From our last post, all of you know that Mark has no desire to go “Surface”.  No ships for our favorite midshipman (which begs the question…then why the Navy?  But that’s another discussion…).  Our favorite mid has decided that Aviation is his calling (something he’s wanted since he was about 8)…that is…unless the Sub Bug bites him.  Sub week was a huge success!  Marines aren’t his thing…unless he’s a Marine Aviator, of course.  But Navy Air or Subs are both calling his name, so let’s see what this whole ProTraMid thing was about.

I won’t bother with Surface pix.  Unless the pix came from the decks of an aircraft carrier, Mark didn’t seem thrilled.  Marine week was first — let’s start there.

Can anyone see Mark dressing for work like this every day?

I admire the Marines (a lot), but as a parent, I kinda’ take issue with the problem of our Marines getting shot at all of the time.  Obviously whoever shoots at one of our Marines is a damn fool…life is short when the Wrath of God rains down upon you in the form of return fire.  But I’m not a fan of putting one of my kids in that kind of environment.  They do have some cool toys though…

As Mark points out, “these things float.”  And that they do –

In the Marine Aviation part of the world, here comes a ride:

And hanging out the side of one is kinda’ cool –

But I’m not seeing it.  Unless Mark changes his mind, I have a feeling the Marines won’t get a crack at him.

But Subs?  Well…that was the surprise of this training block!  Going in, Mark swore — swore! — that nothing could convince him to consider the Sub pipeline as a training/career option.  But I guess that changes when you climb on board.  This shot doesn’t do this sub any justice, but here are some mids standing on top of one of our nuclear subs getting ready to go below.  Oh, and they’re standing right above a whole bunch of ballistic missiles…

Mark had an opportunity to stand on top of that sail you see in the background.  You can’t tell, but it’s up there…and the effect is magnified when you’re at sea.  These things are huge.

But not an inch is wasted down below.  Looks a little tight, right?

Subs are cool…but I think we’re going to see this kind of work-wear in Mark’s future.  It’s more “him”, right?  This is “dressed and ready to go” for his training flight:

Today, it’s the back seat.  Tomorrow?

Check this out: Mark called this shot “diving to San Diego” –

Notice the angle they’re on…looks pretty much straight down to me.  I’m surprised he even held onto the camera.  But what kind of maneuver leads up to a dive like this?  I can’t say for sure, but it probably looked something like this –

Now I’m really surprised that the camera didn’t end up on the roof of the cockpit.  He calls this something like “upside down mid-loop”…and if you look at the wing, you can rest assured that it’s not the camera that was upside-down.

What else do we have…

Oh!  SeAL time!  The mids ran through the SeAL “O-Course” (Obstacle Course).  SeALs do it in about five minutes or less, and the mids did it carefully to learn the ropes.  Here’s a shot of Mark and a buddy right after they completed it.  Even going “slow” he appears to have broken a sweat.  How are those workouts coming, Mark?

He looks to me like he’s in pretty good shape.  But Karen says “Marky-Mark gets his butt kicked when he gets here, baby…”

Mark, how do you spell kettlebells?  We’ll find out in about three weeks!  (“Where’s the men’s locker room…I’m not feeling so good”…who said that?)

So!  Will Mark opt for dolphins?  Or wings?  Both would look mighty nice on his collar!  Or…

…will it be Grad School first?  So many options…must be nice!

He’s earned it!  More soon –

As all of you know, Mark just wrapped up four weeks of ProTraMid in San Diego.  Marine week was “okay” (“fun” but a lot of “hurry up and wait”); Surface week was “horrible” (no ships for our favorite midshipman); Aviation week was “a blast”; and the sleeper was Sub week (just completed).  Mark is en route to Annapolis as I scribble this getting ready to start his Soaring Training Block tomorrow.  Flying gliders?  Who woulda’ thought?

I should have more ProTraMid pix and stories to relate in a few weeks.  Until then, check out these two quick hits:

First, a short (6 min) video of a Navy Trainer doing a lap around a carrier at sea.  (Please excuse the opening ad…a necessary evil.)  This plane is very similar to the one Mark flew in during Aviation week.  As far as the Navy Aviation “pipeline” goes, this flight pretty much sealed the deal.  Mark’s flight didn’t involve a carrier landing or take off, but he did have the “bag” ready.  He asked the pilot to show his skills, and show ‘em the pilot did…lots of fun!  And no need for the bag!

