2008/10/20
- Christmas comes early
I'll
be the first to admit that I absolutely hate the
"holiday creep" that seems to get worse every
year due to malls and other retailers trying to get people
whipped up into a feeding frenzy of commerce. As the amazing
comedian Lewis Black once said, "Remember when Halloween
was Halloween, and Santa wasn't poking his fat ass
backwards into it? And when Thanksgiving was a time for
family... not Christmas, part one." So then
given my distaste for any holly and garland that appears
before the turkey and mashed potatoes are cleared away from
the dinner table, what am I doing talking about the winter
holidays so soon?
Well,
as anyone with friends or loved ones in the service knows,
sending packages to deployed personell can take quite a
bit of time. Therefore, the Traveling Terabyte's latest
project -- a Christmas gift special push -- will have to
start its holiday planning even earlier than Wall-Mart,
Sears, Macy's, and the rest of the unscroupulous retail
world does.
This
year, we'd like to try to bring cheer to as many people
as possible. Consequently, we have selected the best holiday
themed selections from our media library and are loading
them on to DVD discs which we will produce en-masse and
attempt to send to anyone with friends and family
stationed away from home this holiday season. Also, since
both terabytes are home for routine maintenace and reloading,
these two can be part of someone's Christmas...
If
you personally will be serving away from your family this
holiday season and will ship out some time in the coming
month or so, that's a particularly emotional and pongiant
assignment to pull. I am willing to send a Traveling Terabyte
to two people in this is your situation, if you wish to
share the contents with those in your unit and if you're
willing to take the burden of responsibility for its safe
passage and the burden of carrying it on your transport
plane when i'm sure you have other gift packages, etc. that
you'd also like to manage.
So
that's TWO Christmas operations from the Traveling Terabyte
Project, both of which need your responses and input to
go forward...
DVDs
of Christmas Cheer - If you have a friend or loved one
who will be serving overseas, send
us an email telling us who they are and a word or two
about their unit. We will happily send them the DVD package
of christmas videos and music... or, alternately, we'll
happily send it to you here in the States and allow you
to forward it along, as this will (if my math is correct)
save us a little bit on postage.
The
Terabytes' Holiday Tour - If you will be shipping out
over the holiday season and wish to bring a terabyte with
you to your deployed location I am happy to try to get it
to you before you depart. Bear in
mind that we only have two terabytes to offer (I promise
to reply soon to the people who have been asking me about
how to contribute to the process so we can build more one
day) so only two individuals
will be able to obtain them this holiday season.
Please feel free to be as detailed or descriptive as you
wish in your emails
to us about why you would like to carry a Terabyte this
holiday season. Please don't think of it as a contest, but
the two people whose letters touch us the most will be issued
the TTBs. All others will not be left out, though... the
Christmas Cheer DVD will come to you in time for you to
ship out.
"So,
wait," you're asking, "this is all totally FREE?!?"
Yes, as long as we have the resources to keep buying discs
and dropping them in the mail, we will churn them out to
every single service family who requests one.
More
info about this whole endeavor can be found on this
page.
-
Deviant
2008/07/12
- educating some overseas leathernecks
The
tan TTB is overseas again with a detatchment of US Marines
on embassy detail. This volume, the "knowledge"
TTB, is loaded with all sorts of educational films and programs
(much content is from the Discovery channel and History
channel) along with thousands and thousands of hours worth
of reading matter in both eBook and Audio Book format. Here's
to folks who better themselves everyday, including taking
the opportunity to learn new things in their spare time.
Some new images from these Marines can be found in the photos
section.
-
Deviant
2008/04/20
- entertainment for the Iron Rakkasans
The
green TTB has made its way to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry
Regiment of the 101st Airborne in Iraq. Hopefully we'll
get some photos and feedback from those folk soon. Word
has it that their distribution platoon took the time to
deploy the TTB and a spare laptop in the unit's Morale,
Welfare and Recreation center. It should stay there a while
then move on somewhere in-country. Next destination is still
up in the air.
-
Deviant
2008/04/18
- enlightening the Marines in Dushanbe
Well,
I am rotating back to Tajikistan and this time Deviant gave
me the tan "knowledge" TTB to share with all the
Marines where i'm stationed. It's not as high-brow, crack-open-the-books
as it may sound, however. The "knowledge" TTB
has things like MythBusters, Tiger Team, and plenty of other
really entertaining options from broadcasters like the Discovery
Channel, not to mention loads of really well done documentaries
and historical films.
-
AST Cell