Star Trek's Scotty Prepares to Beam Up

As some of you may remember, James Doohan, Star Trek's Scotty, died two years ago. A company, Space Services Inc., had planned on sending his remains into space, but the launch was delayed by tests and a misfire of the rocket last year. Well, it looks like the launch will finally take place. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

Star Trek's Scotty plots last course for the stars

PHOENIX (Reuters) - The remains of actor James Doohan, who played the starship Enterprise's chief engineer Scotty on "Star Trek," will be blasted into space next month, the company organising the flight said on Friday.

The Canadian-born actor who inspired the catchphrase "Beam me up, Scotty" -- even though it was never actually uttered on the television show -- died two years ago at the age of 85.

Houston-based commercial company Space Services Inc. said some of Doohan's remains were packed into a rocket at Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Friday, ahead of the flight scheduled for April 28.

The company had originally planned to blast Doohan's remains into space two years ago. But the flight was delayed by tests, then by a misfire during a practice launch last year.

Space Services spokeswoman Susan Schonfeld said Doohan's ashes will be sent up along with the remains of some 200 other people, including astronaut Gordon Cooper, who first went into space in 1963. Cooper died in 2004 at age 77.

After a short flight the rocket will return to Earth with the capsules holding the remains.

Space Services is a commercial venture that charges $495 to send a sample of a person's ashes into suborbital space. Capsules containing the ashes are retrieved, mounted on plaques and given back to relatives.

In 1997 the company blasted the remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry into space.

Hilarious 911 Message

Ok, now normally I would just find this kinda funny...but since I've recently been hired on as dispatcher for the local fire and police departments, it becomes even more funny. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:

'911 closed, everyone at doughnut shop'

EASTON, Pa. - A firefighter clicked on a link on the city's Web site and got a recording of a bogus dispatcher saying 911 was closed.

"Our offices are closed because everyone is at the doughnut shop," said the audio file. Stu Gallaher, city business administrator, said Wednesday the file was quickly removed when city officials learned about it.

Gallaher said it was accidentally left on the site by former Fire Chief Frank Chisesi, who had been hired to improve the city's Internet offerings. Chisesi said he had placed several audio files on the site but they did not work and he thought he had deleted them.

Firefighter Terrance Hand e-mailed the link to city officials and the media, saying it was "not flattering" to the 911 call center, police or firefighters and seeking an apology. He said his only reply was from Councilman Dan Corpora.

Corpora said he intended to look into the posting, "and rectify any situation that would allow that to be put on the Web site."

New Tolkien Book To Be Released Next Month

Some of you may remember that back in Sept. of 06 I blogged about the news that Christopher Tolkien, the son of the late J.R.R Tolkien, had compiled some of his fathers unfinished material into a complete book entitled The Children Of Hurin. (Original story here.) Well, the official release date has been set for April 17. Here's the complete story from Yahoo!News (photo copyright AFP/HO/File):

New Tolkien book to be published next month: report

LONDON (AFP) - An unfinished book by "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien, which was completed by his son, will go on sale on next month, a newspaper said.

"The Children of Hurin", which Tolkien began in 1918, will be in bookshops on April 17, the Independent on Sunday added. The author's son, Christopher, spent 30 years completing the story from the many drafts produced by his father.

Publisher HarperCollins is keeping exact details of the story under close wraps but its description as "an epic story of adventure, tragedy, fellowship and heroism" will be familiar to the legions of Tolkien fans.

Artist Alan Lee has provided 25 pencil sketches and eight paintings for the book.

Lee won an Oscar for art direction on Peter Jackson's "The Return of the King", the third blockbuster film based on the "Lord of Rings" trilogy that brought the stories to a worldwide audience.

"The Children of Hurin" is the first "new" Tolkien book since a collection of his works -- "The Silmarillion" -- was published posthumously in 1977, four years after the writer's death. It was also edited by Christopher Tolkien.

The chairman of the Tolkien Society, Chris Crawshaw, was quoted by the Independent on Sunday as saying: "It ('The Children of Hurin') would probably make a very good movie, if anyone can secure the film rights."

Restaurant Offers $1,000 Pizza!

A restaurant in New York is offering a $1,000 pizza! Now, I've always thought of pizza as the traditional high school/ college student/ lazy man's dinner, so I'm not sure if this is really gonna work out, but I suppose there are people out there who would be willing to shell out a thousand bucks for a pizza pie. The pizza pictured is not the pizza in the story. Here's the story from Yahoo!News:


Meet the $1,000 pizza..

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York restaurateur has cooked up the most world's most extravagant pizza -- a $1,000 pizza topped with six sorts of caviar and fresh lobster.

Nino Selimaj, who runs six pizza restaurants in New York, on Wednesday unveiled his Luxury Pizza, a 12 inch (30 cms), thin crust topped with caviar, lobster, creme fraiche and chives. Cut into eight, it works out at $125 a slice.

"I know this won't be for everyone but there are people in New York who can afford it and once tried, they'll be back for more. It is delicious," said Selimaj, who moved to New York from Albania about 29 years ago.

"Sure, some people will say it is just a publicity stunt but I have researched this for over a year and think there is a demand. I have already sold one."

Selimaj said his restaurant Nino's Bellissima, which is the only one of his restaurants to offer the Luxury Pizza, needs 24 hours notice for the gourmet dish as it orders the caviar in advance.

"But where better to experiment with pizza than in New York where people love their pizza," he said.

If diners are still peckish after the Luxury Pizza, they can always head over to the midtown restaurant Serendipity that sells a $1,000 ice-cream sundae called Golden Opulence which is covered in 23K edible gold leaf.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Here's wishing everyone a happy and safe St. Patty's Day! Go easy on the green beer, or you'll be seeing leprechauns in no time!