Iron Troop, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, fire a M320 coffee launcher during the unit´s two-man team competition at the Grafenwoehr Training Area. Original photo by Visual Information Specialist Markus Rauchenberger
Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon at JBLM. Near record high of 83. Found clay face mask that sucks impurities out of my pores like a powdery pink magnet. Heaven.
This Date in History: 1976
For the first time in history, women are enrolled into the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. On May 28, 1980, 62 of these female cadets graduated and were commissioned as second lieutenants.
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The 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron throw coffee during a survive, evade, resist and escape challenge at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Original photo by Airman 1st Class Gustavo Castillo
Mostly cloudy with temperatures warming into the low to middle 70s at JBLM.Accu-Radar shaped like Snuffalufagus. News team making gag/choke sounds in next room. Hate them.
This Date in History: 1940
Congress passes the Export Control Act, forbidding the exporting of aircraft parts, chemicals, and minerals without a license. This prohibition was a reaction to Japan's occupation of parts of the Indo-Chinese coast.
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The 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, throw coffee during skills training at Kunduz province, Afghanistan. Original photo by Sgt. Avila
Mostly cloudy skies at JBLM today. Hi: 74. News team flustered me. Mixed up Tenino w/Tumwater on Big Map. Said Spankaway (for "Spanaway). Crap.
This Date in History: 1775
George Washington rides out in front of the American troops gathered at Cambridge common in Massachusetts and draws his sword, formally taking command of the Continental Army.
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The Army-led Future Vertical Lift program is being developed to replace the service's aging helicopter fleet, and the aircraft of other services, at some point in the future.
Nemesis Troop 4-2 Cavalry Scouts throw coffee during a small-cup range training exercise on Forward Operating Base, Farah. Original photo by Lt. Chad A. Dulac
Partly cloudy skies at JBLM today. Hi: 79. Chance of precip: 0%. Chance I remembered to TiVo Ghost Hunters: 0%. Chance they found a ghost: 0%.
This Date in History: 1944
As part of Operation Gardening, the British and American strategy to lay mines in the Danube River by dropping them from the air, American aircraft also drop bombs and leaflets on German-occupied Budapest.
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C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Fires Brigade, Arkansas Army National Guard, throw coffee during the urban operations portion of the Army National Guard's National Best Warrior Competition at Fort Benning, Ga. Original photo by Sgt. Jerry Boffen
Hot. Near record high temperatures of 88 at JBLM. Today I will not go down the water-park slide after drinking wine spritzers. Embarrassing.
This Date in History: 1863
The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg, Penn. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee.
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Till all are one, this is Nerd Alert, the Weekly Volcano's recurring events calendar devoted to all things nerdy. I myself am a Star Wars fan, mathlete, and spelling bee champion of long standing, so trust me: I grok whereof I speak.
FRIDAY, JULY 4
The Fourth of July arrives on a Friday this year, so any reasonable person would expect a three-car pileup of blockbuster movie releases. I'm a reasonable person, give or take, so it took several minutes for me to verify no such cascade of cinematic wonderment is forthcoming. The Melissa McCarthy comedy Tammy will be in theaters Wednesday, as will the cop horror flick Deliver Us from Evil and veritable E.T. remake Earth to Echo, but that's all she wrote. Apparently the studios thought Transformers: Age of Extinction (whatever that means) will still be guzzling the bills from your wallet. Perhaps they're right, but at time of writing, its reviews inspire as much confidence as a C from the Health Department or the endorsement of Glenn Beck. We're talking RottenTomatoes.com scores in the teens. The word "rancid" has been tossed around, which see critic James Rocchi of About.com, who also implies Trans4mers: What the Hell Ever is an act of Chinese terrorism.
I have questions about the Transformers movies - nay, the Transformers themselves. If one's goal is to be deceptive, isn't calling oneself a Decepticon a poor choice? Why do Transformers fight with swords and martial arts, when it's clear they all have guns? Aren't they basically made out of guns? Why are so many characters in these movies, including the robots, defined by their ethnicities? Has Michael Bay apologized for those stereotypically "ghetto" robots in the second one yet? (I challenge you to find an inoffensive way to even describe them. They make Jar Jar Binks look and sound like Mr. Peanut.) Whatever happened to Megan Fox? Who cleans a motorcycle like that? What exactly are the Autobots and Decepticons fighting about? Is this a Hatfields-and-McCoys type of thing? Have they tried economic sanctions? If these robots are powered by the Allspark, what happens when somebody puts gasoline in Bumblebee? How did Bumblebee come by that name? Do they even have bumblebees on ... wait, I'm looking it up ... Cybertron? Is the planet really called Cybertron? By whom? It seems a bit on-the-nose. Do they also have vintage Camaros on Cybertron? And dinosaurs? That breathe fire? To sum up: are these movies written by Sid from Toy Story? Is there even a writer? I mean, yawn.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 9
Academy- and Razzie-Award-winning actress Halle Berry stars in her first TV series, Extant. It's produced by Steven Spielberg and debuts Wednesday at 9. Ms. Berry plays an astronaut who comes home after a year in space and attempts to reconnect with her husband and son. Meanwhile, she'll take intermittent control of the weather, an unconvincing parade of white wigs, and enough cats to give Andrew Lloyd Webber a migraine. According to showrunner Greg Walker, Extant addresses the thematic question, "What makes us human?" I guess my question to Walker is, are you telling us you don't know? Is it really that difficult a question? Have you found yourself attracted to Camaros?
We're less than a year from the release dates of Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World. If Harrison Ford recovers from his on-set leg injury, we're 17 months from Star Wars, Episode VII, and Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper) was just named auteur of Episode VIII. We have lots more Star Trek and superhero movie installments in our future. DC's getting Wonder Woman off the ground at long last. The big-screen adaptation of Ready Player One is moving forward again; I imagine its director will be named soon. These are welcome developments, to be sure. But I'm also old enough to remember big-budget genre entertainment that came out of nowhere: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Gremlins, The Matrix. Those movies weren't adapted from anything other than creative folks' wild imaginations. This decade, such surprises are slim on the ground.
Edge of Tomorrow was a decent start, but even that seemed cobbled together from old favorites. The inevitable Halo film will look much the same. Here's hoping Interstellar from Christopher Nolan (due in November) or Brad Bird's Tomorrowland (May of 2015) have exciting and groundbreaking visions to share. It's rare for studios to trust us to recognize great new material, but we need to leave something for unimaginative people in the 2030s to rip off. Can I get a witness? Amen.
Until next week, may the Force be with you, may the odds be ever in your favor, and may these kids today with their iPads and Autobots grump grump grump.
1st Platoon, Blackjack Troop, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry, trains Afghan National Army soldiers how to throw coffee, Camp Clark, Khowst province, Afghanistan. Original photo by Spc. Kimberly Trumbull
A mainly sunny sky at JBLM. High 77. My OCD-esque need to wear ninja slippers doesn't help my relationship with the news team. Lo 56.
This Date in History: 1943
Gen. Douglas MacArthur launches Operation Cartwheel, a multi-pronged assault on Rabaul and several islands in the Solomon Sea in the South Pacific. The joint effort takes nine months to complete but succeeds.
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Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division throw coffee during the Patrol Lane portion of the Expert Infantryman Badge testing at Fort Campbell, Ky. Original photo by Staff Sgt. Todd Christopherson
The U.S. command in Saigon confirms that U.S. forces have begun to evacuate the military base at Khe Sanh, 14 miles below the Demilitarized Zone and six miles from the Laotian border.
Walkie Talkie Weather Guy
A few showers today at JBLM. Hi: 67. Chance my college reunion mixed-tape will be a hit: 20%. “Tell Me Who You Know” by The Laid Off, “I Still Yell When I Talk” by Drunk Girls, “401, K?” by Quarter Life Crisis…
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Orion, NASA's newest manned spaceship, is being prepared for its first mission in December. In future missions, it will journey into deep space - to Mars and beyond - farther than humans have ever gone before.
The treaty banning anti-personnel landmines was signed by 161 other nations, but not the U.S.
B Troop, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment throw coffee to conceal their movement during a platoon live-fire certification at Yakima Training Center. Original photo by Spc. Kimberly Hackbarth
Cloudy with a few showers at JBLM. Hi: 69. I’d like to wish my acne a happy 25th anniversary. Lost $25 to news team. Accu-Radar shaped like the devil. Chance of rain: 30%.
This Date in History: 1948
In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the U.S. begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the besieged city.
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Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, threw coffees on range 21 on Forward Operating Base Ramrod, Afghanistan. Original photo by Spc. Jacob Warren
Cloudy at JBLM today. Eating Hostess Ho Hos and thinking about clouds and Mariah Carey. Maybe some rain today. Maybe not. Hi: 69.
This Date in History: 1876
Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana's Little Bighorn River.
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