[Art!] I blame ECSNorway for this

[M Fnord]

Because he mentioned "dedication plaque" in his Belisarius writeup, and that put the bug in my ear. Three fevered hours in Illustrator later, and this is what appeared:



(Play Spot-The-In-Joke in the various credits if you're bored!)

Since I've got these things on my mind, I'm making an offer: If you have an idea for a dedication plaque, post or PM me the relevant data (ship name/data, list of names, motto, etc.) and I will build you a plaque. Limit of two per customer, line forms to the left.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

Interesting choice for "Starfleet Command" there, Mal...

Edit: And I obviously can't follow instructions - I just e-mailed you what I want on a pair of plaques. Sorry about that...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

I think you mean, "play spot the place where there isn't a joke"...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[M Fnord]

True enough, but can you actually name them all? Some are obvious, others less so.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

I don't have time to give the full lists, bu here are the themes...

Soviet Air Force-in-Exile: the PCs.
Starfleet Command: nBSG characters.
Vehicle Development: rocketry pioneers.
Spaceframe Engineering: ST:TNG SFX crew.
Propulsion Systems: Girl Genius characters.
Mission Ops: famous scientists.
Imaging & Sensor Technologies: famous Hollywood directors, and that Frakes guy.
Orbital Ergonomics: ...okay, you got me here...
Flight Test Crew: early cosmonauts.
Flight Software: famous manga-ka.
United Earth Space Probe Agency: ST:TOS greats.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Obvious pass on Orbital Ergonomics, and you got Flight Test Crew wrong (it's a bit more subtle an injoke than that. It also may provide inferred plot clues
for ItGWO). You also missed the joker in Mission Ops, but hey.

Anybody else want to give it a whirl? Also, the offer for dedication plaques is still open.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

I wouldn't mind having the illustrator template you worked with.
Also, A. Robo is the 'joker'...
For 'Orbital Ergonomics' I want to say Production crew for the new Trek movie?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

Obvious pass on Orbital Ergonomics, and you got Flight Test Crew wrong (it's a bit more subtle an injoke than that. It also may provide inferred plot clues for ItGWO).

Ah, rats. (I would have sworn one of those names was that of the first female in space. Shows what I know.)

You also missed the joker in Mission Ops, but hey.

Well, I was a little busy at the time...

Also, A. Robo is the 'joker'...

http://www.livescience.com/technology/0 ... ntist.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Tyson, maybe?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

N. Tyson, maybe?

Nope, that's http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/]Neil deGrasse Tyson, aka "that one dude who's on Colbert all the time," director of the Hayden Planetarium in NYC & Carl Sagan's spiritual heir. ECS is right, the joker's http://www.atomic-robo.com/]A(tomic). Robo. Anyway, the full list of names is:

Starfleet Command: nBSG leadership
Vehicle Development: Rocketry pioneers, with an emphasis on Russian/Soviet rocket gurus.
Spaceframe Engineering: TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT-era Art Department people
Propulsion Systems: Various Sparks
Mission Ops: Prominent astronomers & one comic book character
Imaging & Sensor Technologies: Hollywood directors
Orbital Ergonomics: Production crew members from Trek XI
Flight Test Crew: Not surprised nobody got this one, they're the crew of the USSR Alexi Leonov from Arthur C. Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two
Flight Software: Mangaka, esp. mangaka who've done work involving robots, AI etc. in the past.
UESPA: As is tradition with Trekkie dedications, if enough people are listed one must give credit to the Great Bird et. al.

Last but not least, here's some more dedication plaques. The first two were requested by Rob:

%[link=http://img394.imageshack.us/my.php?image=epsilonbladededicationp.jpg[/img] %[link=http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=digammathunderboltdedic.jpg[/img]

This is a redone version of the original Gagarin plate, plus one done for a sister ship:

%[link=http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=yurigagarindedicationpl.jpg[/img] %[link=http://img15.imageshack.us/my.php?image=laikadedicationplaque.jpg[/img]

And these last three are just me screwing around.

