It’s a shame that all of the Star Trek hubbub on TBR following our podcast discussion of the franchise has died down, because today is the birthday of Captain Benjamin Sisko, or rather, the actor who played him: Avery Brooks! Brooks hasn’t done a lot of television or film acting, with only 20 credits to his name at the time of this writing, but his role on the seven-season span of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was enough to make him a geek culture icon. Apparently, while taping DS9, Brooks taught courses at Rutgers University and would often deliver his class lectures by video, occasionally still in his costume. Man, I wish I could have attended those lectures. In addition to Star Trek, Brooks performed a voice on the show Gargoyles and played a few film roles in the movies The Big Hit, American History X and 15 Minutes. He turns 63 today.