Milblog Conference Mission Complete

September 22, 2008 By CJ
Posted in MilBlogger Interviews, Uncategorized

Sorry I didn’t have anything to post over the weekend. You can check A Soldier’s Perspective for a liveblog minute by minute roll-up of the Milblog Conference. The schedule was so packed, I had no time to write anything.

Anyway, the trip started off simply enough. I got to the Huntsville Airport on time with no issues en route to Dallas. Then, the fun began. Our plane was delayed. Then delayed again. Then changed completely for mechanical issues. I got to Vegas about two hours later than scheduled. Thankfully, I still hadn’t missed the really important event on Friday night – the Blackfive party at the Penthouse Club.

Marcus and I checked in at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino and headed to our room. We had a nice 16th floor, double queen bed room facing east. Yes, we had TWO beds. We would realize at sunrise what an annoyance this could be. What good is having the sun rise over the mountains of Vegas into your room each morning if you can’t share it with your spouse? It just wasn’t as romantic seeing the sun rise and then looking over to see Marcus scratching his crotch and waxing his chest.

We quickly unpacked to get ready for the B5 part at the Penthouse Club. Now, those of you that understand my standards may be asking yourself why CJ is going to the Penthouse Club. I was promised there would NOT be any entertainers. For the most part, that was correct. The Penthouse Club people are great Americans who wanted to show their support for military bloggers and offered their space and an open bar (for those that drink) for FREE! So, I sheepishly attended to hang out with all the drunk bloggers and document their embarrassing moments (who’s the naive one now?). Bloggers are funny to begin with, but add an open bar, Uncle Jimbo, and Jack’s constant request to be pinched and you get a situation worthy of the trashiest tabloids. Being the intelligent guy I was, I opted NOT to bring a camera for fear of completely trashing the high esteem in which I hold my fellow writers. [dramatic pause for laughter to complete]

Religious convictions aside, let me tell my why I never go to strip clubs. Back when I was a teenage dependent of my Navy father, we took a flight from the states back to Japan (or vice versa – see what I mean about my memory?). We had a layover in Hawaii as our military aircraft was worked on. It was a C5 aircraft, one of the largest in the military inventory and there were only about ten people total on the mostly cargo-laden flight, not including the crew. I was about 16 and got along great with the pilot. I was able to “fly” the plane during the trip, which really only meant I sat in the seat while the autopilot kept us on track. Those were the days when you could actually meet the pilot in flight and he’d give you a set of wings. Damn terrorists!!

Anyway, when he realized that we were going to have to stay overnight in Hawaii, the pilot asked my mom if he could take me out to “meet some girls.” Keep in mind I wasn’t a religious person at this time as I had given up on religion out of frustration. I was also already a heavy drinker, unbeknownst to my parents. My mother allowed me to go out and the pilot came by to pick me up at our hotel. At the time, I had no idea that the girls we were going to meet got paid to take off their clothes. He took me to a strip club and I actually got in.

It wasn’t quite the experience you’d think a 16-year old would have at such an opportunity. What 16-year old boy DOESN’T want to see hot women take off their clothes and dance inches from their faces?! Apparently me! I thought at the time i was going to love it, but I had the worst time of my life. I played it off really well, but I couldn’t escape the overwhelming feeling of pity and hopelessness I felt for those girls. Thankfully, the alcohol (yes, I got to drink too!) helped a little to dull my senses and not think so much about it. I never stepped foot into another strip club again in my life.

The Penthouse Club reserved a special room near the entrance separated from all the entertainers, but adjoined by the VIP section where there were entertainers. I stayed on my side, trying hard to ignore those repressed feelings I had as a teenager. After all, I had regained my faith and my strict religious morales forbade me from even the appearance of things like this. But, in spite of all that, I HAD A GREAT TIME!!

I got to meet many milbloggers I had never met: Sean from Doc In The Box (wait till you see our interview with him!), Greyhawk, Toby Nunn, Blackfive authors – Mr. Wolf, Grim, and Laughing Wolf (I’ve already met Matt and Uncle Jimbo many times), Travis from How To Kill People,Loopy Libertarian from Chromed Curses (other than JP and Troy, this my starstruck moment!), the writers of Spousebuzz, and so many others to include the supporters of Soldiers Angels I’ve come to know and love. I also got to meet Anna, Marcus’s wife, when I was in Savannah about a month ago. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing, but I didn’t want to leave her out of another post about meeting important people. She’d never let me live it down. Tops on my list, though, was meeting JP and Troy in person. JP and I have known each other more than four years and have never met face to face. We’ve tossed the milblogging world upside down, but have never had the opportunity to scheme in person. I met Troy in the past year through the You Served blog and we’ve become very close. As a seasoned, fellow 1SG, he’s a kindred spirit and mentor.

