Cptn Moose

In spite of advancements in technology, transporter accidents were still common well into the 24th century.

Actually, in "The Best of Both Worlds" Part 1, Enterprise goes to examine a destroyed colony. They make reference to the fact that the damage is identical to that done to the Neutral Zone outposts, and because they since had knowledge of the Borg, they connected the two incidents. There are three things I would remove from canon: a) Wesley turning into a superbeing and going off with the Traveller. :lol: Worf and Troi dating. ick Worf and Jadzia didn't bother me. Worf and Troi? ick. c) The death of the NX-01 crewman in the Enterprise finale (name withheld in case anyone hasn't seen it yet.) Moose

Unless you want to count the annual William Shatner Celebrity Paintball tournament, which is being held this year on September 4th and 5th. www.celebritypaintball.com/eventinfo.html Research, people. Research. : )

As a long time fan of Dr. Who, it amazes me how little talk it gets on these boards. Just one more item to make me feel like a dinosaur, I guess. : ) Dr. Who first aired on BBC in 1964 (give or take) and for the first 7 or 8 years was strictly in black and white. It ran for close to 25 years, with 7 different actors playing the title character (his body would die and he'd regenerate as someone else). He had dozens of whacky sidekicks as time went on and fought enough cheezy villians to make Ed Wood cringe (another historical reference). I took two of my characters and put them in a dimension hopping space pod, making them pop in here and there bickering about who's the worse driver, just as a homage to this show. Cheap sci-fi on a budget, but wonderful fun. Moosethusela

You should. You drank enough of them. Oops ... was that out loud?

M.O.O.S.E. Machine Optomized for Observation and Scientific Exploration All in all, it pretty well sums up what I do around here. ;-)

I feel somewhat undeserving of such praise. And I'd protest if I hadn't just um... persuaded... the Las Vegas Hilton into giving me a room for Friday and Saturday for only $25 total.

Everyone's played the children's game where the group goes on a trip, and one by one, players pull something out of their pocket that they brought with them using a different letter of the alphabet: I went on a trip, and in my pocket I had an apple. I went on a trip, and in my pocket I had an apple, and a banana. I went on a trip, and in my pocket I had an apple, a banana, and a cat. As our family and friends are only too happy to point out, simming is just a game. It appears more complex on the surface, but underneath it's as simple as it was back in kindergarten. Consider the following scene: CMO: A patient is being brought in. AMO1: Doctor, the patient is a Vulcan. AMO2: The Vulcan has lost a lot of blood. I'll replicate some green plasma. CMO: She's still bleeding. We have to find the wound. AMO1: The wound is here, on her back. Who would have stabbed her like that? AMO2: The stab mark has jagged edges, like ones left by Klingon weapons. Take what was said before you, add something to it, then pass it along. And so it goes, just like the children's game. Each player takes his or her turn adding one more thing to the list, and the story unfolds. When the GMs nag about teamwork, this is what's lacking. Older kids who know their alphabet eventually get bored with pockets that can hold anything. They'll add a theme to the game to make it more challenging (see if you can go from A - Z naming only Trek characters). In a sim, your theme is the mission brief, and everything you pull from your pocket should relate to it. Vulcans and Klingons might have worked fine at a star base, but would be poor choices if the mission was to establish diplomatic relations with the Andorians. In that case, the scene may have played differently: CMO: A patient is being brought in. AMO1: Doctor, the patient is a Vulcan. AMO2: Vulcans haven't been allowed on Andor for over 150 years. What is she doing here? CMO: Loosing blood, from the looks of it. AMO1: I'll replicate some green plasma. AMO2: Someone should notify the Captain. It could ruin the mission if the Andorians think we're allied with spies. CMO: A woman is dying here. We can't choose sides in their border skirmish. AMO1: If they are skirmishing, then this isn't over. What if her assailant has followed her here? Take what was said, add something to it, and pass it along. This makes for a very exciting game to play. The scene evolves with every new idea, and no one player knows how it will end. This includes the player who started the thread. The scene takes on a life of its own, and the players end up living the moment as it's created. And as a benefit, the same mission brief will always result in a different story, no matter how many times it's used. It is important to only take one turn, adding only one piece of information to the story at the time. Otherwise you'll railroad the other players into just following your lead, and the burden of the storytelling will be on your shoulders alone. It isn't much fun when you know in advance how it will end. It is equally important not to pass on your turn. If you spend the hour handing hyposprays to the CMO, and not saying much else, then you force them to do all the work. They loose out on the benefit of your imagination and you loose the chance to create. The point of a live sim is to collaborate and interact with others. Without the give and take, we might as well all stay home and write short stories. Take what was said, add something to it, and pass it along. Tip From The Moose #2: Play With The Things In Your Pocket. Cptn Moose Commanding Officer, USS Arcadia Academy Training Instructor, Sundays @ 11 Est

