Author: Mary Pucel

If you missed last Thursday's episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks and you're a TOS and TNG fan, I suggest you might love it! I particular loved it when someone screamed "Borg head!", but that's just me. You'll find lots of other references in there if you are paying attention. The episode is called Crisis Point, and it would make Captain Janeway (with her love of specific holodeck characters), Deanna Troi (who is, after all, a Counselor, and JJ Abrams (can you say Lens Flares?) proud!

One of the coolest things may have escaped some folks' notice, as it was merely visual. Remember the iconic fly-by scene in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, when Kirk approaches the Enterprise in a shuttle and the filmmakers gave us a nostalgic thrill with a long, stately look at the Beautiful Lady? They did a nice job of paying tribute to that scene - check out the comparison shots HERE

Greetings, Crew!!

I hope you can join us for our September General Membership Meeting on Saturday the 19th at noon! Zoom meeting information follows in the newsletter below. We'll be going over our upcoming year's calendar and other fun updates.

At this point, it looks like we're going to be meeting virtually for months to come. It's great that we have Zoom to allow us to see each other regularly. If you haven't joined us, please stop by and let us know how you're doing.

Don't forget the most important thing about September - dues are due! We now have multiple payment options, so it's even easier to get that yearly task checked off the list.

Take care everybody, and see you around the Galaxy!

Mary

Each year, members of the Television Critics Association (TCA) vote for the shows they recommend. This year, at the 36th Annual TCA Awards, Star Trek: The Original Series was honored with the coveted Heritage Award, which is awarded each year to a landmark television series.

According to their announcement: "The Television Critics Association (TCA) was proud to bestow the Heritage Award upon Gene Roddenberry’s landmark 1966 sci-fi epic Star Trek, in recognition of the groundbreaking series which brought the future to life — illustrating a unique vision that is equal parts hopeful and cautious as it explored issues such as bigotry, religion, politics, sexism, and human rights through timeless stories of love, war, intrigue, and adventure in outer space — with the help of a strong cast that was among the first to feature an African-American actress in a significant leading role.

The official award show was cancelled this year, but our buddy Rod Roddenberry recorded an acceptance speech - watch it HERE.

Past winners of the TCA Heritage Award include The Simpsons, 60 Minutes, The West Wing, The Sopranos, M*A*S*H, and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

From TrekCore.com: After months of rumors and hints from the corporate leadership team following the merger of CBS and Viacom last year, the longstanding CBS All Access streaming service — home of the growing Star Trek universe currently in production — is officially taking the name Paramount+ as part of a revitalization and expansion plan kicking off in 2021.

Announced by ViacomCBS, the corporation formed after the two companies merged in 2019, the streaming service is set to expand both in content and in geographic availability next year, rebranding as Paramount+ in the process.

Click HERE to see the announcement video.

We are still looking for more fun ideas for activities for the next year. As usual, we have three main categories: Social Activity, Community Service, and Fundraising. This year our options are different due to COVID-19, so we have to let some old standards go and we may have great new options. Please bring your ideas to Saturday's meeting or email a Board member if you can't attend. Anything is worthy of consideration, so don't be shy!

Did everyone enjoy Star Trek Day yesterday? There were quite a few panels and items of interest to be found on startrek.com. Here are some of them that are still available on the site, among many others:

• You can download your own Star Trek: Lower Decks coloring book
• Listen to George Takei in several videos, including the original series episode The Naked Time, representation in Star Trek, and more
• Watch new images and footage from Discovery Season 3
• Find some great suggestions to make your own Star Trek playlist (I have to admit that the James Darren album, This One's From the Heart, wins!

Do you like podcasts? It was announced during the Lower Decks panel that the official podcast of Star Trek, entitled Star Trek: The Pod Directives, will launch this month. Here's information from startrek.com: "With unparalleled access to Star Trek luminaries, celebrity superfans, and behind-the-scenes creative professionals, Star Trek: The Pod Directive takes a smart, witty and thoughtful look at all things Trek – both old and new. Offering a high-level discussion of the themes, ideas and characters that resonate across the history of the franchise’s storied universe, episodes will also explore the brand’s 50-plus year legacy and influence. Each episode features an in-depth personal interview with a notable guest, coverage of a Star Trek event, or a discussion of a specific topic with one or more guests." You can go HERE to check the details and listen to the trailer ahead of the September 14th release.

Finally, check out this video called A Timeline Through the Star Trek Universe. We reach!

This month is the release of the new book Star Trek Nerd Search: Quibbles with Tribbles. It's described as a "fiendish publication designed to test your knowledge of Star Trek. It’s a search and find book with a difference. Instead of just looking for people you are hunting for cunningly concealed continuity errors. Can you spot the things that don’t belong? Are the characters wearing the correct uniforms? And just what is that Klingon doing there?"

Holy Quadrotriticale, Spock, that sounds like it will make our little Trekkie hearts happy!!!

Greetings, Crew!

It's been a pretty big week for our group, between the blood drive and the movie night!

On Saturday, we had the 20th Annual CONvergence Blood Drive at the DoubleTree Bloomington. It was held in the big conference room that used to house the Art Show, so there was a ton of room. We had 66 donors signed up before the day began, and almost all of them showed up. In the end, we collected a total of 57 pints, which is enough to touch up to 171 lives! This is actually the highest number we've ever had (beating our previous record of 55 from 2018), even though we've had more signups in the past. Since there was no convention, there were no donors that found a last-minute panel or other attraction to attend. Several people mentioned that they specifically wanted the highly coveted Blood Donor Badge Ribbon, so we definitely attracted some con regulars! It was great to be in the room with the drive, instead of having it on the bloodmobile where we can't see the action. Many thanks to Jane for recruiting and to Roxanne, Jenna and Diana for volunteering all day. Special thanks to Diana and Jack, who put their arms out to donate life-saving blood!

Also on Saturday was our annual backyard movie night, and it was really fun! The event is tailor-made for physical distancing, since everyone is spread out to watch the show, so it felt just like normal. Masks were worn when using the bathroom or getting food in the buffet line, of course, but this was but a trifle of inconvenience. Thanks to Emma for catering the event with delicious Jersey Mike's subs and chips. We also had assorted baked goods from my kitchen. A few members paid their fee and were unable to attend, so after all was said and done we raised over $100 for the club's coffers. I call that a win-win scenario!

I hope everyone is well. Take care, and see you around the Galaxy!

Mary

As you may know, several new Star Trek Little Golden Books have recently been published. They include "I am Captain Kirk", "I am Mr. Spock", and more. They're pretty cute and really well done. Here's a taste for your listening and viewing pleasure, as Ethan Peck (Discovery's Mr. Spock) reads "Too Many Tribbles!" To listen, just click HERE 

As mentioned above, last Saturday's blood drive was our biggest ever. Let's take a moment to celebrate the good we've done for patients:

• 39 blood drives between CONvergence, MarsCon and Manticon
• 1482 total blood donors
• 1209 pints collected
• Over 3500 lives touched

This is pretty amazing. Few groups can come close to this record. Thanks to everyone that has been involved over the years. We'll have to have a special bash for our next blood drive, our 40th!!