The Searose Grotto

Wheat and Chaff

2009-08-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

So, maybe our loyal readers can explain this one to us. Frankly, we're at wits end on it.

What is the deal with unsolicited/spam e-mail from family and friends? We understand that corporate spam is a big money business, but why do people we love or care about seem to be so quick on the trigger?

Don't get us wrong here: We love to get updates from family and friends, those cute stories about puppies that saved a hapless swimmer from shark attack, and amusing/adorable pictures. Sometimes, those bright little jewels are just the ticket to lift your spirits after a long, hard day at the office. But what about the bold-faced lies? The "your congressman doesn't pay into Social Security" or "sign this online petition to stop Congress from stealing your guns" lies? How about the "the President's a Muslim Socialist hell-bent on stripping your fundamental Constitutional liberties and making you all into mindless drones from Brave New World, 1984, and/or Anthem" lies?

Did you know that the spam actually does more harm than good? Take, for example, the Mothers Against Drunk Driving petition that floats around once a year or so. MADD did not commission the thing, yet they ended up with multiple copies in their inboxes from well-meaning people. The downside is that it clogged the inboxes, preventing MADD from helping those who needed actual help beacuse they had to clear out the garbage first.

What people don't think about is how easy it is to check the facts before hitting send. It takes just as long to go to Snopes.com and type in the keywords to check the thing than it does to hit forward and select your entire address book. People who forward untrue items without checking are putting their reputations on the line, and it's just like telling an untrue story to someone face-to-face. The big difference is that the convenience of e-mail makes it easier to press send and forget about it.

Would you seriously go up to your parents or your children and tell them about something possibly earth-shattering without verifying your facts? Maybe we're all just victims of convenience.

Use that convenience to your advantage, and put the world's largest repository of information to work for you. A few seconds on the internet -- at reputable sites, mind you -- can make all the difference.

Our challenge to you is to break the chain. Do you have the courage to follow through?

Catching Up... Again

2009-08-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Two months, already? It seems like I just wrote here. I say that with a smile, friends, because the last two months have been crazy.

Back in February, Rosalyn and I made the decision to move on from the Navy. So, I submitted my paperwork, and we're officially out as of December. You see, the Navy requires 9-12 months advance notice for officer resignations, but the civilian world doesn't want to see you for hiring until 3-4 months maximum. The downside was that we had a six month window to "think" about the decision. I say "think," because there really wasn't any turning back. It's more of a "oh crap did I do the right thing I guess it's too late now oh what have I done what have I done" time.

Recently, that period has come to a close and corporate America is starting to look my way. I've been submitting applications, getting a few calls, and things are starting to look up. I won't say much more, for fear of jinxing the whole house of cards.

We've been very busy trying to get affairs in order to move. With the unknown, we've been hesitant to put the house on the market, but since the Memphis job market isn't so great, we're probably going to.

We've been busy building a gazebo in the backyard, which will be stronger than the previous attempt. Last time, we bought the metal and fabic contraption from Home Depot, but the remnants of Hurricane Ike tore through Memphis, and subsequently, our investment. This time, we challenge the wind and rain with reinforced lumber! We're also adding screen and netting to keep out those really big Tennessee bugs.

In July, I finally finished my Master's Degree. Graduation was in June, but I still had two weeks of class left. Mid-July brought finals, and I was done. Who'da thunk that I would've attended the University of Arkansas at some point?

We also received word that Layton High School's Class of 1999 is having their 10-year reunion this summer. Unfortunately, we won't be able to go. With so much left to go before sunrise, along with extraordinarily high airline prices on short notice, we decided it's best if we skip this one and wait for another go-round.

We will, of course, take a break from our labors by visiting family for a few days and attending Dragon*Con this year. It gives us chance to breathe, get away, and see some family and friends. Plus, do you really need an excuse to get your inner geek on?

Other than all of that, life is good. Sorry... couldn't help it. We love those comfy shirts.

All our best to everyone, friend and family alike. Remember that we love you all, and we wish you all well.

--Mike and Rosalyn

Memorial Day

2009-05-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

As everyone heads into the beginning of summer, we wanted to reflect on the history of Memorial Day. Material is sourced from Wikipedia.

After the American Civil War, many communities set aside a day to remember those who had died. These observances centered around Decoration Day, which honored the Union dead, but also included several Confederate Memorial Days.

The first Memorial Day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic Washington Race Course (known today as Hampton Park) in Charleston, a former Confederate prison camp and mass grave for Union soldiers who died in captivity.

The liberated slaves disinterred the Union soldiers from the mass grave to be properly reposed with individual graves. They also fenced in the area and added an entry arch, declaring it a Union graveyard. On May 30, 1868, they returned to the graveyard and decorated the individual gravesites, thus creating the first Decoration Day. Thousands of free slaves and Union soldiers paraded from the area, followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.

The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village observed the day on May 5, 1866, and annually thereafter. The friendship between General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who helped bring attention to the event nationwide, likely was a factor in the holiday's growth.

General Logan had been the principal speaker in a citywide memorial observation on April 29, 1866, at a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, which is presumed to be the impetus to make it a national holiday. On May 5, 1868, as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans' organization, Logan issued a proclamation that "Decoration Day" be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year, chosen because it did not share the anniversary with any battles. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance.

Many of the Southern states refused to celebrate Decoration Day, mostly due to lingering hostility towards the Union but also because there were relatively few veterans of the Union Army who were buried in the South. Columbus, Mississippi was an exception; on April 25, 1866, the city commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.

The modern name of "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882. It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays -- Washington's Birthday (which became Presidents' Day), Veterans Day, and Memorial Day -- from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971.

After some initial confusion, all fifty states adopted the measure within a few years. Veterans Day eventually was shifted back to its traditional date. With a sense of irony, most corporate businesses no longer close on Veterans Day, Columbus Day, or President's Day. Instead, they take the days after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve as more "convenient holidays".

We hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day. Please be sure to take a moment to reflect on the history and say a word of thanks for those who defend our freedom.

So Say We All...

2009-03-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica ended last Friday in a two hour, eleven minute episode, and the fallout has solidified my view of the modern science-fiction fan. Gone are the days of fans who love to think and analyze. They’ve been replaced by fans who want all the answers handed to them, in quick order, or they’re not entertained. As we all know in the business, if you’re not entertained, then what you’re watching is crap.

Unfortunately, I find that very concept to be just that: crap. Maybe I’m not a true fan anymore...

The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica started in 2003 with a four hour miniseries that chronicled the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of humans by the hands of their own creations: The Cylons. As the miniseries went on, the 50,000 survivors of the nuclear holocaust combined their efforts with the last remaining Colonial warship, the battlestar Galactica, and set course for a hope of salvation. They went looking for the Thirteenth Colony of legend their homeworld called Earth.

The show on its face was a science-fiction story about a creation of man seeking revenge, but it became so much deeper than that. The show’s creators wove a beautiful tapestry of religion and mythology, developing the human characters as well as the Cylons. The show also dealt with politics in the post-September 11th world, which was an obvious parallel in the universe of the shell-shocked Colonials.

The very concept of the BSG franchise, explained in the first episode of the original 1978 series...

"There are those who believe that life here began out there, far across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. They may have been the architects of the great pyramids, or the lost civilizations of Lemuria or Atlantis. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man who even now fight to survive far, far away, amongst the stars."

...has always intrigued me. Glen Larson, the man who created BSG, put a lot of the Mormon religion into his work, but the mythos as expanded by Ronald Moore added so much more. The first two seasons were all about action, but the last two really dove into the development of characters and exposition of the mythology, and that’s where most fans started to lose it.

I absolutely love stories that make me think, and that’s what BSG did for me. In “Daybreak,” the series finale, when others saw meaningless flashbacks to life on the colony Caprica before The Fall, I saw great development that made me wonder how they could tie it all together. These characters were tragic, epic, and real, and brought me to tears numerous times over BSG’s run.

