So, um, it's been awhile...

Wow, I just checked out my blog for the first time in weeks and see that my last post was 4 April. 4 April?!? Sheesh. Didn't realize I'd been away that long. I could spin a long story trying to make an excuse for why I haven't updated, but I don't see a need for that. Bottom line is that I've been busy preparing for our imminent departure from the sandbox and life has been hectic. I'm a few short weeks away from returning to Lincoln, and morale is very high, both for myself and the troopers in our unit. I'm sure most all of you know by now, but in case you hadn't heard our Squadron received a bundle of good news in that we're coming home to Nebraska about a month earlier than planned. My new goal is to be home by the 4th of July, and as it stands right now that should be doable. I can't discuss any hard dates with you all due to OPSEC, but rest assured that as soon as I can you all will know.

Life here at Anaconda just seems to keep chugging away. We've been busy getting our replacments set up for success, and now that they are here we're trying to show them the ropes and make a clean hand off of our operations. So far the process has been smooth and efficient. I'll share with you all a couple pictures, just to prove that I'm alive.

Receiving my end of tour award from our Squadron Commander, Lieutant Colonel Apprich.
Chief Regan gave each of the soldiers in his section a cavalry saber as a thanks for all our hard work over the past 22 months. Thanks to Mr. Regan for his gift!
Posing in front of our t-wall. Tradition mandates each unit to paint a t-wall concete barrier to mark the time they spent in Iraq. I think ours turned out just fine.

Grandma knows best

Wanted to take a moment to thank my Grandma Nancy for the huge care package she sent my way. Her box of goodies arrived a couple days ago, and my co-workers and I were impressed with the magnitude of her giving. Here is a picture of me standing next to some of the loot, which was proudly displayed for co-workers and guests to share in. Thanks Grandma!

Qatar

I'm back from my spring break trip to Doha, Qatar. I had quite a fun time, with plenty of relaxation and sun and a few beers mixed in as well. I was fortuante enough to take 3 different trips while I was in Qatar, including visits to a 4 story mall called the City Center (complete with ice skating rink and bowling alley), a trip to the Persian Gulf for an afternoon of sand and food by the ocean, drove SUVs through the sand dunes, ate lunch at an Iranian restraunt in downtown Doha, toured local shops and malls in Doha, enjoyed plenty of good food and slept in every day. All in all a very productive trip and a nice break from Iraq. I'll post a couple pictures for you all here, and I'll also include a link to my Facebook page which has about 60 additional pictures from my trip on it. Enjoy.

Feeding camels in Doha.
Enjoying a few cold ones with the guys.
This pearl is some big tourist attraction in Doha, so here is my touristy picture with the pearl.

Check here for a ton of other pictures from my trip.

Spring Break

March is a common time for colleges around the U.S. to give their students a mid-semester break to relax their minds and get away from classes for awhile. This time is usually referred to as spring break. For example, my girlfriend Nicki took a trip to Colorado last week, to spend time with her friends and get away from lovely Nebraska for awhile. You wouldn't think that I would be enjoying a spring break trip this year, knowing my current location and situation, but alas, you would be wrong. I'm leaving Iraq a few short days from now for my own spring break trip to exotic Qatar. The Army has this slick little pass program set up for soldiers in Iraq who need a few days away from it all. Soldiers are flown to an Army base in the country of Qatar for a 4 day pass. Soldiers are allowed to wear civilian clothes, sleep in, swim at the pool, take trips to tour the local countryside, and even drink real beer (limited to 3 drinks per night). Our Brigade wasn't planing on sending Soldiers on pass during our time in Iraq for various reasons, but after the news of the extension hit, they decided it might be a good idea to give some soldiers a break. Especially those who took their RR leave during the early months of the deployment. So long story short, my chance to take pass is here, and just happens to fall during the spring break time period, so I guess when everyone is remembering their trips to Cancun or Vegas or wherever, I can drop in that I flew to Qatar. Should be a good time. Hopefully I take lots of pictures while I'm gone, and I'll be sure to update you all upon my return.

(For more info on Qatar, check out here or here)

Quick movie update

I've been staying on top of the latest movies to roll through Anaconda, as usual, and figured I would give you all a quick update on what I've seen over the past few weeks.

300 - awesome film. Highly anticipated. Everyone in our section had been pumped about this movie for weeks, and 300 did not disapoint. Graphic, brutal, bloody, violent - everything a guy could ask for. Zach Snyder is the genius who puts this pretty picture together. Probably not the best date movie though. If you're a fan of epics like Braveheart, Gladiator, etc. you will love 300, for sure.

Blood Diamond - this movie was superb. Really opened my eyes to how diamonds come to be. My new favorite actor, DiCaprio, turns in an Oscar-caliber performance. Well cast film that keeps you enertained throughout. Highly reccomended.

Children of Men - a visual masterpiece. The movie itself is so-so, with decent acting and an intruiging storyline. The beauty of the film itself is what sets Children of Men apart. If you're a fan of movies as an art form, you will dig this film. Not for everyone though.

