Star Trek New York

Labor day weekend New York hosted a large 50th anniversary Star Trek convention and I was able to attend on Sunday.   

This was a big convention put on by CBS, at the Javits center in Manhattan and it was packed to the gills with vendors, photos, and displays for the new CBS show Star Trek Discovery.

          

                               

I bought a collar for Mr. Tuvok and a cat collar, I haven't decided which cat to give it too!  Both where a good price, ten dollars each.

Still I thought this convention was too focused on selling stuff, and that was after you paid fifty dollars to get in!  There where some displays about the characters and episodes:

and some props from the Original Series like Scotty's Engineering tools, and a medical kit, and some glasses and plates:

A model of the famous Alien head from the ending sequence was also there:

And the costume crafting book Make it Sew was on sale and they where displaying  a Skant uniform, a sort of short dress for men that was shown of the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation:

 

I still thought there was far too much stuff for sale, and far too little actual Star Trek stuff for fans to interact with or look at, especially considering the fifty dollar ticket price.  I really felt the Philadelphia convention was better, and for half the price!

Most of the panels where on Saturday but I did see a panel with some of the actors and writers from Voyager which was entertaining.

Best of all I got my picture taken with Levar Burton, who I really admire,  I loved his character, Geordie LaForge on the Next Generation and I appreciate everything he has done for children's literacy.  Another odd thing about this convention was the celebrities where behind curtains so you couldn't even glimpse them without a ticket.  I only had a second with Levar Burton but he was very nice, (and handsome), and I got to tell him that my late father who was a librarian and introduced me to Star Trek was a big fan of his.


The picture came out ok, Levar looks great, but I'm not so sure about me!

As you can see my hair is black, the semi permanent blue would not come out and was turning green, so my hair stylist dyed it this color to cover it for my return to work.   I hated it at first but, I'm adjusting.   

So overall it was a fun event but there was lots that could have been improved on.  Live long and prosper!

Vintage Outfit Post-Casual Tartan and Jeans from Freddie's of Pinewood and a Trip to Demarest Farms

It's that time of year, there's a crisp note in the air and the days are growing shorter.  If your like me your thinking of tartans and plaids and wools and all those other glorious fall fabrics. 


 In fact if your like me you may want to start sporting some of those fall fashion elements before it really is cold enough too, which is what makes transitional outfits so much fun.   By transitional outfits I mean anything that can carry you through the change of seasons.  I think this tartan trimmed top from Freddie's of Pinewood is the perfect summer to fall example.  It is made of a light weight fabric but the rust red color and tartan trim is a very autumnal color scheme.

Like all Freddie's items this top is excellent quality and since I nabbed it after Brexit when the exchange rate fell I got it for a very good price.  The tartan trim is from an authentic 1950s ribbon and so there was a very limited run of these tops.  Like all Freddie's tops it runs a bit small.  Im wearing a large.  It fits well but I'm very glad I didn't get a medium as that would have been much too snug.  

I accesorized the top with a Luxulite Pocket Puppy Brooch and a 1950s tartan barette.  Of course I worse some of my bakelite bangles too.

Freddie's tops are faithful 1950s reproductions so they are not cut like modern shirts, which means by current standards they run a bit short.  They really work best with Freddie's jeans or other 1950s style pants or skirts.  I'm wearing my shirt with my Freddie's jeans, hands down the best dungarees in the world.

 

I wore this outfit on a day we visited one of my favorite local places, Demarest Farms.  Since this was a middle of the week, early morning, trip we knew it wouldn't be too crowded and we brought all the dogs.  

The delicious apple cider donuts helped keep them in line.

 They are definitely eager to go back for more soon.  How do you like to celebrate the change of seasons?


Outfit Details
Tartan Top: Freddie's of Pinewood
Jeans: Freddies of Pinewood
Brooch-Luxulite
1950s Barrette: Rosebud Cottage
1950s Sunglasses-Thrifted
Bakelite Bangles-Thrifted
1950s Horse Novelty Purse-Annacat Etsy
Shoes-Remix Vintage Shoes

Back to School Cinema Spotlight-William Castle's 13 Frightened Girls

About two years ago I discovered he ouevre of shock director William Castle:

 I have no idea what took me so long because Castle's films are right up my alley, I wasn't even all the way through one film before I decided that Castle was, in my opinion at least, the greatest director who ever lived.  

