Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sunday's Small Stuff

Just one man’s opinion… but Joshua Khan at InventorSpot.com published a list of “The Top 10 Best Sports Logos” this past Thursday. Here’s Numero Uno:

Best Sports Logo #1. A Simple Design That Established A Team

Despite its prestige logo, the Detroit Red Wings were known as under other names, such as the Cougars and the Falcons. But in 1932, a millionaire named Jim Morris (sic) bought the team and decided to name it after another organization. Norris decided that the “winged logo” was perfect for Detroit as they are the Motor City.
The organization the turned around as the Detroit Red Wings made the playoffs for the first time a few years later and won the Stanley Cup in 1936.
As I said: “one man’s opinion.” Don’t shoot the messenger, even if said messenger agrees completely with Mr. Khan’s selection. The Winged Wheel: Best. Sports. Logo. Ever.
―:☺:―
Ya know how I’m on about all that fruit salad that decorates the chests…to overflow… of our illustrious military members these days? Well, SN2 sends along a four-slide PowerPoint presentation with “Forgotten Navy Ribbons.” Here's the first slide:

(click for larger)
I’m thinking these ribbons haven’t been forgotten at all, they’re just “pending approval” by the Navy’s Uniform Board. I assume the Navy has such a board, but I really don’t know. The Air Force certainly does. In the interests of full disclosure, I don't think the AF Uniform Board is the approval authority for ribbons and medals... they're just the guys who tell ya how and how not to wear your decorations.
Just a quick note about this slide: Being the Language Nazi I am and will always be, I was appalled at the many usage and grammar errors on the four-slide presentation. Just because one is creating humor doesn’t mean one shouldn’t take the time to proofread their work. Or, if one has doubts about one’s expertise in this area, get someone else to proofread. It doesn’t take a whole Helluva lot of time, ya know. And yeah, I could have corrected the errors in the presentation before I posted this. I still have PowerPoint on my PeeSee, after all. That fact should make ya wonder, Gentle Reader.

12 comments:

  1. The Navy doesn't just have a Board, they have TASK FORCE UNIFORM, an organization that has certainly been busy as of late. Between rolling out the new PTs, starting trial wear of Service Dress Khaki, and finishing tweaking their new utilities, I can see how they may not have had time to approve these ribbons.

    This of course begs the question as to why a military service is screwing around with uniforms in wartime (not like the USAF is immune either), but that's a rant for a different day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Concur on the grammar thing. Couldn't deal. Need another ribbon for that. Maybe a broken pencil device on a field of Webster's dictionary. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Of course, my all time favorite "acknowledgment" on a cadet essay (they could get help from anyone, so long as they gave the helper credit) was, "Cadet Smith proofread my paper for spelling an grammer." Really. Should've given Cadet Smith a hack at that last page too. ;-) Ranks right up there with, "The subject of my S.A. is . . . " I kid you not. You can't make this stuff up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heehee...stay pregnant and can't deploy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting info on the Wings and the ribbons were hilarious. Mr. Language Nazi if you find any grammar mistakes in my blog of comments please point them out! I am begging you to!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ahhh, that's great! I'm not a servicemember but I'm gettin' a good chuckle outta this.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The ribbons were funny. A few years ago, I remember seeing a spoof of a military hand signals manual on someone's blog - it was similar humor.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Must-a been a "Black-Shoe" sailor that put that together, the "Airdales" are a little more detail oriented and would have included some aviation type stuff too (like the "29 Days-AT-Sea" ribbon which counts for absoloutly nothing - happens a lot to the sailors assigned to actual squadrons).

    I still don't get how the Red Wings got their name. I do recognize that symbol everytime I see it being a Ice Hockey guy, though I do pefer the Eastern Confrence Teams more (although I could argue that nothing in Detroit is 'Western' to me but that's a whole cultrual thing going on in this country).

    ReplyDelete
  9. Y'know, I was trying to think of a better one, but couldn't. The Red Wing's logo is pretty damn spiffy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I like the Stay Pregnant and Can't Deploy one. That's me! Whenever it looks like I'm about done having kids and they are getting old enough to go to school, I go and have another one! LOL! Stay pregnant and don't get a job medal for me!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mike: And the Squids ain't happy about the new uniforms all that much, either. At least that's what I've gathered from what I've read around the Navy blogosphere.

    Doc: Great examples! I hope your book includes a chapter on this subject... or at least more cadet anecdotes.

    Amy: The "SPCD" ribbon seemed to be the one the women noticed most on this slide, eh?

    Ash sez: Mr. Language Nazi if you find any grammar mistakes in my blog of comments please point them out! I am begging you to!

    I've seen a few, Ash. But I'm not gonna sign up to be anyone's editor anytime soon. Been there, done that... and although you might think you want editing, the reality is ALWAYS different. No one likes editors, and that's a true fact. ;-)

    Morgan and Lou: Thanks. There's a LOT about the military that just begs to be made fun of. That's probably true of any/every bureaucratic organization, tho.

    Jimmy: I know for sure that the presentation was sent to me by a 'Shoe. Its origins are somewhat unclear, tho... given the title of the presentation is "AF Medals.ppt."

    re: Detroit and the Western Conference... It broke my heart when the NHL re-aligned all those years ago and put the Wings in the West. One of hockey's great rivalries... Detroit - Toronto... just dried up and blew away at the stroke of a pen. We got the Wings - Avs rivalry in return, true, but that ain't what it used to be. I suppose one could make a case that Wings - Leafs wouldn't be either, given the dismal state of the Leafs these days. But somehow I doubt it...

    That said, I think Detroit belongs in the Eastern Conference. If the NHL expands again (I hope they DON'T), rumor has it Detroit will go to the East. That makes sense... flying from DET to anyplace on the Left Coast is hard during the playoffs.

    Jenn: That's a Great Good Thing about the box your husband received, and yes: late IS better than never. As for your writing... I tend to cut non-professional writers a lot of slack in this space, even though I rant about our general lack of writing skills as a country/culture. Writing is like any other skill: you can achieve a journeyman level of expertise through lots of practice and observation. But it IS work, and English ain't easy.

    Jim: Agreed. I think the Sharks logo is pretty danged cool, too.

    Jenny: I think there are worse things in life than staying pregnant and not having a job. Raising four kids is a more demanding job than anything I ever did in the working world! You, and other moms like you, just amaze the livin' Hell out of me. Seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wasn't sure I'd find this still on the front page, but glad it is. Thought of it yesterday as I was walking down the hall in the admin bldg at the Academy yesterday. Pictures from yesteryear adorn the walls (ancient history being about the time my class came through). What suddenly struck me was the ribbon racks of the colonels in the photos with my classmates. One, two, or three rows, maybe. Seriously, one O-6 had about two--ribbons, not rows. An airman gets two ribbons for living through an induction physical these days. And these guys, I thought with amazement, probably flew in Korea and the Nam. People who think "ribbon inflation" doesn't exist need to see those photos.

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask.