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Dancing Barefoot
After nearly two years of blogging, Wheaton compiled and edited an autobiography from his blog entitled Just a Geek, to be released in June 2003. Several of the stories which didn't fit into Geek have been collected in a smaller companion volume, Dancing Barefoot, which is now available from Wheaton's publishing company, Monolith Press (www.monolithpress.com). The legions of Trek fans who have rediscovered Wheaton as a guy much like themselves, as well as those weblog readers who enjoy Wil's humor but don't know the difference between trilithium and tribbles, will find Barefoot irresistable. Those with only a casual interest in Wheaton but familiar with Trek will find the book's showpiece, The Saga of Spongebob Vegas Pants, well worth reading. Wheaton's conversational, intimate writing style may even convince them to read the rest of the book. Cartoon illustrations provided by Ben A. Claassen III are an excellent complement to the casual essays.
Barefoot begins with four short pieces, essentially vignettes of days (or even moments) in the author's life. These range from the amusing (ruminations on teenaged lust and paths untaken) to the melancholy (Houses in Motion, a paean to Wheaton's deceased great aunt), and one needn't be told that they were culled from journal entries, because they very much read that way. The best is Houses -- although it sometimes ranges into maudlin territory, it is also the most courageous writing in the book. Wheaton's generation has been raised on a diet of pop culture and cynicism, and it's invigorating -- if somewhat startling -- to see someone of that generation openly expressing such feelings of devotion and despair.
The man who spent his formative years aboard the starship Enterprise departs from the short form for the final and most engrossing portion of the book, the aforementioned Spongebob Vegas Pants. It's the chronicle of a Star Trek convention held in Las Vegas, during which Wheaton tolerates the alternatingly ugly and kindly faces of fandom, but eventually rediscovers his enthusiasm for the Trek universe. Those who have attended such conventions will immediately recognize the fan archetypes, while those who have never been to such an event may decide that they never, ever want to. Fortunately, the story is less about the horrors of being a convention guest and more about the resolution of Wheaton's conflicted personal feelings about having been a part of the Trek phenomenon -- including his unpleasant run-ins with the original captain of the Enterprise, referred to repeatedly as William F---ing Shatner.
Certain sections of Dancing Barefoot could have used another turn under an editor's pen. Sponge Bob Vegas Pants, in particular, has a few passages that don't serve the story much, but as with the deleted scenes on a special edition DVD, some readers will be grateful for the extra material, regardless of how it affects the overall pace. Frequent atticisms will sustain the rest of the book's audience through the book's slower passages, though, and the author's humility is an effective antidote for the feeling that one might be about to read the memoirs of yet another self-indulgent celebrity blowhard -- which Mr. Wheaton certainly is not.
Given that the engaging Dancing Barefoot comprises the material that didn't make it into Just A Geek, it feels much like an appetizer to the larger work. Let's hope the main course is as tasty.
That's on PSG's *Wave*, "Dancing Barefoot" is. The original tune was featured prominantly in a 1997 episode of Millennium. And covered a few times be lesser artists (U2, Beverly Sister, Kiss).
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Check out Wil's interview with The Onion AV Club. Lots of good insights on the absurdity of child stardom, and the bizarre love/hate relationship with Star Trek fans.
I think Wil's done a great job moving away from his strange past... hopefully he will soon find a strong movie role that suits his unique personality.
There ya go.
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I'm surprised that Wil hasn't been on "Where Are They Now?" on VH1.
He may as well have been. He was on a similar show on ABC, "Our Favorite Stars, Then and Now," recently (May 8 I believe). He mentions it in his May 8 entry on his site.
As with the sun's light
My mom was magnificent
Unquestionable
http://www.imdb.com/Name?Wheaton,+Wil
;-)
http://www.wilwheaton.net
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil_Wheaton
http://slashdot.org/~CleverNickName/journal
That should get you going.
As with the sun's light
My mom was magnificent
Unquestionable
I discussed how much I hated some horror movie where his family was getting infected(I can't access IMDB right now).
If you can access it, you can also see his filmography here.
As with the sun's light
My mom was magnificent
Unquestionable
Not exactly.
1) Wil quit the show, he wasn't canned.
2) His character was seen after season four. He came back for an excellent season seven episode.
However, good insightful comments about the writing of his characters. I never quite looked at the inverse relationship of his characters in Star Trek and Stand By Me. Roddenberry really didn't have anything to say with the Wesley character. He seemed to just want him around to be some kind of superior innocence.
I wonder how Gene reacted to the public irritation with his characterization of Mr. Crusher.
Anyone know? CleverNickName?
Well, I didn't have anything to add to the conversation . . . but since you asked, I'll see if I can put something worthwhile in here.
I read at 5, so forgive me if I don't bite on a particular troll.
Someone asked if this is a "fresh perspective" on anything.
I don't know. It's my perspective on several things:
Should you buy it? I don't know. Only you can make that choice.
Who is the anticipated audience? Well, people who read my weblog (about 500,000 a month, as of last week) will certainly enjoy it, because all the stories I pulled from the blog are ones that have been very popular with readers. Star Trek fans will probably enjoy the Saga of Spongebob Vegas Pants -- I can say this with certainty, because I've read it at conventions, and the crowd always loves it.
Is this just a cut-n-paste from my site? A "dead tree" version of WWdN?
No.
I took the stories from the weblog, and I rewrote them. I think I've matured as a writer since they were first written, and I've rebuilt them. I had the technology to make them faster, better, stronger.
They are also illustrated by my pal Ben, who is an OUTSTANDING artist. The illustrations really lend an extra dimension to the reading experience.
If you're one of those people who has some sort of primal need to hate me, and everything I ever do, (please note: Wil != Wesley Crusher) I doubt anything in this book is going to change your mind about anything. (As a matter of fact, I doubt that anything I do at all will change your mind. That's why I read at +5.)
But if you are curious, you can always take a look at my website, and read some of the stuff there. If you like what you see, there's a good chance you'll like this book.
Of course, here is the ObBuy link, and, uh, I guess I'm supposed to scream "OMFG DANSIG BARFUT IS TEH FUTAR!!11" for some reason that currently eludes me.
. . . but back in my day, we would have said "0/\/\fG! |>@/\/c!nG b@r3f00+ !5 +3h
Wil is definitely a geek. He learned HTML & PHP so he could create his web site himself, and has written at least one magazine article about Linux.
SciFi is trying to get away from 'space vessel' shows. One of the reasons they dropped Farscape. The current management doesn't like space vessel shows. They prefer quality fare like 'Tremors: The Series'. And John Edwards.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon