BBQ Roundup
Thursday, June 25 to Sunday, June 28

A staple of summer in Cedar Rapids, the 22nd annual BBQ Roundup, kicks off today (Thursday) near Veterans Memorial Stadium. Get your kicks tasting some of the nation’s best BBQ. Stop down tonight (Thursday) for Concert Night with Los Lonely Boys (for a true Tex-Mex experience.) But the fun doesn’t stop there. The Bud Light MXT will be on site with Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero III. Duffy’s Collectible Cars will be on display and other entertainment (including Stampede and Stranded in Iowa.) Sunday is Family Day so bring the kids along to see magician Tim Stolba and Pappa Balloon the balloon maker.

Cedar Rapids BBQ Roundup
11 a.m. Thursday (06/25) to Sunday (06/28), the parking lot between Veterans Memorial Stadium and Kingston Stadium, Admission $3 for adults, Kids 12 and under free, www.uscellularcenter.com/BBQ/bbqroundup.html

TrekFest
Friday, June 26 @ 5 and Saturday, June 27

Calling all Trekies! Beam yourself right over to Riverside-the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk-this weekend for Trekfest. Organizers of the event promise Star Trek-inspired fun for all ages. There’s a “Voyage Home” parade, fireworks, a costume contest and much more. Plus, you can join in a meet and greet with three original Star Trek stars (for a nominal fee): George Takai (Mr. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), and Walter Koenig (Chekov). Live long and prosper, Trekfest!

 Trekfest
5 to 11:30 p.m. Friday (06/26) and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday (06/27), Hall Park, Riverside, Free, www.trekfest.com

Blues Traveler
Tuesday, June 30

We’re not giving you the run-around! Head over to the Chrome Horse Saloon on Tuesday night for an outdoor concert with Grammy award-winning Blues Traveler. (Their only scheduled Iowa performance this year!) Frontman and lyricist John Popper and the rest of the band members-Chandler Kinchla, Ben Wilson, Tad Kinchla, and Brendan Hill-will prove they are still going strong after going quintuple-platinum in the early 90s. Gates open at 6 p.m. so get there early for the best spot in the lot. You can get your tickets before the show at the Chrome Horse or at www.etix.com.

 Blues Traveler
8 p.m., Tuesday (06/30) Chrome Horse Saloon, 1202 Third Street SE, Cedar Rapids, $28 in advance or $32 day of show, www.chromehorsesaloon.net

THREE OTHER THINGS

Pearl Jam Tribute with Given To Fly and Slip Silo
9 p.m.,Friday (6/26)
Yacht Club, 13 S Linn Street, Iowa City, $, 319.337.6464, www.iowacityyachtclub.org

 Downtown Drive In Movie Series: Hotel for Dogs
7:30 to 10:30 p.m., Saturday (6/27)
Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, 500 1st Avenue, Cedar Rapids, Free, www.downtowncr.org

 J&P Cycles 30th Anniversary Open House
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (6/27) and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday (6/28)
J&P Cycles, 13225 Circle Drive, Anamosa, Free, www.jpcycles.com

K=one guy                        E=other guy                        S=the girl

K:  Movie fans, we now declare the summer movie blockbuster season has officially started!

E:  Star Trek will cleanse the palate after the bitter taste of Wolverine last week.   

S:  LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the movie.  And I am SO NOT a Star Trek fan.  Well other than the drinking game you do with Star Trek: Next Generation…you know you all remember it.  Wait, I might be showing my age.

K:  After the audience clapped during the end credits I knew that the odd number Star Trek film curse had ended. This is a movie that non-Trekkies will enjoy as much as the hardcore fans.

E:  K, I think you just admitted that you are a Trekkie because you know Star Trek films ending in odd numbers (the first movie, Start Trek 3, 5, etc.) don’t do as well at the box office.

S:  I don’t even know what you’re talking about but I know this one ROCKED!  And when Kirk got a little freaky with the Green Girl all I could think was, “ WOW, who’d have thought the witch from the musical WICKED would get another role.”

K:  Director J.J. Abrams creative reboot of the Star Trek franchise is a surprisingly entertaining, character-driven, popcorn movie with cool special effects that don’t dominate the plot unlike last week’s X-Men Origins:Wolverine.

E:  It was very similar to how Iron Man came on the scene last year.  Good amount of hype followed by a very good movie.

K:  The casting was on target with very good performances including a familiar Vulcan from the past, Tyler Perry (when did Madea become an admiral?), and that beautiful Riverside, Iowa landscape.

