The piece is called “Mirror Universe” and was created by Devorah Sperber.  It features Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in the process of beaming up to the Enterprise.  The artwork is composed of semi-translucent beads.  Much like the practice of pointillism, this creates the appearance of a solid image when viewed from some distance.

For more information on this amazing work of art, click here.  Thanks to my good buddy “Voice of the Red Skull” for sending this my way!

Over on THE UNIQUE GEEK, they’re doing their own version of a countdown called 40 Days Of DragonCon 2010.  They’ve got podcasts, interviews with track directors, tips for the con, editorials, and pictures from previous years.  Be sure to check it out and subscribe to their RSS feed.

Here are just a small handful of my pictures from previous Dragon*Cons.  Each year I typically take about 400 pictures of celebrities, friends, costumes, and generally interesting stuff.  To see all my uploaded pictures, check out the ONCE UPON A GEEK Flickr gallery.

Patrick Stewart

The cast of Stargate Atlantis

Brent Spiner – Data of Star Trek: The Next Generation

James Marsters of Buffy, Angel, and Torchwood

Peter David – writer of comics and Star Trek novels

Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, Chuck, Victoria Secret and more!  Oh yeah, I’m in the picture too.

Adam Baldwin from Firefly and Chuck!  Also in the picture is our good friend Ed!

Erik Estrada from everything awesome, with Shag and Serv!

Alan Ruck from Spin City, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Star Trek: Generations, and more!

Dirk Benedict from Battlestar Galactica and the A-Team!

George Perez, artist extraordinaire of Crisis on Infinite Earths, New Teen Titans, Infinity Gauntlet, Avengers, and much much more!

And of course there are the zillions of fan costumes!  Here just a handful from 2009…

And finally, Serv, Terry, and myself pimping ONCE UPON A GEEK at 4am!  Promotion much never stop!

If you are going to Dragon*Con, drop me a comment or e-mail.  We know somewhere around two dozen people going.  The more the merrier!  The con is always better with friends!

Valentine’s Day is this weekend and you may be on the lookout for something special for your sci-fi-loving sweetheart. Here are 10 ideas that are sure to please both men and women.

The Ladies of “Star Wars” Playing Cards

Hey, ladies. You probably don’t care for the Playboy poker cards your boyfriend pulls out when his pals come over. Why not compromise and get him some stunning playing cards with kickass “Star Wars” heroines on them?

“Star Trek” Cologne

From “Tiberius” to “Red Shirt,” there is a scent here to please everyone.

Personalized “Avatar” Canvas Art

Or why not personalize some wall art inspired by “Avatar” with your sweetie’s picture on it? Make him or her a Pandora native.

X Wing Pilot Hoodie

A warm, snuggly hoodie is a cute gift for both guys and girls and it doesn’t get any cooler than this X Wing pilot hoodie.

Fandango Bucks

Netflix Gift Card

Of course, date night is even more perfect with some privacy… so you could always just download something from Netflix.

Star Registry

Sci-fi fans are always looking to the stars, so why not honor your love by naming a star in their tribute?

I Love My Geek T-Shirt

Let’s face it, most of us sci-fi movie fans embrace the word “geek.” We have reappropriated the word, so show your geek love with pride on Valentine’s Day.

Princess Leia Slave Bikini

Better yet, the ladies can slip into even less at the end of the night. You can’t go wrong with some Princess Leia-inspired lingerie.

Flux Capacitor Replica

Show your true love that time with them is relative by gifting a replica flux capacitor.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Here is a close up of the logo.

I’m such a dorky Trekker.

Below is Ed building his inferior Romulan/Klingon deck.

Here I am trying to remember the rules after something like 14 years.  I suppose we could have bothered to read them before playing, but that would have taken all the fun out of it.  And we discovered we’re getting too old to sit on the floor for very long.

