LOLcats meets Star Trek with a dash of Settlers of Catan. I present… We has Tribbles and also Troubles.

A dream came true on Saturday for me…

After a whole decade of Star Trek fandom, I was finally transformed into the quintessential Klingon character of Lieutenant Commander Worf at CosCon 2007, part of the World Cyber Games held over the past four days.

It was a most enjoyable experience - being in full costume has its perks. Everyone wants to take a photo with “you”, regardless of who’s underneath the mask. Definitely a reminder of what I truly wanted from my life without a mask - fame, recognition, acceptance in a world that’s not exactly ‘mainstream’. But it was also an epiphany of what I wanted to move away from - a naive fascination for glamour and all that accompanying jazz. When it came down to it, I appreciate the privacy I enjoyed now, and I wouldn’t trade it for all the photo opportunities.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord - the event where Jesus was revealed in his full divinity to the closest of his apostles: Peter, James and John. Like my namesake the Prince of the Apostles, I too sometimes blurt out nonsense in my excitement to be part of God’s revelation of his love for each and everyone of us. What’s most important though, is that God is not asking us to take charge and be in control of each situation that he places us in. Instead, he is reminding us to just listen to Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, and everything will go according to the perfect plan of God.

Photo courtesy of Keith Moss, Singapore Garrison, 501st Legion

The debut of Blood Wars in Singapore was held in February and I had so much fun (that’s me on the left in the picture above), I thought I’d better advertise the second round of Blood Wars.

Essentially, it’s a year-long Blood Donation Drive that pits fans of Star Trek with fans of Star Wars, and so far, it’s no surprise that the Star Wars fans are currently in the lead.

Nonetheless, this is an open invitation to fans of both inclinations to come down and support the upcoming Blood Wars event!

Date: Saturday, 5th May 2007
Time: 9am to 4pm
Venue: HSA Bloodbank (near Outram MRT)

If nothing else, come watch me donate in a Starfleet uniform again! Haha.

… where no MAN has gone before.

I’ve been watching the first season of Star Trek (the 60’s series) in my free time at the NTU Media Resource Library. Last year, what I did was to request one episode at a time. I don’t know why it never occurred to me earlier to just borrow the whole DVD set, which I did this time around. Thanks to this brainwave, I’ve managed to watch several classic episodes that have impressed, inspired and illuminated science-fiction fans for the past four decades.

For example, “Charlie X” talks about the identity crisis and romantic crushes of male adolescents that are perennial and timeless. “The Enemy Within” talks about balancing compassion and courage within oneself. “Balance of Terror” is simply an example of great storytelling - a World War II story about a US destroyer and a German U-Boat updated for the 23rd century.

I may have adopted The Next Generation as the Star Trek of my youth, but it was Kirk, Spock and McCoy who were my first Star Trek heroes in my childhood days, and it’s like a homecoming to be able to watch these episodes for the first time.

I’ve been a huge Star Trek fan for over a decade now, and for most of my teenage years, The Next Generation television series became my cornerstone for the kind of geek culture I would grow up embracing.

Yet in the past few months, I’ve been so immersed in the original Star Trek series, due to the fact that I’m actually doing it as part of a Lit module. Combine this with the fact that I work in a law firm that seems to be the basis for much of Boston Legal’s episode material… makes for a lot of William Shatner overdose.

So whilst refusing to admit that my favourite Trek character is now Captain James T. Kirk, I present to you just how much of an icon Bill Shatner has been for modern cult entertainment:

Taken from “Comedy Central: Roast of William Shatner”, a must watch!

The Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile Test II: Which crew would you best fit in?

I loved the fact that among several members in the Startrek.com.sg forums, I was the only one to get the Enterprise-D, which holds the crew I most identify with and love the most.