Independence Fleet Newsletter
July 2002
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- Opening
- June Stats and Awards
- The Real Dick and Big
- Writing Tip of the Month
- Interview: Lt. Cmdr. Hagan
- News Briefs
- Closing
OPENING:
The fleet had an excellent month in June. By many
measures, it’s our best month ever! To learn about
how strong IndFleet is right now and about currently
planned growth, read on!
JUNE STATS AND AWARDS
IDF saw 755 posts during June, our second best monthly
total ever
(January 2002, 758). We also had four ships break the
100 post barrier (USS Excalibur, USS Washington, USS
Patriot, and USS George W. Bush). There has never
been a month with more than two ships over the 100
post mark in the past, so this is quite an
accomplishment. Not only was there a lot of posting
going on, but the storylines were all top notch as
well. All in all, it was an excellent month, perhaps
the best month IDF has seen to date. This made
choosing the awards very difficult. However, we were
able to sort out a few winners...
- Best Post:
Ens. Zingela, ASO, USS Washington, Post #1355.
Although
Ens, Zingela was new to the Washington and to simming,
that didn't stop him from using his superior writing
abilities. His post #1355 defines good posting. He
is concise, uses a lot of characters, and moves the
plot along very well. A great post and something
everyone should look at.
- Funniest Post:
Lt. Reggie "Big" Johnson, CE, USS Washington, Post
#1302. Lt. Johnson wins his 5th IDF Funniest Post
award and his 6th award overall, making him the most
decorated person in IDF history. Post #1302 was
another
example of Johnson's timely comic relief from
missions. He always puts
a smile on the faces of his readers.
- Most Posts:
Lt. Ingoldo, CSO, USS Excalibur, 28 posts. Lt.
Ingoldo is quickly becoming one of the more valuable
members of the fleet. After already winning IDF's
Most Posts and MVP awards, Ingoldo takes home his
second Most Posts award. In fact, 28 ties the
previous IDF record of 28. Ingoldo was the most
prolific poster for June.
- MVP:
Lt. Cmdr. Julie Absecon, CMO, USS George W. Bush.
Julie Absecon continued her excellent simming from
last month when she won the Most Improved award. She
posted 19 times during the month and really assumed a
leadership position on the ship, helping newer
members. Her posting was top notch and she was a real
asset to her ship, a true MVP.
- Rookie of the Month:
Lt. McGregor Blaine, CEO, USS Excalibur. As a rookie,
Lt. Blaine was able to pump out 20 posts. His posts
were well written and actually helped other crew
members improve their writing style. Blaine is a
great addition to the already strong crew of the
Excalibur. He should be force for a long time on his
ship. Look out for this new simmer.
- Most Improved:
Lt. Paula Fredricks, CMO, USS Excalibur. After
posting only minimally last month, Dr. Fredricks
posted a whopping 28 times! This is good enough to
tie the previous IDF record. If it weren't for fellow
crewmember, Ingoldo, Fredricks would have been looking
at a Most Posts award as well. Fredricks has
established herself as a premier simmer on her ship.
- Recruitment:
Cmdr. Alayne Tolbin, XO, USS Excalibur. Cmdr. Tolbyn
continued her excellent work as the Excalibur's XO
last month. She was able to recruit two new people to
her ship. After already winning the MVP award for
March, she's quickly inking herself in as one of the
fleet's best all around players. She can do it all
from excellent posting to teaching to recruiting.
Two interesting facts:
The USS Excalibur becomes only the second ship to win
4 IDF awards in
one month (USS Washington, March 2002).
The USS Washington becomes only the second ship to win
both Best Post
and Funniest Post in the same month (USS George W.
Bush, December 2001).
THE REAL DICK AND BIG
Who are the two funniest people in IDF? Without a
doubt, it would have
to be Lt. Cmdr. Reggie "Big" Johnson of the USS
Washington and Lt. Cmdr. Dick Phelps of the USS George
W. Bush. Between the two of them, they've taken home
nine, yes nine, of the twelve Funniest Post awards
from IDF. Big Johnson has won five (July 2001, August
2001, November 2001, March 2002, and June 2002) and
Dick Phelps has won four (October 2001, December 2001,
January 2002, and May 2002).
