Happy Anniversary!!!!

September 8, 2016 will mark the 50th anniversary of the airing of the Star Trek television series on NBC.  It's hard for me to believe that I've been a part of the Star Trek experience since the beginning.  I can still remember watching the show on my parents old black and white TV and thinking that it was the coolest thing that I had ever seen.  (I was only 5 at the time so cut me a break!)

Kudos to all who have been a part of the phenomenon over the years from Gene Roddenberry to J.J. Abrams.  Special thanks to all the great actors and actresses who made the many fantastic characters come to life.  A big shout out to all of the writers of the shows, movies, books, etc. who made the ongoing missions real for all of us to explore.  We can't forget all of the behind the scenes folks whose artistic and technological talents brought all of those things into our homes and onto the silver screen and more. Thank you all for making this amazingly special for the many trekkers like myself who love Star Trek!

So here's to all of you for turning Gene's vision of a better tomorrow into a dream that many of us around the world share.  As a fan, I can't thank you enough.  Let us now together boldly go where no one has gone before!

***Just a little Star Wars note***

Back in April of 2013 I did a post on this very blog titled "Large Mouse Kills Han Solo".  Does anyone get a feeling that folks over at Disney check out my humble little blog???  Maybe they decided to take the good old "message from Marz" (hey, you never know)  Gotta say,  I called this one!

Hide and Seek

I'm hoping to put together a Necromunda wargaming table this fall.  I've been working on some of the gangs using proxies.  So far I've got Orlock, Cawdor, Escher, and Van Saar gangs together.  I have been gathering up terrain pieces.  Some I have bought. Others I am in the process of making and/or modifying.  Yesterday I finished a set of barricades.  The main wall pieces were from a box set of Rackham Confrontation figures.  Since I had two identical sets, I took one set and modified them for Necromunda.  Check out the pics.  I'm really happy with the overall look.

Got "Tanked" in Vegas

Back in the Burgh from Las Vegas.  Did an extended weekend.  My first time in Sin City.  The missus wanted to see Barbara Streisand and thought it would great if we saw her in Vegas.  I'm not a big fan but, there were a bunch of stuff I wanted to do and see there so off we went.

We stayed at Treasure Island.  Nice spacious room.  Great customer service overall. The casino there was way too smokey and seemed cramped.   We mostly went to other places to play the machines.  Ate at Senor Frogs which was fun and the food was great.  The Buffet was less than good.  I've been to other buffets at other casinos, this one in no way could compare.  To make matters worse we both felt ill after eating there.  We saw Cirque du Soleil: Mystere at the hotel and it was fantastic! 

We did some shopping in the Venetian (way cool inside!!) and in the Palazzo.  My wife was in heaven.  Had a great burger at Prime Burger and some excellent pizza at Grimaldi's (highly recommend  it!)  If you're a coffee lover, there are two Starbucks at Treasure Island.  It was a great way to start our day.

My wife loved seeing and hearing Barbara. (She is still singing the songs!)  I have to admit she put on a great show!  Getting in and out of the parking garage at the event was super easy and fast.  Kudos to the Las Vegas Police for directing traffic and to the staff at the garage for keeping everything moving!  Great job guys!!!!

Got up to the Carroll Shelby Car Museum one morning.  I've loved his work on Mustangs for many years.  Seeing his AC Cobras, Daytonas, and Mustang Cobras was a dream come true.

For me the best part of the trip was visiting ATM which is the facility where the TV series Tanked is filmed.  I am a big time fan of the show and have been for several years.  It was amazing for me to do the tour.  I got to meet Brett, Agnes, and the General.  Trisha did a great job of showing us the facility and explaining a lot of the behind the scenes stuff about the show. The folks at ATM really make you feel welcome and appreciated.  We truly had a wonderful time! 

We  went to the Bellagio one night to see the Conservatory exhibit which includes two aquariums which were done by ATM and then stopped to see the Dancing Fountains which was really cool.  We also walked up to see the volcano at the Mirage  Then it was off to Caesar's Palace to play some slot machines.  This is the 50th anniversary of Caesar's in Las Vegas so we had to make it a stop.

There is one major thing that we hated  and I do mean HATED in Vegas.  You can't walk five feet down the strip without some jacka$$ getting in your face about some freakin' stupid offer or another.  It was so damn annoying it wasn't even funny.  There really needs to be an ordinance in the city to end this crap.  Not cool, Las Vegas!!!!

Can't say that we won big but we did have a wonderful time all in all. (And I did see Elvis to boot!)

What's in Hanger 18?

I recently bought a set of Kabuki Knights of Legends models from Hanger 18.  I have to say the entire transaction went as smooth as silk.  I received the models yesterday.  The order was intact and the models were well packed.  All the way around it was a great experience ordering from them.  Big shout out to Liliana.  She made the entire process enjoyable.  Super excellent customer service!!!!  I would highly recommend them to anyone who is into miniature war-gaming and/or collecting.

They have their own line of miniatures on their website which are super cool.  They are called Hanger 18 pinups.  Each model is based on the World War II illustrations that were done on the noses of bombers during the era.  I love the models and hope to grab up a few in the near future.

Check out the selection of models that they carry at http://www.hangar18miniatures.com