Surfing the Web

Time for another 'surf' of posts I think you might find of interest out there on the ole World Wide Web..

via The Sandbox  comes Good Things Will Happen  , one of the most gracious 'Thank You's' I've ever seen written....and even if you don't like hip hop? I think you'll enjoy  Joe Roos' video  Troop

I sure did! (and how in the heck had I missed that before? only a little under 13,000 views on the RedBulls channel, really? another video that should be going viral, for whatever this granny's opinion is worth :) and if you're interested ,Joe's blog is The Average Joe

for more things 'Red Bull' (and it's Not the drink, y'all).. from Charlie Sherpa at Red Bull Rising 

The Footlocker Time Machine  

moving on 'down under' to Australia, Pax at Marion's Meepings announced her Caption Contest Winner from the contest I had linked in a previous Surfing the Web (although 'winner' may be a term used loosely in this case,lol )

Milbloggie Winner I'm big in Japan checked in briefly after a Long Hiatus.... 

The Olmsted Scholar over at Traveler of Morocco writes about Monkey Business

Consul at Arms II highlighted a good post (with his own accompanying remarks)

WSJ-While My Son Serves 

I read the individual blog posts and links from Laughing Wolf over at B5 and Concrete Bob while the latest from Cooking With The Troops was going on in July, Laughing Wolf has the round-up of all the links at

An Amazing Time at BAMC  DO take the time to read everyone's posts about these events!!

(I've had the privilege of meeting both LW and Bob a number of times--although I think Bob is never really sure who I am?lol, I just say .."Z-list blogger"..and I just want to say that it is so extraordinarily cool to see the amazing way these guys have taken a dream and made it into the reality of Cooking With the Troops ! )

Via Off the Base was a story about a program I hadn't heard of before

The Mission Continues for Wounded and Disabled War Vets

and lastly,

this post was making the rounds in the milblogging and mil-spouse circles recently,

a sobering reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that can be made by those who choose to serve, and their families 

Three Knocks at the Door 

(you will need tissues)

That's the 'surf', until next time..

Sixth Annual Milblog Conference was best one yet!:)

Got back last evening from the Sixth Annual Milblog Conference and I think it was the best one I've attended thus far! (I think I might say that every time I attend,lol, but seriously..great panels this year,I learned a lot and IMHO  Andi ,and Military.com and USAA.com  did an Awesome job once again!:)

                                       Donald Rumsfeld's talk opened the conference

and then the first panel, Social Media and the Military, was a Great panel!

LTC William Caldwell spoke to the conference from Afghanistan, and here's the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan  page LINK

and this was a very meaningful panel, Gold Star Families.

My picture of the member of the member of the House Armed Services committee ,Rob Wittman,who spoke live ,didn't turn out, but his short speech was also very good.

and the last panel, War and Film, was Also excellent. After this panel, I Really,Really wish I could go to the GI Film Festival next weekend,but darn it, it's my weekend to work:(

I know a lot of folks who attend don't sit in on every panel, but if I get up at 4:30 a.m. and drive over 2 hours after paying the $75 to attend the conference, you can by gosh bet that I'll be sitting in to hear all the panels and soak up every minute of it! and I'm never disappointed! I learned so much yesterday, it was well worth my time.

Saw a lot of old friends, of course since I don't go up the Friday night before I miss a lot of the socializing. I still got the chance to speak to Most of the folks I wished to have a chance to say hello to,(sorry I missed LL though!:( and then I also got to meet a great many other random folks for the first time.

Sat next to a guy from Footnote.com at lunch and that was a most interesting conversation!

Of course saw Blake from Cooking With The Troops ,he had a great display table at the front of the room with a wonderful video display!

Chatted with some Soldiers Angels folks during the course of the day briefly, and sat with my dear friend Lisa from Soldiers Angels during the conference.

Learned a little about the Home Depot Foundation (and thanks,y'all for the great lunch!:) had a brief chat with a young woman at the Army Strong Stories table (which will probably lead me to finally do a blog post that's been hanging in the back of my mind since my step-son's deployment)

This military wife asked a number of good questions during the course of her conference, I'm looking forward to checking out her blog more in depth. I also spoke with a military wife who should hopefully be emailing me with some more info about something she has in the works:)

Once again, the great folks at YouServed  featured a livestream of the panels, and I think you can find links to those videos now right here

And lastly, but not leastly, here are the 2011 Mibloggie Winners !

I close with a pic that has nothing to do with the conference, but on the way home, I saw a hot air balloon drifting over the interstate, pretty cool :)

--------------------------------
Update: 'geek' excitement on my part:) I cross-posted a version of this post over at Hooah Wife & Friends
and that post was linked in the May 3 edition of  STAND-TO!
 (bottom left side "What's Being Said in Blogs"  The Sixth Annual Milblog Conference was Great!    Awesome! Woot :)

2011 Milbloggies

I Voted !  Have you? lots of great blogs nominated this year, don't forget to Vote Now :)

(if you want to review the finalists one last time before voting? they are listed  Here  )

Congratulations! to all those whose blogs were selected as finalists, and Best of Luck!

Surfing the Web..

Time for another 'surf' around the blogosphere, to highlight blog posts and articles that I hope you find interesting:

this was a short, but powerful blog post from Canadian veteran Paul Franklin The value of time

One person making a positive difference..a nice story from ExploreBaltimoreCounty.com

For wounded soldiers, Lutherville woman brings Trouble ... and a smile

Today(April 25) is the start of the Warrior 100k ..a 3 day bike ride in Texas where 14 wounded servicemen and women who served in Irag and Afghanistan join former President George W. Bush in a 100 kilometer mountain bike ride.

An excellent blog I've recently come across My Yellow Ribbon  is also nominated for a Milbloggie  in the US Military Parent category..(and don't forget,voting for the Milbloggies is also due to start today!)

and the 'theme' for the remainder of this post seems to have evolved into 'remembering'..

the tragic losses of Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros generated many blog posts, here are two of them

from The Kitchen Dispatch The Gratitude Post: Tim Hetherington's Final Passage

and from Gazing at the Flag Chris Hondros~A Remarkable Life

Today(April 25) is also ANZAC day, as one of my favorite Aussie bloggers points out

Marion's Meepings Lest We Forget

That's the 'surf''!