GEORGE TAKEI AT CONTAGION '92 ------------------------------- Written and Edited by Simon Plumbe ------------------------------------ Part 1 - 18th July 1992 ------------------------- Following on from our regular series, recording and bringing you the best material given during guest talks at Trek conventions throughout the UK, we are proud to announce that, last year at Contagion '92, we were able to get George Takei's (Sulu) permission to use all of the material from his talks! Normally, we use edited HIGHLIGHTS, but as this is our first article with a regular cast member, we have managed to ring you almost the ENTIRE transcript of his 3 talks during the weekend of the con. Unlike the others in this series, we have broken this up into 3 separate files covering each day in turn. As this file in itself is larger than either of Issue 3's two talks, we felt that it would make it far easier to read, and it would break all the material up into the order it was recorded, day by day. Well, thanks obviously must go to George Takei and all of the Contagion committee, along with Richard Arnold for his assistance. Well, what are you waiting for... read on! George began his first stint on stage with recollections of events from Star Trek's 25th Anniversary year. "Last year was one of the most memorable of all the years - the Silver Anniversary of Star Trek, 25 years, it was an absolutely glorious year and there are some wonderful moments that stand out as highlights of that benchmark year. Last year, of course we released the BEST film of all the Star Trek films, Star Trek VI. Now I made that quality appraisal as a totally unbiased, an objective view and I thought one of the things that made it such a BRILLIANT Star Trek film was the fact that they had a brave, bold, new captain! Despite the fact that I made an unbiased judgement, that applause was a LITTLE biased, wasn't it? I'd like to think so!" "And a week before we opened that film, in Los Angeles, well, all over the United States, we had an absolutely undreamt of thing happen. Now I'm a native Angelino, born and raised in Los Angeles, and when I was a child I remember my parents taking me to a great legendary Hollywood institution - a theatre, very appropriately called `The Chinese Theater'. This theatre was built by a great showman, named Sid Graman. He had a way of building these fantastic palaces of entertainment. In downtown Los Angeles he built a theatre called `The Million Dollar Theater' back in the ... when a million dollars was really a lot of money and it was a spectacular theatre, well it still is a spectacular theatre - it still exists. He opened another theatre called `The Egyptian Theater' that's like an Egyptian temple and the jewel of his theatre chain was called `The Chinese Theater'. Now, you can look all over China, high and low, and you will NEVER find a Chinese building looking like The Chinese Theater in Hollywood! There is not a building in China - it is a uniquely, singularly Hollywood piece of architecture and it says China as only Hollywood could say it and in the front, you know, the huge concrete forecourt, actually it was kind of a huge extension of the lobby, and he was a very anxious man and he wanted to open the theatre as soon as he could and he discovered that the concrete was being laid the in morning of the premiere opening of the theatre. So he had the workmen build in a low bridge from the pavement to the entrance of the theatre, he had about a dozen of the biggest luminaries of the time invited as his guests, and one of the invited stars was one of the biggest names of that time, Norma Chalridge. She arrived in her limousine and she was tripping across this bridge to the entrance when she slipped and her right foot feel not into but on the concrete and left a slight imprint. These workmen thought oh, they've got to correct that right away, and one of the workmen went out to erase that. Sid Graman saw that, he stopped the workman and said to Norma Chalridge, he gave her this pen, a fountain pen, a very expensive pen and said, `Miss Chalridge, would you sign that block of concrete for me?'. He was a very very clever showman, he saw that this was a unique opportunity, got her autograph down on concrete, there was her footprint there, and thus began a great Hollywood tradition. And ever since then, the biggest names in Hollywood, the legendary stars, had been placing their handprint and their autograph in that concrete. And a week before Star Trek VI opened, all seven of us from the original STAR TREK gathered at that forecourt and we made a lasting imprint on the landscape of Hollywood. It was a wonderful feeling." George then went on to elaborate on the background behind the actual signing of the autographs! "Let me give you a little inside story on how that all happened. Paramount wanted all seven of us on this square of concrete, and so they gave strict instructions to all of us. They said, `We've got the concrete partitioned off with string so that no-one writes bigger than the other and encroaches on someone else's space' and, because space is so limited, all we were supposed to put down was our autograph, nothing else, nothing more than just simply the autograph. And very obediently, Bill Shatner was the first to go, and he went and wrote `William Shatner' and came back, Leonard Nimoy went down and wrote `Leonard Nimoy'. Well, my turn came and I wrote my name down but while writing my name I kept thinking, `You know, this is the way it's really done'. Now I'm the only Angelino of the group - Bill and Jimmy Doohan are Canadians, Leonard Nimoy is from Boston, Nichelle Nichols is from Chicago, DeForest Kelley is from Georgia, Walter Koenig is from New York City - I'm the only native Angelino and the only native Californian there, and I felt it was my responsibility to maintain this tradition. You know, as a child I used to put my hand in the imprint of Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and all those other legends and I said, `No, I have to be... I MUST show them how it's done!' and so I wrote my name down, dotted my `i' and then I thought, `What could they do?' They couldn't erase it, so I put the stick down and I went SPLAT! on the concrete. Well, Bill Shatner, who was right behind me said, (quickly) `George put his hand in! I'm going to put my hand in too!' Bill came running down and he went SPLAT! and everybody else then came straight down and went SPLAT, SPLAT, SPLAT...! But dear Leonard, he's always thinking, he put his hand print down like this (Vulcan Salute)!" "And then, two months after that, we gathered again on the opposite coast of the United States, on the East Coast in our national capital, Washington DC, at another institution, this time our national institution, the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian, this great huge museum on the mall in Washington DC. They were doing something that they had never done before, something that we never dreamt would be done. This museum of all the achievements of human kind in airflight and space exploration, this museum that contained the original aircraft that the Wright Brothers had flown, the original Spirit of St. Louis that Charles Lindberg flew solo for the first time across the Atlantic, this museum that holds a chunk of the moon rock, this museum that has an Apollo Space Capsule... this musuem opened an exhibit entitled, `The 25 Years Of Star Trek' and we all gathered there for the opening of this exhibit and that first opening night party had, it was like another Star Trek convention, however it was called the `Congressional Opening'. The people attending there were American Senators and Congressmen and their Aides and their wives, and would you believe, they were even more fanatical Star Trek fans that you are! We had a Senator from Vermont, Senator Lehey who brought his whole collection of things in he wanted autographed! A Senator from Vermont, Senator Lehey had Star Trek magazines, books, cards and all that he wanted to have signed. However, he was sheepish enough to say these were for his grandchildren - `Don't personalise that!'