Finally, in going through my old cards we re-affirmed how insanely geeky I really am.  We came across two custom cards I produced myself for the game.   Check them out below.  I color-copied images, then literally cut-and-pasted them together.  Also, it appears I used my old Commodore 64 dot matrix printer for the text boxes.  How frikkin’ hilarious!  I’m such a dork!   As Ed has pointed out, he proclaimed my dorkiness long before these cards were stumbled upon.

Live long and geek out!

Great weekend coming up!  Lots of folks coming into town, including Ed, Serv, and Lore (the irredeemable brother).  In case you are wondering, the random picture above represents things we’ll probably get up to this weekend.  The new Star Trek DVD will most likely be watched (love the Enterprise shaped DVD case).  Lore and I will likely battle wits in a thrilling game of Bananagrams.  Ed wants to dust off our Star Trek: The Next Generation collectible cards from the mid-90s and give it a go again.  And the stuffed R2-D2 is there to represent all the Star Wars chatting that will go on with Serv.

In case you’re wondering, yes that is an original 1977 R2-D2 stuffed animal.  What can I say… I don’t throw things away.

Here is a rundown so you can plan your shopping trip:

• Hollywood Video – Rent/Buy any Star Trek DVD and be entered to win an autographed poster of Uhura (Zoe Saldana).
• Transworld (FYE/Coconuts/Suncoast) – Collectible Steelbook packaging (shown below).

• Best Buy – Collectible Gift Set with four pack of badge pins (shown below).

• CVS – Consumer Offer. Buy $15 (or more) in itunes gift cards and get the DVD (single disc) for only $9.99 (First week only).
• Target – Limited Edition Collectible Starship Enterprise Packaging on both 2-Disc DVD and 3-Disc Blu-ray (shown below).

• Amazon.com – Star Trek Limited Edition Replica Gift Set (Three-Disc + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (shown below)

CANADA

• Best Buy Canada – 3-Disc Special Edition Blu-Ray Collectible packaging – Easily assembles to become a Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise DVD Package! (same as Target in the US).
• Future Shop – Exclusive 2 Disc Steelbook Edition and 3-Disc Blu-Ray Steelbook Edition.
• HMV – Limited Edition Blu-Ray Gift Set – includes Star Trek 3-Disc Blu-Ray set with Digital copy and Four Replica Starfleet Division Badges.
• Wal-Mart Canada – Exclusive Lenticular o-sleeve package on the Star Trek 2 disc DVD.

Happy shopping!

This t-shirt and ball cap combination was a gift from Serv.  Notice how the colors on the Superman symbol are reversed.  I find that striking.  In fact, this hat has become my favorite to wear lately.  The shirt came pre-faded.

This Red Lantern t-shirt was another gift from Serv, this time for my birthday.  Can’t you feel it?  The shirt just radiates rage.  Rage!  RAGE!

Neat mega-print Batman shirt from Lore (the irredeemable brother) for my birthday.  I really like the Bronze Age styling of the image.

Hilarious Star Trek t-shirt from Lore (the irredeemable brother).  This gag still makes me laugh!

Neat Superman hat I’ve had for a while.  I picked it up at Wal-Mart of all places.  I really like the bold colors and that the hat is fitted.  Where there would normally be an adjustable strap on the back, it’s just solid fabric with the stitched Superman symbol shown in the insert.

This Ghostbusters shirt is actually billed as a “T-shirt Costume”.  I picked this up at Target last Halloween.  The slime glows in the dark also.  I’ve been slimed!

A birthday gift from my boss.  This shirt is hilarious!  I tried to make the image big enough for you to read all the various powers.  I think my favorites are, “Communicate with Fruit” and “Summon a Lamp… Once”.  LOL!

This Scooby-Doo t-shirt is another birthday gift from Lore (the irredeemable brother).  I really like the coloring on this shirt. The mystery machine is faded and everyone in the foreground is really solidly colored.  Just looks sharp.

A friend gave me this Star Wars ball cap about 15 years ago.  It’s served me well, even in the years before Star Wars was cool again.

I picked up this Unique Geek t-shirt prior to DragonCon to help promote the website.  The insert shows the back of the t-shirt.

