The Federation’s Fanboy Exchange Program

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The bridge on Casual Tuesday – We have pockets and the replicator only serves hot wings and jalapeno poppers.

You may be aware that I’m a fan of Star Wars.

But what you may not be aware of is that I dig Star Trek. Admitting that takes a little bit of a risk in modern society. But really it shouldn’t.

The Captain and I went to the Star Trek Exhibit yesterday and it was actually pretty cool. They wove real-life space exploration landmarks and vessels into the timelines and displays. I kept staring at one vessel trying to remember if Zefram Cochrane worked for NASA or not.

Mike is the Captain and I am the second-in-command. I actually almost sat in Deanna Troi’s seat. I don’t have the figure to pull off the spandex. I see myself more as a bearded warrior.
Frakes on a plane:

There are Frakes on the [bleepity bleep] plane!!

We took a Star Trek trivia test. Mike scored high enough to be Admiral. I am but a Science Officer, but I would have had a higher score if Reginald Barclay had been the focus of the questions.

Being a fan of the little details, I enjoyed learning that:

  1. The names of the cast and crew from Next Generation are on the display read-outs behind Worf. Initials like “PA ST” and “WI WH” stand for Patrick Stewart and Wil Wheaton, but look like settings on the scanners. In engineering they have a button for an Infinite Improbability Drive and the Oscillation Overthruster.
  2. The seats are from a Pinto.

But there were some things about the exhibit that bugged me as a librarian who innately catalogs and sorts.

  1. There’s a uniform from Star Trek II that is labeled as Kirk’s, but the shoulders were wide (and, ironically, the waist was narrow)(this being a key clue). When you look at the sleeve, it is the rank of a Science Officer. Yep. They have it labeled as Kirk, but it’s Nimoy’s costume.
  2. Picard’s uniform is on display, but on the neck it has three gold circles and one black circle. He should have four gold circles if he’s Captain Picard. Did he get sortof demoted?

It should be noted that if I picked up on these discrepancies, imagine the reaction for a fan in actual uniform. (Pictures not included to not induce Internet mockery.)

You should know, though, that NASA created the Science Officer position on their shuttle programs from Spock’s inspiration. I’m tempted to petition for Grand Moff to be the person in charge of the ISS. They are already struggling for names, right?

Twister is not an act, but in turn acts quickly

The results to the quiz are in:

44% Twister
33% Clue
11% Risk
11% Stratego

As my wife put it, “The others think too much. In a fight in a dark alley in Gotham, you just gotta act. Twister wins.”

And this, my friends, is one of the many reasons I married her.

She took me to teppanyaki last night:

(The guy was picking fire up with his fingers. Fire. Freaking fire! I guess they use everclear because of its high evaporative point, so the fire burns quickly but doesn’t linger.)

so in all fairness we watched Confessions of a Shop-aholic tonight.

Now, I offer this in my defense:

  1. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (but I told my wife I used to be a fan of James Cameron)
  2. Music by James Newton Howard (who helped with Dark Knight, Treasure Planet, and Signs)
  3. The last romantic comedy I could remember taking my wife to was Sweet Home, Alabama – Yeah, 2002. As in “our first year of marriage”.

Granted, I was hesitant to see the movie because I thought it looked very much like a mix between Legally Blonde and Devil Wears Prada.

Caution: Spoilers

The leading lady does end up with the leading man, her boss that she lied to but didn’t get a chance to tell the truth to until someone else revealed the truth, he got offended, but then realized how much he loved her, so it was okay. This formula has been done somewhere before…

But the fun is in the execution of that formula and the character interactions along the way. And Confessions has a cool take on APR financing (not kidding) and investor confidence. Same general plot outline, neat details.

Because, really, most of the movies that we had been seeing had the same plotline, too.

Guy is not awesome. Guy becomes awesome. Something super awesome challenges merely awesome guy. Awesome guy has to find some inspiration/something in himself/a radar network created by cell phones to beat the super awesome entity.

But it’s how they go about it that’s fun.

It’s all very Joseph Campbell-ish (don’t agree with all of his stuff)/Epic of Gilgamesh in that there’s something inside of us that craves these stories. When it’s not told well/told lazily – hoo, buddy.

Have you heard of the 36 plot lines? I had seen it way back when I was GMing (before I had the honor of actually playing and not having to guilt my friends into my dice-induced storytelling delusions).

