Blankbaby

Paperclip + Mask = Happy Ears

If you're anything like me, a sensible person who cares about the health of others, you've been wearing a mask whenever you're out and about. You may have also discovered that masks with elastic loops that use your ears as a way to stay pressed against your face are slightly uncomfortable.

There's an easy fix that'll save your ears and press the mask even more tightly to your face. You just need one of these (it is a large paperclip, in case you can't see the lovely picture):

Which you then attach, like so, to one of the elastic loops:

Next, slap that mask on your face, place the elastic bands over your ears, and pull them behind your head so you can attach the other loop to the paperclip:

Adjust for your comfort and then send me a lovely email thanking for for this fantastic tip.

I'm sure there are little doodads you can buy, or 3D print, that do the same thing but you probably already have a paperclip laying around.

I know what you're thinking, "But, Scott, won't I look silly with a paperclip pressed against the back of my head?" There's a global pandemic happening. No one cares what you look like.

Now you're thinking, "Scott, why didn't you include a picture of you wearing a mask so we can see what it looks like on the back of your neck?" I took several of those pictures, dear reader. Trust me, you're better off not seeing them.

Following up on a thing no one cares about

A while back I got a bunch of t-shirts that were the wrong size.

I said then I wasn't confident I'd get replacements:

I’ve reached out to Loot Crate support, so I’m hoping I can exchange them for a smaller size. Though the response of “we are working on our shipping process so these late deliveries don’t happen again” that I got doesn’t make me think Loot Crate is great at actually reading the email folks send them (and that lots of people are contacting them about these very late boxes randomly showing up now!).

Good news! They sent me the right sized shirts. Woo!

My Instagram Top 9

Lots of me (not surprising). Lots of Marisa (she's so cute!). A cat and the Enterprise. Pretty much what you'd expect.

Oh, and you can create on of these yourself using Top Nine. You do have to give them your email address... and I have no idea what they do with it, but someone has probably stolen it already so what's the harm? ;)

New TNG DVD Artwork

As I was looking for the Amazon link to the episode discussed in this week's Random Trek (listen to it, it is a fun time!) I noticed the snazzy new artwork for the TNG DVDs.

I say, kudos to you DVD art maker person.

Star Trek Dice!

Star Trek: Ships of the Line 2018 Calendar

One thing that Marisa knows will also be a Christmas present hit with me is the Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar. Every year, up until this year, Marisa has purchased this calendar for me and I loved it!

Last year was no exception! I unwrapped the calendar, knowing was it was, and tucked it next to the couch so I could bring it to work with me when my "Special Winter vacation" was over.

And that's where it sat until yesterday when I noticed it sitting there unloved, unused, and neglected. I pulled out it and showed it to Marisa. She said, "yeah, that's why you're not getting that calendar this year."

Or am I? Well, I bought it for myself (only 7 bucks!) but I did learn my lesson: I had it shipped to work where it is already gracing my cubicle wall:

31 posts for TNG’s 30th

On Random Trek I always ask my guests what their favorite Star Trek series is, which seems like a good way to kick off a conversation about Star Trek.

Often, the guest will answer and then ask me the same question. This is when I talk about the difference between by favorite series and the series I think is the best Trek series.

Without a doubt my favorite Star Trek series is The Next Generation. When I close my eyes and think about Star Trek, which is something I do more often than you would think, the first images that pop into my mind come from TNG. The Enterprise D is my Enterprise, and Picard will always be my captain.

To celebrate the 30th anniversay of a show that has had a large impact on my life I’m going to write a TNG related blog post every day this month. Why? Why not!

I don’t really have any particular topics in mind at the moment, so if you’d like to sugesst something sound off in the comments or on twitter (I’m @blankbaby).

I should mention that this whole idea was inspired by this great TNG 30th podcast over at The Incomparable. I was almost on this episode myself but I talk about Star Trek enough that I bowed out to let some other people talk Trek for a change.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is 30 years old. Scott is celebrating by writing a TNG related blog post every day for the entire month of October.

Find the rest of the posts in this series here.

2016 in Review: Scott's top 5 Star Trek episodes viewed this year

Here's a fun fact about me: I have a podcast that's all about Star Trek. It is called Random Trek, and I think it is pretty fun. iTunes reviews say, "Great concept that doesn't really pay off!"

Thanks to the podcast I get to talk to lots of people about Star Trek AND watch a bunch of Star Trek. In honor of my podcast I'm going to list my 5 favorite episodes of Star Trek that I watched for Random Trek. Now, this doesn't mean that these are my favorite episodes of Random Trek: I love all Random Trek episodes equally.

Here's the list, in no particular order:

• “The Wire” (DS9) - Garak is the best. And this season 2 episode is a great Garak story.
• “Parallels” (TNG) - So many Worfs, so much cake! Also, the kookiest TNG opening ever.
• “Future Imperfect” (TNG) - A lonely alien just wants Riker to be his friend. Don't we all?
• “The City on the Edge of Forever” (TOS) - Let's face it, this is the best episode of Star Trek no matter what the series. Edith Keeler must die!
• “The Inner Light” (TNG) - Picard lives an entire life in 40 minutes... and it pretty much has no impact on him as a person, other than he learns how to play the flute.

That's a lot of great Star Trek!

Now, I know I said I didn't have favorite episodes of Random Trek, but if I did I think I would have to pick Episode 100. That was a special episode in which I had listeners submit questions. It was great to hear from people who enjoy the podcast.

This year has sucked, but it hasn't been all bad.

I'm writing a post per day for the rest of 2016 talking about some of my favorite things this year. Find the rest of the posts in this series here.

Comm Badges

I couldn't resist them (get it?). And they were cast from the original molds used for the props on TNG, DS9, and Voyager.

Marisa was disappointed that they don't beep when you tap them. I had to break it to her gently: they add those sounds in post-production.

Wrath of Khan jacket

If I had $1300 to waste (which I suppose I could spend on this, but I won't) and some reason for owning one I'd totally get this Wrath of Khan jacket.

It is very slimming, as you can see in the picture above.

New coat?

Marisa vetoed this jacket.

Larp Trek

The Internet is an amazing thing. Today’s evidence of this: Larp Trek.

I found out about this amazing comic from Carrie Anne, who will be appearing on a future episode of Random Trek. When she told me about it she said, “You’re going to lose a lot of time to it.” She was right.

Here’s the idea behind it: the holodecks are all offline on the Enterprise and the TNG bridge crew needs something to entertain them. Geordi decides to game master a role playing game where each of the crew members plays a character on the fictional space station “Deep Space Nine."

That’s right, this comic imagines that DS9 was a campaign in an RPG played by TNG characters. I can’t even.

Just read it. Read it now. Start at the first page. If you like D&D and Star Trek you won’t be sorry.

Also, if you like D&D, Star Trek, AND podcasts, you should listen to:

• Total Party Kill
• Random Trek
  

New pillow

I have an Ikea chair in the Den (which Marisa refers to as "my room" since it is the area of the apartment in which I have the most say over what goes where) and it usually has a pile of random stuff on it.

That is, until I found this Star Trek pillow on ThinkGeek. I went with the Science pillow because that's how I roll.

I did buy this though

Don't tell Marisa!

 

 

U.S.S. Reliant

It is no secret that I'm a big Star Trek fan. I mean, I host a podcast devoted to Star Trek for goodness sake!

It follows that one of my favorite (if not the favorite) movies is Star Trek II: The Wraith of Khan. I can watch this movie over and over again.

One of the pivotal ships in the movie is the U.S.S. Reliant (which seems to have a B Team crew, as discussed in this episode of the Incomparable). Khan manages to takeover the ship rather easily and hijinks ensue.

The people at QMx have put together an amazing model (or as they're calling it "artisan replica") of the ship. Here are just a few pictures:

Of course such high levels of detail and high quality build construction translates to a $9,995 price tag. A little too rich for my blood (though honestly, I'd probably buy one if I were single. I don't think Marisa would agree that this is a good use of the money, and it isn't really).

Though if you have $10,000 you don't need and an unusual amount of like for me you now know what to get me for my birthday.

Facial Hair update

Podcast appearances

When you host your own podcast (Random Trek, you should listen!) a funny thing happens: people start inviting you onto their podcasts.

I suppose it makes sense, really. When I think about inviting someone onto Random Trek I skew towards people I know will be able to hold up a conversation, so having podcasting experience is a good thing. Now, some might say, "But, Scott, you've been on the Incomparable forever! Shouldn't people have invited you onto their podcasts based on that?"

No. Why not? Well, I don't talk a whole heck of a lot on most Incomparable episodes that I am on. So, as a host looking for potential guests I wouldn't consider me either based on those appearances.

