WizKids Games Star Trek Fleet Captains Wargame

I just heard about the new WizKids/NECA Star Trek based war game entitle: Star Trek Fleet Captains (STFC).

Designed by Mike Elliot and Ethan Pasternack, STFC is a stand alone strategic space exploration and ship-to-ship combat game.

Twenty four 3D HeroClix starship miniatures and 300 cards are included for game play. This game was released this past September.

The reason for my renewed interest in Star Trek space combat games was a friend asked to used my Star Trek minis for a demo game that was to be held in Abilene, Texas recently. When they were returned to me, I found out about the 'new' Starfleet Battles being produced in a joint venture between the Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc; and Mongoose Publication.

Their new miniature line would be made out of resin instead of metal and be slightly bigger than the original ones at 1/3788 scale. Star Fleet Miniatures have been sold by various vendors, mostly from Amarillo Design Bureau for the Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander Games.

Quoting from starfleetgames.com website on the new line of miniatures: Under our joint venture with Mongoose, we will in November launch the new 2500 series which will be larger, have more detail, and will be done in resin instead of pewter. end quote. This series will correct some previous omissions, re-scale some of the ships (compared to each other), and make some changes that vary from subtle to profound. Check out the link below in the Ref section.

In my younger days, I enjoyed painting and collection the Star Trek miniatures from first, ADB, then later; the FASA Star Trek Starship Combat Simulator miniature line. Now the Wizkids version that is coming out is good news.

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ref.

1. Wizkidsgames.com. "Star Trek Fleet Captains" ( http://wizkidsgames.com/startrek/star-trek-fleet-captains/ ).

2. Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc., the publisher of the Star Fleet Universe games. (http://store.starfleetstore.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=S)

3. Starfleetgames.com (ADB related).

4. Starline 2500 miniatures line link (http://www.starfleetgames.com/Starline%202500.shtml).

Friends 1978 Triumph Spitfire Project

My friend Ricky Taylor always come across these great vehicle deals. It was through him that I manage to get a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport. He drives around Lubbock in his (now yellow) 1985 Mercedes-Benz 500SL.

Today, he collected his latest project car - a 1978 Triumph Spitfire 1500. That's him posing next to the car while it is still in the trailer in front of his garage. His plans for this is to repaint it British racing green and to convert it over to electric power after finding a YouTube link. And all of us got to get our picture taken with us behind the steering wheel. Ricky Taylor, Tucker Mack, and myself (see top picture).

Some specifications for the Spitfire. Length - 83 inches, width - 57 inches. Height is 48 inches and has a curb weight of 1,568 pounds. The typical engine for this car was a 1,493 cc displacement motor is missing from this particular vehicle. The sportscar was designed by Giovanni Michelotti. The manufacturer was the Triumph Motor Company (also known as Leyland Motors).

Ricky had several Spitfires back in the past. As for me, I kinda like the Triumph TR 7/8. As well as Mercedes-Benz convertibles.

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Ref.

1. Wikipedia. Triumph Spitfire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Spitfire).

2. Left Coast Conversions ( www.leftcoastconversions.com )

Biggest Dust Storm for Lubbock in Decades!

I could not believe what was about to strike us - a huge, old fashion Dust Storm. One that I have not seen since the late 1970s. In my younger days (i.e the 1960s-70s), I remember these big brown dust storms - but never lived through one that turned the sky literally 'black.' I remembered my parents telling me about that part of the dust storms from the 1930s.

Looking out one of the garage doors at Ricky's Auto Repair this afternoon, I was amazed. We had to close the doors and get everyone inside before the dust storm hit.

A strong cold front hit Lubbock county about 6pm. Visibility dropped down to between zero to less than a quarter of a mile. That zero visibility at the garage lasted about 2-3 minutes. Wind gusts as high as 74 mph.

The FAA had to evacuate the control tower at Lubbock International Airport and air traffic was directed from a backup control cneter on the ground floor.

Trees were toppled, roofs lost shingles. Rail road crossing gates bent. A small cargo plane was overturned at the airport.

The dust cloud was a by-product of the persistent drought in West Texas. Back on October 6th, the National Weather Service in Lubbock reported that there was a "high likelihood" that 2011 could be the driest on record across the South Plains.

With this blog post are some images that I took with my cell phone camera.

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Ref.

1. News.yahoo.com. "Dust storm roils through Texas South Plains" October 17, 2011. (http://news.yahoo.com/dust-storm-roils-texas-south-plains-023536510.html). ***Yes, the article's title was mispelled by AP.

Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson and Bruce Willis in the next G.I. Joe Movie

SEScoops posted back on June 27, 2011 that Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson has signed on to appear in the next G.I. Joe movie. There were a few pictures that were attached to that posting. His character will be known as Roadblock.

The second movie will be released next August (August 10, 2012). Jon Chu is at the helm again for this sequel, re-boot for the franchise.

Script writers are Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Aside from The Rock, Bruce Willis and Ray Stevenson will also appear in this movie. Channing Tatum should also be making a come back in this picture. Bruce Willis will take on the role of Joe Colton (i.e the ORIGINAL G.I. Joe).

Jonathan Pryce will reprise his role as the US President that Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) has replace at the end of the first movie.

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Ref.

1. Reelz.com. G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation. (http://www.reelz.com/movie/276025/g-i-joe-2-retaliation/).

2. Screenrant. (http://screenrant.com/gi-joe-2-release-date-2-sandy-104604/).

3. IMDb.com. G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation (2012). (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1583421/).

4. Filmschoolrejects.com. "Bruce Willis Negotiating for 'G.I. Joe 2," Cobra Commander Panics" by Nathan Adams. August 10, 2011.(http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/bruce-willis-g-i-joe-2.php).

5. SEScoops.com. "The Rock Lands Role In GI Joe Movie, DDP On RAW, Seth Rollins" June 27, 2011. (http://www.sescoops.com/wrestling-news/wwe/the-rock-lands-role-in-gi-joe-movie-ddp-on-raw-seth-rollins/).

Hoffa Threatens GOP At Obama Event: "Take These Son Of Bitches Out"

Hoffa Threatens GOP At Obama Event: "Take These Son Of Bitches Out"

Hoffa declares war on the Tea Party. So what would you guess if someone in the Tea Party came out and said the same thing about Unions? hmmmm?

9,000 year old proto-civilization discovered in Saudi Arabia

Named after the site's location, the al-Maqar neolithic civilization is going to be challenging many theories about "when" civilization truely started.

Current theory is that 5,500 years ago, animals were domesticated. The al-Maqar civilization not only domisticated horses and other animals, but they also had arrowheads, scrapers, tools for spinning and weaving.

For more information, please visit the orignal Reuters article with the link below.

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1. Reuters.com. "Saudi Arabia discovers 9,000 year-old civilization" by Asma Alsharif. August 24, 2011. ( http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/24/us-saudi-archaeology-idUSTRE77N5TL20110824 ).

Remote Controlled Truck Sent to Soldier in Afghanistan Saves 6 Soldiers' Lives - ABC News

Remote Controlled Truck Sent to Soldier in Afghanistan Saves 6 Soldiers' Lives - ABC News