N-B-A-spiracy: Lakers advance to NBA Finals

There wasn't really a conspiracy, of course, but you'd be lying if you said that Lakers didn't take a lot of help from the ref's to get to the finals this season.

Game 1) Near the end of a close game, the ball goes off of Duncan and out of bounds. Duncan appears to be fouled. No call is made. At the end of the game, score tied and the Lakers with the ball, Kobe blatantly shoulders a Spur out of his way, elevates, hits the go ahead jumper. No foul is called. The Lakers win.

Game 4) Spurs down 2 with 3 seconds to play. Derek Fisher mugs the Spurs Brent Barry. No foul is called. Barry loses the ball, and the game ends. The NBA admits the next day that a 2 shot foul should have been called. Barry is an 85% free throw shooter. But alas. Lakers win. Barry says of the NBA's apology:

"That's awesome. Because Doc Brown is waiting for me outside, and we're going to get in the DeLorean and fire up the flux capacitor and we're going to go back and shoot a couple of free throws."

And that pretty much wrapped up the series. At the same time...I'm happy that LA won, as to me they're a more fun team to watch than the Spurs. And there's no denying that Kobe is the single best end-0f-game player the NBA has had in the last 10 years. Even on those Shaq/Kobe teams, it wasn't like the Lakers would give it to the big guy down the stretch. They'd give it to Kobe.

So dubious refereeing aside, well done Lakers. Next up: the Celtics or the Pistons. How very 1988...

The Other Side of the Coin

Tonight I wrote an email to a military wife who reached out to me through the blog, worried about her husband who might soon deploy and not really sure who might understand what she was going through.

And tonight, my wife linked to an absolutely devastating story of the ordinary, unexceptional misery felt by thousands of military families every day.

Link directly to the story here.

It's not said often enough--the deployed have it easy compared to those left behind to worry after our safety and well being. I'll never know how hard this deployment has been for my family.

Rachel Ray, terror supporter and jihado-apologist!?!

Say it isn't so, Rachel!

It would appear that some folks back in the states are taking to task everyone's favorite throaty voiced, indie music loving, cheap meal buying Dunkin Donut spokesperson.

For what, you ask? For wearing a scarf in a commercial. Which makes us lose the war on terror...how exactly?

Wow. Just wow.

Note: The attached picture is of Rachel at SXSW, no doubt spewing her vile, anti-American hate for all the lefty music fans there to watch Vampire Weekend and discuss why they think that Freedom, contrary to popular opinion, is indeed Free.

He Stared Lovingly Into Her Eyes and Said "Neigh"

Big Brown gallops nine furlongs in preparation for the Belmont this weekend.

I also hear he weighed in at a healthy 250 stone and stands at an impressive 15 hands.

Seriously, who uses units like that? If the Horse crowd can find a way to work in leagues, fortnights and/or fathoms they'll be just about ready to write a fantasy novel.

Reggie & Obama, making it happen

Great article from the front page of the Times about all around good guy Reggie Love. The Duke alum is Obama's body man--basically Charlie to Obama's Josiah Bartlet. Money quote:

"Mr. Obama said he regarded "my guy, Reggie," as the kid brother he never had. "But maybe I'm saying that just because he technically could be my son," the Illinois senator said. "I don't want to admit my age."

I never had a kid brother either, but it's nice to know that I get an awesome ex-Duke basketball player to fill that role for me if and when I mount my run for the White House.

Incidentally, this is the first article I've read about Reggie that's alluded to his--ahem--unfortunate beverage related photography accident in Chapel Hell some years back.

Thanks to my father in law and Rhonda for sending out this link.

Peter King Redux

A few months back I posted this pic of me and Peter King discussing the finer points of Hall of Famer Art Monk's receiving statistics relative to the era in which he played (a topic that Peter King found as boring as you guys probably do).

A friend of mine from college just forwarded me this (somewhat raunchy) link, where a football blog has totally doctored my picture to meet their own nefarious purposes--scroll down a bit and you'll see it.

And in fact, if you google "Peter King" and look for images, my Peter King picture shows up on the second page of results. Pretty good stuff. It's nice to know that anyone hoping to doctor a photo so it looks like Peter King is holding a sign that says something or other will likely turn to my picture first.

New Islands: Arm's Way

Decidedly mixed reviews so far for the new Islands album.

Which is disappointing, as I've got really high hopes for this one. You see, the one and only time I saw Islands live was in San Francisco with my friend Anna. Islands played most of the tracks off of what would eventually become Arm's Way, and I loved every minute of it...but that might just have been the beer talking. Here's hoping my impression then was right and that the critics now are wrong.

Anyone out there given it a listen yet?

28 May Edit: I take your resounding silence as a no :)

Only in Afghanistan...

One of the side effects of working too hard is a weakened immune system. I've been fighting off a variety of ailments for the last few weeks, and today the doctor prescribed me--I kid you not--Magic Mouthwash.

That's not just a euphemism either...it actually says "Magic Mouthwash" on the bottle. The interweb tells me that MM is a concoction of medicines that will help my throat get better, and I really hope that's the case. But I'm pretty sure MM is something that doctors give to make you feel ridiculous to the point that you will yourself to stop being sick. And hey, I'll take that too.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to Frank Buckles, the last surviving US veteran of the Great War.

"He was born in February 1901, seven months before President William McKinley was assassinated. If Buckles had been born 14 months earlier, he would have lived in three centuries. He has lived through 46 percent of the nation's life, a percentage that rises each morning when he does."

Amazing stuff. One of my maternal great grandfathers was a WWI vet, as I imagine many of our great grandfathers were. It's hard to believe that some folks from their generation are still out there making it happen.

Happy Memorial Day, everybody. I hope that life slows down enough so that each of us has time today to reflect on the sacrifices (final or otherwise) made by those that have gone before us.

Reading is Fundamental

I stumbled upon this list in a NY Times article. It references a British book that sports a 1001 book list "handpicked by a team of international critics and literary luminaries."

The Times writer had read 300+ of the 1001 books. Well hello Mr. Fancy Pants. I did a rough pass at the list and came up with 59. Which means that while I might be a book snob, I'm not a very well read one.

Looking at the first 10 on the list (which is in reverse chronological order) we have:

1. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Saturday – Ian McEwan
3. On Beauty – Zadie Smith
4. Slow Man – J.M. Coetzee
5. Adjunct: An Undigest – Peter Manson
6. The Sea – John Banville
7. The Red Queen – Margaret Drabble
8. The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
9. The Master – Colm Tóibín
10. Vanishing Point – David Markson

I've read Never Let Me Go and The Plot Against America, and I've read a book by McEwan (the same one everyone else has read) but I haven't read Saturday. And I've never actually heard of Banville, Drabble, Tóibín or Markson. Ah well. Maybe I'll get around to one or two of the 1001 during my last several months in Afghanistan.

Indian Soaps Banned in Afghanistan

I've got to say, I think I agree with the Mullahs on this one. I'm not a big soap opera fan either.

"Alim Jamali, 27, a psychology student, said the Indian serials are "just like opium -- they make everyone addicted and distract them from the work of rebuilding our country." All Afghans want education and rights, he added, "but they must be within the frame of Islam."

I don't know, though, that's a pretty bold statement. How about--"Soap operas are just like huffing glue", or "Soap operas are almost as addictive as a delicious McGriddles sandwich at McDonalds." To me that sounds a lot more reasonable.

Musings on the GI Bill

27 May Edit: Here are a few more links to flesh out the story, particularly with respect to the CBO study that McCain cites:

Link 1: NYT editorial
Link 2: Army Times article
Link 3: Think Progress blog

This article gives a fairly decent run down on the recent kerfuffle regarding the new GI Bill. To summarize:

McCain et al: The new bill will hurt retention and drive Sergeants out of the service after one tour. Make it a sliding scale that rewards multiple tours (Which is an argument worth considering, in my opinion)

Webb et al: One tour (3 years minimum) kinda sucks to begin with, and they're leaving anyways--we owe 'em this money. The current GI Bill never adjusted for inflation, so it doesn't pay nearly enough. (Which is also a compelling argument, even if it leaves out retention...)

Obama: I don't get how this McCain character could vote against vets going to college. (Which is just political sloganeering, something McCain is engaging in as well--"Obama hasn't served so he can't talk!")

