CHUY DAH February 2012

From The Captain's Chair

With our first meeting after the passing of Admiral Konnor under our belts, I feel confident in saying that the Doomslayer is still going strong. We had a great turn out, and I would like to thank everyone who attended for coming out despite the weather. I'd also like to thank Lt. General Vamphry zantaI-Tumid, and Colonel K'jinn sutai Tumid, the Captain and XO of the Tumid's Wrath H.A.V., for not only joining us but lending their support during this time of transition.


Speaking of transitions, we have a few people here on the IKV Doomslayer who are changing or adding positions as well as a New Recruit!

• Commander Sebastian vestai-Makhleod will be taking on the position of Chief of Operations along with his duties as Chief Engineer.

• Commander K'Ana vestai-K'Tarra has been reassigned as the Ship's Quartermaster. (Nice to see you out of the air ducts my dear...)

• Master Chief K'Jor Makhleod (son of Cmdr. Sebastian & Capt. K'Dot) is now officially assigned the position of Security XO, with all of the rights, privileges & responsibilities entailed by that position.

• I would like to welcome our newest member, recruit Hov'puq Thorson who has become a member of house Makhleod! It is also my pleasure to announce that Recruit Hov'puq Thorson Makhleod is promoted to the rank of Ensign and assigned as Engineering XO with all of the rights, privileges & responsibilities entailed by said rank and position.

Congratulations to one and all! It is an honor to have you all aboard the Doomslayer. Let us all face the battles of our future together, with courage, dignity, and honor! We shall bring glory and honor to our ship, our houses, and the IKEF!

Qapla'!

Capt. K'Dot-Ka'li



Feb. 2nd: Khavid and Kammie’s Anniversary
Feb. 7th: Margaret Wander Bonanno’s birthday
Feb. 11th Doomslayer General Meeting @ Bread Head Bakery
Feb. 14th: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
Feb. 14th: Cadet Qos’ birthday

Mar. 10th: Doomslayer General Meeting @ Bread Head Bakery
Mar. 13th: Cadet Recruit Rha’lyn’s birthday
Mar. 17th: Honoring the passing of Chancellor Klaad
Mar. 17th: HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY (“Everybody‘s Irish tonight.” -- Murphy McManus, The Boondock Saints)

Sad News

It saddens me to have to report that we have lost another great member of the IKV Doomslayer. Admiral Konnor sutai-Makhleod, CO of the Doomslayer, passed away January 11th due to complications from existing health issues. He was laid to rest earlier today after a beautiful and touching service attended by family and many friends. He was a warrior with out equal and the halls of Sto'Vo'Kor will echo with the tales of his great deeds.

Let it be known to one and all that the fate of the Doomslayer will never be in question. As long as one of us lives, this ship will continue to fly. I must say, however, taking over command was never my goal. But the fates have other plans for Admiral Konnor, so now here I sit in the big chair. I can not replace him, nor will I try. But I will do my best to lead this ship with the courage, honor, and devotion to the crew that Admiral Konnor so exemplified.

Captain K'Dot-K'ali sutai-Makhleod
CO, IKV Doomslayer
- Flagship - IKEF
House Mother & Proctor
of Clan Makhleod

October 2011

(According to the computer stats, CHUY DAH has passed the 60-post mark!)

Greetings, one and all, to the October issue of the Empire's top newsletter, the excellence that is CHUY DAH. . .

This is going to be a short newsletter, because let's face it, not much is really going on right now. Not because of apathy or inattention, but due simply to that daemon we call "real life". And that's okay, because it's been a helluva year for us all, a hell in various forms. Not to say there haven't been high points, but it's been hard, and I think we've all needed the time to take care of things.

That being said, onto business:

I'm suspending this month's meeting, as well as next month's -- but would like to suggest an event for this month, which is somewhat related to our "Dinner and Movie Night":

On October 21st, a new version of one of my all-time favorite movies -- "The Three Musketeers" -- is due to be released. One of the major stars is our late Thought-Admiral's dream girl, one Milla Jovovich (as Milady DeWinter). And since our movies were going to be a Milla retrospective anyway, I suggest that we attend this movie and have dinner at New Towne Mall. As for me, I plan on seeing the movie on the 21st (or 22nd) regardless, but I'd like to think that the boss would appreciate the symbolism of this event.

Also, a certain member of this crew (who is currently MIA at this time) has a birthday around this time, so we can celebrate it as well...

I'd appreciate crew input on this.

And now, before I sign off for the time being, a moment of Zen...

Hell May Have Very Well Frozen Over...

Crew, today is a special day. "Why is that, Admiral ?" you may ask.

(Go ahead, ask.)

