GOML!

Summer Is NOT Givin' Up

Yeah, I know:  it's still summer, technically, and the Autumnal Equinox is still nearly three full weeks away.  School is back in session and those college boys are playin' football (Why, yes.  Yes, we DID cheer, cheer for Ol' Notre Dame.) so there are more than a few Fall indicators extant.  But Ol' Ma Nature isn't letting us forget the fact it's still summer out there.  Witness:

Hot, hot, hot... and it's gonna stay like this fer a while.

Labor Day

Ladies and Gentlemen... The Rolling Stones!

“Let’s Drink to the Hard-Working People…”

You don’t think of the Rolling Stones…at least I don’t… when it comes to delivering socially-conscious messages in song. But I can’t, for the life of me, think of a more appropriate tune for Labor Day. So, it’s in that spirit that I give you “Salt of the Earth.” (lyrics here)

It’s interesting to note that Jagger dismissed this song as one written in “total cynicism.” While that may be true, I prefer to derive my own meaning from the lyrics… and in MY interpretation, those “hard working people” are indeed the “Salt of the Earth.” Screw a bunch of cynics.

On the other hand… I could have posted this tune (Hell, I’m gonna post it anyway), which is kinda-sorta appropriate for Labor Day, innit? Both of these songs are from “Beggars Banquet,” which… apropos of nothing… just might be The Stones’ best album.  (ed:  No it's not.  Exile On Main Street is.)

Factory girls: God Love ‘Em!

Enjoy your Labor Day, Gentle Reader.

Heh

News Item

From The Daily Caller:

President Barack Obama was greeted with fleeting applause and extended periods of silence as he offered profuse praise to soldiers and their families during an Aug. 31 speech in Fort Bliss, Texas.

His praise for the soldiers — and for his own national-security policies — won cheers from only a small proportion of the soldiers and families in the cavernous aircraft-hangar.

The audience remains quiet even when the commander-in-chief thanked the soldiers’ families, and cited the 198 deaths of their comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The audience’s reaction was so flat that the president tried twice to elicit a reaction from the crowd.
“Hey, I hear you,” he said amid silence.

The selected soldiers who were arrayed behind the president sat quietly throughout the speech.
CNN and MSNBC ended their coverage of the speech before it was half-over.

Why am I not surprised?

Saturday

Damn that fanboi company, anyway!

And then there's this...



... which is better than the original by an order o' magnitude.  At least.  Axl?  Is that you?

From the Usual Source.

A Mind Like a Steel Trap

I'm wearing one of my favorite tee shirts (pic at right), and I was reminded of a story as I put it on today.

I wore this shirt while I was up in Leavenworth this past April and I asked grandson Sean if he knew what the logo/diagram was.  "No," he replied.  So I told him... it's a capsaicin molecule and he sez "Oh, yeah... chiles!"  

Now fast forward to last week when I was up in ABQ.  Sean sez to me "You'll like this, Grandpa."  "What?" sez I.  "You know your capsaicin tee shirt?" sez he.  "Yup," sez I.  And then he sez... "Well my chemistry teacher had the molecular diagram of capsaicin on the board on our first day of class and he asked the class if anyone knew what it was.  I raised my hand and said 'Yep... it's a capsaicin molecule.'"

I'm bettin' the chemistry teacher was floored.  As the title sez: A Mind Like a Steel Trap.

The boy takes after his father (AND his Mom).  His grandfather, too. 

The Best Speech at the GOP Convention...

... was this one, for my money:

Brilliant.  Great humor and truth.

While we're on the subject, Mr. Romney knocked it outta the park with his acceptance speech.  He was warm, personable, truthful, and respectful in his pointed repudiation of the Obama administration.  The speech was a real tour de force; I was most impressed.

Thievery... It's What We Do

That's from the Shoebox blog.  But you knew that, didn't ya?

