Michael Myers' Halloween Mask WAS Shatner's Face

Urban legends are sometimes true. For example, it had been rumored for decades that the mask the killer Michael Myers wore in the Halloween films was in fact based on William Shatner's face. Not just Shatner's face, but a Captain Kirk death mask created for Star Trek. It's an old story, but for those who've not heard it before or have but don't know all the details, StarTrek.com is revisiting it now. And the story is very, very true.

Rick Sternbach, who worked as illustrator/designer on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Nemesis -- posted the following on his Facebook page a few years back:

"There are a number of historical threads through various production people over the years that validate that; I've got one of those threads here (I've told this story once or twice before). I was hired as an illustrator on Halloween 2 in 1981, working for production designer J. Michael Riva. In a supply cabinet at Pumpkin Pie Productions, we had one mask left from the original Halloween, and no idea where to get any others for the sequel. It appeared that we'd need to go check out some of the toys stores and such, but I noticed that there was some wording molded into the neck area. There was a model number, and 'Don Post Studios.' I made a call, read off the model number, and the word came back 'It's our Captain Kirk mask.' I asked if we could buy a number of them, and was told 'We'll give you a box, just give us credit.' With that, I turned the official dealings over to the higher-ups. Brush with greatness."

As if that weren't enough to confirm that Shatner/Kirk's mug indeed became that of the masked serial killer, here's an old video we found of Shatner himself discussing it -- and even revealing that he went trick or treating with his daughters one Halloween wearing a Michael Myers mask.

Scary, right?

via Star Trek Latest News

Cosplay 101: Introduction to Cosplay

Standing in line, not in costume, at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention a few years ago was an eye opener for me. I've spent most of my life in theater, so wearing costumes is as comfortable for me as wearing mundane clothing. As a result, I've been in costume playing dress-up at most of the Star Trek conventions I've been to. But on this particular early Sunday morning, I'd worn something I could get into quickly: boring jeans and a tee-shirt. Standing in line talking with some new friends who had no idea that I usually wear a costume, I heard their somewhat negative perspective on the costumed conventioneers. And I was surprised. I had never heard these kinds of perspectives while actually wearing a costume.

I'm grateful for the conversation because I learned several things: One, that there are actually people out there who enjoy conventions and don't enjoy costumes. Inconceivable! But surprisingly true. I learned that people at Trek conventions are polite. Well, I already knew that, but this was a new aspect to it. They live and let live knowing the silly costumed people around them weren't hurting anyone and respecting differences enough to not say a thing to someone when they suspect it might hurt that person. And I learned that there are likely people out there who want to cosplay but haven't yet, because they've heard this negative perspective and are afraid.

Friends, cosplayers and non-costumed fans, do not fear! Here is a brief introduction and guide to cosplaying, presented in the hopes of dispelling any fears and providing illumination as to why a person would put on a costume, and how to do it or view it.

The word "cosplay" is a portmanteau of the words "costume" and "play" -- and it is quite literally that: playing in a costume. There are four parts to cosplaying: the actor (or person wearing the costume), the character being portrayed, the costume and the audience. There's a fifth part, optional in theory, but not in practice: a camera and the subsequently larger online audience.

The Actor:

The most important thing is the person in the costume, not the costume. You've chosen a character you love in some way and decided to embody that character in front of other people. This is brave. You are vulnerable as you share a bit of your soul by sharing a bit of what you love in such a public and obvious way. The costume may cover your body, but it reveals a bit of your heart. So be kind to yourself and to others in costume. We're bearing our souls to each other here.

Despite how serious and earnest that sounds, remember, it's for fun! It's not a competition (with the obvious exception of when it is a competition.) Don't take it too seriously. We're all just pretending and playing dress-up.

The Character:

The goal is to have fun, so make sure to choose a character that brings you joy in some way. And don't be afraid of being silly. It's too late: this is an inherently silly, superfluous, unnecessary, but lovely, invigorating and creative activity. Embrace that because that's what playing, relaxing and having fun is. And remember, you're going to be wearing the costume all day. You better like, in some way, who you're representing.

When choosing a character and costume to construct, commission or purchase, consider the venue and the purpose of the cosplay, your budget in time and money, your skill level and available resources – including materials and people with skills they can share.

