Snopes reports on the finalists for this year's entry into the Toy Hall of Fame.


It irks me that formalized games are getting in. That's a different category of plaything in my opinion.


Whether or not "sand" counts as a toy is a philosophical discussion waiting to happen.



Of the current crop of candidates I'm most in favor of the Corn Popper. I had one of those when I was a kid, it was great fun. I had one far enough back that the handle was actually made out of wood.

A Trek-themed story from Not Always Right.


If you don't care to follow the link, an employee at a coffee shop chooses to dress in a TOS uniform when there's a Trek convention in town. A customer complains because there's no such thing as an Asian Vulcan. What an idiot.

I commissioned a friend to do a synesthesia drawing of Lemon Demon's "Touch-Tone Telephone" (2016):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_mJBATX...g&name=900x900
source: Commissioned synesthesia drawing of "Touch-tone Telephone" by Lemon Demon

I almost missed Talk Like A Pirate Day this year. Good thing my subconscious was twigging that today was special.



Next year will be much bigger because it'll be twenty years since the Dave Barry column that really launched TLAPD to the next level.



Some Long John Silver restaurants are still giving TLAPD deals.



Pirate Name Generator. When I put in "Nate" it spits out "Huge Hank Napier." "Zeke" gives "'Old Canker' Bark Screed." "Kirk" gives "Wankin' Brant Dawkins." "Spock" gives "Cowerin' William Screed." "Bones" gives "Keel-Haulin' Hugo Smithe."



So yeah, I don't see the connection. But there must be a formula and it's not spitting out a random name because I tried the names several times.



Nintendo takes advantage of the day to shill some "space pirate" games, including the Metroid series, of course.

queasy_f_bby drew my dog!

:)

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the old intermission bumper "Let's All Go to the Lobby". I remember it from when it cameoed in the old movie One Crazy Summer.



Well, 7-Up did a spoof on it for a commercial.

Someone made a LEGO Chia Pet llama


I'm old enough to remember the Chia Pet craze, though I never had one.

I commissioned Lophial to do fan art of the Shalka Doctor (Richard E. Grant):

Commission of Shalka Doctor for @DrWho42!

EC Henry tackles the size of a Bird of Prey and asks if you could really fit two whales inside.


The set built to represent the cargo bay doesn't fit inside the ship as depicted.


Of course this ties back to the inconsistent size of the Bird of Prey as portrayed in Trek (Ex Astris Scientia article). At best you have to assume that two different Bird of Prey classes exist, one big and one small, that happen to look identical from the outside. But one fan thinks that there may be as many as six different sizes. I think six is too many, and includes obviously oversized Birds of Prey that are the size of Vor'cha class battle cruisers or larger.



And of course the Bounty was WAY too big as compared to the whaling vessel in that one shot. And the set was built way too small to fit two whales in one half of it.


A comment on the video brings up the small B'Rel vs large K'Vort thing.

I Love Lucy was before my time, but of course I know about chocolate conveyor belts and Vitameatavegemin. And of course she approved the pilot for TOS back when it was Desilu and not Paramount.



Anyway, I didn't know that Harpo Marx was on I Love Lucy.


Of course, the Marx Brothers was also before my time, I'm more familiar with Groucho's solo work.

My Patreon reward from Will Quinn!

Daily bunny no.1527's warranty has expired

Dzeeff opens Yu-gi-oh toys from McDonalds from 2004.


I miss the old days of Yu-gi-oh. I still have a box of cards and assorted paraphernalia from my Yu-gi-oh phase. At least I can play on Duel Links these days without spending money.

@Alaingruetter did this piece based on the 1973 animated film Fantastic Planet:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FAt1fPfX...jpg&name=small

Source: A recent commission based on one of my favorite movies, Fantastic Planet!

Star Trek Deviantart Day! (I won't number them anymore, it's always a hassle to find my previous entry)


The Captains. The forehead is too big on Archer and Kirk seems to have some jowls going there, but okay. Really nice job on Picard.


Odo and Kira. Very cute, but I find myself wondering what's going on with Odo's boots there.



I may have already done this one, but a nice collage of the TNG cast plus recurring guest stars. My biggest complaint is that Pulaski looks off, like the artist did a lousy job trying to make her look younger.


A photorealistic painting of the TOS Big Seven. Chekov looks a little off, but it's very nice.



TOS does Abbey Road. Nice use of the Saurian Brandy bottle by Scotty there.



I rarely post bad fanart, I don't like mocking people, but this one needs to be seen to be believed. Long faces all around, bad hair, lots of squinty eyes. And who's that little girl next to Phlox, she looks familiar.

OrangeRiver discusses the possible sources of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe.


My favorite version is from one of the Strange New Worlds stories. Cochrane wakes up the morning after First Contact and suddenly remembers the NextGen crew despite Crusher's attempts to suppress his memories. He considers whether or not to tell people about the evil cyborgs that will attack the planet in the future. If he tells people then humanity can prepare for the Borg by becoming more military-focused and focus on weapons development. Eventually he leaves it up to a coin toss. One side means he keeps his trap shut and tries to forget about what he learned about the future, the other side means he tells. And here history splits.

My latest Patreon reward from Will Quinn:

GRABBIT 2.0

A list of actresses who were considered for the role of Captain Janeway.


I really only knew about Genevive Bujold, who's screentest really shows why she wouldn't have worked. No further comment.


I won't bash the individual actresses, but be general. A lot of the candidates can only do "tough" and "soft". Janeway needs a larger range than that.



I'm reminded of Dylan Hunt on Andromeda. The role isn't quite Kirk, Picard, or Sisko, it's something else entirely. As a whole the candidates could do "Kirk" or "Picard", but few could do "Sisko".

Artist Martha Womersley did this piece based on vinyl toy for the 1963 movie Matango or Attack of the Mushroom People:

Matango on a tricycle

Peter Scolari died today.


Who? His big hits like Bosom Buddies and Newhart are before my time. I actually remember him from Honey I Shrunk the Kids the TV Show, but today I learned that he also played Preston Vogel on Gargoyles.

morbius doctor (robert holmes) featured briefly in the 1976 serial "the brain of morbius" fan art:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FB6sozbX...jpg&name=small

source: lizziefij