Turn on the news or read something from the media and you might think the world is getting colder with everyone in it for the money and no one getting a break. Then you run into people who change your perspective altogether.
We got back from the Phoenix Star Trek 45th Celebration a short while ago. As much as I like Star Trek, this was my very first ever convention. I’d actually dragged my family up the previous week as Creation Entertainment sent out an erroneous Facebook message on stun setting that pricked up my pointed ears more than my brain. Even when we arrived on schedule this week we wondered if the event had been canceled given the absolute lack of costumed Trekkers we expected to be wandering around. But no, once we got inside we found the registration desk and were second in line.
Once we got our tickers, we headed over to the vendor room. My son William took a fancy a plastic replica Phoenix warp ship as seen in Star Trek: First Contact. The vendor was asking $35 which I thought was pretty steep for what it was. We said we’d think about it and come back later. Right behind that vendor was another selling a limited edition pencil sketch of the late James Doohan (Scotty) – I made him an offer he accepted, so that was cool.
We then returned to the main hall to see J.G. Hertzler (General Martok) and Robert O’Reilly (Chancellor Gowron) entertain the modest crowd. It was now that I felt very appreciative of what they were doing. They played the crowd with tremendous enthusiasm, asking questions and mixing with the audience. They used every single second they had to please the fans, and that was cool. I had to remind myself these guys were actually getting paid for this.
Later, after my wife had a chance to look up The Phoenix warp ship, it turned out $35 was not unreasonable at all and we decided to get it. A good thing, too, because the fellow selling it had already decided that if we came back he’d give us some extra goodies – an entire box filled with Star Trek books, magazines, calendars, etc. Of course it wasn’t worth much, monetarily, and he didn’t want to have to haul it with him at the end of the day, but he could have just thrown it in the trash. Instead, we have it, and that’s pretty cool, too.
Just as we were about to leave, my wife says, “You know that’s Max Grodenchik at that table, right?” I had to think for a moment – I thought she was talking about the creator of The Simpsons. “Oh, right – they guy who played Rom.” I noticed he was signing copies of a CD of some sort. Curiosity got to me, so I asked him what the CD was. He asked if I’d been to the show the previous night. I hadn’t. He suggested that I might not like it, but I pressed him to explain that it was a CD of him singing. “It’s kind of a Star Trek parody CD. Let me do my rap song for you,” he said before giving me a personal performance that was actually pretty cool. I appreciated that and asked how much the CD was – $20. No problem, and I plopped a twenty on the table as he asked, “Would you like me to sign it?” Well, yeah, that’s cool. “And who would you like it made out to?” Max was very down to earth man and a pleasure to talk with.
Did we spend more than I should have? I don’t know – we think we did pretty well with what we bought, but how can you put a price on the human experience?
angela_martok – video from Star Trek 45, Phoenix 2011
