'There can be no reconciliation without justice': President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines

President Benigno C. Aquino III before his inauguration

I don't as a rule watch television when I'm eating with someone but I made an exception today while having lunch with Charlie Jamilla, my general factotum, as we both watched the noontime inauguration of President Benigno 'Noynoy' C. Aquino III as President of the Republic of the Philippines.

I think that there is a sense of a genuine new beginning in the Philippines, though there will be no overnight change in this country that is plagued with poverty and corruption. Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception that corruption became worse than ever during the nine-years of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She, with the support of many, overthrew President Joseph Estrada, whose real name is Jose Marcelo Ejercito, in 2001. She was then vice-president. She later promised that she wouldn't run for president in 2004 but changed her mind. There is some evidence that she won that election through massive cheating, though cheating is endemic here, unfortunately. She was linked with other scandals, as was her husband, Miguel Arroyo, though nothing has been proven.

President Aquino gave his inauguration speech mostly in Filipino, the national language that is, in theory, evolving from the various regional languages but is, in reality, practically the same as Tagalog, the language of Manila and surrounding provinces. One thing he said in English was, 'To those who are talking about reconciliation, if they mean that they would like us to simply forget about the wrongs that they have committed in the past, we have this to say: there can be no reconciliation without justice'.

I was happy to hear this and I believe that the new president will try to implement this. There is far too much meaningless easy 'reconciliation' not only in the Philippines but elsewhere. We're all far too familiar with 'apologies' from public figures along the lines of 'I'm sorry you feel that way' which utterly fail to acknowledge personal responsibility. 

The new president's father, Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino Jr, was murdered at Manila International Airport on 21 August 1982, just after being escorted of a plane by soldiers. The airport is now called 'Ninoy Aquino International Airport', or 'NAIA'. Filipinos love to use acronyms.

23 August 1983. The body of Rolly Galman, the alleged killer lies on the left. He too was murdered and very few believe he killed Ninoy Aquino, whose body is being carried by two soldiers.

I met Noynoy Aquino very briefly in Cebu City a few days after his father's assassination. His mother, Cory, became president in 1986 after defeating the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. She died on 1 August last year and it was the feelings around her death and burial that created the momentum for her only son to be pushed to run for president.

President Corazon 'Cory' C. Aquino

Please pray that President 'Noynoy' Aquino will bring some hope to the Philippines along with a sense of decency and responsibility, qualities so lacking in public life in recent years. He is not and cannot be a messiah but he needs and deserves our prayers. He carries no baggage of association with corruption. That is a plus. May God bless his presidency, his team and, through them, the people of the Philippines.

Incoming President Aquino with outgoing President Gloria Arroyo, before setting off for the inauguration

Julien's Auction prices are down

Well, the Julien's Star Trek auction, announced last November, finally happened yesterday, and was a success for collectors because of reasonable prices and a wide range of low priced items from the Shatner and Roddenberry auctions. The JJ movie items finished the auction and we were all shocked at how reasonable the prices were.

Julien's has taken down their online catalog, but you can see the Flash catalog here and the lot by lot descriptions here.

As predicted the items in the Shatner and Roddenberry portions of the sale all went at very reasonable prices. I actually won the insignia lot, which had two Maroon jacket insignias and a maroon belt.buckle. The lot, which I was willing to go to $ 1,500 on ($ 500 for each of these items I figured) went for only $ 475. Part of the reason is that the lot was so poorly described. No authentication and no description of if any of the items were real or not. Certainly no one at Julien's has that kind of expertise, and they didn't bother to access any experts. The two TNG badges here were both repros and I inspected the lot in person or else I wouldn't have bid on it. I am sure that had to do with the low hammer price.

The Nemesis Turbolift Panel went for a strong $ 1,700.

The Class D and Class B costumes went for $ 500 each.

The Lwaxana Troi costumes did fairly well, and all went under $ 2,000 as I predicted. Still, these are good prices in an auction that was way under market.

Lot # 1564.....$ 1,300

Lot # 1565.....$ 1,400

Lot # 1566.....$ 1,900

Lot # 1567.....$1,100

Lot # 1568.....$1,700


THE JJ ITEMS

Right after these 5 costumes from the Roddenberry Estate came the items donated by JJ Abrahms. Now this started with 8 Enterprise models made by QMX that were then worked on by a series or artists making them pieces of Star Trek art. Now frankly, some of these were down right awful. One or two were interesting, but unless these are done by Alexander Calder or Andy Warhol, I don't see the interest. And neither did anyone else as the models all sold at only $ 500, half of the opening bid!


I had predicted that prices on the 17 JJ movie items would be out of control, but this was not the case. In fact, the last 17 items all went at very reasonable prices! Here is the rundown:

Lot # 1577 Kelvin Crew Member Costume $ 2,750

Lot # 1578 Kelvin Phaser $ 7,000

Lot # 1579 Hero Kelvin Bridge Chair $ 1,500

Lot # 1580 Klingon Rifle $ 1,100

Lot # 1581 Romulan Pistol $ 1,750

Lot # 1582 Romulan Rifle $ 2,250

Lot # 1583 Romulan Crew Member Costume $ 2,000

Lot # 1584 Starfleet Female Cadet Costume $ 1,700

Lot # 1585 Enterprise Insignia Badges $ 1,700

Lot # 1586 Starfleet Male Cadet Costume $ 2,000

Lot # 1587 Starfleet Council Chair $ 500

Lot # 1588 Enterprise Data Tablet $ 1,100

Lot # 1589 Medical Tricorder $ 2,250

Lot # 1590 Enterprise Crew Member Costume $ 2,000

Lot # 1591 Enterprise Communicator $ 6,000

Lot # 1592 Spock Torch $ 750

Lot # 1593 Spock Parka $ 7,000


So why the reasonable prices? Well..

