We have made available some items (mugs, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats) with our logo at Cafepress - http://www.cafeshops.com/slirc   Cafepress sets the item base cost and handles all sales, production,  shipping, and warranty. StarLink-IRC gets no money from sales of these items.

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General Information

Word Games:  Live trivia at various times and places throughout the week.

#International: We hope to bring together folks from all nations and languages .. come join us for chat, good friends, and if you can volunteer to translate, all the better. Even a smattering of another language is welcome!

DISCLAIMER - Web sites shown or linked here may contain executable files or programs. Be advised that StarLink-IRC has no knowledge of the suitability or effects these may have on your system. We advise everyone to make a carefully informed decision prior to running any new software.

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Your BIRTHDAY TREE

September's gemstone is Sapphire, the symbol of Purity, flower is the Aster
October's gemstone is Opal, the symbol of Mystery, flower is the Amaryllis

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EVENTS

In an attempt to get more of our chatters involved in our newsletter and to make it more interesting, we are adding several new columns.  The recipe column has been very popular!  I hear tell there is a movie critic's corner starting soon.  That's exciting!!  I'd love to see a gardening column if that's an area of expertice for any of you.  Maybe even a book review column would be nice?  Please get together with me if you have other ideas or if you're willing to do a column!

COOKING ON THE WILD SIDE Recipes and more    ...by Wildchild.

Hey Chat Friends,
Hope everyone is doing wonderful after all these hurricanes have came through the last month. Here is a recipe from a friend of mine from where my kids go to school. Hope you enjoy it. Holidays are gonna be fast approaching us soon. How about next couple of months we focus on Family Favorites for them?
Until Next time friends lets remember to keep cookingonthewildside.
wildchild

Taco Party Wings Ingredients: 1 pkg. hot taco seasoning 1/2 cup corn meal 4 teaspoons parsley flakes 4 pounds chicken wing drummettes (thawed, if frozen) preheat oven to 400f. combine seasoning, corn  meal and parsley in large resealable plastics bag. add wing drummettes to bag, in small batches, and shake until evenly coated. arrange wings in single layer on two greased  shallow baking pans. place pans on separate racks in preheated oven. bake 15 minutes; switch pans between racks (no need to turn wings,) bake 15 minutes more or until done. when baking one pan at a time, bake 30 minutes.

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MAYBE MABLE KNOWS?     Advice

Suggestions and comments .. submit them to the newsletter with Mable in the subject line.

Hi Readers,

It has come to my attention that in the "online" version of the Starlink-IRC newsletter, "Maybe Mable Knows" has been listed as a "gossip column."  In no way do I advocate "gossip," either online or in the real world. Gossip can be hurtful and damaging to a person's reputation. Certainly, had I the desire to write a gossip column, there is more then enough floating around the Starlink-IRC network. This would mean that there would be a submission of great length each and every month!

"Maybe Mable Knows" is meant to be an "advice column."  If you have questions or a problem, in life or online, you write to Mable and she advises a possible course of action, based on her experiences or knowledge. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here's to praying that life continues to be grand, for each and every one of you, and may all your troubles be small.

Mable

MOVIES                 Movie Reviews - by Zadi of #Lupuschat

Suggestions and comments .. submit them to the newsletter with Movies  in the subject line.

Spider-Man 2 - "This summer a man will face his destiny. A hero will be revealed." Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, and Joan Allen.
This movie is all it's hyped up to be. An action-packed thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. (Was that over the legal limit of hype?) Spider-Man faces an identity crisis of sorts while the world needs saving and the words of the day are "sacrifice" and "choice." NOT a movie for small children. Many of the special effects and action scenes are downright frightening, even for older children and adults. It may have been a comic book, but this movie is not for the faint of heart. Spider-Man 2 rises to the challenge of sequelhood and surpasses the first film. The animations are seamless and give "eye-candy" it's name.
The choices and dependent morals illustrated are valuable, along with resulting consequences from errant decisions. I highly recommend Spider-Man 2 for mature audiences.

THE BOOK NOOK         Book Nook by Lorellei

Suggestions and comments .. submit them to the newsletter with Book Nook in the subject line.


Paul Harris and Tom Sullivan are two seniors at Princeton. The story opens on the night before their theses are due. Paul’s theses is about the "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili," a book written during the Renaissance which is supposed to detail something in a strange code that has yet to be broken. Previously, Tom’s dad had studied the puzzle, trying to solve it. Ergo, Paul looked Tom up at Princeton because of what Tom’s father had done, before his own death, on the book. The title, "The Rule of Four," has nothing to do with the four guys involved: Paul, Tom and their roommates Charlie and Gil. In fact, I haven’t yet figured out what the title means.

