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"Semarak Api"
The 88th Firebirds Official Newsletter
Website: http://ftp.sarawak.com.my/org/firebirds/
Volume Seven, 1 January 1998
Part A
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PART A:
Atten-HUT!
Latest News and Updates
Bulletin Board
So You Want to be a Marine....
Songs in the Key of S:AaB
PART B:
Interstellar Chat Radio
>From the Quill Pen
Musings of A Guylian-Eating Officer
Addresses and Sites
Part C:
The Gathering 1997 -- Reports
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Atten-HUT!
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Happy New Year, Marines! After a Christmas break, the Firebirds newsletter
is back: bigger, better, and with a new name! We have a lot of goodies for
you this issue, not least of which are the Firebirds Gathering reports,
and excerpts from a recent chat with Joel de la Fuente. Also, as a belated
Christmas offering, we have a couple of X-mas songs -- with a S:AaB twist.
Please read the Bulletin Board as we have a couple of important messages.
Here's to another great year! And, good luck to those getting their PMR
results. ;)
Servabo fidem,
Captain Yasmin "Garuda" M.
88th Firebirds Squadron
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Latest News and Updates
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FIREBIRDS NEWS
Recruits:
On behalf of the squadron, I'd like to welcome Privates Stefan, Rozleena
(Dove), Hartini (Pelican), Hazel (Dark Owl), Eric, Kee Yew, Andy
(Falconet), Ee Von, and Spencer. Let us all raise our mugs of Chiggy von
Rootbeer and wish them a happy and fruitful season killing Chigs!
Website:
The Nesting Site has been updated, notably the Personnel section. There
are also excerpts from an earlier chat with Joel de la Fuente.
As was stated in the last newsletter, our website was featured in
Cyberwave. The transcript for that segment has been added to the Cyberwave
site! Go to "Archive" and then, to "Fun
Sites".
The Gathering:
The Firebirds held a Gathering on 21st December, Sunday, from 11 to 4pm.
For a full briefing, read Part C of this newsletter.
SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND NEWS
General:
Sonic Images , the people who brought out the B5
soundtracks, are currently looking for other film/TV shows to produce
their sound tracks. They state that they would prefer a show that hadn't
had their
soundtrack released before - could any one on this list think of one? ;)
You can vote for Space: Above and Beyond at:
but following the link from the index page would be easier.
Upcoming Conventions:
Here's a partial list of conventions to be held in the first quarter of
1998:
Spacedock '98 - Feb 7-8, Hagerstown, MD
possible Space actor as guest
Earthstation Edmonton - Mar. 13-15, Edmonton, Alberta
possible Space actor as guest
Neutral Zone - Mar 20-22, Newcastle, England
Guests: James Morrison, Tucker Smallwood
AggieCon - Mar 26-29, College Station, TX
Balticon 32 - Apr 10-12, Baltimore, MD
Novacon 8 - Apr ??, Tysons Corner, VA
AgamemCom - May 22-24, Los Angeles, CA
Major-General Kate Duncan (59th Ready Reserves) has requested that if
anyone is in these locations and can help, please e-mail her privately at
. Ditto if you happen to have any media contacts
(local newspaper, radio, TV). She said: "If you know about an upcoming SF
convention in your area, large or small, run it past me. With the debut
of "Space" on the Sci-Fi Channel and Space: The Imagination Station in
Canada, and it still airing overseas, I want us to be -- we need to be --
*extremely* organized and efficient in the New Year." An R&R may be held
after Fantasticon in Los Angeles, in August.
Convention Report:
From:
The 247th Industry Insyderz First Solo Flight
Loscon 24, the annual convention of the Los Angeles Science Fiction
Society, was held November 28-30 at the Burbank Hilton in Burbank,
California. The Space Ready Reserve was represented by its Southern
California squadron, the 247th Industry Insyderz. Manning the table
for the Insyderz was Lynn Loschin, Barry Caldwell and Kyril Rodgers.
Liz Mortenson, one of the con organizers, greeted us early in the day
and thanked us for coming. Overall, attendance was a little slow,
thanks to a competing Babylon 5 Creation Con just a few miles away in
Pasadena. Due to this conflict, as well as the fact that Loscon is
primarily a literary science fiction convention, the SRR decided to
attend on Saturday only. While greeted with the usual snobbishness
from certain people who don't watch any television, the overall
reaction was better than expected. We had a steady stream of visitors
throughout the day, and since the ads just started running that week,
most were still unaware of the upcoming reruns of Space on the Sci-Fi
Channel. But, as expected, most of our visitors were thrilled upon
hearing the news. In fact, several attendees who didn't subscribe to
cable TV have now decided that it's worth it.
