 Nerine Shatner Friendly House
This non profit organization is one of the nation's first residential
homes for women recovering from alcohol and substance abuse.
Donate
Here>>>
|
| |
Hollywood
Charity
Horse Show
For the past eleven years, William Shatner has spearheaded the HCHS
which features some of the best western reining riders in the country
while simultaneously raising money for charity.
Donate
Here>>>
|
| |
William
Shatner also
Supports:
 March
of
Dimes Canada
 The Jewish
National Fund
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
|
|
 |
Post subject: What's Up... Sir Shat
 Posted: Aug 28, 2007 - 07:20 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
William Shatner: In The News...
William Shatner Lends Voice to Videogame for Charity
The Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation charity has announced a forthcoming casual charity PC game, The Tuttles Madcap Misadventures, to be developed with Legacy Interactive (Law & Order) and Dave Thomas' Animax Entertainment, and starring the voices of William Shatner and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Starlight Starbright itself is a charity dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope through entertainment, education and family activities. According to the charity, The Tuttles: Madcap Misadventures is "...a hilarious arcade adventure game about a thoroughly modern family trying to bond on a road trip to see the Alamo."
In addition to 40 levels of side-scrolling action making up the gameplay, the animated cut-scenes will be voiced by notables such as Bob Saget (Barry Tuttle), Jamie Lee Curtis (Barbara Tuttle), Ashley Tisdale (Jess Tuttle), Dominic Scott Kay (Zach Tuttle), Dave Thomas (The Australian), Dave Coulier (The Native and several other characters), and William Shatner (Vance Shepherd, apparently "...a TV action star whose self-involved persona has been downloaded into the on-board computer of the family's souped-up mini-van.")
The game will be available to the public through PC game portals and potentially via retail distribution in the future. The standard price to play will be about $20, and on average, the Starlight charity will receive approximately $4.75 per unit.
"Starlight is taking a giant step forward, away from run-of-the-mill charity events into the rapidly growing realm of online entertainment and casual gameplay," said Patty Evans, Vice President, Development, Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation. "This inventive approach gives anyone with Internet access the chance to participate together in a fundraising "event" through online casual gaming. Traditional barriers to charity event participation such as geographic location, cost to participate and finding the time to partake become virtually obsolete."
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... tory=15271
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 28, 2007 - 07:33 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
Excerpts from The Seattle Times...
Easing the torment of tinnitus
The statistics of tinnitus are as horrifying as the affliction itself. According to the Portland-based American Tinnitus Association (ATA), some 50 million Americans experience intermittent or permanent tinnitus. Between 10 million and 12 million have severe and chronic tinnitus and some 2 million are completely disabled by the condition. In most cases, such as Young's, the cause can be traced to loud noise that damages the fragile sound-detecting cells in the inner ear.
Disease, tumors, medications, or physical trauma to the head or neck can also be a trigger. But U.S. Navy veteran David Young had experienced none of these in the weeks and months leading up to the sudden increase in his tinnitus.
"Every doctor I went to couldn't explain it, and could do nothing to help me," said Young. The unrelenting noise in his head disrupted his concentration and kept him awake, sometimes for days.
With no relief in sight, Young began researching his options. Internet searches kept pointing to one promising treatment: sound therapy.
"I found information about actor William Shatner, who had success using tinnitus retraining therapy [TRT]," said Young. "The science looked good, and it had been around for a while."
William Shatner's situation
If there is a celebrity "poster boy" for tinnitus, it would have to be Shatner, whose career -- and life -- were threatened by the condition. The 76-year-old "Boston Legal" star says his problems began about 15 years ago, probably the result of advancing age compounded by exposure to many on-screen special-effects explosions throughout his 50-year movie and television career.
"I was in a terrible state," said Shatner from his home in California. "The more you worry about it, the worse it gets. I couldn't sleep or think, and I even thought about suicide."
In 1996, Shatner traveled to the University of Maryland and met with Dr. Pawel Jastreboff, who introduced him to TRT. Jastreboff, who now works at Emory University's School of Medicine, began clinical use of TRT six years earlier.
Shatner's treatment involved wearing a small electronic device that generated a low-level, broadband sound -- a white noise -- that helped his brain put the tinnitus in the background.