." George then proceeded with the story about the exhibit. "And then there was a press conference and I remember that press conference so well because it was really a rather moving experience for me. One of the reporters got up and and addressed the question to the curator of the exhibit, Mary Henderson. He said to her, `This is a great musuem of the achievements of humankind in air and space. This museum historically has held REAL artefacts from that history. Why should a piece of entertainment, a television series and a movie series, have a spot in this museum?' and she said, `Yes, it's true, this museum has these real evidences of our achievements in air and space. It's there to remind them, to remind the people that come here, of what we have accomplished up to this point. But this museum is also here to inspire and inform the next generation, and Star Trek in its way has played that kind of role. Many people, many youngsters were inspired to study astronomy or astronautics or engineering or indeed themselves become astronauts because of their having viewed Star Trek on television and in films as youngsters, it was therefore appropriate that Star Trek be here with these real achievements because Star Trek has made a REAL contribution to space and air flight.' I was very very moved by that response and then I saw the exhibit and I saw that this woman really understands what Star Trek is, and this exhibit captured why it is that we all gather at conventions like this and certainly they're wonderful enjoyable weekends, but what draws us really here is the ideals, the principles, the philosophy that Star Trek stood for, to see our future as not one of failure and devestation - so much of science fiction has this depicted, there are people grubbing in the ruins of a once great civilisation - Star Trek says that we build on what we've achieved up to this point and we continue to build using what we've achieved up to this point as a foundation stone, and we depicted that 23rd Century of human civilisation and one that's now merged with aliens, as that kind of world. And that very fact that we've urged these aliens to recognise that in our lifetime we have great strengths and part of that strength is our pluralism, our diversity, and to be able to tap the best of that diversity and work in concert with each other with good strong leadership, visionary leadership, so that we can meet the challenges of our times and overcome them, not be defeated by them. And that diversity comes in many many shapes - it's not just in terms of the visible appearance, you know this concept called handicap that Gene Roddenberry has addressed so often in his talks, it's all a matter of context. And there's going to be another series coming (Deep Space Nine) in which there's a character that really intrigues me because it does capture the stigma that Gene Roddenberry talked about. There's a character in this new series, Deep Space Nine upcoming, that's from an alien planet. It's the science officer and it's a female. She comes from a planet that has no gravity and working in the environment that the rest of us work in, where we are gravity-dependent creatures, there's artificial gravity induced on the space station. But because she comes from a gravity-less environment, she has to be strapped into a wheelchair for her to be able to move around in this environment. However, for her to be able to function freely and at her optimum, her own personal space, the laboratory where she works, has artifical non-gravity created and of course, that environment is ideal in terms of combining certain elements, chemicals and soforth. However, when we gravity-dependent creatures move into her laboratory, we are at a loss, and so we have to be strapped into a wheelchair to be able to move around in her environment. So it's a very interesting examination of the notion of handicap." As you can tell from what George said on this, it was recorded a while ago. In fact, this character was scrapped before the show entered production due to the poor fan reaction to the character. George then continues. "What is handicapped? What we might consider a handicap, that person may have a strength that we don't recognise and what we consider strengths, in a different environment could be a liability. So there's that kind of diversity, not just visual, ethnic kind of diversity, but diversity of history, diversity of experience, diversity of background and to be able to tap the best of that and work in concert and it's that that this woman has captured, Mary Henderson, in the exhibit in Washington DC. This exhibit has turned out to be the single biggest hit in the history of the Air and Space museum in the Smithsonian. The demand has been so, people have lined up for hours, of course you folks know about that, you go to Star Trek conventions don't you. You know that Star Trek conventions means lines, or queues here, excuse me! The queues have been so long and it got so unruly that they had been forced to give tickets out, it's a free show and yet they've had to give tickets out and some tickets have been sold on the black market for people that wanted to have a higher number so they could see it earlier, but the demand has been so great that although it was limited run, it was supposed to be schedules to close on 7th September, they have now extended it to January of 1993! So if at all possible you can make a trip to Washington DC in the United States between now and then, I would STRONGLY urge that. And when you go and see that exhibit, you must not miss that video, a half an hour video that she's created that really captures an essence, the philosophy and spirit of Star Trek - it's an absolutely wonderful show. I think they should export that to Britain so that some of you that may not be able to make that long trek to Washington DC, will still have access to it here in Britain. Well, that's another lobbying cause, isn't it?! You might begin a campaign to get that exhibit moved to Britain after it's done in the United States in January in 1993." Unfortunately, things didn't all go as well as this in the Anniversary year. "And then we had another event happen. It was last year, the Silver Anniversary, was a wonderful year with a lot of glorious experiences, but it was also one in which we suffered a great loss. Gene Roddenberry, the man who created Star Trek, the man whose vision Star Trek is, passed on in October last year. It's a horrible loss and yet he gave us a wonderful, rich, enduring legacy. And part of that legacy is this kind of opportunity for us to get together. Because he really did father a huge, large, international extended family. We're connected by Star Trek, across borders, across oceans, across cultures. And this convention itself is a wonderful example of that, where we have people from many many countries, from many different cultures, gathered together to share in this culture of Star Trek. And there's one memory that I have that I particularly cherish from last year and it's very appropriately a Star Trek convention - it was the biggest convention ever held yet. It was the 25th Anniversary Convention, held in Los Angeles, California, in the biggest venue that could be had in Los Angeles, the Shroud Auiditorium, where the Grammy Awards are given out - it's a huge, vast theatre, 6,000 plus capacity, and that convention too, was an international one. Fans came from all over the world and many from Scotland came down to that convention as well, certainly many throughout Britain, from Germany, I had met people from Sweden and Norway, there were people from France, from Spain, from throughout Europe, Latin America, from Japan, from Australia, from Hong Kong - it was an international convention. And it was packed beyond capacity, like this one, it was an illegal meeting! 