May it live long and prosper

Hi Everyone,
Well, once again I have commandeered my wife's Blog to bring you this special announcement. She is awesome. Okay. On to the show.

For Christmas this year, Lana decided to get me a present. Not just any present, but a wish long hoped for. I've had a Star Trek (The Original Series) caricature poster for years now. It has lived quietly rolled up and in a dank, dark and musty trunk. I've pulled it out to show to friends and family over the years, and I've always wanted to have it preserved somehow. Well, my wife finally took me up on it. Not only did she frame it for me, she found a place here in the valley that can do archival-quality framing. The poster now has some fancy UV protective glass (98% I believe) and some tender loving care from the staff. Pictures of this amazingly preserved
piece of history are shown below.
Quiz for you - name the main characters above - extra points if you know the actors names too. Mom - You probably know the actors birthdays, so you are exempt from this pop-quiz. (answers below)

Now, this picture may or may not do the thing justice. There are 79 original series episodes - and this picture has a caricature (or three) of almost every single one. You can see a very large "Harry Mudd" in the lower left of the full picture, and the original cast in the picture above.

Every time I walk by this picture, I either focus on a favorite episode and the memories associated with it, or I notice something completely new. For instance, there is a klingon bird-of-prey at the very top. "Really? Where?" says Lana. (She's looking over my shoulder...) I never noticed, but it has a sign on the back of it. This poster is full of such details. Most of it is humorous on its own - but some of it you have to have seen the episode to really get it.

Well, Lana framed this picture as a (BIG and Early!) christmas present to me. It was a great secret until wednesday night when we went to pick it up. We met after work in a parking lot. Of course I couldn't find her car (the honda Fit is in Harrisonburg), so it took me a minute to find her. She found me, hopped in the car and off we went. I had no idea where we were going. I was expecting maybe a Fed-Ex pickup location or something. She had told me how much she had spent beforehand, so I knew it was big. So, we were driving. It was dark, cold, and I didn't know where I was going. Lana was squinting off into the distance trying to find the one little shop. Finally, after a few "Maybe... No. Keep going"'s, she saw it. All I saw was a tiny little parking lot, and an open sign. "Okay" says I. I parked, and saw that it was a framing shop. "Framing shop? What did she frame? Are we patrons of this store? I don't want to get towed. Or maybe she just knows someone here." So, in we went. That confirmed the 'patrons' theory, so I stopped worrying about the car. But what did she frame? My diploma? No, Mom & Dad framed that for me. Hmm... The lady behind the counter greeted Lana and I heard a great big "DONG" in my head. "She didn't...." And here it comes. A 4' x 5' framed picture. I just saw the back and knew what it was. Lana got kissed. I think her toes curled up a little. It was beautiful. And of course, being the geek-ish trekkie that I am, I immediatly started asking her what kind of glass it was, and looking at the small blemishes that I knew were there. This is a thing of beauty.

After going over the details with her, I started to hear the story behind the framing of the Matt - or is it conspiring? Anyway. Lana had walked into the framing store with a rolled up poster and a question. Before long, the entire staff was helping her out. They had the poster spread out, and everyone - even some of the customers - were examining this thing. I found out that the lady who did the work was a trekkie, and her son was fascinated by the poster. He'd apparenlty stare at it for long stretches of time. He was sad when he found out that Lana would be picking it up soon.

So now, my well-wrapped treasure (Yes, Lana, it is now wrapped in 98% UV protection - and I had to un-wrap the plastic-bag off of it) is now hanging in the living room above the entertainment center. It looks really good, and is ready for lots of guests to enjoy and admire. And examine minutely for their favorite episode's representative.

Well, Lana is making noises like she wants her computer back, so I'll sign off.

Until next time!
-M

Ack! I forgot to give the answers to today's quiz!

From left to right:
Dr. "Bones" McCoy played by DeForrest Kelley,
Christine Chapel played by Majel Barret,
Mr. Spock played by Leonard Nimoy,
Captian James T. Kirk - Captain of the Enterprise played by William Shatner,
Yeoman Janice Rand played by Grace Lee Whitney
Sulu played by George Taki

You can sorta see Scotty's head in the first picture - played by James Dohan (R.I.P.)
Sitting on the Nacelle's in the bigger picture is Uhura played by Nichelle Nichols
and Pavel Chekov played by Walter Koenig - Bonus points if you got the character's middle name: Andreievich.

The one sad thing about this poster, is the one person who is missing. Anyone guess his name? He is very important in Star Trek.

Bye!