The Heart of The Game

What a fantastic Documentary about the Roosevelt High School Girls Basketball team in Seattle, Washington!
Following about five years beginning when they hired a new coach. This documentary is a tribute to these girls who became women with spirit, spunk and leadership values.
The Heart of The Game is a great film that all parents of young girls should watch this film with them!

Oscar Night!

It's almost here and yes I am crazy about the Oscars!
After serving this country overseas for almost 10 years there are some American Dreams I now enjoy and the Oscars are one of them!
I am so glad that the producers have decided to place a Thank You mic back stage for the winners who've forgotten, or didn't have time to, thank someone!
It's as American a apple pie and hotdogs and I DO enjoy all the crazy nonsense of the red carpet gala!
I think it's about time the jewelers and fashion designers have real people-Oops! at least actors show their wares!

Oregon's last World War I veteran dies

Corporal Howard V. Ramsey:A World War I Veteran Living in the 21st Centuryby John O. AndersenFebruary 5, 2001
Tonight we have a very special man in our midst. On January 1st of this year, Howard Verne Ramsey had officially lived in three centuries--the 19th, 20th, and now the 21st! As a surviving veteran of the first World War, over 82 years after it ended, Howard is also rare. Of the two million Americans who fought in France during that conflict, today less than 500 are still with us. In other words, 1 in 4,000!
World War One has been called the "war to end all wars." Sixteen countries sent troops to fight in what became one of the bloodiest chapters in human history. Over 8.5 million soldiers and sailors lost their lives in that conflict. To put this in perspective: if you count the population of the 4 counties in the Portland, Oregon metro area (Clark, Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas) you get a total of around 1.7 million people. Multiply that by 5, and the result is 8.5 million, the total killed in World War I-- a staggering number!
When Howard was born in 1898, William McKinley, was president of the United States and Victoria was queen of England. When Howard was five, Wilbur and Orville Wright made their historic flight at Kitty Hawk.
Nineteen U.S. presidents have served during his lifetime. Howard's favorite is Teddy Roosevelt. His boyhood fascination with Roosevelt and the Rough Riders revealed itself in the stories and illustrations Howard created. To this day, he still has some of those early stories and cartoons.
In 1916, while attending Washington High School in Portland, Howard joined the Oregon Naval Militia. He trained weekly aboard the USS Boston which was docked on the Willamette just south of the Broadway Bridge. The Boston, a 21-gun cruiser, had been part of Admiral Dewey's task force which defeated the Spanish Pacific Fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898.
On July 15, 1916, Howard sailed with a crew of 300 on a 17 day cruise to Sitka, Alaska aboard the coal-powered cruiser, the USS Marblehead. Howard, who attained the rank of coxswain, recalls a very rough voyage. A member of the ship's high school division, he performed a variety of duties which included sweeping the deck, cleaning the crews' quarters, and assisting in the ship's coal bunker and fireroom.
Not long after that cruise, Howard left the naval militia to move with his parents to Salt Lake City. When he arrived, he took a job as a driver for a transportation company. For the next two years he became proficient in driving taxis, ambulances, and even a sightseeing bus.
When he wasn't driving, he was often dancing at the Saltair Resort on the Great Salt Lake. Saltair, once dubbed the "Coney Island of the West," boasted one of the world's largest dance floors. Howard and his partner were excellent dancers. He recalls the two of them performing on the dance floor to the applause of many spectators.
During the Spring of 1917, America's isolationist stance finally came to an end as German U-boats resumed their attacks on allied shipping. In April, the U.S. declared war on Germany. Over the next year, America rose to the challenge and by the Fall of 1918, had stationed 2 million soldiers in France.
Howard's skill as a driver was very much in demand particularly when relatively few could drive. It was in fact his ticket into the army when he volunteered in June 1918. Had he not been a proficient driver, he would have been sent home and told to wait for the draft. After June 1918, most of those drafted never saw action in France.
When they first attempted to enlist, Howard and a friend were rejected because they were underweight. Not to be deterred, they stuffed their bellies with bananas and drinking water. On the second try, they met the weight standard.
