Thanks to Amazon, the cover for William Shatner's new book Shatner Rules has finally surfaced! What do you guys think? It's cool, but I'm not blown away by it. I definitely like the image of Shatner wrapping his hands over the Earth, after all it's Shatner's Universe and we're all just living in it. But the blue & white shading feels weak...it just doesn't pop they way his cover for Up Till Now or even Star Trek Memories do. Still, I'm super excited to read (and hopefully listen to via Audio Book) this new tome as soon as it hits on October 18th.
I absolutely love this micro interview between Skid Row's Sebastian Bach and William Shatner. Bach tells Shatner that "You're The Original Rock Star" cuz "Dude, You Banged All The Aliens In Space!" Shatner later says that he "Headbanged" them. Ha! And Bach's got all TOS Blu Rays and is just squealing all over Shatner. And in turn Shatner shares his appreciation for Heavy Metal screaming. Brilliant.
Also, this might be the first place where we hear Seeking Major Tom's release date falling sometime in November. Again, Can Not Wait for that album.
Mondo Tees have truly outdone themselves this time. Tomorrow, at a random time, these two prints (Mirror Mirror 24 x 36 by Tomer Hanuka & The Menagerie 24 x 36 by Mike Saputo) will go on sale for $45 a piece. You better act quickly, their last two prints for Kill Bill and Pan's Labyrinth sold out in a couple minutes and I suspect the same to happen here. Ebay will be your next stop, but don't expect to pay anything less than 100 bucks once that happens. Fingers crossed for all you crazed bidders out there (me included).
Oh, and they're also releasing the below print for David Cronenberg's Rabid, a film that has always held a special sick place in my heart.
Revolver's 3rd Annual Golden Gods Awards were last night in Los Angeles and Shatner was on hand to accept his Honorary Headbanger Award. Here are the photos to prove that such a glorious honor was bestowed.
I just had to share this excellent bit of pop art I discovered this morning on the interwebs. The artist is Josh Hatfield and you can see more of his excellent designs over at Tomorrow World! Definitely gets me in the mood for some arachnid terror. Maybe do a trilogy night with Kingdom of the Spiders, Arachnophobia, and Eight Legged Freaks.
Over on Shatner's website, finally, the full playlist for his new album Seeking Major Tom has been revealed. And, yes, expect ROCKET MAN!!!! Awesome. It's a full album, 19 tracks featuring covers of Deep Purple, Frank Sinatra, Steve Miller, and even Golden Earing. Apparently, the female singer on Mrs. Major Tom will be added later, but we know that Shatner has stated he wants frequent Celebrity Horse Show guest Sheryl Crow for that. This should be some serious Mondo Madness. Can't wait.
Without further ado:
Space Trucking Originally By Deep Purple - Deep Purple Drummer Ian Paice Has Performed The Drum Part. Johnny Winter Is On Guest Guitar.
She Blinded Me With Science Originally By Thomas Dolby - Bootsy Collins Is On As The Guest Bassist. Patrick Moraz (Ex Yes And Moody Blues) Is Guesting On Keyboards/Synth.
In A Little While Originally By U2 - Manuel Gottsching From Ash Ra Tempel Has Added Guitar.
Empty Glass Originally By The Tea Party - Michael Schenker (UFO/Scorpions) Has Added Guest Guitar.
Lost In The Stars As Done By Frank Sinatra - Jazz Legend Ernie Watts Is On Guest Saxophone.
Twilight Zone Originally By Golden Earring - Warren Haynes (Gov't Mule/Allman Brothers) Is On Guest Guitar.
Space Cowboy Originally By Steve Miller - Country Artist Brad Paisley Has Added Guitar And Vocals.
Rocket Man Originally By Elton John - Guitarist Steve Hillage (Ex Gong Member And Current Member Of Techno Rock Duo System 7) Has Added Guest Guitar
Space Oddity Originally By David Bowie - Ritchie Blackmore (Ex-Deep Purple) Has Added Guest Guitar. Alan Parsons Is Adding Guest Keyboards.
Spirit In The Sky Originally By Norman Greenbaum - Peter Frampton Has Played Guitar On This Track.
Bohemian Rhapsody Originally By Queen - John Wetton From Asia Has Played Bass And Done A Vocal.
Silver Machine Originally By Hawkwind - Wayne Kramer From The MC5 Is Adding Guitar And Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge/Rod Stewart) Is Adding A Guest Drum Part.
Major Tom Originally By Peter Shilling - Nick Valensi, The Guitarist From The Strokes Has Added Guest Guitar To This This Track. Also Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourn, Black Label Society) And Mike Inez (Alice In Chains)Have Contributed To This Track.
Learning To Fly Originally By Pink Floyd - Edgar Froese From Tangerine Dream Has Played Guitar And Keyboards On This Track.