6,000 was the capacity and they had people all over the theatre. Fortunately it was dark and it wasn't as visible as you guys standing against the wall here! And very appropriately it was dedicated to Gene Roddenberry, it was before he passed on, but over a period of over a year, Gene had been hit by a series of strokes. First his speech was affected, and then his legs, and Gene was a big man in more ways than just his vision, he was a physically big person, as a matter of fact, before he was working as a professional writer he was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department, one of the patrolmen, and he had those strong, firm, purposeful steps of a policeman, but another stroke had hit him, affected his legs and initially he had to walk with a cane and he had that kind of an `old man's' shuffle - it was painful to watch him, watch this vigourous big, burly man slowly, stroke by stroke, assault by assault, be reduced and by the time of that convention he was in a wheelchair. And after all of us had spoken, Gene was wheeled out on that vast stage, on his wheelchair, pushed by his son, Gene Roddenberry Jnr, or Rod as we all called him. He pushed him out and the applause that greeted him was an absolutely incredible sound - a huge roar that kept mounting and rolling in and rolling in like big waves, and there Gene sat in the middle of that stage. I was watching him and suddenly I got a little worried because I saw that his hands were starting to tremble and I was wondering whether Rod noticed that or not, then I heard him whisper something to Rod and he stood back, and there he was with his trembling hands and then I realised what he was trying to do. He was trying to force his body up by sheer muscle power because there was nothing in his legs any more, and with his arms he was pushing himself up from his arm rests and as the applause and the cheers came rolling in, he with trembling arms, rose up to his full height, to acknowledge that applause on his feet. That's the kind of man Gene Roddenberry was - a man of incredibly strong will, and determination, even when he was down by these series of strokes, he had good arms yet, and by god he's going to stand to acknowledge this incredible sound of gratitude that we were all giving him. On October that day, he passed away. Three days before that, he saw the final cut of Star Trek VI and I'm told that he was very very pleased by the final cut. So we have that satisfaction of knowing that Gene left pleased and confident that his legacy is in good hands. And we do have good people that will carry on that legacy, but most importantly he has all of you to help carry that legacy on. Star Trek is a wonderful, precious thing that he left for us, and we have an important responsibility to carry on that legacy. And certainly, Star Trek VI is one that inspired us to want to carry that on." Following that moving remark, there was a deservedly huge round of applause from the audience. George then continued his dedication to Gene. "But throughout the history of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek and we worked on it, but this phenomenon of Star Trek was created by all of you. You are the true owners of this Star Trek phenomenon and you, with your efforts, have given direction to the course of Star Trek and shaped to it, certainly I owe the fact that we have a new captain on board the Excelsior to your efforts. It's your energy that's always been the determinant of the future course of Star Trek and here we are at another important point and here we are again, dependant on your efforts, because when we began shooting Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the chariman of the studio was Frank Mancuso. When we finished shooting Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, that same office and that title was occupied by another man, Brandon Tartikoff. During the interim period, the box office receipts for Godfather III started coming in. Godfather III was a very very costly production for Paramount Pictures and it was a box office flop and the chairman had to take the blame for it and the way he paid for it was with his job. And so Brandon Tartikoff was brought in to from NBC Televison. Now he's a very knowledgable, savvy television producer and administrator, but he's new to Paramount and he's very very cautious. He's very careful about what he takes responsibility for because he may have to pay a price for it, so, dear Star Trek fans, we have another challenge. It's called `The Education of Brandon Tartikoff'!! We have to tell him that we all exist, that he need not fret and fear for his job! His should give his consent, his imprimatur to Star Trek VII because it WILL be an enormous hit, that we will support, not only once enthusiastically, but 2 times and 3 times and 4 times!! And that number seven has got to be the best one yet, IF it has the proper sub-title. It should be sub-titled, Star Trek VII should be sub-titled `The Voyages Of Captain Sulu'!!!! You might tell him to pay very close attention to that final scene in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, because that pretty much points the way for him. You saw that scene where the captain of the Enterprise, who was rescued at that critical point by this brave new captain of the starship Excelsior, and so he has this heartfelt expression of his gratitude and debt to the captain of the Excelsior and there was that captain of the Excelsior expressing his love, his fondness, his affection for that captain with whom he has served for 25 LONG YEARS! And then he roars off into the Galaxy. And there's that absolutely awestruck McCoy, staring into that viewscreen and he says, `By God, that's a big ship!', but Scotty, with that twinkle in his eye says (and George uses a Scottish accent for this!) `Aye, but not so big as her captain I think!'!!! When you write to Brandon Tartikoff you might point that scene out to him. Tell him it's quite clear where he's supposed to go, with `The Voyages Of Captain Sulu'! For those of you, I know most of you have it memorised, but just in case there might be some newcommers here, who don't HAVE the address for Paramount Pictures, the name is Brandon Tartikoff, c/o Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038 and I know I said that rather fast so I repeat... as a matter of fact, for those of you who wrote it down, be sure to share it with some of the people who write slowly - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038!" Then George began to revel in his new found role of Captain! I am absolutely enjoying being the captain of the Enterprise!!! (George then realised what he said!) It's a goal that I'm working towards! 25 years on the Excelsior (!), on the Enterprise, on the Enterprise, but you know there's only a few inches difference between the seat that I was seated in on the Enterprise and that other seat, you know, on the Excelsior, just a few inches there. Believe me, there is a GALAXY of difference. It's not a few inches, I'm having a wonderful, fabulous time as the captain, and I want to be in that captain's seat for at least 10 movies! And then I'll be ready to be kicked upstairs to Admiral! That would be Star Trek 18: Geriatric Trek!! Now, I know that all of you here have a lot of thoughts abouts Star Trek, some comments, some observations, criticisms, suggestions to make and some queries so, and this is the fun part, the dialogue, so I open it all to you now." George then takes the first question and regrets it immediately. He was asked to tell us about his trip a few years ago to the theme park, Alton Towers! "It's a LONG story. Are you sure you want to hear that? (To cries of `Yes' from the audience!) Ah yes, Alton Towers. How many years ago was that? That was about five years ago, I think, five years ago. Bill Shatner and I were invited to participate in the opening of the monorail system. How many here have visited Alton Towers? How many have? And you've ridden the monorial system that they have circling the area there. Well, they built that and they opened that about five years ago and they wanted it to have a futuristic impact, and certainly in terms of publicity, and Star Trek certainly is representative of that, so they asked the captain of the Enterprise and the helmsman of the Enterprise to join in on the launching of this transit system there. Well, Bill Shatner happened to be on the East Coast so he flew directly from New York I think to London, and then to Manchester. I was to fly from Los Angeles to Heathrow and then from Heathrow to Manchester and they were going to drive me to a hotel, where I'd be able to sleep overnight, try to shake off this thing called jetlag, which I'm still suffering from. Ordinarily, I never stutter this much and I would never say something like being captain of the Enterprise! That's jetlag, well, maybe not jetlag!" George then begins the eventful account of his journey. "So I was supposed to sleep overnight and then go the opening of the transit system the following morning. So, now let's see now, it's been quite some time, I don't remember the sequence of events here. Maybe some of you people who have good memories from my last telling of that story could refresh my memory. The flight was a 5:30 British Airways flight from Los Angeles direct to Heathrow and they like you to arrive about an hour before the departure time, so I was there by 4:30. I got off at the terminal with my luggage and went to the international terminal and looked around for British Airways and there it was, walked up to the British Airways ticket counter and I said, `I think there's a pre-paid ticket for me, George Takei, from here to Heathrow, London and then from there to Manchester' and the man said, `Oh yes, here you are. May I see your passport please?'