The
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StarLink-IRC Network - Your family
friendly cybertown!
This is YOUR newsletter - Send items to newsletter@starlink-irc.org Contributors: Please eliminate the forwarding marks (>>>) from submissions!! SL-IRC LOGO STUFF SHAMELESS PLUG We have made available some items
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General Information Why We Are Here: A
#Townhall Special
Presentation
Word Games: Live
Trivia throughout the week.SL-IRC Logo Gear: SL-IRC logo items www.cafeshops.com/slirc Security: www.starlink-irc.org/security/ Webring: www.starlink-irc.org/webring.html Guestbook: www.starlink-irc.org/guestbook. Ombudspersons: www.starlink-irc.org/slirc-org.html#Ombudsman #International: Mutilingual helpers always welcome! Channel Owner Email Updates: If you own a channel and change your contact address, please let a CService rep in #Channels know or send a note to slirc-register@starlink-irc.org NOTE: Web sites shown 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. Please feel
free to send in things you'd like to share
with our
community of chatters.
A BIG thank you to Momma of #Momma^s_House for submitting a history lesson on Canada Day and Independence Day. Be sure to read these pieces in Channel Chatter from #Momma^s_House! Thank you, also, to ^BOOK^ for his guest submission to the BOOK NOOK. He's chosen one of my favorite authors to review! As has become the norm, we have yet another excellent review from Lorellei`. If you would like to submit a review, please do so at newsletter@starlink-irc.org. The review will go to Lorellei` and then on to be published in the newsletter. Thanks, Lorellei` for your diligent work on this column! |
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Your BIRTHDAY
TREE
June's gemstone is the Pearl, the symbol of Beauty Flower is the Rose July's gemstone is Ruby, the symbol of Generosity Flower is the Morning Glory DAYS OF NOTE Jun 6 QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY (NEW ZEALAND)
From before - From the Langa List - "Don't be fooled" .. there are folks out there trying to scam people looking for "real" software. This one is about Spybot (highly recommended) and the cheap imitations. Always check VERY closely when looking for any software - be sure you have the right URL and are getting the right product. If you're not sure, go back to the source and re-ask. Always better safe than sorry |
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Watch this space for more Amazing and Lesser Things! Thanks to everyone for making StarLink-IRC the wonderful cybertown that it is! As some of you might know, there are other nets out there with the word 'starlink' in them. When telling your friends about what net you chat on -- PLEASE make sure you say StarLink-IRC.Org. And don't forget There is a quicklist of servers at http://www.starlink-irc.org/serverlist.html |
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contributed by everyone
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. I'd
love to see a gardening column if that's an area of expertise for any
of you. Please get together with me if you have other ideas or if
you're
willing to do a column!
Send your recipes and Helpful household tips to cookingonthewildside and keep cooking on the wildside. wildchild
Reserved for those who have questions which can benefit from answers with a fresh perspective!
Keep watching this spot for future reviews from Zadi!
^BOOK^, of #Triviaquest, has been kind enough to offer yet another review for a book he has recently read. Sam's Letters to Jennifer
by James Patterson "Life is a funny, funny riddle!" sang John Denver. "Sam's Letters to Jennifer" by James Patterson, echo that sentiment. Still dealing with the untimely death of her husband and loss of their unborn child, Chicago columnist Jennifer is summoned back to the town where she grew up to face another crisis. Sam, her grandmother, is in a coma. After checking on her grandmother, Jennifer settles into her grandmother’s home along the lake where she spent many magical summers. There, she discovers a shoebox full of letters addressed to her. Letters that shed light on two great loves. With each letter, Jennifer discovers her Grandmother Sam concealed an enormous secret for years. The letters reveal that Sam’s true love was not the man she married. Each letter reveals the secret love story that Sam lived even when Jennifer stayed with her summer after summer. Patterson weaves the relationship between Sam and the mystery man in such a way that the reader’s temptation is magnified to sneak to the end to find out who this passionate man might be. The letters are integral pieces of a love story that shocks you, causes you to cry and to laugh uncontrollably. They teach what love should be. With the opening of each new letter, the truths of true love are discovered. The letters also provide the catalysis to perhaps Jennifer’s biggest surprise in returning home. A chance meeting with a childhood friend, Bruce Keller, blossoms into the most intense and exhilarating love story of all. While their shared summer is full of laughter and romance, Jennifer discovers that this relationship causes her to again count the cost of loving another human being. Within the letters, she discovers that love always finds a way to survive. James Patterson is the prolific author of 26 novels. This easy read will challenge every emotion hidden inside of you. Resist the urge to peak among the final pages to discover Sam’s mystery love and I doubt that you put this book down before completion. Small Island: A Novel
By Andrea Levy
Format: Paperback ISBN: 0312424671 Published:
2005-04-05 by Picador USA 448 pages - $11.20
