A Great Finale...

To those of you who don't know...I'm a HUGE Battlestar Galactica fan. Not the 70's TV series, but the Sci-Fi Channel's highly acclaimed series which began 4 years ago and ended rather climactically Friday night in a 2 hour deal. Now for those of you who say "Good Lord how can you watch a show so religiously?" Mom and Dad can't complain because every time I call them they are always..."Can I call you back...24 is on right now."

Talk about loose ends being tied up rather nicely. For those of you who either followed the show or somewhat followed it...you know how the humans were fleeing the Cylon rebellion against their human creators (or so you thought). So they sought out the mythical "Earth" or "Kobol" where the 13th tribe apparently fled to many centuries ago. Not only did they find "Earth" but they found it utterly desolate and devastated by nuclear war...obviously the Cylon problem was bigger than they thought. But along the way...a Cylon/human hybrid and a human fell in love and had a child...who became the saviour of the human race. In the finale, Galactica arrives at the predestined coordinates that Starbuck has been dreaming all throughout the series...and it is our Earth...150,000 years ago.

There are theories out there which basically hypothesize that the human race may have been visited many millenia ago by intelligent life, which jump started our evolution. And this ending played that idea to the hilt. It's not Biblical in any sense of the imagination...but there was an underlying theme that there is a Higher Power out there guiding us along the way. Of course, the final scene showing the Cylon #6 and Gaius Baltar in modern day times threw that theme all to heck...when #6 (also known as the blonde chick) remarked..
"Decadence, chaos...remind you of anything such as Earth..the real Earth before this one...Kobol...and Caprica before the fall? Maybe this time it will be different...perhaps God's ways are different every time."

To which Baltar replies..."You know IT doesn't like being called that." Cue suspenseful orchestral music...fade to black...

Off to see the 70 virgins...

This is grainy footage taken from a c-130 Galaxy on Line-of-Sight from approximately 15 miles away. Apparently the radio traffic indicates that these are forward volunteers either attempting to defuse an IED (improvised explosive device) in the form of an 110 mm shell, or they are Islamic militants trying to put one together. In any case, somebody is going to need a small bodybag to pick up what's left.

Look at the size of the hole it leaves. Talk about ripping someone a new one.

Videos

In the clip above, this was taken at the TDCJ Wallace unit in Colorado City, TX. Flash bangs exceed 180 decibels and emit a pressure wave designed to disorient and incapacitate briefly. Just make sure you secure the cell door before it goes off or this will happen.

Mondays.......

Well, it's officially Monday again. It's my day off so I'm trying to get some odds and ends finished around the house. Of course I had to start off my day by running by work and straightening up some administrative issues...off the clock of course. That's one of the few things I don't like about being a captain...strict salary. Hah. I was involved in two officer-related incidences over the weekend which I have to use my powers of administration and determine disciplinary actions as needed. One was a rather serious case of insubordination, the second was merely an accident...literally...the officer was responding to a call from yours truly and in his quick response managed to broadside a fire hydrant.

Anyways, I'm also recommending a great movie that was on HBO recently called "Taking Chance" with Kevin Bacon. It's a tearjerker. Seriously, it's the true story of Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobl who saw that one of our fallen heroes, PFC Chance Phelps was from his hometown in Wyoming, and he volunteered to escort the fallen home. The movie shows the true nature and the protocol involved in making that last voyage home. It showed the dignity and honor that common everyday Americans have for our fallen heroes. One powerful scene was during his first layover in Minnesota where he sees another American serviceman standing on the tarmac. As he approaches, he realizes that the serviceman is escorting another hero home..only this time it is that serviceman's own brother. He describes the scene as poignant in that not only is this brother performing one final act of love, but that he maintains his strict military bearing and demeanor during the entire process.

And in conclusion, Strobl writes:
From Dover to Philadelphia; Philadelphia to Minneapolis; Minneapolis to Billings; Billings to Riverton; and Riverton to Dubois we had been together. Now, as I watched them carry him the final 15 yards, I was choking up. I felt that, as long as he was still moving, he was somehow still alive.
Then they put him down above his grave. He had stopped moving.

I left Dubois in the morning before sunrise for my long drive back to Billings. It had been my honor to take Chance Phelps to his final post. Now he was on the high ground overlooking his town.

I miss him.

Regards,LtCol Strobl.

In the end of the credits, there is a montage of home videos and photographs of Lance Corporal (posthumous) Chance Russell Phelps, and it is then that you realize that this was not fiction, that this was indeed a true American hero.

No Snow...

Unlike my brothers and parents in Tupelo MS, it did not snow here. However, what you consider a snow storm here is a lot different from over there. See photo...

Yes it's dust and dirt. No kidding. Since our cold fronts come roaring in at about 50 miles an hour...the dust gets picked up as well. No snow per se...but it does get mighty chilly on the back end of the deal. This storm was mild though compared to ones we had several years ago...total brown/red out and you couldn't even see the house across the street.

Back again...

Sorry it's been a while. A disease called laziness can often present itself in similar fashions. IE not wanting to do anything...not having enough time...etc. Well...it's been cured. Another curious note...on the day that George W came home to Midland after Obama was sworn in rather auspiciously...Sierra was highly upset that Grandpa Steve was in town and didn't visit her. Of course, I don't recall Grandpa Steve ever being a good cook either. HAH.