The Avenger has had an exciting month in May of 2009. First we got a new movie, and participated in all the publicity surrounding the Trek feature, next we were the guests of the Somerset Patriots for their "Star Trek Night" at the TD Bank Stadium in Bridgewater, NJ, and we still have stuff to do on our calendar.
USS INTREPID: USS Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, New York City Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th Street. 10036
On Sunday, May 31st the Avenger crew is planning a trip to visit the USS Intrepid in New York. The plan is for us to assemble outside the main entrance at 11:00am on Sunday. Cost for admission is as follows: Adult $19.50 Seniors (62+) $15.50 Veterans $15.50 College Students (w/valid ID) $15.50 Youth (6-17) $14.50 Child (2- 5) $7.50 Child under (2) Free Retired Military Free Active Duty Free Museum Members Free The forecast is calling for sunny and 75 degrees. Sounds like a great day for a trip to the ship!
Coming up in June, we're having our ANNIVERSARY PICNIC: On Saturday, June 13, The ship will be hosting its annual anniversary picnic at Babbage Park in North Brunswick, NJ. The park is located on Edison Avenue. The event starts at 12:00, and runs through dusk. We'll be cooking up food, having a watergun fight, and having a great time. We're asking for a cover charge of $7 per person to offset the food/supply expense.
Looking back on the Trek night at the Patriots game, we had a fantastic time. The staff permitted us onto the field for introductions, then later let us back onto the field where we led the crowd in "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" at the 7th Inning stretch. They had arranged some tables for us to promote the chapter, set right along the concessions concourse, located right near the main entrance to the ball park. These guys treated us like royalty, and I deeply appreciate the efforts. There's talk we may be able to set up a "Star Trek Day" at the park later this season. More on that as it develops.
I'm looking forward to getting to know our new crewmembers better, and hope they'll be able to join us for our upcoming events.
Rear Admiral Todd F. Brugmans Executive Officer, USS Avenger NCC-1860
-posted by Executive Officer USS Avenger at 12:33 PM
Friday, May 15, 2009
Executive Officer's Blog, Stardate 20090515.0931
It's been a week since the new 'Star Trek' feature has hit the theaters nationwide in the US. U.S.S. Avenger was well represented throughout opening weekend at the AMC New Brunswick theater on route 1.
We had excellent representation in the media this go around. An article in which comments from myself, Chief Medical Officer Annie Slonski, and Chief Science Officer Alex Rosenzweig was published in the Asbury Park Press, the Home News Tribune, The Courier News, and a weekly periodical supplement for this week's papers. A copy of my review of the film was published to the Entertainment Blog of CBS TV's Megan Glaros. We had the weekend event posted to News 12's activity calendar.
To say that I'm proud of the crew for their exhaustive efforts during the promotional campaign is an understatement. We had our display set up and manned from Noon Friday through 11pm Sunday. We welcomed a half-dozen new members as they signed up with the chapter on the spot, and I'm pleased to report I am aware of at least 2 more who've notified our CO that their application's in the mail.
This Sunday, May 17th we will be having our monthly ship meeting starting at 2pm at the North Brunswick Public Library, 880 Hermann Rd in North Brunswick. In addition to solidifying our summer month activity plans, we'll be discussing the new feature film.
PLAY BALL!! An exciting opportunity has been presented to USS Avenger. The Somerset Patriots have invited the ship to turn out for STAR TREK NIGHT at the stadium. This is happening on Wednesday, May 20th. The game starts at 7pm, our crew is asked to be there just after 5 to help with pre-game activities. Anyone from the chapter wishing to join us must please contact myself or judy by Sunday 5/17 so we can provide the stadium with appropriate headcount information. Ballpark Address is 1 Patriots Park, Bridgewater, NJ 08807 (Use 900 East Main Street, Bridgewater, NJ 08807 if plugging it into a GPS)
USS INTREPID: On Sunday, May 31st the Avenger crew is planning a trip to visit the USS Intrepid in New York. We've been anxious to re-visit the historic aircraft carrier-turned-museum ever since we watched her returned to port following much needed maintenance. Our Chief Engineer, Matt is organizing this outing, and I'll be able to provide additional details here following our meeting this Sunday.