As you watch this, notice how much is happening on the deck.  Planes landing, planes taking off, blast shields up on the deck to keep everything and everyone safe as planes come and go.  The choreography is pretty cool.

As mentioned in the previous post, Mark had heard that Sub week was “amazing”.  The Sub guys do a serious sales job on the mids — they need new officers all of the time!  They didn’t disappoint.  Mark was on a “boomer” — a nuclear sub — carrying a whole bunch of nasty ballistic missiles with an undisclosed number of warheads.  His cruise was somewhere in the Pacific where he learned a lot and had a lot of fun.  He bunked between two of those ballistic missiles (“Dad, they’re huge“), he listened in on a bunch of dolphins having a chat, he climbed to the top of the sail (3+ stories up) when the sub surfaced to stand on top and watch the waves crash over the bow, and he enjoyed what I think he called “angles and dangles”…a drill that bobs and rolls the sub at 25 to 30 degree angles every which way while several hundred feet under water.  Oh, and he also loved the “full back” drill: think about locking up the brakes in your car while doing 90 MPH but visualize it under water.  Yeah…subs shake and vibrate too…

No cameras were allowed on the sub (for obvious reasons), but the Navy was kind enough to assign someone to take pictures of the mids.  I only have one, and it’s a cell phone picture of a picture (so excuse the quality), but I’ll have more when we see Mark in late July.  But check this out:

That’s a torpedo tube.  A BIG torpedo tube — 26 feet long, I believe.  Mark autographed the inside of that Bad Boy, filled it with water, and pulled the trigger just for kicks.  Even water carries a heavy wallop coming out of the end of that thing.

The Sub guys did their job well.  Mark is actually considering…considering (can you believe this?)…subs as a possible career pipeline.  That was unthinkable just a week ago!

The only major drawbacks that I can think of all involve his family: he will rarely be able to tell us where he’s going or where he is, he can’t talk about much of anything that they do (even on this trip), and communicating with someone who spends months under water can be difficult.  Plus, I don’t get any fighter jet rides…

Looking ahead, hopefully we’ll have some video of one of Mark’s glider flights.  I’m especially looking forward to seeing a landing.  I’d even settle for the audio…the screams of terror would be entertaining, don’t you think?

“Whadda ya’ mean there’s no engine!  I can’t land this thing there!”

Hopefully more soon.

Paris has always had her own Christmas tree in her bedroom.  Each year, we set up the Big One, and we set up one for her.  Santa always leaves presents under both trees, so as you can probably imagine, the Bonus Tree is quite the bonus!

Today was a bit on the chilly side in Paradise, so Paris broke out the cold weather gear.  We managed a high of 67 degrees, but hey!  67 is chilly in Paradise.  She’s had the hat since she was two –

We’ll continue getting ready for the Big Day!

Speaking of Big Days, we’ve got a Big One coming up this Saturday!  Army-Navy 2009!  This is “Beat Army!” week at the Academy, and we always do our part to participate.  Raise the banner!

John Gallen will be pulling for Army at the game, but we don’t hold that against him.  His Dad and his father-in-law are both Army vets.  Even so, we know that deep down inside he’ll feel a sense of pride when Navy kicks Army’s ass!

Right John?

John?

Hey, you Northerners!  If it’s chilly and/or wet next Saturday, send warm thoughts to midshipman Mark!  He’ll be entering the Stadium early for the march-on, and then he’s in his seat until the end!  Last year was cold (if I recall correctly), but this year may be better!  And for anyone going like John is…be sure to catch the march-on.  It’s one of the coolest traditions in College football!

Go Navy!  Beat Army!

Everybody knows about the Army/Navy rivalry, but USNA vs. any other service academy is always a big deal.  This year, Air Force comes to Annapolis for a full weekend of athletic competition.

Navy Football is always the headline event.  In that vein, check out Navy’s Spirit spot that pokes a little fun at Air Force.

(Quick background: Air Force Zoomies (yes, that’s their nickname) posted a YouTube video showing two of their brethren singing Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA”.  They were just having fun, obviously, but it looked pretty…um…shall we say….gay.  USNA midshipmen decided to pounce).

This is a YouTube video so please accept the quality and delay issues graciously.

And also in the spirit vein…

Mark is working out with the Navy Boxing Club.  The top three collegiate boxing programs in the country go 1.) Army, 2.) Navy, 3.) Air Force.  The fights are tonight, and one of the coaches sent this picture to the club members as inspiration.

