Ran across a pretty nifty resource for you Trekkies, called “Mission Log: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast”.

Started in mid-2012, it has a ton of production photos,  story outlines, memos, and trivia notes for most episodes in their “discovered documents” section. They also have a couple of interesting podcasters that spend about an hour each week breaking down each episode to discuss the messages, morals, and meanings contained within, as well as rating whether the production, story, and underlying messages hold up in today’s world. They’ve tackled it chronologically, one episode per week (two per week for the animated series), and currently sit about 22 episodes into the animated series (Having completed all 79 episodes of the original series). They plan to tackle the movies, Next Generation, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise as well, if interest holds and they live long enough. (Thinking of J.J. here, as I download them to my phone and often listen to them at work. I haven’t heard of J.J. flattening anyone on the roadside lately, so the man needs some distractions.)

They also do occasional Supplemental podcasts with folks like Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod, the guy in the Gorn costume (Bobby Clark), David Gerrold (author of the Trouble With Tribbles), and Nichelle Nichols, among others. Definitely worth a look and listen!

Ok, so I may have misidentified the vehicle at first glance, it’s an understandable mistake. It’s actually a bit more bad-ass than climbing into some dusty Hamtramck steel, turning a key, and blowing a dead squirrel out of an exhaust pipe. What they did salvage, was a Hitler-thumpin’, 152mm howitzer-totin’, Wermacht-squishin’ 50-ton ISU-152 tank destroyer that had been sitting in a field since we were still Liking Ike. (The russian name is “Zveroboy” , which translates to “Deerslayer”. With the possible exception of the glowing super-deer around Chernobyl that’ve been in all the news, I had no idea russian deer were robust enough to require a 152mm HE round to the face to secure a venison dinner. Ted Nugent has expressed his interest.)

I’m mainly just throwing this in as a test of my ability to navigate the blog features, the page was in russian so I threw a Google-translation of the poster’s blog page after the link, sloppy, but you’ll get the gist of things. The actual start-up is about 10 minutes in, and things get rolling at the 12 minute mark. I can’t help but think that some similar scene happened behind PL’s house back in the day….

ISU-152 YouTube

 ” Deerslayer ” ready for battle !

During search operations in 2003 with . Golinka Chernihiv region staff research and production company “Tanais” found self-propelled artillery ISU-152 ” Deerslayer “, which stood in the center of the village near the village council , and for many years partly rooted in the ground . Acquainted with the local authorities learned that she came to him after the war, and its going to put on a pedestal . But unfortunately it was not destined to become a landmark since the village council at the time there was no money for the construction of the pedestal. And then about her at all forgotten. Once it still used when it was necessary to uproot some powerful trees in the village center . Trees tied thick chains and shipboard , for self-propelled guns had no problems with the roots to pull them out of the land .
Remembered the self-propelled , when scrap prices have started to rise . All hatches were opened at the self-propelled . Locals and visitors were more likely to visit this place during the Second World War. All that could be unscrewed and removed, was withdrawn. Speaking of the gun. She was ready to fight. Lacked only striker . We had to make demilitarization . Gas welding and cut the barrel brewed bolt carrier . But most importantly – the engine was in place, no one before him could not reach . Experts have restored the power supply system and engine starter compressed air. Cooling system lacked two radiators (they were made ​​of aluminum ) . Then established a system of fuel supply for the simplified scheme . After many years of being in the open air , rain and snow have done their job . Self-propelled start to rust from the inside. Had to change the high pressure fuel pump . Fuel and air filters also fallen into disrepair . After all these events , we connected to the electrical system two KAMAZ battery. Before starting the engine , we were able to use a crowbar to manually crank the motor shaft. To our delight he was “alive”. After the first attempt to start the engine with the help of batteries, “he cleared his throat, ” and earned . With exhaust pipes flew leaves, and a lot of different stuff. The driver tried three times to move the ” Deerslayer ” in first gear , but to no avail . And only after engaging reverse gear , ” Deerslayer ” left his ” trench ” …
And then someone joked that Tymoshenko is going on … The Supreme Council .
And , after a short walk along the countryside ” motor noise ” heard by the district administration and the region. And while the political situation in the country was not stable .
Unfortunately , the police have lost six months to conduct examinations and audits of all documents on this occasion. Fortunately all ended well . Any violations of the law of Ukraine was found.

Ike The Soothsayer.

Remember, Ike also warned of the dangers of  an all powerful military.

