One of the great things about working in Company Two this last summer was having the “Superman Returns” film out in the theaters during camp. It certainly meant we had a lot of Superman stuff to have fun with all summer, and it also made it seem like perhaps the planets were aligning a bit for Naval 2.

This summer though Company Three will be the unit with a movie.

“300″ directed by Zach Snyder (of the great “Dawn of the Dead” remake) is another retelleing of the Battle of Thermopylae, when 5,000 Greeks, led by King Leonides and 300 of his Spartans stood their ground in the face of a 300,000-strong Persian invasion force…and held them off. It’s about as “badass” as any story you’ll find in a history book.

The film is an adaptation of Frank Miller’s excellent, painted graphic novel “300″ (should be required reading for all N3ers) and was produced with his involvement a la 2005’s “Sin City.”

The trailer is online, and it looks spectacular. Check it out here. Could this be a good omen for Spartan Three’s summer 2007 chances?

Discussion: “What do you think of the trailer?”

Links:

Check out the “300″ Novel on Amazon.com

Official “300″ Web Page with Production Videos/Blog

“300″ on the Internet Movie Database

Battle of Thermopylae on Wikipiedia

Naval Three Culver-pedia page

Naval Three Message Board

In the “pointing out Culver Stuff on the internet” department those of you on Facebook.com should check out the new Culver Summer Camp group started by Go Culver member p_de_laborde a few days ago. It’s already ammased 131 alumni/camper members and could always use a few more. Some moderate trash talking taking place in the wall posts already….nice.

So what does everyone on here think of all the changes coming to thefacebook? The miniFeed? Opening it up to anyone and everyone? Have you set your privacy settings the way you want them, you know, so your parents don’t see all the pictures from last weekend’s party?

In case you hadn’t heard about the whole “opening up” thing, here’s the latest piece of opining from facebook founder/corporate mascot Mark Zuckerberg:

“I want to clear up some rumors and ask for your feedback.

Right now a lot of people want their friends to use Facebook, but they can’t get on. Soon, we’re planning on letting these people register for regional networks.

I know a lot of you are worried about this and how it changes the site. Honestly, it shouldn’t change much for you. College networks will remain exclusive to people from those colleges. High school and work networks will remain exclusive as well. Only your friends and other people in your networks can see your profile. This is what makes Facebook different, and we’re not changing it.

From reading a lot of your messages, it seems like some of you want more separation. Do you want to be completely invisible to people who aren’t in a college or high school? Do you want to make sure they can’t message or poke you? We like hearing from you. Please send us your thoughts on how we can make this work for you.

And just to clear some other things up: we’re not putting up more banner ads, we’re not charging anyone, we’re not letting people put random HTML in their profiles, and we’re not selling your information. Facebook is about increasing information flow and connecting people, not these things.

Please send us your thoughts here.”

You heard the guy, if you’re not happy with widespread access to facebook.com, send him a note to let him know.

Personally I would rather facebook stick to just those with .edu e-mail addresses simply because it gives an actual sense of identity to the site, separating it from myspace and the rest of its ilk (which serve their purposes, just different purposes). I have no doubt that there is immense pressure being brought to bear upon the facebook viziers by their financiers, people who gave them a great deal of money and expect a return on their investment. Do you think widening access to the site will bring in more visitors? Will it affect the frequency with which current members check out the site?

If facebook opens up to the public, will you visit it any less? If it’s no longer an exclusive site, will you still hang out there?

Respond in the Go Culver forums

theFacebook.com - link

New York Times Articles on Facebook

Also, with the addition of member MURILLO Go Culver.com’s finally picked up its 601st member. Nice…..now if I could just find some time to get things rolling on the forum again…

Also, hope you like the new look to the front page.  It’s been a while since I’ve done much work on it and I wanted to get those muscles moving again.

For our latest Culver Summer Camps “Burning Q” poll on Go Culver.com I thought we could sink our hands into something tangible, simple, and very very greasy! Summer Camp Food!

What is your favorite Culver Shack Snack?

Are you a Mozzarella Sticks person?

A French Fries woman?

A fan of the old Taco Sticks?

A classical cheeseburger connoiseur?

Or do you just love a good slurpee?

For my part, I have to say I went with the taco sticks. …Read the rest of this entry…

Of the many different boat classes to come through the naval school during your time at Culver Summer Camps, which was your favorite?

There’s nothing intellectual about this week’s GoCulver.com poll. It’s a blatant popularity contest among ships that should probably never be compared in some cases.

Are you a Laser man?

An Interlake woman?

Do all your fondest memories from Culver center around the Ledbetter? Taking out the C-Scows during first and second class period’s heavy wind?

Vote your preference on the sidebar to the right and then explain your vote over here in the CulverTalk forums. Be sure to check out our Poll Archives to voice your say on older topics. You can see all the introductory blog posts for polls by clicking here.

Related Forum Topic: “Sailing Stories: Share ‘em if you Got ‘em”,

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone. Real life has been quite hectic lately though there have been some nice developments…I will say this though…109 days until [tag]Culver Summer Camps[/tag] 2006! I’ve spoken with Mr. Knight at Culver recently and know that he and the rest of the staff there are busy hiring counselors and making other preparations for this coming summer. Very exciting.

Finally I have a new poll topic for you all. Of the four banners that campers compete for each week throughout camp, the naval, the military, the tuxis, and athletic banner, which one has meant the most to you and why? Regardless of whether you ever won it or not, which of the 4 banners did you most have your eye set on during camp?

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When I was an upper camper in Naval One not too long ago (’96-98) I must admit I thought a great deal about rank.

I remember the night before I left for my plebe summer at Culver talking with my cousin about how things were going to be at camp. Unsurprisingly, our predictions centered largely around “getting rank”…click for rest.

While looking over a batch of pictures I’m thinking of adding to our galleries, I was reminded of how inconsistent uniform wear can be during camp. As a counselor in Naval Two it is rare indeed for me to walk from barracks to the dining hall (about 200 yards from North/East) without having to tell a midshipman…click for rest.

Vote your preference on the new poll in the sidebar on the front page and then post your reason for voting in THIS thread over in the forums.

I know how I’m voting and think I know how it will end up. We’ll see though.

1. Welcome everyone who’s come here from the @Culver newsletter! Be sure to read through the "about" section above and to stop by the forums and sign up so you can start posting and responding to the other members on here. Great to have you.

…Read the rest of this entry…