Go Navy!  Beat Air Force!

Mark was lucky and snagged zero block as his first summer training assignment.  Zero block is the shortest training block of the summer, and it also starts soon after the mids’ last final exam.  As counter-intuitive as this may sound, it’s actually considered a good thing.  It allows mids to get their training underway, it buys them two bonus weeks of leave over the summer, and it allows for an escape from duties during the hyper-busy commissioning week period.  Plus, Mark was sent to Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, FL!  That’s about 260 miles away, but at least it’s the same State!  So we get some bonus time with him…

Those of you to be lucky enough to be considered one of Mark’s 10,067 Facebook friends have already seen the photos.  But for the mere mortals amongst us, I have a few I liked:

This is the USS McInerney.  This li’l frigate acted as Mark’s home away from home for two weeks.

This is what most of us would call a “really, really big gun”.  The guys on the ship occasionally get to shoot this gun.  They like that…

This is another gun (although it doesn’t look like one).  It should never be confused with R2D2 because R2D2 couldn’t shoot 3,000 massive rounds a minute.  This gun can.  It’s called a “Sea Whiz”…probably because if you’re on the wrong end of it, you’re doing the second part of the phrase while the 3,000 rounds whiz past you.

Frigates fire torpedoes too.  In the old days, frigates were tasked with chasing down enemy subs.  Subs still quake with fear if a frigate is in the vicinity, but today frigates are used mostly for drug interdiction runs.  Frigates carry one or two helicopters to help with the sub chasing, and today, the McInerney carries this nifty little guy –

That is what’s known as a “UAV” (unmanned aerial vehicle).  Think of it like a big, remote control helicopter with big guns.  This UAV is currently being tested before a full-blown deployment across the fleet, and Mark’s frigate is the lucky platform used for testing.  There are only one of these right now, and you’re looking at it.

Here’s Mark looking somewhat nervous next to our little friend.  Since it doesn’t have a pilot, I think he’s worried it might decide to shoot on its own.

So what else do we do on frigates?  Well, we train!  Train, train, train!  Everybody has to know what to do in any given circumstance!  And some of those circumstances are called “emergencies”.  Emergencies are bad.  Like…a fire on a ship, for example…when you’re out in the middle of the ocean, a fire is not a welcome sight.  So let’s learn how to put one out, okay?  How?  Well, c’mon!  First you gotta set one!

That’s a training area on dry land.  There’s no point in setting the ship on fire, right?  Now everybody learns how to put it out!  Oh, and that shed in the middle?  There are “simulated” guys in there waiting to be rescued before they become toast.  Better hurry Mark!

So…maybe you’re thinking “so what kind of real life cool things do these frigate thingys do?”  Well…check this out:

That pirate-looking steering wheel is not the one used to pilot the frigate.  It’s also not the wheel off of Gilligan’s S.S. Minnow.  Nope!  It’s on the bridge of the McInerney, but it’s a souvenier.  You see, it was taken from the largest self-propelled submersible ever captured by the US Navy, and the McInerney did the capturing.  This particular submersible was a small submarine transporting 12,000 pounds of uncut cocaine.  The crew of said submarine wasn’t willing to give it up so easily, but once they realized the game was up, they tried to scuttle (sink) their own ship.  The crew of the McInerney suggested to the sub crew that, since said sub crew thought sinking the sub was such a good idea, perhaps they ought to sink with it.  Once locked in for awhile, the crew saw the light and surrendered the sub.  (Before any liberal readers think about calling the SPCA or Greenpeace, please rest assured that the crew members of the McInerney are wonderful guys that would never allow hostile drug runners to actually sink with their sub.  It was a bluff, and it worked.  And yes, I was honored to meet some of the crew of the McInerney, and I can personally attest to their good character.)

Training concluded on Friday, and Mark has been relaxing and eating us out of house and home since.  He’s also playing a little golf, catching a little sun, and enjoying his new friend named “Aaron”.  More on that in the next post.

Meanwhile, Cameron is really, really mad at us for playing golf without him.  He hasn’t had a kind word for us all weekend.  We see him next week when he will most certainly be straightened out.

Kristin is getting ready to graduate!  But before that memorable day, she’s got a Senior Prom to attend!  I have been given the first, super-secret inside look at her prom dress while it was being altered to fit her super-fit self, and I gotta tell ya’…phenomenal!  Her female classmates are going to hate her!

