Still having fun. But no trip to India this time. VISA complications. Missing baggage.
But Bangkok has been a blast. Next stop. Returning to Cambodia.
Archive for February, 2008
Putin slams Hillary
In Politics on February 15, 2008 at 10:24 pmWhen Hillary Clinton said, way back in New Hampshire, that Vladimir Putin “doesn’t have a soul,” I figured that would be the sort of thing the Russian wouldn’t be pleased about. But when I called the foreign ministry the next day for comment, it was Orthodox Christmas, and I let it slide.
He was asked about the remark at his press conference yesterday, however, and indeed wasn’t pleased.
The former KGB lieutenant colonel appeared to lash out at U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton — a leading Democratic candidate for president — when one reporter quoted her as saying that former KGB officers have no soul:
“At a minimum, a head of state should have a head,” Putin said.
Black Tuesday
In UK Basketball on February 13, 2008 at 5:02 pmVanderbilt dominates Kentucky 93-52
I have nothing to say…
Briana Lee (Li) — Almost enough to make me a Pats fan…almost
In Sports on February 13, 2008 at 6:46 amJust for the heck of it. Three more photos.
The NFLs hottest cheerleader. Easily. She’s beautiful.
The Obama Iraq Strategy
In Middle East, Sports on February 11, 2008 at 12:33 amRaise the White Flag and Abandon all Hope…
Barack Obama — Why they like him.
In Politics on February 11, 2008 at 12:25 am
Why do people like Barack Obama? More specifically, why does White America like Barack Obama?
I haven’t seen this charisma (edit: I see his charisma. But it seems a charade to me). Maybe I’m not fooled by it because I’ve been around so many races for so many years. In my life, race just hasn’t mattered. But I’ve noticed in America, race is a central issue to almost everything. But the only races that really matter. The only colors that really matter politically are Black and White. Kinda funny. It’s as if no other race exists. White and Black or African American and nothing else. Asian doesn’t matter. No one notices. Hispanic only comes into the picture in the Southwest and only nationally, if you are one of the demonized illegal immigrants. Chinese, Indians, Arabs. Who are they? Most people in the States think that China is a country in the lands of Narnia for the Knight Jack Ryan to save damsels in distress from neo-Nazi terrorists who wanted to Nuke a football stadium that some guy named Tom Clancy conjured for his movie scripts. (Didn’t he write books, too.) What’s hilarious is that if you are really from Africa, you aren’t African American. Even if you are black and especially if you are white. Now that’s a wild, new spin on geo-politics and race relations.
Obama gets the Will Smith pass. He’s a black guy who looks kinda white. Talks like a white guy. Don’t ask me what that means. Ask a black comedian. They make fun of white guys talking all the time. The speaking mannerism at which they poke fun is all Obama. Obama wears business suits instead of gangsta baggy pants and white T-shirts or NBA Jerseys. He is White America to a capital T-e-e.
Why is Obama so popular with white America and especially Liberals?
I think it’s because he’s a likable, white-black guy. He’s black but he’s white. He acts, talks and has all of the mannerisms of a white American. If you heard him talk on the phone, you’d assume that he was a white guy. He’s not a reverend in the mold of Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. He certainly doesn’t talk like those guys. Especially when he turns on that laughably fake Southern accent. He’s completely vanilla. He’s not hip hop or gangsta rap. At his “Blackest,” he is the political Will Smith.
Politically, he says virtually nothing. So there is nothing that will really upset anyone. The guy has no real political personality. He mimics the Hope campaigns of Reagan and the Kennedy’s. Does he have any ideas of his own. Nothing that I’ve heard.
Basically, he makes white Americans feel good about themselves. Because he is a black person with whom they feel comfortable. So they feel like they are not racist. So they aren’t bad people.
If Obama were a white guy, he’d be a professor at the City Colleges of Chicago.
Hell, he kind of reminds me of Richie Cunningham.