A hearty thank you to all my constituants, but if it's all the same I'll hold out for an Episode 4 thru 6 character. I feel the same way about Episodes 1 thru 3 as Blu feels about Star Trek: Nemesis. Also, remember the most important point about Qui Gon. He found a way to come back from the dead to keep Obi Wan company on Tatooine, but didn't lift a finger to stop the Jedi from getting whacked. Tsk, tsk ... timing is everything. M. : )

That's a dubious honor. First of all, I have to say that I enjoyed the movie. It's hard not to. The special effects were spectacular. I just expected more. I think a lot of the movies problems are hidden behind special effects. And I honestly don't like what the franchise has turned into, which is nothing but a series of over-specatular fights tied together with 2 dimensional characters and plots with no surprises. Where was the playful banter? ("I love you." "I know.") I was in a theatre for all three of the original movies. I remember the collective "gasp" when Han threw the second line at Leia, and the raucous cheer that erupted when she threw it back at him in the next movie. And lets not forget one of my all time favorites, "Aren't you a little short to be a storm trooper?" There were no gasps in Episode III, no laughs, no nothing. There wasn't even a genuine display of affection between Obi Wan and Aniken. I don't believe Aniken ever liked him, no matter what they say. Where were the plot twists? "I am your father, Luke" has become somewhat of a cliche, but it was still shocking the first time you heard it. Even though everyone knew the ending of Sith in advance, there could have been some suspense somewhere. Where were the Jedi mind tricks? The Alec Guiness Obi-wan resorted to violence as a last resort. Most of the Jedi we've seen in the prequels are bullies and thugs. The Skywalker vs. Vader duel in Episode V was all about stealth and head games. They were clever, and they each tried to out think their opponent. All anyone does anymore is pound away until someone cuts off a hand. Where were the characters? a) Who turned Padme into a Barbie doll? She certainly showed more potential in Episode I. Are we really to believe she lost the will to live on the eve of birthing two children? Motherhood always takes over. B ) How could Obi Wan have possibly turned his back on a chared and smouldering Aniken, no matter how hurt and angry he was? c) Are we supposed to believe that Darth Vader, master of the force, could be nose to nose with Princess Leia in Episode IV and have no clue it's his daughter? That part of the story will never hold water with me. d) And since Obi Wan obviously knows Leia's significance and birthright from the get-go, are we to believe he's such a chauvanist that only Luke is worthy of being sent to Dagobah to study under Yoda? e) "We must hide the children where the Sith can not detect them. Send the boy to his family." And then hide the other one with a childless couple who work with the Emperor. Smart move, Yoda the wise. The youngling scene was brilliant. We needed much more of that underplayed, understated ruthless terror. Imagine what this movie would have been like if killing Count Dokku was the choice that pushed Anikin to the dark side, and the rest of the movie was made up of scenes like this, one after the other, each one more shocking than the last, until the audience had to give up hope that he'd ever find redeption. That was the type of filmmaking we expected from Lucas 20 years ago. And we needed less special effects. The last 45 minutes of the movie was compelling and exciting, and it was only about 4 characters. The space battles and other combat scenes were too crowded and overwhelming to be enjoyable, and they were all the same machines we saw in the last two films. I know this makes me the curmudgeon of the galaxy, but I would have been happy if they'd showed us the last 45 minutes of Sith five years ago, then made up a new story. Aniken's history and decent to the dark side was not deep enough to be a 3 episode story. But the last 45 minutes were awesome. I'd go again just for that. : ) Moose

