movie time

I did a movie review post awhile back and thoroughly enjoyed the process. After catching a few flicks in the past two weeks, I decided it was high time for another one. Besides, a movie post will help take my mind off of the recent tragedy in my life. Without further ado...

• The Marine Oh. My. Goodness. This movie will probably end up challenging The Guardian in my end of the year debate over "most cliche-filled film". Wrestling star John Cena stars in this action flick, which promised big explosions and non-stop fun with the WWE's latest chosen one. I saw the previews for this flick and thought to myself, "Yes! About time we get a classic shoot 'em up guy movie!". Not sure how accurate this is, but I felt like there just aren't enough pure action movies coming out of Hollywood these days, now that the genre's mega-star is now governing instead of kicking butt. Anyways, there were enough bullets, car chases, explosions and fights to make just about any guy happy. However, if you happen to be one of those guys who needs just a tiny bit of actual acting with your action, you'll be disappointed. Or maybe you're only requirement is a solid plot line - again, you'll leave disappointed. Anyways, in case you haven't figured out yet, The Marine sucks. It's horrible. Stay far, far away. If you do go, despite my warnings, in order to satisfy your urge for action, then that's your call. Just don't say I didn't warn you...
• The Departed When you're in Iraq you tend to be isolated from the outside world. Sure, we have internet access, but that's about the limit to our connectivity with what's happening. So it goes without saying that I miss things, from time to time. The big popular pop radio song - I've probably never heard it. The sweet new resturaunt on the far side of town - I've never eaten there. The hip new jean style that everyone is rocking - umm, what? However, one of the biggest things soldiers in the desert miss out on (and the major reason we are so out of the loop) is the 21st century advertising machine - TV commercials. We get a few TV channels over here, but the commercials are limited to Army produced & designed spots that are so horrible and boring I won't even waste your time trying to describe them. So, when you don't have commercials, you tend to miss out on the hype train that drives a lot of the movies that hit theaters back home. Although we usually get most of the big movies that you all get back home, they usually arrive with little to no fanfare. However, having said all of that - there are exceptions to every rule. Despite nearly zero commercial or media advertising impact or influence, we all knew what The Departed was, and we knew when it was coming to Balad. Some movies are just destined to greatness- the combination of a fantastic cast, a big name running the show and a monster budget - you usually have the makings of a classic. So when we heard that a movie starring Jack, Damon, DiCaprio and Marky Mark - with Martin directing - was heading our way, well, we about wept with happiness. I think SGT Kane even did a little dance, but let's not re-visit that. After a minor scheduling conflict at the theater moved our premiere night back a couple days, we finally got our shot at seeing The Departed in all of it's movie screen greatness. Wow. I was captivated from the opening scene until the credits rolled. I won't delve into plot specifics or anything like that, because you need to go see this movie immediately if you haven't already and I don't want to ruin one single moment of this cinema masterpiece for you. One thing I can tell you - the actors all deliver clutch performances. One of my personal favorites was Alec Baldwin - he steals every scene he's in. Also, Marky Mark delivers nicely when called upon, as usual. Of course, Nicholson is the man, and is cast in the perfect role. The real gem of the movie for me, however, was DiCaprio. I've never been a huge fan of 'ol Leo. Maybe because the role he's most associated is from a chick flick. Or maybe because I wasted $7 and saw The Beach. I don't know. For whatever reason, I've always viewed him as soft, way too boyish, and I've never been able to wipe away his Basketball Diaries character - I always think of him as some 12 year old boy - not a tough, Russell Crowe-like movie star. (Apparntley, the NY Times agrees with me - read more about Leo's Hollywood maturation here) Well, when I saw DiCaprio in The Departed, I saw MJ dominating the Cavs. Or Tommie Frazier running all over Florida. It was just a beautiful thing to watch, and I mean that in a purely hetro-sexual kind of way. When I think of Leo now, I don't think of this. Instead, I think of a gun-toting, pill-popping Jersey tough guy who will break you in half if that's what it takes. If you don't like Scorcese, or Damon, or mobster flicks in general - you still have to see The Departed. DiCaprio is that good, and he makes this movie what it is - my early leader for movie of the year. I just can't describe how fun it is to go watch a movie as well acted, well directed and well everythinged as this movie is. Go. Now.
• Flags of our Fathers I just saw this last night, and I'm not quite ready to post my thoughts. Give me a couple days.

