Katy Perry kisses a mid
April 23rd, 2012 | Entertainment Naval Academy Navy | Posted by Jacqueline Klimas
Pop star Katy Perry portrayed a Marine in her newest video, but when she performed at the Naval Academy last Friday night, it was all about playing sailor.
Perry, who said she was fighting a fever, performed in a sailor get-up. In this YouTube video she proceeds to recreate the iconic World War II-era image of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square. A lucky Midshipman 3rd Class named Tanner Beasley plays the coveted role of sailor and promptly plants one on Perry’s kisser.
The crowd, of course, goes bananas.
ABC News offers more details.
Vote now on Battleship advanced screenings
April 23rd, 2012 | Entertainment Movies Navy | Posted by Jacqueline Klimas
Want to see Battleship on a big screen at your base?
Eventful Inc., is holding a “Battle of the Bases” campaign to bring sneak previews of the movie Battleship to 10 military bases across the country before the film opens everywhere May 18.
Family, friends and servicemembers can vote online at http://eventful.com/battleship. The 10 military bases with the most votes by May 8 will get an advanced screening of Battleship at a theater near the base between May 15 and May 17.
The action-adventure movie, which includes real sailors as extras, is about Earth fighting for survival against aliens. It stars Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker and Liam Neeson.
“These early screenings of ‘Battleship’ allow Universal an opportunity to thank our active duty and reserve service members and their families for their sacrifices,” said Josh Goldstine, President of Theatrical Marketing, Universal Pictures, in an Eventful press release. “The spirit of the film is one of assembling the best of the best for a daunting, shared mission. We hope that by bringing together members of our country’s best, they may enjoy a night out at the movies.”
Capt. Rick Hoffman’s Battleship Boot Camp
April 4th, 2012 | Battleships Entertainment Movies | Posted by Sam Fellman
Hollywood just went to boot camp — surface Navy-style.
The task of getting the cast of the forthcoming movie Battleship to look and speak Navy fell to the retired Navy captain who served as the film’s technical adviser. It was no easy task.
“Is that your war face? What kind of a face is that!” retired Capt. Rick Hoffman, who in real-life commanded frigate DeWert and cruiser Hue City, shouts at one actor in jest during a movie trailer released April 3. “Wipe that smile off your face, sailor!”
This is all part of what he called “Capt. Rick’s boot camp.” In the film, all that stands between the alien horde and human annihilation is, yes, the Navy’s gray warships. So making the actors believable surface warriors was of the utmost importance. To get them ready, Hoffman ran a sort of SWO-101. Key the radiotelephone before speaking! Get standard commands right! “Don’t fall off the boat!”
Yet despite the tough love, Hoffman was a cast favorite.
“Rick was wonderful and he loves sharing this information,” said star Liam Neeson, who plays Admiral Shane in the film.
And for his work, Hoffman got a bit of a promotion: a cameo as the fictionalized four-star chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The film opens May 18 in the U.S.
Intel leak? Chinese, Russian moviegoers get first glimpse at “Battleship” in IMAX
April 4th, 2012 | Battleships Entertainment Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Keeping with the "family game night" theme, Lt. Cmdr. Dave Hecht describes the carrier George Washington's "Oujia board" to "Battleship" star Brooklyn Decker after a Monday news conference on the carrier's flight deck promoting the film. (Navy photo by MCSA Brian H. Abel)
Nations including China and Russia will get an inside look at some of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced tactics.
Specifically, how the Navy would deal with an alien invasion. If Liam Neeson ran Pacific Fleet. And if the director of “Friday Night Lights” ran everything.
It might not be much of an intel edge, but international audiences will be the first to see the Hollywood blockbuster “Battleship,” which debuts overseas in IMAX theaters April 12, according to an IMAX news release. More than 100 international theaters will screen the movie before it hits U.S. cinemas May 18. Gawker Media’s I09 website included the item in its “Morning Spoilers” report, appropriately enough.
As of early Wednesday, RottenTomatoes.com said 88 percent of its audience reviewers are eager to see the special-effects showcase — not quite the anticipation level for “The Avengers” (98 percent), but at least a little higher than “The Three Stooges” (82 percent).
