Star Trek

I can’t believe Star Trek is coming out today in the States and I’m not there to see it. I’ve been reading the news and watching some of the reaction clips on CNN and am SO happy that it has been positively received. Such strong response signals a successful re-birth of a franchise that was, frankly, intertwined with my family and friends growing up.

Nearly every Saturday and Sunday evening in the 1970’s Hackman household found my brothers and I (and quite often Mom & Dad) watching the crew of the Enterprise exploring strange, new, worlds. My geekness extended to:

* making lego phasers which were displayed on my bookcase and kept “at the ready” in case of a Romulan sneak attack of my bedroom
* reading every Star Trek novel that came out in the 1980’s
* heaping abuse on the first season of The Next Generation
* endless hours of discussing with friends every nuance of the show
* and Yes, I did go to a convention

Seeing Star Trek movies have been sort of a group activity with me and my friends over the years. Living in Qingdao China has made that difficult. I had floated the idea of flying down to Hong Kong to see the new movie but, although my wife has become an amateur Trekkie over the years, the expense of flying to another country to see a movie was quickly nixed by her. 🙂

Thats when good news arrived! I read online that the cinema here in Qingdao will be showing the new Star Trek movie starting next week. The information is all in Chinese so I printed it out and took it to our Chinese staff to interpret. They were kind enough to call the cinema and discover that although they couldn’t confirm it yet, believed they would have some screenings in English!! Hurray!!

I was so excited I invited the whole office staff to join me and I would spring for the tickets of any person that would come with. So, we’ll see if next Star Trek comes to China…in English so I can once again join the crew of the Enterprise boldly going where no man has gone before.