Most of the criticisms I have seen have been over the concept of Deus ex Machina, or the introduction of God to save the day. I don’t see that the writers used that concept exclusively for the series finale as it has been a common thread throughout the series. The Cylons had a plan brought by God, and the concept of guardian angels is not a new one. The original series delved into that very concept with the Beings of Light and Apollo’s death and resurrection at their hands, leading him to be a messenger for God. The original series also brought the concept of a fallen Being of Light that embodied the devil.

The other criticisms deal with the Colonials giving up everything they knew at the end after complaining every day about not having hot showers. These complaints, while justified, also don’t have the viewpoint of military deployments. The Colonials have been on the run for five years, including long stretches without anything but the bulkheads of their ships to stare at. Having been deployed on a submarine -- virtually the same concept -- I can tell you that the first thing I wanted to do every time was sit outside away from anything artificial and enjoy the sun. I sympathize with the decisions made by the Colonials, because they had to be amplified over six hundred percent from what I experienced in the military.

Battlestar Galactica was never really about the action and the battles. Battlestar Galactica was about the people and the mythology. The very idea that “this has all happened before and will happen again” is a constant in human history, and the mythological intricacies that were woven around that core spoke volumes to me.

I won't get into endless debates about the intricacies of plot points or the merits of how well the finale represented the series. I think it was a perfect ending for a great mythological series. Everyone has their opinion and is more than entitled to it.

I hope that we get more thought-provoking stories like these in the future, and less dreck that is just sensual overload. I like my entertainment to make me think, not just entertain. Galactica had a great run, and I thank the cast and crew for it.

So say we all.

Kyle Newman, Why Do You Treat Me So Good?

2009-03-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to see Fanboys this last weekend. The film is currently in limited release and found its way to Memphis about a week ago, and I discussed the unfortunate review by “movie critic” Roger Ebert in a previous post.

To put you in the scenario, I had a rather long day by the time I saw the film. After a rather rocky start, I spent the day at the Memphis Zoo with family. By the time we reached the theater, we were definitely tired, but since we were already downtown and didn’t want to make the hour-long trip again, we took the opportunity to visit the cinema.

After a rather amusing take on the typical Star Wars opening crawl, the film starts out at a Halloween party in 1998. At this party, several friends reunite based on their common fandom and desire to see The Phantom Menace, which by this point is eight months away. One of the friends who left the group to take on more “adult responsibilities” is also there, which causes contention with everyone else. As things progress, the friends decide to take a trip to California and break into the legendary Skywalker Ranch to steal a copy of The Phantom Menace. Where’s the motivation? Well, you see, one member of the group has an aggressive form of cancer and will not live to see May, and subsequently the first Star Wars film in sixteen years.

The film has some great moments, including a couple of showdowns between Trekkies and the Fanboys. It also has some great emotional moments that carry pretty strong messages about why we are fans. There are also some great cameos by Star Wars alums. The drawback from what could have been a fantastic film is the gutter humor, which I assume comes from the widely covered interference by The Weinstein Company.

Don’t get me wrong; I saw and enjoyed the American Pie films, and much of the raunchy humor involved here is less powerful than that, but somehow it doesn’t fit with the spirit of the film. Kristen Bell’s demonstration that the character Windows is more immersed in the virtual world than the real one was hilarious, but Kevin Smith’s cameo -- while a great nod to the Jay and Silent Bob series – was enough to rip me out of the moment.

Despite its shortcomings, Fanboys is still a great tribute to the franchise I love, and I thank Kyle Newman for everything he did to make this possible. To paraphrase a line from the movie, I accept the movie, along with all its flaws, because of what it is. That’s what makes me a fan.

I give the film a 7.5 rating out of 10. For reference, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films are in the 8 and 9 range.

Fanboys is rated PG-13 and runs 90 minutes. It is currently showing in 24 cities on 46 screens, and is rumored for DVD release in May.

Celebration of an Idiotic Lifestyle

2009-02-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

On February 4, 2009, famed movie critic Roger Ebert launched his rather scathing review of the movie Fanboys. For those who don’t know, Fanboys is a film about Star Wars fans by a Star Wars fan. If you’re thinking Trekkies, then do yourself a quick favor and watch the trailer.

Trekkies was a focus on Star Trek fandom, highlighting the really wacky things they do. When I saw that film, I didn’t feel happy that someone was examining Trek fans. In fact, I wanted to melt into my chair and disappear. Trekkies implied that every fan of Gene Roddenberry’s franchise was a Starfleet uniform wearing social introvert who still lived in their parents’ basements with about fifty cats. Need I remind you of Barbara Adams, the alternate juror for the 1996 Whitewater controversy who wore her Starfleet uniform to the trial?

Apparently, this prejudicial mindset carries over to all science-fiction fandoms.

To quote Ebert’s review:

A lot of fans are basically fans of fandom itself. It's all about them. They have mastered the "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" universes or whatever, but their objects of veneration are useful mainly as a backdrop to their own devotion. Anyone who would camp out in a tent on the sidewalk for weeks in order to be first in line for a movie is more into camping on the sidewalk than movies.

Extreme fandom may serve as a security blanket for the socially inept, who use its extreme structure as a substitute for social skills. If you are Luke Skywalker and she is Princess Leia, you already know what to say to each other, which is so much safer than having to ad-lib it. Your fannish obsession is your beard. If you know absolutely all the trivia about your cubbyhole of pop culture, it saves you from having to know anything about anything else. That's why it's excruciatingly boring to talk to such people: They're always asking you questions they know the answer to.

While I defend Ebert’s right to his opinion, I have to take issue with the content. My interpretation of his words is that being involved in fandom means that you are enabled to be a social introvert. Furthermore, it enables you to have shallow relationships built on nothing more than your love of a facet of popular culture. Forget trying to build anything meaningful in a relationship because you’re incapable of doing it.

Roger Ebert, you’re doing it wrong.

In fact, Ebert went on to state:

[Fanboys] is a celebration of an idiotic lifestyle, and I don't think it knows it.

While it is true that some science-fiction fans have trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality, I argue that the majority of Star Wars fans do not share that problem.

First, let’s take a look at the 501st Legion, an international fan-based organization dedicated to constructing and building screen-accurate villain costumes from the Star Wars universe. At first glance, with over 4200 active members in 40 countries, one might think that this is just a worldwide Trek-esque Starfleet uniform party. That’s why they need a second glance.

From their charter:

"...The Legion is a volunteer club formed for the express purpose of bringing together costume enthusiasts and giving them a collective identity within which to operate. The Legion's aims are to celebrate the Star Wars movies through the wearing of costumes, to promote the quality and improvement of costumes and props, and most importantly to contribute to the local community through charity and volunteer work..."

The 501st proudly contributes to charity organizations, and maintains a list on their website of groups they’ve worked with. In fact, they are famous for working with the Make-A-Wish foundation and terminally ill children.

I wonder what part of putting a smile on a young cancer patient’s face as they get to “meet” Darth Vader is idiotic. Anyone want to answer that for me?

The 501st works other events, such as conventions, for free. All they ask is that any money offered for their work is donated to a charity in their name.

Next, I focus on an astromech droid. In 2005, Jerry Greene worked with the R2 Builder’s Group to fulfill a little girl’s wish. Her name was Katie Johnson, and she had brain cancer. Her wish was to have an R2-D2 with one caveat: she wanted it pink. Soon enough, R2-KT was born.

R2-KT exists to entertain children and raise awareness for pediatric cancer. Money raised in events with R2-KT goes to Make-A-Wish and the Children’s Cancer Fund. Building on the penchant for Star Wars fans to collect, R2-KT has been made into a Hasbro action figure and a coin, the proceeds again going to charity. As of the release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, R2-KT also entered the official canon, which is Lucasfilm acknowledging the efforts of their fans by making an icon part of history.