Happy Birthday Grommet. You don't look a day over 99. Moose

The Two Doctors on Risa Stardate 10505.07 A Coalition exploration pod was designed for stealth. It would normally open a small rend in the boundary between dimensions, and quietly slip from one spot to the next. Travel by this method was normally instantaneous, and normally went without a hitch. But this was not a normal Coalition exploration pod. It had been resurrected off a salvage heap. So its arrival was heralded by a flash of light, a rush of air, and a loud bang as it displaced the matter which formerly existed in the space the pod now occupied. The noise it made on the outside, however, was nothing compared to the noise within. "I thought you said this was working?" said Zar Alces in an exasperated tone. "It is working," said Dr. Virax. "We have arrived." "Barely," shouted Alces. "We're supposed to gently weft back into normal space, not drop like a pigeon dipped in lead. I think I have whiplash again." "Let me take a look at it," she said routinely. "I'll wait to see a doctor." "I am a doctor." "You're a psychiatrist." "Psychiatrists have medical degrees. At least they do on Vulcan. I don't know the custom on Trill." "Oh, here we go again," he shouted in exasperation. "You're always going on about how much better educated the Vulcans are than the rest of the galaxy. Your schools are harder, your scientific facilities are better, your children's toys have more advanced technology than most freighters ..." "Why, Dr. Alces ... I didn't think you'd been listening." "Dr. Virax, what choice have I had but to listen as you drive this boat from one corner of the galaxy to the other? I never should have agreed to let you take me home." "You have a time-share condo on Risa. I'd hardly call that home." "It doesn't matter what you call it," he said. "You still can't find it." "This pod has been to Risa before," she said icily. "Yes," he recalled. "Risa the prison planet. That was in an alternate dimension. Hey, maybe that's why we landed so hard? Perhaps we're in an alternate dimension again? I'll bet the laws of physics are different here." "You need to let go of the past, Doctor," said Virax. "Is that advise from my psychiatrist?" asked Alces. "Or from my pilot, who doesn't know how to steer." "I've never met a scientist as prone to melodrama. Other than that mishap in the mirror dimension, I've been able to steer just fine. We got David Quest safely back to his mother on Axaia without incident. And I didn't hear you complain about my landing on that asteroid which was composed mostly of latinum." "Yes, that one worked," he agreed. "But let's not forget that lovely world populated by 9 inch carnivores," said Alces. "We stopped for lunch and almost became it." "That proves my point, Doctor. Melodrama. We were never in danger." "Maybe you weren't, green blood. The things were allergic to copper." "They weren't going to eat you," she replied. "You're too spoiled." Alces responded with silence and an icy stare to which she simply raised an eyebrow. "Was that an incorrect use of humor?" she asked earnestly. "In spite of my numerous advanced degrees and the dozens of languages in which I am fluent, I fear I will never master playful banter." "That's it," he declared. "As soon as we reach Risa, I'm leaving." "Then you'd better pack," Virax replied. "According to navigation, astrometrics, chronologic altimeters, and every other instrument on board, we have arrived on Risa." "In which dimension?" "In yours," she replied. "I don't believe it," he said. "See for yourself, then." As the doors opened, an icy wind swept through the pod. The two doctors emerged into what was once a lush jungle, now overfilled with brown leaves and rotting plants. The famous powder blue skies of Risa were nowhere to be seen, hidden by a thick haze of dust and soot. The rich sounds of exotic birds and waterfalls were replaced by the creaks and groans of a dying planet. For many moments, the two stood in stunned silence. Finally Alces turned to look at Virax. "I stand corrected," she said calmly. "Now what?" "Perhaps if we reverse the polarity on the dimensional thrusters?" She turned around intently and strode back into the pod. "Don't you dare touch those thrusters," he called after her. "Remember what happened last time you did that?" The pod doors closed on the two Doctors. And with a flash of light, a rush of air, and a loud bang, the two were gone once again. Cptn Moose USS Arcadia, NCC-1742-?

