Archive for the ‘Sci-fi’ Category

Credits, Cubits & Standards

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

No matter ‘where’ in the known universe (or parallel dimension) (or quadrant) you need currency.

Currency might come in the form of credits (or cubits), or more specific as in ‘transporter’ credit or “federation” credit, but even the tightest Ferengi knows that controlling debt is as important as making a profit (A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all. )Ferengi Rule of Acquisition # 18.

So no matter whether you’re dealing in Ferengi frangs, or Klingon darseks, or even Galactic Credit standards, you need to know how to manage your money after all Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #23 states: Nothing is more important than your health–except for your money.

Learning to handle all aspects of your income (and outgo) is an important part of your own personal consumer debt management. Ferengi Rule # 106: There is no honour in poverty; and therefore no reason for you NOT to learn to manage your own funds.

Stay on top of your finances. Check your credit score. Find lower interest rates, analyze your finances, your debt to income ratio.

The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be. No one ‘can’ become better prepared to take care of your own finances than yourself, a well prepared you anyhow. You need to look out for yourself and your own money because well after all…
“Deep down everyone’s a Ferengi. ” (Rule # 284)

ferengi

ferengi

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Coulda Woulda Shoulda Outdoor Adventures

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

Some news stories are harder to take than others.

Sure, us Star Trek fans love sci-fi – but we also take great pride in our own planet. Well except for when stories like the one from Canada about an outdoor adventures company that offers dog sled rides being accused of having up to 100 of their sled dogs killed to cut costs following a downturn in business.

Yes, you heard that right. The owner of the Whistler company that allegedly had 100 sled dogs slaughtered to cut costs after the Olympics will speak for the first time following reports of the tragedy.

Outdoor Adventures Joey Houssian scheduled a number of media meetings, and had a “letter to the editor” published in the Vancouver Sun. Joey Houssian, in his first sit-down interview since news of the killings sparked headlines and outrage around the world, told The Globe and Mail that his company knew nothing about the scale of the slaughter, when the dogs were killed, or the manner in which they were killed until late last month.

Houssian points to “discrepancies” in the WorkSafeBC reports filed by the employee who allegedly completed the “execution” of the dogs.

It’s a sad story. Any local dog rescue group would have been glad to help find homes for those dogs. With the outpouring of other dogs getting national attention, and many offers for homes, I know that those unfortunate dogs could have been re-homed. It’s too late for could-a, would-a, should-a, but hopefully lessons were learned from this incident and there won’t be a next time.

Shoot, I have four big dogs, but I could always find room for one more.

sled-dogs

sled-dogs

You can read about that story here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/owner-of-dog-sled-company-says-cull-was-not-olympic-related/article1897517/

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Children’s Fantasy Literature – Curse of the Flamingo

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

In the imaginative traditions of Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, and One Thousand And One Arabian Nights comes a fresh new novel that will win the hearts of fantasy readers of all ages.

Curse of the Flamingo by Martha E. Gouws is a mythical epic spanning across lifetimes and set in two distinct worlds, brimming with fantasy and magic.

Against a backdrop of lush medieval kingdoms, the magical orphaned hero Egorh works to save his world from the evil forces that would destroy it forever!

In an era where children would rather play video games or watch T.V. this book will not only enchant them, it will make them READERS FOR LIFE! And parents will appreciate the spiritual values imparted by this creative and imaginative tale…

This action-packed book reads just like you’re watching a movie! Numerous colorful characters populate the pages including:

Egorh, the young hero finding his power
Jerome, the caretaker gnome of The Edifice of Secret Knowledge
The Sorrow-queen, an endearing creature who collects the sadness of others in her glass box;
Daniel, an orphan who becomes Egorh’s trusted boyhood companion
Zinnia the wicked sorceress
Arkarrah, merciless slave hunter whose mission is to kill Egorh at any cost.

And many more!

As the orphaned hero Egorh works to save his world from the evil sorceress, he finds love, makes a few funny friends, and discovers the power within himself to conquer the evil forces that hunt him.

Discover also the beautiful pink flamingos that reside on certain lakes in both worlds and serve as a spiritual portal for the young hero.

