tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103450052024-03-23T12:51:10.697-05:00Appalachian PatriaAppalachian Intellectual. To me that means plain thinking. I am A Non Commissioned Officer in the Army Reserves. Let me say...My views expressed here are mine and not those of The U.S. Army, Army Reserve or my fellow brethren in The National Guard. This is entirely Sua Sponte. This is My Thinking.
I'm single and in my mid 30's. Politicaly, I'm a Libertarian. (Again, Sua Sponte.I do not represent the Libertarian Party.)I love my native Appalachia, Rock n Roll and...I love God.Hill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.comBlogger564125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-47781808643237524632012-06-01T00:55:00.001-05:002012-06-01T00:55:44.420-05:00This New BloggerThis new Blogger thing is weird. I don't know if I can get into this. The Blog ain't the same. In an inside joke, I started calling myself the Appalachianist. Now, I'm Hill Billy Rave...The original name of the blog from another inside joke. Inside jokes catch up to you sooner or later. But, what would life be without them?And that old picture of me, the about me...Gone. So, I have to decide, am I going to do this or not? I made a great deal of friends through this. Great people, salt of the earth folks. But, blogging is an awkward affair.<br />
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There ain't no place I'd rather be than home right now. I miss the place. It won't be much longer. I intend for this to be the last trip to the desert. I've got allot of mixed feelings about the whole thing. Right now, I look forward to green grass and hearing the leaves rustle in the wind. I look forward to seeing little kids play and looking into the eyes of dogs. I long to hear the katydids.<br />
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It says that I have 15 followers. A good part of which I've never seen before. If that's you, thanks.<br />
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Time for another inside joke...<br />
The Appalachianist.Hill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-37003574108721543502012-05-06T09:58:00.001-05:002012-05-06T09:58:20.742-05:00I ain't done. I'm alive, well, kicking...Still in the land of sand...Still stuck like Chuck.<br />
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Let me give some quick credit...Scroll down to you see me complaining about it taking so long to get a log jam out of The French Broad. Last month they got it out. And here is your link to <a href="http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20120419/ARTICLES/120419718" target="_blank">said happening</a>. Sadly that date is corresponding with the passing of Levon Helm.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="215" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LoZ7YDCcRmU" width="320"></iframe><br />
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Blogger has changed a bit. Finally got it worked out. This thing was in jeopardy (your cue to start humming Greg Khen), something to do with legacy blog and my lack of attentativeness. Please forgive me, when the whole thing got started over a year ago, I was at Ft. Hunter Ligget CA, which is not known for great internet connectivity. Thankfully, I got a reminder in an e-mail, and have managed to get myself back in after my account wasn't recognized.<br />
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I still need to continue with my project of labeling, tagging my blog. Honestly, I've not had a great interest in this. And, I admit I've spent more time on FaceBook, and partly due to attractions. Blogger is a better way of relaying thoughts though. Other forms of Social Media are shallow. Blogger allows depth. And people put all kinds of trash on what ever form of Social Media they are using. You can tell how depressed people are by posting all of the cheer you up stuff, which, there ain't nothing wrong with that. heck, I've done it.<br />
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I miss home. I miss my dogs...Miss the things I didn't have. I tolerate that. I miss green grass and trees. Oh, but, I had a quick trip to Weisbadden Germany last month and got to see both! Oh, but this ain't as bad as Iraq was. You people that ain't ever been here, you just don't know.<br />
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Go ahead, build a Dog house on my grave.<br />
The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-13204115537104773512012-04-06T03:23:00.002-05:002012-04-06T03:38:30.028-05:00The Tourist GamesI went to the MWR to see The Hunger Games last night. Next door they were doing karaoke. Karaoke is a disgusting and vile thing. Even though I'm a Libertarian, I contemplate it being outlawed, punishable by electrocution. Yes, karaoke singers should wear shock collars. Even in a boring place like Kuwait. As for the movie, I got it, enjoyed it and could say, "yep, looks like the rivers back home". Though, the majority of it was filmed down next to Hickory. I was reading the man that owns that old mill town in the movie <a href="http://www.wbtv.com/story/17346514/hunger-games-filming-site-up-for-sale">wants to sell</a> it. The tourist Mongers keep showing up there and it worries him. Honestly, I didn't see any scenery to get excited about. Good story line, though. sadly enough, I think our society is getting kind of like that, but, I'm not getting on my soap box today. Well, that's about it. <br /><br />About my absence from posting, honestly, I just ain't felt like it.<br /><br />So, what's your thoughts in Hurricane Lanterns?<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-58798594538162182302012-02-18T01:18:00.002-05:002012-02-18T01:21:07.763-05:00Log Jam Be DammedWell, remember the log jam I was talking about (scroll down, I ain't linking at this juncture)is still there, but it's one more step of bureaucracy closer to being gone. <a href="http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wlos_vid_6685.shtml">My own County Commissioners</a>.<br /><br />Stay tuned.<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-73665127256286426942012-02-07T12:22:00.006-05:002012-02-07T13:21:53.329-05:00Linkaroma, Well, Not ReallyAre folks out of touch with anything but their own? I think so, and apparently, I'm not the only one to think so too. Hence <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/02/06/146463384/is-white-working-class-america-coming-apart">this piece on NPR </a>about this fellar, a fellow Libertarian, that wrote a book about it.<br /><br />This is like linkaroma...<br /><br />A story I read from back home. Again, next county over, Henderson. Now, let me tell you about the Green River. It goes down the Atlantic side of the mountain and enters the Broad. Don't confuse the Broad with the French Broad. The Broad goes down to the Atlantic and the French Broad is a tributary of the Tennessee. Historical note, the <a href="http://www.uswars.net/revolutionary-war-battles/810117-cowpens/">Battle of Cowpens</a> was fought on the Green River Road. The Green River Bridge on I-26 is the tallest (so I've heard, shoot me in comments if I'm wrong) in the eastern US. But, off on Pintacle Mountain is a logging project that, well, read the <a href="http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20120205/ARTICLES/120209891">story</a>. <br /><br />I need more links...Well, maybe I don't.