Due to a noncompetition clause with the dealers, we were very limited
as to what we could display and sell at our table. A funny thing,
since none of the dealers carried any Space merchandise, except for
one guy selling scripts. But our SRR patches and dogtags sold very
well, much better than expected. Many people purchased dogtags for
friends who couldn't be there. The new Incoming newsletters were also
very popular. Also on display were Operation Demios flyers, sample UPN
letters, and Episode Guides.
We met lots of people who were big fans of the show and had seen
nearly every episode, as well as a large group who had only seen a few
episodes early on and had lost track of it thanks to Fox's bad habit
of pre-empting and rescheduling it on odd nights with no notice. But
both groups were very excited that they were going to be able to see
the show again in 6 weeks. We also met the organizer of an upcoming
Babylon 5 con in May of 98, who invited us to attend and possibly
present a panel on Space.
Late in the day, we were honored to be visited by the Chig Ambassador,
Kristian Sorenson, and Glenn Campbell, Area51 Special Effects God,
both of whom stayed until quitting time and helped us close up shop.
As this was only my second con, I don't have much to compare it to, my
only other experience being Fantasticon last August, which is a tough
one to top. :) But things went better than expected, and if I do say
so myself, our little ragtag crew handled itself quite capably.
Barry Caldwell
Space Ready Reserve, 247th Industry Insyderz
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Bulletin Board
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COMMONWEALTH DEFENSE FORCE
>From Lt-Col David Inman, 29th Doodlebugs:
Merry Christmas to all units of the Commonwealth Defence Force. May I
share with you all some words spoken, which I found particularly touching,
on Christmas Day by Her Majesty The Queen, in Her Christmas broadcast to
the Commonwealth:
"Being united - that is, feeling a unity of purpose - is the glue that
bonds together the members of a family, a country, a Commonwealth.
Without it, the parts are only fragments of a whole; with it, we can be
much more than the sum of those fragments."
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BRING BACK SPACE!
>From Lt Col Matt "Thor" McCarthy:
The 95th, War Hammers would like to invite you to the opening of the
latest weapon in the fight to get SPACE: Above and Beyond back on our
screen.
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Over the last year, the international following of SPACE: has grown
dramatically, and we now have a large army dedicated fans all wanting to
know what they can do to get the show back.
The key to any successful campaign is co-ordination, and to make this
possible, on Monday 1st December, the 95th will be launching SOS-L, a new
mailing list dedicated to formation and co-ordination of SOS campaigns for
fans of the show living outside the US.
Although this list is for the creation of a non-US campaign, the door is
always open to US fans. We are looking for all fans of the show as your
own knowledge and skill from RL may well prove invaluable as we build this
campaign .
The key aims of this list are to raise awareness of the show and to
campaign to the companies who buy shows from the US for showing world
wide.
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For more information please come and visit the SOS-L web site at
http://freeSPACE.virgin.net/matthew.mccarthy/the95th/sos-l
where you can see a copy of our guidelines and join the list.
Or e-mail us at The_War_Hammers@SciFiFan.Com
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*Can you please pass this message to any fans you know, so that together
we can get this show back.
**This message was originally sent to the units listed on the S:AAB World
Roster, If you know of a unit that is not listed there but is still active
can you please forward this message.
Thanks for your time,
Matt...
Lt Col Matt "Thor" McCarthy - Matthew.McCarthy@Virgin.Net
CO The 95th, War Hammers - Give Us Some SPACE!
http://freeSPACE.virgin.net/matthew.mccarthy
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So You Want to be a Marine....
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Hooah/Hooyah (who-ah), adj. U.S. Army Slang. Referring to, or meaning
anything and everything except "no." Generally used when at a loss for
words. Also:
1.good copy, solid copy, roger, good or great; message received,
understood.
2.glad to meet you, welcome.
3.I do not know, but will check on it, I haven't the vaguest idea.
4.I am not listening.
5.that is enough of your drivel--sit down.
6.stop sniveling.
7.you've got to be kidding.
8.yes.
9.thank you.
10.go to the next [briefing] slide.
11.you have taken the correct action.
12.I don't know what that means, but am too embarrassed to ask for
clarification. 13.that is really neat, I want one too.
14.amen.