. Well, I looked into my bag and I didn't have my passport! I had forgotten to bring my passport! You know, I travel so much, you know, you get into a routine, but most of my travel is domestic so I didn't have my passport with me. I thought `Oh good god! I've forgotten my passport, but surely you recognise THIS face?' Now it's not a dishonest face is it?!' and he said, `No, I'm sorry, I have to have a passport. I cannot legally put you on an international flight without a passport.' I said, `Well, where do I go in the airport to get a temporary thing, gemmed up' and `No sir, we don't do that thing here!', and I said, `Well, why not?'. He said `No, you have to have the real thing'. I said, `Well, that's impossible. There's no way I'm going to be able to fight this rush-hour traffic back home and be back in time for this 5:30 flight' and he said, `Well, I'm afraid then you'll have to miss out on this flight' and I said, `No, I can't because I have to be there for a very important engagement.'. Richard Arnold, incidentally, who's here at this convention, had said that, and so you can check and verify this, well I got on the phone to Richard's Office. I said, `Richard, I don't think it's going to happen because this bull-headed man with British Airways won't let me on this plane without a passport. Isn't that thoughless of him? There are all of these people waiting in Manchester and he won't do it' and Richard said, `Oh well, there's the fallback position.' I said, `What do you mean, fallback position?' and he said, `Well, yes you may have to miss out on this flight, but I'm sure there's a later flight you can take. So why don't you go on home and get your passport and in the meantime I'll set up this fallback position and call you at home with it.'." "Well, then I drove home and immediately went to the drawer where I keep my passport, pulled it open - it's not there! I just used it two weeks ago, I'd gotten in from Japan, why isn't it here? And I started looking through that drawer - nowhere! So I started pulling the other drawers out and you know, it's not there at all! Well, I tend to sometimes temporarily slip things, you know, in other places, so I started pulling ALL the other drawers out, turning them inside out - it's not there at all! I turned the house inside out, couldn't find it and then the phone rang. Richard. He said, `Oh yes, we have a fall back position, we're in good luck. As a matter of fact George, you going to be flying not to London, but from here on the 9 o'clock flight to New York City, and there in New York, from Kennedy Airport, you can catch a Concorde flight...' I'd never flown Concorde before. I'm GLAD that I forgot to take my passport! `...you'll fly Conocorde to Heathrow and you'll arrive in time and catch that original flight from Heathrow to Manchester.' and I thought, `Oh good lord, I've GOT to find that passport now!'" However, George searched ALL through the house in every room and still couldn't find his passport! He continues... "...Now I kept my passport in the plane ticket envelope and when I came back home, I unpacked and when I was unpacking I remember pulling that plane ticket envelope out and thinking it's a used ticket and I dropped it in the trashcan!! And the trash has long since been carried out! I had thrown my passport away! It was gone! I had Richard's home telephone number, he was home by that time, I phoned Richard at home and I said, `Richard, I don't think this trip was meant to be! You know, I did a very stupid, foolish, dumb thing.' You know, I get redundant when I feel embarrassed! Richard said, `Well, what's that?' and I told him what I had done.' and he said, `Oh. But, however, I think there STILL may be ANOTHER fallback position.' I said, `Richard, you know, this is not meant to be. So why don't we just accept this.' and Richard said, `No, I'm sure there's another fallback position. Tomorrow morning, first thing, why don't you go downtown and get a temporary passport made by a passport office and call me directly, I'll be in my office early, so call me at my office from the passport office when you get that temporary passport and let me know and by that time I'll have worked something else out hopefully.' and so I went to bed that night, tossing and turning, visions of a Concorde flight! I still haven't flown Concorde yet! Couldn't sleep, 3 o'clock - tossing and turning; 4 o'clock - tossing and turning. I said, `This is ridiculous, I'm not going to be able to sleep so why don't I accept that. I got up, I'm an addicted runner, so I got up, I put my running shoes on, shorts on, went out for my run, came back, took my shower, drove downtown and of course everything was still closed! So I picked up a copy of the L.A. Times and went to the passport office, stood by that door and finished the Los Angeles Times while waiting there! And at 8 o'clock the door opened and I was the first one to stride in to that passport office. I was at that counter, explaining my plight to the clerk there, when, you know how in these offices they have these glassed-in offices at the back, someone, this man with glasses, bald man with glasses, behind that glass wall there, looked up and saw me. And with great excitement and energy he came scurrying out the back there, stood behind the clerk and grinning away he said to me... (he recognised George and started making faces and pointing at him!) ...he scurried over there towards the swinging door and ushered me through and escorted me to his office, behind the glass partition and he said, `You're really YOU aren't you?' and I said, `I've been ME all my life!' and it's hard to believe but you'll have to believe me because it's the absolute truth, he pulled his door open and there was a whole collection of portrait photos of all of us from Star Trek. He whipped out Sulu's picture, and put it on the desk and said, `Would you autograph this for me?' and I said, `I'd love to, but I'm in a rush, I've got to get a temporary passport made so I can go to England' and he said, `Don't worry, don't worry, just autograph this first!' and so I autographed that and he said, `Now go around the corner and get these passport photos made and in the meantime I'll work on something for you. And so I went around the corner into one of those little photo booths, had my picture taken, came back and by that time he had not a temporary passport, but a full passport ready - all it required was a photo and he took that photo and stamped it on and I was on my way!" George, with passport in hand, then contacted Richard Arnold to find out more about the second fallback position. "So I got on the phone and called Richard at his office and I said, `Richard, you won't believe it!' and he said, `Oh no!', `It's good news this time! It's good news' and I told him what had happened and he said, `Oh that's great, because, George, we have now the ultimate, final, last, you've got to make this fallback position! There ain't any more!' and I said, `Well, what time is it?' and he said, `Well it's a 12:30 flyout...' I looked at my watch, it was only quarter past nine, and I said, `No problem at all Richard. No problem at all! A 12:30 flight. Oh, plenty of time! I can even have breakfast on the way to the airport. So what is it?' and he said, `Well, you're going to fly not to London, not