%[link=http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enterprisededicationpla.jpg[/img] %[link=http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=columbiadedicationplaqu.jpg[/img] %[link=http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=challengerdedicationpla.jpg[/img]

Despite all sanity, the offer's *still* open, if you want a plaque done.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

Looking good so far, Mal.

What software did you use to make the badges?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[M Fnord]

The badges are other Illustrator files (except the EADS logo; that's a SVG I pulled off Wikipedia) that I've posted around here before in earlier art
threads. All I had to do was pull them into my template workspace & dick around with the coloring, path offsets & drop shadows to give it the right 3D
look.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Black Aeronaut]

I'd like to do one for Midnight, but as her spaceframe was orignally a Blackbird, I wonder how to go about the credits there. I'm pretty sure that the team that built the original air-frame should get the credit where that is due. Propulsion, though, would go to Benjamin and Noah - Noah gets included because he came first with the basic idea of the design and Benjamin ran with it in the way that only a semi-Mad Scientist can. The Professor and Gina would be credited for the computer system.

Weapons will be tricky. Primary are coil-guns that Ben designed with Gina's help and built with the help of the Professor's assistants. The secondary weapons, however, are waved-enhanced Vulcans on retracting turrets - something that has become a staple for Roughriders ships' point defense.

That's all I can think of for now.

[Bob Schroeck]

If the manufacture of plaques is something actually happening within the setting, I suppose the folks on the Grover's Corners would eventually get around to getting one. I'd have to think of what to put on it, though...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[robkelk]

Last but not least, here's some more dedication plaques. The first two were requested by Rob:

Mmmmmm, pretty... Thanks!
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Foxboy]

Hmmm. SS Pinafore... I'd need to dig into my Gilbert and Sullivan notes...

Immediate names that pop to mind:

W. S. Gilbert, A. Sullivan, D. Carte [Real people: Librettist, Composer, and Producer]
R. Rackstraw, J. Corcoran, D. Deadeye [Characters from HMS Pinafore
M. Stanley [Female Lead from Pirates of Penzance
W.A. Mozart, J.S. Bach, L. Beethoven, L. Bernstein, S. Sondheim, H. Ashman, A. Menken [Other composers of Vocal works]
J. Lennon, P. McCartney, R. Starkey, G. Harrison, G. Simmons, P. Criss, E. A. Presley, B. Holley, R. Valens, J. P. Richardson Jr. [Rock Stars, duh. ]

Launched November 30, 2009 [IIRC] Portsmouth, NH.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[robkelk]

Hmmm. SS Pinafore... I'd need to dig into my Gilbert and Sullivan notes...

According to the http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/cpogs10.txt]Project Gutenberg copy of the Complete Plays...

GONDOLIERS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
THE DUKE OF PLAZA-TORO (a Grandee of Spain)
LUIZ (his attendant)
DON ALHAMBRA DEL BOLERO (the Grand Inquisitioner)
Venetian Gondoliers
MARCO PALMIERI
GIUSEPPE PALMIERI
ANTONIO
FRANCESCO
GIORGIO
ANNIBALE
THE DUCHESS OF PLAZA-TORO
CASILDA (her Daughter)
Contadine
GIANETTA
TESSA
FIAMETTA
VITTORIA
GIULIA
INEZ (the King's Foster-mother)
Chorus of Gondoliers and Contadine, Men-at-Arms, Heralds and Pages

H.M.S. PINAFORE
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
THE RT.HON SIR JOSEPH PORTER, K.C.B. (First Lord of the Admiralty).
CAPTAIN CORCORAN (Commanding H.M.S. Pinafore).
TOM TUCKER (Midshipmite).
RALPH RAKESTRAW (Able Seaman).
DICK DEADEYE (Able Seaman).
BILL BOBSTAY (Boatswain's Mate).
BOB BECKET (Carpenter's Mate).
JOSEPHINE (the Captain's Daughter).
HEBE (Sir Joseph Porter's First Cousin).
MRS. CRIPPS (LITTLE BUTTERCUP) (A Portsmouth Bumboat Woman).
First Lord's Sisters, his Cousins, his Aunts, Sailors, Marines, etc.