"When used in conjunction with counseling, 80 percent of the more than 1,000 patients I have personally treated have responded very well," said Jastreboff from his office in Atlanta. Jastreboff also credits Shatner's high profile and willingness to talk about his tinnitus for giving people like Young hope.
"I wore the device for 24 hours a day for several months," said Shatner. "Now, I don't hear the tinnitus 95 percent of the time. So it's important to let people know that in many cases, tinnitus can be managed. I'm living proof you can conquer it."
The full article at The Seattle Times...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... cation=rss
----------------
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 28, 2007 - 07:42 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
Excerpts from Pantagraph.com...
Joel Gretsch delights in complexities of 'The 4400'
By Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Joel Gretsch rushes into Marmalade Cafe. He's 10 minutes late. "I am so sorry, but my kids...," he begins, revealing how they anchored him at the ankles to keep him from leaving.
"But we're going to the zoo later on," says Gretsch, 43, as the midmorning sun shapes a postcard spring Saturday in suburban Sherman Oaks, "so they're excited about that."
He's visibly geeked about the outing, too. Weekends are family time for "The 4400" star, who's shooting the USA series in Vancouver through the summer. He lives not too far from the restaurant with his daughters -- Kaya, 5, and Willow, 2 -- and wife Melanie, daughter of William Shatner.
Gretsch isn't one to complain about working or the weekly hassles of airport customs. But why would he, having landed on one of the hottest series on basic cable.
Full article at Pantagraph.com...
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007 ... 190207.txt
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 28, 2007 - 07:53 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC)...
Calgary gallery finds space for William Shatner
One of 76 pieces in the Calgary show celebrating William Shatner is this work by Andrea Lam titled Manning the Rocket Man. (CBC)
William Shatner has taken on a new role, as muse to artists who created 76 works based on the actor for Calgary's Uppercase Gallery.
The Canadian-born Shatner is best known for his role as Capt. James Kirk, commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the Star Trek series. But he's also played a tough sergeant in the T.J. Hooker crime show, sold cereal, and kept himself in focus through the process.
"Every artist has their muse," he said in a message posted on the gallery's website. "Who am I to stand in the way of all these fine artists and artisans who want to use my lumpy, aging face for inspiration?
"Some creators love a great sunset; some have in mind my bloodshot eyes. Nevertheless, out of awe, amusement or pity, you should come and see this unique show."
The gallery's self-proclaimed mastermind, Janine Vangool, came up with the idea of a Shatner show after listening to the actor's CD while driving across Canada.
William Shatner won an Emmy in 2005 for his work on Boston Legal.William Shatner won an Emmy in 2005 for his work on Boston Legal. (Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press)
New and established artists from across the continent contributed works.
The results include a bust of Shatner made from more than 9,000 Lego pieces, Shatner as Bonhomme, Shatner portraits, Shatner driving the last spike and Shatner as Kirk embraced by a Gorn, a reptilian humanoid space creature.
"It's kind of about him as the centre of the universe," said artist Katie Radke.
There are 76 works on view, one for each year of Shatner's age.
The show runs until the end of August.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2007/06/23 ... ml?ref=rss
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 28, 2007 - 09:30 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From Spinner.com...
Interpol Gunning After William Shatner
Posted Jul 5th 2007 3:30PM by Steve Baltin
Filed under: News, Humor
When it comes to modeling a fruitful, long-lasting rock success story of one's own, there's a bevy of careers from which to choose -- Paul McCartney and U2, among them. Interpol, however, opt not for rock royalty but for royalty of another kind. Stellar, one might say.
"William Shatner," bassist Carlos Dengler told Spinner at the band's Sessions taping in L.A. "I'm not joking. He has been in the spotlight the entire time. First, 'Star Trek.' Then 'T.J. Hooker' and Priceline. And there's [his album 'Has Been'] -- which is fantastic -- where he covered 'Common People' by Pulp. I don't know if he's a good musician, but he has spirit and doesn't take himself too seriously. That's something I respect quite a bit."
http://www.spinner.com/2007/07/05/inter ... m-shatner/
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 28, 2007 - 09:58 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From the Montreal Gazette...
The man, the myth, the Shat
BILL BROWNSTEIN, The Gazette
Published: Sunday, July 15
In this very galaxy not that long ago, William Shatner had to spend many a day and night trying to dodge overzealous Trekkies (Trekkers, if you will) sporting Spock ears and Vulcan masks (then again, maybe they weren't masks).
