If you are scrambling to do last minute holiday shopping and had your heart set on a $1500 teddy bear for someone special, you waited too long. The auction went and closed on you when you weren't looking. I wrote a while back about The-N's charity auction. It's in full swing now and one result in particular shocked me. The bear you see pictured, which was given to Spencer (Gabrielle Christian) by Ashley (Mandy Musgrave) on South of Nowhere has gone for $1520. What the deuce? No, I didn't forget a decimal point.

I could see that price if this was Trek, Buffy, X-Files, or some other show with a cult following. But this is South of Nowhere. It's hard enough just to find someone else that has seen the show. That's not to say it's a bad show, I never miss it, just that I never realized it had that kind of an audience. And the bear just barely edged out Aiden's (Matt Cohen) pants, which went for $1510. The bear is a nice collectible, but dang, that's a lot of cash. I think I'll stick with my plushy Ein from Cowboy Bebop and not spend the extra $1500.

Laura Goodwin (for some reason referred to as a man in this digg) has created an exhaustive web shrine to female characters from the original Star Trek -- complete with photos and descriptions of each. Her point (not that she needs to have one) is to show that Trek women were more than just "babes" for Kirk to tussle with. Janice Rand is described as "a real trooper."

Characters are divided into categories like "Starfleet Heroines," "Villains and Femme Fatales," and my favorite "They Were Not Women," -- a necessary category for the inclusion androids, shape changers, phantasms, etc. A handy guide to bookmark in case you happen to forget what say, Yeoman Mears from "The Galileo Seven", or Yeoman Smith (pictured), and need to access that information right away. I love it.

If you, like me, can't resist watching the original Star Trek when it pops up on your television, then you are in luck. Startrek.com is reporting that the original series is being remastered in HD to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the series. Along with the shiny new digital transfer from the original film, the episodes will also be receiving new CGI effects to replace many of the original 60's tech shots. The sound of the series gets the digital upgrade as well, including Shatner's timeless opening monologue. No word on whether or not they are going to remove all of those pauses in his speech...

The new episodes will start airing in syndication on September 16th. For the whole scoop on what's new and different, go check out the list.

(S01E11) I know there are a lot of sensitive readers out there who'll get upset if I reveal the winner of this show right here, above the fold, so I'll have you click on to read the quick summary. Why only a quick summary? Because haven't the creators of this show put you through enough hours of recapping this show already?