A (formerly) Far East located, politically focused, Blog with attention also paid to the finer things in life: Women, Beer, Women, Travel, Women, Adventure, Golf, and did I mention women?
The S.O. and I have been here for over 6 weeks today. They have been pretty pleasant on the whole, and together we have settled into a nice a little routine. I’ve been trying for a while to coalesce my thoughts into some organized bit of writing, but I’m not quite there yet. This has not been an easily digestible piece of my life-job wise, town wise, or life wise. Despite the fact that its 6000 miles from paradise though, our little life together is , as I said, actually quite pleasant.
The trouble is, that is all it is-quite pleasant. And that is all it will ever be: just quite pleasant. Which compared to many of the possible alternatives, is a good thing unto itself. For someone like me however, who has been used to excitement though-I mean real, kid on Christmas morning anticipation and excitement (like the kind I get whenever I leave the airplane and see the RBS sign over the exit to the Jetway in Hong Kong)- this is underwhelming to say the least.
Speaking of Hong Kong, I’d kill for a week in Singapore or there. Unfortunately I don’t have any vacation yet. So no trips to Mecca anytime soon.
So in the meantime here we sit in Pleasantville. So what it is it really like here? Gimmee some time to think about and I’ll get back to you.
In the mean time-here are some vignettes of life in Shopping Mall USA……..and a Blog Round up.
A 5-year-old boy was killed and 12 others were injured Sunday when strong winds toppled spectator tents at a Huntsville air show.
Witnesses said a generator fell on the 5-year-old, whose name was not released. The death was confirmed by the Madison County coroner’s office.
Huntsville Hospital spokeswoman Pam Sparks said 12 people were treated for injuries, but only one was admitted to the hospital – a child in serious condition.
A meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Huntsville said winds reached 48 mph during the storm, which cancelled the air show.
Tim Troutman at the weather service says the winds that toppled the tents came during an isolated strong thunderstorm that developed just west of the airport about 1:45 p.m. He says the storm caused no other damages in the area.
The S.O. and I were at the movies at the time, up to the north part of the city. We had gotten up, worked out, then decided we would see a movie then get our shopping done. The weather was very cloudy and storm like early this morning, but it was bright and sunny when we left. When we got in the car and I switched radio channels, I was shocked to hear the news. It was unbelievable- the weather outside was just beautiful. How could this have happened?
Yet it did.
My thoughts and prayers to the family of the child and to all the other injured. This kind of stuff is not supposed to happen here………….
I really need you (or any other benefactor) to buy me one of these:
And a Zoom Lens please!
Actually, I am told my zoom lense on my SLR would work for one of these-two bad its not here-it is in storage with the rest of the good stuff……….Big mistake.
Important Safety tip-change batteries before going to an air show. I did not and had to use the S.O.’s camera for most of the Blue Angel pix that follow. Because my zoom works better than hers-and you really need a good zoom to get pix like these (Click on the pix to see them better):
There is so little to do in this town, no wonder the air show is a big event.-The S.O.
For someone who says she likes it here, the S.O. has made more than a couple perceptive comments along these lines. Maybe I’m not the only one missing Japan.
We went to the Air Show today. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 6.5 and that’s being generous.
We went later in the morning because the S.O. was really not keen on being out in the sun for 6 or 7 hours. Her whining voice was in top form today, so I thought it prudent to humor her desires. So after breakfast I used the time to get some errands done. While we were out-I was hungry so I stopped in for half a dozen Krystals. Prudent decision #1 of the day.
Let me back up a bit. Yesterday when I came out of the apartment to go work out, as is my routine after work-I heard a strange noise up in the sky. While our place is relatively close to the airport one does not hear normally hear the low pitched whine of the mighty T-56-427 engine coming roaring overhead. I looked up and what did I see, but this manly airplane:
The Mighty War Hummer!
The major problem was, it took us an hour and a half to get from the entrance to the Intermodal Jet Plex to the parking area. I’ve been to the Reno Air Races it did not take near that long and that is a much bigger show in terms of numbers visiting. The big reason for this was because it seems the constabulary cannot plan traffic flow that well OR it could have something to do with the geography of Shopping Mall’s airport-which at is a commercial airport and not that big a one at that. Plus they did not want to disrupt commercial traffic which meant one runway had to stay open and that traffic flow into the airport could not follow the usual pattern.
Thus we took the long way. Come see where it took us!
Shopping Mall USA is having an airshow this weekend! The S.O. does not have a choice-she’s been told she is going. Buy sunscreen. We are going early and leaving late-gotta go see what I am really missing……………
An influential conservative figure criticizes Sen. Barack Obama on religion today in a radio segment saying the candidate for president has distorted the Bible and pushed a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution.
Now if any man should know a thing or two about distorting the Bible-its James Dobson. He’s the same guy who said, “”I cannot, and will not, vote for Senator John McCain, as a matter of conscience.”
-James Dobson. Feb. 2008
Wanna bet?
He’s making a statement to that effect here. And I dislike Dobson and his warped interperation of the Bible-so if he is against Obama, than that’s worth noting. If Dobson hates you , then one must be doing something right.