ANNIVERSARY PICNIC: On Saturday, June 13, The ship will be hosting its annual anniversary picnic at Babbage Park in North Brunswick, NJ. The park is located on Edison Avenue. The event starts at 12:00, and runs through dusk. We'll be cooking up food, having a watergun fight, and having a great time. We're asking for a cover charge of $7 per person to offset the food/supply expense.
That should cover a fair amount of activities we've got on the horizon. I hope you'll consider joining us.
Rear Admiral Todd F. Brugmans Executive Officer, USS Avenger scotsmuppet@gmail.com
-posted by Executive Officer USS Avenger at 9:28 AM
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-posted by Executive Officer USS Avenger at 9:26 AM
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Executive Officer's Blog: Stardate 20090428.1530 "Everything Old is New Again" In the greater New York/New Jersey market, the new 'Star Trek' feature film is a mere 9 days away. The studio is releasing the latest feature in the Star Trek franchise a day earlier than its previously advertised date, with screenings nationwide starting on Thursday, May 7th.
This will be a 'fresh approach' to the Star Trek mythos, with a new cast of performers rising to take up the roles which fans have known for 43 years. Directed by J.J. Abrams, this latest feature tells an origin story of how the famous crew came together aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise to combat a threat from the future.
From the beginning, this feature indicates the history of some of the main characters has been altered, which opens the door wide for a fresh interpretation of the characters as presented through the new set of circumstances that bring them together.
Surprise advance screenings and test marketing screenings of the feature have all been received with high acclaim... nearly unheard of after 10 previous full-length features to bear the Star Trek moniker. The studio has been working hard to properly promote this film, which was initially slated for release in December of 2008.
Following a writer's strike which essentially stymied Hollywood for several months, a decision was reached at the studio to place Star Trek into the May time frame, with faith that the film will fare better than if it were released around the December holiday season. All the buzz associated with the film would lead a casual observer to suspect this was a wise strategy. The true tell of the tale will come in the days and weeks following the nationwide release, when the box office numbers are tallied. Regardless, it has been announced that a sequel to this feature has been green-lighted to go ahead. Naturally, details will follow as they become known.
U.S.S. Avenger has been preparing for this film's arrival. With many thanks to the management of the AMC theater located on Route 1, New Brunswick, we will have a recruitment and information table set up in the lobby throughout opening weekend for 'Star Trek'.
We've developed new static displays, providing information on our chapter and the parent organization, STARFLEET. We have a slideshow presentation set to music featuring photos of our activities over Avenger's 24 year history. We've developed new promotional brochures, and will have a mockup of a 'transporter pad' set up in the lobby which patrons can stand in front of, and we'll take their picture (with props, if they like) as a momento.
As XO of this chapter, I'm enthusiastic for riding the substantial promotional wave which has gone into this new feature. STARFLEET has made arrangements with the online ticket service, FANDANGO, so people visiting sfi.org can link directly from the site to purchase their movie tickets.
As I type this, I'm looking forward to an interview with the Home News Tribune/Courier News, which is slated for later this week. It looks like opening weekend is going to be an exciting time to be a fan of Star Trek. I hope you'll join us.
Rear Admiral Todd F. Brugmans Executive Officer, USS Avenger NCC-1860
Okay, I'll admit it, I've been lax in getting this blog updated. So, what's going on? It's Valentine's Day here, and while I'll not have an opportunity this year to participate in the related festivities with my significant other, I know we'll make up for it this coming weekend.
As is usually the schedule, mid-February marks Farpoint - a fan-run convention held annually in the Baltimore, MD area. It's always a great opportunity to meet up with friends I don't get to see very often from that area, not to mention the unique items for sale one can only find at a convention of this ilk. (or the media guests, for that matter) This year, Farpoint is hosting a trio of TV notables, James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar from the acclaimed new incarnation of Battlestar Galactica), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi from Star Trek: the Next Generation), and Erin Grey (Col. Wilma Deering, Buck Rogers), in addition to the plethora of writers and musicians that make this a memorable weekend.