Not that N.D.G.'s gift to the worlds of acting, sci-fi and the surreal didn't appreciate the ardour of these fans, but there is far more to the man than his Captain Kirk alter ego from the iconic Star Trek series. On the other hand, if he had a buck for every Spock-eared goof who requested that Shatner "beam me up," he probably could have retired several light years ago.
But he didn't. Rather, Shatner, 76, re-invented himself and as a result, goes boldly where few actors, even those half his age, still go. To work. He sings, he dances, he shills, he acts.
Some 55 years in the biz, and there's still no stopping him. It may often be self-parody, but he is most certainly a bigger star today than he was when navigating through the stars and cruising the cosmos decades back on Star Trek. He has the silverware to prove it: two Emmy Awards, among others, for his work as the batty barrister on the hit series Boston Legal.
Plus, you know you've made a crater-sized impact when you are the subject of the doc How William Shatner Changed the World and when you are singled out for a little love and a lot of basting in The Uncensored Roast of William Shatner.
"Honestly, I attribute all my longevity and success to Canadian meat and vegetables -- organic vegetables, that is. Oh, and can't forget those fabulous Canadian blueberries, so rich in anti-oxidants, from Ste. Agathe," says Shatner, perhaps tongue-quite-a-bit-in-cheek, in a phone interview. He's in his trailer, waiting to return to the Boston Legal set in Hollywood, and he's in a particularly buoyant frame.
Shatner returns to his hometown Saturday to host two Just for Laughs galas at ThEtre St. Denis. Seven years ago, the first and last time he served as master of ceremonies for a gala, Shatner cracked up the house with his "I am Canadian" routine -- a wacky take on the Molson Canadian beer ad of yore. "I can't take all the credit. They wrote some kind of inspired material for me," he says. "It's all about the material and I'm hoping for more of same this time."
Some of the material written for the 2000 gala referred to the then-renaming of McGill's Student Union as the William Shatner Building. "I just hope the building is earthquake-proof and has sprinkler heads," he cracks. "I spent four great years at McGill, diligently trying to play football and act at the same time while pursuing women and studies -- about in that order, too."
But the Festival City that is Montreal today is not the one that Shatner recalls from his formative years. "Not at all. The city I remember was for me mostly in the west end. The city today seems like such a welcome place.
"It's not just the quality of the music and comedy at the festivals, but it's the way the city has laid itself out as such an endearing spot to spend time."
Despite the fact Late Late Show host and Just for Laughs alumnus Craig Ferguson selected him as his favourite Canadian humorist, Shatner doesn't think of himself as a comedian per se. But he does have interesting views on Canadian comedy. "What's funny is that Canadians aren't perceived as being funny, yet many of the best comics in America are Canadians. It's a bit of a dichotomy. It's interesting that many think that Canada is so dour, but it's Canadians like Mike Myers, David Steinberg and Jim Carrey who've helped foster comedy everywhere."
Perhaps Ferguson picked Shatner as his fave Canadian comic based on his Boston Legal work. "There's no question that what we do on Boston Legal is really amusing, but it's also quite meaningful, too," Shatner says. "James Spader (the show's co-star) and I looked at each other at the end of a scene the other day and he made the remark that, what other TV show writes scenes like this? We couldn't come up with another name."
Shatner is hoping to catch a break from his Boston Legal shooting schedule in order to stay in Montreal for more than a weekend. "Except for two sisters and a few relatives, I really don't know too many people in the city," he notes. "But the garlic spare-ribs are calling out for me and I have to heed the call."
As seasoned Montrealers are likely aware, he is referring to the garlic spare-ribs of the long- defunct Ruby Foo's which have been nearly replicated at Le ChrysanthEme downtown. "They must have the Ruby Foo's spare-ribs under spectrum analysis to determine just how much garlic goes into them."
Also calling out to Shatner are, natch, Montreal bagels, barbecued chicken and smoked meat. "I'll tell you just how good the smoked meat is. Over the last few years, I have sent out for loads of smoked meat, and of all the things I have done in four years on Boston Legal, the biggest contribution I have made to the show -- more than my dialogue or comedy scenes or meaningful moments -- is the smoked meat. All the other stuff pales before that pink mass of Schwartz's smoked meat.
"Of course, I might need a whole load of bran after eating all that smoked meat in town."