Tigerdirect.com
In Commerce on February 10, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Tigerdirect is incredible. I purchased a new Olympus e-Volt SLR. They delivered it in less than a week. You might ask what is amazing about this. I’m in Afghanistan. Herat, Afghanistan. Amazon is close behind them for reliability and speed of delivery. L.A. Police Gear is a great online store for uniform and cold weather gear. Both of them are reliable and swift in delivery.
But less than a week is impressive. Just had to say that. lol Tiger is not paying me.
The Cats are rocking along…
In UK Basketball on February 10, 2008 at 7:02 am
The Boys in Blue took out Bama yesterday in Rupp Arena.
Perry Stevenson becoming huge for Kentucky. Patterson still huge. Ramel recovered nicely. Ramon Harris goes out on the injury carousel. Meeks didn’t play. Even with the injuries, this team continues to improve. They’re winning where earlier in the season they would have buckled to the pressure and lost.
Coach G has got them going. I like what I see coming down the road.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Alabama’s star was getting sick just as Kentucky’s was getting better. Ramel Bradley had 19 points — including three clutch 3-pointers — in his return to the lineup as the Wildcats cruised 62-52 Saturday over an Alabama team playing without leading scorer and rebounder Richard Hendrix, who had the flu.
GO CATS!!!
Freedom of Speech — Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks
In Middle East, Politics, culture on February 9, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Neil Young has recently been snubbed by his fans for being too preachy. The right is using this as an argument that recording artists should just shut up and sing. That would apply to you too, Susan Sarandon. Speak your lines in the movies and shut the hell up.
A couple of years back, Natalie Maines uttered those not so magical words to the effect that she was not proud that G Dubya was from Texas. That remark set off a firestorm of controversy. The right screamed for her head. Boycotts were all the rave. The Dixie Chics went down in flames. Toby Keith came out in support of the war and toured in Iraq, Afghanistan and all over the world in support of the troops. His song, Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, was THE (country) Rock Anthem of the Global War on Terror.
Toby Keith was hailed as a hero of the masses by the right. The Dixie Chics were told to shut the hell up. Loudly. Decisively. By the right. The left took them to their bosom but failed to back that up with their pocket books. No matter. I still don’t think the Chics are hurting.
When an artist speaks out, one side or the other is going to scream; “Shut up!”
I disagree.
Song (art) has always been a form of both protest and support (some would say propaganda). It is only really noticed negatively when the artist gets TOO preachy or when a given artist preaches against the ethos of their primary or target audience (i.e., the Dixie Chics). Yankee Doodle was a protest song. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a protest book that Lincoln claimed sparked the War of 1861 to 1865. Common Sense was a protest pamphlet. Many of our most cherished folk songs were protest songs of the age in which they were written. World War II was probably the height of artistic support for a War or political endeavor. Vietnam was the American apogee of war protest songs and movies. The whole M.A.S.H. Movie and TV Series was a protest of the Vietnam War specifically and war in general. Songs of protest are the essence of America.
Musical artists have a right (and I think an obligation) to use their medium to speak their truth. Music and all Art really has been a form of social conscience since the beginning of “civilization.” I agree with Green Day’s “American Idiot.” It highlights growing problems in America. There are all too many of these “idiots” in America. All too many in Europe as well.
How many on the right disagreed with Toby Keith and his right to speak out. Yet, those same people yelled and screamed and sent death threats to the Dixie Chics. They had just as much right to speak their minds as did Toby.
Art has always shown us the way or a different way. Sometimes, they get it right. Sometimes they don’t. That largely depends upon one’s perspective. But they should never just shut up. None of them. I think Bill Maher is about as funny as a talib shooting a woman in the back of the head with an AK47 for not wearing a burqa in public. The left thinks he’s hilarious.
Kanye West told us that President Bush “doesn’t care about Black People” on national TV. He made himself look a bit of an ass in so doing. Much of the far right hated him for it. A great part of the left agreed with him. A greater part of America yawned. Black America was right behind him. He and they were probably correct. Before that statement, I had little opinion of Kanye West. Now, for some reason, I’m a huge fan. Go figure.
I’m a huge Toby Keith fan. I’m also still a fan of the Dixie Chics. They had the courage to stick to their convictions even though they knew that it would kill their bottom line. They have not yet recovered professionally. How many of our politicians would do that? How many evangelicals would do that? The Chicks proved that they possess integrity. That is something that I admire greatly. No matter their political leanings.
Fuck ‘em all. Rock on!
I absolutely love and understand both of these songs.
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)
by Toby Keith
American girls and American guys
we’ll always stand up and salute,
we’ll always recognize;
when we see Old Glory flying
there’s a lot of men dead,
so we can sleep in peace at night
when we lay down our head.My Daddy served in the army
where he lost his right eye,
but he flew a flag out in our yard
’til the day that he died.
He wanted my mother, my brother,
my sister and me
to grow up and live happy
in the land of the free.Now this nation that I love
is falling under attack,
a mighty sucker punch came flying in
from somewhere in the back.
As soon as we could see clearly
through our big black eye,
man we lit up your world
like the Fourth of July.Hey, Uncle Sam put your name
at the top of his list,
and the Statue of Liberty
started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly
and it’s going to be hell,
when you hear Mother Freedom
start ringing her bell.
And it’ll feel like the whole wide world
is raining down on you.
Brought to you courtesy
of the Red, White and BlueOh, justice will be served
and the battle will rage,
this big dog will fight
when you rattle his cage.
You’ll be sorry that you messed
With the U.S. of A.
’cause we’ll put a boot in your ass,
it’s the American way.Hey, Uncle Sam put your name
at the top of his list,
and the Statue of Liberty
started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly
and it’s going to be hell,
when you hear Mother Freedom
start ringing her bell.
And it’ll feel like the whole wide world
is raining down on you.
Brought to you courtesy
of the Red, White and Blue.Of the Red, White and Blue
Of my Red, White and BlueDIXIE CHICKS LYRICS
“Travelin’ Soldier”
Two days past eighteen
He was waiting for the bus in his army green
Sat down in a booth in a cafe there
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair
He’s a little shy so she gives him a smile
And he said would you mind sittin’ down for a while
And talking to me,
I’m feeling a little low
She said I’m off in an hour and I know where we can go
So they went down and they sat on the pier
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don’t care
I got no one to send a letter to
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you
Chorus: I cried
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin’ for the love of a travelin’ soldier
Our love will never end
Waitin’ for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter said
A soldier’s coming home
So the letters came from an army camp
In California then Vietnam
And he told her of his heart
It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of
He said when it’s getting kinda rough over here
I think of that day sittin’ down at the pier
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile
Don’t worry but I won’t be able to write for awhile
[Chorus]
One Friday night at a football game
The Lord’s Prayer said and the Anthem sang
A man said folks would you bow your heads
For a list of local Vietnam dead
Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read and nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair
Super Bowl XLII Patriots take it to 19-0–scratch that…Giants won it
In Sports on February 4, 2008 at 2:47 amHow in the hell did American Idol get on the NFL Super Bowl Pre-Game Show? Ryan Seacrest and the Red Carpet. What the hell is that? They gonna bring out Joan and Melissa Rivers next. And that gay dude from the Oscars. The Queer Eye for the Straight guy does the Super Bowl. I’m getting freaking nauseous. Can anyone say; “SELL OUT!!!” Paula Abdul!?! Randy whatever the hell his name is!?! I feel all girl-ified now. Is Super Bowl XLII sponsored by Revlon, Tampax and a resurgent Zima or what? I feel a strong need to go on a 25 mile road march after R. Lee Ermey shoots me in the leg and tells me to quit whining by smacking me on the back of the head and shouting; “shut the **** up and drive the hell on, B*TCH!“
What is this?
As far as the game goes, I don’t think New York has a chance. I’m hoping it’s a good game and not one of those blowouts like New Englands ‘85 Super Bowl effort. Pats, Giants: Entertain us! Giants do you part. I’m almost…ALMOST…hoping that Manning gets taken out somehow and the Big Fella gets in there and wins it for the Giants. I don’t think there’s a snowballs chance in hell of that happening. But it would be one hell of a game if it did. So here’s to the Hefty Lefty. Go J-Lo!
My teams are out. I’m a Titans fan. I follow the Dolphins as well. But they didn’t even make the playoffs. Miami was so terrible it took over half the season to win just one damn game. Hopefully, the fortunes of these two teams is turned around next year.
Since they couldn’t give me anything to cheer for on the field this year. I had to console myself by cheering for the cheerleaders.
With Lindsey and Brenda on the sidelines, it wasn’t difficult to do.
And then there is Bibiana:
I gotta go with the Pats in this one. They’ve found a way to win no matter the challenge this year. They’re one of the best in NFL history. I’m not a Pats fan. But I’m not one of those morons who hates on the successes of others either.
So Haters. This one is for you. GO PATS! lol
They’ve got one hot cheerleader in Briana Li.
For this game only, I’m with her. lol
Yeah, I’m with Bri Li…
Big Blue above .500!
In UK Basketball on February 3, 2008 at 1:39 am
VS 
UK pulls out a tough 63-58 road win over Dennis Felton and the Georgia Bulldogs to go 10-9 on the season. Gillispie and the boys need to pull out 8 or 9 more wins. If the boys in blue can win 9 of the next 13 possible games. Preferably winning the SEC Tourney or at least making it to Sunday afternoon. They can make a nice run in the NCAAs. That gives Gillispie a fairly respectable first season and builds momentum going into next year.
Kentucky pulls out the win over the Bulldogs with a hobbled Joe C. and more importantly without Ramel and Jodie. Big man Pat pulls out another nice game for Gillispie. This team is there emotionally. If they can ever get 100% healthy, look out. I think they can surprise. Sneak up on a couple of teams in the tournament. Like ‘Zona did in ‘97. I don’t think Kentucky has a title run in them this year. But I think they could make a surprise run to the Sweet 16. Maybe get lucky and meet up with Minnesota and send them home to Gopher land.
Defeating UGa in a much needed road win. That’s 3 straight wins. Taking the Cats to 4 and 2 in the SEC.
Florida is getting taken to the woodshed by John Pelphrey and the Razorbacks. By the end of the day, UK may be tied for 2nd in the East. For now, I’ll take it.
Yahoo Sports recap of the game here.
Looks like McCain is going to be the man. I’ll vote for him.
In Politics on February 3, 2008 at 12:32 am
McCain was a POW. OK. Fine.
But what the hell does that have to do with being President. I’m proud of his service. I’m sure he went through hell. But his time as a POW means that he served his country and remained faithful. Great. This is something to which he and his family can look back with pride.
Great.
No one was there who can look back and say that he did or did not do any of these things while in the Hanoi Hilton. I don’t see how anyone can blame him if, on occasion, he accepted a favor. You know something that might have kept him from being tortured for a day or two.
Anyone who impugns McCain or his time in the Hanoi Hilton prison is an ass. If you weren’t there, going through it with him. You have no reason to even speak about it. Shut the hell up. You aren’t worthy. Period.
I don’t see how it even comes up. People have nerve.
But as long as McCain is trading on that experience for political gain, there will be folks who will attempt to smear him and his experiences. It’s just gonna happen. I think McCain knows this and accepts this. Or…he wouldn’t be in politics.
McCain has several debilitations that are directly related to his time in the HH. These idiots who are denigrating McCain based on his Vietnam experience should be placed through those torture methods and see if they can withstand it. IF they can, then they have the right to speak to those experiences. Otherwise, shut up.
Kerry and Gore and their little adventures were a joke. Their claim to heroism is about the same as mine. Laughable. Sure they’re Vets. Sure they served. But they didn’t do anything special while there. I don’t expect to be handed a lifetime pass to the Senate because I served in the Military.
I don’t know. I don’t get it. People are idiots. This idiocy is why these smear tactics are used and why they work. Government of, by and for the Sheeple. That is the State of the Union as I type. It’s a National Election as run by the National Enquirer. Ya gotta love that.
I don’t care what McCain’s perceived sins may or may not be in the eyes of the radical religious right or in the eyes of the ultra-conservatives. Coulter is rabid and angry about anything and anyone who doesn’t follow her exact mantra. Rush Limbaugh is a fatheaded, drug addicted idiot. I’m not voting for Hillary Clinton. She is one of the most fake human being to ever lie her way across the political scene. Only in New York could she be elected to the Senate. I’m not voting for Obama either. You may as well vote Ayatollah Khamenei or Hezbollah’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah into the White House.
Romney may have made me stay home. He’s too conservative for me. I can’t vote for another overly religious nut. I’m tired of all of the God talk and I don’t really give a damn what Jesus would do. I don’t care if gay people get married. I don’t care how many black or gay or hispanic TV shows are on the air. I don’t mind bi-lingual signs or ATMs or tele-comm answering systems. Kick all of the Mexicans out of the US and watch prices rise like a tidal wave.
I’d have voted for Giuliani had he won the nomination. McCain will get my vote.
Adolph Rupp — Individual Offense Part III
In UK Basketball on February 1, 2008 at 8:16 pm
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“Control the boards, control the game.” Not much changed there.
30 Minutes each practice on free throws. I wonder if that happens these days.
This is the last piece to the Rupp Individual Offense film. When I get back to the states in June, I’ll see about posting the other three coaches videos on here as well. I’ve got a few more things that I’ll share in the future. Enjoy.
Below is a small manual produced by Quaker Oats. I made this video out of it with the UK Fight Song but then realized that it’s too small to read. I’ll post the booklet in a larger format when I have a little more time.
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Adolph Rupp — Individual Offense Part II
In UK Basketball on February 1, 2008 at 1:26 am
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Thanks to Vic and Rick, I can tell you with some certainty that the team featured on this film are the guys from the 56-58 Seasons. Obviously, that would include the ‘58 Championship team. The players that are probably featured in the practices and game excerpts are probably among the following:
#24 Johnny Cox
#10 Gerry Calvert
#52 Vernon Hatton
#32 John Crigler
#34 Ed Beck
#50 Adrian Smith
#55 Ray Mills
#70 John Brewer
#12 Billy Ray Cassady
#40 Earl Adkins
#20 Dick Howe
#10 Lincoln Collinsworth
#88 Bill Smith
#33 Harold Ross
#66 John Hardwick
#50 Jay Bayless
#14 Phil Johnson
Back in the good old days of WildcatFaithful.com, I had the pleasure of meeting Vernon Hatton once at an 2001 Lexington event arranged by the late gentleman Mel McCane. Mr. Hatton is a boisterous gentleman who loves to tell stories about his years with Coach Rupp. We, at the event, were reveled with stories of practices and Coach Rupp’s infamously acerbic wit which he leveled liberally at his athletes. Joe B. Hall as well as the incomparable Wallace “Wah Wah” Jones also attended that event and spoke to the attendees. It must have been special to have been a part of those teams and to be witness to and part of the history of Big Blue Basketball and the Rupp Era. I certainly felt privileged to be able to live vicariously for a brief moment through the voices of men who played, strained and excelled under the leadership and guidance of Adolph Rupp.
The history of the Big Blue is incredible.
Enjoy the part II.
As always, you are welcome to poke around and view the rest of the blog.
Thanks, Dave