Friends. If you look right above this post you will see the Map of our little Community. You will see the “LSDROBO Military Reservation” Many of you know what and who that refers to.
Earlier this week I learned that our community member and my friend LSD Robo or better known as Robert D. Brinsfield II Passed away on Feb 24th 2014 In his sleep Peacefully at home.
Robert was preceded in Death By his wife Deb whom many of you knew also. He is Survived by his parents and a sister.
I first met Robert when he was introduced to our group by a friend (Many of you know Booker) and I instantly liked him. The Robert that many of you knew was different from the person that we met many years ago. (as most of us are) He was the 1st person that I knew that was into Apple computers when Windows PCs were becoming the rage. We shared many of the same likes and interests from music to politics. I always enjoyed having political discussions and sometimes debates with him.
He had a love of Flying as his father was a pilot and anytime there was any airplane story in the news he helped put all the technical jargon in perspective for me.
He would come to where I worked back in the late ’80s and early ’90s after I got off work on Friday nights and we would go for a late dinner and discuss events of the day.
One of the things I will always remember is the time that took his rifle out to the field/range and tried every way we could think of to prove that Oswald fired the shots the way the Warren Commission said he did, Needless to say it was impossible.
He loved weapons and for a while did all our reloading.
The other thing I will never forget is the 4th of July out at the Pasture we were having a big party one year, after lots of firing and MR conducting a live fire class for the guests we loaded all the weapons up in his Truck to take them back to MRs house. Just as we were driving out of the gate we were met by a OK. County Sheriff. We get out of the truck that’s loaded with guns (Picture Bonnie and Clyde’s Car) I have a .38 on my hip I don’t remember if he was wearing a weapon at the time or not. The cops ask us if we had been shooting? They had a call that there was someone firing a machine gun, We told them we had been shooting and were now taking all the guns from the area. I still don’t know how we talked our way out of them searching the truck.
Robert had been in poor health lately complicated from Diabetes, he had lost part of a leg in Dec. ’12 he had been suffering from depression for some time and I feel that these contributed to his untimely passing. We had not been in close contact since early ’13 and for that I am now sorry.
Robert was 51 years old, That’s too damn young to go. So Robo I will miss you and will always cherish the memory of your friendship. Good Bye my Friend.

Anon sent this to me to Post on the Blog…..  He gets confused sometimes and/or doesn’t want to learn how to add links to a Post (Ha!).…..  This link on Muscle Shoals (click here) is on the PBS website and is pretty cool……  Here’s some  of the music from there:  “I’ll Take You There,” “Brown Sugar,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “I Never Loved a Man the Way That I Loved You,” “Mustang Sally,” “Tell Mama,” “Kodachrome,” and “Freebird” are just a few of the tens of thousands of tracks created in the FAME Studios of Muscle Shoals……  Check it out…..  Thanks Anon…..

Around 2002, our brilliant Oklahoma lawmakers decided we needed a Dome on our State Capitol…..  Never mind that we were one of only two states that did not have a visible dome on their capitol building…..  Don’t remember which was the other state… Oh, well, we had a dome, which you could see from the inside, but, on the outside there were high parapet walls around it……  Well, they spent millions upon millions to build this huge dome with an Indian on a Horse at the very top…..  Impressive, not really….  Now our capitol looks like every other capitol in every other state….  Here’s the really stupid part…..  Now the Capitol building is crumbling right out from under this spectacular dome!…..  I don’t know if the added weight of the dome has anything to do with it, but, they’ve roped off the area around the outside as large chucks of limestone are crashing off the outside of the building….  The inside is also falling apart – the plumbing is totally shot and the electrical is about the same…..  Here’s the clincher – THEY DON’T HAVE ANY FUNDS TO REPAIR THE CAPITOL!…..  If they would have spent those million of dollars on repairs instead trying to make our capitol look like every other capitol, they wouldn’t be in this mess, so, we might still make history as the only State in the Union WITHOUT a Capitol Building (Ha!)……

The list includes:

Bleach and of Blast
Cramp and of Itch
Sciatica of Lethargy
Cut of Stone
Kings Evil
Planet-struck
Rising of the Lights
Overjoy
Devoured by lice
Stopping of the Stomach
Chin Cough
Horseshoe Head
Lunatick
Found dead in the streets.

This not a complete list. If you have any of these symptoms, consult a physician.

New Yorker, April

Yep, We were having snow last week, now that it’s April, we’re looking at mid 80’s today, along with severe weather…..  It started last night, but, the big stuff is supposed to be here late this evening into the night……  Our severe weather is like a Vampire – Loves to strike in the dark of the night…..  BUT, this is news – Not good news, but news – They changed their usual saying from “Large Hail, Damaging Winds” to “VERY Large Hail, Damaging Winds” – Thank You very much (Ha!)……  They’re predicted hail up to baseball size…..  Can you image what kind of damage that will cause if it actually happens?….  Like I’ve said before, our forecasters have a hard time of forecasting due to the fact we’re a big flat spot in the middle of the U.S.…..  So, since I have no protection of any kind for my 240SX SE, I’ve got to impose on my sister-in-law and use her carport and maybe even end up sleeping on her couch!….  Oklahoma – It’s great (Ha! Again)……  Since I’m bitching, I might as well throw in that Oklahoma is now the 4th worst state for allergies (was 9th), and , yes, I have allergies (aH-CheW!)….  Welcome to Spring in Oklahoma everybody……  Come visit – Just bring your own personal suit of armor and plenty of allergy medication……