See if Hollywood plot lines boil down to one of these at their most basic elements:

Supplication – Persecutor, Suppliant, a Power in Authority
Deliverance – Unfortunates, Threatener, Rescuer
Revenge – Avenger, Criminal
Vengeance by Family upon Family – Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Relative
Pursuit – Fugitive from Punishment, Pursuer
Victim of Cruelty or Misfortune – Unfortunates, Master or Unlucky Person
Disaster – Vanquished Power, Victorious Power or Messenger
Revolt – Tyrant, Conspirator(s)
Daring Enterprise – Bold Leader, Goal, Adversary
Abduction – Abductor, Abducted, Guardian
Enigma – Interrogator, Seeker, Problem
Obtaining – Two or more Opposing Parties, Object, maybe an Arbitrator
Familial Hatred – Two Family Members who hate each other
Familial Rivalry – Preferred Kinsman, Rejected Kinsman, Object
Murderous Adultery – Two Adulterers, the Betrayed
Madness – Madman, Victim
Fatal Imprudence – Imprudent person, Victim or lost object
Involuntary Crimes of Love – Lover, Beloved, Revealer
Kinsman Kills Unrecognised Kinsman – Killer, Unrecognised Victim, Revealer
Self Sacrifice for an Ideal – Hero, Ideal, Person or Thing Sacrificed
Self Sacrifice for Kindred – Hero, Kinsman, Person or Thing Sacrificed
All Sacrificed for Passion – Lover, Object of Passion, Person or Thing Sacrificed
Sacrifice of Loved Ones – Hero, Beloved Victim, Need for Sacrifice
Rivalry Between Superior and Inferior – Superior, Inferior, Object
Adultery – Deceived Spouse, Two Adulterers
Crimes of Love – Lover, Beloved, theme of Dissolution
Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One – Discoverer, Guilty One
Obstacles to Love – Two Lovers, Obstacle
An Enemy Loved – Beloved Enemy, Lover, Hater
Ambition – An Ambitious Person, Coveted Thing, Adversary
Conflict with an Immortal – Mortal, Immortal
Mistaken Jealousy – Jealous One, Object of Jealousy, Supposed Accomplice, Author of Mistake
Faulty Judgment – Mistaken One, Victim of Mistake, Author of Mistake, Guilty Person
Remorse – Culprit, Victim, Interrogator
Recovery of a Lost One – Seeker, One Found
Loss of Loved Ones – Kinsman Slain, Kinsman Witness, Executioner

The Outsider Planet


I’m currently watching Zula Patrol with my youngest while I eat breakfast. It tackles a tough topic: Cosmic Volleyball.

The Terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are versus the Jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) in a rock versus gas volleyball game using the asteroid belt as the net.

But who gets left out? Yep. Pluto.

It’s actually kinda cool, with Pluto’s axis being all jacked up, as well as some other planetary details.

New LEGO games on the way

An update to LEGO Indiana Jones is in the works, with more content added for The Crystal Skull. (Why? I don’t know. Although LEGO Shia is a funny prospect. Nevermind.)

Also, LEGO Harry Potter is in development. Will it include Deathly Hallows? Will it include actors too old to still be in secondary schooling?

No. Yes. (Although it would be cool to see a game based on just the book and not have movie references to work from. It would be like how we got to see Kashyyk in Battlefront before it was shown in Episode III.)

But where’s the Alpha Team? I think we’re due for a Wii version.

The Defense of Bastion

This is a Star Wars write-up, mainly for my own records since most of the Star Wars group has already seen it in an e-mail. This write-up is provided by the good folks at www.wookieburger.com.
And my guy is Cage who is a genius, really.

As the battle subsides hangar workers begin running to doors. Drabek and Ebon begin to head over to the fighters in the adjoining hangar and to open the hangar bay doors to liberate some new fighters. Xyla heads over to leave her calling card. Silas notices that some of the dock workers are having trouble opening the doors to escape. At that moment warning alarms sound. A voice over the intercom sounds “Hangar bay decompression in 45 seconds.” Araris yells out “Ok anyone not on the ship or in a vac suit in 30 seconds are gonna have a really bad night!”
Araris, Silas, and Eli with Xyla and Captain Cage on their heels. Drabek and Ebon rush up the ramp and close the door as the hangar begins to decompress. Araris pilots the Nebula Scorcher and manuvers it nimbly out of the hangar. The other two Peace Brigade ships scramble their fighters. The speedy A-9′s swarm the shuttle. Drabek suggests to Araris that he take the controls and Araris focus on the laser cannons. Eli heads to a gun pod and Silas jumps in the other. Ebon works his magic squeezing every drop of power to hold the shields up. Xyla works on the engines, though she is used to making them explode she keeps them going long enough for the shuttle to exit the gravity well of Dathomir and make the jump to Bastion.

Upon reaching Bastion the party is greeted by The Chimaera, Grand Admiral Pellaeon hails us. He tells us to dock. When we land he greets us and has security escort us to our own “private rooms”. He takes Cage and Eli to debriefing then to their own rooms.
After about an hour we are all brought back to the hangar. Pellaeon thanks us for our service to the empire and asks us to escort Captain Cage to the ISD Megador. From there he will be given command of the Megador, Errinic, and several Skipray Blastboats. He then hands Cage a datapad and says to go over it. It contains plans for the defense of Bastion. Cage is in charge of protecting the largest populated city while Pellaeons ships protect Bastions capital. Golan 3 orbital platforms and local security are placed to protect any Vong who get past the fleet.

The Vong show up in force. The Bastion defense is out numbered. The Vong have sent 2 fleets in heading for both cities. Pellaeon coms Cage saying that they need to hold out until the reinforcements arrive. Cage has a brilliant thought and has his Tie squadrons lead the Vong fighters into their training area. Dozens of orbs are activated firing on everything in their range. Cage knows the lasers are too weak to even affect shields but the Vong don’t know that. Their Doven Basils cast out black holes to swallow the bolts and soon tire out. Cages fighters begin getting the upper hand.

