Note from Captain Pyke: Our good friend and Trekcast co-host / ST:TE bartender, Darren Benjamin, just dropped us a line and link to his custom Star Trek birthday iCal Calendar. We think it's an awesome public service to the Trek fandom-at-large and wanted to share it with all of you. We'll let Darren describe it in his own words:

That's right kiddies, the universe's most mischievous omnipotent being is heading to The CW's The Secret Circle. John De Lancie is set to play Royce Armstrong, the powerful, yet recluse grandfather of Jake (Chris Zylka). Royce comes out of hiding to reveal disturbing conspiracy theories about the events of 16 years ago and how the present-day circle is involved.

I know that technically I’m the artist, but the head honcho is busy right now recording a podcast, and somebody’s got to tell you guys that we have a new, fully licensed, Star Trek Fine Art site called Bye Bye Robot. We’re extremely excited to announce its official launch, today Feburary 29th, 2012. Leap Year…what better time is there for a time traveling robot to announce his appearance on the scene, than a day that only comes around once every four years?

We met Geek Nation Tours at the last Vegas Khhaaan!. They are a great company that essentially leads small groups on vacations of geekdom paradise. Each vacation tour revolves around a “geek genre”. Some of their tour themes include; Twilight, Anime, Civil War History, and of course our favorite… Star Trek.

We agree with you J.J. We aren’t super happy about it either. Over the years we’ve taken the matter of movie spoilers into our own hands by “tuning-out” when an anticipated title is mentioned. We just don’t read or watch any news about movies we want to remain a surprise. Oh, we hear them mentioned...and feel the thrill of anticipation with each new “avoided story”. But somehow, instead of forgetting about the “avoided” movie, we become more focused on it and are all the more excited when we finally do watch it.

As with it's predecessor, the next film in the J.J. Abrams Trek universe is currently being shot and is veiled in secrecy.. Everyone is still up in arms about who the villian will turn out to be (possibly played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and how the plot will twist and turn. J.J. does an amazing job of keeping his projects underwraps and to be honest we prefer it that way. In this world of spoliers it's hard to still be suprised by a film's storyline.

Star Trek historian, author, & friend of Subspace Communique, Larry Nemecek, is still in the process of traveling all over the country and gathering interviews for his upcoming film The Con of Wrath. In fact, he just recently finished interviews with Kerry O'Quinn (father of Starlog Magazine & more), his old pal Eric Stillwell (TNG writer & Star Trek fiction author), & Kett Kettering. Both Eric & Kett were Con of Wrath attendees, or survivors as some may call it, and Kerry was the talkshow host / emcee for the convention.

We started spreading the word last year on how fans can help make the documentary a reality and now Larry has launched a brand new fundraising special that increases the incentives for fans. Anyone who makes a donation between now and 11:59 p.m. PDT on Monday, Feb. 27, will get the thank-you swag from the NEXT LEVEL UP, as you can see on the donor page at conofwrath.com. That's for every level from $10 through $500 ($1000 and $2500 levels are not included for this "doubling"deal.) And, if you have already made a donation, add on to your prior amount to hit the next level, and get the same deal.

Armin Shimerman will be appearing in the play, The Seagull with the Antaeus Company in North Hollywood. Previews of the play begin tomorrow, February 23rd with Opening Night on March 1st & 2nd at 8pm.

We've said it before and we'll say it again, Wizard World puts on a fantastic convention. With the likes of Scott Bakula & Jeri Ryan, it seems that their Toronto Comic-con will be no exception. That's right kiddies, April 14th-15th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, both Seven of Nine & Captain Archer will be in attendance. As an added bonus, for all you Quantum Leap fans, Dean Stockwell will also be in attendance. We're huge QL fans (not mention BSG) and would make the trip in a heartbeat to see Sam Beckett/Jonathan Archer & Al/Cylon John Cavil/Colonel Grat (bet you thought we forgot about Dean's appearance on Enterprise); oh and Seven of Nine too. Plus there are plenty of other stars, from various scifi series, that will be in attendance as well. Check the full press release below for all the details.