Ignore the skin color or size of the character you want to play. Don't limit yourself to only playing characters that are "your size" in the show. You don't cosplay for other people. You do it for yourself, and yourself is not built like 7 of 9. Don't let that stop you. Even Jeri Ryan wasn't built like 7 of 9. As a practical tip: if you're cosplaying an alien with a different colored skin, go ahead and alter the color of your skin. If you're cosplaying a human, just be a human and don't change your human skin color.

The Costume:

My definition of a successful costume is found in the eyes of the actor. It doesn't matter how well or how poorly a costume is constructed. If the person wearing it has that shine of joy in their eyes, it's a successful costume. It doesn't have to be exact – it has to be fun.

Here comes the most-practical advice in this entire article: make sure it fits! Nobody is a size, but everyone has measurements. Pay attention to how the costume fits on your body. Too small is just as bad as – actually worse – than too big. Don't try to squeeze yourself into a size 6 because you think you should be able to fit or because the actress originally playing the role is preternaturally skinny. If the costume you own fits on your body, both you and it will look good. Remember, the correct fit, that everyone can see, looks so much better than a number on a tag that no one can see.

The Audience:

You're happy to be wearing a costume. Now it's time to bring happiness to others as you wear it. Art doesn't have its full meaning until it's communicated to someone else. The audience brings their own experience (or lack of it) to their experience of seeing you in costume. Don't be a jerk to people who don't know what your costume is. Take the opportunity to share your joy of this new thing with them – because it really may be new to them.

Be aware of the venue and keep your costume, words and actions appropriate for the audience. In many cosplay venues, some of the audience is very young and/or physically and emotionally vulnerable. Be kind to all.

When it comes to the picture-taking aspect of cosplay, I fully realize that for many this is the badge that determines a successful costume. If tons of people want your picture, you can't deny that you've pleased your audience and that therefore the costume is a success. But for me the most meaningful responses to my cosplays have been the personal interactions when someone says I made their day, or I made them laugh. There have been meaningful changes in my life as I have cosplayed and gotten to know and experience other cosplayers. The audience, including other cosplayers, can become such good friends.

Your course in Cosplay 101: Introduction to Cosplay is complete. Perhaps you've gained the courage now to put on a costume. Perhaps you've gained an insight into those who decide to do so, even if you'll never put on a costume – not even for Halloween! In the future, I will write articles for StarTrek.com on how to decide what to cosplay, how to design a costume, cosplay on a budget, cosplay etiquette, tips and tricks specifically for Trek costumes and other nifty things to help your game of Star Trek dress-up be the awesomest. If you have questions or concerns about cosplaying or suggestions for future articles, please contact me on Twitter @tanaquill1558 or Facebook at http://ift.tt/2f5lfNX.

Live Long and Prosper.

via Star Trek Latest News

Takei's Allegiance Tickets On Sale Now

George Takei's Allegiance: The Broadway Musical On The Big Screen will beam to movie theaters nationwide for one night only on Tuesday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m. local time, and tickets are on sale now via Fathom Events. The show, which ran at the Longacre Theater in New York City from late 2015 to early 2016, was inspired by the Star Trek legend's real-life experiences. The night will open with an exclusive introduction by Takei -- who, incidentally, received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on this date in 1986 -- and then shift directly into the show's presentation. Further, audiences will enjoy special behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and creators. The show itself, which featured Takei in two roles, and co-starred Lea Salonga and Telly Leung, shares the moving story of the Kimura family, who, much like Takei's own family, had their lives upended by the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Go to www.FathomEvents.com or participating theater box offices to buy tickets to George Takei's Allegiance: The Broadway Musical On The Big Screen. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in select movie theaters through Fathom's Digital Broadcast Network. For a complete list of theater locations, visit the Fathom Events website.

via Star Trek Latest News

Poll Says Scariest Voyager Episode Was...