Paris has three and a half days of school left…almost done!  She’s had a stellar year!  Plus, she’s been honing all four swimming strokes in preparation for joining the Sarasota Sharks.  The Sharks are a very successful, very competitive swim team in our area.  Competitors usually join the team at age 9.  As most of you know, Paris is soon to be 7….she’s a natural!  More on that as the season progresses!

In less than a week, all of us descend upon New York for our June extravaganza…we’ll be in the area for the entire month.  We’re looking forward to it!

Hey!  What have we here?  It’s Paris hangin’ with Mark!  What a rare sight!

Yep, we literally just returned from a long weekend in Annapolis with our favorite midshipman.  Paris misses him already.  Oh, and for those with a sharp eye, Midshipman Mark is wearing a uniform never before seen on this site — his “working blues”.  This picture was taken on Friday (a work day) when we first managed to catch up with our elusive mid.  (Paris was thrilled…)

It’s finals time at the Naval Academy.  At most schools, finals mean high stress, panic, very little sleep, and overall misery.  For plebes, high stress, panic, very little sleep and overall misery are regular daily affairs.  Finals bring sleep!  No morning formations, no classes, no “plebe-ness” (chopping, chow calls, abuse).  No stress (or very little), no panic, lots of sleep, and absolutely very little misery!  Mids (and especially plebes) love finals!  Mark was in high spirits…

We did the usual: relaxed with Mark, ate well, ate often, and swapped stories.  His are getting better.  I can’t imagine what the stories will be like down the road.  We also met his Sponsor Family (fantastic folks), we roamed the streets of DTA (midspeak for Downtown Annaplois), and basiclly had a wonderful time.

Check this out — Mark, Paris and I were waiting for Karen while she did a little shopping.  I turned my back, and I guess Mark decided to teach Paris how to salute.  Here we see her poking her eye out…

But here…here she’s getting it down!  Almost!

Now…if he’d just remind her to use her right hand…

We managed to bomb around the Yard with Mark for a bit.  It wasn’t a beehive of activity as it normally is because of exams, so we managed to see some things that normally would be tough to check out.  For instance, here’s Paris in the new, super-sweet Wesley Brown Field House. Wesley Brown was the first black midshipman to graduate from USNA.  He’s still with us, and he even signed the shovel that first broke ground on the site.  I remember the construction mess that was ongoing when I retrieved Mark from USNA Cross Country camp three years ago.  This place is amazing…

That’s Paris standing at the end of a long jump pit (one of two).  The track encircling the infield is a standard 200 meter indoor track.  But this baby is different…

The curves of this track are on hydraulic lifts.  The lifts bank the curves and when fully extended, the hydraulics lift the middle of the curves to just over four feet in height.  Incredible!

But wait!  There’s more!  Way in the back…way, way back on the wall, you can see a green tube looking thing…that’s artificial turf.  There are huge winches up on the walls behind where I was standing to take this photo.  Those winches can roll out that turf to make a full-sized indoor football field.  I’m talking 100 yards, plus end zones, and even goal posts!  To put this in perspective, also in the background are three, full sized basketball courts.  Each one of those courts take up the space of a normal sized high school gymnasium.  So!  That’s three, regular gyms tucked away at the end of the photo…and you can barely see ‘em.  This place is huge!

On the back wall to the right is a jumbotron screen.  There are five cameras mounted in the ceiling of the field house.  Guys running a few computers run the cameras and project the images on the jumbotron…so during a track meet (for example), the crowd can watch a 1,500 meter run while getting highlights of the men’s javelin on the big screen.  The picture doesn’t project the immensity of this place so well…but it is breathtaking…oh, and those windows overlook the Severn River.  Beautiful!

Speaking of the Severn River, Mark has two training blocks this summer.  One involves some time in a frigate (doing potential drug interdiction out of Florida), and the other is a sailing cruise (probably up the East Coast towards Rhode Island and back).  I’ve heard from other parents that sometimes the sailing cruises take the mids about a 100 miles off the coast.  It’s supposed to be amazing!  But…in one of these?

That is a USNA “44″, as in 44 feet long.  As many as 11 mids man this thing as it heads out to sea.  I don’t know about any of you, but I think I’d want to keep the damn shoreline in sight if I had to live on one of those things.  I’m sure Mark will have stories.