THE MIKADO
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
THE MIKADO OF JAPAN
NANKI-POO (his Son, disguised as a wandering minstrel, and in love with Yum-Yum).
KO-KO (Lord High Executioner of Titipu).
POOH-BAH (Lord High Everything Else).
PISH-TISH (a Noble Lord).
Three Sisters--Wards of Ko-Ko:
YUM-YUM
PITTI-SING
PEEP-BO
KATISHA (an elderly Lady, in love with Nanki-Poo).
Chorus of School-girls, Nobles, Guards, and Coolies.

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
MAJOR-GENERAL STANLEY
THE PIRATE KING
SAMUEL (his Lieutenant)
SERGEANT OF POLICE
MABEL, EDITH, KATE, and ISABEL (General Stanley's Daughters)
RUTH (a Pirate Maid of all Work)
Chorus of Pirates, Police, and General Stanley's Daughters

Should you want any other lists of characters, you now know where to find the file...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

Should anybody be looking for a dedication quote or two, here are a few from my quotation file that seem to fit the spirit of Fenspace...

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
- Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our
inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the
state of facts and evidence.
- John Adams, Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the
Boston Massacre Trials (December 1770)

How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and
concluded, "This is better than we thought! The universe is much bigger
than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be
even greater than we dreamed."
- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision Of The Human Future In
Space

I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to
have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself
in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than
ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before
me.
- Sir Isaac Newton, Memoirs of Newton, v. II, ch. 27

Never give in - never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small,
large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good
sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming
might of the enemy.
- Winston Churchill, in a speech at Harrow, 29 October 1941

Taking anything too seriously is as big a threat as not taking it
seriously enough.
- Berke Breathed, in an interview with Scott Kurtz, 19 February
2001

The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really
a large matter - it's the difference between the lightning bug and the
lightning.
- Mark Twain, letter to George Bainton, 15 October 1888

The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own
good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of
theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.
- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the
Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
- Carl Sagan, Brocas's Brain

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like
administering medicine to the dead.
- Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to
laugh at him.
- Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin, 1973

When I was ten, I read fairytales in secret and would be ashamed if I
had been found doing so - Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When
I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of
childishness and the desire to be very grown-up.
- Clive Staples Lewis, On Stories, from Essays
Presented to Charles Williams, 1947

You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough
- William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Three more I knocked off this afternoon, plus some backstory!

[
The creation of spacecraft dedication plaques is a cottage industry among Trekkies, particularly Martian Trekkies. These plaques are often commissioned by other fen looking for decorations for their spacecraft/station. The plaques pictured above, carved from slabs of Martian garnet, were a gift to the Artemis Foundation from Federation President Trimble presented at the Port Phobos Yuri's Night celebration. As the three spacecraft had no open bulkhead space suitable for the plaques, they remain on public view in the Artemis Foundation office.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

"Yuri's Night"? Dare I ask?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[M Fnord]

http://yurisnight.net/

It's tradition.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

*grin* Is there something similar for Apollo 11? The 40th anniversary is coming up soon RL...
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Black Aeronaut]

Ah, yes. Dedication quote... I already know what Midnight's is going to be...

"Blackbird singin' in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise"

-The Beatles, Blackbird

[ECSNorway]

Hm. And with consecutive lines of the same song for mottoes, we should have Belisarius and Digamma Thunderbolt do some joint excercises. Would Mayonaka-chan
like a crusty old centurion for an uncle?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

Hm. And with consecutive lines of the same song for mottoes, we should have Belisarius and Digamma Thunderbolt do some joint excercises. Would Mayonaka-chan like a crusty old centurion for an uncle?

I suspect she wouldn't mind, but Digamma Thunderbolt is Helen's ship. Helen definitely wouldn't mind.

(I suppose I should come up with a personality for the DT... hmmmmm... She's got a library on board, for the convenience of Helen's tutor; that's one place to start. She shares initials with a famous early Pulp character; that's another.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[ECSNorway]

Ah, right. Helen. My mistake.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.