-- From the US Special Forces homepage
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Songs in the Key of S:AaB
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Contributed by the Firebirds
[Note: Not all of these are the Firebirds' original creations]
No prizes for guessing the tune!
Joel, Joel
The Firebirds did say
"You're our honorary member
And that's how you'll stay"
Joel, Joel
How we wish everyday
We could see you back on telly
In S:AAA one more day
Your Cantonese sucks
You got a Spanish surname
But your face is so Chinese
And Spar is your dame.. (oh, okay, this ain't true, but I couldn't think
of anything else which rhymes! LOL)
-- by a Firebirds Lt. who shall forever remain unnamed. ;)
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To be sung to Joy to the world.
Joy to the world and bring back SaAB
Let Fox bring back T.C
Let every station prepare them room
and Morgan and Wong will sing and Morgan and Wong will sing and Mor or or
or or organ and Wong will sing.
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To be sung to Deck the Halls.
Deck the Toga with boughs of holly fa la la la la la la la la
Tis the season to hug T.C fa la la la la la la la la
Don me now my flight apparel fa la la la la la la la la la
Looking down my gun sized barral fa la la la la la la la la.
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To be sung to White Christmas.
(T.C sings this)
I'm dreaming of a white christmas, just like the ones I wish I knew.
Where the tree tops glisten and Us marines listen to hear chigs eat yellow
snow.
I'm dreaming of a white christmas with every Von Richtofen that I kill.
May Earth days be merry and bright and may Wildcards go and kick ass
tonight.
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To the tune of Hark the Herald Angel Sing
Hark the herald, angry angels siiii-ing
Glory to the tankborn,Ty
"Peace on earth if we kill all Chiggys
Have no God with whom to reconcile."
Glory all ye nations rise
Join the battle in the skies
"Hooyah!", the angry angels sii-ing
"Watch your six, there's incoming."
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To the mangled tune of Little Drummer Boy:
"Chigs," they told him parampampampam
"We kill all chigs" parampampampam
"We are THE MARINES" parampampampam
"Our biggest guns we'll bring" parampampam ,rampampampam,ramprampampam
"Chigs are our enemies" parampampampam
"They're filled with greenish grease" parampampampam
"They spooge and curse Chigese" parampampampam
"Invaded us without an as-you-please" parampampampam ,blah blah
"Chigs" they warned him parampampampam
"We want to kill them all"parampampampam
"Roundhammer's our great big ruse"
"And the 58th's the fuse " parampampampam blah blah
"We will win this war" parampampampam
"Kill AIs, even the score" parampampampam
"Coz AIs are chig allies" parampampampam
"We wont leave a-one alive" parampampampam blah blah
"Marines, it's do or die" parampampampam
"Lets hear your battle cry" parampampampam
"We'll deal death from above" parampampamam
"In space and on earth" parampampampam, blah blah
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Courtesy of Christine, JMDG-L.
1/ Away on the Toga, (Away in a Manger)
Away on the Toga,
No Chig finds a bed,
No AI lies sleeping,
Where Ross lays his head.
The Wildcards aren't missing,
McQueen has two legs,
and Winslow comes calling
and Ray Butts ain't dead.
2/ Angels from the USS Yorktown (From the Realms of Glory)
Angels from the USS Yorktown,
Win your fight, defend the Earth.
Aliens known as Chigs are coming,
They don't know your Majors worth.
Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaansen, Damphousse, Waaaang and West,
Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaansen, Damphousse,Wang,West,Cooper Hawkes.
Wildcards from the Saratoga,
Fighting Chigs with all their might
Rescue Kylen then go Under
Disappearing into Night
Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaansen, Damphousse, Wang and West,
Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaansen, Damphousse, Wang,West Cooper Hawkes
3/ Hark the Angry Angels Sing
Hark the Angry Angels sing,
Death comes spitting from their wing.
Chigs and AI's all turn flight,
Angels firing in the night.
Though they die,
They linger on,
Memorys live
in the last one.
Ty McQueen their Major fair,
Now with WIldcards fighting there.
Ty McQueen an Invitro,
Killing Chigs where'er he goes.
Hark this Angry Angel Sings,
Chig von Richt, I'll give him wings,
He won't kill any more kids,
Winslow's death will make it quits.
See he lays his implant by,
Flys so CVR might die,
Flies to save the son's of Earth,
He will give them all he's worth,
Angry Angel from above
Fighting for the Kids he loves
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CONTINUES IN PART B