Literary prizes: UK's Whitbread Prize for Best Novel and Book of the Year; the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book The author, Andrea Levy, was born in London in 1948 to Jamaican immigrant parents. She describes her fiction as about being black and British. I like the fact that her four main characters were so different from each other, and yet all had credible voices on the challenging issues she dealt with which included disability, disappointment in marriage, racism and war. The characters presented their own views on these issues, all different but neither patronizing nor sentimental. The first wave of Jamaican immigrants arrived in Britain after WWII. The personalities in this story are beautifully crafted as you travel through different cultures, people and styles of life. The characters display their human strengths and weaknesses; you clearly feel their doubts, fears and dreams. Humor is sprinkled throughout the journey; you are entertained and provided with absorbing insights into human kindness, acts of racism and migrant experiences. The four main characters are presented in first-person narrative and these main characters are different, yet alike, and so very human. We are left in total suspense to the very end as to the fate of these four people. The four individuals display their dreams for the future, their hopes, and their disappointments. Their interaction portrays their personalities, family backgrounds, emotional experiences including love, commitments to their Mother Country, their economic predicaments and, of course, their own prejudices. Queenie is a white woman trying to support herself and her dependent father-in-law and is an example of so many British women during the post-war years in Britain. Her generosity, resourcefulness and practicality are apparent. Gilbert displays the pride of a soldier who has served his country and is genuinely discomfited when he learns that most of the country's natives think Jamaica is a country in Africa and that he really is unwanted, an outsider in London. Hortense is a snob about her beautiful, golden skin; (the result of her mother's liaison with a white man), and she quickly learns that her teaching certificate from Jamaica is useless in London. This leaves her bitter and contentious. Bernard's recollections of his war-time experiences in India betray his resentment against his superior officers and against the Indians he has met. This leaves him with a feeling of great superiority, creating resentment against and from Queenie's tenants. These characters interact with strong basic human nature; Levy has captured the feel of ordinary life, its disappointments and joys. She has tied her male characters to real, historical events: the Hindu/Muslim riots in Calcutta experienced by Bernard and a race-based riot in a London movie theater, experienced by Gilbert. I also appreciate her ability to portray the specific dialect of each character quite clearly. She reproduces the exact rhythm and content of each characters speech, both Jamaican and British. Bernard sounds like a man who has served in the Far East; Queenie definitely is a Londoner who was brought up in the early part of the last century. Levy has interwoven the lives of two couples, four small islanders. Two are from Jamaica (Gilbert and Hortense); two, natives of Great Britain (Queenie and Bernard). The impact of war, racism and experiences of immigrants and those involved with them creates an excellent and explosive look at a rarely written about subject. I found the book extremely compelling and it is one I will read again. It reads well and quickly; it is hard to put down. This is Levy's 4th book and I hope to find her earlier ones. She writes from the heart, from experience and from understanding. If you have a book you'd like reviewed, send an email with the subject "For Book Nook"; we're glad to have suggestions! If you'd like to review a book yourself, let us know. It's good to have fresh viewpoints!
Since the 'HANDY HINTS' in the HOUSE Newsletter is so popular with #Momma^s_House chatters, I have decided to post a few helpful hints for the Starlink newsletter readers. As always, I am looking for any helpful hints that you, the readers might wish to share. Please send me your Handy Hints. Any hints sent in concerning pets or pests will be posted in the next Starlink newsletter. *If you have Hummingbird feeders in your yard and are tired of having ants find their way to them, coat the pole or cord with vaseline or baby oil, they won't be able to make the journey to the feeder. Reapply as often as you have to depending on weather conditions, such as rain..... *If you have a bird feeder and want to prevent birdseeds from sprouting under the feeder, before placing the seeds in the feeder, heat them in the microwave on high for one minute per cup of seed... *Pet urine is probably one of the most often asked questions that I get. I am repeating the tip for those who may need it again, or for the first time... First, blot up what you can with paper towels. Mix one teaspoon mild dish-washing detergent in one cup warm water, dip a clean towel in the liquid and, working from outside in, dab at stain. Do not overwet. Rinse with fresh water and blot dry. Next, add one-third cup white vinegar with two-thirds cup water and dab on stain. Rinse with water; blot until dry. Once area is totally dry (after at least 24 hours), sprinkle entire carpet with baking soda or rug deodorizer. Vacuum after a few hours. *Cleaning fish tanks - Rub the inside of fish tanks with salt to remove hard water deposits, then rinse well before returning the fish to the tank. Use only plain, not iodized, salt. *Collect animal hair by rubbing the area with dryer sheets, they will magically attract all the loose hairs. *Ants will not cross a chalk-line! Talcum powder or chalk sprinkled around the outside of your home will help keeps these little pests away. You can also sprinkle some around the base of your Hummingbird feeder pole. *Insect bites can be taken care of with a paste made from Baking Soda and water. Apply to the affected area for relief from the sting and itch. |
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Want to know the latest in the REAL
science community? Here's a news site where you can actually understand
most of the words and doesn't lead every page with Paris Hilton or
Michael Jackson!