Director Peter Berg and some of the film’s stars, including Rihanna, Taylor Kitsch (“John Carter”) and Brooklyn Decker (Sports Illustrated), visited troops Monday at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, and held a news conference on the carrier George Washington to promote the movie. Bookmark this link for the latest official trailers.
Disney looking to hire veterans
March 15th, 2012 | Blogs Entertainment Industry Navy Veterans Video | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
The Walt Disney Company is looking to hire 1,000 veterans over the next three years. Company President and CEO Bob Iger announced the company wide initiative called “Heroes Work Here” on Tuesday, March 13th.
There is much more to the new program than just hiring vets. Disney will hold career fairs, offer training and volunteer opportunities.
And don’t think you have to head to Orlando just to work at Disney. The company owns ESPN and ABC. Here is a full list of the companies in the Disney family.
Want to make your dreams come true? Check out the Disney Careers website.
Meme: What my LPO thinks I do
February 27th, 2012 | Entertainment Humor | Posted by Sam Fellman
Doctors have one. So do karaoke singers, movie directors, librarians, pilots, journalists and disc-jockeys. Now, sailors can claim their own What-people-think-I-do meme.
For the uninitiated, that’s the Navy’s top enlisted man, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West, mugging in the top center photo. Scoop Deck thinks the rest of the 6-photo slide, designed by a sailor, speaks for itself — and with its own salt.
Brrrrrrrr…..it’s cold out there
February 6th, 2012 | 7th Fleet Entertainment Navy | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Members of the brass section of the 7th Fleet Band perform in front of a massive ice sculpture during the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan. // Navy MC2 Kenneth R. Hendrix photos
When temperatures go below freezing, perhaps the last place you’d want to place your lips is anything made of metal. Anyone who’s ever played in a marching or military band for an outdoor performance knows that the show must go on, regardless of Mother Nature’s moods. That’s just what some members of the U.S. 7th Fleet Band did this past weekend, enduring snow and icy conditions to entertain the crowd in Sapporo, Japan. The northern Japan city on Hokkaido island, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, is famous for its annual Sapporo Snow Festival attended by some 2 million visitors who don wool caps and thick layers of clothing to enjoy the region’s wintry landscape and an impressive array of sculptures and statues. The festival runs through Feb. 12.
The 7th Fleet band played tunes on stage Feb. 6 as part of the kickoff for the 63rd annual festival, performing for the crowd in front of a massive sculpture featuring some of the ocean’s most popular residents, including a walrus, gray whale, bottlenose dolphin and sea turtle. Meanwhile, sailors aboard fleet command ship Blue Ridge visited the nearby port city of Tomokodai and joined in that city’s annual ice festival.
A massive sculpture of sea life serves as the backdrop for the 7th Fleet Band's performance in Sapporo, Japan.
And not to be outdone, this year a team of sailors from Misawa Naval Air Facility in Japan battled the cold over three days to shape their own homage to sea service. The result is a sharp looking sculpture (below) that honors the Navy’s “Lone Sailor” statue. And after several days making something out of a chunky block of icy snow, the end result is, according to the Misawa folks, ”finally is within U.S. Navy body fat standards.” You can see more pictures of other sculptures here.
The "Lone Sailor" sculpture at this year's Sapporo Snow Festival. // NAF Misawa Facebook photo
Top SEAL: Amid Hollywood hoopla, quiet preferred
January 27th, 2012 | Entertainment Movies Naval special warfare | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
The Navy’s “silent” warriors won’t exactly be off radar when “Act of Valor” hits the theaters in February. The movie, produced by the Bandito Brothers, is notable for the use of some real Navy SEALs, rather than more actors, to portray the commandos.
Since the successful killing of Osama bin Laden last year, and even the 2009 rescue of an American boat captain held hostage by Somali pirates, the oft-secretive naval special warfare community has been in the spotlight more than usual. The occasional best-selling book and, unfortunately, tragic losses of SEALs fallen in combat capture the public’s focus. This week’s news that SEALs – presumably Naval Special Warfare Development Group, aka SEAL Team 6 – parachuted into Somalia and rescued an American female aid worker and a Danish man kidnapped by Somali pirates further adds to the attention.
“It’s pretty hot in the kitchen right now,” Rear Adm. Sean Pybus, a top SEAL officer, told a San Diego defense industry conference Jan. 24, hours after the successful mission was a wrap. “The SEAL brand is red hot.”
