The Flight Deck for November 2002, Issue 114
From the Bridge:
Welcome to November, and now that Halloween is out of
the way, the Christmas marketing is going into full swing.
The holiday season is barreling down on us, and the
Halsey is going to be a bunch of busy beavers.
First off, the October meeting went wonderfully. I won the
costume contest by default, bad weiner jokes abounded,
and one of the fireworks forgot to take off before going boom,
but a great time was had by all. Many thanks to CMDR Mark
Milhous and his wife Gloria for hosting us again.
Many announcements were made, including the selecting
of a family we're adopting for the holiday season. Information
on the family (sizes, wants, etc.) will be available at the
November meeting. Also, there are several events occurring
around the release of "Nemesis" in December, and I hope to
have more info regarding these events at the meeting.
The November meeting will be taking place at the home of FADM Paul
& ADM Sandy Sundstrom on November 16th. The meeting will begin
at 6 pm, with food and raffle to follow (see announcement below).
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" will be released on Friday,
November 15th, and I would like to arrange an away mission to see the
flick. We usually schedule these on Sundays, but due to other events
occurring on that Sunday, the only other available time would be
Saturday before the meeting. How does this work for everyone? If it
doesn't, then we'll just do the "catch as catch can" thing.
And before I forget (like I did last month and at the October meeting), I
am pleased to announce that the USS Halsey is welcoming aboard the
first honorary member from "Enterprise," Anthony Montgomery (ENS
Travis Mayweather). An Indianapolis native, he was recruited by FADM
Sundstrom at the Kidney Foundation fundraiser in late September.
Whew, I think that does it for now. See everyone on the 16th!
FCAPT Cathy Dailey
********************
Upcoming Events:
November 16th--Harry Potter movie away mission at 1pm, Showplace 16
(stay tuned for possible changes)
Halsey November meeting, 6pm, at Sundstrom's Abode
November 27th--Adopt-A-Family Turkey Run (details to come)
December 1st--Starfleet Command General
Meeting at Slanted Fedora Indycon
December 13th--"Star Trek: Nemesis" release
December 18th--"The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers" release
*********************
Beamdown Coordinates:
FADM Paul & ADM Sandy Sundstrom
237 N. 18th Ave, Beech Grove
Directions:
1. Take I-65 to Keystone Ave Exit (#107).
2. Turn right if coming from the south--left if coming from the north
3. Turn right at light onto Troy Ave.
4. Turn left in between Walgreens' and Chinese takeout place.
5. Continue straight through stop sign (stop first!)
6. 237 on right side of street.
Hope to see you there!
********************
MEETING ANNOUCEMENT!
From our generous hosts:
I am planning on making Chili for the Nov. 16. meeting.
I would appreciate if people would bring stuff to go with the chili. Such as
cheese, sour cream, crackers--whatever you want on the top of your chili.
We will eat after the meeting, that way everything
can cook & be good & hot when we get done.
I will provide the chili & bowls it's up to
you what else is to be brought to with it.
Also bring some drinks with you.
See you on the 16th of November @ 6.
Sandy & Paul
********************
Birthdays & Anniversaries
November 2nd--CMDR Dave Carrier
November 28th--RADM Mary Bischoff
********************
On a sad note, I'm sorry to announce the passing of Jonathan
Harris, "Lost in Space"'s Dr. Smith, at the age of 87.
********************
From the "Yup, Those Are Rings, Alright" Desk:
Mission zooms in on Saturn
to see the pictures referred to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2396533.stm
The Cassini spacecraft has taken its first image of Saturn, even
though it is still 20 months away from arriving at the ringed planet.
The colour composite image was taken from a distance
of 285 million kilometres (177 million miles), nearly
twice the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
The image shows the shadow of the planet falling across
its famous rings and includes Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
"Cassini has sighted the ringed planet looking distant,
mysterious and serene," said Dr Carolyn Porco, the
leader of the science team using the Cassini camera.