Fortunately, Shatner knows where to find it. He just happens to be the pitch-man for Kellogg's Bran Flakes. Ah, when it rains, it pours for the man.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/n ... mp;k=53245
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 29, 2007 - 12:47 AM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From Geek.com...
Priceline Negotiator gets MySpace page
by Brian Osborne posted on June 14, 2007 8:31 am
If you're a William Shatner fan or fan of his Priceline commercials, then you'll be happy to hear that Shatner's persona, The Priceline Negotiator, now has his own MySpace page. Like many MySpace pages, The Negotiator lists his interests, including favorite music, movies, television shows, books, and heroes. Amusingly, the Priceline Negotiator's hero is Lee Meihis "price-chopping kung fu samurai master."
Videos and photos are included on the website. My favorite one is where The Negotiator blasts the gnome mascot of a Priceline competitor. Other features of the website include wallpapers, icons, and ringtones, including the famous "You're so naughty" line from Shatner as The Negotiator. One of the images available will even allow you to copy and paste The Negotiator into photos.
Priceline was smart to hire Shatner as a spokesperson. He is a legend and a pop icon. The marketing team at Priceline has taken its Negotiator campaign to the next level, and I love it.
Priceline just keeps the fun ideas coming.
http://www.myspace.com/thenegotiator
http://www.geek.com/priceline-negotiato ... pace-page/
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 29, 2007 - 12:49 AM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From Variety...
Shatner to interview celebrities
Biography Channel taps TV vet for 'Nerve'
By STEVEN ZEITCHIK
After a recent career path that's taken him from Web pitchman to primetime Emmy winner, William Shatner has been signed to host a celebrity-interview show on the Biography Channel.
Shatner, currently seen on ABC's "Boston Legal," will interview a range of guests on the half-hour, titled "Shatner's Raw Nerve." Both actors and politicians will be featured, and reps for the net said producers will make an effort to book guests separately from their movie and other junkets.
Biography said in a release that the thesp "will explore life's most intriguing questions and unearth his guests' strange and unknown stories."
Thirteen episodes have been ordered by the net, with the skein to air some time next year.
Move comes as part of a larger shift by the net to contemporize both subject and feel.
Exec veep-general manager Bob DeBitetto described the new mission of the Biography Channel as "true stories about fascinating people."
Reps said the new philosophy will still involve telling the nonfiction stories of people, but the net will move beyond the more traditional format of profiles of one individual; in fact, the subjects may not even be famous.
In addition to the Shatner pact, company has made pilot deals for "Small Medium at Large," a show about a four-foot-tall psychic medium who uses Chinese meditation to commune with the dead, and "I Survived," about people who have survived near-death experiences.
The expansion is the result of an original programming boom in cable that has allowed and encouraged networks to experiment with a broader range of programming, though it has also sometimes diluted a net's mission.
Biography has also added the tagline "True Story" and will revamp its on-air look to feel more current.
The tagline is similar to truTV, the rebranding of Court TV to net with a similar focus on scripted and nonscripted takes on real-life events.
Cabler will also refer to itself as "Bio" in much of its correspondence, though it will still officially be called the Biography Channel.
Biography has yet to land truly wide exposure, currently reaching 44 million homes, but says its ratings in adults 18-49 are up 38% so far this year.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111796 ... 4&cs=1
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 29, 2007 - 12:54 AM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From Hour.ca...
JFL: William Shatner
Pater familias, Jamie O'Meara
July 19th, 2007
William Shatner needs little introduction (and thank God for that, 'cause space is limited). A born and bred Montrealer, Shatner's folks were in the schmatte business, and he studied at McGill before going on to a classical, Shakespearean acting career that led him to outstanding roles like that of T.J. Hooker. And, if you insist, Star Trek's Captain Kirk.
In a life and career that's seen its big ups and occasionally crushing downs, Shatner, at age 76, is enjoying a kind of ubiquitous success with a multitude of projects in print, music and on screen, and of course on the hit television series Boston Legal, for which he recently bagged his second Emmy Award as well as a Golden Globe. Things are good, and this is reflected in his jovial and generous conversation over the phone from his home in L.A.
After some preliminary chitchat about, what else, Montreal smoked meat ("There's no smoked meat like Montreal smoked meat"), we get right into it...
Hour: Y'know, it's funny, I've always felt this kind of paternal vibe coming from you...