Not Your Father's Air Force XXI

From the Usual USAF Source and a Cannon Airplane Patch press release...

Suite Digs at Cannon: The 27th Special Operations Wing broke ground this week on a new $12.4 million enlisted dormitory at Cannon AFB, N.M. The dorm, scheduled for completion in fall 2013, will house 96 airmen in separate quad bedrooms that share laundry and common areas in a suite-style arrangement, states a Cannon release. "We are working toward single occupancy and this will move us closer to that goal until future dorms are built," said TSgt. Matthew Smith, 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron project noncommissioned officer in charge. "The new dormitory is something that Air Force Special Operations Command has long awaited," added project chief Robert Ferry. "It's a step toward premier unaccompanied housing at Cannon." Civil engineers at Cannon began preparations for the project in April; officials ceremoniously hefted the project's first shovel loads of earth on Aug. 27. (Cannon report by A1C Xavier Lockley)

Sweet, indeed.  Here's a better image of the floor plan you can barely see in the corner of the pic above, even if ya embiggen it:

Private baths!  Closets!  A freakin' laundry room and a KITCHEN, even.  This is a far cry from the way I lived when I was a junior airman.  Hell, I had a roommate when I was a staff sergeant and we had communal latrines in the dorm I lived in.  The first time I ever had a room of my own was when I made tech sergeant, but I still had to share a bathroom with about 20 of my closest friends.  I shouldn't complain, though... at least I wasn't in the Navy.

Heh.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtack... And a LENGTHY Reminiscence

I've been on an '80s jag of late and I've had this post written in my head for about a week now... with some additions and more than a few subtractions.  But we shall try and put it up, and damn the torpedoes.  So.  The '80s, which is this, in part, for me:

It's my own design
It's my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

[...]

So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world

This is a re-run, in that we've posted this tune before, simply because the song contains what I think is one of the greatest rhythm guitar breaks ever recorded...at 2:20, or so.  But we digress.  What we're on about is decades o' music and decades of our life.  Permit me...

We'll begin with the 60s.  Not the Sixties of conventional wisdom, which began with Woodstock in 1969 and ended with Altamont, in that same year.  One could make a case that the '60s lasted well into the '70s, but we'll forgo THAT, wanting instead to talk about decades.  The '60s... for me... began with teenage angst, given that I graduated from high school in 1963.  I went into the Air Force in that same year (1963), suffered the grief and psychic damage of the JFK assassination shortly thereafter, endured the loss of my mother to suicide in 1964, and married for the first time in 1966.  This decade was highlighted by the birth of my two adult sons, which was the high water mark of the decade, for me.  Altogether a mixed bag, highlighted (musically) by the British Invasion with the Beatles and the Stones and all the others.

And then we moved into the '70s, a decade in which we saw our first marriage fail, fell into a life that could have turned out MUCH worse than it did (think: three felonies before breakfast, see item 10), met The Second Mrs. Pennington and fell in glorious, delirious love, and ended up launching our second marriage, followed closely by buying my very first house.  Yet another mixed bag, albeit one that ended on a VERY high note.  Musically?  Very, very good, actually.  That said... when I listen to music from that time I'm haunted by what might have been.  Which is NOT a warm and fuzzy feeling.

So we come to the '80s, which, to mis-quote Dickens (but check out the full quote which applies, in spades) was the best o' times...with none of that "worst" shit, mainly coz it was ALL good.  We began this decade with the best assignment in my USAF career... to RAF Uxbridge in the London borough of Hillingdon.  Those three years... from 1980 'til 1983... passed oh-so-much quicker than they should have, and that's coz time ALWAYS flies when yer havin' fun.  We hung up the Blue Suit in 1985 and launched our civilian career by moving to Dee-troit, where we signed on with Ed's Famous Data company.  TSMP and I lost our collective asses in the oil-bust of 1985 (didja ever take a check to closing when you SOLD a house?  Me either, until we left Oklahoma, when we watched ALL of our equity and a large piece of our savings vanish in the proverbial puff o' smoke.), but we recovered and bought the best house we ever owned shortly thereafter.  I also became a hockey fan during this decade, igniting a life-long love affair those Wings.  The '80s marked the point in time when we began making some serious money, too... so I look back on that decade with GREAT fondness.  The music that was the soundtrack of that era remains among my favorites, with good reason.

