Convergence 2006 kicked off with a blast and never slowed down. There were five ships from the Cold Death Quadrant, and Klingons came from points further to see Robert O’Reilly (Gowron) and J.G. Hertzler (Martok), this year’s Guests of Honor. And they were well worth the effort to come out to see, as they dominated the convention’s scheduled panels, always entertaining, and very fun.
There are a lot of photos in this report, so I had to make thumbnails of them to improve download speed, so please klick on the photo to see the full-size picture.
During their panel’s, O’Reilly and Hertzler gave a good accounting of how they entered the acting field and the road that eventually lead them to their famous roles on Star Trek as Gowron and Martok.
 67k JPEG Robert O’Reilly and J.G. Hertzler. |
 75k JPEG Robert O’Reilly and J.G. Hertzler. |
Ship’s present, by my reckoning, included (but certainly was not limited to) the IKV RakeHell, IKV Black Thunder, IKV Warhammer, and the IKV Ice Dagger. There were several others I do not have the names of at the moment.
 145k JPEG Boba Fett’s on patrol. |
 108k JPEG Boba Fett’s. These are some of the crew of the Black Thunder. |
Convergence has earned a reputation as a hard-partying convention, with parties controlling the cabana area, which is a great space for a party zone, and spreading onto the fourth floor this year. Many parties adopted the con’s theme, “To Boldly Go…” with great gusto. The RakeHell’s “Viva Las Vegas” was very popular, serving up the specialty drinks that has made it famous; although not Klingon, the U.S.S. Nokomis teamed up with the World Defense Force to form a two-room theme party based on the TOS episode, “Mirror, Mirror”, complete with agonizer booth. The Warhammer ran the KPLA pirate radio, and, of course, the North Dakota folks put on “Captain Kirk’s Den of Ill-Repute.” In all, there were some 40, yes, FORTY, parties this year.
 74k JPEG I admit it, I don’t recall which party this is. |
 105k JPEG Bridget and Sqotty imbibing the the Rakehell’s specialty drink. |
The masquerade had 25 entries, with four of the entries coming from the IKV RakeHell, including one entry from the ship’s up and coming costumer’s, Karin, who appeared as He-Man. Karin is six years old, and is on her way to becoming the youngest master level costumer. Qob, JaPa (IKV Black Thunder), Mordok and Sqotty provided comedy relief as the “Chancellor’s Personal Guard,” set to the tune of “Men in Tights.” I wish I had been able to get a video of it. Patrick put in a non-Klingon entry as a Gargoyle, which looked very good, and Qe-Pa and Mordok entered as “Viva Las Vegas.” Karin won Best Young Fan, and deservedly so.
 81k JPEG Qob, mentally preparing for the Masquarade. |
 163k JPEG Lamatron 2112. This was a way cool entry, involving lots of electronics, including ear movement. Nicely detailed. Hard to believe the guy sold his Harley to make this rig. |
Saturday night festivities include a Klingon Wedding for two new members of the IKV Rakehell: Earl and Holly. This ceremony was conducted by Gowron and Martok and attended by throngs of con-goers, with belly-dancers providing pre-ceremony entertainment and followed by a short dance party. This provided a number of photo ops with both O’Reilly and Hertzler.
 127k JPEG O’Reilly, Qe’Pa, and Hertzler. |
 108k JPEG Crowd scene for the wedding. |
As the festivities continued, O’Reilly and Hertzler were inducted into the Clan MacDude by Sqotty and Qob, joining the ranks of John Colicos (Kor MacDude), William Campbell (Kolath MacDude) and Michael Ansara (Kang MacDude).
 89k JPEG O’Reilly and Hertzler join the Clan MacDude, becoming known as the Brothers MacDude. We can still call them Gowron and Martok. |
 98k JPEG A bunch of MacDudes…except for one. |
Qob then proceeded with KAG promotions and honors, with Gowron and Martok participating in adding to the honor bestowed on a number of fine warriors.
 86k JPEG Gowron and Martok preside over promotions, with Qe’Pa receving honors and Qob in the background. |
 95k JPEG JaPa on the left, Krom second from right, and two other Klingons (okay, one is Sam, but I don’t know his Klingon name). |
This large gathering ended with a group photo of the all the Klingons gathered around O’Reilly and Hertzler.
 82k JPEG Gowron and Martok in a group shot with the Klingons present. |
 106k JPEG Hertzler and Alois. |
Sunday, last day of the con, was a slow day as people began to wind up their stay.
 55k JPEG a space pod from 2001: A Space Odysssy marks the entrance to the main stage. |
 101k JPEG Hal 9000. The screen ran clips from the movie 2001: A Space Odysssy. |
The high point on Sunday for the members of KAG was its presentation during closing ceremonies of a Death Howl Memorial for cast and crew of the Star Trek series who have passed on.
[flash http://www.youtube.com/v/H7-TW9iaEbA]
At this point the crew, and many in the audience, let forth with a thunderous roar, and ended it with a tumultuous applause. The dialogue was written by Qob.
During closing ceremonies, J.G. Hertzler announced that he intends to move to the Twin Cities. This will be a welcome addition to the region.
KAG run panels included a Klingon makeup panel lead by Qob.
Convergence was a real blast this year, and consistently delivers lots o panels of interest, from costuming to hard science.
Here’s some picutes I didn’t exactly fit in wit the above, but wanted to include…
 123k JPEG Steve and Terri doing Pigs in Space. |
 94k JPEG Grommit being stalked by a sheep. No idea who is in the costumes. |