What's the scariest Star Trek: Voyager episode? That's the question we at StarTrek.com posed for our latest weekly poll. Fans could choose from "Darkling," "The Haunting of Deck Twelve," "The Thaw," "Waking Moments," "Revulsion" and "Macrocosm." Here are the results:

"The Haunting of Deck Twelve" (37%)

"The Thaw" (18%)

"Macrocosm" (15%)

"Waking Moments" (13%)

"Revulsion" (10%)

"Darkling" (8%)

So, did YOUR episode of choice scare your fellow fans?

via Star Trek Latest News

WATCH: "Bridging Science & the Arts" Trek Talk

The Toronto Film Festival's second Trek Talks presentation, "Bridging Science and the Arts," took place on October 13, and StarTrek.com welcomes fans to watch the whole 1-hour and 48-minute session. Presented in partnership with CBS and the Canadian Space Agency, TIFF's Trek Talks feature roundtable discussions and keynote presentations that consider the influence of Star Trek in the areas of television, film, technology, space exploration, education, politics and social justice.

This engaging roundtable conversation on Star Trek and science education brings together Sonny Kohli, physician and co-founder of Cloud DX, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and STEAMLabs co-founder and Managing Director at the Royal Ontario Museum Marianne Mader, to consider how science can inspire art and art can inspire science, and how film and television projects like Star Trek can inspire careers in space, technology, math, arts and engineering fields.

The next event, Trek Talks: Lawrence Kraus on Star Trek and Science, will be held on November 2. Visit www.tiff.net for details about that Trek Talk and others as well.

via Star Trek Latest News

J.K. Woodward on Klingons and Trek Art

J.K. Woodward is an accomplished illustrator whose most recent projects have included IDW Publishing's Assimilation2, an eight-issue Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover miniseries, as well as IDW's acclaimed adaptation of Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever: The Harlan Ellison Original Teleplay, and the covers of the recent Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover miniseries. He's also one of the artists tapped to create a piece for 50 Artists. 50 Years, the acclaimed global art exhibition commemorating Star Trek's 50th anniversary. His piece is a big, bold acrylic on panel that's titled "Klingons" and captures the essences and images of some of Trek's most memorable Klingons.

StarTrek.com caught up with Woodward during a gallery showing of all 50 pieces in the collection, and actually chatted with him right in front of his contribution. Here's what he had to say about his long Trek affiliation and about "Klingons":

You've done a LOT of Star Trek work. How far back do you and Star Trek go back?

I've loved Star Trek since childhood. When I was growing up we were watching The Original Series in syndication, and there weren't 300 channels back then, so unless you had money to go to the movies, all I had was Star Trek. I remember Star Wars came out and I was the one kid who didn't see the movie. But I had Trek, so I think it kind of got cemented there. And instead of it kind of fading out as I grew up, my love for it just kind of grew with Next Generation coming out, and then TNG movies coming out, and it just kind of fed more and more into it, and it just never went away.

What do you love about it?

Probably, and it's a cliché answer, the hopeful message was always something I liked. I grew up in a diverse neighborhood when I was a kid, and I also liked that there were other people represented on a show that you don't often get to see. One of my problems when I first went to see Star Wars... I was like, "Where's the black people?" But it's not only that; it was a very U.N. feeling on that Enterprise bridge. You had the Russian guy, you had the Scottish guy, you had all sorts of cultures. And they didn't shy away from it, either, even though they were part of the same Federation. We looked at everybody's differences, we explored their cultures, and they're all from the same planet, but all very different.

Let's talk about your contribution to 50 Artists. 50 Years. Specifically, why Klingons?

I've always loved Klingons, always loved Klingons. When they first mentioned they were doing this 50 for 50 thing, they basically asked me, "50 years of Star Trek. What do you want to do?" And I was like, "Well that's kind of huge. I don't know, how do I whittle that down to something I can work with? And I was like, "Is anybody honoring the Klingons?" They said, "Nope." I said, "Then, that's what I'm doing." They're my favorite Trek species, and always have been. They're feudal Japan Samurais mixed with Vikings, mixed with a biker gang, wrapped up in a kind of death-metal look. How do you not love it? So I started thinking about all of the Klingons, and I was like, "This is pretty manageable until you get to the starring roles." Klingon starring roles are really... I couldn't think of that many. There really aren't that many once you try to think about it. I think I got like 25 Klingons in here, and three of them are Alexander at different stages in his life.

