Family Labor Day BBQ

Today Harry and I went to my Dad's family annual Labor Day BBQ. This is our third year going and this year more family and friends showed up. My dad's half brother Wally puts this together every year. We always have alot of fun. There is always lots of Hawaiian music and great food to eat. We played a little volleyball and little poker and did alot of visiting. It's funny to think only a few years ago we didn't even know dad had a half brother living a half hour away.. weird how life changes to quickly sometimes.

Jen's Birthday

Today is one of my favorite online friends Birthday.. though we never met in person we talk every week as we both co-host a podcast for the Treks in Sci Fi Podcast RPG game. I wish you all the best Jen.. have a very Happy Birthday.

The Guild DVD

Today I got the DVD of The Guild. This is an online web series about Online Gamers and it's extremely funny and well written. The DVD has all ten episodes of season one along with several gag reels, a Christmas sing along and several cool interviews. It's worth the $20. Check out the episodes online here... http://www.watchtheguild.com/

America's Toughest Jobs

Tonight at 9pm the show I'm currently working on premeires on NBC.

America's Toughest Jobs.

From creator/executive producer Thom Beers ("Deadliest Catch," "Ice Road Truckers") and executive producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, "America’s Toughest Jobs" is a new extreme competition series that will test 13 men and women who venture out of their safe and comfortable careers and are injected into some of the most challenging, dangerous and demanding jobs on earth.

From logging high in the Washington forest to oil drilling on the Texas range, and driving icy roads to extreme fishing – each job requires guts and stamina, and the competitors will have to live up to the same standards as the pros. At the end of each episode, their new boss and co-workers will determine success or failure, and those who don't make the grade will be sent home. Upping the ante, the annual salary of each job will be thrown into the pot until the finale – where one rookie will take home the well-earned cash.

One Last Time

Today we went to Star Trek The Experience. This was our main reason for coming to Las Vegas this weekend. If you don't know what it is here is a brief description.

Star Trek The Experience is an interactive adventure based on the voyage of the most exciting futuristic television series of all time, Star Trek. Visitors are immersed in the futuristic world where they see, feel, touch and live the 24th century. Included in the Experience are two multi-million dollar interactive adventures, Borg Invasion 4D and The Klingon Encounter. They also have a History of Future Museum featuring more then 200 items; it is the largest permanent collection of Star Trek props and costumes in the world. The museum like exhibit featuring authentic Star Trek costumes, weaponry, make-up, special effects and props used in the five Star Trek television series and the ten motion pictures. If you get hungry you can go to Deep Space Nine and eat at Quark’s Bar and Restaurant. After eating you can then shop at Deep Space Nine’s Promenade with the largest retail stores for Star Trek merchandise.

This was Harry's sixth or seventh time and my eight or ninth time visiting the Experience but this visit would always be special because it would be our last. After ten years of service to the Star Trek community The Experience is closing down. Their contract is up at the end of the year at the Hilton and it was not renewed. Since it will take several months for them to remove everything and be out by the end of the year Star Trek The Experience will be closing September 1st. When we heard it was for sure closing we made plans to go one last time.

We brought along our video and digital still camera to capture as much footage and pictures as we could. We have already taken a ton of pictures and video but this was going to be our last chance to get anything we missed.

We got up around 9am and went down to breakfast around 10am with Dad. He planned to hang out in the space casino and play slots while Harry and I spent the entire day hanging out at the Experience. We got to the Experience around 11am as they opened at 11:30 and sure enough there was a line to get in. We waited a half hour in line and chatted with a few folks standing around us. They opened the doors and we went to buy our tickets. I checked online for some of there package deals and we went with the The Latinum Package. This package includes a dual mission ticket, admission to "Star Trek: The Experience: Secrets Unveiled" and two free photos (in the Captain's Chair and the BORG Regeneration Chamber).

We entered the Experience and decided that we would skip the museum and all they goodies and go directly to one of the rides. Both had lines but the Borg Invasion 4D was shorter so we choose to go on that first. After the ride you exit downstairs in the shopping/restaurant area. It was so sad to see that all the stores except one were closed. They had moved all the merchandise into this one store. We walked through to see if we could find any super great deals but didn’t find anything that we must have. As we headed back up to the entrance of the Experience we noticed two people doing charactures, but these weren’t your typical charactures. They would take your face and morph it into a Star Trek theme character. We knew we wanted to do this but they were busy so we headed over to the waiting area to get our pictures taken on the TNG bridge and Borg alcove. A girl picked up a group of us and took us to the TNG Bridge of the Enterprise where we got to sit in the Captain’s chair while they take a picture. After that we went to a small room that was set up like a Borg Ship. There were two life-size Borg’s standing in an Alcove and we got to stand in the middle while they took a picture. Once that was over we went back to the casino to find dad and see how he was doing.