The plot moves at break-neck speed, providing enchantment and suspense that is sure to keep readers of all ages thoroughly engrossed!

Curse of the Flamingo is an accomplished novel – distinct, original and impressive. It was inspired by the beauty of Africa, and the magic of human potential to overcome all obstacles.

Curse of the Flamingo

Curse of the Flamingo

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MUFON Symposium 2011

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

I’m not a member of MUFON, although I was once… I signed up a lot of years ago back when there wasn’t much going on apparently as nothing ever came of the membership, well except for the loss of the dollar amount of the membership fees out of my pocket.

I suppose I could have joined in a slow year. Or an off year. Or a year when there was no representation in my neck of the woods, either way, I was severely disappointed.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t keep up with National MUFON goings on. In fact, for those MUFON members that reside where they have active MUFONs, you might consider attending the 2011 MUFON Symposium. This year it’s in California on July 29-30.

You can find out details at THIS MUFON LINK.

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Older PC Games

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

You can find your old favorite games online at placed like Ebay. (My personal favorite). That way when someone accidentally breaks your fav game, you can replace it easily.

Do you have a ‘old’ fav?

Earlier the Star Wars: Battlefront I for PC enabled its fans to battle through missions and settings pulled straight from the movies. After considering the huge number of requests from their fans, LucasArts and Pandemic gave us ‘Star Wars: Battlefront II for PC’ Many changes were made from the prior version in order to increase the game’s playability and enjoyment.

Star Wars: Battlefront II chases away the old Battlefront storyline. Battlefront II is based on a first-person story which follows Darth Vader’s elite 501st Legion of Storm Troopers and is inspired from various books, like Timothy Zahn’s and other publications – from the start and through the rest of the movie’s storyline satisfying the restless hearts of many hardcore fans.

The new Battlefront II has many new missions and online battles structured in it. Now you just don’t have to destroy and hold a power generator to win online. There is much more than that. Although the continuation in the Star Wars Battlefront II does not raze the exhilaration initiate in the first team-based game to be set in the Star Wars Universe. It contains over twenty different maps, twelve of them land based and on different planets, and eight at various space-based locations. In engages the players constantly in a fight. The objective of that fight is the control of capture points. Players reach the ultimate goal by following various maps. Each map is laid out so that the players can easily strategize a way to achieve the objective. It gives you the full control of both the infantry figures and the war vehicles. Best of all, it provides the players with an attractive objective. It enables you to jump between piloting different types of ships, including TIE Fighters, X-Wings, and a number of other famous Star Wars vessels during the space battles.

Battlefront II also allows you to form boarding parties with your friends and use them to take down an enemy’s spacecraft. Or you could simply fight dog fights as per your wish. Both the land and space-based vehicles will have a real upgraded and super fast speed and maneuverability. Moreover, it supports 16 players for PS2, 32 for X-box, and 64 for PC users for online play.

Players can choose one of two different strategies. Those players who enjoy face-to-face combat can employ a series of dogfights as a way to conquer the enemy forces. The vehicles participating in these dogfights could be star destroyers, frigates, or even smaller, flea-like fighters. The game players are free to use any combination of those vehicles that they choose An alternate strategy, one that requires a bit less fighting, involves the use of subterfuge. The player who has chosen this strategy must sneak onto an enemy craft and destroy it from the inside. Battlefront II increases the excitement of this subterfuge by creating ships that are scaled to appear very much like the real thing.

If one is very well skilled at subterfuge, one can even steal fighters. This really adds to the fun of Battlefront II. The one drawback to the game Battlefront II is the fact that it has a limited number of figure types. Players control only pilots and marines. If a fighter needs to be repaired, then the pilot has to repair it himself.

Another complaint expressed by some Battlefront II players is that all of the maps lead to similar multiplayer matches. What changes is the planet over which the battle takes place. And there are 24 different possible battles scenes, 24 different possible planets, including Mustafor, Utapau and Coruscant.