Then came the '90s, which, in a word, sucked.  My lifetime apocalypse happened in 1998 when the maid quit and everything that came after that was just so much stage dressing.  The ONLY bright spot in that dismal decade was the birth of SN3 and even that happy event is fraught with bitter memories of good times I never had.  Forgettable in its entirety, as was the music.

The 2000s were a mixed bag, as well.  I hit the pinnacle of my civilian career, what with taking another job out in San Francisco... which came outta the blue and was completely unexpected.  Digression: I "retired" in 1999 and really didn't expect to work again until a buddy called me up and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  The offer was a great one:  we hired on with a magical six-figure salary (plus bonus) and got promoted to the exalted position of Director (my tongue is FIRMLY in my cheek) before we quit in 2002.  It was a good run, professionally speaking, but ultimately proved to be hollow... what the Hell was I working for, anyway?  We did manage to pad the 401k a bit, getting to the point where we could retire, permanently.  So we left SFO in 2002 and arrived in P-Ville for a "one month visit" with SN1, who was stationed at Cannon Airplane Patch at the time.  And we're still here even though SN1 and fambly are LONG gone.  Go figure.  

The music of the Oughties?  Eminently forgettable and I attribute my Old Fart status as the reason.  Nothing in today's music resonates with me at all.

My but we do go on, eh?  And all by way of sayin' that I'm thoroughly enjoying the music of the '80s these last few days... or weeks.  Now you know why.

Holy Cow!

A recent e-mail exchange:

When I say "largesse," I mean LARGEsse.  We're talkin' $92.50 worth o' cigars here, which are MOST appreciated.  Now do all y'all understand why I love doin' bid'niz with these guys?

By way o' explanation: I'm sure this was Tim's way o' makin' up for the Postal Service's fuck-up a couple o' weeks ago, even though it most certainly was not HIS fault.

I think I shall now retire to the verandah for a cool beer and one of those Deep Dishes.

If I Had A Queen, She'd Look Like This

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An Old Friend Comes Home

That old friend would be an artist's proof print serigraph by American Impressionist Henri Plisson (bio here, scroll down) called "The Red Door," which now hangs above my couch, like so:

The Second Mrs. Pennington and I bought that print back around 1991 or so and it graced every home we made from that time until we were over... and graced my bachelor quarters after that.  The fact that the print "came home" is a longish story, the Reader's Digest version being that SN1 and DIL Erma have been in possession of the print ever since I ran away from home.  Times change and the print was excess to requirements in the current SN1 household, so I have it back on loan.

I think it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the digs, don't you?

Update, 1600 hrs:  I shoulda added this, from an e-mail conversation with DIL Erma:

Further... from another web site:

"Henri Plisson was born in Omaha, Nebraska as Patrick Ryan. He later embraced the name of Henri Plisson to be used in his impressionist paintings. He originally attended the University Of Nebraska, but continued his studies at the University Of Southern California. It was here that he obtained his Master of Fine Arts Degree. Many feel Plisson's style of painting used seemingly inherent methods which he combined with a unique sense of color and dynamic and lustrous images. "Painting is elusive. It is very difficult to verbalize, as you're putting into words something that speaks on its own," says the artist. This modern American Impressionist's works are currently displayed by some very distinctive corporate and private collectors.   "

Heh.  I'm distinctive now.

Ya, that's us.  Distinctive.  Heh.

Eyes On the Skies

Isaac certainly has everyone's attention...

