19 March 2007
Listening to In Memory of Trees by Enya
Honor Guard
Life just got interesting again. Looks like the spring offensive may have started.
Blast Hits U.S. Embassy Convoy in Kabul
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wned/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1055326
(2007-03-19)
KABUL (Reuters) -
A U.S. embassy convoy was hit by a suicide car bomber in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday, resulting in the deaths of some people, police said. It was not immediately known if the dead included American nationals, but an embassy spokesman said U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann was not in the convoy. Several embassy officials and pedestrians were wounded, spokesman Joe Mellocc said, adding that the injuries of some officials were "serious."
Earlier, a police officer at the scene said he thought some people were killed. But Mellocc said he was unaware of any deaths. The attack took place on a main road leading east, which is often used by NATO and U.S.-led coalition troops. Western troops had sealed off the site of the attack, one police officer told Reuters from the scene, and a helicopter hovered above.
A Reuters photographer saw, from a distance, smoke rising from a car at the scene. The attack comes amid an increase in Taliban raids -- including suicide attacks -- in recent weeks as fighting picks up after a relative winter lull. NATO launched an offensive in the south this month to pre-empt a spring offensive by the rebels.
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Everyone here is fine, at least physically. Naturally, we all wonder what tomorrow holds. In a weird way, it’s kind of a relief. We’ve all been expecting an attack, since the Taliban have been threatening to launch attacks in the spring. It’s been like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Now it has. The winter peace is over, or so it would seem. Wednesday is the Afghan New Year’s Day, as well as the first day of spring.
I am happy to report I am feeling much better. I think I may have been a bit sick, as I haven’t had much of an appetite the last couple of days, but last night I slept well, and today I was eating like normal again. My spirits are good, despite the bombing. In fact, I feel like doing something a little different today, so it’s time for another, long-anticipated edition of Afghanime. The four of you who read it can stop cheering. The rest of you can just skip to the next section, and thanks for indulging me my idiosyncrasies.
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Afghanime - A Bear’s Eye View of Anime
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi is such an innocuous name; who would ever have thought it was one of the most demented and hilarious series I’d watch? The title is a bit misleading, and conjures up images of a shopping center or mall in American minds. In Japan, at least in this instance, it would seem that a shopping arcade is more like a small town full of stores. So the Arcade is the home of the two main characters, Sasshi and his best friend Arumi. Both are twelve, but again, don’t
let that fool you; this show is not for the kids, any more than South Park is. Sasshi’s parents run a bathhouse in Abenobashi, while Arumi’s run a restaurant. However, Abenobashi has fallen on hard times, and Arumi’s parents and grandfather have decided to move north and take a job at a resort hotel. She is excited about moving, but Sasshi is devastated.
Before she can leave, things start getting weird, Abenobashi suddenly disappears, and the two find themselves in a fantasy world, but populated by the same people they knew from the real world. Thus begins a series of adventures as they hop from strange world to stranger world, trying to find a way home. In this respect, it is like the old TV show Sliders.
The plot is very well written, and there is a logical explanation for what is happening to them, and in each show they get another piece of the puzzle. Most of the shows are gut-bustingly funny, provoking some of the hardest laughter from me while watching anime ever. I don’t want to say too much about the plot, as watching things unfold is part of the fun. My only complaint is a very lame dues ex machina at the end; not quite as lame as waking up to discover it was all a dream, but almost. Otherwise, it was a highly entertaining, very enjoyable series, which gets added to my recommended anime list.
One thing that was a little jarring was the use of southern accents for the characters. They all come from Osaka in southern Japan, and I guess they have distinctive accents. Watching Japanese characters with southern accents was a little weird at first. But by the third episode I didn’t even notice it anymore.
Another interesting feature is the use of a different drawing style for each world. The real world is drawn more realistically, prehistoric world is the most cartoonish, gangster world has a noir look to it, etc. The worlds themselves are usually a spoof of either an anime or video game gendre (and there is a good reason for this), and the high school romance/comedy world had me crying with laughter. And how can you not love gangster world, where the crooks smuggle escargot, and when you get shot you
don’t die, but deflate to about two feet in height and become a comic relief character?