We found him at a slot machine and he was up a few hundred dollars. We decided to grab a snack as we had tickets for the 4:30pm behind the scene tour and figure we would eat afterwards. We got something to drink and a snack and sat at a table and relaxed. At this time my friend Michael and his wife Kathy who also were coming to Vegas for the Experience texted me to let me know he had arrived. They met us over at the café and we headed back to the Experience together. Since Harry and I did the Borg 4D ride already we all went on the second ride The Klingon Encounter.

Between the two rides I still enjoy The Klingon Encounter a bit more then the Borg invasion 4D. They are both a ton of fun and will immerse you into the Star Trek World; I just think The Klingon Encounter is a bit cooler.

After we got off the ride we were once again in the shopping and restaurant area. Harry and I picked up our Captain’s chair and Borg Alcove pictures, they turned out great. We looked over at the guys doing the Charactures and they were finishing up so Harry and I decided that we would do ours now. A few minutes later Kathy and Mike joined us, as they wanted to do one as well.

So Harry and I sat for one and Michael and Kathy sat for the other. I asked for the guy to make me an Andorian (blue skinned alien) and Harry wanted to be a Klingon. Michael went with a Kirk like character and Kathy was an Orion Slave Girl (a very green sexy alien). We sat there for about half hour as this guy and girl worked their magic. While you are sitting there you can’t see what they are doing and a crowd of people gather around and watch as you get this done. It’s strange sitting there in a spot light and having folks stare at you and then look at the picture and point and smile.

Our guy finished first and when he showed it to us I laughed out loud. He nailed us… I looked perfect as an Andorian and Harry was awesome looking as a Klingon with his ridges. Mike and Kathy were going to be a little longer so we headed up to the casino to show Dad the picture. A few minutes later we headed back down to check out Mike and Kathy’s picture and it turned out just as cool as ours.. we were all very happy that we spent the money and did this.

After the charactures, Mike and Kathy went to grab a snack while Harry and I decided to go to the museum and take as much video and pictures as we could before our 4:30pm BTS tour. We spent about an hour taking pictures and video of everything. Once it was 4:15pm we headed to the waiting area for the BTS tour. I found out that it was going to take an hour and a half to finish the tour, which we did not plan as we were all hungry. So I called Mike, Kathy and my Dad to let them know.

They had been doing this BTS tour for several years but we never took it. Since this was going to be the last time we figured… why not. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about Star Trek and The Experience. She was hired a year before the Experience even opened and portrayed a Vulcan and Andorian character. They had about 10 actors who dressed up and walked around the Experience in character, taking pictures and interacting with the guests.

She began the tour walking through the museum and giving us tidbits about the props and costumes. She then explained how they created the giant Enterprise, Voyager and Klingon modeled ships. The sad thing was, she told us that it would cost 2 million to remove the ships safely so it looks as though they will just be torn down when the Experience is taking down. She then took us through a side door and we got to see some blueprints of the Experience. She then took us on to various parts of each ride. The TNG corridors, the Borg station area, the TNG Bridge and so many other cool areas. As we went to each area our tour guide had very interesting information about how it was created, she was a wealth of knowledge. One of the highlights of the tour was seeing how they actually Transport you from the ride to the Transporter room of the Enterprise D… now that was a very cool effect. Another cool part was seeing the Shuttle ride from beneath it, watching how all the hydraulics work. We also go to see the make up area and costume area and the business part of the ride. At the end she took us up to the “party room” above Quarks and handed out some really cool certificate that stated that we finished the behind the scene tour. All in all it was a very cool tour, we were very happy that we finally took it.

After the tour we headed back to the casino where dad was waiting for us. We called Kathy and Michael and they were in line for the Borg 4D ride. We decided to go down to Quarks and get some dinner. Kathy and Mike said they would be done in about 10 minutes. So Dad, Harry and I got a table and ordered some Holy Rings of Betazoid and sodas. Kathy and Mike showed up a little later and we all ordered food and enjoyed the Star Trek atmosphere.

After dinner Mike and Kathy headed back to there hotel while Dad went back up to gamble a little bit more. As Harry and I really wanted to do both rides one last time. When we got up there only one ride was open, The Klingon Encounter so we got in line and waited and waited and waited. We wanted to leave Vegas around 8pm and it was already 8:30. They finally let us on the ride and we enjoyed it for the final time. When we got off the ride the worker said.. if anyone wants to do the Borg 4D ride follow him and he would show us a short cut to the line. We got back to the line and the Klingon Encounter was closed and there was a line for Borg Invasion 4D so we got to ride that one last time and it was a fantastic way to finish our final adventure at Star Trek The Experience.

It was a little past 9pm and we headed back home. I was exhausted and I don’t know how I was able to drive but I managed to drop dad off at home around 1am and Harry and I got home around 2:30am and went straight to bed.

Star Trek The Experience is an AWESOME place and it’s so sad to see it get torn down. But at least Harry and I go to geek out in that Star Trek World one last time.

Thank you for all the great memories and fun times.. you will be missed.