star trek 2, the wrath of khan, the 30th anniversary

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On June the 4th 1982, two incredible movies open at the same time, Steven Spielbergs “Poltergeist” and “Star Trek II, The wrath of Khan” I was up in San jose visiting my buddy Mark Zainer who is an avid Star Trek fan.. We were arguing about which movie to see, I wanted Poltergeist and he wanted Trek,,,, Since he was driving Trek was the first choice.. As much as I liked Star Trek The motion Picture I wasn’t a huge fan and I really wasn’t up for seeing the sequel.  The first Trek film left me wanting what the old series had and that was character and storyand I didn’t want to sit for two hours plus staring down the throat of V’ger again.  So reluctantly I went and I have to say that within 10 minutes of the movie I was loving it,,,,and by the end I was a huge fan!!! Trek II did what I so wanted The Motion Picture to do and it did so with flying colors. The story was brilliant and expanding on the episode  “Space Seed” from the original series was a masterful idea. Ricardo Monalban reprized his role with a vengeance and his poetic use of quotes from  Gregory Peck’s “Moby Dick” made him not just a villain but a man who’s heart has been broken and revenge was a righteous and pleasurable justification of his pain. The original cast put out stellar performances as well and the chemistry between the actors that we all loved from the original series was back in full swing.  Several new characters were added to the storyline, which were Kristie Alley as Saavik, Bibi Besch as Carol Marcus, and Merritt Butrick as David Marcus (Captain kirk’s son) The addition of Kirk’s old love and their son added such a new and deeper layer to the story that was an unexpected surprise. The script written by Gene Roddenberry, Harve Bennett, Jack B. Sowards, and Samual A. Peeples. stands high as a classic in the Trek film world and each of theses gentleman have a lot to be proud of!!!!!  Their story was so deep and except for Psycho I don’t think I have ever seen a major character die in a film… Such a brave move and his heroic death was another unexpected twist,,, I couldn’t believe it…  Spock was dead,, the entire theater was balling their eyes out…  On a visionary point of view, ILM took over the visual Effects on this one and there work was on the level of perfection. ILM was one busy shop in 82 with three huge films coming out within weeks of each other. Their work was VFX artistry at it’s best with incredible miniature shots and their creation of the star fields and nebula’s where breathtaking… I so miss the cloud tank and wish it would return to the big screen but like the entire world of physical special Effects those days are gone for good.  The introduction of the USS Reliat was too an incredible moment. Her creators Mike Minor, and Joe Jennings did a fabulous job constructing a new and favorite Starship to the fleet. As much as I loved the Enterprise, The Reliant was instantly my new Favorite and in many ways still is today. When I was reading the poster in line I was a bit disappointed at not seeing Jerry Goldsmiths name as the composer. Jerry also was having a busy Summer with his work being featured in Poltergeist, The “Secret of Nim”, and “First Blood” I don’t know if Jerry was approached about Wrath of Khan or if Paramount wanted all new blood on this outing but not seeing his name worried me. I was only slightly familiar with James Honer’s work and I thought that this man has some big shoes to fill.. Once again when the film was about 10 minutes in I was a fan of what James had done. His score was huge huge, romantic and full of high paced action sequences that added so much to the story! The complete soundtrack finally came out only a few years ago and I was so glad to have this work in it’s entirety. All in all Trek II made for a fabulous night at the movies and I am sure many of you will agree with me, the best of the Trek films by far.I can’t say enough about this one and the summer of 82 was such an inspiring season for films… I used to leave the theaters with such a love for what was on the screen and yearned so much to be a part of the movie industry,,, Little did I know I only had three more years to wait. HAAAA!!!!!!! Lots of fun an and great memories of times long ago… So with all this said Happy 30th to The Wrath of Khan!