Thank you, Salted Nut Roll

The Pearson's brand Salted Nut Roll. What a delicious snack. I've always been a fan of nut rolls. Many years ago, I remember my mom buying a couple nut rolls at Pac N Save (she was a big fan herself) as a reward for a productive shopping trip. The legion of Salted Nut Roll fans is what I would consider a fairly small niche group in the candy bar world. You don't see too many magazine advertisements, TV commercials, or catchy advertising campaigns for the Salted Nut Roll.

Anyways, a kind soul in SSG Johnson's life has been sending nut rolls over here in care packages for awhile now, and SSG Johnson has been kind enough to share a nut roll or two with myself and a couple other lucky souls in our S-1 shop. I have come to admire the Salted Nut Roll even more so recently, due to it's sudden re-emergence in my life. Not only has SSG Johson been receiving Salted Nut Rolls, but king-size Salted Nut Rolls. Until now, I didn't even realize that a king-size version (two full-size nut rolls in one wonderful package of goodness) existed. Now I do, and I am thankful. So today, I offer this blog post as a way to say thanks to the Pearson candy company, who has been producing this delectable snack since 1933. Your Salted Nut Rolls are a highlight, a bright spot in my dreary Iraq existence and for that I say thank-you. Thank you Salted Nut Roll, for everything you do.

Game Time part two

More pics from out Huskers/Longhorns shin-ding last night.

College Gameday is on ... starting to get pumped up for the game. MSG Aldag brough out his white Husker flag, which is signed by the entire team, for good luck.
SPC Benes, the reigning HHT soldier of the month, was the "grillmaster in training" all night. In this picture, MAJ Teegerstrom is giving Beans some tips on how to tame his monster, Grill Zilla. I'm sure Benes came away from the night a much-improved grillmaster, thanks to MAJ T's fine tutelage.
I turned off the flash on this photo, to capture SPC Benes taming the fire-breathing monster that is Grill Zilla.
Left the flash off on this picture also to give an idea of just how dark it was out there. We had one or two lights, and the glow of the plama screen tvs helped also. The crowd is starting to gather, anticipating the clash of the titans that awaits.
Another shot of our setup. You can see the awesome spread of food that we enjoyed, and you can also spot the 2nd tv, in the top right corner. Iraq isn't the best place to watch a Husker game, but I think we did a pretty good job considering the location.

One last point about the Husker game last night. For those of you who might be second guessing Callahan's decision to throw the ball to Nunn on 3rd down late in the game to ice the victory, I reccomend you check out what happened in the Notre Dame - UCLA tilt. UCLA was in a position similair to ours - underdog team, with a small lead late in the game (17-13), trying to ice the upset victory. UCLA had the ball on their own side of the field, just like NE did. UCLA came to their 3rd down crossroads, and decided to run the ball. Their coaches were willing to punt the ball back to Notre Dame, which sports a high-powered offense that had been restrained most of the night - eerily similair to the 'Horns offense being held in check for the most part by the Blackshirts. UCLA ran the ball on 3rd down, Notre Dame burned their last time out, and then UCLA punted the ball to the Golden Domers with a shade over 1 minute left on the game clock. Notre Dame, with no time outs and 80 yards of green grass between them and the end zone, needed a touchdown to win the game. What do you suppose happened, my loyal readers? Notre Dame went right down the field in the blink of an eye, scoring a touchdown in only 3 plays. UCLA got the ball back with time to run one final play, which ended in a sack. Ball game. Notre Dame pulls out the victory, 20-17, ruining the Bruin's upset bid. Personally, I'm fine with the play call to throw - we had a chance to ice the victory and beat Texas, and we went for it. Something to chew on as we all try and recover from the heartbreak of last night's game.

Game time

First off - wow. What a ballgame, and what a rough ending. 30 or so diehard Husker fans over in in Iraq were taking in the game together, and thought we might be witnessing the first big "signature win" in the Bill Callahan era. What a way to lose. Heartbreaking is the only word that comes to mind. Hopefully our team can get up off the mat and win our remaining Big 12 games and earn a second shot at the Longhorns in the Big 12 title game. I was hoping I would come into work this morning feeling better about this whole thing, but I just can't get the bad taste of it all out of my mouth.