I'm thinking a 50 cent per gallon increase in gas prices would be the least of our problems if stuff gets bad.  Our best thoughts go out to our friends on the Gulf Coast.

Speaking of... there's this:

Preparing for Isaac: Airmen at Air Force bases along the Gulf Coast continued making preparations for Tropical Storm Isaac on Aug. 27 as the storm worked its way up the Gulf of Mexico towards New Orleans after having passed between southern Florida and Cuba. Eglin Air Force Base in Florida's panhandle remained in hurricane condition three as officials prepared for winds up to 52 knots and at least a foot of rain through Aug. 29. F-16s from the base were relocating to Shaw AFB, S.C., while its F-15s were headed to Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., according to an Eglin release. However, the 19 F-35s of Eglin's F-35 schoolhouse would hunker down in hangars built to withstand hurricane-strength winds, said Eglin officials. MC-130Es from Eglin's Duke Field were evacuated to Fort Campbell, Ky., according to a Duke release. And, airmen at Hurlburt Field, which adjoins Eglin, on Aug. 26 evacuated the majority of the base's airplanes to Little Rock AFB, Ark., stated a Hurlburt release. KC-135s assigned MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa relocated to Pease ANGB, N.H., and McGhee-Tyson ANGB, Tenn., while F-22s from Tyndall AFB, Fla., on Aug. 26 moved to Sheppard AFB, Tex. Meanwhile, airmen at Keesler AFB, Miss., also remained under HURCON 3, as they prepared for Isaac, according to a base release.

That's from the Usual USAF Source.

And while we're on about things USAF... I raised my right hand and swore "... that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." 49 years ago today.  A few weeks later the lil blurb you see on the left appeared in a local SoCal rag.

Dang.  I'll celebrate my 50th-freakin'-anniversary the next time this date rolls around.  Un-bee-leeb-able.

Ramirez

The Chicago Weasels.  Heh.

In other news... we shall be departing ABQ later on this morning.  We're gonna take the long way home and won't be arriving back in P-Ville until sometime tomorrow.  Blogging might could be light as a result.

More From Curiosity

NASA released a hi-def video of Curiosity's landing today and it's pretty cool:

And then there's this:

Meanwhile, the Mars rover Curiosity has completed its first drive, NASA scientists announced Wednesday, proving that it's capable of moving farther afield on the Red Planet. "It couldn't be more important. We built a rover, so unless the rover roves, we really haven't accomplished anything," said Curiosity Project Manager Pete Theisinger at Wednesday's news conference. "The fact that we completely exercised it, and everything was on track, is a big moment."

Everything seems to be in order and I STILL find this project amazing, in each and every way.  You GO, NASA!

What's For Dinner, Buck?

That would be DIL Erma with a plate o' home-made Thai beef salad, which we consumed immediately after taking this picture.  There will be seconds, later.

Yum.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

DIL Erma and I were discussing folks we know and love during today's Happy Hour and this song came up...

I never knew a man
could tell so many lies
He had a different story
for every set of eyes.
How can he remember
who he's talkin' to?
'Cause I know it ain't me,
and I hope it isn't you.

This is a classic case o' you hadda be there and you weren't, Gentle Reader.  But we were.  And we know this person all too well.

Apropos o' not much... we did a couple o' fingers o' that Woodford Reserve to kick off Happy Hour, followed by a Fat Tire.  I coulda done more o' that Woodford, but we didn't wanna get totally shit-faced this early in the day.  We'll save THAT for later this evening.  Good stuff, that Woodford Reserve.

The Kid In the Candy Store

So... we go the Big City where there are REAL likker stores and went slightly nuts in one such this afternoon.  To wit:

I bought the Rye as a re-supply action and the Woodford Reserve because we can't get it in P-Ville.  Now we have a two-week supply o' the Good Stuff, plus what's already in the likker locker at home.  But tell me again why I'm not movin' here... coz Enquiring Minds™ wanna know.