Shore Leave (US convention)/2009
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Shore Leave (US convention) |
| Dates: | July 10-12, 2009 |
| Frequency: | |
| Location: | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Type: | |
| Focus: | multi-fandom |
| Organization: | |
| Founder: | |
| Founding Date: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Shore Leave is an annual fan-run convention that takes place in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
It was founded by the Star Trek Association of Towson which continues to run it. The first convention took place in 1979; the con was still running as of 2025.
The con's focus was initially on Star Trek, but it has since broadened to include other science fiction media.
2009: Shore Leave 31
It took place July 10-12, 2009.
2009 Photos
- photos; [ archive link] (mostly 2008 and 2009)
2009: Programming
- Showcase: Con Skit: Opening sketch: Star Trek: The Return of James Kirk — The Musical, Episode MST-ed: VGR: “Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy” by Mystery Trekkie Theater [1] (see for more information on the con's skits in general)
- “Housecalls” a skit Robert Picardo wrote for himself and Ethan based on their characters on ST: Voyager
- other unknown
2009: Con Reports
It's hard to believe the annual Shore Leave convention in Maryland is 31 years old this year. Those decades saw the original Star Trek series give rise to spinoffs that have their own devoted followers, films both good (The Voyage Home), and bad (The Undiscovered Country), and the deaths of some of the original stars. Just when a lot of observers believed the franchise was dead, it got a jolt from the reboot released this year, which was simply titled, Star Trek. (One of the panels at Shore Leave was called "Oh Thank Heaven, for Star Trek XI"). Shore Leave has evolved through it all, though the Hunt Valley Inn's evolution may leave something to be desired: take one look at the Blair Witch-style twig art hanging in the bar, or the neon blue, yellow and green photos of corn silos hanging outside the Hunt Ballroom, and you'll know what I mean.
This year's Star Trek guests were from Voyager -- Robert Picardo, who plays The Doctor, and Ethan Phillips, better know as Neelix. Jason Momoa and Rachel Luttrell from Stargate: Atlantis also attended, and were very entertaining when they spoke together about their experiences on the show: It seems Jason had a little fun hiding Rachel's chair on the set.
Writers' panels included Ann C. Crispin, Robert Greenberger, and Keith DeCandido, who was royally roasted on Saturday night. The traditional Shore Leave Blood Drive and Maryland Food Bank Drive raised money and supplies for worthy causes.
The icing on the cake, for me, is always Mystery Trekkie Theater 3000, which takes place Sunday evening. As with the original Mystery Science Theater 3000, it starts with a skit. This year's skit was a takeoff on Sunset Boulevard, with a "dead" body floating in the hotel pool (and being unceremoniously shoved aside by swimmers), and a deluded Captain Kirk in the Gloria Swanson role, convinced he is to star in the new Star Trek film ("I played Chris Pine -- was I good in the role?"). In honor of this year's guest, the riffed episode was from Voyager: the one where the Doctor's programming goes haywire, and his daydreams take over his life. Mystery Trekkie Theater is always laugh out loud funny, but it's bittersweet because it's also the end of Shore Leave. When it's over, the only thing left to do is pack and say good-bye.
The new year will be here soon enough, and by January or February, the guest list for Shore Leave 32 will be firming up. Who will they have? Someone from Star Trek XI -- the real next generation -- who knows? [2]
[...]Afterward, we went back to the dealer’s room where we hung around with Kathy Resch, Robin, and company until it was time for the panel. This year it was hosted by Kathy and Robin, and was entitled, “Where Does Fandom Go From Flere?” Robin started off by asking everyone how they felt about the new movie, who loved it, who hated it, etc. Kathy said that based on what she saw on all the live journals, the movie was definitely having an impact on “our” K/S because it was generating a lot of interest in TOS. Shelley said that she thought the movie was reenergizing K/S while Elise said that while the movie may have been good, we could have gotten something better. Robin stated that the old timers of K/S were always going to be there and remain loyal to their fandom and the newbies were always welcome, they just needed to be sure to get their wallets out. Kathy then said a lot of K/S internet fans fell that print zines were illegal because money changes hands, whereas stories on the net were free. Robin, who has had personal experience with this very issue, was quick to point out that Paramount has absolutely no problem with zine editors these days and if they felt the editors were doing something wrong, they would have stopped them a long time ago.