Now that we have that out of the way, I'll share with you some photos from happier times. The 11:10 am kickoff back in Lincoln gave us an awesome 7:10 pm kickoff here in Iraq, which was very condusive to our grilling plans. The time slot also brought out a ton of Husker fans that aren't quite diehard enough to wake up at 2:00 am and listen to the Big Red over the radio. The atmosphere before the game was great. We had multiple grills going, plenty of ice cold beverages, tons of food, two plasma screen tvs and lots of Husker fans ready to take it to the Burnt Orange. This first batch of pictures focuses on the grilling portion of the evening.

A matchup versus Texas calls for the best - big, juicy steaks. Here are our heroes, seasoned, tenderized, and ready for showtime.

"Grill-Zila" MAJ Teegerstrom's ballyhooed grilling monster was rocking and rolling for hours last night. We didn't want our steaks to fight hamburgers and brats on the the main grill space, so we opted to fire up a couple of smaller charcoal grills for our beauties. In this shot the coals have just been fired up, still a ways away from grill time.
Our grillmaster, SSG Johnson, preparing to plop our main course on the grill. The flash from my camera gives the illusion we were grilling in optimal lighting conditions - do not be fooled. We were basically cooking in the dark, and SGT Kane and I had to assist our grillmaster with flashlights, so we could observe the progress our steaks were making.

Gorgeous. Just a few more minutes until we feast.
SSG Johnson, SGT Kane, and myself, killing some time until the food is ready to go.

Shout outs - showtime

This Saturday's big game versus Texas has officially gained even more importance. The word on the street is that the short and sweet shout-out video that I taped a few weeks ago (see my post covering this here) will be played on the HuskerVision jumbo screens this Saturday at some point during the game. This has not been declared a 100% certainty to happen, but my source tells me that the chances are good that this is going to be the game. So, if you're one of the lucky few who have tickets to the game and plan on viewing the Huskers game live, in person, keep your eyes on the big screens for a possible shot of yours truly from Iraq. (Nicki - I'm talking to you!)

Big weekend

• Ok, so AFN has come through and are broadcasting the Husker - Longhorn battle this Saturday. We'll see it live on Saturday night at 7:00 pm. We're planning on continuing our bar-b-q tradition, as the 7:00 pm time slot is much more conducive to grilling out (versus the painful 2:00 am last week) and should make the whole experience that much more enjoyable. SSG Johnson and SGT Kane are doing steaks, and SFC Kerchal is planning some type of bacon-wrapped sirloin strips masterpiece for him and I. The more convenient kick-off is also bringing the fairweather fans out of the woodwork. Should be a few more Husker fans milling about the building, and we may possibly have some competition on the grilling front also. Our section tends to be a little anti group activity, so I'm sure we'll stick to our normal MO and seclude ourselves in our office - diehards only. Hopefully the crimson and cream can fight through all of the buildup for this huge Big 12 matchup and deliver a knockout blow against the mighty burnt orange. We're all cautiously optimistic that the Big Red will deliver the epic win. For those of you who are attending the game, make sure and yell a little louder for me and all of the other Husker faithful deployed over here - I would give my right arm to watch this sucker live at Memorial Stadium.
• This is shaping up to be a big weekend on a couple of other, albeit not nearly as important, fronts. After a way too long two week or so absence from the movie theater, I'll be getting things back into high gear with a couple of flicks over the next two days. Tonight I'll be catching "The Marine", starring WWE superstar John Cena. Can't wait! Friday night brings the highly anticipated "The Departed" to the Anaconda big screen. Can't wait to see that one. Then we have the game on Saturday, of course. All in all, shaping up to be a nice couple days for SGT Hanseling.
• We're less than one week away from our 7 month anniversary of time spent in Iraq.
• Give it up for the Seward High boys cross country team. The Bluejays picked up an impressive 2nd place finish at districts this week, and will carry that momentum into State this weekend, looking for a top ten finish. My man Jacob Hanseling came in with an outstanding individual 13th place finish, which earned him a medal. Good luck at state bro.

weekend thoughts

A few rambling thoughts from this weekend...