Again, Roger Ebert:

"Fanboys" is an amiable but disjointed movie that identifies too closely with its heroes. Poking a little more fun at them would have been a great idea. They are tragically hurtling into a cultural dead end, mastering knowledge which has no purpose other than being mastered, and too smart to be wasting their time.
When a movie's opening day finally comes, and fanboys leave their sidewalk tents for a mad dash into the theater, I wonder who retrieves their tents, sleeping bags, portable heaters and iPod speakers. Warning: Mom isn't always going to be there to clean up after you.

I have news for you, Roger. It may be fun for you to poke fun at Star Wars fans as we tragically hurtle toward a cultural dead end, but rest assured that we are above that. Being a Star Wars fan is not about knowing how many midichlorians Anakin Skywalker has or how many parsecs -- an astronomical unit of length -- it takes to make the Kessel Run. Being a Star Wars fan is about embracing the spirit of George Lucas’s vision and running with it.

I am a naval submarine officer, a faithful husband, a physicist, an engineer, a struggling author, a writer for a podcast, an Eagle Scout, and a college graduate nearly twice over. I’m also a Star Wars fan and a proud science-fiction geek. Believe me when I tell you Star Wars isn’t a lifestyle, but merely a facet of one. It’s a common ground and a solid foundation to start building relationships that mean something beyond the fantasy of pop culture.

If you spent any time at all with Star Wars fans, you would understand that we’re not about running around in costume for the hell of it or endlessly spouting lines from the films. We have social relationships that run deeper than movie scripts, most of which are developed and maintained for life. We believe in friendships that are maintained not only for the purpose of having them, and we don’t knife each other in the back when it’s convenient, unlike other fandoms.

I only wish that people could understand it instead of cowering behind their fear of diversity.

The Spectacle of Solemnity

2009-02-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

On Monday, February 10, President Obama held a press conference regarding the financial crisis. During the conference, reporter Ed Henry of CNN posed the following question:

[T]here's a Pentagon policy that bans media coverage of the flag-draped coffins from coming in to Dover Air Force Base. And back in 2004, then-Sen. Joe Biden said that it was shameful for dead soldiers to be, quote, "snuck back into the country under the cover of night." You've promised unprecedented transparency, openness in your government. Will you overturn that policy so the American people can see the full human cost of war?

President Obama responded:

Your question is timely. We got reports that four American service members have been killed in Iraq today. And, you know, obviously, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families. I've said before that -- you know, people have asked me, when did it hit you that you are now president? And what I told them was the most sobering moment is signing letters to the families of our fallen heroes. It reminds you of the responsibilities that you carry in this office and -- and the consequences of the decisions that you make.

Now, with respect to the policy of opening up media to loved ones being brought back home, we are in the process of reviewing those policies in conversations with the Department of Defense, so I don't want to give you an answer now before I've evaluated that review and understand all the implications involved.

A fairly diplomatic answer, but my fight is not with the leadership of this country. Instead, I issue a challenge to the press.

I agree that the country should understand the “full human cost of war.” As of February 9th, there have been 4,239 total American deaths in Iraq and 641 in Afghanistan. For reference, the total from the Gulf War (2 August 1990 - 28 February 1991) was 390. The Vietnam War (1959 - April 30, 1975) resulted in 285,831 allied deaths.

The challenge comes in not making a spectacle or circus out of these returning heroes. These brave souls voluntarily went to war for their country, some of them straight out of high school and boot camp, and died for what they believed in. The last thing the grieving families need when their sons, daughter, husbands, and wives return to our nation’s soil in a flag-draped casket is a media circus.

I’m reminded of another circus spectacle surrounding a servicemember’s grieving family. A few years back, the Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas started picketing at funerals of Iraq war veterans. Their reasoning was that the servicemember was killed as an example of “God’s judgment” on American tolerance of homosexuality. In fact, their website’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section states their belief that American soldiers did not join the military out of a sense of patriotism, but because they are "lazy, incompetent idiots" unable to find work elsewhere.

In response to their picketing during funerals, a motorcycle group formed the Patriot Guard, a patriotic group who position their motorcycles between the protestors and the family. In order to keep the services as solemn as possible, they block out circus by holding American flags, singing patriotic songs, or even revving their bikes to drown out the protestors. Keep in mind that the Patriot Guard are invited by the family, so they approve of the Guard’s actions.

From their website, the mission of the Patriot Guard is:

The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse amalgamation of riders from across the nation. We have one thing in common besides motorcycles. We have an unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security. If you share this respect, please join us. We don’t care what you ride, what your political views are, or whether you’re a "hawk" or a "dove". It is not a requirement that you be a veteran. It doesn't matter where you’re from or what your income is. You don’t even have to ride. The only prerequisite is Respect. Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives.

1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.
2. Shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.

We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.

To those of you who are currently serving and fighting for the freedoms of others, at home and abroad, please know that we are backing you. We honor and support you with every mission we carry out, and we are praying for a safe return home for all.

My challenge to the press, provided the Pentagon policy is revoked, is to stay respectful of the mourning family and the fallen heroes. Don’t become the next Westboro Church or some other circus act. I support the actions of the Patriot Guard, but I don’t want them to have to shield families from the press at large. Your jobs are important, but simple human respect is more important. Ask yourself what you would want of your funeral, and make sure you do your best to follow it.

MA2 (SEAL) Michael Monsoor, USN

2009-01-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

On January 14th, I received an e-mail from a good friend of mine about a Medal of Honor recipient. I thought it was cool, so naturally I ran to Snopes to check it out. It's true, which makes the story even better.

Here's the e-mail:

Navy Petty Officer Mike Monsoor.

PO2 (EOD2) (Explosive Ordnance Disposal)

Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals.

(Notice: Mike was not a Navy SEAL, he was EOD. He gave his life to save a group of Navy SEALS.)

During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego , as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery , SEAL's were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two's,
with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.

The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it.

This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero.

This should be front-page news instead of the junk we see every day.

MA2 Monsoor, a recipient of the Silver Star for pulling wounded team members to safety under fire, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bush in April 2008. According to the Summary of Action [link], MA2 Monsoor was killed when he threw himself on a grenade, saving the lives of his teammates near Ar Ramadi, Iraq on September 29, 2006. The grenade was thrown on the roof, hit MA2 Monsoor in the chest, and then bounced to the deck. Monsoor alerted his teammates by yelling "grenade," then threw himself on the weapon.

On October 12, 2006, Michael Monsoor was laid to rest at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetary in San Diego. During the funeral, as remarked by President Bush, "nearly every SEAL on the West Coast" lined up as a corridor for the casket to travel from the hearse to the site. As the casket passed, each SEAL removed the Trident warfare device from their uniforms and pounded it into the wooden surface.

President Bush remarked that the procession went on for "nearly half an hour," and that when the SEALs were finished, "the simple wooden coffin had become a gold-plated memorial to a hero who will never be forgotten."

Attached below are three videos relating to MA2 Monsoor's actions. The first is a memorial video. The next two are links to the two parts of the Medal of Honor ceremony.

MA2 Monsoor is a true American hero, and I am glad to spread the word about his actions. Thank you, Buck, for sending this along.

Ceremony, Part I

Ceremony, Part II

Additional links via Fox News:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,376243,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/archive/0,4567,101406,00.html

Back in Action

2008-08-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

How long has it been?

Since we last saw you, life has been interesting. We finally put a cap on what may be the last deployment we ever make. I got home from CENTCOM on June 13 and jumped back into work at NPC. We were offered some post-deployment leave, but since Rosalyn couldn't take leave from her job until mid-July, we just held off.

The fine folks in PERS-8 got together and had a little social to welcome me home. That was after the junior officer pool party at our friend's house. After all that, it was back to the normal grind.

In July, Rosalyn and I took a trip out to Seattle to see her parents and attend the family day at Bangor Submarine Base. We got to tour a floating hotel -- I mean, ballistic missile submarine -- and watch our niece have some fun on the blow-up slides and obstacle courses. If they could bottle the energy of a three year old, I'd buy it.

