Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Ode To A Tribble

With sincere apologies to Robert Burns...

Ode To A Tribble


Fair and full is your honest, furry face,
Great chieftain of the cooing race!
Above them all ye take your place,
Puppy or cat that purr:
Well are ye worthy of a grace
As soft and sure.

The groaning Klingon you screech shrill,
You shake and quiver still, 
Your sight would help to mend the ill
In time o' need,
While through your pores your love distill
Like amber bead.

His bat'leth seek labour delight,
And cut you up with ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like any ditch;
And then, O what glorious sight,
Thrice more are born, rich!

Then fist and blade, they stretch and strive:
Devil take the hindmost, on they drive,
Till their mortal enemies rive
In mounds of great hight;
Then to a warrior, thus cry
Be gone bloody PARASITE!

Is there that over the Klingon targh's mew,
Or Vulcan sehlat with toothy crew,
Or Ceti eel’s slime-covered larval spew
With perfect disgust,
Looks down with sneering, scornful view
On such a gentle trust?

Poor devil! see him over his trash,
As feeble as a withered rash,
His shank a good whip-lash,
His fist a nit;
Through bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit.

But mark the tribble-friend,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his ample fist a blade,
He'll make it whistle;
His enemies will fade
Like tops of the thistle

You powers, who make humanity your care,
And dish them out their worldly fare,
Old Terra wants no lesser ware,
That fails to sooth the furrowed brow;
But, if ye wish her grateful prayer, 
Give her a Tribble now!

Monday, May 20, 2013

Things From My Desk: Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

Scotty encounters an over fed Tribble
Yes, it might look like a Ken doll. But it's got a phaser and knows how to use it. Er... that is if it were actually Scotty, and Star Trek were for realz, and...

I went to Motor City Comic Con last weekend. Other than the ridiculous wait to get in (1 1/2 hours with advanced tickets) and the dearth of real food or replicators, it was a lot of fun.

I've never been to a Con before. My daughter and friends wanted to go. I tossed together an Engineering shirt to go with my kilt... so I could be a Scottish engineer of course. For a quick sewing job it turned out ok.

Once her friends showed up, she was off, and I was on my own. Picked up my first Barbie doll Star Trek Action Figure and some other cool stuff. Lydia was able to get her Legend of Zelda sword - she went as Dark Link, also known as Link's Shadow.

I was asked for a photograph more often than I expected. I think the Think Geek Tribble may have had something to do with it. Or perhaps it was the kilt. We'll never know, but Tribbles do seem to attract attention.

Trills like Tribbles
The best encounter of the day was with Uhura. She's actually pretty shy. Her father asked if she could take a look at the Tribble and get a photograph.

Awesome Uhura being Awesome!

There was a lot more Star Wars than Star Trek, but it's all good!

The 501st Legion takes on an enemy of the Empire



Monday, March 4, 2013

Things From My Desk: Here be Tribbles

My wife pretends to understand my obsession with all things Star Trek. Especially, when it comes to the original series. She enjoys the next generation episodes but not TOS. However, she does occasionally supports my TOS addiction.

One of my gifts for Christmas was a pair of Tribbles from Think Geek. I was supposed to receive one tribble, but Think Geek "accidentally" shipped two. When she called them about returning the spare, they said "Merry Christmas" and told her to keep it. Then again, maybe they only shipped one?

They aren't quite as advanced as my tribble design (see my post Nerd Craft: Star Trek Tribble - Initial Plans). But, a tribble in hand is better than two... Actually, counting tribbles is rather pointless unless you are Spock.

If you bump the Think Geek tribble it screams and vibrates, but it does not purr.

Tribble!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Things From My Desk: Start Trek Next Generation Pez

A friend of mine mentioned seeing this at her local Meijer store last weekend. An hour later, I was in the check out lane. Goes great with my Star Trek TOS Pez.

Next Gen Pez

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Things From My Desk: Star Trek Phaser


Star Trek is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite science fiction television program. Especially, the original series.

When they started promoting the latest movie, you could get a free Star Trek uniform shirt from Kellogg for a certain number of box tops. I cannot remember exactly how many, but I purchased enough Corn Flakes to start a survival shelter. Enough to get four shirts for my family.

Sean wasn't interested, but I got him a gold command shirt anyway. I've always wanted to be an engineer, so mine is read. I think Stacey and Lydia wanted medical and science (blue).

Today at work we had a Halloween dress up day. I was out of the office at a Microsoft sponsored event this morning so the kilt was out. Instead, I just dressed in a t-shirt and black jeans and tossed my Star Trek shirt and cheap costume phaser into my bag. A simple shirt change back a the office was all that was necessary.

Someday I'll spend the money on some TOS props. A hand phaser, tricorder, and communicator. I also think I'll make a Wrath of Khan style uniform jacket to go along with my kilt. Scotty didn't wear one in the movie, but a fan must have put one together judging from the image below. He did wear one in an episode of the original series. Not the same tartan as below but I think the MacQueen colors complement the uniform jacket.

Best of both worlds :-)

+ =

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Nerd Craft: Star Trek Tribble - Initial Plans

Trouble with Tribbles

Update
You can buy your own from ThinkGeek for less than $20!

One of my favorite Star Trek TOS episodes is The Trouble with Tribbles. A Tribble is a small, soft, furry and gentle asexual animal that produces a soothing purring sound. That is, unless you are a Klingon. Mortal enemies of all Klingons, a tribble screams when they encounter a Klingon. The Klingon acts like a frightened child.

Anyway, I've always wanted a replica tribble. But not just some furry stuffed animal. I want one that screams, purrs and otherwise sounds like a tribble. Technology has finally caught up with my wishes and my pocketbook!





Unfortunately, we cannot genetically engineer pets, at least not tribbles. Glowing fish aren't my thing. I'll have to make a tribble puppet of some sort.

Here are the behaviors I want my tribble to express:
  • Purrs when petted or held
  • Screams at Klingons
And the ones that I'll have to leave until I get my genetic engineering chemistry set:
  • Consumes mass quantities of food
  • Procreates
  • Moves around
What I'll need:
  • Shaggy faux fur cloth for the pelt
  • Polyfill for stuffing
  • A couple of recordable sound chips for gift cards
  • A tilt switch
  • A pressure/contact switch
The faux fur and polyfill shouldn't be too hard to get at either a craft store or somewhere online. A simple baseball style pattern (two strips of fabric in the shape of teardrops attached with a neck) but elongated. 

Sound chips are available online. One will record and playback the purr, the other the scream.

Klingon agents and Tribbles don't get along


What's the tilt switch for? A Klingon detector isn't available so I'll fake it. If you pick up the tribble and keep it level it will just purr. If you hold it a steep angle, the tilt switch will disable the purr and activate the scream chip.

A simple tilt switch can be made with a small circuit board, a couple of stiff wire contacts, a metallic ball bearing, and a short tube. 
Most definitely not a Klingon







The pressure switch might be a bit trickier. I'll need something that doesn't require a lot of pressure, but just enough that the tribble doesn't randomly purr and run down the battery.



Monday, October 22, 2012

Things From My Desk: Star Trek Pez


Stacey gave this to me several years ago. The original Star Trek series will always be me favorite, but I did enjoy Next Generation and the latest movie.

The NASA Apollo missions, Star Trek, Space 1999, and Star Wars motivated me to read science fiction. At first just to get my science fiction fix. Later for the simple pleasure of reading.