• Stoked about the Husker's getting a big road victory against the Mildcats on Saturday night. Our defense played well and made the Cats one-dimensional, which was the key. From listening over the radio, sounded as if Josh Freeman made some plays and could be the real deal down the road. Right now though, I'm content with coming out of Manhattan with a W. Now we have to focus on our biggest game of the year - the mighty Longhorns of Texas this Saturday in Lincoln. Cross your fingers that our good friends over at AFN pick up the game and allow those of us over here in the desert a chance to root for our Huskers live, on TV.
• We mixed it up a little bit this week during the Husker game, adding a little bar-b-que action to our weekly festivities. Click here for SGT Kane's excellent post on the whole grilling experience. It was something else - eating cheeseburgers and listening to Husker football under moonlight skies at 2:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning in Iraq. Can honestly say I never thought I would be in that situation during my lifetime.
• My roommate, SSG Johnson, and I have put together the ultimate football fan's paradise in our room. I'll see if I can't grab some pictures next week. We have three TV's, with two at the foot of Brad's bed and one of the foot of mine. All three were tuned into three separate college games on Saturday night, and earlier tonight all three were tuned in to three separate NFL games. One of the loveliest site these eyes of mine have ever seen. It's a little overwhelming at times, trying to keep track of all three games at once, but definitely a position I love being in.
• We received (drum roll please) a whole bunch of RAIN this past week. It hadn't rained in 4-5 months, so the sound of rain drops hitting the roof of our building late last week was an odd sound, to be sure. We were given quite a show the first couple nights - lightning, thunder, the whole works. Apparently we're about to dive head first into the rainy season, which will turn our camp into a soggy mess, from what we've been told. Should be an interesting couple months. Funny how we go from absolutely no rain at all, to buckets and buckets of rain.

movies

As I've mentioned in the past, one of my favorite ways to kill the time here in Iraq is by checking out whatever movie is playing at our grand movie theater. I've had the pleasure of viewing a handful of flicks lately, and since I really don't have anything exciting to write about today, I have decided to give my own personal take on what I've watched. (Editor's note: most every movie I see has already been playing in the states for weeks, so these reviews aren't a good guide to go buy when deciding if the newest arrival at your local theater is worth your hard earned $8. For current movie previews/reviews, I suggest you go here.)

• Miami Vice I had high hopes for this flick, considering the director (Michael Mann) has done a few movies I like, and the cast includes a recent Oscar winner in Jamie Foxx. I just missed seeing this when I was home on leave, as I think it originally came out around the 1st of August. Anyways, it's here now, and I came away from this disappointed. The movie was dark and moody, which tends to be Mann's style. However, the acting was subpar and the action scenes were few and far between. I found myself bored for long stretches of the movie. A couple scenes were entertaining, and most guys would agree that fast cars, boats, jets, and big explosions are ingredients to make almost anything watchable. Unfortunately, that's all this movie is - watchable.
• The Guardian If you go into this movie like SGT Kane and I did (expecting it to suck and be entertaining in a my-goodness-this-movie-sucks kinda way) then you'll be pleased. However, if you go into this with the mindset that The Guardian is going to be a cinematic masterpiece and will serve as Ashton Kutcher's rocket ship to acting stardom - well, then you might leave the theater crying. One word can be used to sum up this entire movie: cliche. This flick uses nearly every movie cliche known to man, and borrows heavily from much better films (like this one and this one). Stay away, unless your a fan of unintentional comedy.
• My Super Ex-Girlfriend Sometimes, I go to the movies for a couple of reasons: 1) It's free 2) I have nothing better to do and 3) It's free. I saw this movie based on all three reasons. I didn't expect much, and didn't get much, which is why going to the movies for free is such a beautiful thing. You don't put anything worthwhile into it (other than your time, but what's that really worth?), so if you get nothing worthwhile out if it, you don't really feel all that bad. Well, maybe you feel bad for the poor sucker back in the states who blew $40 on a date with his girl to go see this crap-fest, but oh well. Anyways, My Super Ex-Girlfriend has one redeeming quality that I think is worth mentioning: this guy, who most of you know as Dwight from NBC's comedy masterpiece The Office. Dwight's tour de force performance steals pretty much every scene he is in, and made me laugh every time. Other than that, this movie was mostly forgettable. Which is ok, because it was free.
• The Last Kiss This movie will always be memorable to me. Not because of anything I saw on the screen, but more so for what this movie stands for, and the adverse reaction it caused my roommate, SSG Johnson. I had actually been looking forward to seeing this movie, based on my purely heterosexual soft spot for Zach Braff, and his previous work with Garden State and Scrubs. When I approached SSG Johson about the idea of him and I going to see this movie together, his reaction was quite entertaining, yet hurtful. He was 110% against the idea of going to see a "chick flick" with another guy. Forgetting the fact that tons of other guys would be seeing this movie also (simply because were in Iraq, it's free, there is nothing better to do, and it's free) SGT Johson simply would not budge on his anti-chick flick stance. So I had to wait for my true battle buddy SGT Kane to return home from leave, and then the two of us went and I finally made my way down to the theater to check this thing out. The movie itself was entertaining and worth seeing, in my opinion. However, the movie - the ending especially - is not very uplifting or positive. So, if your a fan of happy cheery movies with happy endings where everyone gets along, this probably isn't the flick for you. However, if you appreciated Garden State and are a fan of Braff's work in general, you should enjoy The Last Kiss. Oh, and the soundtrack to this movie is excellent also.

