Joe Trela
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alert74.bsky.social
Joe Trela
@alert74.bsky.social
430 followers 610 following 3K posts
That guy who was on that show. Learned League trivia ronin sasquatch, amateur numismatist, flagrant vexillologist, occasional blue hair w/pronouns. Sanguis in auribus, stultusque in speculo.
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alert74.bsky.social
Czechs out.
A contemporary illustration of the (third) Defenestration of Prague, where two Catholic lords and their secretary were thrown out a third-story window in 1618 by Protestant officials for having convinced the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II to withdraw some of the privileges granted to them (they survived). This was one of the major events leading to the Thirty Years War.
November 25, 2025 at 7:18 AM
alert74.bsky.social
That's not a massive lift.
A scene from Superman III where a scientist warns Big Blue "That's concentrated beltric acid", which turns incredibly volatile when heated to 180 degrees (not sure if C or F, probably not K). Still less scary than Charged Lemonade.
November 25, 2025 at 5:37 AM
alert74.bsky.social
If you see this, post your getaway vehicle.
A 1960 proposal from Douglas Aircraft to use the one-person Mercury capsule as a space utility vehicle. The seat has been modified so the pilot's head is sticking out and gives him a view of the front, while the parachute at the capsule's nose has been replaced with a large cylindrical module with four spidery robotic arms.
November 25, 2025 at 5:28 AM
alert74.bsky.social
Video game - Klingon Academy, or "Star Trek 25th Anniversary" (yes that was the title).

Tabletop - these two, if only because the "Robin Hood Planet" scenario in Star Trek III includes cardboard chits of Kirk, Spock, etc. with little pointy Robin Hood hats (formally known as bycockets).
The ends of two tabletop Star Trek games - "Star Trek: The Adventure Game" and "Star Trek III". Both were published by West End Games in 1985 and were designed in part by Paranoia creator Greg Costikysn (iykyk). Note: "Star Trek III" had little to do with the movie of the same name. It came with three solitaire games - the aforementioned Robin Hood Planet scenario "The Sherwood Syndrome", a version of the Kobiyashi Maru test, and "Free Enterpri$e", where you have to convince a merchant-dominated species to ally with the Federation instead of the Klingons by making the the biggest profit.
November 24, 2025 at 11:03 PM
alert74.bsky.social
Apparently a post I made several months ago went a little viral, so howdy to any visitors! I've got some board games, and the pizzas should be here soon. I need to run to the storage area to get some more chairs though. Won't be a sec.
A couple of shelves full of tabletop games, most of them classics from the 60s-80s.
November 24, 2025 at 10:15 AM
alert74.bsky.social
S-Video tier post
Two ends of an S-Video ("separate video") cable, used from 1987 on to provide improved standard definition video signals. Each end has a gold metal circle surrounding four metal pins and a black rectangular "key". Unlike coaxial or RCA video cables that carry the whole video signal down one conductor, S-Video splits the signal into "chroma" (color) and "luma" (brightness) values and carries them through two sets of two pins (each signal pin has its own ground pin). The rectangular "key" is only there to make sure the right type of cable is used, as other connector formats like IBM's PS/2 connector have the same form factor). A separate cable would still be needed for audio.
November 24, 2025 at 10:10 AM
alert74.bsky.social
Meanwhile, far away in his arctic stronghold just north of Uppsala, Professor Lingon plots and plots...
A late 19th century B&W drawing showing a man in a long black coat and top hat. He's sitting in a chair, stroking a black cat with one hand and holding a cigarette on the other. He's blowing out smoke while gazing into the distance, no doubt mentally composing his next diabolical scheme.
November 22, 2025 at 8:31 PM
alert74.bsky.social
MAGIK ALFABET
Presumably the artist's signature, which resembles something from one of the various "magical alphabets" floating around in occult circles. Examples include the Enochian alphabet, "Theban", and various demonic sigils found in the Lesser Key of Solomon.
November 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
alert74.bsky.social
Easily done, but my Great Pyr won't come in. He's okay in there, but it's...a bad look. Any suggestions?