Rear Adm. Sean Pybus, who heads Naval Special Warfare Command. // Navy photo
Part of that is by design. To pull off “Act of Valor,” the directors sent teams to embed with real SEALs and special warfare combatant craft crewmen with the intent of helping them portray naval special warfare more realistically. That relationship, five years in the making, required approval from the top – which it got. Several real SEALs, who typically shield their identities when they are operational, will be portrayed on the big screen as well as in promotion literature, trailers and press kits, perhaps. But their names won’t be on the credits. You can catch the trailer here, and the official website here.
Much like what the Navy saw when “Top Gun” was released in 1986, top officials expect the movie will help with recruitment. But all that attention can be discomfiting to those who consider themselves “quiet professionals.”
“Operations security matters to us,” said Pybus, before showing the movie trailer to the morning audience. “Inaccurate or incomplete pictures…concern me,” he continued. “We as a community are not used to operating under such a spotlight. We’ll figure this out.”
SEALs and SWCCs, and others within the community, he noted, are proud of their work outside the public spotlight. “We’ll work for positive outcomes, find better ways to protect sensitive information and our force and our families,” he said, “and we’ll adapt.”
If there are fewer movies or books about SEALs, what they do and who they are, that might suit Pybus just fine. “I would like to think that your reputation as a naval special warfare operator or enabler would be sufficient when you transition to civilian life,” he said, responding to an audience question. “You’d be quietly proud of that.”
Elves in orange vests
November 29th, 2011 | Coast Guard Entertainment Historical Traditions | Posted by Jenn Rafael
Crew members of the seagoing buoy tender Alder load pallets of Christmas trees Monday in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Alder will deliver the trees to needy families in Chicago. // PA3 George Degener/Coast Guard.
The seagoing buoy tender Alder has a new mission: spreading holiday cheer.
The cutter is carrying hundreds of trees to needy Chicago families as the city’s “Christmas ship.” On Monday, the cutter’s crew took on the holiday cargo in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Curt Barrett operates Alder's buoy deck crane to load pallets of trees Monday. // PA3 George Degener/Coast Guard.
The seagoing buoy tender/icebreaker Mackinaw normally does the honors. Its crew delivered more than 1,200 Christmas trees to Chicago families last year. But for this holiday season, Mackinaw is headed to a Wisconsin shipyard for repair of a leaking bow-thruster.
Alder’s mission is the continuation of a Chicago tradition. The original Christmas ship, the Rouse Simmons, brought fresh evergreens and wreaths to Chicago during holiday seasons in the early 1900s. The three-masted schooner entered port with a Christmas tree tied to its mast each year until it was lost in 1912.
Alder is due to arrive in Chicago on Friday morning; trees will be distributed Saturday.
Mullen v. Stewart, round three
September 15th, 2011 | Admirals Entertainment Humor Washington | Posted by Sam Fellman
Adm. Mike Mullen weathered comedian Jon Stewart's jokes well in a Sept. 12 interview. // DoD photo
As he prepares to step down from the military’s top post in two weeks, Adm. Mike Mullen braved the bright lights and barbs of The Daily Show on Monday one last time.
Mullen, while discussing his career, braced himself for the comedic trap, which host Jon Stewart laid about a trip they had taken together to Afghanistan in July to visit the troops. Mullen — a veteran of three wars, not to mention countless comedy show appearances — proved his mettle.
“I was surprised that when we landed at Kandahar, that you forced them to carry you around on a litter. I thought that was interesting,” Stewart said pausing, seeing if Mullen would take the bait. He smirked instead. Stewart continued: “I don’t know where they got rose petals. Certainly it’s a dry and arid place. But I’m glad you were comfortable.”
“That usually only happens once a trip,” Mullen replied to laughs.
What’s next for Mullen?
“My plan is to take a long winter’s nap,” he told Stewart.
The appearance seemed to stay on track more than Mullen’s June interview on The Late Show with David Letterman, when he answered so many questions about mistakes early in his career that he asked Letterman, “Where is this going, Dave?”
Mullen wore service dress khaki, the first time he’s worn it in his three appearances on The Daily Show. Appreciating Mullen’s sartorial sense, Stewart told him, at the end of the interview, that he hoped “that I get to try on that jacket at some point.”
“This is not a sergeant’s jacket,” Mullen replied.