Thursday, February 12, 2009

"Taking Chance" premiere, from usmc.mil

Movie premiere hits close to home for service members

2/11/2009 By Lance Cpl. Bryan G. Carfrey , Headquarters Marine Corps

WASHINGTON —

Senior military officials and government dignitaries gathered to watch the premiere of “Taking Chance,” the HBO made-for-TV movie, Feb. 9 at the Motion Picture Association of America.

“Taking Chance” depicts the experiences of Lt. Col. Michael R. Strobl while escorting a fallen Marine from Dover Air force Base in Dover, Del., to Dubois, Wyo., in April 2004.

Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps was killed in action during combat operations April 9, 2004, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, while assigned to Battery L, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment.

“When we started filming the movie I thought the American people should be the main character,” said Strobl, who retired in 2007 and co-writer of the movie. “That’s why I wrote it - the reaction of the American people who witnessed the journey along the way.”

Actor Kevin Bacon portrays Strobl in the movie and also made an appearance at the premiere.

“I was amazed and surprised I didn’t know anything about it and had no idea about the (escorting) process,” Bacon said. “I liked that it was a simple telling of Mike’s journey with Chance. It doesn’t really hit you over the head. It kind of sneaks up on you, and the accumulative effect of watching the process and the way people reacted along the trip is what I responded to as an actor.”

To prepare for the role, which was his third time portraying a Marine, Bacon said he met with Strobl on several occasions.

“I try my best when playing Marines to pay attention to detail and try to humanize them as much as possible,” Bacon said. “People who aren’t in the military sometimes find it tough to look past the uniform.”

After the movie, spectators, which included Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright, were given the opportunity to shake hands with and express their thanks to director Ross Katz, who co-wrote the screenplay with Strobl.

“I wanted to portray honesty in this movie,” Katz said. “When you witness the remains of a young man who gave his life for civilians like me, we aren’t red states or blue states, we’re purple states. We’re all Americans. “

“Taking Chance” is scheduled to premiere on HBO Feb. 21.

Monday, February 09, 2009

New video: John gets a bike!

It was supposed to be a Christmas present for John, but when he broke his leg, we figured it didn't make much sense to give him a new bike that he couldn't even try to ride until the cast came off. The cast came off this week, so we decided it was time to give him the bike, even though, as you will see, it is still a tad on the "big" side for him (he'll grow into it soon, no doubt). Video clip is from yesterday, about 2 min 45 sec. Hope to have another clip of him actually riding the bike very soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this one!

GJS

Sunday, February 08, 2009

iPhone Applications: Better or Dumber?

I don't have an iPhone but may get one at some point in the future, if they work in Taiwan. This week I read a pair of articles about a couple of the various applications that are available for download or purchase on the iPhone. Apparently for a nominal fee, a buck or two (or in some cases, free of charge), iPhone users can download software developed by iPhone users from Apple's website and install it on their iPhones. One article I read talked about the magnificence of a particular application, how it was so awesome as to transform a mere piece of electronic equipment generally considered to be a phone into a collaborative musical instrument (read the article by the New York Times' technology columnist David Pogue; it's pretty interesting and cool-sounding!), while the other article (Yes, also from the New York Times, this time a piece in the weekly Magazine that comes as a part of the Sunday paper. What can I say - I read the New York Times, OK?) denounced a particular application in that it turns the fancy iPhone into nothing more than a fancy, electronic whoopee cushion.

I'm not here to say either one is good or bad, it just shows the range of the possible. The second one, though, it made me laugh and think about when we were younger, growing up on the Trey Deuce in L-Town, going up to the Craigs' house to watch Nebraska football games on the big screen with Larry. He always seemed to have some sort of battery-powered, flatulence noise producing device close at hand to be used as required for tomfoolery or what have you. Good times, not easily forgotten. I am sure he would get a pretty good kick out of the latter iPhone application, with all of the rest of us laughing along with him.

GJS

Friday, February 06, 2009

PBS Nova's "The Spy Factory"

I saw a review of this documentary about the NSA in Tuesday's New York Times online. It was slated to air on PBS Tuesday night, but unfortunately I missed it (busy studying Chinese, sorry). Luckily for me, it is posted in its entirety on the Nova website in 5 parts; so far I have finished viewing 3 of the 5 segments.

