Originally published at Lawrence M. Schoen. You can comment here or there.

Last Saturday’s visit to DC delighted! The performance of Richard III had a techno-urban twist to it (machine-pistols will do that, I suppose) which oddly worked quite well. Afterwards, back at the hotel, Marc Okrand came by for drinks and then we were off to a Tapas restaurant that was running a special menu with a couple dozen different small plates and the option of paying a flat price and having as many of as many of them as you wanted. We all indulged. It was very Yum.

On the way back, the weather had warmed up from the 20′s and a light freezing rain pelted us. I don’t mind the freezing temps, but the dampness got into me and gifted me with a cold. The drive back on Sunday was unremarkable, but I was getting cloggy by the time we arrived and went straight to bed, which is pretty much where I stayed until Wednesday night, thereby missing several days of work.

Meanwhile, first readers were devouring the MS of Buffalito Contingency, finding little bits here and there for me to address (which I began doing on Wednesday and will finish up with this weekend).

Thursday I did an interview with a reporter from The Wall Street Journal regarding the Klingon production of A Christmas Carol. The reporter was going to go to the show yesterday (Friday), and I believe he met up with Marc Okrand there — Marc had mentioned at dinner last Saturday that he was going to be in Chicago on his to California and stopping in for the play — and we’re both mentioned in his article.

Friday I sent in some Klingon bits for an author doing a story for a forthcoming work from Pocket Books. That was fine and always nice to be able to do for a fellow writer. It was also the first day all week I got any exercise, going off to Pilates in the afternoon; the instructor thoroughly kicked my ass. Um, yay?

Today was house-cleaning day (as in, the house cleaner is coming, but we have to put everything away first, so she can clean), followed by errands to the post office and the bank, followed by a visit to my favorite Chinese Buffett where I finished reading Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother — which I highly recommend, by the way, and should do a separate post for. I’m still a little sub-par health-wise, and of course as I started feeling better Valerie took over the ailment and is now in congestion blah-land.

I anticipate sending the final MS off to my publisher as a Xmas gift, and then getting back to some seriously overdue projects for Paper Golem during the last week of the year. Also, I hope to lay in the first two weeks of a daily Klingon podcast I intend to start up in the new year.

And now you’re all caught up to date.

Originally published at Lawrence M. Schoen. You can comment here or there.

Got up at 5:30 this morning to finish packing and hit the road. After a stop for her FA meeting, Valerie and I are heading down to DC for a weekend getaway! We’ll be catching the Washington Shakespeare Company’s performance of Richard III this afternoon, followed by a delightful dinner with our friend Marc Okrand.

Gej meanwhile will be enjoying the attention of our house sitter, and doubtless planning all sorts of evil payback for our deserting him like this. Maybe next time we’ll take him with.

At the moment (while Valerie is at her meeting) I’m sitting in a McDonalds tapping into their wifi and trying out my new iPad. So far it’s pretty damn spiffy! I just downloaded Documents-To-Go and have begun some work on a new novel. Look at me, so productive.

Wait, what’s that you say? A new novel? Why, yes, yes that’s correct. Because yesterday I finished my edits on BUFFALITO CONTINGENCY!

Valerie will be reading through it (on the iPad, naturally) during the drive down to DC to help catch typos and to let me know if I’ve missed anything. Otherwise the plan is to send it off to the publisher next week. Happy Days!

Klingon, a language developed by Marc Okrand for the original and subsequent Star Trek films, has be

This is the only time you will ever see me do this.

I've, uh, never watched Star Trek before. Maybe a few minutes of it once. But this alien world of Klingons and Starfleets and Enterprises and whatnot is even more alien to me. Naturally, that makes me the perfect person to cover By Any Other Name: An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon, the Washington Shakespeare Company's benefit performance, for TBD. I have watched Shakespeare before, so I'm one for two here.

The headliner of the performance, George Takei, talked to TBD about Shakespeare and his fans earlier this month. But he was only a small part of the show. Marc Okrand, the inventor of the Klingon language, gave a lecture about the making of Klingon, sharing lots of behind-the-scenes gossip. For example: Some Klingon words were invented because they matched the English lip movements of words that needed to be dubbed over, and the language's unique capitalization comes from the way that Okrand denoted emphasis to the actors.