Okay, I don’t normally post pictures of underwear, but this is an exception.  I already featured these boxers on FIRESTORM FAN, but thought they were worth mentioning here also.  I just picked these up last week from K-Mart.  While there are tons of DC Comics boxers on the market, these are astonishing because they include both Firestorm and Doctor Fate.  Seriously?!?!?  Firestorm and Doctor Fate?!?!?  Two of my favorite characters that have proven time and again they can’t support their own monthly comic books?!?!?  Two characters that almost no one in the general public would recognize?!?!?  You betcha!  The other characters (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Robin, and even Green Arrow) aren’t surprising to see on apparel as they are fairly well known.  I just never imagined they’d make Firestorm or Doctor Fate boxers.  I’m thankful they have!  I will say it’s a bit awkward where they’ve placed Firestorm.  He’s right on the flap. Kinda creepy.

The original Enterprise, circa TOS.  NCC-1701

The replacement Enterprise, circa Star Trek V.  NCC-1701-A

The first Enterprise in years that was not under the command of James T. Kirk, circa Star Trek: Generations.  NCC-1701-B

The lost Enterprise, circa STNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise“.  NCC-1701-C

The STNG Enterprise, circa the TV series.  NCC-1701-D

The second STNG Enterprise, circa the movies.  NCC-1701-E

The prequel Enterprise, circa the “Enterprise” TV series.  NX-01

The updated “classic” Enterprise, circa the new Star Trek film. NCC-1701

I’m not sure where this image came from, but it’s a gorgeous shot.  At first I thought it was from the new Star Trek film, but the design isn’t quite right.  Regardless, nice ship and breathtaking background.

The Defiant and Deep Space Nine.

Voyager under attack by a Borg cube.

A Borg cube.

The battle of Wolf 359, circa STNG episode “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II“

Geek long and prosper.

]]> http://onceuponageek.com/2009/09/30/star-trek-enterprise-wallpapers/feed/ 11 http://onceuponageek.com/2009/09/29/a-great-birthday-celebration/ http://onceuponageek.com/2009/09/29/a-great-birthday-celebration/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:00:00 +0000 Shag http://onceuponageek.com/?p=1986 I had a fantastic birthday celebration this past weekend with my family!  I was out of town for work on my actual birthday, so we chose to postpone the festivities until the weekend.  The best present of all was seeing my children after being on the road for five days.

We started the birthday fun with pizza and cake on Saturday night.  I chose Papa Johns pizza, primarily because their breadsticks are nearly identical to the old Noble Romans breadsticks (my favorite back in the 1980′s).  Anyone besides me remember Noble Romans?

Then we moved on to the cake.  As you can see in the picture below, my kids picked out a Star Trek themed cake.  They know me too well!  Now the children are competing for playing time with the little Enterprise ship.  They also scored me a Superman balloon.  Sweet kids!

Sunday morning we got up early and drove to Wild Adventures theme park.  It’s only about 90 minutes away from our house.  We chose a trip to the park to celebrate my birthday because this year instead of tangible presents from my family, I asked for a group experience to remember.  As I get older, I typically buy the things I want.  I’d rather have a precious memory with my family than some DVD or toy.  We had a blast at the park!  I’d never been there and was surprised by all the great rides they had.  There were very few people at the park, so we had the run of the place!  Rascal, my nearly ten year old step-son, and I conquered all the major roller coasters right away.  While on one called the Boomerang, I found myself questioning our sanity.  There were some pretty frightening moments on that coaster.  I gotta say Rascal was very brave and a real trooper on those roller coasters.  He’s a champ!  I also took time for the family-friendly rides with my three year old daughter.  She was bubbling over with enthusiasm and excitement.

I noticed the park background music was almost all John Williams soundtracks; Jurassic Park, Superman, Star Wars, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc.  It was a bit odd given that none of the rides were related to those films, but really who cares.  It’s awesome riding some monster coaster with the theme to Superman blazing in the speakers!

It was a really great birthday that I’ll remember for years to come.  Well… at least until I’m really old and the Alzheimer’s kicks in.