And that's about as deeply as the issue is being discussed (from what I've seen, at least).

The Pentagon is having a hard time wrapping their brain around this one. Every bonus/benefit currently on the books, with the exception of the badly outdated GI bill, rewards extended service. Commit to an extra X years and receive Y dollars. Let the Army pay for your grad school and give them back 3 days for every day you spent on campus.

The GI Bill rewards you for simply signing up and serving honorably. So basically, what you're left with is this:

There WILL be a hit on retention with a beefed up GI Bill. It's intellectually lazy to ignore this effect outright. But it's also intellectually lazy to ignore the fact that there WILL be a boost in recruitment and there WILL be an incremental boost to the quality of the individuals recruited.

Neither side of the debate has, to my satisfaction, presented their model to support whatever impact (or lack thereof) the two bills will have on retention***. McCain is hinting at a model (he cites a 16% hit on retention) but I want to see the analysis to back that up. Obama makes a blanket statement that retention won't be harmed. Really?

All things being equal, I tend to lean towards McCain's proposal--improve the base line benefits, sure, and then tack on additional benefits for additional time served. Max it out at 6 or 8 years, maybe accelerate the rate you accrue the benefits based on the number of combat tours and/or stop-losses you serve through.

Or something like that.

***If anyone has seen analysis that supports either argument, please shoot it my way.

Ripped from the comments

"I hate Duke. I always have but you have nice blog!"

Thank you, sir, I think my blog is nice too--especially for a hate inspiring Duke guy like me.

For the record, I hate paper cuts, trying to put socks on while my feet are still damp from the shower, and the estate tax.

Ode to a Friday morning lost...

I have gotten to the point in the deployment where I attempt to slide silly words into briefings I give to important people. Today I told a general about the shenanigans that go on in my area of operations. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Friday is the day that I sleep in--theoretically, at least. It didn't happen today as there seemed to be two different things conspiring against me.

Thing the First: There are some visitors in my B-Hut (the plywood structure that houses me and 15 of my closest friends). These visitors are in transit, so they were just hanging around at 8 AM, a time that I have blocked off on the my calendar for unconsciousness. The visitors, though, didn't think that turning lights on and off, slamming doors and having conversations using their outdoor voices was incompatible with my happy-action-sleep time. And unfortunately for all of us, they thought wrong.

Thing the Second: At about 930 when the visitors finally took off, someone started banging on my door. I ignored it at first, but they were persistent. I groggily shouted something or other and the knocker answered back--it was a friend/co-worker letting me know that I was being summoned to attend a conference to present a 15 minute update on my Task Force.

Now, I knew about the conference (responsible fellow that I am) and I had spent 30 minutes the previous night composing remarks for one of my colleagues to present on my behalf. Conferences are cool and all, but I'd been at work past 1AM Thursday night (and Wed night, and on several other recent occasions) and I thought a little extra sleep was something I deserved.

As it turned out the guy I emailed the remarks to didn't check his email before going to the conference that morning. Suck.

There was nothing much else I could do at that point--I got up, got dressed and headed to the conference. I gave my spiel to a room full of people who out ranked me by no small margin, enlightened them on assorted matters, and I left. The use of the word "shenanignas" got about 25% strange looks, 25% stifled laughs and 50% indifference. I had the pre-lunch time slot, so I think a certain level of boredom was inevitable, regardless of my content or delivery.

By the end of the presentation it was about the time I usually go to work on Fridays anyways, so I just went back to the office. I worked until about 1AM and then I headed home to pen this ode to Friday mornings lost.

Sigh...it's nights like this when I really miss my wife, cat, family and friends.

The Army 2.0 Web Album

I've been meaning to post this link for a while.

Basically, the nice people at Blogger aggregate all the pictures I've ever uploaded to the blog into a single convenient Picasa album (thanks, nice people at Blogger!)

So never again will you have to spend hours digging through the archives to find that shot of Frownie from back in July that you liked so much.

And in case some of our new visitors stumble upon any pictures of guys who look like me, just with really awesome hair--it's true, I celebrated my recall to the Army by attempting to recreate the George Harrison circa 1969 look as accurately as I possibly could (something I failed at rather spectacularly, or so the wife would have you believe).