Since the entire concept of translating Shakespeare to Klingon comes from a line in The Undiscovered Country, "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon," the evening was set up as a competition to see if the Bard's words were better in English or Klingon. Scenes from Much Ado about Nothing and Hamlet were performed in both languages side-by-side, and the Klingon actors would frequently stop their English counterparts to offer corrections. Takei performed the final monologue, an excerpt from Julius Caesar, and then took questions from a room of adoring fanboys - NONE OF WHOM WERE DRESSED AS KLINGONS, inexplicably. Some fans, eh? Here's what I learned:

Klingon security guards

What Klingon sounds like to my untrained ear: chhhhslllqqquppltttschahchfkdgjhgfjd.
Star Trek fans I've just offended: Too many to count.
Letters not included in my gibberish above: Z, K. Okrand said that he did not use either letter in the language, because he felt they were a sci-fi cliche. Yes, he knows that Klingon begins with a K. Khan, too.
Costumed Klingons on stage: Four.
Lines spoken by costumed Klingons: Zero. What, they didn't trust the extras?
Klingon dictionaries spotted in the audience: One.

Christopher Henley of the Washington Shakespeare Company, George Takei,
Marc Okrand and a Klingon.

Joke for the Shakespeare portion of the audience: "Some of you probably think 'The Wrath of Khan' is when you piss off Michael," said Christopher Henley, artistic director of the Washington Shakespeare Company. As in Michael Kahn, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre. Hah!
References to the WSC's naked version of Macbeth: Two.
Additional chances you will have to see the Klingon Shakespeare performance: One. It will be on the BBC in February 2011, in a series about language.
William Shatner's reaction to scenes filmed in Klingon, according to Okrand: "That was great! ... I guess."
Audience question with no answer: "What is the Klingon word for peacemaker?"
WICKED BURN at the media: When Henley was asked about the move to their new space, he replied, "We no longer have the overhead of feeding cockroaches and rats – and the publications they wrote about our shows in."
Number of people in the audience who laughed when Okrand told a joke in Klingon, without providing any English translation: Approximately five.

A boyhood dream, fulfilled.

Favorite fanboy moment: "You have been an inspiration to me and my husband," said one fan, holding up his husband's hand.
George Takei's favorite Star Trek film: The Undiscovered Country. "I think it should have been subtitled, 'Captain Sulu to the Rescue,'" he said, to great cheers.
George Takei's favorite show episode to film: "The Naked Time." CHECK OUT THIS BOD.
Fanboys humiliated: One. Takei corrected a fan's pronunciation of his name. It's Tuh-KAY, not Tuh-KIE.
What his name means in Japanese: Expensive.
Costumed Klingons at the Klingon afterparty: ZERO, which was a fatal flaw of the event. The Klingons on stage at the performance changed out of their costumes, ruining my plans to be photographed with all of them.
A few words about Brad Altman, George Takei's husband: Wow, what a nice guy. Altman remembered me from the morning interviews, and we chatted – and then when I told him my guest wanted a photo with George, he brought him over for an introduction, even though he was being mobbed by fans. George, you know how to pick 'em.
What do Klingons drink? An orange drink that I was told had vodka in it. Not enough of it! It tasted like Tang, fittingly.

FINALLY, SOMEONE WHO DRESSED UP FOR THIS THING: Meet Eddie Pasa.
What Eddie Pasa thought of the performance: He regretfully informed me that he had to stay home to take care of his four-month-old daughter, Moira. His wife, Jenn, was the house manager for the event.
And, ohmigod, the baby is wearing a costume too: This is the cutest thing ever.
Baby's reaction to George Takei: Terrified crying.

When Star Trek’s George Takei arrives in D.C. this week, he’ll boldly go where he’s never gone before: When Takei performs at the Washington Shakespeare Company’s By Any Other Name: An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon, it will be the first time he’s performed live in a Klingon Shakespeare event.

“There are so many Klingon conventions, can you believe that? I don’t speak Klingon, so I’ve never done a convention,” says Takei. “I guess this can be considered in part, a convention... You have to qualify, and I am afraid I don’t qualify. When Marc [Okrand, creator of the Klingon language, and president of the WSC’s board] called to ask me to do them a favor, I love Shakespeare, so I said I’d be happy to make a contribution.”

Enterprising Star Trek fans have long forged the connection between Shakespeare and Star Trek, for which the Bard’s work inspired plot twists and quotations. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon said, “You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.” So the Klingon Language Institute happily made this a reality, translating Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing in full. Takei, however, will be doing a monologue from Julius Caesar in English.

“I haven’t got the time to learn it in Klingon. The people who are doing it have some working knowledge, but it’s a foreign language to me,” says Takei. “I think it’s a comment on [Star Trek creator Gene] Roddenberry’s integrity. He could have had gibberish, because this is an alien life form, and could have made up sounds, but he was fastidious to the last detail.”

Takei will be playing Cassius in the scene where he tries to convince Brutus that Caesar has grown too mighty.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,” says Takei, his voice booming over the phone. “I think that is so true. Most people depend on great leaders to show us the way, but leaders are hollow. I thought it was particularly important in Washington.”

Takei loves Washington, he says.

“I’ve been there many times. The first time was in the 50's, when my parents took me there as tourists, but subsequently I’m active in the political arena,” says Takei, who served Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley on the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, and lobbied Congress in this role.

“I am a theater buff, and every time I’m in D.C., I go to Arena Stage. There was a time when D.C. was a backwater town when it came to culture, particularly theater. Today it is a proud cultural capital, as well as our political center,” he says.

When he visits, Takei often goes running on the Mall.

“Generally when I’m running, I don’t get stopped, but on the street, there are requests for autographs,” he says of D.C. fans. “There was a time when there weren’t that many requests for photos, but nowadays everyone carries these newfangled devices that you can talk into and take photos. We had this futuristic technology in Star Trek.”

Still, he says that the amount of Star Trek fandom continues to amaze him, and that he’s always grateful for the enthusiasm and intelligence of his fans - especially, as a Shakespeare buff, the fans that will attend Saturday’s event.

“That’s one of the many elements that contributes to the show’s longevity,” says Takei, of the connection between Shakespeare and Star Trek. “There are so many levels. On the surface, it’s a rip-snortin space opera, and can be enjoyed that way.... Those who wanted to dig deeper could see sci-fi as a metaphor for the Cold War or Vietnam. The Undiscovered Country is about Chernobyl and the Soviet System breaking down. There were layers that intelligent people could find in Star Trek TV episodes, and Shakespeare fans recognize the Shakespearean quotes.”

Production performed entirely in the language of Star Trek's fictional warrior race premieres in the Netherlands

Tired of the Ring Cycle? How about the Qeb bI'reS? A Dutch company has written, arranged and now premiered what it is calling the first ever Klingon opera, inspired by the fictional species from the Star Trek universe. Replacing Tristan and Isolde with Kahless the Unforgettable, the production features a Klingon story with Klingon lyrics and Klingon singers – or at least "Terrans" in forehead-ridged costumes.

The production is called u, which somehow translates to "universe" or "universal". Conceived by the Klingon Terran Research Ensemble (KTRE), based in the Hague, the opera premiered at the city's Zeebelt Theatre on Thursday and will be staged on 25 September in Farnsberg, Germany. These performances apparently coincide with the end of the Klingon summer solstice (in this year of Kahless 846).

According to NPR, "very few examples of Klingon opera survive" and artistic director, Floris Schoenfeld, had to "recreate" – or, er, make up – the civilisation's primary musical texts. Schoenfeld conceived an "ancient treatise" called the paq'jachchcu, or book of the perfect scream, "basically the theory manuscript of Klingon music".

The group spent a year developing the opera, including a residency at New York's Watermill Center, which was founded by Einstein On the Beach director Robert Wilson. "They're really being very serious," remarked the director of the Byrd Hoffman Watermill Foundation. "I think it really is the result that matters, and I found the result quite fascinating and interesting and strange and weird."

The KTRE has even sent an invitation to its "homeworld". As part of its promotional work in April, the KTRE used a decommissioned radio telescope to beam an invite to the planet Qo'noS, home of the imaginary species. The message was spoken by Marc Okrand, the linguist commissioned by Star Trek to create the language. Okrand is also credited as a librettist on u.

To ensure its opera remains a faithful production, 36 light years from "home", Schoenfeld admitted the KTRE had to "assume a lot of things". "We can't go to Qo'noS and hang out with the Imperial Opera," he said. "That's just not an option right now. And we're hoping, of course, for some grants to allow that."

For Marc Okrand , the Arlington, Va., linguist who created the Klingon language used in the Star Trek movies and then penned the Klingon Dictionary , it was a natural fit: a night of Shakespeare in both Klingon and English.

On September 25th, the Washington Shakespeare Company is putting on an event entitle By Any Other Name: An Evening of Shakespeare in Klingon, with special guest George Takei.

Marc Okrand, the creator of Klingon, just happens to sit on the theatre company's board of directors.

Valerie and I will be coming into to town for the event, and it should be buckets and buckets of fun.

Apropos of this, I've just finished a lengthy telephone interview with the theatre critic from the Washington Post. He was a very nice guy and quite enthusiastic, particularly since we've been playing email tag for the better part of two weeks trying to set up the interview. I'm very curious to see how it all works out.

Marc Okrand, Inventor of the Klingon Language, Speaks (in English) at GMU Tonight. Washington City Paper (blog) If you're a linguist or a Star Trek fan, Friday night has something for you. If you're a linguist and a Star Trek fan, you should start flipping out now, ... Resistance Is Futile: Klingon Lessons TonightNBC Washington all 2 news articles »

Resistance Is Futile: Klingon Lessons Tonight NBC Washington The actual creator of Klingon, Marc Okrand, will be giving a discussion as part of George Mason University's Linguistics Speaker Series. ...

GMU Hosts Klingon Lecture We Love DC The George Mason University Linguistics is hosting Marc Okrand, creator of the Klingon language, for a reception & lecture tomorrow night at 7. ...

Filed under: Videos, Niche Going, Listless, Television

Speaking Klingon is like being Mexican in a Jack Black movie: It's inherently funny. The language was designed to sound rough and intimidating, but the average person who learns Klingon is neither. And as seen in our first clip, some of the people merchandising Star Trek don't even bother using the real words.

1. Klingon Happy Meal

This 1979 clip predates the development of the Klingon language past a few made-up words. Five years later, Marc Okrand developed the language for The Search For Spock. Meanwhile, McDonald's just had a guy sound vaguely Asian.

2. Klenginem

Eminem's "Without Me" was too respectable in the original English.

3. Klingon Propaganda

God this is beautiful. I can only assume that the narration to this beautiful animation, which plays off North Korean and Soviet propaganda, is brilliant. But I do not understand Klingon. I think I win.

4. Klingon Hamlet

Even a Klingon actor insists on doing a British accent for Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy.

5. Klingon Boggle

I'm kind of uncomfortable with The Big Bang Theory, because the joke on that show often seems to be that knowing things is lame. (Like my throwaway joke about winning because I don't understand Klingon. See? I wrote it as a lesson.) But this clip is decently cute, because to get it, you at least have to be nerdy enough to remember the rules to Boggle.

6. Frasier's Klingon Blessing

Oh Frasier, you poor Christian schlemiel. That's not Hebrew!

7. The Enterprise Can't Speak Klingon

This cute clip from Star Trek has plenty of technical flaws. If the crew can't speak through the universal translator because the Klingons will know it's synthesized, can't they at least use it to translate what the Klingons are saying? Why do they have books on Klingon but not an electronic search-based version? But most of these issues were probably too abstract for pre-internet writers, and who cares, because it's a cute scene.

8. Klingon Rhapsody

Okay, no one's even speaking Klingon in this Bohemian Rhapsody parody, but they are doing a great job in English. You may ask why they're talk-singing, but hey, they built a replica of a space bar and dressed in costume. You're gonna nitpick about their delivery?

9. Klingon Baby

This guy, on the other hand, is totally speaking fluent Klingon. So let's watch him again.

 

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Have you ever wanted to send out tweets on Twitter in another language? TwitLan lets you translate your tweets in 81 different languages. But that's... boring. How about a website that allows you to tweet using a fictional foreign or intergalactic language? TweetInKlingon.com allows you to send messages on Twitter, translated into the same language as the famous reoccurring Star Trek villains. The language's basic sound, along with a few words, was first devised by actor James Doohan (aka "Scotty") for Star Trek: The Motion Picture,  subsequently developed by Marc Okrand into a full-fledged language. According to our friends at Mashable, Cryptic Studios worked with Friend2Friend to create the site. Messages are automatically translated, hash-tagged and linked to an English-conversion URL (which makes it helpful for the many Trekkers, Trekkies and non-Trek fans who are unable to converse completely in Klingon).