TALONS EDGE
MARCH - APRIL 2001

USS Aquila NCC 42297

Deadline for Next Issue: April 15, 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

All-Club Calendars

http://uss_aquila.intranets.com/

http://siscom.net/~mmeece/trekevents.html

WEB PAGES:

http://www. snelsonc.com/aquila

http://members.aol.com/ NiteProwls/index.html

http://members.aol.com/ VTRAIDER/index.html

http://members.fortunecity.com/takuan_soho/aquila.html

http://members.fortunecity.com/kara_dione/talonsedge.html

Area Meetings

- IKV Harbinger (BLA):

Currently meeting on-line

Harbinger Ready Room http://members.tripod.com/~IKV_Harbinger

Contact: IKV_Harbinger@hotmail.com

- ILV Midnight Warrior (KAG Xenoleague):

fourth Tuesday at 7:30pm

(except December)

meetings held at members homes and changes monthly.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/8908

Contact: taysir@juno.com

- USS Aquila (MFA):

Second Saturday at 4pm

Barnes & Noble bookstore on Mall Road

Florence, KY -coffee shop

Contact: uss.aquila@juno.com

- USS Camelot (Independent):

Third Friday at 7pm (except December)

Dayton Museum of Natural History

2600 DeWeese Parkway, near Triangle Park

Dayton, OH (exit 57B from I-75 N or S)

http://www.uss-camelot.org/

- USS Melbourne (SFC):

Second Sunday at 6:30pm

Thomas More College

Room 3320

http://home.fuse.net/imzadi

- USS Polaris (Independent):

Fourth Monday at 7pm (except December)

Pierce Elementary School, Freeman Ave, Hamilton, OH

- Friends of the Time Lord:

Park Lane Apartments Social Room

4201 Victory Parkway, Cincinnati, OH

http://welcome.to/fotl

fotl@welcome.to

KAG = Klingon Assault Group

SFC = Starfleet Command

BLA = Broken Lands Alliance

MFA = Maquis Freedom Alliance

Events & Activities

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

Birthdays & Anniversaries

March

3-James Doohan

8-Brian Pence

10-Lynda Pence

12-Heather Borchardt

17-Tina Burns

21-Tamara Widener

24-Stephen Proffitt

26-Leonard Nimoy

29-Mirina Sirtis

31-Shirley Robinson

Holidays

March

17-St. Patrick’s Day

20-Spring Begins

April

1-Daylight Savings Time Begins

8-Psalm Sunday / Passover

13-Good Friday

15-Easter

Ships Log

0102.10

The 108TH meeting of the MAV (USS) Aquila was held on Saturday February 10, 2001 at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Mall Road in Florence, KY. The following were in attendance: Diane Baker, Tammy Borchardt, Mark Bradford, Sara Casey, Nelson Charette, Jamie Dougherty, Sam Hearld, Glenna Juilfs, Rob Langenderfer, Chris Langsdale, Cynthia Pence, Erin Pence, Rebecca Poff, Greg Turner, Linda Widener, and Tamara Widener.

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

The meeting was adjourned.

A Command Staff meeting followed the close of the business meeting. It was decided that the position of Outlook Officer be discontinued with the duties added to the Recruiting Officer. Sam Hearld volunteered for the position of Recruiting Officer. Since Tamara Borchardt has already been performing the duties of Quartermaster, it was decided to make it official.

Work Party

0102.11

Members in attendance: Tamara Borchardt (hostess), Diane Baker, Glenna Juilfs, Rob Langenderfer, Cynthia Pence, Erin Pence, Lynda Pence, Rebecca Poff, Greg Turner, Vanessa Turner, Linda Widener, Tamara Widener.

Greg turned over charity funds to Tamara Borchardt to aide in the purchase of materials for Dover. This leaves a balance of about $30 in the treasury. Rob presented a receipt for stamps purchased for the Newsletter Exchange. Rob opted to accept membership for 2001 in leiu of cash. Remind crew it’s time to pay dues.

163 buttons were painted, more than half. Another painting session is planned, perhaps on the 17th after visiting the Celtic Festival at the Museum Center. The date to be decided at the march meeting.

Greg took pictures with his new digital camera to document the event.

Everyone enjoyed Tammy’s chicken & dumplings, and corn bread. Snacks soft drinks, Girl Scout Cookies, chocolate cake, and pineapple upside down cake kept the energy flowing. A suggestion for an Aquila cookbook was made and discussed.

