My Classroom Tardis Materialized Between My Room and the Chinese Classroom. What They Say About My Driving Skills is Correct. Where are They Now: Matt Long. See His New Warehouse, Impressive. Space News. Theater Imaginarium.

     The Tardis didn't materialize correctly when I returned to my classroom after a sprint around the solar system one last time before the start of this new school year.  I don't know what went wrong. My coordinates were correct, as far as I could tell. Room 204, Renaissance Academy, Lehi, Utah, United States, Earth.  I'm lucky I wasn't standing near the opening.
      After checking my owners manual and discovering my Tardis warranty expired three years ago, I decided to say goodbye to my classroom police box save for the front door and the roof call light.  Repairs on a Tardis run more than my finances can manage.  The last time I checked, a Police Box Tardis, complete with an Astron Energy PU and an ACME Time Vortox Modulator would run 1.5 galactic credits.  You see my point?
     The upside, look at the extra room I'll have.  The sixth grade at Renaissance Academy adopted a middle school model and schedule this upcoming year. I'll have 90 plus students throughout the day in six periods so the extra room will be welcome.  Mrs. Moss, my outstanding para-educator, will be thrilled.  She sat next to the full scale Tardis for five years with little room to breath. Now she can luxuriate her time away with plenty of leg room.
     The good news, there are three other cardboard Tardis panels from the original Tardis stored in my room wanting a new home. You can do what I did in my classroom - put the panel up against the wall with the Police Box sign above. Contact me if you're a Dr. Who fan with an interest in adopting a panel.     
     
 Where Are they Now:  Matthew Long Opens a New Location for Underfunded Films.

Matt's new office at Underfunded Films

      I stopped by Matt Long's new office and warehouse in American Fork on Friday.  He and his wife Melanie were hosting an open house for his company's new location.  Impressed doesn't sum up what I saw. I knew Matt was a film lover having worked with him at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center over many many years.  He made a few excellent space themed shorts, including a Star Wars tribute film we played for our summer campers on swimming night.  I also knew Matt was the founder of the Underfunded Film Festival which recently merged with FilmQuest and the Utah Film Awards.  The Festival's mantra has been to promote both amateur and professional, independent films to prove that you don't need to have a Hollywood budget to make a great film.  I also knew Matt had a large inventory of film equipment he'd rent out to film productions.  He ran the business out of his garage in American Fork.
     What I didn't know was just how big his garage business had become.  I found out on Friday. 

Matt moving equipment for the open house

     Welcome to the new home of Underfunded Films (UFP) in American Fork just down the street from Carl's Jr. right off the freeway.  

     Now you see what I mean when I say he has one of the largest collections of rentable film equipment in Utah.  If you're making a film and need equipment, UFP is the place to go.

     Just this cart you see Matt sitting on would run you $100,000 to purchase.  That's why film makers rent the large equipment they need.  

Matt working on his new Magellan controls in the Magellan control room. Jon is impressed.

  

     This is how many of you remember Matt.  Matt was our programming master at the Space Center for several years.  He programmed the current controls still used on the Magellan and Voyager simulators.  As a younger high school student, Matt programmed in Hypercard and worked on the original Voyager's controls among others.  
     Space Centering runs in Matt's blood. He build his own starship in his basement as a youngster. 

Matt (second from the right) as a young Blue Shirt outside the Odyssey.

     Today Matt and Melanie are the parents of four delightful children.  Melanie works as a nurse at Utah Valley Hospital and Matt got to quit his programming job to run UFP full time.  Melanie is overjoyed to have her garage back. 

      Matt made sure I didn't leave empty handed.  Free t-shirts for all!

      And one final comment.  I knew Matt was cool, but not this cool.  Look at this piece of original art work hanging behind his desk.  It's a young Dr. Who.  A stop to enjoy this little sprite of a picture is well worth a visit to UFP in American Fork even if you're not renting any equipment.  
     By the way, without even resorting to arm twisting, Matt and Melanie happily consented to host the next Sandwich Club in the Fall.  More news to follow.  Keep reading The Troubadour. 

Space News
By Mark Daymont
SpaceRubble.blogspot.com

 Russian Cosmonauts go for a Walk

Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev releases a tiny nano-satellite into space. NASA TV.

     On Wednesday August 15, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Oleg Artemeyev opened the hatch on the Pirs module just after midnight and stayed out for over seven hours. They completed the tasks of installing the German-made Icarus experiment outside the Pirs module, and also hand-launched four nano-satellites that had been built by Russian science students. 

     The Icarus experiment will track the migrations and movements of animals that have been tagged with tiny transmitters. Scientists will study how animal populations have modified their migrations and movements while encountering changes in their environments.

 Artemyev, left, and Prokopyev in a practice for the upcoming spacewalk. Credit: Roscosmos.

   This was Artemyev's third spacewalk, and the first EVA for Prokopyev. The next ISS spacewalk will be in September.  


Imaginarium Theater
The Best Gifs of the Week Edited for a Gentler Audience