I was going to make a comment about sagging coconuts, but wasn't sure if it was appropriate. ;-) IF APRIL 26 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Martial arts/actor Jet Li (1963) shares your birthday. You're very clever at knowing how to get things done. You know how to create something, and you know how to maintain it. You're organized, and you can implement your ideas. You don't abandon what you create; you tend it with care. This year, you face important choices. Different doorways lead to different futures. Choose wisely. Happy Birthday Fredericka. Moosethusela Horoscope courtesty of (stolen from) Georgia Nichols at www.chicagosuntime.com.

They're not broadcast. You have to either rent them or buy them.

As always, you guys need to lighten up. Veggie Tales are hilarious, and those of you who are too cool to indulge are missing out on some very, very funny stuff. Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber perform some of the best "give and take" schtick I've seen since Rowan and Martin. The two minute intro where Larry first dresses up like "Larry Boy" the superhero are one of the funniest things I've ever seen. And if you haven't heard any of the "Silly Songs With Larry," you're missing out on some of the cleverest parodies you'll ever hear. Not all of it carries a religious message. Most of it is just plain silly. On one of their music-only tapes, Archibald Asperigus did a rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Modern Major General", which my kid learned to copy word for word in perfect tempo when he was five. That left alot of jaws hanging open when I could get him to do "kid tricks". Moose

Oh. Was that the cool part? I thought it was the free coffee. Who paid for dinner? Did you have coffee afterwards?

Congratulations! How wonderful for you. I think you should get married on the bridge of the Enterprise in Las Vegas. How does June 10- 12 sound? Moose the romantic

But ... she promised to meet me there again. :: sniff :: Women are dogs.

It was the magnifying glass. So ... after reading five pages of these things I still can't find the answer to the "3 integers between 0 and 4 question". Could someone repeat the answer?

Sorry Travis, this is the textbook excuse that addicts use to justify their addiction to anything. You're fooling yourself. And after smoking for at most what ... two years? you can't compare your experience quiting with someone who's smoked a pack a day for ten years. How many adults have you asked about their quitting smoking experiences? You may want to learn what you're in for. I'm certainly not telling you to quit, but you should know what you've signed up for. And as for the car crash / lung cancer / gourged by a bull scenario, I personally vote for quick and final over painfull, lingering, helpless and dependant on others. It's just a preference. Moose P.S. I'm still not going to tell you to quit. It's none of my business. But this is a public discussion board so I'm going to feel free to share my opinion.

Smoking ... what a hot topic (sorry, couldn't resist). As eloquent as everyone has been about smoker's civil liberties, an adult's right to run their own life, and property rights concerning the atmosphere, I think these points meerly cloud the issue (couldn't resist that one either). People smoke because they're addicted to cigarettes. This is not a judgemental statement. Cigarettes are legal, as are caffine and many other addictive substances that are easily obtainable. The difference however, is that cigarettes are guaranteed to kill you if something else doesn't get you first. If cigarettes were invented today, there would be no way they would be allowed on the market. And if they killed you within 20 to 40 days, instead of 20 to 40 years, imagine allowing anyone you love to put one in their mouth regardless of their civil liberties. For those of you who already smoke, it is your personal business how or when you choose to indulge in or fight this addiction. I have enough problems resisting a Hershey bar, and they don't make me physically ill if skip them for a couple of days. I wouldn't dream of judging you on this choice. But people should do everything possible to prevent others, especialy children, from starting to smoke. That includes smokers and non-smokers alike. And resolving "not to smoke in front of the children" just isn't enough. Justifying smoking as a "right to live as I choose" type issue makes it a grand gesture of defiance and personal style. I've never heard any smoker claim that smoking is good for them, but no one realizes that adding the word "but" with any excuse to the sentance "yes, smoking is bad for you" translates to "but it's ok to do it anyway, as long as you're polite about". Quit / don't quit. That's your choice. You already smoke and you don't owe anybody any explainations for that. However, when you justify your actions or do anything to make smoking seem hip or cool, you argue the case that it's ok. Please don't try to convince non-smokers that it is. If someone hasn't started, it's not ok. The laws banning smoking from public places are the only way non-smokers should interfear with smokers who are not their spouses or children. If you're one of the folks that find this inconvenient, them's the breaks. Nobody puts the first cigarette in their mouth because of nicotine cravings. They do it because they're with people who smoke. The perception that "everyone smokes" no longer exists like it did when I was growing up. The smell of smoke doesn't permiate the world anymore, and many people don't even begin smoking because it's too much of a hassle. Many others have been inspired to quit for the same reason. Other than that, unless they're willing to shut down the tobacco industry, society as a whole needs to mind their own business. I hope this doesn't sound judgemental. It isn't. I don't care who smokes and who doesn't, and I'm not offended nor militant when someone lights up near me. Humanity needs comfort, be it food or liquor or cigarettes, and I sure take advantage of the first two to their fullest. I just believe that society needs to stop encouraging the sale of this product, be it implied or direct.