We went to Utah after that to see my family and the new baby that graces her brother's house. We made our introductions to my half-brother's new wife and I played a round of golf with my dad and brother-in-law. I'm not Tiger Woods, but I'm learning.

Afterward, we came on back to Memphis and ran in the Elvis 5K run/walk. Rosalyn did really well with it despite problems with her calves, and I continue to be proud of the achievements she makes.

It's been an adjustment for us to get back into our routine, but I think we're almost there. We're both going back to school starting this month. Rosalyn's going to finish up her Bachelor's Degree and I'm finally going to chase down that Master's Degree.

Things are pretty good in our corner of the universe.

Until next time -- and hopefully it won't be so long betweeen posts -- stay safe and have fun.

--Mike and Rosalyn

Milestones, Part II

2008-05-03T22:41:00.000-07:00

The last "Milestones" post spoke of things going on in my life. Here's a look at Rosalyn's.

I got a new job in February and I've been staying busy with training, work, keeping up with the house/yard, Corde', and friends. I'm also looking at going back to school and am in the process of jumping through the hoops of getting credits transfered and evaluated so I can get an idea of how many classes I have left to go. I'm still working on my hours to complete my Accredited Financial Counselor Certificate.

I'm on the count down to getting my husband back!!! Mike should be home in about 40 days! I'll still be on the hiring probation with work so I won't be able to take time off to take complete advantage of his homecoming but next fall I am hoping that we can take a week or two off and go on vacation together. We were looking forward to shore tour so we could spend time together and now we are eagerly awaiting the end to this unexpected deployment so we can get back to our shore tour plans!

Stay shiny and fly safe.

Etiquette Cinematica

2008-05-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

I went out on Saturday to watch the dawn of the summer blockbuster season. In a word, Iron Man is great. You know what would make it even better?

Silence.

Now, I don't mean silence as in the soundtrack falling off into the ocean. My point is that I like to hear my movies as well as see them. I get the feeling that parents just don't teach their kids etiquette anymore, especially when it comes to going to movies.

When Rosalyn and I were kids, we were told by our parents that the movie theater meant we were quiet. We sat down, watched the film, and talked when it was over. Our drinks and popcorn -- when they used to cost less than a gallon of gasoline or milk -- were to be eaten or thrown away. When cell phones became commonplace, they were to be turned off, left in the car, or left at home. This all fell under common courtesy.

Of course, there were a few things that got past these rules. In 1997, I joined the theater on all three opening nights of the special edition Star Wars films in a rousing round of applause when the lights dimmed and the LucasFilm logo popped up. My parents were overjoyed to see me happy about something they had enjoyed twenty years earlier, almost like passing the mantle of fandom. In 1999, the same thing happened at Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and there was another theater-wide cheer when Obi-Wan sprang out of the pit and made Darth Maul do the Daffy Duck tumble into the bottomless chasm. In 2002, Rosalyn and I went to see Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and we cheered when Yoda arrived and pulled his lightsaber to fight Dooku. In fact, I remember that fight being a blur because I was shocked and awed that Yoda, the wise psychotic muppet from Dagobah, was actually fighting with a lightsaber.

But when you go see The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters -- on opening day nonetheless -- and the guy behind you is telling his son the entire story as a forty-second preview before the events happen on the screen, enough is enough.

First, if your kid is too young to understand, leave him/her home, no matter the rating on the film. Rosalyn and I have discussed this, and when we have kids, they're going to practice at home with the DVD collection. If they can't make it through film in the home theater, they don't get called up to the big leagues. Having to go to the bathroom is fine, but talking in the movie is not. This also includes taking babies to the movies; Honestly, what are you thinking?

Second, how hard is it to pick up your trash and throw it away? Yes, the theater has hired teenage kids to work as the cleanup crew, but that doesn't mean your responsibility ends when you walk in. I've seen the theater not even clean up because the next show is so close to starting, and there's nothing worse than sticky shoes with a popcorn layer because someone was a pig. Well, actually, gum is worse, but I'm going to pretend that I live in a perfect world where nobody would be that disgusting. I have a good imagination.

Third, the topic of cell phones. I understand that people are busy these days, but if you're so busy that you can't be disengaged from your phone for about two hours, maybe you should reconsider that trip to the cinema. Even better, go for the vibrate function and sit near the aisle so you can leave in a hurry. There's even that cute little animation about being quiet and turning off cell phones, yet people can't be bothered with it. It's even spread to teenagers, who I know are not so busy in life that they have a need for constant communications.

Finally, a short discussion on talking overall. Look, I don't really care what you would have done differently in that scene. If you feel so strongly, go to film school, become a director, buy the film rights, and make your own movie. If you need to have a discussion about Uncle Jimmy and the strange hairy growth that just popped up above his fifth vertebrae, by all means, leave the theater, hash it out, and come back. If you think the movie stinks, or it wasn't accurate enough to the book, or just didn't measure up to your threshold of disbelief, then please leave, see a manager, get a refund, and write a review on Internet Movie Database.

Rosalyn and I have often wondered if the lack of etiquette in modern theaters is what drives people to build their own private home theaters. Buying a movie as soon as it comes out on DVD and putting it on your plasma flatscreen with surround sound is almost cheaper than making the trip to the cinema, but it doesn't quite meet the silver screen experience. The problem with the cinema experience is that it is marred by talking kids, crying babies, disrespectful parents, armchair directors, and ringing cell phones. It's apparent that the need for instant personal gratification in this society isn't dissuaded by the door to the local theater.

Is common courtesy too much to ask for in this day and age?

Milestones

2008-05-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Today marks a major milestone for our family.

Five years ago, I was commissioned an officer in the United States Navy. Along with the commission was an obligation of service in order to repay the Navy for my training. Today, that debt is fulfilled; in essence, my college loan is repaid.

Granted, we still have a year or so left in the Navy as we finish out the obligation incurred by taking shore orders. But in about forty days, I'll be able to go home and rejoin my family, and finish out my remaining time at NPC.

It feels good to be on the downward slope.

Ryan and Jen Sykes

2008-04-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Intelligence Specialist First Class Ryan Sykes and his brave wife Jen involved in a long fight in Richmond, Virginia which started in Afghanistan last month.

Jen tells the following story: “Ryan was riding a dirt bike to chow hall early Monday morning Afghanistan time. It was still dark out and he hit a pipe (or something) in the road. He flipped off the bike and landed primarily on his left side. He was alone when this happened and it took a little while for someone to find him. It was very cold out and he was suffering from hypothermia when they got him to the hospital. But, that is a good thing. It probably kept his brain from swelling due to the impact.

He suffered injuries to his left orbital bone (the bone around your eye) and some trauma to the left eye. The seriousness of his eye injury is still being determined. They thought his left arm was broken, but it's not. It just has some serious "soft tissue" damage. Probably some bad bruising, scrapes, etc.

His left lung had collapsed, but it is now better. There is some pneumonia in the left lung now due to the fluid. But, they have a tube in place to drain the excess fluid. He is under heavy sedation to relieve any pain he might be feeling. But, they lowered the drugs enough this morning to see if he could react to physical tests (hand squeezing, toe wiggling, etc.). He passed those tests. So, his arms and legs still work fine.”

Ryan is recovering at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, and will probably be there for a long time. Ryan is a Chief of Naval Operations Junior Sailor of the Year from 2003.

I found about this from an e-mail at work, and since he is a sailor, we wanted to share our thoughts and best wishes with Ryan and Jen. He is a veteran of several overseas deployments, including the most recent with the Navy Special Warfare Development Group.

Jen wants to decorate Ryan's room with cards and pictures, and I know that they are in the thoughts and prayers of the Navy contingent at United States Central Command.