<br /><br />One of my buddies got a letter from a 9 year old girl today. I guess from a school project. She asked allot of questions, one of which..."What's your favorite thing about the war?"<br /><br /><br />One of my favorite Authors is John Ehle. He is from Asheville but he doesn't live there. He wrote The Winter People and another story, The Journey of August King.<br />He also wrote a good book on the Trail of Tears. Both The Winter People and The Journey of August King were made into movies. But, we will concern ourselves with The Journey of August King. It was made back in the mid 90's in Western North Carolina. A girl I worked with was an extra in it. Allot of scenes on Black Balsam Knob with a clear shot of Sam's Knob...Big Sam, Little Sam, the place folks call The Grave Yard Fields. They used those places as a community setting, and it ain't suitable to a community. One scene had a Red Bone Hound with a freeze brand. So, you can see, I don't think they did a good job of making it. (The Winter people had a better budget, they landed Kurt Russell)It's a good story though. Now, I admit, I've never read the book. I have The Winter People and my mother gave me an old tattered and battered copy that I was reading for the flight back across the water. Another admission...I just saw the movie for the first time night before last. Yep...Well, about the time it came out, I was never confronted by the opportunity to see it. About the time it came out on DVD, OK, Video at the time, I met a pretty girl and fell in Love. You'd think I would have watched it with her? but, for whatever reason, it wasn't well known. I didn't even know it was a John Ehle story. Well, the tattered and battered copy of The Winter People was dropped in the Atlanta Air Port and not recovered. So, I ordered a new copy and well, there was The Journey of August King.<br /><br />It's a story about a widower helping a run away slave girl.<br /><br />And it's time to stop typing.<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-56233778595145344732012-01-22T07:39:00.004-05:002012-01-22T08:12:37.780-05:00French Broad Log JamI sit here in my humble abode typing these words. My leave is almost done, so, I don't speak of a place being far away.<br /><br />I told you, that is if you read the last couple of posts, that I keep up with the news here at home. Another subject other than the next county over's Sherriff, that I keep up with is the Log Jam. In a section of Transylvania County known as Penrose( That's down stream of Pisgah Forest and Little River and just before Blantyre)in the shadows of Fodderstack Mountain, is a big pile of logs jammed up in the French Broad River. <br /><br />Reports put it as wide as 75 feet, as high as 12 feet and 25 thick. The river is cutting around it and taking the bank off of the sides. A man's property is getting washed away and that is all the more sediment going down stream. It's also a public waterway and that makes it a danger to anyone in a boat. No brainer. Oh, and a bridge is right down stream.<br /><br />Well, powers that be decided something ought to be done and things got in motion. But then times are hard so money came in question. The Lady Governor coughed up some funds. Now, this <a href="http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20111209/NEWS/111209794?tc=ar">News Story</a> is dated 9 November. Those logs are still piled up across that river. I read in the local paper, the Transylvania Times, that it's still a matter of who is responsable, dated 19th January 2012. They were talking about a border, etc. Which, a border is cool, but these logs came from upstream. <br /><br />I think they want to bring in a track hoe and move the logs. I thought at first a few sticks of dynamite would get it busted. I don't know what's what, but what's the hold up? Well, they did say Febuary. <br /><br />In a world full of isms, I cling to Appalachiaism...<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-56644489475231425192012-01-07T09:55:00.008-05:002012-01-07T10:12:13.175-05:00Henderson County's Brewing RumbleI'm providing a link on my neighboring county's issue with their Shrrif's Department. This is a compliment to the <a href="http://hillbillyrave.blogspot.com/2012/01/paradoxing-post.html">previous post</a>. <a href="http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20120107/NEWS/120109883/0/FRONTPAGE?p=1&tc=pg">This is an opinion peace</a>. I like the writers style. He makes the point I made. We would make good friends.<br /><br />Hey, my lucky number...13. Your's too. I've got 13 followers. My ego is bursting (I'm not dead). If you read this, give me a shout. Call me out on issues, lambast me. Then, "dance around the camp fire, hang around a while". I just looked at the weather back home and it calls for precious rain. I also realised Friday is the 13th. A black cat crossed my path today too. Do you think this is a good thing?<br /><br />Cracker singing "Sweet Patatoe"<br /><iframe width="320" height="215" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NsOfgNTIxj4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Lucky me<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-45679142773114574712012-01-06T01:03:00.004-05:002012-01-06T02:37:39.550-05:00A Paradoxing PostIt's a little after 9 AM here on a Friday. It's cool outside. it's hardly been cold at all and hasn't rained in a few weeks. In a few days I go on my Mid-Tour Leave. I look forward to it, though I have nothing to look forward to. Colder weather, rain...My own bed. Oh yeah, grass beneath my feet, trees and hills...Dogs barking in the distance. <br /><br />The Jolly Red Headed Giant hooked me up. He gave me his <a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8514">set</a> for Christmas and I'm having fun with it. I believe he got it when it was on sale though.<br /><br />I try to keep up with news back home, eases the boredom. This <span style="font-style:italic;">is</span> a boring place. One thing I've kept up with is troubles for the Sheriff's department in the next county over, Henderson. A while back, the Sheriff decided to take a leave of absence because he had been diagnosed Bi-Polar. Some weeks later a concerned citizen, a man named Hill, went to the Commissioners about hearing tell of a pay off in a sexual harassment suit. It turned out to be credible. The Commisioners were unaware that the County's Insurance had paid out for a settlement. That's a little spooky, but, a county like Henderson is a complex thing. The Commisioners asked the Sheriff for answers, he decided to <a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20111224/NEWS/312230077/Henderson-County-Sheriff-Rick-Davis-plans-retire">retire</a>. Apparently it's not stopping there. This same man that approached the Commissioners to begin with went back to them about "rumors". Now he is <a href="http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20120104/ARTICLES/120109925/1151?Title=Hill-to-petition-for-investigation-of-Sheriff-s-Office-">petitioning</a> for an investigation of the Sheriff's Department. In the meantime the Henderson County Sheriff's Department <a href="http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20120105/NEWS/120109905/1151?Title=Missing-wife-s-body-found-husband-arrested-for-murder-">is doing it's job</a>. <br /><br />It's a paradox of our society. A cop catches a murderer or a thief. He's a "Good Guy". A cop beats up a drunk or sells the drugs he confiscated(thievery?). He's a "Bad Guy". Now, I don't have anything against Henderson County. This could be so, could be not. It's me making talk mainly. But the Libertarian in me says "Ha Ha! Why do we make people anymore powerful than they need to be?". Sometimes things get messy and people get hurt. Maybe there is no "Good Guy" or "Bad Guy", but a "Not a Bad Guy" and a "Not a Good Guy"? I have no conclusion. But I know Hill's not a bad guy. And I know that some people will treat him like one for simply disturbing the status qua. While all along he has forced nothing on anyone for "their own good", or imposed his belief for a "greater purpose". That is another paradox of our society, biting the hand that defends.