Issue #51 September 2014

Well once again the Anniversary has come and gone and things are getting back to normal. I am here to tell you though, we should keep the spirit of the Anniversary all year long. Look at what happens during our Annual Celebration... Lots of people come around, have a ton of fun at the events, and just have a great time. Exactly what should be happening about the Outpost everyday. Keep that in mind when you come in. Make sure those newbies feel welcome. Make sure to find a place to plug in and make the community better.

Ok in this month's issue we'll recap the awards and promotions given out during the anniversary, Rob Atkins shares another Taste of the Outpost, we'll get lost in the world of the USS T'Kumbra thanks to T'Pel, and Paulie recaps the Blue Report on Facebook Articles.

Thanks for reading this month's Blue Report. I'll see you all in Chat. Smith out.

Congratulations to the following people who were promoted for the month of August.

To CL8

• XgermZ

To CL7

• Mr Numbahs

To CL5

• cliftonian
• Paulie
• T'Pel Kestra

To CL4

• Peg

Bronze

Bronze Select Medals are awarded to members who have either attended regularly over the year, or have been working well in our departments, or both.

• Dmitri (CL9)
• Demon Slayer (CL7)
• Dommy (CL7)
• Michiel (CL7)
• Osiris (CL7)
• Tycho (CL7)
• Ayanna (CL6)
• JD (CL6)
• Krillen (CL6)
• Lzrman (CL6)
• RPMObsession (CL6)
• Blink (CL5)
• Char (CL5)
• Darth Sidious (CL5)
• Fail (CL5)
• Jarek (CL5)
• Keith is brilliant (CL5)
• Kuchen (CL5)
• MafiaGeek (CL5)
• Paige Eris Soul (CL5)
• Party Watson (CL5)
• PR Moore (CL5)
• Sarek (CL5)
• Shannon (CL5)
• Sloppy (CL5)
• Soran!! (CL5)
• StarFinder Warp (CL5)
• SyNii (CL5)
• Admiral kast (CL4)
• baltazar (CL4)
• Darth_Dad (CL4)
• Ensign cantwell (CL4)
• Hampus (CL4)
• Han Shot First (CL4)
• Jayde*+* (CL4)
• Lt Comm Rook (CL4)
• Mackenzie Soul (CL4)
• Mitsky (pronounced Mits-key) (CL4)
• OceansandStreams (CL4)
• PennyLane (CL4)
• princess_of_hoth (CL4)
• Savrek (CL4)
• Ser Hunter (CL4)
• Sezrin (CL4)
• smkenobi (CL4)
• thereR4lights (CL4)
• Thrawny (CL4)
• Trekkey (CL4)
• zenastynn (CL4)

Silver

Silver Select Medals are awarded to regular members who have been contributing great work within our departments.

• Majin Kaze (CL8)
• Soka (CL7)
• Hydra (CL6)
• Kaela L. Donos (CL6)
• Phill (CL6)
• Trinity (CL6)
• cliftonian (CL5)
• Deus (CL5)
• Katrina (CL5)
• Kikopolis (CL5)
• Mela (CL5)
• Paulie (CL5)
• Robert Atkins (CL5)
• T'Pel Kestra (CL5)
• S (CL4)
• Shell (CL4)

Gold

Gold Select Medals are awarded for outstanding participant and success within our departments over the course of the whole year.

• ohm (CL9): Our final gold select medal for the Anniversary 2014 goes to Ohm, in absentia! Despite a very hectic real life, Ohm has been working away behind the scenes in InDev. In particular, he has been mentoring one of our other gold member recipients, XZ, in the works to improve our core systems. It is my pleasure to present Ohm with a Gold Select Medal for the Anniversary 2014!
• XgermZ (CL8): Next up, not logged in here right now, but it is my pleasure to announce a Gold Select Medal for XZ! His contributions in the past few months to InDev have been outstanding. He has some big behind-the-scenes changes in progress. Although this was only the past few months (as opposed to the entire year as customary), we felt that a Gold was the appropriate way to recognise XZ's outstanding contributions. Congratulations XZ!
• Mr Numbahs (CL7): Not content with merely making that highly-shot Rob74656 fellow a Commander Captain, we would like to present him with a Gold Select Award for the Anniversary 2014. Robert, your contributions across the board in all of your departments have been outstanding, and this was a no-brainer. You were also highly recommended by your Senior Manager, with just reason. In Communications, as AM, in Unions, in the Blue Report, your contributions have made the Outpost a better place. It is my pleasure to present you with a Gold Select Medal!
• Cameron (CL5): It is my pleasure to present you Cameron with the gold select medal, for your enthusiastic and outstanding contributions to Trivia over the course of the whole year. Not least of which is arranging the trivia event immediately following this ceremony - and, of course, yesterday's event too. Congratulations Cameron!

