WW1 Blog

I ran across this several months ago and I still think this is very cool. It is a blog site where this gentleman is posting letter written by his grandfather ( Harry Lamin) and sent home during WW1.  What is really cool is that it is 90 years to the day and each letter arrives and they are posted on the same day it would have been received As you read them you are along for the ride to see what this Harry’s fate is.  Will he make it home, will he be killed, you begin to await the next post like I’m sure his family did during the war.

Starting from the beginning as suggested, takes you first through who all the participants are. Then you can read along as each letter is received.  Gaps that happen correspond to gaps in time that letters were not received. Included are insightful explanations and very nice historic references like maps, period photos, and even a Battalion War Diary that documents the British troop movements so you can follow along with Harry’s letters from where he was at and what his battalion was doing.

The letters can be rather plain and somewhat redundant but then other letters are very descriptive and help paint the history of a place and a time very well.  Having not been in a war or separated from my family during a war, I have to imagine how hard it was for all those involved. Letters from home had to be a huge benefit. It is amazing that these were kept and I think this is a fantastic project.

WW1 Blog

Cinco de Mayo celebrates Drinking!!!

Isn’t this a great country we live in! I find it funny that here in the US we collectively take holidays and basically turn them into reasons to drink, we lose the meaning of the real holiday but at least we celebrate it.  I think it is great how we are a huge melting pot of cultures and people and how we embrace the ability for those people to celebrate those holidays.

I decided to look up Cinco De Mayo celebration this year to understand a little of the background. So as we know, Wikipedia has become the Oracle of Delphi for knowledge and so I dialed up Wikipedia and put it Cinco de Mayo.

Here is a quick excerpt from it:  “Cinco De Mayo is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla. It is not an obligatory federal holiday. The holiday commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has taken on a significance beyond that in Mexico.^{[6][8][9][10]} The date is perhaps best recognized in the United States as a date to celebrate the culture and experiences of Americans of Mexican ancestry, much as St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest, and the Chinese New Year are used to celebrate those of Irish, German, and Chinese ancestry, respectively.”

So it just seems funny that no matter what your heritage background is we love to celebrate it.  Its almost any reason for a party is ok!  What do Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day, and Oktoberfest all have in common….Beer of course! and along with that you have your huge parties at the bars and of course it wouldn’t be a party unless you had scantily dressed gals from various alcohol companies running around giving you shots and free Tee-shirts and hats to commemorate the occasion.

Ah yes its good to be an American no matter what your heritage. Where else in the world can you be stupid silly drunk, make a fool of yourself and celebrate a holiday from a far off country that isn’t even your heritage. Its kind of like having a birthday and even though it isn’t yours, you get to celebrate it like it is.  Fantastic!

Hmm Chinese New Year, somehow we have missed that one…I think next year I will throw a big party for that one….It will be called New Years Part Deux Party!  and bottles of Tsing Tao for everyone!

When in New Mexico…Eat up

So I was in Albuquerque New Mexico for a couple of days at a training class. One of the things I think I like most about NM is the food. New Mexican food just has that right amount of zing and taste that really wakes up ordinary Taco’s, enchilada’s and burritos. The big secret is the ample use of green chilies. If you go you can’t miss an opportunity to visit Sadies, or Garduno’s, or El Pinto.  You really can’t say you have experienced NM, until you have been to these places.

But if you really want a fantastic experience you have to go to what I consider one of the finest restaurants I have ever been to. Tucked away in Downtown Albuquerque at Central and First is Tocanos (”like the bird). This is a Brazilian Steakhouse and if you love meat and you love something a little different, you cannot miss this experience.