1) Ridiculous Buyer's Premiums - I already wrote about this and I think this was the big reason. 25-28% is out of control. No excuse for this.

2) Buyer fatigue - I heard from lots of collectors that not only had they spent a ton at Profiles. but they were waiting for the Propworx auction. This auction only had 41 props & costumes and people weren't prioritizing this.

3) There is lots more - This is the tip of the iceberg. Be patient and there will be tons of JJ movie items when the inevitable Star Trek movie auction happens.

Overall, I think Julien's does a nice set up, but there lack of experience with Star Trek was very evident. Poor descriptions and lack of understanding of what collectors expect in this regard hurt them. Their crazy buyer's premium and high shipping costs mean they should stick to very high end items where people have so much money they don't care. I really think that big auction companies can't do the fan and small collector market's well. The ROI isn't there and thus they don't invest the time in developing the markets and doing what the fans and collectors need.

Anyway, a good little auction for buyers who got some good deals.

Alec

Julien's Auction Preview - 41 props & costumes

Well, tomorrow is the Julien's Star Trek Auction so I thought I would give you all a preview of what to expect. There isn't a lot of great stuff for the prop & costume collector, and only the inclusion of 17 lots from the JJ movie and a spattering of items from teh Shatner and Roddenberry collections make this auction anything more than an estate sale. Please note, this is a VERY EXPENSIVE auction. Here is why:

VERY HIGH BUYER'S PREMIUM!

The 25% buyer's premium is the highest in the industry. Not only that, they charge you 3% for bidding online FOR NO REASON. Why do I say for no reason? Because the software they use is one you purchase, and they are not being charged extra for running the software. Now in the Battlestar auctions, Propworx actually had to pay Auction network 3% of anything won online for using their software and crew (A full television production BTW). But Propworx absorbed that cost anyway. Here there is no such cost so Julien's is basically screwing the bidders out of another 3%! Pay attention, this, plus any applicable taxes, makes this auction VERY EXPENSIVE.

VERY HIGH SHIPPING COSTS

Please note that I just found out that Julien's has switched shipping companies, so I don't have any news on what the shipping costs will be. However, the new company, like their old provider, is a separate business that will certainly be charging more than an auction house itself. More info when I get it.

THE ITEMS

OK, so enough on the high cost of this auction. Let's talk about the items themselves now. 256 items in this auction. A small auction. But even smaller because only 39 are props and costumes!

19 prop & costume pieces in the William Shatner sale

5 Lwaxana Troi costumes in the Roddenberry sale

17 props and costumes from the JJ movie.

WILLIAM SHATNER COLLECTION

The William Shatner collection items are mostly unremarkable costumes. There is a DS9 Bashir costume, and a TMP Class D jumpsuit and Class B shirt.

The Bashir might bring $ 3,000, which is what it is worth. More than that, with the buyer's premium and shipping and this is way overpriced.

The Class D jumpsuit is a $ 1,000 item MAX. No rank or Enterprise badge and no boots.

The Class C would have gone in the $ 600-800 range at IAW. It is nice, but just a shirt and not complete. No pants!

Other than that, there is nothing much. It will be interesting to see if the second tier stuff does anything. The Jem Hadar is woefully incomplete as is the Tarlac.

As far as props go, there is the Enterprise E Turbo Lift schematic translite which is pretty cool.


THE RODDENBERRY ESTATE SALE

Overall, this is an estate sale pure and simple. I find a few lots interesting, but these are not props and costumes, but memorabilia. And I doubt most of this will hold its value. Gene Roddenberry is certainly the man when it comes to Star Trek. We all owe him a lot, and sure I would get a kick out of a business card of such. But the replica phasers and fan art? Not very interesting. But the furniture and fixtures and for a different audience.

There are 5 really nice 5 Lwaxana Troi costumes from TNG and DS9 here. If you like the character, these are nice, but how high can they go? They are probably $ 2,000 costumes. They are certainly very nice and I am sure well made! I mean they were for Mrs. Roddenberry! I doubt Robert Blackman skimped on these. They will display well on mannequins as in the photos.


THE JJ MOVIE ITEMS

I have reviewed all of this before. You can read all of my reviews here.

Now you have to be careful here. While the Spock parka is nice and will probably be the high item in the auction, most of the rest of the items are not unique. The only rarity now is that these items have not been released yet. Once JJ is done with his next two movies, and the assets are released for sale (and that will happen) the rarity of items like cadet uniforms will vanish.

The Kelvin Phaser is already at $ 5,500. This will go at $ 10-12,000, which, when combined with the buyer's premium, will make it close to $ 15,000. That is a LOT of money for a prop you never saw onscreen.

I don't expect any good buys in this portion of the auction. Emotion will overrule common sense and we could see some crazy prices. I warn you all to be smart here and don't go overboard.

I will be at the auction and try and post live while the auction is going on.

Alec

FINAL FINAL Star Trek Prop Forum Profiles Auction results

FINAL STATS

OK, here are the FINAL stats on how much of the Profiles in History Star Trek portion of Auction # 40 was accounted for by members of the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum.

