Shore Leave, one of the longest running fan operated conventions, is quickly approaching.  We've never been to this particular con, but we have had fantastic reports the last two years thanks to The SciFi Diner's Miles McLoughlin.  Be sure to check out the Shore Leave 31 & 32 reports to get an idea of what to expect.  There's an interesting group of stars that visit Maryland every year and this time is no different.  If you're a TOS fan (and who isn't?) Gary Lockwood & Sally Kellerman from "Where no man has gone before" will be on hand.  Of course you'll know Gary from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Sally from the motion picture version of MASH as well as many other TV and motion picture appearances.  On top of that, our favorite omnipotent being Q, John De Lancie, Star Trek authors Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, David Mack, Keith DeCandido, Peter A. David and many others will also be on hand.

It's been a little while since we've reported on Cryptic's Star Trek Online MMO. Not that we don't have love for STO, we just have been focusing on other areas. The game has seen a few updates lately including Season 4 and we figured it was high-time that we covered a new instance of the Star Trek Online monthly series "Ask Cryptic". As usual, STO Executive Producer Dan Stahl answers fan questions that include tons about season 4, plus a few questions that peeked our interest. For instance, will the Defiant's pulse cannons be a playable ship weapon? Or, will you be able visit the bridge on your shuttle or captain's yacht? Also thrown into the mix;will the Tarmarians and other well known/liked "Aliens of the Week" make an appearance sometime soon? The answer? Absolutely! In fact, CBS has requested the very same thing. Expect to see some familiar faces in upcoming Series. Rock! Check out more of the questions & answers below.

Q: KBFLordKrueg Now that we have a beautifully redone Qo’noS, can we hope for more Klingon missions soon as well?

It seems lately that there has been more Shatner than you can wave a stick at. Well, get you're sticks out kids, The Shat is set to invade your televisions even more this month with the release of his long awaited documentary The Captains and a brand new season of his hit show Aftermath. We've been hearing about "Captains" for some time now, first learning about it in Vegas almost a year ago, and finally getting to see the extremely short trailer that was just released.

"I'm not Spock... That guy called me Spock" The Shat utters while traipsing down that all too familiar corridor in the Las Vegas Hilton. If there is any justice in the universe, you'll get to see my gigantic head in footage shot around Vegas Khhaaan! 2010. In fact, I had an extremely close call with Kirk and his camera crew while standing outside the Star Trek: The Experience panel last year. Shatner got within a foot or so of my tall, lanky frame and said very quietly to himself "I'm going this way", immediately turning in the opposite direction. Is it possible that I'm the only thing that frightens Kirk? But, I digress. The Captains will premiere on Epix July 21st. Check out the trailer below.

As of today (July 1st) 4 out of the 6 Star Trek series are now available on Netflix via it's Watch Instantly service.  Notice how we say 4 out of 6, we're including The Animated Series in those numbers.  Included are Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, & Star Trek: Enterprise.  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine will be available in October, with no word on when The Animated Series will be available.  

We've started the celebration by watching some Voyager...  That's right, the big V word.  We love Captain Janeway and the crew and began our Netflix Trek journey with two favorites, "Workforce PT 1 & 2", and "Q2".  What will you be watching?

Get your Trek on at Netflix.com

This is in the “way too cool” category! We just heard about a Hollywood Prop auction July 30^th and 31^st that is going to include, among tons of other stuff, Mr. Spock’s Ears from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and an original production dialogue script/screenplay of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  It’s the Hollywood Auction Extravaganza II, put on by Premiere Props of Los Angeles. All of the Star Trek items look like they are being sold on the 30^th and just like the last auction we told you about, you can bid online or by phone if you aren’t in the Los Angeles area.

This news is music to fans’ ears all over the country…possibly, the world. How many of us have wonderful memories of watching Reading Rainbow as children, when we didn’t have a care in the world? For those of us who watched it, it was a great time in our lives when all sorts of things were possible and dreams were endless. LeVar brought our imaginations to life and encouraged us to read, all at the same time. This PBS gem will forever be part of many grown-up kids’ fondest memories.

You can see the idea and organization of the Reading Rainbow Flashmob spring fourth from LeVar’s very own twitter feed. Here are some of his tweets:

27 Jun “Someone posted via @Zaarly a request to sing the Reading Rainbow theme with me, and are apparently willing to pay good money!”

We’re pleased to announce the fourteenth episode of our “Life After Trek” podcast. In this second and final part of our special round-table discussion, that we're calling "Our Lives After Trek", we had the fortune of talking Trek with Trek author Dayton Ward, Trek know-it-all Larry Nemecek, Trek blogger Jerad "Super Spock" Formby, and Geek Fighter Damon Shaw.  Sorry for the delay in releasing part 2.  We had some unforseen technical difficulties that put a kybosh on releasing this episode when we had originally planned.

This time we discuss all of the TNG movies from Star Trek: Generations through Star Trek: Nemesis.  We also chat about Enterprise and discover that we all have common thoughts about the show.  After that, we even dive into the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot of our beloved franchise.  You definitely won't want to miss that.

Drum roll...!!!...!!!...It was recently announced that Patrick Stewart will be appearing at Wizard World’s Chicago Comic Con this August. The convention runs from August 11-14, 2011. If you are planning to attend, be sure NOT to miss Friday and Saturday (12th & 13th) in particular. That’s when Patrick Stewart will be there in all his knighted glory. Not only will Sir Patrick be there but he will be joined by at least two other Star Trek alumni; his son Daniel Stewart (who, coincidentally, played alt-Picard’s son on ST:TNG episode “Inner Light”) and LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge, ST:TNG). You can even have your photo taken with the (one, two, or) three of them while you’re there. Oh, and as an added bonus, Christopher Lloyd, who played Commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, will also be in attendance.

Famed Star Trek composer Fred Steiner passed away of natural causes on June 23rd. Steiner was born in New York City. He received a degree in music composition from the Oberlin Conservatory at Oberlin College in Ohio. His professional composing career began when he composed scoring and theme music for programs such as the CBS Radio Workshop, Suspense, and This is Your FBI in the 1940s and 1950s. (Memory Alpha)

Having written more scores for Star Trek: The Original Series than any other composer (more than two dozen), Steiner also worked on Star Trek: The Motion Picture as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation. Outside of the Trek universe, he wrote for many well-known television series from the 1960s including The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel, Lost in Space, Gunsmoke, & Hogan's Heroes. His most famous work being the theme to the hit lawyer drama Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr.

Steiner is survived by his two daughters Wendy and Jillian and his wife of 64 years, Shirley; two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.