In addition to the friends I had never met, I got to hang out with good people that I have known for awhile and have already met. Obviously, Marcus was there. We met for the first time about a month ago (Anna was there too if I haven’t mentioned that yet!). It was good to hang with my Marine blogging buddy. I didn’t convince him to reenlist Army. He must have a good career manager!! Another wonderful Marine I got to hang out with was Concrete Bob. There are no words to describe my loyalty to Bob. This guy takes troop support and activism to new heights. He’s a Vietnam veteran and a wealth of history and information. He’s like a third father to me! We met at Walter Reed. I was excited to introduce him to Marcus at the party Friday night. Terri and Angel showed up a little later in the night. I’ve known them since way back during the days of Adopt A Platoon. Angel used to do a lot of hosting for ASP before we blew up and became mega-rockstars (CJ Note: I’ve just been informed we’re actually just mere peons in the milblogging community and nowhere near mega-rockstars). And Sherri, SK or Domestic Diva to some, was there too. Supposedly, I’ve successfully fooled her husband into trusting me with a key to the house!! Sucker!! hehe. Sherri, along with LL, Terri, and Angel, are poster children for taking care of troops. They do so much that isn’t in the public eye. They don’t broadcast their contributions for others to notice. But us troops do! They do it behind the scenes without fanfare, but out of a true love for our military servicemembers. I know I’m missing a million people in both categories, but I’m at an airport and want to finish this post before I fly out of here.

But, I’ve digressed SOOO freakin’ much. Back up to the hotel room. After arriving at the airport, Marcus and I unpacked our bags and got our clothes out. The Penthouse club had a dress standard that required more than my normal digs (t-shirt and shorts) would allow. I had packed a pair of black slacks and a bright blue polo with my unit logo on it. Marcus grabbed the ironing board and pulled out his outfit for the night – a pair of black slacks and bright blue button up! I started cracking up laughing and Marcus stared at me inquisitively. He asked what I was laughing at. “Dude, no one is going to believe we didn’t plan this,” I told him as I held up my matching outfit. They may have, had the stripper pole incident not taken place (I’m sure I’ll be “stripped” of my priesthood at the very least). After that, it took the rest of the conference to regain our masculinity. So, we dressed ourselves in what is now the official ASP uniform for future events and took off for the party.

It was a great time. As I said, I got to meet a lot of awesome people. Travis was by far the most interesting of the people I met that night. He’s an amazingly funny person. If you haven’t seen his comedy, you probably haven’t laughed lately. We played off each other quite well, which lasted into the Saturday night all-nighter at the Mirage (more on that later). Put him and his father in the same room together, and there question that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’ll leave the details to someone else, but I heard more than one blogger ask him for an adoption!

During the party, we were given a lot of cool swag – signed “pet” photos (I declined), free issues of Penthouse magazine (I declined), and a free 1GB Penthouse thumbdrive (I’d be crazy to decline!). I wish that I could support Penthouse in other ways other than saying that I went to a party. They truly do love our troops and proved it that night. In spite of their chosen profession, they’re good peeps! They get mad props from me.

From what I heard, the party lasted deep into the morning. Matt told me at the conference on Saturday that he didn’t even sleep that night. But, I’m an old man and I promised Anna I would take care of Marcus so I policed him up and convinced him to take off about midnight or so (I may be wrong). I couldn’t leave Marcus without parental supervision. Besides, we had to get all our gear ready for the next morning. We were both extremely hungry as we hadn’t eaten thinking that there would be food at the party. Angel and Terri asked us where we wanted to eat and we were ambivalent about it so we drove around. Then, someone either mentioned IN & Out or I saw a sign and the debate was over! I haven’t had an In & Out burger in years. Soooo delicious. Almost as good as Taco Bell!

We finally got to bed about 0200 and woke up around 0630 for breakfast. But, I’m going to save our Saturday activities for another post. As I said, I’m at the airport and they’re starting to board. Stay tuned for more. I’ll have photos tomorrow!

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