35 different members won lots

54.2% of all sold lots, not counting the 15 that were passed

51.4% of all lots (150 of 292)

42.7% of the total money spent ($222,650 of $521,025) (premiums/tax not included)

Thanks again to Rik for compiling these stats!

Alec

A Song of Life

Years ago I asked a six-year-old girl in a parish in Mindanao where I worked how many brothers and sisters she had. She told me that they were three: 'My older brother, me and the one with Mama' - meaning the one not yet born. This song by Aaron Lines, I Haven't Even Heard You Cry, reminded me of that incident. I found the link to the video in an email from LifeSiteNews.com. I had never heard of Aaron Lines before.

Watch the video to the very end!

Profiles in History Auction Review Part 3

Well, one of the most important stats from this auction is that as of now, the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum has accounted for 47.3% of all sales at the Profiles in History Star Trek auction.

These stats are still being compiled based on members offering up their wins. I will post updated stats as we get more info.

29 members won lots
44.8% of all lots (131 of 292)
47.3% of all sold lots, not counting the 15 that were passed
38.5% of the total money spent ($200,675 of $521,025) (premiums/tax not included)

Thanks to Rik for compiling these stats!

Profiles in History Auction Review Part 2

My apologies for taking so long to get up Part 2 of last Saturday's Profiles auction, but the travel from hell took its toll and I went down with a cold. But I feel great now so back to blogging! Today I am going to review the top 5 best and worst buys from the Profiles auction.


THE FIVE BEST BUYS

1) Lot # 1251 TOS Chekov's Tunic and Pants $ 8,000.

A total steal at this price. And half where I thought it would go. This costume went to Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum member Dr. Brett and he did well at this price.


2) Lot # 1283 Geordi LaForge VISOR $ 4,500

Another prop that went to a forum member, this time Adam Schneider, who usually focuses on models. A similar piece went not too long ago for twice this price.


3) Tricorders!

Any of the below were good prices!

Lot # 1297.....$ 3,750
Lot # 1331.....$ 1,400
Lot # 1332.....$ 4,000
Lot # 1334.....$ 4,000
Lot # 1335.....$ 3,500

4) Lot # 1408 The Doctor's Hero Mobile Emitter

At only $ 2,750, this is a great price for the KEY prop from Star Trek Voyager. And this is the rare metal version.

5) Lot # 1448 Captain Proton's Jet Pack $ 600

Well, I have to admit I won this one. It went for $ 2,605 in week 33 of the IAW auctions. I was the under bidder then, but happy to save $ 2,000!



THE FIVE WORST BUYS

OK, this doesn't mean they are BAD buys, just overpriced. But as always, I must say that I have sometimes overpaid, and that is OK if a piece is important to you!

1) Lot # 1241 Balok head puppet $ 70,000

WOW! That is a lot of money for a deteriorating piece of foam rubber. Now, this is a historcally significant piece, and I am sure whoever bought it can light his cigars with $ 100 bills, but on balance, this is a lot for a piece that needs restoration and protection, and could easily still degrade. My reccomendation? Take it to Tom Spina STAT!

2) Lot # 1409 XSL "Endgame" Tricorder. $ 10,000

OK, my bad! I was the winner here at my maximum bid! Yeah, one more increment and I was out! OUCH! The highest priced Tricorder in the auction! So why did I pay so much? Well, I own all 4 main character costumes from "Endagame", Admiral Janeway, the Doctor, Captain Harry Kim and Miral Paris. Plus when I saw this Tric in person I was blown away! Total emotional purchase. GUILTY AS CHARGED!


3) Lot # 1486 Mark VII Tricorder $ 8,500

Well, if you waited till the last Tricorder you got screwed! Twice the price of the other similar Tricorders. Procrastination does not pay!



4) Lot # 1490 "Trials and Tribble-ations" Phaser $ 16,000

Well, $ 16,000 is a lot to pay for a DS9 Phaser, even if it is a TOS style. The thinking is this ois the closet to a screen used TOS Phaser you will ever get.



5) Lot # 1491 "Trials and Tribble-ations" Tricorder $ 25,000

YIKES! Again, the thinking is this is the closet to a screen used TOS Tricorder you will ever get. But $ 25,000?


Well, that is it for today. The review will continue Saturday!

Alec

Report on funeral of Columban Fr Thomas 'Tanvir' O'Hanlon in Karachi

This report was sent by Fr Tomás King, Columban coordinator in Pakistan. Father Thomas O’Hanlon’s family nickname was ‘Tommy’. Shortly after Father Tommy arrived in Pakistan in 1982 an old man gave him the name ‘Tanvir’, ‘Enlightened One’, and that is the name by which he is best known in Pakistan.

Fr Tanvir O'Hanlon, 1945-2010. Photo by Fr Gary Walker after Easter 2010

Fr Tanvir O' Hanlon was laid to rest in St Columban's Parish, Greentown, Lahore, on Thursday, 10 June, after the Funeral Mass in Sacred Heart, Cathedral, Lahore. He lies beside Fr Pat McCaffrey who was laid to rest three weeks previously to the day.

Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad

The main celebrant was Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad Diocese, a long time friend of Tanvir and the Columbans. Two of Tanvir’s siblings traveled to Lahore for the funeral: Ned from his home place in Tarbert, County Kerry, Ireland, and Michael who is based in England. They managed to secure visas quickly through the help of Fr Pat Raleigh. (Fr Raleigh is Columban Vice-Director in Ireland and went with the first group of Columbans to Pakistan in 1979 after serving for eleven years in the Philippines).