Apocalypto - wow. This movie blew me away. My brothers had seen this film over Christmas 2006, and came back impressed. I finally got my chance to check it out and left the theater telling anyone who would listen what an epic expierence it was. Mel Gibson presents a violent, sometimes touching film following the tale of an American native who is torn apart from his village in brutal fashion and is forced to deal with the captors who have killed his father and destroyed everything he knows. One of the best films I've seen in the past 6 months.

I'm still alive

First things first - I apologize for the month long void of any new posts. "The Man" is still keeping me down and isn't allowing me to access blogger at work, so my ability to update this here journal are severly limited. However, that is no excuse for a lack of posting. A sharp decrease in output, sure, but not a good reason to just quit updating you all. Anyways, now that we have that out of the way...

Life in Iraq is humming along at a decent pace. The shock, frustration and denial stages of the Iraq extension news have past, and we've all come to embrace the suck, as the folks over here would say. March is here, and this should be the toughest month to complete. Most of us can't help but be reminded every time we look at the calendar that we should be going home this month, so that's an obstacle that is tough to overcome. We're soldiers though, so we'll press on and do what we do. (That's the party line, at least). Anyways, nothing too new to report. I'm still working out and lifting weights 5 days a week. I've become more intimate with my PlayStation that I ever thought possible, and I'm currently neck deep in the planning stages of fall semester 2007 at UNL. It's been tough setting up college plans thousands of miles away from home, but the good people at UNL have been flexible so far and have shown a willingness to help me out, which is good. Hopefully it all works out well in th end.

That's about it from here. Hopefully everyone back in the rear is surviving the deluge of snow and what not. I'll try and update this thing once a week from here on out, if everything works according to plan. Maybe even throw some pictures up, if I can. Stay tuned.

Throwing salt on an open wound

So news of our extension has most likely made the rounds back home, and I'm sure most all of you are aware of the extra 4 months of fun in the sun that I've been blessed with. One of the first thing that comes to mind after hearing such news is that we'll all be missing 4 more months worth of exciting and fun events, some of which we were really looking forward to. I, for example, will be missing my Dad's wedding, my brother Jacob's high school graduation (after missing brother James' graduation last year also) and another couple months of summer fun, all of which I'll never get back. To top it all off came news today that one of my favorite bands of all time, Rage Against the Machine, is planning on reuniting for a show at this summer's Coachella music festival in Indio, California. The performance will be the band's first gig together since September 2000. I can say with 99% certainty that I would be making the trip out West if I was going to be home. I could also parlay that into a visit with my cousin Amanda, who is attending college in San Diego. Instead, I'll be here in Iraq, doing good things for my country. The sacrifices of war - they are plenty. Thankfully I have this blog to vent to.

Top 10 Movies of 2006

With the movie awards season in full swing, I figured I would throw my own two cents out there and share with you all my top 10 movies of 2006. These are the 10 movies that I enjoyed the most, that captured my attention and wouldn't let go, that left me leaving the theater talking and discussing with my friends. I was going to break this list down by genre, but decided I would keep it simple and list out for you my top 10 overall favorite flicks of 2006. Needless to say, I suggest you check out each of these as soon as possible, if you haven't' seen them all already. (For a full list of the movies I saw and reviewed here in Iraq, click here).

Honorable Mention (in no particular order): The Pursuit of Happyness, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The War Tapes, United 93