That's a quick synopsis of what I've seen in the last month or so. I'm looking forward to a few movies coming out over the next few weeks, (The Departed, Flags Of Our Fathers, The Marine)so depending on the feedback I get from this post I may end up sharing with you my thoughts on those as well.

one-thousand

1,000. I have now (somehow) crept over 1,000 hits since this blog came into existence way back in the day (which was a Wednesday). I will not use this opportunity for some sick self congratulatory post, boasting about my addictive/awesome writing style and how you, my loyal readers, just HAVE to visit twice a day. However, I will use this post to say thanks to my Uncle Mike, who inspired me to create this blog. Mike's own blog about his time spent discovering himself in Antartica was a joy to read, and his pictures were great as well. So, if you happen to read this - thanks Mike. I couldn't have done it without you. Cheers.

Dry spell

SGT Kane has been harassing me over my lack of posting lately and I have finally relented to his onslaught of verbal abuse and physical intimidation. I apologize to you, my loyal readers and fans, over my lack of content the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, I have come across a bit of a dry spell, content wise. My daily routine here in the desert has been a shining example of mundane office work, with weightlifting and spirited PlayStation 2 battles sprinkled in for good measure. We're a third of the way through the month of October (our 7th month in country). That's a positive thing, for sure. I've been relying on Husker football to keep me going so far this fall. (Editor's Note: I use the term "fall" loosely, as we're still cracking 90 degrees on a daily basis. Supposedly cooler weather is on the horizon, but I'll believe it when I feel it.) I've also been inspired by my co-workers and their post-deployment vacation planning to start some getaway preparations of my own. My travel partner Nicki loves to hear about my big plans. So far the #1 spot on our list of destination possibilities is Las Vegas. I'll have to make sure and leave the ATM card at home for that trip. Would be a shame to blow my hard earned Army savings in a few days. I'm sure having my better half by my side will eliminate that possibility. In other positive news - my fantasy team put together a tremendous performance on Sunday, and I actually have a good shot at earning my first victory of the young season. As the commissioner of the league, I must say I'm disappointed and slightly embaressed with my lethargic 0-4 start, so getting a win this weekend should earn me a little more respect amongst my fellow owners. While we're on the topic of football, I'll mention that I was able to view my beloved Huskers in all their crimson and cream glory this past Sunday on AFN. My fellow Husker fans and I here in the S-1 shop were able to take a break from our brutal Sunday work schedule to take in the Big Red's battle against the Cyclones of Ames. I was proud of our performance in a hostile and unpredictable environment. Always good to grab wins on the road during confrence play. My youngest brother Jacob was actually in attendance, taking in his first Cornhusker road game. Lucky for him, it was a win. Looks like I'll be going back to my old middle of the night radio schedule for this Saturday's game versus Kansas State, as the pay-per-view 6 pm broadcast pretty much eliminates the possibilities of AFN broadcasting the game. Hopefully we can continue our winning ways and take care of business in Manhattan. I will attempt to be more proactive in my blogging over the next few weeks. I will do my best not to let you all down.

October 1st

A few random thoughts...

