Bob Space

Um. Well, this could clear some of the corporate obstacles to the U.S. DVD release of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

One thousand sixty-five, to be precise. That was my morning walk today, just over one-half mile, not quite a kilometer. It’s not much, but it’s more than I’ve done lately. I’m trying very hard not to let myself overthink this thing (Overthinking is, of course, one of my favorite things to do), but I have a plan (cunning or not) to rate “satisfactory” on the USAF fitness standards by 11 April 2012. And then I get a month to enjoy it before the next cycle of the Mayan universe begins…

2012 promises to be a very good year. A journey of 954 days…

This morning as I was leaving Youngest at school, I noticed an oak twig on the sidewalk. The twig had a couple of leaves and a bright green acorn attached. I smiled as I walked past it. When I got in the car, I had to stare at this patch of green on the concrete for a while. First, there aren’t any oak trees nearby. So I have no idea how this twig with leaves and acorn got here. Second, I was overtaken by the whole symbology around twigs, leaves, and acorns. And schools. And children.

I don’t really have a conclusion for this entry. That’s probably as it should be.

‘Cause I’ve made my first custom parts order to Balsa Machining Service.

BMS is, incidentally, the business I wish I’d thought of. A complete inventory of standard parts, plus a few special items and kits, plus the ability to manufacture precision parts to custom specifications.

The auctions have gone quite satisfactorily, including yesterday’s Marvel/SAGA set that went at the BuyItNow price inside of 24 minutes. Thanks, bidder/buyer!

There’s only one potential lot left now: The Last Unicorn iteration for the Original Series. Given how “retro” I feel lately, I’m thinking these items are dispensable. Probably won’t bring much, but That’s just Life.

It’s Ketchup Season. heheheheheh.

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My current batch of game auctions has only one day to go. Get in on the fun at eBay (link goes directly to the list of my stuff).

I have settled on “my primary” canon for classic Star Trek:

– The Original Series, Remastered Edition
– The Animated Series
– The Making of Star Trek by Whitfield and Roddenberry
– The Star Trek Concordance by Trimble
– Inside Star Trek by Solow and Justman

(“My” secondary canon are the films from 1979 to 1991, skipping 1989.)

(“My” tertiary canon are the relevant portions of actors and producers’ memoirs.)

Am I cutting myself off from 40 years of material, some of which is very worthwhile and enriching? Oh, yes, quite. But I’m also cutting myself off from the necessity of trying to view all of Star Trek as a cohesive whole and as a reasonable, viable science fiction setting — which it probably never was .

Does this mean I dislike the laters series’ and other films? No, by no means. They all have their strengths and flaws, just as The Original Series has. But on the whole I prefer the strengths and flaws of The Original Series to any other.

Some readers are probably gasping in horror that I omitted the Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual from my canon. After deep reflection, I find I believe that this book is responsible for the compulsive need to “concretize” the facts and figures of the Star Trek Universe — not a good thing and not consistent with the values of a television show. Oh, some need for consistency is required, but not to the level of detail the Technical Manual provides. I find that level of detail suppresses the spirit of adventure that really is at the heart of Star Trek, the exploration of the universe and of the values and role of humanity in a universe like ours.

Which is all just another way of encouraging the people playtesting EZFudge Final Frontier to let me know what they’re up to and if I can ever expect any comments back from them.

Y’all might recall I’ve been involved in a model rocketry self-training program for a while. It has three levels to it, and then a bunch of add-on specialties afterward (only one of which interests me).

The first level requires four flights of assorted rocket features and/or performance outcomes. Three of these are done; only one remains — my two-stage flight. I’ve designed a booster stage for one of the earlier builds, it’s almost done for assembly. (It’s taken me this long to realize that if I want parts for modifying Quest rockets, I have to order from Quest!)

The second level requires another four flights of more advanced features. I have one of these completed (the payloader requirement) but I don’t think my past flights actually count. I have to do it (again) after I receive the official second level member pack. No problem, though, that rocket is flying fine. I have the three kits for the other goals waiting in my closet.

The third level requires me to design and build a model, make several test flights under different motors, measuring the altitude, and then assess several performance traits of the design. Like coming up with a name for a roleplaying character, coming up with a concept for the design is hard. Having a concept that’s actually safely flyable is even harder.

Which is why I’m tickled that the idea I’ve been fiddling with over the last couple days seems so sound. I’ve loaded the model into RockSim, and it seems to be quite stable. It’s simple to build. The sanding and sealing will be minimal. The most expensive part will be the onboard altimeter; the rest is off-the-shelf parts. It’s going to be light, fun, and (hopefully) attractive.

Site: White Lake, NV
Time: 8:40 – 11:20 AM PDT
Conditions: Sunny, scattered clouds, light haze from forest fire smoke blown in from California. Temp 65 F or so. Light winds increasing over event time but seldom more than 5 mph.

This was our special demonstration flight for the owner of the lake. I arrived at 7:00 AM sharp (despite what I thought was a late start), nearly locked myself on the wrong side of the gate, picked the parking place, and started marking out the launch alleys and the range site perimeter. It turns out as a surveyor I make a fine model rocket flyer. I eventually managed to mark out something sort of similar to a quadrilateral that might have been around 500 feet to the side.

Then I set out the alleys. (more…)