Mr. Spaceman Originally By The Byrds - Dave Davies From The Kinks Has Added Guest Guitar On This Track.
Iron Man Originally By Black Sabbath - Zakk Wylde (Ex Ozzy Guitarist) Played Guitar And Did A Vocal On This Track.
Planet Earth Originally By Duran Duran - Steve Howe, Guitarist With Yes, Played Guitar On This Track.
Walking On The Moon Originally By The Police - Toots Of Toots & The Maytals Has Added A Guest Vocal.
Mrs. Major Tom - Female Singer To Add A Track -To Be Announced
In the above video, Shatner narrates Nasa's mini documentary on their soon-to-be-extinct (sad, sniff, sob) Shuttle Program. It's a little over 14 minutes long, but definitely interesting.
In other Nasa News, the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia will be losing the original Starship Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River in NYC. As a resident of VA, I sigh LAME. We're told, now that the The Discovery has flown its final mission we'll be getting that as a replacement. Yeah, that's cool but this Trekkie wants to keep the Enterprise close by.
Shatner's still Down Under and the first of the live Twitter Questions have been posted on Bill's Facebook and Twitter feed. Unfortunately, it's nothing too interesting. Fingers crossed for more questions and some actual revelations.
Two days ago was director/producer Roger Corman's 85th Birthday. I am, no question, a Roger Corman fanatic. It's a fanaticism that hasn't quite reached my special brand of Shat-Crazy Love (but how could it, really?), however, with each viewing of Death Race 2000, Humanoids From The Deep, Rock n Roll High School, Bucket of Blood, House of Usher I fall deeper and deeper in love.
In 1961, Roger Corman directed Shatner in one of my personal favorite Shat performances, The Intruder (aka I Hate Your Guts). It's an ugly film and not necessarily a fun one for fans of Captain Kirk, but it's searing and expertly boils the blood as it follows the decent of Shatner's riotous white supremacist. The film is often touted as the only movie of Roger Corman's to ever NOT turn a profit. Corman also produced Angie Dickinson's Bonnie & Clyde-like exploitation romp, Big Bad Mama. This has everything you want from 70s trash cinema. Girls, Guns, Tom Skerritt, and Shatner.
Below is a video of William Shatner inducting Roger Corman into the Horror Hall of Fame circa 1990. Below that are the trailers for both The Intruder and Big Bad Mama.
Australia's Kelly Higgins-Devine got ten minutes on the phone with Shatner for ABC's Brisbane radio show Drive. The Interview is short, but Kelly managed to get a few good bits of info outta the star of Kirk, Crane, & Beyond. The Highlights:
--Asked what's the secret to staying young at 80, Shatner wryly responds "Chose your mother and father before conception."
--Shatner reveals that he saw a lot of Alexander The Great (at least his televised version) in the role of Captain Kirk.
--Kirk, Crane, & Beyond will be a "potpourri" of stories in which the "audience will be entertained mightily."
--Shatner is currently living in a period of "what the heck! a sort of east that it doesn't really matter in the long run" that has allowed him to dive into multiple projects.
--His upcoming album, Seeking Major Tom is a "sketch history of what I think happened to Major Tom...it could be really interesting, got my fingers crossed, you never really know."
And speaking of beat poetry, this is a fantastic (but brief) audio excerpt from the Kirk, Crane, & Beyond live show that's been touring Down Under for the last few days. Shatner riffs on Australia and Australians and it is beautiful.
These are the first two performances from the 2011William Shatner Beat Night to hit youtube. The first is that of last year's winner Larry Clow and just for including the line "dreams of tribbles which may be its kin" it goes right to the top for this Shat Attacker. Bloody brilliant.
"An Ode to William Shatner's Hair Piece"
"Bruce's Philosopher's Song Written By Eric Idle"
Keep checking kbaringer's YouTube page for future WSBN postings.
Over at Billboard, Classic Rock Legend Johnny Winter discusses his new "Roots" album as well as recording on William Shatner's upcoming Seeking Major Tom. He reveals that he & Shat do a "rendition of Deep Purple's Space Truckin" and that "it was a funny song...[Shatner] doesn't sing; he just talked it. He sent the tape down and I played on it; I didn't meet him or anything. But I always liked 'Star Trek,' so it was fun to do."
Here is a brief intro of Shatner at the Australian Command and Conquer Con in Sydney. Early reports seem to be quite positive, but I'm just aching to see how those Twitter questions went. More to come as soon as videos get uploaded to YouTube.
Here's a video from last year, William Shatner discussing the possible playlist for his upcoming album Seeking Major Tom. Space Oddity, Rocket Man, She Blinded Me With Science. Iron Man. Although, I may not be as excited for this concept album as I was for his Ben Folds collaboration Has Been, I think this could be a lot of fun. And I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the playlist.
