I love sci-fi movies. Star Wars got me hooked as a kid, and my two most recent favorites have got to be TRON: Legacy and Prometheus. Gravity is a new space thriller that will hit local theaters this October, with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock starring as the two astronauts who get flung out into space after the International Space Station explodes. The trailer above has me interested, but I’m scratching my head as to how you can make a movie out of this; I guess having two Oscar award winners will help, but the trailer doesn’t show much else. It makes me think of the film Open Water, which films a recently-wed couple that gets stranded in the ocean, only to be, well, I won’t spoil it for ya. Enjoy the trailer, and hit the link below for a fun Frommer’s fact about Gravity’s director.
Legendary Speech: GySgt Walgren Before Marjah Assault
Take yourself back almost three years to February of 2010. What were you doing then? Were you in school, or at your last job? For the Marines of 1/3, 1/6, 3/6, and 3/10, they were about to begin what was dubbed as the most dangerous combat operation since Fallujah with the commencement of Operation Moshtarak. Their mission: clear the Taliban-infested city of Marjah, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. While I have never set foot in Marjah, I did deploy just next door in Nawa district, having gone on many a patrol just outside of Marjah in the “friendly” area of Trek Nawa. Before you watch this legendary speech by Gunnery Sergeant Walgren of 1/6 (1st Battalion, 6th Marines), try and imagine yourself as one of these young Marines that’s about to climb into a CH-53 helicopter and begin the assault. Can you imagine the mental preparation you have to do to really prepare yourself for a mission like that, especially with all of the intel/news reports on how heavy the enemy activity was? That’s where good leadership comes into play, and the video speech you’re about to witness is spine-tingling good. You don’t have to be a good public speaker to be a good leader, but it is a good quality to have, and Gunny Walgren possesses it in spades.
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