Ships Log

0103.10

The 109th meeting of the USS Aquila was held on Saturday March 10, 2001, at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on Mall Road in Florence, KY. The following were in attendance: Diane Baker, Tamara Borchardt, Mark Bradford, Jaime Dougherty, Glenna Juilfs, Rob Langenderfer, Cynthia Pence, Erin Pence, Lynda Pence, Rebecca Poff, Linda Widener, Tamara Widener

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

The meeting was adjourned.

Work Party

0103.17

A second work party to finish the buttons for Dover was held on Saturday March 17 at the home of Tammy Borchardt. The following were present: Diane Baker, Tamara Borchardt, Mark Bradford, Glenna Juilfs, Rob Langenderfer, Chris Langsdale, Cynthia Pence, Erin Pence, Rebecca Poff, Linda Widener, and Tamara Widener.

The buttons were finished and packed ready to take to Dover. Will have another meeting at Tammy’s on Sunday April 15 at 2:30pm to finish plans for Dover & to rehearse skits.

Video Viewpoints

A Review of the Fourth Season of

Star Trek: Voyager, Part One

By Rob Langenderfer

It's been a long while since I reviewed any new episodes of Voyager. Close to two years in fact. To some extent this wait was due to the fact that Cincinnati has been effectively Trek-less for so long, with the episodes not seen on any free broadcast channel and then seen only on Channel 25 which very few people outside of a particular region of Cincinnati can pick up. I would hope that at some point it will return on a regular station.

The fourth season of the show began with "Scorpion, Part Two." This episode featured the introduction of Jeri Ryan to the cast of the show as the human-turned Borg, Seven of Nine. It is a dramatic story as Chakotay ignores Janeway's orders, and this causes some fireworks between the two. Although Seven is somewhat resistant to joining the humans in this episode, it is in the next story where this comes to a head.

"Scorpion" and "Scorpion, Part Two", are, going into the sixth season of the show, the equivalent of "The Best of Both Worlds" for Star Trek: The Next Generation and "City on the Edge of Forever" for the original series. They are considered to be Voyager at its finest by many fans. I understand this assessment and largely agree with it. Don't miss this story.

"The Gift" is the story in which Jennifer Lien's character of Kes leaves the series. It is truly a pity that the show never really followed up very much on how the characters felt about Kes not being in the crew anymore. That is the cost of Lien's leaving the series and Jeri Ryan joining, a decision motivated largely by UPN's desire for increased ratings as well as the writers feeling that they could do little with the Kes character. Her leaving is handled pretty sensitively although a longer scene between her and Neelix would have been nice. Seven's conflicts with Janeway and the crew come to a head in this episode. It is a pretty good story.

The character of Seven of Nine did bring a lot of new life into the series, and she became the focus of a large number of stories throughout the season. Personally I think it would have been nice if both Lien and Ryan could have been on the series, but thanks largely to Ryan, the series did begin to improve quite a bit. Seven started a somewhat hesitant, two-steps forward one step back journey toward becoming human. Although the way her search has progressed at least for me never had the appeal of Data's quest for humanity and Spock's rejection of his humanity, overall it has served the series well.

"Day of Honor" is an OK episode, but not much about it sticks in the mind. It is significant for one reason in that Tom and Torres admit their feelings for each other in a touching scene, and their romantic relationship would continue to play out with each other throughout the series. Along with Odo and Kira on DS9, this is the first time that two continuing characters on the series have been together romantically for an extended period of time (along with Keiko and Miles O'Brien, of course). (Ben Sisko and Kassidy sort of count, but she's away from the station a lot.) Tom Paris has never been my favorite character, and in many respects I think it would be much more interesting if Janeway would meet someone (personally I like the idea of Chakotay and Janeway heating it up, but it appears that she will meet someone else in the sixth season, according to the rumors). Still, it is occasionally interesting to watch the nuances of their relationship.

"Nemesis" is a pretty powerful story that reminded me of many films I've seen about the Vietnam War. Chakotay is brainwashed into fighting in an alien war, and even though the audience isn't entirely shocked to see how things turn out at the end, it is a testament to this episode's power that we truly feel with Chakotay and find it hard to accept the alien race that becomes Voyager's allies at the end of the story.

The next several episodes are all pretty ordinary affairs. Hardly anything about them is memorable, and I could not remember the plots were it not for the synopses in Cinefantastique.

Voyager seems to suffer from a persistent mediocrity in which although the characters are more developed than they were and more interesting than at the series' beginning, the plots of the stories do not have the impact of many of the tales from previous Star Trek series. The characters of the show also lack the sparkle of many of their predecessors. Tuvok is nowhere near close to Spock in terms of complexity or in his ability to engage the viewer, Tom Paris is too similar to Riker who seemed to inherit Kirk's playboy image but could never pull it off convincingly in the way that Kirk could do it, Torres does not have the spiritual depth or power that was present in Worf, Janeway more or less holds her own and Chakotay, although he lacks the fire of a Major Kira that one would have expected in a Maquis leader, has developed nicely. Neelix is underused, and the pairing up of Neelix and Tuvok that was so effective in "Rise" in the 3rd season is terribly underutilized.

