seta Akts@entertainment
Trekking after Trekkies
Mostly, “normal ” people visit Star Trek convention
Mention the words “Star Trek
convention” and a preconceived
picture pops into mind.
It’s a vision of hordes of Trekkies
dressed in Starfleet uniforms and
paste-on Spock ears. They pepper each
other with endless trivia questions
(What deck is Riker’s quarters on?)
and vie for copies of past con programs
autographed by the likes of Jimmy
Doohan and Majel Barrett.
In short, any Star Trek convention
crowd is bound to look like a casting
call for “Revenge of the Nerds.”
One recalls the “Saturday Night
Live” skit where William Shatner told
a crowd of shamefaced Trekkies, “Get
a life. It’s just a TV show.”
Star Trek shrine in the corner of your
room? If you can’t find it here, you
can’t find it anywhere.
Anything you can think of, plus a
few things you wouldn’t think of,
were for sale — cloth patches, pins,
key chains, action figures and
photographs (autographed and not).
Booths hawked copies of every
“Star Trek” episode ever made, plus a
special “blooper” tape for $19.95. For
the more adventurous, one retailer
offered a special R-rated Star Trek
featuring Marina Sirtis (Counselor
Troi) in the nude, baring all in a
topless whipping scene with Faye
Dunaway, which also sold for a paltry
$19.95.
One recalls the “Saturday Night Live" sfr/'f where
William Shatner told a crowd of shamefaced
Trekkies, “Get a life. It’s just a TV show.
Like most other stereotypes, that
of Trekkies is a bit exaggerated. Not
all of us are social outcasts living in
our parents’ basements.
Trekon, held at the Omaha Marriott
on April 4, was a readily available
way to test the stereotypes and gain
insight into TV’s most enduring show.
There were no Spock ears in sight,
but a few homemade uniforms, both
Starfleet and Klingon, were seen.
Small, gold communicator badges
sprouted on jackets, along with
uniform insignias. And there were a
few people who might be living with
their parents 20 years hence. But for
the most part, it was a normal crowd
—average people with lots of children
and. a scattering of older folks.
Inside, after laying down $15, one
could find a smorgasbord of
merchandise. Missing a copy of the
Star Trek novel “My Enemy, My
Ally?” No problem. Can’t find that
AMT model kit of the U.S.S.
Enterprise bridge? Ditto. Looking for
that special poster to hang over the
If the booths weren’t enough, you
could pay $110 for a personally
autographed picture of William
Shatner. Leonard Nimoy’s
autographed pics were a steal at $35.
Tlie main event featured John
DcLancie, known as “Q” from “Star
Trek: The Next Generation.”
How does it feel to play the most
evil, maniacal, omnipotent being in
the universe?
“It’s not the way I interpret it,”
DeLancie admitted, “but I’m happy
for you to.”
DcLancie said he was happy to
reprise his role once a season because
it was one that people enjoy seeing
and he enjoyed doing.
In addition to his work on
“ST:TNG,” DeLancie appeared in
“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.”
He also recently finished a run as
Tanner in Michael Weller’s stage
production “Buying Time.”
Apart from acting, DeLancie
See TREKON on 10
K. Therrese Goodtett/DN
Kevin Neff, of Omaha, chooses some Star Trek pictures
to take home form the Trek Convention Sunday at the
Marriott in Omaha. Neff said that though this was his
first convention, he has been a longtime fan.
Star Trek officer visits Omaha
By Matt Woody
Staff Reporter
I wanted to pinch myself to see if I was
dreaming.
Not only was I sitting in the same room with
a Starfieet officer, I was having a conversation
with him.
OK, it was an interview, but still any devout
Trekker’s dream come true: I was face to face
with Siddig El Fadil, the actor who plays Dr.
Julian Bashir on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”
We talked for about IS minutes Saturday
after his appearance at the World of Wheels
auto show in Omaha. It was an odd place, I
thought, to meet a man who works on a space
station in the outer reaches of the galaxy.
Every bit as charming as the dashing, young
Bashir, the 27-year-old El Fadil, who is single,
told me how he first got involved with acting.
He said his mother had worked in the theater, so
acting seemed like “a normal course to follow ”
El Fadil was friendly and personable during
the interview and appeared laid-back and
comfortable, wearing dark pants, a white shirt
and a maroon cardigan, and puffing on a
cigarette
The most noticeable feature about the actor,
or his alter-ego Bashir, is his accent. I guessed
it was British.
“I was bom in the Sudan and I moved to
England when I was 3,” he said, “so I suppose
I’m sort of pseudo-English."
El Fadil has lived in England ever since and
received his formal training from the London
Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts
(LAMDA).
After he completed the academy’s three
year program, El Fadil worked at a couple of
London theaters, both acting and directing.
Only within the last twoor three years did he
begin television work. However, fans wanting
to see more of El Fadil’s work may have
difficulty finding it
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Siddig El Fadil plays Dr. Bashir on
the popular snow “Deep Space
Nine."