I'm disappointed to report that I've only just recently discovered that the release date for the new "Star Trek" feature, under the helm of J.J. Abrams, has been pushed back to May 8th, 2009. This is a peripheral side-effect of the writers' strike in Hollywood which had the TV and film industry at loggerheads for several months. The strike created a gap of new scripts being written for the 2009 film season, and the studios are working to flesh-out their release calendars with as many of the projected 'heavy hitters' as they can to offset the lapse while they're working on catching up for lost time. The rationale for this move (it was originally slated to debut December 25, 2008) was to try to earn more Box Office bang for the patrons' dollars. Looking into the Cinema crystal ball, the new date places "Star Trek" a week after the new comic book adaptation feature "Wolverine" hits the screens (starring Hugh Jackman), and a week before the sequel to the "DaVinci Code" is slated to be released. At present, this makes "Trek" the biggest title currently slated to open on that date. The suits are apparently hoping the lack of major competition on opening weekend will result in a better debut weekend. One can only hope the film holds up, placed on such a high pedestal. 2008's film season will feature a great many Superhero features. We've got the new "Dark Knight" Batman feature, "Hellboy II", "The Incredible Hulk II", and "The Mummy" has another sequel this summer, and Will Smith will be starring in "Hancock", about a down-and-out hero that a publicist is trying to put back on top. A surprise addition to the film lineup this year is another "Star Wars" feature. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (not to be confused with the animated shorts "Star Wars:Clone Wars" by Genndy Tartakovsky) is a full-length CGI animated story which takes place early in the Clone Wars timeline, (Between "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith"), and is slated to follow the personal adventures of Anakin Skywalker during that time. The CGI feature is a lead-in to a new series to air on Cartoon Network following the theatrical release. 31 Episodes have been contracted for this CGI animated weekly series. There is still the live-action "Star Wars" series in pre-production, slated for the 2009 Television season. That series is intended to be set after the events seen in "Revenge of the Sith" and follows characters living in the early days of the Empire. A little closer to present, we have such shows as "Jericho" returning to TV, "Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles" continues to fare well on Fox network, Futurama will see new episodes on Comedy Central, Knight Rider is being resurrected for a 21st Century audience, and will air on NBC later this month, and lastly we have Battlestar Galactica's imminent return for its final season later this year.
All in all, not bad stuff for the Sci-fi/fantasy fan to watch. I'll do my best to keep folks up to date on the latest, as it becomes known.
We do have plans for the chapter to support the new "Star Trek" release, despite the change in premiere date. This does grant us a few additional months to prepare our display(s) and presentation(s) at the movie theater that is graciously permitting us to recruit there that opening weekend (many thanks, Carlos!)
More specifics to follow. Chat at ya later, Commodore Todd F. Brugmans Executive Officer, USS Avenger
First Officer's Blog, Stardate 20070721.0003 (carry the 4...) July in 2007, and it's high-time I recapped quite a few things here, for the benefit of those visiting ussavenger.org for the first time, as well as for our crew, who're looking for updates and news.