• What a game last night. SGT Kane has documented our saga with AFN and broadcasting the KU game, so I won't go into great detail here. Head on over to his site for the details.
• As far as the game itself - wow. Listening to it over the radio was tough, but I imagine sitting in the stadium watching the horror unfold before my own two eyes may have been even worse. All I have to say is that I hope Billy sits down with his defensive coaches and irons out the wrinkles, because that defense will cost us at least one or two games this season if we play as poorly as we did against the Jayhawks. Props to the offense and Zac for hanging tough and to the team as a whole for grinding out the victory.
• SGT Kane is back from leave. He is documenting his time back in NE through pictures and stories, a la my own R&R leave posts upon my return from leave a few months ago. Click on the link to the right to read all about it.
• October 1st is a good day. We are now knee deep in our 7th month here in Iraq. Having 6 months in the books and behind us is a great feeling. We're on the down hill slope now.
• I received a new toy today in the mail - a brand new PS2. The one I was using is 95% toast, and toughing it out over the next 5 months without my trusty friend would be just impossible. Now that my new PS2 is here, I can reunite myself with my favorite time killer - NCAA football 2007.
• My brother Joseph is turning into quite the world traveler. He is currently deployed with his Navy unit, cruising the big blue sea on a ship. Read about his travels here.
• Just to give this post a little excitement, I'll post a picture of Nicki and her lovely mother Dianne, tailgating before the NU-KU game yesterday.

Husker game

You want to know how soldiers in Iraq take in a Husker game? I figured you would, so I took some pictures of the S-1 crew listening to the NU vs Troy game. We all had to wake up at 3 a.m. in order to listen, but for a diehard Husker fan sleep is a crutch. Enjoy.

I don't know about you all, but when I see look at this picture I don't see SFC Kerchal - I see Tony Soprano. The similarities are striking. Both are leaders of men, in charge of a "crew", carry a 9MM pistol at all times, intimidating, and both have issues keeping hair on their domes. Now if we can just convince our commander to buy us an Escalade to cruise around Anaconda with, we can really pull this off.

Here I am at my battle station, operating the radio feed over the internet and monitoring a live statistical feed, both courtesy of UNL's official Husker site. We have had remarkably good success with the radio feed, considering our location. I'm trying to see if my new Larry the Cable Guy Husker hat can meet "lucky hat that must be worn during Husker game" status. So far so good - we're 1-0 together. Give me a few more wins, and we'll talk.

SSG Tunnison, pictured in the center of this photo, is the master chef of our Husker listening parties. His cheese/hamburger chip dip is outstanding. Notice the score predictions on the white board - we are all very competitive. No one hit the nail on the head with an exact prediction for the Troy game, but SFC Kerchal and I came the closet, so we called it a tie.


SFC Kerchal and I, digging in to the snacks. I'm enjoying some of SSG Tunnison's delicious dip. Cheese dip and n/a beer at 3 a.m. is the definition of Husker football dedication, in my book.

Shout-out

Our Squadron PAO (Public Offairs Officer) is SFC Shultz. He is the editor and man in charge of our bi-monthly newsletter, and runs all public affairs type matters within the Squadron, including covering newsworthy events, interviewing soldiers within the Squadron, taking pictures, and sending news stories and information back and forth between the soldiers here in Iraq and media outlets back home. Yesterday he organized a Husker shout-out with the local PAO officer here at Anaconda. Soldiers volunteered to shoot a short (30 seconds or so) video clip, saying hello to family and friends back home and wishing the Huskers well for this season. The goal is to get these shout-outs played on the HuskerVision screens at a Husker home game some time this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Anyways, just in case you never get a chance to see the video, I had SPC Benes take a picture of me on the set, capturing this magic moment. I have my Larry the Cable Guy hat on in the picture, but I decided against wearing it for my shout-out. Wanted to maintain my militray image and what not.

Larry the Cable Guy

Larry the Cable Guy hails from the state of Nebraska. As we all know, if you are born in NE, you have roughly a .05% chance of not being a Husker football fan. Larry does not fall into the .05 percentile. He is an avid Husker fan, and has recently shown his devotion to NU by investing millions into the program by purchasing his own skybox, and has also made a habit of showing up to Husker practices. Earlier this week we received a care package, courtesy of Larry himself, full of Husker gear. Boxes of woodland camo Husker hats and red "Git-r-done" Husker t-shirts were sent over as gifts to us Husker fans doing our thing over here in the desert. See below for a picture of yours truly, modeling this fine Husker apparel.

Before ... and after

Alrighty folks, sorry about the delay since my last post, but things have been a little busy around here lately and my blog has been forced to suffer the consequences. Since SGT Kane went on leave I've had to take responsibility for some of the things he usually handles, so my plate has been a little fuller over the last week or so. The good news is that Kane should be back in about two weeks. The bad news is that Kane won't be back for another two weeks. Hopefully I can keep the ship afloat until his return. That saying is so true - you don't really know what you got till it's gone.