ISD Errinic, Interdictor Wrack, and several Broadside class cruisers jump in behind the Vong fleet. The battle rages until another set of reinforcements arrive for the Empire. The Vong Fight to the last
ship.

Pellaeon has the group return to the Chimaera and tells us he is going to deal with Flennic and wants us there. He shows us to a conference room where he says the Moff council will meet. He takes us out a side door near the rear of the room masked by a holo emitter. He says we are to wait here while the Moffs get seated and then quietly sit down at the back of the table when he plays the holo for the council. The Moffs arrive and sit at the table. The lights dim and a holo appears on the center of the table. It shows Flennic meeting with Captain Imsatad of the Peace Brigade, signed documents by him and credit account paperwork. When it ends they all stare at Flennic barely noticing the new additions to the table. Pellaeon is standing at the head of the table with an arm behind his back. He says “With this new evidence I am relieving Moff Flennic of rank and title. He is to immediately surrender to face charges of treason.”

Flennic jumps to his feet. He points a finger at Pellaeon and shouts “You’re too soft! While the Vong deconstruct the New Republic we should be taking key systems from them and gain strength. You sit like a tame dog waiting to be put down!” He pulls out a hold out blaster and points it at Pellaeon. He pulls the trigger and hits Pellaeon in the chest.

At the same time Pellaeon weilds around a blaster pistol from behind his back. The bolt hits him in the chest. He doesn’t even flinch as he pulls the trigger sending a blaster bolt into Flennics face. He tosses the pistol on the table and says “It is my opinion that the newly opened position of Moff be given to Captain Cage. His selfless defense of the Empire at the extreme risk of his rank, reputation, and his very life. He has the backing of myself and the fleet.”

The rest of the Moffs, most still staring at the recently dispatched Flennic, nod their head in agreement.

Choose your own Adventure! The official brand is back!


Summers for me were spent grabbing armfuls of these books from the public library. I remember the Cave of Time, where if you went up a tunnel you went into the future and if you went down a tunnel you went into the past. My favorite was being stuck eight seconds in the future. I always died trying to cross the street, being hit by a car that didn’t exist yet. I’m sure Stephen Hawking must flip out at the pop science, but whatever.

Also of note was this space adventure. I remember always unleashing some horrible intergalactic plague.

Well, it’s good to see that the official brand is back.

Chuckles?

Ohm, you ask for my thoughts:
Having the giant web of intersect research on the back of the Tron poster was cool. Did his dad really give him the poster?

Better yet: Will Orion end up being his dad? Is that why Chuck’s brain works well with the intersect?

I just want to see Agent Bond-wannabe take off. I am glad that they made fun of themselves when he pulled the “Bond, James Bond” thing during torture. He has a fun theme, and he does add the John Woo double pistol combat, but he’s another Bryce Larkin plotline in my mind.

NAU’s style guide

NAU has a department specifically for their visual representation/graphic identity. I never knew this, but it makes a lot of sense.

They have rules for NAU’s fonts (Caslon family, I guess) as well as the CMYK values for their logos.

I am extremely tempted to make one of these guides for our district, specifically for the newsletters that we send home to parents. It’s a different layout per school per month. Not being whiny, just intrigued as to who at a university makes the final decision for font.

Wookie Burgers, Pokedesign, and Book’s New Ad Campaign


Check out the other designs. Kinda fun to think of these beasts running corporations, with the only thing they can do is repeat their own name.

I guess that’s not too big of a stretch.

Thanks to Peter for my dose of northwesternly Ohmage.

Have you seen the new, great Star Wars resource out there? Wookiee Burgers. I might not trust all of its articles, though, considering certain history… (No, Jesse, I’ve moved on. I swear. Really.)

Check out even more updates to the wiki. What is this? A bloggh with readers and a wiki with editors? Redonkulous! Very exciting. 木の猿のように非常に、刺激的。

Have you seen the new ad campaign launched by Book? I think it may work.

Updates to the Wiki

Make sure to check out the changes that Devin made to the Cry for Kraka wiki. I need to add in the exiled Captain Cage (or if anyone else feels motivated – I guess that’s the whole “wiki”…thingy).

The winner of the “Name My Star Destroyer” contest? My dad. He was the tie-breaker, choosing The Amaranthine. And Lt. Gravix, thank you for your continued loyalty. Please don’t kill me.

I would be most displeased.

Also, I think this is an interesting take that abovetheinfluence is taking with anti-drug campaigns. Much better than the technique Gilette is using to sell razors.

On Using Your Gifts

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For next week’s BibleQuest, expect this comic about being aware of your gifts to be able to help others.

I hope it’s not inferred that I blame video games (unlike a staff meeting a while back where they blamed the fall of society on violence in video games…I haven’t enacted any violence I’ve seen, although that’s not a good, scientific argument considering I’ve never been presented with the opportunity to kill a zombie…kill a zombie down in Africa).

We hunt for brains down in Africa
We go insane down in Africa
The virus is waiting there for you