WELL! To summarize a few things so far this Summer.... In the ides of June we had a very busy weekend. The Avenger's annual anniversary picnic was held at North Brunswick, NJ's Babbage Park, and was well attended. USS Sovereigns Cook-on-loan, Joe Horton manned the grills again this year, and no one left hungry. Thanks to Joe and Janek for handling all the food details. We featured water gun battles which included my usual collection of 'Friggin' HUGE!' water rifles, and we had the honor of hosting friends from near and far at this year's picnic. Friends from Avenger's past and present assembled, as well as fellow Fleeters from the Richthofen, Deliverance, Accord, Sovereign, and Challenger. It was a veritable Who's Who in Region 7. Of course, no Avenger picnic could truly be considered complete without Mother Nature getting into the act. We got our major thunderstorm tearing through late in the afternoon. It let up in time for us all to pack up and move our merry-making to a town expo in progress a couple of miles away. Funnel cakes and fireworks rounded out the evening. That very next morning, The USS Avenger teamed up with local charity The VanHouten Foundation to run a charity auction event we'd been planning since the beginning of the year. I was impressed, and am proud to report that a dozen of our chapter's members turned out to lend assistance toward this endeavor, which featured a great many signed items from celebrities of books, music, film and TV; vendors tables, game-show activities, and catered food. An unfortunate turn of events had no one show to our event for all the preparation that had gone into running it. I look upon it as a learning experience, and our chapter made a great many observations as to what could be improved upon for future events we open to the public. As a personal sidebar note, again I was well impressed with the turnout of our crew members to this event. So much so, that I have arranged for those of the crew who turned out on their Father's Day Sunday to help us, even if for a little while, to receive a new Polo shirt (or in a case or two, a Tee-shirt) that bears an embroidered USS Avenger Logo I'd designed, inspired by Star Trek movie-era insignia. As I write this entry, the shirts are all made up, and are in transit to my home. Soon as I have them, I can begin distribution of them to those who came to the auction event, those I don't catch up with beforehand, I hope to see you at the August chapter meeting, and we'll get it sorted then.
What else has been going on? Well, our friends on the USS Challenger hosted their annual backyard BBQ and pool party in Ortley Beach, NJ. We had a strong contingent from the Avenger attend this event, which concluded with my bringing an LCD video projector, which we used to shine a presentation of the animated movie "Flushed Away" on the side of Admiral Bob Vosseller's summer bungalow.
Several of the crew enjoyed the annual big-summer convention in the Maryland/D.C. area: Shore Leave. While I was unable to attend this year, the stories and accounts are starting to trickle in, including a notable award citation during the Starfleet Region 7 meeting held at said conference. Annually, Region 7 issues awards for the best officers, chapters, websites, newsletters, etc. for that year. I am VERY proud to note here (as I have elsewhere) that U.S.S. Avenger, NCC-1860, has been named Region 7's Chapter of the Year for this year. Congratulations go out to all of our most deserving crew!
We will resume our regularly scheduled ship meetings in August. The next meeting will be 3pm at the Borders Bookstore on Rte. 18, North Brunswick, NJ on Sunday, August 12. The meeting will of course be followed with a trip to an area restaurant of the group's choosing.
On the chapter staffing front, I'd like to extend an official welcome to Commander Annie Slonski, who has officially transferred to Avenger from the USS Challenger, and has taken up the mantle of Chief Medical Officer for our ship. Crew are encouraged to welcome Annie aboard, if they've not yet had an opportunity to do so. That said, I think we're pretty close to up to current for now. We've many activities to plan for in the next several months, and more updates will follow highlighting what we're up to. I hope you'll consider joining us for our meeting on August 12th. That is all. Commodore Todd Brugmans XO, da boat.
Well, gang, it's 2006 and I haven't posted this year, so here goes. We'll start with the fact that I was thinking today. A dangerous prospect at the best of times, but I got to thinking about STAR TREK: Enterprise, and how they used Polarization of the Hull plating to protect their ship......
I always thought that was a funny approach to Enterprise..... HEY! let's take the entire hull, RUN ELECTRIC CURRENT THROUGH IT, and see if it protects our ship without shorting out my gameboy!
CLANG!!
ARCHER: Trip, what the hell just happened? TRIP: Sorry cap'n.... I polarized the hull, and we just became a super-electro-magnet..... all them Suliban popcorn-balls they're flyin' around in just stuck t'the hull…..
CLANG!!
ARCHER: Trip? TRIP: Not m'fault this time, Cap'n T’POL: T'Pol to Bridge ARCHER:Go ahead T’POL:Can someone please explain to me why I am now dangling from the ceiling of my quarters by the latch of my bra? TRIP: Jus' Hang on a minnut, there' T'Pol.... I'll be right there t'help ya work out... er, get out of.... aw hell.... get ready for some more massage therapy!
