In fandom, you see dozens of dozens of pictures of fans in various Star Trek uniforms, but when I saw Pam Schweitzer's, it stood out in my memory, because of the very heavy firepower she was packing. When I began this series on the Members of the Month, I had a hunch that her interview would be fun and I was right.

In the real world, Pam is a certified pharmacy technician who has worked for a hospital for many, many years, and also worked for a long term care facility for a number of years as well. “I'm what you call a legal drug dealer,” she told me with a chuckle. She handles keeping an inventory of the narcotics and making sure that supply levels of drugs are keep at the proper level, taking into account time of year and projected usage.

Like many of us, her Trek fandom goes back to watching the original series as a kid and was always fascinated with it. She also is interested in the space program, as she related that she remembers watching a moon landing in school and how neat she thought it was. She also has followed the shuttle program, collecting newspaper and magazine articles about the various flights.

Of all the various series, her favorite is a tie between Star Trek the Next Generation and Enterprise. She really liked the stories in Enterprise. She pointed out to me that the jumpsuits in Enterprise and the actual jumpsuits worn by NASA astronauts are very similar. She also remarked that the characters were not perfect and did make mistakes, but they learned from them and kept pushing on, they always persevered. She is also one of the fans who liked the theme song (many fans did not care for it). She especially loved how the opening showed the various steps in space flight up to Enterprise. She was working a lot of hours while Next Generation was on, so she taped them and watched them when time permitted. When I asked her about her favorite characters, she listed Capt. Archer, Capt. Kirk, and Capt. Picard. Spock and T'Pol ran a close second.

We then shifted from the tv shows to the upcoming movie next year. She plans on seeing it like a lot of us are, but she's not sure what to think about it, taking into account that the parts we've all known for years have been cast with new actors. Like many of us, she's taking a wait and see approach to it.

We finally got around to talking about the impressive item of firepower that she had in her hands in her member of the month picture. It is a replica of a flamethrower from the Enterprise third season episode, “Extinction”. The gun is about two feet long, and according to Pam, “.....and I'm not a very tall person, so that helps it make a big impact.”

Her scifi fandom is not limited to just Star Trek. She has watched both the original and the current versions of Battlestar Galactica. She likes the overall story and the special effects of those shows, but she feels that there are way too many twists and turns in the character threads, which makes the story difficult to follow. That is another reason she like Star Trek better because you don't have so many of those twists.

I really enjoyed interviewing Pam as her viewpoint is refreshing and very outgoing. She well deserved the member of the month award.

THE IRON MAN MOVIE: I've got three words for you about this film: don't miss it. It starts off fast and keeps your attention completely. Also, do not leave when the credits start. Just as they did at the end of Xmen: The Last Stand, they have a major surprise after the credits. Who appears in the clip and who is playing that character is very interesting also. To prevent spoiling it for you, that's all I'll say about it.

AIN'T THAT WEIRD: For those who shook their head at the news that soon there will be Star Trek caskets and urns available sometime this year (the curious may click here for more information), this one is one for the books. Bill Bramanti is the proud owner of a beer can coffin, emblazoned with the logo of his favorite beer. Instead of putting it into cold storage, he recently filled it with ice and his favorite brow for a party for his friends. I don't know if that will replace the traditional keg or not.

Think about it.