If you would like to mail Ryan something, you can use the following address:

McGuire VA Medical Center
Ryan Sykes (Unit 2B-143)
1201 Broad Rock Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23249

Jen’s blog of courage is at: http://ryansykes.blogspot.com/

Thanks to all of our veterans and to those that pay them tribute.

Rise of the Podcast

2008-04-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Our generation is just barely old enough to remember the classic radio show. When I was young, the local AM radio station ran the original War of the Worlds on Halloween, and it seemed so realistic to my eight-year old ears that I really thought Martians were coming to kill me. Apparently, half a century earlier, the world thought the same thing as the Mercury Theater Broadcasting Company played out the drama over the airwaves.

This art form has evolved in the digital age, using software to create the sound effects and recordings, but not really forsaking much of the art itself. For a time, I thought that the idea of using one's imagination was combined with someone else's words was lost. How many kids do you see these days basking in the sun reading a book, after all? I seriously thought that the late eighties and the nineties had brought upon us the death of imagination in order to serve a world of convenience. Then, I discovered podcasting, and my hope was renewed.

Podcasts have been around for a while now, and the medium continues to grow by leaps and bounds everyday. Many people around the world with nothing more than a microphone and something to say have created feeds upon feeds of digital material, but there are some of these modern radio shows that tend to stand out from the rest. These are the ones Rosalyn and I like to listen to, and want to offer a few minutes of time to advertise in this blog.

For our readers who aren't familiar with podcasting, please drop us an e-mail after you read this blog, and we'll try to help. It's a brave new world.

This will be covered in two sections: Podcasts and Podnovels, as they are really two distinct species in the same genus.

Podcasts - The podcast is a brilliant concept, really. For the uninformed, the format is used as a talk show model, both aurally and visually, discussing any topic under the sun. It can be used as a version of a blog. For more information, please visit the wikipedia entry after you finish reading.

The Scapecast (http://www.scapecast.org/)

The Scapecast is a speculative fiction podcast devoted to "exploring the wonders" of Farscape, a science-fiction series that ran for four seasons and a mini-series movie from 1999-2004. The Scapecast provides a look into the Farscape universe by way of character reviews and episode discussion, then delves into speculation about how Farscape relates to the real world. The passion of the 'Scapers -- Farscape's answer to the Trekkie, but less willing to wear costumes to jury duty -- is clear in each article, be it an examination of John Crichton's motivations during each season or a look into the meaning behind each characters choice of costume (which, honestly, is scarily accurate). The show also connects Farscape to other science-fiction or popular properties by way of reviews, explaining why a fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Doctor Who should watch a story about a human lost on the other side of the galaxy.

The most entertaining part of each episode is the crew's nod to the Henson family's contributions to Farscape -- Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, was one of the creators of the show -- by way of a Sesame Street-style vocabulary lesson called "Tralk Talk." Here, the Scapecast crew acts in character, parodying characters created over the history of the Muppets, and offers explanations about what the words "frell," "dren," and "loomas" mean, among others.

The show has also managed to get interviews with members of the original show, such as Rockne O'Bannon, Ben Browder, and Claudia Black. They also offer up news, including breaking information about conventions and the upcoming webisodes on SciFi.com. Finally, they offer fan and listener interaction by the Question of the Week segment, where fans can offer opinions by the forums, voice mail, or mp3 audio recording.

The Scapecast is produced on a bi-weekly schedule.

The Force-Cast (http://www.theforce.net/ and http://www.rebelscum.com/)

The Force-Cast is a podcast about Star Wars brought to you by TheForce.net and Rebelscum.com. More than that, the Force-Cast is a fan event every week. The show itself consists of Star Wars news and rumors surrounding books, toys, comics, conventions, movies, and TV shows. Beyond that, the Force-Cast has fun with the Billy Dee Quote of the Week -- Billy Dee Williams is the smooth actor who gave life to Lando Calrissian -- and the Outrageous/Unthinkable Story of the Week.

Wait, there's more. The Force-Cast is run by a bunch of fans, and hosted by Jason and Pete, who add a sense of level-headed opinion to the news they present. They also get Star Wars fans involved by offering the show live every week on uStream.tv, with live chat, live phone calls on Skype, voice mails from a landline phone, and posts at the Rebelscum.com forums.

The show is has the air of being professionally produced, though the hosts will freely admit to making mistakes and aren't afraid to make fun of themselves in front of up to 30-40 fans. The show has also spawned a microcosm of fan events, including a monthly live canon discussion on Skype, an active chat room during Star Wars events -- such as the world broadcast premiere of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith last weekend -- and even sponsored fan get-togethers at Star Wars Celebration events.

The folks at the Force-Cast also produce periodic microcasts featuring music from fans and mainstream artists, compartmentalized topics (like book or collecting news), and interviews with famous Star Wars designers, writers, and actors.

There really is so much that encompasses the Force-Cast that it is difficult to mention all of it, but the real beauty is that none of it is a requirement to understand and enjoy the show. The only pre-requisite is a passion for Star Wars and a love for a professional sounding production with a zany fanboy feel.

The Force-Cast is produced on a weekly schedule with periodic microcasts.

The Indy-Cast (http://www.theforce.net/ and http://www.rebelscum.com/)

If making a Star Wars podcast wasn't enough for the folks at TheForce.net and Rebelscum.com, they made another one hosting Australian Ed Dolista to bring you news leading up to the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in May. Appropriately named, the Indy-Cast has news about the Indiana Jones movies, books, games, and comics, as well as listener feedback The show shares the same internet forums as the Force-Cast, and roughly the same fanbase. Must be something about those Lucasfilms properties. Now if they would make a podcast for Howard the Duck... wait, come back, I'm kidding.

The Indy-Cast isn't live, but is just as entertaining and informative as the Force-Cast. Rightly so, as it was born from the Force-Cast as the news from Indy 4 got to be too much for the Star Wars podcast to handle. It was a brilliant move, and one I hope stays around for a long while after Indiana Jones leaves the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The Indy-Cast is produced on a weekly schedule.

The Signal (http://signal.serenityfirefly.com/)

It's about passion. That's what makes fans of the aborted science-fiction series Firefly do what they do. These Browncoats, and I'm guilty as charged, wanted a continuation of the series that was mismanaged and cancelled by the network we don't speak of. They got a movie with their Big Damn Heroes named, appropriately, Serenity. Now, they want another.

The Signal is a podcast about the 'verse of Firefly. It follows the same concept as The Scapecast, with news and speculation mixed with fan-created content. It's entertaining to listen to, and keeps the spirit of Serenity alive. Every summer, they promote the "Can't Stop the Serenity" campaign, which is a movement to get live showings of Firefly or Serenity on creator Joss Whedon's birthday. The proceeds go to the charity Equality Now, which promotes women's rights.

The Signal crew also promotes Firefly oriented collectibles and swag, all of this leading to the idea that if we make enough noise, we will be heard. Firefly was unjustly taken from the Browncoats, and they want it back... and by all the power in the 'verse, they're going to get it.

The Signal is produced on a bi-weekly schedule.

CommanderBond.net (http://www.commanderbond.net/)

One of the longest running cinematic series features an ageless secret agent who has a way with the ladies and a license to kill. His name is James Bond, and he'll be back this year with the 22nd official movie A Quantum of Solace. Before you mock the title, reference the dictionary, watch Casino Royale, and understand that it is the first direct sequel in Bond history. Trust me, it fits.

The CommanderBond.net podcast is the source for news about Bond movies, books, and games, and is hosted by a snarky yet entertaining man by the name of Paul Dunphy. He has a dry and peculiar wit, but also pushes the envelope with podcasting tech, recently venturing into video podcasting and animated title sequences. The news is timely and Paul's opinions are quite blunt and truthful. It's a fully enjoyable thirty minutes of entertainment.

CommanderBond.net is produced on a somewhat monthly schedule.

Podrunner (http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html)

Sometimes running is hard on your own. I know that most times, I lack the motivation. Thank the Maker for Podrunner.