It's a special day because today, after 28 years of swearing he'd never get married, my favorite bass player and one of my personal heroes, Gene Simmons, is finally tying the knot with his lady, Shannon Tweed.

In honor of this cosmically rare event, I raise a flagon of the Clan's best bloodwine in their honor, and am officially ordering bloodwine to be served freely in the galley all day today!

TO THE MARRIAGE! QAPLA!

Lest we forget

On this day in our history, let's make sure that we at least took a moment to remember the events that occured, as well as raise a flagon of bloodwine and the howl to the valiant souls who were taken far too early along with the warriors who continue to fight the good fight even now.

QAPLA!

SEPTEMBER 2011 -- BACK TO THE ACADEMY

Greetings one and all! The halls of the ship are far quieter now, thanks to the fact that all the cadets are back at the Academy -- and it's not a moment too soon; I was getting tired of all the foodfights in the galley!

It's September, and this is the Back To School issue of the one and only CHUY DAH -- accept no substitutes!


FROM THE ADMIRAL'S CHAIR

Okay, I guess there are those of you who've been wondering what the heck's been going on with me and why things have been so quiet. Here's the full explanation:

About a month or so ago, I began developing spasms in my upper back that would alternate between my shoulder blades. A CT scan showed me something I wasn't expecting: possible cancer cells in one of my rib bones. Needless to say, I was freaked out for a bit, as was my family. But the docs started me on a new type of chemo that's in pill form, and that I can take at home (4 pills, twice a day - bleh).

Good news: The spasms stopped.
Bad news: The side effects of this new drug include potential muscle and joint pain.

Couple that with the sudden influx of tropical storms and the changes they make, and I'm down with a little thing called "barometric orthralgia", which translates into arthritic-like attacks in my knees and ankles. Bottom line, I'm not walking far, not without a wheelchair, walker, or cane. The pain got bad enough that I ended up in the Aultman ER one Sunday, wondering why I can't even stand without screaming (you know how the pain scale goes 1 to 10? I found 12).

But, over time (with the help of certain lovely painkillers), this cleared up, and now I'm walking normally, just a little slowly right now as I get my strength back. I couldn't get to the computer easily, so that's why there's been no newsletter. Till now.

Okay, there's more. If you've been following my recent Facebook postings, on August 18th, I also became a great-uncle for a 2nd time! My nephew Mark and his fiancee Joy had a son, Layne Michael Miller, who came into the world at 5 lbs. 10 oz. and 18 inches long. From what I was last told, he's coming along just fine. So this also means we have a new Cadet as well!

And last -- but by no means least -- I have finally gotten published!

The book in question is an original manuscript I wrote in 2009, titled JERICHO HILL AND THE CASE OF THE FALLEN ANGEL. It's my try at hard-boiled detective fiction, and it's available through a direct link at www.lulu.com (I've got the link, so let me know if you'd be interested...). The Dover Public Library has the second copy -- my parents have the first one.

Enough about me.

This month's meeting location has been changed from 1 pm at Bread Head Bakery to 2 pm at my house, due both to a fire on September 3rd at the Main Moon resteraunt and the fact that I will be house-sitting September 10 (which is this Saturday). This is not the Dinner and Movie Night; just bring some kind of snack, and I'll provide the drinks. Hope to see everyone then.

The Calendar of Events is next...

CHUY DAH - July 2011

If you're hoping for the Empire's Swimsuit edition, sorry, this ain't it...


INTRODUCTION
To start off this issue, a belated Happy Birthday to our Chief Logistics Officer, Lt. Cmdr. K'Ana! Hope you had a great day and drank as much bloodwine as you could...

SHIP'S BUSINESS
This month's meeting will be at our usual meeting place -- of course I speak of the Bread Head Bakery -- on Saturday, the 9th of July, at 1 pm (this is due to the new closing time of the BHB: 3 pm).

Since most of our cadets are now much older, it's time that our roster illustrate this. So I've taken the liberty of retooling it to better reflect the changes. It'll work a little something like this:

Ages 0 - 9: Trainee

Ages 10 - 13: Specialist

Ages 14 - 18: Officer

Any crewmember under the age of 18 will now carry an NCO rank without any honorific, and will be summarily promoted at the appropriate age.

While I'm on this subject, I've decided to personally add an special Honorary Member to it; my pastor, Reverend Michael Lowry, who has recently left my church and returned home to Maine, will now carry the office of Ship's Chaplain, with the honorary commission of Commander. You may be wondering why I've done this. Not only has he been a good friend and spiritual guide to me and my family, he's the first minister I've ever known who freely admits to being a science-fiction fan (especially a fan of Doctor Who). This was my tribute to him.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

July 9th: Doomslayer General Meeting @ Bread Head Bakery -- 1 pm.