Tell us about actually creating the art, because looking at it, it almost looks 3D it's so alive.

Thanks. Well, this was done on an illustration board, which is basically compressed cardboard that's treated, and it was done in gouache, which is a very difficult medium to master, but it was kind of what they used in advertising a lot in the 60's and 70's, before we moved on to computer-generated stuff. Basically what I did was I did a sketch first, and then I projected that sketch with one of those opaque projectors on to that so I got all of the proportions down. And from there just one step at a time. I drew all the likenesses. I went back and did all of the shadows and blacks, so it almost looked like a comic book at first. It looked like an ink piece. And then you go back and you do the colors. I spent about a week on that, and about 10 hours a day, so it was a big project.

Do you prefer to see your art on a wall at a gallery as a piece of art, or on a comic book cover, or in the pages of a comic book?

If I'm going to be completely honest, the comic book because ever since I was a kid I just wanted to be a published artist. I just want more people to see it. I love seeing stuff in galleries,too. This is actually where I started. Before I was in comic books I was hanging art on walls. But I've got to say it's nothing like being published because not only is it published now, it can be published again in re-print, and it will outlive you. I've always been obsessed with my own death since I was a little kid, and I want my work to outlive me. I think you get a better chance at that with publishing, because it kind of exists in the digital ether out there, you know? It never goes away.

If you had to guess, how many Star Trek covers have you done for IDW?

Hard to say.

You're kind of their go-to guy in many ways.

Yeah, especially with a retail or incentive, any time they need a second cover they come to me, and it's... I couldn't even begin to guess.

Are we talking 100? Are we talking 200 over the years?

I would say at least 100. At least 100. Let's do the math. I do at least once a month, and I've been doing this since 2007 or 2008.

So roughly 108 covers.

Yeah, roughly. There we go, there's your answer... 108 roughly.

What does it mean to you to have your piece among the 50 being used to celebrate the 50th anniversary?

It's a huge, huge honor. In fact, when I first got approached about this it was too huge for me to think about. I had to put that aside. I couldn't come up with a concept. I was just like, "What do you do for 50 years?" I'm one of 50 artists celebrating 50 years of Star Trek, something that meant a great deal to me my whole life. I didn't even know where to begin. It's impossible to describe the honor. And to walk into the exhibit... The first thing I said when I walked in was, "I love living in a world where this exists." You can actually have my two favorite things, art and Star Trek, and here it is, all together, wrapped up in one big bow.

To purchase a 13" x 9" print of "Klingons," go to the Star Trek Shop at www.startrek.com. Also, check out Woodward's artwork at jkwoodward.blogspot.com and follow him on Twitter.

via Star Trek Latest News

WATCH: Picardo Interviews Pluto Flyby Principal, Alan Stern

Good afternoon, StarTrek.com readers. Robert Picardo here. Welcome to my latest Planetary Post. Remember the July 2015 Pluto flyby? The spectacular images that were sent back by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft after its 9 1/2 year journey brought it to Pluto? Alan Stern, the man who led the team behind this storybook success, is presented the 2016 Cosmos Award by Bill Nye -- and I am there to interview the honoree. I bring you all backstage to a historic celebration, so don't miss out.

To learn more about The Planetary Society, please visit www.planetary.org. And just tell them The Doctor sent you.

via Star Trek Latest News

Pine Set For A Wrinkle in Time

Chris Pine, Star Trek's current Captain Kirk, has locked in his next project. The actor is set to join Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Storm Reid in a big-screen adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. Ava DuVernay will direct the sci-fi drama based on the popular children's book of the same name by Madeleine L'Engle.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Reid will star as Meg Murry, a young girl traumatized by the disappearance of her scientist father (Pine) years earlier. She finds herself on an interplanetary journey with a schoolmate and her younger brother to find her father. They are aided by a trio of supernatural beings, Mrs. Whatsit (Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Winfrey). Mbatha-Raw will play Pine's wife.

Pine will next be seen as Steve Trevor opposite Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman, opening on June 2, 2017.

via Star Trek Latest News

STO's Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts Is Live

Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts is live.

