No to the FISA Bill! :: 07. 7.08
Here in Iraq I've gotten an up close look at what happens when corporations get in bed with the government and vice versa and its hard to imagine anything worse. This is really important. Write you Senator now!
What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Tuesday, July 8th from Tim Ferriss on Vimeo.
Drinking the Tigirs: Big D, a KBR driver :: 07. 9.08
Truckers, honkies, bubbas, Georgians, Texans, Croatians, Serbs; KBR is a big mix. It's true that at the top, these companies are corrupt money stealing machines, but the character of the company's employees is completely different. Most of the Americans who work for KBR are working class people from Texas and the South. Big D was a long haul trucker before he came to Iraq. When he started with KBR, he drove an 18 wheeler running convoys from Baghdad to Kuwait. A year and a half ago he scored a job with us. Now he drives people around in the armored suburban sitting behind him. I'm not sure why he's got an armored vehicle, he never has to go outside the wire any more.
His politics and his rebel flag sunglasses aside, Big D is a lovable guy. He sometimes reminds me of the Lion from the Wizard of Oz actually. Except the Lion didn't have a bald eagle tattooed on his forearm and a gold flake painted Peter Built truck with 9/11 murals on three sides. Badass!
Drinking the Tigris: Edward :: 07.10.08
This is Edward, a Ugandan guard working here in Baghdad. When I arrived last year I was surprised to see such a diverse mix of people. Why is a Ugandan checking my ID at the chow hall? I thought it would be all Americans with a sprinkling of Brits and other 'Coalition of the Willing' personnel. Because the war has been so privatized, a lot of the less critical security work is handled by the lowest bidder. Edward's company is American, based in Tennessee, but they hire out of Uganda because their soldiers are well trained and work for cheap. We've outsourced the war that far. It's incredibly strange. Everyday at lunch you can hear different people, Airmen, contractors, anybody that's been around a while yell, "Jambo jambo!" as they great the guards in Swahili on their way to and from the chow hall.
Edward was very anxious about being photographed. He asked me over and over again, "What's this for?" The shot is behind the chow hall after his shift ended. He turned his head in the middle of the exposure, checking to see if his boss had caught him. I tried to explain that I wanted to take his picture, just because, but I walked away feeling like I'd asked for way too much. He could have lost his job or been seriously reprimanded had the wrong person noticed. People have been fired for less.
Drinking the Tigris: Lloyd on the Bomb Shelter ::
Lloyd is a former Marine Corps Master Sergeant. A pure New Yorker who grew up in the projects of Brooklyn, he's the best-known personality around here. He doesn't really stand on the bomb shelter like this, I asked him to climb up there. That's really my favorite spot and the best place for mobile phone reception. From up there I can see over the T walls that enclose our compound. In the evening when it's cooler I like to get up there and talk to friends and family. Over the wall I can see the flight line and the civilian terminal in the distance. Just a few feet lower and it's a boxed in blackout beneath the walls. A construction crew temporarily moved the shelter last week. I feel like somebody moved my favorite chair.
Lloyd is almost fifty, which I find hard to believe. Guy is youthful. Most fifty year olds would break a leg climbing up there.
Drinking the Tigris: Ed on the Bomb Shelter :: 07.12.08
Looks like an ad for headphones. Not sure about this one, something with the exposure is off, it looks dirty.
Ed is a former Marine. He was an MSG. Those are the Marines that guard all the embassies worldwide. He met his wife at the embassy in China. He tells harrowing tales of his time in Mongolia shortly after their wedding. Six months in a concrete box apartment with nothing to do. Twelve-hour train rides to China to get a pizza. He also tells great stories about scuba diving, and in particular, one story about an underwater encounter with a giant clam at night. Most of all, he talks about his kids. He really misses his two sons.
Drinking the TIgris: Cooking Steady :: 07.18.08
It's HOT HOT HOT!
Drinking the TIgris: On the Cover of the Rolling Stone ::
He's got to come to Iraq sooner or later? In the year I've been here, nobody has been as anticipated. In fact, nobody has been anticipated at all because we never know they're coming till they're here. My boss met Angelina Jolie when she came in. I was very jealous. He fitted her body armor for her, perhaps the most coveted roll any man could play in her arrival. When he got back to the office all he said for an hour was, "beautiful lips man, beautiful lips." I swear he got word she was coming in; normally he would never meet a flight. That was a surprise, but we know Obama has to come soon, so it's become a conversation here in the office.
I can't wait. I feel like a good guy is finally going to ride into town. I've seen a few powerful people come and go around here, and I long for the day their ride comes to an end. None of them made me sicker than the fat Texas energy tycoon. He came lumbering off a small jet with a gaggle of staff behind him, and a giant gut in front of him. His tent sized suit was at least five grand. His Daddy is one of the biggest energy businessmen in Texas and a major Republican contributor. Not exactly a self made man. Few of them are.
I'm out of here next week for a break. Hope Obama doesn't come while I'm gone.
Nice cover on that Rolling Stone!
Drinking the TIgris: Cooking Steadier! :: 07.20.08
It's pegged!
Bush League: Before Mobile Tech :: 07.21.08
This is just an aside from the film, but I wanted to put this together and put it out there. I'm really curious to see what happens when a place has a communication revolution that's never had an industrial revolution.
Bush League: Film Music :: 07.23.08
I heard this guys music a couple years ago in the Bush. Jacqueline, one of the main characters in the film, was listening to it in her shop. During the editing process I've gone back through the footage just to hear the music. I've been hoping I could find out who the guy is and get some of his music for the film. Got an email this morning from Malawi Jake pointing me a website that's selling Malawian mp3s (www.malawianmp3.com) and there he is: Lawrence Mbenjere! Got his name, now I can try to find him. He's got this video on YouTube. I love these videos, but I LOVE the music.
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