A blog/journal about my life and the stuff I like. Popular subjects include music, guitars, gear, books, movies, video games, technology, humor.
Here are some more pics. The first is a view from our flagpoles out into the Korengal valley below. The second picture is of our trauma treatment room. The third is a little girl who suffered arm and hand burns after turning over a pot of boiling liquid.
This is a picture of the front door to the aid station at Camp Blessing.
I’ve been in Afghanistan for about five weeks now, the last two at a new base with a different battalion after one of my peers had to be replaced. I was moved to one of the infantry battalions at Camp Blessing, which is in a more remote and contentious area in A-stan. I actually find the life here much preferable to the last place I was at (Jalalabad). The weather here is a bit cooler, the aid station we occupy is a permanent cement structure that keeps the temperature cooler and more stable around the clock, and everything that I would need to do is within about 300 meters walking distance (aid station, dining facility, gym, laundry, bathroom). We see mostly local national children here and we get to do surgical procedures mostly on a daily basis. Lots of abscesses and skin infections with the occasional trauma thrown in. In the two weeks I have been here, we have had two mascals (more patients than we can treat at one time) although in both cases there were only two “serious” patients so both the doc and myself were able to manage them within our scope. We’ve intubated four patients, and put in four chest tubes (one guy got two). We’ve seen everything from shrapnel, to GSW (gunshot wounds) to MVAs (motor vehicle accidents).
We also see alot of kids with burns and other questionable blunt trauma injuries. It’s not uncommon for children here to be running around open fires with cookpots full of boiling water and other dangerous substances. Safety practices are essentially non existent so we see alot of stuff you wouldn’t see in the states. Personal hygiene is also not a priority here so we see alot of infections that wouldn’t normally occur in the US. I wouldn’t have thought it, but I find the work here quite agreeable. I normally prefer the steadiness of occupational medicine but there is definitely a different vibe to seeing people with true objective illness and injury as opposed to the typical sick call patient we see in the US. When you see a 6 month old kid with an eyelid full of pus the size of a golfball, it’s not even a question as to whether or not they deserve your attention. So many of the problems here are correctable with an intervention or two so it’s much more satisfying when you treat them and then see them get better. And they are almost universally appreciative for the help.
This is opposed to the typical soldier on sick call who has some sort of minor musculoskeletal issue that will only get better with time and a small amount of effort/common sense on the soldier’s part (which is often lacking). There are plans to get a new PA to replace the one that left and theoretically that would mean I get sent back where I was, but I am beginning to think it would be better to remain here. The work is real, the living is better, and time is going by faster while I’m here. Time will tell.
are now gone by. I am currently in Jalalabad, Afghanistan working out of a consolidated treatment facility colocated with a forward surgical team. We have moved two different times already, and are due to move again when they finish building new housing and a clinic. That’s due to happen in Sep/Oct but I will probably miss it as I am getting ready to backfill for a provider from an infantry unit that is being sent back to the states. Hopefully I will still have connectivity where I’m going, but I won’t know until I get there. I intend to upload some photos and video when I get the chance.
I type this post from a MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) center on Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. I’ve been in country a few days after a 22 hour journey from Texas. We’ve been staying in tents and going through some required inprocessing and training. We are due to depart for our permanent(ish) home for the next 15 months later today. Right now things are really heating up in Afghanistan as they cool down in Iraq. Just two days ago there was an insurgent raid of Taliban and other foreign soldiers on a small outpost (this is all over the news, btw) which resulted in 9 American deaths and 15 American casualties. It’s the largest and deadliest attack on US forces in 3 years. We will be providing the medical care at the base where the 15 were evacuated to. They were stabilized and then evacuated onto a military hospital in theater. I’m still not sure how to feel about the way things are going. In some ways I am motivated to hopefully be part of taking the fight back to the enemy and making the Taliban and their allies pay for this attack. Right now I’m also mostly just wanting to get to our permanent home and to get settled into a routine. I’m still not sure exactly where my permanent home will be, and probably won’t know that for several days. And of course that can easily change as the mission changes. I will continue to update the blog with entries and later with photos once I can get full connectivity.
I leave for my extended sojourn in a few hours. It’s now nearing midnight on the 10th of July. I expect to be gone for 15 months, returning in October of 2009. I plan on regularly updating this blog when I get the chance, if I have connectivity. If I don’t, this may be the last post for a long time. I appreciate all expressions of support and prayer from those who gave them. I will be keeping in touch as best I can.
It's been nearly a month since I saw Rush in Houston and Austin on a Saturday and the following Wednesday (Apr 19/23rd). The delay is more work/life related on my part than a lack of desire to post a review. Both shows were great, and I won't post as detailed a review as from last August as the show was mostly the same with the exception of a few set list changes and a new video before the second set. I am probably in the minority of people who aren't as happy with the set list changes because I really was happy to hear Entre Nous and Circumstances as I had never heard them live before (and they are both great tunes). They decided to go back to a few classic staples since this second leg was hitting several cities that hadn't been on the tour itinerary in several years. The other deletions are Secret Touch and Distant Early Warning. I'm a big fan of Vapor Trails (and Snakes & Ladders) so I was also disappointed for them to remove Secret Touch.
