Earl's Celebrity Encounters

Circa 1984/85, Con-Version science fiction conventions, Calgary: Peter David (author, various media tie-in novels and popular comic books) secured autograph and exchanged a few words, Bjo Trimble (noted famous Star Trek fan, helped drive letter-writing campaign that forestalled cancellation of the original series), exchanged words in elevator; David Brin (author, Kiln Time, Earth, The Postman, etc.); witness to brief encounter in elevator when friend nearly backed into Brin's child)

1986, Edmonton car show: James Doohan (actor, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Star Trek); presented him with a t-shirt I designed with Stephen Fitzpatrick; Doohan accepted the gift with great grace, even though the shirt was obviously several sizes too small

September 1987, Ottawa: Brian Mulroney, Prime Minster of Canada

Circa 1988/98, Edmonton science fiction convention: Mark Lenard (actor, Sarek, Star Trek); enjoyed brief 10-15 minute conversation, so starstruck I immediately forgot details

September 2010, Chateau Lacombe, Edmonton: James Cameron (director, The Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens, Avatar, etc.), had brief chat as part of Official Opposition Leader David Swann's delegation during Cameron's visit to Edmonton and the oil sands

December 2010, University of Alberta: Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta

April 2016, Calgary Expo: William Shatner (actor, Star Trek), paid photo opportunity, exchanged a single warm-hearted phrase. 

The Abyss II: Battlestarship Titanic

A couple of days ago I shared an idea with some friends: James Cameron could, if he wanted to, make one film that would serve as a sequel to two of his biggest hits: The Abyss and Titanic. Here's how I pitched it, with some slight edits to the original email...

The Abyss II: Battlestarship Titanic opens with Leo gurgling out his last farewell to Kate Winslet as the Titanic sinks beneath the waves. The camera follows Leo down into the depths, until he's rescued by bioluminescent underwater life forms...very much like the ones seen in Cameron's earlier film, The Abyss. We see many more of these creatures scooping up other drowning Titanic passengers. Fade to black...

110 Years Later...

Following the events of The Abyss (I don't believe a date was established in that film, so we could assume present-day), the descendants of the Titanic survivors act as go-betweens to bridge the communications gap between humans and the undersea civilization. Leo will, of course, play the great-great-grandson of his original character, now the leader of the Titanic community. Leo and the undersea creatures reveal that the bioluminescent life forms are not native to Earth, but rather fled here to escape a xenomorph (from Alien/Aliens etc.) infestation of their planet. This information is kept TOP SECRET, and the UN and the underwater aliens cooperate to rebuild the sunken Titanic as a space battleship, to be crewed by the Titanic descendants (because they are of course familiar with underwater alien technology), as well as UN reps and a few underwater aliens working in flooded compartments. Oh, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch (Predator). 

The Titanic blasts off from the ocean floor and travels through deep space to the original undersea alien planet. But there's a complication - the Predators (from Predator, Predator 2 et. al.) are already on the planet, at war with the xenomorphs. The original plan to nuke the planet from orbit and clean it up with undersea alien technology is off the table, as nuking the planet would start all-out war with the Predators. So Arnold leads a team of heavily armed, poofy-shirted Titanic descendants to join the Predators in rooting out the infestation. But will the Predators even accept human help?

It appears not, for in orbit Leo and the Titanic gets into a pitched space battle with the Predator battle cruiser! Will the Titanic or its landing party survive? Will they reclaim the planet of the undersea aliens?

That's the end of my original idea. Steve commented that licencing would be a challenge for this film, but I believe Fox owns all the properties mentioned, which should grease the wheels. Mike suggested that Leo could play his original character, still youthful thanks to undersea alien medical technology. This way you'd have early 20th century types fighting alien xenomorphs alongside modern-day commandos, which adds a fun little angle. 

James Cameron

Academy-award winning director James Cameron reacts with shock and horror as deranged fan Earl J. Woods presents him with a pile of spec scripts. "What the hell is Finger Puppet Star Trek? Generous Nature? Toilet Chase? Uhhh..."

On the way to work this morning, I happened to run into James Cameron, director of some of my favourite films - The Terminator, Terminator 2, The Abyss, Aliens, etc. Seizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I whipped out my portfolio and forced it into the director's hands as he tried to escape...

Actually, that's not what happened. Cameron is in Alberta to learn about the oil sands and to see what he can do to help First Nations peoples affected by the environmental consequences of oil sands development. The First Nations of Fort Chipewan, grateful to Official Opposition Leader David Swann for his interest and promotion of their issues, arranged for Swann to meet with Cameron this morning.

I went along to shoot some photos, and my boss Neil Mackie, knowing what a huge science fiction and film fan I am, had David introduce me to Cameron. I stammered something or other about loving his work, and the director was very gracious indeed in his response to probably the zillionth fan to say something he's heard many, many times before. "Suck them in with a little action and adventure and sell a good message," he said. That describes the Cameron canon, all right.

Personally, I don't like to bother people, especially famous people who I imagine must have to put up with a tremendous amount of nonsense from fans. But I have to admit that I'm grateful to David and Neil for providing me with what was, in truth, a thrilling moment. And I'm grateful to my coworker Tanara for snapping a candid of the moment!