On a side note, my beloved Cornhuskers are traveling West to take on the mighty Trojans this weekend, one of many mammoth college football matchups slated for this weekend. The good folks at AFN are broadcasting a live telecast of the USC/NU matchup for us to see. What a treat. I will have to make a small sacrifice of sleep, as the game will kick off at 4 a.m. local time, but that is a small price to pay for such an occasion. Go Big Red!

Today's photos will show off a little before/after action. We've been in Iraq for about 6 months now, and we've made a few small changes to our surroundings in that time. I'm working on a project that will give you an even better idea of what Iraq is about than what I've already shown you through this blog. Stay tuned for the details. Here we go...


BEFORE: This a shot of the business end of our office. SFC Kerchal's desk is in the back left, SGT Kane's is the back right and at the time SSG Johnson and I were sharing the desk off to the right.
AFTER: SFC Kerchal and SGT Kane are still in the same spot. SSG Johnson now has his own desk, off to the left, while I'm now all alone at my desk to the right. As you can see, we've put a lot of work and effort into showing our Husker pride to all who visit us.

BEFORE: This was the desk that SSG Johnson and I were sharing. This setup, combined with our shared living quarters, was just a little more time together than any two soldiers should have to share.

AFTER: I still have the second chair, but now it's just for guests who come to bask in the glory of my brilliance. Or at least that's what I tell myself. I've used the extra space to expand my empire somewhat, and I enjoy my hidden spot in the office.

Anaconda in pictures - odds & ends

Today's pictures won't cover any one thing in particular, but rather a couple of odds & ends that didn't merit their own post. Enjoy.

Here is our our chow hall. Food is not too shabby, but tends to get repitive. I hope to take some inside shots in the future.

The entrance to the beloved swimming pool.

Photo from my trip to the pool last week. Fairly busy lately, but the hot hot hot summer weather is starting to die down, and now we're just dealing with hot, which isn't too bad.
There is an outdoor basketball court and sand volleyball court outside of the gym. I've never used either one, but I've seen some folks using them from time to time.

Anaconda in pictures - movie theater

Today's segment of Anaconda in pictures takes us to Sustainer Theater, the movie theater here at Anaconda. Next to the gym, the theater has to be my favorite thing about Anaconda - possibly better than the swimming pool. The cost is nice (free) and the location is swell too - only about 2 blocks away from my trailer. They also do a surprisingly good job on the movie selection - we're usually fortunate enough to get plenty of first run movies. Usually we get movies here about 2-4 weeks after they arrive in theaters back in the States. On some occasions, we've even gotten them the same weekend (as was the case with the new Will Ferrell flick) or in some rare cases, we've even gotten movies before they were out in the states (as was the case with Superman). The theater itself isn't too bad. Seats leave something to be desired, and the technology of the screen and audio is dated, but all things considered we are very lucky to have such a nice place to kill time here in the desert.

Sustainer theater, in all it's brick and mortar glory. The building has held up well. I'm not sure how old the place actually is. Their is a Subway restaurant upstairs, but I've never eaten there. Supposedly the food isn't quite the same as you would get back home, and the DFAC puts together really good sandwiches - for free - so I haven't really had much desire to check out Subway.
The concessions bar at the theater. Baskin Robbins has as stand here selling the basics - shakes, sundaes, cones, etc. They will also sell you normal movie theater stuff (popcorn, candy, pop) along with some things you might not get at theaters back home (full-size pizzas, n/a beer, etc.) This is the only portion of the theater experience that has a price tag. Admission, as I mentioned above, is always free.
A shot of the stairs leading up to the Subway restaurant and the balcony section of the theater. Balcony seats are usually highly sought after, and Generals and other higher ranking folks tend to suck up a lot of the best seats. We usually sit on the floor level - our way of sticking it to the man, so to speak.
The theater does a good job of looking and feeling just like any ol movie theater back home. A little dated, but still the tried and true movie theater experience. On this night SGT Kane, SPC Benes and I were checking out the new Disney flick, Invincible. Good film - we all enjoyed it. This was last Saturday night, before the Husker game came on the radio at 11:30 p.m. We got pumped up at Invincible, then rolled back to the office to listen to the Huskers steamroll LA Tech. Good times.

Anaconda in pictures - the neighborhood

Today's pictures will give you a visual of the housing area that I live in along with some of the surrounding points of interest.

Also, have to mention that the Huskers romped yesterday, and I was able to listen to the game in it's entirety, thanks to the kind folks at Huskers.com who provide free streaming radio broadcasts of every Husker game. Go Big Red!