For the Carnivore this is a must. For those not having experienced this, it works this way. You sit down and you get the all you can eat plate. Order your drinks and then head over to the condiment bar (at least that is what I call it). This area has sides of pastas, salads, vegetables, and fruits. But be careful though to not fill the plate too full because this is just the side dish and the real meal is yet to come. I have never actually gone back to this area once I initially load up. Hmm kind of strange…

Once back at your seat you prepare for the feast. You turn over your little table indicator that appears to be a small wooden salt or pepper shaker that has Red paint on one end, Green on the other and a Yellow stripe in the middle. Turn that bad boy, so the Green is on top, and let the festivities begin. This signals to the wait staff that you are ready for them to bring on the main course. Waiters then will begin a parade of various meats that have been prepared with Brazilian spices and cooked on a spit over wood flame fires. They come to your table and present you with the first selection of meat. This varies depending on what they are cooking but each visit from a waiter brings a new and different meat item. One time it will be Turkey wrapped in Bacon, next it could be Top Sirloin, next it could be Glazed Pineapple, Next it could be Filet, Next it could be a caramel glazed Pineapple. Next it could be Chicken hearts and the list goes on and on. While you have you table indicator with the green side up, the parade of food will not end. They will recycle the offerings at your table if you find something that is your favorite. You can pass on items you don’t want and feast on items you like most. For me this is better than any buffet I could ever conceive of. Everything is fantastically prepared and presented and the Brazilian seasoning is very light and tasty.

When you think you have had enough you turn over your table indicator to Red to tell the people you are done…or if you are like me you put it on its side for Yellow, identifying that you are just taking a rest before resuming the feast. The pace can be feverish if you filled your plate too full of side dishes, but that is just a good reason to pause the flow, so you can catchup.

Just when you have finally thrown in the white towel or napkin as it were. They bring you the dessert tray. Again this is something special with some fantastic items to choose from. I love the Brazilian ice cream that has fruit mixed in. You have choices of Guava, passion fruit, strawberry, etc as the mix in. This is so fantastic you can’t say no.

All that for 25-30 dollars, how can you beat that?!? Well I have to make it a habit that every time I am in Albuquerque this is a must. But really unless you blow it and go to one of those chain restaurants I know you will be very impressed with the New Mexican food there. Just make sure one night is saved for Tocanos!

Importance of the NFL draft

So I wasted time watching this years NFL draft, much like I do every year.  But for some reason it has finally hit me that it is about as stupid as watching paint dry.  First is the colossal hype that surrounds it. For weeks it is all you read about, how this mock draft shows this, or what this team really needs is this player, and on and on. Then on draft day you got five guys flapping their lips for 6 hours on Saturday and then another 6 on Sunday about who might be picked next and how this player or another will help this team or another.

So this all leads to what? So every year we see these kids sign outrageous, no ridiculous amounts of money to sign some kid that hasn’t taken a snap in the NFL.  There is no guarantee that any of these kids will be the next savior of the team that drafted him.  Further more the likelihood of a kid first getting a starting position on a team, and then actually playing to half the hype they are suppose to have is next to nil.  I would love to see the statistics on how many of each draft class are out of football before their contract is up, how many are starters on a team before their contract is up, how many are still on the same team that drafted them at the end of their career. I bet in all those cases it pretty small.

So if this draft is so unimportant, why is it given so much coverage and hype? I think it is because as a football fan,  we need something to dwell on and complain about and to cheer about during the time period from the final tick of the Superbowl game (Feb) until that kickoff on the Thursday in Sept.  I think we should make football seasons be as long as hockey seasons…that way we could have NFL almost all year round….

And that is my take on it!

PS.  MY own little NFL experience…. I had to travel to New Mexico this Sunday evening and who did I run into in the Phoenix airport….None other than Payton Manning and his Dad Archie.  I was kind of blown away at first because I really didn’t expect to see them and before I knew it I was standing almost in front of them as they were walking down the concourse to catch another flight…and it struck me.  Wow they sometimes fly like normal people too. Also Payton is much taller than he appears on TV. Needless to say I was too slow to recognize them to say anything or to ask for an auto before they walked past me, but somehow It made my whole draft day weekend, instead of being bummed that I wasted a whole weekend watching a draft that means nothing. I got to see some super players that at some point had their draft day and people wondered if they would ever pan out…

Cool bumper sticker

The other day I saw this bumper sticker that for some reason cracked me up. Being how we are in an election year it seems every car is sporting some political opinion or statement. The other day coming back from lunch I saw this one and for some reason it struck me really funny and true. If you are a racer or you love Star Wars you will love this….