Our heroes learn that the author of  "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili," an Italian nobleman back in the late 1400’s,  saw the learning, art, and treasures of the Renaissance being destroyed because of religious fanatics like Savonarola, who was burning books and artworks considered obscene or heretical. So the nobleman collected vast quantities of art and books and other treasures that would have been destroyed. He hid it all in a secret tomb in Rome and then coded the directions of how to locate the tomb in the "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" for someone hopefully to decipher in the future when things have changed. Actually, the book seems a bit representative of our own age to me. The Renaissance, height of learning, religious fanaticism, higher seats of learning (here, Princeton)…sound familiar?  Well, perhaps representative but his book basically is about "suff”" Where’s the stuff? Sound familiar?

The story timeline takes place in present day Princeton and covers about one day and one night, give or take.  There is an awful lot of Ivy League treatise and a lot of discussion of “eating clubs” which seems to be less than interesting to someone not attending Princeton or belonging to the proper eating club. The pride of these Princeton guys is obvious and their obsession with their preppy-ness is obvious.  However, this is a first book so perhaps this sort of literary license is allowed. Having voiced my non-preppy disapproval of that sort of thing, I do admit the book draws you in. There are web sites that connect you to the original "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" group and you can get involved in solving the puzzle yourself. This book, "The Rule of Four," makes you want to go out and find a copy of the "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" which fact says something pretty positive about the influence of the words therein.

As the two main characters sift through the clues and riddles at the heart of the text, their perception of the manuscript broadens. As they come closer to deciphering the final puzzle of the book, a book that has shattered careers, friendships and families, they realize their lives are in serious danger. At least one person has been killed for knowing too much and now THEY know more that that person did.  The book travels well from the streets of 15th century Rome to present day Ivy League. It travels from the scene of a shocking murder 500 years ago to drama of a young man’s coming of age. The book illuminates interesting history and entertains as it does so. Suspense is good and, all in all, if you have a good mind that can stay focused, and one that loves mysteries and puzzles, you will want to take the time to read this book.  While there are a few inconsistencies, the book is very well done for a first time book and, after all, it is fiction so anything goes. The plot is tight and the two authors can put a story together well. Their writing is good and easy enough to follow. There are a few beautiful descriptions in the least suspected places:  at one point, the four students take a break from their noodling to play paintball "under the orange eye of a sodium lamp" while "snowflakes twitch in huge clouds."  I would imagine the authors will be producing more sought after books in the future.

Next month, we’ll try to find book which requires less thinking, perhaps a good romance or plain old mystery thriller!  If you would like to review a book, send it on! We’ll give all submissions due consideration. Thanks for stopping in the Book Nook!

Lorellei

PETS AND PESTS         Critters   by Momma

If you have questions, interesting facts or suggestions, other notable news concerning pets and pests, please submit them to the newsletter with Pets and Pests in the subject line.
A topic of some concern this past year in the USA and Canada, is the rising number of cases of dog bites. We seem to hear of more of them in the summer months. This is due partly because of the heat, causing dogs to be grumpier. And also partly due to the fact that in nicer weather, people tend to go to parks and such with their dogs.

Dog owners have a responsibility to their animals as well as public safety. If you have a dog that "MIGHT" bite or be a danger to the general public, you should have your pet muzzled when out and about. And before you take your dog, whatever breed it might be, be sure that you are able to control it should it show signs of agression. Sending a child out to walk a large breed dog is not always an ideal situation, as dogs will be dogs, and a young person might not be able handle any situation that might arise.

(The Long opinion piece on breed-specific legislation snipped by web editor since many facts and figures and attributed information could not be independently verified in time for publication.).  However, the principal point for pros and cons of breed-specific legislation and the AKC's position can be found with a Google search if you are interested in more information.)

http://uk.download.yahoo.com/ne/fu/dodge.html

Service Pack 2 for Windows XP - contributed by Amazing

Whether it's lighthearted, serious, poignant, or just plain silly, send your contributios to the newsletter with LIBRARY in the subject line.


Today's papers seem to be full of stories with a genealogical interest.
The Daily Mail has a page feature from its man in Sydney on a crisis facing tiny Pitcairn Island, home of the descendants of the Mutiny on the Bounty and their Tahitian women. Pitcairn is just about the last outpost of the British Empire and has remained in a time warp since the mutiny in 1789. The islanders still speak an 18th century dialect English and have no airstrip, cars, TV, telephones or doctor.

