Murky Ramblings - Murky.org

#0030

Murk — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

A borg is on the bridge

Riker felt ill-at-ease with Captain Picard’s Foreign Exchange Student

#0029

Murk — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Getting the song wrong

Panel 1: Sweet Child of Mine…..
Panel 2: Whoa…..
Panel 3: Good Times Never Seem so Good!

#0028

Murk — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

The Wey is a river in Southen England. This was for Christmas 2023.

Happy April

How parochial. Santa Claus on the Wey

#0027

Murk — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Leslie Phillips and the Carol of the Bells, preparing for Christmas 2023

Leslie Phillips likes a Ding Dong

#0026

Murk — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

The Enterprise:
Wesley: “Well, I liked ‘The Orville’”
Picard: Shut up, Wes

Season 4 is written… please film it!

#0025

Murk — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

The Shouty Sock puppets get meta again.

Panel 1: For no apparent reason….
Panel 2: It hurts when I turn my head…
Panel 3: …. like -OW!

Apparently it is a delayed reaction.

#0024

Murk — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Matt Hancock was given a job, and then fired. Nothing dates like a topical joke.

Panel 1: I am in charge of the U.N. African Covid Response
Panel 2: …..
Panel 3: I have been fired.

#0023

Murk — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

This was done in October 2021. The annual stories about “you can’t even say Merry Christmas” were beginning to circulate, dog whistling to idiots who didn’t remember the previous time Christmas was under threat and somehow survived.

Happy April.

Panel 1: I shall save Christmas?
Panel 2: Again?
Panel 3: …. Shh

#0022

Murk — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

If I recall, due to covid and various lockdowns, we were having supply chain issues. However, despite shortages, we were being told there were no shortages.

On the NCC1701D:
Picard: If we have no dilithium supply issues, why is the starbase closed?

#0021

Murk — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Because the imperial units are so damned sensible…..

Panel 1: Kilograms?
Panel 2: Let’s go back to slugs!
Panel 3: If F is in lbs, acceleration in ft/s², then mass is in slugs. I shit you not.

Happy First Contact Day

Murk — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:00:00 +0000

🖖🏼 Today is ‘First Contact Day’, an informal commemorative day for all things Star Trek. It is to celebrate the fictional day of First Contact between Humans and Vulcans, from ‘First Contact’, that was/will be in 2063.

Long live Lower Decks!

#0020

Murk — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

I had seen A Clockwork Orange in the cinema.

Panel 1: I saw an old film…
Panel 2: …. I did not like it…
Panel 3: …. But the hat was cool.

#0019

Murk — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

I realised my shouty sock puppets reminded me of someone…..

Panel 1: Y’know….
Panel 2: … I used to be….
Panel 3: …. A star!

Paint the whole world with a rainbow.

This reference will be lost on non British and anyone not familiar with 1970s-80s Children’s TV.

#0018

Murk — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Spiderman!

The shouty sock puppets are back

Panel 1: I have a secret
Panel 2: «ducks out of frame»
Panel 3: «reappears in costume» I’m bloody spiderman!

#0017

Murk — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Riker is asked to walk away from the trombone

On the bridge of NCC1701D.

Riker: Okay Jean-Luc, I’ll leave the trombone if you quit that bloody recorder.

Artemis II

Murk — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 19:00:00 +0000

NASA is planning a return to the moon with the Artemis II launch. Artemis I was a unmanned test flight, whereas Artemis II plans to be a manned expedition looping around the moon (falling short of landing). It is to the planned landing as Apollo 10 was to Apollo 11.

During this mission, humans will be further from the Earth than they have ever been (it will go further beyond the moon than the Apollo missions), and will also have non-US for the first time in a lunar mission.

The astronauts are Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist), Victor Glover (Pilot), Christina Koch (Mission Specialist) and Reid Wiseman (Commander). Jeremy Hansen is Canadian. The journey will take 10 days and will have 24/7 coverage via the internet.

The Artemis II crew, the photo was from 20th Sept 2023, when they were on a ground test at Launchpad 39B.
From Left: Jeremy Hanson, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman

The foolish might say this is the first trip to the moon, after all. if we did it in 1969-72, why are we only returning now? This is straightforward. In 1969-72 it took a huge fraction of GDP to maintain, the whole point was as a display of prestige between the USA and USSR as a proxy for actual conflict. The USA ‘won’, and then with that done - both countries stopped, retreating to low earth orbit. Since then technology has improved, and now it is becoming viable at a more reasonable cost.

That said, the SLS (space launch system) is still expensive, primarily because it is not a reusable system. Each launch requires a brand new rocket.

It is also a political endeavour, parts of it are made in every state (by design) and its a political endeavour. To truly bring the cost down, we need to have re-usable vehicles (hence the interest in SpaceX and ‘Starship’). That still won’t make space travel ‘everyday’.

I am writing this about a week in advance, so the launch window might already be pushed back!

#0013-0016

Murk — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

My shouty sock puppet characters begin to get meta.

Talking about the artist (that’s me!)
Panel 1: He has doodled my kind for years. I can look right….
Panel 2: ….And I can look left….
Panel 3: … But I cannot see where I’m going

Panel 1: Y’know,…
Panel 2: …. My species is not virable
Panel 3: My skull keeps changing size. Draw Better.

Referring to the artist (that’s me again)
Panel 1: I’ll bet he’s not thought us out…
Panel 2: Oi, Dave. Stand back a bit!
Panel 3: < Dave has moved back, he has no legs> Oh Bugger,

A shouty sock puppet rebels against the artist

Panel 1: He thinks he can control me
Panel 2: «leaving frame, and walking into panel 3»
Panel 3: «Left frame» Fuck that.

#0012

Murk — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

This was done after I saw someone commenting in an entitled way that the thing they were reading was not suitably funny. They were interloping on an online conversation between other people, and on being told that the conversation was just that, not a performance, they doubled down.

If I recall, they got thrown out of the forum.

An entitled alien stares out of the screen
Panel 1: Your Interaction does not provide me with enough vicarious amusement
Panel 2: Object: The intent is not to amuse non-participant
Panel 3: Increase interaction amusement value

#0011

Murk — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

These are characters I drew in the 1990s. I didn’t have a name for them. This was their first revival in about 20 years.

Two shouty sock puppets are singing along, Lah la lah.’ The third exhorts them to learn the words.

#0010

Murk — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Commander Worf has only one thing on his mind.

On the bridge of NCC1710D

Worf: I recommend photon torpedoes
Picard: No Shit, Worf