Professional DJ Steve Boyett puts together mixes of various workout music at a certain beat per minute ratio each mix, helping to keep you on pace and on track with your workout regime. Recently, he's started putting out interval mixes that varying BPM within the same podcast. Don't take my word for it; try it for yourself.

Podrunner is produced on a weekly schedule.

Podcast novels - Much like the Superman and Flash Gordon serials, the podcast novel is a method of storytelling. Podcast novels or, as coined by Evo Terra (see below), "podiobooks" are essentially audio books in a podcast format. Rosalyn and I are new kids on the podcast novel block, so our experiences with them are very sparse. What we do know is that this method is ripe with opportunity for struggling and "wanna-be" authors to break out and get published, or at the very least be recognized. This method gives us hope for change in the current literary market, as well as inspiration to continue with our own writing efforts. We also know that this method of storytelling is something that appeals to us, as we both grew up with our noses deep in books, lost in the universes that authors pulled us into.

Though I only list a small number of authors below, there are many others out there just waiting for your ears to give them a listen. The ones I listed are the ones that we are most familiar with, but we are always ready to seek out new stories to stimulate our imagination.

Evo Terra and Tee Morris (http://funanymore.com/ and http://teemorris.com/)

I list this dynamic duo on the top of the list not because I'm overly familiar with their material -- I swear, Morevi is coming up next in my list of books! -- but because they were partly responsible for the podcast novel movement.

Evo and Tee have long worked in the podcasting field, and developed a guide for up and coming podcasters called Podcasting for Dummies. Tee is the author the Morevi and Billibub Baddings books and I have found both of them to be friendly and well-versed in the podcasting genre.

Like I said above, Rosalyn and I are new on the block with the podcast novel, and these guys are going to be my next stop.

J.C. Hutchins (http://www.jchutchins.net/)

This is where we started. J.C. Hutchins certainly wasn't the first to explore the medium of podcast novels, but he is the one we hold responsible for sucking us in. In 2006, J.C. started podcasting a story called 7th Son that starts off with the President of the United States being assassinated in broad daylight... by a four-year old boy. That was the hook. After that, he pulled us deeper into his world by introducing us to a group of seven men who are supposed to save the world by stopping a man named John Smith, codenamed Alpha. The catch: the seven men are clones of the madman in question.

J.C. explored the 7th Son universe in three books, Descent, Deceit, and Destruction, and gathered a massive following -- 40,000 listeners -- in his wake. His fans, the "Beta Clone Army," are eager for more work by J.C., and they get several chances in the near future. His first book is hitting bookshelves in 2009 along with a new supernatural thriller, both from St. Martin's Press. The 7th Son universe also gets some fresh blood in the form of Obsidian, which chronicles what happened for two weeks while the United States was plunged into a nation-wide blackout by John Alpha. To tell this story, J.C. has assembled the best podcast novelists, including Scott Sigler and Michael A. Stackpole to contribute to the anthology. In addition, J.C. has asked for his loyal listeners to help by playing the victims of the blackout. By recording real-time audio or video, fans get to play in the universe. Details are available by visiting J.C.'s website. Of course, I'm stoked: I'm the dying shopkeeper, found here. *grin*

J.C. introduced Rosalyn and I to the podcast novel phenomenon. His tales accompanied me underway on the USS Philadelphia, and were in the car as we drove around Connecticut and Tennessee. It was the first time I had seen Rosalyn excited about a technological revolution, asking me when I pulled out the iPod if I had a new chapter.

So, thank you, J.C., for opening the door and showing us your world. You have given us days of entertainment and shown us a whole new way to experience great writing.

Mur Lafferty (http://www.murverse.com/)

Mur Lafferty, as she puts it, is a wanna-be fiction writer, and she makes a podcast called "I Should Be Writing" for wanna-be fiction writers that is chock full of helpful tips. She is the author of the Heaven series -- consisting of Heaven, Hell, Earth, Wasteland, and the forthcoming War -- which is about a couple that die and have various adventures in the afterlife. Mur is extraordinarily well-versed in religious mythology and is able to put her readers right next to the characters, from the ethereal nature of heaven and the darkness of hell to the twisted mysteries of the wasteland.

Mur is also the author of a full-length podcast novel called "Playing for Keeps," which is about superheroes and is also on my queue.

Scott Sigler (http://www.scottsigler.com/)

I just finished listening to EarthCore, which was the world's first podcast-only novel, and it was great. I see now why Scott Sigler's fans are called "junkies." EarthCore literally grabbed me by the throat with it's innovative characters and impressive story, and it refused to let go until the last word.

Scott Sigler is a horror podcast author with six podiobooks to his name and one printed book... well, technically three, but one with a big publisher. This is a big thing as it's an opportunity to see if a podcast novelist can make it in the mainstream publishing market, and may very well open several doors for other novelists in the near future. Scott's podcast novel Infection was re-titled Infected and published by Crown Publishing, and is optioned for a movie by Rogue Pictures.

In fact, this reminds me... I need to go get my copy. Can I leave you here to read the rest of this, or better yet, do you want to come with me to the bookstore?

Scott Sigler's further works are also in my queue. I have a lot to listen to.

Podiobooks.com (http://www.podiobooks.com/)

Finally, we get to the treasure trove. This is where I discovered the podcast novel and 7th Son. The site hosts thousands of titles all downloadable for free. Each title has the option to donate as much as you think the book is worth, and 75% of the money goes to the author.

If you're a fan of good books and good authors, this is the place to come. You won't leave empty-handed or empty-hearted.

I hope that you have found the inspiration to seek out these modern methods of storytelling and social networking. The pod-sphere is a large place, but it is overflowing with news, music, information, and worlds of imagination. The podcasts I talked about here are only the tip of the iceberg, and we are exploring more and more each day. Rosalyn and I challenge you to take the plunge and seek out new wonders that broaden your horizons and open new doors.

Again, if you need help to figure this whole podcasting thing out, please drop us an e-mail.

Cheers and happy listening. Fly safe.

Has the quest for capitalism driven us insane?

2008-04-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

I hold in my hand a report from the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). This report is the testimony before the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs regarding Internet Sales for Sensitive and Stolen Military Items. The link follows to the pdf of the full report.

I know that this was covered in the news lately, but my feathers are a bit ruffled on this one.

Oh, and don't tell me that my blog is empowering the terrorists by exposing a weakness. They already know it's out there... they've done it before.

The report states that undercover GAO representatives were able to go online to eBay and craigslist and purchase several items that are considered sensitive or stolen. Of them, the agents found an F-14 Tomcat antenna, a full set of Nuclear Biological Chemical (NBC) gear, body armor, and night-vision goggles (NVGs).

The agents also discovered that the majority of items were supposed to be returned after use. Since this didn't happen, these personnel are now considered thieves.

So, where's the problem? Here's my issue:

First, sensitive items are sensitive for a reason, and distribution of these items outside the military is a big security risk. The only country in the world with F-14 technology is Iran, since we just retired our fleet. The NBC gear and body armor can be reverse-engineered in order to exploit weaknesses.

Second, the NVGs are military specification. Take your average set of ~~Wal-Mart~~ Cabela's night vision gear and add a device that allows you to see the infra-red ID badges on the Army's Combat Uniform (ACU). Add in the fact that the IR badges are also available for sale because soldiers put their ACUs on eBay, and suddenly that advantage is gone.

These people are putting our soldiers' lives at risk for the pursuit of capitalism! We're already at war, support it or not, and we have Americans making the tasks of the insurgents that much easier. Don't think so? Come with me back to January 2007, when insurgents dressed in full ACUs were able to kidnap five Army soldiers, killing one immediately and executing the other four on live video feed.

The GAO agents were able to assemble an entire ACU, head to toe, from eBay alone. This is despite the fact that the Army has an order on the streets from January '07 that prohibits the sale of ACUs to civilians.