The events of the Temporal Cold War were finally resolved with the release of Agents of Yesterday. That epic storyline took us on an adventure from the fall of 2015 through the late summer of 2016. It featured a full and complete story arc that brought the player from an amazingly realized The Original Series setting into alternate timelines and the far-flung future of the 31st century. With that storyline concluded, it's time to begin anew.

With the release of Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts, Star Trek Online will begin a brand-new storyline featuring the episode "Echoes of Light." Captains will once again meet up with the Lukari, and head off into a truly amazing adventure to introduce the formerly isolationist species to galactic exploration. You will find strange new worlds, interact with lifeforms both new and old, and make a discovery that will shape the direction of the Star Trek Online story through all of 2017 and beyond.

In addition to this amazing episode and the introduction of a brand-new story arc, we have two other exciting new features in Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts. First, Star Trek Online is proud to bring the amazing new graphical upgrades from our console release to the PC. All of the amazing new lighting technology that brought the console versions of Star Trek Online into the modern era of gaming will now bring a huge revamp to the PC version as well.

Next, we have a new fleet holding in our The Original Series-themed K-13 Starbase. Lost in the episode "Painful Omens" during Agents of Yesterday, it will be found by intrepid explorers in the distant frontier of the Alpha Quadrant. It's up to your fleet to refurbish it to its original glory.

Agents of Yesterday: Artifacts begins a fresh adventure for the captains of Star Trek Online, and I personally can't wait to see everyone in game.

For more Star Trek Online news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

via Star Trek Latest News

Berg and Harberts Take Command of Discovery

Bryan Fuller has stepped aside as showrunner of Star Trek: Discovery, but will remain with the series as an executive producer. He tweeted the news to fans: "Riker spent 7 years of TNG unready for Captaincy, @GretchenJBerg @AaronHarberts are ready. Thrilled to see them in command of the Bridge."

A statement from CBS Television Studios added, "We are extremely happy with the creative direction of Star Trek: Discovery and the strong foundation that Bryan Fuller has helped us create for the series. Due to Bryan's other projects, he is no longer able to oversee the day-to-day of Star Trek, but he remains an executive producer, and will continue to map out the story arc for the entire season. Alex Kurtzman, co-creator and executive producer, along with Fuller's producing partners and longtime collaborators, Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts, will also continue to oversee the show with the existing writing and producing team. Bryan is a brilliant creative talent and passionate Star Trek fan, who has helped us chart an exciting course for the series. We are all committed to seeing this vision through and look forward to premiering Star Trek: Discovery this coming May 2017."

via Star Trek Latest News

Pegg & Astronaut Kate Rubins Talk Beyond & More

Simon Pegg, who co-wrote and played Scotty in Star Trek Beyond, recently engaged in a conversation with Kate Rubins, an astronaut who's currently aboard the International Space Station. Over the course of their 25-minute chat, Pegg and Rubins talked about Beyond, how Trek has inspired real-life science and technological advances, and even the most-comfortable position for watching a movie aboard the ISS.

Check out the video below:

Star Trek Beyond is available now on Digital HD, weeks in advance of the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Combo Packs, which will hit stores on November 1. As previously reported, the Paramount Home Media Distribution releases will boast more than an hour of bonus content, with featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a tribute to both Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin. Fans will also appreciate the film's Dolby Atmos soundtrack, remixed specifically for the home theater environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead.

Order the combo packs at iTunes and Amazon.

via Star Trek Latest News

Celeste Yarnall Living Long & Prospering in Cancer Battle

Celeste Yarnall, beloved by Star Trek fans for her portrayal of Martha Landon in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Apple," first shared with StarTrek.com readers her personal cancer battle in a guest blog that ran in February, 2015. She took fans through her diagnosis of stage 3 Primary Peritoneal cancer -- ovarian cancer -- and detailed the steps in her treatment. Yarnall has experienced ups and downs, but she's in remission, and even returned to public appearances, including Star Trek Las Vegas this summer. And now, following a hip replacement surgery, she's eager to stay healthy, get fit and resume the life she was leading before cancer struck. Today, Yarnall returns to StarTrek.com with a new guest blog in which she shares how she's continuing to live long and prosper.