CLANG!! REED: Reed to bridge! ARCHER: Go ahead, Lieutenant REED: Sir, I don't wish to be alarmist, however the plate in my head has developed a peculiar fascination with the deckplates on E-deck… PHLOX: Phlox to Bridge! ARCHER:Yes, Doctor, what can we do for you? PHLOX:You can turn off those damned polarized plates, for starters. Do you realize you've just wiped clean the memory of all my videocassettes of SEX & The City?!? I was just getting to the parts of human coital relationships involving tiny "Johnsons" when all of a sudden the entire collection was erased! PHLOX: Now I guess I'll have to study Trip at therapy with T'Pol! TRIP: HEY! Whatever happened to doctor/patient confidentiality?!? PHLOX: Well the secret would never have gotten out if you'd hidden the "enhancement" drugs I prescribed for you, instead of Porthos getting into them and eating a robust supply. Poor animal was accidently pole-vaulting with every 3rd step for a month
CLANG!
ARCHER: Trip.......? HOSHI: Sir, we're being hailed ARCHER: On Main Viewer, KLINGON: CLANG! ARCHER: was that another hull strike? MAYWEATHER: No, sir I think it was...KLINGON: IT's MY NAME, Pe’TAQ!! CLANG! RELEASE my vessel or I shall destroy you!
We could go on and on.... perhaps in future blogs I shall. Now, if you have read this on March 15th, when it was posted, and you find yourself wiping the beverage of choice from your monitor, well, all I can say is Shakespeare was right: you really SHOULD beware the Ides of March.
Commodore Todd F. Brugmans Executive Officer, USS Avenger NCC-1860
Has it truly been so long since last I posted?!? My apologies, folks. Let's get up to speed, shall we? Throughout the course of 2005 to date we've seen quite a bit of things happen, some good, some not so good. This year our former Chief Medical Officer, AnnMarie Reilly passed away after prolonged illness. She was a driving force in the Avenger's history, and is missed most especially by those who knew her best. Throughout the year, we've been heading off to conventions and conferences. STARFLEET's International Conference this year was held in San Antonio, TX, on what had to be one of the hottest weekends of the year....ugh! Farpoint and Shore Leave provided the usual opportunities to hang with our friends from Regions 1 and 7, (and beyond) in Maryland. Our friends aboard the USS Challenger successfully hosted a Back to the Beach weekend in Seaside Heights, NJ for the annual Region 7 Conference this year. Speaking of conferences, Region 7 will be hosting the International Conference for STARFLEET in 2006. www.ic2006.org for more details. I'd like to call upon all the crew of the USS Avenger to help out if they're able in the planning and execution of this conference. It's our opportunity to show the rest of the organization just how well R7 knows how to party! On a personal note, I have been serving throughout this year as Commandant for the STARFLEET Academy. It is proving more of a challenge than ever initially expected, but progress is steadily being made for improvements for the membership, and we've come a long way in a relatively short period of time. I have recently learned that Avenger's newest offshoot chapter, USS Hathor out in the Louisville, KY area is decommissioning. My condolences are extended to Captain Underwood for the chapter's untimely conclusion, so shortly after it had launched. I wish well the members of Hathor's crew as they pursue separate avenues for their continued participation within STARFLEET. I wish to extend a welcome to Captain Dan Steenburg, formerly of the USS Highlander (my old ship), who joins our crew as a correspondence member in the Security division. On our upcoming highlights this month, The Avenger will be making a presentation at the Old Bridge Public Library on Saturday, November 12th at 1:30pm. We've been invited to come and speak about the enduring popularity of Star Trek, and touch on the legends and lore of the show that's inspired this very club. I hope you'll consider joining us for the talk. Also, this Sunday, November 13th at 3:00pm is our regularly scheduled Shipwide meeting at the Borders Bookstore on Rte 18 North. This will be our last meeting for the year at this location, as we'll need to meet elsewhere in December to allow our generous hosts at Borders to best utilize the much-needed floorspace for holiday season sales, etc. Hope to see you there! Commodore Todd F. Brugmans Executive Officer, USS Avenger, NCC-1860 Commandant, STARFLEET Academy