Here's a useful little site for
those
odd little tweaks that can make Windows a bit more fun and useful.
Note - SOME of them can be potentially dangerous, but like anything else, just watch your step fiddling with windoze! http://windowstipoftheday.blogspot.com/
Nothing special this month. Schedule info provided
by Amazing
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OK. Just when i have to make up, er, research new material for the follies, what happens but our A number One mega spiffo brain trust staff provides all the stuff i need. For instance just today in #channels .. (log edited to remove things that dont make the people talking sound dumb) <Amazing> i'm cleaning out drawers here in the computer room and there are things that i have NO idea what they're for <Amazing> still in those little plastic type baggie things that they come in when you buy something <Amazing> and you don't want to throw them out JUST in case <ameret> so i save em <ameret> so then i end up with a desk full of not a clue what its for but just in case i need it i got it :) <Amazing> hmmm...just found 2 more mice <Amazing> i REALLY should stay out of computer stores <NOLady> tape them to a 3x5 index card with the name of the product on it <Amazing> i'd love to NOL but i dont know what they are <NOLady> i mean when you get new ones <NOLady> throw the ones you have OUT <Amazing> i CAN'T <ameret> but they might come in handy some time <Amazing> i MIGHT need them <Itsy> doomed i tell ya <Amazing> meanwhile they've been sitting here for years Now. Theres really not much else I could add to this except that if you are keeping dumb puter stuff all over the house and have no clue what it's for .. you're not alone. You have company. Our staff. Feeling lots better now are we? .. Itsy |
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Whether it's lighthearted, serious,
poignant, or just plain silly, send your contributios to the
newsletter with LIBRARY in the subject line.
Thanks to Scorp for this one!
A Modern Birds and Bees Story
A little boy asked his father " Daddy, how was I born?" Dad responds, "Ah, my son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway. So here goes. Well, you see, your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on MSN. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. Then we sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a blessed little Pop-up appeared and said 'You've got Male'." { webmaster note .. they MAKE me put this
stuff here. Really. It's so sad }
Thanks to Itsy for this one! An Old Farmer's Advice:
* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong. * Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance. * Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. * A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor. * Words that soak into your ears are whispered . . . not yelled. * Meanness don't jes' happen overnight. * Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads. * Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you. * It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge. * You cannot unsay a cruel word. * Every path has a few puddles on it. * When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty. * The best sermons are lived, not preached. * Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway. * Don't judge folks by their relatives. * Remember, silence is sometimes the best answer. * Live a good, honorable life. When you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time. * Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none. * Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance. * If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'. * Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got. * The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever meet, looks at'cha from the mirror every mornin'. * Always drink upstream from the herd. * Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that expereience comes from bad judgment. * Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than tryin' to put it back in. * If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around. * Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to fate. Contributed by #Momma^s_House CANADA DAY
On June 20, 1868, a proclamation signed by the Governor General, Lord
Monck, called upon all Her Majesty's loving subjects throughout Canada
to join in the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the
union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the
name of Canada on July 1st.The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Doninion Day. There is no record of organized ceremonies after this first anniversary, except for the 50th anniversary of Confederation in 1917, at which time the new Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, under construction, was dedicated as a memorial to the Fathers of Confederation and to the valour of Canadians fighting in the First World War in Europe. The next celebration was held in 1927 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation. It was highlighted by the laying of the cornerstone by the Governor General of the Confederation Building on Wellington Street and the inauguration of the Carillon in the Peace Tower. Since 1958, the government has arranged for an annual observance of Canada's national day with the Secretary of State of Canada in charge of the coordination. The format provided for a Trooping the Colours ceremony on the lawn of Parliament Hill in the afternoon, a sunset ceremony in the evening followed by a mass band concert and fireworks display. Another highlight was Canada's Centennial in 1967 when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II attended the celebrations with Parliament Hill again being the backdrop for a large scale official ceremony. The format changed in 1968 with the addition of multicultural and professional concerts held on Parliament Hill including a nationally televised show. Up until 1975, the focus of the celebrations, under the name "Festival Canada", was held in the National Capital Region during the whole month of July and involved numerous cultural, artistic and sport activities, as well as municipalities and voluntary organizations. The celebration was cancelled in 1976 but was reactivated in 1977. A new formula was developed in 1980 whereby the National Committee (the federal government organization charged with planning Canada's Birthday celebrations) stressed and sponsored the development of local celebrations all across Canada. "Seed money" was distributed to promote popular and amateur activities organized by volunteer groups in hundreds of local communities. The same approach was also followed for the 1981 celebrations with the addition of fireworks displays in 15 major cities across the nation. On October 27, 1982, July 1st which was known as "Dominion Day" became "Canada Day". Since 1985, Canada Day Committees are established in each province and territory to plan, organize and coordinate the Canada Day celebrations locally. Grants are provided by the Department to those committees. Celebrating Independence Day in the United
States
By the middle of the 1700s, the 13 colonies that made up part of
England's empire in the New World were finding it difficult to be ruled
by a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. They were tired of the
taxes imposed upon them. But independence was a gradual and painful
process. The colonists could not forget that they were British citizens
and that they owed allegiance to King George III.A "tea party" and a "Massacre" were two events that hurried destiny. Along with general unrest these events united the colonists. In 1767 a tea company in India, owned by England, was losing money. To save the company, England levied a tax on tea sold in the colonies in 1773. Partly as a joke, Samuel Adams and other Bostonians dressed up as Indians and dumped a cargo of the India Company Tea into the Massachusetts Bay. King George III did not think it was funny, nor did he lift the tax on tea. In the Boston harbor, British soldiers were jeered and stoned by colonists who thought the soldiers had been sent to watch them. The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed a few citizens. The colonists exaggerated the number killed and called it a massacre. Virginia took the first step toward independence by voting to set up a committee to represent the colonies. This First Continental Congress met in September of 1774. They drew up a list of grievances against the crown which became the first draft of a document that would formally separate the colonies from England. George Washington took command of the Continental Army and began fighting the British in Massachusetts. For the next eight years, colonists fought fervently in the Revolutionary War. In the meantime, a war of words was being waged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress presented & debated a second draft of the list of grievances, and John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first to sign. The document, called the Declaration of Independence, was treasonous against the crown and the fifty-six men who signed it were in danger of being executed. Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 because that is the day when the Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence (Except for the U.S. Virgin Islands where celebrations are held a week prior to the climax on 4th of July.) From July 8, 1776, until the next month, the document was read publicly and people celebrated whenever they heard it. The next year, in Philadelphia, bells rang and ships fired guns, candles and firecrackers were lighted. But the War of Independence dragged on until 1783, and in that year, Independence Day was made an official holiday. 1941 Congress declared 4th of July a federal holiday. John Adams, a lawyer, the first Vice President and the Second President of the United States, was one of the members of the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. He wrote to his wife, "I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival... it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..." John Adams may have predicted the later Independence Day celebrations or perhaps he started traditions with his words. Every July fourth, Americans have a holiday from work. Communities have day-long picnics with favorite foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans and all the fixings. The afternoon activities would not be complete without lively music, a friendly baseball game, three-legged races and a pie-eating or watermelon-eating contests. Some cities have parades with people dressed as the original founding fathers who march in parades to the music of high school bands. At dusk, people in towns and cities gather to watch the fireworks display. Wherever Americans are around the globe, they will get together for a traditional 4th of July celebration! The Declaration of Independence was first read in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today, at the Freedom Festival at Independence Hall, costumed Americans re-enact historical scenes and read the Declaration of Independence for the crowd. In Flagstaff, Arizona, American Indians hold a three-day pow-wow around the Fourth of July, with a rodeo and dancing. In Lititz, Pennsylvania, hundreds of candles that were made during the year are lighted in the park at night and floated in the water while a "Queen of Candles" is chosen. The ship U.S.S. John F. Kennedy comes in full sail to Boston Harbor in Massachusetts on the Fourth of July, and the Boston Pops Orchestra plays a musical concert of patriotic songs as more than 150,000 people watch fireworks burst over the water. |
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Birthday Wishes
I hear that you are (insert age) today. so this comes with love to say, I wish you fun and laughter too, not just today but the whole year through. Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary You know, the secret to a happy marriage is how often you say those Three Little Words LET'S EAT OUT !! |
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#OldRadio #Moonshadow #WTGO |
Fans
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