From: dahoov2@cox.net   
      
   Only thing wrong about the article is they've been doing this for a   
   couple years.  A couple years ago my friend got me a Christopher Lee   
   item and he said hi to me in VA on the tape... so people have been   
   doing this since the advent of tape.  But it's a great article none   
   the less.  Yere ya go.   
      
   William Shatner signs off on new video autographs   
      
      
   By Alex Dobuzinskis   
   Reuters   
   Thursday, August 14, 2008; 7:42 PM   
      
   LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - William Shatner sat in a drab office staring   
   at a TV monitor displaying a message he was supposed to read to a fan   
   while signing an autograph, but "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk wasn't very   
   happy.   
      
   "I can't do this, this is crazy," Shatner said.   
      
   The message on screen -- which was submitted by the fan -- was just   
   too odd. But as an investor and partner in Live Autographs, a new   
   video service in which celebrities appear on camera to deliver a   
   personalized greeting as they sign an autograph, Shatner had to say   
   something.   
      
   "Are you nuts? You want me to say, 'When I'm smoking and sipping   
   whiskey with Allen' -- who's Allen? -- 'I'm secretly thinking of you   
   and your dog?'   
      
   "I can't say that," Shatner added, glaring into the camera, his words   
   dripping the trademark irony he has summoned in countless TV   
   performances, including his Emmy-winning role as Denny Crane on the   
   ABC courtroom drama "Boston Legal."   
      
   And with that, and his signature, it was over -- costing the fan $149   
   and Shatner a bit of improvisation.   
      
   In the latest twist to the age-old practice of handing out celebrity   
   signatures, customers of Live Autographs get not just a signed   
   photograph, book or napkin; they receive a customized video clip with   
   a short personal message from the star.   
      
   Other celebrities who have agreed to participate include auto racer   
   Danica Patrick and actress Carmen Electra.   
      
   Rough estimates place the value of autographs bought and sold in the   
   United States at $2 billion a year, said Steven Cyrkin, editor and   
   publisher of Autograph magazine. The firm Julien's Auctions last year   
   sold an autographed Marilyn Monroe picture for $18,000.   
      
   But with the incidence of fraudulent autographs on the rise, Live   
   Autographs bills itself as a service that helps authenticate the   
   celebrity signature.   
      
   Shatner, 77, launched the business on Wednesday, signing pictures,   
   mugs and even a toy "communicator" from "Star Trek," the 1960s TV   
   space adventure that made Shatner a star.   
      
   Before starting the taped autograph session, Shatner -- whose   
   signature is in high demand from "Star Trek" fans -- told Reuters   
   about all the things he has signed at live events.   
      
   "Bras and panties and rear ends -- that's true -- and babies and   
   marriage certificates and checks," he joked.   
      
   Shatner has had a sometimes contentious relationship with "Star Trek"   
   devotees, poking fun at fans in a 1986 "Saturday Night Live" skit in   
   which he told a rabid "Trekkie" to "get a life."   
      
   Responding on tape to a written query from a Live Autographs customer   
   asking if he would rather captain a starship or be an entertainer,   
   Shatner replied curtly: "I can't even understand your question, but I   
   want you to understand -- I'm an actor."   
      
   But for others, Shatner was more amiable. In one video, he recorded a   
   wedding announcement for the parents of a couple who secretly got   
   engaged at a "Star Trek" convention.   
      
   Many of the autographs were bought as gifts.   
      
   "Someone's going to wake up tomorrow morning and on the TV is going to   
   have Shatner saying, 'Hey Johnny, happy birthday.' And they're going   
   to get the shock of their lives," said Live Autographs Chief Executive   
   Officer Rob Dwek.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)