to even New York, you're going to fly from here to Cincinatti, Ohio...' I said, `Cincinatti Ohio?!' and he said, `Shut up and listen first! And then you're going to fly not British Airways, not United Airlines, not Concorde, you're going to fly Delta Airlines...' I said `DELTA! You know how I feel about..!' and Richard said, `Shut up! This is the ultimate fallback position so hear me through. You're going to fly Delta Airlines from Los Angeles to Cincinatti, Ohio, from Cincinatti you're going to fly not to Heathrow, but to Gatwick Airport. There, they're going to have a helicopter waiting for you! You will not have any overnight at any hotel. The helicopter is going to take you directly to Alton Towers and you'll make it with only about 20 minutes to spare! So you've got to catch EVERY link of this itinerary on time.' and I said, `Well, certainly that 12:30 flight is going to be no problem at all. Allright, I go to Delta is it? Fine.' and so I hung up, got in my car, drove to Los Angeles International Airport and of course, this was, in my mind, an international flight - I'm going to England. So I got on the shuttle bus and got off at the international terminal with my luggage, trotted into the international terminal and looked around and thought, `Where is Delta?'. I looked at the directory - no Delta. I roamed around the international terminal - no Delta Airlines. I thought, `This is strange. This is typical of Delta!' I went to the information counter and I said, `Tell me, where did Delta HIDE themselves in this terminal?!' and they said, `Delta? No, there's no Delta here.', `Oh there's got to be Delta here. I'm flying Delta from here to Cincinatti, then from Cincinatti to Gatwick.' and she said, `Well, Cincinatti is NOT an international destination!' but I did feel awfully sheepish! And so I realised I was at the wrong terminal and so I sauntered out of the international terminal and she told me that Delta was at Terminal 5, down from the international terminal, and I looked down and I looked for the shuttlebus - there was no shuttlebus in sight. And Terminal 5 wasn't THAT far away and, or course, I AM a runner so I got my luggage and trotted on over to Terminal 5 and in no time I was there and wouldn't you know, Delta WAS there, but a HUGE, long queue right there at the counter. But I had plenty of time, plenty of time so I got in line there and waited and waited and waited and eventually my turn came and I said to the woman at the counter, `The name's George Takei, T-A-K-E-I, I'm supposed to fly the 12:30 flight from here to Cincinatti, Ohio, from Cincinatti, Ohio to Gatwick. And did you know they're going to have a helicopter waiting for me there too?!' and she went through her computer and she said, `Oh yes, there's a reservation here for you, but it's not pre-paid!', I said, `Not pre-paid! It's GOT to be pre-paid! How on earth am I going to get there? How am I going to get on that plane?' and then it dawned on me. Oh yes! I was supposed to be on that 5:30 British Airways flight the evening before, and THAT was pre- paid. So I said, `Oh, could you call British Airways, and have them transfer that pre-paid flight over to this one so that then I can be on my merry way!' so she called British Airways. After a brief conversation she hung up and said, `Oh I'm sorry sir, it can't be done. There's no way they can, without any kind of authorisation, transfer these flights.' and I thought, `Well, that's reasonable' I mean, anyone could call in and say, `Transfer that pre- paid flight to mine.'. So I thought I should go there and personally pick it up and identify myself. So I said, `Well, I'll go there, pick it up myself, I'm a runner, so I'll just run over there and just bring it back. But I don't want to run over there with my luggage and then run back with it - that's kind of silly isn't it - so could you keep my luggage here on that side of the counter, just for safe-keeping?' and she says, `I'm sorry sir, but we can't be responsible for your luggage.' `That's alright. I won't hold you responsible, but I think it's much safer there than leaving it out here where anyone can walk away with it, so could you just leave it there?' and she says, `I'm sorry sir, we can't be responsible...', I said, `I KNOW. I don't hold you responsible, but can you please keep it there?'. `I'm sorry sir..!'. I thought, `Well, yeah, she's not supposed to make situational decisions, she's an employee there.' so I said, `Well, can I talk to your supervisor. She certainly can make these reasonable, rational decisions there. And so could you have her come out?' So then a `her' came out. Well, it was, I think a `her'!! A great big, burly thing. She came walking out and I approached her and I said, `Are you the supervisor?' and she said (in a very deep voice), `YES!', `Well I'm going to run over to British Airways to pick a pre-paid ticket you see, because I'm a runner, but I don't want to run with my luggage, so can you keep it over there, I won't hold you responsible, but it's much safer there?' `I'm sorry sir, we can't be responsible...', I said, `I KNOW! I will NOT hold you responsible, but can you just please keep it there?' `I'm sorry sir, we can't...!' I said, `Well, do you want me to leave it out here where someone can take it?' `Well that's your decision. I'm sorry, we can't..!' I said, `Well alright! I WILL leave it out here,' my blood was boiling by this time, `... I will keep it out here where anyone can walk away with it, but if you FORCE me to keep it here, I AM going to hold you responsible,' and my voice was rising by this time, but I knew perfectly well that I was making such a public spectacle out of myself that anyone within hearing range would know to whom these luggage belongs! And I said, `I am going to hold YOU...' this supervisor, `... PERSONALLY responsible for my luggage if it gets stolen and anyone could walk away with it!' and then I started dashing off! Well did you know this woman actually gace chase!! `SIR, SIR! COME BACK! SIR!' So I'm halfway across the airport by that time and on my way to the international terminal." Eventually, George reached his destination. "I came up to the British Airways counter and I said, `I was here yesterday afternoon to collect my pre-paid ticket, a 5:30 flight, George Takei, T-A-K-E-I, well can you release that ticket for me?'. He went through the computer and he said, `Oh yes, here you are.' I said, `Fine. Could you write that up for me so I can pass it on to Delta Airlines.' and he said, `No, we can't do it.' and I said, `Why not?' he said, `Well, we're not authorised to do that.' and I said, `No, well it's meant for me to fly to Britain, the people who paid for the flight isn't interested in...' and he said, `No, I'm sorry, this is made out to British Airways and it can be used only on British Airways.' I said, `No, no, no. The people who paid for it don't care what I fly just so long as I get there on time and the only way I can get there on time now is by Delta Airlines so please would you write that...', `I'm sorry, we cannot do that.' My blood was starting to boil! `There are so many bull-headed people working these airlines!' and then I decided it was pointless arguing with this man - I know what I'll do. I'll put it on my American Express card and then have it re- imbursed me when I arrive in England and that'll take care of it and I said, `Well, I'm NEVER going to fly with you again, and besides, I'm going to put it on my American Express.' I dashed off there and when I came trotting back into Terminal 5 there, it was that teeming airport again, and I came running into Terminal 5 and, would you know, five hundred people in that airport all pointed to my luggage - it was the safest piece of luggage there!!! And not only that, everybody in that long queue all went like this (moved to one side) - I was able to go right directly to the counter!! And I said, `Those bull-headed people there at British Airways - they won't release that pre- paid ticket, it does exist there. I wasn't lying, it is there. But I am going to put it on MY American Express card,' I was telling them the whole story, and I went into my pocket, pulled out my wallet and -- in my frenzy looking for my passport the night before, I had emptied everything out, including my wallet, and I forgot to put my credit cards back in!!! They say, `Never leave home without it!!!' It was the most humiliating experience - all these people were listening in on this - and after I'd grandly announced that I was going to put it on my American Express card, it's not there!! It was so embarrasing. I felt like... I went to the pay telephone, I had to BORROW money, called Richard. Richard answered and I said, `Richard - I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE ANYMORE!!! IT'S TOO EMBARRASING!' and he said, `What happened?' and I recited the WHOLE thing. I told Richard, `It was NOT meant to be. Please don't make me do any more! It hurts! It's painful! It's humiliating!' and Richard said, `Well, you know what, I think there IS another fallback position!!' I said, `I have fallen back as low as I can fall! I can't fall any lower!' Richard said, `Yes, because -I- have an American Express card! Have her call me, here's my number, have her call me and I will give her my American Express card and she can put it on MY American Express card and -I- will be reimbursed from the people in England.'