Platinum

Platinum Select Medals are the highest accolade of the select medals, and are awarded to OTF members who have had a tremendous positive impact across the whole OTF community, with truly outstanding departmental contributions.

• Athos Dodonna (CL8): It is my pleasure to present you, Al, with the Platinum Select Medal for your outstanding contributions to improving OTF's core systems over the past year. The biggest highlights for me, in particular, from your outstanding contributions across the year in InDev are: the Avatar Selector, the fixing of the Double Post issue, and the fixing of the Error Message display. And now on the cards is an improvement to the buffering of the chat posts too! Your work is largely behind the scenes, but benefits all of us. Congratulations, Al, our first Platinum Select Medal award recipient for the Anniversary 2014!
• Richard Smith (CL8): Richard, your work as Communications Senior Manager over the past year has been absolutely outstanding. Across all of Comms, from the Blue Report to Unions, your efforts are reflected in the tremendous output of the department. You have a great team of people, and much to be proud of achieving. You are truly a deserving recipient of the Platinum Select Medal, and it is my pleasure to present this to you!
• Zildjian (CL8): Zildjian has taken over (again!) as our ISA Director, and has been performing the role with distinction (again!). Chris, I really appreciate all of your work behind the scenes in the ISA. It is not an easy job, and often thankless, but you have been making the place run so smoothly that it looks effortless. That is the mark of a great job. Congratulations, Zild, Chris, Number One, our final recipient of the Platinum Select Medal for the Anniversary 2014!

Congratulations to all medal recipients!

There were just a few things on the Blue Report Facebook page this month. But sometimes it's quality over quantity.

First off was the notice of the passing of Arlene Martel, the woman who portrayed T'Pring, the woman Spock was betrothed to in "Amok Time".

Next was an article from The Mary Sue about a Doctor Who-themed restaurant called The Pandorica, located in New York. The next item of news was a preview of Peter Capaldi's portrayal of England's favorite Time Lord, The Doctor. IGN wrote an article on the new ABC comedy "Selfie", starring John Cho and Karen Gillan.

What followed that was a piece on a new fan-made and funded Star Trek movie, fleshing out the stories of (Captain) Garth Of Izar and the Battle Of Axanar. And finally, two articles about Star Wars 7. First was a tease about who "the big bad" might be, followed by a notice that they've resumed production of the film, following Harrison Ford's recovery from injury.

Want to read more? Then check out the Blue Report on Facebook!

Directions:

Heat Milk and butter until just melted (but not melted completely) combine the yeast, and brown sugar and then remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, pour the milk mixture , stir in salt, 2 Cups of flour and mix for about 1½ to 2 ½ minutes. Gradually, add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft and smooth dough ball. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on toughness of the dough. Place in a greased bowl, greased side up and let rise for 1 hour or until roughly double in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Prepare boiling solution, then punch down dough and split into two equal halves. Form each piece into a tight, round, and smooth ball. Drop into boiling solution for about 3 minutes, and then turn over and boil for another minute. Remove and place on a greased baking sheet.

Prepare egg wash, and brush dough with the wash. Cut some lines in the top but not too deep. Bake at 375 for about 12 to 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 10 minutes or until browned evenly. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

So this is one part of a two part recipe for the end of summer/beginning of fall. Sometimes you just have a craving for something different and pretzel buns and a pulled pork sound like the perfect fall dish. As an added bonus, these two recipes freeze fairly well so all you have to do is prepare them ahead of time and then freeze them for whenever you will need them. I found this and as always made them a few times and have had to “perfect” the recipe. I have also made particularly good garlic bread for pasta dishes with this. To do this, after baking and cooling slice long ways, then brush with olive oil and grated garlic.

Another great thing to make ahead of time if you know you are going to need them you can always make smaller buns by dividing the doughballs in half again for a total of four (4) medium buns.

This is a little labor intensive on the front end, but the results are great. You can also substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose with the same results.