The program prominently features author James Bamford, who has written extensively about the NSA in books like The Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets, and his latest work, The Shadow Factory. Sharp readers will note that the title of the documentary and this last book are almost the same. I have read the book, and after viewing 60% of the documentary, it is clear that consuming both media will have you covering a lot of the same ground. The documentary is pretty much the "made for TV" version of the book.

That's all for today, further critique will have to come after I have a chance to see the other two parts.

GJS

Plug for upcoming Marine-related movie on HBO

Kevin Bacon played a Marine captain in the movie, "A Few Good Men." His promotion came in - he will play a lieutenant colonel in the upcoming HBO movie, "Taking Chance." Basically, the movie tells the story of a Marine officer, played by Bacon, and his heart-touching experiences as a "casualty assistance officer" escorting the body of a fallen Marine (killed in one of the "Global War on Terrorism - family of conflicts") back to his hometown. It is based on a true story. As a Marine, I would probably be interested in seeing this film whether or not it was purported to be "worth seeing" or not, but in this case, the accolades are rolling in, fueling my desire to see it. The film was reviewed in the February 2009 issue of the Marine Corps Gazette and also in the February 2009 issue of the U.S. Naval Institutes's Proceedings. (This latter magazine arrived at my mailbox today and I have only had a brief chance to skim the contents as of now; don't worry, I will post some comments about this new periodical in this space soon!)

"Taking Chance" will be on HBO on Saturday, 21 Feb at 8PM (check your local listings). I don't have HBO, so I may need to see if I can find a buddy around here to watch it with. I recommend you do the same. If the reviews are accurate, you may need to bring a box of tissues with you.

GJS

The Cast is Off!

You've been waiting for this - photos from John's "cast off day"! Yes, this happened Monday; I am a few days behind.

John with the two pieces of his cast.

John with his new hand puppet. He made it himself!

You will note in the bottom two photos that he is leaning on the kitchen cabinet while standing. He is still favoring his left leg (the one that was not broken) quite a bit, but even since Monday, he has gotten a lot better. His right leg is noticeably skinnier than the left, and for some reason, it is also much hairier! He is sure enjoying being able to take a bath every night and soon should be pretty much back to normal.

GJS

[Yesterday's] Periodical

Meant to write about this yesterday but ran out of time. I mentioned earlier in the week that I had received new issues of both Runner's World magazine and Triathlete magazine over the weekend, and then proceeded to talk a little bit about the content of the RW magazine, excluding any talk of Triathlete. That was because I only had time to look at RW during Monday's workout. Yesterday as I rode the bike I finally had a chance to peruse Triathlete. There were a couple of things I found worthy of mentioning.

First, the latest edition includes a special feature (really a separate magazine of a decent size in and of itself), dubbed "The Kona and Clearwater Qualifier's Guide". These two places, Kona, HI, and Clearwater, FL, are the locations of the Ironman World Championship and Ironman 70.3 World Championship (popularly referred to as Half-Ironman) races, respectively. While my immediate plans do not include being able to run a qualifying time for either race (it is similar to qualifying for the Boston Marathon, only it is not done on a purely age-to-finish time basis, like Boston; rather you need to finish in some portion of the top finishers in a qualifying Ironman or Ironman 70.3 event either overall or in your age group, an achievement that for me is far away - I am happy just to finish the races I enter!), I do like that this supplemental magazine lists out all the qualifying events and provides descriptions and other information about each. I like to look at the dates and try and scheme about which one or ones I may have a chance to run in the next few years. For example, while we live in Taiwan, I would like to try and run the new Ironman China race, which happens in April every year. Supplemental events that I may be able to do in preparation / conjunction with that race would be the Singapore Ironman 70.3 or maybe one of the races in Australia or New Zealand, or maybe the Ironman Japan.

