The Daily Poop - Sat. 14JUN08

Only ten days until the U.S.S. Frank departs for the Navy Musicians Association reunion. (I'll arrive in Memphis a couple days early to start "Live-Blogging the Reunion."

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My super-secret tracking device records the "referring site" of visitors to Navy Lyres. Many of you arrive here from http://www.navymusicians.org/.

But many find Navy Lyres as a result of searching for something or someone at Google, Yahoo or another search engine. In these cases, the super-secret 'ware tells me--cue the "Twilight Zone" theme--what you were searching for that brought you here.

This is a long way of saying, Yo, Cliff McCoy and Jim Lamb--people are searching for you.

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Just got back from the barber. He cut off a more than I expected; quite a bit more, in fact.

I look like a damn sailor.

The Daily Poop - Fri, 13JUN08

Two weeks from today, the Navy Musicians Association reunion will be in full swing.

Though our reunions always begin officially on Wednesday, a handful, like me, come early. I'll arrive in Memphis sometime on Monday, June 23, to schmooze, strut and begin blogging the reunion.

Each year, increasingly more members show up on Tuesday. This means that the night before the reunion has even started, the lounge is jumping with MUs, jamming and jiving.

Wednesday, registration day, is naturally the day that former MUs pour in. But attendees continue to arrive through the week.

At the Friday night bash in the ballroom, we're all together for the first time. The evening's highlight is a performance by the reunion bands for the most appreciative of all audiences: peers, shipmates, brothers and sisters.

And when it's over, many adjourn to the lounge for the jamming and jiving that began the week.

The Daily Poop - Thurs, 12JUN08

As the 2008 Navy Musicians Association approaches, NMA members are checking in. Yesterday I heard from:

-- Bob Grindle, who went through the Assistant Bandleader Course while I was on staff at the School of Music won't be at the reunion; his community band is entering its festival week.

-- Everett Crouse, another SOM shipmate, says he's also unable to attend, but his friend, my old rock 'n' roll band leader John Johnson, will make an appearance.

-- B.A. Waltrip, retired for 34 years now, has just found out about this site. He suggests that when NMA members get together, they're a bunch of "Navy Liars."

Also heard from: George Hand, who left the navy in 1961 and Norm Detoy, who retired in 1979.

I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment here at Navy Lyres or email me.

Pass the Word

Yesterday I emailed over 500 notices--"FrankGrams"--concerning my plans for Live-Blogging the Navy Musicians Association reunion, June 26-29, 2008.

FrankGrams went to email address on the NMA roster. Many of them bounced back as undeliverable.

This means many shipmates don't know that the highlights of the reunion will appear here at Navy Lyres.

You can help by passing the word. All past and present Navy Musicans, NMA members or not, are welcome.