William Shatner: No, I don't know you and I certainly don't want any demands made on me.
Hour: Does that mean I can't call you "Dad"?
Shatner: Yes, exactly, and everything else that goes with it. I'm tired of supporting... you're on your own. I don't know how to explain your feeling towards me, but maybe since 'Dad' has been around for a long time, it refers to me.
Hour: But there is an undeniable warmth that you engender in people...
Shatner: They keep saying, "That poor fool," and that brings out all kinds of warm feelings.
Hour: Is this something you experience often?
Shatner [Laughing]: I've heard what you've said, yes, and I don't know how to deal with it.
Hour: Have I become too familiar in too little time?
Shatner: Well, no, no, I don't want you to withdraw -- it's not good for your psyche.
Hour: Let's forget for the moment the Golden Globes and the Emmys and these sorts of things... The All-Bran commercials: People love them.
Shatner: They do! I've signed for another couple of years with the Kellogg thing, and they're fun to do. They've caught a lovely hook, I guess, on how to project me on their brand and it becomes fun for everybody.
Hour: You've enjoyed a phenomenal amount of late-period success in your life - how satisfying is that for you? You went through a tough period right after Star Trek, and is it true that you were living in the back of a truck in the San Fernando Valley?
Shatner: Yes. You know, in terms of it really being tough - where tough was really tough - that wasn't tough. But in terms of, uh, I suppose being a leading actor [laughs] living in the back of a truck, that was tough.
Hour: What was tough?
Shatner: Well, it was the rising expectations and the dashed hopes, I suppose.
Hour: What kinds of things are exciting you now?
Shatner: There are a lot of things going on. I've got a new series of Star Trek books coming out by a young Captain Kirk -- a teenaged Kirk and Mr. Spock -- and the first one will be out in October. I've got a new album, which is an oratorical on Exodus, new classical music with 250 voices, coming out in October. And then there's the potential of a talk show next season, and then of course Boston Legal is starting in a couple of weeks, and there's also a DVD of a ballet that was done on six numbers that I co-wrote with Ben Folds and the Milwaukee Ballet... so there's lots of stuff.
Hour: Your last album [Has Been, 2004] got great reviews -- it did really well!
Shatner: You sound surprised, but I was hoping [it would]... It was very gratifying. It wasn't written for novelty, in fact the dictum was, Let's tell the truth.
Hour: Okay, I think that's just about it for me...
Shatner [Dryly]: I'm exhausted, so... Ah, I'm only joking. I'm looking forward, very deeply, to coming up to Montreal to do this, and so we're beginning to work already. The only slight cloud on the horizon is I need to get that weekend off from Boston Legal... but I have every reasonable expectation of being able to make it up there, but I wanted to just bring out that suggestion that it's in the realm of possibility...
Hour: That you might not be able to make it to your own gala?!
Shatner [Laughing]: That they might close me down due to scheduling. But I'm almost sure that that won't happen, and I'm really looking forward, not only to performing -- especially if the material is good - but to enjoying the festival itself because that's a hoot. That comedy festival is really fun to do, and I hope it attracts a lot of people to Montreal.
http://www.hour.ca/stage/stage.aspx?iIDArticle=12531
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 29, 2007 - 01:12 AM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From the Canadian National Post...
Simply Shatner
How to explain the cultural phenomenon that is William Shatner? A Calgary art exhibit tries...
The Shatner Show is on now at UPPERCASE gallery. The exhibition in UPPERCASE gallery will be open for public viewing beginning June 16 and ending August 31, 2007.
Kevin Libin, National Post, Published: Saturday, June 30, 2007
CALGARY -- She calls him simply "Shatner." Not William Shatner, Mr. Shatner or even Bill Shatner, as his Hollywood pals do. Janine Vangool is no friend of Shatner. They have no personal connection. She has communicated to him only through his assistant. She is, she explains, merely an observer. And, as curator of what is surely the first art exhibit dedicated to exploring the man's mystique, she has become a documenter of the cultural phenomenon that is, to sum up in a single word, Shatner.
"Shatner is Shatner," explains Ms. Vangool, owner of Calgary's Uppercase Gallery. "It's a unique character he's created."