the 45th anniversary of Star trek, the original series

advertisement art, curtousey of Fredericks nostalgic newspaper movie ads

Holy smokes 45 years!!!!! Who ever would of thought that this little show would have spawned into what it has today!!!! The 12th movie is now in the works, we’ve enjoyed 5 television shows, and lots of cool merchandise, and out of geekdom bought lots n lots of bad merchandise. HAAA! Regardless the golden age of Television and the imagination of Gene Roddenberry, produced one incredible show in the 60’s, and on September the 8th 1966 we were introduced to Nancy, the salt monster, from the premier episode called “The Man Trap” Her terrifying debut  started us down the path for weekly adventures with the crew of the USS Enterprise. I so loved this show but after my parents saw the opening episode deemed it to scary for me to see for at least a season. My introduction to Star Trek came with “the Doomsday Machine” and is still one of my all time favorites. Besides all the show was and is I have to say the music from that series is beyond incredible, the themes and instruments were ground breaking at the time and still to this day when you hear the theme you remember the episode. Hard to think back that being a little fan of Trek would eventually be  a part of my life in a significant way as a livelihood starting in the late 80’s with occasional model work on TNG and full blown on Trek V working with my hero Greg Jein. Great fun and lots of great folks to work with on all of these additions and the same is true with trek 12. With all this said I want to end with a big Happy Birthday to “the Man Trap” and a big thanks to Gene for starting it all. Here are a few pics from man trap and some of the other incredible episodes from the 60’s

Nancy, I have salt Nancy!!!

The USS Enterprise

Kirk is seduced

from Doomsday machine

the USS Constelation

being drawn in

from tomorow is yesterday

tomorow is yesterday

from the arena

Gary 7

the planet killer

Douglas E. Graves, deg3D, artist extraordinair, and welcome to the blogroll

It was brought to my attention that somehow my buddy Deg was not in the blogroll anymore… Something mysterious happened and his listing was gone… (most likely it was old-man memory failure on my part and I didn’t load it correctly in the beginning). So in announcement of Deg entering the blogroll today we celebrate with a little history and some artwork by the master Douglas E. Graves, or better known to us as DEG!  Way back in March of ’09 the Eavesdropping blog started up and one of the first friends I met was a guy named Deg. Within a month we had become good friends and were working together on “myouterspace.com” In May we met in person at Wonderfest in Kentucky, which is now our annual get-n together place. If you have never seen Deg’s work, get ready to be blown away!!! He is one awesome talent and his fingers and imagination weave unbelievable tapestries of fantastic scenes and spacecraft galore!

Born and raised with his brother Greg in a small rural town in Illinois, Deg and his bro were poor farm children who had no cash and no toys to play with. With grand imaginations the two invented things to do like using heads of cabbage as a ball to play with, or laying in the fields and rolling out of the way (Indiana Jones style) as the ripper blades of the tractors would get dangerously close. Deg lost an eye in a BB-gun accident and Greg donated one of his so Deg could see again in 3D. They are close brothers and rarely ever part except when Deg goes home to be with his wife and yard-squirrels. Deg lost two fingers in Nam and with bionic replacements he can calculate, model, and tickle the ivorys of his keypad at 60MPH. Love and a secret passion for Country ‘n’ Western music landed him a duo with Patsy Kline at one of her last performances in Nashville. Deg also served as personal liaison and coffee-boy to Chuck Yeager when he was stationed in Dayton, Ohio.

Deg’s father hit oil one sunny afternoon in the early 70′s and with his fortune he bought his boy his first computer. It was a Radioshack TRS 80 with cassette memory, and from that day forward Deg’s future was set. One of his first jobs was to create the animated Col. Sanders for the new KFC commercials, as well as the lead designer of the Snuggle Bear from Snuggles fabric softener. Athletically inclined, Deg did a short stint at playing professional soccer, but a run-in with the world famous Pelé snapped his left leg backwards at the knee that resulted in amputation and leg replacement. Ever full of spirit, this event didn’t get Deg down and in the following winter, brothers Greg and Deg went hiking in the Rocky Mountains. The two left the trail and got lost in a blizzard and were considered dead after two weeks of intensive searching by state and local sheriff’s officers. The two emerged miraculously from the mountains in the spring and in good shape, both physically and mentally. When interviewed, the two told their story and shared that the secret to their survival was with great thanks from watching Nanook of the North as children.  They learned to make an igloo from ice and snow, and for food they had to resort to cannibalism so they would both eat off of Greg’s frozen haunch and thigh, but ever so sparingly. From there, with his parent’s fortune and the personal fame from the mountain adventure, the world was wide open, so Deg started working as a stock-boy at a local grocery store, while Greg got plastic surgery for his half-eaten leg.