When Voyager initially started its run, one expected (and looked forward to the fact) that it would be very similar to the original series. However, it never seemed as if the show really went with that approach. They do not explore planets with any regularity. Even conflict from within Starfleet itself, which provided many an enjoyable episode on the other series ("The Doomsday Machine", "Chain of Command, Parts 1 and 2 and "The Circle" and its sequel on DS9 to start off its second season to name but three examples) is absent here since they are in another quadrant of the galaxy. After almost two years the episodes have started to run together. This problem is one that has afflicted Voyager throughout much of the time that it has been on the air. I am not exactly sure how to solve it. I am not sure if the spirit of the original series could be effectively given to the Voyager crew. The original series had the strong relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy that allowed the series to live long and prosper. ST:TNG had Data's quest to become human as well as the tribulations of Lt. Worf, elements of Picard's past to provide excitement (including his relationship with the Crushers). DS9 managed to create a whole slew of interesting supporting characters in addition to the main ones including Kira's struggles with the Cardassians, Odo and Quark's playful squabbles, Bashir's past, and Jake's desire to be a writer. There was Rom's desire to get out from under his brother's dominance, Nog's desire to be in Starfleet, Winn's wish to control Bajor, and Garak and the Doctor's relationship and all of Garak's mystery to name just a few. Voyager has had very few compelling plotlines of that sort.

In my opinion, the next nine episodes do not deserve individual critiques. None of them were awful, but none were anywhere near a classic although "Mortal Coil" which concerns Neelix and his questioning of his belief in the afterlife was interesting enough that I would like to see it again since I recall almost nothing about how the story was resolved. The next truly pivotal episode in the series was "Message in a Bottle." This story opened up the possibility that Voyager could be found by the Federation, and it is with a look at that story that the next review will begin.

 

Chaplains Corner

Adversity (author unknown)

A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.=A0 It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen.=A0 He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.=A0 Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he and turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her he asked. "Darling, what do you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

She humbly asked. "What does it mean Father?"

He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength?

Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a divorce, or a layoff have you become hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart?

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain, to its peak flavor reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better. If you are like the coffee bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better around you. When people talk about you, do your praises to the Lord increase? When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, does your worship elevate to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

-Submitted by Greg Turner-

 

Helping Hands

DEM BONES

 

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SECRET WORD:

2 words meaning Chine: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 

ANKLE FRAMES PHALANGES

FUNNY

BACKBONE REMAINS

BREAST HEAD RIBS

HERRING

CANNON HUMERUS SCAPULA

CHEEK SHIN

CHINA IVORY SKELETON

COLLAR STERNUM

CRANIUM KNEECAP

CROSS KNUCKLE TIBIA

CUTTLEBONE

MARROW ULNAE

DOG’S MEAL

VERTEBRA

FEMUR NECK

FISH WISH

PELVIS WRIST

Galactic Gems

CAMP DOVER PEACE CONFERENCE

APRIL 27-29, 2001

10TH ANNIVERSARY

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE: Friday night. Each group with representation at Dover is asked to bring chocolate. There will also be an optional donation can. A recipe book for chocolate items will be given to all who donate either chocolate or money. If you would like to have your recipe included in the book, send it by e-mail to: uss.aquila@juno.com or by snail mail to: Glenna Juilfs, 3466 McHenry Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45225-1118.

SLAVE AUCTION/TALENT SHOW: Friday night. All those who wish to be in the talent show or the slave auction should let us know ASAP as above. Please include your real name, personna name if any, talent show or slave, skit or service offered. Slaves must be over 18. All entrants will parade in Mardi Gras style prior to the start of the events. Talent offerings will be alternated with slaves to break the monotony and keep the action going. Bids to pull the talent entrant off stage will also be taken.

All proceeds from both events will go to the convention charity.

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FOOTLIGHTERS

MAY 2001

WEIRD ROMANCE

Footlighter's Theatre has a deal for local SF fans!

A musical play set in the future.

The dates for WEIRD ROMANCE are May 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18 & 19. Curtain rises at 8 PM except on Sundays when it is at 7PM. Tickets are $12.

The Footlighters are located at the Stained Glass Theater, Eighth & York Sts. in Newport. If you would like learn more about Footlighters or wish to reserve tickets to see WEIRD ROMANCE, please call 859-291-7464 and leave a message.