. And so I gave her Richard's telephone number, they had a conversation and she typed in his number into the computer. It was 12 o'clock -- it's a 12:30 flight. She typed in this American Express number -- it takes a while for the authorisation to come. She had me step aside. I stood and waited. 12:10. I went up to her and said, `Could you please check and see if the authorisation has come?', `No, I'm sorry sir, it's still not come through yet.'. Stood aside and waited some more. 12:20. `It's surely got to arrive now -- 20 minutes! Please can you check again.' `I'm sorry, no, no. It hasn't come.'. 12:25 I had her check again. `No, I'm... oh, er, could your name possibly be spelled T A K A I?', I said, `As in George?', and she said, `Yes.' You know, it was there all the time! She hadn't bothered to look! She said, `It is pre-paid,' I said, `Well please write it out as quickly as you can, in the meantime could you phone the lady and have them hold that plane because I'm a runner and I WILL be able to make it!!" "She wrote up that ticket, I got the ticket in my hot little hands at 12:29! I picked up my luggage, I got a deep stomach full of air and announced in my most sentorian voice, `12:30 FLIGHT! 12:30 FLIGHT! COMING THROUGH! COMING THROUGH!' Well, now I know how Moses felt!! `12:30 FLIGHT! 12:30 FLIGHT! COMING THROUGH! COMING THROUGH! 12:30 FLIGHT!' Senior citizens on canes, handicapped people in wheelchairs went crashing into walls! And then one of those little golf carts that they carry people in, senior citizens and handicapped people, it was empty. I leaped on it and I said, `I'm going to Gate 74. Please take me there as quickly as you can. 12:30 FLIGHT!' `Yes sir' and he turned around and took me up to a certain point where the escalator was then obviously he couldn't got so I got off and I leaped up through the escalators, said, `12:30 FLIGHT! 12:30 FLIGHT! PLEASE! COMING THROUGH! COMING THROUGH!' they cleared a path for me, I went running down that corridor and turned the corner and my heart sank. When I got to the gate, the gate was closed. But I got this far -- I looked out the window, the plane was still there, so I'm not going to let that plane go! So I waded through the crowd, got to the door and I started banging on the door, `OPEN THIS DOOR! PLEASE, OPEN THIS DOOR! I CAN'T MISS THAT FLIGHT! PLEASE OPEN THIS DOOR!' and this absolutely panic-stricken flight attendant came running up to me and said, `Sir, sir, what can we do for you?' and I said, `I'VE GOT TO BE ON THAT PLANE! I'VE GOT TO BE ON THAT PLANE! PLEASE OPEN THIS DOOR!' and she said, `Sir, it's just been delayed an hour.'!!! I was SO mortified! All these people there heard all that and you know, when I collapsed, they applauded! They applauded! Well, the doors opened in 45 minutes and we all got on -- it was so wonderful to get that first drink on that plane! It was so delicious! And thank god it was an uneventful flight from there to Cincinatti. Then we flew off from Cincinatti to Gatwick airport. And a helicopter was waiting there. But the one single reliable thing with British weather -- it was foggy! And the helicopter couldn't take off! A man was there to greet me, escorted me over to the helicopter terminal and he got on the phone and phoned ahead and told the people at Alton Towers, `Yes, Mr Takei is here, but it's fogged in and the helicopter probably can't take off.' and they told him, `We will hold the ceremonies for another extra half an hour so do everything you can to take off as quickly as you can.' Well, we waited and we waited for that half an hour. And the helicopter finally took off. I was an absolute mess! That helicopter was transporting not an actor, it was a carcass! I was just a piece of meat! Somehow it seemed to breathe and it seemed to respond to stimuli, but barely! When we arrived there, I looked out and I could see the monorail already in motion -- the ceremony had gone on, we had missed it. And when the helicopter descended there was dear Ena Glogowska, who's somewhere out there, my fan club president. She was there loyally carrying the banner and Jenny Ellison was there also and a lot of my other British friends were there and they carried this lump of meat out and this press person came and said, `Mr Shatner's carrying on a press conference over there in that room there. Could Mr Takei please join us there?' and someone said for me, `Yes, we'll take him there!' Somehow I was taken to that room, there was a long table there with a battery of microphones there and this lone, solitary Bill Shatner seated behind that battery of microphones and there was another chair there and they put me down in that chair and Bill looks at me and says, under his breath, `Where the hell have you been?!' I said, `Bill, you don't want to know!'" George then added, "I hope the next person will ask a shorter question, that won't require such a long response!!" Once George had opened himself to SHORTER questions, someone asked what his most unusual autograph request was? "I think it would be rather X-rated for me to respond to that truthfully and explicitly! It's part of the anatomy I was asked to autograph!" Someone then commented on George's speaking voice and asked if he had a good singing voice and if so, would he give us a song? This was responded with by an impromptu performance by George of "Waltzing Matilda" with approximately 500 backing vocalists! One of the highlights at the convention in the video programme was a series of short collections of blooper reels from the original series. George was asked what was his most embarrasing experience while filming the original series. "I think the most single humiliating experience I've told you about already, that was the experience at the airport. From the series -- you know, you're asking me to think back some 20 years! And the good things one remembers, infact, they'll not only be remembered but they start to grow and they start to grow more humourous and then we start to embroider on them and the humiliating, embarrassing, painful experiences -- they start to fade! And before too long, they've evaporated! You can't remember them at all! And so, I had NO humiliating experiences while filming the TV series! No pain at all, they're all brilliant, shining, glorious moments, just strung together with mildly funny experiences. No, I had no embarrassing experiences at all!" To which the response from the fan asking the question was, "Well, what about the movies then?!". George replied with, "Well, that's not that far off, and I remember a lot of experiences, some funny, and others both funny and embarrassing. This was when we were shooting Star Trek IV on location in San Francisco. Do you remember that scene where McCoy and Scotty and Sulu are walking down the hill together and we pass this wooden building, a saloon. That was an actual saloon - it still exists, it's considered the oldest continually operating saloon in San Francisco. It survived the 1912 earthquake. The most dreadful thing about that earthquake wasn't the earthquake itself but the fire that followed because, at that time, most of San Francisco