I am so happy to share with you that I am still in remission from the high-grade stage 3 ovarian cancer. My operation took place in November 2014, followed by six rounds of chemo, and then another surgery to repair my abdomen in July 2015. I dealt with two blood clots, and they installed one of those IVC filters to protect me during the surgery from the blood clots migrating. I completed after the surgery a course of blood-thinning injections. Happily, they surgically removed the IVC filter successfully. One more surgery followed in December of 2015, but I also that month began my immunotherapy in Grand Cayman at PerseusPCI. Here they used the tumor tissue we had stored during the first surgery and shipped it to Perseus. There, they used my blood and created a vaccine just for me. So, at this time, I have completed four vaccine treatments at Perseus in Grand Cayman.

When your doctors tell you that you are in remission, one must take this state of being one day at a time and celebrate each of those days as a blessing -- which I do with my amazing husband Nazim Artist, who is originally from London and is a very talented painter. I am due to return to Cayman as there are two more vaccines that I require.

Nazim and I have been working hard. Besides making the four trips to Grand Cayman, I made an appearance in Bayreuth, Germany, to celebrate a wonderful Elvis concert with a great tribute artist who does the young Elvis. His name is Mark Summers. We had a great time on this trip.

Nazim and I also joined a group of Star Trek actors who flew to Bellaria, Italy, to kick off the 50th anniversary of Star Trek festivities. My dear friend BarBara Luna and Lee Meriwether were with us, as was the one and only William Shatner.

One of the other highlights of the year was heading to Las Vegas for the Star Trek Las Vegas gathering of the clan at the Rio, which I'd missed last year because of that second surgery. I was on stage with BarBara Luna, Sherry Jackson, Sabrina Sharf and Tanya Lemani. Our panel was moderated by Ian Spelling, who gave us all equal time to share our memories of TOS.

From there we left for Memphis for the annual Elvis Week, where I was on stage for Conversations on Elvis with Tom Brown, formerly of TCM. This was great fun and we got to see some wonderful old friends and make new ones as well.

Upon returning, I joined BarBara Luna, Sherry Jackson and Lee Meriwether, along with Mariette Hartley, for Inside Edition on CBS to celebrate Star Trek's 50th anniversary. Then the long-awaited premiere of Unbelievable!!!!! took place at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. This was a truly unbelievable experience and, once again, BarBara Luna and I, who have co-executive producer credit and also appear in it, were featured on the red carpet, along with Beverly Washburn, Bobby Clark and Sean Kenney. I enjoyed the honor of walking with my husband Nazim and also posing with Nichelle Nichols, who is featured in the film and is one of the executive producers as well. This was a beautiful evening. And, for me, it was a chance to get dressed up and show off our new Nazim Artist Wearable Art, as Nazim wore one of our scarves. The press loved it and I was so proud of Nazim for looking amazing wearing it.

I have been having such fun taking Nazim's beautiful paintings and translating them to wearable art on two different website platforms. One is http://ift.tt/2dP6vke and the other is http://ift.tt/2dP9Qj3. The reason for having two websites is so that we can have 100 items on each of our sites. Mine actually features my very first painting ever, which I have named Yeoman Martha's Flower. It's my interpretation of the flower I wore in my hair as Yeoman Martha Landon, which was plucked from the fauna on Gamma Triangle VI. The designer wearable art features tops, tees, kimono-style sheer wraps, pillows, scarves and tote bags -- all with Nazim's or my paintings and/or our photographic art.

Doing the design translations has been amazing therapy for me, as I have discovered that cancer survivors suffer a form of PTSD. So, stress can be problematic and this work, along with my daily Bemer device sessions, has been amazing for me. The proceeds from this venture, as well as my books sales, my husband's art and my autographed photos, go to my personal immunotherapy cancer fund.

It feels so good to be productive, even though I have to make many appearances in a wheelchair and use a cane. At least I am out there living life and loving every minute of it. Because all my tests came back with good results, I was able to have hip replacement surgery earlier this month.

My hope is that it will soon mean walking without pain and hopefully dancing my passion again, which is Argentine Tango, the very dance that brought my husband and me together.

