and he didn't even hesitate!! He blurted out "Hot dogs!! God, I love hot dogs!!" LMAO I thought this was kinda funny since he is Jewish, but there are Kosher hot dogs...LOL He also listed things like "fish, steak, Chinese, and delicatessens".

He also went into great detail about his trip to Russia, when he visited some Russian relatives. Then he explained how/why he eventually went there. (If you've read I am Spock, this should be familiar.) He said he was filming Night Gallery at the time, and there was special guest on the set--Henry Kissinger and the Russian Ambassador. He told the Ambassador that his family was from Russia and he said the guy practically ordered him to take his family and go there to visit. Leonard said he didn't go at that time because the Jews were still being persecuted and he was afraid that once they were in, they would be allowed to leave because his parents had snuck out of the country. His dad said he was crazy to even consider it! So he didn't go then, but later, in 1986 or '87 (he couldn't remember which), shortly after Star Trek IV was out, he and his wife made plans to go. He was working on Three Men and a Baby at the time, and this was when the anti-whaling laws were being passed all over the world. He was invited to Russia because they were going to show Star Trek IV. He figured he'd go, do that, then go visit the village where his parents grew up.

He said the trip was great and that they had a young guide that led them to a small village. While there, he found a distant cousin, who took them to another village--the one his parents grew up. He met up with more relatives and one of them had a white envelope with U.S. postage on it. He opened it and it had a few small photographs of young children. Through the interpreter, they asked him who the children were. He looked at them and realized they were pictures of his kids and his brother's kids!! They had held onto the pictures for 25 years to keep a connection with the outside world.

Leonard said that at the time he was in Russia, his father was in the hospital, terminally ill. So he had the relatives make recordings (on tape) of greetings and messages for his father in Yiddish and Russian. When he got home, he played them for his father. He said that he was able to do that was a real blessing, because his father died 5 days later.

It had been nearly an hour by now, and he had been holding this small, light blue book in his hands all that time. He held it up and said he wanted to read a poem to us and dedicate it to De Kelley. He also said it was going to be in a new book of his collection of poetry that would be out in 2002 sometime.

Leonard's talk ended shortly after he read the poem, and he walked out to a standing ovation. Marta and I were so excited and I don't know about her, but I thought my hands were going to fall off from clapping. LOL Travis just kinda sat there, shaking his head at us. He still doesn't get it!! LOL

They brought out the rest of the guests that were still there in order to say goodbye. I think we decided to skip that and went out to explore the dealer's room. I got a Borg head made by MicroMachines and it opens up and stuff. It was all of $4, so I got it cuz I like miniature things. We went all over the room, and I described things to Marta. At one table, that I somehow had skipped every other time, I found a little Star Trek quizbook for $5. I handed the lady my $10 bill and while she was getting the change out, I saw a figurine of Spock in the uniform from The Cage. It was priced for $15, so I was just drooling over it and describing it to Marta and to my surprise, the lady said, "I'll give you that figurine for $5, as long as you still buy the book." So, of course I agreed!! WHOOHOOO!!!!

Right after this, Marta needed to use the Señorita's Room, so I took her there and waited outside. I started flipping through my new quizbook. I glanced up and saw Aron Eisenberg coming towards me. I was worried that maybe he thought that my teasing the night before was my attempt at hitting on him, so I took this opportunity to make sure he knew I wasn't. So I said, "Hi Aron! I just wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't hitting on you last night..." He frowned, like the thought hadn't crossed his mind, and said, "Oh, no, I didn't think that. I would be flattered, really, but I didn't take it that way!" I grinned and said, "I'm glad we cleared that up!" And he went on his way. I kept looking through the book and when I glanced up again, Aron was returning from whereever he'd run off to. So, since I knew he wouldn't take my teasing as a come-on, I decided to strike again: as he passed, I called out to him again, "Not that I wouldn't hit on you, cutie! In fact, I'll do that the next time I see you!" and winked. He blushed and grinned and said, "Flattered, definitely flattered!!" and shook his finger at me in a "naughty, naughty" manner.

Marta came out and I told her about the encounter. It was funny. We decided we were pretty much done with the convention itself and went to the lobby to sit and wait for Ina. Ina did join us not too long after this, so we had another woman take our picture. (That's the picture at the beginning of this report.) The nice lady took pictures with all three of our cameras so we each had a copy of our own. And I didn't realize until I got the pictures back that they were both doing the Vulcan hand salute and I wasn't. I'm a dork, I know!! LOL

Marta hung out with us while Ina and I waited for Peg to finish and join us. We sat there, reminiscing about the weekend and Leonard's talk and I told Ina about my conversation with Aron. We just goofed off and laughed a lot, not wanting the weekend to end. I tell you, I could live like that just fine: hanging out with friends, flirting with hotties, talking to stars all hours of the night, getting not one, but two kisses from a star...LOL

Finally, Peg came out and we got into the car to go home. The ride was quiet at first, I suppose we were all trying to get back into "normal thinking" and all that had happened. We did talk about the weekend, and it was a pretty good ride home. We stopped to eat on the way, and eventually pulled into Ina's apartment parking lot. After we got our luggage and said goodbye to Peg, we took all of our stuff up to Ina's place. I called my parents to come pick me up and gave them directions. We sat for a few minutes and looked at some of my stuff (autographs and the Spock figurine, etc), then when I figured that my mom would show up soon, we took all my stuff down to wait. Mom came about 5 minutes later and I tossed everything in. I told her a lot of things on the way home, talking 50 miles and hour, of course!! LOL

When I got home, my family all piled into my room to watch me unpack and listen to me, gabbing on and on.

I hope you enjoyed reading my report, and that you will come back to read next year's!!