Sat.4JUN16-The Daily Poop - Liveblog

The question has been asked: will the NMA reunion be online again this year?

Okay, it's really me who's asking the question, but only to save time and effort. Every year, people wonder if they'll be able to follow the reunion online.

The answer is yes. NMA LiveBlog is a feature many MUs have come to rely on. It features 'round the clock reunion news, photos, video highlights and a certain amount of slander, from a day or two before the reunion starts until the whole shebang winds down.

Of course, stay-at-home MUs may be in contact with attendees through social media. Nowadays, everything is online, on Facebook, Instagram, Tweet, Twitter and Tweedledee. What you see at an NMA reunion is basically a couple hundred MUs and spouses aiming devices at each other and pressing "send."

Nothing wrong with that. In fact, if you're staying home from the reunion, I'd love to know what other media you're using to keep abreast of things. Do you Twitter? Insta-whatever? Let me know; maybe some other avenue can be opened up for the LiveBlog.

More details will come as the reunion gets closer. Meanwhile:

Official Disclaimer: Following the NMA reunion online is not a substitute for actual attendance and may result in nostalgia, regret and the mild sensation of missing out on a big party. If you experience any of these symptoms see your doctor

Fri.3JUN16 - The Daily Poop - Getting Squirrely

I don't like to tempt fate, but... I haven't heard whether He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken is coming to the reunion. I kind of assume so, since he seems to have made a post-Navy career out of tormenting me.

Making my life a living hell was his collateral duty at Navy Band Newport, and he did his job well. And now, even though our reunions last for but a few days, he manages to pack a year's worth of sea story butchery into those few precious days.

But maybe he's not coming. It would be refreshing to enjoy a reunion without worrying that any second now, the air will be polluted by that high-pitched southern draw, that annoying siren that warns that sea stories are about to be ruined.

Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it, so no sense getting squirrely...
 

THURS2JUN16-The Daily Poop - More time, Less Tension

Generally I'm running around in circles by this time of year.

But I'm less antsy about the reunion this year. It took me a while to figure out why: things are different this year because, well, things are different this year.

Shipmate Frank's story-telling skills
followed him when he left the Navy.

Yes, I've got lots to do before the reunion, but I have more time to do it because I'm not working anymore.Last fall I finished up my days as a librarian. I miss a few things, particularly the kids, but I enjoy have more time. This year, as the reunion approaches, I'm wrapping up things at home, but not trying do wrap up things in the library at the same time.

And because Kansas City is an easy day's drive from western Illinois, I'm not flying to the reunion this year. I have little enthusiasm for flight; too many C-130s, I guess. So, I'm looking forward to just hopping in the car with my wife and---

Oh, yes--wife. Jo is coming for the first time since 2010. This is a self-protective act on her part; generally, when she picks me up at the airport after a reunion, I start talking about the reunion and don't stop until approximately Labor Day. Jo figures it'll be painful to suffer through the thing firsthand.

WED1JUN16 - The Daily Poop - Your Complimentary First Issue

Fourteen days and a wake-up!

We're short. Two weeks from today, the magic will begin as the 2016 reunion of the Navy Musicians Association gets underway in Kansas City. Today begins the annual two-week run of The Daily Poop, the unofficial chronicle of news, scuttlebutt and preparations.

The reunion officially begins on Wed., June 15, but I'll get to Kansas City a few days early. More members will show up each day and this will be particularly interesting this year, as we're expecting new faces at this first Midwestern reunion.

The unofficial fun generally starts the night before the reunion; if we have enough members in attendance, we meet in the lounge on Tuesday night for a pre-reunion jam session.

And on that Tuesday (or maybe even the day before), we'll wrap up this year's series of Daily Poops and switch over to the also-traditional reunion LiveBlog.

But that's later and this is now. Now is the time to make preparations for getting underway. So, get your mornings off to a good start with The Daily Poop. Heh, heh.