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Hello World!

Today was a public holiday here in Brisbane, because it's 'People's Day' at the Ekka, more formally known as the Royal Queensland Show.

Part fun-fair, part agricultural show, the event started in 1876, and contributes more than $100 million to Brisbane's economy each year (so says the official guide which I fished out of the bin to write this - the things I go through for you people). Glancing at the prices, it's easy to see how it rakes in that much cash.

Admission is $18 for adults, and that's only to get in. Rides cost extra - this year there's one that's about $30 a pop. Plus there's the traditional showbags, ranging from $1 to $29.90, containing lots of 'goodies.' Attractions include (and I'm not making this up) pig diving, pig facts, hypnotists, 'Miss Showgirl 2002,' beef judging, dog judging, Planet X clinics (whatever that is) and Deadly Australians (I won't ask).

To top it all off, there's even an appearance by Marty and Jessica, two 'stars' of Big Brother 2. Marty had a girlfriend before going on the show, now he's with Jessica. Their relationship was celebrated in a recent special entitled 'Marty and Jess - An Aussie Romance.' So is an 'Aussie romance' now considered chasing another girl on national TV?

If the dripping sarcasm didn't already let you know, I'm not particularly fond of the Ekka. This year things got really exciting, when a rival show, called the Queensland State Fair, was established. This one had free entrance, but was shut down last night when their insurance cheque bounced and they couldn't operate the electricity generator or the toilets. Oh, the fun of the fair. Now I better throw that guidebook back into the bin.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

- Is it too late to depict the disastrous Klingon first contact?

- Should Leonard Nimoy direct the next Trek film?

- Has any Trek novel shed light on the Tomed incident?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

The Viacom/UPN situation (see August 12th's Site Columns) continued to dominate the news on August 14, 2000:

• Trading of News Corp. shares was suspended in Australia, as the market awaited an official announcement that the company intended to acquire Chris-Craft industries, the previous part-owner of UPN.
• Viacom COO Mel Karmazin was reportedly considering closing UPN before the beginning of the new season in the fall.
• TrekToday reader Suzanne called Paramount Pictures to find out how the news could affect Voyager's final season. The representative said over the phone that Voyager would still be shown until the very last episode.
• An AP article reported that without Chris-Craft's 8 stations, UPN's national coverage would drop from 87% to 67%.

  More news can be found in the archives.

Happy Birthday!

Today is the 38th birthday of TNG and Voyager writer-producer and Enterprise co-creator Brannon Braga.

Today's Television Listings

• At 8:00pm (7:00pm Central), UPN will be showing the Enterprise epsiode 'Acquisition'. Here's how the official site describes the episode:

  When the Ferengi, a group of intergalactic thieves, stun the Enterprise crew and try to rob the ship, it's up to Trip to work covertly to stop them. After the Ferengi awaken the Captain to force his assistance in pillaging his ship, Trip secretly reveals to Archer that he has inadvertently escaped the effects of the noxious gas and they work together to try to surreptitiously thwart the robbery and save the crew.

  An hour later, 'Oasis' will be shown.

  While exploring a crashed vessel on a desolate planet, the Enterprise crew is haunted by some ghostly figures, and they encounter an alien race that has survived despite insurmountable odds. Trip helps repair their derelict vessel and is befriended by Liana, an attractive humanoid alien who develops feelings for him.

  
  More information about both these episode is available in the TrekToday episode guide.

• TNN will be showing the Next Generation episodes 'The Schizoid Man' at 8:00 p.m Eastern Time with 'The Price' at 11:00 p.m.

• The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series episodes 'the Gamesters of Triskelion' at 6:00 p.m Eastern Time, with 'The City on the Edge of Forever' at 7:00 p.m.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series episode 'By Any Other Name' at 10:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m Eastern Time, with TNG's 'Up the Long Ladder' at 3:00 p.m, DS9's 'Chimera' at 4:00 p.m and Voyager's 'Time and Again' at 5:00 p.m.

• In the United Kingdom, E4 will show the Original Series episode 'The Conscience of the King' at 14:00 GMT. Sky One will show TNG's 'The Arsenal of Freedom' at 17:00, Channel 4 will show Enterprise's 'Breaking the Ice' at 18:00, while BBC2 will show TNG's 'Q Who?' at 18:45. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

Tomorrow's Television Listings

• TNN will be showing TNG's 'Unnatural Selection' at 8:00pm Eastern Time and 'The Vengeance Factor' at 11:00pm.

• The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series's 'A Piece of the Action' at 6:00pm Eastern Time and 'Mirror, Mirror' at 7:00pm.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series's 'Wink of an Eye' at 10:00am Eastern Time, 'The Omega Glory' at 2:00pm, TNG's 'Manhunt' at 3:00pm, DS9's 'Badda-Bing Badda-Bang' at 4:00pm and Voyager's 'Phage' at 5:00pm.

• In the United Kingdom, E4 will be showing the Original Series's 'Balance of Terror' at 14:00 GMT and Sky One will be showing TNG's 'Symbiosis' at 17:00. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

• In the Netherlands, Yorin will be showing 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' at 21:35. Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!

• In Australia, TV1 will be showing the Original Series's 'The Cloud Minders' at 23:50. Thanks go out to Sci-Fi TV Schedules International!

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