The Flight Deck for June 2003, Issue 121
From the Bridge:
Despite the rumors, I would like to state that your Captain has *not* fallen off of the face of the earth. At least not yet. It's kinda been one of those months, and I apologize for running behind.
From what I hear, the plane wash went well, and I want to thank everyone who turned out. I was flat out too wiped to make the trip, but I fall down and kiss the feet of everyone who did go.
As previously announced, the July meeting has been shifted to the Milhous property. The date and time remain the same, however.
But first up, we've got the trip up to Chicago on June 14th to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. This is one of the museum's listed "free admission days," so we lucked out. I don't know what the Omnimax movie costs on its own, but I'm guesstimaing it'll run about 8-9 bucks per adult. Parking is 8 bucks a car, so I propose we car pool. The Sundstroms have offered their place as the rendevous point, so that is the plan--unless someone closer to the North Side volunteers.
Now for the timing. It is about a five hour drive, and I've been told that the 14th is a Pride Day in Chicago (complete with parade) so it is in our best intrests to get there early. I propose (unless someone has a better idea, in which case, SPEAK UP!!) that we be on the road no later than 8-8:30am. With any luck, we should arrive in Chicago between 12-1:30pm. That means a rendevous around 7:30am. Yep, it's early.
We won't have a raffle, but we will have a short meeting and probably plan a movie away mission to see the "Hulk" the following weekend.
Hope to see everyone there!
FCAPT Cathy Dailey
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Upcoming Events:
June 14th--Away Mission to Chicago, Museum of Science of Science and Industry
July 4th-6th--Inconjunction & SFC Midyear Meeting, Indianapolis
July 12th--Annual Fireworks Bash at the Milhous Abode, 6pm
August 16th--Halsey Pool Party, 1pm
September--Grissom Plane Wash Part II, TBA
October 18th--Bonfire & Weenie Roast, 5pm
November 15th--November meeting
December 13th--X-Mas Party & Gift Exchange
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Beamdown Coordinates (in case anyone wants to try it alone...):
Museum of Science and Industry
57th Street and Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60637-2093
1. Get on I-65 North.
2. Drive forever and a day.
3. Merge onto I-90 W via exit number 262 toward Chicago.
(there are toll stops along the way)
4. Exit onto S Stony Island Ave toward Lake Shore Dr.
5. Turn right onto E Marquette Dr.
6. Turn slight left onto S Richards Dr.
7. S Richards Dr. becomes Hayes Dr.
8. Turn slight left onto S Lake Shore Dr. Museum on left.
9. There's supposedly a large parking garage on northwest
corner of museum.
Hope to see everyone there!
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
June 1st--Honorary CAPT Rene Auberjonois June 2nd--Honorary CAPT Anthony Montgomery June 25th--CMDR Mark Milhous
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From the "Coming Soon" Desk:
The Hulk (2003)
Action/Adventure, Drama and Science Fiction/Fantasy In this adaptation of the long-running Marvel comic "The Incredible Hulk," research scientist Dr. Bruce Banner's (Eric Bana) failed experiments cause him to mutate into a monstrously powerful and savage green-skinned behemoth whenever he loses control of his emotions. Jennifer Connelly plays his love interest Betty Ross, Nick Nolte plays Bruce's dangerous father, and Sam Elliott plays Betty's father, the tough-as-nails General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, some disturbing images and brief partial nudity.
Release Date: June 20, 2003 Nationwide.
Starring: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas
**
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Animation and Romance This movie follows one of the many adventures of the famous Arabian sailor, Sinbad (Pitt) (which isn't one of the seven great voyages documented elsewhere). The adventure starts when Eris (Pfeiffer), the goddess of Chaos, steals the "Book of Peace", and frames Sinbad for the crime. Setting out to prove his innocence (and save the life of his best friend, Proteus the Shapeshifter, voiced by Fiennes), Sinbad travels to the realm that Eris resides in, where he is challenged by terrifying monsters which include a giant scorpion, a giant serpent and the Roc, a 40-foot-tall bird made of ice and snow. Even if Sinbad can defeat all of these monsters, he also has to deal with the effects of Eris' golden "Apple of Discord", which has the ability to turn friends into enemies when thrown in their midst. Zeta-Jones plays Marina, Proteus' girlfriend, who stows away on Sinbad's ship to make sure that he fulfills his mission.
MPAA Rating: PG for adventure action, some mild sensuality and brief language.
Release Date: July 2nd, 2003.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Christine Baranski, Joseph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer
Directed by: Tim Johnson, Patrick Gilmore
**
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Arnold Schwarzenegger returns in this third installment of the popular sci-fi action saga as a cyborg from the future once again becoming involved in the affairs of twentysomething John Connor and his first battles with the SkyNet machine network.
MPAA Rating: R for strong sci-fi violence and action, and for language and brief nudity.
Release Date: July 2, 2003.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken, Claire Danes
Directed by: Jonathan Mostow
**
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Action/Adventure and Science Fiction/Fantasy Based very loosely on the Alan Moore graphic novel epic of the same name, this is the story of a group of characters drawn from famous works of literature, including Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, The Invisible Man, Mina Murray and Dr. Jekyll, banding together to combat criminal undertakings of the highest order near the turn of the 19th century. Rather than remain true to the comic roots, the film also incorporates Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray, in an apparent effort to keep the cast from being entirely without Americans, and it is set in New York.
MPAA Rating: Not Rated.
Release Date: July 11th, 2003 (wide).
Starring: Sean Connery, Peta Wilson, Stuart Townsend, Tony Curran, Jason Flemyng
Directed by: Stephen Norrington
**
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Crime/Gangster, Kids/Family and Action/Adventure Set in the Caribbean Sea in the 17th century, this is the story of a gentleman rogue of a pirate, Jack Sparrow (Depp), who teams up with the daughter (Knightley) of a governor (Pryce) to stop the evil plan of a ship of dangerous pirates (led by Rush) who are trying to reverse an ancient curse that leaves them stuck between life and death, with the light of the moon revealing their skeletons, like some kind of undead monsters.
Release Date: July 9th, 2003 (wide).
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
**
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
This time around, archaeologist and explorer extraordinaire Lara Croft journeys to a temple, sunken underwater, that leads to a sphere that contains the mythical Pandora's Box, only to have it stolen from her by Chen Lo, the leader of a Chinese crime syndicate, who's in league with a bad guy named Reiss who wants to use the Box as a doomsday weapon.
Release Date: July 25th, 2003 (wide).
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Chris Barrie, Djimon Hounsou, Ciaran Hinds
Directed by: Jan De Bont
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From the "Wow, She's Sure Aging Well" Desk:
Researchers Change Opinion on Earth's Age Thu Jun 5--Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Earth became a major planetary body much earlier than previously believed, just 10 million years after the birth of the sun, researchers say.
Experts now believe that the inner solar system planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — actually began forming within 10,000 years after the nuclear fires of the sun were ignited about 4.5 billion years ago, says Stein B. Jacobsen, author of an analysis appearing Friday in the journal Science.
Early in its life, the sun was surrounded by clouds of dust and gas. This material slowly clumped together into larger and larger pieces. Eventually, enough was concentrated in four bodies to form the inner solar system planets.
Within 10 million years, the Earth had reached about 64 percent of its present size and was the dominant planetary body within 93 million miles of the sun. Mercury and Venus orbit closer to the sun and Mars is farther out.
The final major event in the formation of the Earth, says Jacobsen, was probably the collision with a Mars-sized planetary body. This huge smashup added many millions of tons of material to the Earth. Some material also went into orbit of the Earth and evolved into the moon.
This massive collision, the final major event in the Earth's formation, is thought to have happened about 30 million years after the sun was born.
An earlier analysis of some chemical isotopes in the Earth's crust had concluded that the planet formed about 50 million years after the sun. But Jacobsen said a reinterpretation of the data, along with new measurements of chemicals in some types of meteorites, supports the conclusion that Earth's basic formation came much earlier.
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From the "Politically Correct Statement Generator" Desk:
Your bedroom isn't cluttered, it's just "passage restrictive."
Kids don't get grounded anymore. They merely hit "social speed bumps."
You're not late, you just have a "rescheduled arrival time."
You're not having a bad hair day, you're suffering from "rebellious follicle syndrome."
No one's tall anymore. You're "vertically enhanced."
You're not shy. You're "conversationally selective."
You don't talk a lot. You're just "abundantly verbal."
It's not called gossip anymore. It's "the speedy transmission of near-factual information."
The food at the school cafeteria isn't awful. It's "digestively challenged."
No one fails a class anymore, he's merely "passing impaired."
You don't have detention, you're just one of the "exit delayed."
These days, a student isn't lazy. He's "energetically declined."
Your locker isn't overflowing with junk, it's just "closure prohibitive."
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end transmission
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