As announced on his website, William Shatner & Twitter have partnered up to make his Kirk, Crane, And Beyond Australian Tour an interactive event. Wanna participate? Read the details below.
3/31/2011 Website WilliamShatner.Com Announced Today That William Shatner’s 4 City Tour Of Australia Entitled “Kirk, Crane And Beyond: William Shatner Live” Has Added A Live Interactive Component To The Tour To Allow Fans Worldwide To Participate And Become A Part Of The Show.
Fans From Around The World Are Invited To Tweet In A Question During A Specified Time Frame Each Night Of The Tour To William Shatner’s Official Twitter Account. During A Segment Of The Evening Mr. Shatner Will Go Live Online To Twitter And Choose Questions That Have Been Tweeted In By Fans During That Day And Answer Them Live On Stage.
The Segment Will Be Filmed And Will Be Available At A Later Date On “The Shatner Project”; Mr. Shatner’s Online Video Project Which Can Be Found OnYouTube.Com/WilliamShatner.
Each Evening Of The Tour Mr. Shatner Will Choose Questions Tweeted In During That Day And Answer Them In Front Of His Live Australian Audience. The Uniqueness Of Having New Series Of Questions Should Yeild Some Humorous And Thought Provoking Responses As Only William Shatner Can Do!
To Participate You Must Have A Twitter Account (Which Is Free - Please Register At Twitter.Com) To Send Your Message To Mr. Shatner. The Twitter Format To Send A Question To William Shatner On Twitter During The Event Is: @WilliamShatner Question Text
The 140 Character Twitter Limit On Questions Will Pose A Unique Challenge For His Fans But He Is Confident That Most Will Be Able To Get Their Questions Across To Him.
The Times Mr. Shatner Will Be Going Live To Twitter During His Show Are As Follows:
Tuesday April 5, 2011
City: Sydney Australia
Times To Send A Tweet:
Local Sydney Time - 9:00pm To 9:35pm
Eastern US -7:00am To 7:35am (Same Day)
Central US -6:00am To 6:35am (Same Day)
Pacific US -4:00am To 4:35am (Same Day)
London, UK -12:00 Noon To 12:35pm (Same Day)
Friday April 8, 2011
City: Auckland, New Zealand
Times To Send A Tweet:
Local Auckland Time - 9:00pm To 9:35pm
Eastern US -7:00am To 7:35am (Same Day)
Central US -6:00am To 6:35am (Same Day)
Pacific US -4:00am To 4:35am (Same Day)
London, UK -12:00 Noon To 12:35pm (Same Day)
Sunday April 10, 2011
City: Melbourne, Australia
Times To Send A Tweet:
Local Melbourne Time - 9:00pm To 9:35pm
Eastern US -7:00am To 7:35am (Same Day)
Central US -6:00am To 6:35am (Same Day)
Pacific US -4:00am To 4:35am (Same Day)
London, UK -12:00 Noon To 12:35pm (Same Day)
Monday April 11, 2011
City: Brisbane, Australia
Times To Send A Tweet:
Local Brisbane Time - 9:00pm To 9:35pm
Eastern US -7:00am To 7:35am (Same Day)
Central US -6:00am To 6:35am (Same Day)
Pacific US -4:00am To 4:35am (Same Day)
London, UK -12:00 Noon To 12:35pm (Same Day)
Fans Who Wish To Send Mr. Shatner A Question To Answer During The Live Segments Times Of His Australia Tour Are Encouraged To Send Messages Just Before And During The Times Listed Above On Each Date.
Questions Submitted Outside Of Those Timeframes Will Not Be Considered For Use During The Event.
Mr. Shatner Will Try To Answer As Many Questions As He Can During The Live Segment. Fans Are Encouraged To Ask Interesting Questions That Will Be Of Interest To A General Audience.
Mr. Shatner’s Official Twitter Account Can Be Found AtTwitter.Com/WilliamShatner And He Invites All William Shatner Fans Around The World To Follow Him On Twitter.
SHATNER RULES: YOUR KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE SHATNERVERSE AND THE WORLD AT LARGE
Discovered after a quick search on Amazon.com, the book is now available for pre-order and will be released on October 18th of this year. List Price has it at $21.95, but they've got it selling at $14.93. ISBN: 9780525952510. And yes, it looks like there's going to be an audiobook as well. It doesn't list the reader yet, but I'd bet my hide that Shatner will provide vocals once again.
The Shatnerverse is usually a reference to the Trek books written by Shatner, in which he resurrected Kirk via Borg technology after his pathetic demise in Star Trek: Generations. But I doubt we'll be reading an intricate analysis of Star Trek The Return or the more recent Star Trek Academy books. I'm guessing The Shatnerverse quoted in the subtitle has more to do with the New York Daily News quote found on Bill's last memoir, "It is now Bill Shatner's Universe-we just live in it."