Seventy-six artists (one for each year of the man's life) have contributed as many works to The Shatner Show, which opened this month in the tiny downtown gallery and runs until Aug. 15 with a portion of the proceeds going to Mr. Shatner's favourite charity, horse therapy for handicapped children. Works cover the span of a roller-coaster career: One moody gouache portrait recreates a Shatner close-up still from 1962's Judgment at Nuremberg, another alludes to his role in 1965's bizarre horror picture, Incubus, filmed entirely in the constructed universal language of Esperanto.
There are too many Star Trek influences to count, of course. But others represent more contemporary incarnations. There is an enormous Lego bust of Denny Crane, the eccentric lawyer played by Mr. Shatner on Boston Legal (constructed with 9,000 pieces, and with more than 180 hours of work sunk into it by New York artist Sean Kenney, it's the most expensive piece at $16,000). And at least one artist, depicting Mr. Shatner riding a turd like a horse, says he had in mind "regularity" --a nod to the actor's current role as spokesman for All-Bran. That, suggests the artist in question, Clayton Hanmer, or "the big poop could also represent the bulls--t of celebrity and Hollywood-dom that he totally has control of."
Like Mr. Hanmer, most artists seem eager to get beyond the characters that Mr. Shatner plays and into the character of the man himself -- someone who seems uniquely able to simultaneously enjoy his celebrity and mock it. (When Ms. Vangool asked for his blessing, Mr. Shatner e-mailed: "Every artist has their muse. Leonardo was inspired by the ceiling in the great chapel. Who am I to stand in the way of all these fine artists and artisans who want to use my lumpy, ageing face for inspiration?")
The inspiration for the exhibit came last summer, Ms. Vangool says. She and her husband had never given much thought to Mr. Shatner, before. They are not Trekkies, nor avid fans of T.J. Hooker, Rescue 911 or Boston Legal. But on a road trip to Nova Scotia, they listened over and over to Mr. Shatner's 2004 spoken-word album Has Been. In it, the star known most for his pop cultural camp value, offers up sometimes painful reflections on his life. "It has a nice emotional range and [it] intrigued me that he had this other creative side," she says.
Several pieces in the exhibit play with the theme of Mr. Shatner as Lothario. In one imagined mash-up from the legendary Star Trek episode "Arena", Kirk's death-struggle with a Gorn lizard becomes a love scene. Several artists are absorbed by Mr. Shatner's Quebec roots, portraying him as the iconic Bonhomme and as a cat (a play on the French transliteration of his name, "Chat-ner").
But given that this is a man who has become a cultural icon, despite never having aspired to acting and who has succeeded in transforming typecast into self-parody, making millions doing so (his estimated $40-million net worth comes more from his work in the past decade than anything from his more serious past), it is remarkable that so many works portray a dark, tortured side.
In one linocut, he sits anxiously on a tree limb, in his pyjamas, gripping his knees to his chest. One disturbing painting shows the Montreal-born actor at a pool-side funeral -- in 1999, he discovered his third wife dead at the bottom of his pool-- while mourners in black swimsuits sip punch.
Amazingly, though, it's Mr. Shatner's mystifying performance of "Rocket Man" at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards that emerges as the dominant theme. At least 16 different works evoke the melodramatic scene, in which a tuxedoed Mr. Shatner, atop a stool lit by a single spotlight, contemplates a cigarette while speaking the lyrics to the Elton John song.
While Ms. Vangool says she asked the artists to treat the subject with "playful reverence," most apparently couldn't escape an image of Mr. Shatner as the enigmatic, rather absurd, Rocket Man: a human of dimensions at odds with each other.
They weren't alone. The most serious work of the exhibit is "Shatner Reflecting". In it, an older looking Shatner slumps in a dressing room, cigarette in hand, a scotch on the vanity. There is nothing "playful" about it. It is the one work Mr. Shatner asked to keep for himself.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news ... 62&p=1
http://vangooldesign.com/shatnerweb/SHA ... me=contact
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
kirkscutie11728 |
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 29, 2007 - 02:11 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2007
Posts: 349
Status: Offline
|
|
| I really enjoyed reading some of the articles (well now we know that Bill likes smoked meat) and we've got his 'beauty' secret (organic vegetables) and we've also got what his CD will be (oratorical on Exodus, classical music) but I didn't know that he has art gallery exhibits, which is in a way awesome! I was looking at the pictures in the article 'Simply Shatner' and I immediately picked out the last one because I liked it the best, only to read that Bill has chosen that one for himself (I've got taste like Bill, yay!) I'm going to check out the Negotiator's MySpace page, and then there was Interpol (if they're doing a new CD they should really try and get Bill's velvety voice on it) and then the tinnitus article. No, Bill, don't commit suicide! The world needs you and look at how well things are going for you, albeit, busy as hell. The Madcap Misadventures: Not that it is bad, but does anyone else see that Bill is acting and lending voices for cartoons, children's video-games, and movies? There was Over the Hedge... |
_________________
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 29, 2007 - 06:41 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Oct 24, 2002
Posts: 8846
Location: "It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem."~ G.K.C
|
|
Great finds (as always) TRexx.
~Doc  |
_________________
"I feel like the world is waiting to give you inspiration at every moment. You just have to pay attention." - Sean Lennon
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 31, 2007 - 08:26 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
Some of these articles are a couple months old, playing catch-up on Shatnews.
From The Huntsville Times...
Shatner proud of helping spark imaginations
[Click to see larger picture]
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By CHRIS WELCH, Times Entertainment Writer chris.welch@htimes.com
Space Camp speaker sees Mars as noble goal
William Shatner has never been an astronaut, space scientist or engineer, but he takes pride in helping influence a new Star Fleet generation as the legendary Capt. James T. Kirk from the "Star Trek" TV series.
"I don't think there's any question 'Star Trek' was a crystallizing factor in many lives," Shatner said during a phone interview Tuesday.
Tonight, Shatner will emcee the first Space Camp Hall of Fame induction at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The ceremony is part of Space Camp's 25th anniversary celebration this year.
"People, they made choices based on 'Star Trek,' which is phenomenal," he said. "People recognized 'Star Trek' as science fiction, but it still provoked their imagination and changed what they wanted to do."
Shatner, 76, will be forever remembered for his role as captain of the USS Enterprise in the "Star Trek" series from 1966 to 1969. He returned to the Enterprise bridge in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" in 1979. Between 1979 and 1991, he was in the first six "Star Trek" films and directed the fifth.
Many younger fans, however, know Shatner for his wacky commercials for Priceline.com and DirecTV, in which he parodies himself on the Enterprise. He's also earned Emmys for his roles on "The Practice" and most recently as Denny Crane on "Boston Legal." He now stars in a reality show called "Fast Cars & Superstars - Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race."
"I've been very lucky," Shatner said. "If you stay around long enough, people will find something for you to do.
"The only problem is when you stay around a long time, you don't look the same."
It's been reported that billionaire Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group and the space tourism company Virgin Galactic, offered Shatner a free ride into space on the inaugural space launch of the VSS Enterprise scheduled for 2008. But Shatner said Branson offered him "an invitation to pay him" to go up, and "he should be paying me."
Does Shatner want to head into space like Capt. Kirk?
"I'm not sure I want to go up high in a loop and fall back down," he said. "That sounds like a job to me."
Although it was 40 years ago, many Trekkers can still recite the mission of the starship Enterprise that Shatner introduced before every episode: "Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before."
What's Shatner's assessment of NASA's mission to head back to the moon and Mars?
"I think the country needs a noble objective, and among the notable objectives are peace, democracy and all the political things that abound," he said. "One of the other things we need is a goal, which becomes unattainable. As soon as we go to the moon, we want to go to Mars, and as soon as we go to Mars, then it's somewhere else.
"A constant need for a goal is a human condition, almost like a dream. It's almost unattainable, but you continue to strive, and a journey through the stars will be a means of identifying this great country."
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/ ... amp;coll=1
----
From the Weatherford Democrat (June 14)...
'Space' and 'camp' good fit for William Shatner
By Kelly Kazek, THE NEWS COURIER (ATHENS, Ala.)
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Some trivia about William Shatner, according to Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com):
Has three daughters, Leslie, Lisabeth Shatner and Melanie Shatner. He and his wife Elizabeth live in Southern California. Also has a 360-acre horse farm in Kentucky.
Is fluent in French.
Born to Ann and Joseph Shatner on March 22, 1931 in Montreal, Canada.
His clipped, dramatic narration, peppered with dramatic pauses, is often referred to as "Shatnerian."
According to various reports, a Halloween mask in Shatner's likeness was painted white and used as the mask of Michael Myers in the film "Halloween" (1978).
First performer to win Emmys for portraying the same character (Denny Crane) on two different shows "The Practice" and "Boston Legal."
