Carrying over from the day and night before, laughter, camaraderie and fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes marked the second day of the "Creation Entertainment Salutes Star Trek, Stargate SG-1 and Star Wars" convention in Seattle (actually taking place in the Emerald City suburb of Bellevue).

Sunday — Day Two

Surprisingly, the sun was out for most of the day after a wet week. Fans arrived and filed into the convention hall, some decked out in costumes, some in T-shirts bearing their favorite characters, shows or movies and many in just plain street clothes.

Kicking off the second day was a Classic Trek Movie Music Video. Compiled and set to music, these fan-created video presentations have become a staple curtain-warmer at conventions of late. The Video was followed by announcements and news from Creation's Richard Arnold (who also emceed the memorabilia auctions).

Celebrity Panel

The first celebrity event of the day was a panel featuring a quintet of character actors who have appeared in various Star Trek and science-fiction films or television series. Three of the five had Star Trek credits; Bobby Clark, Scott MacDonald and Martin Rayner.

Clark, who was the man in the Gorn suit from the classic Original Series episode "Arena," was a stuntman and actor in television's golden age, appearing in such classic shows as Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Perry Mason, as well as the films "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "The Ten Commandments" and "Poltergeist." Although the senior member of the panel, Clark would stand to address the crowd while his younger colleagues seemed content to relax in their chairs when questions would be directed their way.

When asked about his first convention experience, Clark related how he first attended a convention at Pasadena's Grand Slam a few years back. He took 50 photographs along to sell, certain he'd be bringing most of them back, but they were all gone within 20 minutes. "I always enjoy the conventions," he said. "I'm happy to see that the fans are still loyal!"

Clark told of the lengthy procedure he had to endure just to get into the Gorn costume, and how little a range of motion it had. "I couldn't sit down in that thing!" he said, explaining how the closest thing he could do was to lean against a ladder that the crew had propped up against a giant rock outcropping as they shot at California's Vasquez Rocks.

Scott MacDonald isn't a name that most fans instantly recognize, but the parts he's played have made an impact. As an actor on Star Trek, for the most part he's been hiding under complicated makeup and prosthetics, such as the Xindi-Reptilian makeup and costume he currently wears when he appears on Star Trek: Enterprise.

MacDonald first appeared in Star Trek on Star Trek: The Next Generation in the sixth season episode "Face of the Enemy" as Subcommander N'Vek, the Romulan who kidnapped Deanna Troi and made her up as a Romulan. "I was a big-time fan," he said, "Especially of the Next Generation."

Within a week of filming that episode, MacDonald was back on the Paramount lot, but not on TNG, but the DS9 First Season episode "Captive Pursuit," playing the hunted Tosk. "I was completely thrilled."

Tosk was another costume that presented difficulties for an actor. Because of the six-hour makeup job required for the role and due to the combination of a complicated costume and not-terribly-functional fingers, "We needed to have a 'Bathroom Buddy' for when I needed to go, I couldn't do it myself!" he said.

MacDonald also appeared on Star Trek: Voyager in the premiere episode "Caretaker" as Lt. Rollins, the only human role he's played in all of Star Trek. "I thought I was supposed to be a recurring role, but I must have made a pass at the Captain or something," he joked, "And so I got chained to an oar at the bottom of the ship for seven seasons."

Asked about his role as the Xindi-Reptilian on Enterprise, MacDonald noted that as an actor, he puts himself in the characters shoes (if Xindi-Reptilians even wear shoes) and doesn't look at himself as a villain. "He's just, from his perspective, defending his own race."

Seated next to MacDonald on the panel was Martin Rayner, who played Doctor Chaotica on Voyager. He recounted how he got his start in acting in England when he was a teenager. "I cleaned the brass and the toilets in a London theatre." He observed Sir John Gielgud hold auditions and stepped up to audition himself. It didn't go the way Rayner would have liked, but Gielgud was supportive enough to recommend drama school.

Bitten by the acting bug, Rayner eventually achieved success on the stage and was acting in Los Angeles at the Geffen Playhouse in a production of "Quills" when he started getting television roles on shows such as Frasier. He ended up getting a very cold audition for Voyager, and "I was so immensely over the top and loud that I got it."

Chase Masterson

After the panel, other convention events such as more music videos and auctions took place, and an impromptu appearance by DS9's Chase Masterson ("Leeta"), who took the stage and sang a trio of sultry jazz songs from her CD "Thrill of the Chase." Masterson had the fans shimmying and snapping along with her ("It's all that Seattle coffee," she said) and even included a Ferengi lyric to the song "Fever," much to the fans' enjoyment. She pointed out that a portion of CD and photograph sales goes to a Ugandan charity, Hope for Africa, which takes care of people suffering from AIDS.

Robert Beltran

"This is my first Seattle convention," Voyager's Robert Beltran ("Chakotay") said as he took the stage, prompting applause from the Northwest crowd, then joked "and my first convention sober." He kept his opening remarks short and quickly segued into questions and comments from the fans. The first fan comment sparked laughter and agreement from many of the women in attendance when a fan proclaimed "You look SO good!”

Beltran answered fan questions about his earlier acting work in films such as "Eating Raoul," "Lone Wolf McQuade" and "Night of the Comet." When asked about his favorite memory of Voyager, he replied "Working with the cast and crew. We really became a tight-knit group."

As his time onstage drew to a close to make way for the next guest, he was told by event organizers that he could answer one more question. At that moment, the next guest, Robert Picardo ("The Doctor") poked his head out from behind the screen at the back of the stage and asked, "What's it like to kiss Jeri Ryan?" After the laughter and applause died down, Beltran deadpanned back to him "You mean on the set? Or back at my house?"

Robert Picardo

The alter-ego of Voyager's holographic Doctor wasted no time in keeping the comedy going, joking that his uncomfortable pants were the result of a "wardrobe malfunction," speculating that it should have been the Doctor and Seven of Nine (at the Super Bowl) instead of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. "Now wouldn't that have been a more worthwhile wardrobe malfunction?"

Picardo also spoke briefly in order to quickly get to fan questions. When asked about his strangest fan interaction, he related the story of a fan in Alabama during Voyager's first season. The fan engraved tombstones for a living and had carved Picardo's likeness into a tombstone, just for him. "At the time I thought perhaps he was looking at Star Trek as an epitaph to my career," he quipped.

He quickly noted that the role of the Doctor has hardly spelled the end of his career, pointing out that "It's always your duty, as an actor, to constantly reinvent yourself."

To that end, he spoke briefly about his excitement at appearing in a recurring role on Stargate SG-1. "I start out really evil, then I turn out to be not so evil,” he said of the part, then adding self-deprecatingly, "And they're really trusting me with a lot of dialogue, they must think I can handle it."

Earlier in his appearance, before his castmate Beltran left the stage, Picardo held him long enough to get him to autograph a Voyager Season Seven Official Crew hat, signed by himself and his three castmates attending the convention (Tim Russ, Ethan Phillips and Beltran). The hat was auctioned off to the highest bidder to benefit Together in Mission, a Catholic charity.

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to a costume contest, photo ops, blooper reels and more music videos, as the convention drew to a close. Many fans looked forward to seeing each other at upcoming conventions; "Are you going to Grand Slam?" "Are you going to Vegas?" and others, content for a year, looked forward to Seattle's 2005 event, only 11 months and a few days away.