Time Out

There comes a time when we must all put the hands up in the form of a T, and say "Time Out." Well my time is drawing near, so don't know how much I will be here. But I couldn't go without saying, "See you real soon..." and I promise I should have plenty to say and plenty of pictures to show.
Time for a little R & R, with my love in one of the greatest cities on the planet...Liverpool. And no not the one in Ohio or Texas, the real deal in the UK. Gonna go watch the Mighty Reds and get away from all of "THIS" for a bit. And you know all the corny stuff, "Come back stronger" and "With a new lease on life" and whatever else.
Whatever right, but don't worry I WILL have a good time, of that I guarantee.
Talk to you all soon.
Cheers,
g

Green on a Brown Planet

Or something like that...

Anyway among the many many gifts that my wife has sent me (thanks again dear) is the Message Bean. I gotta admit i was a little skeptical at first, but it has become a big hit around the Compound. What it is a little jar with some soil and a pod thing in it. So keep adding water to the can and eventually the pod bursts from the ground. Okay so the can says that when it grows your message will appear. So you know me taking everything literally I expect the pod thing to burst open and either speak, "Feed me Seymour!" or to open up like a fortune cookie.

Well it didn't do either, but it sure has grown. Hardly anyone walks by without commenting on it. "How's our plant doing?" "What is that thing anyway?" "Is that a weed?" on and on. So since we are getting to the end of the Iraqi Spring (all two weeks of it) and headed into where it will have to be a pretty amazing plant to keep growing or it will pass away. So here are a couple of pictures.

Oh, and the message thing...well there is a little Heart burned into it, I can only guess that is that is the message. So no fortune cookie, but no man eating plant either...

Cheers,
g

"Time After, Time After, Time"

Or if at first, second, third, etc. you don't succeed try something else. We all know after all one of the definitions of Crazy is "Doing the same thing over and over and Expecting different results. So I am trying something different. Doing it right now so I have to wait and see if it works before I let the People know where to go.

This will continue to be the default place for videos and pictures but I just can't keep banging my head against the same wall (so many walls to bang against after all.) In the meantime I will post a picture from that night so that the People don't feel cheated.

And now to see if the something different thing works...Here is the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWEqUx3rg0E

It just worked for me, and here's hoping it worked for you as well.

Cheers,
g

"Come On & Tighten Up, Do the Tighten Up Now"

"Hi, everybody... (we're Those Guys, from Baghdad, Iraq.) We don't only sing, but we dance as good as we walk."

So I know the People have been asking about the hair, and I really do have some decent pictures (just not with me right now.) So I thought in the meantime I would post something others of you have been clamouring for... more music!

This is the song we usually "Tighten Up" too (hence the quote/paraphrasing {and that is the perfect excuse if it doesn't really sound great}) and we did so again the other night for Sentinel Idol (Yeah. It is pretty much just like it sounds, except even with as little talent that showed up we probably had more talent than the American version. More originality for sure.) It was fun, we didn't win but we never expected to anyway. "I'm not doing this for me. No, I'm doing it for them. 'Cos they love me" (or there abouts.)

Hopefully it is enjoyable for you. Thanks to Arne! Quite the surprise to find the video there when I downloaded the pictures. You can see that my hair is longer as the lights don't reflect off the shaven head, "No shaved head, it's quite sane."



Cheers,
g

"Under a Blood Orange Sky"

Okay so I have taken the pictures off of my camera, I know I am really slow at doing things. But I wanted to post a couple of the mini-dust storm. Like I promised so long ago.
This is out my door on that day. You can see the pinkish-orangeish tint to the sky, normally it looks very dull and gray.

And then there is one taken a little later. When if got darker it made me say, "My God, I am breathing this." Actually I say that a lot 'round here.

So now I have caught up a little so that I can get behind
again.

So now I want to put this to the People...what do you want to hear more about? What follow up story do you most want to read? More about the contractors? About the blind date? My hair? I put it to you the dedicated followers of this humble blog...what do you want to hear me ramble about? Since I fixed the comment thing everyone can vote.

Cheers,
g

Bowling, "Down the Roses"

Sorry, there are no Roses here. But there is a bowling alley, and yes I know the title is a massive major jump...but I don't really feel good. Nothing to write home about (ha ha ha) I'll be okay.

Just wanted to talk about the bowling alley a little. And speaking of little it is...11 lanes that are stacked so close to each other that if'n yer large (like me) you are actually in the lane next to you when you go down. Not really sure why there is a bowling alley here, I know there is one on almost every Military Installation, but it doesn't feel like this one was made for us. I mean when we were there the other night (a nice brief respite I must say, don't think I could do it all the time but nice change of pace) there was only one other group of Soldiers. And we were there for almost two hours. The rest of the place was filled with contractors, of all types and varieties. From the wider older people who you expect to find at a bowling alley (please no one take offense here, I am not profiling or stereotyping but I have spent a fair amount of time in the bowling alleys of the world, and anyone else who has knows what I am talking about) to the folks who work in the laundry, to the guys next to us who I am pretty sure were on a blind date. (Read it twice if you have to it says what you think.)

I just don't know, it didn't feel...I don't know, right? It looked right from outside, you know there was the wall that could have been blocking the freeway noise (minus the big hole probably I guess it depends on where you bowl), the poor lighting, the parking lot filled with pick-up trucks, etc. Like I said I just don't think it was built for "us" and I really have to wonder what will happen to it later, when we are gone. Doing a lot of that actually, along with looking at all the civilians and wondering, "Why do we need YOU here?"

That is probably a blog best left for another day. I am tired now, so I just want to thank everyone for showing up and being patient (especially about the pictures, I do have some ideas, trust me) and say, "Sorry" to Mr. Johnson.

Cheers,
g

Just When...

...You think you've seen it all.
From the direction of the bathrooms comes...(wait for it) a guy in a bathrobe! I shit you not. Some scraggly guy with a salt and pepper beard comes strolling back from I don't know where. I mean obviously the bathroom, but not even the shower (well, he didn't have a towel and all that so one can only guess {but then again I guess he could have just dried off with the robe.}) And just so you don't think I am kidding, the robe was dark blue and fuzzy and had brown vertical stripes.

Sorry I couldn't think of any snappy song line or anything to title this one, but I mean, Really!?! "They just don't write 'em like that anymore" (there are you happy now, a little Greg Kihn to satisfy your needs {and a song that has parenthesis in the title to boot. }) "Uh uh ah uh uh uh uh ah" (You'd have to check the spelling on that but I bet someone, somewhere is laughing.)

Did I mention that I fixed the commenting thing (I guess if I can't remember I really should write more often.) You know I think I have more parenthetical than I do regular prose (English Major...in your face!)

And I guess by now you've noticed that I put a Warning on this thing too, thought I had better before I got shut down. I do try and keep the language tame, you should hear me speak these days.

I will post a picture of the hair in a couple of days, it is getting in that ridiculous stage right now where I look like a chia pet. (My brothers know whereof I speak, one o' my nieces too.) But I shall endeavor to rise above it all.

And here I only thought I was going to give a couple of sentences about the guy in the bathrobe...

Oh and yes it is starting to get warm. Someone said it was "Hot" today...I laughed in their face.

Cheers,
g