You people are so harsh. Yes, there were some problems with some episodes. Name any series where there aren't. But over all, Star Trek is fun. New Star Trek shows on TV are fun. And not having new episodes on TV is not fun. Fun ... not fun. It seems like an easy choice to me. Seasons 3 and 4 were fun. I will miss the show.

One balmy summer, River City, Iowa had trouble. Trouble with a capital "T" that rhymed with "P" that stood for pool. And even if you've only seen "The Music Man" once, who can forget the mayor's wife and her gaggle of girlfriends in the Ladies Auxilary, singing and chirping all the town's gossip. "Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little" "Pick, pick, pick, talk a lot pick a little now..." As you may recall, the ladies were horrible at spotting con men. But they had an excellent understanding of the chain of command. Poor Marion the Librarian couldn't even kiss a man at the foot bridge without one of them skipping back to report to Mrs. Shinn. She, in turn, ran to tell her husband, the Mayor. And the next morning she'd be back with the girls sharing everything he had to say with them. A sim should work like the Ladies Auxilary. The GMs are always reminding players to follow the chain of command, but no one really seems to have a clear idea of what that means. Simply put, the chain of command states that only the bridge crew and department heads should talk to the Captain, and that department assistants should only talk to the department chief. This sounds like the ultimate ego trip, and as a result, everyone wants to play the chief and no one wants to play the assistant. "Give me a good post," everyone asks. The truth is, a game with more than six players can not function without this rule. The chain of command is vital because it narrows each player's focus in the room. It enables people to play without having to read every word typed by the other players. Each assistant only needs to see what's typed by members of their department. In addition, each chief only needs to follow the Captain, and the First Officer. The Captain only needs to follow the chiefs and the bridge crew. This gives the Captain and the First Officer more free time to observe the cadets, and possibly graduate someone. In order to make this work, the Chief needs to play the mayor's wife. Everything said by the Captain needs to be shared with the assistants. And everything done by the assistants needs to be shared with the Captain. If there's a First Officer playing, go through them, and the Xo will share all with the Captain. CEng> Captain, Cadet Hill just reconfigured the warp core. We're back online. Co> Acknowledged. Now, activate the deflector dish. CEng> Hill, the Captain needs power for the deflectors. AEng> I've diverted the power, but now life support is failing. CEng> Captain, the deflectors are online, but life support has failed. Is the Captain being a snob? Are you beneath notice if you have too low a rank? Of course not. But the Captain is mortal, like most humanoids in our game. And the Captain can get overwhelmed in a crowded chat room just like the rest of us. The other benefit of the chain of command is repetition. The more times a key fact is typed to the screen, the better chance there is that people will see it. More often than not, statements that are key to the plot get ignored because too many people were looking down at their keyboards as they hit the screen. The busier the room, the more chance there is of this happening. When statements are repeated, everyone gets a second and possibly third chance to get with the program. Often times, one department needs to work with another, but if they're focused on the chain of command, they probably won't notice you. What do you do? Well, people will usually spot their name where ever it appears. So use it. Hill: Moose> Can you divert power to the Bussard Collector? Moose: +taps+ Shinn, we need more power. Shinn: +Moose+ We'll have to shut down the holodecks. Moose: Hill> Holodecks are coming down. You'll have your power shortly. Be prepared to create new chains on the fly. Your department is really the group of players involved in your scene, not just those related to your post. If you leave your department to go get your physical, then you join the Medical department chain as long as you're there. Away Teams become their own department. One member becomes the team leader. They communicate with the ship through the Ops station and relay information from the ship to the other members of the team. Remember to keep an eye out for ACTION statements. Those apply to everyone regardless of department. Not since a Klingon burst from the cornfields pursued by the Suliban has the Midwest had such an impact on simming. Like any rule, the chain of command has to be followed in order to work. So if you want to be a department chief, you have to do the work. It's your job to gather information from the department, pass it on to the Captain, and then inform the troops what the Captain said. It's your job to be a "Pick-a-little" lady. Tip From The Moose #4 - Pick a little, talk a lot.