<br /><br />Last night I was thinking about what it's like to look for the brighter side of people. It's bright like a flame flickering from a candle. It dances in the dark to it's own rhythm, it is light and it gives a warmth...And it can burn. That's not a paradox, that's just life.<br /><br /><br />Life is full of paradoxes (Insert grinning Icon here).<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-11382746003188369502011-12-25T11:37:00.004-05:002011-12-25T12:07:35.329-05:00The 26th December 1776My Commanding General brought up the Battle of Trenton the other day while speaking to us. Trenton was a significant victory for the Continental Army. One point the CG made was that the Continental Army was about to have allot of Enlistments expire. And the atack improved morale greatly.<br /><br />When asked most people will say, "Yeah! Washington crossed the Deleware and attacked the British." but there is more to the story than that statement. Yes, Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas Night and the wee hours of the 26th as a storm came in. With the poweder wet, or even damp, firing muskets was doubtful. Washington ordered to fight with bayonets. The assemblige after crossing the river was slow and maybe even clumbsy, but apparently they settled out the chaos quick enough. Anyone who has ever been on an Assault Force can relate.<br /><br />One point that most people don't know or forget about, it was not the British per say that Washington's force attacked. It was Hessians, German mecenaries, brought in by the Crown. Hessians were professional troops and if they were not feared, they were definitley respected. The victory over such a force added to the Continentals weight. <br /><br />Something else, it was one battle than two future Presidents were in. Two Americans were wounded, one Washingtons cousin, and the other a future President, that nearly died, James Monroe. <br /> For a little more reading on the Battle of Trenton, go <a href="http://www.revolutionarywar.n2genealogy.com/battles/761226.html">here</a>.<br /><br />And boys and girls, that is your quic history teaser for the day. <br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-14259900099271190812011-12-24T08:58:00.007-05:002011-12-24T12:04:10.955-05:00The SkyI find nothing pretty about this part of the world but the skys. They can be so clear and blue, the moonless nights and the plathora of stars...Though the richest starry nights I've saw were in Appalachia, and many in what is now my Ex's yard, others from mountain balds. In the land that I dearly call home the sky's are small, with trees and mountains lording around you. The sunsets are mixed with mountains while here, it's flat with little to no trees, it's just the sky...The sky alone in it's vastness. The sky owns the moment.<br /><br />I seperate the land from the people in this view. I've known them in their gentle kindess and witnessed their brutality. They love the land, but don't respect it. They see nothing wrong in littering it for to them a man made garden is far prettier than the open land. And as I don't see it that way, it's the same as the Bride dressing to her finest, she's not pretty without the dress and make up. And in one manner you find them uncuthe, in the other you admire their customs. It's a brutal land and in order to survive you have to be brutal as it is, and to survive together, you have to have the thoughtful kindess of friendship pure. I've left them, but some I still see as my friends. I know that now some may no loger live, and I try to think otherwise.<br /><br />I saw the skys that David Lowery looked at when he wrote this song and being a fan of his as I am, every time I hear this song, I think of the Iraqis and I wish them the best. <br /><iframe width="460" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1t5TCVmIbFI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Tomorrow is Chistmas and I miss seeing the bare branches of the hardwoods and the sweet smell of wood smoke as well as the cool air that carrys it. Jesus loves you, Peace on Earth.<br /><br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-60577787280575210492011-12-13T12:33:00.003-05:002011-12-13T13:02:54.937-05:00Sherman IB<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrIneCS8H_z6BidreyfraLYsLFXchBAOvbBtdVigxfRlKozeuLSNgOtcbpItVXfeS52oArdQkrT11to0CqqeCwlNKysh8z20Nsx5MiajIOsKersDPS-ttjzvjuQHK1plPD2cPZQ/s1600/100_1251.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrIneCS8H_z6BidreyfraLYsLFXchBAOvbBtdVigxfRlKozeuLSNgOtcbpItVXfeS52oArdQkrT11to0CqqeCwlNKysh8z20Nsx5MiajIOsKersDPS-ttjzvjuQHK1plPD2cPZQ/s400/100_1251.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685667800798367874" /></a><br />I'm sitting on a Sherman Tank with a 105mm gun on it. The tank was made in the U.S, but, U.S tanks never had 105mm guns on them. British Shermans did however. This is not the first time I've seen this tank. The first time was at Taji in a warehouse in 4th ID's area.<br /><br />As the story goes, it was found in a junk yard and two Army Mechanics were given it to fix up when they were not bolting armor kits on to HMMWVs. It was recognised as a British varient, a Sherman IB. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease_Sherman_tanks">There was a lend lease program</a>. As well, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93World_War_II_Sherman_tanks">the Israelis used them</a> into the late 60's, and even early 70's.<br /><br />Somewhere along the line this tank ended up along the Tigris River. It may have went through Briish chanells, and then...A farther possability, the Iraqis got it in one of the wars with the Israelis, the 6 day War or Yom Kippur. But one would think if an Israeli crew abandoned it or were captured they would have set the thermite to it. And it would have been hauled all of the way across Jordan. I will lean towards the Brits.<br /><br />It officially belonged to Iraq, and the Iraqis must have signed it over to us. I was glad to see it again. One other thing that I saw in the heeps of Military scrap that littered the place was a German 88. That was a gun that every Allied Soldier feared and it's rusting away just yards from the Tigris.<br /><br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-24508345192831682402011-12-09T05:59:00.004-05:002011-12-09T06:12:31.164-05:00Devotion to Depth.I've had a busy week and the last couple of days not so much sleep. Another section was a little burdened, so, I was somone senoir to spare and was tasked out to help them. That put me on night shift in the middle of the week. getting in around 0100 every morning nad a room full of men getting up three or four hours later is not conducive to rest. <br />It's been an interesting week as far as things go here. Some I can't discuss, and some that I can.