IT’S YOUR DAY!!!!…  Oh, I think that’s suppose to be “April Fool’s Day”……  I don’t think it’s really considered a holiday, but, there are a bunch of “Foolers” and “Foolees” that will take it as that…..  Have a good “Fools” day, but, try to be nice, if you can’t, then, at least, be considerate……

OK Here’s my opinion on the whole Missing Plane thing. ( I know no one asked for it but here it is anyway)
1st. I do not think the Malaysian Officials are Hiding anything, I feel that they are In so far over their heads that they don’t know how to conduct this investigation and are too proud to ask the world “We Don’t know what we are doing, will someone please take this over?”
2nd. I think that this is going to turn out to be something that no one has ever seen of thought of before. (Remember if you would have told us on Sept. 10th 2001 that someone would have used planes for what they did we would have said NO WAY.)
3rd. (Now for my rant) For those of our new members who don”t know me, I am a Over the Road Truck Driver who drives Coast to Coast, Border to Border. I have a device in my Truck Made by Qualcomm Corp. Called a Mobile Computing Platform Or MCP 50 aka. E-Log unit. This technology is mandated by our friends at the Guvmint (You know those who have never done but tell us how to). It was because of the Griping and Lobbying of a couple of special interest groups who have also never sat behind the wheel.
With this unit my company can tell everything that my truck is doing at any given moment (ie: RPM, Speed, Temperature, Fuel Usage, how long I have driven etc.) It can also pinpoint my truck within a 50 Foot radius. and if this unit should fail meaning if it experiences a power loss within aprox 10 minutes I will get a phone call from my company asking “what happened?” (It did and I did). This unit uses Satellite Technology Not Cellular Communication. Satellite, You know those thingys that are flying around the Earth listening in on all of our phone calls and reading our E-Mails.
The beauty of this thing is it costs about $150.00 per unit and a monthly monitoring fee by Qualcomm Corp.
Now with that being said, Why does the current Aircraft technology have “Transponders, or Communication Devices ” that can be disabled by someone on board the aircraft? There should be a system that Cannot be disabled or accessed from anywhere inside the aircraft.
Why is there a data system that can be defeated on board by either human or mechanical means? Why don’t aircraft have something as simple as a GPS transponder somewhere on board that Cannot be accessed from inside the aircraft?
I’m tired of the aircraft/Airline people saying that “It would cost Millions to outfit aircraft with “Real Time Data, or positive communication technology. (Remember my little $150 unit)
And one last question/statement You mean to tell me that Someone on board did not have a Satellite Phone? My brother in Law whenever he travels abroad (which is a lot) Always takes a Sat Phone.
So why can’t the Airline industry come up to date with the Heavily Mandated and Regulated Trucking Industry?

One of the few perks of getting old. Lol

…..was caused by a friend sending me a pic of a so-called Billboard, which, since I am ex-Army decided to Forward it to my friends as requested…. I don’t usual forward anything…..  Of course, I had to add my two cents worth when I forwarded it……  YES, I got replies!…..  Thought I would share the whole string with all of the MRC Community……  Feel free to throw-in your own opinions AFTER you read all the comments that were sent back and forth……   PLEASE READ ALL THE COMMENTS BEFORE MAKING A NEW COMMENT……  All the eMail comments will be shown as made by me, but, I will Note at the top of each one who they were from…..  Those of you who received the eMails and are not members of MR Central, but want to further comment, you don’t have to register, just make your comment and it will be held in moderation until I approve it…..  If you want to join our twisted Community, you’re free to resister, which I also get to approve/disapprove…..  Ah-h-h-h, It’s great to be the “Top Dog” (well, sometimes (Ha!))……

Here’s the Billboard that started the whole thing (refer back to it as you read the comments):

……We don’t have in Oklahoma, Thank God, is Mudslides……  Sorry to hear about the huge one just North of Seattle……  I think I would rather be sucked up in a Tornado than squashed and suffocated by tons of gooey Earth……  Our hearts go out to the community in Washington, and, I’m not making fun of the situation, it’s very serious, I am REALLY glad we don’t have that problem here, but, I also REALLY want to move to Seattle one of these days…..  I guess “Things are Bad all over” – Weather-Wise…….  I hope none of our Seattle based members had family or friends affected by the Mudslide…..  If so, Please let us know if there is anything we can do here at MR Central……  Mother Nature can be a real Bitch when she wants to……