Congrats, Gen. Dunwoody!

Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man. ~Ann E. Dunwoody

Dunwoody becomes first female four-star general

WASHINGTON – Call it breaking the brass ceiling. Ann E. Dunwoody, after 33 years in the Army, ascended Friday to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general. At an emotional promotion ceremony, Dunwoody looked back on her years in uniform and said it was a credit to the Army — and a great surprise to her — that she would make history in a male-dominated military.

Read more.

Congrats to Airsoft Assault on reaching the 1k mark!

I know first-hand how hard it can be to start a new business and keep it going through these difficult times, so congrats to Airsoft Assault for reaching the 1000-player mark!

In celebration of this milestone, they just announced a pricing change: repeat players only pay $15 now, and $5 off all rentals. First-timers still pay $20, afterwhich they get the repeat-player deal. More details on their Web site.

Veterans Day

The history of Veterans Day

Formerly known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day in the US is a time for Americans to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of our veterans. It's also a day to contemplate peace. This would be a good time to honor and thank any veterans you know, both living and deceased, for their service to this country.

Today, I will think about my grandfather who served in the army during WWII, and who just passed away this year. He was a kind, decent, and honorable man.

What does Veterans day mean to you? How will you celebrate it?

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day
http://www.military.com/veterans-day/history-of-veterans-day.htm

Veterans advocacy:
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ - Wounded Warrior Project
http://www.saveourvets.com/
http://www.iraqwarveterans.org/ - Iraq war veterans
http://www.kitchentablegang.org/ - helping veterans in VA hospitals

Update

I had alot of fun at airsoft assault yesterday. I was there at 9 am to participate in a Firefight theme game hosted by the Ghost Walkers, and we also brought the DarkThreads store to vend our wares.

The theme of this game was GI Joe. The Firefight ruleset makes it more of a LARP than just a skirmish. Players get points and certain attributes to play with, and in addition to fighting off the enemy, they might have other problems to solve. In this particular game, a smoke machine simulated "toxic gas" and the players had to wear gas masks while searching for components to repair the ventilation system. They also had to "hack" into a computer system in order to turn on the lights (we started the game with lights out), and they had to fend off mooks, henchmen, robots, and a remote controlled "tank." I was a mook/henchman on the Cobra team, so my job was to harass the Joes and thwart them from their objectives. It was fun, yeah. Maybe next time I'll play a Joe. So far, I've earned 12 experience points for playing OPFOR.

Around 3pm-ish, AA opened up for regular play and they ran the bank heist scenario again. I wanted to play, but having already played all morning made me pretty tired, so I just minded the store and hung out in the staging area. From what I could tell, the bank heist must have been a good time, as well.

It was a long day. By the time DI and I got home last night, we were both dead tired. I feel pretty good today, tho, after soaking in a hot tub. :)

NEW DarkThreads Gear!
We rolled out some new uniform styles this weekend. We now have tiger stripe camo, and a digital version of multicam, called X-Camo (not a Crye-licensed product, but very convincing anyway). DI set up the table with a sample of each uniform and the Save Phace mask to go with it. We have a Save Phace mask for every loadout! I will blog about this in more detail later, after I get all the photos up.

IN OTHER NEWS:
Did I mention that I'm revamping the darkthreads online store? I'm hoping to roll out the new site very soon, so stay tuned.

Awesome and funny military photos

Just stumbled on this great collection of military photos, some funny, some interesting, some are just awesome. Includes images from around the world, and some really old vintage photos, as well.

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/11/awesome-military-funny-pics.html

Which one is your favorite?

We are going to the Shot Show in 2009!!!

The SHOT Show is the world's largest showcase of firearms, hunting and outdoor products. It provides a forum like no other for the industry to show off its newest products that will adorn the shelves of gun and sporting goods shops in the coming year.

http://www.shotshow.org/

Woohoooo!!!! I feel so 31337 right now.

This Saturday at Airsoft Assault

Yo Joe! and Bank Heist 2

Yo Joe!

* 9:30am to 3pm -> Cost $20

Bank Heist 2: Robber’s Revenge

* 3pm to 10pm -> Cost $15
* (Those who played during Yo Joe will have their admission already covered.)

Darkthreads will be there vending most of the day. Let us know if you want us to bring anything in particular.

In other news, I have been hard at work overhauling the darkthreads.com Web store. It will have a slick new design, better functionality, and navigation when it goes live, very soon.