Towel Day: A Tribute to Douglas Adams is May 25

Towel Day is celebrated every May 25 as a tribute by fans of the late author Douglas Adams. On this day, fans carry a towel with them to demonstrate their love for the books and the author, as referenced in Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This was first held in 2001 just weeks after the authors death and continues today.

On Wednesday, May 25th, take your towel with you to work, school or anywhere.  Take a picture and post it for all of the HHGTTG fans to enjoy.

Here’s what *the* Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has to say about towels:

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value – you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth: wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you – daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have ‘lost’. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still know where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with. Hence a phrase which has passed into hitch hiking slang, as in ‘Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.’ (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)

May activity Utah Renaissance Festival and Fantasy Faire

The USS Ticonderoga May activity is coming up on Saturday the 21st.  We will be going to the 6th Annual Utah Renaissance Festival and Fantasy Faire just west of Ogden.  We will be meeting at the festival at noon and spending the day taking in the sights.

If you have attended past festival, remember that they have moved to a new location this year.  The address is 1700 West 1350 South, Marriott-Slaterville, Utah.  Directions: 12th street exit, turn west to 1900 w. Turn left (south) for 200 yards, then turn left again and head east, following the signs.

Admission is $12 for adults (12 to 64), $6 for children (3-11), $10 for senior citizens (65+), $10 for those attending in full renaissance garb, $10 for Federal employees (plus 1 guest at $10 as well) and $10 for Military (plus 1 guest at $10).

Last year we met a fan wearing a Star Trek Voyager uniform at the festival.  Do we want to try to go in uniform or stick with traditional renaissance style costumes?

Utah Renaissance Festival and Fantasy Faire

Guest speaker at May meeting

Greetings, All!

Just a quick reminder that we will be having a special guest presenter at the Ticonderoga meeting this Wednesday.  The usual half-hour socialization time will be cut very short to allow time for the presentation, so please try to be at the library on time.  We will be heading to dinner (and/or dessert) at the Village in on 12th street afterward.

See you all there.  =)


Captain Erica Stark -=/\=-

Thank you to our Moms everywhere

It is Mother’s Day 2011. From all of us we wanted to send out a special thank you to the people who have raised us and been a huge influence in our lives. Thank you to our Mothers, Mother-in-Laws, Grandmothers, Stepmothers and those who were just Mom. By blood or by choice you have been a huge reason we have become the people we are today.

Star Trek Marathon April 30th

And now a note from Captain Erica Stark:

Greetings Crew!
As a reminder, this Saturday, April 30th, is the long-awaited movie marathon with merit sheets. This will be held at the home of Josh Linscott’s parents, in Clinton, beginning at 2 pm. (Please be sure to have some lunch beforehand, and bring some snacks to share.)

As an FYI – Space is limited.

**** PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ****
PLEASE RSVP if you will be in attendance. Not only so we can work out the seating, but also so we know how many copies of the merit sheets to bring along. Be advised that we will ONLY bring enough for those who tell me they are coming.
Also, while there are some couches, unless you want to risk sitting on the floor, please bring a chair.

In addition, Saturday morning is the MS Walk down at the Gateway with the USS Atlantis. Some of us will be attending that, as well. IF you choose to do so, please wear a club t-shirt and good walking shoes.

On the Two-Forward list, you can simply reply to this message, because it is a discussion list. The main group is announcements only, so you will have to email me directly at tico.co.erica@gmail.com to RSVP to either or both events.

Thank you!

A video of the fun at Starfest 2011

So members of the USS Ticonderoga and the Seventh Fleet had a ton of fun last weekend.  WE had the opportunity to join our friends at Starfest 2011 in Denver.  While we were there, Brian Wesley of the USS Kelly had taken a ton of video footage.  He has been putting it together ind different videos showing the fun that was had at the con.  Here is the first video that he has posted on YouTube.

 

What memories do you have of the convention?

 

Change in guests at Starfest

Greetings everyone.  Today Starland announced that Jonathan Frakes will not be able to make it this year for Starfest 2011.  In his place will be LeVar Burton, best known for his role of Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

 

Also we have had so many people get new uniforms for this event that we are setting up a group photo on Saturday.  If you do not have a uniform for the event we may have some extras that you can borrow.  We also may have some additional spaces available if you find that you can go on April 15-17.  If you are interested, please contact Captain Erica Stark right away.

 

This is one of the big events that we are looking forward to since there is a lack of conventions in Utah.

Fifteen Years as a Star Trek Fan Club

The Star Trek fan club, the USS Ticonderoga, has been a group for fifteen years now.  We started in March 1996 as the Runabout (Chapter-in-Training) USS Euphrates.  Our launching ceremony was in Clearfield, Utah.  In 1997 we graduated to starship status and became the USS Ticonderoga.  We’ve helped launch Starfleet Command’s Seventh Fleet, several new chapter-in-trainings and the imagination of a lot of Star Trek fans.  We’ve had our ups and downs.  Our triumphs and our defeats.  We have our friends to thank for a lot of these fond memories.

So what we would like to ask everyone, member or friend, is to click on comment and share any memory of the USS Ticonderoga over the past fifteen years.  Our eventual goal is to publish some of these in an upcoming issue of the Ticonderoga Transmissions newsletter.

Thank you for being our comrades, we look forward to another fifteen years of Trekkin’.

RPG change of plans on Friday

Greetings All!  This is a hail from Captain Erica Stark

Just a quick note to let you all know that our usual Friday night RPG game will NOT be happening this month.  Our Retributor GM’s have a family commitment that night.  (Silly peoples, thinking a birthday is more important.)

Don’t be discouraged, however.  We will still be having a game night that night, but it will be a board-game night, instead.  All other details will remain the same.

Held at Kathy Campbell’s home, beginning at 7:00 pm.

If you have a favorite board game, please bring it along.

Any questions?  Email me.  I’m sure I can come up with an answer.

If you happen to see Justin Rouviere, in person or online, wish him a happy b-day.

See you all on Friday.

Jonathan Frakes will be a guest at Starfest 2011

Starland is the company that puts together a convention called Starfest every April in Denver.  They have been running this convention for more than 30 years and it has gained quite a following.  A lot of USS Ticonderoga and Seventh Fleet members will make the annual trek to this convention because of the fun and great guests they have.

Today Starland announced that actor and director Jonathan “Commander Riker” Frakes will be a guest at Starfest 2011.  They have also tabbed Morena Baccarin (Anna the Supreme Leader from V and Inara Serra from Firefly), David Prowse (Darth Vader from Star Wars) and Mark Sheppard (Romo Lampkin from the new Battlestar Galactica, Badger from Firefly and Leucon in Star Trek: Voyager).  We should be hearing more guest announcements soon.

You can read about Jonathan Frakes at Starfest here: http://starland.com/wp/2011/02/23/jonathan-frakes-added-to-starfest-lineup/

Don’t forget that the Seventh Fleet is trying to charter a bus for $90/person (this is a round trip and includes the driver gratuity).  If you are interested in this, please contact Captain Erica Stark for details.

Proud chapter of Starfleet Command's Seventh Fleet