<br /><br />Facebook...It's face value. Oh, I'm there. But I do prefer blogging. Blogging has depth. You don't find that with any social networking site. But, I've slacked off on blogging... Once because I was bored with it. And off and on now because it's bee hard to find minutes to devote to depth. Another thing about Facebook, it's a privacy fallacy. Someone figured out a way for the average joe to hack private pictures. Every little app is digging your information. It's as bad as the Untied States.<br /><br />OK...my day is about to start.<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-42882959693689073892011-12-01T12:05:00.005-05:002011-12-01T12:19:19.665-05:00Little to Say, Much to ShowI posted a few pictures on this post that I discussed on the prior post, This Ain't The Pisgah National Forest. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0SbxvFIoshe6NpMQA_D2YD3Ybw13Kby62Jp6z3156F8Rp8bMpLYsQIWgqChZHkRU0DyQ_4h6Y1HG6OePVxwqu2_52MT5BthBdgNchhyphenhyphenrzzicEozk4W27SLQshMy_Kuqj-OVCdw/s1600/100_1185.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0SbxvFIoshe6NpMQA_D2YD3Ybw13Kby62Jp6z3156F8Rp8bMpLYsQIWgqChZHkRU0DyQ_4h6Y1HG6OePVxwqu2_52MT5BthBdgNchhyphenhyphenrzzicEozk4W27SLQshMy_Kuqj-OVCdw/s400/100_1185.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681207830154416818" /></a><br />A few miles below the Iraqi Border.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikc_rOWtH2q6Tg_wBup81CX_yNc57voZ-Nw0JOrihLwlsOQEissumfUf3J7ZKg09GS8J7KfoEJ5bNkmEGx17PAHK89nfyL5DuYTT7dqoxW4Knb957JynftgX3sE0cv6SBLT2TobA/s1600/100_1207.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikc_rOWtH2q6Tg_wBup81CX_yNc57voZ-Nw0JOrihLwlsOQEissumfUf3J7ZKg09GS8J7KfoEJ5bNkmEGx17PAHK89nfyL5DuYTT7dqoxW4Knb957JynftgX3sE0cv6SBLT2TobA/s400/100_1207.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681208786885117426" /></a><br />Another wrecked vehicle along the road.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpxXtYjyCxhG1ZGJGCHkzGa168gxcmiI-tvs9g6VgqXhLgujm7A86o2q7TPUYQtUeNg6mM-D_Cuy2w9PXAyrEfnJNW7mEJLVkvpGnLolp0bxRunpZ3plj9qzareA60BaSJuh17w/s1600/100_1173.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpxXtYjyCxhG1ZGJGCHkzGa168gxcmiI-tvs9g6VgqXhLgujm7A86o2q7TPUYQtUeNg6mM-D_Cuy2w9PXAyrEfnJNW7mEJLVkvpGnLolp0bxRunpZ3plj9qzareA60BaSJuh17w/s400/100_1173.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681209262394767874" /></a><br />KOA Kuwait. Apparently they just pick a spot along the road. <br /><br />It occurs to me that I know barely enough German to be polite, enough Spanish to get my face slapped, enough Arabic to lock someone up and more than enough English to put my foot in my mouth.<br /><br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-43786068182264389132011-11-27T07:57:00.007-05:002011-11-27T08:53:43.821-05:00This Ain't The Pisgah National ForestIt's a little cool and breezy today. The sky is crystal clear except for a tan haze towards the ocean. The other day I mentioned a dust cloud hanging towards the ocean. It could have very well have been smoke and I suspected that it was. Well, it turns out I was right. I believe it was the day before yesterday that I saw a dark cloud of smoke emitting from the horizon and blowing towards the west. Once I got onto a high spot I could see it was coming from two smoke stacks. So...It's smoke.<br /><br />Yesterday I made a trip to Camp Virginia and "K-Crossing". I've been to Camp Virginia before. I passed through there as I left Iraq in June of 2007. K-Crossing is where U.S. Convoys cross the border into Iraq. The land out there is wide and open, it's like the moon. It's bare, blah and ugly. The land slopes gently, there is nothing abrupt to it. This ain't the Pisgah National Forest. <br /><br />At Camp Virginia I got the treat of McDonald's. Not that I am a huge fan of McDonald's, I barely went into the one in Buttholeville until my lovely Step Daughter started working there and then less when she left. It was just different and anything different is a treat. I think the biggest treat I've had here is when I went to Qatar and got to sleep in a real bed. <br /><br />From K-Crossing I stared back into the abyss...AKA Iraq, not much there to look at. It wasn't iconic. <br /><br />But, all along the highways going there was plenty to look at. Kuwaitis love to camp and from the roads toy can see their camps going into the distance. It was like KOA Kuwait, except allot less organized and their tents are not the North Face variety. They more resemble General Purpose Mediums (GP Medium), something about every Veteran can identify. Except their tents are cream colored or a dark brown with a cream stripe. Several tents are grouped together and sometimes there is an elevated water tank. Their there for a duration. Many of them have a little fence blocking off a square and even some have lights around the little compound. In a country of open land, everything is blocked off it seems. Of course the roads here are littered with trash and the remnants of obviously fatal wrecks. Hulks of bent and twisted cars sit along the road. They are always by them self and had to run into another, but it's only the one...It makes you wonder. Also, we drove a way down Hwy 80. That was the infamous "Highway of Death" from the Gulf War. It was once littered with the destruction that was the Iraqi Army of Occupation. It's gone now. When I came to Kuwait in the summer of 2006 there was some of that left sitting out near the Ali Al Salem Air Base. That was gone when I came back through a few months later.<br /><br />"<a href="http://www.thehivesbroadcastingservice.com/">And the moment that you lived for it doesn't live for you...</a>"<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-54941205461580238862011-11-23T12:40:00.007-05:002011-11-27T07:57:24.183-05:00Thanksgiving BattleThe time is going by. Sometimes the day drags, but, then one day rolls into the other. So, if I was to feel the need to express to everyone something to be thankful for...Honestly I consider such things a practice of Pharisies...It would be that time is moving. So much of my life I wished it would stand still. Not now.<br /><br />One thing any more is our language. The words we use, lip service...Just lip service. We try to give everything special names...Like the "Super Comitee". I don't know what to call it, but, I suppose most people will call it failure now. Well, round in round it goes and where it stops, everyone knows.<br /><br />I think the Army, the Military in general, is the worst at using flowery technical language. Take the word "battle"...Now, that's a Military word if we ever heard one. <br />it get's used so much for everything today, especially in the staff world. Let me give you the explanation. A kid goes to Basic Training, there he has a "Battle Buddy". His Battle Buddy is his newly assigned best friend. I had one, his name was Willis. We had very little in common but we got along. He was a little older than me and managed to put up with imature me. The Drill Segeants would say to us "your buddy". Today, it's the full blown thing, "your battle buddy". <br /><br />I have nastolgia for our once simpler Army.<br /><br />Another is the "Battle Box". That's a computer thing, so, you battle the computer. To put it simple it's kind of a sharing place to put files, and iformation for access by others. We're the Army, so we call it Battle Box. That way we can feel like we're slugging it out at Bostogne. <br /><br />Back to Battle Buddy. It's a Drill Sergeant thing to call one another "Battle". So, is Battle a noun or a verb? Could it be an adverb? It doesn't matter, we like saying it. (I get called battle)<br /><iframe width="460" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E3gxcBsvcYc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />The other day I had a Leutenant Colnel say how we don't have the need for coloered alchahol pens and laminated boards anymore. "When was the last time you used one?". We're high speed! We have computers to do that for us now. <br /><br />Don't get me wrong. I can see the need for computerised mapping, charts, and graphs. I love Google Earth. <br /><br />Anyway, I hope you have a fun and entertaining Thanksgiving. It doesn't need to be perfect. There is going to be allot of poor stressed out women tomorrow. And, there ought not be. So...Happy Thanksgiving from all of me here at Appalachian Patria.<br /><br />Until next time,<br />I am The Appalahianist.Hill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-83428750810516800372011-11-15T13:17:00.002-05:002011-11-15T13:21:06.027-05:00DustWe’re leaving Iraq. Allot of the roads on this camp are dirt and gravel. Unlike the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys they’re not clay, but actual sand. The ground seems to have lime stone in it. It’s hard, with spots of loose sand on it. It can be dusty, but to me, not as dusty as the Baghdad area. At Taji, they sprayed the roads almost constantly with water to keep the dust down. Now, suddenly with the draw down coming out of Iraq, with all of the convoys rolling of equipment, it’s becoming very dusty. <br /><br />Today a strange tan colored haze hung out towards the gulf. It was like suspended dust, but hung like smoke. It might have very well have been smoke. In Iraq you could always spot a FOB, look for the smoke of the burn pits. The Iraqis burned too, but not like us. They wanted it out of their way, piled outside of their domains, littering the roads. We wanted it gone, we piled it up in a huge pile and burned it. If you ever hear the Southern Culture On The Skids song, “My Neighbor Burns Trash”, well, that was us. Now there is a study going on about the effects of the burn pits on troops. Personally? I don’t know. <br /><br />I know this…Looking at the news back home, all eyes are on the Occupy (insert name here) Movement and a child molestation scandal (that has not been proved in court). While we, the Military, are now pulling out of that shit hole Iraq. And, honestly, right now, it would be an unglamorous news story and that story ain’t wrote yet. A story has broken how our own, the Air Force, cremated our war dead and dumped their ashes in a landfill. Obviously, and for allot of reasons I can’t fault, the majority of the American public has wanted us out of there. I will say the same thing I would say…And did, when I was weeding through translations and 130 degree heat in 2006. Getting out of Iraq is no easy thing. And now, with it actually happening…Half of which, the Department of State will still be there…It’s largely going ignored.<br /><br />I don’t hate the Iraqis. Despite how I would grit my teeth with them…I would turn around and laugh with them just the same. I wish them the best. I hope they can live in peace and prosper. I sincerely do. But, they won't. <br /><br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-82394599152343739882011-11-11T00:38:00.003-05:002011-11-11T12:45:29.084-05:00This WeekIt's Friday, the 11th of November. Yeah, Veterans Day. So, let's get started with a little something to get your blood pumping. The Punk Rock is optionalTotaly optional man.<br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/og8RLL6LpUQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>...<br /><br /><strong>Veteran's Day</strong><br />Yeah, Veterans Day. You can ask allot of school kids what day it is nad they will tell you. I don't think allot of them can tell you where it came from. The 11th of November 1918, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month...Today is 11/11/11. <br /><br />He was our enemy, but the charctor of All Quiet on the Western Front, was killed on the 11th of October, 1918. <br /><br />There is something bad though. You may have seen it in the news, maybe you've not. But there has been somewhat of a scandal at Dover Air Force Base. Dover is where he deceased have been taken from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was reading in The Stars and Stripes that some of the Service Members killed were cremated and then their ashes were dumped in a land fill. I won't make any further comment...<br /><br /><strong>November 10th 1775</strong><br />Yesterday was the Marine Corps Birthday. They really get into it, and that's good. But, where I want to talk about it is in a significant context to us as a Nation. The year is 1775. That's our year, still we don't have the Spirit of 76, but that was the year the American Revolution was coming to surface. We had a fledging Army since June of that year*. We were'nt going to compeat with the british very well if we could not engage their Navy. So, on October 13th, the Continental Navy was born. I imagine that that was no small feat. It would take quite a bit of material and effort to equip a Navy. Eventually John Paul Jones was in Command of a borrowed ship from the French.**Roughly a month after the Navy started being formed, the Marine corps was born. The Navy needed Marines to protect it, and to be an assault force for it. Well, after that, we didn't have much in the line of ships, but we had a Navy with Marines to support them. <br /><br />The Royal Navy, despite holding it's gains from the Seven Years War against the French, was not all too prepared for delivering more troops across the Atlantic and the Gun Ships to support that. For them it was not just a war against the rebellous Colonies, but, the French and the Spanish. They had allot of water to cover...And the timber they had been using for heir masts came from the forests of New England.They were stretched thin.<br /><br />Stretched thin or not, they had a Navy, and we didn't. When who ever it was went into Tung's Tavern and recruited the first Marine, well, as poorly equiped as either of them may have been, they had the most important thing...A person. It was sloppy, at times hap hazard, but we were compeating.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Arifjan Kuwait</strong><br />Now, back to the future. Allot of people here are getting sick. It took a little longer than usual for it to start going around. It takes about a month or so and it's been about two months. It alread hit me. I went to Qatar for a week with one mean head cold.<br /><br /><strong>Admenastrative Note</strong><br />I'm taking on the daunting task of tagging all of the posts from my blog, over 600 of them. I never did it before. But, over time, as I found people doing searches for information on my stats, it started to make sense that I do. <br /><br /><br />*Trivia question! When did the first Commander of that Army, the Continental Army, take command?<br /><br />** I get tired of French jokes, though we owed the French monarchy more than the post French Revolution Government, we owe allot to the French, Marquis De Laffayette, being one of them.<br /><br />I've said enough.<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-37944474745767012672011-11-06T00:22:00.005-05:002011-11-06T01:31:34.884-05:00November 6th Notes.Something is up with my different browsers. The only one out of the three that I use that will let me manipulate the controlm buttons for Blogger is Internet Explorer. I went as far as un installing and re installing Mozilla. I imported book marks to Google Chrome, and it was the same there. I might just un install and redo the both of them.<br /><br />I have the day off, so I somewhat slept in this morning. Despite being woken several times by one or two of my many room mates, I woke around 7 to the sound of rain. For a brief second I wondered what the sound was, but then realised it was rain...."Our crops are saved!" Like the happy ending to a sharecroppers drama. It only lasted but a minute, wetting the sand and getting soaked up quick. That's unlike the two river valleys in Iraq where it turns to a sticky mud.<br /><br />Well, we're pulling out of Iraq. We're not out of there yet though. There is allot of people and stuff to come out of there still. And then...There will still be the Department of State. There is allot to think about there. ALLOT.<br /><br />I got word my oldest Dog, Rebel, got hit by a car. I've no details other than he is fine. It was not a catastophic hit. It most likely happened on a race. If the bear crosses a road, then so do the dogs, like little kids running after a ball. Then if the race falls apart or a dog drops out and makes it's way to a road, it's at risk. Fewer Hunting dogs get ran over on the hunt than pets do around the neighborhood. There are allot of threats to hunting dogs, what ever it chases, bear, coons, even deer, can fight them. They can be mistakenly shot, which everyone takes great care as to not to do. Then, there are cars, trucks, four wheelers and horses. But if you were to ask me what the biggest threat there is to one, I'd tell you it's the three kinds of people that will take your dog. A dog thief, someone bent on messing with a hunter, and someone that believes they know whats best and out of some moral better than though "rescues" your dog.<br /><br />My last note: I've read little bits here and there on the Occupy(insert name here) movement. As I see it, they are ineffectual, just like the Tea Party. That's good, because, they don't know what they are talking about. The Tea Party got side railed by a bunch of republicans. I knew when I started seeing them dressed up like paul Revere, it was going to get real hoaky. The Occupy movement was clueless to start with. Or, at least some were. Deep in any group like that you are going to have your Marxist at heart types. There far too militant than the Tea Party. By far, the Tea Party has smarter people, more class and a genuine complaint. The Occupiers are just complaining.<br />Their most famous news shot in Oakland was when the Police tried evicting them. Now, Oakland has a reputation for being a pretty left wing town. I read that the Mayor of Oakland days before marched with them. The reason the Police were called in, was the sanitary problems. It reminds me of John Lennon's lyrics from "Revolution"..."But if you go carrieing pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow".<br /><br />That whole song comes mind.<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-887262610163962302011-10-21T12:44:00.004-05:002011-11-06T07:49:00.350-05:00The Great AwakeningI had once been told that the American Revolution began with a Baptist Revival. That is somewhat true, I think it was the pre running of the Methodist. While in our history books we're told that religious persecution was the primary factor in the migration of Europeans to the New World, and how we came to promote religious tolerance on account of it; this is not entirely so. A man named George Whitefield caused quite a stir in New England and eventually as far down as Savanna. Jonathan Edwards was another. The Puritans of new England didn't take well to them and they had the political power, having laws passed to prevent them from spreading their view of the Gospel. But Whitefield was a charismatic preacher. Benjamin Franklin went to hear him preach out of doubt about the size of crowds that the man drew. He would preach to 25,000 people without a microphone. Ben Franklin had to see it for himself. After which Franklin and some other men raised money to have a meeting house built to house the Revivals or any other religious event. Many of the people in the Great Awakening did not want to pay taxes to a church that they disagreed with, and resisted at risk of being jailed and fined. These were seeds of Revolution, another chemical in the mix. "The Age of Enlightenment" rising.<br /><br />I'm now reading a book on Ethan Allen. If you don't know who Ethan Allen was, he was a major player in the American Revolution. . He was the leader of The Green Mountain Boys, which was not a backwoods militia as you would think. He,rather easily, captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. The British Garison knew nothing of the events at Concord Green due to word being sent around Nova Scotia and down the St. Lawrence.<br /><br />Here is where I wanted to go into talking about another man in the bloody history of Lake Champlain, Robert Rogers. I had read a great book about his life earlier this summer. But, these two men are a complicated history.<br /><br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-41915960915116666762011-10-08T12:48:00.004-05:002011-11-06T07:50:05.734-05:00Hemlocks of Carolina<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.savinghemlocks.org/images/CarolinaL.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 640px;" src="http://www.savinghemlocks.org/images/CarolinaL.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The Middle East is not like anywhere else. Everything, other than the base needs and desires is different than anything we Americans grew up with. To me everything here is "flimsy". Flimsy designs, flimsy in every sense. Flimsy in a way that I don't think I can get you to understand. Honestly, a few people that I know back in Eden have expressed an accuracy to me in their comprehension of this world. Usually those people are Transplantavanians that came back to the ground they knew as home. <br /><br />I call there Eden, but, I know full and well it ain't. Other than the fact Eden was abolished with the advent of sin, home is a place of turmoil, confusion and drama. It's a culture war back home, it's fought every day, it never rages, just simmers in the summer heat and glows on winter nights. At times, it appears we've had the lick, and then at others we're hanging on better than ever. It's not waged as much as outsider versus insider as much as it is the new with the old. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/caps/pestInfo/pics/hemlock2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/caps/pestInfo/pics/hemlock2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />There's a biological war as well. The hemlocks have taken a bad bad beating. They stand like skeletons, once proud and now sad old snags. Taken down by a little insect, the <a href="http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/caps/pestInfo/hemlockAdelgid.htm">Wooly Alleged</a>. Someone here before me had a subscription to North Carolina Wildlife and I picked one up and read an article on the Hemlocks struggle. I remember leaving to Iraq, those few years ago, seeing the green of the Hemlocks and coming home to see them standing without a needle on them.