Trekkies to meet in Vulcan

"We were actually named Vulcan back in 1910 by a Canadian Pacific Railway surveyor who had a fascination with Roman Mythology, and of course Vulcan is the Roman god of fire in the forge", explains Dayna Dickens, who, as Vulcan's tourism co-ordinator works in offices designed to resemble a spaceship. For hard-core Star Trek fans, however, the coincidence was a godsend: for the last 16 years,  thousands of Trekkies converge in the Canadian town of Vulcan annually for the Galaxyfest Star Trek convention.

From Galaxyfest 2009. Image source: Vulcan Tourism

Last year, the roughly 2,000 native Vulcanians became hosts to about 23,800 visitors from what you might call outer space - Enterprise crew, Klingons, and assorted intergalactic humanoids, all of whom boldly came in style and appropriate costume, and in greater numbers than ever before partly thanks to "Mr Spock's", i.e. actor Leonard Nimoy's, endorsement of the town's efforts. Many of the locals embrace their town's incidental fame with patriotic enthusiasm: the mayor dresses up in Star Trek uniform and greets you like a true Vulcan, and the baker sports Mr Spock ears. There's a whole gallery of photos from the annual Galaxyfest here. This year's convention - the 17th one - takes place between 11-13 June.

Image source: BBC

Sources: BBC, Vulcan Tourism office.

The Agronaut

A lone and lonesome space agronomist experimenting with crops on another planet, tries to tackle mutant carrots. 'The Agronaut' has been written and directed by Marcin Wasilewski (I wonder whether he's related to the Polish jazzman of the excellent Marcin Wasilewski Trio?)