By Christian
June 18, 2003 - 9:58 PMHello World! Today starting at 17:54 the Netherlands experienced one of those brief moments of mass hysteria that generally only occur here when we win a Soccer World Cup final, lose a Roland Garros final, or are about to suffer through a Dutch Idol final: our crown prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Máxima announced they were expecting a baby. The baby is expected to be born in January, and will be second in line for the throne, after Willem-Alexander himself.
A telling sign that we all seem to be plugged directly into a collective House of Orange news wire was that the minute I started sending out SMS messages to people to let them know the news, other people were already phoning me to excitedly shout "They're having a baby!" At the same time my neighbour knocked on my door to tell me to switch on the television, and as we watched the press conference with the royal pair we both lamented the fact we didn't own a Dutch flag we could fly (or a flag pole, for that matter). Halfway through the press conference my mother phoned me as well, and I could tell she was already looking forward to another royalty-themed marathon broadcast - it's been far too long since she spent half a day giddily watching the royal wedding.
In The Hague, a small crowd had already gathered around the government center before the press conference was even over, hoping to catch a glimpse of the couple. This was especially impressive as the press conference hadn't been announced beforehand: the couple decided to announce the news this afternoon, after a radio station had already leaked the news. This made for the only downside of the day: the radio station found out about the news after they managed to intercept a private email from Máxima to a few Argentinian friends, apparently not stopping to think whether this was too much of a privacy invasion.
The couple said they were looking forward to being parents, and I'm sure they'll do wonderful. They also said they didn't want to know whether they'd get a boy or a girl, instead preferring to keep that a surprise, but I'm afraid that will be harder for them - if the press have their way, I'm sure they'll bribe the hospital just so they can publish "Exclusive First Look" ultrasound pictures of the baby. Trek BBS Today Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:
-Did you see the recent episode of the Jamie Kennedy Experiment featuring Trek?
-The people in Trek Tech are wondering whether a time machine could go pre-creation.
-And in Science Fiction & Fantasy: are you psyched about Terminator 3?
More topics can be found at the Trek BBS! Trek Two Years Ago Below you'll find some of the most important news items that appeared around the 18th of June, 2001:
- Enterprise To Feature Orion Slave Girls
British magazine SFX reported Enterprise pilot episode "Broken Bow" would feature at least one homage to the Original Series, the green-skinned butterfly-snatching Orion Slave Girls. The magazine also reported location shooting for the pilot was taking place near Redondo Beach in Los Angeles.
- "Broken Bow" Opening Scenes Synopsis
It would only be a short while before the entire script of the first Enterprise episode appeared online, but before that fans were already able to sample a few first hints of the episode's storyline.
- McNeill: Mulgrew Is Up For Trek X Role
Star Trek: Voyager star Robert Duncan McNeill confirmed that Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway) would be appearing in Star Trek: Nemesis. Previously, Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) had been rumoured to be up for a cameo appearance, but she had to decline due to commitments to her new television series Boston Public.
More news items from June 2001 can be found in the TrekToday news archives. Poll Results Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:
What's your idea of a fun time in the holodeck?
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Give me Vulcan Love Slave in Quark's any time! |
 31.9% - (358
Votes) |
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Playing secret agents with Bashir and O'Brien |
25.3% - (284
Votes) |
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Saving the world with Tom Paris as Captain Proton |
12.4% - (140
Votes) |
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Other |
10.5% - (118
Votes) |
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Tracking down Moriarty with Data as Sherlock Holmes |
9% - (102
Votes) |
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Sleuthing with Jean-Luc Picard as Dixon Hill |
7% - (79
Votes) |
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Studying with Janeway and DaVinci |
3.5% - (40
Votes) |
Total Votes: 1121
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,Thanks for voting! Our new poll continues the holodeck theme, and asks you what four favourite recurring Voyager holo-program is., | Are you happy about the victory of Blu-ray over HD DVD? | | |
Happy Birthday! Friday is the 43rd birthday of John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox). Today's Television Listings Tonight at 8:00pm Eastern Daylight Time, UPN will show a repeat of the Enterprise episode "The Catwalk". Here's the official synopsis of the episode:
When a lethal neutronic storm approaches faster than Enterprise can escape, the entire crew takes shelter in the most heavily shielded part of the ship - the maintenance shafts inside the warp nacelles - for several days. They also provide refuge to a group of aliens who aren't entirely upfront about themselves. Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
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