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mountainx.com/mxcore/image_sizing/600/800//images/blogimages/WAdelgiddamage_thumb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 420px; height: 315px;" src="http://www.mountainx.com/mxcore/image_sizing/600/800//images/blogimages/WAdelgiddamage_thumb.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /> <br /><br />Just a few years before a beetle had killed many of the pines. Where did these damn insects come from? The orient or just somewhere they should have stayed? You stomach that sight, there's no anesthesia for that pain. You accept that it's happening and pray for an answer...Then you hear some bright fellar is trying to find one. <a href="http://www.saveourhemlocks.org/index.shtml">Who is this masked man</a>? <br /><br />Counter insects have been brought in, they've sprayed the trees...And have crossed some Asian trees to try to build immunity. That last one takes a long time...<br /><br />Though I'm not one to lament, this ain't the first time I have lamented on this subject and it won't be the last. <br /><br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-27974988331581688372011-10-02T04:13:00.005-05:002011-11-06T07:51:22.510-05:00Swedish RockersAs I was packing up for this deployment I packed a case full of CD's. I've always been a lover of music, and I had every intention of hearing what I wanted. The trouble with CD's is, they are bulky. I was slow to catch onto CD's. I held onto to vynal and cassettes as long as I could. I still don't like to just down load music, I like album art and notes. I also appreciate lyrics. Well, all of the cases are back at Appalachia central. And, all of my CD's are on the ocean somewhere. Why are they on the ocean? That's why I was rambeling, listen, or in your caase read, the ramble and know why. Because, CDs are bulky, I can only pack so much on a plane and personal items were put in tough boxes that went into overseas containers and onto a ship...As I sit and think about it, they have gone quite a trip. They flew from Asheville NC, to Atlanta, to Seattle and were then put into a tough box that went into a container that went to Texas that eventually went to Charleston SC. It was almost like a loop around the nation just to end up in this...I'll put it nicely...Barren land. <br /><br />At the time I live in a big open bay room with over a dozen other Senior NCOs. We all like different kinds of music, or we talk with folks back home (mostly over Skype) and work different hours. As a result, all hours are quiet hours. So, if we listen to music, it's on headphones. I had enough music to survive short terms of boredom. And, with wireless internet working in the "not too shabby" zone, I can listen to allot of stuff off of Youtube. I was explaining all of this to a girl the other night that suggested I watch Kiss sing the Beatles. Kiss, after all, are boomers, and were not all about Metal.<br /><br />Now, I've lost allot of readers. That's cool. But most everyone that has hung around since the days I went to Iraq know, I get into the Swedish Garage Rock band, The Hives....Tick Tick BOOM! Yeah...<br /><br />I love their stuff. It's my prerogative so I don't need to explain why. You like it or you don't. But if you were to ask me, I'd tell you why. Because I'm that kind of guy. Ok...I'll tell you why, because they ROCK. It's simple, then complex, hard hitting and, they're real. They are also nuts in a Euro-cocky kind of way.<br /><br />So, have a dose of The Hives on a bootleg video!<br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U7YvXTYaF0Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />That's not enough...<br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eFtPoYb09Ig" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />You danced didn't you? How do you dance to that? Well, you just kinda shimmy and shake.<br /><br />I am/was also a fan of the mid 90's band The Refreshments, they were a good time light hearted all around good band. They're stuff was funny.<br /><br />So, the other night I was doing something and picking tunes off of Youtube...I did some Replacements, so I got to thinking Refreshments and I came across two different Refreshments. Turns out one is Swedish. And these guys play the stuff your Grand Daddy rocked too. Just like this. Rolling across the hot and humid South to three chords!<br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qGzMkdPmTyM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Not enough...They've got friends, check them out with Albert Lee, they guy with the crazy hair.<br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NJQnZ0Bu7Zo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />Variety is the spice of life, is it not? Well, one of the spices, only one spice and there would be no variety. So, does it beat the coperate stuff you get pushed on you in the US market? <br /><br />Just saying...<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-56808697272329612272011-09-30T00:55:00.005-05:002011-09-30T01:32:50.054-05:00Another Cool Reason TV VideoThis is political. But it's the kind of political thing we need to be talking about instead of the status qua that comes out of Washington. As a country, we're in a position where we need to be making some real decisions.<br /><br />Now, some of this hits home. I'm from the Mountains of North Carolina. Known for their breath taking views, clear streams and illegal white liquor. That liquor that our grand fathers were making (and some neighbors are still making)was illegal before prohibition as it was during. That was not a health concern, but one of revenue. Hince, "revenuers". It goes back as far as the Whiskey Rebellion. <br /><br />We can call it a double standard. We can call it a paradox. We can call it grey. But, it created somewhat of a sense of pride in rural communities where liquor was made. We had this notion, and a rightful one, that we were upping one to the nonsensical Federal Government, one that was blind to anything but it's own political and bureaucratic desires. And, then we pitied and despised the alcoholic. Preached about the troubles he caused and lamented over his demise. <br /><br />People often get into something over emotions and then later divorce it for a reason. That's life, it's a cartoon, we play our part and sometimes have fun along the way. But, better choices can be made when we look at the why and how of the way things are. <br />And I've got the notion there were as many alcoholics per capita during prohibition as there is today. Abstaining is a personal decision. <br /><br />Sit back and enjoy some neat video clips as Nick Gillespie talks from the trunk of someones car.<br /><iframe width="460" height="275" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SLUlqkguf9k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />stuck like chuck in the land of sand...<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-82060027941287718102011-09-22T04:27:00.003-05:002011-11-06T07:52:13.964-05:00So What's It Like?We've got crappy plumbing over here. Yep, you read me right, we've got crappy plumbing. It was that way up in Iraq, and, it's that way here. Oh, it works, it's just shoddy work. Pipes laying on top of the ground with a ply wood fame over them is one example. A little hose that pushes water in a stream hanging over the side of a urinal is another. But again, to give it credit, it works. Nothing is leaking out onto the ground. Pipes getting baked brittle in the sun is more of a threat than freezing and busting.