Their comic relief from missions and humorous
character development
posts have been enjoyed by their fellow shipmates
since IDF's launch. Both Johnson and Phelps are
charter members of IDF. The duo started out as
Lieutenants on their respected ships on July 4th,
2001. Johnson has been on the Washington, under VAdm.
Robert Seldon, ever since. Phelps started out on the
USS Avalon under then VAdm. Charles Star. Phelps
transferred to the USS George W. Bush when Star
launched the new ship in Decemver 2001. Johnson and
Phelps were both recently promoted to Lieutenant
Commander on July 4th, 2002. They held their ranks of
Lieutenant for exactly one year. Though neither is
known for being very prolific, their posts are timely
and always good. Let's take a look as their award
winning funny posts:
From Big Johnson:
July 2001:
http://www.topica.com/lists/Washington11988/read/message.html?mid=900493155&sort\
=d&start=0
August 2001:
http://www.topica.com/lists/Washington11988/read/message.html?mid=900940463&sort\
=d&start=151
November 2001:
http://www.topica.com/lists/Washington11988/read/message.html?mid=902340988&sort\
=d&start=601
March 2002:
http://www.topica.com/lists/Washington11988/read/message.html?mid=903776747&sort\
=d&start=1219
June 2002:
http://www.topica.com/lists/Washington11988/read/message.html?mid=904571785&sort\
=d&start=1816
From Dick Phelps:
October 2001:
http://www.topica.com/lists/Avalon3002/read/message.html?mid=901868372&sort=d&st\
art=238
December 2001:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/USSGeorgeWBush/message/21
Jaunuary 2002:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/USSGeorgeWBush/message/121
May 2002:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/USSGeorgeWBush/message/529
These 9 are only a glimpse of the many funny and well
written posts by
both Big Johnson and Dick Phelps. Go back through the
archives of the
Washington, George W. Bush, and Avalon to look at some
of their other work. While serious missions and
dramatic posts are encouraged, there will will always
be a place for the type of humor that Big and Dick
bring to the table.
WRITING TIP: SPELLING
I know what you’re thinking: what, am I a dork or
something? My spelling is fine! Mostly, that’s true,
but it’s also the easiest thing to miss even if you
are a dedicated post re-reader like myself. Remember,
even if you have a spell checker on your computer,
some funny things can slip through. Here’s a sample
sentence.
* * *
Won day, when I was walking threw the forest, I saw
sum strange whether. Without warning, it started to
reign. Wouldn’t you no it? I was whet when I arrived!
* * *
Unfortunately, the spell checkers aren’t wired to our
brains and it usually doesn’t know what we’re trying
to say. The best thing to do, the thing that catches
the most errors is simply re-reading your post.
Honestly you’d be surprised at how effective it can
be.
Another thing I wanted to address is this: what if you
don’t have a spellchecker? I know, it sounds odd, but
it’s not unheard of to have a spellchecker that isn’t
associated with a dictionary or is nonfunctional for a
milieu of other reasons. But don’t worry! There is
something you can do! Read it backwards! “What?”
you’re thinking, “Isn’t my life difficult enough?” Let
me explain.
Your brain is wired to look for patterns and
continuity, especially if it’s something you’ve
written yourself. When you are reading something
you’ve written, your brain is already familiar with it
and tends to skip over things like spelling errors.
When we read something we’ve written, it’s kind of
like your brain is saying “yeah yeah, I know how this
is supposed to go” and it gets lazy about looking at
details.
What is the point of writing all this? Simply put, if
you don’t have access to a spellchecker, read it
backwards. It breaks up all that continuity you worked
so hard to attain and forces your brain to re-evaluate
each word as if it were reading it for the first time.
You’d be surprised at how many spelling errors you’ll
catch.
Tune in next month when we talk about... something
else!