It was a moving ceremony that was a fitting celebration of Tanvir's life and his passion for justice which evolved and integrated into a passion and care for all of Creation. At the introduction to the Mass, Gloria Canama described the life, faith and missionary journey of Tanvir. (Gloria Canama, from Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, Philippines, is a Columban lay missionary who has been in Pakistan since 1990). The homily was given by Fr Tomás King.

The gifts and symbols brought up in the offertory celebrated his life and mission in Ireland, Philippines and Pakistan.

Kerry jersey on the left. Photo taken 13 June 2010 as Kerry deafeated archrivals Cork by one point in a Munster Championship replay.

Kerry football jersey: Tanvir first expressed his passion for life as a footballer. He was captain of the Kerry minor team that won the All-Ireland Minor (Under-18) Football Championship in 1963. His football jersey symbolizes his gifts and talents and his ability to work in a team.

Neem tree

Neem Tree and Candle: These symbols represent healing, life and light. Tanvir was a healing and life giving presence in our midst.

Rural scene, Pakistan

Soil represents the places where Tanvir spread the good news through his life. We have gathered this soil from Mariamabad, Shekhupura, Shadbagh, Green town and brick kiln. This soil represents his entire life with the earth community, especially in Pakistan. We pray that the seeds he planted in this soil will flourish. The soil from his home place was thrown on his coffin while the soil from the places he worked was used by his brothers to plant the neem tree at the graveside.

County Kerry, Ireland

Globe: Tanvir's life reached far and wide. In the Philippines he was involved in building Basic Christian Communities. Here in Pakistan he reached out bringing new hope to the lives of many.

Cage and Dove: Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation were the passion of his life. He worked tirelessly for justice especially for those on the margins of society, brick kiln, women and sanitary workers. The cage was opened and the bird freed after the Eucharistic celebration.

Earth from spcae with Pakistan in centre

Earth Community Banner: Earth is our home and all the lives that live on her are our cosmic family. We are just one tiny species of this family. The love, care and respect for creation were visible through his words and actions. It was his belief that we are from this universe and will return to this universe, so we need to take responsibility for loving, caring and respecting the universe.

Celebration of Mass in Pakistan

Bread and Wine are the symbols of God's goodness, which earth has given us and human hands have made. Tanvir offered his life and work to God.

After Holy Communion items of significance from Tanvir's life in Pakistan were presented to his brothers by Fr Joe Joyce and Fr Robert MaCulloch, including his breviary, a Pakistani stole and the banner that embodied the Earth Community. Michael spoke on behalf of the family who thanked the people of Pakistan for taking Tanvir to their heart.

Fr Tommy Murphy, Columban Superior General

Fr Tommy Murphy (Columban Superior General) also spoke words of thanks for all the people who expressed their support, in recent days and weeks, to the Columbans in Pakistan who had, in Fr Pat McCaffrey and Father Tanvir, suffered the loss of two committed and faithful conferees in a short space of time. He also said it was a privilege for the Society of St Columban to be on mission in Pakistan and it was committed to continue to be so.

When Tanvir’s coffin arrived at the St Columban’s parish centre there were many people waiting to pay their respects. People queued up for the ‘Last Look’ after which prayers were said. Fr Robert McCulloch led the prayers at the graveside.

Darkness had fallen by the time burial was complete. The grave was covered with rose petals and flowers. Candles were lit and incense sticks lit. As people stood in silence in the light of the candles, it felt surreal, just unbelievable that in the space of 21 days, that two close friends; two stalwart, passionate and committed Columban missionaries, were laid to rest side by side in the soil of the ‘land of the pure.’ Two separate deaths, but in many ways one intense moment of grief.

In the words of W. B. Yeats: things have ‘All changed, changed utterly: a terrible beauty is born.’

May they rest in peace.

Profiles Star Trek Auction Review - Part 1

Well, just getting to the Profiles in History Star Trek Auction was a nightmare for me. I had just spent two weeks on the set of Star Trek: Phase II in Port Henry, New York and was flying out of Burlington Vermont Friday. Well, they canceled my flight at 6:30pm and I was forced to drive 3.5 hours to Boston to get a 6am flight back, which would get me to LAX at 11:20, just n time to rush to Profiles! Well, that flight was canceled too! and I had to switch to American and that was a nightmare (I hate that airline), but was able to land at 11:00, get picked up and made it to Profiles in time! Whew!

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH PROFILES

Now, I have a funny relationship with Profiles in History. Even before I started Propworx, I was sometimes critical of what I considered sloppy authentication from time to time on Star Trek items. But I also am a customer and respect that they are # 1 in Hollywood memorabilia and they really have built this business. We owe Profiles a lot of respect for that. But that doesn't mean I am going to shut up and kiss their ass. Not my style (yeah I know, that is a shocker). I will always be fair with my criticism and give honest feedback and try and make the hobby better and safer for all.

Now I like Brian Chanes, my main contact at Profiles a ton. He has always been nice and accommodating, and even when he took offense at some things I said on the Star Trek forum, we were able to talk it out because I honestly am not out to screw with them and I want their Star Trek auction to be a success! Brian is a gentleman and so I enjoy my relationship with him. But sadly, Brian's father passed recently and he wasn't there most of the past two weeks. So when the whole Jem'Hadar ship thing went down, I got the feeling Profiles was pissed off and I didn't have Brian there to talk to about it.

