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My first interview! Donald Shackleford: The BIGGEST Trekker I know!

June 8, 2011 by Troy Copes

One of the ideas that I had while creating this site was to interview geeks that I know, love and admire. While thinking of who to interview first, the answer was obvious…

The BIGGEST Star Trek fan I know!

I first met Donald Shackleford by chance. It was Free Comic Book Day at (then) my local comic shop. I went in, eager to get some free reads just every other person in there. I noticed their was a man dressed in the old George Reeves Superman costume. I spoke with him a little while I was there, discovered that he is a big Superman and Star Trek fan, and got a picture taken with him in the George Reeves pose.

After a few years of working for Eastman Kodak, someone new started in my area. He looked familiar, and after talking with him for about 30 seconds, I told him that he looked like the Superman guy from the comic shop, and he said “That was me!” And we have been friends ever since.

And he did the the honor of being my first interview!

1. Donald, Thank you once again for allowing me to interview you and the honor of having you as my first interview! You are, by far, the biggest Star Trek fan I know. What part of your life do you feel has most benefited from Star Trek?

“It taught me to live an ethical life. My family back ground is sorted at best. You know some of it. But when you are brought up in a atmosphere of prejudice and mistrust, it was Trek that taught me that we are only travelers in this life observe to not be judgmental, help were you can. Some of my best friends who i have had he great blessing in life to know usually have trek involved not only because we share the same interest but also the morals and personality of each.
Like you my friend Troy.”

2. Trekkie or Trekker; which do you prefer?

“Trekker for me. It is the original definition as given to us by the Great Bird himself. Besides, Trekker i think also means to trek to walk and be a part of.

3. What was the first Star Trek con you ever went to? What did you think?
“Drawbrige Inn in Newport. Marina Sertis she was a wonderful public speaker funny and attentive to the fans got to know and meet many other fans and had a blast.”

4. In the war of Kirk vs Picard, which side are you on and why?
“If you look a the history of Trek and Gene Roddenberry himself Kirk and Picard are versions of himself in different times of his life Kirk when he was younger a little more brash he was a police officer and served in WWII so at the time he wrote The Original Series. He was coming from a different time in not only the world around him but also his perception of it. Picard was a Roddenberry who was a little more seasoned and saw things in a different light. When the Next Generation came along thus the Klingons of the 60′s who seemed cut throat and ruthless had a slightly different way of doing things the Klingons were not all bad you just can’t have a all bad race.
So thus Picard was someone who came from a place where experience taught him that only fight as a last resort and negotiate and use diplomacy when you can.
Each Captains outlook has a place where needed. So i honestly don’t chose sides as such both are excellent and if I had the chance I would have served under either of them.”

5. Who is your favorite Captain out of all the series?
“Kirk only because I started with the original series when it was the only series I grew up with that have to go with what came first for me.”

6. I know you have met just about all the cast members of Star Trek, but which cast member was the most memorable and why?

“James Doohan, rest him. It was a terrible snowy day of the con i saw him at his plane was late he still stayed and made sure everyone who wanted a autograph and a photo with him was done. A true gentleman he love his fans and they loved him.”

7. I know that you geek about other things besides Star Trek; what are some of your other interests?

“Love Superman that started when I was three my grandfather would pic me up and sit me down on the couch with him and we would watch it together. Not only that but Superman represents someone who is alone but has adopted another world and culture and even though he has powers that could be described as omnipotent he uses his gifts for the benefit of others not to be better than humans but to help those in trouble when he can.
As people we each have gifts but if we each decided to use compassion kindness understanding we could change our world in a way that would make it better for all.”

8. In regards to the 2009 movie, what do you think about how Paramount is revamping Star Trek, and what do you think Gene Roddenberry would say about it? Are they heading in the right direction?

“I think it is wonderful what JJ Abrams is doing with Trek it still has the original mix but with a few new things added I think this new incarnation will have a long life.”

I thank you once again for the opportunity for allowing me to interview you. Live long and prosper.

“Thank you for the honor of asking me and I am glad that I could have helped you.”

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(Donald in his Enterprise era Captains uniform at the former Star trek Experience in Las Vegas)

Posted in Interview | Tagged geek, Interview, star, trek | 2 Comments »

What to expect in the future

June 1, 2011 by Troy Copes

Greetings my fellow geeks!

I just wanted to take a moment to let you know a little of what you can expect in some future posts. I know this may take some of the mystery out of it for some of you, but I felt it important to give some foresight.

I just emailed interview questions to a good friend of mine who has awesomely agreed to be my first interview! Once I get that back, I will be posting that interview. I hope it will be the first of many to come!

I am working on a post about Tron! Just Tron and only Tron!

I am hoping to get back into tabletop RPG’s. If/when I do, I will post about the adventures we go on, body counts and epic quotes! Perhaps… an interview with the DM/GM???

Photography! I will be starting my personal photo project soon, which involves creating photographic works for the sole purpose of releasing them under Creative Commons. I will attempt to make a page on here dedicated to just those works.

And I’m sure a few personal, non-geek related posts will find their way onto here as well. Let’s face it, geeks are people too!

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Posted in future | Tagged expect, future posts, tron | 1 Comment »

Movie Review: Exodos… a fully licensed Creative Commons movie.

May 28, 2011 by Troy Copes

Greetings Programs!

It seems as though, dispite how much I enjoy watching movies, I am somewhat picky about the movies I do watch. I will never turn down watching an awesome sci-fi movie, just to let you know, but indie films have always been hit or miss for me.

I have seen quite a few indie flicks. Some good, and some not so much. But I have never seen a movie that has been released under a full Creative Commons license until I heard about Exodos.

Exodos takes place in Northern Europe during winter time. It is about a photographer named Boris, who is known for photographing pantyhose fetish. Because of all the crap going on in the world, he starts to suffer from erectile dysfunction. As the movie continues, we meet other people who live in the same town as Boris who all become affected by his declining mood. Everyone’s story ties into his, and in the end, he realizes what he can do to help improve his part of the problem.

This is a very brief synopsis of Exodos. The movie has so many facets about it, that it seems like a movie that the more you watch it, the more you get out of it, and the more you realize how much it reflects at least some aspect of your life. I am a photographer, so I can relate a lot with Boris, minus the ED issue. But aside from knowing what it is like to get burnt out on a photo project, I also relate to the environmental issues of the movie. Exodos is filled with environmental awareness. Jackie, a key character in the film, helps Boris see a little of what is going on in the world, even in his own city. Jackie also helps others in the film turn some aspect of their lives around to be more echo-friendly, even to the smallest degree.

The production value of Exodos is extremely well done! You can tell that great care was taken with the lighting, cinematography, pre and post production, everything looks very professional! At times, though, the sound levels are a little off, but to me, that only adds to the movie. Their were a few times where it did make it a little hard to understand the international broken English dialog, which I absolutely LOVE, by the way!

In all, this movie I highly recommend! Not only is it artistic and full of environmental issues, but it is 100% FULLY licensed under Creative Commons. Until July 2011, you can only watch Exodos at screenings that are aproved by Retsina-Film, the production studo. But fear not, like the movie, to host a screening is 100% free and easy to do! And I HIGHLY recommend it!

To host a screening, watch trailers and to learn more about the movie, Exosos, visit exodos.cc

To leanr more about Creative Commons, and how CC is helping the creative and academic world, visit creativecommons.org

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This Exodos movie review blog post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Posted in Review | Tagged commons, creative, exodos, movie, review | 1 Comment »

A new home for an Uncommon geek

May 21, 2011 by Troy Copes

Greetings my fellow geeks!

