What A Slacker!

Another Mangled Mailing

Add comment March 30th, 2008

What is it with me and getting Star Trek stuff in the mail? Or is it just anything via mail order these days?

I just received my copy of Brent Spiners new CD Dreamland. Well actually I just received my second copy of this disc. My first one came to me a bit mangled and the plastic part that holds the CD was broken and the disk was scratched.

Since I paid extra to get a signed copy and being the big ole Star Trek collecting geek that I am I had to get another one since the first one was no where near mint.

I have not had time to listen to the CD yet. I am too busy listening to the Philip Pullman books in the His Dark Materials series. Already finished The Golden Compass and I am about half way through the second in the series, The Subtle Knife. Once I complete these I will through Brent Spiner’s Dreamland into the MP3 player and give her a listen. I have a feeling I will like it as I liked what I heard before I bought it.

While I am on the topic of Brent Spiner, I have been hearing rumors and questions from people wondering if he is gay. Quite honestly I would have to say no. The ole gaydar has been ringing for years with him but I think it is a false positive. Hey people seem to think Wil Wheaton is gay too, but he is married, I think. I never got that from him either. Most likely people are just reading their geekiness as homosexuality, but I could be wrong all around. Wouldn’t be the first time you know. As far as I know the only out gay member of any star trek cast is George Takei. Again, this does not mean there aren’t others.

Medical Care and Compassion Should Go Hand in Hand

Add comment March 27th, 2008

Why aren’t people in the medical field more compassionate? When people are sick they need to feel some compassion from the people they are entrusting to make them well again. My mom had some bad experiences when she had her recent stay in the hospital and so did I after my auto accident.

Just today I called my family doctor to set up an appointment to have my legs checked. I am having an awful lot of swelling in them at night when I get home from work. Besides that I also wanted to see the other doctor in the practice since I don’t exact feel like I have gotten the best of care from my primary physician on this case.

Well the person who answered the phone was very short with me and would not let me get a word in edgewise. I understand they might be busy but please take the time to fully listen to the person before jumping down there throat or to conclusions about them or their problems. I wasn’t even going to be allowed to see the other doctor once I finally got the chance to request them.

Doctors need to listen to their patients and they need to hire nurses that will do the same. It is all about the customer service and both hospitals and doctors need to learn that.

At this point I am locked into this office as my primary physician with my insurance so I guess my first steps are to find out how to go about changing that then go and find a new doctor, one who might actually care about their patients if there are any out there.

More Star Trek Handheld Games

Add comment March 26th, 2008

After coming across the Coleco Star Trek game on the Handheld Games Museum I decided to poke around and see what other Star Trek games they had listed and which ones I did not know about. Here is what I found…

1. Milton Bradley Microvison Star Trek Phaser Strike

2. Collins Wrath of Khan Video Game Watch

3. Konami Star Trek 25th Anniversary Game

4. Tiger Electronic Star Trek: The Next Generation LCD Game

And while not a Star Trek game in name the Bandai Pair Match game has been used as prop on TNG as seen in the screencaps below.

Guess I have some eBay shopping to do now.

Star Trek Handheld That Never Was

Add comment March 26th, 2008

I just stumbled onto a Star Trek Toy I had never heard of before. While this is not a very surprising statement to many people, I pride myself in knowing quite a bit about Star Trek collectibles. After all I have been collecting the stuff for nearly twenty years now.

I am far from an expert on these things more of an obsessed fan really. Check out StarTrekToysOnline.com if you need proof of just how crazy I am when it comes to Star Trek toys and collectibles.

Today’s find is a Coleco handheld Star Trek game based on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. According to the Handheld Museum this toy was most likely never made. The really good ones often aren’t. Just look at the Palisades Roddenberry/Captain Kirk set which never went past the prototype stages.

There really are a lot of Star Trek things I still don’t know about out there [so feel free to post a comment to this and let me know of anything out there that you see that is unique].

Liz Martelli You Will Be Missed

Add comment March 24th, 2008

Two days ago a young girl in our neighborhood died in a car accident. She was only 24. Only a few years older than my niece. While I may not have personally known her I do remember hearing about her from my friend who was her art teacher in middle school and about how talented and nice she was. Any time a life is taken it is sad, but when one has barely had time to start their life it is all the sadder.

Liz was a talented artist and quite the poet. You can read her poems at her MySpace page as long as they keep it up and as a memorial to her I will be posting her work on whataslacker.com. I just don’t think it should be lost.  The photo to the right is one of her pieces. You can see it as well as other fine artists on the Berks Humane Society’s Art of Arf’s Sake website.

An obituary for Elizabeth Martelli was posted on the Reading Eagle’s website. 

Yummy Peanut Butter Meltaways

Add comment March 22nd, 2008

My all time favorite candy is the peanut butter meltaway. I try not to eat them very often because I am allergic to peanuts, but since the allergy is not a sever one yet I do indulge every once in a while.

Way back in the 80’s I used to love Gardner’s Candies PB Meltaway. They made a bar that was shorter and wider than half a Twix bar that was great. Then for years I could no longer find them. That’s where the Internet comes in handy, I found them online and ordered some, while they were no longer the bar I remembered, they were still good. Before I found the Gardner’s again all I had was the 1 × 1 square peanut butter meltaways from Asher’s Chocolates. While good they are just too small. They have too much chocolate and not enough peanut butter. But then there is the Asher’s peanut butter meltaway Easter eggs. These are good! Loads of creamy, smooth peanut butter covered it in their delicious chocolate. Other companies just don’t quite understand the meaning of the word meltaway. Asher’s gets it right.