It is legal for civilians to own and even wear military uniforms. Under 10 USC Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 45, Sections 771 and 772, no person may wear the uniforms of the military except under some exceptions (772):

(a) A member of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard may wear the uniform prescribed for the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, as the case may be.

(b) A member of the Naval Militia may wear the uniform prescribed for the Naval Militia.

(c) A retired officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may bear the title and wear the uniform of his retired grade.

(d) A person who is discharged honorably or under honorable conditions from the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may wear his uniform while going from the place of discharge to his home, within three months after his discharge.

(e) A person not on active duty who served honorably in time of war in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may bear the title, and, when authorized by regulations prescribed by the President, wear the uniform, of the highest grade held by him during that war.

(f) While portraying a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, an actor in a theatrical or motion-picture production may wear the uniform of that armed force if the portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force.

(g) An officer or resident of a veterans' home administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs may wear such uniform as the Secretary of the military department concerned may prescribe.

(h) While attending a course of military instruction conducted by the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, a civilian may wear the uniform prescribed by that armed force if the wear of such uniform is specifically authorized under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned.

(i) Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Air Force may prescribe, a citizen of a foreign country who graduates from an Air Force school may wear the appropriate aviation badges of the Air Force.

(j) A person in any of the following categories may wear the uniform prescribed for that category:

(1) Members of the Boy Scouts of America.
(2) Members of any other organization designated by the Secretary of a military department

However, common sense needs to apply here.

The GAO report found that the obvious solution -- verifying the buyers military credentials -- was not the most used one. In fact, sellers on eBay and in live storefronts didn't even ask for military ID, even if their policy stated it in black and white. That means any bad guy in the United States can log on to the internet and buy himself ticket to killing our troops.

Bravo, capitalism.

If you are a trying to get rid of your spare uniforms, there are several options:
1. Donate them to a military thrift store, such as through the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society or its Air Force and Army equivalents. These stores cater to the military, not the civilian world, so your uniforms will go to someone who needs them.

2. Donate them to your unit. There's got to be someone who can use them on the next deployment.

3. Destroy them. Burn, shred, whatever. Make them unusable.

I checked eBay last night and found multiple listings for ACUs on sale, despite the Army's ban. eBay cannot be held liable, and supposedly keeps a lookout for things that are "prohibited items." I don't think they are doing a very good job. Furthermore, I feel that capitalism has overridden the common sense of these sellers.

Please, members of the military, do the right thing here. If you want them to come home, you should want them home in one piece.

"Always on the move..."

2008-04-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

I think Obi-Wan had it right in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, even though we're not even close to being his young padawans.

MySpace has outlived its usefulness for us. Frankly, the interface is cluttered, people keep hacking accounts, and we find it much less professional than Facebook. So, we're likely going to cancel the MySpace account and make the move elsewhere.

We fully recommend Facebook for social networking.

Mike and his outdated HTML skills have created a website [http://searosegrotto.googlepages.com/] on the Google servers. We will continue our blog there in association with Blogger.com. It will get better with time, but we consider it a vast improvement over MySpace's meager offerings.

We will be moving the posts from the MySpace blog to the Blogger blog, but the comments don't get to come along. Thanks, MySpace, for one last slap in the face.

Please, come visit the site, as it will be updated frequently.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Mike and Rosalyn

(9 Mar 2008) The "Management" at Wally World

2008-04-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. We're joining the bandwagon of boycotting the collossus Wal-Mart.

We have a good friend and co-worker who has used Wal-Mart for a long time to get oil changes every few months on her car. A couple of months back, she followed her maintenance ritual and went to the Millington Wal-Mart with Rosalyn. After an hour of shopping, they went back to check on the car. There had been no intercom pages, and no horrendous lines, so the spider-sense was really tingling.

When they got to the service department, the techs had her sign a form because the oil was low, and they couldn't look at the car in that condition unless she signed off. Sounds like standard waiver type stuff... right?

Well, they waited for another half hour, and actually saw the car being driven out. Five more minutes, and they asked the infamous question: Is it done yet? Our friend was told that oil change had not been completed because the torque on the oil screw wasn't what it should be. They asked why they weren't paged or talked to about it, and the guy started mumbling something about not knowing where they were. When the girls told them that this guy knew they were waiting, he said that he was the "Service Manager" (insert horns/trumpets) and all he could do was repeat the fact that they couldn't work on the car.

Sounds a bit Starkish, eh? "My side, your side. My side, your side..." (Random Sci-Fi Reference: see: Farscape; cross-reference: Aurora Chair)

When they asked about the warrantee, he just kept repeating that the torque wasn't right.

"My side, your side. My side, your side..."

So, they asked for his boss, or in Wal-Lingo, his "manager". As Rosalyn put it, "I didn't need him to continue repeating the same thing, and I wanted answers."

He went and got the "Store Assistant Manager", who provided the names of the "Regional Manager", the "Service Manager" (who apparently was suffering from a bout of Rumplestiltskin and wouldn't provide his name himself), and the name of the actual technician, who had also disappeared and wasn't speaking.

So the girls purchased motor oil and filled the car to the correct level. Our friend took the car to the dealership to find out what was wrong. The dealership discovered that Wal-Mart had cross-threaded the screw that last time they changed the oil. The dealership had to replace the oil pan because of how bad the damage was.

Our friend called the "Regional Manager" and asked for them to honor the guarantee and pay for the damage the service department had done. They refused and said that she could try taking them to court, but it would be more expensive for her than the cost of the oil pan, and that they would drag it out as long as possible. She replied that this wasn't good customer service and that she wasn't going to shop at Wal-Mart if this was how she was going to be treated.

Wal-Mart's response? You're gonna love this...

She was told that 1 in 5 of American's worked at Wal-Mart, knew someone that did, or owned Wal-Mart stock. As a result, losing one customer wasn't going to hurt them.

Wait... What? Say that again?

Since twenty percent of the United States is somehow affiliated with Wal-Mart, they won't feel bad about their mistake?

The "guarantee" is on the back of the receipt, all typed out by some fancy computer, and it disgusts us that they aren't honoring it. They have the records of her getting her oil changed ever few months for the last few years. They know they are the last ones that worked on the car.

Our friend doesn't have the money to pay for the court costs, so she is going to eat the car repair and isn't going to shop at Wal-Mart anymore. We agree with her.

If they do this to people, that hard-working 20% of the populace who make up their infrastructure, I don't want to shop there either. Last I checked, this wasn't good customer service. What makes them think they can do this to people?

(21 Dec 2007) Bringing Driving Skills to the Natives of Tampanistan

2008-04-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! Mike here, safe and sound in the glorious state of Tampanistan. Some say I'm here to defend Epcot against the insurgents of the world, and others claim that I'm here to make the world safe for Hooters girls. I've actually found my true calling here: bringing safe driving skills to the natives.

The locals (Tampanians?) are characterized into three groups:

1. Small people characterized by gray hair and bent-over frames, usually traveling alone or in male-female pairs. Distinctive clothings is polyester trousers, a button-down shirt, and a hat advertising a branch of the armed services and the word "retired." Usually found in convoys of slow moving vehicles, typically as the lead car. Normally found near the Base Exchange or the Pharmacy.

2. Small framed females with bleach blonde hair and clothing sized to about negative five. Usually found travelling along the waterfront at a brisk jog. Distinctive clothing is spandex and an iPod (or equivalent MP3 device). Typically located in sunny locations running away from collisions caused by rubber-necking drivers.

3. Vehicle operators, ranging from ages 16-50, of all shapes and sizes from both genders. Usually found travelling at breakneck speeds or slaloming through traffic jams. Distinctive clothing includes one standard issue cellular telephone attached to one ear. Communicates to others outside the vehicle by excessive use of horn. Adverse to use of turn signals, and typically cannot see lights on other cars if they blink.