 Castle's stock in trade was low budge kitschy horror with a hefty dose of humor.   He was a master showman and each of his films had a clever gimmick to hook audiences: ghost viewing glasses, dangling glowing skeletons, cardboard axes, the list goes on.

 13 Frightened Girls 

 is actually not the typical Castle film in that is not a horror comedy, but a spy spoof about the teenage daughters of diplomats.  For the films gimmick Castle pretended to recruit the prettiest girls from 13 countries to play the leads. 

 (As usual Castle stretched the truth, the 13 girls in the film were not all from the represented countries and he forgot to count because there are 15 girls in all.)

 The girl's all attend Miss Pittford's Academy 

and have charming blue early 60s jumper uniforms with cute hats and a P aplique on the collar.

I was drooling  over the uniforms, but they are just the tip of the style iceberg in this film.  As the girls get caught up in the "candy web"  

Castle's term for their teeny-bopper spying tactics that are lead by the American diplomat's daughter, Candy Hull, they sport some of the cutest early 60s outfits and hair styles I've ever seen (I particularly love Candy's hair bows.)

 The interiors in the film are also mid century perfection:

And as a bonus there is an adorable white kitten , the inspiration for Candy's code name, who reminded me of my own sweet Spot.

 

 13 Frightened Girls is an absolutely charming film for any fan of mid century cinema and can be rented from Netflix or purchased on Amazon as part of the William Castle 5 movie pack for the bargain price of $8.99, which is how I viewed it.

Reader I Met Him-The Cherry Hill Star Trek Convention

A more accurate title for this post would be "Reader I glimpsed him for 1 second and Took an Akward Picture" but I couldn't resist using using a play on the Charlotte Bronte quote.

Last Sunday I attended the Creation Entertainment  Star Trek convention in Cherry Hill, NJ.  It was my second convention and the first time I went alone, which I was nervous about at first, but I had a great time.  I wore favorite vintage sci-fi outfit.  My rocket skirt from Girl in  A Whirl

 and I used the Star Trek lunch box a friend game me as a purse.

A few of the convention attendees asked me in a confused way if I was dressed as a character from the show, many people where, and I had to explain I always dress like this.  One women told me I was very brave which I found interesting since I don't think of myself that way at all.   I'm shy!  

The main reason I went to the convention was to hear William Shatner.  He gave a talk that I really enjoyed even if I could barely see.  I bought a ticket to have my picture taken with him and along with tons of other people I lined up for a picture.  You only get one second, he looks at you, says thank you and snap, picture taken.  I think a little akward in the picture, and Shatner may look like a card board cut out, but I'm still happy I did it and the picture is now hanging prominently on my living room wall.

I had fun walking around the convention too.  Trekkies are usually very friendly people so I had nice conversations with several people.  I bought a Star Trek wobbler cat toy:

Its a Klingon warrior and I love the little beard.  I already have a few Star Trek dog toys but this was the first Star Trek cat toy I've ever seen.

I also bought a Gorn ornmanent.  

The Gorn episode is one of my favorites:

I saw a lot of the same vendors from last year:

There was also a model of the Nomad probe from the famous The Changeling episode.

In one of the rooms you can talk to some of the actors, and I got the autograph of Max Grodenchick who played Rom on Deep Space Nine, my favorite character on the show.   

The Cherry Hill convention was just the beginning of the my adventures for Star Trek's 50th anniversary.  Yesterday, I got my fifth tattoo.   

It's the Enterprise from the Original Series and its on my right arm so I can wear my geekdom on my sleeve.  I'm not gonna lie it hurt a bit.  My last tattoo, a  dog on my left wrist didn't hurt at all, which made me think this wouldn't hurt.  I was wrong!  I really like it though.

On Sunday, I'm going to the Star Trek Mission New York convention.  Live Long and Prosper!