Section 47 Express for April 2013
Apr 8, 2013 15:06:17 GMT
Post by Jamey Gaz on Apr 8, 2013 15:06:17 GMT
Greetings fellow members and welcome to the latest installment of Section 47 Express publication. This is the publication that gleans a closer look at what is going on in the fleet. We also aim to bring you interviews that allow you a chance to get to know some of your fellow members better. So, sit back and grab a raktajino, quarktajino, bloodwine, kali-fal, or even a glass of Talaxian champagne and enjoy!
Interview with a member:
Our interview for this issue is none other than Retired Fleet Admiral Karynn McCormick. Sitting down with the Admiral on a simulated sunny day in the holo-deck, she was so gracious to answer my questions and I report them now to you as she answered.
How did Section 47 form?
Our founder, Tetteras Hepta, in the early days of the internet and role playing games, was a part of the sim called Federation Defensive Task Force. From that, he decided to form his own simming group where the ranks were based on answering trivia questions instead of post count and ‘who-you-knew’ in the sim. (As a side note, I was also a member of the FDTF for a while and had great experiences there. I’m not sure if an incarnation of them still exists. It was last called Meggiddo Fleet.) Little did he know that his site would take off like gangbusters. Soon, however, he had more work than he could handle and he even announced, about a year into things, that he was closing the site. There was a huge outcry of “NO” from those of us who were members and several members stepped up to help him in the administration. That was the beginnings of our present day command staff. I guess I’m one of the few people that remember how difficult it was to keep up with assigning new members to ships – and it’s why I still hold a special place in my heart for the site’s first Personnel Officer, Arok.
Because of her retirment, I followed up with this question: In what capacity can the member-ship of Section 47 see you in the future, will you still write/simm?
I am desperately trying to keep my two characters alive. Kaylana, my first character, is still on the USS Rainier. I hope to breathe more life into her soon now that my leave of absence is over. Karynn has been idle for quite some time. There are still few people who remember her since most of my simming with that character was done in the Academy Fleet. I am hopeful someone will need to use her and I can reanimate her on Starbase 47.
How long have you been simming?
I had no idea what simming was until I did a search for Star Trek one day on the net (back in 2000!) I’ve been simming since then. S47 was my first experience with it
What do you enjoy most about simming?
The interaction and the surprise! You never know what the other person is going to come up with and how it will make you adapt.
What positions/characters have you played and which is your favorite?
Kaylana Cornette – my first character. I invented the first name and the last name is a corruption of my real last name. She’s me, in a lot of ways. Karynn McCormick – my character that was created for the position of Academy Commandant. She’s much more of a stickler for protocol and does things ‘by-the book’. She had to be – she was in charge of the Academy. I used her tragic backstory to write cathartically about my real life husband’s death. She’s dear to me because of that.
I currently have a character on the S’Harien called Isha Qellar. I like her backstory of having no family and, thus, no honor among Romulans. I also enjoy writing how sneaky she is. But, sadly, she’s not been very active due to my real life obligations as of late.
I’ve had various other short-lived characters: Xia, an Orion female; Miakoda, a Native American doctor in the Classic Trek timeline. Those last two haven’t seen the light of day in years.
Do you have a particularly favorite mission you have been in?
I have three, actually. I really enjoyed playing a vampire running amok on Starbase Conqueror. I’ve always enjoyed playing the ‘bad guy’. Another favorite was aboard the early days of the Majesty with retired Commodore “Big” Bill Kruse. He had us all de-evolving which was great fun! The other favorite of mine took place on the Majesty after I was Captain. We all changed gender which I found delightful to write.
If every time your current character the room a theme song played, what would it be and why?
Alexander Courage’s battle theme music from the original series! Why? Because it’s foreboding!
On a scale of 1-10, how weird is a character you play? Why did you choose that number?
With 10 being ‘most weird’, I’d have to give Karynn a “2” and Kay a big ol’ “5”.
Karynn, as I stated already, is straight-laced and duty bound. Kay is more of a free spirit with a lot of flaws that brim to the surface quite frequently. She isn’t driven by the rules – in fact, she’s been known to be quite lax. I enjoy writing her with flaws because so many times, simmers desire to make their characters larger than life and appear perfect. That’s not the real world – and I don’t see the future being that way. We are still going to be ‘human’ no matter how long society lasts.
What is your first Star Trek memory?
Believe it or not, I was alive when the series first aired in prime-time. (Don’t tell anyone! ;D) I used to beg my mother to make my older brother turn it off. (What did I know? I was a baby?) When it hit syndication in the mid 70’s is when I fell in love with it. Classic Trek is still my favorite… and Kirk. How I love William Shatner – even today!