Now this thing…this I could take 100 miles off the coast –

That is the Pride of Baltimore. It’s docked at the Annapolis City Dock, and Paris and I stumbled upon it while we were waiting for Mark to finish up an ‘LMO’ (Last Military Obligation).  If the weather was better, we could have taken a ride!

The weekend went by too quickly, and before we knew it, we found ourselves at BWI waiting to catch our flight home.  But even there Paris managed to find something fascinating –

That is a 500 lb. stained glass crab that Paris found tucked away in an upstairs alcove at the airport.  She thought it was really, really cool (and so did I…)

Our weekend was a success!  Mark hits his frigate this Friday for a two week run.  With any luck, his Officer-in-Charge will allow him to forego the Navy’s flight back to Annapolis, and we’ll be able to meet in Jacksonville.  If we pull that off, Mark spends a week here with us, and then he and I drive up to New York together.  We’ll meet Karen and Paris at the airport, and then (then!) our one month stay in New York begins!

So!  Plants are in the ground, Karen and Paris are in their bikinis, and it’s time for the “catch a little sun” part of the day.  Karen walks out onto our lanai, and much to her credit she does not scream at the top of her lungs…because up on our pool cage is this guy:

Karen hates snakes.  I’m not particularly fond of them either, so I have no idea what kind of snake this was.  Problem is…here in Florida, we have all kinds of snakes.  We have all kinds of critters. The snakes eat the critters we don’t want sharing our home, so it’s kinda’ a good idea to leave the snakes alone.  But this guy was a Big ‘Un…

Each screen section on the pool cage is six feet wide.  Our boy here isn’t even stretched out all the way, but he’s taking up a nice chunk of that section.  Paris thought he was cool, and as we all watched, Mr. Snake made his way to the palm tree in the background and settled on a frond.  He oriented himself so he was facing into the lanai and kept an eye on Karen and Paris all afternoon.  Obviously the snake has good taste…

Okay!  Enough with the slimy things!  We have news from the Naval Academy!  This weekend marked the celebration of the Annual International Ball.  It’s a time when the Academy celebrates the international members of the USNA community — from professors to midshipmen.  It is a huge, formal affair attended by Heads of State and the occasional princess or two.  More on that later…

Friday night was the “dining out” part of the affair. The mids dress in their “Dinner Mess Dress” uniforms to look dapper and worthy of a princess:

Here’s Mark and two friends doing what young guys do when they put on something more than blue jeans.  Smart, handsome men, wouldn’t you agree?  (Oh, for those that don’t know, Mark is in the middle…)

Saturday night was the Ball.  The attire is still formal, but a little more summer-appropriate.  Nice, huh?

So…maybe you’re wondering about the princess, right?

Way back when, a long time ago, when Paris graduated from preschool, she and her class were asked to tell everyone in attendance what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Paris stepped to the microphone and said (with authority) “When I grow up I want to be a real princess.”

So last night, as I was talking to Mark right before he stepped out the door in his smashing white uniform, I asked him to please find a princess at the Ball and get a picture for Paris.  I mean, how hard is that?  Look at these guys!  Any princess in her right mind would love to be photographed with one of these guys!

And I gave him the line!  I said “Look Mark, you walk up to a princess, and you introduce yourself by saying ‘Hi, I’m Mark Trunzo.  Would you mind if a friend took a photograph of us?  I have a six-year-old sister who wants to be a real princess when she grows up.  She’ll be thrilled!  Do you mind?’”

Honestly, how could that line fail?  It couldn’t!

So!  Where’s our princess?  Mark?  Maybe next year.

]]> http://trunzo.com/2009/04/19/snake-oh-and-the-international-ball/feed/ 0 http://trunzo.com/2009/03/14/usna-class-of-2012/ http://trunzo.com/2009/03/14/usna-class-of-2012/#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:44:48 +0000 Jay http://trunzo.com/?p=466 Big news on the Plebe front!  Let me provide some background:

Plebes are the lowest form of life on the US Naval Academy campus (“the Yard”).  Plebes have no rights unless they earn them; plebes “rate” nothing.  Plebes “chop” indoors (a form of fast running/jogging).  Plebes can’t sit like normal human beings.  Plebes can’t use any outdoor path with a curve in it.  Plebes can’t use any stairwell in which they are able to touch both walls simultaneously.

Plebes are often faced with “one-way P-ways”, i.e. they can use hallways in one direction only.  Gotta go the other way?  Go to a different floor.

Plebes do “chowcalls”.  Don’t even ask for an explanation.