E:  I look forward to the days when Riverside will be known for spaceship yards AND a casino…

S:  Yeah and when they made Simon Pegg Scottie, I was so excited.  And why, you might ask?  Well, one of my favorite movies is Shaun of the Dead.  I sit hear and laugh now when I think about getting “a pint at the Winchester.”  If you haven’t seen it, rent it, buy it, heck, steal it for all I care.  It is that funny!

K:  My minor complaint is that Eric Bana’s villain was alright…kinda bland for my taste. I’d like to see a few more scenes of that character with less anger and include more dark humor.

E:  Are Romulans known for their humor?  Oops.  Now I’m starting to sound like a Trekkie.  PS – You can’t spell Trekkie with out K…

S:  OOOO, you know who else was eerily cool?  The guy who played Bones;  He was almost too on the money with that impression.  He was really good.

K:  Life long and prosper to the next movie with this Star Trek crew!

E:  K, you’re such a Trekkie, or is it Trekker?  Either way, beam in to see this movie soon.  Like warp speed soon, Mr. Sulu.

S:  Wow, that was horrible!  You guys are such dorks.  But I do agree, DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE!

Recommendation: Full Price

Watch the trailer:

Local Invasion Iowa cast member Diane Schultz of Riverside (left) gets out of a limousine with the help of Riverside Area Community Club President Carol Riggan of Riverside (right) Wednesday, May 6, 2009 as they arrive for a special screening of Star Trek at the Sycamore 12 Theaters in Iowa City. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

“Riverside Shipyard.”

“Riverside Shipyard.”

“Riverside Shipyard.”

The whispers rippled through the nearly 300 Riverside residents gathered for a sneak peek at what the future holds for their town – the birthplace of James T. Kirk.

Paramount Pictures invited them to gather last night to see “Star Trek” at the Marcus Sycamore Cinema 12, 1602 Sycamore St. in Iowa City. The movie opens at theaters nationwide Friday, including Galaxy 16 Cine and Wynnsong 12 in Cedar Rapids, Sycamore 12 in Iowa City and Coral Ridge 10 in Coralville.

This latest chapter in the “Star Trek” franchise is actually its earliest chapter, explaining how a wayward Iowa farm boy meets Spock, Scotty, Bones and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew 200 years from now.

The reference to Riverside almost went unnoticed, after two previous mentions of Iowa drew cheers and applause from the crowd.

“Riverside Shipyard kind of snuck up on you,” Mayor Bill Poch, 55, said after the screening.”The next time I go to the movie I will say ‘yea Riverside!’ ”

Video by Cliff Jette

Steve Miller, 60, of Iowa City, who launched the Riverside/Star Trek connection 25 years ago, called the movie “edge-of-your-seat spellbinding.”

“They mentioned Riverside, although the scenes in Iowa 200 years from now don’t look like Iowa today.” But he wasn’t disappointed. “It’s as good as we could hope for.”

The voyage began in the mid-1980s when Miller lived in Riverside and served on the City Council. He had read in a “Star Trek” book that Kirk was an Iowa farm boy. So he and the council decided to write to “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry suggesting Riverside as Kirk’s hometown.

Roddenberry agreed and officially designated Riverside as “The Future Birthplace of Captain James Tiberius Kirk.”

Lena Popkova, 16, from the Ukraine, an exchange student at Riverside’s Highland High School, was looking forward to the show, dressed for the part in a red Starfleet uniform. “I have seen part of the old movie,” she said. “Today I see the new one.”

Afterward, she declared the movie “great.” “I liked it a lot,” she said “It was fantastic,” with special effects “you don’t see every day on TV.”

Just a handful of audience members came in costume, but many came in style, via five stretch limos and two buses.

And despite all the conflict among the species, Vulcans, Romulans and humans will gather peacefully to celebrate their common heritage June 26 and 27 during Riverside’s TrekFest XXV.

– Diana Nollen, The Gazette

William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on Star Trek, recently admitted that he gets out of speeding tickets because of his role on the cult classic.

“I always agree with whatever they [the police] say and I always call them ‘Sir’,” Shatner told WENN. “Most of them like to have a chat about when I was on Star Trek.”

This seems to be the typical stereotype amongst outsiders.  Celebrities and women get out of a ton of tickets compared to regular men. 

Having been to cover the local Johnson County Court a couple times, it’s apparent that women getting out of arrests and tickets isn’t true. 

I’ve seen a bunch of them.

But I haven’t seen any celebrities in Johnson County Court, so maybe Shatner is on to something? 

Then again, the Iowa Football team seems to have a problem with Iowa City’s finest, so who knows?