L'ultimo memorabile evento di ISOSHADO del 2002 si è appena concluso ed eccovi un report dettagliato su "Meeting: Commander Straker!".

Il titolo "Straker is a sex-free zone" (Straker è un'area incontaminata dal sesso!) deriva da una risposta fornita dal nostro ospite (e presidente) Ed Bishop alla domanda circa possibili relazioni amorose tra il Comandante Straker e lo Staff femminile di SHADO.

Ma torniamo alla memorabile "due giorni".

L'arrivo di Ed a Linate era previsto per le 9,30 di sabato 14 dicembre, col primo volo da Londra.
Purtroppo per via della fitta nebbia, il volo è stato cancellato e i passeggeri riprotetti ove possibile. Dopo circa un'ora di seria preoccupazione, ecco finalmente Ed uscire dalla zona doganale, ma senza bagaglio (smarrito nel trasbordo fra un volo e l'altro...).

Sebbene la valigia non contenesse valori particolari, la famosa e familiare camicia dei Mysterons (quella che Ed ama sfoggiare in tutte le convention) rischiava di andar perduta...
L'agenda di sabato pomeriggio prevedeva una videointervista con Ed e lo staff di ISOSHADO nell'Isoshado loft di Paolo Malaguti dove sono stati mostrati, e commentati da Ed, alcuni degli oggetti originali di studio della nostra collezione.
L'intervista si è conclusa con una sequenza sulla famosa jeep di UFO a sei ruote.
In serata è stata organizzata una cena in compagnia di Ed che, come sempre, è stato gentilissimo e molto disponibile sia per foto/autografi, sia per risposte alle immancabili domande, sia per un giro di tavolo del suo famoso orologio di UFO che, sul retro, porta inciso: "UFO 1969 con affetto Gerry Sylvia Reg".

L'agenda per la giornata di domenica 15 prevedeva una conferenza nel pomeriggio, con una sessione di domande e risposte e spazio per autografi e foto. Parallelamente alla minicon, è stata allestita una mostra di oggetti originali dal set, inclusa la parrucca bionda di Straker.

Le domande poste, come sempre accade, sono state moltissime, alcune ricorrenti, altre nuove.
A domanda sulla parrucca bionda, Ed ha ricordato come la parrucchiera dovesse incollargli le basette con potenti strisce adesive, perché non volevano saperne di restare aderenti al suo viso.
Un'altra domanda riguardava l'esperienza nel film di Kubrick 2001: odissea nello spazio.

Ed ha ricordato quanto gli è spiaciuto vedere che molte delle scene da lui girate erano state tagliate nella versione finale. In particolare, la scena che tutti conosciamo lo mostra prima nella cabina di pilotaggio e poi nella zona riservata ai passeggeri mentre saluta l'unico ospite dell'intera astronave. La sequenza originale invece, prevedeva la ripresa dello spostamento dalla cabina all'area passeggeri, includeva persino una camminata a testa in giù (quella che noi vediamo compiere dalla hostess, la stessa attrice che poi sarà la sorella di Peter Carlin in "Identified"), e un dialogo col Dr. Floyd nella speranza di carpirne i segreti.

Ed ha poi deliziato i partecipanti raccontando molti aneddoti e fatti accaduti durante le riprese di UFO, nonché i suoi commenti e apprezzamenti personali sui colleghi attori.

Come sempre accade negli eventi di ISOSHADO, più della metà dell'incontro è stata dedicata all'interazione fra ospite e audience. Dopo circa un'ora e mezza, Ed si è mostrato ancora una volta disponibilissimo per foto e autografi.

PER LE FOTO, CLICCA QUI
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"Straker is a sex-free zone!"

Dear all,

"Meeting: Commander Straker!" is over and we are happy to report on the event.

Ed Bishop was planning on landing in Milan by the first available flight on Saturday morning.

While we were driving to the airport to pick him up, a thick fog raised our concerns and we checked with the airline by phone just in time to know that the flight had been canceled! We reached the airport anyway, and started to enquire.

Apparently Ed had been booked on a later flight, same airline. Lot of confusion going on, because of privacy reasons which prevented the airline to disclose info on passengers. After one hour in deep concern, we finally were informed that Ed was on another flight landing soon in the same airport...

Ed was one of the last people to exit the customs zone: the second airline had lost his luggage!! The airline people were kind enough to confirm that they would deliver it, once found, to Ed's hotel. Ed confirmed that there were no considerable values inside the bag, except for his precious Mysterons shirt...

Saturday afternoon schedule included a video interview with Ed and Isoshado Staff in Paolo Malaguti/Isoshado's loft, where Ed was shown original studio items.

The interview ended with a sequence on the famous original 6-wheel jeep.

Dinner was quite enjoyable as always. Ed was very kind - as always - with answers to questions, photos and autographs. At one point he offered to show around the table his UFO watch. That is the original wristwatch Ed wears in all episodes. It carries a writing on the back of the case: "UFO 1969 with affection Gerry Sylvia Reg".

Dinner finished around 11 PM and Ed was very tired, as he had to wake up at 3 in the morning... We took him to his hotel and wished goodnight.


Sunday's schedule was mainly set for the whole afternoon, when we had a minicon with Q&A and photo/autograph session. A display of original items was also set up: you will see it when the Isoshado website is updated, Ed's original blond wig was there...

Many were the questions asked, some recurrent, some new.

When asked about the wig, Ed recalled that the hairdresser used to "glue" it strongly with an adhesive strip under his sideburns because they used to fly loose and did not stick to his cheeks.

Ed told us a lot about 2001: a space odyssey. He explained how upset he was when he was invited to the "premiere" of the movie. Recalling how many scenes he had shot, he got much deluded by the cuts. One funny scene was played on the spaceship taking Dr. Floyd to the moon: the scene we know shows Ed as commander of the ship, meeting
"upstairs" his sole passenger and gently greeting him and inquiring on how the trip was going. The whole scene included Ed's walk from the cockpit to the passenger deck (round walk on the ceiling included, as the hostess - same actress who played Peter Carlin's sister in Identified - does in the movie); the captain's scope was to inquire about his sole and mysterious passenger (how come such a big ship for just one passenger? must be a VIP indeed!!).

Ed has then delighted the audience telling us many anecdotes and facts happened during the production of the series, as well as his very interesting and appreciable personal thoughts on his fellow actors.

As it often happens in the Isoshado events, more than half of the con was dedicated to interaction between guest and audience. After about 1H30 of conference, Ed was so kind as to release autographs and to pose for photos with the attendees, for more than one hour...

Although the event had to be over around 6PM, many of the attendees were still doubtful in leaving the room: Ed's presence was for sure the main reason, but much interest was shown in the original items exhibition.

We then took Ed to the airport and left him there at around 6.30.

As far as photos, the Isoshado website will be briefly updated in a short time (only a few picts) and a further update which will include a larger photo reportage will follow as soon as possible.

Thank you, Ed!