So earning a right to live a more normal life would be a very big deal, right?  I mean, no matter what, the class of ’12 are still plebes, and they’ll be plebes until commissioning. But maybe, just maybe (!), there’d be a way to be a plebe with a somewhat “normal” life?  Do ya’ think?

It turns out there is a way, but it’s a way fraught with danger.  Tradition holds that if a member of the plebe class can put a “dixie cup” (a plebe cover, or hat) on top of the chapel dome, plebes earn the right to “carry on”.  They’re still plebes, and the upperclass will make sure they remember that they’re plebes, but maybe they get a break here and there…

In 2000, a plebe scaled the dome with mountain climbing gear and managed to place a cover.  Unfortunately, he also did tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage, and his career suffered.  Since then, no one has tried to pull off the unthinkable.

But this year is different!  With the Commandant’s approval, 3rd Company came up with a plan to cover the dome without risk of damage.  The ‘Dant as often declared the class of 2012 one the the Academy’s brightest in history, and this effort certainly adds to that distinction.  3rd Company designed a remote controlled weather balloon that was piloted to the top of the chapel dome to successfully place a plebe cover.  Success!

This is the chapel.  That spire on top is the goal of the mission.

This is a plebe cover.  It’s a typical sailor’s cap as we think of them with a blue stripe on top indicating it belongs to a plebe.  This cover needs to go on top of the dome.

It’s off!  There are a lot of pictures floating around that document this process, but trust me on this: it took awhile.  This was no small effort.

Another shot.  The hard part is coming.

So close!  Close!  Damn wind!

Bam!  It’s on!  The chapel dome is officially covered!  The team used a remote release to free the weather balloon and leave the dixie cup in place!

The ‘Dant congratulates the man behind the project.  I wish I was sure of his name — I’d share it with all of you.  Regardless, he’s going down in history!

The Commandant is going to advise the fourth class (plebes) of their status during or after Spring Break.  Mark is sitting next to me as I write this, and he’s happy, thrilled, and anxious to learn how much of “carry on” they’re going to be able to really enjoy.

But when you think about it, classes end at the end of April.  Exams take up the early days of May.  After that, Plebe year wraps up, and with it, one of the toughest years of a midshipman’s entire Navy career.

Congratulations to the Cass of 2012!

As many of you know, Karen, Paris and I were recently in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for six days.  I planned on taking a ton of pictures and video, but we got so wrapped up in the “enjoying” our company part that we didn’t really shoot much footage of any of them.  This is especially true with Kristin and Cameron (the two we should have shot most!).

I do have some video I’ll try to piece together, and Sami was busy firing away with his camera.  Maybe he’ll share?

In the meantime, I received a DVD in the mail today from USNA courtesy of the Parents’ fund.  It’s a video detailing the fun known as “Plebe Summer”.  This is a generic USNA piece…it is not the video I expect to receive soon that will feature more of Mark.  But!  At the very beginning of this Plebe Summer video, you’ll see footage of our young man humping that damn zodiac he thought was so funny (until he had to carry it, row it and carry it again).  He may appear a couple of more times as well, but any of you that have searched through thousands of photos (like I have) know that “they all start to look alike”…

This thing is 18 minutes long.  It’s “okay”…it’s not going to rock your world, but it does offer some insight into the USNA experience and Plebe Summer.  If you have a chunk of time and you’re in the mood to learn about the madness, hit the “play” button.

Enjoy –
{vidavee id=”16181″ w=”500″ }
I’m trying to get away from the need for a YouTube link. YouTube doesn’t play nice with videos over 10 minutes long, and I thought the quality was just so-so. Since I’m on a Mac, I picked Quicktime as my default video player. My website host also prefers Quicktime. For you Windows Mediaplayer freaks out there…sorry. You probably have Quicktime on your machines anyway. If not…it’s free to download.

Make sure the video loads a bit before you hit “play”.

We’re using flash video now courtesy of our friends at Bill Webb Studio (no relation…sorry).  We owe them our thanks!  And I owe them some money…

Okay!  If you have not read the prior post (the one just below this one), please give it a quick read.  You’ll have a much better chance of understanding what’s happening in this video if you’re armed with some background first.

This is a YouTube linked [UPDATE - Flash] video. The quality is just so-so as a result. EXCELLENT! I have a high res version if anyone falls in love with it…which I doubt. I do not claim to be good at this.  I will try to get better.  Bear with me…