tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post1029235400679603612..comments2023-12-27T13:35:09.431-07:00Comments on Exile in Portales: Further…Buckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-39289748587233013562008-01-02T13:41:00.000-07:002008-01-02T13:41:00.000-07:00Doc: Thanks for the links...especially the WLA lin...Doc: Thanks for the links...<I>especially</I> the WLA link. I spent quite a while in the wee, wee hours this morning reading there. Bookmarked, it is.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure reading other folk's stuff is gonna help with my block about my Russian adventures. I'm hoping the arrival of the photo archives arrive from SN2's place in Omaha will help to jog the memory.<BR/><BR/>Re: The game, and Carney's injury. I winced (which is waaay too mild a term) when I saw that, and agree whole-heartedly about injuries vs. the surgery that follows. I have a couple of those tee shirts myself.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-90283138950684090712008-01-01T23:12:00.000-07:002008-01-01T23:12:00.000-07:00Buck, Let me second Bec! You need to tell those st...Buck, Let me second Bec! You need to tell those stories. Here's an idea: go to the web version of <A HREF="http://www.wlajournal.com/" REL="nofollow"><I>War, Literature & the Arts</I></A> and read some of the stuff there, particularly any issue where there's personal narrative. I'm picturing a piece titled something like "The Cost of Peace" with your recollections of some of those trips. Just a thought. In the meantime, I know I speak for all your readers when I say we'd love to have them <I>here</I>.<BR/><BR/>On the Russian Mafia, if you haven't seen <I>Eastern Promises</I>, it's worth a look. I gave it an A- <A HREF="http://theyrodeon.blogspot.com/2007/09/recurring-training.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>. <BR/><BR/>RE: The Bowl game. I listened to it on the radio here. Hated to hear what happened to Shawn Carney. He was my student for freshman comp. He and Kip McCarthy sat next to each other on the back row of a mini-lectinar and even then had a sense of destiny about them (which is to say that, like most gifted jocks, neither seemed to believe that their feces was odiferous). Still, I think I once titled a post <A HREF="http://theyrodeon.blogspot.com/2007/12/it-aint-conceit-if-its-true.html" REL="nofollow">"It Ain't Conceit if It's True."</A> Maybe I need to read my own stuff more often. ;-) And I've had that surgery he's facing, so suddenly I can't feel anything but sympathy for the boy. I ever tear another ligament in my knee, I'm probably done skydiving. The pain of the injury ain't nothing compared to the surgery.Dochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16411258590548162736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-19176561754723434732007-12-31T16:06:00.000-07:002007-12-31T16:06:00.000-07:00Buck sez: "I really need to focus just a bit and w...Buck sez: "I really need to focus just a bit and write about the experiences I had there."<BR/><BR/>Bec sez: I've been waiting, y'know...<BR/>:) You and Doc have been witnesses to history on a very personal level and you're both talented writers. (Not to pressure you or anything)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-28821780949802642412007-12-31T11:55:00.000-07:002007-12-31T11:55:00.000-07:00Doc: The whole situation in Russia when I went ('...Doc: The whole situation in Russia when I went ('92 or '93, I forget) was sad. I had great empathy for the vets, especially the older ones, but it was the old women who really got to me. No matter where one went there was always a group of old women ...and I'm talking primarily women between 60 and 70 years of age... standing silently outside the Metro stations, against buildings, in the park, selling something, anything. When I say "anything," I mean a single dried mackerel, a framed icon, bottles of soda, paintings, porcelain pitchers, you-name-it. And they'd scatter like flocks of small birds when the police came into view. THAT was sad.<BR/><BR/>Of course, there were others... talented buskers of all ages, old and older men, younger men, and hookers. Lots of hookers. The Russian mafia were very visible at that time, too. Big-ass Mercedes, first generation mobile phones (usually carried by some minion), and loud...very loud. I saw those types everywhere, as well.<BR/><BR/>As I noted elsewhere in comments, I <I>really</I> need to focus just a bit and write about the experiences I had there. Including the night a young Red Army tanker captain, one of my team members, and I got rip-roaring drunk together. The captain spoke not a word of English and my friend and I spoke VERY little Russian, but Dang! we "communicated" until the wee hours. <I>That's</I> a war story worth the telling...<BR/><BR/>About the origins of your hat...thanks for letting me know. Have you ever posted about your friend's experiences? I'll bet he has some great stories, as well! I can only imagine being at the Russian equivalent of NORAD. Wow.<BR/><BR/>Jay: The first half is nearly over and the AFA is LARGE and IN CHARGE (assuming you consider a one touchdown lead "in charge")!! Too early for beer, though.Buckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05319116022465066060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-13983476596705463022007-12-31T10:58:00.000-07:002007-12-31T10:58:00.000-07:00Go Zoomies!!!Beat those crybaby CalBears!Go Zoomies!!!<BR/><BR/>Beat those crybaby CalBears!The Friendly Neighborhood Piperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07801966842022621248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18232353.post-5031114054721155132007-12-31T00:09:00.000-07:002007-12-31T00:09:00.000-07:00Buck, Didn't you find it sad though that so many o...Buck, Didn't you find it sad though that so many of our former enemy's troops were reduced to selling their uniforms to buy their vodka? Many were conscripts, yes, but how many were, like us, professional soldiers once upon a time?<BR/><BR/>And my hat, in case you ever wondered, came back with a friend who was in the Russian version of our Cheyenne Mountain to help make sure we made it through that millenium New Years without finally finding out what MAD was really all about.<BR/><BR/>Happy New Year! DocDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16411258590548162736noreply@blogger.com