” Duct-tape is like The Force; It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together”

I think that sums it up!

And if you liked that you will love this little gem I found on Digg on Gizmodo. Deathstar

swimmin’ with the fishes

Saw this great link the other day and thought I would share it. TOPPS or Tagging of Pacific Pelagics, is a website where you can track the movements of specific tagged marine animals.

I think I originally got it off a Digg story.  The website lets you watch the progress of tracked marine animals released by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  The one that caught my attention was the juvenile great white they had.  Apparently they don’t do well in captivity and so studying them in an aquarium is a bit hard.   What I thought was cool was the ability to track their daily patterns.

Obviously tagging isn’t a real new idea but reading a bit on it apparently they are improving the technology and it allows them to track the animals safely and easily over a longer period of time.

What I found fascinating is seeing the patterns the different animals took as they I assume go about their day in search of food.  I think it would be really interesting to track humans in the same way and watch the patterns they have.

One of those moods Eugine

My wife calls it my dark moods. It’s not that I am upset, mad, or sad, but occasionally I enjoy to just sit in the dark and listen to music. Nothing but the blinks of LEDs from the stereo to light the room. The music is slow and relaxing. Often I choose Pink Floyd due to its nature of soft and then hard swells to their songs.

That is how I found myself the other day.  I was in our living room listening to the Division Bell in the Dark.  I was playing guitar and just laying on the couch.  I hadn’t even had a beer to take the edge off.  My wife thinks that maybe I have suicidal thoughts at these times but in actuality I find this time to have the clearest thinking.  I think about complex problems but I focus on the simple aspects of life.  Most of the time I find that maybe the stress of too much going on or I have been dwelling on difficult problems either with life, work or both. Not that life is bad but a brief timeout even for an hour or two can be a refreshing experience.

This is something I believe also happens when I play guitar.  I can’t quite explain it other than it is therapeutic but I find that after a session as this, I emerge very clear of thinking and can appreciate the simpler aspects of life. Maybe it is my form of meditation, I’m not sure but it usually recharges my batteries  enough to jump back in with a clear head.  Plus if it helps me from finding my favorite Axe….well all the better.

New music and the old guy

Recently while up in Norcal (Northern California) I heard a new group on the radio that I thought was quite good. Their name is Saving Abel and they rock! They are out of Miss and have just released a new album. The single that will probably soon (if not already) get played to death on the radio is Addicted but there are several tracks that are equally as good. There is a nice video to go with it that apparently is getting quite a few U-tube hits. You can go to the website at Saving Abel.

Interestingly enough apparently they got the band name when they were searching the internet on Cain and Abel. apparently there was a statement that said there was no saving Abel and they liked the sound of it.

Anyways what strikes me as interesting is how recently, I have been drawn to quite a few of the newer groups. I have always stayed up with current groups. I never just got stuck in an era. So it doesn’t seem strange that as newer groups come out I enjoy seeing what they are like. Its very interesting how many of these groups are rehashing old 70’s and 80’s songs to fill their albums and you can really see their influences as they sound very much like the bands of the classic rock era.

Black Stone Cherry is another band I am currently liking a whole lot and they fall into this category too. Both of these groups are kids not even 20 years old and they rock like they have been doing it for years. But here is the weird part….I’m signing up for their fanclub and looking at their concert dates and then it hits me. Its kind of like looking at the playboy centerfold and being quite aroused only to thumb to the statistics page and find that she was born after your oldest daughter…kind of a buzz kill. Here I am 40 signing up to be a groupie (for lack of a better term) of a bunch of 17 and 18 year olds. Something seems very strange here.