"All For One, And One For All!" This was the rallying cry of those immortal Three Musketeers (of both literature and candy bar fame). Alexander Dumas' famous nineteenth century novel was a story of a young man who wanted to become a musketeer, and of the three more experienced soldiers who adopted him, and aided him, as he completed enough heroic deeds to become a full-fledged swashbuckler. Their motto was their rallying cry. The team worked for the good of the one, and each one worked for the good of the team. This was just as appropriate for 17th century adventurers as it is for 23rd and 24th century adventurers. After all, everyone needs their friends behind them in a pinch. Does this sound to you like the Academy? I'll bet it does. But then why do I always see the department heads leave their assistants behind as they run off to do the fun stuff by themselves? "I'm off on the Away Team," they call out. "Monitor that piece of equipment for an hour until I get back." The problem stems from the fact that our game is based on a TV show which makes stars out of their featured actors. And their featured actors just happen to hold down the department head jobs. When you're already spending top dollar on a Michael Dorn or a Jeri Ryan, you don't give many lines to the assistants. Think about it; who was Asst. Science under Spock? Who treated patients when Dr. Bashir attended medical conferences? And why couldn’t anyone else on the ship figure out Romulan syntax when Hoshi was in sick bay? These same shows are our rule books. We don't beam through shields, and cloaking devices are illegal because that's how it was on TV. Tom Paris couldn't fly faster than warp 10, so neither can we. But this is one instance where we have to model our behavior on another genre. Every player has the right to play, chief and assistant alike. We've previously discussed how the department head acts as chairperson, passing information from bridge to staff and back again. I'm about to add another task to their job description. The department head must make sure that the department assistants are included in the action. If you're Chief Engineer, and your only task for the night is to change a light bulb, then you make sure one of your assistants is holding the bulb while the other one turns the ladder. Granted, this doesn't sound as fun as reenacting the "Remember Me" scene from "The Wrath of Kahn," where Spock single-handedly saves the day while everyone watches in anguish and awe. But it certainly isn't fun waiting patiently for someone to expire so you can have a turn at doing something useful. And remember, Spock ended the scene with his famous "The good of the many outweighs the good of the one," quote. And his death certainly meant there were more lines for Nichelle and Walter in Star Trek III. This task doesn't fall on the department head alone. The department assistants need to cheerfully cooperate with the department head, carrying out assignments and communicating back their actions to keep the Chief involved. Giving them grief will only make playing alone seem preferable to them. And keep an eye on the other assistants as well. If you notice that a player is spending too much time watching the doors swoosh, ask them to give you a hand with whatever you're doing. They weren't just "Porthos, Asst. Musketeer 1, and Asst. Musketeer 2." They were "The Three Musketeers." Play like them, and go out of your way to keep your teammates involved. This not only makes you a better candidate for the advanced sims, it's the mark of a GM candidate. Tip From The Moose #5: All For One, And One For All.

Well, I am from Chicago. And we have a saying here ... Vote early, and vote often. ;-) Da Moose P.S. Just for the record, I haven't actually voted in this poll yet.