What can you tell about that moment you turned into a Trek fan?
When I first witnessed William Shatner kiss a co-star… that was the moment I became a Trek fan! I stayed a fan because of the camaraderie between the characters and the awesome plotlines.
What Star Trek episode do you recall, like, love, hate? Tell us why?
I hate the episode in classic Trek that most people hate… “The Way to Eden”. Ugh! That one’s a stinker. I hate that they killed Kirk in “Generations” although I don’t actually hate the movie entirely. And although you didn’t ask, I really hate the “Enterprise” series. They ruined so much of the original Trek in that one. In my personal opinion, the further the franchise has moved away from the original series, the worse it has become.
Do you read Star Trek books? Tell us something about the last one you read or your favorite.
It has been years since I’ve read them, but I have read all of Shatner’s Kirk book series. (Makes sense that I would read those, now that you know my infatuation with Kirk, huh?) For research purposes, I’ve started, but not finished, the Romulan novel “My Enemy, My Ally”. I was talked into putting a character on the S’Harien so I was wanting a bit of info on the Romulan species. A lot of background on the race comes from those novels by Diane Duane.
In your own words, describe the dream of Star Trek.
I know a lot of people who talk about the hyperbolic scope of Gene Roddenberry’s vision. Yes, I do believe he was a true Renaissance man, ahead of his time in his thinking. To see the future as all-inclusive was brilliant, in my opinion. However, I’m also a cynic who has read a LOT about the early days of Trek. Roddenberry was first and foremost a television series genius. He knew exactly what it took to make Star Trek great and he did that. Unfortunately, I think he was a bit too soon. The syndication days (the 1970’s) seemed to be the better timeframe to launch his vision of the future. To me, classic Trek was way ahead of its time. It was the first Sci-Fi show that didn’t rely on monsters to make the story. Putting the characters in a military type situation added to its believability, I think.
The original series inspired so many people to pursue careers in engineering, space exploration and computers. It makes me wonder if we would be this far along, technologically, if it weren’t for Star Trek.
I started out, all those years ago on this site, embarrassed to mention to anyone that I was a Star Trek fan. Over the years, S47, The Big Bang Theory and reading numerous books about the series’ birth have made me ‘come out of the nerd closet’, so to speak. I’ve even been known to wear a t-shirt in public that states “10 reasons why Kirk is better than Picard”. I wouldn’t have done that 10 years ago! I now realize just how ‘mainstream’ Star Trek fandom really is.
UPDATE: Section 47's very own SMS (Nova) Ship!
The ease of doing joint posts as well as just saving a post and returning back to it later is, as we see it, the greatest advantage to using Nova. Grayson has just been updated to the latest Nova version this month. Below are just some of the newest features of Nova with the current release:
- OOC Emails sent from the Nova system, to the players, include a reply-to header. When the player clicks Reply in their email client, they will be able to respond directly to the author of the post.
- Author listings throughout Nova now link to the character bios.
Find the ship here!: USS Grayson.
Projects in the works!
As is so often the case when something is announced it is often swallowed up quickly by another post.. As such, we would like to take a moment to shine a much-deserved light on the Section 47 Wiki. Since the old wiki crashed people have been hard at work trying to make a new and better one.
Soon we hope it will be as extensive as the old one replete with Ship histories, Species created specifically for Section 47 and past missions. So follow the link and check it out here! :Section 47 Wiki
A Message from the Recruitment Department.
As you, all know this site would be nothing without the fantastic and talented members who make it a great place to Simm, and new members only add to enjoyment as such the recruitment officer has been hard at work creating sites on social networks to help spread news of our great site.
The Facebook can be found here :Section 47 Facebook
And Twitter here :Section 47 Twitter
Commendations:
Did a post make you smile or laugh? Is there someone on your crew who always puts in that extra effort?
While we all know the awards aren’t real (Shame I know! We all like Gold) they are nice to receive none the less. It is more than a picture on a profile it is a sentiment that says.. I enjoy your writing or I appreciate the effort you put in.
So next time a post makes you smile despite the terrible day you are having, or someone helps you out nominate them for a Commendation!
In closing,
We hope you have enjoyed this edition of Section 47 Express!
Do you have something you want to appear in the next edition? if so please contact me and we can make it happen, feedback and comments are also welcomed!
Respectfully Submitted - Captain Jamey Gaz - Chief of Section 47 Communications.
April 2013
April 2013