I recently read Neil Peart's book "Ghost Rider" which took place in the interval between the death of his daughter & wife (both occurring within a year's span) and details how he rode his motorcycle for thousands of miles over the next few years as part of his recovery process. In the text of the book are many literary references, but the main focus of the book is sort of an autobiographical travelogue with intermittent flashes of his grieving process in the form of narrative as well as reprints of many letters he wrote during that time. Dispersed throughout the tome are several slices of what would eventually turn into the lyrics of the next album (VT). After reading it I gained a new appreciation for many of these songs (as well as his lyrics in general). Gives me a new level of disgust at the blogger who ranked him (Neil) as the second worst Rock lyricist of all time.
Here's the new setlist:
Setlist:
Video Intro (features all 3 band members)
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro)
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline
Intermission
Video Intro (What's That Smell? features all 3 members, Jerry Stiller)
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor And Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism
Drum Solo
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer (with South Park intro)
Encore:
One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ
Video Outro (Alex, Neil, Jerry Stiller)
It was great to see them, especially in Austin. They played the Frank Erwin Center in the theatre setup which seats about 8000 total. The acoustics and the intimacy of the indoor environment allowed for a perfect live setting. I think it will be better to space the shows apart because the novelty did wear a little bit since it had only been 5 days between shows. I think the perfect schedule would be to see them about three times per tour with at least a month between shows. I would also try and see them in as different an environment as possible. I think for the next tour (I feel like they have at least another album/tour in them) I will try to see them somewhere like Red Rocks or The Gorge in Washington, Vegas, and somewhere in Texas.
So I've been on somewhat of a new music surge (at least compared to the normal for me) as of late. I think it started when I downloaded several songs on Neil Peart's house music set list (the one they play before the shows) from Itunes. Among the groups I was newly exposed or gained a new appreciation for were: Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, The Tragically Hip, Jeff Buckley, King Crimson and early Genesis. Porcupine Tree especially hit a nerve with me and I subsequently have bought four albums by them. I especially like "Fear of a Blank Planet", "In Absentia" and "Deadwing". For reasons I'm not quite sure of, I also finally bought "Hunky Dory" by Bowie. I always liked the tunes from that album (Mick Ronson was a key player/producer) and I'm not sure why it took this long. I had been listening to "Life on Mars" repeatedly after hearing it a recent movie ("Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou?"), and decided to get the album.
I also recently bought albums by Amy Winehouse (Back to Black), Sheryl Crow (Detours) and Robert Plant/Alison Krauss (Raising Sand) but have only really got into the RP/AK effort. In my explorations I also got to checking out Itunes mixes by other users. These are basically just mix tape made by other Itunes users, but the nice thing is you can search them by keyword. So, in my typical music preference vein I searched for sad or melancholy mixes and actually found a really good one that has several tunes that I have grown quite fond of. Some of the artists on the mix were: "The Weepies", "State Radio", "City and Colour", "Jason Reeves", "Gregory and the Hawk", and "Cocunut Records". It's a really great mix tape and I'll be checking out the other stuff from these guys in the near future.
Unfortunately for many Rush fans in Houston and New Orleans, the shows got swapped to make way for the NBA playoffs which means Rush is playing Houston on Saturday the 19th instead of Sunday the 20th and there a lot of people trying to get rid of tickets they can't use now. On that note, I saw a deal on some Houston tickets for about half what they were going for before the date change. This is still a markup from box office, but it's so much cheaper than it would have been, and now with the show on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, the opportunity was too good to pass up. So we're now going to see Rush in Houston in two days (11th row on Geddy's side) followed by the Austin show on Wednesday night. Fan-frickin-tabulous if you ask me. And you did, you did.
This has been around for years, but it deserves inclusion in the musical humor hall of fame:
For months I have been saying that I would be cutting back on my concerts with an extended vacation coming up and some inflationary belt tightening. However, the day is drawing close when Rush will be playing Austin on the 2nd leg of their Snakes & Arrows tour. A few days ago I was sitting in my office thinking about the upcoming concert and realizing I would be one hour's drive away from a Rush concert and I was missing it to sit at home and watch TV or something else extremely worthwhile. I knew that wouldn't work, especially since I'll have no chance at seeing shows for 12 months (e.g. Yes in August).
Rumors abound about set list and overall show presentation changes and upgrades for this leg. Foremost (at least in my mind) is the rumor that perhaps an entire album will be played and the leading candidates include Hemispheres, A Farewell to Kings, and Moving Pictures. While I have serious doubts as to the veracity of these predictions, I am still entertaining the idea of hearing an entire album from the vault. Oh yeah, for those who recall the dancing of the gloat, here comes the 2nd verse (same as the first):
We're not quite as close as the last show, but this time we're in the middle front floor section and being on the 11th row will probably mean a better sound mix.