Secondly, the issue also contains a wetsuit buyer's guide, sort of like the feature Runner's World does on shoes that I talked about a few days ago, except much less useful to me. I realize that at some point I may have to purchase or use a wetsuit to race in a triathlon, but I am glad that up to this point, having some dozen plus triathlons (I am not really sure how many I have done, more than 12 but less than 20, I would say), I have yet to have really needed to use one. Because of this, I find the many pages devoted to wetsuits in the magazine of little use. I do realize, of course, that clearly there is a large group of triathletes who have used and do use wetsuits (largely based on the locale of the events they participate in, I would wager) and this feature is aimed at them. I find it interesting, though, the contrast between the shoes feature in RW, in that I would say the vast majority of runners use a running-specific shoe to train and race in, while I don't think nearly as great a proportion of the overall number of triathletes regularly use or train for swimming using a wetsuit. I would definitely say, though, that most triathletes who conduct ocean swimming 'round these parts DO use wetsuits. That ocean water is just too cold!

GJS

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Promotion Photos

The promoting officer, Major Richard J. Schmidt, USMC, gives some opening remarks to the small formation before commencing the promotion.

Major Schmidt and Barb (holding John, partially obscured) remove the old rank insignia and replace it with the new Captain's bars!

The old rank is safely deposited in my hand, ready to be "round-filed."

Major Schmidt administers the oath of office to Captain Sampson.

Congratulatory handshakes all around!

My class and instructors (from L to R): Beth Kristenson, spouse of Olmsted Scholar and fellow UNL alum; Xinyi Wu, chief instructor; Sgt Chase Garcia, USMC, who read the warrant during the promotion ceremony; Naro Zheng, former instructor; LT J.D. Kristenson, USN, Olmsted Scholar-Beijing, China 2009 (also a fellow UNL alum); SSgt William Stewart, USAF, military language instructor; Captain Gary J. Sampson, USMC, Olmsted Scholar-Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2009; Major Richard J. Schmidt, USMC, promoting officer and current Spanish language course student; and Capt Lewis Vaughn, USAF, Olmsted Scholar-Nanjing, China 2009.

Interesting note: although today was the first time I had met Maj Schmidt in person, I was a student of his father at UNL. Dr. Richard J. Schmidt is a professor of exercise physiology. Dr. Schmidt favored me with his attendance at my commissioning ceremony in Lincoln in December 2004, and I thought it was a great touch for his son to perform my promotion today.

我非常高兴！

GJS

Today's Periodicals

This weekend, the latest issues of Runner's World and Triathlete magazines both arrived at my mailbox. This morning while riding the stationary bike I perused the former. I only made it about halfway through today, but in the process I saw a couple of interesting articles. The first was an explanatory article on some very useful exercises runners can do at the gym or at home (most without any external resistance, which is the way I am tending in the strength training exercises I do nowadays - using bodyweight only) to stabilize the pelvis. Most of the exercises illustrated were core stability movements that are popular in many circles currently. I think I can add some of what I saw in the current issue of RW to my routine and bolster my own running ability in the short- and medium-term.

There was also the periodic (quarterly? bi-annual?) "new shoes recommendation" feature. I find these pieces to be useful in selecting what will be my next pair of running shoes. I generally try to buy the "Editor's Choice" - after all, these people have full-time jobs testing and evaluating running shoes, I figure they probably know what they are talking about. Plus, I have had good results in doing this in the past the vast majority of times I have done it. The shoe selected as "Editor's Choice" this time around is the Asics Gel Kayano 15. Fifteen? you say? Yes, it is the fifteenth of the line. I currently run in the Gel Kayano 14 and have been very satisfied with those shoes from the day I bought them right up to the present. As a matter of fact, I was a bit concerned when I bought them, back in October, because I purchased them the day immediately prior to a planned 10-mile run. My previous shoes were well past their prime and needed to be immediately retired, so I used the Gel Kayano 14 straight out of the box on the 10-miler. The verdict? No blisters, no pain, a very comfortably, well-cushioned ride for the entirety of the session. I have had nothing but good experiences with the shoe in the meantime. My only issue with the RW shoe issue is that I have sometimes found it difficult to find the new model shoes shown within in stores soon after seeing them in the magazine. There seems to be some degree of time lapse between when these new shoes are available to the testers at Runner's World and when they are on the shelf at my local department store or running specialty store. I hope this time it is different, for I am really piling up the miles on the current pair of Gel Kayano 14's!

GJS