Let’s bring out my six criteria and see how it stacks up.
1. Humor - Dangerously high levels. Don’t eat or drink while watching; you may choke. The humor is better if you are familiar with anime or video games.
2. Artwork - Superb, and as I mentioned, the style switches with each episode.
3. Music - Great opening, one of my favorites. The closing is forgettable.
4. Plot and Characters - Watching Sasshi, Arumi, and their families change roles is a ton of fun. Grandpa as Freddy Krueger is a classic.
5. Just One More? - Yes, Yes, Yes, who needs to sleep? Sadly, there are only thirteen episodes. I wanted more.
6. Would I Buy More? - Absolutely, but the story ties itself up pretty well. I don’t know of any sequels in the works.
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Blog Watch
Lynette Brown has graciously added AWAC to her list of blogs to check out, so I will return the favor. Visit Life in Haysville at http://lifeinhaysville.blogspot.com/
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The William Arkin Obscene Amenity of the Day
Named for William Arkin, the blogger who thinks the military is made up of mercenaries, OR EVEN WORSE, that have an obscene quantity of amenities being shipped to them. Only his sage words protect the country from being overrun by rabid, militaristic fanatics.
You know, I didn’t realize that when I took the photo of the Mark III lawnchair yesterday for the amenity, that a second amenity was lurking to the left. See that garbage can? It services 10 huts, so we are talking probably 80 people. And you know all those plastic bottles of water? They don’t recycle here, so they all go in. All those boxes from care packages? Right here. But the US taxpayers have paid for a regular garbage pick-up for our convenience (though I haven’t been able to figure out just how regular it is). If you didn’t think we were living the high life before, I’m sure you do now. It’s positively criminal. Let’s sing! Yo, Ho, Yo, Ho , a mercenary’s life for me!
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Five Seconds of Fame
Yesterday’s quote, “Let’s Be Careful Out There” is from Hill Street Blues. Those who correctly identified the quote include Eve Iwicki, Teri Centner, Kristi Hanson, Lorrie Cramer, Lynette Brown, and Sharon Van Name. I really thought there would be more.
Remember, you too can be famous. Just identify the quote (without using Google) and send me an e-mail. You can also send a photo of your choice to be posted.
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Quote of the Day:
“By your command.”
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No great days when bombs go off. Still hoping no one died, other than the bomber himself.
- Bear
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Ratman
Well today started out to be a good day. I woke up, took a shower, and since I didn't have to go to work today, I spent my morning looking at real estate for my next duty station in Miami Florida. I have to be there by the end of July, and I have been looking at properties for some time now. I know that its too early to buy, but I have an agent showing me houses, and I tell her what I like and dislike, so when the time comes, she will have an exact idea about what I want.
The other hard part is that I refuse to have my daughter go to a substandard school. There are about 57 high schools in the Miami area, and only about 7 measure up. Maybe I am too picky, but I refuse to have my daughter attend a school that is not going to give her the education she needs to prepare her for college, not to mention life after. She is my most important asset, and I refuse to budge on this point. Meanwhile my wife is stressing about the move. I can't blame her, since the cost of living is a lot higher there than in Abilene, Texas. The best way to describe it is a champagne cost on a beer budget. Those who chose to serve their country also chose to live on a somewhat smaller salary. I'm not complaining, mind you; I chose to do this and have no regrets. It’s just that my $100,000 equivalent home in Abilene is a $350,000 home in Miami.
This is also the first house my wife and I have purchased in our career. We have lived on base up to this point due to the safer environment it provided for my daughter, but alas there is no base there, so we have to live on the economy. There is always renting, but why should I build equity in someone else’s home. I should also say that my wife does not like to spend money; crazy I know, and she may have her female membership card suspended for me saying so, but large purchases scare her. Spending $25,000 on the SUV almost killed her, and we bought on the employee plan, saving $9,000 on the deal. Rest assured, I will have a paper bag ready for her to hyperventilate into at the closing. What fun this proves to be; maybe I should up her insurance just in case.
I also spent two hours doing a thorough cleaning of my weapons. I broke down my M-16 to the absolute smallest detail and did a full cleanup and wipe down to prevent any type of problems. Everything is now properly cleaned and lubricated to ensure it works if needed. My M-9 pistol was next as well as clips and other sundry pieces parts, and when I was done, they were a sight to behold. I do weapons maintenance on a regular basis, but today I had the time to do it on a higher level than just the quick wipe down and lube.
Afterwards, I went outside to see the sun peaking through the clouds, since the rain had stopped, and as I was out there I heard the explosion in the distance. It would be a little while before I got the details, but it is now all over the news as I'm sure you are aware. I was worried about my hutmates, who were outside the wire at the time, but soon they filtered home all safe and sound and I could stop fretting. Just for a little reference, it occurred about 2 kilometers down the road from where we live. Spring is definitely here and this place has gotten a full-on wake up from the Tailiban. I wish they would just have an arm wrestling match and winner take all. Wouldn't that be a better way to solve our differences? That's all for today, as Bear would say, it hasn't been a great day.
Ratman
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Here’s Odie -
I should probably write a few words just so nobody comes and repossesses my AWAC t-shirt. Yesterday, Mike “Buzz” Toomer stopped by and dropped off my new t-shirt (his nickname is appropriate). This is the first time I have met an actual AWAC staff member in the flesh and so we celebrated a bit and had a memorable conversation; something like this:
Odie: Hi
Buzz: Hi, I’m Mike (hand shake) here’s your t-shirt.
Odie: Cool, thanks. You over at Eggers today?
Buzz: Yeah, I’ve got to get over to the MoD [Ministry of Defense] next.
Odie: OK, well say ‘hi’ for me.
Buzz: I will.
Odie: Thanks again, bye.
Momentous. And now you, dear reader, can feel like you were actually there too for this historic occasion as the AWAC reached a new integration milestone.
Bear wasn’t joking when he said that this country was littered with mines. A friend here was out walking near some mountains here in the city and the guy leading them around took them right into a mine field. He took some pictures and they look similar to the ones Bear showed on his pictures. At the first VCR trip I went on there was UXO (unexploded ordinance) all over the area the kids were playing in. Now, this isn’t as dangerous as a mine since it isn’t designed to explode if disturbed, however, they are still quite dangerous, especially around the kids. I did get a picture of one of the tank shells on the edge of the area they were playing ball.
This still amazes me. For those who may not know, Afghans can sit like this for hours.
OK here’s a test of your smarts. You have a bunch of concrete to mix but no container in which to mix the concrete, what do you do? Here’s what the Afghans came up with
Bear said I still wasn’t out of his non-posting dog house (no love for a guy who has left work after 0100 the last two nights and not only because of basketball), but I’ve got to say Mr. 10-dogs-on-a-couch runs a pretty nice canine cottage. I’m actually digging it here and enjoying Arkin-enraging level of amenities. So Bear, I’ll post when I can but I’m in no rush to check out of the hound hostel just yet. Enough randomness for the day…
Cheers!
Odie
This post really had me thinking about this particular issue in way I havent before. Its something I do believe we need to talk about more. Thankyou.
Posted by: Gucci Shoes | May 10, 2010 at 07:29 PM
the romanians do the same thing in order to mix the concrete... to tell the truth... the smart question for me was: "how a concrete mixing recipient looks like?"... :)
Posted by: dany | March 20, 2007 at 07:50 AM
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt? :-)
Glad to hear you guys are all fine. I'm always praying that it stays that way.
Oh, and it's definitely official. You have a new reader. I'm up visiting my folks right now, and I leave tomorrow, so my mom made me show her how to access AWAC without my help. That way she can keep reading when I'm gone. Hoooaaahh! :-)
Posted by: Matti | March 20, 2007 at 01:30 AM
"By Your Command" could be either from Battlestar Galactica (both series, although used more in the old one, I think) *or* a video game called "Time Splitters."
Posted by: Teri Centner | March 19, 2007 at 12:24 PM