Selik Meets Russell Bates

 On the Saturday night of BabelCon I, there was an Ambassador's Banquet, as narrated previously.

I was there as the stuck-up Vulcan, Selik, in a costume my wonderful wife was nagged at, to finish in time.

This overexposed picture nevertheless shows the masking-tape-and-latex ears that were self-applied in the bathroom.  Also the Vulcanian eyebrows, the result of shaving off the outside ends of the brows and spirit-gumming the resultant shavings.

The Banquet had a yummy repast.  But, being Vulcan, ol' snooty Selik ate only vegetables.

It was also pretty darn hot in that big enclosed space,  which also contained the indoor pool.  However, Selik professed to find the heat (if not the humidity) refreshing.

What a doofus!

One of the guests at BabelCon 1 was Russell Bates, most famous to Trekkers as the author of the animated STAR TREK episode, "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth."

Somehow Bates was impressed enough to not only take this picture of a line-up of "Ambassadors," he also took my home address and mailed me the photo.  The white-lettered caption is made of peel-n-stick letters, pressed on by Bates.

Also in the Bates photo you can see the ol' Vulcan eyebrow-cock.  I may be the only person who will admit to practicing for hours in front of the bathroom mirror until they could raise his eyebrows independently, "just like Mr Spock."  In the 1960s, as a teenager, not in 1980!

Our next post will cover the road to BabelCon '81.