was built up of wooden structures and the fire just devastated the built-up section of San Francisco... That was one of the few wooden structures that survived that earthquake and it's a very popular saloon there, so Leonard wanted to use that as part of the backdrop to this particular scene. We'd just sling-shotted back to 20th century San Francisco and although on Star Trek we're always forward looking, here was the ancient, antique civilisation called `San Francisco in the 1980s'. It was absolutely exotic, so we were supposed to play that and DeForest was walking down, looking at the buildings and Jimmy Doohan, Scotty, was looking at the children that were playing, running up and down the pavement there, and when we crossed that saloon, I thought for Sulu, the interesting bit for this was for him to cup his hands and peer through the glass window into the building itself. Of course, now the scene required a couple of rehearsals and I noticed that every time in rehearsals, I went like this (cupped his hands) and in, there was a rather blousy red-headed woman seated at the end of this long bar, right here and when I went like this and peered in, she would give me a rather drunken smile, and she did that regularly, consistently, every time we rehearsed that. And so I thought that she was going to be doing that. Now the people inside that saloon, this was about 9:30 in the morning, I had just assumed that they were extras that we had hired and Paramount had hired, but during the break in one of the rehearsals I went in and chit-chatted to these people and I was aghast to discover that these were NOT hired extras! These were genuine, San Francisco alcoholics at 9:30 in the morning! They were PAYING for their drinks. They weren't being paid to be there. And here this blousy woman who was going like this (smiling) as her contribution to `the arts', the filmic arts!! Well, after about half a dozen rehearsals we were ready to shoot that, Leonard Nimoy was directing it. Leonard said, `Alright, this is going to be a take, everybody make this your best.' All the bells started to go and the assistants started to shout, `Alright, this is a take now, make it our best one.' and Jimmy and DeForest and I got into position and Leonard shouted, `Action!' and we started walking down. DeForest is looking at the buildings and Jimmy was just beaming at all the kids by now. We got to the saloon and I cupped my hands and I peered in and there was my old reliable lady there, but this time she didn't do that (smile), she grabbed the bottom of her blouse and lifted it over her head! I was absolutely taken aback by that and I broke up and Leonard said, `CUT! CUT! George, that was a beautiful shot, why did you have to ruin it?' and I said, `Leonard, you won't believe it! I just got flashed by this woman!' he said, `What did you say?' I said, `I got flashed by this woman!' He said, `I don't believe that!' and he sent one of his assistants to go running in there, but by that time somehow she had escaped by a back door or something and she couldn't be found and to this day, Leonard doesn't think I really saw what I saw!" But that wasn't the end of the matter, as George continued, "However, two days later, we were shooting on another location, down by the marina district, for those of you who know San Francisco, it was an outdoor scene again. I wasn't involved in that scene, I was just standing by, and I noticed there's a hill behind us and this bicylcer came bicylcing down and I looked back and this bicycler had red hair and was wearing a bandana and as this bicycler came closer by, I recognised her and as she passed me she went (smiled)!" "Another funny thing that some of you might enjoy is from Star Trek III, and actually, on screen it doesn't play as a funny moment. It's that scene where all of us are watching the Enterprise go down in flames. It should be a very deeply moving scene, we're getting all choked up. And indeed, that's the way the scene comes off, but if you know the reality of what we were playing, you won't be able to watch that scene ever again! I'm going to ruin it for you! I'm going to absolutely demolish that scene for you! There we are, all lined up, watching the Enterprise go down. Of course, what's in front of us is a sound stage, a huge vast sound stage with a lot of bored crewmembers, grips sitting there waiting for lunch to begin! And Leonard, again Leonard was directing that film, he wanted all our eyes, eyeballs, to move in unison. You know, if we just took it on our own, somebody's eyeballs may be over here by the time others are still back here so he got a long aluminum pole, and we have a grip, one of the crewmembers who push, shove sets around, shove the camera around, and this guy in particular, Max, is a weightlifter, he prides himself in being, you know, an athlete. He always wears those tight t-shirts that show off his bulging biceps and all. So he (Leonard) said, `Max, come here. I've tied a red bandana to the other end of this long pole. Max, if you go over there, to that end of the sound stage and on `Action' run across the sound stage to that side and the actors will watch that red bandana as the Enterprise, okay?' and Max says, `Oh sure, yeah, no problem Leonard, got it! Okay! Fine!' and so he picked it up and went over there, and in the meantime we're getting into the scene and that's supposed to be the Enterprise, that piece of cloth! That's where we spent all of our careers, something that we love very much, seeing it going down in flames - it's deeply, deeply affecting us. And so we got into the mood and Leonard said, `Action' and we were watching that red bandana and the red bandana went ZIP! Leonard said, `Cut, cut!' He didn't turn to us, he said, `Max, that was nice...' he didn't want to hurt people's feelings, `... that's nice, but you know Max, you've got to remember, you're not doing the 100 yard dash here! You're the Enterprise. You're like an actor. You're representing the Enterprise so you have to do that, you know, run from here to there thinking the Enterprise is going down in flames, you've got to feel the sizzle, the heat, the flames licking, there are parts falling off -- that's what you are. You've got to ACT the Enteprise.' and Max said, `Oh yeah! I'm the Enterprise. Got ya! Got ya! Okay Leonard, got ya!' so he goes to the corner and now he's not flexing his muscles - he's thinking `He's the Enterprise. He can feel the heat, the flames licking at his side.'. For us, the first one was rather amusing, so it takes us a while to get into the mood, for the context of the scene. Again, we work ourselves up into that choked up tight moment, and Leonard says, `Action' and Max goes into action, he's the Enterprise, he's got the aluminum pole, and oh, he's feeling it! And our eyeballs are going (up and down!), but boy did Max feel it! And he feels it ALL the way across! Leonard said, `Max, you really felt that, didn't you?' and then Max said, `Yeah! I felt the heat, I felt the pain.' `Now, Max. Keep that, keep that feeling, and now do it smoothly. You've got to remember, these actors are looking at that bandana, and it's their eyeballs that are following that. We felt you feeling it, but now you've got to feel that SMOOTHLY like this, okay.' `Oh, you mean I didn't do it right?' and Leonard said, `No, you did it right, you did it right, but now this time try and do it smoothly. Smoothly.' `Okay, got ya! Smoothly. Feeling the way I did and smoothly!' By this time it's so painfully plain for us we can barely contain ourselves. This is supposed to be the Enterprise, but poor Max! And so Max goes there and he's getting a little nervous now, this third take is his fault, you know, he now knows that he didn't do it right. And so, `Okay now, smoothly, smoothly.' And we all get into that emotional pitch and Leonard says, `Action!' and Max starts off and our eyeballs are like this and so far so good, he's going like this and about two thirds of the way through when he's almost there, suddenly the bandana goes ZIP! He was feeling it so much and so aware that he was smooth that he tripped on his way there and he fell down! That poor guy was an absolute psychological basket case because this is an expensive shot, all these people standing around, all these