Carolyn S. then said she thought the inclusion of the Spock/Uhura romance in the movie was the producers’ way of heading off K/S. Joyce then mentioned that she was surprised that there was very little movie merchandise for sale in the dealer’s room, yet she noticed a lot of new TOS items, including T- shirts. Robin said she thought the movie was excellent, but considered it an A/U. But she was quick to point out that it seemed to be renewing interest in her zines, as she recently heard from an old fan who wanted to know what issue of First Time Robin was up to. When she discovered it was 63, she was like, “Wow, last time I bought from you, you were only up to number 21!”
Shelley said that while she would always love the original series, to her, the new movie was like a shiny new toy. Robin thought the Kirk and Spock in the movie were very young compared to the series and Shelley said we could even look at the movie Kirk and Spock as “our” Kirk and Spock when they were just starting out. Then someone in the audience said that most 19 year olds really weren’t sure of their sexuality compared to most 30 year olds. Robin said that the Kirk of TOS flirted with everyone and everything, including rocks! Carolyn S. said that Spock of the movies had to go backward in time to become the Spock of the series. She said that the movie Spock (Quinto) was very unlike the Spock she knew of TOS because he was someone who was very decisive and had no problems taking charge, including throwing Kirk off the ship. Virginia felt that the producers destroyed our Spock when they destroyed Vulcan and his mother. Robin then suggested we give them some more time because this movie was just chapter one. Elise said that didn’t really matter because there was no way to connect the two.
Robin said that as far as she was concerned, the more people involved in Star Trek, whatever the format, the better. She had no doubt that Gene Roddenberry, wherever he was, was probably doing the can-can because he was so happy his dream was still alive and well after all these years. She also mentioned that this year there were fewer non K/Srs walking by her table in the dealer’s room, going “Yuk!” Kathy said she saw a couple of guys snarking, to which Robin replied, “Well, one of them came back later to take a closer look and he really seemed interested.
[...]
Shelley said that while she really enjoyed the movie, it was not really a part of her K/S. Robin said it’s just like different stories in different zines - some people will love a certain story while others will hate it. That’s why editors made sure to put a variety of stories in each zine - so that there would be something for everyone. Shelley said that when the internet came along, she was very concerned it would destroy print zines, but that never happened, so maybe we had nothing to worry about when it came to the move destroying “our” K/S. Robin then asked if anyone was worried about that happening and we all responded with a resounding “NO!”
Deeb then said she remembered how at a panel a few years ago, we discussed how all the new fandoms springing up on the web could possibly destroy K/S and that never happened, either. Virginia said that while she didn’t want to see the movie, she felt she’d better, otherwise, how could she have an opinion on it, one way or the other. She said that to her, it felt more like a Star Wars movie than a Trek movie. Carolyn S. said she had a real problem with the ending, where they just plopped Kirk in the command chair. Robin agreed, saying that in the real military, that would never happen. Debbie C. said that she saw our Kirk in the movie Kirk. Kathy Resch then said that in every K/S A/U story, the characters were stripped down to the core, but they were still there. Deeb agreed, saying that Kirk was always Kirk and Spock was always Spock. The core remained the same. Carolyn S. then said, “But if I head to Vulcan, will it still be there?” Robin replied, “Of course, whatever you want.” Carolyn replied, “No, what I see, I believe.” JB then piped up, “For me, I just roll down the window and throw out what I don’t like as if it were a Kentucky Fried Chicken bone.” We all laughed and thus the panel came to an end. [3]
References
- ^ "This year's skit was a takeoff on Sunset Boulevard, with a "dead" body floating in the hotel pool (and being unceremoniously shoved aside by swimmers), and a deluded Captain Kirk in the Gloria Swanson role, convinced he is to star in the new Star Trek film ("I played Chris Pine -- was I good in the role?")." (part of Mystery Trekkie Theater 3000) -- The Wright Stuff, newsletter for U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
- ^ The Wright Stuff, newsletter for U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
- ^ from The K/S Press #155