10. Jackass Number Two In a strong year for comedies, this film might have made me laugh the hardest and the longest out of them all. I went in with low expectations (as you have to for most sequels) but left highly entertained and pleased with the second effort from Johnny Knoxville and crew. Definitely not a movie everyone will enjoy, but the lengths these folks go to in order to get a laugh must be appreciated.
9. Wordplay My choice for documentary of the year (with apologies to The War Tapes). I somehow managed to drag Nicki down to the excellent Ross theater in Lincoln to see this film when I was home on leave, based on some of the excellent reviews I had read in the press. Wordplay did not disappoint. Who thought a movie about crossword puzzles could be so entertaining? I thought learning about how these intricate puzzles are created was fascinating, and seeing how dedicated some folks are to the life of crossword puzzles was amazing to watch.
8. The Prestige This film features one of my favorite actors of today, Christian Bale. If you haven't seen any of his work before, you are missing out. The strong cast (Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine) helps carry this movie along and overcome a few plot holes along the way in an entertaining film that was good, but not quite as good as I think it could have been.
7. Clerks II Another crude comedy that I really enjoyed. I am a big fan of Kevin Smith's work, and thought that the second installment of the Clerks series returns Smith to his roots, and helps make up for recent flops such as Jersey Girl. Hopefully Smith keeps up the good work and kicks out another comedy or two soon - he has earned my respect back with this strong effort.
6. Stranger Than Fiction Will Ferrell stars in this excellent, quirky comedy, and puts on my 3rd favorite Ferrell performance to date (next to the untoppable tour de force displays in Old School and Anchorman). This film surprised me with just how good it was, and is probably the biggest surprise for me on this list.
5. Thank You For Smoking Nicki saw this before I did, and raved about it. I kept trying for months and months to get my hands on a copy of the DVD, and finally saw it in November. I loved the acting, the writing, the production - it was all top notch. Very well done film, and bitingly funny satire on big tobacco.
4. Borat I felt a little wrong for having this masterpiece so low on my list, but also felt a little wrong for having such a horribly obscene film so high. I'll just leave it here in the clean up spot and call it even. The comedy here is defiantly not going up everyone's alley, and in fact will probably cause some of you to walk out of the theater in disgust. I for one found this mockumentary to be flat our hilarious, although my internal moral high ground tells me I'm wrong for saying so. Regardless, Sacha Baran Cohen's performance is phenomenal and makes this film a must see. No comedy released this year (and possibly in the last 5 years) will make you laugh harder.
3. Little Miss Sunshine Review after review hales this film as the top comedy of 2006, so I was almost nervous to see it in fear that it would not live up to the incredible expectations I had. Thankfully, the film does not disappoint. Steve Carel is fun to watch, in a role that is a polar opposite from his work on his popular TV show, The Office. Greg Kinnear also puts on a show as the obnoxious father of one of the most dysfunctional families you'll ever see. However, my favorite performance of the film belongs to the youngest actor in the whole show, Abigail Breslin, as Olive, who is mature beyond her years. Comedy of the year? I think so, although if this is #1, Borat is 1A.
2. Casino Royale I'll admit it - I'm not historically a big James Bond fan. I think I've seen 2 or 3 movies in the franchise before and have never been too terribly impressed. I'm sure that will lead some to question my status as a "guy", but oh well. However, my opinion of Bond was blown away after seeing Casino Royale, the newest installment starring Daniel Craig as a new, unproven 007. I was mesmerized by the glitz, the glam, the explosions, the fast cars, the tremendous action scenes (the opening scene in particular is jaw dropping) and of course the beautiful Bond girls. Craig is perfectly cast as 007, and his cool, calm demeanor personifies everything Bond should be.
1. The Departed Sometimes, a film comes along that is just destined for greatness. The ingredients are just so perfect, so well done, that it would be nearly impossible to not achieve perfection. The Departed is one of those movies. From the outstanding cast, to the iconic director, The Departed is far and away my favorite film of 2006. Marky Mark shines as the scene-stealing loud mouth Boston detective, Jack Nicholson intimidates as the gruff mafia crime lord, Matt Damon brings it as the fresh faced cop playing both sides of the fence and Martin Scorsese pulls it all together with amazing skill and grace. The owner of this movie, however, is Leonardo DiCaprio, who jumps off the screen as the undercover cop who is forced into making everyone happy but himself. I was sky high for this movie going in, and left knowing that I had added a new film to my favorite of all time list. If you appreciate film making and story telling at it's finest, combined with tremendous acting and masterful directing, then The Departed is your movie. You will not be disappointed.

Cotton Bowl

As Jim Morrison would say, this is the end my friend. I have to admit, this Husker football season meant more to me than any I can remember in recent memory. Sure, the years we won national titles were fun in their own obvious way, but this season was special in a different way. Being deployed to Iraq during an entire season of Nebraska football was very discouraging. I have attended over 6 seasons of Husker home games prior to this deployment, and after missing most of the 2005 home games due to our training at Camp Shelby I was pretty down about missing yet another slate of home games at Memorial Stadium. The football season, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise. For the past 4 months I've been following the Huskers religiously, reading every news piece I can find online, tuning into every game that AFN broadcasts, even waking up at 3 a.m. to listen to a radio broadcast over the internet. The truth of the matter is that Husker football has given me something to be excited about and take my mind of our mission from time to time and deliver a little slice of home every football Saturday. Sure, I miss the excitement of watching the games live or with my friends, and you better believe I'm not going to miss a single home game next year. However, without Husker football over the past 4 months I'm convinced this deployment of mine would have been night and day different.

I'm disappointed that the season ended the way it did with two straight losses, but I'm thankful for the good times we had and I'm looking forward to next year. Can't ask for much more than that.

The mighty S-1 section, gathering in the Colonel's office for the Cotton Bowl match up with Auburn.
We filled up on Pizza Hut pie and German n/a beer during the game. Not sure why I'm standing here - I think Lucky just busted off a nice gainer.
The touchdown to Swifty - felt good at this point. Positive vibes all around.
SFC Kerchal bringing in some more beer. I think this picture is hilarious - Kerchal has a mischievous look on his face. The beers were pint size glass bottles. First time we'd had them. Pretty good stuff in an unusually large bottle.
I wasn't going to post this pic, because I'm fairly certain this is not my best look, but oh well. I was excited and looking forward to de-clawing the tigers. Unfortunately for us, the Huskers couldn't take care of business in the 2nd half. Time to look forward to the 2007 season.