"Our anticipation has been building for years,
so it's good to know our destination is in view."
Summer in south
The mission to the sixth planet is a joint venture
between the US, European and Italian space agencies.
Cassini will go into orbit around Saturn on 1 July, 2004,
and will release a piggybacked probe, Huygens, to descend
through the thick atmosphere of Titan on 14 January, 2005.
Cassini has already sent back impressive images of
Jupiter en route to Saturn, but scientists and engineers
are clearly excited to have their main goal now in view.
"This is an emotional event for the mission," said Cassini project
scientist Dr Dennis Matson. "We now have Saturn in our sights."
In the new image of Saturn, the planet's southern
hemisphere is experiencing its summer.
Early Earth
The Sun is 27 degrees below the equator and casts
a semi-circular shadow of the planet on the rings.
The last Saturn-bound spacecraft, Voyager 2, arrived in early
northern spring. Many features seen in Voyager images - spoke
-like markings on the rings, clouds and eddies in the hazy
atmosphere, ring-shepherding moons - are not yet visible to Cassini.
The planet's major moon, Titan,
appears in the upper left of the picture.
The satellite is a major attraction for scientists on the mission.
When they get close enough, the researchers will study
the moon's haze-enshrouded atmosphere and peer down,
with special instrumentation, to its surface to look for evidence
of organic processes similar to those that might have
occurred on the early Earth, prior to the emergence of life.
********************
From the "Please Hold" Desk:
Hello, and thanks for calling. Your call is very
important to us and, we're sure, to all of humankind.
If you would like to challenge my sincerity, press 1.
We are currently experiencing a high volume of calls and frankly,
you are not helping the situation. All of our assistant associate
representatives are presently *assisting* themselves to a *cigarette*
and associating with a jelly doughnut, so for more efficient
routing of your call, please select from the following menu:
For a list of our hours, press 2. For a list of our morbid fears, press
3. For a list of our government budget-balancing ideas, such as
having the president make all trips by hot-air balloon, press 4.
If you wish to place an order, press the pound key.
If you wish to complain about newspapers, pound the
press key. If you wish to wish upon a star, makes no
difference who you are, press -- what else? -- the star key.
To report a mechanical problem, press 42 and imitate the
sound your problem makes. Feel free to use a kazoo.
To obtain your account balance, spiritually speaking, press
8. If you are suspicious of poodles, press 71. If you believe
Tennessee Williams' fatal shortcoming was his arrogant
disdain for car and truck chase scenes, press 19.
To report a Korlo Panda sighting, press 85 and give the name of the
laundromat. If you wish to access your files, punch in the 14-digit
number that appears on the bottom of any can of creamed corn.
For shipping and receiving, press 44. For moving and grooving, press 45.
If you would like to see O.J. Simpson submit to a
no-holds-barred interview conducted by Sesame
Street's Big Bird and Cookie Monster, press 91.
For a list of upcoming events, press 68. For a list of
events that will never come up but we wish would, such
as a speeding locomotive crashing into a huge chocolate
mousse shaped like a Greyhound bus, press 22.
If you would like to hear how you can earn big money in
your spare time by kicking butt and taking names, press 18.
To find out why people don't name their
babies "Felix'' anymore, press 73.
If you went through the supermarket express line with
14 items and you wish to confess your sin, press 30.
If you also had coupons, prepare to burn in hell.
To report a discrepancy between the way you planned
your life and the way it's turning out, press 86.
If you need immediate assistance, join the club,
pal. If you wish to join the Pal Club, press 55.
For a list of hip phrases to shout when you're
shooting dice so you don't have to keep using the
one about infant requiring new footwear, press 93.
To hear an explanation of exactly what it is tugboats do, press 25. If you
would like to hear my impression of James Cagney ordering a pizza, press 26.
If you wish to end this call or return to the main menu, do not press
your luck. You are not going back to any main menu, my friend. You
have come too far. There is no turning back. You can only press on.
********************
end transmission
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