Now Profiles should not have been upset. If someone can prove an item Propworx has in its auction is not as described, I want to know! The last thing I want to do is sell something that isn't what we think it is. It does not embarrass us because we work hard to prove everything is exactly as described. And if we are wrong, we will tell everyone! Heck, I would publish a blog article like the one I wrote on the Jem'Hadar ship if someone else did that on a Propworx item, because it makes the hobby better. It teaches us HOW to authenticate and what detective work needs to be done.

And I don't think Propworx is competitive with Profiles. First of all, we are tiny compared to Profiles! Second, outside of our Star Trek auction, we don't do multiple-consignor auctions like Profiles and probably never will. Not what I want to do. Propworx is about single-consignor auctions like Battlestar Galactica or Stargate. And while profiles jumped into that space with Lost, I honestly don't see them doing that much again since it takes WAY more work than their core auction business, and even Joe Madalena said it was a much less profitable business. So I don't see Profiles as a competitor. I see them as the grand-daddy of this business.

So, that being said, let me say this Star Trek auction was top notch. Overall I give it an A-.

THE REVIEW

Profiles always has their auctions at their offices in Calabasas, CA, about 30 minutes north of LA. I am not a huge fan of this, because they simply don't have a ton of room, but this time they did a really nice job decorating the entire room with curtains and a few items from the auction.

First of all, Profiles gave away very cool miniature TOS communicator key chains that actually opened up and made communicator sounds! A great idea and I told Joe Madalena that. It was a nice little promotional piece.

The only big problem was the rows of chairs were really tight and they didn't have that many people in attendance (typical for an auction these days, people all bid online!) and we were all very cramped. I would have liked Profiles to have loosened up the room layout after the very busy previous two days they had (where I am sure they had a lot of people). They had about 15 people for the Star Trek auction, which is what I would expect. And about half were people from the Star Trek Prop, Costume & Auction Forum. Honestly, Profiles should rent out the Pasadena Convention Center's smaller spaces for their auctions. It is not expensive and would give everyone a lot more room.

The auctioneer is excellent. Profiles uses the same guy all the time, and he was really top notch and moves along nicely. He is very friendly and even intuitive. At one point there was an item I was ready to go to about $5,000 on and the bidding was going back and forth $100 at a time under $1,000 and the auctioneer looked at me and knew exactly what I was thinking (The look on my face gave it away I am sure) and said "You want to wait till they get done?" and I laughed. So he gets top marks.

The Buyer's Premium is 15% if you pay by cash or check, or 18% if you pay by credit card. No matter what, if you bid online you pay 18%. That is a little odd, because Live Auctioneers, the system Propworx uses also, charges the auction house a flat fee for using the software. None the less, Profiles Buyer's Premium is the lowest of the four major prop houses (Profiles, Julien's Propworx and Heritage) which is nice. If Propworx was doing the volume Profiles does, we could charge less too, but I applaud Profiles for keeping their BP low.


I find it interesting that profiles has so many phone bidding assistants. There were a lot of phone bidders bidding on sub-$ 1,000 items. While nice of Profiles to offer that service, it seems those bidders should get a computer and not waste Profiles time bidding on a $ 500 item! I always think of phone bidding as something for that really high dollar bidder!

And this time, Profiles got the famous German Star Trek savant Jorg Hillebrand involved to make sure descriptions were accurate. That was a VERY good move, one I suggested to Brian two years ago. And besides the Jem Hadar ship problem, they only missed one description, which they corrected on their blog.

So overall, a very well done event.


THE ITEMS

Well, let's start with the top 10 items:

Lot # 1241 Original Balock Puppet Head.....$70,000

Not surprised it went this high, but how does this look in 10 years? A beautiful piece but will deteriorate if not preserved.

Lot # 1491 TOS Tricorder from "Trials and Tribbleations".....$25,000

OK, this is insane. $ 25,000 for a DS9 Tricorder? I mean I wanted this too, because it is the closest thing to a TOS Tricorder most people will ever get. But $ 25K?

Lot # 1490 TOS Phaser from "Trials and Tribbleations".....$16,000

Ditto. I was the under bidder. DOH! Thank God I lost that one. I would have woken up with a bad headache this AM.

Lot # 1409 Mark XSL "Endgame" Tricorder.....$10,000

I won this. I overpaid, but it was an emotional purchase. I own all four main "Endgame" uniforms - Janeway Admiral, Doctor, Kim Captain and Miral Paris (and a cadet). So it made sense to put it all together. Plus it was absolutely the coolest Tricorder in the auction. When I saw it in person I was hooked. $ 10K was my max bid too!

Lot # 1527 EM-33 Pistol.....$8,500

WOW! That is a lot for a pistol, but this one was amazing and the metal pieces looked awesome.

Lot # 1251 TOS Chekov Costume.....$8,000

A STEAL! Certainly the buy of the auction.

Lot # 1486 Mark VII Medical Tricorder....$8,000

Even at this price, a fair deal.

Lot # 1261 Kirk TMP Uniform.....$7,500

I don't like this uniform, but it is a Kirk and a good deal at this price.

Lot # 1330 Away Team Medical Kit.....$7,000

Buy a Tricorder for this and you have one of the best props in the auction.

Lot # 1252 TOS Red Shirt Costume.....$6,500

A great buy on a TOS costume. The insignia was a repro though.


So, tomorrow, Part II and I start getting in depth into the items.

Alec

Funeral of Columban Fr Thomas 'Tanvir' O'Hanlon in Lahore today

Fr Thomas O'Hanlon. Photo taken after Easter by Fr Gary Walker.

Fr Thomas 'Tanvir' O'Hanlon will be buried today in Lahore, Pakistan. He died there last Sunday night after a stroke. My classmate Fr Patrick McCaffrey died suddenly in Murree, Pakistan, on 18 May. Father Tommy O'Hanlon was at Father Pat's funeral only a few weeks ago. Today's funeral Mass will be in the same church, Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore, Pakistan

This message was sent by Fr Tomás King, Columban coordinator in Pakistan: Fr Tanvir (Thomas) O' Hanlon will be laid to rest, along side Fr Pat McCaffrey, in St. Columban's Parish, Lahore on Thursday 10th June, after 3.00pm Funeral Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore. Today, Tuesday his two brothers Ned and Micheal were granted visas in the Embasy in Dublin and will travel to Lahore for the funeral.

Tarbert, County Kerry, Ireland

The following death notice appeared in Irish newspapers:

The death has occurred of Fr Tommy O'HANLON of The Columban Fathers, Pakistan. Late of The Philippines and Dooncaha House, Tarbert, Kerry.

After a brief illness, in Lahore, Pakistan. Beloved son of the late Patrick and Mary O'Hanlon. Funeral Mass and burial in Lahore, Pakistan tomorrow, Thursday, June 10, 2010. Memorial Mass in St Mary's Church, Tarbert on Saturday, June 26, at 11am.

St Mary's Church, Tarbert, County Kerry, Ireland

Views of St John the Baptist Church, Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, Philippines, where Father O'Hanlon served in the 1970s.

Profiles in History Auction Preview - Authentication and Provenance

On Saturday, June 12th, profiles in History will have the biggest auction of Star Trek items since Christie's. That will be followed later in June by the Julien's Star Trek, which is really more of an estate sale than a Star Trek prop & costume auction. The Propworx Star Trek auction will then follow in August.

What the Profiles in History auction offers is more hand props than the other two auctions combined. I will be an active bidder in the Profiles auction, while there is only one item in the Julien's auction I am after. I will be attending both auctions in person. Star Trek is my big collecting passion as most of you know, and so I have spent a lot of time and effort reviewing these items.

Profiles is the big dog on the block. They have been around for 15+ years and always have great stuff in their catalogs. I have won items before from Profiles, and I plan on bidding in this auction. That doesn't mean they are perfect and they clearly don't like it when I question them or their items. So can you trust their items? Mostly.

So I am going to spend this article writing about things you SHOULD be thinking about in ANY auction.


AUTHENTICATION

As you know by my last article, and previous articles about profiles Star Trek items, Profiles in History authentication is sometimes sloppy. They had to pull the Jem'Hadar ship as it was not what they claimed. Other items in this auction are causing a lot of controversy. They had to pull a bunch of Star Wars items, including a supposed Darth Vader light sabre that multiple sources said was fake. The Jeannie bottle is supposedly not real. The Robert Conrad Wild Wild West hat is not original as claimed and that is from an expert on that series who says Conrad never wore that style hat or had that type of trim on screen.


Now, other blogs are too busy promoting Joe to actually question Profiles in History. No real journalism is going on there. It is just blogging about props. Every major prop forum has questions about some of these items, but no one wants to say anything in public, lest Profiles get pissed off and deny them access in the future. So the collectors out there are not being helped in knowing what they can trust. In fact, they are being done a disservice because these blogs hold themselves out as authorities in the hobby but they don't do any real investigative journalism and warn collectors about what is widely considered suspect.

Well, my responsibility is to my readers, and most every major Star Trek collector out there reads this blog. I have received so many thank yous from people who are happy I did the detective work on the Jem Hadar piece. That is not because I am trying to screw with Profiles, I am very happy they are around and respect the size and quality of their auctions. In fact, my calls to CBS and to Paramount to make sure they were OK with all the "appropriated" items in this auction (they say they are not going to do anything as these items disappeared form their warehouse years ago), has put a lot of readers fears to rest. This means Profiles will be getting MORE bidders thanks to my efforts.

I only want the truth. And the more careful Profiles is with their authentication, the better for all of us. Frankly, I would help them for FREE, just to make sure Star Trek collectors, don't get taken. And my collector friends know this is true. I want Profiles to have very successful Star Trek auctions as that is good for the hobby. They just need to be better and not take offense when I catch them when they are sloppy.

The problem is Profiles just takes people's word for what an item is often without doing any independent verification. That being said, Michael Moore, from HMS, the company that made a lot of props from TNG through the beginning of Enterprise, handles most authentication for Profiles and he is as good an expert as any. My concern is previously Michael has not authenticated items that have appeared in Profiles auctions. So do they even listen to Mike when he says something is not real? Brian Chanes has showed me items they have rejected before. But how did items get in an auction that Michael didn't authenticate. I pointed this out in previous articles I wrote about profiles. And who authenticates the TOS items? Not Greg Jein. He used to but doesn't do that anymore. So we are supposed to take the word of the person who is consigning? I would like to know who the authenticators are. I certainly will discuss the process of authenticating Propworx items in detail with anyone.

We all know there are tons of fakes out there. That means that EVERYONE needs to do it better and cleaner to make sure that no one gets taken.


PROVENANCE

Provenance is the cornerstone of this hobby. And while others will say this, no one forces the auction houses to revel the provenance of items. Every single item in the Propworx Star Trek auction will have the provenance clearly stated on the COA. You will know where this came from and how Propworx got it. Profiles usually refuses to reveal this.

