In light of the recent news that my nephews, Nathaniel and Jed, are shipping to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC on 2 September, I’ve decided to publish a definitive guide on surviving Marine Corps recruit training.
This guide serves as a cheat sheet of sorts, bulging with tips and tricks proven to impress, [...]
There’s a certain badassery that comes with owning a motorcycle. Think Peter Fonda in Easy Rider and Marlon Brando in The Wild One. All these years I’ve been pedaling my ass across the country I never fully understood my throttle twisting friends… until recently.
In early June I purchased my very first motorcycle. It [...]
There’s an overweight, pimply kid at Best Buy who wants to sell you an HDTV. Moreover, he wants to talk to you about HDTVs, 7.1 Dolby surround sound systems, Klipsch home theater speakers, and probably his Star Wars collection if there’s time. He’s going to dazzle you with techno-babble, spouting such things as contrast ratio, [...]
Published: January 30th, 2008While waiting for my niece to register for the semester’s classes, I spotted this anti-smoking sign in the school cafeteria.
Upon closer review, I realized the entire ad was adorned in miniature nut sacks! And not just any nut sacks, but musicians, artists, and sportsmen!
Who in the hell is this campaign targeting?
Most people know I’m a cheap bastard. I’ll spend thirty-two hours driving cross-country and $450 on gas rather than a plane ticket for $555. I won’t Supersize for 49 cents more. Hell, I won’t even drink the beer not on special for the night if it’s gonna save me a few bucks. I’m a two-for-one food stamp kind of guy. An “Arab trader,” if you will. I milk every last possible penny out of everything I own, which really doesn’t explain why I buy and sell electronics like an eBay Power Seller (which reminds me, I’ve got a first generation 1GB iPod shuffle for sale at a deep, deep discount price). But Lake Tahoe is different.
Published: January 2nd, 2008From “Rite of Passage: Making Basic Training Tougher” by Jim Garamone, 23 February 2004.
Images meticulously selected and edited by yours truly.
“We have two missions in the Marine Corps — to win battles and make Marines,” said Col. Bob Hayes, assistant deputy chief of staff for operations and training at the recruit depot here. “The Crucible [...]
The picture you’re seeing to the right is the actual size of the cockroach that awoke me from my peaceful slumber at 2:00am this morning. He may not seem like much, but wait until the little bastard crawls into your ear and then tell me you’re not envisioning a thousands eggs being laid in your [...]
Published: November 5th, 2007I was browsing PostSecret.com when the Marine Corps emblem in this postcard caught my eye.
I wish it hadn’t.
Published: October 31st, 2007I’ve got two loads of clean laundry piled on my rack to fold and put away, Drill Card 1 to practice, a movement or two to memorize out of Book II, Individual Movements Without Arms, uniforms to prep, garbage to take out, my PT Pack to ready for the morning, and I’m wasting entirely too [...]
Published: October 21st, 2007 On the drive (from North Dakota) through Michigan to South Carolina, I barely snapped a picture of this exit sign as I zipped past doing just under eighty miles per hour.
Had I known Climax was so close, I would have slowed down. Honest, that kind of thing never happened to me before.
