Nothing much going on...

An interesting article about a different part of Afghanistan...

I imagine some of you are wondering why I haven't posted about the First Lady yet? It's true, she totally visited Bamyan, one of the 4 provinces I work in and have had the chance to visit fairly extensively. And it's true that that's pretty awesome.

I guess I just don't know what else there is to say about Mrs. Bush's visit. Bamyan is mostly peaceful and boasts Habiba Sorabi as its governor. Not only is Dr. Sorabi the only female governor in Afghanistan, but she's arguably one of the strongest governors in all of Afghanistan.

And yes, when you visit Bamyan with someone important in tow, the Kiwis there do their war dance for you--which is pretty cool.

Anywho, happy weekend everyone. I continue to maintain a low profile here at the 2.0, just trying to hold my breath for another several weeks until it's time to come home for R&R.

The Big Time

I would just like to point out that my wife is now getting comments on her blog from Chris Cooley's little brother.

Pretty cool stuff.

Honestly, between Chris Cooley and Gilbert Arenas, I doubt any other city can challenge DC for athlete-blogging supremacy.

And Lauren--if you'd like me to take topless photos of you to post on the 2.0, like Chris did with his wife, you just let me know...

Pictures without me in them...

The Boston Globe (which is confusingly found at the url boston.com) ran an interesting slide show of Afghanistan pictures yesterday.

I've actually been to the palace shown here. It's a pretty breathtaking site to behold--the picture doesn't do it justice. The area its located in Kabul is pretty cool as well. Other palaces are within view, there are some parks/gardens, and the National Museum (which I've never been to) is across the street, to the rear of the photographer in this shot.

On a related note, I wish I did a better job capturing pictures of the places I've had the chance to see. I end up as the photographer, more often than not, taking pictures of other people with other cameras--which comes with the territory when you're CA. It doesn't leave much time for taking tourist shots of myself.

Quarterly California Report

Notable vehicle enthusiast Marshawn Lynch took things a tad too far the other day--no one likes it when you hit someone and then keep driving, Marshawn.

Who would have thought the guy could get into more trouble in Buffalo than he ever did back in Oak-town?

In other news, a Berkeley institution is shutting down--how will the community survive without the UHaul to rail against?

I actually used this UHaul twice--once to move stuff into storage, and once to move it out. As the article suggests, parking in that neighborhood is a bear.

That's all the California stuff I have to share tonight--hat tip to Tom for sending me the UHaul link.

The roundup, btw, is still in the works...check back tomorrow morning and it should be online and ready to go.

Sadly Predictable

Wario strikes again, this time to spite Lord Stanley and his Cup.

Checking back in...

Hey everyone.

After a record setting month of May--44 posts blew out my previous monthly high of 31--I've taken the last couple of days to collect myself.

I stepped out of my office around midday here in Afghanistan, thinking that I'd have something interesting to say...but I'm drawing a blank. So, in the spirit of throwing something out there anyways, let me run down the numbers for you.

For those of you counting at home, I've now been here in Afghanistan for 166 days--Christmas Eve until now. I can't tell you exactly what percentage of the total deployment that is, but suffice to say my 5.5 months here puts me well over 50% complete.

I've been back in the Army now since June 24, 2007, so 349 days overall. In just a few weeks I'll pass the one year mark, which is pretty darn exciting. Also, I'll head home on leave sometime next month, so it's fun to be able to tell my wife--"See you next month!"

Army 2.0 veterans are probably wondering why they haven't seen a holiday countdown in a while, and you're right, I owe you that. I still haven't scrounged up decorations for Earth Day, Cinco de Mayo or Memorial Day. With the Solstice coming up in two weeks, I've really got to get my act together.

The good news, though, is that we're 75% through the countdown--only Solstice, Independence Day, Ramadan and Labor Day to go--and that's pretty awesome too.

That's it for now, I think. Enjoy the NBA Finals this weekend, and I'll see everyone again soon.

Look for a Monthly Roundup this weekend covering both April and May--should be epic.

Radiohead vs. Prince

There are some interesting copyright issues afoot!

Not that I particularly want to watch/listen to Prince sing Creep, but still...Radiohead want to see the clip, Prince. Ease up, little guy.

More on Puppies Behind Bars

Lauren fills in some more details on PBB over at Really Nothing Special.

Read this post--you don't want the terrorists to win.

Thrice Monthly Dinosaurs of Indie Rock Update

This is really kind of depressing. Built to Spill has scheduled a series of US dates throughout the US in September. At said dates BTS will perform their classic 1997 album Perfect From Now On. Like, in its entirety. Awesome, right?

Except that I'll be overseas for the entirety of that tour. Which is not cool...not even a little. (See the comments section for more on Built to Spill).

In far less depressing music news, the epicly titled Rock the Net: Musicians for Net Neutrality compilation will feature a new song from Army 2.0 fave the Wrens. The Wrens haven't released a new track since 2003's Meadowlands (lazy bastards) so this is (we can hope) an exciting step toward a new album for the Jerseyites.

Ah, net neutrality...I totally used to know what that is. It has something to do with the giant tubes that connect together all our computers, right?

Monday Morning News Brief

Surprise, surprise--international aid groups don't want the US military mucking about their development efforts in Africa.

And really, every single Civil Affairs team that the Army might have sent to Africa is one more CA Team worth of dudes they would have to call off of the IRR to backfill less glamorous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Africa mission, all told, is an interesting and important one. It remains to be seen, however, exactly what role the US military will play.

In Honor of Graduation Season...

And in keeping with my tradition of shamelessly mining the humor of others to supplement my own original content, here is my favorite ever commencement address***--Conan O'Brien Class Day speech to Harvard's graduating class of 2000.

This was back when Conan--a Harvard man himself, of course--was at the very height of his comedic powers. The remarks start with a bang:

"I'd like to thank the Class Marshals for inviting me here today. The last time I was invited to Harvard it cost me $110,000, so you'll forgive me if I'm a bit suspicious. I'd like to announce up front that I have one goal this afternoon: to be half as funny as tomorrow's Commencement Speaker, Moral Philosopher and Economist, Amartya Sen. Must get more laughs than seminal wage/price theoretician."

Happy Sunday, everyone.

***Yes, I indeed recognize that normal people don't have "favorite ever commencement addresses." I've long since come to terms with that. Still...enjoy the speech.