Apparently, a woman PC from Kent, England, doing a tour of duty on the island in 1999, discovered it has been considered part of the islanders' normal lifestyle for over two centuries for men to sleep with under-age girls in their early teens. As a result of her report, detectives from New Zealand arrived and charged 14 men (7 still on the island and 7 living in New Zealand) with sex offences. Their trial is taking place in a makeshift courtroom on the island today. I expect our Antipodean listers have heard more about this and will keep us updated.

However, the islanders fear it is the end of their way of life and even their island home, where they have lived in a time warp, isolated from the modern world, for over 200 years. Clearly, the descendants of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers are all related to one another anyway, so the case will be an intriguing examination of how a tight-knit community in which certain practices have been part of their lifestyle for decades can survive when confronted with a modern world that regards them as serious criminal offences.

Seemingly, the resident population of Pitcairn of 47 has been considerably increased by the arrival of judges, lawyers, police officers and government officials from New Zealand and Britain.

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I wish this guy chatted with us.  He'd take Follies headlines for maybe a decade!

Dear Friends, My wife Toni is fond of saying that my last words on this earth will be something akin to, "hey y'all, hold my beer and watch this sh*t!"

Well, I have outdone myself once again. No doubt you will see this true story chronicled on the History Channel in the near future. Here goes.

Last weekend I spied something at Larry's Pistol and Pawn that tickled my fancy. (Note: keep in mind that my "fancy" is easily tickled). I bought something really cool for Toni. The occasion was our 22nd anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my sweet girl. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer with a clip.

For those of you who are not familiar with this household security product, it is a less-than-lethal stun gun with two metal prongs designed to incapacitate an assailant with a shock of high-voltage, low amperage electricity while you flee to safety. The effects are supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, but allowing you adequate time to retreat to safety.
You simply jab the prongs into your basic 250 lb. tattooed sociopath assailant, push the button, and it will render him a slobbering, goggle-eyed, muscle-twitching, whimpering, pencil-neck geek. If you've never seen one of these things in action, then you're truly missing out--way too cool!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was so disappointed. Upon reading the directions (I'm an techno-geek...we don't need no stinkin' directions), I found much to my chagrin that this particular model would not create an arc between the prongs.

How disappointing! I do love fire for effect, and unchained electrons are just a whole bunch of fun. I learned that if I pushed the button, however, and pressed it against a metal surface that I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs that I was so looking forward to.

I did so. Awesome!!! Sparks, a blue arc of electricity, and a loud pop!!!

Yipeeeeee . . I'm easily amused, just for your information, but I have yet to explain to Toni what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two little bitty AAA batteries, etc., etc. There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul), reading the directions (that would be me doin' the readin', not Gracie) and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and blood target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie for a fraction of a second and thought better of it. She is such a sweet kitty, after all.

But, if I was going to give this thing to Toni to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? Was I wrong to think that? Seemed reasonable to me at the time...

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, Tazer in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

All the while I'm looking at this little device (measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference, pretty cute really, and loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries) thinking to myself, "no friggin' way!"

Friggin' way--trust me, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best. Those of you who know me well have got a pretty good idea of what followed. I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, "don't do it buddy," reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny lil' ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad (sound, rational thinking under the circumstances, wouldn't you agree?). I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the hell of it. (Note: You know, a bad decision is like hindsight--always twenty-twenty. It is so obvious that it was a bad decision after the fact, even though it seemed so right at the time.  Don't ya hate that?)

I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and HOLY SHIT!

DAaaaauuuuuuMN!!! I'm pretty sure that Jessie Ventura ran in through the front door, picked me up out of that recliner, then body slammed me on the carpet eight or nine times. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, soaking wet, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position.

Gracie was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "That was fun! Do it again, do it again!" (Note: If you ever feel compelled to mug yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution. There is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself. You're not going to let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by your violent thrashing about on the floor.

Then, if you're lucky, you won't dislodge one of the prongs 1/4" deep in your thigh like yours truly.) SON-OF-A-OUTCH that hurt! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at this point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they get there???

My triceps, right thigh and both titties were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocaine, as my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs.give or take an ounce or two, I'm pretty sure.

By the way, has anyone seen my testicles? I think they ran away.  I'm offering a reward. They're round, rather large, kinda hairy, and handsome if I must say so myself. Miss 'em . . . sure would like to get 'em back.

Andy Healy Alliant Techsystems Iuka, Miss

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