Thanks,
Russ
* * *
Russ plays Capt. James “Rook” Mirtoh, the USS
Washington’s executive officer. His writing tip
column appears monthly in that vessel’s newsletter,
the Washingtonian. This article is re-printed with
permission.
INTERVIEW: LT CMDR HAGAN
Interviewer: Today we're joined by Sorcha Hagan,
second officer on the USS Goliad. Thanks for taking
the time for speaking with us today, Lt. Cmdr. Hagan!
Hagan: Your welcome. Hi all y’all!
Interviewer: Can you tell us a little about your
experience, so far, with the fleet?
Hagan: Well it all started with my friend Joey. He was
in this fleet for awhile. He introduce me to the fleet
and I sign on as assistant security officer on the
Washington. I started as a ensign and in no time I
became a lt. My brother who is the captain of the
Goliad and he let join. I became second officer and
I’ve enjoyed every minute of being in the fleet.
Interviewer: How has that worked out, SIMing with your
brother and, in fact, having him be your CO?
Hagan: Pretty good actually. We work together and
discuss what needs to be done on the ship.
Interviewer: Have there ever been any disagreements?
Hagan: Yes. A lot of times we disagree about things,
we both have different viewpoints on things so we
always disagree.
Interviewer: How do you resolve these disagreements?
Is it whoever posts first?
Hagan: No we just talk about it and figure it out.
Interviewer: What has been your most memorable -- or
one of them, anyway -- moments so far in the fleet?
Hagan: Well the one mission on the Washington where we
in a alternate universe and Wiggy was a flesh eating
dog.
Interviewer: Why don't you tell us a little about
Wiggy, the Goliad's mascot?
Hagan: Wiggy is based off my real life dog Oswego.
He’s a stray dog I picked up from the streets and he’s
half lab and half collie and is now seven years old.
He’s an ensign and is a mascot and everyone on board
loves him.
Interviewer: Well, I believe that the Goliad is the
only ship with a mascot and I'm sure that creates a
lot of situations for mischief! Where do you see the
Goliad and the fleet going in the coming 2-3 months?
Hagan: I hope we do more first contact missions. But
frankly with our crew I never know what our mission is
going to be because the crew always comes up with
something inventive with the mission.
Interviewer: How do you think the fleet can best grow
and be strengthened?
Hagan: If the crews of the ships stay together and
work as a team the fleet would be strengthened. Plus
if there is more recruitment the fleet would grow.
More people joining the simm would help strengthen and
make the simm grow.
Interviewer: So, you feel that IndFleet is currently
going in the right direction and only needs to keep
doing what we're already doing to excel even more?
Hagan: Yes.
Interviewer: Alright, it appears that the time
allotted for our interview has expired. Again, let me
thank you for joining us to share your thoughts on the
fleet!
Hagan: Well I’m glad to have done the interview it was
fun and I hope everyone enjoys it.
NEWS BRIEFS
The USS Washington and USS Horatio Nelson (both DRF
ships) are currently engaged in an exciting joint
mission, the fleet’s first in some time. The mission
started today in a post written jointly by the
Washington’s CO, VAdm Seldon, and the Nelson’s
captain, James Britanicus. The Washington’s Lt. Cmdr.
Meriod provided ideas for the new mission as well.
The Defense Response Force plans to launch a new ship
within the next month. Adm Star reports that Deep
Space Exploration currently has plans for two new
ships, with a CO already confirmed for one of them.
Look for more news on this as it is released. Anyone
interested in a command is invited to use the Fleet’s
“Apply for Command Form” on the fleet website to
communicate their interest to the admiralty.
CLOSING
Thanks to all of our members who put in so much energy
each day of the month to make this fleet what it is:
one of the premier Star Trek PBeM Organizations on the
globe. Congratulations to everyone who has been
recognized and also to all our unsung heros! All of
your contributions are what make this fleet great and
I’m proud to be a part of it with you all!
VAdm Robert Seldon
CO: USS Washington, NCC-11988
Dir: Defense Response Force
Chief of Fleet Operations