A few years later Deg met his future wife at a lumberjack festival where his bride-to-be won the blue ribbon in the 50 yard axe toss. They were soon wed and now live quietly in the outskirts of Chicago. Deg’s 3D work really took off, enabling him to work from home while his wife brought in the $$$ working as a nurse and part-time at the lumber mill. Greg went on and created a restaurant chain called Steak ‘n’ Shake that is popular in the mid-states and is now branching out to Las Vegas. Today life is good for both men and the sun does set with whistling cowboy tunes each and everyday. On a personal note; Deg’s a family man, a patriot, a man of faith, and a good friend. It is with great honor to put Deg on the blogroll today, so everyone be sure to go and see his name and website address smack dab in the middle of the roll. Below are some fav pieces from the Degster, so have a look and enjoy!!!

the USS Probert

from TOS, the F-104 in the E shuttlebay

Deg's modified TOS Enterprise

and my all time fav piece in the world, the F-104 and the Enterprise

Daren Dochterman, journey Inside his wacky and talented mind!!

I was just over at Daren’s page and he has put up his Kirk Korner’s from you tube!!!!  Go check out this small sampling of his wicked sense of humor and dead on characterizations of the legendary Kirk, He has finally showcased it all here!! Get ready to have some fun and good laughs at Daren’s Shakespearian take and dramatization of Captain James T. Kirk!!!

http://blog.darendoc.com

from the os scrapbook

 

 

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Happy Friday everyone and thanks again for all the great comments, camaraderie and great links to cool things. I had very little time to participate with all that was going on except for the daily postings. I have 5 daughters and sadly one of them has a bit of cancer and she started her chemo last week and it has been a long one getting her comfortable again. thanks for all the prayers, good thoughts and messages that we have been receiving for her. The Dr.’s say that it was caught very early and in about 4 to 6 months she’ll be as good as new. Thanks again and hope everyone has a great weekend. So with that here are some more great images of the beloved Enterprise model back from the 1960’s,  Enjoy..

 

john

more of the glory days!

 

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Here are three images from yesteryear featuring that 11 foot Enterprise model being set up for a scene, and it doesn’t matter how many times you have seen these pictures it is always a treat to se them again!!!

history in the making

 

historical image

 

 

Here is a shot from Star Trek history!!! Three of the original series model makers stand by the 11 foot Enterprise on Providencia Ave. in Burbank california. What a great shot, especially having the hands that built the model standing by their beautiful craftsmanship.

the 40th Anniversary of ST, TOS

 

 

cachet art

 

cachet, front view

cachet, back view

 

 

 

 

Many years ago Doug Drexler was putting together a group of CG artists from Foundation and Eden FX to create pieces of art for one of the Ships of the Line calendars, and he let me paint a piece (Traditional style) to go along with all the awesome computer artists endeavors. I had just got a computer and it was as foreign to me as a ballerina in a gun shop so old school was the comfortable choice!!! We were moving at the time and the Deadlines was unwavering.. Doug had convinced Margaret Clark (the ST editor from Simon and Shuster) that I could make a deadline so she allowed Doug to hire me on. Doug came to my desk, took a deep breath and struck a Clint Walker pose over me and shook a fist,,,  you better not be late laddy.  (Later I found out he gave me a fake due date way earlier that what was the real deadline,,, that evil little Monkey Scratcher!!!) I promised with trembling!!! I’ll tell you It doesn’t happen often but I have seen Doug’s devil’s eyes appear and you don’t want to have him go terminator on you….twood be very bad!  I gave him a double thigh blaster one time and had he been able to run after that mighty blow, I would not have be here today,,,, so back to the other story, HAAAA!!! due to the move I wound up painting the piece for the most part on the hood of my car, made my deadline, and overall wish I would of had more time to really flesh it out more. I was quite unhappy with it to say the least.  However  the 40th of Star Trek was coming up in 06 and having a little more computer knowledge I had hopes of fixing that old piece to be what I was wanting it to be. So first I did a big scan and pulled all the elements off and reworked and rearranged them to create a new composition and layout. From there I wanted to make the piece into a First day cover/Cachet so the format was changed drastically and then printed the art on #10 envelopes. from there they got stamped and cancelled over at Paramount pictures on the Anniversary date of the television Premier of Man Trap. For nostalgia I took all the envelopes over to the old Desilu stages on the NorthWest side of the lot where the old show was filmed. Here is a view of both the art, and how the cachet’s turned out.