So, in a fit of uncontrollable concert fandom I just broke down and scored some tickets for an upcoming "2nd leg" of a well known concert tour (at least if you read this blog). Since I don't have the tix in hand, I'll withhold on the full disclosure until I can post some scans for your viewing pleasure (you know who you are)…
Continuing the theme of the last quarter century, Robert Plant has nixed the idea of a Zeppelin reunion tour despite a rumored offer of $200 million dollars (American) per member. This story has been out for a couple of weeks now and it seems that continuing to move forward as an artist is more important to him than revisiting Zeppelin or giving a parting gift to the millions of Zeppelin fans worldwide. Here's one report from the many:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a90640/plant-snubs-gbp100-million-led-zep-offer.html
And a two part interview from Jan 2008 which further demonstrates the unlikeliness of a tour:
It just seems like he isn't ever going to change his mind. Hopefully a DVD will be released of the show.
draws near. Ever since I saw Jimmy Page strutting around the stage with his low slung Les Paul I have wanted, no, needed one for myself (the guitar, you pervs). Verily, I say I had a case of the G.A.S. And the only cure for the G.A.S. is more cowbell a Les Paul of the cherry sunburst variety. Actually, I don't think it was called the G.A.S. back then, although I may have been known to say I was really "jonesin" for one. The G.A.S. for the LP only grew worse when I had friends who not only owned LPs, but could also play them well (mostly Zep tunes, but that is what they are designed for specifically)
My first really nice electric was the Fender EJ Strat which I will always play since it's a perfect guitar for what it does. However, just as a Strat has a niche (in my musical world, anyway) so does the Les Paul. I have always felt something was lacking when trying humbuckerish tones (JP, EVH, RR, Alex, etc.) Although it's true that 90% of tone is in the fingers, the guitar is important too. I have never desired to have dozens of different guitars, as I want to play my guitars not just collect them. That being said, I don't think any collection is complete if you don't have at least one good Strat and one good Les Paul (to be accurate I should also add a Tele, ES-175, SG, ….umm, in the interest of preserving the matrimonial peace I will say no more).
I found a good deal on a like new 2006 LP Standard in Heritage Cherry Sunburst which is coming via UPS in two days. It's actually not my first color choice (all due respect to JP), but as you can see it's immaculate and I will learn to love the color. Not to mention that I will immediately begin the aging process by playing it incessantly while neglecting the cosmetic upkeep. My old maxim holds true: if it looks like a museum piece, it probably sounds/plays like a museum piece.
More to follow if and when I take time out from playing…
It's been a tumultuous couple of months courtesy of my employer. I've changed duty stations, changed units, and gone on a couple of "field trips" since my last post. I returned yesterday from a trip to California which featured lots of sand but unfortunately, not much water. I'll try and update more here in the next few days as time allows.
… courtesy of Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Cowboys lopsided loss to the Pats wasn't indicative of the game as it was closer than the final score. That being said, the Cowboys now know how they compare to the league's best; they're getting closer but still fall a bit short. The Cowboys were down 14 early but managed to fight back with some great defensive plays and by finally completing a few actual drives on offense. They even took the lead early in the 3rd quarter, but unfortunately allowed the Pats to score 17 unanswered points after that to eventually lose by twenty points. The good news is that they still have room to improve and both sides of the ball were competitive for most of the game. I don't see how the Pats could improve, they're clearly the elite within the league right now. The Pats/Colts game in November should be a doozy. As for the Cowboys, they still have the clear lead in the the Division and they're're tied with GB for the best in the conference. Ironically, they played better in a losing effort this week compared to the last second gasp of a victory the week before.
Harkening back to the days of Staubach, the Dallas Cowboys tried very hard for 59 minutes to lose their Monday Night Football game against a Buffalo team that they were supposed to outclass in all aspects of the game, by scoring 9 points in the final twenty seconds to pull out the win. Tony Romo was at his worst as a passer and field commander, throwing 5 interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and fumbling once to give the Bills every reason to run away with the game; luckily the Bill's only significant scoring was via the defense and special teams. There were about 5 crucial events that had to occur in order for the Cowboys to win at the end and miraculously, they did. Dallas managed to move the ball down the field and score in the final two minutes to put them a two point conversion away from tying the game. After TO failed to make the catch for the two points, Dallas needed to recover an onsides kickoff and then move the ball within field goal range for the winning kickoff. This with under twenty seconds left and no time outs. Then, the rookie kicker had to make a 53 yard field goal after having a longest previous kick of 45 yards earlier in the game. Amazingly, the Cowboys recovered the onsides kickoff, completed two passes and got out of bounds to move within field goal range and stop the clock, and then convert not one but two 53 field goals when the Bills coach pulled the last second time out trick that's all the rage in the NFL these days. Not since the seventies have I felt the tumult of emotions that occur during one of these two minute comebacks. The Cowboys were supposed to dominate on paper, the Bills deserved to win on the field, but Dallas managed to literally pull a win out of the air.
Gibson is introducing a new line of mechanically self tuning guitars. Technology review has a feature on them here.
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