the Dalaverse

So my dad officially retired this week (which may get its own post later), and today I took him out for a Geek Day. We got tickets for bigass Trek at the Stephen Udvay-Hazy center, but this time were smart enough to get there early to actually see the museum. It's basically two hangars full of shit that flies, or once flew at any rate.

The slightly smaller hanger has the Space Shuttle Enterprise and a bunch of other space-related stuff, rockets and modules and whatnot (mostly rockets, actually - I got kind of bored and Enterprise sucks up all the attention in the room anyway. It is one GQMF despite not actually, y'know, going to space).

The Boeing hanger is absolutely ginormous (seriously, SO MUCH SPACE) and is chock full of more atmosphere-bound flying things. A lot of the smaller, less fragile craft hang from the ceiling and are best viewed from the mezzanine levels (I liked the little red plane that was hanging upside down). On the ground, you've got your early flying machines (including a working replica of the Wright Flyer which seems to have its own personal docent to demonstrate how it works), your WWI and WWII fighters and stuff, helicopters, seaplanes, hang-gliders, hot air balloon baskets - basically if it's capable of lifting itself off the ground, it's there. The thing that was basically a FLYING CARPET blew my mind - it's like a platform with an engine underneath where one person stands and, presumably, shoots the hell out of something). The museum's baby is obviously the Blackbird SR71, as it's sitting front and center near the entrance. Very sleek and black and foreboding. They also have the Enola Gay and a massive Concorde, both of which are too big for the main building on the Mall. Oh, and there's the Observation Tower where you can see planes take off and land at Dulles.

I'm not even into aviation and it was still hella impressive. It's entirely object-focused and could maybe use some more interactive material (there are a couple of simulators, but you have to pay a fee. I'd like to say that I was too embarrassed to stand in line with all the kids, but actually I was just out of cash). Still, there's such a wealth of cool shit to look at, displayed in such a way that you can see it from every angle, that you don't much care about anything else. I could even see the argument that additional displays would detract from how interesting the things themselves are. It doesn't have the sheer volume of learning material that the Air and Space Museum proper does, but on the other hand it's not crammed full of people every hour of every SINGLE day so that it takes you TWENTY MINUTES standing in line JUST to get through the security checks and then you can't effing breathe, much less get close enough to the displays to read the labels! Uh, not that I'm bitter or anything. Anyway, two thumbs up, despite the $15 parking fee. They're building a new conservation/restoration hangar so they need my money more than I do.

I also financially contributed to culture by purchasing two packs of my beloved Space Ice Cream. Mmmm, Space Ice Cream, you are a hard, crunchy brick of deliciousness. I'm sad they discontinued the peaches, those were good too - now they only have the Neapolitan Ice Cream (which is what I always get), the ice cream sandwich and the strawberries. The shop had the Christmas ornaments I wanted so bad too - Dad promised he'd order me the Natural History this year from the catalog. See, they're those flat gold-tone ones and there's one for each of my museums: the Natural History is The Elephant, the Air and Space is the Wright Flyer (there's an alternative version too I think), and the American History is the Roosevelt Teddy Bear. It is one of my short-term life goals to own the matched set, but it's hard to convince oneself to shell out money for Christmas ornaments in June.

They had a small selection of Trek stuff, which included action figures - Kirk, Spock Prime, Uhura, Scotty, and Bones. It took all my willpower not to buy at least a Kirk and Bones for nefarious purposes, but I resisted (they are not the best likenesses, truth be told).

Then it was movie time! This was Viewing #4, #2 in a four-hundred seat, six-story IMAX format (surrounded by SHIT THAT FLIES). It was Viewing #2 for Dad, and I honestly cannot remember him ever seeing a movie in the theater twice. Like, if it happened it would've been "The Lion King" with me, is what I'm saying. It continues to be hardcore awesome and I will apparently cry through the opening sequence every single time. I saw the tribble finally! That was exciting. Also, my slash goggles have sort of become Kirk/McCoy goggles. It's just, they manage to touch each other in every single scene except when Kirk is being all up in Spock's grille. Also, do you know what the very last shot of the film is? Yes, it is a wide shot of the bridge with Kirk in the chair. And just before the shot ends, he looks at Bones on his right. I shit you not. It is in the TEXT.

I also went looking for women in pants. It's difficult, because when there are wide shots with lots of cadets the women are actually only identifiable by the fact that they're wearing miniskirts; and the closer shots are generally waist-up so you can't tell. However, I did note that several of the Enterprise crew have the long-sleeved uniform shirts - specifically the woman who says they have to get away from the black hole at Vulcan, and the one who can't beam Kirk and Sulu up. So...at least they have sleeves? It does bug me that there's apparently no rank insignia on the short-sleeved uniforms. I thought for awhile that all of the grey-uniformed women wear pants, like the one who throws Bones out of the bathroom on the shuttle, but there's at least one at the commendation ceremony who's in a skirt. I dunno, I got too distracted by wardrobe on this go-round, obviously.

Oh, and I've noticed this before but haven't mentioned it - the Kobayashi Maru jumpsuits look so much like the old command uniforms on the Kelvin. It's a nice visual callback.

One last thing, maybe my favorite part of seeing this in the theater and a part I won't get by any other method of viewing: the sounds the audience makes when Leonard Nimoy shows up. Somewhere between a contented sigh and a happy "Oh!" That is some fannish love, right there.

Okay, now I am writing. This is a new one. This one is Five Times Kirk Woke Up Alone In McCoy's Bed and One Time He Didn't.