So, if a team of players, or if a single player, is very good at strategizing how to capture points, what do such individuals get as a reward. In Battlefront II the reward for gaining a certain number of points is the chance to have one player as the hero. The number of heroes is limited by the restriction of one hero per side per match. The hero is not that much more powerful than the other characters, but the enemy needs to unite if it wants to succeed at defeating the hero.

abandoned SW set

abandoned SW set

GUEST POST

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There’s Still Time to Order Flowers for Valentines

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

As long as we’re still on Earth, we need to follow Earthly traditions and that includes flowers for Valentines. You still have time!

Just remember, bigger is not better when it comes to flowers. A simple arrangement is sweet, a medium size arrangement is more than enough. Flowers that tower three feet or more are, well, embarrassing.

Just order her some flowers, today! She deserves it!

You even have choices!

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VayCay in Japan with the Sci-fi author of Zeron

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

I’m always on the look out for great reads, especially those rare page-turners of adventure you just can’t put down. And as you know, they are SO darn rare. So I had to share because I’ve found what might be the best book of the year!

If you liked DUNE you are going to love ZERON, the new novel by author and global adventurer Vindal Vandakoff.

And I had to share it with you because the author is literally giving away a FREE ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP TO JAPAN to travel with him on an adventure to exotic locations that the normal visitor would never experience. (Ahem, you and me.)

For more details visit:
http://www.newsciencefictionbooks.com/

Most authors live in their books. They hunch over a computer all day, and their big adventure is down to the local café for a muffin. Not Vandakoff! This author (who sword fights, rock climbs, and skydives in his free time) has sailed his own ship, been chased by pirates, threatened by natives, and searched the globe to find the love of his life, whom he married. Wow! So the deal is, if you win the drawing to go on this all expenses paid adventure trip with him, you have to take me along! I’m kidding.

But seriously, not only do you get a chance to win this cool trip, but Vandakoff is having a HUMONGOUS kick-off for people (which means YOU) who buy the book TODAY only with thousands of dollars worth of FREE GIFTS such as music downloads, motivational books, fashion coupons, and a whole lot of other goodies.

Rarely does a Science Fiction book come along that profoundly impacts the reader with its harrowing suspense and environmental themes. Already the buzz about ZERON is spreading across Japan and the U.S. Just to give you a sense for the world that Vandakoff created:
ZERON: THE PLANET OF THE LIVING DEAD is a psychological thriller set in a volatile landscape where the evolutionary process of hundreds of million years is compressed and repeated each day, tearing apart the surface of the planet. The people are also torn apart, emotionally and physically. At puberty they inherit the death- sleep, with the horrors of aging and the stench of dying every night of their life and waking each morning a day older. The rich and powerful are corrupted by the anti-aging drugs; the drug dealers thrive and expand their power, influence and corruption.
Will the people live to outsmart the powerful warlords who are maneuvering to control the planet’s destiny?

You’ll have to read it to find out!

As you can tell I am very enthused about Zeron.

PS. Because this is a limited offer for TODAY only, you have only a short window to WIN THE TRIP and receive the thousands of dollars worth of FREE GIFTS, so be sure you go there right now before it’s too late.

ZERON

zeron

zeron

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Starbase 21 – Tulsa

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Starbase 21…
Moving Back to Tulsa!!
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Starbase 21 has moved right before the holidays to 51st and Memorial!!

That’s more specifically” 8125 E 51st St. Tulsa Ok 74145.
In the Shopping Center behind Walgreen’s

Starbase 21 is a MUST STOP whenever we run through Tulsa. Tons of comic books and collectibles.

Store Hours:
Monday – Saturday
11 am to 6 pm

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Happy New Year!

Saturday, January 1st, 2011
Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

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Vancouver Cafe Star Watching

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Can you even imagine, sitting in an outdoor sidewalk cafe, sipping your favorite beverage KNOWING that each minute that goes by is one more minute that you just might catch a glimpse of a sci-fi star?

I’ve seen pics of many of the Stargate crew sipping 100% Arabica coffee in Vancouver, haven’t you? I’ve heard that the trendy Vancouver restaurants are one of their favorite hangouts! It’s not just Stargate filming there. You’ll also find Psych, Eureka and (others). Scully & Mulder filmed there as well as many other film and tv shows.

I just ‘need’ to go there myself, grab a seat at a Vancouver cafe, order some fancy European coffee, and wait for Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks to show up.

That’d be Stargate heaven.

:)

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