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.

CHUY DAH - June 2011

Okay, to start things off, I've discovered I'm going to have to borrow a page from the Federation and get myself an aide -- my desk looks like a battlefield (not that that's a bad thing, mind you, but it does make one fall behind on matters).

Belated Happy Anniversary wishes to my 2nd and 3rd in commands. . . I couldn't ask for a finer duo to work with.

In honor of their anniversary, I'm mandating that there will be an extra ration of bloodwine with all meals for this coming week!

This month's meeting will be held at the New Towne Mall's miniature golf course on June 11th at 1 pm -- that's right, once again, it's time for the Doomslayer Invitational (Mini) Golf Classic!

Calendar of Events to follow. . .

CHUY DAH - May 2008 (Mother's Day Special)

This issue of CHUY DAH is dedicated to all those of the maternal persuasion -- of course I speak of Moms everywhere -- on this special day. Like I always say, without our Moms, where would we all be?

Additionally, this month's issue is also dedicated to the members of the elite Special Operations team known as SEAL Team Six, the team that took out the world's most wanted terrorist, Usama ben Laden. To you gentlemen, KAI KASSAI and a big HOORAH!

Okay, now onto business. . .

This is May, and according to the ship's calendar, our event for this month is the annual Ship's Picnic, which will take place on the 14th at Tuscora Park in New Philadelphia at 1 pm. As usual, it's BYOP (Bring Your Own Picnic), and we'll need an advance party to find a table for everyone (I'm taking volunteers for this detail). I'd also like to add that I'm lifting the moratorium on fried chicken and watermelon; let's just be careful where we are at the time, okay?

I had a good visit last month at Borders with Captain Kh'Per, who sends greetings to everyone.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

May 8th: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

May 12th: Chief Engineer Sebastian's birthday

May 20th: "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" released

May 21st: Captain Kh'Per's birthday

May 30th: MEMORIAL DAY (where we remember the warriors who fought for us)

May 30th: Adm. Konnor's birthday (did you think I was going to let this pass?)