DVD FUNDS - Khutamadji School House :: 01. 8.09
Hey,
For all the folks who picked the DVD up, many thanks again!
Sorry for lagging, FINALLY, here's a shot of the finished school with cute kids included. This is where the money went. Way better than investing in the Stock Market right?!
It's a big deal, thanks for your support.
for more pictures of the school and the process:
www.malawijake.honkatonk.comCy
Drinking the Tigris: Ancient Mesopotamia in Legos :: 01.12.09
Saw this on the NYtimes Baghdad Bureau blog: http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/
Drinking the Tigris: Coffee :: 01.16.09
10 weeks on the night shift now. I am wrapped in night. Crushed by 12 hours of fluorescent whitish - green hum 7 days a week. I am a mushroom. An owl. A dung beetle. A big bleary eyed, delicate fingered, treetop hanging marsupial - still undiscovered by scientists. I know the stars by heart and where they are at all hours. I know the moon's phase and I measure the weeks by it. It changes very slowly, but it moves constantly. I forage, growl, drag from the fridge to the phone to the door to the computer to my chair. When I drive I bounce my head on the headrest to stay awake like a fat armed baby in a high chair after food.
The wind outside is always dead except for the cutting vibrations of helicopters when they land. Even after they're gone, there's a constant low frequency vibration in my head and in my hands that I understand to be a call for coffee - I throb for caffeine at all times. Head back, I fantasize that I'm small enough to slip my whole naked self into the steaming cup. Like a hot tub. I make burbling sounds as I completely submerge my head. I want to take my bones out of my arms, unscrew the caps on the ends and fill them up with the milky heat then shake them like martinis. I'm am a slogging sack of night worms, wanting for light and slow sandy heat. But for now, all I've got is a Styrofoam cup of coffee, twice per night.
Heat is light. Baghdad sucks. I'm out of here.
A few shots from around the neighborhood.
Drinking the Tigris: A New Day In America :: 01.20.09
I feel great. The sun is rising here in Iraq. In eight hours the sun will rise in D.C. and later today Obama will swear in.
George Bush's photo was still up as I entered the Air Force chow hall a few minutes ago. The two young Airmen that watch the entrance every morning are both happy about the political changes, but added a caveat. "There are so many problems he's going to have to deal with," they told me cautiously.
I, on the other hand, think we've already dealt with the biggest problem. His picture comes down tomorrow, and for that I am jubilant. Yes. Jubilant. Like grape soda and mentos. Like a well shaken bottle of champagne. Jubilant.
Continue reading "Drinking the Tigris: A New Day In America" »
Drinking the Tigris: Under New Management ::
I don't really take self portraits, but I'd like to remember where I was today. Got the shirt from Print Liberation in Philadelphia (printliberation.com).
G.W.'s photo has already been taken down in the chowhall. Wo ho!
The Bush Closet :: 01.22.09
Russell Tice, a former NSA agent going to the mattresses about the domestic spying. Much respect to this guy. The Bush closet is looking awfully dark.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Drinking the Tigris: Local Music :: 01.25.09
Sometimes the only thing I can do to remind myself that I'm in Iraq is turn on the radio. I'm buried deep inside a military complex outside the city. I could be anywhere. The only thing that makes it through to me are the radio stations. Here's a link to an Iraqi hit song posted by the NY Times Baghdad Bureau. The song is by Hussam al-Rassam.
http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2009/01/22/23rassam.mp3
The lyrics are:
"Hey brother hand me the Brno (Czech made rifle).
I want to fire some shots.
The eyes of my beloved have cast a spell on me.
I am on fire.
Her stare is more precise and lethal than the Brno.
Mr. GMC driver take me to Ramadi, my beloved is in Ramadi.
All men tumble to the wayside with a blink from her eyes.
When she stares at you it feels like being fired at with a machine gun.
You do not know where you are going to be hit.
She's lethal."The GMC is a reference to the armored Suburbans which are a ubiquitous status symbol in Iraq.
The origional piece at NYTimes Baghdad Bureau:
http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/suvs-and-shotguns/#
This page contains all entries posted in January 2009. They are listed from oldest to newest.
December 2008 is the previous archive.
February 2009 is the next archive.
Many more can be found on the main page or by looking through the archives.