I could see it now, I get to meet and greet the band….me - “Wow man you dudes rock!”, “I really liked the lyrics about driving fast cars and chasing the girls”Oh and that video for Addicted was totally over the top with that girl dancing topless”. Me- “You know I used to have a Camaro like that in the video back in high school”, “whats that?, what year was I in high school?” “Uh Well it was before you were born”…”ok well I think I am going to head home now, its 3 am and I should go…”. “Whats that?” Do I want to head to the bar with you guys?…err sure but you guys aren’t even 21……”

We got a Wii

So, rarely the first ones on the block with new technology gadgets, we just got a Wii at home. Funny story as it was a gift from my wifes parents this last Christmas, but they couldn’t find a Wii to purchase at that time, so we got a card that showed a picture of a Wii.  Kind of anti-climatic.

Knowing they were still pretty hard to get I wasn’t holding my breath about it showing up any time soon, but my in-laws amazed me when they brought it over last weekend.  I had casually asked about getting one at Sams club or gamestop and other stores, only to be laughed at.  Well apparently my In-laws have more Mojo than I gave them credit for! The kids were semi excited since they had all played a Wii before but myself and Tabby had not to this point played one. So I was more than a little eager to hook it up on Saturday and see what was so different about the Wii…

Well its maybe best said that I woke up Monday with a sore Arm and body aches that I can’t figure out how I got. I have never had to work so hard at a video game in my life. I am old school with my video game past. Atari 2600 with pong and tank battle were my first games. Before that pinball and standup Galaga were my standards. While I am sure I look like someone having a seizure when I am intensely playing a video game these days. My tongue hanging out, violently shifting to the right or left in a futile attempt to get my on screen avatar to jump or dodge the impending implement of doom heading toward them…. I must say the only injury sustained would be a sore trigger thumb. With the Wii this is a whole new realm of effort to play a game. I think I threw my shoulder out playing baseball trying to get a 100mph fastball thrown (97 was the best I could do). Tennis had me jumping all over the room and Boxing had me worked up into quite a healthy sweat that I needed a towel to dry off.

I secretly think this is some kind of subversive plot to save our youth of today by tricking them into exercising without them knowing. And frankly I think it is a good ploy since I can’t get my daughters to leave the couch! I say subvert away!

Of course with that said I think I prefer my Xbox. So after setting up the Wii, I quietly moved the Xbox to our room where I can now be guaranteed some play time to myself…Im going to put in Halo, and from the comfort of my Bed, with a controller in one hand and a beer in the other, I will rid the world of aliens and not break a sweat doing it! Now if I could just create a video game that helped brew beer or was an addicting party game I would be set!!!

My Bucket list

So I saw the bucket list last night….I thought it was an outstanding movie. I just love Nicholson as an actor. I had already been thinking about my own Bucket list and how we should stop waiting for tomorrow and live today….

Having spent the last several weeks in the Hospital up in Northern Cal with my dad, who has Colon Cancer, I came away with a few profound thoughts. First It really sucks to get old! Seems obvious but when you are surrounded by lots of people in that boat it really makes you appreciate your health and your ability to do whatever you really want to do. The second thing I learned is that sitting back and having regrets on not doing things sucks as much as getting old. Because now even though the mind is willing the body isn’t. The third thing is that I could not handle being a RN at a hospital for very long. They do not pay those people enough to deal with the stuff they have to on a daily basis. Finally 4th our Cancer treatments are barbaric.

Ok so what would my list be…

#1 skydive
#2 Go to a winter or summer Olympics
#3 Climb a tall peak (maybe not Everest but something really big )
#4 Drive a really exotic sports car over 200mph
#5 Do a hunting and fishing expedition to Alaska
#6 Visit all 50 states by motorhome
#7 Do a Caribbean cruise
#8 Explore Europe and see all the historical sites
#9 Travel to the sites of the 7 ancient wonders of the world
#10 Play in a rock band
#11 Write and publish a book
#12 Visit Australia and New Zealand

Obviously that would be something that would grow and change but that hits the big items I wanted to see and do. Maybe it will inspire others to think of their own lists.