And the statement "I got this at XYZ auction house" is NOT provenance. Auctioning an item doesn't magically authenticate it. Heck, a black and white TOS phaser was sold by an auction house, and then bought by a major prop company who tried to sell it. Well, most TOS collectors will tell you that ALL the TOS Star Trek phasers were repainted grey in season 1. There are no real black and white phasers, they are all Mark English fakes. And so after a while the item was finally withdrawn by the seller. So you can't use the sale of an item as proof of its authenticity!

Profiles lists this as a "HERO" and it clearly is not. A HERO version of this rifles illuminates. I know as I own one.

COAs

Anyone worth his salt will tell you a COA is only as good as the company behind it. A good COA simply tells you that you can get your money back if the item is proven fake. It doesn't guarantee that the item is real, it guarantees you a refund. Premier Props sold items from "Dream Girls" that were not even from that movie! And that is from one of the producer's himself who was horrified at what he saw (Maybe why Paramount no longer does business with Premier Props, nor does Marvel or Universal). Whether this is intentional or not, those items had COAs.

What about other COAs? It's a Wrap is obviously legit as all the items came from the Paramount warehouses. Propworx is officially licensed from CBS (who now holds all Star Trek licensing rights), and the Propworx items all have solid provenance (Doug Drexler, Mike & Denise Okuda, etc.). Christie's didn't give out COAs but they did give out letters from Paramount, which are only good if you have the invoice and tags IMHO.

Profiles doesn't give out COAs, but you can REQUEST them. Not sure why they do this, but you should definitely request them when you pay for your Profiles items. At least you will be able to track back the sale and that is much of the reason for a COA. I am sure Profiles would refund your money if you ever had an item that turned out to be fake, to do otherwise could jeopardize their whole business. So I am not worried about that. Just always keep good records.


CONCLUSION

Buying Hollywood memorabilia is a crap shoot. If you don't have provenance, that most auction houses won't give you, then you need to authenticate the prop. I would never buy anything that wasn't Star Trek from Profiles unless I got a LOT of information and I felt sure that an item was independently verified. Some of the Battlestar lots for example I know are from a top collector, and so I am good with them, but I got that information from him. I have independent verification of their authenticity. That cubit lot - I wouldn't go near it as it is suspect.

But for Star Trek, and this auction, I think, with a few exceptions, you are good to go. I will be there live and have a couple items I want. Tomorrow I will tell you about some of the items and how to plan your strategy.

Alec

'Ephphata! The Deaf Person, Herald and Witness of the Proclamation of the Gospel'

'Until they pointed it out to me, I didn’t even notice that Christ is speaking in sign language from the cross, saying “I love you.”' (Cardinal Seán's Blog).

Marge Tucker, a member of the Catholic Deaf community in Boston, presenting Cardinal O'Malley with the crucifix pictured at the top

I have been involved to a limited degree in working with the Deaf since 1992, after the death of Columban Father Joseph Coyle - we were not related - who was a pioneer in working with and for the Deaf in the Church in the Philippines. I regularly celebrate Mass in Sign Language. One of the tragedies in the Philippines is that young Deaf people are a very specific target of fundamentalist Christian groups with their roots in the USA. Young Deaf people here are easy targets for the simple reason that the Catholic Church has so far done very little to minister to them. This is not by design. Church leadership is generally on the side of the poor and those on the margins. So many are on the margins in the Philippines because of widespread poverty but the Deaf, most of whom are from poor families, are on the margins of the margins..

Cardinal Seán O'Malley OFMCap, Archbishop of Boston, celebrates Mass with the Deaf thereZenit.org carries this report on the recent Congress on the Deaf held in the Vatican. I've highlighted some parts and added [comments].

A congress on ministry with and for the Deaf was held in the Vatican recently and there are a couple of reports below.



Conclusions of Vatican Congress on the Deaf


"Herald and Witness of the Proclamation of the Gospel"

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 7, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the executive conclusions adopted by the Congress on the Pastoral Care of the Deaf entitled "Ephphata! The Deaf Person, Herald and Witness of the Proclamation of the Gospel," which ended Sunday in the Vatican.


* * *


At the end of this Congress on Pastoral Care, entitled "Ephphata! The Deaf Person, Herald and Witness of the Evangelical Proclamation," organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, the instruments were defined for the realization of some priorities in the ambit of the integration of deaf persons in ecclesial life and more generally in society. [Deafness cuts off a person in a way that another disability doesn't. A person born deaf has no common language with his parents or with the community, including the Church community, unless he and they learn Sign Language. In my experience, the only 'native signers' I have come across are the hearing children of Deaf parents. The isolation of a deaf person is added to if his family lives in a relatively remote area and is very much added to by poverty.]

In this second stage of the dicastery's commitment to those affected by deafness, recommendations were received and began to be implemented which arose at the end of the International Conference "Ephphata! The Deaf Person in the Life of the Church," held last November in the Vatican. This result was obtained thanks to the active participation and support of exponents of the pontifical council and of other Vatican offices, of the Italian episcopal conference and of the dioceses of Rome, Bari, Brescia, Foggia, Chieti, Crotone, Padua, Patti, Vicenza, Bologna, Palermo, Sulmona, Aquila, Imperia, Agrigento, Teramo, Assisi, Florence, Foligno, Frosinone, Salerno, Milan, Trani, Modena, Tursi-Lagonegro, Venice, Messina, Perusa, Terni, Rimini and Pordenone. Added to them are the religious personnel, specialists and volunteers. A great contribution was also made by the representatives of the Church in America, Spain, Ireland, and Germany, who came to Rome for the Congress. [No Asian countries mentioned.]