Anyway, a couple of people have been foolish enough to invite me on their podcasts as of late:

• TDB - Jordan had me on his 12 step program themed tech/culture interview podcast and it was a lot of fun. I figured we'd talk about my Kindles, and we did, though we spoke more about my unhealthy need to acquire more books. Also Star Trek. Check out the episode (and give the older shows a listen too, Jordan is both funny and a good interviewer).
• The Committed: Based on my appearance on TDB I was invited onto the Committed podcast to talk about Kindles, the future of books, and Amazon's taco delivery service. Ian, Kirk, and Rob produce a fine show (despite having me on), so you should give it a listen.
• The Incomparable: Speaking of podcasts I'm on, the lasted episode of the Incomparable is dedicated to the best/worst of Star Trek and I'm a panelist.

The other funny thing about having a podcast is that people ASK to be on it. This is something that has never even occurred to me, to be honest. I listen to a fair number of podcasts and I don't think I've ever emailed/contacted the host and suggested I be on (well, other than Your Daily Lex, but that suggestion was a joke which came true. I'm on episode 3!).

I don't think there's anything wrong with it; it just isn't something I would do. Maybe I should be emailing people asking to be on their shows!

I'm old

So much gray hair. So much handsomeness.

Random Trek

I had this crazy idea: I should do a podcast in which I would be joined by a guest (a single guest) and discuss a random episode of Star Trek.

I know what you're thinking, "That doesn't sound too crazy." Well, here's the thing, if I'm best known for anything in the world of podcasts it is my silence. I'm not a naturally chatty person and since most of my podcasting appearances involve panel discussions I can sometimes fade into the background. The idea that I should host a podcast and be joined by only one other person seemed daunting to me (I thought the random Star Trek part was a pretty good idea right from the start).

I did what I do whenever I have a crazy idea: I told Marisa about. Since she has had at least three non-consecutive successful conversations with me about a variety of subjects she didn't think the idea was crazy. In fact, she encouraged me to do something about it.

That's the other thing about my crazy ideas: they usually stay ideas. I don't think I'm alone in this tendency. Sadly, for me, I'm also a classic over-thinker. I think about stuff for a long time before doing anything (you can ask Marisa about this too!).

Emboldened by Marisa's support of the idea I thought about it some more. I pondered who would be a good first guest for awhile and the answer became clear: Jason Snell.

Jason, in addition to being a huge Star Trek fan, is a doer. I figured if he was into the idea the likelihood of it actually becoming a thing would be greatly increased.

Jason did, in fact, like the idea and in turn motivated me to actually do something about it. I registered a domain, I got a Twitter account, and then I thought about it some more.

Now, as I was pondering the podcast Jason launched The Incomparable family of podcasts (The Incomparable, Not Playing, Total Party Kill, and teevee). Random Trek had found a home.

Now you can listen to the first episode (you totally should) and I'm very excited about the whole thing.

Look for new episodes of Random Trek every Thursday for the next 680 weeks or so (assuming there isn't a new Star Trek series released over the coming 13 years).

I like Star Trek

And Blurays!

Everything is coming up D&D

The last couple of weeks have been heavy on the D&D for me. First, the long time in the planning the Incomparable D&D session happened over the weekend. The podcast isn't up, but you can watch it on YouTube if you're into that sort of thing (and who isn't).

I also penned a piece for The Magazine about how D&D has shaped me as a person. The isn't my normal kind of writing, but I'm pleased with how it came out (thanks to Marisa for helping, and thanks for Glenn for accepting the pitch!).

Let me know what you think of the piece. I'm very curious because this kind of writing is outside of my comfort zone. I'm also concerned that the last section makes me out to be something of a sociopath, but I'm really not! You can trust me, I totally have "human" "emotions."

I'm a kitty

Photo by Marisa (t-shirt, and body, by VooDoo Doughnut.

My favorite font: Calibri

Whenever I launch an app on my Mac for the first time I immediately launch the preferences and change the default font settings. As I've aged so have my eyes, so I need to increase the size (the super high resolution monitors haven't helped my eyes, sure the picture looks great but everything is even smaller!). And I generally change the font face to Calibri which might be among the great things Microsoft has ever created. I don't know why I love this font, but I do. Good job, Microsoft typography team!

I bow before the master

Anyone who knows me knows I enjoy a Hawaiian shirt or 32. I like wearing them all the time, but I have nothing on John Lasseter. He has over a 1,000 of the things (plus he has way more money than I do, but that's just a tiny detail!).

Check out this interview in which part of John's collection is featured.

Put me in coach, I have a clear mind and heart... and a nice shirt.

A few days ago I wore this shirt, which has been featured on Showtime's Dexter:

It would seem Lt. Baptista isn't the only fictional character who likes to rock a Tommy Bahama shirt from time to time. Marisa and I were watching Friday Night Lights on Friday (Marisa is a big fan of the show, I don't hate it) and Buddy Garrity was sporting a fine looking shirt: