A couple of weeks ago, I waxed poetic about
Star Trek's Golden Anniversary.
Even though I still haven't seen
Star Trek Beyond yet, I did manage to go to the
Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds exhibit at Seattle's
EMP Museum (Experience Music Project).
I was hoping to venture up to the Emerald City on
Star Trek's exact anniversary day, but my wife and I were too busy. However, we both had last weekend off while her sister and brother-in-law were visiting us. This turned out to be the perfect outing for all of us since we grew grew up watching the show.
The museum allowed visitors to take photographs, but did not allow the use of camera flashes. I don't like using the flash anyway, so this didn't bother me initially.
However, the exhibit hall was very dark. As a result, I had to max out nearly every editing function on my computer to make the subjects of each picture discernible. This process took over a dozen hours of sifting through 149 photos. Even with 89 usable pictures, it was difficult to obtain a good image without some video reflection, or lens-flare from an overhead light.
What follows is a sample montage of our adventure.
Entering the strange new world...
 |
| (...and taking many small steps for "Fankind") |
The Starships
 |
| (The USS Enterprise) |
 |
| (USS Voyager and Galaxy Class Enterprise) |
 |
| (USS Voyager) |
 |
| (Deep Space Nine) |
The "History" of Star Trek
 |
| (Where the various shows fit in to our "future history") |
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| (There's quite a gap between the Original Series (TOS) and the Next Generation) |
The Museum's Artifacts
 |
| (The exhibit's main floor) |
The
Original Series:
 |
| (The Enterprise's bridge with Kirk and McCoy's uniforms) |
 |
| (Helm and navigation control) |
 |
| (A blurry picture of a control panel) |
The
Next Generation:
Deep Space Nine:
Voyager:
Enterprise:
Adversaries in Star Trek
The Federation's opponents ranged from worth Cold War Era stand-ins...
 |
| (Klingon weapons and battlecruiser model) |
...to a terrifying "
Horde of Alien Locusts"...
...along with the misunderstood...
...to the darn-right cute & cuddly.
Sometimes our enemies are our darker selves.
But the best Star Trek nemesis by far is...
...well, at least the original.
Star Trek Props
What I found most remarkable about the props used in
Star Trek was--how unremarkable they are.
 |
| (Some familiar items used in the Original Series) |
After half-a-century, they even look shoddy compared to more updated props.
However, this is what makes them so amazing. That a pop culture phenomena was launched on such an small budget, making due with whatever the prop manager could cobble together.
Oddly enough, the exhibit I, my family and even a coworker liked the most was this diorama showing how the Enterprise Set was arranged.
 |
| (The real Starship Enterprise) |
Star Trek Creator and Patron
Here's another reason to "love Lucy:"
Star Trek's Impact on Today's Culture
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| (Star Trek themed merchandise) |
 |
| (More 'Trek merchandise) |
Interactive Displays
In addition to scampering through a futuristic crawlspace one can even star in their own "movie," which consists of virtually beaming down to some hostile environment and resolve a critical situation that only
main characters can accomplish.
 |
| ("Away Team Instructions") |
In this story, I
drew the short straw heroically volunteered to beam aboard a damaged freighter about to crash into an inhabited planet. My assignment was to destroy the ship's
Phlebotinum Core--with a hand phaser--before it reached the planet's atmosphere.
 |
| (A one-man Away Team preparing to beam aboard a stricken vessel) |
My mission was a success, probably because I wasn't wearing a
Red Shirt for this operation. (I tried uploading the video my wife took, but I couldn't get it to play here on
Blogger).
Speaking of attire, I didn't see any
cosplayers at the exhibit, but back in May there was an
opening day costume party.
The
Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds exhibit will continue at the EMP through 17 February 2017.
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