kaylaiacovino^1.0

This past weekend, Andy and I decided to take a trip up to the old salt mine in Camp Verde, AZ. We had heard that there were some interesting evaporite minerals such as halite (NaCl) and sulfides. We found a lot of really cool stuff, primarily Glauberite after gypsum. The glauberite crystals have taken on the gypsum rose form of a bladed crystal habit, which is really pretty. Here's a map showing how to get there:

Here are some pictures we took of the area showing the piles of salt left from the mining operation as well as the evaporite deposits on the slopes nearby and the crystals we collected:

Hello! Welcome back to The Utensils! Sorry for that outage that we've been having for the past couple of weeks. Technical difficulties. Luckily, that is all straightened out now. All the name servers are pointed at the right places, and we are back in business good to go! I have had plenty to blog about, so get ready to get back into gear in the upcoming weeks with many new and exciting posts!

For a long time now, I have been interested in Star Trek props. My first love was TNG props. Currently in my collection is a Phaser universal remote, two tricorders (one science and one medical), a rather nice metal etched PADD, along with some others. But, it is really much more fun when the things light up and makes sounds, and even MORE fun when they are useful! That's why I have decided to construct a real working TOS era communicator! I bought a pair of small walkie talkies for $20 at Radio Shack, and I ordered a TOS communicator from ThinkGeek.com for $29.99.

I think I can successfully transplant the circuitry from the walkies into the communicator housing. There is one thing I will have to alter, though. The "talk" button on the walkie is on the side of the case (a convenient place to put it for practical reasons), and it is soldered onto the circuit board. This means that I will have to cut out a correctly sized hole on the communicator housing to fit the "talk" button. This shouldn't be too hard. I just have to be careful not to crack the plastic in the process. I plan on using these things at the ST convention in Las Vegas this August. It's the official Star Trek convention put on by Creation Entertainment which I highly recommend. This will be a really fun way to keep in touch with the rest of the group while perusing the merch tables, or partying down in Quark's bar. According to DHL, the communicator should arrive at my apartment tomorrow, and here the fun begins! I will fill you in as things develop.

I have to apologize for the lack of activity on this site lately. With my new Science Friday project over at TrekMovie.com, my research project in the Depths of the Earth lab at ASU, my excess of schoolwork this semester, and just life in general, I must admit that TheUtensils has unfortunately taken a back seat. But, things are still in the works. MANY things! The lists idea will be pushed until the new design of the site can be finished. I have officially switched hosts to HostGator, and soon the site will likely be a product of WordPress, as all of the plug-ins really serve to make life a lot less hasslesome. Be patient, my good friends. As the title of this article suggests, a beta is on the horizon! And get ready for live comment post-ability! Kayla out!

Variety is reporting that Paramount has pushed the release of the new Star Trek movie from Christmas 2008 to May 8, 2009. Apparently the reason is to go for bigger box office during the summer season. Variety quotes a studio insider saying “Star Trek has the potential to gross more in May than in December.”

Summer a better move?
Although winter release films can make a lot of money (like the recent Lord of the Rings films and last years Bond film), the biggest film’s tend to come out in the Summer. Due to the writer’s strike, the summer of 2009 will be a bit lighter than 2007 and 2008. Right now there are no movies slated for the 8th of May 2009, although the week before is X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the week after is Angels and Demons (ironically this sequel to The Da Vinci Code was originally slated to come out the weekend before Star Trek in December 2008). Of course, there is no guarantee those films will stay in those slots. As for Christmas this year, Star Trek was one of three films being released that day (although the other two were likely more aimed at different markets).

The move could be to help fill Paramount Dreamworks 2009 line-up after 2008 which already has a number of strong entries (Spiderwick, Iron Man, Indy 4, Madagascar 2, The Love Guru, Benjamin Button, etc.). The only other big films currently slated for Summer 2009 are Transformers 2 on June 29th and G.I. Joe in August.

As details emerge, check TrekMovie.com for updates.