Our good friends at Geek Fights were kind enough to ask us to join in on round 2 of the Star Trek Vs. Star Wars debacle (said like Gabe from "Trekkies"). We laid down some superior intellect in our attempt to defend our favorite science fiction franchise. Oh, and you can probably guess which franchise we're talking about. Fun was had by all and in the end the victory went to... I'm not going to spoil it. You're just going to have to listen to episode 17 of the, ever so awesome, GEEK FIGHTS! Check out the show description below.

It’s back to the beginning as we revisit our very first Geek Fight with STAR WARS VS STAR TREK 2.0. Once again we pit the spawn of Lucas against the progeny of Roddenberry. Can a shuttle craft take down a tie fighter, Is Red Squad more bad ass that Rouge Squadron, Can Locutus assimilate Vader? And Q comes looking for a rematch against Yoda. Star Wars beat Star Trek pretty handily last time. Join Damon Shaw, Mike Ortiz, Charity Wood, Chris Wood and John Whalen to see if Trek can stage a comeback. (source Geekfights.net)

Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise (named for our favorite ship in the galaxy) completed its first manned glide test flight yesterday in the Mojave Desert. We've covered Virgin Galactic's commercial space venture since the announcement of the Enterprise name, for obvious reasons. Other than the name though, we think that private enterprise venturing into space fits perfectly into Gene Roddenberry's vision of the human adventure. The test was completed without a hitch and now Virgin Galactic and Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites are one step closer to completing the experimental phase of the program. Check out the full press release below, plus a video of the test.

The Hollywood Xpo is quickly approaching and it's set to launch with a bang. Friday October 15th, the con ends it's first day with a grand gala event called the The Hollywood Legacy Awards. The banquet and awards ceremony starts at 7pm and is honoring Star Trek's own Nichelle Nichols & Apollo XI astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

"The life she's led has changed the world for the better," says Hollywood Xpo producer Sky Conway. "It's a much different place from when Nichelle was walking on to film `Star Trek' and she had the security guard spitting on her, telling her she couldn't park in the lot all because of her skin color."

"And it's because of television, and in particular `Star Trek,' that helped change people's attitudes," he says. "It's amazing."

A beast with six inch fangs and a favorite of Vulcan children can now be yours in Star Trek Online. A cub version of the giant teddy bear shaped creature known as a sehlat is now available in Cryptic's C-Store for 120 cryptic points. As seen in Enterprise & The Animated Series, the sehlat's purpose in STO is unclear, but it can be a non-combat pet of both Klingon & Federation officers. The sehlat has made appearances throughout Trekdom, including hunting Captain Archer & T'pol in the Enterprise episode "The Forge" & Spock reminiscing about his pet sehlat, I-Chaya, in TOS episode "Journey to Babel". We also get to see I-Chaya in TAS episode "Yesteryear". Read more about the STO sehlat below.

Sehlat Cub
(120 Cryptic Points)

STAR TREK LIVE!, the 30 minute interactive show that combines special effects, audience interaction, & science, is headed to the Victoria Theatre in Dayton, Ohio. The family friendly show is slated for October 16th & 17th with two showings per day. STAR TREK LIVE! is a production of Mad Science who's the self-proclaimed world leading science enrichment provider. You may remember STAR TREK LIVE! from it's stint at Kennedy Space Center earlier this year as well as a few other stops around the country. During the family friendly production, audience members join Starfleet Academy only to be unexpectedly whisked into another adventure steeped in the grand tradition of Star Trek and the thrilling new movie. Meaning, there's a mischievous Romulan involved. Check show & ticket information below.

About STAR TREK LIVE!:

We’re pleased to announce the third episode of our podcast called, “Life After Trek” featuring none other than Jeffrey Combs. Many of you know Jeffrey from his many and varied characters on Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, & Voyager. He's one of our absolute favorite actors worthy of his own Trek series, where in our minds, he plays every single character. We had the pleasure of spending time with Jeffrey while he was here in Austin during Fantastic Fest. He and "Re-animator" director Stuart Gordon were in town for showings of many of the films that they have collaborated on over the years. Jeffrey was also here to preform his one man show "Nevermore: An Evening With Edgar Allan Poe". We had the opportunity to catch a showing of "Nevermore" and can truly say that it was a breathtaking experience.

Kate Mulgrew is set to premiere her latest theater endeavor this Friday in Hartford, Connecticut. 'Antony and Cleopatra' is one of Shakespeare's greatest romantic tragedies. A story of the love and loss that gave birth to an empire. The show marks the re-opening of the Hartford Stage after it's nearly $4 million renovation including a new roof, better lobby access for the disabled, updated restrooms and performance lighting.

IndieCade, the only independent gaming event in the US open to the public, opens Friday, October 8th in Culver City, California and runs through Sunday, October 10th. The three-day festival represents the culmination and celebration of its annual competition spotlighting innovation in independent game design. IndieCade 2010 will present 32 independent games selected from nearly four hundred entries, an extensive conference schedule featuring artist's talks, salon discussions and workshops, and the opportunity to play a wide spectrum of games. A gala Red Carpet Awards Ceremony on Friday night will be hosted by artist and storyteller LeVar Burton.

Our good friends over at the SciFi Diner Podcast have just launched their latest episode including an interview with Catherine Hicks. Many of you know Catherine from her role as Dr. Gillian Taylor in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home or her role as Annie Camden on the long running "7th Heaven". She's also starred in over 45 feature films & television series. Scott & Miles had the chance to sit down with Catherine at this year's Shore Leave convention and ask about her long career in acting as well as her time on Star Trek IV. Check out an excerpt from episode show notes below.