Shore Leave 31 Report
By Miles McLoughlin of The SciFi Diner

This past weekend my friend & I had the opportunity to attend the sci fi convention known as Shore Leave. It ran from July 10 thru the 12. This was Shore Leave’s thirty first convention. Shore Leave is held in Baltimore MD. It’s probably known as a larger medium sized convention when compared with some of the larger conventions.  My friend & I have our own sci fi pod cast called THE SCI FI DINER. We were thus privileged to have some interview time with many of the guests. Which we took full advantage of.

Clifton Collins Jr.

Shore Leave boasted a very sizable guest list and if you were a Star Trek or Stargate Atlantis fan, this was your convention. For the Star Trek fans, they were treated to have Clifton Collins who played Ayel, Nero’s second in command in the new Star Trek movie. Shore Leave also had Robert Picardo and Ethan Philips from Star Trek Voyager. For Stargate Atlantis fans,  the guests included Jason Momoa, Rachel Luttrell and if you were a fan of both, you also had Robert Picardo. Other guests included Miracle Laurie from Doll House, Christopher Heyerdahl currently in Sanctuary, but has done lots of sci fi, Adrienne Wilkinson probably best known right now in the video game ; Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but has also done a lot of other TV, Vanessa Angel who’s credits include Weird Science, Stargate and was in the movie King Pin w/ Randy Quad & Woody Harrelson and John Schaech known in the Horror genre for his work in Prom Night & Houdini. Not only did Shore Leave have such notable guests, they also had a slew of authors, clubs, and vendors. The Star Trek

Vanessa Angel

independent fan film; Star Ship Farragut debuted a portion of their first animated episode. Star Trek Novelist Keith Decandido was roasted by his fellow Star Trek Novel writers for a charity for the Red Cross. It was believed $1300 was raised. Fans of the Star Trek novels had a chance to interact with the authors and ask them questions in panel rooms. Vendors were selling memorabilia from just about every sci fi genre. You had your choice of DVDs, T Shirts, toys and other collectables. Also, all of the guests were available for autographs and for a fee a professional done photo with the guest of their choice. Being that this was not a extremely large con, say like ComiCon, there was a chance for some time with the guests.

A high light for me was to watch Robert Picardo and Ethan Philips bring their “House Calls” show to the convention. In it Picardo & Philips reenact their characters from ST Voyager in a two man play. A very entertaining and humorous performance. Both Picardo & Phillips still have the chemistry that made their characters fun to watch on ST Voyager.

Another highlight for me was that they’re were efforts to raise money for charity. As I stated before,  the authors of the Star Trek novels were raising money for the Red Cross. Also, the Red Cross was taking blood donations. There was a group out of Philadelphia called USS Sovereign. They’re primarily a Star Trek fan club, but they also love other Sci Fi. They built a mock up of the Stargate. For $1 donation a guest can get their picture taken in front of the Stargate. The money raised was to help children who were victims of sexual abuse. Another group called the Klingon Imperial Guard had a jail/torture chamber. For $5 a fan can get “tortured” by a lovely Klingon woman. The money raised was going to Toys for Tots. Lastly, Robert Picardo was having a charity dinner to raise money for his cousin’s grandson; Drew. Drew was born w/ brain cancer. The money raised was to help with the medical bills. With the convention’s efforts and the money raised at the dinner, they were able to raise $4500.

At the dinner Robert Picardo thanked the fans who helped raise money for his relatives who were going through this difficult time. He said that sci fi fans are some of the most loyal & giving.

Miracle Laurie

I had a great weekend. I got to meet some great people. I found many of the guests were very down to earth people and had some great conversations with them. I encourage the sci fi fans to support the fan run smaller conventions. There’s greater chance to interact with the guests and from my experience the fan run conventions try their best to please. That’s my report of Shore Leave 31.

By Miles McLoughlin

Check out more videos from Shore Leave 31 here.

Be sure to listen to The SciFi Diner.

Also, check out more pictures from Shore Leave 31 here.