I’m not sure how to begin this. I could tell you about how I’ve tried to start a few blogs here and there, only to let them sit and collect the Internets version of dust, but that would take about as much time as it took to type this sentence. So, how about I tell you all a little about who I am. But, before I do, let me take a moment to thank my Girlfriend Alisha, for the insperation to once again take up the keyboard and create this blog; the creators of the CC Licensed movie, Exodos, for inspiring me to think more about art; my Photo design teacher Rodney, for giving me the spark to never stop; and Wil Wheaton, who, through podcasts, helped me discover Creative Commons, and who teaches every geek that it is ok to be yourself and to not let what others think keep you down.

My life as a geek started when I was 2 years old. The very first movie I remember seeing was Return of the Jedi when it first came out brand new in 1983. I barely remember anyhting about that day. I remember seeing Luke get his robotic hand shot. then I remember the scene where the Falcon turns around from the new Death Star and a squad of TIE Interceptors breaks formation as they fly round it. Then I remember my father carrying me out of the theater in his arms. From what I can remember, that was the beginning of my life as a geek.

But, it didn’t end there. 1983 was also the year and age that I played my very first video game! Pitfall for the good old 2600! I once again barely remember this except for bits and pieces. That began my brother and I’s love of video games, and we have our Uncle Dick to thank for that! I’m sure our parents think the same, but in a different light.

I was raised on both Star Trek and Star Wars. I have nothing but love for both. And when i say both, I mean the original Trilogy. The only redeeming part of the new Star Wars Trilogy is Revenge of the Sith. Mainly for the light saber battles! My best friends Ex said it best when she explained her views on both; Star Wars is visual. It is meant to be witnessed. Star Trek, how it uses real science, explains and develops the characters back stories and shows you so much of the universe… is meant to be lived! And that is how I feel as well! Despite being raised on both, I feel closer to Star Trek. Not only for the characters (I chose Picard in the fight, thank you!), but mostly for the technology and how Gene Roddenberry collaborated with JPL to make the technology of Star Trek as real as he could!

I was raised on The Next Generation (TNG). Kids my age who were lucky enough to be allowed to stay up that late to watch at least half an episode like I was related most with Wesley Crusher played by none other than the King of all Geeks, Wil Wheaton himself. I remember when I was in Second grade pretending to be Wesley’s younger brother. Walking around school with my com badge, making the door opening and closing sounds as I walked into or out of a room. I even drew an exact replica layout of the navigation console on my desk at school!

I got into RPG’s in middle school thanks to my friend Tony. DnD and Vampire were the main table tops. We spent roughly 3 years almost nonstop playing Magic: The Gathering. As far as I’m concerned, Fifth edition was the last good expansion. I enjoy playing DnD. I really do. but I get frustrated a little too easily with it. I blame myself. Well, mostly myself. Well, mostly bad DM’s. Well, mainly the dice that bad DM’s let me borrow.

They say you never forget your first Doctor. For me, I will never forget my first Dalek! The very first Star Trek convention I ever went to was in Indiana held by Starbase Indy. I remember pointing out this black and white robot and asking my parents if they could buy it for me. My father said no, because it was worth too much money and that I would open it and play with it. I didn’t find out until YEARS later what it was. It was an original Dalek toy in mint condition! I’m still not sure which series it was from. My parents tell me the story of how they let me get kidnapped by a group of Klingons at that same con and allowed them to take me all over the place, and eventually returned me to my parents when they discovered that I had a stuffed tribble behind my back. And to be honest, I never started watching Dr. Who until last year. Shh!

What is to come within the next few days, I hear you asking? … inside my head… A layout and graphics change for starters. I got the main thing done, and what was getting the URL attached to the blog, which is being hosted through WordPress. I also am going to be doing a lot of work on ehre that will be released under Creative Commons. I am also a photographer, and will be doing a series that will be 100% CC Licensed! And some posts will be CC as well! For more information about Creative Commons, please check out creativecommons.org

My hope for this blog is that it will become somewhat frequented by geeks of all kinds. I hope to do at least one post a week, and that maybe… someday… Wil Wheaton himself will read my postings and enjoy!

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged commons, creative, exodos, First post, geek, star, trek, uncommon, wars | 1 Comment »

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