Maybe Dobson should listen to someone besides Paul, most right wing evangelicals tend to base their understanding on the Old Testament and the Letters of Paul. There is a group though that says maybe one should look at the red print in the New Testament:
The Red Letter Christians are a network of effective, progressive, Christian communicators urging an open, honest and public dialogue on issues of faith and politics. We believe and seek to put in to action the red letter words in the Holy Bible spoken by Jesus. The goal of the group is to advance the message that our faith cannot be reduced to only two hot button social issues – abortion and homosexuality. Fighting poverty, caring for the environment, advancing peace, promoting strong families, and supporting a consistent ethic of life are all critical moral and biblical values
I saw their spokesman on TV a while back. He made a lot more sense then Dobson ever will. Of course Dobson could care less-about one of his fellow believers.
Obama should wear Dobsons scorn as a badge of pride.
E @ L has me summed up in his birthday quote about himself. (Great minds think alike!)
I am now fifty-one years old. I am not enamored of life, but it is worth while to continue a little longer with such a prospect of a golden age. All looks brighter now. I myself, insignificant I, have contributed something. I have at least stirred the bile of those who would not have the world grow wiser, and only fools now snarl at me. Desiderius Erasmus (1516).
Up to Dahlgren VA for a day for meetings. Since Dahlgren sucks as far as any night life goes I opted for a stay in Fredericskburg-as far as staying in a hotel goes. In all my years if living in Norfolk, I had never really explored this town-it’s neat.
More stories tomorrow-however, it did my soul good tonight to explore a bit.
29 years ago today, I made the biggest mistake of my life. Its results linger with me at the first of every month. Don’t care what anyone else says-it just is not fair.
And while we are on the subject:
1) A man does not disrespect his children because he criticizes his ex-wife. She bears the burden of her own irresponsibility-financially or otherwise. The last time the two were joined was at birth-after that its quite possible to love the offspring and dislike the spring from which they sprung.
2) People who say , “You just should have left earlier” have no conception of how hard it is for a well intentioned person to make a tough decision.
3) His is his and hers is hers. The argument that the wife “earns” a extortion payment each month is just flawed from the git go. She can get off her fat ass and work. For all the talk about what is “earned” -it has not stopped her from ignoring the needs my son has, to pay his health insurance so he can change jobs-I’ve not seen her lift a finger to help him. I’m glad to do it though-especially if it helps him branch out on his own.
4) “Whoever said Marriage is a 50-50 proposition laid the foundation for more divorce fees than any other short sentence in our language.”-Austin Elliot.
Bitter? Maybe. I prefer to think of it as ruefully wiser than I was at 22.
But either way-I’ve more than earned the right to say that!
One of the more original and influential stand-up comedians, best selling author and an okay actor. 7 Words You Can Never Say on Television remains a classic. This year he received the Mark Twain Award for American Humor. “Take a fucking chance! Put a little fun in your life! … most Americans are soft and frightened and unimaginative and they don’t realize there’s such a thing as dangerous fun, and they certainly don’t recognize a good show when they see one.”
I think for every year I was in Asia, and long before, I was reading this kind of headline. I know they have like 900 islands-but still, when does the government actually take action to prevent these types of disasters?
According to Japan Probe-the Mainichi Shimbun is no longer publishing the Wai Wai column. Which is really dissapointing to bloggers like me looking for funny things to publish:
For years, Mainichi’s English language website has been translating bizarre stories from Japan’s least credible tabloid magazines and publishing them as news articles in a special column called WaiWai. The wacky stories of perversion and vice undoubtedly attracted a lot of traffic to Mainichi’s website, exposing the stories to readers who were unaware the articles were based on unreliable tabloids. Predictably, this caused stupid and false information about Japan to spread around the world.
In recent months, Japanese bloggers and 2-channelers have become increasingly fed up with the international media’s biased coverage of their country as a wacky land full of twisted perverts, bizarre forms of prostitution, and sex dolls. They specifically targeted the WaiWai column, which had the name of a credible Japanese newspaper attached to it, as a major source of inaccurate and unfair portrayals of Japan as a perverted and screwed up country. Their efforts paid off two days ago when J-Cast picked up their story and ran it on Yahoo! Japan News.
Predicatble but kind of sad in its own way too. Because the tabloids are still out there-advertising on the trains and printing some really amazing things. Some of which were true.
Guess it will be up to blogs like Japan Probe and Japundit to pick up the slack. Maybe Gendai could publish its own page……
Middle of the road kind of guy. Love living in Asia and will be back there as soon as I can. I lived 8 and a half grand and glorious years in Asia traveling from one end to the other and generally having a really good time. Despite my best efforts to stay, I was "Quantum Leaped" to a 3 and 1/2 year exile in the USA to pay for my sins - suffering through the lunacy that is life in the American South. I am now back overseas, living the expat life again, working my way around the world- taking the long way home to Asia via the path of living in Germany. Like Dr. Samuel Beckett, I am hoping my next leap will be the leap that brings me home to Asia. Always on the lookout for my next ex-wife.