Sold his kidney stone to GoldenPalace.com for $25,000. The money goes to Habitat for Humanity, a charity that builds houses for the needy.
Released an album titled "Has Been" in 2004.
STORY:
Space and camp -- a natural fit for television icon William Shatner. The words embody the two things he is most famous for.
Shatner, 76, was host Wednesday night of the first Space Camp Hall of Fame induction banquet. Best known for his role on the space sci-fi series "Star Trek" in the late 1960s, the 50-year acting veteran is now enjoying fame on television commercials for Priceline, as a recording artist, and an Emmy-winning actor on the show "Boston Legal."
He has also seemingly embraced his inner campiness, wearing it outwardly as a source of pride. He doesn't mind that his recordings, including one of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," are labeled "camp classics."
Being Shatner is like being Jack Nicholson: It doesn't matter what he does, it matters only that he is Shatner.
Shatner said he was proud to introduce the first eight inductees at the inaugural Space Camp Hall of Fame banquet.
"It's history," he said.
Story Musgrave, the only astronaut to fly on all five shuttles, was also a host of the event, along with Jim Halsell, veteran of numerous space missions.
Prior to the gala at the Von Braun Center, Shatner met with members of the media to answer questions, including one he is often asked: Why should space exploration be a priority for a country facing so many problems on the ground?
"The answer: The quest for space is the quest for knowledge," he said, the collar of his shirt open, awaiting the bow tie he would wear to the event.
Space Camp, a one-of-a-kind program allowing children and adults to learn about and simulate space travel, is an incredible concept, Shatter said, recalling how when his three adult daughters were children, camp meant "trees, horses and deer."
"Space Camp? Good Lord, what a great idea that is," he said. Combining fun with learning about science and engineering is "mystical," he said.
"Space is mystical -- the deep unknown. It's something we'll never know enough about," he said.
Shatter is linked, through his famous character Captain James T. Kirk, to space and said he is often surprised to hear people say he or "Star Trek" influenced their interest in space.
"I am awed by the fact that somebody is influenced by what I've done," he said. He does not want anyone to take his role too seriously, however. "I don't want to break this to you too suddenly, but it was just a television show."
He admits, though, that life and art can mingle and Star Trek did have an impact. "Appropriations to NASA went up when our ratings went up," he said. "And our ratings went up whenever there was a launch."
Ed Buckbee, the first director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and founder of Space Camp, was among the first eight inductees. He also saw an impact of art on life.
"What kicked it off nationally was the movie 'Space Camp,'" Buckbee said. "We had a few hundred campers then and it jumped to thousands."
The center opened as a "small, local attraction -- kind of a hometown museum," he said of what was initially called the Alabama Space & Rocket Center before it was renamed "U.S." "With Space Camp we became a true national attraction."
The camp was begun, he said, with an idea by Dr. Werhner von Braun who was touring the center with Buckbee in 1977 when he noticed children studying rockets and making notes.
"He said, 'We have band camp, football, cheerleading; why don't we have a science camp?'" Buckbee recalls.
When the camp opened in 1982, he never imagined the impact it would have.
He remembered one camper who told him, "This is the first place I've ever been where it was cool to be smart.
http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/cnhi ... ndarystory
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Aug 31, 2007 - 08:35 PM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823
|
|
From the4400guide.com...
Joel Gretsch & Melanie Shatner
by Arieanna on August 30th, 2007 @ the4400guide.com
A little known fact about Joel Gretsch is that he married the daughter of William Shatner, Melanie Shatner. The two were married in 1999 and have two daughters of their own, Kaya and Willow.
Melanie Shatner made two appearances herself on Star Trek. Once as a young girl, seen pictured here with her father, and once in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as Enterprise yeoman.
Melanie and daddy Shatner in TOS "Miri" (1966)
Yeoman Melanie in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Melanie is now the owner of an upscale clothes shop in Sherman Oaks (LA), Dari, where the family lives. Here is a picture of Joel & Melanie from 2004:
Melanie and hubby Joel at the LA premiere of Collateral (2004)
http://www.the4400guide.com/2007/08/30/ ... e-shatner/
----------------
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post subject:
Posted: Sep 02, 2007 - 01:55 AM
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 10, 2004
Posts: 823 | | | | |
FAQ
Search
Register
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