actors here and he has to bear the blame for that!" Leonard then talked to Max again, and the shoot progressed to the fourth take! "... we're watching that and you know, we're trying to get ourselves to believe that bandana is the Enterprise ablaze. It is SO difficult now, we're about to burst and so we had to use all our muscular power to contain ourselves. Leonard says `Action!' and we're wondering when it's going to happen, what is going to happen and we're watching this and he's almost there. Is he going to make it or isn't he? He makes it and Leonard says, `Cut!' and the scene that you see is deeply effective because you see all the veins on our heads! You see all that and the tortured expressions on our faces. What you see really is us trying to keep from bursting out laughing! So next time you see the Enterprise going down, that's us not really all choked up because we're torn up seeing the ship going down in flames, we're want to burst out in wails of laughter and we're desperately trying to hold that down! That's what happened. That's the truth of that scene!" Sulu is known for having what could be considered unusual hobbies (apart from the fact that he seems to have a new hobby every week!), and George was asked if he had any weird hobbies! "Do I have any hobbies? Weird hobbies? Well, I have a lot of hobbies. Weird is a subjective word and depends on the context and it depends on the person asking that question! Now some of the simplest most common hobbies could be considered weird by most people. For example, we PASSIONATELY love Star Trek, would you believe that's considered WEIRD by many people?! That is, that is! I have a lot of things that I'm passionately interested in, architecture is one of them, and I am interested in both the innovative, state-of-the-art, cutting edge architecture as well as our architectural heritage. And I must say one of the reasons I enjoy coming to Glasgow so much is because you have probably the world's greatest collection of Victorian architecture. You turn a corner and my heart stops. Every building that I see, you know, and the impressive thing is it's not just the grandeur of the buildings themselves, they've been there over 150 years, and many of themm are excellently and sensitively restored and maintained. That's the thing that I really applaud about the heritage that you have here in Glasgow." "Another passion of mine is collecting masks. I collect African masks, and Japanese Noh theatre masks. Some people might consider that weird, I don't at all, I think it's a great expression of these cultures." "Another passion of mine is public transportation. I served for 11 years on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit Industry and when mayor, Tom Bradley, appointed me to that, one of his rationales was `George Takei is carrying people all over the galaxy. And so t here's no reason why he can't from downtown L.A. to Manise' (sp?). Public transportation I think is the life blood of an urban area. For a healthy urban area, you need, just as the human body needs a good circulation system, we need a good public transportation system. Good public transportation is what makes a city vibrant and engaging. You have a human scale to the city because public transportation produces pedestrians and pedestrians inhabit the city and give it that human scale - sidewalk cafes, magazine stands, book stores that people browse, so that's another passion of mine, which some people might consider weird." "Movies I'm a passionate lover of. I don't think too many people consider that too weird given the fact that I make my living at it! So weird is a relative word. What do you consider weird? (George asks the fan who asked the question) Well, so many people have told me that Star Trek conventions are weird! Do you share that with them?! Of course not. So anything with adjectives like that, weird, is a matter of vantage point and that's what Star Trek tries to teach. To not see things and people as weird, but just as different. And who knows, you might find that person indicating yourself - all you need to do is get through that barrier of weirdness and you might discover something wonderful." Then someone with a VERY strong Glasgow accent if the cast went off for drinking, or as the fan put it, `Bevvy' Sessions after they finished work? However, George couldn't understand a word he said! "You know, I love accents! They're wonderful - it really gives a colour and flavour as well and you speak so flavourfly!! Can I have someone translate...!! The fan then repeated the question-- slowly, and explained to George what he meant by a `bevvy' session. "Yes, oh YES!! Yes, we do have our bevvy sessions! You know, in America though `bevvy' suggests a lady... but we do have our what we call `elbevvy' sessions. As a matter of fact, my best drinking buddy is Jimmy Doohan! But I must say, I find it very difficult to maintain his prowess! Of course, Jimmy's beverage of choice is, of course, Scotch! With me it's, I'm as I said, a native Californian, and a proud one, and one of our great beverages is Cabernet Wine and I'm a great Cabernet lover. Walter is not a serious tippler, but he does enjoy that aperitif from Ireland called Bailey's, that creame liquor, Bailey's and Nichelle is a vodka lady, as is DeForest!! (The fans then burst out into streams of laughter at this statement, to George's surprise!) What are you laughing at? Oh! You see, I'm still suffering the effects of jet lag! Well, I must say DeForest is a vodka lady as well! Bill is a very solitary drinker so we don't know what he drinks. He's pretty much, you know, the Captain off by himself. Is that, in my accent, an understandable response to your query?" The final question of the day related to George's appearance as an `evil' Sulu in `Mirror, Mirror' and asked if he enjoyed played this different type of character. "Oh yes, yes, that was good fun! Particularly episodes like that where we got to play -- do you all understand me? (Cries of yes!) It was wonderful to be able to, you know, I love Sulu, but to be able to stretch, to get outside that character you think you know and love so much and to play that cut-throat, vilainous, malevolant and particularly rapacious, just on that scene on the bridge -- oh, well, you didn't see that scene on the bridge! Except that dumb twit Uhura, she rejected me! She missed out on something really wonderful! That would have been another scene! But yes, I did enjoy doing episodes like `Mirror, Mirror' and also `Naked Time' when we got to show another wonderful eccentricity of Sulu's, which also happens to be mine! You asked about some of my hobbies -- well, fencing." George then stopped suddenly and remembered something important that he had forgotten to say earlier on. "OH! I've got one more! Now listen to this response -- when you write that letter to Brandon Tartikoff, do include another important bit of lobbying there! This is a little connective device. You saw that helmsman on the Excelsior in Star Trek VI. I think he left something to be desired. He had a tendancy to panic under pressure. When I wanted him to go faster, he was afraid the ship would fly apart! You know, he wanted to SLOW down when the Enterprise was in great jeopardy! We can't have a helmsman like that and so Captain Sulu has been looking over the new graduating class from Starfleet Academy. And one individual, this young Ensign, stands out head and shoulders above all of the others. Brilliant young man, number one in his class, he shows good leadership potential. He's a little ragged around the edges, a bit individualistic and he expresses that - he's got an amazingly thick shock of hair that he wears on the longish side! But he's a bright young man and I think he'll make a very good helmsman on board the Excelsior and perhaps, well, who knows. His name, he's got a somewhat French-sounding name but a British accent! Young Ensign Jean-Luc Picard!! (The audience is in hysterics at this point!) I think he's got the makings of a good helmsman there, however, he is going to have to get a HAIRCUT!!" Now load Part 2 - 19th July 1992! Thanks to George Takei for letting us use the material, Richard Arnold for his assistance and to all the Contagion committee for a great convention.