<br /><br />Back...Way back, when I was an adviser to the Iraqi Army (a slave with two masters)the Iraqi shower and latrine was a filthy trailer with a rotten floor and leaking plumbing oozing sewage into a ditch, that if I remember right was dug to collect what was leaking. It was a matter of concern, but, primarily the Iraqi's problem. They wanted us to solve the problem. We couldn't do that. The whole idea was to ween them. Stepping into an Iraqi porta-john was a safety hazard. You could trip over all of the water bottles on the floor. <br /><br />Which reminds me of another problem. At the time the Iraqis were only issuing their guards two little bottles of water, one to drink, the other to wipe their ass with. If more water was near a Jundi didn't have to worry as much, but spending hours out in a tower with one little bottle to drink and bowel movements beckoning put him in a predicament.<br /><br />I don't know how many times I saw muddy boot prints on the seat of a western toilet where they tried using it in the eastern fashion. Or how many times one was stopped up. I never saw that problem with an eastern. And here, some porta-johns are marked "Eastern" with a picture indicating it. <br /><br />What brought this all to mind was a beautiful marble floor. They like marble floors over here. So, here was this beautiful, shiny floor and a urinal with flexy pipes twisted around going into the wall and some plaster daubed around them. <br /><br />Every building I've ever been in over here was like that.<br /><br />It's 6 AM in Eastern US Time Zone, time to get out of bed.<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-32089666288153884312011-09-17T12:40:00.004-05:002011-11-06T07:52:53.204-05:00ArifJan, KuwaitI'm now at Camp Arifjan Kuwait. We flew in last night and after a short trip we were at our destination. I keep comparing everything to my trip to Iraq. That was very different. This is very different.<br /><br />I had been writing my posts on Word and pasting them to the blog. Last weekend I dropped my netbook and the screen went out. So, I bought a new lap top, an HP Pavilion. That's what I had my first tour. Anyway, the deal is, I don't have Word on this thing, so posting was a little harder. To be frank, internet on Ft. Bliss sucks rotten eggs.<br /><br />More to follow. I'm on a Replacements kick, so I leave you with The Replacements...It won't let me do it... But then it did.<br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_cbDcdfYmY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10345005.post-23142285175936112162011-09-08T16:38:00.002-05:002011-11-06T07:53:58.725-05:00287121 September 2011<br />I use the internet at the PX food court. Ft. Bliss has a really unique and large Px and Commissary complex. I’m too lazy, you google it, either now or when your done reading. Just check it out. It has music playing classics and oldies. Allot of old school R and B. Now, I hate to be negative, but if you don’t speak up, nothing will get fixed. They play way too many Bee Gee songs. Way too many. <br />No one pays mind to this blog any more. And, I’m not too sure if I mind that. Don’t let that discourage you, dance around the campfire. Just don’t get crazy and fall in.<br /> <br />I regress. I previously stated that this is my first time in the southwest. Well, no. In July I was in Las Vegas. But, I don’t feel like talking about that. Not that what happened stayed in Vegas. It just didn’t leave.<br /> <br />2nd September<br /><br />I’m a mountain boy. People have made comments to me about my accent. I’ve used words that have raised some laughs. These words I know are not exclusive to Appalachia. The Chief of Staff (A full Bird Colonel) used the same term… “A slew of”. They didn’t laugh at him, but he validated me and well, I hope it inspired them. Now, I don’t mind the laughs. I laughed with them. Damn Seattle people…<br /><br />7th September<br />Believe it or not, I don’t like complaining. But somewhere I must have inherited paticuluarness. Or it’s my astrological sign, or just the way God made me or how he tolerates me. So, already you are wondering what I’m about to complain about. I’m going to complain about a place I’d love to be right now, Buttholeville. Yes, odd, quircky and overall great place to live, Brevard NC. County seat to Strangelvania…Uh, Transylvania County.<br /> <br />What happened is the county turned 150 years old. Who would have thought we’d make it that far. Being after the place became it’s own county it was a dangerous and depressing place to be during the 1860’s. But, it is what it is today. And, we’ve seen better times, at this point, it’s on a down hill slope in the economical sense. Socially it’s always been different, but not so much that it distracts you. Though, in my personal opinion, it’s socially depressed.<br /><br />What distracted me was… I read about it in the Hendersonville paper. They had a big to do down town. The usual celebration stuff. Except a Barney Fife impersonator was there, “making the place feel even more like Mayberry”. People that place never has been, is not and never will be Mayberry. We’ve got a sandwich shop on Mainstreet now called Mayberry’s. I ate there once, it was OK. Service was decent. The waitress didn’t call me “honey, sugar, sweety” or nothing. I’m not holding that against her. <br />Oh, but, no. We’re not Mayberry. We’re Brevard. We’re unique as is Franklin and Waynesville is to themselves. That’s Mountain Communities. It goes for Sylva or Saluda. We’re a small town with our own riffs, secrets, politics, laughs and joys. We’re often divided, too damn independent to stand up together and never sure as how to do it, much less on what to do it for. And, yet, the “everybody knows everyone” syndrome is not all bad. You know who’s who and what’s what adding to the overall piece of things. But, that can get ugly all the same. On one of the most beautiful and peaceful stretches of road of the county a very gruesome thing happened once. And, the story only attests to how much someone can hate another. We’re not sadistic or mean people, but then we’re not always nice either. Things can be very personal in rural societies. That goes for kindness as well. I will repay a favor to someone for having the same last name of someone kind to me. Except for McCalls, Galloways and Owens. There’s too darn many of them…Just kidding. I’m related to all three, and not to all of them. Not all at once, that is. But, seriously, If I meet someone from another Mountain community with a possible tie to someone I’ve known through the Service, or I’ve hunted with, and, they were good people. I look after that person. Being nice is personal, and being a jerk is too. If one of those kind that I mentioned were not as good to me, I treat the person with caution. Meanness can be hereditary, birds of the same feather flock together. <br /><br />Not to say all is meanness. At times we are naive, and at others we are as smart as anyone and no one is really that innocent. Brevard NC is a great place. No other place I’d rather be. That goes for the county. My people chose a good place all of those years ago. We struggle, we win we lose. Were not innocent, we’re not charmed. Please, don’t associate us with Mayberry. Mayberry was only associated with typical small town quirks. Not the other way around. You want to live in Mayberry? Turn on your TV.<br /><br />What do they teach them in OCS?<br />The AppalachianistHill Billy Ravehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03704562883204427129noreply@blogger.com5