WilliamShatner.com :: VIVA LAS VEGAS...STAR TREK STYLE

VIVA LAS VEGAS...STAR TREK STYLE
Posted by: LeopardHead on Friday, August 16, 2002 - 11:13 PM

	On Saturday, August 3rd, Creation Entertainment presented Leonard Nimoy with their Lifetime Achievement Award…well, actually William Shatner did! Bill was a surprise last minute entry to the guest list for the Las Vegas convention and he spent almost an hour on stage talking to a packed room of Star Trek fans. He spoke with great passion about several of his upcoming projects including two literary entries, I'm Working On That and Captain's Peril, due for release in October.
<p align="right"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">August 16, 2002</font> <font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">On Saturday, August 3rd, Creation Entertainment presented Leonard Nimoy with their Lifetime Achievement Award…well, actually William Shatner did! Bill was a surprise last minute entry to the guest list for the Las Vegas convention and he spent almost an hour on stage talking to a packed room of Star Trek fans. He spoke with great passion about several of his upcoming projects including two literary entries, I'm Working On That (now available in bookstores) and Captain's Peril, due for release in October. IWOT takes a look at the science of Star Trek, while Captain's Peril is the sequel to Bill's last Star Trek novel, Preserver.</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">One of the funniest moments came as Bill was taking questions from the audience members lined up on either side of the stage. A young lady came up to the microphone and told Bill how as a young girl her toes would curl when she saw him kissing women on Star Trek. As she and Bill spoke back and forth to each other, she skirted the question that she so desperately wanted to ask. Then, Bill broke into a big smile and said, "Do you want me to make your toes curl?" Everyone laughed and applauded. The girl was ecstatic as Bill held out his hand to help her up on stage. She threw her arms around him...and after she got a hug and kiss, she jumped up and down enthusiastically waving her arms in the air. Then she hopped off the stage and continued back to her seat, leaping and gesturing wildly all the way, reminiscent of contestants on The Price is Right. It was absolutely hysterical. The crowd loved it and Bill was laughing pretty hard, too! </font> <p align="center"> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Bill said he'd done a great deal of traveling the previous week, having started out in Nantucket for a charity event on Saturday, then onto New York for Fright Night publicity on Monday, then Lexington, Kentucky for a horse show on Wednesday. Finally, on the day of the convention, he'd flown into Las Vegas! He went on to say that when he was at the Lexington airport on a recent trip, he was subj</font><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">ected to a "random" search. He mentioned how embarrasing it was standing there with his arms outstretched being wanded while people walked by and exclaimed, "Look, there's William Shatner!" </font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">That led into him talking about how he's begun practicing yoga on airplanes to relieve tension. Bill credited his wife Elizabeth with introducing him to it. He mentioned that on a recent flight he got up to stretch his back (in the area between the galley and the restroom) and bent over to touch his toes. He demonstrated...there he was on stage, bending over, touching his toes, mike in hand. He went on and said he heard a "click." Something locked up in his back and he was unable to straighten up! It was at that point that the pilot came out of the cockpit and said, "Are you William Shatner?" Bill said he was. Then the pilot said, "Can I have your autograph." Bill laughed as he remembered.</font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Following Bill's appearance, Leonard Nimoy came out. </font><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> He spoke for almost an hour, and when his time was up and he started to thank the crowd, Adam Malin of Creation Entertainment asked him to stay for just a little longer. Then one by one, Adam introduced fellow members of the original Star Trek cast: Walter Keonig, George Takei and Nichelle Nichols. Each of them spoke for a few minutes and expressed their admiration for Leonard. Nichelle rendered hers in song...and she ended her tribute to Leonard with a long kiss. </font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Then it was Bill's turn. He came back onto the stage, text in hand and read a letter from Leonard's son, Adam. Then he pulled out another letter which he said was "from MELIS Productions," then laughed and added, "That's me." After he went through a long list of Leonard's accomplishments, Bill jokingly credited himself with teaching Leonard everything he knew--which sent both of them into hysterical laughter. </font> <p align="center"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Then Bill presented Leonard with Creation Entertainment's Lifetime Achievement Award</font>. <p align="center"> <p align="center"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The love between the two old friends was obvious to all present. </font> <p align="center"> <p align="center"><font color="#FFFFFF" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And then Bill, Leonard, Nichelle, Walter and George posed for pictures.</font> <p align="center"> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Everyone that we've talked to that attended this convention is still raving about the marvelous time they had. Creation put on a great show!</font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Bill has a few more conventions lined up over the next couple of months. The next one is a mini-convention following the SPPLAT paintball event on August 31st in Joliet, Illinois. You can view a list of Bill's upcoming appearances online in his calendar. It is updated on a regular basis.</font> <p align="left">  <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Contributed by Sandy Moruzzi and Jane Singer</font> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">If you missed one of our past columns, you can view them in the SFI Archive. Our next column will appear on August 16, 2002. Meanwhile, if you are a member of SFI, the newsletter will be on its way to you this weekend.</font> <hr /> <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="" size="2"><font color="#FFFFFF">Shatner & Friends International is William Shatner's official fan club. We are a community of friends drawn together by an appreciation of William Shatner, the actor and the man. </font></font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">O</font><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">ur first newsletter, The Best of Times, is posted online. Each issue features the latest news about Bill and his activities, exclusive interviews, articles, lots of candid photos, charity updates and much more. The next one will be published in late September.</font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> We will post time sensitive information concerning Bill's appearance schedule within Bill's online calendar. It's updated regularly, so keep checking back. </font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><font size="-1">If you're interested in joining the Club, annual membership includes a beautiful autographed 8x10 photograph of William Shatner as Captain Kirk, a copy of Bill's credits, a short biography, a subscription to The Best of Times and the opportunity to participate in our annual Shatner Weekend. Membership also grants access to the Captain's Club, an exclusive members-only part of WilliamShatner.com which includes a bulletin board and Club merchandise. Click here to join.</font></font> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">We are excited to be part of WilliamShatner.com and we will be making regular updates to the website. </font>