Gala Night!

The show is about to begin!

It was a very big night here at Chant du Départ last night. The behind the scenes maneuvering, the last minute negotiations and the outright threats and hard-to-believe promises are all behind us now. It was the moment that so many of you had been waiting for.

That's right, it's time to announce the winners of the Old AF Sarge Seal of Approval from last night's gala event. Many went home in tears last night, vowing "There's always next year!" But for many last night was the night their dreams came true as they received the much coveted Old AF Sarge Seal of Approval!

That moment had been in the works for long months. Thousands contributed, millions were impacted. So who won?

(Ah, who cares? It's just a silly graphic. Hey! It's more than that!)

From the Old AF Sarge's Opening Remarks:
Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the first annual Old AF Sarge Seal of Approval Awards.

After spending many hours thinking of what sort of criteria should go along with this award, I realized something. There should be no criteria. Other than that I like your blog. Period. If your blog is listed over there along the starboard rail, pat yourself on the back. You are hereby awarded the Old AF Sarge Seal of Approval.

So what do you need to do? Nothing. Nothing at all. You can post the award somewhere on your blog or ignore it completely. I like reading your stuff. That's all that matters to me anyway. You entertain me. This is good.

But in addition to the standard award of the Old AF Sarge Seal of Approval, another grade of the award has been approved by the staff here at Chant du Départ. It is the Old AF Sarge Seal of Approval, with "Special" Mention. This grade of the award comes with the name of your blog hand engraved on the award. Very special is it not? (Again, it's just a JPEG, we shouldn't get too excited now, should we?) Um, so anyway...






Without further ado, the recipients of the Old AF Sarge Seal of Approval, with "Special" Mention are:

Buck gets it because his blog is freakin' awesome, he's a fellow MSgt and it will annoy the Hell out of him. Heh.

Kris gets the award because of her style, her grace and her encouragement of a certain old fart (that would be me) to continue this blogging thing.

Pogue gets the award because he was one of the first to link to my blog from his. Also, because he's a great photographer.

Jeff also gets the award because of the linkage I got at his place. I don't remember which of Pogue or Jeff was first but they both brought me a lot of readers.

Rumbear has the distinct honor of being the first grizzly bear to comment on the blog. Besides which he awarded me his Seal of Approval.

Six gets the award because of his writing. Because he's "been there and done that". And because of Angus, who kinda stole my heart. Good dog Angus, good dog.

Brigid gets the award due to the lady's unbelievable talent. She is perhaps one of the best writers I have ever read. And I read a lot. She can make you chuckle and guffaw with her stories. She can make you weep from the sheer beauty of her words.

Angel gets the award because she brought a crap ton of new readers to the blog when she linked me at her place. And I really like her material. For those who don't know, a "crap ton" is a unit of measure used by Surface Warfare Officers (Nuclear) to describe a large quantity.

Joe is a superb story teller. He makes me laugh but he also makes me think. Something  which the Missus Herself tells me I should do more of.

Skip is another quality story teller. He writes about real life, his real life. And I tell you what, he makes you care. His passion comes across in his writing.

IT is a hoot. You never know what he's going to come up with next, but ya can't wait to see it. Here's to you Ivan Toblog, you magnificent ba$tard!

The DiploMad is a retired Foreign Service Officer and his stories of his assignments overseas will make you either cringe or roll out of your seat laughing. He's a brilliant raconteur. (I've also gotten tons of readers from his place, including one of my favorite commenters, jib.)

Well what can I say? How could Suldog not get an award? A brilliant writer and general all around good guy. If I didn't give Sully one of these, the awards would be somewhat pointless.

SKK is what ya call a "professional writer". I mean she gets paid to write and I hope they pay her very well as her writing is just that good. She's a great supporter of the troops as well. She's also my virtual blog cousin. So yes, there is some nepotism involved in these awards, but hey, Susan earned this!

Murph has also brought me a lot of readers thanks to the linkage at his place. Which is awesome by the way. You should definitely read his stuff. If you're pressed for time, skip my blog and read his, I'll understand. Besides which, he's that good.

For all those blogs along the starboard rail, here's your award - 

All of the blogs I have listed over to starboard are well worth your time. If they weren't, they wouldn't be listed. And I do update the list. Seldom has a blog been removed from the list, but one or two have. If you're listed it's because I enjoy what you have to share. Thanks!

(Hint: If you're ticked because you didn't get a personalized award, don't worry, there's always next year and I'll still read your blog. ALL those blogs in the "Stuff I Like to Read" area are damn good.)

Thank you ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the awards ceremony. Unfortunately the truck carrying all the free booze and food is broken down somewhere between here and Dallas. Sorry...

Oh my. This could get ugly!