Other than “Deep Space,” he hasn’t done
any shows in the United States, although he said
some have aired here “on PBS, so no one ever
saw them.”
One of these shows was “A Dangerous Man,
Lawrence After Arabia,” made by David
Putnam, which El Fadil said was a sequel to
“Lawrence of Arabia."
He also worked on ’The Big Battalions,” a
three-part drama, which he said probably would
te shown on PBS as well.
In fact, it was his work on “Lawrence” that
got El Fadil his job at the edge of Federation
space. He said that Rick Berman, one of the
executive producers of “Deep Space,” saw it
and asked El Fadil to be on the show.
But nothing in England prepared El Fadil for
life in Los Angeles.
“It’s, like, a bizarre place. It’s not home to
anybody, I don’t think,” he told me. “But I’m
getting used to it now; I’m leaving.”
El Fadil said he worked about four 12-hour
days each week. However, one week was
particularly busy, when, in addition to being
possessed by a maniacal criminal on “Deep
Space,” he moonlighted on “Star Trek: The
Next Generation.”
It was a good time, he said.
“Brent (Spincr, who plays the android Data)
is a terrific kind of guy, so we had a good time
together. And so is LeVar (Burton, Lt. Cmdr.
Geordi La Forge); he’s fun, too,” El Fadil told
me. “Everyone was very welcoming and very
friendly.”
“Deep Space” premiered in January, but El
Fadil’s star has risen quickly. He’s taken it in
stride, though.
“LA is very blasg about stars,” he said,
taking a drag off his cigarette. “It’s only when
you go out of LA that you kind of bump into
people who come up and say, ‘Hi, how are
you?’ But it’s not too bad.”
As a part of this fame, El Fadil often makes
appearances in public, but rarely at car shows.
“This is unusual,” he said. “I usually go to
the Star Trek conventions, where a lot of
Trekkers are—and they ’re terrific fans, because
they’re there to see you, and you’re there to see
them — and, you know, it has a nice family
feeling about it.”
Filming for “Deep Space” began in August
1992 and just recently ended for the season.
Production will resume in July.
As for the future, El Fadil said he would
return to his London flat to work in England
over the break. After that he “will do Star Trek,
and will probably end up directing something.
.. and that’s it for the moment.”
Musician shares
folk wisdom on
reaction release
Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
“Respect”
A&M Records
Robyn Hitchcock has said he
conceived this album as an acoustic piece
that would capture the flavor of on-the
road improvisalional tin can and guitar
sessions. The album was supposed to be
a reaction against rock cl ichds in general,
and the high-quality of his last release,
“Perspex Island,” in particular. But
somewhere along the way that idea was
partially lost with the overdubbing of
hom and string arrangements.
The result is a more interesting
collection of songs than otherwise might
have been.
“The Yip Song,” track one on
“Respect,” loudly announces the band’s
arrival: a blend of self-styled upbeat folk
and subpunk. From then on, the music
slides into a more mellow grove, with a
series of drifting, more poignant melodics.
“When I Was Dead” takes elements of
floating George Harrison-type
psychedelia and underscores it with
eastern-inspired backing harmonic's.
Also notable is “Driving Aloud (Radio
Storm)” because of the Ivrics:
“Honey lake il on me/’Causc your
lungs are in terrible shape and it’s easy to
see/I’ve been X-raying you since you
walked into hcrc/You’ve got nothing to
hope/You’vc got nothing to fear/
Heartburn and chemistry and lung disease/
Make mincemeat of your passion on days
like these..
None of the other tracks match up to
“The Yip Song” in terms of sheer power,
but “Respect” imparts a great deal of the
folk wisdom Hitchcock has learned during
his long career of writing, recording and
touring.
— Matthew Grant
Duran Duran’s
new disc reeks
of poppy tunes
Duran Duran
“Duran Duran”
Capitol Records
If practice is supposed to make perfect,
someone should tell Duran Duran.
After 15 years of writing and playing
music together, Duran Duran should have
gotten it right by now. Instead, the boys
from England have gotten worse.
The band’s latest release is neither as
deficient as, say, the Arcadia fiasco, nor
as good as anything they did in the early
to mid-’80s.
Ever since Duran Duran lost Andy
Taylor and Roger Taylor, nothing the
group has done — including this 13
track, eponymic tilled disc — has been
worth the shrink wrap that covers the
cases.
“Ordinary World,” the first single,
sets the tone for the rest of the album. It’s
got a catchy kind of tunc that can get
stuck in one’s mind — like a record
player that skips — but there’s nothing
truly exceptional about it.
The rest of the disc is filled either with
cryptic ballads or with disjointed, hoppy
poppy songs.
The best of all these tunes is “Femme
Fatale,” written by legendary rocker/
songwriter Lou Real. This one’s good,
not only because it’s got Reed’s
fingerprints all over it, but because Duran
Duran actually is able to pull off the style.
Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick
Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo wrote, at
least in pan, the remaining tracks and
infused them with their pseudo-wisdom
and false intellcclualism.
— Shannon Uehling