According to Radio Times, there are now a series of three different wines with Star Trek labels on them. Named after three fan favorite TOS episodes, The Trouble with Tribbles, Mirror, Mirror and The City on the Edge of Forever, each sports a label image reminiscent of their story. Radio Times is a UK publication, but I figure they have to be available in the US as well.
I don’t really care what they are advertising, although I suspect it is a vehicle of some kind. But this is, hands down, the most amusing commercial I have seen so far this decade. Nemoy and Quinto have a lot of fun with this, and probably got paid fairly well for it in the bargain. You have to admire folks who worked their ass off to get in a position that they get paid for having fun. And yes, anyone with eyes can tell what the car company is who paid for the add; it just felt better to word it that way. I am already playing their add here, if they want me to mention the product name they can pay me for an endorsement. Thanks to The Nerdist for the heads up on this one.
Star Trek Into Darkness is the obvious winner this week! I have been watching trailers since last year, so I am more than ready to see this one. And as much as I loved the initial J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise, with this one we will learn if it suffers from the original even/odd rule where only every other Trek movie was good. Keeping my fingers crossed!
The original model used in filming the Star Trek series was donated to the Smithsonian, and now they have produced and published an X-Ray Analysis of the Starship Enterprise for everyone to enjoy. You can also see pictures there of where it now hangs in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. If you are in the neighborhood you can attend the Star Trek’s Continuing Relevance symposium at 1PM on Thursday May 16th at the Moving Beyond Earth exhibit in Gallery 113. I should probably also mention that they will not be showing Star Trek Into Darkness at the IMAX theater at the Air and Space Museum on the mall, but they will be showing it at the Udvar-Hazy Center Airbus IMAX Theater in Chantilly, VA. That is the Air and Space annex out by Dulles Airport, you should time your attendance to be able to wander through the Udvar-Hazy Center Museum and see their incredible collection of exhibits, which includes the Space Shuttle Discovery.
If you want to attend the Smithsonian’s Star Trek #SIBeamUp! on May 16th you probably want to get your applications in now, as attendance will be very limited. They will give the ten social media users who gain entry a closer look at the Star Trek goodies in the Air and Space Museum collection (including the Tribbles and the original Enterprise model), and the winners will be able to talk with the curators about the collection. If you want to attend you need to go to the #SIBeamUp! page and fill out and submit the form before noon tomorrow (Monday, May 6th). Winners will be informed by email on May 7th. The event will be held the morning of May 16th at the Air and Space Museum on the mall in DC, and even if you don’t win into the up-close-and-personal event, you can still attend the Star Trek’s Continuing Relevance symposium at 1PM at the Moving Beyond Earth exhibit in Gallery 113.
JJ is the best thing to happen to the Trek franchise since Gene Roddenberry himself, the new cast is dead on perfect, and I didn’t really need another trailer to let me know I NEED to be in the theater for this one! On the other hand, it doesn’t hurt, and what a treat to get a few more glimpses before the curtain opens and the lights go down!