It is this third classification of Tampanian that poses the greatest risk to life, limb, and eyesight. Speed limits here are a guideline and turn signals are invisible. I've been involved in several near misses per day in my first week, and the odds are swinging even further out of my favor.

Yep, definitely here to bring some skills to the natives. Either that, or several swift punches to the throat.

Other than that, I am here. Rosalyn came down for the holidays, so things are good. I'm happy to be out of the World Famous Camp McCrady Holiday Inn (read: open bay barracks. See the pictures.), although I have a great deal of respect for the folks in country and their dedication in lugging around the 75 pounds of body armor everyday. You guys are awesome.

Some photos are posted in the pictures section. I'm catching up on a month of stuff, so don't mind me.

And if anyone knows where the reactor is here, let me know. I'm still a submariner, after all.

(17 Nov 2007) Becoming a Navy of One

2008-04-05T23:45:00.001-07:00

In late September, I was notified. On October 4, they were cut. On October 23, I got them in an e-mail. On November 19, I execute them. They are orders, and I'm being deployed. It's not a typical deployment, because it's what they (the universal they) called "Individual Augmentation" orders. We call it IA. So, the story goes that the Army needs more bodies. They go on a hunt, and what do they find? The Navy and a whole lot of people who are extraneous. So, the Army takes them. The Navy has IA billets filled in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and even stateside working on any number of projects. Some are solving the IED problem, some are teaching the natives to defend themselves. Mine will take me to Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida for six months to plan things for the Navy. Before that happens, I have to go through four weeks of training with the Army. I get to trade my khakis for desert camoflage and learn how to be a soldier. So, despite my being on a shore tour, away from submarines and opskeds, I still deploy. It's kind of funny, in a way. This deployment will be easier than previous ones, since I won't disappear off the face of the planet for months at a time. The most time I'll be overseas is a month or so if they need us in Qatar or Bahrain. Rosalyn's still working on her scholarship and doing what she can to get those hours in for her internship. Life will be normal again in seven months. Until then, it's off to the "Navy of One."

(7 July 2007) Warning: Geek Content Ahead

2008-04-05T23:36:00.000-07:00

To paraphrase a certain fictional bald starship captain, reports of our assimilation are greatly exaggerated. Translation: we’re here.

We’ve arrived in Tennessee near the end of June and have been working to unpack ever since. Our house is slowly coming together with all of our stuff, and it is, in a word, shiny. That’s Firefly-ese for nice, or in our case, gorgeous.

[Re: above: Rosalyn says I’m a geek, but she followed it up with "I love you," the universal statement that makes anything previously said good-natured. The thing is, I already know I’m a geek... I mean, who else would be typing a blog entry with rapid-fire sci-fi pop culture references with a half-read copy of the "Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" quintet sitting on the desk? But, I digress.]

We rolled into town, performed our final walkthrough of the house, and then went to closing. Of course, our lives wouldn’t be complete without a little drama; our final walkthrough yielded two of the four sinks in the house with leaks that weren’t resolved. The shower floor (which previously was a slab of marble) had also cracked and was in the midst of replacement. The seller’s agent was on a quest to "make everything okay," which she apparently had done by running to different stores that morning and demanding that they give her something to fix the shower now. She tried to replace the tile in the shower with one that was colored in the fashion my mother always described a newborn baby’s used diaper.

Now, imagine that in a shower where the walls are marbled brown and white and the rest of the decor is earth-toned. It was promptly vetoed by Rosalyn and the tile guy who came to install it. He said something to the effect of, "Thank you for not making me install this." I abstained, as I was at work.

Meanwhile, the plumber had come to inspect the leaks. The bathroom leak was more of a chemical spill, so it became a non-issue. The kitchen one, however, was sworn by the seller’s agent to be from the installation of the garbage disposal and not having used plumber’s tape. The plumber (who we naturally assume to be more in the know about such things) informed us it was due to improper installation of the dishwasher drain line. He fixed it, we thanked him, and the problem was solved.

Looking wistfully to the sky, I’m wishing for a nickel for every time the selling agent has been dishonest with us since we’ve arrived. She was in such a hurry to close on this place, and has been frustrated by Rosalyn’s wonderful tenacity for perfectionism. It wasn’t the fault of the actual seller, who has been more than cordial with us in discussion. No, no, it was definitely the agent. The funny thing is that, right after the last time she lied through her teeth, she invited us to join her at church on Sunday. I leave the irony to soak a little bit.

Anyway, we’re already making our lists of things we want to change and getting everything in its place. Rosalyn has also been to the base and contacted the local Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society chapter (NMCRS... did you think you would escape without an acronym?) and I started working at Navy Personnel Command. My new job is in PERS-834, which is the Officer Performance and Separations Division. Basically, when a Naval or Marine Corps officer does a bad, bad thing, we’re the ones who process their cases and help determine if they should stay or go. We’re kind of the bad guys in the officer ranks. Insert diabolical laughter here.

On a purely Utah note, we’ve already been visited by missionaries, although not of the LDS variety. Southern Baptists are sneaky, literally jumping out from behind the POD as I was unloading it. So, there I was, dripping in 98-degree humid mid-day sweat, and two guys in suits want to talk to me about salvation. Rosalyn came out, they divided us, tried to conquer by praising Jesus, and left us with a copy of the "Salvation Prayer" in a pamphlet. I think the pamphlet is somewhere in the stack of stuff of the counter or garage floor that will eventually get filed.

We have two Wal-Marts here within 15 minutes of home. There are also about 50 churches, only one of which is LDS. Pick a faith, any faith, everyone’s a winner. There are [insert random number here] barbeque restaurants, though none of them open on Mondays. In fact, no restaurant is open on Mondays. We have no clue why.

Well, to wrap up, we’re on our way to Home Depot (30 min drive) to pick up more supplies. More to come later.

(14 June 2007) A New Beginning

2008-04-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

It truly is a new beginning.

It's a new beginning for our endeavors to keep family and friends up to date on our many adventures. We're finally joining the "MySpace Generation," even though we're not among the typical fare expected on this site. We're not in it to build a huge friends list or meet sexy young women from around the world. We're not teenagers -- close, but no cigar -- and we certainly don't have all the time in the world to spend on the internet perfecting this site, despite the drive we both have to be perfectionists. We're here to keep in touch with those we consider good friends and close family, and we're here to tell the world what happens in our crazy lives.

It's a new beginning in a new place. We're moving from Connecticut and the fast attack submarine life to Tennessee and the world of the administrative Navy. More importantly, we're moving from the hectic, unpredictable life of the at-sea "steely eyed killer of the deep" to the charted frontiers of shore tours. It gives us time to decompress, re-chart our lives, and figure out our next steps. It gives us time to breathe and maybe even live a little.

It's a new beginning for us. In the four years we've been married, we've had very little time together. The next two years will give us time to change our pace and revitalize our marriage. As Rosalyn said, it will be like being newlyweds again. It's a new place, a new job, and a new lifestyle, and we'll be together.

No more underways. No more deployments. No more three-section duty rotations. Just us.

We promised each other that at the end of the sea tour, we would decide our future with the United States Navy. We didn't want to wait until shore tour rolled on because being away from the lifestyle jades your perspective. It just doesn't seem that bad when you're not in it. We wanted to step back and analyze if we could handle another three years like the ones we just completed. The answer was no.

The submarine life has been a good one, and has taught us many things that we are grateful for. It has provided a stable job straight out of college and a good education that has plenty of potential for whatever road we take. But the path that leads to a Department Head tour is not the path for us, as that path would keep us apart in a life we dedicated to each other.

So, it is here that we stop our wagon train and stare out across the prarie. It is here that we wonder what the world holds in store for us. Travel? Children? Education? It's almost like being fresh out of college again, with the world laid out ahead of us, but no clear path to follow. The road we were on can no longer be traveled, and that sense of apprehension we feel is the freedom to choose.

To exercise that freedom is to explore the potential of our new beginning.