October 25, 2016: A quick update to my update:

Just a few days ago, I took my first walk around the cul-de-sac out front of our home with my physical therapist and Nazim. It's just one week post-hip-replacement surgery, using my BungyPump Walking Poles. We also went through my whole series of exercises so far, and I must say I did pretty well. I followed instructions from my surgeon and took my pain med a half-hour before she came to help me get moving. The pain level… I'd describe it as feeling like what you might imagine being kicked by a mule in your backside feels like, but we are all pleased with my progress and no complications. I am doing my device religiously and icing as directed. I take a non-narcotic pain med only as needed. And I am eating my anti-inflammatory diet very carefully and have resumed some of my supplements.

I am also excited to share that I will be making my first appearance, one month from the surgery date, which will be 11-11-16 at an event where I will be a keynote speaker, with my husband Nazim. It's called the "Earthshift Meets Star Knowledge Conference" and it will be held at the beautiful Desert Hot Springs, CA. Go to http://ift.tt/2dPb3a3 for info.

Nazim and I are counting our blessings, as we are so grateful to now have my hip-replacement surgery behind me, and so grateful to have had the amazing surgeon Dr. Brad Penenberg doing it. He is just amazing and so caring. I am looking forward to a complete healing and walking comfortably again! I will also need to return to Grand Cayman and PerseusPCI for a booster cancer immunotherapy vaccine.

Thank you for all your blessings and all the kind wishes you have sent along to me with your generous donations. We are so grateful to each and every one of you.

All my love in return!

Celeste Yarnall

via Star Trek Latest News

Celebrating National Pumpkin Day, Trek-Style

Happy National Pumpkin Day, everyone! According to NationalDayCalendar.com, National Pumpkin Day is observed annually on October 26. People across the nation enjoy cake, pie, cookies, bars, pudding, coffee, smoothies, candy, breads, muffins, soups, cheesecake, oatmeal, lasagna and more, all made with delicious pumpkin. To celebrate the occasion, StarTrek.com invited readers to submit pictures of the Trek-themed pumpkins they either carved or painted. Below are seven of our favorite submissions:

Chelsea Young carved the Delta symbol.

Kayla Buzzard painted the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Merril Bedrin Lundgren's son drew on a mini-pumpkin and dressed it up as Spock.

Shawn Strook carved Spock's face.

Howard Chumsky carved Spock flashing the Vulcan greeting gesture.

Christopher West carved a trio of elaborately detailed Trek-themed pumpkins.

James Hall quite literally carved Worf into a pumpkin as if it were wood.

And feel free to share YOUR carved or painted Trek pumpkin on our Facebook page. Thank you for the submissions! 

via Star Trek Latest News

Food and Wine Celebrates Trek Maze

Food and Wine's website recently published an article titled "13 Places You Should Visit This Halloween" -- and one of them was the Richard Adventure Farm Corn Maze in Spring Grove, Illinois, which features the out-of-this-world Star Trek 50th Annviersary Maze that depicts portraits of Spock (flashing the Vulcan greeting gesture) and Kirk, the Trek 50 logo and, of course, the U.S.S. Enterprise.

As previously reported here at StarTrek.com, this is Richardson Farm's 16th maze. Previous maze themes have honored milestones for the Chicago Blackhawks, Star-Spangled Banner, Beatles, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Military Veterans and even "The Race to the White House" back in 2008. The lush green 28-acre cornfield is sculpted with 11 ½ miles of trails that in addition to to Spock, Kirk, the Trek 50 lgo and the Enterprise, depict an array of planets, asteroids, comets and stars. Take a whopping 21 football fields, arrange them in one giant rectangle, and that's the size of the Trek maze.

Visitors should not be intimidated by the size of the maze. It features many entry and exit points and no dead-ends. You can explore a small portion of the trails that comprise the design, or the whole thing. Maps are provided, marked with corresponding "checkpoints," and three wooden "bridges" serve as viewing platforms within the maze. "No one's ever gotten lost," owner George Richardson say. "At least not for long! And no one's ever called 911."

Richardson Adventure Farm will be open until Oct. 30, Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission is $16 for ages 13 and up, $13 for ages 4-12 and free for ages 3 and under. For more info, go to http://ift.tt/1JIqYiK.

Go to www.foodandwine.com to check out the story.

via Star Trek Latest News