Gertrude Hawk’s also makes a PB meltaway Easter egg that I had for the first time the other day. I have to say it really can’t hold a candle to the Asher’s egg. Neither the chocolate nor the peanut butter are as smooth and creamy as Asher’s. Shame they are only available around Easter.

So of the three peanut butter meltaway candies Asher’s wins first place, followed by Gardner’s and Gertrude Hawks Comes in last. Don’t take my word for it though try them for yourself.

One-car Crash Kills Reading Woman

Add comment March 22nd, 2008

A Reading woman was killed Saturday morning when she lost control of her car on Route 30 in Hellam Township.

Elizabeth Martelli was westbound on Route 30 when she drove off the road between 6 and 7 a.m. and flipped into a cornfield about a mile east of the Hellam exit, York County Deputy Coroner Mary Breighner said.

The 24-year-old was ejected from the car and died from multiple blunt force trauma, Breighner said.

Toxicology tests - which are mandatory in all highway deaths - may take several weeks to be completed, Breighner said.

from the York Daily Record

Speak Clearly and Speak English When Ordering

Add comment March 19th, 2008

Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia has a sign out front that says, “This is America please speak English when ordering”. The city of Philadelphia was trying to make the owner, Joey Vento remove the sign.

Personally, I feel it is his business and he has every right to expect his customers to order in a way that is understandable to himself and his employees. Therefore requesting they speak English when ordering does not seem to be asking too much.

I worked for a Greek boss who demanded that when ordering a gyro that you pronounced it properly [year-roh] or no sandwich. He would spend 10 or 15 minutes trying to get folks to say it correctly before taking their order for the sandwich.

I just heard that today the judge ruled that he did not have to take the sign down at least not just yet. Good as there is this little thing called freedom of speech. I think this falls under that. In any case Geno strikes a chord with many, especially in a time when almost all customer service calls are outsourced to India. It is hard dealing with someone in a busy environment when they do not speak English or do not speak without a heavy accent. I just saw an audio book in my local library that taught you to speak English with an American accent. Hey if Nicole Kidman can do anyone can.

That said if you are ever in Philadelphia you have to have a cheese steak, best hot sandwich in the world.

How Not to Spend a Birthday

Add comment March 13th, 2008

Well, today is my birthday and while I wasn’t planning on celebrating the numbers of them any more I do like to spend time with my family and friends on my b-day. Usually my family will gather for a birthday dinner and it is just great to be able to spend time with them. This year, however, is not so good. This month in general just isn’t a good month to be related to me in any form.

My mom is seriously ill and has been hospitalized. I am a HUGE mommy’s baby and I am taking this pretty hard. My mom has been through so much with her health and she has had a good life, but I am not ready to see her go. Last week when she was admitted she was very near death’s door. In fact her blood pressure was only 40 over 20 when she went into the emergency room.

For the past month or two my niece has been in and out of the emergency rooms with severe migraines. The hospitals really cannot do anything for her. They give her morphine or some other narcotic and then the rebound headaches are three times as bad as the original ones. These are not just regular headaches mind you. Along with all the pain she loses her sight, throws up and gets hives form head to toe. She will be spending most of last week and this week at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia to see what can be done for her.

Two days ago my Mom’s oldest sister had a stroke and is in the hospital too. She is doing okay, but a stroke in any shape or form is scary.

I also just found out my one uncle has a very advanced prostate cancer although we do not know the full extent of his illness it does not appear very hopeful. My mother-in-law’s son just had surgery this past month for prostate cancer and they feel they were able to get it all during the surgery. His prognosis is good, unlike my uncle’s. I know you guys don’t like to think about this, but don’t leave your health to chance go get regular check ups.

So what did I do for my birthday? It started out with a dentist appointment [this was already planned so I cannot blame it for my so-so b-day]. From there I went from hospital to hospital visiting all the people I love who are sick. Not the most festive way to spend the day, but I was glad to see that everyone was feeling a bit better and things were looking up for them. I’ll have another birthday next year and while I act like a little kid must of the time I am an adult and can handle it when a birthday just pushed aside. Family does come first you know. I was just glad I had the day off so I could go visiting.

But aren’t you glad not to be related to me right about now?

Wolverine and the X-Men Cartoon

Add comment March 9th, 2008

Since I ranted about the Foo Fighters filing suit against Marvel Comics I thought I would write a little bit more about the trailer and the cartoon that has caused the whole mess.

Wolverine and the Xmen
Writer: Greg Johnson
Director: Boyd Kirkland
Producer: First Serve Toonz in association with Marvel

Synopsis: When an explosive event shatters the lives of the X-Men and takes away their mentor, the beaten heroes walk away from it all.

But then they’re given a rare glimpse into the future, and see a world in utter ruin, ruled by giant destructive robots. A world that spiraled out of control because the X-Men had given up.

So now the most legendary of all X-Men takes the lead - Wolverine! Reuniting these broken heroes, Wolverine embarks on the ultimate mission - to prevent de world’s destruction.

To rescue us from ourselves. To save the future.

From what I have seen through the trailer [which by the way is only available via YouTube these days] the show looks pretty good. I sincerely hope that this stupid lawsuit will not stop it from airing. I really want to see this show. We need more good animation on TV [like The Batman, League of Superheroes and now Spider-man (more on Spidey later)].

 Apparently this was announced by Marvel way back in 2005. Looks like it was supposed to air last year. There is no current information on when or if this cartoon will be airing in the US.

You can view offending trailer for Wolverine and the Xmen here [for now].