William Shatner, McGill U., and Discovery (videos)

On Thursday, June 2, 2011, William Shatner was honoured at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His alma mater bestowed upon him an honorary doctor of letters and during the ceremony; he addressed the 500 graduating students.

The self-deprecating, humorous Montreal-born actor gave an enjoyable speech recounting some of his time at the university where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He went on to explain that he discovered his talent did not lie in accounting and math but in making people laugh and entertaining them. His advice was to not be scared of taking chances or failing. "Don't be afraid of making an ass of yourself," he said. "I do it all the time and look what I got."

Even if it takes 59 years. During his speech, Shatner told everyone that he had never crossed the stage to get his degree in 1952 because he missed the convocation that year. Having failed a math course, he was obliged to take a make-up course and did eventually get his degree even if he never attended the ceremony.

In talking with reporters, he said that he had no plans to retire. He apparently is having too much fun. He added that today's ceremony meant that people would no longer being calling him Captain. "Well first of all," he said of his honorary doctorate, "I'm going to insist that everyone call me doctor."


Uploaded by themontrealgazette on Jun 2, 2011
McGill Honorary Doctorate recipient William Shatner
McGill Honorary Doctorate recipient William Shatner delivering the convocation address to graduating students in the McGill faculty of arts and faculty of religious Studies Thursday June, 2, 2011.
[Time: 7:00]

March 7, 2001: Space Shuttle Discovery
On March 7, 2011, US astronauts awoke to actor William Shatner's voice and theme music to the movie Star Trek on their final day at the International Space Station before starting their journey back to Earth.

Shatner in a specially recorded introduction to the "Theme from Star Trek," played as wake-up music at 2:23 am (0723 GMT): "Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before." The music was chosen by public vote in a NASA contest to pick theme music for the astronauts' wake-up call.

Discovery, NASA's oldest and most traveled shuttle, spent eight days and sixteen hours at the International Space Station out of its 13-day trip in space, its last mission.


Uploaded by ABCActionNews on Mar 7, 2011
Shuttle Discovery Star Trek song wake up
NASA wakes up the crew of space shuttle Discovery with the "Theme to Star Trek" with a special message from William Shatner.
[Time: 1:33]

Uploaded by NASAtelevision on Apr 12, 2011
The Space Shuttle (Narrated by William Shatner)
An idea born in unsettled times becomes a feat of engineering excellence. The most complex machine ever built to bring humans to and from space and eventually construct the next stop on the road to space exploration.
[Time: 14:09]

References

Wikipedia: William Shatner
William Alan Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise, in the science fiction television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1969, Star Trek: The Animated Series from 1973 to 1974, and in seven of the subsequent Star Trek feature films from 1979 to 1994. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of Star Trek and has co-written several novels set in the Star Trek universe. He has also authored a series of science fiction novels called TekWar that were adapted for television.

Shatner also played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker from 1982 to 1986. He has since worked as a musician, author, producer, director, and celebrity pitchman. From 2004 to 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the television dramas The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal, for which he won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Shatner most recently starred in the CBS sitcom $#*! My Dad Says.


Uploaded by HISHEdotcom on Feb 26, 2010
Star Trek: How It Should Have Ended
Space...the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, and this is how Star Trek should have ended! Check out our website for cool extras: http://www.howitshouldhaveended.com
[Time: 2:58]

2011-06-04

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