These are, in synthesis, the priorities and instruments delineated during these working days:

1. To offer local and particular churches the instruments to begin to work "for and with" deaf persons, [Deaf people are not persons 'to be helped' but to be enabled, with their full cooperation, to become fully active members of the Church and of society, both giving and receiving] beginning both from specific elements for pastoral programming as well as multimedia subsidies. Among the latter, visual DVDs, which contain the translation in sign language, which will be used as an aid in the course of formation and participation in the life of the ecclesial community. [Hearing people need to be made aare of the needs of the Deaf and to be enabled to communicate with them.]

2. To take care and spread with particular commitment the "formation of formators," in the first place of future priests, of religious personnel and of all pastoral agents. [Some countries have Deaf priests and some have hearing pirests involved in full-time ministry with the Deaf. There are no deaf priests in the Philippines and very few priests in full-time work with the Deaf. By 'deaf priests' here I mean priests who were born profoundly deaf or became so while young, not priests who have grown deaf, ie, hard of hearing, as they grow older. though that can be isolating too its a different reality from that of the person born deaf.]

3. As it emerged in this congress, it is considered of essential importance that, for example, in seminaries it be possible to come close to the reality of deaf people by learning: the basis of sign language, their historical and personal experience, that is, the difficulties they meet in society and in school, as well as in the Church. Such an outline of formation, with the due adaptations, can be used everywhere. [I don't think that the average seminarian, or the average priest, has any idea of the situation of Deaf persons. This is not a condemnation of them but an observation. There are some priests and lay persons who consider a signing interpreter at Mass as a 'distraction'. When there are regular Masses with a priest who sings or with an interpreter hearing people gradually come not to notice while the Deaf are made part of the worshipping community.]

4. To make permanent, in the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, the study group announced during the international conference. This organism will make possible the necessary qualities and uniformity of work carried out in this realm.

5. To create an Internet reference space, useful for the diffusion of initiatives, as well as for communication and exchange among those who work in the pastoral care of deaf persons. [The internet is a place where a deaf person can function on equal terms with hearing persons.]

6. To promote an ad hoc certification for those in the ecclesial realm translating into sign language. It is considered essential that a distinction be made between the "translator" and the "facilitator." The latter must have sufficient religious competencies to enable him to follow correctly, for example, the course of a Eucharistic liturgy, the course of the religious function.

Finally, all the participants in the congress committed themselves to see that these operative conclusions are quickly made concrete, in response to what has been requested by merit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and recalled during the opening of the works of this congress by the president of the dicastery, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski.

Vatican City, June 6, 2010

[Translation by ZENIT]

Some of the Deaf giving the Sign of Peace, which we also use in Worldwide Marriage Encounter

Zenit.org also carried a report on 7 June, Archbishop: The Deaf Have a Place in the Church.

One paragraph in this reports reads: The prelate (Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski) pointed out that it is important that Christians "recall the mandate received at baptism and work for the diffusion of the Gospel through personal commitment and witness, becoming true 'heralds and witnesses,' even if they cannot hear or are close to persons affected by deafness." [In other words, the Deaf have the same obligation as hearing persons to witness to the Gospel. but as tings are now, especially in the Philippines, hearing people have to enable the Deaf to claim their rightful place in the Church].

The crucifix given by the Catholic Deaf community in Boston to Cardinal Seán O'Malley

All photos from Cardinal Seán's Blog.

Death of Columban Father Thomas O'Hanlon in Pakistan

Fr Thomas O'Hanlon (above and below) died in hospital in Lahore last night, Sunday 5 June, at 10:54 local time. He had a mild stroke on 25 May but four days later had a relapse and ws admitted to the ICU.

Father Tommy, as most of us knew him, was from County Kerry, Ireland, and entered the Columban seminary late in September 1963. He was a few weeks later than his classmates. However, he had a good reason to be late: on the thrid Sunday of September he captained the Kerry Minor (under-18) Gaelic Football team to victory in that year's Minor All-Ireland championship. He was ordained in December 1969 and went to Mindanao, Philippines, in 1970. He served there till 1979 when he went with the first group of Columbans to our new mission in Pakistan.

Father Tommy was given the name 'Tanvir' by an elderly man shortly after his arrival in Pakistan. The name means 'inner light'. Father Tomás King, the Columban coordinator in Pakistan, said of our late confrere, 'Tanvir has passed on but his light burns in the lives and memories of the people he encountered and touched. he was passionate for justice which in later years evolved into a passion for the care of the Earth.' He had a doggedness about him too that could be exasperating at times but was never obstructive or negative. Something of his passion is captured in the photo above, which appeared in the American Columban magazine, Columban Mission, in 1996, as did the other photos here.

Fr Pat McCaffrey

Father King wrote of his death: 'Tanvir died peacefully in the presence of Columban Lay Missionaries, Sisters and Fathers after anointing and while the rosary was being recited.'

Coming so soon after the sudden death of my classmate, Fr Pat McCaffrey (photo above) in Pakistan on 18 May, this is devastating for the Columban priests, Sisters and lay missionaries in Pakistan. Father Tommy was 64 or 65 and Father Pat 66. I know you will keep them all in your prayers.