Behind those concrete walls (referred to as t-walls over here) is my housing area. It's quite a protective fortress that they have built for us. The idea is if mortar rounds or other enemy fire enters the area the t-walls will protect our trailers. I'd like to see them put in a moat and draw bridge type set-up to complete the whole castle effect, but I'm guessing that won't happen anytime soon.

Here is a shot of the street that runs right next to our housing area, which you can see in the top right corner of the picture. Our work area is to the right of the picture - you can't see it here. Off to the left is the restroom/shower trailers. You can see it's a bit of a walk from where I live to the showers. Not really what I'm used to, considering the last two apartments I've lived in I've had a master bedroom with bathroom five feet from my bed. One thing I will look forward to when I get home is having the ability to wake up in the morning and walk to the bathroom, without worrying about getting fully dressed, putting shoes on, etc.

Possibly the #1 thing I will not miss about Iraq - port-a-potties. They are everywhere, and unavoidable in most cases. Most mornings I end up making this my first stop when I wake up. Not a pleasant way to start you day, to say the least.

This is what the housing area looks like inside the t-walls. Between the t-walls and the sandbags, they protect our trailers fairly well. To really take the protection to the next level though, I really think we need to seriously consider the moat idea. I'll keep you updated.

Anaconda in pictures - Sprung Gym (part two)

Here are some more pictures from the Sprung gym here at Anaconda.
The other side of the weight lifting end of the gym. Don't be fooled by the air conditioning ducts you see hanging from the ceiling - the average temperature in the gym at night is around 80-85 degrees. This contribuites to getting your sweat on in no time.

Who's that leading this group of soldiers in PT (black shirt, black hat)? Well it's none other than the Diamond Cutter himself, three-time world wrestling champion Diamond Dallas Page. He's old (50) and promoting some strange work-out routine that he's doing now that his WWF days are behind him. (For more information on DDP and his new shtick, click here) Nice of him to visit us over here though, I suppose. The basketball court is on the opposite end of the building from the weights.

Here I am, crushing it on the assisted pull-up/dip machine. Just in case your wondering, the reflective belt I'm wearing around my waist is part of the Army uniform over here in Iraq. It's worn mostly at night, in order to increase visibility and decrease accidents.

Thin mints anyone? It's not uncommon for the girl scouts to donate a box or two of their famous cookies for the troops over here in Iraq, but the gym obviously received an overabundance of cookies, as you can see in the picture above. SGT Kane and I were really excited about this, for some reason, and decided it was a blog-worthy photo opportunity. (For the record, SGT Kane is the king of recognizing blogworthy events)

Anaconda in pictures - Sprung Gym

One of my favorite things to do over here is crush it at the gym. By crushing it, I'm referring to getting in crazy good shape at the gym by lifting weights and running. On my last deployment to Bosnia we were lucky enough to have a very nice gym on our base that allowed us access to a dizzying array of top of the line equipment. The gym here at Anaconda is larger and contains more equipment than the gym in Bosnia, but the gym in Bosnia supported roughly 500 soldiers - the Sprung gym (named after the manufacture of the building) here at Anaconda supports 15,000. Little bit different scope, but the bottom line is that the gym is here and I am more than happy to use it. One critical element to a solid workout routine is having a battle buddy to lift with you. SGT Kane has stepped up and filled that role, and has done a knockout job. We've been working out 4-6 days a week for the last 5 months or so. Lately, we've added SSG Johnson to the routine, which has added this whole three musketeers type dynamic to the whole thing. So far I'm roughly six months into this deployment and I can honestly say that going to the gym has been the best thing to happen to me so far. I've really enjoyed it. Here are a few pictures.

Inside the gym. Not really sure why we have racquetball. Sure, it's a good way to burn a few calories, but the court eats up a lot of valuable gym space that could be used for more weight lifting machines. Oh well. People seem to enjoy it.

The gym is basically a U shape that curves around the racquetball court. Wide variety of free weights, cardio and other equipment. It's usually not too terribly busy, but it can get a little crazy at night. This photo was taken on a relatively busy night.

An exterior shot of the gym. The gym is the large structure with the white metal roof in the background of the photo. In the front is the smaller gym, with an indoor basketball court and more cardio equipment. I don't usually spend too much time in the smaller gym. The serious weight lifters who are taking it to the next level stay in the larger gym. So of course that's where I go.