(not actually mine)
A big, fluffy Great Pyrenees (not mine) reclining on a snowbank and looking watchful.
November 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
alert74.bsky.social
I'm sorry, I'm not really up for Cards Against Humanity right now...can we play something else? Your pick.
Two shelves full of a variety of games - Trivial Pursuit, Terraforming Mars, some Avalon Hill and 3M bookcase wargames, even an Art Fleming era Jeopardy board game from the 60s. There's also a tabletop catapult kit there for some reason. I would personally recommend Star Trek: The Adventure Game or Star Trek III, both from West End Games. Released in the mid-1980s just before the breakout of computer games to the mass market, they can both be played solo and are quite engaging.
November 22, 2025 at 5:22 AM
alert74.bsky.social
"Your two nickels, ma'am."
Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb, source of the meme that is reshaping the meaning of "If I had two nickels..." in front of our eyes.
November 18, 2025 at 3:15 PM
alert74.bsky.social
(reluctantly nods, then hurriedly changes the subject to Kessler syndrome or something)
A map from Wikipedia showing most of the large pieces of space debris surrounding the Earth. Although there's a scattering of dots in all directions, the highest concentrations are a ring at the level of geosynchronous orbit (about 22,300 miles/35800 km), and a thick layer surrounding the Earth in low orbit (under 1200 miles/2000 km). Kessler syndrome (aka collisional cascade) is a catastrophic scenario proposed by NASA scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais in 1978 where the density of uncontrolled or derelict objects becomes high enough to cause a chain reaction (much like those found in nuclear physics) that renders the near-Earth environment unusable for long (decades or even centuries) periods of time.
November 16, 2025 at 11:39 PM
alert74.bsky.social
OMW to a showing of one of the classic Star Trek movies with William Shatner as a guest. Can you guess which one?
A rather plump torso with a T-shirt showing the navigation reference armillary for a Constitution-class starship that uses that classic Tektronix font. NAV 247 TAC 285 COM 260
November 16, 2025 at 3:02 AM
alert74.bsky.social
"Mister President, we MUST not aLLLLLLLOW...a Darien Gap!"
George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove, making some sort of point, or perhaps in the throes of Bell's palsy.
November 14, 2025 at 3:51 AM
alert74.bsky.social
Let's split the difference.
A macuahuitl, a Mesoamerican weapon made of solid wood with multiple prismatic shards of obsidian attached to the sides (usually by bitumen). Although the blades did not last long, they could be honed sharper than steel (one record from the Spanish conquest reports one warrior actually decapitated a conquistador's horse)
November 14, 2025 at 12:03 AM
alert74.bsky.social
Not to mention the first images of the Galilean moons as something other than dots.
A 4x4 array of images of the Galilean moons - Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto - taken by Pioneer 10. At the bottom are illustrations showing the solar illumination of each moon when it was imaged. The images are much lower resolution than the ones produced by later spacecraft, but some large features (such as the dark region on Ganymede later known as Galileo Regio) are visible, hinting at later discoveries.
November 13, 2025 at 8:06 AM
alert74.bsky.social
No wonder I'm feeling so arch at nights.
Two afternoon med sets I forgot to take.
November 12, 2025 at 4:36 PM
alert74.bsky.social
Can confirm - back in the day I asked Dr. Science* from Duck's Breath Mystery Theater on a radio call-in show what the grey stuff you see inside a cartoon character when they're cut in half was. Turns out it's their life force.

* Motto: "He knows more than you do!"
A smiling cartoon man who's been cut in half at the waist. Instead of bones, organs, etc. his insides are a nondescript, featureless gray...something. Probably best not to think about it.
November 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
alert74.bsky.social
They don't want to get sued by the Dutch.
The official flag of the city of Amsterdam - a red-black-red horizontal tricolor, with three thick white Xs across the middle black bar.
November 9, 2025 at 2:07 AM
alert74.bsky.social
It's actually a Yugo with the spare tire missing.
The interior of a vintage 1980s Yugo compact car's engine bay. A spare tire is jammed inside next to the battery. According to the car's designer this was a deliberate choice in order to provide extra protection to the driver.
November 8, 2025 at 1:49 AM
alert74.bsky.social
To be good at posting you really need to be a stick in the mud.
A fence post.
November 7, 2025 at 4:17 PM
alert74.bsky.social
If he was truly interested in defending them he would have shut up and invested in one of these babies.
A miniature catapult, suitable for deployment upon one's desk.
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
alert74.bsky.social
🎶You wish you were nice and...SHIIIINY🎵
The climax of "Shiny" in Moana where Tamatoa the giant hermit crab is about to chomp down on Maui (spoiler: he doesn't).
November 5, 2025 at 10:04 PM
alert74.bsky.social
(pours out some tej for the aunties)
Two flasks of tej - golden-colored Ethiopian honey wine. They are, in fact, the bomb.
November 5, 2025 at 7:36 PM
alert74.bsky.social
Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders has just endorsed Andrew Cuomo
Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders and chief deity of the drow elf pantheon (aka the Dark Seldarine). From the waist up she appears as a lavender-skinned drow with multiple arms; from below she's a gigantic spider that would make Shelob look like a little jumping spood.
November 4, 2025 at 4:13 AM