After a couple of weeks at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Howard was sent to Camp Holabird in Baltimore, Maryland where he was assigned to Company C of the 302nd Water Tank Train; a unit designated to supply water via motorized tank trucks to troops on the Western Front. Camp Holabird was the staging camp for motor transport corps en route to France. Trucks and spare parts were sent there from a variety of manufacturers. At Holabird, they would be stored, crated, and later shipped to France. Camp Holabird was also a training center for mechanics.
Howard spent just over two months there before heading to Camp Upton, Long Island, a troop staging camp for units immediately prior to going overseas.
On September 29, 1918, Howard and his unit sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey aboard the troop ship Leviathan. They arrived in France 8 days later. The Leviathan, formerly the German liner Vaterland, was the world's largest passenger liner at the time it was constructed in 1913. When America entered the war in 1917, the Vaterland which had been anchored in Hoboken for some time, was seized by the U.S. Government, and converted into a troop ship. Widely recognized for her massive size and zebra camouflage stripes, the Leviathan transported more soldiers to and from France than any other troop ship.
During Howard's crossing, the Leviathan was part of a convoy of troop ships carrying a total of 24,000 soldiers. Tragically, this passage occurred during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-19. Two hundred of the 24,000 soldiers died during the passage, and another 200 from Howard's ship died within a few days of arriving in France.
Luckily, Howard remained healthy throughout the passage, and immediately after landing in France, was sent to Commercy. Although his unit's primary mission was to transport water to soldiers on the front, Howard was selected to chauffeur officers from place to place.
In Howard's papers, I found a receipt for a truck he was issued on November 26, 1918. Along with the vehicle, he received an array of tools and related items. These reveal just how much more know-how was involved in operating a motor vehicle back then. It wasn't just turn the key and step on the gas pedal. The list included a tube casing & rim, tube, skid chains, galvanized iron buckets, funnels, a jack, spare hubcap, oil can, pump hose, grease gun, and a tool roll with screwdrivers, a hammer, a file, pliers, tube repair kit, and an assortment of monkey wrenches.
Commercy was a motor transport center for the American Expeditionary Forces. For five months, Howard shared a room in Commercy's Chateau Stanislas. His driving duties, however, frequently took him away for extended periods. During his nearly ten months in Europe he visited a variety of cities including Toul, Monte Carlo, Grenoble, Lyon, Nancy, Argonne, Paris, Dijon, Verdun, Esch in Luxembourg, Nice, and Monaco.
While on the road, Howard remembers frequent stops at Red Cross stations which would provide showers and clean underwear for soldiers. During the war, the American Red Cross operated 22 canteens close to the Western Front. Additionally, nearly 9,000 American Red Cross nurses served in France at that time.
After the armistice in November 1918, Howard was assigned to remove war dead from temporary graves on the front and inter them in a permanent cemetery. The results of his and many other's efforts became the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, which today is the largest American cemetery in Europe with 14,246 soldiers buried there. Most of them lost their lives in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in what turned out to be the final weeks of the war.
Howard's unit returned to the States during the summer of 1919 aboard the F.J. Luckenbach, a ship originally designed to transport horses, mules, and cargo. When the war ended, it was converted into a troop ship to bring the soldiers home.
Recently, while sifting through Howard's file at the Oregon Military Museum, I happened upon a small pamphlet he received in 1919 on his return voyage to the United States. It's titled: "To the Homeward-Bound Americans" by E. Van Vorst. What particularly struck me were these words on the final page:
"You have taken part in the greatest adventure upon which humanity has so far ever been launched. You have seen your friends fall by your side, you have, yourselves, perhaps, been face to face with death.
Your contact with men of many nations, your journey in foreign lands, the discipline you have accepted, the close association with Americans from every state in the country, will have inevitably changed your point of view. It has been said that you came into the war as crusaders. When you reach home, you will take up your work in the same spirit."
Howard opposes war perhaps even more than those of us who've never fought in one. Yet, when his country needed him, he jumped in and did what was necessary. That spirit of selfless service carried over into his family life, career, and community involvement. It has been a hallmark of his life.
We would all do well to be more like that.
Addendum: Howard V. Ramsey passed away on February 22, 2007 at the age of 108. He was the final World War I veteran in Oregon at the time of his passing.

Time For Another Movie Review

Movies that just became available on DVD are "Babel", "The Prestige" & the documentary "Shut Up and Sing".
Babel is an outstanding story that combines three stories in different parts of the world and yet connected by a rifle. Fantastic in how the screenwriter and director were able to make the audience feel empathy for the various characters. This is one heck of a film! Many accolades!
The Prestige follows the movie The Illusionist in that it is about Magic and the making of it. The Prestige takes on a different side in that it bring the nuance of realism into it. It's nice to see David Bowie back in film and what an excellent role he played. No one will notice it is him except by his eyes. (For those who know he has 2 different colored eyes) Good and interesting film, though the end was a bit soft in expectation.
Shut Up and Sing-I had been waiting to see this and after the Grammies & the Dixie Chicks win of 5 Grammies, well the heat is a bit of them, but still worth seeing for those of intelligence and knowing now that the White House has been severely at fault from the beginning.
Many more good movies are coming out on DVD next week as well so we can only wait to watch!

A Big Scare because of iTunes

Yesterday I had a big scare because of iTunes.
I started up my CPU & connected one of my iPods-I had been updating it with Album Artwork-& my system said that my iPod was corrupted & did I want to refresh it which would delete all 60Gig plus of stuff I had on it!
I went to Apple online & proceeded to download the update figuring that the problem I had a week ago with iTunes had never been fully resolved.
After my CPU downloaded the upgrade it began to process it into iTunes & my system locked up causing me to restart the computer. When this happened the computer would not restart properly! UGH! I was grief stricken! I called my brother for info & like sister, like brother he had had the same trouble just the night before & came over to fiddle with my system. WHEW!
Let it be known the trouble with iTunes upgrade 7.1 right now!

Sharing His Wife's Cancer

I went to one of my Vet organizations meeting last night and sat down to chat with a couple of the guys over a beer and I noticed one of them had shaved his head bald.
So of course I ask him about it and he told me his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and had begun losing her hair during her chemotherapy and she asked him to shave her head.
Well he decided he wanted to go bald too in support of her!
Now that's what I call love, support and sharing in a loved ones suffering!

A Great Way To Watch TV Episodes

I have been recording a couple of TV shows, this season, on my TV hard-drive system & finally watched some of them last night.
What a great way to see a bunch of episodes of a show!
It was great in that I hadn't forgotten what was going on from one episode to the next and it showed me how fluid some TV shows are and how some just seem to bounce around from one actor to another.
I have to say I haven't gotten interested in many of the new shows out this season. I have plenty of friends and family members who have and tell me about them, but I am much more a reader than a watcher.
It's hard enough for me to keep up with the ones I have grown to like!

A Great Documentary

I just saw a Great Documentary.
John Lennon vs. The U.S.
I recommend it highly!
I shows what one person can do when they believe their cause.
Our country is going down the tubes everyday.
So many are just apathetic or going along with the crowd.
This kind of action is what gave way for the Nazi regime!
Let your voice be heard! Show that you have an opinion!

New Haunts

I've been busy lately at my new Haunts - for those who are Navy!
Fair Winds and Following Seas!
For now!

Some Great Movies

Recently I have had the opportunity to see "Flyboys", "Hollywoodland", "Flags of Our Fathers" & "Running with Scissors".
Flyboys is an excellent movie with great cinematography and action. One of the great films of 2006 for certain!
Hollywoodland was much denser a film than I had expected and the cast filled this movie about the suicide/murder of the great actor George Reeves who played Superman at the time.
Andrian Brody yet again performs as a two-bit private investigator and fills the audience with questions on George's death. Diane Lane is spectacular.
Flags of Our Fathers-Clint Eastwood's signature is all over the film, though I have to say I enjoyed the book much more.
The story is very well covered in the film and gives a wider population the chance to know this great historic moment in WWII history.
Running with Scissors reminds me a bit of The Royal Tenenbaums in that we are looking at some really screwed up people. This movie, as the book, is based on the memoirs of Augusten Burrough's. This is a very quirky story that requires you to take with 'a grain of salt' and much humor.

I am SO pleased

It brings me great joy to aid in a friend's quality of life.
Recently a dear friend, who recently retired from the Navy, had called me for a nice chat. We happened to talk of movies and some of our favorite and mine being LOTR-Lord Of The Rings.
She asked if I happen to get the chance, if I could try burning copies of mine for her.
LOTR is too great to even attempt. I DID order the fine set-of course the extended version which is the ONLY version for us HARD CORE LOTR fans!
When they arrived she had then called again to thank me and that she hoped soon that she would have the time to sit down and watch them.
Last night I got a call from her that she had had the time and did sit down and watch them and how wonderful she felt the movies are!
It brings me great joy to share something I love or like with someone else and it gives me even greater joy when it increases their quality of life just by having a bit of pleasure and time to smile or be entertained.

Breaking The Silence

Well Dear Folks!
I am breaking the silence - or at least posting yet again!
I was busy with a few errands and enjoying the solitude of a bit of reclusivity and just relieved myself of worldly burdens for a time.
We should all do that just to get our bearings again on track.
It's a nice time to look within and resolve unanswered questions or find that strength within you to be the best individual we can be.
That is what I am looking into. I have found I just don't seem to have that last breath to fit the good fit on my weight issue.
So I know I must deal with some psychological reasoning for it before striking out or failure with result.
Now that I am back on post I am excited to see I am obtaining "Flags of Our Fathers," "Hollywoodland" & "Running with Scissors" from Netflix. All of which come out on DVD in stores tomorrow!
Tomorrow night will be a splendid movie night in my house!
More on that to come!

A Morning PTSD Wig-Out!

This morning I decided to venture up to McCord AFB to do a big quarterly shopping at the commissary. Even with the trek I can save a bundle and also not have to get some darned bogus brand. I am also a Mega-Couponer!
In fact my mother gave me a nice booklet organizer file with a convenient shopping list pad & band to hold a pen.
I use it ritually now! So...I head off only to be stuck in horrid traffic and it didn't take the Ambulance or police bikes to recognize that I would soon be driving by an accident. I have been evaluated as disabled with 60% of it due to PTSD, though military service related it is not combat related, but from two near fatal vehicle accidents while stationed overseas.
So seeing an accident, hearing a car screech or even just seeing skid marks and smelling the burnt rubber will cause me to Wig-Out! I had a Wig-Out this morning and I realized that my Military Brothers and Sisters with Combat related PTSD are actually luckier than me! No one will be shoving an M-16 in their hands and shoving them off to Vietnam or Iraq etc... With Helicopters circling and the enemy firing on them. While I have no choice but to drive to get my groceries etc... So I have to suffer day in day out.
This weekend I had the chance to speak with a wonderful lady, the Supreme-[National] President of the Military Order of the Cooties-Women's Auxiliary-The Honor Degree of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Rebecca Strauss has been a VA nurse for 25yrs & as I was chatting with her and other ladies of the Auxiliary; I mentioned my PTSD and she said I must be a walking time bomb. I agreed, though I do try to put it out of my mind. The majority of the US is set so that without a car it is difficult for a disabled person to get around to do all the errands, post office, vet, shopping, library etc... I am doing the best I can to deal with it and hope that in gritting my teeth I won't wind up with dental problems to boot!