Creaking Tatters

Ouch, my thumb

My wife seemed to find this very amusing, but I didn't. I slammed my thumb in the door of an armored car. Now, slamming one's thumb in a regular car door is pretty bad, but an armored car, that's really bad. It's a really heavy door.

Kuwait Panorama

A panoramic view from our apartment, up and down the coast:

Click here

Kuwait City Views

Looking north from our apartment, towards downtown Kuwait City and the towers.

Persian Gulf Sunrise

The sun rising over the Persian Gulf, from our apartment window.

Welcome to Kuwait. You want fries with that?

So we arrived in Kuwait about a week ago. It's hot. We live right by the beach though, and our apartment building has a nice pool. And there's a McDonald's right across the street. In fact, the third or fourth night we were here, McDonald's was celebrating it's tenth anniversary in Kuwait. What could I do? I had to check it out...

Can't you feel it calling you, like a beacon in the dark night?

Yes, they did have some kids doing bike and rollerblade tricks, and a DJ. I kid you not.

The view of McDonald's and the Persian Gulf from our balcony.

Kuwait Driving

We moved out of our apartment in Arlington on Friday, staying with friends in Fairfax County until Monday night, when we fly out to Kuwait. We'll put up some pictures when we get there, insha'allah.

Our car should show up sometime in July, but I'm not sure how much we'll really want to drive it around. I stumbled across this page recently, the Crashed Cars of Kuwait.

24 inch pythons

Props to Erica, for posting this link on her blog. What do Hulk Hogan, He-Man, Mr. T, and R2D2 have in common? They're out to stop George W. Bush and the evil Voltron. Don't ask, just check it out.

Bonzo Goes to Heaven

So Ronald Reagan passed away this weekend. Alzheimer's is a horrible disease, and after suffering from it for ten years, I hope that President Reagan is at peace today.

I'm going to leave it up to the pundits and politicians to fight over Reagan's legacy. I'll try to go over to the Capital for the funeral procession this week if there's time, but we're leaving for Kuwait in a week.

I would say though that, in all the remembrances and tributes that will inevitably be produced over the next few weeks, it's important not to glorify Reagan's legacy to the point where we gloss over some of the problems that were not addressed during his Presidency. To that end, I provide below the lyrics from the Ramones song, Bonzo Goes to Bitburg. This song was written by The Ramones to address Reagan's 1985 visit to the Bitburg Military Cemetery in Germany, a cemetery which contained the graves of Nazi SS soldiers. A better historical explanation can be found here, and the lyrics to the song are below.

BONZO GOES TO BITBURG by The Ramones

You've got to pick up the pieces C'mon, sort your trash
You better pull yourself back together Maybe you've got too much cash
Better call, call the law When you gonna turn yourself in? Yeah
You're a politician Don't become one of Hitler's children

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

Shouldn't wish you happiness, wish her the very best
Fifty thousand dollar dress, Shaking hands with your highness
See through you like cellophane, You watch the world complain,
But you do it anyway Who am I, am I to say

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

If there's one thing that makes me sick
It's when someone tries to hide behind politics
I wish that time could go by fast
Somehow they manage to make it last

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down